Research

Biobank 2019 — An Interview with Professor Joshua Denny, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

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The UK Biobank’s 2019 scientific conference concluded this month, showcasing fantastic speakers on topics ranging from use of the UK Biobank, to using genomics to understand individual risk. Among them was Professor Josh Denny, Vanderbilt University. FLG spoke to him about his talk on phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS): a research technique used to understand what disease associations can be made with a given gene.

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Malnourished Children Recover Better with Microbiome Repairing Food

A new treatment for malnourished children, using food that promotes a healthy microbiome, has been found to aid recovery better than current alternatives. Malnourished children often struggle to recover and find gaining weight again extremely difficult, even with sufficient food. Scientists have long suspected this is due to the role of the gut microbiome. Gut […]

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New Webinar: The Hunt for NASH Therapies, 11 July 2019

NASH is present in nine to 18 million people in America alone. Yet no single drug has yet been approved for its treatment. To discuss why therapies are proving so elusive, and where efforts will be made in the future, FLG has gathered some of the most influential names in the field to discuss the problem in our latest webinar: New Approaches to the Old Hunt for NASH Therapies, held at 4pm on 11 July 2019.

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Largest DNA-Mapping Study of a Single US Population Begins

Intermountain Healthcare and deCODE Genetics, a subsidiary of Amgen based in Iceland, have announced a major joint collaboration and study of 500,000 genomes centred around discovering new connections between genetics and human diseases. The study represents the largest US DNA-mapping attempt from a single population.

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Inscripta’s CREATE Technology Set to Expand CRISPR’s Potential

Inscripta has presented its scalable platform for benchtop digital CRISPR engineering, described as world first, at the 2019 Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED) conference. The technology, “CRISPR-enabled trackable genome engineering” or CREATE, is meant to remove certain limitations of CRISPR to allow for more wide-reaching research in the future.

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New CRISPR-Edited Tobacco is Almost Nicotine-Free

Scientists at the Technical University of Dortmund have grown a type of tobacco containing 99.7% less nicotine. CRISPR was used to disable certain plant enzymes aiding in nicotine production, potentially creating a tobacco to help users quit smoking.

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Common Male Ancestor Twice as Ancient as Previously Thought

The last common male ancestor of all humans is far older than previously thought, scientists have found. When the family of Albert Perry, an African-American living in South Carolina, submitted his DNA to commercial genealogy company Family Tree DNA, it was discovered that his Y chromosome was so distinct that his male lineage likely separated from all others around 338,000 years ago.

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Real-World Solutions to your Drug Development Problems

The amount of data captured by pharma companies today is fast outpacing best use for it. The ever-evolving scope of the field also means that many senior-level professionals do not fully understand the importance of getting data right in their business, or missing a potential opportunity that their rivals seize. Stemming from Front Line Genomics’ […]

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Chinese Rules on Global Use of Genetic Material Come into Effect

From 1 July, international scientists looking to use Chinese genetic material and data must have at least on Chinese collaborator working with them, according to new regulations. This follows a trend as individuals and organisations realise the value of their genetic data.

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2D Universes Could Sustain Life, Scientist Finds

Research by James Scargill of the University of California suggests that 2D universes could sustain life. His work states that a universe with two spatial dimensions and one temporal one could also work, overcoming critical problems with the issue of gravity and the necessity for a set degree of complexity.

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BIO 2019 – An Interview with Irene Rombel, Senior Director and Head of Strategic Analysis at Janssen

With the recent conclusion of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s BIO 2019 event, we thought we’d talk to some of the fascinating individuals who were present to showcase their innovative ideas or technologies. Irene Rombel, Senior Director, Head of Strategic Analysis – External Innovation, Discovery, Product Development & Supply, at Janssen Research & Development, spoke at BIO 2019 about gene therapy and the next generation of biotherapeutics. We spoke to her about her thoughts on the gene therapy field, and the future for companies in that space.

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George Church’s Startup Testing Pig Organs in Primates

eGenesis has announced that it is now testing pig organs on primates to see if they safe for human use. If successful, this practice could solve the current shortage of human organs for transplantation. The company has declared that the pig organs are the most highly engineered ever created by surgeons.