This weekend, many thousands of sleepy women will submit to their male partners prodding, middle-of-the-night sexual advancesbegrudgingly, at first, then perhaps with unexpected enthusiasm.

When they wake up possibly tired and contemptuous of the prodder who disturbed their rest, they may curse the patriarchy. They may blame their submissive swoons on a combination of sexist conditioning and toxic masculinity, because they are enlightened feminists.

But biology offers another explanation that could take the edge off these morning-after moods.

A new study of male and female fruit flies has found that females are receptive to sexual advances even when sleep-deprived. Males, by contrast, are less likely to court females when sleep-deprived, according to the study, which also found that males are less likely to sleep when aroused.

Published Friday in the Nature Communications journal, the study suggests that the circle of fruit fly life depends on male desire being adequately sated. And its findings about fruit flies sleep and sex patterns may shed light on whyand whenmen and women choose sleep over sex, and vice versa.

This is partly because there is a tremendous similarity in the genes of human beings and fruit flies, according to Michael Nitabach, the studys lead author and a professor of genetics and cellular physiology at Yale University.

In addition to gene similarities, fruit flies engage in numerous behaviors that human beings and other mammals engage in, including sex, sleep, learning, memory, sensory experience, and decision making.

The fruit fly is also a useful model organism for understanding the neural control of behavior, said Nitabach. They have an extensive collection of powerful genetic tools, like those we used in this study, for manipulating and measuring function in specific subsets of neurons involved in particular behaviors.

Nitabachs latest study backs up previous fruit fly research: genes already identified in prior studies as important for distinguishing male and female sex differences in anatomy, physiology and sexual behavior are also important for determining sex differences in sleep, he said.

Sexual similarities between fruit flies and humans extend well beyond how arousal affects their sleep.

Male fruit flies have a habit of chasing their pray like adolescent boys, and they engage in a kind of seduction dance that involves extending and vibrating a single wing, according to Nitabach, before mounting. The mating process lasts 15 to 25 minutes, beginning with chase and finishing when the male, well, finishes.

Nitabach and his colleagues measured the flies sexual activity by placing a male and female together in a chamber about a half inch in diameter and video-taping their behavior, he said. Extended periods of immobility determined when the flies had fallen asleep, exhausted from exertion.

Get The Beast In Your Inbox!

Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.

A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).

Subscribe

Thank You!

You are now subscribed to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We will not share your email with anyone for any reason.

We used sophisticated genetic tools to make small numbers of specific neurons whose activity determines sex drive sensitive to temperature, said Nitabach. When we then elevated the temperature, this activated these sex-drive neurons. We then measured sleep of these flies with activated sex-drive neurons and found that in males sleep was substantially reduced.

Nitabachs study found that sex-drive neurons suppress sleep in male flies, and sleepiness suppresses their sex drive. This discovery paves the way for future studies to explore details of the connection between sex-drive and sleep-control neurons, according to Nitabach, and for further analysis of exactly how these genes regulate sleep.

Nitabach also said that sleep and sex patterns identified in male and female fruit flies may indeed apply to men and women, but confirming this hypothesis would require further experimentation.

The male fruit fly has a prodigious sperm count: the size of their ejaculate makes them record holders among animal species, according to a 2016 study at the University of Zurich. While the fruit fly is only a millimeters long, its sperm reach an impressive length of almost six centimeters, according to the studys author.

The cold, biological truth is that fatigue doesnt make female fruit flies any less receptive to sex because they cant afford to pass up an opportunity to reproduce. Tired male fruit flies, by contrast, are less likely to seduce because they cant get it up to perform.

Its not an empowering feminist narrative. But it should deter women from flagellating themselves after succumbing to their partners advances. Their submissive, middle-of-the-night swoons may have nothing to do with being weak-willed or conditioned to please men. Its just science.

Read more here:
Do You Prefer Sleep Or Sex? Fruit Flies Know - Daily Beast

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

SummaryMale Hypogonadism - Pipeline Review, H1 2017The latest Pharmaceutical and Healthcare disease pipeline guide Male Hypogonadism - Pipeline Review, H1 2017, provides an overview of the Male Hypogonadism (Male Health) pipeline landscape.

Male hypogonadism is a condition in which the body doesn't produce enough testosterone. Symptoms include fatigue, hot flashes, infertility, decrease in muscle mass and loss of bone mass (osteoporosis). Risk factors for hypogonadism include HIV/AIDS, Klinefelter syndrome, Kallmann syndrome, injury to testicles and untreated sleep apnea.

Report Highlights

The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare latest pipeline guide Male Hypogonadism - Pipeline Review, H1 2017, provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Male Hypogonadism (Male Health), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The guide covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases.

The Male Hypogonadism (Male Health) pipeline guide also reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Male Hypogonadism and features dormant and discontinued projects. The guide covers therapeutics under Development by Companies /Universities /Institutes, the molecules developed by Companies in Pre-Registration, Filing rejected/Withdrawn, Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, IND/CTA Filed and Preclinical stages are 3, 1, 4, 7, 2, 1 and 5 respectively. Similarly, the Universities portfolio in Phase II stages comprises 1 molecules, respectively.

Male Hypogonadism (Male Health) pipeline guide helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. The guide is built using data and information sourced from The proprietary databases, company/university websites, clinical trial registries, conferences, SEC filings, investor presentations and featured press releases from company/university sites and industry-specific third party sources. Additionally, various dynamic tracking processes ensure that the most recent developments are captured on a real time basis.

Scope

- The pipeline guide provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Male Hypogonadism (Male Health).- The pipeline guide reviews pipeline therapeutics for Male Hypogonadism (Male Health) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources. - The pipeline guide covers pipeline products based on several stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages.- The pipeline guide features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which comprise, product description, descriptive licensing and collaboration details, R&D brief, MoA & other developmental activities.- The pipeline guide reviews key companies involved in Male Hypogonadism (Male Health) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects.- The pipeline guide evaluates Male Hypogonadism (Male Health) therapeutics based on mechanism of action (MoA), drug target, route of administration (RoA) and molecule type.- The pipeline guide encapsulates all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects. - The pipeline guide reviews latest news related to pipeline therapeutics for Male Hypogonadism (Male Health)

Accessthis report @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=280863

Reasons to access

- Procure strategically important competitor information, analysis, and insights to formulate effective R&D strategies.- Recognize emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage.- Find and recognize significant and varied types of therapeutics under development for Male Hypogonadism (Male Health).- Classify potential new clients or partners in the target demographic.- Develop tactical initiatives by understanding the focus areas of leading companies.- Plan mergers and acquisitions meritoriously by identifying key players and its most promising pipeline therapeutics.- Formulate corrective measures for pipeline projects by understanding Male Hypogonadism (Male Health) pipeline depth and focus of Indication therapeutics.- Develop and design in-licensing and out-licensing strategies by identifying prospective partners with the most attractive projects to enhance and expand business potential and Scope.- Adjust the therapeutic portfolio by recognizing discontinued projects and understand from the know-how what drove them from pipeline.

Enquire for Discount @ https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/280863-male-hypogonadism-pipeline-review

Table of ContentsList of TablesList of FiguresIntroductionGlobal Markets Direct Report CoverageMale Hypogonadism - OverviewMale Hypogonadism - Therapeutics DevelopmentPipeline OverviewPipeline by CompaniesPipeline by Universities/InstitutesProducts under Development by CompaniesProducts under Development by Universities/InstitutesMale Hypogonadism - Therapeutics AssessmentAssessment by TargetAssessment by Mechanism of ActionAssessment by Route of AdministrationAssessment by Molecule TypeMale Hypogonadism - Companies Involved in Therapeutics DevelopmentAntares Pharma IncClarus Therapeutics IncEndoCeutics IncFerring International Center SAIASO BioMed IncLipocine IncM et P Pharma AGMedlab Clinical LtdMerck & Co IncMereo Biopharma Group PlcPantarhei Bioscience BVRepros Therapeutics IncTakeda Pharmaceutical Company LtdTesoRx Pharma LLCViramal LtdMale Hypogonadism - Drug ProfilesBGS-649 - Drug ProfileProduct DescriptionMechanism Of ActionR&D Progresscorifollitropin alfa - Drug ProfileProduct DescriptionMechanism Of ActionR&D Progressenclomiphene citrate - Drug ProfileProduct DescriptionMechanism Of ActionR&D ProgressIAS-167A - Drug ProfileProduct DescriptionMechanism Of ActionR&D ProgressKisspeptin-10 - Drug ProfileProduct DescriptionMechanism Of ActionR&D Progressleuprolide acetate - Drug ProfileProduct DescriptionMechanism Of ActionR&D ProgressLibidua - Drug ProfileProduct Description.. Continued

View Detailed Table of Content @ http://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/280863-male-hypogonadism-pipeline-review

Read more here:
Research details developments in the male hypogonadism - market ... - WhaTech

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Weve all heard the saying, you cant take it with you when you go, butwhat if I told you theres a way you can? Certainly celebrities like SimonCowell, Seth MacFarlane, and Larry King have indicated they would like to try,and with advances in cryonics, somethingthat has been around for a few decades, it may actually be possible. But it raisesthe question: how exactly do you go about paying to keep your body preserved, andat the same time growing (or at least preserving) your assets for use when youfinally come back to life? The simple answer . . . the aptly named cryonicpreservation trust.[1]

A cryonic preservation trust (CPT) functions similarly to a typical dynastytrust, but with a few different twists. For one, you must consider how to gaugethe life of the trust taking into consideration the rule against perpetuities(RAP). The logical solution is to make the cryopreservation institution abeneficiary, or simply establish your trust in a state that has done away withthe RAP, like Delaware, South Dakota, and Alaska. Of course, the grantor would have to be theprimary beneficiary to reclaim his or her assets when he or she awakens from cryopreservation.We really have no idea when revival from cryopreservation will be a viableoption, so building in flexibility for a CPT to last 100 or even 1,000 years isnecessary.

