Elie Diner

Elie Diner

I'm a science content writer and SEO strategist that specializes in synthetic biology, microbiology, and genomics. I have a Ph.D. in bioengineering and help life science brands create accurate, compelling stories that their audiences can find organically.

The Pros and Cons of Using NGS Bioinformatics Software

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and other high-throughput gene profiling techniques have generated vast amounts of biological data, presenting researchers with nearly endless opportunities to untangle complicated biological questions. Commercially available, easy-to-use bioinformatics software has made mining and analyzing this data much more straightforward, delivering the power of computational and data science to nearly any biologist with minimal bioinformatic experience. Yet many academic a
Life in the Lab •

14 Tips for a Successful RNA Extraction

Even the most experienced molecular biologist has screamed their favorite expletive during an RNA extraction. To a non-scientist, it can look like this poor person is losing it, yelling at an innocent tube, filled with clear, nondescript liquid. But to those scientists who have experienced the many woes of RNA extraction, it’s easy to empathize. Outpourings of anger (also known as RNAnger) are a natural and common side effect of working with RNA. And it’s understandable: Low extraction yield an

Out-Licensing | Twist Bioscience

Navigating The Journey from Bench to Bedside Therapeutic antibodies continue to change how we treat human diseases. But antibody discovery and optimization present several challenges and the overwhelming majority of leads that enter pre-clinical testing will fail to navigate the twists and turns on the path to market. Even highly potent and specific candidates can have suboptimal developability profiles and face downstream aggregation, stability, formulation, or manufacturing problems. Usin

Infographic: The Science of RNA-Seq Data Visualization | Form Bio

RNA-Seq allows researchers to rapidly and comprehensively sequence the vast array of RNAs in cells. The result is an avalanche of raw sequencing data that requires complex bioinformatics pipelines to deconvolute, analyze, and uncover novel insights about the transcriptional state of cells. In the past few years, new sequencing techniques, such as single-cell RNA-Seq, have come on the scene, offering a more detailed, unprecedented view of the heterogeneity present in tissues and collections of ce

Bioinformatic File Types & Their Use Cases | Form Bio

As biological data has gone digital, with terabytes of sequence data being stored on servers worldwide, several different file types and formats have arisen. Initially, simple text files (think your regular, old .txt files) were used for storing sequence data using the single nucleotide or amino acid code. Yet, these have significant limitations: Plain text files can’t be annotated with chromosome, quality, functional, or other information required in modern-day bioinformatics. Today, a plethora

New Certis Whitepaper: Bringing Certainty to PDX Model Characterization

Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models are indispensable for translational cancer research. However, public and private PDX tumor banks may lack standard quality controls, which may lead to genomic and transcriptomic characterization inaccuracies, and the potential to reduce efficiencies with which oncology researchers and clinicians can mimic tumor pharmacology, growth, metastasis, resistance and relapse. To demonstrate the quality of the Certis tumor bank and to ensure the data in the BarneyOI

Improving Drug Development and Glioblastoma Xenograft Models

Primary brain tumors are highly heterogeneous tumors that cause significant morbidity and mortality. An estimated 700,000 Americans are living with a primary brain tumor — approximately 29% of which are malignant.1 Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a grade IV astrocytoma, is the most common malignant brain tumor making up nearly half of these cases (49.1%).1 GBM is also the most devastating malignant brain tumor — the median overall survival is just eight months, and only 6.8% of patients survive f
Rulo™ Skin •

The Skin Microbiome and the Importance of Keeping it Healthy

The Skin Microbiome and the Importance of Keeping it Healthy Our skin lets us touch and connect with loved ones and protects us from germs that can make us sick. It’s a home that attaches us safely to the world. But it’s not a home that’s ours alone. We share our skin with billions of invisible roommates, called microbes. They come in all shapes and sizes and live in close harmony with each other and our skin in an intimate alliance. Collectively this diverse group of tiny helpers is called t
Life in the Lab •

The human microbiome does WHAT

The human microbiome has mushroomed from a little-known, niche field within microbiology into a rapidly evolving and expansive research area of its own. This explosion has been driven by the availability of scalable nucleic acid extraction kits, low-cost next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms, and robust bioinformatics pipelines. Consequently, it has provided deep insights into the complexities of microbial communities. Not surprisingly, microbiome research has focused primarily on human ph

Best Oligonucleotide Purification Methods for Your Research | Thermo Fisher Scientific - UK

Synthetic DNA oligonucleotides are used broadly across many different application areas, from basic R&D to clinical diagnostics and biotherapeutics. Their meteoric rise to modern-day ubiquity had humble beginnings as a synthesis puzzle for organic chemists, with no clear application in biology [1]. But widespread adoption of recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s opened up and rapidly solidified their place in biology. Today, DNA oligonucleotides are foundational for genetics and genomics, wher

Three Ways Gibson Assembly Strengthens CRISPR Workflows | Thermo Fisher Scientific - UK

Harnessing the power of CRISPR with recombinant DNA Wielding this technology, either for preclinical R&D or therapeutics development, requires the ability to manipulate and test various Cas proteins, sgRNAs, and other genes common in molecular biology, including fluorescent or luminescent reporters, promoters of different strengths, transcriptional terminators, and more. Accomplishing this requires a modular approach to constructing recombinant DNA, a robust cloning workflow, and rapid access t
Life in the Lab •

Triumphs for Saliva as a Diagnostic Fluid

Using Saliva as a Diagnostic Fluid: 5 Triumphs for Salivary Biomarkers For most people, saliva is written off as an inert (kinda gross) fluid, necessary for food digestion. But for researchers, it’s increasingly being appreciated for its molecular complexity and the potential for DNA & RNA extraction and analysis, proteins isolation, and small molecules to be used as biomarkers for oral and systemic diseases. While the diagnostics community has long been hesitant, over the past two decades, acc
Life in the Lab •

How to Get More Out of Your Saliva Collection & Handling

How to Get More Out of Your Saliva Program: Powerful Considerations for Saliva Collection and Handling Compared to traditional biofluids (i.e., blood), oral biofluids, such as saliva, hold a lot of potential for diagnostic testing. Saliva collection is minimally invasive, safe, and can be done quickly and in a variety of settings, giving it a big upper hand over (often) painful blood draws, which need to be done in a laboratory setting by a medical professional.1-3 Yet much of saliva’s potenti
Life in the Lab •

The Future of Saliva Biomarkers in the Clinic

The Future of Saliva Biomarkers in the Clinic Compared to other biofluids, there are numerous benefits to using saliva for diagnostic testing. Saliva collection is non-invasive, biomarker testing is low cost, and diagnostics can be as sensitive as tests that rely on traditionally-favored biofluids, such as blood. With saliva testing for SARS-CoV-2 growing in popularity and serving as a definitive proof point, salivary diagnostics are uniquely positioned to continue their ingress into the clinic
Life in the Lab •

5 Benefits of Saliva Testing: Why it’s the Next Big Thing for In Vitro Diagnostics

For a multitude of different diseases, from diabetes to cancer, early intervention is key to limiting morbidity and mortality. In vitro diagnostics that sensitively detect disease-specific biomarkers are central to timely diagnosis and successful treatment. While IVDs have been powerful for healthcare providers, there are still significant limitations preventing the rapid detection of disease for the global population. These challenges, outlined by Lee and Wong, fall into three major categories
Life in the Lab •

What is saliva and why is it important for diagnostics?

Aside from when we lick a stamp, get a whiff of greasy fast food, or hold our mouths open for a routine dental cleaning, we typically don’t give saliva more than a fleeting thought. In the diagnostics world, the same has been historically true: Oral sample types, like saliva, have been ignored and undervalued, reserved only for tests for oral infections or cancers.1 But over the past decade, there’s been a major sea change in salivary diagnostics and saliva has quickly risen as a sample type wi
Thermo Fisher •

How to Automate Your SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Testing Workflows: 4 Key Questions

The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned a year of innovation never before seen in the biotech and pharma industries. From the rapid development and manufacturing of novel mRNA vaccines on a global scale to the creation of myriad diagnostic tests, our scientific community has helped protect against the current and continued threat of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The discovery that SARS-CoV-2 viral particles and fragments are shed in the feces of COVID-19 patients, led to the inventive use of wastewater testi
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