07 - Cell Cycle - Interview with Dr. Edward Kipreos
For additional information visit http://www.cancerquest.org/edward-kipreos-interview In this video, Dr. Edward Kipreos explains the processes of the cell cyc...

By: CancerQuest

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07 - Cell Cycle - Interview with Dr. Edward Kipreos - Video

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But after 30 months of testing in more than a dozen adults and children - patients with no conventional options left - worldwide excitement over the T cell therapy's unprecedented power continues to build. The treatment, developed at the University of Pennsylvania, has eradicated advanced blood cancers in mere weeks, and is being adapted to attack solid tumors including prostate, pancreatic, ovarian, and breast cancer.

Maddie's parents, who live in La Plata, Md., marveled that the unique therapy was a cakewalk compared with what she has been through since her diagnosis at age 3.

She has had thousands of doses of toxic chemotherapy. Head-to-toe radiation. Hundreds of blood transfusions. Life-threatening infections in her kidneys, liver, and brain. Months on life support in intensive care. An experimental cell therapy at the National Institutes of Health.

And still, "the beast," as her parents call Maddie's acute lymphoblastic leukemia, would not stay away.

During lunch in the cafeteria, Robyn Major said she was optimistic about the T cell therapy. She did not elaborate because Maddie - perked up and chowing down on pizza, spaghetti, and Fritos - knows more than a 7-year-old should about the limits of modern medicine.

"We've been to Children's National Medical Center in D.C., the NIH, and now here," Maddie said. "This is definitely the best."

She meant the food.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia was a death sentence in the 1960s. Today, with potent chemotherapies and aggressive treatment of the cerebrospinal fluid, about 80 percent of the 3,000 children diagnosed annually in the United States are cured.

That still leaves many other kids like Madison Grace Major.

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Pinning their hopes on a Penn gene therapy

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Dan Snyder at MolecularMD talks with Valerie Bowling about Personalized Medicine
Dan Snyder at MolecularMD talks with Valerie Bowling, Executive Director at the Conference Forum about the impact and future of Personalized Medicine. http://www.th...

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Personalized Medicine: Reading Your DNA
The entire genome may now be mapped and stored on portable electronics. What does a DNA sequence look like mdash;and what can it tell you?

By: HMGCatMCW

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Stefan Gluck, MD: Personalized Medicine and Tissue Collection For Cancer Research
Dr. Stefan Gluck sits down with Selma Schimmel and The Group Room at the 35th Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). They discuss pers...

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Regenerative Medicine in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Integrated Lecture prepared by Asmaa Osama,Esraa Mohamed,Esraa Khaled,Esraa Altawel and Esraa Mahmoud under the supervision of Prof.Dr Maha Baleigh Professor...

By: Eman Mostafa Sadek

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Regenerative Medicine in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis - Video

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THE Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine has brought early March a technology in Iloilo City in a bid to promote stem cell medicine and therapy.

Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said the arrival of the stem cell medicine in Iloilo would attract tourists and for physicians to practice in the city.

Mabilog said aside from stem cell medicine, Iloilo City is ready to absorb other branches of science such as in-vitro fertilization and cryogenic as several hospitals have adequate facilities, specialist doctors and trained personnel to offer.

In Iloilo City alone, there are seven private tertiary hospitals and one government medical center, seven district health centers and more than 100 barangay health centers out of the 180 barangays, more than 20 private health service providers on top of private medical practitioners with their own clinics.

Society president Dr. Leo Olarte said a memorandum of agreement (MOA) will be forged between the association and St. Pauls Hospital here for the acceptance of the program and put up a stem cell center to serve the needs of the Ilonggos.

Olarte said stem cell medicine is a new wonder medicine and the cure of the future. Its successful effects had stemmed the tide of several devastating diseases today and it is considered a good cure for multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons disease, even tuberculosis, diabetes, HIV-Aids and all types of degenerative diseases.

Olarte said although the Department of Health (DOH) has approved the new technology, he warned that harvest of stem cells must be from the human body or the patient himself.

The DOH is expected to issue a guideline on stem cell medicine with the month of March.

The activated stem cells may come from the combined sources of blood, bone marrow and adipose tissue of the patient that maybe operated or injected in three to five hours operation, Olarte said.

The private hospitals operating in the city are Iloilo Doctors Hospital, St. Pauls Hospital, West Visayas University Hospital (Don Benito Hospital), Iloilo Mission Hospital, Medical City, St Therese Hospital and Amoesup International Hospital.

