In treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), physicians can have a hard time telling which newly diagnosed patients have a high risk of severe inflammation or what therapies will be most effective. Now researchers report finding an epigenetic signature in patient cells that appears to predict inflammation risk in a serious type of IBD called Crohn’s disease.

Over the past several years, CRISPR-Cas9 has moved beyond the lab bench and into the public zeitgeist. Now, scientists from the Salk Institute are reporting for the first time the detailed molecular structure of CRISPR-Cas13d, a promising enzyme for emerging RNA-editing technology.

Using cryo-electron microscopy, scientists have obtained an unprecedented view of a gene-delivery virus, paving the way for further development of improved gene therapies.

A growing number of life science businesses are turning to greater supply chain collaboration for benefits like accelerated time to market, improved quality, reduced risk and more rapid and widespread innovation. But while 68% of executives in this industry say active and meaningful engagement with suppliers is essential to success, far too many, over a third, struggle to implement it.

Bacteriophage (phage) are obligate intracellular viruses that specifically infect bacteria. Here we take an overview of their structure, life-cycle and the role they have played in advancing science and medicine.

Personalized medicine isn’t all about our DNA. Researchers are increasingly looking past the information encoded on our genes to find answers to how individual variation contributes to complex disease. Companies like the Cambridge-based Microbiotica are much more interested in the bacterial cells that live inside us; our microbiome.

In 2013, Nature named single-cell sequencing (SCS) as the ‘Method of the Year’, citing its potential to transform the fields of biology and medicine. Now, the technique is bringing to light how genetic information can change between individual cells and facilitating the study of rare cell types. This article explores how these insights have helped scientists understand how diseases like cancer can evolve and spread in humans.

Despite centuries of research into drug development, investigation into the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals is a much younger field. If not treated effectively, there is the potential for pharmaceuticals in wastewater to affect the agricultural industry through the use of this contaminated water supply.

Two weeks ago, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics released a seminal report on the social and ethical issues of heritable genome editing. In an article written exclusively for Technology Networks, Hugh Whittall, Director of the Council, looks in-depth at the conclusions and implications of the Council's report.