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BioTechCircle News®

September 2011

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Issue 99

See all previous issues at our archives; follow us on Twitter.

For a sneak preview of site updates and analysis of the latest research reports,
(Articles and gene-related Patents, Patent Applications), subscribe to our
newsletter at the bottom of our home page.

In this Articles section: links to 117 free Web articles in 12 major categories.
Click on the category list below to go immediately to that section.

Starting with this issue, we are combining the categories "Research Advancements"
and "Therapeutic Category." Each uses the same medical condition subcategories.
We originally separated them to differentiate between experimental and applied
treatments; however, since most of you are interested in the medical conditions, not
the development status of the treatment, we trust this streamlining will be easier for
you to find what you need.

The major categories below are further subdivided to make it easy for you to locate
news and technology developments, the business and the markets in the life sciences
of particular interest to you. The brief synopses will help you decide which articles you'd
like to read. Simply click on the article's title to go directly to the original article.

Here are this month's major categories:

Agri-Biotech (13 articles)
Biobusiness Management (5 articles)
BTC's News You Can Use (10 articles)
Industry (16 articles)
Investments/Government Support (10 articles)
Medical Devices (1 article)
Novel Applications (7 articles)
Patents (2 articles)
Platform Technologies (27 articles)
Research Advancements (18 articles)
Research Tools (7 articles)
Strategic Relationships (1 article)

For a brief explanation of how we categorize the articles, please see "Express Guide
to Monthly Web Articles."

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AGRI-BIOTECH

Subcategory: Animal

Rival, Predator, Mate: Mapping the Molecules that Detect Chemical Cues
.....Howard Hughes Medical Institute (22-Sep-11)
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a tubular structure located in the nose of most mammals (apart
from humans and other primates). Researchers find that the VNO is sensitive not just to
members of the same species, but also to predators and competitors.

How DEET Swats Insects' Sense of Smell
.....Howard Hughes Medical Institute (21-Sep-11)
Study suggests that DEET confuses insects by jamming their odor receptors. Understanding how
the chemical works may help researchers develop compounds that are equally effective, but
longer-lasting or more convenient to use.

Subcategory: Crops

Drought Machine Helps Develop Hardier Crops
.....Alan Scher Zagier  Manufacturing.net (07-Sep-11)
A draught simulator allows researchers to mimic short dry spells as well as persistent or
even severe droughts. This helps water quality scientists, soil biologists and physicists and
plant breeders determine how plants can withstand summer dry spells.

Subcategory: Disease Prevention

Sunlight Is An Effective Disinfectant
.....Naomi Lubick Chemical & Engineering News (28-Sep-11)
Method, known as solar water disinfection or SODIS, provides a cheap method to treat water in
places that lack water treatment plants. Children drinking SODIS-treated water experienced
dysentery about half as often as children not using SODIS did.

Subcategory: Energy/ Fuel

Joint BioEnergy Institute Scientists Identify New Microbe-Produced Advanced
Biofuel as an Alternative to Diesel Fuel
.....Lynn Yarris Berkeley News (27-Sep-11)
Strains of 2 microbes, a bacteria and a yeast, produce a precursor to bisabolane, a member of
the terpene class of chemical compounds that are found in plants. Makes a promising
biosynthetic alternative to Number 2 (D2) diesel fuel.

Seaweed Polymer May Improve Electrodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries
.....John Toon, Tom Hallman Georgia Tech (08-Sep-11)
Alginate, extracted from common, fast-growing brown algae, is a promising new binder material
for lithium-ion battery electrodes. They not only boost energy storage, but also eliminate
the use of toxic compounds now used in manufacturing the components.

Subcategory: Environment

Owl Eggs Reveal Complex Pollutant Patterns
.....Sarah Webb Chemical & Engineering News (29-Aug-11)
An animal's load of persistent organic pollutants depends on more than the amount of the
chemicals in the environment. Study connects variations of pollutant levels in the owls' eggs
with changes in climate conditions and the birds' food supply.

Subcategory: Food

Keeping A Watchful Eye On The Food We Eat
.....Adam Aronson IMPO (26-Sep-11)
Meat producers have continuously improved handling practices, and over the last ten years our
meat supply has become safer than ever before. Describes one of the biggest recent advances:
remote video auditing (RVA).

Report: Food Anti-Terror Plans Costly, Unwieldy
.....Garance Burke Manufacturing.net (13-Sep-11)
U.S. lawmakers are demanding answers about potential food-related threats. Describes findings
of research on U.S. government food-threat agency spending and program records for major
food defense initiatives.

Battle Over Corn Syrup Heads To Court
.....Thomas Watkins  Manufacturing.net (13-Sep-11)
A group of sugar farmers and refiners sue corn industry and a lobbying group over the corn
industry's attempt at rebranding high fructose corn syrup as simply "corn sugar." Expert
opinion is divided on high fructose corn syrup.

Miracle Berry's Sour-Sweet Mystery Cracked
.....Mark Brown Wired (27-Sep-11)
For up to an hour, the juices from the miracle berry coat your tongue and previously sour
foods like lemon and vinegar magically taste deliciously sweet. Part of the mechanism is pH.
Applications for anti-diabetes and anti-obesity uses.

