David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper share the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their contributions to the science of protein structure. David Baker was awarded half the prize “for computational protein design,” according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Hassabis and Jumper shared the other half “for protein structure prediction.”
Research into the regulation of gene expression experienced a significant breakthrough with the discovery of microRNA, small RNA molecules that do not code for proteins but control their translation. This finding has earned its discoverers – Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun – the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.”
An innovation that has kickstarted a revolution in the study and practice of health care is getting even more attention. Three scientists who pioneered the discovery and development of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)-based obesity treatments have been named 2024 Lasker Award winners.
Researchers have identified a gene associated with whether patients hospitalized with respiratory viral infections recover rapidly or face life-threatening complications. The gene has the potential to be used as a diagnostic tool or biomarker, which could help triage patients suffering from severe respiratory infections. Having such a biomarker would help clinicians in their early risk assessments to manage their intervention strategies.
Researchers in Japan were able to transfer genes from jellyfish into common fruit flies and discovered that the transferred gene suppressed an age-related intestinal issue in the flies. The findings suggest that studying genes specific to animals with high regenerative capability like jellyfish may uncover new mechanisms for rejuvenating stem cell function and extending the healthy lifespan of unrelated organisms.
Infection or cure? Scientists from Tel Aviv University and the University of Glasgow genetically modified the Toxoplasma gondii to bring a protein inside neurons. The novelty of using a protozoan that can travel from the gut to parasitize the CNS contrasts with the possibility of causing a disease. The scientists are already working on how to avoid it.
The industry is looking, with renewed hope, to the “promise” of messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics for a wide range of diseases beyond COVID-19, and not only in vaccine form but also for gene and cell therapies.
New single-step genome editing techniques that enable the insertion, inversion or deletion of long DNA sequences at specified genome positions have been demonstrated in bacteria.
From glaucoma to Stargardt disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to retinitis pigmentosa, or a corneal transplant to Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy, the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) is working to bring some light to patients with age and congenital diseases that affect vision. From May 7-11, 2024, thousands of scientists are gathering in Baltimore to show their advances against the challenges of delivering genes and cells to the correct place, avoiding immunogenicity and improving diseases.
Despite what University of Pennsylvania (Penn) immunotherapy pioneer Carl June referred to as a “cold slap last November” – a launched investigation by the U.S. FDA into a possible link between CAR T-cell immunotherapies and secondary cancers – new unpublished studies by Penn and Stanford University highlight the rarity of such cases.
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