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New herbal tea to treat malaria in Africa

Malaria is a critical health problem in West Africa, where traditional medicine is commonly used alongside modern healthcare practices. An herbal remedy derived from the roots of a weed, which was traditionally used to alleviate malarial symptoms, was combined with leaves and aerial portions from two other plants with antimalarial activity, formulated as a tea, and eventually licensed and sold as an antimalarial phytomedicine.

15 Apr 2015

Johns Hopkins researchers create the largest library of brain cells from ALS patients

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have transformed skin cells from patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), into brain cells affected by the progressive, fatal disease and deposited those human-made cells into the first public ALS cell library, enabling scientists to better study the disease.

15 Apr 2015

Genetically modified Salmonella can help kill cancer cells

A new study has demonstrated that genetically modified Salmonella can be used to kill cancer cells. The study is published in this week's issue of mBio, an American Society for Microbiology online-only, open access journal.

15 Apr 2015

Researchers cultivate fully functional cardiac tissues from cobweb protein

Genetically engineered fibers of the protein spidroin, which is the construction material for spider webs, has proven to be a perfect substrate for cultivating heart tissue cells, MIPT researchers found. They discuss their findings in an article that has recently come out in the journal PLOS ONE.

13 Apr 2015

USPTO issues Cardio3 BioSciences Notice of Allowance for patent covering CAR-expressing TCR-deficient T-Cells

Cardio3 BioSciences, a leader in engineered cell therapies with clinical programs initially targeting indications in cardiovascular disease and oncology, today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a significant patent application covering T-Cell receptor-deficient T-Cells which are engineered to express a chimeric antigen receptor.

9 Apr 2015

UAB scientists create alternative to the use of viruses in gene therapy

A team of scientists from the Institute for Biotechnology and Biomedicine at the UAB has produced an alternative to the use of viruses in gene therapy. The researchers synthesised nanoparticles which act as artificial viruses, capable of surrounding DNA fragments and releasing them as therapeutic agents, with no biological risk, into the interior of the cells.

9 Apr 2015

Researchers find Fountain of Youth while conducting breast cancer research

The Fountain of Youth has been discovered and it's not in Florida as Ponce de Leon claimed. Instead, it was found in the mammary glands of genetically modified mice.

9 Apr 2015

Experimental oligonucleotide-based drug stimulates human immune system to fight infections

An experimental single-stranded oligonucleotide-based drug, MGN1703, comprised only of natural DNA components, stimulates the human immune system to fight infections and attack cancer cells without causing the harmful side effects associated with similar compounds that also contain non-natural DNA components.

8 Apr 2015

Dartmouth researchers use new strategies to target drug-resistant pathogens

By engineering antibacterial enzymes, Dartmouth investigators led by Karl Griswold, PhD are using novel strategies to target the prevalent drug-resistant bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.

3 Apr 2015

Johns Hopkins researchers find link between premature aging of telomere and lung diseases

Lung diseases like emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis are common among people with malfunctioning telomeres, the “caps” or ends of chromosomes. Now, researchers from Johns Hopkins say they have discovered what goes wrong and why.

1 Apr 2015

Johns Hopkins researchers find link between premature aging of telomere and lung diseases

1 Apr 2015

Study suggests possible role for caffeine in AD treatment

The proposed link between caffeine and reductions in the beta amyloid plaque accumulation characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggest a possible role for caffeine in AD treatment. The latest evidence linking beta amyloid protein to Alzheimer's disease and exploring the relationship between caffeine and beta amyloid are featured in a review article in Journal of Caffeine Research: The International Multidisciplinary Journal of Caffeine Science, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

31 Mar 2015

Merck Serono, Intrexon partner to develop and commercialize CAR-T cancer therapies

Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck, and Intrexon Corporation, today announced an exclusive strategic collaboration and license agreement to develop and commercialize Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) cancer therapies.

