How do you use
molecular biology to
make an impact?

Sabrina Alves dos Reis

National Cancer Institute | Brazil

“Immunotherapies using CAR-T approved for clinical use have laborious procedures and high costs, which may compromise their wide use, especially in the Brazilian context. Part of this cost can be justified because of the use of viral vectors for the genetic modification of T lymphocytes and subsequent expansion of these cells [are] procedures that have high impact on the final price of the manufacturing process. Therefore, the strategy developed by our group […] uses Sleeping Beauty (SB), a non-viral gene delivery vector, where the plasmids encoding the transgene (carried by a transposon) and the SB transposase responsible for the integration reaction are delivered to the cells by electroporation. [This constitutes] a high biosafety system that involves only the manipulation of plasmids […], which allows the generation of genetically modified lymphocytes for a considerably reduced cost.”

Laura Leighton

Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology | Australia

“Lipid nanoparticle encapsulated messenger RNA (mRNA) is a transient gene delivery substrate which enters cells easily and is readily translated into protein, then degraded by the cell. The remarkable success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 demonstrated that this technology is safe and effective in humans and has the potential to revolutionize healthcare. Our laboratory aims to develop mRNA-based cancer therapeutics which target the dysregulated genes which drive cancer, and an essential part of our research program is finding ways to increase the half-life of synthetic mRNAs within the cell [and, or] the efficiency with which they are translated into protein.”

Agustín Moreira-Saporiti

Marine Biological Laboratory | United States

“Zostera marina is a seagrass species that reproduces sexually (through seeds) and asexually (through rhizomes). This submerged plant occupies a narrow strip of shallow coastline that is under increasing anthropogenic pressure. As a consequence, existing populations face multiple pressures, and seagrasses are globally declining. […] Seagrass meadows are extremely difficult to restore as new plants display low survival rates (38%). One reason is the small scale of many restoration trials. Unfortunately, large-scale restoration actions are often not possible because transplanting plants from a donor site is a destructive practice. Seed-based restoration reduces damage but presents the added difficulty of identifying donor populations as seagrasses flowering events are generally unpredictable. As of now, a genetic roadmap for blooming is not available for submerged plants. Identifying the genes linked to flowering is, therefore, a priority area of research.”