PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Jul-2014

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

New Rochelle, NY, July 30, 2014We have pills to ease pain, to cure infection, to help us lose weight, to treat chronic conditions, and to enhance our sexual and athletic prowess. Why do pills play such a central role in today's society and could we benefit from taking fewer pills? This provocative topic is explored in the article "'Take Your Pill': The Role and Fantasy of Pills in Modern Medicine," published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine website.

Coauthors Drew Leder, MD, PhD, Loyola University (Baltimore, MD) and Mitchell Krucoff, MD, Duke University Medical Center (Durham, NC), discuss why pills are such "ideal consumer items" and offer the promise to solve so many of life's problems. They describe some of the adverse effects of pill-taking and of the "exaggerated cultural fantasy" surrounding pills in modern medicine. While many pills offer important therapeutic effects, they should be used more selectively, suggest the authors, and viewed as a "gift."

"As a healing construct pills concentrate both biochemical and symbolic power," says Dr. Krucoff, an Executive Editor of the Journal, "however like most powerful things, their place in modern culture can be unbalanced when the healing context is subverted by priorities like financial gain."

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About the Journal

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine is a monthly peer-reviewed journal publishing observational, clinical, and scientific reports and commentary intended to help healthcare professionals and scientists evaluate and integrate therapies into patient care protocols and research strategies. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine website.

About the Publisher

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The promise and profits driving our pill-popping culture

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Developments in Genetics and Genomics in Neurology: Wendy Chung, MD, PhD
Wendy Chung, MD, PhD is associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at Columbia University, where she directs the clinical genetics program and performs h...

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Awareness Deconstructing Consciousness, Law of Opulence, Implosion Heart, Magnetism, Genetics
Article: Awareness Deconstructing Consciousness, Law of Opulence, Implosion of the Heart, Magnetism http://awarenessdeconstructingconsciousness.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/awareness-deconstructing-con...

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Seedless Watermelon Genetics! - Bite Sci-zed
How do you make a watermelon with no seeds?! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BiteSciZed Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexDainis Google+: https://plus.goog...

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Genetics - UNCSA Short Film
An interesting and moving short film.

By: Jacob Wells

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Genetics - UNCSA Short Film - Video

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Practical Importance of Human Evolution - Population Genetics - Population Expansion and Decline
Practical Importance of Human Evolution" is a free online course on Janux that is open to anyone. Learn more athttp://janux.ou.edu. Created by the University of Oklahoma, Janux is an interactiv...

By: Janux

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photo courtesy/cancer genetics, inc.

Employees at Cancer Genetics, Inc., are on the cutting edge of developing cancer tests, and many employees have personal stories of their own cancers and those of family members who have battled the cancers the company addresses.

Cancer Genetics, Inc., a DNA-based cancer diagnostics company that researches cancer tests and has five patents for hematological, kidney, renal and cervical cancer tests, is in a unique position to have several employees who are fighting cancer or have family members who battled the disease.

For Jane Houldsworth, CGI's vice president of research and development, after 20 years of working in the field, the pioneering cancer researcher was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma (FL) with diffuse large B-cell lymphone (DLBCL). Diagnosed in 2010, Houldsworth started treatment immediately. Approximately 40-50 percent of FL cases transform into DLBCL, which is treated with Rituximab a drug that has revolutionized treatment of DLBCL.

"I felt a lump in my neck that didn't go down," Houldsworth said. "I knew it wasn't something that I had done, as it's just the luck of the draw, although there are [cancer] incidents where people were exposed to insecticides and pesticides."

She got a fine needle aspirate, a CAT scan, PET scan and biopsy before going through seven rounds of treatment, four cycles every two weeks. "My first treatment was chemo, and then I took my daughter for her driver's test. Some days, I slept on the living room floor and could barely walk to the bathroom."

At Sloan-Kettering, she played "chemo bingo" with other patients and acted as an Arabic translator [her husband is Egyptian] as the group bonded.

