Degenerative diseases come in many forms. When they strike, the root cause is essentially the same: unchecked cell depletion that impairs the functioning of tissues and organs. In type 1 diabetes, for example, the body’s immune system attacks beta cells, a special type of cell in the pancreas that produces insulin, the hormone we rely on to regulate blood-sugar levels. Today,…
Powdered sugar is the special ingredient in a Rice University recipe for mimicking the body’s intricate, branching blood vessels in lab-grown tissues. In research published today in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, bioengineers showed they could keep densely packed cells alive for two weeks in relatively large constructs by creating complex blood vessel networks from templates of 3D-printed sugar. The Rice researchers were…
Since the unwelcome arrival of COVID-19, a class of tiny, Y-shaped proteins in our blood called antibodies has emerged as a focus of attention for researchers hoping to find a way to treat it, a vaccine to prevent it and tests to confirm whether a person has gotten over it. One of the workhorses of the human immune system, antibodies…
Three research institutions in Seattle have joined forces to study how Alzheimer’s disease takes root in the brain. The consortium will create a new research center at the Allen Institute for Brain Science to study tissue from brains donated by people who died with Alzheimer’s. UW Medicine and the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Group are also part of the effort, which will be funded…
Seattle Genetics, Inc. have announced dosing of the first patient in a phase I clinical trial evaluating investigational agent SEA-TGT, also known as SGN-TGT, an anti-TIGIT antibody for patients with solid tumors and lymphomas. TIGIT (T-cell immune receptor with Ig and ITIM domains) is an inhibitory immune receptor that is emerging as a clinically relevant immuno-oncology target. SEA-TGT is a…
An experimental drug that has been shown to improve the function of diseased and aged mitochondria binds to 12 key proteins involved in energy production, researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine have found. The drug, elamipretide, also called SS-31, has shown promise for treating rare inherited diseases that affect the mitochondria, the energy-producing “powerhouses” of our cells.…
AgeX Therapeutics, Inc.. (“AgeX”: NYSE American: AGE), a biotechnology company developing therapeutics for human aging and regeneration, and Pluristyx, Inc. (Seattle, WA), an advanced therapy tools and services company serving customers in the rapidly growing fields of regenerative medicine and cellular and gene therapies, today announced they have entered into a Manufacturing, Marketing, and Distribution Agreement through which Pluristyx will…
Oxford University announced yesterday that dexamethasone could reduce deaths in the sickest COVID-19 patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) and others from around the world are looking closely at this generic corticosteroid as a global treatment for those severely ill with COVID-19. AVM Biotechnology’s lead molecule is a purified loaded formulation of dexamethasone. AVM is actively studying dexamethasone and has…
AGC Biologics, a global biopharmaceutical Contract Development Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), has announced it will be partnering with Saiba AG to manufacture a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to protect against COVID-19. Saiba AG is a Swiss biotechnology company that specializes in the research and development of virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines for infectious and chronic diseases. Saiba AG is leveraging its patented Cucumber Mosaic Virus VLP…
Biological markers for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have mostly proved elusive. Kai Wang at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington, and her colleagues are shifting the picture by showing that levels of some RNA fragments circulating in the blood of combat veterans with PTSD are different from the levels of those without the condition—a finding that could lead…