Daily Archives: June 9, 2022

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Though small in scope, Immatics and Editas deal adds to a flurry of recent activity involving treatments that harness gamma delta T cells, rare white blood cells with unique tumor-fighting capabilities.

Unlike the T cells used in Novartis, Gilead and Bristol Myers Squibbs treatments, gamma delta cells have elements of both innate and adaptive immunity, which could enable them to generate a broader response against cancers. These cells also have key differences that make them less likely to trigger graft-versus-host disease, give them the potential to persist in the body for years, and to recognize a range of targets.

Those traits have already prompted drugmakers including Takeda, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers and Regeneron to make investments. Clinical data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology has further elevated the profile of gamma delta cell therapy, as a treatment from Adicet Bio has shown early promise against non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Immatics has already capitalized on the momentum, turning its alliance with Bristol Myers into a new, lucrative deal. Now Immatics is bringing gene editing tools in as well.

Genetic engineering is already part of many cell therapies, as CAR-T treatments involve modifications that help T cells recognize cancer. But CRISPR and other gene editing approaches could help do more. Allogene Therapeutics, for example, uses gene editing to make changes aimed at reducing the risk of graft-versus-host disease. Nkarta and CRISPR Therapeutics plan to give treatments involving natural killer cells, which share some similarities with gamma delta T cells, more tumor-killing punch.

Immatics and Editas appear to share a similar goal, saying in a statement that they want to make gamma delta cells with enhanced tumor recognition and destruction. Those potential benefits do come with added risk, however. U.S. regulators halted testing of Allogenes programs last year to investigate whether the gene editing involved in its treatment led to a chromosomal abnormality in a treated patient. Follow-up investigation exonerated Allogenes treatment, but the setback led to a lengthy delay.

For Editas, the deal adds to multiple other partnerships involving cell therapy. The company is already working with Bayer's Bluerock Therapeutics subsidiary on natural killer cell therapies for solid tumors, and with Bristol Myers on so-called alpha-beta T cell treatments.

See more here:
Immatics and Editas join up to bring CRISPR to 'gamma delta' cell therapy - BioPharma Dive

Representative image. Photo: Amit Dave/Reuters

It is a sad irony that a country in which only 16.6% of all scientists are women also places many obstacles in their path including dismissing years of challenging work on specious charges.

The year 2012 was a good one for Manjula Maralappanavar (53), a crop-breeder at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UASD), Karnataka. After a decade of research, her dedication had paid off and she had developed a new transgenic cotton variety called event no. 78.

According to experts, An event is defined as a specific set of genes that have been placed in specific plant background material.

In simple terms, she had modified an Indian-variety cotton plant called RAH 100 by transferring a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (thus the prefix Bt). The result was that the modified plant could be used to produce varieties of Bt cotton. As such, event no. 78 could have been Indias first public-sector Bt cotton variety. But it wasnt to be.

B. thuringiensis produces an insecticidal toxin in one stage of its lifecycle. Transferring the genes responsible for this action to a plant allows the plant to produce the same toxin as well, and thus defend against certain insects without requiring synthetic insecticides.

In 2014, just as Maralappanavars research on cotton was being recognised, the UASD suddenly transferred her to the safflower unit in Annigeri, about 60 km away from the university campus. The institutions authorities said their decision was motivated only by the universitys needs but to Maralappanavar, there seemed to be more to it than met the eye. There was also a report in the national press about how the university was allegedly trying to sabotage its own researcher.

UASD did not allow Maralappanavar to continue her work on cotton even as she was harassed by the institutes top brass, she said. In 2014, she finally filed a complaint with the Karnataka state womens commission against B.M. Khadi, then director of research, and D.P. Biradar, then vice-chancellor, both of UASD. After that, the university allowed her to work for one day every week on cotton, but at the Institute of Agri-Biotechnology in UASDs biotechnology instead of in her office.1

It got worse. To Maralappanavars horror, the laboratory she had set up for her work had been dismantled. When the university had transferred her, she had been asked to hand over research materials to another scientist. Maralappanavar had refused because, she said, the cotton seeds were patentable. This scientist H.M. Vamadevaiah along with Khadi had been investigated by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) after they had claimed to have developed a new Bt cotton variety called BNBt, when tests revealed it was really the Monsanto gene MON 51.

Finally, after much effort and many petitions, UASD allowed Maralappanavar to return to her cotton research station in 2018.

Despite the tribulations Maralappanavar faced between 2014 and 2017, she persisted in her efforts to transfer the seeds of event no. 78 to the ICAR with a view to protect the results for the national cotton-breeding programme. After several follow-ups, an agreement materialised between the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), the National Institute for Plant Biotechnology (NIPB), the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and the UASD on August 18, 2017.

As part of the agreement, UASD transferred the seeds of event No. 78 to CICR, which is in Nagpur, on January 1, 2018. The CICR was to conduct biosafety research trials but it didnt. So Maralapannavar had little choice but to use the funding she had from the UASD and initiate the level 1 trial in 2019.

In January 2022, the NIPB sequenced the genome of event No. 78, and allegedly found in the subsequent computational analysis the genetic presence of a Chinese event that had not been approved for use in India. But the NIPB also wrote in its report that the event no. 78 was also present.

The presence of a Chinese event was a serious allegation and threatened Maralappanavars career, but it was also surprising. (This is a short list of transgenic crop events approved in India.)

In an online meeting on January 17, 2022 (an audio recording of which The Wire Science has accessed), NIPB scientist Rohini Sreevathsa called the presence of the alleged coexistence of event no. 78 a silver lining. Sreevathsa also said that the seed had been evaluated in 2019 itself and that evidence of the presence of the Chinese gene construct had been communicated to ICAR.

Why NIPB hadnt communicated as much to Maralappanavar as well, before 2022, remains a mystery.

In the same January 17 meeting, NIPB director A.K. Shashany can be heard directing CICR (orally) to not conduct any more research on event no. 78, due to the presence of the Chinese event.

Maralappanavar suspects foul play even as she is unable to understand how an unapproved Chinese gene could have made its way into the seed she developed. In her compliance report to ICAR, dated April 20, 2022, she had written that she had not procured the Chinese event.

The event [no. 78] had been developed with all the due permissions from regulatory bodies, as per their guidelines of collaborating with the CICR, Nagpur, and NIPB, New Delhi, under the memorandum of agreement during 2017, she told The Wire Science.

She also said she had obtained the gene construct from ICGEB, after permission from the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation, and that the Department of Biotechnology had funded her work at UASD from 2005 to 2008.

Maralappanavar also said that the NIPB report had not considered the complete results and that its conclusion ignored the existence/development of event no. 78 instead of supporting the facts and encouraging the development of a public-sector transgenic event. She added that the NIPB report also clearly referred to the presence of event no. 78 but the authorities were ignoring that.

After the NIPB sent out its report to the concerned institutions in January, R.K. Singh from ICAR emailed her on April 4 and UASD thus: As per conclusion made by director, ICAR-NIPB in the report, the UASD 78 event is showing 100% similarity with Chinese event. ICAR has called another meeting, scheduled to happen a week from today (June 16) to finalise the findings of the NIPB report.

Maralappanavar circled back to the NIPBs admission that even if its analysis had found the presence of a Chinese event, her own event was also present. She said that researchers could purify it with further research and isolate it. According to her, event no. 78 had good botanical characteristics and a higher Bt toxin expression compared to Monsantos Bollgard 2 event. She also said that various tests had confirmed the efficacy of the event.

But for her to continue her work, she will need continuous support and funding from ICAR as well as UASD. More importantly, she will also need the NIPB to revoke its decision that she shouldnt continue her research on this front. So now, she said, her prospects look bleak. She repeated that she had adhered to all the proper protocols and procedures in her research.

Two requests asking NIPB director Shashany to respond went unanswered. The then acting-director of CICR, Vijay N. Waghmare, said he couldnt talk about the event since it was unapproved. UASD M.D. Chetti didnt respond to WhatsApp messages nor did P.L. Patil, UASDs director of research.

R.K. Singh, the assistant director-general (commercial crops) at the Crop Science Division, ICAR, said he was on leave and will be back next week. This report will be updated as and when any of them responds.

This was not the first setback for Maralappanavar in her long career as a cotton scientist. She is also known for her work on brown cotton. But in spite of having published several papers and authored other research articles, and in spite of having received UASDs support in the past, the university also took away her research materials when it transferred her to the safflower unit in 2014, and didnt give them back when she rejoined cotton research in 2018.

Maralappanavar has suffered considerable mental stress through this ordeal, and it still hasnt ended. Women scientists in India have a tough time throughout the pipeline due to various barriers, including lack of family support, misogyny at the workplace and systemic biases against female researchers in promotions and academic publishing.

The resulting stress is exacerbated when women also work on vitiated topics like genetic modification where what little support is available is complemented by political considerations, commercial interests and, as in Maralappanavars case, Kafkaesque allegations.

Meena Menon is an independent journalist.

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The Weird Case of What Could've Been Our First Public-Sector Bt Cotton Variety The Wire Science - The Wire Science

The US Food and Drug Administration has been considering whether to approve a Covid-19 vaccine produced by Novavax, an American biotechnology company.

