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Cytokinetics Congratulates Its Founders, James A. Spudich, Ph.D. and Ronald D. Vale, Ph.D., on their Receipt of the …

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Lasker Award Winners` Research into Molecular Motors Formed the Foundation of Company`s Research and Development Activities

South San Francisco, CA, September 11, 2012 - Cytokinetics, Incorporated (CYTK) extends congratulations to Dr. James Spudich and Dr. Ronald Vale, winners of the 2012 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. The Lasker Awards are among the most respected science prizes in the world. Since 1945, the Lasker Awards Program has recognized the contributions of scientists, physicians, and public servants who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of human disease.

Drs. Spudich and Vale share this award for their innovative research relating to cytoskeletal motor proteins, the protein machines that transport cargoes within cells, segregate chromosomes and divide cells, contract muscles, and enable cell motility. Dr. Spudich is the Douglass M. and Nola Leishman Professor in Cardiovascular Disease and Professor of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology at Stanford University. Dr. Vale is the William K. Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Anesthesia and Professor and Vice Chair of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco. Drs. Spudich and Vale are co-founders of Cytokinetics.

"Today, we extend congratulations to our founders in connection with their receipt of the prestigious Lasker Award," stated Robert I. Blum, Cytokinetics` President and Chief Executive Officer. "Their pioneering research in the biochemistry and biophysics of molecular motors formed the cornerstone of our initial discovery research at Cytokinetics. It is our company`s privilege to now carry forward biopharmaceutical programs into later stage research and development that are directed towards grievous illnesses and that continue to benefit from their valued contributions as scientific advisors."

About Cytokinetics

Cytokinetics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics that modulate muscle function for the potential treatment of serious diseases and medical conditions. Cytokinetics` lead drug candidate from its cardiac muscle contractility program, omecamtiv mecarbil, is in Phase II clinical development for the potential treatment of heart failure. Amgen Inc. holds an exclusive license worldwide (excluding Japan) to develop and commercialize omecamtiv mecarbil and related compounds, subject to Cytokinetics` specified development and commercialization participation rights. Cytokinetics is independently developing tirasemtiv (formerly CK-2017357), a skeletal muscle activator, as a potential treatment for diseases and conditions associated with aging, muscle wasting or neuromuscular dysfunction. Tirasemtiv is currently the subject of a Phase II clinical trials program and has been granted orphan drug designation and fast track status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and orphan medicinal product designation by the European Medicines Agency for the potential treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a debilitating disease of neuromuscular impairment in which treatment with tirasemtiv produced potentially clinically relevant pharmacodynamic effects in Phase II trials. Cytokinetics is also conducting research on compounds that inhibit smooth muscle contractility and which may be useful as potential treatments for diseases and conditions associated with excessive smooth muscle contraction, such as bronchoconstriction associated with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. All of these drug candidates and potential drug candidates have arisen from Cytokinetics` research activities and are directed towards the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is a complex biological infrastructure that plays a fundamental role within every human cell. Additional information about Cytokinetics can be obtained at http://www.cytokinetics.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). Cytokinetics disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and claims the protection of the Act`s Safe Harbor for forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Cytokinetics` research and development activities, including the properties and potential benefits of Cytokinetics` drug candidates and potential drug candidates. Such statements are based on management`s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, potential difficulties or delays in the development, testing, regulatory approval and production of Cytokinetics` drug candidates and potential drug candidates that could slow or prevent clinical development or product approval, including risks that current and past results of clinical trials or preclinical studies may not be indicative of future clinical trials results and that Cytokinetics` drug candidates and potential drug candidates may have unexpected adverse side effects or inadequate therapeutic efficacy. For further information regarding these and other risks related to Cytokinetics` business, investors should consult Cytokinetics` filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact: Jodi L. Goldstein Manager, Marketing & Corporate Communications (650) 624-3000

The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

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Cytokinetics Congratulates Its Founders, James A. Spudich, Ph.D. and Ronald D. Vale, Ph.D., on their Receipt of the ...

Upcoming Meeting at Northwestern University/Kellogg School Helps Baby Boomers Learn About Later-Life Entrepreneurship

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BOULDER, CO--(Marketwire - Sep 10, 2012) - The Center for Productive Longevity (CPL), which serves as the bridge between older people and opportunities for them to continue in productive activities, is hosting its third meeting in the "Spotlight on Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Baby Boomers" series on Thursday, October 11. The meeting will be held in Wieboldt Hall on the Chicago campus of Northwestern University/Kellogg School. To register and view the agenda, visit http://www.ctrpl.org/october-11-2012. Participants must be 50 and older.

The meetings are designed to facilitate a national momentum for new-business creation, which will help Baby Boomers remain productively engaged while contributing to national economic growth. AARP, the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) and CPL are sponsors of the meeting, along with other organizations.

The day will include presentations from successful entrepreneurs over the age of 50 and two rounds of interactive breakout sessions on topics relating to new-business creation and how to become an entrepreneur.

The featured speakers include:

The "Spotlight on Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Baby Boomers" meeting is limited to 125 participants on a first-come basis. The charge of $35 per person covers a spouse, if desired, and a post-meeting workshop on the "how-tos" of creating a new business. Registrations must be made by October 1 at http://www.ctrpl.org/october-11-2012.

