Biotech

In this issue Nature Biotechnology 30, vii (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2233

The European Medicines Agency's request to make all clinical trial data available is key to countering bias in publication, drug prescription practice and health policy.

Controversies surrounding government walk-in rights or patent eligibility that grabbed headlines in recent weeks presage broader changes in biomarker patenting.

Industry reels as Prometheus falls and Myriad faces further reviews Nature Biotechnology 30, 373 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-373 Author: Jeffrey L. Fox

JAK pot for Galapagos Nature Biotechnology 30, 374 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-374 Author: Gunjan Sinha

Stromedix acquisition signals growing interest in fibrosis Nature Biotechnology 30, 375 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-375 Author: Malorye Allison

1000 genomes on Amazon's cloud Nature Biotechnology 30, 376 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-376 Author: Emily Waltz

Affymax poised to challenge Amgen Nature Biotechnology 30, 377 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-377 Author: Nuala Moran

UK biotech's shot in the arm Nature Biotechnology 30, 378 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-378 Author: Susan Aldridge

Texas legitimizes path around FDA oversight Nature Biotechnology 30, 379 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-379 Author: Laura DeFrancesco

Blood test for Down syndrome Nature Biotechnology 30, 380 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-380a Author: Jennifer Rohn

Industry trial bias refuted Nature Biotechnology 30, 380 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-380b Author: Josh P Roberts

Fifth time's the charm for infant respiratory distress drug Nature Biotechnology 30, 380 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-380c Author: Alla Katsnelson

Hypoxia-activated prodrugs forge ahead in cancer Nature Biotechnology 30, 381 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-381 Author: Jim Kling

Around the world in a month Nature Biotechnology 30, 382 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-382

Drug pipeline: 1Q12 Nature Biotechnology 30, 383 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2210 Author: Craig Mak

Biotech equities heat up in 1Q12 Nature Biotechnology 30, 384 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2211 Author: Walter Yang

Can the commercial sector capitalize on the merger of high-throughput technology and natural products? Cormac Sheridan investigates.

In life sciences, a successful company very often looks markedly different from what was envisioned at founding.

High-efficiency TALEN-based gene editing produces disease-resistant rice Nature Biotechnology 30, 390 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2199 Authors: Ting Li, Bo Liu, Martin H Spalding, Donald P Weeks & Bing Yang

How Europe's ethical divide looms over biotech law and patents Nature Biotechnology 30, 392 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2201 Authors: George Gaskell, Sally Stares & Alain Pottage

The many faces of Bruton's tyrosine kinase Nature Biotechnology 30, 394 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2200 Author: C Patrick McAtee

An examination of the private biotech industry reveals shrinking financial resources and higher hurdles to obtain funding, but new models are evolving to meet the challenge.

You may win the race, but can you take home the prize?

Recent patent applications in genomic mapping Nature Biotechnology 30, 404 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2217

The discovery of an efficient mechanism of homologous recombination between two linear DNA substrates provides a new method for direct cloning.

A tiny, locked box made of DNA opens up to release drug molecules in the presence of target cells.

Characterization of tumor heterogeneity at the sequence level presents new challenges and opportunities for targeted therapies.

Docetaxel-loaded nanoparticles shrink human tumors Nature Biotechnology 30, 411 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2223 Author: Susan Jones

Engineering a thymus Nature Biotechnology 30, 411 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2225 Author: Laura DeFrancesco

Zinc-finger nucleases hone tumor cell therapy Nature Biotechnology 30, 411 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2227 Author: Jason Kreisberg

Drug lead for osteoarthritis Nature Biotechnology 30, 411 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2229 Author: Craig Mak

Pharmacogenomic profiling of cancer drugs Nature Biotechnology 30, 411 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2231 Author: Kathy Aschheim

Tumors vary in their ratio of normal to cancerous cells and in their genomic copy number. Carter et al. describe an analytic method for inferring the purity and ploidy of a tumor sample, enabling longitudinal studies of subclonal mutations and tumor evolution.

B-cell–lineage immunogen design in vaccine development with HIV-1 as a case study Nature Biotechnology 30, 423 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2197 Authors: Barton F Haynes, Garnett Kelsoe, Stephen C Harrison & Thomas B Kepler

Small sequencing machines no bigger than a laser printer have many potential applications in diagnostics and public health. Loman et al. compare the quality, throughput and cost of instruments from Illumina, Roche and Life Technologies.

Functional genomics requires facile methods to recover sequences of interest. Fu et al. show that the phage proteins RecE and RecT mediate recombination between linear DNA fragments and can facilitate natural product discovery.

The ability to identify antibodies circulating in the bloodstream would advance immunology and vaccinology research and the development of therapeutics. Cheung et al. couple proteomics with next-generation sequencing of RNA from B cells to clone antibodies directly from the sera of immunized rabbits and mice.

Methods for specific gene silencing have advanced as far as clinical trials, but a similar set of tools does not exist for increasing gene expression. Modarresi et al. demonstrate gene-specific upregulation in vivo by treating mice with oligonucleotides that inhibit the function of natural antisense transcripts.

Transcription activator–like effector nucleases (TALENs) enable genetic modification at specific sites in a genome. Reyon et al. present a method for high-throughput generation of TALENs, facilitating large-scale genome engineering.

Personal medicine—the new banking crisis Nature Biotechnology 30, 466 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-466a Authors: Christopher Thomas Scott, Timothy Caulfield, Emily Borgelt & Judy Illes

Existing agbiotech traits continue global march Nature Biotechnology 30, 466 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-466b Author: Andrew Marshall

Around the world in a month Nature Biotechnology 30, 466 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-466c

Fate of novel painkiller mAbs hangs in balance Nature Biotechnology 30, 466 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt0512-466d Author: Ken Garber

First-quarter biotech job picture Nature Biotechnology 30, 467 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2212 Author: Michael Francisco

People Nature Biotechnology 30, 468 (2012). doi:10.1038/nbt.2219

Completion of a reference genome sequence for the diploid Setaria italica should inform the study and improvement of the polyploid biofuel crop switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and the adaptation of grasses to different environmental niches.

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is a close diploid relative of the polyploid biofuel crop switch grass (Panicum virgatum). Completion of a draft genome sequence of foxtail millet reveals features of C4 photosynthesis that could inform biofuel crop improvements.