Welcome - Summer School on Nanomedicine and Innovation
Speaker: Dan Peer (TAU) Day 1: Introduction to Nanomedicine "Summer School on Nanomedicine and Innovation", The Marian Gertner Institute for Medical Nanosyst...
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Welcome - Summer School on Nanomedicine and Innovation - Video
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.
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Harvard study finds substance abuse & mental health problems in MSM interfere with HIV medication adherence
Written by Steve Mosco, smosco@antonnews.com Tuesday, 17 June 2014 16:52
As Plainview Old-Bethpage High School senior Hannah Stewart prepares to ship off to Brandeis University in the fall, she, like most young adults here age, will remember the best parts of high school: spirit week, homecoming, prom and, of course, gathering lizards and ticks in northern New Jersey.
The science-minded senior recently worked under the auspices of Dr. Russell Burke, chair of the Biology Department at Hofstra University, in a research project with the goal of finding out why cases of Lyme Disease are so prevalent here in the north, but so rare down south.
This is a part of biology that Dr. Burke introduced me to that I never thought about, working with lizards and insects, said Stewart. It was far more interesting than I ever thought it could be.
For her efforts with Burke, Stewart received a third place award for a research project, titled Host Preference of Wild Northern and Southern Ixodes scapularis, at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles in May. Hannah additionally tied for first place in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Division of the 2014 Long Island Science & Engineering Fair.
Her research with Burke involved a laboratory study of the black-legged tick and the spread of Lyme Disease. Burkes lab has been exploring the ecology of Lyme disease since 2007, focusing on the role that lizards play in reducing the prevalence of the disease.
Stewarts summer 2013 work explored the leading hypothesis that attempts to explain why human cases of Lyme disease are so much more common in the northern U.S. than in the south, although both the necessary ticks and bacteria occur throughout both areas.
This hypothesis is based on the observation that ticks in the south often feed on different animal host species than ticks in the north. Stewart tested whether ticks choose their hosts randomly or whether ticks from different places have different host preferences. Her work showed that both northern and southern black-legged ticks preferred lizard hosts over mammal hosts, and therefore they only feed on mammals in the north when there are no lizards available.
We found that lizards are crummy hosts for the Lyme disease bacteria, said Burke. Down south, lizards dont pass on Lyme disease and this keeps the rate of the disease low. Hannah did some experiments to find out whether ticks actually prefer to feed off of lizards or mice, and her work shows that ticks, if given the choice, will choose to feed off of lizards. Her work will help us move forward with our studies in our effort to understand the spread of this disease.
Burke said he received an email from Stewart requesting an opportunity to work in his lab. In these independent research projects, Burke chooses students that boast a high interest in biology and perform well in school. Burke said Stewart was impressive on both counts.
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Students Mind Ticks With Science
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.
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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.
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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.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) June 19, 2014
Several prominent speakers from across the globe that are part of Nanotek-2014 include Claudio Nicolini, Nanoworld Institute, Italy; Haruo Sugi, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Japan; Jim Klostergaard, MD Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas, USA; Israel Felner, The Hebrew University, Israel; Jean-Paul (Moshe) Lellouche, Bar-Ilan University, Israel; John F. Donegan, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; Ashok K. Vaseashta, International Clean Water Institute, USA,; Kimihisa Yamamoto, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan; Serhii Shafraniuk, Northwestern University, USA; Mark Kester, NanoSTAR Institute of the University of Virginia, USA; Bjarne Bogen, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Norway; and Moinuddin Sarker, Natural State Research, Inc., USA.
Eminent Nobel Laureate Prof. Harold Kroto of the Florida State University, USA delivers keynote address on 'Carbon in Nano and Outer Space. On this occasion he described Nanotek-2014 as "Recent and exciting developments in our understanding of nanostructured materials promise paradigm shifting advances in device applications.Meetings such as Nanotek 2014 facilitate the cross-disciplinary research which will be needed to overcome the major technical hurdles if this promise is to be realized."
OMICS Group Journal of Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology, Journal of Nanomedicine & Biotherapeutic Discovery and Journal of Nanomaterials & Molecular Nanotechnology supports the OMICS Group Internationals Nanotek-2014 by publishing all the accepted and presented abstracts as proceeings.
This international conference will focus on many interesting scientific sessions such as Nanomaterials, Nanostructures, Nanomedicine, Nanodevices and Nanosensors, Materials science and Engineering, Nanoelectronics, Nanotechnology in Energy Systems, Environment, Health and Safety Issues of Nanotechnology, Recent Trends in Nanotechnology, Applications of Nanotechnology, Biomedical Engineering and Applications.
Two pre-conference National Symposiums has been scheduled during Nanotek-2014. Prof. Claudio Nicolini from The Fondazione Elba-Nicolini, Italy is organizing a pre-conference workshop on Structural Nanoproteomics, Dr. Dominique Ausserr, University of Le Mans, France, is organizing a pre-conference workshop on Coupled optical and electrochemical monitoring of working eletrodes in electochemistry research and Prof. Ashok K. Vaseashta from International Clean Water Institution, USA organizes a workshop on NT4W-Nanotechnology for Water Generation, Contamination Detection and Purification.
Asia pacific based Asian News Channel that provides 24/7 News & Feature service for Asia Pacific and Africa Region acts as a collaborator for this scientific event, while American Elements, a global manufacturer of several Nano-material including nanoparticles, nanopowder, nanotubes, nanowire, quantum dots, submicron, -325 mesh, etc., and The PlasmaChem mainly concerns nano-materials, detonation, vacuum, plasma and ultra-thin film technologies and their biomedical and technical applications. Sponsors the advertisements.
OMICS Group International is an open access publisher that publishes 400, Peer Reviewed Journals in the fields of Clinical, Medical, Engineering and technological, Pharmaceutical and Management fields. OMICS group hosts more than 300 International conferences and events across the globe. With the help of more than 150 scientific associations. Besides this OMICS Group also encourages the business collaboration and interaction through its B2B and Scientific Meetings.On behalf of Nanotek-2014, OMICS Group is glad to invite contributions from the enthusiastic participants to organize International Workshops that are both empirical and conceptual in exploring new dimensions in this field. It is open to all types of research methodologies both from academia and industry.
For conference registration / sponsorship application and additional details about Nanotek-2014, visit http://nanotechnology2014.conferenceseries.net/
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Challenging the Old Order to Set New Frontiers in Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
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
New York, NY (PRWEB) June 20, 2014
Anti-aging techniques and procedures have changed enormously over the years. Once funded only by the wealthy, it is now something attainable to the mainstream public.
With all the new developments in dermatology, anti-aging regimens have become something that is achievable for all, states Julie Russak, of Russak Dermatology. The goal is to make skincare simple and effective.
According to an article in Prime Journal, titled The Anti-Ageing Market: A Matter of Luxury? the reasons people often give for adopting anti-aging procedures often include the pressure to look young, and a belief that a youthful appearance can boost professional success. However, there is also a large number of people that are interested in cosmetic medicine because they want to feel as though they are presenting their best self. As people are living longer and remaining healthy longer, they want their body to reflect the way they feel on the inside young.
Procedures and clinical skincare are definitely an investment, but once introduced in the right fashion, you will be able to stick with it, states Russak.
Russak noted that many of their young patients are also interested in starting an anti-aging regimen. For these cases, she often recommends something that they can easily fit into their routine, like an antioxidant serum or a retinol product. Antioxidant serums are effective at reducing sun damage, and can help diminish discoloration.
Retinol, a vitamin A derivative, works to speed cell turnover, which promotes smoother, more evenly-toned skin. It can also make skin more sensitive to light and more prone to sunburn, so Russak suggests using it at night before bed. Both antioxidant serums and retinol tend to be budget-friendly, generally costing around $70 or less.
