May 11 (Infostrada Sports) - Leading second round scoresfrom the Madeira Islands Open at the par-72 course in Santo da Serra on Friday. ...
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Monthly Archives: May 2012
Golf-Madeira Islands Open third round scores
May 12 (Infostrada Sports) - Leading third-round scores fromthe Madeira Islands Open at the par-72 course on Saturday inSanto da Serra 199 Carlos Del Moral (Spain) 69 67 63 202 Joakim Lagergren (Sweden) 66 66 70 203 Mikael Lundberg (Sweden) 69 70 64 Ricardo Santos (Portugal) 68 67 68 Magnus Carlsson (Sweden) 66 66 71 Oliver Wilson (Britain) 66 65 72 204 Andreas Harto (Denmark) 67 71 66 Richard ...
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England's Oliver Wilson leads Madeira Islands Open
SANTO DA SERRA, Madeira Islands (AP) Oliver Wilson of England shot a 7-under 65 Friday to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Madeira Islands Open.
He has nine second-place finishes on the European Tour but has yet to win. He lost his main tour card at the end of last year
Wilson is at 13-under 131 on the mountainous Santa da Serra course. Tied for second are Sweden's Magnus Carlsson (66) and 19-year old Joakim Lagergren (66) and England's Andy Sullivan (64).
The tournament is being played on a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles west of Morocco.
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Ancient Diseases of Human Ancestors
Ive written before about ancient diseases of the ice age, but this time Im going even further back in time, to diseases that were present in the first human-like hominids. Although many human infections only developed after human settlements and animal domistication, early human ancestors would still have been fighting off bacteria and other nasty diseases. Some of these diseases are still around today.
So how do you start exploring the age of bacteria, and trying to discover when they developed as a human-infecting species? One way to look for the age and relatedness of strains is by looking at the bacterial DNA and examining the rate of mutations that cause very small differences between bacterial strains (single nucleotide polymorphism shown in the image below). It is also possible to identify pseudogenes within the bacteria little bits of viral DNA or bacterial genes that became redundant due to a change in the bacterial lifestyle (for example genes for extracellular lifestyle that started decaying and mutating once the bacteria became fully intracellular). These can be dated using the molecular clock which assumes a steady rate of background mutation and can provide approximations of the age of genes.
Image by David Hall (Gringer). Created using Inkscape v0.45.1. Taken from wikimedia commons, credit link above.
The disease leprosy, caused by Mycobacteria leprae, has recently undergone this analysis and raised some interesting questions about its origins and spread. Although first recorded in humans around 600BC in India, the molecular evidence point to it being far older, possibly originating in Africa during thePaleolithic period. The lack of genetic variation between leprosy strains also points to a genetic bottleneck in the past. This is likely to have been caused by the bacterias low rate of infection. Despite the huge amount of social stigma associated with it leprosy is not highly infectious and could easily have been almost completely lost among early human societies.
Another bacteria to have gone through the genetic analysis is Bordetella pertussis, the bacteria responsible for whooping cough. Originally thought to have passed to humans via a similar species found in domestic animals, the molecular evidence once again suggests that it has been around since before animals were first domesticated. Instead it may have evolved from the bacteria B. bronchiseptica which was present around 2.5 million years ago with a preference for infecting hominids. This makes a rather neat little story of a bacteria adapting to fit the changing hominids as they became human and evolving specifically to fit the human niche (image below by Nathan Reading)
A rather beautiful picture of B. pertussis colonies growing on agar supplemented with charcoal (to provide extra carbon)
Although this research produces some exciting outcomes, it shouldnt be taken as the last word on bacterial origins as it does sometimes come up with some questionable results. Trying to combine SNP analysis results with the molecular clock dating of pseudogenes creates some interesting paradoxes, such as pseudogenes within M. leprae that arose over 9 billion years ago, when modern humans have only existed since approximately250,000 years ago! What is clear however is that not all diseases can be blamed on cities and animal domestication, and that some bacteria were infecting humans back when Homo sapiens was still an exciting new species to be. Deeper genome sequencing analysis andfurtherwork on dating the pseudogenes could give a fascinating look into the development of human diseases from the times of ourearliestancestors.
