Radically different
It didn’t have to be this way.
The condemnations keep coming four days after security officers escorted five diabetes experts out of the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans for handing out copies of an editorial criticizing federal cuts to biomedical research. Expelling the doctors and scientists has shocked people in the field, and the ADA’s communications explaining it have only made matters worse, leaders in diabetes research and practice told STAT.
Background: Chronic insomnia is a highly prevalent sleep disorder that adversely affects quality of life and mental health. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is internationally recommended as the first-line treatment, and digital CBT-I (dCBT-I) has been developed to improve accessibility and scalability. While existing dCBT-I systems effectively support structured behavioral training through standardized protocols, they provide relatively limited support for users’ cognitive exploration and meaning-making processes, particularly in helping users reflect on and internalize the rationale behind CBT-I practices in daily life. These limitations may contribute to challenges in sustained engagement and long-term adherence. Objective: This study aimed to examine the usability and feasibility of SleepPathfinder, a conversational CBT-I support chatbot that integrates Socratic questioning and a self-decision mechanism to support users’ understanding of and engagement with CBT-I practices. Methods: SleepPathfinder was designed around a 4-stage conversational flow: education on CBT-I techniques, Socratic cognitive exploration, self-decision, and advice provision. We conducted (1) a single-session pilot usability study (n=45) to assess system stability and user experience and (2) a 5-day condition-based comparative experiment (n=30) consisting of daily sessions, comparing an exploratory dialogue condition with a directive, protocol-guided dialogue condition. Quantitative measures assessed usability, cognitive appraisals related to sleep problems, autonomy-related experiences, and behavioral readiness, while qualitative feedback and conversational log analyses were used to examine interaction patterns and engagement characteristics. Results: In the comparative experiment, the exploratory dialogue condition showed a tendency toward reduced perceived threat and severity appraisal of sleep problems compared with the directive condition, accompanied by moderate effect sizes in cognitive perception measures. Autonomy-related experiences, including perceived choice and engagement, demonstrated suggestive upward trends in the exploratory condition. Behavioral intention changes were comparable across conditions, while overall readiness for change increased across participants. Conversational log analyses indicated that greater depth and volume of user self-narrative were associated with larger shifts in cognitive appraisals, whereas the frequency of chatbot questions alone was not. The pilot usability study indicated generally positive evaluations of system usability and content credibility, while identifying areas for improvement in emotional responsiveness and conversational naturalness. Conclusions: These findings suggest that a Socratic questioning–based and self-decision–based conversational structure is usable and feasible as a supportive interaction layer within dCBT-I systems. Rather than altering the directive behavioral structure of CBT-I, such an approach may complement existing protocols by facilitating cognitive exploration and supporting user-perceived autonomy. This study provides design-oriented evidence to inform the refinement of dialogue-supported digital CBT-I systems aimed at enhancing user engagement with CBT-I practices.
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Research from the University of Toronto shows long-term exposure to moderate air pollution increases a person’s risk of fatty build up in the blood vessels of the heart, which can lead to serious cardiovascular events like heart attack.
As reported in the journal Radiology, the study also showed that women were particularly badly affected and had an 81% increased risk for obstructive coronary artery disease if exposed to long-term air pollution.
“Even at exposure levels below current Canadian air quality standards, long-term air pollution was independently associated with more advanced coronary artery disease—suggesting current regulations may not be fully protective and that air pollution belongs alongside blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking as a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor,” said lead author Kate Hanneman, MD, associate professor at the University of Toronto, in a press statement.
The study included 11,128 people who underwent cardiac computed tomography (CT) scans who also had available data for air pollution exposure for around 10 years. The average age was 60 years and 52% were men.
In the cohort, median 10‑year exposures were 7.5 μg/m³ for PM2.5, a common measure of particulate air pollution and 13.4 ppb for nitrogen dioxide. These levels are relatively low compared with many historical and low‑/middle‑income settings but still above the latest World Health Organization guideline of 5 μg/m³ for PM2.5 and 5.3 ppb for nitrogen dioxide.
