StemCell Therapy

Scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) and Fox Chase Cancer Center show that EGR4, known mainly for its role in male fertility, serves as a critical brake on immune activation. The new study Suppression of Ca2+signals by EGR4 controls Th1 differentiation and anticancer immunityin vivo,published online inEMBO Reports, demonstrates that taking EGR4 away, thus effectively releasing the brake, promotes the activation of killer T cells, which infiltrate and attack tumors and thereby boost anticancer immunity.

While the zinc finger transcription factors EGR1, EGR2, and EGR3 are recognized as critical for Tcell function, the role of EGR4 remains unstudied. Here, we show that EGR4 is rapidly upregulated upon TCR engagement, serving as a critical brake on Tcell activation. Hence, TCR engagement of EGR4/T cells leads to enhanced Ca2+responses, driving sustained NFAT activation and hyperproliferation. This causes profound increases in IFN production under resting and diverse polarizing conditions that could be reversed by pharmacological attenuation of Ca2+ entry, wrote the investigators.

Finally, aninvivomelanoma lung colonization assay reveals enhanced antitumor immunity in EGR4/mice, attributable to Th1 bias, Treg loss, and increased CTL generation in the tumor microenvironment. Overall, these observations reveal for the first time that EGR4 is a key regulator of Tcell differentiation and function.

Other early growth response proteins, or EGRs, are important to T cell activity, but whether EGR4 also has a role in immunity has been largely overlooked, explained Jonathan Soboloff, Ph.D., professor of Medical Genetics and Molecular Biochemistry at the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology at LKSOM. Our study reveals a new side to the importance of EGR4.

Soboloffs team examined the influence of EGR4 expression in immune cells in collaboration with Dietmar J. Kappes, Ph.D., professor of Blood Cell Development and Cancer at Fox Chase Cancer Center. In initial experiments, the researchers found that T cell activation is associated with EGR4 upregulation. They then showed that knocking-out, or eliminating, EGR4 from immune cells results in a dramatic increase in calcium signaling and expansion of T helper type 1 (Th1) cell populations. Th1 cells, in response to the presence of foreign entities, including tumor cells, activate cytotoxic, or killer, T cells, which then wipe out the invader.

We know from our previous work that T cells control calcium signaling and that when intracellular calcium levels are elevated, calcium signaling can drive T cell activation, Soboloff said.

The Soboloff and Kappes labs next studied the functional importance of EGR4 in cancer immunity by utilizing an adoptive mouse model of melanoma in which some host animals lacked EGR4 expression. Compared to mice with typical EGR4 levels, EGR4 knockout animals showed evidence of expanded populations of Th1 cells and enhanced anticancer immunity. In particular, EGR4 knockout mice had reduced lung tumor burden and fewer metastases than mice with normal EGR4 expression.

In future work, the Soboloff and Kappes groups plan to further explore strategies for EGR4 targeting. The development of an agent to target EGR4 specifically may be difficult, due to the diverse actions of EGR pathways. But eliminating EGR4 specifically from a patients T cells, and then putting those cells back into the patient, may be a viable immunotherapeutic approach, Kappes said.

More:
Removing EGR4 "Brake" on Immune Activation May Be Viable I/O Therapeutic Approach - Clinical OMICs News

Genomics has come a long way since the central dogma (the notion that DNA is the master controller that calls all the shots) and junk DNA (the expectation that much of the genome is non-functional). If scientists ditch those old dogmas and approach the genome expecting to find reasons for things, they often do.

To-may-to or to-mah-to? The British write flavour; the Americans write flavor, but generally each understands the other without too much difficulty. Genomes, too, have alternate ways of spelling things: GGU and GGC in messenger RNA both spell glycine. No big deal, thought geneticists; these silent mutations cause no change in the resulting protein. At the University of Notre Dame, however, biochemists are finding that the differences in spelling are not just background noise; they alter the proteins folding. Is that good or bad?

Synonymous mutations were long considered to be genomic background noise, but we found they do indeed lead to altered protein folding, and in turn impair cell function, said Patricia Clark, the Rev. John Cardinal OHara professor of biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, and lead author of the study. Our results show that synonymous variations in our DNA sequences which account for most of our genetic variation can have a significant impact on shaping the fitness level of cellular proteins.

Surely many of these mutations are harmful, as are random mutations in humans that cause genetic disease. But E. coli has been around for a long time. Wouldnt the species have gone extinct by now with the accumulation of defective spellings if they are always deleterious? Other work has suggested a secret code in synonymous variations that fine-tunes expression rates or regulates the supply of a given protein based on environmental conditions. The news release only mentions impairments caused by synonymous variations, but Notre Dame teams paper in PNAS suggests some possible advantages:

Synonymous codon substitutions alter the mRNA coding sequence but preserve the encoded amino acid sequence. For this reason, these substitutions were historically considered to be phenotypically silent and often disregarded in studies of human genetic variation. In recent years, however, it has become clear that synonymous substitutions can significantly alter protein function in vivo through a wide variety of mechanisms that can change protein level, translational accuracy, secretion efficiency, the final folded structure and posttranslational modifications. The full range of synonymous codon effects on protein production is, however, still emerging, and much remains to be learned regarding the precise mechanisms that regulate these effects. [Emphasis added.]

A design perspective would consider every possible function before rendering a judgment that all synonymous variations reduce fitness.

Keeping the genome accurate to a high degree preserves it from collapsing due to error catastrophe. At the time of cell division, proofreading enzymes (what a concept!) perform this vital function. Chelsea R. Bulock et al., writing in PNAS, have found one duplication enzyme that proofreads itself while proofreading its partner! DNA polymerase proofreads errors made by DNA polymerase , the paper is titled.

Pol and Pol are the two major replicative polymerases in eukaryotes, but their precise roles at the replication fork remain a subject of debate. A bulk of data supports a model where Pol and Pol synthesize leading and lagging DNA strands, respectively. However, this model has been difficult to reconcile with the fact that mutations in Pol have much stronger consequences for genome stability than equivalent mutations in Pol. We provide direct evidence for a long-entertained idea that Pol can proofread errors made by Pol in addition to its own errors, thus, making a more prominent contribution to mutation avoidance. This paper provides an essential advance in the understanding of the mechanism of eukaryotic DNA replication.

In other words, Pol is a proofreader of a proofreader. The paper says that Pol is a versatile extrinsic proofreading enzyme. One could think of it as a supervisor checking the work of a subordinate, or better yet, as an auditor or inspector able to fix errors before they cause harm to the product. Why would this be necessary during replication? The authors see a seniority system:

Thus, the high efficiency of Pol at correcting errors made by Pol may result from a combination of two factors: the high proclivity of Pol to yield to another polymerase and the greater flexibility and robustness of Pol when associating with new primer termini.

One proofreader is amazing to consider evolving by a Darwinian mechanism. A proofreader of a proofreader is astonishing. Consider, too, that this proofreading operation occurs in the dark by feel, automatically, without eyes to see.

Now that genetics is long past the heady days of finding that DNA forms a code that is translated, additional discoveries continue to show additional codes and factors that contribute to genomic function. One factor is the high-order structure of DNA. Researchers at South Koreas UNIST center have explored further into the formation of this structure, which involves chromatin wrapping around histone proteins so that long strands of DNA can fit within the compact space of the cell nucleus. As with everything else in genomics, the structure doesnt just happen. It requires a lot of help.

Regulation of histone proteins allows the DNA strands become more tightly or loosely coiled during the processes of DNA replication and gene expression. However, problems may arise when histones clump together or when DNA strands intertwine. Indeed, the misregulation of chromatin structures could result in aberrant gene expression and can ultimately lead to developmental disorders or cancers.

Histone chaperones are those proteins, responsible for adding and removing specific histones [found] at the wrong time and place during the DNA packaging process. Thus, they also play a key role in the assembly and disassembly of chromatin.

Cryo-EM imaging allowed the team to envision the molecular structure of some of these chaperone proteins. Their paper in Nature Communications begins, The fundamental unit of chromatin, the nucleosome, is an intricate structure that requires histone chaperones for assembly. Their cryo-EM images of one particular chaperone named Abo1 reveals a six-fold symmetry with precise locations for docking to histones, its hexameric ring thus creating a unique pocket where histones could bind with energy from ATP. Not only is Abo1 distinct as a histone chaperone, they write, but Abo1 is also unique compared to other canonical AAA+protein structures. Like Lego blocks, Abo1 features tight knob-and-hole packing of individual subunits plus linkers and other binding sites, such as for ATP. And unlike static blocks, these blocks undergo conformational changes as they work.

Such sophistication is far beyond the old picture of DNA as a master molecule directing all the work. It couldnt work without the help of many precision machines like this.

These stories are mere samples from a vast and growing literature indicating higher order in the genome than expected. Here are some more samples readers may wish to investigate:

Researchers at the University of Seville found additional factors involved in the repair of DNA strand breaks. These repairs are essential for the maintenance of genome integrity. The factors they discovered help maintain the right tension in cohesin molecules that hold the chromosomes together until the right time to separate. The news was relayed by EurekAlert!and published in Nature Communications.

Remember Paleys Watch? Researchers at the University of Basel discovered that Inner clockwork sets the time for cell division in bacteria. In PNAS and in Nature Communications, the Basel team elucidates the structure and function of a small signaling molecule that starts the clock, which then informs the cell about the right time to reproduce. They report in the news release:

A team at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, led by Prof. Urs Jenal has now identified a central switch for reproduction in the model bacteriumCaulobacter crescentus: the signaling molecule c-di-GMP. In their current study,published in the journalNature Communications,they report that this molecule initiates a clock-like mechanism, which determines whether individual bacteria reproduce.

Proteins must fold properly to perform their functions. Small proteins usually fold successfully on their own, but large ones can fall into several misfolding traps that are equally likely as the canonical fold. It appears that the sequence of the sequence in a gene has something to do with this. Interestingly, many of these proteins sequences contain conserved rare codons that may slow down synthesis at this optimal window, explain Amir Bitran et al. in a January 21 paper in PNAS, discovering that Cotranslational folding (i.e., folding that begins as the polypeptide exits the ribosome) allows misfolding-prone proteins to circumvent deep kinetic traps.