A block of hotel rooms for this meeting is reserved at the MileNorth Hotel, one block away, at a discounted rate of $175.

This is one in a series of four meetings, organized by CPL. The first was held at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, MO on March 27, and the second is being held at Babson College in Wellesley, MA on September 14; the fourth meeting will be held at the University of Denver on November 15.

For more information on CPL and the senior entrepreneurship meetings, visit http://www.ctrpl.org or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CTRPL.

About the Center for Productive Longevity The mission of CPL is to stimulate the substantially increased engagement of people 55 and older in productive activities, paid and volunteer, where they are qualified and ready to continue adding value. Visit ctrpl.org for more information. Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CTRPL.

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Upcoming Meeting at Northwestern University/Kellogg School Helps Baby Boomers Learn About Later-Life Entrepreneurship

'Junk DNA' and the mystery of mankind's missing genes

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The lexicon of science is riddled with catchy yet misleading terms. The god particle is nothing of the sort. Genes cannot really be selfish, and when astronomers talk about metals, they usually mean something else entirely. Now, we must add junk DNA to the list of scientific misnomers.

Last week, the results of the multinational Encode Project were published across 30 papers in the journals Nature, Science, Genome Biology and Genome Research. The five-year collaboration involved some 450 scientists working in 32 institutions and took up 300 years of computer time. The goal was to analyse the vast bulk of human DNA that does not constitute a gene ie, does not directly code for the creation of particular proteins and is seemingly surplus to requirements.

The conclusion? That this DNA is not junk at all, but absolutely vital for the functioning of our cells. It turns out that as much as a fifth of the 98 per cent of our DNA that falls into this category is instead made up, among other things, of switches bits of DNA that turn some genes on and others off. It is now believed that, in order to get to grips with genetic illnesses such as hereditary heart disease, some forms of diabetes and Crohns Disease, we need to understand these regulatory elements as much as the genes themselves.

It has been clear for a long time that there is a lot more to DNA than just genes. Indeed, one of the great scientific surprises in recent decades has been the discovery that the human genome is surprisingly bereft of actual genes. When the first draft of it was published in the summer of 2001, it did not describe the 100,000 or more genes that most biologists assumed we had, but fewer than 20,000 making Homo sapiens not much more well-endowed genetically than a fruit fly or even a lump of yeast. As an editorial in Nature put it, Unless the human genome contains a lot of genes that are opaque to our computers, it is clear we do not gain our undoubted complexity over worms and plants by using many more genes.

Partly as a result, the idea that scanning a persons genome can tell us pretty much everything about them their likely intelligence, the chance of criminal tendencies, their probable age and cause of death is now seen as a simplistic fantasy. Indeed, the more we learn about our genome, the more complex the story becomes. We have genes that tell our bodies to make proteins, genes that affect other genes, genes that are influenced by the environment, segments of DNA that switch certain genes on and off, as well as our RNA, the still-not-fully understood messenger molecule that conveys information from our DNA to protein factories in the cells.

Despite the fanfare with which the Encode findings were greeted last week, biologists have known for years that junk DNA, a term coined in 1972 by the Japanese-American geneticist Susumu Ohno, performs a host of functions, among them gene regulation. Indeed, it was always obvious that much of our DNA must be tasked with the activation or suppression of other parts of itself: genes that make bone tissue are present in all cells but are only switched on in bone cells; heart muscle genes are present but inactive in your teeth and liver and everywhere else.

Furthermore, as Ohno pointed out, a great deal of the genome consists of pseudogenes non-functioning copies of active genes that form the raw material of evolution. Without this spare genetic material, natural selection would have nothing to act upon. We have also known for some time that the dark part of our genome contains what are known as human endogenous retroviruses: bits of the genetic code from viruses that are a legacy of our long battle with these microbes. In millennia to come, it is likely that bits of the genome for HIV will become similarly incorporated into our DNA, as a legacy of the Aids epidemic.

The more we learn, the more the recipe book of life turns out to resemble less a single tome than a well-organised library, complete with a sophisticated index and with the ability to lend and borrow books. Some of the volumes are crucial a mix-up in the code could kill or cripple us while others moulder in the stacks. There is probably a lot of built-in redundancy, which is not surprising considering that the genomes of any species are the result of three billion years of evolution. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that we can make any sense of it at all.

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'Junk DNA' and the mystery of mankind's missing genes

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University Senate approves biology major, delays vote on botany, zoology merger

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The Miami University Senate voted Monday to approve a new biology major.

The decision came after the Senate opted to table a vote on merging the botany and zoology departments until the Senates next meeting in two weeks.

Regardless of the outcome of the botany-zoology merger, James Hickey, interim chair of the botany department, said approving the biology major is a step in the right direction.

This is something that we all feel we need to move forward on, Hickey said. Its important for recruitment, and we feel that its a good synthesis of where we need to be.

According to Doug Meikle, chair of the zoology department, the creation of the biology major will appeal to prospective high school students looking specifically for biology as a course of study.

