Synthetic biology is seeing rapid advances, but the medical applications have thus far remained largely elusive. But now researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School (HMS) have developed a tool that can track specific populations of bacteria in the gut of living organisms and document population changes over time. Read More
Australian researchers have developed the first potent new small-molecule inhibitors capable of blocking the activation of apoptotic cell death before it causes damage to mitochondria, they reported in a study published in the Oct. 7, 2019, issue of Nature Chemical Biology. Those first-in-class inhibitors will be useful tools for evaluating the mechanisms underlying apoptosis, assessing the impact of the pharmacological blockade of apoptosis in experimental models and potentially have multiple clinical indications. Read More
HONG KONG – Accelmed, a group of health tech funds, has established a new venture capital fund named Accelmed Ventures II. The fund has the goal of raising and managing approximately $100 million for investment in Israeli and global pre-revenue health tech startups. Read More
Foundation Medicine Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., has had a busy fall, and it is showing no signs of letting up. For example, in the next 12 to 18 months, the company has high hopes for its Foundationone Liquid test, David Fabrizio, VP, product development, told BioWorld MedTech during a visit to its headquarters last month as the Medtech Conference wrapped up in Boston. "This is one that we are actively engaged in with FDA and planning to submit and hopefully get approval and launch mid-next year," he added. Read More
"Microbiome" has become a health and wellness buzzword, implicated as a contributing factor in conditions ranging from diabetes and obesity to gastrointestinal disease, autoimmune diseases and even autism. But the tools scientists use to cultivate bacteria have changed little over the past century, says Peter Christey, founder and CEO of San Carlos, Calif.-based startup General Automation Lab Technologies Inc. (GALT). His firm is hoping to change that with a high-throughput system of hugely parallel arrays and high-resolution images of complex samples that will revolutionize the way microbiology laboratories process genetic material. Read More