Design advocates and evolutionists need to fathom what they are dealing with when discussing origins. Theres nothing like some low-level detail to put the challenge in perspective.

Image credit: Caulobacter crescentus, by University of Basel, Swiss Nanoscience Institute/Biozentrum, via EurekAlert!

Continued here:
More Hints of Order in the Genome - Discovery Institute

BOSTON, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The burgeoning coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic has already killed thousands of people worldwide and is threatening the lives of many more. In an effort to limit the virus from spreading, Harvard University was among the first organizations to promote social distancing by requiring all but the most essential personnel to work remotely. However, labs that perform vital COVID-19-related research are permitted to continue their potentially life-saving work and many of these activities are currently ongoing at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Essentially all medical treatment centers impacted by SARS-CoV2 (CoV2), the SARS-family virus that causes COVID-19, are overstrained or unable to confront the virus, starting from their ability to diagnose the virus' presence in the human body, treat all infected individuals, or prevent its spread among those that have not been infected yet. Therefore, finding better solutions to diagnose, treat, and prevent the disease, is key to combating this menace and bringing this pandemic under control. Equally concerning, there are worldwide shortages on the front lines in hospitals in our region and around the world, including rapidly depleting supplies of personal protective equipment, such as N95 face masks, and nasopharyngeal swabs needed for COVID-19 diagnostic testing. Solving these challenges requires rapid responses and creative solutions.

"With our highly multi-disciplinary and translation-focused organization, we [the Wyss Institute] were able to quickly pivot, and refocus our unique engineering capabilities on much needed diagnostic, therapeutic, and vaccine solutions, and we hope to be part of the solution for many of the innumerable problems the present pandemic poses," said Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who also is the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, and Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). "We strive to make a major contribution to bringing this crisis under control, and are confident that what we accomplish under duress now will help prevent future epidemics."

Meeting challenges on the front lines of patient care

Many of the Institute's hospital partner institutions and government agencies have reached out to Institute leadership to assist in this rapidly escalating battle against COVID-19. Ingber's team is working closely with collaborators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), other Harvard-affiliated hospitals, and generous corporate partners to develop potential solutions to the increasing shortage of nasopharyngeal swabs and N95 face masks. Senior Staff Engineers Richard Novak, Ph.D., and Adama Sesay, Ph.D., and Senior Research Scientist Pawan Jolly, Ph.D., are working diligently with our clinical partners to help devise a solution as quickly as possible.

Diagnosing COVID-19 more quickly, easily, and broadly

With COVID-19 rapidly spreading around the planet, the efficient detection of the CoV2 virus is pivotal to isolate infected individuals as early as possible, support them in whatever way possible, and thus prevent the further uncontrolled spread of the disease. Currently, the most-performed tests are detecting snippets of the virus' genetic material, its RNA, by amplifying them with a technique known as "polymerase chain reaction" (PCR) from nasopharyngeal swabs taken from individuals' noses and throats.

The tests, however, have severe limitations that stand in the way of effectively deciding whether people in the wider communities are infected or not. Although PCR-based tests can detect the virus's RNA early on in the disease, test kits are only available for a fraction of people that need to be tested, and they require trained health care workers, specialized laboratory equipment, and significant time to be performed. In addition, health care workers that are carrying out testing are especially prone to being infected by CoV2. To shorten patient-specific and community-wide response times, Wyss Institute researchers are taking different parallel approaches:

Via one route, a team led by Wyss Core Faculty member

, Ph.D., and Senior Staff Scientist

, M.D., Ph.D., in the Institute's Molecular Robotics Initiative are developing a disposable test that makes use of a "lateral flow device" (LFD) much like a home pregnancy test easy to manufacture at a large scale, and able to be handled without special equipment or expertise. The team is adapting a suite of bioinspired DNA nanotechnology techniques that Yin's lab has previously developed to enable the detection of virus RNA or protein from simple nasopharyngeal swabs with high sensitivity and accuracy. In the handheld LFD device, these tools would enable users to transform the presence of viral RNA or protein in a sample into the formation of a colored line on a simple strip of nitrocellulose paper. Yin is one of the leaders of the Wyss Institute's Molecular Robotics Initiative and also Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School (HMS).Better viral RNA detection methods are also being pursued by

, a molecular diagnostics startup spun out of the Wyss Institute and Broad Institute in 2019. The company licensed the

developed by Wyss Core Faculty member

, Ph.D., and his group, including former Wyss Business Development Lead William Blake, Ph.D., who joined Sherlock Biosciences from the Wyss Institute as the company's CTO. Collins is a co-founder of Sherlock Biosciences, and also the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). According to Rahul Dhanda, M.B.A., the CEO and a co-founder of Sherlock Biosciences, the company is currently working on different solutions for diagnosing COVID-19, one of which deploys the INSPECTRTM technology. INSPECTRTM consists of DNA-based sensors, which can be programmed to detect CoV2 RNA with specificity down to a single one of its nucleotide building blocks; the sensors are coupled with paper-based synthetic gene networks that produce a bioluminescent signal. The signals can be generated at room temperature, captured on instant film and read from a simple device without sophisticated equipment, and the test is currently designed to perform similarly to an off-the-shelf pregnancy test. Like the LFD approach developed in Yin's group, INSPECTRTM technology can be readily adjusted to allow specific detection of the different continuously arising CoV2 variants, and to follow their spread through the population.In a different project led by Collins and spearheaded by Research Scientists

, Ph.D., and

, and former graduate student

at the Wyss Institute, the team is developing a rapid self-activating COVID-19 diagnostic face mask as a wearable diagnostic. Worn by patients or individuals at home with symptoms of the disease, the face mask could rapidly signal the presence of the virus without any need for hands-on manipulation so that patients can be quickly triaged for proper medical care, while healthcare workers and patients that are nearby are protected. Emerging from Collins' team's

created in the Wyss Institute's Living Cellular Devices Initiative, the approach will use highly sensitive molecular sensors that, coupled to synthetic biology networks, could enable the production of an immediately visible or fluorescent color signal in the event that CoV2 is encountered. The entire cell-free molecular machinery can be freeze-dried and integrated with the synthetic material on the interior side of face masks. Exposed to small droplets that are expelled by wearers during normal breathing, sneezing, and coughing, and the humidity of exhaled air, the reactions are re-hydrated and thus activated to produce a positive or negative signal within 1 to 3 hours.A method to capture CoV2 virus particles from human samples in a single step and identify them within 1 hour is being explored by Senior Staff Scientist,

, Ph.D., working on Don Ingber's Bioinspired Therapeutics & Diagnostics platform. The researchers are leveraging the Wyss Institute's

to bind CoV2 virus particles, which they hope to rapidly identify using mass spectrometry. FcMBL is a genetically engineered variant of the "Mannose Binding Lectin" (MBL) immune protein that binds to molecules on the surface of over 100 different pathogens, including certain viruses. Ingber's team has confirmed that FcMBL binds to a non-infectious pseudotyped CoV2 virus that displays the CoV2 Spike protein on its surface.Ultrasensitive assays to detect the levels of cytokines molecules that are secreted by certain immune cells to affect other cells are being developed by

, Ph.D., leader of the Wyss Diagnostics Accelerator, to help identify effective therapeutic interventions that can prevent the deadly cytokine storm that can be triggered by overproduction of immune cells. The lab is also developing a serological test to ascertain individuals who are not showing any symptoms yet, but have been exposed to virus and have mounted an immune response. Walt is also the Hansjrg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at HMS, Professor of Pathology at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Institute Professor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Advancing antiviral therapeutics on the fast track

To date there is no antiviral drug that has been proven to reduce the intensity and duration of the infection in more seriously affected patients, or protect vulnerable patients from CoV2 infection. Doctors can merely provide supportive care to their COVID-19 patients by making sure they receive enough oxygen, managing their fever, and generally supporting their immune systems to buy them time to fight the infection themselves. Research groups in academia and industry working at breakneck pace by now have compiled a list of candidate therapeutics and vaccines to could offer some help. However, given the high failure rates of candidate drugs in clinical trials, more efforts are needed to develop effective medicines for a world population that likely will vary with regards to their susceptibility and access to new therapeutic technologies.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic requires rapid action, and the fastest way to combat this challenge is by repurposing existing drugs that are already FDA approved for other medical applications as COVID-19 therapeutics. While clinicians around the world are attempting to do this, the approaches have been haphazard, and there is a great need to attack this problem in a systematic way.

Ingber's team, co-led by Senior Staff Scientist

, Ph.D. and Senior Research Scientist

, Ph.D., has developed a preclinical CoV2 infection model that leverages the Wyss Institute's human

(Organ Chip) in vitro human emulation technology. The team engineered a CoV2 pseudovirus that is safe to use in the laboratory and expresses the key surface Spike protein, which mediates its entry into cells. They also demonstrated that it successfully infects human Lung Chips lined by highly differentiated human lung airway epithelial cells, which the team previously has shown to recapitulate human lung pathophysiology, including responses to Influenza virus infection, with high fidelity. Other members of the team, including Senior Staff Engineer Richard Novak and Senior Staff Scientist

, Ph.D. are respectively using network analysis algorithms and molecular dynamic simulation-enabled rational drug design approaches to identify existing FDA approved drugs and novel compounds that can be tested in the Organ Chip-based COVID-19 therapeutic repurposing pipeline. Senior Staff Scientist

, Ph.D., working in the Wyss Institute's Predictive Biodiscovery Initiative led by Jim Collins is also applying new machine learning-enabled computational tools to confront this repurposing challenge. The team is now in active collaborations with researchers who can study the native infectious CoV2 virus in approved BSL3 biosafety laboratories, and they are working hard to rapidly identify existing FDA approved drugs and drug combinations that may be used as COVID-19 therapeutics, or as prophylactic therapies for healthcare workers or patients who are particularly vulnerable to this disease. Reilly, working with Senior Staff Scientist Ken Carlson, Ph.D., is also using his molecular dynamics simulation approach to develop new broad spectrum Coronavirus therapeutics targeted against a conserved region of its surface Spike protein that would both help infected patients survive the current COVID-19 pandemic, and allow us to be prepared to prevent infections by related Corona viruses that might emerge in the future.Collins' team is also deploying computational algorithms to predict chemical structures that could inhibit different aspects of virus biology or disease pathology and be developed into therapeutics. In a collaboration with

, Ph.D., a Professor at MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, his team is leveraging deep neural networks to develop therapeutic strategies that could help treat bacterial pneumonia, which can overlay pneumonia caused by the CoV2 virus and further endanger patients' lives. In a recent study, motivated by the present dearth of antibiotics, Collins' group successfully pioneered a deep learning approach to

that led the researchers to discover new molecules with antibacterial effects towards different pathogenic strains.Wyss Core Faculty member

, Ph.D., and his graduate student Kettner Griswold are taking yet another route. One way the CoV2 virus could be fought is to harness the power of the immune system. Church and Griswold are engineering antibodies that specifically bind to the virus and could enable a potent immune attack on it. Starting from an already existing "neutralizing antibody" that binds the Spike protein of the virus responsible for the 2003 SARS epidemic, they hope to make the antibody fit the closely related CoV2 virus. Such a neutralizing agent would be akin to treatments in which patients with infectious diseases receive "blood plasma" (the liquid part of blood that holds the blood cells) from individuals that have recovered from the infection, which contains neutralizing antibodies against the pathogen. However, an engineered antibody could be manufactured in large quantities and supplied to COVID-19 patients much more quickly and easily than blood plasma. Church is also Professor of Genetics at HMS and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT.

