November 6, 2019 Pilot effort will sequence 10,000 genomes by end of 2020, with the goal of embedding genome sequencing in the health system by 2025. TAIPEI: The National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) of Taiwan today announced that it is taking an effort to embed whole genome and exome sequencing…
September 2, 2019 (for immediate release) Vaccine research at the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) of Taiwan has led to an award from the Ministry of Science and Technology for Outstanding Technology Transfer. This helps reconfirm NHRI’s essential role in Taiwan’s biomedicine sector. The technology for a novel vaccine for…
I attended the four-day Pasteur Institute conference titled “Evolution, Structure and /function of Chromosomes High Order Structure” in memory of Francois Jacob from June 4 to 7. I was very fortunate to have this opportunity not only to learn the fundamentals about eukaryotic and prokaryotic chromosomes but also to add…
Prenatal exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been reported to be associated with adverse effects on neurodevelopment that yield behavior syndromes in young children with an estimated median exposure lower than the currently recommended tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 50 μg/kg_bw/day and reference dose (RfD) of 20 μg/kg_bw/day. Given the…
Head and neck cancer — including cancers of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx — is the 4th leading cancer among Taiwanese men. Despite the progressions in the treatment of advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), its prognosis remain poor. Cetuximab (Erbitux®) is an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)…
Decreased expression of metallothionein-1 (MT-1) is associated with a poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Dr. Jun-Yang Liou and his team from the Institute of Cellular and System Medicine reported that MT-1 expression was suppressed by 14-3-3ε, and MT-1 overexpression abolished 14-3-3ε-induced cell proliferation and tumor growth. The team identified…
A team led by Dr. Shao-Yuan Chuang from the Institute of Population Sciences investigated the association between carotid flow velocity, cognitive function, and blood pressure (BP) in a community-based population. A total of 1,684 elders aged more than 50 years without dementia were recruited from the I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study…
June 17, 2019 National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) of Taiwan is pleased to announce the licensing and transfer of two outstanding technologies — “A Microfluidic Dual-well Device for High-throughput Single-cell Capture and Culture” and “Selective Particle Transfer from One Device to Another” — to OriGem Biotech of Taiwan. The transfer…
Cordycepin, a major ingredient found in the related fungus-infected caterpillars of Cordyceps militaris, has been suggested to possess anti-tumor properties in various types of malignancies. A team led by Dr. Jun-Yang Liou from the Institute of Cellular and System Medicine has previously reported that cordycepin could suppress integrin/ focal adhesion…
Global cerebral ischemia resulting from cardiac arrest causes selective neurodegeneration in the hippocampal CA1 region. Protein Kinase C epsilon (PKCε) is a member of the novel PKC subfamily and plays a vital role in ischemic preconditioning. Previous studies have shown that pharmacological activation of PKCε confers neuroprotection. However, the role…
