Takeda Initiates Phase 3 Trial For Lung Cancer Drug

Takeda Bio Development Center Limited, will evaluate motesanib in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Motesanib (development code: AMG 706) is an investigational, orally administered small molecule antagonist of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1, 2, and 3, platelet-derived growth factor receptors, and stem cell factor receptor.

Source: http://www.asianscientist.com/tech-pharma/takeda-initiates-phase-3-trial-motesanib-nsclc-2012/

Ground-breaking windpipe-transplant child 'doing well'

The first child to have pioneering surgery to rebuild his windpipe with his own stem cells is doing well and is back in school.

Instead of growing a new windpipe, they took a donor windpipe and stripped it of all the donor's cells. What was left was a three-dimensional web of collagen fibres which was transplanted into Ciaran. Meanwhile, stem cells, which can become any other type of cell, from nerve to skin cells, were taken from Ciaran's bone marrow. These were then sprayed onto the newly transplanted windpipe. The surgery had been tried once before in Spain, in 2008, on a 30-year-old woman, but Ciaran was the first child.

Surgeon, Prof Martin Birchall, speaking in 2010: "It could replace transplantation"
He has been monitored for the past two years and the details have been published in the Lancet.

Bron: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18980915

New drug candidate shows promise against cancer

Lippard is senior author of a paper describing the new drug candidate, known as phenanthriplatin, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Lead author is postdoc Ga Young Park; other authors are graduate student Justin Wilson and postdoc Ying Song.

One reason for the efficacy of phenanthriplatin is that it can get into cancer cells more easily than cisplatin, Lippard says. Previous studies have shown that platinum compounds containing carbon can pass through specific channels, found in abundance on cancer cells, that allow positively charged organic compounds to enter. Another reason is the ability of phenanthriplatin to inhibit transcription, the process by which cells convert DNA to RNA in the first step of gene expression.

Another advantage of phenanthriplatin is that it seems to be able to evade some of cancer cells’ defenses against cisplatin. Sulfur-containing compounds found in cells, such as glutathione, can attack platinum and destroy it before it can reach and bind to DNA. However, phenanthriplatin contains a bulky three-ring attachment that appears to prevent sulfur from inactivating the platinum compounds as effectively.

Luigi Marzilli, a professor of chemistry at Louisiana State University, says the new compound appears to be very promising. “It expands the utility of platinum drugs and avoids some of the problems that existing drugs have,” says Marzilli, who was not part of the research team.

The researchers are now conducting animal tests to determine how the drug is distributed throughout the body, and how well it kills tumors. Depending on the results, they may be able to modify the compound to improve those properties, Lippard says.


Source: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/platinum-cancer-drug-candidate-0711.html

Man and robot linked by brain scanner - Avatar

Robot avatars have got a step closer to being the real world doubles of those who are paralysed or have locked-in-syndrome. Scientists have made a robot move on a human's behalf by monitoring thoughts about movement, reports New Scientist.

Mirror test
The research project connected a robot to a man having his brain scanned using fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging). This monitors blood flowing through the brain and can spot when areas associated with certain actions, such as movement, are in use.

The next step for the research is to refine it to use a different type of scanning that can work using a skull cap rather than an fMRI machine that a person has to lie in. The robot used to represent a human is to be upgraded to a version that has a similar stature and gait to a real person.

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Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18721658
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528725.900-robot-avatar-body-controlled-by-thought-alone.html

Related stories:
A Real-Time fMRI-Based Spelling Device Immediately Enabling Robust Motor-Independent Communication
Research from the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands.

Summary: fMRI-based spelling device for potential communication with locked-in patients ► Each letter of the alphabet can be hemodynamically encoded by a single mental process ► Evoked single-trial fMRI responses can be decoded in real time with high accuracy ► Requires almost zero pretraining; methods can be readily used at standard MRI sites.

3D-printed sugar network to help grow artificial liver

Researchers have moved a step closer to creating a synthetic liver, after a US team created a template for blood vessels to grow into, using sugar.
Dr Jordan Miller from the lab of the lead scientist, Dr Christopher Chen, at the University of Pennsylvania, told BBC News: "The big challenge in understanding how to grow large artificial tissue is how to keep all the cells alive in these engineered tissues, because when you put a lot of cells together, they end up taking nutrients and oxygen from neighbouring cells and end up suffocating and dying

So a group of scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) decided to build a synthetic vascular system that would serve the same purpose

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18677627

Remote crowdworking

As connectivity and technology mean the barriers to outsourcing are beginning to almost disappear entirely, outsourcing is graduating into another trend that is changing how we treat repetitive human work. Crowdworking is growing, fast. Ville Miettinen, chief executive of "human powered document processing" service Microtask, says business at his crowdworking company is increasing at around 400% year-on-year - and his experience is typical of the wider industry.

