Touching Base

Latest Episodes:

Insights into COVID-19’s Origins, Recursion Reverses Course, and AACR Stands Up for Cancer Research May 09, 2025

Show notes

The exact origins of SARS-CoV-2 are still something of a mystery, but new research may bring scientists one step closer to an explanation for how the virus reached Wuhan. Also in the episode, we dive into GEN’s coverage of the annual AACR meeting including how the community is navigating massive research budget cuts. Then we discuss a potential colorectal cancer therapy using CRISPR-edited tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and a method for delivering protein therapies and gene editors using engineered vesicles. Lastly, in business news, Recursion rethinks its pipeline, the FDA gives Abeona’s gene therapy a chance, and Bristol Myers Squibb execs open up on artificial intelligence.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Julianna LeMieux, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:

AACR 2025: A Video Update from Chicago

By Julianna LeMieux, PhD and Damian Doherty, GEN, April 29, 2025

Hope and Headwinds at AACR in Chicago

By Damian Doherty, GEN, April 29, 2025

Senator Tammy Baldwin Supports Science in AACR Speech

By Julianna LeMieux, PhD, GEN, April 29, 2025

CRISPR-Edited TILs Fight Advanced Colorectal Cancer in Patients

By GEN, May 4, 2025

Engineered Extracellular Vesicles Could Deliver Gene Editors, Therapeutic Proteins to Cells

By GEN, April 30, 2025

SARS-CoV-2 Likely Spread Through Wildlife Trade, Not Bat Migration

By GEN, May 7, 2025

Chatting with Author David Quammen about SARS-CoV-2 Will Leave You “Breathless”

Originally aired: November 16, 2022

Recursion Halts Four Pipeline Programs, Sharpening Cancer, Rare Disease Focus

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, May 5, 2025

StockWatch: Second Time’s the Charm for Abeona’s Gene Therapy

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, May 4, 2025

Predict First: BMS Executives Discuss Company’s AI Approach

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, March 26, 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Navigating Biotech’s New Normal, Applying AI to Cas9 Enzymes, and Sequencing Generations Apr 25, 2025

Show notes

The seismic changes made by the current administration in the United States continue to impact the scientific community. The business news segment of this week’s episode covers the effects of job cuts on biotech, Roche’s manufacturing and R&D plans amid tariff threats, and shares an update on Eli Lilly’s diabetes pill. Also, in honor of DNA Day, we reminisce about how far the field has come since the discovery of the structure of DNA and the completion of the Human Genome Project. We also talk about today’s DNA-related advances that use machine learning to design tailored Cas9 proteins and multiple sequencing technologies to study mutation rates in four generations of the same family.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Fay Lin, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:

After Job Cuts, “We’re Entering a Very New Territory for Biotech.

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, April 17, 2025

Roche Commits $50B to U.S. Manufacturing, R&D as Tariffs Loom

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, April 22, 2025

StockWatch: Investors Hungry for Lilly after Diabetes Pill Aces Phase III Trial

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, April 20, 2025

Machine Learning Engineers Bespoke Cas9 Enzymes for Gene Editing

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN, April 22, 2025

Multi-Platform Sequencing Study of Four Generations Sheds Light on Mutation Rates

GEN, April 23, 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Discussing De-Extinction, Trump’s Tariffs Touch Biopharma, and Reports from Recent Travels Apr 11, 2025

Show notes

Are Dire Wolves really back? We give our take on Colossal Biosciences’ latest announcement about the de-extinction of Dire Wolves including some thoughts on their approach and some of the broader implications of their work. In other stories, we discuss the early impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs on biotech as well as the growing alarm in the scientific community in the wake of sweeping layoffs and leadership departures at the FDA, CDC, and NIH. We also share news from recent scientific conferences and meetings that we’ve attended as well as an interesting study that used human cell maps to shed new light on pediatric bone cancer.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Fay Lin, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base.

Plex Research Partners with Ginkgo Bioworks to Apply AI-Based Search Engine to Drug Discovery

By Uduak Thomas, GEN, April 8, 2025

Danaher-IGI Beacon for CRISPR Cures Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN, March 28, 2025

Human Cell Maps Uncover Insights in Pediatric Bone Cancer

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN, April 10, 2025

StockWatch: Biopharma Funds Tumble with Wall Street as Industry Spared from Worst of Tariffs—for Now

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, April 6, 2025

FDA, NIH, CDC Stagger as HHS Axe Falls, Eliminating 10,000 Jobs

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, April 1, 2025

Industry Voices Alarm as Peter Marks Departs FDA

By Kevin Davies, PhD, and Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, March 30, 2025

The State of Multiomics & NGS 2025

Broadcast Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Resurrection Genomics: A Conversation with Colossal’s Chief Biology Officer Eriona Hysolli

The State of Omics 2024, April 17, 2024

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dravet Gene Therapy Tested in Mice, Sarepta’s Setback, and AstraZeneca Updates Mar 28, 2025

Show notes

Gene therapies take center stage in this week’s episode. We discuss a potential gene replacement therapy for people with Dravet Syndrome that scientists have tested in mice with good results and highlight some recent progress from two editing companies. We also break down the recent news from Sarepta about the death of a patient after treatment with its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In other stories, new data reveals a nonviral method for introducing transgenes into human primates and AstraZeneca steps up R&D in China with new drug, vaccine, and healthcare partnerships in the billions of dollars.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Julianna LeMieux, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base

Gene Therapy Tested in Mice Offers New Hope for People with Dravet Syndrome

By Uduak Thomas, GEN, March 19, 2025

DMD Patient Dies After Treatment with Sarepta Gene Therapy

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, March 18, 2025

PiggyBac Transposon System Creates Transgenic Cynomolgus Monkeys

By Julianna LeMieux, PhD, GEN, March 26, 2025

From Tools to Trials: Editing Therapy Companies Pivot to Development

By Alex Philippidis, PhD, GEN Edge, March 20, 2025

AstraZeneca Commits up to $11B+ to Chinese Collaborations, Beijing R&D Hub

By Alex Philippidis, PhD, GEN Edge, March 21, 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Genetic Engineering at Asilomar, Stand Up for Science, and Francis Collins Mar 14, 2025

Show notes

GEN editors discuss both the news and history of DNA and genetic engineering. We present a recap of the 50th anniversary Asilomar conference, delving into some of the history from the 1975 Asilomar conference and relating to the current discussions around genetic engineering. Science has been under fire recently and many people attended the Stand Up for Science Rally at one of a few dozen locations across the United States. One of the speakers at the rally in Washington, DC, was former NIH director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, a key member of the Human Genome Project. We discuss some of his career in this episode.

Join GEN's managing editor Corinna Singleman, PhD, editor in chief John Sterling, and editorial director Kevin Davies for a discussion of DNA news and history.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:

Scientists in NYC Rally to Defend and Stand Up for Science

By Corinna Singleman, PhD, GEN, March 10, 2025

Former NIH Director Francis Collins Praises the Institution as He Abruptly Departs After Three Decades

By Kevin Davies, PhD, GEN, March 3, 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI Models Writing DNA and Designing Enzymes, Some Pre-AGBT News Feb 28, 2025

Show notes

In honor of Rare Disease Day, we discuss news from Healx, a clinical-stage biotech, which has dosed the first patient in a Phase II trial of its new drug for neurofibromatosis type 1. In the world of AI, the Arc Institute in collaboration with Nvidia has dropped Evo 2, the “largest publicly accessible AI model for biology to date,” for designing genomes. Additionally, new work from Nobel Laureate, David Baker, uses AI to generate enzymes from scratch. We also dig into the big announcements from Illumina and Roche that got the community buzzing ahead of this year’s AGBT meeting.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Fay Lin, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:

Healx Candidate, SpringWorks Therapy Expand NF1 Treatment Options

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, February 25, 2025

Arc Institute’s AI Model Evo 2 Designs the Genetic Code Across All Domains of Life

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Edge, February 19, 2025

AI-Driven Protein Design Produces Enzyme that Mimics Natural Hydrolase Activity

By Corinna Singleman, PhD, GEN, February 13, 2025

Illumina Unveils Spatial Technology Days Before AGBT Meeting

By Julianna LeMieux, PhD, GEN, February 19, 2025

StockWatch: Illumina Tumbles on Q4 Results, China Retaliation

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, February 8, 2025

Roche Announces SBX Technology, Creates Sequencing Buzz

By Julianna LeMieux, PhD, GEN, February 21, 2025

StockWatch: NIH Indirect Cost Cuts Shake Tools Stocks

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, February 17, 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recursion Clinical Trial, CRISPR Delivery methods, preclinical Cas12 use, Gene Editing in AgBio, Top 10 Takeover Targets Feb 14, 2025

Show notes

Season 2 Episode 1 (February 14, 2025): This week, the GEN editors discussed some interesting and developing stories around AI, including an in depth dialogue about what Recursion has been doing lately. They also discussed gene editing updates in delivery systems, Cas12 preclinical work, and AgBio. The discussion was rounded out with a look forward into takeover targets for 2025.

Featuring Alex Philippidis (Senior Business Editor, GEN), Fay Lin, PhD, (Editor, GEN Biotechnology), Uduak Thomas (Senior Editor, GEN), and moderated by Corinna Singleman, PhD, (Managing Editor, GEN and IPM)

Listed below are key references to the GEN stories, media, and other items discussed in this episode of Touching Base:

As Pipeline Advances, Recursion Expands AI Focus to Clinical Trials

By Alex Phillipidis, GEN, Jan 30, 2025.

Recursion Announces Promising Clinical Data on Lead AI-Based Drug Candidate for Brain Disease

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Edge, Feb 5, 2025.

AAV Delivered NanoCas CRISPR System Edits Muscle in Non-Human Primates

By GEN, Feb 3, 2025.

Next-Gen Cas12a System Enables Precise Single and Multiplexed Gene Editing in Cancer

By Corinna Singleman, PhD, GEN, Jan 30, 2025.

AgBio Companies Embrace Gene Editing for Stronger Food Future

By Uduak Thomas, GEN Feb issue, Feb 3, 2025.