30 Mar 2015

New faculty members join UNC Lineberger to help launch immunotherapy clinical trials

Two new faculty members have joined the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to help launch groundbreaking immunotherapy clinical trials testing an experimental treatment in which patients' own immune cells are genetically engineered to fight their cancer.

30 Mar 2015

MDC scientists find solution to increase efficiency of precise genetic modifications

CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful new tool for editing the genome. For researchers around the world, the CRISPR-Cas9 technique is an exciting innovation because it is faster and cheaper than previous methods. Now, using a molecular trick, Dr. Van Trung Chu and Professor Klaus Rajewsky of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch and Dr. Ralf Kühn, MDC and Berlin Institute of Health, have found a solution to considerably increase the efficiency of precise genetic modifications by up to eightfold.

30 Mar 2015

Radiation resistance in leukemia can be overcome by using new precision medicine, say researchers

A team of researchers led by Fatih M. Uckun, MD, PhD, of The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Professor at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine has determined that radiation resistance in leukemia can be overcome by using an engineered protein they recently designed and developed as a new precision medicine against leukemia.

27 Mar 2015

apceth begins Agenmestencel-T Phase II clinical trial in gastrointestinal cancer patients

apceth, a global leader in engineered cell therapies, today announced the successful completion of the Phase I and initiation of the Phase II part of its ongoing monocentric Phase I/II clinical trial TREAT-ME 1 with the engineered cell therapeutic product Agenmestencel-T, at the Klinikum Grosshadern in Munich.

27 Mar 2015

Updated guidelines for diagnosis, treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma released

A Task Force convened by the American Thyroid Association released updated guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). The current document is the first revision of the original guidelines published in 2009.

26 Mar 2015

Mount Sinai researchers reprogram blood cells into iPSCs to study genetic origins of MDS

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) -- adult cells reprogrammed back to an embryonic stem cell-like state--may better model the genetic contributions to each patient's particular disease. In a process called cellular reprogramming, researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have taken mature blood cells from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and reprogrammed them back into iPSCs to study the genetic origins of this rare blood cancer.

26 Mar 2015

BeyondSpring files two patent applications to expand therapeutic scope of Plinabulin

BeyondSpring Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative cancer therapies, today announced that it has filed two new method of treatment patent applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to cover methods of treating brain tumors as well as cancers expressing a mutant form of RAS protein through administration of the Company’s lead compound, Plinabulin.

26 Mar 2015

Genetic Engineering News and Research

New herbal tea to treat malaria in Africa

Johns Hopkins researchers create the largest library of brain cells from ALS patients

Genetically modified Salmonella can help kill cancer cells

Researchers cultivate fully functional cardiac tissues from cobweb protein

USPTO issues Cardio3 BioSciences Notice of Allowance for patent covering CAR-expressing TCR-deficient T-Cells

UAB scientists create alternative to the use of viruses in gene therapy

Researchers find Fountain of Youth while conducting breast cancer research

Experimental oligonucleotide-based drug stimulates human immune system to fight infections

Dartmouth researchers use new strategies to target drug-resistant pathogens

Johns Hopkins researchers find link between premature aging of telomere and lung diseases

Johns Hopkins researchers find link between premature aging of telomere and lung diseases

Study suggests possible role for caffeine in AD treatment

Merck Serono, Intrexon partner to develop and commercialize CAR-T cancer therapies

New faculty members join UNC Lineberger to help launch immunotherapy clinical trials

MDC scientists find solution to increase efficiency of precise genetic modifications

Radiation resistance in leukemia can be overcome by using new precision medicine, say researchers

apceth begins Agenmestencel-T Phase II clinical trial in gastrointestinal cancer patients

Updated guidelines for diagnosis, treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma released

Mount Sinai researchers reprogram blood cells into iPSCs to study genetic origins of MDS

BeyondSpring files two patent applications to expand therapeutic scope of Plinabulin

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

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