Food Safety Microbiology Testing Market in Europe to Top $1 Billion in 5 Years

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Food safety testing in Europe is substantial, with an estimated 275 million food microbiology tests conducted in 2011. According to Food Micro—6, a new market research report from Strategic Consulting, food safety testing in the EU will reach close to 350 million tests in 2016, at which point the market should top $1 billion in value.

Woodstock, VT (PRWEB) February 09, 2012

Europe is a substantial market for food microbiology testing. With a population of over 500 million, the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) conducted an estimated 275 million microbiology food safety tests in 2011, according to Food Micro, Sixth Edition: Food Microbiology Testing in Europe (Food Micro-6), a new market report from Strategic Consulting, Inc. In comparison, there were 213 million such tests conducted in the US in 2010.

According to Tom Weschler, president of Strategic Consulting and lead author of Food Micro-6, “Food safety microbiology testing in the EU will approach 350 million total tests in 2016, at which point the market should top $1 billion in value.” Given these numbers and other factors, the European food safety testing market must be examined and understood, Weschler says. “A resurgence in public awareness in the wake of the 2011 E. coli outbreak in Germany, and the continued focus of the European Food Safety Authority on EU-wide systems, could drive test volumes even higher.”

Food Micro-6 is the first definitive report to focus exclusively on the European food microbiology testing market, and reviews the methods, technologies, companies, regulations and trends shaping food safety testing in Europe.

In preparing Food Micro-6, Strategic Consulting conducted more than 175 detailed interviews in 11 European countries accounting for 77% of all agricultural/food value-added in the EU. This primary research with food-processing plants throughout Europe provides new, detailed data on European food safety testing including test volumes, methods used for routine and pathogen testing, and costs per test performed. Differences in testing practices are analyzed for the meat, dairy, fruit/vegetable, and processed food segments. Variations within countries are outlined, and expected changes in future testing practices are discussed.

“Routine” microbiology tests used in the EU to indicate the presence of microorganisms in the food processing plant or food product include total bacteria, E. coli, Staphylococcus, yeast and molds. In 2011, these routine tests numbered 225.4 million. The balance of food microbiology tests in Europe were 49.9 million “pathogen” tests, which look for specific microbes such as Salmonella, Listeria, L. mono, Campylobacter, and E. coli O157.

Food Micro—6 also profiles 18 leading diagnostic companies in the food safety testing market including 3M, BioControl, bioMérieux, Bio-Rad, DuPont Qualicon, Life Technologies, Merck Millipore, Neogen, QIAGEN, Roka Bioscience, and Thermo Fisher.

Food Micro—6 is a companion report to Food Micro, Fifth Edition: Microbiology Testing in the U.S. Food Industry (Food Micro—5), published by SCI in 2011, which reviews the current practices and changes impacting food safety testing at 9,350 US food processing plants.

Strategic Consulting has published six reports to date reviewing quality and safety testing in the food industry. The food sector represents almost 50% of the total industrial microbiology testing market, and is more than double the size of any other industrial segment including pharmaceutical, personal care products, beverage, environmental, and industrial processes. Strategic Consulting market research reports are widely accepted by leading diagnostic manufacturers and investors as highly credible analyses of the industry.

For more information about Food Micro, Sixth Edition: Food Microbiology Testing in Europe, visit http://www.strategic-consult.com or call Strategic Consulting’s US office at 802-457-9933.

   

Strategic Consulting, Inc. provides market reports and business consulting for industrial diagnostics companies delivering microbiology-based products for quality and safety testing in food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, environmental water, and industrial-process water. With more than 75 combined years of international management in the industrial marketplace, Strategic Consulting's principals have proven success in working with venture capital backed start-ups, publicly traded companies, technology acquisitions, and transformation of underachieving companies. For more information on Strategic Consulting, Inc. and its current market reports, visit http://www.strategic-consult.com or call 802-457-9933. Follow SCI president and industry expert, Tom Weschler, on LinkedIn or Twitter @tomweschler.