Heaphy Project
Willow Garage is a robotics company based in California. It pioneers the use of human-in-the-loop systems - that is, actions which robots can't quite manage on their own, but with a simple piece of human intervention can finish the job. By using Mechanical Turk, Amazon's crowdworking platform which allows workers all over the world to remotely carry out small tasks for small cash rewards. Its Heaphy Project is a system which allows a person to control a robot remotely using just a web browser.

Microtask's Mr Miettinen offers a massive workforce available at a company's beck and call without the hassle. "The individual tasks are really small," Mr Miettinen explains. "It can be just a single word out of a document. They're not seeing the entire page, they don't know what the rest of the page contains, and they also don't know who else is working on it." It means several people, in several continents, can all collaborate to process one individual form.

Paralysed rats 'learn to walk'

An injury to the spinal cord stops the brain controlling the body. The study, in the journal Science, showed injured rats could even learn to sprint with spinal stimulation.

Experts said it was an "exceptional study" and that restoring function after paralysis "can no longer be dismissed as a pipedream".

In 2011, a man from Oregon in the US was able to stand up again while his spinal cord was stimulated with electricity. Rob Summers had been paralysed from the chest down after being hit by a car.

Now researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) say they have restored far more movement in rats which became able to run and climb stairs. The spinal cord of the rats was cut in two places. It meant messages could not travel from the brain to the legs, but the spinal cord was still in one piece.

The lead researcher, Prof Gregoire Courtine, said: "Over time the animal regains the capacity to perform one, two steps, then a long run and eventually we gain the capacity to sprint over ground, climb stairs and even pass obstacles."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18257077

Robotic arm controlled by a paralyzed woman’s mind

Cathy Hutchinson suffered from a stroke many years ago that left her debilitated and unable to move and talk. But a group of researchers led by neurologist and engineer Leigh Hochberg of Brown University is about to change all of that. “When the woman with the brain stem stroke reached out for that thermos of coffee and put it in her mouth and then she put it back down, the smile on her face was remarkable,” Hochberg said. Hochberg directs the BrainGate2 clinical trial, an ongoing test of the BrainGate system funded in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.


Researchers connected the 58-year-old woman’s brain to a computer that runs a robotic arm. With a 4-millimeter wide brain-implanted chip, the system conducts signals from motion-controlling neurons to a computer that decodes the signals and turns them into software commands. For the researchers to map a person’s neural activity to the robotic arm’s movement, they moved the arm while asking the participants to imagine themselves controlling it.

Once the scientists had taught the computer which patterns would normally make a participant’s arm reach out for a bottle of drink, they hardwired them as the command for the robot arm to do the same thing, but with the signal coming directly from the participant’s brain as they imagined holding the bottle and bringing it near to their mouth for drinking. The researchers are hoping to make the system smaller, stable and wireless in the future so that people with brain injuries and physical disorders can use it.

Robotic limbs or extensions can help us in many ways. This woman who completed the London Marathon using a ReWalk Exoskeleton is a great example.

Source: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/05/robotic-arm-controlled-by-a-paralyzed-womans-mind/

Teleportation record heralds secure global network

The distance record for quantum teleportation has been smashed. Juan Yin and colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui, teleported a quantum state 97 kilometres, 81 km further than the previous record.

Yin's team entangle photons – which links their properties even when the photons are separated. Then they beam one photon from each entangled pair to a point A and the other to B.

When a photon is changed at A, the particle at B also changes. No information passes from A to B, but the photon change can be used to partially encode quantum bits, called qubits. Rather like a letter that can't be opened, these can only be reconstructed at B using additional data communicated conventionally from point A, so information is not being sent faster than light.

Teleportation is ultra-secure as there are no photons travelling through space to intercept. The next step would be to teleport with a satellite, for global teleportation, says team member Yuao Chen. That might even lead to a quantum internet.

"This is a very nice piece of work," says Michael Biercuk of the Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems at the University of Sydney, who was not involved in the work.

Source: New Scientist arxiv.org/abs/1205.2024

Light-powered bionic eye invented to help restore sight

A retinal implant - or bionic eye - which is powered by light has been invented by scientists at Stanford University in California. Implants currently used in patients need to be powered by a battery.

The new device, described in the journal Nature Photonics, uses a special pair of glasses to beam near infrared light into the eye.

Retinal implants stimulate the nerves in the back of the eye, which has helped some patients to see. Early results of a trial in the UK mean two men have gone from being totally blind to being able to perceive light and even some shapes.

