Making Assays FAIR
VCAM-1 is one of our favorite biomarkers. The levels of this clinical biomarker are increased in patients with diseases as diverse as Parkinson’s disease and arthritis. The regulation of VCAM-1…
It’s not just about measuring what matters – it’s about making what you measure matter. There are many options for endpoints to measure in phenotypic assays. Endpoints to consider include…
Developing phenotypic assays that model human disease is a heavy lift. Our understanding of disease biology is limited. And there are so many variables, it’s hard to know where to…
How do we design phenotypic assays that are physiologically relevant? And what do we mean by “relevant”? For those of us working in drug discovery or chemical safety, what we…
When I started out in tissue culture of primary human cells, there were few methods available and few options for cell types. Most human cell-based assays used immortalized cell lines…
Tips for biologists who want to improve their data skills Biologists can play a key role in implementing FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Resusable) data – here are easy steps…
Many drugs can cause adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. Oncology drugs including targeted kinase inhibitors are particularly problematic. Cardiovascular toxicities present in the clinic as high blood pressure, cardiac…
The ToxCast program of the US EPA was initiated over a decade ago. Its goal was to find rapid and efficient methods to prioritize thousands of chemicals for potential human health…
Excipients are the “fillers” in formulated drugs. They are included to ensure long term storage, stabilize or promote delivery of the active drug. Excipients are assumed by many to be…
Phenotypic assays using human cell types can help replace animal testing in drug discovery and product development. We can’t trust these assays, however, if we can’t explain why or why…