PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 2-Jun-2014 Contact: Cody Mooneyhan cmooneyhan@faseb.org 301-634-7104 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Cold season may be just behind us, but a new discovery may shed light on how this common condition triggers asthma attacks. In a new research report published in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, researchers show that in individuals with asthma, statins significantly reduce the in vitro inflammatory response of human monocytes to rhinovirus (RV), the cause of the common cold. Not only does this discovery suggest that statins could help prevent or reduce the severity of asthma symptoms resulting from colds, but may also open the doors to further research into novel ways of controlling asthma attacks. "Our findings--that statins reduce rhinovirus-induced CXCL10 secretion from human monocytic cells--suggest that these frequently prescribed drugs may affect asthma exacerbations caused by the common cold in adults," said Lisa E. Wickert, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. "We hope that these findings will provide motivation to study how statins not only affect asthma symptoms but more specifically viral-induced asthma exacerbations." To make their … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise During the past few decades, the field of biology has dramatically expanded, incorporating many diverse sub-disciplines and specialty areas such as microbiology and evolutionary biology. However, teaching biology to undergraduate students has not kept pace with the changes, and core biology curriculum varies widely from university to university, and classroom to classroom. In an effort to both capture the diversity of biology and condense what is taught, an Arizona State University researcher is leading a grassroots effort to improve biology education throughout the United States. Working with a team from the University of Washington to collect feedback from more than 240 biologists nationwide, ASU assistant professor Sara Brownell has developed a new, detailed core concept template called BioCore Guide. The guide is intended to provide an updated blueprint for educators to help them clarify the learning outcomes for undergraduate students majoring in general biology. What we really wanted to articulate was, at the end of four years, what do we want a graduating general biology major to know about the core concepts of biology? asked Brownell, an education researcher with ASUs School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and … Continue reading →

Portland, Oregon (PRWEB UK) 2 June 2014 Big Market research publishes latest report "Global Synthetic Biology Market (Products, Technologies, Applications and Geography) - Global Opportunity Analysis and Forecast - 2013 2020." The report forecasts that the global synthetic biology market would attain a value of $38.7 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 44.2% during 2014 - 2020. To get complete report visit at http://www.bigmarketresearch.com/synthetic-biology-market Synthetic biology is being commercialized; however, there are many technologies waiting for approval from respective governing bodies for commercialization. Yet, this market is expected to witness adoption in varied domains such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy and agriculture. Important driving factors for the markets are assistance from private and government organizations, greater R&D and falling price of DNA synthesizing and sequencing. However, ethical issues, bio-security & bio-safety would work as impeding force for the growth of market. The report divides synthetic biology market on the basis of product, technology, application, and geography. Further, Synthetic biology product market is sub-divided into enabling products, enabled products and core products. As a result of greater research activities, enabling product would grow the fastest. Browse related report Global stem cell umbilical cord blood (ucb) market (storage service, therapeutics, application, geography) … Continue reading →