News
Molecular map of liver disease could transform how MASLD is diagnosed and monitored
A new study establishes a molecular map of disease progression in Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), and identifies a set of blood biomarkers that could improve diagnosis.
Cellular study maps gene activity changes across more than 50 gut cell types in Crohn’s disease
The latest IBDverse study identifies the genes expressed in Crohn's disease, revealing a lasting 'molecular scar' in the gut lining.
Study of millions of cells reveals new way to understand genetic risk of disease
Scientists have created the most detailed cell map to date showing how genetic variation influences inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), revealing the specific cells and genes that drive the disease.
Immunotherapy success could be predicted with new biomarkers
The deletion of two cancer genes, CHD1 and MAP3K7, improves how well tumours respond to cancer immunotherapy and could be used as biomarkers to help predict which patients are most likely to benefit from treatment, new research shows. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Open Targets, Netherlands Cancer Institute and their collaborators used a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR in a novel approach that cultured tumour cells together with immune cells from the same individual to measure immune killing of cancer cells. This enabled them to identify which genes make tumours cells more or less vulnerable to immune attack.
A metric for target novelty
Published in Nature Communications, an Open Targets team developed a metric for the novelty of a target in the context of a disease, according to current available knowledge. This allows drug discovery scientists to easily identify potentially novel targets. It also reveals a shift in how genetic evidence is used in drug discovery.
A next-generation dual guide CRISPR system for genetic interaction library screening
Published in Nature Communications, a team at Open Targets and the Wellcome Sanger Institute have created a next-generation system for dual guide delivery, enabling efficient library-scale screening for hundreds of thousands of genetic interactions.
New data initiative accelerates discovery and personalised care for mental health conditions
EMBL-EBI receives UKRI Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding for enhancing and translating mental-health omics data into the Open Targets Platform.
Largest trans-eQTL meta-analysis in a single cell type prioritises USP18 in lupus
Published in Nature Communications, this is the largest trans-eQTL meta-analysis in a single cell type. An Open Targets team analysed 3,734 lymphoblastoid cell line samples across nine cohorts, identifying four robust loci.
A tissue-specific atlas of protein–protein associations enables prioritisation of candidate disease genes
Published in Nature Biotechnology, a new in silico method to predict protein associations based on co-abundance creates an atlas of protein associations across 11 human tissues.
Cancer drug resistance causes and categories identified
Researchers have mapped the genetic landscape of cancer drug resistance, uncovering that DNA changes can be grouped into four main categories and highlighting possible new therapeutic targets.
Why clinical trials stop: the role of genetics
Using machine learning to analyse the genetic factors behind early clinical trial termination, researchers find a link between genetic evidence and trial outcome.
Researchers decipher mechanisms of liver regeneration
Scientists from the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and Open Targets together with colleagues from the University of Cambridge, and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, UK, uncovered mechanisms driving regeneration of the liver during chronic liver disease. This regenerative process allows the liver to repair itself when chronically injured but could also result in progression toward cancer. The researchers were able to demonstrate this first by performing single-cell analyses on many biopsies obtained from patients with progressive Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD). The results obtained in vivo were validated using cultured organoids in the laboratory. The scientists have now published their results in the journal Nature.
An immune atlas of lung cancer
Published in Nature Communications, Open Targets researchers and collaborators used single-cell RNA sequencing to create a high resolution molecular map of immune cells in NSCLC tumours, to better understand the role of these cells in disease progression.
Ambitious inflammatory bowel disease study aims to uncover disease biomarkers for personalised medicine
A unique study into IBD will bring together genomics and immunology experts, gastroenterologists, and patients from across the UK to identify new and personalised ways to predict, monitor, and treat Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Open Targets turns 10!
Open Targets celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding.
New screening tool to explore mechanisms behind cancer, autoimmunity and neurodegeneration
Mechanisms driving diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's could be uncovered using a new integrated single-cell approach to cellular genetic screening.
Cancer drug discovery accelerated as hundreds of overlooked targets prioritised
The second generation of the Cancer Dependency Map uncovers 370 priority drug targets, with strong links to specific cancer types.
David Hulcoop appointed Open Targets Director
July 5, Cambridge — Open Targets has appointed David Hulcoop as its new Executive Director, following the retirement of Ian Dunham. Hulcoop will build from the programme’s existing capabilities to maximise Open Targets impact on drug discovery decision making.
Open Targets project creates a human interactome to prioritise drug discovery
Bowel cancer mutations that impact immunotherapy identified
Researchers used CRISPR and mini tumours to discover more about how cancer develops and responds to the body’s immune response.
