Public release date: 7-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Deborah Mann Lake deborah.m.lake@uth.tmc.edu 713-500-3030 University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

HOUSTON (Nov. 7, 2012) Administering stem cells derived from patients' own bone marrow either three or seven days after a heart attack is safe but does not improve heart function six months later, according to a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The results of the trial, called Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation (TIME), mirror a previous related study, LateTIME, which found that such cells (called autologous stem cells) given two to three weeks after a heart attack did not improve heart function. Both TIME and LateTIME were conducted by the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The findings were presented Nov. 6, 2012, at the American Heart Association 2012 Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles and appeared concurrently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"These cells, while safe, were not better than placebo solution in providing benefit," said Lemuel Moy, III, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator of the CCTRN and professor of biostatistics at The University of Texas School of Public Health, part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). "While this one cell type showed little promise, there are several new cell types that are available and we will be studying them. Cell therapy can and likely will play a major role in the treatment of cardiovascular disease in the future."

"This study was extremely valuable even though it did not provide a demonstrated health benefit after six months," said Sonia Skarlatos, Ph.D., deputy director of NHLBI's Division of Cardiovascular Sciences and member of the CCTRN. "Heart stem cell therapy research is still in its infancy, and results from early trials have varied greatly due to differences in the numbers of stem cells injected, the delivery methods used, and the compositions of the study populations. With TIME and LateTIME, we have established both safety and baseline results in two large studies that followed the same procedures for growing and then administering stem cells. This standard will inform the next steps in research on the use of stem cells to repair damaged hearts."

Skarlatos noted that another advantage of the TIME study is that CCTRN is storing samples of the stem cells taken from the participants. Investigators can examine the relationship between people who showed significant improvement during the study and the characteristics of their stem cells. Such a comparison may offer insights on the cell traits that are associated with clinical improvement.

Between July 2008 and February 2011, TIME researchers enrolled 120 volunteers (average age 57, 87.5 percent male) who suffered from moderate to severe impairment in their left ventricles the part of the heart that pumps oxygen-rich blood to the body and had undergone stenting procedures following heart attacks. Those selected for the trial were assigned randomly to one of four groups: day three after heart attack stem cell injection, day three after heart attack placebo injection, day seven after heart attack stem cell treatment, or day seven after heart attack placebo treatment. The researchers developed a method of processing and purifying the stem cells to ensure that participants in the stem cell groups received a uniform dose of 150 million cells about eight hours after the cells were harvested from their bone marrow. This ensured that results would not be skewed by differences in the quantity or quality of stem cells administered.

Researchers assessed heart improvement six months after stem cell therapy by measuring the percentage of blood that was pumped out of the left ventricle during each contraction (known as the left-ventricular ejection fraction, or LVEF). The study found no significant differences between the change in LVEF readings at the six-month follow-up in either the day three or the day seven stem cell groups compared with placebo groups or with each other. Every group showed about a three percent improvement in LVEF.

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123Triad is proud to design website for http://www.wwmsbiologics.com WorldWide Medical Services Inc. is a company that for more than 10 years is dedicated to utilizing the most innovative technologies to provide its clients with the highest quality services. Worldwide Medical Services specializes in the Intra-operative treatment of surgical patients. One of their most exciting new products is platelet gel and adult stem cell therapy services which can be provided in a hospital or office setting. their Autotransfusion service is available 24/7 on a scheduled or emergency basis.From:123triadcoViews:0 0ratingsTime:00:36More inScience Technology

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Washington, November 8 (ANI): Administering to patients stem cells derived from their own bone marrow either three or seven days after a heart attack is safe but does not improve heart function six months later, according to a clinical trial.

The results of the trial, called Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation (TIME), mirror a previous, related study, LateTIME, which found that such cells (called autologous stem cells) given two to three weeks after a heart attack did not improve heart function.

Both TIME and LateTIME were conducted by the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"This study was extremely valuable even though it did not provide a demonstrated health benefit after six months," said Sonia Skarlatos, Ph.D., deputy director of NHLBI's Division of Cardiovascular Sciences and member of the CCTRN.

"Heart stem cell therapy research is still in its infancy, and results from early trials have varied greatly due to differences in the numbers of stem cells injected, the delivery methods used, and the compositions of the study populations. With TIME and LateTIME, we have established both safety and baseline results in two large studies that followed the same procedures for growing and then administering stem cells. This standard will inform the next steps in research on the use of stem cells to repair damaged hearts," she stated.

Fellow CCTRN member Jay Travese, M.D., of the Minneapolis Heart Institute added, "With this baseline now set, we can start to adjust some of the components of the protocol to grow and administer stem cell to find cases where the procedure may improve function."

"For example, this therapy may work better in different population groups, or we might need to use new cell types or new methods of delivery," he noted.

Skarlatos said that another advantage of the TIME study is that CCTRN is storing samples of the stem cells taken from the participants. Investigators can examine the relationship between people who showed significant improvement during the study and the characteristics of their stem cells. Such a comparison may offer insights on the cell traits that are associated with clinical improvement.

