Archive for the ‘Gene Therapy Research’ Category
Boris Shraiman – Statistical genetics and evolution II – Video
Boris Shraiman - Statistical genetics and evolution II
PROGRAM: ICTP-ICTS WINTER SCHOOL ON QUANTITATIVE SYSTEMS BIOLOGY DATES: Monday 09 Dec, 2013 - Friday 20 Dec, 2013 VENUE: Biological Sciences auditorium, IISc...
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Boris Shraiman - Statistical genetics and evolution II - Video
We Play: Dyfe123 Modpack S1E2 – Genetics – Video
We Play: Dyfe123 Modpack S1E2 - Genetics
We heavily altar our DNA with some crazy genes! CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/ghruirsetghu STEVEN #39;S CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC13d7rEXH...
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We Play: Dyfe123 Modpack S1E2 - Genetics - Video
Acid Elf: Illegal Genetics Lab – Video
Acid Elf: Illegal Genetics Lab
Acid Elf: Illegal Genetics Lab.
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Genetics Society of America selects 5 geneticists to receive society’s 2014 awards
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
29-Jan-2014
Contact: Adam P. Fagen afagen@genetics-gsa.org 301-634-7300 Genetics Society of America
BETHESDA, MD January 29, 2014 The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce its 2014 Award Recipients. The five individuals honored are recognized by their peers for outstanding achievements and contributions to the genetics community.
"The 2014 GSA award winners are impressive scientists who collectively have positively influenced the field of genetics in research, in education, and in fostering the genetics community," said GSA President Vicki Chandler, PhD. "These awards provide an annual opportunity for the genetics community to recognize those individuals whose superb achievements have advanced the science of genetics. On behalf of GSA, I thank each of the award winners for a lasting contribution to the field."
The award recipients, who will receive their awards at GSA conferences during 2014, are:
Frederick M. Ausubel, PhD (Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital) has been awarded the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for lifetime contributions to the field of genetics.
Angelika B. Amon, PhD (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) has been awarded the Genetics Society of America Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics during the past 15 years.
Hugo J. Bellen, DVM, PhD (Baylor College of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) has been awarded the George W. Beadle Award for outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers.
Charles Boone, PhD (University of Toronto) has been awarded the Edward Novitski Prize, which recognizes an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving significant problems in genetics research.
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Genetics Society of America selects 5 geneticists to receive society's 2014 awards
Genetics Society of America Selects Five Geneticists to Receive Society’s 2014 Awards
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Newswise BETHESDA, MD January 29, 2014 The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce its 2014 Award Recipients. The five individuals honored are recognized by their peers for outstanding achievements and contributions to the genetics community.
The 2014 GSA award winners are impressive scientists who collectively have positively influenced the field of genetics in research, in education, and in fostering the genetics community, said GSA President Vicki Chandler, PhD. These awards provide an annual opportunity for the genetics community to recognize those individuals whose superb achievements have advanced the science of genetics. On behalf of GSA, I thank each of the award winners for a lasting contribution to the field.
The award recipients, who will receive their awards at GSA conferences during 2014, are:
Frederick M. Ausubel, PhD (Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital) has been awarded the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for lifetime contributions to the field of genetics.
Angelika B. Amon, PhD (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) has been awarded the Genetics Society of America Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics during the past 15 years.
Hugo J. Bellen, DVM, PhD (Baylor College of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute) has been awarded the George W. Beadle Award for outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers.
Charles Boone, PhD (University of Toronto) has been awarded the Edward Novitski Prize, which recognizes an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving significant problems in genetics research.
Robin Wright, PhD (University of Minnesota) has been awarded the Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education, which recognizes significant and sustained impact in genetics education.
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Genetics Society of America Selects Five Geneticists to Receive Society's 2014 Awards
‘Weeding the garden’ lets ALK+ lung cancer patients continue crizotinib
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
28-Jan-2014
Contact: Garth Sundem garth.sundem@ucdenver.edu University of Colorado Denver
A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics shows that patients taking crizotinib for ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer may safely and durably use up to three courses of targeted radiation therapy to eradicate pockets of drug-resistant disease. Eliminating these pockets of resistant disease allows patients to continue treating the overall condition with crizotinib, leading to improved 2-year survival rates compared with patients forced to discontinue the drug sooner.
