Annie Coulson

1 week ago | biotechniques.com | Annie Coulson

The Center for Predictive in vitro Models (CPM) at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL; UK) brings together over 100 academic staff and post docs who specialize in developing and using organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology and other types of predictive in vitro models. The center develops models for a broad range of tissues, organs and pathologies, while also conducting research into the underpinning bioengineering that is essential for the development of these models.

1 week ago | biotechniques.com | Annie Coulson

The US FDA recently announced plans to phase out animal testing in the development of monoclonal antibodies and other drugs, replacing it with more effective, human-relevant methods, such as organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology. OoCs are small – about the size of a USB memory stick – microfluidic devices lined with living human cells. Their ability to reproduce the physiological environment of human organs makes them ideal models for studying disease and developing drugs.

1 week ago | biotechniques.com | Annie Coulson

Drug-delivering aptamers that can precisely target leukemia stem cells with enhanced potency have been developed. Delivering anticancer drugs with specificity and potency to cancer stem cells is an increasing focus of leukemia therapeutic research and development, yet minimizing off-target toxicities remains a challenge.

3 weeks ago | biotechniques.com | Annie Coulson

A key pressure-sensing protein involved in intestinal movement and inflammation regulation has been identified. Researchers from Harvard Medical School (MA, USA) and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (NY, USA) have uncovered a key pressure-sensing protein involved in gut motility and immune balance, which could help develop precision-targeted treatments for intestinal disorders.

4 weeks ago | biotechniques.com | Annie Coulson

Previously inaccessible regions of the human genome can now be analyzed using HiFi sequencing. A collaborative team led by PacBio (CA, USA), GeneDx (MD, USA) and a consortium of genomics experts have developed a new method for analyzing notoriously complex regions of the human genome. The method applies the informatics tool Paraphrase in combination with HiFi long-read sequencing to provide a single framework for resolving highly similar paralogous genes.