"Genetics", The Nucleus

By: MyCyberCollege

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"Genetics", The Nucleus - Video

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Genetics project (cervical cancer)

By: VirtualifiedKristi

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Genetics project (cervical cancer) - Video

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Let #39;s Play The Sims 3 - Perfect Genetics Challenge - Episode 33
My Sims 3 Page: http://mypage.thesims3.com/mypage/Llandros2012 My Blog: http://Llandros09.blogspot.com My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Llandros09?ref=t...

By: Llandros09

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Let's Play The Sims 3 - Perfect Genetics Challenge - Episode 33 - Video

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Mendel's Genetics

Hybridized domesticated horses

For thousands of years farmers and herders have been selectively breeding their plants and animals to produce more useful hybrids . It was somewhat of a hit or miss process since the actual mechanisms governing inheritance were unknown. Knowledge of these genetic mechanisms finally came as a result of careful laboratory breeding experiments carried out over the last century and a half.

Gregor Mendel 1822-1884

By the 1890's, the invention of better microscopes allowed biologists to discover the basic facts of cell division and sexual reproduction. The focus of genetics research then shifted to understanding what really happens in the transmission of hereditary traits from parents to children. A number of hypotheses were suggested to explain heredity, but Gregor Mendel , a little known Central European monk, was the only one who got it more or less right. His ideas had been published in 1866 but largely went unrecognized until 1900, which was long after his death. His early adult life was spent in relative obscurity doing basic genetics research and teaching high school mathematics, physics, and Greek in Brno (now in the Czech Republic). In his later years, he became the abbot of his monastery and put aside his scientific work.

Common edible peas

While Mendel's research was with plants, the basic underlying principles of heredity that he discovered also apply to people and other animals because the mechanisms of heredity are essentially the same for all complex life forms.

Through the selective cross-breeding of common pea plants (Pisum sativum) over many generations, Mendel discovered that certain traits show up in offspring without any blending of parent characteristics. For instance, the pea flowers are either purple or white--intermediate colors do not appear in the offspring of cross-pollinated pea plants. Mendel observed seven traits that are easily recognized and apparently only occur in one of two forms:

This observation that these traits do not show up in offspring plants with intermediate forms was critically important because the leading theory in biology at the time was that inherited traits blend from generation to generation. Most of the leading scientists in the 19th century accepted this "blending theory." Charles Darwin proposed another equally wrong theory known as "pangenesis" . This held that hereditary "particles" in our bodies are affected by the things we do during our lifetime. These modified particles were thought to migrate via blood to the reproductive cells and subsequently could be inherited by the next generation. This was essentially a variation of Lamarck's incorrect idea of the "inheritance of acquired characteristics."

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Basic Principles of Genetics: Mendel's Genetics

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stem cell therapy makes senile spot disappear.
"ReLife" was founded by Professor Zhang, a well respected doctor with decades of experience in the medical field. Over the decades, "ReLife" pioneering, country leading experts have been dedicated...

By: IMC ReLife

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stem cell therapy makes senile spot disappear. - Video

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Low Oxygen for Rehabilation After of Spinal Cord Injury
A study conducted at Emory #39;s Center for Rehabilitation Medicine shows short periods of breathing low oxygen levels can help some patients with spinal cord injuries walk better. Full story:...

By: EmoryUniversity

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Low Oxygen for Rehabilation After of Spinal Cord Injury - Video

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Alot of immune system cells (Leukocytes ect.) are stored in the bone marrow of the large bone such as the femur or tibia. Removing the bone marrow from the patient and putting in new "clean" bone marrow "could" help reduce the risk of relapsing. The problem is that cancer cells do not always get flushed out of the system the way that we hope they will, and any residual cells have a chance of surviving and dividing over and over and over and over again which causes the cancer to come back. Certain chemotherapy drugs help prevent cells from dividing, which in theory will run out the life span of a cancer cell and allow it to die before it spawns new cells, however these drugs act on the entire system and are very hard on the body. So getting a bone marrow transplant may dramatically reduce the risk of relapse down to the point of non existence, but could also have not much effect at all and there is no way of knowing (terribly sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear).

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Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant with high-risk relapse leukemia?

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Aegean Process (Stem Cell Therapy with PRP)

By: sapardue

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Aegean Process (Stem Cell Therapy with PRP) - Video

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@TrogJoe19: You scare me. This idea of humanity as a virus--I have heard it before. People who think this must have a deep seated inferiority complex, since why would the member of a species see itself as something malignant? We should seek ways of preserving life before we think of destroying it.

