Articles

Inadequate quality control assays shouldn’t limit cell and gene therapy applications. Instead, quantifying the potency of cell and gene therapies is essential for successful therapeutics. In this article, we describe multiple leading potency assays developed using Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) technology, including an assay that quantifies transgene integration and expression in one step.

Gene editing is only useful if it’s successful. Read how scientists are leveraging the unparalleled accuracy and specificity of ddPCR technology to optimize quality control in gene editing projects, including HIV detection and CAR-T cell generation.

RNA-Seq library preparation is a manually intensive, time-consuming process prone to bias from the multiple enzymes required. So, how can you trust your sequencing results? Bio-Rad is revolutionizing RNA-Seq library prep with the SEQuoia Express Stranded RNA Library Prep Kit – a three-hour, three-tube solution eliminating the need for multiple enzymes and reducing both the number of pipetting steps and protocol time. The key is an engineered, proprietary retrotransposon called SEQzyme. With this serial template jumping, or continuous synthesis, reaction you can obtain an unbiased, stranded RNA-Seq library constructed to accurately represent both messenger and non-coding RNA from your sample.

Cell and gene therapies have seen record growth due to their potential to address the underlying causes of genetic and acquired diseases. Non-viral delivery methods are increasing in popularity due to their safety, cost-effectiveness, reduction in manufacturing time, and flexibility compared to viral vector delivery methods. Electroporation is a simple, broadly applicable method capable of delivering molecules to a wide range of cell types for either cell or gene therapy. This article outlines the top advantages of using electroporation in cell and gene therapy and why it might be a good approach for your own research group.

Disparate systems, distributed teams, and overly complex technologies are a recipe for inefficiency in research and development (R&D) laboratories, especially in drug development. With the pressure to meet challenging deadlines and strict regulations, it is easy for working practices to become disconnected. To improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of data generation, acquisition, and management, R&D organizations are looking to streamline their lab practices by investing in technologies that automate data generation, accelerate data collection speed and storage, and enhance the quality and reliability of the information produced. Lab automation presents exciting opportunities for future research, promising novel advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), liquid handling robotics, and cloud-based data workflows.

Circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in the global population led to the emergence of new variants threatening to undermine vaccine effectiveness. Understanding the immune response and its neutralizing abilities at both the patient level and globally could not only help prevent outbreaks but also mitigate the outcome for future pandemics.

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, trends point to a transition for the SARS-CoV-2 virus into an endemic agent. As major surveillance infrastructure scales back, it will be critical to maintain a cost-effective, simple, and rapid strategy for detecting and monitoring the spread of new variants. The key to such a strategy? Wastewater, where all disease agents leave their unique signature.

For this article, we spoke with Vera Dreyfuss of evitria AG, an antibody expression services provider based in Switzerland, about the role that the NGC Chromatography System has played in powering the growth and success of the company.

Wastewater-based epidemiology indirectly monitors infection rates in a community based on pathogen levels in local wastewater. Because symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals shed viral RNA in sewer systems, analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage networks can provide information about SARS-CoV-2 infections within the community. However, the accuracy of these data depends on the quality of the wastewater testing method. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Droplet Digital PCR has proven that it has the sensitivity needed to detect outbreaks and monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants in communities via wastewater testing.

Most scientists, no matter where they are at in their career, remember the moments of wonder as they navigated lab work for the first time. Whether it’s a band on a gel, a colony on a plate, or a piece of data, those first tangible results come with a feeling of having accomplished something incredible. More than ten years later, we caught up with two scientists who immortalized that feeling in the form of matching protein ladder tattoos, and discussed how their time as undergraduate researchers led them where they are today.