Does biology have truly difficult ideas? Studying math, comp sci, physics, etc., one quickly encounters material that is hard to truly grasp (and many of us get to a point where we mentally just can't go further, while some others can). Does this exist in biology? If not, why?
@medstudentinvst Eh, I think you’re under-appreciating the independence afforded by one-time dosing. Not worrying about losing access down the line (e.g. insurance changes, copays, specialty pharmacy delays) is a huge intangible for patients. Meanwhile DILI mitigation will only improve from here
@zhaoweiasu No one is saying that BR’s are immediately ready for patients, nor is medicine the only future application for BR’s. But without mentioning the challenge of codelivering the entire Cascade complex w/CAST, for example, comparisons on how far each is from the clinic are incomplete.
@gu1dewhisperer@techinvestoor@contextinvestor 1) you still need to deliver these long donor DNA’s, which is not addressed merely by having the capacity to knock them in
2) PE corrects native aberrant genes to their healthy state, which is different than adding new cDNA.
Modular integrases and PE address different problems.
@NikoMcCarty A GUI for planning CRISPR gene editing campaigns with modern Cas9-derived editors (prime editors, base editors, and Cas9 + HDR template at least) that autogenerates suggested gRNA/pegRNA designs and accessory donor DNA sequences (with optimal homology arms) where appropriate.
@captgouda24 But big pharma already spends most of their $ on marketing and buybacks anyway, and much of small pharma is preclinical w/out established prices. Is it obvious that value-based pricing of drugs equally in the US and abroad (even if this is done by raising prices abroad) is bad?
Please RT! @BrianHie and I are hiring joint @arcinstitute postdocs to work on ML in biology. Projects include reimagining synthetic gene circuits, mechanistic interpretability, and controllability. Recent work includes genome design with Evo, an AI foundation model trained on DNA to learn the language of evolution
patrick[]https://t.co/l7LF6bP2Ym
brianhie[]https://t.co/VPBj2jhqWn
@Biotech2k1@ZymoSuperMan I think the data show that by the time a tumor is life threatening, it has redundant protection against the entire immune system, never mind a single new lineage of your favorite lab grown lymphocyte. This is reflected in that TILs work better than ACTs (be it CAR or TCR).
Been thinking this since lifileucel was approved. Empirical failures in solid tumors aside, if native TCR’s can work in solid tumors it raises a question of what upside CARs offer even if they work perfectly. Why concede native T cell logic + functionality for worse efficacy?
I am going to make a radical statement, but it is now true. 90% of companies in the cell therapy space are a waste of time and money to even invest in. The whole idea of CAR-T is becoming a failed theory. The data has been disappointing over and over again.
@pdhsu Of course in the absence of statistical tests they should limit themselves to using “dramatically”, “greatly”, or even “visibly” to describe the increase 💯
@Kevin_McKernan Still curious why you think your preprint hasn’t inspired a concerted effort to investigate mutagenicity of the mRNA vaccines, but won’t engage anymore if you keep trying to dunk on me.
@Kevin_McKernan Ah, yes, surely your ideas are taken seriously and that’s why your work on this topic is all preprints and those who endorse your content routinely have 0 background in bioscience. I thought you’d argue y everyone else is wrong but didn’t expect u to say serious ppl agree with u.
@Kevin_McKernan Yes, I saw the 1999 monkey cell line paper (hence my preemptive mention of SV40). What’s your best explanation for why that billions/dose number isn’t widely taken seriously and prompting serious investigation? I have my own thoughts but I don’t think we’ll make progress.
@BCdrainoty@Kevin_McKernan Anything that can mutate your DNA can mutate your germline too. Why shouldn't we ban every drug on the off chance that it mutates the germ line in 1 out of a billion people? After all there are like 8 billion people on earth, wouldn't want to be one of those unlucky 8.
@BCdrainoty@Kevin_McKernan Why limit it to genetic material? Did you know that even over the counter small molecules can result in (rare) random, permanent mutations to your genetic material? For example https://t.co/8By6KGOQa9
@BCdrainoty@Kevin_McKernan Are you saying that no drug that billions of people will take at some point should ever be approved for use? Should clinical trials be required to enroll billions of people to make sure not even one person out of a billion will have a serious adverse event? Lol