Yes, we should be prudent and think before we conceive new humans, but do we really want to go back to the days of rampant disease? Do we want to let viruses be our population control? There are more efficient, less painful ways, I think. Science is about looking forward, not backward. Seeking new solutions.

If we are becoming overpopulated, we should look to space before we think of stunting our longevity, and quashing the search for healthier humanity. With proper preparation, I wouldn't mind living on the moon. But we are so 'terracentric', especially right now, it seems.

@TrogJoe19: You scare me. This idea of humanity as a virus--I have heard it before. People who think this must have a deep seated inferiority complex, since why would the member of a species see itself as something malignant? We should seek ways of preserving life before we think of destroying it.

Yes, we should be prudent and think before we conceive new humans, but do we really want to go back to the days of rampant disease? Do we

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What is Genetic Research? - wiseGEEK

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Feng Zhang is one of the founders of Editas Medicine, which aims to use CRISPR gene-editing technology to treat disease. Image: Kent Dayton

Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

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Instead of taking prescription pills to treat their ailments, patients may one day opt for genetic 'surgery' using an innovative gene-editing technology to snip out harmful mutations and swap in healthy DNA.

The system, called CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), has exploded in popularity in the past year, with genetic engineers, neuroscientists and even plant biologists viewing it as a highly efficient and precise research tool. Now, the gene-editing system has spun out a biotechnology company that is attracting attention from investors as well.

Editas Medicine, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced its launch on 25 November with an initial $43 million venture capital investment. The company, founded by five leading CRISPR researchers, aims to develop therapies that directly modify disease-related genes.

"This is a platform that could have a profound impact on a variety of genetic disorders," says interim president Kevin Bitterman, a venture capitalist at Polaris Partners in Waltham, Massachusetts, which is one of Editas' backers.

The nicest cut CRISPR piggybacks on an immune strategy that bacteria use to detect and chop up foreign DNA. The DNA-cutting enzyme Cas9 finds its target with the help of an RNA guide sequence that researchers can now engineer to home in on potentially any gene of interest.

Editas is not disclosing its intended targets, but the technology might be tried first on diseases caused by a single faulty gene copy, says Feng Zhang, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys McGovern Institute for Brain Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and one of Editas founders. Simply disabling the disease-causing copy could clear the way for the good copy to take over. Treating conditions involving two dysfunctional gene copies will require correcting the gene by splicing in healthy DNA a feat that Zhang says will require more work and engineering.

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'Genetic Surgery' May Be Enabled by a New Technology ...

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Tags: adenosine, cells, disease, encode, fuels, gene function, genes, identification, mitochondria, mutations, nerve cells, plants, proteins, rna, rna interference, stroke, technology

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have used RNA interference (RNAi) technology to reveal dozens of genes which may represent new therapeutic targets for treating Parkinson's disease. The findings also may be relevant to several diseases caused by damage to mitochondria, the biological power plants found in cells throughout the body.

"We discovered a network of genes that may regulate the disposal of dysfunctional mitochondria, opening the door to new drug targets for Parkinson's disease and other disorders," said Richard Youle, Ph.D., an investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and a leader of the study. The findings were published online in Nature. Dr. Youle collaborated with researchers from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).

Mitochondria are tubular structures with rounded ends that use oxygen to convert many chemical fuels into adenosine triphosphate, the main energy source that powers cells. Multiple neurological disorders are linked to genes that help regulate the health of mitochondria, including Parkinson's, and movement diseases such as Charcot-Marie Tooth Syndrome and the ataxias.

Some cases of Parkinson's disease have been linked to mutations in the gene that codes for parkin, a protein that normally roams inside cells, and tags damaged mitochondria as waste. The damaged mitochondria are then degraded by cells' lysosomes, which serve as a biological trash disposal system. Known mutations in parkin prevent tagging, resulting in accumulation of unhealthy mitochondria in the body.

RNAi is a natural process occurring in cells that helps regulate genes. Since its discovery in 1998, scientists have used RNAi as a tool to investigate gene function and their involvement in health and disease.

Dr. Youle and his colleagues worked with Scott Martin, Ph.D., a coauthor of the paper and an NCATS researcher who is in charge of NIH's RNAi facility. The RNAi group used robotics to introduce small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) into human cells to individually turn off nearly 22,000 genes. They then used automated microscopy to examine how silencing each gene affected the ability of parkin to tag mitochondria.