Another major difference is the list of potential beneficiaries. Whereasa typical dynasty trusts beneficiaries will be the lineal descendants of thegrantor, the purpose of a CPT is to provide the grantor with a trust incomestream to pay the annual cryonic preservation fees, and with assets when he orshe is revived. Wealthier individuals may still be able to sprinkle some of theincome generated from the assets in the CPT to lineal descendants or charity,but because they want access to the corpus when they are revived, thisnecessitates a reversion provision. But what happens if the grantor is neverrevived? Logic tells us that the CPT could simply continue on as a traditionaldynasty trust. The reversion provision would be based on an event uncertain(the grantor rising from the dead), and if that event never comes to fruition,then the reversion would never happen.

Perhaps the two greatest questions, however, are: 1) how can anindividual afford to pay for potentially hundreds of years of cryonicpreservation and expect to have assets remaining when they are revived?; and 2)what are the estate tax consequences (if there even is an estate) when theindividual is cryogenically preserved?

The answer to the first question is fairly simple. The Alcor Life Extension Foundation (Alcor),perhaps the most well-known cryopreservation organization, requires a minimum initial fundingamount of $200,000, of which $115,000 goes to the Patient Care Trust, $60,000 isfor cryopreservation, and $25,000 to the Comprehensive MemberStandby Fund. These fees are typically paid for with a life insurancepolicy for the benefit of Alcor, but can also be paid in cash or by using aCPT. It is important to note, however, that these fees are only forcryopreservation and revival, and do not include any medical treatmentnecessary to cure the previously incurable disease that the grantor died from.For this reason, it would make sense to implement a CPT so that the assetswould grow over the course of the individuals biostasis period.

The second question is probably best answered by going through ahypothetical scenario. Mr. Doe is a retired, 70-year-old widower with twochildren Jane (40 and married with one child of her own) and John (45 and marriedwith two children). He has a net worth of $5.49 million. Mr. Doe suffers froman incurable disease and wishes to be cryogenically preserved when he dies inhopes that he will be revived when a cure has been discovered. He also wants to provide a little for hischildren and grandchildren. So how would he go about doing this?

Mr. Doe comes to you asking to design a plan that will allow him to payfor his cryopreservation, provide income to his lineal descendants and charity,and grant him access to his assets once he rises from the dead. You rememberhearing about CPTs, and are very familiar with dynasty trusts, so you tell himyou know exactly what to do.

You begin drafting an ordinary dynasty trust, but start makingmodifications to ensure that the trust is valid, and limits beneficiarychallenges as much as possible. Below are a few modifications you shouldconsider:

Select an institutional trustee (forcontinuity);

Nominate a trust protector (typically a lawfirm) to ensure that Mr. Does wishes are carried out;

Provide beneficiaries with discretionarydistributions (perhaps limiting them to an ascertainable standard);

Include an interrorem clause that would disinherit a beneficiary if he or she challengesthe trusts validity;

Include a charitable beneficiary to furthersupport that the trust has eligible named beneficiaries;

Include a reversion provision (because afterall, the primary purpose of the trust is to allow Mr. Doe to have access to hisfunds when he is revived);

Consider establishing multiple CPTs withdifferent purposes, funded with different assets;

Have the trust purchase a life insurance policyon Mr. Does life with the assets transferred;

Allocate all remaining gift, estate, andgeneration-skipping transfer tax exemption;

Provide for discretionary distributions to fundtechnological advances in cryopreservation and medical care so that Mr. Doe maybe revived more quickly; and

In the event Mr. Doe is never revived, thenprovide for the complete distribution of trust assets to named beneficiariessuch as his lineal descendants and the named charity or charities.

This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but itdoes provide you with several considerations when drafting a CPT. Remember thatwhen Mr. Doe is cryogenically frozen, he is legally considered dead, so theusual estate filings will be required. No one has been revived from cryostasis,so it is still to be seen what the tax consequences will be if or when ithappens.

Foreverything necessary to research, plan, and implement strategies for maximizingyour clients control while minimizing taxes, take a freetrial to the Estates,Gifts and Trusts Portfolios Library.

[1]These trusts are also referred to as cryonic suspension trusts, personalrevival trusts, or just cryonics trusts.

Read more:
SO YOU WANT TO BE LIKE SIMON COWELL? YOU'LL WANT A CRYONIC PRESERVATION TRUST - Bloomberg BNA

Recommendation and review posted by sam

By the time scans showed that his B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma was coming back last fall, James Olson had run through many of his treatment options.

In early January, his doctor recommended that the Kansas City, Missouri, man travel to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha to see whether he was a candidate for a new type of therapy still in clinical trials.

In May, Olson, 69, received an infusion of his own immune cells, which had been removed from his body and modified to recognize and attack the cancer. Known as CAR-T or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, it represents a new way of targeting some cancers beyond that of traditional treatments.

About 10 weeks later, his scans are good and hes got the stamina to mow his lawn and do some house painting. Hes enjoying the little pleasures of life, even seasonal chores like installing a window air conditioning unit at his home.

His doctors at the medical center, meanwhile, hope theyll soon be able to offer CAR-T to more patients.

The trial that Olson participated in still is underway, and the medical center continues to accept new patients. Another version of the treatment has shown so much promise that its been fast-tracked by the Food and Drug Administration and could receive conditional approval late this fall. The medical center is set to participate in an expanded trial for that treatment, possibly as soon as this month.

Recently, an expert panel unanimously endorsed a version of CAR-T for children and young adults with recurring acute lymphoblastic leukemia. If the FDA clears the drug, medical center doctors hope to offer the treatment to young adults up to age 25. Theyd also like to see new trials with that drug or others for older adults with recurring ALL, as the leukemia is known.

These people need something else, and this may be it, said Dr. Matthew Lunning, a hematologist and oncologist with Nebraska Medicine.

The federal panels endorsement came at a time when a number of companies are racing to develop therapies based on the approach, which scientists first began to explore decades ago. If approved by the FDA, the Novartis product endorsed by the panel would become the first gene therapy approved in the United States. In addition to targeting relapsed lymphoma and leukemia, researchers also are beginning to study the therapy for solid tumors, the kind that start in organs or tissue. Leukemia and lymphoma are considered blood cancers.

Dr. Julie Vose, chief of hematology and oncology at Nebraska Medicine, said the therapy offers many bright spots in oncology.

We just have to learn how to use it in each specific disease and in each specific patient, she said, noting that the therapy is not a one-size-fits-all treatment as existing methods have been. We have to personalize that treatment.

But even with FDA approval, she said, the treatments potential side effects, which include fever and flu-like symptoms ranging from mild to extremely severe, mean it can only be done at specialized centers like the medical center. Indeed, one earlier trial was closed because some patients suffered serious complications.

Vose said trials in non-Hodgkin lymphoma all have produced good results, including the trial currently underway at the medical center and eight other sites nationwide.

Nationally, patients involved in the trial have had a complete remission rate of 60 percent after 30 days and 40 percent after 60 days. Officially, the condition is known as refractory diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive disease that is among about 80 subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

These were patients who had failed every other possible treatment, Vose said. And more than half had good response to the treatment.

Treatment for newly diagnosed non-Hodgkin lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia usually begins with chemotherapy. About 30 percent of non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients and roughly 40 percent of acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients relapse after chemo. The majority of those go on to have a blood or bone marrow transplant, from which about half will relapse.

Patients who relapse after the transplant, or those who arent candidates for a transplant, could be potential candidates for CAR-T therapy.

Unlike traditional gene therapy, however, CAR-T doesnt involve replacing disease-causing genes with healthy ones. Instead, technology is used to reprogram T cells, immune cells that normally help the body fight infection and cancer. In lymphoma patients, however, Vose said, T cells go haywire and dont properly fight cancer.

During treatment, the patients T cells are collected during an outpatient procedure and sent to a lab in California for processing. The patient then receives several days of intense chemotherapy. The modified T cells are returned to Omaha and put back into the patient, who is monitored at the hospital for seven to 10 days. The entire process takes about three weeks.

Olson, who drove to Omaha last week for a checkup, said he didnt really have any side effects from the procedure. I wondered if theyd given me a placebo, said Olson, who spent his working life in real estate and was diagnosed in 2010. He was well aware of the possible risks after reading and signing a 33-page consent form.

The next question, for patients and researchers alike, is how long the treatment will hold.

We dont know how long because this is such a new treatment, Vose said, but many of the patients (who) have been treated over the past year are doing well.

That question, like many in cancer treatment, comes with its own risks and benefits to balance. If half of the lymphoma is gone and it lasts years, Lunning said, thats better than a remission that lasts a month.

This report includes material from the Washington Post and Associated Press.

Be the first to know when news happens. Get the latest breaking headlines sent straight to your inbox.

See the original post here:
New cancer therapy in clinical trial at Nebraska Medical Center has ... - Omaha World-Herald

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Its goggles, gloves and lab coats right now, Dan Murphy, outreach coordinator for the Morgridge Institute for Research, shouted, rallying participants in Summer Science Camp at the Institutes for Discovery on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus earlier this week.

There was excitement as campers, all students from high schools in rural Wisconsin, prepared and conducted an experiment testing the effect of medication on cardiac muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes.

Its pretty cool, said Tanner Oyen, a student at Lancaster High School in Grant County in southwestern Wisconsin, about the experiment in which students counted the beats made by stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes before and after exposing them to verapamil, a calcium channel blocker.

Angelica Rodriguez (left) and Suehelay Acevedo, both graduate students, work with Hunter Landrath, a student at Hillsboro High School, on an experiment during Summer Science Camp at UW-Madison.

The rural summer science camp, now in its 11th year, has brought more than 400 students from more than 70 high schools to the UW-Madison campus for a taste of what studying and maybe, someday, working in a university laboratory would be like.

Its mission is in part the Wisconsin Idea, bringing knowledge developed at UW-Madison to other parts of the state, Murphy said. Its also an opportunity for students from rural Wisconsin to know that going to a UW System school is possible for them."

And they see scientists not very much older than them model those aspirations, Murphy said.

Students from 10 state high schools participated in one of two science camps this month: Kickapoo Area School District in Viola; the North Crawford School District in Soldiers Grove; Iola-Scandinavia School District in Iola; Black Hawk School District in South Wayne; Chetek-Weyerhauser School District in Chetek; Lancaster High School; Phillips High School; Bruce High School; Coleman High School; and Hillsboro High School.

The students and their accompanying teachers spend four days on campus, staying in DeJope Residence Hall, and participate in a variety of educational and social activities.

Benjamin Gastfriend, graduate student, (far left) works with students on an experiment during UW-Madison's Summer Science Camp.

On Wednesday, students heard a talk about how cardiac stem cells are developed and tested for use in medicine from Tim Kamp, a professor and researcher at the School of Medicine and Public Health. After hearing about the sometimes circuitous academic paths of graduate students who led the experiments, students got down to the business of calculating concentrations of verapamil and observing its effect on cardiomyocytes under the microscope.

Students chuckled at the idea of having the kind of equipment like the bio-safety cabinet that filtered the air around their cell samples and microscopes at their high schools.

Thats one reason why the summer camp is so educational. Its a great opportunity to get to work with new things, said Emma Peterson of Phillips High School in north central Wisconsin.

Her classmate, Kate Lochner, said the camp is giving her new appreciation for the potential of stem cell use, something she thinks will burgeon in the next few years. I think thats going to be really helpful in all fields of research, said Lochner.

Both girls see science and UW-Madison as possibilities in their futures.

Its a great school, said Lochner. A lot of kids from Phillips end up going here.

A lot percentage-wise can mean just a few students from small schools like Phillips, with an enrollment of 228 this past year.

Angelica Rodriguez and Suehelay Acevedo, both graduate students, work with high school students on an experiment during UW-Madison's Summer Science Camp.

Aaron Destiche, a middle and high school teacher in the Coleman School District, said the camp makes going to UW-Madison to pursue a career in science a tangible thing, not something off in the distance.

About 60 percent of Coleman graduates attend Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in nearby Green Bay, and 20 to 30 percent go on to a four-year college Destiche said. A handful of them, four or six a year, usually attend UW-Madison, he said.

Students on Wednesday noted that the beating of the cells slowed after the introduction of verapamil.

Does the drug affect the calcium? asked Annabelle Kolecki, a student at Coleman.

As Madison as it gets: Get Cap Times' highlights sent daily to your inbox

Thats a good hypothesis, replied graduate student Angelica de Lourdes, who comes from Puerto Rico.

Kolecki said the experiment energized the learning process. Its easier when you are getting hands-on experience, she said.

It was really cool to see actual heart cells, enthused classmate Kaily Klimek.

Both girls were excited about their week on campus. Being here gives us the chance to try new things, Klimek said.

The summer camp is free of charge to students and teachers attending, and is supported by several grants, including an endowment established by the family of Kathleen Smith, a former trustee of both the Morgridge Institute and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Its hoped that the experience also provides professional development for teachers who accompany their students, Murphy said. To promote experimentation back in the classroom, teachers receive funding of $25 per student they bring to camp to purchase science supplies, he said.

Hillsboro High School Deb Freitag returned this year with a new group of students after the camp was a big hit with those who attended three years ago.

My students dont get to work with this kind of equipment or with other students who have the same capabilities and excitement over science, she remarked. The school in Vernon County in western Wisconsin has about 170 students.

They were able to become nerds, as they put it, and be comfortable about it, Freitag said.

Students in the camp create posters on what they learn that Freitag displayed in her classroom. Seeing their names and what they did made them proud of who they are, she said, and started a buzz about science camp that had other students eager to attend.

Murphy said that camp organizers have just begun surveying students in the years after camp about what affect it had on their educational and career choices to gauge its impact scientifically.

But we hear anecdotally from teachers that students are coming to UW-Madison because of these experiences, he said.

Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor totctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.

Read more here:
UW-Madison summer science camp gives rural students a taste of life in the lab - Madison.com

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

India needs stem cell guidelines which can be amended biannually, said Dr Satish Totey, founder, chairman & managing director, Aureostem Research Pvt Ltd.

There cannot be a permanent set of guidelines. Every year we should make new draft guideline and seek public opinion. This must be discontinued immediately since valuable time and money are invested in the same. Instead it should be amended biannually, Totey told Pharmabiz.

Although the recent guidelines are comprehensive and may ensure patients get reliable and safe stem cell products in India in near future, yet the controversial section of this is Section 8. The section defines level of stem cell manipulation as minimum and major which is absolutely unnecessary and gives clear escape route to push unapproved stem cell for therapy by the clinicians, he said.

Desperate patients do not understand this terminology and often misled by the clinicians. For instance adipose derived stromal vascular fraction (AD-SVF) or bone marrow derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) which is minimal manipulated cells are being extensively used by the clinicians and giving impression to the patients that it do not require any clinical trials.

Now several clinicians use minimal manipulated cells for transplanting in retinas or in the brain without knowing its safety and efficacy. Much of what is being injected through minimum manipulated cells are not even stem cells. Moreover, one that come from fat or bone marrow are not capable of living in the human body for more than a day. There are several reports that patients become blind after such transplants, explained Dr Totey.

Another aspect which was totally ignored in the guideline is stem cell devices. Several clinicians use stem cell devices routinely in India which has limited approval from US FDA even for specific clinical conditions in the US. Therefore, such devices cannot be used in India. But clinicians are seen to mislead patients and giving impression that they have US FDA approval for stem cell therapy. This is a most dangerous procedure where, clinician can treat any condition without even having clinical speciality. For example, cosmetologists are now treating neurological or cardiac conditions. One of the key issues are oversight. But in these cases it is not just about desperate patients losing money but the genuine and tangible harms being done in the absence of oversight, he said.

Real progress in stem cell research and the development of cellular pharmaceuticals is not going to result from clinics making dramatic marketing claims. True progress requires extensive basic and pre-clinical research. It should be backed by carefully designed and properly conducted randomized clinical trials to ensure high-quality safety and efficacy data is generated.

Conducting such research in an ethical, scientific, and legal manner is difficult, costly, time-consuming, but necessary. More than 300 stem cell clinics that are operating in India are making dramatic advertising claims about stem cell treatments, but in most cases they have no evidence to support their hard-sell marketing, said Dr Totey.

Follow this link:
India needs biannual amendment to Stem Cell Rules, Section 8 of Rules controversial: Dr Totey - pharmabiz.com

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

Cryonics Institute Case Report for Patient Number 153

CI patient #153 was a 95 year old female from Florida. The patient was a CI member at the time of her death.

The patient died in the hospital during the morning of April 23, 2017. The nurses at the hospital administered heparin and the patient was cooled down promptly after death was pronounced. The next of kin had made arrangements with a local funeral director for the patients transport. The funeral director arrived at the hospital promptly after the death and the patient was transported to the funeral home and remained in water ice while flight arrangements for that afternoon were made.

The patient arrived at the CI facility, in water ice, at 6 pm on the 23rd of April, approximately 11 hours after death. The nasal temperature was 7c.

Hillary McCauley performed the perfusion. The perfusion was completed at 8:55 pm. During the perfusion there were 4 liters of 10% Eg solution used, 5 liters of 30% Eg solution used, and 10 liters of 70% VM1 solutions used. The final refractive index of the effluents exiting the right jugular vein was 1.4206. The final refractive index of the effluents exiting the left jugular vein was 1.4175. The average perfusion pressure was held at 125mm and metal cannulas were used. Flow rate started at 1.54 liters per minute and was reduced to 0.29 liters per minute by the end of the perfusion. The nasal temperature was 6.9c at the end of the perfusion. There were no blood clots noted during the perfusion and there was adequate drainage from the jugular veins. Efforts were made to perfuse the entire body, but the decision was made to perfuse only the patients head due to rapid distention of the abdomen and the absence of any evidence showing the perfusate was reaching the extremities. Considerable dehydration of the head and face was noted along with a bronzing color of the skin. Minimal edema was noted in the face at the end of the perfusion. The perfusion of the head was very successful.

The patient was then transferred to the computer controlled cooling chamber to cool to liquid nitrogen temperature. The human vitrification program was selected and the time needed to cool the patient to liquid nitrogen temperature was five days and 11 hours. The patient was then placed in a cryostat for long-term cryonic storage.

Read the original post:
Case Reports | Cryonics Institute

Recommendation and review posted by sam

by Joe Douglass, KATU News and KATU.com Staff

Oregon Cryonics Executive Director Jordan Sparks cools brains to be revived in the future to negative 300 degrees using liquid nitrogen. (KATU Photo)

If there were a way to preserve your mind after you died, would you do it, even if it cost tens of thousands of dollars?

Oregon Cryonics is working to make that idea a reality. Its facility is one of only four offering the service worldwide.

From the outside the facility looks like a normal office building, and inside it looks like a normal lab, complete with gas tanks, computer screens, a refrigerator and nearby buckets.

But inside the refrigerator there is a human brain, and the buckets are full of brains, too.

Oregon Cryonics is a nonprofit group with a very specific goal.

We preserve brains. We try to preserve them with the very best structure that we can, says Executive Director Jordan Sparks, who is a computer programmer and a dentist by trade.

He wrote the software for the endeavor, and part of the facility was his previous dental office.

Sparks started working on Oregon Cryonics full time four years ago. The first brain the group preserved belonged to a dog named Cupcake. Since then it has preserved around 50 or 60 human brains.

We try to lock all the molecules in place so that future scientists can decide what to do with those molecules afterwards revive the person somehow, says Sparks.

He says the preservations are done in two ways.

One: By pumping the brain full of chemicals with a complex electronic system soon after the person dies. Two: By keeping brains cold, around negative 300 degrees.

If you have a brain thats been preserved well, the laws of physics say that you should be able to pull out all the memories, the personalities, the way that person thinks, Sparks says. Clearly, the revival technology is well over 100 years away, but were doing the preparatory work right now to let those future scientists do the revivals.

Most of the brains the ones in the buckets are not kept cold. Theyre preserved only with chemicals.

Those are ones where people donated their body to science, and were trying to perfect the technology, Sparks says. And so we do the same process on those, and then we slice up and analyze and see how good of a job we did.

He says six of the brains are being kept cold through a multistep process. It ends with them chilling in a tank filled with liquid nitrogen.

Those six are ones that are trying to get revived. Thats why theyre here, says Sparks. And so for those, we treat them differently. We treat them with extra care.

He says two of those brains are from folks who spent about $25,000 each.

Anyone can sign up for services, but you have to die close by, Sparks says, because they need to start pumping chemicals into the brain as soon as possible after death to successfully preserve it.

Also, certain life insurance policies do cover cryonics.

Go here to see the original:
Brain Freeze: Have yours preserved in Salem for possible future revival - KATU

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Once upon a time, not so long ago, women got pregnant and spent nine months in suspense before finding out if they were having a boy or a girl. But today? That waiting game is completely outdated, even quaint.

Every aspect of pregnancy is now scrutinized and analyzed sometimes even beginning before egg meets sperm, as expectant parents gauge if they are carriers for diseases they could pass on to their offspring. Once pregnancy is established, there are tests as soon as the first trimester to assess chromosomes and identify tiny genetic deletions or duplications whose significance may be unclear.

Yet there tends to be a collective fiction that hovers around why this testing is offered at all. When providers explain genetic testing, they rarely if ever initiate a conversation about why a woman might want to consider testing in the first place. As a result, many women proceed with testing without fully considering why theyre doing it and, more significantly, what they will do if they dont receive the results for which they were hoping.

Its human nature to wax optimistic, to hope that test results will prove reassuring. But not every woman will receive comforting news. As testing becomes increasingly sophisticated, an increasing number of women will get results that arent black or white. Others will get results that are unequivocally concerning. Then what?

Well, even when that happens, turning the wonder and joy of pregnancy into a far more angst-ridden experience, knowledge is power.

This was my experience when I was pregnant with my third child. An ultrasound revealed a bubble of fluid on her brain that could indicate trisomy 18, a serious genetic condition thats often fatal before birth. That result spurred me to have an amniocentesis, which extracted fetal DNA via a long, thin needle inserted into my womb. Thankfully, the test results showed just two copies of chromosome 18, not three, which would have confirmed a diagnosis.

I was incredibly relieved, but then something strange and unexpected happened. The lab reports analysis of fetal DNA had revealed that my unborn daughters ninth chromosome was flipped the top was on the bottom, and the bottom had migrated to the top. It was, the report indicated, not associated with clinical effects. And still I worried. Over time, Ive come to terms with that snippet of genetic information, and now feel grateful that I know about this DNA blip. Should research emerge that its linked to risk of disease, at least Ill be aware and will be able to take advantage of any potential treatments. (P.S. My daughter, now 10, loves pandas, biking and gummy worms. She doesnt like cleaning her room. In other words, as far as I know, inversion 9 has dealt her no ill effects.)

There are other reasons why more information is better, too: A prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, for instance, could motivate parents to seek out support groups before the birth so that they can get a glimpse of what to expect. It might prompt them to switch hospitals to one where doctors have more experience delivering babies with special needs.

But despite this advantage, we still too often limit what women and families know. What you can learn can depend on where you are. While expectant moms in major metropolitan areas have access to the latest cutting-edge technology for prenatal testing, women in rural towns have far fewer choices. And even though it isnt surprising that abortion is the elephant in the exam room, we continue to do women a disservice by not openly discussing that abortion is one potential option in the aftermath of prenatal testing.

Knowing ahead of time may ratchet up the anxiety level of pregnancy far beyond that of previous generations. But all parents deserve to have this knowledge. It puts moms and dads in the drivers seat, which is a good place to be when it comes to parents and their progeny.

Read more here:
Mothers-To-Be Aren't Told Enough About Genetic Testing | Time.com - TIME

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

By Catherine Ho, San Francisco Chronicle

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

DNA is extracted from blood plasma for genetic testing. Two acquisitions announced Monday will expand Invitaes business to prenatal testing.

DNA is extracted from blood plasma for genetic testing. Two acquisitions announced Monday will expand Invitaes business to prenatal testing.

SFs Invitae to acquire two prenatal genetic screening firms

The San Francisco genetic testing firm Invitae Corp. plans to acquire two smaller companies that specialize in prenatal and reproductive screening, the company announced Monday.

The move is Invitaes first acquisition in the prenatal space, a fast-growing segment of the genetic testing industry.

The two acquired firms Good Start Genetics of Cambridge, Mass., and Irvines CombiMatrix specialize in testing pregnant women and fetuses for genetic abnormalities that may increase the likelihood of developmental problems in the child. The tests are ordered by obstetricians and reproductive endocrinologists for patients undergoing in vitro fertilization, or IVF. The testing can help determine, for example, whether a genetic disorder may be a contributing factor in recurrent miscarriages.

We view this as an important step into the reproductive side of genetics, said Invitae chief executive Sean George. This is us moving the industry from a test-by-test laboratory type of market to genetic information as a service moving across all stages of life.

Several other firms already compete in the prenatal genetic screening market, including South San Franciscos Counsyl, San Carlos Natera and San Diegos Sequenom, which is owned by the lab diagnostics giant LabCorp.

Prenatal screening has become more widely available in recent years, as the technology to screen for genetic abnormalities continues to advance rapidly. But some experts have cautioned against interpreting the results which can yield false positives without seeking the advice of a medical expert or genetic counselor.

Invitae was founded in 2010 and went public in 2015. It offers a wide range of genetic tests, including those that detect genetic variants linked to breast and ovarian cancer. Unlike direct-to-consumer genetic tests like those sold by 23andMe, these tests are ordered by a physician and increasingly are covered by major commercial health insurers.

The proposed acquisition of Good Start is expected to close in August, with the CombiMatrix deal following in the last three months of the year. CombiMatrix, which is publicly traded, reported $12.8 million in revenue for 2016. Good Start is privately held and does not disclose financial figures. Invitae reported $25 million in revenue last year.

The deal will merge the combined genetic information collected by all three companies. Invitae currently partners with biotech firms MyoKardia, BioMarin and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to share patients genetic information, with their consent, to be used in the development of drugs to treat genetic disorders, including patients participation in clinical trials.

George said he expects to see more mergers and acquisitions in the genetic testing industry as the sector matures.

Thats exactly what you see in the 100-plus companies that supply genetic information, George said. These two are examples, and there are more that I would expect to see in the coming year companies that either cease to offer genetic testing services or who get bought by other companies as this industry scales up in volume and sheer number of people. I definitely expect that to continue.

Invitae stock closed at $9.28 on Monday, down 2.4 percent from Friday. CombiMatrix stock closed at $4.95, down 3.9 percent.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho

Link:
SF's Invitae to acquire two prenatal genetic screening firms - SFGate

Recommendation and review posted by sam

BENGALURU: When five-year-old Chathura Corea from Sri Lanka landed in India for cancer treatment, his physician Sachin Jadhav got a genetic test done on his blood sample before starting any kind of treatment. Corea had been diagnosed with a very rare form of blood cancer called Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (JMML). After a genetic test, Jadhav concluded that a simple chemotherapy would not suffice and the kid needs a bone-marrow transplant".

The (genetic) test helped me identify what line of treatment to give providing maximising the chance of cure and in planning treatment better, says Jadhav, who has partnered with Bengaluru-based MedGenome Labs which provides genetic tests for a range of ailments like cancer, metabolic diseases, eye diseases, neurological and prenatal disorders.

Increasingly , doctors like Jadhav are asking patients to take genetic tests to identify 'faulty' genes in treating genetic diseases better.

MedGenome has seen the number of samples triple for genetic tests in of samples triple for genetic tests in the last one year.

We now get about 600-800 samples a month, said VL Ramprasad, COO of MedGenome Labs. The uptake is primarily due to increased awareness among clinicians in India who see a scope for better results and efficient treatment, he said.

Another lab, Stand Life Sciences has also seen a similar spike in the number of samples received.Strand has seen a 250% growth in the number of samples last year, and we have done about 5,000 samples this year, said cofounder Vijay Chandru. The science behind these tests is straight forward: everything about us -the length of our hair, the colour of our eyes, the complexion of our skin is coded onto the DNA -which also has hidden hints of the possible disease one might get. Scientists analyse the genetic code and figure out what mutation causes a specific disease. As the awareness among doctors increases, revenues have been surging. MedGenome revenues have doubled every year. The lab's revenues have grown from $4 million in 2015 to $16.5 million in 2017.

At this point, we are just scratching the surface, says Chandru of Strand life sciences, adding, The addressable market is 500,000 people according to India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) report. Say , 20% people can afford the tests... 100,000 peo ple could be tested. Right now, only 5,000 people are being tested.

These genetic tests cost about Rs 30,000- 40,000 for a single test. Only 2% of Indian population is covered by insurance. Hence, affordability is another bottleneck in the widespread adoption of genetic tests, said Chirantan Bose, VP of Clinical services at Medgenome.

Aside from providing insights to clinicians for better diagnosis, the milestone for genetic tests is `targeted therapy' for specific diseases. For instance, precision medicine in the treatment of cancer when the drug hits only the cancer cells and not the entire body (like in chemotherapy). Genetic testing paves way for precision medicine. Consumers too want to dig into their genes to know more about their family history , lifestyle tendencies and information about their ancestry .

Mapmygenome provides a report on 100 different conditions including inherited and acquired genetic health risks. The firm's product, Genomepatri, has found massive traction and the number of samples have tripled over the samples we received last year, says Anu Acharya, cofounder of Mapmygenome, adding that demand was not just coming from metros but even from tier-II towns across India.

Go here to read the rest:
For Indian doctors, it's written in the genes not stars - Economic Times

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a potential $115m foreign military sale of F/A-18 Super Hornet upgrades to Switzerland.

Under the sale, Switzerland seeks to receive a Service Life Extension Program for its F/A-18C/D aircraft.

The deal covers up to 50 multifunctional information distribution system joint tactical radio system (MIDS JTRS) with Concurrent Multi-Net 4 (CMN-4) capability, and 50 ARC-210 GEN 5 RT-1900A(C) radios with second-generation anti-jam tactical UHF radio for Nato (SATURN) frequency hopping. It also includes 20 Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS) with Night Vision Cueing Displays (NVCD), and CIT automated dependence surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) out.

The Government of Switzerland also requested software enhancements to the APG-73 radar, improvements to the F/A-18 Software Configuration Set (SCS) 29C, and sustainment for the ALQ-165 Airborne Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ) system.

The operational support for these modifications will be provided through upgrades to the purchasers unique Mission Data System, DSCA stated.

"The procurement will help the Swiss Air Force to extend the useful life of its F/A-18 fighter aircraft, and enhance the survivability."

