By Makiko Kitamura - 2012-06-13T22:30:00Z

The first vein grown from a patients own stem cells was successfully transplanted into a 10-year-old girl, potentially offering a way for those lacking healthy veins to undergo dialysis or heart bypass surgery.

A team led by Michael Olausson of the University of Gothenburg took a 9-centimeter (3.5-inch) segment of vein from a human donor and removed all living cells, the Swedish researchers wrote in a study in The Lancet medical journal today. The resulting protein scaffolding was injected with stem cells from the girls bone marrow, and two weeks later was implanted in the patient, who had a blockage in the vein that carries blood from the spleen and intestines to the liver.

The result points to what may be a safer source of stem cells, the building blocks of life which can grow into any type of tissue in the body. Using cells from the patient may limit the risk that the immune system would attack the transplant, which can occur with tissue taken from healthy people and given to the sick. The girl hasnt developed signs of rejection, even without taking drugs to suppress her immune system, the researchers said.

The successful procedure establishes the feasibility and safety of a novel paradigm for treatment, the researchers wrote in the study. Our work opens interesting new areas of research, including trying to reproduce arteries for surgical use in patients.

The recipient had no complications from the operation, and a year later, has grown 6 centimeters and gained 5 kilograms (11 pounds) in weight.

Olausson and colleagues report suggests that tissue- engineered vascular grafts are promising, but one-off experiences such as the procedure they describe need to be converted into full clinical trials in key target populations, Martin Birchall and George Hamilton, professors at the University College London, wrote in a commentary accompanying the Lancet publication.

The study was funded by the Swedish government.

To contact the reporter on this story: Makiko Kitamura in London at mkitamura1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net

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First Vein Grown From Human Stem Cells Transplanted

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BOCA RATON, Fla., June 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts' decision to go public with the fact that she has a rare blood disorder was courageous and sheds light on the need for more bone marrow donors in the United States.

"In Robin's case, her sister turned out to be a perfect match, but the fact is, about two out of every three patients who need a transplant won't find a match in their family and will need to reach out to strangers to help save their lives," said Jay Feinberg, CEO of Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, an international bone marrow registry based in Boca Raton, FL.

Approximately 10,000 people are diagnosed each year with a blood disease in which a bone marrow transplant could save their life, yet only half receive one. That is why the more people who are willing to donate, the better the chance of saving a life.

Feinberg knows that all too well. He was diagnosed with Leukemia in the early 1990s. He found his match in 1995 after more than 50,000 people were tested worldwide. He turned that grassroots movement into the not-for-profit Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation to get more donors into the worldwide registry and educate the public on the importance of donating. For its part, Gift of Life has facilitated more than 2,500 matches in its history and entered more than 200,000 people into the registry.

"It only takes one match to save a life, and that's what keeps us passionate and focused every day," said Feinberg, who found his match from a young woman who registered at the very last marrow drive organized for him. "The fact that someone as high profile as Robin Roberts is willing to share her personal story with the world will create a lot of new interest in people willing to become donors and to that end, that's a very positive thing. We wish her well in her upcoming treatments."

Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, through its network of life-saving volunteers, organizes dozens of bone marrow drives per year around the world. Feinberg said becoming a donor is easy. A cotton swab is rubbed on the inside of the mouth to collect cells used for tissue typing. That information is then entered into the registry where anyone needing a transplant can turn to see if they find someone compatible. If a match is made, the donor is notified by phone and then undergoes one more test to confirm he or she is a perfect match. If so, the donor then undergoes a complete physical exam, and then the donation procedure, which involves either the taking of blood stem cells from the arms, or bone marrow from the hip. Those life-saving cells are then transplanted into the sick patient. The donor's marrow will eventually replenish itself. On average, one in 1,000 of Gift of Life donors is asked to donate every year.

For more information on bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants, and to see answers to frequently asked questions, please log onto http://www.giftoflife.org.

About the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation

Gift of Life helps children and adults suffering from leukemia, lymphoma, other cancers and genetic disorders find donors for blood and marrow transplants. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Gift of Life is an internationally recognized bone marrow, blood stem cell, and umbilical cord blood registry. Through its life-saving work, Gift of Life is a world leader helping children and adults find the matches they need when they need them. For more information log on to http://www.giftoflife.org.

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Robin Roberts' Personal Story Highlights Need for More Bone Marrow Donors in the United States

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

13 June 2012 Last updated at 08:31 ET

Japanese stem cell scientist Dr Shinya Yamanaka has been awarded the Millennium Technology Prize.

His award is for discovering how to reprogram human cells to mimic embryonic stem cells, which can become any cell in the body.

Called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, these now aid research into regenerative medicine.

He was joint-winner with Linus Torvalds, who created a new open source operating system for computers.

This is the first time the prize has been shared by two scientists - they will split the 1.2m euros ($1.3m; 800,000) award.

My goals over the decade include to develop new drugs to treat intractable diseases by using iPS cell technology and to conduct clinical trials using it on a few patients with Parkinson's diseases, diabetes or blood diseases.

The President of the Republic of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, presented the prize at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki.

Dr Ainomija Haarla, President of Technology Academy Finland - the foundation which awards the prize every two years - said: "The International Selection Committee has to judge whether an innovation has had a favourable impact on people's lives and assess its potential for further development to benefit humanity in the future.

"The innovations of both this year's winners embody that principle.

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Stem cell scientist wins award

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For the first time, doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patients own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. In March, the girls doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 3 1/2-inch section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girls bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients, said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the studys authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing acute pressures on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Ms. Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Patients with the girls condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.

View post:
Doctors transplant vein grown with patient's own stem cells

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

LONDON For the first time doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 9-centimeter (3 -inch) section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girl's bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

"This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study's authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing "acute pressures" on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Patients with the girl's condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.