Study tracking T-cell activation over time boosts search for immune disease treatments
In a first-of-its-kind experiment, researchers have identified links between 127 genes and immune diseases, providing newfound insights into the sequence and timing of gene activity during the activation of T cells, a key process in regulating the body’s immune response.
Roadmap of myeloid differentiation will help better understand immunity
Scientists at Open Targets create a molecular map of myeloid differentiation using over 470,000 human induced pluripotent stem cells, showing that the differentiated cells are able to acquire definitive tissue-resident identities. This will be an important resource to explore myelopoiesis and new therapeutic opportunities.
Pfizer joins the Open Targets consortium
Open Targets, a consortium focused on drug target identification, prioritisation, and validation, announced today that Pfizer has joined as a partner. Pfizer will contribute its unique expertise in oncology, immunology, and metabolic disorders as part of the innovative public-private partnership which uses human genetics and genomics data with the aim of improving the success rate for developing new medicines. This complements the strengths of the five current partners: EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the Wellcome Sanger Institute, GSK, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Sanofi.
Locus-to-Gene method published in Nature Genetics
Our locus-to-gene (L2G) machine learning scoring method was published in Nature Genetics. The L2G score reflects the likelihood that a gene is causal for the trait in question, allowing genes at trait-associated loci to be ranked by the relative strength of their evidence. It has been included in the Genetics portal since version 4.
Defining the PROTACtable genome
An Open Targets project, published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, established a new framework to assess whether human proteins could be targeted with Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs). Image credit: Karen Arnott/EMBL-EBI
Open Targets releases new version of the Genetics Portal with FinnGen data
In our latest Genetics portal release, we have integrated over 2,700 study endpoints from FinnGen, a public-private collaboration to identify genotype-phenotype correlations in the Finnish population. We have also integrated over 11,800 new studies from GWAS Catalog.
Mapping how gene expression varies in human microglia
Open Targets researchers define how factors such as age, sex, and clinical pathology affect microglia, a critically important cell in the development and diseases of the human central nervous system.
Next-Generation Platform released
Our new, next-generation Open Targets Platform is the culmination of over two years of work. It reinvents the best of the old Platform with a redesigned experience, improved usability, based on powerful modern technologies.
Largest integrated resource of pan-cancer CRISPR-Cas9 screens to date
For the first time, a collaboration between Open Targets and the Broad Institute integrated independent CRISPR-Cas9 screens performed at each institution, providing greater statistical power to cancer- and subtype-specific analyses.
A systematic survey of dopaminergic neuron differentiation biases
A systematic survey of 215 iPS cell lines obtained from HipSci identified molecular signatures to select the best lines to use in the study of neuronal development, unlocking the potential of iPSC lines to study otherwise inaccessible cell states.
Getting a finer view of genes leading to Alzheimer's disease risk
An Open Targets paper identifies 37 regions associated with Alzheimer’s disease, including 4 novel ones, and prioritises a list of genes within those regions that may alter Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Open Targets releases a COVID-19 Target Prioritisation Tool
Open Targets is excited to announce the release of our COVID-19 Target Prioritisation Tool, an interactive, open source web portal that integrates a number of key public datasets and publications to facilitate systematic exploration of host and viral targets as well as potential treatments for COVID-19.
Gosia Trynka awarded 2020 Leena Peltonen Prize
Open Targets is excited to announce that Gosia Trynka, our Experimental Science Director, has been awarded the 2020 Leena Peltonen prize by the European Society for Human Genetics (ESHG).
The prize is given every two years to an outstanding young researcher in the field of human genetics and it honours the memory of Dr. Leena Peltonen, a world-renowned human geneticist from Finland who contributed greatly to the identification of disease genes for human diseases.
Alongside her work as a member of the Open Targets Executive Leadership Team, Gosia has been leading the Immune Genomics Group at the Wellcome Sanger Institute since 2014. Her group combines immunology and genomic assays with statistical approaches to study how human genetic variation impacts the immune system and predisposes to the development of autoimmune diseases.
Locus-to-gene method introduced
The Locus-to-gene (L2G) machine-learning scoring method is integrated in the Open Targets Genetics Platform. It reflects the likelihood that a gene is causal for the trait in question. The method was published in Nature Genetics in October 2021.
Analysis of chromatin activity identifies T cell states driving complex immune diseases
A team of researchers at Open Targets analyse the chromatin activity of immune disease-associated variants at different stages of T cell and macrophage activation, and show that such variants have a role in early rather than late activation of memory T cells.
