Innovation in the sciences ‘sparking’ our interest

Ginny By Ginny

As we draw nearer to the end of another great year of growth for our life science and engineering portfolio at Spark, it’s a great time to reflect on some of the innovations that have got our team excited. Here are just a few innovations that caught our eye:

  1. Genomic sequencing This year, Spark began working with Pacbio – a provider of high-quality, highly accurate sequencing solutions. Since then, we’ve been discovering the amazing power of genomics, and how it can advance our biological understanding of all life. One area particularly pertinent in our post-Covid world is how genomic sequencing enables scientists to survey circulating diseases and infections. This helps nations improve their pandemic preparedness and adjust healthcare strategies to better protect public health. Similarly, sequencing can also help track the increasingly urgent challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Genomic data lets researchers interrogate drug resistant bacteria to understand how they adapt so we can accelerate the discovery of new antimicrobial therapies. PacBio has already seen some great coverage with us in European Biopharmaceutical Review, Drug Discovery World, and Technology Networks.

  2. Digital twins We talk about digital twins (virtual models designed to accurately reflect a physical object) across many of our clients, but there are particularly exciting use cases emerging in life sciences. In this sector, digital twins enable us to model reactions without putting humans or animals at risk. This means we can better understand diseases and their interactions with drugs, to accelerate research and to reduce risk to patients. The technology is also useful in clinical trials; used in place of a placebo, which can be ethically questionable for patients who are in chronic and severe pain or advanced stages of a disease. We’ve seen some great coverage of digital twin technology, with clients Phesi and Elsevier being quoted in this Raconteur piece which also appeared in The Times.

  3. Materials research The science team here at Spark love to share the latest developments in materials science – the study of the structure and properties of a material, as well as materials’ applications. Concrete innovation is a favourite of ours, since it’s a material we normally think of as dull and grey, but actually has some fascinating uses. For example this anti-ageing cream to make roads last longer, and cement batteries that could see buildings power themselves. Speaking of batteries, we’ve also been interested in these wooden batteries and this algae battery that can power a computer for months.

  4. Social media When you think of the sciences, you don’t normally think of social media, right? But The Pistoia Alliance introduced us to an interesting goal to enable biopharmaceutical companies to use social media as a way of listening to patients’ voices to get a better understanding of how patients experience disease. The Alliance is bringing major pharma and tech companies together for the project, which will seek to develop a framework for securely and effectively pulling these insights to develop more patient-centric treatments.

  5. Net zero technologies Finally, Net Zero is becoming undeniably important to all sectors as deadlines for climate goals begin to close in. The Elsevier team at Spark works a lot on energy innovations, specifically how we can ensure a sustainable and affordable energy transition. We’ve really enjoyed learning about the different types of data and research needed to make these innovations come to fruition. For example, screening a site for a wind farm requires much more than just finding somewhere windy! Researchers need to look at factors such as regional geology, shallow seismic data, seabed mobility and obstructions, and meteorology data to de-risk projects and ensure ROI. You can read more on this from our clients in this Sustainability Magazine Q&A and this article in Power Technology.

To get into contact with the Spark team about PR and content for life sciences, biotech, biopharmaceutical and R&D organisations – or if you’re interested in joining our team – email us at [email protected]