StemCell Therapy

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif., Aug. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --As much as 80 percent of learning a child does is visual, with children spending most of the school day reading, looking at a blackboard, and using laptops and tablets. However, come back-to-school season, parents overlook one of the most critical learning tools their child's eyes. Half (50.1 percent) of US parents do not bring their school-age children for a back-to-school eye exam, according to a VSP Vision Care and YouGov survey, "How Parents 'See' Eye Health."

Although three in four respondents (76 percent) said sight is the most important sense, findings from the survey of 1,000 US parents revealed their attitudes don't match their actions for themselves and their kids. According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), kids should have a first comprehensivevision assessment at six months to ensure the eyes are working together and to detect any vision problems early; followed by a comprehensive eye exam at three years old, five years old, and annually throughout the school years. However, one in five parents (21 percent) did not take their kids to the eye doctor for the first time until they were school age (at least five years old). Additionally, one in 10 (13 percent) has never taken their child(ren) to the eye doctor.

"It may seem surprising, but kids who can't read or even speak yet can still have a comprehensive eye exam. The connection between eyes and the brain starts early. As an optometrist and a mom of school age children myself, I encourage parents to prioritize back-to-school eye exams, the same way you wouldn't miss a dentist or pediatrician visit," said Dr. Mary Anne Murphy, OD, owner and practitioner of Front Range Eye Associates in Denver and Board member at VSP Global. "Kids don't know what's normal and what's not when it comes to eye health. When vision problems aren't identified early, kids will be at a disadvantage before they even start kindergarten."

The survey uncovered other key barriers that prevent parents from getting an annual eye exam for their children.

Parents incorrectly assume school or pediatric vision screenings are the same as a comprehensive eye exam. More than one-third (37 percent) of moms said they skipped eye exams because their kids already have their eyes checked in school. Vision screenings only test for distance vision and visual sharpness, and can miss up to 80 percent of vision problems, including serious conditions like amblyopia (lazy eye), which can lead to vision loss if not treated. A child can easily pass a vision screening, but not be able to see well enough to read a book. During a comprehensive eye exam, optometrists look at things a school vision screening will not, such as family medical history, the overall health of the eyes, how the eyes work together, and their ability to focus. Additionally, an annual eye exam can improve more than just eyesight. Optometrists can detect other health problems including diabetes and hypertension.

Parents are delaying eye exams and vision insurance until kids start school.One in four parents surveyed didn't take their children to the eye doctor until they were at least five years old, and vision insurance may have something to do with it. For 23 percent of moms surveyed, obtaining visioninsurance is the biggest barrier to taking their kids for an eye exam. However, 30 percent said having vision insurance would motivate them to change that. Only 11 percent of kids join the family's vision insurance plan at birth according to VSP claims data. Even though many common vision problems are detectable from infancy, most parents start using their vision benefits for their kids when they reach school age. VSP findings show 45 percent of kids have had an eye exam above the age of six, compared to 10 percent for those between ages zero and five. This is a missed opportunity given that 90 percent of brain development occurs between birth and five years old. Long before most kids step foot into a classroom, the foundation is being laid for a lifetime of learning, and without proper vision, that foundation is weaker than it should be.

They're more apt to take kids to the eye doctor when something is wrong, instead of going proactively. Among parents who do not bring their children to the eye doctor annually, 72 percent of moms and 48 percent of dads said they would be motivated to do so if their child complains of discomfort or changes in vision. Just like the rest of the body, a child's eyesight can change in just a year in some cases it can mean the difference between needing glasses or not. Yearly eye exams can help parents and their children stay on top of vision and prescription changes.

"You don't have to wait for back-to-school season to get your child an eye exam. But if your kids haven't had their annual eye exam this year, or at all, now is a great time to do so," said Dr. Murphy. "Kids use their vision throughout the school day, while doing homework and during sports and games. Optometrists are here to partner with parents, teachers and school nurses to stay on top of vision changes and make sure kids have the resources they need to do their best in school."

How Parents 'See' Eye Health, by the Numbers

About VSP GlobalAs a doctor-governed company, VSP Global exists to create value for members and opportunities for VSP network doctors. VSP Global's complementary businesses include VSP Vision Care, the only national not-for-profit vision benefits company, which provides access to eye care for its 84 million members around the world through a network of 40,000 eye doctors; Marchon Eyewear, Inc., one of the world's largest designers, manufacturers and distributors of high quality eyewear and sunwear; VSP Optics Group, industry leaders in ophthalmic technology and lab services, providing custom lens solutions for the vision and lifestyle needs of patients; Eyefinity, the eye care industry's largest electronic health records and practice management software company, and VSP Omni-Channel Solutions, which creates connected consumer experiences designed to strengthen the relationship between VSP members and their eye doctors. To date, VSP network doctors have provided eye exams and eyewear at no-cost to over a million people in need through a partnership with VSP Global's Eyes of Hope.

About YouGovYouGov is a leading international full-service research and consulting company and a pioneer in the use of technology to collect higher-quality, in-depth data for the world's leading businesses and institutions so that they can better serve the people that sustain them. With offices throughout the US, UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, YouGov leverages its online sampling, research expertise and consulting experience to provide clients with sophisticated market strategy, market analytics, and survey and forecasting services.

Survey Methodology All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov. Total sample size was 1011 adults. The sample was split into three groups, with one being 256 women age 30-55, with children under 18, household income between $50,000 and $150,000, and with at least some college education; the second being men with the same qualifications; and the third being parents who did not fit into those categories. Fieldwork was conducted between June 16-23, 2017. The survey was carried out online.

Maryam Brownrel="nofollow">Maryam.Brown@vsp.com C: 949.230.8735

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/half-of-us-parents-skip-back-to-school-eye-exams-for-their-children-survey-says-300501365.html

SOURCE VSP Vision Care

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Half of US Parents Skip Back-to-School Eye Exams for Their Children, Survey Says - Markets Insider

Although three in four respondents (76 percent) said sight is the most important sense, findings from the survey of 1,000 US parents revealed their attitudes don't match their actions for themselves and their kids. According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), kids should have a first comprehensivevision assessment at six months to ensure the eyes are working together and to detect any vision problems early; followed by a comprehensive eye exam at three years old, five years old, and annually throughout the school years. However, one in five parents (21 percent) did not take their kids to the eye doctor for the first time until they were school age (at least five years old). Additionally, one in 10 (13 percent) has never taken their child(ren) to the eye doctor.

"It may seem surprising, but kids who can't read or even speak yet can still have a comprehensive eye exam. The connection between eyes and the brain starts early. As an optometrist and a mom of school age children myself, I encourage parents to prioritize back-to-school eye exams, the same way you wouldn't miss a dentist or pediatrician visit," said Dr. Mary Anne Murphy, OD, owner and practitioner of Front Range Eye Associates in Denver and Board member at VSP Global. "Kids don't know what's normal and what's not when it comes to eye health. When vision problems aren't identified early, kids will be at a disadvantage before they even start kindergarten."

The survey uncovered other key barriers that prevent parents from getting an annual eye exam for their children.

Parents incorrectly assume school or pediatric vision screenings are the same as a comprehensive eye exam. More than one-third (37 percent) of moms said they skipped eye exams because their kids already have their eyes checked in school. Vision screenings only test for distance vision and visual sharpness, and can miss up to 80 percent of vision problems, including serious conditions like amblyopia (lazy eye), which can lead to vision loss if not treated. A child can easily pass a vision screening, but not be able to see well enough to read a book. During a comprehensive eye exam, optometrists look at things a school vision screening will not, such as family medical history, the overall health of the eyes, how the eyes work together, and their ability to focus. Additionally, an annual eye exam can improve more than just eyesight. Optometrists can detect other health problems including diabetes and hypertension.

Parents are delaying eye exams and vision insurance until kids start school.One in four parents surveyed didn't take their children to the eye doctor until they were at least five years old, and vision insurance may have something to do with it. For 23 percent of moms surveyed, obtaining visioninsurance is the biggest barrier to taking their kids for an eye exam. However, 30 percent said having vision insurance would motivate them to change that. Only 11 percent of kids join the family's vision insurance plan at birth according to VSP claims data. Even though many common vision problems are detectable from infancy, most parents start using their vision benefits for their kids when they reach school age. VSP findings show 45 percent of kids have had an eye exam above the age of six, compared to 10 percent for those between ages zero and five. This is a missed opportunity given that 90 percent of brain development occurs between birth and five years old. Long before most kids step foot into a classroom, the foundation is being laid for a lifetime of learning, and without proper vision, that foundation is weaker than it should be.

They're more apt to take kids to the eye doctor when something is wrong, instead of going proactively. Among parents who do not bring their children to the eye doctor annually, 72 percent of moms and 48 percent of dads said they would be motivated to do so if their child complains of discomfort or changes in vision. Just like the rest of the body, a child's eyesight can change in just a year in some cases it can mean the difference between needing glasses or not. Yearly eye exams can help parents and their children stay on top of vision and prescription changes.

"You don't have to wait for back-to-school season to get your child an eye exam. But if your kids haven't had their annual eye exam this year, or at all, now is a great time to do so," said Dr. Murphy. "Kids use their vision throughout the school day, while doing homework and during sports and games. Optometrists are here to partner with parents, teachers and school nurses to stay on top of vision changes and make sure kids have the resources they need to do their best in school."

How Parents 'See' Eye Health, by the Numbers

About VSP GlobalAs a doctor-governed company, VSP Global exists to create value for members and opportunities for VSP network doctors. VSP Global's complementary businesses include VSP Vision Care, the only national not-for-profit vision benefits company, which provides access to eye care for its 84 million members around the world through a network of 40,000 eye doctors; Marchon Eyewear, Inc., one of the world's largest designers, manufacturers and distributors of high quality eyewear and sunwear; VSP Optics Group, industry leaders in ophthalmic technology and lab services, providing custom lens solutions for the vision and lifestyle needs of patients; Eyefinity, the eye care industry's largest electronic health records and practice management software company, and VSP Omni-Channel Solutions, which creates connected consumer experiences designed to strengthen the relationship between VSP members and their eye doctors. To date, VSP network doctors have provided eye exams and eyewear at no-cost to over a million people in need through a partnership with VSP Global's Eyes of Hope.