In search of ultimate protection a vaccine

With no vaccine currently available, but several vaccine candidates being explored around the world, Wyss Institute researchers led by Wyss Core Faculty member David Mooney, Ph.D., are developing a material that could make vaccinations more effective. Previously, Mooney's team has developed implantable and injectable cancer vaccines that can induce the immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells.

A key ingredient in vaccines is a fragment of the infectious agent, called an antigen, but the immune response to many antigens is weak. The bioactive materials of the Wyss's vaccine are programmed with molecules that orchestrate the recruitment and stimulation of immune cells with presentation of the antigen. This results in robust responses that in relation to COVID-19, in theory, may enable the immune system to both kill the virus immediately in infected individuals, as well as create a memory in infected and uninfected individuals without the need of additional boosts. Given the material's highly modular structure, one can easily plug-and-play various antigens that are being identified by researchers across the world, optimizing the response to each. This approach may yield a highly versatile platform in the fight against future epidemics and many infectious diseases. Mooney leads the Wyss Institute's Immuno-Materials Focus Area and also the Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering at SEAS.

Understanding how COVID-19 develops and how to control it

COVID-19 does not strike equally strong in every individual that it infects. Independent of age, some are prone to become seriously ill, while others show an astonishing level of resilience against the disease. Figuring out the biological basis for these differences could lead to new protective strategies.

Church and Wyss Associate Faculty member

, Ph.D., are working with "

" (PGP), an international initiative that creates public genome, health, and genetic trait data to be mined by the biomedical research community for driving scientific progress in many areas. Wu is also Professor of Genetics at HMS. Church was instrumental in founding the initiative in 2005, and has been advancing its reach with key technological advances and his emphatic stewardship. The two Wyss researchers and their teams led by Sarah Wait Zaranek, Ph.D., Curie President and PGP informatics co-Director, are now launching a project to harness the PGP platform by comparing the genomes, microbiomes, viromes, and immune systems of consenting individuals with extreme COVID-19 susceptibility and individuals that exhibit resistance. Their far-flung systems biology approach could lead to unexpected insights about the disease, and reveal key levers that could be adjusted with existing drugs to control the infection, help prioritize individuals for urgent care, as well as provide guidance as to which healthcare workers would do better on the front-lines of care.Besides pursuing various COVID-19-focused activities in its laboratories, the Wyss Institute is working with the broader research, hospital, and public health communities to integrate its efforts nationally. For example, Church is fastening ties with his former Postdoctoral Fellow

, Ph.D., Professor of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle, who leads the "

," which pivoted to COVID-19, as well as

, Ph.D., Director of the

in Seattle, and

, Ph.D., founder of life science company 4Bionics, among other companies, to develop a simple, yet different home test kit. On the national level, Walt is a member of a

started at the National Academies' newly formed "Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats." The committee is strongly focusing now on the present coronavirus pandemic to find ways to help the federal government consolidate and streamline efforts across the nation but will also work long-term to develop strategies and make recommendations for future health threats.

At the international level, the Wyss Institute functions as a Center of Excellence of the Global Virus Network (GVN), with Ingber as leader and the other Wyss Faculty as key participating members. The GVN is designed to integrate surveillance and response efforts for biothreats, epidemics, and pandemics by integrating efforts of top virus research institutions from around the world. Ingber is also currently working closely with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as in active discussions with the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and Public Health England, as they all try to align and coordinate efforts to meet this monumental health challenge.

"The Wyss Institute and its collaborators are taking exactly the type of comprehensive, integrated approach to addressing this pandemic that is required at local, national, and international levels," said Walt.

PRESS CONTACTS

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University Benjamin Boettner, benjamin.boettner@wyss.harvard.edu, +1 917-913-8051

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University ( http://wyss.harvard.edu ) uses Nature's design principles to develop bioinspired materials and devices that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world. Wyss researchers are developing innovative new engineering solutions for healthcare, energy, architecture, robotics, and manufacturing that are translated into commercial products and therapies through collaborations with clinical investigators, corporate alliances, and formation of new startups. The Wyss Institute creates transformative technological breakthroughs by engaging in high risk research, and crosses disciplinary and institutional barriers, working as an alliance that includes Harvard's Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Arts & Sciences and Design, and in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, DanaFarber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston University, Tufts University, Charit Universittsmedizin Berlin, University of Zurich and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-harvard-wyss-institutes-response-to-covid-19-beating-back-the-coronavirus-301029871.html

SOURCE Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University

The rest is here:
The Harvard Wyss Institute's response to COVID-19: beating back the coronavirus - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

While biotech stocks are often too risky for many investors, with the coronavirus raging and the race for a vaccine in play, taking a look at some ETFs that contain biotech stocks that are making strides might not be such a bad idea.

With the COVID-19 pandemic raging, biotechs that are consistently profitable and that offer drugs that patients absolutely must have could be seen as relatively safe compared to many other stocks on the market. For investors looking to stay in the market and diversify portfolios, here are two biotech ETFs that could be worth diversifying into during the coronavirus crisis.

With biotech companies like Gilead Sciences, which has been in the news a lot recently for the antiviral drug remdesivir, which appears to be the most promising treatment for COVID-19, IBB is a place for biotech investors to consider. Gilead is conducting late-stage studies of the drug and could report initial results as early as April. Gilead also has adividend yield currently stands at nearly 4%. The company has even augmented its dividend by 58% over the last five years.

IBB seeks to track the investment results of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index, which contains securities of companies listed on NASDAQ that are classified according to the Industry Classification Benchmark as either biotechnology or pharmaceuticals and that also meet other eligibility criteria determined by Nasdaq, Inc. The fund generally invests at least 90% of its assets in securities of the index and in depositary receipts representing securities of the index. It may invest the remainder of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents. It is non-diversified.

While the iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF has no directly related coronavirus drug-making companies in its holdings, it does contain stocks like Exelixis, which makes drugs that are used to treat kidney, liver, and medullary thyroid cancer, which will continue to be important going forward. The fund seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of developed and emerging market companies that could benefit from the long-term growth and innovation in genomics, immunology, and bioengineering.

For more market trends, visitETF Trends.

Visit link:
2 Biotechnology ETFs That Could Be Good For Diversification - ETF Trends

One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. Well use ROE to examine Apex Biotechnology Corp. (TPE:1733), by way of a worked example.

Apex Biotechnology has a ROE of 6.7%, based on the last twelve months. That means that for every NT$1 worth of shareholders equity, it generated NT$0.07 in profit.

View our latest analysis for Apex Biotechnology

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) Shareholders Equity

Or for Apex Biotechnology:

6.7% = NT$113m NT$1.7b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019.)

Most readers would understand what net profit is, but its worth explaining the concept of shareholders equity. It is the capital paid in by shareholders, plus any retained earnings. Shareholders equity can be calculated by subtracting the total liabilities of the company from the total assets of the company.

ROE measures a companys profitability against the profit it retains, and any outside investments. The return is the yearly profit. A higher profit will lead to a higher ROE. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. That means ROE can be used to compare two businesses.

By comparing a companys ROE with its industry average, we can get a quick measure of how good it is. The limitation of this approach is that some companies are quite different from others, even within the same industry classification. If you look at the image below, you can see Apex Biotechnology has a lower ROE than the average (9.9%) in the Medical Equipment industry classification.

Unfortunately, thats sub-optimal. It is better when the ROE is above industry average, but a low one doesnt necessarily mean the business is overpriced. Nonetheless, it might be wise to check if insiders have been selling.

Companies usually need to invest money to grow their profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the first and second cases, the ROE will reflect this use of cash for investment in the business. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. Thus the use of debt can improve ROE, albeit along with extra risk in the case of stormy weather, metaphorically speaking.

Apex Biotechnology has a debt to equity ratio of 0.29, which is far from excessive. Although the ROE isnt overly impressive, the debt load is modest, suggesting the business has potential. Careful use of debt to boost returns is often very good for shareholders. However, it could reduce the companys ability to take advantage of future opportunities.

Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt.

Having said that, while ROE is a useful indicator of business quality, youll have to look at a whole range of factors to determine the right price to buy a stock. Profit growth rates, versus the expectations reflected in the price of the stock, are a particularly important to consider. So you might want to take a peek at this data-rich interactive graph of forecasts for the company.

Of course Apex Biotechnology may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have high ROE and low debt.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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Should You Be Concerned About Apex Biotechnology Corp.s (TPE:1733) ROE? - Simply Wall St

FARMINGTON, Conn., March 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --ImStem Biotechnology, Inc. (Farmington CT), a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of human embryonic stem cell (ESC) derived mesenchymal stem cells (hES-MSC), through a proprietary method using a trophoblast intermediate stage (hence also known as T-MSC) for the treatment of neurological, autoimmune, and rare orphan diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted the clinical hold and cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application to evaluate IMS001 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). IMS001 is an investigational, allogeneic cell product to be administered intravenously to patients suffering from MS. We believe this is the first hES-MSC based allogeneic cell therapy accepted for clinical trial by the FDA. The company plans to initiate a phase 1 clinical study in patients with relapsing-remitting, secondary, and primary progressive forms of MS in 2020 in the US.

