Chronological Index of BioCentury, The Bernstein Report on BioBusiness: Tools & Techniques

• Designing protein interactions

  Two recent academic studies have shown advances in computational design that worked in specific instances to create novel peptides or …

  Published on 4/16/2007

• Taking out the trash

  Technology: Unraveling ubiquitin complexity Taking out the trash Rigel believes that inhibitors of ubiquitin ligases and ubiquitin conjugating enzymes will provide more control over the degradation of specific …

  Published on 4/9/2007

• Ins & outs of HCV

  In a pair of studies, researchers have identified two potential therapeutic targets for hepatitis C virus. Both are related to host …

  Published on 4/9/2007

• O, what a simple solution

  Blood substitutes have been a black hole for biotech companies. There are no such products approved by FDA or EMEA after nearly two decades of …

  Published on 4/9/2007

• Unraveling ubiquitin complexity

  Taking out the trash Like kinases, ligases are a ripe target area. The difference is that ligases generally are harder to inhibit. Rigel …

  Published on 4/9/2007

• Uncapping insulin sensitivity

  There is growing evidence that insulin resistance results from chronic inflammation and that macrophages may be a key cell type responsible …

  Published on 3/26/2007

• 13 surprises

  Technology: HDL's influential cargo 13 surprises Researchers investigating the antiatherosclerotic properties of high-density lipoprotein unexpectedly found 13 proteins not previously known to reside in HDL - 12 of …

  Published on 3/19/2007

• HDL's influential cargo

  13 surprises Researchers investigating the antiatherosclerotic properties of high-density lipoprotein unexpectedly found multiple complement-…

  Published on 3/19/2007

• Derepressing p73

  Technology Derepressing p73 Although p73 was first shown to induce apoptosis in cancer cells about a decade ago, there has not been much progress in developing therapeutics that selectively target the tumor …

  Published on 3/12/2007

• Wnt's cardiovascular links

  Technology Wnt's cardiovascular links Researchers from Yale University and colleagues published in Science a rare defect in a gene that encodes a co-receptor in the Wnt signaling pathway, which may help explain the …

  Published on 3/12/2007

• Predicting active peptides

  Technology Briefing Predicting active peptides Compugen Ltd. says it has developed an in silico discovery engine for peptides that bind GPCRs. So far, the engine has yielded eight peptides with dose-dependent …

  Published on 3/5/2007

• Relaxing the hyper heart

  Technology Briefing Relaxing the hyper heart Blocking a receptor-regulating protein present in the adrenals prevents a failing heart from going into overdrive and allows it to relax and heal, according to a report …

  Published on 3/5/2007

• Expanding the HDAC envelope

  A pair of recently published papers highlight two possible therapeutic areas for histone deacetylase inhibitors outside of …

  Published on 3/5/2007

• DNA-directed chemistry

  Technology: Big and small of DNA chemistries DNA-directed chemistry Vipergen and Ensemble both use DNA oligos to perform "directed" chemistry. The difference between the two technologies is the DNA architecture. …

  Published on 2/26/2007

• Big and small of DNA chemistries

  DNA-directed chemistry Making pharmaceutically relevant chemical libraries remains an important bottleneck in drug …

  Published on 2/26/2007

• Hsp90 on the brain

  Technology Hsp90 on the brain Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have shown that inhibition of Hsp90 decreases levels of phosphorylated tau - an aberrant protein species that is associated with cognitive decline in …

  Published on 2/26/2007

• Sangamo's big DNA inserts

  Technology Sangamo's big DNA inserts A longtime goal of cell engineering is to modify a living cell in a directed fashion. Earlier this year, Cellectis S.A. said it could make in vivo changes to DNA using its …

  Published on 2/26/2007

• Multi-talented molecule

  Technology Briefing Multi-talented molecule Defibrotide is known for its anti-inflammatory and endothelium-protecting abilities, and Gentium S.p.A. has the product in Phase III testing to treat veno-occlusive …

  Published on 2/19/2007

• Signaling a halt in PD

  Technology Briefing Signaling a halt in PD Progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra accounts for the debilitating motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease. While current therapies …

  Published on 2/19/2007

• Different but similar

  Cell Therapeutics Inc. announced it will spin out Aequus BioPharma Inc. to commercialize its Genetic Polymer technology, which was developed to optimize…

  Published on 2/19/2007

• Antibody-induced neurogenesis

  Technology Briefing Antibody-induced neurogenesis Scientists have theorized that one strategy for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s would be to replace the dead and dying brain cells with a …

  Published on 2/12/2007

• Feeling its OATs

  Technology Briefing Feeling its OATs Conventional antimitotic agents work by binding tubulin. But a pair of papers published last week in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that diazonamide A…

  Published on 2/12/2007

• Worming into insulin

  Technology Briefing Worming into insulin Swedish researchers have discovered that ASNA-1 regulates insulin signaling in C. elegans, potentially opening a new avenue for diabetes drugs, as the protein is …

  Published on 2/12/2007

• CAT and mouse

  Technology CAT and mouse By Mike Ward Senior editor AstraZeneca plc has taken another step toward fulfilling its ambition to have biologics represent 25% of its Phase III programs by 2010. Last week, the company …

  Published on 2/12/2007

• PTP-1B gatekeeper

  While protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B acts as a gatekeeper molecule at the confluence of multiple signal transduction pathways, the enzyme so far has been …

  Published on 2/5/2007