Construction Projects at Several Texas Universities Still on Hold After Legislation for Funding Fails to Pass

In a proposed legislative package that would have been the first since 2006, a $2.7 billion state bond would have been made available to more than sixty institutions across the Lone Star state.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/28/construction-projects-at-several-texas-universities-still-on-hold-after-legislation-for-funding-fails-to-pass/

“Transgenics Could Head Off ‘The End Of Orange Juice’” – Texas A&M AgriLife To Host

The North American Agricultural Biotechnology Council’s 25th annual conference, “Biotechnology and North American Specialty Crops: Linking Research, Regulation and Stakeholders,” will be held in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at the George Bush Presidential Library on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, June 4-6.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/28/transgenics-could-head-off-the-end-of-orange-juice-texas-am-agrilife-to-host/

Texas Senate Unanimously Approves Reconciled CPRIT Reform Bill

Read about how the Texas Senate has Unanimously Approved a Reconciled version of the CPRIT Reform Bill, and is now awaiting Governor Rick Perry's signature.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/26/texas-senate-unanimously-approves-reconciled-cprit-reform-bill/

MD Anderson, Texas Medical Center Researchers Frustrated Over Lack Of New Cancer Drugs For Children

Read about how MD Anderson and Texas Medical Center Researchers are Frustrated Over the Lack Of New Cancer Drugs For Children.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/25/md-anderson-texas-medical-center-researchers-frustrated-over-lack-of-new-cancer-drugs-for-children/

Soricimed Biopharma Launches Phase I Clinical Trial of New Cancer Drug SOR-C13 At MD Anderson

Soricimed Biopharma Inc. has added a U.S. site to its Phase 1 clinical trial at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The first patient will receive an anti-cancer agent known as SOR-C13 this week.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/24/soricimed-biopharma-launches-phase-i-clinical-trial-of-new-cancer-drug-sor-c13-at-md-anderson/

Senate Committee OKs UT Regent Nominees, But Controversy Lingers

Controversy continues to surround the pending Senate approval or rejection of three candidates for the University of Texas Board of Regents.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/23/senate-committee-oks-ut-regent-nominees-but-controversy-lingers/

Texas Tech University Receives $100,000 Donation from Zoetis For Salmonella Research

Read about how Texas Tech University has Received a $100,000 Donation from Zoetis For Salmonella Research.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/23/texas-tech-university-receives-100000-donation-from-zoetis-for-salmonella-research/

New President of Texas Medical Association has Three Priorities for his Term

The Texas Medical Association has officially named Dr. Stephen Brotherton, an orthopedic surgeon out of Fort Worth, as its new president. The Texas Medical Association (TMA) organization is based in Austin, and says its 47,000 members comprised of medical students and physicians make it the largest state medical society in the United States.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/21/new-president-of-texas-medical-association-has-three-priorities-for-his-term/

Texas Tech University Study Reveals Needleless Acupuncture Therapy Reduces Indigestion In Diabetics

Gastrointestinal complications of long standing diabetes can be managed by a new needleless acupuncture technique that utilizes stimulation of certain pressure points with the help of a custom-made wireless device, as evidenced by the new study conducted by researchers of Texas Tech University, El Paso and University of Mississippi, Oxford.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/20/texas-tech-university-study-reveals-needleless-acupuncture-therapy-reduces-indigestion-in-diabetics/

Gov. Perry Appoints Eight Members To The Texas Medical Board

Texas Governor Rick Perry has announced the appointment of eight new members to the Texas Medical Board — the state regulatory body that oversees and promotes public health, safety and welfare by setting and maintaining standards of care to be observed in the practice of medicine to ensure that Texans can expect and receive quality health care.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/20/gov-perry-appoints-eight-members-to-the-texas-medical-board/

Texas House Passes CPRIT Reform Bill; Governing Board Dissolved

After nearly seven months of a protracted funding freeze amid a political scandal that rocked the Texas biotech community, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, or “CPRIT” as it is commonly known, appears one step closer to reinstatement.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/20/texas-house-passes-cprit-reform-bill-governing-board-dissolved/

