Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is a class of hormone replacement therapy in which androgens, often testosterone, are replaced. Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is an FDA-approved medical treatment for men of any age who have low testosterone, a hormone necessary for male sexual development. Testosterone deficiency, also referred to as hypogonadism, is a common problem among men aged between 40 and 79 years, with some studies stating that nearly 30% of all men worldwide are affected by hypogonadism. As the incidence of testosterone deficiency increases, it is expected that the demand for TRT will also show a simultaneous increase.

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Top Key Players covered in this Report includes: AbbVie, Endo International, Eli lilly, Pfizer, Actavis (Allergan), Bayer, Novartis, Teva, Mylan, Upsher-Smith, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Kyowa Kirin, Acerus Pharmaceuticals.

The report evaluates the figures of the global Testosterone Replacement Therapy market and presents reliable forecasts as to the markets growth prospects over the coming years. The historical development trajectory of this market is examined in the report, offering solid factual support to the analysis and estimations presented in the report. The geographical and competitive dynamics of this global market are also presented in the report, helping deliver a comprehensive picture of the market.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on the product portfolios of the top players in the Testosterone Replacement Therapy market.

Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on the upcoming technologies, R&D activities, and product launches in the market

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of the market strategies, geographic and business segments of the leading players in the market

Market Development: Comprehensive information about emerging markets. This report analyzes the market for various segments across geographies

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the Testosterone Replacement Therapy market

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As the global Testosterone Replacement Therapy market is segmented based on various parameters, an in-depth classification of the market is also mentioned; elements impacting the markets growth are studied in detail to understand the report precisely. Moreover this, profiles of some of the leading players operating in the global Testosterone Replacement Therapy market are included in the report. Using SWOT analysis, their weaknesses and strengths are analyzed. It helps the study deliver visions into the opportunities and threats that companies may face during the forecast period.

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Table of Contents

Global Testosterone Replacement Therapy Market Research Report 2020-2025

Chapter 1 Testosterone Replacement Therapy Market Overview

Chapter 2 Global Economic Impact on Industry

Chapter 3 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers

Chapter 4 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by Region

Chapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions

Chapter 6 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

Chapter 7 Global Market Analysis by Application

Chapter 8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis

Chapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

Chapter 11 Market Effect Factors Analysis

Chapter 12 Global Testosterone Replacement Therapy Market Forecast

Conclusion: This exclusive report will provide you a clear view of each and every fact of the Testosterone Replacement Therapy market without a need to refer to any other research report or a data source. Our report will provide you with all the facts about the past, present, and future of the concerned Market.

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Massive Growth of Testosterone Replacement Therapy Market by 2025 with Top Key Players like AbbVie, Endo International, Eli lilly, Pfizer, Actavis...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

LYON, France, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --genOway, a public company and leader in developing genetically modified research models, today announced an important milestone in extending its strategic alliance with Merck, a leading science and technology company and leader in genome editing.

In December 2018, genOway acquired from Merck exclusive worldwide rights on its foundational CRISPR/Cas9 portfolio in the rodent field (all applications involving rodent cells or animals). Today, the two companies have further strengthened their collaboration by entering into an additional license providing genOway with non-exclusive rights to commercialize the development and use of all other animal cell models for its customers' internal research uses as well as commercial exploitation.

"We are delighted to extend our relationship with Merck. The Merck IP is growing and broadening. Merck is now recognized as a leading provider of foundational CRISPR IP. This additional license will enable genOway to serve our customers better, by offering them broad and versatile solutions and the necessary intellectual property rights to help accelerate their research," says Alexandre Fraichard, founder and Chief Operating Officer of genOway.

Both Merck and genOwayhave identified research fields where they can combine their respective technologies and expertise to develop and validate new CRISPR/Cas9-related products and solutions. Merck's patented CRISPR integration technology isa strong entry point through which innovation can be developed and launched.

About genOway

genOway (Euronext Growth: ALGEN; ISIN: FR0004053510) is a biotechnology society that operates in 28 countries in Europe, Asia and North America, and more than 260 research institutes and 80 biopharmaceutical companies. genOway's development is based on a broad and exclusive technology platform, as well as on strong intellectual property rights, combining patents and licensing agreements. The company has signed many commercial contracts with the leaders of the pharmaceutical industry (BMS, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, etc.), and with the most prestigious academic research centers, including the King's College and the University of Manchester in England; Harvard, Caltech and the National Institutes of Health in the United States; the Pasteur Institute in France; the German National Genome Research Network and the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

http://www.genOway.com

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Contact: Sandrine Carteaulicensing@genoway.com+33-43-76-54-100

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genOway and Merck Strengthen CRISPR/Cas9 Strategic Alliance by Extending Their Partnership to All Animal Cell Models - PRNewswire

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

When I saw the news that He Jiankui and colleagues had beensentenced to three years in prisonfor the first human embryo gene editing and implantation experiments, all I could think was, How will we look back at what they had done in 100 years?

I imagine that the scientists, medical doctors, and biotechnologists reading this essay will almost unanimously proclaim that He Jiankui will never be viewed in a positive way. What they fail to see is that societal ethics change, especially over long time frames.

In the next 100 years, thousands of edited embryos will be implanted and become children. I believe that embryo editing and implantation will someday be viewed much as how IVF is viewed today. When a human embryo being edited and implanted is no longer interesting enough for a news story, will we still view He Jiankui as a villain?

I dont think we will. But even if we do, He Jiankui will be remembered and talked about more than any scientist of our day. Although that may seriously aggravate many scientists and bioethicists, I think he deserves that honor.

Read full, original post: CRISPR babies scientist He Jiankui should not be villainized or headed to prison

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Viewpoint: In 100 years, we'll be honoring controversial CRISPR scientist He Jiankui - Genetic Literacy Project

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

ZUG, Switzerland and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), a biopharmaceutical company focused on creating transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases, today announced that Samarth Kulkarni, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of CRISPR Therapeutics, is scheduled to present at the Goldman Sachs 12th Annual Healthcare CEOs Unscripted: A View from the Top conference on Thursday, January 9, 2020, at 1:10 p.m. ET.

A live webcast of the fireside chat will be available on the "Events & Presentations" page in the Investors section of the Company's website at https://crisprtx.com/events. A replay of the webcast will be archived on the Company's website for 14 days following the presentation.

About CRISPR TherapeuticsCRISPR Therapeutics is a leading gene editing company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform. CRISPR/Cas9 is a revolutionary gene editing technology that allows for precise, directed changes to genomic DNA. CRISPR Therapeutics has established a portfolio of therapeutic programs across a broad range of disease areas including hemoglobinopathies, oncology, regenerative medicine and rare diseases. To accelerate and expand its efforts, CRISPR Therapeutics has established strategic collaborations with leading companies including Bayer AG, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and ViaCyte, Inc. CRISPR Therapeutics AG is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, CRISPR Therapeutics, Inc., and R&D operations based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and business offices in London, United Kingdom. For more information, please visit http://www.crisprtx.com.

Investor Contact:Susan Kimsusan.kim@crisprtx.com

Media Contact:Jennifer PaganelliWCG on behalf of CRISPR347-658-8290jpaganelli@wcgworld.com

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CRISPR Therapeutics to Present at the Goldman Sachs 12th Annual Healthcare CEOs Unscripted: A View from the Top Conference - Yahoo Finance

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The Insight Partners dedicated research and analysis team consist of experienced professionals with advanced statistical expertise and offer various customization options in the existing study.

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology is a simple but powerful tool for genome editing. This tool enables life science researchers to easily edit DNA sequences and modify gene function. It has many potential applications include correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops. By delivering the CRISPR enzyme Cas9 nuclease coupled with synthetic guide RNA (gRNA) into a cell, the cells genome can be cut at a desired location, that allows existing genes to be removed or add new ones.

Increasing usage of CRISPR systems in microbiology, growing government and private investments on research and development of genome editing, rising prevalence of genetic disorders, and increases application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology to improve crop production drives the global CRISPR technology market. However, ethical issues associated with CRISPR and lack of skilled personnel restrain the global CRISPR technology market over the forecast period.

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The global CRISPR technology market is segmented on the basis of product and services, application, end user. Based product and services, the market is segmented as, enzymes, kits, services and others. The CRISPR technology market is categorized based on application into, genetic engineering, cell line engineering and others. Based on end user, the CRISPR Technology market is classified into biotechnology & pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations (CROS), and academic & government research institutes.

The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global CRISPR Technology market based product and services, application, end user. It also provides market size and forecast till 2027 for overall market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America. The CRISPR Technology Market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of 13 countries globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.

North America held over major share in the CRISPR Technology market in 2017 owing to significant research carried out in order to develop novel therapeutics for disease targeting and high adoption of genome editing technique for germline modifications. North America is expected to collectively contribute towards the growth of CRISPR Technology market owing to the presence of major market players and also the development of technologically advanced products of CRISPR technology is expected to influence the CRISPR technology market growth.

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CRISPR Technology Market Emerging Trends to Achieve Significant Growth in the Coming Years - Pro News Time

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

A New Years Eve gift has been granted by the federal government to the University of California its 20th U.S. patent on CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technologies. The addition extends a large patent portfolio that is already being used to develop crop and seed breeding and human and animal health.

The new patent is the 18th concerning CRISPR-Cas9 technology granted this year by the University of Vienna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, who co-invented the technology with Jennifer Doudna of UC Berkeley, professor of molecular and cell biology and chemistry. Charpentier is currently the head of the Berlin-based Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology.

2019 has been an incredibly important and successful year in our ongoing efforts to maintain UC as the pioneer of CRISPR-Cas9 Intellectual Property in the United States, said Eldora L. Ellison, CRISPR-Cas9 University Patent Strategist and President of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, an intellectual property law firm. We are inspired by this years USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) recognition of the leadership of the Doudna-Charpentier team on CRISPR-Cas9 and look forward to working to grow our portfolio by 2020.

In accordance with the UCs long-standing dedication to developing and applying its proprietary inventions to human enhancement, the university allows non-profit institutions, including academic institutions, to use the groundbreaking CRISPR-Cas9 technology for non-commercial research and educational purposes.

