MONDAY, Oct. 8 (HealthDay News) -- A gene variant linked with a decreased risk of lung cancer has been identified by researchers.

The variant occurs in a gene involved with inflammation and immune response. The findings add to growing evidence linking inflammation and immune response with the development of lung cancer, according to the study authors.

They looked at more than 1,400 variants in inflammation- and immunity-related genes from 378 lung cancer patients and 450 healthy people. They found that a variant called "rs4648127" in the NFKB1 gene was associated with a 21 percent to 44 percent reduced risk of lung cancer.

A protein produced in part from the NFKB1 gene is known to play an important role in inflammation and immunity by regulating gene expression, cell death and cell proliferation.

The study was published online Oct. 8 in the journal Cancer.

"Our study provides further evidence that inflammation may be associated with lung cancer risk," study co-author Meredith Shiels, of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, said in a journal news release.

Further research is needed to learn more about the link between the NFKB1 gene and lung cancer, she added.

While the study found an association between a gene variant and lung cancer risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

-- Robert Preidt

Copyright 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Published: Sunday, October 7, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

California voters will soon decide whether to require certain raw and processed foods to carry such a label.

In a closely watched test of consumers' appetite for genetically modified foods, the special label is being pushed by organic farmers and advocates who are concerned about what people eat even though the federal government and many scientists contend such foods are safe.

More than just food packaging is at stake. The outcome could reverberate through American agriculture, which has long tinkered with the genes of plants to reduce disease, ward off insects and boost the food supply.

International food and chemical conglomerates, including Monsanto Co. and DuPont Co., have contributed about $35 million to defeat Proposition 37 on the November ballot. It also would ban labeling or advertising genetically altered food as "natural." Its supporters have raised just about one-tenth of that amount.

If voters approve the initiative, California would become the first state to require disclosure of a broad range of foods containing genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Food makers would have to add a label or reformulate their products to avoid it. Supermarkets would be charged with making sure their shelves are stocked with correctly labeled items.

Genetically altered plants grown from seeds engineered in the laboratory have been a mainstay for more than a decade. Much of the corn, soybean, sugar beets and cotton cultivated in the United States today have been tweaked to resist pesticides or insects. Most of the biotech crops are used for animal feed or as ingredients in processed foods including cookies, cereal, potato chips and salad dressing.

Proponents say explicit labeling gives consumers information about how a product is made and allows them to decide whether to choose foods with genetically modified ingredients.

"They're fed up. They want to know what's in their food," said Stacy Malkan, spokeswoman for the California Right to Know campaign.

Agribusiness, farmers and retailers oppose the initiative, claiming it would lead to higher grocery bills and leave the state open to frivolous lawsuits. Kathy Fairbanks, spokeswoman for the No on 37 campaign, said labels would be interpreted as a warning and confuse shoppers.

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ScienceDaily (Oct. 8, 2012) McGill researchers have identified a small region in the genome that conclusively plays a role in the development of psychiatric disease and obesity. The key lies in the genomic deletion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, a nervous system growth factor that plays a critical role in brain development.

To determine the role of BDNF in humans, Prof. Carl Ernst, from McGill's Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, screened over 35,000 people referred for genetic screening at clinics and over 30,000 control subjects in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Overall, five individuals were identified with BDNF deletions, all of whom were obese, had a mild-moderate intellectual impairment, and had a mood disorder. Children had anxiety disorders, aggressive disorders, or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while post-pubescent subjects had anxiety and major depressive disorders. Subjects gradually gained weight as they aged, suggesting that obesity is a long-term process when BDNF is deleted.

"Scientists have been trying to find a region of the genome which plays a role in human psychopathology, searching for answers anywhere in our DNA that may give us a clue to the genetic causes of these types of disorders," says Prof. Ernst, who is also a researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. "Our study conclusively links a single region of the genome to mood and anxiety."

The findings, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, reveal for the first time the link between BDNF deletion, cognition, and weight gain in humans. BDNF has been suspected to have many functions in the brain based on animal studies, but no study had shown what happens when BDNF is missing from the human genome. This research provides a step toward better understanding human behaviour and mood by clearly identifying genes that may be involved in mental disorders.

"Mood and anxiety can be seen like a house of cards. In this case, the walls of the house represent the myriad of biological interactions that maintain the structure," says Ernst, "Studying these moving parts can be tricky, so teasing apart even a single event is important. Linking a deletion in BDNF conclusively to mood and anxiety really tells us that it is possible to dissect the biological pathways involved in determining how we feel and act.

We now have a molecular pathway we are confident is involved in psychopathology," adds Ernst, "Because thousands of genes are involved in mood, anxiety, or obesity, it allows us to root our studies on a solid foundation. All of the participants in our study had mild-moderate intellectual disability, but most people with these cognitive problems do not have psychiatric problems -- so what is it about deletion of BDNF that affects mood? My hope now is to test the hypothesis that boosting BDNF in people with anxiety or depression might improve brain health."

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TAMPA A new cocktail of cancer-fighting drugs can help patients with advanced melanoma, a Moffitt Cancer Center researcher has reported in a study to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The new research builds on recent advances in therapies for advanced melanoma that center on targeting its genetic fingerprint. Until recently, the deadly skin cancer was considered nearly untreatable in its later stages.

Drugs now are available that can block a mutation in a gene called BRAF, which fuels the cancer. The mutation is present in about half of melanoma cases. If caught early, lesions can be removed surgically, but doctors traditionally had few options once melanoma spreads throughout the body.

Dr. Jeffrey Weber, director of Moffitt's Melanoma Research Center of Excellence, was among the leaders of a national team that sought better results by combining drug therapies to inhibit the BRAF mutation and overcome the tumor's ability to grow resistant to the drugs.

The results of their complex study, involving about 250 patients, are now available online and will publish in print in the Nov. 15 edition of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers found they could improve the outcome for patients through a combination of two drugs, dabrafenib and trametinib. Patients receiving the combination therapy saw their cancers go into remission for 9 1/2 months, compared to 5 1/2 months for those on dabrafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, alone.

Patients receiving the combination treatment also saw their tumors shrink at a higher rate than those receiving the single drug.

"This is an evolutionary development which has important implications," Weber said. "What this shows is you can, to some degree, reverse (drug) resistance."

Additionally, researchers saw more patients respond to the combination therapy. And fewer of them experienced common side effects, which can include additional (though less serious) skin cancers.

The research was funded by GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the two drugs. The study involved about two dozen researchers at major cancer centers in the United States and Australia.

