DONNA WALSH/Fairfax NZ

NEW GENES: Monsanto says orchard owners like Cambridge couple Mark and Robyn Gardiner, whose kiwifruit were struck by Psa in 2010, could be helped by the introduction of GE crops.

A kiwifruit industry crippled by Psa disease is ripe for introducing genetic modification, says a visiting American biotechnology advocate.

It's estimated Psa disease will damage the kiwifruit industry to the tune of $310-$410 million over the next five years.

So a genetically-engineered solution to the disease could have significant economic benefits, said Robert Reiter, vice-president of American agrochemical giant Monsanto.

New Zealand's not a large market for any given crop. But kiwifruit might be something because there's a market in multiple places beyond New Zealand," Robert Reiter told the Star-Times.

Monsanto is regarded by detractors as a global peddler of destruction, creating foods that threaten the health of both people and the planet. Its supporters see its innovation as the world's best hope of tackling a global food crisis.

With the world's population expected to reach nine billion by 2050, and with about 40 per cent of the earth's land used for agriculture, corporations like Monsanto tout biotechnology as the best way to develop crops that are resistant to pests, drought and weeds.

Reiter said although New Zealand didn't yet need GM crops like soy and wheat, it could use the technology.

''It's giving growers a choice of different chemistries."

Read more:
Monsanto wants the GE genie out of the bottle

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

A spinal cord injury that blocks all sensation below the middle of his back didn't stop Joey Abicca from standing up and taking a short walk in a Carlsbad gym Friday afternoon.

The Encinitas teen had help from a high-tech device that until recently sounded like pure science fiction ---- a black bionic exoskeleton made by Richmond-based Ekso Bionics.

At a demonstration hosted by Carlsbad nonprofit Project Walk, Abicca levered himself from his wheelchair into the $140,000 device and ---- after helpers strapped him in ---- the 17-year-old calmly pushed himself up using an extra-wide walker.

Using his upper body to tilt his hips forward, Abicca caused the skeleton to move his feet forward and began walking across the floor.

"It's awesome," he said.

The device was on loan to Project Walk, which is trying to raise money to buy one that it can use in therapy for patients such as Abicca.

An exoskeleton uses a rigid frame that roughly parallels the user's real skeleton but is strapped on from the outside. There are electric motors at each joint. Sensors detect motion, providing a steady stream of input to an on-board computer. The computer can move the motors, continually adjusting to maintain balance and achieve forward motion.

Eric Harness, co-founder of Project Walk, said the high-tech device could aid in the painstaking process of "over ground" therapy, where a subject leans on a walker and puts weight on his legs. Therapists move each leg, one after the other, to achieve motion.

Bionics puts the patient in charge ---- he gets to make his body move where he wants it to go, and that, Abicca said, is truly going somewhere.

"It's independence, that's what it is," he said.

Read the original:
CARLSBAD: Teen takes a walk, with help of exoskeleton

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will undergo stem cell therapy on Monday with an alternative medicine doctor.

Arroyo, in a post on her Twitter account Saturday morning, said Monday's session will be her fourth intravenous treatment.

"This Monday I will have my fourth stem cell intravenous treatment with my alternative medicine doctor," she said.

Also she said, "It's cultured stem cell and much more modest in price than the one coming from sheep or one's own body."

But she did not elaborate on how much the treatment will cost.

Stem cell therapy is type of intervention strategy that introduces new adult stem cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury.

Earlier this week, Arroyo said she continues to search for alternative solutions to an anatomic problem that prompted her to be rushed to a government hospital last month.

Arroyo said she had seen at least two "alternative medicine practitioners," and has initiated communication with a "neurocervical spine purist."

She said she also had her thrice-weekly therapy at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City Thursday.

Arroyo underwent treatment last August for an anatomic problem that caused her to choke on her food.

See more here:
Gloria Arroyo to have stem cell treatment Monday

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will undergo stem cell therapy on Monday with an alternative medicine doctor.

Arroyo, in a post on her Twitter account Saturday morning, said Monday's session will be her fourth intravenous treatment.

"This Monday I will have my fourth stem cell intravenous treatment with my alternative medicine doctor," she said.

Also she said, "It's cultured stem cell and much more modest in price than the one coming from sheep or one's own body."

But she did not elaborate on how much the treatment will cost.

Stem cell therapy is type of intervention strategy that introduces new adult stem cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury.

Earlier this week, Arroyo said she continues to search for alternative solutions to an anatomic problem that prompted her to be rushed to a government hospital last month.

Arroyo said she had seen at least two "alternative medicine practitioners," and has initiated communication with a "neurocervical spine purist."

She said she also had her thrice-weekly therapy at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City Thursday.

Arroyo underwent treatment last August for an anatomic problem that caused her to choke on her food.

More:
Gloria Arroyo to have stem cell treatment Monday

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

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

Contact: Sally Stewart Sally.stewart@cshs.org 310-248-6566 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES Sept. 6, 2012 A team of Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute stem cell researchers today was awarded a $1.3 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine to continue study of an experimental stem cell therapy that treats heart attack patients with heart-derived cells. Earlier this year, data from the first clinical trial of the stem cell treatment showed the therapy helped damaged hearts regrow healthy muscle.

To date, this cell therapy, developed by Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Mark S. Siegel Family Professor, is the only treatment shown to regenerate the injured human heart. In this therapy, human heart tissue is used to grow specialized heart stem cells, which then are injected back into the patient's heart. The new research will focus on understanding the cellular mechanisms that have produced favorable outcomes.

"We have seen encouraging results in patients with this treatment, and it has the potential to revolutionize how we treat heart attack patients," Marbn said. "This further study will allow us to better understand how it works, which we hope will lead us to even more stem-cell based treatments for the heart."

During a heart attack, clots form suddenly on top of cholesterol-laden plaques, which block the flow of blood to the heart muscle. This causes living heart tissue to die and be replaced by a scar. The larger the scar, the higher the chance of death or disability from the heart attack.

Conventional treatments aim to limit the initial injury by opening the clogged artery and prevent further harm with medications. Regenerative therapy aims to regrow healthy heart muscle and dissolve the heart tissue -- an approach that, according to a study by Marbn published in The Lancet, led to an average 50 percent reduction in scar size.

Early study by Cedars-Sinai researchers indicates that much of the benefit in the experimental therapy is due to an indirect effect of the transplanted cardiac-derived cells. These cells seem to stimulate proliferation of the surrounding undamaged heart cells -- a previously unrecognized means of cardiac regeneration in response to cell therapy.

"This is vital basic science work that we believe will ultimately open pathways to new treatments in the fight against heart disease, the leading cause of premature death and disability," Marbn said.

The process to grow the cardiac-derived stem cells involved in the study was developed by Marbn when he was on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. The university has filed for a patent on that intellectual property, and has licensed it to a company in which Dr. Marbn has a financial interest.

Read more:
Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute awarded $1.3 million to study cardiac stem cells

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

Laking pasasalamat ni Albert Martinez at ng kanyang pamilya na cleared na sa breast cancer ang asawa niyang si Liezl Martinez.

Kuwento ni Albert sa PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), sa tulong daw ng stem cell therapy ay naging cancer-free ang asawa.

Ok naman, so far with Gods blessing,. Its all cleared. So, were very, very happy.

Dealing with cancer is a struggle from day one, and Im really thankful that theres such a thing as stem cell na naging solusyon sa recovery ni Liezl."

EXTENSIVE RESEARCH. Ayon kay Albert ay pinag-aralan niya ang lahat ng puwedeng maging solusyon sa sakit ng asawa.

Pero sa huli, ang stem cell pa rin ang naging solusyon.

Marami akong pinagdaanan kasi ni-research ko lahat yan.

Kailangang alamin mo kung ano ba ang mga dapat gawin. Lahat pinag-aralan natin

And nag-end up talaga, na ang pinakamaganda is stem cell.

I took the risk, researched on the possibilities of doing it, availability niya.

See the rest here:
Albert Martinez claims stem cell therapy cleared wife Liezl Martinez of breast cancer

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

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

Contact: Sally Stewart Sally.stewart@cshs.org 310-248-6566 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES Sept. 6, 2012 A team of Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute stem cell researchers today was awarded a $1.3 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine to continue study of an experimental stem cell therapy that treats heart attack patients with heart-derived cells. Earlier this year, data from the first clinical trial of the stem cell treatment showed the therapy helped damaged hearts regrow healthy muscle.

To date, this cell therapy, developed by Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Mark S. Siegel Family Professor, is the only treatment shown to regenerate the injured human heart. In this therapy, human heart tissue is used to grow specialized heart stem cells, which then are injected back into the patient's heart. The new research will focus on understanding the cellular mechanisms that have produced favorable outcomes.

"We have seen encouraging results in patients with this treatment, and it has the potential to revolutionize how we treat heart attack patients," Marbn said. "This further study will allow us to better understand how it works, which we hope will lead us to even more stem-cell based treatments for the heart."

During a heart attack, clots form suddenly on top of cholesterol-laden plaques, which block the flow of blood to the heart muscle. This causes living heart tissue to die and be replaced by a scar. The larger the scar, the higher the chance of death or disability from the heart attack.

Conventional treatments aim to limit the initial injury by opening the clogged artery and prevent further harm with medications. Regenerative therapy aims to regrow healthy heart muscle and dissolve the heart tissue -- an approach that, according to a study by Marbn published in The Lancet, led to an average 50 percent reduction in scar size.

Early study by Cedars-Sinai researchers indicates that much of the benefit in the experimental therapy is due to an indirect effect of the transplanted cardiac-derived cells. These cells seem to stimulate proliferation of the surrounding undamaged heart cells -- a previously unrecognized means of cardiac regeneration in response to cell therapy.

"This is vital basic science work that we believe will ultimately open pathways to new treatments in the fight against heart disease, the leading cause of premature death and disability," Marbn said.

The process to grow the cardiac-derived stem cells involved in the study was developed by Marbn when he was on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. The university has filed for a patent on that intellectual property, and has licensed it to a company in which Dr. Marbn has a financial interest.