ALK+ lung cancers are caused by the aberrant reactivation of the ALK gene, and comprise about 3-5 percent of all cases of non-small cell lung cancer. In these cases, clinical studies have shown that the drug crizotinib is highly effective and the drug was rapidly approved by the FDA in 2011. Unfortunately, at around 8 10 months after the initiation of treatment, the cancer tends to acquire resistance to crizotinib. Earlier work at CU Cancer Center and elsewhere showed that resistance occurs through a change in the biology of the cancer. At this point, patients have generally been switched to another drug.
However, it may not be the entire cancer that develops resistance to the drug. Instead, as the change in biology is an evolutionary event only pockets of the cancer may become immune. Previous work from the CU Cancer Center described the use of a single course of radiotherapeutic local ablative therapy to eliminate these isolated pockets of resistant disease.
"The traditional paradigm for cancer patients has been to switch your systemic therapy to another agent if you progress, even though a majority of your cancer may still be controlled by the original drug. But what if we could use targeted radiation therapy to eliminate those sites of errant disease so a person could stay on a specific drug longer?" says Gregory Gan, MD, PhD, a chief resident in the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology and the paper's first author. "Using stereotactic body radiotherapy, we can ablate these limited sites of progressive disease so patients can continue on the drug they are on a technique we refer to as 'weeding the garden'."
The current study reports median two-year follow-up results of up to three courses of local ablative therapy to control resistant, progressive disease in ALK+ lung cancer patients.
Specifically, the group followed the experience of 38 ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer patients. Of these 38 patients, 33 progressed during the study, meaning the disease gained resistance to crizotinib. Fourteen of those patients progressed in a way that allowed for local ablative therapy. These eligible patients received 1-3 rounds of radiotherapeutic local ablative therapy to "weed the garden" of resistant pockets of disease. Examples of sites that were treated included metastases to the lung, liver, abdominal lymph nodes, and adrenal glands.
"With this long follow up, we can now see that on average it took 5.5 months from the first use of local ablative therapy until further evidence of progression on crizotinib occurred a duration of disease control that is highly competitive with what any new drug-based therapy might be expected to achieve in the acquired resistance setting. In addition, we found that you can use radiotherapeutic local ablative therapy in the same patient multiple times with excellent control of these sites of resistant cancer and minimal to no side-effects. By keeping these patients on crizotinib for longer periods of time and/or because of the direct effect of the local ablative therapy, there was a suggestion that patients may also being enjoying a significant survival benefit," says Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical Program at the CU Cancer Center and the senior author of the study. However, Camidge cautions that this apparent overall survival benefit will need to be studied formally in a prospective clinical trial currently being established at the University of Colorado.
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'Weeding the garden' lets ALK+ lung cancer patients continue crizotinib
"Weeding the Garden" with Radiation Allows ALK+ Lung Cancer Patients to Continue Crizotinib, Increasing Survival
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Newswise A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics shows that patients taking crizotinib for ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer may safely and durably use up to three courses of targeted radiation therapy to eradicate pockets of drug-resistant disease. Eliminating these pockets of resistant disease allows patients to continue treating the overall condition with crizotinib, leading to improved 2-year survival rates compared with patients forced to discontinue the drug sooner.
ALK+ lung cancers are caused by the aberrant reactivation of the ALK gene, and comprise about 3-5 percent of all cases of non-small cell lung cancer. In these cases, clinical studies have shown that the drug crizotinib is highly effective and the drug was rapidly approved by the FDA in 2011. Unfortunately, at around 8 10 months after the initiation of treatment, the cancer tends to acquire resistance to crizotinib. Earlier work at CU Cancer Center and elsewhere showed that resistance occurs through a change in the biology of the cancer. At this point, patients have generally been switched to another drug.
However, it may not be the entire cancer that develops resistance to the drug. Instead, as the change in biology is an evolutionary event only pockets of the cancer may become immune. Previous work from the CU Cancer Center described the use of a single course of radiotherapeutic local ablative therapy to eliminate these isolated pockets of resistant disease.
The traditional paradigm for cancer patients has been to switch your systemic therapy to another agent if you progress, even though a majority of your cancer may still be controlled by the original drug. But what if we could use targeted radiation therapy to eliminate those sites of errant disease so a person could stay on a specific drug longer? says Gregory Gan, MD, PhD, a chief resident in the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology and the papers first author. Using stereotactic body radiotherapy, we can ablate these limited sites of progressive disease so patients can continue on the drug they are on a technique we refer to as weeding the garden.
The current study reports median two-year follow-up results of up to three courses of local ablative therapy to control resistant, progressive disease in ALK+ lung cancer patients.
Specifically, the group followed the experience of 38 ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer patients. Of these 38 patients, 33 progressed during the study, meaning the disease gained resistance to crizotinib. Fourteen of those patients progressed in a way that allowed for local ablative therapy. These eligible patients received 1-3 rounds of radiotherapeutic local ablative therapy to weed the garden of resistant pockets of disease. Examples of sites that were treated included metastases to the lung, liver, abdominal lymph nodes, and adrenal glands.
With this long follow up, we can now see that on average it took 5.5 months from the first use of local ablative therapy until further evidence of progression on crizotinib occurred a duration of disease control that is highly competitive with what any new drug-based therapy might be expected to achieve in the acquired resistance setting. In addition, we found that you can use radiotherapeutic local ablative therapy in the same patient multiple times with excellent control of these sites of resistant cancer and minimal to no side-effects. By keeping these patients on crizotinib for longer periods of time and/or because of the direct effect of the local ablative therapy, there was a suggestion that patients may also being enjoying a significant survival benefit, says Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical Program at the CU Cancer Center and the senior author of the study. However, Camidge cautions that this apparent overall survival benefit will need to be studied formally in a prospective clinical trial currently being established at the University of Colorado.
Among the 38 ALK+ patients, the overall survival at 2 years was 57 percent, but among those who stayed on crizotinib for more than a year it was 72 percent compared to 12 percent in those who discontinued crizotinib earlier.
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"Weeding the Garden" with Radiation Allows ALK+ Lung Cancer Patients to Continue Crizotinib, Increasing Survival
Rutgers Cancer Researchers Examine Gene Fusion and Treatment Implications for Breast Cancer
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Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Researchers Awarded $240K to Explore Breast Cancer Treatment Implications in Gene Fusion Study
Newswise New Brunswick, N.J., January 28, 2014 The Breast Cancer Research Foundation has awarded a pair of investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey a one-year, $240,000 grant to examine treatment implications for a genetic variation found in a quarter of Caucasians and in a small percentage of Caucasian breast cancer patients.
Arnold J. Levine, PhD, a resident member at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and professor of pediatrics and biochemistry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; and Kim M. Hirshfield, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at the Cancer Institute and assistant professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, are building on previous research that led to the identification of a new gene product as a result of two cancer-causing genes being fused together.
Drs. Levine and Hirshfield are examining the pairing of the KANSL1 and ARL17A genes. KANSL1 is part of a protein complex that regulates tumor suppression function and DNA repair proteins involved in cancer formation and cancer cell behavior. ARL17A is involved in movement of proteins within a cell and in turn, affects cell function.
When the two genes are combined, the resulting fusion gene presents itself as a genetic variation in the human genome in one quarter of Caucasian populations. In particular, the gene product was detected in 12 percent of breast cancers in this group. The new fusion genes impact on protein activity further sheds light on why some cancers including breast have difficulty maintaining the integrity of their DNA. As a result, two sets of drugs were identified that could be useful in the treatment of cancers with the fusion variation. The grant will support laboratory study of these agents and their impact on targeted therapy.
The award period runs through October 1.
About Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (www.cinj.org) is the states first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. As part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey is dedicated to improving the detection, treatment and care of patients with cancer, and to serving as an education resource for cancer prevention. Physician-scientists at the Cancer Institute engage in translational research, transforming their laboratory discoveries into clinical practice, quite literally bringing research to life. To make a tax-deductible gift to support the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, call 732-235-8614 or visit http://www.cinj.org/giving. Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheCINJ.
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey Network is comprised of hospitals throughout the state and provides the highest quality cancer care and rapid dissemination of important discoveries into the community. Flagship Hospital: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. System Partner: Meridian Health (Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center, Southern Ocean Medical Center, and Bayshore Community Hospital). Major Clinical Research
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Rutgers Cancer Researchers Examine Gene Fusion and Treatment Implications for Breast Cancer
International patient alliance to fund Spanish Friedreich’s ataxia gene-therapy project
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
28-Jan-2014
Contact: Snia Armengou armengou@irbbarcelona.org 34-934-037-255 Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona)
Barcelona, Tuesday 28 January 2014.- The gene therapy-based research project to tackle Friedreich's ataxia launched in November in labs at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), in Barcelona, and the "Centro de Biologa Molecular Severo Ochoa" (CBMSO), in Madrid, has received 100,000 US$ per year for two years from the Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA). FARA is one of the main patients' organisations in the United States and since 1998 it has provided a rigorous and solid funding programme for research projects all over the world that aim to tackle Friedreich's ataxia, a rare and serious hereditary neurodegenerative disease for which only palliative treatments are currently available.