Bad Cholesterol Genes Identified By Texas Biomedical Research Institute Researchers

The latest research conducted at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio has successfully identified the 4 culprit genes that can influence the serum concentration of bad cholesterol in baboons. It is suggested that the discovery will help in the development of pharmacological intervention to decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases in humans.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/17/bad-cholesterol-genes-baboons-texas-biomedical-research-institute/

Texas Tech Researchers Find Low-Grade Cotton Absorbs Crude Oil Spills; Repels Water

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon undersea oil well blowout off the Louisiana coast that dumped oil into Gulf of Mexico waters for 87 days, releasing an estimated at 4.9 million barrels of crude — the largest accidental spill in oil industry history — underscored the need for better and more efficient means of oil cleanup.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/16/texas-tech-researchers-find-low-grade-cotton-absorbs-crude-oil-spills-repels-water/

Hindsight proved foresight correct:” Texas Attorney General Seeks To Characterize Action, Inaction Over CPRIT Scandal

The role that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has played in the ongoing saga surrounding CPRIT continues to grow in complexity as close scrutiny of his participation before and after the scandal escalates.

http://bionews-tx.com/2013/05/13/hindsight-proved-foresight-correct-texas-attorney-general-seeks-to-characterize-action-inaction-over-cprit-scandal/

Plans Revealed for Dell Medical School Construction at The University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers approached the school’s Board of Regents to propose a $334 million plan to build the Dell Medical School at the university, providing further details about the new addition. According to an article on the University of Texas’ website, construction of the Dell Medical School will:

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/13/plans-revealed-for-dell-medical-school-construction-at-the-university-of-texas-at-austin/

Perry Reminds Obama: “Texas created 33 percent of the net new jobs nationwide”

Governor Rick Perry published an ad that ran in the Austin American-Statesman the day of President Obama’s visit touted the “Texas model” as a proven strategy for job growth.

http://bionews-tx.com/2013/05/10/perry-reminds-obama-texas-created-33-percent-of-the-net-new-jobs-nationwide/

Houston, Texas’ Capital Royalty Announces Closure of Second Private Equity Fund

Capital Royalty L.P., a Houston-based trailblazer when it comes to investing in healthcare companies, has announced the closure of their second private equity fund. Capital Royalty Partners II was reported to have surpassed the Firm’s original fundraising target and is closing, oversubscribed, and with $805 million in equity commitments.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/06/houston-texas-capital-royalty-announces-closure-of-second-private-equity-fund/

UT Southwestern Medical Center Researchers Determine Telomeres Affect Gene Expression

Scientists at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have identified telomere shortening as the primary cause of certain genetic diseases that appears with advancing age.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/06/ut-southwestern-medical-center-researchers-determine-telomeres-affect-gene-expression/

Rice U. and Texas Children’s Hospital Researchers Determine That Heart Cells Change Stem Cell Behavior

Researchers at Houston’s Rice University and Texas Children’s Hospital have found that stem cells drawn from amniotic fluid show promise for tissue engineering, but it is important to determine what they can and cannot do. A new Rice/TCH study led by bioengineer Jeff Jacot has observed that amniotic stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells and form electrical couplings with each other similar to those found in heart tissue, but these electrical connections alone don’t result in the amniotic cells to become cardiac cells.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/03/rice-u-and-texas-childrens-hospital-researchers-determine-that-heart-cells-change-stem-cell-behavior/

Texas Research Institutes Part Of Rising Interest In Biomarkers

Biomarkers play a very important role in identification, confirmation, treatment and prognosis of different oncological processes. Recently, a significant spike has been observed in the development and discovery of an increasing number of biomarkers that can help detect molecular characteristics of tumor cells in order to devise personalized treatment plans for cancer treatment.

http://bionews-tx.com/news/2013/05/03/biomarkers-take-center-stage/