In this episode of Talking Techniques, Ritwika Biswas, Field Application Scientist at Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA), discusses the role of cytokines in autoimmune diseases, the techniques used to examine them and some emerging therapeutic innovations beginning to change the way we approach the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

• Introduction: 00:00–02:06
• The role of cytokines in a healthy body: 02:06–03:57
• Cytokines in autoimmune diseases: 03:57–06:24
• Techniques for detecting cytokines in autoimmune diseases: 06:24–09:48
• Targeting cytokines for therapeutic purposes: 09:48–11:54
• Challenges with targeting cytokines in autoimmune diseases: 11:54–14:28
• Addressing the challenges of targeting cytokines: 14:28–16:43
• Established cytokine-targeting drugs: 16:43–18:57
• The future of cytokines in autoimmune diseases: 18:57–21:54

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This episode of Talking Technique deviates slightly from specific lab technologies to instead discuss techniques and methods we use for teaching and testing life sciences.

To do this, I’m speaking to two pioneers of unconventional teaching and testing approaches to STEM education. Angela Consani is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Bioscience Core Skills Institute (KS, USA). This skills-first microcredential program provides certification for lab skills in techniques, safety and quality control, using performance-based practical testing. Natalie Kuldell is the Founder and Executive Director of Biobuilder (MA, USA), a nonprofit organization, set up to increase interest, understanding and engagement in STEM by converting lab research projects in into teachable modules aimed primarily at the pre-graduate level to give students the practical skills needed for a career in the life sciences.

Together, we’ll question the current system of STEM education and training and whether it captures all the potential talent that could be channeled into the life sciences, best serving all the roles available in the industry.

Contents:

• Introductions: 00:00-03:00
• Introducing BioBuilder: 03:00-07:00
• What industry wants from skills-based testing: 07:00-11:25
• How well do current university degrees meet these requirements: 11:25-15:40
• Designing curriculums to meet the requirements of industry and updating life science education to meet the demands of a new world: 15:40-21:55
• The practicalities of a skills-based curriculum: 21:45-23:50
• Conducting skill-based testing: 23:50-28:40
• Testing BioBuilder’s curriculum: 28:40-32:00
• Can skills-based courses really provide the underlying knowledge needed to flourish in a career in STEM: 32:00-37:00
• How the biotech industry is responding to skills-based teaching and testing: 37:00-46:00
• The interplay between testing and learning and industry: 46:00-51:20
• Outro: 51:20-54:00

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This episode of the Talking Techniques podcast dives into the realm of cancer immunotherapies, focusing on antigen discovery and T-cell receptor engineering for T-cell therapies. Guiding us through the field is Jim Heath, President of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, where he runs the Heath Lab, investigating fundamental immunology, and infectious and chronic diseases.

Jim discusses the computational models and wet lab techniques he uses to characterize T cells, the importance of targeting a balanced immune response with immunotherapies and more in this podcast recorded at AACR 2024 (5th–10th April 2024; San Diego, CA, USA).

Introductions: 00:00-02:00

Intro to cancer vaccines and T-cell therapies: 02:00-04:00

Antigen detection and validation in T-cell therapies: 04:00-05:20

Wet lab and computational techniques for antigen detection: 05:20-09:15

The importance of a balanced immune response to cancer immunotherapies: 09:15-10:30

Technological developments in antigen detection: 10:30-13:45

Tips for best practice when conducting T-cell receptor design 13:45-15:40

What is one thing you would like to see change in the field of antigen detection and T-cell receptor engineering? 15:40-16:30

Designing the path towards a more balanced immune response from immunotherapies 16:30-19:40

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In this episode of Talking Techniques, Ritwika Biswas, Field Application Scientist at Sino Biological US Inc. (PA, USA), discusses the use of cytokines in immunotherapy. Ritwika details the role of cytokines in the body, before going on to discuss how they can be used as therapeutics and to guide treatment decisions. Ritwika also shares how she thinks these proteins will be used in the future.

· Introduction: 00:00–01:35

· The role of cytokines in the body: 01:35–02:52

· Immune regulation and signaling: 02:52–05:40

· Cytokine interactions and networks: 05:40–08:42

· Modulating cytokine activity for therapeutic purposes: 08:42–12:35

· The influence of cytokines on immunotherapy outcomes: 12:35–16:04

· Using cytokines to predict treatment responses and guide immunotherapy decisions: 16:04–20:44

· The importance of standardizing and validating cytokine diagnostic assays: 20:44–24:36

· The future of cytokines in immunotherapy: 24:36–26:11

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The cell-surface proteome plays a critical role in immune-cell function; however, our ability to examine its interactions and spatial organization has previously been limited by available proteomic techniques. This episode explores the function of immune-cell membrane proteins and how the latest developments in spatial proteomics have enabled more detailed interrogation of these proteins and their spatial relationships.

