Category: Montana Bioscience Enterprises in the News

Endosymbionts are little critters that actually live inside the cells of other organisms. A University of Montana researcher recently earned a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study these organisms – especially how they interact with their hosts and the environment – which could help improve health for a huge swath of the world’s population.

When future astronauts heading to Mars sit down to a hearty supper in their spaceship, they may dine on a nutritious, meat-like product made from a microbe that Montana State University scientists discovered in a Yellowstone National Park hot spring.

The four-year grant will enable MSU and its partners from across Montana to deliver quality medical, dental and behavioral health care to kids in rural and underserved areas while providing exceptional educational opportunities for MSU students.

In making the announcement, MSU President Waded Cruzado said “During the pandemic, Dr. Carter helped lead a group of MSU faculty, students and staff in significantly increasing Montana’s COVID-19 testing capacity during the pandemic. He oversaw the MSU research enterprise, the state’s largest, when it set records in expenditures in 2020, 2021 and set it on track to set another record this year.”

Montana State University Billings’ Suzette Nynas, associate professor and department chair for the health and human performance department, was recently inducted into the Montana Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.

Since 2004, approximately 1,200 clinical trials have been conducted in Montana. That’s just one of the facts in the report “Research in Your Backyard: Developing Cures, Creating Jobs – Pharmaceutical Clinical Trials in Montana.” The report was the subject of a recent seminar in Billings sponsored by the Montana BioScience Alliance and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

Montana Tech was recently awarded a five-year, $24 million grant from the Army Research Laboratory to develop a program called “Materials Technology for Rare Earth Elements Processing.” This program, which responds to a critical national need to develop a supply chain for rare earth elements, is a multidisciplinary effort that will use Montana as a model for locating rare earth elements in primary and secondary sources.

Emory Hoelscher-Hull was recently awarded a prestigious public health grant based on her research into water quality in Montana; Pilar Santos was one of four winners of the 2022 Association of Environmental Health Academic Program student research competition, and Sarah Warnke was a runner-up in the competition. All three students were mentored with support from Montana NSF EPSCoR by Dr. Mari Eggers, an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

Montana’s Tonix Pharmaceuticals has announced the design of a new Phase 2 clinical trial of TNX-1300 for the treatment of cocaine intoxication. This new protocol has the potential to serve as a pivotal trial. TNX-1300 is a recombinant enzyme that efficiently degrades and metabolizes cocaine in cocaine users, as demonstrated in a prior Phase 2a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study, providing support of the use of TNX-1300 as a treatment for cocaine intoxication. The company plans to submit the new protocol to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Covid-19 opened the world’s eyes to the wonders of biotechnology. Unfortunately, though, coverage of the industry isn’t always the best. To provide more information about the ways bioscience is curing disease, solving climate change, and feeding and fueling the world in more sustainable ways, the Montana BioScience Alliance is joining with BIO to develop easy-to-read and easy-to-share news articles by independent journalists, editors, and content creators, as well as smart analysis by BIO experts. You can find it now on Bio.News.