Subcategory: Materials

Pitcher Plant Inspires Super Slippery Surface
.....Bethany Halford Chemical & Engineering News (21-Sep-11)
By mimicking the pitcher plant's slick means of gathering a meal, scientists create an
omniphobic material that repels simple liquids, complex fluids, even solids. Applications
include  biomedical fluid handling, fuel transport and ice-repelling surfaces.

Subcategory:  Microorganisms

'Inexhaustible' Source of Hydrogen May Be Unlocked by Salt Water
.....Penn State (19-Sep-11)
A grain of salt or two may be all that microbial electrolysis cells need to produce hydrogen
from wastewater or organic byproducts, without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or
using grid electricity.

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BIOBUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Subcategory:  Bioethics

Scientist Admits Trade Secret Theft
.....Marc S. Reisch Chemical & Engineering News (22-Sep-11)
Former Dow AgroSciences scientist agrees to plead guilty to 2 counts of stealing trade
secrets from Dow Chemical and from Cargill, faces up to 15 years in prison + a $500,000 fine
on 1 count, 10 years + another $500,000 fine on the 2nd count.

Subcategory: Education

Age and Great Invention
.....Kellogg Insight (01-May-11)
The age at which a researcher achieves "great achievement"-such as a Nobel Prize-worthy
discovery-trended up 5-6 years across the 20th century, particularly in life sciences. Offers
advice to young scientists.

Subcategory: Government/ Approvals

U.S. FDA Guidance on Biosimilars May Be Imminent
.....Lewis Krauskopf Reuters (23-Sep-11)
Europe is ahead of the United States, having already approved cheaper copies of some biotech
medicines. Discusses the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's planned guidelines for the
development of generic versions of complex biotechnology medicines.

Subcategory: Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology, the Future, and the FDA
.....Neil Canavan Drug Discovery & Development (01-Sep-11)
Draft guidance on a nanotechnology framework released by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration is expected to receive a range of opinions. Toxicity of scale is the main
issue of discussion.

Subcategory: Startups

Executives: Maryland's Tech Industry Needs Risk-takers
.....Kevin James Shay Gazette.net (16-Sep-11)
When AstraZeneca bought MedImmune for $15.6 billion 4 years ago, some expected
many employees to branch out on their own. Some say the MedImmune phenomenon belies
a problem in Maryland: a relative lack of risk-taking entrepreneurs.

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BTC'S NEWS YOU CAN USE

Subcategory: Cardiology/Vascular Diseases

Discontinuation of Low Dose Aspirin and Risk of Myocardial Infarction:
Case-control Study in UK Primary Care
.....Luis A Garcia Rodriguez, Lucia Cea-Soriano, Elisa Martin-Merino, Saga Johansson
.....Medline (19-Jul-11)
Compared with current users, people who had recently stopped taking aspirin had a
significantly increased risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction or death from coronary heart
disease combined and non-fatal myocardial infarction alone. Free reg. req'd.

Subcategory: E-Medicine

An App a Day Keeps the Doctor Away?
.....Tom Wilemon  The Tennesseean (18-Sep-11)
People use smartphone apps for quiting smoking, weight loss. Doctors use them for medical
reference, quick information exchanges, diagnostic tests and treatments. Disease experts
track the spread of cholera in Haiti by monitoring cellphone traffic.

Subcategory: Geriatrics

Antidepressant Use and Risk of Adverse Outcomes in Older People: Population Based
Cohort Study
.....Carol Coupland; Paula Dhiman; Richard Morriss; Antony Arthur; Garry Barton;
.....Julia Hippisley-Cox Medscape (06-Sep-11)
Lists trazodone, mirtazapine, and venlafaxine as associated with the highest risks. Cautions
that differences in characteristics between patients could account for some of the
associations between the drugs and the adverse outcomes. Free registration.

Subcategory: Miscellaneous

7 Designs That Can Improve Your Health
.....Rebecca Paul Inhabitat (18-Sep-11)
Includes an air purifier, straw water purifier, exercise and sleep tracker solar-powered eye
implant to give sight to the blind, treadmill desk, water filtering bottle and an implant in
a finger for monitoring glucose levels.

GPS App Keeps Drivers' Eyes on the Road
.....Ian E. Muller Technology Review (29-Aug-11)
When a driver takes his/her eyes off the road for 1 second to look at a map screen when
driving at 60 miles per hour, the driver is actually 'blind' for 92 feet. A new app aims to
help drivers navigate without diverting their attention away from the road.

Subcategory: Mobile Medicine

Mobile Health Apps Arrive
.....Olga Kharif Business Week (29-Sep-11)
Smartphones get health-related apps, attachments after a long wait for FDA clearance. FDA is
expected to issue detailed guidelines in 2012 about which mobile health devices and apps fall
under its jurisdiction, how it will regulate them.

Subcategory: Musculoskeletal

The Brittleness of Aging Bones - More than a Loss of Bone Mass
.....Lynn Yarris Berkeley News (29-Aug-11)
Research shows that at microscopic dimensions, the age-related loss of bone quality can be
every bit as important as the loss of quantity in the susceptibility of bone to fracturing.

