An Italian group of researchers has used zinc finger editing to silence the PCSK9 gene and improve blood cholesterol levels in mice by applying a single dose of their modifier. The epigenetic-based method could be an alternative to genome editing.

Since its founding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the scientists of the All of Us Research Program have set the goal to analyze the largest diversity of the genomic population in the country and end the under-representation of its different groups. The project has expanded the vision of several pathologies, discovered thousands of new genetic variants, redefined the risk genes for common diseases, and stratified them, uncovering eight different forms in the case of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Their results create a pathway for a new age of precision medicine.

Immunoglobulin G (IgG), an antibody that participates in the response to infection, could have a specific role in metabolism. During aging, it accumulates in certain tissues inducing metabolic dysfunction and fibrosis of fat tissue. This effect could be prevented through an intracellular receptor that contributes to the delivery of IgG. A team of researchers from Columbia University and Peking University (PKU) demonstrated that reducing excess IgG improved the metabolic health of aged mice and increased their life expectancy.

Zapata Computing Inc. (Zapata AI) scientists have demonstrated the first instance of a generative model running on quantum hardware outperforming state-of-the-art classical models in generating viable cancer drug candidates.

A vaccine based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology against four surface proteins of the envelope and the inner membrane of the mpox virus (MPXV) demonstrated its efficacy in two animal models. Biontech SE scientists designed and tested two different combinations of antigens in mice and macaques for the two infective forms of the virus. One of them showed better results for its evaluation in clinical trials preventing the disease.

Vantai Inc. and Bristol Myers Squibb Co. have entered into a strategic collaboration to discover new molecular glues for therapeutic targets of interest.

In repeated concussions, removing damaged mitochondria could prevent the neurodegeneration that occurs when pathology progresses in some patients. The key would be in the role of the p17 protein in restoring mitophagy, according to scientists from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). “Brain injury is an extrinsic disease. It is not idiopathic. When the primary injury occurs, the secure mechanism only relies on an endogenous protection of the brain. If you have a good neuroprotective mechanism, then after the primary injury, basically you don’t see any symptomatic effect,” Onder Albayram told BioWorld.