Stem Cells Market AnalysisAccording to Market Research, the Global Stem Cells Market was valued at USD 5.88 Billion in 2018 and is expected to witness a growth of 10.32% from 2019-2026 and reach USD 12.96 Billion by 2026.

What is Stem Cells Market?Stem cellscan be defined as unspecialized cells that develop into the specialized cells and make up different types of tissue in the human body. Since stem cells are unspecialized type of cells and are capable of renewing themselves through cell division. Stem cells can be Pluripotent as well as Multipotent.

Pluripotent stem cells are stem cells usually found in embryos which give rise to all the cells found in the human body, while multipotent stem cells, which are found in adults or in babies umbilical cords, have a more restricted ability. Their development is limited to cells that form the organ system that they are originated from. When a stem cell undergoes division, each new cell possess a potential either to remain a stem cell or develop into another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

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Stem Cells Market OutlookStem cell research is considered as one of the most intriguing areas of contemporary biology, but, as with many expanding fields of scientific inquiry, research on stem cells stimulates scientific queries as rapidly as it produces new discoveries. Until recently, scientists used to primarily work with two types of stem cells from animals and humans: embryonic stem cells and non-embryonic somatic or adult stem cells.

Since the advent of stem cells, one of the crucial benefits of stem cell research is the accessibility of cell lines and that they can be acquired ethically. The demands for pluripotent stem cells are increasing owing to the fact that it differentiates in various cell types in the human body. Pluripotent stem cells tend to have various applications in the medical treatment. Growing awareness regarding the stem cells and establishment of stem cell banks is expected to fuel the market growth rate.

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Ethical issues related to pluripotent stem cells could hamper the growth of stems cells in the global market as research with these cells require disrupting an artificially-fertilized embryo at the 5-14 day stage. Another factor which is limiting the growth of stem cells market is unknown long-term consequences.

Global Stem Cells Market SegmentationThe Global Stem Cells Market is classified on the basis of Product, Treatment Type, Therapeutic Application and Region. The gist of breaking down the market into various segments is to gather the information about various aspects of the market.

On the basis of Products, the market is bifurcated on the basis of Adult Stem Cells, Human Embryonic Cells, and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell. Adult stem cells accounts for a major share in the global stem cells market. Even though embryonic stem cells have a wide range of applications, the market growth rate for this sub-segment is substantial owing to the ethical issues faced by this sub-segment in the global market.

In terms of Therapeutic Application, the market study encompasses various aspects such ca Regenerative Medicine, Neurological Disorders, Orthopedic Treatments, Oncology Disorders, Diabetes, Injuries & Wounds and Cardiovascular Disorders. Growing awareness regarding regenerative medicine is expected to make this sub-segment hold a potential market share globally. Growing healthcare expenditure and presence of major industry players makes North America hold major share in the global market.

Stem Cells Market Competitive LandscapeThe Stem Cells Market study report offers a valuable insight with an emphasis on global market including some of the major players such asBioTime Inc., Cytori Therapeutics, Inc., STEMCELL Technologies Inc., Astellas Pharma Inc., U.S. Stem Cell, Inc., Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., Takara Bio Inc., Caladrius Biosciences, Inc., Cellular Engineering Technologies Inc., and BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. Our market analysis also entails a section solely dedicated for such major players wherein our analysts provide an insight to the financial statements of all the major players, along with its product benchmarking and SWOT analysis. The competitive landscape section also includes key development strategies, market share and market ranking analysis of the above mentioned players globally.

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Analyst View:As per our sources following trends were observed in terms of most popular sources of stem cells:

Stem cells from adult bone marrow were observed to be the most popular source. Scope of stem cell therapy is increasing with growing number of applications. Clinical research has advanced to a great magnitude towards preventing, identifying and handling devastating diseases. Various applications of stem cells in regeneration such as Cardiac Regeneration, Hepatic Regeneration, Regeneration of Neural Tissue, etc. have come up lately. This suggests that the market for stem cells will grow significantly over the forecast period.

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Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Alice Dreger

Alice Dreger is an historian of medicine and science, a sex researcher, an award-winning writer, and an (im)patient advocate. Dregers latest major work is Galileos Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science.

ALICE DREGER: We don't actually know the extent to which gender is socially constructed because you can't do an experiment where you remove culture and see what happens. So we don't know to what extent what we see as gendered patterns are the result of sex, biological sex, males and females. We know that gender differs according to culture, but we also know that there are patterns that appear to be fairly universal in terms of gender norms. And the ones that are more universal are more likely to probably have a sex bases to it, an evolved-to-sex basis, that is to say biological basis for males and females. So, for example, which gender serves a very important meal may be different by different cultures. So in some cultures a man will serve a very important meal versus a woman. So for example, think about it in the United States that historically speaking the father carves the turkey on Thanksgiving, but in general women prepare food historically speaking. So what we know is that these kinds of things can differ by culture, but that there are some "universals". And one of the universals we find, for example, is in childhood play that we find that children who are girls tend to do more social play, they tend to do more social role-play. Children who are boys tend to do more competitive play, they tend to do more play that mimics aggression or that mimics sport and mimics sometimes building, and so there are these kinds of patterns. But that doesn't mean everybody fits them.

And it's really interesting actually too if you look cross-culturally scientists find evidence that this may have it's not just gender, that there's a sexuality component to it too. So boys who are going to grow up and be gay, and we know who they are because of retrospectively they grow up to be gay, they're what's called androphilic, that is to say they're attracted to males. And the majority of females are also attracted to males, so most females are androphilic and a small percentage of boys will grow up to be androphilic. We know that historically speaking, cross-culturally they tend to be more feminine in terms of their interests, they're more interested in social role-play, for example, they're more interested in helping their mothers, they're more interested in associating with girls as young children and more interested in dressing as girls, for example. That doesn't mean that they are girls, but it does suggest to us that sexuality and gender have interplayed components in them, that gender isn't just about social role but it has something to do with sexuality and that there's a reason females end up with these kind of patterns and males end up with these kinds of patterns and when you have a male who's attracted to males he ends up with a little bit more of the female pattern and in some circumstances if you have a girl and she's attracted to girls she'll end up with a little bit more of the male pattern in childhood.

So gender and sexual orientation seem to have sort of some connection to each other, but it's not a perfect connection in terms of absolute correlation and so we can't say that we can easily predict what would be somebody's gender role or sexual orientation simply by looking at some of the components.

Evolution would naturally favor heterosexuality because that's how you get babies. And so if we're thinking about genes trying to produce genes it would make no sense to have genes that would lead to people who don't reproduce, because those genes would not be reproduced. That said, we know cross-culturally gay people exist. So we know that that's a natural variation in the population. And so then scientists ask the really interesting question, why is that there? Why does that not disappear over time? Because at least in theory that should lead to lower reproductive fitness, which means it should lead to fewer babies, and so it should fade out evolutionarily speaking. One possibility is that it's a side effect, that human variation is good for the species and so evolution is responding to the situation not by reducing necessarily everything that doesn't work, but saying "Let's keep throwing up variation, and some of it will work in some environments and some of it will work in other environments." Being a varied species makes a species more resilient.

So it may be the case that being gay if you're born that way is just a variation on a theme and it will show up every now and then just because variations show up. But some scientists find some evidence that there may actually be advantages to a family of having a certain percentage of the children be gay. And this is work done, for example, by Paul Vasey at the University of Lethbridge. And he's been looking at the population in Samoa as well as other places, but Samoa as a cultural system that actually recognizes that a certain percentage of the boys are going to grow up to be androphilic, they're going to be interested in men sexually. And they actually have a whole cultural system for it. They have a third gender category called the fa'afafine and when a boy it becomes evident is that kind of boy the child is raised as a girl and becomes a woman culturally speaking but that doesn't change her body at all but partners with men. So in our culture that would be called transgenderism, but in this culture it's a third gender category that absorbs what in our culture might just turn out to be gay men. And what Paul has found is that when he looks at the families that have fa'afafine within them the fa'afafine are not using up a lot of resources, because they're not themselves having childrenthese are big-family culturesbut they do take their own earnings and they direct it at their nieces and nephews. And that means you have more adults producing more resources for a smaller number of children. So biologically there may be an advantage for families to have a certain number of gay children, because those people will not reproduce but they will take care of the nieces and nephews. And so overall the population, the genetics of a family will be continued on because that family has a genetic advantage.

And when you think about it we have this sort of stereotype of the gay uncle who takes care of the nieces and nephews in terms of providing for them and providing extra resources, and they're not spending it on their own kids, they're spending it on their sister's and brother's children, that might be a possible evolutionary explanation for why it is that we see homosexuality persist in the human system. It's also the case, we know from work done by Ray Blanchard in Canada, that a certain number of men who will grow up to be gay get that way not through genetics per se, but they get that way in the womb. So it's inborn but not genetic. And what happens is apparently well we know statistically from huge studies now if a mother has lots of pregnancies of males every successive male will be a little bit more likely to be gay. So the farther down you go in that sibling chain the more likely it is that the later-born males will be gay. This has been studied in many populations in the world, large numbers, and it's rigorous. We know that this is true. So why would that be? Well, it looks like it's a kind of side effect: the mother's immune system appears to be reacting to male hormones and maybe dampening them down a little bit, and this results in something called the fraternal birth order effect, which is that later born males are more likely to be gay. It's a surprising finding because it suggests to us that some men are absolutely born gay but not because of genetics, they're born gay because of the birth order in terms of some sort of effect having on a woman's system, which is reacting to her children's system, and it only occurs in males, it doesn't occur in females. And that's part of the reason why the theory is it's an immune response because it doesn't occur with females it only occurs with males born out of the same womb. So that's something I've colloquially called womb-gay, but it's called the fraternal birth order effect. And I think the evidence is very strong that a certain percentage of gay people are born that way. We do not have good evidence that straight people are born that way. We don't bother to look for that evidence. Straight people have been less interesting to scientists than gay people in terms of where they come from. And that's because there's a heterosexist assumption that straight people "require no explanation" and gay people "require explanation."

I mean in terms of evolution gay people do require an explanation. Logically speaking we should say "Well that's not a very 'successful strategy,'" as it's called in science, it doesn't lead to a higher reproductive fitness meaning it doesn't lead to more babies. So logically you would want to explain gay people. But it's also a political issue that basically straight people have required no explanation and gay people have required explanation. And some of the explanations historically have been rather unpleasant, like blaming mothers who are frigid or overly clingy in the case of being gay"over clingy mothers make gay boys." What we know from cross-cultural studies is that gay boys are more interested in being with their mothers than straight boys, and so it's not that the mothers are more clingy it's that the boys are more tolerant of time with their mothers.So we've studied much more about gay people that we have studied about straight people, and straight people remain largely a mystery as to how they operate. What makes them straight? We don't really know. We also don't know why gay people are attracted to each other anymore than we know why straight people are attracted to each other. We have hints about smells and about genetic interactions and about facial symmetry, but we really know very little about why straight people are straight and why gay people are gay.

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#4: What makes someone gay? Science is trying to get it straight. | Top 10 2019 - Big Think

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Thirty million bison once roamed the American West. Now, only 21-thousand remain that are managed as wildlife. But this week, for the first time, female bison are being transferred out of Yellowstone National Park in a new program to build other herds. The animals will be retested for disease before release.

Chamois Andersen with Defenders of Wildlife said the bison in Yellowstone are highly prized as direct descendants of the original herds.

"Yellowstone bison are of high genetics in terms of the wildest herd, Andersen said. And any entity right now on the plains that has a wild herd of bison wants Yellowstone bison."

On Tuesday, 14 cow-calf pairs were taken from Yellowstone to be retested for brucellosis -- a disease that affects cattle -- at a state-of-the-art veterinary facility built by the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes at the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

The females then will be released to herds in places that could benefit, such as the Fort Peck, Fort Belknap and Blackfeet Indian Reservations in Montana, the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and Wind Cave and Badlands national parks in South Dakota.

Bison were hunted almost to extinction in the late 1800s, and some of that was an effort by settlers to deprive Native American tribes of their main food source and drive them off their lands. Andersen says these magnificent creatures -- our national mammal -- are an important part of Western heritage.

"We will nowhere see the 30 million wild bison on the plains like Lewis and Clark did back in the early 1800s, Andersen said. But if we can build these herds, we're doing everything we can to bring it back."

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Female Yellowstone Bison Transferred To Other Herds In New Program - Utah Public Radio

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Kate Bubacz, Ben Kothe / BuzzFeed News

Before most people had had the chance to sit down and actually watch Noah Baumbachs new movie Marriage Story on Netflix, a pivotal fight scene late in the film made the rounds on Twitter. Charlie (Adam Driver), a charismatic but demanding theater director, is having it out with his soon-to-be ex-wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson). She wants to start over in her hometown of Los Angeles after a decadelong stint in New York as an actor in Charlies company, helping him make his dreams come true; the problem is that Charlie doesnt want their son, Henry (Azhy Robertson) to live full-time with her across the country. After trying to deal with their separation amicably for most of the film, tensions boil over and both spouses end up screaming at each other.

Part of the reason that the clip went viral before evolving into an all-purpose meme was that people felt the need to weigh in on whether Driver and Johanssons acting is actually any good. (My take: Theyre good! Him especially.) But the other, more significant reason this scene has whipped the internet into a frenzy is because Marriage Storys release came at the close of another year another decade in which mainstream American culture has attempted to wrestle with the dilemma of (white, middle class) heterosexuality and the question of whether it might be an ultimately doomed project.

All the jokes about Marriage Story painting a portrait of heterosexual implosion struck me as perfect examples of what Indiana Seresin, writing for the New Inquiry in October, called heteropessimism, which she defines as performative disaffiliations with heterosexuality, usually expressed in the form of regret, embarrassment, or hopelessness about straight experience. Heteropessimism generally has a heavy focus on men as the root of the problem, and its performances are rarely accompanied by the actual abandonment of heterosexuality. While some people do act choosing celibacy or the now largely outmoded option of political lesbianism most of them just lament the prison of straightness without attempting to either break free from or transform it.

The #MeToo movement, which kicked off in late 2017, forced a nationwide reckoning with gendered power imbalances and abuse in the workplace. But there has yet to be another comparably serious reckoning, nearly 50 years after Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, with gendered power imbalances in straight couples personal lives.

This year, a trove of both fiction and nonfiction books, like Taffy Brodesser-Akners novel Fleishman Is in Trouble, about a marriage on the brink, and Lisa Taddeos Three Women, a report on the sad state of straight romance, explored the rocky terrain of heterosexuality at the end of the 2010s. Hollywood has also tried to reckon with straight men in crisis, in everything from The Irishman to A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, but in ways that still position women as secondary characters, inevitable losers, or both. Weve watched straight people try to find love under extreme and unsavory conditions see: Love Island just as weve watched them try to figure out how, or even if, to salvage love gone sour, like on Showtimes docuseries Couples Therapy or via the tragically hilarious r/relationships thread on Reddit. Weve rooted for millennial hetero love in work created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Sally Rooney, even when that love seemed hopeless or impossible. We've swooned over the March sisters, brought alive again thanks to Greta Gerwig's new adaptation of Little Women, who must contend with the bleak economic realities of straight marriage even as they try to find love too (in men or perhaps just in books). Weve seen people give up on the doomed promise of straight romance altogether to embrace communal cult life instead; is there any more perfect paean to heteropessimism than Ari Asters Midsommar?

Giving up on the promise of heterosexuality does make a sort of sense (if joining a murder cult doesnt quite). Feminism isnt the bugbear it once was, and many men have been encouraged to embrace its tenets in both public and private life. But study after study has shown that, across socioeconomic classes, womens increased participation in the job market has not been matched by nearly as significant an increase in mens labor at home not to mention all the other ways that casual sexism, even from the most enlightened of men, can manifest itself in straight relationships.

There has yet to be another serious reckoning, nearly 50 years after Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, with gendered power imbalances in straight couples personal lives.

Online dating has offered us a trove of new data that confirms the hetero matchmaking world is as bleak as ever: Mens desirability peaks at age 50, while womens peaks at 18; advanced degrees can hurt womens dating chances; mens preferences are often just thinly veiled covers for straightforward racism. When attempting to find a partner, the odds remain stacked against women who arent conventionally hot, white, and smart but not too smart. And after making it through the dating world, women are still more likely than men to be unhappily married. Then, at the very end of their lives, men older than 85 report less life satisfaction if their spouse dies, while women whose husbands die actually get happier once the men are gone. Even making it to 85 unscathed feels like a feat for women when the world is still plagued by shocking levels of intimate partner violence. In the face of all these bleak statistics, who could really blame straight women for being less than thrilled with their own straightness?

Still, not even vehement heteropessimism seems to be encouraging straight people to actively question their own straightness. Like Seresin, and like most other lesbians, Ive been on the receiving end of what feels like a million drunk straight women bemoaning their lot in life, insisting things would be sooooo much easier if they were queer. That men are trash is not something I am personally invested in disputing, Seresin writes. Yet in announcing her wish to be gay, the speaker carelessly glosses over the fact that she has chosen to stay attached to heterosexuality.

The modern, progressively minded tendency to trash straightness at every turn and Im including gay people here too, though straight people doing it are way more annoying and, Id argue, much more harmful has meant that queerness among certain circles is placed on a pedestal that it doesnt always necessarily deserve. Even though I dont envy straight women for having to find a decent man in our misogynistic hellhole of a society, its not always easier to be a lesbian. For one thing, we have to deal with, you know, systemic homophobia. And for another, women can be shitty and abusive and, as bell hooks reminds us, just as capable of sexism as men are. Seresin points out, too, that a certain strain of heteropessimism assigns 100 percent of the blame for heterosexualitys malfunction to men, and has thus become one of the myriad ways in which young women especially white women have learned to disclaim our own cruelty and power.

