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Newswise LA JOLLAResearchers at the Salk Institute have healed injured hearts of living mice by reactivating long dormant molecular machinery found in the animals cells, a finding that could help pave the way to new therapies for heart disorders in humans.

The new results, published November 6 in the journal Cell Stem Cell, suggest that although adult mammals dont normally regenerate damaged tissue, they may retain a latent ability as a holdover from development like their distant ancestors on the evolutionary tree. When the Salk researchers blocked four molecules thought to suppress these programs for regenerating organs, they saw a drastic improvement in heart regeneration and healing in the mice.

The findings provide proof-of-concept for a new type of clinical treatment in the fight against heart disease, which kills about 600,000 people each year in the United Statesmore than AIDS and all cancer types combined, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Organ regeneration is a fascinating phenomenon that seemingly recapitulates the processes observed during development. However, despite our current understanding of how embryogenesis and development proceeds, the mechanisms preventing regeneration in adult mammals have remained elusive, says the studys senior author Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory at Salk.

Within the genomes of every cell in our bodies, we have what information we need to generate an organ. Izpisua Belmontes group has for many years focused on elucidating the key molecules involved in embryonic development as well as those potentially underlying healing responses in regenerative organisms such as the zebrafish.

Indeed, back in 2003, Izpisua Belmontes laboratory first identified the signals preceding zebrafish heart regeneration. And in a 2010 Nature paper, the researchers described how regeneration occurred in the zebrafish. Rather than stem cells invading injured heart tissue, the cardiac cells themselves were reverting to a precursor-like state (a process called dedifferentiation), which, in turn, allowed them to proliferate in tissue.

Although in theory it might have seemed like the next logical step to ask whether mammals had evolutionarily conserved any of the right molecular players for this kind of regenerative reprogramming, in practice it was a scientific risk, recalls Ignacio Sancho-Martinez, a postdoctoral researcher in Izpisua Belmontes lab.

When you speak about these things, the first thing that comes to peoples minds is that youre crazy, he says. Its a strange sounding idea, since we associate regeneration with salamanders and fish, but not mammals.

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Salk Scientists Discover a Key to Mending Broken Hearts

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RGN Regenerative Skin Solution by Hansderma
Courtney Lee, our RGN user made a nice introduction video how to use RGN and her experience! RGN is made in USA and not a Korean brand. RGN Skincare is committed to providing world class ...

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RGN Regenerative Skin Solution by Hansderma - Video

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By Emily J. Weitz

As a winter chill creeps into the air, we have to armor ourselves with extra layers of clothing, and make sure our homes are well-insulated. This carries over, too, to the way we care for our skin. Naturopathica, a business that started in East Hampton whose products can now be found in 350 spas across North America, offers a wide array of healing elixirs specifically formulated to balance and protect skin.

In New York, the winters tend to be cold and windy, said Barbara Close, Founder and CEO of Naturopathica. Cold air, wind, and artificial heat pull moisture from the skin and attack our skin barrier, which can lead to dry, irritated, sensitized and devitalized skin.

This can lead to skin losing its summer glow, and also to longer term issues like wrinkles and spotting. But having a consistent, healthy skincare regimen is a way to combat these issues.

If you consistently promote healthy skin with ingredients that target your concerns, said Ms. Close, you will experience the best possible result.

Other problems, like environmental pollutants, poor nutrition, and stress affect skin health.

Using ingredients with antioxidant and protective benefits on a daily basis helps to prevent premature aging and other visible concerns.

But Ms. Close says that even more important is how a skincare regimen can protect against disease. Specific ingredients to look for in your skincare products include Micronized Zinc Oxide, which reflects UVA/UVB rays. This compound is not absorbed into the bloodstream, so it remains on top of the skin like a shield. She also recommends seed oils, like carrot seed oil or rosehip seed oil.

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

Contact: David McKeon dmckeon@nyscf.org 212-365-7440 New York Stem Cell Foundation @nyscf

New York, NY (November 6, 2014) - A team of scientists led by The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute successfully created a human stem cell disease model of Parkinson's disease in a dish. Studying a pair of identical (monozygotic) twins, one affected and one unaffected with Parkinson's disease, another unrelated Parkinson's patient, and four healthy control subjects, the scientists were able to observe key features of the disease in the laboratory, specifically differences in the patients' neurons' ability to produce dopamine, the molecule that is deficient in Parkinson's disease. In addition, the scientists also identified a potential strategy for developing novel therapies for Parkinson's disease.

Attributed to a combination of genetic and nongenetic factors, Parkinson's disease has no completely effective therapy or cure. Parkinson's disease is moderately heritable, but the mechanisms of this inheritance are not well understood. While genetic forms of the disease exist, sporadic forms are far more common.

"The unique scenario of identical twins, one with this disease and one without, allowed our scientists an unprecedented look into the mechanisms of Parkinson's disease," said Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF Chief Executive Officer. "Advanced stem cell research techniques allow us to push the boundaries of science and see what actually goes wrong at the cellular level, step by step during the disease process."

DNA mutations resulting in the production of a specific enzyme called glucocerebrosidase (GBA) have been linked to a five-fold greater risk of developing Parkinson's disease; however, only 30% of individuals with this mutation have been shown to develop Parkinson's disease by the age of 80. This discordance suggests that multiple factors contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease, including both genetic and non-genetic factors. To date, there has been no appropriate model to identify and test multiple triggers leading to the onset of the disease.