The UC also encouraged the widespread marketing of CRISPR-Cas9 technology through an exclusive license with Berkeley, Californias Caribou Biosciences Inc., which has sub-licensed the patent family to numerous companies around the world. The technology is currently being used to modify cattle, sheep and pig genomes to help fend off disease, create screens for human disease medications, generate updated human and mouse cell lines to help researchers understand and manage these disorders in humans, and manufacture research reagents.

In addition, Caribou licenses the technology for human medical uses to Intellia Therapeutics Inc., specifically cancer treatments, genetic disorders, viral infections and inflammatory diseases. The new patent (U.S. Patent 10,519,467), which proposes a method of generating a genetically engineered cell using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, is part of a collection of foreign and domestic patents that includes multiple CRISPR-Cas9 formulations and methods, such as controlling and editing genes and modulating transcription in any environment, even within plant, animal and human cells. The UCs 20 patents are the largest portfolio of CRISPR-Cas9 patents in the U.S. The UC has received notices of allowance for the issuance of five additional patents in early 2020.

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UC's 20th US patent on CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technologies - Health Gazette

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Report Includes: - An overview of recent advances in stem cell therapies and coverage of potential stem cells used for regenerative advanced therapies

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05835679/?utm_source=PRN

- Discussion on role of genomic and epigenomics manipulations in generating safe and effective treatment options - Identification of autologous and allogeneic cells and their usage in creating advanced therapy medical products (ATMPs) - Information on 3D cell culture and discussion on advances in gene editing and gene programming techniques such as CRIPSR/Cas9, TALEN, and ZINC fingers - Insights into commercial and regulatory landscape, and evaluation of challenges and opportunities for developing autologous and allogenic "off the shelf" solutions

Summary Stem cells are unique in their ability to divide and develop into different cell types that form tissues and organs in the body during development and growth.The stem cell's role is to repair impaired or depleted cells, tissues and organs in the body that are damaged by disease, injury, or normal wear and tear.

Stem cells are found in every organ, but are most abundant in bone marrow, where they help to restore the blood and immune system.

Stem cells may be derived from various sources, including - - Adult stem cells (ASCs): Derived from tissue after birth, these include bone marrow, brain, peripheral blood, skeletal muscle, skin, teeth, heat, gut, liver, ovarian epithelium and testis, as well as umbilical cord stem cells and blood. These cells are currently most widely used for cellbased therapies. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are derived from bone marrow, can give rise to red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, whereas mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are derived from the stroma and give rise to non-blood forming cells and tissues. - Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs): Derived from embryos, these include stems cell lines, aborted embryos or from miscarriages, unused in vitro fertilized embryos and cloned embryos. There are currently no clinically approved treatments for embryonic stem cells. - Inducible pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs): These are stem cells generated in the laboratory by reprogramming adult cells that have already differentiated into specific cells, such as liver cells. They are used either for research purposes (e.g., experimental medicine testing toxicity of new drugs) or are under research for potential future clinical use.

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Highs and Lows of Stem Cell Therapies: Off- The-Shelf Solutions - P&T Community

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

This is a sponsored story

The start of a new year is the perfect time to prioritize self-care and set health and wellness goals, so make 2020 your happiest yet with a new, enhanced version of you. Use this guide to find the doctors, therapists and practitioners that can help you look and feel your best.

When diet and exercise just wont provide the results youre looking for, visit Skiin Anti-Aging Lounge. They offer the only procedure that builds muscle. EMSCULPT has been proven safe and effective by the most reputable scientific methods. The procedure induces strong muscle contractions with Hifem (high-intensity electromagnetic) technology not achievable through voluntary contractions. This builds muscle and creates a sculpted, toned physique. Other services like CoolSculpting and Exilis also help clients reshape their bodies through nonsurgical, noninvasive methods. Skiin is the first and only CoolSculpting advanced education center in the nation. Another first: Exilis is the first and only device to combine radio frequency and ultrasound to tighten skin through heating and cooling.

Your face is the first place to show signs of aging, but there is a way to take back those years. Dr. John Yousif has received several awards for his research in facial aging. He has been practicing plastic and cosmetic surgery for over 30 years and has even pioneered new techniques like the Gortex Midface Lift and the Hyoid Suspension Neck Lift. At both Sier Medi-Spa and Ascension in Mequon, he offers surgical and nonsurgical procedures to reverse the signs of aging. All of the types of facelifts offered are long-lasting and natural looking, leaving clients feeling like a younger version of themselves.

RELATED What Is Man & Woman Of The Year?

Aqua, under the direction of Dr. Christopher Hussussian, is a full-service salon, spa and med spa offering a wide range of services in a luxurious setting on Pewaukee Lake. Whether you are hoping to change the way you look or feel or both Aqua has a solution to enhance your skin and hair for both body and face. New services for the new year include hair restoration for both men and women using PRP (platelet-rich plasma) with biotin and a new weight-loss program using the HCG hormone. They also offer advanced laser hair removal, Clear Lift skin tightening, ThermiVa and CoolSculpting, a popular nonsurgical fat cell reduction with lasting results. A consultation can help you decide what services would work best to achieve a healthier, happier version of yourself.

Serving the Lake Country area, Dr. Tom Stamas is helping people put their best face forward, one smile at a time. He specializes in smile design, a full dental restoration and reconstruction for those suffering from tooth damage or loss, or for those looking to fix crooked, worn or yellowed teeth. During your personalized consultation, Stamas and his team will help you select which treatments will bring your smile to life. Dental treatments like bridges, dental implants, crowns and state-of-the-art diagnostic tools are all available to restore the health, function and appearance of your smile. Youll feel good about the natural-looking results, and your self-esteem will get a boost too.

What if you could use undesired fat from your belly to get rid of the bags under your eyes? Sounds too good to be true, right? Anew Skin and Wellness has a procedure that is done right in the office with long lasting results. The nano-fat transfer removes a small amount of fat with micro liposuction. That fat is harvested for re-injection to the appropriate areas of the face, neck, earlobes, hands and thighs. It can also be used to plump thin lips, smooth cellulite and scars and restore skin elasticity. The nano-fat transfer is safe, effective, economical and helps clients look their best. The in-office procedure provides long-lasting results because the bodys stem cells can turn the aging skin into new, rejuvenated skin. Its the natural way to tighten and smooth skin, allowing you to turn back the clock without a surgical face- or neck-lift.

RELATED Local Homebuilders Talk About the Hottest Design Trends in Milwaukee Right Now

Dr. Arvind Ahuja has provided neurosurgical and endovascular care in southeastern Wisconsin for more than 20 years for brain, spine, artery and peripheral nerve conditions. Whether patients come to Neurosurgery and Endovascular Associates for neck and/or arm pain, back and/or leg pain or headache, the first step is always diagnostic testing to determine the cause of the pain, rather than just treating the symptoms. Often through treatments like medication, steroid injections, physical therapies and if need be surgery, patients achieve improved functioning and long-term relief. Ahujas specialized training in the nervous system is incredibly effective in treating spinal conditions, and his treatments give patients the opportunity to live a happier and morefunctional life.

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How These Practitioners Can Help with New Year, New You Goals - Milwaukee Magazine

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

In high school Aaron Sandoval became obsessed with Deadpool, Marvels comic character who has accelerated healing and regenerative powers.

Sandoval has turned in his superhero cape for a lab coat in medicine by working with reparative methods for the human body. And now, hes received a national award that will allow him to do that.

Sandoval, a 21-year-old UF biology senior, was selected for the Marshall Scholarship, which gives students in the U.S. a chance to pursue their graduate studies in the United Kingdom, all expenses paid. He is the second Marshall scholar in UFs history, following Steven Robinette in 2009.

Sandoval was one of 46 students chosen out of over 1,000 applicants across the U.S.

The Marshall Scholarship Program was created in 1953 to thank the U.S. for helping the U.K. after World War II under the Marshall Plan, which was the U.S.s way of helping European economies after the devastation of the war, according to the programs website.

It still hasnt really sunk in yet, Sandoval said. Im happy to have won it.

Sandoval said in his two years at the University of Cambridge and Kings College London hell study biochemistry and focus on the transfer of stem cells from the lab to the patients so they can understand what cells are being used to help them.

Sandoval has collaborated with UF faculty members like Malcolm Maden, a professor in UFs Cancer and Genetics Research Institute. Sandoval and Maden worked in a lab with an African spiny mouse, to figure out how stem cells repair parts of the human body like skin tissue.

In 2012, Maden and his research team discovered the African spiny mouses ability to regenerate skin scar free. Maden wrote one of Sandovals letters of recommendation for his application for the scholarship.

Sandoval said if the mouses regeneration of skin cells could be translated to humans, then a humans wounds could completely heal rather than scar.

Sandoval didnt have the opportunity to do research in high school and wanted to learn more at the university level, so he decided to take Madens lab.

Maden said Sandovals uniqueness stems from his intelligence, drive and ability to interact with different kinds of people.

Hes behaved like a dynamic scientist, not like an undergrad, he said. Completely amazing, totally unique guy.

Sandoval said he feels fortunate to have won the award and to have so many people who helped him get to this point.

I couldnt have done it without the support of family, friends, mentors, he said. It took a whole village to win this thing.

Contact Emma McAvoy at[emailprotected]. Follow her on Twitter@EmmaMcAvoy1.

Continued here:
UF student chosen for the Marshall Scholarship, will pursue Masters degrees in United Kingdom - The Independent Florida Alligator

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Welcome to Try Before You Buy, a monthly series where we talk about the pricey beauty products and in-office treatments that are getting major buzz and give our honest feedback. This month, our Senior Beauty & Fashion Editor, Pia Velasco, talks about theAugustinus Bader cream that has changed her skin.