Ref 1: Trueba G, & Dunthorn M (2012). Many neglected tropical diseases may have originated in the Paleolithic or before: new insights from genetics. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 6 (3) PMID: 22479653
Ref 2: Monot, M., Honor, N., Garnier, T., Zidane, N., Sherafi, D., Paniz-Mondolfi, A., Matsuoka, M., Taylor, G., Donoghue, H., Bouwman, A., Mays, S., Watson, C., Lockwood, D., Khamispour, A., Dowlati, Y., Jianping, S., Rea, T., Vera-Cabrera, L., Stefani, M., Banu, S., Macdonald, M., Sapkota, B., Spencer, J., Thomas, J., Harshman, K., Singh, P., Busso, P., Gattiker, A., Rougemont, J., Brennan, P., & Cole, S. (2009). Comparative genomic and phylogeographic analysis of Mycobacterium leprae Nature Genetics, 41 (12), 1282-1289 DOI: 10.1038/ng.477
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Genes may influence body's bacteria
Certain DNA variants associated with microbial types
Web edition : Friday, May 11th, 2012
COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. Microbes arent completely the boss of their human hosts. Peoples genes may have a say in which microbes come to live in and on the human body, a new study suggests.
Recent research has shown that the mix of microbes living in and on the human body is associated with some diseases. But exactly what determines which microbes settle a particular human host has been a mystery. Diet and geography are partially responsible, but the part human genetics plays in determining the microbial mix on the body has been unclear.
We know there is a genetic component, says Ran Blekhman, a geneticist at Cornell University. Were just not sure how big it is.
To find out, Blekhman and his colleagues turned to data collected by the Human Microbiome Project, an effort to genetically catalog the microbes living in and on the human body. Though the project looks for bacterial DNA in swabs of skin, mouths, feces and other sources, some human genetic material is shed in the samples too. The researchers combed the bacterial DNA data for traces of human DNA contamination, and found enough to reconstruct genetic profiles of 100 people.
Comparing the human and bacterial data revealed 51 different human genetic variants that are associated with the relative abundance of certain bacteria living in or on 15 body sites. Some of those genetic variants and the microbes they were associated with have also been linked to diseases. People with a genetic variant near the PCSK2 gene, which is involved in producing insulin, have more Bacteroides bacteria in their intestines, Blekhman reported May 9 at the Biology of Genomes meeting. That same genetic variant has been linked to type 2 diabetes. So has an overabundance of Bacteroides.
People who have a version of the CXCL12 gene previously associated with inflammatory diseases also carry more Granulicatella bacteria on their skin. Those bacteria have previously been linked to skin inflammation.
The findings present a chicken-versus-egg problem, Blekhman says. Still undetermined is if the bacteria are triggering disease in people who carry certain genetic variants, or if the diseases caused by genetic variants lead to more growth of some types of bacteria.
Doctors might be able to use bacterial mixes as markers that patients are at risk of getting certain diseases, says Benjamin Voight, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania. But first the researchers will need to establish a convincing statistical argument that genes, diseases and microbes are linked. There are arrows pointing in the right direction, Voight says. Its an interesting observation.
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Health-care costs for retirees up 4 percent from 2011
Couples retiring this year can expect their medical bills throughout retirement to cost 4 percent more than those who retired a year ago, according to an annual projection released Wednesday by Fidelity Investments.
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American Legion will host veterans' health care event
Military veterans can discuss their medical care in a town hall meeting Tuesday hosted by the American Legion.
The meeting will focus on the overall quality of health care that veterans receive at the Memphis Veterans Medical Center.
Men and women who receive health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs are invited to share their experiences at the open forum.
American Legion representatives will also visit the VA hospital to talk with patients, staff and administrators to determine ways to improve the patients' experiences.
"We visit these sites all across the country every year to evaluate the quality of health care our veterans are receiving," said Jacob Gadd, deputy director for health care for the Legion.
The town hall meeting and hospital visit are part of the Legion's "System Worth Saving" program. A task force of representatives from the organization makes about 50 visits annually to veterans centers nationwide.