"As an inventor of our proprietary technology, we look forward to building a company whose foundation lies in our science based upon years of pioneering research," said Dr. Xiaofang Wang, Chief Technology Officer of ImStem Biotechnology.

About IMS001

IMS001 is an investigational, allogeneic, hES-MSC product derived from human embryonic stem cell line. IMS001 has demonstrated preclinical immunomodulatory and blood-brain-barrier (BBB) repair activities, which may lead to potential therapeutic benefits in a wide array of neurological, autoimmune, and rare orphan diseases with high unmet medical needs. These mechanistic properties may lead to therapeutic benefits in diseases such as MS, potentially reducing relapses, disability progression, and inducing disease arrest.

About ImStem Biotechnology

ImStem Biotechnology, Inc. is aspiring to revolutionize how serious diseases with significant unmet needs are treated with a new generation of regenerative and cellular therapies. Pioneering research led to the proprietary state-of-the-art pluripotent stem cell technology, enabling off-the-shelf, allogeneic stem cell-derived products to be manufactured in scale, differentiating itself from the typical challenges imposed by autologous adult cell therapy products. The company's mission is to advance the science and understanding of human pluripotent stem cell based regenerative cellular therapies through novel and creative development pathways and to fulfill unmet medical needs in serious diseases. And its development strategy focuses on neurologic, autoimmune, degenerative, and rare orphan diseases. ImStem biotechnology Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Farmington, CT. For more information, visit http://www.imstem.com.

Media Contact:Investor Relations235411@email4pr.com860-281-7836

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SOURCE ImStem Biotechnology, Inc.

Excerpt from:
ImStem Biotechnology Announces FDA has Lifted the Clinical Hold on the Investigational New Drug Application for IMS001 for the Treatment of Multiple...

The "Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market: Focus on Workflow, Product Type, Medical Applications, End Users, 5 Regional Data, 19 Countries' Data, and Competitive Landscape - Analysis and Forecast, 2019-2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market Report projects the market to grow at a significant CAGR of 10% during the forecast period, 2019-2029.

The rapid maturation of the biopharmaceutical sector denotes the increasing importance of biomanufacturing as the most basic procedure for the development and manufacture of biologic-based products. With increasing commercialization of biopharmaceuticals and the addition of more products in the development pipeline, biopharmaceutical companies are looking forward to adopting novel biomanufacturing strategies with an increased focus on balancing innovation in process design, performance, and efficiency with speed and cost.

The need for advanced biomanufacturing practices in order to meet the demand of the growing patient population has paved the way for the development of next-generation biomanufacturing products. Next-generation biomanufacturing products are designed to provide seamless services that are superior in terms of both quality and efficiency as compared to first-generation products. Increased funding from private investors and the government for the development of next-generation biomanufacturing facilities promoting rapid technological advancement in biomanufacturing products is one of the most prominent factors driving the growth of the next-generation biomanufacturing market.

One of the major trends of the next-generation biomanufacturing market is the shifting focus toward the adoption of single-use products, such as single-use bioreactors and single-use biocontainers. This is mainly attributed to the huge number of benefits associated with single-use products, with regard to cost savings, reduced risk of product contamination, and increased flexibility in multi-product facilities.

With more companies entering the next-generation biomanufacturing market through product innovations, several novel next-generation biomanufacturing products are expected to come up, actively driving the growth of the market in the upcoming years.

Expert Quote

The leading contributors in the global next-generation biomanufacturing market predominantly prefer partnerships and alliances to sustain the market competition and strengthen their business position. Most of the market leaders are collaborating with technology-based startups to gain their expertise in technology.

Research Highlights

The leading contributors to the global next-generation biomanufacturing market predominantly prefer partnerships and alliances to sustain the market competition and strengthen their business position. Most of the market leaders are collaborating with technology-based startups to gain their expertise in technology.

Monoclonal antibody product segment with relatively high market approval rates is dominating the next-generation biomanufacturing market, by the medical application. Monoclonal antibodies segment was valued at $6.66 billion in 2018, contributing to 45% of the total market share in 2018.

In terms of end-users, commercial-stage end-user dominated the global next-generation biomanufacturing market and was valued at $11.39 billion in 2018. On the other hand, for both commercial-stage end-users and preclinical and development stage end users, biopharmaceutical companies were the major contributor of revenue, followed by CMOs/CDMOs.

Among the different regions, North America leads the global next-generation biomanufacturing market in 2018, with the U.S. being the major contributor to revenue. In 2018, North America contributed 35.40% of the total market share and the U.S. alone contributed to more than 95.4% of its market share.

This market intelligence report provides a multidimensional view of the global next-generation biomanufacturing market in terms of market size and growth potential. This research report aims at answering various aspects of the global next-generation biomanufacturing market with the help of the key factors driving the market, threats that can possibly inhibit the overall market growth, and the current growth opportunities that are going to shape the future trajectory of market expansion.

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Furthermore, the competitive landscape chapter in the report explicates the competitive nature of the global market and enables the reader to get acquainted with the recent market activities such as product launches, partnerships, and product approvals, among others. The research report provides a comprehensive analysis of the product sales, and manufacturers and trend analysis by segment and by region.

This report is a meticulous compilation of research on more than 10 players in the market ecosystem and draws upon insights from in-depth interviews with the key opinion leaders of the leading companies, market participants and vendors. The report also profiles 15 companies including several key players, such as Merck KGaA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Danaher Corporation, Eppendorf AG, Sartorius AG, GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, bbi-biotech GmbH, Esco Group of Companies, Pierre Gurin, Solaris Biotechnology Srl., PBS Biotech, Inc., ZETA GmbH, Applikon Biotechnology BV, Meissner Filtration Products, Inc., and Shanghai Bailun Biotechnology Co. Ltd.

Key Topics Covered

Executive Summary

1 Product Definition

2 Scope of the Work

2.1 Overview: Report Scope

2.2 Segmentation of the Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market

2.3 Assumptions and Limitations

2.4 Key Questions Answered in the Report

2.5 Base Year and Forecast Period

3 Research Methodology

3.1 Overview: Report Methodology

4 Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market Overview

4.1 Ever-Evolving Healthcare Scenario

4.2 Biomanufacturing: An Introduction

4.3 Upstream and Downstream Processing

4.4 Biopharmaceutical Market Growth Boosting Demand for Biomanufacturing

4.5 Key Technology Trends

4.6 The Future of Biomanufacturing: Next-Generation Biomanufacturing

4.7 Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market Size

4.8 Market Dynamics

4.8.1 Impact Analysis of Market Dynamics

4.9 Assumptions and Limitations

5 Industry Insights

5.1 Overview

5.2 Regulatory Scenario

5.3 Patent Landscape

6 Competitive Landscape

6.1 Overview

6.2 Key Developments and Strategies

6.2.1 Partnerships and Alliances

6.2.2 Business Expansions

6.2.3 New Offerings

6.2.4 M & A Activities

6.2.5 Others

6.3 Market Share Analysis

7 Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market (by Workflow and Product)

7.1 Overview

7.2 Upstream Biomanufacturing

7.2.1 Continuous Upstream Biomanufacturing Products

7.2.1.1 Bioreactors/Fermenters

7.2.1.2 Bags and Containers

7.2.1.3 Cell Culture Products

7.2.1.4 Filtration Systems

7.2.1.5 Mixing Systems

7.2.1.6 Sterilizers

7.2.1.7 Biosafety Cabinets

7.2.1.8 Incubators

7.2.1.9 Other Instruments and Accessories

7.2.2 Single-Use Upstream Biomanufacturing Products

7.2.2.1 Single-Use Bioreactors/Fermenters

7.2.2.2 Single-Use Bags and Containers

7.2.2.3 Single-Use Tubing and Connectors

7.2.2.4 Single-Use Mixing Systems

7.2.2.5 Single-Use Sensors and Probes

7.3 Downstream Processing

7.3.1 Downstream Biomanufacturing Products

7.3.1.1 Chromatography Systems

7.3.1.2 Filtration Systems

7.3.1.3 Membrane Adsorbers

7.3.1.4 Instruments and Accessories

7.3.1.5 Single-Use Equipment and Accessories

8 Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market (by Medical Application)

8.1 Overview

8.2 Monoclonal Antibodies

8.3 Vaccines

8.4 Recombinant Proteins

8.5 Hormones

8.6 Others

9 Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market (by End User)

9.1 Overview

9.2 Biopharmaceutical Companies

9.3 CMOs/CDMOs

9.4 Research Institutions

10 Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Market (by Region)

10.1 Overview

10.2 North America

10.3 Europe

10.4 Asia-Pacific

10.5 Latin America

10.6 Middle East & Africa

11 Company Profiles

11.1 Overview

11.2 Applikon Biotechnology B.V.

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Global Next-Generation Biomanufacturing Markets, 2019-2029: Focus on Workflow, Product Type, Medical Applications, End-users, and Competitive...

The goal of this article is to teach you how to use price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). Well look at Level Biotechnology Inc.s (GTSM:3118) P/E ratio and reflect on what it tells us about the companys share price. Level Biotechnology has a P/E ratio of 14.93, based on the last twelve months. That is equivalent to an earnings yield of about 6.7%.

See our latest analysis for Level Biotechnology

The formula for price to earnings is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for Level Biotechnology:

P/E of 14.93 = NT$21.800 NT$1.460 (Based on the year to December 2019.)

(Note: the above calculation results may not be precise due to rounding.)

The higher the P/E ratio, the higher the price tag of a business, relative to its trailing earnings. That isnt necessarily good or bad, but a high P/E implies relatively high expectations of what a company can achieve in the future.

One good way to get a quick read on what market participants expect of a company is to look at its P/E ratio. As you can see below Level Biotechnology has a P/E ratio that is fairly close for the average for the healthcare industry, which is 14.4.

