EU Launches Project to Improve In-Vitro Diagnostics
The European Union launched a new research project targeting to expand the potentials and utility of in-vitro diagnostics through the creation of new standards for the collection, handling and processing of blood, tissue, tumor and other sample materials. Under the 7th Framework Programme, the European Commission approved the initiative's funding and scope to develop corresponding standards, tools and quality assurance schemes.
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Scientists speed up body's repair systems
EU-funded researchers have succeeded in tricking the bone marrow into releasing extra adult stem cells into the bloodstream. The scientists hope that their findings, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, will eventually lead to the development of new therapies to speed up the treatment of heart disease and broken bones.
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Study sheds new light on aggressive childhood cancer
EU-funded researchers have uncovered some of the complex molecular mechanisms that drive the growth of neuroblastoma, a type of cancer found in very young children. The scientists hope that their findings, published in the journal Cancer Cell, will lead to the development of new therapies to treat this often aggressive and unpredictable disease.
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Metabolic disturbances indicate progress of the disease even years in advance
Finnish scientists have reported a breakthrough in the attempts to understand the development of type 1 diabetes. They discovered disturbances in lipid and amino acid metabolism in children who later progressed to type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes. The alterations preceded the autoimmune response by months to years.
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Expert System for Automatic Analysis of Data Quality in Clinical Trials
In the framework of the development scheme 'Central Innovation Scheme for Medium-sized Businesses' of the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology (BMWI), clinIT AG, based in Freiburg, Germany, has been awarded a six-figure federal grant in cooperation with the Institute for Informatics of the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Faculty for Data Bases and Information Systems.
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New discovery: lethal fungus reproduces sexually
Researchers in Ireland and the UK have found that a lethal fungus, Aspergillus fumigatus, reproduces sexually. The findings represent a major breakthrough in the understanding of this pathogen, which causes death in 50% of infected immune-deficient patients.
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New mouse model for study of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Italian researchers have bred mice that exhibit similar deficits to those experienced by people with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a prion disease similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The EU-funded study, published in the journal Neuron, provides insights that may help to diagnose prion diseases early, when therapeutic intervention may be effective.
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