For patients with more advanced signs of aging, Russak recommends treatments such as medical facials, peels, and gentle lasers. Medical facials slow the aging process and slough off dead skin cells, tighten skin, and reduce wrinkles.
Peels work to shrink pores and remove dead skin cells. Lasers can be an effective weapon against sun spots, wrinkles, and discoloration, and the procedure is achieved with little discomfort to the patient.
The key is to find a dermatologist you trust, and one that will create a skincare path that is not only attainable, but also effective, designed specifically for your needs. My goal is to help all my patients, no matter how limited the resources, achieve healthy, beautiful skin, says Russak.
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Russak Dermatology Clinic Offers Affordable Anti-Aging Tips
A substance found in red wine and dark chocolate that has been touted for its supposed anti-aging effects may improve people's memory, new research suggests.
In a study of overweight adults, those who took resveratrol supplements for six months had better short-term recall than their counterparts who took a placebo. The people who took the supplement also had more connections among brain areas involved in memory, and this paralleled improvements over the study period in their ability to break down sugar in the body, researchers found.
This small pilot study, detailed Wednesday (June 4) in the Journal of Neuroscience, is the first to show a link between the red wine compound and cognition in overweight adults, said Veronica Witte, a neuroscientist at the Charit UniversittsmedizinBerlin in Germany. [6 Foods That Are Good for Your Brain]
"From a clinical point of view, our findings suggest that regular, high-level intake of resveratrol in the elderly may convey protective effects on cognitive functions, a hypothesis that now needs to be evaluated in large-scale clinical trials," Witte told Live Science.
Brain booster?
Aside from red wine and dark chocolate, sources of resveratrol include red grapes, peanuts, blueberries and Japanese knotweed. Doctors think the compound mimics the effects of a restricted-calorie diet on the body.
Some studies have linked resveratrol to benefits in aging, heart health and anti-cancer effects. But other studies suggest the compound has no effect on longevity. Few studies have investigated resveratrol's effects on cognition, and those that have done so investigated nonhuman primates, the researchers said.
In the new study, Witte and her colleagues tested 46 participants who were overweight, but otherwise healthy. Previous studies suggest resveratrol's effects are more pronounced in overweight individuals.
Half of the volunteers were randomly assigned to take 200 milligrams of resveratrol daily for six months, while the other half received a placebo. Neither the researchers nor the volunteers knew who was receiving the supplement or the placebo.
Before and after the six-month period, the participants took a memory test, gave a blood sample and had their brains scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures changes in blood flow as a proxy for brain activity.
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Red wine compound may improve memory
Although significant progress has been made over the last 25 years to identify genetic abnormalities associated with congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS), many patients remain genetically undiagnosed. A report in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases identifies a gene defect in mitochondria, specifically the citrate carrier SLC25A1, that may underlie deficits in neuromuscular transmission seen in two siblings.
"While mitochondrial gene defects can cause a myriad of neurological disorders including myopathies and neuropathies, these have not been specifically implicated in defects of the neuromuscular junction," says Hanns Lochmller, MD, Professor of Experimental Myology, Institute of Genetic Medicine, MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Of the 19 genes that have been implicated in CMS, most express proteins involved in neuromuscular synapse development and function. These mutations usually involve post-synaptic proteins. The current study shifts the area of impairment to the presynaptic region.
Investigators conducted genomic analyses of two patients who are brother and sister. The pair was born to healthy parents who were first cousins. "The family history was highly suggestive of autosomal recessive inheritance," notes Dr. Lochmller. Since childhood, the 33-year-old brother had displayed some speech and motor problems that worsened with exercise and improved with rest. He had mild bilateral ptosis (drooping of the eyelid), speech difficulties, and mild learning disabilities. His 19-year-old sister showed delayed development including recurrent falls, fatigable limb weakness, intermittent double vision, and some drooping of facial muscles.
The investigators performed homozygosity mapping and whole exome sequencing to determine the underlying genetic cause of the siblings' condition and successfully identified a homozygous mutation in the SLC25A1 gene. SLC25A1 is a mitochondrial citrate carrier believed to be a key component in many important biological processes, such as fatty acid and sterol biosynthesis, gluconeogenesis, glycolysis, maintenance of chromosome integrity, and regulation of autophagy.
