Could poop transplants treat peanut allergy? A clinical trial begins
Increasing evidence supports the idea that the bacteria living in our intestines early in life help shape our immune systems. Factors like cesarean birth, early antibiotics, having pets, number of siblings and formula feeding (rather than breastfeeding) may affect our microbial makeup, or microbiota, and may also affect our likelihood of developing allergies. Could giving ... Read More about Could poop transplants treat peanut allergy? A clinical trial begins
Intestine chip models gut function, in disease and in health
The small intestine is much more than a digestive organ. It’s a major home to our microbiome, it’s a key site where mucosal immunity develops and it provides a protective barrier against a variety of infections. Animal models don’t do justice to the human intestine in all its complexity. Attempts to better model human intestinal function ... Read More about Intestine chip models gut function, in disease and in health
Beth Stevens: A transformative thinker in neuroscience
When 2015 MacArthur “genius” grant winner Beth Stevens, PhD, began studying the role of glia in the brain in the 1990s, these cells—“glue” from the Greek—weren’t given much thought. Traditionally, glia were thought to merely protect and support neurons, the brain’s real players. But Stevens, from the Department of Neurology and the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology ... Read More about Beth Stevens: A transformative thinker in neuroscience
Cancer researchers hit a bullseye with a new drug target for Ewing sarcoma
Screening a class of recently-developed drug compounds — so-called “CDK inhibitors” capable of blocking CDK7/12/13 proteins — against hundreds of different human cancer cell lines, researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center have found that CDK12 inhibitors pack a particularly lethal punch to Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer typically affecting children and young adults. “No one ... Read More about Cancer researchers hit a bullseye with a new drug target for Ewing sarcoma
Sickle cell gene therapy to boost fetal hemoglobin: A 70-year timeline of discovery
Boston Children’s Hospital is now enrolling patients age 3 to 35 in a clinical trial of gene therapy for sickle cell disease. Based on technology developed in its own labs, it differs from other gene therapy approaches by having a two-pronged action. It represses production of the mutated beta hemoglobin that causes red blood cells to ... Read More about Sickle cell gene therapy to boost fetal hemoglobin: A 70-year timeline of discovery
Taking a sideswipe at high-risk neuroblastoma
Cancer and other diseases are now understood to spring from a complex interplay of biological factors rather than any one isolated origin. New research reveals that an equally-nuanced approach to treating high-risk neuroblastoma may be the most effective way to curb tumor growth. One challenge in treating pediatric cancers like neuroblastoma is that they are ... Read More about Taking a sideswipe at high-risk neuroblastoma
Gene therapy halts progression of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy in clinical trial
Adrenoleukodystrophy — depicted in the 1992 movie “Lorenzo’s Oil” — is a genetic disease that most severely affects boys. Caused by a defective gene on the X chromosome, it triggers a build-up of fatty acids that damage the protective myelin sheaths of the brain’s neurons, leading to cognitive and motor impairment. The most devastating form of the ... Read More about Gene therapy halts progression of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy in clinical trial
To monitor health, simply trip the ‘nanoswitches’
https://vimeo.com/232848172Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: DNA Nanoswitch Detection (https://vimeo.com/232848172) WATCH: DNA nanoswitches change shape in the presence of biomarkers. The shape change is revealed in a process called gel electrophoresis. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University “Nanoswitches” — engineered, shape-changing strands of DNA — could shake up the way we monitor our ... Read More about To monitor health, simply trip the ‘nanoswitches’
Immune gene guards against type 1 diabetes by changing the microbiome. Do early antibiotics undercut its effects?
The health of our immune system is increasingly linked with the health of our intestinal bacteria. A mouse study from Harvard Medical School now hammers this home for autoimmune disorders, in which the body attacks its own cells. It looked specifically at type 1 diabetes, in which the body destroys the cells that make insulin. ... Read More about Immune gene guards against type 1 diabetes by changing the microbiome. Do early antibiotics undercut its effects?
Landmark moment for science as the FDA approves a gene therapy for the first time
Today, the Food and Drug Administration approved a gene therapy known as CAR T-cell therapy that genetically modifies a patient’s own cells to help them combat pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer. It is the first gene therapy to be approved by the FDA. “This represents the progression of the field of gene ... Read More about Landmark moment for science as the FDA approves a gene therapy for the first time