View post:
Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute awarded $1.3 million to study cardiac stem cells

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

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

Contact: Matt Shipman matt_shipman@ncsu.edu 919-515-6386 North Carolina State University

New research led by researchers at North Carolina State University shows that exposure to the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) early in life results in high levels of anxiety by causing significant gene expression changes in a specific region of the brain called the amygdala. The researchers also found that a soy-rich diet can mitigate these effects.

"We knew that BPA could cause anxiety in a variety of species, and wanted to begin to understand why and how that happens," says Dr. Heather Patisaul, an associate professor of biology at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the work. BPA is a chemical used in a wide variety of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, and is used in consumer products such as some food containers.

In the study, rats were exposed to low doses of BPA during gestation, lactation (nursing) and through puberty. One group of animals was fed only soy; one group was fed a soy-free diet; one group was fed only soy and exposed to BPA; and one group was fed no soy and exposed to BPA. Blood tests showed that the animals exposed to BPA had BPA levels well within the range found in humans. Similarly, blood tests of animals fed soy showed levels of genistein, an estrogen-like chemical found in soy, were at levels within the human range for vegetarians and others who regularly consume soy foods.

Among adolescent rats on the soy-free diet, both males and females that had been exposed to BPA exhibited significantly higher levels of anxiety. The researchers also found, for the first time, gene changes within the brain associated with this elevated anxiety.

Specifically, the study reveals that gene expression changes in the amygdala, a brain region known to play a role in mediating responses to fear and stress, are associated with the behavioral changes. Two of the affected genes were estrogen receptor beta and the melanocortin receptor 4. Both are required for oxytocin release, thus changes in oxytocin/vasopressin signaling pathways may underpin the behavioral changes. Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter that has been linked to social behavior.

However, the researchers also found that adolescent rats on the soy-rich diet did not exhibit anxiety suggesting that the soy-rich diet may mitigate the effects of BPA. But a soy-rich diet raises questions of its own.

"Soy contains phytoestrogens that can also affect the endocrine system, which regulates hormones," Patisaul says. "It is not clear whether these phytoestrogens are what mitigate the effect of BPA, or if it is something else entirely. That's a question we're hoping to address in future research."

###

See the original post here:
Study finds how BPA affects gene expression, anxiety; Soy mitigates effects

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Sept. 7, 2012 -- In what scientists call the biggest breakthrough in genetics since the unraveling of the human genome, a massive research effort now shows how the genome works.

The human genome contains 3 billion letters of code containing a persons complete genetic makeup.

The biggest surprise is that most of the DNA in the genome -- which had been called "junk DNA" because it didn't seem to do anything -- turns out to play a crucial role. While only 2% of the genome encodes actual genes, at least 80% of the genome contains millions of "switches" that not only turn genes on and off, but also tell them what to do and when to do it.

Eleven years ago, the Human Genome Project discovered the blueprint carried by every cell in the body. The new ENCODE project now has opened the toolbox each cell uses to follow its individual part of the blueprint. The effort is the work of more than 400 researchers who performed more than 1,600 experiments.

The genome, with its 3-billion-letter code, reads from beginning to end like a book. But in real life, the genome isn't read like a book. The ENCODE data shows it's an intricate dance, with each step carefully choreographed.

Ewan Birney, PhD, associate director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, was one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project. He also helped lead the ENCODE project.

"The ENCODE data is just amazing. It shows how complex the human genome is," Birney said at a news conference. "This is the science for this century. We are going to be working out how we make humans, starting out from a simple instruction manual."

"We think this will lead to changes in medicine and therapeutic treatment of disease," Michael Snyder, PhD, director of Stanford University's Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine, said the conference.

Eric D. Green, MD, PhD, director of the NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), notes that most known disease-causing DNA mutations are in the small part of the genome that encodes genes.

"Most of these known mutations cause rare diseases," Green said. "But for the great majority of diseases, it's changes in the switches themselves. Diseases that are more common probably involve multiple DNA variants outside the genes. Common diseases like hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes are probably caused by things sitting in these switches."

See more here:
Genetics Breakthrough Changes Thinking About DNA

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

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

Contact: Cathy Kolf ckolf@jhmi.edu 443-287-2251 Johns Hopkins Medicine

A team of scientists from Johns Hopkins and other institutions report that restoring tiny, hair-like structures to defective cells in the olfactory system of mice is enough to restore a lost sense of smell. The results of the experiments were published online this week in Nature Medicine, and are believed to represent the first successful application of gene therapy to restore this function in live mammals.

An expert in olfaction, Randall Reed, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics and co-director of the Center for Sensory Biology at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences, cautions that researchers are still years away from applying the same therapy in people, and that if and when it comes, it will likely be most effective for those who suffer from anosmia (lack of smell) due to inherited genetic disorders. "But our work has already contributed to a better understanding of the cellular factors involved in anosmia, and that will give us insights into other neurological disorders, as well," he says.