Read more:
Doctors make new vein using patient's own stem cells for transplant into 10-year-old girl

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

1:00 AM Since the new vein was transplanted, the 10-year-old with blockage to her liver is much improved.

The Associated Press

LONDON - For the first time doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 3-inch section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girl's bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

"This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study's authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary, and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing "acute pressures" on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

See original here:
Girl's stem cells used to make her a new vein

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

LONDONFor the first time doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 9-centimeter (3 1/2-inch) section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girl's bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

"This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study's authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing "acute pressures" on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Patients with the girl's condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.

More here:
Doctors make new vein with girl's own stem cells

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

ScienceDaily (June 13, 2012) With their potential to treat a wide range of diseases and uncover fundamental processes that lead to those diseases, embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great promise for biomedical science. A number of hurdles, both scientific and non-scientific, however, have precluded scientists from reaching the holy grail of using these special cells to treat heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

In a paper published June 13 in Nature, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report discovering that ES cells cycle in and out of a "magical state" in the early stages of embryo development, during which a battery of genes essential for cell potency (the ability of a generic cell to differentiate, or develop, into a cell with specialized functions) is activated. This unique condition, called totipotency, gives ES cells their unique ability to turn into any cell type in the body, thus making them attractive therapeutic targets.

"These findings," says senior author Samuel L. Pfaff, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory, "give new insight into the network of genes important to the developmental potential of cells. We've identified a mechanism that resets embryonic stem cells to a more youthful state, where they are more plastic and therefore potentially more useful in therapeutics against disease, injury and aging."

ES cells are like silly putty that can be induced, under the right circumstances, to become specialized cells-for example, skin cells or pancreatic cells-in the body. In the initial stages of development, when an embryo contains as few as five to eight cells, the stem cells are totipotent and can develop into any cell type. After three to five days, the embryo develops into a ball of cells called a blastocyst. At this stage, the stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can develop into almost any cell type. In order for cells to differentiate, specific genes within the cells must be turned on.

Pfaff and his colleagues performed RNA sequencing (a new technology derived from genome-sequencing to monitor what genes are active) on immature mouse egg cells, called oocytes, and two-cell-stage embryos to identify genes that are turned on just prior to and immediately following fertilization. Pfaff's team discovered a sequence of genes tied to this privileged state of totipotency and noticed that the genes were activated by retroviruses adjacent to the stem cells.

Nearly 8 percent of the human genome is made up of ancient relics of viral infections that occurred in our ancestors, which have been passed from generation to generation but are unable to produce infections. Pfaff and his collaborators found that cells have used some of these viruses as a tool to regulate the on-off switches for their own genes. "Evolution has said, 'We'll make lemonade out of lemons, and use these viruses to our advantage,'" Pfaff says. Using the remains of ancient viruses to turn on hundreds of genes at a specific moment of time in early embryo development gives cells the ability to turn into any type of tissue in the body.

From their observations, the Salk scientists say these viruses are very tightly controlled-they don't know why-and active only during a short window during embryonic development. The researchers identified ES cells in early embryogenesis and then further developed the embryos and cultured them in a laboratory dish. They found that a rare group of special ES cells activated the viral genes, distinguishing them from other ES cells in the dish. By using the retroviruses to their advantage, Pfaff says, these rare cells reverted to a more plastic, youthful state and thus had greater developmental potential.

Pfaff's team also discovered that nearly all ES cells cycle in and out of this privileged form, a feature of ES cells that has been underappreciated by the scientific community, says first author Todd S. Macfarlan, a former postdoctoral researcher in Pfaff's lab who recently accepted a faculty position at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "If this cycle is prevented from happening," he says, "the full range of cell potential seems to be limited."

It is too early to tell if this "magical state" is an opportune time to harvest ES cells for therapeutic purposes. But, Pfaff adds, by forcing cells into this privileged status, scientists might be able to identify genes to assist in expanding the types of tissue that can be produced.

"There's tremendous hype over the practical applications of embryonic stem cells in clinical situations," he says. "The struggle in labs throughout the world is that the smallest changes in environmental conditions could subtly and unpredictably have an effect on these cells. So, the more we know about the basic requirements needed for these cells to be able to generate a full range of tissue types, the better off we'll be." While the findings shed light on the basic biology of embryonic stem cells, Pfaff says there is still a "long way to go" in terms of their practical, clinical value.

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'Magical state' of embryonic stem cells may help overcome hurdles to therapeutics

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SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Leading scientists and academics today issued a statement in response to the qualification of a measure on California's November ballot that would require mandatory labels of food grown or produced using genetic engineering. Like the overwhelming majority of scientific and medical experts and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, these scientists believe that foods made with the benefit of modern biotechnology are safe and that labeling them as "genetically engineered" would mislead consumers by creating the false impression that foods containing GE ingredients are less safe than foods made without the benefit of biotechnology.

Bob Goldberg, Distinguished Professor of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology at UCLA, Member, National Academy of Sciences: "As a scientist who has spent the better part of my career studying and utilizing biotechnology, or genetic engineering, I am extremely concerned about qualification of this ballot measure. It's a Trojan Horse, promising the 'Right to Know' but really only serving to mislead Californians about the safety of their food. Foods made using modern biotechnology are thoroughly tested and proven safe. Labels are misleading and unnecessary."

Nina Federoff, Ph.D., Recipient of National Medal of Science, Distinguished Professor, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST); Evan Pugh Professor, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University: "Foods made with the benefit of modern biotechnology are some of the safest and most thoroughly-tested food to ever enter our food supply. I'm passionately opposed to labeling for the sake of labeling without providing any health or safety benefits, as this measure does, because the cost burden for doing so falls on those who can least afford it."