About YouGovYouGov is a leading international full-service research and consulting company and a pioneer in the use of technology to collect higher-quality, in-depth data for the world's leading businesses and institutions so that they can better serve the people that sustain them. With offices throughout the US, UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, YouGov leverages its online sampling, research expertise and consulting experience to provide clients with sophisticated market strategy, market analytics, and survey and forecasting services.

Survey Methodology All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov. Total sample size was 1011 adults. The sample was split into three groups, with one being 256 women age 30-55, with children under 18, household income between $50,000 and $150,000, and with at least some college education; the second being men with the same qualifications; and the third being parents who did not fit into those categories. Fieldwork was conducted between June 16-23, 2017. The survey was carried out online.

Maryam Brown Maryam.Brown@vsp.com C: 949.230.8735

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/half-of-us-parents-skip-back-to-school-eye-exams-for-their-children-survey-says-300501365.html

SOURCE VSP Vision Care

http://www.vspglobal.com

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Half of US Parents Skip Back-to-School Eye Exams for Their ... - PR Newswire (press release)

NEED STEM CELL INFO RELEVANT TO YOU?Go to the MEDICAL CONDITION column to the left to search our extensive database of stem cell treatment articles.

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ASCTCs most advanced product is an assay that can detect, very early in the drug development pipeline, drug candidates that will ultimately fail because of their toxicity to tissue stem cells.The companys patent portfolio contains biotechnologies that solve the two main technical problems production and quantification.In addition, the portfolio includes novel technologies for isolating cancer stem cells and producing iPSCs.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) August 29, 2014

A major challenge before new biotechnology start-up companies, especially ones in the biotech start-up dense realm of Boston-Cambridge, is gaining visibility that can lead to important strategic alliances and able investors. James Sherley, the Director of Bostons Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC (ASCTC), has made increasing the local and national visibility of his company an important priority since he started the company in September 2013.

In addition to a social media marketingcampaignlaunched earlier in July of this year, Director Sherley has targeted research and development conferences both nationally andinternationallyto increase industry awareness of ASCTCs unique portfolio of intellectual property available for licensing and its current commercial development targets. The company is focused on producing two products to address two important needs in drug development and regenerative medicine, respectively, that it is uniquely positioned to address.

ASCTCs most advanced product is an assay that can detect, very early in the drug development pipeline, drug candidates that will ultimately fail because of their toxicity to tissue stem cells. ASCTC developed the new technology in partnership withAlphaSTAR, Corporation, located in Long Beach, California. Currently, such lurking drugs are not detected until after expensive animal testing, more expensive clinical trials, or worse, after marketing. Director Sherley refers to the second product as, A future of pounds and pounds of normal adult tissue stem cells. The company holds a patented technology for mass production of human tissue stem cells. The initial production target is human liver stem cells that can be used to make mature human liver cells for use in drug development and to support liver transplant patients. The company also holdspatentsfor production of pancreatic stem cells and hair follicle stem cells.

The sponsor the 2014 Stem Cells & Regenerative MedicineConference, in Boston, September 15-16, Terrapinn, Inc., invited ASCTC to attend as a VIP guest. Although ASCTC will not make a formal presentation at this conference, Director Sherley will participate in a roundtable discussion on the topic, Articulating value for up-and-coming regenerative medicine, stem cell and cell-based therapies.

Later in September (22-24), Director Sherley will present one of the selected Next Generation Presentations for new companies atBioPharm America 2014, also taking place in Boston. In addition to the public presentation, ASCTC will also participate in confidential partnering meetings with potential investors and strategic alliance partners arranged by conference organizers.

In October, Director Sherley will present to a primarily academic research audience a more detailed accounting of ASCTCs computer simulation technology for quantifying tissue stem cells in culture. This technology is the basis for the companys new assay for tissue stem cell toxicity. Director Sherley is particularly interested in the response from several experts in tissue stem cell growth dynamics who are invited speakers. The symposium, which will take place at Rhode Island Hospital, a medical affiliate of Brown University in Providence, has the goal of presenting emerging disruptive research in the area of Novel Stem Cells and Vesicles. Director Sherley is a member of the symposium organizing committee.*****************************************************************************************The Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC(ASCTC) is a Massachusetts life sciences company established in September 2013. ASCTC Director and founder, James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D. is the foremost authority on the unique properties of adult stem cells. The companys patent portfolio contains biotechnologies that solve the two main technical problems production and quantification that have stood in the way of successful commercialization of human adult tissue stem cells for regenerative medicine and drug development. In addition, the portfolio includes novel technologies for isolating cancer stem cells and producing iPSCs. Currently, ASCTC is employing its technological advantages to pursue commercialization of mass-produced therapeutic human liver cells and facile assays that are early warning systems for drug candidates with catastrophic toxicity due to adverse effects against adult tissue stem cells.via

During the Second International Adult Stem Cell conference at the Vatican, a boy who had his windpipe replaced with one grown using his own stem cells won the Pontifical Hero Award for his courage. Ciaran Finn-Lynch, 14, was born withlong-segment tracheal stenosis,a condition that resulted in a narrow windpipe and made it hard for him to breathe.The operation involved taking a donor trachea and seeding it with stem cells taken from Ciarans bone marrow. The result of the procedure was that after six months, his trachea looked almost normal. Further more, the operation used his own cells, preventing the need for anti-rejection drugs.

Vatican Honors Boy for Courage During Stem Cell Trachea Transplant Operation that Used His Own Cells

During the Second International Adult Stem Cell conference at the Vatican, a boy who had his windpipe replaced with one grown using his own stem cells won the Pontifical Hero Award for his courage.

Ciaran Finn-Lynch, 14, was the second person to receive the award, and he made the trip from Northern Ireland to the Vatican to receive it.

Ciaran is a shining example of what this result has shown, said his father, Paul Finn, in an April 12 interview with CNA.

His mother, Colleen Finn, said we need to have faith in God to get through all of this.

This has made our faith stronger because we need more and more prayers all the time, she added.

Ciaran was born with long-segment tracheal stenosis, a condition that resulted in a narrow windpipe and made it hard for him to breathe.

He had a major transplant surgery to rebuild his trachea when he was two years-old.

Doctors placed metal stents to hold his windpipe open and he went without any major issues until he was 10 years-old.

One day after school, the stents that had been placed in his windpipe started to cut into his aorta, the main blood vessel coming out of his heart.

He was taken to intensive care at Belfast Hospital and then later transferred to Londons Great Ormond Childrens Hospital.

He had several operations but he had more bleeding from his stents, said Doctor Paolo De Coppi, head of the surgery unit at University College Londons Institute of Child Health, during the April 12 morning session of the conference.

The leader of our team didnt know what to do next, but an option was to do an operation done before on an adult in Barcelona. But we didnt have the time to do that, De Coppi explained.

But we did something similar and it was a quite difficult operation, he said.

The operation involved taking a donor trachea and seeding it with stem cells taken from Ciarans bone marrow.

The result of the procedure was that after six months, his trachea looked almost normal.

Ciaran is doing really well and I think he has a chance to become a rock star, since he plays the drums so well, De Coppi commented after showing a video of Ciaran playing with a band.

Ciaran told CNA that it felt good to receive the award and that he was happy with his life.

His father noted that the stem cells have been a great contribution to Ciarans procedure.

What weve heard here these last couple of days (at the conference) has been amazing, knowing theyre talking about building other organs, Paul Finn said.

Ciarans mother noted that she was happy that her son is not on any medication, since the operation used his own cells, preventing the need for anti-rejection drugs.

You just have to keep going on for him, and you cant show that youre scared or teary and you just have to put a brave face on, said Colleen.via

Parkinson's: Adult Stem-Cell Use Proves Successful Once Again!

LifeNews.com reports the results were published in the February issue of the Bentham Open Stem Cell Journal. Dr. David Prentice, a fellow with the Family Research Council, says the research features only one patient.

The gentleman was treated with stem cells into only half of his brain, and he went almost five years (without symptoms), he explains. Now his symptoms did start to return after that, and obviously hed like the other half of his brain treated.

The patients motor skills improved by over 80 percent in the first five years after the procedure. Prentice says he was able to have an active lifestyle. During that time he was traveling all around the world and living a full life, he points out.

David Prentice (FRC)No human embryos were killed in the research. They used the gentlemans own adult stem cells, so obviously theres no chance of transplant rejection, no tumors, Prentice notes, and of course, adult stem cells really work in patients.

UCLA researchers will now expand their work to 15 humans.via

Revolutionaryfindings in study by researchers in Korea suggest the first real breakthrough toward preventing Alzheimer's and helping millions of patients and families by relieving its symptoms. Researchers announced this week the results of a study that suggests an astounding possibility: adult stem cells may not only have a positive effect on those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, theycanprevent the disease.Using fat-derived adultstem cells from humans,adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells, researchers were able to cause Alzheimer's disease brains in animal models to regenerate. For the first time in history, stem cells were used toidentify the mechanism that is key to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, and demonstrated how to achieve efficacy as well as prevention of the symptoms of Alzheimer's with adult stem cells, a "holy grail" of biomedical scientists for decades.

In the first study of its kind, researchers at Korea's leading university and the RNL Bio Stem Cell Technology Institute announced this week the results of a study that suggests an astounding possibility: adult stem cells may not only have a positive effect on those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, theycanprevent the disease.Using fat-derived adultstem cells from humans [scientific term:adMSCs, orhuman, adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells], researchers were able to cause Alzheimer's disease brains in animal models to regenerate. The researchers, for the first time in history, used stem cells toidentify the mechanism that is key to treatment of Alzheimer's disease, and demonstrated how to achieve efficacy as well as prevention of the symptoms of Alzheimer's with adult stem cells, a "holy grail" of biomedical scientists for decades.

Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia (loss of brain function), is the 6th leading cause of death, and affects 1 in 8 people -- more than breast cancer. As of 2010, there were 35.6 million people with Alzheimer's disease in the world, but this number is expected to double every 20 years. It is estimated that the total cost of Alzheimer's is US$604 billionworldwide, with 70% of this cost in the US andEurope. To put that in perspective, Alzheimer's care costs more than the revenues of Wal-Mart (US$414 billion) and Exxon Mobil (US$311 billion), according to the British World Alzheimer's Report of ADI. The cost of Alzheimer's is at the top of health economists' list of the disorders of aging that could topple nations' entire economies, and that regularly ruin not only the lives of patients but of their relatives.

