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In this episode of Talking Techniques, Ritwika Biswas, Field Application Scientist at Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA), discusses the role of cytokines in autoimmune diseases, the techniques used to examine them and some emerging therapeutic innovations beginning to change the way we approach the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
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This episode of Talking Technique deviates slightly from specific lab technologies to instead discuss techniques and methods we use for teaching and testing life sciences.
To do this, I’m speaking to two pioneers of unconventional teaching and testing approaches to STEM education. Angela Consani is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Bioscience Core Skills Institute (KS, USA). This skills-first microcredential program provides certification for lab skills in techniques, safety and quality control, using performance-based practical testing. Natalie Kuldell is the Founder and Executive Director of Biobuilder (MA, USA), a nonprofit organization, set up to increase interest, understanding and engagement in STEM by converting lab research projects in into teachable modules aimed primarily at the pre-graduate level to give students the practical skills needed for a career in the life sciences.
Together, we’ll question the current system of STEM education and training and whether it captures all the potential talent that could be channeled into the life sciences, best serving all the roles available in the industry.
Contents:
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This episode of the Talking Techniques podcast dives into the realm of cancer immunotherapies, focusing on antigen discovery and T-cell receptor engineering for T-cell therapies. Guiding us through the field is Jim Heath, President of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, where he runs the Heath Lab, investigating fundamental immunology, and infectious and chronic diseases.
Jim discusses the computational models and wet lab techniques he uses to characterize T cells, the importance of targeting a balanced immune response with immunotherapies and more in this podcast recorded at AACR 2024 (5th–10th April 2024; San Diego, CA, USA).
Introductions: 00:00-02:00
Intro to cancer vaccines and T-cell therapies: 02:00-04:00
Antigen detection and validation in T-cell therapies: 04:00-05:20
Wet lab and computational techniques for antigen detection: 05:20-09:15
The importance of a balanced immune response to cancer immunotherapies: 09:15-10:30
Technological developments in antigen detection: 10:30-13:45
Tips for best practice when conducting T-cell receptor design 13:45-15:40
What is one thing you would like to see change in the field of antigen detection and T-cell receptor engineering? 15:40-16:30
Designing the path towards a more balanced immune response from immunotherapies 16:30-19:40
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In this episode of Talking Techniques, Ritwika Biswas, Field Application Scientist at Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA), discusses the use of cytokines in immunotherapy. Ritwika details the role of cytokines in the body, before going on to discuss how they can be used as therapeutics and to guide treatment decisions. Ritwika also shares how she thinks these proteins will be used in the future.
· Introduction: 00:00–01:35
· The role of cytokines in the body: 01:35–02:52
· Immune regulation and signaling: 02:52–05:40
· Cytokine interactions and networks: 05:40–08:42
· Modulating cytokine activity for therapeutic purposes: 08:42–12:35
· The influence of cytokines on immunotherapy outcomes: 12:35–16:04
· Using cytokines to predict treatment responses and guide immunotherapy decisions: 16:04–20:44
· The importance of standardizing and validating cytokine diagnostic assays: 20:44–24:36
· The future of cytokines in immunotherapy: 24:36–26:11
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The cell-surface proteome plays a critical role in immune-cell function; however, our ability to examine its interactions and spatial organization has previously been limited by available proteomic techniques. This episode explores the function of immune-cell membrane proteins and how the latest developments in spatial proteomics have enabled more detailed interrogation of these proteins and their spatial relationships.
Our guest, Hanna van Ooijen, Immunology Application Scientist at Pixelgen Technologies guides us through the field, revealing a new technique that enables spatial analysis of the cell-surface proteome at a single-cell resolution and highlighting some exciting discoveries that it has facilitated.
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In this episode of Talking Techniques, we catch up with Michael Long, Principle Investigator of the Long Lab at New York University (NY, USA), where he investigates the neural circuits that underlie vocal communication.
Through the examination of animal models, from songbirds to the rare singing mice of Costa Rica, with cutting-edge imaging techniques Michael reveals fascinating insights into vocal communication. We also discuss his human experiments, working alongside neurosurgeons, with emerging electrophysiological probes to monitor the neural activity of participants as they speak and interact, ultimately revealing how this research could begin to provide solutions for neurological conditions impacting communication, such as autism.
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Launching our fourth season of Talking Techniques, this episode, supported by the University of Cincinnati (OH, USA) we delve into rare disease research and pharmacogenomics, their intersection and the key techniques used to explore them.
Guiding us through these fields is Brenna Carey, an Assistant Professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center whose research focuses on rare disease pathogenesis, diagnostics and therapeutic development and who also runs key courses on the University’s Pharmacogenomics and Drug Discovery Masters degree programs.
Contents:
Introduction: 00:00-01:15
An introduction to pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) and rare lung diseases 01:15-03:50
Techniques to investigate the pathogenesis of PAP: 03:50-05:30
Developing diagnostics and therapeutics for PAP: 05:30-08:20
The importance of pharmacogenomics in drug development: 08:20-11:25
Key techniques and approaches in pharmacogenomics: 11:25-13:00
Emerging trends in pharmacogenomics: 13:00-15:05
Key takeaways from your pharmacogenomics course: 15:00-18:00
What would you ask for to improve our understanding of pharmacogenomics? 18:00-20:15
This episode is supported by the University of Cincinnati Online
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In this episode of Talking Techniques, we talk to Andrew Lee, a senior research fellow in Queen’s University Belfast’s (UK) wastewater-based epidemiology group, about his work using wastewater to monitor and detect infectious diseases. Andrew discusses how wastewater surveillance acts as an early warning system, providing novel, unbiased insights into human and animal pathogens that are circulating within a community, and how this can contribute to a ‘One Health’ approach. He also explains how he has incorporated nanopore sequencing into his work, and the advantages that this provides.
· 00:00–01:45: Introductions
· 01:45–03:45: Wastewater surveillance for infectious disease
· 03:45–05:35: Genomic surveillance approaches can complement established epidemiological methods
· 05:35–07:25: Why look at wastewater?
· 07:25–10:40: The advantages of nanopore sequencing for wastewater surveillance
· 10:40–12:25: The experimental workflow
· 12:25–15:05: Using wastewater surveillance to detect both human and avian influenza
· 15:05–18:20: Wastewater surveillance as an early warning system
· 18:20–20:47: Future perspectives: other environmental samples, antimicrobial resistance and what else can be found in wastewater?
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In this episode of Talking Techniques, we speak to two experts from Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA) about the latest developments in antibody technologies and how these developments have led to the next generation of antibodies that are revolutionizing therapeutic approaches to a number of diseases.
With the guidance of Field Scientist Ritwika Biswas and Technical Account Manager Grace Liu, we explore the challenges of developing and working with next-generation antibodies, the latest developments and applications of these molecules and the holy grail that antibody designers are driving towards.
Contents:
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In this episode of Talking Techniques, Rachel Thijssen, an Assistant Professor at Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC; the Netherlands), discusses her research using single-cell analyses to investigate treatment-resistant leukemia cells. Rachel explains her single-cell technique called rapid capture hybridization sequencing (RaCH-seq), how she utilizes nanopore sequencing, and how she hopes that this technique can be used to gain new insights into disease and improve therapies.
00:00–01:35: Introduction
01:35–03:25: Single-cell sequencing in leukemia research
03:25–05:15: What is single-cell RaCH-seq?
05:15–06:10: Using nanopore sequencing for RaCH-seq
06:10–07:30: How can other researchers apply RaCH-seq to their work?
07:30–09:50: Looking to the future: spatial biology, collaborations and improved therapies
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In this episode, supported by Fortis Life Sciences, we delve into the relationship between mitochondria, inflammation and cancer, discussing the new techniques that are bearing fruit in this field, such as spatial analysis.
Our expert insight for this episode comes from Phillip West, Principle Investigator of the West lab at Texas A&M Medicine (TX, USA). Philip explains the role mitochondria can play in cancer and heart disease, reveals some of his most exciting discoveries of late and provides technical tips for investigating this field.
Listen on to discover how his use of spatial techniques has helped uncover mechanisms linking mitochondrial damage to the stifling of the immune system in the tumor microenvironment and the latest breakthroughs at the intersection of mitochondria and cancer.
Contents:
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In this episode, sponsored by Zymo Research, we explore the microbiome and how long-read sequencing techniques are changing our approach to the field and the exciting discoveries that they have led to. To do this we speak to Kris Locken, Molecular Biologist in the Research & Development department of Zymo Research (CA, USA), and Jeremy Wilkinson, Global Marketing Specialist for Microbial Genomics at PacBio (CA, USA).
Find out how microbes compare to nuts and what this means for the challenges of metagenomic sample preparation, how long reads can stack up vs short reads for metagenome assembly and much more, all in this latest episode of Talking Techniques
Intro: 00:00-01:55
What is metagenomics and why is it important for microbial studies? 01:55-03:55
How has long-read sequencing impacted metagenomics? 03:55-06:05
Long-read vs short-read sequencing workflows: 06:05-07:15
Addressing barriers to long-read sequencing: 07:15-08:45
Sample preparation for long-read sequencing: 08:45-12:20
Development of long-read sequencing to improve accuracy and capabilities: 12:20-14:40
Best practice for assembly and analysis: 14:40-17:40
Exciting examples of the benefits of long-read sequencing: 17:40-20:00
What would you wish for to improve the ability long-read sequencing in microbiomics: 20:00-21:40
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This episode, our second recorded at Neuroscience 2022 (13-19th April 2022; San Diego, CA, USA), delves into the importance of open data in neuroscience and the FAIR guidelines, which encourage researchers to make their data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.
Sharing her considerable expertise in this area is one of the authors of the FAIR guidelines, Maryann Martone, who provides some key examples of the successes that open data practices have delivered so far and cautionary tales for how current practices are damaging the field.
Listen on to find out how to implement open data practices, how they can help your lab and why Maryann sees it as our responsibility to resolve!
Contents:
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In this episode of Talking Techniques, we head to the Ecuadorian rainforest to chat about the use of sequencing in conservation with Zane Libke, a field researcher based at Sumak Kawsay In Situ (Pastaza, Ecuador). Zane discusses how he turned his fascination with nature into a career, his current work using nanopore sequencing technologies to find undescribed species and helping train future field researchers.
We also explore the benefits of fighting biodiversity in a more local-centric way and using research to protect the area from exploitative companies.
What the future holds: 38:50–43:22
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In this special episode of Talking techniques, one of two recorded at Neuroscience 2022, we speak to Tim Harris (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, VA, USA). Tim is the creator of Neuropixels, neural recording probes inserted into the brains of animal models, which allow researchers to collect signals from hundreds of individual neurons in different brain regions simultaneously over extended periods of time.
Here, he shares the story behind his creation and details how they have changed the data collection landscape in Neuroscience. Tim also considers every inventor’s greatest concern: has his invention led to purely positive outcomes for the field? By enabling the collection of huge datasets have Neuropixels led to studies that bury findings in vast swathes of data or have they enabled researchers to collect enough information to discover the emphatic truth?
Listen now to find out Tim’s opinions on these contentious debates in neuroscience and get key tips for utilizing neuropixels!
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In this episode of the Talking Techniques podcast, we explore microbiomes and the techniques used to profile them. Get an overview of the different techniques’ working principles, their pros and cons and the different applications that they are best suited to.
Providing an expert insight into this field is Annabelle Damerum, Microbiome R&D Scientist at Zymo Research. Annabelle reveals some key tips best practice when profiling the microbiome and details the importance of an emerging aspect of the field: the vaginal microbiome.
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In this special episode of Talking Techniques, brought to you from the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Forum (FENS; 9th–13th July 2022), an expert panel discuss their research into the relationship between the gut–brain axis and addiction.
The panel features Benjamin Boutrel (Lausanne University Hospital; Switzerland), Lorenzo Leggio (NIH Intramural Research Program; MD, USA) and Nathalie Delzenne (University of Louvain; Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium), who discuss their current research into the role of the microbiota in alcohol addiction, if this work could be translated into the clinic, and if similar processes are at play in other addictions, such as food and cocaine.
The discussion also features an audience Q&A, which explores the microbial relationship between mother and fetus, and social factors in addiction.
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In this episode, supported by BrandTech, returning guest Rob Vries, CEO of HUB organoids (Utrecht, The Netherlands), fills us in on the advancement of 3D cell cultures and organoids over the last 2 years, starting off by documenting how the pandemic impacted their development and uptake.
We also discuss how the recent FDA Modernization Act, removing the requirement for drug candidates to be tested on animals, has impacted the drive for improved models, the key techniques available to analyze them and what still needs to change for 3D cell cultures to fully replace animal models in the lab.
Listen today to find out which resources can help you begin to work with 3D cell cultures, their most exciting recent applications and how issues of reproducibility are currently being addressed in the field.
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In this episode of Talking Techniques, supported by Bio-Rad, we discuss a key component of many gene therapies: recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAVs) and their production. These viruses act as efficient, accurate delivery vesicles for the gene therapy’s plasmid.
Speaking to Associate Director of Biopharma Product Marketing at Bio-Rad Laboratories, Mark White, we take a look at the different expression systems used for their production and compare their advantages, before looking at some of the challenges involved in the production rAAVs, such as host-cell contamination.
Discover the tools that can help minimize host-cell contamination and differentiate between nuclease resistant and nuclease reactive contaminant DNA and find out about some of the most exciting developments in rAAV technologies.
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