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Fertility clinics have a new tool for monitoring the early development of fertilized eggs into blastocysts/embryos, before a decision has to be made regarding which embryos(s) to implant in the woman. It’s called the Embryoscope Time-lapse embryo monitoring System, or just the Embryoscope for short. The Embryoscope is an incubation chamber with a built-in time-lapse microscopy and data recording system that can incubate and monitor up to 72 embryos at a time. Because the embryos do not need to be removed repeatedly from the incubation chamber to be examined, the risk of damaging the developing embryo is reduced. In addition, the operator can review the entire dynamic sequence of cell divisions of the embryo rather than just selected snapshots in time. (For a time-lapse view of embryonic development, see the NBC news report on the Embryoscope) Time-lapse microscopy allows the operator to assess the precise timing of each cell division and whether or not the cell divisions are synchronous. (Do the first two cells divide into four at the same time?) And because the data are stored digitally, the operator need not be physically present at precisely 12 hours, for example, to be able to assess embryonic development at the 12-hour stage.

The Embryoscope should markedly increase efficiency in the fertility clinic. It should also help health professionals decide which embryos are the best candidates for implantation. It is not known how many fertility clinics are already using the Embryoscope, but I expect the number to increase.Source:
http://humanbiologyblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-embryoscope-for-monitoring-ivf.html

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By Janice Wood Associate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 9, 2013

An international team of researchers has found that a combination of a particular virus in the mother and a specific gene variant in the child increases the risk of the child developing schizophrenia.

The research team, led by scientists from Aarhus University in Denmark, scanned the entire genome of hundreds of people to see if there is an interaction between genes and a common virus cytomegalovirus. They then found that the interaction ups the risk of developing schizophrenia.

According to the researchers, women who have been infected by the virus and around 70 percent have have a statistically significant increased risk of giving birth to a child who develops schizophrenia if the child also has the gene variant.

The risk is five times higher than usual, according to the researchers, who reported on their results in the journal, Molecular Psychiatry.

People infected with cytomegalovirus usually dont know it, according to the researchers. They explain that the infection resulting from the virus, which belongs to the herpes virus family, is usually very mild.

The researchers also stress there is no cause for alarm. Thats because even if both risk factors are present in mother and child, there may be a variety of other factors that prevent the disease from developing in the child.

But as schizophrenia affectsone percent of the population, this new knowledge could be very important, the researchers note.

In the longer term, the development of an effective vaccine against cytomegalovirus may help to prevent many cases of schizophrenia, said Dr. Anders Brglum, professor of medical genetics at Aarhus University.

And our discovery emphasizes that mental disorders such as schizophrenia may arise in the context of an interaction between genes and biological environmental factors very early in life.

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Virus- Gene Interaction May Increase Risk of Schizophrenia

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News - Friday, March 8, 2013 Gene's offers nutritionist Nutritionist Didi Sindelar will be available for customers at Gene's Fine Foods each Friday starting today from 3-7 p.m.

"With the broad variety of specialty products, produce, meats and seafood that Gene's Fine Foods carries we felt it would be helpful for our customers who might have questions about certain diets, concerns of ingredients in products or just would like someone to discuss nutritional values with," said store director Casey Rodacker.

"We invite you to stop in and visit with Didi. She will also help explain our healthy shelves program, which identifies healthy items in categories throughout our store."

Sindelar graduated from Bauman College in Berkeley, where she studied Holistic Nutrition. She is a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism.

After growing up in Ohio and living in Chicago, Sindelar moved to the Bay Area in 2005 to seek a healthier and more active lifestyle, after 15 years as an international flight attendant. She loves to be outdoors enjoying nature, whether on a hike or in the seat of an off-road vehicle.

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Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes on the vine in Amissville, Virginia.

Harvard scientists said they have settled a debate over whether a compound found in red wine activates a gene that keeps cells healthy.

Researchers repeated a 10-year old study using a new method to validate earlier findings that resveratrol turns on a gene that recharges mitochondria, tiny structures that produce fuel for cells. By revving up mitochondria, the agent may protect against aging-related diseases, said David Sinclair, a Harvard Medical School genetics professor and the studys senior author.

Sinclairs earlier research was disputed in studies in 2009 and 2010 saying that resveratrol only activated the gene, a sirtuin called SIRT1, in experiments that used a synthetic fluorescent chemical to track activity. Since these chemicals arent found in cells or nature, other studies said the effect would only work in lab tests and not in humans. The new study, published today in the journal Science, got rid of the chemical.

Controversy is a difficult thing to deal with, and I hope this paper gives some clarity to the field, Sinclair said in a telephone interview.

