Tag: biotechnology
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Patent Granted for RNA Transcription Technology
3 May 2016. A technology that blocks RNA molecules from activating chemicals in the body suppressing the working of genes to treat or prevent disease received a U.S. patent. The Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent number 9,328,346 to five inventors and assigned the patent to the parent company of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.…
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Challenge Seeks New Regenerative Tools with Stem Cells
29 April 2016. A challenge offered through InnoCentive is seeking new methods of harnessing adult stem cells for regenerative medicine. The competition has a total purse of $15,000 and a 24 June 2016 deadline for submissions. The sponsor of the challenge, pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, also seeks research plans related to the challenge proposals, with…
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Engineered T-Cells Get High Leukemia Remission in Trial
28 April 2016. A clinical trial shows engineered immune-system cells transplanted in patients with one form of leukemia achieves a 93 percent remission rate. Results of the trial, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, were reported in the 25 April issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Fred Hutchinson Center researchers were…
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Genetic Techniques Quickly Build Crop Disease Resistance
26 April 2016. Plant scientists in the U.K. developed genetic engineering techniques that quickly clone resistance to plant diseases affecting wheat, soybeans, and potatoes. The techniques are described in articles appearing in the 25 April issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription required). Teams from the John Innes Centre and Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich…
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Therapy Shown to Boost Immune System Against Cancer
18 April 2016. An experimental treatment was shown in lab mice to enhance immune system cells that can help immunotherapy drugs to reduce solid tumor growth. Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Infinity Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts presented their findings yesterday (17 April) at the annual meeting of American Association…
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Cell-Free Synthetic Biochemical Process Devised
13 April 2016. A biochemistry lab at University of California in Los Angeles developed techniques for producing synthetic bio-based chemicals without processing sugars through cells. The discoveries from the lab of biochemistry professor James Bowie is described in the 11 April 2016 issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology (paid subscription required). Bowie, with postdoctoral…
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Start-Up Licensing Biologic Delivery Nanoparticles
8 April 2016. A start-up enterprise is licensing research from a university pharmacy lab that harnesses nanoscale particles to boost the performance of biologic therapies. Financial details of the agreement between Zoetic Pharmaceuticals in Amherst, New York and University at Buffalo were not disclosed. Biologic therapies are synthetic proteins derived from living systems, such as…
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Stem Cell Biotech Licensing Blood Vessel Repair Technology
6 April 2016. Cellular Dynamics International, a developer of regenerative treatments from stem cells, is licensing university research that repairs blood vessels in people with peripheral artery disease. Financial aspects of the deal between Indiana University and Cellular Dynamics, a subsidiary of FujiFilm in Madison, Wisconsin, were not disclosed. Cellular Dynamics designs and generates induced…
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Intrexon Spin-Off Developing Type 1 Diabetes Therapy
4 April 2016. A new subsidiary of the synthetic biology company Intrexon Corp. is creating a pill for people with type 1 diabetes to stop the disease’s damage in its early stages. The enterprise, known as Intrexon T1D Partners LLC, is a joint venture between Intrexon, in Germantown, Maryland, and White Rock Capital Partners a…
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Gene-Editing Therapy Advances for Rare Immune Disorder
1 April 2016. A key committee of the European Medicines Agency recommends approval of treatments for a rare children’s immune disease that uses edited genes as therapy. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, of the European Medicines Agency at its March 2016 meeting recommended approving Strimvelis by GlaxoSmithKline to treat adenosine-deaminase-deficient…