Even in normal times, being the head of a major agency like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be challenging. These are far from normal times, so challenges will likely be even greater for the person expected to be nominated by President Biden. This week we also look at preparing for a pandemic superbug, a record year of venture financing for ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of October 4
For the first time, artificial intelligence developed by DeepMind, one of the world’s premier AI labs, has been used to significantly advance scientific research. The project, known as AlphaFold, uses AI to predict the configuration of a protein. With an estimated 10300 configurations, the task is highly complex. In addition, this week we highlight ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of September 27
Telehealth has been one of the big developments in health care brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. It both promises to make care easier for patients to fit into their busy lives and holds the potential of allowing trials and new treatments to reach people far from the research hospitals in city centers. However, there are hurdles to overcome before much of ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of September 20
As the delta variant ravages communities throughout the Unites States, it is important to look past the data and remember that every infection, hospitalization and death leaves an indelible mark on that patient’s family and community. And few communities have suffered as much as Black communities in the South. This week we look at this tragedy—and the ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of September 13
This week we explore promising developments in CRISPR genome editing, also known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, a bacterial defense system. We also look at two of the latest U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approvals, including another one for a surgical robot that leverages artificial intelligence and a nerve stimulation ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of September 6
As the threat of the delta variant continues to mount, the Biden administration has released plans to extend its vaccine mandate to U.S. companies. Affecting over 80 million U.S. workers, we expect there to be significant conversation on this topic in the coming months. This week, we also dig into Pfizer’s impressive team of “variant hunters” who work around ... READ MORE >
Avoiding a COVID-19 pandemic among children
New weekly COVID-19 cases in children hit record levels the week of Aug. 26 in the United States, representing 22% of the total cases that week, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Hospitalizations of children from the virus have been rising as well, and now comprise between 2% and 4% of the total. A combination of factors is behind this ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of August 23
We often hear about rare and orphan diseases and think they must be, well, rare. For every individual rare disease, that is true. But when considered together, a surprising number of people are affected by one of the thousands of known rare diseases. This week we share two stories of how big data and machine learning are being used to better identify and ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of August 16
With the school year starting and office reopening plans shifting, many people are unsure of what activities they should be comfortable doing and what they should avoid in the face of the delta variant. Instead of asking experts what other people should do, this week we look at what decisions those experts are making for themselves. We also look at the ... READ MORE >
5 things to know in life sciences: Week of August 9
With eyes on infrastructure policymaking this week, our roundup takes a look at the components of the Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget framework that could affect the life sciences industry. We also highlight a major investment in surgical robotics, the performance of companies post-merger with a special purpose acquisition company and share which of the ... READ MORE >