The findings will be presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2012 Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles and will appear concurrently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (ANI)

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Bone marrow stem cell therapy does not improve short-term recovery after heart attack

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Public release date: 6-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Steve Goodyear sgoodyear@mhif.org 952-807-8365 Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation

MINNEAPOLIS, MN November 6, 2012 Administering autologous stem cells obtained from bone marrow either 3 or 7 days following a heart attack did not improve heart function six months later, reports a new clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health. The results of this trial, called TIME (Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation), were presented by Jay Traverse, MD of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the 2012 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association in Los Angeles.

The results of this trial mirror a previous, related study (LateTIME) which found that autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy given 2-3 weeks after a heart attack did not improve cardiac recovery. Both TIME and LateTIME were carried out by the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"The data presented by TIME do much to advance stem cell therapy research," said Jay Traverse, MD of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Principal Investigator of this study. "While this study did not provide a demonstrated cardiac benefit after six months, we still learned a great deal. Together, TIME and Late TIME have shown that stem cell therapy is safe, and they have set a baseline in terms of quantity of stem cells, type of stem cells, and severity of heart attack."

TIME enrolled 120 volunteers (avg. age 57) between July 2008 and February 2011; the participants all had moderate to severe impairment in their left ventricle and had undergone coronary stent placement as treatment for the heart attack. The participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: day 3 stem cell, day 3 placebo (inactive cells), day 7 stem cell, or day 7 placebo. The CCTRN researchers developed a method of processing and purifying the stem cells from the bone marrow of each volunteer to ensure everyone received a uniform dose (150 million stem cells).

Heart improvement was assessed six months after stem cell therapy by measuring the percentage of blood that gets pumped out of the left ventricle during each contraction (left-ventricular ejection fraction, or LVEF). The study found no significant differences between the change in LVEF readings at the six month follow-up in either the Day 3 or Day 7 stem cell groups compared with placebo or with each other; every group showed about a 3 percent improvement in LVEF. However, the researchers found that younger patients randomized to Day 7 had greater improvement in their LVEF compared to their placebo counterparts

"The lack of six-month improvement seen for TIME and, prior to that, LateTIME, does not mean stem cell therapy is not a viable post-heart attack strategy," said Traverse. "Because we have this data we can start to address some parameters; for example this therapy may work better in younger people, or maybe we need to use cells from healthy volunteers (allogeneic) since their cells may provide greater therapeutic benefit. There will also be upcoming studies using novel cell types which we look forward to using in future clinical trials."

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Stem cell therapy using patient's own cells after heart attack does not enhance cardiac recovery

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HAIFA, Israel, Nov. 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) (TASE:PLTR), a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies, announced today the Company has successfully completed the integration and testing of its new scaled-up formulation and manufacturing process to produce high-yield quantities of its Placental eXpanded (PLX) cells for clinical trials and potential commercial use. The increased automation and larger scale process allows the company to produce billions of live cells simultaneously.

As part of its manufacturing process, Pluristem has optimized growth conditions to maximize yields with lower costs. The company has minimized open manipulation steps in order to improve the aseptic quality and safety of the product. Critical steps have been automated including the process of harvesting and purification; the integration of closed system washing and concentration steps, and the product's final packaging has been changed to an aseptically automated vial system. In the past 15 months, Pluristem has invested resources and efforts to develop technologies resulting in an efficient, cutting edge production line. All of the integrated changes have been tested and will be integrated into Pluristem's new production site in Israel.

Pluristem recently announced it is in the final steps of building out its new manufacturing facility, which will have the capacity to produce commercial grade PLX cells. Once completed, and following regulators' approval, the new facility would have the capacity to produce PLX cells for the treatment of over 150,000 patients annually estimated by Pluristem at $1 billion in production value.

"This new large scale manufacturing process allows us to run numerous clinical trials simultaneously around the globe, and also prepares us for potential commercial availability," stated Zami Aberman, Chairman and CEO of Pluristem. "Our progress with both our manufacturing process and facility are well on track."

About Pluristem Therapeutics

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) (TASE:PLTR) is a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies. The Company's patented PLX (PLacental eXpanded) cells are a drug delivery platform that releases a cocktail of therapeutic proteins in response to a host of local and systemic inflammatory and ischemic diseases. PLX cells are grown using the company's proprietary 3D micro-environmental technology and are an "off-the-shelf" product that requires no tissue matching prior to administration. Pluristem is focusing on the development of PLX cells administered locally to potentially treat systemic diseases and potentially obviating the need to use the intravenous route.

Data from two phase I studies indicate that Pluristem's first PLX product candidate, PLX-PAD, is safe and potentially effective for the treatment of end stage peripheral artery disease when given locally. Additionally, Pluristem is developing PLX-PAD for cardiac ischemia; PLX-BMP for Acute Radiation Exposure, Bone Marrow Transplant Failure and Chemotherapy induced Bone Marrow Aplasia, PLX-ORTHO for orthopedic indications and PLX-PAH for Pulmonary Hypertension in collaboration with United Therapeutics. Pluristem's pre-clinical animal models have demonstrated PLX cells are also potentially effective in other inflammatory/ischemic indications, including diastolic heart failure, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathic pain and pulmonary fibrosis.

