Volunteering at Room to Grow

A group of Kerafast employees visited a local charity, Room to Grow, last week as part of our mission to give back to our local and global communities. Room to Grow is dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty during their first three years of development, and we spent a great morning 

Continue Reading…

Current trends in genomics

This October, the Festival of Genomics was held in Boston just down the street from our Kerafast office. Scientific researchers, clinicians, pharmaceutical company representatives and other stakeholders gathered to discuss the current state of genomics, which is the study of genes and their functions. Topics discussed included the basic science of genomics, its translation to 

Continue Reading…

Macrophages are critical in cardiac regeneration

Organ donation and transplantation are critical in saving the lives of thousands of people annually, with one organ donor able to save up to eight lives. Currently, more than 100,000 people are on an organ donation list waiting for a lifesaving transplant, with an average of one person being added to the wait list every 

Continue Reading…

Testing for antibiotic-resistant bacteria in 30 minutes

Antibiotics are incredibly important due to their ability to prevent and treat bacterial infections, such as strep throat, sinus infections and pneumonia. However, the misuse of antibiotics has reduced their efficacy, with an increasing number of bacteria species becoming antibiotic-resistant. According to the World Health Organization, “Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to 

Continue Reading…

CRISPR 101

CRISPR (pronounced crisp-er) has been generating a lot of excitement in scientific research lately. Read below to check out what all the buzz is about! What is CRISPR? Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) were first discovered and characterized in archaea through the work of Francisco Mojica in the 1990s and early 2000s. Mojica 

Continue Reading…

What’s New in Cell Therapy Bioprocessing

Researchers from all over the world gathered in Boston recently to discuss advances in the bioprocessing and manufacture of cell therapies such as CAR-T and TCR therapies. New therapies require new manufacturing methods CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell) and TCR (T cell Receptor) therapies are autologous therapies, meaning that they are tailored specifically for 

Continue Reading…

You say tomāto, I say tomăto

With more than 300,000 species identified to date, plants represent a rich diversity with distinct morphology and physiology. Humans have used plants for thousands of years for a variety of purposes, including food and medicine (see figure). Top Documented Use of Plant Species Like other species, plants have evolved mechanisms to thrive in their environment, 

Continue Reading…