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The invention offered for licensing is in the field of use of vaccines for malaria. The invention provides gene sequences encoding an erythrocyte binding protein of a malaria pathogen for the expression of the erythrocyte binding protein. The codon composition of the synthetic gene sequences approximates the mammalian codon composition. The synthetic gene sequences are useful for incorporation into DNA vaccine vectors, for the incorporation into various expression vectors for production of malaria proteins, or both.

The technology offered for licensing and for further development concerns a novel device for intervallic collection of expired gas from subjects and subsequent measurement of the isotopic content of such expired gases. The device is specifically designed for medical research and clinical applications, and in particular in the area of metabolic disorders. The device may facilitate the development and testing of new therapies for such disorders and may be used for medical screening and diagnostics of metabolic diseases.

Cryopreservation using liquid nitrogen frozen polyvinyl bags allows for storing cellular materials for extended periods while maintaining their activity and viability. Such bags are commonly used in the clinic to store blood products including blood cells, plasma, hematopoietic stem cells, umbilical cord blood for future uses including transplantation. These materials, typically obtained in limited quantities, may be of great therapeutic value, as is the case of stem cells or cord blood derived cells which can be used to potentially treat a number of diseases.

X-linked nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (XNDI) is a severe kidney disease caused by inactivating mutations in the V2 vasopressin receptor (V2R) gene that result in the loss of renal urine-concentrating ability. At present, no specific pharmacological therapy has been developed for XNDI, primarily due to the lack of suitable animal models. This technology provides a unique and viable animal model of XNDI. NIH investigators have generated mice in which the V2R gene could be conditionally deleted during adulthood by administration of 4-OH-tamoxifen.

The compounds described in this technology may be useful in the development of nucleic acid detection kits for various pathogens.

Investigators at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute have developed modified defensins that are resistant to degradation, have improved characteristics compared to unmodified defensins, and are promising candidates for pulmonary disease therapeutics.

SMAD7 conditional knockout mice are available for licensing. SMAD7 can be knocked out by breeding with CRE-recombinase transgenic mice with a variety of promoters to yield tissue or cell type-specific deletions of SMAD7. SMAD7 has been shown to play a role in bone morphogenesis, cardiovascular tissue generation, immune regulation and fibrosis. Therefore, these mice provide a unique model to examine the role of the SMAD7 gene in disease processes that involve immunological, fibrotic, or cardiovascular components.

The technology is in the field of fluorescence microscopy. More specifically, the invention describes and claims the composite probes for super resolution optical techniques using super resolution via transiently activated quenchers (STAQ). The composite probes include a donor moiety and an acceptor moiety joined by a linker. The acceptor moiety, when excited by incident radiation, is excited to a state which, for example, absorbs in the donor emission region, such that the acceptor moiety in its excited state quenches at least a portion of the donor moiety emission.

Plasmodium vivax (malaria) is a significant health concern in many parts of Asia, Latin America, North Africa, and the Middle East. There is a lack of continuous culture systems for this pathogen. The subject technology is an erythroid progenitor continuous cell line (termed CD36E) identified by erythroid markers CD36, CD33, CD44, CD71, CD235, and globoside. These CD36E cells are heterozygous for Fya and Fyb (Duffy antigen). Due to recent evidence that Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) can infect erythroid progenitor cells (reference: YX Ru et al.

Parvovirus B19 (B19V) is the only known pathogenic human parvovirus. Infection by this viral pathogen can cause transient aplastic crisis in individuals with high red cell turnover, pure red cell aplasia in immunosuppressed patients, and hydrops fetalis during pregnancy. In children, B19V most commonly causes erythema infectiosum, or fifth's disease. Infection can also cause arthropathy and arthralgia. The virus is very erythrotropic, targeting human erythroid (red blood) progenitors found in the blood, bone marrow, and fetal liver.