In this study, published today in Cell Reports, a set of identical twins, both with a GBA mutation, provided a unique opportunity to evaluate and dissect the genetic and non-genetic contributions to the development of Parkinson's disease in one twin, and the lack of disease in the other. The scientists made induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from skin samples from both twins to generate a cellular model of Parkinson's in a dish, recapitulating key features of the disease, specifically the accumulation of -synuclein and dopamine deficiency.

Upon analyzing the cell models, the scientists found that the dopamine-producing neurons from both twins had reduced GBA enzymatic activity, elevated -synuclein protein levels, and a reduced capacity to synthesize and release dopamine. In comparison to his unaffected brother, the neurons generated from the affected twin produced less dopamine, had higher levels of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B), and poor ability to connect with each other. Treating the neurons with molecules that lowered the activity of MAO-B together with overexpressed GBA normalized -synuclein and dopamine levels in the cell models. This suggests that a combination therapy for the affected twin may be possible by simultaneously targeting these two enzymes.

"The subject of Parkinson's disease discordant twins gave us an incredible opportunity to utilize stem cell models of disease in a dish to unlock some of the biological mechanisms of disease," said Dr. Scott Noggle, NYSCF Vice President, Stem Cell Research and The NYSCF - Charles Evans Senior Research Fellow for Alzheimer's Disease. "Working with these various different groups and scientists added to the depth and value of the research and we hope our findings will be applicable to other Parkinson's disease patients and other neurodegenerative disorders."

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Induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) created from adult cells hold promise for therapeutic transplantation, but their potential in this capacity has been limited by failed efforts to maintain such cells in the desirable multi-potent NSC state without continuous expression of the transcription factors used initially to reprogram them.

Now, Whitehead Institute scientists have created iNSCs that remain in the multi-potent state without ongoing expression of reprogramming factors. This allows the iNSCs to divide repeatedly to generate cells in quantities sufficient for therapy.

"Therapeutically, it's important to make neural stem cells because they can self-renew and make lots of cells," says Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch, who is also a professor of biology at MIT. "If you just make mature neurons, which has been done by others, you never get enough cells."

To make iNSCs via direct lineage conversion researchers use viruses to insert a cocktail of transcription factors into the genome of mouse adult skin cells. A drug triggers these transcription factors to turn on genes active in neural stem cells. This direct conversion, known as transdifferentiation, bypasses the step of pushing the cells first through an embryonic stem-cell-like state.

In previous research, iNSCs remained addicted to the drug and reprogramming transcription factors; if either the drug or the factors was removed, the cells revert to skin cells.

"If the reprogramming factors are still active, it's horrible for the cells," says John Cassady, a scientist in Jaenisch's lab. "The cells would be unable to differentiate and the resulting cells would not be therapeutically useful."

In a paper published online this week in the current issue of the journal Stem Cell Reports, Cassady and other Whitehead scientists describe how they prevented the cells' relapse without keeping the reprogramming factors active. First, the cells were grown in a special medium that selects for neural stem cells. Then, the drug is removed. Instead of reverting into skin cells, the iNSCs remain in a multi-potent state that can differentiate into neurons and glia cells. Cassady also refined the reprogramming cocktail to contain eight transcription factors, which produces iNSCs that are transcriptionally and epigenetically similar to mouse neural stem cells.

Cassady notes that a random sample of skin cells can contain neural precursor cells, which can more easily make the transition to iNSCs. To eliminate the possibility that his method might actually rely on cells having this sort of "head start", Cassady converted fully mature immune system cells called B-lymphocytes, which have a very specific genetic marker, to iNSCs. The resulting cells had the profile of their new identity as iNSCs, yet retained their B-lymphocyte genetic marker, showing that Cassady's method could indeed convert non-neural cells to iNSCs.

Although promising, all of the work to date has been conducted in mouse cells. According to Cassady, researchers should next test this protocol in human cells to see if it can successfully produce the cell populations necessary for therapeutic use.

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Direct generation of neural stem cells could enable transplantation therapy

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Newswise SYRACUSE, N.Y. Scientists at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) are growing the first American chestnut trees that can withstand the blight that virtually eliminated the once-dominant tree from the eastern United States.

Members of the ESF research team recently published three peer-reviewed papers that, along with continuing research, support their conviction that their biotechnology work with a gene originating in wheat makes the American chestnut tree at least as blight resistant as the Chinese chestnut tree that can co-exist with blight with minimal ill effects.

Our goal was to develop an American chestnut tree that has blight resistance equal to that of a Chinese chestnut and we are there. Weve done it, said Dr. William Powell, an ESF professor who leads the research project along with Dr. Chuck Maynard. The leaf assays show it, the small-stem assays show it, Powell said, referring to the analytical processes the researchers go through to determine the level of blight resistance. These American chestnut trees are blight resistant.

It is tremendously satisfying to reach this level of success. We have a lot of people to thank for this. Its been a long haul but we are happy with where we are, Maynard said. A significant milestone in the process, he said, was reached when the transgenic trees, inoculated with the blight during testing, remained essentially as healthy as control trees that had been inoculated with only water.

The tree was once prominent enough to have earned a place in American culture, with chestnuts roasting over open fires in the winter, and Chestnut Streets running through towns across the country. The wood of American chestnuts is rot-resistant, making it suitable for construction purposes, and its abundant nuts were once a dietary staple for wildlife.

The next step in its return is for the researchers to select one of the 14 lines of transgenic trees with blight resistance and submit a detailed application to the federal agencies that will conduct a rigorous review process. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, and Food and Drug Administration must approve the trees before they are available to the public for planting. If all goes well, the process could take around five years.