This vaccine was given approval by the European Medicines Agency in December and has already been widely used across Europe.

It was also approved by the UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, in February.

Here we consider how the Novavax vaccine works, how it compares to other vaccines and how significant it might be in the fight against Covid-19.

The Novavax vaccine is a recombinant protein-based vaccine, which means that it involves genetic engineering technology and uses cells to produce the coronavirus spike protein.

In the case of the Novavax shot, an insect virus called a baculovirus is genetically engineered with a gene for the spike protein.

This baculovirus, Novavax explains in an online briefing document, are used to infect a type of moth cells called Sf9 cells.

The baculovirus multiplies inside the moth cells and the gene for the spike protein produces a type of genetic material called mRNA.

This mRNA causes the moth cells to produce large amounts of the coronavirus spike protein.

The proteins are purified and arranged around a tiny nanoparticle, which the company says helps your immune system recognise the target spike.

Novavax mixes these with an adjuvant, a substance that stimulates the immune system, which in this case comes from tree bark.

Once a person is injected with the vaccine, the immune system reacts against the spike proteins, resulting in a response that is protective in the event that the person is infected with the coronavirus.

The longest-established form of vaccine consists of the virus in a weakened form that is usually unable to cause disease.

In rare instances, particularly in people with compromised immune systems, such vaccines have led to illness.

Valneva, a French company, has developed a Covid-19 vaccine based on the inactivated coronavirus, although this has faced regulatory hurdles.

A later development was to use dead forms of the pathogen. While the risk of causing disease is eliminated, some such vaccines have not stimulated enough of an immune response.

The virus has to be grown in culture, which is easier for some than others, said Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, so this can act as a technical hurdle for production.

People ride a New Jersey bus after the US government announced it would no longer enforce a mask mandate on public transport. Reuters

A third type of vaccine involves genetic engineering and results in the production of proteins from the pathogen. They include the Novavax shot and are quite widespread, Prof Jones said.

There are some for influenza. The vaccine for shingles, thats a single recombinant protein. They have a very good safety record, he said.

The technology behind recombinant protein vaccines is longer established than that used in the mRNA Covid-19 injections (such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), and the viral vector vaccines (such as Oxford-AstraZeneca and Janssen or Johnson & Johnson shots).

While mRNA and viral vector vaccines use newer technology, these vaccines have been extensively tested and found to be safe, with only rare serious side effects.

With billions of doses of different types of Covid-19 vaccine already administered around the world, it raises the question of whether we need any more vaccines.

The commonsense thing is that the more options available, the better. I know the vaccine has proved safe and effective in Europe, said David Taylor, professor emeritus of pharmaceutical and public health policy at University College London.

Prof Taylor said that, theoretically, being able to identify very specific proteins that produce an immune response, as is the approach with recombinant protein vaccines, was the ideal approach, although in practice that was not always the case.

Prof Jones said the coronavirus was still circulating and continued to cause serious illness in some people, so vaccines were still needed.

He said the Novavax vaccine might be more appealing to people who had concerns about receiving some of the existing Covid-19 injections, for example because they were based on newer technology.

They may feel reassured that this version is using a technology that has been established for many other things," Prof Jones said. "There will be a class of individuals who feel happier with this form of vaccine."

Updated: June 07, 2022, 9:36 PM

See the original post:
What is the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine? - The National

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of health care and the role biopharma companies play in drug and vaccine development. As a result, the sector grew tremendously during the past 2 years.

However, with the easing of global coronavirus restrictions, along with a broad market selloff, the fortunes of these companies changed entirely in 2022.

For example, the is down about 9.4% year-to-datewhile still returning 3.5% over the past 12 months. On the other hand, the has dropped over 20.6% year-to-date (YTD) and 24.8% in the past 52 weeks, meaning it is now in the bear market territory.

In comparison, the and the have lost 13.6% and 22.7% so far in 2022.

Still, these declines potentially offer better entry points into many robust stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold them. So, today's article introduces two ETFs that deserve readers' attention during the rest of the year.

Health care stocks are typically excellent defensive plays in an environment of high and market . In addition, metrics suggest these companies could further benefit from changing demographics stateside.

For instance, the most recent census shows that America is aging. Research highlights:

"By 2030, more people in the United States will be older than age sixty-five than younger than age five. Our health care system is unprepared for the complexity of caring for a heterogeneous population of older adults."

Health care spending currently accounts for about a fifth of the national gross domestic product (GDP). As the needs of Americans change and possibly increase, we can expect health care stocks to capture part of that growth as well.