So, while heteropessimism is a perfectly understandable impulse, its not necessarily getting us anywhere. Seresin again, To be permanently, preemptively disappointed in heterosexuality is to refuse the possibility of changing straight culture for the better. But what might a true transformation of straight culture really look like?

Florence Pugh in Midsommar (2019)

One of the ways straight (white) women, in particular, have performatively distanced themselves from their own heterosexuality is through what Emmeline Clein, writing for BuzzFeed News, called disassociation feminism. Perhaps in response to stereotypes about female hysteria Seresin mentions the Overly Attached Girlfriend meme Clein and other women shes observed instead now seem to be interiorizing our existential aches and angst, smirking knowingly at them, and numbing ourselves to maintain our nonchalance.

Its been nearly five years since Alana Massey wrote her viral opus Against Chill in which she defines straight dating culture as the Blas Olympics. Its a culture that pressures you especially if youre a woman to forgo the language of courtship and desire, lest we appear invested somehow in other human beings. Heteropessimism isnt disassociation, exactly Seresin calls it a disaffiliation but its born of a similar impulse: an attempt to escape the inescapable.

Long before I developed any sort of feminist consciousness, I learned that, in order to be the kind of girl a boy wanted, Id have to develop some level of ironic detachment from the objects of my desires. I was a proud little misandrist in the making, wearing my Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks at Them! shirt as often as I could in middle school. There was no greater satisfaction, at that time in my life, than beating boys at soccer during recess. I believed wholeheartedly in the girl power of the early aughts, even though, as much as I loved making fun of them or running them ragged on the soccer pitch, I desperately wanted a boy any boy! to think I was cute and cool. It was all incredibly confusing.

When I got older, my earliest hookups with guys were one part thrilling (male attention!) and three parts uncomfortable, gross, and humiliating. I got the impression that this was all par for the course. From high school through college, both my peers and pop culture at large signified to me that penises are nasty and blowjobs are a chore. Actually liking it would just make you a crazy slut, after all. Okay, so nobody really wants to do all this, but we just have to do it anyway, I thought as I blundered my awkwardly heterosexual way into my early twenties.

At the time, my friends and I were vaguely aware of the pop feminist discourse surrounding sex positivity, but we didnt know about its sex-negative backlash; rather, we unwittingly tended to pluck out the worst tenets of both. We knew that straightforward slut-shaming was bad, but still looked askance at girls who got too messy in their boy lust; we volunteered for the university office that dealt with intimate partner violence, but didnt know what to do when one of our friends boyfriends got so angry at her that he put his head through a sliding glass door.

At the beginning of my first year I told a dorm room full of my new friends that I thought I was bisexual, and after the dead silence that greeted this news, I decided not to bring it up again for another three years. Instead, with the kind but ultimately misguided permission of my sweet college boyfriend, I started exploring my interest in girls at first, sort of secretly and shamefully. Then, after years of run-of-the-mill bad sex with boys who were becoming men, as well as a few too many instances of coercion and assault, I finally figured out that sex didnt have to be so miserable all the time. I liked girls! Not only did I like them, I liked having sex with them!

Steeped as I was in a world insisting on heterosexuality as the norm even when it made me, my now-divorced parents, and most of my friends profoundly unhappy I hadnt previously realized (or dared to believe) that lesbianism was an option for me. Sometimes I wonder if I hadnt joined a rugby team my sophomore year and befriended, then later dated, the proudly out queer people I met through the sport, I might have just continued to be shunted along on the conveyor belt of heterosexuality toward my capitalism-approved future as a husbands wife and the mother of his children.

Heteropessimism isnt disassociation, exactly, but its born of a similar impulse: an attempt to escape the inescapable.

In Adrienne Richs famous essay from 1980, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, Rich takes issue with the forces like capitalism and pop culture that have long convinced women that their sexual orientation toward men is inevitable, even if heterosexuality is an unsatisfying or oppressive component of their lives. Rich notes that there is no statistical documentation of the numbers of lesbians who have remained in heterosexual marriages for most of their lives a group of nameless and unrepresented women I think of often, whose ranks I easily might have joined. She references a letter the playwright Lorraine Hansberry wrote to the early lesbian publication the Ladder, which ran from the 50s through the early 70s: How could we ever begin to guess the numbers of women who are not prepared to risk a life alien to what they have been taught all their lives to believe was their natural destiny and their only expectation for economic security?

The born this way model of human sexuality would suggest that were all hardwired to prefer one or more genders; gayness, straightness, or bisexuality would then simply be our biological destiny. But just this year scientists have yet again debunked the existence of a gay gene, finding in a major study that multiple genes could influence the emergence of a persons same-sex orientation though only 25% of sexual behavior can be explained by genetics, with the rest influenced by environmental and cultural factors.

In other words, our sexual behavior is mostly shaped by the world we live in. And yet the mainstream assumption has barely changed since Rich was writing nearly 40 years ago: Everyone is presumed straight until proven otherwise (though for women, all the proof in the world is sometimes still not enough).

From left: Adam Driver, Azhy Robertson, Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story.

Heteropessimism has always had a role to play in the queer world too, but in the age of social media, that role has become much more clearly defined: Its a way for strangers to question the boundaries of each others queer identities.

Declaring ourselves aesthetically, ethically, romantically, and just all-around superior to straight people is an everyday aspect of life on the queer internet. So are regular occurrences of bisexuals accusing lesbians of biphobia, and lesbians accusing them of lesbophobia in turn. These fights ultimately both come down to the question of whether or not bi people are at least adjacent to the straight world and, if so, whether they benefit to some extent from straight-passing privilege.

The actor Evan Rachel Wood, one of the most prominent voices on Bi Twitter, recently tweeted that her relationships with men are still queer, echoing sentiments expressed earlier this year by Miley Cyrus (before her separation) about how she queered her straight marriage with Liam Hemsworth. You shouldnt judge a book by its cover, Wood wrote in her tweet thread. A man and a woman can still encounter prejudice in a seemingly hetero relationship. The tweets received a lot of love and support from other bi women who find that their queerness is invalidated when theyre in relationships with men; she also received some criticism from lesbians, who tweeted responses like, if a bi woman and a bi man are walking down the street holding hands you think theyll get decked by a mind reading homophobe?

A lot of whats deemed anti-bi or bisexual erasure on the internet is really just a version of heteropessimism: Jokes suggesting that women who willingly date men when they have the option not to are, if not bad or wrong, then just kind of embarrassing. The critic Andrea Long Chu is probably still getting angry @-replies to this tweet from last year: str8 married bi girls are like those kids who studied abroad in college and five years later are still somehow weaving it into every conversation. like we get it christa you lived in madrid.

Though bisexuality is still heavily stigmatized, I do reflect back on the years when I quietly identified as bi and enjoyed the very real social and economic privileges that came along with publicly dating my college boyfriend while sleeping with girls on the side. I thought I was a boring normie, rather than the cool radical I secretly longed to be, so I sympathize with bi people in straight-seeming relationships who feel like theyre not considered queer enough. That was my reality for a long time. But still, it turns out that the pressures from a minority subgroup to be sufficiently queer (whatever that really means) didnt hold nearly so much sway over my choices as the enormous and practically incalculable pressures of compulsory heterosexuality.

Those pressures are so powerful, Rich writes, that many women fail to recognize how deeply weve internalized women-hatred until it takes some permanently unmistakable and shattering form in our own lives. For me, that moment was when I fell in love with one of the queer people I was sleeping with in college, who happened to be one of my best friends, and finally worked up the nerve on the night before graduation to end my straight relationship for good.

I dont think the solution to heteropessimism is for everybody to suddenly decide to be gay (though Id be into it). Political lesbianism, after all, didnt quite work out the first time around, and our desires dont necessarily make us any more morally righteous than those who desire differently than we do.

But even though becoming a lesbian didnt automatically make me a better person, it did make me a hell of a lot happier. Its scary to think that this wasnt always going to be my destiny, and its really hard to imagine my life would be any better if Id remained a disillusioned member of the straight world. I have to assume that, if everybody keeps complaining about heterosexualitys dark sides while the institution itself remains a compulsory organizing structure for so much of American life, an extraordinary number of women (and men) might not know what theyre missing.

It should go without saying but is worth repeating anyway that queer relationships arent necessarily happier or healthier than straight ones. And one of the risks of heteropessimism is that it can actually obscure the ways in which gay relationships can also be plagued by toxicity and abuse. In her extraordinary new memoir In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado documents the year she spent in an abusive relationship with another woman. I enter into the archive, she writes in the books prologue, that domestic abuse between partners who share a gender identity is both possible and not uncommon, and that it can look something like this. In experimental, fragmented sections corresponding with different literary conceits, Machado places her own narrative within the all-too-limited tradition of lesbians and bisexual women grappling with their own experiences of abuse and assault.

Though all victims of intimate partner violence need to contend with a society (and a police state) that so often belittles, disbelieves, and even punishes them, queer women survivors are uniquely disenfranchised, because their female partners are often assumed to be incapable of really harming anyone.

In a recent essay about transmasculinity and feminism for the New Inquiry, Noah Zazanis writes about how, before transitioning, learning how hed been harmed by patriarchy helped him to stop blaming himself for the violence done to him. But it also meant that my conceptualization of my own reality, and my right to label these experiences as violence, was inextricably tied to seeing myself as a woman or at least, within this binary framework of who harms and who is harmed, as not a man.

The dominant narrative of domestic violence holding that men abuse women something that is, indeed, devastatingly common in heterosexual pairings also elides a less widely publicized story that LGBTQ people are just as likely, if not more likely, to experience abuse from their partners. And individual survivors, both in the midst of these relationships or long afterward, are often robbed of the opportunity and power to claim the facts of their experiences. I wrote this book because I was looking for something that didnt exist, Machado told BuzzFeed News in November.

Heteropessimism, and our fixation on mens fallibility, doesnt only help straight women evade responsibility for their bad behavior; it can help lesbians do it too. I thought about that unpleasant little trick while watching the first few episodes of The L Word: Generation Q, this years reboot of the beloved Showtime series that ended its first run in 2009. Resident bad bitch Bette (Jennifer Beals), whos running for mayor of Los Angeles, faces a major campaign setback when the husband of a woman shed been sleeping with who was also working for her at the time publicly accuses her of the affair. (Its a creepily prescient plotline following the recent resignation of member of Congress Katie Hill.)

After the rally, Bettes commiserating with her two best friends, Alice (Leisha Hailey) and Shane (Katherine Moennig), who basically tell her she has nothing to worry about. Bette suspects that the scorned husband is just upset that his wife slept with a woman, which threatens his manhood. But neither Bettes friends nor her campaign staffers think to admonish her for seducing, and sleeping with, one of her employees a clear abuse of power, regardless of gender.

Another similarly cringey moment in the show arrived with the debut of its first special celebrity guest, soccer star Megan Rapinoe. I agree with lesbian critic Trish Bendix, who also got weird vibes from the segment in which Rapinoe goes on Alices talk show. Alice is flirtatious with Megan, and I find that really gross in a journalistic setting, no matter the gender or sexuality of a reporter or guest, she wrote. Though I suppose were supposed to find it charming that Alice nudges Rapinoe to admit that Alice is her celebrity crush, I instead just found it awkward and inappropriate. But again, because were so used to condemning men in positions of power for their behavior with women, and so unwilling to recognize the ways that women, and especially white women, can abuse their positions, heteropessimism (and its inverse homo-optimism?) encourages us to let some of this stuff slide.

The goal here isnt to pit queerness and straightness against each other, however. Rather, Im curious about ways in which we can try to encourage romantic partners of all persuasions to be compassionate, mindful of their own power and privilege, and interested in transforming their own dating universes (whether queer or straight) for the better.

Jennifer Beals in The L Word: Generation Q.

So how are we actually supposed to deal with the myriad pitfalls of heterosexuality without writing it off altogether? Diana Tourje, a journalist at Vice, has been doing a lot of compelling and controversial work on this subject. Shes written beautifully about being caught in a culture of male shame and discretion as a trans woman whose partners prefer not to publicly acknowledge that she exists. Shes also done extensive reporting on straight men who find themselves attracted to trans women and has even made the case that transamorous men are a part of the trans community itself. She takes on the horrifying statistic that more than half of all trans women have experienced intimate partner violence, and the fact that many of them, especially trans women of color, will die from it.

Tourje believes that cis men, instead of just being the perpetrators of these problems, are actually essential to solving them. She wites, The longer cis men who love trans women believe their sexuality needs no definition or is best kept private, their bad behavior will continue to be passed down from one generation to the next, as trans women shoulder a burden that cis men could help carry.

Heteropessimism, and our fixation on mens fallibility, doesnt only help straight women evade responsibility for their bad behavior; it can help lesbians do it too.

Tourjes writings about transamorous men have met a lot of online pushback from other trans and gender-nonconforming writers, thinkers, and activists. BuzzFeed News contributor Alex Verman, in the Outline, argued that attempting to normalize and desensationalize the straight men who date trans women contributes to the idea that there is anything normal about a type of love that results in three murders per day. They reference Adrienne Richs work on compulsory heterosexuality to point out that womanhood is often imagined as something that follows from men, rather than existing apart from or alongside them. Heterosexuality creates gendered rules and expectations, rather than the other way around. To Verman, Maybe the issue isnt that men feel too much shame; perhaps, they dont feel enough.

This debate echoes more general feminist conversations about when, if ever, its appropriate to prioritize helping men achieve more healthy visions of masculinity, both to improve their own outlooks on life and to help them stop being so terrible to women. How much of the feminist project should actually be centered on men?

Journalist Liz Plank, for her part, thinks the project of male improvement is a worthy cause, as evidenced by her new book, For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity. So does journalist-turned-psychologist Darcy Lockman, who was inspired by frustrations in her own marriage to write All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers, and the Myth of Equal Partnership, an investigation into why, in households where both parents work full-time and agree that tasks should be equally shared, mothers household management, mental labor, and childcare contributions still outweigh fathers.

Lockman reports that the third biggest reason for the dissolution of straight marriages is unfair division of labor at home. Rather than succumb to a heteropessimistic impulse to assume that boys will be boys, Lockman dives deep into the makings of men and women who grow up to take on heterosexual partnerships, debunks myths of maternal instinct and biologically essentialist gender roles, and explores all the ways in which men evade their responsibilities to their wives and families, from passive resistance to strategic incompetence.

Lockmans book is chock-full of fascinating findings about women lowering their expectations so they can stand to be married to people who arent pulling their full weight. One of the ideas I found most compelling is that, in France, where theres less explicitly feminist rhetoric, women report a lot less anger at and frustration with their husbands in large part due to distributive care of the French state. French womens husbands arent doing anything significantly different than their American counterparts, but in France, free universal daycare and other social programs take on a significant amount of the burden of raising children; American mothers dont receive enough help from their husbands or the state.

Lockman also notes that, over the past few decades, American women have always been likely to report high feelings of communality, like expressivity, warmth, and concern for the welfare of others. Men, meanwhile, are barely any more invested in communality than they have been in decades past those numbers are still, as always, quite low.

If men are so resistant to communality, what if we were to bring the communality to them? France and other countries with progressive social programs have certainly not solved the problems born from sexism or misogyny, but encouraging a culture in which we are all responsible for each others well-being rather than merely responsible for our own nuclear families could have real, radical results. Audre Lorde has written about how the sharing of work can also be the sharing of joy, which makes us less willing to accept powerlessness, or those other supplied states of being which are not native to me, such as resignation, despair, self-effacement, depression, self-denial.

In her essay on heteropessimism, Seresin writes that the concept is often framed as an anti-capitalist one: a refusal of the good life of marital consumption and property ownership that capitalism once mandated. Yet this good life, which was always withheld from marginalized populations, is now untenable for almost everyone. Heteropessimism hasnt actually succeeded in pushing back against capitalist forces at all; its only helped encourage a change of subject. If the couple was the primary consumer unit of the past, Seresin argues, today this has collapsed, or more accurately been replaced by a new dyad, the individual consumer and her phone.

Its tempting to consider that straightness is so doomed that our only option, for queer and straight people alike, is to disavow heteronormativity altogether eschewing marriage, family, all of it and simply focus on ourselves; its us against the world. But what if we instead used our heteropessimism to encourage each other to reach beyond the bounds of the self and beyond the bounds of our romantic partnerships and nuclear families to imagine a better world for us all?

The problem with heterosexualitys stranglehold on the organization of American life isnt only the way it produces and reproduces gender roles that limit both men and women. It also keeps us trapped in the assumption (and the political reality) that finding a mate is our best chance at survival. I choose to believe to hope that together, we can find a better way.

Visit link:
It Was A Tough Year For Heterosexuality - BuzzFeed News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

In September of this year,the Skidoo female pedigree Charolais cattle went under the hammer.

Prior to the sale, we caught up with farm manager, Donal Callery and his three-man team, to chat about the history of the Skidoo herd and what lies ahead for the Dublin-based farm.

The Skidoo farm needs no introduction as itwill be known in almost all farming circles both at national and international level.

The Skidoo herd originates all the way back to 1966, when the farm owner at the time Omer Van Landeghem introduced some of the first Charolais cattle onto the island of Ireland.

This did not just happen overnight, and after eight years of striving, Van Landeghem succeeded in his quest to bring Charolais cattle to north Co. Dublin.