Level Biotechnologys P/E tells us that market participants think its prospects are roughly in line with its industry. If the company has better than average prospects, then the market might be underestimating it. Further research into factors such as insider buying and selling, could help you form your own view on whether that is likely.

Companies that shrink earnings per share quickly will rapidly decrease the E in the equation. That means even if the current P/E is low, it will increase over time if the share price stays flat. Then, a higher P/E might scare off shareholders, pushing the share price down.

Most would be impressed by Level Biotechnology earnings growth of 22% in the last year. In contrast, EPS has decreased by 9.2%, annually, over 5 years.

Its important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. In other words, it does not consider any debt or cash that the company may have on the balance sheet. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

Level Biotechnology has net cash of NT$344m. This is fairly high at 46% of its market capitalization. That might mean balance sheet strength is important to the business, but should also help push the P/E a bit higher than it would otherwise be.

Level Biotechnologys P/E is 14.9 which is above average (12.9) in its market. With cash in the bank the company has plenty of growth options and it is already on the right track. So it is not surprising the market is probably extrapolating recent growth well into the future, reflected in the relatively high P/E ratio.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is better than it expects, you can make money by buying and holding for the long term. We dont have analyst forecasts, but you might want to assess this data-rich visualization of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Level Biotechnology. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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Despite Its High P/E Ratio, Is Level Biotechnology Inc. (GTSM:3118) Still Undervalued? - Simply Wall St

PRINCETON, N.J., March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PDS Biotechnology Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSB), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing multiple therapies based on the Companys proprietary Versamune T-cell activating technology, today announced that Andrew Saik has resigned as the Companys Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and a director of the board to pursue other professional opportunities, effective immediately. Mr. Saik joined PDS Biotech following the merger with Edge Therapeutics in March 2019, where he was the CFO. The board of directors has initiated a search to identify a successor.

The Companys board of directors has appointed Frank Bedu-Addo, Ph.D., the Companys President and Chief Executive Officer, as interim Principal Financial Officer and Janetta Trochimiuk, PDS Biotechs Controller as interim Principal Accounting Officer until a permanent replacement has been named. Ms. Trochimiuk is a seasoned finance professional with over 20 years of experience, serving as Controller and CFO of private and publicly listed companies. Ms. Trochimiuk holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Bernard M. Baruch College and is a licensed CPA.

On behalf of our board of directors, we would like to thank Andrew for his service and contributions as we transitioned to a public company and successfully bolstered our balance sheet with the recent capital raise based on our promising Versamune platform technology. We wish him continued success in his future endeavors and look forward to announcing a permanent successor in the near term, said Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo, CEO of PDS Biotech.

About PDS BiotechnologyPDS Biotech is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing multiple therapies based on the Companys proprietary Versamune T-cell activating technology platform. The Versamune platform effectively delivers tumor-specific antigens for in vivo uptake and processing, while also activating a critical immunological pathway, the type 1 interferon pathway, thus resulting in the production of potent tumor-specific killer T-cells. Using Versamune, PDS Biotech is engineering therapies designed to better recognize cancer cells and break down their defense systems to effectively attack and destroy tumors. PDS Biotechs pipeline combines the Versamune technology with tumor-specific antigens across several cancer types. To learn more, please visit http://www.pdsbiotech.com or follow us on Twitter at @PDSBiotech.About PDS0101PDS Biotechs lead candidate, PDS0101, combines the utility of the Versamune platform with targeted antigens in HPV-expressing cancers. In partnership with Merck, PDS Biotech is advancing a combination of PDS0101 and KEYTRUDA to a Phase 2 study in first line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer. In partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), PDS Biotech is also advancing a combination of PDS0101 and two clinical stage immunotherapies to a Phase 2 study in advanced HPV-associated cancers. A third phase 2 study is to be performed in advanced localized cervical cancer combining PDS0101 with the chemoradiotherapy, which is the standard of care.

Forward Looking StatementsThis communication contains forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended) concerning PDS Biotechnology Corporation (the Company) and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the Companys management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as may, will, should, would, expect, anticipate, plan, likely, believe, estimate, project, intend, and other similar expressions among others. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation:; the Companys ability to protect its intellectual property rights; potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the resignation of the Companys Chief Financial Officer or the Companys ability to find a replacement Chief Financial Officerthe Companys anticipated capital requirements, including the Companys anticipated cash runway and the Companys current expectations regarding its plans for future equity financings; the timing for the Company or its partners to initiate the planned clinical trials for its lead assets, PDS0101 and PDS0102; the Companys interpretation of the results of its Phase 1 trial for PDS0101 and whether such results are sufficient to support additional trials or the future success of such trials; the successful implementation of the Companys research and development programs and collaborations, including any collaboration studies concerning PDS0101 and the Companys interpretation of the results and findings of such programs and collaborations and whether such results are sufficient to support the future success of the Companys product candidates; the acceptance by the market of the Companys product candidates, if approved; the timing of and the Companys ability to obtain and maintain U.S. Food and Drug Administration or other regulatory authority approval of, or other action with respect to, the Companys product candidates; and other factors, including legislative, regulatory, political and economic developments not within the Companys control, including unforeseen circumstances or other disruptions to normal business operations arising from or related to COVID-19. The foregoing review of important factors that could cause actual events to differ from expectations should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with statements that are included herein and elsewhere, including the risk factors included in the Companys annual and periodic reports filed with the SEC. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.Media & Investor Relations Contact:

Deanne RandolphPDS BiotechPhone: +1 (908) 517-3613Email: drandolph@pdsbiotech.com

Tram Bui / Alexander LoboThe Ruth GroupPhone: +1 (646) 536-7035 / +1 (646) 536-7037Email: tbui@theruthgroup.com / alobo@theruthgroup.com

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PDS Biotechnology Announces Resignation of Andrew Saik as CFO - Associated Press

Biotechnology-Based Chemical Market Industry Forecast To 2024

Garner Insights has titled a new research report named as Biotechnology-Based Chemical Market 2020 to its consistently extending database. The report clarifies this through a series of channels which include data ranging from rudimentary data to an undeniable estimate. It consolidates all the fundamental factors that are foreseen to change inside the market. The information would thus be used to heighten an organizations standing in the worldwide market.

Based on the industrial chain, this report mainly elaborates the definition, types, applications and major players of Biotechnology-Based Chemical market in details. Deep analysis about Biotechnology-Based Chemical market status (2014-2019), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise products, industry development trends (2020-2024), regional industrial layout characteristics and policies has also be included.

Get a Sample Report @:https://www.garnerinsights.com/Global-Biotechnology-Based-Chemical-Market-Report-2020#request-sample

Major Manufacturer Detail:Queenslands world-class agriculture industry,Sarnia-Lambton Research,UK and Norway business funding agencies,Technology Strategy Board (TSB),Innovation Norway

The Important Type Coverage:Bio-pharma,Agri-biotech,Bio-informatics and,Bio-services

Segment by ApplicationsFood and beverages,Agriculture,Fuel,Energy,Animal feed

The Biotechnology-Based Chemical report consists of streamlined financial data obtained from various research sources to provide specific and trustworthy analysis. Evaluation of the key market trends with a positive impact on the market over the following couple of years, including an in-depth analysis of the market segmentation, comprising of sub-markets, on a regional and global basis. The report also provides a detailed outlook of the Biotechnology-Based Chemical market share along with strategic recommendations, on the basis of emerging segments.

Enquire Here For Discount Or Report @https://www.garnerinsights.com/Global-Biotechnology-Based-Chemical-Market-Report-2020#discount

Some Of The Major Geographies Included In This Study:

North America (U.S and Canada and Rest of North America)Europe (Germany, France, Italy and Rest of Europe)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, South Korea and Rest of Asia-Pacific)LAMEA (Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Rest of LAMEA)

Some major points covered in this Biotechnology-Based Chemical Market report:

1. An overall outlook of the market that helps in picking up essential data.2. The market has been segmented on the basis of the product types, applications, end-users, as well as the industry verticals, in light of numerous factors. Considering the market segmentation, further analysis has been carried out in an effective manner. For better understanding and a thorough analysis of the market, the key segments have further been partitioned into sub-segments.3. In the next section, factors responsible for the growth of the market have been included. This data has been collected from the primary and secondary sources and has been approved by the industry specialists. It helps in understanding the key market segments and their future trends.4. The report also includes the study of the latest developments and the profiles of major industry players.5. The Biotechnology-Based Chemical market research report also presents an eight-year forecast on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow.

View Full Report @ https://garnerinsights.com/Global-Biotechnology-Based-Chemical-Market-Report-2020

About Us:Garner Insights is a Market Intelligence and consulting firm with an all-inclusive experience and vast knowledge of the market research industry.Our vast storage of research reports across various categories, gives you a complete view of the ever changing and developing trends and current topics worldwide. Our constant endeavor is to keep on improving our storage information by providing rich market reports and constantly improving them.

Contact Us:Mr. Kevin Thomas+1 513 549 5911 (US)+44 203 318 2846 (UK)Email: [emailprotected]

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Biotechnology-Based Chemical Market Key Drivers, Business Insights, Trends And Forecast To 2024 - Daily Science

Prevent Blindness Declares April as Women's Eye Health and Safety Month to Educate Public on Ways to Save Sight

CHICAGO, March 26, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Because women have higher rates of eye diseases and eye conditions than men, Prevent Blindness, the nation's oldest non-profit eye health organization, has designated April as Women's Eye Health and Safety Month. The group provides free information to the public on various eye health topics, including vision issues, possible changes in vision during pregnancy, cosmetic safety and more.

Women have a higher prevalence of many of the major vision problems, including:

The National Eye Institute states that 26 percent more women aged 12 and older have uncorrected visual impairment due to refractive error compared with men aged 12 and older. And, 14 percent more women aged 40 and older have refractive errors compared with men aged 40 and older. Additionally, women are also more likely to have autoimmune conditions, which often come with visual side effects.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, for women, fluctuating hormone levels of estrogen and progesterone can affect the eye's oil glands, which can lead to dryness. Estrogen can also make the cornea less stiff with more elasticity, which can affect how light travels into the eye. The dryness and the change in refraction can cause blurry vision and can also make wearing contact lenses difficult.

Pregnancy brings an increase in hormones that may cause changes in vision. Women with pre-existing eye conditions, like glaucoma, high blood pressure or diabetes, need to alert their eye doctor that they are pregnant (or planning to become pregnant).

Lastly, women often make the majority of their family's health care decisions and are often responsible as caregivers for the health care choices of their children, partners, spouse, and aging parents. It is important to remind women to make their own vision and eye health a priority to prevent unnecessary vision loss in the future.

Prevent Blindness recommends steps that should be taken to protect vision and eye health, including:

OCuSOFT Inc., a privately-held eye and skin care company dedicated to innovation in eyelid hygiene and ocular health, is partnering once again with Prevent Blindness in support of April's Women's Eye Health and Safety Month.

"Today, obviously there are significant challenges in maintaining overall health," said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. "We want to remind women of all ages that there are many ways to protect the gift of sight today so that it can be enjoyed for many years to come."

For more information on women's eye health, including fact sheets on eye diseases and eye protection, please visit https://www.preventblindness.org/see-jane-see or call (800) 331-2020. Prevent Blindness offers a free listing of financial assistance services in English and Spanish at: https://www.preventblindness.org/vision-care-financial-assistance-information.

About Prevent Blindness Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and patient service programs and research. These services are made possible through the generous support of the American public. Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more information, or to make a contribution to the sight-saving fund, call 1-800-331-2020. Or, visit us on the Web at preventblindness.org or facebook.com/preventblindness.

SOURCE Prevent Blindness

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Prevent Blindness Urges Women to Make Their Vision Health a Priority Today to Help Protect it for the Future - Yahoo Finance

The Fatal Eggs is a parable of bureaucratic bungling and drastic countermeasures

Mar 25th 2020

Editors note: The Economist is making some of its most important coverage of the covid-19 pandemic freely available to readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. To receive it, register here. For more coverage, see our coronavirus hub

The Fatal Eggs. By Mikhail Bulgakov. Translated by Hugh Aplin.Hesperus Press; 112 pages; 6.99.

WHEN PROFESSOR Vladimir Persikovs wife runs off with an opera singer, she leaves him a note. An unbearable shudder of revulsion is aroused in me by your frogs, she tells him. In The Fatal Eggs, a little-known novella by Mikhail Bulgakov, a pestilence spawned by the professors zoological research threatens not just his marriage, but civilisation itself.

The scourge in the storypublished in 1925 and set three years lateris not a disease, exactly. In their imagination of epidemics, novels such as Mary Shelleys The Last Man, The Plague by Albert Camus or Jos Saramagos haunting Blindness might seem more apposite in the time of covid-19. Nor is this biting tale Bulgakovs finest work (that is his satirical fantasia, The Master and Margarita). But as a parable of bureaucratic bungling, avoidable disaster and drastic countermeasures, it is horribly relevant.

In his laboratory in Moscow, Persikov discovers a ray of life that makes amoebae and tadpoles reproduce at speed. Thrilled, he orders extra kit from Germany and exotic eggs from across the Atlantic (like the virus, this is a globalised affair). Foreign powers covet the new technology, but the Soviet state requisitions it to help kick-start poultry production. The apparatchik in charge of the state farm, Alexander Faight, was once a flautist in Odessa; he is carrying his instrument when he encounters a giant serpent, which he tries to pacify with a waltz from Eugene Onegin. He fails, and the beast eats his wife.

The Russian author takes digs at the church, heedless carousers in the streets, blinkered scientistsand, naturally, at the Bolsheviks. But his depiction of blas, incompetent officialdom resonates across the ages and all forms of government. Honest to God, itll work out, Faight says blithely of the poultry plan, like a president recommending an unproven drug. Disaster ensues because the authorities botch their deliveries, sending the hens eggs meant for the farm to Persikov, and his exotic specimens to the farm. Then, after the creatures hatch, the first, all-too familiar response is disbelief and denial. Faight stammers a report to two security agents; one thinks he is hallucinating, the other that a circus animal might have escaped. A newspaper editor dismisses an urgent telegram as a drunkards raving.

Before long, though, everyone goes berserk. Martial law is declared in Moscow amid a flood of refugees. Like quarantined Europeans applauding ambulances from their balconies, cowering citizens take to the pavements to salute the cavalrymen on their way to interspecies battle, and the marching gas squadrons with breathing tubes over their shoulders and with cylinders on straps behind their backs. Artillery units bombard forests; aeroplanes spray poison. Civilian casualties mount. And, following a perennial instinct, vigilantes hunt for someone to blame.

In the end, the weather intervenes, as some hope it might today. An unseasonable summer frost kills the serpents and freezes the eggs, and a year after the trouble arose, it is all over. Moscow, Bulgakov writes encouragingly, again began to dance, to burn and to spin with lights.

Dig deeper:For our latest coverage of the covid-19 pandemic, register for The Economist Today, our daily newsletter, or visit our coronavirus hub

This article appeared in the Books and arts section of the print edition under the headline "The yolk of fate"

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Bulgakovs biting vision of an avoidable plague - The Economist

Elmiron, a medication used to treat bladder conditions, may be associated with a rare eye condition called pigmentary maculopathy, according to recent scientific reports. Pigmentary maculopathy reportedly occurs after long-term Elmiron treatment.Ring of Fires Farron Cousins discusses this with Scott Hardy, the President of Top Class Actions.

Transcript:

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Farron Cousins:A popular bladder medication called Elmiron has now been linked to very serious side effects that affect a patients eyes and their vision. Joining me now to talk about this investigation is Scott Hardy with top class actions and Scott, unfortunately this is a very common story. We see this with a lot of pharmaceuticals all the time. One of the biggest areas of, of, of legal practice in the country today is bad pharmaceuticals and it looks like we may have another one on our hands. So tell us whats happening here.

Scott Hardy:Sure. So weve actually reported on Elmiron in the past, and its connection to possible macular degeneration, but whats really peaking attorneys interest right now is the connection to pigmentary macula, maculopathy. And so its similar to macular degeneration, but it can also result in blindness for people. A very good friend of top class actions was just talking to me last night and she said, shes got this bladder condition. And she said, you know, Scott, I wanted to take Elmiron because the bladder condition is so painful. Its, its terrible. But knowing about this side effect, I dont want to go blind and there are support groups of people out there that take Elmiron and that have said, yeah, Im starting to see some of these symptoms.

And so thats what these attorneys are going after because people havent been warned that if they take Elmiron for this bladder issue that they could go blind and its, it hasnt been populated out there and this is the only drug thats affective for this specific condition. So it puts these folks in a very tough position of, do I, do I suffer the pain and the discomfort of having this, this bladder issue? Or do I roll the dice and take Elmiron for some relief and hope that I dont have permanent vision problems after taking it?

Farron Cousins:See, thats a really interesting point there because usually what we see in the cases of these pharmaceuticals, the lawsuits, is itll be a relatively new drug thatll come out and the pharmaceutical companies go out there and tell doctors, hey, our drug is way more better than something thats been on the market for 20 years. So please start prescribing this and then the side effects pop up. The patient has to switch to the other. But in this one, as you say, there is no other one. So were not looking at necessarily the same scenario that we typically see with these pharmaceutical cases where they push something they know is dangerous as better than something that is not.

So this is a very tough position I guess for, for these patients to be in. And, you know, you mentioned somebody you know has a bladder condition, a family member of mine has one and these are exceedingly painful for people. They, they want relief, they need relief and its going to put them in the position, well do I want this pain, this constant pain to stop and possibly go blind or do I just live with pain and not risk it? Thats a horrible choice for anyone to have to make.

Scott Hardy:It really is and the problem is that people dont know if they will be impacted by it and they dont know if they can start taking Elmiron and get some relief for their bladder issue and then start experiencing partial blindness, blurred vision, other problems, and then go, okay well Im going to stop. Because unfortunately some of these medical issues, once that ball starts rolling down that hill, there is no stopping it and so its unclear, you know, Ive had friends with MS that were taking a specific drug and then as soon as they tested positive for a certain condition, they stopped taking it. Because it could cause death, once they tested positive. For this one, they dont know. You know, if youre taking Elmiron and then all of a sudden you start having blurry vision, you start having vision issues and you stop taking the drug, it might be too late.

And thats what we, you know, Id love for the makers of Elmiron to come out and say, hey, heres a strategy. Because thats what they did with this MS drug is they said, hey, our drug works and so were going to test you every six months and as soon as you hit positive for this specific condition, well tell you if you continue taking this drug and you have this condition, it can kill you. What do you want to do? Elmiron hopefully will have a similar strategy to come out with and say, well run tests, use our drug, get that relief that you want. But heres some tests and if you start suffering these problems, then well pull you off it, then well figure out a new treatment solution.

Farron Cousins:Absolutely. So lets hope that that happens. As of right now, obviously this investigation is still ongoing and, you know, if it yields the results that its already been yielding, we can expect, you know, pretty significant lawsuits in the near future. So folks, if youre on this drug, if you know anybody on this drug, please follow the link in the description of this video. Head on over to top class actions and if you havent already done so, please do subscribe to their weekly newsletter. Scott Hardy with top class actions, always a pleasure. Thank you.

Scott Hardy:Youre welcome. Thanks for your time.

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Bladder Medication Linked To Dangerous Eye Problems - The Ring of Fire Network - The Ring of Fire Network

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If you're thinking about selling products online but you're unsure where to begin then don't worry, you have definitely come to the right place.

Whether you've been running your business for years or you've only just started, you need to be sure you're as prepared as you can be when it comes to selling your products online. Luckily, there are lots of ways in which you can do exactly that. From working out which products you're going to sell to finding out a way to direct traffic to your store, you need to be sure you're doing all that you can to prepare for your launch in advance. Whilst it may be overwhelming at first, you'll be thankful when your business is a huge success. With that in mind, here are 13 things to consider before selling your products online:

One of the first things you need to do when it comes to selling your products is to put together a business plan. Whether youve already started working on one or youre yet to give it a go, having a business plan in place in the best way to ensure your business is going to get off to a strong start. It will feature your mission statement, your goals and all of the steps youre going to need to take in order to run your business successfully.

