Our guest is Dionna Williams, an Associate Professor at Emory University whose research centers on the neuropharmacology and neuroimmunology of HIV, identifying mechanisms by which HIV antiretroviral therapies cross the blood-brain barrier, the capacity of the brain as a drug-metabolizing organ, and the impact of substance use on treating the brain during HIV. Dionna's group is also evaluating whether cannabinoids can be used to modulate immune responses to HIV and restore neurologic health. Furthermore, Dionna incorporates studies evaluating biologic contributors that perpetuate HIV health disparities into their research program. Beyond research, Dionna is passionate about supporting trainees from marginalized groups in their scientific journeys.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest is Cellas Hayes, a neuroepidemiologist and postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine (CA, USA), whose work traverses brain aging, Alzheimer's disease and vascular health, with a particular focus on blood-based biomarkers, white matter disease and cognitive aging across diverse populations. Using large, deeply phenotyped cohorts, Cellas studies how different modifiable and cardiometabolic risk factors shape brain health long before clinical dementia emerges. Beyond research, Cellas is strongly engaged in mentorship, grant writing and building equitable pathways in aging and neuroscience research.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest is De-Shaine Murray, a Wu Tsai Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University (CT, USA), working at the intersection of biomedical engineering and neuroscience to make devices to monitor disorders such as traumatic brain injury, stroke and brain cancers. He is also interested in using these same techniques for sweat monitoring, women's health, and lab-on-a-chip applications. His academic career began at the University of Birmingham (UK) in chemistry, but has since moved into neurotechnology and bioengineering at Imperial College London (UK), the University of Cambridge (UK) and Yale. During that time, De-Shaine has been an instrumental community builder, founding organizations to support Black students in academia, participating in outreach and using his voice to create change in neuroscience.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contents

• Introduction: 00:00–02:06
• The role of cytokines in a healthy body: 02:06–03:57
• Cytokines in autoimmune diseases: 03:57–06:24
• Techniques for detecting cytokines in autoimmune diseases: 06:24–09:48
• Targeting cytokines for therapeutic purposes: 09:48–11:54
• Challenges with targeting cytokines in autoimmune diseases: 11:54–14:28
• Addressing the challenges of targeting cytokines: 14:28–16:43
• Established cytokine-targeting drugs: 16:43–18:57
• The future of cytokines in autoimmune diseases: 18:57–21:54

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To do this, I’m speaking to two pioneers of unconventional teaching and testing approaches to STEM education. Angela Consani is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Bioscience Core Skills Institute (KS, USA). This skills-first microcredential program provides certification for lab skills in techniques, safety and quality control, using performance-based practical testing. Natalie Kuldell is the Founder and Executive Director of Biobuilder (MA, USA), a nonprofit organization, set up to increase interest, understanding and engagement in STEM by converting lab research projects in into teachable modules aimed primarily at the pre-graduate level to give students the practical skills needed for a career in the life sciences.

Together, we’ll question the current system of STEM education and training and whether it captures all the potential talent that could be channeled into the life sciences, best serving all the roles available in the industry.

Contents:

• Introductions: 00:00-03:00
• Introducing BioBuilder: 03:00-07:00
• What industry wants from skills-based testing: 07:00-11:25
• How well do current university degrees meet these requirements: 11:25-15:40
• Designing curriculums to meet the requirements of industry and updating life science education to meet the demands of a new world: 15:40-21:55
• The practicalities of a skills-based curriculum: 21:45-23:50
• Conducting skill-based testing: 23:50-28:40
• Testing BioBuilder’s curriculum: 28:40-32:00
• Can skills-based courses really provide the underlying knowledge needed to flourish in a career in STEM: 32:00-37:00
• How the biotech industry is responding to skills-based teaching and testing: 37:00-46:00
• The interplay between testing and learning and industry: 46:00-51:20
• Outro: 51:20-54:00 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jim discusses the computational models and wet lab techniques he uses to characterize T cells, the importance of targeting a balanced immune response with immunotherapies and more in this podcast recorded at AACR 2024 (5th–10th April 2024; San Diego, CA, USA).

Contents:

Introductions: 00:00-02:00

Intro to cancer vaccines and T-cell therapies: 02:00-04:00

Antigen detection and validation in T-cell therapies: 04:00-05:20

Wet lab and computational techniques for antigen detection: 05:20-09:15

The importance of a balanced immune response to cancer immunotherapies: 09:15-10:30

Technological developments in antigen detection: 10:30-13:45

Tips for best practice when conducting T-cell receptor design 13:45-15:40

What is one thing you would like to see change in the field of antigen detection and T-cell receptor engineering? 15:40-16:30

Designing the path towards a more balanced immune response from immunotherapies 16:30-19:40

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contents

·      Introduction: 00:00–01:35

·      The role of cytokines in the body: 01:35–02:52

·      Immune regulation and signaling: 02:52–05:40

·      Cytokine interactions and networks: 05:40–08:42

·      Modulating cytokine activity for therapeutic purposes: 08:42–12:35

·      The influence of cytokines on immunotherapy outcomes: 12:35–16:04

·      Using cytokines to predict treatment responses and guide immunotherapy decisions: 16:04–20:44

·      The importance of standardizing and validating cytokine diagnostic assays: 20:44–24:36

·      The future of cytokines in immunotherapy: 24:36–26:11

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest, Hanna van Ooijen, Immunology Application Scientist at Pixelgen Technologies guides us through the field, revealing a new technique that enables spatial analysis of the cell-surface proteome at a single-cell resolution and highlighting some exciting discoveries that it has facilitated.

Contents:

• Introductions: 00:00-01:40
• Introducing Molecular Pixelation: 01:40-02:15
• Example applications of Molecular Pixelation: 02:15-03:20
• The role of membrane proteins in immune cell function: 03:20-07:25
• Traditional techniques to investigate cell membrane proteins: 07:15-10:20
• Recent improvements in investigative technology and our understanding of immunology: 10:20-11:10
• Challenges associated with current technologies: 11:10-13:50
• How Molecular Pixelation can address these challenges: 13:50-15:25
• Molecular Pixelation workflow: 15:25-17:55
• Tips for best practice when using molecular pixelation: 17:55-19:30
• Exciting discoveries using Molecular pixelations: 19:30-21:00
• Potential implications of molecular pixelation for the future of immunology: 21:00-24:00

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Through the examination of animal models, from songbirds to the rare singing mice of Costa Rica, with cutting-edge imaging techniques Michael reveals fascinating insights into vocal communication. We also discuss his human experiments, working alongside neurosurgeons, with emerging electrophysiological probes to monitor the neural activity of participants as they speak and interact, ultimately revealing how this research could begin to provide solutions for neurological conditions impacting communication, such as autism.

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00 – 01:40
• Investigating neural circuits underlying vocal communication: 01:40 – 04:15
• Techniques to explore animal models of vocal communication: 04:15 – 06:25
• The impact of cooling brain regions on songbird singing: 06:25 – 07:50
• The techniques used to investigate animal models: 07:50 – 12:20
• Songbirds: 07:50 – 09:45
• The singing mouse: 10:00 – 12:20
• Investigating neural circuits in humans during speech: 12:20 – 16:30
• Investigating neural circuits in humans during conversation: 16:30 – 19:00
• Moving beyond neural area identification towards understanding neural pathways and mechanisms: 19:00 – 21:40
• Navigating neuropixels, big data and safety: 21:40 – 26:10
• If there was one thing you could ask for to help you better understand these pathways, what would it be? 26:10 – 27:55
• The experience of working with patients undergoing neurosurgery: 27:55 – 30:30
• The potential impact on speech disorders and autism: 30:30 – 33:15

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guiding us through these fields is Brenna Carey, an Assistant Professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center whose research focuses on rare disease pathogenesis, diagnostics and therapeutic development and who also runs key courses on the University’s Pharmacogenomics and Drug Discovery Masters degree programs.