The mice used in the current study carried a genetic mutation that destroyed the production of a protein critical for the functioning of cilia in the cells responsible for smell, called olfactory sensory neurons. These specialized cells each display several of the protruding, hair-like structures that contain receptors for odorants. Without functional cilia, the cells become a broken link in the chain of events necessary for proper odor detection in the environment, the researchers explained.

Beginning with a common cold virus, which readily infects the cells of the nasal cavity, researchers replaced some of the viral genes with a corrected version of the defective cilia gene. They then infected smelling-impaired mice with the altered virus, delivering the corrected gene to the olfactory neural cells that needed it.

At the cellular level, scientists saw a restoration of proper chemical signaling between nerve cells after the treated mice were stimulated with various odorants. Perhaps even more indicative of their success, Reed says, was the 60 percent increase in body weight that the mice experienced once they could smell their meals, leading to increased appetite. Many people with anosmia lose weight because aromas play a significant part in creating appetite and food enjoyment.

Researchers are optimistic about the broader implications of this work, Reed notes, because cilia are not only important to olfactory cells, but also to cells all over the body, from the kidney to the eye. The fact that they were able to treat live mice with a therapy that restored cilia function in one sensory system suggests that similar techniques could be used to treat cilia disorders elsewhere.

"We also hope this stimulates the olfactory research community to look at anosmia caused by other factors, such as head trauma and degenerative diseases," says senior author Jeffrey Martens, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Michigan. "We know a lot about how this system works now have to look at how to fix it when it malfunctions."

###

See the article here:
The nose knows: Gene therapy restores sense of smell in mice

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Newswise The governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has announced that six investigators from the University of California, San Diego Stem Cell Research program have received a total of more than $7 million in the latest round of CIRM funding. This brings UC San Diegos total to more than $128 million in CIRM funding since the first awards in 2006.

UC San Diego scientists funded by the newly announced CIRM Basic Biology Awards IV include Maike Sander, MD, professor of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine; Miles Wilkinson, PhD, professor, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology; Gene Yeo, PhD, MBA, assistant professor with the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Institute for Genomic Medicine; George L. Sen, PhD, assistant professor of cellular and molecular medicine; David Traver, PhD, associate professor with the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Ananda Goldrath, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Biological Sciences.

Sander was awarded nearly $1.4 million for her proposal to define and characterize the key transcription factors necessary to promote maturation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived pancreatic progenitors into mature insulin-secreting beta cells. The loss of pancreatic beta cells in type 1 diabetes results in the absence of insulin secreted by the pancreas. The goal of this work is to enable scientists to one day produce an unlimited source of transplantable beta-cells for patients with diabetes.

Wilkinsons grant of $1.36 million will allow his lab to develop and test induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) from patients with genetic mutations in a component of the pathway that results in intellectual disabilities. Many of these patients also have autism, attention-deficit disorders or schizophrenia. Directed towards understanding fundamental mechanisms by which all stem cells are maintained, his research has the potential to impact non-psychiatric disorders as well.

A grant of almost $1.4 million will fund Yeos research to help decode the mechanisms that underlie the single most frequent genetic mutation found to contribute to neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrigs disease) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Yeo will generate iPSCs and differentiated motor neurons derived from patients with these mutations, then use genome-wide technologies to analyze these and normal cells and test strategies to rescue mutation-induced defects in iPSC-derived motor neurons.

Sen received a grant of just over $1 million to investigate how tissue specific stem and progenitor cells exist to replenish both healthy, normal tissue and for regeneration from a wound. Disease and aging deplete stem and progenitor cells, impeding the bodys ability to regenerate itself. Sens work aims to better understand the mechanisms of self-renewal and differentiation in epidermal (skin) stem cells. Imbalanced growth and differentiation of epidermal cells can lead to a variety of human skin disorders, including psoriasis and cancer.

Traver, who was awarded a CIRM grant of more than $1.3 million in collaboration with Thierry Jaffredo of the Universit Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, studies hematopoietic stem cells. HSCs are rare, multipotent stem cells that give rise to all blood cell types, including red blood and immune cells. Travers lab investigates the genes and signaling pathways used by vertebrate embryos to create the first HSCs. An understanding of this developmental process has implications for producing restorative stem cell-based therapies for diseases like leukemia and congenital blood disorders. Currently, medical treatments using HSCs are hampered by cell shortages and finding compatible matches between donors and recipients.

Goldraths $1.16 million grant will help develop strategies to induce immunological tolerance to hESC-derived tissues and cells. Immune-mediated rejection of hESC-derived tissues remains a significant barrier to the promise of regenerative therapies. She proposes a novel approach to promote long-term acceptance of hESC-derived tissues by exploring the molecular pathways and immune cell types that mediate the induction of immune tolerance and pursuing additional targets that halt rejection of tissue grafts derived from these stem cells. If successful, this would increase the potential reach of cellular therapies by decreasing the undesirable side effects of generalized immune suppression.

The CIRM Basic Biology Awards are designed to fund investigations into the basic mechanisms underlying stem cell biology, cellular plasticity, and cellular differentiation. These awards will also fund the development and use human stem cell based models for exploring disease. According to CIRM, studies supported by these awards will form the foundation for future translational and clinical advances, enabling the realization of the full potential of human stem cells and reprogrammed cells for therapies and as tools for biomedical innovation.

