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Free chemistry day camps offered for middle school girls – Smile Politely – Champaign-Urbana’s Online Magazine

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If you know of a girl entering sixth, seventh, or eighth grade who shows interest in science, The American Chemical Society- Women's Chemist Committee is offering 2 day camps for them to explore the field of chemistry. It's no secret that women are seriously underrepresented in the STEM (science, tech, engineering, and math) fields, so every opportunity to bring girls into the fold is an opportunity to change that. And it'sfree,people! Check out the press release and flyer below for dates and info on how to sign up:

Subject: UIUC Chemistry Day Camp for Middle School Girls

This summer your rising sixth, seventh, and eighth grade girls have an awesome and fun opportunity. The American Chemical Society - Women's Chemist Committee (WCC) is hosting their tenth annual "Bonding with Chemistry: A Day Camp for Girls". We will be having the day camps on Saturday, June 24th and Saturday, July 8th from 9-3pm. Our day camp allows middle school girls to play and learn about chemistry through exciting and fun hands-on demonstrations, led by current University chemistry graduate students, faculty, and staff.

Registration for the day camp is FREE! To sign up for this fun-filled event, parents can fill out this easy form: https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/9132920.

For more information regarding the day camp, or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Michaela Carlson and Courtney Ford at wccgirlsdaycamp@gmail.com

Thank you for your time and we hope to meet some of your students for some chemistry fun this summer!

Sincerely,

The ACS-WCC Board

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Free chemistry day camps offered for middle school girls - Smile Politely - Champaign-Urbana's Online Magazine

Puma Biotechnology Reports First Quarter 2017 Financial Results – Business Wire (press release)

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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBYI), a biopharmaceutical company, announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons are for the first quarter 2017 compared to the first quarter 2016.

Based on accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP), Puma reported a net loss applicable to common stock of $72.9 million, or $1.97 per share, for the first quarter of 2017, compared to a net loss applicable to common stock of $71.0 million, or $2.19 per share, for the first quarter of 2016.

Non-GAAP adjusted net loss was $43.1 million, or $1.16 per share, for the first quarter of 2017, compared to non-GAAP adjusted net loss of $41.5 million, or $1.28 per share, for the first quarter of 2016. Non-GAAP adjusted net loss excludes stock-based compensation expense, which represents a significant portion of overall expense and has no impact on the cash position of the Company. For a reconciliation of GAAP net loss to non-GAAP adjusted net loss and GAAP net loss per share to non-GAAP adjusted net loss per share, please see the financial tables at the end of this news release.

Net cash used in operating activities for the first quarter of 2017 was $36.0 million. At March 31, 2017, Puma had cash and cash equivalents of $105.1 million and marketable securities of $88.9 million, compared to cash and cash equivalents of $194.5 million and marketable securities of $35.0 million at December 31, 2016.

We made significant progress with our lead investigational drug, neratinib, during the first quarter of 2017, said Alan H. Auerbach, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Puma. We look forward to continuing to work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) as they review our New Drug Application (NDA) and Marketing Authorization Application (MAA)filings, respectively, and we look forward to presenting the data on neratinib at the upcoming FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee on May 24th.

Data on neratinib was also presented at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in April which included data on the use of antidiarrheal prophylaxis to reduce the diarrhea with neratinib in the extended adjuvant treatment of patients with early stage HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer who have received prior adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy (CONTROL trial). There was also clinical data presented on neratinib in the treatment of patients who have solid tumors with activating HER2 or HER3 mutations (SUMMIT trial). Additional data was also presented on the combination of T-DM1 and neratinib in patients with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) that has previously been treated with pertuzumab and trastuzumab. We look forward to continuing to achieve our objectives and believe that Puma is very well-positioned to build value for our shareholders.

Mr. Auerbach added, During 2017, we anticipate the following key milestones with neratinib: (i) reporting data from the Phase III trial in third-line HER2-positive MBC patients in the second quarter of 2017; (ii) reporting data in the second quarter of 2017 from the TBCRC-022 Phase II trial of neratinib plus capecitabine in HER2-positive MBC patients with brain metastases; (iii) reporting final 5-year disease free survival (DFS) data during the second quarter of 2017 from the ExteNET Phase III trial of neratinib as an extended adjuvant treatment in HER2-positive early stage breast cancer; and (iv) announcing regulatory decisions in the United States and European Union on neratinib for the extended adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early stage breast cancer in the third quarter of 2017.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses were $73.2 million for the first quarter of 2017, compared to $71.2 million for the first quarter of 2016.

General and Administrative Expenses:

General and administrative expenses were $18.4 million for the first quarter of 2017, compared to $11.0 million for the first quarter of 2016. The approximately $7.4 million increase resulted primarily from increases of approximately $1.4 million for stock-based compensation, $3.9 million for professional fees, $1.3 million for payroll and related costs, and $0.5 million for facility and equipment costs. These increases reflect overall corporate growth.

Research and Development Expenses:

Research and development (R&D) expenses were $54.8 million for the first quarter of 2017, compared to $60.2 million for the first quarter of 2016. The approximately $5.4 million decrease resulted primarily from decreases of approximately $1.1 million for stock-based compensation and $5.0 million for clinical trial expenses, partially offset by an increase of $0.6 million for consultants and contractors. For our existing clinical trials, we expect R&D expenses to decrease in subsequent quarters as clinical trials wind down.

About Puma Biotechnology

Puma Biotechnology, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a focus on the development and commercialization of innovative products to enhance cancer care. The Company in-licenses the global development and commercialization rights to three drug candidatesPB272 (neratinib (oral)), PB272 (neratinib (intravenous)) and PB357. Neratinib is a potent irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks signal transduction through the epidermal growth factor receptors, HER1, HER2 and HER4. Currently, the Company is primarily focused on the development of the oral version of neratinib, and its most advanced drug candidates are directed at the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. The Company believes that neratinib has clinical application in the treatment of several other cancers as well, including non-small cell lung cancer and other tumor types that over-express or have a mutation in HER2.

Further information about Puma Biotechnology can be found at http://www.pumabiotechnology.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the potential announcement of regulatory decisions in the United States and European Union on neratinib for the extended adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early stage breast cancer and the Companys clinical trials and the announcement of data relative to these trials. All forward-looking statements included in this press release involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to, the fact that the Company has no product revenue and no products approved for marketing, the Company's dependence on PB272, which is still under development and may never receive regulatory approval, the challenges associated with conducting and enrolling clinical trials, the risk that the results of clinical trials may not support the Company's drug candidate claims, even if approved, the risk that physicians and patients may not accept or use the Company's products, the Company's reliance on third parties to conduct its clinical trials and to formulate and manufacture its drug candidates, the Company's dependence on licensed intellectual property, and the other risk factors disclosed in the periodic and current reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to operating results as calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, the Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures when planning, monitoring, and evaluating operational performance. The following table presents the Companys net loss and net loss per share calculated in accordance with GAAP and as adjusted to remove the impact of employee stock-based compensation. For the three months ended March 31, 2017, stock-based compensation represented approximately 40.9% of net loss. Although net loss is important to measure financial performance, the Company currently places an emphasis on cash burn and, more specifically, cash used in operations. Stock-based compensation appears in GAAP net loss but is removed from net loss to arrive at cash used in operations on the statement of cash flows. Due to its noncash nature, the Company believes these non-GAAP measures enhance understanding of financial performance, are more indicative of operational performance and facilitate a better comparison among fiscal periods. These non-GAAP financial measures are not, and should not be viewed as, substitutes for GAAP reporting measures.

(1)

To reflect a non-cash charge to operating expense for General and Administrative stock-based compensation.

(2)

To reflect a non-cash charge to operating expense for Research and Development stock-based compensation.

(3)

Non-GAAP adjusted net loss per share was calculated based on 36,931,167 and 32,478,408 weighted average common shares outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

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Puma Biotechnology Reports First Quarter 2017 Financial Results - Business Wire (press release)

Seniors Present Science Theses – Middlebury Campus (subscription)

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Julie Merchant 17 presents on the role of vesicle pH in neurotransmitter transport.

Julie Merchant 17 presents on the role of vesicle pH in neurotransmitter transport.

Sabina Haque, Contributing Writer May 10, 2017 Filed under Arts & Sciences

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As the 201617 academic year slowly draws to a close, McCardell Bicentennial Hall remains abuzz with activity, as senior thesis presentations are in full swing. Many soon-to-be graduates of the biology, neuroscience, chemistry & biochemistry, molecular biology & biochemistry and conservation biology departments have spent the greater part of the past year in the lab or the field, working diligently to produce independent research with various professors at the College.

While the chemistry & biochemistry department indulges its devoted students in three to four hour-long sessions on Friday afternoons (an extravaganza more fulfilling than binge-watching The Office), the biology-focused departments prefer to sprinkle their presentations across the lunch hour throughout the past week. For this issue, three particular student presentations are featured: Eric Stanton, Julie Merchant and Laura Bashor.

Eric Stanton 17, a biochemistry major working in Professor Jeff Byerss lab, presented his work entitled Synthesis of a Chromium Complexed Poly-(p-phenylene ethynylene) Polymer as a Potential Molecular Wire on Friday, May 5. Using the organic synthesis techniques characteristic of the Byers lab, he described the steps taken that enabled him to construct a complexed p-phenylene ethnylene (PPE) polymer starting from dichlorobenzene.

Stanton then moved into the results of his work. When he assayed the stability of his synthetic polymer with NMR, a common chemical laboratory technique, he was surprised to see that his complex was not as stable as expected. Stanton then performed fluorescent quenching, which involves exposing polymers to UV light and measuring the excited state charge transfer. While Stantons polymer did not display the stability that he had hoped, he found that fluorescent quenching provided a better model to understand this complex.

On Monday, May 8, Julie Merchant 17 and Laura Bashor 17 both presented during the lunch hour, representing the biology department. After a jovial and entertaining introduction from her advisor Professor Glen Ernstrom, Merchant kicked off the session with her dynamic presentation of Optogenetic acidification of synaptic vesicles in C. elegans. She explored how neurons communicate, which led naturally into a brief but thorough review of neurotransmission and a helpful analogy connecting neuronal communication to a water balloon fight.

Merchants research focuses on understanding the importance of vesicle pH in regulating the transport of neurotransmitters into synaptic vesicles. When these synaptic vesicles are only partially filled, they are less likely to fuse with target cells into which the neurotransmitters are meant to be delivered. This results in pronounced behavioral defects such as deficits in motor coordinates and balance.

Her hypothesis was that the acidification provides a molecular checkpoint that instructs vesicles to fuse properly. Through a variety of experiments, she was able to demonstrate that a proton pump-deficient C. elegans mutant has diminished vesicle fusion. Merchant was also able to restore an acidification-related defect in said C. elegans mutant by expressing a protein on the vesicle surface that acidifies the vesicle in response to light stimulus.

In a brief introduction, Allen mentioned that Bashor would soon be presenting her work to the Ecological Society of America. Bashors thesis project, Lyme disease and elevation: a dynamic ecological relationship, focused on work she had been pursuing in Professor David Allens laboratory since the summer. She opened with an array of statistics depicting the stark increase of Lyme disease cases in the United States, and particularly Vermont. In an effort to untangle the ecology of Lyme disease, Bashor addressed the fact that although the black legged tick is the most infamous of Lyme disease carriers, other small mammals could actually be implicated as the biggest contributors to human infection.

At the heart of Bashors work was the connection between elevation and Lyme disease risk, as the life cycles of the black legged tick and various small mammals are in turn determined by such environmental factors. Along an elevational gradient, Bashor collected ticks, the white footed mouse and deer mouse and tried to identify elevations effect on the distribution of Lyme disease infection rates. She found in her samples that, although the white-footed mouse is thought of as a more common vector for Lyme disease, the deer mouse actually was infected with Lyme disease at a much higher rate. In addition, she observed differences in the activity and densities of the black legged tick along an elevational gradient, implicating that the ecology of Lyme disease is tied inherently to elevation.

While these three presentations represent only a small subset of the talks that have been given over the past few weeks, they provide a brief glance at the diligent work that happens behind closed lab doors.

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Seniors Present Science Theses - Middlebury Campus (subscription)

Anatomy of a Goal: Ola’s Opener – Massive Report

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Welcome to Anatomy of a Goal, where each week we dissect one goal from the previous weeks Columbus Crew SC match.

For Week 10 of the 2017 MLS season, we take a look at Ola Kamaras 13th minute goal that gave Crew SC a 1-0 lead as part of the win over New England Revolution on Saturday.

Heres a look at the finish from the Crew SC striker.

Before Olas early goal, the match had mostly been an even affair. Both teams had opportunities, but were still finding their footing during these early stages.

There is a lot going on in this first image. Notice the Black & Gold defensive positioning. During most of this match, Crew SC defended in their typical 4-4-2 with rigid banks in the midfield and defensive line. The banks are a bit jumbled here, but Columbus has almost every attacking option covered.

Revolution midfielder Xavier Kouassi has just received a pass from attacking teammate Lee Nguyen, and realistically has only one option, dribble forward toward goal and hope that hes able to beat Wil Trapp and Jonathan Mensah.

Trapp and Mensah will easily close him out, and the Crew attacking players (specifically winger Justin Meram and Kamara) begin their runs to the offensive end. Federico Higuain is totally unmarked and will provide an easy pass for the defense once the ball is won from Kouassi.

Trapp, who an excellent match against the Revolution, wins the ball from Kouassi and makes a short, simple pass to Jonathan. Higuain is still totally unmarked while Kamara and Meram begin their offensive runs.