For each addition increment of PM2.5 (1 μg/m³) people in the study had had about 11% more calcium in their coronary arteries and 13% higher odds of having more atherosclerotic plaque. For each increment of nitrogen dioxide (1 ppb) small but measurable increases in calcium (aprx 1%) and plaque (about 4%) were seen in the coronary arteries of those exposed.
After taking into account age, risk factors, medicines, and other differences, each increment higher long‑term air pollution was linked to more severe, artery‑narrowing heart disease in women, but not in men. Each increment increase in PM2.5 was associated with an 80% higher chance of women having a dangerously narrowed coronary artery and each increase in nitrogen dioxide a 6% increased chance.
There was a similar trend in men, but it was not statistically significant after correcting for possible confounding factors.
“These findings add to the growing body of evidence identifying air pollution as a modifiable risk factor for atherosclerosis,” conclude the authors.
“Considering the epidemiologic data linking air pollution to cardiovascular events, these results reinforce the urgency of global public health initiatives aimed at improving air quality to reduce cardiovascular risk.”
The post Exposure to Moderate Air Pollution Raises Cardiovascular Disease Risk appeared first on Inside Precision Medicine.
WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators on Tuesday signed off on the first new sunscreen ingredient for the U.S. market in more than 25 years, giving Americans access to a skin-protecting chemical long used in Europe and other parts of the world.
The Food and Drug Administration says the ingredient, bemotrizinol, met the agency’s standards for protecting from dangerous ultraviolet rays while causing little irritation or absorption into the skin. The ingredient is safe for adults and children 6 months and older, the agency stated in a release.
A highly anticipated Phase III clinical trial has delivered mixed results in testing whether a blood-based test for minimal residual disease (MRD) could guide early treatment for colorectal cancer recurrence (CRC).
Published in Nature Medicine, the randomized double-blind ALTAIR trial tested whether trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) could improve outcomes in patients with resected stage I–IV CRC who tested positive for Natera’s Signatera circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) test after completing standard therapy but had no radiographic evidence of disease. However, the Phase III study—a collaboration between Natera and several Japanese research institutions and hospitals—failed to meet its primary endpoint for investigator-assessed disease-free survival (DFS).
The findings represent the first completed randomized Phase III “treat-on-molecular-recurrence” (TOMR) trial in CRC and underscore both the promise and limitations of ctDNA-guided intervention strategies, highlighting both the promise and limitations of precision oncology.
In the ALTAIR trail, researchers from the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Kashiwa, Kansai Medical University in Osaka, and NHO Osaka National Hospital evaluated a small subset of patients from a larger clinical trial called the CIRCULATE-Japan GALAXY study. Between June 2020 and June 2023, the GALAXY study enrolled 5,514 patients with resectable stage 0–IV CRC across 152 centers in Japan and Taiwan. The GALAXY cohort and other datasets have consistently shown that postoperative ctDNA positivity is associated with markedly increased recurrence risk. ALTAIR addressed the next critical question: whether intervening at the point of molecular relapse alters clinical outcomes.
Among the 1,104 patients who tested positive for ctDNA following surgery in the GALAXY study, 243 were included in the ALTAIR trial, where they were randomly assigned to either six months of FTD/TPI or a placebo. With a median DFS of 9.3 months in the FTD/TPI arm compared to 5.5 months with a placebo, there was a 21% decrease in the risk of recurrence (HR 0.79; 95% CI 0.60–1.05). The difference did not, however, reach statistical significance (P=0.107).
Although the primary endpoint was formally negative, several exploratory analyses suggested biologic activity. Six-month DFS was 70.5% with FTD/TPI versus 45.5% with placebo, indicating an early separation of the survival curves. The benefit, however, decreased over time, with recurrence curves converging by around 24 months—a trend that aligns more with delayed recurrence than with the lasting elimination of residual disease.
The strongest signal emerged in patients with resected oligometastatic stage IV disease. In this subgroup, FTD/TPI reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 47% (HR 0.53; P=0.012). Investigators noted that stage IV patients also had the highest baseline ctDNA burden, suggesting that molecular tumor load may influence responsiveness to MRD-directed therapy.
A post hoc blinded central radiology review also shifted the primary analysis into nominal statistical significance. After adjudication of discordant imaging events, median DFS was 9.2 months with FTD/TPI versus 5.5 months with placebo (HR 0.75; P=0.0406). However, because the analysis was exploratory and non-prespecified, investigators emphasized that it does not alter the trial’s formally negative outcome.
The ctDNA dynamics themselves proved highly prognostic. Patients achieving sustained ctDNA clearance had dramatically superior outcomes compared with those with transient or persistent positivity. In patients with sustained clearance, median DFS was not reached, while it was 11.8 months for those with transient clearance and only 4.4 months for patients with persistently detectable ctDNA.
Notably, spontaneous or transient ctDNA clearance occurred in a subset of placebo-treated patients, highlighting an emerging challenge in MRD-directed oncology: distinguishing biologically meaningful ctDNA positivity from low-level fluctuation or transient shedding.
The study also raises important questions regarding treatment intensity in asymptomatic patients with molecular relapse alone. Toxicity with FTD/TPI was substantial. Grade ≥3 adverse events occurred in 73% of treated patients versus 3.3% with placebo, driven primarily by hematologic toxicity. Severe neutropenia occurred in 56.6% of patients receiving FTD/TPI, and more than one-third required dose reductions. Despite these toxicities, no treatment-related deaths or new safety signals were observed.
The ALTAIR data arrive amid broader uncertainty regarding ctDNA-guided treatment escalation in CRC. The recent DYNAMIC-III trial similarly failed to demonstrate improved recurrence-free survival with ctDNA-guided intensification in stage III disease. Together, the studies suggest that while ctDNA robustly identifies high-risk patients, translating that prognostic information into effective therapeutic intervention remains challenging.
Still, the investigators argue that ALTAIR establishes the feasibility of large-scale MRD-directed trials and provides a framework for future studies using more active regimens, including immunotherapy combinations or anti-angiogenic strategies.
For now, the trial reinforces a central emerging reality in precision oncology: detecting molecular recurrence is increasingly possible. Preventing clinical relapse after detection remains the more difficult task.
The post First Phase III for Resected CRC ctDNA-Guided Therapy Shows Mixed Results appeared first on Inside Precision Medicine.
As demand on National Health Service (NHS) U.K. pathology services continues to rise, the shift toward digital pathology has never been more critical. While the NHS 10 Year Plan identifies it as one of the system’s most transformative enablers, digital pathology adoption remains uneven. Damian Doherty, Editor in Chief of Inside Precision Medicine, sat down with Olga Colgan, PhD, strategic marketing director at Leica Biosystems, and Darren Treanor, MB BCh, PhD, consultant histopathologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, to explore the pressures facing today’s pathology departments, the transformative potential of digital workflows, and how collaborative partnerships are helping accelerate progress and unlock the full value of digital diagnostics.
Q: The NHS 10 Year Health Plan identifies digital pathology as one of three fundamental shifts, yet adoption remains limited. What are the key barriers?
Olga Colgan: Many pathology departments today are already stretched thin by managing growing workloads, which can make it difficult to pause and do a thorough workflow examination and consider process improvements. Transitioning to digital pathology requires an investment and openness to change. For decades, pathology has been optimized for glass slide review under a microscope, so moving to digital is not just a technology upgrade, but a cultural shift for laboratory staff and clinicians who value the familiarity and comfort of traditional methods.
Proper capital allocation and investment are critical to unlock the benefits of digital pathology. For example, information technology (IT) infrastructure must be capable of supporting high-resolution imaging, secure storage, and rapid sharing of thousands of slides. Regulatory needs must also be considered, as each lab must validate digital workflows to ensure appropriate compliance.
While these upfront hurdles can seem daunting, they lead to significant long-term gains. Digital workflows enable faster slide sharing, improve access to subspecialists, and ultimately improve turnaround times—delivering real benefits for both laboratory teams and patients eagerly waiting for critical results.
Q: What are the key benefits of digital pathology that make it such a crucial step for modernizing NHS pathology services—particularly in terms of workflow efficiency, diagnostic accuracy, and collaborative decision-making?
Colgan: Digital pathology is the quintessential modernization of a pathology laboratory, driving efficiencies in workflows, accuracy, and collaboration. Centralized digital storage provides instant access to prior cases and supports predictive analytics. Eliminating physical slides from the workflow after scanning reduces breakage risks and concerns, misidentification risks, along with space and storage needs.
Beyond efficiency gains, digital pathology unleashes the power of remote collaboration. The ability to share whole-slide images instantly means pathologists can quickly leverage remote expertise within their network, or obtain second opinions in minutes rather than days, accelerating diagnostic confidence and treatment decisions. It also extends expertise beyond geographic boundaries, removing the “postcode-lottery” and providing a basis for equity in pathology diagnostics. This enables rural or underserved regions to access pathologists without the delays, costs, and concerns of physical slide transport. This connectivity transforms pathology into a truly networked resource, ensuring that expertise is available whenever and wherever it’s needed, even after hours.
Further, although in the early stages of routine usage, artificial intelligence (AI) models can add another layer of support by bringing greater quantification and reproducibility to slide analysis, highlighting subtle patterns or abnormalities that may be difficult to identify by eye. Effectively, AI can act as a second set of eyes to further build diagnostic confidence and augment—rather than replace—pathologist review.
Q: How are companies like Leica Biosystems supporting NHS trusts in overcoming digital pathology adoption challenges?
Colgan: It starts with listening. We understand that every laboratory and every pathology department has unique workflows, bottlenecks, and priorities, so our first step is a conversation and analysis to identify those needs and design a tailored roadmap for transformation. This isn’t just about technology; it’s about creating solutions that make the pathology workloads more sustainable, especially at a time when the profession faces significant workforce shortages.
Leica Biosystems partners with labs to deliver systems that meet their demands today, while anticipating future growth and scalability. A great example is Leeds Teaching Hospital and the National Pathology Imaging Co-operative. Combined, they make up the largest national integrated digital pathology network in Europe for routine diagnostics—a milestone that demonstrates what’s possible when technology and collaboration come together. The Leeds Guide to Digital Pathology, volume one and volume two, is packed with practical tips and pragmatic approaches to support successful digital pathology adoption.
Q: What influenced Leeds Teaching Hospital to adopt digital pathology, and what transformation have you experienced?
Darren Treanor: We’ve been involved with digital pathology since the very early days of the technology, and it has become the essential foundation of our teaching and research work at the University of Leeds. We had taken a cautious approach to clinical adoption until we were convinced that the technology was ready—both in terms of clinical safety and technical readiness—and we could ensure that it worked and was safe.
We decided that the threshold for adoption for clinical use was reached in 2015, when we established that the clinical safety was acceptable and that the scanners and viewing software were fit for purpose and would not slow us down. Working in partnership with Leica Biosystems, we adopted a phased approach to 100% digital scanning, starting with a “meaningful pilot” with our four breast pathology colleagues. This group was the most pro-digital in the department and, being located in a separate building, had experienced frustrating delays in the delivery of glass slides between the main lab and their offices. They actively pursued us to “go digital.” The pilot with them was critical for us in planning the laboratory and clinical workflow reconfigurations needed to go digital and, importantly, developing a verification and validation process that allowed us to transition from glass to digital slides while maintaining safety. This process became the foundation of the U.K. Royal College of Pathologists guidelines for digital pathology, which have been adopted in many other countries as well.
We then looked toward the further summit of “100% digital” and took a phased approach, starting with immunohistochemistry (IHC). As a separate part of the lab, this activity could be separately digitized. With digital review of IHC being a lower-risk activity clinically, it allowed us to introduce the rest of our over 40 pathology consultants to the idea of diagnosis on a digital image. Once that was completed, we moved in one final big step to 100% digital scanning, reaching that milestone on a summer’s day in 2018.
Q: What lessons can other NHS trusts learn from your digital transformation journey, and what should be considered as they examine their current workflows?
Treanor: Because of our academic background and partnership with Leica Biosystems, we were very keen to share our experiences of going digital and how to do it. Too many deployments would talk of the great success in using whole-slide imaging, but gloss over the challenges and effort involved in getting there.
We wrote the Leeds guides to provide really simple general-purpose assistance to other labs that are new to digital pathology and didn’t have the benefit of in-house expertise yet.
Looking back, being early adopters, we had the unique challenge of being one of the first centers to go fully digital and pave the way at a time when scanners, displays, and software were just good enough, and the combined global experience of digital pathology was low. We have run many workshops to share our experiences, and it has been interesting to see how the field has evolved in recent times and how much easier it is now to go digital. There are far fewer “unknowns” when going digital now, and modern scanners and workflows are significantly better. For example, our current setup has a very smooth transition from H&E [hematoxylin and eosin] stainer to scanner, which saves a lot of time in the lab and removes a major obstacle to lab operation that we had to work around in the early years. In our early workshops, a deployment was often a multi-year project with a lot of uncertainty and need for a lot of preparatory work; nowadays, labs are much more digital-ready, the timelines are much shorter, and success rates are much higher!
The post Digital Pathology and the NHS: Overcoming Barriers to a More Connected Future appeared first on Inside Precision Medicine.
Epigenetics is increasingly powering cancer diagnostics and liquid biopsies. These emerging private companies are spurring the market with structural DNA, fragmentomics, and DNA methylation tests.
Our understanding of the role of epigenetics in disease is growing rapidly, driven by rapid advances in sequencing technology and computing.
Epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA expression can interact with genomic changes to cause cancer. Therefore, diagnostics can detect early signs of disease by screening for these epigenetic signals.
Players including Illumina, Agilent Technologies, and Roche Diagnostics are leading the global market for epigenetic diagnostics, which is expected to swell by 15.5% per year from $17 billion in 2024 to $39 billion by 2030.
Growth is being driven by the increasing affordability of genome sequencing; the integration of AI tools in data analysis; growing investments; and soaring demand for liquid biopsies—noninvasive cancer tests based on blood and urine samples.
One of the first diagnostics with an epigenetic component to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was Exact Sciences’ (now part of Abbott Laboratories) ColoGuard® noninvasive stool test for colorectal cancer in 2014.
Since then, epigenetics diagnostics have already been generating M&A activity, with deals in the space including Cardio Diagnostics of the U.S. going public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company Mana Capital in 2022; the takeover of Ireland’s EpiCapture by compatriot Trinity Biotech in 2024; the 2023 acquisition of Germany’s Epigenomics AG by U.S.-based New Day Diagnostics; and U.S. Agilent’s acquisition of Avida Biomed, also in 2023.
There is also corporate venture interest with giants like Illumina Ventures, the Labcorp Venture Fund, and Lilly Asia Ventures making investments in small startups.
Check out below for our take on the most promising privately-owned players in the epigenetics diagnostics space, based on their investor attraction and market potential.
1. Arima Genomics
Founded: 2015 | Headquarters: Carlsbad, California
Arima Genomics was spun out of UC San Diego and developed research tools to pinpoint the 3D structure of DNA in cells.
However, the company pivoted to cancer diagnostics after its assay discovered vital clues on how to treat a teenage girl with glioblastoma in 2022.
Arima’s Hi-C technology involves locking the DNA structure in place via crosslinking. DNA strands are then cut with enzymes and labeled with a marker called biotin. Arima uses a process called proximity ligation to connect DNA strands that were physically close together into a single strand, and then sequences the resulting molecule.
Last year, Arima launched a lymphoma test that is delivered via the firm’s laboratory testing service, certified by the U.S. Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) program. The test is designed to be used to help patient management by discovering gene fusions and rearrangements for 417 genes in different types of lymphoma.
The test helps to fill in the gaps left by the gold standard, fluorescent in situ hybridization, which can be time- and resource-intensive and lead to conflicting results.
Arima raised $22 million in a Series C round led by Illumina Ventures in 2025 and appointed a former venture partner from Illumina Ventures as CEO. The firm is using the proceeds to launch a pipeline of clinical assays in cancer.
Arima also closed a partnership with Fox Chase Cancer Center earlier this year to co-develop diagnostic tests for lymphoma and sarcoma.
2. DELFI Diagnostics
Founded: 2019 | Headquarters: Baltimore, Maryland
DELFI Diagnostics was founded on an “aha” moment at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine when a group of researchers aimed to overcome the high costs and low sensitivity of traditional liquid biopsies.
The breakthrough involved hunting for the certain way cell-free DNA fragments appear in the blood. Healthy cells and cancer cells package their DNA in different patterns, reflecting changes in the cell’s genomic and epigenomic machinery.
Using this method of “fragmentomics,” DELFI’s technology can tap into orders of magnitude more data than traditional methods.
DELFI’s product FirstLook Lung uses artificial intelligence (AI) and fragmentomics technology to screen a blood sample for signs of lung cancer. It is designed as an adjunct tool to check whether patients are eligible for lung cancer screening, and is regulated under the CLIA program.
The startup’s other product, DELFI-Tumor Fraction (DELFI-TF), allows pharmaceutical companies to track the effectiveness of a cancer therapy based on a sample of less than one milliliter of plasma.
Delfi raised $5.5 million in a seed round when it was founded, with investors including Menlo Ventures and Illumina Ventures.
The startup subsequently raised a $100 million Series A round led by OrbiMed in 2021, a $225 million Series B round led by DFJ Growth in 2022, and a $34 million debt round last year.
3. Element Biosciences
Founded: 2017 | Headquarters: San Diego, California
Element Biosciences was co-founded by three former Illumina employees who dreamed of democratizing access to genomic sequencing.
The company markets devices designed to sequence genetic information at a lower cost and higher performance than traditional next-generation sequencing. These include AVITI
—its flagship benchtop sequencer—and AVITI24, which can simultaneously analyze DNA, RNA, proteins, and phosphorylated proteins.
The company generated $25 million in revenue in 2023, partly driven by orders of AVITI.
The technology, based on a process called Avidite Base Chemistry (ABC), uses a dye-labeled polymer to bind genetic material and produce sequencing data with the need for fewer reagents than traditional sequencing.
Element is working with epigenetics specialists to boost their research offerings, including Dovetail Genomics and biomodal.
The company has also formed collaborations with diagnostics providers to enhance their offerings, including Revvity’s neonatal genetic tests and Medicover Genetics’ tests for hereditary cancers, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, infertility, and neonatal diseases.
The company plans to market a clinical diagnostics-focused sequencing product called AVITI Dx, with EU approval expected this year in the form of a CE In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) mark.
Element Biosciences has raised more than $680 million since it was founded, including a $277 million Series D round in 2024. The asset manager, Wellington Management, led the oversubscribed round, with participation from Samsung Electronics, Fidelity, and more.
This year, Element plans to commercialize a benchtop device, called VITARI, that can sequence a whole genome at high quality for just $100.
4. Nucleix
Founded: 2008 | Headquarters: Rehovot, Israel
Nucleix was initially founded to use epigenetics to trace falsified DNA in forensic investigations. Although the technology worked well, the management team decided to pivot to cancer screening.
Nucleix’s kits involve screening for specific cancer-linked DNA methylation patterns using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
The company also uses machine learning to construct biomarker panels best suited to the application of interest.
Nucleix’s Bladder EpiCheck® urine test is designed to detect the recurrence of bladder tumors based on changes in DNA methylation. It can also be used to support standard diagnostics when detecting bladder cancer in cases where malignancy is suspected.
The test has a CE mark in Europe and FDA 510(k) clearance in the U.S. for bladder cancer recurrence, meaning it can be marketed as substantially equivalent to another device in the U.S. market.
Nucleix is also developing a blood test for detecting lung tumors based on their DNA methylation signatures.
The company raised a $55 million funding round led by RA Capital Management in 2021, with participation from investors including BlackRock and corporate venture firm Lilly Asia Ventures. It followed up with a $22 million extension round in 2022.
In 2024, Nucleix sealed a strategic partnership with A. Menarini Diagnostics, part of the Italian Menarini Group, to bring its Bladder EpiCheck test to the European market.
5. Precede Biosciences
Founded: 2021 | Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
Precede was established by a team comprising Dana Farber Cancer Institute researchers and the venture capital firm 5AM Ventures.
Precede is developing blood tests that measure signals of disease based on the genomic and epigenomic characteristics of cell-free DNA shed into the blood by tumors.
For example, the company tracks gene transcription activity and DNA methylation based on as little as one milliliter of plasma. It can then use machine learning to interpret the results and predict the optimal treatment for each patient.
Precede collaborates with drugmakers to harness its technology to inform the development of next-generation radioligand therapies and antibody-drug conjugates, which depend on the knowledge of target expression and pathway activity rather than single genomic alterations.
The research-focused product Precede Bio Insight is designed to track the progress of cancer, with data spanning breast and prostate cancer.
The second product, Precede Bio Dx, also allows clinicians to select patients for clinical trials based on the blood test results.
The company emerged from stealth mode with $57 million in 2023, and followed up with a Series B round worth $83.5 million in January this year to fund the scaling of its technology as it gains commercial traction.
Among the B round’s syndicate were corporate venture investors Labcorp Venture Fund and Lilly Asia Ventures, and existing investor Illumina Ventures.
Jonathan Smith, PhD, is a freelance science journalist based in the U.K. and Spain. He previously worked in Berlin as a reporter and news editor at Labiotech, a website covering the biotech industry. Prior to this, he completed a PhD in behavioral neurobiology at the University of Leicester and freelanced for the U.K. organizations Research Media and Society of Experimental Biology. He has also written for medwireNews, Biopharma Reporter, and Outsourcing Pharma.
The post Beyond the Genome: Five Emerging Leaders in Epigenetics Diagnostics appeared first on Inside Precision Medicine.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has warned more than 500 hospitals that they are failing to provide the public with basic pricing information — arguing that the lack of disclosure is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be.
The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since April have either received letters of warning or, in more severe cases, requests to submit plans to provide transparent pricing. Failing to comply with the warnings comes with penalties as high as $2 million annually for each recipient that doesn’t create a plan to post clear pricing data.
A new study published in Nature titled, “Distributed control circuits across a brain-and-cord connectome”, describes a complete wiring diagram of all the connections between neurons in the central nervous system of an adult fruit fly for translational applications.
The work was completed by an international team led by multiple labs at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Princeton University. The team has made the entire connectome accessible online to propel research into complex behaviors and other fundamentals of the nervous system.
The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, offers an effective model as they are easy to breed and maintain in the lab. Despite having a relatively simple nervous system made up of around 160,000 neurons, they exhibit complex behaviors such as navigation, social interaction, learning, and responding to sensory cues.
To build the connectome, the team used electron microscopy to produce millions of images of neurons and neural connections. AI tools aligned the images into a cohesive 3D map.
“It is really important to have a central nervous system connectome that is as complete as possible so we can link up the brain and body and start thinking about behavior holistically,” said Wei-Chung Allen Lee, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology at HMS and co-corresponding author on the study.
The connectome shows how each neuron connects in the brain and nerve cord at the synapse level. While the map doesn’t span the fly’s entire body, the team used identifiable neurons and literature review to connect the central nervous system to neurons in appendages and sensory organs.
The authors have already used the connectome to explore motor control. While a longstanding idea in neuroscience is for a centralized controller in the brain to make decisions about actions, the authors discovered that motor control in the fruit fly mostly occurs at a local level. For example, movement of a fly’s leg is primarily controlled by the neural circuits for that leg. The local circuits for one leg then communicates with other appendages to carry out complex coordinated movements, such as walking.
“The brain and nerve cord connectomes are each useful on their own, but until you can bridge the two, it’s hard to understand how information moves between the brain and the body,” said co-first author Helen Yang, PhD, a research fellow in neurobiology at HMS.
Looking ahead, the researchers plan to add more information to the connectome, including data describing neuropeptides, molecules that support neuron communication. Insights from the connectome may reveal fundamental principles about how nervous systems operate across species, including in humans.
The post Complete Connectome of Fruit Fly Central Nervous System Now Open-Source appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.