Articles By Marcus Johnson
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OIST Researchers Create Femtosecond Lasers Drug Delivery System
6/27/2014
Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology have announced that they’ve developed a new drug delivery system using femtosecond lasers. The OIST team used a laser to release a neurochemical that is considered dysfunctional in Parkinson’s Disease patients. The researchers said that the technology allowed for a repeatable and controlled drug delivery system.
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UT Researchers Find Supercomputing Beneficial For Drug Research
6/26/2014
University of Tennessee researchers are using supercomputing in order to investigate targets for drug research. An article published by computational biologist Sally Ellingson in the journal Molecular Simulation by a UT research team focused on polypharmacology, which examines how drugs interact with multiple targets throughout the body. The article was titled “Polypharmacology and supercomputer-based docking: opportunities and challenges,” and discussed the ways supercomputing could affect drug discovery and development.
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Vertex Announces Drug Combination Improves Lung Capacity Of CF Patients
6/26/2014
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which is based out of Boston, has announced that a combination of two drugs made some improvements to the lung capacity of patients with cystic fibrosis.
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Researchers Find New Mutations That Limit Heart Attacks
6/20/2014
According to research published by two independent groups in the New England Journal of Medicine, there are newly discovered mutations which limit heart attacks and have potential for drug discovery. Heart attacks and strokes are the leading cause of death on the planet, with 14 million people across the globe dying each year from one of the dangerous conditions.
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John Wiley & Sons Inc. Acquires SimBioSys
6/19/2014
John Wiley Sons Inc. has announced that it has acquired SimBioSys Inc. Wiley is a global provider of knowledge-based services that help improve research and professional outcomes. Wiley is particularly focused on areas such as science, technology, medicine, advertising, and database services.
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SLU's Center For World Health And Medicine Receives Grant To Treat Pediatric Diarrhea
6/19/2014
Saint Louis University’s Center for World Health and Medicine announced that it has received a grant for $3.13 million in order to develop therapies to treat pediatric diarrhea. The funds are part of a three year sub grant—a $15.6 million grant was awarded to PATH by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and SLU was awarded about one fifth of those funds. Pediatric diarrhea is a potentially dangerous condition and kills an estimated 600,000 young children and infants around the globe every year. The grant from the Gates Foundation was intended to support PATH research teams that are studying various anti-secretory drug targets in the gastrointestinal tract. The goal is to develop drug candidates to complement oral rehydration therapy.
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Furosemide Used To Eliminate Tinnitus In Animals
6/17/2014
Research conducted at the University of Western Australia and funded by the charity Action on Hearing Loss found that tinnitus could be eliminated by blocking signals between the ear and the brain. Tinnitus is a ringing of the ears which occurs in varying degrees and typically is associated with prolonged periods of enduring loud music or work environments. The condition can be extremely distressing with 1 in 10 people in the UK affected. Tinnitus can disrupt sleep cycles and work concentration and lead to depression.
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Ketamine Use For Treatment-Resistant Depression
6/17/2014
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have announced that they have made new strides in finding effective therapies for treatment-resistant depression. The researchers blocked the NMDA receptors in the brain with the ketamine drug, which caused antidepressant results in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Although ketamine has become notorious as an abused street drug, it was initially developed as an anesthetic. However, ketamine can produce unwanted side effects in patients, such as hallucinations and addiction to the drug.
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Malaria Drug Could Be Used To Treat Breast Cancer
6/17/2014
Researchers at Georgetown University have found that an anti-malaria drug can be used to treat Tamoxifen resistant breast cancer. The drug, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), is cheap and commonly used to treat malaria. When HCQ is used to treat Tamoxifen resistant breast cancer in combination with the Tamoxifen drug, the breast cancer’s resistance to Tamoxifen is reversed. The results of the research were published in the June edition of Clinical Cancer Research.
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2-PMAP Compound Could Be Foundation Of Alzheimer's Prevention Drug
6/9/2014
A research team led by Dr. Martin J. Sadowski of New York University’s Langone Medical Center has identified a new compound which researchers believe could be the foundation of a new Alzheimer’s prevention drug. The compound is called 2-PMAP, and in animal studies, the drug lowered the levels of amyloid proteins associated with Alzheimer’s by 50 percent or more.