The Science Advisory Board

Demand for viral vectors seen outpacing capacity growth despite investment surge

The growth in demand for viral vectors is outpacing a push to add capacity, leading to predictions tha...

Machine learning may accelerate solutions to address protein design challenges

Machine learning can be used to create protein molecule...

Scientists use bacteria to build advanced synthetic cells with lifelike functionality

Researchers have used bacteria to build complex syntheti...

Single-cell sequencing reveals spatial map of immune cells in early-stage lung cancer

Using single-cell sequencing, researchers at the Universit...

Genomics profiling reveals how Zika infects immune cells, suggests antiviral target

A genomics profiling method has revealed how the Zik...

Bioprocessing

Federal funding of $2B to support biotechnology and biomanufacturing
September 14, 2022 -- The White House announced on Wednesday federal funding of more than $2 billion to advance President Joe Biden’s executive order intended to enable the U.S. to harness the full potential of biotechnology and biomanufacturing. Read More

Biden executive order launches National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative
September 12, 2022 -- President Joe Biden signed an executive order today that is intended to allow the U.S. to harness the potential of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, according to an announcement by the White House. Read More

Cancer & Disease Research

Scientists have new theory as to cause of Alzheimer’s disease
September 15, 2022 -- A new theory posits that the biophysical properties of cell interiors change as people age, driven in part by “molecular crowding,” and that has implications for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Read More

NCI awards $13.3M for cancer research on drug sequencing
September 15, 2022 -- The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a five-year, $13.3 million grant to a team of researchers to study sequential combinations of targeted inhibitors and immunotherapies for cancer. Read More

Cell & Gene Therapy

New type of CAR T cells provide on-off switch to improve cell therapy safety, efficiency
September 12, 2022 -- Researchers at Boston University have created on and off switches for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, enabling them to control the activity of therapies using an approved drug. Read More

Penn State-led team develops more efficient system for delivering CRISPR to stem cells
September 9, 2022 -- Modified mRNA (modRNA)-based CRISPR systems improve on the transfection and knockout efficiency of plasmid-based systems in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), a Penn State-led team of interdisciplinary researchers has found. Read More

Cell Biology

Cow mucus-derived lubricant stops HIV, herpes in lab tests
September 19, 2022 -- A synthetic prophylactic gel based on cow mucus is 70% effective against HIV and 80% effective against herpes in lab tests, a new study reveals. Read More

U of M researchers awarded $19.3M in NIH grants to map senescent cells
September 16, 2022 -- The University of Minnesota (U of M) Medical School and other researchers were awarded $19.3 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund to map senescent cells in preclinical studies and human tissues. Read More

COVID-19

Mount Sinai scientists unlock secrets of key SARS-CoV-2 enzyme
September 12, 2022 -- Mount Sinai researchers have produced a high-resolution crystal structure of an enzyme that is essential to the survival of SARS-CoV-2. The finding could lead to more antivirals to combat current and future coronaviruses, they added. Read More

Antiviral therapy blocks COVID-19 transmission in hamsters: study
September 9, 2022 -- Researchers at Gladstone Institutes have shown that a new single-dose intranasal, antiviral treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection decreases viral shedding and limits transmission of the virus in hamsters. Read More

Drug Discovery & Development

Beckman Coulter acquires biotech company ValitaCell in analytics play
September 16, 2022 -- Laboratory automation company Beckman Coulter Life Sciences has acquired biotech company ValitaCell for an undisclosed amount, according to a September 13 announcement from the companies. Read More

Women researchers in life sciences face gender inequities in mentoring
September 9, 2022 -- There is a disproportionate tendency for women to leave academic research instead of advancing to positions in which they become mentors themselves, according to an analysis of formal PhD and postdoctoral mentoring relationships in the life sciences. Read More

Genomics

Data science, computational biology find same ‘rules’ have shaped organelles
September 16, 2022 -- An international team of researchers, led by Norway’s University of Bergen, has used data science and computational biology to show that the same “rules” have shaped how organelles -- both mitochondria and chloroplasts -- have evolved. Read More

Qiagen, Neuron23 partner to develop companion diagnostic for Parkinson’s drug
September 15, 2022 -- Diagnostics company Qiagen and early-stage biotechnology company Neuron23 announced a master collaboration agreement to develop a companion diagnostic for Neuron23’s brain penetrant leucine-rich repeat kinase inhibitor to treat Parkinson's disease. Read More

Immunology

Scientists decrease IBD inflammation with specific protein
September 15, 2022 -- How a set of molecules interact with each other in gut immune cells could prevent the inflammation seen in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), according to University of Texas Southwestern researchers. The findings suggest a new drug target for treating IBD and related conditions. Read More

Inhibiting white blood cell enzyme reduces lung metastases in mice: study
September 8, 2022 -- Researchers at The Wistar Institute and Jubilant Therapeutics have found an enzyme in neutrophils that promotes tumor growth and metastasis, pointing to a new way to treat cancers. Read More

Proteomics

New mRNA therapy shows promise for ovarian cancer, cachexia: mouse model
September 14, 2022 -- Researchers have developed what they contend is a first-of-its-kind messenger RNA (mRNA) therapy for combating ovarian cancer and cachexia, an associated muscle-wasting condition, with promising results from a study of mice. Read More

Hormone therapy improves cognitive function in Down syndrome in small pilot study
September 2, 2022 -- Subcutaneous doses of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, a master molecule that controls reproduction, may improve cognitive function in men with Down syndrome, according to results of a small pilot study built on research in mice. Read More

Single-cell Technologies

Researchers identify transcription factors that restore hearing in zebrafish
September 15, 2022 -- Certain transcription factors were able to restore hearing in zebrafish through cell regeneration and could inform treatments for hearing loss in humans, according to National Institutes of Health researchers. Read More

Scientists create mouse embryo only from embryonic stem cells
September 12, 2022 -- An international team of researchers has developed a mouse embryonic stem cell-based (ESC) in vitro model. They used only ESCs (a first), which were coaxed into becoming extraembryonic endoderm stem cells and then trophoblast stem cells. Read More