Author: Anna Bennett

Down the Rabbit Hole: The Search for New England’s Disappearing Cottontail

Posted on by Anna Bennett

Connecticut is a small yet ecologically interesting state. Over 85% of the human population lives in cities, yet more than 60% of the land is covered by forest, creating a diverse mix of habitats where wildlife and urban life overlap. In this landscape, bobcats have staged an impressive comeback over the past several decades, reclaiming their role as one of the region’s top predators. But as bobcat numbers rise, a quieter story is unfolding alongside them: the New England cottontail, the region’s only native rabbit, is vanishing.

a brown rabbit facing the camera with grass in the background.
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How Enzymes Are Powering A New Generation of Micro-Robots

Posted on by Anna Bennett
Cute, tiny robot. White body, black features, and blue glowing eyes.

Many consider enzymes the workhorses of biochemistry (move over, mitochondria)—catalyzing reactions, breaking down substrates, keeping the machinery of life humming along. But a growing number of researchers are re-envisioning what enzymes can do. Instead of facilitating chemistry, what if enzymes could steer and even guide tiny robots to a tumor? 

That’s exactly what’s happening in the rapidly expanding field of enzyme-powered microscopic robots (a.k.a “microrobots”). Microrobots are tiny, engineered devices—often smaller than the width of a human hair—built to perform tasks inside the body that would be difficult or impossible at a larger scale, like delivering drugs to a specific tissue. A recent paper published in Nature Nanotechnology by a team of researchers at California Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California offers a particularly elegant example that we highlight below1.

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A New View of Protein Degradation with HiBiT and Live Cell Imaging

Posted on by Anna Bennett

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) is an emerging drug discovery strategy that offers an entirely different approach to tackle disease-relevant proteins, including classic “undruggable” targets. Instead of inhibiting protein function, small molecules like PROTACs and molecular glues co-opt the cell’s own ubiquitin-proteasome system to eliminate specific proteins altogether. But as this targeted approach gains traction, it also challenges existing methods for validating compound activity.  

How do you confirm that degradation is happening in a biologically-relevant system? Can you validate protein degradation in real-time?  

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HiBiT-Based NanoBRET® Assay Sheds Light on GPCR–Ligand Binding in Live Cells

Posted on by Anna Bennett

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are among the most important drug targets in human biology, mediating signals across nearly every physiological system. But not all GPCRs are equally easy to study—especially those that interact with peptide ligands. These ligands tend to be flexible, fast-moving, and hard to trace in live cells by standard methods. Historically, radioligand binding assays have filled this gap, offering a way to measure peptide–receptor interactions with high sensitivity. However, these assays are typically performed using isolated membrane preparations or cells under non-physiological conditions, and they don’t allow for real-time or kinetic measurements.

Artistic Image of Hibit Tag

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Understanding Wnt Signaling Through β-Catenin Localization in Live Cells

Posted on by Anna Bennett

The Wnt/β-catenin pathway, long studied in the context of developmental biology, has become increasingly recognized for its role in a wide range of human diseases. Its dysregulation has been implicated in cancer, fibrosis, immune modulation, and neurodegenerative conditions—making it a clinically actionable target across diverse therapeutic areas1. In this blog, we cover the fundamentals of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, highlight ongoing research efforts to understand its role in disease, and show how combining live-cell imaging with luminescent assays complements functional studies.

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Modified Nucleotides in IVT: Small Changes, Big Impact 

Posted on by Anna Bennett

In our final blog post on double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), we turn our attention to the chemical building blocks of mRNA therapeutics—modified nucleotides. These seemingly minor changes to the RNA sequence play a crucial role in the success of mRNA-based vaccines and treatments. However, they also introduce complexities in accurately detecting and quantifying unwanted dsRNA byproducts— key steps in ensuring the therapeutic efficacy of your mRNA product. 

What Are Modified Nucleotides? 

Modified nucleotides are ribonucleotides containing chemically altered nucleosides — like specialty ingredients swapped into a classic recipe to improve taste and nutrition. Just as a chef might use a lactose-free milk or gluten-free flour to make a dish easier to digest without changing its core structure, scientists use chemically altered nucleosides during in vitro transcription (IVT) to improve how mRNA therapies perform. These modifications replace their natural counterparts (e.g., uridine or cytidine) in the final RNA product. Their incorporation improves the performance and safety of mRNA therapeutics in several ways: 

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dsRNA QC Considerations: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love my IVT Reactions

Posted on by Anna Bennett

As mRNA therapeutics continue to expand across clinical pipelines, one persistent challenge remains for developers: reducing double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) contaminants that can compromise safety and efficacy. These unintended byproducts of in vitro transcription (IVT) can trigger unwanted immune responses and reduce the potency of the final product. Developers must prioritize dsRNA detection and control as essential steps in the process. In our previous blog post we offered a high-level discussion of what is double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), its biological function, and importance of detection in a therapeutic context.  Here, we’ll take a closer look at origins of dsRNA contamination, quality control measures, and improvement strategies.

Large-scale production of single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) for mRNA-based therapeutics is primarily done through in vitro transcription (IVT), an enzymatic process designed to generate high-yield, functional mRNA transcripts from a DNA template. This process uses purified RNA polymerase enzymes, such as T7, that recognize specific promoter sequences in the DNA template, generating the RNA transcripts of interest. However, IVT reactions also generate unwanted dsRNA byproduct. Below, we delve into some of the major quality control (QC) considerations and strategies to reduce dsRNA byproducts.

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Bioluminescence vs. Fluorescence: Choosing the Right Assay for Your Experiment 

Posted on by Anna Bennett

From enzyme activity to gene expression, light-based assays have become foundational tools in life science research. Among these, fluorescence and bioluminescence are two of the most widely-used approaches for detecting and quantifying biological events. Both rely on the emission of light, but the mechanisms generating that light—and the practical implications for experimental design—are quite different. 

Choosing between a fluorescence or bioluminescence assay isn’t as simple as picking between two reagents off the shelf. Each has strengths and limitations depending on the application, instrumentation, and biological system. In this blog, we’ll walk through how each method works, where they shine (and where they don’t), and what to consider when deciding which approach is right for your experiment. 

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No More Dead Ends: Improving Legionella Testing with Viability qPCR

Posted on by Anna Bennett
Image of cooling towers.

Legionella is the causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia with a mortality rate of around 10%​. Contaminated water systems, including cooling towers and hot water systems, serve as primary reservoirs for this opportunistic pathogen. Traditional plate culture methods remain the regulatory standard for monitoring Legionella, but these methods are slow—often requiring 7–10 days for results—and suffer from overgrowth by non-Legionella bacteria​. Additionally, traditional methods fail to detect viable but non-culturable (VBNC) bacteria—cells that remain infectious but do not grow on standard culture media. 

Molecular methods like PCR-based detection provide faster and more sensitive Legionella identification. However, a key limitation persists: PCR detects DNA from both live and dead bacteria, leading to false positives and unnecessary or even wasteful remediation efforts​. To address this challenge, Promega has developed a viability qPCR method that retains the speed of molecular testing while distinguishing viable bacteria from non-viable remnants. In this third blog in our Legionella blog series, we cover how molecular detection methods can be refined to provide actionable results for Legionella monitoring. 

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Strengthening Water Safety Measures with Advanced Detection

Posted on by Anna Bennett

Detecting Legionella in water systems is a critical step in preventing outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease. However, not all detection methods are created equal. One of the biggest challenges in water testing is differentiating between viable and non-viable cells. This distinction is essential for making informed decisions about water system safety and compliance, especially in high-stakes environments like hospitals, office buildings and public spaces.

In a previous blog, we explored the history and significance of Legionella testing, from its discovery during the 1976 outbreak to the risks posed by modern water systems. We also highlighted the limitations of traditional culture-based detection and the need for advanced tools to improve accuracy and speed. In this second blog, we will dive deeper into the challenges of Legionella detection, the science behind qPCR technology and how an innovative approach to qPCR addresses these challenges. Finally, we will demonstrate how this technology fits into established workflows to deliver reliable, actionable results for water safety. 

Common water testing icons are shown with blue circles, including a water faucet, water testing imagery, water droplets, water droplets with a magnifying glass, and a water droplet on a clipboard.
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