Open Targets celebrates 5-year anniversary
Colleagues from all of our consortium partners gathered at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton, UK to celebrate 5 years of Open Targets and plan the milestones for our next 5 years.
Single cell lung map published in Nature Medicine
Open Targets researchers map health and asthmatic lung tissue to uncover new drug targets for treating asthma.
Large-scale release of CRISPR data from Project Score publication
Open Targets publishes results from its landmark experimental project where CRISPR technology was used in over 300 cancer models to discover thousands of key genes essential for cancer's survival.
Ian Dunham appointed Open Targets Director
Ian Dunham is appointed Director for Open Targets and will continue to focus on the delivery of our established research programme that aims to exploit advances in genetics and genomics for drug target identification and prioritisation.
Sanofi joins Open Targets
Sanofi joins the consortium and brings its expertise in immunology, oncology, neurosciences and diabetes to help us identify potential drug targets.
Open Targets Genetics release
During ASHG 2018, we officially released Open Targets Genetics, a new web tool that allows users to browse gene-variant-trait relationships from UK Biobank data and GWAS Catalog studies.
Rolf Apweiler appointed Interim Director
Rolf Apweiler becomes the Interim Director for Open Targets and continues to foster new partnerships and collaborations to drive drug discovery.
Celgene joins Open Targets
Celgene joins Open Targets and brings its expertise in developing innovative therapies for patients with cancer, immune-inflammatory, and other unmet medical needs.
Takeda joins Open Targets
Takeda joins Open Targets and brings its expertise in oncology, gastroenterology and central nervous system therapeutic areas, along with vaccines.
New brand, new data: introducing Open Targets
To celebrate the release of our first experimental data, CTTV rebrands itself as Open Targets but maintains its focus on helping researchers identify and prioritise potential therapeutic drug targets.
Biogen joins the Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation (CTTV)
Biogen joins Open Targets and brings its expertise in innovative therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, hematologic conditions and autoimmune disorders.
Target Validation Platform launched
Underscoring our commitment to share our data openly to benefit the broader scientific community, we launched a new web platform to help researchers identify therapeutic targets for new and repurposed medicines.
Jeffrey Barrett appointed founding Director
After leading the development of the Immunochip genotyping array and playing an important role in UK10K Dr Jeffrey Barrett is appointed as the founding Director of the Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation (CTTV).
Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation launched
A pioneering public-private research initiative between GSK, the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is to harness the power of ‘big data’ and genome sequencing to improve the success rate for discovering new medicines. The new Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation (CTTV) aims to address a wide range of human diseases and will share its data openly in the interests of accelerating drug discovery.
Molecular map of liver disease could transform how MASLD is diagnosed and monitored
A new study establishes a molecular map of disease progression in Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), and identifies a set of blood biomarkers that could improve diagnosis.
Cellular study maps gene activity changes across more than 50 gut cell types in Crohn’s disease
The latest IBDverse study identifies the genes expressed in Crohn's disease, revealing a lasting 'molecular scar' in the gut lining.
Study of millions of cells reveals new way to understand genetic risk of disease
Scientists have created the most detailed cell map to date showing how genetic variation influences inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), revealing the specific cells and genes that drive the disease.
Immunotherapy success could be predicted with new biomarkers
The deletion of two cancer genes, CHD1 and MAP3K7, improves how well tumours respond to cancer immunotherapy and could be used as biomarkers to help predict which patients are most likely to benefit from treatment, new research shows. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Open Targets, Netherlands Cancer Institute and their collaborators used a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR in a novel approach that cultured tumour cells together with immune cells from the same individual to measure immune killing of cancer cells. This enabled them to identify which genes make tumours cells more or less vulnerable to immune attack.
A next-generation dual guide CRISPR system for genetic interaction library screening
Published in Nature Communications, a team at Open Targets and the Wellcome Sanger Institute have created a next-generation system for dual guide delivery, enabling efficient library-scale screening for hundreds of thousands of genetic interactions.
Largest trans-eQTL meta-analysis in a single cell type prioritises USP18 in lupus
Published in Nature Communications, this is the largest trans-eQTL meta-analysis in a single cell type. An Open Targets team analysed 3,734 lymphoblastoid cell line samples across nine cohorts, identifying four robust loci.
A tissue-specific atlas of protein–protein associations enables prioritisation of candidate disease genes
Published in Nature Biotechnology, a new in silico method to predict protein associations based on co-abundance creates an atlas of protein associations across 11 human tissues.
