Life Sciences Scotland news

Women in Science launch

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:04:45 +0000

Women in Science, a two-week festival celebrating the achievements of women who work in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, will take place in Dundee from Thursday.

St Andrews receives Queen's honour

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:59:35 +0000

A world-leading Scottish research unit has won a Queen's Anniversary Prize for its contribution to the governance and protection of the oceans.

Study reveals variation in how quickly doctors refer suspected cancer patients

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:55:24 +0000

The speed GPs refer people with suspected cancer to hospital depends on the patient's age, sex, ethnicity and the type of cancer, according to new research.

Researchers uncover new operations of cancer suppressor

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:47:48 +0000

Scientists at the University of Dundee studying an important tumour suppressor, which is involved in at least a quarter of all cancers, have uncovered new ways in which it works.

Child motor neurone study may pave way for new treatments

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:37:26 +0000

Infants suffering from the childhood form of motor neurone disease could benefit from new treatments in future, thanks to fresh insights into the condition.

Mortara Instrument acquires majority in Dolby Medical

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Mortara Instrument, a global leader in the design and manufacture of world-class ECG products, has acquired majority ownership in Dolby Medical Products and Service Ltd.

Malaria immunity in the spotlight

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:42:50 +0000

Mothers who are treated for malaria may pass on lower levels of natural immunity to their young, animal studies show.

New artwork unveiled at LifeScan Scotland

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

A unique work of art was unveiled yesterday at LifeScan Scotland to celebrate its tenth anniversary with Johnson & Johnson.

Launch of DIRECT, Personalized Medicine in Diabetes

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Scientists working in academia have joined forces with the pharmaceutical industry to develop a personalized medicines approach to treatment of 'type 2 diabetes'.

Launch of DIRECT : An Innovative Medicines Initiative Project for Personalized Medicine in Diabetes

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:06:07 +0000

Scientists and clinicians working in academia have joined forces with the pharmaceutical industry to tackle the current bottlenecks in diabetes drug development and to develop a personalized medicines approach to treatment of 'type 2 diabetes' (T2D) with either existing or novel therapies.

5,200 classrooms of UK kids start smoking every year

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:04:49 +0000

Every year around 157,000 children aged 11-15 start smoking - that's enough to fill 5,200 classrooms or make up nearly 14,000 junior football teams.

£5.1M award to tackle fungal killers

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:04:30 +0000

The University of Aberdeen has been awarded £5.1M from the Wellcome Trust to lead a major UK collaboration which will take a ‘laboratory bench to hospital bedside' approach to tackle the problem.

£5.1 million award to tackle fungal killers

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

University of Aberdeen awarded £5.1 million from the Wellcome Trust to lead a major UK collaboration to tackle fungal infections.

Peri-dent factory ceases production

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

More than 100 workers have lost their jobs after a dental floss maker Peri-dent moved production from Tweedbank in the Borders to Malaysia.

Sir James Black honoured in naming of BioCity Scotland building

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:17:19 +0000

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal performed the official naming ceremony of the Sir James Black building at BioCity Scotland on Monday 20th February 2012.

Increased investment in life sciences

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

An Innovation Fund will invest £600,000 over the next three years to help support life sciences development. Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon revealed that the new fund will provide up to £200,000 each year over the next three financial years.

Attenuated bi-segmented Bunyavirus vaccine

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:30:34 +0000

This novel technology provides attenuated Rift Valley fever viruses (RVFV) for use as vaccines and for the treatment and/or prevention of viral diseases and/or infection. Applied to RVFV (a member of the Phlebovirus genus of the Bunyaviridae) our technique results in modified, genetically distinct attenuated RVFV with a bi-segmented genome capable of raising an immune response in animals. Whilst e...

Medical Imager for Sub-Surface Temperature Mapping

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:26:04 +0000

Our imager operates at millimetre wavelengths which result in sub-surface temperature images/maps high spatial and thermal resolution recorded from useful depths below the skin surface. This technique simply records the natural emission of the human body and there is no active illumination of the subject. This new a is as...

Optical Fractionation and Sorting

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:25:12 +0000

Optical microfluidic sorting will allow biological or other matter to be sorted or fractionated by criteria including size, shape, density and refractive index. The technique may have the ability to sort matter from the scale of macro-molecules all the way up to large cells. In addition to the technical advantages

Method for selecting inhibitors of Rm1A

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:24:33 +0000

Bacterial cell-surface glycoconjugates are essential for survival of pathogenic bacteria and for interactions between bacteria and the host. Consequently, there is reason to believe that inhibitors directed against targets in the assembly of the cell-surface glycoconjugates may provide viable alternate therapeutic approaches. However, bacterial cell-surface glycoconjugates show remarkable structur...

Assay for anti-viral agents

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:24:03 +0000

Some picornaviruses can cause mild illnesses, such as the common cold whilst others can give rise to serious conditions of the central nervous system, heart, skeletal muscle and liver.This assay allows the evaluation of new drug candidates to inhibit an interaction which is essential for picornaviral replication in a host

Optical Micro-rotator

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:22:43 +0000

A new “Optical micro-rotator” system incorporates apparatus for and a method of rotating microscopic using a beam of electromagnetic radiation. In order to rotate an object a microscopic, non-circularly symmetric distribution of electro-magnetic radiation is projected on to a region containing the object. This causes photons in the beam the

Knowledge Transfer Through Partnership Annual Conference

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

The Knowledge Transfer Through Partnerhsip Annual Conference event will be held on Tuesday 20th March, 2012.

Winners of the prestigious Scottish Enterprise Life Sciences Awards 2012

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Over 700 people from the life sciences community across Scotland attended the International Conference Centre for the Scottish Enterprise Life Sciences Awards 2012. The winners are...

SHIL Award is Indicator for Success

edward.staunton@shil.co.uk (Edward Staunton) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:31:12 +0000

The SHIL award for innovation for 2012 was awarded to Professor Alan Johnstone from NHS Grampian. His idea for a Novel device for Monitoring of Ischaemia, came out top after judges scrutinised a field of high quality candidates for the award.

This is a novel technique for identifying the earliest signs of tissue damage. The innovative product will alert the surgeon during an operation that there is a lack of oxygen getting to the tissue, thus preventing further tissue damage which can lead to amputation and even death.