People in the News: Hulin Wu; Kris Vanhercke; Kevin Fickenscher

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University of Rochester Medical Center said this week that Hulin Wu, a professor of biostatistics and computational biology, will serve as the founding director of its newly established Center for Integrative Bioinformatics and Experimental Mathematics.

The new center is part of the university's department of biostatistics and computational biology and will work on integrating and strengthening current biostatistics, bioinformatics, and computational biology resources at the center. The school hopes to develop a strong interdisciplinary research program and attract external funding, in particular large center grants and program grants in bioinformatics, computational biology and systems biology. It also plans to establish a PhD/MS education program in bioinformatics and computational biology

Initially, the center will serve researchers conducting basic science experiments, clinical studies, and translational research in immunology and infectious diseases. It also hopes to develop techniques and approaches to manage, analyze, and extract meaningful information from biomedical data.

Biogazelle, a real-time PCR data analysis company, has tapped Kris Vanhercke to serve as its chief operating officer.

Prior to joining Biogazelle, Vanhercke held a number of positions within Roche Diagnostics with the most recent being sales director for Roche Diagnostics Belgian office. He also held a scientific sales position at Boehringer Mannheim.

The American Medical Informatics Association has tapped Kevin Fickenscher as president and CEO of the organization.

Fickenscher will officially start his new role on April 1. He replaces Ted Shortliffe, who announced his decision to step down from the position several months ago.

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People in the News: Hulin Wu; Kris Vanhercke; Kevin Fickenscher

NHLBI to Fund Collaborative Systems Biology Disease Studies

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By a GenomeWeb staff reporter

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) Because complex diseases can result from multiple perturbations to normally functioning biological networks and pathways, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute plans to fund new research project grants that will use a systems biology approach to studying a variety of disorders.

Under a new funding program, NHLBI aims to support multi-disciplinary, collaborative research projects that use experimental and computational approaches to understanding normal physiology and perturbations that are involved in heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders.

Collaborative teams of researchers from the biomedical, informatics, physical, and mathematical disciplines, which may be headed by multiple principal investigators, will use funding from the Exploratory Program in Systems Biology to develop computational models and perform experiments in a wide range of areas.

Because the nature and scope of the collaborative projects will vary from project to project, the size and duration of the awards will vary.

These systems biology projects may involve a wide range of studies including, but not limited to, research that integrates existing data from genome-wide association and microarray studies with data from the project; integrates imaging and 'omics data to define factors of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability; develops systems approaches to molecular network features that can categorize disease susceptibility and drug responses; and predicts, validates, and implements biomarker signatures for monitoring drug mechanism of action, drug efficacy, and toxicities.

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NHLBI to Fund Collaborative Systems Biology Disease Studies

Raise a glass of wine to resveratrol

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Drinkers the world over have been thrilled by the notion that resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine, might be some kind of anti-aging powerhouse.

The supposed wonder substance can make perilously chubby lab rats live as long as their slim counterparts, protect them from cancers and reduce their risk of dying from a high-calorie diet. It can lengthen the life of certain fish while warding off brain decay and improving the creatures' swimming chops.

Which may sound very alluring for those of us who'd like to think that sipping Pinot Noir while relaxing on a couch counts as doing something healthful.

But does what goes for mice and fish go for people too? Well, nobody yet has divided us into two groups, given one group resveratrol, the other a placebo, then checked several decades later to see how long we all lived. But results from a few small human trials show a lot of potential.

A study of 11 obese men, for instance, found that administering 150 milligrams of resveratrol a day for 30 days mimicked the effects of calorie restriction, which has been shown to increase life span.

Another study of 40 patients who'd had heart attacks demonstrated improved cardiac function after participants took 10 milligrams of resveratrol a day for three months.

Still more research has shown that people who took the substance in varying amounts were better able to control their blood sugar.

But here's the catch: To get the doses of resveratrol used in these studies, you'd have to drink between two and 100 bottles of wine a day. "I definitely don't recommend that," says Dr. Jill Crandall, director of the Diabetes Clinical Trial Unit at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She's not a fan of resveratrol supplements either: "The reliability of suppliers and purity of preparations is not very regulated," she says.

Still, studies do show that a glass or so of red wine a day may be good for the heart (which is why people started looking at the qualities of its ingredients to begin with). "There are many things in red wine that are beneficial to health," says Joseph Baur, assistant professor of physiology at the University of Pennsylvania. The tricky part, he says, is figuring out how much credit each substance is due and how it does what it does. In the meantime, raise your glass in moderation, of course.

health@latimes.com

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Raise a glass of wine to resveratrol

Expert wants central bank for cord blood

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A nodal public stem-cell bank in India is the need of the hour if blood cancer and thalassaemia patients are to benefit from stem-cell therapy, according to an expert.

"We need an indigenous inventory of 30,000 units of umbilical cord-blood stem-cells, which would enable seven out of 10 patients seeking stem-cell transplant to find a ready match off the shelves," said P. Srinivasan, a pioneer in public cord-blood banking in the country, addressing members of the Ladies Study Group of the Indian Chamber of Commerce on Friday.

Cord blood, also called "placental blood", is the blood remaining in the umbilical cord and placenta following childbirth after the cord is cut, and is routinely discarded with the placenta and umbilical cord as biological waste.

A rich source of stem cells, cord blood can be used to treat over 80 diseases, including certain cancers like leukaemia, breast cancer, blood disorders like thalassaemia major and autoimmune disorders like lupus, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's Disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Early clinical studies suggest these can even help avert corneal degeneration and restore vision in cases of blindness, help restore proper cardiac function to heart attack sufferers and improve movement in patients with spinal cord injury.

"Since stem-cell matching is highly ethnicity dependent, the chances of an Indian finding a perfect match in a foreign country is a lot less compared to a resource pool of locally-donated units," the former resource person for WHO, now the chairman and managing trustee of Jeevan Blood Bank and Research Centre in Chennai, added.

Even if someone finds a match abroad, the cost of shipping the bag of matching cord blood could be as high as $40,000, as against the Rs 30,000 required for processing and storing one unit indigenously.

Srinivasan felt reaching the critical mass of 30,000 cord-blood units wasn't a big deal, given the fact that 20 million babies are born in India every year.

Purnima Dutta, the president of Ladies Study Group, agreed that raising awareness on the need to donate umbilical cord blood was the key.

"As women and responsible citizens, the onus is on us to spread the word and encourage young couples to come forward and donate cord blood to ensure we can achieve this desired public-bank inventory which can save valuable lives," she said.

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Stem Cell Therapy Used To Treat 9/11 Search And Rescue Dog

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ)One of the last search and rescue dogs from 9/11 lives here in Maryland. She was suffering from a painful condition until her owner took action with breakthrough technology.

Mary Bubala has the story.

Red is a search and rescue dog from Annapolis, but has traveled across the country. Her missions include Hurricane Katrina, the La Plata tornadoes and the Pentagon after 9/11.

They credit them with finding 70 percent of the human remains so that helped a whole lot of those families actually get closure, said Heather Roche, Reds owner.

Sept. 11 was Reds first search. Today shes one of the last 9/11 search and rescue dogs still alive.

She retired last summer due to severe arthritis.

It would be nice if her arthritis, if she felt better, that she could do those kinds of things that she misses, Reds owner said while fighting back tears. Alright I am going to cry.

Roche did some research and found an animal hospital in northern Virginia that uses breakthrough stem cell therapy to treat arthritis in dogs.

The Burke Animal Clinic is one of just a few across the country that use stem cell therapy.

The vet harvests 1 to 2 ounces of the dogs fatty tissue, activates the stem cells and then injects them back into the troubled areas.

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Stem Cell Therapy Used To Treat 9/11 Search And Rescue Dog

Exercise Has Benefits, Even When It’s Done in Space

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Astronauts living on the International Space Station show small effect on cardiovascular health when accompanied by an exercise regimen

Article published in the Journal of Applied Physiology

Newswise BETHESDA, Md. (March 22, 2012)Astronauts have been taking part in short spaceflight missions since 1961. They have only recently begun to spend significantly longer times in space, with missions extending for months, since the days of the Russian Mir space station (1986-2001) and extended stays on the International Space Station (ISS; November 2000). Though earlier studies clearly showed that astronauts on these extended missions suffered serious deficits from lengthy times in a low-gravity environment, including dizziness when standing up, considerable loss of bone mass, and impaired muscle function, little was known about the effects of long-term space flight on the heart and vascular system. In a new study, a research team has tested various cardiovascular measures in six astronauts on long-term missions aboard the International Space Station. These findings show that lengthy spaceflight indeed affects cardiovascular responses, but not as dramatically as the researchers predicted, suggesting that the intensive exercise routines astronauts on these long missions complete every day are doing their job.

The article is entitled Cardiovascular Regulation During Long-Duration Spaceflights to the International Space Station. It appears in the current edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, published by the American Physiological Society.

Methodology The researchers collected data from six male astronauts, between 41 and 55 years old, who were headed to the ISS on missions ranging from 52 to 199 days. At about a month before they embarked, the research team collected a wealth of data on each subjects cardiovascular health. This data was collected during spontaneous and paced breathing, both sitting up and lying down, to reflect a variety of conditions and cardiovascular stresses. The researchers measured various factors including finger arterial blood pressure, heart rate, left ventricular ejection time, and cardiac output. The astronauts repeated these measures independently a few weeks after they arrived at the space station, then a few weeks before they returned to Earth. A final assessment took place again soon after landing on Earth.

Results Results showed that heart rate, blood pressure, and arterial baroreflex response (the bodys natural way to regulate heart rate and blood pressure based on continuous sensing of both) were unchanged from pre-flight to in-flight. Left ventricular ejection times and cardiac output both increased in-flight, while time between heartbeats, arterial pulse pressure, and the blood pumped from the heart decreased. In the post-flight testing compared to pre-flight measures, heart rate and cardiac output increased slightly, while arterial baroreflex response decreased by about a third, but only in the seated position.

