GEN Print Edition

• Genetic Science Confounds Students
• Kenna Shaw, Ph.D.
  Katie Van Horne
  Joann A. Boughman, Ph.D.
• "Half of your DNA is determined by your mother’s side, and half is by your father. So, say if you seem to look exactly like your mother and had gotten all phenotypes from her, perhaps some DNA that codes for your body and how your organs run was copied from your father’s genetic makeup." ... more

Financial Focus

• Mannkind Persists with Inhaled Insulin
• Querida Anderson
• Not too long ago a number of firms were vying for a slice of the anticipated $1 billion inhaled insulin market. Now, Mannkind (www.mannkindcorp.com) is the only company still standing in the clinical development space. Poor uptake of the first such approved product, Exubera, and negative study results related to the same therapy have plagued the sector. ... more

Corporate Profile

• Symbiotic Firms Zero In on Enzymatic Tools
• Carol Potera
• While working at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, David Mead, Ph.D., helped to develop the technology behind TA cloning, now one of the most popular methods for cloning-amplified PCR products using Taq and other polymerases. That technology was sold to Invitrogen (www.invitrogen.com), where it was incorporated into products that earn millions of dollars each year. ... more

BioMarket Trends

• Demand for Novel Delivery Systems Rising
• Bill Martineau
• The demand for drug delivery systems in the U.S. will increase by over 10% annually to $132 billion in 2012. Growth opportunities will extend to a wide range of compounds and formulations. Oral controlled-release medication will continue to account for the largest share of demand through 2012 due to favorable cost advantages, a wealth of potential new product applications, and significant efficacy benefits over conventional dosage formulations. ... more

Company Update

• Company Seeks to Shake Up Protein Analysis
• Sophia Fox
• Proteome Sciences (www.proteomics.com) recently concluded a worldwide licensing deal for its Tandem Mass Tag (TMT®) technology with Thermo Fisher Scientific (www.thermofisher.com). The agreement came just a few months after the firm received broad U.S., European, Australian, and Canadian patents covering the isobaric tandem mass tagging concept and the TMT product family. ... more

DRUG DISCOVERY

Feature Article

• Mass Spec Solidifies Discovery Role
• Nina Flanagan
• Hardware and software advances have greatly improved the reliability of mass spectrometry. In addition, its versatility and movement into the clinic has expanded the number of users and applications. Also affecting the MS market are increased efforts to screen patients through identification of biomarkers and to develop more effective drugs based on structural properties of targets. ... more

• Optimizing the Profiling of Protein Kinases
• Patricia F. Dimond, Ph.D.
• Protein kinases comprise the largest family of mammalian enzymes, totaling at least 500. These ubiquitous enzymes play key roles in cellular regulation by catalyzing the reversible phosphorylation of more than 10,000 proteins. ... more

Tutorial

• Advancing New Oligo Synthesis Techniques
• William J. Blake, Ph.D.
  Andy Rakestraw, Ph.D.
  Patti M. Aha
• Moving far beyond the capabilities of traditional oligonucleotide synthesis, the advent of advanced synthesis technologies is enabling genetic constructs to be made more rapidly, accurately, affordably, and design friendly. Constructs ranging from simple and complex genes to pathways encompassing genes and genetic motifs longer than 10 kb can now be made along with complex cDNA and DNA libraries that incorporate advanced protein-engineering design. ... more

OMICS

Feature Article

• Applying aCGH to Molecular Diagnostics
• Kathy Liszewski
• Genetic aberrations that cause a gain or loss of chromosomal material are associated with mental retardation and congenital malformations and linked to development of cancer. Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is making strides as a powerful tool for analyzing such DNA copy-number alterations. This emerging technology is poised to reap big rewards in the burgeoning molecular diagnostics market. Further, as CGH’s precision and reliability continue to grow, important uses in the clinic and for personalized medicine will advance. ... more

Assay Tutorial

• Strategy to Improve Quantitative Telomere FISH
• Rajiv Raja, Ph.D.
  Zuguo Li, Ph.D.
  Yun-Ling Zheng, Ph.D.
• Cytogenetic analysis of chromosomes provides the foundation for the clinical diagnosis of genetic disorders caused by chromosomal abnormalities. Initially, chromosome banding techniques such as G-banding were used as diagnostic tools. Banding techniques, however, lack the specificity and resolution needed for the diagnosis of a wide variety of chromosomal abnormalities. ... more

BIOPROCESSING

Feature Article

• Filling Oligo Production Void
• Vicki Glaser
• At the upcoming “TIDES” conference in Las Vegas later this month, oligo manufacturers will discuss a range of opportunities and challenges related to the growing market for DNA and RNA therapeutics. Topics will include the application of process analytical technologies (PAT) in oligonucleotide manufacturing, scale-up strategies in the synthesis of oligo-based therapeutics, quality issues related to primer and probe production for use in molecular diagnostics assays, and challenges in manufacturing RNA oligos. ... more

Tutorial

• Obstacles to Presterilized Single-Use Filling
• Jeff Jackson
• The use of disposable components in downstream processing and final-fill operations is increasing as the technology for performing these steps in a single-use mode advances. This evolution has created significant demand for systems that support single-use purification, formulation, and filling operations. ... more

CLINICAL RESEARCH & DIAGNOSTICS

Feature Article

• ELNs Ready for Large-Scale Deployment
• Gail Dutton
• Electronic lab notebook (ELN) sales are growing by 30% per year in what was estimated as a $1 billion market, according to Atrium Research figures presented at SMi’s “Electronic Lab Notebooks” conference held recently in London. As such, they are becoming contributing players in companies looking for enterprise-wide lab solutions. ... more

• Quest for Cancer Therapeutics Redirected
• Irena Melnikova, Ph.D.
• According to the WHO, more than 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer annually, causing seven million deaths every year—roughly 12% of all deaths worldwide. WHO estimates that by 2020 there will be 16 million new cancer cases every year. The disease is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., exceeded only by heart disease. ... more