Contents:

Introduction: 00:00-01:15

An introduction to pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) and rare lung diseases 01:15-03:50

Techniques to investigate the pathogenesis of PAP: 03:50-05:30

Developing diagnostics and therapeutics for PAP: 05:30-08:20

The importance of pharmacogenomics in drug development: 08:20-11:25

Key techniques and approaches in pharmacogenomics: 11:25-13:00

Emerging trends in pharmacogenomics: 13:00-15:05

Key takeaways from your pharmacogenomics course: 15:00-18:00

What would you ask for to improve our understanding of pharmacogenomics? 18:00-20:15

This episode is supported by the University of Cincinnati Online

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contents:

·         00:00­–01:45: Introductions

·         01:45–03:45: Wastewater surveillance for infectious disease

·         03:45–05:35: Genomic surveillance approaches can complement established epidemiological methods

·         05:35–07:25: Why look at wastewater?

·         07:25–10:40: The advantages of nanopore sequencing for wastewater surveillance

·         10:40–12:25: The experimental workflow

·         12:25–15:05: Using wastewater surveillance to detect both human and avian influenza

·         15:05–18:20: Wastewater surveillance as an early warning system

·         18:20–20:47: Future perspectives: other environmental samples, antimicrobial resistance and what else can be found in wastewater?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the guidance of Field Scientist Ritwika Biswas and Technical Account Manager Grace Liu, we explore the challenges of developing and working with next-generation antibodies, the latest developments and applications of these molecules and the holy grail that antibody designers are driving towards.

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00 – 02:40
• The history of monoclonal antibody therapeutics: 02:40 – 04:40
• The working principles of multi-specific antibodies: 04:40 – 08:15
• Recent developments in ADCs: 08:15 – 11:35
• Challenges with the development of multi-specific antibodies and ADCs: 11:35 – 13:55
• Solutions to address these challenges: 13:55 – 16:25
• Clinical applications of multi-specific antibodies and ADCs: 16:25 – 20:30
• The dream of real-time adaptability for the next generation of antibody therapeutics: 20:30 – 24:52

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contents:

00:00–01:35: Introduction

01:35–03:25: Single-cell sequencing in leukemia research

03:25–05:15: What is single-cell RaCH-seq?

05:15–06:10: Using nanopore sequencing for RaCH-seq

06:10–07:30: How can other researchers apply RaCH-seq to their work?

07:30–09:50: Looking to the future: spatial biology, collaborations and improved therapies 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our expert insight for this episode comes from Phillip West, Principle Investigator of the West lab at Texas A&M Medicine (TX, USA). Philip explains the role mitochondria can play in cancer and heart disease, reveals some of his most exciting discoveries of late and provides technical tips for investigating this field.

Listen on to discover how his use of spatial techniques has helped uncover mechanisms linking mitochondrial damage to the stifling of the immune system in the tumor microenvironment and the latest breakthroughs at the intersection of mitochondria and cancer.

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00-01:30
• The innate immune system, in inflammation and disease: 01:30-04:20
• The role of mitochondria in innate immunity: 04:20-07:00
• Categorizing DAMPS and their role in cardiovascular disease: 07:00-08:40
• Mitochondria and cancer: 08:40-11:55
• Techniques for the investigation of mitochondria: 11:55-15:20
• Best practice techniques for spatial studies: 15:20-17:35
• Discoveries made using spatial approaches to mitochondrial investigations: 17:35-19:55
• The latest developments in the intersection of mitochondria, cancer and inflammation: 19:55-22:20
• What is one thing you would ask for to improve your understanding of this field? 22:20-24:20

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Find out how microbes compare to nuts and what this means for the challenges of metagenomic sample preparation, how long reads can stack up vs short reads for metagenome assembly and much more, all in this latest episode of Talking Techniques

Contents:

Intro: 00:00-01:55

What is metagenomics and why is it important for microbial studies? 01:55-03:55

How has long-read sequencing impacted metagenomics? 03:55-06:05

Long-read vs short-read sequencing workflows: 06:05-07:15

Addressing barriers to long-read sequencing: 07:15-08:45

Sample preparation for long-read sequencing: 08:45-12:20

Development of long-read sequencing to improve accuracy and capabilities: 12:20-14:40

Best practice for assembly and analysis: 14:40-17:40

Exciting examples of the benefits of long-read sequencing: 17:40-20:00

What would you wish for to improve the ability long-read sequencing in microbiomics: 20:00-21:40

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sharing her considerable expertise in this area is one of the authors of the FAIR guidelines, Maryann Martone, who provides some key examples of the successes that open data practices have delivered so far and cautionary tales for how current practices are damaging the field.

Listen on to find out how to implement open data practices, how they can help your lab and why Maryann sees it as our responsibility to resolve!

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00-02:00
• Introducing open neuroscience and the meaning of FAIR 02:00-03:00
• Exposing outdated paradigms in science: academic targets, publications, reproducibility and data accessibility: 03:00-06.30
• Incentivizing open data and reassigning value restructuring academia: 06:30-08.40
• The impact of FAIR within labs: 08:40-09:50
• Challenges of establishing and barriers to Open and FAIR neuroscience 09:50-12:00
• The reception of these guidelines in the field: 12:00-16:50
• Examples of the impact of open data in the spinal cord injury community: 16:50-18:10
• Marryann’s experience of enacting changes early in her career: 18:10-21:20
• Judging value in scientific research and understanding your purpose: 21:20-24:20
• The importance of investment: 24:20-26:30
• The impact of industry on lab data: 26:30-27:50
• Practical tips for addressing your lab data: 27:50-31:10
• Key tips for preparing data for an open-source repository 31:10-33.15
• The FAIR data principles explained: 33.15-37:50

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We also explore the benefits of fighting biodiversity in a more local-centric way and using research to protect the area from exploitative companies.

Contents:

• Intro: 00:00–01:35
• Zane’s work at Sumak Kawsay In Situ: 01:35–05:05
• Turning a fascination with nature into a career: 05:05–08:20
• The importance of sequencing for conservation: 08:20–12:25
• Technologies being used to sequence in the field: 12:25–14:15
• Portable nanopore sequencing with the MinION: 13:15–15:35
• Exporting samples means exporting opportunity: 15:35–18:40
• The sequencing workflow: 17:40–24:50
• Data processing: 24:50–27:45
• Using these technologies to find undescribed species: 27:45–32:20
• Fighting biodiversity loss in a more local-centric way: 32:20–34:55
• Using research to protect the area from exploitation: 34:55–38:50

What the future holds: 38:50–43:22

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here, he shares the story behind his creation and details how they have changed the data collection landscape in Neuroscience. Tim also considers every inventor’s greatest concern: has his invention led to purely positive outcomes for the field? By enabling the collection of huge datasets have Neuropixels led to studies that bury findings in vast swathes of data or have they enabled researchers to collect enough information to discover the emphatic truth?

Listen now to find out Tim’s opinions on these contentious debates in neuroscience and get key tips for utilizing neuropixels! 

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00-03:00
• Tim's symposium on the capabilities of Neuropixels: 03:00-04.00
• Key takeaways from the symposium: 04:00-07:45
• The story of the development of neuropixels: 07:45-13:50
• Best practice tips for utilizing neuropixels: 13:50-15:15
• Challenges of utilizing neuropixels: 15:15-15:50
• Addressing the challenge of big data and sharing uncertainty: 15:50-17:30
• How neuropixels have accelerated neuroscience data generation: 17:30-19:30 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Providing an expert insight into this field is Annabelle Damerum, Microbiome R&D Scientist at Zymo Research. Annabelle reveals some key tips best practice when profiling the microbiome and details the importance of an emerging aspect of the field: the vaginal microbiome.

Contents:

• Into: 00:00-01:50
• Why it is important to profile microbiomes. 01:50-04:15
• Key applications of microbiome profiling: 04:15-06:10
• Techniques used to profile the microbiome and their working principles: 06:10-09:20
• Targeted sequencing: 06:10-08:00
• Shotgun metagenomics: 08:00-09:00
• Metatranscriptomics: 09:00-9:15
• The strengths and limitations of these techniques: 09:12-             
• Targeted sequencing: 09:20-10.15
• Shotgun metagenomics: 10:15-11:25
• Metatranscriptomics: 11:25-11:50
• Matching techniques with applications: 11:50-13:30
• Tips for best practice for using these techniques: 13:30-16:25
• What is one thing you would ask for to improve the ability of microbiome profiling techniques: 16:55-18:10
• Investigating the vaginal microbiome: 18:10-20:55
• Conclusions and closing: 20:55-22:10

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The panel features Benjamin Boutrel (Lausanne University Hospital; Switzerland), Lorenzo Leggio (NIH Intramural Research Program; MD, USA) and Nathalie Delzenne (University of Louvain; Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium), who discuss their current research into the role of the microbiota in alcohol addiction, if this work could be translated into the clinic, and if similar processes are at play in other addictions, such as food and cocaine.

The discussion also features an audience Q&A, which explores the microbial relationship between mother and fetus, and social factors in addiction.

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00–01:35
• Introduction to panelists: 01:35–03:40
• Techniques being used to investigate the relationship between the gut and addiction: 03:40–06:55
• Translating this research to the clinic: 06:55–11:40
• Parallels between alcohol addiction and other addictions, such as food, cocaine and tobacco: 11:40–17:05
• Microorganisms as drivers of behavior: 17:05–18:30
• The hot topic of gut health: 18:30–20:30
• Future directions for the research, including microbiota transfers, precision medicine and avoiding alcohol dependence: 20:30–24:35
• Audience Q&A – microbial elements between mother and fetus, and social factors in addiction: 24:35–29:15

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We also discuss how the recent FDA Modernization Act, removing the requirement for drug candidates to be tested on animals, has impacted the drive for improved models, the key techniques available to analyze them and what still needs to change for 3D cell cultures to fully replace animal models in the lab.

Listen today to find out which resources can help you begin to work with 3D cell cultures, their most exciting recent applications and how issues of reproducibility are currently being addressed in the field.

Contents:

• Intro: 00:00-00:50
• How COVID-19 impacted the uptake and development of 3D cell cultures: 00:50-02:05
• Key developments in 3D cell culture technology in the last 2 years: 02:05-03:00
• Intestinal organoids and the investigation of irritable bowel syndrome: 03:00-5:50
• Evaluating assembloids: 05:50-08:35
• Complexity vs clinical relevance: 08:35-10:45
• The impact of 3D cell cultures in precision medicine in cancer: 10:45-12:40
• The impact of the FDA’s Modernization Act on 3D cell culture uptake: 12:40-14:45
• What needs to improve in organoid technologies to fully replace animal models? 14:45-16:10
• Changing inbuilt reliance on animal models: 16:10-18:30
• Key techniques to analyze organoids: 18:30-19:50
• Developments in imaging technology that have improved the analysis of organoids: 19:50-21:15
• Current challenges in 3D cell culture implementation and reproducibility: 21:15-24:15
• Improving access to 3D cell cultures: 24:15-25:55
• Resources to help people implement organoids into their work: 25:55-27:15
• Searching for the holy grail in 3D cell cultures: 27:15-28:00

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaking to Associate Director of Biopharma Product Marketing at Bio-Rad Laboratories, Mark White, we take a look at the different expression systems used for their production and compare their advantages, before looking at some of the challenges involved in the production rAAVs, such as host-cell contamination.

Discover the tools that can help minimize host-cell contamination and differentiate between nuclease resistant and nuclease reactive contaminant DNA and find out about some of the most exciting developments in rAAV technologies. 

Contents:

• The role of rAAVs in gene therapies: 00:40-02:15
• The production of rAAVs and gene therapies: 02:15-03:30
• Why are HEK cells so popular for cell therapy production? 03:30-05:45
• HEK vs SF9 Insect cell expression systems: 05:45-06:45
• Challenges in cell therapy expression systems: 06:45-08:05
• Host DNA contamination: 08:05-10:30
• The risks of host DNA contamination: 10:30-12:45
• Key techniques to minimize host DNA contamination: 12:45-14:40
• The advantages of ddPCR in gene therapy production: 14:40-17:50
• Distinguishing between nuclease resistant and nuclease reactive host cell DNA: 17:50-19:10
• The most exciting developments in rAAV technology: 19:10-20:20
• What is one thing you would ask for to improve rAAV and gene therapy development 20:20-26:38

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of death for people with a cervix living in poverty in low-resource regions and on the continent of Africa, it is estimated that in 2020 as many people with a cervix died of cervical cancer as COVID-19.

In this episode of Talking techniques, supported by Oxford Nanopore, Senior Investigator Michael Dean and Post-baccalaureate Fellow Nicole Rossi, from the NIH’s National Cancer Institute (MD, USA), discuss their research into the relationship between HPV and cervical cancer. Expounding on the points mentioned above, they reveal the tremendous insights into cancer and immunology still to be gained, document the key tools used in their studies and explain how their work can be translated into more effective immunotherapies and treatments for cervical cancer.

Contents

• Introduction: 00:00-01:40
• How big an issue does HPV present to the world? 01:40-03:30
• HPV’s association with cancer: 03:30-05:15
• Why does HPV target DNA repair mechanisms? 05:15-06:00
• Key goals of research into HPV: 06:00-07:15
• Challenges of HPV research: 07:15- 08:20
• Solutions available to deal with these challenges: 08:20-09:30
• The most exciting discoveries in HPV using long-read sequencing: 09:30-11:00
• HPV16- the most oncogenic variant: 11:00-11:40
• Translating research into clinical results for HPV: 11:40-12:45
• How effective is the current HPV vaccine? 12:45-13:30
• What would you ask for to improve research into HPV and cancer? 13:30-14:30
• How big an issue is vaccine rejection? 14:30-15:40
• Final thoughts: 15:40-17:00

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Talking Techniques, we speak with Oscar Rodriguez, a board member at AAIH and one of the authors of this whitepaper, to find out more about what the lifecycle of AI is, the importance of having guidelines when applying AI or ML in healthcare and what the future holds for this type of computer modeling.

Contents:

• Intro: 00:00 - 00:45
• What are some of the ways that AI is used in healthcare? 00:45 - 5:04
• What are the current limitations of using AI in healthcare settings? 5:04 - 9:28
• The lifecycle of an AI system: 9:28 - 14:04
• How did you develop these guidelines for AI in healthcare? 14:04 - 17:28
• Summary of the guidelines from the white paper: 17:28 - 19:09
• Do you think some of these guidelines could be applicable to AI outside of healthcare? 19:09 - 19:53
• Why is it important to have guidelines like these for AI and machine learning in healthcare? 19:53 - 22:11
• Why did you decide to focus on COVID-19 case studies? 22:11 - 23:05
• How do you think the pandemic has changed the way AI is used in healthcare? 23:05 - 26:26
• What's next for AI? 26:26 - 30:03

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

However, challenges remain in the detection and analysis of these nucleic acid fragments, in part due to their low abundance and fragile nature. In this episode, Ayla Maunighan-Peter, Epigenetics Product Specialist at Zymo research (CA, USA), details the utility of these molecules, the challenges associated with their development and implementation of liquid biopsies and their use in both basic research and diagnostic spaces.

For an insight into how cfNAs can be used to identify novel drug targets, impact diagnostics development and be used to help soothe the organ shortage crisis, listen today!

Contents:

• Intro: 00:00-00:40
• What are cfNAs? 1:50-02:35
• The role of cfNAs in Liquid biopsy: 02:35-04:25
• Markers analyzed in cfNAs: 04:25-06:10
• Epigenetic analysis of cfNAs: 06:05-07:55
• Techniques for epigenetic analysis of cfNAs: 08:00-08:55
• Introducing fragmentomics: 08:55-11:05
• Challenges in the development of liquid biopsy: 11:05-14:40
• How is the field trying to adapt to these challenges? 14:40-16:10
• Applications of cfNAs in basic research: 16:10-17:30
• The most exciting findings concerning the role of cfNAs in disease: 17:30-20:05
• One thing to improve our understanding and use of cfNAs: 20:05-21:10
• Conclusions: 21:15-22:15 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we discuss recombinant proteins: what are they and what are they used for?

BioTechniques Editor Tristan Free speaks to Amy Sheng, Technical Account Manager at Sino Biological, who explains the history of recombinant proteins and how protein modeling techniques such as AlphaFold are changing their development.

Find out how monoclonal antibodies have been used through the COVID-19 pandemic and how we may overcome challenges in production, upscaling and more in this episode of Talking Techniques. 

Contents:

• Introduction 00:00-01:26
• What are recombinant proteins and what are they used for? 01:26 – 02:42
• How were they first developed? 02:42 – 03:50
• Since initial development has recombinant antibody development progressed today? 03:50 – 05:57
• What are the advantages of utilizing the more traditional mouse monoclonal antibodies? 05:57 – 07:11
• Are recombinant antibodies used in more specialist applications and are they more likely to be used in therapeutics? 07:11 – 09:47
• How have AI systems like AlphaFold impacted the development of recombinant antibodies? 09:47 – 12:07
• How has antibody production changed and what’s next? 12:07 – End 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elucidating the link between epigenetics and aging is Keith Booher, Director of Services at Zymo research including aging and epigenetics research services. Keith reveals how our behaviors and environment, such as diet, exercise and air quality, can impact our epigenetics and the impact that the epigenetic clock has played in the development of new therapeutics.

Find out how you can reverse your biological age, the implications of aging populations the latest developments in epigenetic research and more in this episode of Talking Techniques. 

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00-02:15
• The issue with population aging: 02:15-03:30
• Introducing epigenetics:  03:30-04:20
• The link between epigenetics and aging: 04:20-05:50
• The impact of exercise on epigenetics: 05:50-06:40
• The epigenetic clock: 06:40-08:00
• What can the epigenetic clock tell you about someone’s health: 08:00-10:05
• Can you reverse the epigenetic clock? 10:05-12:00
• The latest experiments in epigenetics and aging research: 12:00-14:10
• Finetuning exercise using the epigenetic clock: 14:10-15:30
• Challenges in epigenetics and aging research: 15:30-17:00
• Key technologies in epigenetics and aging research: 17:00-18:05
• Where are the main developments coming from? 18:05-19:30
• Aging and lobsters: 19:30-20:45
• How will the field develop in the next 5 years? 20:45-22:00
• What would you ask for to improve your understanding of the epigenetic clock? 22:00-23:00
• The most exciting aspects of aging intervention: 23:00-24:00

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefano Pupe, Postdoctoral Researcher at German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, takes me through this field, revealing – amongst other fascinating insights – the neuroscience studies that can now be conducted on live mice to monitor their neurological cell expression profiles as they perform specific behaviors. We also discuss the potential immortality complexes that could be driving a large amount of investment into the field and highlight some of the challenges to watch out for when conducting spatial biology studies.

Contents

Introduction 00:00-02:20

The concept of spatial biology 02:20-03:30

The key techniques involved in spatial biology: 03:30-05:10

What does the combination of transcriptomics and proteomic profiling enable you to determine: 05.10-06:00

Unique insights from spatial biology: 06:10-07:20

Spatial biology in the characterization of cells from the medial septal: 07:20-8:20

First impressions of working with spatial biology: 8:10-09:20

How many omic datasets you can generate from one tissue sample? 09:20-10:45

The impact of spatial biology in diagnostics: 10:45-11:50

Exciting breakthroughs in neuroscience from spatial biology: 11:50-14:00

Predicting neuronal activity with spatial data: 14:00-15:55

Developments in microscopy pairing with spatial biology: 15:55-18:05

The challenges of working with a new technique: 18:05-19:45

The role of automation in resolving with vast data sets 19:45-21:45

Why Facebook and Google are looking assisting with spatial biology: 21:45-24:15

What would you ask for to take spatial transcriptomics to the next level? 24:15-25:40

Challenges of reproducibility in an emerging field: 25:40-29:05

Final comments: 29:05-30:25

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast series, Antentor will discuss all things diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM, meeting with different guests each episode from across the spectrum of fields and people in the research community. Each episode will keep science at its core, exploring each guest's research and finding out how they encourage open and productive environments in their working communities.

In episode one, dive into the discussion around mentoring practices, LatinX representation in STEM and the role that scientific societies, such as the American Society of Cell Biology, can play in the development of their members with our first guest, Christina Termini Assistant Professor at the Fred Hutch Cancer Research center (CA, USA).

Contents:

Introduction: 00:00-02:40

Christina's Research in hematopoietic stem cells and cancer treatments. 02:40-05:45

Molecular regulators of the hematopoietic system: 05:45-06:20

Building mentoring networks and addressing microaggressions: 06:20-09:00

Isolation in academic spaces and countermeasures: 09:00-10:35

The community of scholars and the 1000 Black scientists lists: 10:35-17:00

What are you drinking? 17:00-17:40

Mental health in mentoring: 17:40- 20:45

The work of the American Society of Cell Biology developing mentors: 20:45-23:00

Equalling opportunities with virtual and non-traditional faculty interviews: 23:00-26:50

Building the 100 Latinx list: 26:50-29:30

Contact Tina: 29:30-31:55

Coming up on STEM Tea: 32:10-34:54

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss techniques available to monitor cell proliferation, their advantages and disadvantages and the importance of selecting the right combination of techniques for different experimental targets. Rachel also provides some tips for best practice and some pitfalls to avoid regarding DNA damage and highlights the importance of good quality antibodies in cell proliferation assays.

Don’t miss out on the most exciting applications of cell proliferation today, and find out what still needs to be improved for cell proliferation assays to continue driving drug discovery forward; all in the first episode of Season 3 of Talking Techniques!

Contents:

• Intro: 00:00-00:34
• Why measure cell proliferation in drug discovery? 00:34-2:20
• Techniques involved in the detection of cell proliferation: 02:20-04:20
• The advantages and disadvantages of different techniques: 04:20-06:50
• Selecting the most appropriate technique: 06:50-09:30
• How do you account for DNA damage in these assays? 09:30-11:00
• The best combination of techniques for drug screening studies: 11:00-12:00
• The biggest developments in technologies for cell proliferation monitoring: 12:00-14:15
• Exciting findings of cell proliferation studies in cancer research: 14:15-15:35
• What element of cell proliferation detection and monitoring would you choose to improve? 15:35-17:40
• Closing remarks: 17:40-19:10

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To investigate this space, I speak with Merrit Savener, Biopharma Technical Account Manager at Molecular Devices (CA, USA) and Adam Clore Technical Director of Synthetic Biology at Integrated DNA Technologies (IA, USA). Merrit and Adam provide their insight into the most exciting applications of synthetic biology, the regulation surrounding it, how they would wish to improve the field, revealing the true impacts that this field can deliver in addressing some of humanity's biggest issues.

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00-02:30
• Explaining synthetic biology: 02:30-03:45
• Origins of synthetic biology: 03:45-05:25
• Key current applications of synthetic biology: 05:25-07:30 
• Key methods involved in synthetic biology: 07:20-09:30
• Challenges in synthetic biology for product production: 09:30-12:35
• Regulating synthetic biology: 12:35-14:55
• What would you change to improve synthetic biology? 14355-16:55
• Most exciting applications of molecular biology: 16:55-20:40
• The future of synthetic biology: 20:40-22:45
• Making electronics manufacturing more sustainable with synthetic biology: 22:45-23:15
• Changing perceptions in synthetic biology: 23:15-25:30

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Revealing all of this information is my guest Chloé Goldsmith, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Canberra University, whose research focuses on DNA methylation, Hepatitis B Virus and the link between lifestyle and the epigenome. Chloé explains the strengths and weaknesses of the different techniques used to explore DNA methylation and highlights the advances in long-read sequencing that are dramatically improving this aspect of epigenomic research.

Chloé also discusses some of the most interesting insights that she has gained by taking a single-cell and single-molecule approach to her research and highlights some of the recent findings in the field that have caught her attention and broadened our understanding of epigenetics in disease.

Listen today to find out what functions remain to be improved for more insightful epigenetic studies and for some key insights into the future of the field.

Contents:

Introduction: 00:00-01:45

Introducing the epigenetics and the different types of epigenetic regulation: 00:45-02:55

Techniques involved in the exploration of DNA methylation: 03:55-05:50

Challenges of bisulfite conversion techniques: 05:50-07:15

Recent developments in DNA methylation technologies: 07:15-09:40

Long reads vs short reads for epigenetic studies: 09:40-10:45

Epigenetics in infectious disease research: 10:45-13:15

Lifestyle, the epigenome and HBV: 13:15-16:00

Epigenetics in cancer research: 16:00-18:05

Recent developments in our epigenetic understanding of disease: 18:05-19:40

One area of technology that needs to be improved: 19:40-21:50

Aspirations for the field: 21:50-23:25

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest for this episode is Brian Godwin, Director of Reagent and Assay Development at Roche sequencing. Brian reveals the myriad of ways that poor target enrichment can impact a study while highlighting its importance at the foundations of many research efforts. Discover the key limitations of some target enrichment techniques and the new technologies that are improving this step, leading to a new suite of applications in oncology research, where damaged or degraded DNA samples are common.

Listen today for an overview of the target enrichment process, the most exciting applications of this technique future potential of this step.

Contents:

• Intro: 00:00-01:30
• Why conduct target enrichment? 00:40-02:45
• Established technologies for target enrichment: 02:45-04:10
• Challenges of working with these technologies: 04:20-06:40
• The impact of these challenges on sequencing results: 06:40-07:35
• New technologies to address these challenges: 07:35-09:25
• Primer extension in PCR and target enrichment: 09:25-11:40
• Exciting applications of primer extension target enrichment: 11:40-13:25
• Improving target enrichment in oncology and its impact on the field: 13:25-16:15
• If you could ask for one thing to enable primer extension target enrichment to make the greatest possible impact on the NGS and oncology communities, what would it be? 16:15-18:00

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm joined by recombinant protein engineering expert Yuning Chen, R&D Manager at Sino Biological, who discusses the key applications of recombinant proteins, the aspects of certain products that make them difficult to produce and how these difficulties can be overcome. Yuning also reveals how the manipulation of antibodies has been essential to multiple aspects of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a review of the recent evolutions in protein engineering, from cell-free systems to automation, Yuning describes his vision for the future of the field and reveals his support for the Terminator-style uprising that he believes could revolutionize it.

Contents

• The production of recombinant proteins: 00:48-02:11
• The key applications of recombinant proteins: 02:11-03:27
• What makes some proteins difficult to produce? 03:27-04:41
• Overcoming these challenges: 04:40-5:40
• Manipulating antibodies to take part in multiple aspects of pandemic response: 05:40-08:00
• The most exciting applications of recombinant proteins: 08:00-09:50
• Developments in high throughput and automated protein engineering: 09:50-11:00
• Cell-free protein engineering: 11:00-12:40
• The benefits of cell-free systems: 12:40-13:40
• What is next for recombinant protein production? 13:40-16:15
• The dream of automation for the recombinant protein production: 16:15-18:50 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores this evolution, looking at how challenges presented by the pandemic forced the hand of researchers to think outside the box and build on lesser-known PCR technologies. Here, Eddy van Collenburg, Market Development Specialist at Bio-Rad (CA, USA), provides his insight into how ddPCR rose to prevalence during this time and explains how the technology is being used to enable trade, detect new variants and is being used outside of the pandemic.

Discover the key role that ddPCR can play in gene therapy research, liquid biopsies, cancer research, single-cell studies and more, in this fascinating overview of the development of PCR and where the technique can go in the future.

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00-01:30
• Why was qPCR established as the gold standard for detection?  01:30-03:40
• Limitations of qPCR during the pandemic: 03:40-05:05
• New varieties of PCR for faster results: 05:05-05:40
• New varieties for more accurate results: 05:40-06:45
• ddPCR working principle and advantages: 06:45-09:00
• Nonclinical ddPCR applications for COVID-19: 09:00-10:45
• ddPCR in variant detection: 10:45-12:05
• ddPCR in gene therapy research: 11:05-12:30
• Liquid biopsy and cancer research: 12:30-15:20
• Combining ddPCR with NGS in research: 15:20-16:15
• What are some of the applications of ddPCR that you find most exciting? 16:15-17:10
• Applications of ddPCR in single-cell studies: 17:10-21:00
• Improvements in ddPCR: 21:00-21:45
• Tips for best practice when using ddPCR: 21:45-22:50
• What would you ask for to improve ddPCR? 21:50-24:20

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To explore the field of molecular therapeutics and provide an insight into their production, is Aaron Clauson, Product Manager at Zymo research. First, we cover the ins and outs of targeting the therapies and how to select the correct type of molecular therapeutic to begin developing a drug for a specific disease, before looking at some of the setbacks and safety errors that have occurred during the development of molecular therapeutics and how researchers have learned from these tragic events.

Aaron also highlights the vital role of plasmids in almost all molecular therapeutic development, detailing the importance of keeping plasmid solutions and transfections free of endotoxins, revealing key solutions for avoiding these contaminants.

Listen today to get all you need to know about molecular therapeutics, from their inception to their most exciting examples and how we can better communicate their benefits to the public in order to avoid mistrust and confusion - as has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contents:

• What counts as a molecular therapeutic? 01:45-02:40
• Well known molecular therapeutics: 02:40-05:00
• What can molecular therapeutics achieve that synthetic chemicals can’t? 05:00-05:55
• Targeting molecular therapeutics and picking the right type of therapeutic: 05:55-08:25
• Selecting the appropriate molecular therapeutic: 08:35-11:00
• Setbacks and safety concerns in gene therapies: 11:00-15:45
• Preventing off-target effects in gene therapies: 15:45-17:35
• Challenges in the development of molecular therapeutics: 17:35-19:05
• Plasmids in molecular therapeutic development: 19:05-23:55
• Avoiding endotoxins: 23:55-27:45
• What fields do you find most exciting? 27:45-28:50
• Better communication of gene therapies to the public: 28:50-32:00
• Improving molecular therapeutic development: 32:00-37:10

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Filling me in on all things HPLC and AAVs is Bella Neufeld, Director of R&D at Teknova. Bella reveals the essential validation and quality control steps required for the production of successful and safe AAV therapies and the role that both HPLC and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LCMS) play in these steps. We also explore the latest development targets for these therapies, looking at how AAVs can be targeted to specific sites and tissues before descending into the treacherous topic of reproducibility in the field.

Listen today to find out the latest tips for best practice when working with HPLC, LCMS the advantages of LCMS over other analytical techniques to assess empty and full capsids and the key principles of AAV production!

Contents

• Intro: 00:00-01:25
• Explaining HPLC and its benefits: 01:25-03:30
• Developing adeno-associated viruses: 03:30-05:25 
• Chromatography in validation vs production of AAVs: 05:25-06:15
• Quality control vs hands on time: 06:15-07:35  
• Challenges in AAV production: 07:35-08:55
• Examining the level of empty and full capsids: 08:55-10:00
• The role of LCMS in determining and validating AAV contents: 10:00-11:30      
• Tips for best practice when using HPLC: 12:30-13:10
• The future of HPLC: 13:10-14:20
• Latest advances in AAV development: 14:20-15:50
• Targeting AAVs: 15:50-17:20
• Reproducibility issues in AAV development: 17:20-19:35
• Outro: 19:35-21:10

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode covers the rise of organoids and their advantages over 2D cell cultures, before exploring just how representative these models are becoming and their new applications in drug discovery. To find out all this and more, I speak to Oksana Sirenko, Senior Scientist at Molecular Devices, who works extensively with the company's organoid model development programs. 

Oksana reveals the potential of these models in cancer therapeutics, driven forward by new patient-derived organoids, and notes the challenges presented by imaging these thicker, 3D models. We also explore the potential discoveries that can be unlocked by combining organoids with organ-on-a-chip models.

Contents:

• What are organoids? 02:10-03:20
• Functions replicated by organoids? 3:20-04:00
• What are the advantages of 3D over 2D cell cultures? 04:00-05:40
• Just how representative are these models? 04:40-07:10
• Intestinal organoid formation 07:10-08:50
• The most exciting application of organoids 08:50-10:10
• Organoids in drug development 10:10-11:20
• Methodology of organoids in drug screening studies 11:20-13:30
• Examples of organoids in cancer drug discovery: 13:30-16:00
• Limitations of patient-derived and regular organoid models: 16:00-17:50
• Body-on-a-chip concepts and examples: 17:50-22:00
• Challenges posed by organoids for drug discovery: 22:00-24:20
• Techniques improving organoid models and analysis: 24:20-25:50
• Imaging organoid models: 25:50-26:55
• Tips for best practice when working with organoids: 26:55-28:20
• Organoid method development: 28:20-31:10
• One thing to improve organoid models or analysis for drug screening: 31:10-33:07

To find out more about the research and solutions discussed in this episode visit: www.moleculardevices.com/TechTalk8.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode goes beyond the technology’s capabilities and into the debates surrounding how, when and why they should be used. What needs to change for the technique to be applied equitably? And how does reality stack up against science fiction in terms of people’s perceptions of ubiquitous WGS?

To do this I speak with David Dimmock, Senior Medical Director of the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine (CA, USA); Christine Stanley, Chief Director of Clinical Genomics, Variantyx (MA, USA); and Take Ogawa, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Psomagen (MD, USA). Each of these speakers provides their opinions on the impacts of race, religion and way of life on the application of WGS and how much is too much data.

Contents:

• Introductions: 00:00-02:20
• Gauging public perceptions of routine WGS 02:20-05:40
• The role of industry in improving WGS accessibility and capabilities: 05:40-07:35
• The appropriate use of pre-symptomatic and predictive risk findings: 08:00-11:15
• Debating the discovery of untreatable diseases: 11:15-12:45
• The impact of data biases in gene sequencing and the lack of gene references for different populations: 12:45-14:45
• The impact of religion and lifestyle on ethical considerations in the use of WGS data: 14:45-16:00
• Dealing with unintended findings or results that impact relatives: 16:00-16:45
• The value of WGS in pharmacogenomic variant findings and challenging the ACMG59 list: 16:45-19:20
• Striking the balance between fully utilizing WGS for all potential findings and ensuring maximum participation for all groups: 19:20-22:45
• Filtering data to avoid exclusion: 22:45-24:10
• Who owns WGS data? 24:10-25:15
• Consent conversations: 25:15-26:30
• Final comments: 26:30-27:15

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guiding me through the hand wringing, hair follicle destroying history and process of western blotting, and hopefully explaining the beauty and potential of the technique - is Kenneth Oh, Senior Project Manager at Bio-Rad Laboratories.

Kenneth reveals some of the latest developments in western blotting. Revealing how researchers are now able to validate the success of each stage of a western blot and work with smaller samples, Kenneth provides key tips for ensuring each of your western blots is a triumph.

Contents:

Intro: 00:00-01:15

History of western blotting: 01:15-3:50

What makes western blotting so tricky? 03:50-05:30

Stepwise optimization: 05:30-06:50

Stain-free western blotting: 06:50-08:50

The different variants of western blotting: 08:50-10:20

The right blot for the right application: 10:20-11:30

The most exciting developments in western bloting:11:30-13:35

New horizons for western blotting: 13:35-15:25

The impact of multiplex-western blotting: 15:25-16:30

Tips for best practice: 16:30-18:10

The future of western blotting: 18:10-20:30

Yearning for automation: 20:30-21:30

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exploring the trials and tribulations of infectious disease sample collection with me is Stanislav Forman, Product Developer at Zymo Research (CA, USA). Stan explains the extreme environments in which sample collection often occurs; revealing the difficult transit and storage requirements – often involving cold chain logistics – that can derail infectious disease studies early on.

Find out how key solutions to these problems have been successfully workshopped with the US military and have even been used in work with NASA to conduct safe sample collection in space. And discover just how successful these solutions can be when faced with the blazing wreckage of a transit vehicle…

Contents

• Introductions: 00:00-01:20
• Key challenges of sample collection for infectious disease research: 01:20-02:30
• Additional challenges presented by COVID-19: 02:30-05:00
• The emergence of at-home testing: 05:00-07:00
• Established practices for sample collection and introducing DNA/RNA shield: 07:00-09:00
• Protecting DNA/RNA samples: 09:00-11:00
• Working with NASA on sample collection and protection in space: 11:00-14:20
• Protecting samples in a blazing transit van: 14:20-15:25
• The impact of inactivating and preserving sample collection products on infectious disease research: 15:30-16:30
• Areas for improvement in sample collection: 16:30-17:30
• Closing statements: 17:30-19:20

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode features the ever-buoyant Will Greenleaf, Associate Professor of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine (CA, USA) and head of the Greenleaf Lab. Will takes us through his lab’s work, detailing his attempts to understand the compacting of DNA into cell nuclei and how this impacts gene expression and epigenetic regulation.

Discover the emerging new research focus that Will has coined the “Regulome” – the collection of physical molecular components that control gene expression through factors such as chromatin accessibility.

To explore these new frontiers Will often encounters questions with no technologies available to ask them. So what does he do? Invent the technologies he needs! Find out how his lab came to develop the, now widely used, ATAC-Seq and learn of the new tools that he is looking to develop to solve even more perceptive questions.

This episode has it all, and also reveals the potential of Will’s single-cell multiomic approaches in cancer research, virology and HIV.

Contents:

·      Introductions: 00:00-02:00

·      The exploring the physical genome: 02:00-03:15

·      Chromatin accessibility: 03:15-05:15

·      Introducing the ‘Regulome’: 05:15-07:15

·      The importance of multiomics for the study of gene expression: 07:15-07:55

·      DNA methylation and histone organization: 07:55-10:30

·      Real-world impact of this research:  10:30-12:30

·      Will’s varied career path: 12:30-16:15

·      Combining multiomic datasets with computational biology and physics experience: 16:15-18:40

·      Single-cell techniques: 18:40-21:50

·      Developing ATAC-Seq: 21:50-23:50

·      New tools in development: 23:50-27:30

·      Insights into the epigenetics of cancer: 27:30-29:35

·      Insights into virology and HIV latency: 29:35-32:10

·      One wish to help explore the regulome. 32:10-33:00

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Providing an expert's insight into this topic is Moran Amit, Assistant Professor at the MD Anderson Cancer Center (TX, USA). Moran exposes the nebulous interactions in the TME and describes the techniques that he uses to interrogate it, in the hope that by further understanding these interactions we will be able to design more successful, targeted therapies for neurotropic cancers.

Contents:

·      Introductions: 00:00-01:20

·      The key cells of the TME:  01:20-02:50

·      How cells of the TME  support the tumor: 02:50-05:45

·      How cancer cells influence and impact immune cells: 05:45-07:25

·      The invasion of cancers into the neurons: 07:27-9:45

·      Recruitment of neurons to the TME: 09:45-10:55

·      The evolution of neuron recruitment to the TME: 10:55-15:00

·      Techniques involved in the study of the TME: 15:00-17:00

·      Tips for best practice: 17:00-18:00

·      Tumors with neural networks: 18:00-20:05

·      Clinical impact of research: 20:05-21:50

·      The cancers impacted the most by this research: 21:50-23:25

·      The impact of neural invasion on patients and neurons: 23:25-25:30

·      One thing to improve our understanding of the TME: 25:30-28:00

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Supported by Psomagen and featuring four fascinating guests from across the spectrum of topics and focuses in the rare disease space, this episode explores the updates to whole-genome sequencing technology that have improved the "Diagnostic Oddysey" experienced by some patients, enabled more accurate drug development and provides insight into the diagnosis and characterization of undefined rare diseases, before exploring the clinical impact whole-genome sequencing can have on clinical outcomes.

This episode features insight from four field-leading experts in rare disease research, whole-genome sequencing technologies and clinical practice for patients with rare diseases, including:

• Alan Beggs: Director of The Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Sir Edwin and Lady Manton Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard medical school
• Christine Stanley: Chief Director of Clinical Genomics at Variantyx
• David Dimmock: Senior Medical Director of Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine
• Take Ogawa: Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Psomagen 

Contents

1. Introduction: 00:00-02:30
2. Defining the Diagnostic Oddysey: 02:30-06:20
3. Rare disease discovery: 06:20-09:20
4. Techniques involved in Rare disease discovery: 09:20-12:05
5. Whole-genome sequencing updates impacting clinical diagnosis: 12:05-18:30
6. Currently required improvements in techniques for rare disease research and management: 18:30-24:10
7. Explaining long-read and short-read sequencing: 24:10-26:00
8. Developing therapeutics for rare diseases: 26:00-30:00
9. Whole-genome sequencing in animal model validation: 30:00-31:20
10. Improving access to whole-genome available to researchers and clinicians: 31:20-33:40
11. Whole-genome sequencing improving management and outcomes for rare diseases: 33:40-38:27

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Micheal outlines the basis of environmental sequencing, predominantly the screening of wastewater for signs of viral RNA, the key techniques involved in the process and challenges associated with it. Micheal also explains the key pieces of information that can be obtained by environmental sequencing and the benefits of the approach vs exclusively using clinical testing.

Micheal highlights the value of environmental sequencing for monitoring variants, understanding transmission patterns and identifying outbreaks, providing examples of the information provided to the public health officials in California that were used to successfully manage rising infections and limit the impact of a surge in cases.

Contents

• Introduction: 00:00-01:58
• Introducing environmental surveillance for infectious diseases: 01:58-03:30
• COVID-19 response vs previous environmental sequencing work and how it has prepared people for COVID-19: 03:30-06:18
• The benefits of wastewater screening over clinical testing: 06:18-07:10
• Challenges of wastewater testing: 07:10-09:10
• Monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 variants: 09:10-10:55
• Understanding transmission patterns: 10:55-12:00
• Identifying signs of viral vaccine escape and tracing transmission: 12:00-14:50
• PCR vs NGS techniques for environmental sequencing: 14:50-16:05
• Tips for best practice when conducting environmental sequencing: 16:05-17:50
• Practical results of environmental sequencing data on outbreak suppression: 17:50-20:40
• Investigating mutation rates in the environmental samples: 20:40-23:20
• Emerging techniques in wastewater surveillance: 23:20-25:10
• Developing standard protocols and structure for wastewater surveillance: 25:10-28:20

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ty details the attributes of PCR that lead to it becoming the gold standard for diagnostic tests, before explaining the variance in clinical detection rate during a patient’s disease course and how this variation correlates with the infectivity of the patient. Ty also delves into the variety of sample collection methods available, how each of these methods compares in terms of sensitivity and their ability to be integrated into exciting novel PCR techniques.

We also look at the work of the Broad Institute in establishing a mass testing effort that involved automation, workflow optimization and hundreds of new staff, ultimately leading to the delivery of 100,000 tests a day, almost 5% of the USA’s total COVID-19 testing at the time. All of this rapid work has led to dramatic changes in the PCR technique and process. These changes are perhaps exemplified by PCR testing without RNA extraction and purification, which Ty explains was partly developed due to the limited supplies available to researchers at the beginning of the pandemic.

Contents

• Introduction: 00:00-02:00
• Why PCR tests are so valuable: 02:00-03:10
• Changes in clinical detection rate and infectivity: 03:10-8:00
• Infectivity and exceptions to the rule: 08:00-09:00
• Sample collection methods, sensitivity and encouraging testing uptake 09:00-17:00
• The Broad Institute’s mass testing regimen: 17:00-21:00
• Developments during the pandemic and no RNA extraction PCR: 21:00-27:00
• Dreams for improving COVID-19 testing: 27:00- 30:00

This episode was supported by Roche sequencing and life science. Follow these links to find out more about the LightCycler 480 System and LightCycler 96 System.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaking to me about the topic is Raul Cano, Chief Scientific Officer at the BioCollective. Raul discusses the crisis and explains why it is prevalent in the emerging field of microbiomics before taking a look at the key role that microbiomics is beginning to play in the field of diagnostics, and how – if we make changes now – lasting improvements can be made in the field.

Raul also lays out the three key areas that are holding back reproducibility in microbiomics and explains the actions that can be taken to improve the situation.

Contents:

• Introduction: 00:00-02:00
• Explaining the reproducibility crisis: 02:00-02:55
• How microbiomics compare to other fields in terms of reproducibility: 02:55-04:05
• Challenges in reproducibility specific to microbiomics: 04:05-05:45
• The importance of reproducibility in microbiomics: 05:45-07:00
• Microbiomics in diagnostics: 07:00-10:00
• Three key causes of poor reproducibility in microbiomics: 10:00-11:30
• Is detailed documentation improving in the life sciences? 11:30- 13:00
• Actions that can improve reproducibility: 13:00-14:15
• Fecal references: 14:15-16:05
• The realities of preparing fecal references: 16:05-18:1 5
• The reception to the new fecal references: 18:15-20:35
• References vs Standards: 20:35-22:15
• Standardizing microbiomics data: 22:15-23:20
• Assessing reproducibility in previous studies: 23:20-25:15
• Dreams for reproducibility in microbiomics: 25:15-26:55

This episode is supported by Zymo Research. If you would like more information about the fecal reference mentioned in the podcast, you can visit the product page here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abi’s guests on this episode are the Vice President of Epidemiology and Clinical Evidence at IQVIA (NC, USA), Dr Christina Mack; the Executive Director for the Pharmaceutical Research Computing Center at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (MD, USA), Dr Ebere Onukwugha; a Lecturer, Science Communicator and Author based in Cardiff (UK), Dr Emma Yhnell; and the Director of the Neuroscience Center Microscopy Core at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (NC, USA), Dr Michelle Itano.

They discuss the results of Future Science Group’s survey, share their own experiences of gender inequality as well as situations where they’ve felt supported, and outline how the STEM community can push further towards gender equality and parity.

Contents:

Introduction: 00:00 – 1:47

Gender inequality, experiences and impact on STEM careers: 1:48 – 10:41

Underlying reasons for gender disparity in STEM: 10:42 – 17:51

Promoting gender equality in the STEM work environment: 17:52 – 30:34

Looking forward: representation and mentoring: 30:35 – 39:32

Conclusions: 39:33 – 40:10

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve discusses some of the techniques required to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, the challenges that such a vibrant sample can present, and gives his account of the part that wastewater surveillance played in the management of the new variant B.1.1.7.

Josh provides us with further insight into the technologies used to sequence SARS-CoV-2, explains how he designed the ARTIC protocol for sequencing the virus and why it came to be so widely used. We go on to discuss the issues of limited lab consumables such as pipette tips and how you can make the most out of your limited lab supplies. Josh also describes the bizarre act of serendipity that aided in the discovery of the B.1.1.7 variant.

Contents

• Introduction: 00:00-01:30
• Steve Paterson introduction: 01:30-02:15
• Introducing COG-UK: 02:15-03:20
• Becoming the wastewater working group lead: 03:20-04:35
• Key techniques and essential work in wastewater surveillance: 04:35-08:00
• Improving the sensitivity of sequencing and technological developments: 08:00-10:00
• Detecting new variants in wastewater screening: 10:00-12:15
• Learnings from the pandemic: 12:15-13:40
• Josh Quick introduction: 14:35-15:32
• The ARTIC protocol: 15:32-18:35
• Sequencing working group key techniques and key focuses 18:35-22:00
• Challenges of limited consumable supply and how to make the most of what you have got 22:00-24:30
• Learnings from the pandemic: 24:30-26:28
• New technologies, RC-PCR: 26:28-29:38
• Fantasy technology to assist with SARS-CoV-2 sequencing: 29:38-31:00
• Discovering the new variant B.1.17:31:00-33:30
• Conclusions: 33:30-34:40

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast, supported by Zymo Research, I speak to Senior Scientist in assay development Paolo Piatti in order to answer this question. Whether you are a concerned citizen looking for the best test to take to inform your behavior, or a researcher aiming to understand which testing systems you need to set up in your lab – this episode should have the answers for you.

In addition to these key points, Paolo addresses the importance of testing during the rollout of vaccine programs and issues of false negatives in diagnostics, examining what, if anything, can be done to improve the accuracy of testing programs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss Andy's fascinating research into pain modulation using magnetic biomaterials, which got him included on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for 2019 and his work in science communication. Andy is a champion of diversity in STEM, something he embodies both in his science communication and in the organization of his lab. Here, he delves into the tactics he uses to promote diversity and gives us his tips on how to set up and run a diverse and inclusive lab.

Andy pairs all this information with some key tips for early career researchers who may be looking to emulate his success, giving us an insight into the key moments in his childhood and early career that lead him to where he is today and teaching us some lessons about the importance of curiosity.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss some of the projects that have been able to continue throughout the pandemic and the recent successes of an autism trial, which provides key information on the behavioral effects, diagnosis prediction of the condition. Michell also informs me of the work the core has been involved in that directly address COVID-19, using resonance scanning to examine epithelial organoids and cell models, elucidating the utility of resonance scanning in the study of 3D structures.

Episode image created by Damaris Lorenzo of the Lorenzo Lab at the UNC Microscopy Core

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To do this I speak to two researchers driving forward reproducibility in the life sciences, Marc Raphael from the United States Naval Research Laboratory, and Elizabeth Iorns, CEO of Science Exchange. Marc discusses his recent trial of independent verification and validation (IV&V) labs in a live science setting, highlighting the lessons learned from the experience and exploring the differences observed in attitudes and approaches to reproducibility between the life sciences and engineering, where mark began his career.

Elizabeth discusses her work with Science Exchange and the reproducibility project: cancer biology. Elizabeth notes the key themes that have been exposed by the reproducibility project that are holding back the resolution of the crisis and explains what she thinks has worked so far in improving reproducibility.

This leads to a fascinating discussion between Marc and Elizabeth, comparing and contrasting their experiences and noting the different challenges that they face in trying to improve the state of research in the life sciences. In fact, their camaraderie was so strong that interviewing these two was a real treat and for lots of it, it was much better for me to sit back and watch as they debated a topic that they are both clearly very passionate about!

I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording this episode!

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We also discuss Geoffrey's work, using CISPR in antiviral research to as a way of identifying small molecules capable of inducing broad-spectrum antiviral responses, with the potential to combat SARS-CoV-2.

Tune in to find out how Geoffrey believes we can develop CRISPR to be a truly equitable technology and to hear just how hopeful he is for the future of the technique.

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Firstly Laura Boykin, CEO of the Cassava Virus Action Project, discusses the role of foreign researchers in Africa and how, too often, this role becomes unethical and unhelpful. Delving into the many vices of helicopter research and the practice's many negative consequences Laura lays out some clear examples of helicopter research and outlines some of the ways we can begin to address the issue.

Nathasia Muwanigwa, Founder of the site Visibility STEM Africa, speaks about the experience of being an African researcher in Europe and the need to amplify the voices of African researchers. Nathasia also talks about the perception of African research around the world and the issues that researchers face in getting cited and published in high impact journals.

Providing the perspective of researchers and scientists in Africa Aminu Yakubu, the Vice President of Research Planning and Ethics at 54gene, discusses the gap in genomic data from Africa and its impact in the development of medicines. He also explores the need to establish an equitable playing field for African scientists and the importance of improving the regulation of genetics research on the continent.

Contents:

Laura Boykin: 00:00-16:50

Nathasia Muwanigwa: 16:50-35:30

Aminu Yakubu: 35:30-50:45

The greatest challenge for research in Africa: 50:45-64:42

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contents:

• Introduction to the OurRisk.CoV calculator - 1min 15sec
• Data sets used for the calculator - 4min
• Reception of the calculator - 4min 40sec
• Changing the conversation around COVID-19 and impacting policy - 7min 45sec
• Analysis and challenges of working with large data sets - 12min 20sec
• Best practice tips for working with big data - 17min 15sec
• How can we make the most of the data available? - 20 min
• Governments "following the science" - 22min 45sec

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contents:

• Introducing the European COVID-19 data platform- 1min 35sec
• Challenges of compiling data- 5 mins
• How can researchers make their data collaborative- 8min 15sec
• Demographic representation on the platform- 10min 40sec
• Optimizing big data platforms- 12min 10sec
• The long term impact of COVID-19 on the use of Big Data- 15min 30sec

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contents:

• Synthetic DNA and DNA vaccines- 50sec
• A brief history of DNA vaccines- 1min 40sec
• Key steps in DNA vaccine design- 3min 30sec
• Targeting head and neck cancers- 5min 5sec
• Advantages and challenges of DNA vaccines- 7min 10sec
• Lessons from previous coronaviruses- 10min 25sec
• Current status of COVID-19 DNA vaccine- 14min 26sec
• The speed of COVID-19 science-16min 24sec
• DNA Vaccines in the next 5 years- 18min 55sec

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can find the episode mentioned: The Sustainable Lab, over on BioTechniques.com in the podcast section of our website.

Contents:

• Negative contributions from research labs to the environment – 1min 30sec
• Reduce the impact of R&D and research labs? – 2min 25sec
• The importance of freezer efficiency – 4min 45sec
• Exciting developments from My Green Lab – 7min 5sec
• Techniques for reducing waste – 9min 45sec
• Single-use plastics vs glass wear – 11min 35sec
• Institutions worthy of particular praise – 13min 40sec
• Energy efficiency and the Stirling Cycle – 14min 40sec
• Further gaps in energy efficiency and changing behaviors in labs- 18min 30sec

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For more information on the effect of UV LEDs on SARS-CoV-2, check out this page from Phoseon Technology: Can UV LEDs Kill the Novel Coronavirus? Frequently Asked Questions

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

*

The Talking Techniques podcast is hosted and produced by Tristan Free for BioTechniques. We would love to here more from our listeners about your opinions on the podcast, what you would like to hear more of and what you think we could do better!

Please get in contact on any of the platforms below.

Twitter: @TristanFreefsg

Email: tfree@biotechniques.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.