BioScience Biz

Eyes grown from stem cells - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

Two ES cell-derived optic cup formed by self-organization in 3D culture. Green color is fluorescence of GFP protein that was engineered to mark retinal tissue.Image: M. Eiraku and Y.Sasai at RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology

via www.the-scientist.com

DFA Awarded $3M for Agriculture Test Development | GenomeWeb Daily News | DxPGx | GenomeWeb

By a GenomeWeb staff reporter

via www.genomeweb.com

Non-profit firm Diagnostics for All today said it has received a two-year, $3 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK’s Department for International Development to develop inexpensive agriculture diagnostic tests for livestock health and other purposes in sub-Saharan Africa.

The several tests will be designed to identify milk spoilage, cows with infections and determine when cows are in heat or pregnant.

Another test will to identify aflatoxin, a potent hepatocarcinogen found in grain mold.

Federal Research Center Will Help Develop Medicines - NYTimes.com

The new effort comes as many large drug makers, unable to find enough new drugs, are paring back research. Promising discoveries in illnesses like depression and Parkinson’s that once would have led to clinical trials are instead going unexplored because companies have neither the will nor the resources to undertake the effort.

via www.nytimes.com

Disgraced doc tried to profit from fraudulent link between vaccines and autism

The story of the fraudulent paper showing a link between the MMR vaccine and autism continues to unfold. The British Medical Journal, which originally published the paper by disgraced researcher, Andrew Wakefield, only to later retract it, now reports that Wakefield had devised a scheme to make a substantial profit from the scare that he correctly anticipated would arise from the paper. Steven Clark University of Wisconsin

The BMJ reports that Wakefield planned, even before the study was finished, to profit from selling diagnostic tests and by making his own, "safer" vaccine. Steven Clark University of Wisconsin

Wakefield, a medical doctor, has been banned from practicing medicine in Great Britain. Steven Clark University of Wisconsin

via www.bmj.com

A different kind of CleanTech—Clean Genome E. coli (WTN News)

In order to make a better biofactory, University of Wisconsin Genetics Professor Frederick R. Blattner and his colleagues developed Clean genome® E. coli, an engineered bug from which all mobile genetic elements have been deleted. DNA segments resembling toxin genes or virulence factor genes were also removed from the Clean Genome E. coli, heading off other potential complications. Steven S. Clark

Dr Blattner founded Scarab Genomics LLC in 2002 to commercialize Clean Genome E. coli. In addition to the elimination of problems caused by mobile elements, the slimmer, trimmer Clean Genome strain is more efficient at manufacturing engineered proteins and DNA. Moreover, as a simpler organism, it is better suited to genetic engineering research. Steven S. Clark

via wistechnology.com

Senate Spending Bill Would Boost NSF, NIH Budgets - ScienceInsider

In some good fiscal news yesterday for the U.S. science community, a Senate spending panel has crafted a 2011 federal budget that would give several science agencies increases that are close to their requested levels. But lobbyists say that it's too soon to celebrate. Read more at ScienceInsider.

via news.sciencemag.org

URGENT - Please help us stop Senator Tom Coburn from blocking SBIR - again!

So, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is trying to block the SBIR contintuing resolution.....again! Read more below from the SBIR Coach.

via campaign.r20.constantcontact.com

Stem cell therapy holds promise for epileptics - San Antonio Express-News

Stem cells taken from the brain of a 13-year-old girl were transplanted into newborn mice and developed into a variety of brain cells almost identical to the animals' own — a procedure that someday could be used to replace the misfiring cells in some epilepsy patients, the researchers said.

via www.mysanantonio.com

Weekly NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices

NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
October 22, 2010
Table of Contents (TOC)

---

Notices

• Notice of Revised NIH Term of Award on use of DUNS Number and New Term of Award on Maintaining an Active CCR Registration
  (NOT-OD-11-004)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-11-004.html
• Notice of New NIH Term of Award on Transparency Act Subaward and Executive Compensation Reporting Requirements
  (NOT-OD-11-005)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-11-005.html
• Notice of Revised Eligibility Requirements and Award Administration Information in NIH Funding Opportunity Announcements
  (NOT-OD-11-006)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-11-006.html
• Non-Competing Grant Awards under the Current Continuing Resolution
  (NOT-OD-11-015)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-11-015.html
• NIA implementation of NIH Policy on Acceptance for Review of Applications Requesting $500,000 or More in Direct Costs in a Single Year
  (NOT-AG-11-001)
  National Institute on Aging
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-AG-11-001.html
• Corrections to RFA-HL-11-032 Utilization of a Human Lung Tissue Resource for Vascular Research (R03)
  (NOT-HL-11-131)
  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-HL-11-131.html
• Notice of Modification to PAR-08-238 - National Cooperative Drug Discovery and Development Groups (NCDDDG) for the Treatment of Mental Disorders, Drug or Alcohol Addiction (U01/U19)
  (NOT-MH-10-033)
  National Institute of Mental Health
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  National Institute on Drug Abuse
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-MH-10-033.html

Requests for Applications

• (none)

Program Announcements

• Substance Use and Abuse, Risky Decision Making and HIV/AIDS (R01)
  (PA-11-006)
  National Institute on Drug Abuse
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  Application Receipt/Submission Date(s): Multiple dates, see announcement.
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-006.html
• Substance Use and Abuse, Risky Decision Making and HIV/AIDS (R21)
  (PA-11-007)
  National Institute on Drug Abuse
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  Application Receipt/Submission Date(s): Multiple dates, see announcement.
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-007.html
• Substance Use and Abuse, Risky Decision Making and HIV/AIDS (R03)
  (PA-11-008)
  National Institute on Drug Abuse
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  Application Receipt/Submission Date(s): Multiple dates, see announcement.
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-008.html
• NINDS Diversity Research Education Grants in Neuroscience (R25)
  (PAR-11-010)
  National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  Application Receipt/Submission Date(s): January 25, 2011, 2012, 2013.
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-11-010.html

Weekly NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices

Weekly NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices

NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
September 03, 2010
Table of Contents (TOC)

---

Notices

• Status of Applications and Awards Involving Human Embryonic Stem Cells, and Submissions of Stem Cell Lines for Eligibility Consideration
  (NOT-OD-10-126)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-126.html
• Clarification on the Roles of NIH Scientific Review Groups (SRG) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) in Review of Vertebrate Animal Research
  (NOT-OD-10-128)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-128.html
• Findings of Scientific Misconduct
  (NOT-OD-10-130)
  Department of Health and Human Services
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-130.html
• Clarification of Eligible Institutions for PA-10-050: Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, FDA and ACF for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR [R43/R44])
  (NOT-OD-10-131)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-131.html
• Findings of Research Misconduct
  (NOT-OD-10-132)
  Department of Health and Human Services
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-132.html
• Delays in Grant Application Submission due to Hurricane Earl
  (NOT-OD-10-133)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-133.html
• NIH to Require all Applications to be Submitted in Response to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Published in the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts
  (NOT-OD-10-134)
  National Institutes of Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-134.html
• Request for Information: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) Strategic Plan Update
  (NOT-DC-10-001)
  National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-DC-10-001.html
• Notice of Intent to Publish a Request for Applications for Gulf Oil Research Consortia: Impacts on Health of Residents (U19)
  (NOT-ES-10-012)
  National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-ES-10-012.html
• NIOSH Policy on Resubmission (Amended) Applications
  (NOT-OH-10-008)
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OH-10-008.html

Requests for Applications

• Ancillary Studies to Large Ongoing Clinical Projects (R01)
  (RFA-AR-11-012)
  National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
  Application Receipt Date(s): December 3, 2010; April 1, 2011
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AR-11-012.html
• Ancillary Studies to Large Ongoing Clinical Projects (R21)
  (RFA-AR-11-013)
  National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
  Application Receipt Date(s): December 3, 2010; April 1, 2011
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AR-11-013.html
• Protein Structure Initiative:Biology-Materials Repository (PSI:Biology-MR) (U01)
  (RFA-GM-11-008)
  National Institute of General Medical Sciences
  Application Receipt Date(s): November 03, 2010
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-GM-11-008.html
• The Role of Human-Animal Interaction in Child Health and Development (R03)
  (RFA-HD-12-105)
  Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
  National Institute of Nursing Research
  Application Receipt Date(s): December 21, 2010
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HD-12-105.html
• Developing and Improving Institutional Animal Resources (G20)
  (RFA-RR-10-011)
  National Center for Research Resources
  Application Receipt Date(s): November 04, 2010
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RR-10-011.html

Program Announcements

• Dual Purpose with Dual Benefit: Research in Biomedicine and Agriculture Using Agriculturally Important Domestic Species (R01)
  (PAR-10-276)
  Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  Department of Agriculture
  Application Receipt/Submission Date(s): November 3 , 2010, September 20, 2011, September 20, 2012
  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-276.html