Calibrating the Lab Technician
from Quality Digest Magazine
Handling liquid is one of the most common processes in life science laboratories, whether they’re drug-discovery and compound-management laboratories or analytical chemistry, genomics, or proteomics facilities. Processes in which liquids are handled include sample preparation, dilution, standards preparation, and reagent addition. The means for delivering liquid samples have advanced dramatically over time, from the traditional glass micropipette to today's electronic, variable-volume pipettes and automated liquid handlers. More    

ASCO 2009: Nonchemo Maintenance Treatment in NSCLC Improves Outcomes
from Medscape Medical News
Two targeted therapies were better than 1 when used for the maintenance treatment of nonsmall-cell lung cancer in the ATLAS trial, according to results presented here at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 45th Annual Meeting. Adding erlotinib (Tarceva) to bevacizumab (Avastin) for maintenance treatment, after a course of chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab, significantly improved progression-free survival. More    

U.S. Company Finds "Safer" Way to Make Stem-like Cells
from Reuters Health
U.S. researchers said they had come up with the safest way yet to make stem-like cells using a patient's ordinary skin cells, this time by using pure human proteins. The team at Harvard University and Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology Inc said their technique involves soaking cells in human proteins that turn back the clock biologically, making the cells behave like powerful embryonic stem cells. More    

New Pathology Tests Double Sensitivity to Detect Bile Duct and Pancreatic Cancers
from EurekAlert!
Pancreatic cancer and bile duct cancer are difficult to diagnose and often fatal because they are discovered in the advanced stages of the disease. Researchers have developed new tests that double the ability to detect bile duct and pancreatic cancers, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the June issue of Gastroenterology. More    

Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria Found in Fertilizer
from Science Daily
Vancomycin resistant enterococci have been found in sewage sludge, a by-product of waste-water treatment frequently used as a fertilizer. Researchers writing in the open access journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica point out the danger of antibiotic resistance genes passing into the human food chain. More    

Low Oxygen Level Prostate Tumors Often Recurrent
from Reuters Health
Hypoxia, or reduced oxygen levels, in prostate tumors significantly predicts a poor long-term biochemical outcome, regardless of other prognostic factors, such as tumor stage or type, according to results of a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Orlando. The finding suggests that new hypoxic strategies should be investigated. More    

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Bacterial Vaginosis
from Medscape Medical News
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), and this link may contribute to the strong racial disparity in the prevalence of BV, according to the results of a pregnancy cohort study reported in the June issue of the Journal of Nutrition. "BV is a highly prevalent vaginal infection that is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes," writes Lisa M. Bodnar, from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and colleagues. "Vitamin D exerts an influence on the immune system and may play a role in BV." More    

Downs Gene Starves Growth of Tumors
from The Boston Globe
It is a scientific riddle that has stumped, and deeply intrigued, specialists in cancer and genetics for decades: Why do people with Down syndrome so rarely develop life-threatening tumors? More