Notice Trapp in the middle of this image. After he makes a pass to Jonathan, he immediately notices Higuain open in the middle of the field. In this image, you can see Trapp pointing directly at Higuain, showing Jonathan, who is still learning the intricacies of the Crew SC system, where to put his pass.

Meanwhile, Meram, unmarked and out of the sight of Nguyen, will provide a simple target for Higuains pass.

Higuain receives the ball, and turns toward an unmarked Meram. Revolution right back Andrew Farrell is just too far behind Meram to catch up. Kamara is just to the left of this image, having moved forward while Trapp won the ball off of Kouassi.

With Farrell trailing behind, Meram can see that he has many yards of space open in front of him. New England only has three defenders back, allowing the Crew SC winger to continue his push forward.

Kamara has returned to the fold in this image, as Ethan Finlay streaks down the right side of the field. Meram angles his run toward the middle of the field, giving himself more space to work with and forcing the Revolution center backs to make a defensive decision, leaving Kamara open or allowing Meram to continue on his path to goal.

Kamara makes a really intelligent run to open himself up for Merams assist. The forward takes his run right toward Revolution center-back Joshua Smith, appearing to look for a pass in the middle of the field slipped into the channel between Smith and fellow center-back Antonio Delamea. In the next images, you will see that once Smith makes the decision to cover Meram, Kamara will angle his run back away from Smith, opening himself up for an easy slipped pass from his teammate.

Now, Smith has to make a decision. Will he cover Kamara in hopes that Delamea and Farrell will cover Meram, or does he cut of Merams drive in hopes that Delamea will cover Kamaras continued run?

Smith opts to focus his attention on Meram, while Delamea runs in behind him, keeping Kamara onside while taking an intelligent angle that will eventually allow him to nearly block Kamaras shot on goal.

The instant that Kamara sees Smith commit his attention to Meram, the Crew SC striker cuts his run back away from the defender, while being kept onside by Delamea.

Here, Meram sees that Smith focuses all attention on him, and slots a very simple pass betweel Farrell and Smith into the path of a goal-bound Kamara. Ola is clearly held onside by Delamea.

In the above video, you can see how brilliant Kamaras run is. By running right at Smith, Kamara freezes the Revolution defender, and makes him choose between marking Meram or the Crew SC striker.

As Smith stops covering, Kamara runs toward goal and easily receives a pass with no defenders in front of him.

Here is another angle of Olas run at Smith. From this angle, you can see Kamara begin his run goal-ward immediately after Smith turns his head toward Meram.

The above image shows Smith totally caught flatfooted between Meram and Kamara. Smith has no angle on the either Crew SC player, and is easily beaten by Merams well-played pass.

Once Kamara is in on goal, he now has two options: a back post shot on his preferred right foot; or a pass to a well-marked Finlay.

Kamara opts for a curling, back post shot as Delamea barrels toward him.

The Crew SC striker is able to get the ball up and over Delamea, though Delamea may have gotten a deflection on the ball, and toward the back post...

...where he perfectly slots the ball, giving Crew SC a 1-0 lead.

Findings:

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Anatomy of a Goal: Ola's Opener - Massive Report

Biotechnology sachet solution launched – Cleaning & Maintenance

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London-based Cleanology is launching what it claims to be the worlds first biotech wipe for tablets and mobile phones, and pre-portioned cleaning fluids and floor cleaners in sachets.

Biotechnology uses enzymes to eat dirt and bacteria. The tiny molecules access even the hardest to reach areas and carry on working for days after application. Enzyme-based solutions are gaining traction in the industry, but to date no firm has focused on mobile device screens, which are often taken out of the office at night, when cleaning takes place.

Cleanology has created a multi-purpose biotech tech wipe which cleans and sanitises mobile phones, tablets and laptops with a moist tissue impregnated with a biotechnology cleaning solution. It has also addressed portioning, with the development of handy-sized sachets which hold a pre-dosed amount of solution. When added to water, this creates a biotechnology cleaning agent.

CEO Dominic Ponniah said: Biotechnology is a fantastic advance which has rightly been embraced by the industry. However, as with all cleaning products that require dilution, people often use too much product - they think that the more they slosh into a bucket, the more effective they will be. Using too much product - especially biotechnology products which are pH-neutral and completely safe - does not cause any harm, but it is wasting valuable resources. An extra cupful of solution every couple of days might not seem disastrous, but multiply that over a year and across the 450,000 people working in the industry, and the impact becomes significant. The cleaning firm ends up buying larger quantities of product and paying more to transport it, not to mention the environmental impact of extra journeys, waste generation and the unnecessary manufacture of products.

To counteract this excess, Cleanology has introduced its own range of pre-portioned biotechnology solutions and wipes. Each sachet of multi-purpose or floor cleaner is sufficient to fill one bucket or spray can, with a pack of 50 sachets able to last a month. The sachets fit easily into the pocket, so a cleaning operative can carry supplies with them from job to job. The wipes are impregnated with biotechnology solution and pre-diluted with water.

Cleanology was one of the first cleaning firms to embrace biotechnology. It has partnered with InnuScience, a leader in the development and manufacture of biotechnology cleaning products. Ponniah continued: InnuScience are experts in their field, supplying all the major FM companies and retail brands. We are experts in cleaning, while InnuScience provides the cutting-edge technology thats inside our Bioclean sachets.

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Biotechnology sachet solution launched - Cleaning & Maintenance

Cannabis Reverses Brain Aging – Anti Aging News

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Most people know the average person's memory dissipates during the aging process. University of Bonn scientists teamed up with academicians at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem to determine the impact of cannabis on the brain's aging process. These researchers determined cannabis reverses aging processes within the brains of mice.

The Findings

The study revealed that older mice reverted back to the state of 2-month old mice after being administerd an extended low-dose cannabis treatment. These findings are important as they show there are additional options for the treatment of dementia in humans. The study results were recently publicized in the Nature Medicine journal.

The Impact of the Aging Process on the Brain

The brain ages just like every other organ in the human body. The result of this aging process is a decrease in cognitive ability. As an example, people tend to find it difficult to pay attention to multiple things at the same time or learn new concepts/skills as they age. Though this is a normal process, it can also lead to dementia. Researchers have been searching for ways to mitigate or completely reverse this process. The scientists referenced above have reversed the processin mice with cannabis treatment. Mice have short life spans and show significant cognitive deficits after a year of life.

About the Study

The researchers provided mice with a small amount of THC. The low dose of cannabis treatment was selected so the mice did not experience a euphoric effect. THC is the active ingredient in cannabis. The treatment was provided to mice that were two months old, a year old and 18 months old. The treatment was applied across four weeks. The scientists then tested the animals' memory performance and learning capacity.

Mice provided with the placebo had the expected age-related memory and learning losses. Mice provided with cannabis exhibited cognitive functions equal to those of of two-month-old mice. The cannabis treatment totally reversed performance loss in mice. The scientists studiedthe gene activity and brain tissue of treated mice to determine exactly what sort of effect cannabis treatment had in particularly old mice.

Following treatment, the molecular signature did not match that of old mice. Instead, it was similar to young mice. Furthermore, the quantity of links in the brain's nerve cells increased. These cells are vital to one's ability to learn. The bottom line is that cannabis treatment turned back the molecular clock in mice and it might be able to do the same in humans.

What led up to the Research

The cannabis treatment success stems from years of intense research. The scientists found the brain ages more rapidly when mice are not equipped with functional THC receptors. Cannabinoid 1 receptors are best defined as proteins where substances halt and stimulate a signal chain. These receptors are the cause of the euphoric effects of THC in marijuana and hashish. THC replicates the effects of the cannabinoids that are naturally created in the body. Cannabinoids perform vital functions within the brain. As one ages, the number of cannabinoids produced in the brain decrease. As the cannabinoid system declines the brain ages quite rapidly.

The Next Step

The next logical step is for researchers to perform clinical trials to determine if cannabis also reverses the aging process in the brains of human beings. Cannabis is widely usedfor medical purposes.It is also possible that cannabis boosts cognitive ability in aging adults. Though mice are not exactly the same as humans, the research team believes cannabis treatment will prove to be an effective means of treating dementia suffered by human beings across the world.

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Cannabis Reverses Brain Aging - Anti Aging News

Thoughts on Gene Editing From the Science Community – The Atlantic

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Our next group of correspondents stood out due to their vocations: In one way or another, their chosen careers brought them into the subculture of scientific thinking. These readers tended to be more favorably disposed to gene editing than others.

Take this reader, a semi-retired school psychologist and a lover of science whose daughter plans to become a clinical geneticist:

I agree with the premise of your article [that prophylactic gene editing could soon be mandatory] and am not frightened by it at all. Scientific advances have not, cannot, and should not be stopped. Since the first civilizations science has been dragging religion and society reluctantly along into a more technologically advanced future. What we gain from this seems always to be more than what we have lost.

A medical student who hopes one day to do gene editing was likewise eager for a future where it is used to cure diseaseand even to direct the way that humans evolve:

Modern medicine, in its current form, is basically the answer to the question: What is the best way to treat diseases whose cures cannot and will not ever be found? Treating someone with cystic fibrosis, for instance, is an admirable thing to do, but its also an exercise in futility: That patient will undoubtedly die prematurely. Anything besides excising the mutant gene and replacing it with a normal copy is treading water and delaying the inevitable (though, obviously, the patients must still be treated).

In modern societies, infectious diseases and trauma are more or less under control (relative to developing countries and bygone eras). Curing genetic diseases (cancer loosely being included in this category) are currently a dead end. So, logically, addressing this head-on is the only next step.

I view gene therapy and editing as the way of the future, not only of medicine but also of humanity in general. It will start as the means for cures of currently incurable diseases. Eventually, it will be a means by which we can continue to evolve ourselves as a species. If 3.5 billion years of evolution churned our species out through the natural selection of random mutations, how much better can we do with logic and molecular precision? In my opinion, anything that can widely (and, potentially, permanently) change mankind and society for the better should be done.

I wish I shared the correspondents confidence that logic and molecular precision will serve humanity better in this realm than the decentralized systems of dating and mating have done so far. Reflecting on the decisions that literally every bygone generation might have made if able to edit genes, I fear that our choices will prove as imprudent in hindsightand thats not even accounting for unintended consequences.

The next reader is working to earn his Masters degree in Biochemistry:

It is not unreasonable to imagine that in the near future gene editing will be a safe and effective means of preventing genetic diseases. It is also not unreasonable to imagine that in the case of many diseases, such as sickle-cell anemia or cystic fibrosis, which are caused by small mutations in a single gene coding for a functionally important protein, gene editing would be likely to prevent the disease without affecting the child in any other way. For these diseases, once it is demonstrated that gene editing works the way that it is supposed to, I think parents should be punished for failing to employ gene editing. I think that if it had been demonstrated that gene editing was safe, effective, and selective, refusal to use this technique to prevent disease would essentially amount to fear and mistrust of the scientific and medical communities. I really dont think thats a valid reason to allow another person to be afflicted by a preventable disease.

However, I draw a distinction here between expecting parents to make edits that will definitely prevent a debilitating disease, and expecting edits that reduce the risk of a disease that the child may or may not have ended up getting. I certainly wouldnt be opposed to parents editing genes to reduce the chance of cancer, but I wouldnt really expect it. There are a number of behaviors that we know reduce cancer risk which we dont really expect parents to push on their kids. For example, parents could probably reduce cancer risk in their children by some small fraction by giving them grape juice every day or something like that. I dont really expect parents to do that. If you cant blame parents for not giving their kids grape juice you really cant blame them for not editing the kids genome.

At the same time, he adds, we can really only justify using gene editing for medical purposes:

We are a long way from understanding our biology well enough to be able to make genome modifications to enhance intelligence or beauty or athleticism without risking horrible unforeseen side effects. But even if we did have the ability to do that, I still dont think it would be justified because I dont think we can tie these traits to an increased sense of happiness or fulfillment.

I am short and scrawny, and Im perfectly happy with that. I know plenty of people who are perfectly content with being as dumb as rocks. I know plenty of smart people who are miserable. So, Ill grant that I am basing my opinion here on a biased personal experience, but I really dont think that we can say that it really is in the best interests of the child to alter superficial traits.

When discussing a childs future, people often talk as if the parents preference is the most important thing. But parents dont own their children. Parents are stewards of their children. I think that making designer babies would be an example of parents making self-serving decisions, rather than making decisions in the best interests of the child. I dont think that is justifiable.

The next correspondent is a biochemistry grad student who works in a research group that specializes in genome-editing technology, and cautions against its near-term limits:

If gene therapy with Cas9 were at some future time as cheap, easy, and safe as an antibiotic treatment, then yes, I would support punishments for parents who forewent a cure for their children. In some cases, a genetic disorder is very similar to other macro-level disorders, e.g. genes can be broken in the same sense that a wrist is broken. While wrists can come in many healthy shapes and sizes and colors, broken in two is not one of them; likewise, while genetic diversity is important and natural and cant always be cleanly mapped to disease, some genetic mutations are incontrovertibly damaging and lead to illness and suffering. Refusing a simple medical treatment for a disorder with a clear singular genetic root cause (of which there are fewer than one might think) would be as unethical as refusing to set a broken wrist.

But I dont think gene therapy will be as cheap, easy, or safe as antibiotics in our lifetimerather, my opinion is that gene therapy will be expensive, invasive, and risky (at least relative to an antibiotic pill) for the foreseeable future. I dont expect gene therapy to become routine in the same way that oral therapies are, and so choosing not to subject your child to gene editing cannot be chalked up to negligence. (A contemporary example: Sovaldi is a drug that essentially cures Hepatitis C, but it costs $200,000 and there are other treatmentscould you imagine a parent being prosecuted for refusing to pay for Sovaldi?)