This is the first time the approval process will be used for a tree that is ultimately destined to be planted in the wild. The process has been applied to many crops, orchard and plantation trees, but not to species that are native to U.S. forests.

In the meantime, Powell, a molecular plant biologist, and Maynard, a tree improvement specialist, will produce as many trees as possible, perhaps 10,000, so they are ready for planting if and when the approval process is complete. The ESF College Foundation, Inc., which supports the colleges educational mission, continues fundraising efforts to support the work.

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Blight-Resistant American Chestnut Trees Take Root at SUNY-ESF

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

Contact: David McKeon dmckeon@nyscf.org 212-365-7440 New York Stem Cell Foundation @nyscf

New York, NY (November 6, 2014) - A team led by New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute scientists conducted a study comparing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and embryonic stem cells created using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The scientists found that the cells derived from these two methods resulted in cells with highly similar gene expression and DNA methylation patterns. Both methods also resulted in stem cells with similar amounts of DNA mutations, showing that the process of turning an adult cell into a stem cell introduces mutations independent of the specific method used. This suggests that both methods of producing stem cells need to be further investigated before determining their suitability for the development of new therapies for chronic diseases.

The NYSCF Research Institute is one of the only laboratories in the world that currently pursues all forms of stem cell research including SCNT and iPS cell techniques for creating stem cells. The lack of laboratories attempting SCNT research was one of the reasons that the NYSCF Research Institute was established in 2006.

"We do not yet know which technique will allow scientists to create the best cells for new cellular therapies," said Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF CEO and co-founder. "It is critical to pursue both SCNT and iPS cell techniques in order to accelerate research and bring new treatments to patients."

While both techniques result in pluripotent stem cells, or cells that can become any type of cell in the body, the two processes are different. SCNT consists of replacing the nucleus of a human egg cell or oocyte with the nucleus of an adult cell, resulting in human embryonic stem cells with the genetic material of the adult cell. In contrast, scientists create iPS cells by expressing a few key genes in adult cells, like a skin or blood cell, causing the cells to revert to an embryonic-like state. These differences in methods could, in principle, result in cells with different properties. Advances made earlier this year by NYSCF Research Institute scientists that showed that human embryonic stem cells could be derived using SCNT revived that debate.

"Our work shows that we now have two methods for the generation of a patient's personal stem cells, both with great potential for the development of treatments of chronic diseases. Our work will also be welcome news for the many scientists performing basic research on iPS cells. It shows that they are likely working with cells that are very similar to human embryonic stem cells, at least with regard to gene expression and DNA methylation. How the finding of mutations might affect clinical use of stem cells generated from adult cells is the subject of an ongoing debate," said Dr. Dieter Egli, NYSCF Senior Research Fellow, NYSCF - Robertson Investigator, Assistant Professor in Pediatrics & Molecular Genetics at Columbia University, and senior author on the paper.

The study, published today in Cell Stem Cell, compared cell lines derived from the same sources using the two differing techniques, specifically contrasting the frequency of genetic coding mutations seen and measuring how closely the stem cells matched the embryonic state through the analysis of DNA methylation and of gene expression patterns. The scientists showed that both methods resulted in cell types that were similar with regard to gene expression and DNA methylation patterns. This suggested that both methods were effective in turning a differentiated cell into a stem cell.

The scientists also showed that cells derived using both SCNT and iPS techniques showed similar numbers of genetic coding mutations, implying that neither technique is superior in that regard. A similar number of changes in DNA methylation at imprinted genes (genes that are methylated differentially at the maternal versus the paternal allele) were also found. It is important to note that both types of techniques led to cells that had more of these aberrations than embryonic stem cells derived from an unfertilized human oocyte, or than embryonic stem cells derived from leftover IVF embryos. These findings suggest that a small number of defects are inherent to the generation of stem cells from adult differentiated cells and occur regardless of the method used.

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Scientists find that SCNT derived cells and IPS cells are similar

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No one has used genetic engineering to do something beneficial for the environment.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- In the first use of genetic engineering to save a species in the wild, SUNY researchers say they have created a new strain of blight-resistant American chestnut that could restore the majestic tree to the American landscape.

After 25 years of research, a pair of professors at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry say they have used a gene from wheat to create an American chestnut that could withstand the blight that wiped out up to 5 billion of the trees in the United States.

"It is tremendously satisfying to reach this level of success," said ESF professor Chuck Maynard, who worked with fellow professor William Powell to build the blight-resistant tree.

Before the blight nearly wiped out the trees by the 1950s, chestnuts ranged from Florida to Maine and comprised up to 25 percent of Eastern forests. Its rot-resistant wood was an important source of lumber for log cabins and railroad ties for an emerging nation. The nutrient-rich nuts provided food for wildlife and humans; the roasted nuts were so delicious they even inspired a Christmas song.

"The team has accomplished a major goal, the generation of a blight-resistant American chestnut tree," said Dr. Timothy Tschaplinski, a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in a statement released by ESF. "The sum total of these efforts is a major step forward for the goal of restoration of American chestnut to the North American landscape."

Genetic engineering has been used to increase production of crops, particularly corn and soybean, and to make medicines such as insulin.

"No one has used genetic engineering to do something beneficial for the environment," Powell said. "This technique can be used for many species of trees that are threatened by disease. It goes beyond the American chestnut."

ESF's American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project has long been one of the leaders in the movement to restore the tree to the landscape.

Developing a blight-resistant chestnut was a long and tedious process. Through trial-and-error, Powell and Maynard tried 30 genes, extracting them and then using bacteria to deliver the genes to individual chestnut cells. Each of those cells had to grow into trees large enough to test for blight resistance. The first attempt took 2.5 years, Powell said.

