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A Little Bit of Radiation Won't Kill You

Dec 10, 2007

Microdosing drugs with radioactive labels might be a way to see if new drugs are effective, reports the Economist. For this technique, drug developers borrow from anthropologists' use of accelerated mass spectrometers. Anthropologists use these mass specs to detect radioactive carbon in food, cloth, or other finds, but drug developers can label drugs with trace amounts of radioactive materials to see if and where the drug's components are absorbed in the body and whether or how long they persist.

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The Scan

NFTs for Genome Sharing

Nature News writes that non-fungible tokens could be a way for people to profit from sharing genomic data.

Wastewater Warning System

Time magazine writes that cities and college campuses are monitoring sewage for SARS-CoV-2, an approach officials hope lasts beyond COVID-19.

Networks to Boost Surveillance

Scientific American writes that new organizations and networks aim to improve the ability of developing countries to conduct SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance.

Genome Biology Papers on Gastric Cancer Epimutations, BUTTERFLY, GUNC Tool

In Genome Biology this week: recurrent epigenetic mutations in gastric cancer, correction tool for unique molecular identifier-based assays, and more.