CIRM was established in November 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot measure provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research opportunities.

Read the original here:
CIRM Funds Six UC San Diego Stem Cell Researchers

Recommendation and review posted by sam

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that ACTs chairman and CEO Gary Rabin will be presenting at the 14th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference, Sept. 9-11 in New York. Mr. Rabins presentation will take place on Monday, Sept. 10, at 12:05 p.m. EDT, at the Waldorf Astoria.

The presentation will be webcast live (link here) and the presentation slide deck will be available on the conference presentations section of the ACT website.

About Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., is a biotechnology company applying cellular technology in the field of regenerative medicine. For more information, visit http://www.advancedcell.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release regarding future financial and operating results, future growth in research and development programs, potential applications of our technology, opportunities for the company and any other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates, and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including: limited operating history, need for future capital, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, protection of our intellectual property, and economic conditions generally. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the companys periodic reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the companys management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the companys management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change. There can be no assurance that the Companys clinical trials will be successful.

See the original post:
Advanced Cell Technology to Present at 14th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference

Recommendation and review posted by sam

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

Contact: Sally Stewart Sally.stewart@cshs.org 310-248-6566 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES Sept. 6, 2012 A team of Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute stem cell researchers today was awarded a $1.3 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine to continue study of an experimental stem cell therapy that treats heart attack patients with heart-derived cells. Earlier this year, data from the first clinical trial of the stem cell treatment showed the therapy helped damaged hearts regrow healthy muscle.

To date, this cell therapy, developed by Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Mark S. Siegel Family Professor, is the only treatment shown to regenerate the injured human heart. In this therapy, human heart tissue is used to grow specialized heart stem cells, which then are injected back into the patient's heart. The new research will focus on understanding the cellular mechanisms that have produced favorable outcomes.

"We have seen encouraging results in patients with this treatment, and it has the potential to revolutionize how we treat heart attack patients," Marbn said. "This further study will allow us to better understand how it works, which we hope will lead us to even more stem-cell based treatments for the heart."

During a heart attack, clots form suddenly on top of cholesterol-laden plaques, which block the flow of blood to the heart muscle. This causes living heart tissue to die and be replaced by a scar. The larger the scar, the higher the chance of death or disability from the heart attack.

Conventional treatments aim to limit the initial injury by opening the clogged artery and prevent further harm with medications. Regenerative therapy aims to regrow healthy heart muscle and dissolve the heart tissue -- an approach that, according to a study by Marbn published in The Lancet, led to an average 50 percent reduction in scar size.

Early study by Cedars-Sinai researchers indicates that much of the benefit in the experimental therapy is due to an indirect effect of the transplanted cardiac-derived cells. These cells seem to stimulate proliferation of the surrounding undamaged heart cells -- a previously unrecognized means of cardiac regeneration in response to cell therapy.

"This is vital basic science work that we believe will ultimately open pathways to new treatments in the fight against heart disease, the leading cause of premature death and disability," Marbn said.

The process to grow the cardiac-derived stem cells involved in the study was developed by Marbn when he was on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. The university has filed for a patent on that intellectual property, and has licensed it to a company in which Dr. Marbn has a financial interest.

More:
Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute awarded $1.3 million to study cardiac stem cells

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Laking pasasalamat ni Albert Martinez at ng kanyang pamilya na cleared na sa breast cancer ang asawa niyang si Liezl Martinez.

Kuwento ni Albert sa PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), sa tulong daw ng stem cell therapy ay naging cancer-free ang asawa.

Ok naman, so far with Gods blessing,. Its all cleared. So, were very, very happy.

Dealing with cancer is a struggle from day one, and Im really thankful that theres such a thing as stem cell na naging solusyon sa recovery ni Liezl."

EXTENSIVE RESEARCH. Ayon kay Albert ay pinag-aralan niya ang lahat ng puwedeng maging solusyon sa sakit ng asawa.

Pero sa huli, ang stem cell pa rin ang naging solusyon.

Marami akong pinagdaanan kasi ni-research ko lahat yan.

Kailangang alamin mo kung ano ba ang mga dapat gawin. Lahat pinag-aralan natin

And nag-end up talaga, na ang pinakamaganda is stem cell.

I took the risk, researched on the possibilities of doing it, availability niya.

More here:
Albert Martinez claims stem cell therapy cleared wife Liezl Martinez of breast cancer

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

06-09-2012 07:59 Frank Sinatra, Stephen Hawking, Marie Curie and Stephen Fry all owe their blue eyes to a genetic mutation that likely occurred between 6000 and 10000 years ago, researchers say. Scientists believe they have tracked down the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans on the planet today. WHERE IS THE BLACK SEA - TODAY'S INTRO BY TheGreatAussieMate - CHECK OUT THE FEATURED YOUTUBERS WEBSITE @ Support Me On GOOGLE+ - FACEBOOKFANPAGE - TWITTER - BLOGSPOT - ADD ME ON SKYPE dibberdelboy When you reguest contacts link please provide youtube name or i wont add you DIBBERS OTHER CHANNELS Intro & Outro Music By