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Editor's Choice Academic Journal Main Category: Parkinson's Disease Also Included In: Genetics Article Date: 08 Oct 2012 - 0:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Parkinson's Risk Linked To Specific Genetic Variants

5 (1 votes)

The researchers say they have carried out the first ever genome-wide evaluation of genetic variants linked to Parkinson's disease.

Jeanne Latourelle, DSc, and Richard H. Myers, PhD, explained that a recent study published by the PDGC (PD Genome Wide Association Study Consortium) had shown that people with genetic variants in or close to the genes HLA, MAPT, SNCA, RIT2, and GAK/DGKQ had a higher-than-average risk of developing Parkinson's disease. However, in that study, the mechanism behind the higher risk had not been determined.

Boston University School of Medicine reported in PLOS ONE in July 2012 that the FOXO1 gene plays an important part in the pathological mechanisms of Parkinson's disease. That study is said to have used the largest number of brain samples used in a wide-genome expression study of PD.

Latourelle suggested that perhaps a genetic variant might change how a gene is expressed in the brain, resulting in a higher risk of developing Parkinson's.

The scientists say that their findings may pave the way for treatments to correct the genetic variants and thus possibly reverse the effects of Parkinson's disease.

They determined gene expression by using a microarray that screened what the effects of genetic variants were on the expression of genes located very near the variant - called cis-effects - and genes that were far from the variant, such as genes on a totally different chromosome, called trans-effect. To recap - cis-effects are those on very nearby genes, while trans-effect are those on distant genes.

When they analyzed the cis-effects, it was observed that many genetic variants in the MAPT region showed a significant association with the expression of multiple nearby genes, including gene LOC644246, the duplicated genes LRRC37A and LRRC37A2, and the gene DCAKD.

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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY--(Marketwire - Oct 8, 2012) - Genetic Immunity ( OTCBB : PWRV ) is pleased to announce the GMP approval of its manufacturing facility. The development of the GMP manufacturing process and the facility was financed from a $4 million grant received from the Hungarian Office for Innovation and Technology.

"To establish a GMP manufacturing facility is a major milestone for Genetic Immunity. Initially, it will serve our need to produce high quality ingredients to our nanomedicine products tested in clinical trials. We developed our GMP manufacturing technology and processes to be suitable to upgrade them to a commercial scale. This approval demonstrates the capability of our team to advance our DermaVir HIV-specific immunotherapy to the market, and our new candidate products from the bench to the bedside,"said Dr. Julianna Lisziewicz, CEO of Genetic Immunity.

The GMP status is provided for the manufacturing and the validated quality control processes of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient of our immunotherapeutic nanomedicine products.Genetic Immunity has a state of the art R&D laboratory that includes a dedicated GMP facility. Due to the platform feature of our plasmid DNA based nanomedicine technology, only the nucleotide sequence of the DNA is specific for the target disease. Consequently, the manufacturing and the quality control process of the lead and all pipeline products is the same. This means that the GMP facility can be used for the manufacturing all products of Genetic Immunity regardless of clinical stage. The common GMP manufacturing technology simplifies the regulatory process, saves costs and time in clinical development, and reduces time to market approval of medicinal products.

"With this GMP facility we have successfully closed the manufacturing gap between clinical trial scale and the commercial production. With continuous development of the manufacturing processes we are able to control the costs and achieve a competitive price for each market segments at an attractive ROI ratio for every product. We are strongly focused on the market and are well prepared for large scale manufacturing for our planned Expanded Access program of DermaVir," said Mr. Viktor Rozsnyay, CEO of Power of the Dream Ventures.

Genetic Immunity is a wholly owned subsidiary of Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc. ( OTCBB : PWRV ).

About Genetic Immunity Genetic Immunity is part of Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc. (PWRV) committed to bring innovative Hungarian products and services to public. GeneticImmunity is a clinical stage technology company committed to discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing a new class of immunotherapeutic biologic drugs for the treatment of viral infections, cancer and allergy. The Company's two distinguished technology platforms will revolutionize the treatment of these chronic diseases. Our Langerhans cell targeting nanomedicines are exceptional in both safety and immune modulating activity boosting specific Th1-type central memory T cells. Such immune responses differ from antibodies induced by vaccines. These are essential to eliminate infected cells or cancerous cells, and balance the immune reactivity in response to allergens. Our IT team generated a complex algorithm to match the mechanism of action of our drugs with clinical efficacy. In the future, we will predict the clinical and immunological benefits of our drugs based on the patient's disease and genomic background. The unique mixture of our technologies represents the next generation of personalized but not individualized medicines ensuring a longer and higher economic return. Genetic Immunity's primary focus is the development of DermaVir that acts to boost the immune system of HIV-infected people to eliminate the infected cells that remained in the reservoirs after successful antiretroviral treatment. Three clinical trials conducted in EU and US showed that DermaVir immunizations were as safe as placebo and only four sequential patch treatments were required to reduce the HIV infected cells in the blood within 24 weeks.

In 1988 Drs. Lisziewicz and Lori founded the Genetic Immunity in the US after they described the 1st patient whose immune system was boosted to control HIV after treatment interruption (Lisziewicz et al. New England Journal of Medicine 1999) that lead to the invention of DermaVir. The Company's innovative technology team directed by Dr. Lisziewicz, a champion of immune busting therapies, is now headquartered in Budapest (Hungary). For more information please visit http://www.geneticimmunity.com

Forward-looking statements Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature constitute forward-looking statements qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding business combination and similar transactions, prospective performance and opportunities and the outlook for the companies' businesses, including, without limitation, the ability of PWRV to advance Genetic Immunity's product pipeline or develop a curative immunotherapy for HIV, performance and opportunities and regulatory approvals, the anticipated timing of data from clinical data; the possibility of unfavorable results of the company's clinical trials; filings and approvals relating to the transaction; the expected timing of the completion of the transaction; the ability to complete the transaction considering the various closing conditions; and any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the companies, and the companies assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

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LOS ANGELES, Oct.8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Response Genetics, Inc. (RGDX), a company focused on the development and commercialization of molecular diagnostic tests for cancer, announced today that on October 5, 2012, the Company was notified that it has regained compliance with the NASDAQ Capital Market and its minimum market value of listed securities requirement. The Company regained compliance with NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 5550(b)(2) and was notified by NASDAQ that the delisting matter is now closed.

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 from genes derived from tumor samples 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 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, or to successfully file a registration statement with the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC"), 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 SEC. 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.

