Tag: genomics
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Genome-Editing Company Raises $108 Million in IPO
6 May 2016. Intellia Therapeutics, a developer of therapies based on genome editing, issued its initial public stock offering, raising $108 million. The Cambridge, Massachusetts enterprise, less than 2 years old, issued 6 million shares priced at $18.00. At the 4:00 pm ET closing bell today, company shares trading on the NASDAQ exchange as NTLA…
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Genomics, Data Tools Track MRSA Outbreaks in Europe
6 May 2016. A combination of whole-genome sequencing and data visualization tools now makes it possible to track the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in European health facilities. A Europe-wide team led by Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Imperial College London described their software and service yesterday in the journal mBio. The authors call the spread…
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Trial Underway Testing Antibody for Celiac Disease
5 May 2016. A clinical trial testing an engineered antibody therapy for celiac disease in people that do not respond to a gluten-free diet began treating its first patients. The trial is conducted by Celimmune LLC, a biopharmaceutical company in in Lebanon, New Jersey, but patients are recruited in Finland, where the rate of celiac…
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Genomic Variations Reveal Cholesterol, Heart Disease Risks
4 May 2016. A review of genome and blood test records from a large group of people in Iceland identified genetic sequencing variations associated with risk factors connecting cholesterol levels to heart disease. Results of the analysis, conducted by deCode Genetics in Reykjavik, Iceland, appear this week in the journal Nature Genetics (paid subscription required).…
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Engineered Protein Advances to Treat Genetic Blood Disorders
4 May 2016. Lab tests by a biotechnology company show an engineered protein can block the actions of genes responsible for low normal hemoglobin production in people with inherited blood disorders like sickle cell disease. The findings of researchers from Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Boston were reported in April in the journal PLoS One. Acetylon…
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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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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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Trials to Test New Treatments for Inherited Alzheimer’s
25 April 2016. Clinical trials are planned to assess experimental treatments and new diagnostics for inherited forms of Alzheimer’s disease. The new studies, which extend earlier trials of drugs to treat inherited Alzheimer’s disease, are funded by a $4.3 million grant from Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago. Like the earlier trials, the new round of studies…
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Software Detects DNA Mutations in Single Cells
19 April 2016. A new computer program detects genetic variations in individual cells, rather than current methods that require analyzing DNA in millions of cells. The program, named Monovar, is described by geneticists and bioinformatics specialists at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the 18 April issue of the journal Nature Methods (paid subscription required). Monovar…
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Cancer Centers, Analytics, Pharma Plan Precision Medicine
7 April 2016. A cancer care center network, with pharmaceutical and informatics companies, plan to apply precision medicine techniques to increase the pool of patients for clinical trials of new cancer therapies. The coalition includes cancer centers in the Orien network — short for Oncology Research Information Exchange Network — with bioinformatics company M2Gen, and…