Pluristem has a strong patent and patent applications portfolio, company-owned GMP certified manufacturing and research facilities, strategic relationships with major research institutions and a seasoned management team. For more information visit http://www.pluristem.com and follow Pluristem on Twitter@Pluristem, the content of which is not part of this press release.

The Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6882

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Pluristem Completes Large Scale Cell Therapy Formulation for Commercial and Clinical Trial Use

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MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Health (DOH) has announced its plan to regulate stem cell therapy in the country.

Stem cell treatment involves the use of adult stem cells to treat a range of diseases.

The Health Department believes that because of the complex preparation and invasive procedure involved, there needs to be a regulatory framework to protect Filipino citizens.

The regulation of laboratories and practitioners involves five key points.

First is a check on the credentials of people involved in the service, as stem cell treatment is a specialized field. The supply of raw materials will also have to be monitored, making sure especially that they do not come from aborted fetuses.

Laboratories will be scrutinized for their procedures, sanitation and safety. Therapeutic claims, on the other hand, are also up for strict assessment, to make sure that these are based on solid scientific evidence.

Finally, the DOH also wants a report on the possible failure of treatments, to find out if there are negative outcomes to stem cell therapy.

"Those who are going to other countries for stem cell treatment should also check if their destination allows stem cell tourism," clarified FDA Acting Director Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go.

The DOH said consultations with stakeholders are still ongoing, but it expects a set of guidelines to be released by next month.

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Washington, November 7 (ANI): Stem cell therapy improves heart function in patients who had previous heart attacks, according to researchers from the University of Louisville and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

In a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial session at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2012 meeting, Roberto Bolli, M.D., of the University of Louisville and Piero Anversa, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, presented data from their groundbreaking research in the use of autologous adult stem cells with patients who had previous heart attacks.

They report that after two years, all patients receiving the stem cell therapy show improvement in heart function, with an overall 12.9 absolute unit increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a standard measure of heart function that shows the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle during a heartbeat.

No adverse effects resulting from the therapy were seen. Moreover, MRIs performed on nine patients in the trial showed evidence of myocardial regeneration - new heart tissue replacing former dead tissue killed by heart attack.

"The trial shows the feasibility of isolating and expanding autologous stem cells from virtually every patient," said Bolli, who is the Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology and director of the Institute for Molecular Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at UofL.

"The results suggest that this therapy has a potent, beneficial effect on cardiac function that warrants further study," he stated.

The trial - called SCIPIO for Stem Cell Infusion in Patients with Ischemic CardiOmyopathy - was a randomized open-label trial of cardiac stem cells (CSCs) in patients who were diagnosed with heart failure following a myocardial infarction and had a LVEF of 40 percent or lower; the normal LVEF is 50 percent or higher.

The investigators harvested the CSCs, referred to as "c-kit positive" cells because they express the c-kit protein on their surface, from 33 patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. The stem cells were purified and processed in Anversa's lab in Boston so that they could multiply. Once an adequate number of stem cells was produced - about one million for each patient - Bolli's team in Louisville reintroduced them into the region of the patient's heart that had been scarred by the heart attack.

The researchers reported that in the 20 patients receiving CSCs, LVEF increased from 29 percent to 36 percent at four months following infusion. None of the 13 control patients in the trial received CSCs and this group showed, on average, no improvement.

The beneficial effect of the CSCs persisted and became progressively greater at the one- and two-year mark following infusion. At the one-year mark following infusion, LVEF increased by 8.1 percent, and at the two-year mark, by 12.9 percent.

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Stem cell therapy improves heart function 2 years after heart attack

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April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Conflicting studies were highlighted at this years American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting concerning stem cell therapy for heart attack patients.

The first study, from the University of Louisville and Brigham and Womens Hospital, reported holy grail results for a Phase I clinical trial: marked sustained improvement in all patients with zero adverse effects.

Roberto Bolli, M.D., of the University of Louisville and Piero Anversa, M.D., of Brigham and Womens Hospital presented data from their groundbreaking research in the use of autologous adult stem cells with patients who had previous heart attacks in a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial session.

The researchers report that all patients receiving the stem cell therapy showed improved heart function after two years, with an overall 12.9 absolute unit increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). LVEF is a standard measure of heart function that shows the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle during a heartbeat. They saw no adverse effects from the therapy. In fact, nine patients showed evidence of myocardial regeneration new tissue replacing formerly dead tissue killed by heart attack in MRI scans.

The trial shows the feasibility of isolating and expanding autologous stem cells from virtually every patient, said Bolli, who is the Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology and director of the Institute for Molecular Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at UofL. The results suggest that this therapy has a potent, beneficial effect on cardiac function that warrants further study.

In all patients, cells with high regenerative reserve were obtained and employed therapeutically, said Anversa, professor of Anesthesia and Medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Our efforts to carefully characterize the phenotype and growth properties of the cardiac stem cells may have contributed to these initial positive results.

The Stem Cell Infusion in Patients with Ischemic CardiOmyopathy, or SCIPIO, trial was a randomized open-label trial of cardiac stem cells (CSCs) in patients who were diagnosed with heart failure following a myocardial infarction and had a LVEF of 40 percent or lower. A normal LVEF reading is 50 percent or higher.

