The Patient Perspective: How Patient Interaction Helps Laboratory Research
The importance of interaction between patients and researchers is the subject this discussion by MDI Biological Laboratory assistant professor, Sandra Rieger, Ph.D., who is studying chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy using the zebrafish as a research model.
Continue ReadingCool Videos: Regenerating Nerve Fibers
If you enjoy action movies, you can probably think of a superhero—maybe Wolverine?—who can lose a limb in battle, yet grow it right back and keep on going. But could regenerating a lost limb ever happen in real life? In this guest post, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, discusses the how scientists including Sandra Rieger, Ph.D., of the MDI Biological Laboratory are striving to understand how other organisms do this.
Continue ReadingSeeking the Genetic Instruction Manual for Limb Regeneration and Wound Healing
Extensive regeneration occurs in certain animals such as amphibians and teleosts, allowing them to fully regenerate certain body parts. Despite the fact that humans share many genes with these organisms, our adult regenerative capacity is limited. In this interview, Drs. Ben King and Voot Yin discuss their discovery of a common miRNA-regulated genetic network of genes controlling limb regeneration in regenerative species.
Continue ReadingMDI Biological Laboratory Scientists Awarded Patent for Potential New Heart Disease Drug
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has announced that it will grant a patent to MDI Biological Laboratory scientists Voot P. Yin, Ph.D., and Kevin Strange, Ph.D., and their collaborator Michael Zasloff, M.D., Ph.D., for use of the small molecule MSI-1436 to stimulate the repair and regeneration of heart tissue.
Continue ReadingLaboratory Receives Funds for Research on Peripheral Neuropathy
The MDI Biological Laboratory has received a grant of $456,500 over two years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for the study of peripheral neuropathy. The grant will support research conducted by assistant professor Sandra Rieger, Ph.D., on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, a disabling condition causing pain, numbness, tingling and temperature sensitivity in...
Continue ReadingUnlocking the Secret to Growing New Limbs
MDI Biological Laboratory scientists Benjamin L. King, Ph.D., and Voot P. Yin, Ph.D., have identified genetic regulators governing regeneration that are common across species. Many lower organisms retain the miraculous ability to regenerate the form and function of almost any body part after injury. Humans share many of our genes with these organisms, but our...
Continue ReadingLimb and Organ Regeneration Featured on “Maine Calling,” MPBN’s Popular Radio Call-In Program
Though it sounds like science fiction, limb regeneration in humans is within the realm of possibility. The study of limb regeneration can also lead to advances in wound healing and in the development of highly sophisticated prosthetic devices that are much more sensitive and effective than those that are currently in use. MDI Biological Laboratory...
Continue ReadingMDI Biological Laboratory Announces Potential New Therapy for Nerve Damage
Assistant Professor Sandra Rieger, Ph.D., has identified two drugs that could potentially be used to reverse peripheral nerve damage, or peripheral neuropathy, resulting from cancer chemotherapy treatment. The drugs also have potential applications for the treatment of peripheral neuropathies caused by other conditions. The drugs are the subject of a provisional patent filed by the...
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