Subcategory: Oncology

Materials Up Ante Against Prostate Cancer
.....Doug Smock Design News (15-Sep-11)
Using a dual-channel prostate biopsy needle guide, it is now possible to destroy only the
cancerous part of the prostate. Images can be captured and stored by the system to verify the
location of the tissue samples.

Subcategory: Otolaryngology

Video: Dementia Patients' Oral Hygiene Benefits from Researched Techniques
.....C Roy Parker Penn State (01-Sep-11)
Video. Poor oral health can lead to pneumonia and cardiovascular disease as well as
periodontal disease. Because those with dementia resist care when they feel threatened,
nurses developed a tailored approach to dental hygiene for their charges.

Subcategory: Pulmonary/ Respiratory Diseases

Artificial Lung May Save Lives During Surgeries
.....Design News (12-Aug-11)
Video: discusses a 1/100 scale prototype of an artificial lung under development using MEMS
(micro-electromechanical systems). Blood flow pathways mimic what exists in humans.

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INDUSTRY

Subcategory: Big Pharma

Mystery Diagnosis: An Era of Uncertainty for the Health Care Sector
.....Arnold Rosoff, Patricia Danzon, Lawton Burns and Mark Pauly Knowledge@Wharton
.....(14-Sep-11)
Professors discuss their research on the U.S. health care and pharmaceutical sectors,
including legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and generic markets soon
opening up for some of the world's best-selling drugs. Many resource links.

Subcategory: Computing Systems

Special report highlights 'greatest hits' of scientific supercomputing
.....Dawn Levy Oak Ridge National Laboratory (02-Sep-11)
Among the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE)
projects: simulations to make personalized genomics quick and affordable, biomass conversion
for energy production, computational climate change. Link to 64-page report.

Subcategory: Earth Science

The American `Allergy' to Global Warming: Why?
.....Charles J. Hanley Associated Press (25-Sep-11)
Powerful evidence has poured in over 35 years, showing the "greenhouse effect" is real and is
happening. And yet resistance to the idea among many in the U.S. appears to have hardened.
Hanley explores the reasons for "denialism."

Subcategory: Education

A Whiff Of Chemistry
.....Bethany Halford Chemical & Engineering News (05-Sep-11)
Blind students, who can't see color changes or safely handle caustic chemicals, often find
themselves stuck on the sidelines when it comes to high school chemistry classes. Camp allows
students to become actively involved through odor changes.

Opinion: Science and Maths - Doing Well, but Must Do Better
.....Sir John Holman Wellcome Trust (23-Sep-11)
Looks at the U.K.'s success in reversing of the decline of STEM (science, technology,
engineering and mathematics) education. Discusses factors such as the economy, investment in
teachers and room for improvement in gender, "real world" practice.

Subcategory: Electronic Health Records

Top 5 Green Health IT Trends
.....Michelle McNickle Government Health IT (14-Sep-11)
Green IT can mean healthcare organizations see fewer bills, contribute lower levels of carbon
emissions, and enjoy an easier transition into mandated practices. Reviews EMR,
telemedicine, server & desktop virtualization and virtual collaboration.

Subcategory: E-Medicine

Why Doctors Don't Like Electronic Health Records
.....Richard Reece Technology Review (27-Sep-11)
A physician argues that electronic patient records raise costs, decrease patient visits, and
make poor communication tools. "You cannot look a computer in the eye. You cannot read its
body language. You cannot sympathize or empathize with it. "

Subcategory: Energy/ Fuel

Kansas and Nebraska Plan to Increase Renewable Power Capacity More
than 550%
.....Industrial Info (20-Sep-11)
The flat plains of Kansas and Nebraska are known for being windy. Projects under
consideration include a 100-MW biomass-fired power plant, a 3-MW hydroelectric plant, and 34
windfarms with a generating capacity of 7,933 MW. Free reg.

Power Use Declines as Numbers of Gadgets Rise
.....The Toledo Blade Company (17-Sep-11)
New homes are being built to use less electricity, and government subsidies for home energy
savings programs are helping older homes use less power. More efficient devices, conservation
and smaller homes all contribute to decline in energy use.

Subcategory: Environment

William Brown's Lockheed Stratoliner Hydrogen Jet Can Go Anywhere On Earth
Without Refueling
.....Laura K. Cowan Inhabitat (21-Sep-11)
Hydrogen jet has wings inspired by the Bar-tailed Godwit, an Australian bird with the record
for the longest nonstop flight (7,258 miles from Alaska to Australia without feeding!). Like
the bird, the plane can go anywhere in the world without refueling.

Exploding Climate Change
.....Product Design & Development (14-Sep-11)
Video. Environmentally-friendly alternative to cremation; cars fueled by newspapers;
suitcase-sized nuclear reactors for Mars colonies; British geo-engineers to simulate volcanic
eruption; $100 holographic microscope; and stretchable OLED displays.

