Sangamo’s lead zinc-finger therapeutic supports the potential of gene-editing technology, but CRISPR-based gene-editing therapeutics are close behind. On 6 March, Sangamo BioSciences released the latest encouraging results for its potential anti-HIV therapy SB-728-T, a zinc-finger nuclease (ZFN) gene-editing drug. Phase I and II trials showed continued signs of safety and efficacy, it reported in the New […]
drug discovery
Kinesin inhibitor marches toward first-in-class pivotal trial
The key to treating cancer is to put a stop to the out-of-control cell growth that leads to tumor formation. One way to do this is to go after the microtubules that help coordinate this rampant cell division. Yet because microtubules function in both dividing and non-dividing cells—for example, in non-dividing neurons they’re involved in […]
Bacteria-killing dispute casts doubt on antibiotic development
Antibiotic drugs are one of the cornerstones of modern medicine, but, surprisingly, scientists still don’t understand all of the ways in which they work. So when biomedical engineer James Collins and his team at Boston University announced several years back that they had discovered a common mechanism of cell death underlying all major classes of […]