Although it can take some time to put together, having a business plan is essential for those that want to succeed. For some tips and tricks when it comes to putting together a business plan, you can visit this site here.

While youre putting together your business plan, you also need to think about the products youre going to sell. Whether youre selling your full product line online or youre just choosing a select few products, having a clear idea of what you want to list online will make all of your other decisions much easier. If youre unsure what you should be selling online, you may want to take a look at what your competitors are doing and what is performing well for them. It may be that you launch a couple of products, to begin with, and then build on your range.

When youre thinking of your products, you need to consider whether or not youre going to be buying them yourself or getting them from a supplier. Although both are great options, you need to think about your business model before you started selling things online. Have you always created your own products? Do you make enough profit margin? For a guide to making your own products for your business, you can visit this site here.

Another important thing to consider when it comes to your products is how much stock youre going to need at once. If youre a small business that only gets one or two orders a week, chances are youre not going to need to keep high levels of stock. If youre expecting lots of orders, however, youre going to need to ensure you have the stock levels that are needed to fulfil the orders. If you notice youre getting busier and busier each week, you may want to consider increasing your stock in small increments.

If you have to invest a lot into your stock before it sells, its best to start with small numbers at first.

Once you have started to think about the products youre going to sell and the quantity of stock youre going to need to think about where youre going to be selling them. Whether youre using social media as your sole platform or youre using sites like Etsy or eBay, its important you know which platform your target audience is most likely going to be using. If youre unsure, you may want to trial a couple of different platforms before you find what is right for you. For advice when it comes to choosing the right platform to sell your products, you can visit this site here.

Another great way to sell your products online is to build your own website, which is what most online sellers should be aiming to do as their business starts to grow. If youre going to be setting up your website from the start of your launch, you need to be sure youre doing all that you can to make it a success. This means hiring a designer and web developer, putting all your efforts into writing the web copy and ensuring that it works from a user perspective. The more time you put into your website, the better.

If youre worried about creating a website, there are lots of people that you can outsource the work to. Not only will this help free up your time but it will also ensure that your website is fully functional from the get-go.

Once you have built your website or started listing your products online, you need to think about how youre going to be driving traffic to your website. From focussing on your SEO to working with a paid ads specialist, there are lots of ways to get people to click through to your site. Although it may not happen right away, after a little bit of hard work youll soon start to see your numbers grow. Patience is key when it comes to traffic.

Another great way to direct traffic to your site and to grow your brand is to use social media to promote your products. Again, this is not something that will happen instantly but if youre consistent in your message it will come. Whether youre using Instagram to share photos of your products or youre using Facebook to go live and show a behind the scenes look at running a business, the more followers you have the more chance you have of turning them into paying customers.

When it comes to followers, you need to ensure theyre all within your target audience if you want a high chance of converting them.

If youre struggling to grow your brand and direct traffic to your site, working with influencers and bloggers is a great idea. Working with influencers who have a similar target audience to you will allow you to get your products in front of people who may be interested. Although it will cost you, its proven to be super effective.

Another important thing to consider when it comes to selling your products online is how youre going to be shipping your products once they start to sell. Whether youre using a shipping company or youre heading to the post office on your own, you need to choose the method that is easiest for you. In most cases, it will come down to the time and cost that you have to invest. For more information when it comes to shipping, you can visit this site here.

Speaking of shipping, you also need to think about whether or not youre going to be charging for delivery. Although some companies choose to offer free delivery over a certain spend, often not possible for those that are running small businesses from their home. If you do want to charge free delivery, you need to ensure your prices reflect that.

Another important thing to consider is whether or not you need to put together a refund and returns policy. Although you dont necessarily want to think about people returning your products and asking for refunds, having a policy in place will make it much easier should this happen. If you can, try to include this policy on your website.

If you need help when it comes to putting together a refund and returns policy, you can visit this site here.

Finally, you need to think about whether or not you have a contingency plan in place. Although you may never need to use it, knowing what youre going to do if your business is not successful is important as it will allow you to prepare in advance. After all, you never know what could happen in the world of business.

Are you thinking of starting an online business selling products? What can you do to ensure your business is a success from the start? How will you be selling your products? Did we miss anything? Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

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Effect of Banner Blindness on Design - BBN Times

Pastor Terry Goerz,Redeemer Lutheran Church

Jesus healed a man who was born blind. The church officials of the day refused to believe that Jesus could have done this, since in their eyes Jesus was a sinner. He was healing on the Sabbath, the holy day, when no work was to be done.

The blind man testified he was born blind and Jesus put some mud on his eyes, told him to go wash, and he could see.

They refused to believe. They called his parents who testified that he was born blind and now he could see, but they did not know how.

They called the blind man again who again testified that Jesus had restored his sight. They still refused to believe, Jesus was a sinner, and God does not use sinners to heal.

The man born blind not only had his physical sight restored, but he had his spiritual sight restored as he worshiped Jesus as the Son of Man, that is the long promised Messiah who was to save the world.

Jesus concluded this account saying in John 9:39, For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.

When we read this account from scripture we may feel what dummies. Couldnt they see the obvious? Sadly, this same blindness is all around us today. God creates us as spiritual beings, knit together in the womb, yet multitudes of babies are murdered in the womb.

It is now legally possible to take your own life, or anothers, through the euthanasia legislation. Homosexuality, described as an abomination to God, is now celebrated as an alternative life style. Marriage, which is described in scripture as the lifelong union of one man and one woman, is ignored with same sex marriage becoming common.

It seems our society today suffers from the same blindness that the church officials of Jesuss day suffered from. We think, as a society, we are so advanced, so smart, so enlightened. Yet the word of God seems to be screaming what dummies.

The real problem, though, is not connected to mankinds natural intelligence. As a result of the fall of man in the garden of Eden we are all born in sin and conceived in iniquity. We are naturally alienated enemies of God and destined for an eternity separated from God in a torturous place called hell; unless we have our spiritual eyes opened. Without God working in our lives, mankind cannot see and understand what is obvious.

As Jesus said earlier, For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.

Paul tells us the same thing in 1 Corinthians 1:18,19 for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.

Fortunately for mankind we have a God who is full of mercy and grace. It is His desire that all mankind be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. This is the message of reconciliation that has been committed to all Christians.

2 Corinthians 5: 1921: That God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting mens sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christs ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christs behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

While there may be some value in rallying and lobbying against the blindness that is so obvious in our society, the real answer is to apply the balm that opens their eyes. God made Jesus to be sin for us. Jesus has paid the penalty for the sin of the whole world, past, present and future.

We who serve our Lord should be acting as Christs ambassadors and telling all those around us that God wants to be reconciled to them, that forgiveness and life eternal are a free gift available to all who will believe.

God will use that message in those whom He has called and chosen to open their eyes to the truth. One by one God will use us as He snatches the lost from the fire.

Blessings!

Link:
Inspiration - We are all Christ's ambassadors | - South Peace News

Can the Coronavirus be the key to getting Bill Cosby out of the slammer? His lawyers hope so.

As per Page Six, Cosbys legal team is filing a motion to get him released from his Pennsylvania jail and put on house arrest amid reports that at least one prison officer has tested positive for COVID-19.

At his age, Cosby is at a greater risk of having serious complications if he were to contract the Coronavirus. Not to mention the close quarters in prison.

His lawyers say he is not a threat to the public if hes allowed to serve his time from home due to his advanced age and blindness. He would wear an ankle monitor and his wife would supposedly take care of him.

Will the plea work? We will have to wait and see. Considering his Pennsylvania mansion is 9,000-square-feet, as Page Six notes, he can easily practice social distancing.

Related:Celebrity Inmate Bill Cosby Says He'd Rather Do A Decade In Prison Than Show Remorse

Another celebrity-turned-criminal dealing with COVID-19 is Harvey Weinstein. Hehas tested positive for the virus, as we reported on The Things. Will Weinstein be handed a get out of jail free card too, so he doesnt spread it around?

Cosby may even push for Weinstein to be given special treatment. Cosbys publicist called Weinsteins conviction a sad day for the American judicial system, as NBC News reported.

Two peas in a pod? At least theyre not in the same prison.

Next:More Trouble For Harvey Weinstein... He Tests Positive For Coronavirus!

Mason Disick Takes To Social Media And Spills Info About Kylie Jenner

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Free Cosby... From Coronavirus | TheThings - TheThings

in Lifestyle 27-03-2020 01:00:00 0 Comments

If you're lucky enough to have your own garden, there's lots of ways you and your family could enjoy it - and connect with nature and benefit from a wellbeing boost in the process.

With social distancing at the height of the agenda at present, you might need to make sure you keep a safe distance from neighbours, so be sensible and follow the all-important guidelines. But gardens can bolster wellbeing for both children and adults, says gardening writer, presenter and horticultural influencer Ellen Mary.

Mary, who specialises in gardening for wellbeing, has just launched a 30 Moments In Nature challenge on her website, featuring activities to help people reconnect with nature.

"We all lead such busy lives, with everyday stresses of work, school and digital life, that 'nature deficit disorder' and even 'plant blindness' has become all too real," she says.

"There is nature everywhere, and spotting it, even in the most unlikely places, can give a much better understanding of how we are all connected - to nature, not our phones."

Here, Mary offers top tips on how you and your children can reconnect with nature in your own garden...

1. Garden tracing

This is an activity many of us took part in at school as a child and it's still really good fun, no matter what age we are. Children can learn about plants and trees in their garden, identify them and be outside away from computers and mobile phones. Studies have shown that walking among trees reduces levels of cortisol and can even boost the immune system.

Activity: Take a walk in your garden with some paper and a crayon. Trace the bark of a tree, if you have one, and a fallen leaf to stick on the paper by your tracing. Look closely at the tree, identify it, touch the bark and the leaves. Back inside, put it on your fridge. Each time you look at your tracing, remember how you felt in the garden, the smells and the air on your face.

2. Walk barefoot

Walking barefoot brings us into direct contact with the planet and allows us to absorb the natural energy the earth provides. This is known as 'earthing' and it's said to have a host of benefits. Great on a warm morning in the garden.

