Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. based in Lexington, KY announced today that its scientists and collaborators from the Medical College of Wisconsin have created and characterized the world's first rat model of severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID. The Transposagen rat has a nearly complete lack of the major components of the immune system. Transposagen will be marketing SCID rats to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. "Transposagen is pleased to have characterized the world's first rat model of SCID. We now have intellectual property covering the SCID phenotype in rat and will be offering the SCID rat and other rat models of the immune system in the near future," said Dr. Eric Ostertag, CEO of Transposagen. full story

Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., based in Lexington, KY, has announced today that it has added 170 genetically modified rats and related biomaterials to its database of laboratory rats with a genetic modification that can mimic a human disease. These animals are used by academic, pharmaceutical, and biotech scientists for drug discovery and development research and will be sold under ... full story

One researcher is investigating how specific factors released from the placenta of women with preeclampsia inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells. full story

( Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology ) One researcher is investigating how specific factors released from the placenta of women with preeclampsia inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells. full story

Preeclampsia is a high blood pressure syndrome in pregnant mothers that is caused when the blood supply in the placenta of the developing baby is restricted. The blood-deprived placenta releases factors that cause the raise in blood pressure in the mother. Doctors have to monitor these women closely and they may be forced to deliver the baby early to protect the mother and the baby. Most women's ... full story

WORCESTER, Mass.----Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced today that it has completed key animal studies in connection with its Phase I multicenter study using embryonic stem cell derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium cells to treat patients with Stargardts Macular Dystrophy , for which it filed an Investigational New Drug Application with the US Food and Drug Administration in November. full story

Sigma Life Science, the innovative biological products and services brand of Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ: SIAL) , today introduced the world's first p53 'knockout' rat model, an important development that is expected to, due to the rat's closer physiological and metabolic similarity to humans, significantly improve timelines for carcinogenicity screening and reduce time to market for therapeutics. full story

Scientists have confirmed that the healthful substances found in green tea - renowned for their powerful antioxidant and disease-fighting properties - do penetrate into tissues of the eye. Their new report, the first documenting how the lens, retina, and other eye tissues absorb these substances, raises the possibility that green tea may protect against glaucoma and other common eye diseases. full story

Losing a parent to suicide makes children more likely to die by suicide themselves and increases their risk of developing a range of major psychiatric disorders, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center that is believed to be the largest one to date on the subject. full story

Researchers have now developed a two-step screening strategy that could prove useful in developing new therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions. Importantly, one of the compounds identified using this approach had therapeutic effects in both in vitro models of neurodegenerative conditions and a rat model of traumatic brain injury in rats. full story