The peculiarity is that the idea of the project came from those affected by the disease, patients and relatives, who, in their endeavours to find a cure got in touch with basic research groups in order to start a long-term project. The GENEFA Platform, in close collaboration with FEDAES and the BabelFAmily, started fund-raising efforts in May 2013, and in November signed an agreement with IRB and CMBSO, headed by Joan Guinovart, director of the IRB, and Margarita Salas, president of the "Fundacin Severo Ochoa".
"The monthly subscriptions of members of the GENEFA Platform form the basis of the funding; however, the organisation has also held a wide range of fund-raising events and activities and has been supported by donations from companies, associations, and relatives and friends of those affected by Friedreich's ataxia. We are all working hard towards finding a cure and now the collaboration of FARA guarantees the funding required for this purpose," explains Juan Carlos Baiges, on behalf of the members of the Platform.
The project involves the research groups headed by Javier Daz-Nido at the CBMSO, an international expert in gene therapy and Friedreich's ataxia, and Ernest Giralt at IRB, an international authority on the design of transporters, such as nanoparticles, that can carry drugs into the brain and thus overcome the blood-brain barrier. Patients with this ataxia inherit a mutated version of the frataxin gene, which causes neurodegeneration. The project seeks to rescue this defect in cells of the central nervous system.
Jennifer Farmer, executive director of FARA, explains "when you are working on a rare disease, critical resources, such as funding, are quite small so it is imperative that FARA and other global groups with an interest in supporting and advancing research in Friedreich's ataxia work together". "We can't afford to duplicate effort or compete." She goes on to add that "we are proud to give our support to the solid scientific project led by doctors Daz-Nido and Giralt to identify new therapies and at the same time to strike up an alliance with patients in Spain."
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International patient alliance to fund Spanish Friedreich's ataxia gene-therapy project
Research shows copepods use pheromones to find mates
6 hours ago by Marcia Malory Copepod. Credit: Uwe Kils/Wikipedia
(Phys.org) Copepods are tiny crustaceans, only millimeters long. Distributed sparsely in sea and fresh water, hundreds of body lengths may separate them. Oceanographer Laurent Seuront and biological physicist H. Eugene Stanley wanted to know how these small creatures find mates, as it would be unlikely for them to bump into each other accidently. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they determined that copepods change their movement patterns in response to pheromones produced by the opposite sex.
One cubic meter of water may contain only a few copepods. As distances between individuals are very great, they cannot wait for chance encounters and must actively pursue potential mates in order for their species to survive. Because the strategy for locating mates must work over long distances, relative to the animals' size, hydromechanical signals would not be effective, as such signals decay quickly. Therefore, it is likely that copepods use pheromones to find each other.
Biologists already know that female copepods leave chemical trails, which males follow. However, previous experiments examining male trail-following behavior studied copepods in still water, in a laboratory environment. Copepods often live in turbulent environments, at the ocean's surface and in estuaries, and Seuront and Stanley wanted to see how turbulence would affect the crustaceans' responses to chemical signals.
The researchers studied two copepod species found in the northern hemisphere: Temora longicornis, which lives in coastal waters, and Eurytemora affinis, which lives in estuaries. They placed male and females of both species in coastal or estuarial water that simulated their natural environments. Before placing the subjects in the water, Seuront and Stanley conditioned the water by placing various concentrations of copepods of the opposite sex in it and allowing them to remain there for 24 hours.
Seuront and Stanley found that conditioning the water affected how the subjects moved. As the concentration of opposite sex copepods used to condition the water increased, movements became less random.
Eventually, when the density was high enough, subjects began displaying movements associated with intense search strategies that depend on focusing on cues. These movements suggested that the copepods were reacting to pheromones released in the water during conditioning.
Females and non-virgin males of both species displayed this change in movement pattern. However, virgin T. longicornis and E. affinis males did not show any response to female-conditioned water. This suggests that females have an innate response to male pheromones, while the male response to female pheromones is learned. The researchers think that as males gain mating experience, they learn how the pheromone field created by females can help them locate mates.
Explore further: Open wide: Zebrafish fool fast food
More information: Anomalous diffusion and multifractality enhance mating encounters in the ocean, Laurent Seuront, PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1322363111
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Research shows copepods use pheromones to find mates
Ban Genetic Engineering For Unborns – Video
Ban Genetic Engineering For Unborns
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Ban Genetic Engineering For Unborns - Video
Right on target: New era of fast genetic engineering
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(Image: Kotryna Zukauskaite)
A simple, very powerful method is making genome editing much easier and faster prepare for a revolution in biology and medicine
SEQUENCING genomes has become easy. Understanding them remains incredibly hard. While the trickle of sequence information has turned into a raging torrent, our knowledge isn't keeping up. We still have very little understanding of what, if anything, all our DNA does.