###

Mary Hawkins
Strategic Consulting, Inc.
802-457-9933
Email Information

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Food Safety Microbiology Testing Market in Europe to Top $1 Billion in 5 Years

Is Your Wireless Concealment at Risk? STEALTH® Concealment Solutions Launches Maintenance Division

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Concealment Longevity Services Division Repairs Wireless Sites Worldwide

Charleston, SC (PRWEB) February 09, 2012

The first U.S. wireless concealment company, STEALTH® Concealment Solutions, has introduced a new division designed to serve its rapidly maturing industry.

STEALTH® CEO Sean McLernon announced the creation of a new division – Concealment Longevity Services – to complement the company’s 20-year leadership in designing and installing quality concealment systems. “Consumer demand for wireless signals is voracious, and that has driven tremendous growth in the concealment industry,” said McLernon. “In this constant race forward, we find many site owners fail to look over their shoulders at the sites they’ve already installed.”

As a result, McLernon says, many towers and other systems are literally falling apart. And the consequences can be alarming, and dangerous. “We are getting calls weekly to inspect and bid on repairs for concealed sites we didn’t install, and which have apparently never been maintained.”

The most common maintenance problems include loose panels, system debris accumulating around the site, weather-related wear and tear, and lingering problems associated with incomplete installation.

STEALTH’s Concealment Longevity Services are available for sites worldwide. The company has created a self-inspect quiz to help site owners and field reps asses their wireless concealment site. By assessing sites early and often, owners can avoid expensive repairs.

STEALTH® Concealment Solutions was founded in 1992, and was the first U.S. company to engineer and construct antenna concealments for the wireless industry. The company has full manufacturing capability on both U.S. coasts, as well as a nationwide sales network. From church towers and flagpoles to cacti and trees, STEALTH® has experience making every type of concealment and excels at finding solutions for difficult jobs. The company’s proprietary STEALTH® Skin technology allows signals to pass through the concealment with minimal loss. Today, STEALTH® spearheads more than 750 concealment projects nationwide per year for all wireless carriers.

In 2000, STEALTH® won the “Best Design/Multi-Tenant Site Excellence in Business Awards” at the Tower Technology Summit, and was selected to design chimney concealment for the International CTIA Wireless trade show’s Wireless Home in 2005. Additionally, STEALTH® was named one of Charleston’s “Emerging 10” companies by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce in 2001, as well as being featured in publications like RCR Wireless News, TIME Magazine, Los Angeles Times and CBS.

For more information, visit http://www.stealthsite.com or call 800-755-0689.

# # #

Colleen Troy
TOUCHPOINT COMMUNICATIONS
843-296-2033
Email Information

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Is Your Wireless Concealment at Risk? STEALTH® Concealment Solutions Launches Maintenance Division

Darien couple celebrates longevity, romance after 75 years

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In 1937, Joe Luecke called up a girl from high school to ask her if she wanted to come watch him play basketball. She said she couldn’t because her mother was making her go to church.

“My older sister said, ‘Hey, I know a girl who was next to my locker, Violet Anderson, and she’s pretty nice. Why don’t you give her a call?’” Joe said. “I asked, ‘How do you know her?’ and she said, ‘Everybody knows Violet Anderson.’”

Violet agreed to the date and went down to Kankakee to see Joe play. Seventy-five years later, the two are still together.

As the couple entered their 70th wedding anniversary party on Feb. 7 at the Carmelite Carefree Village in Darien, they were undoubtedly the talk of the room. At age 93, their happiness shone through, and they mirrored the roles of a President and First Lady in how they dressed and carried themselves.

Growing up in the Chicagoland area, Joe and Violet dated for five years before getting married because during the Great Depression, no one could afford to.

Joe worked 72 hours a week for 21 cents an hour. Six months later, Montgomery Ward opened, hiring him at 50 cents an hour.

“I thought, man, I’m going to own the country,” he said.

In 1942, the two got married, and because money was so tight, they had to basically go on a double date with another couple for their honeymoon so they could save money on gas.

Heading south, Joe and Violet realized they couldn’t get a hotel because an Elks National Convention in town had all the rooms booked, but Joe’s sister slipped the keys to her place in his pocket without him knowing.

“She already knew it was going to be all booked down there but didn’t tell him,” said their son, Brad Luecke of Downers Grove. “She made him go from hotel to hotel to hotel to try and find a spot to go to, and you know, it’s your honeymoon. ... Eventually they stayed at his sister’s place.”

The honeymoon ended with them in Hot Springs, Ark.

Years into their marriage, Joe opened his own pattern shop and Violet did all the bookkeeping for it, but the two retired early and moved to Florida in 1972.

Over the course of 70 years of marriage, there are millions of little things forgotten, but it’s the priceless moments that stand out for the couple, like their children being born, countless traveling (including 14 trips to Australia) and racking up an enormous bar tab.

While at a country club in Florida, Joe hit a hole-in-one. To celebrate, normally the club picks up the bar tab with its insurance.

“We ran around in the housing development and knocked on the doors of all our friends to come down and have a drink,” Violet said. “Everyone showed up and had a drink, but the insurance didn’t cover it. We had to pay the whole bill.”

To some, Valentine’s Day, this Tuesday, has lost its luster over the years. The fact that half of all marriages end in divorce isn’t helping the holiday’s cause, either.

But for the 50-plus people watching Joe and Violet Luecke toast to their milestone — telling stories of their love the way giddy schoolkids would — the romantic feelings surrounding the week might be different.

Everyone wants to know the secret to a lasting marriage. For Joe, it’s a basic formula.

“The first thing you have to do is find a girl,” he said. “Second, she has to be pretty. Third she has to be smart and fourth, she has to be very agreeable."

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Darien couple celebrates longevity, romance after 75 years

Red wine alone may not be the elixir of life, finds new study

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Washington, Feb 10 (ANI): Previous scientific research on resveratrol, a constituent of red wine and other vegetable products, has revealed that in high doses, it may increase longevity of life and reduce metabolic diseases of aging.

But, a new study in mice has argued that crediting only resveratrol for a specific effect on health could be misleading.

More than two decades ago, particularly through publicity related to the so-called "French Paradox," the public became aware of the potential reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease from the moderate consumption of red wine, and the media focused on a single constituent in red wine, resveratrol, as being the "key" factor.

Even though it is known that resveratrol is only one of hundreds of phenolic compounds in wine, many of which have been shown to have beneficial effects on vascular function, and that alcohol itself (present in wine, beer or spirits) also provides considerable protection against heart disease.

Still, there has remained considerable attention paid to resveratrol, and extensive scientific research on resveratrol and related substances have shown that, in high doses, they may increase longevity of life and reduce metabolic diseases of aging.

In general, reviewers thought that this was a very well-done study. Their concerns related to the dose used in these experiments; while the levels of resveratrol and like compounds might be accessible with pharmaceutical doses, the suggestion that similar levels could be connected with wine consumption is misleading.

Further, in humans, resveratrol in the diet will interact with many other chemicals to achieve an effect, as whole plant extracts consist of many active and inactive micronutrients that may play a role in health and disease.

To ascribe a specific effect on health from one chemical found in wine or other plant products could be misleading.

Still, the reviewers believed that this paper was an important contribution to our knowledge about the mechanisms by which resveratrol and other chemicals may play a role in cardiovascular and other diseases.

Such knowledge could help develop approaches for the prevention and treatment of human disease and for increasing the longevity of a healthy life. (ANI)

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Red wine alone may not be the elixir of life, finds new study

Tigers' Dombrowski believes in Prince's longevity

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DETROIT (AP) -- Dave Dombrowski is showing no sign of buyer's remorse.

The Tigers' general manager spoke Tuesday as part of a Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association luncheon, expressing confidence new first baseman Prince Fielder can stay productive through most if not all of his expensive nine-year contract.

Detroit signed the hefty slugger to a $214 million deal last month. Dombrowski acknowledges the risk but points out that the hefty slugger is only 27.

"The prime of your career is what, through 32, 33?" Dombrowski said. "That's seven of the nine years already, and my gut reaction is that this guy will continue to swing the bat. How his body will look in nine years or seven years, I really don't know. He is a heavy-set guy but he's also become more aware of trying to keep himself in the best shape he possibly can."

