Our new podcast series ‘Hope Lies in Dreams’ highlights the importance of visionaries in shepherding drugs through the setbacks of drug development to commercial success.

Genetic and non-genetic heterogeneity within cancer cell populations represent major challenges to anticancer therapies. We currently lack robust methods to determine how preexisting and adaptive features affect cellular responses to therapies. Here, by conducting clonal fitness mapping and transcriptional characterization using expressed barcodes and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we have

Recent patents relating to methods of making and using organoids.

The milestone approval for Amgen’s drug Lumakras will galvanize targeted therapy efforts against Ras oncoproteins and provides a powerful new last line of defense for patients with lung cancer.

Recent moves of note in and around the biotech and pharma industries.

The Sequencing Quality Control 2 (SEQC2/MAQC-IV) project provides resources to aid sequencing reproducibility and highlights factors that can guide platform and software choice.

The MicroArray Quality Control consortium—a 16-year international effort led by the FDA and involving hundreds of scientists from academia, industry and government—helped make genomic medicine a reality.

Community building should be integrated into the graduate classroom to foster the development of a professional identity and build connections between students and faculty.

Assessing the reproducibility, accuracy and utility of massively parallel DNA sequencing platforms remains an ongoing challenge. Here the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF) Next-Generation Sequencing Study benchmarks the performance of a set of sequencing instruments (HiSeq/NovaSeq/paired-end 2 × 250-bp chemistry, Ion S5/Proton, PacBio circular consensus sequencing (CCS), Oxford

Clinical applications of precision oncology require accurate tests that can distinguish true cancer-specific mutations from errors introduced at each step of next-generation sequencing (NGS). To date, no bulk sequencing study has addressed the effects of cross-site reproducibility, nor the biological, technical and computational factors that influence variant identification. Here we report a systematic

A study of the seasonality and overall quantity and quality of Chinese patenting, including international comparisons, suggests that government planning and annual targets encouraged gaming of the system, which increased patent counts but negatively affected patent quality.

Nature Biotechnology’s annual survey highlights university startups that are, among other things, rethinking how to deliver gene-editing therapy and tackling various metabolic conditions, immune disorders and cancer with microbiome treatments or immunotherapy. Michael Eisenstein, Ken Garber, Esther Landhuis, Caroline Seydel and Laura DeFrancesco report.

The lack of samples for generating standardized DNA datasets for setting up a sequencing pipeline or benchmarking the performance of different algorithms limits the implementation and uptake of cancer genomics. Here, we describe reference call sets obtained from paired tumor–normal genomic DNA (gDNA) samples derived from a breast cancer cell line—which is highly heterogeneous, with an aneuploid genome

Molecular profiling of single cells has advanced our knowledge of the molecular basis of development. However, current approaches mostly rely on dissociating cells from tissues, thereby losing the crucial spatial context of regulatory processes. Here, we apply an image-based single-cell transcriptomics method, sequential fluorescence in situ hybridization (seqFISH), to detect mRNAs for 387 target genes

A better understanding of the metabolic alterations in immune cells during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may elucidate the wide diversity of clinical symptoms experienced by individuals with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we report the metabolic changes associated with the peripheral immune response of 198 individuals with COVID-19 through an integrated

After the vaccine triumphs of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, a raft of startups is developing mRNA, circular RNA and self-amplifying RNA therapeutics.

Gene therapy would benefit from a miniature CRISPR system that fits into the small adeno-associated virus (AAV) genome and has high cleavage activity and specificity in eukaryotic cells. One of the most compact CRISPR-associated nucleases yet discovered is the archaeal Un1Cas12f1. However, Un1Cas12f1 and its variants have very low activity in eukaryotic cells. In the present study, we redesigned the

A historical analysis of oncology deals can help bioentrepreneurs navigate the right time for partnerships and exits and can inform on the type of investors likely to be interested.

Large single-cell atlases are now routinely generated to serve as references for analysis of smaller-scale studies. Yet learning from reference data is complicated by batch effects between datasets, limited availability of computational resources and sharing restrictions on raw data. Here we introduce a deep learning strategy for mapping query datasets on top of a reference called single-cell architectural

CRISPR–Cas13 systems have been developed for precise RNA editing, and can potentially be used therapeutically when temporary changes are desirable or when DNA editing is challenging. We have identified and characterized an ultrasmall family of Cas13b proteins—Cas13bt—that can mediate mammalian transcript knockdown. We have engineered compact variants of REPAIR and RESCUE RNA editors by functionalizing

Oral administration provides a simple and non-invasive approach for drug delivery. However, due to poor absorption and swift enzymatic degradation in the gastrointestinal tract, a wide range of molecules must be parenterally injected to attain required doses and pharmacokinetics. Here we present an orally dosed liquid auto-injector capable of delivering up to 4-mg doses of a bioavailable drug with

Although three-dimensional (3D) genome organization is central to many aspects of nuclear function, it has been difficult to measure at the single-cell level. To address this, we developed ‘single-cell split-pool recognition of interactions by tag extension’ (scSPRITE). scSPRITE uses split-and-pool barcoding to tag DNA fragments in the same nucleus and their 3D spatial arrangement. Because scSPRITE

Links between T cell clonotypes, as defined by T cell receptor (TCR) sequences, and phenotype, as reflected in gene expression (GEX) profiles, surface protein expression and peptide:major histocompatibility complex binding, can reveal functional relationships beyond the features shared by clonally related cells. Here we present clonotype neighbor graph analysis (CoNGA), a graph theoretic approach that

Children have reduced severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rates and a substantially lower risk for developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 compared with adults. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying protection in younger age groups remain unknown. Here we characterize the single-cell transcriptional landscape in the upper airways of SARS-CoV-2-negative (n = 18)

Detection of specific proteins using nanopores is currently challenging. To address this challenge, we developed a collection of over twenty nanopore-addressable protein tags engineered as reporters (NanoporeTERs, or NTERs). NTERs are constructed with a secretion tag, folded domain and a nanopore-targeting C-terminal tail in which arbitrary peptide barcodes can be encoded. We demonstrate simultaneous

Achieving regulation of endogenous gene expression in the central nervous system (CNS) with antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) administered systemically would facilitate the development of ASO-based therapies for neurological diseases. We demonstrate that DNA/RNA heteroduplex oligonucleotides (HDOs) conjugated to cholesterol or α-tocopherol at the 5′ end of the RNA strand reach the CNS after subcutaneous

Recent patents relating to the introduction of single-nucleotide variants into DNA or RNA in living cells.

A quarterly snapshot of job expansions, reductions and availability in the biotech and pharma sectors.

Recent moves of note in and around the biotech and pharma industries.

Incentives in patent law have driven innovation into spaces that are affirmatively harmful to patients, and patentees are discouraged from taking steps to improve the product so as to prevent adverse health outcomes.

An analysis of sectoral differences in gender pay gap over career lifecycles reveals that academia has a wider gender pay gap relative to industry.

Remote health assessments that gather real-world data (RWD) outside clinic settings require a clear understanding of appropriate methods for data collection, quality assessment, analysis and interpretation. Here we examine the performance and limitations of smartphones in collecting RWD in the remote mPower observational study of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Within the first 6 months of study commencement

Chinese upstart companies and IT goliaths hope to turn country’s artificial intelligence prowess into world-leading drug innovation. Do they have an edge over Western players?

The International Society for Stem Cell Research has called for broad public dialogue on the ethics of human embryo research beyond 14 days post-fertilization. National jurisdictions should seize the moment.

Embryo models built from stem cells promise to shed light on human development.

Natural DNA is exquisitely evolved to store genetic information. The chirally inverted l-DNA, possessing the same informational capacity but resistant to biodegradation, may serve as a robust, bioorthogonal information repository. Here we chemically synthesize a 90-kDa high-fidelity mirror-image Pfu DNA polymerase that enables accurate assembly of a kilobase-sized mirror-image gene. We use the polymerase

Complex oligonucleotide (oligo) libraries are essential materials for diverse applications in synthetic biology, pharmaceutical production, nanotechnology and DNA-based data storage. However, the error rates in synthesizing complex oligo libraries can be substantial, leading to increment in cost and labor for the applications. As most synthesis errors arise from faulty insertions and deletions, we

Human TCR-based adoptive T cell cancer therapy is entering clinical testing. Can it succeed in cancers where CAR-T cell therapy has failed?

Whole-brain mesoscale mapping in primates has been hindered by large brain sizes and the relatively low throughput of available microscopy methods. Here, we present an approach that combines primate-optimized tissue sectioning and clearing with ultrahigh-speed fluorescence microscopy implementing improved volumetric imaging with synchronized on-the-fly-scan and readout technique, and is capable of

RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications are essential in plants. Here, we show that transgenic expression of the human RNA demethylase FTO in rice caused a more than threefold increase in grain yield under greenhouse conditions. In field trials, transgenic expression of FTO in rice and potato caused ~50% increases in yield and biomass. We demonstrate that the presence of FTO stimulates root meristem

Circulating tumor-derived DNA (ctDNA) is an emerging biomarker for many cancers, but the limited sensitivity of current detection methods reduces its utility for diagnosing minimal residual disease. Here we describe phased variant enrichment and detection sequencing (PhasED-seq), a method that uses multiple somatic mutations in individual DNA fragments to improve the sensitivity of ctDNA detection

Chemical synthesis matures as an alternative to cell culture for made-to-order small to medium-sized proteins.

RNA modifications, such as N6-methyladenosine (m6A), modulate functions of cellular RNA species. However, quantifying differences in RNA modifications has been challenging. Here we develop a computational method, xPore, to identify differential RNA modifications from nanopore direct RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data. We evaluate our method on transcriptome-wide m6A profiling data, demonstrating that xPore

A substantial fraction of the human genome displays high sequence similarity with at least one other genomic sequence, posing a challenge for the identification of somatic mutations from short-read sequencing data. Here we annotate genomic variants in 2,658 cancers from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) cohort with links to similar sites across the human genome. We train a machine learning

Following reports of collateral damage caused by CRISPR genome editing, now chromothripsis, a phenomenon associated with cancer, enters the spotlight.

Moving beyond viral vectors and lipid nanoparticles, Spotlight is conjugating Cas proteins to agents that will home endonucleases and their guide RNAs to targets in vivo.

With the risks of drug development prohibitive, repurposed or repositioned medicines appear the best hope against long-COVID, a condition that still raises many unanswered questions.

Recent patents relating to microbiome modulation and analysis, and the formulation of live biotherapeutics.

A malaria vaccine not only has achieved record-setting protection in a large trial, but also spurred the UK’s COVID-19 vaccine effort.