ILSI-Biomed Israel

Stem Cells as Seek-and-Destory Missiles against Cancer

As published in New Scientist, stem cells were succesfully modified to act as seek-and-destroy missiles against cancer in mice brains Stem cells are often viewed as the ultimate solution for regenerative medicine, and for a good cause. Given the correct cues, they can regenerate whole parts of the body, and even re-create an entire embryo (although that would require QUITE some understanding of the cues involved in the process). It seems, however, that now a new use has been found for the...

Plastics that Distort DNA Readings

A new research reveals that polypropylene tubes can contaminate solutions in the PCR and distort the DNA spectrometer readings. One year ago, a group of researchers at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem reported a sharp rise in the diagnoses of a certain metabolic disorder. To those of us who live in Jerusalem, fear not. Other than the Holyland story, nothing really happened in the Israeli capital in the last year. The only change is that the lab at Hadassah changed th...

Almost-Breakthroughs of the Year: Genetic Engineering and Longevity Drug

The magazine Science picked two runner-ups for the Breakthrough of the Year award: genetic engineering and a novel longevity drug Do you read Science, the magazine? You really should. It's one of the best sources for breakthroughs in research. This month they have a special section, where they tried to pick the Breakthrough of the Year. They probably had to do quite a lot of thinking, but eventually they settles on the discovery of Ardi - the missing link between our ancient ape-like ance...

A New Enzyme Makes for a Hillarious Song on Youtube

Biomed is not all hard work. Sometimes, just sometimes, there are wild dances in the lab as well. Or at least that’s what Bio-Rad wants us to think in their new entertaining commercial for this PCR product. And while we’re in the musicals business, here’s another amusing film to explain what nano-technology is all about. And with muppets, too!

A Single Shot of Genetically Engineered Viruses Cured Legal Blindness

In a phase I clinical trial, researchers used gene therapy to cure a genetic disorder causing legal blindness Those of us dealing in the field of biomed are probably tired of hearing people ask about genetic engineering, and when-oh-when will we be able to cure all the illnesses of the world with it. While genetic engineering does have plenty of potential for treatment of genetic disorders, most of the scientific research in the field screeched to a halt eight years ago, when certain genetica...