Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in the U.K. are developing a technology that analyzes, in vitro, how the 3D morphology of cancer cells changes when exposed to a compound, using AI to predict their response to new treatments. The researchers estimate that their methodology could accelerate drug development by 6 years, by ruling out unsuccessful drugs and thus reducing the number of preclinical trials.

The first complete DNA methylation atlas of 39 human cell types reveals which genes can talk or are silenced, depending on whether their sequence is linked to methyl group epigenetic modification that regulates their expression. This map of on-and-off switches shows differences between the alleles inherited from the father and those from the mother, providing a view of gene expression that can be explored in health and disease independently of the information contained in the DNA sequence.

Maxion Therapeutics Ltd. has raised $72 million (£58 million) in a series A financing to support its development of antibody-based Knotbody drugs for ion channel- and G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-driven diseases.