VTT turn waste into biofuels and chemicals
Researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd have presented a new gasification-based technique to turn forest industry byproducts into transport fuels and chemicals.
Tissue specific tumour transition needs few cells
German researchers have modeled when cellular alterations inevitably lead to the development of cancer. The transition is tissue-specific and needs only a few cells.
Drug dissociates metastasis precursors in blood
A team of Swiss researchers has identified Na+/K+-ATPase blockers as candidate drugs capable to prevent formation of metastases. In blood, the repurposed drugs identified in a screening dissociated clusters of circulating tumour cells (CTCs), forerunners of metastases.
Policymakers take no action after ECJ mutagenesis ruling
In summer the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that crops created by biological mutagenesis techniques fall under EU GMO legislation. Germanys government and the European Parliament see no need to take action.
Sandoz antiinfectives partner Ares Genetics gets fund
Just in mid-December, antibiotic resistance detection expert Ares Genetics (Vienna, Austria) inked an agreement with Sandoz to use its pathogenome database and bio-IT know-how to develop repurposed and novel antiinfectives that help fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Now, the company baged another financing to expand its diagnostic capabilities.
AI provides face read-out of genetic diseases
Experts in artificial intelligence (AI) have created another problem for bioethicists and data protection specialists: their algorithm has learned to identify people with rare genetic syndromes from facial images.
Endothelial disruption: From bench to bedside
Bio-ADM, the very first blood biomarker capable to diagnose when blood vessels become leaky (endothelial dysfunction), is set to make a rapid carrier at intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments (EDs) of hospitals. Data from pilot clinical routine testing presented at the 2nd Scientific Symposium on Endothelial Disruption (18. December 2018) in Berlin impressively confirmed results from previous tests on 30,000 patients with acute heart failure (AHF) and severe sepsis indicating that bio-ADM testing improves medical decision making to prevent mortality, organ damage and rehospitalisation. An automated point-of-care (POC) test measuring bio-ADM both as a biomarker and as a companion diagnostic to a therapeutic antibody (adrecizumab) that repairs endothelial dysfunction, will be launched by H1/2019 by Sphingotec GmbH. However, bio-ADM is just the first representative of a full pipeline of diagnostic blood proteins reflecting disturbed signalling pathways underlying disorders of unmet medical need.
Sanofi ends immuno-oncology discovery with Regeneron
Sanofi and Regeneron announced they have "restructured" their US$2,17bn immunoncology collaboration. While the companies will continue co-marketing of the FDA approved (2018) PD1 blocker cemiplimab (REGN2810) as treatment for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, Sanofi will quit development of early stage antibody discovery programmes under the 2015 agreement.
Diverse cells make up the endothelium
Cells that line the blood vessels do not behave identically but instead exhibit varied responses to the same biochemical signals, British researchers report in Science.
Microbiome defines gut conditions
Differences in microbiome composition can help to distinguish inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Dutch and US researchers report.