This is a Leopard gecko. Credit: Vickaryous Lab

Discovery of which cells are behind the gecko’s ability to re-grow its tail has implications for spinal cord treatment in humans. A U of G researcher is the first to discover the type of stem cell that is behind the gecko’s ability to re-grow its tail, a finding that has implications for spinal cord treatment in humans. Many lizards can detach a portion of their tail to avoid a predator and then regenerate a new one. Unlike mammals, the lizard tail includes a spinal cord.

Prof. Matthew Vickaryous found that the spinal cord of the tail contained a large number of stem cells and proteins known to support stem cell growth...

The first crop of tomatoes and cucumbers grown inside electricity-generating solar greenhouses was as healthy and robust as those raised in conventional greenhouses, signaling that “smart” greenhouses hold great promise for farming and energy conservation.

Magenta panes also help plants save water. The first crops of tomatoes and cucumbers grown inside electricity-generating solar greenhouses were as healthy as those raised in conventional greenhouses, signaling that “smart” greenhouses hold great promise for dual-use farming and renewable electricity production...

Heat transport through pillared graphene could be made faster by manipulating the junctions between sheets of graphene and the nanotubes that connect them, according to Rice University researchers. Credit: Lei Tao/Rice University

3D carbon nanostructures’ thermal transport abilities. Pillared graphene would transfer heat better if the theoretical material had a few asymmetric junctions that caused wrinkles, according to Rice University engineers. Materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari and alumnus Navid Sakhavand first built atom-level computer models of pillared graphene – sheets of graphene connected by covalently bonded carbon nanotubes – to discover their strength and electrical properties as well as their thermal conductivity.

In a new study, they found that manipulating the joints bet...

Curative Multicycle Radioimmunotherapy Monitored by Quantitative SPECT/CT-Based Theranostics, Using Bispecific Antibody Pretargeting Strategy in Colorectal Cancer. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2017; 58 (11): 1735 DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.117.193250

Novel 3-step pretargeted radioimmunotherapy offers safe, effective treatment. In this study with a mouse model, researchers achieved a 100% cure rate -without any treatment-related toxic effects. Until now, radioimmunotherapy (targeted therapy) of solid tumors using antibody-targeted radionuclides has had limited therapeutic success. “This research is novel because of the benchmarks reached by the treatment regimen, in terms of curative tumor doses, with non-toxic secondary radiation to the body’s normal tissues,” explains Steven M...