In 2022, BACE continued its mission of exploring novel technologies and topics where epigenetics gains momentum and impact.
Epigenetics in Cell Therapy
In the most recent event, we explored the area of tremendous interest in biotechnology today – cell therapy. As the cell therapy field races towards next levels of efficacy and attempts to address the challenges such as achieving performance in a range of tumor microenvironments, epigenetics are poised to play a major role in both understanding the mechanisms that govern the effectiveness of cell therapy products in complex disease environments and to help generate new cell engineering modalities.
In this exciting October event, we learnt from Ran Jing, PhD how T-cell can be generated from iPSC cells using epigenetic methods, and we heard from Ansuman Satpathy, PhD about the inquisitive research his team performed to sketch out the vast landscape of epigenetic regulators that control T cell phenotype, and in particular T cell exhaustion.
Epigenetics of Autism
In March 2022, we learnt from experts Yihui Zhu, PhD and Kari Neier, PhD about the newest developments in understanding the epigenetic underpinnings of autism. Their fresh of the press research looked into epigenetic clues the mother’s placenta may hold to help us understand and diagnose autism as well as risks of PCB exposure to neurodevelopment.
The first BACE Technology Showcase
Year 2022 also saw the first of BACE technology showcase event. The goal of the showcase events is to bring novel imaginative technologies to BACE audience, in and beyond the fields of genomics and epigenomics.
Our inaugural event hosted CardeaBio’s Francie Barron, PhD, who told us about the company’s innovative BPU technology that marries graphene-based electronic chips with biological compounds for next generation biological applications. We also heard from Ken Dickerson, PhD from CRISPR QC, who demonstrated BPU’s applications in the field of CRISPR genome editing.
2023 – what’s next?
In 2023, BACE will join forces with Bay Area Genomics and San Francisco Genomics to bring new events and topics from the field of genomics and epigenomics to Bay Area audiences, and beyond. For details, please follow the BACE Meetup site to stay informed on all upcoming events.
To partner with us on future events or to inquire about opportunities to present your genomics or epigenomics work, please contact us.
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