Martina Newell-McGloughlin, DSc. Executive Director Strategic Research Initiatives, University of California Davis: "Mandatory labeling can only be scientifically justified when based on the characteristics of the food product, not on the processes used in their development. But there are no material differences between crops that have been genetically modified using modern techniques and other crops, and they have routinely been found to be as safe. Unfortunately, it is easy to sell fear and doubt, which is exactly what the proponents are doing with this measure."

Roger N. Beachy, Ph.D., President Emeritus, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Former Director National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA; Member, National Academy of Science; Laureate, Wolf Prize in Agriculture: "Modern biotechnology offers important tools to increase agricultural productivity, protect crops from insects, pests and diseases, reduce the use of pesticides and water and increase the nutritional benefits of certain foods. GE foods have been studied for 25 years and been found to be safe. It would be really unfortunate if this measure passed because it would erroneously call into question the safety of these foods and their value to solve many global environmental and hunger problems."

Paid for by the Coalition Against the Costly Food Labeling Proposition, sponsored by farmers and food producers, major funding by Council for Biotechnology Information and Grocery Manufacturers Association. 1121 L. Street, #803, Sacramento, CA 95814| 1-800-331-0850| http://www.StopCostlyFoodLabeling.com

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Coalition Against the Deceptive and Costly Food Labeling Proposition says Scientists and Academic Community Oppose ...

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ScienceDaily (June 13, 2012) In the not-too-distant future, scientists may be able to use DNA to grow their own specialized materials, thanks to the concept of directed evolution. UC Santa Barbara scientists have, for the first time, used genetic engineering and molecular evolution to develop the enzymatic synthesis of a semiconductor.

"In the realm of human technologies it would be a new method, but it's an ancient approach in nature," said Lukmaan Bawazer, first author of the paper, "Evolutionary selection of enzymatically synthesized semiconductors from biomimetic mineralization vesicles," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Bawazer, who was a Ph.D. student at the time, wrote the paper with co-authors at UCSB's Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Biomolecular Science and Engineering; Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies; California NanoSystems Institute and Materials Research Laboratory; and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. Daniel Morse, UCSB professor emeritus of biochemistry of molecular genetics, directed the research.

Using silicateins, proteins responsible for the formation of silica skeletons in marine sponges, the researchers were able to generate new mineral architectures by directing the evolution of these enzymes. Silicateins, which are genetically encoded, serve as templates for the silica skeletons and control their mineralization, thus participating in similar types of processes by which animal and human bones are formed. Silica, also known as silicon, is the primary material in most commercially manufactured semiconductors.

In this study, polystyrene microbeads coated with specific silicateins were put through a mineralization reaction by incubating the beads in a water-in-oil emulsion that contained chemical precursors for mineralization: metals of either silicon or titanium dissolved in the oil or water phase of the emulsion. As the silicateins reacted with the dissolved metals, they precipitated them, integrating the metals into the resulting structure and forming nanoparticles of silicon dioxide or titanium dioxide.

With the creation of a silicatein gene pool, through what Bawazer only somewhat euphemistically calls "molecular sex" -- the combination and recombination of various silicatein genetic materials -- the scientists were able to create a multitude of silicateins, and then select for the ones with desired properties.

"This genetic population was exposed to two environmental pressures that shaped the selected minerals: The silicateins needed to make (that is, mineralize) materials directly on the surface of the beads, and then the mineral structures needed to be amenable to physical disruption to expose the encoding genes," said Bawazer. The beads that exhibited mineralization were sorted from the ones that didn't, and then fractured to release the genetic information they contained, which could either be studied, or evolved further.

The process yielded forms of silicatein not available in nature, that behaved differently in the formation of mineral structures. For example, some silicateins self-assembled into sheets and made dispersed mineral nanoparticles, as opposed to more typical agglomerated particles formed by natural silicateins. In some cases, crystalline materials were also formed, demonstrating a crystal-forming ability that was acquired through directed evolution, said Bawazer.

Because silicateins are enzymes, said Bawazer, with relatively long amino acid chains that can fold into precise shapes, there is the potential for more functionality than would be possible using shorter biopolymers or more traditional synthetic approaches. In addition, the process could potentially work with a variety of metals, to evolve different types of materials. By changing the laboratory-controlled environments in which directed evolution occurs, it will be possible to evolve materials with specific capacities, like high performance in an evolved solar cell, for example.

"Here we've demonstrated the evolution of material structure; I'd like to take it a step further and evolve material performance in a functional device," said Bawazer.

Research for this paper was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Scientists synthesize first genetically evolved semiconductor material

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Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology Also Included In: Genetics Article Date: 13 Jun 2012 - 16:00 PDT

Current ratings for: 'Genetic Discovery Will Help Fight Diarrhoea Outbreaks'

Published today in the journal Evolutionary Applications, the findings pave the way for a new gold standard test to distinguish between the waterborne parasite's two main species affecting humans. One species is spread from person to person (Cryptosporidium hominis) but the other is often spread from livestock to people (Cryptosporidium parvum).

"Being able to discriminate quickly between the two species means it is easier to spot an outbreak as it develops, trace the original source, and take appropriate urgent action to prevent further spread," said lead author Dr Kevin Tyler of Norwich Medical School at UEA.

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite that causes outbreaks of diarrhoea across the globe. In the UK, around two per cent of cases of diarrhoea are caused by the organism and many people will be infected at some time in their lives. Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting and can last for up to a month, but healthy people usually make a full recovery.

However, in the developing world infection can be serious in malnourished children and a significant cause of death in areas with high prevalence of untreated AIDS.

In the UK, outbreaks have been caused by faulty filtration systems in water supplies and transmission through swimming pools because the parasite is not killed by chlorine disinfection. Outbreaks also occur at open farms and in nurseries. People can also be infected by eating vegetables that have been washed in contaminated water. Hygiene is important in the prevention of spread of Cryptosporidium: people are advised to always wash their hands with warm running water and soap after touching animals, going to the toilet, changing nappies and before preparing, handling or eating food.

In this EU-funded study, the researchers identified the first parasite proteins that are specific to the different species. They found them at the ends of the chromosomes where they had been missed during previous parasite genetic studies.

Dr Tyler said: "Our discovery is an important advance in developing new simple and reliable tests for identifying these two species of parasite. This is the first step in discriminating outbreaks from sporadic cases, local strains from exotic ones, and tracing the source of outbreaks to an individual water supply, swimming pool or farm."

The UEA team worked with colleagues at the UK Cryptosporidium Reference Unit in Swansea, and Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, part of Queen Mary, University of London. Recently obtained renewed funding from the EU will enable further development towards a diagnostic test for use in the water industry and public health.

Read this article:
Genetic Discovery Will Help Fight Diarrhoea Outbreaks

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The worlds leading experts in the field of personalized medicine are meeting in Boston, MA September 12th and 13th 2012 for the 4th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference. This conference will tackle the issues driving, as well as restraining, the clinical delivery of personalized medicine, including coding and reimbursement, whole genome sequencing in practice, the economics of personalized medicine, Medicare policy, and market access challenges for companion diagnostics.

Personalized medicine has the potential to revolutionize medical care by utilizing an improved understanding of genetics and molecular biology to allow for better, more precise diagnostic tests, greater predictability of disease course, and improved patient safety.

Speakers and panelists will be answering the following key questions:

Is personalized medicine changing clinical practice? Can personalized medicine improve clinical outcomes? Will insurers fund the genomic revolution? What types of validation requirements are payors looking for?

At this conference, Robert C. Green, MD, MPH, Director, G2P Research Program, Associate Director for Research, Partners Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School will discuss the impact that whole genome sequencing will have on the practice of medicine, patients, and health care costs, as well as the potential risks associated with its use.

An important question being asked today by the medical community is What genome information is ready for clinical use? Michael Christman, Ph.D., President & CEO, Coriell Institute for Medical Research will be answering this question in a presentation which will outline how the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC) is studying the use of genomic information in clinical decision-making.

Bryan Loy, MD, Market Medical Officer, Humana will describe the various perspectives that must be considered when addressing the payment methods for molecular diagnostics. He will discuss the issue of more widely integrating personalized medicine, while keeping the health plan, the consumer, and the provider in mind.

Dora Dias-Santagata, Ph.D., Instructor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School and Co-Director, Translational Research Laboratory at Mass General, will be describing her experience in developing and implementing a clinical platform for broad-base tumor genotyping. She will also outline the challenges that arose in her clinical testing. Her presentation will also include patient cases with clinical follow-up.

Numerous other speakers will be participating. Please visit http://www.personalized-medicine-conference.com for the full list of speakers, a preliminary agenda, and information on how to register to attend.

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Leaders in Personalized Medicine to Discuss Clinical and Market Access Challenges at 4th Annual Personalized Medicine ...

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Public release date: 13-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Simon Dunford s.dunford@uea.ac.uk 44-160-359-2203 University of East Anglia

Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have discovered unexpectedly large genetic differences between two similar species of the pathogenic Cryptosporidium parasite.

Published today in the journal Evolutionary Applications, the findings pave the way for a new gold standard test to distinguish between the waterborne parasite's two main species affecting humans. One species is spread from person to person (Cryptosporidium hominis) but the other is often spread from livestock to people (Cryptosporidium parvum).

"Being able to discriminate quickly between the two species means it is easier to spot an outbreak as it develops, trace the original source, and take appropriate urgent action to prevent further spread," said lead author Dr Kevin Tyler of Norwich Medical School at UEA.

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite that causes outbreaks of diarrhoea across the globe. In the UK, around two per cent of cases of diarrhoea are caused by the organism and many people will be infected at some time in their lives. Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting and can last for up to a month, but healthy people usually make a full recovery.

However, in the developing world infection can be serious in malnourished children and a significant cause of death in areas with high prevalence of untreated AIDS.

In the UK, outbreaks have been caused by faulty filtration systems in water supplies and transmission through swimming pools because the parasite is not killed by chlorine disinfection. Outbreaks also occur at open farms and in nurseries. People can also be infected by eating vegetables that have been washed in contaminated water. Hygiene is important in the prevention of spread of Cryptosporidium: people are advised to always wash their hands with warm running water and soap after touching animals, going to the toilet, changing nappies and before preparing, handling or eating food.

In this EU-funded study, the researchers identified the first parasite proteins that are specific to the different species. They found them at the ends of the chromosomes where they had been missed during previous parasite genetic studies.

Dr Tyler said: "Our discovery is an important advance in developing new simple and reliable tests for identifying these two species of parasite. This is the first step in discriminating outbreaks from sporadic cases, local strains from exotic ones, and tracing the source of outbreaks to an individual water supply, swimming pool or farm."

Original post:
Genetic discovery will help fight diarrhea outbreaks

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

MANILA, Philippines -- "The Buzz" host Boy Abunda is going to Europe this weekend with his mother, who is suffering from dementia and Alzeimers disease.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News on Tuesday afternoon, Abunda said he will bring his mother to Germany to try stem cell therapy.

"Ako ay pupunta sa Europe hindi para magbakasyon. Dadalhin ko po ang aking ina para magpagamot sa Germany. Ito po 'yung fresh stem cell therapy. Maganda 'yung dini-diretso na dahil napag-uusapan ito," Abunda said.

While Abunda is in Germany, Kris Aquino will take his place on ABS-CBN's entertainment talk show "The Buzz."

In the interview, Abunda also said he's proud of Aquino, who's now open to doing extreme adventures, while continuing to be a good mother to her two sons.