Importance of the Findings These findings suggest that long-duration spaceflight has significant effects on cardiovascular function, yet these effects are relatively small. The researchers attribute this cardiovascular stability to the intensive exercise program astronauts commit to while on lengthy spaceflight missions. On these particular missions, the six astronauts were each allotted 2.5 hours per day to set up for exercise, complete a workout, and clean up after the session, with options to exercise on a cycle, treadmill, or doing resistance training. These exercise sessions appear to keep astronauts relatively healthy and prepared for return to Earth, despite the potentially negative effects of a low-gravity environment.

These post-flight changes were somewhat less than expected based on short-duration flights and early reports of long-duration missions and suggest that the current countermeasures on the ISS, which include exercise training, are keeping cardiovascular control mechanisms well prepared for return to Earth, the authors say.

The ISS astronauts in the current study represent the first six-person crew, signifying the transition to greater possibilities to conduct science on this major international laboratory, they note.

Study Team The study was conducted by R. L. Hughson, D. K. Greaves, P. P. Pereira-Junior, and D. Xu of the University of Waterloo; J.K. Shoemaker of the University of Western Ontario; A. P. Blaber of Simon Fraser University; and P. Arbeille of CERCOM, EFMP CHU Trousseau.

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Exercise Has Benefits, Even When It's Done in Space

Pro Shop Nutrition aims to help

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Pro Shop Nutrition owner David Park said his business does not make money. The only money this business makes is to regenerate its own products, he said. Park, who has been in the business since 1997, said he has a job teaching the driving-under-the-influence program in Ridgecrest and Mojave, and his wife works for the Sierra Sands Unified School District. This business is put together so people in Ridgecrest dont have to leave to get products from high-priced stores, he said. The business carries weight-loss products, body-building products as well as health and nutrition products for mind and body. You have to work with the whole body, Park said. People want to trim fat or add beef, but its much more than that. He said he can put diet plans together for people who want to lose weight. Asked how the store regenerates its own product, Park said the store sells its own product with enough profit to buy its own product. I have yet to take a paycheck, and Ive been open since December, he said. I dont take money from the store. My wife doesnt take money from the store. Pro Shop Nutrition carries brand names such as BSN, Muscle Tech, Optimum Nutrition, Muscle Pharm, Cellucor, USP Labs and Now. Park said his daughter, Monica, has been in Ridgecrest since third grade. Ive been here every summer and every weekend all my life, he said. When I became an adult, I came to Ridgecrest. I consider myself a Ridgecrest person. This store was put together for Ridgecrest people. He said the business is family-owned and operated, and it is not a franchise. We take a lot of pride in being able to help people, said Park. For example if someone came into my store looking for a specific product that they got out of town and they liked it, we have a suggestion box. We do special orders all the time. The business is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The phone number is 760-375-8663, and the business accepts Visa and Mastercard. Were truly here to help people achieve their goals, he said. If a person sees something on the shelf when they walk into my store, I always ask them, What are you looking to do not What are you looking for, and I try to match that product with their goal.

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Schiff Nutrition International Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

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Schiff Nutrition International (NYSE: WNI) reported earnings yesterday. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeawayFor the quarter ended Feb. 29 (Q3), Schiff Nutrition International beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded significantly and GAAP earnings per share grew.

Gross margins increased, operating margins contracted, net margins dropped.

Revenue detailsSchiff Nutrition International reported revenue of $72.2 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $65.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 25% higher than the prior-year quarter's $57.7 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS detailsEPS came in at $0.16. The three earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.12 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.16 for Q3 were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.14 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin detailsFor the quarter, gross margin was 45.8%, 960 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 9.8%, 120 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.4%, 60 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking aheadNext quarter's average estimate for revenue is $62.9 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.12.

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Schiff Nutrition International Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Two sides of Toni Gonzaga

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Friday, 23 March, 2012 Written by Manila Standard Today

Toni Gonzagas longevity in show business is a testament to true talent and stardom. The 28-year old beauty first graced the small screen back in 1997, when she joined the singing competition, Tanghalan ng Kampeon.

Although she did not win, Tonis star as an accomplished recording artist and TV star was just about to rise. 2001 was a key year for her, as she she co-starred with actor Piolo Pascual in a TV ad that shot her to the forefront of popular culture, while also releasing her debut album. The following year, she would become one of the hosts of the long-running variety show legend, Eat Bulaga. Known for her girl-next-door charmand the good looks to go with itToni is best recognized for her TV hosting prowess. Her long line of credentials include Wazzup Wazzup, Pinoy Big Brother, The Buzz, and, most recently, on Happy Yipee Yehey! But apart from being everybodys favorite funnny girl on TV, Toni also proved her acting chops by starring on the big-screen. Her film credentials including the award-winning film, A Journey Home, and the 2010 smash box office hit, My Amnesia Girl.

With an extensive list of credentials and awards, Toni has established herself as one of the countrys most in-demand multi-talents. With work days filled with recording sessions, TV tapings, magazine shoots and events, this ber busy star needs a cell phone that can cater to both her music and TV endeavours; her professional and personal life.

The new Dual SIM Champ Deluxe DUOS from Korean mobile phone giant Samsung is the perfect companion for Toni in managing the two sides of her life. The stylish device marries both sleek form, with its chic metallic finish and iconic curves, and practical function. In order to help Toni keep in touch with her vast list of industry contacts as well as close friends and family, the Champ Deluxe DUOS features Samsung's very own "Dual SIM, Dual On" technology, which provides simultaneous access to two SIMs for greater coverage and convenience without interchanging SIMs or rebooting the device, as with some other Dual SIM options, or having to bring a pair of separate mobile phones. Even more excitingly, this stunning gadget also comes embedded with the popular ChatOn instant messaging appa messaging service that allows Toni to exchange unlimited messages, calendar entries, contacts and even audio/video content for free on her mobile data plan, so that she can stay updated and entertained on-the-go.

With its multitasking features and a dual commitment to both style and function, the Samsung Champ Deluxe DUOS works just as hard as the versatile, multi-faceted Toni does.

(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/March/24)

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Gazette.Net: Thumbs up to Mikulskis Capitol Hill longevity

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Boo to ignoring alternative redistricting maps

Thumbs up: To U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski for becoming the longest-serving female member of Congress in U.S. history. Mikulski (D) of Baltimore was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1976, after serving on the Baltimore City Council. She was also the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right. In October, Mikulski was inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, N.Y. In her speech, she said, Its not how long you serve, but how well you serve.

Thumbs down: To Dels. Kevin Kelly (D-Dist. 1B) of Cumberland and Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville for taking the lead in killing legislation under which state and local lawmakers could have been prosecuted in state courts for seeking or taking bribes. The delegates said the bill could falsely call into question why a lawmaker changed position on an issue. Simmons also cited the need to protect lawmakers from judges or a prosecutor with an ax to grind. Both seem like awfully flimsy arguments, especially when up against the issue of public trust.

Thumbs down: To Maryland public schools, which have benefited the past few years from their No. 1 ranking by Education Week magazine, for having the second-largest gap in the nation in eighth-grade math performance between low-income and wealthier students. Minority and income-based achievement gaps remain a major concern for the states educators.

Thumbs up: To legislation to close a loophole that allows officials convicted of a crime to stay in office until they are sentenced. Known as Leslies Law, in dishonor of former Prince Georges County Councilwoman Leslie Johnson, the measure would require that officials who are convicted or plead guilty to a crime to step down immediately. A House bill has passed, while the Senate version is in committee.

Thumbs down: To the University System of Maryland for, until relatively recently, storing information, including Social Security numbers and some credit card numbers, of prospective students on a server that the public could access. While officials deserve credit for making a change toward better security in December 2010, they warrant criticism for moving way too slowly; they were warned about their lax security in 2002 and 2005 reports.

Thumbs up: To efforts being led by Del. James E. Malone Jr. (D-Dist. 12A) of Arbutus and Sen. James N. Robey (D-Dist. 13) of Elkridge to make talking on a cell phone without use of hands-free device while driving a primary offense in Maryland. Currently, its a secondary offense, meaning drivers must violate another road rule before they can be pulled over by police. Maryland is the only state to make it a secondary offense. Studies show that primary enforcement leads to a 20 percent increase in compliance with phone bans.

Thumbs up: To Michael Busch for becoming the longest-serving speaker in the history of the House of Delegates, when he was sworn in to a 10th consecutive one-year term in January.

Thumbs down: To Michael Busch for declining to hold hearings on alternative redistricting plans. The House speakers office said the lack of a consensus on five alternative plans put forward by delegates weighed against holding hearings. But there was enough criticism of the Democratic plan, which eventually took effect, that hearings on the others were warranted.

Thumbs down: To talk of charging higher tuition for so-called STEM students in the state university system. It might cost more to educate science, technology, engineering and math students, but at a time when the United States is falling behind in these technical fields and President Barack Obama and others have made attracting STEM majors a priority, charging more seems counterintuitive. If anything, STEM students should be charged less, as an incentive.

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Gazette.Net: Thumbs up to Mikulskis Capitol Hill longevity

DNAe Plans Pilot Trials of Handheld Semiconductor DNA Testing Platform for PGx, Infectious Disease

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By Ben Butkus

DNA Electronics will begin pre-clinical pilot trials later this year to prepare its rapid, handheld, semiconductor-based DNA testing platform for clinical diagnostic use, the company said this week.

To that end, the London-based company will collaborate with the lab of Eric Topol at Scripps Research Institute in the area of pharmacogenetic analysis for Plavix response; and with an unspecified lab at St. Mary's University College in London in the area of infectious disease testing, PCR Insider has learned.

PCR Insider spoke with DNA Electronics CEO Chris Toumazou and CTO Leila Shepherd this week following the company's announcement that it had inked an agreement granting skincare company GeneOnyx access to its point-of-care genetic testing device, called Genalysis, to provide rapid, over-the-counter genetic testing to consumers for the purposes of recommending genetically tailored cosmetic products.

The deal with GeneOnyx is the "first significant license" for DNA Electronics' testing platform, but is just the tip of the iceberg, Toumazou said, as the company is now in the throes of honing the platform for in vitro diagnostics use.

"We've been in stealth mode, and we're excited that [Genalysis] is working now," Toumazou said. "The key objective still is to tackle the healthcare and clinical market. But in the past year there has been all this hype about handheld genetic devices, but we don't know anything to date that actually works. We wanted to make sure the world sees that we have something that works, and works well, so we're applying it to a setting that can demonstrate that. That's why we decided to partner with GeneOnyx."

DNA Electronics' current molecular diagnostics work actually brings the company full circle to its earliest days, when it spun out of Imperial College London to commercialize the discovery that when nucleotide pairs come together during DNA synthesis, they release hydrogen ions, which can be detected as an electrical signal on a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, or CMOS chip.

"We patented that idea, and we spun out DNA Electronics in 2002 with aspirations from the very beginning to create a handheld diagnostic technology," Toumazou said. But, he added, the company first applied the technology "to what [we thought] was the really growing field, which was DNA sequencing."

As a result, DNA Electronics negotiated first a non-exclusive license with Ion Torrent, which adopted the technology as part of its next-generation sequencing platform now called the PGM and sold by Life Technologies, which acquired Ion Torrent in late 2010. After that deal, DNA Electronics then forged a partnership with Roche 454 to integrate the technology into a competing sequencing platform.

"While all that was taking place, which was really a good way of bringing in revenues, we had a team incubating our holy grail, which was this microchip-based diagnostic device," Toumazou said.

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DNAe Plans Pilot Trials of Handheld Semiconductor DNA Testing Platform for PGx, Infectious Disease

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After mistrial, DNA factors into double-murder case

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ST. LOUIS A jailhouse scuffle last year left Jimmy Love-El with some bumps, some bruises and a mistrial in the double homicide case against him.

The fight may have been his lucky break.

A circuit court judge called off the trial on its third day on concerns that injuries from the fight, involving a friend of one of the victims, could prejudice the jury.

In the time since, DNA evidence has surfaced that Love-El's attorneys say support his defense that someone else shot two men Jan. 11, 2009, in a Schnucks parking lot during a drug deal gone bad.

The DNA hit matching a convicted drug offender to a cup found in the car where the two men were killed is contentious for another reason. A St. Louis police detective didn't disclose the DNA result for four months after he was notified of it, leaving the defense to hear of the evidence just four days before the retrial. As a result, that trial has been pushed back. Love-El remains in jail, waiting to see how the DNA test will affect his case.

The episode has prompted a mea culpa from police, with a promise of better procedures going forward to inform defendants of evidence that could help them.

THE CRIME

Prosecutors argued in the interrupted trial in June 2011 that Love-El killed Dewon Curry and Archie White because he was a drug user who needed a fix.

Curry, 23, and White, 22, were parked outside the Schnucks store in the 3400 block of Union Boulevard when Love-El allegedly pulled in around 6:30 p.m. They wanted $1,200 for an ounce of crack cocaine, but Love-El found a way to get it for free, prosecutors said.

They alleged that he climbed into the back seat of the victims' Mercury Marquis, pulled out a gun and shot each man in the head. He took their cellphones and drugs but accidentally left behind a brown glove that testing would show contained his DNA, officials said.

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After mistrial, DNA factors into double-murder case

Posted in DNA

Can You Really Sequence DNA With a USB Thumb Drive?

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Can this USB stick change biology research? Photo: Oxford Nanopore

What if you could put a few bacterial cells into a USB stick, plug it into your laptop, and get back a complete DNA sequence in a matter of minutes?

Oxford Nanopore has built a USB device that will do just that. At least, thats what the company says. Known as MinION, the device received a hefty amount of press when it was announced in February, and its slated for release to the world at large in the second half of the year. But many are still skeptical that this tiny device will do what its designed to do.

If [the claims] are true, wed buy it tomorrow, Jonathan Eisen, a microbiology professor at the University of California at Davis. But Im reserving judgment. Weve heard many presentations from companies where these things dont pan out.

Clive Brown, Oxfords chief technology officer, tells Wired that the MinION works as advertised. You put a handful of lysed cells cells whose membranes have been dissolved into a small container built into the USB drive. You plug the drive into an ordinary PC. And depending on the length of the DNA in those cells, youll have a complete sequence in somewhere between a few minutes to a few hours. The device is the result of seven years of research, Brown says, and it sells for $900.

For Eisen, the cost alone would make the MinION a game changer. But its also attractive because its portable. Eisen says that with a device like the MinION, field researchers would have sequencing at their fingertips at all times, whether theyre on a remote mountain somewhere or out at sea looking at algae blooms. This really would be the democratization of sequencing, he says. Anyone in any research environment would consider doing large scale sequencing in their project.

But he still wants to see it action before he says any more.

In biological research, the order of DNAs four building blocks called base pairs is essential to understanding the underlying mechanisms of an organisms existence. Short for deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA along with a handful of supporting molecules dictates the protein structures and development of every creature on the planet. DNA length varies by organism ranging from the thousands of basepairs for bacteria to billions for mammals so tools that quickly read this molecular instruction manual are imperative for biological research.

Oxford aims for DNA sequencing in the wild. Image: Frank Kehren/Flickr

The market for DNA sequencing is a crowded one. Companies such as Illumina and Sequetech build large machines that sit alongside a lab bench, and Ion Torrent, a subsidiary of Life Technologies, will soon release a benchtop sequencer that it says will read the entire human genome roughly three billion base pairs in a day. But Oxford is the first to put this sort of device on an ordinary laptop.

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Can You Really Sequence DNA With a USB Thumb Drive?

Posted in DNA

Bert, Bundy and biology

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Egg watch ... a tour group watches a turtle nesting on Mon Repos beach.

In one crowded day in Bundaberg, Keith Austin sips rum before lunch, takes an aviation history lesson and watches the cycle of life under a full moon.

If you drive into Bundaberg from the south, a sign welcomes you to the city and proudly reveals this was the home of Bert Hinkler. Who? Who? There are no signs to the Bundaberg Rum distillery that I can find but there's a sign about Bert Hinkler?

I'd never heard of the bloke but a few hours later I'm puzzled that nobody has made a movie about his amazing, blazing firework of a life. And I've gained an appreciation for Bundaberg Rum - which, for a single-malt man, is damascene in its implications.

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A few hours later, on a warm evening under a ghostly full moon, a giant loggerhead turtle calmly squirts a hundred or so ping-pong-ball eggs into a shallow hole on Mon Repos beach, to the north of Bundaberg, where Bert Hinkler's story began in the baby years of the 20th century.

But first, that distillery. The turtles might be the main attraction but missing the Bundaberg distillery tour would be like going to the Black Forest and not having the gateau.

The city was named in 1867 by jamming together the Aboriginal word "bunda" (elder) with the Saxon suffix "berg" (mountain). The district of 112,000 people sits at the tail end of the Great Barrier Reef, and Mon Repos beach, 14 kilometres from Bundaberg, has the largest and most accessible mainland turtle rookery on the east coast of Australia. Loggerhead, green and flatback turtles come ashore to lay their eggs here between November and March each year.

It's also surrounded by sugar cane farms - the first Bundaberg sugar mill was built in 1872. A major by-product of sugar refining is molasses - an overabundance of which led a group of sugar millers to an ingenious solution in 1888, when they established the Bundaberg Rum distillery.

That dark syrupy liquid is piped underground direct from the mill into the distillery and stored in several molasses "wells", which are the first port of call on the distillery tour.

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NIH launches online resource on behavioral and social science research methods

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Public release date: 23-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ann C. Benner annb@nih.gov 301-594-4574 NIH/Office of the Director

A Web-based interactive anthology will provide psychologists, economists, anthropologists, sociologists and other scientists with the latest research methods and tools to address emerging challenges in public health, such as the obesity epidemic and the rise of chronic diseases such as heart disease. The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health collaborated with New England Research Institutes to create the free resource(http://www.esourceresearch.org/), called e-Source.

Because behavioral and social scientists hail from widely varying disciplines from political science to social work research, there was a need for a central resource for current, high quality behavioral and social science research methods. With contributions from international experts, this anthology provides authoritative answers to methodological questions and sets quality standards for the research community.

The goal of the program is to demonstrate the potential of behavioral and social science research, focusing on applying research findings to public health activities and the potential to enhance biomedical research. It is also a useful training resource for biological scientists, providing them with a basic foundation for collaborations with behavioral and social scientists. "The behavioral and social sciences research community has long needed an easily accessible, low-cost central resource for standardized methods," said Dr. Robert M. Kaplan, director of OBSSR.

Behavioral and social science has broad appeal and impact, and the program was developed to reach a wide audience of researchers, within the NIH, nationally and internationally. The Web-based interactive collection consists of 20 interactive chapters with new features including a discussion forum and enhanced note-taking capabilities. The twenty chapters cover a range of topics, but are accessible to all users, including those with limited familiarity of concepts such as how to conduct a qualitative analysis. The concepts are supported with interactive exercises and a full set of references linked to abstracts in Pubmed(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed), a library of citations for scientific journals.

The program includes chapters under five major categories relevant to behavioral and social science. "Setting the Scene" introduces major concepts in design and planning of social and behavioral science research. "Describing How" addresses methodologies used to explain how something occurs (for instance, learning how a disease is distributed in a population by conducting a survey or an observational study). "Explaining Why" provides guidance on qualitative methods appropriate for describing why something occurs. "What Works" explores research methods that can evaluate whether one treatment is better than another and whether there are cost differences (for example, a brand drug versus a generic medication). "Emerging Issues" addresses challenges in behavioral and social science research.

Several features engage the user and promote sharing, including a discussion board, a notes feature to save content and share it with others, and a function which allows the user to print a page or a chapter as a PDF. Unlike a printed textbook, the site has been developed with the expectation that it will provide a foundation of methods, but also evolve as new issues emerge. Future topics may include the effects of living in a particular neighborhood, the impact of differences in language and lifestyles, and the science of writing questions.