According to the results of this first major study, Alzheimer's may soon be a preventable disease, or even a thing of the past. Equally important, the safety human administration of the kind of adult stem cells used in this experiment has been established in multiple articles and government-approved clinical trials.

THE RESEARCH:

The study was jointly led by SeoulNational UniversityProfessorYoo-Hun Suhand RNL Bio Stem Cell Technology Institute (SCTI) director Dr.Jeong-Chan Ra.

The researchers and their teams injected stem cells into mice genetically designed to have the core symptoms and physiology of Alzheimer's disease. They were able to identify that these human stem cells, derived from adipose tissue, behave in a very special way when injected into the tail vein of mice subjects. The cells migrated through the blood brain barrier, thought by many to be impossible for adult stem cells to cross, and went into the brain. In fact,fluorescent labeled cells were monitored for distribution in subjects and the team identified that the infused cells migrated throughout the bodiesincluding brainexcept the olfactory organ, and therefore confirmed that IV infused stem cell can reach to the brain across the blood brain barrier.

The team infused human adipose stem cells intravenously in Alzheimer model mice multiple times two weeks apart from three month to 10 month.Once there, the mice who received cells improved in every relevant way: ability to learn, ability to remember, and neuropathological signs. More important, for the first time ever, Alzheimer model mice showed the mediation of IL-10, which is known for anti-inflammation and neurological protection.

The team also found that stem cell restored special learning ability from Alzheimer model subjects with great reduction of neuropathy lesions.This was found using tests used for Alzheimer's disease: behavioral assessment. In assessment it was found, amazingly, that stem cells' therapeutic effect on Alzheimer's disease was tremendous. This was also found in pathological analysis. The key though was prevention: the scientists showed that stem cells, when infused into Alzheimer's mice, decreased beta amyloid and APP-CT, known to cause brain cell destruction, leading to dementia and Alzheimer's disease. In the lab it was clear that stem cells increased neprilysin, which hydrolyzes toxic proteins. No other compound or treatment has ever suggested so strongly the potential to prevent, as well as stop, this epidemic of incurable dementia sweeping across suffering patients and their families.

Stopping Alzheimer's disease, let alone preventing it, is the focus of thousands of researchers worldwide. Speaking of their breakthrough discovery,Professor Yoo-Hun Suh, who led the study, said, "It is a ground breaking discovery that such a simple method as IV injection of the safest autologous adipose stem cells, without causing any immune rejection, or any ethical issues, opened a new door to conquering Alzheimer's disease, one of the most horrible, expensive and incurablediseases of our time." Joining him, leader of the RNL Bio Stem Cell Technology InstituteDr.Jeong-Chan Rasaid, "It has never been more clear that it is an ethical imperative for governments to provide patients with incurable diseases with their right to participate not only in studies like this but in therapies with such obvious potential, once they have been tested as many times for safety as has our technology." Both scientists stressed that the real breakthrough in their complex research is the prevention of the onset of symptoms.

Specifically, stem cells grafted in the brain, in another part of the study, were identified to induce cell division and neuro differentiation of endogenous neuro progenitor cells around the hippocampus and its surrounding cells and increase in great deal the stability of dendrites and synapses. Stem cell also contributed various anti-inflammatory and neuro growth factors, especially increased the expression of IL-10. This again suppressed apoptosis of brain neurons, the prevention effect against Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Ra of RNL Bio noted that, "RNL Bio has already completed government-approved clinical trials confirming the efficacy of RNL Bio stem cells in the management and treatment of other diseases, including osteoarthritis, limb ischemia, and progressive hemifacial atrophy (Romberg's disease)."

This study was published in a recent volume of the renowned, peer-reviewed U.S. medical journalPLOS ONE. Images, plans for future efforts, and impact on this crushing disease will be discussed when the scientists discuss the details of this revolutionary study in a press conference inSeoulonSeptember 27th.via

SOURCE RNL BIO CO., LTD.

Type 2 Diabetes Trial Using Mesoblasts Proprietary Adult Stem Cells Yields Positive Results

MELBOURNE, Australia, June 18, 2014 Results from the Phase 2 trial of Mesoblasts proprietary adult stem cells in type 2 diabetes patients have been presented at the scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association annual meeting.

Type 2 diabetes and its complications are considered to have an underlying immunological component associated with excessive pro-inflammatory cytokines.

The immunomodulatory properties of Mesoblasts Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) provided the rationale for conducting the study.

The Phase 2 randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, dose escalation trial was conducted across 18 U.S. sites. The trial evaluated the effects of a single intravenous infusion of 0.3, 1.0 or 2.0 million MPCs/kg or placebo over 12 weeks in 61 patients who were inadequately controlled on metformin alone or with one other glucose-lowering agent. Mean diabetes duration was 10 years.

The key findings from the study:

The study investigators concluded there was sufficient evidence to support further evaluation into the use of MPCs in type 2 diabetes and its complications, and to explore further the effects of MPCs on disease mechanisms.

Multiple Sclerosis - Italians Lead Clinical Trial Testing Safety and Effectiveness of Stem Cell Transplantation MS Patients

(ANSA) Boston, September 9 Mesenchymal stem cell therapy to treat multiple sclerosis so far appears safe and without side effects, according to data released Tuesday and obtained through clinical trials on patients as part of the international Mesems project coordinated by University of Genoa neurologist Antonio Uccelli.

The results were announced ahead of the World Congress on Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis opening in Boston Wednesday through Saturday. The Mesems project involves researchers from nine countries Italy, Spain, France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada and Australia.

It is the first large phase II international multicentre clinical trial to determine the safety of a consensus treatment protocol established by the International Mesenchymal Stem Cells Transplantation Study Group to obtain information on its effectiveness on multiple sclerosis patients.

So far, 81 patients have been involved in the project half of the 160 needed for the whole clinical trial. About 73 or 90% of those involved in blind testing were given at least one injection with mesenchymal therapy or got a placebo while 51 or 63% were given both injections and 27 33% completed the study.

The promising result is that so far none of these 27 people have suffered significant adverse events, which means that, so far, the treatment appears to be safe, said Uccelli. The neurologist warned that caution is necessary and that the effectiveness of the therapy can only be determined once the study is completed in 2016.

Uccelli however added that preliminary studies on animals have persuaded researchers that mesenchymal stem cells can halt inflammation on the central nervous system and probably succeed in protecting nervous tissue, even repairing it where damage is minor. Out of the 81 patients recruited so far, 28 are Italian and 10 of them have completed the study, Uccelli said, adding that all patients over the past year did relatively well except for one who was treated with placebo.

The neurologist expressed the hope that data in 2016 will give final confirmation that the therapy is effective so we can take the subsequent step with a larger phase III study aimed at demonstrating the role of stem cells as neurorepairers. Meanwhile Genoas bioethics committee has approved a two-year extension of the project, which will be called Mesems Plus, to verify, beyond the year of observation provided for by Mesems, the long-term safety of treatments in the study and the potential insurgence of adverse events in all those treated, said Uccelli.

A study last week showed statin use increases the risk of diabetes by 46 per cent, and those who take the cholesterol-lowering drugs are more than twice as likely to develop Parkinsons disease in later life than those who do not.The Parkinsons research carried out over 20 years suggests cholesterol may have a vital role in protecting the brain and nervous system.The findings have alarmed experts who say if applied to the number of Britons deemed eligible for statins it couldequate to 150,000 extra patients with Parkinsons.The work has also fuelled concerns that statins, now recommended for up to half the adult population over 50 by government drug policy adviser the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, may be doing many patients more harm than good.

Dr Kailash Chand, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association, was speaking following research which found those who take the cholesterol-lowering drugs are more than twice as likely to develop Parkinsons disease in later life than those who do not.

A study last week showed statin use increases the risk of diabetes by 46 per cent.

It has led to calls to end to the widespread use of the drugs.

The Parkinsons research carried out over 20 years, and involving nearly 16,000 people, suggests cholesterol may have a vital role in protecting the brain and nervous system.

The findings have alarmed experts who say if applied to the number of Britons deemed eligible for statins it could equate to 150,000 extra patients with Parkinsons, a central nervous system disorder affecting one in 350 mostly older people.

The work has also fuelled concerns that statins, now recommended for up to half the adult population over 50 by government drug policy adviser the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, may be doing many patients more harm than good.

Doctors used to prescribe the drugs only to those who had a 30 per cent or greater risk of suffering a heart attack within a decade, but this was lowered to 20 per cent in 2005.

A 10-year plan has been introduced to reduce this further and include low-risk patients who have just a 10 per cent chance of a heart attack within a decade.

Nice believes this could save thousands of lives.

Other studies have shown a link between the cholesterol-lowering drugs and potentially disabling side effects including cataracts, diabetes, muscle pains, fatigue and memory loss.

Researchers warn that the mass roll-out of statins leaves 150,000 people at risk

Dr Chand, who suffered debilitating muscle pains while taking statins, said of the Parkinsons research:

This research has been done over a considerable amount of time and on a considerable number of people and it is very worrying.

Speaking in a personal capacity, he added:

"The risks of side-effects of these drugs are far greater than any potential benefits and it is high time these drugs were restricted in the low-risk population" - Dr Kailash Chand

Dr Xuemei Huang, who led the research, recently published in the journal of Movement Disorders, expressed concerns about the widespread prescription of statins.

If we blanket prescribe statins to people we could be creating a huge population of people with neurological problems.

Does mother nature create cholesterol for a reason?

"I think doctors are over-enamoured with statins and think it is a cure-all.

But the body is not just for the heart, it is also for the brain.

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Don Margolis - Adult Stem Cell Research

(HealthDay News) -- An antibiotic treatment intended to lower stem cell transplant patients' risk of developing a respiratory complication appears to have backfired.

French researchers explored the potential of administering the antibiotic azithromycin before and after stem cell transplantation to limit the risk for a condition known as bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS).

