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March 2025

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February 2023

A photograph of a group of people standing in two rows outside wearing shirts that say “TACG” for The African Computational Genomics Research Group.

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A photograph of Segun Fatumo and his colleague wearing white lab coats and working in a laboratory.

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With diseases like cancer and kidney disease on the rise in Africa, Segun Fatumo and his team are sequencing the genomes of 100,000 Nigerians to understand why.

Sequencing 100,000 genomes to revolutionize Nigerian genomics

Mitchell Lazar wears a white lab coat, white shirt, and blue tie and stands in a laboratory with his arms crossed. 

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An outline of the human body filled with many clocks. 

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Mitchell Lazar studies the transcription factors linking circadian disruption to obesity and diabetes.

The ticking clock of metabolic disease

A photograph of David Kita, the CSO of Verseon, is shown in a dark suit jacket, a tie, and glasses.

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A microscope photograph of mouse retinal blood vessels with a fluorescent green stain.

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A photograph of the back of the eye, also known as a fundus image is shown. Blood vessels are red, and other structures are shown in orange and yellow.

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A photograph of Leo Kim who is wearing glasses and a dark suit jacket while smiling.

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Emma Lessieur sits at a microscope in a laboratory at the University of California, Irvine.

Andrew Gomperts, the CEO of Hillhurst Biopharmaceuticals, smiles in a photograph while wearing a blue colored shirt and a dark suit jacket.

Eye injections are the only way to treat diabetic retinopathy, but many refuse to get them. Now, eye drops and pills are on their way.

Drops and drugs for diabetic vision loss

Metabolic Disease

A book lies open on a surface and a compass, planet, molecule, cell, test tube, and paintbrush hover above the pages. 

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Accuracy doesn&rsquo;t only apply to isolated facts, but to the overall picture they paint. &nbsp;

Making a mess of the tidy narrative

Editors Insight

A histopathology slice of an Alzheimer's disease patient’s brain is studded with amyloid plaques, which stain a dark purple.

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Becky Carlyle, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford, is seen here wearing a gray sweater and a conference lanyard. 

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A histopathology stain of an Alzheimer’s disease patient’s brain shows tau tangles forming long tails inside neurons.

A cartoon of a man walking on a road. The road lifts off the ground and tangles itself in the shape of a brain.

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Jeffrey Cummings, a neuroscientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is seen in a headshot with glasses and a suit with a pocket square.

The Alzheimer&#39;s disease research field has been beset by failed clinical trials and fraud. But researchers remain hopeful that a better understanding of the disease&rsquo;s broader picture will lead to treatments.

What now for the amyloid hypothesis?

A flask with bright blue liquid in it sits on a laboratory bench, and rows of empty flasks sit in rows behind it.

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Kan Cao kneels next to a progeria patient in a wheelchair at the 2022 International Progeria Workshop meeting.

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Kan Cao studies the rare aging disorder progeria to find a cure, and she&rsquo;s ready to solve the mysteries of healthy human aging along the way.

From dye to base editing, early aging may soon have a cure

Editor's Focus

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Miranda Orr wears a white lab coat and points to an image of cells on a computer screen, Timothy Orr and Emma Bennett, also wearing lab coats, observe.

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A headshot of James Kirkland in a white lab coat and blue shirt with a science lab in the background.

Daohong Zhou, Jing Pei , Dongwen Lyu, and Sajid Khan wearing white lab coats and blue gloves, looking at a computer screen in the lab. 

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Drugs that target senescent cells could one day treat frailty, Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease, or cancer.

A new strategy for fighting age-related disease

Aging

On the left, a hypodermic needle, and on the right, a round microarray patch (about a centimeter in diameter) on a light blue background.

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close-up of a hand holding a square microneedle vaccine patch on a round, beige backing, with a man’s face out of focus in the background.

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A person in a lab coat applies a beige microneedle vaccine patch to the back of the hand of a person in a red sweater.

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Microarray, or microneedle, patches could boost vaccine access in low- and middle-income countries.

Tiny needles make a big impact for vaccine delivery

Yung Chang wears a dark jacket over a light colored top.

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Claire Zeng works in the laboratory with two of her labmates.

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On the left is a view of one side of the DoriVac DNA origami vaccine, and on the right is a view of the opposite side of the DoriVac.

A DNA strand colored red is drawn in the style of origami and sits on top of a blue background.

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Hao Yan wears a blue suit jacket and a light colored shirt while smiling.

As self-assembling structures, DNA and RNA origami vaccines hold vaccine components in precise numbers and arrangements to help the immune system attack tumors.

Origami vaccines fold up to fight cancer

Vaccines

A purple and blue 3D rendering of a DNA double helix with a protein and single mRNA strand attached to illustrate transcription. 

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A headshot of Gregory Davis wearing a gray button-up shirt and glasses.

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A head shot of Robert Bell wearing a blue button-up shirt and gray blazer.

Researchers correcting the genetic causes of disease at the DNA or RNA level make their cases.

Gene editing: DNA versus RNA

The protein RNA polymerase binds to DNA and creates an RNA transcript from it.

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Aseem Ansari is a biochemist working on new kinds of genetic engineering. He is seen here with gray and black hair, a moustache and beard, and wearing a green collared shirt.  

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For cases where gene editing simply won&rsquo;t work, biochemist Aseem Ansari is working on a new idea: changing how cells regulate genes.

Editing the cell&rsquo;s transcripts

Gene Therapy

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Thermo Fisher Scientific

Next-generation natural refrigerant cooling system for centrifuges, offering a lower Global Warming Potential and reduced energy consumption.

Thermo Scientific&trade; Centrifuges with GreenCool Technology

Video

Clear sample tubes are shown in a clear tote with red lids in a sample prep robot with a blue and silver industrial lab background.

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Discover how better sample preparation can unlock improved assay accuracy and analytical results.

The crucial role of sample preparation in biotherapy manufacturing

Webinars

A black mosquito is shown on pink human skin against a blurred green backdrop. 

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Embrient

Malaria continues to drive urgent research worldwide, with new therapies and tools emerging to combat the parasite&rsquo;s complex lifecycle and global burden.

February 2023 Volume 19, Issue 2