Alzheimer disease or simply Alzheimer's, is the most common type of dementia. Alzheimer's is a degenerative and terminal disease for which there is no known cure. In its most common form, it afflicts individuals over 65 years old, although a less prevalent early-onset form also exists. It is estimated that 26.6 million people worldwide were afflicted by AD in 2006, which could quadruple by 2050, although estimates vary greatly.

Each individual experiences the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in unique ways. Generally, the symptoms are reported to a physician when memory loss becomes apparent. If Alzheimer's is suspected as the cause, the physician or health care specialist will confirm the diagnosis with behavioral assessments and cognitive tests, often followed by a brain scan, if available.

Source: www.genengnews.com
Contact: Jim Bono, (516) 367-8455, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

A method that could be applied widely to explore genetic basis of cancer drug resistance

Why do cancer patients develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs, sometimes abruptly, after a period in which the drugs seem to be working well to reduce tumors or hold them in check? Although largely a mystery to scientists, the result when this occurs is all too familiar: patients relapse and in many cases die when their cancers become resistant.

CANCER DIAGNOSTICS: NEXT GENERATION MOLECULAR TECHNOLOGIES: Official Site

Advances in molecular diagnostics has enabled the detection of early stage tumors that will lead to greater success rates with intervention and treatment. Tests are being commercialized that employ a variety of approaches utilizing gene expression, serum biomarkers, and circulating tumors cells to capture information early for non-invasive screening of selected populations. Technologies to resolve and isolate the earliest stages of disease can be used in some cases in combination with imaging techniques to differentiate between benign vs. malignant tumors. The potential for these assays to greatly improve patient survival and care is historic and opportune and will further allow the tracking of disease progression.
www.healthtech.com

Hotel & Travel Info

HOTEL INFORMATION

The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC
1150 22nd Street, NW

Come join us at the Drug Discovery & Development of Innovative Therapeutics Conference on August 6th, 2008 in Boston, MA !!

Pharma Connections Worldwide will be hosting a Business Networking event on Wednesday, August 6th, 5:30-7:30PM at Anthony's Pier4 Restaurant, within walking distance of the IBC USA Event at the World Trade Center in Boston (being held August 4-7). It will be co-hosted by several business partners attending the show as well.

To view the schedule, please click here.

The aim of the conference is to discuss, from an interdisciplinary and international point of view, the main issues linked to the innovation and the evaluation of frontline technologies with regard to surgery and their impact on healthcare practice and healthcare systems.

The Security Breakfast is intended to foster discussion and contacts between professionals with an interest in security and technology.

Please RSVP to Gordon Platt
gplatt@gothammediaventures.com

Join the Security Breakfast Linkedin Network
Link to http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/100508/4A0F035EC21E

Securing Energy & Chemical Infrastructure
Solutions to Fortify Production and Transport

Moderator

Scott Greiper
Managing Director
Legend Merchant Group

Panelists

Gianni Arcaini
CEO
Duos Technologies

Skip Elliott
Vice President of Public Safety and Environment
CSX Transportation

Brian Noone
Chief Security Officer
Keyspan Corporation

Joe Tadrick
Protective Security Advisory
Department of Homeland Security

SPONSORS
Duos Technologies, Inc.
National Grid
Legend Merchant Group logoPlease

By Lynne Taylor

The US Food and Drug Administration will never have sufficient resources to be “the quality-control unit of the world,” and drugmakers will have to assume more responsibility for the quality of their products, a senior agency official has told US legislators.

The FDA is not the industry’s quality system, and the agency is holding companies accountable, Janet Woodcock, director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, warned after addressing a hearing convened on April 24 by Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Education, Labor, Health and Pensions (HELP) Committee to discuss the contaminated heparin supply. “Any legislative fixes that do not address quality by design will fail,” she added.

An algae photobioreactor on the roof of MIT university.

The clear polycarbonate tubes are approx 3 meters high, and 10-20 centimeters in diameter.

It removes upto 86% of the NOx and 40% of the CO2 of the smokestack emissions that are bubbled through it. The algae are feeding on exhaust with 13% CO2 content. This size algae photobioreactor can't handle the entire exhaust emissions, it would need to be much larger for that.

This photobioreactor you see here on the roof of MIT, has since been dismantled and reassembled in Naboomspruit (now called Mookgopong) South Africa at a biodiesel plant.

http://www.infinitibiodiesel.com

Source: BioNano Insider

While Italy is often referred to as the "best kept secret" in the life sciences industry, Tuscany is perhaps the best kept secret of all.

Renowned for its exceptional beauty, art and history, Tuscany is far less known for its important role in Italy's emergence as a center for bio-nano innovation. Only now are people beginning to recognize the region's growing capabilities in fields such as immunology, endocrinology, biochemistry, oncology and neurosciences - to name just a few.

Maverick scientist Craig Venter claims he can create artificial life in the lab. Is this the dawn of a new era for mankind?

By: Jonathan Leake, Science Editor, TimesOnline.co.uk

From Frankenstein’s monster through I, Robot to the lost young cyborg of Steven Spielberg’s AI, the idea of creating artificial life from inert matter has long inspired human imagination.

Last week that thrilling but unsettling goal appeared to have come a step closer with the announcement by Craig Venter, the maverick scientist, that his laboratory had constructed the world’s first completely synthetic genome.

Location: Millennium Broadway Hotel & Conference Center, New York City

Plan to join the industry's top financial professionals at the 2008 meeting, with an agenda designed to meet the current investment climate - showcasing companies best positioned to provide market leadership. Future Leaders will continue to emphasize fresh companies making the transition from the private to public equity markets, as well as public plays positioned to move between tiers based on value or milestones.

Contact:
Joshua Kolins, Thomson Financial
phone: 646-822-2726
email: Joshua.Kolins@thomson.com

Official Site

Micro and nanotechnologies are revolutionising medicine:

'Almost invisible' tools are being developed by European researchers to discover diseases earlier and to treat patients better.

The miniaturisation of instruments to micro and nano dimensions promises to make our future lives safer and cleaner. A team of European researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Technologies Institute near Saarbruecken is using nanotechnology to improve diagnostic capabilities.

In the "Adonis"-project, nano-sized gold particles are used to detect prostate cancer cells at an early stage.

Biotechnology is often used to refer to genetic engineering technology of the 21st century, however the term encompasses a wider range and history of procedures for modifying biological organisms according to the needs of humanity, going back to the initial modifications of native plants into improved food crops through artificial selection and hybridization.

Bioengineering is the science upon which all Biotechnological applications are based. With the development of new approaches and modern techniques, traditional biotechnology industries are also acquiring new horizons enabling them to improve the quality of their products and increase the productivity of their systems.

Host: Farm Foundation
Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - Thursday, January 17, 2008
Time: 8:30 am
Location: Westin City Center, Washington, DC
Contact: Ann Bublitz/BioTech Decisions, Inc.
Phone: 515-285-2741
Fax: 515-285-2978
Email: annbublitz@biotechdecisions.com
Website: www.farmfoundation.org