"One of NCATS' goals is to develop, leverage and improve innovative technologies, such as RNAi screening, which is used in collaborations across NIH to increase our knowledge of gene function in the context of human disease," said Dr. Martin.

For this study, the researchers used RNAi to screen human cells to identify genes that help parkin tag damaged mitochondria. They found that at least four genes, called TOMM7, HSPAI1L, BAG4 and SIAH3, may act as helpers. Turning off some genes, such as TOMM7 and HSPAI1L, inhibited parkin tagging whereas switching off other genes, including BAG4 and SIAH3, enhanced tagging. Previous studies showed that many of the genes encode proteins that are found in mitochondria or help regulate a process called ubiquitination, which controls protein levels in cells.

Next the researchers tested one of the genes in human nerve cells. The researchers used a process called induced pluripotent stem cell technology to create the cells from human skin. Turning off the TOMM7 gene in nerve cells also appeared to inhibit tagging of mitochondria. Further experiments supported the idea that these genes may be new targets for treating neurological disorders.

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Gene-silencing study finds new targets for Parkinson's disease ...

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Human genetic clustering analysis uses mathematical cluster analysis of the degree of similarity of genetic data between individuals and groups to infer population structures and assign individuals to groups that often correspond with their self-identified geographical ancestry. A similar analysis can be done using principal components analysis, which in earlier research was a popular method.[1] Many of recent studies in the past few years have returned to using principal components analysis.

In 2004, Lynn Jorde and Steven Wooding argued that "Analysis of many loci now yields reasonably accurate estimates of genetic similarity among individuals, rather than populations. Clustering of individuals is correlated with geographic origin or ancestry."[2]

]

A study by Neil Risch in 2005 used 326 microsatellite markers and self-identified race/ethnic group (SIRE), white (European American), African-American (black), Asian and Hispanic (individuals involved in the study had to choose from one of these categories), to representing discrete "populations", and showed distinct and non-overlapping clustering of the white, African-American and Asian samples. The results were claimed to confirm the integrity of self-described ancestry: "We have shown a nearly perfect correspondence between genetic cluster and SIRE for major ethnic groups living in the United States, with a discrepancy rate of only 0.14%."(Tang, 2005)[full citation needed]

Studies such as those by Risch and Rosenberg use a computer program called STRUCTURE to find human populations (gene clusters). It is a statistical program that works by placing individuals into one of an arbitrary number of clusters based on their overall genetic similarity, many possible pairs of clusters are tested per individual to generate multiple clusters.[3] These populations are based on multiple genetic markers that are often shared between different human populations even over large geographic ranges. The notion of a genetic cluster is that people within the cluster share on average similar allele frequencies to each other than to those in other clusters. (A. W. F. Edwards, 2003 but see also infobox "Multi Locus Allele Clusters") In a test of idealised populations, the computer programme STRUCTURE was found to consistently underestimate the numbers of populations in the data set when high migration rates between populations and slow mutation rates (such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms) were considered.[4]

Nevertheless the Rosenberg et al. (2002) paper shows that individuals can be assigned to specific clusters to a high degree of accuracy. One of the underlying questions regarding the distribution of human genetic diversity is related to the degree to which genes are shared between the observed clusters. It has been observed repeatedly that the majority of variation observed in the global human population is found within populations. This variation is usually calculated using Sewall Wright's Fixation index (FST), which is an estimate of between to within group variation. The degree of human genetic variation is a little different depending upon the gene type studied, but in general it is common to claim that ~85% of genetic variation is found within groups, ~610% between groups within the same continent and ~610% is found between continental groups. For example The Human Genome Project states "two random individuals from any one group are almost as different [genetically] as any two random individuals from the entire world."[5] Sarich and Miele, however, have argued that estimates of genetic difference between individuals of different populations fail to take into account human diploidity.

The point is that we are diploid organisms, getting one set of chromosomes from one parent and a second from the other. To the extent that your mother and father are not especially closely related, then, those two sets of chromosomes will come close to being a random sample of the chromosomes in your population. And the sets present in some randomly chosen member of yours will also be about as different from your two sets as they are from one another. So how much of the variability will be distributed where?