Thats the word that high school students understand best, Meikle said. A lot of this has to do with recruitment.

The decision to merge the botany and zoology departments, which was tabled, has several justifications, according to Phyllis Callahan, dean of the college of arts and sciences. The proposed merger would also enhance recruitment, as well as achieve efficiencies in staffing and course offerings and enhance collaboration among faculty, Callahan said.

According to Callahan, there are several benefits to merging the two departments, including saving staff positions, saving a department chair stipend and supplemental salary, as well as achieving curricular efficiency and reducing redundancies in the departments.

The Senate also heard special reports from the benefits committee about the 2012 benefits activities as well as employee benefit changes to expect in 2013.

Additionally, the Senate heard a special report from Deedie Dowdle, associate vice president of university communications and marketing, on the Miami logo, branding and domain name. Dowdle updated the Senate on the Miami website redesign, the domain name and logo change, a style guide for identity standards and overarching university branding.

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University Senate approves biology major, delays vote on botany, zoology merger

West Campus welcomes newest institute

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By Ashton Wackym

Contributing Reporter

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Gary Brudvig, the Benjamin Silliman Professor of Chemistry and professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, was appointed last week as the director of Yales new Energy Sciences Institute.

The institute is the sixth such group added to Yales West Campus, and represents the newest leg of the Universitys push in sustainability science. As part of the institutes opening, Brudvig said he is looking not simply to move current faculty to West Campus, but to also hire new researchers. Although the facility opened earlier this month, Brudvig is still filling out his ranks in order to get projects started.

I am most excited to bring in 10 new faculty members in the energy area, Brudvig said. It is great for the University and will help to build a critical mass of faculty working in this area to Yale.

By bringing in new staff, Brudvig said he hopes to also bring in new ideas, perspectives and research opportunities, all key ingredients to the collaborative science mission of West Campus. While the emphasis of the Energy and Sciences Institute is research in energy storage, conservation and conversion, it is also part of a larger initiative to promote interdisciplinary research at Yale.

The institutes are independent, but we are hoping some of the faculty of the various institutes will have overlapping interests so that collaboration can take place, Brudvig said. The focus of West Campus is on interdisciplinary research.

The West Campus institutes generally represent the cross-pollination of ideas and disciplines, according to chemistry professor Jason Crawford. He added that the multi-institute model will succeed by drawing upon strengths collectively.

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West Campus welcomes newest institute

Purina Animal Nutrition and Science Supplements Announce Strategic Partnership

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ST. LOUIS, MO--(Marketwire - Sep 10, 2012) - Purina Animal Nutrition announced it has formed a strategic partnership with U.K.-based Science Supplements that will allow it to expand into the U.S. horse supplement market and continue to provide premium animal nutrition solutions. The partnership will fuel future product launches that include industry-leading research and the highest quality ingredients, coupled with technology, to create unique, value-added products for horse owners.

Science Supplements produces a range of products, from hydration to joint supplements, which undergo extensive research and development before being released on the market. By combining the company's deep insights with the extensive research program at the Purina Animal Nutrition equine research facility in Gray Summit, Mo., the partnership will provide U.S. horse owners with access to products proven to be effective.

"Our goal for entering the supplement category was to offer products made using the same stringent standards that we've used on the feed side of our business for more than 100 years," said David Hoogmoed, executive vice president and chief operating officer, feed, Purina Animal Nutrition. "We believe Science Supplements is to supplements as Purina Animal Nutrition is to feed."

Both companies believe in the slow process of research and development in order to supply only the finest quality ingredients, backed by product trials.

"This relationship is forging new inroads to the U.S. supplement market and is not only supply of product but about joint development and education," says Dr. David Marlin, CEO of Science Supplements. "The end goal is to provide products backed by extensive research and development for the animals we work with so closely."

Horse owners can expect to see new horse supplement offerings from Purina Animal Nutrition later this year.

About Purina Animal Nutrition Purina Animal Nutrition LLC is a national organization serving producers, animal owners and their families through more than 4,700 local cooperatives, independent dealers and other large retailers across the United States. Driven by an uncompromising commitment to animal excellence, Purina Animal Nutrition is an industry innovator, offering America's leading brands of complete feeds, supplements, premixes, ingredients and specialty technologies for the livestock and lifestyle animal markets.

Headquartered in Shoreview, Minn., Purina Animal Nutrition LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Land O'Lakes, Inc.

About Science Supplements Science Supplements Ltd. produces a range of unique and efficacious products for the equine market using cutting-edge science, the latest developments in research and the finest quality active ingredients. Science Supplements Ltd. products are formulated by Dr. David Marlin, working in conjunction with the best international experts in different nutrition related fields. Science Supplements undertakes both laboratory, clinical and field trials to ensure that these products are both highly effective and safe.

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Purina Animal Nutrition and Science Supplements Announce Strategic Partnership

The Outdoors Hates You: More New Tick-Borne Diseases (ICAAC 1)

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This week Im at ICAAC (the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy), a massive infectious-disease and drugs meeting that is sponsored every year by the American Society for Microbiology. ICAAC is an unabashed scary-disease geekgasm, the kind of meeting at which the editor of a major journal tweets from one room, Modern medicine will come to a halt in India because of catastrophic multi-drug resistance while a microbiologist alerts from another: Rat lungworm traced to salads on a Caribbean cruise. Snails had apparently gotten to the greens.