This is not a problem that can be solved by computers. Ultimately, there is only one way to be sure what a particular bit of DNA does you have to alter it in real, living cells to see what happens. But genetic engineering is very difficult and expensive.
At least, it used to be. Last month, two groups announced that they had performed a mind-boggling feat. They targeted and disabled nearly every one of our genes in cells growing in a dish. They didn't knock out all the genes in each cell at once, of course, but one gene at a time. That is, they individually modified a staggering 20,000 genes. "It's truly remarkable," says Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, who led one of the studies. "This is transformative."
To put it into perspective, in 2007 an international project was launched to target and "knock out" each of the 20,000 genes a mouse possesses. It took the collective effort of numerous labs around the world more than five years to complete, and it cost $100 million. Now two small teams have each done something similar in a fraction of the time and cost. The secret: a simple and powerful new way of editing genomes. The term breakthrough is overused, but this undoubtedly is one. "It's a game-changer," says Feng Zhang, also at the Broad Institute, who led the other study.
The technique, unveiled just a year ago, is generating tremendous excitement as its potential becomes clear. It is already starting to accelerate the pace of research Lander and Zhang used it to find out which genes help cancer cells resist a drug, for instance. In years to come, it is likely to be used in gene therapy, and to create a new generation of genetically engineered organisms with extensive but precise changes to their genomes. And if we ever do decide to genetically modify people, this is the tool to do it with.
While genetic engineers have done some amazing things, their first tools were very crude. They bombarded cells with extra DNA sometimes literally in the hope that it might occasionally get added to a cell's genome. But there was no way to control where in the genome it went, and if added DNA ends up in the wrong place it can cause havoc. Also, this approach does not allow for any tinkering with existing genes, which is the key to finding out what they and their variants do.
So in the past couple of decades the focus has switched to genome editing. To visualise how it works, imagine the genome as a collection of cookbooks written on long scrolls of paper and cared for by blind librarians. The librarians try to repair any damage but because they can't read they are easily tricked.
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Right on target: New era of fast genetic engineering
Impact of battlefield-related genitourinary injuries described in Journal of Men’s Health
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
28-Jan-2014
Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News
New Rochelle, NY, January 28, 2014Modern combat and the global war on terror, with increased use of improvised explosive devices, have led to a nearly 350% increased rate of genitourinary injuries. The often debilitating long-term sexual, psychological, fertility, and hormonal effects of these traumatic wounds and the need for new coordinated approaches to care are the focus of a Review article and Guest Editorial in Journal of Men's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The articles are available free on the Journal of Men's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jmh.
The Review "Genitourinary Trauma in the Modern Era of Warfare" discusses why battlefield genitourinary injuries have increased so dramatically in recent years and how they have changed. The article is coauthored by Justin Han, MD and Chris Gonzalez, MD, MBA, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Chicago, IL), and Mark Edney, MD, Peninsula Urology Associates (Salisbury, MD) and Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve, 48th Combat Support Hospital (Ft. Meade, MD).
Janice Bray, MD, MBA, Chief, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (Temple, TX), describes the potentially devastating physical, psychological, and social impact of these combat woundsand in particular their effects on future relationships, intimacy, parenting, self-worth, and suicide riskin the guest editorial "Genitourinary Trauma: A Battle Cry for Integrated Collaborative Veteran-Centric Care."
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About the Journal
Journal of Men's Health is the premier peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online that covers all aspects of men's health across the lifespan. The Journal publishes cutting-edge advances in a wide range of diseases and conditions, including diagnostic procedures, therapeutic management strategies, and innovative clinical research in gender-based biology to ensure optimal patient care. The Journal addresses disparities in health and life expectancy between men and women; increased risk factors such as smoking, alcohol abuse, and obesity; higher prevalence of diseases such as heart disease and cancer; and health care in underserved and minority populations. Journal of Men's Health meets the critical imperative for improving the health of men around the globe and ensuring better patient outcomes. Tables of content and a sample issue can be viewed on the Journal of Men's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jmh.
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Impact of battlefield-related genitourinary injuries described in Journal of Men's Health
Rep. Condotta hopes to appease concerned fisheries with redone GMO bill
Although the new bill only addresses labeling and not the production of these fish, the industry opposes it.
Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee, originally filed House Bill 2143, which would prohibit the production of genetically modified finfish and would require them to be labeled when sent to supermarket shelves to be purchased as food by consumers.
Condotta has since filed House Bill 2630, which has similar language but one big difference: It doesnt prohibit production of transgenic fish.
Condotta said that because the production of transgenic fish is already banned in Washington's marine waters, including a ban in the bill was unnecessary. But people in Washington support the labeling of transgenic fish, he said, so its an issue that legislators should address.
The simplified bill also will be better for the state's aquaculture industry, because they should be concerned about their products getting mistaken for transgenic products, he said.
After listening to fish farmers criticize his original bill at a Jan. 17 hearing before the House Agriculture and Natural Resources committee, Condotta had said he was surprised by their opposition.
"We thought that the farmed fishermen would be on our side," he said, considering that several aquaculture companies have said they have no plans to rear transgenic fish in the future.
However, support for the bill was not coming from Troutlodge, an aquaculture company based in Bonney Lake, southeast of Tacoma.
Company representative John Dentler testified at the Jan. 17 hearing that the bill's definition of genetically engineered was too vague. The way it was originally written, he said, the bill could encompass some of his company's most important products as well.
Troutlodge produces triploid trout eggs, which require a form of genetic engineering. These fish eggs have three chromosomes instead of two, making them sterile. The process to do this varies but a common practice is to apply pressure to the eggs and put them in a warm-water bath, which is not a transgenic process.
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Rep. Condotta hopes to appease concerned fisheries with redone GMO bill
Economic Value of Managing Genetics – Video
Economic Value of Managing Genetics
How producers can capture some of the genetic value that they develop using different protocols and management, are a few of the main points of managing gene...
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Economic Value of Managing Genetics - Video
CENTER FOR JEWISH GENETICS – Video
CENTER FOR JEWISH GENETICS
The Center for Jewish Genetics, located in downtown Chicago, not only brings awareness about genetics disorders and hereditary cancers particularly common in...
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CENTER FOR JEWISH GENETICS - Video
Genetics May Hold the Key to Climate Change Solutions for Plants
Genetics-based research could help identify individual plants that possess superior traits to allow them to survive droughts and temperature shifts
Genetics-based research could help identify individual plants that possess superior traits to allow them to survive droughts and temperature shifts. Flickr/WIS Photography
Editor's note: The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.
As the effects of climate change rapidly alter communities, economies and natural systems, the need to advance new solutions to what may be the most pressing biological challenge of our time has never been more urgent. One important part of the puzzle involves unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants to identify those species and populations best able to cope with changing conditions.
Just as researchers have used genetics to improve food production, it can also provide solutions that maintain biodiversity and protect the services provided by native ecosystems. Genetics holds the potential to benefit native systems that range from prairies to pine forests and coral reefs.
Plants are well known to possess extensive genetic variation in drought and temperature tolerance, water-use efficiency, and other traits that can prove critical for surviving climate changes and avoiding extinction. Changing climatic conditions not only affect the plants themselves, but also other organisms that influence plant communities. For example, changing conditions may increase pest and pathogen outbreaks or allow an invasive species to move into an area that was previously inhospitable. Importantly, plants also exhibit genetic variation in their responses to pests and invasive species that can be used to mitigate their negative effects.
The use of genetics will become increasingly important in regions suffering from climate change. For example, in western US, drought and higher temperatures have doubled the rate of tree mortality since 1995, with mortality rates accelerating over time. Pinyon pine, an iconic and dominant species in the West, has suffered nearly 100% mortality at sites in Colorado and Arizona, where climate change has made trees more susceptible to bark beetle outbreaks that in turn result in increased wildfires.
Fortunately, plant genomes all of an organisms genetic information are a vast storehouse of genetic variability that can be used to help prevent the loss of species suffering from climate change. New technology and research platforms are making it possible for researchers to identify those individuals and populations that will survive in the climates of the future and in the face of the myriad cascading effects of climate change.
Genetics-based environmental research is already helping to restore damaged and degraded landscapes. For more than 30 years, a consortium of researchers has examined how genetic variation in the cottonwood tree can affect entire communities of organisms from microbes to mammals. This research has been involved with a 50-year, $626 million effort on the lower Colorado River that shows major genetics-based differences in the success of different populations that the Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies are using to restore riparian habitat. From such combined restoration-research experiments, scientists can learn which genetic lines are most likely to survive future climates.
