April 2025 Newsletter
April 30, 2025
APRIL 2025 NEWSLETTER
News you can use
Stem cell therapy shows promise for treating advanced Parkinson's disease.
A stem cell–based therapy developed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) has shown early success in treating advanced Parkinson’s disease. In a phase 1 trial, neurons derived from embryonic stem cells were transplanted into patients’ brains, leading to stable or improved symptoms without serious side effects. Based on these results, the FDA has approved moving directly to a phase 3 trial, expected to begin in early 2025.
Employee spotlight
Yu-Chen Yen, Ph.D. - Scientist II
Yu-Chen Yen received training in Structure Biology throughout her graduate and postdoctoral studies. Through this training, she gained experience in protein expression and purification across a range of expression systems, including E. coli, insect cells, and mammalian cells. Additionally, she has developed skills in characterizing purified proteins using biochemical assays and determining protein structures through techniques such as X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM.
Featured services
cryo-EM - Helix BioStructures is a leading provider of cryo-EM services. In cases where x-ray crystallography is unsuitable for structural characterization, including certain protein complexes, viruses, antibodies, membrane proteins, and ion channels, Helix offers flexible access to cryo-electron microscopy expertise and services using a milestone-based or by-the-sample approach.
Equipped with three Krios and three Glacios microscopes, we produce high-quality cryo-EM data at industrial speed and at affordable rates. Importantly, we can purify the protein and go directly to grids without freezing and thawing the protein. This leads to high-quality particles and increased success for our clients.
Contact us today to discuss how we can help you with your cryo-EM projects.
Helix is hiring!!
Head of Protein Sciences: We are looking to add an experienced Protein Sciences Leader to our Indianapolis-based team. This role will manage and support the Helix team, planning & tracking all projects to produce high-quality work and support our client’s protein production, biophysical characterization, and structural biology projects.
Head of Structural Biology: We are looking to add an experienced Structural Biology Leader to our Indianapolis-based team. This role will manage and support the Helix team, planning & tracking all projects to produce high-quality work and support our client’s protein production, biophysical characterization, and structural biology projects.
Senior Scientist - Gene-to-Structure: We are looking to add an experienced senior scientist to join our Indianapolis-based team. This senior-level scientist will support our protein production and structural biology pipelines by producing proteins and setting up crystallization and/or cryo-EM experiments, interfacing with our clients, and writing technical project reports.
HELIX HIGHLIGHTS
Helix Biostructures attended Drug Discovery Chemistry (DDC) 2025!!
The Helix team was proud to attend DDC 2025 as an exhibitor in San Diego this month. During the event, we had the opportunity to connect with leading researchers, innovators, and industry partners across the drug discovery and development space. It was an exciting platform to showcase our latest capabilities, share insights into our gene-to-structure services, and explore new collaborations. Thank you to everyone who visited our booth—we look forward to building on the partnership from this year’s conference!!
Instrument review
The QuantStudio 3 Real-Time PCR System is a versatile instrument that can be used for various applications, including thermal shift assays (TSA) to study protein stability. This instrument allows for precise temperature control and real-time fluorescence detection. Using the QuantStudio 3 for thermal shift assays (TSA) can provide valuable insights into protein stability and the effects of various ligands or conditions, facilitating drug discovery and protein engineering research.
Biophysical characterization plays an essential role in drug discovery R&D. Helix offers biophysical characterization services using key instruments (ITC, SPR, BLI, MST, DLS, DSF, TSA, CD, LC/MS, SEC-MALS, Mass Photometry, and more) that cover all your research and project needs.
Conferences & more
Helix Protein Art
