A novel metric-based approach of scoring early host immune response from oro-nasopharyngeal swabs predicts COVID-19 outcome.

Unpredictable fatal outcome of COVID-19 is attributed to dysregulated inflammation. Impaired early adaptive immune response leads to late-stage inflammatory outcome. The purpose of this study was to develop biomarkers for early detection of host immune impairment at first diagnosis from leftover RNA samples, which may in turn identify high risk patients.

Targeting homologous recombination and telomerase in Barrett's adenocarcinoma: impact on telomere maintenance, genomic instability and tumor growth.

Homologous recombination (HR), a mechanism to accurately repair DNA in normal cells, is deregulated in cancer. Elevated/deregulated HR is implicated in genomic instability and telomere maintenance, which are critical lifelines of cancer cells. We have previously shown that HR activity is elevated and significantly contributes to genomic instability in Barrett's esophageal adenocarcinoma (BAC).