Mark Fortner

The 'zombie cell' effect: New study explains chemotherapy resistance in lung and ovarian cancers Researchers have identified a biological mechanism that helps explain why some lung and ovarian cancers become resistant to chemotherapy, offering insight into why cancers recur. The study, published ...

The 'zombie cell' effect: New Study explains chemotherapy resistance in lung and ovarian cancers | #cancer #LungCancer #OvarianCancer

Accidental discovery hints at mystery structures within our brain Scientists may have stumbled across a network of vessels in the brain that helps clear out waste fluid – a discovery that could "represent a paradigm shift in our understanding of all neurodegenerative diseases"

Scientists may have stumbled across a network of vessels in the brain that helps clear out waste fluid – a discovery that could "represent a paradigm shift in our understanding of all neurodegenerative diseases"

Looking at ‘The Goldfinch,’ and Thinking About Extinction

Looking at ‘The Goldfinch,’ and Thinking About Extinction | #art

Trump orders the military to make agreements with coal power plants The administration's "reasoning" for doing so has little connection to reality.

The justification for this seems to come from an alternate reality with little relationship to the US grid.

A pancreatic cancer approval; Seres cuts staff FDA approves Novocure's Optune Pax for pancreatic cancer, extending survival by 2 months vs chemo alone. Stock up 30%. First approval in this area in 30 years.

A pancreatic cancer approval; Seres cuts staff | #biotech

Men lose their Y chromosome as they age. Scientists thought it didn’t matter – but now we’re learning more The Y chromosome doesn’t seem to do much except determine sex – but its loss in older men might be linked to heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Men lose their Y chromosome as they age. Scientists thought it didn't matter but now they're learning more | #genetics #genesky

Structural ontogeny of protein-protein interactions Understanding how protein binding sites evolve interactions with other proteins could hold clues to targeting “undruggable” surfaces. We used synthetic coevolution to engineer new interactions between...

Structural ontogeny of protein-protein interactions | #bioinformatics #proteomics #ppi #biosky

Hidden Bacteria Found in Common Kidney Stones Researchers identify live bacteria within calcium kidney stones, raising new questions about stone formation and suggesting new targets for prevention and treatment.

Hidden Bacteria Found in Common Kidney Stones

Researchers Studied What Happens When Workplaces Seriously Embrace AI, and the Results May Make You Nervous Introducing AI in the workplace can create a vicious cycle that leaves employees overburdened and burned out.

Researchers studied what happens when workplaces seriously embrace #AI and the results may make you nervous

Scientific sleuthing solves vaccine side-effect New research led by Flinders University and international experts has finally uncovered how a rare blood clotting condition can occur after some COVID19 adenovirus-based vaccines or after a natural ad...

Scientific sleuthing solves vaccine side effect | #covid

First ever inhalable gene therapy for cancer gets fast-tracked by FDA A gene therapy that patients breathe in has been found to shrink lung tumours by inserting immune-boosting genes into surrounding cells

First ever inhalable gene therapy for cancer gets fast-tracked by FDA | #cancer #GeneTherapy #LungCancer

Moderna hit with FDA refusal-to-file letter for mRNA flu shot, issues sharp rebuke of agency's rationale During the first year of the Trump administration, signs of an anti-mRNA slant within the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) became more and more evident. | The FDA specifically...

Moderna hit with FDA refusal-to-file letter for mRNA flu shot, issues sharp rebuke of agency's rationale | #vaccine @fiercebio

YouTube video by Aspen Biosciences AI State of Play 2025

Got 8 minutes? Want to find out how #AI is transforming #DrugDiscovery? Click here to watch the video. youtu.be/4BDoeGxy_ns?...

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Need to transform your research operations? Contact us info@aspen.bio #chemsky

Isomorphic claims major advance with new AI drug design engine, in 'step change' versus AlphaFold 3 Isomorphic Labs has revealed an improved AI drug design engine, doubling success rates in protein-drug structure predictions compared to AlphaFold 3, though methodology details remain limited.

@isomorphiclabs.bsky.social claims major advance with new #AI drug design engine, in 'step change' versus AlphaFold3 | #chemsky #compchemsky #DrugDiscovery

Pancreatic Cancer Grows by Recruiting the Body’s Nerves Researchers found that nerves and cancer-supporting cells team up early to drive pancreatic cancer—breaking that alliance could weaken the disease before it fully forms.

