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30 July 2009 | By
The field of oligonucleotide-based therapy experienced a revival with the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) in 19981. RNAi is a conserved endogenous mechanism, which is triggered by double-stranded (ds) RNAs leading to target-specific inhibition of gene expression by promoting mRNA degradation or translational repression. There are two RNAi pathways that…
30 July 2009 | By
The deceptive simplicity of a typical qPCR assay is an important reason for the exponential growth in the adoption of qPCR-related technologies for both research and diagnostic applications. The only requirements for obtaining ostensibly quantitative data are a mixing of primers, DNA and a mastermix, their distribution into individual tubes…
30 July 2009 | By
We are currently on the cusp of a technology-driven revolution in the field of genomics. The rapid evolution of DNA sequencing technology is already providing researchers with the ability to generate data about genetic variation and patterns of gene expression on an unprecedented scale; within just a few years it…
30 July 2009 | By
The understanding of properties of any biological system requires a detailed and quantitative analysis of its parts and their interactions. As different processes within a system occur at defined space and time, each process holds its own optimal observation and investigation technique. One of the most powerful tools to analyse…
30 July 2009 | By
Mark Collins from Thermo Fisher Scientific, who provide analytical instruments, laboratory equipment, software, services, consumables and reagents, talks to us about current developments and future changes.
30 July 2009 | By
Going from strength to strength ELRIG are pleased to announce the 3rd Drug Discovery Symposium. This year ELRIG will be joined by the BPS (British Pharmacological Society) for the event.
In these economic times the pharmaceutical industry has expressed a renewed interest to explore ways in which to enhance the efficiency and agility of existing and future manufacturing processes. This is also true for laboratory-based operations that support forward processing and product release decisions. One function that can greatly benefit…
30 July 2009 | By
Drug transporters are membrane proteins involved in the uptake or efflux of drugs by several tissues such as the intestine, liver, kidney and brain. They can have a significant impact on the pharmacokinetics of endogenous and exogenous compounds. Also, co-administered drugs or nutrients can influence the transporter activity which may…
30 July 2009 | By Pedro E. Hernandez-Abad, Associate Director; Jun Huang, Principal PAT Scientist II and Saly Romero-Torres, Principal PAT Scientist, both Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
Boards of health like the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency and ICH guidelines Q8, Q9 and Q10, provide a framework for Quality by Design (QbD) that fully integrates drug substance and drug product development with the principles of Quality Risk Management (QRM), Process Analytical Technology (PAT) and…
29 May 2009 | By
In established economies, mental disorders account for a larger burden of disease than all cancers combined. Yet reliable, measurable, markers of such diseases (biomarkers) are not uniformly known and without them, prediction that a new drug candidate makes contact with its target is poor. This is unfortunate because the attrition…
29 May 2009 | By
The pharmaceutical industry continues to experience a high attrition rate during the latter stages of small molecule therapeutic development, most disappointingly during the late, and highly expensive stages of Phase II and Phase III trial1. If left unchecked, it is likely that this late-stage failure in drug development will only…
29 May 2009 | By
This meeting will look at recent advancements of proteomics for analysis across biological scales, i.e. from cells to tissues and organisms. The event aims to overcome the barriers and highlight the interfaces that allow us to take proteomics towards an integrative view of biology.
29 May 2009 | By
Real-time PCR (qPCR) data are reliable only if they result from a robust qPCR assay that has been carefully designed, validated and optimised. This process requires an extensive assay design procedure aimed at generating an optimum primer/probe/amplicon combination to allow accurate quantification of nucleic acids with minimum need for post-PCR…
29 May 2009 | By
Nearly fifty years ago, it was hypothesised that terminally differentiated cells such as fibroblasts could be forced to take on a pluripotent state, similar to the embryonic stem cells (ES cells). The basis of the concept is the observation that all cell types, with minor exceptions, have the same genetic…
29 May 2009 | By
Joydeep Goswami from Invitrogen, who provide essential life science technologies for disease research, drug discovery, and commercial bioproduction, talks to us about current and future developments at the company.
