Reports + Research

Rady Children’s Hospital Sets World Record for Fastest Genome Sequencing

Scientists at Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine, who worked closely with Illumina, sequenced a genome in just 19.5 hours. The technological accomplishment was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. Faster genome sequencing could provide quicker diagnoses for children with life-threatening genetic diseases.

California Gets First Royalty Check from CIRM Investment

According to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the first royalty check was sent to the California State Treasurer’s office from City of Hope. In 2004, California voters supported Proposition 71, which gave the state the constitutional right to conduct stem cell research and led to the creation of CIRM. CIRM gave City of Hope a grant in 2012 to support clinical development of a therapy for glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. The therapeutic candidate was licensed by Mustang Bio, which lead to the royalty check payment.

TSRI Receives $10 Million Grant to Find New Therapies for Alcohol Abuse

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Addiction awarded a five-year grant to a team at TSRI led by Barbara Mason, director of TSRI’s Alcohol Research Center. The research will look at ways to therapeutically mitigate the unpleasant effects of abstinence for those that have adjusted to chronic heavy alcohol exposure. The goal is to reduce these effects to improve a patient’s success in quitting alcohol.

Sirenas and Bristol-Myers Squibb Collaborate for Microbiome Drug Discovery

The multi-target research collaboration will use Sirenas’ drug discovery platform, called ATLANTIS, against certain undisclosed therapeutic targets to identify potential drug candidates. ATLANTIS uses data mining technology to identify potential drug candidates derived from Sirenas’ proprietary chemical library isolated from global microbiome collections.

Read + Listen

POW!  Podcast of the Week

Science Friday takes an in-depth look at everything microbiome. Check it out here and bookmark it.

BOW!  Book of the Week

Skip all the diet books about the microbiome, and read I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. According to Bill Gates, the author “synthesizes literally hundreds and hundreds of papers, but he never overwhelms you with the science.”

Events

It’s Happening Here

February 22
San Diego Venture Group is holding an expert panel on Fundraising for HealthTech at JLABS.

March 6–7
Ignite is UC San Diego’s flagship annual innovation conference, connecting risk-takers, rule-breakers and changemakers across the campus and community.

March 9
4th Annual UCSD Division of Regenerative Medicine Symposium will take place at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.

Tags: Biotech, Biotech Briefing, Blogs, Genomics, Medical Research, Rady Children’s Hospital