The Harvard group set out to see if the effect was an artifact of the synthetic chemicals or was something that occurred naturally as well. They swapped out the fluorescent chemicals for a group of naturally occurring amino acids, including tryptophan, and found resveratrol did activate SIRT1.

Sinclairs earlier work led to the formation of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals which focuses on developing drugs from resveratrol. GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) acquired the company in 2008 for $720 million. A little more than two years later, Glaxo shelved development of the lead compound from that acquisition, SRT501, when the medicine didnt appear to work well enough in cancer patients and worsened kidney damage.

Resveratrol is currently being tested in at least two dozen clinical trials to gauge its effects on human health. Its also packaged as a natural supplement, with $34 million in U.S. sales last year, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.

Further doubt was cast on resveratrols abilities after a prominent researcher and promoter of the compound, Dipak Das, who was the director of the University of Connecticut Health Centers cardiovascular research center, was found to have fabricated and falsified data in numerous studies.

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Red Wine Compound Activates Gene Needed for Healthy Cells

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What Are These Creatures? 2013 1080p Available
Small collection of weird creatures that wash up on beaches around the world. What are these monsters, natural mutations, the result of diabolical experiment...

By: ADGUKNEWS

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Copyright 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

My next guest really needs almost no introduction. He's former vice president of the United States. He's one of the most well-known communicators of the risks of climate change. He shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for those efforts. I'm guessing a lot of you have read his book, "An Inconvenient Truth," or you've seen the movie.

His latest book, "The Future," is, as the title suggests, a lot broader than that, a look at how everything from ultra-fast stock trading and genetic engineering, food shortages and Internet freedom, all these things, how will they shape the future. It's quite a tome. And don't worry. There's a chapter in there on climate change too.

Mr. Gore is also chairman of the Climate Reality Project, and he joins us here in our New York studios. Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY, Mr. Vice President.

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: Oh, thank you for having me.

FLATOW: You're welcome. We have an excerpt from your book, from the book, "The Future," at sciencefriday.com/algore, if you'd like to read it. This is a huge project that you tackle, "Six Drivers of the Global Change." And I read the drivers, and one of the things that strikes me is who is in the driver's seat on all of these things. How do we get the public to face these issues? Because it doesn't seem like we are in the mood to face anything big these days.

GORE: It does seem that way. And if you look at our situation, the situation of humanity on planet Earth, we have two large, powerful tools with which to shape the future: one is democracy, the other is capitalism. But both are in need of serious reforms. And here in the United States - the only country, in my view and in the view of many others, that is capable of providing the needed leadership in the world - we have a particular challenge because our democracy has been hacked. In order to put ourselves back in the driver's seat so that humankind can reclaim some control over our destiny, we really do have to remedy these problems with democracy and capitalism.

FLATOW: What do you mean democracy has been hacked? What do you mean by that?

GORE: Well, of course, it's a computer term that describes how a computer's operating system can be taken over and the computer forced to do things its owner doesn't want. Our operating system in the U.S. is our Constitution, and it's been hacked by big money, corporate influence, special interests, lobbying. Money plays an extremely unhealthy role in our democracy today. Its role has been growing ever since television replaced newsprint as the primary medium through which the conversation of democracy occurs.

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/s4x2fm/personalized) has announced the addition of the "Personalized Medicine Market Potential" report to their offering.

Genetics has changed the face of the pharmaceutical industry today. With advances in the field of genetics, it is now possible to customize even your medicines according to your genetic constitution. The emergence of personalized medicines has taken the pharmaceutical industry by storm.

With genetics making it possible to personalize your medicines, it has now become possible to tailor medicines to cure diseases such as cancer, sinusitis and scientists are looking at options for curing AIDS as well with personalized medicines. Often described as the right treatment for the right person at the right time, personalized medicines however face many challenges before they become widely available, the biggest challenge being regulatory hurdles and cost.

This report is a comprehensive analysis of the Personalized Medicines market. We explore the benefits and disadvantages of personal medicines, the role of pharmacogenomics, role of diagnostic tools, emergence of linked diagnostics and therapeutics, the efficacy of treatment with personalized medicines and many other factors.

We also include an analysis of whether the emergence of personalized medicines means an end of the era of blockbuster drugs. We also examine the benefits for businesses and partnership/alliance models in the market, followed by an analysis of the essentials of personalized medicine practice.

The applications of personalized medicines in predictive medicine, treatment optimization, cancer, pharmacogenetics and pharmacometabolomics as well as other met andunmet therapy areas are also examined in this report. An analysis of the regulatory framework that is critical to the success of personalized medicines is included.

The economic impact of personalized medicines and the role of venture capital in this market is looked at. Since technology obviously plays a major role in the development of personalized medicines, we analyze the various technology platforms as well as the technological requirements for the personalized medicines market.

Challenges facing the industry as well as a look at the key markets where personalized medicines are being used is included, followed by an analysis of the personalized medicine applications currently on the market and the major industry players.

Companies Mentioned

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Research and Markets: Personalized Medicine Market Potential

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Luigi Naldini - Modified stem cells for therapeutics applications
Luigi Naldini - San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (HSR-TIGET), Italy Dr Luigi Naldini talks at the IFOM-Kyoto University Joint Symposium in Milan about his talk on the recent advances in hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy. Dr Naldini explains the process of modifying stem cells with genes and replacing the mutated ones. These stem cells are then corrected and infused into the problem area, creating a potential permanent solution as they are self-regenerating in the patient. Recordered during the IFOM - Kyoto University Joint Symposium, October 2012. For more info visit ifom.eu

By: IFOMeu

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What is the “standard of identity” for milk? This may sound like a silly question, but condensed milk, evaporated milk, and milk all have very specific specifications, as defined by the FDA. The FDA keeps close watch on such things to prevent food manufacturers from misrepresenting their products.

The FDA revealed last week that it is considering a petition from the dairy industry for a rule change that would allow milk to be sweetened with “any safe and suitable sweetener”, such as aspartame. Furthermore, the dairy industry wants the sweetened milk to be called just milk, without having to reveal on the front of the container that it contains sweeteners. The industry is worried about flagging sales of plain old boring milk, and they’ve come up with a marketing solution - make it taste sweeter!

To convince the FDA that this would be a good thing, the dairy industry makes the argument that making milk taste sweeter will allow it to compete more effectively with sugary drinks. The industry’s logic is that if milk tasted sweeter, more kids might choose milk it over sugary drinks. And that, they say, would help combat obesity.

Huh? Getting kids used to sweeter-tasting milk (and thus to sweet-tasting drinks) will somehow reduce their preference for sugary foods and drinks and combat obesity? You’ve got to be kidding. The industry’s petition to the FDA has prompted an angry response from parents and consumer groups. The FDA is inviting public comments on the issue through May 21, 2013, after which it will make its decision. If you have an opinion, you can register it on the FDA’s website.Source:
http://humanbiologyblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/should-artificially-sweetened-milk-be.html

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Washington, March 4 (ANI): A single gene may be involved in the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and other autoimmune diseases, a new study has shown.

The research began when Marc Donath, M.D., endocrinologist and researcher at the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland, discovered an interesting pattern of autoimmune disease within the family of one of his patients, a 26-year-old male who had recently been diagnosed with T1D.

The patient showed an uncommonly strong family history of T1D; his sister, father, and paternal cousin had also been diagnosed earlier in their lives. Additionally, another family member had developed ulcerative colitis, also an autoimmune disease.

"This pattern of inheritance was indicative of dominant genetic mutation, and we therefore decided to attempt to identify it," Dr. Donath said.

Four years of analysis using three different genotyping and sequencing techniques pointed to a mutation on the SIRT1 gene as the common indicator of autoimmune disease within the family.

The SIRT1 gene plays a role in regulating metabolism and protecting against age-related disease. To gain more understanding of how this genetic change in SIRT1 leads to T1D, Dr. Donath and his team performed additional studies with animal models of T1D.

When the mutant SIRT1 gene found in the families was expressed in beta cells, those beta cells generated more mediators that were destructive to them. Furthermore, knocking out the normal SIRT1 gene in mice resulted in their becoming more susceptible to diabetes with greatly increased islet destruction.

Dr. Donath speculates that the beta cell impairment and death due to the SIRT1 mutation subsequently activates the immune system toward T1D.

"The identification of a gene leading to type 1 diabetes could allow us to understand the mechanism responsible for the disease and may open up new treatment options," Dr. Donath explained.

The study was recently published in Cell Metabolism. (ANI)

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Single gene mutation may result in type 1 diabetes

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For now, the Neanderthal genome is an abstract string of billions of DNA letters stored in computer databases. But it naturally sparks the imagination: Could scientists use that genetic blueprint to create neo-Neanderthals in the flesh?

In the not-so-distant future, advances in genetic engineering might enable that feat, experts say. But whether such a resurrection should happen is another story.

Since the 1996 birth of Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, scientists have greatly expanded and improved on cloning techniques. They have cloned dogs, cats, rats, pigs, and cows, among other species. In 2003, researchers in Spain were the first to bring back an extinct speciesthe Pyrenean ibex, a wild mountain goat also called a bucardothough the clone only lived for a few minutes.

All of these examples relied on a technique called nuclear transfer. Starting with an intact cell (fresh or frozen) of the animal they'd like to clone, scientists first remove the nucleus, where DNA resides, and insert it into a hollowed-out egg cell of the same or a related species. This hybrid egg is then implanted into the uterus of a female surrogate for gestation, and voil: The surrogate gives birth to a clone.

But there are no intact Neanderthal cellsfar from it. Decoding the Neanderthal genome meant piecing together many DNA fragments painstakingly extracted from 40,000-year-old bones. So how could cloning be possible?

In his 2012 book Regenesis, Harvard geneticist George Church proposes a different approach for cloning extinct animals whose genome has been sequenced. It starts with a healthy cell of a closely related speciescloning a Neanderthal, for example, could start with a stem cell from a modern human. Using new tricks of genetic engineering, researchers could make adjustments to the DNA in the human cell so it matches the code of the Neanderthal.

That's more difficult than it sounds, as there are millions of spots in the genome that are different in modern humans and Neanderthals. Church points to a new technique called CRISPR that makes it possible to edit multiple sites in the genome at once. A paper describing the process was published in Science in January. With that publication, "genome engineering of mammalian cells just took a big step forward," he says.

Though the techniques aren't sophisticated or cheap enough yet to recreate a Neanderthal genome, Church thinks the idea is plausible. "Going from engineered cells to whole organism has been especially well established in mice, and [there's] no obvious reason why it would fail in other mammals."

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Return of the Neanderthals

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Weve all been served that iceberg lettuce salad thats decorated with a single, barely red tomato wedge. Even for a hardcore veggie lover, that mealy chunk of flavorless pink cellulose can be a tough sell. So maybe we douse the salad in extra dressing to compensate, or maybe we just skip that portion of veggies altogether. Either way, we walk away eating worse than we should have.

But few of us have ever looked at this lousy salad as a design problem. Because while candy bars and soda have been crafted to be addictive, sugary temptations, our fruits and vegetables have more often been engineered for good old yield. Rachel Nuwer over at Food & Think reasons through this problem, talking to scientists who are working, not just on adding more delectable sweetness to our produce, but doing so without adding any extra sugar.

[S]ugar, it turns out, is not the only sweetness driver. The sweetness of a farmers market strawberry or a hand-picked blueberry comes largely from volatiles, or chemical compounds in food that readily become fumes. Our nose picks up on and interacts with dozens of these flavorful fumes in any given food, perfuming each bite with a specific flavor profile. The sensations received by smell and taste receptors interact in the same area of the brain, the thalamus, where our brain processes them to project flavors such as sweetness. 'The perception of sweetness in our brains is the sum of the inputs from sugars plus certain volatile chemicals,' said Harry Klee, a researcher with the universitys Horticulture Sciences Department and Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, at the American Association of the Advancement of Science conference, held last week in Boston. 'The volatiles act to amplify the sugar signal so that we actually think theres more sugar in the food than is actually present.'

A dozen or more volatiles can occupy a single food. Some trigger the sensation of sweetness, others of bitterness or sourness. If we could better understand just how these chemicals interact in foods and in our brains, we could genetically tweak foods to be more to our liking.

Scientists from the University of Florida think that 'fixing the flavor of foods such as tomatoes would make them more appealing to shoppers, which on the long run may facilitate a healthier society. 'If we make healthy things taste better, we really believe that people will buy them more, eat them more and have a healthier diet,' Klee said. 'Flavor is just a symptom of a larger problem,' he continued. 'We have bred crops for a higher yield, while quality and nutritional value have dropped.'

No doubt, volatiles--for however poorly theyve been named--seem like a miraculous natural flavor enhancer that would put Stevias one-note sugariness to shame. I imagine the best tomatoes, blueberries, corn, and green beans weve ever eaten--picked in summer perfection--lining the shelves of Walmart with mass-produced mundanity. And maybe then, the produce aisle will be as exciting as the candy section.

Read more here.

[Illustration: Shutterstock]

Mark Wilson is a writer who started Philanthroper.com, a simple way to give back every day. His work has also appeared at Gizmodo, Kotaku, PopMech, PopSci, ... Continued

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How Do You Get People To Eat More Veggies? Genetic Engineering !

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SAN DIEGO, March 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sequenom, Inc. (SQNM), a life sciences company providing innovative genetic analysis solutions, today reported total revenues of $33.7 million and $89.7 million for the fourth quarter and full year of 2012, respectively. Net loss was $32.8 million, or $0.29 per share, and $117.1 million, or $1.03 per share, for the fourth quarter and full year, respectively.

"It has been a little more than one year since the Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine (SCMM) launched MaterniT21 PLUS, the first non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) in the United States that measures circulating cell-free nucleic acids in maternal blood for the detection of fetal aneuploidies. During 2012, SCMM established itself as the leader in the NIPT field with the good acceptance of MaterniT21 PLUS by the medical community," said Harry Hixson, Jr., Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Sequenom. "SCMM and its licensees have also seen rapid acceptance of non-invasive prenatal testing in countries outside the United States."

Fourth Quarter 2012 PerformanceTotal revenues for the fourth quarter of 2012 increased to $33.7 million, 117% over revenues of $15.5 million for the comparable period in 2011. Fourth quarter 2012 revenues from the genetic analysis operating segment were essentially flat year-over-year, while revenues from the SCMM diagnostics services operating segment grew to $21.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 up from $2.8 million in the prior year period. Revenues from the SCMM diagnostics segment are recorded primarily on the cash basis.

Total cost of revenues increased to $21.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $9.3 million for the prior year period. Cost of revenues increased due to the significant increase in the number of diagnostic tests performed, with accessions of 33,000 samples during the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to 8,000 samples accessioned during the prior year period.

Today we filed a Form 8-K which describes that management identified an accounting error in our previously issued consolidated financial statements. The resulting change in classification increased cost of revenues and decreased selling and marketing expense by the same amount and thus had no effect on revenues or net loss for this, or any period. This accounting error related to the classification of costs related to field service personnel for our genetic analysis business as selling and marketing expenses rather than as cost of revenues in prior periods. The cost of genetic analysis product sales and services for the fourth quarter of 2011 now includes an additional $0.8 million in maintenance labor services. These costs were previously classified as selling and marketing expenses.

Overall gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2012 was 37% as compared to gross margin of 40% for the fourth quarter of 2011. Fourth quarter gross margin for our diagnostics services business was positive for the first time since the launch of SCMM's MaterniT21 PLUS test, even with revenues being recorded on the cash basis. Gross margin for our genetic analysis business for the fourth quarter of 2012 was 67% compared to 70% for the prior year period.

Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2012 were $41.8 million, as compared to total operating expenses of $28.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. Selling and marketing expenses increased to $13.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2012 from $8.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, resulting primarily from higher labor costs associated with the expansion of the SCMM sales force and marketing efforts. Research and development expenses increased to $14.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, as compared to $13.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, resulting primarily from the expansion of capacity and the progress toward validation of the MaterniT21 PLUS test at the North Carolina facility.

General and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter of 2012 were $13.7 million, as compared to $6.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, due to increased litigation expenses and increased infrastructure to support the Company's operations. Total stock-based compensation expense was $4.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2012; an increase from $2.8 million in stock-based compensation recorded for the fourth quarter of 2011 as a result of a change in estimate for performance based stock awards.

Net loss for the fourth quarter 2012 was $32.8 million or $0.29 per share, as compared to net loss of $22.2 million, or $0.22 per share for the same period in 2011. Net cash used in operating activities was $14.5 million for the fourth quarter 2012, lower than the previous quarters in 2012.

"We made significant progress in our performance during 2012, with strong revenue growth during the fourth quarter as our diagnostic services revenues increased and our overall cash burn declined," said Paul V. Maier, Sequenom's CFO. "We look forward to continued growth in 2013 through greater testing volumes and revenues, as well as test capacity expansion. To meet the growing demand for its testing services, we expect Sequenom CMM's third laboratory location in North Carolina will become operational later this year."

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Sequenom, Inc. Reports Financial Results For The Fourth Quarter And Full Year Of 2012

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Dr. James Broach poses in front of the Institute for Personalized Medicine on the Hershey Medical Center campus in Derry Township. Broach and three other scientists gave a presentation on the work of the institute during a Mini Medical School program on Wednesday night. (SUBMITTED)

HERSHEY - Imagine going to your doctor and getting a diagnosis from the genetic code that is stored on your cellphone.

That may seem like something from a sci-fi movie, but scientists at Penn State's Institute for Personalized Medicine predict this scenario is only a few years in the future.

Today, scientists can take blood or tissue samples from a patient and process them so they can read their genetic code. The cost is about $5,000, but in the near future, the cost will drop to $1,000 or less, Dr. Jim Broach, director of the Penn State Institute for Personalized Medicine, told an audience of more than 300 at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center on Wednesday night.

The institute opened its doors on the Derry

Dr. Glenn Gerhard (SUBMITTED)

Broach's talk was part of this year's Mini-Medical School program. Mini-Medical School will continue at the Medical Center on Tuesday evenings through April 2, offering a series of topics for the community to learn about medical science and how it translates into clinical treatments. Broach will repeat his presentation about the Institute for Personalized Medicine at 7 p.m. March 19 at Penn State Hershey Medical Group-Camp Hill.

Broach; Dr. Glenn Gerhard, lead investigator of the institute's bio-bank program; Dr. Walter Koltun; and Dr. Xuemei Huang

"In the not-too-distant future, all of you will have your (genetic) sequence done as a routine course of your medical evaluation," Broach explained. "You'll put it on your cellphone and take it out with you, and when you go into the doctor's office that will help dictate what treatments you should have. We can define you as an individual much more precisely than we ever could before."

Broach attributed this revolution

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Hershey Medical Center doctors tailor treatments to patients

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

LOS ANGELES, March 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Response Genetics, Inc. (RGDX), a company focused on the development and commercialization of molecular diagnostic tests for cancer, will announce its fourth quarter and year-end financial results for 2012 and give an operational update in a press release to be issued before the market opens on Thursday, March 21, 2013. The company will host a conference call that same day at 10:00 a.m. EDT to discuss its financial results.

CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS

To access the conference call by phone on March 21 at 10:00 a.m. EDT, dial (800) 537-0745 or (253) 237-1142 for international participants. A telephone replay will be available beginning approximately two hours after the call through March 23, 2013, and may be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406. The conference passcode for both the live call and replay is 20506513.

To access the live and archived webcast of the conference call, go to the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://investor.responsegenetics.com. It is advised that participants connect at least 15 minutes prior to the call to allow for any software downloads that might be necessary.

About Response Genetics, Inc.

Response Genetics, Inc. (the "Company") is a CLIA-certified clinical laboratory focused on the development and sale of molecular diagnostic testing services for cancer. The Company's technologies enable extraction and analysis of genetic information derived from tumor cells stored as formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens. The Company's principal customers include oncologists and pathologists. In addition to diagnostic testing services, the Company generates revenue from the sale of its proprietary analytical pharmacogenomic testing services of clinical trial specimens to the pharmaceutical industry. The Company's headquarters is located in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit http://www.responsegenetics.com.

Forward-Looking Statement Notice

Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release and the statements of representatives of the Company related thereto contain or may contain, among other things, certain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Such forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties. Such statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to the Company's plans, objectives, projections, expectations and intentions, such as the ability of the Company, to provide clinical testing services to the medical community, to continue to expand its sales force, to continue to build its digital pathology initiative, to attract and retain qualified management, to strengthen marketing capabilities, to expand the suite of ResponseDX(R)products, to continue to provide clinical trial support to pharmaceutical clients, to enter into new collaborations with pharmaceutical clients, to enter into areas of companion diagnostics, to continue to execute on its business strategy and operations, to continue to analyze cancer samples and the potential for using the results of this research to develop diagnostic tests for cancer, the usefulness of genetic information to tailor treatment to patients, and other statements identified by words such as "project," "may," "could," "would," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "plan" or similar expressions.

These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the Company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities Exchange Commission. Actual results, including, without limitation, actual sales results, if any, or the application of funds, may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various factors (many of which are beyond the Company's control). The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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Response Genetics , Inc. to Release Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2012 Financial Results and Host Conference Call on ...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The 2012 "Young Investigator" grant recipients have been announced by Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, Inc. (ACGT), including its first international awardee.

ACGT (www.acgtfoundation.org) is the nations only not-for-profit exclusively dedicated to cancer cell and gene therapy treatments for all types of cancer. 100% of contributions go directly to research, and fund grants with leading scientists in the U.S. and Canada. ACGT has funded 41 grants since its founding in 2001 by Barbara Netter and her late husband, Edward, to conduct and accelerate critically needed innovative research for all types of cancer.

The ACGT Young Investigator Award funds assistant professors on the tenure track who are conducting independent and innovative cell and gene therapy for cancer research in their own dedicated lab. ACGT grants are typically the first they have received, which later attract additional funding and are critical in helping Young Investigators establish their independence.

ACGT's Board approved two 2012 Young Investigator Awards, pending final contract approval. The award to Alexander Stegh, PhD, Assistant Professor, Neurology, at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, will fund a research study into a potential new treatment for brain cancer. Stegh's study seeks to better understand metabolic vulnerabilities to the most common and aggressive malignant primary brain tumor in humans, glioblastoma (GBM), and aims to establish more effective methods of attacking and destroying a cancer that has been particularly treatment resistant.

Douglas Mahoney, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Disease, at the University of Calgary, Canada, is ACGTs first international grantee. His study focuses on oncolytic virus therapy, which, unlike conventional drugs, orchestrates tumor cell death in multiple ways, simultaneously. Virus-based treatment is considered among the most promising gene therapy techniques. Dr. Mahoney and his team will work to engineer next-generation and virus combinations to break through treatment barriers. Although Dr. Mahoneys initial research was on breast cancer, the technique can be used against many cancers.

"It is discouraging to see federal cutbacks in cancer research funding," said Barbara Netter, ACGTs President. "ACGT is stepping into the breach to boost funding for promising research that can deliver cancer cell and gene therapy discoveries like the recently announced breakthrough leukemia treatments pioneered by Dr. Carl June at the University of Pennsylvania, one of ACGTs first Clinical Translation grantees."

ACGT has awarded 27 grants to Young Investigators and 14 grants to Clinical Investigators totaling $23.7 million funding innovative basic research and clinical translation. ACGTs Scientific Advisory Council comprised of 16 renowned physicians and researchers, conducts the rigorous review process. Young Investigator Grants range from $250,000 to $500,000 over a 2-3 year period. Clinical Translational Grants range from $500,000 to $1,000,000. Seventeen ACGT funded research projects have been approved for human clinical trials; 11 of which are underway. To donate, please visit http://www.acgtfoundation.org or call 203.358.8000.

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2012 "Young Investigator" Grant Recipients Announced; Funding Cutting-Edge Cell and Gene Therapy Research for Cancer

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

RICHMOND, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Sangamo BioSciences (SGMO) is a gene therapy company with a single product in human clinical studies and a market value of more than $500 million. The rest of the company's pipeline is still preclinical, meaning the only testing being done is in test tubes and rats.

Preclinical-stage drug companies don't typically carry market values of $500 million, which makes Sangamo's SB-728 HIV therapy -- the product in phase II studies -- really important. Sangamo won't trade at $10 per share, like it does today, if SB-728 blows up. Without any drugs in human studies, Sangamo's market cap might easily be cut in half or more, which would be appropriate, particularly for a company trying to develop something as challenging as gene therapies.

Keep this perspective in mind when you hear Sangamo executives talk about the potential for SB-728 to be a "functional cure" for HIV. Throwing the words "cure" and "HIV" into the same sentence generates serious buzz -- and rightly so -- because there is no current curative treatment for HIV. Unfortunately, the data presented on SB-728 to date, including Wednesday, do not match the hype.

See if (SGMO) is in our portfolio

It is unrealistic to believe SB-728 will ever become a "functional cure" for HIV because the scientific and regulatory bar for any drug to warrant that label is extremely high. Current HIV medicines aren't curative, but they do drop viral loads to undetectable levels and keep them there basically forever. HIV patients can take a single pill each morning and basically never have to worry about their disease getting worse. These patients will grow old and die of something else before they succumb to AIDS. That's an amazing achievement in a disease that was a certain death sentence 30 years ago.

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Sangamo's HIV Gene Therapy Is A Valuation Prop, Nothing More

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Mice were given an antibiotic in their drinking water which activated a mutant gene known as Omomyc, and this in turn blocked the production of Myc.

Previous studies had already established this procedure for inhibiting Myc, but there were concerns it could have serious sideeffects.

In the new experiment, described in the Genes and Development journal, Mice with up to 200 lung tumours were given the therapy for four weeks, followed by four-week rest periods for more than a year.

After the first treatment all the mice's tumours disappeared, but 63 per cent then relapsed. Following the second treatment, only 11 per cent of the original tumours resurfaced. After eight therapy cycles, only two tumours could be identified.

Dr Soucek said: "The most important finding was that there were no signs of resistance to treatment. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of many anticancer therapies: the disease develops resistance and can return even more aggressively.

"The fact that the results are maintained over time, that there is no tumour relapse and no resistance, suggests that Myc-targeted therapy may offer an unprecedented way forward."

Francesco Pezzella, Professor of Tumour Pathology at Oxford University, who was not involved in the study, said it was a promising proof of concept but cautioned that the approach was not directly applicable to humans.

"It would be a good idea in humans to try and find a way to block that gene," he said. "But the way they have done it is not possible in humans because it requires a modified gene which is inserted inside the [mice's] cells.

"It gives the green light for pharmaceutical studies to try to find a compound that can block this gene...but whether it would be possible to block it in humans is still completely unknown."

Originally posted here:
Mice 'cured' of lung cancer with gene therapy

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith