In the August 16 edition of Nature Scientific Reports, scientists at the University of Rhode Island provide concrete evidence linking the specific immune responses in HIV-negative babies to the HIV-positive status of their mothers. The work was carried out in the laboratory of Barbara Lohman-Payne, associate research professor with URI’s Institute for Immunology and Informatics within its Department of Cell and Molecular Biology,…
Artificial intelligence-based drug designer Atomwise has launched two new joint venture projects—one to test its bespoke molecules in living tumor organoids and another to develop targeted inhibitors of a protein linked to triple-negative breast cancer. For the former, the company’s work with SEngine Precision Medicine aims to create targeted cancer therapies through what they describe as “in vitro clinical trials”—using organoids…
They may grow up and move out of the house, but some part of a mother’s child always stays with her. And that can be a bad break for mom. In a new study, scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have for the first time identified how the two-way traffic between mom and fetus known as “microchimerism” can sometimes…
Our immune cells usually do a great job of keeping us healthy, staving off infection and killing tumor cells. But sometimes, they betray us and join the enemy: cancer. Tumors often release factors that convince immune cells to help tumors instead of hurting them. But what if these double agent immune cells could be convinced to switch allegiance yet again?…
In a paper in Science this week, Penn researchers report the first detailed molecular characterization of how every cell changes during animal embryonic development. The work, led by the laboratories of Perelman School of Medicine’s John I. Murray, the School of Arts and Sciences’ Junhyong Kim, and Robert Waterston of the University of Washington (UW), used the latest technology in the emergent field of single cell biology to profile more…
Members of ISB’s Heath Lab and their collaborators have developed a way to sensitively detect and analyze neoantigen-specific T-cell populations from tumors and blood. This promising development may have implications for creating targeted, individual-specific cancer vaccines. The work, detailed in two separate papers, was published in Cell Reports and Lab on a Chip. The immune system’s T cells monitor diseased cells by recognizing and attacking…
It might seem like a strange thing to hear, but if you have to have breast cancer, researchers say now is a good time. Science is making major strides treating the disease, but for that to keep happening, doctors say more patients need to step up and help. Teri Pollastro knows the importance of clinical trials to treat breast cancer.…
If you want to know what’s going on in your gut microbiome, the community of bacteria in our intestines that are tied to overall health, there are plenty of companies willing to help. You just have to pay them — and send in a poop sample. But it turns out that bottling feces isn’t the only way to gain insights…
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) and Leica Microsystems, Inc. have combined efforts to establish the Leica Microsystems Center of Excellence at Fred Hutch. The new Center will support a mission to drive new discoveries and insights from scientific research performed using the imaging systems. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) and Leica Microsystems, Inc. have combined efforts to establish the…
Type 1 Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the immune system attacks and kills the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas, known as beta-cells. People living with Type 1 Diabetes require daily injections of insulin to survive and are at risk of both life-threatening hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and lifelong cardiovascular and neurological health complications that include increased…