Author: Biotech Express

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute has taken a liking to RNA. The committee has awarded two American biologists the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of microRNA, the small RNA molecules that regulate genes, one year after the prize went to scientists who conducted foundational work on mRNA vaccines. The laureates are Victor Ambros, Ph.D., and Gary Ruvkun, Ph.D. Ambros is a professor at UMass Chan Medical School, while Ruvkun is a professor at Harvard Medical School. Ambros’ team spent years attempting to identify the nature of lin-4, while Ruvkun’s focused on lin-14. Ambros’…

Biocon’s arm, Biocon Biologics Ltd (BBL), announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has approved YESINTEK (Ustekinumab-kfce), a biosimilar to the reference product Stelara (Ustekinumab), according to a company filing. YESINTEK, a monoclonal antibody, is approved for the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis. Shreehas Tambe, chief executive officer and managing director of Biocon Biologics, said, “This settlement agreement reflects our commitment and focus on science and innovation. We are pleased that this allows Biocon Biologics to be among the first to offer a reliable, high-quality biosimilar option to patients and healthcare…

In a prestigious ceremony held at the University of Hyderabad, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan was awarded the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA) Lifetime Achievement Award. This accolade recognizes her outstanding contributions to medical research and public health, particularly in the fields of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Swaminathan, a renowned pediatrician and clinical scientist, has been a pivotal figure in the global health community, with her career spanning several high-impact roles, including as Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) where she was instrumental during the COVID-19 pandemic. She currently serves as the Principal Adviser for the National Tuberculosis…

India is a leading tea producing country in the world which contributes 23% of global tea production and export of Indian tea earns 780 million USD per annum. This eco-friendly Indian Tea Industry provides employment to 1.16 million Indians directly and equal number indirectly. However yield stagnation of this century old tea plantation along with climate change are major bottlenecks of Indian Tea Industry. Thus there is a need of scientific intervention for increasing the profitability of the tea industry through the development of climate smart high yielding tea varieties for which genome information is required. This study led by…

Renowned plant biotechnologist, Prof. K C Bansal, has been elected as a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for year 2025, a prestigious recognition that highlights his significant contributions to the field of agricultural biotechnology and systematic management of plant genetic resources for crop improvement. This honour places him among the world’s top leading scientists, and among the select scientists in India in the field of Agriculture, Nutrition & Food Systems Sciences. Prof. Bansal’s career, spanning over four decades, is marked by a series of pioneering achievements in plant genomics and biotechnology. With a profound focus of his…

The antibiotic “Nafithromycin” has been developed with the support of “Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council” (BIRAC), a unit of the Department of Biotechnology and has been brought to market under the trade name “Miqnaf” by pharma company “Wolkardt”. It is the country’s first indigenously developed antibiotic aimed at tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). The development of Nafithromycin represents 14 years of dedicated research and an investment of ₹500 crores, with clinical trials spanning the U.S., Europe, and India. It is Supported by BIRAC under its Biotechnology Industry Partnership Program (BIPP). This innovation is designed to treat Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia (CABP), a…

Professor Rajeev Varshney, Director of the Centre for Crop and Food Innovation and Director of the WA State Biotechnology Centre has been included in the top percentile of 2024 Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list for the 11th consecutive time. Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list, established in 2001, is a global program that identifies and celebrates the pinnacle of research impact and influence. This year, 6,886 designations were awarded to 6,636 individuals, with 313 Australian-based researchers listed. Prof Varshney who celebrates his 11th inclusion, continues to lead the way globally for crop genomics research. His work, particularly his pangenome research for…

Centuries old traditional knowledge that has been documented in many Indian ancient manuscripts or as oral transmission is still unexplored and unused, but this knowledge holds importance in various fields of science and technology. Recognizing the need of traditional knowledge and to facilitate its dissemination to masses, CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR), has launched the national initiative SVASTIK (Scientifically Validated Societal Traditional Knowledge) upon the call of Hon’ble PM of India Shri Narendra Modi in August 2021, which aims to disseminate India’s scientifically validated traditional knowledge to the society. Under the SVASTIK initiative, an international conference…

Abstract Microfluidics is a technique that makes it possible to accurately control and analyze liquids in space at the micron or nanoscale. Several unit technologies may be merged at scale on an overall controlled micro-platform, which is its main benefit. Using micromachining technologies like microfluidic channels and microvalves, helps in regulating the flow and mixing of liquids to produce a range of reactions. Microfluidics enables the realization of several applications, like chemical analysis, drug screening, and cell culture, by accurately manipulating the rate of flow of liquids. whereas, the field of artificial intelligence (AI) was developed to further human intelligence’s…

A 2016 survey by the journal Nature put stark numbers to the scope of science’s reproducibility problems. More than 70% of researchers across STEM fields said they’d tried and failed to replicate another scientist’s findings, with 52% of respondents agreeing that there is a “significant” reproducibility crisis. A new study has now sought to update Nature’s nearly decade-old numbers while also homing in on a specific field: biomedicine. In a survey of 1,630 biomedical researchers from around the world, including 819 who work in clinical research, 72% of respondents agreed that the field is facing a reproducibility crisis. What’s more,…