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Articles by Marnie Willman
Imaging neural activity in action
Infographics Take a closer look at modern techniques that reveal when, where, and how neurons communicate in real time. Understanding how the brain works requires technologies that can capture activity as it happens. From electrical signals at the scalp to calcium and voltage changes inside individual neurons, modern imaging techniques capture the brain’s dynamic processes that shape brain function, cognition, and disease.
Explained: How do monoclonal antibodies impact modern medicine?
Explainers Monoclonal antibodies are life-saving therapeutics that can be used for a myriad of conditions from infectious diseases to cancer. Traditional drug modalities often fall short in targeting complex disease mechanisms with both precision and low toxicity. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) offer a flexible, specific platform that addresses these challenges.
Here’s what we know about the role of laboratory software in drug discovery
Drug discovery research increasingly relies on laboratory informatics to manage vast amounts of data. Laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs) enhance efficiency, data integrity, and collaboration. Additionally, AI-driven analytics offer new ways to interpret experimental results. However, implementing these technologies presents challenges, such as cost, scalability, and user adoption.
Lab Data’s New Role as the Backbone of AI-Driven Clinical Trials
Clinical trials remain fraught with inefficiencies and high failure rates. On average, 90 percent of clinical trials fail to bring a drug to market, often due to poor design or barriers to selecting ideal participants for the aims of the trial.1 These failures not only delay life-saving treatments but also burden the healthcare system with escalating costs. However, by pairing lab data with artificial intelligence (AI), the clinical trial process is being transformed.
Integrating Multi-Omics Approac
The life sciences have undergone a technological revolution driven by the development of various omics approaches such as genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. These tools have transformed research by offering unprecedented insights into the molecular underpinnings of health and disease. Each omics technology reveals a piece of the puzzle, but the real power lies in integrating these different datasets—a concept known as multi-omics.
Evolving Regulations and Guidelines in Genetic Testing
The landscape of genetic and genomic testing is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by advancements in technology and evolving regulatory frameworks. As the FDA plays a crucial role in overseeing the approval and regulation of genetic tests, clinicians must navigate an increasingly complex environment to effectively integrate these tools into patient care.
The Complexity of Compliance in Clinical Specimen Collection
In the United States, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) were introduced to the Public Health Services Act in 1988. CLIA laws, which have been amended several times since their inception, oversee clinical lab testing and certification, including specimen collection. Navigating the many stages, challenges, and situations presented by specimen collection while remaining compliant is a difficult task for labs of all sizes and specialties.
Ensuring Excellence in Lab Quality for Clinical Specimen Collection
A quality management system (QMS) is a set of policies and procedures that provide a framework for how the lab receives, processes, and stores samples. The QMS can preserve sample integrity, improve paperwork traceability, and align procedures so they are optimized for their designated application. Several different QMS options exist, each with its own set of benefits and drawbacks.
The Ripple Effect of Poor Lab Inventory Management
Inventory management is simultaneously the most necessary and most disliked task that laboratorians carry out every day. However, poor inventory management impacts virtually every facet of the lab. Lab factors affected by poor inventory management Delays in research are often a byproduct of poor inventory management. Whether chemicals and reagents have been used up and either not reordered, orders are delayed, or products are missing, experiments are delayed until replacements arrive.
Marnie Willman Author Profile
Growing organoids in the lab enables the study of an organ-like system without a limited cell model or lab animals
New FDA Regulations for Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials for 2024
What the new FDA regulations mean for upcoming clinical trials, and how you can utilize tools to navigate the new environment In April 2023, the FDA announced that as of 2024, there were new Diversity and Inclusion guidances for clinical trials. Commissioner Robert M.
Solutions to Advance Drug Development
The most complex step of developing a therapeutic is to design its appropriate delivery system. Developing effective, non-harmful, long-lasting drug delivery systems is a major barrier facing the pharmaceutical industry because finding an effective, novel therapeutic is only half of the battle. The drug must then find its way to the active site and be bioavailable to treat the condition for which it was selected.
Who Falls More Easily for Conspiracy Theories?
News People who primarily use their own gut feeling to determine what is true and false are more likely to believe conspiracy theories. That is the conclusion of researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, who have investigated the relationship between susceptibility to misleading information and the conviction that the truth is relative. “I think many people who emphasize a more relativistic view of what truth is mean well.
Now and Forever: How Useful is PFAS Testing?
PFAS exposure can be detected by a blood test, but whether or not you should get one is a matter of debate according to CompTox, a chemicals database maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS are a group of nearly 15,000 synthetic chemicals. PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, were ubiquitously used for many products from water resistant clothing and paints to food wrappers following their invention in the 1930s.
Utilizing Primary Cell Lines and 3D Cell Models to Better Represent a Living System
Cell models and tissue culture form the epicenter of critical research worldwide, used for testing new therapies, modeling disease, and exploring the unknown. Science writer Marnie Willman spoke to Chongbei Zhao, MD, PhD, the head of Cells, Tissues, and Organoids Center at Stowers Institute for Medical Research. She explains some of the considerations surrounding different cell models and use of tissue culture in medical research. Note: These responses have been edited for clarity and style.
AI’s Role in Diagnostics: A Future without Treatment Delays and Mismatches
ADLM Disruptive Technology Award finalists take aim at testing delays impacting diagnosis and treatment The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine’s Disruptive Technology Award recognizes innovative solutions to clinical problems in diagnostics access, speed, or performance. This year’s three finalists and three semifinalists address some of the most widespread problems facing today’s clinical labs—cancer, infectious disease, chronic illness, and more.
Empower Your Clinical Lab With Chemiluminescence Immunoassays
Automated chemiluminescence immunoassays facilitate rapid and accurate detection of target analytes in patient samples, ?enabling rapid diagnosis and treatment Q: What is a chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA)? A: CLIA is a widely used assay formats that detects a chemiluminescence light signal resulting from an antibody-antigen interaction. To begin the process, magnetic beads are linked to a capture antibody that binds the target antigen.
Cell and Gene Therapies Demand a Robust System
Q: What are the primary challenges clinical labs face during cell and gene therapy (CGT) assay development? The lack of rapid analytical methods means that quality control testing can be extremely time-consuming. For example, some cell-based potency assays can take one to three weeks to execute. Another challenge is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to CGT assay development.
When Your Data is Too Much to Process, Turn to AI/ML
Many clinical programs can benefit from AI/ML software to remove initial legwork Q: What are the clinical diagnostic applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)? A: AI and ML have many applications in the clinical space. For instance, in clinical diagnostics, they can prioritize genetic variants for review. A patient’s sequencing results typically contain numerous genetic variants that may be contributing to disease.
Marnie Willman, BSc
Preserving samples in an organized manner makes it easier to track projects and find products
AI Digital Cytology Can Improve Your Lab's Cancer Screening
The potential of AI and digitization in transforming cytology in your lab Q: What are the benefits of using artificial intelligence (AI) in digital cytology? A: Traditionally, cytology is performed by having a cytologist review tens of thousands of cells on a glass slide under a microscope.
No Lab, No Problem: LAMP Increases Accessibility for Diagnostics
Top Image: Photo provided by New England Biolabs. Colorimetric LAMP tests are simple to perform, straightforward to read, and can address public health challenges from flu to malaria Q: What is colorimetric loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)? How does it improve on existing molecular diagnostics? LAMP is an isothermal amplification method that detects DNA or RNA without the need for thermal cycling inherent in tools like PCR.
Microbiome Testing: Learning From the Past to Inform the Future
The gut microbiome and your health The gut microbiome—the collection of microbes that inhabit your gut—is known to contribute to the development of adverse health conditions including type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer. The microbes in your body outnumber your own cells by approximately 10:1, so it’s unsurprising that they play a significant role in human health.
Microbiome self-collection can improve accessibility and data.
Better quality data accessed from a wider range of individuals provides more robust results for treatments and clinical trials Q: What are microbiome studies, and how can they inform patient care? A: The gut microbiota is one of the key elements that contributes to the regulation of human health intestinal bowel diseases, celiac disease, colorectal cancer, chronic liver diseases and pancreatic disorders.
Cells and Animals Require High-Grade Water
Humans are composed primarily of water, which means that our cells are accustomed to functioning in aqueous environments. As a result, the water in cellular media or in vitro environments can substantially impact how cells behave. When testing a drug candidate with the goal of reaching clinical trials, it’s important to use only pure, uncontaminated water. Water in animal models Animal models are often used to provide proof of effect and justify clinical trials in humans.
Novel Therapeutic Assessment Depends on High-Quality Water
The hit-to-lead and lead optimization stages of novel therapeutic characterization require sensitive, water-dependent experiments Once your lab has identified compounds of interest, you can progress to the “hit-to-lead” stage of characterization. A “hit” refers to a compound that has some therapeutic activity. Developing it into a “lead” involves characterizing the compound’s activity at the site, toxicity, potency, and overall effectiveness under different conditions in a high-throughput setup.
The Essential Role of Water Purity in Drug Target Discovery
Water purity can drastically impact quality control during drug discovery, validation, and characterization “Ten thousand diseases, 500 cures” is an oft-cited statistic—and, although not strictly accurate, it effectively illustrates the need to uncover new treatment options for the many conditions that still cause widespread morbidity and mortality today.
Water: The Heart of Your Drug Formulation Experiments
When generating the optimal formulation, it’s essential to get your water right From the dosage form to the testing environment, water is used in almost every stage of drug formulation. Because of this, water problems can be a barrier to the formulation stage of drug development and can prevent progression to FDA approval.
A Robot Is Only as Good as Its Tools
Using impure water can reduce the reproducibility of laboratory robots’ work during hit discovery Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are on the rise in a wide range of industries—and laboratories working on drug discovery are no exception. However, as with any laboratory automation process, the concept of “garbage in, garbage out” holds true. If a robot is supplied with contaminated or impure water, its experiments are likely to yield skewed or incorrect results.
Your saliva affects the way you spread pathogens
Get new Lab Notes sent to your inbox Photo by Kyle on Unsplash Trans and gender-nonconforming people may express themselves in gender-affirming ways, such as choosing clothing, changing their names or pronouns, beginning hormone replacement therapy, and undergoing surgery. “Detransitioning” — reverting to representing oneself as one’s sex assigned at birth — is often incorrectly conflated with regret by the media.
Researchers create an effective RNA vaccine for malaria
Tech similar to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines might prevent one of the world's deadliest diseases Marnie Willman Virology University of Manitoba Bannatyne and National Microbiology Laboratory April 29, 2021 Malaria remains a significant problem facing Africa. Of the 409,000 worldwide malaria deaths estimated by the WHO in 2019, occurred in Africa.
Sugar in Semen Makes HIV Drugs Less Effective
Scanning electromicrograph of an HIV-infected T cell. Photo: NIAID. Well over die of HIV/AIDS each year, making it one of the leading causes of death in the world. According to data from 2019, 38 million people around the world live with HIV/AIDS. The good news is that in 1990, researchers found the first effective treatment for HIV/AIDS, called antiretroviral therapy. The therapy represents a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs, each designed to limit viral replication and infection.
Hepatitis C virus tracking could be made easier by next generation sequencing
Today, multinational pharmaceutical company Pfizer reported their mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, was more than 90 percent effective against SARS-CoV-2, based on early phase 3 clinical trial data. The study enrolled 43,538 participants in six countries who were spilt into two groups: a group that was received the vaccine candidate, and a group that received a placebo treatment.
New research on Nipah virus finds the virus spreads rapidly as patients approach death
Following the harassment of Christian Cooper in Central Park in May 2020, Black birders created #BlackBirdersWeek to celebrate Black nature enthusiasts and highlight their belonging in outdoor spaces. Since then, dozens of campaigns have emerged to amplify and appreciate Black academics, scientists, and naturalists. Next up is #BlackInMarineScienceWeek, running from November 29th to December 5th.
Wolbachia bacteria stop mosquitos from spreading viruses
Get new Lab Notes sent to your inbox Before the advent of antibiotics, an infected paper cut could be deadly. Now we can use antibiotics to treat bacterial meningitis, strep throat and even tuberculosis. However, unlike most antibiotic prescriptions, tuberculosis treatment requires a regime of three different antibiotics and takes between six months and a year. This type of prolonged exposure to antibiotics drives the development of antibiotic resistance.
Eating more fiber feeds whipworm parasites in our guts
Get new Lab Notes sent to your inbox Earlier this year, Google released an artificial intelligence-based dermatology app called Derm Assist. Based off pictures alone, it is capable of recognizing 288 different skin conditions — with one big caveat: The app, developed out of a 2020 Google study published in Nature Medicine,was built on a 64,387-image database heavily biased toward images of white and light brown skin.
The sugar in semen makes HIV drugs less effective
High levels of the sugar can obstruct antivirals from linking with viruses Marnie Willman Virology University of Manitoba Bannatyne and National Microbiology Laboratory July 9, 2020 Well over die of HIV/AIDS each year, making it one of the leading causes of death in the world. According to data from 2019, 38 million people around the world live with HIV/AIDS. The good news is that in 1990, researchers found the first effective treatment for HIV/AIDS, called antiretroviral therapy.
Researchers develop a better test for the parasite that causes river blindness
Get new Lab Notes sent to your inbox Marco Verch on Flickr (CC BY 2.0) Hypoxia is a potentially deadly lack of oxygen and is especially lethal for brain cells. When there is not enough oxygen in the brain, extra hydrogen sulfide is produced, a gas commonly found in sewers and geysers and known for the odor of rotten eggs. As hydrogen sulfide accumulates in the brain, it stops neurons from producing energy, thereby killing them.
Cytokines prevent the whooping cough bacteria from invading the rest of the body (in mice)
Following the harassment of Christian Cooper in Central Park in May 2020, Black birders created #BlackBirdersWeek to celebrate Black nature enthusiasts and highlight their belonging in outdoor spaces. Since then, dozens of campaigns have emerged to amplify and appreciate Black academics, scientists, and naturalists. Next up is #BlackInMarineScienceWeek, running from November 29th to December 5th.
West Nile Virus-carrying mosquitos managed to survive a German winter
Big congratulations to Jeff Bezos, who rode torturous working conditions for his employees, an avalanche of monopolization that put small business into the dirt, and a rocket ship that looks like a penis into 10 minutes in low-Earth orbit. Look at this damn thing Via Flickr Bezos and his space tourism company, Blue Origin, see this as the first step towards mining space for resources that humans can use on Earth.
Parasitic wasps murder insects with a smallpox-like virus
Many of our readers and friends are scientists and experts in their fields. Would that stop mansplainers from talking down to them? We asked if they had any stories of being mansplained to, and they did not disappoint. Here are a few of our favorites. If you have stories you'd like to contribute, please email me at dan@massivesci.com, or DM me on Twitter (@d_samorodnitsky). Anonymity guaranteed. All the below respondents asked to remain anonymous. These quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.
Can hormone levels signal for autism in girls?
Get new Lab Notes sent to your inbox CDC/Dr. Mike Miller People diagnosed with a vaginal yeast infection are usually prescribed an azole-based antifungal medication. But many know that’s often the beginning of a roller coaster of recurrent vaginal infections. This is likely because azole antifungals ransack the “good” bacterial populations of the vagina even as they kill the yeast.
We could soon be harvesting anti-viral antibodies from tobacco plants
This Dec. 17, 2016 photo shows a Donald Trump campaign sign along a highway near Los Banos, Calif. A California farmer says Donald Trump's campaign vow to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally pushed him into buying more equipment, cutting the number of workers he’ll need during the next harvest.
We could soon be harvesting anti-viral antibodies from tobacco plants
With infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 remaining a continual threat, and cancer rates on the rise, we rely on modern medical treatments like antibodies more than ever before. Antibody production is a major source of research animal use. Scientists use what are called "humanized mice," which are mice that have immune machinery to make human antibodies, to create antibodies to human medical treatments.
Children that go to school near major roadways experience more severe asthma
Many of our readers and friends are scientists and experts in their fields. Would that stop mansplainers from talking down to them? We asked if they had any stories of being mansplained to, and they did not disappoint. Here are a few of our favorites. If you have stories you'd like to contribute, please email me at dan@massivesci.com, or DM me on Twitter (@d_samorodnitsky). Anonymity guaranteed. All the below respondents asked to remain anonymous. These quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.
Bats’ unique immune systems make them stealthy reservoirs for viruses
(annick vanderschelden photography/Getty Images) Bats have been at the center of many major viral outbreaks because they can carry viruses without showing symptoms Marnie Willman February 10, 2020 8:00AM (UTC) This story originally appeared on Massive Science, an editorial partner site that publishes science stories by scientists. Subscribe to their newsletter to get even more science sent straight to you.
Bats' unique immune systems make them stealthy viral reservoirs
Photo by Vlad Kutepov on Unsplash These ecologically important animals have been at the center of many major viral outbreaks, and we are beginning to understand why Marnie Willman Virology University of Manitoba Bannatyne and National Microbiology Laboratory February 4, 2020 In 2001, Nipah virus emerged in India, causing an estimated 66 cases and 45 deaths after people unknowingly drank contaminated raw date palm sap.
Are you in danger of catching the coronavirus? 5 things you need to know
Editor’s note: The Chinese government has quarantined Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people, and it has restricted travel to and from several other cities, including Beijing, to contain the coronavirus that has sickened more than 800 people and killed at least 25 as of Jan. 23, 2020. A case has been reported in Seattle, and officials are monitoring a patient with a possible case in College Station, Texas. This raises the question: Will this spread – to me? 5. Am I at risk?
Scientists find a new cause for an insidious brain virus
In recent years, a mysterious surge of a Parkinson’s-like disorder spread around the world, causing an estimated 10-15 percent of the 10 million worldwide Parkinson’s Disease diagnoses, baffling doctors and stunning scientists. For years, no one had any idea where the disease was coming from. Until one common thread between the cases emerged. Many of these patients were survivors of viral diseases that had infected the brain and led to viral encephalitis.
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