Penn Cell Center Services

12/01/2020

Penn’s Singh Center for Nanotechnology has added the newest cutting-edge technology to its collection of already impressive microscopes: The Krios G3i, a cryogenic electron microscope that will allow researchers to look at cells, proteins, and engineered nanoparticles like never before. The trick is to keep them frozen in time, holding them in their natural environment while bombarding them with ultrafast, ultrahot subatomic particles.

https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-joins-cryo-revolution-adding-nobel-winning-microscope

09/15/2020

As Penn continues to open up and is now in the 'Fall Semester Phase', our Cell Center Service Facility is fully open for business. We hope everyone is doing well and surviving the Covid 19 shut down. We are now on campus and ready for your orders. 🙂

03/11/2020

Gilead's experimental drug remdesivir has been touted by public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most—if not the most—promising antivirals to fight the new coronavirus strain.

According to CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield in congressional testimony.

03/10/2020

Panic-buying of protective N95 respirators is putting at risk the very research that aims to stop deadly pathogens. To adapt, some high-level biosafety labs are switching to reusable air-purifying hoods — but these are far more expensive. “We can be creative,” says infectious-disease researcher Joan Nichols. “But at the end of the day, we cannot do this work unless we’re protected properly.”

Infectious disease researchers worry about their ability to continue working as available supplies of N95 respirators dwindle.

03/02/2020

Erika H. James has been named dean of the Wharton School, effective July 1. She is currently dean of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. In making the announcement, President Amy Gutmann said James is “a passionate and visible champion of the power of business and business education to positively transform communities locally, nationally, and globally. She is exceptionally well prepared to lead Wharton into the next exciting chapter of its storied history.”

The dean of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University will begin her new position as dean of the Wharton School effective July 1.

03/02/2020

“Americans need facts and science—not reassurance that all will be well. The presidential press conference on the coronavirus pandemic was, sadly, a disappointment,” Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at NYU Langone Health, says in a statement emailed to The Scientist.

Administration officials have given contradictory statements about how COVID-19 will affect the US, and it is not clear who is leading the infectious disease response effort, critics say.

02/21/2020

A machine-learning approach has spotted powerful new types of antibiotic from a pool of more than 100 million molecules, including one that works against bacterial strains considered untreatable. This is the first time artificial intelligence has identified completely new kinds of antibiotic from scratch, without relying on any previous human assumptions.

Machine learning spots molecules that work even against ‘untreatable’ strains of bacteria.

02/18/2020

In 2005, research from the Shore Health System of Maryland ICU showed that the homeopathic remedy, Kali bichromicum (Kali-bi) reduced excessive mucus in seriously ill patients, lessened their time on ventilators, resulted in less respiratory complications, and shortened their stay in the ICU.
In contrast, those in the control group who had not received the remedy took considerably longer to recover, with some returning to the ventilator after extubation because they struggled to breath – something that had not been a problem for the homeopathic group. As a result, the hospital added the Kali-bi to their pharmacy.

Chest. 2005 Mar;127(3):936-41. Clinical Trial; Randomized Controlled Trial

02/18/2020

The Indian government’s Ministry of AYUSH, which promotes alternative medicine systems in the country, released a health advisory on January 29 that advocates the use of homeopathy and traditional remedies, such as Indian systems of medicine, to ward off infections of the newly circulating 2019-nCoV coronavirus. This includes the use of a homeopathic preparation called Arsenicum album 30C.

Critics of the practice say the guidance is irresponsible and could give users a false sense of security.

02/17/2020

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), one of the largest and most influential conservation organizations in the world, boasts a network of 15,000 scientific experts, some of whom have interests that run counter to wildlife conservation and may in fact promote the trade of endangered animals.

Buzzfeed uncovers trophy hunters among the ranks of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which, critics say, may be impeding wildlife protection.

02/03/2020

We use a component of the blood of the Horseshoe crab to test reagents and media for Endotoxin content.

Every year, more than 400,000 crabs are bled for the miraculous medical substance that flows through their bodies—now pharmaceutical companies are finally committing to an alternative that doesn't harm animals.

01/21/2020

On Thursday, the United States Department of Energy announced plans to build a cutting-edge nuclear physics research facility called the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) at New York’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.
“The EIC promises to keep America in the forefront of nuclear physics research and particle accelerator technology, critical components of overall U.S. leadership in science,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said in a press release.

"The Electron-Ion Collider will open up a new frontier in nuclear physics..."