Good times.

Meanwhile, I was learning more about ticks.

The news last week was of a new tick-borne illness recently identified in Missouri, and of how it demonstrates the way that tick-borne infections are under-appreciated by medicine and public health, and even more by the general public. In addition to the new Heartland virus, I mentioned two other tick-borne diseases that had been identified in the past two years.

It turns out, though, that was an under-count. The news Sunday from ICAAC is that tick-related illnesses are even more common than they appear.

Dr. Bobbi Pritt, the laboratory director of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., unfolded a disease detective story that started in the summer of 2009 with two men who liked the outdoors, and two astute lab technicians. The men, a 54-year-old and a 23-year-old who had both been out in the woods in Wisconsin, had fevers, fatigue and headaches, and a history of tick bites; the 23-year-old, who had received a lung transplant for cystic fibrosis, was more seriously ill and had to be hospitalized. The technicians noted that the mens disease was most like erlichiosis but the tick that carries that tick-borne illness is not present in the upper Midwest. Months later after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had sent a pair of investigators, after involving epidemiologists from the US military who had been studying illness in the residents of bases nationwide, after trapping mice and grinding up hundreds of ticks the group realized they had found a new tick-borne illness. It was an Erlichia though it is so new that it does not yet have a name but it was carried by a tick species that had never been associated with that organism before. Forty-two people have been sickened by it so far. This is not a benign disease, Pritt warned.

Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Krause, a senior research scientist at the Yale schools of medicine and public health, described yet another formerly unknown tick-borne disease, one that is more like Lyme disease but is caused by a newly identified relative of the Lyme organism called Borrelia miyamotoi. The illness that results is a severe and sometimes fatal relapsing fever. But unlike other relapsing fevers already known to occur in the western United States, this one is carried by a different range of tick species: the hard-bodied ticks that are primarily in the eastern US and are responsible for transmitting Lyme, erlichiosis and anaplasmosis. So far, Krause said, this new disease has been most studied in humans in Russia but ticks carrying B. miyamotoi have already been identified in the United States, in ticks and mice in the Northeast and upper Midwest.

Then, Dr. Gary Wormser of New York Medical College warned that a third tick-borne illness, deer tick virus formerly known to affect only deer is now emerging as a human pathogen. Two cases of encephalitis caused by it have been recorded. Wormser described a third, tragic case that he has not yet published: a 77-year-old man from upstate New York who already had several chronic illnesses was bitten by a tick in October 2010, developed a fever and lethargy a month later, slid into a coma and died 8 months later, having never regained consciousness.

Finally, Dr. Barbara Herwaldt of the CDC reminded us that, even if these stories frighten you enough to never leave your house, you are still at risk of a tick-borne disease. To date, 159 people the tip of the iceberg, she said have been diagnosed with the tick-borne illness babesiosis after receiving a blood transfusion. Because of the lag between bite and symptoms, and because the symptoms of babesiosis like all tick-borne diseases could be caused by so many other things, infected donors are not successfully screened out by blood banks. And because there is no FDA-approved test for babesiosis not just a test for blood, but not even a diagnostic test to prove infection in a patient blood banks and even physicians are unable to say with certainly when someone is a risk and should abstain from donating.

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The Outdoors Hates You: More New Tick-Borne Diseases (ICAAC 1)

Dr. Tom Maniatis honored with 2012 Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science

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Public release date: 10-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-342-0508 Columbia University Medical Center

NEW YORK (September 10, 2012) Tom Maniatis, PhD, the Isidore S. Edelman Professor of Biochemistry and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University Medical Center, is to receive the 2012 Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science. Dr. Maniatis is known for both his research on the mechanisms of gene regulation and his Molecular Cloning Manual. Dr. Maniatis will receive the award on Sept. 21 in New York City.

"I am deeply honored to receive the Lasker Special Achievement Award in Medical Science," said Dr. Maniatis. "I became a scientist because of the excitement of making discoveries, but to see the impact of these discoveries on the treatment of human disease has been particularly gratifying."

"Tom Maniatis' work is the quintessential example of the path from basic science to clinical applications," said Lee Goldman, MD, executive vice president of Columbia University and dean of the faculties of health sciences and medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. "His cloning manual is used by researchers worldwide, while his research contributions are at the foundation of current thinking about genetics."

In 1980 James Watson, PhD, director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), asked Maniatiswho was on the Harvard faculty at the timeto teach new genetic engineering techniques during a summer course at CSHL and then to produce a manual. The resultant Molecular Cloning Manualpublished in 1982 and often referred to as "the Bible" by students and researcherscontained practically every technique biologists needed to manipulate DNA.

Scientists could now identify genes that cause disease and then produce new drugs such as human insulin; and the techniques were indispensable for the success of the Human Genome Project. Dr. Maniatis' laboratory developed many of the techniques in the manual, which he coauthored with his postdoctoral fellow Ed Fritsch, PhD, and Joe Sambrook, PhD, the scientific director at CSHL.