Therefore, the first fund on today's list is the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care ETF (NYSE:). It offers exposure to large- and mid-cap health care companies from the S&P 500 index.

RYH currently has 66 holdings, where the top 10 comprise almost 14% of $890.2 million in net assets. The fund was first listed in November 2006.

Over a quarter of the companies are in the health care equipment & supplies segment. Next come health care providers & services (24.6%), life sciences tools & services (18.2%), pharmaceuticals (15.4%), and biotechnology (13.1%).

Among the leading names on the roster are Viatris (NASDAQ:); Catalent (NYSE:), Merck & Company (NYSE:), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:), Eli Lilly (NYSE:), McKesson (NYSE:) and Cigna (NYSE:).

RYH hit a 52-week on May 12 and is down close to 12.3% YTD. Trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-book (P/B) ratios stand at 16.75x and 4.26x.

We like the diversity offered by this equal-weight ETF. Interested readers could find long-term value in RYH around these levels.

Academic research suggests:

"The biotechnology industry has been an engine of innovation for the U.S. healthcare system and, more generally, the U.S. economy. It is by far the most research-intensive industry in the U.S."

At present, the U.S. biotech industry is valued around $140 billion. A recent survey revealed a "strengthening investor appetite" for biotechs despite the recent decline in biotech shares. Among the investors surveyed, "66% think that biotech will outperform the broader market in 2022," while "58% plan to increase their exposure to the sector."

Next up on the list is the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSE:). It invests in global biotech firms that concentrate on life sciences tools, genetic engineering, molecular biology, and genomics. It started trading in June 2006, and has close to $1.3 billion in net assets.

This passively managed ETF tracks the . It is rebalanced quarterly and holds a basket of 30 stocks.

40% of the portfolio is the top 10 stocks. Among them are United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:), Grifols (NASDAQ:), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:), Mettler-Toledo International (NYSE:), Qiagen (NYSE:), Amgen (NASDAQ:), and Seagen (NASDAQ:).

FBT is down roughly 15.7% YTD and 19% over the past 12 months. The fund saw a multi-year low also on May 12.

Trailing P/E and P/B ratios stand at 15.11x and 3.61x. Contrarian readers ready to become "greedy when others are fearful" could consider buying the dips in FBT.

More:
2 Health Care And Biotech ETFs Poised For Robust Returns This Year - Investing.com

Genome editing technologies are important for drug development as well as the detection and treatment of human genetic disorders. Genome editing is used in NGS, DNA analysis and profiling, as well as plant and animal genetic engineering. Demand for genome editing technologies is predicted to rise significantly throughout the forecast period due to the rising application areas of genomics.

Increasing cancer and other genetic disorders, growing preference for personalized medicine, increase in R&D expenditure and growth of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, increase in private and public sector funding, rapid advancements in sequencing and genome editing technologies, non-labelling of gene-edited products such as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), applications in various drug discovery processes are some of the factors driving this rise in global genome editing market .

Get Free [emailprotected]https://skyquestt.com/sample-request/genome-editing-market

Genome editing has already shown potential in the treatment of genetic disorders, infectious diseases, and cancer. Cancer and other genetic illnesses are becoming more common, and individualized medicine is becoming more popular. Increased R&D spending and the expansion of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries increased business and public sector investment, as appears to have done rapid advances in sequencing and genome editing industry. Non-labelling of gene-edited goods such as GMOs, as well as applications in various drug development procedures, are a few of the factors driving the global genome editing markets growth.

Drug discovery research activities increase the preference for gene-editing techniques, and thus extensive use of gene editing techniques will stimulate industry progression. Furthermore, recently developed therapies and drugs used in the treatment of genetic diseases have reduced mortality rates, which will have an impact on genome editing market revenue in the coming years. Because of the benefits of genome editing, various governments are funding public and commercial research, as well as academic institutes, to increase genome editing market revenue.

Read the market research report, Global Genome Editing Market Segmented By Technology (CRISPR, TALEN, ZFN, Antisense, Other Technologies) By Delivery Method (Ex-vivo, In-vivo) By Mode (Contract, In-house) By End-use (Biotechnology And Pharmaceutical Companies, Academic And Government Research Institutes, Contract Research Organizations) & By Region Forecast And Analysis 2022-2028 by SkyQuest

Increased funding for genetic research in developed regions, including North America, will drive global genome editing market growth during the forecast period. The United States government funds a variety of research programs that aid in the drug discovery process for several rare genetic diseases. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a primary agency of the United States government, is in charge of biomedical and genetic research and awards billions of dollars in funding. For instance, a research team from Arizona State University and Baylor College of Medicine received approximately USD 1.6 million in NIH funding to evaluate advances in human genome editing. This funding also aided in the development of recommendations for technology governance and prospects.

North America dominated the genome editing market, accounting for 38.4% of the global market revenue in 2021. The presence of strong research as well as a commercial base for advanced therapy development, combined with a large number of clinical trials for gene and stem cell therapies in the region, has significantly contributed to the regions market dominance. Furthermore, the increasing number of patents granted to key players based in the United States has accelerated the adoption of these tools in the country, resulting in significant market growth of global genome editing market. For instance, Merck KGaA, recently announced that two of the companys patents for CRISPR gene-editing technologies had been approved in the United States. In the Asia Pacific, on the other hand, the market is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. In November 2020, China announced its ten most significant agricultural advances, one of which was gene-editing technology, demonstrating the countrys high market penetration in this space.

The report published by SkyQuest Technology Consulting provides in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about genome editing market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions.

What does this Report Deliver?

Speak to [emailprotected]https://skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/genome-editing-market

SkyQuest has segmented the Global Genome Editing Market based on Technology, Delivery Method, Mode, End-Use, Application, and Region:

Key Players of the Global Genome Editing Market

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The Global Genome Editing Market was valued at USD 5.25 Billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach a value of USD 17.02 Billion by 2028, at a CAGR...

The Director of International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, delivers convocation address at Karnatak University

The Director of International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, delivers convocation address at Karnatak University

Director of International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, Dinakar M. Salunke has said that India always had a strong foundation for science and technology partly due to traditions dating back to origins of Indian civilisation. And, a large part of modern scientific base in India has been due to the efforts of individuals who promoted science.

Delivering the convocation address at the 72nd annual convocation of Karnatak University in Dharwad on Tuesday, he said that modern India has resolved the path of economic, industrial and agricultural developments through scientific approaches.

India has emerged as a major player in the field of science and technology due to early emphasis on scientific temper and the responsibility of carrying forward the rich tradition lies with the younger generation, Mr. Salunke said.

Pointing out the countrys accomplishments in the field of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, atomic energy, electronics, telecommunication, space technology, defence developments, agriculture and healthcare and other sectors have been globally acknowledged, he said that building a cadre of well trained scientists, technologists and field experts with scientific training will be a major driver of the countrys emergence as a knowledge superpower.

Mr. Salunke said that universities in the country have made a great contribution in this connection.

Governor and Chancellor of the university Thavarchand Gehlot conferred honorary doctorate degrees onthe seer of Murugha Mutt Sri Mallikarjun Swamy, the former vice-chancellor and scientist Srinivas Saidapur and Supreme Court advocate Manoj Gorkela.

Lauding the contribution of the university to the field of education in the last seven decades, the Governor called upon the fresh graduates to remember to serve society after accomplishing their dreams.

Mr. Gehlot also presented gold medals to meritorious students and doctoral degrees to research scholars. In all, 21,731 candidates were conferred various degrees during the convocation.

Registrar Yashpal Ksheersagar and Registrar (Evaluation) Krishnamurthy and deans of various streams were present.

Sujata Nagesh Jodalli (MA in Mass communication and Journalism), daughter of a waterman, emerged the golden girl at the convocation. A native of Sulikatti village in Kalghatgi taluk of Dharwad district, she aspires to be become a journalist.

D.V. Anuja (M.Sc Biochemistry), Lakshman Hanji (M.Sc Zoology) and Pavitra Gullannavar (Library and Information Science) bagged eight gold medals each. Akkamma Yadwad (MA Kannada) bagged seven gold medals. Megha Havanagi (MA Political Science), Swathi Joshi (M.Sc Maths) and Sahana Nagesh Shet (M.Sc Chemistry) secured six each.

Medini Nayak (MA Eng), Tejaswini Talawar (MA Eco), Namrata Uday Shetty (M.Sc Botany), Rahela Anjum (MBA) and Akhila B.S. (LL.B) secured five each followed by Jyoti Goravar (BA), Sudha Malladad (BA), Maria Simon (B.Ed), Ashiwni Hullur (M.Com), Sayeda Rubab Peerazade (M.Sc Microbiology),Sneha Vijay Jadhav (M.Sc Geology), Rajshekhar Benakanahalli (M.Sc Geography), Durrea Quazi (M.Ed), Gouramma Bammakkanavar (MA Sanskrit) and Chandrashekharayya Hiremath (MA Philosophy) won four gold medals each.

Original post:
India has strong foundation for science and technology: Salunke - The Hindu

Three scientists with exceptional promise and novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named the 2022 recipients of the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award. The awardees were selected through a highly competitive and rigorous process by a scientific committee comprised of leading cancer researchers who are themselves physician-scientists.