Investor Relations Contact:

Company Contact:

Peter Rahmer

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Response Genetics Regains Compliance with NASDAQ Listing Standards

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BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Delphi Genetics SA (Delphi) has announced today a broad licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, for the use of the StabyExpress technology, which allows high yield, cost effective protein expression without the use of antibiotics.

Under the agreement, Merck receives a non-exclusive license to use the StabyExpress technology for protein expression in research and product development. In exchange, Delphi is eligible to receive milestone payments associated with the development of Merck product candidates that utilize the StabyExpress technology, as well as royalties on sales of such products. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Cdric Szpirer PhD, Delphi Genetics Founder and CEO, explained: This is Delphi's first broad-based licensing agreement that covers potential use of the StabyExpress technology for protein based product in the areas of human and animal health.

Guy Hlin, CBO, added: This is the third licensing agreement that we have announced with a world leading healthcare company. The non-exclusive nature of this agreement enables us to consider similar collaborations with other strategic partners, including partners in other fields than biopharma production.

Delphi also has licensing agreements with Sanofi-Pasteur, announced in June 2009, and with GSK, announced in September 2010.

About StabyExpress

StabyExpress technology can be applied to any industrial protein production process that involves bacterial fermentation. Biopharmaceutical production represents a rapidly growing market and its share of the overall medication market today is estimated at 15%. Moreover, the technology is consistent with the recommendations of the FDA and the EMA with regard to the elimination of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in protein production processes for both human and veterinary uses. Currently, Antibiotic Resistance Genes are used as selection markers for the design of the majority of the genetic systems enabling protein production. The technology is also usable to produce DNA vaccines in order to avoid completely the use of antibiotics resistance genes from DNA cloning to DNA production.

About Delphi Genetics SA

Founded at the end of 2001, Delphi Genetics develops more effective products and technologies for genetic engineering and for protein expression in bacteria by using its unique expertise in the field of plasmid stabilisation systems. Delphi Genetics patented StabyExpress technology increases the recombinant protein production output without the use of antibiotics, which is the traditional approach. In January 2012, together with academic and Biotech key-players, Delphi Genetics announced its participation in a research project during the next 3 years for the development of DNA vaccines using the technology. Other research projects are under way to adapt the technology to mammalian cells and yeast.

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STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Regulatory News:

Diamyd Medical AB has entered into an agreement for the sale of the U.S. subsidiary, Diamyd, Inc., involved in drug development primarily relating to the NTDDS platform with applications in pain and neuropathy among others. The buyer, Periphagen Holdings, Inc., is owned by members of the management of Diamyd, Inc. The agreement is subject to approval of an Extraordinary General Meeting of Diamyd Medical. By reason of the divestment, Diamyd Medical will postpone its Year End Report to October 31, 2012.

Under the agreement, in addition to the shares in Diamyd, Inc., Periphagen Holdings, Inc. assumes the intellectual property rights to the patented Nerve Targeting Drug Delivery System (NTDDS) technology, and all costs and revenues related to the business from September 1, 2012. The divestment will improve Diamyd Medical's operating profit/loss by approximately SEK 18 million during fiscal year 2012/13 compared to if the Company would have continued financing the development of the NTDDS platform.

During the fiscal year 2011/12, due to the transaction, impairment of intangible assets related to the NTDDS platform will have an adverse effect of SEK 17 million on operating profit/loss. The cash flow is not affected. Other immediate accounting effects and transaction costs attributable to the divestment are estimated to have an adverse effect on profit/loss during 2012/13 by approximately SEK 3 million. The impact on cash flow is minor.

The purchase price amounts to one dollar and shares in the acquiring company, providing Diamyd Medical a holding of 10 percent in Periphagen Holdings, Inc. In addition, Diamyd Medical may receive up to USD 10 million, primarily in milestone payments, as well as 10 percent of upfront payments and other payments Periphagen Holdings, Inc. may receive from future partners, and royalties on future sales of NTDDS based drugs.

The divestment immediately and significantly reduces Diamyd Medicals costs, whilst we retain the right to share in future successes of the NTDDS platform. The development projects will receive full focus from their dedicated new owners, which makes it a great solution for both parties as well as for the NTDDS platform, says Peter Zerhouni, President and CEO of Diamyd Medical.

We remain passionate about the NTDDS technology and have been involved since the research on nerve targeted gene delivery was initiated at the University of Pittsburgh in the 90s. It is a dream come true to increase our focus and run the business as our own, says Darren Wolfe, President of Diamyd, Inc. and Periphagen Holdings, Inc.

The transaction is a management buyout, where the purchasing corporation is owned by members of the management of Diamyd, Inc. The audit and consultancy firm Grant Thornton has prepared a fairness opinion regarding the transaction, and judge that, from a financial perspective, the terms are fair to the shareholders of Diamyd Medical. The agreement is subject to approval from Diamyd Medical's shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on October 30, 2012.

The board of directors has decided to postpone Diamyd Medical's Year End Report for the 2011/12 fiscal year, until the Extraordinary General Meeting has considered the transaction, as the meeting's decision will have an impact on the information in the Year End Report. The original date for the report was October 16, 2012. The new date for the Year End Report is October 31, 2012.

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British researcher John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka from Japan have shared the Nobel prize for medicine or physiology.

The two pioneers of stem cell research were awarded the prize for transforming specialised cells into stem cells, which can become any other type of cell in the body.

John Gurdon discovered in 1962 that the specialisation of cells is reversible. In a classic experiment, he replaced the immature cell nucleus in an egg cell of a frog with the nucleus from a mature intestinal cell. This modified egg cell developed into a normal tadpole. The DNA of the mature cell still had all the information needed to develop all cells in the frog.

Shinya Yamanaka discovered more than 40 years later, in 2006, how intact mature cells in mice could be reprogrammed to become immature stem cells. Surprisingly, by introducing only a few genes, he could reprogram mature cells to become pluripotent stem cells, i.e. immature cells that are able to develop into all types of cells in the body.

These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and cellular specialisation.

By reprogramming human cells, scientists have created new opportunities to study diseases and develop methods for diagnosis and therapy.

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Stem Cell Researchers Share Nobel Medicine Prize

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The 2012 Nobel Prize for medicine has been awarded to stem cell researchers John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka of Britain and Japan. They take the first Nobel prize of the year, with a flurry to follow over the next week.

Judges in Stockholm said on Monday that the medicine prize had been awarded to the researchers "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent," saying that this discovery had "revolutionized our understanding of how cells and organisms develop."