However, as well as a fitting a chip behind the retina, a battery needs to be fitted behind the ear and a cable needs to join the two together.

Prof Robert MacLaren from Oxford Eye Hospital explains how a bionic eye implant works
The Stanford researchers say their method could be a step forward by "eliminating the need for complex electronics and wiring".

A pair of glasses fitted with a video camera records what is happening before a patient's eyes and fires beams of near infrared light on to the retinal chip. This creates an electrical signal which is passed on to nerves. Natural light is 1,000 times too weak to power the implant.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18061174

BBC News - Stem cell shield 'could protect cancer patients'

It may be possible to use "stem cell shielding" to protect the body from the damaging effects of chemotherapy, early results from a US trial suggest.

Chemotherapy drugs try to kill rapidly dividing cancer cells, but they can also affect other healthy tissues such as bone marrow. A study, in Science Translational Medicine, used genetically modified stem cells to protect the bone marrow.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle, said these effects were "a major barrier" to using chemotherapy and often meant the treatment had to be stopped, delayed or reduced.

'Protective shields'
They have tried to protect the bone marrow in three patients with a type of brain cancer, glioblastoma.

One of the researchers, Dr Jennifer Adair, said: "This therapy is analogous to firing at both tumour cells and bone marrow cells, but giving the bone marrow cells protective shields while the tumour cells are unshielded."

The researchers said the three patients had all lived longer than the average survival time of 12 months for the cancer. They said one patient was still alive 34 months after treatment.

Cancer Research UK scientist Prof Susan Short said: "This is a very interesting study and a completely new approach to protecting normal cells during cancer treatment.

"It needs to be tested in more patients but it may mean that we can use temozolomide [a chemotherapy drug] for more brain tumour patients than we previously thought. "This approach could also be a model for other situations where the bone marrow is affected by cancer treatment."

Source: BBC News - Stem cell shield 'could protect cancer patients'

BBC News - MirageTable: Microsoft presents augmented reality device

Microsoft has shown off an augmented reality system that allows users at different locations to work together on tabletop activities, sharing objects which they can both handle.

The MirageTable was demonstrated at a conference in Austin, Texas and is outlined on the firm's research site.


Source: BBC News - MirageTable: Microsoft presents augmented reality device

BBC News - Magnetic bacteria may help build future bio-computers

Magnet-making bacteria may be building biological computers of the future, researchers have said.

A team from the UK's University of Leeds and Japan's Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have used microbes that eat iron. As they ingest the iron, the microbes create tiny magnets inside themselves, similar to those in PC hard drives.

"We are quickly reaching the limits of traditional electronic manufacturing as computer components get smaller," said lead researcher Dr Sarah Staniland of the University of Leeds. "The machines we've traditionally used to build them are clumsy at such small scales. "Nature has provided us with the perfect tool to [deal with] this problem."


Biological wires

Besides using microorganisms to produce magnets, the researchers also managed to create tiny electrical wires from living organisms.  Tubes could in future be used as microscopic bio-engineered wires, capable of transferring information - just like cells do in our bodies - inside a computer, Dr Masayoshi Tanaka from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.

Source: BBC News - Magnetic bacteria may help build future bio-computers

BBC News - Range of brain diseases could be treated by single drug

The tantalising prospect of treating a range of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, all with the same drug, has been raised by UK researchers. In a study, published in Nature, they prevented brain cells dying in mice with prion disease.


Many neuro-degenerative diseases result in the build-up of proteins which are not put together correctly - known as misfolded proteins. This happens in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's as well as in prion diseases, such as the human form of mad cow disease. Researchers at the University of Leicester uncovered how the build-up of proteins in mice with prion disease resulted in brain cells dying. They showed that as misfolded protein levels rise in the brain, cells respond by trying to shut down the production of all new proteins.

It is the same trick cells use when infected with a virus. Stopping production of proteins stops the virus spreading. However, shutting down the factory for a long period of time ends up killing the brain cells as they do not produce the proteins they actually need to function. The team at the Medical Research Council laboratory in Leicester then tried to manipulate the switch which turned the protein factory off. When they prevented cells from shutting down, they prevented the brain dying. The mice then lived significantly longer.


Prof Giovanna Mallucci told the BBC: "The novelty here is we're just targeting the protein shut-down, we're ignoring the prion protein and that's what makes it potentially relevant across the board."



Source: BBC News - Range of brain diseases could be treated by single drug

BBC News - Curry's ability to fight cancer put to the test

A chemical found in curry is to be tested for its ability to kill bowel cancer tumours in patients. Curcumin, which is found in the spice turmeric, has been linked to a range of health benefits.

