Researchers Discover Two New Frog Species in Ecuador

ANTHONY BOUCHARD | July 21, 2019 | 75 views

It seems like newly-discovered animal species are being described and named in scientific journals regularly. With that in mind, it shouldn’t come off as much of a surprise to anyone that researchers recently happened upon two frog species that are entirely ‘new to science’ while exploring forests in the Southern Ecuadorian Andes.

Spotlight

Axolotl Biologix

Axolotl Biologix is focused on research and collaboration through partnerships with top universities and hospitals to uncover optimal enablement of the body’s own cells and tissues to improve quality of life for people around the world.

OTHER ARTICLES
RESEARCH

Top 10 biotech IPOs in 2019

Article | July 11, 2022

The big question at the start of 2019 was whether the IPO window would stay open for biotech companies, particularly those seeking to pull off ever-larger IPOs at increasingly earlier stages of development. The short answer is yes—kind of. Here’s the long answer: In the words of Renaissance Capital, the IPO market had “a mostly good year.” The total number of deals fell to 159 from 192 the year before, but technology and healthcare companies were standout performers. The latter—which include biotech, medtech and diagnostics companies—led the pack, making up 43% of all IPOs in 2019. By Renaissance’s count, seven companies went public at valuations exceeding $1 billion, up from five the year before

Read More
MEDTECH

Cell Out? Lysate-Based Expression an Option for Personalized Meds

Article | July 16, 2022

Cell-free expression (CFE) is the practice of making a protein without using a living cell. In contrast with cell line-based methods, production is achieved using a fluid containing biological components extracted from a cell, i.e., a lysate. CFE offers potential advantages for biopharma according to Philip Probert, PhD, a senior scientist at the Centre for Process Innovation in the U.K.

Read More
MEDTECH

Closing bacterial genomes from the human gut microbiome using long-read sequencing

Article | July 13, 2022

In our lab, we focus on the impact of the gut microbiome on human health and disease. To evaluate this relationship, it’s important to understand the particular functions that different bacteria have. As bacteria are able to exchange, duplicate, and rearrange their genes in ways that directly affect their phenotypes, complete bacterial genomes assembled directly from human samples are essential to understand the strain variation and potential functions of the bacteria we host. Advances in the microbiome space have allowed for the de novo assembly of microbial genomes directly from metagenomes via short-read sequencing, assembly of reads into contigs, and binning of contigs into putative genome drafts. This is advantageous because it allows us to discover microbes without culturing them, directly from human samples and without reference databases. In the past year, there have been a number of tour de force efforts to broadly characterize the human gut microbiota through the creation of such metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs)[1–4]. These works have produced hundreds of thousands of microbial genomes that vastly increase our understanding of the human gut. However, challenges in the assembly of short reads has limited our ability to correctly assemble repeated genomic elements and place them into genomic context. Thus, existing MAGs are often fragmented and do not include mobile genetic elements, 16S rRNA sequences, and other elements that are repeated or have high identity within and across bacterial genomes.

Read More

Selexis Cell Line Development Strategies

Article | February 11, 2020

In today’s biotechnology landscape, to be competitive, meet regulations, and achieve market demands, “we must apply Bioprocessing 4.0,” said Igor Fisch, PhD, CEO, Selexis. In fact, in the last decade, “Selexis has evolved from cloning by limiting dilution to automated cell selection to nanofluidic chips and from monoclonality assessment by statistical calculation to proprietary bioinformatic analysis,” he added. Single-use processing systems are an expanding part of the biomanufacturing world; as such, they are a major component of Bioprocessing 4.0. “At Selexis, we use single use throughout our cell line development workflow. Currently, we have incorporated single-use automated bioprocessing systems such as ambr® and the Beacon® optofluidic platform for accelerated cell line development. By using these systems and optimizing our parameters, we were able to achieve high titers in shake flasks. Additionally, the Beacon systems integrate miniaturized cell culture with high-throughput liquid handling automation and cell imaging. This allows us to control, adjust, and monitor programs at the same time,” noted Fisch.

Read More

Spotlight

Axolotl Biologix

Axolotl Biologix is focused on research and collaboration through partnerships with top universities and hospitals to uncover optimal enablement of the body’s own cells and tissues to improve quality of life for people around the world.

Related News

New dairy cattle breeding method increases genetic selection efficiency

phys.org | July 05, 2019

Brazilian scientists at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) collaborating with colleagues at the University of Maryland and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed a dairy cattle breeding method that adds a new parameter to genetic selection and conserves or even improves a population's genetic diversity. The study, which is published in Journal of Dairy Science, was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP and USDA. Besides genetic value associated with milk, fat and protein yields, the new method also takes into consideration the variance in gametic diversity and what the authors call "relative predicted transmitting ability," defined as an individual animal's capacity to transmit its genetic traits to the next generation based on this variance."Not all progeny of highly productive animals inherit this quality. The new method selects animals that will produce extremely productive offspring," said Daniel Jordan de Abreu Santos, who conducted the study while he was a postdoctoral fellow at UNESP's School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences (FCAV) in Jaboticabal, São Paulo State.

