Sure, you might be resistant to CRISPR/Cas9 – but there are still ways around it
<b>Reading Time:</b> 6 minutes<p> Sure, you might be resistant to CRISPR/Cas9 – but there are still ways around it It looks like there could be a setback for CRISPR/Cas9 as a gene therapy option for humans. Last year ended well for CRISPR/Cas9 and we got one step closer to using the genome editing tool as a treatment for diseases.…
New Year Special: A dish that will supposedly make you healthier
<b>Reading Time:</b> 12 minutes<p> New Year Special: A dish that will supposedly make you healthier The Ivory Embassy wishes all of you a happy new year! The doors to the Embassy are finally reopened, after a well needed Christmas break and we know exactly what you need right now. You need to get healthy.You need a healthy diet. A…
In wine we trust – how feeding cells with wine became a cancer cure
<b>Reading Time:</b> 6 minutes<p> In wine we trust – how feeding cells with wine became a cancer cure Red wine cures cancer! That caught your attention, didn’t it? It’s just an example of titles or statements that can quickly spread in social media and cause confusion, in addition to a smile of course. An incomplete truth gets massive attention…
Electron microscopy turned cold – The Nobel Prize winners (Chemistry)
<b>Reading Time:</b> 6 minutes<p> Electron microscopy turned cold – The Nobel Prize winners (Chemistry) The Nobel Prizes were awarded yesterday, December 10th. Let’s have a closer look at the prize awarded in Chemistry and how the laureates work helped us to literally look at proteins, the molecular machines so central to our lives. The electron deserves more credit It…
Your internal clock is decoded – The Nobel Prize winners (Medicine)
<b>Reading Time:</b> 6 minutes<p> Your internal clock is decoded – The Nobel Prize winners (Medicine) The Nobel Prize Award ceremony is near. On December 10th, the Nobel laureates of 2017 will be presented in Stockholm, Sweden. Let’s talk Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and your internal clock. You know the feeling, those days after an intercontinental trip, where you’re…
Everybody wants EMA – the relationship drama about drugs
<b>Reading Time:</b> 5 minutes<p> Everybody wants EMA – the relationship drama about drugs Last week it was settled: the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be moving from London to Amsterdam. Brexit was the classic homewrecker in this story, forcing a 12-year relationship to end. But what does this mean for the involved parties and why all the drama? And,…
What in the name of science is CRISPR/Cas?
<b>Reading Time:</b> 7 minutes<p> What in the name of science is CRISPR/Cas? CRISPR/Cas is the tool that is on people’s lips right now, not only scientists’ (in our opinion at least). Media is talking about designer-babies, disease-resistant crops and many other applications. It could possibly play a significant role in our future everyday lives, and because of this, it’s…
Genome editing: How we cut and manipulate genes in our DNA
<b>Reading Time:</b> 8 minutes<p> Genome editing: How we cut and manipulate genes in our DNA There is a good chance that you have heard of the advances in genome engineering and genome editing. Scientists can now alter the sequence of mammalian genes (and of other organisms) through a relatively new technology called CRISPR. This highly efficient tool has truly…
CAR T-cell therapy – Novartis and the question of ‘how much?’
<b>Reading Time:</b> 3 minutes<p> How much? I imagine that question came up eventually at one of the meetings of whichever team decides pricing strategies at Novartis. And they came up with an answer: 475000 $. Four Hundred And Seventy Five Thousand dollars for a one shot therapy that can potentially cure a rare type of cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In other words,…
CAR-T therapy against ALL
<b>Reading Time:</b> 4 minutes<p> CAR-T therapy against ALL The game Kill the cancer with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. A cancer therapy based on genetic manipulation of T-cells to attack specific targets that would otherwise evade the immune system. The players T-cells The potential cancer killer. Cells of the adaptive immune system that are responsible for killing foreign invaders…