Natural Killer Cells for Immunotherapy - Advantages of the NK-92 Cell Line over Blood NK Cells.

Natural killer (NK) cells are potent cytotoxic effector cells for cancer therapy and potentially for severe viral infections. However, there are technical challenges to obtain sufficient numbers of functionally active NK cells from a patient's blood since they represent only 10% of the lymphocytes and are often dysfunctional. The alternative is to obtain cells from a healthy donor, which requires depletion of the allogeneic T cells to prevent graft-versus-host reactions.

Impact of gene patents on the development of molecular diagnostics.

There is a widely held view that gene patents in particular and patents in general, because of the exclusionary rights that they provide, are inhibiting the development of and access to critical molecular diagnostic testing. This is a highly relevant issue for healthcare delivery as we move towards personalized medicine, which relies heavily on genetic testing to tailor treatments that are specific for individual characteristics. Critics of the patent system hope to void or diminish the exclusionary aspect of patents by removing genes from the definition of what is patentable, by increasing the number of activities that fall within the research use exemption, or by compelling patent holders to license their rights non-exclusively.

Academic technology transfer and radiology: a strong partnership for the future.

To date, technology transfer from academia to industry has been strongest in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. The medical imaging and medical device industries have traditionally been smaller players and, as a result, some, perhaps many, investigators in radiology are unaware of the potential value of technology transfer and the opportunity to receive sponsorship for research from medical imaging companies. Many investigators are also unaware of opportunities to introduce important academic discoveries into clinical practice through licensing and technology transfer.