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The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) opened officially on July 1, 1995. The U.S. Congress established the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) in the Office of the Director, NIH, in recognition of the key role that behavioral and social factors often play in illness and health. The OBSSR mission is to stimulate behavioral and social sciences research throughout NIH and to integrate these improving our understanding, treatment, and prevention of disease. For more information, please visit <http://obssr.od.nih.gov>.

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NIH launches online resource on behavioral and social science research methods

Research and Markets: Progenitor and Stem Cell Technologies and Therapies Reviews the Range Of Progenitor and Stem …

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2fee68d4/progenitor_and_ste) has announced the addition of Woodhead Publishing Ltd's new book "Progenitor and Stem Cell Technologies and Therapies" to their offering.

Progenitor and stem cells have the ability to renew themselves and change into a variety of specialised types, making them ideal materials for therapy and regenerative medicine. "Progenitor and stem cell technologies and therapies" reviews the range of progenitor and stem cells available and their therapeutic application.

Part one reviews basic principles for the culture of stem cells before discussing technologies for particular cell types. These include human embryonic, induced pluripotent, amniotic and placental, cord and multipotent stem cells. Part two discusses wider issues such as intellectual property, regulation and commercialisation of stem cell technologies and therapies. The final part of the book considers the therapeutic use of stem and progenitor cells. Chapters review the use of adipose tissue-derived stem cells, umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cells, bone marrow, auditory and oral cavity stem cells. Other chapters cover the use of stem cells in therapies in various clinical areas, including lung, cartilage, urologic, nerve and cardiac repair.

With its distinguished editor and international team of contributors, "Progenitor and stem cell technologies and therapies" is a standard reference for both those researching in cell and tissue biology and engineering as well as medical practitioners investigating the therapeutic use of this important technology.

Key Features:

- Reviews the range of progenitor and stem cells available and outlines their therapeutic application

- Examines the basic principles for the culture of stem cells before discussing technologies for particular cell types, including human embryonic, induced pluripotent, amniotic and placental, cord and multipotent stem cells

- Includes a discussion of wider issues such as intellectual property, regulation and commercialisation of stem cell technologies and therapies

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2fee68d4/progenitor_and_ste

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Research and Markets: Progenitor and Stem Cell Technologies and Therapies Reviews the Range Of Progenitor and Stem ...

Bioheart Labs and Stemlogix Veterinary Products Featured in Media

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SUNRISE, Fla., March 22, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bioheart, Inc. (OTCBB:BHRT.OB - News), a company focused on developing stem cell therapies for heart disease, previously announced that they entered into an agreement with Stemlogix, LLC, a veterinary regenerative medicine company, to provide additional cellular products and services to the veterinary market. Under this agreement, the companies are offering stem cell banking for veterinary patients (pets). WPLG, channel 10 featured this exciting technology in a news segment which aired in the South Florida area. A small sample of tissue can be obtained from the animals during a routine procedure such as a spay or neuter. The stem cells are isolated and cryopreserved for future use as needed.

"We are excited to bring our expertise in stem cell therapy to the veterinary community," said Mike Tomas, Bioheart's President and CEO. "Stem cell therapies represent new opportunities for various types of patients and the ability to bank a pet's cells when they are young and healthy could be very valuable for future use."

WPLG, Channel 10 in Miami/South Florida featured this new technology in a news segment which aired March 15, 2012. Please see the link below:

http://www.local10.com/thats-life/health/Pet-stem-cells-frozen-banked-for-future-use/-/1717022/9285894/-/apcx9rz/-/index.html

About Bioheart, Inc.

Bioheart is committed to maintaining its leading position within the cardiovascular sector of the cell technology industry delivering cell therapies and biologics that help address congestive heart failure, lower limb ischemia, chronic heart ischemia, acute myocardial infarctions and other issues. Bioheart's goals are to cause damaged tissue to be regenerated, when possible, and to improve a patient's quality of life and reduce health care costs and hospitalizations.

Specific to biotechnology, Bioheart is focused on the discovery, development and, subject to regulatory approval, commercialization of autologous cell therapies for the treatment of chronic and acute heart damage and peripheral vascular disease. Its leading product, MyoCell, is a clinical muscle-derived cell therapy designed to populate regions of scar tissue within a patient's heart with new living cells for the purpose of improving cardiac function in chronic heart failure patients. For more information on Bioheart, visit http://www.bioheartinc.com.

About Stemlogix, LLC

Stemlogix is an innovative veterinary regenerative medicine company committed to providing veterinarians with the ability to deliver the best possible stem cell therapy to dogs, cats and horses at the point-of-care. Stemlogix provides veterinarians with the ability to isolate regenerative stem cells from a patient's own adipose (fat) tissue directly on-site within their own clinic or where a patient is located. Regenerative stem cells isolated from adipose tissue have been shown in studies to be effective in treating animal's suffering from osteoarthritis, joint diseases, tendon injuries, heart disorders, among other conditions. Stemlogix has a highly experienced management team with experience in setting up full scale cGMP stem cell manufacturing facilities, stem cell product development & enhancement, developing point-of-care cell production systems, developing culture expanded stem cell production systems, FDA compliance, directing clinical & preclinical studies with multiple cell types for multiple indications, and more. For more information about veterinary regenerative medicine please visit http://www.stemlogix.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: Except for historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "to," "plan," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," or "continue" or the negative other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

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Bioheart Labs and Stemlogix Veterinary Products Featured in Media

Vet-Stem Announces StemInsure(R): A Small Fat Sample Now, a Lifetime of Stem Cells Later

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POWAY, CA--(Marketwire -03/22/12)- Vet-Stem announced today the introduction of StemInsure. The StemInsure service provides banked stem cells that can be grown to supply a lifetime of stem cell therapy for dogs. One fat collection, in conjunction with another anesthetized procedure, gives access to a lifetime of stem cells.

