In a breakthrough discovery that changes how we understand T cells and with implications of how we can better engineer custom immune responses to fight disease, Institute for Systems Biology researchers showed that the different disease-fighting functions of different T cells are determined by the genetically encoded T-cell receptor sequence that are unique to those cells.
High school students Ashwin Mukherjee and Rohan Chanani worked with ISB Research Scientist Dr. Jacob Valenzuela on a project to build a machine learning algorithm to count algal cells from microscope images taken from a cell phone. In April, the team was recognized as champions in the DOE-sponsored AlgaePrize competition.
In their new book, “The Age of Scientific Wellness: Why the Future of Medicine is Personalized, Predictive, Data-Rich, and In Your Hands,” Drs. Lee Hood and Nathan Price introduce a new way of thinking about healthcare – a focus on preventing diseases and optimizing overall wellness.
Bacteria are much more than single-celled organisms swimming around. Bacteria also form communities called biofilm, and work together to maintain the microbial community. Biofilm is just one research area of ISB’s Kuchina Lab. In this Research Roundtable presentation, ISB Assistant Professor Dr. Anna Kuchina details her work studying biofilms.
Renowned artist Ginny Ruffner and ISB President Dr. Jim Heath delivered a lecture at Town Hall Seattle about the intersection of art and science. They spoke about how creation stories tie scientists and artists together, and how their approaches are both similar and different from that point on.
Scientists for the first time have used CRISPR to substitute a gene to treat patients with cancer. The remarkable findings were published in the journal Nature and presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 2022.
The recently completed, ISB-led Coaching for Cognition in Alzheimer’s (COCOA) trial shows that diet and exercise can help people suffering from dementia. Senior Research Scientist Dr. Jared Roach discussed the findings in a Research Roundtable presentation.
What are multi-omics? Why does our microbiome matter? What’s the difference between genetics and genomics? What is a digital twin? ISB and Seattle Science Foundation have partnered to create videos answering questions like these and more, showcasing ISB scientists and their work.
Author Meghan O’Rourke recently joined ISB President Dr. Jim Heath for a virtual fireside chat focused on reimagining chronic illness – also the topic of O’Rourke’s New York Times bestselling book. This event was the latest in the ISB-Town Hall Seattle Science Series.
ISB Assistant Professor Dr. Sean Gibbons talked about the science behind statins in our most recent Research Roundtable virtual presentation. His talk was titled “Bugs vs. Drugs: How Our Unique Gut Microbiomes Shape Our Personalized Responses to Statins.”
Christopher Lausted and Dr. Danielle Vermaak were featured guests of an ISB Research Roundtable presentation. The husband-and-wife team detailed the planning and rollout of a DNA sequencing curriculum project that was tested in Vermaak’s Lincoln High School science classroom in Seattle.
New ISB research shows that different patient responses to statins can be explained by the variation in the human microbiome. The findings were published in the journal Med, and suggest that microbiome monitoring could be used to help optimize personalized statin treatments.
Researchers have identified several factors that can be measured at the initial point of COVID-19 diagnosis that anticipate if a patient is likely to develop long COVID. They also found that mild cases of COVID-19, not just severe cases, are associated with long COVID. Their findings were published by the journal Cell.
An ISB-led study examined the electronic health records of more than 18,000 people with SARS-CoV-2 tests during pregnancy, and found that those who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant were more likely to have poor birth outcomes including preterm birth, small for gestational age, low birth weight, and stillbirth.
In the final ISB-Town Hall Seattle Science Series of 2021, ISB Assistant Professor Dr. Sean Gibbons sat down with UCSD Professor Dr. Jack Gilbert, and the two microbiome experts discussed past research, exciting science happening today, promising products and therapies on the horizon, and much more.
