Feature Articles

• Genome Editing Edges to the Clinic
• MaryAnn Labant
  
• The programmable, site-specific nuclease systems at the heart of genome editing keep evolving—even the newest system, named CRISPR (for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) or CRISPR/Cas (for CRISPR-associated system)... more »
  

• Protein Profiling Plumbs Hidden Depths
• Richard A. Stein
  
• “We have not reached solutions; we have only begun to discover how to ask questions”—these words, set down decades ago by Lewis Thomas, remain as true as ever, inspiring ever more profound (and varied) scientific pursuits... more »
  

• Therapeutic Proteins, Made Better
• Angelo DePalma
  
• To boost productivity in the manufacture of therapeutic proteins, one may try improving specific production elements—cell lines, processes, or any of the ancillary tools related to transfection One may even try improving purification, which not only impacts quality but also ... more »
  

• Optogenetics: Lightly Pressing the Cell’s Button...
• Kevin Mayer
  
• “You can observe a lot just by watching,” said the accidental sage, leaving us to wonder whether he meant to celebrate the power or lament the futility of simply paying attention Were he scientifically inclined, he might have added that ... more »
  

• Next-Gen Sequencing Gets a Fix on Disease
• Neil McKenna, Ph.D.
  
• Recent years have seen rapid advances in the capacity of molecular biological techniques to simultaneously interrogate multiple targets on omics platforms... more »
  

Columns

• Translating Genomic Advances
• Muin J. Khoury, M.D., Ph.D.
  Scott Bowen, MPH
  
• Thirteen years after the completion of the Human Genome Project, an increasing number of genomic applications including next generation sequencing (NGS) are poised for clinical use Fulfilling the promise of genomics to improve health in the real world requires a ... more »
  

• Accelerating Gene Synthesis
• Gail Dutton
  
• Low-cost, high-quality synthetic DNA will unlock the potential of the biopharmaceutical, industrial biotech, and chemical industries, helping them capitalize on the advances of the genomic revolution to develop innovative products faster than ever and much less expensively... more »
  

• Depth Filtration vs. Centrifugation
• Depth filtration or centrifugation? The choice is mainly a matter of economics Depth filtration makes sense up to about 4,000 L, depending on the process, after which most biomanufacturers turn to centrifugation... more »
  

Tutorials

• Protein Stability Exposes Cellular Stress
• Matthew Robers
  Christoper T. Eggers, Ph.D.
  Brock Binkowski
  Jim Hartnett
  Jennifer Wilkinson
  Chad Zimprich
  Pete Stecha
  Mei Cong, Ph.D.
  
• Traditional reporter gene assays are powerful tools to interrogate adaptive stress-response signaling mechanisms Such assays provide a convenient means for measuring global cellular responses to small molecule modulators However, drug action typically occurs at signaling events far upstream of gene ... more »
  

• Proteomic Detection of Liver Toxicity
• Claudia Escher, Ph.D.
  Russell Golson
  
• Liver toxicity is still amongst the primary reasons why drug candidates have to be withdrawn from the market, and early prediction of drug safety remains a challenge in preclinical phases of drug development In an attempt to reduce these exceptionally ... more »
  

• Automating the Cell Counting Process
• Lena Lee
  
• Maintaining cell lines in culture, under optimal growth conditions, is essential for production of many biological drugs The overall health of the culture is generally assessed by the determination of both cell concentration and percentage of viable cells... more »