(Durham, N.C.) Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have discovered a way to block the damaging actions of chlamydia, the bacteria responsible for the largest number of sexually transmitted infections in the United States. The team, which included Duke University microbiologists and chemists, designed a molecule that takes away the bacteria’s self-defense mechanisms. (more…)

(Durham, N.C.) Duke researchers have deciphered what sustains new neuron production in the adult brain, a “fountain of youth” in rodents that is also believed to be present in the human brain. Importantly, this likely explains why stem cells removed from the adult brain and placed in culture can’t continue to generate neurons over time, a major road block in using these stem cells for injury repair. (more…)

(Whitehouse Station, N.J., & Chapel Hill, N.C.) Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that company researchers will participate in two new collaborative efforts led by the prominent academic institutions of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to develop new approaches towards eradicating HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. (more…)

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), the world’s leading university-research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, and researchers from SEMATECH and The University of Texas at Dallas are the first to demonstrate that specific potentially hazardous organic contaminants present in a type of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can be easily removed. This discovery should enable the continued consideration of SWNTs for advanced nanoelectronics manufacturing, as this material shows promise for continuing the benefits of scaling with significantly reduced risk to the environment. In addition to semiconductor manufacturers, several other industries also could gain greater product effectiveness from this research. (more…)

(Kannapolis, N.C.) The David H. Murdock Research Institute in Kannapolis is buying out a small research group that set up shop there in the summer of 2010 to study the human immune system. The Murdock organization is paying $250,000 in cash and absorbing the non-profit Immune Tolerance Institute’s six employees already working at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. (more…)

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) NCTechNews, North Carolina’s technology news source, will be blogging live from the BIO International Convention in Washington, D.C. June 27-30 to cover major trends affecting the life sciences community. The BIO International Convention is the largest global event of its kind, attracting the biggest names in biotech and featuring keynotes and sessions from key policymakers, scientists, CEOs, and celebrities, and the world’s largest biotechnology exhibition - the BIO Exhibition. (more…)

(Cary, N.C.) Industry Standard Research (ISR) announced the launch of two new and substantial research reports titled The Future of Clinical Monitoring and Clinical Development Staff Quality and Resourcing Models. (more…)

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) Catalent Pharma Solutions announces the installation of electronic verification applications at its Clinical Supply Services facilities in Philadelphia, PA and Schorndorf, Germany. The addition of these automated process check stations is part of an ongoing investment to reduce customer costs and proactively increase service quality standards to better meet clinical trial needs globally. (more…)

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), the world’s leading university-research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, today announced that directors Kwok Ng and Jeff Welser have been named IEEE Fellows. (more…)

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) Consumers who use streaming audio are highly unaware of the options available to them and have relatively shallow perceptions of the options they are aware of. That is among the key findings of the “Successful Audio Streaming Strategies” study released by Coleman Insights today and presented at the RAIN Summit East conference in Washington, DC. The low awareness levels and shallow perceptions found in the research lead Coleman Insights to conclude that streaming audio is a brand category that remains highly underdeveloped. (more…)

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) Laboratory equipment represents an elevated risk of product safety dangers. CertifiGroup has a special new program to help manufacturers, designers and equipment owners for this high-tech category. In many cases, non-certified laboratory equipment is never identified as a high risk category in the workplace. Scientists and facility owners assume the manufacturers have considered electrical and product safety merely because the equipment is often expensive. The CertifiGroup laboratory equipment evaluation team has been collecting data on the hazards for operators and facilities, and the results are startling. (more…)

(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) Industry leaders will speak at RTI International’s fourth international conference “3-D Architectures for Semiconductor Integration and Packaging” in San Francisco Dec. 9-11. (more…)