Activity: Get your socks off! Put your shoes aside. Feel liberated by walking outside on the lawn or a soft outdoor surface with bare feet. Feel the natural negative charge from the earth being absorbed through the soles of your feet. Allow it to happen, accept it. Breathe deeply and relax.

3. Spot a star constellation

When we are busy looking down at phones and laptops, it's easy to forget to look up. By looking up at the night sky not only is it a hub of fascination and awe but it's also a relaxing activity before bedtime. Finding shapes in the moon and trying to spot star constellations can be a lovely way to switch off before a good night's sleep.

Activity: Did you ever stare at the stars as a child and wonder what they are? Glistening in the sky, light years away. It's really good fun identifying star constellations but if you can't work out where Orion is, make your own shapes in the sky like a dot-to-dot drawing.

4. Sow some seeds

Sowing seeds is now only a great way to grow your own food, but also for children to understand where their food comes from. Great seeds to try with children are sunflowers, nasturtiums and microgreens, which grow really quickly.

Activity: Be mindful and sow some seeds. Before you do, feel the seeds in your hand. What is the texture, shape, size? Look close at the detail - does each seed differ? Smell them and if they are edible, taste them. Be marvelled at the way those tiny seeds become big fruits, vegetables or flowers.

5. See life beneath

Picking up a large stone from your garden, your children will be able to marvel at the life beneath. They'll be fascinated by the woodlice, ants, worms and beetles. We forget that inner child as we grow up and life takes over.

Activity: Revisit those memorable moments with your children, lifting a stone in your garden and encouraging the children to stay inquisitive and keep looking.

Original post:
Fun ways for kids to reconnect in the garden - The Portugal News

Monday marked the turning. There appeared a line that we all stepped over together into this odd, unsettled twilight land we now find ourselves in.

On Friday thousands still gathered at Bondi beach. But a friend who was there said the vibe, which couldnt be captured by the pictures (themselves now viral), was more complex. There was this instinct to come together one last time, to seize the dwindling moment, he told me. It was less wilful blindness, he said, and more paradoxically a life-affirming impulse in the face of the terrible known unknown that was coming next.

By Sunday, Bondis brief Weimar Republic moment was over. The beaches were fenced shut. We all knew now, if we didnt know it then, that our lives would enter a new, much darker phase, unlike anything most of us have experienced.

By Monday an estimated 88,000 people lost their jobs in the hospitality industry alone and tried to file for unemployment. The system crashed under the demand.

Black Monday brought waves upon waves of frightening news (record job losses, NRL season over, Olympics wont go ahead, Queensland to shut borders, 3,000 Australians stranded on cruise ships; pubs, cafe, licensed premises, gyms etc all shut at midday). There were heartbreaking sights: the streets all across the country empty, except for thousands and thousands of people queuing at a mandated social distance for Centrelink. The next day people started lining up at 4:30am.

The virus is invisible but the economic devastation is a tragedy you could see. Each job loss represents a seismic explosion in an individuals world. By the end of Monday at least 15% of people I know had lost a substantial portion of their income, or their jobs or businesses they had spent decades building up.

And in all this - when you need it most you cannot get a hug from your friends

Suddenly jobless in my circle were yoga teachers, barmen, baristas, cafe owners, a university support worker, university cleaner, personal trainers, roadies, two tour managers for bands, freelance journalists, friends in PR and regional journalism, playwrights, coffee cart owners, sound engineers, winery owners, chefs, cinema operators, kitchen hands, film production crew, ushers at theatres, stage hands, driving instructors, those doing contract work for financial services, event organisers, florists and professional MCs.

When I spoke to these friends, the conversations were flooded with fear.

As a society, white Australia has not experienced this level of fear collectively before.

Fear is everywhere this week. You can see it in peoples eyes and hear it in their voices. It even leeches out of text messages as if the virus had the power to distort even the most disembodied form of communication.

But mostly fear is in the air thick and heavy all around us like an invisible pea soup, carrying an almost chemical taint. This taint feels hormone-like in its elements, a kind of an anti-pheromone that repels rather than attracts. Passing people quickly on the streets the fear is dense and hard to move though and when home, secure in our houses, we carry it back with us on our clothes and around our bodies.

There is cruelty heaped upon cruelty with this pandemic. The fear is not just the mortal fear of contracting what could be a deadly virus, the fear is losing your job and having no money, the fear is being evicted and made homeless, the fear is foreclosure, the fear is being separated from your family whether interstate or overseas (or in my case, a town two hours away), the fear is bankruptcy and sacking your staff, the fear is your debt, the fear is for the education and anxiety of your children, the fear is for the health of your elderly parents, the fear is for your immunocompromised friends. It goes on.

The fear also includes each persons unique personal reckoning. Right now were all meeting our own fears and limits. Character is being swiftly revealed. Each persons bundle of fear is different: you are in an imperfect or dysfunctional relationship, or you are isolated alone in an enormous tower in the city in a 50 sqm flat, or you are single and lonely and miss your friends, or you are sheltering with a violent or unpredictable partner, or you are overwhelmed by your children, or you are in substandard or insecure housing, or you are with near strangers in your random share house, or with your boyfriend of three weeks, whom you really dont know that well yet.

And in all this, when you need it most you cannot get a hug from your friends.

What parts of ourselves are we going to meet there in our quarantine houses and apartments, during our 4am insomnia and aching with loneliness and heartache for the lovely, bright lost world outside our doors?

On Monday, in central Victoria, it was the last day of trade for many small, independent businesses in my town. The high street had changed overnight. A man (security? management?) stood at the door of the butchers shop in gloves, wiping down doors, policing social distancing. Shoppers were wearing face masks, people swerved away from each other when passing in the street. Everything looked familiar, and entirely strange. The weather was crisp and sunny and the gold leaves were yet to turn.

I got my last coffee from my favourite cafe and stood in a warming patch of autumnal sun.

Across the street there was a funeral home, and a service was coming out. There were plastic chairs spaced far apart in the forecourt and large bottles of hand sanitiser on trestle tables.

People came out dispersing onto the street. I watched and waited then I saw it people hesitating, then hugging each other quickly on the road.

Watching this broke my heart. It was a bit of the old world of touch and comfort and a bit of the new world of fear and distance. This is the week were crossing over.

The cafe shut indefinitely now, the tables were packed away. I stood still in the patch of sun for a long time after, crying outside a funeral for a stranger, and then walked home to isolate.

Brigid Delaney is a Guardian Australia columnist

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We crossed over this week: coronavirus is heaping cruelty upon cruelty - The Guardian

I watched Love is Blind with my eyes closed, and I cant say I was surprised.

After days of hearing all about Netflixs new hot dating show, I decided to see what the hype was about, and given the unique circumstances presented in the program experiment, I decided to play along. If the dating was going to be blind, I would be blind too. But it turns out, love really probably isnt all that blind. Theres a lot one can still gather from the sound of anothers voice.

For those unfamiliar, the rules are simple. Participants had about ten days in pods to shop around for a fiance before they must decide whether to get married in a matter of just a few short weeks following a brief getaway to Mexico together. But heres the catch: singles were barred from actually seeing each other until a marriage proposal was accepted in the pod.

With nothing to go off in the way of their appearance except for their voice, which, as I discovered, you can still tell a lot from, it presented a daunting experiment to those participating. Is love really blind? Can couples really disconnect emotional compatibility with physical attraction? Do we really have dating reversed in the real world? Intriguing questions to be sure, but they were presented in a limited experiment at best.

For one, the cast of characters turned out to be pretty predictable. I only kept my eyes shut for the first episode, and by the time episode two rolled around, Cameron and Lauren had already gotten engaged. Both quirky, cute, geeky and charming, it came as little surprise. These traits and mannerisms could be picked up on just by the sounds and inflection in each of their voices, and Lauren had given away that she was black by telling off another guy who speculated about her race.

The other couples in the season were even more predictable, particularly Barnett who was found stuck between Amber and Jessica. Sure its judgmental and assuming, but its human, and all three sounded just as attractive as they looked, and the participants could probably pick up on the others level of attractiveness through the pod. It was no surprise either that Mark, a fitness instructor, was hitting things off with Jessica too, whose high-pitched feminine voice painted a relatively accurate picture as one of the shows prettiest people.

In the end, the couples to end up engaged in Mexico had found their partner evenly matched in their level of attractiveness despite not even seeing each other before they got engaged. Subconsciously, I suspect deep down that they all saw what I did in the blindness of the pods, imagining the figure behind the wall through the context presented by the sounds of their voice and any other clues in their background, i.e., fitness expert. After all, its human nature.

The biggest surprise to come when opening my eyes for the rest of the series was how well the singles so often dressed as if they were preparing for a magazine photoshoot. These people were talking to a wall and drinking copious amounts of alcohol, so why dress up? They were on TV to be fair, but there was plenty of time to play dress up in the more momentous occasions on the show such as the second proposals where their looks were revealed and their trips to Mexico.

The experiment seemed to work, for some couples. Of course thats something to celebrate, and I wish them all the best. But the experiment remained limited in scope as the couples no doubt were able to sense identifiable physical characteristics through the sound of the others voice.

So is love blind? Probably not.

The rest is here:
I Watched 'Love Is Blind' With My Eyes Closed - The Federalist

The CW shared spring premiere dates, which sees season two of In the Dark debut April 16 and DCs Stargirl premiere May 19.

Perry Mattfeld stars in In the Dark. She plays Murphy, a messy 20-something who struggles with love, alcohol and blindness. CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television, in association with Red Hour Films, produce the show. Executive producers are Corinne Kingsbury, Ben Stiller, Jackie Cohn, Nicholas Weinstock, Michael Showalter and Emily Fox .

DCs Stargirl follows high school student Courtney Whitmore as she inspires an unlikely group of heroes to stop the villains of the past. Brec Bassinger, Luke Wilson and Amy Smart star. That show debuts a day after its digital debut on DC Universe.

Geoff Johns executive produces with Melissa Carter, who is co-showrunner, and Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Greg Beeman. Berlanti Productions and Mad Ghost Productions produce the series in association with Warner Bros. Television.

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The CW Shares Start Dates for In the Dark and DCs Stargirl - Broadcasting & Cable