Cancer drug resistance causes and categories identified
Researchers have mapped the genetic landscape of cancer drug resistance, uncovering that DNA changes can be grouped into four main categories and highlighting possible new therapeutic targets.
Why clinical trials stop: the role of genetics
Using machine learning to analyse the genetic factors behind early clinical trial termination, researchers find a link between genetic evidence and trial outcome.
Researchers decipher mechanisms of liver regeneration
Scientists from the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and Open Targets together with colleagues from the University of Cambridge, and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, UK, uncovered mechanisms driving regeneration of the liver during chronic liver disease. This regenerative process allows the liver to repair itself when chronically injured but could also result in progression toward cancer. The researchers were able to demonstrate this first by performing single-cell analyses on many biopsies obtained from patients with progressive Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD). The results obtained in vivo were validated using cultured organoids in the laboratory. The scientists have now published their results in the journal Nature.
An immune atlas of lung cancer
Published in Nature Communications, Open Targets researchers and collaborators used single-cell RNA sequencing to create a high resolution molecular map of immune cells in NSCLC tumours, to better understand the role of these cells in disease progression.
New screening tool to explore mechanisms behind cancer, autoimmunity and neurodegeneration
Mechanisms driving diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's could be uncovered using a new integrated single-cell approach to cellular genetic screening.
Cancer drug discovery accelerated as hundreds of overlooked targets prioritised
The second generation of the Cancer Dependency Map uncovers 370 priority drug targets, with strong links to specific cancer types.
Open Targets project creates a human interactome to prioritise drug discovery
Bowel cancer mutations that impact immunotherapy identified
Researchers used CRISPR and mini tumours to discover more about how cancer develops and responds to the body’s immune response.
Study tracking T-cell activation over time boosts search for immune disease treatments
In a first-of-its-kind experiment, researchers have identified links between 127 genes and immune diseases, providing newfound insights into the sequence and timing of gene activity during the activation of T cells, a key process in regulating the body’s immune response.
Roadmap of myeloid differentiation will help better understand immunity
Scientists at Open Targets create a molecular map of myeloid differentiation using over 470,000 human induced pluripotent stem cells, showing that the differentiated cells are able to acquire definitive tissue-resident identities. This will be an important resource to explore myelopoiesis and new therapeutic opportunities.
Locus-to-Gene method published in Nature Genetics
Our locus-to-gene (L2G) machine learning scoring method was published in Nature Genetics. The L2G score reflects the likelihood that a gene is causal for the trait in question, allowing genes at trait-associated loci to be ranked by the relative strength of their evidence. It has been included in the Genetics portal since version 4.
Defining the PROTACtable genome
An Open Targets project, published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, established a new framework to assess whether human proteins could be targeted with Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs). Image credit: Karen Arnott/EMBL-EBI
Mapping how gene expression varies in human microglia
Open Targets researchers define how factors such as age, sex, and clinical pathology affect microglia, a critically important cell in the development and diseases of the human central nervous system.
Largest integrated resource of pan-cancer CRISPR-Cas9 screens to date
For the first time, a collaboration between Open Targets and the Broad Institute integrated independent CRISPR-Cas9 screens performed at each institution, providing greater statistical power to cancer- and subtype-specific analyses.
A systematic survey of dopaminergic neuron differentiation biases
A systematic survey of 215 iPS cell lines obtained from HipSci identified molecular signatures to select the best lines to use in the study of neuronal development, unlocking the potential of iPSC lines to study otherwise inaccessible cell states.
Getting a finer view of genes leading to Alzheimer's disease risk
An Open Targets paper identifies 37 regions associated with Alzheimer’s disease, including 4 novel ones, and prioritises a list of genes within those regions that may alter Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Analysis of chromatin activity identifies T cell states driving complex immune diseases
A team of researchers at Open Targets analyse the chromatin activity of immune disease-associated variants at different stages of T cell and macrophage activation, and show that such variants have a role in early rather than late activation of memory T cells.
Single cell lung map published in Nature Medicine
Open Targets researchers map health and asthmatic lung tissue to uncover new drug targets for treating asthma.
Large-scale release of CRISPR data from Project Score publication
Open Targets publishes results from its landmark experimental project where CRISPR technology was used in over 300 cancer models to discover thousands of key genes essential for cancer's survival.
Open Targets turns 10!
Open Targets celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding.
David Hulcoop appointed Open Targets Director
July 5, Cambridge — Open Targets has appointed David Hulcoop as its new Executive Director, following the retirement of Ian Dunham. Hulcoop will build from the programme’s existing capabilities to maximise Open Targets impact on drug discovery decision making.
