Alex Shalek, Ragon associate member, has a new study published today in Nature Medicine, Integrated Single-Cell Analysis of Multicellular Immune Dynamics during Hyper-Acute HIV-1 Infection. This study uses single-cell RNA sequencing to understand immune system dynamics after acute HIV infection, with samples provided from the FRESH (Females Rising through Education, Support, and Health) study in South Africa, which is run by Ragon…
New details have emerged about how the brain recovers from general anesthesia based on research from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The process of awakening from anesthesia has not been well understood before, but studies using microelectrodes directly placed in the cortex of non-human primates now show that when consciousness returns after anesthesia, brain dynamics change abruptly, like an “on and…
A global pandemic isn’t stopping a Maryland biotech from staffing a new R&D hub in Boston’s Seaport. While biopharma companies and academic laboratories close up shop, Sensei Biotherapeutics plans to open a research hub in SmartLab’s Seaport facility. The 18-person company will hire 10 people to begin, but plans to grow over the course of the year. “If anything, I think it…
In patients with advanced ovarian cancer, a combination of drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors and PARP inhibitors can produce powerful remissions, clinical trials have shown, but up until now investigators haven’t been able to predict which patients won’t benefit from the treatment and should explore other options. A new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers, is showing that it’s…
The average medication contains a mix of eight “inactive” ingredients added to pills to make them taste better, last longer, and stabilize the active ingredients within. Some of those additives are now getting a closer look for their ability to cause allergic reactions in some patients. But now, in a new twist, MIT researchers have discovered that two other inactive ingredients may…
With new financing in its pocket, a Flagship Pioneering-backed cell therapy startup is ready to begin its first in-human tests of a rare disease treatment. Sigilon Therapeutics raised a $80.3 million Series B round this week from BlackRock-managed funds, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Longevity Vision Fund and others. The startup, which was founded by noted MIT scientists Bob Langer and Daniel…
Sigilon Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing functional cures for patients with chronic diseases through its Shielded Living Therapeutics platform, today announced that it has completed a $80.3 million Series B financing. The funding will support the first-in-human clinical trial of Sigilon’s novel encapsulated cell therapy for hemophilia A, expected to begin in the first half of 2020, as well…
Developing new drugs to treat diseases isn’t easy. As many as 90 percent of promising drug candidates fail before or during human clinical trials, falling into the so-called “valley of death.” Those that do succeed still cost significant time and money. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America estimates that it takes an average of $2.6 billion and more than…
Researchers in the Gerstner Center for Cancer Diagnostics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have increased the sensitivity of blood biopsies, demonstrating that they can monitor up to hundreds of different cancer mutations in blood samples from individual patients, with potential to detect cancer recurrence — and inform treatment decisions — years before traditional…
A team led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has designed a new base editing tool that can fix mutations in the genome much more efficiently and at many more target sites compared to its predecessor, unlocking access to correct more genetic variants associated with human diseases. Base editing is a genome editing technique that chemically…