Tag Archives: xiaohu gao

Stir no more: UW scientists show that draining speeds up bioassays

For many research scientists, idle time has long been an unwelcome feature of the discovery process. Advances in cellular biology have yielded popular and powerful tools to detect cellular proteins and DNA — largely by exploiting the unique and intricate interactions between these microscopic molecules. Scientists use these tools to advance research and diagnose diseases. But these come at a cost in time — from hours to days — before they yield accurate answers. (more…)

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Tenfold boost in ability to pinpoint proteins in cancer cells

Better diagnosis and treatment of cancer could hinge on the ability to better understand a single cell at its molecular level. New research offers a more comprehensive way of analyzing one cell’s unique behavior, using an array of colors to show patterns that could indicate why a cell will or won’t become cancerous.

A University of Washington team has developed a new method for color-coding cells that allows them to illuminate 100 biomarkers, a ten-time increase from the current research standard, to help analyze individual cells from cultures or tissue biopsies. The work is published this week (March 19) in Nature Communications. (more…)

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