Understanding a plants response to climate conditions requires the integration of diverse sciences to examine how changing conditions influence the plant through its life history and that of its offspring. Plant species become adapted to local conditions over thousands of years, meaning that what is locally adapted today could do poorly tomorrow as the climate changes. Thus, genetics-based research can help identify those individuals that possess superior traits that will allow them to survive in a future climate. This type of research involves interdisciplinary teams of climate-change scientists, biologists, geneticists, modellers and engineers who are using and developing new technologies and research platforms to unlock the vast stores of information within plant genomes.
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Genetics May Hold the Key to Climate Change Solutions for Plants
$15m investment in sheep and beef genetics
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced a $15 million investment over five years into advances in genetics research that will improve the profitability of New Zealands sheep and beef sector.
A new partnership, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Genetics, will also bring together New Zealands existing sheep and beef genetics research by consolidating Sheep Improvement Ltd, the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Central Progeny Test, and Ovita. Total funding for the new project from government and industry sources will be up to $8.8 million per year.
"Science and innovation are major drivers of economic growth and international competitiveness. The Government is committed to ensuring we invest in purpose-driven research that benefits New Zealand," Mr Joyce says.
"Genetic improvement in the sheep industry has contributed greatly to farm profitability, and for every dollar captured on farm, another 50 cents is captured off-farm. In just 10 years Beef + Lamb New Zealand Genetics expect that farmers will receive $5.90 extra profit per lamb sold at that time."
The funding, contributed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, will allow further expansion into beef genetics, and will allow both the beef and sheep industries to further improve genetic gain in the development of new traits to satisfy the increasing trend of farming in hill country environments.
"Investing in genetics will help improve meat quality, contribute directly to improving on-farm profitability, and ensure were meeting the needs of consumers," Mr Joyce says.
"As a nation, we are already leading the world in pastoral animal and plant genetics. This partnership will help us maintain this critical position and to continue to build on it through further research and development in sheep and beef genetics."
AgResearch will play a major role in the partnership, along with other research partners Abacus Bio, Lincoln University, Massey University, and the University of Otago.
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$15m investment in sheep and beef genetics
$15m sheep, beef genetics research boost
Genetic research to improve sheep and beef profitability will get a $15 million boost from the Government over the next five years.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced the investment today.
A new partnership called Beef + Lamb New Zealand Genetics will bring together existing sheep and beef genetics researchers Sheep Improvement Ltd, the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Central Progeny Test, and Ovita to run the programme.
Total funding for the new project from government and industry sources will be up to $8.8 million a year.
Joyce said science and innovation were major drivers of economic growth and international competitiveness, and the purpose-driven research would benefit New Zealand.
He said genetic improvement in the sheep industry had contributed greatly to farm profitability.
Over the next 10 years work by Beef + Lamb New Zealand Genetics is expected to deliver $5.90 extra profit to farmers for each lamb sold. For every dollar captured on farm, it is estimated another 50 cents is captured off-farm.
The funding, contributed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, will go towards expanding research in beef genetics, and allow both the beef and sheep industries to improve genetic gains by developing new traits to satisfy the increasing trend of farming in hill-country environments.
Joyce said the genetics project would help improve meat quality, contribute directly to improving on-farm profitability, and ensure the needs of consumers were being met.
"As a nation, we are already leading the world in pastoral animal and plant genetics," he said.
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$15m sheep, beef genetics research boost
Failure to legislate ‘will hurt research’
Failure to legislate will hurt research
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Even though stem cell manufacture has just been licensed in this country, the Governments ongoing failure to legislate in this area means pharmaceutical giants will still be wary of investing here, according to an expert in stem cell therapy.
CCMI General Manager Andrew Finnerty, CCMI Director Tim O'Brien, Minister Sean Sherlock and President of NUI Galway Dr. James Browne. Photograph by Aengus McMahon
Once the stem cells are harvested from the bone marrow of adult donors, they are grown in the Galway laboratory to generate sufficient quantities.
The first clinical trial using these stem cells is being funded by the Health Research Board and Science Foundation Ireland and will investigate the safety of using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from bone marrow for the treatment of critical limb ischemia, a complication associated with diabetes which can lead to limb amputation.
John ODea of the Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA) said the centre was a key step.
I look forward to seeing its continued growth to assist in developing the skill sets and techniques that will be needed to embrace the new manufacturing opportunities that this exciting area will bring, he said.
The centre, one of a handful in Europe authorised for stem cell manufacture, has been developed by researchers at NUIGs regenerative medicine institute.
However, Dr Stephen Sullivan, chief scientific officer with the Irish Stem Cell Foundation warned all stem cell research operates at a pan-global level driven by big pharma and international equity firms and these players will only engage with researchers in countries where there is solid stem cell legislation in place. He welcomed the centre as a first step but said if Ireland is to compete at a top international standard, legislation remains necessary.
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Failure to legislate ‘will hurt research’
Colleen’s Dream Foundation Grants Over $20,000 to Cleveland Clinic for Ovarian Cancer Research
Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) January 26, 2014
In its continuing effort to fight ovarian cancer, Colleens Dream Foundation has granted over $20,000 to Cleveland Clinic to fund ovarian cancer research being conducted by Dr. Angela H. Ting, according to Colleens Dream Foundation President Billy Cundiff.
"Working with Cleveland Clinic has been an amazing experience," says Cundiff. "We are excited to support Dr. Ting's research."
Dr. Ting, who is an Assistant Staff of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, says her "scientific passion" is the study of epigenetics.
She says one of her goals for her work is to establish an epigenetic signature for chemo-resistance in ovarian cancer.
"Epigenetics is defined as modifications of DNA or chromatin that do not directly change the DNA sequence but can significantly influence gene expression and organizations of the genome," says Dr. Ting. "An "epigenetic signature" is a unique epigenetic pattern that distinguishes drug resistant ovarian cancers from those that are responsive to treatments."
She says the Colleens Dream Foundation grant will allow her to conduct follow up research -on earlier pilot studies- addressing this topic.
Go here to learn more about "epigenetic signatures."
"Raising awareness and promoting research are truly the most essential and powerful strategies to improve the management of ovarian cancer and to reduce suffering due to the disease. I feel very honored to be part of this effort and greatly admire the thoughtful generosity of Mr.Lanning and Mr.Cundiff to show their support through the Kicking for the Dream program."
Cundiff, who is the kicker for the Cleveland Browns, says the $20,000 grant money given to the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Ting was raised through Kicking For The Dream, and a Colleens Dream Foundation "grant match."
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Colleen’s Dream Foundation Grants Over $20,000 to Cleveland Clinic for Ovarian Cancer Research
AP Bio Genetic Engineering Survey – Video
AP Bio Genetic Engineering Survey
AP Bio Genetic Engineering Survey.
By: Matthew C
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AP Bio Genetic Engineering Survey - Video
Do brain connections help shape religious beliefs?
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
27-Jan-2014
Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News
New Rochelle, NY, January 27, 2014Building on previous evidence showing that religious belief involves cognitive activity that can be mapped to specific brain regions, a new study has found that causal, directional connections between these brain networks can be linked to differences in religious thought. The article "Brain Networks Shaping Religious Belief" is published in Brain Connectivity, a bimonthly peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, and is available free on the Brain Connectivity website at http://www.liebertpub.com/brain.
Dimitrios Kapogiannis and colleagues from the National Institute on Aging (National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD) and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, IL, analyzed data collected from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies to evaluate the flow of brain activity when religious and non-religious individuals discussed their religious beliefs. The authors determined causal pathways linking brain networks related to "supernatural agents," fear regulation, imagery, and affect, all of which may be involved in cognitive processing of religious beliefs.
"When the brain contemplates a religious belief," says Dr. Kapogiannis, "it is activating three distinct networks that are trying to answer three distinct questions: 1) is there a supernatural agent involved (such as God) and, if so, what are his or her intentions; 2) is the supernatural agent to be feared; and 3) how does this belief relate to prior life experiences and to doctrines?"
"Are there brain networks uniquely devoted to religious belief? Prior research has indicated the answer is a resolute no," continues study co-author Jordan Grafman, Director, Brain Injury Research and Chief, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. "But this study demonstrates that important brain networks devoted to various kinds of reasoning about others, emotional processing, knowledge representation, and memory are called into action when thinking about religious beliefs. The use of these basic networks for religious practice indicates how basic networks evolved to mediate much more complex beliefs like those contained in religious practice."
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About the Journal
Brain Connectivity is the journal of record for researchers and clinicians interested in all aspects of brain connectivity. The Journal is under the leadership of Founding and Co-Editors-in-Chief Christopher Pawela, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Bharat Biswal, PhD, Chair of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology. It includes original peer-reviewed papers, review articles, point-counterpoint discussions on controversies in the field, and a product/technology review section. To ensure that scientific findings are rapidly disseminated, articles are published Instant Online within 72 hours of acceptance, with fully typeset, fast-track publication within 4 weeks. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Brain Connectivity website at http://www.liebertpub.com/brain.
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Do brain connections help shape religious beliefs?