Our guest, Hanna van Ooijen, Immunology Application Scientist at Pixelgen Technologies guides us through the field, revealing a new technique that enables spatial analysis of the cell-surface proteome at a single-cell resolution and highlighting some exciting discoveries that it has facilitated.

• Introductions: 00:00-01:40
• Introducing Molecular Pixelation: 01:40-02:15
• Example applications of Molecular Pixelation: 02:15-03:20
• The role of membrane proteins in immune cell function: 03:20-07:25
• Traditional techniques to investigate cell membrane proteins: 07:15-10:20
• Recent improvements in investigative technology and our understanding of immunology: 10:20-11:10
• Challenges associated with current technologies: 11:10-13:50
• How Molecular Pixelation can address these challenges: 13:50-15:25
• Molecular Pixelation workflow: 15:25-17:55
• Tips for best practice when using molecular pixelation: 17:55-19:30
• Exciting discoveries using Molecular pixelations: 19:30-21:00
• Potential implications of molecular pixelation for the future of immunology: 21:00-24:00

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In this episode of Talking Techniques, we catch up with Michael Long, Principle Investigator of the Long Lab at New York University (NY, USA), where he investigates the neural circuits that underlie vocal communication.

Through the examination of animal models, from songbirds to the rare singing mice of Costa Rica, with cutting-edge imaging techniques Michael reveals fascinating insights into vocal communication. We also discuss his human experiments, working alongside neurosurgeons, with emerging electrophysiological probes to monitor the neural activity of participants as they speak and interact, ultimately revealing how this research could begin to provide solutions for neurological conditions impacting communication, such as autism.

• Introduction: 00:00 – 01:40
• Investigating neural circuits underlying vocal communication: 01:40 – 04:15
• Techniques to explore animal models of vocal communication: 04:15 – 06:25
• The impact of cooling brain regions on songbird singing: 06:25 – 07:50
• The techniques used to investigate animal models: 07:50 – 12:20
• Songbirds: 07:50 – 09:45
• The singing mouse: 10:00 – 12:20
• Investigating neural circuits in humans during speech: 12:20 – 16:30
• Investigating neural circuits in humans during conversation: 16:30 – 19:00
• Moving beyond neural area identification towards understanding neural pathways and mechanisms: 19:00 – 21:40
• Navigating neuropixels, big data and safety: 21:40 – 26:10
• If there was one thing you could ask for to help you better understand these pathways, what would it be? 26:10 – 27:55
• The experience of working with patients undergoing neurosurgery: 27:55 – 30:30
• The potential impact on speech disorders and autism: 30:30 – 33:15

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Launching our fourth season of Talking Techniques, this episode, supported by the University of Cincinnati (OH, USA) we delve into rare disease research and pharmacogenomics, their intersection and the key techniques used to explore them.

Guiding us through these fields is Brenna Carey, an Assistant Professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center whose research focuses on rare disease pathogenesis, diagnostics and therapeutic development and who also runs key courses on the University’s Pharmacogenomics and Drug Discovery Masters degree programs.

Contents:

Introduction: 00:00-01:15

An introduction to pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) and rare lung diseases 01:15-03:50

Techniques to investigate the pathogenesis of PAP: 03:50-05:30

Developing diagnostics and therapeutics for PAP: 05:30-08:20

The importance of pharmacogenomics in drug development: 08:20-11:25

Key techniques and approaches in pharmacogenomics: 11:25-13:00

Emerging trends in pharmacogenomics: 13:00-15:05

Key takeaways from your pharmacogenomics course: 15:00-18:00

What would you ask for to improve our understanding of pharmacogenomics? 18:00-20:15

This episode is supported by the University of Cincinnati Online

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In this episode of Talking Techniques, we talk to Andrew Lee, a senior research fellow in Queen’s University Belfast’s (UK) wastewater-based epidemiology group, about his work using wastewater to monitor and detect infectious diseases. Andrew discusses how wastewater surveillance acts as an early warning system, providing novel, unbiased insights into human and animal pathogens that are circulating within a community, and how this can contribute to a ‘One Health’ approach. He also explains how he has incorporated nanopore sequencing into his work, and the advantages that this provides.

· 00:00­–01:45: Introductions

· 01:45–03:45: Wastewater surveillance for infectious disease

· 03:45–05:35: Genomic surveillance approaches can complement established epidemiological methods

· 05:35–07:25: Why look at wastewater?

· 07:25–10:40: The advantages of nanopore sequencing for wastewater surveillance

· 10:40–12:25: The experimental workflow

· 12:25–15:05: Using wastewater surveillance to detect both human and avian influenza

· 15:05–18:20: Wastewater surveillance as an early warning system

· 18:20–20:47: Future perspectives: other environmental samples, antimicrobial resistance and what else can be found in wastewater?

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