Gurdon and Yamanaka are stem cell researchers who are seeking ways to obtain embryonic stem cells - a kind of genetic blank slate, cells that can be 'programmed' to take on many different forms and perform different functions - from the cells of an adult. Embryos themselves are another more controversial source of stem cells.

"We are trying to find ways of obtaining embryo cells from the cells of an adult," Gurdon writes on his Gurdon Institute website. "The eventual aim is to provide replacement cells of all kinds starting from usually obtainable cells of an adult individual."

The British scientist also said such a system was advantageous because the stem cells could be obtained from the patient themselves, reducing the risk of rejection when they were employed as a treatment.

The medals will be doled out in December, the winners named in the next few days

Stem cells appear to have potential to treat a wide range of illnesses, with a major barrier to the research the ethical implications of obtaining the cells from unborn foetuses.

A busy week in the Swedish capital

This year's laureates in the field of physics will be named on Tuesday, with chemistry following on Wednesday and perhaps the most famous Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded on Friday. As is tradition, there is no set date for the Nobel Prize for Literature - but that will almost certainly fill the gap in the schedule on Thursday. The economics prize winner or winners will be named on October 15.

All the prizes will be awarded in Stockholm simultaneously at a December 10 ceremony.

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Stem cell pioneers win Nobel medicine honors

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8 October 2012 Last updated at 09:58 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

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British scientist John Gurdon told a news conference he still keeps a bad report given to him by his school science teacher

Two pioneers of stem cell research have shared the Nobel prize for medicine or physiology.

John Gurdon from the UK and Shinya Yamanaka from Japan were awarded the prize for changing adult cells into stem cells, which can become any other type of cell in the body.

Prof Gurdon used a gut sample to clone frogs and Prof Yamanaka altered genes to reprogramme cells.

The Nobel committee said they had "revolutionised" science.

The prize is in stark contrast to Prof Gurdon's first foray into science when his biology teacher described his scientific ambitions as "a waste of time".

"I believe Gurdon has ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous; if he can't learn simple biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who would have to teach him."

When a sperm fertilises an egg there is just one type of cell. It multiplies and some of the resulting cells become specialised to create all the tissues of the body including nerve and bone and skin.

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Two scientists who discovered the developmental clock could be turned back in mature cells, transforming them into immature cells with the ability to become any tissue in the body pluripotent stem cells are being honored with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The Nobel Prize honoring Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka was announced today (Oct. 8) by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Th duo's work revealed what scientists had thought impossible. Just after conception, an embryo contains immature cells that can give rise to any cell type such as nerve, muscle and liver cells in the adult organism; these are called pluripotent stem cells, and scientists believed once these stem cells become specialized to carry out a specific body task there was no turning back.

Gurdon, now at the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, England, found this wasn't the case when in 1962 he replaced the nucleus of a frog's egg cell with the nucleus taken from a mature intestinal cell from a tadpole. And voila, the altered frog egg developed into a tadpole, suggesting the mature nucleus held the instructions needed to become all cells in the frog, as if it were a young unspecialized cell. In fact, later experiments using nuclear transfer have produced cloned mammals. [5 Amazing Stem Cell Discoveries]

Then in 2006, Yamanaka, who was born in 1962 when Gurdon reported his discovery and is now at Kyoto University, genetically reprogrammed mature skin cells in mice to become immature cells able to become any cell in the adult mice, which he named induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). Scientists can now derive such induced pluripotent stem cells from adult nerve, heart and liver cells, allowing new ways to study diseases.

When Yamanaka received the call from Stockholm about his award, he was doing housework, according to an interview with the Nobel Prize website. "It is a tremendous honor to me," Yamanaka said during that interview.

As for his hopes for mankind with regard to stem cells, he said, "My goal, all my life, is to bring this technology, stem cell technology, to the bedside, to patients, to clinics." He added that the first clinical trials of iPS cells will begin next year.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook& Google+.

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Stem Cell Discoveries Snag Nobel Prize in Medicine

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JUDY WOODRUFF: Next, to the 2012 Nobel Prizes. The first was awarded today for groundbreaking work in reprogramming cells in the body.

Ray Suarez looks at those achievements.

MAN: The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute has today decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,2012 jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka.

RAY SUAREZ: The two scientists are from two different generations and celebrated today's announcement half-a-world apart.

But today they were celebrated together for their research that led to a groundbreaking understanding of how cells work.

Sir John Gurdon of CambridgeUniversity was awarded for his work in 1962. He was able to use specialized cells of frogs, like skin or intestinal cells, to generate new tadpoles and show DNA could drive the formation of all cells in the body.

Forty years later, Dr. Yamanaka built on that and went further. He was able to turn mature cells back into their earliest form as primitive cells. Those cells are in many ways the equivalent of embryonic stem cells, because they have the potential to develop into specialized cells for heart, liver and other organs.

Dr. Shinya Yamanaka is currently working at KyotoUniversity. Embryonic stem cells have had to be harvested from human embryos, a source of debate and considerable controversy.

For Gurdon, the prize had special meaning. At a news conference in London, he recalled one schoolteacher's reaction to his desire to study science.

JOHN GURDON, co-winner, Nobel Prize For Medicine or Physiology: It was a completely ridiculous idea because there was no hope whatever of my doing science, and any time spent on it would be a total waste of time, both on my part and the part of the person having to teach him. So that terminated my completely -- completely terminated my science at school.

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Stem Cell Scientists Gurdon and Yamanaka Win Nobel Prize in Medicine

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Shinya Yamanaka of Japan and John Gurdon of Britain won the Nobel Prize for work in cell programming, a frontier that has nourished dreams of replacement tissue for people crippled by disease.

The two scientists found that adult cells can be transformed back to an infant state called stem cells, the key ingredient in the vision of regenerative medicine.

"Their findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop," the Nobel jury declared on Monday. "By reprogramming human cells, scientists have created new opportunities to study diseases and develop methods for diagnosis and therapy."

Among those who acclaimed the award were Britain's Royal Society, Ian Wilmut, "father" of Dolly the cloned sheep, and a leading ethicist, who said it eased a storm about the use of embryonic cells.

Stem cells are precursor cells which differentiate into the various organs of the body.

They have stirred huge excitement, with hopes that they can be coaxed into growing into replacement tissue for victims of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases.

Gurdon, 79, said he was grateful but also surprised by the honour, since his main research was done a half-century ago.

In 1962, he discovered that the DNA code in the nucleus of an adult frog cell held all the information to develop into every kind of cell.

