Applied Genetics News articles from September 2000

Applied Genetics News archives from September 2000

BASIC SCIENCE: Genetic Pathway in Cardiac Death.
September 1, 2000... Researchers in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Institute of Molecular Medicine led by Van T.B. Nguyen Tran, have discovered a genetic pathway that appears to play a pivotal role in the onset of sudden cardiac death. Their...

Orphan Receptors Control Cholesterol.
September 1, 2000... Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have discovered two potential targets for a new generation of cholesterol-lowering drugs. David Manglesdorf and Joyce J. Repa have switched off...

Building Blood Vessels for Tumors.
September 1, 2000... Detailed analysis of the activity levels of thousands of genes from blood vessel cells isolated from normal and cancerous tissue has led to the identification of a genetic program that constructs the pipeline that supplies blood and nutrients...

SV40, Asbestos Cause Mesothelioma.
September 1, 2000... A possible cancer-causing link has been found between asbestos fibers and a monkey virus, SV40, that infects people in the U.S., as reported in a study in the Aug. 31 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research,...

GENOMICS: Bardet-Biedle Gene Identified.
September 1, 2000... Researchers have identified a gene mutation that causes Bardet- Biedl syndrome (BBS), a rare genetic disorder that can lead to mental retardation. The discovery by Anne M. Slavotinek and Leslie G. Biesecker at the National Human Genome Research...

Cardiovascular Drug Target Identified.
September 1, 2000... A team of scientists from Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (640 Memorial Dr., Cambridge, MA 02139; Tel: 617/679-7000, Fax: 617/374-9379, Website: www.mlnm.com) led by Susan Acton, has discovered a potential new target for treating...

Tissue Bank for Genomics Researchers.
September 1, 2000... Ardais Corp. (One Ledgemont Center, 128 Spring St., Lexington, MA, 02421; Tel: 781/274-6420, Fax: 781/274-6421, Website: ardais.com), founded only last year, has launched what it calls a "clinical genomics initiative" to collect and process...

GENE THERAPY: Baculovirus Vector Used in Mammals.
September 1, 2000... Scientists led by Seppo Yla-Hertualla, at the University of Kuopio (Finland), have successfully performed the first in vivo gene transfer in mammals using a baculovirus-mediated vector system. This was achieved using a second-generation...

Reovirus Patented as Cancer Remedy.
September 1, 2000... Oncolytics Biotech Inc (1204 Kensington Rd. NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N3P5; Tel: 401/283-0711) has been issued U.S. Patent 6,110,461, which covers the pharmaceutical use of the reovirus in the treatment of Ras-mediated cancers in mammals. The...

CELL THERAPY: New Guidelines for Stem Cell Research.
September 1, 2000... On August 25, the NIH published new guidelines for human pluripotent stem cell research. These cells, derived from pre- implantation embryos, can develop into most of the tissues of the body, including muscle, nerve, liver, and blood cells....

Pig Cells Fix Rat Spinal Cords.
September 1, 2000... Researchers led by Jeffrey D. Kocsis of Yale University School of Medicine and William Fodor of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (25 Science Park, New Haven, CT 06511; Tel: 203/776-1790, Fax: 203/772-3655) have reported that transplanting...

Endogenous Retrovirus Not Transmitted.
September 1, 2000... BioTransplant, Inc. (Building 75, Third Ave., Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA 02120; Tel: 617/241-5200, Fax: 617/241-8780) presented data at the International Congress of the Transplantation Society (Rome, Italy) indicating it may be...

Angioblasts Restore Diabetic Circulation.
September 1, 2000... University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA) led by Gina C. Schatteman, from the department of anatomy and cell biology, have discovered that injecting a critical subset of blood cells, called angioblasts, taken from non-diabetic humans, helps to form...

BIOMANUFACTURING: Microorganisms to Produce Chemicals.
September 1, 2000... Diversa Corp. (10665 Sorrento Valley Rd, San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 858/453-7020, Fax: 858/453-7032) has signed an agreement with Celanese, Ltd., an affiliate of Celanese AG (Brueningstrasse 50, 65926 Frankfurt, Germany; Tel: 69-305-4888, Fax:...

ANTIBODIES: Modified Antibodies Cross Cell Barriers.
September 1, 2000... KS Biomedix Holdings Plc (KSB, 212 Picadilly, London W1V9LD, U.K.; Tel: +44(0)171 917 2940, Fax: +44(0)1483 455 444, Website: www.ksbiomedix.com) has entered into a research and development collaboration with Eukarion, Inc. (6F Alfred Circle,...

Abgenix Gets Prodrug Technology.
September 1, 2000... Abgenix, Inc. (7601 Dumbarton Circle, Fremont, CA 94555 Tel: 510/608-6500, Fax: 510/608-6511) will gain access to ImmunoGen's (128 Sidney St., Cambridge, MA 02139; Tel: 716/995-2500, Fax: 617/995-2510, Website: www.immunogen.com) maytansinoid...

Antibodies to Prostate Antigen Patented.
September 1, 2000... Cornell University has been issued U.S. Patent 6,107,090 titled, "Treatment and Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer." BZL Biologics, Inc. holds the exclusive worldwide license to this technology. The issued patent claims monoclonal antibodies that...

VACCINES AND ANTI-INFECTIVES Epimmune Wins AIDS Vaccine Grant.
September 1, 2000... Epimmune, Inc. (5820 Nancy Ridge Dr.. San Diego, CA92121; Tel: 858/860-2500, Fax: 858/860-2600) has been awarded a $3.8 million grant from the Integrated preclinical/clinical program (IPCP) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), division...

Is a Universal Cancer Vaccine Possible?
September 1, 2000... A research team from Duke University Medical Center and Geron Corp. (230 Constitution Dr., Menlo Park, CA 94025, 650/473-7700, Fax: 650/473-7701) has found that the active part of telomerase, a protein expressed in all major human cancers, can...

Gene Vaccine for Malaria.
September 1, 2000... Vical, Inc.(9373 Towne Centre Dr., Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 619/453-9900, Fax: 619/453-5885) in collaboration with Aventis Pasteur (2 Avenue Pont Pasteur, F-69367 Lyon cedex 07, France; Tel +33(0)4 37 37 75 27, Fax: +33(0)4 37 37 78...

Shiga Subunit Replaces Adjuvant.
September 1, 2000... A non-toxic form of a bacterial protein known as Shiga B-subunit together with tumor associated molecules can stimulate the immune system of mice to attack cancer cells without the need for adjuvants and offers hope for the development of...

Fusion Protein as Papilloma Vaccine.
September 1, 2000... StressGen Biotechnologies Corp. (No. 350-4243 Glanford Ave., Victoria, B.C. V8z4B9; Tel: 250/744-2811, Fax: 250/744-2877, Website: www.stressgen.com) has initiated patient treatment in its phase II clinical trial to investigate HspE7, a novel...

AG-BIO: MetaMorphix Acquires Biostar Assets.
September 1, 2000... MetaMorphix, Inc. (1450 S. Rolling Rd., Fl. 2, Baltimore, MD 21227-3867; Tel: 410/455-5880) has completed its acquisition of certain animal health assets of Biostar, Inc. of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The acquisition provides MetaMorphix...

Herbicide Tolerant Crops May Affect Birds.
September 1, 2000... The use of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant (GMHT) crops may severely reduce bird populations on a small percentage of farms, while having little effect on most others, predicts a new study in the September 1 issue of Science. Overall,...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Antigenics Acquires Aquila Biopharm.
September 1, 2000... Antigenics, Inc. (630 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10111; Tel: 212/332-4774, Fax 212/332-4778, Website: www.antigenics.com) and Aquila Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (175 Crossing Blvd., Framingham, MA 01702; Tel: 508/628-0100, Fax: 508/791-0224) have...

IBM Becomes Life Sci Company.
September 1, 2000... IBM (One New Orchard Rd., Armonk, NY 10504; Tel: 914/499-1900, Fax: 914/765-6021) has announced an initial $100 million investment to help deliver solutions to companies that are processing the wealth of newfound data engendered by the human...

CALENDAR.
September 1, 2000... September 14, Gene Medicine: Breaking Down Cancer, Washington D.C. Sponsored by the National Foundation for Cancer Research. Contact: Logic Media Group; Tel: 615/301-8313, Email: Silas@logicmediagroup.com. September 25-27, Nucleic Acid...