As a beauty editor, Ive tried hundreds (and maybe even thousands) of skincare products since starting my career seven years ago. There have been creams that promise to give me skin as soft as babys bum, serums that pledge to erase all signs of dark spots, face masks that swear theyll make my skin so radiant that itll blind my enemiesand guess what, most of them fell through on their promises. As such, Ive become skeptical when a brand tells me that their product is life-changing and that there isnt anything like it on the market. So when I met Professor Augustinus Bader, the director of the Applied Stem Cell Biology and Cell Technology at the University of Leipzig in Germany, earlier this year and he and his team told me about his epigenetic skincare line that changes the skin to the point of altering DNA, I have to admit that I did mentally raise an eyebrow.

However, I had heard about epigenetic skincare before and was fascinated by the science behind it. Essentially, epigenetics refers to the naturally occurring biological modification process of the DNA thats influenced by the environment and lifestyle patterns. For example, if you have a healthy diet and exercise on the regular, your genetic coding will eventually change to be healthier, and youll be able to transfer those healthy genes onto your offspring. Epigenetic skincare is the same conceptif you train your skin cells to be healthy, your skins DNA will change. Needless to say,I was curious to try it, and when a fellow beauty editor friend told me that she stopped using all of her skincare products after trying the Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream, I went from being curious to being eager to try it.

A quick background on my skin. Ive always had acne-prone skin, and because of my medium skin tone, Im also very prone to hyperpigmentation. Most of the skincare products I use target my acne concerns, but I also go ham on texture-refining products in hopes that one day Ill achieve glass-like skin. Im used to looking at ingredients that target specific skincare concerns (salicylic acid for acne, retinol for anti-aging, vitamin C for brightening, etc.), and for the first time, I was using a product that claimed that it would address all my concerns at once. Because of the way epigenetic skincare works, instead of targeting just one skincare concern, the product tells skin cells to be healthy, which in turn helps skin be the best version of itself.I know it sounds too good to be true, and while it may not work for everybody, holy shit it worked wonders for me.

Courtesy of Augustinus Bader

I started testing out the cream the way I approach all my beauty testing, I did a test-drive on half my face. On the left side of my face, I continued to use the products that were already in my arsenal, and on the right side of my face, I used the Augustinus Bader cream and nothing else. After about two weeks I started seeing a shiftmy acne wasnt working up, my skin texture was a lot more smooth, and it just looked overall healthier. I quickly tossed my other products and switched over to using The Rich Creamevery day. After a while, my skin started balancing out and both looked and felt a whole lot better. Now, Im not saying this product is magicbut Im also not saying that its not.

Im currently testing a whole new array of skincare products for the upcoming HelloGiggles Beauty Crush Awards (stay tuned!), and so Ive had to sacrifice the left side of my face to test new products (I switch off between sides). As a result, my skin has started to shift back into its old ways, with a resurgence of blemishes, dark spots, and uneven texture as I test out new formulas. But the right side of my face is still in A+ condition.

Sure, this product is definitely on the pricier side, but its a product that I can say with full confidence that I would actually buy if I wasnt a beauty editor. (Full disclosure: I receive a lot of free products from beauty brands, and Ive only bought about a handful of products with my own money since working in the business.) For me, getting my ideal skin has always been a battle, and Im so happy to have finally found a product that works magic for me, which is why I was excited to learn that the brand recently launched a body cream as well.

Courtesy of Augustinus Bader

Its important to remember that body care requires skincare too, after all, we do have skin on our bodies. The Augustinus Bader body cream fulfills the basic requirement of moisturizing skin, but what makes this anti-aging body product stand out is that it uses its epigenetic technology to target and treat stretch marks and cellulite with continued use. Now, I havent used it long enough to speak to its long-term effects, but I can say that its fast-absorbing formula does make my skin feel baby soft and look way smoother than it did before. Also, Im typically very good about sharing my beauty products with others, but when my boyfriend asked if he could use this cream I may or may not have told him Id put a curse on his ancestors if he dared. Nothing gets in the way of me and my Augustinus Bader products.

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The viral Augustinus Bader rich cream has completely changed my skin for the better - Yahoo Lifestyle

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The latest lifestyle, fashion and travel trends

A high-end bio-beauty boom is in full bloom thanks to a host of revolutionary brands set on changing the face of modern skincare. These are the five to know...

Hailing from the Napa Valley, where founder April Gargiulo spent two years researching and developing her Holy Grail skincare products using the same meticulous approach her family took to their fine wine business, Vintners Daughter champions just two products that promise dramatic, multi-correctional results using some of the worlds most active organic and foraged botanicals. The original Active Botanical Serum (175) is hailed as the face oils to end all face oils and is built around the brands signature Phyto Radiance Infusion. This process starts with consciously grown whole plants such as calendula and super green alfalfa, known in ancient times as the foods of life, which undergo a methodical three-week long extraction to glean every last drop of their nutritional benefits. Just five drops using the brands 30-second Push/Press Method of application promises to deliver visible radiance, brightness and unparalleled nourishment particularly when used in conjunction with its preparatory Active Treatment Essence (210) (goop.com).

The undisputed Queen of Green, Tata Harper is a pioneer of the farm-to-face beauty movement with all-natural formulations handcrafted in the brands laboratory in Vermont and bottles stamped with a code to trace how fresh your product is and who it was made by. The beauty editors favourite is going one step further with the launch of its Supernaturals 2.0 line of six products boasting 155 ultramodern green ingredients from 46 countries and of course, no synthetic chemicals. The Elixir Vitae Serum (391) alone boasts 34 new radical engineered ingredients from 25 countries, including kelp polymers from France developed to target cellular ageing. Other highlights from the range include the Concentrated Brightening Serum (257), which contains 24 ingredients to hydrate, 17 to reduce wrinkles, 15 to brighten and 13 to even skin tone, and the Boosted Contouring Serum (257), designed to lift, firm and restore youthful elasticity with a combination of Edelweiss stem cells and skin revitalising pomegranate. (tataharperskincare.com)

The brainchild of cosmetologist Anna Buonocore and naturalist Jeanette Thottrup, Seed To Skin believes that effective skincare is threefold. Firstly, that wild ingredients foraged from the land and sea used in conjunction with those sourced from its organic Tuscan farm are among the most potent nature has to offer. Secondly, that just like feeding your body skin requires a healthy, balanced diet and formulas that neither starve nor overload with any one element. Finally, that the most effective absorption relies on a precise mix of perfectly-sized molecules to ensure each ingredient is delivered exactly where it needs to go. As a result, its award-winning product line is loaded with game changers try The AlcheMist Super Active Serum Spray (145) to feed your skin a nutrient-rich drink whenever it needs a boost, or the Black Magic Detoxifying Oxygen Therapy Mask (119) which contains activated charcoal and volcanic clay for a one-stop facial in a jar (libertylondon.com).

(Wildsmith )

Inspired by the arboretums progressive approach to cultivation at Hampshires Heckfield Place and named after its mastermind William Walker Wildsmith, this ethical crafted-in-England skincare brand is designed for those who desire natural products but demand clinical results. Exclusive to Harrods beauty halls, the hero additions to its product line-up include the Platinum Booster (175) a powerful skin-firming treatment powered by encapsulated oxygen and moss cell cultures and a reviving, collagen-boosting Copper Peptide Cream and Serum Duo (150) which delivers a luminous finish to your complexion and comes in a compostable mycelium box (wildsmithskin.com; harrods.com).

After turning to flower arranging as a weekly dose of mindfulness, beauty entrepreneur Kelly S Chung endeavoured to harness the healing power of nature or Flower Therapy, as she has coined it in another form; and Femmue was born. Fusing K-beauty innovation with a clean beauty ethos and the cellular energy of plants, the camellia flower is at the heart of the range and renowned for its antioxidant and restorative qualities. The Divine Camlia Facial Oil (100) is the purest form with 99.8 per cent camellia seed oil, while other must-try products in the line include the bestselling Flower Infused Fine Mask (40) formulated with camellia petals, geranium oil and cactus extract and the lavender-loaded Brilliant Cleansing Oil (73) (net-a-porter.com).

Read the original here:
Super Naturals: the high-tech natural beauty brands changing the face of modern skincare - Evening Standard

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Have you ever gone to look for something on Amazon and suddenly felt too overwhelmed by all the options? Yeah, me too. I love to have choices, but sometimes I need more information in order to make a smart buy. This is particularly true for beauty products the selection seems endless.

As a shopping editor, my sole job is to hunt for the best products customers should know about when it comes to beauty. I take that job very seriously, since we're literally using these items on our bodies. That's why I love trying new things from Amazon, because they often come with hundreds of customer reviews. I know it's a purchase I can feel good about after doing my research. I've rounded up the bestselling beauty products our editors have reviewed and bought themselves. Check out everything, and give something new a try.

Excerpt from:
22 Beauty Items From Amazon That Have Changed Our Editors' Lives Their Reviews Prove It - POPSUGAR

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has been monitoring the global amniotic membrane market since 2019 and the market is poised to grow by USD 1.48 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of more than 13% during the forecast period. Request a free sample report

Read the 145-page report with TOC on Amniotic Membrane Market Analysis Report by Geography (Asia, Europe, North America, and ROW), Type (Cryopreserved amniotic membrane and Dehydrated amniotic membrane), and the Segment Forecasts, 2020-2024.

https://www.technavio.com/report/amniotic-membrane-market-industry-analysis

The market is driven by the rising demand for biocompatible scaffolds. In addition, the rise in the development of new applications through research is anticipated to boost the growth of the amniotic membrane market.

The rising need for naturally derived materials in tissue scaffolding is increasing the demand for amniotic membranes. This is due to the specialized structure of amniotic membranes that exhibit high biological viability, making them ideal for creating bio-scaffolds. Moreover, the epithelial cells in amniotic membranes have the advantages of stem cells which provide a native environment of cell seeding. Bio-scaffolds are widely used in regenerative therapies for the treatment of bone, cartilage, skin, vascular tissues, and skeletal muscles. With growing geriatric population, the demand for such orthopaedic regenerative therapies is expected to increase significantly during the forecast period. This will have a positive impact on the demand for amniotic membranes.

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Major Five Amniotic Membrane Market Companies:

Celularity Inc.

Celularity Inc. operates its business through the Unified Business Segment. BIOVANCE is the key offering of the company. It offers a decellularized, dehydrated human amniotic membrane allograft that contains natural extracellular matrix (ECM) that helps in wound regeneration and tissue restoration.

