Microneedling has quickly become one of the most popular skin rejuvenation treatments. If youre considering trying it, here is what you need to know.

Microneedling, also called collagen-induction therapy, uses small needles that pierce the outermost layer of skin to create tiny microchannels. These microchannels help stimulate the production of collagen and elastin within the skin. They also promote new capillaries.

This can lead to an improved skin texture, reduction of acne or other scarring and help with discoloration, such as brown spots caused by sun damage. Microneedling may be combined with platelet-rich plasma, stem cells, or pure hyaluronic acid to enhance results further.

Microneedling can also be used on the scalp to help stimulate hair rejuvenation.

Prior to your first microneedling session, you will be asked to avoid sun exposure for at least 24 hours. Some doctors will tell you to avoid blood-thinning medications and herbal supplements like aspirin, ibuprofen and St. Johns wort to reduce bruising.

Each microneedling session takes about 20 to 30 minutes. First, your face will be cleansed and a numbing cream will be applied. Multiple treatment sessions, spaced a few weeks apart, are recommended. Most doctors recommend three to six treatments but many will notice an improvement in the tone and texture of their skin after just one treatment.

Immediately after your microneedling session, you will likely notice some redness that can last for several days. In my practice, we recommend that patients do not touch their face for at least four hours after treatment and do not apply anything to the face for 24 hours. It is crucial to avoid sun exposure for three days after the procedure.

You should avoid strenuous activity and exercise for the first 12 hours after treatment to prevent redness and bruising. For the first three days after treatment, you should use a gentle non-foaming cleanser, a barrier repair moisturizer, and a physical SPF. If swelling or bruising are a concern, you can take arnica supplements both before and after treatment to help minimize these side effects.

Once any redness or swelling diminishes, you should notice an immediate improvement in the way your skin looks and feels. Over the next several weeks, your skins appearance should continue to improve.

The rest is here:
What is microneedling and why is the skin treatment so popular? - Miami Herald

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

Imagine taking a pill that couldextend your lifespan. This plotline exists in the pages of science fiction novels, but a class of drugthat supports healthy aging, known as a senolytic drug, is currentlybeing tested, and if proven safe, could do more than add years to your life.A new studywhich showed the drugs preventedage-related bone loss in micehas important implications in treating a host of other diseases related to aging, researchers said.

Cells constantly divide, a process that allows us to grow and heal, but as we age, some cellsstop dividingand become senescent. These cellsalsoemit toxins that contribute to a number of health conditions such as cancer, dementia, and arthritis. The older we are, the more of these senescent cells we accumulate. Enter senolytic drugs.

These drugs are designed toclearaway senescentcells while leaving adjacentcells unharmed. According to the research,published online in Nature Medicine, these drugssupported healthy aging in mice and prevented bone loss. Considering that clearing senescent cells improves cardiovascular function and reduces frailty and other issues, this treatment could have important implications for treating not only osteoporosis, but other age-related problems, the authors wrote.

In a related article, the authors alsodescribea new screening platform to better identifyother potential senolytic drugs, which would help us address age-related conditions as a group, instead of one at a time.

"The emerging repertoire of senolytic drugs shows that they are having an impact on a huge range of diseases," said study researcher Dr. James Kirkland in a recent statement. "Our goal is to achieve the same success in humans as we have in preclinical animal models in efforts to prevent or delay the conditions associated with aging."

Moving forward, the researchers would like to further explore the potential of these drugs and figure out optimal drugcombinations forthe best results. Though"median lifespan" or "healthspan" aredifficult endpoints to determine in research,animal trials have given us a good idea of the drugs' potential therapeutic benefits.

This week has been exciting for the study of human aging and lifespan, as a recent Dutch article claimed to have found the maximum human lifespan:115.7 for women, and 114.1 for men, IFL Science reported. This number is based off a study of 75,000 now-deceased Dutch people, and while the researchers admit that people on average are living longer than before, this ceiling age still remains unchanged.

The research is controversial, with some researchers arguing thatit is possible to live beyond these ages, although rare.

The evidence points towards no looming limit. At present the balance of the evidence suggests that if there is a limit it is above 120, perhaps much above and perhaps there is not a limit at all,Jim Vaupel, a specialist in aging at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany, who wrote a paper criticizing these results, told The Guardian.

Regardless of what the ultimate age may be (or if it even exists), its still exciting that something as simple as a pill mayhelp us reach it. The senolytic drugs still need to be tested in human clinical trials, but according to CNN, it may be time to take that leap.

Source: Farr JN, Xu M, Weivoda MM, et al. Targeting cellular senescence prevents age-related bone loss in mice. Nature Medicine . 2017

Read the original here:
Want To Live Longer? Life Extension Drugs On Horizon; How They Work - Medical Daily

Recommendation and review posted by sam

This is paid content as part of a partnership between The Good Men Project and ChromaDex.

Do you feel yourself slowing down recently? Over time, sun exposure, excessive food and alcohol consumption, and jetting between time zones are just a few factors that can depress your metabolism and cellular health.

There is a clinically-studied vitamin that can help reduce the effects of aging and help your cells function like they did when they were younger. Is your metabolism missing this crucial component?

Men and women in their 40s and beyond are turning to a form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide riboside (NR) to defend against the adverse effects of slowing metabolism.

Dr. Charles Brenner, the Roy J. Carver Chair of Biochemistry at the University of Iowa and the founding co-director of the University of Iowa Obesity Initiative, is responsible for discovering the link between NR and a co-enzyme called NAD+, which is a crucial key to human health.

Dr. Brenner is also the Chief Scientific Advisor behind TRU NIAGEN, the only NR supplement directly from the ingredients patent-holder.

We invite you to read our Q&A with Dr. Brenner to learn more about his discovery, cellular health and why NR should be part of your morning routine.

GMP: What is NR and why do people take it?

CB: NR is a vitamin that maintains and boosts the central regulator of metabolism: NAD+.

NAD+ is required for us to convert our fuels (fats, proteins, and carbohydrates) into the energy we need to move, think and stay in optimal health. NAD+ is also required to protect our DNA and maintain nerve and muscle function.

Levels of NAD+ naturally decline with age. In addition, our levels of NAD+ are challenged by many metabolic stresses including sun and alcohol exposure, toxins, overeating and jetting between time zones. People take NR to maintain their youthful metabolism and resilience as we age and experience stress.

What kind of results can one expect to see from taking NR and in what time period?

People who have started taking TRU NIAGEN report subtle changes in their overall feelings of well-being including improved sleep, consistent energy, improved mental clarity and alertness, and improved skin and digestive health within 2 to 4 weeks of taking their first dose.

Can you describe the best candidates for NR supplementation?

NR is not intended to treat any disease or condition. NR is for adults, and given a reduction of NAD+ with age, will likely benefit those age 40 and above more than younger people. NR is not a substitute for a bad diet or poor sleep and hygiene, but it helps to optimize health and smooth out some of the stressors in life.

Is there anyone who shouldnt consider taking NR?

NR is not contraindicated for any conditions. However, we recommend that you talk to your about NR if you have a disease or any concerns at all.

Does NR have common side effects?

Based on clinical studies, there are no known side effects of NR. This is very different from another, commonly known form of vitamin B3 called niacin, which notoriously causes the uncomfortable side effect called flushing (reddening of the skin, often accompanied by a burning or itching sensation).

What kind of studies have been done with NR to prove its efficacy?

In people, weve shown that NR safely boosts NAD+ levels in a dose-dependent manner. Many more human studies are in process with some nearing publication.

Without getting too technical, how does NR impact longevity?

Well start by taking a deep breath and assure you we will not make human longevity claims. We have no plans specifically to test NR as a life extension supplement in people, but rather, a health extension supplement. Its reasonable to consider that by boosting NAD+, NR can help people age better, increasing many functional metrics of living that are collectively termed healthspan.

What is the number one reason someone would consider supplementing with TRU NIAGEN?

It is nutritional support for healthy aging. Of course, you should also eat right, and stay physically and mentally active.

Learn more about TRU NIAGEN today.

ChromaDex, the worldwide patent-holder of NIAGEN (nicotinamide riboside), previously only sold NR to third-party brands, but recently made NR available directly to consumers under the brand name TRU NIAGEN. With TRU NIAGEN from ChromaDex, you can be sure that you are getting patented, extensively researched and rigorously tested NIAGEN straight from the company that pioneered it. Every bottle of TRU NIAGEN has to meet the highest standards for safety, potency, and purity.

NOTE: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Photos/StockSnap.io/Author

View original post here:
Want to Age Better? Look to Your Cells - The Good Men Project (blog)

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have figured out a way to extend the life of female fruit flies by 20 percent by manipulating what the school has called a "cellular time machine." The biologists who carried out the work are hopeful that their findings will have implications for human aging and help fight off age-related diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

The researchers focused on mitochondria, tiny structures that act a bit like digestive organs inside our cells. These "cellular power plants" take the chemicals and oxygen in our systems provided through food and respiration, and convert them into a molecule known as ATP, which the cell can then use as food. When mitochondria age however, they can become damaged and build up in the body, creating a toxic environment conducive to disease formation.

In the research, UCLA biologists studied the mitochondria in fruit flies and figured out that as the insects reach middle age which, for a fruit fly, is about one month old their mitochondria change shape, making it tough for their cells to clear them out when the organelles are no longer functioning properly.

"We think the fact that the mitochondria become larger and elongated impairs the cell's ability to clear the damaged mitochondria," said David Walker, a UCLA professor of integrative biology and physiology, and the study's senior author. "And our research suggests dysfunctional mitochondria accumulate with age, rather than being discarded."

So the scientists gave the flies a hand by increasing a protein called Drp1 for one week when they reached 30 days of age. The result was that the damaged mitochondria was broken up into smaller pieces that the flies were able to expel from their cells. This not only led female flies to live about 20 percent longer and male flies to live about 12 percent longer than their typical two-month lifespans, but the researchers also found that the flies had increased energy levels and endurance.

What's more, the boost in Drp1 also held off a condition in which the flies get leaky intestines about a week before they die. The condition is not only a precursor to death in fruit flies but it has also been implicated in the death of monkeys, worms and mice.

"It's like we took middle-aged muscle tissue and rejuvenated it to youthful muscle," said Walker. "We actually delayed age-related health decline. And seven days of intervention was sufficient to prolong their lives and enhance their health."

The biologists also further experimented with a protein called Mfn, which keeps mitochondria from clumping together and getting too big for cells to deal with. When they turned its production off in the flies, they saw similar benefits in terms of health and life extension.

"You can either break up the mitochondria with Drp1 or prevent them from fusing by inactivating Mfn," said Anil Rana, a UCLA project scientist and the study's lead author. "Both have the same effect: making the mitochondria smaller and extending lifespan."

The team hopes that it may eventually be possible to create a drug that would work in the same way as the proteins to not only extend and improve the lives of humans, but to help stave off age-related diseases. Walker points to the fact that the treatment worked so fast as a major plus, considering that it could lessen the negative effects often associated with the long-term use of pharmaceuticals.

The findings have been reported in the journal Nature Communications.

Read the original post:
Biologists beat back death in fruit flies. Humans next? - New Atlas

Recommendation and review posted by sam

September 06, 2017

Some pain patients may require higher doses for pain control due to genetic variations found in their pain receptors

According to results of a study presented at PAINWeek 2017, a high percentage of severe chronic pain patients had genetic variations in dopamine receptors and a low variation in opioid receptors, possibly explaining why some patients may require increased doses of opioids for pain control.

The study performed genetic testing on 70 patients with severe chronic pain that were unresponsive to standard medical therapy and required >100mg/day of morphine equivalence for pain control. Buccal swab was used to obtain test samples and 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were analyzed. The 4 categories of genetic markers included in the panel were receptor binding and activity (including dopamine, opioid, serotonin, and galanin receptors), neurotransmitter transporters, central nervous system (CNS) enzymes, and cytochrome P450 enzymes.

Results of the study found that genetic variations in the 3 dopamine receptors tested (DRD1, DRD4, DOR) were observed in 97 to 100% of patients included in the analysis. The study authors also reported that only 17 to 30% of patients were found to have genetic variations in the opioid receptors tested (OPRK1, OPRM1, and MUOR). Additionally, it was found that only the dopamine receptor makers had >90% genetic variation, suggesting that potent stimulation of the opioid receptors was required to obtain pain relief for these patients.

These results suggest that since the dopaminergic pathway was defective, these pain patients relied on potent stimulation of their opioid receptors to obtain adequate pain relief, the study authors add.

Based on the results of this study, some severe chronic pain patients may require higher doses of opioids for pain control due to genetic variations found in pain receptors. The study authors add, These findings need to be investigated in other groups of pain patients who require high dose opioids to determine if dopaminergic defects are an underlying, genetic cause of high dose opioid requirements in some chronic pain patients.

Read more ofMPR's coverage of PAINWeek 2017 by visiting theconference page.

View post:
Genetic Panel Test May Help ID Optimal Opioid Dose Needs - Monthly Prescribing Reference (registration)

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Increasingly sophisticated genetic testing available to would-be parents is likely to raise thorny ethical issues, according to a New Zealand Law Foundation report.

Lead author and Otago University bioethicist Dr Jeanne Snelling, says pregnant women now face a bewildering world of genetic testing.

She says expanded screening and testing is likely to affect not only reproductive outcomes, but also women's experiences of conception and pregnancy in the future.

"Genetic testing in the reproductive context is a particularly high-stakes endeavour," she said.

"It directly affects a woman's experience of pregnancy, and may contribute to a decision not to transfer an embryo or to terminate an established pregnancy."

The report looks at a number of rapidly-evolving genetic technologies.

They include prenatal genetic testing as early as 10 weeks into a pregnancy and preimplantation genetic testing of IVF embryos.

Dr Snelling said a common feature of all the tests was that they enabled an increasing amount of information to be gleaned, compared with traditional prenatal tests.

"All are associated with particular technical, ethical and legal challenges," she said.

The report examines the implications of new technology for women.

It considers the potential for expanded screening and testing programmes becoming more routine, and the implications for informed consent.

It also looks at concerns over the effects of extended reproductive genetic testing on people with disabilities.

Dr Snelling says there is a "common assumption" that more information is always better.

"That is not always borne out in the empirical studies of women's experiences," she said.

"One recurring theme is the pressing need to ensure women and their partners have a genuine choice to accept or decline expanded screening or testing."

NZN

See more here:
Pregnancy and the issue of genetic tests - 06-Sep-2017 - NZ ... - NZCity

Recommendation and review posted by sam

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Gene Therapy - Technologies, Markets and Companies" report from Jain PharmaBiotech has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

The markets for gene therapy are difficult to estimate as there is only one approved gene therapy product and it is marketed in China since 2004. Gene therapy markets are estimated for the years 2016-2026.

The estimates are based on epidemiology of diseases to be treated with gene therapy, the portion of those who will be eligible for these treatments, competing technologies and the technical developments anticipated in the next decades. In spite of some setbacks, the future for gene therapy is bright.The markets for DNA vaccines are calculated separately as only genetically modified vaccines and those using viral vectors are included in the gene therapy markets

The voluminous literature on gene therapy was reviewed and selected 750 references are appended in the bibliography.The references are constantly updated. The text is supplemented with 76 tables and 22 figures.

Profiles of 189 companies involved in developing gene therapy are presented along with 240 collaborations. There were only 44 companies involved in this area in 1995. In spite of some failures and mergers, the number of companies has increased more than 4-fold within a decade.

These companies have been followed up since they were the topic of a book on gene therapy companies by the author of this report. John Wiley & Sons published the book in 2000 and from 2001 to 2003, updated versions of these companies (approximately 160 at mid-2003) were available on Wiley's web site. Since that free service was discontinued and the rights reverted to the author, this report remains the only authorized continuously updated version on gene therapy companies.

Key Topics Covered:

Part I: Technologies & Markets

Executive Summary

1. Introduction

2. Gene Therapy Technologies

3. Clinical Applications of Gene Therapy

4. Gene Therapy of Genetic Disorders

5. Gene Therapy of Cancer

6. Gene Therapy of Neurological Disorders

7. Gene Therapy of Cardiovascular Disorders

8. Gene therapy of viral infections

9. Research, Development and Future of Gene Therapy

10. Regulatory, Safety, Ethical Patent Issues of Gene Therapy

11. Markets for Gene Therapy

12. References

Part II: Companies

13. Companies involved in Gene Therapy

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/q99xbz/gene_therapy

Excerpt from:
Global Updated Gene Therapy Technologies, Markets and Companies Report 2017-2026 - Research and Markets - Business Wire (press release)

Recommendation and review posted by sam

University of Minnesota groundbreaking gene therapy research

Lindsey Seavert, KARE 6:54 PM. CDT September 06, 2017

Andrea and RyanShaughnessy, from the Traverse City, Michigan area, have been at the University of Minnesota Masonic Childrens Hospital for nine months, as their son, Anderson, 2, underwent two blood stem cell transplants for Hurler Syndrome. (Photo: KARE 11)

MINNEAPOLIS - The FDA just recently approved the first gene therapy available in the United States for childhood leukemia, ushering in a new frontier in medicine to reprogram a patient's own cells to attack a deadly cancer.

The breakthrough is also bringing a long-awaited promise at the University of Minnesota for children undergoing treatment for rare, life-threatening diseases.

An estimated 20 families whose children have undergone blood stem cell transplants for rare metabolic diseases, have joined together to launch a crowdfunding campaign to help U of M doctors research safer, more effective therapies, including new gene therapy that could bring life-saving impact for their children.

Andrea and Ryan Shaughnessy, from the Traverse City, Michigan area, have been at the University of Minnesota Masonic Childrens Hospital for nine months, as their son, Anderson, 2, underwent two blood stem cell transplants for Hurler Syndrome.

The rare genetic disease, affecting 1 in every 100,000 children, occurs when the body has a defective gene and as a result, cannot make an important enzyme. Children with Hurlers Syndrome have a life expectancy of 5 to 10 years old.

Time is not on our side, the more we can do earlier on, the better off it is for his long-term survival and development, said Andrea Shaughnessy. If we could help keep anybody else from living in our shoes because it is so hard, you know it might not be able to directly impact the help Anderson needs today, but it doesnt mean that we cant help others so they can have a better outcome and life expectancy tomorrow.

The Shaughnessy family made the second donation to the crowdfunding campaign, called the Pediatric BMT Metabolic Program Research Fund.

I think its really inspiring they are doing this, said Dr. Weston Miller, a U of M pediatric blood and marrow physician overseeing many blood stem cell transplants. Research is expensive and really driving novel therapies and improving on existing therapies takes time and money.

Dr. Miller noted the lack of research and development for rare diseases, and said the gene therapy reduces the health risks associated with undergoing and surviving blood stem cell transplants.

Really the unifying theme of all these novel therapies is going to be make it safer and more effective, said Dr. Miller. So, what we of course wish and hope for is we can find a way to have effective therapies and look Mom and Dad in the eye, and say there is closer to 100 percent they will be walking out of here.

The families from across the country and world have a goal to raise $1 million to fund research projects that might otherwise never make it to the laboratory.

We are pretty proud of this team and we know they can do it, its amazing the tenacity they bring, said Andrea Shaughnessy.

The crowdfunding page details their plea for support.

They have helped countless families from all around the world navigate the uncertainty of a life-threatening diagnosis and make heart-wrenching decisions. They go above and beyond, whether it is Google translating an email to correspond with parents in other countries or wearing a Minions shirt. They have revolutionized the way the diseases are treated, drastically improved the quality of life for many of their patients, and given families hope.

2017 KARE-TV

Excerpt from:
Families raise money for research into rare diseases - KARE

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

For a few thousand people around the world, reaching the age of 20 is a landmark to dread, not to celebrate.

Coping since birth with Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), anyone with this genetic eye disorder who hasnt already lost their sight can expect to be legally blind before they reach 21 years of age.

Characterized by deep-set eyes that are prone to involuntarily, jerky movements, LCA is caused by a fault in one or more of about 14 genes so far identified. There is no proven treatment, although that may soon change.

In late August, biotech company Spark Therapeutics Inc. ONCE, +1.70% was granted a priority review of a treatment for LCA that may make it the first gene therapy approved for use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Read: Novartis CAR-T therapy was the first to be approved in the U.S.

The Philadelphia-based company will by Jan. 12 discover whether the FDA will issue a biologics license for Luxturna, which can replace the faulty RPE65 gene that causes LCA with a properly functioning copy. Should it be approved, victims of this disease will soon be able to receive a single injection that may permanently restore functional eyesight.

Gene therapys payoffs

While traditional research is usually focused on unlocking a way to treat one condition, gene therapies such as Luxturna may be game changers because they are based on platforms that can be adapted and used to tackle multiple inherited disorders.

