Category Archives: BioEngineering

The World Health Organisations (WHO) battle against polio has a new weapon after joining forces with Vaxxas, the biotechnology company responsible for developing revolutionary vaccine delivery method the Nanopatch. WHO will undertake a research collaboration with Vaxxas, a start-up company that spun out from The University of Queensland. The collaboration will evaluate Nanopatchs use as a platform for delivery of polio vaccine and WHO may subsequently elect to fund clinical demonstrations. The Nanopatch was invented at UQs Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) by Professor Mark Kendall, and aims to replace traditional needle and syringe vaccine delivery methods with a small patch. It features thousands of small projections designed to deliver the vaccine painlessly to the skin. We are delighted to be collaborating with WHO, applying the Nanopatch to help deliver effective polio vaccines to the areas that need them most, said Professor Kendall, Vaxxas Founder and Chief Technology Officer. This project helps realise key advantages of the Nanopatch over the needle and syringe. While the traditional needle and syringe delivers the vaccine to the muscle, the Nanopatch targets the abundant immune cells under the skin, increasing its effectiveness. Furthermore, the Nanopatch doesnt need to be kept refrigerated to … Continue reading →

Synthetic biology is poised to change everything from energy development to food production to medicine but theres a bottleneck looming.How fast things develop depends on the number of people developing things. Lets face it: there arent that many biocoders. Not in the universities, not in industry, not in the DIY sector. Not enough to change the world, at any rate. We have to ramp up. And that means we first must train teachers and define biocoding curricula. Not at the university level try secondary, maybe even primary schools. That, of course, is a challenge. To get kids interested in synthetic biology, we have to do just that: get them interested. More to the point, get them jacked. Biocoding is incredibly exciting stuff, but that message isnt getting across. Students thinkscience and engineering is removed from daily life, says Natalie Kuldell, an instructor of biological engineering at MIT. We have to get them engaged, and connected to science and engineering more specifically, bioengineering in meaningful ways. As Kuldell sees it, thats a bipartite project. The first priority is creating curricula that are both comprehensive and compelling. Kuldell is doing just that through BioBuilder, a foundation she established with a broad array … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Mickey Ising, a student at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and a two-time graduate of the UofL J.B. Speed School of Engineering, is one of 21 fourth-year medical students throughout the nation to earn an American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation Physicians of Tomorrow Award. Ising was selected to receive this $10,000 national scholarship recognizing academic achievement. After graduating from Elizabethtown (Ky.) High School in 2005, he earned both bachelors and masters degrees in bioengineering at UofL. He works at the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute at the UofL Health Sciences Center developing and evaluating medical devices and novel therapeutic techniques. Ising has authored eight manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals and is vice president of the UofL School of Medicine Class of 2015. Recipients were nominated by their medical schools and chosen based upon academic achievement and financial need. The AMA Foundation has awarded over $61 million in scholarships to deserving medical students since 1950. The AMA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt foundation, is dedicated to improving public health by raising funds and providing philanthropic support to high-impact health and medical scholarship programs. Visit http://www.amafoundation.orgto join the AMA Foundation in improving … Continue reading →

After a week of waiting, The Grove removed the mold from sophomore bioengineering major Sarah NeCamps dorm. Grove upper management said that the unit had been treated by a professional abatement company Sept. 12. NeCamp was given a new room the following day something she had requested before the mold problem was reported. They came in and painted over ityou cant tell that anything was there, NeCamp said. NeCamp previously reported that she and her two roommates had become sick because of the mold. Our goal is to do whatever we can to ensure our residents have a safe and comfortable living environment, and we will continue to respond to any and all issues in a timely and responsible manner, said Jason Chudoba, a public relations representative forThe Grove. Photo courtesy of Sarah NeCamp Continued here: The Grove cleans up mold in student room … Continue reading →

Bioengineering Pesticide Resistance Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/ . Make your own animated videos and animated presentations for free. PowToon is a free tool that allows you to develop... By: Abby Viers … Continue reading →

It has been five days since sophomore bioengineering major and Grove resident Sarah NeCamp reported mold in her room, but Grove management still has not taken care of the problem. The Cardinal received this response yesterday from Campus Crest regarding NeCamps room: It is true that the resident you mention reported an issue with her unit on Monday, September 8th and we had a professional abatement company treat her unit the next day, Tuesday, September 9th. To ensure the issue was properly addressed, the same company conducted an inspection the next day as well. We take every resident complaint very seriously and work to address any reported issues in a timely manner. As we have mentioned in the past, our residents safety and well-being is our top priority. But NeCamp said the mold is still there. I dont know what they meant when they said they treated it on Tuesday, she said.Its still there, though, and I dont know when theyre going to get rid of it.I appreciate the effort The Grove has put forward to correct the problems theyre facing, and I understand that they are under a lot of stress. However, it is also stressful for me to … Continue reading →

Stem Cell Bioengineering - Ali Khademhosseini Source - http://serious-science.org/videos/1262 Harvard Prof. Ali Khademhosseini on cells' environment, gene circuits, and directing differentiation. By: SeriousScience … Continue reading →

You like soft and chewy. He likes thin and crispy. If only there were a way to bake chocolate chip cookies to please everyone. There is! And, no, it's not Martha Stewart's way. It's science. We've taken our cues from a few spots: a bioengineering grad student named Kendra Nyberg, who co-taught a class at the University of California, Los Angeles called Science and Food, and chef and cookbook author Tessa Arias, who writes about cookie science on her site, Handle the Heat. There's also an illuminating TEDEd animation on cookie science. And if you really want to go nuts (or no nuts, your call), Serious Eats offers 21 painstakingly tested steps for the "Perfect Cookie," including kneading times and chocolate prep techniques. "Even though I can describe what I like," says Nyberg, "I didn't know the role of each ingredient in the texture and shape of cookies." So she looked into it as only a scientist can. Here, relying on the experts' help and the classic Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, OZY presents no-fail tips for baking your perfect cookie. (You're welcome.) Ooey-gooey: Add 2 cups more flour. A nice tan: Set the oven higher than 350 … Continue reading →

Since Vermont passed the nations first mandatory GMO labeling law in Apriland Connecticut and Maine followed with passage of similar laws that would take effect if other states climb onboard the anti-GMO bandwagonindustry has pushed back with a court challenge to prevent Vermont, or other individual states, from requiring such labeling. At this point, it is uncertain whether the Vermonts law will survive judicial review, In the meantime, it remains imperative for all of the food production and food processing industry to renew its efforts to educate the public on the scienceand safetyof bioengineering. GMO labeling laws stem from one primary source: the publics distrust and paranoia about the science and applications of bioengineering. Period. Its not about some right to know groundswell. Thats the talking point activist groups have developed to convince otherwise unaware consumers that their rights are being violated. We know from mountains of research that only about one-third of consumers actively read the labels that already provide an extensive amount of product and nutritional information. Is it really a critical issue requiring legislative action to add more information to food packaging that two-thirds of people ignore? Of course not. Whats driving the GMO labeling push is … Continue reading →

The future of Bioengineering and introduction-suryakant Bioengineering is the application of the life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and engineering principles to define and solve problems in biology, me... By: Bioengineer … Continue reading →