Once upon a time, a ragtag bunch of Swiss scientists were hiking along the Alps when they happened upon a tree of apples so rare and spectacular that the fruit could sit for months without withering and even heal its own bruises if dropped. Naturally, their first thought was to take this magical fruit, cut it up, and put it all over their scientist faces to see how pretty it made them.

If that sounds a little too much like a fairy tale, that's because (I'm pretty sure) it is. But, the key elements are real. PhytoCellTec Malus Domestica, a stem cell derived from the Uttwiler Spatlauber apple, has become one of the buzziest skin-care ingredients of the last few years and with good reason. Because, if you follow those scientists' lead and put them all over your face, these crazy Swiss cells will indeed make you super, duper pretty.

I'd read a little of the hype around Swiss-apple stem cells on this and other sites, but the term always flew over my head and into the realm of Crazy Skin Products That Cost More Than A Car. Maybe Gwyneth and Kate Middleton can spend their pocket money on fairy-tale-science skin care, but I have a cat to support.

Then, last month on vacation in Vienna, I spotted a jar of cream labeled "Swiss Apple Formula" at a Marionnaud (kind of like European Sephora). And, y'know how sometimes foreign money doesn't feel like actual money? And, foreign beauty products always seem better than the ones you can get back home? Right, so I bought it. Plus, the matching serum.

Smash cut to the next morning when I awoke, jet-lagged and haggard but no! Jet-lagged, yes, but only haggard on the inside! My face looked as though it had slept for 11 hours and not drunk four glasses of wine with dinner. I stared at my face in the mirror and then stared at it in that crazy, magnified mirror hotels sometimes stick in the bathroom in case you'd like to really see just how huge and sun-damaged your pores are. Normally, I toss a towel over that thing lest I wind up diagnosing each new freckle as malignant skin cancer, but this morning I got up close and personal with a very happy face. It's not that it was suddenly zit and line-free, but it was calm and even. On day one it was the kind of calm and even that only I really noticed, but after a week, that changed.

I tracked down one of the most popular products in the U.S.: Emerge Labs Swiss Apple Stem Cell Serum just to make sure it wasn't the placebo effect or my magical thinking around European skin-care products. The Emerge Labs Serum (which I paired with its stem-cell moisturizer for extra stem-celliness) proved just as effective. As an added bonus, the moisturizer contains SPF 30, so I felt fully protected when the unthinkable happened I went without makeup.

A couple of weeks into using this stuff, my BB cream ran out. I don't wear a ton of it, but I normally need at least a little light face coverage, just to even things out. My nose gets red from sneezy allergies, and my aforementioned large pores are, well, quite large. But, everything seemed to just chill the hell out after a few weeks with the Swiss-apple regimen. Any discoloration seemed to even out, and I had not a blemish in sight. Even better, my skin felt constantly hydrated, but not at all greasy. I might dust on some pressed powder, but I've yet to hit Sephora for a BB refill. And, not that I'm counting, but I'm totally up to FIVE individual wow-your-skin-looks-great compliments. One friend asked if I was pregnant, so it's possible I'm too glowy now.

Since it's been just over a month, I can't speak to long-term anti-aging effects except to say that J.Lo apparently uses this product, and at 44, she looks younger than her own children. Frankly, even if it was only this magical in the short term, I still think Swiss-apple stem cells are totally worth it. PhytoCellTec is not a cheap ingredient and so neither are most of the products that contain it. But, on balance, I think having the kind of skin that lets me feel confident walking around with less makeup even no makeup is a pretty great investment.

Link:
Swiss Apple Stem Cells - Emerge Labs Skin Care

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

19-Jun-2014

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

NEW YORK, NY (June 18, 2014) Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) hold enormous potential to unravel the mechanisms of human illness and to develop new therapeutics. Until now, there has been no easily searchable database for investigators to find and share these important resources. This has been a major obstacle to the implementation of iPS technology.

Recognizing the research potential of shared iPS cell lines, the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and the eagle-i Network will make NYSCF iPS cell lines and related information available to the public on a user-friendly, web-based, searchable database. The database (called the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell database) will help scientists find valuable resources, enabling collaboration, preventing duplicative work, and ultimately accelerating research.

NYSCF and eagle-i will establish an open access repository of information on large numbers of iPS cell lines. eagle-i will display information as linked open data, enabling discovery by any third party search engine. NYSCF derives hundreds of iPS cell lines from skin samples of patients with a wide variety of diseases using the NYSCF Global Stem Cell ArrayTM technology, an automated platform for high-throughput iPS cell production and differentiation. Scientists will be able to search for NYSCF iPS cell lines under several categories including disease, how the cells were reprogrammed, and patient age at the time the sample was collected.

"This important tool should have significant impact on the science community," said Lee Nadler, principal investigator of Harvard Catalyst and eagle-i. "I'm thrilled that we will contribute to this partnership by creating a user-friendly, searchable database for the iPS cell lines that NYSCF has produced, enabling researchers to search for available lines on an open access platform. The opportunities this will create are tremendous."

"We were very excited to develop this resource for stem cell scientists," said Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF Chief Executive Officer. "It is important to have open access to available resources and this collaboration with eagle-i is a prime example of interdisciplinary teams working together to provide this for the scientific community."

The alpha version of the website will be presented during the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Annual Conference in Vancouver, Canada in June 2014. Future versions of the database will include genomic and other clinical and cellular phenotype information, including a mechanism that will allow scientists to order lines directly from the website. Soon, NYSCF and eagle-i will invite other institutions from around the world to join this collaboration and contribute their iPS cell lines to the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell database, creating an even more robust research tool.

At the ISSCR Conference this week, Richard V. Pearse, PhD, from eagle-i will be at poster F-2245 during poster session III and NYSCF will be at booth 918 with information pertaining to this new initiative.

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NYSCF and eagle-i Network co-develop iPS cell database

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

29-Jun-2014

Contact: Karen Teber km463@georgetown.edu Georgetown University Medical Center

WASHINGTON For a rare form of cancer called thymoma, researchers have discovered a single gene defining the difference between a fast-growing tumor requiring aggressive treatment and a slow-growing tumor that doesn't require extensive therapy.

Thymoma is a cancer derived from the epithelial cells of the thymus, an organ critical to the lymphatic system where T-cells, or so-called "killer cells," mature. Very little is known about the role of the gene mutation GTF2l in human tumors, but scientists from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute say almost all indolent (slow growing and non-aggressive) forms of thymoma they tested have the mutation. They report their finding in the ?? issue of Nature Genetics.

"Indolent thymomas seldom become aggressive, so the discovery that a single gene can identify tumors that do not need aggressive care is an important development for our patients," says the study's senior investigator, Giuseppe Giaccone, MD, PhD, associate director for clinical research at Georgetown Lombardi.

In addition to the clinical implications, the study is important because "it is highly unusual to find a single mutated gene that can define a class of tumors," he said. "Usually a substantial number of genes are involved. In fact, we also found that the more aggressive thymomas express well-known cancer genes found in other tumors which might give us clues about novel treatment of these cancers."

The thymus is located in the chest behind the breastbone. Thymoma and a second type of cancer of the thymus called thymic carcinoma are rare. According to the National Cancer Institute, these cancers counted together make up for only .2 to 1.5 percent of all cancers one case occurs in about every 700,000 individuals.

Most of the diagnosed patients have surgery, but, depending on the presumed aggressiveness of the cancer, some patients will have radiation and/or chemotherapy in addition or instead of surgery. "The use of these treatments in thymomas is controversial, because we know some patients don't need aggressive therapy, but until now, there's not been a clear way to know who those patients are," Giaccone says.

###

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A single gene separates aggressive and non-aggressive lymphatic system cancer

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Peter Singer Interview, University of Vienna
philosopher Peter Singer pays a visit to Erwin Lengauer of the ethics department at the University of Vienna on June 21, 2014. He talks with Kay Peggs about the history of his book "Animal...

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Peter Singer Interview, University of Vienna - Video

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Published: Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 4:47 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 4:47 p.m.

But their work is not destined for commercialization, due to a lack of financial backing and interest in getting these products through all the regulations necessary to put them on the path to the local supermarket and our dinner tables.

Public opinion is having a detrimental effect on research, scientists say, because growers in Florida dont want to invest the millions it would take to push GMOs short for genetically modified organisms through the federal regulatory process for fear the public wont buy them.

People are afraid, they dont understand why, they are just told they should be afraid of genetically engineered products, said Sam Hutton, a plant scientist specializing in tomato genetics at the Gulf Research and Education Center in Wimauma, located east of Interstate 75 between Tampa and Bradenton. The anti-GMO crowd screams really loud, and there is a lot of fearmongering. It sounds bad to people who dont understand the science.

Very few of the whole foods that consumers buy are genetically modified. Less than 1 percent of genetically modified foods are eaten whole, some sweet corn, papaya and squash, scientists say.

The bulk of genetically modified foods 75 percent are corn and soybean crops used in livestock feed, researchers say. Some genetically modified crops are used to make industrial chemicals as well starch, high fructose corn syrup, lecithin, vegetable oil and protein extracts that go into the processed foods that are colorfully packaged and found in the center aisles of the neighborhood grocery store.

None of the genetically modified corn or soybeans are grown in Florida, scientists say.

We dont have much genetically modified acreage in Florida, said Kevin Folta, professor and chairman of UFs Horticultural Sciences Department.

Folta recently organized and conducted a seminar on genetic engineering or transgenics to dispel misperceptions about genetic modification.

The speakers at the seminar, which was held in Emerson Alumni Hall at UF, addressed their comments to an audience of about 60 most of them fellow researchers and graduate students. Folta was well aware they were preaching to the choir.

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Genetically modified foods face hurdles

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Genetics Antenatal Counselling- DOWN #39;S SYNDROME
Visit http://www.csasmartgroup.com to get all the materials you need to ROCK your consultations! Get your FREE Training Video Series - http://www.csasmartgro...

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Attack of the B-Team #18 [Minecraft][Advanced Genetics]
: http://www.attackofthebteamwiki.com/wiki/Advanced_Genetics KZee Instagramhttp://instagram.com/happykzee kzee: https://www.facebook.com...

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Ann Arbor-based RetroSense Therapeutics LLC plans to start human trials of a gene-based therapy next year, and if those trials go as animal trials have gone, those blinded by degenerative eye diseases will regain some of their vision.

What seemed more like an interesting science experiment four years ago than a real company -- can a light-sensing gene that helps pond scum find sunlight also help the blind see? -- is attracting interest and venture capital as it gears up for human trials.

The therapy is based on the photosensitivity of a gene called channelrhodopsin-2. This gene allows blue-green algae to detect where the sun is shining on a pond so they can move in its direction and convert light to energy through photosynthesis.

When the gene, which is inside a cultured medium called a vector, is injected into the eye, previously non-photosensitive retinal cells are converted into photosensitive cells, allowing limited vision. RetroSense and its research partners have tested mice, rats and nonhuman primates, with all species showing a return of some vision following treatment, said founder and CEO Sean Ainsworth.

As a result, the company has just completed raising a venture capital round of $2.4 million, led by a San Diego firm, Nerveda LLC, and is close to agreeing on terms of a follow-on round of $5 million or more, Ainsworth said.

Those rounds will fund Phase 1 U.S. Food and Drug Administration trials next year and the first half of Phase 2 trials.

Fundraising has been sparked because of large recent deals involving other biotech firms and by RetroSense's success in animal trials for its lead product, a biologic with the working name of RST-001.

RetroSense CEO Sean Ainsworth

Ainsworth founded RetroSense in 2010 after licensing the work of Wayne State University researcher Zhuo-Hua Pan. He laid out the company's plans to a standing-room-only crowd at the recent Michigan Growth Capital Symposium in Ypsilanti, which drew venture capitalists and angel investors from around the country to hear pitches for capital from 32 Midwest firms.

Ainsworth said that if what has worked in animals works in patients taking part in the upcoming trials, at least some black-and-white vision will be restored to those blinded by such diseases as retinitis pigmentosa and dry age-related macular degeneration.

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Gene therapy for blindness gets attention of investors

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Dr Lox Stem Cell Therapy WFLA News 8
Dr. Lox | http://www.drlox.com | 727-462-5582 (WFLA) When Judy Loar, 68, could not bear to walk any longer due to excruciating pain in both of her knees from degenerative joint disease, she did what...

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ovation hair - regrow hair - scalp med - Dr. Ari Arumugam - Cosmetic Surgery Chennai -
ovation hair - regrow hair - scalp med - Dr. Ari Arumugam - Cosmetic Surgery Chennai - Dr. Ari Chennaihttp://cosmeticsurgerychennaiindia.com/?-click-here-for-more-info-100194 Industry (Quotation...

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ovation hair - regrow hair - scalp med - Dr. Ari Arumugam - Cosmetic Surgery Chennai - - Video

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Dr. Lox, 8 WFLA News, Stem Cell Therapy
Dr. Lox | http://www.drlox.com | 727-462-5582 "It was like a miracle" - Watch as Judy Loar describes her experience with Dr. Dennis Lox to WFLA #39;s Gayle Guyardo.

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Study shows promise for virus specific T cell therapy following bone marrow transplant
Researchers in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children #39;s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital published new res...

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Doctors at Care Fertility, the biggest private provider of IVF treatment, found the faulty gene, known as C4M2, in 44 per cent of their patients compared with just 15 per cent of the general population.

Prof Simon Fishel, managing director, said the gene could be a major cause of recurrent miscarriage.

With proper treatment the number of couples having healthy babies increased to 38 per cent, a similar proportion to other infertility patients of the same age.

The findings were published in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine Online.

The fault means the embryo is unlikely to implant in the womb and if it does it may do so insufficiently, causing late miscarriage or growth problems in the baby.

If the women is the carrier of the faulty gene she is also at risk of complications such as blood clots.

Prof Fishel, lead author on the publication, said Very recently a new genetic marker has been found that predisposes couples to the risk of miscarriage, which we call the C4/M2 variant.

"In addition to the risk of implantation failure and miscarriage, it is linked to blood clotting disorders, pre-eclampsia and low birth weight babies.

"What I do find remarkable, is that in the population of patients studied, the man has the same chance as the woman to pass on this variant to the developing embryo and disturb successful implantation. Where the genetic variant exists, the chance of delivering a baby is reduced to one in four that of fertile couples."

Care Fertility now intend to screen selected patients for the faulty gene so they can be treated appropriately.

Link:
Faulty gene is a major cause of repeated miscarriages, say experts

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Free Perfect Genetic Engineering Idea- Changing Spermatogonia and Gametogonia
Came up with idea after a game of basketball and a near asthma attack. Took 3 hours of research but I find it is the easiest solution.

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Free Perfect Genetic Engineering Idea- Changing Spermatogonia and Gametogonia - Video

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Let #39;s Play The Sims 3 - Perfect Genetics Challenge: Cowgirl and Horse Edition Episode 7
Come join me on my latest journey into the complex world of sims 3 genetics, as I try to get perfect foals and perfect children. Will I succeed in getting pe...

By: GamerGirlsNetwork

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Let's Play The Sims 3 - Perfect Genetics Challenge: Cowgirl and Horse Edition Episode 7 - Video

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Let #39;s Play The Sims 3 - Perfect Genetics Challenge: Cowgirl and Horse Edition Episode 8
Come join me on my latest journey into the complex world of sims 3 genetics, as I try to get perfect foals and perfect children. Will I succeed in getting pe...

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Let's Play The Sims 3 - Perfect Genetics Challenge: Cowgirl and Horse Edition Episode 8 - Video

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Genetics of sickle-cell anemia
Sickle cell disease is a disorder that affects the red blood cells, which use a protein called hemoglobin to transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Normally, red blood cells...

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Genetics of sickle-cell anemia - Video

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New Sims 4 | Traits | Genetics | Aspirations
Hope you enjoy the video! Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nrEtPITILU Rise of the Dark Ones Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLZIopOMwo0 Get Pa...

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New Sims 4 | Traits | Genetics | Aspirations - Video

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Cancer Genetics an emerging leader in DNA-based cancer diagnostics
Cancer Genetics Inc. (CGIX:NASDAQ) - an emerging leader in DNA-based cancer diagnostics, has created tests that target difficult to diagnose cancers.

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Cancer Genetics an emerging leader in DNA-based cancer diagnostics - Video

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Dads video
My father suffered a severe spinal cord injury in September 2013. I made this video to show him how much we love and support him. He needs help. He has worke...

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Dads video - Video

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$30 Million for Spinal Cord Injury Research
Congressman Nolan supported an amendment offered by his colleague Rep. Langevin (RI), to designate $30 million for the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program.

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Stemcells #39; promising news on spinal cord injury therapy
Martin McGlynn, CEO of Stemcells Inc., disclosed to BioWorld (http://www.BioWorld.com) fascinating data from a phase I/II clinical trial of human neural stem...

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Stemcells' promising news on spinal cord injury therapy - Video

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Knee arthritis six months after stem cell injection by Dr Harry Adelson
Donald and Emma discuss their results six months after their stem cell injection into their arthritic knees by Dr Harry Adelson.

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Health Matters: Personalized Medicine Treatments
Advances in genome testing are helping to improve the outcomes for people who are battling cancer. Today #39;s technologies allow doctors to match treatments wit...

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Health Matters: Personalized Medicine & Treatments - Video

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June hangout: How genomic testing is making patient care safer and better
This month we will speak with people working on cancer diagnostics, pharmacogenetic testing and personalized medicine. Join us at noon on Wednesday, June 25 to listen to the conversation....

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