"Ang daming nagbago kay Kris. May mga bagay na hindi ko inakala na gagawin ni Kris like 'yung diving, zipline at marami pang iba. Natutuwa ako that she has become more open to many things. She has become more adventurous. She has retained being the doting mother that she is pero mas malalim ang halakhak niya ngayon sa buhay. She's just so joyful. Natutuwa ako habang pinapanood ko ang kanyang adventure sa 'KrisTV,'" Abunda said.

Abunda said he's also hoping to do a new project with Aquino.

"I'm hoping na someday ay muli kaming magtagpo sa isang palabas dahil marami ang humihiling na kami ay magsama sa isang palabas. Sigurado ako sa puso ko na kami ay gagawa at gagawa dahil magkadugtong ang aming pusod," he said.

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June 12, 2012

The use of stem-cells building-block cells that are harvested from embryos or adults to treat heart disease could rely on faith as much as it does science, after billions of dollars in research has not produced the results that researchers have been looking for.

Questions and concerns on the topic arose during the recent opening of the multi-million-dollar Scottish Center for Regenerative Medicine (SCRM) in Edinburgh, chaired by Sir Ian Wilmut, the renowned scientist whose Dolly the sheep clone in 1996, was a groundbreaking step in stem cell technology.

During the opening ceremonies of the Center, Christine Mummery of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands discussed how a 2001 claim, based on mice experimentation, indicated that bone-marrow cells could mend heart damaged by coronary disease, caused a mad rush of people to the clinics looking for a cure-all.

With nothing in the way of systematic research in animals, the first patients were being treated within a year, prematurely by Mummerys account. She argued that the paper that launched the mass stampede was completely wrong, and subsequent studies proved that. But despite the findings, the 2001 paper has never been withdrawn.

Norwegian professor Harald Arnesen in 2007 voiced his concerns over those heart trials as well. He concluded that they were not convincing and that one German team had achieved striking results only because the control group had done particularly badly. Arnesen called for a moratorium on this kind of stem-cell therapy, based on that research.

But neither Arnesen, nor Mummery, could deter clinicians. Another trial, the largest to date, began in January 2012 and included 3,000 heart-attack patients recruited from across Europe. The trial was funded by the European Union as well.

The idea behind the trials is straightforward. During a heart attack, a clogged blood vessel starves heart muscle of oxygen. Up to a billion heart muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, can be damaged, and the body responds by replacing them with relatively inflexible scar tissue, which can lead to fatal heart failure.

What is notably surprising, explained Mummery, is that stem cells come in many different forms: Embryonic stem cells are the building-blocks of the body and have the potential to turn into all 200 cell types found in the human body. Adult stem cells, however, are limited in what they can do. For example, bone marrow stem cells only generate blood cells.

So, the 2001 study claiming that bone marrow stem cells could turn into healthy heart muscle was a surprising and exciting claim, although a bold move.

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Some Stem-Cells May Not Be The Answer For Heart Disease

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MANILA, Philippines -- "The Buzz" host Boy Abunda is going to Europe this weekend with his mother, who is suffering from dementia and Alzeimers disease.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News on Tuesday afternoon, Abunda said he will bring his mother to Germany to try stem cell therapy.

"Ako ay pupunta sa Europe hindi para magbakasyon. Dadalhin ko po ang aking ina para magpagamot sa Germany. Ito po 'yung fresh stem cell therapy. Maganda 'yung dini-diretso na dahil napag-uusapan ito," Abunda said.

While Abunda is in Germany, Kris Aquino will take his place on ABS-CBN's entertainment talk show "The Buzz."

In the interview, Abunda also said he's proud of Aquino, who's now open to doing extreme adventures, while continuing to be a good mother to her two sons.

"Ang daming nagbago kay Kris. May mga bagay na hindi ko inakala na gagawin ni Kris like 'yung diving, zipline at marami pang iba. Natutuwa ako that she has become more open to many things. She has become more adventurous. She has retained being the doting mother that she is pero mas malalim ang halakhak niya ngayon sa buhay. She's just so joyful. Natutuwa ako habang pinapanood ko ang kanyang adventure sa 'KrisTV,'" Abunda said.

Abunda said he's also hoping to do a new project with Aquino.

"I'm hoping na someday ay muli kaming magtagpo sa isang palabas dahil marami ang humihiling na kami ay magsama sa isang palabas. Sigurado ako sa puso ko na kami ay gagawa at gagawa dahil magkadugtong ang aming pusod," he said.

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Abunda to try stem cell therapy for mom

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Public release date: 12-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Bruce Goldman goldmanb@stanford.edu 650-725-2106 Stanford University Medical Center

STANFORD, Calif. A team led by investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine has found that the most common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease disrupts brain function in healthy older women but has little impact on brain function in healthy, older men. Women harboring the gene variant, known to be a potent risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, show brain changes characteristic of the neurodegenerative disorder that can be observed before any outward symptoms manifest.

Both men and women who inherit two copies (one from each parent) of this gene variant, known as ApoE4, are at extremely high risk for Alzheimer's. But the double-barreled ApoE4 combination is uncommon, affecting only about 2 percent of the population, whereas about 15 percent of people carry a single copy of this version of the gene.

The Stanford researchers demonstrated for the first time the existence of a gender distinction among outwardly healthy older people who carry the ApoE4 variant. In this group, women but not men exhibit two telltale characteristics that have been linked to Alzheimer's disease: a signature change in their brain activity, and elevated levels of a protein called tau in their cerebrospinal fluid.

One implication of the study, which will be published June 13 in the Journal of Neuroscience, is that men revealed by genetic tests to carry a single copy of ApoE4 shouldn't be assumed to be at elevated risk for Alzheimer's, a syndrome afflicting about 5 million people in the United States and nearly 30 million worldwide. The new findings also may help explain why more women than men develop this disease, said Michael Greicius, MD, assistant professor of neurology and neurological sciences and medical director of the Stanford Center for Memory Disorders. Most critically, identifying the prominent interaction between ApoE4 and gender opens a host of new experimental avenues that will allow Greicius' team and the field generally to better understand how ApoE4 increases risk for Alzheimer's disease.

