Tag Archives: engineering

Apr 30 2012

you may soon be saying ‘aaah’ to check for cancer

How many times have you been to the doctor and had that stupid wooden tongue depressor stuck in your face?  Dry bland taste and the ever-present fear of splinters – no thanks.  Are they even able to see anything worthwhile?

There may soon be a replacement that could actually be used to screen for oral cancers.  The lab of Dr John X J Zhang at the University of Texas in Austin have created a portable mini microscope with resolution good enough to identify early-stage cancer cells.  Their work was recently published in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.

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Apr 17 2012

fancy koosh ball equals targeted cancer drug

Remember the Koosh ball?  Who knows why they were so popular, but I’m still struck with a touch of nostalgia if I stumble across one today.  What if I told you that researchers were playing with similar toys in their labs?  Well, similar looking at least, but hopefully soon just as popular.

A huge team of biologists, physicians and engineers from labs across the country have developed a cancer-targeting drug that is the first of its kind to enter into human clinical trials.  The group reported the development of this drug and initial clinical data this month in Science Translational Medicine. Continue reading →

Apr 10 2012

a biological robot built to keep you healthy

There is no end to work as a researcher.  Eight experiments running at once, preparing for a lab meeting, reading journal articles.  I guess I can’t complain too much, but I have been pretty damn busy lately, as evidenced by the slight lack of posts recently.

If only I had a little robot sidekick to help me out with things.  May not be too far off if a collaborative project from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK) and National Science Foundation (USA) takes off.  This work, being done primarily at Newcastle University in the UK, aims to create a tiny robot designed to function like a living creature.

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Mar 13 2012

step aside bayer, there’s a new aspirin in town

Ah, aspirin, the unassuming little while pill.  Perhaps less famous than the little blue pill, but with potentially more upside.  Depends on who you ask, I guess.  I know you’ve all taken it for a headache, and Bayer says it can prevent heart attacks and strokes.  Pretty impressive, yes?

These claims pale in comparison to those of a newly developed, cancer-fighting aspirin hybrid from Dr. Khosrow Kashfi’s team at the City University of New York Medical School.  Their findings are presented in the January 28 issue of the American Chemical Society’s Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Continue reading →