Pfizer joins the Open Targets consortium
Open Targets, a consortium focused on drug target identification, prioritisation, and validation, announced today that Pfizer has joined as a partner. Pfizer will contribute its unique expertise in oncology, immunology, and metabolic disorders as part of the innovative public-private partnership which uses human genetics and genomics data with the aim of improving the success rate for developing new medicines. This complements the strengths of the five current partners: EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the Wellcome Sanger Institute, GSK, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Sanofi.
Open Targets celebrates 5-year anniversary
Colleagues from all of our consortium partners gathered at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton, UK to celebrate 5 years of Open Targets and plan the milestones for our next 5 years.
Ian Dunham appointed Open Targets Director
Ian Dunham is appointed Director for Open Targets and will continue to focus on the delivery of our established research programme that aims to exploit advances in genetics and genomics for drug target identification and prioritisation.
Sanofi joins Open Targets
Sanofi joins the consortium and brings its expertise in immunology, oncology, neurosciences and diabetes to help us identify potential drug targets.
Rolf Apweiler appointed Interim Director
Rolf Apweiler becomes the Interim Director for Open Targets and continues to foster new partnerships and collaborations to drive drug discovery.
Celgene joins Open Targets
Celgene joins Open Targets and brings its expertise in developing innovative therapies for patients with cancer, immune-inflammatory, and other unmet medical needs.
Takeda joins Open Targets
Takeda joins Open Targets and brings its expertise in oncology, gastroenterology and central nervous system therapeutic areas, along with vaccines.
New brand, new data: introducing Open Targets
To celebrate the release of our first experimental data, CTTV rebrands itself as Open Targets but maintains its focus on helping researchers identify and prioritise potential therapeutic drug targets.
Biogen joins the Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation (CTTV)
Biogen joins Open Targets and brings its expertise in innovative therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, hematologic conditions and autoimmune disorders.
Jeffrey Barrett appointed founding Director
After leading the development of the Immunochip genotyping array and playing an important role in UK10K Dr Jeffrey Barrett is appointed as the founding Director of the Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation (CTTV).
Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation launched
A pioneering public-private research initiative between GSK, the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is to harness the power of ‘big data’ and genome sequencing to improve the success rate for discovering new medicines. The new Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation (CTTV) aims to address a wide range of human diseases and will share its data openly in the interests of accelerating drug discovery.
Open Targets releases new version of the Genetics Portal with FinnGen data
In our latest Genetics portal release, we have integrated over 2,700 study endpoints from FinnGen, a public-private collaboration to identify genotype-phenotype correlations in the Finnish population. We have also integrated over 11,800 new studies from GWAS Catalog.
Next-Generation Platform released
Our new, next-generation Open Targets Platform is the culmination of over two years of work. It reinvents the best of the old Platform with a redesigned experience, improved usability, based on powerful modern technologies.
Locus-to-gene method introduced
The Locus-to-gene (L2G) machine-learning scoring method is integrated in the Open Targets Genetics Platform. It reflects the likelihood that a gene is causal for the trait in question. The method was published in Nature Genetics in October 2021.
Target Validation Platform launched
Underscoring our commitment to share our data openly to benefit the broader scientific community, we launched a new web platform to help researchers identify therapeutic targets for new and repurposed medicines.
Open Targets releases a COVID-19 Target Prioritisation Tool
Open Targets is excited to announce the release of our COVID-19 Target Prioritisation Tool, an interactive, open source web portal that integrates a number of key public datasets and publications to facilitate systematic exploration of host and viral targets as well as potential treatments for COVID-19.
Gosia Trynka awarded 2020 Leena Peltonen Prize
Open Targets is excited to announce that Gosia Trynka, our Experimental Science Director, has been awarded the 2020 Leena Peltonen prize by the European Society for Human Genetics (ESHG).
The prize is given every two years to an outstanding young researcher in the field of human genetics and it honours the memory of Dr. Leena Peltonen, a world-renowned human geneticist from Finland who contributed greatly to the identification of disease genes for human diseases.
Alongside her work as a member of the Open Targets Executive Leadership Team, Gosia has been leading the Immune Genomics Group at the Wellcome Sanger Institute since 2014. Her group combines immunology and genomic assays with statistical approaches to study how human genetic variation impacts the immune system and predisposes to the development of autoimmune diseases.
Open Targets Genetics release
During ASHG 2018, we officially released Open Targets Genetics, a new web tool that allows users to browse gene-variant-trait relationships from UK Biobank data and GWAS Catalog studies.