Why am I so down on gene therapy?

First of all, regarding cost, the clamor surrounding the Cas9 patent dispute should give you an idea of how profitable the players in this field expect gene therapy to be. Gene therapy will always be more expensive than an oral antibiotic because the treatment requires many more steps (each of which is far costlier), is much lower throughput, and will require specialized care and oversight. For similar reasons, it will not be nearly as convenient for patients as filling a prescription. And as Ive written elsewhere, our current early-generation gene-therapy tools and limited understanding of the link between genetics and disease means that gene therapy carries unprecedented safety risks. (For example, no currently approved therapy could cause permanent heritable genetic changes.)

These risks shouldnt disqualify gene therapy as a possible future treatment, but they could certainly give the most informed and adventurous patient pause. In short, I believe technical limitations and cost and safety concerns will delay the debate over mandatory gene editing for decades at least. More pressing to discuss are the multitude of other ways that gene editing and GMOs affect modern life and medicine.

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Thoughts on Gene Editing From the Science Community - The Atlantic

New plutonium discovery lights way for chemistry professor’s work to clean up nuclear waste – Science Daily

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Science Daily
New plutonium discovery lights way for chemistry professor's work to clean up nuclear waste
Science Daily
The work was published today in Nature Chemistry. Albrecht-Schmitt and a team of researchers have been studying plutonium -- Pu on the Periodic Table of Elements -- for almost two decades to understand how it behaves chemically, and how it differs from ...
Plutonium research to aid nuclear cleanup techniquesUPI.com

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New plutonium discovery lights way for chemistry professor's work to clean up nuclear waste - Science Daily

Prizes and awards 2017 – Royal Society of Chemistry

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Professor Thomas Carell Alexander Todd-Hans Krebs Lectureship in Chemical Sciences 2017

Professor Manfred Bochmann Applied Inorganic Chemistry Award 2017

Professor Michael Greaney Bader Award 2017

Dr David Fairen Jimenez Barrer Award 2017

Professor Thomas Ward Bioinorganic Chemistry Award 2017

Professor Kieron Burke Bourke Award 2017

Professor Julia Weinstein Chemical Dynamics Award 2017

Dr Alexander Hinz Dalton Emerging Researcher Award 2017

Professor Ning Yan ESED Early Career Award 2017

Dr Andrew Lawrence Hickinbottom Award 2017

Professor Neil Garg Higher Education Teaching Award 2017

UCL Chemistry Lab Technician Team Higher Education Technical Excellence Award 2017

Professor Syuzanna Harutyunyan Homogeneous Catalysis Award 2017

Professor Robert Morris Inorganic Mechanisms Award 2017

Professor R. Scott Prosser Jeremy Knowles Award 2017

Professor Stephen Elliott John B Goodenough Award 2017

Dr Nicholle Bell Joseph Black Award 2017

Professor Warren Warren Liversidge Award 2017

Professor Karsten Meyer Ludwig Mond Award 2017

Dr Steven Lee Marlow Award 2017

Professor Phil Baran Merck, Sharp & Dohme Award 2017

Dr Mark Howarth Norman Heatley Award 2017

Professor Nicholas Turner Organic Stereochemistry Award 2017

Professor William Jones Organometallic Chemistry Award 2017

Professor Jin-Quan Yu Pedler Award 2017

Professor Saiful Islam Peter Day Award 2017

Professor Michael Wasielewski Physical Organic Chemistry Award 2017

Membrane Biophysics Platform Rita and John Cornforth Award 2017

Professor Dale Boger Robert Robinson Award 2017

Mr Matthew Wallace Ronald Belcher Award 2017

Professor Gustavo Scuseria S F Boys-A Rahman Award 2017

Dr Kristy Turner Schools Education Award 2017

Professor Aidan McDonald Sir Edward Frankland Fellowship 2017

Professor Antony Cass Sir George Stokes Award 2017

Professor Douglas Tobias Soft Matter & Biophysical Chemistry Award 2017

Professor Richard Van Duyne Spiers Memorial Award 2017

Professor Omar Yaghi Spiers Memorial Award 2017

Professor Xiao Cheng Zeng Surfaces & Interfaces Award 2017

Professor Javier Prez-Ramrez Sustainable Energy Award 2017

Professor Varinder Aggarwal Synthetic Organic Chemistry Award 2017

Professor Christopher Elliott Theophilus Redwood Award 2017

Professor Andrew Smith Toxicology Award 2017

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Prizes and awards 2017 - Royal Society of Chemistry

ETF Flopper: Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Feel the Pain – Barron’s

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ETF Flopper: Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Feel the Pain
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Meanwhile the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH), and the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index (FBT) fell about 2.7% apiece. The AHCA could have both positive and negative impact on pharma and biotech, but ...
Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bear 3X Shares (LABD): The Quick Guide to LABDInvestorplace.com

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ETF Flopper: Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Feel the Pain - Barron's

Puma Biotechnology Stock Slumps as Regulatory VP Departs Before FDA Review – Los Angeles Business Journal

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Puma Biotechnology Inc.s stock took a dive last week after its regulatory executive resigned less than three weeks before a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel is scheduled to review the public companys breast cancer drug Neratinib.

The Westwood companys share price dipped 14 percent to $31.38 at the close of business May 5 from $36.45 the day before, when the company notified the Securities and Exchange Commission that Robert Charnas, senior vice president of regulatory affairs and project management, would step down for health reasons effective May 15.

The stock was trading at $29.15 when the markets closed Monday.

The company, which has a market cap of $1.07 billion, hired 63-year-old Charnas last year with a base salary of more than $330,000, stock options, and a more than $378,000 signing bonus, according to the employment offer letter filed with the SEC.

An independent panel of experts is scheduled to review Neratinib for safety and efficacy May 24 before making a recommendation for its use to the FDA.

Caroline Anderson is a staff reporter covering retail, restaurants, and hospitality. She can be reached at canderson@labusinessjournal.com.

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Puma Biotechnology Stock Slumps as Regulatory VP Departs Before FDA Review - Los Angeles Business Journal

Global Biochemistry Analyser Market Driven by the Increase in Lab Automation: Technavio – Business Wire (press release)

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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global biochemistry analyser market is projected to grow to USD 13,340.13 million by 2021, at a CAGR of more than 6% over the forecast period.

This research report titled Global Biochemistry Analyser Market 2017-2021 provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions.

The biochemistry analyser is a commonly used lab equipment, which is used for measuring and diagnosing biological samples such as blood, cerebral fluid, urine, etc. The increase in laboratory automation, combined with the biochemistry analysers ability to run 9,000 to 10,000 tests per day is resulting in its increased adoption.

Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report

Technavios sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.

