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Supporting CAR-T Cell Therapy with STR Analysis

Posted on by Riley Bell

Engineered T-cell therapies, specifically CAR-T cell therapies, have emerged as a breakthrough treatment for several blood cancers including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), mantle cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma (1). CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy involves collecting T cells from a patient and re-engineering them to detect and destroy cancer cells.

While these therapies have improved progression-free and overall survival in many cases, their complex manufacturing workflows and rapid expansion into new cancer types have introduced a demand for quality control, identity testing and process traceability (1).

Continue reading “Supporting CAR-T Cell Therapy with STR Analysis”

Mitochondrial DNA Typing in Forensics

Posted on by Anupama Gopalakrishnan

23540687_lMitochondria, often thought of as powerhouses of the cell, are fascinating eukaryotic organelles with a double-layered membrane and their own genome. Mitochondrial DNA (Mt DNA) is typically about 16570 bases, circular, highly compact, haploid and contains 37 genes, all of which are essential for normal mitochondrial function. Thirteen of these genes provide instructions for making enzymes involved in oxidative phosphorylation, a process that uses oxygen and simple sugars to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell’s main energy currency. The remaining genes code for transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) which are necessary for translating messenger RNA transcribed from nuclear DNA, into protein molecules.

One of the most important characteristics of mitochondrial genome that is relevant to field of forensics is the copy number. Continue reading “Mitochondrial DNA Typing in Forensics”

How Identical are Identical Twins?

Posted on by Terri Sundquist

Identical twins are derived from the same fertilized ovum and, therefore, should be…well… identical, right? They look the same and often dress the same, especially as children, and many people often have a hard time distinguishing one twin from the other. They are indistinguishable by genetic testing.

However, identical twins are not always identical, as the authors of a recent letter to the editor of Forensic Science International Genetics point out (1). Continue reading “How Identical are Identical Twins?”