Combining experimental and computational tools, this company is targeting disordered regions of proteins previously thought to be undruggable.

European universities and research institutions helped to pioneer the development of key technologies for the genetic engineering of crops1. Despite its early leading role, Europe has largely resisted the use of modern genetic technologies in agriculture. The combined implementation of an unofficial moratorium on the cultivation and import of transgenic genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (1998–2004)

Some 700 approved therapies in the United States — roughly a third of all drugs on the market — target G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Now advances in high-throughput and structure-based screening are sparking a second golden age of GPCR-based drug discovery.

The US Food and Drug Administration has given a green light to a clinical trial designed to test patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Cell lines from human samples have historically benefitted scientific research but continue to raise questions about consent.

An expert in network dynamics and cell interactions describes her interdisciplinary background, creativity and building community in her lab during a pandemic.

Gene-therapy research is making steady progress on an array of blood-cell diseases, including immunodeficiencies, sickle cell disease and thalassemia. These programs may use gene transfer or gene editing, but all of them require engineering of patients’ hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in the laboratory. In an arduous procedure modeled on stem cell transplants for cancer, HSCs are mobilized from the

The first GPCR5D-targeted bispecific antibody has won accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a fifth-line treatment for multiple myeloma (MM) and is poised to get conditional approval from the European Medicines Agency for treating patients who have received at least three previous therapies. Almost all patients with myeloma who receive standard of care relapse.

Recent patents relating to microbiome classification, modulation and treatment of diseases.

Tumor cells have been observed releasing their DNA into surrounding environments, and this cell-free DNA can be purified from blood and detected by existing assays. Writing in Science, Cooper et al. follow an orthogonal approach that avoids some limitations of blood purification of cell-free DNA. They modify a gut microbe that is naturally competent to take up DNA from its environment to discriminate

The family of Henrietta Lacks, the woman from whom HeLa cells were sourced in 1951, has sued rare-disease biotech Ultragenyx for unethically profiting from the cell line. The legal action began just days after the family settled a similar lawsuit with Thermo Fisher Scientific. And more legal claims against other companies that profit from the almost ubiquitous HeLa cell line are likely, according to

Perhaps extinct molecules that once conferred benefits on ancient organisms could today be resurrected for clinical use. A study in Cell Host & Microbe by Maasch et al. applies this idea of “molecular de-extinction,” or the recovery of extinct molecules of life such as nucleic acids or proteins, to drug discovery. Specifically, the authors aim to mine the ancient human paleoproteome to discover now-extinct

A new era of brain-penetrant therapies is opening up, as companies hook up drugs to transferrin receptors or use viral capsids to hitch a ride into previously inaccessible regions.

Drugs commonly used in rheumatology, the JAK inhibitors, are opening up treatment options for people with autoimmune-driven hair loss, and new mechanistic knowledge is also helping scientists tackle androgenic alopecia, the commonest cause of baldness.

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

Stabilizing the unstable may be the road to therapeutics for unmet needs.

Over the past decades of protein design research, computational algorithms for studying proteins were often explored for novelty rather than their utility in designing functional proteins — yielding heaps of unvalidated and untranslated research. Marked by the success of AlphaFold, trained on structural databases, only recently have the predictive power of these models become robust enough to start

Say, “I’m tenured,” and most people think you have a lifelong job guarantee. It is a rare luxury; you would be hard-pressed to find the security that tenure promises beyond academic walls. However, as a mid-career (N.Y.) and junior professor (N.S.) in biotechnology, we challenge academic institutions to rethink the existing tenure model. In short, we are ready to leave the perceived safety of tenure

In 2009, the American Association of University Professors underscored the importance of academic freedom in the light of Garcetti v. Ceballos1 and stated that “The principal purpose of tenure is to safeguard academic freedom, which is necessary for all who teach and conduct research in higher education.” Nevertheless, the institution of tenure is coming under fire in many states across the United

Aging is malleable, at least in animal models. But to prove the efficacy of interventions aimed at extending healthspan and to test life-extending approaches in humans, longevity researchers first need to agree on the best measuring tools. With the power of ’omics, AI and large biobanks, improved biomarkers may be forthcoming. Companies and academic researchers are rallying forces, but how far have

Microscopy methods today are enabling researchers to see small details within cells, previously undetectable by light microscopy. Chief Editor Barbara Cheifet speaks with Ed Boyden and Johann Danzl about the technological advances and challenges in the fields of super-resolution and expansion microscopy.

Montalti, whose background is in engineering and design, learned the tools and techniques for growing fungal agents in the Netherlands, in the microbiology lab of Han Wösten at Utrecht University. Experimenting with wood-rotting fungi of the Basidiomycota, he witnessed the decomposing powers of fungi. At first, enzymes secreted by the mycelium break down the plant cell walls — mainly cellulose, lignocellulose

With the rise and diversification of sequencing technology and the provision of spatial context, cataloguing gene expression at the single-cell level provides powerful insights into development and disease. A study in Nature applies this to human heart samples.

Two companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, were given labels in June by the US Department of Agriculture to sell their cultivated chicken products. Last November, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Upside’s cultivated chicken meat as safe to eat; it did the same in March 2023 for Good Meat’s product. The US is the second regulator to give its consent to sell lab-grown meat; the first was