Connecting You to Tomorrow's Biotechnology Innovations
Scientists funded by NIH preserve vision in dogs with a disease similar to retinitis pigmentosa in humans. Scientists funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) report a novel gene therapy that halts vision loss in a canine model of a blinding condition called autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP). The strategy could one day be used […]
About 50,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed annually with head, neck, nasal and oral cancers. Most are treated with radiation, and of those, 70-80 percent develop a painful and debilitating side effect called severe oral mucositis (SOM). While some drugs are available to treat SOM once it develops, none can prevent it. But today, […]
Penn Study Details Model of Pulmonary Fibrosis, Which Kills More Than 40,000 Each Year The biggest hurdle to finding effective therapies for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) – a life-threatening condition in which the lungs become scarred and breathing is increasingly difficult – has been the inability to fully model the disease in animals, limiting the […]
Engineered T-cell therapy, and in particular CAR T-cells, have shown efficacy in CD-19+ blood cancer such as lymphomas and leukemias. However, to date, T-cell therapies have found little success in solid tumors – in part due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Checkpoint inhibitors, on the other hand, have been proven effective at empowering the immune […]
A Stony Brook pathologist and colleagues publish findings in Cancer Cell By genetically manipulating and removing the most common mutant form of the p53 gene that promotes colorectal cancer in humans, an international team of scientists demonstrated that this therapy reduces tumor growth and tissue invasion. Led by Ute Moll, MD, Professor and cancer biologist in […]
Although national guidelines advise doctors to discuss the benefits and harms of lung cancer screening with high-risk patients because of a high rate of false positives and other factors, those conversations aren’t happening the way they should be, according to a study by researchers from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Lung […]
A University of Adelaide-led team of scientists has suggested a potential link between iron in our cells and the rare gene mutations that cause Alzheimer’s disease, which could provide new avenues for future research. In a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, the team proposes a new theory for how rare gene mutations cause Alzheimer’s […]
A research team from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that immune cells in the eye that developed in response to early exposure to bacteria are a key contributor to progressive vis8/9/2018ion loss from glaucoma, the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. The findings, published online […]
Glioblastoma brain tumors can have an unusual effect on the body’s immune system, often causing a dramatic drop in the number of circulating T-cells that help drive the body’s defenses. Where the T-cells go has been unclear, even as immunotherapies are increasingly employed to stimulate the body’s natural ability to fight invasive tumors. Now researchers […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Onpattro (patisiran) infusion for the treatment of peripheral nerve disease (polyneuropathy) caused by hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR) in adult patients. This is the first FDA-approved treatment for patients with polyneuropathy caused by hATTR, a rare, debilitating and often fatal genetic disease characterized by the buildup of abnormal […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Poteligeo (mogamulizumab-kpkc) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mycosis fungoides (MF) or Sézary syndrome (SS) after at least one prior systemic therapy. This approval provides a new treatment option for patients with MF and is the first FDA approval […]
The Cancer Center of Kansas (CCK) has been added as a new clinical trial site and will be part of an ongoing, multicenter, Phase IIa study of Bria-IMT™ (listed in ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT03066947) in advanced breast cancer, as well as the rollover combination study of BriaCell Therapeutic’s Bria-IMT™ with pembrolizumab or ipilimumab (listed in ClinicalTrials.gov […]
Stony Brook University, iCell Gene Therapeutics, and the University of Louisville, have received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for an Investigational New Drug (IND) for the treatment of relapsed and refractory T-cell leukemia and lymphoma. The approach is the first to use chimeric antigen receptor engineered T-cells directed against the target protein CD4 (CD4CAR). […]
Researchers report in Nature Communications they figured out why air sacs in the lungs clog up with a thick substance called surfactant in a brutal disease called Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP), and they show taking cholesterol-busting pills called statins can effectively treat the disease. That’s good news for people with PAP because at present the […]
Today, your body will accumulate quadrillions of new injuries in your DNA. The constant onslaught of many forms of damage, some of which permanently mutates your genes, could initiate cancer and prove fatal. Yet all is not doomed: The lives we lead determine how well our cells can handle this daily molecular erosion. Certain […]
Johns Hopkins scientists report they have identified two potential new drug targets for the treatment of HIV. The finding is from results of a small, preliminary study of 19 people infected with both HIV—the virus that causes AIDS—and the hepatitis C virus. The study revealed that two genes—CMPK2 and BCLG, are selectively activated in the […]
For many, hearing the word “Parkinson’s” conjures an image of tremors. But Parkinson’s disease, brought about by loss of nerve and other brain cells, is actually an incredibly complex movement disorder that can cause symptoms as wide-ranging as smell loss, thinking issues, depression and swallowing problems. More than 1.5 million people in the U.S. have […]
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria inside a biofilm. Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com Chris Waters, Michigan State University Maybe you’ve had the experience of wading in a stream and struggling to keep your balance on the slick rocks, or forgetting to brush your teeth in the morning and feeling a slimy coating in your mouth. These are examples of bacterial biofilms […]
A research team led by scientists from the Cancer Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a novel peptide drug called FFW that could potentially stop the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer. This landmark discovery opens door for more effective treatment of liver cancer […]