Using the new techniques, Dr. Maniatis was the first to isolate a human gene and to use the cloned gene to identify deletion and substitution mutations that cause disease. The gene beta globin, for example, is part of the hemoglobin complex, and the mutations Dr. Maniatis identified cause a blood disease called beta thalassemia.

Maniatis also created the first complete human "genomic" DNA librarya collection of DNA containing every human genewhich made it possible to isolate and study any human gene. As with his genetic engineering techniques, Maniatis freely shared this library with other researchers.

In other research, Dr. Maniatis and his students uncovered important details of how information in genes is turned into proteins, including the mechanisms of transcription and RNA splicing.

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Dr. Tom Maniatis honored with 2012 Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science

Two Columbia Professors Win Lasker Foundation Awards for Their Work in Biological Sciences

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Two Columbia professors have won prestigious Lasker Foundation Awards for their work in biological sciences.

Tom Maniatis, the Isidore S. Edelman Professor of Biochemistry and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University Medical Center, will receive the 2012 Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science. Maniatis is known for both his research on the mechanisms of gene regulation and his Molecular Cloning Manual. The award, which he will share with the Carnegie Institutions Donald Brown, is given to scientists for exceptional leadership and citizenship in biomedical science.

I am deeply honored to receive the Lasker Special Achievement Award in Medical Science, said Maniatis. I became a scientist because of the excitement of making discoveries, but to see the impact of these discoveries on the treatment of human disease has been particularly gratifying.

On the Morningside campus, Michael Sheetz, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences, won the Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for his part in discoveries concerning cytoskeletal motor proteins, machines that move cargos within cells, contract muscles, and enable cell movements. The basic research award is given to those scientists whose techniques or concepts to the elimination of major causes of disability and death, according to the Lasker Foundation.

He won it with two other scientists, Stanford Universitys James Spudich and Ronald Vale of the University of California, San Francisco, with whom hes been working for many years. I am deeply honored to receive the Lasker with friends and wish to thank the many people in my lab and our collaborators who contributed so much to the overall effort, said Sheetz.

The Lasker Awards, which carry an honorarium of $250,000 for each category, will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, September 21, in New York City. Since the inception of the Lasker Awards in 1945, 81 Lasker laureates have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, 29 in the last two decades.

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Two Columbia Professors Win Lasker Foundation Awards for Their Work in Biological Sciences

UCLA Chemist Steven G. Clarke Named to Endowed Chair in Gerontology

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Removing molecular 'garbage' may be key to successful aging, Clarke says

(Attention editors: Photo Attached)

Newswise Steven G. Clarke, a distinguished professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry in UCLA's College of Letters and Science, has been named to UCLA's Elizabeth and Thomas Plott Chair in Gerontology.

The endowed chair, held for a five-year term, is intended for a scholar who conducts research and education activities related to aging and longevity in the areas of molecular biology, neuroscience and immunology.

An authority in his field, Clarke focuses on the biochemistry of the aging process and conducts research aimed at understanding, on a molecular level, how human functions are maintained during aging.

His research team has proposed that a major factor in the successful aging of all organisms is how well age-generated molecular "garbage" damaged proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and small molecules can either be repaired or eliminated from the body. His lab has analyzed protein-repair systems and novel types of enzymes that may contribute to reducing this buildup of damage in aging organisms.

Specifically, Clarke's team discovered and characterized the repair system involving the enzyme L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase, or PCMT. Early research on this enzyme's ability to repair defective proteins demonstrated that mice lacking sufficient PCMT had a significant increase in the number of damaged proteins in their tissues, particularly in the brain. Deficiencies in this enzyme have been linked to epilepsy and may also play a role in several degenerative diseases.

According to Clarke, understanding such pathways may help spur the future development of interventions to enhance these repair systems in the elderly, helping address declines in muscle strength, lung capacity, mental status, eye-lens clarity, heart output and other losses of function.

Clarke added that we may now be at the tip of the iceberg in our understanding of how many repair activities exist and how these activities may be manipulated for healthy living, particularly with diet and pharmaceuticals.

"I'm excited to accept the appointment to the Plott Chair and to continue our research in this critical field," said Clarke, who also directs UCLA's Cellular and Molecular Biology Training Program.

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UCLA Chemist Steven G. Clarke Named to Endowed Chair in Gerontology

Stem Cells Could Be The Next Anti-Aging Fad

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Injections of stem cells taken from patients blood may finally banish wrinkles if clinical trials of a new treatment are successful.

For some, wrinkles are seen as a sign of character. For most, they are an unwelcome reminder of ageing.

However, scientists are developing a method that may finally end the need for the routine of treatments and moisturisers used to try to keep facial lines at bay.

The first clinical trials are to begin shortly on a treatment that uses stem cells purified from a patients blood to combat their own wrinkles.

The cells will be injected beneath the skin where they will grow into new skin cells to help restore the elasticity, claims Pharmacells, the Glasgow-based company behind the technology.

Athol Haas, the companys chief executive, said: The skin has a natural elastic property which comes from cells known as fibroblasts.