Based on the end-users, the report categorizes the global biochemistry analyser market into the following segments:

Hospital and diagnostic laboratories

Hospitals and diagnostic laboratories lead the revenue generation in the biochemistry analyser market, where these products are required for disease diagnosis, treatment, treatment monitoring, disease surveillance, and clinical research, says Krishna Venkataramani, a lead analyst at Technavio for lab equipment research.

Hospitals and diagnostic laboratories use lab equipment such as biochemistry analysers to perform tests on samples of blood, plasma, serum, or urine to determine the concentration of analytes like cholesterol, glucose, and calcium using the biochemistry analyser.

Home care

The biochemistry analyser market by the home care sector is expected to be worth USD 4,331.5 million by 2021. The use of biochemistry analysers to perform various healthcare diagnoses to reduce the length of hospital stays and provide additional medical assistance are quickly driving the growth of the market segment. Home care is considered less expensive, more convenient, and is as effective as care provided by hospitals or trained nursing facilities, which ensures a constant demand for biochemistry analysers from the segment.

Academic and research institutes

The focus of academic and research institutes is to test and analyze innovative and diagnostic solutions like the biochemistry analyser, using data related to patients' diagnoses to help them recommend subsequent treatments, says Krishna.

Various diagnostic solutions are used by academic and research institutes to analyze and understand various biomolecule structures present in biological systems to diagnose diseases so that new drug discoveries can be made for effective therapeutic treatment.

The top vendors highlighted by Technavios research analysts in this report are:

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Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as theyre published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like agricultural equipment, health and wellness, and outdoor gear. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavios constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, resellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

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Global Biochemistry Analyser Market Driven by the Increase in Lab Automation: Technavio - Business Wire (press release)

Fat metabolism in live fish: Real-time lipid biochemistry observed … – Science Daily

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Fat metabolism in live fish: Real-time lipid biochemistry observed ...
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Studying how our bodies metabolize lipids such as fatty acids, triglycerides, and cholesterol can teach us about cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other ...

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Fat metabolism in live fish: Real-time lipid biochemistry observed ... - Science Daily

The anatomy of cardamom – Huffington post (press release) (blog)

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Tropical spices have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Cardamom, the third most expensive spice in the world, is a reservoir of compounds that alleviate a variety of physiological discomforts.

The recent pathetic self-congratulatory tone of the House Republicans with regards to their attempts to fashion a new healthcare act, is hopefully short-lived. In addition to potential procedural hurdles that the bill will likely face in the Senate, Republican senators have already expressed concern over language in parts of the bill. If the Senate passes a bill that is substantially different from the one passed by the House, then the bill would likely have to go back to the House. Historically, about 3% of bills introduced in Congress are enacted into law. The trajectory of the Affordable Care Act can be found at govtrack.us and is shown below [Note: the site is an independent site, and not a government siteit tracks bills and provides statistical analyses of legislation]. From the time of introduction of the bill, September 17, 2009, to it being approved by both the Senate and the House on March 20, 2010, Congress had convened for a total of 90 days.

The current bill, H.R. 1628: American Health Care Act of 2017, will at the very least go through a similar process, which means the earliest we could see it enacted into law could be September 2017. From all indications, if it passes, the new healthcare act will have imposed severe restrictions on access to healthcare for innumerable citizens. In times of scarcity, people typically resort to alternative solutions and its conceivable that scarce access to healthcare will be no different.

In 2015, Marijke Van der Veen, and Jacob Morales from the University of Leicester reported their findings from studying botanical remains recovered during archaeological excavations at Quseir al-Qadim, located on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Quseir al-Qadim was active as a transport hub during both Roman (ca. AD 1250, when it was known as Myos Hormos), and Islamic periods (ca. AD 10501500, when it was known as Kusayr). The excavations, conducted between 1999 and 2003, revealed at least seven tropical spices including black pepper, ginger, cardamom, turmeric. Based on texts from those periods, it appears these spices were traded for rituals, perfumery, medicinal use, and cooking. Of these, ginger, cardamom and turmeric belong to the family Zingiberaceae the ginger family. [Note: biological classification has many tiers and can be conceptualized as a triangle with its apex at the bottom. The main hierarchy puts species at the apex, with genus before it, and family before genus. This is not unlike zooming out of your house on a mapthe most detailed picture would give the coordinates of your housethis would be the species equivalent; the less detailed picture would give you the city in which your house existsthis would be the genus equivalent; and a still less detailed picture would give the state in which your house existsthis would be the family equivalent. Thus, the scientific name for the ginger root you buy at the grocery store Zingiberaceae Zingiber officinale. Typically, only the genus and species names are used togetherthe family name is not always included.]

The Zingiberaceae family has at least 50 genera (genera is the plural of genus), and more than 1600 species. Turmeric, cardamom, and ginger are three of the 1600 species and their origin has been traced back to India. The Quseir al-Qadim excavations also confirm this based on the trade routes in both the Roman and Islamic periods, and historic texts.

Turmeric, cardamom, and ginger while primarily used as spices in traditional Indian cooking, have also been used in traditional medicine to address different ailments. While there have been recent reports in the popular press about the medicinal properties of turmeric and ginger, much less attention has been given to cardamom. This skewed public interest is illustrated in Google Trends, below.

Elettaria cardamomum, more commonly known as cardamom or green cardamom or true cardamom is distinct from brown/black cardamomAmomum subulatum, although in the early 19th century they were incorrectly considered to be the same genus. The genus name Elettaria comes from the local Indian name for the plant, indigenous to the southwestern part of the Indian peninsula. The 1899 publication of the The United States Dispensatory and Physicians Pharmacology, provides a description of the cardamom plant and states that This valuable plant is a native of the mountains of Malabar, where it springs up spontaneously in the forests after the removal of the undergrowth, and is very extensively cultivated by the natives..The odor of cardamom is fragrant, the taste warm, slightly pungent, and highly aromaticThe seeds should be powdered only when wanted for use, as they retain their aromatic properties best while in the capsule. While India used to be the worlds largest producer of green cardamom, that position now belongs to Guatemala.

The chemical composition, and therefore the flavor, aroma, and biochemical properties of green cardamom and brown/black cardamom are distinct. The limited scientific literature available is more specific to green cardamom, which continues to be the more expensive of the two, and sells for about $35 per pound in the pod. While the shell is also aromatic, the seeds are the primary source of the aromatic componentsvolatile oils and other phytochemicalsby some estimates up to 150 unique components. Because of centuries of anecdotal evidence on the medicinal properties of green cardamom in humans, there have now been a few reports on studies in laboratory animals in order to determine the active principles conferring the medicinal properties. Perhaps the most convincing ones are related to the analgesic and antispasmodic effects of oil extracted from the seeds. In fact, a closer look at the chemical composition of cardamom oil suggests that one of the primary components of the oil has the ability to relax smooth muscles, effectively reducing, if even modestly, some types of gastric discomfort. It is perhaps for this reason that crushed cardamom is an essential component of masala chai (masala=spice; chai=tea), spiced tea now sold well beyond Indian shores, and for a hefty price!