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Breakthrough at SUNY-ESF: Genetic engineering may save the nearly extinct American chestnut

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A 9,300-year-old frozen bison mummy has been found in Eastern Siberia, according to a presentation this week at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologys Annual Meeting in Berlin.

The still-furry beast is one of the most complete frozen mummies ever found. It literally freezes in time the appearance and anatomy of a steppe bison (Bison priscus), whose species went extinct shortly after the end of the Ice Age.

Mummies Faces,Hair-dos, Revealed in 3D: Photos

Its been named the Yukagir bison mummy, after the region where it was found.

The exceptionally good preservation of the Yukagir bison mummy allows direct anatomical comparisons with modern species of bison and cattle, as well as with extinct species of bison that were gone at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, co-author Evgeny Maschenko from the Paleontological Institute in Moscow was quoted as saying in a press release.

The remarkable specimen still has its complete brain, heart, blood vessels and digestive system. Some of its organs have significantly shrunk over time, but thats to be expected given its advanced age.

Video: Three Extinct Animals Making a Comeback

The researchers, led by Natalia Serduk of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, conducted a necropsy on the remains. The investigation determined that the bison showed a relatively normal anatomy. A clue to its demise, however, is a lack of fat around its abdomen. This suggests that the bison died from starvation, but the scientists arent sure of that yet.

Compared to todays bison in America, the Ice Age bison sported much larger horns and a second back hump. Steppe bison like this now-frozen one were commonly featured in Stone Age cave art, often shown being hunted by humans.

Remains for a woolly rhino, a 35,00039,000-year-old horse, and a mammoth were also recently found near the Siberian site where the bison mummy was discovered.

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9,300-Year-Old Bison Mummy Found in Siberia

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, November 6, 2014--Lower-cost 3D printers for the consumer market offer only a limited selection of plastic materials, while industrial additive manufacturing (AM) machines can print parts made of high-performance metals. The application of a novel process called Selective Inhibition Sintering (SIS) in a consumer-priced metal AM machine is described in an article in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing website until December 6, 2014.

Payman Torabi, Matthew Petros, and Behrokh Khoshnevis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, explain this innovative process, present sample parts printed using the technology, and discuss the next steps in research and development in the article "SIS -- The Process for Consumer Metal Additive Manufacturing" The SIS process differs from traditional research in powder sintering, which focuses on enhancing sintering (a process of fusing materials using heat and pressure); instead, SIS prevents sintering in selected regions of each powder layer.

"This technology uses a fundamentally new approach to 3D printing, one that could expand the reach of metal printing," says Editor-in-Chief Hod Lipson, PhD, Professor at Cornell University's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ithaca, NY.

###

About the Journal

3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing is a peer-reviewed journal published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print. Spearheaded by Hod Lipson, PhD, Director of Cornell University's Creative Machines Lab at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the Journal explores emerging challenges and opportunities ranging from new developments of processes and materials, to new simulation and design tools, and informative applications and case studies. Spanning a broad array of disciplines focusing on novel 3D printing and rapid prototyping technologies, policies, and innovations, the Journal brings together the community to address the challenges and discover new breakthroughs and trends living within this groundbreaking technology. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (http://www.liebertpub.com/3dp) website.

About the Publisher

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Novel 3D printing process enables metal additive manufacturing for consumer market

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

IMAGE: Industrial Biotechnology, led by Co-Editors-in-Chief Larry Walker, PhD, Biological and Environmental Engineering Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and Glenn Nedwin, PhD, MoT, CEO and President, Taxon Biosciences, Tiburon, CA, is...

New Rochelle, NY, November 6, 2014Screening large cell culture collections containing plant samples obtained from diverse geographic regions, climates, and soil and growing conditions for biological activity can reveal a wealth of natural compounds with potential applications for crop improvement and protection. The capability to do reproducible screening and genomic analysis of the more than 2,000 plant cell lines maintained in culture at the Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering, in Kiev, Ukraine is describe in an article in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Industrial Biotechnology website.

In the article "Screening Plant Biodiversity In Vitro for New Natural Products," Prof. Nikolay V. Kuchuk and coauthors from the Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering and Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev; Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA; and Hunter-Cevera & Associates, Ellicott City, MD, provide a detailed description of their methods for plant cell culture and the development of plant extracts for screening. The authors present the results of large-scale screening for insecticidal and fungicidal activity in 1,200 plant samples.

The article is part of the IB IN DEPTH special section entitled "Plants and Microorganisms: Moving Food and Agricultural Biotechnology Forward," led by Guest Editor Jennie Hunter-Cevera, PhD, Hunter-Cevera & Associates.

This issue of IB also features an Overview entitled "Exploring Plant-Microorganism Relationships for Natural Solutions to Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production," the Roundtable Discussion "Opportunities and Challenges for Plant Natural Product Research and Development," the Patent Update "Intellectual Property of Plants and Plant Products: Is Fruit Juice Eligible for Patent Protection?" and two Review articles: "Potential for Industrial Application of Microbes in Symbioses that Influence Plant Productivity and Sustainability in Agricultural, Natural, or Restored Ecosystems" and "Delayed Ripening of Climacteric Fruit by Catalysts Prepared from Induced Cells of Rhodococcus rhodochrous DAP 96253A Case for the Biological Modulation of Yang-Cycle Driven Processes by a Prokaryote."

