Episode 18 (April 19, 2024): Biology’s exploding data streams continue to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) tools to streamline drug development. How do we define AI in drug discovery? Who are notable players in the space? How do humans fit into these growing computational pipelines? This week, Jonathan Grinstein, PhD (Senior Editor, GEN) and Fay Lin, PhD (Senior Editor, GEN Biotechnology) unpack one of the fastest growing topics in the biotech field, AI in drug discovery. Listed below are key references to the GEN stories, media, and other items discussed in this episode of Touching Base ..read more

Liver inflammation, a common side-effect of cancers elsewhere in the body, has long been associated with worse cancer outcomes and more recently associated with poor response to immunotherapy. Now, researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania believe they know why. The team, which published its study “Hepatocytes coordinate immune evasion in cancer via release of serum amyloid A proteins” in Nature Immunology, discovered that cancer-induced liver inflammation causes liver cells to secrete serum amyloid A (SAA) proteins, which cir ..read more

Observing proteins with precision in living cells has been a challenge for researchers across various disciplines. Now, Stefan Kubicek, PhD, and his team at CEMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have created a new approach called visual proteomics cells (vpCells) that can fluorescently label proteins without impeding their endogenous function or regulatory mechanisms. Their study, “Pooled multicolor tagging for visualizing subcellular protein dynamics,” was published in Nature Cell Biology. Kubicek emphasized the method’s potential for future applicat ..read more

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) and affects nearly a million Americans. There is no cure, so treatments focus on helping patients manage their symptoms, control flare-ups, and slow the progression of the disease. Now, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) scientists have discovered a precursor in the blood of some people who later went on to develop MS. These findings could potentially hasten treatments for patients with MS. In about one in ten cases of MS, the body begins producing a distinctive set of antibodies against i ..read more

Observing proteins with precision in living cells has been a challenge for researchers across various disciplines. Now, Stefan Kubicek, PhD, and his team at CEMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have created a new approach called visual proteomics cells (vpCells) that can fluorescently label proteins without impeding their endogenous function or regulatory mechanisms. Their study, “Pooled multicolor tagging for visualizing subcellular protein dynamics,” was published in Nature Cell Biology. Kubicek emphasized the method’s potential for future applicat ..read more

PacBio president and CEO Christian Henry Pacific Biosciences of California (PacBio; PACB) shares plummeted 51% from $2.84 to $1.40 on Tuesday, after the long-read sequencing giant reversed its earlier “guidance” forecast to investors for 5% operating expense growth this year, revealing instead plans to cut its annual operating expense run rate by $50 million to $75 million. That reduction would amount to between 86% and 128% of PacBio’s $58.4 million in 2023 revenue. So far this year, PacBio reported $38.8 million in preliminary, unaudited Q1 revenue, all but flat (down 0.3%) from the $38.9 mi ..read more

PathAI has announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud aimed at helping scientists in anatomic pathology laboratories better utilize its artificial intelligence-based image management solution.  The company made the announcement during this year’s Bio-IT World Conference & Expo held in Boston. Under the terms of the agreement, PathAI will provide access to AISight, its image management system, on the Google Cloud infrastructure. AISight combines PathAI’s artificial intelligence solutions with third-party algorithms to provide a unified case and image management solution.  ..read more

SCG Cell Therapy (SCG) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore launched joint laboratories to advance the development of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to produce novel cell therapies that meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. The collaboration is supported by S$30 million ($22 million) under Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan. The joint laboratories, established at SCG’s GMP facility and A*STAR’s research facility, leverage SCG’s and A*STAR’s proprietary technologies to develop scalable GMP-grade iPSC and th ..read more

When a mouthful of water goes down the “wrong pipe”—heading toward the lungs instead of the gut—it triggers uncontrollable coughing. That’s because the upper airway senses the water and quickly signals to the brain. The same coughing reflex is also set off in people with acid reflux, when acid from the stomach reaches the throat. Newly reported research by David Julius, PhD, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and professor and chair of physiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), working with lab colleague Laura F. Seeholzer, PhD, has identified a ra ..read more

In a new study, published in GEN Biotechnology titled, “Changes in Gene Network Interactions in Breast Cancer Onset and Development,” researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology have identified differential gene-network changes characteristic of the three most prevalent molecular subtypes of breast cancer, Luminal A, Luminal B, and the highly metastatic Basal-like subtype. In contrast to previous studies, the authors expanded their analysis beyond genes differentially expressed between normal and cancer samples, as differential gene expression may not be a prerequisite for changes in gene ..read more