"Overall, the feedback has been good. Veterans are quite happy with the level of care they are receiving," said Warren Goldstein, a field service representative in the site visits.
The task force compiles semiannual reports based on findings and submits them to the White House, Congress and VA leaders.
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Tampa area hospitals look to suburbs for growth
By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune Published: May 13, 2012 Updated: May 13, 2012 - 12:00 AM
The real battleground in Tampa area health care lies far from the city's limits.
During the next three years, eastern and southern Hillsborough County residents will witness the arrival of a new hospital and several hospital-owned medical practices, such as a Tampa General Hospital office opened this month in Brandon.
It coincides with similar growth in Northeast Hillsborough and Pasco counties.
Leaders from the area's major health care systems say these geographic moves are essential to their long-term growth, which for years has heavily marketed hospital technology and specialized services.
"In this day and age, you need to be where your patients are, and not the other way around," said Isaac Mallah, chief executive officer of BayCare's St. Joseph's Hospitals, including St. Joseph's Hospital South Hospital and medical offices slated to break ground this fall.
Today, many in the hospital industry believe the best way to attract new customers is to provide primary-care services in traditionally underserved areas. That means hiring doctors to work in these communities, as opposed to hiring physicians to practice only on the hospital campus.
There's great value in building relationships between patients and community-based family doctors who work for the hospital, said Jana Gardner, vice president of ambulatory services at Tampa General.
"We want to make sure people have access to our specialty care (at the hospital). And that all starts with a family physician," said Gardner, who oversees the new Brandon practice that eventually will house five staff physicians.
This approach is somewhat new for Tampa General, best known for its downtown trauma center, burn unit and organ-transplant program. Instead of contracting with community-based doctors under so-called affiliation agreements, Tampa General has brought a dozen family physicians onto its payroll.
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Slippery-Slope Logic vs. Health Care Law – Economic View
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Memphis residents may foot bill for rise in city health care costs
MEMPHIS, TN -
(WMC-TV) - Memphis city employees can expect a sharp rise in health care costs next year.
At the same time, citizens will foot the bill for millions of dollars that were not collected from those city employees this year.
"Like a lot of private businesses, health care costs are going up," said Memphis City CAO, George Little.
But until now, Memphis city employees have notbeen a part of that rise in costs.
"There will be increases," said Little. "The question is how much and when."
Saturday, the city administration announced in a budget hearing that health care costs for city employees could increase up to 12 percent in 2013.
"In addition to that, the Health Care Reform Act that Congress passed could increase costs," said Memphis City Councilman, Jim Strickland.
In the current budget year, the city delayed an increase in health care payments. Leaving a three million dollar shortfall in the 2013 budget.
"Some type of way, we have to find the money to make up that shortfall, said Memphis City Councilman, Harold Collins.
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Memphis residents may foot bill for rise in city health care costs
Health Net Announces Appearance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 Health Care Conference
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT - News) today announced that members of its management team are scheduled to present at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 Health Care Conference on May 15, 2012, at approximately 11:40a.m. Eastern time (8:40a.m. Pacific time).
A live webcast and replay of the presentation will be available at http://www.healthnet.com under Investor Relations. The webcast is open to all interested parties. The webcast should be accessed at least 15 minutes prior to its start time. Anyone listening to the webcast will be presumed to have read Health Nets Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2012, and other reports filed by the company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
About Health Net
Health Net, Inc. is a publicly traded managed care organization that delivers managed health care services through health plans and government-sponsored managed care plans. Its mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. Health Net, through its subsidiaries, provides and administers health benefits to approximately 5.6million individuals across the country through group, individual, Medicare (including the Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly referred to as Part D), Medicaid, U.S.Department of Defense, including TRICARE, and Veterans Affairs programs. Health Nets behavioral health services subsidiary, Managed Health Network, Inc., provides behavioral health, substance abuse and employee assistance programs to approximately 4.9million individuals, including Health Nets own health plan members. Health Nets subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.
For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit Health Nets website at http://www.healthnet.com.