"Leveraging the genetic diversity of the plant world is an important activity for agricultural, environmental, and industrial biotechnology sectors and is key to addressing a spectrum of global sustainability challenges," says Co-Editor-in-Chief Larry Walker, PhD, Professor, Biological & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

###

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Biodiversity of plant cell culture collections offers valuable source of natural insecticidal and fungicidal products

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November 6, 2014

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Researchers have long suspected that Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease have factors in common and a new genetics study in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics has identified eight molecular pathways common to both diseases.

In the study, scientists used a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) and health records of nearly 8,200 black women, 3,500 Hispanic women and 3,700 white women. In evaluating women with both Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease compared to healthy subjects, the team discovered inconsistencies in eight pathways regulating how cells stick within tissues, talk to each other, how neurons interact with target locations, the physical support system within tissues, and numerous forms of heart muscle complications.

Study author Simin Liu, professor of epidemiology and medicine in the Brown University, said the team focused on how specific genes and the proteins they produce interact to affect physiology and health.

Looking at genes one by one is standard, Liu said in a recent statement. But ultimately, the interactions of biology are fundamentally organized in a pathway and network manner.

Image Above: A genetic network shows 10 proposed key driver genes that may have especially great influence in both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Credit: Liu lab/Brown University

The study found molecular evidence of the eight pathways across all ethnicities and found a few pathways that were ethnicity-specific. The researchers used five different methodologies to analyze the pathways and identified one only if it showed up in at least two analyses. The researchers also exposed the pathways to a network investigation to spot genes that could be key drivers of the two conditions. They were able to find and report ten in the paper.

These [key driver] genes represent central network genes which, when perturbed, can potentially affect a large number of genes involved in the (cardiovascular disease) and (Type 2 diabetes) pathways and thus exert stronger impact on diseases, the team wrote.

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Genetic Connection Between Diabetes And Heart Disease

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Genetics Biology Song using Vocab #DUD
We had a song where we had to use our biology vocal to make a parody or an original song. This was a dud. Instrumentals from "Frozen Heart"

By: CP Academy Dud Vids

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Genetics Biology Song using Vocab #DUD - Video

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NMRiH Gene Therapy Animation
yehs.

By: Rock Animator

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NMRiH Gene Therapy Animation - Video

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Fall Into Cash Draw 2014 - Spinal Cord Injury Newfoundland and Labrador
Fall Into Cash Draw 2014 Spinal Cord Injury Newfoundland and Labrador Draw Date: November 4th, 2014 1st Prize $12000 Ticket # 05946 2nd Prize $2500 Ticket ...

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Fall Into Cash Draw 2014 - Spinal Cord Injury Newfoundland and Labrador - Video

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Keynote: Molecular Regulation of Stem Cell Quiescence Activation
Keynote Speaker: Thomas Rando, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging, Stanford University School of Medicine.

By: Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

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Keynote: Molecular Regulation of Stem Cell Quiescence & Activation - Video

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Korean stem cells regenerate coach Hiddinks worn-out knee cartilage NOVEMBER 06, 2014 08:34 Korean stem cells regenerate coach Hiddinks worn-out knee cartilage . NOVEMBER 06, 2014 08:34. . Guus Hiddink, the legendary soccer coach who led the Korean national team to the semifinals at the 2002 World Cup Korea-Japan, has been reborn as a figure symbolizing excellence of Korean stem cell treatment. Hiddink, who was suffering from severe arthritis, had his knee cartilage almost completely worn out. Rejecting recommendations to take an artificial joint surgery by hospitals in the U.S. and Germany, Hiddink chose to take stem cell treatment in Korea. He started treatment in January this year, and was declared as having fully recovered from the illness 10 months later.

The treatment that gave coach Hiddink a second life is Cartistem that is made from cord blood stem cells. Cartistem developed by bio venture firm Medipost received product licensure as treatment for knee cartilage, which has been damaged due to degenerative conditions and repeated injuries, from the Korea Food and Drug Ministry in January 2012. It was the first to receive licensure among stem cell treatments in the world. The treatment is undergoing clinical trials in the U.S. to acquire licensure from the Food and Drug Administration. Despite a highly costly price that is not covered by the national health insurance system, the treatment has been used in more than 1,600 patients thus far.

Stem cell treatments developed in Korea include Hearticellgram, a treatment for cardiac infarction, and Cupistem, a treatment for fistulous opening (a disease that causes holes in tissue between rectums and anus), as well as Cartistem. Hearticellgram and Cupistem use stem cells from tissues of the patients own body. Umbilical cord stem cells and autologous stem cells do not derive from human eggs and hence are free from controversy of bioethics. They are results of steadfast research and investment in stem cells by Korean biotech firms.

In tune with the aging society and a growing number of people with chronic diseases, the bio industry is considered a "cash cow industry of the future." Notably, the stem cell sector that treats abnormal bodily organs is the most promising field. Not only bio powerhouses such as the U.S., Japan and the European Union but also China have jumped into the industry. As research on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) recently won the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine, countries worldwide are having mounting interest in the field. The Korean government should create an environment to enable Korean biotech firms to take a leap forward in the global market, by providing generous support for investment and putting in place prompt and predictable licensure and approval process.

The treatment that gave coach Hiddink a second life is Cartistem that is made from cord blood stem cells. Cartistem developed by bio venture firm Medipost received product licensure as treatment for knee cartilage, which has been damaged due to degenerative conditions and repeated injuries, from the Korea Food and Drug Ministry in January 2012. It was the first to receive licensure among stem cell treatments in the world. The treatment is undergoing clinical trials in the U.S. to acquire licensure from the Food and Drug Administration. Despite a highly costly price that is not covered by the national health insurance system, the treatment has been used in more than 1,600 patients thus far.

Stem cell treatments developed in Korea include Hearticellgram, a treatment for cardiac infarction, and Cupistem, a treatment for fistulous opening (a disease that causes holes in tissue between rectums and anus), as well as Cartistem. Hearticellgram and Cupistem use stem cells from tissues of the patients own body. Umbilical cord stem cells and autologous stem cells do not derive from human eggs and hence are free from controversy of bioethics. They are results of steadfast research and investment in stem cells by Korean biotech firms.

In tune with the aging society and a growing number of people with chronic diseases, the bio industry is considered a "cash cow industry of the future." Notably, the stem cell sector that treats abnormal bodily organs is the most promising field. Not only bio powerhouses such as the U.S., Japan and the European Union but also China have jumped into the industry. As research on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) recently won the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine, countries worldwide are having mounting interest in the field. The Korean government should create an environment to enable Korean biotech firms to take a leap forward in the global market, by providing generous support for investment and putting in place prompt and predictable licensure and approval process.

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donga.com[English donga]

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

CorQuests revolutionary technology is designed to enable cardiologists to take a unique access route directly to the patients left atrium and therefore has the potential to become a major breakthrough innovation for therapeutic indications such as mitral valve disorders and structural heart disease, conditions often linked to heart failure. Specifically, CorQuests novel heart access technology comprises a number of instruments which allows for quick, user friendly and easy trans-thoracic access to the heart, directly into the left atrium, ensuring a minimally invasive approach to deliver numerous existing therapeutic devices.

When CE-marked, the insertion of the heart access sheath into a patients left atrium will allow the deployment of catheters or other necessary instruments for use in the treatment of various indications such as mitral valve occlusion defects. As such, the market potential could be very significant as this new open access route could be used in many existing medical device applications.

Currently in the advanced pre-clinical development phase, Cardio3 BioSciences intends to progress the device through the appropriate clinical and regulatory approval processes, with the aim of obtaining CE mark approval by the end of 2016, which would allow commercialisation in Europe. The first indication to be targeted with the CorQuest technology is expected to be the repair or replacement of the mitral valve.

The CorQuest technology platform is fully complementary with Cardio3 BioSciences C-Cathez and C-Cure programs. The C-Cathez catheter could be passed through CorQuests sheath to deliver C-Cure into the myocardium when the traditional route via the aorta may lead to complications for the patient.

The acquisition of CorQuest and the development of these technologies will not significantly affect the Companys burn rate over the two coming years. However, the acquisition of an extra medical device with a potential to market by 2016, as well as other therapeutic applications, will enable the Company to create multiple short term value creation milestones for its shareholders.

Dr Christian Homsy, CEO of Cardio3 BioSciences, comments: As part of our business strategy of building further on our cardiovascular diseases expertise, we have been actively seeking to acquire technologies that complement our existing medical devices for treating severe heart conditions. This invention is truly novel and may solve one of the very significant issues in mitral valve repair for example. Indeed, today, mitral valve repair procedures require a convoluted access to the valve. This revolutionary technology allows a direct access to the valve, from above, without perforation of the inter-atrial wall or the apex of the heart. The development of this technology will enable Cardio3 BioSciences to build on its leadership position in innovative therapies and devices for cardiovascular diseases.

In addition to the heart access technology, Cardio3 Biosciences acquisition of CorQuest includes a line of medical devices and implants targeted at various structural heart diseases including atrial fibrillation and mitral valve diseases, which will further expand Cardio3 BioSciences cardiovascular therapeutic applications portfolio.

As the heart access sheath is an open technology, the market potential of this new route to the heart and its accompanying line of medical devices and implants could be significant in a global market of cardiac medical devices which is expected to total $65.6 billion in 2015, with an annual growth rate of 9.8%.

Georges Rawadi, VP Business Development at Cardio3 BioSciences comments: Over 20 million invasive cardiac procedures, involving devices, are performed worldwide on an annual basis. This potential new access route to the heart could be used in a substantial proportion of those.

Dr. Didier De Cannire, founder of CorQuest Medical Inc. and technology inventor, further adds:

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Cardio3 Biosciences Acquires CorQuest Medical Inc.

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Durham, NC (PRWEB) November 05, 2014

Half of all traumatic injuries to the face result in a loss of teeth and the surrounding tissue and bone that once supported them, which in turn makes these types of injuries very debilitating and difficult to treat. But in a new study published in the latest issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, doctors at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSoD), Ann Arbor, have found a new way to regenerate a patients jawbone through the use of stem cells.

The procedure, done under local anesthesia, significantly speeds up the healing time relative to that of traditional bone grafting while allowing a patient to experience only a minimal amount of pain.

Part of a larger clinical trial, the findings highlighted in this issue focus on a 45-year-old woman missing seven front teeth plus 75 percent of the bone that once supported them, the result of a blow to her face five years earlier. She was left with severe functional and cosmetic deficiencies, since the missing bone made it impossible for her to have dental implant-based teeth replacements.

Darnell Kaigler, DDS, MS, PhD, an assistant professor of dentistry in the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, was a lead member of the study team. "In small jawbone defects of the mouth created after teeth were extracted, we have placed gelatin sponges populated with stem cells into these areas to successfully grow bone."

Since the sponge material is soft, it does not work in larger areas. Thus, he and his team of researchers decided to try b-tricalcium phosphate (b-TCP) as a scaffold upon which to place the cells instead. "For treating larger jawbone defects, it is important to have a scaffold material that is rigid and more stable to support bone growth," he explained.

They then placed the b-TCP scaffold, which had been seeded with a mixed population of bone marrow-derived autologous stem and progenitor cells 30 minutes prior to treatment at room temperature, into the defective area of the patients mouth during a procedure that requires only local anesthesia. Four months later, 80 percent of her missing jawbone had been regenerated, allowing them to proceed with placing oral implants that supported a dental prosthesis to once again give her a complete set of teeth.

Study team member Sharon Aronovich, DMD, FRCD(C), a clinical assistant professor of dentistry in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the UMSoD, said, I am very grateful to all the patients and researchers that participated in this study. Thanks to everyone's efforts, we are one step closer to providing patients with a minimally invasive option for implant-based tooth replacement.

As the first report to describe a cell therapy for craniofacial trauma reconstruction, this research serves as the foundation for expanded studies using this approach, said Anthony Atala, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

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Stem cells help doctors restore womans smile, regenerating bone to hold dental implants

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Miami, FL (PRWEB) November 05, 2014

Global Stem Cells Group, its subsidiary Stem Cell Training, Inc. and Dr. J. Victor Garcia have announced plans to conduct the Adipose Derived Harvesting, Isolation and Re-integration Training Course in Barcelona, Spain Nov. 22-23. 2014.

The two-day, hands-on intensive training course, which will be conducted by Garcia, was developed for physicians and high-level practitioners to learn techniques in harvesting and reintegrating stem cells derived from adipose tissue and bone marrow. The objective of the training is to bridge the gap between bench science in the laboratory and the doctors office by teaching effective, in-office regenerative medicine techniques.

For more information, visit the Stem Cell Training, Inc. website, email info(at)stemcelltraining(dot)net, or call 305-224-1858.

About Global Stem Cells Group:

Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. is the parent company of six wholly owned operating companies dedicated entirely to stem cell research, training, products and solutions. Founded in 2012, the company combines dedicated researchers, physician and patient educators and solution providers with the shared goal of meeting the growing worldwide need for leading edge stem cell treatments and solutions.

With a singular focus on this exciting new area of medical research, Global Stem Cells Group and its subsidiaries are uniquely positioned to become global leaders in cellular medicine.

Global Stem Cells Groups corporate mission is to make the promise of stem cell medicine a reality for patients around the world. With each of GSCGs six operating companies focused on a separate research-based mission, the result is a global network of state-of-the-art stem cell treatments.

About Stem Cell Training, Inc.:

Stem Cell Training, Inc. is a multi-disciplinary company offering coursework and training in 35 cities worldwide. Coursework offered focuses on minimally invasive techniques for harvesting stem cells from adipose tissue, bone marrow and platelet-rich plasma. By equipping physicians with these techniques, the goal is to enable them to return to their practices, better able to apply these techniques in patient treatments.

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Global Stem Cells Group to Hold Practical, Hands-on Training Course on Adipose-derived Stem Cell Harvesting, Isolation ...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Eliminating Pediatric Cancer Using T-Cell Immunotherapy
Dr. Michael Jensen, Center Director of Seattle Children #39;s Research Institute #39;s Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, gives a talk on Seattle Children #39;s work to eradicate pediatric...

By: SeattleChildrens

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Eliminating Pediatric Cancer Using T-Cell Immunotherapy - Video

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There is a need for political support across the spectrum for promoting safe and responsible genetic engineering research, said M. S. Swaminathan, chairman, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.

He was addressing students at the 35 annual convocation of Anna University in the city on Wednesday.

Over one lakh students received their degrees in various specialities..

Mr. Swaminathan said that the present moratorium on field trials with recombinant DNA material was a serious handicap.

Agriculture is a State subject and it is very important that agricultural universities and State departments of agriculture are involved in the design and implementation of field trials. It takes nearly 10 years for a new variety to be ready for recommendation to farmers; therefore, speed is of the essence in organising field trials and gathering reliable data on risks and benefits, he said.

He added that public sector research and development institutions should give high priority to the breeding of varieties which can help farmers minimise climate and market risks.

M. Rajaram, vice-chancellor of Anna University, said in addition to imparting education, the university is sensitive to the welfare of society.

The unmanned aerial vehicle, dhaksha, designed and developed by the university, joined the rescue team at Moulivakkam, he said.

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

5-Nov-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

"New Rochelle, NY, November 5, 2014The e-incubator, an innovative miniature incubator that is compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), enables scientists to grow tissue-engineered constructs under controlled conditions and to study their growth and development in real-time without risk of contamination or damage. Offering the potential to test engineered tissues before human transplantation, increase the success rate of implantation, and accelerate the translation of tissue engineering methods from the lab to the clinic, the novel e-incubator is described in an article in Tissue Engineering, Part C, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Tissue Engineering website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ten.tec.2014.0273 until December 5, 2014."

"In the article "The e-Incubator: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Compatible Mini Incubator" , Shadi Othman, PhD, Karin Wartella, PhD, Vahid Khalilzad Sharghi, and Huihui Xu, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, present the results of a validation study using the device to culture tissue-engineered bone constructs for 4 weeks. The e-incubator is a standalone unit that automatically detects and regulates internal conditions such as temperature, carbon dioxide levels, and pH via a microcontroller. It performs media exchange to feed the cultures and remove waste products. The current design is compatible with MRI to monitor the constructs without removing them from the incubator. With proper adjustments, compatibility with other imaging technologies including computed tomography (CT) and optical imaging is also possible."

""Calibratable, hands-free tissue development environments are becoming increasingly important for the engineering of implantable tissues," says Tissue Engineering Co-Editor-in-Chief Peter C. Johnson, MD, Vice President, Research and Development, Avery Dennison Medical Solutions of Chicago, IL and President and CEO, Scintellix, LLC, Raleigh, NC. "In this new development, noninvasive imaging modalities are added to the spectrum of sensing and environmental capabilities that heretofore have included temperature, humidity, light, physical force, and electromagnetism. This represents a solid advance for the field.""

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About the Journal

"Tissue Engineering is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published online with Open Access options and in print in three parts: Part A, the flagship, published 24 times per year; Part B: Reviews, published bimonthly; and Part C: Methods, published 12 times per year. Led by Co-Editors-In-Chief Antonios Mikos, PhD, Louis Calder Professor at Rice University, Houston, TX, and Peter C. Johnson, MD, Vice President, Research and Development, Avery Dennison Medical Solutions of Chicago, IL and President and CEO, Scintellix, LLC, Raleigh, NC, the Journal brings together scientific and medical experts in the fields of biomedical engineering, material science, molecular and cellular biology, and genetic engineering. Tissue Engineering is the official journal of the Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS). Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on at the Tissue Engineering website at http://www.liebertpub.com/ten. "

About the Publisher

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New e-Incubator enables real-time imaging of bioengineered tissues in controlled unit

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Supporters of efforts to label GMOs in foods turn out at a rally in Denverin 2013. A ballot measure that would such labels failed to pass by a wide margin Tuesday. Luke Runyon/KUNC/Harvest Public Media hide caption

Supporters of efforts to label GMOs in foods turn out at a rally in Denverin 2013. A ballot measure that would such labels failed to pass by a wide margin Tuesday.

An effort to label genetically modified foods in Colorado failed to garner enough support Tuesday. It's the latest of several state-based GMO labeling ballot measures to fail. UPDATE: A similar measure in Oregon was also defeated by a narrow margin.

Voters in Colorado resoundingly rejected the labeling of foods that contain the derivatives of genetically modified - or GMO crops, with 66 percent voting against, versus 34 percent in favor.

In Oregon the outcome was closer, with fewer than 51 percent voting against the measure. Political ad spending in Oregon was more competitive than in Colorado, where labeling opponents outspent proponents by millions of dollars.

Meanwhile, a proposal in Maui County, Hawaii, skipped the labeling debate altogether. Voters there narrowly approved a moratorium on GMO crop cultivation. The state has been a battleground between biotech firms and food activists. Some Hawaiian farmers grow a variety of papaya genetically engineered to resist a plant virus.

Polling prior to the GMO labeling vote in Colorado was scarce. Polls found Colorado's measure faced an uphill battle in the final weeks before the election. A Suffolk University poll found only 29 percent of registered voters favored the measure, while 49 percent were likely to vote against it. A Denver Post poll was even more damning. According to that poll, 59 percent were opposed to GMO labeling in Colorado, 34 percent in favor.

Colorado's Proposition 105 would've required food companies to label packaged foods with the text "produced with genetic engineering." Oregon's Measure 92 says food labels would need to include the words "genetically engineered." Many processed foods contain soybean oil, corn syrup, refined sugar and cottonseed oil. Those oils and syrups are often derived from GMO crops that farmers have adopted over the last 18 years. Few whole foods, like the ones you see in the produce aisle, are genetically engineered, though some GE varieties of sweet corn, squash and papaya are approved for sale in the U.S.

The failed measures in Colorado and Oregon follow a nationwide trend. Similar ballot questions in California and Washington state were rejected in 2012 and 2013, respectively. This summer, Vermont's governor signed the nation's first GMO labeling requirement into law. It's supposed to take effect in 2016, but a coalition of biotech firms and farmer groups have filed suit to prevent that from happening.

Groups opposed to GMO labeling poured big money into efforts to quash the ballot measures, spending more than $15 million in Colorado alone. In Oregon, opponents of labeling raised more than $18 million, making the ballot measure the most expensive issue campaign in the state's history. Most of that money came from large seed corporations like Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer, and from processed food companies like Pepsi, Land O' Lakes and Smucker's. All of that outside money opened labeling opponents up to criticism of being tied to corporate interests.

Link:
Colorado, Oregon Reject GMO Labeling

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

A powerful new genetic test that scans for rare childhood diseases is providing faster and more conclusive results than ever before. The test examines the entire genome to identify the single gene mutation that led to the disorder.

When Calvin Lapidus was eight months old, his mother Audrey suspected he was not developing normally, even though his doctors said he was.

By eight months he wasnt sitting up on his own," she recalled. "He wasnt rolling over on his own and he was just missing his milestones.

A frantic odyssey to learn what was wrong led the family to the Clinical Genomics Center at the University of California Los Angeles. The Center had just introduced a test called exome sequencing, an analysis of the entire genome at once, instead of gene by gene. Calvin was its first patient, said Stanley Nelson, a UCLA professor of human genetics and pathology and laboratory medicine.

He described the typical scenario: Children come in with a set of symptoms, a set of problems, a set of issues, and its very difficult for physicians to say which one of 5,000 diseases this patient has.

Some conditions are so rare that a physician may have only seen a few, if any, cases in his or her practice.

Sequencing DNA

The team at the Center extracted and sequenced DNA from blood samples from Calvin and his parents. Then they scanned all the genes simultaneously to find the single mutation that caused the disorder.

Nelson said that on average every location in the genome is examined and re-examined 100 times.

What that means is that we see 50 of the DNA variants that you got from your mom," he said. "We see 50 of the DNA variants that you got from your dad at every single base position in the exome, or in the protein coating part of the genome.

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New Genetic Test Diagnoses Rare Childhood Diseases

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith