System biology

30 June 2020 Image: Glen Carrie In lab tests, virus-like DNA structures coated with viral proteins provoke a strong immune response in human B cells, by Ann Trafton, MIT News Office By folding DNA into a virus-like structure, MIT researchers have designed HIV-like particles that provoke a strong immune response from human immune cells grown in a […]

With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting millions around the globe, researchers are racing to develop a vaccine or drug treatment. In an effort to better understand the cellular responses to COVID-19, the digital biology company Recursion has publicly released the world’s largest imaging dataset portraying therapeutic compound effects from over 1,600 approved and referenced molecules on SARS-CoV-2-infected human cells. The […]

Taconic Biosciences has announced an exclusive agreement with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) to distribute humanised ACE2 mice for coronavirus research. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, uses the ACE2 receptor to enter cells, causing infection. Due to differences between the mouse and human ACE2 receptors, normal laboratory mice cannot be […]

22 June 2020 SLAS Transformed is an interactive event focused on omics, synthetic biology and genome editing along with applicable implications for the current pandemic. The two-day event runs from 23-24 June 2020, offering 30-minute scientific research presentations, live exhibitor presentations and one-on-one networking sessions. It will span multiple time zones (6.30am-8pm) US Central and will […]

09 June, 2020 The specialist developer and manufacturer of proteins for stem cell, organoid and regenerative medicine applications announced the successful closure of a £1.5 million (US$1.9 million) series A investment round to accelerate the global scale-up of its commercial operations. According to Cambridge based Qkine, the funding round attracted support from a range of […]

Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD), owner of the CDD Vault, a comprehensive drug discovery informatics platform for research laboratories, has asked researchers what they think biotechnology world will look like after Covid-19. A few responses are listed below. “Covid-19 may be the tipping point that shifts us from the current model of “sick-care” to a more […]

13 May, 2020 The UK headquartered clinical development organisation, specialised in topical and transdermal drug delivery, has expanded its testing models to support pharmaceutical development programmes targeting coronavirus treatments. MedPharm said these models allow companies to assess therapeutic effectiveness in nasal, airway (bronchial) and deep lung (alveolar) epithelia against members of the coronaviridae family. The work is […]

The CRISPR revolution arrives in immuno-oncology By Helen Stewart-Miller and Thomas Hope Volume 21 Issue 2 – Spring 2020 CRISPR-cas9 technology is having an exciting impact on drug discovery as a whole, but more specifically CRISPR presents enormous opportunities in targeted screening for immuno-oncology research. Clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) were first detected in […]

Meeting analytical challenges in a brave new world of next generation biotherapeutics By Mani Krishnan and Susan Darling Volume 21 Issue 2 – Spring 2020 The need for innovative advanced analytical tools to accelerate the development of immunotherapies and other complex biologics that may one day cure genetic diseases and cancer has never been greater. […]

Innovative glycan imaging methods drive cancer biomarker discovery By Dr Richard Drake, Dr Anand Mehta and Dr Peggy Angel Volume 21 Issue 2 – Spring 2020 Glycosylation accounts for the majority of post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins, and changes in glycosylation are known to play a key role in disease state. Novel mass spectrometry (MS) […]