This meant that an adult cell could in essence be reprogrammed.

His landmark discovery was initially met with scepticism, as the journey from immature to specialised cell was previously deemed irreversible.

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Stem cell pioneers win Nobel for medicine

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John Gurdon (left) and Shinya Yamanaka showed how to reprogram cells into their embryonic states.

J. Player/Rex Features; Aflo/Rex Features

The discovery that cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state has won this years Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for two leading lights of stem-cell research: John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka.

Reprogrammed cells regain pluripotency, the potential to differentiate into many mature cell types. Many researchers hope that cells created in this way will eventually be used in regenerative medicine, providing replacement tissue for damaged or diseased organs. The field has become one of the hottest in biology, but the prizewinners discoveries were not without controversy when they were made.

Gurdon, who is based at the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, UK, was the first person to demonstrate that cells could be reprogrammed, in work published 50years ago1. At the time, scientists believed that cellular specialization was a one-way process that could not be reversed. Gurdon overturned that dogma by removing the nucleus from a frog egg cell and replacing it with the nucleus from a tadpoles intestinal cell. Remarkably, the process was able to turn back the cellular clock of the substitute nucleus. Although it had already committed to specialization, inside the egg cell it acted like an eggs nucleus and directed the development of a normal tadpole.

Gurdon was a graduate student at the University of Oxford, UK, when he did the work. He received his doctorate in 1960 and went on to do a postdoc at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, leaving his frogs in Europe. He did not publish the research until two years after he got his PhD, once he was sure that the animals had matured healthily. I was a graduate student flying in the face of [established] knowledge, he says. There was a lot of scepticism.

Mammalian cells did not prove as amenable to this process, known as cloning by nuclear transfer, as frog cells. It was nearly 35years before the first cloned mammal Dolly the sheep was born, in 1996. Dolly was the only live birth from 277 attempts, and mammalian cloning remained a hit-and-miss affair.

Scientists were desperate to improve the efficiency of the system and to understand the exact molecular process involved. That is where Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, Japan, made his mark. Yamanaka who was born the year that Gurdon published his formative paper used cultured mouse cells to identify the genes that kept embryonic cells immature, and then tested whether any of these genes could reprogram mature cells to make them pluripotent.

In the mid-2000s, the stem-cell community knew that Yamanaka was close. I remember when he presented the data at a 2006 Keystone symposium, says Cdric Blanpain, a stem-cell biologist at the Free University of Brussels. At that time he didnt name them and everyone was betting what these magic factors could be.

A few months later, attendees at the 2006 meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Toronto, Canada, packed out Yamanakas lecture. The audience waited in silence before he announced his surprisingly simple recipe: activating just four genes was enough to turn adult cells called fibroblasts back into pluripotent stem cells2. Such induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells could then be coaxed into different types of mature cell types, including nerve and heart cells.

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Cell rewind wins medicine Nobel

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SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Cellerant Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel hematopoietic stem cell-based cellular and antibody therapies for blood disorders and cancer, announced today that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 contract and a Phase 2 option from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) valued up to $1,683,503. The SBIR Contract funds the development of CLT-009, a first-in-class, human allogeneic Megakaryocyte Progenitor Cell therapy for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in cancer patients and allows the Company to conduct studies to enable an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application to be filed with the FDA in the next two years.

Thrombocytopenia is characterized as a significant reduction in the concentration of circulating platelets. Platelets are crucial in the process of coagulation to stop bleeding, and thrombocytopenia can increase the risk of severe bleeding in patients. It is becoming an increasingly common problem among oncology patients and a significant dose-limiting toxicity, especially in the treatment of hematological malignancies. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the most common causes of thrombocytopenia because the platelet-producing cells, megakaryocytes, and their precursors are highly sensitive to myelosuppressive cytotoxics and ionizing radiation. Thrombocytopenia typically occurs during the initial cycles of high-dose chemotherapy and radiation therapy, usually 614 days after administration. According to Datamonitor, the estimated incidence of cancer patients who suffer from significant chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia worldwide was approximately 200,000 in 2008.

Occurrence of severe thrombocytopenia may require dose reductions for chemotherapy regimens which can impact subsequent disease control and survival, especially in the treatment of hematological malignancies such as acute leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome. Current treatment options include platelet transfusions which are costly and labor intensive and are associated with risks such as contamination and transmission of viral and bacterial infections. Recombinant human interleukin-11 is the only approved agent for chemotherapy induced thrombocytopenia but its use is limited and has only modest efficacy and significant side effects. CLT-009, a human Megakaryocyte Progenitor Cell product, would be an alternative treatment option, providing the critical megakayocyte progenitor cellular support to rapidly produce platelets in vivo and shorten the duration of severe thrombocytopenia following chemotherapy treatment.

We are delighted to receive this contract from NCI to support the development of our novel, off-the-shelf, platelet product and address a high unmet need, said Ram Mandalam, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Cellerant Therapeutics. This contract allows us to not only leverage our experience in developing cellular therapies but also provides us with the ability to bring CLT-009 closer to the clinic. Our unique product portfolio, which now includes CLT-009, along with our CLT-008 myeloid progenitor cell product and our therapeutic antibodies targeting cancer stem cells, demonstrates our continued commitment to developing novel products for the benefit of cancer patients.

In addition to this SBIR contract, Cellerant has previously received grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) in 2008 2010 to conduct research studies in platelet recovery which it has successfully completed. In its previous studies, Cellerant demonstrated that megakaryocyte progenitor cells were able to produce human platelets in preclinical models with in vivo functionality similar to that of normal human platelets.

This program is funded with Federal funds from the National Institute of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No.HHSN261201200076C.

About CLT-009

CLT-009 is a unique, off-the-shelf, cryopreserved, cell-based therapy that contains human Megakaryocyte Progenitor Cells derived from adult hematopoietic stem cells that have the ability to mature into functional platelets in vivo. Cellerant is developing CLT-009 as an effective treatment for chemotherapy and radiation-induced thrombocytopenia in cancer patients.

About Cellerant Therapeutics

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Cellerant Awarded SBIR Contract Funding to Develop CLT-009 for Treatment of Thrombocytopenia

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NEW YORK, Oct. 8, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeoStem, Inc. (NYSE MKT:NBS), an emerging leader in the fast growing cell therapy market, announced today that data from its collaborative studies with the University of Michigan School of Dentistry further expands the therapeutic potential of its proprietary regenerative cell therapy product, "VSELSTM" (very small embryonic-like stem cells), by demonstrating bone regeneration capabilities in a study published online ahead of print1 in the journal Stem Cells and Development (DOI: 10.1089/scd.2012.0327). The paper highlights that human VSEL stem cells form human bone when implanted in the bone tissue of SCID mice.