Studies have already shown that it can beat cancer cells grown in a laboratory and benefits have been suggested in stroke and dementia patients as well.

Forty patients at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital will take part in the trial, which will compare the effects of giving curcumin pills seven days before starting standard chemotherapy treatment. Prof William Steward, who is leading the study, said animal tests combining the two were "100 times better" than either on their own and that had been the "major justification for cracking on" with the trial.

Souce: BBC News - Curry's ability to fight cancer put to the test

BBC News - Two blind British men have electronic retinas fitted

Two British men who have been totally blind for many years have had part of their vision restored after surgery to fit pioneering eye implants.

They are able to perceive light and even some shapes from the devices which were fitted behind the retina.

The men are part of a clinical trial carried out at the Oxford Eye Hospital and King's College Hospital in London. Professor Robert MacLaren and Mr Tim Jackson are leading the trial.


Prof MacLaren said the results might not seem extraordinary to the sighted, but for a totally blind person to be able to orientate themselves in a room, and perhaps know where the doors and windows are, would be "extremely useful" and of practical help.

In 2010 a Finnish man who received the experimental chip was able to identify letters, but his implant worked only in a laboratory setting, whereas the British men's devices are portable. The implant was developed by a German company, Retina Implant AG.

Source: BBC News - Two blind British men have electronic retinas fitted

Michael Jordan - Why I succeed

"Our willingness to fail gives us the ability and opportunity to succeed where others may fear to tread."


“I've missed more than 
9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."


—Michael Jordan

BBC News - Way to spot breast cancer years in advance

A genetic test could help predict breast cancer many years before the disease is diagnosed, experts hope. Ultimately the findings, in the journal Cancer Research, could lead to a simple blood test to screen women, they say. The test looks for how genes are altered by environmental factors like alcohol and hormones - a process known as epigenetics.

One in five women is thought to have such a genetic "switch" that doubles breast cancer risk.
And they found a strong link between breast cancer risk and molecular modification of a single gene called ATM, which is found on white blood cells.

Baroness Delyth Morgan of the Breast Cancer Campaign, which funded the work, said: "By piecing together how this happens, we can look at ways of preventing the disease and detecting it earlier to give people the best possible chance of survival."

Laura Bell of Cancer Research UK said: "This study gives us a fascinating glimpse of the future and the promise that the emerging field of epigenetics holds. But it's too early to say exactly how these particular changes might affect our ability to detect who is likely to develop certain types of cancer.

"With further studies, scientists will increase our knowledge of how genetic switches like this interplay together to affect breast cancer risk, with the hope that one day this could lead to a blood test that could help predict a woman's chance of getting the disease."

Source: BBC News - Way to spot breast cancer years in advance

BBC News - 'Brake gene' turned off in pancreatic cancer

Aggressive pancreatic tumours may be treatable with a new class of drugs, according to Cancer Research UK.

A study, published in the journal Nature, showed that a gene was being switched off in the cancerous cells. Studies in mice showed that a gene called USP9x, which normally stops a cell from dividing uncontrollably, is switched off in some pancreatic cancer cells. The gene is not mutated, but other proteins and chemicals become stuck to it and turn the gene off.

Studies then showed that UPS9x was being turned off in human pancreatic cancer. Prof David Tuveson, from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, said: "We suspected that the fault wasn't in the genetic code at all, but in the chemical tags on the surface of the DNA that switch genes on and off, and by running more lab tests we were able to confirm this. "Drugs which strip away these tags are already showing promise in lung cancer and this study suggests they could also be effective."

Dr David Adams, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: "This study strengthens our emerging understanding that we must also look into the biology of cells to identify all the genes that play a role in cancer."

Source: BBC News - 'Brake gene' turned off in pancreatic cancer

Self-cleaning coating gets tough

Chemists have devised a better method of coating fabrics with a water-repellent, "self-cleaning" coating.

Super-hydrophobic surfaces have fascinated scientists for years; they are behind the lotus plant's self-cleaning leaves and the gecko's super-dry and thus super-sticky feet.

These surfaces are practically impossible to wet - water beads on them and dirt and particulates do not stick to them, leading to the self-cleaning description. Chemists looking for the next best thing in clothing coatings have tried several tricks in recent years to create a coating with similar properties in the laboratory. Uncoated fibres (top) and fibres coated with multiple layers of silica nanoparticles - the same stuff as sand

The new work hinges on what is known as layer-by-layer self-assembly - basically dipping a fabric into a solution over and over again to deposit multiple layers on it.


The team from the Australian Future Fibres Research and Innovation Centre at Deakin University made their solution with tiny particles of silica.

Source: BBC News - Stain-shedding coating gets tough