For every three women with Alzheimer's disease, only about two men have the neurodegenerative disorder, said Greicius, the study's senior author. (The first author is Jessica Damoiseaux, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in Greicius' laboratory. They collaborated with colleagues at the University of California-San Francisco and UCLA.) True, women live longer than men do, on average, and old age is by far the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's, Greicius said. "But the disparity in Alzheimer's risk persists even if you correct for the difference in longevity," he said. "This disparate impact of ApoE4 status on women versus men might account for a big part of the skewed gender ratio."

Besides age, another well-studied major risk factor is genetic: possession of a particular version of the gene known as ApoE. This gene is a recipe for a protein involved in transporting cholesterol into cells an important job, as cholesterol is a crucial constituent of all cell membranes including those of nerve cells. And nerve cells are constantly responding to experience by developing or enhancing small, bulblike electrochemical contacts to other nerve cells, or diminishing or abolishing them. For all these processes, efficient cholesterol transport is critical.

The ApoE protein comes in three versions, each the product of a slightly differing version of the ApoE gene: E2, E3 or E4. Most people have two copies of the E3 version of ApoE. A small percentage carries one copy of E3 and one of E2, and even fewer two copies of E2. The protein specified by the E4 gene version seems to be somewhat defective in comparison to the one encoded by either E2 or the much more common E3. Thus, while only about 10-15 percent of the population carries one copy of E4 (or, much less commonly, two), more than 50 percent of people who develop Alzheimer's are E4 carriers.

But, as it turns out, the heightened risk E4 imposes may be largely restricted to women.

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Alzheimer's risk gene disrupts brain function in healthy older women, but not men

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A gene that's been known for two decades as the largest inheritable risk for developing Alzheimer's disease mostly affects the brains of women, not men, according to a team of researchers from Stanford and the University of California at San Francisco.

The gene variant known as APOE4 is the most common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's only about 15 percent of people carry the gene, but it's found in more than half of all Alzheimer's patients.

The variant was first connected to Alzheimer's in 1993, but doctors and scientists for the most part have been unaware of any gender differences, despite early studies that showed an increased risk for women with the gene.

The new research, which is being published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience, looked at two biological indicators or biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease: decreased activity in a brain network related to memory and increased levels of the tau protein in spinal fluid. Women with the APOE4 gene were more likely to test positive for both markers than men who had the gene and women who didn't have the gene.

The findings will not have an immediate clinical impact few people are encouraged to learn their APOE4 status because there is no treatment for Alzheimer's. But the results could open new research possibilities, such as the relationship between hormones and Alzheimer's or other gender differences that could make women with the gene more vulnerable, scientists said.

"We haven't been able to get much insight into how APOE is affecting increased risk. This might be a big clue," said Dr. Michael Greicius, medical director of the Stanford Center for Memory Disorders and senior author of the study.

The older study of the APOE4 gene found that women with one copy of the gene were four times more likely than anyone without the gene to develop Alzheimer's; men with a single copy had no increased risk. Both men and women, however, were as much as 14 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's if they had two copies of the gene. But that's a rare combination only 2 percent of the population has two copies.

The APOE4 gene, along with other genetic risk factors, has become increasingly important in research for treating the disease. Genetic research can help scientists better understand what causes Alzheimer's and it may lead to treatments that target specific biological mechanisms of the disease.

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Alzheimer's risk gene mostly affects women

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A gene that's been known for two decades as the largest inheritable risk for developing Alzheimer's disease mostly affects the brains of women, not men, according to a team of researchers from Stanford and UCSF.

The gene variant known as APOE4 is the most common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's - only about 15 percent of people carry the gene, but it's found in more than half of all Alzheimer's patients.

The variant was first connected to Alzheimer's in 1993, but doctors and scientists for the most part have been unaware of any gender differences, despite early studies that showed an increased risk for women with the gene.

The new research, which is being published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience, looked at two biological indicators - or biomarkers - associated with Alzheimer's disease: decreased activity in a brain network related to memory, and increased levels of the tau protein in spinal fluid. Women with the APOE4 gene were more likely to test positive for both markers than men who had the gene and women who didn't have the gene.

The findings will not have any immediate clinical impact - very few people are encouraged to learn their APOE4 status because there is no treatment for Alzheimer's. But the results could open a torrent of new research possibilities, such as studying the relationship between hormones and Alzheimer's, or looking for other gender differences that could be making women with the gene more vulnerable, scientists said.

"We haven't been able to get much insight into how APOE is affecting increased risk. This might be a big clue," said Dr. Michael Greicius, medical director of the Stanford Center for Memory Disorders and senior author of the study.

The older study of the APOE4 gene found that women with one copy of the gene were four times more likely than anyone without the gene to develop Alzheimer's; men with a single copy had no increased risk. Both men and women, however, were up to 14 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's if they had two copies of the gene. But that's a rare combination - only 2 percent of the population has two copies.

The APOE4 gene, along with other genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's, has become increasingly important in research for treating the disease. Genetic research can help scientists better understand what causes Alzheimer's and it may lead to treatments that target specific biological mechanisms of the disease.

For example, scientists might find a connection between sex hormones and the gene or a genetic mutation tied to the X chromosome that interacts with APOE4, Greicius said.

The gene connection also could help scientists identify people who are showing early biological signs of developing Alzheimer's, years before they suffer memory problems. One of the major barriers to developing treatments has been identifying patients in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's, before the disease has caused too much damage to repair.

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Alzheimer's gene found to affect women over men

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Genetic engineering could hold the key to artificially creating semiconductors in a lab.

A team of academics at the University of California, Santa Barbara is looking at ways to create synthetic proteins that could form new structures of silicon dioxide to make computer chips with. These chips would then be used in all kinds of electronics. The proteins could also form titanium dioxide, used in solar cells.

The process is a bit different from regular genetic engineering because it uses synthetic cells made of the randomly combined genes of two related silicateins replete with random mutations, surrounded by a nucleus of minute plastic beads.

The artificial cells are put through the proverbial wringer, killing many along the way. Those that survive the process have their genes cherry picked by the scientists from either the silicon or titanium dioxide-forming proteins.

The results were somewhat surprising, with researchers finding not just the original silicateins used to form the artificial cell in the first place, but also another, different gene.

Tests on the new gene found it contained a silica-forming protein which has been dubbed silicatein X1, which may prove useful in the making of folded sheets of silica-protein fibers.

Silica skeletons of radiolaria in false color.

While that may sound strange and complicated, it's worth noting that even in nature, creatures like marine sponges can produce materials like fiberglass, while ARS notes that some bacteria can even build magnetic nanoparticles.

Now that scientists know it's possible to create entirely different silica proteins, the next step will be to change the conditions in order to achieve things like semiconductor performance.

- Sylvie Barak EE Times

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Study enables genetically engineered chips

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The European Commission would like to relax limits on genetically modified organisms in food. But Germany's agriculture minister supports a no-tolerance policy.

When the Augustinian monk Gregor Johann Mendel crossed a yellow with a green pea 150 years ago, he hardly could have guessed what his experiment would unleash. It was the starting point for a brand new area of science: genetic technology, which polarizes today more than ever.

The latest point of controversy for business, politicians and citizens is the current zero-tolerance policy, which the European Commission would like to relax. Under current regulations, genetically modified organisms (GMO) which have not been approved are not allowed in food products, but regulators would like to change that to allow contamination by up to 0.1 percent.

Germany's Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner believes the EU's proposal goes too far.

"When we're talking about unapproved GMOs, then security must be given highest priority, especially when it comes to food," Aigner said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.

Consumers seem to agree with her. But questions remain. How dangerous are food products manipulated in this way? And are we not eating them already without knowing it?

Alexander Hissting prefers the zero tolerance approach

A loophole on zero tolerance

The fact that many foods already include GMOs is usually ignored in the debate on the zero-tolerance policy. Organisms with manipulated genes have been used in Germany for about ten years - provided they have been approved by the EU. Consumers often don't know that because approved GMOs don't have to be identified.

"For approved GMOs, we don't have a zero-tolerance policy," said Alexander Hissting of Lebensmittel ohne Gentechnik (Food without Genetic Technology), a group that advocates against genetically modified foods. "The laws permit GMOs that have been checked for safety to be used in products to a certain degree."

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EU may ease genetic engineering rules on food

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ScienceDaily (June 12, 2012) University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have developed a powerful visual analytical approach to explore genetic data, enabling scientists to identify novel patterns of information that could be crucial to human health.

The method, which combines three different "bipartite visual representations" of genetic information, is described in an article to appear in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The work won a distinguished paper award when it was presented at the AMIA Summit on Translational Bioinformatics in March 2012.

In the paper, the authors use their technique to analyze data on genetic alterations in humans known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs. Among other things, the frequencies of particular SNPs are associated with an individual's ancestral origins; for the study, the researchers chose to examine SNP data from 60 individuals from Nigeria and 60 individuals from Utah.

"We selected SNPs that we already knew differentiated between the two groups, and then showed that our method can reveal more about the data than traditional methods," said UTMB associate professor Suresh Bhavnani, lead author on the JAMIA paper and a member of UTMB's Institute for Translational Sciences. "This is a fresh way of looking at genetic data, a methodological contribution that we believe can help biologists and clinicians make better sense of a variety of biomarkers."

Like many kinds of biomedical data, Bhavnani said, datasets describing individuals and their SNPs are particularly suited to visual representations that are bipartite: that is, they simultaneously present two different classes of data. In the case of the Utah-Nigeria SNP data, Bhavnani and his colleagues started with what is known as a bipartite network visualization -- an intricate computer-generated arrangement of colored dots and black, gray and white lines.

"In the bipartite network you see both the individuals and their genetic profiles simultaneously, and cognitively that's really important," Bhavnani said. "You can look at the individuals and know immediately which SNPs make them different from others, and conversely you can look at the SNPs to see how they are co-occurring, and with which individuals they are co-occurring. This rich representation enables you to quickly comprehend the complex bipartite relationships in the data"

The bipartite network visualization of the Utah-Nigeria individual-SNP data has distinct clusters on its left and right sides that correspond to the Utah and Nigerian subjects and SNPs. It also accurately portrays a genetic phenomenon called admixture, in which an individual possesses SNPs that are characteristic of individuals from Utah as well as from Nigeria. Admixed individuals are placed on the edges of their clusters, relatively close to the center of the visualization. The identification of admixed individuals, and the implicated SNPs could help in the design of case-control studies where there is a need for the selection of homogenous sets of individual from different ancestral origins.

To produce an even more detailed picture of the individual-SNP information, the researchers applied two other bipartite visualization techniques to the data: the bipartite heat map, and the bipartite Circos ideogram. In the heat map, rectangular cells laid out in a spreadsheet-like arrangement and colored white, gray, or black helped precisely define the boundaries of the clusters by clarifying individual-SNP relationships. In the Circos ideogram, individuals and SNPs placed around the perimeter of a circle and linked with curved lines, enabling the researchers to more closely examine the admixed individuals' ties to SNPs in the clusters associated with both Utah and Nigeria.

"The network representation is very powerful because it gives you the overall structure of the data, but to really understand the complex relationships, you need these additional bipartite representations," Bhavnani said.

The JAMIA paper, according to Bhavnani, represents a proof of concept for the researchers' novel combination of methods, which can be applied to a wide range of biomedical questions. "You can think of anything -- for example you could examine cases and controls in Alzheimer's disease, or you could compare children who are prone to ear infections and those aren't prone," Bhavnani said. "Whatever your disease or trait of interest is, our approach can handle it."

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Powerful new method to analyze genetic data

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U.S. researchers say they've created genetically modified mosquitoes incapable of transmitting the deadly disease malaria to humans.

IRVINE, Calif., June 12 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they've created genetically modified mosquitoes incapable of transmitting the deadly disease malaria to humans.

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine, say the genetic option of breeding mosquitoes unable to infect people with the malaria parasite could help curb one of the world's most pressing public health issues.

Researchers at the Irvine campus, along with colleagues from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, have produced a model of the Anopheles stephensi mosquito -- a major source of malaria in India and the Middle East -- that impairs the development of the malaria parasite so it cannot transmit the disease through their bites.

"Our group has made significant advances with the creation of transgenic mosquitoes," UCI microbiology Professor Anthony James said in a university release Tuesday.

"But this is the first model of a malaria vector with a genetic modification that can potentially exist in wild populations and be transferred through generations without affecting their fitness."

The genetic modification can be applied to the dozens of different mosquito types that harbor and transmit the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, researchers said.

In the genetically modified mosquitoes antibodies are released that render the parasite harmless to others, they said.

"We see a complete deletion of the infectious version of the malaria parasite," James said. "This blocking process within the insect that carries malaria can help significantly reduce human sickness and death."

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Genetics used as weapon against malaria

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IRVINE, Calif. | June 12, 2012

U.S. researchers say they've created genetically modified mosquitoes incapable of transmitting the deadly disease malaria to humans.

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine, say the genetic option of breeding mosquitoes unable to infect people with the malaria parasite could help curb one of the world's most pressing public health issues.

created genetically modified mosquitoes incapable of transmitting the deadly disease malaria

Researchers at the Irvine campus, along with colleagues from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, have produced a model of the Anopheles stephensi mosquito -- a major source of malaria in India and the Middle East -- that impairs the development of the malaria parasite so it cannot transmit the disease through their bites.

"Our group has made significant advances with the creation of transgenic mosquitoes," UCI microbiology Professor Anthony James said in a university release Tuesday.

"But this is the first model of a malaria vector with a genetic modification that can potentially exist in wild populations and be transferred through generations without affecting their fitness."

The genetic modification can be applied to the dozens of different mosquito types that harbor and transmit the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, researchers said.

In the genetically modified mosquitoes antibodies are released that render the parasite harmless to others, they said.

"We see a complete deletion of the infectious version of the malaria parasite," James said. "This blocking process within the insect that carries malaria can help significantly reduce human sickness and death."

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Genetics used in fight against malaria

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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA and SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire -06/13/12)- Full Spectrum Genetics, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, and BioBlocks, Inc., a privately-held small molecule lead discovery company today announced entering a collaboration to demonstrate the advantages of the combination of Full Spectrum Genetics' MapEng protein analysis and engineering platform and BioBlocks' Fragment-to-Lead fragment based drug discovery platform. Combined, these technologies will serve to identify key protein-protein interactions and discover small molecule drug candidates in a more rapid and cost effective manner than traditional methods. Financial details of the collaboration were not disclosed.

"Traditional methods to understand protein-protein interactions that affect disease outcomes often yield incomplete information despite the considerable time and expense involved," said Tom Smart, president and chief executive officer of Full Spectrum Genetics. Smart continued, "Our MapEng platform is designed to generate these insights significantly faster, less expensively and in more detail. We look forward to working with BioBlocks whose strengths in fragment based drug discovery and medicinal chemistry strongly positions them to capitalize on this information to optimize the discovery of small molecule therapeutics."

"In spite of significant recent developments in drug discovery technologies, the identification of high quality leads that are ultimately successful in clinical trials remains a challenge. This process is even more daunting for difficult targets such as protein-protein interactions," said Peter Pallai, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of BioBlocks. "Our Target-to-Lead platform addresses this problem with a fragment based approach utilizing a dynamic lead development pathway for selection of high quality lead candidates. Working with Full Spectrum Genetics allows us to take advantage of the synergy between our platform and Full Spectrum Genetics' exceptional capabilities in mapping protein functional sites. Our joint capabilities allow us to develop drug candidates for protein-protein interactions, including the cancer target chosen for our collaboration."

About Full Spectrum GeneticsFounded in 2010, Full Spectrum Genetics, Inc. is a privately-held protein analysis and engineering platform and product company. The Company's MapEng platform enables the ultra-high throughput quantification of the effect on binding of every possible single amino acid substitution within a protein binding site. The MapEng platform provides a comprehensive analysis of protein structure-function relationships, with multiple applications for generating better biotherapeutics and diagnostics. For more information on Full Spectrum Genetics and its MapEng platform, visit http://www.fsgene.com.

About BioBlocksFounded in San Diego in 2002, BioBlocks provides medicinal chemistry expertise and high value intermediate products to partners in the drug discovery community. In numerous successful collaborations aided by a results-based lead optimization model, BioBlocks scientists have developed preclinical candidates and reached program milestones. The Company's Target-to-Lead platform addresses fundamental issues in drug discovery -- the high attrition rate and lack of novelty found in typical HTS hits -- by providing an alternative source for high quality tractable leads with multiple possible optimization pathways. For more information on BioBlocks and its lead discovery services please visit http://www.bioblocks.com.

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Full Spectrum Genetics and BioBlocks Enter Collaboration to Discover Novel Small Molecule Therapeutics That Inhibit a ...

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