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Light micrograph of cultured human breast cancer cells. Weinberg and colleagues show that targeting a pro-metastatic microRNA with antagomirs prevents the formation of new metastases in a mouse model of breast cancer (p 341). Credit: Cecil H. Fox/Science Photo Library
Healthcare reform will not only boost biotech investment by massively expanding the US drug market, but also change the dynamics of biotech innovation in the longer term.
The eye, and particularly the retina, has become a favored testing ground for new biologic drugs. How well novel nucleic acid and cellular therapies work in retinal disease could determine their expansion to other indications. Ken Garber reports.
Hierarchical models provide reliable statistical estimates for data sets from high-throughput experiments where measurements vastly outnumber experimental samples.
Efforts to develop drugs that would prevent a primary tumor from spreading to new sites have been hampered by a lack of metastasis-specific targets. Working with a mouse model of breast cancer, Ma et al. show for the first time that metastasis formation can be substantially reduced by inhibition of a pro-metastatic microRNA.
High-throughput imaging generates massive data sets that are difficult to quantitatively analyze by hand. Peng et al. describe customizable software for visualizing and working with multi-gigabyte three-dimensional images in real time.
Synthetic genetic circuits may be used to program cells to respond to physiological conditions with predictable dynamic behaviors. Kemmer et al. describe the engineering of a mammalian circuit that maintains homeostasis of a bloodstream metabolite within a physiologically appropriate range.
Human embryonic stem cells are generally cultured as adherent monolayers, but large-scale production of these cells for clinical applications would require the development of culture conditions amenable to growth in bioreactors. Steiner et al. show that human embryonic stem cells can be derived, grown and differentiated in suspension.
Plant pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) confer resistance to infection by many microbes by recognizing conserved molecules important for pathogen viability. Lacombe et al. show that transfer of a PRR from a wild species to tobacco and tomato plants renders them resistant to several bacterial phytopathogens.
Cultured human embryonic stem cells often acquire chromosomal abnormalities that could be detrimental in certain applications. Närvä et al. report the highest-resolution genetic analysis of these cells to date and identify genes whose expression is altered by culture-induced genetic changes.
