Tag: genomics
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European Commission Approves Metabolic Disorder Gene Therapy
The biotechnology company uniQure BV in Amsterdam says the European Commission approved Glybera, its gene therapy for patients with lipoprotein lipase deficiency, a rare metabolic disorder. The approval of Glybera, says uniQure, represents the first gene therapy approved by the European Commission. Lipoprotein lipase deficiency, also called familial hyperchylomicronemia, is an inherited condition that disrupts…
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Wake Forest, NanoMedica to Partner on Sequencing Technology
Physicists at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and NanoMedica Inc., a biotechnology company also in Winston-Salem, received a Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop a faster process of drug development. The $700,000 grant from National Institutes of Health is supplemented by a $160,000 award from North Carolina Biotech Center to develop the…
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New Potato Type Bred for Higher Carotenoid Levels
Researchers with the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture developed a new breed of potato with higher levels of carotenoids, plant pigments considered beneficial to human health. The work of plant geneticist Kathy Haynes at the Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland is described in the October 2012 issue of Agricultural Research…
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Arcadia Biosciences to Develop Heat Tolerant Wheat
Agricultural technology company Arcadia Biosciences in Davis, California will develop heat-tolerant varieties of wheat under a $3.8 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The deal also involves the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which will share in the rights to the discoveries. Arcadia Biosciences says some 50 million acres of…
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Patent Awarded for RNA Process of Inhibiting Gene Expression
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded a patent last week for the use of RNA interference to inhibit expression of a target gene in animal cells. Patent 8,283,329 was awarded on 9 October to eight inventors — including Andrew Fire and Craig Mello, winners of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine —…
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Reprogrammed Stem Cells Help Test for Inherited Diseases
Researchers at University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, National Institutes of Health, and the company SAIC reprogrammed adult stem cells to develop a test for Gaucher disease and related inherited conditions. The team’s findings appear online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers led by Maryland medical…
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Model Computes Genetic Test, Family History Predictive Value
Researchers at the genetic testing company 23andMe in Mountain View, California devised a mathematical model that shows the relative value of personal family history and genetic tests in assessing risk of contracting various conditions and disorders. The results of their research appear in the journal PLOS Genetics. The study aimed to compare family health histories…
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Cloud Services Create Rare Disease Solutions Challenge
Assay Depot, a cloud-based network of scientific services, and Rare Genomics Institute, a network and crowdfunding platform for genetic diseases, started a challenge competition for research proposals leading to diagnostics and treatments for rare diseases. The challenge will award prizes of $10,000 in cash and donated research services valued at up to $400,000 from participating…
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Immunotherapy Developer Gains $4.9M in Series B Funds
Gliknik Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in Baltimore, raised $4.9 million in series B funds, the second series of financing after initial start-up. Baxter Ventures led the funding round, joined by the company’s existing investors. Gliknik is a developer of therapies for patients with cancer and immune disorders that use the power of the immune system…
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CT Image Analytics Adapted for COPD Diagnosis
Medical researchers at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor adapted computed tomography (CT) image analysis techniques to more precisely diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The research team led by Michigan radiologist Brian Ross appears online in the journal Nature Medicine (paid subscription required). Ross and colleagues also founded a company that is taking…