Researchers at the Allen Institute have uncovered subtle but intriguing differences between a mouse and human neuron of the same kind. The differences they found could have implications for studying human brain disorders or brain therapies in laboratory mice. Looking at living neurons from one region of the cortex, the outermost part of the mammalian brain that is responsible for…
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Seattle-based biotech firm Impel NeuroPharma closed its latest round of funding, bringing in $67.5 million to develop treatments for central nervous system disorders, such as migraines and Parkinson’s. This is Impel’s largest fundraising round to date, following a $36 million round in December 2016. Impel is known for its Precision Olfactory Delivery (POD) platform, which sends drugs into the nasal cavity with…
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Study Unveils 40 New Mutations Linked to Colorectal Cancer

A group of colorectal cancer researchers are using the word “milestone” to describe their new genomic research, published today in Nature Genetics. “Milestone is a very good description,” said epidemiologist Dr. Ulrike “Riki” Peters, associate director of the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and one of the lead authors of the study. “This is very important. It…
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Potential Seen for Tailoring Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment

Drug response screening of leukemia stem cells offers clues to relapse and suggests ways to improve patient-specific therapies Advances in rapid screening of leukemia cells for drug susceptibility and resistance are bringing scientists closer to patient-tailored treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Research on the drug responses of leukemia stem cells may reveal why some attempts to treat are not…
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The Madrona Venture Group recently awarded the Madrona prize to the UW CSEEmbarker project team. The Embarker project uses machine learning to identify disease markers of Alzheimer’s that can help researchers develop treatments. Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disorder and the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, and no treatment can prevent its progression. Existing treatments…
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‘Exciting’ but Early Results in Trial of Immunotherapy for Myeloma

The 11 patients had already received treatment after treatment for their cancers, some as many as 20 different courses of therapy. Yet their myelomas, almost all classified by doctors as “high risk,” kept coming back. Their options faded away. Then they joined a clinical trial to be the first people ever to receive a new experimental, immune-harnessing therapy, whose design includes features…
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Imagine microscopic Lego blocks perfectly snapping together to form long, tube-like structures. This is not the latest kids toy –– it is a self-assembling protein filament made completely by technology. For the first time, researchers at the UW Baker Lab developed self-assembling protein filaments, a key component of cell cytoskeletons, using a computer program known as Rosetta. The possibilities for the new filaments…
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