The sale also includes system integration and testing, software development and integration, support equipment, spare and repair parts, as well as maintenance personnel and pilot familiarisation training. It also covers software support, publications and technical documents, and US Government and contractor technical assistance.

The procurement will help the Swiss Air Force to extend the useful life of its F/A-18 fighter aircraft, and enhance the survivability.

Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Data Link Solutions, Rockwell Collins and Rockwell Collins ESA Vision System will serve as principal contractors for the sale, which is expected to increase Switzerlands tactical aviation operational capabilities.

Built by Boeing, F/A-18 Super Hornet is a twin-engine, supersonic, all weather multirole fighter jet that is capable of landing and taking off from an aircraft carrier.

Boeing has said it offers a suite of upgrades for the F/A-18 Super Hornet, including conformal fuel tanks, an enclosed weapons pod, an enhanced engine, and a reduced radar signature.

Read more here:
US approves $115m sale of F/A-18 Super Hornet upgrades to Switzerland - Airforce Technology

Recommendation and review posted by sam

A safe and effective gene therapy treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in dogs has been demonstratedby researchers from France and the UK.

The gene therapy significantly increased the muscle strength of dogs naturally affected by DMD, improving their ability to walk, run and jump.

'This is very encouraging, as current treatments for muscular dystrophy are merely palliative and patients are under constant medical care throughout their life,' saidDr John Counsell, who was not involved in the study but works at the Gene Transfer Technology Group at University College London.

DMD is a rare, progressive disease affecting all muscles of the body, including the heart and diaphragm. It is caused bymutationsin the dystrophingene, which leads to a deficiency of dystrophinprotein. Dystrophin is important in supporting the muscle fibres during contraction; without it, the muscle fibres become damaged and eventually die.

As it is one of the largest human genes, it is technically challenging to insert the entire dystrophin gene into a viral vector, as is usually done for gene therapy. For this reason, the researchers in this study developed a gene therapy that delivers a smaller but functional version of the dystrophin gene (called micro-dystrophin). This was packaged into a non-pathogenic virus called an adeno-associated virus (AAV).

Twelve dogs with DMD received a single dose of the micro-dystrophin gene therapy and were monitored for up to two years. The researchers observed an increased amount of dystrophin protein in the dogs'muscles and a stabilisation of clinical symptoms in most of the dogs. There were no serious immune reactions to the gene therapy.

'The studies in dogs have been spectacular and exceeded our expectations,' said Professor George Dickson, who led the research at Royal Holloway University of London. My team has worked for many years to optimise a gene therapy medicine for DMD, and now the quite outstanding work of colleagues in France, in Genethon, in Nantes and in Paris has taken us close to clinical trials in DMD patients.'

In a separate study, a group of researchers from the US developed a micro-dystrophin gene therapy using a different type of AAV vector. They tested this in a recently established, severe DMD mouse model that is thought to be more like the human condition than the commonly used mdx mouse.

15 weeks after AAV injection, the researchers detected an increased amount of dystrophin protein in the mouse muscles. There were also improvements in muscle function and a reduction in muscle scarring and inflammation.

Whilst evaluating cardiac function, the researchers unexpectedly found pathological changes in the hearts of control mice, which meant that they were similar to the DMD hearts. For this reason, they could not evaluate the effect of the micro-dystrophin gene therapy on cardiac function and concluded that the mouse was not a good model for DMD-associated cardiomyopathy.

Read this article:
BioNews - Gene therapy reverses muscular dystrophy in dogs in ... - BioNews

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Xconomy Boston

One day after the release of a Nature Medicine paper warning of the potential hazards of testing CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in humans, Homology Medicines, a startup advancing a different genetic surgery technique, has just grabbed a big round of funding to make its own clinical push.

Homology, of Bedford, MA, wrapped up an $83.5 million Series B round this morning. A wide group of investors led by Deerfield Management provided the funding, bringing the companys total amount raised to a whopping $127 million since it was formed last year.

Homology is making the bold claim that its underlying science, technology it calls AMEnDR, is a better version of existing gene editing methods, among them the CRISPR-Cas9 technology that has taken the scientific research world by storm and has led to the formation of three now publicly traded companies, Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT), Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA), and CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRSP).

CRISPR gene editing is a two-part biological system that researchers can use to help irreversibly alter DNA. The three companies are involved in a high-stakes race to use the technology to develop human therapeutics, with the first clinical trials expected to begin next year. Yet one of the fears involved in bringing the technology to human trials is the possibility of off-target effectsa genetic surgery error that causes irreparable damage, like cancer. One of the fields pioneers, Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, just co-authored a paper in Nature Medicine urging caution about the rush to move forward. Zhang and colleague David Scott argued that researchers should analyze patients DNA before giving them CRISPR-based drugs, citing the myriad differences between each persons genetic makeup.

Homology isnt using CRISPR, like its publicly traded rivals. Instead, its recreating a natural biological process known as homologous recombination, which cells in humans and other species do to repair DNA damage or, in the case of bacteria, to improve their genetic diversity. In homologous recombination, one chromosome essentially swaps one short DNA sequence for another similar one. Homology aims to engineer a piece of healthy DNA, pack it into a type of adeno-associated virus, or AAVa delivery tool commonly used in gene therapy and gene editing technologiesand infuse it into the body. The virus carrying the DNA locks on to the cell that needs a genetic fix, enters it, and releases its DNA payload. The healthy DNA then swaps places with the faulty gene inside the patients cells. If and when the cells divide, the new cells would carry the fixed gene, not the faulty one. One potential benefit of this approach is there may be less likelihood of an off-target error, like mutations in the target DNA that cause cancer, than with CRISPR.

Thats the hope, but the technology hasnt been tested in humans as of yet. With the new cash, however, Homology is getting a shot to try. In a statement, Homology CEO Arthur Tzianabos said the funding will help Homology bring its first drug candidate toward the clinic, though he didnt specify how long that might take. The company is focusing on rare diseasesno surprise given Tzianabos, chief operating officer Sam Rasty, and chief scientific officer Albert Seymour all worked with one another at rare disease giant Shire (NASDAQ: SHPG). According to its website, the company will develop therapies for inborn errors of metabolism, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis are among its potential targets as well. (Duchenne and cystic fibrosis are early targets of CRISPR-based medicines as well.)

Fidelity Management and Research, Novartis, Rock Springs Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, Arch Venture Partners, Temasek, 5AM Ventures, Maverick Ventures, Vida Ventures, Vivo Capital, and Alexandria Venture Investments also took part in the funding. Heres more on Homology, and gene editing with CRISPR-Cas9.

Ben Fidler is Xconomy's Deputy Biotechnology Editor. You can e-mail him at bfidler@xconomy.com

View original post here:
Homology Med Bags $83.5M More, Fueling Push For Gene Editing Twist - Xconomy

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Advances in medical imaging enable bespoke tissues and organs to be developed for transplant or engraftment with remarkable resolution and definition using 3D bioprinting. The incorporation of stem cell therapies into these 3D tissue constructs is incredibly promising for the delivery of pioneering stem cell regenerative therapies. Typically, 3D bioprinting requires use of a biomaterial to aid with deposition, which can cause negative host responses. To avoid such problems, US researchers have developed a biomaterial-free cardiac patch (Scientific Reports 7 4566).

Heart disease affects thousands of people every year and effective repair of cardiac tissue would reduce a large medical health care burden. Researchers from the Narutoshi Hibino lab at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University have devised a 3D-bioprinting procedure that allows for the biofabrication of cardiac tissue patches to deliver regenerative stem cells, without using biomaterials. The process utilises aggregated balls of cardiac cells (cardiospheroids), which are directly printed into a cardiac patch construct. The cardiospheroids are identified, picked up by a vacuum and bioprinted directly onto a needle microarray (a video of the 3D-bioprinting process used is available from JOVE). This novel method allows the patch to be constructed with cells alone and will avoid detrimental effects induced by biomaterial grafts.

Stem cell techniques for tissue regeneration typically rely on biomaterial scaffolds to provide structure and support for cells during grafting. The grafting or introduction of biomaterials to a patient induces an immune response, or can create scar tissue from the graft, potentially damaging the region of tissue intended to be repaired. Through developing a biomaterial-free graft, it is possible to avoid these detrimental factors. And by using a patient's own stem cells it is possible to create native tissue that is fully biocompatible.

3D bioprinting was crucial to the development of effective cardiac patches, with specific spatial distribution being crucial to mechanical integrity. Cardiospheres without specific placement to overlap with other cardiospheres disintegrated after removal from the needle array; although partially disintegrated regions were able to fuse back together eventually. This effect removed the structural definition of the patch, negating the advantages of using bioprinting for developing a cardiac patch of specified dimensions.

The researchers grafted patches onto rat hearts and after a week saw signs of blood vessel formation, with viable cells and red blood cells present in the cardiac patch. Tissue protein stains showed that collagen was present in the patch, indicating the deposition of a native extracellular matrix from the cells, crucial to cell integration. Further staining showed the presence of human nucleic acid in rat tissue, implying that the human cell derived patch had successfully grafted with the rat tissue.

This biomaterial-free cardiac patch was developed using pluripotent cardiomyocyte stem cells, cardiac fibroblasts and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), which were aggregated into cardiospheroids for bioprinting. Cardiospheroids were able to develop a functional phenotype after 48 hours, with spontaneous beating and electrical conductivity a week after bioprinting. Cardiomyocytes alone were not able to reproduce this functional phenotype.

This process demonstrates a novel approach to eliminating biomaterial-induced damage. Further development of this 3D bioprinting technique in conjunction with stem cell therapies could progress biomaterial-free cardiac patches into the popular domain.

3D printers help build a better cranial nerve4D bioprinting: adding dynamic actuationThe first laser-printed 3D cellular tubes3D-printed polymer stents evolve

Geoffrey Potjewyd is a PhD Student contributor to medicalphysicsweb, working in the Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, as part of the CDT in Regenerative Medicine at The University of Manchester. He is studying the neurovascular unit in relation to vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease, using biofabrication, biomaterials and stem cell based techniques.

See more here:
3D bioprinted cardiac patches are biomaterial free - Medical Physics Web (subscription)

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

Cellular Dynamics International, the stem cell company founded by UW-Madison stem cell pioneer James Thomson, is backing off on moving its headquarters to a big, new building in Verona and will stay in Madison, at least for now, as it prepares to push forward with its first potential stem cell-based treatment in early 2018.

CDI president Kaz Hirao said Thursday the company is shelving plans to shift operations to a $40 million, 133,700-square-foot building that was to be built for CDI on Kettle Moraine Trail in Verona. The building was expected to house 280 employees, with so-called clean rooms, quality-control labs, processing rooms and offices.

Instead, CDIs main offices and labs will remain at 525 Science Drive in University Research Park and the company will remodel an existing building whose site has not yet been determined to house several clean rooms that will meet government standards for manufacturing stem cells for use in clinical drug trials.

Fujifilm (CDIs parent company) has a very strong commitment and wants to see (the) Madison (site) grow in the future. Strategy-wise, that has not changed, Hirao said. Madison has a great ecosystem for our businesses.

He said the National Eye Institute plans to submit an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January 2018 for a retinal cell therapy it has been developing with CDI for age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease that can lead to blindness. The National Eye Institute has conducted animal studies on the drug, Hirao said.

It is the first of a series of stem cell-based drugs the company is working on. CDI expects to file investigational new drug applications for treating Parkinsons disease and for cardiac disease in 2019, he said.

In order to make stem cells that meet government standards for use in human clinical trials, Hirao said the company will establish clean rooms that meet regulations for current good manufacturing practices. He said he expects to designate a location in the next month or two, within about a 15-minute drive of CDI headquarters, to handle the companys stem cell manufacturing needs for the immediate future.

Next year, CDI will review its plans again, Hirao said, and will again consider a move to a larger, consolidated building. If it decides to go ahead with that, Verona would be one of the preferred options, he said.

CDI had obtained up to $6 million in financial incentives from the city of Verona for the building that was to be built and owned by developer John K. Livesey.

Verona planning and development director Adam Sayre called CDIs decision to pull back on the plans unfortunate, but said city officials will keep in contact with Cellular Dynamics over the coming months.

The city would continue to welcome them with open arms, Sayre said. Well see what the next year brings.

At University Research Park, CDI occupies about 55,000 square feet, director Aaron Olver said. Weve recently provided CDI with some additional space to help them grow, he said.

CDI is one of the true gems among companies powered by UW-Madison research, and we would certainly do anything we could to help them find clean room space to continue their work, Olver said.

Founded in 2004, CDI was acquired by Fujifilm Holdings Corp. for $307 million in April 2015.

The company has 165 employees, including about 125 in Madison. Hirao said he expects to add employees, but said its too soon to estimate how many, or how quickly the company will grow.

Excerpt from:
CDI ditches move to Verona - Madison.com

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Marie Grim of Langley is looking for 100 people between the ages of 17 and 35 who are willing to take a few moments to have their cheeks swabbed.

Theres no pain, no fuss, she said.

And you could save someones life, anywhere in the world.

You could match with someone in Japan.

The campaign to sign up more potential stem cell donors, people who are willing to allow DNA samples to taken using cotton swabs, was inspired by the experience of her sister-in-law.

Cloverdale resident Tania Grim, a mother of four was diagnosed with leukemia in January.

She had to wait several months before a compatible donor was found whose stem cells will be used to replace bone marrow and abnormal white blood cells eradicated by a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.

We have been on quite the journey, Marie said.

I have sat with her at appointments and heard others get news of their donor while she had not.

Now that Tania has her donor, Marie would like to improve the odds for other families.

She already has a location and tentative date to collect the swabs September 8 at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Langley if she can round up enough donors.

Tania, who is preparing for her stem cell procedure in September, urged prospective stem cell contributors to sign up.

I am so grateful that the word is being spread about the huge need for donors, Tania said.

It is a very simple thing to do that can save a life.

If you are the right age to be a donor, you can contact Marie at 604-530-1326 or by email at mariegrim@hotmail.com.

Interested donors can also contact Canadian Blood Services directly at https://blood.ca/en.

More than 390,000 Canadians have joined the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network registry maintained by Canadian Blood Services, volunteering to be stem cell donors for any patient in need of a transplant, anywhere in the world.

Right now, the agency says about 70 per cent of eligible donors on the registry are Caucasian, which means the odds of finding match for other ethnicities, such as Canadians with indigenous, Asian or African heritage, are not good.

The Canadian registry connects to an international network established by the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) that has access to over 28 million donors in over 53 countries.

Not everyone who registers will be matched to a patient and asked to donate, but each registrant provides hope for those waiting, a message posted to the agency website states.

A person could be a match within a few months of registering, a year later or even seven years later.

If a volunteer donor is found to be a match, they face a relatively minor surgical procedure and can expect to make a quick recovery.

The agency says over 80 diseases and disorders can be treated with a stem cell transplant.

There are hundreds of patients in Canada waiting for a match, but only half of them find a match.

Patients are more likely to find a matching donor from within their own ethnic group.

The odds of family members matching is extremely slight, the agency said, which is why it does not support donor drives targeting relatives.

RELATED STORY: Surrey teen rallies stem cell donors to help with desperate need for South Asians

dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com

View post:
Drive for stem cell donors in Langley - Surrey Now-Leader

Recommendation and review posted by sam

Illustration incorporating gene-expression maps and cell images from the new research. Credit: University of Michigan

Every day, 17 million HIV-infected people around the world swallow pills that keep the virus inside them at bay.

That is, as long as they swallow those pills every day for the rest of their life.

But no matter how many drugs they take, they'll always have the virus in them, lurking in their white blood cells like a fugitive from justice.

And if they ever stop, HIV will come out of hiding and bring down their immune system from the inside out, causing the disease known as AIDS and potentially spreading to others before killing them.

Now, new research into HIV's hiding places reveals new clues about exactly how it persists in the body for years. The discovery could speed the search for drugs that can flush HIV out of its long-term hideouts and cure an infection for good.

In a new paper in PLoS Pathogens, a team led by University of Michigan researcher Kathleen Collins, M.D., Ph.D. reports that HIV hides in more types of bone marrow cells than previously thought - and that when these cells divide, they can pass the virus's genetic material down to their "daughter" cells intact.

This keeps the infection going for years, without tipping off the armed guards of the immune system.

Collins and her colleagues made the discovery in bone marrow samples donated by dozens of long-term HIV patients treated at U-M's academic medical center, Michigan Medicine, and at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

Using funding from the National Institutes of Health, they found that HIV can hide in hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs), which also serve as the parents of new blood cells that replace worn-out ones on a regular basis. HIV tricks the cells into incorporating the virus's genetic material into the cells' own DNA.

"Looking for the cells that harbor functional HIV is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Our new results expand our understanding of the type of cells that can do it," says Collins, a professor of Microbiology and Immunology and of Infectious Disease at the U-M Medical School. "It's like a cancer biology problem, only the 'mutation' in the cells is the inserted viral genome."

HPCs are made by hematopoietic stem cells, the "master cells" of blood production found in the marrow. Previous research had shown that HIV can hide for years in the bone marrow.

But it was not known whether the virus persisted only in stem cells or whether the reservoir could include more differentiated progenitor cells. Demonstrating that progenitor cells form a long-lived reservoir of virus expands the number of cell types that need to be targeted.

By demonstrating that HIV genetic material can lurk in blood progenitor cells, the researchers extend other recent studies indicating that such cells can live for years, says Collins, whose lab team included lead author Nadia Sebastian, a U-M M.D./Ph.D. student.

She notes that from the point of view of the virus, finding a harbor in this kind of cell means it can hedge its bets, giving it a chance at survival and eventual reproduction if its host's defenses weaken. The virus that causes chicken pox - varicella - also does this, hiding out in nerve cells just under the skin for years until it awakens and causes the painful condition called shingles.

Knowing exactly what cells harbor HIV over the long-term is crucial to battling persistent infections. Other research has focused on the T cells that carry out key immune system functions.

"Having established this, now we're poised to ask if we can treat HIV infection by targeting hematopoietic progenitor cells," she explains. The team is evaluating potential drugs that could kill just these cells.

The research team on the new paper also includes former U-M stem cell researcher Sean Morrison, Ph.D., who now leads a research center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Morrison's lab uses mice as a model to study stem and progenitor cells.

They find in the new paper that in order for HIV to infect a progenitor cell, that cell must have a type of receptor on its surface, called CD4, that the virus can attach to. Additionally, the researchers show that two subtypes of HIV can infect these cells: those that use the CXCR4 co-receptor to enter cells as well as those that use CCR5, which expands the types of HIVs that can potentially cause reservoirs.

Finding those progenitor cells in the marrow of the human patients who agreed to undergo a biopsy for the sake of pure research was tricky, Collins says. But thanks to them, researchers are a step closer to a day when HIV infection is no longer a life sentence for millions of people around the world.

"Moving from the state we're in, where patients will always have to be on these drugs, to a better form of therapy where they can stop, would have a huge effect," she says. "Today's medications have side effects, as well as financial costs. To get to the next step, we need to target the types of cells that form a latent infection, including these progenitor cells."

Explore further: Scientists find that persistent infections in mice exhaust progenitors of all blood cells

More information: Nadia T. Sebastian et al, CD4 is expressed on a heterogeneous subset of hematopoietic progenitors, which persistently harbor CXCR4 and CCR5-tropic HIV proviral genomes in vivo, PLOS Pathogens (2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006509

View original post here:
Cells that stand in the way of HIV cure: Discovery expands understanding of marrow's role - Medical Xpress

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Its the fourth most common cancer for women in the U.S., but doctors say 80 percent of the time endometrial cancer is caught in stage one.

Dr. Fadi Abu Shahin, a gynecologic oncologist on the medical staff of Lee Health, says endometrial cancer can be caused by age, genetics, or medication. Endometrial cancer is cancer of the endometrium, which is the lining of the uterus on the inside. The most common is what we call unopposed estrogen where the womans body is producing estrogen only and not producing progesterone to counter act the effects of estrogen in the uterus.

That can lead to overgrowth of the lining of the uterus and can become cancerous over time. Women who are at risk for endometrial cancer may have a genetic predisposition or polycystic ovarian syndrome, where they dont ovulate regularly. In both cases doctors may prescribe birth control or hormone therapy as a preventative. The best treatment for those women is to put them on birth control pills or some form of hormonal therapy to prevent and protect the uterus from exposure to estrogen, said Dr. Abu Shahin.

Theres no regular screening for endometrial cancer, but doctors say if women experience symptoms they need to call their physician. In women after menopause any bleeding is abnormal. In women before menopause any irregularity in their periods or bleeding outside their period is abnormal, said Dr. Abu Shahin.

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in women. If women are at risk, doctors may use genetic screening, biopsies, or ultrasounds to look for precancerous changes in the uterus. 70 to 80 percent of all women with endometrial cancer are diagnosed at stage one, which means the cancer was contained to the uterus, which means its highly curable, said Dr. Abu Shahin.

Patients may undergo a hysterectomy or choose to have only the high risk lymph nodes removed in a shorter, less invasive procedure.

Original post:
Health Matters: Detecting and Treating Endometrial Cancer - NBC2 News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Jennifer Brea, who has Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis,reveals her story in her film, Unrest.

By Giorgia GuglielmiJul. 31, 2017 , 3:00 PM

After a 5-month road trip across Asia in 2010, 22-year-old college graduate Matthew Lazell-Fairman started feeling constantly tired, his muscles sore and head aching. A doctor recommended getting a gym membership, but after the first training session, Lazell-Fairmans body crashed: He was so exhausted he couldnt go to work as a paralegal for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., for days. Lazell-Fairman has never fully recovered. He can now do a few hours of light activitycooking, for exampleper day but has to spend the rest of his time lying flat in bed.

Lazell-Fairman is among the estimated 17 million people worldwide with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a disease whose trigger is unknown and for which there are neither standard diagnostic tools nor effective treatments. In the largest study of its kind, researchers have now found that the blood levels of immune molecules that cause flulike symptoms such as fever and fatigue track the severity of symptoms in people who have received a diagnosis of CFS. The results may provide insight into the cause of the mysterious illness, or at least provide a way of gauging its progress and evaluating treatments.

This work is another strong piece of evidence that there is a biologic dysfunction at the root of the disease, says Mady Hornig, a physician scientist at Columbia University whose research has also identified potential biomarkers for CFS.

People with CFSmany patients and advocates prefer to call the condition myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) because of the complex set of symptoms that are not limited to fatigueexperience prolonged, extreme exhaustion that doesnt improve with rest. The fatigue may worsen with physical or mental activity and often comes with brain fog, a feeling of mental clouding, and sensitivity to noise, light, or other stimuli like taste and smell. Patients may also have memory impairment, muscle pain, and gut problems such as diarrhea, bloating, and nausea.

For years, CFS had been dismissed as a psychological disorder, and some physicians advocated treating it primarily with psychotherapy or a gradual increase in physical activity. But many researchers, and funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, increasingly view it as a physiological problem. Its a medical mystery, says Mark Davis, an immunologist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

For this reason, Davis, together with Stanford immunologist Jose Montoya and their teams, recently evaluated whether an imbalance of the immune system may trigger CFS/ME, as previous studies have suggested. By analyzing the blood of 192 people who had met one of the established criteria for CFS/ME diagnosis and 392 healthy individuals, the team found that the levels of 17 cytokines, substances produced by immune cells in response to infection, correlated with disease severity. They were higher in patients with the severest symptoms than in patients with milder symptoms or healthy people. In patients with the mildest symptoms, the levels of those same cytokines were lower than in healthy people, and in patients with moderate symptoms they were comparable to individuals with no disease. Of these 17 immune molecules, the vast majority is known to stimulate inflammation and produce flulike symptoms, the researchers report today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

I found surprising that so many cytokines are altered in the patients, Davis says. It seems like the disease is leaving no cytokine untouched. The work adds to our understanding that there are complex alterations of the immune system, Hornig says.

A few immune molecules drew particular attention because their levels didnt correlate with disease severity. The researchers have found that the blood level of TGF-, a cytokine that is involved in myriad biological processes, such as inflammation and cancer, was higher in CFS/ME patients, regardless of the severity of their symptoms, than in healthy people. And the blood levels of resistin, a hormone produced by immune cells, were lower in patients compared with individuals with no disease.

These molecules might drive the disorder, scientists speculate, but they could also simply reflect the patients immune system fighting back against an inflammation of different origin. These are deliberately agnostic assays, Davis says. First you look for correlation and then you try to understand why these things correlate with the disease.

Nonetheless, the new study is a tremendous step forward, says Gordon Broderick, a systems biologist at Rochester General Hospital in New York. Being able to examine so many CFS/ME patients and identify which immune molecules are associated with more intense symptoms is a big deal, he says.

Although it is important to rule out that altered levels of cytokines arent linked to factors such as allergies or sex hormones, which can also influence the immune system, the large number of patients showing an imbalance in these immune molecules suggests that it is either a cause or result of CFS/ME, Broderick says.

In the future, the scientists hope to use these immune molecules as diagnostic tools for the puzzling condition, and also figure out the role of cytokines and the immune system in the disease. I hope to see more research along those lines, Hornig says. Theres a lot of patients waiting for some answers.

See more here:
More clues link immune system imbalance with chronic fatigue syndrome - Science Magazine

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

1. Cross-sex hormone therapy (CSHT) may be associated with worsening cardiovascular risk factors in transgender men.

2. CSHT may not result in increases in cardiovascular morbidity or mortality.

Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)

Study Rundown: Understanding the unique health care needs of the transgender population is highly important; approximately 1.4 million persons identify as transgender in the United States. One important area of study involves the role of sex hormonesincluding hormone blockers and cross-sex hormone therapyand cardiovascular disease (CVD). Sex hormones may be used to help transgender persons fully realize their gender identity. Despite the importance of this area of research, one of the barriers to providing appropriate care to transgender persons is the lack of physician training and clinical guidelines within this area. Additionally, there is limited health care research within this population. The authors of this study, therefore, conducted a systematic review that highlights research on the association between hormone therapy and CVD in cisgender adults, in addition to summarizing the association between CSHT and CVD in transgender adults. This study has several limitations. First, many studies included in this review focus on younger persons, limiting the generalizability of CSHT in older transgender adults. Additionally, there are few randomized controlled trials with respect to CSHT, which limits knowledge of any associations between CSHT and CVD.

Click to read the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine

Relevant Reading: Hormone therapy for transgender patients

In-Depth [narrative review]: The authors of this study systematically searched PubMed and EMBASE databases, of which 13 met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of the articles, 3 reported findings only in transgender women, 3 only in transgender men, and 7 looked at both populations. Based on the articles reviewed, the authors observed that CSHT is associated with improved psychological functioning of transgender persons. While studies looking at CSHT and cardiovascular risk factors in transgender men are limited, several studies, including an early prospective study and an observational longitudinal study, suggest that CSHT increases CVD risk factors. These risk factors include blood pressure values, lipid levels, and insulin resistance. Furthermore, in transgender women, CSHT may increase thromboembolic risk. However, due to the lack of randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies found in this review, it is clear that further research is required to determine the cardiovascular effects of long-term CSHT for transgender adults.

Image: PD

20172 Minute Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved. No works may be reproduced without expressed written consent from 2 Minute Medicine, Inc. Inquire about licensing here. No article should be construed as medical advice and is not intended as such by the authors or by 2 Minute Medicine, Inc.

Read the original here:
More research needed to determine cardiovascular effects of long-term hormone therapy for transgender adults - 2 Minute Medicine

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

There's no shortage of weird tips and tricks on the Internet for everything from making your kids eat vegetables to getting your newborn to stop crying,but the latest trend in DIY is truly something else. Apparently, women are putting urine in toothpaste based on claims in a viral YouTube video that you can use this "natural" method as an alternative way to tell if you're pregnant.

The toothpaste pregnancy test works like this: First, you squeeze a small amount of plain white toothpaste into a cup, then you add a few drops of urine, mix it up, and wait three minutes. If the toothpaste starts to froth or turn a bluish color, that means the "test" is positive.

More from CafeMom: If You're Pregnant & Your Toilet Seat Turned Blue, You Are Not Alone

The video has more than 2 million views and Us Weekly notes it's a mainstay on Google Trends. As the websitebabyprepping.com explains, the toothpaste pregnancy test came about "decades ago when pregnancy tests weren't easily found in stores, especially for women living in rural settings." Now, they're mostly used as a cheap alternative to store-bought pregnancy tests.

Of course, not everyone is sold. The comments on YouTube range from grateful and enthusiastic to people saying this is total BS to men claiming they tried it and got a positive result (LOL).

So, is the toothpaste pregnancy test legit?

Sort of, says Dr. Napoleon Maminta, a primary care physician at Naptown Priority Healthin Indiana. If done correctly, this test may give a woman "reason to believe that she is pregnant," he says. But that positive result is not a guarantee.

More from CafeMom:How This Weird Purple Line on Your Booty Might Reveal When Your Baby's Coming

"While over-the-counter tests are difficult to compromise and taint, this homemade option can be easier to compromise if a person fails to take certain precautions," Dr. Maminta tells CafeMom.

If you're just seeing this for the first time and simplyhave to try it, Dr. Maminta offered some tips to get the best results.First, he says, it's vital to use clean cups so that no contaminants come into contact with the toothpaste. Second, women should use their first morning urine rather than using urine later in the day.

"First morning urine in pregnant women has higher concentrations of the pregnancy hormone hCG, which reacts with the chemicals in the paste to cause a color change," he explains.

Lastly, the toothpaste used must be naturally white and not one that is striped or artificially colored. "The natural white paste has the correct chemical composition to react with the hCG in the urine to cause a change in the paste's color and structure," Dr. Maminta explains. "Paste that is dyed will not react in the right way to give enough of a reading for a woman to know if she could be pregnant."

Even with all the precautions in place, Dr. Maminta still cautions that this should be viewed as an "initial test" and pregnancy should be confirmed via traditional, well-tested methods.

Long story short? Toothpaste pregnancy tests are not the most reliable method of finding out if you're pregnant. But, if you're trying to conceive and looking for some preliminary results before you shell out for another test? It might be worth a shot. As with all things related to pregnancy and our bodies, take the "alternative method" with a grain of salt -- and make sure you see a doctor!

Originally posted here:
Toothpaste Pregnancy Tests Are a Thing -- but Do They Work? - The Stir

Recommendation and review posted by sam

iPSCells Represent a Superior Approach

iPS cell-derived cardiomyocyte patch demonstrates spontaneous and synchronized contractions after 4 days in culture.

One of the greatest promises of human stem cells is to transform these early-stage cells into treatments for devastating diseases. Stem cells can potentially be used to repair damaged human tissues and to bioengineer transplantable human organs using various technologies, such as 3D printing. Using stem cells derived from another person (allogeneic transplantation) or from the patient (autologous transplantation), research efforts are underway to develop new therapies for historically difficult to treat conditions. In the past, adult stem and progenitor cells were used, but the differentiation of these cell types has proven to be difficult to control. Initial clinical trials using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells indicate that they are far superior for cellular therapy applications because they are better suited to scientific manipulation.

CDIs iPS cell-derived iCell and MyCell products are integral to the development of a range ofcell therapyapplications. A study using iCell Cardiomyocytesas part of a cardiac patch designed to treat heart failure is now underway. This tissue-engineered implantable patch mayemerge as apotential myocardial regeneration treatment.

Another study done with iPS cell-derived cells and kidney structures has marked an important first step towards regenerating, and eventually transplanting, a functioning human organ. In this work, iCell Endothelial Cellswere used to help to recapitulatethe blood supply of a laboratory-generated kidney scaffold. This type of outcome will be crucial for circulation and nutrient distribution in any rebuilt organ.

iCell Endothelial Cells revascularize kidney tissue. (Data courtesy of Dr. Jason Wertheim, Northwestern University)

CDI and its partners are leveraging iPS cell-derived human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells to develop and manufacture autologous treatments for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The mature RPE cells will be derivedfrom the patients own blood cells using CDIs MyCell process. Ifapproved by the FDA, this autologous cellular therapy wouldbe one of the first of its kind in the U.S.

Learn more about the technologybehind the development of these iPScell-derived cellular therapies.

Excerpt from:
Cellular Therapy - The World Leader in Stem Cell Technology

Recommendation and review posted by simmons

By TIM TROGLEN Staff Writer Published: July 31, 2017 12:57 PM

AKRON The Akron Zoo announced today that Roscoe, a 14-year old male snow leopard, was euthanized on July 26 after being diagnosed with a fast-growing cancer that severely affected the bone in his lower jaw.

According to Doug Piekarz, Akron Zoo president CEO, Roscoe has been a beloved member of our family since he arrived from San Antonio. He will be missed by all of us. I want to thank our professional animal care staff who cared for him attentively every day, and our veterinary care staff who so diligently treated him during his illness to ensure his welfare,

According to the Snow Leopard Trust, at least one snow leopard is killed each day in the wild. With only a few thousand left on earth, we recognize the importance of the work we are doing to ensure the Snow Leopards survival. Roscoe will continue to play a critical role with his genetics preserved to help create a more genetically diverse future generation of snow leopards.

According to zoo officials, the median life expectancy of a snow leopard is 14 years old.

Roscoe was a resident of the Akron Zoo since 2004 and sired seven cubs while in Akron, three of which are still at the zoo.

Roscoe will be missed deeply by the zoo staff, volunteers and community, said Dr. Kim Cook, Akron Zoo director of animal health and conservation. He was a laid-back cat who had a great bond with Shanti. In fact they were able to be together at all times, which is rare for snow leopards, which are typically solitary animals.

Officials noticed Roscoe was not feeling well a few weeks ago through a change in his appetite and behavior.

The vet staff at the zoo performed an exam, which led to the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma bone cancer in Roscoes jaw. His appetite and activity began to rapidly decrease and the decision was made to humanely euthanize Roscoe. His annual preventive medicine exam last summer showed no signs of the cancer.

Snow leopards are an endangered species, and the zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan, which includes a total of 167 snow leopards. Participation in the program has led to three successful litters with Roscoe and the zoos female snow leopard Shanti. Two cubs were born in 2012 and 2014, and three cubs were born in 2016 and are still at the Akron Zoo, according to officials. The other four cubs are at other AZA-accredited zoos in the U.S.

In 2010 and 2012, the Akron Zoo worked with researchers to freeze Roscoes sperm to potentially use in the future for artificial insemination. With the advances in veterinary medicine, Roscoes legacy could continue for many generations and help prevent the extinction of snow leopards.

Roscoe was born May 18, 2003, at the San Antonio Zoo and came to the Akron Zoo Dec. 15, 2004.

Read the original here:
Akron Zoo mourns death of male snow leopard - Ravenna Record Courier

Recommendation and review posted by sam

A team of scientists in South Australia are providing a powerful new line of defence against one of horticulture's most damaging pests.

The National Sterile Insect Facility in Port Augusta, is set to produce 50 million sterile male Queensland fruit flies a week by 2019.

The ambitious three-year project is all in a bid to safeguard the multi-billion dollar horticulture industry across South Australia and Victoria.

The Sterile Insect Technology (SIT) is the first insect pest control method that uses genetics, or a widescale form of insect birth control.

The technique involves breeding fruit flies and sterilising the males with an x-ray before they are released into an area with a wild population.

These sterile male flies are then released over infested areas, where they mate with wild females who eventually become outnumbered and die out.

The $45 million SITPlus initiative, led by Horticulture Innovation Australia, complements the state-of-the-art facility in Port Augusta, approximately 350 kilometres from Adelaide.

Program director Dan Ryan took SA Country Hour for an exclusive tour through the $3.8 million factory.

He said the whole process began in the egg collection room where the team was breeding up to 50 million flies per week.

"We've got males and females in here; [they] are in there to have sex, so this is the exciting room for the flies," he said.

"What we've got is a surface that the females can overposit or lay eggs into and then we collect those eggs, we put them on a larval tray where the eggs can hatch into larvae.

"Then the larvae mature and they go to a pupal rearing room, [where] we raise the pupae. They mature inside the pupae which is just a little shell."

Flies in the SIT facility are marked with a bright pink dye so they can be identified in the wild.

(ABC Rural: Courtney Fowler)

Flies in the SIT facility are marked with a bright pink dye so they can be identified in the wild.

ABC Rural: Courtney Fowler

Mr Ryan said once the flies leave the pupal rearing room, they were covered with a distinctive dye so they could be easily identified in the wild.

"We mark the pupae because we need to know when we get out in the wild; is this a fly that's come from a factory and is sterile or is this a wild fly," he said.

"So what we do is cover them with a bright iridescent dye on the pupae, then the fly comes out of the pupae and gets covered in dye.

"We do have back-up processes to identify them; in the very rare occurrence that there is no dye on a fly we have two tests which will verify it."

Mr Ryan said from the dye-marking room, the flies are x-rayed and ready for release into the wild.

"We all think of x-rays with broken arms but these flies are getting x-rays to become sterile," he said.

"It's a very low dose of x-ray because as you can imagine, it doesn't take much to make a fly sterile but we have a 100 per cent success rate.

"[On release] these sterile flies go out and trick the wild females and the population crashes, it's a horrible trick on the wild female flies but is all part of protecting horticulture in Australia."

The larvae mature inside the pupae inside a little shell in the pupal rearing room.

(ABC Rural: Courtney Fowler)

The larvae mature inside the pupae inside a little shell in the pupal rearing room.

ABC Rural: Courtney Fowler

Queensland fruit fly destroys an estimated $300 million of fruit and vegetable crops every year.

Mr Ryan said the SIT program was a 'game-changer' for management of the Queensland fruit fly across south eastern Australia.

Queensland fruit flies destroys an estimated $300 million dollars of fruit and vegetable crops every year.

(ABC: Laurissa Smith)

Queensland fruit flies destroys an estimated $300 million dollars of fruit and vegetable crops every year.

He said the facility would not only ensure South Australia's remains fruit fly-free but would also help reduce populations across the country.

"South Australia markets horticulture overseas based on freedom from Queensland fruit fly, that's worth a lot of money to the industry," he said.

"If they lost that market access it would really impact the value of their businesses, so this is all about protecting those businesses.

"Another use is for areas where you have large isolated farms, so a good example of that might be Hillston NSW, where you've got a collection of large citrus farms and a cherry farms.

"It's a great place to put that pressure down and perhaps establish longer term another pest-free area.

"The third use is helping farmers in endemic areas manage the flies; one of the problems growers have is they can manage the fly on their farm but they're always getting reinvasion from off the farm."

SIT program director Dan Ryan says the facility aims to breed 50 million flies per week by 2019.

(ABC Rural: Courtney Fowler)

SIT program director Dan Ryan says the facility aims to breed 50 million flies per week by 2019.

ABC Rural: Courtney Fowler

Biosecurity SA executive director Will Zacharin said the facility in Port Augusta was putting South Australia on the world map in Sterile Insect Technology.

A close up picture of a Queensland fruit fly.

(Clint Jasper)

A close up picture of a Queensland fruit fly.

"It's the first purpose-built fruit-fly facility in Australia, to make sure that we could significantly ramp up the number of flies that we could get out of the factory," he said.

"This [will enable us] to provide flies right across south eastern Australia for those areas that need it.

"This is moving from a solution in a can and just trying to use chemicals to control a problem, to using new innovative technology in terms of sterile insects.

"It's going to be more long-term, it's going to be good for the producer, it's going to be good for the environment [and] its going to be good for consumers."

Mr Zacharin said he was confident the program could help other major horticultural regions across southern NSW and Victoria strive towards becoming fruit fly-free.

"We've looked at facilities overseas that produce up to a billion flies a week, so on world terms this is a small facility," he said.

"But it's about demonstrating to industries and communities that releasing sterile flies is a better way to go in the long-term.

"If we can prove this works very well in the Australian environment, there's no reason why we can't push fruit fly freedom from where we are in SA, right across the Murray corridor, into southern NSW and Victoria.

"That will increase productivity for growers and will also give them better access to international markets."

South Australia is the only mainland State which remains fruit fly free in the country.

(ABC: Damien Hooper)

South Australia is the only mainland State which remains fruit fly free in the country.

The SITPlus program is led by Horticulture Innovation Australia, in partnership with Primary Industries and Regions SA, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, CSIRO, Plant and Food Research Australia, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Macquarie University.

More:
How Sterile Insect Technology could combat one of horticulture's most damaging pests - ABC Online

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith