NIH awards Rutgers Cell and DNA Repository $57.8M. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News - Biotechnology from Bench to Business

The Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) has received two major awards worth more than $57.8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). One will fund genetic studies of mental disorders and the other will support investigations into the causes of digestive, liver and kidney diseases, and diabetes.

"Both awards were the result of a competitive selection process that considered the scientific merit of the proposals and the past experience of the RUCDR," said principal investigator Jay A. Tischfield, Duncan and Nancy Macmillan Professor and Chair of the Department of Genetics.

Full Story: News: NIH awards Rutgers Cell and DNA Repository $57.8M. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News - Biotechnology from Bench to Business

Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) Website.

Time Magazine: A New Class of Antibiotics Could Offer Hope Against TB

Eighty years after the discovery of penicillin, researchers say they are on the verge of developing a new class of antibiotics.

Publishing in the Oct. 17 issue of the journal Cell, scientists at Rutgers University describe a group of antibiotic compounds, first isolated decades ago from naturally occurring antibacterial substances in soil. Among them, researchers say, is a compound called myxopyronin that shows great promise. It has been synthesized in the lab and shown to be safe in animal trials, and although the drug hasn't been tested in humans yet, cell-based experiments suggest that it is potent enough to kill a wide range of stubborn bugs, including drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis and the deadly type of staph known as MRSA.

Full Story: A New Class of Antibiotics Could Offer Hope Against TB