In 1966, the Charolais heifers and bulls from France were quarantined on Spike Island in Cork Harbour, before arriving at their new home.

He continued to build up the herd here in Ireland, with famous sires such as:Shamrock Ambassador;Uranus; Emperor; Commander; and Flambeau. Other bulls such as Skidoo Champion and Skidoo Pacha are still popular among farmers today.

In 1995,Van Landeghem passed away and the farm and the herd were sold to local farmer and business professional, Pat McDonagh.

However, the Charolais breed and history was maintained on the farm, and in 2010, the reins of the farm were taken by Cavan man, Donal Callery.Donal Callery with some of the Charolais cows prior to the sale

Today, both the 100-cow Charolais pedigree herd and the 160-cow commercial herd are managed by Donal and his three-man team: assistant manager, Gerard Friel; stockman, Stephen Patton; and maintenance man, Anthony McDonagh. A tillage enterprise is also present on the farm.

The main focus and the main traits that Skidoo chased and always had was number one easy calving, and number two milky cows, Donal explained, when describing the backbone of the herd.

Im here 10 years and what we focused on was cow functionality a cow that could rear a calf herself. She has to have milk; she has to be fertile; and she has to have a calf every 365 days, along with sound feet and legs.

The pedigree herd is split calving 50% spring and 50% autumn, while 60% of the commercial herd calves in the springtime, with the remaining 40% calving in the autumn.

Up until this year, approximately 45 pedigree bulls were sold each year for breeding direct off-farm along with breeding heifers after replacements had been chosen keeping to the tune of a closed herd with optimum herd health status.

Herd health is paramount in relation to bio-security, and we have a strict vaccination programme in place. Also, the farm is surrounded by tillage fields and a closed herd has been maintained for many years, Donal added.

The vaccination programme protects against: leptospirosis; bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD); infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR); blackleg;rotavirus; and coronavirus.

Heifers from the commercial herd are finished on the farm aged 24 months, while bulls are sold at 12 months-of-age weighing 500kg for the under-16 month bull finishing market. The breeds used in the commercial herd include: Simmental; Limousin; and Charolais.

However, the decision, a move which Donal admits wasnt an easy one, was made last year a switch from beef to dairy production.Image source: Tricia Kennedy

For the time being, the commercial herd (60% AI and 40% stock bulls) will be kept on the farm.

When it comes to selecting bulls and sires, criteria was very much based around maternal traits, with the aim of building an elite-cow herd.

We wanted bulls that would be easy calving, high in fertility, and that were going to retain milk in the females, Donal explained.

We were breeding an animal that was early maturing thats what the market requires; those big carcasses are finished. All our cows are medium sized, with high traits for milk, fertility, carcass and conformation.

The herd is involved in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) and Donal is a fan of the programme.

All the females here are genomicallytested and thats fantastic, he added.

In 2018, 300 cows were calved down, so having an easy-calving system was paramount to the system.

Pedigree heifers calve aged two and a half, while 50% of the commercial heifers (spring calvers) are calved at 24 months and the remaining 50% are calved at 30 months (autumn calvers).

The breeding season for the autumn-calving cows starts on December 1, and finishes on February 1 a strict eight-week breeding period.

The breeding period for the spring-calving herd commences on May 1 and continues until July 12. Additionally, all going to plan, weanlings are turned out to grass in early February.

The farm is described as extremely dry and Donal outlined that in a normal year cattle could be out grazing for 10 months of the year.

Therefore, grass is the main constituent in the diet, with calves only receiving meal six weeks pre-weaning and during the indoor period (2kg/head/day).

Were not selling any bulls at the moment because of the size of the sale, so we intend to have another sale for male animals in February next year, Donal said.Image source: Tricia Kennedy

The pedigree herd uses 100% AI.

Our foundation cows are cows that are going back to the likes of: Bowerhouses Topper; Oldstone Egbert; Jupiter; Domino; Major all the top female bloodlines; we have them.

The sires that are working very well at the moment are: Tombapic; Jumper, Nelson; Pirate; Doonally New CF52 (terminal traits); Bivouac; and Bourgogne theres a whole array of them that we used, the Cavan man explained.

Wheels are already in motion for the next chapter on the Skidoo farm. In spring 2021, approximately 300 black and white cows will enter into a new rotary parlour.

The overall target for the new dairy farm is 400 cows. While Donal is looking forward to this endeavor, he has not taken the decision lightly.

For this farm, beef farming at this stage is not justifiable as we pay staff because its 100% hired labour.

Im from a dairy farming background; we have a dairy farm at home and I managed a dairy farm when I qualified as a farm manager.

Saying that, I went into beef, and enjoyed beef; beef farming has been very good to me. I really enjoyed it but I always had the liking for dairy.

To be honest, to disperse the pedigree Charolais herd here, youre talking about genetics going back to 1966 the first Charolais genetics that was introduced to Ireland; there was a lot of work put into breeding.

We have built up a herd thats not alone known nationally, but internationally as well. It was a big decision that the pedigree Charolais herd has to go.

It was a thing that was not taken lightly, and it was a big decision to go away from beef farming; but for the moment, we are still retaining the commercial herd to see how things pan out, Donal explained.

Infrastructure on the farm is excellent and only minor adjustments have to be made to facilitate the new breed of cows, with the exception of the rotary parlour.

Winter accommodation is adequate, and cubicles will be installed in the near future.

Since taking over the managerial reins in 2010, Donal and his team have implemented a paddock and water system, and installed a road network throughout the holding.

Grass management, grass measuring and AI are all familiar practices on the farm, so there will be nothing new for the team to grasp on that front.

We were already doing a lot of things that the dairy man does with the beef herd grass measuring, heat detection and AI; Stephen and Gerardlook after the AI department, so were up to speed there.

In relation to grassland management, we know how to utilise grass and we know how to breed good cows, Donal added.Image source: Tricia Kennedy

Concluding, Donal said: Im very keen on the dairying. Once we made up our minds, we were very happy to go down that road.

It will be a sad, sad day to see the herd dispersed, but I have no doubt that the Skidoo name will live on because people will buy the genetics here and will have them for years to come.

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Continued here:
Revisited: Bidding farewell to the famous Skidoo Charolais pedigree herd - Agriland

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Estonian World has a long history in compiling lists of top Estonians for pretty much any occasion. 2019 was a volatile year in the world, in Estonia and for Estonians globally, so this year, our editors decided to put together a list of Estonians who stood out in their field and/or were outspoken at home to the extent of making headlines beyond the borders.

This list is in a random order, not in the order of anyones preference.

By Silver Tambur

Womens ski slopestyle is not a sort of sports that is on everyones lips or attracting millions of TV-viewers like football or tennis do, for example. But gosh, isnt Kelly Sildaru good at it?

Sildarustarted skiing when she was two and got into freestyle-skiing at the age offive.By the time Sildaru was 11, she had been noticed by theinternational sports press Euronews called her the future star of freestyleskiing and videos of her breathtakingly brave style started circling onYouTube.

But itwasnt merely the style there was also persistence and hard work that haspaid off. In 2016, Sildaru made free-skiing history, becoming the youngestathlete ever to win a gold medal at the Winter X Games, worlds leading extremesports competition that take place annually in Aspen, Colorado, the UnitedStates. In 2017, she defended her title from 2016 and at 14, became theyoungest to win two gold medals in the X Games.

She missed the slopestyle competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics because of injury, but was back in shape in Aspen, in January 2019, setting a new X Games womens slopestyle record with a score of 99.00 and winning her third gold medal of the competition.

By Sten Hankewitz

Tommy Cash may be one of the biggest stars Estonia has ever produced. Born Tomas Tammemets, he is anEstonian rapper who in 2019 went on his first tour of North America as an opening act of one Oliver Tree on the latters Goodbye, Farewell Tour, where Cashparticipated in shows that, for example in Chicago, IL, were sold out in an arena that accommodates at least700 people.

Cash was born in Tallinn and is of mixed ethnic Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh origin. He hasdescribed himself as first and foremost an Estonian. He is a known freestyle dancer, and in 2018, he releaseda clothing line that subversively imitates western styles with eastern elements and in-jokes.

In November 2018, Cash released his second album $; in 2019, he had an exhibition at the Kumu artmuseum in Tallinn.And, as a cherry on top, he has over 708,000 followers on Instagram.

Also, my wife tells me Tommy Cash is ahuge-ass global star. Thats got to count for something.

By Silver Tambur

Until recently, most of the positive international coverage about Estonia has been about the countrys digital state and its affiliated programmes, such as e-residency. In 2019, Estonia as a country made positive news for two other reasons the countrys success at PISA tests and its genetic data project, led by Lili Milani, the head researcher at Estonian Genome Centre of the University of Tartu.

Starting in 2018 and continuing this year, the centre ran the Estonian government-backed project to collect the DNA samples of 150,000 Estonians with the aim ofcollecting genetic dataand integrating it into every-day medical practice by giving people feedback of their personal genetic risks. The data will be linked with the national health information system from 2019-2022.

Estoniasgenetic data project in this format is unique in the world and in 2019, stirredmuch interest abroad.According to Milani, the collected genetic data inEstonia will also help scientists conduct a wider medical research all theparticipants who donated their DNA sample have given their consent for this.She has also published research papers in magazines such as Genome Research,Nature, Science, Nature Genetics and BMC Genomics.

Despite her Iranian roots she was born to Iranian parents in Sweden Milani has publicly said that she feels Estonian and likes that feeling.

By Sten Hankewitz

A 19-year-old student, in 2013, foundeda company in Tallinn. He was frustrated by the waiting time and expense oftaxis in the Estonian capital, Tallinn especially in the weekend nights whenreturning from a night out. He launched a mobile app that allows people torequest a taxi or private driver from their smartphone. The app also shows theprice and waiting time. The company later also expanded into electric scootersand food delivery services.

That 19-year-old student was MarkusVillig. The company he launched was Taxify now known as Bolt. His companycurrently operates in over 30 countries and in more than 150 cities around theworld. It all may sound like, that man was Moe Green, and the city he inventedwas Las Vegas, but Markus, unlike Moe Green, is not fictional. Well, we couldcompare him with the real-life Ben Siegel, but you get the point, and Bugsywasnt that interesting.

This year saw Bolt become a unicorn a startup with the valuation over USD1 billion. Bolt was one of the two Estonian-founded companies among 403 startups the New York City-based research firm, CB Insights listed in its unicorn list.

By Silver Tambur

My mother said to me yesterday evening that if Ott wants something, then he can make it happen and I just had to make it happen, Ott Tnak said in an interview given to the WRC live broadcast, straight after it was clear he had won the World Rally Championship, after successfully completing the Rally de Catalunya in Spain in October. Thank God for supportive mothers all around the world!

At one ofthe recent Estonishing Evenings events in Tallinn, a Swiss expat describedEstonians as very stubborn people. Thinking about it, he was right.Stubbornness can be negative when one is on a wrong course and refuses toadmit a mistake. But it can certainly be a positive force when one is on aright track, refuses to give up and ultimately, succeeds and wins.

Tnak belongs to the latter category it took him ten years to claim the ultimate WRC prize. He made hisWorld Rally Championshipdebut at the2009 Rally de Portugal, scored his first WRC points at the2011 Rally Mexico and claimed his maiden race victory in Italy in 2017. In 2019, teamed with co-driver Martin Jrveoja and competing for Toyota, Tnak won most of the races throughout the year and secured his first driverschampionship win the first Estonian to do so.

If you think thats a small feat, consider this: since the drivers championship was first awarded in1977, drivers from just nine countries France, Finland, Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Norway, and now Estonia have won the title.

By Sten Hankewitz

Riina Kionka is, undoubtedly, one of the coolest people I have the honour of knowing and calling my friend. An Estonian-American born in Detroit, Michigan Kionka says shes an accidental diplomat who, as a kid, wanted to be a musician and a conductor. However, fate had other plans for her. In high school, she decided she didnt want to spend the hours in dingy, windowless basement practice rooms and she decided to choose a career in international relations.

She worked as an analyst at Radio FreeEurope before joining the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993. Kionkawas Estonias ambassador to Germany from 2000-2004; in 2005, she joined theCouncil of the European Union where she headed a unit dealing withtransatlantic relations and the United Nations. In 2007, she became JavierSolanas special representative on human rights and in 2014 she joined DonaldTusks cabinet as chief foreign policy adviser.

In October this year, she assumed hernew post as the European Unions ambassador to the Republic of South Africa.Federica Mogherini, the European Unions foreign policy chief, appointed her tothe post on 9 October.

Kionka told Estonian World that her overarching task in South Africa is to represent the EU and its policies to the host government as well as to be the eyes and ears of Brussels in South Africa.

By Silver Tambur

Back in 2002, when I was working in a small picturesque village in Englands Lake District, I came across to a local steamboat captain who, when hearing my origins, excitedly exclaimed: Oh, Estonia! Arvo Prt is from Estonia. Admittedly, there are many Prt fans around the world who do not know where the composer comes from but the local captain, who looked like the eccentric scientistDr Emmett Doc Brown from Back to the Future, wasnt one of them (and apparently, he had all Prts albums lined up at home).

Whether they know Prts origins or not, there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of fans of his compositions around the world including some global names such as Paul McCartney, Sting (who, while on a tour stop in Tallinn this summer, made sure to meet Prt at his namesake centre in Laulasmaa), Michael Stipe, Bjrk and Thom Yorke.

Prts music is not confined to private listening either. In January, it was announced by the classical music event database,Bachtrack, that Prt had been for the eighth year in a row the worlds most performed living composer. Bachtrackcalculates a series ofstatisticseach year that show the number of times the work of each composer has been performed around the world.

By Sten Hankewitz

Were sure you know nothing aboutTransferWise and youve never used its services, so let us fill you in. Its amoney-transfer startup, founded in 2011, by two Estonians, Taavet Hinrikus andKristo Krmann. The company is based in London, once the capital of theBritish Empire, but nevertheless we regard it an Estonian startup.

And this year, it became the most valuable fintech startup in Europe after an investment round that valued the company at USD3.5 billion. Yes, thats billion with a b. Nine zeroes.

The USD3.5 billion valuation is morethan double the company achieved in late 2017 at the time of its USD280 millionSeries E round.

So yeah, the founders of TransferWise, a company that now has more than 1,600 employees worldwide, is another collective outstanding global Estonian of 2019.

By Silver Tambur

A truly global Estonian, Paavo Jrvi has for years conducted the worlds finest orchestras, whether it be in Berlin or Moscow, Paris or Tokyo but 2019 was extraordinarily successful for the conductor.

This autumn, Jrvi was named the Conductor of the Year byGermanys leading classical music awards, Opus Klassik, for his recording ofthe complete Sibelius Symphonies with the Orchestre de Paris. The awardceremony took place at the Berlin Konzerthaus on 13 October and was broadcastin Germany on ZDF and promoted on the leading streaming service for classicalmusic, Idagio.

As the son of a famous conductor [Neeme Jrvi], Paavo Jrvihas achieved world-wide success. He is one of the most sought-after orchestralconductors of our time. This autumn, he looks forward to his first season asChief Conductor of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zrich, while continuing to directthe NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, as well as The Deutsche KammerphilharmonieBremen, Opus Klassik said in a statement, while announcing the award.

And despite his seemingly constant travels, Jrvi remains committed to promoting Estonian music throughout the world as well as staging innovative performances and producing high-quality recordings throughout Estonia. In the spring, the conductor led the Estonian Festival Orchestras tour in Japan. With sell-out concerts in Hamamatsu, Fukui, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Tokyos Suntory Hall, the public was invited to hear a conversation with Jrvi and members of the orchestra introducing the Japanese audience to Estonian culture before each concert.

By Sten Hankewitz

On 3 March, Estonia held a generalelection. The Reform Party won, and everyone expected its leader, Kaja Kallas,to become prime minister. And, it all went tits-up from there.

The sitting prime minister, the leaderof the centre-left Centre Party, Jri Ratas, decided the seat he was holding atStenbock House was too valuable to lose. So, instead of conceding defeat and soddingoff, he was committed to hold on to his chair and form a coalition ofconvenience although weve yet to know what the convenience part for him was.He invited the centre-right conservative Isamaa and the far-right populist,anti-immigration, homophobic, all-in-all a racist bunch, known as the EstonianConservative Peoples Party (or EKRE), to participate in the coalition talks. Sure,they had 19 seats in the parliament, but considering who won the election, itwasnt supposed to be Ratass decision in the first place.

Well, Ratass lack of self-criticism and his reluctance to face the election results led to a coalition that shouldnt have been. And that blasphemy gave birth to one of the biggest popular movements in the post-occupation Estonia Kigi Eesti, Everyones Estonia or, as the movement itself translates it, My Estonia Too.

The Kigi Eesti (#kigieesti # #myestoniatoo) movement started with a massive action in the social media (gathering over 20,000 followers in two days) in March and a popular concert in April by residents of Estonia from all walks of life and from various communities that was attended by 10,000 people and reached to over 80,000 people via television and online streams. The movements impact was also noted by many international media outlets. It reminded the government of Jri Ratas the values of liberty, justice and the rule of law, and its become the conscience of everyone who holds human rights, liberties, the freedom of speech and the rule of law dear. And thats admirable.

Full disclosure: The editor-in-chief of Estonian World, Silver Tambur, is a member of the Kigi Eesti movement. I am not. It was purely my idea to include Kigi Eesti in this list; I wrote this chapter on my own, and the fact that Silver is my dear friend, colleague and partner in this endeavour does not affect my judgement one bit. We fight more than married couples do; but I always stand behind righteous values.

