Inclusive Yoga: A Practice for Individuals with a Spinal Cord Injury
Yoga brings together the physical and mental to create a peaceful, relaxed body and mind. It helps to manage stress and anxiety while increasing flexibility,...

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SAT SiriusXM Interview
Howard Greenman, CEO of Provia laboratories and Store-A-Tooth, talks about stem cells and regenerative medicine on Wharton Business Radio.

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AZBio Fast Lane Award Winner 2014: Pinnacle Transplant Technologies
CEI Client and Phoenix tissue bank, Pinnacle Transplant Technologies, was recognized by the Arizona BioIndustry Association (AZBio) for their pioneering efforts in regenerative medicine and...

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Sep 23, 2014 by Mike Williams Three images reveal the details of heart-defect patches created at Rice University and Texas Childrens Hospital. At top, three otherwise identical patches darken with greater concentrations of carbon nanotubes, which improve electrical signaling between immature heart cells. At center, a scanning electron microscope image shows a patchs bioscaffold, with pores big enough for heart cells to invade. At bottom, a near-infrared microscopy image shows the presence of individually dispersed single-walled nanotubes. Credit: Jacot Lab/Rice University

(Phys.org) Carbon nanotubes serve as bridges that allow electrical signals to pass unhindered through new pediatric heart-defect patches invented at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital.

A team led by bioengineer Jeffrey Jacot and chemical engineer and chemist Matteo Pasquali created the patches infused with conductive single-walled carbon nanotubes. The patches are made of a sponge-like bioscaffold that contains microscopic pores and mimics the body's extracellular matrix.

The nanotubes overcome a limitation of current patches in which pore walls hinder the transfer of electrical signals between cardiomyocytes, the heart muscle's beating cells, which take up residence in the patch and eventually replace it with new muscle.

The work appears this month in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano. The researchers said their invention could serve as a full-thickness patch to repair defects due to Tetralogy of Fallot, atrial and ventricular septal defects and other defects without the risk of inducing abnormal cardiac rhythms.

The original patches created by Jacot's lab consist primarily of hydrogel and chitosan, a widely used material made from the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans. The patch is attached to a polymer backbone that can hold a stitch and keep it in place to cover a hole in the heart. The pores allow natural cells to invade the patch, which degrades as the cells form networks of their own. The patch, including the backbone, degrades in weeks or months as it is replaced by natural tissue.

Researchers at Rice and elsewhere have found that once cells take their place in the patches, they have difficulty synchronizing with the rest of the beating heart because the scaffold mutes electrical signals that pass from cell to cell. That temporary loss of signal transduction results in arrhythmias.

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Nanotubes can fix that, and Jacot, who has a joint appointment at Rice and Texas Children's, took advantage of the surrounding collaborative research environment.

"This stemmed from talking with Dr. Pasquali's lab as well as interventional cardiologists in the Texas Medical Center," Jacot said. "We've been looking for a way to get better cell-to-cell communications and were concentrating on the speed of electrical conduction through the patch. We thought nanotubes could be easily integrated."

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Published September 24, 2014

Scientists have found a new, non-surgical way to repair a damaged liver by using stem cells from tonsils, according to a new study.

The research, published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, involved tonsil-derived stem cells compressed into a heat-sensitive liquid that turned to biodegradable, 3-D gel at body temperature.

The scientists also added substances that encouraged the stem cells to become liver cells, according to a news release.

Similar alternatives have been discovered before, but the stem cells were taken from bone marrow and had limitations. With thousands of tonsillectomies performed each year, scientists are hopeful the discarded tissue may have a new purpose.

Researchers said the results of the study may create a less-expensive, non-invasive alternative to liver transplants.

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Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society @ACSpressroom

The liver provides critical functions, such as ridding the body of toxins. Its failure can be deadly, and there are few options for fixing it. But scientists now report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a way to potentially inject stem cells from tonsils, a body part we don't need, to repair damaged livers all without surgery.

Byeongmoon Jeong and colleagues point out that currently, the only established method for treating liver failure or severe cases of liver disease is complete or partial transplantation. But the need is much greater than the number of available organs. Plus, surgery has inherent risks and a hefty price tag. A promising alternative in development is transplanting liver cells. One such approach involves using adult stem cells to make liver cells. Stem cells from bone marrow could be used, but they have limitations. Recently, scientists identified another source of adult stem cells that could be used for this purpose tonsils. Every year, thousands of surgeries are performed to remove tonsils, and the tissue is discarded. Now it could have a new purpose, but scientists needed a way to grow them on a 3-D scaffold that mimics real liver tissue. Jeong's team set out to do just that.

The researchers encapsulated tonsil-derived stem cells in a heat-sensitive liquid that turns into a gel at body temperature. They added substances called growth factors to encourage the stem cells to become liver cells. Then, they heated the combination up to a normal body temperature. The result was a 3-D, biodegradable gel that contained functioning liver cells. The researchers conclude that the same process has promise with some further tweaking for ideal conditions as an injectable tissue engineering technique to treat liver disease without surgery.