The NIH, whose funding is also on 45s chopping block, had initiated a program on complementary medicine in 2005, because it recognized that People have used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices for thousands of years in pursuit of health and well-being. But with looming budget cuts for the NIH, it is unclear how these programs will will be affected. Citizens will thus be doubly robbed of healthonce through a lopsided healthcare law, and again by reducing funding to healthcare research. One wonders how trading in commodities will be affected as a consequence particularly as it relates to members of the Zingiberaceae!

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Cannabis Reverses Brain Aging – Anti Aging News

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Most people know the average person's memory dissipates during the aging process. University of Bonn scientists teamed up with academicians at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem to determine the impact of cannabis on the brain's aging process. These researchers determined cannabis reverses aging processes within the brains of mice.

The Findings

The study revealed that older mice reverted back to the state of 2-month old mice after enjoying an extended low-dose cannabis treatment. These findings are important as they show there are additional options for the treatment of dementia in humans. The study results were recently publicized in the Nature Medicine journal.

The Impact of the Aging Process on the Brain

The brain ages just like every other organ in the human body. The result of this aging process is a decrease in cognitive ability. As an example, people tend to find it difficult to pay attention to multiple things at the same time or learn new concepts/skills as they age. Though this is a normal process, it also leads to dementia. Researchers have been searching for ways to mitigate or completely reverse this process. The scientists referenced above have reversed the processin mice with cannabis treatment. Mice have short life spans and show significant cognitive deficits after a year of life.

About the Study

The researchers provided mice with a small amount of THC. The low dose of cannabis treatment was selected so the mice did not experience a euphoric effect. THC is the active ingredient in cannabis. The treatment was provided to mice that were two months old, a year old and 18 months old. The treatment was applied across four weeks. The scientists then tested the animals' memory performance and learning capacity.

Mice provided with the placebo had the expected age-related memory and learning losses. Mice provided with cannabis enjoyed cognitive functions equal to those of of two-month-old mice. The cannabis treatment totally reversed performance loss in mice. The scientists studiedthe gene activity and brain tissue of treated mice to determine exactly what sort of effect cannabis treatment had in particularly old mice.

Following treatment, the molecular signature did not match that of old mice. Instead, it was similar to young mice. Furthermore, the quantity of links in the brain's nerve cells increased. These cells are vital to one's ability to learn. The bottom line is that cannabis treatment turned back the molecular clock in mice and it might be able to do the same in humans.

What led up to the Research

The cannabis treatment success stems from years of intense research. The scientists found the brain ages more rapidly when mice are not equipped with functional THC receptors. Cannabinoid 1 receptors are best defined as proteins where substances halt and stimulate a signal chain. These receptors are the cause of the euphoric effects of THC in marijuana and hashish. THC replicates the effects of the cannabinoids that are naturally created in the body. Cannabinoids perform vital functions within the brain. As one ages, the number of cannabinoids produced in the brain decrease. As the cannabinoid system declines the brain ages quite rapidly.

The Next Step

The next logical step is for researchers to perform clinical trials to determine if cannabis also reverses the aging process in the brains of human beings. Cannabis is widely usedfor medical purposes.It is also possible that cannabis boosts cognitive ability in aging adults. Though mice are not exactly the same as humans, the research team believes cannabis treatment will prove to be an effective means of treating dementia suffered by human beings across the world.

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The Tech Museum of Innovation wins national honor for BioDesign Studio exhibit – GlobeNewswire (press release)

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May 08, 2017 11:56 ET | Source: The Tech Museum of Innovation

photo-release

San Jose, CA, May 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Tech Museum of Innovation has earned one of the nations top honors for museum experiences. BioDesign Studio, an exhibit The Tech opened in 2016, won Silver for Interpretive Interactive Installations at the Media and Technology MUSE Awards, presented by The American Alliance of Museums at a celebration Sunday night.

We developed BioDesign Studio to make bioengineering playful, fun and approachable. Were thrilled to have national recognition of this ambitious effort, says Anja Scholze, Experience Developer and Program Manager, Biotech & Health, who accepted the award at AAMs annual meeting. It was a daunting task to design experiences that would empower everyone, from grade-schoolers to retirees, to explore a complex topic like bioengineering. A year later, its humbling to see our visitors walk away with a new understanding and enthusiasm for the possibilities of biotechnology and their own role in it.

BioDesign Studio is a permanent exhibit with an array of hands-on experiences that encourage visitors to play, tinker and design with the building blocks of life. At the Creature Creation Station, visitors use custom blocks representing genetic traits to build creatures and unleash them in a digital world where they interact with other organisms. In the Living Colors Lab, they use real lab equipment to alter the DNA of bacteria to change its color, and in the BioTinkering Lab they participate in bioengineering projects like creating bricks using mycelium, or mushroom root, a sustainable building material. The goal is to spark a sense of wonder about the worlds most complex technology: biology.

Bioengineering plays an important role in solving many of the worlds biggest problems like hunger and climate change. Were so happy to see BioDesign Studio visitors not only learning about synthetic biology, but starting to see their own potential to create with it, said Gretchen Walker, Vice President of Learning at The Tech.

The MUSE Awards competition received more than 200 applications from a wide variety of institutions in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. This years entries included videos and films, interactive kiosks and installations, VR experiences, applications and APIs, digital communities, websites, audio tours and more.

"We're so pleased to have received this recognition- we worked hard with the brilliant team of scientists at The Tech to create an exhibit about synthetic biology that could last 10 years. We can't wait to see the new life forms, biological and digital, that visitors create in the years to come," said Ben Millstein, Communications Manager of Local Projects, a New York firm that helped The Tech design the exhibit.

Over 90 GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) professionals from across the globe participated as jurors in the process of reviewing and scoring entries. Winning programs demonstrate outstanding achievement in their content, interface, design, technical merit, innovation, utility and appeal.

Now in its 28th year, the MUSE awards competition recognizes outstanding achievement in GLAM media and technology efforts. The competition is led by the American Alliance of Museums Media & Technology Professional Network. For more information about the MUSE awards, visit: http://aam-us.org/about-us/grants-awards-and-competitions/muse-awards

For more information on BioDesign Studio, visit thetech.org/biodesignstudio.

For pictures of BioDesign Studio, click here.

Media Contact: Marika E. Krause | 408-591-0027 | mkrause@thetech.org

About The Tech Museum of InnovationThe Tech is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. The museum located in the capital of Silicon Valley is a non-profit experiential learning resource established to engage people in exploring and experiencing applied technologies affecting their lives. The Tech Challenge and Tech Awards are signature programs of The Tech. The Techs mission is to inspire the innovator in everyone. Visit thetech.org for more info.

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The Tech Museum of Innovation wins national honor for BioDesign Studio exhibit - GlobeNewswire (press release)

Laura Caldwell and Antione Day on Anatomy of Innocence: Testimonies of the Wrongfully Convicted – WGN Radio

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Laura Caldwell and Antione Day on Anatomy of Innocence: Testimonies of the Wrongfully Convicted
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About five percent of people who are convicted of a crime in the US are, in fact, innocent. Laura Caldwell seeks to bring awareness to this with a new chilling, but hopeful collection of true stories, Anatomy of Innocence: Testimonies of the ...

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Social Security Knowledge Center: What does longevity have to do … – Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

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According to the 2015 Social Security report, less than 7 percent of people with enough quarters to draw their Social Security benefit died prior to receiving. There are three other groups of individuals that will not receive benefits infrequent workers who do not have sufficient earnings to qualify for benefits, non-covered workers such as state and local government employees who did not pay into the program and immigrants who arrive in the United States at 50 or older and therefore have not worked long enough to qualify for benefits.

Benefits are affected by how long you live, which is changing with every new breakthrough in the medical field. Life expectancy data is changing as well one of every four 65 years olds will live past age 90. The average life expectancy in the U.S. for men is 85 years old and for women, it is 88 years old. As we talk to clients, most people are more concerned about dying early, than living too long. This is a mindset that needs to be discussed.

As you get older, the cost of medical expenses increases. That is why it is so important when looking at your Social Security benefit, to have a professional present options that will improve your Survivor benefit. When one member of a married couple dies, only one check is remaining the higher of the two. So, it only makes sense to try and improve this benefit. Statistically, women outlive men so, you are looking at years of additional income needed for the spouse, that is now compromised by receiving only one check, not two. Thats a big difference.

Therefore, we tell people they need a plan Social Security should not be taken just because you are entitled to receive it. When, how and why need to be factored into your decision.

Roy and Diane Thompson are both National Social Security Advisors, and Roy is a former CPA of 40 years. The couple lives in Corinth and can be reached at (601) 954-0699 or at dthompson@pillarsllc.com. For more information, visit http://www.pillarsllc.com.

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Social Security Knowledge Center: What does longevity have to do ... - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

NEET physics 'tough', some biology questions stump many – Times of India

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PUNE: The National Eligiblity-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions to medical and dental colleges passed off smoothly in the city on Sunday. Nearly 50,000 students appeared for the exam from Pune and nearby areas.

For most of the students, however, physics was a tough paper to crack. They also said that about four to five questions in the biology paper seemed to be out of syllabus. Chemistry, however, they said, was easy.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted the NEET, which contained three papers of a total 720 marks.

The exam was simultaneously held at 104 centres in 11 cities in the state, including Pune and Mumbai.

Hritik Patil, one of the candidates at the S M Choksey College exam centre, said, "The biology paper carried the highest marks. As a few questions seemed out of syllabus, it is a cause of worry. These questions were worth 20 to 30 marks."

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NEET physics 'tough', some biology questions stump many - Times of India

Stanford biologist Robert Sapolsky takes on human behavior, free will – Stanford University News

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Robert Sapolsky (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

Robert Sapolsky is a lot of things: a MacArthur Fellow who spent years studying a troop of baboons in Kenya, a neuroendocrinologist who changed the way we think about stress and the brain, an accomplished columnist and writer of popular science books. He is also a professor of biology at Stanford who has long been interested in what animals can tell us about our own behavior.

Most recently, Sapolsky has been reflecting on the origins of human behavior, starting deep in the brain moments before we act and working his way millions of years back to the evolutionary pressures on our prehistoric ancestors decisions, with stops along the way to consider how hormones, brain development and social structures shape our behavior. He also has been thinking about free will and comes to the conclusion, based on the biological and psychological evidence, that we do not have it.

On the occasion of his latest book, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, Stanford News Service interviewed Sapolsky about science, the need to be behavioral biologists and what to do about justice if, as Sapolsky argues, we do not have free will.

Youve advanced the idea that we cant understand human behavior by studying it at just one level that, for example, we cant understand politics without studying neurons, brain chemistry without studying psychology, or perhaps even humans without studying apes. Does that mean that weve been studying behavior the wrong way? Are university departments too compartmentalized to see the forest for the trees?

Well, theres nothing particularly special about the idea scientists thinking about the bases of behavior know that you have to be multidisciplinary. There are entire journals that enshrine that concept, for example, Psychoneuroimmunology or Brain, Behavior and Evolution, and every university of note is overflowing with interdisciplinary programs.

Where the contrast comes in is with individual scientists research. Of necessity, a scientist typically studies one incredibly tiny sliver of some biological system, totally ensconced within one discipline, because even figuring out how one sliver works is really hard. There are not many scientists who would argue that their sliver is the only thing that should be studied just that its the most important, which sure makes sense, if they just spent their last seven decades obsessing over that sliver.

Is that a problem?

Its not a problem if all they do is talk and think about sliver X. But potentially a definite problem if they think larger and their sliver X-centric view of the universe is distorted.

All roads in human behavior seem to lead to its complicated. Out of the mess of things that combine to create our best and worst and typical behavior, what do you think is most important for ordinary people to know? What about policymakers or other scientists?

I think its the same for both groups, which is that were all behavioral biologists when we serve on juries, when we vote for whether government funds should be spent to try to correct some societal ill, when we deal with an intimate with a mental illness, we are tacitly deciding how and how much our behavior is constrained by biology. So we might as well be informed behavioral biologists. And one thing that involves is being profoundly cautious and humble when it comes to deciding you understand the causes of a behavior, especially one that we judge harshly.

What does that suggest about judicial sentencing rules or the death penalty, for example?

Basically, that the criminal justice system is staggeringly out of date in incorporating neuroscience into its thinking. As one flagrant example, the gold standard for determining whether someone is so organically impaired that they cant be held responsible for their criminal actions the MNaghten rule concerning an inability to tell the difference between right and wrong is based on the case of a man by that name, almost certainly a paranoid schizophrenic, from the 1840s. The 1840s!

What are the most important questions that remain?

For me, the single most important question is how to construct a society that is just, safe, peaceful all those good things when people finally accept that there is no free will.

Thats a tall order, given that philosophers let alone politicians and activists have trouble deciding what justice and free will mean.

A tall order, indeed, because words like justice, punishment, accountability become completely irrelevant as irrelevant as if a car that has damaged brakes and is dangerous to drive is thought to be accountable for being dangerous, and that justice is served when the car is punished by locking it up in a garage and not driven.

And its equally important and challenging to realize that free will is also irrelevant to our best as well as our worst behaviors. And thus where praising seems as irrelevant as praising a car for having a strong work ethic and admirable gratification postponement when it makes it up the top of a steep road. Or if you give a car preferential treatment if it was manufactured with a really attractive hood ornament.

Yes, a very tall order, and Im not sure if it is achievable.

Sapolsky is also a professor of neurology and neurological sciences and of neurosurgery, and a member of Stanford Bio-X and the Stanford Neurosciences Institute.

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Stanford biologist Robert Sapolsky takes on human behavior, free will - Stanford University News