Using electrophysiologic techniques, researchers were able to show clear abnormalities in the neuromuscular junctions of the patients, as evidenced by increased jitter or jitter with blocking of muscle fibers.
Researchers also found evidence that SLC25A1 may be required for normal neuromuscular junction formation by looking at the effects of reduced expression of SLC25A1 in zebrafish embryos. Anatomically, while the muscle fibers appeared normal, presynaptic motor axon terminals were shortened and grew erratically, with no evidence of complete synapse formation. They also saw structural changes in the brain and heart, which mirrored abnormalities seen in humans.
"It is still not clear how deficits in a mitochondrial citrate carrier result in neuromuscular junction defect," comments Dr. Lochmller. However, while mutations in SLC25A1 may prove to only be a rare cause of CMS, he and his co-investigators advise clinicians that should a patient show fatigable weakness, it may be appropriate to test for SLC25A1 mutations and consider screening for cardiac and metabolic defects should these mutations be found.
"We aimed to identify the underlying molecular defect in this family ever since we met them first in clinic more than 20 years ago," adds co-investigator Kate Bushby, MD, Professor of Neuromuscular Genetics, Institute of Genetic Medicine, MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Newcastle University. "We are pleased that latest sequencing technology has resolved this long-standing diagnostic puzzle, which helps us in counseling and treating them more effectively."
Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) are a group of inherited neuromuscular disorders characterized by muscle weakness (myasthenia). Typical symptoms include weakness of muscles controlling limbs, as well those involved with control of the eyes, respiration, and movements of the face, head, and neck (due to involvement of the corticobulbar tract). The symptoms are fatigable, meaning that they worsen with repetition, and severity of the deficits can range from mild to severe.
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Mitochondrial Mutation Linked to Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome
Introduction to nanomedicine with emphasis on carrier-mediated drug targeting
Lecturer: Rimona Margalit (TAU) "Summer School on Nanomedicine and Innovation", The Marian Gertner Institute for Medical Nanosystems, Tel Aviv University, Ju...
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Introduction to nanomedicine with emphasis on carrier-mediated drug targeting - Video
What might be called the make love, not war branch of behavioral neuroscience began to take shape in (where else?) California several years ago, when researchers in David J. Andersons laboratory at Caltech decided to tackle the biology of aggression. They initiated the line of research by orchestrating the murine version of Fight Night: they goaded male mice into tangling with rival males and then, with painstaking molecular detective work, zeroed in on a smattering of cells in the hypothalamus that became active when the mice started to fight.
The hypothalamus is a small structure deep in the brain that, among other functions, cordinates sensory inputsthe appearance of a rival, for examplewith instinctual behavioral responses. Back in the 1920s, Walter Hess of the University of Zurich (who would win a Nobel in 1949) had shown that if you stuck an electrode into the brain of a cat and electrically stimulated certain regions of the hypothalamus, you could turn a purring feline into a furry blur of aggression. Several interesting hypotheses tried to explain how and why that happened, but there was no way to test them. Like a lot of fundamental questions in brain science, the mystery of aggression didnt go away over the past centuryit just hit the usual empirical roadblocks. We had good questions but no technology to get at the answers.
By 2010, Andersons Caltech lab had begun to tease apart the underlying mechanisms and neural circuitry of aggression in their pugnacious mice. Armed with a series of new technologies that allowed them to focus on individual clumps of cells within brain regions, they stumbled onto a surprising anatomical discovery: the tiny part of the hypothalamus that seemed correlated with aggressive behavior was intertwined with the part associated with the impulse to mate. That small duchy of cellsthe technical name is the ventromedial hypothalamusturned out to be an assembly of roughly 5,000 neurons, all marbled together, some of them seemingly connected to copulating and others to fighting.
Theres no such thing as a generic neuron, says Anderson, who estimates that there may be up to 10,000 distinct classes of neurons in the brain. Even tiny regions of the brain contain a mixture, he says, and these neurons often influence behavior in different, opposing directions. In the case of the hypothalamus, some of the neurons seemed to become active during aggressive behavior, some of them during mating behavior, and a small subsetabout 20 percentduring both fighting and mating.
That was a provocative discovery, but it was also a relic of old-style neuroscience. Being active was not the same as causing the behavior; it was just a correlation. How did the scientists know for sure what was triggering the behavior? Could they provoke a mouse to pick a fight simply by tickling a few cells in the hypothalamus?
A decade ago, that would have been technologically impossible. But in the last 10 years, neuroscience has been transformed by a remarkable new technology called optogenetics, invented by scientists at Stanford University and first described in 2005. The Caltech researchers were able to insert a genetically modified light-sensitive gene into specific cells at particular locations in the brain of a living, breathing, feisty, and occasionally canoodling male mouse. Using a hair-thin fiber-optic thread inserted into that living brain, they could then turn the neurons in the hypothalamus on and off with a burst of light.
Optogenetics: Light Switches for Neurons
Anderson and his colleagues used optogenetics to produce a video dramatizing the love-hate tensions deep within rodents. It shows a male mouse doing what comes naturally, mating with a female, until the Caltech researchers switch on the light, at which instant the murine lothario flies into a rage. When the light is on, even a mild-mannered male mouse can be induced to attack whatever target happens to be nearbyhis reproductive partner, another male mouse, a castrated male (normally not perceived as a threat), or, most improbably, a rubber glove dropped into the cage.
Activating these neurons with optogenetic techniques is sufficient to activate aggressive behavior not only toward appropriate targets like another male mouse but also toward inappropriate targets, like females and even inanimate objects, Anderson says. Conversely, researchers can inhibit these neurons in the middle of a fight by turning the light off, he says: You can stop the fight dead in its tracks.
Moreover, the research suggests that lovemaking overrides war-making in the calculus of behavior: the closer a mouse was to consummation of the reproductive act, the more resistant (or oblivious) he became to the light pulses that normally triggered aggression. In a paper published in Biological Psychiatry, titled Optogenetics, Sex, and Violence in the Brain: Implications for Psychiatry, Anderson noted, Perhaps the imperative to make love, not war is hard-wired into our nervous system, to a greater extent than we have realized. We may be both lovers and fighters, with the slimmest of neurological distances separating the two impulses.
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Neurosciences New Toolbox
FORT LEE When Fort Lee High School salutatorian Aliza Ohnouna begins her freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania this fall, shell be faced with a conundrum: pursue a career in the arts or the sciences?
Salutatorian Aliza Ohnouna stands in front of the University of Pennsylvanias Kelly Writers House the institution that recruited her to attend the prestigious Ivy League school. As Ohnouna embarks on her collegiate studies, she has yet to decide whether to pursue the arts or the sciences as her career.
The 18-year-old nurtured both interests over the past four years, conducting psychiatric research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and editing Poliphony H.S., an international literary magazine produced entirely by high school students.
"Im pretty torn," said Ohnouna, a self-described "literary magazine nerd" who started her addiction with the childrens magazine "Highlights" and then "subscribed to as many [magazines] as I could."
Voracious reading led to a love of creative writing, earning Ohnouna a Gold Key award in humor in the 2014 Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards and an Editors Choice Award from the teen literary magazine "Teen Ink" last year.
Though shes always liked science, Ohnouna said a three-year Science Research elective she took in high school "really opened" her eyes to its "shape-shifting" possibilities.
"It wasnt always the most accessible subject because its very textbook-oriented," she said, but through her research into how the expression of a certain gene could cause autism spectrum disorders, she was able to combine biomedical science with behavioral science and see the subject in a new light.
Ohnouna ventured into other activities over the past four years as well, including the Debate Team, which she co-captained her senior year, and the Art Crew, a club that creates props, sets and advertising material for the schools theater productions.
Outside of school, she helped familiarize an elderly woman with modern technology as a Telecare Buddy with the Jewish Family Service organization, volunteered at the Fort Lee Public Library and supervised children at the Tenafly Nature Center as a Counselor-in-Training.
She also continued to master her Spanish language skills and hopes to further perfect them in college.
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Future filled with possibilities for Fort Lee salutatorian
Doc Weight Loss Exercise - The Best Anti-Aging Medicine
http://cfwls.com/ 757.873.1880 Doc Weight Loss - Exercise - The Best Anti-Aging Medicine. Dr. Thomas W. Clark talks with personal trainer, Arlyne Spalla-Benson, about the benefits of exercise...
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Doc Weight Loss Exercise - The Best Anti-Aging Medicine - Video
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
No need to go that far.
It turns out, the best kind of anti-aging treatment is inside one's own body, and the rich are taking advantage of it, exploring the latest research in new technologies, genome mapping and stem cell treatments.
Among them is Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, a large investor of the Ellison Medical Foundation, which supports research exploring the biology that underlies aging and age-related diseases. And there's billionaire Peter Nygrd, who says he wants to live forever (or die trying), and has suggested he's found the keys to immortality in stem cell research.
Some doctors agree that stem cells are a key part of chasing youth.
"If you're a wealthy guy and haven't stored your stem cells, I think you're a total idiot," said Dr. Lionel Bissoon, a New York City physician who sees a number of stressed out, wealthy patients.
Related: It's expensive being rich
They usually come to him with similar problems: "Fatigue, belly fat, erectile dysfunction, tiring very quickly ... all very common with my patients from Wall Street," Bissoon said. The short-term solution to those ailments, he says, is testosterone replacement -- which is relatively affordable at a few hundred dollars a pop -- and IV nutrition.
For the long term he recommends stem cell storage, which works as a sort of rainy day insurance. The cells are extracted, preferably when the patient is on the younger side -- around 30 is said to be a good age -- and can then be used to boost an immune system or help to rebuild damaged organs later.
Dr. Dipnarine Maharaj stores cells at his South Florida Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Institute in Boynton Beach, Fla.
Continued here:
Can enough money buy you eternal youth?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) The best kind of anti-aging treatment is inside ones own body, and the rich are taking advantage of it, exploring the latest research in new technologies, genome mapping and stem cell treatments.
Among them is Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, a large investor of the Ellison Medical Foundation, which supports research exploring the biology that underlies aging and age-related diseases. And theres billionaire Peter Nygrd, who says he wants to live forever (or die trying), and has suggested hes found the keys to immortality in stem cell research.
Some doctors agree that stem cells are a key part of chasing youth.
If youre a wealthy guy and havent stored your stem cells, I think youre a total idiot, said Dr. Lionel Bissoon, a New York City physician who sees a number of stressed out, wealthy patients.
They usually come to him with similar problems: Fatigue, belly fat, erectile dysfunction, tiring very quickly all very common with my patients from Wall Street, Bissoon said. The short-term solution to those ailments, he says, is testosterone replacement which is relatively affordable at a few hundred dollars a pop and IV nutrition.
For the long term he recommends stem cell storage, which works as a sort of rainy day insurance. The cells are extracted, preferably when the patient is on the younger side around 30 is said to be a good age and can then be used to boost an immune system or help to rebuild damaged organs later.
Dr. Dipnarine Maharaj stores cells at his South Florida Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Institute in Boynton Beach, Fla.
People are looking and finding ways to be able to help them to live longer to spend the money theyve earned, he said. They spend their retirement going doctor to doctor, and if we can find ways to prevent that it would be good. His clinic sees executives under a lot of stress, a fast way to damage any immune system.
He agrees that its important to store cells before they become irreparably damaged. To collect and store stem cells at his clinic costs $15,000 for the initial extraction, which includes a year of storage. After that, storage costs $50 per month.
Stem cells arent the only high-end solution.
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How the rich try to buy eternal youth