PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

An advance toward blood transfusions that require no typing

2011-03-10
(Press-News.org) Scientists are reporting an "important step" toward development of a universal blood product that would eliminate the need to "type" blood to match donor and recipient before transfusions. A report on the "immunocamouflage" technique, which hides blood cells from antibodies that could trigger a potentially fatal immune reaction that occurs when blood types do not match, appears in the ACS journal, Biomacromolecules.

Maryam Tabrizian and colleagues note that blood transfusions require a correct match between a donor and the recipient's blood. This can be a tricky proposition given that there are 29 different red blood cells types, including the familiar ABO and Rh types. The wrong blood type can provoke serious immune reactions that result in organ failure or death, so scientists have long sought a way to create an all-purpose red blood cell for transfusions that doesn't rely on costly blood typing or donations of a specific blood type.

To develop this "universal" red blood cell, the scientists discovered a way to encase living, individual red blood cells within a multilayered polymer shell. The shell serves as a cloaking device, they found, making the cell invisible to a person's immune system and able to evade detection and rejection. Oxygen can still penetrate the polymer shell, however, so the red blood cells can carry on their main business of supplying oxygen to the body. "The results of this study mark an important step toward the production of universal RBCs," the study states.

### The authors acknowledge funding from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and FQRNT-Centre for Biorecognition and Biosensors.

ARTICLE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "Investigation of Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Polyelectrolytes on Fully Functional Human Red Blood Cells in Suspension for Attenuated Immune Response"

CONTACT:
Maryam Tabrizian, Ph.D.
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Faculty of Dentistry
McGill University
Montreal, Canada
Phone: (514) 398-8129
Email: maryam.tabrizian@mcgill.ca


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New study shows government spending preferences of Americans

2011-03-10
In its 27th survey of American spending priorities since 1973 conducted as part of its General Social Survey (GSS), NORC at the University of Chicago Wednesday released a report on its most recent findings. By a notable margin, education and health care were the top two spending priorities of Americans. And Americans are consistent in that: those two categories have finished in the top two in each of the ten surveys since 1990. The spending priorities report is derived from recently released data of the 2010 General Social Survey which NORC has conducted for forty years. ...

New molecular robot can be programmed to follow instructions

2011-03-10
Scientists have developed a programmable "molecular robot" — a sub-microscopic molecular machine made of synthetic DNA that moves between track locations separated by 6nm. The robot, a short strand of DNA, follows instructions programmed into a set of fuel molecules determining its destination, for example, to turn left or right at a junction in the track. The report, which represents a step toward futuristic nanomachines and nanofactories, appears in ACS's Nano Letters. Andrew Turberfield and colleagues point out that other scientists have developed similar DNA-based ...

Battling the bedbug epidemic

2011-03-10
Mom's comforting tuck-them-in-words — "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite"— is becoming an impossible dream for millions of people as the world experiences a resurgence of an ancient scourge that is fostering human misery, financial burdens and the risk of exposure to potentially toxic materials. That's the message from the cover story of the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine. In the article, C&EN News Editor William G. Schulz points out that bedbugs represent a growing epidemic that is difficult to control. The bugs ...

Pinpointing air pollution's effects on the heart

2011-03-10
Scientists are untangling how the tiniest pollution particles – which we take in with every breath we breathe – affect our health, making people more vulnerable to cardiovascular and respiratory problems. While scientists know that air pollution can aggravate heart problems, showing exactly how it does so has been challenging. In a study published recently in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, scientists showed that in people with diabetes, breathing ultrafine particles can activate platelets, cells in the blood that normally reduce bleeding from a wound, ...

Study shows how plants sort and eliminate genes over millennia

2011-03-10
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Hybrid plants with multiple genome copies show evidence of preferential treatment of the genes from one ancient parent over the genes of the other parent, even to the point where some of the unfavored genes eventually are deleted. Brian Dilkes, an assistant professor of genetics at Purdue University, worked with a team of scientists at the University of California Davis and University of Southern California to study the genome of Arabidopsis suecica, a hybrid species with four chromosome sets formed tens of thousands of years ago from a cross between ...

What's in a name? Broadening the biological lexicon to bolster translational research

2011-03-10
So-called model organisms have long been at the core of biomedical research, allowing scientists to study the ins and outs of human disorders in non-human subjects. In the ideal, such models accurately recapitulate a human disorder so that, for example, the Parkinson's disease observed in a rat model would be virtually indistinguishable from that in a human patient. The reality, of course, is that rats aren't human, and few models actually faithfully reflect the phenotype of the disease in question. Thus, in the strictest sense of the word, many "models" aren't truly ...

