CRISPR/Cas9 is a promising tool for genome engineering in bacteria, but it’s limited by inconsistent accuracy. Though some studies have been conducted to understand why this inconsistency occurs, many important biological features have not been explored. Moreover, computer based attempts to predict accuracy have suffered from these knowledge gaps. This is due mainly to the […]

The McMaster graduate student will be involved in various aspects of the design and development of a point-of-care COVID-19 diagnostic and data gathering system. The intern will be responsible for preparing and testing saliva samples for the Sars-Cov-2 virus. An innovative colorimetric paper-based test strip will be used to detect the presence or absence of […]

The multi-billion dollar fashion industry has a problem: many of the high-performance fabrics used in clothing are neither sustainably produced or environmentally friendly. However, there is a considerable market gap in sustainable textiles. Canadian corporations like Proteins Easy Corp are tackling the sustainability problem head on and actively seeking environmentally friendly solutions. This proactive approach […]

Orange-footed sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) is the most common sea cucumber found in the North Atlantic Ocean. This species is mainly fished for its edible body wall and other remaining body parts are discarded as processing waste. However, all the body parts are rich in protein and production of protein hydrolysates is identified as an […]

Mushrooms represent a source of diverse medicinal compounds that have been exploited for centuries. Beneficial compounds have proven efficacy against disease, including anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-tumoral, anti-bacterial traits. These compounds, along with potential for new discoveries, drive the exploration of mushrooms as a powerful medicinal source and supports their application in the health sector to discover […]

Understanding swine metabolism is important to the pork industry, for the improvement of feed efficiency and meat quality, in addition to animal wellbeing. We have recently discovered two stress genes (Luman/CREB3 and LRF/CREBRF) that regulate animal responses to stress. Mutation of these Luman or LRF gene resulted in animals that are more tolerate to stress, […]

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and fatal disease lung disease with unknown cause. There are limited treatment options for IPF and investigations into new treatment options is needed. BOLD-100 is a clinical-stage small molecule that is currently being investigated as a treatment option in oncology and viral infections. The pathway that BOLD-100 impacts, […]

The most recent breakthroughs in cancer treatment are based on understanding that our immune system can be activated to attack tumours. While first achieved using antibody drugs called “checkpoint inhibitors”, this new paradigm of activating a cancer patient’s own immune system is also possible using viruses, an emerging field known as oncolytic virus (OV) therapy. […]

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory disease induced by SARS-CoV-2. To date >1,000,000 deaths have been reported worldwide. Although testing capacity has expanded, Canada still faces challenges to realizing wider scale testing. A promising alternative to large-scale population testing in Canada may lie literally beneath our feet in our municipal sewer systems. […]

Fungal pathogens cause life-threatening invasive infections in humans. Despite all available treatments, mortality rates remain unacceptably high, on par with deaths caused by infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria. Alarmingly, the emergence of drug-resistant fungi is reducing already limited treatment options. To address needs for new antifungal medications, Amplyx Pharmaceuticals has developed fosmanogepix, a […]

In this project, an oncolytic virus will be generated that combines the safety profile of vaccinia virus, with the immunostimulatory power of RNA-vaccines. Currently, the RNA-genomes of Alphaviruses are successfully used to encode proteins to be vaccinated against. Their special genome organization and makeup allow them to self-amplify within a cell. This replication in turn […]

One rapidly evolving area of cancer therapeutics is immunotherapy, which aims to drive a cancer-targeted immune response in tumors. Replicating virus-based therapeutics are a novel cutting-edge immunotherapy that have shown promise clinically. Turnstone Biologics has developed a novel cancer-killing virus with the capacity to deliver multiple payloads to further enhance the virus’ anti-cancer effects in […]