Read More

Hundreds of sharks and rays tangled in plastic

phys.org | July 05, 2019

Hundreds of sharks and rays have become tangled in plastic waste in the worlds oceans, new research shows. University of Exeter scientists scoured existing published studies and Twitter for shark and ray entanglements, and found reports of more than 1,000 entangled individuals. And they say the true number is likely to be far higher, as few studies have focussed on plastic entanglement among shark and rays. The study says such entanglement—mostly involving lost or discarded fishing gear—is a "far lesser threat" to sharks and rays than commercial fishing, but the suffering it causes is a major animal welfare concern. "One example in the study is a shortfin mako shark with fishing rope wrapped tightly around it," said Kristian Parton, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. "The shark had clearly continued growing after becoming entangled, so the rope—which was covered in barnacles—had dug into its skin and damaged its spine.

Read More

Tracking evolution through teeth: The small-fry ancestor of the great white shark

phys.org | July 05, 2019

Mackerel sharks (Lamniformes) are a group consisting of some of the most iconic sharks we know, including the mako shark (the fastest shark in the world), the infamous great white shark, and Megalodon, the biggest predatory shark that has ever roamed the world's oceans. An international team of researchers around Patrick L. Jambura from the University of Vienna found a unique feature in the teeth of these apex predators, which allowed them to trace back the origin of this group to a small benthic shark from the Middle Jurassic (165 mya). Their study was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports. Similar to humans, shark teeth are composed of two mineralized structures: a hard shell of hypermineralized tissue (in humans enamel, in sharks enameloid) and a dentine core. Depending on the structure of the dentine we distinguish between two different types: orthodentine and osteodentine. Orthodentine has a very compact appearance and is similar to the dentine we can find in human teeth. In shark teeth, orthodentine is confined to the tooth crown. In contrast, the other dentine type is spongious in appearance and resembles real bone and therefore is called osteodentine. It can be found in the root, anchoring the tooth to the jaw and in some species also in the tooth crown where it supports the orthodentine.

Read More

New dairy cattle breeding method increases genetic selection efficiency

phys.org | July 05, 2019

Brazilian scientists at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) collaborating with colleagues at the University of Maryland and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed a dairy cattle breeding method that adds a new parameter to genetic selection and conserves or even improves a population's genetic diversity. The study, which is published in Journal of Dairy Science, was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation—FAPESP and USDA. Besides genetic value associated with milk, fat and protein yields, the new method also takes into consideration the variance in gametic diversity and what the authors call "relative predicted transmitting ability," defined as an individual animal's capacity to transmit its genetic traits to the next generation based on this variance."Not all progeny of highly productive animals inherit this quality. The new method selects animals that will produce extremely productive offspring," said Daniel Jordan de Abreu Santos, who conducted the study while he was a postdoctoral fellow at UNESP's School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences (FCAV) in Jaboticabal, São Paulo State.

Read More

Hundreds of sharks and rays tangled in plastic

phys.org | July 05, 2019

Hundreds of sharks and rays have become tangled in plastic waste in the worlds oceans, new research shows. University of Exeter scientists scoured existing published studies and Twitter for shark and ray entanglements, and found reports of more than 1,000 entangled individuals. And they say the true number is likely to be far higher, as few studies have focussed on plastic entanglement among shark and rays. The study says such entanglement—mostly involving lost or discarded fishing gear—is a "far lesser threat" to sharks and rays than commercial fishing, but the suffering it causes is a major animal welfare concern. "One example in the study is a shortfin mako shark with fishing rope wrapped tightly around it," said Kristian Parton, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. "The shark had clearly continued growing after becoming entangled, so the rope—which was covered in barnacles—had dug into its skin and damaged its spine.

Read More

Tracking evolution through teeth: The small-fry ancestor of the great white shark

phys.org | July 05, 2019

Mackerel sharks (Lamniformes) are a group consisting of some of the most iconic sharks we know, including the mako shark (the fastest shark in the world), the infamous great white shark, and Megalodon, the biggest predatory shark that has ever roamed the world's oceans. An international team of researchers around Patrick L. Jambura from the University of Vienna found a unique feature in the teeth of these apex predators, which allowed them to trace back the origin of this group to a small benthic shark from the Middle Jurassic (165 mya). Their study was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports. Similar to humans, shark teeth are composed of two mineralized structures: a hard shell of hypermineralized tissue (in humans enamel, in sharks enameloid) and a dentine core. Depending on the structure of the dentine we distinguish between two different types: orthodentine and osteodentine. Orthodentine has a very compact appearance and is similar to the dentine we can find in human teeth. In shark teeth, orthodentine is confined to the tooth crown. In contrast, the other dentine type is spongious in appearance and resembles real bone and therefore is called osteodentine. It can be found in the root, anchoring the tooth to the jaw and in some species also in the tooth crown where it supports the orthodentine.

Read More

Events