TKT Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent Relating to Sanfilippo Syndrome Type B (MPS IIIB).
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 6,255,096 entitled, "Synthetic Mammalian Alpha-N- Acetylglucosaminidase and Genetic Sequences Encoding Same." The patent claims are related to a DNA sequence encoding alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase and cells...

Orchid Announces Acquisition of Cellmark From AstraZeneca.
PRINCETON, N.J. and LONDON, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Orchid BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ORCH) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) today announced that Orchid has acquired all assets of the AstraZeneca subsidiary Cellmark Diagnostics, a leading provider of genetic diversity testing services in the United Kingdom. "Orchid is...

ViaCell Acquires Cerebrotec to Form Neuroscience Division.
Noted Neuroscientist, Dr. Seth Finklestein, to Head New Division Focusing on Cellular and Molecular Medicines for The Treatment of Stroke and Other Neurological Diseases BOSTON, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaCell, Inc., a premier cellular pharmaceuticals company, today announced it has acquired...

Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) Protests Release of Disney's `Bubble Boy'.
Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases (PIDS) Patient Advocacy Group Wants Movie Pulled Prior to Release, Boycotted BALTIMORE, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- With the release of the movie "Bubble Boy" this August, Walt Disney Productions mocks a life-threatening disease, inviting its target audience of teenagers...

Amnio doesn't tell whole story with CNS abnormalities. (Family history, MRI also important).
SAN FRANCISCO -- One of the most useful rules about genetic counseling for CNS abnormalities is this: Amniocentesis doesn't tell you everything. That advice was offered by Dr. Mary Norton at a meeting on antepartum and intrapartum management sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco. ...

Pioneering bone marrow procedures.
Researchers at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT) are helping to develop new procedures that may reduce infections and diseases resulting from bone-marrow transplants. The work by Dr. Ellen Vitetta, director of the Cancer Immunobiology Center, and Dr. Robert Collins, director of the UT...

Delivering the goods: gene therapy without the virus.
Gene therapy has been on a roller coaster in recent years. Experiments in adding genes directly to patients' cells have shown promising signs, but the technical and clinical momentum has been drained repeatedly by bad results. These include the death of a young man in 1999 and two recent...

Our Biotech Future - An exchange.
Ronald Bailey: Enabling parents to genetically enhance their children is not going to be as easy as some of us might hope, nor will it happen as soon as we might wish, but Dinesh D'Souza is right when he claims in his article "Staying Human" (Jan. 22)...

Amidst Genome Data, a Practical Tool for Researchers.
Project Establishes Guideposts for Pinpointing DNA Segments for Researchers in Genetics and Cancer PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- As the "working draft" of the human genome is officially published this week, scientists are unveiling powerful tools to make the crucial data more useful...

New Treatment Available for Fabry Disease In Europe.
- TKT Receives European Approval of Replagal(TM) for Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Fabry Disease - CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TKTX) today announced the European Commission has granted marketing authorization for Replagal(TM) (agalsidase alfa) -- the Company's enzyme...