The ability of the body to produce this elastic material slows down with age because the number of these fibroblasts decrease.

By introducing large numbers of stem cells into the right place, we are increasing the ability of the body to produce this material. It is still in its early stages but we hope to begin phase one trials within the next 12 months.

Until recently, anyone hoping to get rid of their wrinkles had to rely on cosmetic treatments that injected synthetic collagen under the skin as a filler to remove the lines.

Botox has now become popular for cosmetic treatments, where a neurotoxin from the bacteria Clostridium botulinum is injected to immobilise the muscles that can cause wrinkles.

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Stem Cells Could Be The Next Anti-Aging Fad

Grey's star in trouble for posting spoiler

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Patrick Dempsey has confirmed reports suggesting he was reprimanded by Grey's Anatomy bosses after giving away plot secrets by posting a photo of a castmate online.

The actor admits he wasn't thinking about the impact of what he was doing when he tweeted shots of Eric Dane on the set of the medical drama.

Dane's character, Mark Sloane, was left for dead at the end of the last season of the medical drama.

In a pre-taped interview with chat show host Ellen DeGeneres, Dempsey explains, "I tweeted some pictures of this season and they were like a spoiler alert. All of the sudden I got all these phone calls from (the network) ABC, like, 'You have to take this picture down!'"

"I was just enthusiastic: 'This is a great image, I should shoot this.'"

But the damage was already done before Dempsey removed the shot of Dane: "Now we know he survives and comes back and he was just napping in between takes."

But Dane is planning an exit from the show - earlier this summer, the actor announced the upcoming ninth season of the show will be his last.

The new season of Grey's Anatomy is set to debut in the US later this month.

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Grey's star in trouble for posting spoiler

Rockwell Nutrition Approves Improved Paleo Protein Powder

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Wilmington, NC (PRWEB) September 10, 2012

Rockwell Nutrition, a leading health supplement website, promotes the improved formula of paleo protein powder, now with inulin and higher fiber content.

According to the website, the changes in the product will give it an edge over its competitors. Inulin, the website explains, does not affect blood sugar levels despite its sweet taste. This soluble fiber is shown to have health-promoting advantages, from helping to protect against metabolic syndrome by controlling blood lipids and blood glucose, to supporting GI health through its ability to modulate gut microbial action, says the website.

Rockwell Nutrition also explained that the new formula is ideal for weight control, detoxification, enhanced immunity, and gaining more muscle mass. Drinking a PaleoMeal shake each day will give you natural energy, help you burn body fat, and give you better endurance and a healthier body, the site continues.

Rockwell Nutrition further mentioned that the presence of soluble fiber makes the formula easier to dissolve in water.

The website also reported the use of charcone, a natural sweetener, to improve the flavor. Stevia, erythritol, and strawberry banana flavor were also listed by the website to contribute to the taste. In conclusion, the website mentioned that whether you are trying to burn fat or increase muscle and endurance, PaleoMeal is a perfect meal replacement smoothie.

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Rockwell Nutrition is dedicated to providing access to and information about the highest-quality supplements in the industry. We review thousands of products every year and offer only the cream of the crop. Unfortunately, there are many companies out there who manufacture products that contain nutrients that are biochemically unavailable or are filled with toxins and allergens. Rockwell helps you separate bogus supplements from those that are scientifically and clinically proven to work, and provides recommendation on only the best of the best.

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Rockwell Nutrition Approves Improved Paleo Protein Powder

Mandatory GM Labeling Would Require Major Change

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CPG manufacturers may be on the cusp of monumental change as voters in California contemplate a hotly contested ballot initiative to require labeling of genetically modified foods.

Food marketers will face tough choices should the measure pass, as about 70% of processed foods sold in supermarkets contain GM ingredients like corn and soy. Some estimate that 100,000 or more foods sold in California contain some level of GE ingredients and would therefore be affected.

The mandate would be limited to the Golden State, but the implications for companies that choose not to move away from GM ingredients in advance of the July 1, 2014, deadline could be as far-reaching as consumer awareness spreads.

While the government deems genetically modified organisms safe, Californians want to judge for themselves. A Pepperdine University poll found that if the election were held last month, Californians would pass the proposition by a 3-1 margin.

To avoid the partially produced with genetic engineering label and possible consumer backlash, suppliers will likely reformulate product with more costly non-GE foods or organic ingredients, just as theyve done in countries where genetic modification disclosure is required.

Read more: Prop 37 Battle Rages in California

A recent study commissioned by the No on 37, Stop the Deceptive Food Labeling Scheme campaign, of which the Grocery Manufacturers Association is a chief sponsor, bears this out.

It projects that reformulations to non-GE and organic ingredients, which by law cannot be genetically modified, will be the most likely course taken by food producers.

Read more: California GMO Bill Is Top Priority for GMA

Retailers might also adjust their sourcing policies to gain consumer favor by incorporating more organic foods and those that have been verified under the Non-GMO Project and labeled with its seal.

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Mandatory GM Labeling Would Require Major Change

Planet of the Apes: What is that big hunk of 'junk' DNA up to ?