A significant number of blood cancer patients who undergo allogeneic stem cell transplant are at risk for developing BOS. It's a potentially deadly complication in which airflow to the lungs becomes progressively obstructed, turning routine breathing into an ordeal. Allogeneic transplants are ones where genetically similar, but not identically matched, material is transplanted.

The new investigation had to be stopped prematurely -- after just over a year. Preliminary indications suggested that the random pool of allogeneic stem cell transplant patients treated with antibiotics were actually more likely to develop BOS than those who were not getting azithromycin.

Dr. Henry Fung serves as vice chair of hematology and oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

Although he was not a part of the current investigation, Fung was familiar with the results of the study and said, "in the absence of new scientific rationale on using azithromycin, a similar study should not be repeated."

Azithromycin "will not benefit patients undergoing an allogeneic stem cell transplant," Fung concluded.

Initially, the French investigation planned to include nearly 500 French blood cancer patients, average age 52. The patients began the allogeneic transplant process at one of 19 French bone marrow transplant facilities at some point between 2014 and 2015.

Fung, who's also director of the Fox Chase Cancer Center-Temple University Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant Program, noted that "allogeneic stem cell transplant is a life-saving procedure for many patients with blood cancers."

However, "the success ... [is] limited by long-term complications," he explained.

One complication is a condition known as graft-versus-host disease. This occurs when newly transplanted bone marrow and/or stem cells are seen by the patient's body as foreign material. The immune system then starts attacking the transplant.

The other is BOS.

And, BOS, "once diagnosed, is usually irreversible with no effective treatment available," Fung said.

Following allogeneic stem cell transplantation, roughly 4 percent to 6 percent of patients will develop BOS, the study authors said. That figure rises as high as 14 percent among those patients who also develop graft-versus-host disease.

The French researchers were led by Dr. Anne Bergeron from the Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris. The team noted that prior research had indicated that using the antibiotic azithromycin as a preventive therapy effectively reduced BOS risk among patients undergoing a lung transplant, during which BOS risk typically goes up.

To see whether the same would be true among stem cell transplant patients, the French study participants were randomly assigned to be treated with either azithromycin (250 milligrams three times a week for two years) or a placebo (dummy pill).

However, by December 2016 the investigation was halted, even before all the participants had completed their two-year antibiotic or placebo regimen.

The cited reason was an "unanticipated imbalance" in the incoming results. More people than anticipated in the group that had been getting the antibiotic were developing BOS.

The study findings were published in the Aug. 8 issue of theJournal of the American Medical Association.

More information

There's more about BOS at theRare Clinical Diseases Research Network.

SOURCES: Henry C. Fung, M.D., vice chair, hematology and oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and director, Fox Chase Cancer Center-Temple University Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Philadelphia; Aug. 8, 2017,Journal of the American Medical Association

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Antibiotic Doesn't Prevent Lung Complication After Stem Cell Transplant - KARK

Viacyte, privately-held, leading regenerative medicine company, announced today that the first patients have been implanted with the PEC-Direct product candidate, a novel islet cell replacement therapy in development as a functional cure for patients with type 1 diabetes who are at high risk for acute life-threatening complications. The first implant procedures of the clinical trial took place at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, and the UC San Diego School of Medicines Altman Clinical Trials Research Institute. The goal of the open-label clinical trial is to evaluate the PEC-Direct product candidate for safety and definitive evidence of efficacy. In the coming months, the company expects to expand the trial to additional centers including the University of Minnesota and other sites in the US and Canada.

The first cohort of type 1 diabetes patients is receiving multiple small-format cell-filled devices called sentinels in order to evaluate safety and implant viability. These sentinel units will be removed at specific time points and examined histologically to provide early insight into the progression of engraftment and maturation into pancreatic islet cells including insulin-producing beta cells. A second cohort of up to 40 patients is expected to begin enrolling later this year to evaluate both safety and efficacy. The primary efficacy measurement in the trial will be the clinically relevant production of insulin, as measured by the insulin biomarker C-peptide, in a patient population that has little to no ability to produce endogenous insulin at the time of enrollment. Other important endpoints will be evaluated including injectable insulin usage and the incidence of hypoglycemic events. ViaCytes goal is to demonstrate early evidence of efficacy in the first half of 2018 and definitive efficacy 6 to 12 months later.

Islet transplants have been used to successfully treat patients with unstable, high-risk type 1 diabetes, but the procedure has limitations, including a very limited supply of donor organs and challenges in obtaining reliable and consistent islet preparations, said trial investigator James Shapiro, MD, PhD, FRCSC, Director of the Clinical Islet Transplant Program, University of Alberta. An effective stem cell-derived islet replacement therapy would solve these issues and has the potential to help a greater number of people.

Patients with high-risk type 1 diabetes complications, such as hypoglycemia unawareness, are at constant risk of life-threatening low blood glucose, said Jeremy Pettus, MD, investigator in the clinical trial and Assistant Professor of Medicine at UC San Diego. The PEC-Direct islet cell replacement therapy is designed to help patients with the most urgent medical need.

The PEC-Direct product candidate is being developed for type 1 diabetes patients who have hypoglycemia unawareness, extreme glycemic lability, and/or severe hypoglycemic episodes. It is estimated that about 140,000 people in Canada and the US have such high-risk type 1 diabetes. In addition to providing an unlimited supply of cells for implantation, the PEC-Direct approach has other potential advantages relative to cadaver islet transplants such as delivering a more consistent product preparation under quality-controlled cGMP conditions, and a more straightforward and safe mode of delivery.

The clinical trial is being supported in part by JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research. JDRF remains dedicated to accelerating the delivery of beta cell replacement therapies to the T1D community, and we commend ViaCyte in its announcement of the first patients to be implanted with the PEC-Direct islet cell replacement therapy, said Derek Rapp, JDRF President and Chief Executive Officer. JDRF is excited to support this clinical development given its potential to help those people with type 1 diabetes that need it the most those at high risk of life-threatening acute complications. JDRF and ViaCyte share a continuing commitment to realizing the potential of beta cell replacement strategies to deliver insulin independence without immune suppression for people living with type 1 diabetes, and ultimately, at JDRF we hope this will move us forward in fulfilling our vision of a world without type 1 diabetes.

There are limited treatment options for patients with high-risk type 1 diabetes to manage life-threatening hypoglycemic episodes, said Paul Laikind, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of ViaCyte. We believe that the PEC-Direct product candidate has the potential to transform the lives of these patients and we are excited to move closer to that goal with the initiation of clinical evaluation announced today. This also represents a step towards a broader application of the technology. We remain fully committed to developing a functional cure for all patients with insulin-requiring diabetes. To that end, we are hard at work on next-generation approaches as well, and expect the work with PEC-Direct to further advance our knowledge and drive progress.

In addition to JDRF, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)s Alpha Clinic, the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, the JDRF Canadian Clinical Trials Network (CCTN), the Stem Cell Network, and Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS) are all providing support for the trial.

About the PEC-Direct Product Candidate

The PEC-Direct product candidate delivers stem cell-derived pancreatic progenitor cells, called PEC-01 cells, in a device designed to allow direct vascularization of the cells in the device. After implantation, these cells are expected to become mature human islet tissue including well-regulated beta cells producing insulin on demand. The direct vascularization of the implanted cells is expected to allow for robust and consistent engraftment but will necessitate the use of maintenance immune suppression therapy.

About ViaCyte

ViaCyte is a privately-held regenerative medicine company developing novel cell replacement therapies as potential long-term diabetes treatments to reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and diabetes-related complications. ViaCytes product candidates are based on the derivation of pancreatic progenitor cells from stem cells, which are then implanted in a durable and retrievable cell delivery device. Once implanted and matured, these cells are designed to secrete insulin and other pancreatic hormones in response to blood glucose levels. ViaCyte has two products in clinical development. The PEC-Direct product candidate delivers the pancreatic progenitor cells in a non-immunoprotective device and is being developed for type 1 diabetes patients who have hypoglycemia unawareness, extreme glycemic lability, and/or recurrent severe hypoglycemic episodes. The PEC-Encap (also known as VC-01) product candidate delivers the same pancreatic progenitor cells in an immunoprotective device and is being developed for all patients with diabetes, type 1 and type 2, who use insulin. ViaCyte is headquartered in San Diego, California. The Company is funded in part by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and JDRF.

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Pouch of stem cells implanted in trial to cure type 1 diabetes - Next Big Future

Im often asked about the safety of treatments that purport to inject stem cells into painful body parts. The reputation of stem cells seems to exceed the reach, with companies touting treatments that arent FDA approved or even being tested.

Back in March, an alarming article in the New England Journal of Medicinedescribed three women blinded by stem cell treatments two of the patients reported seeing a reference on the company website to registration at the National Institutes of Healths well-respected ClinicalTrials.gov, and assuming it applied to their treatment. It didnt.

In what is perhaps a modern version of hawking snake oil, companies can indeed register certain clinical trials without breaking any rules but desperate patients might not know that.

There is no doubt that some patients have misinterpreted a studys listing on ClinicalTrials.gov as a stamp of legitimacy, federal review, and compliance. In this way, treatments with no safety or efficacy data, no prior clinical study, and no ongoing clinical trials under FDA review, appear to have federal approval. Such a misunderstanding can lead to disastrous outcomes for patients, said Thomas Albini, MD, of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami, who treated the blinded women.

When I wrote about the disaster here at DNA Scienceand atMedscape Medical News, my Medscape editor asked me to take a closer look at criteria for listing investigations at ClinicalTrials.gov. It proved an interesting exercise, but I declined to write an article, fearing lawsuits if I named companies.

ClinicalTrials.gov is where research groups, in academia and pharma/biotech, describe protocols to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new drugs, biologics, and devices, which FDA regulates, typically in randomized, controlled trials. But for an observational study that just follows what happens after a treatment, no such thumbs-up is required; no investigational new drug (IND) designation or investigational device exemption (IDE) need be filed. And that creates a loophole that companies are happily jumping through and luring patients in pain, who may know little about clinical trial design, and perhaps trust too much the companies and the doctors offering these services.

Its easy to see how people are fooled. One company claims that By providing access to registered clinical studies through the NIH, we are providing patients with the ability to choose a stem cell treatment center with the highest standard of care. If the treatment is experimental, how can there even be a standard of care?

