A new awareness campaign warns of the dangers of improper cooling and handling of laboratory samples.

Mill Valley, California: Scientists working with laboratory samples are accustomed to having to control for many variables, but a new awareness campaign led by biotechnology firm BioCision aims to reduce deterioration of samples as a result of another potential threat in the lab--inconsistent sample temperature during cooling and handling.

The campaign, called Scientists Against Sample Abuse (SASA), takes a humorous approach to a serious issue that’s garnering more attention recently within the scientific community.

Researchers have produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a safe vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.

In their study, published Jan. 4 in the online edition of Molecular Therapy and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the researchers say this novel strategy might be the first to offer cocaine addicts a fairly simple way to break and reverse their habit, and it might also be useful in treating other addictions, such as to nicotine, heroin and other opiates.

Now Dr. Bart Legutki, a researcher at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has pioneered a method for profiling the immune system, using clues provided by antibody activity to track an individual’s state of health. The work was done in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Albert Johnston, director of the Institute’s Center for Innovations in Medicine.

This brief discussion of how to take the next steps in Alzheimer's prevention and treatment is hosted by Terry Moran of ABC Nightline, as part of the Rock Stars of Science series. The discussion revolves around the path forward for idea sharing, the need for funding commitments that are longer then 5 years, and logistics behind pairing research insights with clinical trials.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy and Karolinska Institutet have used novel technology to reveal the different genetic patterns of neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. This discovery may lead to significant advances in the treatment of this malignant disease, which mainly affects small children.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers and their colleagues have identified an enzyme that can effectively wipe a cell’s developmental slate clean, essentially giving a fresh start. The enzyme, which is thought to help genetically reprogram fertilized eggs as part of normal development, may help scientists create stem cells and arrest the growth of cancers.

BioMedReports (www.biomedreports.com) just released a summary of their FDA and Clinical Trial Calendars - which gives an update on some of the advances made in the cancer drug realm. Although, it's marketed as an investment tool - and it isn't free, it serves as a nice primer for those who may be interested in investigating the developments further.

Dr. Katherine Borden of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal, has recently published a study in the journal Blood, demonstrating that ribavirin, a common anti-viral drug, suppresses the activities of a gene linked to making cells cancerous.

Researchers from DaVinci Biosciences, Costa Mesa, California, in collaboration with Hospital Luis Vernaza in Ecuador, have recently reported the benefits of bone marrow stem cell injections in helping improve the lives of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.

$100 million in federal funding for the Research
Institute of the McGill University Health Centre on the Glen Campus
will result in groundbreaking medical advances