Researchers analyzed the toxicity concerns and advancements in mRNA therapeutics, focusing on their cellular toxicity, reactogenicity, and distribution, and discussed the challenges and benefits of mRNA research.
A team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Columbia University has demonstrated a way to produce large quantities of the receptor that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, binds to on the surface of human cells.
Tumors constantly shed DNA from dying cells, which briefly circulates in the patient's bloodstream before it is quickly broken down. Many companies have created blood tests that can pick out this tumor DNA, potentially helping doctors diagnose or monitor cancer or choose a treatment.
A new way to recover significantly more circulating tumor DNA in a blood sample could improve the sensitivity of liquid biopsies used to detect, monitor, and guide treatment of tumors.