Human Regenerative Technologies LLC

Human Regenerative Technologies LLC operates the business across segments such as Flowable and Membrane. HydraTek amniotic membrane products, is the key offering of the company. It includes thin and thick dehydrated amniotic membranes used in covering and protecting the recipient's tissue.

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp.

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. operates its business across segments such as Codman Specialty Surgical, and Orthopedics and Tissue Technologies. The company offers a wide range of amniotic membrane products. Some of the key offerings include AmnioExcel Amniotic Allograft Membrane, BioDDryFlex Amniotic Tissue Membrane, BioDOptix Amniotic Extracellular Membrane, and Integra BioFix Amniotic Membrane Allograft.

Katena Products Inc.

Katena Products Inc. operates the business across segments such as Instruments, Biologics, Plugs, Lenses, Devices, and Blink Medical. Amniotic Membrane Surgical and Amniotic Membrane Clinic are some of the key offerings of the company.

MiMedx Group Inc.

MiMedx Group Inc. operates the business in the Regenerative biomaterial products and bioimplants segment. The company offers a wide range of amniotic membrane products. AmnioFix, EpiFix, and EpiBurn are the key offerings of the company.

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Amniotic Membrane Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020 - 2024)

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Global Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Machines Market Global extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines market by geography (Asia, Europe, North America, and ROW) and modality (veno-venous and arterio-venous; and veno-arterial).

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Global Amniotic Membrane Market 2020-2024 | Evolving Opportunities with Celularity Inc. and Human Regenerative Technologies LLC | Technavio - Business...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

[H]ere, we present some of the innovations, both conceptual and technological, that stood out throughout the past decade.

In 2010, an international group of scientists published thefirst draft of the Neanderthal genome. And three years later, another large group of coauthors published ahigh-coverage, complete Neanderthal genome.

Beyond the remarkable advances concerning the sequencing of DNA, the 2010s saw the rapid establishment and development of a revolutionary genome editing strategy: CRISPR.

The 2010s were also momentous for personalized medicine and gene therapy. In 2017, the FDA approved the gene therapy Luxturna, which treats a single-gene disease that causes childhood blindness, making it the first such therapeutic to receive FDA approval.

I cant help feeling that the 2020s have big things in store for several areas of life science. The excitement that has built around personalized medicine, CRISPR as a therapeutic tool, and AI presage wide applications for these still-young technologies. As they have been throughout the decade, bioethicists in the 2020s will need to remain ever vigilant, considering continuing developments such as the creation of human/animal chimeras, the genomic modification of human embryos, and the potential of more-accessible genome sequencing.

Read full, original post: What A Long, Strange Decade Its Been

Original post:
'Strange' decade gave us CRISPR, gene therapy advances and a Neanderthal genome - Genetic Literacy Project

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Life sciences group Promega has signed a license agreement with MilliporeSigma to advance drug development through new research products created using gene-editing technology.

The agreement will give Promega access to MilliporeSigmas foundational CRISPR genome-editing technology. Promega will aim to create new research products for investigating endogenous biology, including those for drug development. This will give scientists the tools needed to better read the physiological or natural levels of protein expression, providing a more accurate understanding of protein behavior.

This license further expands the potential of CRISPR, and, more importantly, gives scientists a new view into natural cell activity, said Bill Linton, president and CEO, Promega Corporation. This is quite a meaningful contribution to many areas of applied research in such fields as cancer and neuroscience.

Research papers such as those in ACS Chemical Biology have detailed how the Promega HiBiT Protein Tagging System can be combined with CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing to tag endogenous proteins and simplify their study under natural expression conditions.

Under this licensing agreement, Promega plans to use our intellectual property to develop CRISPR- edited cell lines, which can play a major role in determining drug efficacy, toxicity and overall development, said Udit Batra, CEO, MilliporeSigma.

Original post:
Promega to work with MilliporeSigma on advancing drug development using gene-editing tools - EPM Magazine

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

GRAUBNDNER KANTONALBANK (PRIVAT bought a fresh place in CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP). The institutional investor bought 32.00 shares of the stock in a transaction took place on 11/29/2019. In another most recent transaction, which held on 11/30/2019, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA sold approximately 983.00 shares of CRISPR Therapeutics AG. In a separate transaction which took place on 11/29/2019, the institutional investor, MEDICAL STRATEGY GMBH sold 1.9 thousand shares of the companys stock. The total Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.90% of the companys stock.

In the most recent purchasing and selling session, CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP)s share price increased by 0.20 percent to ratify at $59.44. A sum of 1391345 shares traded at recent session and its average exchanging volume remained at 1.08M shares. The 52-week price high and low points are important variables to concentrate on when assessing the current and prospective worth of a stock. CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) shares are taking a pay cut of -19.68% from the high point of 52 weeks and flying high of 116.15% from the low figure of 52 weeks.

CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) shares reached a high of $60.28 and dropped to a low of $57.36 until finishing in the latest session at $58.01. Traders and investors may also choose to study the ATR or Average True Range when concentrating on technical inventory assessment. Currently at 3.24 is the 14-day ATR for CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP). The highest level of 52-weeks price has $74.00 and $27.50 for 52 weeks lowest level. After the recent changes in the price, the firm captured the enterprise value of $2.69B. The liquidity ratios which the firm has won as a quick ratio of 8.30, a current ratio of 8.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.00.

Having a look at past record, were going to look at various forwards or backwards shifting developments regarding CRSP. The firms shares fell -10.95 percent in the past five business days and shrunk -18.72 percent in the past thirty business days. In the previous quarter, the stock rose 53.24 percent at some point. The output of the stock increased 24.90 percent within the six-month closing period, while general annual output gained 112.13 percent. The companys performance is now negative at -2.41% from the beginning of the calendar year.

According to WSJ, CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) obtained an estimated Overweight proposal from the 16 brokerage firms currently keeping a deep eye on the stock performance as compares to its rivals. 2 equity research analysts rated the shares with a selling strategy, 2 gave a hold approach, 12 gave a purchase tip, 0 gave the firm a overweight advice and 0 put the stock under the underweight category. The average price goal of one year between several banks and credit unions that last year discussed the stock is $77.50.

Coupa Software Incorporated (COUP) shares on Fridays trading session, jumped 3.91 percent to see the stock exchange hands at $159.58 per unit. Lets a quick look at companys past reported and future predictions of growth using the EPS Growth. EPS growth is a percentage change in standardized earnings per share over the trailing-twelve-month period to the current year-end. The company posted a value of -$1.35 as earning-per-share over the last full year, while a chance, will post $0.47 for the coming year. The current EPS Growth rate for the company during the year is -16.40% and predicted to reach at 31.67% for the coming year. In-depth, if we analyze for the long-term EPS Growth, the scenario is totally different as the current prediction is 58.37% for the next five year.

The last trading period has seen Coupa Software Incorporated (COUP) move -0.24% and 173.82% from the stocks 52-week high and 52-week low prices respectively. The daily trading volume for Coupa Software Incorporated (NASDAQ:COUP) over the last session is 2.92 million shares. COUP has attracted considerable attention from traders and investors, a scenario that has seen its volume jump 64.87% compared to the previous one.

Investors focus on the profitability proportions of the company that how the company performs at profitability side. Return on equity ratio or ROE is a significant indicator for prospective investors as they would like to see just how effectively a business is using their cash to produce net earnings. As a return on equity, Coupa Software Incorporated (NASDAQ:COUP) produces -21.60%. Because it would be easy and highly flexible, ROI measurement is among the most popular investment ratios. Executives could use it to evaluate the levels of performance on acquisitions of capital equipment whereas investors can determine that how the stock investment is better. The ROI entry for COUPs scenario is at -9.60%. Another main metric of a profitability ratio is the return on assets ratio or ROA that analyses how effectively a business can handle its assets to generate earnings over a duration of time. Coupa Software Incorporated (COUP) generated -7.40% ROA for the trading twelve-month.

Volatility is just a proportion of the anticipated day by day value extendthe range where an informal investor works. Greater instability implies more noteworthy benefit or misfortune. After an ongoing check, Coupa Software Incorporated (COUP) stock is found to be 4.65% volatile for the week, while 3.70% volatility is recorded for the month. The outstanding shares have been calculated 61.40M. Based on a recent bid, its distance from 20 days simple moving average is 8.43%, and its distance from 50 days simple moving average is 11.88% while it has a distance of 24.45% from the 200 days simple moving average.

The Williams Percent Range or Williams %R is a well-known specialized pointer made by Larry Williams to help recognize overbought and oversold circumstances. Coupa Software Incorporated (NASDAQ:COUP)s Williams Percent Range or Williams %R at the time of writing to be seated at 18.12% for 9-Day. It is also calculated for different time spans. Currently for this organization, Williams %R is stood at 13.07% for 14-Day, 13.07% for 20-Day, 8.24% for 50-Day and to be seated 8.24% for 100-Day. Relative Strength Index, or RSI(14), which is a technical analysis gauge, also used to measure momentum on a scale of zero to 100 for overbought and oversold. In the case of Coupa Software Incorporated, the RSI reading has hit 66.33 for 14-Day.

Read more from the original source:
The Final Numbers Now Have The Rebound: CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP) and Coupa Software Incorporated (COUP) - BOV News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

There was a head-scratching moment when Martin Swales answered his front door and a priest handed him a letter.

The mystery was quickly solved. It contained a thank you note from someone whose life Martin had saved.

He knew his bone marrow had been given to someone called Jan and imagined it was a woman in Britain.

In fact the recipient was dad Jan Zmek 4,500 miles away in the US.

And Martins gift of life has led to an extraordinary 30-year bond between the pair, who are like blood brothers.

Jan named his second daughter Martina in honour of his hero and Martin is godfather to his third girl.

Retired welder Martin, 58, of Guisborough, North Yorks, said: Donating bone marrow didnt just save Jans life, it changed mine as well.

The first time I met Jan, I put my arms around him and he hugged me back.

It felt natural, like I was welcoming my brother. It feels like our two families have become one.

They each have three grown-up children and have visited each other for baptisms, graduations, and weddings.