Cautionary Statements
Health Net, Inc. and its representatives may from time to time make written and oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) of 1995, including statements in this and other press releases, in presentations, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), reports to stockholders and in meetings with investors and analysts. All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical information provided herein, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements and as such are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by PSLRA. These statements are based on managements analysis, judgment, belief and expectation only as of the date hereof, and are subject to changes in circumstances and a number of risks and uncertainties. Without limiting the foregoing, statements including the words believes, anticipates, plans, expects, may, should, could, estimate, intend, feels, will, projects and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by the forward-looking information and statements due to, among other things, health care reform and other increased government participation in and regulation of health benefits and managed care operations, including the ultimate impact of the Affordable Care Act, which could materially adversely affect Health Nets financial condition, results of operations and cash flows through, among other things, reduced revenues, new taxes, expanded liability, and increased costs (including medical, administrative, technology or other costs), or require changes to the ways in which HealthNet does business; rising health care costs; continued slow economic growth or a further decline in the economy; negative prior period claims reserve developments; trends in medical care ratios; membership declines; unexpected utilization patterns or unexpectedly severe or widespread illnesses; rate cuts and other risks and uncertainties affecting Health Nets Medicare or Medicaid businesses; Health Nets ability to successfully participate in the dual-eligibles pilot programs; litigation costs; regulatory issues with federal and state agencies including, but not limited to, the California Department of Managed Health Care, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and state departments of insurance; operational issues; failure to effectively oversee our third-party vendors; noncompliance by Health Net or Health Nets business associates with any privacy laws or any security breach involving the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information; any liabilities of the Northeast business that were incurred prior to the closing of its sale as well as those liabilities incurred through the winding-up and running-out period of the Northeast business; investment portfolio impairment charges; volatility in the financial markets; and general business and market conditions. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risks discussed in the Risk Factors section included within Health Nets most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, and the risks discussed in Health Nets other filings with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as may be required by law, Health Net undertakes no obligation to address or publicly update any of its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this release.
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Health Net Announces Appearance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 Health Care Conference
Asheville area seniors see long-term health care rates skyrocket
Recent Requests
Since Jan. 1, six companies have presented rate increases that the N.C. Department of Insurance found to be actuarially justified. These percentages are the overall change to the specific block of insureds of the subject filings. The actual percentage increase applicable to a specific insured can vary based on age. 1. Mutual of Omaha requested 32.6 percent, DOI approved 24 percent 2. Physicians Mutual received 10 percent requested 3. Physicians Mutual received 10 percent increase requested 4. RiverSource Life received 15 percent increase requested 5. Prudential Insurance received 32 percent increase requested 6. UNUM Life received 25 percent increase requested Source: N.C. Department of Insurance
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Asheville area seniors see long-term health care rates skyrocket
Advocate Health Care partners with Merge Healthcare to provide physicians instant access to cardiac imaging and …
Merge Healthcare, a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, has announced that Advocate Health Care, one of the nation’s top health care systems, will implement Merge’s complete cardiology solution suite to capture, manage and display cardiac images, and hemodynamics and ECG data across its enterprise of more than 250 care sites, including 10 acute-care hospitals ...
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Focus Groups Share Thoughts on Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Tests
May 11, 2012
Connie K. Ho for RedOrbit.com
Researchers at Loyola University Chicagos Stritch School of Medicine have found that patients see both benefits and risks from direct-to-consumer genetic tests. Dr. Katherine Wasson, a specialist on the ethics of direct-to-consumer genetic tests, and colleagues conducted the experiment. The study, published in the American Journal of Bioethics Primary Research, showed that the patients were concerned about the end game of the genetic test results.
There are a few companies, such as 23andMe, deCODE Genetics and Navigenics, that currently test consumers for single gene disorders like cystic fibrosis; complex disorders with multiple genes like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes; traits like hair color, eye color, and baldness; as well as allergies to drugs like Coumadin for a fee ranging from $100 to $1,500. Normally, consumers can order these tests directly and receive the exams without having to go through a health-care professional like a geneticist or a genetic counselor.
In the study, the researchers conducted four focus groups with 29 participants who were primary care patients at Loyola University Medical Center. After they received information about the direct-to-consumer genetic testing, they were to give their opinions on the exams. The focus groups lasted about an hour and a half to two hours, with much of the answers being recorded and transcribed. Following the focus groups, researchers read and analyzed transcripts of the sessions and looked for themes that came out from the data.
Even though direct-to-consumer genetic tests werent covered under insurance, many of the participants were willing to pay the $10 to $20 price and a few of them were willing to pay up to $100 to $400.
This situation could exacerbate inequalities in the health-care system, with those having greater financial resources being able to access this elective health-related information while those with fewer resources are unable to pay for it, noted the researchers in the report.
Participants in the focus groups also stated that they were interested in having their children tested, including those who were adopted or were from foster homes. They believed that the tests would provide useful information for the future. However, this perspective is not shared by medical professionals who recommend that children should only be tested if theres a disease to be investigated; otherwise, children should wait until they are adults to be tested.
Children could be tested without understanding its implications, and parents might take actions that are inappropriate and potentially harmful, based on results without consulting a qualified health professional, explained the researchers in the article.
The researchers also found that there were four main reasons participants were involved in the study. In particular, they hoped to gain more information, seek prevention, seek intervention, and to help others. They also mentioned concerns about testing, including questions regarding the accuracy of the tests, the interpretation of the exams, the ethical issues raised with the tests, as well as the ability to share the testing information with consumers physicians.
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Focus Groups Share Thoughts on Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Tests
Genetic ‘Signature’ Predicts Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Response: Study
Scientists have uncovered genetic signs that could help doctors predict how breast cancer patients will respond to chemotherapy.
Researchers led by McMaster University biochemist John A. Hassell found two sets of genes that could indicate the presence of higher levels of two proteins targeted by commonly used chemotherapy drugs.
They reported their results in a paper published Thursday in the journal BMC Medical Genomics.
Hassell and his colleagues focused on the enzyme TOP2A or the protein beta-tubulin, which are targeted by anthracycline and taxane chemotherapy drugs, respectively. Without those targets, the chemotherapy won't work.
The researchers built their 'gene expression signatures' by looking at the expression levels - how often the genes are transcribed - of genes that correlated with the expression levels for the genes encoding TOP2A and beta-tubulin.
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If the signature indicates a patient's tumor is making a lot of TOP2A and beta-tubulin, there's a good chance that chemotherapy will be more effective. And on the flip side, if a patient's genetic signature indicates that chemotherapy wouldn't be as successful, doctors can avoid giving the patient a treatment that would do more harm than good.
Using data for a group of 488 breast cancer patients, Hassell and his team found they could use these genetic signatures to accurately predict if anthrocycline or taxane drugs had successfully obliterate a patient's cancer.
"This is all in the realm of personalized medicine," Hassell said in a telephone interview.
Hopefully, finding these kinds of genetic indicators will mean that eventually a breast cancer patient can be treated with a chemotherapeutic agent tailored to her particular type of breast cancer, according to Hassell.
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Genetic ‘Signature’ Predicts Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Response: Study
Molecular subtypes and genetic alterations may determine response to lung cancer therapy
Public release date: 11-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dianne G. Shaw dgs@med.unc.edu 919-966-7834 University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Cancer therapies targeting specific molecular subtypes of the disease allow physicians to tailor treatment to a patient's individual molecular profile. But scientists are finding that in many types of cancer the molecular subtypes are more varied than previously thought and contain further genetic alterations that can affect a patient's response to therapy.
A UNC-led team of scientists has shown for the first time that lung cancer molecular subtypes correlate with distinct genetic alterations and with patient response to therapy. These findings in pre-clinical models and patient tumor samples build on their previous report of three molecular subtypes of non-small cell lung cancer and refines their molecular analysis of tumors.
Their findings were published in the May 10, 2012 online edition of the Public Library of Science One.
Study senior author, Neil Hayes, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, says, "It has been known for about a decade of using gene expression arrays that "molecular subtypes" exist. These subtypes have molecular "fingerprints" and frequently have different clinical outcomes. However, the underlying etiologies of the subtypes have not been recognized. Why do tumors form subtypes?
"Our study shows that tumor subtypes have different underlying alterations of DNA as part of the difference. These differences are further evidence of the importance of subtypes and the way we will use them. For example, the mutations are different which may imply much more ability to target than previously recognized. Also, we are starting to get a suggestion that these subtypes may reflect different cells of origin that rely on different cancer pathways. This is further unlocking the diversity of this complex disease." Hayes is a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The team first defined and reported in 2006 on three lung cancer molecular subtypes, named according to their genetic pattern bronchoid, squamoid and magnoid.
In this PLoS One paper they sought to determine if distinct genetic mutations co-occur with each specific molecular subtypes. They found that specific genetic mutations were associated with each subtype and that these mutations may have independent predictive value for therapeutic response.
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Molecular subtypes and genetic alterations may determine response to lung cancer therapy
Genetic packing: Successful stem cell differentiation requires DNA compaction, study finds
Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of sections of wild-type (top row) and H1 triple-knockout (bottom row) embryoid bodies. After 14 days in rotary suspension culture, the wild-type embryoid bodies showed more differentiated morphologies with cysts forming (black arrows) and the knockout embryoid bodies failed to form cavities (far right). (Credit: Yuhong Fan)
(Phys.org) -- New research findings show that embryonic stem cells unable to fully compact the DNA inside them cannot complete their primary task: differentiation into specific cell types that give rise to the various types of tissues and structures in the body.
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University found that chromatin compaction is required for proper embryonic stem cell differentiation to occur. Chromatin, which is composed of histone proteins and DNA, packages DNA into a smaller volume so that it fits inside a cell.
A study published on May 10, 2012 in the journal PLoS Genetics found that embryonic stem cells lacking several histone H1 subtypes and exhibiting reduced chromatin compaction suffered from impaired differentiation under multiple scenarios and demonstrated inefficiency in silencing genes that must be suppressed to induce differentiation.
While researchers have observed that embryonic stem cells exhibit a relaxed, open chromatin structure and differentiated cells exhibit a compact chromatin structure, our study is the first to show that this compaction is not a mere consequence of the differentiation process but is instead a necessity for differentiation to proceed normally, said Yuhong Fan, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Biology.
Fan and Todd McDevitt, an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, led the study with assistance from Georgia Tech graduate students Yunzhe Zhang and Kaixiang Cao, research technician Marissa Cooke, and postdoctoral fellow Shiraj Panjwani.
The work was supported by the National Institutes of Healths National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), the National Science Foundation, a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar Award, and a Johnson & Johnson/Georgia Tech Healthcare Innovation Award.
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Phase contrast images showing that H1 triple-knockout (bottom) embryonic stem cells were unable to adequately form neurites and neural networks compared to wild-type embryonic stem cells (top). (Click image for high-resolution version. Credit: Yuhong Fan)
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Genetic packing: Successful stem cell differentiation requires DNA compaction, study finds
State's seed diversity is under threat, say activists
The Southern Action on Genetic Engineering (SAGE)-Karnataka, which undertook a jatha to highlight the threat to farmers' seeds by corporate seed companies, will conclude its awareness campaign by holding a State-level Seed Savers' convention in Bangalore on May 20 and 21.
The two-day convention, which will be held at the NGO Hall, Cubbon Park, will hold deliberations on the threat to Karnataka's seed sovereignty and highlight the State's seed diversity.
Representative of SAGE-Karnataka V. Gayatri told presspersons here on Friday that efforts have been made by corporate seed companies, particularly foreign companies, to gain control over the agricultural practices of the country. By promoting hybrid seeds, these companies want to destroy traditional and indigenous seeds and make farmers dependent on them.
Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda will inaugurate the convention on May 20. M.K. Ramesh from National Law School of India University will speak on the emerging legal issues related to seeds.
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Now *This* Is a Cell Phone: Using Radio Waves to Control Specific Genes in Mice | 80beats
With some clever genetic engineering but without ever touching a cell or an animal, scientist can remotely control cells using ultrasound, light,and, now, also radio waves. The electromagnetic waves can be used to selectivelyheat up parts of cells and activate a gene to make insulin in mice, according to a recent study published in Science.
But why care about radio waves if we have light and ultrasound?Radio waves have a couple distinct advantages over existing techniques.
In the current study, the radio waves didnt heat up a whole patch of tissue or even a whole cellit only affected specific pores in the cell, calledTRPV1,that open in response to heat. To get this specificity, the scientists made special iron oxide nanoparticles attached to an antibody that only sticks to TRPV1. When they turned on the radio waves, the iron oxide particles warmed up and opened the TRPV1 channel, minimally affecting the rest of the cell or surrounding cells.Ultrasound, on the other hand, heats up a whole patch of tissue to 42 Celsius, which could have damaging or confounding effects on the cells.
Radio waves, unlike light, can also penetrate deep into tissue. To show how the radio could safely work inside an animal, scientists injected mice with special cells that had been genetically engineered to include both the TRPV1 pore and a gene switch that would release insulin when exposed to calcium. Then they got those cells in the mice to start making insulin with a little Rube Goldberg-esque cellular machine: heat from the radio waves opened the TRPV1 channels, calcium rushed into the cells through the open TRPV1, the flood of calcium turned on the insulin gene switch, and, finally, the cells began making insulin. (The whole chain of events makes you appreciate the complexity of biology, right?)
In one last step, the scientists did away with the synthetic iron oxide nanoparticles altogther. They got cells to produce their own iron nanoparticles, a iron storage protein calledferritin. When they tested ferritin in cells, it was 2/3 as effective at inducing insulin production as the synthetic nanoparticles.
There could be medical applications for activating genes in stem cell therapy in the future, but for now, this is just pretty cool: scientists can turn on some radio waves and hack right into the cellular machinery of a mouse.
[via Nature News]
Mouse image via Shutterstock / lculig
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Now *This* Is a Cell Phone: Using Radio Waves to Control Specific Genes in Mice | 80beats
Gene therapy for hearing loss: Potential and limitations
ScienceDaily (May 11, 2012) Regenerating sensory hair cells, which produce electrical signals in response to vibrations within the inner ear, could form the basis for treating age- or trauma-related hearing loss. One way to do this could be with gene therapy that drives new sensory hair cells to grow.
Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have shown that introducing a gene called Atoh1 into the cochleae of young mice can induce the formation of extra sensory hair cells.
Their results show the potential of a gene therapy approach, but also demonstrate its current limitations. The extra hair cells produce electrical signals like normal hair cells and connect with neurons. However, after the mice are two weeks old, which is before puberty, inducing Atoh1 has little effect. This suggests that an analogous treatment in adult humans would also not be effective by itself.
The findings were published May 9 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
"We've shown that hair cell regeneration is possible in principle," says Ping Chen, PhD, associate professor of cell biology at Emory University School of Medicine. "In this paper, we have identified which cells are capable of becoming hair cells under the influence of Atoh1, and we show that there are strong age-dependent limitations on the effects of Atoh1 by itself."
The first author of the paper, Michael Kelly, now a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, was a graduate student in Emory's Neuroscience program.
Kelly and his coworkers engineered mice to turn on the Atoh1 gene in the inner ear in response to the antibiotic doxycycline. Previous experimenters had used a virus to introduce Atoh1 into the cochleae of animals. This approach resembles gene therapy, but has the disadvantage of being slightly different each time, Chen says. In contrast, the mice have the Atoh1 gene turned on in specific cells along the lining of the inner ear, called the cochlear epithelium, but only when fed doxycycline.
Young mice given doxycycline for two days had extra sensory hair cells, in parts of the cochlea where developing hair cells usually appear, and also additional locations (see accompanying image).
The extra hair cells could generate electrical signals, although those signals weren't as strong as mature hair cells. Also, the extra hair cells appeared to attract neuronal fibers, which suggests that those signals could connect to the rest of the nervous system.
"They can generate electrical signals, but we don't know if they can really function in the context of hearing." Chen says. "For that to happen, the hair cells' signals need to be coordinated and integrated."
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