Taylor & Francis

In this episode of Talking Techniques, supported by Resolve BioSciences, we explore the realm of spatial biology, with a particular focus on the techniques involved in this approach to biological exploration, and the exciting insights gleaned from these techniques that have led to this approach being labeled Natures Method of the year 2020! 

Stefano Pupe, Postdoctoral Researcher at German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, takes me through this field, revealing – amongst other fascinating insights – the neuroscience studies that can now be conducted on live mice to monitor their neurological cell expression profiles as they perform specific behaviors. We also discuss the potential immortality complexes that could be driving a large amount of investment into the field and highlight some of the challenges to watch out for when conducting spatial biology studies.

ContentsIntroduction 00:00-02:20

The concept of spatial biology 02:20-03:30

The key techniques involved in spatial biology: 03:30-05:10

What does the combination of transcriptomics and proteomic profiling enable you to determine: 05.10-06:00

Unique insights from spatial biology: 06:10-07:20

Spatial biology in the characterization of cells from the medial septal: 07:20-8:20

First impressions of working with spatial biology: 8:10-09:20

How many omic datasets you can generate from one tissue sample? 09:20-10:45

The impact of spatial biology in diagnostics: 10:45-11:50

Exciting breakthroughs in neuroscience from spatial biology: 11:50-14:00

Predicting neuronal activity with spatial data: 14:00-15:55

Developments in microscopy pairing with spatial biology: 15:55-18:05

The challenges of working with a new technique: 18:05-19:45

The role of automation in resolving with vast data sets 19:45-21:45

Why Facebook and Google are looking assisting with spatial biology: 21:45-24:15

What would you ask for to take spatial transcriptomics to the next level? 24:15-25:40

Challenges of reproducibility in an emerging field: 25:40-29:05

Final comments: 29:05-30:25

In this episode of Talking Techniques, we introduce a new podcast series, produced by BioTechnques and hosted by the enigmatic Antentor Othrell Hinton Jr, Assistant Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at the Vanderbilt University, and bring you a sneak peek of the first episode of the series.

In this podcast series, Antentor will discuss all things diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM, meeting with different guests each episode from across the spectrum of fields and people in the research community. Each episode will keep science at its core, exploring each guest's research and finding out how they encourage open and productive environments in their working communities.

In episode one, dive into the discussion around mentoring practices and with our first guest, Christina Termini Assistant Professor a the Fred Hutch Cancer Research center (CA, USA)

Contents:

Introduction: 00:00-02:40

Christina's Research in hematopoietic stem cells and cancer treatments. 02:40-05:45

Molecular regulators of the hematopoietic system: 05:45-06:20

Building mentoring networks and addressing microaggressions: 06:20-09:00

Isolation in academic spaces and countermeasures: 09:00-10:35

The community of scholars and the 1000 Black scientists lists: 10:35-17:00

What are you drinking? 17:00-17:40

Mental health in mentoring: 17:40- 20:45

The work of the American Society of Cell Biology developing mentors: 20:45-23:00

Equalling opportunities with virtual and non-traditional faculty interviews: 23:00-26:50

Building the 100 Latinx list: 26:50-29:30

Contact Tina! 29:30-31:55

Coming up on STEM Tea! 32:10-34:54

In this episode, supported by BioRad, we explore cell proliferation monitoring and its role in drug discovery, guided by the expert advice of Rachel Preston, Product Development researcher at Bio-Rad.

We discuss techniques available to monitor cell proliferation, their advantages and disadvantages and the importance of selecting the right combination of techniques for different experimental targets. Rachel also provides some tips for best practice and some pitfalls to avoid regarding DNA damage and highlights the importance of good quality antibodies in cell proliferation assays.

Don’t miss out on the most exciting applications of cell proliferation today, and find out what still needs to be improved for cell proliferation assays to continue driving drug discovery forward; all in the first episode of Season 3 of Talking Techniques!