VSELs are a population of stem cells found in adult bone marrow with potential regenerative properties similar to those of embryonic stem cells. NeoStem has shown that these cells can be mobilized into the peripheral blood, enabling a minimally invasive means for collecting what NeoStem believes to be a population of stem cells that have the potential to achieve the positive benefits associated with embryonic stem cells without the ethical or moral dilemmas or the potential negative effects known to be associated with embryonic stem cells.

This published controlled study, funded by NIH and led by Dr. Russell Taichman, Major Ash Collegiate Professor and Co-Director of the Scholars Program in Dental Leadership Department of Periodontics & Oral Medicine, University of Michigan and Dr. Aaron Havens, Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry at University of Michigan, involved isolating G-CSF mobilized VSEL stem cells from the blood of healthy donors and transplanting them into burr holes made in the cranial bones of SCID mice. After three months, it was observed that the implanted VSEL stem cells had differentiated into human bone tissue in the crania of the mice. Dr. Taichman stated, "I believe this work represents a true partnership between Industry and Academic Institutions. Our findings that VSEL cells can generate human bone in animals would not have been feasible without the help and vision that Dr. Denis Rodgerson and his team at NeoStem brought to the table. It was my privilege to have been a part of this collaborative effort, and I see the resulting data as a significant milestone in stem cell therapy development. It is truly inspiring."

Dr. Robin Smith, Chairman and CEO of NeoStem, added, "This is very exciting data that we believe will be the foundation for future VSEL stem cell studies of bone regeneration in humans. We look forward to moving the development work from the laboratory into the clinic to develop a therapeutic stem cell product to enhance bone formation in humans."

About NeoStem, Inc.

NeoStem, Inc. continues to develop and build on its core capabilities in cell therapy, capitalizing on the paradigm shift that we see occurring in medicine. In particular, we anticipate that cell therapy will have a significant role in the fight against chronic disease and in lessening the economic burden that these diseases pose to modern society. We are emerging as a technology and market leading company in this fast developing cell therapy market. Our multi-faceted business strategy combines a state-of-the-art contract development and manufacturing subsidiary, Progenitor Cell Therapy, LLC ("PCT"), with a medically important cell therapy product development program, enabling near and long-term revenue growth opportunities. We believe this expertise and existing research capabilities and collaborations will enable us to achieve our mission of becoming a premier cell therapy company.

Our contract development and manufacturing service business supports the development of proprietary cell therapy products. NeoStem's most clinically advanced therapeutic, AMR-001, is being developed at Amorcyte, LLC ("Amorcyte"), which we acquired in October 2011. Amorcyte is developing a cell therapy for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and is enrolling patients in a Phase 2 trial to investigate AMR-001's efficacy in preserving heart function after a heart attack. Athelos Corporation ("Athelos"), which is approximately 80%-owned by our subsidiary, PCT, is collaborating with Becton-Dickinson in the early clinical exploration of a T-cell therapy for autoimmune conditions. In addition, pre-clinical assets include our VSELTM Technology platform as well as our mesenchymal stem cell product candidate for regenerative medicine. Our service business and pipeline of proprietary cell therapy products work in concert, giving us a competitive advantage that we believe is unique to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Supported by an experienced scientific and business management team and a substantial intellectual property estate, we believe we are well positioned to succeed.

Forward-Looking Statements for NeoStem, Inc.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations, as of the date of this press release, and involve certain risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements herein with respect to the successful execution of the Company's business strategy, including with respect to the Company's or its partners' successful development of AMR-001 and other cell therapeutics, the size of the market for such products, its competitive position in such markets, the Company's ability to successfully penetrate such markets and the market for its CDMO business, and the efficacy of protection from its patent portfolio, as well as the future of the cell therapeutics industry in general, including the rate at which such industry may grow. Forward looking statements also include statements with respect to satisfying all conditions to closing the disposition of Erye, including receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals in the PRC. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward- looking statements as a result of various factors, including but not limited to (i) the Company's ability to manage its business despite operating losses and cash outflows, (ii) its ability to obtain sufficient capital or strategic business arrangement to fund its operations, including the clinical trials for AMR-001, (iii) successful results of the Company's clinical trials of AMR-001 and other cellular therapeutic products that may be pursued, (iv) demand for and market acceptance of AMR-001 or other cell therapies if clinical trials are successful and the Company is permitted to market such products, (v) establishment of a large global market for cellular-based products, (vi) the impact of competitive products and pricing, (vii) the impact of future scientific and medical developments, (viii) the Company's ability to obtain appropriate governmental licenses and approvals and, in general, future actions of regulatory bodies, including the FDA and foreign counterparts, (ix) reimbursement and rebate policies of government agencies and private payers, (x) the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property, (xi) the company's ability to successfully divest its interest in Erye, and (xii) matters described under the "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 20, 2012 and in the Company's other periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are available on its website. The Company does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements. The Company's further development is highly dependent on future medical and research developments and market acceptance, which is outside its control.

(1) Human Very Small Embryonic-Like Cells Generate Skeletal Structures, In Vivo. Havens A., et al., Stem Cells and Development.

Link:
NeoStem Announces Very Small Embryonic-Like Cells (VSEL(TM)) Publication in Stem Cells and Development

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A company with the first FDA-approved personalized cell therapy for reducing wrinkles has raised $45 million in a private stock sale. The financing was sought to improve manufacturing capacity for the therapy and advance other uses for it such as treating burn victims, according to a company statement.

Fibrocell Sciences aesthetic therapeutic, Laviv, secured got the green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year. Laviv uses individuals fibroblast cells to reduce nasolabial fold wrinkles, creases on the face that start from the outer corners of the nose and go down to the corners of the mouth. It also has an acne therapy in phase 3 clinical trials and a burn scar therapy in phase 2 trials.

The Exton, Pennsylvania biopharmaceutical companys personalized cell development platform technology isolates, purifies and multiplies a patients fibroblast cells, connective skin cells that make collagen.

Additionally, Fibrocell agreed to a strategic collaboration with biotechnology firm Intrexon which can provide genome engineering, cell processing, and cell system engineering, among other services, to help advance Fibrocells personalized cell therapy program.

As part of the financing deal, Third Security LLC will get two seats on Fibrocells board.

Personalized stem cell development fits into the broader category of personalized medicine, regarded as the future of medicine in which therapies will be better targeted to individuals and more effective.

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Biopharma with personalized cell therapy raises $45M in stock sale, forges collaboration deal

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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Scientists from Britain and Japan shared a Nobel Prize on Monday for the discovery that adult cells can be transformed back into embryo-like stem cells that may one day regrow tissue in damaged brains, hearts or other organs.

John Gurdon, 79, of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, Britain and Shinya Yamanaka, 50, of Kyoto University in Japan, discovered ways to create tissue that would act like embryonic cells, without the need to collect the cells from embryos.

They share the $1.2 million Nobel Prize for Medicine, for work Gurdon began 50 years ago and Yamanaka capped with a 2006 experiment that transformed the field of "regenerative medicine" - the search for ways to cure disease by growing healthy tissue.

"These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and specialisation of cells," the Nobel Assembly at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute said.

All of the body starts as stem cells, before developing into tissue like skin, blood, nerves, muscle and bone. The big hope is that stem cells can grow to replace damaged tissue in cases from spinal cord injuries to Parkinson's disease.

Scientists once thought it was impossible to turn adult tissue back into stem cells. That meant new stem cells could only be created by taking them from embryos, which raised ethical objections that led to research bans in some countries.

As far back as 1962 Gurdon became the first scientist to clone an animal, making a healthy tadpole from the egg of a frog with DNA from another tadpole's intestinal cell. That showed that developed cells carry the information to make every cell in the body - decades before other scientists made world headlines by cloning the first mammal from adult DNA, Dolly the sheep.

More than 40 years later, Yamanaka produced mouse stem cells from adult mouse skin cells by inserting a small number of genes. His breakthrough effectively showed that the development that takes place in adult tissue could be reversed, turning adult tissue back into cells that behave like embryos.

Stem cells created from adult tissue are known as "induced pluripotency stem cells", or iPS cells. Because patients may one day be treated with stem cells from their own tissue, their bodies might be less likely to reject them.

"The eventual aim is to provide replacement cells of all kinds," Gurdon's institute explains on its website.

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UK, Japan scientists win Nobel for adult stem cell discovery

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Shinya Yamanaka MD, PhD

Here are answers to frequently asked questions about induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, the type of cell that has been reprogrammed from an adult cell, such as a skin or blood cell.

What are induced pluripotent stem cells?

Induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, are a type of cell that has been reprogrammed from an adult cell, such as a skin or blood cell. iPS cells are pluripotent cells because, like embryonic stem cells, they can develop into virtually any type of cell. iPS cells are distinct from embryonic stem cells, however, because they are derived from adult tissue, rather than from embryos. iPS cells are also distinct from adult stem cells, which naturally occur in small numbers in thehuman body.

In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka developed the method for inducing skin cells from mice into becoming like pluripotent stem cells and called them iPS cells. In 2007, Yamanaka did the same with adult human skin cells.

Yamanakas experiments revealed that adult skin cells, when treated with four pieces of DNA (now called the Yamanaka factors), can induce skin cells to revert back to their pluripotent state. His discovery has since led to a variety of methods for reprogramming adult cells into stem cells that can become virtually any cell type such as a beating heart cell or a neuron that can transmit chemical signals in the brain. This allows researchers to create patient-specific celllines that can be studied and used in everything from drug therapies to regenerative medicine.

How are iPS cells different from embryonic stem cells?

iPS cells are a promising alternative to embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells hold tremendous potential for regenerative medicine, in which damaged organs and tissues could be replaced or repaired. But the use of embryonic stem cells has long been controversial. iPS cells hold the same sort of promise but avoid controversy because they do not require the destruction of human embryos. Nor do they require the harvesting of adult stem cells. Rather, they simply require a small tissue sample from a living human.

Why is iPS cell technology so important?

In addition to avoiding the controversial use of embryonic stem cells, iPS cell technology also represents an entirely new platform for fundamental studies of human disease. Rather than using models made in yeast, flies or mice for disease research, iPS cell technology allows human stem cells to be created from patients with a specific disease. As a result, the iPS cells contain a complete set of the genes that resulted in that disease and thus represent the potential of a farsuperior human model for studying disease and testing new drugs and treatments. In the future, iPS cells could be used in a Petri dish to test both drug safety andefficacy for an individual patient.

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Stem Cell Science Q & A

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AFP/Getty Images

John B. Gurdon (left) and Shinya Yamanaka will share the prize, worth about $1.2 million.

The two scientists who won this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine discovered that cells in our body have the remarkable ability to reinvent themselves. They found that every cell in the human body, from our skin and bones to our heart and brain, can be coaxed into forming any other cell.

The process is called reprogramming, and its potential for new drugs and therapies is vast. If neurons or heart cells are damaged by disease or aging, then cells from the skin or blood potentially could be induced to reprogram themselves and repair the damaged tissue.

The winners John Gurdon of the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, England, and Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan and the Gladstone Institute in San Francisco made their discoveries more than 40 years apart.

In 1962, Gurdon proved that a cell from a frog's stomach contained the entire blueprint to make a whole frog. When he took the cell's nucleus and popped it into a frog egg, the egg developed into a normal frog.

This method eventually was used to clone all sorts of animals, including cats, dogs, horses and, most famously, Dolly the sheep the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. Gurdon, 79, continues to study reprogramming and was working in his lab when he received the call from the Nobel committee.

But a major obstacle stood in the way of further development of these stem cells: Getting the frog's stomach cell to strip away its specialization and turn into one of the 200 or so cell types known to exist in animals always required the use of an egg.

A question hung over the field for decades: Could a specialized cell reprogram itself all on its own?

In 2006, Yamanaka and graduate student Kazutoshi Takahashi found the answer, and it sent shockwaves through biology and medicine. They demonstrated that any cell could be reset and induced to develop into another cell type. And, even more remarkably, that it took little to get the job done.

Link:
Nobel Winners Unlocked Cells' Unlimited Potential

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Skin care meets science for stem cell education and product introduction to the only human and non-embryonic stem cell skin care line of its kind on October 25th, 2012.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 08, 2012

Lifeline Skin Care products feature a unique combination of stem cell extracts, vitamins A, B, E, and antioxidants that work synergistically to create new healthy cells. To date, Lifeline is the only skin care line based on human non-embryonic stem cells, which give skin cells the ability to continually proliferate. The result is firmer, smoother, younger and healthier looking skin. Lifeline Skin Care is based on a patented method for ethically extracting growth factors and peptides from young, human stem cells through the use of non-fertilized eggs and never embryos. Stem cell extracts help to increase skins overall thickness, making skin less vulnerable to premature aging.

