1 Department of Pharmacology, Moores Cancer Center, and.
2Department of Pediatrics, UCSD, La Jolla, California, USA.
Address correspondence to: Jing Yang, UCSD, 3,855 Health Sciences Drive, MC0819, La Jolla, California 92,093, USA. Email: [email protected].
et al. developed a DNA sequence module which enables splicing-mediated control of gene expression via an inducer which is already an FDA-approved medicine. An extremely useful advance for gene therapy since it allows activation of therapeutic genes only when we want them to turn on. I expect this kind of tool will be used heavily by the biomedical industry in coming years.
Precise transgene regulation is crucial for the safety and efficacy of next-generation therapies. Here, authors develop RisdiON, a compact gene switch controlled by the approved oral drug risdiplam, showing this system allows for tunable, reversible regulation across diverse applications in vitro and in vivo.
It is not yet approved, and this does not mean we have “cured cancer.” But it is an extraordinary proof of concept: sequencing + AI/computational biology + mRNA + immunotherapy can be combined to create a treatment tailored to the genetic fingerprint of an individual patient’s tumor.
Moderna and Merck said on Wednesday that a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine reduced the risk of recurrence and spread of melanoma in a late-stage trial, a major success in a new field of cancer treatment that sent Moderna’s shares surging as much as 160%.
Could AI hold the key to answering questions that have stumped doctors and scientists for decades? A recent study at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) borrows concepts from machine learning to address an age-old riddle of immunology.
In the thymus, the immune system’s T cells are trained to avoid attacking healthy tissue through a process called negative selection. There, T cells are tested to determine whether they bind to fragments of the body’s own proteins, called self-peptides. Those that do are immediately deleted. However, each T cell encounters only a small fraction of the enormous number of self-peptides found throughout the body. So, how does the immune system learn to tolerate the rest?
“This has long been an open question in immunology,” explains CSHL Assistant Professor Hannah Meyer. “Negative selection is a crucial process, but if T cells had to test against every single one of the body’s peptides, it would take forever. So, how do they learn to avoid friendly fire? We think it’s through a process called generalization.”
The search for extraterrestrial life has evolved from philosophy to a serious scientific and national security concern, with governments and NASA actively investigating Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. While discovering alien intelligence could spark a scientific renaissance, offering advancements in medicine, energy, and technology, it also presents unprecedented security challenges. Different levels of discovery, from biosignatures to direct contact, carry varying societal disruptions. Risks include potential hostility, information warfare through deepfakes, and complex geopolitical issues regarding ownership and control of contact. Therefore, humanity needs a global framework for verification, coordination, and resilience to manage such a monumental event. The strategic question is not merely if we are alone, but if we are truly ready for the profound implications of an answer.
