The Next Captain America is YOU: Science Friction Ep 23
Find out how science can create real super-soldiers with enhanced strength, unbreakable bones and inexhaustible endurance. Do you have what it takes to becom...

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Dallas, TX (PRWEB) April 03, 2014

Translational Biosciences, a subsidiary of Medistem Panama, has received the green light for a phase I/II clinical trial using human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSC) for multiple sclerosis from the Comit Nacional de Biotica de la Investigacin (CNEI) Institutional Review Board (IRB) in Panama.

According to the US National Multiple Sclerosis Society, in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an abnormal immune-mediated T cell response attacks the myelin coating around nerve fibers in the central nervous system, as well as the nerve fibers themselves. This causes nerve impulses to slow or even halt, thus producing symptoms of MS that include fatigue; bladder and bowel problems; vision problems; and difficulty walking. The Cleveland Clinic reports that MS affects more than 350,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million worldwide.

Mesenchymal stem cells harvested from donated human umbilical cords after normal, healthy births possess anti-inflammatory and immune modulatory properties that may relieve MS symptoms. Because these cells are immune privileged, the recipients immune system does not reject them. These properties make UC-MSC interesting candidates for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders.

Each patient will receive seven intravenous injections of UC-MSC over the course of 10 days. They will be assessed at 3 months and 12 months primarily for safety and secondarily for indications of efficacy.

The stem cell technology being utilized in this trial was developed by Neil Riordan, PhD, founder of Medistem Panama. The stem cells will be harvested and processed at Medistem Panamas 8000 sq. ft. ISO-9001 certified laboratory in the prestigious City of Knowledge. They will be administered at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama.

From his research laboratory in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Riordan commented, Umbilical cord tissue provides an abundant, non-controversial supply of immune modulating mesenchymal stem cells. Preclinical and clinical research has demonstrated the anti-inflammatory and immune modulating effects of these cells. We look forward to the safety and efficacy data that will be generated by this clinical trial; the first in the western hemisphere testing the effects of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells on patients with multiple sclerosis.

The Principle Investigator is Jorge Paz-Rodriguez, MD. Dr. Paz-Rodriguez also serves as the Medical Director at the Stem Cell Institute.

For detailed information about this clinical trial visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . If you are a multiple sclerosis patient between the ages of 18 and 55, you may qualify for this trial. Please email trials (at) translationalbiosciences (dot) com for more information about how to apply.

About Translational Biosciences

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Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Therapy Clinical Trial for Multiple Sclerosis Gets Green Light

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Stem cells injected directly into heart muscle can help patients suffering from severe heart failure by improving an ailing heart's ability to pump blood, a new Danish trial indicates.

Doctors drew stem cells from patients' own bone marrow, and then injected those cells into portions of the heart where scar tissue seemed to interfere with heart function, explained lead researcher Dr. Anders Bruun Mathiasen. He is a research fellow in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Rigshospitalet University Hospital Copenhagen.

Within six months of treatment, patients who received stem cell injections had improved heart pumping function compared to patients receiving a placebo, according to findings that were to be presented Monday at the American Academy of Cardiology's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

"We know these stem cells can initiate the growth of new blood vessels and heart muscle tissue," Mathiasen said. "That's what we think has happened."

If larger follow-up trials prove the treatment's effectiveness, it could provide hope for people suffering from untreatable heart failure.

"Heart failure is one of the biggest causes of death. If you can save lives or improve their symptoms, then a treatment like this would be extremely beneficial," said Dr. Cindy Grines, a cardiologist with the Detroit Medical Center and a spokeswoman for the American College of Cardiology.

The treatment could delay the need for a heart transplant and extend the lives of people who can't qualify for a transplant, Grines added.

This new clinical trial included 59 patients with severe heart failure who were considered untreatable. It is the largest randomized trial to test the potential of stem cell injections in treating heart disease, the researchers said.

In the trial, 39 patients received injections of stem cells into their heart muscle through a catheter inserted in the groin. The procedure required only local anesthesia, Mathiasen said. The other 20 received saline injections.

Doctors first mapped the patient's heart using a sensor sent through the catheter that tracks both heart movement and voltage conducted by heart tissue.

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Stem Cells Can Revive Failing Heart

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Patients with severe ischemic heart disease and heart failure can benefit from a new treatment in which stem cells found in bone marrow are injected directly into the heart muscle, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.

"Our results show that this stem cell treatment is safe and it improves heart function when compared to placebo," said Anders Bruun Mathiasen, M.D., research fellow in the Cardiac Catherization Lab at Rigshospitalet University Hospital Copenhagen, and lead investigator of the study. "This represents an exciting development that has the potential to benefit many people who suffer from this common and deadly disease."

Ischemic heart disease, also known as coronary artery disease, is the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States. It results from a gradual buildup of plaque in the heart's coronary arteries and can lead to chest pain, heart attack and heart failure.

The study is the largest placebo-controlled double-blind randomized trial to treat patients with chronic ischemic heart failure by injecting a type of stem cell known as mesenchymal stromal cells directly into the heart muscle.

Six months after treatment, patients who received stem cell injections had improved heart pump function compared to patients receiving a placebo. Treated patients showed an 8.2-milliliter decrease in the study's primary endpoint, end systolic volume, which indicates the lowest volume of blood in the heart during the pumping cycle and is a key measure of the heart's ability to pump effectively. The placebo group showed an increase of 6 milliliters in end systolic volume.

The study included 59 patients with chronic ischemic heart disease and severe heart failure. Each patient first underwent a procedure to extract a small amount of bone marrow. Researchers then isolated from the marrow a small number of mesenchymal stromal cells and induced the cells to self-replicate. Patients then received an injection of either saline placebo or their own cultured mesenchymal stromal cells into the heart muscle through a catheter inserted in the groin.

"Isolating and culturing the stem cells is a relatively straightforward process, and the procedure to inject the stem cells into the heart requires only local anesthesia, so it appears to be all-in-all a promising treatment for patients who have no other options," Mathiasen said.

Although there are other therapies available for patients with ischemic heart disease, these therapies do not help all patients and many patients continue to face fatigue, shortness of breath and accumulation of fluid in the lungs and legs.

Previous studies have shown mesenchymal stromal cells can stimulate repair and regeneration in a variety of tissues, including heart muscle. Mathiasen said in the case of ischemic heart failure, the treatment likely works by facilitating the growth of new blood vessels and new heart muscle.

The study also supports findings from previous, smaller studies, which showed reduced scar tissue in the hearts of patients who received the stem cell treatment, offering additional confirmation that the treatment stimulates the growth of new heart muscle cells.

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New human trial shows stem cells are effective for failing ...

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By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, March 31, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Stem cells injected directly into heart muscle can help patients suffering from severe heart failure by improving an ailing heart's ability to pump blood, a new Danish trial indicates.

Doctors drew stem cells from patients' own bone marrow, and then injected those cells into portions of the heart where scar tissue seemed to interfere with heart function, explained lead researcher Dr. Anders Bruun Mathiasen. He is a research fellow in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Rigshospitalet University Hospital Copenhagen.

Within six months of treatment, patients who received stem cell injections had improved heart pumping function compared to patients receiving a placebo, according to findings that were to be presented Monday at the American Academy of Cardiology's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

"We know these stem cells can initiate the growth of new blood vessels and heart muscle tissue," Mathiasen said. "That's what we think has happened."

If larger follow-up trials prove the treatment's effectiveness, it could provide hope for people suffering from untreatable heart failure.

"Heart failure is one of the biggest causes of death. If you can save lives or improve their symptoms, then a treatment like this would be extremely beneficial," said Dr. Cindy Grines, a cardiologist with the Detroit Medical Center and a spokeswoman for the American College of Cardiology.

The treatment could delay the need for a heart transplant and extend the lives of people who can't qualify for a transplant, Grines added.

This new clinical trial included 59 patients with severe heart failure who were considered untreatable. It is the largest randomized trial to test the potential of stem cell injections in treating heart disease, the researchers said.

In the trial, 39 patients received injections of stem cells into their heart muscle through a catheter inserted in the groin. The procedure required only local anesthesia, Mathiasen said. The other 20 received saline injections.

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Stem Cells May Rejuvenate Failing Hearts, Study Suggests

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Dr. Friedrich Schuening came to St. Louis to start a bone marrow transplant center at St. Louis University. In November 2012, the month before he was scheduled to open the facility, he was attending a conference when he felt a shortness of breath.

Tests disclosed that he had leukemia, the disease in which he was an expert. When the bone marrow transplant center opened, he became one of the first patients.

