CYBERSPACE – At the virtual annual meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, CAR T cells were the subject of both historical overviews and cutting-edge research alike.

By delivering the protein follistatin via gene therapy, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis were able to increase skeletal muscle mass, decrease fat, and reverse obesity-related arthritis in mice who developed osteoarthritis as a result of a high-fat diet.

BioWorld looks at translational medicine, including: T-cell mutations contribute to GVHD; Nexavar halts NASH; New MVP against SVMP; Copper escort alleviates Menkes disease; Liver-specific pre-eclampsia treatment is maternal-specific, as well; Integrated herpesvirus-6 is pre-eclampsia risk factor; Prying mantis identifies disease genes; Carbohydrate metabolism implicated in neuropathy.

A multi-institutional group led by the University of California at San Francisco’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) has identified more than 200 host proteins that interacted with SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins during infection, creating “a blueprint of how SARS-CoV-2 hijacks human cells.”

The climate crisis in the time of COVID-19 illustrates the difference between the important and the urgent. There is, of course, no alternative to focusing on the current pandemic. But at the same time, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has not changed the fact that the climate crisis is a coming wave whose health consequences will ultimately dwarf those of any single infectious agent.