Alexandre Neves’ Post

https://lnkd.in/giP_bJgt I was once a "worm person" and attended a couple of Genetics Society of America International Worm Meetings but must confess that I did not "traipse about in their signature garb: sweatshirts, shorts and Birkenstocks." "The one-millimeter nematode has helped scientists understand how healthy cells are instructed to kill themselves and how the process goes awry in AIDS, strokes and degenerative diseases. (That work was the subject of the 2002 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.) Self-proclaimed “worm people” were recognized by the Nobel committee in 2006 for discovering gene silencing, which became the basis for an entirely new class of drugs. Two years later, the chemistry prize went to scientists who used nematodes to help invent cellular “lanterns” that allowed biologists to see the inner workings of a cell" #Celegans #NobelPrize #modelorganisms

"Nuclera has developed a microwave-sized platform, dubbed eProtein Discovery, that can be used to make proteins for discovery and research. According to the company, it can make proteins in 48 hours, compared to other traditional methods like liquid handling, which can take months or years. The platform can make around 192 different proteins at a cost of about $1,000, a fraction of the price compared to the “hundreds of thousands” that other protein production processes cost, Chen said. Also, since the platform is automated, all it requires is a scientist to just pipette ingredients into vials, he added."

"To do that, his startup collected cells with as many epigenetic ages as he could find. The company used single-cell RNA sequencing to record which genes are turned on in the cells and methylome sequencing to look at their epigenetic markers. Machine learning helped them connect the two datasets and predict age based on gene expression. Shift Bioscience has also used the data to develop an AI cell simulation, allowing its researchers to probe different genes on a computer and predict how they affect the clock before committing to lab experiments. It’s helped the company discover six new ways of rejuvenating cells, none of which involve the four Yamanaka factors, Ives said. He won’t name the genes involved, but said one of the approaches seemed so simple that he was shocked that someone else hadn’t already discovered it."

"Bruker Nano Group has created a new division—the Bruker Spatial Biology Group—that houses NanoString Technologies, Inc., Canopy Biosciences (which Bruker acquired in 2020), and a third company, Acuity Spatial Genomics (which Munch co-founded in 2021). The headquarters of Bruker Spatial Biology, jokes Munch, is “wherever Todd is.” (Garland lives outside of Sacramento.) In reality, each arm of the division will remain in the location where it originated, to “avoid disruptions,” notes Munch: NanoString in Seattle, WA; Canopy in St. Louis, MO; and Acuity Spatial Genomics in San Jose, CA."

"Some six years after picking up Seattle’s Universal Cells for $102 million, Astellas Pharma is opening a second location for the subsidiary in its home country of Japan—and transferring a dozen roles along the way. Universal Cells—which Astellas refers to as its cell therapy research organization—is establishing a second location overseas at the Japanese pharma’s research campus in Tsukuba, an Astellas spokesperson told Fierce Biotech over email. As part of the move, 24 roles held by Universal Cell employees in Seattle are being eliminated. However, 12 of the former Seattle-based roles will be transferred to and filled by employees at the Tsukuba site in Japan, Astellas' spokesperson confirmed." 

"Arbele, a leading innovator in biopharmaceutical & biotechnology focused on targeting cadherin-17 (CDH17), is pleased to announce strategic collaborations in precision oncology using artificial intelligence (AI) to advance targeted immunotherapeutics of bispecific T-cell engagers (TCEs) and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). These partnerships, aimed at advancing the quantification and prognostic prediction of CDH17 expression in tumor tissue and the surrounding tumor immune microenvironment, are expected to accelerate the development of precise companion diagnostics and effective clinical trials for the treatment of advanced cancer patients"

"Lundbeck has identified the technology as a potential enabler of its ambitions. The Danish drugmaker will apply the platform to its work on disorders of the central nervous system. Lundbeck is focused on improving outcomes in brain disorders but, like everyone in the field, has suffered its share of setbacks. Logica could help Lundbeck create optimized small molecules that lead to novel therapies." #AI #drugdiscovery #neurologicaldisorders

"This year’s prestigious The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to David Baker, the director of the Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington , and to Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and his colleague John Jumper, a scientist at the Alphabet unit. Baker, who has co-founded 21 biotechs (including one of the largest-ever startup launches, Xaira Therapeutics), received one half of the Nobel for his lab’s work on computational protein design. Hassabis and Jumper received their half for work on protein structure prediction, including the AlphaFold models. Hassabis also runs Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs, a small molecules-focused drug discovery unit that has pharma partnerships with Novartis and Eli Lilly and Company."

"The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded on Wednesday to three scientists for discoveries that show the potential of advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to predict the shape of proteins, life’s chemical tools, and to invent new ones. The laureates are: Demis Hassabis and John Jumper of Google DeepMind, who used A.I. to predict the structure of millions of proteins; and David Baker at the University of Washington, who used computer software to invent a new protein." #AI #proteindesign #proteinstructure

"Four national cancer research organizations, spearheaded by Seattle’s Fred Hutch Cancer Center, will work together in an unprecedented alliance to use artificial intelligence to battle cancer. The newly established Cancer AI Alliance brings together the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Fred Hutch, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer, and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson and Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, along with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Deloitte, Microsoft, and NVIDIA. It’s supported with an initial $40 million in funding, technology, and other resources from AWS, Deloitte, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Slalom."