By Silver Tambur

Although Kaljulaid was elected Estonias first female president already three years ago, 2019 was the year that she really started to shine abroad until recently, she had still been somewhat in the shadows of the previous president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, in terms of international interviews and coverage.

Among the major global titles, Kaljulaid was interviewed orfeatured in The Atlantic, Le Monde, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, Der Spiegel,Fox News, Politico and Quartz. While the president prefers to talk aboutEstonias digital state and its affiliated success stories, sadly one of thereasons behind the increased international interest in interviewing her was thechanged political landscape in Estonia.

Following the general election on 3 March and the subsequent inclusion of the populist Estonian Conservative Peoples Party (EKRE) in the Estonian government, Kaljulaid emerged as one of the most prominent critics of the radical rhetoric expressed by the party figureheads (most notably, its leaders, father and son Mart and Martin Helme, Estonias interior and finance ministers, respectively).

I hate them [EKRE politicians] for their behavior, and I apologise for the image this might give. Decent people do not behave themselves this way, Kaljulaid told Foreign Policy in an interview that caused much stir in Estonia and split peoples opinions whether it was right or wrong for the ceremonial figurehead with no executive power to intervene as outspokenly in the politics. The question and answer referred to the white supremacy hand signal made by Mart and Martin Helme at the new governments swearing-in ceremonyin April.

I hope they stop soon; if they dont, Ill keep apologising for them, the president said in the same interview. Unfortunately, they didnt stop. Just in early December, Mart Helme called the new Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, a cashier who together with her Red coalition partners would desperately try to destroy Finland and again, it was Kaljulaid who made a phone call to her Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinist, apologising for the words of radical Estonian interior minister. Kaljulaids frustration is understandable on foreign visits, she now must waste part of the very little and valuable time [that a president from a small country has in meetings with global heavyweights] to explain the political shambles back home.

Domestic concerns aside, it was also a busy year for Kaljulaid in terms of foreign visits. In April, she met with her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, becoming the first Estonian leader to meet the Russian president since 2010. The cherry on the cake was Estonias election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The Estonian foreign ministry, diplomats and Kaljulaid who led the countrys delegation at the vote on 7 June at the UN headquarters in New York City campaigned long and hard for the seat.

By Sten Hankewitz

According to the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA, a premier global metric for education the results of Estonian 15-year-olds are the best in Europe and among the strongest in the world. Pupils from China, Singapore, Macao (China), Hong Kong, Estonia, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Taiwan and Finland achieved the best results in the latest PISA study, compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and published on 3 December 2019.

Estonias 15-year-olds rank first inreading, science and mathematics in Europe, while in the world, the countrysstudents rank fifth in reading, eighth in mathematics and fourth in sciences.

In reading, which was the focus of PISA 2018, Estonia, Canada, Finland and Ireland were the highest-performing OECD countries. In science, the highest-performing OECD countries were Japan and Estonia. In mathematics, the highest-performing OECD countries were Japan, Korea and Estonia.

So we declare ALL Estonian teachers as among the most outstanding Estonians in the world. And were thinking back to the teachers that helped shape us. Thinking of you, the Estonian language and literature teacher at the Tallinn Secondary School No 20, Ene Liivaste; rest in peace. You shaped me more than I ever let you know, and I thank you for that.

More here:
Top 12 outstanding Estonians in the world 2019 - Estonian World

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrigs disease, is a neurodegenerative disease affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine published research describing a new way to deliver a gene-silencing vector to mice with ALS. The therapy resulted in long-term suppression of the disease if the treatment was given before the disease started. It also blocked disease progression in the mice if symptoms already appeared.

The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

At present, this therapeutic approach provides the most potent therapy ever demonstrated in mouse models of mutated SOD1 gene-linked ALS, said senior author Martin Marsala, professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. In addition, effective spinal cord delivery of AAV9 vector in adult animals suggests that the use of this new delivery method will likely be effective in treatment of other hereditary forms of ALS or other spinal neurodegenerative disorders that require spinal parenchymal delivery of therapeutic gene(s) or mutated-gene silencing machinery, such as in C9orf72 gene mutation-linked ALS or in some forms of lysosomal storage disease.

ALS appears in two forms, sporadic and familial. The most common form is sporadic, responsible for 90 to 95% of all cases. Familial ALS makes up 5 to 10% of all cases in the U.S., and as the name suggests, is inherited. Studies have shown that a least 200 mutations of the SOD1 gene are linked to ALS.

In healthy individuals, the SOD1 gene provides instructions for an enzyme called superoxide dismutase. This enzyme is used to break down superoxide radicals, which are toxic oxygen molecules that are a byproduct of normal cellular processes. It is believed that the mutations in the gene cause ineffective removal of superoxide radicals or potentially cause other toxicities resulting in motor neuron cell death.

The new research involves injecting shRNA, an artificial RNA molecule that can turn off, or silence, a targeted gene. This delivers shRNA to cells by way of a harmless adeno-associated virus (AAV). In the research, they injected the viruses carrying shRNA into two locations in the spinal cord of adult mice expressing an ALS-causing mutation of the SOD1 gene. They were performed just before disease onset or after the laboratory animals started showing symptoms.

The researchers have tested the approach in adult pigs, whose have spinal cord dimensions closer to those in humans. They found that by using an injector developed for adult humans, the procedure could be performed without surgical complications and in a reliable fashion.

The next step will be more safety studies with a large animal model.

While no detectable side effects related to treatment were seen in mice more than one year after treatment, the definition of safety in large animal specimens more similar to humans is a critical step in advancing this treatment approach toward clinical testing, Marsala said.

About 5,000 people are diagnosed with ALS in the U.S. each year, with about 30,000 people living with the disease. There are symptomatic treatments, but no cure. Most patients die from the disease two to five years after diagnosis.

Read this article:
Experimental Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Preventing and Treating Lou Gehrig's Disease in Mice - BioSpace

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

In the summer, a mother in Nashville with a seemingly incurable genetic disorder finally found an end to her suffering -- by editing her genome. Victoria Gray's recovery from sickle cell disease, which had caused her painful seizures, came in a year of breakthroughs in one of the hottest areas of medical research -- gene therapy. "I have hoped for a cure since I was about 11," the 34-year-old told AFP in an email.

"Since I received the new cells, I have been able to enjoy more time with my family without worrying about pain or an out-of-the-blue emergency." Over several weeks, Gray's blood was drawn so doctors could get to the cause of her illness -- stem cells from her bone marrow that were making deformed red blood cells. The stem cells were sent to a Scottish laboratory, where their DNA was modified using Crispr/Cas9 -- pronounced "Crisper" -- a new tool informally known as molecular "scissors." The genetically edited cells were transfused back into Gray's veins and bone marrow. A month later, she was producing normal blood cells.

Medics warn that caution is necessary but, theoretically, she has been cured. "This is one patient. This is early results. We need to see how it works out in other patients," said her doctor, Haydar Frangoul, at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville. "But these results are really exciting." In Germany, a 19-year-old woman was treated with a similar method for a different blood disease, beta thalassemia. She had previously needed 16 blood transfusions per year.

Nine months later, she is completely free of that burden. For decades, the DNA of living organisms such as corn and salmon has been modified. But Crispr, invented in 2012, made gene editing more widely accessible. It is much simpler than preceding technology, cheaper and easy to use in small labs. The technique has given new impetus to the perennial debate over the wisdom of humanity manipulating life itself. "It's all developing very quickly," said French geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier, one of Crispr's inventors and the cofounder of Crispr Therapeutics, the biotech company conducting the clinical trials involving Gray and the German patient.

Cures

Crispr is the latest breakthrough in a year of great strides in gene therapy, a medical adventure started three decades ago, when the first TV telethons were raising money for children with muscular dystrophy. Scientists practising the technique insert a normal gene into cells containing a defective gene. It does the work the original could not -- such as making normal red blood cells, in Victoria's case, or making tumor-killing super white blood cells for a cancer patient. Crispr goes even further: instead of adding a gene, the tool edits the genome itself.

After decades of research and clinical trials on a genetic fix to genetic disorders, 2019 saw a historic milestone: approval to bring to market the first gene therapies for a neuromuscular disease in the US and a blood disease in the European Union. They join several other gene therapies -- bringing the total to eight -- approved in recent years to treat certain cancers and an inherited blindness. Serge Braun, the scientific director of the French Muscular Dystrophy Association, sees 2019 as a turning point that will lead to a medical revolution. "Twenty-five, 30 years, that's the time it had to take," he told AFP from Paris.

"It took a generation for gene therapy to become a reality. Now, it's only going to go faster." Just outside Washington, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers are also celebrating a "breakthrough period." "We have hit an inflection point," said Carrie Wolinetz, NIH's associate director for science policy.These therapies are exorbitantly expensive, however, costing up to $2 million -- meaning patients face grueling negotiations with their insurance companies. They also involve a complex regimen of procedures that are only available in wealthy countries.

Gray spent months in hospital getting blood drawn, undergoing chemotherapy, having edited stem cells reintroduced via transfusion -- and fighting a general infection. "You cannot do this in a community hospital close to home," said her doctor. However, the number of approved gene therapies will increase to about 40 by 2022, according to MIT researchers. They will mostly target cancers and diseases that affect muscles, the eyes and the nervous system.

Bioterrorism

Another problem with Crispr is that its relative simplicity has triggered the imaginations of rogue practitioners who don't necessarily share the medical ethics of Western medicine. Last year in China, scientist He Jiankui triggered an international scandal -- and his excommunication from the scientific community -- when he used Crispr to create what he called the first gene-edited humans. The biophysicist said he had altered the DNA of human embryos that became twin girls Lulu and Nana.

His goal was to create a mutation that would prevent the girls from contracting HIV, even though there was no specific reason to put them through the process. "That technology is not safe," said Kiran Musunuru, a genetics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, explaining that the Crispr "scissors" often cut next to the targeted gene, causing unexpected mutations. "It's very easy to do if you don't care about the consequences," Musunuru added. Despite the ethical pitfalls, restraint seems mainly to have prevailed so far.

The community is keeping a close eye on Russia, where biologist Denis Rebrikov has said he wants to use Crispr to help deaf parents have children without the disability. There is also the temptation to genetically edit entire animal species -- malaria-causing mosquitoes in Burkina Faso or mice hosting ticks that carry Lyme disease in the US. The researchers in charge of those projects are advancing carefully, however, fully aware of the unpredictability of chain reactions on the ecosystem.

Charpentier doesn't believe in the more dystopian scenarios predicted for gene therapy, including American "biohackers" injecting themselves with Crispr technology bought online. "Not everyone is a biologist or scientist," she said. And the possibility of military hijacking to create soldier-killing viruses or bacteria that would ravage enemies' crops? Charpentier thinks that technology generally tends to be used for the better. "I'm a bacteriologist -- we've been talking about bioterrorism for years," she said. "Nothing has ever happened."

Get the best of News18 delivered to your inbox - subscribe to News18 Daybreak. Follow News18.com on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, TikTok and on YouTube, and stay in the know with what's happening in the world around you in real time.

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Year in Review: Gene Therapy Technology and a Milestone 2019 for Medical Research - News18

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Q4 2019 has been the best quarter (IBB up 22.5% XBI up 26.7%) for biotech investors since Q1 2015, which was the top of 2014-2015 rally. This 20+% rally is largely attributed to Fed's overall easing stance, increased mergers & acquisitions, positive regulatory backdrop, solid trial results and better-than-expected corporate earnings. 2019 deal activity has increased significantly, and large Biopharma companies are actively conducting mergers and acquisitions in order to deliver higher long-term return for their investors.

Based on data from Chimera Research Group (Biotech M&A - 2019 Deals), there were 28 biotech M/A deals in 2019, comparing to only 16 last year. The accumulative deal value is $203.7B, which includes two mega deals: BMY buying Celgene for $74B and ABBV buying Allergan for $63B. In 2018, total deal value was only $48.2B. Going into 2020, I am optimistic about the high volume of biotech deal activity will continue.

According to SVB Leerink Research, large Biopharma acquirers currently have $225B dry powder available for M&A deals. While I don't expect we have another year with over $200B total deal value, a year with $100-150B is very likely.

Based the EY M&A Firepower report, a couple of large Biopharma companies such as GILD, PFE, SNY, PFE, NVS, still haven't made any significant M&A deals in 2019. Based on the chart above, these five companies have about $15B to $25B of dry powder. Companies like GILD, MRK, AMGN, or NVS, might do a mega deal, acquiring a large-cap biotech company in a transaction valued more than $15B. While mega deals are hard to predict, I will focus on deals valued at less than $10B so that this would not use up all the dry powder of those large Biopharma companies mentioned at the start of the section.

Therefore, I am picking 5 best Mid-cap biotech acquisition targets in this post with deal value less than $10B each.

(Source: EY 2019 M&A Firepower Report)

With a market cap of $4.9B, Global Blood Therapeutics is engaged in the innovation and commercialization of drugs to serve the needs of sickle cell disease (NYSE:SCD). SCD is an inherited blood disorder caused by a genetic mutation in the beta-chain of hemoglobin, leading to the formation of abnormal hemoglobin known as sickle hemoglobin. GBT went up 60% over 3 weeks since the company confirmed FDA approval of Oxbryta (voxelotor), company's main drug to treat sickle cell disease in adults and children 12 years of age and older.

Oxbryta, an oral therapy taken once daily, is the first approved treatment that directly inhibits sickle hemoglobin polymerization, the root cause of SCD.

FDA Approves Oxbryta (Voxelotor), the First Medicine Specifically Targeting the Root Cause of Sickle Cell Disease

Following suit, the European Medicines Agency (NYSEMKT:EMA) has also included voxelotor in its Priority Medicines (PRIME) program, while the European Commission (NYSE:EC) has designated voxelotor as an orphan medicinal product for the treatment of patients with SCD. Based on GBT's EHA corporate update in June, Oxbryta is addressing the needs of over 100,000 SCD patients in U.S. and 60,000 patients in Europe. The annual cost of SCD care is $200,000 per patient. An approved drug means R&D risks are largely absent and GBT is attractive to large Biopharma companies which seek to expand their drug pipelines without development risks.

Source

Additionally, GBT started HOPE-KIDS2 which is to confirm there is a decreased risk of stroke for children 2 to 15 years old with Oxbryta. GBT also announced a collaboration with Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS) to discover, develop and commercialize novel therapies for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. On Dec 18, GBT secured $150M non-dilutive term loan to enhance its cash position for further development and commercialization, which clears any near-term dilution risks and places company in a great spot to negotiate a good deal with potential acquirers.

uniQure (QURE) is developing a set of gene therapy treatments for various diseases, and its lead product candidate AMT-061 is in Phase 3 trials targeting hemophilia B. In July, uniQure reports updated AMT-061 and AMT-060 data in patients with hemophilia B. Topline data from HOPE-B pivotal study will come out in 2020. Positive clinical outcomes will provide the basis for QURE to potentially be the first biotech to have a one-off treatment for patients with Hemophilia B. The Hemophilia B market could reach $8 billion by 2026, making for a potential blockbuster status.

Source

In June 2019, Bloomberg reported that QURE is exploring options including a potential sale or partnerships.

"QURE is drawing interest from pharmaceutical companies looking to expand in gene therapy, according to the report, and a deal would bring access to a pipeline of experimental treatments for hemophilia, Huntington's disease and other disorders."

UniQure considering potential sale - Bloomberg

Source

Gene therapy is one of biotech's hottest area in recent years.

"After the Federal Trade Commission cleared the way last week for it to acquire Spark Therapeutics and its portfolio of treatments for genetically driven diseases, Roche followed up on Dec 23 with a massive $1.2 billion collaboration with Sarepta Therapeutics for the biotech's experimental Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy."

Roche hands $1B to Sarepta in major return to gene therapy deals

"Japanese drugmaker Astellas on Monday became the latest large pharmaceutical company to buy its way into a burgeoning gene therapy field, announcing a $3 billion deal to buy the San Francisco-based biotech Audentes Therapeutics."

Astellas joins gene therapy race with $3B Audentes buy

With management's intention for a sale, QURE will likely be acquired in 2020. In 2019 Q3 earnings release (Source), management stated that, "Strong Balance Sheet with September 30, 2019 Cash and Cash Equivalents of $403 Million Expected to Fund Operations into Mid-2022." Currently QURE is valued at a market cap of $3.3B. A possible deal with premium of 75-100% like Roche's offer for Spark Therapeutics could get approved by QURE's management and shareholders.

On Dec 13, Intercept Pharmaceuticals has filed a marketing application in Europe seeking approval of obeticholic acid (OCA) for the treatment of fibrosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NYSEARCA:NASH). An AdCom meeting has been tentatively scheduled for April 22, 2020 related to its U.S. application, necessitating an extension of the agency's current action date of March 26, 2020. New interim data confirmed excellent efficacy and its main drug OCA 25 mg showed robust improvement in liver fibrosis (by 1 stage) with no worsening of NASH at 18 months in the Phase 3 REGENERATE studies. It also cleared doubts about OCA's side effects.

Source

NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, is defined as fatty, inflamed liver that is not due to alcohol abuse. In western countries, NASH tends to be associated with obesity, often with Type 2 diabetes. The NIH estimates that 3-12% of American adults have NASH. If the accurate number is 6%, that implies more than 10 million patients in the US. As one of the most promising players in NASH, ICPT is the best acquisition target for Gilead (GILD) to expand its dominance in the $60B NASH market or other large Biopharma companies to have a piece of the NASH pie.

Currently, ICPT is trading at a market cap of $4B with annualized sales of $250M which is growing at 32% year-over-year. As of 9/30/2019, ICPT has $714M cash on hand, which eliminated any near-term equity dilution risks. If you want more information, there are many great articles written on ICPT by other SA contributors where they listed ICPT's strengths in NASH in details.

bluebird bio is a clinical-stage biotech company which builds integrated product platforms that encompass gene therapy, cancer immunotherapy and gene editing for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases. Recently, BLUE announced a positive, long-term follow-up of 5 years for beta-thalassemia patients who have been transfusion-free for an extended period of time. Two weeks ago, BLUE and BMY announced positive topline results from a Phase 2 clinical trial, KarMMa, evaluating CAR T therapy idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel) (bb2121) in treatment-resistant multiple myeloma patients. In early 2020, the first commercial patient will be dosed with ZYNTEGLO for transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia in the European Union.

(Source)

Similar to QURE, BLUE is another promising mid-cap biotech company focused on gene therapy and gene editing. With previous buyouts of Kite Pharma, AveXis, Sparkand Audentes, large pharma companies have shown their interests in gene therapy and are optimistic about the future of gene editing. In Nov, BLUE was upgraded to Outperform with a target price of $119 by SVB Leerink.

Leerink sees "the transition to a commercial gene therapy company in early 2020 offering a balance between launch execution as a risk vs. high probability of success trial readouts and regulatory decisions in 2020 as potentially appealing catalysts for BLUE over the next 12 months," Foroohar writes.

bluebird bio upgraded at SVB Leerink on valuation

BLUE has a diverse pipeline which includes multiple Phase 2 and Phase 3 data readouts targeting sever genetic diseases in the next 2 years. On top of that, the Company has also started some clinic trials on Oncology. Comparing to other biotech companies focusing solely on gene therapy, BLUE is a more attractive acquisition target due to its diverse pipeline and huge potential.

(Source)

2019 has been a great year for BLUE regarding its multiple clinical successes. However, the share price is still down 8.7% YTD even with the Q4 biotech rally. A market cap of $4.9B is significantly underestimating the upside potential of company's pipeline and talents. As of 9/30/2019, the Company still has $1.41B cash on hand which is sufficient to last till mid-2021 with a quarterly net loss of $200M. I can easily see a big biopharma company to acquire BLUE for $10-12B for its various drugs in the pipeline targeting both severe genetic diseases and oncology and this purchase would generate massive returns for the next decade.

Amicus Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that develops orally-administered, small molecule drugs to treat human genetic diseases. The drugs, called pharmacological chaperones, are being developed to treat Fabray, Gaucher, and Pompe disease. In its October analyst day presentation, FOLD has guided for peak sales of $1.0 billion for its only commercialized Fabry disease therapy, Galafold. Galafold is expected to reach an annual revenue potential of more than $500 million in 2023. This will imply a five-year CAGR of more than 40%.

(Source)

In 2019 Q3 earnings call, the CEO John Crowley stated,

Galafold continues to be one of the most successful launches for a rare disease medicine ever and remains the cornerstone of our success, with $48.8 million in third quarter revenue. We're also now treating more than 1,000 patients at a 90% plus compliance and adherence rate, and we have upwardly revised full-year 2019 guidance of now $170 million to $180 million. All of the global launch metrics that we track are on target or exceeding targets, including new patient starts compliance and adherence to therapy, reimbursement and access, new country approvals and a broadening prescriber base, among others.

Positive data from Phase 1/2 trial evaluating investigational therapy, AT-GAA, seems to establish Amicus' position in the Pompe disease treatment landscape. In February 2019, AT-GAA secured Breakthrough Therapy Designation from FDA for treatment of late-onset Pompe disease. FOLD is expected to complete enrolling patients in the Phase 3 PROPEL study going into 2020. Data from this trial is anticipated in the first half of 2021. If the trial meets its primary endpoints and drug is approved, FOLD is estimating an annual peak sales opportunity of $1.0 billion - $2.0 billion with AT-GAA. FOLD was also able to achieve positive interim results from a phase 1/2 study using AAV-CLN6 gene therapy to treat patients with Batten disease.

(Source)

Currently, FOLD is trading at a market cap of $2.55B. As of 9/30/2019, FOLD has $514M cash on hand. With exceptional growth in Galafold sales going forward, the company has enough cash going into 1H2022. Considering FY23 Galafold's sales of $500M, the stock is trading at 4x P/S excluding cash. FOLD is an attractive acquisition target for any large biopharma companies which are interested in treating rare disease.

Investing in mid-cap biotech companies is highly risky. This article only is only my personal speculation about which mid-cap biotech companies might get acquired in 2020 with a big fat premium. Speculation for M&A is not a solid basis for long-term investing. If readers are okay with the downside of investing in midcap biotech companies mentioned above, I would recommend buy some common stock at dips.

For company-specific risks, please see disclosures in 10-K and other regulatory filings for a fuller understanding of the risks associated with investing in the particular company.

Disclosure: I am/we are long GBT, QURE. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: I am/we are also long ICPT.

See more here:
5 Best Mid-Cap Biotech Acquisition Targets - Seeking Alpha

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The European Medicines Agency has validated BioMarins application to market its investigational AAV gene therapy, valoctocogene roxaparvovec, for adults with hemophilia A.

As such, the company said it expects the agencys review of the therapy in January next year under accelerated assessment.

The EMA granted access to its Priority Medicines (PRIME) regulatory initiative in 2017 for valoctocogene roxaparvovec and recently granted BioMarin's request for accelerated assessment of the MAA, potentially shortening the review period.

The submission is based on an interim analysis of study participants treated in an ongoing Phase III study with material from the to-be-commercialised process and updated three-year Phase I/II data.

It marks the first marketing application to be filed in Europe for a gene therapy product for any type of hemophilia.

BioMarin also announced the filing of a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment, with the review expected to being in February.

"We are pleased that the agency has recognised the potential scientific advancement that valoctocogene roxaparvovec could bring to people with severe hemophilia A," said Hank Fuchs, president, Global Research and Development at BioMarin.

"We continue to move thoughtfully and urgently through the regulatory review process to deliver a treatment that we believe has the potential to make a meaningful difference to people with hemophilia A.

Go here to read the rest:
BioMarin's haemophilia gene therapy moves forward in the EU - PharmaTimes

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

For all the flak the pharmaceutical industry has taken for its exorbitant pricing practices, theres no getting around the fact that its been a pretty stunning decade for medical progress.

Multiple new categories of medicines have moved from dreams and lab benches into the market and peoples lives, and investors who came along for the ride often reaped extraordinary profits. The Nasdaq Biotech Index is up 360% over the last 10 years to the S&P 500s 190%. And thats without mentioning the hundreds of billions of dollars in takeovers that rewarded shareholders with windfalls.

As 2020 approaches, its worth highlighting how far weve come in the last decade in developing new therapies and approaches to treating disease, even as politicians grapple with how to rein in healthcare costs without breaking an ecosystem that incentivizes the search for new discoveries. Here are some of the decades biggest medical breakthroughs:

First approved in the U.S. two years ago, these treatments still sound like science fiction. Drugmakers harvest immune cells from patients, engineer them to hunt tumors, grow them by the millions into a living drug, and reinfuse them. Yescarta from Gilead Sciences Inc. and Novartiss Kymriah the two treatments approved so far can put patients with deadly blood cancers into remission in some cases. At the beginning of the decade, academics were just beginning early patient tests.

Its still in the early days for the technology, and some issues are holding these drugs back. There are significant side effects, and the bespoke manufacturing process is expensive and time-consuming. That has contributed to a bruising price tag: Both of the approved medicines cost over $350,000 for a single treatment. And for now, cell therapy is mostly limited to very sick patients who have exhausted all other alternatives.

Luckily, more options are on their way. Some drugmakers are focused on different types of blood cancers. Others hope to mitigate side effects or create treatments that can be grown from donor cells to reduce expenses and speed up treatment. In the longer run, companies are targeting trickier solid tumors. Scientists wouldnt be looking so far into the future without this decades extraordinary progress.

Researchers have spent years trying to figure out how to replace faulty DNA to cure genetic diseases, potentially with as little as one treatment. Scientific slip-ups and safety issues derailed a wave of initial excitement about these therapies starting in the 1990s; the first two such treatments to be approved in Europe turned out to be commercial flops.

This decade, the technology has come of age. Luxturna, a treatment developed by Spark Therapeutics Inc. for a rare eye disease, became the first gene therapy to get U.S. approval in late 2017. Then in May came the approval of Novartiss Zolgensma for a deadly muscle-wasting disease. The drugs have the potential to stave off blindness and death or significant disability with a single dose, and, unsurprisingly, Big Pharma has given them a substantial financial endorsement. Roche Holding paid $4.7 billion to acquire Spark this year, while Novartis spent $8.7 billion in 2018 to buy Zolgensma developer Avexis Inc.

Dozens of additional therapies are in development for a variety of other conditions and should hit the market in the next few years. They offer the tantalizing potential not just to cure diseases, but to replace years of wildly expensive alternative treatment. If drugmakers can resist the temptation to squeeze out every ounce of value by doing things like charging $2.1 million for Zolgensma, theres potential for these treatments to save both lives and money.

The above treatments modify DNA; this group uses the bodys messaging system to turn a patients cells into a drug factory or interrupt a harmful process. Two scientists won a Nobel Prize in 2006 for discoveries related to RNA interference, or RNAi, one approach to making this type of drug, showing its potential to treat difficult diseases. That prompted an enormous amount of hype and investment, but a series of clinical failures and safety issues led large drugmakers to give up on the approach. Sticking with it into this decade paid off.

Alnylam Inc. has been working since 2002 to figure out the thorny problems plaguing this class of treatments. It brought two RNAi drugs for rare diseases to the market in the last two years and has more on the way. The technology is also moving from small markets to larger ones: Novartis just paid $9.7 billion to acquire Medicines Co. for its Alnylam-developed drug that can substantially lower cholesterol with two annual treatments.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Biogen Inc. collaborated on Spinraza, a so-called antisense drug that became the first effective treatment for a deadly rare disease. It was approved in late 2016 and had one of the most impressive drug launches of the decade. And Moderna Therapeutics rode a wave of promising messenger RNA-based medicines to the most lucrative biotechnology initial public offering of all time in 2018. From pharma abandonment to multiple approvals and blockbuster sales potential in under 10 years. Not bad!

Scientists had been working on ways to unleash the human immune system on cancers well before the 2010s without much luck. Checkpoint inhibitors drugs that release the brakes on the bodys defense mechanisms have since produced outstanding results in a variety of cancers and are the decades most lucrative turnaround story.

Merck got Keytruda via its 2009 acquisition of Schering-Plough, but it was far from the focus of that deal. Once Bristol-Myers Squibb & Co. produced promising results for its similar drug, Opdivo, Merck started a smart development plan that has turned Keytruda into the worlds most valuable cancer medicine. Its now available to treat more than 10 types of the disease, and has five direct competitors in the U.S. alone. Analysts expect the category to exceed $25 billion in sales next year.

If anything, the drugs may have been too successful. Copycat efforts are pulling money that could fund more innovative research. There are thousands of trials underway attempting to extend the reach of these medicines by combining them with other drugs. Some are based more on wishful thinking than firm scientific footing. Still, the ability to shrink some previously intractable tumors is a considerable advance. If drugmakers finally figure out the right combinations and competition creates pricing pressure that boosts access, these medicines will do even more in the years to come.

From a combined economic and public-health standpoint, a new group of highly effective hepatitis C medicines may outstrip just about anything else on this list so far. Cure rates for earlier treatments werent especially high; they took some time to work and had nasty side effects. The approval of Gileads Sovaldi in 2013, followed in time by successor drugs such as AbbVie Inc.s Mavyret, have made hepatitis C pretty easily curable in a matter of weeks. For Gilead, getting to market rapidly with its drug proved enormously profitable; it raked in over $40 billion in revenue in just three years.

Hepatitis C causes liver damage over time that can lead to transplants or cancer. The existence of a rapid cure is a significant long-term boon even if the initial pricing on the drugs made them, in some cases, prohibitively expensive. Sovaldi notoriously cost $1,000 per pill at launch and over $80,000 for a course of treatment. The good news is that treatments have become a lot more affordable, which should allow this class of drugs to have a broad and lasting positive health effect.

Hepatitis C is one of the relatively few markets where the drug-pricing system has worked well. As competing medicines hit the market, the effective cost of these treatments plummeted. That, in turn, made the drugs more accessible to state Medicaid programs and prison systems, which operate on tight budgets and care for populations with higher rates of hepatitis C infection. Louisiana has pioneered the use of a Netflix model, under which the state paid an upfront fee for unlimited access to the drug. Its an arrangement that will help cure thousands of patients, and other states are expected to follow its lead.

Many of the medicines highlighted in this column have list prices in the six figures, a trend thats helped drive up Americas drug spending by more than $100 billion since 2009. Building on this decades medical advances is going to lead to even more effective medicines that will probably come with steeper prices.

Id like to hope that policymakers will come up with a solution that better balances the need to reward innovation with the need to keep medicines accessible.

That would really be a breakthrough.

View original post here:
The 2010s were a decade of medical breakthroughs - Los Angeles Times

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Global Gene Therapy MarketResearch Report 2020-2029 is a vast research database spread across various pages with numerous tables, charts, and figures in it, which provides a complete data on the Gene Therapy market including key components such as main players, size, SWOT analysis, business situation, and best patterns in the market. This analysis report contains different expectations identified with income, generation, CAGR, consumption, cost, and other generous elements. Further, the report determines the opportunities, its restraints as well as analysis of the technical barriers, other issues, and cost-effectiveness affecting the market during the forecast period from 2020 to 2029. It features historical & visionary cost, an overview with growth analysis, demand and supply data. Market trends by application global market based on technology, product type, application, and various processes are analyzed in Gene Therapy industry report.

The Top Players Functioning in the Gene Therapy market are Novartis, Kite Pharma Inc, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Spark Therapeutics Inc, Bluebird bio Inc, Genethon, Transgene SA, Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, Oxford BioMedica PLC, NewLink Genetics Corp., Amgen Inc.

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Gathering information about Gene Therapy Industry and its Forecast to 2029 is the main objective of this report. Predicting the strong future growth of the Gene Therapy Market in all its geographical and product segments has been the oriented goal of our market analysis report. The Gene Therapy market research gathers data about the customers, marketing strategy, competitors. The Gene Therapy The manufacturing industry is becoming increasingly dynamic and innovative, with more private players enrolling in the industry.

Identifying The Basic Business Drivers, Challenges, And Tactics Adopted:

Market estimations are constructed for the key market segments between 2020 and 2029. Gene Therapy report provides an extensive analysis of the current and emerging market trends and dynamics.

An overview of the different applications, business areas, and the latest trends observed in the Gene Therapy industry has been covered by this study.

Key market players within the market are profiled in Gene Therapy report and their strategies are analyzed, to provide the competitive outlook of the industry.

Various challenges overlooking the business and the numerous strategies employed by the industry players for successful marketing of the product have also been included.

Market Segmentation Based on vector type, gene type, application, and region:

By Vector: Viral vector Retroviruses Lentiviruses Adenoviruses Adeno Associated Virus Herpes Simplex Virus Poxvirus Vaccinia Virus Non-viral vector Naked/Plasmid Vectors Gene Gun Electroporation Lipofection By Gene Therapy: Antigen Cytokine Tumor Suppressor Suicide Deficiency Growth factors Receptors Other By Application: Oncological Disorders Rare Diseases Cardiovascular Diseases Neurological Disorders Infectious disease Other Diseases

Furthermore, Gene Therapy industry report covers chapters such as regions by product/application where each region and its countries are categorized and explained in brief covering: North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa.

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Five Important Points the Report Offers:

Benchmarking: It includes functional benchmarking, process benchmarking, and competitive benchmarking

Market assessment: It involves market entry strategy, market feasibility analysis, and market forecasting or sizing

Corporate Intelligence: It contains custom intelligence, competitor intelligence, and market intelligence

Strategy Analysis: It includes analysis of indirect and direct sales channels, helps you to plan the right distribution strategy, and understand your customers

Technological Intelligence: It helps you to investigate future technology roadmaps, choose the right technologies, and determine feasible technology options

The following years taken into consideration in this research to forecast the global Gene Therapy market size are as follows:

Base Year: 2019 | Estimated Year: 2020 | Forecast Year: 2020 to 2029

TOC of Gene Therapy Market Report Includes:

1. Industry Overview of Gene Therapy

2. Industry Chain Analysis of Gene Therapy

3. Manufacturing Technology of Gene Therapy

4. Major Manufacturers Analysis of Gene Therapy

5. Global Productions, Revenue, and Price Analysis of Gene Therapy by Regions, Creators, Types and Applications

6. Global and Foremost Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Gene Therapy

7. Consumption Value, Consumption Volumes, Import, Export and Trade Price Study of Gene Therapy by Regions

8. Gross Margin Examination of Gene Therapy

9. Marketing Traders or Distributor Examination of Gene Therapy

10. Global Impacts on Gene Therapy Industry

11. Development Trend Analysis of Gene Therapy

12. Contact information of Gene Therapy

13. New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Gene Therapy

14. Conclusion of the Global Gene Therapy Industry 2020 Market Research Report

CONTINUE

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Gene Therapy Market 2020: New Innovative Solutions to Boost Global Growth with New Technology, Busin - PharmiWeb.com

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The market study report by reportsvale.com entitled Global Gene Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration Market Size, Status and Forecast 2019-2025 emphasizes on changing dynamics, growth-driving factors, restraints, and limitations. This allows understanding of the Global Seed Germination Trays market and benefits from any fruitful opportunities available in the report. It includes a detailed analysis of the Global Gene Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration in customer requirements, customer preferences, and the competitive landscape of the overall market. The study is divided into two segments i.e type and applications.