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Last week, in response to a media blitz promoting a $288 million DNA project called ENCODE, headlines announced that most of our DNA formerly known as "junk" was actually useful.

A number of scientists both inside the study and out took issue with this claim - which centered on the 98 percent of our DNA that isn't officially part of any gene.

Sorting the workers from the freeloaders in our DNA is crucial to understanding how our genetic code works, how it drives human evolution and influences our traits and health.

Some biologists dislike the term "junk DNA" because they already knew at least part of it is doing something essential - like regulating how the instructions in the genes are carried out.

The genes hold recipes for making proteins - the working parts and scaffolding of the body. Some of the rest of the DNA tells the genes how much of a given protein to make at any given time.

The goal of the ENCODE (Encylopedia of DNA Elements) project was to figure out which parts have those important regulatory jobs.

According to some scientists involved, they succeeded in pinning down where many of those regulators lurked and identified variants in that DNA that other studies have connected to a variety of diseases. Those findings could lead to new targets for drug research and new avenues for predictive genetic testing.

But long before this project was conceived, scientists had begun to explore our jungle of mystery DNA. The question of non-gene DNA came up in 1975, when researchers discovered that humans and chimpanzees were 98 percent genetically identical. That meant we and chimps were more closely related than mice were to rats, or chimps were to gorillas.

The researchers who did the comparison pointed out that some of our differences might stem not from the genes, but from our other DNA that is regulating the genes.

That regulatory role is crucial when animals are developing in the womb. Some stretch of non-gene DNA could, for example, signal the human brain to keep growing long after chimp brain development would have shut off.

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Planet of the Apes: What is that big hunk of 'junk' DNA up to ?

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CMC Biologics Announces Mark W. Sawicki as Vice President, Global Business Development

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SEATTLE and COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --CMC Biologics, a leading contract manufacturing organization known for its technical excellence in process development and cGMP manufacture, announced today it has hired Mark W. Sawicki, Ph.D., to serve as the Company's new Vice President of Global Business Development. Dr. Sawicki will be focused on business development, sales management, and the integration and alignment of the Company's global sales and marketing team.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110502/SF93356LOGO)

"Mark brings broad experience and documented success in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry," said Gustavo Mahler, Chief Operations Officer of CMC Biologics. "His results-oriented approach and business acumen will play a pivotal role in extending our track record of innovation, while helping us grow profitability and take full advantage of the global contract manufacturing market opportunities ahead. In his role as Vice President, Global Business Development, he will be responsible for realizing the full potential of the sales and marketing team and provide leadership to this exciting phase of CMC Biologics' growth".

"CMC Biologics is very well respected, has a growing global customer base, offers world-class analytical, process development and manufacturing services, and has recently introduced new innovative services and technologies to its offering, giving the company a very attractive growth potential." said Dr. Sawicki. "I see a bright future for CMC Biologics and am eager to be part of the experienced and dedicated team and the challenges ahead."

Dr. Sawicki brings 10 years of business development and sales management experience, consistently delivering on corporate revenue and market share goals in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry. Prior, Sawicki was Vice President, Business Development-Europe for Albany Molecular Research, Inc. responsible for business development and sales activity in the European theater, as well as global key account management strategy. He consistently increased sales revenue at rates far outpacing industry standards from the EU Theater and prior, the US, and developed market analysis models for AMRI to determine market factors to proactively envisage future geographic/business shifts and trends. He holds Ph.D. and B.S. degrees in biochemistry from State University of New York at Buffalo; is a member of the Editorial Advisory of Pharmaceutical Outsourcing; and has more than a dozen publications in drug discovery and biochemistry.

About CMC Biologics

CMC Biologics is a global contract development and manufacturing organization that provides fully integrated biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing solutions to clients around the world from its facilities in Europe and the USA. The Company has proven expertise in delivering custom solutions for the scale-up and cGMP manufacture of protein-based therapeutics for pre-clinical, clinical trials and commercial production. The Company's wide range of integrated services includes cell line development, bioprocess development, formulation and comprehensive analytical testing. Clients can also benefit from CMC Biologics' proprietary CHEF1 expression system for mammalian production. CMC Biologics has fully segregated microbial fermentation and mammalian cell culture suites and offers both fed-batch and perfusion production processes. CMC Biologics is located in Copenhagen, Denmark; Seattle, Washington; and Berkeley, California. More detailed information can be found at http://www.cmcbiologics.com.

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CMC Biologics Announces Mark W. Sawicki as Vice President, Global Business Development

Releasing serial killer Russell Williams DNA testing dates unjustified invasion of privacy

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Could serial killer Russell Williams have been caught sooner, preventing the loss of a second womans life?

That was the question the Star had in mind when it asked the ministry that oversees police in Ontario to make public the dates when Williams DNA was submitted for testing.

But the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services refused, citing an unjustified invasion of personal privacy.

Apparently, Williams own.

The ministry is also refusing to release dates when the samples were uploaded to a national DNA data bank.

All the Star is asking for is dates.

DNA samples that matched Williams profile and could not rule him out were taken from a sexual assault scene and, months later, from the first of his two murder scenes.

With timely DNA testing, could the second victim have been saved? Or was everything possible done, and was the second murder largely unpreventable?

Releasing the dates when DNA samples were submitted, tests were completed, and the resulting DNA profiles were fed into a national database would help clear up those questions.

The Star sought access to the dates in a freedom of information request last October. The ministry, which oversees the Ontario Provincial Police and the Centre of Forensic Sciences, denied access in a letter last month.

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Releasing serial killer Russell Williams DNA testing dates unjustified invasion of privacy

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Valley Center students hope to raise enough money to compete in space education program

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The students in Jeff Tracys biology class last week were making paper helicopters and adjusting them to see how far and accurately they could fly.

In coming months, they could be developing experiments that could travel through space to the International Space Station.

This is just an amazing opportunity for our school and our students, said Tracy, a science teacher at Valley Center High School. This is real science, not just content in the classroom.

Valley Center is one of 24 communities to be accepted as a candidate for Mission 3 of the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program. The program, part of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, is designed to give students hands-on experience designing, building, testing and conducting experiments for space flight.

The schools first hurdle is financial: It needs to secure $20,000 in donations or pledges by Wednesday to participate.

Its a lot of money, but we are optimistic, said Jamie Lewis, principal at Valley Center High School.

Weve had a good response so far. With all the aerospace companies and other businesses here locally, were hoping the community really embraces this opportunity for our students.

If the school meets the Wednesday deadline and is approved to participate, students enrolled in mid- to upper-level science classes including biology, chemistry, physics and statistics would work in teams to brainstorm experiments that could be tested in low gravity.

A review board would narrow the experiments to three finalists, and those would advance to the next round of the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program. The program then would select one Valley Center project to fly in low Earth orbit and then on to the International Space Station.

The program provides each participating community a research mini-laboratory capable of supporting one microgravity experiment and launch services to fly the mini-lab to the space station in early April 2013.

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Valley Center students hope to raise enough money to compete in space education program

Bradley biology student takes his research on the road

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The work Richwoods High School grad Ryan Niemeier does would be impressive enough just on its face.

The biology student, now in his junior year at Bradley University, has spent the last three years working with nanofiber materials, trying to create "scaffold" systems to help concentrate the delivery of stem cells to help the body repair itself. It's research that could one day help facilitate repairs to damaged organs and lead to cures for conditions like Parkinson's disease.

And now he's taking the research on the road, with a prestigious nine-month fellowship to Galway, Ireland, to expand his work and come at it from a different perspective and with the advice of different scientists.

Niemeier stands out among students at Bradley, said mentor Craig Cady, a Bradley biology professor whose research is directed in similar areas.

"It's unusual for a student ... to see him advance that much at that age," he said. "Some students are intimidated at that age - a lot of research, a lot of stress. But Ryan was very much at ease. He can make decisions on his own," Cady said.

In fact, though still a student, he's frequently been the one in the driver's seat when it comes to determining where he wants to take his studies.

"Ryan basically was involved in implementing and creating a design to literally do the research" that led him to where he is today, Cady said.

"I've been able to set up and design all my experiments from the ground up," Niemeier said shortly before leaving last month for the Emerald Isle.

And that's precisely what he said he was looking for in choosing a course of study, first at Bradley and then with the fellowship: "Am I going to be able to get into a lab and am I going to be able to do meaningful research?"

The two share a student-mentor relationship, but because of the direction of their research and the amount of time they have spent together since the summer after Niemeier's junior year of high school, Cady said, they can also work as collaborators.

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Bradley biology student takes his research on the road

Surge at Tampa Bay community colleges ends

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Community college enrollment has started to decline, signaling a possible end to the recession-fueled boom that sent large numbers of local job-seekers back to classrooms.

Enrollment statewide began leveling off last year, but area colleges are now seeing significant dips in their fall term head counts.

The number of students enrolled so far this fall is down 4.4 percent at Hillsborough Community College and 2.5 percent at St. Petersburg College. Pasco-Hernando Community College is seeing an even steeper decline about 8 percent.

Those decreases follow explosive growth double-digit percentages in some years at all three colleges in recent years.

College officials and others offer a variety of explanations for the declines, which show up in both the number of students and the number of credit hours being taken:

Prospective students must work a variety of part-time jobs, leaving little time for classes. The people who returned to college at the height of the recession have completed their programs. Changes to federal financial aid regulations have reduced awards for certain students.

"We think it has a lot to do with students just having to work. That's why they're taking fewer credit hours," said Pat Rinard, St. Petersburg College's associate vice president for enrollment management. "They're piecing together work just to make ends meet."

Those jobs may not be of the high-paying variety, either. At Valencia College in Orlando, for instance, officials attribute a slight drop-off in enrollment to hiring by theme parks.

At Brevard College, where fall enrollment is off by 2.4 percent from last year, officials say the long-planned shutdown of the shuttle program sent many space industry workers back to school in recent years. Now those students have wrapped up their studies, which might account for the decline, said spokesman John Glisch.

Gary Sligh, president of the Association of Florida Colleges, said that people also may be staying out of school because they are finding decent-paying jobs or, at least, think they can.

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Surge at Tampa Bay community colleges ends