Applied Genetics News articles from October 1999

Applied Genetics News archives from October 1999

BASIC RESEARCH: T-cells Prevent Airway Constriction.
October 19, 1999... Research performed at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center (Denver, CO) reports that asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may be due to a deficiency of gamma/delta T-cells in the lungs says Michael Lahn and Arihiko...

Hemoglobin Is an Enzyme?
October 19, 1999... Jonathan Stamler, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Duke University Medical Center, believes that the hemoglobin molecule found in the gut of an intestinal parasite, the nematode Ascaris lumbriocoides, is a remnant of the...

Myosin VI Moves Backwards.
October 19, 1999... Actin filaments run through every cell in the body, serving as a railway along which a train composed of myosin proteins transports vital materials to locations throughout the cell. It was believed that the 15 known variants of myosin all...

Receptor Critical for Mucosal Response.
October 19, 1999... Researchers at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have identified T1/ST2 receptor as a molecule that is required for the T helper cell type-2 (Th2) mediated lung mucosal immune response. Their findings are contained in a paper in the Oct. 4...

GENOMICS: Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Gene.
October 19, 1999... Myriad Genetics, Inc. (320 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108; Tel: 801/584- 3600, Fax: 801/584-3640, Website: myriad.com) has discovered a gene involved in the inherited susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes. Myriad Pharmaceuticals,...

Fat Transport Protein Identified.
October 19, 1999... Scientists at Millenium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (640 Memorial Dr., Cambridge, MA 02139; Tel: 617/679-7000, Fax: 617/374-9379, Website: mlnm.com) and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (Nine Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142;...

Mouse Models for Mitochondrial Diseases.
October 19, 1999... MitoKor (11494 Sorrento Valley Rd., San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 858/793-7800, Fax: 858/793-7805, Website: mitokor.com) is partnering with the University of California Regents and the state of California funded by a UC BioSTAR grant to develop...

Macrophages Express Tuberculosis Genes.
October 19, 1999... Josephine Clark-Curtiss, research associate professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis, and her colleagues have recently identified 15 Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes that are expressed only when the bacteria are growing in...

Gene Discovered for Rett Syndrome.
October 19, 1999... Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Stanford University have discovered the defective gene responsible for Rett syndrome, a degenerative neurological disease of infant girls. The...

Genes Linked to Breast Cancer.
October 19, 1999... Researchers at the University of Michigan (UM, Ann Arbor, MI) Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified two genes associated with inflammatory breast cancer. The discovery is reported in the September issue of Clinical Cancer Research. ...

GENE THERAPY: Herpes Virus Fights Cancer.
October 19, 1999... In a study published in the September issue of Human Gene Therapy, researchers demonstrated that intravenous delivery of G207, a genetically engineered herpes simplex virus (HSV) vector was being developed. Neurovir Therapeutics, Inc. ...

Wound Repair Patent Issued.
October 19, 1999... U.S. Patent #5,962,427, entitled "In Vivo Gene Transfer Methods for Wound Healing," was granted to the University of Michigan and licensed to Selective Genetics, Inc. (1035 Roselle St., San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 619/625-0100, Fax:...

Gene Therapy for Animals.
October 19, 1999... Although gene therapy for humans is still largely in the future, forward-looking gene engineers are already considering the health needs of our feathered and four-legged friends. Cell Genesys, Inc. (342 Lakeside Dr., Foster City, CA 94404;...

ANTISENSE: Isis Signs Up Big Partners.
October 19, 1999... Isis Pharmaceuticals' (2292 Faraday Ave., Carlsbad, CA 92008; Tel: 760/931-9200, Fax: 760/931-9639) antisense technology has attracted some important players. Recently, the company signed a three year deal with Rhone Poulenc Rorer (RPR,...

ANTIBODIES: Non-Antibody Antigen Binding Molecules.
October 19, 1999... Phylos, Inc. (128 Spring St., Lexington, MA 02421; Tel: 781/862-6400, Website: phylos.com) has been awarded a National Cancer Institute SBIR grant to evaluate protein scaffolds for the design of novel anti-cancer agents. The $550,000 grant...

Catalytic Cocaine Antibody Licensed.(MedImmune, Inc)
October 19, 1999... MedImmune, Inc. (35 West Watkins Mill Rd., Gaithersburg, MD 20878; Tel: 301/417- 0770, Fax: 301/527-4200, Website: medimmune.com) has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement and a research collaboration with Columbia University to...

Antibody Therapy for Hepatitis B.(XTL Biopharmaceuticals, Ltd)
October 19, 1999... XTL Biopharmaceuticals, Ltd. (P.O. Box 370, Rehovot, Israel, 76100; Tel: 972 8 940 5134) and its collaborators have begun a phase I study of XTL001, an investigational monoclonal antibody product, to evaluate the safety profile and antiviral...

HORMONES AND CYTOKINES: Antithrombin III Prevents Blood Vessel Formation.
October 19, 1999... Michael O'Reilly and his colleagues in Judah Folkman's laboratory have discovered a new activity for a protein previously known only for its ability to regulate blood clotting. Their paper, entitled "Antiangiogenesis: A novel activity for the...

Gila Monster Aids Diabetics.
October 19, 1999... Researchers at the National Institute on Aging (Baltimore, MD) and Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA) have reported a potent, enhanced insulin response in people with type II diabetes after the administration of extendin-4, a 39 amino...

CELL THERAPY: Living Cells as Biosensors.
October 19, 1999... Carmel Biosensors, Ltd., (Matam Post Office, Haifa, Israel; Tel: 04-8550850, Fax: 04-8550857) an Israeli start-up company, has signed an agreement with Medtronic, Inc. for research and development of advanced biosensors for various medical...

Implanted Islets for Diabetics.(The National Institutes of Health have awarded Ixion Biotechnology a development grant)
October 19, 1999... The National Institutes of Health have awarded Ixion Biotechnology (13709 Progress Blvd., Box 13, Suite N-111, Alachua, FL 32615; Tel: 904/418-1428, Fax: 904/418-1583, Email: info@ixion-biotech.com, Website: ixion-biotech.com) a $200,000...

Pig Cells for Stroke Victims.
October 19, 1999... Diacrin, Inc. (Building 86, 13th St., Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA 02120; Tel: 617/242-9100, Fax: 617/242-0070) scientists, along with doctors at Beth Israel (BI) Deaconess Medical Center, have become the first in the world to...

AG-BIO: Aflatoxin in Tobacco.
October 19, 1999... Aflatoxin, a potent carcinogen, is "more than likely" a causal agent or promoter of tobacco-assisted cancer, says Kerry Scott Lane, Delray Medical Center (Delray Beach, FL), in a peer-reviewed article appearing on Medscape; Website:...

Myriad Teams Up with Novartis.(Myriad Genetics, Inc, Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, Inc)
October 19, 1999... Myriad Genetics, Inc. (320 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108; Tel: 801/584- 3600, Fax: 801/584-3640, Website: myriad.com) and the Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, Inc. (NADII) have signed a two-year, $33.5 million partnership in...

Genotyping Down on the Farm.
October 19, 1999... The Agricultural Research Service of the Dept. of Agriculture (USDA-ARS) has contracted use of Sequenom's (11555 Sorrento Valley Rd., No. C, San Diego, 92121-1331; Tel: 619/350-0345) MassArray system as part of their program to discover and...

Lynx and AgrEvo to Collaborate.(Lynx Therapeutics Inc, Hoechst Schering AgrEvo GmbH)
October 19, 1999... Lynx Therapeutics, Inc. (25861 Industrial Blvd., Hayward, CA 94545; Tel: 510/670-9300, Fax: 510/670-9302) has signed a research collaboration agreement with Hoechst Schering AgrEvo GmbH (AgrEvo, Postfach 27 06 54, D-13476 Berlin, Germany; Tel:...

INDUSTRY NEWS: MedImmune Acquires U.S. Bioscience.
October 19, 1999... MedImmune, Inc. (35 West Watkins Mill Rd., Gaithersburg, MD 20878; Tel: 301/417- 0770, Fax: 301/527-4200, Website: medimmune.com) and U.S. Bioscience, Inc. (Amex: UBS) have entered into a definitive agreement for MedImmune to acquire U.S....

Schering in Tender Offer for Diatide.(Schering Berlin, Inc)
October 19, 1999... Schering Berlin, Inc. (D-13342, Berlin, Germany) and its wholly-owned subsidiary BXA Acquisition Co., have entered into an agreement to acquire Diatide (DITI) for a cash payment of $9.50 per share of common stock. The agreement provides for a...

Generic Biotech Products.(Bio-Technology General Corp, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd)
October 19, 1999... Bio-Technology General Corp. (BTG, 70 Wood Ave., South, Iselin, NJ 08830; Tel: 732/632-8800, Fax: 732/632-8844) and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. (5 Basel St., P.O. Box 3190, Petach Tikva 49131, Israel Tel: 003/926-7267) have entered...

NeoTherapeutics Funds UCI Research.
October 19, 1999... The University of California, Irvine and NeoTherapeutics, Inc. (157 Technology Dr., Irvine, CA 92618; Tel: 949/788-6700, Fax: 949/788-6706) have entered into collaborative research and technology development agreements based on the work of a...

CALENDAR.
October 19, 1999... October 25-26, CALBIO 99 Summit--Bioconvergence: Finance, Technologies, Markets, San Diego, CA. Sponsored by BIOCOM. Contact: Conference Locators International, Suite B, 5560 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla, CA 92037; Tel: 888/434-3556, Fax:...