Interview 20 Mar 2019 Unlocking the Potential of Fast DNA Synthesis While the price and speed of reading DNA have dropped massively, writing DNA fast and affordably still remains a challenge. Philip talked to Sylvain Gariel, COO of the French company DNA Script, who strives to reinvent DNA synthesis. DNA has become a basic necessity in any biology lab. Thanks to new technologies we can now […] March 20, 2019 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Mar 2019 Microsoft Aims to Make Cell Therapies Cheaper with Artificial Intelligence Microsoft has launched a collaboration with the UK company Oxford BioMedica to use Microsoft’s artificial intelligence technology to make gene and cell therapy manufacturing easier and cheaper. Genetically programming cells and viruses to make cell and gene therapies is not as simple as programming a computer. Organisms have many layers of complexity and unpredictability, sometimes […] March 14, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Mar 2019 Biogen Acquires UK Biotech Developing Gene Therapy for Blindness The big US biotech Biogen has agreed to acquire Nightstar Therapeutics for €773M ($877M), including Nightstar’s candidate gene therapies for inherited blindness. Expected to be complete by mid-2019, Biogen’s acquisition of Nightstar bags it the UK company’s most advanced program. Currently in phase III, the therapy targets choroidemia, an incurable genetic condition which causes progressive […] March 4, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 28 Jan 2019 5 Real-Life Technologies Where Biotech Meets Science Fiction From genetic engineering to synthetic food and immortality, biotech is getting surprisingly close to recreating science fiction in real life. Science fiction is always a step ahead of real-life science. The genre imagined space travel, wireless communication and virtual reality years before they became a reality. In fact, sci-fi has coined some scientific terms […] January 28, 2019 - 6 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 Jan 2019 Topical Gene Therapy Shows Early Promise for Inherited Skin Disease A gene therapy applied to the skin, developed by UK company Amryt Pharma, showed positive preclinical results for the treatment of a rare genetic skin disease. The disease, called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), is one of a group of diseases in which sufferers have mutations in proteins vital to the integrity of the […] January 8, 2019 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 24 Dec 2018 Looking Back on 2018: Our 10 Most Popular Interviews As 2018 draws to a close and our thoughts are torn between holiday plans and what the new year may bring, we decided to look back and revisit the people and the stories that attracted our readers the most during the year. These were well received the first time around, so we thought you might […] December 24, 2018 - 8 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Dec 2018 Italian Biotech Raises Big Series A for ‘Gene Therapy 2.0’ Altheia Science, based in Milan, has raised €17M to fund the development of gene therapies for autoimmune diseases with the remarkable potential to be curative. “The success of our fundraising campaign is unprecedented over a Series A in Italy,” said Paolo Rizzardi, co-founder and CEO of Altheia. The funds will go towards taking the company’s […] December 19, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 11 Dec 2018 Easy as ATCG: Commercialization of DNA as Data Storage You could be storing information in DNA sooner than you might think. Although the technology is still quite early — the first video encoded in DNA, revealed last year, was quite simple — the rate at which the cost of writing DNA is going down might make DNA data storage a reality in the coming […] December 11, 2018 - 5 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Dec 2018 Orchard’s Gene Therapy for Rare Immune Disease Works for Over a Year A single dose of a gene therapy developed by Orchard Therapeutics can restore immune function for at least a year in patients with X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (X-CGD). The gene therapy was trialed in patients between the ages of 2 and 27 with the rare disease, which is caused by a rare genetic mutation that […] December 7, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Dec 2018 Update: Liver Gene Therapy 8 Times Stronger Than Usual Update (06/12/2018): uniQure has incorporated Synpromics’ strong liver promoter into a preclinical gene therapy candidate for treating hemophilia A. Published on 08/10/2018 Synpromics and uniQure have unveiled new technology for precise genetic control that could make gene therapy safer and more precise. The team has developed a gene therapy system that is highly selective for […] December 6, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Dec 2018 Gene Therapies for Blood Disorders Marching Through the Clinic Gene therapy holds great potential as a cure for blood disorders such as hemophilia and sickle cell disease, which have limited treatment options. This week, several gene therapy companies have released promising clinical trial results in hemophilia and sickle cell anemia. Presenting at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, Dutch company uniQure […] December 4, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Nov 2018 First Gene Therapy for Inherited Blindness Approved in Europe Novartis has received approval for Luxturna, a gene therapy that can restore vision in people with a specific genetic mutation that causes progressive vision loss. The therapy is indicated for people with mutations in the two copies of a gene, called RPE65, that cause retinal cells to die over time, resulting in progressive loss of […] November 26, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email