Houldsworth's research in hematological cancer was instrumental in the development of CGI's trademarked MatBAA (mature B-cell neoplasm array) of diagnostic tests to assist in disease management and treatment decisions.

Now in remission, Houldsworth notes that she has a 50 percent chance of relapse in FL within seven years. Regardless, she notes that the key to beating cancer is finding the treatment tailored to one's genetics, she noted.

"We have germ line changes and somatic cells, and we specialize in somatic cell changes," Houldsworth said. "It's not just about the treatment you get but how and when you treat it and how the patient is managed. You want a broad panel of tests to help doctors make decisions about your care, learn how to develop and integrate all these results. My goal as a researcher is to come back and develop a larger panel of tests available. It's about how you look at genetic alteration and personalize treatment more."

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Cancer diagnostic employees share their stories of how cancer has shaped them

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Heal Interstitial Cystitis with Stem Cell Therapy
via YouTube Capture.

By: Minecraft madness and mayhem

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Heal Interstitial Cystitis with Stem Cell Therapy - Video

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Olympic lift after spinal cord injury
I know the weight is nothing but the fact I did the motion for me is what counts right now, weight comes later. Took my legs a week to recover tho but worth ...

By: David Morphew

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Olympic lift after spinal cord injury - Video

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SUV2014: Cell Technologies and Regenerative Medicine
3.06.2014 Health On Best business and technology networking event of the year! The Enterpreneurial Woodstock in the Startup Village. http://startupvillage.ru.

By: Community @sk_ru

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The future of medicine is regenerative medicine.

Thats a view shared by Thomas Gonwa, associate director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine in Jacksonville, and by Jorge and Leslie Bacardi.

Regenerative medicine will be the cutting-edge medicine of the 21st century, Gonwa says.

We think it is the most important thing happening in medicine, Leslie Bacardi said.

Now the Bacardis, who live in Nassau in the Bahamas, have given what Mayo Clinic officials call a substantial gift to fund ongoing research and clinical trials in regenerative medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

Jorge Bacardi, part of the family that has been making rum and other spirits for 150 years, declined to specify the amount of the gift. Were not people who boast about the amount we give, he said.

Its an amount that should be sufficient to fund the ongoing research into regenerative medicine in Jacksonville, he said.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic both in Jacksonville and in Rochester, Minn., now envision a future in which new organs can be grown for patients, using their own cells, and a time when the injection of stem cells can be used to repair a damaged organ.

Last year, Tim Nelson, a physician with the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Rochester, removed tissue from the arm of ABC Nightline reporter Bill Weir and created what Weir called a tiny piece of my cardiac tissue that had dramatically formed into the shape of a heart a pumping, three-dimensional glimpse into a future when this kind of cell could theoretically be injected into a heart-attack victim or a diseased child and literally mend the person from within.

That, to us, was just mind-boggling, Leslie Bacardi said. ... Regenerative medicine is for us an investment in our future and the future of medicine. It may take a while to reap any benefits, but when those benefits do come, it will make the investment seem small.

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Gift from Bacardi family will help Mayo Clinic researchers in Jacksonville close in on 'the future of medicine'

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20 hours ago Induced pluripotent stem cellsknown as iPS cells, and which act very much like embryonic stem cellsare here growing into heart cells (blue) and nerve cells (green). Credit: Gladstone Institutes/Chris Goodfellow

A new stem-cell discovery might one day lead to a more streamlined process for obtaining stem cells, which in turn could be used in the development of replacement tissue for failing body parts, according to UC San Francisco scientists who reported the findings in the current edition of Cell.

The work builds on a strategy that involves reprogramming adult cells back to an embryonic state in which they again have the potential to become any type of cell.

The efficiency of this process may soon increase thanks to the scientists' identification of biochemical pathways that can inhibit the necessary reprogramming of gene activity in adult human cells. Removing these barriers increased the efficiency of stem-cell production, the researchers found.

"Our new work has important implications for both regenerative medicine and cancer research," said Miguel Ramalho-Santos, PhD, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, who led the research, funded in part by a prestigious NIH Director's New Innovator Award.

The earlier discovery that it was possible to take specialized adult cells and reverse the developmental clock to strip the mature cells of their distinctive identities and characteristics and to make them immortal, reprogrammable cells that theoretically can be used to replace any tissue type led to a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine being awarded to UCSF, Gladstone Institutes and Kyoto University researcher Shinya Yamanaka, MD, in 2012.

Turning Back the Clock on Cellular Maturation

These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are regarded as an alternative experimental approach to ongoing efforts to develop tissue from stem cells obtained from early-stage human embryos. However, despite the promise of iPS cells and the excitement surrounding iPS research, the percentage of adult cells successfully converted to iPS cells is typically low, and the resultant cells often retain traces of their earlier lives as specialized cells.

Researchers generate stem cells by forcing the activation within adult cells of pluripotency-inducing genesstarting with the so-called "Yamanaka factors" a process that turns back the clock on cellular maturation.

Yet, as Ramalho-Santos notes, "From the time of the discovery of iPS cells, it was appreciated that the specialized cells from which they are derived are not a blank slate. They express their own genes that may resist or counter reprogramming."

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Published at Retail Investor 360: Monday, 28 July 2014 20:02 by Doctor Hung V. Tran, MD, MS

Disclosure: I am long on MNKD.

Due to its capacity to self-renew and give rise to cells of various lineage, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have generated a great amount of enthusiasm over the past decade as a novel therapeutic paradigm for a variety of diseases. The leading, integrated stem cell company Osiris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OSIR) thus indeed has captured and gained a significant impact in this unique market since infancy with its capabilities in groundbreaking research, development, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of stem cell products to treat unmet medical conditions in orthopedic, sport medicine and specifically wound care markets.

Source: Stem Cell

Giving the diabetes mellitus market is growing at a rapid rate globally; roughly 25 million or 8.3% of the U.S. population suffer from this condition. With its FDA approved super rapid acting insulin, Afrezza, that could mimic the actions of healthy pancreas, Mannkind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) is already positioned it self to become the new leader in this huge insulin market. Diabetic complications such as diabetic foot ulceration, infection, and gangrene are significant complications and the leading causes of hospitalization in patients with diabetes mellitus. We believed that Afrezza's disruptive technology to deliver Technosphere insulin via a small whistle-like device Dreamboat enabling patient's with convenience, ease of use, hence, removing barriers leading to the aforementioned complication. Regardless of Afrezza's superiority or any other potential drugs, a sizeable number of patients, not having access to care due to poverty, transportation, or rural setting would not be able to optimally control their blood sugar, thus, succumb to diabetes complications. These complications often precede lower-extremity amputation. Prompt and aggressive treatments of diabetic foot ulcers are essential to prevent exacerbation of the problem and eliminate the potential for amputation. Osiris, thus, successfully tapped into this market and established a new standard in diabetic wound care, as well as proven the tremendous impact of stem cell can have in medicine.

Key Factors Involved in the Development of Diabetic Foot Problems

Diabetic foot ulcer is among the most common complications of diabetes, accounting for as many as 20% of all hospitalizations in diabetic patients at an annual cost of $200 to $350 million. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), 15% of diabetic patients experience significant foot ulcer during their lifetime.

Approximately 71,000 lower-extremity amputations, often sequelae of uncontrolled infection, are performed each year on diabetic patients; this represents up to 70% of all nontraumatic amputations in the United States. Also, approximately 20% of diabetics will undergo additional surgery or amputation of a second limb within 12 months of the initial amputation.

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Osiris Stem Cells To Compliment Mannkind's Afrezza In Disrupting Diabetes Market

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

29-Jul-2014

Contact: Todd Kluss tkluss@geron.org 202-587-2839 The Gerontological Society of America

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) have chosen Rita Charon, MD, PhD, of Columbia University as the 2014 recipient of the Gene D. Cohen Research Award in Creativity and Aging.

This award recognizes and honors the seminal work of Gene Cohen, MD, whose research in the field of creativity and aging shifted the conceptual focus from a problem paradigm to one of promise and potential. Cohen inspired individuals to approach longevity asking what wonders can be achieved, not in spite of age, but because of age. The award is presented annually to a professional whose research in the field of creativity and aging demonstrates these positive attributes.

The award presentation will take place at GSA's 67th Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 5 to 9 in Washington, DC. This conference is organized to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, educators, and practitioners who specialize in the study of the aging process. Visit http://www.geron.org/annualmeeting for further details.

Charon is a general internist and narratologist at Columbia University who originated the field of narrative medicine. She is the founder and executive director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia. She received an MD from Harvard University in 1978 and a PhD in English from Columbia in 1999, concentrating on the works of Henry James. Her research focuses on the consequences of narrative medicine practice, reflective clinical practice, and health care team effectiveness.

At Columbia, she is a professor of clinical medicine, director of the Narrative and Social Medicine Scholarly Concentration Track, director of Faculty Development for the Division of General Medicine, and director of the Columbia/Macy Interprofessional Education Project. She has served as a visiting professor at many medical schools and universities in the U.S. and abroad, teaching narrative medicine theory and practice.

She has received a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio residency, a Guggenheim fellowship, and research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and several private foundations. She served as co-editor-in-chief of Literature and Medicine from 2000 to 2007. She lectures widely on narrative medicine and is published in such journals of medicine and literary studies as The New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Internal Medicine, Narrative, Henry James Review, and Literature and Medicine. She is the author of "Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness" (Oxford University Press, 2006), and co-editor of "Stories Matter: The Role of Narrative in Medical Ethics" (Routledge, 2002) and "Psychoanalysis and Narrative Medicine" (SUNY Press, 2008).

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Charon to receive 2014 Gene D. Cohen Award

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One secret to happiness may lie in genes, a new study suggests.

Denmark and other Scandinavian countries regularly top world happiness rankings, and while many factors influence happiness, genetics may play a larger role than previously thought, according to the study authors.

The new research examined the average genetic makeup of people in more than 100 countries, and compared how similar their genes were to people living in Denmark -- a measurement called genetic distance. They found that the greater a nation's genetic distance from Denmark, the lower the reported well-being of that nation. [7 Things That Will Make You Happy]

The findings held even after the researchers took into account other factors that could affect happiness, such as GDP level and cultural differences, said Eugenio Proto, a professor of economics at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and one of the researchers on the study.

Proto and his colleague, Andrew Oswald, compared the genes of people in 131 countries, and used data on happiness from the Gallup World Poll, World Value Survey and European Quality of Life Surveys.

Countries near Denmark, like the Netherlands and Sweden, ranked among the happiest. Given their close proximity, these countries are some of the most genetically similar to Denmark. Countries that ranked particularly low on the happiness scale, like Ghana and Madagascar, have the least genetic similarity to Denmark.

The researchers also looked at the relationship between people's well-being and the mutation of a gene that governs serotonin, a chemical linked to feelings of happiness. The research is controversial, but some studies have found that individuals with a mutated, shorter copy of this gene report lower happiness levels. For this part of the study, the researchers looked at people in 30 countries and compared how many people had the mutation in each country. They found that Denmark and the Netherlands have the lowest percentage of people with the mutated shorter copy of the gene, and also ranked the happiest. Italy had the highest percentage of people with the mutation, and ranked the least happy of the 30 countries.

Finally, the researchers looked to see if the link between genetics and happiness was passed down from generation to generation. They examined well-being surveys from a group of Americans, and then traced the origin of their ancestors. They found that the happiest Americans descended from immigrants from the happiest countries.

David Meyers, a professor of psychology at Hope College in Michigan, who was not involved in the research, said there are many other factors that influence happiness, like sleep, exercise and the quality of relationships in a person's life. Still, genes likely play a role, too, he said.

"There's ample evidence from twin studies of a genetic influence on happiness," Meyers told Live Science in an email. "Genes matter, much like the influence of genes on cholesterol levels. And just as cholesterol levels are also influenced by diet and exercise, so happiness is also influenced by behaviors under our control."

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If there's a gene for happiness, you may find it here

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A powerful new tool that can help advance the genetic engineering of "fuel" crops for clean, green and renewable bioenergy, has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), a multi-institutional partnership led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The JBEI researchers have developed an assay that enables scientists to identify and characterize the function of nucleotide sugar transporters, critical components in the biosynthesis of plant cell walls.

"Our unique assay enabled us to analyze nucleotide sugar transporter activities in Arabidopsis and characterize a family of six nucleotide sugar transporters that has never before been described," says Henrik Scheller, the leader of JBEI's Feedstocks Division and a leading authority on cell wall biosynthesis. "Our method should enable rapid progress to be made in determining the functional role of nucleotide sugar transporters in plants and other organisms, which is very important for the metabolic engineering of cell walls."

Scheller is the corresponding author, along with Ariel Orellana at the Universidad Andrs Bello, Santiago, Chile, of a paper describing this research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper is titled "The Golgi localized bifunctional UDP-rhamnose/UDP-galactose transporter family of Arabidopsis." The lead authors are Carsten Rautengarten and Berit Ebert, both of whom hold appointments with JBEI, and both of whom, like Scheller, also hold appointments with Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division. (See below for the full list of co-authors.)

The sugars in plant biomass represent an enormous potential source of environmentally benign energy if they can be converted into transportation fuels -- gasoline, diesel and jet fuel -- in a manner that is economically competitive with petroleum-based fuels. One of the keys to success in this effort will be to engineer fuel crops whose cells walls have been optimized for sugar content.

(From left) Berit Ebert, Carsten Rautengarten and Henrik Scheller at JBEI have developed an assay for characterizing the functions of nucleotide sugar transporters in plant cell walls. (Photo by Irina Silva, JBEI)

With the exception of cellulose and callose, the complex polysaccharide sugars in plant cell walls are synthesized in the Golgi apparatus by enzymes called glycosyltransferases. These polysaccharides are assembled from substrates of simple nucleotide sugars which are transported into the Golgi apparatus from the cytosol, the gel-like liquid that fills a plant cell's cytoplasm. Despite their importance, few plant nucleotide sugar transporters have been functionally characterized at the molecular level. A big part of the holdup has been a lack of substrates that are necessary to carry out such characterizations.

"Substrates of mammalian nucleotide sugar transporters are commercially available because of the medical interest but have not been available for plants, which made it difficult to study both nucleotide sugar transporters and glycosyltransferases," Scheller says.

For their assay, Scheller, Rautengarten, Ebert and their collaborators, created several artificial substrates for nucleotide sugar transporters, then reconstituted the transporters into liposomes for analysis with mass spectrometry. The researchers used this technique to characterize the functions of the six new nucleotide sugar transporters they identified in Arabidopsis, a relative of mustard that serves as a model plant for research in advanced biofuels.

"We found that these six new nucleotide sugar transporters are bispecific, which is a surprise since the two substrates are not very similar from a physical standpoint to the human eye," Scheller says. "We also found that limiting substrate availability has different effects on different polysaccharide products, which suggests that cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis in the Golgi apparatus of plants is also regulated by substrate transport mechanisms."

In addition to these six nucleotide sugar transporters, the assay was used to characterize the functions of 20 other transporters, the details of which will soon be published.

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How sweet it is: Bioenergy advanced by new tool

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Newswise ST. LOUIS, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SAGE Labs Inc., a leading provider of products, services and technologies in the field of genome engineering, announced today that they have licensed CRISPR/Cas9 technology from the Broad Institute. The license enables SAGE Labs to use the CRISPR/Cas9 system to engineer cell and animal models for their clients as well as distribute validated CRISPR reagents. This is the second license obtained by SAGE Labs around CRISPR/Cas9 technology; SAGE also obtained a license from Caribou Biosciences in September 2013.

The Broad Institute was recently issued the first patent for CRISPR/Cas9 technology based on the research of Feng Zhang, PhD, published in Science in January of 2013. CRISPR/Cas9 technology represents the latest advancement in nuclease-based gene editing tools, which have revolutionized genetic engineering by markedly reducing development times and enabling genetic engineering in potentially any species.

David Smoller, PhD., CEO of SAGE Labs, explained, "At SAGE Labs we use the latest technologies to provide our clients with the most advanced models of human disease, and in the shortest timelines possible. It's also essential that our clients receive the freedom-to-operate with their research models, and we're committed to obtaining the necessary licenses."

About SAGE Labs

SAGE Labs is a leading provider of advanced gene editing tools, research models, and support services. Harnessing the latest technologies for genome engineering including Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFN) and CRISPR/Cas9, SAGE produces complex research models in less than half the time as conventional technologies. In addition, SAGE Labs is a premier source for custom-designed and stringently validated CRISPR/Cas9 reagents. For more information, visit http://www.sageresearchlabs.com.

About the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard: The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was launched in 2004 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine. The Broad Institute seeks to describe all the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods, and data openly to the entire scientific community.

Founded by MIT, Harvard, and its affiliated hospitals, and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further information about the Broad Institute, go to http://www.broadinstitute.org.

CONTACT:

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SAGE(r) Labs Licenses CRISPR/Cas9 Technology from the Broad Institute

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Field trials of 15 genetically modified crop, widely known as GM crop may be delayed after Swadeshi Jagran Manch(SJM) and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh(BKS) raised serious objection about the feasibility of the whole process. The biotech regulator, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) on July 18 had given its nod for field trails of number of GM crops including rice, mustard and cotton. Both, SJM and BKS are the two wings of RSS, BJP's parental organisation. A delegation of the organisation on Tuesday met Union Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar regarding the issue and expressed their concern about the long term impact of GM crops on human health and soil. Meanwhile, the Environment Minister has assured them that no decision will be taken in hurry. "We will not rush into it. We will hold consultations with the stakeholders before taking any decision", Javadekar said.

Here is the whole issue in detail.

What is the GM crop? That crop in which original genetic make-up is artificially changed through genetic engineering method is called GM crops. The purpose of the modification is to introduce new traits which were not available in original genetic set up. These crops are also known as transgenic crops. The new introduced traits help in providing resistance against certain diseases and other environmental conditions thereby increases productivity of particular crops. At present, Bt Cotton is the only GM crop which has been allowed to be grown commercially in India.

What is the take of anti-GM crop people? They believe that these crops might pose risks to the environment and human health. Rejects the perception that farmers will be largely be benefitted with the move. This group of people maintains that, it will encourage the monopoly of agri-biotech companies through seed marketing. Our own farmers have to cough up more money every year to buy fresh seeds as these patented GM one have a limited life span of one year only.

What pro-GM crop people are saying? These people have this opinion that such crops would rejuvenate agricultural productivity which will ultimately lead to food security. This group ourightly rejects the report that such crops have any adverse effect on human health and environment

What Supreme Court had said? The Supreme Court in its decision (April, 2014) had sought an answer from the Central Government on the same. The Court had asked from Centre, why there should not be an interim suspension of field trials of these GM crops as experts are largely going against it. The Court said, "We have reports of responsible persons who occupy responsible positions. Don't you think there should be an interim order (against open field trials) till we hear this case?" Earlier in July 2013, the SC appointed committee had recommended an indefinite halt on field trials of such crops till the government fixes regulatory and safety aspects regarding the issue.

What was UPA's stand? Erstwhile Government had maintained perplexing stand on the controversial issue during its tenure. While former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan was against the GM crops, her successor M Veerappa Moily favoured the same. According to the DNA report, during Moily's tenure (2013-14), around 60 proposals of field trials for these GM crops were cleared by GEAC.

Story first published: Wednesday, July 30, 2014, 12:46 [IST]

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Why RSS up in arms against genetically modified (GM) crops?

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New Delhi: Two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) linked outfits on Tuesday sought a ban on field trials of genetically-modified crops cleared by biotech regulator Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed for greater use of research for boosting the agriculture sector.

However, the government said that it is yet to take a final call. Sources said that it has assured RSS affiliated outfits that it will deal with the issue of GM crops with caution, adding that no decision will be taken in haste.

Representatives of Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bhartiya Kissan Sangh on Tuesday met the Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on the issue of field trials of GM crops of certain varieties of rice, brinjal and cotton among others. The outfits claim that the minister assured them that the decision about field trials of GM crops has been "put on hold".

They apprised him about their concerns while claiming that the Minister assured them that the decision about field trials of GM crops has been "put on hold". "The minister assured the delegation that the decision about the field trials of GM crops has been put on hold by the government," All-India co-convener of the Manch Ashwani Mahajan said.

When contacted, Javadekar confirmed the meeting but asserted that the government has not taken any decision on the contentious issue. He said that GEAC has taken such a decision but government has not acted upon it yet.

"The government has not taken any decision on the contentious issue. The government will not take any decision in haste," he said. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) had earlier this month cleared 15 proposals for confined field trials for rice, brinjal, chickpea, mustard and cotton.

The delegation reminded the minister that Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in its report on GM food crops - prospects and impacts, tabled in Parliament on August 9, 2013 has clearly recommended the 'stopping of all field trials under any garb'.

The Manch and Sangh members told the minister that it is "not advisable" to allow GM crops without proper scientific evaluation about their probable long term impact on human health and soil. They said, "The technology, which involves introducing a 'foreign' gene, is dangerous because once introduced, it is irreversible. Once you have a GM crop, you cannot reverse the process if you find that it is causing harm."

They contended that there is no scientific study to prove that GM technology does increase productivity as is claimed by the promoters of the technology. They also pointed out that environmental costs might outweigh any benefits that the introduction of such a technology brings. The delegation told the minister that there is major issue of food security of the nation attached to this issue.

The Manch urged the minister that government should not rely on the biased and manipulated reports of vested interests among the industry and institute enquiries about the likely impact of GM food crops on soil, human and other species' health to ensure that no harm is done to traditional gene pool and biodiversity of the nation, soil, food security and health of the people of India.

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PM for greater research in agriculture, RSS linked outfits oppose GM crop

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Advanced Genetics- mod showcase - 1.6.x 1.7.x (Get the powers of any minecraft mob!)
Vandaag hebben we een compleet DNA-Lab in de kelder opgezet. Eremus zal de krachtigste superheld worden in heel Minecraft MUAHAHAHA.... Follow us on twitter...

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Advanced Genetics- mod showcase - 1.6.x & 1.7.x (Get the powers of any minecraft mob!) - Video

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Ramin Pashaie on Optogenetics - (optics + molecular genetics)
Could we possibly help blind people to see real life the way they see dreams? Ramin Pashaie thinks we can!

By: UWM CEAS

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Ramin Pashaie on Optogenetics - (optics + molecular genetics) - Video

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The Genetics of Autism Spectrum Disorder
"The Genetics of Autism Spectrum Disorder" is presented by Christian Schaaf, M.D. , Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics - Baylor College of Medicine and...

By: BCMweb

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The Genetics of Autism Spectrum Disorder - Video

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PCMag Live 07/25/14: Google X Genetics Sharknado 2 Light Show
Samara Lynn Max Eddy chat about the day #39;s top tech news, including a WSJ report that Google #39;s Baseline Study project will collect anonymous genetic and mol...

By: PCMag

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PCMag Live 07/25/14: Google X Genetics & Sharknado 2 Light Show - Video

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Character Genetics Live Episode One 07-25-14

By: Webcast OneLive

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Character Genetics Live Episode One 07-25-14 - Video

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Groovy Genetics: Strawberry DNA Extraction
Did you know that you can extract DNA from a strawberry right in your own home -- or your local library? Kids who attended the recent Groovy Genetics program...

By: oclsvideos

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Groovy Genetics: Strawberry DNA Extraction - Video

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith