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Interest in intensified manufacturing is driving innovation in downstream technologies, according to the team behind a new predictive freeze-drying model designed with continuous processes in mind. Lyophilization, or freeze drying, is used to stabilize protein drugs by removing residual water through a series of cooling and drying steps. At present, it is very common—according to one study, half of all approved large molecule drugs are freeze-dried. Whether lyophilization remains the stabilization technique of choice will depend on how well it can be adapted for continuous production methods, according to Prakitr Srisuma, a doctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology…

Credit: magicmine/Getty Images Combining a single-gene diagnostic biomarker with a large language model (LLM) analysis of electronic medical records can substantially improve the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in critically ill adults, according to researchers at UC San Francisco. Their observational study, published in Nature Communications, described how this integrated approach more accurately distinguished infectious from non-infectious causes of respiratory failure than either method alone or than those provided by intensive care unit clinicians at the time of admission. In an independent validation cohort, the model made a correct diagnosis 96% of the time, which could have reduced…

Breakthroughs in psychedelic research could lead to better treatments for mental health conditions and neurological disorders.Image credit:© iStock.com, YarphotoFrom magic mushrooms to peyote, psychedelics have made a name for themselves in recent years as potential therapeutics for a range of different conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, hearing loss, and more. These hallucinogenic molecules can alter a person’s mood and thoughts by tapping into neural circuits in the brain, but researchers are still delving into the molecular mechanisms that underlie how these drugs work. Take a trip through the latest psychedelic research to see where this mind-bending science stands.Over…

Targeted nutrient transport is gaining traction as DHA delivery research moves from mechanism to real-world market application. The brain is one of the greediest organs in the body when it comes to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), yet also one of the least hospitable to incoming molecules. The blood–brain barrier (BBB) and its retinal counterpart have long protected neural tissue with admirable vigilance, which is excellent for survival but far less helpful for anyone attempting to deliver therapeutics or nutrients to these privileged regions. Conventional omega-3 supplementation has, for years, been promoted as a convenient route to cognitive and visual support; however,…

Credit: Westend61 / Getty Images Research led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has shown that proton therapy significantly improves overall survival, reduces high-grade toxicity, and has comparable disease control to traditional intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for patients with oropharyngeal cancer. “This is important, level one evidence that proton therapy has both a survival benefit and quality-of-life improvement for these patients and should be the standard of care for advanced cases of oropharyngeal cancer,” said Steven Frank, MD, executive director of technology and innovation and deputy division head of strategic programs for Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson.…

A hybrid modeling framework to optimize Chinese hamster ovary cell cultures for monoclonal antibody (mAb) production reduces the number of modeling parameters needed while returning results that compare favorably to the best kinetic models. The framework designed by researchers at Sartorius and the University of Waterloo in Canada integrates hybrid dynamic flux balance analysis with piecewise partial least squares regression (dFBA-PLS). Results, they report, were highly predictive, with a “normalized mean squared error of 0.15 for most metabolites and interpretable flux profiles.” This approach, they continue, “successfully simulate[s] the temporal evolution of key metabolites, biomass, and mAb production across diverse…

This webinar will be hosted live and available on-demandWednesday, January 28th, 20263:30 – 4:30 PM ETFrom studying disease mechanisms to testing new therapeutics, animal models have long served as essential tools in molecular biology research. However, animal models have limitations, including challenges in accurately representing human biology and ethical and practical constraints. As a result, scientists are now exploring alternative approaches such as stem cells, organoids, and computational models.In this live roundtable webinar, Joseph Wu, Donald Ingber, and Shannon Mumenthaler will discuss the emerging animal alternatives, the ethical considerations driving this shift, and the practical challenges of reducing, refining, and…

Researchers have investigated the reporting quality of preclinical studies’ outcomes in anti-aging research. They analyzed how study quality changed over time, shortcomings in research, and the improvements that can be made in the future in order to yield as many valuable insights as possible [1]. The need for quality Aging research has grown substantially; however, conducting human trials in the aging field is time-consuming and requires substantial resources. Therefore, initial testing is done in preclinical models, such as mice, worms, fruit flies, and other model animals, as many genes, molecular processes, and aging mechanisms are conserved between those animals and…

OpenAI-backed Chai Discovery lands $130m, claiming “100-fold improvement” over previous computational design methods. AI-native drug discovery platform Chai Discovery has raised $130 million in a Series B financing that values the San Francisco–based company at $1.3 billion. Co-led by Oak HC/FT and General Catalyst, with participation from existing backers including OpenAI, Thrive Capital, Menlo Ventures and Dimension, the round brings the total raised by the company to more than $225 million, less than two years after it emerged from stealth. Just a few months ago, Chai announced a $70 million Series A and unveiled Chai-2, a generative platform designed to…

Drosophila melanogaster [Alonekot Sumritjearapol/ Getty images] During early development, tissues and organs begin to form through the shifting, splitting, and growing of many thousands of cells. A team of researchers headed by MIT engineers has now developed a geometric deep learning method, called MultiCell, that can predict, minute by minute, how individual cells will fold, divide, and rearrange during a fruit fly’s earliest stage of growth. The model learns, then predicts, how certain geometric properties of individual cells will change as a fruit fly develops. To do this, the model records and tracks properties such as a cell’s position, and…