Microsoft, Oxford Biomedica to apply cloud, machine learning to improving gene therapy

The partnership between the US software giant and UK-based biotech company is designed to increase the yield and improve the purity of lentiviral vectors in gene therapy. A British cell and gene therapy company is partnering up with the world’s largest software company to improve gene therapy vectors using cloud computing and machine learning. Oxford,

Read More


Scientists find new approach that shows promise for treating cystic fibrosis

NIH-funded discovery uses common antifungal drug to improve lungs’ ability to fight infection. Researchers say a widely-used antifungal drug may hold promise for treating people with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disorder that causes serious damage to the lungs. In studies using human cells and animals models, the researchers found that the medication, called amphotericin,

Read More


Progress in adolescent health and wellbeing: tracking 12 headline indicators for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016

Sharp rise in obesity, anemia among adolescents worldwide Nearly a billion young people across the world are living in countries where they face multiple health burdens, a jump of more than 250 million from nearly two decades ago, according to new research. Here’s a rundown of the study: The design: The authors looked at changes across 195

Read More


The human reference genome falls short in ways that have become embarrassing, misleading, and emblematic of the white European dominance of science.

Here’s why that’s undermining personalized medicine In a paper published last week, scientists led by Dr. Pui-Yan Kwok of the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed 154 genomes from 26 ethnic populations, from Han Chinese and Tuscans to Yoruba, Esan, Puerto Ricans, and Peruvians. They found 60 million bases in one or more of these populations

Read More


Smart Needle

Researchers invent a resistance-sensing injection device that knows where to go Syringes and hollow needles—among the most feared and most commonly used tools in medical practice—have been around for more than a century.  However, the precise insertion of these devices depends largely on the technique and skill of the person delivering the injection. And some anatomical

Read More


New Insight into Aging Hearts

Molecular pathway plays major role in the intersection between aging and heart failure A team led by Harvard Medical School researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital has found that activity of an important signaling pathway increases with aging and with heart failure. In a report published in Science Translational Medicine, the team describes evidence from both humans

Read More