Go here to see the original:
Blue Eyes Result Of Ancient Genetic Mutation - Video

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

06-09-2012 03:56 The GENCODE Consortium has found 50% more genes than previously thought.Among their discoveries, the team describe more than 10000 novel genes, identify genes that have 'died' and others that are being resurrected. The GENCODE Consortium has developed a reference gene catalogue that has been the underpinning of the larger ENCODE Project, a large collaborative project aimed to find and describe all functional elements of our genome.The GENCODE Consortium is part of the ENCODE Project that on 5 September 2012, publishes 30 research papers describing findings from their nearly decade-long effort

Read more here:
GENCODE: An encyclopaedia of genes and gene variants - Video

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

By Amanda Gardner HealthDay Reporter Latest Prevention & Wellness News

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists' understanding of what causes human disease -- genetically speaking -- just got a bit clearer and infinitely more complicated all at the same time.

A study appearing online Sept. 5 in the journal Science provides a blueprint not only of genes that are involved in different disorders, but also of the "switches" that control those genes and how these two elements interact.

The "map" could substantially alter how scientists approach the genetics of diseases and, eventually, how treatments and cures are devised, the researchers said.

"This is a paradigm shift in terms of how we look at the genetic basis for disease," said study senior author Dr. John Stamatoyannopoulos, an associate professor in the departments of genome sciences and medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. "I think it's going to change considerably how people use the genome to identify targets for pharmaceuticals."

Previous genetics research had focused mainly on finding a specific gene or gene variant for a particular disease, the conventional wisdom being that specific variants in that gene would affect protein sequences, and the altered protein sequences would determine if a person was healthy or if he or she developed a disease.

The problem is that many of these studies fingered regions of the human genome that don't actually contain genes, Stamatoyannopoulos explained. In fact, genes constitute only 2 percent of the human genome.

"Hidden in the remaining 98 percent are instructions that basically tell the genes how to switch on and off," he explained.

Stamatoyannopoulos and his colleagues analyzed 349 tissue samples from adults, and then cross-referenced the results with existing genetic data on more than 400 diseases and physical traits, such as height.

The result: a clearer picture of what's inside that mysterious 98 percent of the genome.

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Scientists Inch Closer to Genetic Blueprint of Diseases

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by Ken Alltucker - Sept. 6, 2012 11:15 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

The right drug for the right person at the right time.

The pioneers of medicine's Genetic Age have long predicted that personalized drug treatments are inevitable as technology improves and costs plummet.

Although genetic medicine so far has produced more hype than substance, there are signs that medical treatments based on an individual's genes are tantalizingly close for some.

Pharmaceutical companies are investing tens of millions of dollars on developing tailored tests and drugs that identify and attack malfunctioning genes. High-powered machines can sequence an entire genome in a day, compared with earlier models that took weeks or even months to map out all of a person's genetic information.

In Arizona, nowhere is the prospect of personalized medicine more evident than at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix.

Mayo Clinic, with an assist from TGen, is among the first wave of U.S. medical and research institutions offering people the potential of life-extending treatments based on a unique examination of their genes.

Those who are willing to spend $50,000 to $75,000 can have billions of their own genes decoded, sequenced and analyzed in an effort to figure out a personalized remedy to treat cancer or other life-threatening diseases.

Using a technology called whole-genome sequencing, Mayo and TGen researchers compare the DNA and other key genetic information from an individual's healthy cells and tumor cells to find a single gene or group of genes responsible for a cancer's growth.

Mayo's new initiative, part of its Center for Individualized Medicine, has attracted more than a dozen patients to metro Phoenix from places such as Houston and Canada and as far away as Russia in the hopes that technology can deliver a medical miracle.

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Mayo, TGen close in on personalized gene therapy

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Researchers have discovered a cell that is the "missing link" between bone marrow stem cells and all the cells of the human immune system, according to a release from the University of California, Los Angeles. This finding promises to lead to a more profound understanding of how a healthy immune system is created and as well as how disease can cause poor immune function.

The study's senior author, Dr. Gay Crooks, was quoted as saying, " We felt it was especially important to do these studies using human bone marrow, as most research into the development of the immune system has used mouse bone marrow.The few studies with human tissue have mostly used umbilical cord blood, which does not reflect the immune system of post-natal life."

Understanding the process of normal blood formation in human adults is a crucial step in shedding light on what goes wrong during the process that results in leukemias, cancers of the blood. The findings were published online in the journal Nature Immunology.

"The identification of a progenitor in human bone marrow primed for full lymphoid differentiation will now permit delineation of the molecular regulation of the first stages of lymphoid commitment in human hematopoiesis," the authors wrote. "It will also allow understanding of how these processes are affected during aberrant hematopoiesis in disease states."

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Stem Cells & Immune System: "Missing Link" Found

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

Contact: Gracie Gutierrez ggutierr@bcm.edu 713-798-4710 Baylor College of Medicine

HOUSTON - (Sept. 7, 2012) When mice are born lacking the master gene Atoh1, none breathe well and all die in the newborn period. Why and how this occurs could provide new answers about sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), but the solution has remained elusive until now.