MOST STUDIES LEGIT

I love ClinicalTrials.gov its packed with information about all manner of conditions, with contacts and references. I started my investigation by searching for studies that sounded bogus.

I began with a treatment that epitomizes pseudoscience: magnets. But I was fooled. Other than legit uses in medical devices, my magnet search called up as an acronym of sorts for theMothers and Girls Dancing Together Trial, a well-designed study on preventing childhood obesity, with a decent sample size and controls.

I also thought the randomised crossover trial of the acute effects of a deep-fried Mars bar or porridge on the cerebral vasculature was fake, but it turned out to be a medical students project, well done, and published in the Scottish Medical Journal.

But trial NCT02833532, sponsored by a Korean pharmaceutical company, was likely a joke, with the stated purpose of temporary penile enhancement and one of the investigators first name being Dong. Participants must answer the question How do you rate your penile size? Very small/small/normal/big/very big to enroll. Those accepted get to try something made of hyaluronic acid, which is found, coincidentally, in cocks combs.

Searching ClinicalTrials.gov for stem cells returns more than 4,000 entries, so I gave up. Fortunately, Leigh Turner, PhD, associate professor at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota, wasnt afraid of lawyers and took a more measured, scholarly approach. He recently published the intriguing findings in Regenerative Medicine, where you can find nice tables naming the stem cell companies that use and possibly abuse ClinicalTrials.gov.

AN ACADEMIC INVESTIGATION

Dr. Turner searched ClinicalTrials.gov for stem cells along with patient-sponsored, patient-funded, and self-funded because expecting patients to pay is a red flag. Only a very few real clinical trials charge patients, and those that do must have FDA approval to do so.

He found 7 such pay-as-you-go clinical trials, each enrolling more than 100 people, at the government website, and another 11 in a database of companies that provide direct-to-consumer stem-cell-based treatments. The DTC label indicates that the treatments arent part of a real experimental protocol. One of themhad signed up more than 3,000 gullible people.

The companies that charge patients yet proclaim a ClinicalTrials.gov listing are having their proverbial cake and eating it too borrowing the governmental veneer of a sanctioned clinical trial, while collecting fees. And many health care consumers arent even aware theyre being bamboozled.

Another red flag in a stem cell pitch is an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink list of targets. Stem Cell Network, for example, claims to be able to treat, using stem cells grown from a patients fat, some 28 conditions, including the vague knee problems, and also muscular dystrophy, ankle problems, neuropathy, asthma, and alopecia areata. Also be wary of stem cells derived from one body part like butt fat being injected into another body part such as eyeballs.

Wed like people to protect themselves by going to a reliable website, like ClinicalTrials.gov, to distinguish legitimate from bogus claims of stem cell clinics. But the findings of this paper challenge that advice because this valuable resource, which is designed to promote transparency and to help people find clinical trials, lists unlicensed and unproven stem cell interventions that companies turn into personal marketing platforms. So if you have ALS, MS, Parkinsons disease, a ClinicalTrials.gov listing looks like any other study on the NIH website. Many people think a listing is credible, Dr. Turner told me.

There is an urgent need for careful screening of clinical studies before they are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, Dr. Turners paper concludes. But in the current climate of a nuclear threat, a health care system in disarray, and possible cuts to the CDC, FDA, and NIH, ramping up scrutiny at ClinicalTrials.gov is unlikely to have priority, if the President even has a clue what it is.

Its not possible to slash, burn, defund, and deregulate at every turn and think that federal agencies are going to improve how they function. But no administration is forever, no budget is forever, deregulatory moments dont last forever, and perhaps problems that are ignored or neglected now will be addressed in the future, with collateral damage along the way while nothing is done, warns Dr. Turner.

Those seeking stem cell treatments should check out the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Patient Handbook on Stem Cell Therapiesand stemcells.nih.gov. Alas, much of the media is still somewhat unfamiliar with the biology of stem cells, that they are not cells that can turn into any cell typebut that they self-renew and jettison a new stem cell at every division. Thats what makes them stem cells, not the ability to spawn specialized cells.

So I tell people who ask me if they should have stem cells shot into their aching knees or backs to do so only if they wouldnt object to an abnormal growth cancer forming there.

When it comes to stem cell therapies, its caveat emptor buyer beware!

More here:
Are Stem Cell Companies Abusing ClinicalTrials.gov? - PLoS Blogs (blog)

Doing challenges in The Sims 4 can be a lot of fun but a lot of them also require a lot of work. Thats fun when youre looking for a more involved challenge but sometimes you just want quick and easy fun. Thats where the Random Genetic Challenge comes in. Creating your Sims is certainly one of the most fun aspects of playing The Sims 4 but sometimes its justfun to see if lady luck is on your side.Plenty of Sims 4 players have been taking to forums and social media to share the results of their own Random Genetics Challenge and heres how you can get in on the action.

You just start out by randomizing two adult Sims. You will do this by going through each of the different customizable features and clicking the dice icon for a pre-determined amount of times that you should decide on before starting the challenge. For example, if you decide your lucky number is three you will click on the dice icon three times for each of the features. Once you do this for both parent Sims you will want to use the Play With Genetics feature to create their child. Technically, you are welcome to use any age Sim youd like for this challenge but the most common and highly recommended Life Stage to use is the Teen.

The next step is incredibly simpletry to make your new offspring as beautiful as possible without actually changing any of their genetics. So you cant simply do awaywith any features you dont like but youre more than welcome to try to cover them up with different hairstyles and makeup. Now take your new family into the world and see if your Sim will become an Adult that grew into their looks or if theyll be relying on a good personality for the rest of their life.

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The Sims 4: How to Do the Random Genetics Challenge - Twinfinite

FORTY FORT, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) -- In a time when many wonder about career opportunities of the future, there is one that's showing signs of significant growth. It has to do with helping patients understand and address personal health risk factors.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports nearly 40,000 jobs were created last month in the health sector. Of that sector, one particular field is showing tremendous employment opportunity more than any other job.

What you're witnessing is the future of medicine: unlocking genetic code secrets to personalize treatment and even prevention of certain illnesses and conditions. Both in and out of these DNA labs are genetic counselors who gather and analyze family history and inheritance patterns to help identify individuals and families who may be at risk. "It's so such on the cutting edge of science and technology that it's continuously changing and there are always new things to really keep on top of and excite me," said Geisinger Genomic Medicine Institute Genetic Counselor Marci Schwartz.

Ms. Schwartz works in both cardiovascular and cancer genetics. By the end of 2024, the demand for genetic counselors like her is expected to grow by nearly 30 percent which is greater than any other job sector in the nation. So what's driving that demand? "We are now getting to the point where genetic information is really becoming relevant to clinical care," said Geisinger Genomic Medicine Institute Director Marc Williams, MD.

That care also includes targeted medicine in neurology, pediatrics, and prenatal genetics. Home to the 11 years and counting genome project "MyCode", Geisinger anticipates needing hundreds of genetic counselors in the next few years. "We have a huge opportunity but also this deficit in terms of training personnel," said Dr. Williams. Part of the genetic field job explosion is a recently created position by Geisinger called a genetic counseling assistant.

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton will soon offer a masters program in genomics but exploring career possibilities in this field can begin much sooner. "Some of the shadowing and volunteer experience can certainly be started in high school," said Ms. Schwartz.

You don't need to be a doctor to become a genetic counselor but you do need a masters degree. The starting salary for this growing profession is roughly $65,000 a year. You can learn more about career opportunities in genetic counseling by clicking here.

Go here to see the original:
Career Opportunity Explosion in Genetics - PA home page

Broadcast, print and online journalists are to begin using an automated fact-checking system that quickly alerts them to false claims made in the press, on TV and in parliament.

An early version of the system, dubbed the bullshit detector by its creators, will be rolled out for testing from October as part of a global fightback against fake news.

It is being developed by researchers at the Full Fact organisation in London with $500,000 (380,000) of funding from charitable foundations backed by two billionaires: the Hungarian-born investor George Soros, and the Iranian-American eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.

The software, which was demonstrated to the Guardian, scans statements as they are made by politicians and instantly provides a verdict on their veracity. An early version relies on a database of several thousand manual fact-checks, but later versions will automatically access official data to inform the verdict. The researchers are co-operating with the Office of National Statistics on the project.

The Full Fact program will be first tested in the UK but will also be deployed in South America and Africa, where Kenyas presidential election campaign has been beset by fake news such as bogus BBC and CNN news reports using fabricated polls to overstate the prospects of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In London, Full Fact is working with Chequeado, an Argentina-based fact-checking organisation, and Africa Check, which operates in several sub-Saharan countries, including Nigeria and South Africa.

It is like trying to build an immune system, says Mevan Babakar, project manager at Full Fact in London. As more information goes out into the world that is wrong, what we dont have is the means of pushing back against that.

The early version of the software scans the subtitles of live news programmes, broadcasts of parliament, the Hansard parliamentary record, and articles published by newspapers. It tracks millions of words sentence by sentence until it identifies a claim that appears to match a fact-check already in its database.

The Guardian witnessed a real-time demonstration during a health debate in parliament. Words spoken by the politicians were underlined if they matched an existing fact-check. For example, the claim that in the last six years of the last Labour government, 25,000 hospital beds were cut flags a fact-check from the database that states: Correct, the number of overnight beds in the English NHS actually fell by slightly more about 26,000 between 2003-04 and 2009-10.

Another claim, that 10,000 more NHS nursing training places had been made available is also flagged: Incorrect. This figure refers to the governments ambition for additional places by 2020 on nursing, midwifery and child health courses.

In another version of the software, the fact-checks pop up on the TV screen as politicians are speaking, giving viewers instant verdicts on politicians claims. The experience of watching political debate programmes like BBCs Question Time could be transformed.

The developers want to expand the program so that it carries out its own fact-checks by using databases of statistics and verified information. Work is also under way to give Twitter and Facebook users the chance to fact-check their social media feeds, where the large majority of the worst fake news has been distributed.

This is an important investment in the future of fact-checking, says Stephen King, the Omidyar Networks global lead on governance and citizen engagement. These tools will expand the reach and impact of fact-checkers around the world, ensuring citizens are properly informed and those in positions of power are held accountable.

However, Babakar is keen to stress the limitations of the system so far and believes the tool should only be used by journalists in the first instance rather than the general public.

If we go straight to the public it will pit us against people wanting quick answers who wont be satisfied because we cant always make the answers small, she said. It is to help the journalist better push back, for example by challenging politicians at a press conference rather than going back to their desk and researching the claims. This way you can challenge the claim straight away. That is really important for public debate.

The fledgling system is not without its problems; sometimes it flags up a fact-check that isnt relevant, for example. The challenge for the programmers is to get the software to understand the fuzzy logic and idiom used so often in speech.

Neither is Babakar comfortable with the idea that the system separates the true from the false, especially since fake has become associated with information people dislike rather than which is objectively false.

I have a problem with the word truth because that means different things to different people, said Babakar. I think things are correct or incorrect. A truth can be personal. People may say crime is rising because it is in their area but the national average may be falling.

The softwares aim is not to offer people conclusions, but instead provide the best available evidence, Babakar says.

Original post:
Journalists to use 'immune system' software against fake news - The Guardian

The study was also supported by Diabetes UK and JDRF, the type 1 diabetes charity.

Dr Elizabeth Robertson, Director of Research at Diabetes UK, the charity who supported the lead author of the study, said: "Diabetes UK is committed to increasing our understanding of the immune attack in type 1 diabetes and finding ways to stop it.

These new findings are an exciting step towards immunotherapies being used to prevent this serious condition from developing in those at high risk, or stop it from progressing in those already diagnosed."

Prof Colin Dayan from Cardiff University, the clinical Chief Investigator for the study, added: "It was encouraging to see that people who receive the treatment needed less insulin to control their blood glucose levels, suggesting that their pancreas was working better.

Karen Addington, UK Chief Executive of JDRF which funded the research, said: "Exciting immunotherapy research like this increases the likelihood that one day insulin-producing cells can be protected and preserved.

That would mean people at risk of Type 1 diabetes might one day need to take less insulin, and perhaps see a future where no one would ever face daily injections to stay alive."

The research was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Originally posted here:
Immune systems of type 1 diabetics can be 'retrained' to stop destroying insulin, scientists show - Telegraph.co.uk

When you look at health news right now, it feels like every other headline is either a warning about the next rare disease or a tale about how flourishing gut bacteria is the secret to happiness. So should we all embrace the world's dirt, walking around barefoot in the mud, or live in spacesuits with a bottle of bleach at the ready? The very fact that we still use the word germs to describe bacteria, viruses, parasites, and whatever just attached itself to your shoe in the airport bathroom is probably one source of our collective confusion. We went in search of the answers to these seemingly conflicting reports about pathogens.

In utero, babies have rather weak, incomplete immune systems. This is probably so they can peacefully coexist with their mothers' bodies but also because in the womb, they have little exposure to bacteria. The good gut microbiotaa.k.a. the reason everyone pretends to like kombuchafirst comes from the birth canal and then everything babies are exposed to afterward. Their memory T-cells (the white blood cells that kill antigens) are also a blank slate until they've had something to fight and "learn" from.

"From the moment babies are born, they interact with the environment and come into contact with all kinds of germs," says William Shaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. "We live in a very germy world. This interaction with the germy world actually results in protection of children against all kinds of infections."

There's also evidence that exposure to microbes prevents children from developing allergies. You may have heard of the study in Sweden that indicates kids whose parents immediately sanitized dropped pacifiers were more likely to have asthma, eczema, and allergies than the children whose parents licked the pacifiers clean. (Were just going to assume the parents who sucked on that dirt are doing well too.)

A few unsettling facts: While some bacteria are part of our immune system, there are, of course, plenty of others that are deadlyand becoming deadlier as they grow resistant to antibiotics. According to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (commissioned by the U.K. Department of Health), at least 700,000 people across the world die each year of bacterial infections, malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS as a direct result of drug-resistant bacteria. The WHO says that 480,000 people in the world develop drug-resistant TB each year.

While not usually fatal, the norovirus (that nasty bug we usually call the stomach flu) is so highly contagious, it takes just 18 viral particles to make one person ill, and the virus lives on in an infected person's stool for two weeks. Herpes simplex type-1 (oral herpes) can be passed to a child simply by pinching her cheek. Also, 20 percent of sexually active adults have herpes simplex type-2.

In July, a 3-week-old baby made headlines when she tragically died from complications of viral meningitis after contracting herpes, probably from someone who kissed her when she was a week old at her parents' wedding.

"What I will say about viral meningitis in infants is that this issue is now super, super rare," Shaffner says. "A much more common cause of serious disease in children that can actually kill them is influenza."

In the United States, influenza and pneumonia are one of the leading causes of death (ranking eighth overall in 2014).

"The recommendation is to give every child an influenza vaccine," Shaffner says. "It will provideif not completecertainly partial protection. Also, moms and dads should be comforted that the lights are on in the research laboratories at night. People keep working to develop a better flu vaccine and other mechanisms of protection for our children." In case you've forgotten, vaccines are good for us all.

"You don't have to spray every computer keyboard with disinfectant, which will ruin it anyway," Shaffner says. "And you don't have to worry about picking up a phone or a dollar bill. You're not going to get killed from that. A few years ago, one of the most common questions I got was, 'What can you pick up from a public toilet seat?' The answer is nothing. That's not a risk. If it were, we wouldn't have public toilets."

Even though places like public restrooms are basically petri dishes for bacteria and viruses, in most cases, all you have to do is wash your hands to be rid of them.

Though they seem ridiculously obvious, think twice the next time you want to laugh at the handwashing instructions you see at restaurants and medical offices. They save lives. The official recommendation from the CDC is to wet your hands first; lather them up with regular (nonantibacterial) soap, being sure to get under fingernails and between fingers, for the time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice; rinse; and dry.

The FDA denounced antibacterial soap as useless at best and, at worst, potentially responsible for making bacteria more drug resistant. Hand sanitizer, however, is still your second-best friend after soap and water. It doesn't get rid of dirt or kill all germsnorovirus, for example, may stick aroundbut it's better than nothing when you aren't near a sink.

"My wife always has a small bottle of hand hygiene liquid in her purse; I have one in the glove compartment of my car," Shaffner says. "And then my wife has a simple rule in our house: You walk in the front door, hang up your coat and then go directly to the sink and wash your hands. Simple rules like that really are the great protection."

So unzip your bubble and the next time you read scary health news, just remember the lyrics to Happy Birthday.

Sabrina Rojas Weiss lives in Brooklyn, surrounded by her fellow freelance writers and competitive stroller-pushers. Her work has appeared on Refinery29, Yahoo, MTV News, and Glamour.com. Follow her on Twitter @shalapitcher.

Original post:
So What Exactly Is the Deal With Germs and Your Immune System? - Greatist

The white blood cells known as T cells regulate our bodys response to foreign substances our adaptive immune response. In a new study, Yale scientists have learned how changes in a recently discovered RNA epigenetic marker regulate T cells and the immune response. Their finding could lead to new approaches to treating autoimmune diseases.

The Yale-led research team focused on an important genetic marker, m6A, which modifies RNA. Prior to this study, it was known that m6A affected RNA and stem cells, but its role in biology was not understood. To investigate, the researchers deleted one of the genes that produce m6A in T cells, and tested m6A-deficient mice using various mice disease models.

The researchers found that the m6A-deficient T cells lost the ability to differentiate, or further develop into specialized immune cells; thus the cells were unable to cause autoimmune disease. The authors further revealed detailed molecular pathways that undermine T cell differentiation, which could have a profound impact on the research field, they said.

The finding provides new insight into this genetic markers role in development and human health. It also points to the potential for developing drugs to target m6A to alleviate autoimmune diseases, said first author and immunobiologist Huabing Li.

The research was led by Sterling Professor of Immunobiology, Richard Flavell, and is an international collaboration including researchers from China (Zhinan Yin, Jiyu Tong), Stanford University (Howard Y. Chang, Pedro Batista), and Yale (Matthew D. Simon, Erin Duffy, Yuval Kluger, Jun Zhao, Shu Zhu, Will Baillis, Lina Kroehling).

Read the full paper in Nature.

Read more from the original source:
Study describes key RNA epigenetic marker's role in immune ... - Yale News

It may have something to do with the hygiene hypothesis, say experts at the Cleveland Clinic. That means that effects of such parasitic worm infections might actually protect your gut.

Goj and his team settled on the pig whipworm for their product, since the parasite cant survive for long in humansand there was no evidence of them being able to reproduce in our guts. So theyre unlikely to cause any of the downsides associated with other worms.

There's actually some evidence to back this up. In fact, a small 2004 study in Gut of 29 people with active Crohns diseasea type of inflammatory bowel conditionfound that ingesting pig whipworm eggs every three weeks for 24 weeks decreased their symptom severity. The researchers say it shows that the worms can hamper inflammation in your intestines, and suggest they may be beneficial for other immune conditions as well.

But according to New Scientist, Gojs larger, placebo-controlled study on whipworms was stopped early, because a monitoring committee failed to see beneficial results within three months.

Still, his products have already been approved for sale in Thailand, and they're currently pending approval in Germany. Since its only awaiting approval as a food ingredient and not a medical drug, its creators dont have to prove that it works for those immune conditionsonly that its safe for people to take.

Even though they may be approved as a food product, that definitely doesnt mean you should start self-medicating with worms yourself.

Self-medication with any type of worm is not recommended and it is important to remember theyre not in any way completely harmless, and may cause quite severe side effects if not monitored very carefully by a doctor, Helena Helmby, Ph.D., of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine told New Scientist.

More research is needed to test how worm eggs may function as treatment for other immune-related conditions. In the meantime, try these 9 foods that will boost your immune system instead. (For more health news, sign up for our Daily Dose newsletter.)

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Would You Eat Parasitic Worm Eggs To Improve Your Health? - Men's Health

Orphan Black, the Canadian science fiction show that revolves around human cloning, will end on Saturday, August 12th after five darkly funny, gory seasons. The show began with a former British street urchin, Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany), watching as someone with her exact facial features commits suicide by jumping in front of a train. From there, the show unravels to be about large biotech corporations, conspiracies, and above all, morally questionable science.

Spoilers ahead for all of Orphan Black except the finale.

Science classes teach students early on that human experimentation is ethically wrong if the subjects dont know theyre being experimented on, or exactly what the experiment entails. Orphan Black explores this taboo by giving us villains that love experimenting on unwilling or unwitting people. From installing a secret camera in a womans artificial eye to harvesting the eggs of an eight-year-old girl, the corporate forces on the show are unapologetically sinister and indifferent to basic scientific ethics. The show is both a celebration of science and a reminder that its frightening when used to the wrong ends.

With the end of Orphan Black imminent, were looking at the real world for our fix of real science straddling the world of science fiction. Since the show began airing in 2013, have we gotten any closer to the future of extreme body modifications and human cloning that Orphan Black has so often teased? I spoke with Paul Knoepfler, a biology professor at UC Davis, and John Quackenbush, professor of biostatistics and computational biology at Harvard and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to see how far away we are from some of the shows most outrageous inventions.

GROWING A TAIL

Early in the shows run, Olivier, a body-modification fan whos one of the antagonists overseeing a human cloning project, shows off the pink tail hes grown. Sarah is understandably disgusted. But such body modifications could exist, as humans are already naturally born with primordial tails, Knoepfler says. All youd need to do is stop the pre-programmed cell death of those tail cells, maybe by giving a pregnant woman a drug, Knoepfler says. The most challenging part of getting a functional tail would be finding a way to extend the length of the spine, according to Quackenbush. And even if a tail was successfully constructed, there are more unknowns, says Knoepfler, like what part of the brain would control it, or whether the tail would trip you as youre walking. Granted, that isnt a problem if its this short:

I SPY WITH MY BIONIC EYE

At the end of season 2, Rachel Duncan, a clone whos grown up under the care of large corporations, is stabbed in the eye. She receives an artificial replacement, and after many months, she regains complete sight. Ultimately, though, she decides to tear out her eye, because she learns the man responsible for commissioning it also had a camera installed inside it to spy on her. This leads to a truly creepy cinematic moment where Rachel sneaks into the mans office, looks down at his mysterious tablet, and discovers a live stream of what her eye sees: a screen within a screen within a screen, ad infinitum. I watched you touch yourself in the shower where you think its clean, the man says gleefully in a following episode.

Putting the shows sinister ingenuity aside for a moment, Rachels bionic eye spy-cam and all may be possible, Knoepfler and Quackenbush say. Bionic eyes already exist, but the main challenge is connecting an artificial eye with the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain. That nerve probably would have been damaged during Rachels initial injury. Creating a bionic eye poses an additional challenge, as the eye must mimic nature and be able to send and receive the right kinds of signals to be read by the brain, says Quackenbush. But if the eye and optic nerve could be reconnected, the eye could potentially be powered by a battery, and making a camera small enough to fit inside the eye is completely possible with todays current technology. Then Wi-Fi and Bluetooth would give the eye live-streaming capabilities.

POISONOUS BOT IMPLANT

In the penultimate season, Sarah discovers she has a bot implanted inside her cheek, which acts as a tracking device and contains a poison her enemies can release into her bloodstream. Micro-tracking implantations already exist in our world: just take the microchips that are often implanted in dogs and cats, Quackenbush says. The tracking device part of the bot also seems plausible: there are devices today that can draw on nearby Bluetooth devices as a network, Quackenbush says. And even storing a toxin inside the bot isnt just science fiction, given the steady infusion of insulin or other drugs that devices already offer humans today. The problem, however, is the bots power supply: it would have to be significant enough to potentially sustain the bot throughout a human lifetime and no such batteries exist yet.

AND OF COURSE, CLONING

We already have clones; theyre identical twins, says Quackenbush. But there are other, less random methods for achieving human cloning. One way is how Dolly the sheep was cloned, by taking the part of the egg cell that contains genetic information and replacing it with a donors cell nucleus. The egg is then fertilized and grown into a clone. But using this method, called somatic cell nuclear transfer, on humans could be extremely unsafe, because the clone could have serious developmental disorders, Knoepfler says.

Quackenbush imagines another method to approach human cloning: reversing cell aging. Basically, adult stem cells could be reverted into their original state as stem cells, when they possessed the genetic potential to divide and become the heart, liver, skin, and other organs. An embryo, in many ways, is the ultimate stem cell, says Quackenbush. But this method hasnt been tried before.

Orphan Blacks science consultant, Cosima Herter, believes that cloning humans is illegal in North America. Were not allowed to hear about it, because were not allowed to do it, she wrote in a blog post for the show in 2013. This isnt quite right no federal laws, at least in the US, ban human cloning. The US Food and Drug Administration is the regulator that matters for research into cloning humans.

With the end of Orphan Black comes the end of a decently plausible science fiction series. Its given us hints of what the future might have in store. It could even inspire the science to come. I think [science fiction] is part of what got us into this business in the first place, Quakenbush says of himself, and others in the science community, You see the future and you want to try to invent it.

More here:
Orphan Black is ending, but how far has human cloning come? - The Verge

Stocks discussed on the Lightning Round segment of Jim Cramer's Mad Money Program, Monday, August 7.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM): "No, don't sell it. I think they have a lot more optionality. I would not sell that here. And remember, I think the dollar's getting very weak still."

Blue Apron (NYSE:APRN): Cramer doesn't see upside.

International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT): It's an inexpensive stock but does not have a growth catalyst.

Eaton Corp (NYSE:ETN): Their quarter was not good. Cramer prefers Honeywell (NYSE:HON) or 3M (NYSE:MMM).

DaVita (NYSE:DVA): No. Cramer prefers Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) in that group.

Puma Biotechnology (NYSE:PBYI): It has had a big run. Book profits.

Masimo Corp (NASDAQ:MASI): Cramer just prefers Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) in that group.

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Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS: Check out Cramer's multi-million dollar charitable trust portfolio and uncover the stocks he thinks could be HUGE winners. Start your FREE 14-day trial now!

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Book Profits On Puma Biotechnology - Cramer's Lightning Round (8/7/17) - Seeking Alpha

Two entities that seem like they should be on the same page a coalition of environmental groups and a plant-based food company are at odds.

And the flash point is a veggie burger.

Impossible Foods is facing scrutiny about the safety of a key ingredient in its trademark Impossible Burger, commonly known as the veggie burger that bleeds.

The controversy arose when theNew York Timespublished an article highlightingcorrespondencebetween the FDA and Impossible Foods that environmental groups say indicates that the protein had not met the agencys approval before going to market about a year ago.

Currently our FDA, EPA and USDA regulations are falling behind the very quickly moving development of new technologies, and one of the ways that our regulatory agencies are falling behind is they are not assessing the process of genetically engineering these ingredients, said Dana Perls of Friends of the Earth, one of the groups that raised concerns about Impossible Foods safety testing.

[Read the GLPs profile on Friends of the Earth.]

[The companys CEO and founder, Patrick Brown] said the groups objections are more about the use of biotechnology than the product itself.

The vast majority of their effort is an antiscience, anti-GMO crusade, Brown said. Their strategy has tended to be to try to effectively take down any company that is using biotechnology by whatever means they can come up with.

[Editors note: Below is a letter by Impossible Burger CEO and founder Patrick Brown, republished in full with permission from the company.]

The New York Times published an Aug. 8 article falsely implying that Impossible Foods is trying to evade US Food and Drug Administration regulations and putting consumers at risk by selling a product (the Impossible Burger) containing soy leghemoglobin. The article was chock full of factual errors and misrepresentations and was instigated by an extremist anti-science group with the deliberate intention of damaging our reputation.

Heres the truth:

The greatest threat the world faces today is the enormously destructive impact that our use of animals as a food technology has on climate, water, wildlife and biodiversity, global food security and political stability. Although little known to the public and almost completely ignored by the news media, this threat is well recognized by environmental and climate scientists and organizations including the UN Environmental Program, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, among many others. The problem is not going to be solved by asking that people give up, or even reduce, consumption of the animal-derived foods they love; the demand for meat, fish and dairy foods is growing even faster than the human population. Nothing is more important to the planet our children and future generations will inherit, or their quality of life, than finding a solution to this dilemma.

Thats why I founded Impossible Foods. Our singular mission is to enable the world to continue to enjoy the foods they love and increasingly demand, without catastrophic damage to the environment. Our strategy was simple: invent a better way to transform plants into delicious, nutritious, safe and affordable meat, fish and dairy foods that consumers love. Then let consumers choose. If we do our job right, the market will take care of the rest. Commitment to the health, nutrition and safety of our customers is an inseparable part of our mission; its at the heart of why we exist, embedded in our ethos and everything we do.

With support from investors who understand and believe in our mission, we built a team of scientists who have worked tirelessly on this problem, understanding meat what underlies its flavor, texture and all its physical properties far better than it was ever understood. One of many discoveries they made, perhaps the most important, is that a molecule called heme is what makes meat taste like meat. Without heme, you cant make meat that will satisfy the billions of people who love meat.

Heme is an iron-containing molecule thats essential for life on Earth. Its found in every living organism. Its the magic molecule that enables the cells in our bodies and in every living being on Earth to benefit from the oxygen in our atmosphere. Its the molecule that carries oxygen in our blood, makes our blood red and our lips pink. Because its in every plant and animal, humans have been eating heme every day since the first human walked on Earth. The reason that animal tissues (meat) tastes like meat and unlike any vegetable, is that animal tissues contain hundreds to thousands-fold more heme than plant tissues.

To accomplish our essential mission, we needed to find a safe way to produce heme without using animals. We used yeast cells, into which we introduced a plant gene encoding a protein called soy leghemoglobin thats naturally found in the roots of soy plants. The heme in the Impossible Burger is atom-for-atom identical to the heme found in meat, fish, plants and other foods. Soy leghemoglobin carries the heme molecule in the same way a very similar protein, myoglobin, carries heme in muscle tissue (meat). Myoglobin is just one of the thousands of different heme proteins we all consume safely in our diets every day.

The health and safety of our customers is our first priority. The foods in our diet and the molecules and ingredients they contain are by default presumed to be safe, but only a minuscule fraction have ever been scientifically tested for their safety. Although there was never a reason to suspect that soy leghemoglobin would pose any more risk than myoglobin, or any of the new proteins we encounter in our diet all the time, we started four years ago to do a deep scientific study of its safety, including any potential for toxicity or allergenicity. The data we collected and our analyses were documented and reviewed by three independent food-safety experts in toxicology, allergenicity and yeast. In 2014, this expert panel unanimously concluded based on all the evidence that the protein is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for human consumption. This is the approach followed by thousands of food companies to meet the FDA requirement that foods be generally recognized as safe. But we did more.

There is no legal or regulatory requirement that a companys finding of GRAS be submitted to the FDA for review. And its frequently not done. In fact, a total of only 709 have been submitted since the GRAS Notification system was put in place almost 20 years ago in 1998. But we did it because we recognize and respect the value of the FDA as guardian of the safety of the American food supply, one of the safest in the world.

We wanted the FDA to review our GRAS determination, to have the added benefit of their expertise, and to assure consumers that our testing of leghemoglobin has passed the most rigorous scrutiny. After submitting our GRAS determination, the FDA reviewed it, and had some questions. To address them, we conducted additional tests. And the tests turned out just as we expected: no adverse effects in rats consuming leghemoglobin every day for a month at levels more than 200 times what an average American would consume if all the ground beef in their diet were the Impossible Burger, and very low risk of allergenicity. A panel of the worlds leading experts in food safety and allergenicity has reviewed the new data, as well as the data originally submitted.

The expert panel has again unanimously concluded that soy leghemoglobin is safe; it is GRAS.

Impossible Foods has always worked constructively with the FDA, whose role as guardian of food safety for the nation we deeply respect. We will be submitting the additional data, along with the expert panels analysis of it, to the FDA this month. And FDA will make Impossible Foodss submission hundreds of pages of safety and allergenicity test results and the expert analysis of those results publicly available on its web site soon thereafter. In addition, in an abundance of caution, we clearly label our product as containing potential allergens: wheat and soy also in compliance with federal regulations. Finally, restaurants where the Impossible Burger is sold also comply with federal regulations about labeling.

Impossible Foods is proud of the safety of its first product, the Impossible Burger, and is committed to the health and safety of our customers. Thats why weve gone far beyond merely complying with food safety regulations, and we always will. I am confident in saying that the Impossible Burger is the safest and most thoroughly safety-tested burger in history. In striking contrast, the alternative, animal-derived burger is one of the least safe and most inadequately tested foods on the market.

And were committed to solving the most urgent threat the world faces today: the use of animals in the food system. Since the small-scale launch of the Impossible Burger, with just 50,000 lbs sold to date (10 billion lbs of ground beef were sold in the same time period), and working with our great restaurant partners, the Impossible Burger has already had an outsized impact: weve had an overwhelmingly positive response from consumers, and weve reduced greenhouse gases emissions by the equivalent of removing 246 American cars from the road for a year, reduced the land footprint of meat production by an area half the size of New Yorks Central Park, saved as much fresh water as 50,000 average Americans drink in a year, and saved more than 100 cows from slaughter. We cant solve this problem unless people love our burger.

Impossible Foods intends to be the most open and transparent company in the world. We welcome every opportunity to answer questions from the public and media, and share our answers on our social media channels. Before deciding how you feel about Impossible Foods or the Impossible Burger, read our story and then decide for yourself.

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Impossible Burger blowback: Will irrational fears of biotechnology block introduction of sustainable foods? - Genetic Literacy Project

August 11, 2017 - By Linda Rogers

Aug 11 is a positive day so far for BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials (NASDAQ:BBC) as the ETF is active during the day after gaining 1.42% to hit $23.65 per share. The exchange traded fund has 23.44 million net assets and 2.75% volatility this month.

Over the course of the day 619 shares traded hands, as compared to an average volume of 11,600 over the last 30 days for BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials (NASDAQ:BBC).

The ETF is -32.38% of its 52-Week High and 35.06% of its low, and is currently having ATR of 0.74. This years performance is -25.34% while this quarters performance is 2.78%.

The ETFs YTD performance is 0%, the 1 year is 0% and the 3 year is 0%.

More notable recent BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials Fund (NASDAQ:BBC) news were published by: Marketwatch.com which released: BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials Fund on December 16, 2014, also Etfdailynews.com with their article: This Tiny Early-Stage Biotech ETF Was Q1s Best Performing Fund published on March 31, 2017, Globenewswire.com published: BioShares Biotechnology ETFs Complete Semi-Annual Rebalance and Recomposition on June 16, 2017. More interesting news about BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials Fund (NASDAQ:BBC) were released by: Forbes.com and their article: A More Viable Way To Invest In Top-Performing Biotech Stocks published on August 12, 2015 as well as Etftrends.coms news article titled: Silver Lining for Biotechnology ETFs After Pfizer Calls off Allergan Deal with publication date: April 06, 2016.

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BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials (BBC) Rises 1.42% for Aug 11 - BZ Weekly

Researchers from the University of Chicago have successfully completed a proof-of-concept studywhere they managed to treat obesity in mice using a new type of gene therapy that utilized skin transplants. Human skin transplantation is a well-established clinical approach that has been used for the treatment of burns. However, using it as a vehicle to deliver genetic treatments for non-skin diseases could be revolutionary.

There are several reasons why skin stem cell therapy can be applicable to a broad type of diseases. The skin is the largest human organ, providing an easy access to cells needed for genetic treatments. The skin enables easy monitoring for potential off-target mutations resulting from the CRISPR intervention, as well as easy removal of such mutations, should they occur. Most importantly, proteins that are secreted by epidermal cells can reach the blood circulation and achieve desired therapeutic effects for the entire body.

In the study published this month, titledEngineered Epidermal Progenitor Cells Can Correct Diet-Induced Obesity and Diabetes,the scientists genetically engineered skin cells to be able to deliver GLP1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) - a hormone which regulates blood glucose. Then they developed a surgical procedure which allowed them to successfully engraft the new skin onto a mouse host. Finally, the genetically modified cells had a mechanism for releasing GLP1, which was regulated by a small amount of antibiotic that was fed to the mice. The treated group of obese mice significantly reduced their body weight and insulin resistance, compared to the control group.

Xiaoyang Wu, one of the authors of the study, says in an interview for ResearchGate:

We established a novel mouse to mouse skin transplantation system to test skin gene therapy. [] Our proof-of-concept work demonstrated its possible to use engineered skin grafts to treat many non-skin diseases. Clinical translation of our findings will be relatively easy, as skin transplantation in human patients has been well established and clinically used for treatment of burn wounds for many years.

Skin grafts are an exciting new avenue to explore for genetic treatments of diseases. They are relatively inexpensive compared to other types of gene therapy, the procedure is minimally invasive, and it has already been tested and proven safe.

See the rest here:
A Novel Form of Gene Therapy Can Treat Diabetes With Genetically Modified Skin Transplants - Big Think

Regenxbio has joined forces with investment firm OrbiMed and a new nonprofit foundation to create Prevail Therapeutics, a startup focused on new biologics and gene therapiesfor Parkinson's disease (PD).

Prevail will draw on the expertise of the Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson's with GBA, which concentrates on a particular form of the disease caused by mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene.

The foundation was set up this year by OrbiMed's co-head of private equity Jonathan Silverstein, who was diagnosed with GBA-linked PD in February and is mobilizing efforts to discover a cure for the disease. Silverstein backed the foundation with $10 million of his own money, and is intent on accelerating research into PD with GBA as well as other forms of the disease.

Prevail says it will focus initially on research coming out of the lab of its co-founder and CEO Asa Abeliovich, M.D., Ph.D., who is on the faculty of Columbia University as well as being a scientific adviser to the Silverstein Foundation and co-founder of neurodegenerative disease biotech Alector.

By joining forces with Regenxbio, Prevail launches with an exclusive license to the gene therapy specialist's adeno-associated virus (AAV) based vector technology NAV AAV9 for PD and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Silverstein said that the NAV platform and Dr. Abeliovich's "deep expertise in the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration provides us with a promising opportunity to develop potential life-changing therapies for patients suffering from Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases."

He told CNBC today that Prevail's board will also have some big names, including Leonard Bell, co-founder and former CEO of Alexion, OrbiMed venture partner and Alexion co-founder Steve Squinto and serial entrepreneur Peter Thompson of Silverback Therapeutics and Corvus Pharmaceuticals.

The new company will initially focus on GBA1, the most common of the PD mutations, which is estimated to be present in up to 10% of U.S. PD patients and perhaps 100,000 people worldwide. The disease mechanism linked to the mutationan accumulation of alpha-synuclein in the brainmay have implications for the broader PD population and other neurodegenerative diseases.

"Many of the drugs we are trying for Parkinson's with GBA may work in the broader Parkinson's population," said Silverstein. The aim will be to get drugs approved for use in GBA patients first, and then expand their use into other patient groups.

The work of the foundation is attracting investment from companies who are not even active in PD, with cancer specialist Celgene today pledging a grant of $5 million.

See original here:
Silverstein-backed startup will test gene therapy for Parkinson's - FierceBiotech

Pfizer is moving forward with plans to invest in a new clinical and commercial gene therapy manufacturing facility in Sanford, NC, but the work is still in the preliminary stages, said the company. A $100-million investment in the Sanford facilities is expected to create 40 jobs, according to a press release from the North Carolina governors office.

The facility will build upon a technology first developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gene therapy focuses on highly specialized, one-time treatments that address the root cause of diseases caused by genetic mutation. The technology involves introducing genetic material into the body to deliver a correct copy of a gene to a patients cells to compensate for a defective or missing gene.

Gene therapy is an important area of focus for Pfizer. In 2016, the company acquired Bamboo Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company based in Chapel Hill focused on developing gene therapies for the potential treatment of patients with certain rare diseases related to neuromuscular conditions and those affecting the central nervous system. Pfizer also committed $4 million to support postdoctoral fellowships in North Carolina universities for training in gene therapy research, according to the press release.

A performance-based grant of $250,000 from the One North Carolina (NC) Fund will help facilitate Pfizers expansion. The One NC grant will formally be awarded to Wyeth Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer. The One NC Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs. Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All One NC grants require a matching grant from local governments and any award is contingent upon that condition being met.

Source: Pfizer, NC Governors Office

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Pfizer Plans Gene Therapy Manufacturing Investment in North ... - Pharmaceutical Technology Magazine