I never would have thought, in my wildest dreams, after having treated a disease my whole professional life that I would be a patient myself, he told the Post-Dispatch at the time.

Dr. Schuening underwent two bone marrow transplants. The first was in February 2013, and a month later he was back at work treating patients. But his leukemia returned, and doctors performed a second transplant in June 2013.

His leukemia went into remission. But the bone marrow transplant, although successful, led to complications that caused his death, according to one of his physicians, Dr. Mark J. Fesler.

Dr. Schuening died on Thursday (March 27, 2014) at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He was 71 and had lived in Creve Coeur.

He devoted his life to treating patients with blood cancers. He was an internationally known expert in stem cells, regenerative medicine and bone marrow transplants. He wrote more than 120 scientific papers.

He came to St. Louis University in May 2011, to start his third bone marrow transplant center. The first two were at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Vanderbilt University, according to St. Louis University.

Friedrich Georg Schuening was born in 1942 in Trier, Germany. His father served in the German Navy, and his mother taught school.

At first, Dr. Schuening studied theology at the University of Mainz in Germany. Instead of going into the ministry, he began studying psychiatry, then switched to medicine to study the body. He earned an M.D. at the University of Hamburg.

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Just weeks after invalidating a groundbreaking paper describing a simple technique for generating pluripotent stem cells, professor Kenneth Ka Ho Lee now believes he has identified the correct approach.

Lee, chief of stem cell research at the Chinese University of Hong, spoke to Wired.co.uk in March about his tentative excitement when he read the Nature study in question, published at the start of the year. The proposed Stap cells (stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) in it were a revelation, because they suggested there was a simple way to generate embryonic-like stem cells that could potentially be used in the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson's. The method involved reprogramming a donor's own adult blood and skin cells (in this case, mice) by exposing them to extreme trauma, such as an acid bath.

Lee could see its potential, but like the rest of the community he had his doubts. While reports circulated that the images published in the Nature study also featured in older papers penned by lead researcher Haruko Obokata of Japan's Riken Centre, Lee set about trying to replicate the experiment himself.

It didn't work.

Since then the Riken Centre has launched an investigation into the legitimacy of the trial, and that investigation today revealed Obokata had indeed falsified information, including results and images of DNA fragments used.

"Actions like this completely destroy data credibility," commented Shunsuke Ishii, head of the investigative committee and a Riken molecular geneticist, at a press conference. "There is no doubt that she was fully aware of this danger. We've therefore concluded this was an act of research misconduct involving fabrication." Obokata has denied the allegations, but Riken says its own research team will be the one to verify the results and carry out the experiment again.

In the interim however, a coauthor on the paper at the centre of the debacle,Charles Vacanti published yet another protocol for the Stap technique, fairly different from the original. Vacanti, of ear-on-a-mouse fame, is a professor at Harvard Medical School and published online what he said was found to be "an effective protocol for generating Stap cells in our lab, regardless of the cell type being studied". It was a combination of the two approaches mentioned in the Naturepaper -- the acid bath, and the trituration process (the application of pressure on the cells using pipettes to induce stress). He describes the latter process as being exerted with force, more so than in the original paper, and over a lengthy period -- twice a day for the first week.

Nature had already rejected Lee's version of experiments for publication last month. Undeterred, he set about applying Vacanti's technique. Liveblogging the experiments on ResearchGate, the open source platform where Lee had published his first set of experiments, the Hong Kong researcher immediately saw the excess stress was leading to rapid cell death among the lung fibroblast cells used.

"The Vacanti protocol put a deal of emphasis on mechanically passing the cells through narrow bore glass pipettes for 30 minutes before acid treatment and then growing the cells on non-adhesive culture plates," Lee told Wired.co.uk. "We conducted these experiments, but it did not induce expression of the pluripotent stem cell markers (Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog)."

Nevertheless, things appeared to turn around. In his preliminary studies Lee has concluded that it could be the extreme stress through trituration, and not the acid bath, that was responsible for creating the Stap cells.

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'Fabricated' stem cell paper technique may yet be proven valid

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Grover before Stem Cell Therapy
This video is of Grover before his Stem Cell Therapy and after 12 sessions of Laser Therapy. Grover could not bear any weight on his leg prior to the Laser T...

By: Animal Haven Veterinary Center

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Grover before Stem Cell Therapy - Video

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Diabetes Treatment at EmCell
At present, more than 200 million people around the world are affected with diabetes, and this number is growing year after year. Among various types of ther...

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Diabetes Treatment at EmCell - Video

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Cell Therapy for Parkinson #39;s Disease
An introduction to the cell therapy research underway with eight Parkinson #39;s Disease patients at the Scripps Clinic and Scripps Research Institute in San Diego.

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Cell Therapy for Parkinson's Disease - Video

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(Medical Xpress)Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have identified a key gene variation linked to an increased risk of stroke. The discovery comes as part of a breakthrough in the understanding of what causes some people to produce too much homocysteine, an amino acid associated with stroke, cancer, dementia, hardening of the arteries and other diseases.

As part of their work, the researchers have developed a genetic test that can predict which people are at risk for producing too much homocysteine, and their discovery could lead to new treatments for the associated diseases.

The findings also show that the conversion of the enzyme methionine into homocysteine the primary focus of the researchers' investigation plays an important role in controlling the activity of genes. That discovery could have significant implications for understanding stroke, cardiovascular disease and other conditions.

While high homocysteine levels have long been suspected as a culprit in diseases, efforts to lower homocysteine in scientific trials have not produced health benefits. The new U.Va. research explains what may be happening to produce the elevated levels, suggesting that one gene in particular, GNMT, is being stimulated to work too hard. The researchers found four other genes that appear to play a role as well, though to a lesser degree.

"What we found was a really striking result for a genome association study," said Stephen R. Williams, a postdoctoral fellow at U.Va.'s Cardiovascular Research Center and U.Va.'s Center for Public Health Genomics. "It's hard to find something that's significant, and it's hard to find something biologically relevant, and we did that five times over."

The researchers set out to determine why certain people metabolize methionine into homocysteine differently than do others. To do so, they reviewed the genomes of nearly 5,000 participants in two studies: the Vitamin Intervention for Stroke Prevention, a trial that aimed to prevent people from suffering a second ischemic stroke; and the Framingham Heart Study, which has followed participants' cardiovascular health for decades. It was through that review that the researchers were able to identify the five critical genes, including one form of the ALDH1L1 gene associated with ischemic stroke in the Framingham study.

The researchers then determined that differences in the regulation of the GNMT gene are the main reasons for the variations in methionine metabolism in people. To reach that conclusion, they created a test based on the DNA from a person who was a high methionine metabolizer and DNA from a low metabolizer, to see how the DNA reacted when treated with methionine.

"What turned out was that the individuals who had higher post-methionine load homocysteine had higher gene-promoter activity," Williams said. "That was really interesting, because it gave us a functional cause that partially explains why this may be happening and the genetics of why people may metabolize methionine differently."

The researchers were able to devise a "risk score" evaluating the risk for developing excess homocysteine based on which gene variations people have. "If you had all of them, you are in the highest risk category," U.Va. researcher Michle Sale said.

"The risk score actually predicts how an overall population would perform in the post-methionine load test," Williams said. "That's genetic relevance that's actually leading to clinical prediction. So that's really cool."

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02.04.2014 - (idw) Johannes Gutenberg-Universitt Mainz

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Institute of Molecular Biology collaborate in three-year research project funded by the Ministry of Science Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has received EUR 900,000 for three years to investigate, jointly with the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), how gene regulation affects evolution and development. The ambitious new research initiative GeneRED, or Gene Regulation in Evolution and Development, is jointly run by IMB and JGU's Faculty of Biology, funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, Continuing Education, and Culture of Rhineland-Palatinate. Its overarching goal is to gain insight into how epigenetics, i.e., the regulation of genes by elements outside the classical DNA code, can influence the development of organisms, both in the short term (growth and aging) and the long term (evolutionary adaptation).

The initiative aims to significantly strengthen research into gene regulation on the campus of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. To achieve this, it will fund six PhD positions at JGU's Faculty of Biology over three years (2014-2016). The questions these students are studying are:

* How did division of labor evolve in social insects like ants, and which genes are involved? * How does the NURF complex help maintain neural stem cell identity in fruit flies? * What are the targets of the NG2 protein in glial cell development and tumors? * How do ciliary proteins affect DNA damage response and gene regulation in Usher syndrome? * What are the roles of genetic regulatory elements in the modern human adaptation to an agriculturalist diet and predisposition to metabolic syndrome? * Which epigenetic factors are involved in creating body size memory in fruit flies?