Top 10 Takeover Targets of 2025

By Alex Phillippidis, GEN, Feb 3, 2025.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

DNA Day: Deep Dive Apr 26, 2024

Show notes

Episode 19 (April 26, 2024): This week, the GEN editors celebrated DNA Day by sharing some stories about their favorite observations and applications of DNA research.

Featuring Kevin Davies, PhD (Editorial Director, GEN), John Sterling (Editor in Chief, GEN), Uduak Thomas (Senior Editor, GEN), Alex Philippidis (Senior Business Editor, GEN), Fay Lin, PhD (Senior Editor, GEN Biotechnology), Jonathan Grinstein, PhD (Senior Editor, GEN), and moderated by Corinna Singleman, PhD (Managing Editor, GEN and IPM).

Listed below are key references to the GEN stories, media, and other items discussed in this episode of Touching Base:

The Life and Times of Rosalind Franklin

GEN Webinar presented by Matthew Cobb, PhD, Oct 16, 2020.

"Life Story"

BBC film (1987).

Nobel Winner Svante Pӓӓbo Discovered the Neandertal in Our Genes

By Daniela Mocker, Scientific American, Oct 4, 2022.

“Svante Pӓӓbo, reader of the Neanderthal genome”

Wielgus, Danielewski, and Walkowiak, Acta Physiol, Nov 23, 2022.

Colossal’s Woolly Mammoth Project Advances as Elephant iPSCs Clear Milestones

GEN, Mar 7, 2024.

The State of Omics 2024

GEN Summit.

“Genetic Ancestry Testing What is it and Why is it Important?”

Jorde and Bamshad, JAMA, Mar 27, 2020.

A Leading Cause of Autism Spectrum Disorders May Be Prevented by Novel Approach

GEN, May 21, 2023.

AI Finds Autism-Causing Mutations in “Junk” DNA

GEN, May 28, 2024.

Pollution and Stress Alter Brain Development and Social Behavior in Male Mice

GEN, Aug 3, 2022.

“Mechanistic Basis of Resistance to PCBs in Atlantic Tomcod from the Hudson River”

Wirgin, et al., Science, Mar 11, 2011.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Biotechs Are Plugging AI into Drug Discovery Problems Apr 19, 2024

Show notes

Episode 18 (April 19, 2024):

Biology’s exploding data streams continue to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) tools to streamline drug development. How do we define AI in drug discovery? Who are notable players in the space? How do humans fit into these growing computational pipelines?

This week, Jonathan Grinstein, PhD (Senior Editor, GEN) and Fay Lin, PhD (Senior Editor, GEN Biotechnology) unpack one of the fastest growing topics in the biotech field, AI in drug discovery.

Listed below are key references to the GEN stories, media, and other items discussed in this episode of Touching Base:

The Difference Is the Data: Drug Discovery’s AI Revolution

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Biotechnology, April 18, 2024

Archimedes’ Box: Diagonal Therapeutics Raises $128 Million to Discover Agonist Antibodies

By Jonathan Grinstein, PhD, GEN Edge, April 3, 2024

Generate:Biomedicines Raises Largest Biotech Series C of 2023

By Jonathan Grinstein, PhD, GEN Edge, September 14, 2023

Alex Zhavoronkov Aims to Take Over the Drug Development World with AI

By Jonathan Grinstein, PhD, GEN Edge, June 20, 2023

Diffusion Evolution: New Artificial intelligence Models Break Barriers in Protein Design

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Biotechnology, October 16, 2023

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Launch of Nvelop Therapeutics for Delivery of Genetic Cargo, AACR Recap Apr 12, 2024

Show notes

Episode 17 (April 12, 2024):

This week, the GEN editors discuss the launch of Nvelop Therapeutics, a new start-up leveraging approaches developed by gene editing pioneers David Liu, PhD, and J. Keith Joung, MD, PhD, to advance delivery of genetic cargo. The GEN editors also recap highlights from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting held in San Diego, California.

Featuring Uduak Thomas (Senior Editor, GEN), Alex Philippidis (Senior Business Editor, GEN), Julianna LeMieux, PhD (Deputy Editor-in-Chief, GEN), and Jonathan Grinstein, PhD (Senior Editor, GEN), and moderated by Fay Lin, PhD (Senior Editor, GEN Biotechnology)

Listed below are key references to the GEN stories, media, and other items discussed in this episode of Touching Base:

The State of Omics 2024 Registration

GEN Summit

Cloaking Device: Liu, Joung Launch $100M Nvelop Therapeutics to Advance Delivery of Genetic Cargo

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, April 9, 2024

Bertozzi, Regev, and More Inspire During the Opening Plenary Session of AACR

By Julianna LeMieux, PhD, GEN, April 8, 2024

AACR 2024: Aviv Regev Shows How Single-Cell Atlases Foster New Axis to Genentech’s Drug Discovery

By Jonathan Grinstein, PhD, GEN, April 8, 2024

AACR 2024: A Video Update from San Diego

By Julianna LeMieux, PhD, and Jonathan Grinstein, PhD, GEN, April 8, 2024

A Video Update from Day Two of the AACR Meeting