Contents: Intro: 00:00-00:34Why measure cell proliferation in drug discovery? 00:34-2:20Techniques involved in the detection of cell proliferation: 02:20-04:20The advantages and disadvantages of different techniques: 04:20-06:50 Selecting the most appropriate technique: 06:50-09:30How do you account for DNA damage in these assays? 09:30-11:00The best combination of techniques for drug screening studies: 11:00-12:00The biggest developments in technologies for cell proliferation monitoring: 12:00-14:15 Exciting findings of cell proliferation studies in cancer research: 14:15-15:35What element of cell proliferation detection and monitoring would you choose to improve? 15:35-17:40Closing remarks: 17:40-19:10

In this Tech Blast episode, is Jay Lemke, Senior Research Scientist at Promega, provides a brief overview of Sanger sequencing, its history, working principle and development over the last half century.

Jay reveals which lab practices are still are best completed with Sanger sequencing and explains why the technique remains so prevalent today, even in the era of next-generation sequencing.

Get Jay's top tips for best practices when working with sanger and much more throughout the episode!

Contents:

 Introduction: 00:00-00:40

 A brief history of Sanger sequencing: 00:40-01:00

 Sanger sequencing working principle: 01:00-03:00

 How has sanger developed since it was invented? 03:00-05:10

 The advantages of Sanger in an era of NGS: 05:10-07:00

 Best applications of Sanger sequencing: 07:00-08:45

 Top tips for success with sanger: 09:30-10:10

 Challenges of working with sanger and addressing them: 10:10-11:35

 What would you improve about sanger sequencing? 11:35-12:25

Find out about current treatment options for thyroid cancer such as the recent approval of selpercatinib for patients with an alteration in the RET gene in this interview with Kate Newbold who is a clinical oncologist consultant at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London (UK).

In this episode, we explore the field of synthetic biology. Discover the history of the field and its origins in the production of biofuels, before fracking burst onto the scene forcing a pivot in direction towards chemical production. Find out about the key techniques that have brought synthetic biology into the realm of immunotherapies and cancer research, which have even welcomed in a return to applications focussed on tackling the climate crisis, such as lab-grown meat.

To investigate this space, I speak with Merrit Savener, Biopharma Technical Account Manager at Molecular Devices (CA, USA) and Adam Clore Technical Director of Synthetic Biology at Integrated DNA Technologies (IA, USA). Merrit and Adam provide their insight into the most exciting applications of synthetic biology, the regulation surrounding it, how they would wish to improve the field, revealing the true impacts that this field can deliver in addressing some of humanity's biggest issues.

Contents:Introduction: 00:00-02:30Explaining synthetic biology: 02:30-03:45Origins of synthetic biology: 03:45-05:25Key current applications of synthetic biology: 05:25-07:30 Key methods involved in synthetic biology: 07:20-09:30Challenges in synthetic biology for product production: 09:30-12:35Regulating synthetic biology: 12:35-14:55What would you change to improve synthetic biology? 14355-16:55Most exciting applications of molecular biology: 16:55-20:40 The future of synthetic biology: 20:40-22:45Making electronics manufacturing more sustainable with synthetic biology: 22:45-23:15Changing perceptions in synthetic biology: 23:15-25:30

In this Tech Blast episode, Tim Bolus, Compliance Program Manager at Molecular Devices, provides a 15-minute in-depth exploration of the regulatory landscape of drug discovery and development. Tim examines the good lab and manufacturing processes essential to successful drug discovery, development and production.

Get Tim's insight into the field and discover how to best prepare your lab to pass the FDA's regulations and hear some firsthand cautionary tales!

Contents:

Introducing GXP: 00:40-2:20

Why is GLP important in drug development? 2:20-05:55

Why is GMP important in the manufacturing processes late down the line? 05:55-07:15

Examples of GXP going wrong and the ramifications: 07:15-10:30

Solutions to ensure GXP: 10:30-11:40

Aspects of GLP that need improving: 11:40-13:40

We are talking all things DNA methylation in this episode, providing a brief explanation of epigenetics and the technologies involved in the study of DNA methylation, before exploring the application of these techniques in the study of infectious diseases and cancer.

Revealing all of this information is my guest Chloé Goldsmith, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Canberra University, whose research focuses on DNA methylation, Hepatitis B Virus and the link between lifestyle and the epigenome. Chloé explains the strengths and weaknesses of the different techniques used to explore DNA methylation and highlights the advances in long-read sequencing that are dramatically improving this aspect of epigenomic research.

Chloé also discusses some of the most interesting insights that she has gained by taking a single-cell and single-molecule approach to her research and highlights some of the recent findings in the field that have caught her attention and broadened our understanding of epigenetics in disease.

Listen today to find out what functions remain to be improved for more insightful epigenetic studies and for some key insights into the future of the field.

Contents:Introduction: 00:00-01:45

Introducing the epigenetics and the different types of epigenetic regulation: 00:45-02:55

Techniques involved in the exploration of DNA methylation: 03:55-05:50

Challenges of bisulfite conversion techniques: 05:50-07:15

Recent developments in DNA methylation technologies: 07:15-09:40

Long reads vs short reads for epigenetic studies: 09:40-10:45

Epigenetics in infectious disease research: 10:45-13:15

Lifestyle, the epigenome and HBV: 13:15-16:00

Epigenetics in cancer research: 16:00-18:05

Recent developments in our epigenetic understanding of disease: 18:05-19:40

One area of technology that needs to be improved: 19:40-21:50

Aspirations for the field: 21:50-23:25

In this episode, supported by Roche, we explore a vital aspect of many next-generation sequencing studies: target enrichment. Here, regions of interest are selectively amplified before sequencing takes place. More specifically we examine some of the new technologies improving this key step and their impact on oncology research.

My guest for this episode is Brian Godwin, Director of Reagent and Assay Development at Roche sequencing. Brian reveals the myriad of ways that poor target enrichment can impact a study while highlighting its importance at the foundations of many research efforts. Discover the key limitations of some target enrichment techniques and the new technologies that are improving this step, leading to a new suite of applications in oncology research, where damaged or degraded DNA samples are common.

Listen today for an overview of the target enrichment process, the most exciting applications of this technique future potential of this step.

Contents:Intro: 00:00-01:30Why conduct target enrichment? 00:40-02:45Established technologies for target enrichment: 02:45-04:10Challenges of working with these technologies: 04:20-06:40The impact of these challenges on sequencing results: 06:40-07:35New technologies to address these challenges: 07:35-09:25Primer extension in PCR and target enrichment: 09:25-11:40Exciting applications of primer extension target enrichment: 11:40-13:25Improving target enrichment in oncology and its impact on the field: 13:25-16:15If you could ask for one thing to enable primer extension target enrichment to make the greatest possible impact on the NGS and oncology communities, what would it be? 16:15-18:00

In this episode, we roam the world of recombinant proteins and their production, discussing the challenges of their production, and recent evolutions in protein engineering that have brought the field into a golden era of innovation.

I'm joined by recombinant protein engineering expert Yuning Chen, R&D Manager at Sino Biological, who discusses the key applications of recombinant proteins, the aspects of certain products that make them difficult to produce and how these difficulties can be overcome.  Yuning also reveals how the manipulation of antibodies has been essential to multiple aspects of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a review of the recent evolutions in protein engineering, from cell-free systems to automation, Yuning describes his vision for the future of the field and reveals his support for the Terminator-style uprising that he believes could revolutionize it.

ContentsThe production of recombinant proteins: 00:48-02:11

The key applications of recombinant proteins: 02:11-03:27

What makes some proteins difficult to produce? 03:27-04:41

Overcoming these challenges:  04:40-5:40

Manipulating antibodies to take part in multiple aspects of pandemic response: 05:40-08:00

The most exciting applications of recombinant proteins: 08:00-09:50

Developments in high throughput and automated protein engineering: 09:50-11:00

Cell-free protein engineering: 11:00-12:40

The benefits of cell-free systems: 12:40-13:40

What is next for recombinant protein production? 13:40-16:15

The dream of automation for the recombinant protein production: 16:15-18:50