Member since Oct 2023
Helen Albert is a freelance science journalist and senior editor at Inside Precision Medicine. Prior to going freelance, she was editor-in-chief at Labiotech, an English-language, digital publication based in Berlin focusing on the European biotech industry. Before moving to Germany, she worked at a range of different life science and health-focused publications in London. She was editor of The Biochemist magazine and blog, but also worked as a senior reporter at Springer Nature’s medwireNews for a number of years. She has written for a variety of international publications including: New Scientist, Chemistry World, Biodesigned, The BMJ, Nature, Forbes, Science Business, BioWorld, Inside Precision Medicine and GEN. She has an academic background in genetics and anthropology, and also spent some time early in her career working in a lab at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge before deciding to begin a career in journalism.
Inside Precision Medicine:
Feature - The Digital Pathway to Widespread Precision Medicine
Digital health tools and technologies were thrust into the spotlight during the pandemic and were able to help many people get much needed medical advice and treatment when few other options were available. However, whether this boost to the industry will remain after a year of relative normalcy and a reduction in the COVID-19 threat is less clear.
https://www.insideprecisionmedicine.com/topics/precision-medicine/the-digital-pathway-to-widespread-precision-medicine/
Feature - Cancer: The Next Microbiome Frontier
Three therapeutic regulatory approvals in less than a year signal that the promise of the human microbiome may finally be paying off. All of the approved therapies focus on treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, but what is next for the field? With promising oncology-related trial results from a number of researchers and companies such as MaaT Pharma and Enterome, cancer could be the next microbiome frontier to be conquered.
https://www.insideprecisionmedicine.com/news-and-features/cancer-the-next-microbiome-frontier/
Chemistry World
News - Bioelectric bacteria-powered sensor detects water contaminants in real time
Synthetic biology has been combined with electrical engineering to create a small bioelectric sensor that can sense water contaminants in just minutes.
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/bioelectric-bacteria-powered-sensor-detects-water-contaminants-in-real-time/4016559.article
BioWorld
News - Bat cell line reveals unusual molecular relationship with viruses
An international team of researchers has created two bat stem cell lines that reveal an unusual number of viral sequences in bat cells compared with those of other mammals. Writing in an article posted online Feb. 21, 2023, in Cell, the scientists suggested that the unusual amount of viral genetic material found in the bat stem cells could explain why these mammals are largely unaffected by most viral infections, despite being able to transmit them.
https://www.bioworld.com/articles/694673-bat-cell-line-reveals-unusual-molecular-relationship-with-viruses?v=preview
Labiotech
Feature - Nature’s Painters: Making Sustainable Colors with Microbes
The production of textile dyes and food colorants can have a big environmental footprint. Biotech startups are rising to the challenge by engineering bacteria, fungi, and algae to sustainably produce natural colors.
https://www.labiotech.eu/in-depth/sustainable-colors-microbes/
Feature - Innovative biomaterials are revolutionizing tissue regeneration
Scientists are increasingly realizing the potential of biomaterials to help with many tasks. A key area biomaterials are being used in is tissue engineering and regeneration, something several biotechs and academic labs are currently exploring.
https://www.labiotech.eu/in-depth/biomaterial-tissue-engineering/