A New model of Business Leadership for a Low Carbon Economy
.....Paul Simpson The Guardian (14-Sep-11)
From commodity price rises to increasing investor demands and the need to protect brand
reputation, multiple drivers are precipitating a shift in how companies are acting to
mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Subcategory: Geographic focus

VIDEO: Biotech Jobs Budding In The Rust Belt
.....IMPO (29-Sep-11)
Ohio has seen 20% job growth in the BioTech sector over the last 10 years due to both big
businesses and startups. Video on nanoparticles, cancer research and other life science technologies.

Subcategory: Health Gaming

Health Gaming Reaches Critical Mass
.....Neil Versel mobihealthnews (08-Sep-11)
Versel writes on the growing trend and legitimacy of video games in health care, reviews
studies, technical papers and planned launch of a peer-reviewed, scientific journal that
looks at the role video games can play in advancing health and wellness.

Subcategory: Miscellaneous

Silicon Valley Lowering the Bar on Innovation
.....James Temple SFGate (16-Sep-11)
Reports experts worrying that neither the government nor private industry is setting those
sorts of audacious goals anymore. Instead, entrepreneurs are focused on the simple, in search
of the quick. Acknowledges genomics research activities.

Subcategory: Patent/Intellectual Property Issues

White House Petition to End Software Patents Is a Hit
.....Christopher Mims Technology Review (23-Sep-11)
"There are lots of good reasons to end the practice of patenting software, including the fact
that software patents are primarily a vehicle for transferring wealth from the innovators
who create it to patent trolls whose sole 'product' is litigation."

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INVESTMENTS/ GOV. SUPPORT

Subcategory: Energy/ Fuel

Renewable Power, Alternative Fuels Dominate Midwest's Fourth-Quarter 2011
Project Starts
.....Industrial Information (15-Sep-11)
The planned renewable power projects in the region are dominated by windfarms. Two grassroot
cellulosic ethanol plants make up some of the highest-value projects of the region's
Alternative Fuels Industry projects. Free registration req'd.

Energy Department Announces $1.2 Billion Loan Guarantee to Support California
Concentrating Solar Power Plant
.....U.S. Department of Energy (13-Sep-11)
The 250MW solar generation project located will increase the nation's currently installed
concentrating solar power (CSP) capacity by approximately 50%. Will be the nation's first
utility-scale deployment of latest Solar Collector Assembly (SCA).

$38 Million Awarded to Advance Technology and Reduce Cost of Geothermal Energy
.....U.S. Department of Energy (08-Sep-11)
Lists awardees (and amount of grant over 3 years) of 32 projects in 14 states to accelerate
the development of promising geothermal energy technologies and help diversify America's
sources of clean, renewable energy.

Subcategory: Environment

Tech Company to Build Science Ghost Town in NM
.....Jeri Clausing Product Design & Development (07-Sep-11)
Describes plans to build New Mexico's newest ghost town to test everything from renewable
energy innovations to intelligent traffic systems, next-generation wireless networks and
smart-grid cyber security systems.

Installed Cost of Solar Photovoltaic Systems in the U.S. Declined Significantly
in 2010 and 2011
.....Allan Chen Berkeley News (15-Sep-11)
Reviews costs based on policies removing market barriers vs. R&D programs. Link to "Tracking
the Sun IV: An Historical Summary of the Installed Cost of Photovoltaics in the United States
from 1998 to 2010."

Subcategory: Metabolism: Obesity, Diabetes

ATandT, HHS, AADE Collaborate on Mobile Diabetes Management
.....Brian T. Horowitz  eWeek (14-Sep-11)
AT&T is partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of
Minority Health and the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) to develop a
project for an underserved minority community in Dallas, Texas.

Subcategory: Personalized Medicine

Northwestern Nets NIH Grant to Tailor Drugs to Patients' Genome
.....Marla Paul Northwestern University (26-Aug-11)
Grant enables investigators to identify genetic variants associated with 40 more disease
characteristics and symptoms, using genome-wide association studies across the entire
Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) network.

Subcategory: Startups

America's Innovation Shortfall and How We Can Solve It
.....Bruce Nussbaum Harvard Business Review (20-Sep-11)
Billions of taxpayer dollars were invested over the past 2 decades in bioscience R&D, with
hardly any going into manufacturing R&D. Nussbaum offers 2 ways policy can increase
innovation and capture innovation's economic value.

FBI Investigates Solar Firm That Got $535M U.S. Loan
.....Jason Dearen, Kiven Freking IMPO (09-Sep-11)
Former employee of bankrupt company Solyndra reported saying "See these buildings? They put
all that money they got into buildings. What do you need these for? It only should have gone
into making our solar panels better."

Subcategory: Venture

New Angel Alliance Aims to Keep Startups Out of Venture Capital's Clutches Longer
.....Wade Roush Xconomy (14-Sep-11)
Startups are found to need small follow-on rounds to get to the next milestone, and that
sometimes these rounds are beyond beyond the capacity of any particular angel group.
Describes new alliance called the Angel Syndication Network.

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MEDICAL DEVICES

Subcategory: Otolaryngology

Photos of the Day: Motorcycle Ambulances and Solar Hearing Aids
.....Product Design & Development (12-Sep-11)
Instead of the usual donated medicines and health equipment, some experts are inventing new
products for the poor, like a solar-powered hearing aid, intended for sub-Saharan Africa.

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NOVEL APPLICATIONS

Subcategory: Environment

10 Solar-Powered Designs to Charge Your Life
.....Mike Chino Inhabitat (25-Sep-11)
Solar technology has kept step with the pace of consumer tech; a set of devices will keep
your gadgets charged with clean, green energy anywhere the sun shines. Examples: iPhone cases
and energy-generating photovoltaic trees to hi-fi audio systems.

Subcategory: Environment

For Water, Gray Is the New Green
.....Wendy Culverwell  Sustainable Business Oregon (06-Sep-11)
Gray water systems reuse water from showers and washing machines, treat it and then pipe it
to toilets. Officials in Portland, Oregon finalize rules to legalize the use of gray water to
flush toilets and irrigate some landscapes.

Subcategory: Food

Coffee-Powered Car Breaks World Speed Record for Vehicle Powered by
Organic Material
.....Diane Pham Inhabitat (27-Sep-11)
Car is refitted with a `gasifier' and filters that turn waste coffee granules into energy.
Average speed off 66.5 mph breaks wood pellet record. The vehicle uses only waste coffee
beans that would have otherwise been thrown out if not salvaged.

Subcategory: Imaging

`Invisibility Cloak' Makes Tanks Look Like Cows
.....Mark Brown Wired (06-Sep-11)
Explains how Adaptiv uses a matrix of hexagonal "pixels" that can change their temperature
very rapidly can make a tank invisible. On-board cameras sweep the area to pick up the
background scenery and display that infra-red signature on the vehicle.

Subcategory: Materials

VIDEO: Print A New Liver
.....IMPO (08-Sep-11)
The field of regenerative medicine is moving from the realm of science fiction to science
fact. From fingers and ears to complex organs like livers or hearts, scientists are making
headway into growing human body parts in a laboratory. Video.

Microwave Ovens a Key to Energy Production from Wasted Heat
.....Oregon State University (20-Sep-11)
Simple microwave energy can be used to make a very promising group of compounds called
"skutterudites," and lead to greatly improved methods of capturing wasted heat and turning it
into useful electricity.

Subcategory: Miscellaneous

Bulletproof Human Skin
.....Product Design & Development (07-Sep-11)
Video. Insect wings to generate power; using GPS to detect nuclear tests; Mars rover Zinc
discovery; quadcopters to deliver food aid; bulletproof human skin; simulated asteroid space
mission.

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PATENTS

Subcategory: Government/ Approvals

Congress Revamps Patent System
.....Glenn Hess Chemical & Engineering News (15-Sep-11)
The patent legislation transitions the U.S. from the first-to-invent system of awarding
patents to the first-inventor-to-file approach used throughout Europe and Asia. Advocates say
the switch will simplify procedures and reduce litigation.

Subcategory: Regulatory/ Government

Biggest Overhaul of Patent System Since 1952 Passes Senate
.....Kathleen Hunter and Susan Decker Business Week (09-Sep-11)
Legislation, which culminates more than 6 years of negotiations and lobbying, covers every
step of the patent process, setting new procedures to review issued patents while curtailing
some litigation.

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PLATFORM TECHNOLOGIES

Subcategory: Cell Therapy

Scripps Research Team Overcomes Major Obstacle for Stem Cell Therapies
and Research
.....The Scripps Research Institute (08-Sep-11)
Specific combinations of sugars and proteins known as glycoproteins on stem cells are found
to reliably bind to certain lectins (plant-produced proteins). Understanding of this
connection led to better means for purifying cell mixtures.

Subcategory: Computing Systems

Video: Robots Take Over University's Classrooms
.....IMPO (28-Sep-11)
Engineering students coax their robotics creations to life, using batteries and, in the case
of a flying robot for military purposes, mind control. Other applications include finding
disaster victims, in land or under water.

Subcategory: Drug Discovery

Scripps Research Scientists Pinpoint Shape-Shifting Mechanism Critical to
Protein Signaling
.....The Scripps Research Institute (06-Sep-11)
Findings on structural detail of the various regions of the receptor involved in the changes
could help provide a much clearer picture of potential drugs that would be both effective and
highly specific in their biological actions.

Subcategory: Earth Science

The Cause of Earth's Largest Environmental Catastrophe
.....Stephan V. Sobolev, Alexander V. Sobolev, Dmitry V. Kuzmin et al. Helmholz Centre
.....Potsdam (14-Sep-11)
The eruption of giant masses of magma in Siberia 250 million years ago led to the
Permo-Triassic mass extinction when more than 90% of all species became extinct.

Where Does All the Gold Come From?
.....University of Bristol (07-Sep-11)
Precious metals are tens to thousands of times more abundant in the Earth's silicate mantle
than anticipated, due to Earth being hit by about 20 billion billion tons of asteroidal
material after the core formed.

Subcategory: E-Medicine

American Well Telehealth Platform Adds Biometric Remote Monitoring
.....Brian T. Horowitz eWeek (09-Sep-11)
Taking a patient's pulse, temperature, weight and blood pressure are the essential components
of any doctor's exam. Now doctors will be able to access this information over an
FDA-cleared gateway during a virtual exam.

Why mHealth Is the Holy Grail of Participatory Medicine
.....David Lee Scher Medtech Business (16-Sep-11)
MHealth has been utilized in underdeveloped countries for many years, due to the
inaccessibility of scarce healthcare resources as well as the widespread use of cell phones.
Scher gives 5 reasons why developed countries are now interested.

Subcategory: Environment

Photos of the Day: Japan's Air Engine Car
.....Product Design & Development (23-Sep-11)
By applying the technology of a compressor for car air conditioners, engineers create an
air-engine car. The 11.5 ft.-long tricycle car, empowered by compressed air expansion,
reached a maximum speed of 80 mph in tests.

Subcategory: Epigenetics

Salk Scientists Discover "Hidden" Code in DNA Evolves More Rapidly Than
Genetic Code
.....Salk Institute (15-Sep-11)
A "hidden" code linked to the DNA of plants allows them to develop and pass down new
biological traits far more rapidly than previously thought. First evidence that an organism's
"epigenetic" code can evolve more quickly than the genetic code.

Subcategory: Evolution Research

Woolly Mammoth's Secrets for Shrugging off Cold Points Toward New Artificial
Blood for Humans
.....American Chemical Society (14-Sep-11)
The hemoglobin that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body in the woolly
mammoth has mutations in its DNA that helped woolly mammoths survive freezing temperatures.

Scientists Take First Step Towards Creating `Inorganic Life'
.....University of Glasgow (12-Sep-11)
Researchers are trying to create self-replicating, evolving inorganic cells that would
essentially be alive, potentially defining the new area of `inorganic biology'. The cells
could potentially be used in all sorts of applications in medicine.

Subcategory: Materials

Get the Light, Beat the Heat
.....Aditi Risbud Berkeley News (06-Sep-11)
Based on electrochromic materials, which use a jolt of electric charge to tint a clear
window, a semiconductor nanocrystal coating material is capable of controlling heat from the
sun while remaining transparent.

Getting The Steel Out
.....Marc S. Reisch Chemical & Engineering News (26-Sep-11)
Automakers are increasingly looking to combine emission-limiting propulsion technologies with
stiff, lightweight carbon composite frames. Hope is to replace steel and aluminum in the
assembly of energy-efficient hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

Breaking In The New
.....Alexander H. Tullo Chemical & Engineering News (19-Sep-11)
Good reasons are needed to dislodge the standard resins (e.g. polyethylene, polypropylene,
polycarbonate) in favor of new, untested materials. Tullo describes new polymers, provides
table of material, company, applications.

Rice Unveils New Method to Grow Synthetic Collagen
.....Rice University (08-Sep-11)
New synthetic collagen material, which forms from a liquid in as little as an hour, has many
of the properties of natural collagen and may prove useful as a scaffold for regenerating new
tissues and organs from stem cells.

Gel Lets Doctors Fix Ruptured Blood Vessels without Sutures
.....Alla Katsnelson Technology Review (08-Sep-11)
A synthetic, temperature-sensitive gel could help surgeons reconnect blood vessels more
quickly, safely, and easily. Could also enable more complex robotic surgery as well as
minimally invasive surgery.

Subcategory: Monofluidics

Seeing Inside Tears
.....Erika Gebel Chemical & Engineering News (19-Sep-11)
Tears reveal more than just emotion: The salty drops may harbor signs of disease. Researchers
develop a speedy microfluidics-based assay that detects specific proteins in tears, which
could someday help doctors diagnose and treat eye diseases.

How Pathogens Fight Drugs
.....Lauren Gravitz Technology Review (23-Sep-11)
When attacked with antibiotics, bacteria can mutate rapidly in order to survive. Using a
novel type of microfluidics chip, researchers have shown that bacteria can develop
antibiotic resistance in less than 10 hours.

Subcategory: Nanotechnology

Why Carbon Nanotubes Spell Trouble for Cells
.....Richard Lewis Brown University (18-Sep-11)
The reason: Cells mistake them for spheres and try to engulf them. Once they start, cells
cannot reverse course, and complete ingestion never occurs. Researchers explain how cells
interact with carbon nanotubes, gold nanowires and asbestos fibers.

The Really Little Engine that Could
.....Taylor McNeil Product Design and Development (06-Sep-11)
The world's first single-molecule electric motor, a mere 1 nanometer across, is developed
with a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. Medical and engineering applications.
Submitted to Guiness World Records.

Subcategory: Neurology

Brain Scans Let Computer Reconstruct Movie Scenes
.....Malcolm Ritter Product Design & Development (23-Sep-11)
While volunteers watched movie clips, a scanner watched their brains. And from their brain
activity, a computer made rough reconstructions of what they viewed. Technique might help
stroke victims or others who have no other way to communicate.

Subcategory: Oncology

Plant Compound Reduces Breast Cancer Mortality
.....Koh German Cancer Research Center (12-Sep-11)
evidence shows that in postmenopausal breast cancer patients hormone-like plant compounds
called phytoestrogens lower the risk of developing metastasis or secondary tumors and dying
by up to 40%.

Subcategory: Personalized Medicine

A Family Learns the Secrets of Its Genomes
.....Emily Singer Technology Review (16-Sep-11)
First attempt to analyze the genome of a healthy family gives family members clues to their
future risk of disease, points to lifestyle changes that may help mitigate those risks, and
highlights the drugs that are most likely to help or harm them.

Subcategory: Proteomics

All Access Genome: New Study Explores Packaging of DNA
.....Arizona State University (22-Sep-11)
Discusses new insights into how nucelosomes wrap and unwrap, permitting regulatory proteins
to access, bind with and act on regions of DNA.  Mechanism behind generating essential
proteins, determining our physical traits, and sometimes causing disease.

Cheap, Simple Test Spots Protein-Protein Interactions
.....Erika Gebel Chemical & Engineering News (29-Aug-11)
A graphene oxide-based assay could provide chemists with an inexpensive means to detect
protein-protein interactions, thus improving discovery of peptide-based drug candidates.

Subcategory: Robotics

Biomimetic Millisystems Lab Robots
.....Product Design and Development (28-Sep-11)
Researchers harness the features of animal manipulation, locomotion, sensing, actuation,
mechanics, dynamics, and control strategies. Shown are a crawling roach and flying
ornithopters.

Subcategory: Tissue Engineering

Shaping Up: Controlling a Stem Cell's Form Can Determine Its Fate
.....Michael Baum National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (13-Sep-11)
Stem cells can be induced to develop into specific types of cells solely by controlling their
shape. The results may be important to the design of materials to induce the regeneration of
lost or damaged tissues in the body.

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RESEARCH ADVANCEMENTS

Subcategory: Cardiology/ Vascular Diseases

Designing Safer Bioprosthetic Heart Valves With CFD-PIV
.....Ahmad Falahatpisheh, Ph.D Manufacturing.net (08-Sep-11)
Describes heart valve designed to mimic the natural mitral valve. Goal is to aid in the
development and production of a safer, better bioprosthetic heart valve that help physicians
save more lives, and improve the quality of life for many others.

Subcategory: Dermatology

How Key Genes Cooperate to Make Healthy Skin
.....Paul Preuss Berkeley News (20-Sep-11)
Mutations in a single gene, the gene for the protein p63, cause numerous diseases and
malformations of the uppermost layer of skin (the epidermis) and other tissues. Implication
for addressing a wide range of skin disorders.

The Future of Skin
.....Rebecca Boyle Popsci (14-Sep-11)
Scientists are making several changes to human skin itself, turning it into a 21st century
interface. From conductive tattoos that turn skin into a human-machine communications device,
skin is getting plenty of upgrades. Photo gallery.

Subcategory: Geriatrics

Scientists Turn Back the Clock on Adult Stem Cells Aging
.....David Terraso, Kris Rebillot Georgia Tech (20-Sep-11)
Aging process for human adult stem cells, which are responsible for helping old or damaged
tissues regenerate, can be reversed. Could lead to medical treatments that may repair a host
of age-related ailments.

Is the `Longevity Gene' Nearing the End of Its Life?
.....Wellcome Trust (22-Sep-11)
Sirtuins, proteins believed to significantly increase lifespan in a number of organisms - and
the claimed target of some anti-ageing creams - do not, in fact, affect animal longevity,
according to new research

Subcategory: Immunology/ Infectious Diseases

Decoding the proteins behind drug-resistant superbugs
.....Louise Lerner Argonne National Laboratory (15-Sep-1)
Scientists have decoded the structure of a protein that confers drug resistance against our
best antibiotics. The work could provide the foundation for new treatments to fight emerging
drug-resistant superbugs.

Genetic Controller Prepares Immune System for Diverse Threats
.....Howard Hughes Medical Institute (11-Sep-11)
Scientists have identified a genetic regulator that controls the reshuffling of gene segments
that immune cells use to manufacture billions of distinct antibodies and
pathogen-recognizing receptors from a limited number of genes.

Scripps Research Team Discovers Treatable Mechanism Responsible for Often
Deadly Response to Flu
.....The Scripps Research institute (15-Sep-11)
Researchers find a novel mechanism called a "cytokine storm" by which certain viruses such as
influenza trigger a type of immune reaction that can severely sicken or kill those infected.
May lead to new treatments for sometimes fatal immune reaction.

Subcategory: Musculoskeletal

VIDEO: Meet The Leader Of The Bionic Age
.....IMPO (29-Sep-11)
A mountaineering accident cost professor both of his legs. Now he's trying to advance
technology not only for himself, but for the benefit of others by creating robotic
prosthetics that mimic the functions of real limbs, leading to a new bionic age.

Subcategory: Neurology

Mutations in Stress Response Gene Identified in Parkinson Disease
.....Genetic Engineering &  Biotechnology News (09-Sep-11)
The implicated gene, EIF4G1, was identified in all 10 blood-related affected family members
in France, but was absent in 146 unrelated control subjects from the same ethnic origin, and
in 370 unrelated North American controls of European descent.

Learn How to Think Different(ly)
.....Jeff Dyner, Hal Gregersen Harvard Businesss Review Blog (27-Sep-11)
It was Steve Jobs who jump-started the now-famous "Think Different" advertising campaign as a
way to inspire consumers. Research proves Jobs right: Innovators excel at connecting the
unconnected. They engage in associational thinking.

Serotonin Levels Affect the Brain's Response to Anger
.....Wellcome Trust (21-Sep-11)
Fluctuations of serotonin levels in the brain, which often occur when someone hasn't eaten or
is stressed, affect brain regions that enable people to regulate anger. Shows why some
individuals might be more prone to aggression.

Hedging Your Bets: How the Brain Makes Decisions Based on Related Information
.....Wellcome Trust (23-Sep-11)
When making decisions based on multiple, interdependent factors, we choose based on how these
factors correlate with each other and not using an ad hoc rule of thumb or through trial and
error, as was previously thought.

Subcategory: Oncology

Protein Prompting Cells to Sprout Legs Could Cause Skin Cancer to Spread
.....Cancer Research UK (14-Sep-11)
A protein called Rac1 prompts pigment cells to sprout long `legs' that could propel skin
cancer cells, allowing them to spread. Study shows how melanoma cells could re-learn how to
change shape, break away from a tumour and move around the body.

First Proof in Patients of an Improved "Magic Bullet" for Cancer Detection
and Radio-therapy
.....Salk Institute (12-Sep-11)
An investigational agent that sticks onto the surface of tumor cells without triggering
internalization (an "antagonist") may be safer and even more effective than agonists in
effectively imaging tumors.

Engineered Viruses Selectively Kill Cancer Cells
.....Alla Katsnelson Technology Review (31-Aug-11)
A single injection of a virus that has been genetically engineered to kill cancer cells can
reliably infect tumors and leave healthy tissue unharmed. Findings help lay the groundwork
for a new type of cancer medicine using cancer-killing viruses.

Scripps Research Scientists Reveal How White Blood Cell Promotes Growth and
Spread of Cancer
.....The Scripps Research Institute (31-Aug-11)
White blood cells known as neutrophils, found to promote the growth of new blood vessels in
normal, healthy tissue,are found to promotegrowth of new blood vessels in malignant tumors,
spread of those tumors through newly-formed vessels.

Subcategory: Reproduction

Fathers Wired to Provide Offspring Care
.....Hilary Hurd Anyaso Northwestern University (12-Sep-11)
Compellng evidence that human males are biologically wired to care for their offspring:
fatherhood lowers a man's testosterone levels. A man's biology can change substantially to
help meet needed emotional, psychological and physical adjustments.

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RESEARCH TOOLS

Subcategory: Computing Systems

IBM, WellPoint Developing Health Care Applications for Watson
.....Brian T. Horowitz eWeek (12-Sep-11)
IBM's Watson supercomputer will sort through large amounts of electronic health records
(EHRs) and unstructured medical data to help doctors and nurses provide recommendations on
treatment plans.

Subcategory: Earth Science

50-million-year-old Clam Shells Provide Indications of Future of El Nino Phenomenon
.....Institute for Polar and Marine Research (14-Sep-11)
Earth warming will presumably not lead to a permanent El Ni§o state in the South Pacific
Ocean, based on 50-million-year-old clam shells and wood from the Antarctic. History
resembles the present-day interplay of El Nino and La Nina.

Subcategory: Evolution Research

Penn Researchers Develop New Technique for Filling Gaps in Fossil Record
.....Penn News (19-Sep-11)
Cataloging the diversity of life on earth is challenging, and drawing a phylogeny (the
branching family tree of a group of species over their evolutionary history) is nearly
impossible. Describes new technique for analyzing phylogenies.

Subcategory: Health Gaming

Video Gamers Solve Microbiology Puzzle
.....Ian Douglas The Telegraph (19-Sep-11)
Scientists had been struggling to map the structure of M-PMV, a protein involved in a virus
that causes a form of simian Aids. The solution was found by players of an online puzzle
game, many of whom have no background in science.

Subcategory: Imaging

Iowa State Chemists Help Astronauts Make Sure Their Drinking Water Is Clean
.....Iowa State University (14-Sep-11)
A quick, accurate test that doesn't use up much drinking water or much astronaut time
replaces the previous way to test the space station's drinking water: sending samples back to
earth. Uses a cartridge and handheld spectrometer.

Subcategory: Lab-on-a-chip/ DNA Chips/ Microarray

Microbial Version without PCR
.....Lynn Yarris Berkeley News (21-Sep-11)
Millions of individual microbes representing more than a thousand different taxa can be found
in any given gram of soil. Researchers develop new and improved microarray techniques to
identify the most active of those microbes.

Subcategory: Microorganisms

Bacterial Acid Trips
.....Sarah Everts Chemical & Engineering News (07-Sep-11)
When you get food poisoning, the bacteria causing havoc in your intestines have first
navigated a rather treacherous journey through your acidic stomach. New technique developed
to study the bacterial coping mechanism.

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STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS

Subcategory: Food

FDA Establishes Foodborne Illness Outbreak Response Network
.....U.S. Food and Drug Administration (14-Sep-11)
The CORE Network is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team of epidemiologists, veterinarians,
microbiologists, environmental health specialists, emergency coordinators, and risk
communications specialists.

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