Physician-scientists are uniquely positioned to translate scientific discoveries into therapies that improve and prolong the lives of their patients. However, this vital cadre of cancer researchers is declining at a time when cancer research holds the greatest promise of new discovery. To help increase the number of physician-scientists, the Foundation created the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award, which provides physicians who have completed clinical specialty fellowship training the opportunity to gain the skills and experience needed to become leaders in translational and clinical research.

Damon Runyon seeks to address the financial disincentives that often deter physicians from pursuing a research career by providing considerably higher funding than most research fellowships$100,000 in the first year, with increases of $10,000 per year over the next three years. It will also retire up to $100,000 of any medical school debt still owed by an award recipient. (The average medical school debt now exceeds $200,000.)

Since its launch in 2015, the program has funded 35 new physician-scientists from across a range of disciplines. Their research has not only brought forth insights into how cancer develops and spreads but also led to the development of new therapies, including several in clinical trials. Physician-scientists require protected time and funding for research, so that they can bring crucial insights from the clinic to the laboratory, and vice versa, said Yung S. Lie, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Damon Runyon. Each of our physician-scientists is pursuing research with high potential for impact, and we are proud to enable this critical work.

The Physician-Scientist Training Award was established thanks to the generosity of Damon Runyon Board members Leon Cooperman and Michael Gordon.

2022 Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award Recipients:

Wallace A. Bourgeois, MD, with mentor Scott A. Armstrong, MD, PhD, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer that affects children and adults. One particularly difficult-to-treat subtype of AML that represents about 10% of all cases is characterized by a mutation in the KMT2A gene. Menin inhibitors (MI), a novel targeted therapy, have shown promise against this subtype in early clinical trials. Studies have also shown that compounds that degrade a protein called Ikaros can dramatically enhance the efficacy of MI. In seeking to uncover why MI and Ikaros protein degraders work well together, Dr. Bourgeois and his colleagues have found that both drugs target gene expression programs that are critical for the survival of KMT2A-mutant AML cells. Dr. Bourgeois is now working to better understand which genes can be targeted to further enhance the efficacy of Ikaros protein degraders in KMT2A-mutant AML. This work will shed light on the essential gene expression programs required for KMT2A-mutant AML cell survival, and ideally help guide drug development that specifically targets this subtype.

Mark B. Leick, MD, with mentor Marcela V. Maus, MD, PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital, BostonThe Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Physician-Scientist

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common acute leukemia in adults. Intensive chemotherapy cures only a subset of patients, and immunotherapy has had limited success in AML. One novel approach is chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, which involves genetically engineering a patients own immune cells to target cancer cells. The difficulty with this approach is that the majority of available targets present on AML cells also reside on many normal cells. Based on emerging data demonstrating overexpression of the gene CD70 in AML cells compared to normal tissues, Dr. Leick and his colleagues have recently optimized a CD70-targeted CAR T therapy and demonstrated its efficacy in AML. Despite the superiority of this CAR over prior versions, however, it is less effective against AML cells that present a low amount of the antigen. Dr. Leick is now working to improve this CAR through genetic modification and/or a dual targeting approach. His work has the potential to generate a safe, highly potent, optimized strategy for treating this leukemia.

Mira A. Patel, MD, with mentor Sohail F. Tavazoie, MD, PhD, at The Rockefeller University, New York

One of the leading causes of death from cancer is metastasis, or when cancer spreads from its original tissue to other parts of the body. A gene that all humans carry, called Apolipoprotein E (APOE), plays a role in how our bodies respond to cancer, including risk of metastasis. The gene comes in one of three forms: APOE2, APOE3, or APOE4. Individuals who carry APOE2 tend to fare worse when diagnosed with melanoma, while those who carry APOE4 tend to have a much lower risk of melanoma metastasis and a much better chance of survival. (Those who carry APOE3 fall somewhere in between.) Dr. Patel is researching how APOE expression in immune cells either promotes cancer targeting, as in the case of APOE4, or cancer cell survival, as in the case of APOE2. With a better understanding of how the APOE gene affects the body's response to cancer, she hopes to improve cancer therapy by tailoring treatment to the form of APOE each patient carries.

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About the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

To accelerate breakthroughs, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation provides today's best young scientists with funding to pursue innovative research. The Foundation has gained worldwide prominence in cancer research by identifying outstanding researchers and physician-scientists. Thirteen scientists supported by the Foundation have received the Nobel Prize, and others are heads of cancer centers and leaders of renowned research programs. Each of its award programs is extremely competitive, with less than 10% of applications funded. Since our founding in 1946, in partnership with donors across the nation, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has invested nearly $420 million and funded over 3,900 scientists. Last year, it committed over $18 million in new awards to brilliant young investigators.

100% of all donations to the Foundation are used to support scientific research. Administrative and fundraising costs are paid with revenue from theDamon Runyon Broadway TicketsService and our endowment.

For more information visitdamonrunyon.org.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

Excerpt from:
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announces three recipients of 2022 Physician-Scientist Training Award - EurekAlert

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common and potentially dangerous virus for which no vaccine currently exists despite decades of effort from the scientific community. Associate Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at the Baskin School of Engineering Rebecca DuBois has set out to address this pressing need. To fund her innovative approach to the development of an RSV vaccine, DuBois has been awarded the prestigious and highly competitive National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant (RO1).

RSV causes contagious cold-like symptoms that can develop into serious lung problems and lead to hospitalizations, especially in young children and older populations each year, 3 million children under five years old are hospitalized from RSV and 64 million total people are affected worldwide.The five-year, $3.8 million grant will be shared with DuBoiss collaborator Ralph Tripp at the University of Georgia and will build on both researchers' years of work studying RSV. Their overall aim is to validate their RSV vaccine in pre-clinical trials.

Theres a huge need this is a really important gap in our vaccine schedule to protect children, said DuBois, whose experience with her childs severe RSV fueled her to take on this research. I think the NIH study section reviewers liked that it's a totally different strategy than what everyone else is taking.

DuBoiss lab focuses on bioengineering the commonly overlooked RSV G protein, used by the virus to attach to host cells, to expose its vulnerable points so the hosts body can fight back.

In previous work, they have found that a region, called the central conserved domain and just 40 amino acids long, can be engineered to evoke an protective immunogenic response from the host. Additionally, a recent paper from the DuBois lab determined that this altered protein is still recognized by the bodys immune system and therefore could be effective in a vaccine.

I think since RSV has been such a difficult virus to create a vaccine for, we're innovative in that we are using structural biology to learn more about this protein and make changes to it using protein engineering to improve its immunogenicity, said Maria Juarez, a third-year Ph.D. student in the DuBois lab. Thats something that our lab has really spearheaded.

Targeting this specific region of the G protein, which remains unchanged as the virus mutates, is a cutting-edge technique in vaccine development that may allow a vaccine to continue its effectiveness as the virus mutates.

By whittling down our vaccine to this important and conserved part, and designing it so [the antigen] is exposed to our immune system in a better way, we can refocus the antibody response it wont get distracted by all the parts that arent conserved, DuBois said. Its a more strategic way to do vaccine design, instead of just targeting the whole protein and choosing one strain to target.

Juarez and the others in the DuBois lab will continue to experiment with ways to ensure that the surface of their engineered protein is structured in a way to provoke the strongest immune response. Juarez also noted that the techniques she is using to engineer the protein are cheaper and less time intensive than other methods, making future production of the vaccine scalable so it can eventually be used commercially around the world.

Once DuBoiss group has developed their vaccine, they will send it to Tripps lab to test if it creates a strong antibody response in pre-clinical models. The group expects the first vaccines to be tested in pre-clinical models by the end of 2022.

This project differs from other RSV vaccine efforts, some of which are in phase III clinical trials, in the method it uses to evoke a protective immune response. The large majority of other researchers focus on the RSV F protein, which fuses the virus and host cell membranes together to get the viruss genetic information into cells.

Eventually, the researchers anticipate that their vaccine could be combined with one that uses the F protein in order to create an even more robust immune response.

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Prestigious $3.8M NIH grant awarded to biomolecular engineering professor to develop an RSV vaccine - University of California, Santa Cruz

By Codrin Paul OneciJun. 9, 2022

Im an MIT AeroAstro student, and I look at the sky daily. This is relaxing, bringing optimism and motivation: I know that I can predict various phenomena in the universe and put the forces of nature to humanitys use, to the best of my ability. I like to observe the physical interactions in our surrounding environment, because careful consideration of the processes within it allows one to clearly foresee world states and trajectories and make higher-value decisions in most situations.

Our world has many interesting and observable patterns and tendencies. Among them I consider the evolution of life-forms and their habitats to be of paramount importance, especially in the context of global warming. One essential aspect that apparently eludes the reasoning of many is the physical space that the biosphere exists in: this is the main constraint dictating the resources available for life to persist, evolve, and expand, of which matter composition, thermodynamic conditions, and energy fluctuations are the most important.

When addressing global warming, in recent years, many decision-makers have tended to focus only on bandaging the Earth. While the development of new technologies that would allow us to pollute less is definitely economically feasible and beneficial for the planet, instead, politicians often support anti-industrial social movements, allowing these movements to gain momentum and popularity. Think of the anti-nuclear energy movement in Germany, or movements to reduce industrial production or extractive industry activity in the U.S. (hurting businesses and workers). Think of public opinion on space exploration and colonization, that they are too expensive and too far in the realm of science fiction to be even remotely feasible. These are naive perspectives not supported by scientific fact and are usually promoted by those with a narrow vision of the world.

Obviously I consider the idea of reducing our industrial activities overall without starting new ones to be absurd. Considering economical aspects, even social tension phenomena would be generated through taking uncalculated decisions. From my perspective, the global development of fission and fusion plants in addition to research in the field of nuclear energy are essential to our sustainable evolution as a highly technological civilization. High energy levels and rates are requirements for traveling throughout the solar system, processing matter, and ultimately either terraforming celestial objects or creating purely antropic environments (artificial bodies). These energy levels and rates are attainable with the strong nuclear force.

At the level of the social conscience, by following lines of thought without making use of reason, we are physically limiting not only our horizons, but that of other living beings. We also have to take care of a biosphere often neglected by most members of the human species. The reality is that we are the highest on the trophic chain and have the most developed conscience. Science gathers knowledge much faster than humanity gains wisdom.

Polluting an entire planet, causing a mass extinction, and not taking serious action towards finding a new home in space dont seem reasonable. Actions are being taken in many highly developed countries to protect the planet through technological modernization of industry. However, in order to maintain an equilibrium between the development of our different fields of knowledge as a species, we must also take action in other scientific fields including, but not limited to, space exploration, human habitat extension onto the moon and Mars, and genetic engineering for accelerated evolution and disease prevention.

Moreover, without guidance at a high level of society, there is plenty of room after the pandemic for the youth to find escape through libertinage, hedonism, political violence, and many other things. Values in each nation are projected by prominent individuals, so when the dominant classes are not setting reasonable ideals for society, the social organism may end up evolving slowly, chaotically, or even backwards.

If you are a true leader, you must provide a sense of purpose and meaning to others. Otherwise, you are just a demagogue using cheap rhetoric and immoral acts for the purpose of maintaining your position of power.

I prefer societal lines of evolution in which we are looking at and reaching for the sky with the purpose of expanding our habitat and that of Earths biosphere while understanding what in the past would have been deemed secrets of the universe. This idea is well-documented at a hypothetical level in science fiction books such as those by Issac Asimov or Frank Herbert.

Wasn't it always our dream to fly? If you look into the past, the gods from our mythologies were navigating the seas of the skies and heavens. Whether youre religious or atheist, looking at the sun, moon, stars, and beyond gives you a sense of power and intimacy with nature itself. This was felt even by our prehistoric ancestors who used the suns position relative to stars to calculate agricultural cycles. We should especially feel this intimacy today as humans prepare to occupy the near solar system. Only nations capable of highly organized and scientifically founded planning of their collective efforts will be true leaders at global level: they will become the most influential at the interplanetary level, silently leaving others somewhere behind in history.

Preparation for space exploration is motivating for some individuals, including myself. We are lucky: technologically, we already have the resources and ability to colonize space. We have the technology to transport materials for colonies on the moon and to bring equipment to Mars for a self-sustaining city, with enough people eager to be pioneers and explore these new frontiers. We have the materials, the software and hardware. It is mostly a lack of will that separates us from the vision described by Elon Musk as comparable to the fleet of one thousand ships sent to the shores of Ilion, under the leadership of Agamemnon. If no action is taken to fix the lack of willpower, especially from political leaders, we will likely enter a stagnant phase in our evolution as a civilization. Insufficient resources on an overpopulated planet will lead to economic tension and conflicts.

We are not confined to a single planet. We are the generation of the space age, and we have great chances to make life multiplanetary.

What I and others ask our leaders to do is to support high-caliber projects that will mobilize all of humanity in a collaborative effort. We think of individuals like President John F. Kennedy, who started the most demanding space program on the planet and said clearly that we choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. Sadly enough, these visionary leaders often have fates similar to that of Prometheus. Regardless, we must look into the future with hope and be determined in using our strength to win.

We already have gifted people across the planet willing to help scatter humanity across the universe, we have much of the technology developed, and we definitely have the economic basis to support this endeavor. It will be just a matter of ratios of various means and forces across the planet whether we achieve a higher level of social conscience and global collaboration. Knowledge and reason are the foundation of our strength.

Codrin Paul Oneci 21 is a first-year Master of Science student in AeroAstro.

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Expanding our horizons through nuclear energy and space exploration - The Tech