Martin recently went to Switzerland, where Jan lives with his family, to celebrate 30 years since the transplant and present his blood brother with a Walk of Fame plaque.

It includes the touching message: Stood strong, fought hard, and won. You are a survivor.

The mens amazing and heart-warming story dates from 1986 when Martin joined the Anthony Nolan stem cell register after an appeal to save two girls living in the North East.

He was not a match for the girls but in 1989 was called by the register because he could be for Jan.

Martin said: It was quite a shock because Id pretty much forgotten about the register. They told me I was a possible match for someone and what was involved. I said yes straight away. I wanted to help if I could.

Despite the discomfort, Martin gave bone marrow from his hip at a clinic in Harley Street that August. Doctors extracted it from inside his hip using a long needle. Today most donations are no more invasive than giving blood.

Martin spent two nights in hospital. He said: It doesnt take long but at the time I was suffering from sciatica so I think I found it a bit more painful than most. It was an uncomfortable journey home on the train.Anthony Nolan covered the cost of the trip.

Jan, a 27-year-old dad, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1987. Initially doctors kept the news from him as no treatment was available in the Czech Republic, where he lived.

Jan said: I was diagnosed one year after the Chernobyl tragedy, weve never known if that radiation was to blame for my cancer. I suddenly grew very tired, nobody knew the reason.

I didnt know how sick I was because the doctors wouldnt tell me.

My wife, who was then my girlfriend, went to the same doctors and they told her, Dont marry this guy, dont have children with him. He is going to die in two years.

But Radka ignored their warning and insisted on marrying Jan in 1987.

His only hope was a bone marrow transplant. Weeks later he left for the US with his dad, who planned to be his donor.

Jan said: A few months earlier, I read in the paper the opera singer Jos Carreras was diagnosed with a similar blood disease and was going to the same US centre for a transplant.

They arrived with less than 40 in their pockets and discovered a transplant from his dad would give Jan only a 15 per cent chance of survival.

Instead doctors advised them to find a donor. It took two years and 10,000 to test potential donors before they found a perfect match in Martin.

By then Jan and Radka had become parents to their first daughter, Jana.

Jan needed to raise more than 100,000 to fund the transplant.

He said: It was such a huge amount of money to raise but when you are dying you have no choice.

There were 12 rival local radio stations but they all got together to run a joint appeal, which they broadcast at the same time. It was incredible.

Jan did a sponsored run, gave talks about his ordeal to church congregations to request donations, and wrote to celebrities, especially those with links to the Czech Republic.

Donald Trump s ex-wife Ivana gave 1,000, as did One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest director Milos Forman. Jan said: The response was crazy. So many people donated 20 dollars or 50.

Martins bone marrow was flown to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, where Jan was waiting in an isolation room.

He had been blasted with chemo and radiotherapy so his immune system would not attack Martins transplanted cells.

Normally, under strict anonymity rules to protect donor and recipient, Martin and Jan would have been unable to contact each other for years.

But a priest from the North East of England working at the hospital recognised Martins address when the bag of bone marrow arrived.

He offered to take a photo of Jan, a thank you letter, and a Czech garnet stone to Martin when he returned home in 1990.

Martin said: I was stunned. I had no idea my bone marrow had travelled so far. Knowing Id helped a young father, just like me, brought home how important it was and how easily it could have been me waiting for a stranger to save my life.

I wrote straight back. The priest also brought a letter from a couple whose daughter was in the same hospital.

Her transplant didnt work. Sadly she died, but they wrote to thank me for saving Jan. Responding to them was much harder. How do you find the right words?

Martin and Jan kept in touch. When Jans second daughter was born in 1991, he and Radka named her after Martin.

Jan said: How do you repay someone who saved your life? Naming our daughter after Martin was our way of showing him we would never forget what he did for us.

Hes not just the man who saved my life. He is a nice guy. Thats why were so close.

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Jan, 59, and his family moved to Switzerland, where he landed a job with a sports marketing firm that works with World Athletics.

In 1992 his job brought him to Crystal Palace in South London and he spent a few days with Martin and family.

Jans youngest daughter Michaela was born in 1995 and he invited Martin and his family to Switzerland for the baptism and asked him to be godfather.

The two families continued to visit each other and holidayed together in the Czech capital Prague. When Jans eldest, Jana, was studying at Newcastle University, she regularly spent weekends with Martin and his wife Tracey.

Martin said: It meant so much to visit Jan for the 30 anniversary of his transplant earlier this year.

"They showed us the sights and we went up the mountains. It was brilliant. I could never have imagined this when I joined the stem cell register all those years ago.

He added: I hope Martin and I will be able to celebrate another anniversary together in ten years.

The Anthony Nolan register matches potential donors to patients needing stem cell transplants and does vital research. To join, donate or find out more, see anthonynolan.org .

Here is the original post:
Bone marrow donor's amazing 30 year bond with man he saved - Mirror Online

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

There is also another option on the table: a technology called haplo-identical, where they could use the stem cells from my brother, who is a 50 per cent match.

But it shouldnt have been this hard to find a match, and thats whyI started my campaign to sign more people up to the transplant list.I want to make a difference for other people who have to go through this.

If I dont make it, I want to leave a legacy that the children can look at when theyre older and know that Mummy did everything she could to fight this thing. There can only be one winner with this disease, and it needs to be me.

As told to Jessica Salter

Leukaemia Care is one of three charities supported by this years Telegraph Christmas Charity Appeal. Our others are Wooden Spoon, which works with the rugby community to raise money for disabled and disadvantaged children,and The Silver Line, a telephone support service for lonely elderly people. To donate,visit telegraph.co.uk/charity or call 0151 284 1927 before the end of January

Continue reading here:
My agonising two-year wait for a stem-cell donor after being diagnosed with leukaemia - The Telegraph

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

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MCLEAN, United States (AFP) When a person's immune system is impaired by a genetic disease a bone marrow transplant can be a powerful therapeutic tool, but with a major downside during the first few months the recipient's defences against viruses are severely weakened. The slightest infection can lead to a hospital trip.

A still-experimental type of treatment known as T-cell therapy aims to assist during this vulnerable period the months during which the body is rebuilding its natural defences. After two decades of clinical trials, the technology has been refined and is being used to treat more and more patients, many of them children.

A boy named Johan is one of them.

Today he is a mischievous, smiling toddler, with a thick shock of light-brown hair, who never tires, playfully tormenting the family's puppy, Henry.

There is no sign of the three-year-long medical and emotional roller coaster ride he and his family, who live in an affluent Washington suburb, have been on.

The first traumatic surprise came with the results of a pregnancy test Johan was not planned.

That was a huge shock. I cried, said his mother, 39-year-old Maren Chamorro.

Risky procedure

She had known since childhood that she carried a gene that can be fatal in a child's first 10 years, chronic granulomatous disease (CGD).

Her brother died of it at the age of seven. The inexorable laws of genetics meant that Maren had a one in four chance of transmitting it to her child.

For their first children, she and her husband Ricardo had chosen invitro fertilisation, allowing the embryos to be genetically tested before implantation.

Their twins Thomas and Joanna were born both disease-free seven and a half years ago.

But in Johan's case, a post-birth genetic test quickly confirmed the worst: He had CGD.

After conferring with experts at Children's National Hospital in Washington, the couple took one of the most important decisions of their lives, Johan would receive a bone marrow transplant a risky procedure but one that would give him a chance of a cure.

Obviously, the fact that Maren had lost a sibling at a young age from the disease played a big role, Ricardo confided.

Bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside bones, serves as the body's factory for the production of blood cells both red and white.

His brother's immune system

Johan's white blood cells were incapable of fighting off bacteria and fungal infections. A simple bacterial infection, of negligible concern in a healthy child, could spread out of control in his young body.

Luckily, Johan's brother Thomas, six years old at the time, was a perfect match. In April 2018, doctors first cleansed Johan's marrow using chemotherapy. They then took a small amount of marrow from Thomas's hip bones using a long, thin needle.

From that sample they extracted supercells, as Thomas calls them stem cells, which they reinjected into Johan's veins. Those cells would eventually settle in his bone marrow and begin producing normal white blood cells.

The second step was preventive cell therapy, under an experimental programme led by immunologist Michael Keller at Children's National Hospital.

The part of the immune system that protects against bacteria can be rebuilt in only a matter of weeks; but for viruses, the natural process takes at least three months.

Hurdles remain

From Thomas's blood, doctors extracted specialised white blood cells T-cells that had already encountered six viruses.

Keller grew them for 10 days in an incubator, creating an army of hundreds of millions of those specialised T-cells. The result: A fluffy white substance contained in a small glass vial.

Those T-cells were then injected into Johan's veins, immediately conferring protection against the six viruses.

He has his brother's immune system, said Keller, an assistant professor at Children's National.

Johan's mother confirmed as much: Today, when Thomas and Johan catch a cold they have the same symptoms, and for nearly the same amount of time.

I think it's pretty cool to have immunity from your big brother, Maren Chamorro said.

This therapeutic approach boosting the body's immune system using cells from a donor or one's own genetically modified cells is known as immunotherapy.

Its main use so far has been against cancer, but Keller hopes it will soon become available against viruses for patients, like Johan, who suffer from depressed immune systems.

The chief obstacles to that happening are the complexity of the process and the costs, which can run to many thousands of dollars. These factors currently restrict the procedure to some 30 medical centres in the United States.

For Johan, a year and a half after his bone marrow transplant, everything points to a complete success.

It's neat to see him processing things, and especially play outside in the mud, his mother said.

You know, what a gift!

Her only concern now is the same as any mother would have that when her son does fall ill, others in the family might catch the same bug.

Now you can read the Jamaica Observer ePaper anytime, anywhere. The Jamaica Observer ePaper is available to you at home or at work, and is the same edition as the printed copy available at http://bit.ly/epaperlive

Read the original here:
The supercells' that cured an infants genetic illness - Jamaica Observer

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered a new mechanism that helps maintain and repair bones in adults. Ultimately, this could help develop new therapeutic strategies to improve bone healing.

Knee Bones

Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterized by reduced bone density and changes in the microarchitecture of bones. These changes weaken the bone and increase the risk of fractures.

Osteoporosis develops particularly in older people. Today, a new study could eventually lead to the development of therapeutic strategies to improve bone regeneration in these patients. Results published in the journal Cell Stem Cell on the 5th December 2019 have laid out a new mechanism that contributes to the maintenance and repair of bones in adults.

Adult bone repair relies on the activation of bone stem cells, which still remain poorly characterized. Bone stem cells have been found both in the bone marrow inside the bone and also in the periosteum: the outer layer of tissue that envelopes bone. Previous studies have shown that these two populations of stem cells share many characteristics; however, they also have unique functions and specific regulatory mechanisms, said Dr. Dongsu Park, assistant professor of molecular and human genetics, pathology and immunology at Baylor College of Medicine.

Of these two populations, periosteal stem cells are the least known. Although scientists know that this is a heterogeneous population of cells that can contribute to the thickness, formation, and repair of bone fractures, no one has yet been able to distinguish between the different subtypes of bone stem cells in order to study the regulation of their different functions.

Read Also:HGH Is Now A Solid Treatment For Osteoporosis According To Studies

Here, however, Dr. Dongsu Park and colleagues were able to develop a technique in mice to identify different subpopulations of periosteal stem cells, define their contribution to the repair of bone fractures and identify the specific factors that regulate their migration and proliferation under physiological conditions.

The researchers identified a specific subset of stem cells that contribute to lifelong bone regeneration in adults. They also observed that periosteal stem cells react to inflammatory molecules, chemokines, which are normally produced in bone injuries.

In detail, periosteal stem cells have receptors that bind to the CCL5 chemokine. The CCL5 chemokine sends a signal to the cells to migrate to the injured bone and repair it. By suppressing the CCL5 gene in rats, the researchers found defects in bone repair that delayed healing. However, when they gave CCL5 to rats that had lost CCL5, the bones recovered faster.

Read Also:The Exciting Future of Joint and Cartilage Repair

Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the healing of adult bones. We believe this is one of the first studies to show that bone stem cells are heterogeneous and that different subtypes have unique properties that are regulated by specific mechanisms, said Dr. Dongsu Park.

In conclusion, this study has allowed for the identification of different stem cell subtypes and their distinguishing markers and their roles in bone repair. This discovery gives insight into new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of bone damage in adults, particularly in the setting of osteoporosis or diabetes. Indeed, people with diabetes may be prone to falls and fractures due to neurological, visual or renal complications. In addition, bone fragility in diabetics is likely to be due to changes in bone remodeling and, in particular, an increase in bone resorption.

Read Also:Implants from Own Stem Cells May Offer Solution to Back Pain, Researchers Say

https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(19)30458-8?

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Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine Discover How to Improve Bone Repair - Gilmore Health News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

When Allison Shatford was diagnosed with aplastic anemia in 1984 she was given just a 20 per cent chance of survival.

Before her diagnosis, the now 58-year-old described having headaches, bruising, prolonged periods and lethargy.

Eventually it became too much and she was taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) when she was just 23-years-old.

That's when she was given her diagnosis, two years after she first noticed that something might be wrong.

She spent seven years in and out of hospital before doctors gave her another shot at life.

Now, 28 years since her life-saving procedure Alison has written a book about the "frightening" experience.

"I can remember when I was in Florida with my friend and I could not stop bleeding, it was traumatic and that was two years before I was taken into hospital," she said.

"My bone marrow had completely shut down, it didn't make any red blood cells, plasma or oxygen.

"For the next seven years from the age of 23 I was dependant on the blood and platelet donors three times a week for seven years.

"As a young person at 23 my life was taken by this, but I fought it, I never wanted to die."

In her book she said that doctors told her she was only the 13th person to be diagnosed with aplastic anemia after she underwent a series of bone marrow tests.

Aplastic anemia is a serious condition that affects the blood and can happen suddenly.

It is also called bone marrow failure.

Essentially, the condition means that the bone marrow and stem cells don't produce enough blood cells.

There are three types of blood cell: red, white and platelets.

Red blood cells carry a protein called haemoglobin which carry oxygen around the body.

White blood cells help to fight bacterial infections and viruses.

Platelets help blood to clot.

There are multiple symptoms of aplastic anemia, they are: Fatigue, shortness of breath, rapid or irregular heart rate, pale skin, frequent or prolonged infections, unexplained bruising, nosebleeds and bleeding gums, prolonged bleeding from cuts, rashes, dizziness and headaches.

The condition is normally found withing children and adults over the age of 60.

According to the NHS the best form of treatment is a bone marrow transplant - without treatment the condition can be fatal.

Alison had hormone procedures in order to treat the condition, and she said that doctors at the LRI told her they had never seen anything like it.

She said that from 1984 to 1991 she was constantly in and out of the LRI as well as Hammersmith Hospital in London who were helping with treatment.

"I had a hormone procedure mainly used for aplastic anemia and that made me so much more poorly, I was desperate.

"Six months later I had the second course, the treatment involved hormones from horses and rabbits.

"Everyone would bring me carrots, lettuce and apples," she laughed.

"One week before my 30th birthday the doctors said 'Alison it doesn't look good.'

"Leukemia cells had been laying dormant now they had woken up - I had aplastic anemia and luekemia."

She said the medical professionals said that she had one chance and that was a bone marrow transplant.

After testing members of her family for a potential bone marrow donor, her sister Annette was found to be a match.

"It was so unbelievable it was like looking through a haystack to find a needle, that's how rare it was," she said.

"My sister was a match, she was always on the plane coming backwards and forwards for tests; she lived in Ireland.

"I was given a 20 per cent chance of survival before I travelled to hospital for treatment.

Alison said that she started to get her finances in check and had planned her own funeral because she did not want to burden her family in case she didn't come home.

Fortunately after the transplant and extensive chemotherapy, Alison survived.

"In 1991 they said 'expect to be in there for about 15 weeks'.

"After 4 weeks I came home," she said.

"The only set back I had was in the February when I got pneumonia and that was the only time I couldn't control my own body, I was given morphine that knocked me out, but I'm still here."

Allison also had a stroke seven years ago, but again survived after having a blood clot removed before it reached her brain.

The 58-year-old former carer from Oadby now owns and runs a shop on Welford Road called Alison's Bits & Bobs.

From that shop she has helped to raise over 2000 for charities such as the Anthony Nolan trust.

She has also now written a book about her life.

"I have had my shop here for two years and have given 2000 already.

"I've walked Ben Nevis, sky dived you name it, I've done it.

"I have a portfolio on my shop window of all the media cuttings from 1991.

"In the first piece that was published I said I would write a book, so I did.

"I started writing it in February in my shop and it took me four weeks, I'm delighted with the book."

The book is filled with her memoirs that detail her struggles throughout her life in great depth.

The money made from sales of the 500 copies she has had printed will be donated to the LRI Haematology ward, Hammersmith Hospital and the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Alison lives with an unrivaled sense of positivity despite her ordeals in life.

"I love it here, I can educate and talk and listen to everyone.

"I think everyone deserves a shot at life, I'm still here, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

"I just want to give people hope and strength to get through like I did and that's all I can ask for."

You can purchase of a copy of Alison's book at her shop in Welford Road for 14.99.

The rest is here:
The woman who spent 7 years in and out of hospital battling rare condition some doctors had never seen - Leicestershire Live

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Changing landscapes, habitat loss, fragmentation, and global climate change have been listed as the main reasons for biodiversity decline worldwide. Now, a new study from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, has added to the growing knowledge that anthropogenic activities can impact genetic connectivity or the movement among habitat patches usually resulting in mating and genetic exchange.

In several mammalian carnivores, juveniles disperse away from their mother's territory to establish their own territory. Males are known to travel longer distances than females. Isolation of habitat patches (due to habitat destruction and fragmentation) can restrict animal movement among habitat patches and thus reduce genetic exchange and increase the probability of extinction. Hence maintaining connectivity is critical to ensure long term persistence of a species, Prachi Thatte explains. Dr. Thatte is the first author of the paper published in Diversity and Distributions and now works with WWF-India on connectivity conservation

Four wide-ranging mammals Jungle cats, leopards, sloth bears, tigers were investigated for the genetic differentiation in central India, which is a critical landscape for several species. The DNA extracted from faecal samples were used for understanding genetic connectivity. The samples were collected from nine protected areas during the period 2012-2017.

The team looked at how land-use, human population density, nearby roads and traffic affected the genetic structure. The paper notes that tigers were impacted the most by high human footprint. Although known to travel long distances and move through agricultural fields to some extent, tigers in central India do not have equally high genetic exchange throughout the landscape. Some protected areas like Bandhavgarh tiger reserve seem to be getting relatively isolated (the 2014 tiger census report also shows the same), explains Dr. Thatte.

Jungle cats were found to be the least impacted. That is likely because in central India, they occupy a variety of habitats including forests, scrublands, grasslands and even irrigated agricultural fields close to the forests, she explains.

Despite being the least impacted by human activity, the team encountered several jungle cat road-kills while carrying out fieldwork. She explains that with increasing infrastructure and traffic, systematically studying the impact of roads on smaller species like jungle cat and jackals and ensuring the presence of mitigation structures like underpasses and overpasses would be crucial to ensure that we don't fragment the currently well-connected populations.

IIndia has also started paying attention to wildlife corridors and encouraging engineering reforms to promote wildlife movements. Last year, the Ministry of Environment along with the Wildlife Institute of India released a document that lays out the regulatory requirements for developing roads, railways, powerlines while recognising the impacts on wildlife and people. NHAI and all PWDs have been instructed to follow the guidelines.

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How humans affect genetic connectivity of four mammals - The Hindu

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They have been poisoned, shot at, and stumbled into traps laid by those who regard them as a ruinous blight on the countrys woodland and wildlife.

But now, the grey squirrel is facing arguably its biggest threat yet, with plans to harness the cutting edge of genetic science to bring their destructive reign to an end.

Researchers at the University of Edinburghs world-renowned Roslin Institute say it is possible to cull numbers of the mammals by editing their DNA to ensure that all future females are born infertile.

The institute, famous for creating Dolly the Sheep, the worlds first mammal cloned from an adult cell, hoped to create gene-edited male squirrels that can be released into the wild.

The mammals would be altered to contain a so-called gene drive designed to spread throughout the population, and render all females to inherit it sterile.

Males, however, would be unaffected, so as to allow them to keep spreading the new genetic code, and ultimately hastening the greys demise.

The initiative is supported by some as a humane means of stopping the spread of the invasive species and protected the red squirrel, which is native to the UK, but survives only in isolated strongholds, with the vast majority found in parts of Scotland.

However, animal rights campaigners dismissed the idea as reprehensible, and warned it would not solve long standing ecological problems.

The project, which is part-funded by the European Squirrel Initiative, a charity that promotes research into the conservation of red squirrels, would also have implications for efforts to rid Britain of other invasive species, such as mink, muntjac deer, and ring-necked parakeets.

The team at the Roslin Institute point to the fact that the grey squirrel is a carrier of squirrel pox, which is lethal to the red squirrel. Without conservation efforts, it is predicted that reds could be lost from the UK altogether by 2030.

Professor Bruce Whitelaw, the institutes genus personal chair of animal biotechnology, is spearheading the squirrel project.

A potential application of gene drives is to control invasive vertebrate pests, such as cane toads and rabbits in Australia, grey squirrels in the UK, possums in New Zealand and rodents around the globe, he explained in a journal article co-authored with Gus McFarlane, a fellow researcher.

They have asked a team of genome engineers, population modellers, ecologists, ethicists and conservation experts to design gene drives as a potential tool to eradicate grey squirrels.

We are investigating strategies that could humanely control the UK grey squirrel population, Mr McFarlane said. One is spreading female infertility.

Another possible drive changes the sex ratio, favouring the birth of males over females until the population becomes mostly male.

Andrew Kendalll, a spokesman for the European Squirrel Initiative, said: The aim would be to create a few thousand gene-edited greys and then release them so the gene spreads, slowly wiping the species out in the UK. We want to reverse the invasion.

It is very humane - there is no need for trapping or shooting - they just stop reproducing.

However, Jennifer White, a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said: People accept that genetically engineering humans is morally unconscionable and doing the same to squirrels using gene-drive technology is just as reprehensible.

It wont solve our ecological problems but will lead to misery for intelligent, sensitive beings.

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Dolly the Sheep scientists hope DNA editing can wipe out grey squirrels - Scotland on Sunday

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

A white lion famously donated to the Cincinnati Zoo by magicians Siegfried & Roy has died. The zoo says the lion named "Prosperity" was "humanely euthanized" Monday.

The 22-year-old animal had "extended age-related health issues," the zoo writes in a Facebook post. The median life expectancy for a white lion is 16 years, according to the post.

Prosperity came to Cincinnati in 1998 when the famous magicians and entertainers Siegfried & Roy decided the lion cub should be raised around other cubs.

"Prosperity was a very special lion from the very start," writes zookeeper Laura Carpenter. She was born on Christmas Day in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the care of the famous entertainers, Siegfried and Roy. Her inexperienced mother failed to care for her, so she was hand-raised by Roy Horn himself, along with his staff of animal caregivers and trainers."

Carpenter goes on to say she had worries about Prosperity's ability to assimilate given she was used to eating off a silver platter, flying in private jets, and riding in limousines, but she says the lion bonded with the zoo's two young males, "Sunshine" and "Future," who were loaned to the zoo that same year by the magicians.

Prosperity sired four cubs with Sunshine, three of which were transferred to the Toledo Zoo. A daughter remains in Cincinnati. "Gracious," now 18 years old, is being monitored by zoo staff. The zoo says the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) recommends against transferring Gracious to live with other lions because of her age.

"(Prosperity's) longevity, and that of her 18-year-old daughter Gracious, can be attributed to the special geriatric enrichment, diet and TLC that she has received from her care team," the zoo says.

Prosperity outlived her two male companions and her three male cubs.

"Prosperity always rolled with the changes with a calm reserve and was the most wonderful lion. She holds the distinction of being named the official mascot of the U.S. Senate, where the most powerful lawmakers are known as lions," Carpenter eulogizes.

"We will miss you, our most special of lions, you have been the best lion anyone could have hoped for. I am most honored to have gotten to take care of you these many years. Farewell, my beautiful lion. May you have a special spot in Heaven that is most fitting for the Queen that you are."

White lions are caused by a rate genetic mutation. They are not albino, rather their coloring comes from a recessive gene called a color inhibitor. The AZA banned intentional breeding of white tigers in 2011 because of inbreeding concerns and problems.

Link:
Cincinnati Zoo Euthanizes White Lion With Ties To Siegfried & Roy - WVXU

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Male elephant seals are among the loudest mammals ever recorded, and they can weigh more than two tons. (Photo by Steve Zamek, Feather Light Photography)

On a sparkling blue January morning, I meet marine biologist Patrick Robinson, who will escort me around Ao Nuevo State Park, a patch of dunes and bluffs an hours drive south of San Francisco. As we start along a sandy path toward the beach, he explains that his role is not only to protect me from the thousands of elephant seals currently camped out here, but to protect the elephant seals from me. That sounds sensible enoughuntil we come over a rise and I see what they actually look like in the flesh.

Blocking the path is a massive blob of quivering blubber, braying like a donkey. This hunk of chonk, the size and shape of Jabba the Hutt, is a male northern elephant seal. He might weigh as much as 4,500 pounds, and he can flop his jiggly body across the sand as fast as we can run. Robinson warns me to watch where I walk, and to be careful not to invade any seals personal space. I make eye contact with Jabba, who watches us with mild curiosity, his dark eyes lustrous over the dangling snoot that gives the species its name. I am not even slightly tempted to get closer.

A few hundred yards more down the path there are seals everywhere, lolling and scratching. We weave among them, trying not to get too close. But every rounded dune comes alive as a seal back or flank; what looks like driftwood sighs deeply and twitches a flipper. There are just so many of them. Like clockwork every winter, more than 2,000 adults congregate on these shores for their annual sealapalooza of fighting, birthing, nursing, matingall of lifes main events in just a few months. Sort of like Jersey Shore, but for seals.

When they come together in space and time, everything is very extreme. The level of competition is extreme, the level of risk is extreme. These animals are fasting, with no food and water, so the physiological constraints are extreme.

While the males battle for breeding rights and the females nurse their newborn pups, none of the adults eat or drink, losing more than 30 percent of their body weight. This ultra-endurance event is just one of the many extraordinary things elephant seals do. When they come together in space and time, everything is very extreme, says behavioral ecologist Colleen Reichmuth of the Institute of Marine Sciences at University of California Santa Cruz. The level of competition is extreme, the level of risk is extreme. These animals are fasting, with no food and water, so the physiological constraints are extreme.

Because it is both amazing and convenient to study, the northern elephant seal, which ranges throughout the North Pacific, is one of the best-measured of all marine mammals. Over the years, using harnesses and marine glue, straps and cattle-ear-tag guns, scientists have attached all sorts of gizmos to the creatures mighty heads and shoulderscameras, GPS tags, depth sensors, heartbeat monitorsto measure where theyre going and what theyre doing way out there in the ocean. Every time we turned around, wed uncover some really cool fact or observation, says UCSC evolutionary biologist Daniel Costa, who first began studying these mammals in the mid-70s and now supervises all Ao Nuevo elephant seal research. Scientists here and elsewhere learned that elephant seals dive deeper (nearly 6,000 feet), swim farther (averaging more than 9,000 miles a year), and hold their breath longer (up to two hours) than any other seal. Only their cousins, the southern elephant seals, can hold their breath for as long as they canup to two hours. (Harbor seals, by comparison, can hold their breath just a half hour and go no deeper than 1,500 feet.) Males are more than three times the size of females, one of the biggest sex-based size differences among mammals. They arent just polygamous, but maybe the most polygamous of mammals, forming harems in which one male might mate with up to 100 females.

The extraordinary nature of this animal has already forced scientists to question the supposed limits of mammal physiology. These deep-diving, breath-holding, long-fasting creatures are closely related to other marine mammals that cant pull off such feats. The implication is that minor tweaks to mammal biology can translate to huge differences in ability. Elephant seals may even teach us how our own bodies function and what we might be capable of. For now, though, the question that preoccupies the scientists of Ao Nuevo is what will happen to the animals in a warming world. Climate change is poised to disrupt everything in the ocean in coming decades, from ocean currents to the location of the most and best fish. A new wave of research projects here probe whether these unusual mammals are resilient enough to keep thrivingwhether they will be extraordinary enough to cope with the huge changes heading their way.

The sands of Ao Nuevo were not always jammed with dozing seals. In the late 1880s, the northern elephant seal was thought to be extinct, decimated by blubber-hunters, until some naturalists found a tiny band of holdouts on an island off Mexicoand promptly killed most of them to take them home as specimens.

But elephant seals are nothing if not gritty, and a few survivors held on, slowly rebuilding their numbers. By the 1970s the seals began pupping and breeding at Ao Nuevo, just 30 minutes drive north of UC Santa Cruz and its world-class marine biology department. That proximity was a lucky stroke for researchers: The animals tolerate the humans who tiptoe amongst them. And as biological outliers, they offer a singular chance to study the outer fringes of mammalian performance.

The portly creatures that Robinson and I sneak past dont look like stupendous athletes. Yet for up to eight months of the year, they roam the remote eastern and central North Pacific, plunging way below the surface on nearly continuous foraging dives. Blubber analysis conducted by Chandra Goetsch in Costas lab indicates they eat deepwater prey like lanternfish, squid, and viperfish, and they eat a lot of it. In roughly seven months of migration, female seals gain an average of nearly 600 pounds, which can mean they nearly double their body weight.

As they dive, their hearts slow to below five beats a minute while blood flow to the muscles shuts offa trick that interests anesthesiologists who would like to stop circulation to a body part during surgery, then restart the flow without damage. Elephant seals can also surface from marathon dives to breathe for less than five minutes, then dive again. Theres a lot we dont understand about how they do that, says behavioral ecologist Birgitte McDonald of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. The behavior seems to break physiological rules: If a Weddell seal, for instance, dives for more than 20 minutes, it uses up all its oxygen. Its muscles start dumping lactate into its blood, and the seal must breathe for 90 minutes or more before diving again.

The fact that these seals wander so widely, dive so deep, and reliably return to Ao Nuevo means they can also be employed as sensors to probe parts of the ocean that are difficult or expensive to measure. One student in Costas lab recently explored using data gathered by fluorescence meters attached to the seals to cheaply chart chlorophyll levels out in the North Pacific, measuring that all-important first link of the food chainthe phytoplankton and algae that ultimately feed everything else in the ocean, from baby fish to blue whales, and which indirectly reflect how windy or warm ocean conditions are.

Robinson and I reach our first destination: an observation deck overlooking Bight Beach, where roughly 75 northern elephant seals sprawl in the sun, females honking and rasping, their chocolate-brown pups beside them mewling and trilling. Theres just one enormous male down near the water, keeping watch. It looks like a day spa with a really scary bouncer.

In three-quarters of confrontations one of the males backs down before things get violent. In a species famed for aggression, theres actually way more talk than action.

He looks tense, for good reason. The privilege of breeding is reserved for just a few dominant males like him; 99 percent of elephant seal males never mate. This guy vanquished the competition, but the also-rans just wont stop trying. Elephant seal combat can be brutal: the bulls square off, rear up, then smash their chests together, rassling and shoving and gashing at one anothers shoulders and flanks with their teeth, leaving each other raw and bloody.

Even now, a male with a big glob of dried blood on his shoulder lurks at the top of the cove. Chances are, Scary Bouncer Seal caught him trying to get with his ladies and taught him a lesson. But although it is spectacular, bull vs. bull is rare, because it is just too draining. Reichmuth and her former graduate student Caroline Casey discovered a few years ago that the big brutes prefer to roar at each other rather than waste their energy on physical attack.

Here at this beach, the variety of sounds is indescribable, although I try: Asthmatic lion, I scribble in my notebook. Old outboard motor. Gargling drain. Strangling a Pomeranian. Above it all rises the long, throbbing snort-roar of that big guy near the water. (Bonus elephant seal freak fact: They are among the loudest of any land mammal.)

To understand what those calls mean and how they relate to breeding success, Reichmuth and Casey first mapped the bull hierarchy. They filmed confrontations between tagged males, recording the outcome of each standoff or fight. Because not all bulls fight one another directly, and because she couldnt track every last conflict, Casey used a method borrowed from competitive chess called the Elo system to assign each bull a comparative rank.

Next, they recorded each males voice and did playback experiments. The seals evidently understood the bellows: Middle-status males charged toward the speaker when they heard recorded calls of low-ranking bulls, but those same mid-rank guys fled from sounds made by alpha males. We were like, What is going on here? What are they saying to each other? Casey says. We wanted to decode the language of male elephant seals.

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Top males did not have lower voices or longer calls or share any other obvious characteristic. What Caseys analysis showed instead is that each males voice is distinctive and stays the same from year to year. The kicker: When she drove up to Point Reyes National Seashore and played her Ao Nuevo recordings to the elephant seal colony there, the bulls didnt react either way.

Her interpretation is the bulls recognize the voices of bulls theyve met and keep a mental ledger of whom theyve fought and who won, so as to avoid unnecessary and exhausting rematches. Its amazing, she says. It means that they have really good memory, and are able to manage and remember a lot of unique calls. Its also an effective conflict-avoidance strategy: in three-quarters of confrontations, she found, one of the males backs down before things get violent. In a species famed for aggression, theres actually way more talk than action.

While the bulls bluster and brawl, elephant seal females endure their own physiological marathon. Without eating or drinking, a mother produces nine pounds of milk per day during the roughly four weeks she nurses her pup. The rich milk fattens the pup, preparing it to survive alone on the beach for months after the mother returns to the sea.

Mother seals draw on their own fat reserves to do this, so its essential they arrive here at a healthy weight. The researchers at Ao Nuevo are careful not to disturb the animals too often or for too long, particularly mother-pup pairs. So to track their health, Robinson is developing creative ways to weigh them without disturbing them, such as using drones that estimate their size with photography. Today were hoping to weigh seal #9454, one of two dozen females who has been carrying a satellite tag that tracked her path through the Pacific. Robinson plans to link her route to her weight for a multidimensional view of where and how well she ate.

We spot her among a dozen other mothers, her chin propped on her plump days-old pup. The small satellite device epoxyed to her head gives her an aristocratic, eccentric look, like a drunken duchess at a garden party. As Robinsons drone hums above her, snapping pictures, she regally ignores it.

Weighing her unobtrusively is important because her reproductive success requires her to conserve her energy. All mothers move around, jockeying for space on the beach and warding off intrusive males. But much of a mothers energy goes into milk. When pups are first born, McDonald found, mothers produce milk thats 20 percent fat, skyrocketing to nearly 60 percent right before weaning. (By comparison, cows milk is only about 4 percent fat.) Despite the physical toll of producing milk while also fasting, elephant seal mothers will sometimes nurse both their own pup and an orphaned onean effort doomed to fail. To nurse a pup thats not your own, thats really difficult to explain, given what we know about elephant seals, says Reichmuths postdoctoral student Juliette Linossier.

One possibility is that the mothers just dont notice the difference. But that doesnt seem to be the case, Linossier has found. She shows me a video from last winter, in which she plays a recording of calls made by a random stranger pup to a seal mother, who barely reacts. But in response to a recording of sounds from her own pup, the mother snaps her head up and whips around to stare at the source. She flops a foot or two toward the speaker, clucking and barking and swiveling her head in search of her baby, which is actually right beside her.

Linossier is trying out scent-recognition tests too, using a fake pup fashioned from old wetsuits. To imbue her model with eau de pup, she creeps up on a sleeping baby and rubs it with a towel so gently that it doesnt wake up. She then attaches the towel to the neoprene suit and places it near the mother. (How does a baby elephant seal smell? Worse than a dog, Linossier reports.)

Its painstaking, slow-moving research, because she must be careful not to upset the sealsboth for the animals sake and in order to truly understand mother-pup interactions. Linossier has yet to analyze her data, but what shes seen so far suggests that seals hear and maybe even smell the difference between their own and another mothers pup. If nursing a strange pup is no dumb mistake, one possible explanation lies in the genes. Since one male can sire dozens of pups each year, many of the seals on the beach are related, and the mothers may be actually feeding distant kin. Linossiers next plan: genetic tests to determine relatedness.

The northern elephant seal population now numbers about 150,000 and is spreading north. The seals normally molt on California beaches, but last summer, two elephant seals from Southern California were spotted onshore in Alaska, where theyve almost never been seen before. Its a hopeful sign. Maybe they will be able to seize new opportunitiesan essential skill in an era when climate change may transform everything these animals know.

Elephant seals seem to be creatures of habit, returning to the same spots to feed and to breed every year. In a changing world, that faithful tendency could become a problem. Their preferred pupping grounds may get swamped by rising seas. The beaches where they haul out to molt may get too hot. And in the future, as waters warm and currents shift, their favorite foraging spots may no longer provide fish by the ton. During El Nio years when the central Pacific becomes warmer than usual, the seals have had trouble finding foodpossibly a preview of whats to come.

Are they too preprogrammed to adapt, or are they flexible enough to say, This space isnt working out, Ill go somewhere else? asks graduate student Rachel Holser, whose research focuses on decision-making. To investigate this question, she cant interfere with the seals fishing grounds or experimentally warm the water the creatures swim in. Instead, she uses a type of experiment common in behavior research: measuring an animals response to something its never seen before to determine how risk-averse it is. Its responses tend to be consistent across different situations: A bold animal will probably be more willing to explore new places; one that flees from an unfamiliar object will tend to stick with what it knows.

For the test, she stripped a radio-controlled toy truck down to its chassis, outfitting it with a speaker and a GoPro video camera. Then she loaded it up with a recording of the T. rex roar from Jurassic Park. (Alternative experimental stimulus: the screech of Godzilla.)

Are they too preprogrammed to adapt, or are they flexible enough to say, This space isnt working out, Ill go somewhere else?

At her desk in the Institute of Marine Sciences in Santa Cruz, she shows me video of the experiment. The GoPro image jolts and shudders as the tricked-out car crawls across the beach toward a cluster of seals. It halts roughly 10 feet from a female, who stares into the camera and grunts.

A few minutes later, we hear the bellow of T. rex, and all six seals pivot toward the camera. Holser says this is about as big a reaction as she gets out of most seals, who quickly lose interest in the contraption. That female with the death stare, however, is one of the exceptions. Another dinosaur roar, and she charges right at the camera, pink mouth gaping wide, grunting angrilythe video captures her whole palate vibrating as she barks.

After decades of research, Ao Nuevo scientists have a pretty good idea of how much disturbance the animals can tolerate without lasting effects. They carefully weigh any potential impact on fitness, like the energy wasted on confronting a radio-controlled gizmo, against the gain of better understandingin this case, how this seal and her kin might deal with other unexpected situations. The majority of animals return to normal behavior within two to five minutes, Holser says, and this seal is no exception. While shes clearly not thrilled about the interruption, the whole drama blows over very quickly.

Holser must still analyze these data, but you dont need to be a scientist to grasp that this particular seal has little fear of the unknown. Whats less clear is what that implies about her future, that of her pups, and, really, of the whole colony at Ao Nuevo. Is an aggressive female a better mom, because she protects her pup, or is she worse because shes running around the beach wasting her energy? says Holser. We dont know what the answer is.

On the screen, the seal grunts one more time, then backs off with a last dirty look. And then this extraordinary animalthis exceptional survivor, this rule-breaker among mammals, this fearless challenger of unexpected scientific thingamajigslays her head back down on the sand and drifts back to sleep.

Continued here:
Meet The Deep-Diving, Ear-Splitting 4,500-Pound Rock Star of Ao Nuevo - - Bay Nature

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith