Category Archives: BioEngineering

A landmark internationalstudy involving University of Queensland researchers has discovered how human and mammal cells develop specialised functions. UQs Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Associate Professor Christine Wells said the FANTOM5 consortium research would help scientists better understand human development disorders and how bodies respond to stress or infection. Human life begins from a single fertilised egg which divides repeatedly to form all the different types of cells a body requires to function, Dr Wells said. The FANTOM5 (Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome ) team appears to have uncovered a key part of the puzzle about how cells differentiate to perform different functions and develop into more specialised cell types, such as brain cells, blood cells or muscle cells. The team showed that when cells turn on new genes, this process starts from enhancer regions, a type of DNA switch and key regulatory elements throughout the genome. We knew enhancers played a role in development, but this research shows they are much more dynamic than initially thought, and are responsible for activating a cell to react to its environment, Dr Wells said. The research examined 19 human cell types and 14 mouse cell types and showed that the … Continue reading →

Researchers have begun a study into the causes of concussion in rugby with the possibility of learning how the number of head injuries in the game could be reduced. Dr Ciaran Simms of Trinity College Dublins Centre for Bioengineering said the four-year study would look at concussive injuries at the elite level of the game to determine how the injuries tend to occur. It comes amid criticism of Wales for the manner in which one of its star players, George North, continued to play on during last week-ends loss to England in the Six Nations despite two separate blows to the head. There have also been growing concerns at schools level regarding head injuries, including a recent British Medical Journal report which claimed that rugby sidesteps many safeguards intended to ensure pupil well-being. The research is being conducted by Gregory Tierney along with Dr Simms and got under way in September. It is being conducted in collaboration with the Oslo Sports Trauma Centre, Leinster Rugby, and the IRFU. Dr Simms said the researchers were now seeking ethical approval from the Faculty of Health Sciences at Trinity to use video evidence of head injuries on rugby fields, ideally from different angles, … Continue reading →

Livermore, CA (PRWEB) February 11, 2015 Today, the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation announced finalists for the 2015 class of Hertz Fellows. The Foundation was created by entrepreneur John Hertz to inspire and invest in the future of scientific exploration by providing resources and academic freedom to young minds. The Foundation funds graduate education for leaders in the fields of applied physical, biological and engineering sciences and encourages its awardees to pursue science for the public good. These 50 students are smart, creative and innovative, said Jay Davis, PhD, Hertz Foundation President. They rose to the top in a pool of 800 applicants and no doubt will use their time in graduate school to pursue groundbreaking scientific discoveries. While we will choose only a select few for the Hertz Fellowship, each of these finalists is worthy of acclaim. Each Fellowship consists of up to 5 years of academic fiscal support valued at $250,000 and research freedom at a participating graduate institution in the United States. Finalists represent many of the top public and private universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and the University of California, Berkeley. Finalists will now participate in an in-depth … Continue reading →

Wouldnt it be great if you could break the mold and give your special someone something other than Roses for Valentines Day? Research being done atRevolution Bioengineeringmay allow you to do just that. Revolution Bioengineering is a new biotech company in Fort Collins, CO that is working on building aPetunia Circadia, a flower that changes color throughout the day. The petunia will be developed using synthetic biology. There are exciting opportunities available right now in horticulture and floriculture to develop GM flowers, said Dr. Nickolai Braun, member of the Revolution Bioengineering Team. Developing consumer biotechnology for the average consumer (80 million US households garden, ~70% of USA) allows people to become more familiar with this technology. In arecent press release,Dr. Braun outlined the science behind the project -Plants have circadian rhythms: cyclical expression ofgenes throughout the day. This allows them to start photosynthesis when the sun comes up or releasefragrance in the evening when their pollinators are active. Petunia Circadia will harness this internal clock to regulate flower color, resulting in a flower that changes color over approximately twelve hours. In a recent interviewwith the Silicon Republic, Keira Havens,CEO of Revolution Bioengineering, stated It is their hope that once they … Continue reading →

Department of Bioengineering, Rice University- Expanding Research in Bioengineering The bioengineering department of Rice University is expanding their department with focuses in systems and synthetic biology, multi-scale optical imaging, an... By: WebsEdgeEducation … Continue reading →

Tube Rotator Bioengineering Lab NTUA A Tube Rotator designed and manufactured in the Bioengineering Lab of National Technical University of Athens. By: Tube Rotator K3-2014 NTUA … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise NIBIB-funded researchers have developed a novel 3D vaccine that could provide a more effective way to harness the immune system to fight cancer as well as infectious diseases. The vaccine spontaneously assembles into a scaffold once injected under the skin and is capable of recruiting, housing, and manipulating immune cells to generate a powerful immune response. The vaccine was recently found to be effective in delaying tumor growth in mice. This vaccine is a wonderful example of applying biomaterials to new questions and issues in medicine, says David Mooney, Ph.D., a professor of bioengineering at Harvard University in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, whose lab developed the vaccine. The project was co-led by Jaeyun Kim, Ph.D. and Aileen Li, a doctoral student in the Mooney lab. Their findings were published in the December 8, 2014 issue of Nature Biotechnology. Cancer vaccines Cancer cells are generally ignored by the immune system. This is becausefor the most partthey more closely resemble cells that belong in the body than pathogens, such as bacterial cells or viruses. The goal of cancer vaccines is to provoke the immune system to recognize cancer cells as foreign … Continue reading →

Professor Griff ZaZa Ali NMEMINDZ: Artificial Intelligence; BioEngineering 2.0 Please join Professor Griff and ZaZa Ali this Thursday Jan 29th as we dive into the current reality growing science of Artificial Intelligence. What is Bio... By: Dawt Maasax Yisrael Ankhenaten Dejen … Continue reading →

Feedback in Bioengineering ACS2241 Project group 1. By: Thomas Boyd … Continue reading →

An international multi-million dollar grant will support a University of Queensland researchers attempts crack a 90-year old mystery around the detailed biology of cancer cells. The Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF) Laureate Research Grant will provide $AUD8.6 million over seven years for Professor Lars Nielsen, from UQs Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, to develop complex computational models of cell metabolism. The research aims to understand why cancer cells and other fast-growing cells produce lactate. This could lead to better and cheaper cancer therapies. UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Hj said the award would allow Professor Nielson to bring together a team of researchers at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability in Copenhagen. This fellowship is granted to outstanding scientists undertaking groundbreaking biomedicine and biotechnology research, and is one of only two such competitive grants awarded worldwide each year Professor Hj said. It will allow Professor Nielsen to extend theinfluence of his work, which potentially will benefitpeople globally, by advancing knowledge of cancer cell development. Professor Nielsen hopes to build a detailed model of how cancer cells and other fast-growing cells produce lactic acid, an observation first made by German biochemist Otto Warburg in 1924. Ultimately we are trying … Continue reading →