BioTechniques News
Maddy Chapman
In this biotech bi-weekly, we highlight a partnership that’s facilitating a global competition for startups applying AI to therapeutic discovery, before introducing an award supporting collaboration in cancer research.
Products
Identifying disease-relevant splice variants
Illumina (CA, USA) has recently introduced SpliceAI2, a genomic AI model designed to address one of the central challenges in genomics: understanding the functional consequences of genetic variation. SpliceAI2 helps researchers identify disease-relevant splice variants that otherwise may go unnoticed. Predicting splice effects is key to resolving variants of uncertain significance in rare disease research, hereditary cancer testing research and drug discovery. When applied to a rare disease research dataset, SpliceAI2 identified 17% more disease-relevant variants compared to other splicing models.
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The launch of a next-generation sequencing panel for myeloid malignancies
Pillar Biosciences (MA, USA) has announced the launch of the oncoReveal® Myeloid v2 Panel, an expanded research-use-only DNA next-generation sequencing panel for myeloid malignancies. The panel expands the original oncoReveal Myeloid Panel from 58 to 80 gene targets and enhances detection of FLT3 internal tandem duplications, including long and multiple internal tandem duplications that can be challenging for next-generation sequencing assays.
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Rare disease drug discovery: the technologies driving ‘orphan’ therapeutics forward
We explore how innovations like AI and gene editing are changing the game in rare disease research by advancing drug discovery and development.
Partnerships
AI meets RNA therapy design
PacBio (CA, USA), developer of advanced sequencing technologies, and TychoBio (Villejuif, France), an AI drug discovery company, have announced a collaboration to generate full-length RNA data that TychoBio will use to train models for RNA therapy design.
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Adopting an AI-powered pathology platform
Lunit (Seoul, South Korea), a provider of AI for cancer diagnostics and precision oncology, has announced a strategic collaboration with Discovery Life Sciences (AL, USA), a company working in biospecimens and specialty laboratory services, to expand the adoption of the Lunit SCOPE suite, the company’s AI-powered pathology platform, across biopharmaceutical research.
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PitchFest: a partnership to support startups
GenScript Biotech Corporation (Jiangsu, China) has announced the GenScript and NVIDIA (CA, USA) Life Sciences Startup PitchFest, a global competition for startups applying artificial intelligence to therapeutic discovery and life sciences. The program brings together GenScript’s wet lab validation and data generation capabilities and NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platforms and startup ecosystem to help selected companies advance AI-driven platforms toward biological proof, investor engagement and industry visibility.
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AI-enhanced antibiotic discovery could thwart multi-drug resistant gonorrhea
AI-enabled antibiotic discovery proves effective at identifying new chemical structures and targets in the constant fight against antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea.
People & publications
New non-executive director of a company harnessing an organelle-editing approach
Cytotrait (Manchester, UK), a biotechnology company harnessing a unique organelle-editing approach to develop new crop traits for food and agriculture, has announced the appointment of Ian Jepson as a Non-Executive Director of the company. With more than 36 years’ experience in global leadership and commercial growth, Jepson will support the company’s ongoing strategy to develop its proprietary Mutant Organelle Selection System (MOSS) platform, initiate new trait development programs in major global crop species and establish industry partnerships to commercialize the company’s products.
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AI-designed peptide immunotherapy completes preclinical studies
Immorta Bio (FL, USA), a biotechnology company pioneering therapies targeting fundamental mechanisms of aging, has announced the completion of its planned preclinical studies for SenoMune™-0257, an AI-designed peptide immunotherapy developed to restore the immune system’s ability to recognize and eliminate senescent cells. The company is preparing to advance this novel therapeutic candidate into clinical development in 2026.
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Lettuce engineered to produce pig protein, planting the seed for future meat substitutes
The quest for new and improved plant-based meat alternatives has taken an unexpected turn, as researchers engineer lettuce to produce pig muscle protein in its chloroplasts.
Prizes
Developing new methods to produce, store and transport cell-based biologics at room temperature
Draper (MA, USA) received up to US$7.3 million other transaction award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H; MD, USA) for Phase 1 of the agency’s BioStabilization Systems (BoSS) program, which aims to develop new methods to produce, store and transport cell-based biologic medicines at room temperature. ARPA-H has committed funding of up to US$87 million across the 4-year program.
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Supporting collaboration in cancer research
The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research (NY, USA) has announced its latest Endeavor Award recipients, providing a total of US$12 million in funding to four multi-institutional teams. Selected from a highly competitive pool of hundreds of applicant teams, the 2026 awardees represent 11 premier academic research institutions across five countries. This funding arrives at a critical juncture for the international scientific community. At a time when collaboration across disciplines, institutions and borders is becoming ever more challenging, The Mark Foundation is purposefully bridging those gaps to bring together scientists with the best ideas from around the world to work boldly together in taking on the most urgent and difficult problems in cancer research today.
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This article is a collection of rehosted press releases, each linked above. Material may have been edited for length and house style. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.
The post The biotech bi-weekly: identifying disease-relevant splice variants, launching a next-generation sequencing panel and integrating AI into disease and therapeutic research appeared first on BioTechniques.
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