Contents

features

Going against the grain

10

8

Overcoming the challenges of working with genetically edited cellsand related diseases

Protecting the confidentiality of individuals vs. the desire to improve healthcare through data

24

contents

32

Over 1,000 genes linked to severe COVID-19 / www.biosciencetoday.co.uk / issue 28 /

3 Foreword 4-5 Contents 14-17 the big interview

Aberdeen-based Elasmogen recently secured £8 million investment for its soloMERTM platform, led by BGF and Scottish National Investment Bank with additional support from existing investor Scottish Enterprise. This will enable the company to continue developing its pipeline of next-generation drugs through pre-clinical trials.

22-23 WORK IN BIOTECH

Singular Talent speaks to over 1,500 candidates every year and MD Tom Froggatt has seen the pandemic change what bioscientists want most from employers.

26-27 FUTURE OF GENOMICS

Precision breeding for a sustainable future: unpacking the future of genomics. Neil Ward, General Manager of PacBio EMEA, examines the potential impact of the UK’s Precision Breeding Bill.

30-31 COVID IMMUNITY

Your immune system’s ability to combat COVID-19, like any infection, largely depends on its ability to replicate the immune cells effective at destroying the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease.

36-37 NANOCHANNELS

The development of new drugs and vaccines requires detailed knowledge about nature’s smallest biological building blocks – biomolecules. Swedish researchers have devised a new microscopy technique that allows proteins, DNA and other tiny biological particles to be studied in their natural state in a unique way.

38-39 GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE MODEL

Broad viral surveillance is essential in pandemic prevention to allow for detection of potential threats and the immediate early launch of health protocols against pathogens. Yves Dubaquie, senior vice president of diagnostics, PerkinElmer, Inc., investigates how this could work.

40-41 MATERNAL MICROBIOME

Researchers studying mice have found the first evidence of how a mother’s gut microbes, the maternal microbiome, can help in the development of the placenta, and the healthy growth of the baby.