Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

01/24/2025

Y Chromosome Genes That Impact S***m Development and Fertility Uncovered

Researchers studying male mice with different Y chromosome deletions uncovered which genes regulate the development of s***m and impact fertility. The mouse models could help scientists better understand infertility in men, and investigate Y chromosome function in other tissues.

The Francis Crick Institute,

Researchers say study represents a resource that could also help to dissect Y-gene functions in other tissues.

01/24/2025

Généthon, Eukarÿs Partnership Aims to Lower Manufacturing Costs for Gene Therapies

The partners aim to lower costs by combining AAV vector manufacturing with Eukarÿs C3P3 technology, an mRNA expression system that boosts the production capacity of cells used for biopharmaceutical synthesis.

The partners will adapt Eukarÿs' C3P3 engineered enzyme tech to work with adeno-associated virus vectors to boost biomanufacturing yields.

01/24/2025

AI Accelerates Enzyme Engineering

A Northwestern University and Stanford University team has developed a computational workflow that can design thousands of new enzymes, predict how they will behave in the real world, and test their performance across multiples chemical reactions.

A new ML-guided platform can design thousands of new enzymes, predict how they will behave in the real world, and test their performance.

01/24/2025

LAST CHANCE! Validating dPCR-Based Laboratory Developed Tests for Cancer Diagnosis and Disease Monitoring

In this GEN webinar TODAY, Kathleen Davis, Associate Director of Operations at iCura Diagnostics, will describe her experience with validating a highly sensitive dPCR-based LDT for detecting low-frequency BRAF V600E mutations. Register now to join us for this free webinar sponsored by QIAGEN: https://hubs.li/Q031lzpt0

01/24/2025

CuRVE Brings Speed and Precision to Organ-Scale Protein Mapping

Through the marriage of the techniques of delaying antibody activation and modifying the speed of antibody dispersion through a sample using Massachusetts Institute of Technology's CuRVE framework, eFLASH was born.

The CuRVE framework and its implementation in eFLASH mark a significant advancement in volumetric single-cell analysis.

01/24/2025

Only one week left to register for the State of Cell and Gene Therapy virtual summit, hosted by GEN on January 29th. You’ll hear from a superb line-up of experts and thought leaders from industry and academia discussing the latest advances and challenges in the world of cell and gene therapy. Tune in to see Federico Mingozzi, PhD in his session "Top 5 challenges facing cell and gene therapy".

To register for free, visit: https://hubs.li/Q033SQLY0

01/24/2025

Artificial Demonstrates AI Integration with NVIDIA BioNeMo for Drug Discovery

Artificial, Inc. has shared a proof-of-concept data that demonstrates the value of integrating its lab orchestration platform with Nvidia's AI-based models and tools for molecular screening and drug discovery workflows.

The proof-of-concept demonstrates the power of pairing AI with lab orchestration solutions to automate molecular screening for drug discovery.

01/23/2025

First Synthetic Eukaryotic Genome Completed

Macquarie University scientists worked with an international team to achieve a major milestone in synthetic biology by completing the creation of the final chromosome in the world’s first synthetic yeast genome. Using genome-editing techniques, including the CRISPR D-BUGS protocol, the team identified and corrected genetic errors that impacted yeast growth.

The completion of chromosome synXVI allows scientists to explore new possibilities in metabolic engineering and strain optimization.

01/23/2025

Biochatter Brings Large Language Models to Biomedical Research

To address the concerns of privacy and reproducibility often associated with commercial LLMs, BioChatter offers a framework for researchers seeking transparency and flexibility in their LLM workflows.

Heidelberg University Hospital

BioChatter is an open-source large language model framework designed for custom biomedical research.

01/23/2025

Maternal X Chromosomes Impair Cognition in Aging Female Mice

The UCSF discovery, the researchers suggest, could explain the variation in brain aging between the sexes—males inherit only a maternal X chromosome—as well as variation between individual women.

Researchers aim to continue studying the role of the X chromosome in brain aging, and whether it can explain people’s risk of brain diseases or memory loss.

01/23/2025

Small Extracellular Vesicles Could Pack a Punch Against Solid Tumors

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have engineered small extracellular vesicles from natural killer cells to target death receptor 5. Their approach killed multiple cancer cell types in lab-dish tests, and suppressed tumor growth in mouse models of melanoma, breast, and liver cancers.

An approach using engineered small extracellular vesicles from NK cells to DR5 could be a promising strategy for solid tumors.

01/22/2025

Major Trends in Cell and Gene Therapy

Daria Donati, PhD, CSO for genomic medicine at Cytiva, has numerous interactions with customers, and attends many scientific and industry events. As she looks ahead to 2025, there are five big trends she sees for genomic medicine. Read more of this article from the January issue of GEN.

Past advances and new technologies will continue to bring genomic medicine from concept to reality.

01/22/2025

Genetic Reanalysis Provides New Rare Disease Diagnoses

Diagnoses were made in patients with conditions including rare neurological disorders, severe intellectual disabilities, muscle diseases, and hereditary gastrointestinal cancer. The research was carried out by an extensive European collaboration, the Solve-Rare Diseases Consortium (Solve-RD), led by researchers from the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Radboud University Medical Center, and the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico - CNAG.

Study highlights use of techniques such as long-read genome sequencing, optical genome mapping, and RNA sequencing for rare disease diagnosis.

01/22/2025

Microglia May Also Be from Mars and Venus Notes New Study

Microglia maintain neuronal function by clearing toxins in the brain and central nervous system. But if overactive, they can damage neurons instead and promote the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

University of Rochester

The study's findings are crucial in the rapidly emerging field of developing disease-modifying therapies that target microglia.

01/22/2025

Building a Bioprocess for a Cancer-Fighting Biosimilar

To pave a pathway to producing a biosimilar version of atezolizumab, Mehmet Inan, PhD, director of the DEÜ IBG-izmir in Turkey, and his colleagues developed a bioprocess for producing this drug in recombinant cells created from the Chinese hamster o***y (CHO) DG44 cell line.

A team of scientists developed a method for manufacturing a biosimilar of atezolizumab in mammalian cells.

01/22/2025

IP-RPLC to Separate Large RNA Molecules

A team of scientists at the Université de Genève reports that IP-RPLC avoids many challenges typically associated with anion exchange chromatography or ultra-wide pore size-exclusion chromatography columns, while also being compatible with mass spectrometry.

Combining a weakly hydrophobic ion-pairing agent with a moderately hydrophobic one further improved resolution.

01/22/2025

Protective Immune Cells' Function Altered by Cigarette Smoke Components

Preclinical research findings show how chemicals in cigarette smoke alter the function of a key type of immune cell in the lungs. The results suggest the alterations increase cigarette smokers' susceptibility to respiratory infections, and worsen smoking-related inflammatory diseases. The researchers were headed by a team at Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute.

Researchers used computer modeling to predict which components of cigarette smoke might be recognized by antigen-presenting molecule MR1.

01/21/2025

Nipah Virus Polymerase Complex Structure Solved

Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus harbored by fruit bats, with a high mortality rate, and no available vaccines or treatments. Now, researchers used cryo-EM to elucidate the structure of the Nipah virus polymerase complex.

Harvard Medical School, Boston University, , UMass Amherst, Shanghai University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Howard Hughes Medical Institute - HHMI

The structure of the Nipah virus polymerase complex elucidated using cryoelectron microscopy.