First is the 15 percent that is interpopulational. The other 85 percent will then split half and half (42.5 percent) between the intra- and interindividual within-population comparisons. The increase in variability in between-population comparisons is thus 15 percent against the 42.5 percent that is between-individual within-population. Thus, 15/42.5 is 32.5 percent, a much more impressive and, more important, more legitimate value than 15 percent.[6]

Additionally, Edwards (2003) claims in his essay "Lewontin's Fallacy" that: "It is not true, as Nature claimed, that 'two random individuals from any one group are almost as different as any two random individuals from the entire world'" and Risch et al. (2002) state "Two Caucasians are more similar to each other genetically than a Caucasian and an Asian." It should be noted that these statements are not the same. Risch et al. simply state that two indigenous individuals from the same geographical region are more similar to each other than either is to an indigenous individual from a different geographical region, a claim few would argue with. Jorde et al. put it like this:

The picture that begins to emerge from this and other analyses of human genetic variation is that variation tends to be geographically structured, such that most individuals from the same geographic region will be more similar to one another than to individuals from a distant region.[2]

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Human genetic clustering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Dinosauria Research by PlantBot Genetics
http://www.monsantra.com Plantbot Genetics Scientists visit the Royal Terrell Museum in the Bad Lands of Calgary Canada to research their Dinosauria line of PlantBots.

By: Wendy DesChene

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Dinosauria Research by PlantBot Genetics - Video

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How to use Proof History and Other Tools at http://www.accelgen.com
Visit http://www.accelgen.com to view the proof history of any sire in the database. The website has many unique tools and is the producer #39;s first choice for sire s...

By: Accelerated Genetics

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How to use Proof History and Other Tools at http://www.accelgen.com - Video

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Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population genetics, developmental genetics, clinical genetics, and genetic counseling.

Genes can be the common factor of the qualities of most human-inherited traits. Study of human genetics can be useful as it can answer questions about human nature, understand the diseases and development of effective disease treatment. Also understand genetics of human life. This article describes only basic features of human genetics; for the genetics of disorders please see: Medical genetics.

Inheritance of traits for humans are based upon Gregor Mendel's model of inheritance. Mendel deduced that inheritance depends upon discrete units of inheritance, called factors or genes.[1]

Autosomal traits are associated with a single gene on an autosome (non-sex chromosome)they are called "dominant" because a single copyinherited from either parentis enough to cause this trait to appear. This often means that one of the parents must also have the same trait, unless it has arisen due to a new mutation. Examples of autosomal dominant traits and disorders are Huntington's disease, and achondroplasia.

Autosomal recessive traits is one pattern of inheritance for a trait, disease, or disorder to be passed on through families. For a recessive trait or disease to be displayed two copies of the trait or disorder needs to be presented. The trait or gene will be located on a non-sex chromosome. Because it takes two copies of a trait to display a trait, many people can unknowingly be carriers of a disease. From an evolutionary perspective, a recessive disease or trait can remain hidden for several generations before displaying the phenotype. Examples of autosomal recessive disorders are albinism, cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease.

X-linked genes are found on the sex X chromosome. X-linked genes just like autosomal genes have both dominant and recessive types. Recessive X-linked disorders are rarely seen in females and usually only affect males. This is because males inherit their X chromosome and all X-linked genes will be inherited from the maternal side. Fathers only pass on their Y chromosome to their sons, so no X-linked traits will be inherited from father to son. Men cannot be carriers for recessive X linked traits, as they only have one X chromosome, so any X linked trait inherited from the mother will show up.

Females express X-linked disorders when they are homozygous for the disorder and become carriers when they are heterozygous. X-linked dominant inheritance will show the same phenotype as a heterozygote and homozygote. Just like X-linked inheritance, there will be a lack of male-to-male inheritance, which makes it distinguishable from autosomal traits. One example of a X-linked trait is Coffin-Lowry syndrome, which is caused by a mutation in ribosomal protein gene. This mutation results in skeletal, craniofacial abnormalities, mental retardation, and short stature.

X chromosomes in females undergo a process known as X inactivation. X inactivation is when one of the two X chromosomes in females is almost completely inactivated. It is important that this process occurs otherwise a woman would produce twice the amount of normal X chromosome proteins. The mechanism for X inactivation will occur during the embryonic stage. For people with disorders like trisomy X, where the genotype has three X chromosomes, X-inactivation will inactivate all X chromosomes until there is only one X chromosome active. Males with Klinefelter syndrome, who have an extra X chromosome, will also undergo X inactivation to have only one completely active X chromosome.