###

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Research Foundation of Korea.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. William Tse, M.D., associate professor of medicine and eminent scholar in hematologic malignancies research at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at West Virginia University, has been named the new director of Bone Marrow Transplantation at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center, a part of KentuckyOne Health. Tse will join UofL Nov. 1.

Tse will hold the Marion F. Beard Endowed Chair in Hematology Research at UofL and become a member of the cancer centers Developmental Biology Program.

Dr. Tse is emerging as one of the thought leaders in bone marrow transplantation, said Donald Miller, M.D., Ph.D., director of the JGBCC. He has trained and worked at several of the leading blood cancer programs in the nation. We look forward to his leading our program at UofL.

Tse has been at West Virginia since 2009, where he also is the co-leader the Osborn Hematologic Malignancies Program. Prior to joining West Virginia, Tse was on the faculty at the University of Colorado Denver, where he was the director of translational research program for bone marrow transplantation and hematologic malignancies. He also previously was with Case Western Reserve University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington Medical Center.

Tse is active in national organizations, serving in several capacities with the American Society of Hematology, including section chair for the annual meetings Oncogene Section and bone marrow transplantation outcome section, as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology as an annual meeting abstract reviewer and the section chair on geriatric oncology. Tse also serves leadership roles on several editorial boards including as the senior editor of the American Journal of Blood Research, stem cell biomarkers section editor for Biomarker Research, senior editor of the American Journal of Stem Cells and the academic editor of PLoS One.

A graduate of the Sun Yat-Sen University School of Medicine in Guangzhou, Guangdong, in China, he did a thoracic surgical oncology residency at Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou before completing postdoctoral research fellowships in medical biophysics, immunology and cancer at the Princess Margaret Hospital/Ontario Cancer Institute and the Hospital for Sick Children in Ontario, Canada. He completed clinical pathology and internal medicine residencies at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Hospital before undertaking a senior medical fellowship in clinical research and medical oncology divisions at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington Medical Center.

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Stemedix Stem Cell Therapy for ALS - Patient Experience: Dr. Robert K., MD
Stemedix treats Dr. Robert K., MD. for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). Dr. Robert speaks about his patient experience with Stemedix after receiving Stemedix adipose stem cell treatment....

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What Is The Definition Of Cell therapy Medical Dictionary Free Online
Visit our website for text version of this Definition and app download. http://www.medicaldictionaryapps.com Subjects: medical terminology, medical dictionary, medical dictionary free download,...

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Autism complex treatment with stem cell therapy
Get free medical consultation http://www.rivertender.com rivertenderkiev@gmail.com +380636800002.

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Swastik - Stem Cell Therapy in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) - 23-06-2014
stem cell india, stem cell therapy india, stem cell in india, stem cell therapy in india, india stem cell, india stem cell therapy.

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The South African Chamber of Commerce offered a glimpse into the world of stem-cell therapy at a seminar in Bangkok.

Don Margolis from Repair Stem Cells Institute in the United States was the featured speaker at the Aug. 20 workshop at the Rembrandt Hotel & Towers, lecturing on the facts and fiction about stem cells.

Margolis stated that stem-cell therapy might become the healing method of the future. Meanwhile, major successes have already been made with cancer or problems with the heart, the lungs, the vocal cords, brain, kidneys, and blood. Unfortunately, there are no significant successes in liver disease or bone disease. In this therapy stem cells are used and for many years is the treatment of choice for various types of cancers, such as leukemia. Either endogenous hematopoietic stem cells or those of a donor (postnatal tissue) can be used for adoptive cell transfer.

Group photo (front seated from left) guest speaker Don Margolis and Ragil Ratnam of Pure Growth Asia. (Standing from left) Antony Brown, Chartering Executive of Light House navigation, Elfi Seitz, executive editor of Pattaya Blatt, Allan Riddel, Linda Reay Amazon Colours and General Manager Eric Hallin.

These multipotent blood stem cells, of which colonies of both white as well as red blood cells were cultivated, had already been discovered in 1963 by the Canadian scientists James Till, Ernest McCulloch and Lou Siminovitch. Some years before the first bone marrow transplant was performed in 1957.

Since the 1990s, many more kinds of stem cells were discovered, isolated and characterized. To date, however, is not sufficiently clear how the different types of stem cells are connected and which biological potential they have. In recent years new discoveries have been made in this area and new and promising fields in medical research have been opened. It is also possible to use stem cells from unborn animals (prenatal tissue), such as sheep, as is done in Germany for the last 70 years. For this, however, the embryo may only be a certain age, because the stem cells usually have a lower rate of division and a more limited differentiation potential. Its also possible to get stem cells from the umbilical cord or bone marrow. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, whilst adult stem cells probably have a more limited differentiation potential.

