PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Jun-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

Focal therapy for prostate cancer, in which only the tumor tissue is treated with cryoablation (freezing), can prolong life, result in less complications such as incontinence, and improve post-treatment quality of life. But the long-term effectiveness of focal treatments has not been well-studied. A new analysis that followed patients treated with optimized cryoablation of prostate cancer for an average of 10 years post-treatment is published in Journal of Men's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Men's Health website.

In the article "Long-Term Results Of Optimized Focal Therapy Of Prostate Cancer: Average 10-Year Follow-Up in 70 Patients," Gary Onik, MD, Carnegie Mellon University (Fort Lauderdale, FL), and coauthors found that long-term cancer control with focal cryoablation therapy was superior to radical whole gland treatments in patients at medium or high risk for disease-free survival.

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About the Journal

Journal of Men's Health is the premier peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online that covers all aspects of men's health across the lifespan. The Journal publishes cutting-edge advances in a wide range of diseases and conditions, including diagnostic procedures, therapeutic management strategies, and innovative clinical research in gender-based biology to ensure optimal patient care. The Journal addresses disparities in health and life expectancy between men and women; increased risk factors such as smoking, alcohol abuse, and obesity; higher prevalence of diseases such as heart disease and cancer; and health care in underserved and minority populations. Journal of Men's Health meets the critical imperative for improving the health of men around the globe and ensuring better patient outcomes. Tables of content and a sample issue can be viewed on the Journal of Men's Health website.

About the Societies

Journal of Men's Health is the official journal of the International Society of Men's Health (ISMH), American Society for Men's Health, Men's Health Society of India, and Foundation for Men's Health. The ISMH is an international, multidisciplinary, worldwide organization, dedicated to the rapidly growing field of gender-specific men's health.

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Is focal treatment for prostate cancer as effective in the long-term as radical therapies?

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

19-Jun-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, June 19, 2014Plasminogen activators are proteins involved in the breakdown of blood clots, and an elevated level of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is associated with an increased risk for clotting and cardiovascular disease. No PAI-1 inhibitors are currently available for clinical use, but a novel therapeutic approach using a targeted RNA aptamer drug that has been shown to block PAI-1 activity and prevent PAI-1-associated vascular events is described in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Nucleic Acid Therapeutics. The article is available free on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website.

Jared Damare, Stephanie Brandal, and Yolanda Fortenberry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, designed a library of small RNA molecules that target different regions of PAI-1. They then screened the library and enriched for the aptamers that were the most selective for binding to and inhibiting the function of PAI-1. The authors demonstrate the ability of these RNA aptamers to prevent PAI-1 from interacting with plasminogen activators in the article "Inhibition of PAI-1 Antiproteolytic Activity Against tPA by RNA Aptamers."

"Even beyond the admirable care and rigor of the work, the therapeutic significance lies in the authors addressing a vital concern: the identification of an aptamer that can specifically disrupt the target function of PAI-1 without inhibiting its other functions," says Executive Editor Graham C. Parker, PhD, The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI.

Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is under the editorial leadership of Co-Editors-in-Chief Bruce A. Sullenger, PhD, Duke Translational Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, and C.A. Stein, MD, PhD, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA; and Executive Editor Graham C. Parker, PhD.

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About the Journal

Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is an authoritative, peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online that focuses on cutting-edge basic research, therapeutic applications, and drug development using nucleic acids or related compounds to alter gene expression. Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is the official journal of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society. A complete table of contents and free sample issue may be viewed on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website.

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RNA aptamers targeted to plasminogen activator inhibitor

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

19-Jun-2014

Contact: Sophie Mohin Smohin@liebertpub.com 914-740-2254 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, June 19, 2014An innovative system using automated 3D printing technology and advanced digital tools to create customized, prefabricated ceramic building blocks, called PolyBricks, is enabling the construction of mortar-less brick building assemblies at much greater scales than was previously possible. The new techniques that use 3D printers to produce modular ceramic bricks from a single material that then interlock and assemble easily into larger units for architectural applications are described in an article in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (3DP), a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free online on the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing website.

Jenny Sabin, Martin Miller, Nicholas Cassab, and Andrew Lucia, of Sabin Design Lab, Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) and Jenny Sabin Studio (Philadelphia, PA), provide a detailed description of the computational design techniques they developed for the digital fabrication and production of ceramic PolyBrick components. The authors explain how they used available 3D printing technology to produce mass customized components in the article PolyBrick: Variegated Additive Ceramic Component Manufacturing (ACCM)"

"This work offers an exciting new alternative approach for 3D printing at architectural scales, without requiring the large infrastructure that most current methods require. It could open the door to many new applications" says Editor-in-Chief Hod Lipson, PhD, Director of Cornell University's Creative Machines Lab at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ithaca, NY.

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About the Journal

3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (3DP) is a peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online. The Journal facilitates and supports the efforts of engineers, software developers, architects, lawyers, Deans and academic chairpersons of engineering and business schools, technology transfer specialists, chief research officers and vice presidents of research in government, industry, and academia, medical professionals, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs. Spanning a broad array of disciplines focusing on novel 3D printing and rapid prototyping technologies, policies, and innovations, the Journal brings together the community to address the challenges and discover new breakthroughs and trends living within this groundbreaking technology. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed at the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (3DP) website.

About the Publisher

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New digital fabrication technique creates interlocking 3D-printed ceramic PolyBricks

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

13-Jun-2014

Contact: Peter Kent pkent@clemson.edu 864-723-0491 Clemson University

GREENWOOD, S.C. Seven research projects from Greenwood Genetic Center and Clemson University faculty were selected to receive the first round of funding provided by Self Regional Healthcare (SRHC).

In February, SRHC announced a partnership with Clemson and GGC to serve as the lead hospital partner in the collaborative. As part of that commitment, the hospital pledged a total of $5.6 million toward the project, including $1.2 million per year for three years to fund genetic research.

Fourteen projects were submitted from faculty at both Greenwood Genetic Center and Clemson University. Each project was evaluated by an independent team, and final selections were announced this week by Dr. Steve Skinner, director of the Greenwood Genetic Center, and Steve Kresovich, the Robert and Lois Coker Trustees Chair of Genetics/SmartState Chair of Genomics at Clemson.

Five of the funded projects focus on the understanding and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, while two proposals were combined to study improved diagnostics for hereditary cancers.

"The blending of research teams from both Clemson and GGC will allow our institutions to build on the strengths of one another," said Skinner. "Self Regional's commitment to supporting these endeavors is a vital part of understanding, and ultimately treating, disorders like autism and cancer that impact so many families."

Each selected project includes team members from both Clemson and Greenwood Genetic Center. The following proposals were funded:

Modi Wetzler from Clemson's department of chemistry will work on developing a therapy for autism patients who have a specific known mutation.

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Clemson, Greenwood Genetic Center research into autism, cancer funded by Self Healthcare

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

11-Jun-2014

Contact: Bill Schappert bschappert@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, June 11, 2014Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for more than 60% of HIV infections in the U.S. and 78% of new infections in men. Antiretroviral therapy can control HIV infection and suppress viral load, but mental health and substance abuse problems common among MSM can interfere with medication adherence. How conditions such as depression and alcohol and drug abuse can affect anti-HIV therapy and the success of various interventions are explored in an article published in LGBT Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the LGBT Health website.

Jaclyn White, MPH, Janna Gordon, and Matthew Mimiaga, ScD, MPH, Fenway Health, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, review the mental health problems and specific substances that pose the greatest threat to medication adherence among MSM. Targeted interventions can improve MSM's psychosocial problems while also helping them adhere to their antiretroviral drug regimens. Effective strategies identified through rigorous clinical trials must be translated into clinical practice, suggest the authors in the article "The Role of Substance Use and Mental Health Problems in Medication Adherence among HIV-Infected MSM."

"For people living with HIV, the importance of adherence to antiretroviral therapy cannot be over-emphasized," says Editor-in-Chief William Byne, MD, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. "It is essential to preventing both the manifestations of infection in the individual and the sexual transmission of the virus to others. In this article, White and colleagues show the importance of addressing mental health and substance use in antiretroviral adherence interventions for MSM."

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About the Journal

Spanning a broad array of disciplines LGBT Health, published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, brings together the LGBT research, health care, and advocacy communities to address current challenges and improve the health, well-being, and clinical outcomes of LGBT persons. The Journal publishes original research, review articles, clinical reports, case studies, legal and policy perspectives, and much more. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the LGBT Health website.

About the Publisher

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Harvard study finds substance abuse & mental health problems in MSM interfere with HIV medication adherence

May 2014 Breaking News Mixing Human DNA with Animal DNA Last days final hour news prophecy
May 2014 Breaking News Mixing Human DNA with Animal DNA - Last Days End Times News Prophecy Update - Genetic Engineering.

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May 2014 Breaking News Mixing Human DNA with Animal DNA Last days final hour news prophecy - Video

Welcome to GM in Australia, a The Conversation series looking at the facts, ethics, regulations and research into genetically modified (GM) crops. In this first instalment, Peter Langridge describes two GM techniques: selective breeding and genetic engineering.

GENETIC modification (GM) sounds very laboratory-based people in white coats inserting and deleting genes but the vast majority of GM work was completed in the field through selective breeding.

Early Middle Eastern farmers collected grain from natural grasslands, but they needed to time their harvest very carefully. If they were too early the grain wouldnt store well, and if they were too late the grain would spread over the ground making collection difficult.

At some stage, one of these early farmers must have noticed that some heads remained fixed on their stems even after the grain was fully dry. He obviously didnt understand this at the time, but these were plants with a mutation in the genes controlling seed dispersal.

Farmers began preferentially choosing plants with this useful mutation and planting them, perhaps the first case of breeding and selecting for a novel trait.

Gregor Mendel.

Wikimedia, CC BY

Systematic breeding really began in the early 1900s when scientists rediscovered Silesian monk Gregor Mendels groundbreaking work on genetic inheritance in peas.

Breeding involves utilising genetic variation to produce new combinations of genes and gene variants. A breeder will cross two different lines and then select offspring that have improved performance.

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GM: from the field to the lab

Take a hot new method that's opened up a new era of genetic engineering, apply it to the wonder stem cells that in 2012 won their discoverer a Nobel prize, and you might just have a tool to cure HIV infection.

That's the hope of researchers led by Yuet Kan of the University of California, San Francisco and they have proved the basic principle, altering the genome of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to give them a rare natural mutation that allows some people to resist HIV.

Kan's work relies on "genome editing" snipping out a particular DNA sequence and replacing it with another. It's much more precise than traditional forms of genetic engineering, in which sequences are added to the genome at random locations.

To alter the stem cells, Kan's team turned to the CRISPR-Cas9 system, a super-efficient method of genome editing based on an ancient bacterial "immune system". In bacteria, the system takes fragments of DNA from invading viruses and splices them into the cell's own DNA, where they act like "wanted" posters, allowing the viruses to be recognised and attacked in future.

About 1 per cent of people of European descent are resistant to HIV, because they carry two copies of a mutation in the gene for a protein called CCR5. The virus must lock onto this protein before it can invade white blood cells, and the mutations prevent it from doing so.

Using a bone marrow transplant from a naturally HIV-resistant person, Timothy Ray Brown was famously "cured" of HIV infection. Kan's goal is to achieve the same result without the need to find compatible HIV-resistant bone marrow donors who are in vanishingly short supply.

It's fairly easy to make iPSCs from a person's cells, which then have the potential to grow into any type of cell in the body. So if iPSCs could be given two copies of the protective mutation, it should be possible to make personalised versions of the therapy that cleared HIV from Brown's body. Kan's team has now shown that CRISPR-Cas9 can efficiently make the necessary genome edit. As expected, white blood cells grown from these altered stem cells were resistant to HIV upon testing.

"It's a really fantastic application of the tool," says Philip Gregory, chief scientific officer with Sangamo BioSciences of Richmond, California. However, he warns that there is a long way to go before it can be turned into a practical therapy.

Kan has not yet grown the iPSCs into the specific type of white blood cells called CD4+ T cells that are ravaged by HIV. What he instead plans to do is turn the iPSCs into blood-forming stem cells, which when transplanted into the body would give rise to all of the cell types found in the blood. "One of the problems is converting iPSCs into a type of cell that is transplantable," says Kan. "It is a big hurdle."

Regulators will also need to be convinced that cells that have been subjected to extensive genetic manipulation both to create the iPSCs, and to give them the protective mutation are safe.

More here:
Gene editing tool can write HIV out of the picture

Clewiston, FL -

Numbers released Wednesday by the US Department of Agriculture show production of oranges in Florida is projected to be down 22 percent this month compared to the same time last year.

Citrus experts expect the numbers will continue to fall.

The main reason for the decline comes from an insect that is as common as the mosquito in Florida, which is spreading an incurable disease called Citrus Greening.

Oranges are a $9-billion industry in the state and to help protect it, everything is being considered including genetic engineering.

Southern Gardens Citrus in Clewiston is spearheading some genetic research. Its facility processes 25,000 oranges per minute, with the capacity of making 600,000 gallons of juice per day.

The groves feeding the facility are in visible distress. There are rows of stumps left behind from infected trees, where 800,000 have been infected so far.

President of Southern Gardens Citrus, Ricke Kress, has been looking for a cure for nine years. He's been with the company since 2005, which is the same year the disease was found in his groves.

"I had been here about a month." Kress Said, adding, "if we take out every infected tree we're basically not going to have any trees left.

Citrus Greening is spread through bacteria called Asian Citrus Psyllid, which essentially cuts off nutritional flow inside of the tree.

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Florida orange production down, projections show

Movie Fun Run ICGEB 2014

By: International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

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Movie Fun Run ICGEB 2014 - Video

EDMONTON - If you, like many consumers, shop for food in the middle aisles of the grocery store where processed foods fill the shelves, you are likely buying products that contain genetically modified ingredients.

Yet you probably arent aware which products contain which modified ingredients, since in Canada there are no requirements that GM foods be labelled. Nor are you likely aware why and how the ingredients have been modified.

And, no doubt, youre unsure if it matters.

Genetic modification has been a polarizing issue since genetically modified seeds were first approved and planted in Canada in the mid-1990s. But with consumers increasingly keen to know where their food comes from, the topic of whats in their food is also attracting renewed attention.

I think people are genuinely interested in their food, says Ellen Goddard, a University of Alberta economist who studies consumer response to new technologies. Something about the GM debate has intrigued them. They want to know more about how their food is produced.

She adds: Consumers will almost always say they want more information.

Genetically modified organisms, popularly known as GMOs, are created when the genetic code is altered to either express a desirable trait or supress or remove an undesirable one. At its heart, genetic engineering is a short cut that speeds up the work of selective breeding, work that has been going on for centuries, but at a slower pace indeed, nearly every food crop grown today has been modified through this older process. Much of the opposition to genetic engineering of foods is focused on the practice of inserting genetic code from one organism into another, which cannot happen under natural circumstances.

Its this idea of mutant food forms that first spawned the Frankenfood nickname back in the 1990s.

The reality is only a few actual crops are genetically modified, but because they are widely used, they appear in many food products. The only GM crops grown in Canada are corn, soy, canola and sugar beets. But those crops are used in animal feed and as ingredients in thousands of processed foods on our grocery shelves. According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association, up to 75 per cent of conventional processed foods in a typical supermarket contain ingredients dervied from GMOs.

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Fields of gold ... or plains of ruin? The debate over genetically modified seeds in Alberta rages on

Jun 16, 2014 by Lisa Zyga (a) In the absence of artificial cells (circles), E. coli (oblong) cannot sense theophylline. (b) Artificial cells can be engineered to detect theophylline and in response release IPTG, a chemical signal that induces a response in E. coli. Credit: (c) 2014 Nature

(Phys.org) Genetic engineering is one of the great achievements of modern science, allowing for the insertion or deletion of genes in order to control an organism's characteristics and behaviors. However, genetic engineering has its drawbacks, including the difficulties involved in engineering living systems and the potential long-term consequences of altering ecosystems with engineered organisms.

But a new study has shown that controlling organisms on the cellular level does not necessarily require genetic modification. Writing in Nature Communications, Roberta Lentini, et al., have demonstrated that Escherichia coli (E. coli) behavior can be controlled by constructing artificial cells that first sense molecules that E. coli alone cannot sense, and then release different molecules that E. coli can sense. In a way, the artificial cells act as translators by converting unrecognized signals into a chemical language that organisms can understand. The translated signal can then potentially trigger a controllable response in the organism.

"In my opinion, the greatest significance of our work is that it shows that there's more than one way to do synthetic biology," coauthor Sheref Mansy, an assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Trento in Italy, told Phys.org. "Too often everyone gets excited about one technology or one approach, which sometimes means that solutions to problems get missed because these potential solutions don't depend on prevalent methods. What we've shown is that artificial cells could be used to get around a few of the aspects of living technologies that make people uncomfortable."

In their experiments, the researchers constructed artificial cells that contain a special vesicle which in turn contains several biological components, including a chemical that E. coli can sense (isopropyl b-D-1 thiogalactopyranoside, or IPTG) and DNA that encodes for a riboswitch that responds to an external stimulus. In this case, the external stimulus is the molecule theophylline, commonly found in cocoa beans.

When the artificial cell's riboswitch detects the presence of theophylline, it activates the translation process: a small pore opens in the cell, resulting in the release of IPTG. The E. coli responds to IPTG by exhibiting a green fluorescence, enabling the researchers to easily observe that the new strategy works successfully.

Although E. coli does not respond to theophylline on its own, the artificial cells effectively "expand the senses" of the bacteria by allowing it to indirectly respond to theophylline by translating the chemical message. In this way, E. coli's cellular behavior can be controlled without the need for genetic engineering. The new strategy can potentially overcome the disadvantages of genetic engineering, including the technical difficulties and unintended side effects.

The researchers highlight several examples of how artificial cells may play a role in controlling cellular behavior. One application is using bacteria to search for and clean up environmental contaminants. Instead of genetically engineering bacteria to do this, artificial cells could be constructed to sense the contaminant molecules and release chemoattractants that lure natural bacteria capable of feeding on the contaminants to the site.

Artificial cells could also be used for medical applications, such as to destroy tumors and bacterial infections. For example, rather than spraying engineered bacteria into the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, artificial cells could be built to detect the presence of specific biofilms, and then release small molecules to disperse the biofilms and thus clear the infection. Similar strategies could also be used to replace engineered probiotics in food and supplements with artificial cells that communicate with gut microbiota to prevent disease.

Before these applications can be realized, however, artificial cells will need several improvements. One of the most important limitations is the batch-to-batch variability of the artificial cells, which results in varying degrees of activity. More work also needs to be done to protect against degradation of the artificial cells' membranes, which would result in the release of the encapsulated molecules even in the absence of the environmental molecules. Future work may also include merging non-genetically modified and genetically modified components to tailor specific cellular features.

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Introducing synthetic features to living organisms without genetic modification

EDUC514 Final Video Genetic Engineering Hodge 2014
Class Video on Genetic Engineering GMOs.

By: Christine Hodge

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EDUC514 Final Video Genetic Engineering Hodge 2014 - Video

Horizons reloaded ep23 Start of the genetic engineering.
Popis.

By: DemonArx

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Horizons reloaded ep23 Start of the genetic engineering. - Video

Genetic engineering might eliminate malaria!
News from the American Council on Science and Health.

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Genetic engineering might eliminate malaria! - Video

/ 06.06.2014 02:55PM

Quantel to Color Finish 4K 60p FIFA World Cup

Pablo Rio and Genetic Engineering 2 tapped

The Quantel GE2 system, which includes two Pablo Rio 4KO color correction and finishing systems sharing storage and workflow via a GenePool, will be used for the production of fast-turnaround 4K highlights packages. These will be distributed to broadcasters and Sony Stores worldwide as well as being displayed on 4K super-screens in fan parks around Brazil. The Quantel system will also be used for the post production of the Official FIFA World Cup film in 4K Ultra HD.

Pablo Rio runs on high-performance PC hardware and exploits Nvidia Maximus multi-GPU technology to deliver interactivity and productivity. Pablo Rio is available as software-only and as a range of Quantel-backed turnkey systems. Genetic Engineering 2 provides shared storage and workflow for up to four Pablo Rio systems.

The Quantel system will work with 4K 60p XAVC media recorded on either the Sony PMW-F55 cameras being used by FIFA Film crews throughout the competition or the Sony Servers used for the 4K live production of three matches played at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro (one in the round of 16, one quarter final and the final itself). All XAVC media will be instantly available for viewing and editing on the Pablo Rio color and finishing systems thanks to their ability to begin work immediately with soft-mounted media without transcoding or importing. The Quantel system will also record live 4K 60p via Quad 3G SDI, which can be edited while recording. The Pablo Rios will be equipped with Fraunhofer IISs integrated easyDCP toolset for production of cinema deliverables.

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Quantel to Color Finish 4K 60p FIFA World Cup

TIME Health Heart Disease

Doctors, and especially doctors who do research, dont like to use the words cure or eradicate. They know how dangerous that can be, since the human body is so unpredictable. But Dr. Kiran Musunuru is showing some uncharacteristic swagger about his latest success in lowering heart attack risk among some lucky mice.

Taking advantage of advances in genetic engineering, a team lead by Musunuru, who holds positions at Harvard Universitys Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and Brigham and Womens Hospital, have edited the genomes of mice and successfully protected them from heart disease. The results, published in the journal Circulation Research, hint at an entirely new way of avoiding the leading killer of Americans by possibly cutting heart attack risk by up to 90%. What has me excited as a cardiologist is that my goal is eradicating disease, says Musunuru. There is no bolder way I can put it. I want to eradicate the disease and this offers one potential way to do it.

MORE: Experimental Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Shows Promise

He admits that it may be 10 years or more before the technique is ready for testing in people, but these first results are enough to justify the research that could make that happen. This approach in general will be a game changer, says Dr. Deepak Srivastava, director of cardiovascular disease and stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at the Gladstone Institutes, who was not affiliated with the study.

Heres how they did it. In 2003, genetic information was gleaned from a French family that carried a genetic mutation giving them low LDL cholesterol, the kind that, when its high, can lead to heart disease. Using a new genetic engineering technique that allows scientists to splice more efficiently into specific locations on a genome, Musunuru was able to essentially bestow the genetic advantage from the French family onto his mice, slowing down production of a protein that normally keeps LDL circulating in the blood. With less of the protein around, less LDL remains in the blood; those with the PCSK9 mutation showed as much as an 88% lower risk of heart disease compared to people without the genetic change.

The genetic monkeying was accomplished with the help of a virus, which has a remarkable ability to get into cells. The virus was injected, along with the DNA-disrupting machinery, into the liver of the mice. Within days, more than half of the liver cells had been genetically edited and the mice showed 35% to 40% less cholesterol in the blood.

So far, says Musunuru, there have been no negative effects of the genetic disruption. But he says more research needs to be done to make sure that introducing the changes wont come with unforeseen consequences. When we go in there we want to make sure we are not introducing new spelling errors in the genome, says Srivastava, who is also using the technique for stem-cell based therapies to treat heart disease. Says Musunuru, I think I can confidently say that with this tool, this technology will work on live, breathing human beings, but we need to figure out the safety; thats the barrier to overcome before we can test these therapies.

MORE: Who Really Needs To Take a Statin?

Drug companies are also working on drug-based ways to interfere with PCSK9, and lower LDL levels, but those therapies are antibodies that bind to the protein that the gene makes and need to be injected, at a doctors office, regularly. The genome editing strategy would be a one-stop therapy that could permanently protect against excessively high cholesterol levels.

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A Vaccine for Heart Disease Could Mean No Pills, Lettuce or a Gym

Kauai GMOs - Brain Damage/Eclipse by Pink Floyd
19000 children under the age of 5 die every day across the globe from malnutrition. Advances in science and the field of biotechnology has allowed for the genetic engineering of crops that...

By: Jason Burke

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Kauai GMOs - Brain Damage/Eclipse by Pink Floyd - Video

Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival, Lord Winston warned that the procedure opens the door to eugenics, particularly in countries like North Korea.

You could easily see how this kind of thing could be used in North Korea for example.

I dont think its very likely it will be used in the UK in a mischievous way but Ive no doubt that given the burgeoning market, given the desperation of people who want to enhance their children in all sorts of ways, humans might be tempted to use this and that therefore it does become a form of eugenics.

Every piece of science has an upside and a downside. There comes a point where you have to publish what youve been doing.

Im not trying to make an exaggerated claim for what we have done at all but I think the reproductive technologies are being misused in my view.

This is far more likely to be a serious threat than cloning. Cloning seems a useless technology. You can choose the attributes you might want to try and produce. If you can make a mouse run faster, which we can, if you can make a mouse bigger, which we can then maybe people might want to try the same thing in humans.

Neither Carole nor I when we started this experiment were particularly thinking about the misuse of the work. We knew if you could improve somebodys genetics somebody might try and do it. I just think that this just brings it a bit closer, in quite a substantial way really.

Meddling with nature is in this context risky.

However most fertility experts think it is unlikely the technology will ever be so advanced that humans could create designer babies.

Previously Dr Allan Pacey, chairman for the British Fertility Society has said he doubts that we will ever have the skill to alter complex traits such as intelligence, beauty of musical ability.

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Robert Winston: my research could open door to 'risky' eugenics

Diego Maradona vs Lionel Messi Argentine DNA Skills YouTube

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Diego Maradona vs Lionel Messi Argentine DNA Skills YouTube - Video