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New medical technique might treat tumors | |
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HEALTH TIPS - Thursday, February 15, 2007
"News That Keeps You Healthy"
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FDA approves DNA suture technology
WASHINGTON, -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ap-
proved the use of sutures made from material isolated from
bacteria modified by recombinant DNA technology. The tech-
nology uses living organisms to create chemicals that may
be more difficult to produce under standard industrial
methods. "The TephaFLEX Absorbable Suture is made from
material that uses the latest DNA technology," said Dr.
Daniel Schultz, director of the FDA's Center for Devices
and Radiological Health. "This approach could have broader
applications for medical devices that use this novel manu-
facturing technology." The FDA said it based its decision
on the manufacturer's laboratory and animal testing that
examined chemical composition, biological safety and
mechanical performance of the polymeric suture. The pro-
duct is produced by Tepha Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. Doctors
use sutures in patients to hold soft tissue together while
the tissue heals from a deep cut or surgical incision.
Absorbable sutures are made of materials that break down
in the body after a short period of time. The newly
developed sutures are contraindicated in patients aller-
gic to the cells or the growth media used to produce the
absorbable polymeric material.
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New medical technique might treat tumors
BERKELEY, Calif., -- A large U.S. animal study has shown
certain microsecond electrical pulses can punch nanoscale
holes in the membranes of target cells. The technology --
irreversible electroporation, or IRE, developed at the
University of California-Berkeley -- does its work without
harming tissue scaffolding, including that in the blood
vessels. That is a potential breakthrough in minimally
invasive surgical treatments of tumors, researchers said.
"I've been working in this area of minimally invasive
surgery for 30 years now," said Boris Rubinsky, professor
of bioengineering and lead author of the paper. "I truly
think that this will be viewed as one of the most impor-
tant advances in the treatment of tumors in years. I am
very excited about the potential of this technique. It
may have tremendous applications in many areas of
medicine and surgery." Rubinsky, who co-wrote the study
with Dr. Gary Onik, director of surgical imaging at
Florida Hospital in Orlando, Fla., is on a leave of
absence from the University of California-Berkeley to
develop the technology at Hebrew University in Israel.
The technique, which will undergo human testing this
summer, is described in the February issue of the
journal Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment.
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New form of bone disorder disease found
BETHESDA, Md., -- U.S. scientists say they've identified
a new form of a brittle bone disorder and have determined
the genetic defect that underlies osteogenesis imperfecta.
The disorder is characterized by bones that break easily,
and is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the pro-
tein type I collagen. The classical form of the disease
is dominant, meaning a mutation in only one copy of the
type I collagen gene is sufficient to cause the disease.
But now Joan Marini and colleagues at the National Insti-
tute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda,
Md., say they've identified a new recessive form of the
disease, in which mutations of both copies of a gene are
required. The research is to appear in the March issue
of the journal Nature Genetics.
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