Novel method could improve the performance of proteins used therapeutically

2011-03-10
FINDINGS: Whitehead Institute scientists have created a method that uses the enzyme sortase A to site-specifically modify proteins. Using this technique, researchers were able to increase potency, slow the metabolism, and improve thermal stability of several proteins, including interferon alpha 2 (IFN-alpha 2) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor 3 (GCSF-3). IFN-alpha 2 is used to treat a variety of diseases, including leukemia, melanoma, and chronic hepatitis C, while GCSF-3 (known as filgrastim and marketed as Neupogen®) is administered to patients with neutropenia. RELEVANCE: ...

First international index developed to predict suicidal behavior

First international index developed to predict suicidal behavior
2011-03-10
Although thousands of people commit suicide worldwide each year, researchers and doctors do not have any method for evaluating a person's likelihood of thinking about or trying to commit suicide. An international group of scientists, in which the Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM) has participated, has devised the first risk index in order to prevent suicides. "It is of key importance to identify suicidal thoughts among people at increased risk. The most important contribution that our study has made is an international risk index to estimate the likelihood of ...

More reasons to be nice: It's less work for everyone

2011-03-10
A polite act shows respect. But a new study of a common etiquette—holding a door for someone—suggests that courtesy may have a more practical, though unconscious, shared motivation: to reduce the work for those involved. The research, by Joseph P. Santamaria and David A. Rosenbaum of Pennsylvania State University, is the first to combine two fields of study ordinarily considered unrelated: altruism and motor control. It is to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "The way etiquette has been ...

Rutgers researchers identify materials that may deliver more 'bounce'

Rutgers researchers identify materials that may deliver more bounce
2011-03-10
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers researchers have identified a class of high-strength metal alloys that show potential to make springs, sensors and switches smaller and more responsive. The alloys could be used in springier blood vessel stents, sensitive microphones, powerful loudspeakers, and components that boost the performance of medical imaging equipment, security systems and clean-burning gasoline and diesel engines. While these nanostructured metal alloys are not new – they are used in turbine blades and other parts demanding strength under extreme conditions – ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New microscope captures large, high-resolution images of curved samples in single snapshot

SwRI, UT San Antonio will test technology designed to support extended space missions to Moon, Mars

Hot flashes can be reliably predicted by an ai-driven algorithm developed by UMass Amherst and Embr Labs

FAU/Baptist Health AI spine model could transform lower back pain treatment

CDI Lab, HMH specialists identify vital pathway initiating cellular immunity in Science Immunology journal

University of Pennsylvania professor to receive the 2025 Clinical Research Prize

Revolutionary scandium doping technique extends sodium-ion battery life

High-fat diet impairs memory formation by reducing autophagy

Keck Hospital of USC named a Vizient Top Performer for third year in a row

New CRISPR test could make tuberculosis screening as simple as a mouth swab

Three-sensor overeating detection could reshape obesity treatment

Study provides first evidence that plastic nanoparticles can accumulate in the edible parts of vegetables

AI predicts complications from surgery better than doctors

New personalized risk score could improve ovarian cancer detection

People on Ozempic who eat to regulate emotions less likely to lose weight

AACR Cancer Progress Report highlights lifesaving impact of federal investments in cancer research

Indra's internet

Lymph nodes found to be key to successful cancer immunotherapy

Room-temperature terahertz device opens door to 6G networks

A hard look at geoengineering reveals global risks

When smoke signals danger: How Australian lizards evolved to escape fire

Beyond the surface: Atopic eczema linked to significantly higher risk of suicidal thoughts, major study finds

After weight loss regular exercise rather than GLP-1 weight-loss drug reduces leading cause of heart attack and strokes

EASD launches its first ever clinical practice guideline – the world’s first to focus on diabetes distress

Semaglutide provides powerful protection against diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults, Greek study suggests

Orforglipron taken orally once daily leads to significant body weight loss (ATTAIN-1 Study)

U of I researchers trace genetic code’s origins to early protein structures

Disease experts team up with Florida Museum of Natural History to create a forecast for West Nile virus

Researchers: Targeted efforts needed to stem fentanyl crisis

New UMaine research could help lower prescription drug costs

[Press-News.org] An advance toward blood transfusions that require no typing