Pancreatic Cancer Grows By Recruiting The Body’s Nerves | #PancreaticCancer

OrsoBio hits target in midstage study for metabolic conditions but stays silent on details OrsoBio’s experimental oral drug lowered fasting triglyceride levels at four weeks of treatment, hitting the primary efficacy goal in a midstage study of metabolic conditions. | OrsoBio’s experimental...

OrsoBio his target in midstage study for metabolic conditions but stays silent on details

Biotech doubles financing in quest to silence genes behind neurological diseases Aerska, a startup developing treatments to silence the problematic genes that cause various brain diseases, has raised $39 million in financing.

Aerska, a startup developing treatments to silence the problematic genes that cause various brain diseases, has raised $39 million in financing, it told STAT exclusively. www.statnews.com/2026/02/09/a...

‘I saw the writing on the wall’: Austria offers safe haven for US academics as Trump wages war on universities Other countries benefit from the Trump brain drain as administration wages war on academia and research

'I saw the writing on the wall': Austria offers safe haven for US academics as Trump wages war on universities

"Black carbon" in Arctic an increasing concern amid other issues in region "Black carbon," or soot, that spews from ships and makes the Artic Ocean ice melt even faster is an increasing concern in a region beset with many other issues.

"Black carbon" in Arctic an increasing concern among other issues in the region | #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming

Gut Bacteria Are Making a Sugar That Attacks the Brain The mice in Aaron Burberry's lab at Case Western Reserve University kept dying. Genetically, they were identical to mice at other institutions around the

Gut Bacteria Are Making a Sugar That Attacks The Brain | #ALS #FTD

Eli Lilly to buy Orna Therapeutics for $2.4 billion Eli Lilly to buy Orna Therapeutics, which focuses on ‘in vivo’ CAR-T for autoimmune diseases, for $2.4 billion

Eli Lilly to buy Orna Therapeutics for $2.4 billion | #biorech

OpenAI inks huge lease in Bellevue, doubling down on Seattle region near Microsoft and Amazon HQs https://www.geekwire.com/2026/openai-inks-huge-lease-in-bellevue-doubling-down-on-seattle-region-near-microsoft-and-amazon-hqs/

Functional liver genomics identifies hepatokines promoting wasting in cancer cachexia Cancer-induced liver changes promote body wasting through secreted factors, with circadian regulators and hepatokines being important contributors to cancer cachexia.

Cancer Cachexia: Liver Identified as Driver of Body Wasting

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Drugs for COPD

For readers interested in new drugs for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, this Review article in the February issue analyses progress in the field and drugs in the pipeline such as PDE3/4 inhibitors
rdcu.be/e27dW
nature.com/articles/s41...

A low-angle view beneath a long concrete pier at dusk, with evenly spaced pillars receding toward the horizon. Gentle waves roll in beneath the structure, and the wet sand in the foreground reflects the dark columns and the underside of the pier. The sky shifts from warm orange near the horizon to deep blue above, suggesting the last light of sunset over the ocean.

Just after sunset tonight. Ocean Beach, San Diego, California

#SanDiego #sunset #OceanBeach

Common eye bacteria linked to dementia and Alzheimer's Scientists have uncovered an intriguing link between infection and brain health, finding that a common bacterium in the eye appears to be linked to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. It's the...

Scientists have uncovered an intriguing link between infection and brain health, finding that a common bacterium in the eye appears to be linked to c…

newatlas.com/brain/alzhei...

How COVID and H1N1 swept through U.S. cities in just weeks New simulations reveal that both H1N1 and COVID-19 spread across U.S. cities in a matter of weeks, often before officials realized what was happening. Major travel hubs helped drive rapid nationwide t...

How COVID and H1N1 swept through US cities in weeks | #pandemics #epidemiology #covid #flu

SPR has evolved into a core technology for drug discovery, delivering real-time, label-free kinetic and mechanistic insight. This brief article provides a high-level overview of how SPR works and how it is evolving to provide even more value to scientists.

Read more: drughunter.com/articles/sur...

What Eikon’s modest IPO says about the future of big-money, big-name biotech Eikon Therapeutics IPOs at $971M valuation, down nearly 75% from peak, raising $381M despite Nobel Prize science backing and leadership by ex-Merck exec Roger Perlmutter.

What Eikon's modest IPO says about the future of big-money, big-name #biotech

A sign biotech is back? Four drugmakers go public, raising nearly $1 billion in all The biotech IPO, a nearly forgotten vestige of the startup playbook, has returned in full force.

A sign #biotech is back? Four drugmakers go public, raising nearly $1 billion in all