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Illustration of DNA
Can “Gene Writing” Deliver What Gene Editing Can’t?
A biotech startup called Tessera Therapeutics has made a splash with its claims about the trademarked technology. Is the excitement justified?
Can “Gene Writing” Deliver What Gene Editing Can’t?
Can “Gene Writing” Deliver What Gene Editing Can’t?

A biotech startup called Tessera Therapeutics has made a splash with its claims about the trademarked technology. Is the excitement justified?

A biotech startup called Tessera Therapeutics has made a splash with its claims about the trademarked technology. Is the excitement justified?

pharma & biotech

A vet and technician take a sample from a dog for use in PetDx’s OncoK9 test, which screens cell-free DNA for genomic alterations associated with cancer.
The Pet Health Industry Takes on Canine Cancer
Diana Kwon | Oct 17, 2022 | 9 min read
Advanced genomic tools have provided biotech companies new approaches to help our furry friends—but experts say several limitations remain.
Illustration of the winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Biocompatible Reactions In Living Cells Garner Chemistry Nobel
Katherine Irving | Oct 5, 2022 | 4 min read
This year’s award recognizes Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless for developing click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.
Thwarting a Pandemic: COVID-19 Vaccine Strategies
The Scientist | 1 min read
Download this poster to learn about promising vaccine candidates for COVID-19!
Spraying spray bottle
Nasal Vaccines Are Commercially High Risk, Perhaps High Reward
Jef Akst | Jun 13, 2022 | 10+ min read
Dozens of intranasally delivered vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 are in development. Could they pave the way for widespread nasal vaccination in the future?
Zebrafish with fluorescent nervous system in green.
Oust the Mouse: A Plan to Reduce Mammal Use in Drug Development
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Mar 15, 2022 | 7 min read
The Scientist spoke to Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory’s Jim Strickland about the institute’s new MDI Bioscience initiative to perform more drug testing and development in nonmammalian models.
Starting a New Lab
The Scientist | 1 min read
Advice for new principal investigators starting their first research laboratories!
Man in personal protective equipment (glasses, gloves, cap, and coat) watching plants go through a piece of machinery.
Canada Approves World’s First Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Feb 25, 2022 | 2 min read
Canada has ordered 76 million doses of Covifenz, the main ingredient of which was manufactured in the leaves of a tobacco relative.
Photo of lab-grown chicken from Eat Just, Inc.
Cultured Meat Advances Toward the Market
Abby Olena, PhD | Feb 14, 2022 | 8 min read
The biotech industry is chipping away at the obstacles standing between the lab and the dinner plate.
DNA
In Editing RNA, Researchers See Endless Possibilities
Christie Wilcox, PhD | Dec 1, 2021 | 10 min read
RNA editing has been in DNA editing’s shadow for nearly a decade, but recent investments in the technology could bring it into the limelight.
Top 10 Innovations 2021
2021 Top 10 Innovations
The Scientist | Dec 1, 2021 | 10+ min read
The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Biomedical innovation has rallied to address that pressing concern while continuing to tackle broader research challenges.
Infographic showing endogenous adenosine enzymes acting on RNA (ADARs) edit genetic material in the cell by attaching to naturally occurring double-stranded RNAs, including mRNAs, and switching out A bases with I bases (left). Therapeutic RNA editing platforms based on this mechanism fall into one of two categories: either they use engineered enzymes, which generally consist of the editing part of the ADAR enzyme attached to another protein such as Cas13 that boosts specificity, alongside a guide RNA that targets the enzyme to the desired location (middle); or they consist of a guide RNA alone, which recruits an endogenous ADAR to edit the target sequence (right).
Infographic: RNA Editing Approaches
Christie Wilcox, PhD | Dec 1, 2021 | 1 min read
RNA editing platforms leverage the natural activity of ADAR enzymes to make key changes to messenger RNAs before they are translated into proteins.
blue and white building sign
Biden Picks Robert Califf to Head the FDA for a Second Time
Chloe Tenn | Nov 12, 2021 | 2 min read
The cardiologist was briefly the FDA Commissioner in the Obama Administration, and now has a second chance to act on plans he tried to implement during his first tenure.
Brain cells with electrical firing. 3D rendering.
Microglia as Therapeutic Targets in Neurodegenerative Diseases
Sruthi S. Balakrishnan | Oct 1, 2021 | 10+ min read
Pharmaceutical companies ramp up efforts to get the brain’s immune cells to help treat Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions, but not everyone agrees the approach will be effective.
Women looks at computer screen in a lab coat and mask
Quest for Research Freedom Fuels African Biotech Boom
Linda Nordling | Jul 1, 2021 | 6 min read
Tired of dancing to the tunes of international funders, and doubtful that long-promised national grants will come, a handful of African biomedical scientists have turned to private investors to bankroll their dreams of autonomy in the lab.
A person wearing a purple glove holds out a blue pill
Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Is Poised for a Makeover
Shawna Williams | Jun 1, 2021 | 9 min read
With multiple microbiota therapeutics in the pipeline for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, clinicians foresee a shift in treatment options for the condition.
clear blood draw tubes with peach-colored caps and white labels with a red banner that has a DNA double helix icon and the word text. inside the tubes is a conceptual drawing of a DNA double helix in white
FDA-Led Consortium Details Improvements Needed in Liquid Biopsies
Marcus A. Banks | May 19, 2021 | 4 min read
In the largest effort to date to standardize performance metrics of the cancer diagnostic across products, researchers say the products can likely detect advanced tumors reliably, but early-stage malignancies would remain a challenge.
Pharma Looks to Inflammasome Inhibitors as All-Around Therapies
Rachael Moeller Gorman | Apr 1, 2021 | 10+ min read
Many major biopharmaceutical companies are developing or acquiring drugs that target the NLRP3 inflammasome, a large intracellular complex that researchers say can spark inflammation and stoke diseases of lifestyle and aging.
Moncef Slaoui Fired by GSK Amid Sexual Harassment Claims
Lisa Winter | Mar 24, 2021 | 2 min read
The former GlaxoSmithKline executive had led the US government’s Operation Warp Speed COVID-19 vaccine program during the Trump administration.
SEC Charges uBiome Founders with Defrauding Investors
Catherine Offord | Mar 23, 2021 | 2 min read
The microbiome-testing company made misleading claims about its prospects and about its business strategy, which allegedly relied on fooling doctors into ordering unnecessary tests, according to the US government.
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