Using similar techniques, Spark is also working on a functional cure for hemophilia, a disease that afflicts about 20,000 people in the U.S. and around 400,000 globally for which the market is worth about $8.5 billion in the U.S. and European Union.

In-human trials of SPK-8011 recently showed that Sparks therapy has the potential to lift the Factor VIII protein necessary for normal blood clotting to functional and sustained levels. In short, as with the Luxturna, the therapy has the potential to offer a one-shot cure.

That would be seismic for hemophiliacs, whose main option today is regular infusions of Factor VIII protein. Unfortunately, within a few days almost none of the protein remains in the body and the hemophiliacs blood is again unable to clot normally. Spark is also developing a treatment for hemophilia B, a much smaller market.

A new dawn

Biotech companies have reached this point because research has advanced to the stage where weve figured out how to identify the genetic causes of disease and how to apply that knowledge to develop therapies that will replace defective genes to provide a lasting cure.

Voyager Therapeutics Inc. VYGR, +24.70% is focused on gene therapies for neurological disorders such as Parkinsons, Huntingtons, Lou Gehrigs disease or ALS, Friedreichs ataxia (which damages the nervous system), Alzheimers and chronic pain.

In addition to cancer immunotherapy and the more controversial gene editing, bluebird bio Inc. BLUE, +0.84% has eight gene therapy programs, including research into adrenoleukodystrophy, or ALD, a deadly brain disorder that mostly affects boys and men; beta thalassemia; and sickle cell, none of which have a cure.

Should Spark, or another company such as BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. BMRN, -0.72% or Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. SGMO, -4.43% which are also working on hemophilia, succeed with its gene therapy, it could adversely impact suppliers of traditional Factor VIII protein infusions, such as Shire PLC SHP, +0.89% which had revenue from hemophilia treatments of $870.9 million in the first quarter of 2017.

Cost problems

Cost has been a headwind for the two gene therapies so far approved. In April, Fierce Pharma reported that uniQure NV QURE, +4.42% would not ask the European Medicines Agency to renew its marketing authorization for Glybera, the worlds most expensive drug at $1 million, when it expires in October, because in the four years after it gained approval in 2012 it was used commercially and paid for once, according to the MIT Technology Review.

Europes other approved gene therapy has fared no better. GlaxoSmithKline Plc GSK, +0.28% said in July it is seeking a buyer for Strimvelis, a treatment for a rare inherited immune deficiency, which took a year after approval to gain its first patient.

Perhaps the solution is a new payments system for ultra-expensive and long-lasting gene therapies, based on annuities for each additional time period of a treatments effectiveness.

But how do you measure cost? In December, Biogen Inc. BIIB, +0.48% gained FDA approval for Spinraza, a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, the leading genetic cause of infant death in the U.S. Spinraza is priced at $375,000 a year for life (after $750,000 in the first year of therapy), while a one-shot gene therapy being developed by AveXis Inc. AVXS, +1.89% for SMA may provide a cure to someone who could go on to live 80 or more years. What sort of a premium for AveXis approach is justified?

Pricing is not dissuading biotech companies. There are about 7,000 genetic diseases, and the whole pharmaceutical and biotech industry is now working to solve each of those problems.

Investors seeking to benefit from a potential medical moonshot should consider allocating capital on a long-term basis to well-managed gene therapy companies with transformative assets that give them a competitive advantage.

Ethan Lovell is co-portfolio manager of the Janus Henderson Investors Global Life Sciences strategy.

Read the rest here:
Opinion: How investors should play gene-therapy stocks - MarketWatch

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

In 1990, geneticist William French Anderson injectedcells with altered genes into a four-year-old girl with severe immunodeficiency disorder. This was the first sanctioned test of gene therapy, in which genetic material is used to treat or prevent disease.

If were lucky, Anderson told The Chicago Tribune, with this little girl weve opened the door for genetic engineering to attack major killers and cripplers, particularly AIDS, cancer and heart disease.

Gene therapy has never fulfilled these grand hopes. In the decades since Andersons experiment, thousands of clinical trials of gene therapies have been carried out. But the first gene therapy was only approved for sale in the U.S. this week. The Food and Drug Administration announced its approval of Kymriah, a gene therapy produced by Novartis for a form of childhood leukemia. A few gene therapies have previously become available in China and Europe.

An FDA press release emphasizes the historic nature of the approval. Were entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patients own cells to attack a deadly cancer, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says.

As I have noted in previousposts (see Further Reading), the hype provoked by genetic research has always outrun the reality. Gene-therapy proponents have long predicted that it will eliminate diseases such as cystic fibrosis and early-onset breast cancer, which are traceable to a defective gene, as well as disorders with more complex genetic causes.Enthusiasts also envisioned genetically engineered "designer babies" who would grow up to be smarter than Nobel laureates and more athletic than Olympians.

Gene therapy turned out to be extremely difficult, because it can trigger unpredictable, fatal responses from the body's immune system.The National Institutes of Health warnsthat gene therapy can have very serious health risks, such as toxicity, inflammation, and cancer.

Kymriah is a case in point. The FDA press release warns that Kymriah can cause life-threatening immune reactions and neurological events, as well as serious infections, low blood pressure (hypotension), acute kidney injury, fever, and decreased oxygen (hypoxia). According to The New York Times, the FDA is requiring that hospitals and doctors be specially trained and certified to administer [Kymriah], and that they stock a certain drug needed to quell severe reactions.

Kymriah illustrates another problem with gene therapy: high cost. Novartis is charging $475,000 for Kymriah. As a recent Reuters article notes, over the past five years two gene therapies have been approved for sale in Europe, one for a rare blood disease and the other for the bubble-boy immunodeficiency disorder. The therapies cost $1 million and $700,000, respectively. So far, the companies that make the therapies have achieved a total of three sales.

As journalist Horace Freeland Judson points out in this excellent 2006 overview, The Glimmering Promise of Gene Therapy, biology and economics have conspired against gene therapy. Judsonnotes that most individual diseases caused by single-gene defectsthe kind that seem most likely to be cured by gene therapyare rare. (Sickle-cell anemia and some other hemoglobin disorders are among the few exceptions.)

Judson adds that because different diseases have different genetic mechanisms and affect different types of tissue, each presents a new set of research problems to be solved almost from scratch. As the millions burned away, it became clear that even with success, the cost per patient cured would continue to be enormous. And success had shown itself to be always glimmering and shifting just beyond reach.

The advent of CRISPR, a powerful gene-editing technique, has inspired hopes that gene therapy might finally fulfillexpectations. Researchers recently employed CRISPRin human embryos to counteract a mutation that causes heart disease. Potentially, The New York Times reported last month, the method could apply to any of more than 10,000 conditions caused by specific inherited mutations.

CRISPR has also renewed concerns about the ethics of engineering people with enhanced physical and mental traits. These concerns are grossly premature. As Science noted recently, CRISPR poses some of the same risks as other gene therapies. The methodstill has a long way to go before it can be used safely and effectively to repairnot just disruptgenes in people.And in fact questions have now been raised about the CRISPR research on embryos mentioned above.

Some day, applied genetics might live up to its hype, but that day is far from arriving.

Further Reading:

Could Olympians Be Tweaking Their Genes?

Have researchers really discovered any genes for behavior?

My Problem with Taboo Behavioral Genetics? The Research Stinks!

Hype of Feel-Good Gene Makes Me Feel Bad.

New York TimesHypes "Infidelity Gene."

Quest for Intelligence Genes Churns out More Dubious Results.

Warrior Gene Makes Me Mad.

Should Research on Race and IQ Be Banned?

Read more:
Has the Era of Gene Therapy Finally Arrived? - Scientific American (blog)

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) will host a one-hourwebinarat 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Sept. 6, that will focus on an upcoming clinical trial exploring gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The webinar will be led by Dr. Jerry Mendell, who, together with fellow researcher Dr. Louise Rodino-Klapac, received a $2.2 million grant from PPMD in January 2017 for their gene therapy research project at the Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

The project is now approaching its first human trial, expected to begin in the next few months. Mendell will talk about how the trial is designed, including inclusion and exclusion criteria for participation. He will also share planned timelines.

Those wishing to participate are asked to register and submit questions in advance. Follow this link for more information about registering and submitting questions.

The grant was the first in the nonprofits Gene Transfer Initiative, which intends to support research into gene-therapy-based solutions. The webinar is part of a series that intends to present researchers and companies that focus on gene therapy for Duchenne.

Such therapies include gene transfer techniques, in which a small but functional version of the dystrophin gene, referred to as micro-dystrophin, is delivered with the help of a non-infectious virus. Other approaches use gene editing with the help of the CRISPR-Cas9 system (a naturally occurring bacterial defense system that has been adapted into a gene-editing tool).

The Nationwide Childrens Hospital trial will focus on the delivery of micro-dystrophin.

But while the webinar series will present research projects in various stages of progress, it spent the first parton Aug. 15 discussing what these approaches really mean, allowing patients and families to better understandthe complex science behind the therapeutic approaches. By understanding the science, PPMD hopes that families can make better choices once these therapies reach clinical trials.

PPMD also felt prompted to bring gene therapies to Duchenne patients with the recent FDA approval of Kymriah, the first gene therapy to be approved in the U.S.

While Kymriah is a cancer immunotherapy using a different approach than that likely to be used in Duchenne, the approval constitutes another piece of evidence showing the tremendous strides this technology has made since the 1990s and its early days of research, PPMDs Abby Bronson wrote in a blog post.

[The Kymriah] approval means that there are regulatory and commercial pathways for cell and gene based therapy. It means that you can put living DNA into a human and it can do its job, Bronson wrote in her blog. And it means that years of scientists making seemingly incremental advances can all come together and result into a giant step forward. A step forward that we believe will move this technology in a direction that will eventually benefit our community, our children.

Read the original post:
Upcoming Duchenne Gene Therapy Trial to Be Focus of PPMD-hosted Webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 6 - Muscular Dystrophy News

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Renova Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing gene and peptide-based treatments for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, today announced that the company's co-founder Dr. H. Kirk Hammond is the recipient of the 2017 William S. Middleton Award, the highest biomedical laboratory research award in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The Middleton Award is given annually to recognize outstanding achievements in biomedical research. Dr. Hammond, a Professor of Medicine at UC San Diego and a cardiologist with the VA San Diego Healthcare System, received the award for his contributions to the understanding of mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and novel gene transfer treatments for angina and heart failure. Dr. Hammond is also investigating gene transfer for type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Hammond has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications related to cardiovascular disease and is an inventor on nine patents. He devised and led the Phase 2 clinical trial of AC6 gene transfer for the treatment of patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. Results of the trial indicated that, through a one-time administration, AC6 gene transfer safely increased heart function beyond optimal heart failure therapy (JAMA Cardiology). This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Gene Therapy Resource Program and Renova Therapeutics, via an NIH public-private partnership.

"If successful, these trials could lead to the first registration of a gene therapy product for treating heart disease," said Dr. Rachel Ramoni, VA's Chief Research and Development Officer. "Dr. Hammond is clearly a pioneer of intracoronary gene therapy and novel patient delivery mechanisms that will have a broad impact on the health care of veterans."

AC6 gene transfer is being developed by Renova Therapeutics as RT-100, its lead gene therapy candidate advancing to a Phase 3 clinical trial known as FLOURISH.

About heart failureHeart failure is a chronic disease characterized by the inability of the heart to pump sufficient blood to meet the body's demands. It is a progressive and fatal chronic condition, and symptoms worsen over time. Heart failure afflicts more than 28 million people globally and is the only cardiovascular disease that is increasing in prevalence. In the United States, it is the most common cause for emergency hospital admissions in patients 65 and older.

About Renova Therapeutics Renova Therapeutics is developing definitive, one-time gene therapies and peptide infusion treatments to restore the health of people suffering from chronic diseases. The first indications the company is pursuing are gene therapy treatments for heart failure and type 2 diabetes, two of the most common and devastating chronic diseases in the world. The company's lead product, RT-100, is a treatment that delivers a therapeutic gene directly to the heart during a routine outpatient procedure and has the potential to increase heart function in millions of patients with heart failure. The company's product pipeline also includes a groundbreaking gene therapy in preclinical stage for sufferers of type 2 diabetes, as well as a peptide infusion therapy for the treatment of acute decompensated heart failure. Renova Therapeutics was founded in 2009 and is led by an experienced management team in biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.renovatherapeutics.com.

References

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/renova-therapeutics-co-founder-awarded-highest-research-honor-by-the-us-department-of-veterans-affairs-300514250.html

SOURCE Renova Therapeutics

Home

Read the rest here:
Renova Therapeutics co-founder awarded highest research honor ... - PR Newswire (press release)

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Planned Parenthood, the embattled nonprofit health provider that specializes in reproductive health, has won the 2017 Lasker Award for public service.

The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation also honored Dr. Douglas Lowy and John Schiller of the National Cancer Institute with its clinical research award for work that led to the development of a vaccine against human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer. Molecular biologist Michael N. Hall received the foundations basic medical research award for laying the scientific groundwork for advances in the treatment of cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders and diseases of aging.

The Lasker Awards, announced Wednesday, are given annually to recognize advancements in the prevention and treatment of disease. Each award carries an honorarium of $250,000. Dozens of past winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

The Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award to Planned Parenthood comes at a time when the international organizations global mission has come under budgetary assault on Capitol Hill. The healthcare provider offers cancer screenings, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, birth control services and general care to millions of people each year. But the organization also provides abortion services, which makes it a frequent target of some lawmakers and others with antiabortion views.

Approximately one in five women in the U.S. have received its assistance at some point during their lives, the Lasker Foundation said in its award citation. Without Planned Parenthood, many individuals would not have access to high-quality and affordable health care.

Lowy and Schillers research on infection-fighting antibodies led to the development of a vaccine against human papillomavirus. The virus, also known as HPV, causes the worlds second-most common cause of malignancy in women, cervical cancer. In 2014, that work led President Obama to award Lowy and Schiller the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

All of this years honorees acknowledged the changed political environment in which they conduct their activities. All warned that their work and other work like it would be squelched if the Trump administrations proposed restrictions on womens healthcare and cuts to basic biomedical research funding are adopted by Congress.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards noted that her organizations founders, Dr. Margaret Sanger and Dr. Bessie Moses, were the first women to be awarded the Lasker prize for medicine for their contributions to contraception at a time when it was illegal in the United States. She marveled that more than 65 years later, the U.S. government has reprised its hostility to the policies that the work of Sanger and Moses made possible.

Were at a moment in the U.S. where there are major political efforts to get a rollback of reproductive care and reproductive rights, Richards said.

The scientists honored by the Lasker Awards offered more indirect criticism. They suggested that amid deep budget cuts in federal funding for biomedical research, scientists will not have the latitude to pursue research on subjects whose significance in not yet understood.

Basic science is the engine that drives important breakthroughs in public health, said Schiller, whose work led to the development of the first vaccine to prevent a cancer.

Its not clear which basic discoveries are going to lead to public health breakthroughs, he added. Its an example where we cant be too top-down in our research enterprise. You cant dictate which discoveries will be made.

Evan Vucci / Associated Press

National Cancer Institute researchers Douglas Lowy, left, and John Schiller, shown here with President Obama, have been awarded the Lasker Award for clinical research.

National Cancer Institute researchers Douglas Lowy, left, and John Schiller, shown here with President Obama, have been awarded the Lasker Award for clinical research. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

That was certainly the case for Hall, an American and Swiss scientist based at the University of Basel in Switzerland whose work has been translated into therapies for a variety of diseases.

He won his Lasker Award for his discovery of a protein called TOR (short for target of rapamycin) that tells cells when to grow, divide and survive. The gene that expresses TOR is found in organisms ranging in complexity from yeast to humans, and it often mutates in cancer cells. In mammals, who have a version called mTOR, its also a key player in activation of the immune system.

Halls elucidation of how TOR works has led to the use of a class of targeted cancer drugs called mTOR inhibitors, including rapamycin and mimics such as the drug everolimus (marketed as Afinitor), in the treatment of certain aggressive cancers of the kidney, breast or brain.

Faulty signaling in the mTOR network is implicated not only in cancer, but in a range of other diseases linked to aging, such as diabetes and brain diseases. That has led many to believe that understanding how TOR works will lead to insights that could extend the human lifespan.

Among the insights already gleaned: that in mice, at least, calorie restriction lengthens lifespan by inhibiting the activity of mTOR.

The basic research honored by this years Lasker Award was part of an international race among scientists to unravel a mystery: why (and how) did the drug rapamycin, an antifungal medication that emerged from soil harvested on Easter Island, also have the ability to suppress the proliferation of both cancer cells and immune cells in mammals?

Hall and his colleagues identified and sequenced the TOR1 and TOR2 genes in yeast, and published the result in the journal Cell in 1993.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

@LATMelissaHealy

MORE IN SCIENCE

After California got rid of personal exemptions for vaccines, medical exemptions went way up

PSA screening for prostate cancer saves lives after all, study says

See the article here:
Lasker Awards honor Planned Parenthood and research on preventing and fighting cancer - Los Angeles Times

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Morning Glory. Credit: University of Tsukuba

In a world-first, Japanese scientists have used the revolutionary CRISPR, or CRISPR/Cas9, genome- editing tool to change flower colour in an ornamental plant. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba, the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) and Yokohama City University, Japan, altered the flower colour of the traditional Japanese garden plant, Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil or Pharbitis nil), from violet to white, by disrupting a single gene. This research highlights the huge potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to the study and manipulation of genes in horticultural plants.

Japanese morning glory, or Asagao, was chosen for this study as it is one of two traditional horticultural model plants in the National BioResource Project in Japan (NBRP). Extensive genetic studies of this plant have already been performed, its genome sequenced and DNA transfer methods established. In addition, as public concern with genetic technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 is currently a social issue in Japan, studies using this popular and widely-grown plant may help to educate the public on this topic.

The research team targeted a single gene, dihydroflavonol-4-reductase-B (DFR-B), encoding an anthocyanin biosynthesis enzyme, that is responsible for the colour of the plant's stems, leaves and flowers. Two other, very closely related genes (DFR-A and DRF-C) sit side-by-side, next to DFR-B. Therefore, the challenge was to specifically and accurately target the DFR-B gene without altering the other genes. The CRISPR/Cas9 system was used as it is currently the most precise method of gene editing.

The CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas9 system is based on a bacterial defense mechanism. It is composed of two molecules that alter the DNA sequence. Cas9, an enzyme, cuts the two strands of DNA in a precise location so that DNA can be added or removed. Cas9 is guided to the correct location by gRNA, or guide RNA, a small piece of RNA that has been designed to be complementary to the target DNA sequence. Cas9 cuts the two strands of DNA at the target location, allowing DNA to be removed and/or added.

As reported on 30 August 2017 in Scientific Reports, a short DNA sequence in the Japanese morning glory DFR-B gene was selected as the target for the CRISPR/Cas9 system. This sequence contains the active site of the enzyme produced by the DFR-B gene. Disruption of this sequence should therefore de-activate the enzyme, resulting in an absence of the colour pigment, anthocyanin. The CRISPR/Cas9 system was inserted into tissue-cultured embryos of Japanese morning glory plants using the DNA-transferring capabilities of the plant bacterium Rhizobium. As expected, the DFR-B enzyme was successfully inactivated, resulting in approximately 75%of the transgenic plants with green stems and white flowers. Non-transformed plants with an active enzyme had violet stems and flowers. These changes in stem colour were observed very early in the tissue culture process. A series of genetic analyses confirmed that the DNA target sequence had been altered in the transgenic plants, with either DNA insertions or deletions in both copies of the DFR-B gene (so-called bi-allellic mutants). The other related genes, DFR-A and DFR-C, were examined and no mutations were found, confirming the high specificity of the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

Next, the researchers examined the inheritance of the CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutations by analyzing plants from the next generation. These plants looked exactly like their parents. Among these plants were some without any sign of the introduced DNA. This raises some interesting questions in terms

of the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as these next-generation plants are considered transgenic, based on process-based definitions (how they were made), and non- transgenic, based on product-based definitions (the presence of foreign DNA in the final product).

This technology is also extremely useful in confirming the function of genes. Experiments in the 1930s and 1990s used 'forward' genetic screening techniques to find the genes responsible for flower colour production in the Japanese morning glory. The CRISPR/Cas9 system described here is the 'reverse' genetic approach, used to find out what an organism looks like after a known gene is disrupted, and confirms that the DFR-B gene is the main gene responsible for colour in Japanese morning glory plants.

Currently, CRISPR/Cas9 technology is not 100% efficient, that is, not all targeted plants will be transgenic. The mutation rate in this study, 75%, however, was relatively high. This is one of the reasons this research will greatly facilitate those interested in the modification of flower colours and shapes using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in ornamental flowers or vegetables.

The story of the Japanese morning glory started in the 8th century AD, with the introduction of wild blue-flowered plants into Japan from China. In 1631, the first white-flowered Japanese morning glory was painted in Japan. What took nature nearly 850years to achieve has taken less than one using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, indicating both its power and its potential.

Explore further: Modifying fat content in soybean oil with the molecular scissors Cpf1

More information: Kenta Watanabe et al. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis of the dihydroflavonol-4-reductase-B (DFR-B) locus in the Japanese morning glory Ipomoea (Pharbitis) nil, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10715-1

Read the original:
Scientists use CRISPR technology to change flower colour - Phys.org - Phys.Org

Recommendation and review posted by sam

I've written a number of times about the tremendous rise in citizen science game platforms that allow players to contribute to scientific research. Arguably the most well known of these games is Stanford based Eterna.

Last year a paperhighlighted how players of the game were playing an ever increasing role in scientific research.

We see that in particular researchers in the natural sciences have collected and classified data with the help of interested volunteers. In the social sciences, there has been a focus on inviting select parts of the public to find out the effects of science on peoples everyday lives. This may for example concern environment problems and risks,the authors say.

The game began life by asking players to help scientists understand RNA, but it has recently branched out into new fields. For instance, last year they developed a version that aimed to further understanding of TB.

The latest version sees players tasked with designing a CRISPR-controlling molecule. The design of the challenge is to develop an RNA molecule that's capable of acting as an on/off switch for CRISPR. The resulting molecules will then be tested by molecular biologists.

The ability to turn off CRISPR is crucial as the editor is incredibly powerful and may have unexpected effects on the cells, so being able to turn it off is key to its safe usage. The researchers also believe the functionality could allow CRISPR to be deployed on a kind of timer so that it can be activated and deactivated according to a schedule.

"Great ideas can come from anywhere, so this is also an experiment in the democratization of science," the team say. "A lot of people have hidden talents that they don't even know about. This could be their calling. Maybe there's somebody out there who is a security guard and a fantastic RNA biochemist, and they don't even know it."

The aim is to get up to 100,000 players to contribute, with each player contributing around 10 solutions each. Should that number of players participate, it gives the team a good amount of data to work with, and their initial tests will then go into refining the game further to guide future players in their designs.

In addition to producing some invaluable inputs into scientific research, the team also hope to enhance interest in science among the wider population.

"The Eterna game is a powerful way to engage lots and lots of people," they say. "They're not just passive users of information but actually involved in the process."

As with other computer games, Eterna aims to incentivize players by allowing them to earn points, build expertise and advance to higher levels. The best players then gain the chance to have their designs implemented in a lab environment.

Citizen science games like Eterna have proven incredibly popular. For instance, I wrote recently about the Sea Hero Quest game developed by Deutsche Telekom to promote research into dementia. The original mobile game has been downloaded over 3 million times, providing data equivalent to 12,000 years of lab research.

As such, the Eterna team believe that the game is as much about the sociology of science as it is about the hard science itself.

"There is a misconception of science as something that happens in an ivory tower by someone in a white coat with a long beard. And they are saying things and drawing things that nobody understands. But it's not like that! It's really like a puzzle that anybody can get engaged with," they say.

You can play the game for free by clicking here, or alternatively watch the video below to learn more about it.

See the original post here:
Eterna Citizen Science Game Turns Its Attention To CRISPR - HuffPost

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

UTSA Presidential Lecture featuring Leonard Pinchuk UC Retama Auditorium 2.02.021 UTSA Circle - San Antonio

29.5843443-98.6173559

Date/Time: 09/14/201711:00 am - 12:00 pm

Location:UC Retama Auditorium 2.02.021 UTSA CircleSan Antonio,

United States

Leonard Pinchuk Ph.D., D.Sc., (h.c.), NAE presents

Dr. Leonard Pinchuk, recipient of BioMed SAs 2017 Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience, is a serial inventor and entrepreneur with over 120 issued U.S. patents and 80 publications, and has co-founded 10 biomedical companies. His major accomplishments include the invention of the worlds first commercially successful and most widely used angioplasty balloon catheters, the helical wire stent, the modular stent-graft, a drug-eluting stent (TAXUS), two biostable implantable biomaterials (polycarbonate urethane and poly(styrene-block-isobutylene-block-styrene)), a novel glaucoma shunt (InnFocus MicroShunt) and the next generation intraocular lens material.He received a B.Sc. in Chemistry from McGill University (1976), a Ph.D. interdisciplinary in Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Miami (1984) and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from McGill University (2005). He was inducted into AIMBE in 2007 and the National Academy of Engineering in 2012 and is the recipient of the 2017 Society for Biomaterials Technology, Innovation and Development Award.Dr. Pinchuk began his career in 1983 at Cordis Corporation and left in 1987 to co-found Corvita Corporation (angioplasty catheters, vascular grafts, stents, stent-grafts) which went public on the NASDAQ in 1994, was acquired by Pfizer, Inc. in 1996, and was then sold to Boston Scientific Corporation in 1998. Dr. Pinchuk founded Innovia LLC in 2002 and continues to serve as President and CEO. Innovia has incubated eight companies working in the fields of intraocular lenses, glaucoma shunts, radiation oncology catheters, urinary catheters, gene therapy and futuristic biomaterials. One of the Innovia spin-offs, InnFocus, Inc., developed a novel medical device to treat glaucoma and was acquired by Santen Pharmaceuticals in August 2016. Dr. Pinchuk will continue to serve as InnFocus CSO for the next three years. Dr. Pinchuk also enjoys an appointment as Research Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami (Miami, FL).

Follow this link:
UTSA Presidential Lecture featuring Leonard Pinchuk - UTSA Today

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Nanoparticles (orange) deliver temporary gene therapy to immune cells (blue) to give them disease-fighting tools. (Fred Hutch Illustration / Kimberly Carney)

CAR T immunotherapies are all the rage in the medical community, reprogramming a patients immune system to fight cancer. For some patients, theyve produced near-miraculous recoveries, and they could be a huge breakthrough in cancer treatment.

The business community is taking note as well: Kite Pharma, a biotech company developing these therapies, announced a deal to be acquired for $11.9 billion on Monday, sending stock prices of Seattle immunotherapy developer Juno Therapeuticsskyrocketing.

But there are still giant pitfalls to using the therapies on a large scale because they are incredibly complex and expensive to produce. Researchers from Seattles Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center are taking the problem head-on with new hit-and-run gene editing technology.

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers led by Dr.Matthias Stephan reported they have developed a nanoparticle delivery system that can temporarily alter cells so they are able to fight cancer and other diseases.

The best part? The treatment is a powder that just needs to be mixed with water to activate and even better, it could be an essential breakthrough in making cutting-edge medical technology affordable for patients.

Stephan told GeekWire in a previous piece on the technology that his goal is to make immunotherapy so easy to access that it replaces chemotherapy as the front-line treatment for cancer.

What I envision is like the Walgreens flu shot scenario, or you go to your doctor and you get hepatitis B shot, he said at the time. You go there every Friday, and thats it.

We realized in order to outcompete chemotherapy, we have to design something that is at least as affordable and can be manufactured at large scale by one biotech company and shipped out to local infusion centers, Stephan said. At the moment, CAR T cell therapies must be made individually for each patient in specialized labs.

Heres how the new tech works: The nanoparticles designed by Stephan and his team act like shipping containers for bundles of mRNA, the molecules that tell cells how to build disease-fighting proteins. The nanoparticles also have molecules attached to the outside to help them find the right kind of cells, like a shipping label on a package.

When the mRNA is delivered to the cell, it prompts the cell to grow disease-fighting features, like the chimeric antigen receptor in CAR T cells that help them identify and kill cancer.Researchers said the technology could potentially be used to develop treatments for HIV, diabetes and other immune-related diseases.

In the short run, the tech could help researchers discover new treatments and therapies in the lab. It could one day be used in hospitals and clinics around the world, but will first need to undergo extensive clinical trials to ensure the tech is effective and safe to use in humans.

Read more from the original source:
New 'hit-and-run' gene editing tool temporarily rewrites genetics to treat cancer and HIV - GeekWire

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Two weeks ago I lay in a hospital bed at the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and watched a clear, garlicky-smelling bag of my re-engineered white blood cells drip into my veins.

The bag contained not only my collected T cells but also magic sauce from Novartis, the drug company financing a trial of a gene therapy for my specific mutation of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.

This living drug, a CAR-T treatment, may revitalize my immune system and erase my myeloma tumors and save my life. It could also kill me.

Last month, the Federal Drug Administration approved the first CAR-T therapy, Kymriah, to treat a leukemia that mainly affects children. My myeloma trial is an outgrowth of that promising effort. Researchers say that just one of my retooled cells can kill 100,000 cancer cells, and theyve infused millions of them.

But no one can guarantee me a happy ending. From my research, I figure I have a 1-in-9 shot at beating my wily myeloma and then for only a year or so.

Still, I consider myself lucky. Fewer than 5% of cancer patients will get into potentially beneficial clinical trials this year, and I am one of them.

Since 2003, under Democratic and Republican administrations, the National Institutes of Health budget has been cut by 15.5%, after inflation. This has left far too little NIH money for basic research and prevention, including for oncology trials. Drug companies now underwrite about 71% of the thousands of cancer trials that are conducted in the U.S. each year.

This sets back basic cancer research in several ways. Because drug companies are investing millions, if not billions, to develop proprietary, patented medicines, they dont share their discoveries as openly as the NIH does. Perhaps worse, they recklessly duplicate trials for certain common cancers, such as melanoma, to the point where around 40% fizzle out for a lack of patients to test.

By contrast, my doctors and I couldnt find a trial slot for my disease, from Seattle to Hackensack, except for the very last opening at Perelman.

Initially I was rated behind another desperately ill person and received a gut-punch email: We can not offer you a spot. In the end, I replaced a sick patient who did not meet the trials strict protocols, even though the patient needed treatment as much, or more, than I did.

Leading medical scientists say it is in our national interest to fund far more research, especially in cutting-edge immunology, which appears close to curing blood cancers. But although there is surely room in President Trumps 2018 federal budget of $4.1 trillion to fund more government cancer trials, he wants to cut the NIH's budget further, by nearly 20%.

To think we are going to stop funding biomedical studies and lose skilled scientists seems almost crazy, Dr. Stephen Grupp, a leading leukemia researcher at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, told me. This is the time to invest, not back off.

The American Cancer Societys chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley, noted in a telephone interview that the Department of Defense spends about as much money on bands and music as the NIH spends on breast cancer: Where are our national priorities?

If we do not invest in more research, there is a good chance that we could cede our leadership in biomedical innovation to China or other countries. Had I not gotten the last slot at Perelman, my oncologist was suggesting we explore Beijing, where Chinese researchers are reporting incredible myeloma outcomes. All I had to do to get a trial slot, apparently, was hand over $50,000 cash.

Whether the breakthroughs happen in Philadelphia, Seattle or Beijing, cures for diseases like mine are on the horizon. The sum of medical knowledge doubles every 73 days or so. Researchers, including my own doctor at Perelman, foresee a day in the early 2020s when people with blood cancers will be cured by precision medicine immunology as outpatients.

Millions of patients will follow me, and many of them will be cured. But they could be cured in the next two or three years, rather than five to seven, if Trump were aggressively expanding the NIH budget. Starting by, say, buying fewer Army bass drums and more cancer bullets.

Frank Lalli was the founding editor of New West magazine. He is the author of Your Best Health Care Now.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook

The rest is here:
Why the federal government urgently needs to fund more cancer research - Los Angeles Times

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Last Updated Sep 5, 2017 2:06 PM EDT

Along with the announcement that Britain's Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, are expecting their third child, the couple revealed that for the third time as with her previous two pregnancies the former Kate Middleton is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, or severe morning sickness.

Hyperemesis gravidarum is estimated to affect about one to three percent of pregnant women and can result in nausea and vomiting so acute that hospitalization is required. It is thought to be caused by pregnancy hormones, but doctors aren't sure why some women experience worse symptoms than others.

The condition usually begins in the early weeks of pregnancy and in many cases, subsides by about 20 weeks. But for some women, the effects may persist until the baby is born.

The condition can be "absolutely devastating," said Dr. Roger Gadsby of Warwick University, who has studied the issue for decades. "Your life is on hold while the symptoms are present," he said, noting that some pregnant women may vomit dozens of times per day and be restricted to bed rest.

Kensington Palace made the pregnancy announcement Monday, saying the duchess was not feeling well enough to attend an official engagement later in the day. Kate is being cared for at her Kensington Palace home in London. Officials did not announce when the baby is due, but the duchess is believed to be less than 12 weeks pregnant.

She and Prince William already have two children: Prince George, 4 and Princess Charlotte, 2.

At a public appearance in Oxford on Tuesday, William said the royal couple is happily anticipating baby No. 3.

"It's very good news," he said, adding, "It's always a bit anxious to start with, but yeah she's very good."

In 2012, Kate was hospitalized for several days when she was believed to be suffering from dehydration during her first pregnancy.

"People can get dehydrated very quickly so [a woman] might need to come in after a day or two," Dr. Jeff Chapa, head of the section of maternal fetal medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, explained to CBS News at the time.

Chapa said virtually all pregnant women experience some degree of morning sickness during the first three months of pregnancy, which is caused by the release of HCG hormone from the placenta. But if a woman can't keep anything down down and feels particularly weak, those are signs that she may need to get evaluated by a doctor for hyperemesis gravidarum.

There is no evidence that the nausea and vomiting from severe morning sickness will affect the baby's future health. Women with the condition actually have a slightly lower risk of miscarriage, according to Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

In severe cases, however, babies can be born with lower than expected birthweight. Women with the condition are advised to eat small meals often, to avoid any foods or smells that trigger symptoms and to consult their midwife or doctor if their symptoms do not subside.

If treatment requires hospitalization, women are typically given vitamins, steroids and anti-nausea drugs intravenously. Patients are also sometimes treated with shots of heparin, to thin their blood: pregnant women are at increased risk of developing blood clots in their legs, and being dehydrated further elevates the risk.

Gadsby said he would expect doctors to be able to treat the duchess at Kensington Palace and that there shouldn't be any lasting effects. She would likely have to cut back on her royal schedule, though.

"As long as the mom receives adequate treatment, the mom is usually fine and the baby is fine," he said.

2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue reading here:
Kate's morning sickness probably not dangerous, doctors say - CBS News

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Male Hypogonadism DrugMarketreport provides key statistics on the market status of the Male Hypogonadism DrugManufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the Male Hypogonadism DrugIndustry. The Male Hypogonadism Drugindustry report firstly announced the Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket fundamentals: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on.

Global and Chinese Male Hypogonadism DrugIndustry report 2012-2022 Provides professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Male Hypogonadism Drugmarket with a focus on the Chinese market.

Get PDF Sample of Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket Report @ https://www.360marketupdates.com/enquiry/request-sample/10817841

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Overview of Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket1.1 Brief Overview of Male Hypogonadism DrugIndustry1.2 Development of Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket1.3 Status of Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket

Chapter 2 Manufacturing Technology of Male Hypogonadism DrugIndustry2.1 Development of Male Hypogonadism DrugManufacturing Technology2.2 Analysis of Male Hypogonadism DrugManufacturing Technology2.3 Trends of Male Hypogonadism DrugManufacturing Technology

Chapter 3 Analysis of Global Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket Key Manufacturers3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Product Information3.1.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.1.4 Contact Information

Inquire for further detailed information about Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket Report @ https://www.360marketupdates.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/10817841

Chapter 4 Global and Chinese Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket4.1 2012-2017 Global Capacity, Production and Production Value of Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket4.2 2012-2017 Global Cost and Profit of Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket4.3 Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket Comparison of Global and Chinese Male Hypogonadism DrugIndustry4.4 2012-2017 Global and Chinese Supply and Consumption of Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket4.5 2012-2017 Chinese Import and Export of Male Hypogonadism Drug

Chapter 5 Market Status of Male Hypogonadism DrugIndustry5.1 Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket Competition of Industry by Company5.2 Market Competition of Industry by Country (USA, EU, Japan, Chinese etc.)5.3 Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket Analysis of Consumption by Application/TypeContinue

In the end, Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket report provides the main region, market conditions with the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rateand forecast etc. Male Hypogonadism DrugMarket report also Present new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.

Continue reading here:
Male Hypogonadism Drug Market Analysis, Share and Size, Trends, Industry Growth And Segment Forecasts To 2021 - satPRnews (press release)

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

MarketResearchNest.com adds Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism Market Report 2017new report to its research database. The report spread across 113 pages with multiple tables and figures in it.

This report studies the Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism market status and outlook of global and major regions, from angles of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top manufacturers in global and major regions, and splits the Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism market by product type and applications/end industries.

The global Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.

Browse full table of contents and data tables at

https://www.marketresearchnest.com/asia-pacific-male-hypogonadism-market-report-2017.html

Major players in the market are identified through secondary research and their market revenues determined through primary and secondary research. The major players in Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism market include

Astrazeneca Plc., Merck & Co. Inc., Laboratories Genevrier, Allergan Plc., Endo International Plc., Ferring, AbbVie Inc., Eli Lilly and Company Ltd., Finox Biotech, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Bayer AG, IBSA Institut Biochimque.

Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering

China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Southeast Asia, Australia.

Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism Market (K Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by Regions

Order a Purchase Report Copy @ https://www.marketresearchnest.com/purchase.php?reportid=256714

On the basis of product, the Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism market is primarily split intoTestosterone Replacement Therapy, Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormones Therapy.

Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism Market (K Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by Product Type

On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism for each application, including:

Kallmann Syndrome, Klinefelters Syndrome, Pituitary Disorders, Others.

Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism Market (K Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by end users

This research study involved the extensive usage of both primary and secondary data sources. The research process involved the study of various factors affecting the industry, including the government policy, market environment, competitive landscape, historical data, present trends in the market, technological innovation, upcoming technologies and the technical progress in related industry, and market risks, opportunities, market barriers and challenges. The following illustrative figure shows the market research methodology applied in this report.

All possible factors that influence the markets included in this research study have been accounted for, viewed in extensive detail, verified through primary research, and analyzed to get the final quantitative and qualitative data. The market size for top-level markets and sub-segments is normalized, and the effect of inflation, economic downturns, and regulatory & policy changes or other factors are not accounted for in the market forecast.

Request a sample copy at

https://www.marketresearchnest.com/requestsample.php?reportid=256714

About Us:

MarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on global industries, organizations, products, and trends.

Contact Us

Mr. Jeet Jain

Sales Manager

sales@marketresearchnest.com

+1-240-284-8070(U.S)

+44-20-3290-4151(U.K)

Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook

See the article here:
Asia-Pacific Male Hypogonadism Market by Region, Production, Consumption, Revenue, Market Share and Growth ... - satPRnews (press release)

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Sep 05, 2017 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 5, 2017) - Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN)(omx:LUMI)("Lundin Mining" or the "Company") today reported its Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates as at June 30, 2017. On a consolidated and attributable basis, contained metal in the Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve categories totaled 3,232 kt of copper, 3,415 kt of zinc and 130 kt of nickel.

Commenting on the update, Mr. Paul Conibear, President and CEO of Lundin Mining said "We are pleased that our exploration efforts continue to add great value to our assets. Exploration success at Candelaria has resulted in further significant increases in underground Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves that will allow us to continue to advance mine plan optimization and mine life extension in Chile. Study work and approval of the Zinc Expansion Project at Neves-Corvo and the Eagle East development at Eagle during the last year have contributed to increased Mineral Reserves at both mines. In the light of improved market conditions, we plan to accelerate exploration at all our mine sites in 2018 as well as advance at least two new copper-focused greenfield exploration projects".

Highlights

Total Candelaria Measured and Indicated MineralResources have increased by approximately 7.5% to 740.9Mt at 0.70%Cu, from 689.0 Mt at 0.64% Cu reported as of June 30, 2016, reflecting thecontinued success of the exploration campaigns.

Total Candelaria Proven and Probable MineralReserves have increased by approximately 3% to 497.5Mt at 0.56% Cu,despite mining depletion. The open pit Proven and Probable MineralReserves, excluding stockpiles, have decreased to 315.9 Mt at 0.53% Cu, from337.6 Mt at 0.54% Cu reported as of June 30, 2016, reflecting 12 months ofdepletion by mining.

Total Candelaria Underground Proven and ProbableMineral Reserves now stand at 89.3 Mt at 0.88% Cu. This is a significantincrease of 38.1 Mt over last year reflecting continued explorationsuccess, particularly in the Candelaria Norte underground mine.

An initial Eagle East Probable Mineral Reservewas reported on April 10, 2017 containing 1.5Mt at 3.7% Ni and 3.0%Cu. The total combined Eagle and Eagle East Proven and Probable MineralReserves now stand at 4.7 Mt at 2.7% Ni and 2.3% Cu.

Copper Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves atNeves-Corvo increased to 29.1 Mt at 2.4% Cu from 26.1 Mt at 2.7% Cu reportedas of June 30, 2016, despite mining depletion.Zinc Proven and ProbableMineral Reserves have increased to 30.4 Mt at 7.7% Zn from 23.4 Mt at 7.2%Zn reported as of June 30, 2016, reflecting approval of the Zinc ExpansionProject.

Total copper Measured and Indicated MineralResources at Neves-Corvo has been reduced by mining depletion and geologicalre-interpretation to stand at 61.7 Mt at 2.4% Cu compared to 70.0 Mt at 2.7%Cu reported as of June, 2016.However, the total zinc Measured andIndicated Mineral Resources remain almost unchanged at 106.5 Mt at 6.1%Zn.

At Zinkgruvan, the zinc Proven and ProbableMineral Reserves have increased to 11.9 Mt at 7.2% Zn and 2.9% Pb andcopper Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves have increased to 5.3 Mt at1.8% Cu.

The tables attached to this release summarize the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates for each of the Company's mines as of June 30, 2017.

About Lundin Mining

Lundin Mining is a diversified Canadian base metals mining company with operations in Chile, the United States of America, Portugal, and Sweden, primarily producing copper, nickel and zinc. In addition, Lundin Mining holds an indirect 24% equity stake in the Freeport Cobalt Oy business, which includes a cobalt refinery located in Kokkola, Finland.

This is information that Lundin Mining Corporation is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons on September 5, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Cautionary Statement in Forward-Looking Information

Certain of the statements made and information contained in this news release (including, but not limited to, the attached "Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves - June 30, 2017" tables and notes thereto) is "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources, planned production increases, exploration, mine plan optimization, mine life extension, and project study and development.Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to foreign currency fluctuations; risks inherent in mining including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected geological formations, ground control problems and flooding; risks associated with the estimation of Mineral Resources and Reserves and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; the potential for and effects of labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or shortages of labour or interruptions in production; actual ore mined varying from estimates of grade, tonnage, dilution and metallurgical and other characteristics; the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations; uncertain political and economic environments; changes in laws or policies, foreign taxation, delays or the inability to obtain and maintain necessary governmental permits; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described under "Risk and Uncertainties" section of the Company's most recently filed Annual Information Form and the "Managing Risks" section of each of its Management's Discussion and Analysis. Forward-looking information is in addition based on various assumptions including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management, the assumed long term price of copper, nickel, lead and zinc; that the Company can access financing, appropriate equipment and sufficient labour and that the political environment where the Company operates will continue to support the development and operation of mining projects. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, and so readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update such forward-looking information unless required under applicable laws.

Cautionary Notes to Investors - Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates

In accordance with applicable Canadian securities regulatory requirements, all Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates of the Company disclosed or incorporated by reference in this news release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects adopted by the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101") and are classified in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum's "CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" adopted on May 10, 2014 (the "CIM Standards").

Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Pursuant to the CIM Standards, Mineral Resources have a higher degree of uncertainty than Mineral Reserves as to their existence as well as their economic and legal feasibility. Inferred Mineral Resources, when compared with Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources, have the least certainty as to their existence, and it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource as a result of continued exploration. Pursuant to NI 43-101, Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of any economic analysis, including any feasibility study. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a Mineral Resource exists, will ever be converted into a Mineral Reserve, or is or will ever be economically or legally mineable or recovered.

To view the table "Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves - June 30, 2017", please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Lundin.pdf

Notes on Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Table

Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserve estimates are shown on a 100 percent basis for each mine. The Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources are inclusive of those Mineral Resources modified to produce the Mineral Reserves. All estimates are prepared as at June 30, 2017.

Estimates for all operations are prepared by or under the supervision of a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, or have been audited by independent Qualified Persons on behalf of Lundin Mining.

Mineral Reserves have been calculated using metal prices of US$2.75/lb copper, US$1.00/lb zinc, US$1.00/lb lead, US$8.00/lb nickel, US$1,000/oz gold and exchange rates of EUR/US$ 1.25, US$/SEK 7.00 and Chilean Peso/US$ 550.

Candelaria and Ojos

Open pit Mineral Resources are reported within a conceptual pit shell based on metal prices of US$3.16/lb copper and US$1,000/oz gold and are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.2% copper. Underground Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.6% copper.Mineral Reserves for the open pit and underground for the Candelaria property are reported at cut-off grades of 0.28% and 0.6% copper, respectively. Underground Mineral Reserves for the Ojos del Salado property (Santos and Alcaparrosa mines) are reported at cut-off grades of 0.63% and 0.66% copper, respectively. Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves for Candelaria and Ojos del Salado were estimated by mine technical staff at Candelaria and Ojos, respectively.Patricio Caldern, Superintendent Resource Estimation, Yerko Peralta, Open Pit Mine Engineer and Cristian Erazo, Underground Mine Engineer, each of whom is a Registered Member, Chilean Mining Commission, employed by the Candelaria mining complex and a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, supervised the preparation of the Mineral Resource, open pit Mineral Reserve and underground Mineral Reserve estimates respectively, and the scientific and technical information on Candelaria contained in this news release.

For further information, refer to the Technical Report entitled Technical Report for the Candelaria Copper Mining Complex, Atacama Province, Region III, Chile dated January 17, 2017, which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at http://www.sedar.com.

Neves-Corvo and Semblana

The Mineral Resources are reported above cut-off grades of 1.0% for copper and 3.0% for zinc. The copper and zinc Mineral Reserves have been calculated using variable Net Smelter Return (NSR) values based on area and mining method.The NSR is calculated on a recovered payable basis taking in to account copper, lead, zinc and silver grades, metallurgical recoveries, prices and realization costs. The copper Mineral Reserves are reported above a site average cutoff grade equivalent to 1.3%. For zinc Mineral Reserves an average cutoff grade equivalent to 5.5% is used.Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources for Neves-Corvo were estimated by the mine geology and mine engineering departments at Neves-Corvo under the guidance of David Nicholls, Technical Services Manager, Nelson Pacheco, Chief Geologist, and Fernando Cartaxo, Chief Mine Planning Engineer, each of whom is employed by the Neves-Corvo mine.Nelson Pacheco EurGeol, prepared the Neves Corvo Mineral Resource estimate and Antonio Salvador, CEng MIMMM, Group Mining Engineer, Lundin Mining, reviewed and approved the Mineral Reserve estimate, and the scientific and technical information for Neves-Corvo contained in this news release. Both are Qualified Persons as defined under NI 43-101.

The Mineral Resources at Semblana are reported above a cut-off grade of 1.0% copper.The Mineral Resource estimate contained in this news release was prepared by Graham Greenway, Pr.Sci.Nat., Group Resource Geologist, Lundin Mining, who is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101.

For further information, refer to the Technical Report entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Neves-Corvo Mine, Portugal dated June 23, 2017, which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at http://www.sedar.com.

Zinkgruvan

The zinc Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves are reported above a site average cut-off grade of 3.7% zinc equivalent. The copper Mineral Resources and Reserves are reported above cut-off grades of 1.0% and 1.5% respectively. The zinc Mineral Reserves have been calculated using variable NSR values based on area and mining method.The NSR is calculated on a recovered payable basis taking in to account copper, lead, zinc and silver grades, metallurgical recoveries, prices and realization costs.The Zinkgruvan Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates are prepared by the mine's geology and mine engineering department under the guidance of Anja Hagerud, Resource Manager, and Jan Klre, Mine Manager, both employed by Zinkgruvan mine.Graham Greenway, Pr.Sci.Nat., Group Resource Geologist, Lundin Mining and David Allison, CEng MIMMM, Group Mining Engineer, Lundin Mining, each of whom is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, reviewed and approved the Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resource estimates and the scientific and technical information for Zinkgruvan contained in this news release.

For further information, refer to the Technical Report entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Zinkgruvan Mine, Central Sweden dated January 18, 2013, which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at http://www.sedar.com.

Eagle and Eagle East

The Eagle Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves are reported above a fixed NSR cut-off of US$116/t. The Eagle East Mineral Resources and Reserves are reported above a fixed NSR cut-offs of US$142/t and US$160/t respectively. The NSR is calculated on a recovered payable basis taking in to account nickel, copper, cobalt, gold and PGM grades, metallurgical recoveries, prices and realization costs. The Eagle Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates are prepared by the mine's geology and mine engineering department under the guidance of Robert Mahin, CPG, Chief Geologist and Josh Lam, Senior Mine Engineer, both of whom are employees of the Eagle mine. The Eagle East Mineral Resource estimate was prepared by Graham Greenway, Pr.Sci.Nat., Group Resource Geologist, Lundin Mining.Robert Mahin prepared the Eagle Mineral Resource estimate and reviewed and approved the Eagle East Mineral Resource estimate and David Allison, CEng MIMMM, Group Mining Engineer, Lundin Mining, reviewed and approved the Eagle and Eagle East Mineral Reserve estimates and the scientific and technical information on Eagle and Eagle East contained in this news release. Both are Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101.

For further information, refer to the Technical Report entitled Technical Report on the Eagle Mine, Michigan, U.S.A. dated April 26, 2017, which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at http://www.sedar.com.

Mark Turner Director, Business Valuations and Investor Relations +1-416-342-5565 Sonia Tercas Senior Associate, Investor Relations +1-416-342-5583 Robert Eriksson Investor Relations Sweden +46 8 545 015 50

2017 Nasdaq, Inc. All rights reserved.

Read the original here:
Lundin Mining Announces 2017 Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Estimates - MarketWatch

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

Iwish more people at Yale took smoke breaks.

No, I am not a misanthrope, wishing premature death upon my classmates, nor do I long for the aesthetic of DeNiro gangster movies. I realize smoking is horrible 6 million deaths each year, with 80 percent of the disease burden falling on low and middle income countries. Who knows if my grandfather would have had a stroke last year if he hadnt smoked since 1949. And dont even get me started on the tobacco industry outright lying to people around the world and suing countries trying to pass smoking regulation. Honestly, just ask my smoker friends there is no one who professes life extension through smoking cessation as aggressively as I do.

Yet, as the stress and isolation of Yale hits me hard, I text friend after friend inviting them to meet up. And my heart sinks deeper as friend after friend politely lets me know how extremely busy they are. So I light up alone on the back porch of my Howe Street house god, I miss smokers.

None of my Yale friends smoke. Yalies are too rational for this short-term indulgence. The truth has nothing to do with rationality and everything to do with incentives. In the U.S., smoking is a stigmatized lower class habit and so putting down the cigarette is just another Canada Goose patch Yale students proudly wear. The only real smokers left at Yale are international students and dining hall workers.

Going to high school in Bosnia and Herzegovina a country that ranks 10th worldwide in cigarette consumption per capita I made some of my best friends while smoking. As much as I know that my friends will regret their tobacco habit 40 years down the road, I think there are also considerable positive externalities to this addiction.

For one, Ive never had a hard time asking my friends in Bosnia for five minutes of their time they literally needed to smoke every half-hour, so they might as well do it with me.

Smoking makes for a perfect way to meet new people. From light to ash, a cigarette takes six minutes. There is no shame about being silent with another person because smoking itself gives you a good enough occupation. It is the perfect way to get out of a party mingle hell and have an actual conversation with someone. The closest thing to a smoke break at Yale are 30-minute dining hall meals, which you must plan literally weeks in advance.

There is something liberatingly nihilistic about knowing how harmful smoking is and lighting up anyway. The cigarette in my Slovak friends hand is a raised middle finger to the idea of progress and universal betterness we toil for, 14 hours a day.

Since, apart from my two-house mates who ritually pretend to take drags from a cigarette about every two months, I know no Yale smokers. It is hard for me to say whether smoking would make us kinder to each other. Even if it did, it probably would not compensate for all the strokes, cancer and erectile dysfunction that would come with smoking. It would also not justify the inherent deception involved in nicotine addiction intensely pleasurable at first, but bland, necessary and somewhat deadly over time.

Setting up incentives so that fewer people smoke is a great achievement for the United States. Tobacco-free Yale is an excellent and important initiative and cost-free Nicotine Replacement Therapy under Yale Health coverage is surely a blessing for anyone trying to stop. But still, what would it be like here if we tried to chill out in less risky ways? I heard walks are pretty relaxing.

While Yales environment constructively discourages smoking, it unwillingly encourages overwork, perfectionism, low self-esteem and putting work ahead of friends. If only banning social climbing and status obsession was as easy as banning tobacco.

Mojmir Stehlikis a junior in Trumbull College. Contact him atmojmir.stehlik@yale.edu.

Read more here:
STEHLIK: Thank you for smoking - Yale Daily News (blog)

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Validated Ultra-High Purity. Maximum Productivity.

QUAKERTOWN, Pennsylvania, Sept. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Quantum Global Technologies' companies,QuantumCleanandChemTrace,will exhibit at SEMICON Taiwan 2017 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center from September 13 - 15 (booth 1718).

Logo -https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/383596/Quantum_Global_Technologies_LLC_Logo.jpg

This year, Quantum Global Technologies unveiled the world's most advanced semiconductor chamber parts cleaning, coating and analytical facility in Tainan.

"This plant is a 'Smart, Lean, Clean and Green' Center of Excellence, a first of its kind in its industry. The opening of this advanced facility is yet another milestone in our evolution. A demonstration of our continuous innovation, growth and value generation for our customers," states Scott Nicholas President and CEO, Quantum Global Technologies, LLC.

"Our Tainan cleaning, coating and analytical testingCenter of Excellencehelps our customersREDUCE cost-of-ownership.Analytically validated ultraclean parts result inFASTER chamber recoveryandLONGER Mean Time Between Cleans. Optimized cleaning methods and proprietary recoating technologiesEXTEND part life. Fast part turnaround timesREDUCE inventory costs. We are the only firm to offer ultra-high purity chamber part cleaning validated by aCertificate of Analysisfrom an accredited laboratory," explains Nicholas.

The Tainan site is Taiwan's only cleaning and coating service provider with an embedded microcontamination laboratory ChemTrace.

ChemTraceis an industry-leading semiconductor laboratory that provides critical insight into microcontamination issues. "The recent laboratory opening in Tainan allows regional semiconductor industry customers direct access to our advanced laboratories for rapid turnaround and expert analysis," explains Surjany Russell, ChemTrace's Director of Sales.

We welcome your visit to theQuantumCleanandChemTracebooth to learn more on how our service offerings can bring improvement to your operation by solving critical process chamber manufacturing challenges.

About Quantum Global Technologies, LLC

ChemTraceandQuantumCleanare divisions of Quantum Global Technologies, LLC headquartered in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA.

QuantumCleanis the global leader in sub-10nm outsourced process tool chamber parts cleaning and coating services, tool part life extension and process tool part optimization solutions to the semiconductor wafer fabrication, OEM and OPM industries.

Founded in 2000,QuantumCleanoperates innovativeAdvanced Technology Cleaning Centersbuilt on the premise of providing customersprocess improvement through consistently cleaner partsthat exceed industry standards. These solutions dramatically reduce our customers' total cost-of-ownership. With 1,500 employees in 18 facilitieslocated in 8 countries,QuantumCleanprovides unsurpassed cleaning capability and convenience worldwide.quantumclean.com

For over 20 years,ChemTracehas provided independent and analytical verification of process tool chamber part cleaning effectiveness. Recognized as the leading reference analytical testing laboratory for the semiconductor, solar and related industries,ChemTracehas the solutions for FAB, OEM and OPM's critical cleaning issues and requirements. With more than 100 employees in 5 labs located in 3 countries,ChemTraceoffers unsurpassed microcontamination analysis of tool parts, wafers and depositions, chemicals, cleanroom materials, DI water and airborne molecular contamination.chemtrace.com

Media Contacts

QuantumClean:Meg Cox, +1-215-892-9300, rel="nofollow">info@quantumclean.com

ChemTrace:Robin Puri, +1-503-251-0979, rel="nofollow">info@chemtrace.com

QuantumClean, ChemTrace, Advanced Technology Cleaning Centers, ATCC, Process Improvement through Consistently Cleaner Parts, Single Part Chemical Clean and SPCC are all registered trademarks of Quantum Global Technologies, LLC.

ACS, Atomically Clean Surfaces, Alternative TWAS, Analytical & Engineering Services, C-Coat, Cleancoat, Cleaning, Coating & Testing Center of Excellence, Environmentally Clean Process, ECP, Final Surface Finish, FSF, QGT, M-Coat, PartSmart, PT3, QualClean,Selective Deposition Removal, SDR, Service Request form, SRF, Solution Based Chemistry, TechBriefs, The Perfect Order, The Perfect Qual, The Perfect Process Transfer, Tight-Coat, V-Clean, VeriClean, Waterless Acid, Y-Coat, Z-Coat, Smart, Lean, Clean and Green, Center of Excellence and Validated Ultra-High Purity. Maximum Productivity are all trademarks of Quantum Global Technologies, LLC.

SOURCE QuantumClean

More here:
QuantumClean and ChemTrace to Exhibit at SEMICON Taiwan 2017 - Markets Insider

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Although a fracture is the first sign of osteoporosis, some older people develop the characteristic stooped - bent forward - posture, which can cause people to lose height.

Height is lost as the bone crumbles and vertebrae collapses, and the chest and abdomen capacity decreases, sometimes resulting in difficulty breathing as the ribs end up touching the pelvic bone.

When the bones in the spine have fractured, it can be difficult to support the weight of the body.

However, now a London-based clinic has revealed that a treatment programme can reverse some of the height lost through the common age-related bone disorder.

The London Osteoporosis Clinic uses a combination of drug-therapy, non-drug treatments and lifestyle approaches to help patients.

Anne Torry, a 75-year-old bookkeeper, said her height increased by 3cm following treatment at the clinic.

Unbeknownst to me, I actually managed to fracture two discs in my back getting out of the car in a hurry one day; after dealing with the discomfort and niggling pain for a while, my GP organised an x-ray which showed the fractures, said Anne.

It came as somewhat of a surprise, particularly when my GP suggested that I may have osteoporosis.

I waited patiently for the results, not for a minute thinking that they would be positive.

I was again taken aback when I was told that the fractures were due to osteoporosis and that I would benefit from undergoing treatment.

Anne is among a number of patients at London Osteoporosis Clinic whose treatment programme included the parathyroid hormone Teriparatide, one of the only drugs that can not onlyslow down the progression of osteoporosis, but also help to grow new bone.

Annes bone density is showing an improvement of over 10 per cent per year since starting treatment.

My GP referred me to the London Osteoporosis Clinic, and I met with Dr Taher Mahmud, she said. From the outset, he reassured me and was certain that he could help me.

Even so, when I discovered that I had regained the three centimetres in height that Id lost to osteoporosis, I was amazed. It was the last thing I was expecting.

My day to day life has improved through the treatment programme, and I am now able to live a reasonably comfortable life, managing jobs that may before have been a little more difficult.

The biggest surprise, however, was definitely the increase in my height!

Following a consultation with Dr Mahmud, a diagnosis will be made by examining the results of a bone density (DEXA) scan.

Depending on the stage and severity of osteoporosis, a treatment plan will be put in place, which can range from advice on lifestyle, such as giving up smoking and diet to several drug options, including an 18 to 24 month course of daily injections, prescribed to stimulate cells that create new bone, increasing bone density and replace height lost through the deterioration of bone.

The clinic was co-founded by Dr Taher Mahmud whose mother had osteoporosis. Dr Mahmud co-founded London Osteoporosis Clinic with former General Medical Council president, Sir Graeme Catto.

Initially we thought that Annes increase in height was an anomaly; we didnt expect it to be a regular occurrence in our patients, said Dr Mahmud.

However, in the last week alone, I have seen three further patients who have gained between one and three centimetres in height over the course of one to six months.

My vision was to create a clinic that deals with osteoporosis holistically, and that intervenes early with regards to diagnosis and treatment of this potentially debilitating condition.

Dr Mahmud said more than 8 million osteoporotic fractures occur worldwide- which equates to one every three seconds.

It is not a well-known fact that osteoporosis can be reversed, bone density can be increased, height can be restored and life can go on.

OSTEOPOROSIS RISK FACTORS REVEALED

Originally posted here:
Osteoporosis cure? Woman reveals THIS treatment has REVERSED her symptoms - Express.co.uk

Recommendation and review posted by simmons