Research work is currently still trying to answer fundamental questions like how these stem cells can be induced into certain cell types to replace damaged tissue in order to replace damaged tissue (cell replacement therapy). Other issues include the migration behavior (migration of the cells to a specific location after successful transplantation) or the formation of cell-protective factors (cytokines, growth factors), which are supposed to preserve existing functional tissue from further decline or even regenerate it (regenerative medicine).

In recent years embryonic stem cells have raised many ethical as well as scientific concerns (embryonic stem cells). Although they can be differentiated in almost all body cells (and thus would be universally applicable), for the time being their use is limited. This is due to their high rate of cell division, which is desirable for the propagation of the cells, but at the same time constitutes an increased risk for the development of malignant tumors.

Still, more than 300 Parkinsons patients have been treated with some success worldwide.

Stem cells from the uterine fluid were isolated just recently. They are mostly cells of epithelial origin that are shed during the development of the fetus. They can be obtained directly from the amniotic fluid and be propagated in vitro.

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An international team of scientists has identified a gene mutation that causes aplastic anemia, a serious blood disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce normal amounts of blood cells. Studying a family in which three generations had blood disorders, the researchers discovered a defect in a gene that regulates telomeres, chromosomal structures with crucial roles in normal cell function.

"Identifying this causal defect may help suggest future molecular-based treatments that bypass the gene defect and restore blood cell production," said study co-leader Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Hakonarson and CHOP colleagues collaborated with Australian scientists on the study, published online Sept. 9 in the journal Blood.

"We're thrilled by this discovery which has advanced our understanding of certain gene mutations and the causal relationship to specific diseases," said study co-leader Tracy Bryan, Ph.D., Unit Head of the Cell Biology Unit at the Children's Medical Research Institute in Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.

The research team studied an Australian family with aplastic anemia and other blood disorders, including leukemia. Hakonarson and lead analyst Yiran Guo, Ph.D., along with genomics experts from BGI-Shenzhen, performed whole-exome sequencing on DNA from the families and identified an inherited mutation on the ACD gene, which codes for the telomere-binding protein TPP1.

Telomeres, complex structures made of DNA and protein, are located on the end of chromosomes, where they protect the chromosomes' stability. They are sometimes compared to plastic tips at the end of shoelaces that prevent the laces from fraying.

Telomeres shorten after each cell division, and gradually lose their protective function. Aging cells, with their shortened telomeres, become progressively more vulnerable to DNA damage and cell death. Separately from the aging process, certain inherited and acquired disorders may shorten telomeres and injure rapidly dividing blood-forming cells produced in bone marrow. This leads to bone marrow failure, one example of which is aplastic anemia.

Bryan's team investigated the function of the ACD gene. They determined that the mutation shortened telomeres and interrupted the ability of telomeres to attract the enzyme telomerase, which counteracts telomere shortening and thus protects cells.

In the current study, the researchers showed that the mutation in ACD alters the telomere-binding protein TPP1, disrupting the interactions between telomere and telomerase. Without access to telomerase to help maintain telomeres, blood cells lose their structural integrity and die, resulting in bone marrow failure and aplastic anemia.

Nine other genes were previously found to play a role in bone marrow failure disorders. The current study adds ACD to the list, the first time the gene has been shown to have a disease-causing role.

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23-Sep-2014

Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State @penn_state

How people perceive and taste alcohol depends on genetic factors, and that influences whether they "like" and consume alcoholic beverages, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

In the first study to show that the sensations from sampled alcohol vary as a function of genetics, researchers focused on three chemosensory genes -- two bitter-taste receptor genes known as TAS2R13 and TAS2R38 and a burn receptor gene, TRPV1. The research was also the first to consider whether variation in the burn receptor gene might influence alcohol sensations, which has not previously been linked to alcohol consumption.

People may differ in the sensations they experience from a food or beverage, and these perceptual differences have a biological basis, explained John Hayes, assistant professor of food science and director of Penn State's Sensory Evaluation Center. He noted that prior work done in his laboratory has shown that some people experience more bitterness and less sweetness from an alcoholic beverage, such as beer.

"In general, greater bitterness relates to lower liking, and because we generally tend to avoid eating or drinking things we don't like, lower liking for alcoholic beverages associates with lower intake," he said. "The burn receptor gene TRPV1 has not previously been linked to differences in intake, but we reasoned that this gene might be important as alcohol causes burning sensations in addition to bitterness.

"In our research, we show that when people taste alcohol in the laboratory, the amount of bitterness they experience differs, and these differences are related to which version of a bitter receptor gene the individual has."

To determine which variant of the receptor genes study participants possess, DNA was collected via saliva samples for genetic analysis. The results appear in the September online issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. One hundred thirty people of various races, age 18 to 45, completed all four of the study's tasting sessions.

People are hard-wired by evolution to like sweetness and dislike bitterness, and this influences the food and beverage choices we make every day, pointed out lead researcher Alissa Allen, a doctoral candidate in food science advised by Hayes. Allen added that it is also well established that individuals differ in the amount of bitterness they perceive from some foods or beverages, and this variation can be attributed to genetic differences.

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Newswise Philadelphia, Sept. 23, 2014 An international team of scientists has identified a gene mutation that causes aplastic anemia, a serious blood disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce normal amounts of blood cells. Studying a family in which three generations had blood disorders, the researchers discovered a defect in a gene that regulates telomeres, chromosomal structures with crucial roles in normal cell function.

Identifying this causal defect may help suggest future molecular-based treatments that bypass the gene defect and restore blood cell production, said study co-leader Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Hakonarson and CHOP colleagues collaborated with Australian scientists on the study, published online Sept. 9 in the journal Blood.

Were thrilled by this discovery which has advanced our understanding of certain gene mutations and the causal relationship to specific diseases, said study co-leader Tracy Bryan, Ph.D., Unit Head of the Cell Biology Unit at the Childrens Medical Research Institute in Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.

The research team studied an Australian family with aplastic anemia and other blood disorders, including leukemia. Hakonarson and lead analyst Yiran Guo, Ph.D., along with genomics experts from BGI-Shenzhen, performed whole-exome sequencing on DNA from the families and identified an inherited mutation on the ACD gene, which codes for the telomere-binding protein TPP1.

Telomeres, complex structures made of DNA and protein, are located on the end of chromosomes, where they protect the chromosomes stability. They are sometimes compared to plastic tips at the end of shoelaces that prevent the laces from fraying.

Telomeres shorten after each cell division, and gradually lose their protective function. Aging cells, with their shortened telomeres, become progressively more vulnerable to DNA damage and cell death. Separately from the aging process, certain inherited and acquired disorders may shorten telomeres and injure rapidly dividing blood-forming cells produced in bone marrow. This leads to bone marrow failure, one example of which is aplastic anemia.

Bryans team investigated the function of the ACD gene. They determined that the mutation shortened telomeres and interrupted the ability of telomeres to attract the enzyme telomerase, which counteracts telomere shortening and thus protects cells.

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Gene Mutation Discovered in Blood Disorder

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By Anne Harding

In this Wednesday, April 17, 2013 photo, two bottles of Papas Pilar Rum are on display at the Miami Rum Festival. The rum is being introduced at the festival to the general public. Rum: It's not just the alcohol that made you queasy in college. And it's not all the same. Thousands of people are expected to attend the weeklong festival that begins April 15 in Miami to sample more than 200 kinds of rum and discuss industry trends. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Whether or not you like the taste of alcohol may be in your genes, new research suggests.

In the study, people with one version of a bitterness taste receptor gene said they found an alcoholic drink to be less bitter-tasting than those with a different version of the gene, according to the findings published today (Sept. 23) in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

"The two genes, that had been previously associated with [alcohol] intake, also associated with differences in the perception of ethanol," said study author Dr. John E. Hayes, of the Sensory Evaluation Center at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park. "The reason this work is significant is because it fills in this gap, because no one had shown in the lab that the alcohol actually tastes differently depending on which [version of the gene] you have."

People who find the taste of alcohol less bitter may be more inclined to start drinking, Hayes said, which could have implications for identifying those at risk of becoming problem drinkers. "It seems unlikely the taste of alcohol matters at all once someone is alcohol-dependent," Hayes said, although he noted this was speculation on his part. "Still, taste genetics may be an important risk factor before someone becomes dependent."

Humans have 25 genes that encode for taste receptors on the tongue that perceive bitterness, Hayes said. He and his colleagues looked at variants in two of these genes, called TAS2R13 and TAS2R38, in 93 healthy people of European ancestry, as well as variants in a gene called TRPV1, which codes for a receptor involved in perceiving "burning" or "stinging" sensations in the mouth. [7 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health]

The study participants rated the overall intensity of a drink that was 16 percent alcohol, which they sipped and then spit out, and also scored their taste sensations for three minutes after a cotton swab soaked with 50 percent alcohol solution was applied on the back of their tongue.

There were three places in the TAS2R38 gene where a change in the gene's code was associated with bitterness perception, the researchers found. Everyone carries two copies of the gene; in the study, those with two copies of the most sensitive version of the gene perceived the alcohol to be the most bitter, and those with two copies of the least sensitive version of the gene found it the least bitter, and other individuals fell in between.

"We would expect about 25 percent of the population to have two of the really sensitive forms, 25 percent insensitive, and 50 percent in the middle," Hayes said.

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Robert Priest_Idea For Genetic Engineering

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TIME Ideas Science If Synthetic Biology Lets Us Play God, We Need Rules MOLEKUULBrand X/Getty Images

Zocalo Public Square is a not-for-profit Ideas Exchange that blends live events and humanities journalism.

Synthetic biology has been called genetic engineering on steroids. Its also been described as so difficult to pin down that five scientists would give you six different definitions. No matter how this emerging field is characterized, one thing is clear: the ability to synthesize and sequence DNA is driving scientific research in brand-new and exciting directions.

In California, scientists have created a breakthrough antimalarial drugbakers yeast made in a lab that contains the genetic material of the opium poppy. The drug has the potential to save millions of livesand to ensure drug production that independent of poppy flowers. At MIT, researchers are working on a way for plants to fix their own nitrogen, so farmers will no longer need to use artificial fertilizers. And, in the far future, scientists and NASA researchers are looking to create a digital biological teleporter to bring to Earth life forms detected on Mars via a sort of biological fax.

What should we worrying about in this moment of tremendous, and potentially cataclysmic, scientific discovery? In advance of the Zcalo/Arizona State University event How Will Synthetic Biology Change the Way We Live?, we asked experts the following question: Soon well be able to program DNA with the same ease we program computers. What new responsibilities will be imposed on us?

1) Stepping ahead of technology to imagine the world we want to live in

Synthetic biology sees life as an engineering project a repertoire of processes that can be reprogrammed to produce technologies and products. It envisions powerful new tools for constructing biological parts. Many in synthetic biology celebrate technologies like automated DNA synthesis as agents of democratization, potentially allowing easy and widespread access to custom-made DNA. According to their vision, these technologies will enable bioengineers to freely experiment with living systems, accelerating progress in innovation and producing enormous benefits for society.

But there are risks. The question is often raised: How can we prevent these technologies from falling into the wrong hands? DNA synthesis machines cannot distinguish between tinkerers and terrorists. Though this question is crucially important, it is revealing for what it leaves unasked. Why are synthetic biologys tinkerers presumed to be the safe hands for shaping the technological future? Why do we defer to their visions and judgments over those that we collectively develop?

We tend to focus governance not on projects of innovation, but on how resulting technologies might be used in society. By attending primarily to technologys misuses, impacts, and consequences, we confine ourselves to waiting until new problemsand responsibilitiesare imposed upon us. Science is empowered to act, but society only to react. This leaves unexamined the question of who gets to imagine the future and, therefore, who has the authority to declare what benefits lie ahead, what risks are realistic, and what worries are reasonable and warrant public deliberation?

Our imaginations of the future shape our priorities in the present. It is a task of democracy, not science, to imagine the world we want to live in. Genuine democratization demands that we embrace this difficult task as our own, rather than wait to react to the responsibilities that emerging technologies impose upon us.

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11 hours ago Before (top) and after (bottom) images of gold nanoprobe tests. In DNA samples containing no genetic variations, the pink solution became colorless within 10 minutes. Credit: A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

Tests for identifying genetic variations among individuals, which can be used to develop precisely targeted drug therapies, are a current focus in the emerging field of pharmacogenomics. A*STAR researchers have now developed and patented a customized and elegant nanoprobe for assessing sensitivity to the drug warfarin.

To develop the nanoprobe, Jackie Ying at the A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and co-workers in Singapore, Taiwan and Japan devised a relatively simple procedure that uses standard laboratory equipment and can be easily adapted for other genetic tests.

"Our method is faster, more cost-effective and more accurate than existing alternatives," says Ying.

Ying's method detects genetic variations known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that differ in only a single-nucleotide building block of DNA. In the case of warfarinthe most frequently prescribed anticoagulantthere are SNP differences in specific parts of the genome that indicate whether a patient will tolerate the drug or suffer serious side effects.

The researchers used gold nanoparticles attached to short sections of DNA that bind to specific complementary sequences of DNA through the base pairing that holds together double-stranded DNA. These nanoprobes were exposed to fragments of DNA that had been cut out and amplified from a patient's genome.

The nanoprobes are initially pink due to surface plasmonic effects involving ripples of electric charge. When analyzed, if the probes do not bind to the DNA fragments, they aggregate and become colorless on exposure to a salt solution. If they do bind to the target, they will not aggregate but will remain pink until heated to a 'melting temperature' at which the base pairing is disrupted and the DNA strands of the probe and the genome fragments separate. For cases of partial complementarityin which the fragments are mismatched by a single nucleotidethe melting temperature is lowered by an amount depending on the level of mismatch. This allows SNPs to be detected through their different melting temperatures.

The resulting color change is easily visible to the human eye but can also be evaluated automatically (see image). The system can also distinguish between homozygous genotypes (where a person caries the same SNP on each member of a pair of chromosomes) and heterozygous genotypes (where a person carries different SNPs on each chromosome).

"The patented warfarin test kit is available for commercialization or licensing," says Ying. "We have developed and are validating assay kits for several other applications in pathogen detection, pharmacogenomics and genetic disease screening."

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Sep-2014

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

New Rochelle, NY, September 23, 2014New technology and better screening strategies can lower the rate of false-positive results, which impose a substantial financial and psychological burden on women. The many misperceptions about breast cancer screening options and risks, the benefits and costs of screening, and the need for new approaches and better education are discussed in a series of articles in a supplement to Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The supplement is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/jwh/23/S1.

In the article "The Patient Burden of Screening Mammography Recall," the authors report that among more than 1.7 million women aged 40-75 years who underwent screening mammography and were not diagnosed with breast cancer, 15% were recalled for further testing. The cumulative risk of a false-positive result after 10 years of annual screening mammograms is an estimated 61%. Coauthors Matthew Alcusky, PharmD, MS, Janice Clarke, RN, BBA, and Alexandria Skoufalos, EdD, Jefferson School of Population Health; Liane Philpotts, MD, FSBI, Yale University School of Medicine; and Machaon Bonafede, PhD, MPH, Truven Health Analytics, evaluate the direct cost burden of recall, the indirect costs associated with missed work time, travel, and substitute caregivers, for example, and the physical or psychological effects of a false-positive result, which may include unnecessary anxiety and reduced quality of life.

In an accompanying review article on "Understanding Patient Options, Utilization Patterns and Burdens Associated with Breast Cancer Screening," authors Susan C. Harvey, MD, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; Sharon Mass, MD, FACOG, Morristown Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates; and Ashok Vegesna, PharmD, Janice Clarke, RN, BBA, and Alexandria Skoufalos, EdD, Jefferson School of Population Health, attribute much of the confusion women face in making informed decisions about breast cancer screening and recall options to a lack of consensus among the organizations developing screening guidelines and the mixed messages they deliver. The authors call for a more thoughtful approach to breast cancer screening and research that takes into account the tangible and intangible costs that women now bear.

"The articles in this supplement are timely and reveal surprisingly complex issues," says Susan C. Harvey, MD, in her Editorial, "The Charge and the Challenges of Breast Cancer Screening." Collectively, the articles "illustrate the need for a more tailored approach to breast cancer awareness, education, and screening. The goal is to make appropriate screening and diagnosis easier on women and more responsive to the changing face of value-based health care."

"The direct and indirect cost burden of inconclusive mammography screenings and recalls is significant and indicates a need for new approaches to breast cancer screening," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.

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The supplement was funded by an educational grant from Hologic, Inc.

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Newswise Genomic medicine is rapidly developing, bringing with its advances promises of individualized genetic information to tailor and optimize prevention and treatment interventions. Genetic tests are already guiding treatments of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis c virus (HPC), and emerging research is showing genetic variants may be used to screen for an individuals susceptibility to addiction to a substance, and even inform treatments for addiction.

While there appear to be many benefits inherent in the development of this field and related research, there is a lack of data on the attitudes of marginalized populations towards genetic testing. A new study by researchers affiliated with New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR) is the first to present the perceptions of genetic testing among drug users.

Published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, the study, Perceptions of genetic testing and genomic medicine among drug users, gauged drug users attitudes and understandings of genetics and genetic testing through six focus groups. The focus groups were segregated by race and ethnicity to increase participants comfort in talking about racial and ethnic issues. Over half of the participants (53%) reported having either HIV/AIDs or HCV, or a co-infection, and understood the potential value of genetic testing.

The researchers found that the participants had concerns regarding breaches in confidentiality and discrimination which might have reduced their inclination to undergo testing. Participants mistrust stemmed from concerns of lack of full disclosure of the tests purpose, or that once submitting to the test, their samples may be used for unspecified purposes. Participants were also uncomfortable with race/ethnicity-based genetic testing, and had concerns that a genetic test may adversely affect a drug user by aiding law enforcement.

Most participants were uncomfortable with engaging in genetic testing for either addiction-related care or for research to understand addiction, because most did not consider addiction to be a genetic disorder, said David Perlman, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israels Icahn School of Medicine and director of Infectious Diseases and Biomedical Core at CDUHR. All participants were more comfortable understanding genetics as explaining physical traits rather than behavior. They viewed addiction as a behavior resulting from environment and experiences rather than genetic inheritance.

However, despite these concerns, many participants indicated they would feel more positive towards genetic testing were they to believe it could improve their medical care. Additionally, participants indicated they would be more trusting of the test were it to be administered by their primary physicians, rather than drug treatment programs. The results of this study may inform further research and how programs and providers might best approach drug users, and potentially other marginalized populations, for genetic testing when appropriate.

Study Authors: David C. Perlman, Camila Gelp-Acosta, Samuel R. Friedman, Ashly E. Jordan, Holly Hagan. Correspondence: David C. Perlman, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Health System, New York, NY, USA. (E-mail: dperlman@chpnet.org)

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant P30 DA 011041. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the participating recruitment sites and all of the participants. Note: The findings and conclusions in the article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the National Institute of Health.

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Study Explores Drug Users' Opinions on Genetic Testing

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Sep-2014

Contact: Christopher James christopher.james@nyu.edu 212-998-6876 New York University @nyuniversity

Genomic medicine is rapidly developing, bringing with its advances promises of individualized genetic information to tailor and optimize prevention and treatment interventions. Genetic tests are already guiding treatments of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis c virus (HPC), and emerging research is showing genetic variants may be used to screen for an individual's susceptibility to addiction to a substance, and even inform treatments for addiction.

While there appear to be many benefits inherent in the development of this field and related research, there is a lack of data on the attitudes of marginalized populations towards genetic testing. A new study by researchers affiliated with New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR) is the first to present the perceptions of genetic testing among drug users.

Published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, the study, "Perceptions of genetic testing and genomic medicine among drug users," gauged drug users' attitudes and understandings of genetics and genetic testing through six focus groups. The focus groups were segregated by race and ethnicity to increase participants' comfort in talking about racial and ethnic issues. Over half of the participants (53%) reported having either HIV/AIDs or HCV, or a co-infection, and understood the potential value of genetic testing.

The researchers found that the participants had concerns regarding breaches in confidentiality and discrimination which might have reduced their inclination to undergo testing. Participants' mistrust stemmed from concerns of lack of full disclosure of the test's purpose, or that once submitting to the test, their samples may be used for unspecified purposes. Participants were also uncomfortable with race/ethnicity-based genetic testing, and had concerns that a genetic test may adversely affect a drug user by aiding law enforcement.

"Most participants were uncomfortable with engaging in genetic testing for either addiction-related care or for research to understand addiction, because most did not consider addiction to be a genetic disorder," said David Perlman, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel's Icahn School of Medicine and director of Infectious Diseases and Biomedical Core at CDUHR. "All participants were more comfortable understanding genetics as explaining physical traits rather than behavior. They viewed addiction as a behavior resulting from environment and experiences rather than genetic inheritance."

However, despite these concerns, many participants indicated they would feel more positive towards genetic testing were they to believe it could improve their medical care. Additionally, participants indicated they would be more trusting of the test were it to be administered by their primary physicians, rather than drug treatment programs. The results of this study may inform further research and how programs and providers might best approach drug users, and potentially other marginalized populations, for genetic testing when appropriate.

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NYU-Mount Sinai Beth Israel study explores drug users' opinions on genetic testing

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

With genetically engineered therapies for the infectious disease, Ebola, currently undergoing testing for safety and efficacy, GMO Answers is highlighting the use of genetic engineering in other biomedical applications. The posts author, Richard Green, also looks at whyGMOs, though used in both agriculture and medicine, are more controversial in agricultural applications.

The technology of genetic modification orgenetic engineeringwas first developed in the early 1970s, commercialized in pharmaceutical applications in the early 1980s, and then agricultural applications in the early 1990s.

The technology has been around for 40 years. It is hardly new. Perhaps if you compare it to the internal combustion engine it is new, but compared to something as recent and ubiquitous as flat screen HDTVs, DVRs, andWi-Fi-friendly touch screen devices like iPhones and Tablets, it is a time tested technology.

In medicine,genetic engineering(GE) is used to make biopharmaceutical drugs. Various organisms are engineered for use as factories to produce the drug product.Bacteriaare the preferred option, as they are the easiest to grow and scale-up for production, but depending on the complexity of the drugs molecular structure, other organisms such as yeasts, mammalian cells,etc., can also be used toexpressthe drug product. The first GE drug approved for use wasinsulin. By the year 2000, there were over100GE drugs on the market. Currently, peoples lives are changed every day by drugs likeRemicade,Epo,Avastin, andNeulasta

Whilegenetic engineeringis used in both agriculture and medicine, it is far more controversial in agriculture. Here is an explanation that helped shape my point of view: intellectually, I can grasp that adding or silencing a few well-characterizedgenesout of thousands is a drop in thegenomebucket, but for me it makes it a bit more real to think of it in terms of people. Just look at the variety among us. Variations between our thousands ofgenesare why we are all different from each other, but even with those differences, we are all human. It is similar with plants. Changing one, or as we get better, a few genes, in the plantgenomeis barely a blip compared to the normal diversity between individuals. To paraphrase what a wise man once said,GE corn is just corn.

We encourage you to visit our GMO Answers site and read GMOs in Food and Medicine: An Overview in its entirety.

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GMO Answers Provides an Overview of GMOs in Medicine

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Newswise NEW YORK (September 23, 2014) David Goldstein, PhD, will join Columbia University as professor of genetics and development in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of a new Institute for Genomic Medicine in partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian, effective January 1, 2015. Dr. Goldstein will be responsible for building a program that comprehensively integrates genetics and genomics into research, patient care, and education at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and NewYork-Presbyterian and that develops programs to prepare students for careers in the expanding field of genomic and personalized medicine.

Dr. Goldsteins role includes serving as an adviser to Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger and Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences Lee Goldman, MD, on the genetic and genomic components of Columbias university-wide initiative in precision or personalized medicine, which was announced in February.

Having a pioneering researcher like David Goldstein join us marks a crucial next step in our initiative to be at the forefront of genomics, data science, and the core science and engineering disciplines essential to this emerging field of truly humanistic medicine, said President Bollinger. The potential for progress in this broad subject encompasses not only new cures for disease, but also virtually every part of the University, including areas that explore fundamental issues of human self-understanding, as well as the legal, policy, and economic implications of revolutionary changes in knowledge and practice.

Dr. Goldsteins research has focused on identifying the relationship between human genetic variations and diseases such as epilepsy, hepatitis C, and schizophrenia, as well as the response of these diseases to pharmacologic treatments. In addition to his leadership of the Institute for Genomic Medicine at CUMC, he will have a faculty appointment at the New York Genome Center, as well as one in neurology at Columbias College of Physicians and Surgeons.

David Goldstein has shown himself to be both an innovative scientist and a visionary leader in genetic, genomic, and personalized medicine, said Dr. Goldman, who is also the Harold and Margaret Hatch Professor of the University and dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine at CUMC. Working with our partners across Columbia and at New York-Presbyterian, Dr. Goldstein will help us establish a fully integrated genetics and genomics research environment to maximize the scientific possibilities and apply them to the frontiers of patient care and public health.

Personalized medicine and targeted therapies represent the future of patient-centered health care, said Steven J. Corwin, MD, CEO, NewYork-Presbyterian. Dr. Goldsteins expertise in genetics will help us not only to tailor individualized treatments for patients, but also to identify diseases before they develop. His work will have a transformative impact on patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian.

Dr. Goldstein comes to Columbia from Duke University, where he has been director of the Center for Human Genome Variation and the Richard and Pat Johnson Distinguished University Professor, with appointments in the departments of molecular genetics & microbiology and biology. He joined Duke in 2005 after six years at University College London, which named him Honorary Professor in 2007. He received his PhD in biological sciences from Stanford University in 1994.

The vision of Columbia University and NYP to create a truly integrated environment for research, clinical application, and student instruction is exactly the right vision, said Dr. Goldstein. Human genomics is creating breathtaking new opportunities to better understand the biology of disease and to provide more effective and more accurately targeted therapies. Capitalizing on these opportunities and ensuring that clinical applications adhere to the highest possible scientific standards requires close collaborations among researchers, the clinical community, and patients and their families. I am thrilled to be joining Columbia University at this pivotal time in my field, and I am honored to participate in Columbias university-wide initiative in precision medicine.

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Dr. David Goldstein to Direct Columbia's Institute for Genomic Medicine as Key Part of University-Wide Initiative

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Sep-2014

Contact: Krista Conger kristac@stanford.edu 650-725-5371 Stanford University Medical Center @sumedicine

Over 500 million people worldwide carry a genetic mutation that disables a common metabolic protein called ALDH2. The mutation, which predominantly occurs in people of East Asian descent, leads to an increased risk of heart disease and poorer outcomes after a heart attack. It also causes facial flushing when carriers drink alcohol.

Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have learned for the first time specifically how the mutation affects heart health. They did so by comparing heart muscle cells made from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, from people with the mutation versus those without the mutation. IPS cells are created in the laboratory from specialized adult cells like skin. They are "pluripotent," meaning they can be coaxed to become any cell in the body.

"This study is one of the first to show that we can use iPS cells to study ethnic-specific differences among populations," said Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and professor of cardiovascular medicine and of radiology.

"These findings may help us discover new therapeutic paths for heart disease for carriers of this mutation," said Wu. "In the future, I believe we will have banks of iPS cells generated from many different ethnic groups. Drug companies or clinicians can then compare how members of different ethnic groups respond to drugs or diseases, or study how one group might differ from another, or tailor specific drugs to fit particular groups."

The findings are described in a paper that will be published Sept. 24 in Science Translational Medicine. Wu and Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, professor of chemical and systems biology, are co-senior authors of the paper, and postdoctoral scholar Antje Ebert, PhD, is the lead author.

ALDH2 and cell death

The study showed that the ALDH2 mutation affects heart health by controlling the survival decisions cells make during times of stress. It is the first time ALDH2, which is involved in many common metabolic processes in cells of all types, has been shown to play a role in cell survival. In particular, ALDH2 activity, or the lack of it, influences whether a cell enters a state of programmed cell death called apoptosis in response to stressful growing conditions.

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Stanford scientists use stem cells to learn how common mutation in Asians affects heart health

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith