Creative Bios

  The recognition and advancement of precision oncology are heavily attributed  to cancer genomics that can provide cancer molecular information, allowing researchers to tailor treatments and improve the outcome for a spectrum of cancer and other indications. To realize the promise of precision oncology, researchers take efforts to identify and discover relevant biomarkers using genomic profilin g , either for functional, diagnostic, predictive, or prognostic purposes.   The FDA's approval of two companion diagnostics  (CDx)—the Guardant360 CDx assay and the FoundationOne Liquid CDx test in 2020 led the testing of multi-gene mutations and biomarker profiling to a new level. Prior to the approval of these two companion diagnostics that involve a combination of liquid biopsy and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, researchers ha d been stuck with the low meaningful mutation frequency and the difficulty in finding biospecimens with specific mutations.   Tu...

  I nfection of β-herpesvirus h uman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) could be life-threatening or cause life-long suffering in the majority of humans. Moreover, the viral vertical transmission during pregnancy leads to most congenital birth defects. However, treatment and prevention options currently available are extremely   limited.   Challenges  in Studying HCMV–host Cell Interactions   More than 235 kbp of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA)  in HCMV make s the largest known genome of human herpesviruses. Besides, HCMV is similar to other herpesviruses with complicated transcriptional architecture, including alternative transcription start sites, alternative splicing events, and polycistronic transcripts. The complex transcriptional architecture enables strict temporal control of gene expression and the possibility of generating multiple distinct proteins from a single genomic locus. The complexity is further increased by host cellular heterogeneity and differences in i...