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There are 13 chapters to present the Gene Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration Market.

Table of contents 1. Report Overview2. Global Growth Trends3. Market Share by Manufacturers4. Gene Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration Market Size by Type5. Gene Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration Market Size by Application6. Production by Regions7. Gene Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration Consumption by Regions8. Company Profiles9. Gene Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration Market Forecast10. Value Chain and Sales Channels Analysis11. Opportunities & Challenges, Threat and Affecting Factors12. Key Findings13. Appendix

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Gene Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration Market Strategic Business Report 2019-2025 (RetroSense Therapeutics, REGENXBIO, AGTC, and many...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The Report published on DataIntelo.com about Cancer Gene Therapy Market is spread across several pages and provides newest industry data, market future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists and studies the leading competitors, also provides the insights with strategic industry analysis of the key factors influencing the market dynamics.

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Cancer Gene Therapy Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state which focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. Cancer Gene Therapy Industry research report provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.

Key manufacturers are included based on company profile, sales data and product specifications etc. AdaptimmuneBluebird bioCelgeneShanghai Sunway BiotechShenzhen SiBiono GeneTechSynerGene TherapeuticsAltor BioScienceAmgenArgenxBioCancellGlaxoSmithKlineMerckOncoGenex PharmaceuticalsTransgene

The report begins with the overview of the Cancer Gene Therapy Market and offers throughout development. It presents a comprehensive analysis of all the regional and major player segments that gives closer insights upon present market conditions and future market opportunities along with drivers, trending segments, consumer behaviour, pricing factors and market performance and estimation throughout the forecast period.

The report also covers geographical markets and key players that have adopted significant strategies for business developments. The data within the report is displayed in a statistical format to offer a better understanding upon the dynamics. The report compiles exhaustive information acquired through proven research methodologies and from dedicated sources across several industries.

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The report segments the Global Cancer Gene Therapy Market as In market segmentation by types of Cancer Gene Therapy, the report covers Oncolytic VirotherapyGene TransferGene-Induced Immunotherapy

In market segmentation by applications of the Cancer Gene Therapy, the report covers the following uses HospitalsDiagnostics CentersResearch Institutes

Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers in these key regions North America U.S., Canada, MexicoEurope U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Spain etc.Asia-Pacific China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia etc.South America Brazil, Argentina etc.Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia, African countries etc.

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Key Reasons to Purchase To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Cancer Gene Therapy and its commercial landscape. Assess the Cancer Gene Therapy production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk. To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the Cancer Gene Therapy Market and its impact on the global market. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Cancer Gene Therapy Market.

Major Topics Covered in this Report Chapter 1 Study CoverageChapter 2 Executive SummaryChapter 3 Market Size by ManufacturersChapter 4 Production by RegionsChapter 5 Consumption by RegionsChapter 6 Market Size by TypeChapter 7 Market Size by ApplicationChapter 8 Manufacturers ProfilesChapter 9 Production ForecastsChapter 10 Consumption ForecastChapter 11 Upstream, Industry Chain and Downstream Customers AnalysisChapter 12 Opportunities & Challenges, Threat and Affecting FactorsChapter 13 Key FindingsChapter 14 Appendix

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Contact Info DataInteloName Alex MathewsEmail Alex@DataIntelo.comOrganization DataInteloAddress 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.

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Global Cancer Gene Therapy Market Insight Growth Analysis on Volume, Revenue and Forecast to 2019-2025 - Filmi Baba

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Coherent Market Research adds Cell and Gene Therapy Market Report provides an analytical assessment of the prime challenges faced by this Market currently and in the coming years, which helps Market participants in understanding the problems.

The Cell and Gene Therapy Market report provides in-depth analysis and insights into developments impacting businesses and enterprises on a global and regional level. This report studies the global Cell and Gene Therapy Market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the global Cell and Gene Therapy Market by companies, region, type, and end-use industry.

Cell and Gene Therapy Market Report covers the following major players: Amgen, Biogen, BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi, Spark Therapeutics, Agilis Biotherapeutics, Angionetics AVROBIO, Freeline Therapeutics, Horama, MeiraGTx, Myonexus Therapeutics, Nightstar Therapeutics, Kolon TissueGene, Inc., JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., and MEDIPOST.

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Promising Regions & Countries Mentioned In The Cell and Gene Therapy Market Report:

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Regional landscape:

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As per the study, the topographical spectrum of this industry covers the geographies of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific & Middle East and Africa.

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Cell and Gene Therapy Market in-depth Analysis Including Key Players and Their Future Growth Rate Till 2027 - Market Research Sheets

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

WVE-120102 demonstrates statistically significant reduction in disease-causing mutant HTT protein in CSF vs. placebo

No difference in total HTT protein or neurofilament light chain in treated patients vs. placebo

Additional cohort expected to initiate in January 2020

Wave to host investor conference call and webcast at 8:00 a.m. ET today

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (Nasdaq: WVE), a clinical-stage genetic medicines company committed to delivering life-changing treatments for people battling devastating diseases, today announced topline data from the ongoing Phase 1b/2a PRECISION-HD2 trial evaluating investigational therapy WVE-120102, designed to be the first allele-selective approach to treat Huntingtons disease (HD). In an analysis comparing all patients treated with multiple intrathecal doses of WVE-120102 to placebo, a statistically significant reduction of 12.4% (p<0.05) in mutant huntingtin (mHTT) protein was observed in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). An analysis to assess a dose response across treatment groups (2, 4, 8 or 16 mg) suggested a statistically significant response in mHTT reduction at the highest doses tested (p=0.03). WVE-120102 was generally safe and well tolerated across all cohorts. These data support the addition of higher dose cohorts, and Wave expects to initiate a 32 mg cohort in January 2020.

This topline analysis has given us the opportunity to evaluate early data from our ongoing dose finding study. The data demonstrate a reduction in mutant HTT and a safety and tolerability profile that supports exploration of higher doses of WVE-120102, with the goal of maximizing mutant HTT reduction and avoiding a negative impact on the healthy huntingtin protein, said Michael Panzara, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer ofWave Life Sciences. We plan to initiate the 32 mg cohort imminently and look forward to sharing data in the second half of 2020.

WVE-120102 was developed as an allele-selective molecule, designed to preferentially lower mHTT protein by targeting single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs362331 (SNP2) in order to keep the level of healthy or wild-type HTT (wtHTT) protein relatively intact. The wtHTT protein is important for neuronal function and may be neuroprotective in an adult brain. There is currently no assay available to directly measure wtHTT in the CSF; therefore, Wave is using an assay developed by CHDI Foundation, a not-for-profit biomedical research organization devoted to HD, to measure total HTT (tHTT) protein to indirectly assess effects on wtHTT. With this assay, a non-allele selective, pan-silencing approach would be expected to lead to a commensurate reduction in tHTT relative to mHTT.

While there was a statistically significant reduction in mHTT with WVE-120102 compared to placebo in the topline analysis, there was no difference in tHTT compared to placebo, suggesting WVE-120102 may have a potentially differential effect on huntingtin as measured by the mHTT and tHTT assays. Wave will continue to explore these potential effects with higher doses, where larger reductions of mHTT may be expected and where a more discernible impact on tHTT may be observed. Wave is continuing to work with CHDI Foundation and other research partners on methods to assess wtHTT protein preservation.

The topline analysis also assessed the presence of neurofilament light chain (NfL) in the CSF, and there was no difference in NfL between the WVE-120102 and placebo-treated groups. NfL is a protein component of the neuronal cytoskeleton. Its levels in the CSF are generally elevated when neurons are damaged in the setting of many neurological disorders, including HD.

WVE-120102 was generally safe and well tolerated among patients receiving doses up to 16 mg in both single and multidose portions of the study. A total of 72% of those who received WVE-120102 experienced an adverse event (AE) as compared with 83% on placebo, most of which were mild to moderate in intensity. The most common AEs (those occurring in at least 10% of patients on WVE-120102) were headache, procedural pain, falls and viral upper respiratory infection. There were no serious adverse events (SAEs) related to treatment with WVE-120102 and no study stopping rules were met, allowing dose escalation to continue. There were no notable changes in laboratory tests including liver or renal function tests, platelets or markers of immune activation.

PRECISION-HD2 is an ongoing, Phase 1b/2a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, which is evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of single and multiple doses of WVE-120102 in adult patients with early manifest HD who carry SNP2. The trial included both single and multidose portions where patients were randomized to either WVE-120102 or placebo and received up to four intrathecal doses. The trial was designed for patients to receive a single dose and then undergo a washout period of at least eight weeks before entering the multidose portion which includes three monthly doses. Forty-four patients (31 WVE-120102 and 13 placebo) participated in the multidose portion and data from 39 patients (27 WVE-120102 and 12 placebo) were available for mHTT assessment as of data cut-off. In October 2019, Wave initiated an open-label extension (OLE) study open to patients outside of the U.S. who participated in the Phase 1b/2a PRECISION-HD2 trial and dosing of patients in the OLE is ongoing.

Wave is also conducting the PRECISION-HD1 Phase 1b/2a trial assessing WVE-120101 in early manifest HD patients who carry SNP rs362307 (SNP1). PRECISION-HD1 includes four cohorts (2, 4, 8 or 16 mg intrathecal doses). Given the PRECISION-HD2 results, PRECISION-HD1 will remain blinded and Wave plans to add a 32 mg cohort. Topline results from PRECISION-HD1, including those from the 32 mg cohort, are now expected in the second half of 2020.

Investor Conference Call and WebcastWave management will host an investor conference call today at 8:00 a.m. ET to discuss these topline results. The conference call may be accessed by dialing (866) 220-8068 for participants based in the United States or +1 (470) 495-9153 for participants based outside the United States and entering conference ID 9594572. The live webcast may be accessed by visiting the investor relations section of the Wave Life Sciences corporate website at http://www.ir.wavelifesciences.com. Following the webcast, a replay will be available on the website.

About Huntingtons Disease Huntingtons disease (HD) is a debilitating and ultimately fatal autosomal dominant neurological disorder, characterized by cognitive decline, psychiatric illness and chorea. HD causes nerve cells in the brain to deteriorate over time, affecting thinking ability, emotions and movement. HD is caused by an expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) triplet repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) gene that results in production of mutant HTT (mHTT) protein. Accumulation of mutant HTT causes progressive loss of neurons in the brain. Wild-type, or healthy, HTT (wtHTT) protein is critical for neuronal function and suppression may have detrimental long-term consequences. Approximately 30,000 people in the United States have symptomatic HD and more than 200,000 others are at risk for inheriting the disease. There are currently no approved disease-modifying therapies available.

About WVE-120101 and WVE-120102WVE-120101 and WVE-120102 are investigational stereopure antisense oligonucleotides designed to selectively target the mutant huntingtin (mHTT) mRNA transcript of SNP rs362307 (SNP1) and SNP rs362331 (SNP2), respectively. SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, are naturally occurring variations within a given genetic sequence and in certain instances can be used to distinguish between two related copies of a gene where only one is associated with the expression of a disease-causing protein.

In vitro studies in patient-derived cell lines have shown that WVE-120101 and WVE-120102 selectively reduce levels of mHTT mRNA transcript and protein, while leaving wild-type, or healthy, HTT mRNA transcript and protein relatively intact. The healthy transcript is required to produce wild-type HTT (wtHTT) protein, which is important for neuronal function, as evidenced by multiple preclinical studies indicating that long-term suppression of wtHTT protein may have detrimental consequences. Waves allele-specific approach may also enable the company to address the pre-manifest, or asymptomatic, HD patient population in the future.

About Wave Life Sciences Wave Life Sciences (Nasdaq: WVE) is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company committed to delivering life-changing treatments for people battling devastating diseases. Wave aspires to develop best-in-class medicines across multiple therapeutic modalities using PRISM, the companys proprietary discovery and drug development platform that enables the precise design, optimization and production of stereopure oligonucleotides. Driven by a resolute sense of urgency, the Wave team is targeting a broad range of genetically defined diseases so that patients and families may realize a brighter future. To find out more, please visit http://www.wavelifesciences.comand follow Wave on Twitter @WaveLifeSci.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements concerning our goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives and plans, and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts, including statements regarding the following, among others: our commitment to advancing genetic medicines; our intent to add higher dose cohorts to PRECISION-HD2, including our plans to initiate a 32 mg cohort in January 2020 and to report that data in the second half of 2020; our intent to add higher dose cohorts to the Precision-HD1 trial, including a 32 mg cohort, and to report topline results from PRECISION-HD1, including those from the 32 mg cohort, in the second half of 2020; our ability to deliver on the promise of our current and future pipeline; the future performance and results of our programs in clinical trials and in preclinical development; and the benefit of nucleic acid therapeutics generally. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the following: our ability to finance our drug discovery and development efforts and to raise additional capital when needed; the ability of our preclinical programs to produce data sufficient to support our clinical trial applications and the timing thereof; our ability to continue to build and maintain the company infrastructure and personnel needed to achieve our goals; the clinical results of our programs, which may not support further development of product candidates; actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of clinical trials; our effectiveness in managing future clinical trials and regulatory processes; the effectiveness of PRISM; the continued development and acceptance of oligonucleotides as a class of medicines; our ability to demonstrate the therapeutic benefits of our candidates in clinical trials, including our ability to develop candidates across multiple therapeutic modalities; our dependence on third parties, including contract research organizations, contract manufacturing organizations, collaborators and partners; our ability to manufacture or contract with third parties to manufacture drug material to support our programs and growth; our ability to obtain, maintain and protect intellectual property; our ability to enforce our patents against infringers and defend our patent portfolio against challenges from third parties; and competition from others developing therapies for similar uses, as well as the information under the caption Risk Factors contained in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. We undertake no obligation to update the information contained in this press release to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.

Investor Contact:Kate Rausch617-949-4827krausch@wavelifesci.com

Media Contact:Alicia Suter617-949-4817asuter@wavelifesci.com

Patient Contact:Nikki Levy617-475-7236nlevy@wavelifesci.com

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Wave Life Sciences Announces Topline Data and Addition of Higher Dose Cohort in Ongoing Phase 1b/2a PRECISION-HD2 Trial in Huntington's Disease -...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The global CNS Gene Therapy Market reached ~US$ xx Mn in 2019 and is anticipated grow at a CAGR of xx% over the forecast period 2018 2028. The business intelligence study of the CNS Gene Therapy Market covers the estimation size of the market both in terms of value (Mn/Bn USD) and volume (x units).

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CNS Gene Therapy Market To Boost Demand And Forecast In Upcoming Year 2018 2028 - Market Reports Observer

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Overview of Precision Cancer TherapiesMarket Report 2019

The report has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the Precision Cancer Therapiesmarketcollected from specialized sources. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players. company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, new project launched, recent development analysis are the parameters included in the profile.

Precision cancer therapies is an evolving approach to cancer care that aims to leverage new knowledge regarding the pathogenesis of cancer to more precisely target therapy.Precision cancer medicine utilizes molecular diagnostic testing, including DNA sequencing, to identify cancer-driving abnormalities in the tumors genome.

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The key manufacturers in this market include :Abbott Laboratories, Bayer HealthCare, GlaxoSmithKline, OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Hospira, Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, Aveo Pharmaceuticals,

By the product type, the market is primarily split into : Hormone Therapy, Immunotherapies, Targeted Therapy, Monoclonal Antibody Therapy, Gene Therapy,

By the end users/application, this report covers the following segments : Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, Oncology Clinics, Research Institutes,

The Precision Cancer Therapies market report is a most important research for who looks for complete information on the Precision Cancer Therapiesmarket 2019. The report covers all information on the global and regional markets including old and future trends for market demand, size, trading, supply, competitors, and prices as well as global predominant vendors information. the report also provides a complete overview of Precision Cancer Therapiesmarket including Top Players or vendors, application, Type, Share, and latest market trends.

It drives closely through the prevalent regulatory landscape in various regions including, Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa.

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Contact UsKevin Thomas[emailprotected]Contact No:+1 513 549 5911 (US)+44 203 318 2846 (UK)

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Exclusive Research on Precision Cancer Therapies Market 2019-2025 Industry Growth Prospects by Key Companies Abbott Laboratories, Bayer HealthCare,...

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A sugar stat to swallow: along with acne, weight gain, and mood swings, sugar can also play a part in triggering painful headaches.

You might assume they're triggered by too much sugar at one time (and you're actually right), but consuming too little sugar can also contribute to the problem, Dr. Anisha Patel, DO of Medical Offices of Manhattan, explains.

"Sugar-related headaches come from a rapid swing in your blood sugar level," Dr. Patel notes. "So it's not actually the sugar itself that causes the headache but the quick change in consumption."

That could explain why you might have experienced a headache after, say, intermittent fasting or eating a large bowl of ice cream with plenty of fudge topping.

According to Dr. Patel, glucose level fluctuations affect your brain more than any other organ, and it's normal for someone without a medical condition to experience a headache under these types of conditions.

Sugar-related headaches could also be symptoms related to hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, which Dr. Patel says aren't diseases themselves but rather symptoms or indicators of a larger health problem.

Blood sugar dropping too low is known as hypoglycemia, which "can be caused by sugar withdrawals caused by very strict dieting (especially when the diet involves skipping meals), and delayed or irregular meals," Dr. Eric Ascher, DO, Family Medicine Physician at Northwell Health, explains.

"You may experience fatigue, moments of confusion, lightheadedness, and weakness, and many will complain of a headache sometimes migraine-like in nature. Although rare, if your body experiences hypoglycemia for too long, you are at risk for coma and death."

Dr. Patel adds that hypoglycemia is often associated with diabetes treatment and can also be a side effect although rare of medication, alcohol consumption, severe liver illnesses, or hormone deficiencies.

"If you think you're experiencing a hypoglycemic attack, you should go to the doctor immediately," Dr. Patel says. "Those with diabetes or hormone deficiencies should consult their physicians about long-term symptom relief plans, which generally include a structured diet."

Then there's a condition called "reactive hypoglycemia," more informally dubbed as "the sugar hangover."

"When we eat a carb-heavy or sugar-overloaded meal especially if our body is unfamiliar with that much glucose, our body will supply a rush of insulin to help combat all that excess sugar that is shocking our bodies," Dr. Ascher explains. "Sometimes this may cause glucose levels to abruptly drop really low. This may cause hypoglycemia-like symptoms. Perhaps that is why you feel drained after a meal that concludes with a rich and heavy dessert."

On the opposite side of the sugar spectrum is hyperglycemia, which could also result in headaches. "Hyperglycemia occurs when the body is not producing or using enough insulin, the hormone that absorbs glucose into cells to be used for energy," Dr. Patel says. She adds that this is typically seen in diabetics.

However, Dr. Ascher says if your headaches are associated with increased thirst, increased urination, and blurred vision, you should speak with your doctor so they can monitor your blood glucose levels.

It's important to note that Dr. Ascher says that nondiabetic individuals normally have ebbs and flows in glycemic levels, as the body has capabilities to deal with these fluctuations; however, those with diabetes need extra support with medication.

If you think you have a sugar headache that is related to diabetes, hypoglycemia, or hyperglycemia or simply deal with these headaches often you should reach out to your doctor.

It's also important to take into consideration what else you ate prior to this headache popping up.

"Some people find that certain foods cause headaches, like chocolate and caffeine," Jeff McGrath, RD at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York, says. "Foods containing chocolate and caffeine often have added sugar, and one might falsely accuse the added sugar of being the headache-causing agent."

If you do have a headache due to too much sugar, McGrath says to stop eating sugar for the rest of the day and to consider limiting your daily sugar intake moving forward.

"Experts recommend limiting your sugar intake to less than 10 percent of your daily caloric allowance (15 grams of sugar provides 60 calories, for reference). Otherwise, to reduce headaches, try to stay hydrated and limit alcohol consumption, especially at your holiday parties and gatherings."

Click here for more health and wellness stories, tips, and news.

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Sugar-Related Headaches Are Real Heres How It Happens - POPSUGAR

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Falls are a risk for everyone during slushy winter months, but the risk is especially high for people with cancer. Memorial Sloan Kettering physical therapist Jillian Hobson walks readers through what they can do to minimize the chance of falling.

Why are people with cancer prone to falls?Older adults with a history of cancer have anywhere between a 15% and 20% greater risk of falling compared to the general population of adults age 65 or older. Thats because cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, can cause side effects that increase the risk of falls. These include weight loss, muscle weakness, numbness or tingling in the feet, dizziness, changes in eyesight and fatigue. When you lose sensation in your feet, for example, its harder to find your balance during challenging situations, such as walking on a slippery sidewalk. Its harder to know how to find your center of gravity.

Are there warning signs that a person may be at a greater risk for a fall?There are several behaviors that suggest a person with a history of cancer may be at a greater risk for falling. The person may rely on furniture and walls for support when walking around the house. They may trip or have times when they almost fall. Someone who has fallen in the past or is at risk for falling may also avoid crowded environments, such as busy sidewalks, the grocery store or other peoples homes. At MSK, outpatient physical therapists ask every patient, regardless of age, Have you fallen in the past 12 months? If they say yes, we try to prevent it from happening again.

What steps can people take to minimize their risk of falling?There are many. First, secure throw rugs to the floor with nonslip backing. Clear hallways of clutter, and consider installing handrails in the bathroom or for outdoor stairs. Formulate a plan for snow removal during the winter, preferably before snow starts. During the winter, wear boots with good traction. People who are concerned about falling or have fallen in the past should speak to their doctor to see if physical therapy could help.

What should someone do in the event of a fall?Today, there are many smartphone apps that can signal a fall to emergency responders. Some smartwatches also have an alert system that can tell when a fall has taken place and can call 911 for you if you are unable. Its important that your cell phone stays with you at all times and stays on in case of an emergency.

In the event of a fall, people should contact their medical team immediately to determine if they need follow-up care or a referral to physical therapy. If physical therapy is recommended, the physical therapist will identify exercises that promote improved balance, strength and stability. And because falls are not entirely preventable, a physical therapist will also teach strategies for safely getting up from the floor if a fall occurs.

Information provided by MSK (Information) is not intended as a substitute for medical professional help or advice but is to be used only as an educational aid in understanding current medical knowledge. A physician should always be consulted for any health problem or medical condition. Use of the Information is further subject toMSKs Website Terms and Conditions.

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Winter Is Coming: How People with Cancer Can Prevent Slips and Falls - Curetoday.com

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captionChildren, teens, and people at risk of heart rhythm problems should not try the keto diet.sourceBURCU ATALAY TANKUT/Getty Images

Compared to the low-fat craze in the 90s, the keto diet seems to go against all diet logic. Because instead of cutting out fat, you eat large amounts of it for every meal.

And research shows that this diet can be effective and help fight diseases related to obesity. That said, the keto diet is not for everyone. Heres what you need to know.

The ketogenic diet was first introduced in the 1920s as a way to treat epilepsy, a seizure disorder. Medical professionals used the diet for two decades until modern epilepsy drugs were developed and it fell out of favor by the 1950s.

That was it for the keto diet for over half a century. Then, about 15 years ago, the diet reemerged. This time as a treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

But even people who are not obese or have type 2 diabetes have adopted the keto diet at some point, including celebrities like Halle Berry, Vaness Hudgens, and LeBron James.

The way it works is that you eat mostly fat and very few carbohydrates. A typical keto diet consists of 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs. Compared to the average American diet which is 33% fat, 16% protein, and 51% carbs. On keto, common foods include:

When you follow the keto diet, your body stops relying on carbs as the main source of energy, which sends your body into ketosis. Ketosis is when your metabolism changes to burn fat for energy instead. This can lead to a loss of body fat, which can help prevent or improve medical conditions related to obesity like type 2 diabetes.

Thats because, on keto, your body may also become more sensitive to insulin, a hormone that helps balance your blood sugar. A 2017 review of nine studies found that people with type 2 diabetes on a low-carb diet generally could control their blood glucose levels better than diabetes patients on either a normal or high-carb diet.

When following the keto diet, weight loss can vary from person to person, says Jeff Volek, a registered dietitian and professor at Ohio State University. When people with excess weight start a ketogenic diet, they typically lose about 6 to 8 pounds the first week, then about 1 to 2 pounds per week thereafter, Volek says.

However, some people who go on keto reportedly suffer from some initial side effects including:

The initial weight loss is partly due to losing water weight because you tend to retain less water on a low-carb diet. And some studies suggest that you may not continue to lose weight on keto long-term. Some call this the keto plateau which is when you stop losing weight altogether.

Volek says that the keto diet is safe for many people to try and that it may mimic the way early humans ate. However, Volek says that in some cases, you should proceed with caution. If you have diabetes and are using diabetes medications to control blood sugar, you should work closely with your physician in order to adjust medications appropriately.

The keto diet can be very restrictive and may be difficult for people to stick to, says Little. The average healthy person probably does not need to follow a keto diet but they could probably benefit from reducing their intake of refined/processed carbohydrates.

Keto isnt necessarily for everyone. Take kids, for example. Nutritionists recently told Insider that putting children or teens on the keto diet or basically any restrictive diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies and eating disorders.

Moreover, keto isnt great long-term if you have, or are at risk of, heart rhythm problems. A large 2019 study, published by the American College of Cardiology, that involved medical records of nearly 14,000 people reported that people who dont consume many grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables for years at a time, are at a higher risk of developing a heart condition called AFib.

Even if youre otherwise healthy, long-term keto could lead to vitamin B and C deficiencies, since many foods rich in these vitamins like beans, legumes, and fruit are also high in carbs. And if youre not getting the right nutrients, keto may actually lead you to gain weight, not lose it.

Bottom line: The keto diet is not for everyone and you should speak with a certified nutritionist before starting it, especially if you have a medical condition that the diet may affect.

See more here:
Everything you need to know about the keto diet - Business Insider

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The first time I held my niece, it confirmed something I had been unsure about for over two decades: I wanted to become a parent. I was 31. The average age of first-time mothers in Canada is about 30. Nothing very out of the ordinary, right?

But, I had medically transitioned years ago. I had been on testosterone injections for seven years and had masculinizing chest surgery. My transition felt complete. Perhaps this is why I could begin to envision myself as a parent a father.

Kinnon MacKinnonMy fertility preservation journey took almost two years just to get started.

In theory, I could probably become physically pregnant if I discontinued testosterone, but it wasnt something I felt very open to though plenty of incredible men do carry their own children.

Fertility preservation seemed like a good option for me. I was about halfway into a PhD program and didnt want to take a parental leave. To give myself some more time and options, I decided to freeze my eggs.

I had also just learned that the Ontario Ministry of Health was funding fertility preservation for trans people through the Ontario Fertility Program (OFP). But I had reservations would my eggs still be good after all those years of weekly testosterone injections?

I made a visit to my family doctor, who specializes in trans care. She assured me that there is no clear evidence that testosterone negatively impacts egg reserve or egg quality. A recent study seems to confirm this, but more research is needed.

My doctor recommended a few fertility clinics in Toronto that had good reputations for working with LGBTQ people. I was referred to the Mount Sinai Fertility Clinic. I felt hopeful.

I was 31 when I had my initial consultation. By the time my name made it to the top of the list for funded fertility preservation, I was nearly 33.

For some trans people, fertility preservation is an important component of transition-related care. Psychologist and professor Dr. Damien Riggs believes that fertility preservation is a reproductive right for trans people.

A 2017 survey found that 97 per cent of trans people living in Toronto felt that they should be offered fertility preservation prior to beginning hormone therapy. The same survey found that only three per cent had banked sperm or eggs.

The most common barrier noted: Cost.

Ontarians receive provincially funded fertility preservation, while those who live in Nova Scotia (my home province) are on their own coverage varies by province. This inconsistent access to care simply isnt fair.

In regions lacking coverage virtually everywhere outside Ontario out-of-pocket expenses for egg retrieval and its associated medications often exceed $10,000. This price tag skyrockets when the procedure needs to be repeated to retrieve the number of eggs statistically likely to result in a live birth.

UniversalImagesGroup via Getty ImagesCosts for egg retrieval are out of reach for many Canadians. Stock image.

Tax credits are available in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Quebec, but the services must be paid for up front. This constitutes a major financial barrier for the majority of Canadians who would not have a $10,000 (or more) rainy day fertility fund.

On the surface, freezing sperm seems more manageable (under $1,000). But paying storage fees, whether for eggs or sperm, adds up. Yearly storage fees can vary and are not covered by the OFP. I paid $300 in 2018. I paid another $300 in 2019.

These costs are out of reach for the many trans Canadians, who live in poverty due to rampant employment discrimination.

When I first started transitioning nine years ago, I remember my university health clinic physician encouraging me to think about fertility preservation options. This is considered standard medical practice with trans people who are considering hormone therapy or lower surgeries today.

At the time, delaying starting testosterone by another several months for egg retrieval felt impossible. For trans people beginning medical transition, this can feel like having to choose between fertility or transition.

Im fortunate that going off testosterone to prepare for egg retrieval was not difficult for me, emotionally, psychologically or otherwise. I knew it would be time-limited, and it was for a worthwhile cause.

However, its good practice to assume that discontinuing hormone therapy may be hard for myriad reasons, even when self-motivated by the idea of one day becoming a parent. Health-care providers should be mindful of, and responsive to, this reality, and the many other challenges that LGBTQ people experience with respect to fertility.

Once my ovulation cycle resumed, my fertility treatment resembled that of a cisgender female. I began medications that stimulated my ovaries. I also had regular bloodwork and ovarian follicle tracking to see how many follicles were growing.

Many people report symptoms of hormonal mood issues when taking fertility drugs. This was not the case for me. I did have a difficult time with the daily subcutaneous injections into my stomach, however. After years of weekly testosterone injections, I was confident they would be a total breeze. I was wrong.

The actual egg retrieval was the hardest part of the entire experience. I anticipated discomfort it was agony. I was right to shy away from pregnancy. I was not built for the pain of childbirth! But the procedure was over quickly. Thankfully, my partner was at my side the whole time. Relative to the procedure, the recovery was simple and painless.

Despite seven years of testosterone, the eggs we retrieved went on to produce high-quality embryos. We now have several frozen embryos rated AA, the best possible score, ready for whenever we are.

UniversalImagesGroup via Getty ImagesWith high-quality embryos frozen for preservation, my partner and I have more options to start a family. Stock image.

So, to transmasculine people out there: do not let concerns about testosterone treatment deter you from egg retrieval. Age, overall health and genetic factors might be better predictors of egg quality and fertility.

For me, egg retrieval was largely a positive experience. But this didnt happen through luck alone. It started with Ontarios policy decision to fund fertility preservation procedures, and continued through to the trans-inclusive medical care I received at my primary care provider and the fertility clinic.

I asked Nurse Practitioner Eileen McMahon, who coordinated all aspects of my fertility care at Mount Sinai, what the clinic did to improve their capacity to work with trans people like me. She told me they had created a trans community advisory committee who made several suggestions. Following the advisory committees lead, the clinic provided trans-inclusion training to all staff; revised clinic intake and consent forms; and updated their website and patient handouts to be inclusive of diverse gender identities, bodies, sexualities and relationships.

This is the kind of care and attention that trans people need and deserve in fertility clinics and, more broadly, in all health and social services.

As a patient on the receiving end, I couldnt help but wonder how things could have turned out differently if I had wound up at a clinic that hadnt been so sensitive to my needs. If I had been misgendered upon arrival at the clinic, could I have seen the process through to the end? While I dont have a clear answer, I do feel grateful for the experience that I did have.

After completing egg retrieval and creating embryos, my partner and I now have more options to eventually start a family one day.

Have a personal story youd like to share on HuffPost Canada? You can find more informationhereon how to pitch and contact us.

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December 24, 2019 Cover

The Laughlin resorts offer a variety of dining and entertainment specials for New Years Eve.

Long before there was Motown, several black groups in the early 1950s struggled to make a difference on the music scene. To a world dominated by white artists, the deep soulful harmonies and soaring vocals of R&B were a little unsettling. The powerful music couldnt be ignored for very long, simply because it was that good. Proving that point on every level The Platters.

When Jazzin' Jeanne Brei decided to call her group The Speakeasy Swingers, it seems appropriate for the kind of vintage song and dance shows they deliver, or so one would think.Yet people in a younger age bracket didnt know what a speakeasy was, while others idea of swinging had nothing at all to do with dancing. A speakeasy used to mean an illicit establishment that sold illegal alcoholic beverages mostly during the Prohibition era in the 1930s, when the music was usually jazz-tinged and the dancing and fashion was considered a bit risqu for the time.

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons are still in high demand. Even in their soaring Sherry days, Valli and his Seasons werent stars of Broadway and subjects of a marquee show in Vegas. But thanks to the musical Jersey Boys, Valli and the Four Seasons have become cultural icons and subjects of art as well as artists themselves.There is a tribute show making a return visit for a series of shows Thursday-Monday, Dec. 26-30 (8 p.m.) at Harrahs Laughlin that goes after some of that Four Seasons magic in the form of a tribute show called Oh What A Night!

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Baby-led weaning can be a confusing and complicated process. When Juno DeMelo's daughter went from drinking almost a liter of breastmilk a day to wanting nothing to do with it, the new mom was left physically and emotionally unmoored.

The first time I stuffed my bra was in middle school. It was actually a swimsuit, and I used shoulder pads that I had to keep wringing out by crossing my arms. The second time, I was of advanced maternal age, and I lined my nursing bra with cabbage leaves.

I was already popping maximum-strength Sudafed and chugging peppermint tea to cut off my milk supply. By that point Id been breastfeeding for almost a year, and my output was nourishing not just my daughter but also an adopted infant and the preemie recipients of my frequent donations to the local milk bank.

At first, I had trouble getting any milk to come out. For close to a week, I produced only colostrum, and despite the lactation consultants reassurance that newborns stomachs are the size of a walnut, I feared my daughter, Margot, was starving.

I struggled despite the fact that Id taken an all-day breastfeeding class and read a 352-page book that laid out breastfeeding in seven easy steps. I flailed even though I set up my pump while I was still pregnant and bought a nursing pillow called My Brest Friend. In the hospital, I received hands-on coaching from a nurse who made my nipple into a supposed sandwich. Everyone stood around in the hospital room watching the frog baby whod just emerged from my vagina covered in slime try to suck on the one sexualized body part that hadnt yet been mommified (its worth noting that spell check would like this to say mummified).

And then, on day seven, we achieved liftoff. It finally rainedand then it poured. My boobs ballooned to an F cup. Margot started nursing for eight hours a day, according to the app I used to time how long she spent on each side. When I pumped, I would fill two, sometimes three, bottles, a freakish amount. (Breastfed babies take in an average of 25 ounces of breast milk over the course of a day. I once pumped 16 ounces before 6 a.m.) I froze the extra milk in bags, dated and labeled with the number of ounces they contained.

I got clogged ducts that made it feel like someone had slipped dice into my breast tissue. I shoved heart-shaped reusable bamboo pads into my bras, which were already bursting at the seams. I soaked through them, so I switched to disposable ones with waterproof backings that crinkled every time I moved. I woke up each morning looking like Id slipped my pajama shirt on over a wet bikini top. Nonetheless, I kept at it. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding until one one year. Determined to do motherhood right, I made this my goal. Well ahead of reaching it, though, I began worrying about having to hurry Margot along to the next milestone.

Even as an egg, her pace had never matched mine. It had taken me forever to get my period again after going off of birth control, then long enough to get pregnant that I made a fertility appointment I cancelled at the last minute, after finally seeing a blue line on the pregnancy strips Id bulk-ordered from Amazon.

I didnt start getting contractions until five days after my due date, and my labor lasted 20 hours, ending only when my OB-GYN plunged Margot out by the head. Margot nursed leisurely, taking long, slow gulps for half an hour long after everyone said she would speed up.

So when she refused to nurse one evening around 10 months old, I chalked it up to a fluke, probably an illness, definitely not a sudden spurt of baby-led weaning. By that point Margot had already had two bouts of hand-foot-mouth disease, bronchiolitis that landed her in the emergency room, and a weeks-long spell of projectile vomitingat a baby shower, birthday party, and restauranttriggered by anything that wasnt breast milk. We had ointments and drops for eczema, pink eye, and diaper rash. We were intimately acquainted with the thermometer and a plastic contraption that allowed us to suck the mucus out of her nose using the force of our breath. What fresh hell is this? is something I asked myself often.

When she refused to nurse one evening around 10 months old, I chalked it up to a fluke, probably an illness, definitely not a sudden spurt of baby-led weaning.

My husband wondered whether Margot, crying hysterically by this point, had broken a bone, thats how surprising it was when she refused to nurse. The mom friends I met that night for dinner had another idea.

Well, shes done breastfeeding, one said. Mine started to lose interest around this age too.

They were mothers of two, more experienced and less fazed by the unexpected than I was. My baby, I insisted, was not theirs. Our bond was an airtight latch between rosebud mouth and nipple. There was no slow leak, and there was certainly no precedent of what amounted to a sudden flat tire on the freeway.

The next morning, I pumped before going to the gym, and my husband gave Margot the breast milk in a bottle. Then we packed up the car for our first road trip, to the Oregon coast. She slept most of the way, waking up just as we pulled onto the unpaved road leading to our cabin.

Ingrid Frahm, Getty Images

We were, as was my wont, early. The woman cleaning the place suggested we kill time by checking out the beach. It was a short, steep hike away, down a dirt path lined with blackberries we popped into our mouths as we walked. When we got to the shore, I plopped down on a piece of driftwood and pulled out my boob. Id seen friends doing this on Instagram, nursing on grey, deserted Oregon beaches. I felt like Margots trusty goatskin of cold white wine.

But her mouth, stained purple, would not open. She thrashed around as if my nipple were antimagnetic. Seagulls were squawking, waves were crashing, and it was, as it always is on Oregon beaches, cold and windy. How can someone concentrate under these circumstances? I asked myself. A small part of me, though, started to worry my friends were right.

We walked back to the house, and a few hours later, I tried nursing Margot again on the couch, facing the ocean. She looked at my nipple as if shed never seen it before, plucked at it with her tiny fingers, and laughed. I was fucked.

She looked at my nipple as if shed never seen it before, plucked at it with her tiny fingers, and laughed.

Already, my milk felt like Tetris blocks stacking up with alarming quickness in my boobs. I texted my mom friends that they had, in fact, told me so. They replied telling me to go cold turkey in order to shut down my supply ASAP. They tried to contextualize my shock and prepare me for more of it.

Think of how many times our kids will do something were not ready for between now and when they go to college! one wrote.

Oh, God, just think. After running ahead and doubling back for so long, Id finally been left in the dust by Margot. How else would she surprise me? And how could I, someone who cannot float down a river without trying to use my flip-flops to steer myself into the current the whole time, learn to go with a flow that trickled and then gushed and now needed to be dammed? Id hurried Margot all her short life, worried shed get left behind, or more accurately, that shed slow me down. I wanted her to hit one developmental benchmark after another ahead of schedule, untilwhat, she leaves the house the day she turns 18? She gets to her grave? She buries me in mine?

I couldnt control Margot or myself. After tracking my ovulation for over a year, spending 10 months pregnant, and then nursing for nearly another year, Id looked forward to the end of nursing as the opportunity to get my body back. But my body kept doing its own thing. I couldnt keep it from making milk, which a physician assistant warned me could continue for up to a year. My identity was shifting yet again, from possibly infertile to with-child to milk machine to something akin to a used condom, and it was disorienting. My daughter had outgrown me literally overnight, and my torn and leaking body was outlasting its utility. Shed been ripped from my body a second time, only this time shed done the ripping, and that hurt worse.

My daughter had outgrown me literally overnight, and my torn and leaking body was outlasting its utility.

I called my hospitals mother-baby center, which had been incredibly helpful to me when I was struggling to breastfeed. The woman who answered sounded stunned that anyone could need help quitting their goal, as if I were trying to get less fit. Maybe its because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is working to get the proportion of infants who are breastfed at one year up to (a mere) 34.1 percent.

A lot of my friends breastfed for that long, but 60 percent of moms quit sooner than theyd intended to. Some never really like it as much as they wish they did. Others dont have time to pump once they go back to work, or their milk dries up, or their babies never latch properly.

No matter when they quit or why, most breastfeeding mothers feel conflicted. The emotions around weaning are layered and nuanced and can be contradictory, says Pooja Lakshmin, M.D., a reproductive psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine. You can be joyful that you have your body back to yourself, but you could also have grief about not having that close, connected time with your infant.

One thing thats fairly universal: The belief that breast is best. The whole birth-industrial complex is devoted to women only so long as theyre doing whats best for their babies. Youre a relative princess when youre pregnant. Other people carry your bags. You have a dedicated clinician who sees you every week toward the end of your pregnancy, and, if youre lucky, a lactation consultant.

The problem is that no one is there to help you dismantle all the scaffolding youve built to support another human being. Postpartum, you carry the bags and the baby. No one much cares about your hemorrhoids or lower back pain or stretch marks or infected boobs that are causing a fever to spread throughout your body. You have a six-week follow-up, and they send you on your way. You have a baby, and that is your reward and your curse.

The medical community and our culture tends to talk more about babies than women around the transition to motherhood, says Alexandra Sacks, M.D., a reproductive psychiatrist and the host of the Motherhood Sessions podcast. Weaning is a continued time where discussion about the babys health and wellness dominates the conversation.

I was lucky that I could turn to my friends, but still, none of them brought up weaning until I did. I tried to dig up studies and found very few. Even the mom blogs were relatively mum on the topic. One explanation: Its assumed that weaning is easy or that it just happens, when in fact its quite a complicated process, says Lakshmin. I also think theres so much guilt and shame and pressure around breastfeeding conversations, the decision to stop might be one that women feel badly about it, or they worry theyll be judged.

Its assumed that weaning is easy or that it just happens, when in fact its quite a complicated process.

With little to go on, I pumped a tiny bit when my boobs felt like they might explode and suffered through the uncomfortable fullness the rest of the time. I tried drugs and herbs and vegetable poultices. I squeezed my extra ample bosom between the straps of a hiking carrier so we could march along the coastline with Margot. I offered her pouches of purplish sludge instead of nursing her when she fussed.

We returned home in the middle of a Tuesday. I walked in the door and couldnt decide what to put down first or where. I felt paralyzed and hot and unmoored. My levels of the feel-good hormones oxytocin and prolactin were plunging, bringing back the horrible anxiety Id felt postpartum.

For a long time, I tried to understand why no one told me the truth about birth. (Sacks actually co-wrote a book called What No One Tells You. The mothers emotional experience is under-discussed, she says. Youre not alone in feeling that you wish there had been more open education about the transition.) Were they keeping their experiences to themselves, or were theirs just less traumatic than mine? I wondered the same thing about weaning.

It turns out it isnt just different for different women, its also felt differently on a hormonal level. Theres a subset of women who are much more sensitive to hormone changes than others, whether theyre on their period, pregnant, breastfeeding, or weaning, explains Lakshmin. So theres a huge variation, which is why some women had a horrible time with weaning, and for others it was a nonevent.

Eventually, it did become a nonevent. I gave my pump to one friend and my nursing bras to another. As my milk began to dry up, my boobs swam a little in my old underwire bras. There was enough room in there for shoulder pads or cabbage leaves. Theyd once been bigger than a newborns head and just as round and hard. Now they were floppy and soft, dual Velveteen Rabbits.

We worked our way through all the frozen breast milk and transitioned Margot to cows milk, which we started sending in her lunchbox to Montessori. Her teacher poured it into a little metal condiment cup she still drinks from with two hands, as if its a chalice. For a long time, Margot would cry at drop-off, but she grew to look only a little nervous. She sat herself on a child-size wooden bench to remove her shoes, and when she did this, she looked like a tiny woman awaiting a train she wasnt sure she wanted to take.

On Fridays, Montessori serves banana waffles for second breakfast. One day, when I dropped Margot off, she made a beeline for her teacher, an unflappable woman with dark hair I often turn to for parenting advice. Margot softly touched her teachers knee and turned around to look at me, still in her rain jacket, her hair a wild nest of curls she wont let me put in a ponytail. It was all Id hoped for when she was an infant: walking, solid food, a good head of hair, independence. I stood there in my slightly too-big bra, holding a Neoprene lunch sack with a bottle of milk in it, stunned again to be left behind, in a position I longed for but never could envision actually arriving at, again.

Read more here:
How to Wean When Your Baby Stops Breastfeeding - HarpersBAZAAR.com

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Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living (Max, 1852/1970:15).

If we must understand the possible future direction of the society and make it under circumstances directly encountered from the past as said by Marx, we must therefore attune to dig deeper into the current trends of nature. With this, and digging deeper into the past and microscoping the current trend of Liberia, once can safely conclude that George Weah and his cabal of state looters are product of historical accident.

Noting to argue. The ascendancy of the current regime is an historical accidental packaged and imposed on the people by their class oppressors. Of course, that element is Madam Ellen Johnson Sireleaf. The Sirleafs then used the anger of the people and bought their ignorance of governance to further protect she and her cryonics. It then became a necessity to the people to throw Liberia to the dogs. As it stands, we cant locate the flash neither the bones of the States.

It is now palpable that the current intense human suffering and the crumbled economic structures coupled with an unworkable policy of the Weahs government is nothing for him to worry on. He sees them as irrelevant and trivial to issues for us it is not a surprise; we saw him long ago as a carpenter captaining a cargo ship over a deep sea. In the midst harden poverty, this President took the airwave only to tell the people how he and some politicians eat at one another house a total display of immense leadership tragedy.

Nearly two years as President of the State, he further exposed his least understanding of complicated governance issues especially in a troubling economic and political time like ours. This President, who has only spoken to the People through a prerecorded and edited audio since his ascendency to the highest seat of the motherland, took the airwave on Friday, December 20, 2019 and spewed out compiled gibberish to an unimaginable zenith. The interview was nothing but a serious national embarrassment with an irreplaceable damage to the image of State. It further validates our consistent argument that President Weah swims in idea and leadership insolvency We still doubt that this bankruptcy is even repairable.

With this, go with us as we dig into Mr. Weahs interview. Comrades, people are laid off, wages has being unreasonably reduced and persistently delayed , inflation is an all-time high of 31.30 percent as of August 2019, and the citizens are struggling to cope with prices of commodities as they keep sky-rocketing with all of these, the President seems not be in control. To him the economy pitfall is a nature force; the crises are therefore normal as stated by him during his interview.

Such statement that the current crisis of the state is normal sounds hysterical and irreverent to mass of the struggling people who has been relegated further to the dungeon of unrecoverable poverty by Mr. George Weah and his gang of incompetent bigots. Mr. Weah need to know that no crises in human history are normal. All crises are initiated by enforcing contradictions and other imposing conditions that act on the existing condition. Therefore, the prevailing economic condition of the state is not normal. It is a condition melted on our people by you and your predecessor. It has become complicated due to the inability of your Administration to find a genuine solution we therefore reject your claim that the current situation of the State is normal.

In a country where the leaders lives with deceptions, it signifies dancing on a rope over a deadly valley. President Weah is that character; He is dangling in blatant falsehood and diabolical deceptions. He has chosen to run the nation as gangster paradise. He befriends corruption with smile and openly frowns on transparency. He parades with lies and Pompousness while milking the sucking the resources of the State an outcome of chosen an inexperienced carpenter to captain a cargo ship over a deep sea. Indeed, the result will be nothing but a disaster.

Mr. President, you are noted for poor proper recollection of the past. We can therefore not get tire reminding you. On January 22, 2018 delivering your first Legislature agenda to the 54th Legislature in the Joint Chambers of the Capitol, you asserted that the countrys economy is broken and by extension the government. On the contrary, your predecessor Madam Sirleaf debunked you on February 13, 2018 that the National Coffers are not empty. With this response, your government is yet to respond to Madam Sirleaf neither have you commissioned a comprehensive audit of her regime.

Another lie pulled out shamelessly by the president is the circumstances surrounding the missing sixteen billion Liberia Dollars and the twenty-five millions United States Dollars misapplied by him and Samuel Tweh. He stated in his interview that the L$16billion came in the country but not under his administration. Here again, we see the President as messenger of lies abusing the patience of the People. How can President Weah tell the public that his administration never received 16 billion when said funds was taken from the Freeport of Monrovia on March 2, 2018? Is this not him who was inaugurated on January 22, 2018 as the President of Liberia? Of course, it is Mr. Weah. Again, we hold Weah and his gang of looters solely responsible for our missing billions. He is the chief culprit, noting cant convince us that President Weaah and the CDC are innocent of our missing billion not even an adapted report that was intended to seizure him from public persecution.

The Presidents interview was just outrageous as the existing contradictions under his Administration. The President sat on the radio and rang praises on a Samuel Tweh, the man who looted US$ 25 million. And this President wants us to believe that the current economic crisis is normal. No, it is not. How can you choose to protect a certified thief who manages the fiscal affairs of the State and wants the citizens to believe that the current economic crisis is normal this is a total mockery!

The President claims that people dont have confidence in the banks. You want the people to trust a system that does not meet up with their demand. In the midst of an unbearable hardship, you create an artificial shortage of money to make the citizens feel that there is true shortage of Liberian dollars. The Banks are holding on to the people money they are losing their friends and relative to death, starvation is eating up people, their kids are thrown out of school, they cant respond to their daily economic demand and you want them to trust this system that does not work for the poor. Mr. President, it is now time that you transition from comicality to puffer a matured statesmanship. Governing a State like Liberia is not the same as pushing a round object for ninety minutes.

When the country has an excessively corrupt and dysfunctional system, the president becomes the chief priest of lies and messenger of hate President Weah is indeed a chief priest of falsehood, his tongue dances better than his legs. On his recent interview, he said his government does not support war and economy crime court. On the contrary, this same president wrote the National Legislature on September 12, 2019 asking them to provide guidance on all Legislative and other necessary measures towards the implementation of the Truth & Reconciliation (TRC) report, including the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court. This same president repeated his call for war and economic crimes courts when he addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly in September of this year. Again, we can say his recent rejection to bring the perpetrators of crime against humanity to justice by establishing the War and Economic Crime Courts proves that Mr. Weah does act on facts but instant and emotion that dictate to his current position thee impact of his decision is never a concern to him.

Comrades, Mr. Weah and the CDC have plundered the state into mess. He cant escape his indictment in the court of public persecution. He must account; the time is not what matters. The present condition will inform the next move of the people. It is a fact, Mr. Weah is a very simple footballing president; he does not understand the nuances of complicated governance issue. His responses to critical questions as seen in his last interview is a total shame. The government is a mixture of incompetent and loosed talking bureaucrats. The appointed officials of the government are impressionists who serve not to improve the material condition of the people but to facilitate mass looting of state resources. Indeed, Liberia has fallen The Economy is crumbling, the health system is in ruins, the working class labor daily but cant get their poverty wages sadly, we have a president that is yet to wake up from his slumber.

During his interview, Mr. Weah elected to praise his predecessor, Madam Sirleaf. The Political thief who robbed the Liberian people of their votes to give him power. A Sirleaf who along with her clique of thieves looted and bankrupted the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) and other states resources. A Sirleaf that embraced nepotism and cronyism with no regard to the rule of law; A Sirleaf that embraced corruption as her working tool you praise this Sirleaf but criticize her Party. It baffles us to query the difference between Madam Sirleaf and the Unity Party!

The belief that Weah and his gang of thieves will deliver Liberians from gloomy poverty to prosperity is an illusion that only makes sense to his zealots who have dug themselves in the mud blind sycophancy. Mr. Weah is a fair product of fraud and political conspiracy. He lacks what it takes to understand the nuances of a complicated governance issue especially in a troubling time like this. By all means, what Mr. Weah spewed out on December 20, 2019 during his purported live radio interview did not in any way surprise us. We long predicted Mr. Weah. Our call to the masses is to remain resilient and battle the excess mess created by Madam Sirleaf and complicated by his imposed. The masses are the makers of history. At the point of objective condition, they will liberate themselves through the guidance of conscious patriots.

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Dangling in Falsehoods and Deceptions: A Response to President Weah! - Front Page Africa

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith