The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) and NED Biosystems (NED) will collaborate on an intriguing clinical trial that aims to use a cocktail of several marketed medications at low doses to reverse cancer’s onset or regrowth. Leroy Hood, MD, PhD, co-founder of ISB and Rebecca Lambert, founder and CEO of…

Aviva Systems Biology (ASB) said today it has acquired GenWay Biotech for an undisclosed amount, in a deal the buyer said would facilitate growth and enhance the capabilities of both companies. “GenWay's 18 years of experience producing proteins, antibodies, and ELISA assays will nicely complement ASB's objective to become a…

The adult human brain is made up of billions of neurons and glial cells. Understanding the diversity of these cells and their distinctive gene-regulatory mechanisms is crucial for determining how the brain works and, in turn, for developing treatments for neurologic disorders. Until recently, cell populations were defined based on…

Pearl Bio yesterday announced that it has entered a collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, to discover biologic therapies comprising non-standard amino acids for drug discovery. Such synthetic biology efforts are increasing, as it’s believed that expanding the genetic code could provide new…

A consortium of four research institutions were recently awarded a $6.5 million grant for the National Institutes of Health (NI) to establish the Center for Biomedical Modeling, which aims to develop predictive models of biological systems with a goal of better informing precision medicine and bioengineering. Member organizations include the…

In early 2007, the cost of sequencing a single human genome was around $10 million, according to data compiled by the National Human Genome Research Institute, and the decreasing cost was roughly following the path predicted by Moore’s Law. This trend implies that the lowering cost of sequencing was directly…

Beckman Coulter said today it agreed to acquire the clinical microbiology business of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics for an undisclosed price. Siemens’ clinical microbiology business specializes in microbial identification and antibiotic sensitivity testing (ID/AST). The business operates with an installed base of over 6,000 instruments globally, and is part of Siemens’…

Few scientists earn a repeat invitation to keynote the Molecular Medicine Tri-Con (TRICON) event, especially not 23 years apart. But Lee Hood is an exception. Kicking off the 25th anniversary edition of TRICON in San Francisco earlier this week, Hood reflected on his mission to promote “P4 medicine”, illustrating with…

As a graduate student at the Weizmann Institute studying systems biology, Eran Eden frequently found himself with a peer, Kfir Oved, an MD-PhD candidate at the time, playing a “game” in the evenings in their grandmothers’ kitchens while eating blintzes, a classic of Eastern European cuisine. The “game” they played…

To dig out the most information from the rapidly expanding multi-omics datasets, they must be integrated. Nonetheless, combining information from genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and other omics creates an immense analytical challenge. Taking on that task, however, is well worth the effort. As Nina Gonzaludo, PhD, pharmacogenomics and human leukocyte antigens…

Scientific advances driven by the COVID pandemic have the potential to transform personalized medicine, say researchers, who outline steps to fully realize this potential. They believe that innovations in biomedical science, big data and vaccines as a result of trying to tackle coronavirus infections could revolutionize medicine and improve population…

A new class of artificial intelligence (AI) called hypothesis-driven AI, invented recently by Mayo Clinic researchers, offers an innovative way to discover the complex causes of cancer and improve treatment strategies. The team notes that conventional AI is used primarily for classification and recognition, such as facial recognition, or providing…

A recent breakthrough by scientists at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has shed light on which tumor cells in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) resist treatment and how this resistance can be overcome. The researchers, led by senior co-corresponding author Jun J. Yang, PhD, vice chair of the Department…

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can damage the heart in patients with ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) without directly infecting heart tissue, a new study has found. These findings suggest it is systemic inflammation that causes this damage.  “The research also suggests that suppressing the inflammation through treatments might…

In oncology, biomarkers play a range of crucial roles in many applications, from early detection and diagnosis to treatment options and efficacy. Nonetheless, biomarkers can be elusive, especially at their often-low levels. Still, scientists around the world search for new tools to take on the biomarker challenges, driven by the…