Vet-Stem has trained over 3,500 veterinarians, provided stem cells for over 8,000 animals in the US and Canada and currently banks more than 25,000 doses for future therapeutic use. Many veterinarians and their clients have requested a method to collect and store stem cells when a dog is young, before it needs the regenerative cells for therapy. StemInsure was designed to meet this need.

A Vet-Stem credentialed veterinarian can collect as little as 5 grams of fat (about the size of a grape) from a dog or puppy during an anesthetized procedure. Many veterinarians and owners are electing to do this fat collection in conjunction with a spay or neuter. This small amount of fat is processed and stem cells are cryopreserved in Vet-Stem's state-of-the-art facility. The cells can be cultured in the future to provide enough stem cells to last for the lifetime of the dog. More information can be found at http://www.vet-stem.com/steminsure.php.

"Vet-Stem is pleased to provide StemInsure as a solution to the thousands of veterinarians and dog owners who recognize the value of Vet-Stem cell therapy. The ability to store the cells in conjunction with another procedure is a great way to ensure that the dog will have access to a lifetime of cell therapy while reducing the number of anesthetic events," said Dr. Bob Harman, DVM, MPVM, and CEO of Vet-Stem. Dr. Harman continued, "Currently, Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy is widely used to treat osteoarthritis, and tendon/ligament injuries. It is our expectation that the therapeutic use of adipose derived stem cells will continue to expand and add to the value of a lifetime supply of stem cells for dogs."

About Vet-Stem:In January of 2004, Vet-Stem introduced the first veterinary stem cell service in the United States. Since that time there has been rapid adoption of this technology for treatment of tendon, ligament, and joint injuries by the veterinary community. Studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells can dramatically improve the healing of injuries and diseases that have had very few treatment options in the past.

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Vet-Stem Announces StemInsure(R): A Small Fat Sample Now, a Lifetime of Stem Cells Later

AMP applauds Supreme Court ruling: Sees win for patients and personalized medicine

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Public release date: 21-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mary Steele Williams mwilliams@amp.org 301-634-7321 Association for Molecular Pathology

Bethesda, MD, March 21, 2012: "The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) applauds the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling today in the case of Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories as a victory for patients and for the advancement of personalized medicine," stated Iris Schrijver, MD, the Organization's President. AMP, an international professional society representing more than 2000 physicians, doctoral scientists, and medical technologists, joined 10 other medical and healthcare organizations in filing an amicus brief with the Court in support of Mayo Clinic. AMP is also the lead plaintiff in Association for Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that challenges the validity of patents on two human genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and is currently under review by the High Court.

"Prometheus acknowledged that physicians can infringe the patent by merely thinking about the relationship between drug metabolite levels and patient response," asserted Dr. Schrijver. "It is encouraging that the Court recognized that the Prometheus patents neither promote the advancement of medical practice, nor benefit patient care".

"In Prometheus, the Court wisely recognized that overly broad patents can inhibit innovation," stated Jennifer Hunt, MD, MEd, the Organization's President-Elect. "Establishing a drug reference range is important, but standard work for laboratory physicians. Awarding monopolies over the medical use of natural, biological relationships stifles innovation in true diagnostic test methods and obstructs improvements for patient care."

AMP believes the Supreme Court's reasoning in Mayo v. Prometheus extends to patents that claim ownership over another type of natural phenomenon, the biological relationships between genetic variants and clinical disease. Such relationships are at the heart of personalized medicine. "Patients are increasingly being disadvantaged by gene correlation patents," stated Roger D. Klein, MD, JD, Chair of AMP's Professional Relations Committee. As an example, Dr. Klein cited a method patent relating to a variation in a gene known as FLT3 that is used to qualify some leukemia patients for bone marrow transplant.

Enforcement of the FLT3 patent by a private company has been forcing physicians and laboratories to split and geographically distribute irreplaceable bone marrow specimens. "Splitting samples creates an additional risk of specimen loss and delays the receipt of patient results" stated Dr. Klein. "In addition, it interferes with the ability of pathologists to provide synoptic interpretations involving multiple tests, and prevents them from implementing cost saving algorithms that limit unnecessary testing. The Supreme Court's ruling is clearly a win both for our patients and for personalized healthcare."

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ABOUT AMP:

The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) is an international medical professional association dedicated to the advancement, practice, and science of clinical molecular laboratory medicine and translational research based on the applications of molecular biology, genetics, and genomics. For more information, please visit http://www.amp.org.

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AMP applauds Supreme Court ruling: Sees win for patients and personalized medicine