The very first SciLifeLab CBGE platform retreat took place this week at the beautiful Sigtunastiftelsen. The Chemical Biology and Genome Engineering platform consists of three units - the CRISPR Functional Genomics, Chemical Proteomics, and Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden, with a common mission to turn phenotypic observations into mechanistic insights.
Over three days, we had the privilege to listen to inspiring talks by, among others, the platform directors of the SciLifeLab Drug Discovery & Development, the CBCS chairman/AstraZeneca senior director Thomas Lundbäck, and SciLifeLab’s Infrastructure director Annika Jenmalm Jensen. All with the common goal of improving collaboration between the units and joint services we provide to the research community.
Time to apply for 2026 large project support
The application for the CBCS large project support is open for spring 2026. The application deadline is April 5. For more information and a link to the application portal, please visit Collaboration.
Join the REMEDi4ALL Drug Repurposing Bootcamp!
We are happy to highlight the upcoming REMEDi4ALL Drug Repurposing Bootcamp for Academics 2025, hosted by Beacon and EURORDIS. This free event is designed specifically for young researchers and academics (senior postdocs and early-career PIs) leading promising repurposing projects, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to navigate this pathway successfully.
📅 Date: 17 March 2025 - 18 March 2025
📍 Location: Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK.
This immersive, day-and-a-half training programme combines expert lectures, interactive discussions, and working groups to cover key topics such as:
✅ Regulatory Engagement
✅ Collaboration Building
✅ Funding Application and
✅ Science Communication.
Time to apply for large project support in 2025
We are happy to announce that the deadline for new large project support is the 4th of April. Reach out to a CBCS staff a minimum of two weeks before the application deadline for tailored support for your application and background requirements. For more information on the application process, navigate the cbcs.se website.
CBCS off-site meeting in Lund
The yearly CBCS consortium meeting in Lund offered great lectures and discussions on how to bring CBCS to the next level! We foresee great times ahead and how could you not with those lovely Magnolia trees decorating Lund?
New projects are soon to be kicked off and we are making plans for improving the chemical biology services for researchers in Sweden even further. We would love to see you being a part of it!
Call for large project support 2024
The deadline for applying for CBCS Large Project Support is March 21, 2024. If you are in need of CBCS support for a smaller project, an application may not be necessary. Thus, contact a CBCS staff scientist well in advance for guidance on what support is applicable to your project. The application form will be accessed on the web page at the beginning of 2024. The project review committee is meeting on April 22 and a final decision will be made official at the end of May. The projects are intended to start in early fall 2024.
CBCS/DDD joint Webinar January 12th at 11:00
Some of our users and projects are at the intersection between chemical biology and drug discovery. We believe this webinar will help you to find out where your project fits in best.
CBCS and the Drug discovery and development (DDD) platform at SciLifeLab have calls out for projects – see https://anubis.scilifelab.se
CBCS is looking for projects in Chemical Biology, including assay development for small molecule screening and profiling and enabling chemistry.
The DDD platform has a call looking for new project proposals for drug discovery. All therapeutic modalities that can be developed in collaboration with the DDD platform at SciLifeLab are of interest, including small molecules, antibodies, oligonucleotides and new modalities.
Sign up for the Webinar HERE.
Inauguration of SciLifeLab Linköping site
On October 10, the new SciLifeLab Linköping site was inaugurated. The CBCS Linköping node offers services in assay development and screening in BSL-3 environment, as well as screening of ion channels at the electrophysiology unit.
Fredrik Elinder, Site Director, SciLifeLab Linköping, as well as node lead of the electrophysiology unit, welcomed the 280 delegates to Linköping and a day filled with seminar presentations, poster exhibition, and a snapshot of research and technological possibilities in local and national research infrastructures.
CBCS infrastructure selected to EU research infrastructure →
EU-OPENSCREEN integrates high-capacity chemical biology screening platforms throughout Europe. From 1 July this year, Sweden expands the circle of platform member countries from nine to ten countries. Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden, CBCS, at Umeå University was selected as one of the Swedish partner sites, together with CBCS at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
EU-OPENSCREEN welcomes Sweden as a new ERIC member country →
We are pleased to announce that from July 1st, 2022, Sweden expands the circle of EU-OPENSCREEN member countries from 9 to 10 countries. As a partner of EU-OPENSCREEN since the preparatory phase, our Swedish colleagues played an important role in developing EU-OPENSCREEN over the past 10 years.
New group of antibiotics identified →
Facilitated by the SciLifeLab Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS), researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Umeå University, and the University of Bonn, have identified a new group of molecules, exhibiting antibacterial properties against many antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Since the molecules can easily be modified, the hope is to develop new antibiotics with a minimal amount of side effects.