The participating PhD students will be fully integrated into the International PhD Program on "Dynamics of Gene Regulation, Epigenetics and DNA Damage Response," a joint program coordinated by IMB with groups from IMB, JGU, the Mainz University Medical Center, and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research.

The initiative will also help expand access to modern proteomics technologies for scientists at JGU and IMB. With proteomics becoming a key methodology in modern biomedical research, the support provided through this initiative will be crucial in ensuring that research in Mainz is internationally competitive.

About the Institute for Molecular Biology gGmbH The Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB) is a center of excellence in the life sciences that was established in 2011. Research at IMB concentrates on three cutting-edge areas: epigenetics, developmental biology, and DNA repair. The institute is a prime example of a successful collaboration between public authorities and a private foundation. The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation has dedicated EUR 100 million for a period of 10 years to cover the operating costs for research at IMB, while the state of Rhineland-Palatinate provided approximately EUR 50 million for the construction of a state-of-the-art building. For more information about IMB, please visit http://www.imb.de

About the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization committed to the promotion of the medical, biological, chemical, and pharmaceutical sciences. It was established in 1977 by Hubertus Liebrecht (1931-1991), a member of the shareholder family of the company Boehringer Ingelheim. Through its PLUS 3 Perspectives Program and Exploration Grants, the foundation supports independent group leaders; it also endows the internationally renowned Heinrich Wieland Prize as well as awards for up-and-coming scientists. The foundation has granted EUR 100 million over a period of ten years to finance the scientific activities of the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB). For more information about the foundation and its programs, please visit http://www.boehringer-ingelheim-stiftung.de

Press contact for further information Dr Ralf Dahm, Director of Scientific Management Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB) Ackermannweg 4, 55128 Mainz, Germany phone: +49 6131 39-21455 fax: +49 6131 39-21421 e-mail: press@imb.de Weitere Informationen:http://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/17179_ENG_HTML.php - press release ;https://www.imb-mainz.de/research/initiatives/GeneRED/ - Gene Regulation in Evolution and Development (GeneRED)

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New research initiative investigates gene regulation in evolution and development

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Seeds: A play for thinking audiences
Actor Eric Peterson speaks about being drawn to the strength and determination of Percy Schmeiser. Having grown up in Saskatchewan Peterson has had a lot of ...

By: National Arts Centre Centre national des Arts

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Choosing Seeds for a Kitchen Garden | Fresh P
I love Baker Creek seeds not only because they #39;re are free of genetic engineering, but because they supply interesting varietals that are often higher in mic...

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A set of prehistoric footprints, said to show meat-eating dinosaurs hunting vegetarian dinos, has just been recreated in a detailed 3-D model.

The frozen-in-time event, dated to at least 112 million years ago, happened at what is now the Paluxy River site in Dinosaur Valley State Park near the town of Glen Rose, Texas just southwest of Fort Worth.

The chase involved 20 to 30-foot-long predatory dinosaurs going after 30 to 50-foot-long dinosaur prey. While paleontologists arent yet certain of the species, Acrocanthosaurus (aka High-spined Lizard) is considered the likely hunter and Pleurocoelus (a hefty and impressively huge plant eater) the hunted.

Could These 10 Animals Be Resurrected?

It looks like one or more big predatory dinosaurs was stalking a herd of about 12 sauropods before the hunters went in for the kill.Some have suggested the tracks show one or more dinosaurs dying, since the footprints of young sauropods (the plant eaters) appear to trail off.

The chase scene has been known for some years. Unfortunately, after American paleontologist Roland Bird originally excavated the preserved footprints in 1940, researchers removed the tracks from their original location, divided them into blocks and transported them to various locations around the world.

Bird had documented the original site with photos and maps, but since that excavation, portions of the tracks have been lost. Peter Falkingham of the Royal Veterinary College, along with colleagues James Farlow and Karl Bates, decided to recreate the full set of dinosaur footprints.

When we first set out to map the Paluxy Rivertrack, creating an accurate 3-D model of the site required use of a large, heavy laser scanner that cost tens of thousands of pounds and was prone to failure especially in the extreme heat in Texas, Falkingham said in a press release.

Chicken from Hell Was a Fowl-Looking Dinosaur

They switched to a process called photogrammetry, which uses multiple digital photographs to generate a 3-D model. The process matches features between images and calculates relative camera positions. The researchers were even able to incorporate some of the original photos taken by Bird.

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Deadly Dinosaur Chase Reconstructed

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From buying organic to gluten-free, consumers seem to be more interested than ever in the ways their food is produced.

This spring, legislators in more than 20 states will consider proposals to mandate special labeling of genetically modified foods, to give shoppers one more bit of information.

Critics say genetically modified foods might be unsafe, but even if they are not, consumers have a right to know what is in what they eat.

So, why not tell people if the ingredients in their cupcakes and cereal have been engineered, and let them decide what to buy?

This may sound reasonable and seem to reflect how our choice-driven marketplace works. But, it reflects a deep misunderstanding about what genetic engineering actually is and how it compares to the changes we have been making to crop plants for thousands of years.

For starters, nearly every food on grocery store shelves has been modified by human hands at the genetic level. In the agriculture world, its called breeding. And, as many of us learned in high school biology class, breeding alters a plants genes so it expresses new traits.

This may be as simple as a new color or flavor, or even resistance to pests and plant diseases.

And, whether we use genetic engineering or more conventional techniques, breeding can mean just tweaking the genes already inside a plant or introducing entirely new ones.

The primary thing that makes genetic engineering unique is the power and precision it gives us to make those changes and then test for safety afterward. It has also given us food that is both safer for our families and better for the environment.

Plants with a built-in resistance to chewing insects, for example, have allowed farmers to use millions of gallons less pesticide every year.

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GMO foods have caused nary a sniffle, sneeze or bellyache

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Is there a genetic component of this disease?
APFED #39;s Webinar Series Presents... Answers from Experts Is there a genetic component of this disease? John E. Pandolfino, MD Chief, Division of Gastroenterol...

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Is there a genetic component of this disease? - Video

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San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) April 02, 2014

CollabRx, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRX), a data analytics company focused on informing clinical decision-making in molecular medicine, and The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with a staff of over 1,500 employees, today announced a multi-year agreement to access CollabRx technology and content resources in support of the clinical interpretation of genetic sequencing-based tests provided by JAX.

The partnership with JAX represents CollabRxs first such relationship with a large and influential non-profit biomedical research institute and demonstrates the companys accelerating pace of business and channel development in 2014. This new milestone attests to the growing adoption of CollabRx technology and interpretive analytics in top-tier laboratories worldwide as a standard aspect of test reporting for clinical genetic sequencing in cancer and other diseases.

The Jackson Laboratory, now in its 85th year, has pioneered the use of genomics and bioinformatics to advance cancer research by bridging basic biology and translational studies to accelerate the development of new therapies, said Thomas Mika, Chairman, President & CEO of CollabRx. We are excited and proud to work with the Laboratory, an NCI-designated Cancer Center, to provide physicians with a clinically relevant interpretation of genetic sequencing test results as a seamless part of the reporting process.

Under the terms of the agreement, CollabRx medical and scientific knowledge will be incorporated into the results of genetic sequencing-based tests in oncology provided by JAX. JAX will leverage CollabRxs dynamically updated knowledge base in molecular medicine, ensuring that the latest medical and scientific data is made available to ordering physicians to aid in their interpretation of test results and inform patient-treatment planning. CollabRxs knowledge base includes the clinical impact of specific genetic profiles and is supported by its large and growing network of over 75 leading clinical practitioners in the United States and Europe.

The partnership will leverage each organizations commitment to developing cutting-edge medical informatics solutions to integrate, automate and standardize molecular testing and reporting in oncology. These capabilities are vital to the large-scale molecular analysis of tumors using clinical genetic sequencing, given the sheer volume and complexity of genetic data that is produced. While genetic sequencing-based tests are increasingly becoming an important part of the clinical management of cancer patients, the resulting explosion of data has outpaced the ability of practicing physicians to understand how to apply this genetic data in treating their patients.

A contextualized interpretation of cancer mutation panels is critical in using a genomics-based approach to inform cancer-treatment planning, said Dr. Charles Lee, Director of the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, in Farmington, CT. CollabRx has developed a scalable process and software platform to provide a best-in-class medical informatics solution that will enable JAX to arm physicians with a meaningful analysis of a tumors molecular characteristics when determining a cancer-treatment plan.

About CollabRx CollabRx, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRX) is a recognized leader in cloud-based expert systems to inform healthcare decision-making. CollabRx uses information technology to aggregate and contextualize the worlds knowledge on genomics-based medicine with specific insights from the nations top cancer experts, starting with the area of greatest need: advanced cancers in patients who have effectively exhausted the standard of care. More information may be obtained at [http://www.collabrx.com .

About The Jackson Laboratory The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a facility in Sacramento, Calif., and a new genomic medicine institute in Farmington, Conn. It employs a total staff of more than 1,500. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health. More information may be obtained at [http://www.jax.org/ .

CollabRx Safe Harbor Statement This press release includes forward-looking statements about CollabRxs anticipated results that involve risks and uncertainties. Some of the information contained in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements as to industry trends and CollabRxs plans, objectives, expectations and strategy for its business, contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words "believe," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "target," "estimate," "expect" and the like, and/or future tense or conditional constructions ("will," "may," "could," "should," etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. Important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are detailed in filings made by CollabRx with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CollabRx undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

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CollabRx and The Jackson Laboratory Partner in Molecular Diagnostics for Cancer

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Enabled Reduced Analysis Time Per Case, Improved Ability to Track & Query Identified Variants

BOSTON and LEUVEN, Belgium - Cartagenia, the world leader in software-based workflow support for genetic variant assessment, lab reporting, and integration of diagnostic knowledge-bases, today announced that the Human Genetics Laboratory, part of the Munroe-Meyer Institute for Genetics and Rehabilitation (MMI) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), has selected the Cartagenia Bench platform genetics diagnostics solution for use at its healthcare laboratory. Cartagenia Bench is a cloud-based platform that allows genetics labs and clinicians to analyze, interpret, report, and share genomic variants in routine clinical diagnostics.

Jennifer N. Sanmann, PhD, MB(ASCP)(CM)CG(CM), a representative of the Human Genetics Laboratory at UNMC, noted that its laboratory's adoption of Bench has helped them track their lab findings in a single, well-annotated database and has led to significantly reduced report turnaround times.

"Our laboratory's experience with Cartagenia has been a very positive one," Dr. Sanmann said. "The transition from our internally developed system to Bench CNV and Bench NGS went smoothly and was well supported by the Cartagenia team. It has been our experience that the Bench modules have reduced significantly the amount of analysis time per case and have improved our ability to track and query identified variants."

"The boundary between molecular genetics and cytogenetics testing is fading. NGS technology is being adopted to determine structural events; public registries such as ClinVar collect both CNVs and SNPs; and most importantly, structural variation and molecular variation are more and more often used to jointly explain the patient phenotype, and reach a diagnosis," says Steven Van Vooren, Product Marketing Director at Cartagenia. "At Cartagenia, we strongly believe in a 'single platform' approach, where joint clinical interpretation of structural and molecular events comes natural, and is agnostic of the technology used to pick up variants."

The Cartagenia Bench platform is a clinical-grade, medical device software platform that supports the assesment and reporting of structural variants such as copy number gains, losses, and changes in zygosity, as well as molecular events such as single nucleotide events, and small insertions and deletions.

"We see strong growth in labs adopting both our NGS and CNV modules on the Bench platform, and bringing together structural and molecular variants in their interpretation and reporting," says Herman Verrelst, CEO of Cartagenia. "At Cartagenia, we want to facilitate this evolution, allowing labs to automate their workflow as much as possible and use the time won to focus on the clinical setting in which to assess and report variants - whether postnatal, prenatal or in oncology."

About UNMC

UNMC's Human Genetics Laboratory is a CAP and CLIA accredited full service cytogenetic and molecular genetic laboratory combining comprehensive genetic testing with personalized clinical consultation to provide the very best in genetic medicine to every client and patient served. As genetic disease continues to become more widely identifiable, customized technology and new assays are developed and validated, meeting expanding clinician and patient needs through advancements in systems, software, and diagnoses. In addition to diagnostic and research studies in the areas of perinatal, postnatal, and oncology testing, comprehensive services at UNMC include clinical evaluation by licensed genetic counselors and board certified medical geneticists. Visit unmc.edu/geneticslab to learn more.

About Cartagenia

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