Y-linked inheritance occurs when a gene, trait, or disorder is transferred through the Y chromosome. Since Y chromosomes can only be found in males, Y linked traits are only passed on from father to son. The testis determining factor, which is located on the Y chromosome, determines the maleness of individuals. Besides the maleness inherited in the Y-chromosome there are no other found Y-linked characteristics.

A pedigree is a diagram showing the ancestral relationships and transmission of genetic traits over several generations in a family. Square symbols are almost always used to represent males, whilst circles are used for females. Pedigrees are used to help detect many different genetic diseases. A pedigree can also be used to help determine the chances for a parent to produce an offspring with a specific trait.

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Human genetics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Review Link to BBC - The Forum - 11 November 2013

Link to The Economist - 30 November 2013 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

G is for Genes opened my eyes to how genes influence, but not determine, the academic pathways of our children. It should be mandatory reading for parents, teachers, and policy-makers. The book is engagingly well-written, never condescending, yet addresses the key findings from the last decades of genetics research. Professor Rob Klassen, Psychology in Education Research Centre, University of York

The g-word has been a taboo in education. This defies both science and common sense, which tell us that children are not indistinguishable blank slates. Kathryn Asbury and Robert Plomin, one of the worlds leading behavioral geneticists, show that an understanding of genes, far from being scary, is indispensable to sound educational policy, promising schools that are both more effective and more humane. This may be the most important book about educational theory and practice in the new millennium, giving educators, policy-makers, and parents much to think about. Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and the author of How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate.

Education has changed little over at least the last six centuries. Until everybody concerned with education - administrators, teachers, and parents - understand the material clearly presented in this book, education will not change. Understanding genetic differences and the effect of environments on them is an essential beginning for any revolution in education. Douglas K. Detterman, Louis D. Beaumont University Professor Emeritus, Case Western Reserve University

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G is for Genes: The Impact of Genetics on Education and ...

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

4-Dec-2013

Contact: David Hajime Kornhauser david@icems.kyoto-u.ac.jp 81-757-539-748 Elsevier

San Diego, December 4, 2013 Elsevier, EuroStemCell, and Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), today released "Stem Cell Research report: Trends and Perspectives on the Evolving International Landscape" at the World Stem Cell Summit. This new, comprehensive analysis of the growth and development of the stem cell field as a whole, closely examines the research landscape for embryonic stem (ES) cell, human embryonic stem (hES) cell and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell.

In order to provide a broad and transparent data driven view of the field, the study reviewed leading nations' research output, citation impact and collaboration behavior, as well as assessing international differences in focus and growth. The report combines a comprehensive publication analysis from Elsevier's Scopus, the largest scientific abstract and citation database, together with scientists' and other stakeholders' views on current progress and future expectations of the field. Findings will be presented at the World Stem Cell Summit and discussed by Stephen Minger (GE Healthcare), Norio Nakatsuji (Kyoto University iCeMS), Brock C. Reeve (Harvard Stem Cell Institute), Deborah J. Sweet (Cell Press) and Brad Fenwick (Elsevier) on the 6th December.

Highlights and key findings of the report include:

Stem cell research holds great potential to revolutionize healthcare. Investments into this field strive to deliver new treatments for many serious conditions for which few effective treatments currently exist. Some basic research findings are being translated into new treatments, and with the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells in 2006, the field has seen a step-change in biological understanding that will affect the way new drugs are identified and tested and, potentially, the way cells can be generated in the lab. While the field has attracted priority status in many countries, it has also been the focus of continuous discussion around ethics and regulation with each nation taking its own policy position, some of which have had a clear effect on the dynamics of the field.

"The challenge for the coming decade is to expand on multi-disciplinary and multi-sector collaboration aimed at large-scale production of high-quality human pluripotent stem cells, and also, robust and reliable production of high-quality differentiated cells", said Professor Norio Nakatsuji, Founding Director of Kyoto University, iCeMS. "In order to provide adequate support to accelerate such research, a nation should take an evidence-based approach with an understanding of the global trend from a multitude of perspectives."

"This report gives us a bird's eye view of the international stem cell field, drawing on advanced bibliometric techniques to identify national and international trends where is stem cell research strongest, where is the sector developing fastest, are the results of individual funding initiatives translating into high impact publications, and so on," said Professor Clare Blackburn, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh and the Project Coordinator of EuroStemCell. "It has been extremely interesting to analyse these data, they contain a lot of provocative information. We hope readers will gain a new understanding of the shape of the field that will stimulate future policy discussions."

Nick Fowler, Managing Director of Academic and Government Institutions for Elsevier, said, "The aim of this report was to support development in stem cell science and policy discussion by bringing together comprehensive analytical overview of the fields together with insights from experts. We are proud we have been able to collaborate with EuroStemCell, Kyoto University, iCeMS and the experts who have provided their valuable input."

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New report on stem cell research reveals the field is growing ...

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Multiple Myeloma Stem Cell Therapy mp4

By: Drmeena Shah

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Multiple Myeloma Stem Cell Therapy mp4 - Video

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Epigenetics Technology Market - A Promising Tool for Personalized Medicine and Diagnostics
http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/epigenetics-technologies-market-896.html.

By: Kerry Fido

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Epigenetics Technology Market - A Promising Tool for Personalized Medicine and Diagnostics - Video

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Spinal Cord Injury Stem Cell Treatment
Spinal Cord Injury Great Results just hours after Stem Cell Treatment http://clikhere.co/cvIwMb2q.

By: Rob C

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Spinal Cord Injury Stem Cell Treatment - Video

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In a small study involving 25 volunteers, stem cell recipients had their heart attack scars reduced most dramatically -- on average almost 50 percent -- damaged muscle replaced by new healthy heart tissue. CBS News

In a small study involving 25 volunteers, stem cell recipients had their heart attack scars reduced most dramatically - on average, 50 percent - and damaged muscle replaced by new healthy heart tissue.

CBS News

(CBS) A new study offers an effective way to mend a broken heart: Stem cells.

PICTURES: 7 heart-healthy foods

The study looked at patients with damaged hearts from myocardial infarctions, or heart attacks, and found stem cells reduced the amount of scarring and helped hearts regrow healthy muscle.

"This discovery challenges the conventional wisdom that, once established, scar is permanent and that, once lost, healthy heart muscle cannot be restored," study co-author Dr. Eduardo Marban, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and inventor of the techniques used in the procedure, said in a hospital written statement.

For the study, researchers tested 25 patients, an average of 53 years old, who had experienced heart attacks that had left them with damaged heart muscle. Eight patients served as controls and were treated with conventional treatments including medication, and diet and exercise recommendations. The other 17 patients received stem cells, which researchers derived from raisin-sized pieces of patients' own heart tissue.

The researchers found that patients treated with stem cells experienced almost a 50 percent reduction of heart attack scars within 12 months of treatment, while the eight patients who received conventional treatment saw no reductions in damage.

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Stem cells heal heart attack scars, regrow healthy muscle ...

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Two years ago, Doreen Flynn of Lewiston, Maine, won her case against the U.S. government, successfully arguing that bone marrow donors should be able to receive compensation.

Flynn, a mother of three girls who are afflicted with a rare, hereditary blood disease called Fanconi's anemia, has a strong interest in bone marrow transplantation. At the time of the court ruling, her oldest daughter, Jordan, 14, had already received a transplant, and one of the younger twins, Jorja, was expected to need one in a few years.

Locating a marrow donor is often a needle-in-a-haystack affair. The odds that two random individuals will have the same tissue type are less than 1 in 10,000, and the chances are much lower for blacks. Among the precious few potential donors who are matched, nearly half don't follow through with the actual donation. Too often, patients don't survive the time it takes to hunt for another donor.

Allowing compensation for donations could enlarge the pool of potential donors and increase the likelihood that compatible donors will follow through. So the ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was promising news for the 12,000 people with cancer and blood diseases looking for a marrow donor. James Childress, an ethicist at the University of Virginia, and I submitted an amicus brief in the case.

Soon after the verdict, Shaka Mitchell, a lawyer in Nashville, Tenn., and co-founder of the not-for-profit MoreMarrowDonors.org, began collecting funds to underwrite $3,000 donor benefits, which were to be given as scholarships, housing allowances or gifts to charity.

Mitchell also invited a team of economists to evaluate the effects of the ruling on people's willingness to join a registry and to donate when they are found to be a match. The researchers were to specifically assess whether cash payments would be any more or less persuasive than noncash rewards or charitable donations.

Now comes the bad news. On Oct. 2, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new rule that would overturn the Ninth Circuit's decision. The government proposes designating a specific form of bone marrow circulating bone marrow stem cells derived from blood as a kind of donation that, under the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act, cannot be compensated. If this rule goes into effect, anyone who pays another person for donating these cells would be subject to as much as five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

The problem with this rule is that donating bone marrow is not like donating an essential organ. Indeed, the Ninth Circuit based its decision on the fact that modern bone marrow procurement, a process known as apheresis, is more akin to drawing blood. In the early 1980s, when the transplant act was written, the process was more demanding, involving anesthesia and the use of large, hollow needles to extract marrow from a donor's hip. But today, more than two-thirds of marrow donations are done via apheresis. Blood is taken from a donor's arm, the bone-marrow stem cells are filtered out, and the blood is then returned to the donor through a needle in the other arm.

The Ninth Circuit panel held that these filtered stem cells are merely components of blood no different from blood-derived plasma, platelets and clotting factors, for which donor compensation is allowed.

The strongest opposition to compensation comes from the National Marrow Donor Program, the Minneapolis-based not-for-profit that maintains the nation's largest donor registry. Michael Boo, the program's chief strategy officer, says of reimbursement, "Is that what we want people to be motivated by?"

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A ban on pay for donors will cost lives - Columbia Daily ...

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Skin Doctors YouthCell Range TVC
YouthCell contains the latest plant stem cell technology (PhytoCellTec) to help delay the appearance of chronological ageing of the skin. These plant stem ...

By: Skin Doctors UK

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Skin Doctors YouthCell Range TVC - Video

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Human stem cells have been converted into functioning lung cells for the first time, paving the way for better models of lung diseases, ways to test potential drugs and, ultimately, creation of tissue for lung transplants.

Scientists had previously converted stem cells into cells of the heart, intestine, liver, nerves and pancreas.

"Now, we are finally able to make lung and airway cells," study leader Dr. Hans-Willem Snoeck, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University in New York, said in a statement.

Patients who receive lung transplants today have a poor prognosis. But future approaches involving transplants that use the patient's own stem cells to generate lung tissue could reduce the chances that a patient's immune system would reject the transplant, the researchers said. [Inside Life Science: Once Upon a Stem Cell]

In 2011, Snoeck and his colleagues found a set of chemical signals capable of transforming two types of stem cells human embryonic stem cells, which are taken from human embryos, and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are adult skin cells that have been reprogrammed into stem cells into precursors of lung and airway cells.

In the new study, Snoeck's team discovered new chemicals that complete the conversion of stem cells into the epithelial cells that coat the surface of the lungs.

In fact, the researchers found evidence suggesting the cells could develop into six types of lung and airway epithelial cells, according to the study published Dec. 1 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. These included the cells that produce surfactant, a liquid that covers the alveoli, the structures where gas exchange occurs, and also repairs the lung after injury or damage.

The technology could enable researchers to model certain lung diseases. For example, the cause of a condition called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis remains a mystery, but cells called type 2 alveolar epithelial cells are thought to play a role. Using the new method of converting stem cells into lung cells, scientists could study the disease, and screen drugs that could possibly treat it, the researchers said.

Ultimately, the technique could be used to produce tissue for an autologous lung graft. The lung cells would be removed from an organ donor's lung, leaving only a scaffold behind, which could be seeded with freshly made lung cells from the patient, the researchers said

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Oct. 17, 2013

A Waisman Biomanufacturing specialist examines cells in a culture in the cell therapy clean room. The UW-Madison Waisman Center opened Waisman Biomanufacturing to ease the research and development of biological products and drugs.

Photo: Waisman Biomanufacturing

Developing a new drug takes enormous amounts of time, money and skill, but the bar is even higher for a promising stem-cell therapy. Many types of cells derived from these ultra-flexible parent cells are moving toward the market, but the very quality that makes stem cells so valuable also makes them a difficult source of therapeutics.

"The ability to form many types of specialized cells is at the essence of why we are so interested in stem cells, but this pluripotency is not always good," says Derek Hei, director of Waisman Biomanufacturing, a facility in the Waisman Center at UW-Madison.

"The cells we can make from stem cells cells for the heart, brain and liver have amazing potential, but you can also end up with the wrong type of cell. If the cells are not fully differentiated, they can end up differentiating into the wrong cell type," Hei says.

Derek Hei

Just like drugs, stem cells for clinical trials must be produced under a demanding regulatory regime called "good manufacturing practice," he says. That capacity is rare in labs in private business and universities, and this is the only one at UWMadison.

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