Independent clinical studies have proven 73% firmer, tighter skin, 93% improved skin hydration, 63% improved skin tone and brightness, and 67% improved appearance of lines and wrinkles with topical use. With benefits boasting similar to those of collagen injections, Lifeline Skin Care offers a collection of formulas for day and night use. Both the Defensive Day Moisturizer Serum SPF 15 and Recovery Night Moisture Serum feature unique combinations of stem cell extract, vitamins A, B, E, and antioxidants.

Stimulating the skins ability to repair itself, these products along with Blue Spa professional procedures and treatments, make a win-win combination for beauty enthusiasts wanting to achieve optimal skincare results. Owner of Blue Spa, Ronda Nofal, recently stated, We are very pleased to be the first Medi Spa in Los Angeles to offer Lifeline@ Skin Care technology to clients. The science and technology behind this product line is far beyond anything else on the market and the results speak for themselves. Our staff has been using these products for the last two months and they have noticed theyre the perfect compliment to any of our facial laser services: IPL (FotoFacial), Laser Genesis, and Titan Skin Tightening. The skin reacts beautifully when paired with dermal fillers, Vitalize Peels, and Micro-dermabrasion as well.

Members of the press and media are invited for early entry on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 between 1-4 pm for Q& A with Lifeline Skin Care expert, Linda Nelson. Additional hours have been arranged for Friday, October 26th, 2012 from 10 am-12 pm. Please directly contact Blue Spa and Lifeline Skin Cares publicity team at Jade Umbrella, to schedule interviews.

About Blue Spa: Opened in October 1999 and former home to the infamous La Reina Theater, Blue Medi Spa is modern luxury spa combining beauty, science, service, and style. Staying ahead of beauty trends and the most effective treatments, highly trained specialists have the knowledge and a decade of experience in lasers (IPL/ Titan/ Laser Genesis/ Zerona), anti-aging skin cocktails, weight loss, non-invasive body contouring, and one-step-ahead aesthetic options. Where feeling blue, never felt better

Website: http://www.bluespa.com.

About Lifeline Skin Care: Developed in 2010 by the International Stem Cell Corporation (http://www.internationalstemcell.com/), while researching cures for diabetes and Parkinsons Disease, a team of biotech scientists discovered a powerful compound for regenerating skin cells. Lifeline Skin Cares goal is to help improve the look and feel of you skin by combining the latest discoveries in the fields of stem cell biology, nanotechnology and skin cream formulation technology to create the highest quality, scientifically tested, and most effective anti-aging products. Revenue helps to fund further research into finding cures and treatments for Diabetes, Parkinsons, Liver, Eye, and other neurological diseases.

Website: http://www.lifelineskincare.com

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Blue Spa and Lifeline® Stem Cell Skin Care Pair up to Promote a Beauty Breakthrough and Scientific Approach to Anti ...

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British scientist John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka of Japan shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Monday for experiments separated by almost 50 years that provide deep insight into how animals develop and offer hope for a new era of personalized medicine.

Their findings have revolutionized our understanding of how cells and organisms develop, the Nobel committee said in the prize announcement.

In 1962, Gurdon wowed the world of biology by cloning a frog via a clever technique. He transplanted the genetic material from an intestinal cell of one frog into an egg cell from another. The egg developed into a tadpole, showing that ordinary cells contain the entire genetic instruction manual for whole organism.

The experiment which other scientists were slow to accept as valid led in 1997 to the cloning of the first mammal, Dolly the sheep. Since then, scientists have cloned mice, dogs, cats, pigs, horses and cattle, although mutliple attempts to clone monkeys have failed, as have attempts to produce cloned human embryos. Cloned mice have become laboratory mainstays.

Gurdon, 79, is an emeritus professor at Cambridge University who still conducts research at an institute there bearing his name and was knighted in 1995 for his work in developmental biology. His frog experiments a half-century ago showed that scientists should be able to derive any one kind of cell from another, because theyve all got the same genes, Gurdon said Monday at a London news briefing.

In 2006 and 2007, Yamanaka extended this insight by turning back time on individual cells from mice and humans. By sprinkling four genes on ordinary skin cells, Yamanaka discovered a virtual fountain of youth: Any cell, he found, could be reverted to an early embryonic state.

These induced embryonic cells behave much like the ethically contentious stem cells gleaned from human embryos. Like embyronic cells, they can be grown into many other types of tissues but without having to destroy any embryos.

The breakthrough offered hope that someday skin cells could be harvested from a patient, sent back in time to an embryonic state, and then grown into replacement tissues such as heart muscle or nerve cells.

A huge global research effort is working to develop pluripotent stem cells, as theyre called, into treatments for heart disease, some forms of blindness, Parkinsons disease and many other disorders.

Because the cells made by the technique are genetically identical to the patient, the advance may one day allow us to transplant rejection-proof tissues, said George Daley, a leading U.S. stem cell researcher and director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

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Nobel Prize for medicine awarded to Gurdon, Yamanaka for stem cell discoveries

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In Dec. 2010, Aaron Deede was in a car accident where he suffered T4 spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury that left him wheelchair bound. Before the accident, Deede was an award winning actor in high school and after the incident his dream of acting was in jeopardy.

That dream was saved when he met Christine Rouse.

Christine Rouse is the founder of Acting Without Boundaries (AWB), which is a theatre company for men, women and children with disabilities.

Deede has been with AWB since its inaugural show in 2004 and he, along with 19 other AWB actors, starred in Some Enchanted Evening, the Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, on Sunday afternoon at the Haverford School.

AWB helps me keep my dream alive of being an actor, Deede said at the AWB Fundraiser, which took place at the Haverford School immediately after the show.

Deede was a busy man during the show as he serviced as a singer, actor, comedian and rapper. AWB Musical Director Maria Ceferatti began playing a ballad on her piano and it was greeted with a hip-hop beat that stunned the crowd.

Flipping off his top-hat and replacing it with a baseball cap that read M.C AWB, Deed began rapping, something he admits he had never done before this show.

Rapping was my favorite part of this performance, he said while giggling. Some Enchanted Evening was the 10th performance he has been acted in with AWB. It was unlike anything I have ever done before.

With a glowing smile on her face, Aarons mother, Anne Phillips, called the performance, magical.

It was wonderful, current and funny, she exclaimed of the troupes performance. Continued...

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Changing the perception of people with disabilities, one performance at a time

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