Call for projects to access the SciLifeLab Chemical Biology and Genome Engineering Platform technologies at a significantly reduced cost
The SciLifeLab Chemical Biology and Genome Engineering Platform (CBGE) launches a call for subsidized pilot projects to turn phenotypic observation into mechanistic insight. This call provides a unique opportunity for research groups at any Swedish university to use CBGE’s services at a significantly reduced cost. The call is aimed at the identification of platform pilot projects (PPPs), which will benefit from the synergies between the CBGE units’ complementary technologies.
More information on the call and application is found here. Application deadline is December 6, 2021.
CBCS receives funding from the Swedish Research Council (VR)
CBCS has been awarded funding through the Swedish Research Council’s national research infrastructure initiative.
Kancera donates new chemical library to Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden
Kancera donates a chemical library to CBCS, containing approximately 150 000 small molecules, with the purpose of supporting chemical biology and drug discovery projects and activities in a variety of scientific disciplines.
Through complementation with Kancera´s library, CBCS´s chemical libraries augment in chemical diversity and number of compounds. The compounds are now available nationwide for Swedish research groups, thereby increasing the chances to discover novel starting points for drug development and the identification of biological tools to study disease biology.
Source: Kancera pressmedelanden
Kancera donerar kemiskt bibliotek till Karolinska Institutet och inleder samarbete som möjliggör nya läkemedelsprojekt
av | okt 28, 2020
Drug discovery and repurposing of drugs for COVID-19 research
CBCS is engaged in the SciLifeLab National COVID-19 Research Program "Drug discovery and repurposing of drugs" with making available A high-quality drug repurposing set for COVID-19 related research.
CBCS Director Anna-Lena Gustavsson, has together with Drug has Discovery & Development Director Kristian Sandberg been appointed as scientific leaders for the "Drug discovery and repurposing of drugs" program.
The National program against COVID-19 are kindly sponsored both by SciLifeLab and Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse and comprises 67 projects over 9 research areas..
For more information, please go to the Scilifelab webpage.
Updated Primary Screening set available through Compound Center
“The primary screening set is designed for a wide variety of test systems, spanning isolated targets, phenotypic cell-based assays, and whole organisms such as parasites, zebrafish, and plants. The available screening collections include both chemically diverse and more focused sets such as chemogenomics libraries (bioactive small molecules with known Mechanisn of Action and approved drugs). The compounds have lead- to drug-like properties with respect to parameters such as molecular weight, hydrogen bond acceptors and donors, lipophilicity and polar surface area. Filters addressing reactivity, PAINs and aggregation issues have been applied to assure tractable hit compounds.”
CBCS-facilitated studies in the News
Revealing new mechanisms of STAT3 inhibition
Published: 2020-03-26
Facilitated by the SciLifeLab Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS), researchers from Sweden and Canada have identified novel ways to inhibit STAT3 activity in cancer cells while revealing new mechanistic understanding of STAT3 biology.
Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden supported researchers in a cross-country study to identify and optimize a shortlist of compounds that can indirectly block STAT3-dependent gene expression. Mechanistic studies revealed that this effect was mediated through oxidation of a member of the Thioredoxin reductase family. With STAT3 being a crucial player in the development and progression of cancer, the scientists see this as a potential to intervene in deregulated STAT3 signaling in cancer cells.
For the full article please check the journal of Science Advances, ScilifeLab News and a related article on the Karolinska Institutet´s News.
Cancer cells makes themselves vulnerable to new drugs
Published: 2020-03-26
Researchers from SciLifeLab and Uppsala University have discovered a way to use the rapid mutation rate in cancer cells as a weapon against tumours. A new substance has shown promising results in both animal and human cancer cells. The results are published in Nature Communications.
A common phenomenon of cancer cells with rapid DNA alterations is bystander mutations in drug metabolic enzymes, leading to potential susceptibility for cytotoxic treatment. With the aim to exploit this concept, the leading scientists screened for small molecules impairing cancer cell growth and identified a cytotoxic kinase inhibitor as a potential candidate targeting cells with loss of NAT2 activity.
The study was led by researchers at several Swedish universities and was carried out with the help of the Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden and other Scilifelab infrastructures.
For the full article please check the journal of Nature Communications, ScilifeLab News and a related Press release.
Source: https://www.scilifelab.se/news/
CBCS part of Forskarfredag at Scilifelab
ForskarFredag is part of European Researchers’ Nights, an initiative that aims to bring researchers closer to the public. Another goal is to motivate young people to embark on research careers. Scientists from the SciLifeLab research community gave presentations on their fields of work,…
#Scilifelab News
See the full article on the visit of High-school students at Scilifelab Website:
https://www.scilifelab.se/news/scilifelab-inspires-new-generation-of-scientists/
EU Openscreen Transnational Access Calls now open
Descriptions of the calls can be found here
Read MoreNew CBCS Webpage Developed
During early spring 2019, a completely rebuilt CBCS webpage is designed and launched, offering our audience an improved experience in collaborating and interacting with CBCS.
Please stay tuned for updates.