Research led by Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital demonstrates that when the gene is lacking in a special population of neurons called RTN (retrotrapezoid nucleus), roughly half the young mice die at birth. Those who survive are less likely to respond to excess levels of carbon dioxide as adults. A report of their work appears online in the journal Neuron.

"The death of mice at birth clued us in that Atoh1 must be needed for the function of some neurons critical for neonatal breathing, so we set out to define these neurons," said Dr. Huda Zoghbi, senior author of the report and director of the Neurological Research Institute and a professor of molecular and human genetics, neuroscience, neurology and pediatrics at BCM. Zoghbi is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

"We took a genetic approach to find the critical neurons," said Wei-Hsiang Huang, a graduate student in the Program in Developmental Biology at BCM who works in Zoghbi's laboratory. With careful studies to "knockout" the activity of the gene in a narrower and narrower area in the brain, they slowly eliminated possible neurons to determine that loss of Atoh1 in the RTN neurons was the source of the problem.

"Discovering that Atoh1 is indeed critical for the RTN neurons to take their right place in the brainstem and connect with the breathing center helped us uncover why they are important for neonatal breathing," said Zoghbi.

"This population of neurons resides in the ventral brainstem," said Huang. "When there is a change in the makeup of the blood (lack of oxygen or buildup of carbon dioxide), the RTN neurons sense that and tell the body to change the way it breathes." A defect in these neurons can disrupt this response.

"Without Atoh1 the mice have significant breathing problems because they do not automatically adjust their breathing to decrease carbon dioxide and oxygenate the blood," he said.

It turns out the findings from this mouse study are relevant to human studies.

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Master gene affects neurons that govern breathing at birth and in adulthood

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

Contact: Cathia Falvey cfalvey@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, September 6, 2012The naturally occurring cytokine interleukin-18, or IL-18, plays a key role in inflammation and has been implicated in serious inflammatory diseases for which the prognosis is poor and there are currently limited treatment options. Therapies targeting IL-18 could prove effective against inflammatory diseases of the lung including bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as described in a review article published in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research (http://www.liebertpub.com/jir), a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com). The article is available free online at the Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research website. (http://www.liebertpub.com/jir)

Tomotaka Kawayama and coauthors from Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan, University of Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan, and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, review the growing evidence to support the important role IL-18 has in inflammation and how it may help to initiate and worsen inflammatory disorders such as arthritis, dermatitis and inflammatory diseases of the bowel and immune system. In the article "Interleukin-18 in Pulmonary Inflammatory Diseases" (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/jir.2012.0029) they describe the potential benefits of therapies aimed at blocking the activity of IL-18 to treat inflammatory lung disease.

"This review provides an interesting and thorough summary of the biology and potential application of IL-18 in the setting of inflammatory pulmonary disease," says Co-Editor-in-Chief Thomas A. Hamilton, PhD, Chairman, Department of Immunology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

###

About the Journal Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research (http://www.liebertpub.com/jir), led by Co-Editors-in-Chief Ganes C. Sen, PhD, Chairman, Department of Molecular Genetics, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and Thomas A. Hamilton, PhD, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online that covers all aspects of interferons and cytokines from basic science to clinical applications. Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research is the official journal of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research. Complete tables of content and a sample issue (http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/jir/31/6) may be viewed online at the Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research website. (http://www.liebertpub.com/jir)

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Viral Immunology, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, and DNA and Cell Biology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website. (http://www.liebertpub.com).

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Promising new drug target for inflammatory lung diseases

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Counseling people about their personal risk of diabetes based on their genes may not motivate them to take steps to prevent the blood sugar disease, a new study suggests.

Overweight and obese research participants lost the same amount of weight and were similarly dedicated to a diabetes-prevention program whether they learned their genes put them at high or low risk - or when they hadn't been counseled at all.

"It's very, very hard to change behavior," said lead researcher Dr. Richard Grant, now at Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland.

"The idea that a number, whether it's a genetic number or anything, will have a big impact on changing people's behavior - it just won't work."

Researchers have predicted that people who learn they are at extra-high risk of diabetes might be more motivated to change their lifestyle, and patient surveys support that idea.

But there is also the concern that those at low genetic risk will get a false sense of reassurance and believe that eating a healthy diet and exercising aren't important for them.

To examine those theories, Grant and his colleagues tested middle-aged adults at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for 36 genetic markers known to be linked to type 2 diabetes. Forty-two people with the highest genetic risk and 32 with the lowest risk then went to a brief counseling session about those findings.

After counseling, the researchers started people on both ends of the risk spectrum on a 12-week group diet and exercise education program, along with another 34 people who had never had their genes tested.

Over the course of the program, participants lost an average of 8.5 pounds, and just under one-third of them lost at least five percent of their initial body weight. There was no difference in weight loss among people with high or low genetic risk - nor was there a difference in participants' motivation to prevent diabetes or how closely they stuck to the program schedule.

"Even though people have the intent and they think genetic information will have an impact, when you actually look at their behavior to reduce their risk of diabetes we didn't see any differences," Grant told Reuters Health.

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Study: Genetic counseling about diabetes risk doesn’t change behavior

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

Contact: Patrick Dion patrick.a.dion@umontreal.ca 514-246-0126 University of Montreal

This press release is available in French.

Researchers from the Guy Rouleau Laboratory affiliated with the CHUM Research Centre and the CHUSainte-Justine Research Centre have discovered the genetic cause of a rare disease reported only in patients originating from Newfoundland: hereditary spastic ataxia (HSA).

This condition is characterized by lower-limb spasticity (or stiffness) and ataxia (lack of coordination), the latter leading to speech and swallowing problems, and eye movement abnormalities. The disease is not deadly, but people start developing gait problems between 10 to 20 years of age, walk with a cane in their 30s, and in the most severe cases, are wheel-chair bound in their 50s. It has been shown that HSA is transmitted from the affected parent to the child in a dominant fashion, which means there is a 50% chance of the child having the mutation.

History of a discovery: collaboration between the University of Montreal and Memorial University

Researchers and clinicians from Memorial University (St. John's, Newfoundland) contacted Dr. Rouleau, who is also a professor of medicine at the University of Montreal, over a decade ago to investigate the genetics behind this disorder occurring in three large Newfoundland families. Dr. Inge Meijer, a former doctoral candidate in the Rouleau Laboratory, discovered that these families were ancestrally related, and in 2002, identified the locus (DNA region) containing the mutation causing HSA.

A few years later, Cynthia Bourassa, lead author of the study, took over Meijer's project. "I reexamined some unresolved details using newer and more advanced methods," explains Bourassa, who is a master's student in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal. She then teamed up with Dr. Nancy Merner, who after obtaining her Ph.D. at Memorial University moved to Montreal to further her career in genetic research. "It is an honour to be a part of this study and impact the lives of my fellow Newfoundlanders. I knew coming into the Rouleau Laboratory that the genetic factors of the HAS families had not yet been identified. In fact, I asked about them on my first day of work, shortly after which I teamed up with Cynthia and we found the gene!"

Scientific explanation:

The gene harbouring the mutation is VAMP1, encoding the synaptobrevin protein. "Not only was the mutation present in all patients and absent from all population controls, but also, synaptobrevin is a key player in neurotransmitter release, which made sense at the functional level as well," says Bourassa. In fact, the authors believe that this mutation in the VAMP1 gene may affect neurotransmission in areas of the nervous system where the synaptobrevin protein is located, causing the unique symptoms of HSA. In other words, there are not enough messengers released, so nerves cannot function optimally.

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Genetic discovery in Montreal for a rare disease in Newfoundland

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THE Newman government has announced a major refocus on genetics and disease resistance research to improve winter cereal varieties across the state.

Using the appropriate backdrop of the Toowoomba Ag Show, Premier Campbell Newman and Agriculture Minister John McVeigh announced, in a first for winter grains research in Queensland, a "genetic platform" for the research and development of cereal crops, which would see a renewed focus on genetics and pre-breeding at the Hermitage Research Station, Warwick.

Mr McVeigh said the refocus would boost barley breeding across the state through improved programs and a better product.

"It establishes a solid relationship between our researchers, who will concentrate on early stages of breeding, and InterGrain Pty Ltd, which will breed finished varieties for growers," he said.

"This new 'genetics platform' will have a strong disease-resistance focus.

"It's about delivering improved winter cereal varieties by the commercial sector to growers."

InterGrain is an Australian crop-breeding company with a highly successful barley-breeding program that targets the major cereal growing areas of Australia.

Mr Newman and Mr McVeigh were joined by the Grains Research and Development Corporation chairman Keith Perrett for the announcement, who said the organisation would co-invest in the platform with $1.4 million and a total of $11.2m over seven years, across all programs.

"This investment will support the transition of barley breeding to the commercial sector, underpin pre-breeding, and develop capacity in other key RD&E areas such as summer crop agronomy, genetics and pathology, farming systems research and production research," Mr Perrett said.

"This deal delivers 11 positions and this capacity will service high-priority areas identified by growers."

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Govt to focus on winter cereal research

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NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) The University of Pittburgh today said that it has received two $1 million gifts from The Pittsburgh Foundation to endow chairs for cancer research and personalized medicine.

The gifts will support The Pittsburgh Foundation Endowed Chair in Innovative Cancer Research and The Pittsburgh Foundation Endowed Chair in Personalized Medicine. The non-profit UPMC health system will match the $1 million gift for the personalized medicine chair, the university said.

"With personalized medicine, we aim to move the 'one-size-fits-all' model of medicine to a tailored, 'right-sized' model delivering the right therapy to the right person at the right time," Steven Shapiro, executive vice president and chief medical and scientific officer of UPMC, said in a statement. "If advances in personalized medicine allow physicians to prevent or better treat these diseases based on a patient's genomic profile, the potential savings in human and financial terms could be very significant."

The Pittsburgh Foundation connects donors with charitable organizations and efforts in Pittsburgh and elsewhere in the US.

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University of Pittsburgh Gets $1M for Personalized Medicine Chair

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