> Biomarkers indicate that general anesthesia could speed up cognitive decline from Alzheimer's, prompting a warning that, whenever possible, regional anesthesia should be used on older people. Story
> CLC Bio, a bioinformatics company, is contributing its software to a $4 million effort in Denmark to identify and validate prostate cancer biomarkers. The project is headed by researchers at Aarhus University Hospital and funded by the Danish Council for Strategic Research. Article | Release
> Crescendo Bioscience, a South San Francisco, CA-based molecular diagnostics company, has completed a $31-million Series C round and $25 million debt investment by Myriad Genetics, raising a total of $56 million. The company is developing biomarker tests for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. Crescendo release
> Blood levels of a hormone called fibroblast growth factor-23 could help predict which kidney disease patients will develop heart problems, need dialysis and die prematurely. More here
> Curemark, a drug research and development company, has been issued patent number 8,012,710, which covers the company's biomarker for diagnosing Parkinson's disease. Curemark release
> Vermillion has been granted U.S. patent 8,014,952, "Serum Biomarkers in Lung Cancer," which describes 50 proteins that can be used to distinguish between patients with and without lung cancer and to determine which type of lung cancer a patient has. Item
> Arizona State University and Sun Yat-Sen University in China are putting their heads together to come up with a way to diagnose colorectal cancer early. They'll collaborate on biomarkers. Article