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Sandia Labs News Releases

Category Archives: Bioscience / Medical Research

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NM company secures funds, land for medical-isotope producing reactor using Sandia concept

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico company secured funding this year and located 240 acres of land in the southeastern corner of the state to build a small reactor that will exclusively produce medical isotopes. The concept was developed and licensed by Sandia National Laboratories to help establish a stable domestic supply of medical isotopes, […]

Photo of Sandia National Laboratories chemist Chung-Yan Koh and former Sandia bioengineer Chris Phaneuf

Heat it and read it

LIVERMORE, Calif. — You’re sweating and feverish and have no idea why. Fortunately, Sandia National Laboratories scientists have a device that can pinpoint what’s wrong in less than an hour. Unlike most medical diagnostic devices which can perform only one type of test — either protein or nucleic acid tests — Sandia’s SpinDx can now perform […]

Jeff Tsao

Engineered light could improve health, food, suggests Sandia Labs researcher in Nature paper

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — People who believe light-emitting diodes, or LEDS, are just an efficient upgrade to the ordinary electric light bulb are stuck in their thinking, suggest Sandia National Laboratories researcher Jeff Tsao and colleagues from other institutions in a Nature “Perspectives” article published in late November. “LED lighting is only in its infancy,” the authors write. […]

Philip Miller

Sandia microneedles technique may mean quicker diagnoses of major illnesses

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When people are in the early stages of an undiagnosed disease, immediate tests that lead to treatment are the best first steps. But a blood draw — usually performed by a medical professional armed with an uncomfortably large needle — might not be quickest, least painful or most effective method, according to […]

Cutting it short

LIVERMORE, Calif. — Gene editing technology could one day eliminate diseases currently considered incurable. Thanks to a new test developed by Sandia National Laboratories scientists, that day is closer to dawning. The protein responsible for cutting out disease-causing bits of DNA is not safe to leave in the body for long. That’s why scientists are […]

Susan Rempe

Progress toward plugging an antibiotic pump

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Each year in the U.S., at least 23,000 people die from infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using computer modeling, researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are helping to develop the means to prevent some of those […]

Jeff Brinker photo

Sandia researcher Jeff Brinker elected fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jeff Brinker, Sandia National Laboratories fellow and University of New Mexico regents’ professor, has been elected fellow of the oldest learned society and independent policy research center in the United States: the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The academy’s 1780 charter states its purpose is “to cultivate every art and science, […]

Riding bacterium to the bank

LIVERMORE, Calif. — What does jet fuel have in common with pantyhose and plastic soda bottles? They’re all products currently derived from petroleum. Sandia National Laboratories scientists have demonstrated a new technology based on bioengineered bacteria that could make it economically feasible to produce all three from renewable plant sources. Economically and efficiently converting tough […]

Dale Huber, in a blue labcoat holds a small white microfluidic chip beside a large, basket-ball sized round-bottom flask.

Magnetic nanoparticles leap from lab bench to breast cancer clinical trials

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories materials chemist Dale Huber has been working on the challenge of making iron-based nanoparticles the exact same size for 15 years. Now, he and his long-term collaborators at Imagion Biosystems will use these magnetic nanoparticles for their first breast cancer clinical trial later this year. The nanoparticles stick to […]

Pat Finley, Drew Levin, and Melanie Moses sit in an emergency room, looking at a laptop.

Using biomimicry to detect outbreaks faster

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Our immune systems are made up of billions of white blood cells searching for signs of infections and foreign invaders, ready to raise the alarm. Sandia National Laboratories computer scientists Pat Finley and Drew Levin have been working to improve the U.S. biosurveillance system that alerts authorities to disease outbreaks by mimicking […]

Lauren Rohwer, Dorina Sava Gallis, and Kim Butler examine tubes of glowing MOF nanoparticles that they designed, synthesized, and tested.

Glowing designer sponges: New nanoparticles engineered to image and treat cancer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Sandia National Laboratories team has designed and synthesized nanoparticles that glow red and are stable, useful properties for tracking cancer growth and spread. This work is the first time the intrinsic luminescence of metal-organic framework materials, or MOFs, for long-term bioimaging has been reported, materials chemist Dorina Sava Gallis said. Fluorescently-tagging […]

Blast, impact simulations could lead to better understanding of injuries and body armor

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories is developing specialized computer modeling and simulation methods to better understand how blasts on a battlefield could lead to traumatic brain injury and injuries to vital organs, like the heart and lungs. Researchers at Sandia have studied the mechanisms behind traumatic brain injury for about a decade. Their traumatic […]

Researchers at Sandia work on new way to image brain

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers want to use small magnetic sensors to image the brain in a way that’s simpler and less expensive than the magnetoencephalography system now used. Magnetoencephalography is a noninvasive way to measure tiny magnetic fields produced by the brain’s electrical activity. The measurements, able to catch activity as fast […]

Infectious diseases: CTRL + ALT + Delete

Sandia joins gene editing safety project LIVERMORE, Calif.— Gene editing is revolutionizing the bioscience research landscape and holds great promise for “deleting” diseases from human bodies. Sandia National Laboratories is working to make this technology safer and to ensure that one day it can be delivered into humans without triggering adverse immune system reactions or […]

Seema Singh

New routes to renewables: Sandia speeds transformation of biofuel waste into wealth

LIVERMORE, Calif. — A Sandia National Laboratories-led team has demonstrated faster, more efficient ways to turn discarded plant matter into chemicals worth billions. The team’s findings could help transform the economics of making fuels and other products from domestically grown renewable sources. Lignin, the tough material left over from biofuel production, contains compounds that can […]

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