Lifeboat Foundation

In the phase 3 GLOW study, ibrutinib plus venetoclax significantly improved progression-free survival and other outcomes in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, across most genomic subgroups.

Patients treated with fixed-duration ibrutinib (Imbruvica) plus venetoclax (Venclexta) achieved higher undetectable minimal residual disease (uMRD), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) rates compared with chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab (Gazyva) across most genomic subgroups of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).1.

Findings come from the phase 3 GLOW study (NCT03462719) in which data were presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO 2023). Patients treated with ibrutinib and venetoclax achieved a higher uMRD rate at 3 months (54.7%) after the end of treatment compared with patients treated with obinutuzumab and chlorambucil (39.0%), except patients with trisomy-12, IGLL5 mutation, and mutated immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable (mIGHV).

Learn more about the ways this disease travels to different parts of your body, and how treatment can help stop the spread.

COVID-19 can affect various organs in the body, such as the brain, lungs, heart, and kidneys. But what happens to these organs after the infection is over? How long does it take for them to heal? A new study has tried to answer these questions by using MRI scans to look at multiple organs of people hospitalized with COVID-19.

The study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, is one of the most comprehensive post–COVID–19 MRI studies to date. It involved 259 patients who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.K. and 50 people who had never been… More.

Credits: SvetaZi/iStock.

Continue reading “MRI reveals long-term organ abnormalities after COVID-19” »

The group at Shanghai Jiao Tong University has demonstrated a DNA computer system using DNA integrated circuits (DICs) that can solve quadratic equations with 30 logic gates.

Published in Nature, the system integrates multiple layers of DNA-based programmable gate arrays (DPGAs). This uses generic single-stranded oligonucleotides as a uniform transmission signal can reliably integrate large-scale DICs with minimal leakage and high fidelity for general-purpose computing.

To control the intrinsically random collision of molecules, the team designed DNA origami registers to provide the directionality for asynchronous execution of cascaded DPGAs. This was used to assemble a DIC that can solve quadratic equations with three layers of cascade DPGAs comprising 30 logic gates with around 500 DNA strands.

To make a gene-editing tool more precise and easier to control, Rice University engineers split it into two pieces that only come back together when a third small molecule is added.

Researchers in the lab of chemical and biomolecular engineer Xue Sherry Gao created a CRISPR-based gene editor designed to target adenine ⎯ one of the four main DNA building blocks ⎯ that remains inactive when disassembled but kicks into gear once the binding molecule is added.

Compared to the intact original, the split editor is more precise and stays active for a narrower window of time, which is important for avoiding off-target edits. Moreover, the activating small molecule used to bind the two pieces of the tool together is already being used as an anticancer and immunosuppressive drug.

I wondered when this would happen. Reminds me of the video game “The Last of Us” and there’s a TV series as well. I’m sure they’ll stop it though.

Silver leaf disease is a curse for a variety of botanicals, from pears to roses to rhododendron. Infecting their leaves and branches, the fungus Chondrostereum purpureum can be fatal for the plant if not quickly treated.

Aside from the risk of losing the occasional rose bush, the fungal disease has never been considered a problem for humans. Until this year.

Continue reading “Plant Fungus Infected a Human in First Reported Case of Its Kind” »

It could be a new way to treat one of the more common and more frustrating symptoms of Alzheimer’s. A team at Johns Hopkins is leading a study on the drug, and you can get involved.

Leveraging Technology For Innovative, Patient-Centered Clinical Care — Dr. Peter Fleischut, MD — Group Senior Vice President And Chief Information & Transformation Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Dr. Peter M. Fleischut, M.D., is Group Senior Vice President and Chief Information and Transformation Officer at NewYork-Presbyterian (https://www.nyp.org/)where he oversees the strategic vision and management of enterprise information technology, lab operations, pharmacy operations, innovation, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, telemedicine, and cybersecurity.

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Revolutionizing Musculoskeletal Health Through Microcapsule Drug Delivery — Dr. @George R. Dodge, Ph.D. — CEO & Co-Founder — Mechano-Therapeutics LLC

Dr. George R. Dodge, Ph.D. is CEO & Co-Founder of Mechano-Therapeutics LLC (https://mechano-therapeutics.com/), a biotechnology company spun out from his lab, and the labs of his partners Dr. Rob Mauck and Dr. Daeyeon Lee, at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in microcapsule development using proprietary microfluidics for drug encapsulation, with a mission to revolutionize musculoskeletal health using an innovative platform technology to enhance delivery of therapeutics for improving patient outcomes.

Continue reading “Dr George Dodge — CEO & Co-Founder — Mechano-Therapeutics — Revolutionizing Musculoskeletal Health” »