The CSCs, referred to as c-kit positive cells because they express the c-kit protein on their surface, were harvested from 33 patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. The stem cells were then purified and processed so that they could multiply, and once an adequate number was produced about one million for each patient they were reintroduced into the region of the patients heart that suffered scarring during the heart attack.

At four months after infusion, the researchers report that LVEF increased from 29 percent to 36 percent for 200 patients. On average, the 13 control patients who did not receive a CSC infusion showed any improvement.

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UPDATE on Stem Cell Therapy

7 November 2012

The Department of Health (DOH) saw the necessity to cover regulations for Stem Cell therapy. Stem Cell therapy belongs to the category of Advanced Cell therapy which includes biologics and blood. Many countries around the world apply a risk-based approach to assess the quality, efficacy and safety of advanced cell therapy. In many countries, Stem Cell is considered an investigational intervention.

Stem Cell research employs both autologous (from same person) or allogenic (from another organism like animal or another human cell or tissue sample) method. Because there are many steps in the preparation of this lab and invasive procedure, there is therefore need to have a regulatory framework to protect Filipino citizens.

Important questions were asked: is there proof of concept in animal trials where stem cell can then be applied in humans? Is there a way to ensure quality and purity of the raw materials? How safe is the procedure? How many did not benefit from the procedure? If this were investigational procedure, how will human subjects be protected?

Sec. Enrique Ona convened a consultative working task force to provide recommendations on how to proceed in the early part of the year in response to queries and mushrooming of centers here and overseas. This led to the creation of a regulatory task force to oversee the appropriate steps that will ensure quality, efficacy and safety documentation of this intervention.

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People | Events | Policy | Research | Business | Trend watch | Coming up

Sound science wins Shi-min Fang, a freelance science journalist based in Beijing, and Simon Wessely, a psychiatrist at Kings College London, are the joint winners of the inaugural John Maddox Prize, for individuals who have promoted sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest. The 2,000 (US$3,200) prize, announced on 6 November, is awarded by Nature and Sense About Science, a London-based science-advocacy group, and is supported by the Kohn Foundation. See page 160 and go.nature.com/owyfbg for more.

A. Clark/REUTERS

Sockeye salmon threats assessed Canadas Department of Fisheries and Oceans should focus on protecting wild fish, and a separate department should be charged with promoting the fish-farming industry to avoid confusion over the departments role, according to a report on sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) populations released on 31 October. The Cohen Commission, led by a Supreme Court judge, was asked by the federal government in 2009 to investigate the collapse in the numbers of salmon returning to British Columbias Fraser River over past decades. The commission found no single cause for the decline, but blames the government for reducing protection of the salmons habitats. See go.nature.com/sles5b for more.

Antarctic reserves Negotiations on creating three huge marine reserves in Antarctic waters have broken down, dealing a major blow to conservation plans. Meeting in Hobart, Australia, the 25members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources failed to agree unanimously on any of the reserves, which would have established fishing bans and set aside regions as reference areas for scientists studying the impact of climate change on fragile polar ecosystems (see Nature 490, 324; 2012). The reserves will be discussed again in July. See go.nature.com/xxzjbd for more.

Mekong megadam Work to build a massive dam on the lower Mekong river in Laos is to formally begin on 7November, deputy minister of energy and mines Viraphonh Viravong said on 5November. Environmentalists fear that the US$3.5-billion Xayaburi dam will reduce fish stocks and biodiversity.

China genetic rules Chinas government has published a draft regulation to improve the protection of donors in human genetic research. It proposes to license organizations that store and collect human genetic resources (materials such as organs, cells and DNA), update requirements on informed consent and prohibit the sale or export of genetic materials. The draft, published on 31October, is open to feedback for a month.

UK merger dropped A contentious plan to merge two major British research centres has been shelved following criticism from politicians and scientists. The Natural Environment Research Council had suggested merging two centres that it runs the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge and the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton to save money, but announced on 2November that it would scrap the idea. Job cuts are still in the offing, however. See go.nature.com/prcepr for more.

Climate services The World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, has agreed to implement a Global Framework for Climate Services, which will provide and manage information about how Earths changing climate affects everything from crop production to disaster planning. The international framework, agreed at a meeting in Geneva on 31 October, will initially focus on water, health, food security and disaster risk reduction. Some scientists have been concerned by the proliferation of climate-service providers who may be overselling the abilities of climate models to guide policy-makers and local people. See go.nature.com/rbxnxq for more.

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Seven days: 2–8 November 2012

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In the Foye household in Pine Brook, N.J., a biomedical twist on an Advent calendar went up on the fireplace mantle in early October: a countdown to the long-awaited day they would find out what gene caused 11-year-old Adam Foyes mysterious and rare muscle-weakening disease.

Each day, a different family membermom, dad, Adam, grandmapulled off a numbered sticky note, ticking off the days until a mid-October conference call. That day, the family got a precious answer, learning the fruits of a contest organized by Boston Childrens Hospital. Twenty-three teams of scientists from around the world had combed through the DNA blueprints of Adam and his parents, Sarah and Patrick, to try and understand why Adam tired so easily, needing a scooter to walk longer than a few blocks and requiring a ventilator to help him breathe at night.

What they found was that Adams disease, called centronuclear myopathy, stemmed from mutations in a giant gene called titin.

It answers so many questions, said Sarah Foye. You have a child with this disorder, and everyday I look at him and hes too tired to play and too tired to go to school. I always ask what is it, what is causing this, and what can I do to help.

Identifying the gene is only a first step, but an important one. Researchers at Boston Childrens have a zebrafish with the same gene mutations that will allow them to screen for drugs that might help Adam. The finding, however, also suggests that a potential drug trial that is being developed for a similar condition would not work for Adam, knowledge that will spare him the unnecessary treatments that often come with downsides.

We can now say that drug has virtually no chance of working, which is disappointing on one level, but is also an important result because every drug has side effects, and Adam can be spared those, said Alan Beggs, director of the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research at the hospital and a co-organizer of the contest.

Beyond the solace provided to the Foye family, the contest aimed to provide new thinking on how to deal with many of the problems that come with the unprecedented amount of personal information provided by DNA-sequencing technologies. As the cost of obtaining a persons genome plummets, scientists and clinicians are wrestling with how to extract meaning from such large amounts of data, how to present it in a comprehensible way to physicians and patients, and how to best handle incidental findings that might emerge when studying the genome.

The dilemma now is to identify the key changes, or mutations, that are responsible for the patients medical condition, and determine which they are against this background of enormous normal variation in human DNA sequences, Beggs said. The purpose of the challenge was to develop best practices for the interpetation and return of these new types of data to patients physicians.

The winner of a $15,000 prize was the Division of Clinical Genetics at Brigham and Womens Hospital. Teams were given the full genome sequences from three families. Each had a child with a rare genetic disease that stemmed from an unknown cause, and teams took on the massive challenge of pinpointing the probable cause of their muscle weakness or cardiac defects, but also addressing other issues that arise when sequencing the genome.

For example, the teams wrote up reports that could be provided to physicians that would allow them to explain the genetic mutation to each patients family. Some teams provided samples of the consent form they would ask a patient and family members to sign before providing their DNA to doctors, requesting, for example, whether they would want to receive incidental informationsuch as the risk for another kind of illness that might lie in their genes, but was not the focus of the study.

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Public release date: 7-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Marjorie Montemayor-Quellenberg mmontemayor-quellenberg@partners.org 617-534-2208 Brigham and Women's Hospital

BOSTON, MAResearchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a new gene that regulates hemoglobin synthesis during red blood cell formation. The findings advance the biomedical community's understanding and treatment of human anemias and mitochondrial disorders.

The study will be published online on November 7, 2012 in Nature.

The researchers used an unbiased zebrafish genetic screen to clone mitochondrial ATPase inhibitory factor-1 gene, or Atpif1. The gene allows animalszebrafish, mice and humans for instanceto efficiently make hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood.

The researchers found that loss of Atpif1 causes severe anemia. Moreover, the researchers uncovered a broader mechanistic role for Atpif1regulating the enzymatic activity of ferrochelatase, or Fech. Fech is the terminal enzyme in heme (a component of hemoglobin) synthesis.

"Our study has established a unique functional link between Atpif1-regulated mitochondrial pH, redox potential, and [2Fe-2S] cluster binding to Fech in modulating its heme synthesis," said Dhvanit Shah, PhD, BWH Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, first study author.

The researchers were also able to produce data on the human version of Atpif1, noting its functional importance for normal red blood cell differentiation, and noting that a deficiency may contribute to human diseases, such as congenital sideroblastic anemias and other diseases related to dysfunctional mitochondria (the energy powerhouses of cells).

"Discovering the novel mechanism of Atpif1 as a regulator of heme synthesis advances the understanding of mitochondrial heme homeostasis and red blood cell development," said Barry Paw, MD, PhD, BWH Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, senior study author.

Shah and Paw continue to identify new genes responsible for hematopoietic stem cell development and red cell differentiation. Their identification of new genes will elucidate the new mechanisms regulating hematopoiesisthe formation of blood cell components. Their work not only provides greater insight into human congenital anemias, but also new opportunities for improved therapies.

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Loss of essential blood cell gene leads to anemia

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BOULDER, CO--(Marketwire - Nov 6, 2012) - Rogue Wave Software, the largest independent provider of cross-platform software development tools and embedded components for the next generation of high performance computing (HPC) applications, announced the upcoming release of the leading parallel debugger, TotalView 8.11, with expanded support for the newest platforms that are advancing both the HPC and commercial markets. With the release of TotalView 8.11, debugging support will be offered for the IBM Blue Gene/Q platform, NVIDIA CUDA 4.2, and the OpenACC capability of Cray CCE 8.0. TotalView 8.11 will also offer early access support for the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. This product release reinforces Rogue Wave's commitment to providing software tools that help developers port codes and be more productive on these platforms, which are at the forefront of the HPC market.

The IBM Blue Gene/Q pushes the edge of technology by providing a leadership-class supercomputer that has a homogenous multi-core architecture and relatively low power consumption. On the June 2012 TOP500 list of supercomputers, four of the top ten supercomputers were Blue Gene/Q's. Since February 2012, TotalView users at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), which was named the top supercomputer on the list, have been utilizing a pre-release version of the TotalView debugger for porting codes to take advantage of the new system. TotalView has a precedent of being the code and memory debugger of choice with users of IBM Blue Gene supercomputers, including JuQueen, the Blue Gene/Q at Forschungszentrum Jlich.

"TotalView is our tool of choice for debugging on the Blue Gene/Q platform, especially following our extremely positive experiences with it on the predecessor JuGene machine, which was the world's largest Blue Gene/P, having approximately 300,000 cores. We need to support applications that use hybrid MPI and OpenMP, and TotalView gives us the ability to debug our very-scalable and most-complex, distributed, multi-threaded applications," stated Bernd Mohr, Deputy Department Head of Application Support at Jlich Supercomputing Centre. "PRACE users across Europe and Germany rely on Jlich to generate reliable scientific results and it is important for us to support this community with high-quality, proven development tools." Jlich Supercomputing Centre recently upgraded its supercomputer to JuQueen, which is now Germany's fastest supercomputer and third largest Blue Gene/Q in the world.

"With leading universities and research organizations relying on us for state-of-the-art hardware and software, it is crucial that we provide our diverse set of users with easy to use development tools," stated Giovanni Erbacci, HPC Group Leader at CINECA. "TotalView 8.11 has made it easier for our users to transition to FERMI, our Blue Gene/Q supercomputer." CINECA is the Italian Supercomputing Infrastructure providing the high technology bridge between the academic world, research, and the world of industry.

Rogue Wave is dedicated to supporting scientists and engineers who are building and/or enhancing programs either directly in CUDA or by using OpenACC. Having seen a significant investment in GP-GPU acceleration among TotalView users, Rogue Wave is providing updated support for CUDA to the 4.2 version and full support for the OpenACC directives that are part of the Cray CCE compiler version 8.0.

Another key platform that is included in the TotalView 8.11 release is early-access support for the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor, giving developers the ability to view, control, and debug codes running on both the host processor and the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor. TotalView hooks into the Intel Language Extension for Offloading (LEO), providing seamless host to coprocessor debugging. Developers can also debug OpenMP and MPI applications that are compiled to run natively on the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor.

"Providing continued support for large architectures is part of Rogue Wave's long-term product roadmap to support our customers' needs as they move to petascale, and eventually to exascale systems," stated Chris Gottbrath, Rogue Wave's Principal Product Manager. "To meet this goal, Rogue Wave Software has an active program of collaboration with customers to achieve strategic goals, such as scalability." Coinciding with the TotalView 8.11 release, Rogue Wave is offering select customers early access versions of the MRNet-enabled TotalView debugger, for use on leadership-class supercomputers such as Sequoia, JuQueen, and FERMI.

Designed for developer productivity, TotalView simplifies and shortens the process of developing, debugging, and optimizing complex code. It provides a unique combination of capabilities for pinpointing and fixing hard-to-reproduce bugs, memory leaks, and performance issues. TotalView raises the bar for debugging by providing several additional features at no extra cost, including debugging for CUDA, OpenACC, and deterministic reverse debugging, which allows users to pause, rewind, and playback the sessions to accurately identify and correct errors.

Availability TotalView 8.11 will be available in November, 2012. You can find more information about the TotalView debugger by clicking here.

About Rogue Wave Software Rogue Wave Software, Inc. is the largest independent provider of cross-platform software development tools and embedded components for the next generation of HPC applications. Rogue Wave marries High Performance Computing with High Productivity Computing to enable developers to harness the power of parallel applications and multicore computing. Rogue Wave products reduce the complexity of prototyping, developing, debugging, and optimizing multi-processor and data-intensive applications. Rogue Wave customers are industry leaders in the Global 2000, ISVs, OEMs, government laboratories and research institutions that leverage computationally-complex and data-intensive applications to enable innovation and outperform competitors. Rogue Wave is a Battery Ventures portfolio company. For more information, visit http://www.roguewave.com.

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Rogue Wave Releases TotalView(R) With Blue Gene/Q(R) Support

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Giants, Planet X, Illuminati and More with Steve Quayle
Author and researcher Steve Quayle riffed on a variety of topics such as giants, weather modification, secret aircraft, biblical prophecy, genetic engineering, the Illuminati agenda, and Planet X. The machinery to affect weather has gotten smaller and cheaper over the years, and there are currently 72 ionospheric heaters, in addition climate-controlling technology like Project HAARP, he outlined. Sightings of silent triangular-shaped craft are on the rise, and a battle in outer space is imminent, said Quayle, naming "extra-dimensionals" and black-ops as some of the participants. The "super-soldier" program, Stargate technology, and CERN are involved in efforts to re-animate ancient giants, who were some 12-18 ft. height, he declared. "We are experiencing now the full implementation, in my opinion, of the Luciferian war on humanity. We talk about the New World Order, the Illuminati, the International League, but what is the prime directive of all those entities? It #39;s the destruction of a five and half billion people," he cautioned. Quayle reported his recent conversation with a "high ranking Goldman Sachs official" who #39;d visited one of the elite #39;s underground cities that was being prepared. The official warned him that a "global flu" had already been determined, and a mandatory vaccination will be required, with those who refuse to take it being sent to FEMA camps. On the subject of Planet X, Quayle suggested that we #39;re already seeing its effects throughout the solar ...From:DiscloseTruthTVViews:1810 17ratingsTime:01:16:44More inEducation

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Giants, Planet X, Illuminati and More with Steve Quayle - Video

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Watch Real Life Superhero Muscles Like Marvel #39;s The Avengers - The Avengers: Real Life Avengers
Watch full movie here : free-hot-movies.com Avengers The Avengers The Iron Man (Fictional Character) Theme Music (Musical Genre) Kanye West (Musical Artist) heroic imagination project Neha Dhupia (Film Actor) Real Life the avengers politics obama bradley manning tribeca film festival The Avengers movie Automobile (Industry) marvels the avengers obama whistleblowers genetic engineering government secrecy obama transparency Scarlett Johansson Ashutosh Gowarikar end credits scene captain america 2 Real Life Sucks martian manhunter manning wikileaks Super Fly Comics robert downey jr real life heroes Robert Downey Jr Kinsey Schofield leaked documents Chris Hemsworth how to be happy Captain America captain america bradley manning young hollywood philip zombardo the avengers 2 avengers movie lucifer effect find happiness Superhero captainamerica acuransxspyder In film festival Sudhir Mishra Ranvir Shorey The Cinecurry Hulk (comics) Marvel watchthedaily Healthcare Assemble Superman who marvel movie episode Sushma Reddy Anees Bazmee black widow kommentatorz Captain America Carly Steel joss whedon Neha Dhupia movie news 2asiandudesFrom:MarcellusColaiacovoViews:0 0ratingsTime:08:51More inFilm Animation

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Watch Real Life Superhero Muscles Like Marvel's The Avengers - The Avengers: Real Life Avengers - Video

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gene-X, Genetic engineering the Movie Official Trailer.mp4
This is the official traier of the short film "gene-X", made for the genetic engineering project by M.Sc. Biotechnology final year Students from VIT University, Vellore. (2011-13 Batch) Hope you will enjoy! Movie will go on air soon! Thank youFrom:Prasanna KarandikarViews:6 1ratingsTime:02:01More inPeople Blogs

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Foods, Diet Nutrition: Nutrient Density, Pesticides Genetically Engineered Foods
Arden B. Anderson, DO, Ph.D., MSPH presents a compelling presentation at the "12th Clinical Applications for Age Management Medicine Conference" May 2012, Hollywood, FL Foods, Diet and Nutrition: What a Clinician Needs to Know About Nutrient Density, Pesticides and Genetically Engineered Foods Arden B. Anderson, DO, Ph.D., MSPH Medical Director, Crossroads Healing Arts, Goshen, IN Professional Food Production Consultant / Author / Instructor Lecture objectives: bull; Describe the link between soil health and human health bull; Explain how genetic engineering of foods creates a snowball effect of health decline, nutrient deficiency and disease expansion in human and animal consumersFrom:AgeManagmentMedicineViews:0 0ratingsTime:08:29More inEducation

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Foods, Diet

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Visitations of the Annunaki - Marshall Klarfeld - Coast to Coast AM Classic
http://www.jetnews.us Date: 12-10-08 Host: George Noory Guests: Marshall Klarfeld, George Ure, Dr. Roy Spencer Author Marshall Klarfeld shared his contention that a group of ETs known as the Annunaki visited Earth and genetically altered humans. Basing some of his suppositions on the work of Zecharia Sitchin who translated ancient cuneiform tablets of the Sumerians, Klarfeld said the Annunaki arrived from the rogue planet Niburi, which is on a 3600 year orbit in our solar system. As they needed gold to repair their planet #39;s atmosphere, the Annunaki decided to alter Homo erectus into a new species-- Homo sapiens, so they could serve as miners for them, he explained. We were "jump started" as a species 250000 years ago, and are all descendents of the Annunaki, Klarfeld asserted. As evidence of their visitations, he cited he cited various ancient endeavors which he said could not have been constructed by humans alone at that time, including Stonehenge, the huge Baalbek platform in Lebanon, the Giza pyramids, Earth Island statues, the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull, the Nazca Lines, and cylinder seals. In regards to the Nazca Lines (see below), he shared his new theory: "they are one gigantic time capsule," left more than 3000 years ago. The figures in the Peruvian desert correspond to the configuration of stars in Orion #39;s belt, he added. Biography: Upon graduating from Caltech in 1951, Marshall Klarfeld began a 30 year career with Wallace JS Johnson #39;s company, UP-RIGHT, INC. In 1963 ...From:C2CPlanetViews:3 3ratingsTime:02:32:34More inEducation

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What is Proposition 37 - My Green Life
My Green Life #39;s topic today is Proposition 37. And we have an expert to talk about this: Vinnie Tortorich, host of his own podcast show, "America #39;s Angriest Trainer". The initiative simply requires food sold in retail outlets to be labeled if it is produced through genetic engineering, and would not allow these products to be labeled as "natural." Prop 37 gives companies 18 months to change their labels, and allows for the GMO disclosure to appear wherever they choose on packaging. Please, Vote YES on 37 because We have the right to know what #39;s in our food! My Green Life is presented by Tiffany Paige. To find out more about TreeLiving please visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook here: http://www.treeliving.com http http://www.Facebook.com twitter.com pinterest.com tree-living.tumblr.com httpFrom:TreeLivingShowsViews:1 2ratingsTime:05:04More inFilm Animation

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What is Proposition 37 - My Green Life - Video

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Dr Richard Thompson: Genetic engineering and the Vedas
Sadaputa das or Dr RT was the forerunner of the extensive research and study of the Vedic Cosmology,he refuted the big bang theory as well as the theory of evolution of speisces.From:Saree3Views:7 0ratingsTime:31:42More inHowto Style

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Public release date: 7-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, November 7, 2012Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a rare form of thyroid tumor, but it is also the most deadly. Newly developed evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term monitoring and follow-up care of patients with this extremely aggressive form of thyroid cancer are published in Thyroid (http://www.liebertpub.com/thy), a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com). The Guidelines, prepared by the American Thyroid Association Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Task Force, are available free online on the Thyroid (http://www.liebertpub.com/thy) website.

Robert C. Smallridge, MD, Chair of the ATA Task Force, from the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, and coauthors of the "American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Management of Patients with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/thy.2012.0302)" emphasize the importance of rapid diagnosis and evaluation of this aggressive tumor, establishing treatment goals, and employing a multidisciplinary team approach for optimal patient management. The comprehensive Guidelines cover recommended approaches to treatment including surgery, radiotherapy, systemic therapy, and supportive care. They also offer guidance on managing patients with advanced/metastatic disease, surveillance and long-term monitoring, palliative care options, and ethical issues including end-of-life care.

"The American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Management of Patients with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer is a remarkable and comprehensive document that distills the literature and taskforce expertise into a useful guide for providers of patients with this aggressive cancer. The focused therapeutic approaches, as well as the inclusion of palliative care and ethical issues into this document, is a real advance for our field," says Bryan R. Haugen, MD, President of the ATA and Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Head, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes, Mary Rossick Kern and Jerome H. Kern Chair in Endocrine Neoplasms Research, University of Colorado School of Medicine.

"The Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Guidelines are a unique contribution to the endocrine literature," says Charles H. Emerson, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Thyroid and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. "The Guidelines demand to be read now, not learned during the emergency that is anaplastic thyroid cancer."

###

About the Society

The American Thyroid Association (ATA) ((http://www.thyroid.org), is the leading worldwide organization dedicated to the advancement, understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer. ATA is an international membership medical society with over 1,600 members from 43 countries around the world. Celebrating its 89th anniversary, ATA delivers its mission through several key endeavors: the publication of highly regarded monthly journals, Thyroid, Clinical Thyroidology, and Clinical Thyroidology for Patients; annual scientific meetings; biennial clinical and research symposia; research grant programs for young investigators, support of online professional, public, and patient educational programs; and the development of guidelines for clinical management of thyroid disease. The ATA has extensive online information at available on their website (http://www.thyroid.org) on thyroid disease for patients in both English and Spanish and serves as the clinical resource for patients and the public who look for reliable information on the Internet.

About the Journal

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First comprehensive guidelines for managing anaplastic thyroid cancer published in Thyroid journal

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A measure to require labeling of genetically modified foods was defeated Tuesday.

With 92 percent of the vote counted, Proposition 37 was losing 53.1 percent to 46.9 percent.

Genetic engineering is a laboratory technique where scientists splice the DNA of one plant or animal and combine it with DNA from something else. The most common modifications insert genes from bacteria into crops to make them pest-resistant or able to withstand weedkillers like such as Roundup.

As biotech innovations have expanded in recent years, the percentage of crops that are genetically engineered has soared. Today, about 90 percent of corn and soybeans are genetically engineered, according to the USDA, as are much of the nation's canola and sugar beet crops. Those crops make their way into thousands of common food products that fill grocery stores.

Proposition 37 played out like a fight between a small health food store and a big-box grocery. On one side were organic food producers, alternative health website Mercola.com and hundreds of individual donors who believe genetic engineering is unnatural. They argued that consumers should have more information when they shop - and pointed out that more than 40 countries require labeling genetically modified food. Some supporters fear that GMOs cause health problems, though that hasn't been scientifically proven.

On the other side were conventional growers, large grocery chains, pesticide companies likesuch as Monsanto and DuPont - and many familiar brands likesuch as Pepsi, NestlCQwebsite and Kraft. They poured tens of millions of dollars into defeating the measure, funding a campaign that flooded airwaves, websites and mailboxes with messages that cast Proposition 37 as a confusing rip-off that would lead to frivolous lawsuits and higher grocery prices.

Proposition 37 was the second time nationwide that voters have been asked to decide about labeling GMOs. Oregon voters rejected a similar measure 10 years ago.

Advocates concerned about potential health and environmental impacts of genetic engineering have also pushed - unsuccessfully - for food labeling laws in 19 state legislatures and submitted a petition to the federal Food and Drug Administration earlier this year.

Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call Laurel Rosenhall, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1083. Follow her on Twitter @LaurelRosenhall.

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Measure to label foods defeated

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