2013 Archive
Looking for a news story about biotechnology in New Zealand? Browse our news archive from 2013.
-
Stem cells reprogrammed live
17/12/2013
For the first time, scientists in Spain have reprogrammed adult cells to revert to a stem cell state inside living mice (an in vivo process).
-
Fructose obesity culprit
10/12/2013
Researchers at the University of Colorado have discovered that obesity and insulin resistance may be tied to the fructose your body makes as well as to the fructose you eat.
-
GM foods safety spotlight
03/12/2013
An editorial and a feature published in Nature Biotechnology in September 2013 raise the question: How safe does a genetically modified (GM) food need to be?
-
Biofuels adding to rainforest destruction?
26/11/2013
A recent report argues that biofuel subsidies are driving unsustainable palm oil production and threatening rainforests and peat lands.
-
Stem cells harmonise cardiac beat
19/11/2013
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in the US have found a way to resynchronise cardiac motion following a heart attack using stem cells.
-
Commercial biofuels from algae
13/11/2013
Scientists say they may have the key to producing cheaper and more efficient biofuels from algae.
-
Fonterra’s botulism bungle
07/11/2013
In August 2013, dairy company Fonterra confirmed that milk whey protein from the company’s Hautapu manufacturing facility had become contaminated with the harmful botulism-causing bacteria Clostridium botulinum.
-
Fighting fat
22/10/2013
Scientists may have a new weapon in the fat fight after developing a compound that prevents rats on a high-fat, high-sugar diet from becoming obese. It reduced body weight in obese rats by approximately 10%.
-
Stump to pump research programme
15/10/2013
A research programme to study the feasibility, including the cost-effectiveness, of converting forestry waste to liquid biofuels is to receive a $6.75 million boost from the New Zealand government.
-
Inhalable gene therapy for PAH
08/10/2013
Pulmonary arterial hypertension may be reversible using an inhalable gene therapy according to an international team of researchers led by scientists at the Cardiovascular Research Center at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
-
Gene therapy cures childhood brain disease in animal models
01/10/2013
Researchers at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Spain have announced the success of a gene therapy trial in curing a neurodegenerative disease, Sanfilippo syndrome A, in animal models.
-
Bioactive milk proteins attack acne
23/09/2013
The results of a US clinical trial on acne by New Zealand-based biotechnology company Quantec Ltd have proved positive, according to researchers who presented the results to dermatologists.
-
Drug shows potential to treat Parkinson’s
17/09/2013
Researchers from The Florey Institute of Neuroscience in Melbourne have unveiled the results of pre-clinical trials of the drug candidate PBT434, developed by Melbourne-based Prana Biotechnology.
-
Complex sugars could treat Alzheimer’s disease
10/09/2013
Scientists at the University of Liverpool and Callaghan Innovation in Lower Hutt are the first to chemically synthesise a range of complex sugars called heparan sulphates, which have a natural ability to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
-
Sequencing Phar Lap’s winning genome
02/09/2013
A piece of incisor tooth from Phar Lap, whose skeleton is housed in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, has been sent to Australia as the source material in an attempt to sequence the horse’s DNA.
-
US Supreme Court decision about human genes
28/08/2013
In June 2013, the US Supreme Court, in a landmark decision with worldwide implications, ruled that companies cannot patent human genes.
-
Wound care firm targets US market
20/08/2013
Wellington-based regenerative medicine company Mesynthes makes wound care products and markets them in the US.
-
Iowa-based biotech company to set up in Feilding
13/08/2013
An American-based biotech company, Proliant, is to build a multimillion-dollar factory in Feilding to produce bovine serum albumin (BSA) for the growing international market, according to a news report in the Manawatu Standard.
-
Electricity from microbes
05/08/2013
Although microbial fuel cells have been around for a long time, they underperform. Researchers at Lincoln University are working on improving microbial fuel cells.
-
First biosensor for detecting lactose in waste streams
30/07/2013
A biosensor developed by Lincoln University researchers to detect lactose in waste streams is set to upgrade milk processing in New Zealand to the next level.