The Tigers acquired Fielder to help them try to defend their AL Central title after designated hitter Victor Martinez went down with a severe left knee injury. Fielder and Miguel Cabrera should form a potent middle of the batting order, but the move did create some complications. Detroit is set to shift Cabrera from first base to third to make room for Fielder.

"There's very few guys that are Gold Glovers and are batting champions and All-Stars from an offensive perspective. They're called Hall of Famers - and even some Hall of Famers have had some shortcomings of one area or another," Dombrowski said. "We think Miguel will be adequate at third base from a defensive perspective. I don't mean to say he's going to be a Gold Glover. ... He's got good hands, he's got a strong arm, he wants to play there and he'll work very hard at it."

With the two power hitters both slated to play the field, the Tigers don't have anyone lined up to be an everyday DH. For now, they're not inclined to put Cabrera or Fielder there with too much regularity.

Martinez made the transition to DH last season, but not everyone is comfortable in such a specialized role.

"Usually when players are younger, they want to play. They want to be out there," Dombrowski said. "They want their juices flowing."

With spring training a couple weeks away, perhaps the biggest unanswered question for Detroit is who will be the No. 5 starter. Dombrowski mentioned a half-dozen in-house candidates to replace Brad Penny - including Jacob Turner, Drew Smyly, Andy Oliver, Casey Crosby, Duane Below and Adam Wilk.

Dombrowski acknowledged that the 20-year-old Turner appears to have impressive potential, but none of the pitchers he listed have proven they can perform consistently well at the big league level.

"I'm not really sure if he's ready or not, and I don't know that we'll know that until we get down there and see him perform and see some of those other guys perform," Dombrowski said.

Turner allowed 12 earned runs in 12 2-3 innings with the Tigers last year, although his performance wasn't much different from what another Detroit pitching prospect went through back in 2005.

Justin Verlander allowed nine earned runs in 11 1-3 innings that year. In 2006, he won AL Rookie of the Year honors in his first full season.

"When they get a cup of coffee here and they're not quite ready at that time, it's going so fast," Dombrowski said. "All of a sudden in the wintertime, they digest that, they come back, and they pitch very well."

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Tigers' Dombrowski believes in Prince's longevity

Dombrowski confident in Fielder's longevity

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DETROIT (AP)—Dave Dombrowski is showing no sign of buyer’s remorse.

The Tigers’ general manager spoke Tuesday as part of a Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association luncheon, expressing confidence new first baseman Prince Fielder can stay productive through most if not all of his expensive nine-year contract.

Detroit signed the hefty slugger to a $214 million deal last month. Dombrowski acknowledges the risk but points out that the hefty slugger is only 27.

“The prime of your career is what, through 32, 33?” Dombrowski said. “That’s seven of the nine years already, and my gut reaction is that this guy will continue to swing the bat. How his body will look in nine years or seven years, I really don’t know. He is a heavy-set guy but he’s also become more aware of trying to keep himself in the best shape he possibly can.”

The Tigers acquired Fielder to help them try to defend their AL Central title after designated hitter Victor Martinez went down with a severe left knee injury. Fielder and Miguel Cabrera should form a potent middle of the batting order, but the move did create some complications. Detroit is set to shift Cabrera from first base to third to make room for Fielder.

“There’s very few guys that are Gold Glovers and are batting champions and All-Stars from an offensive perspective. They’re called Hall of Famers—and even some Hall of Famers have had some shortcomings of one area or another,” Dombrowski said. “We think Miguel will be adequate at third base from a defensive perspective. I don’t mean to say he’s going to be a Gold Glover. … He’s got good hands, he’s got a strong arm, he wants to play there and he’ll work very hard at it.”

With the two power hitters both slated to play the field, the Tigers don’t have anyone lined up to be an everyday DH. For now, they’re not inclined to put Cabrera or Fielder there with too much regularity.

Martinez made the transition to DH last season, but not everyone is comfortable in such a specialized role.

“Usually when players are younger, they want to play. They want to be out there,” Dombrowski said. “They want their juices flowing.”

With spring training a couple weeks away, perhaps the biggest unanswered question for Detroit is who will be the No. 5 starter. Dombrowski mentioned a half-dozen in-house candidates to replace Brad Penny—including Jacob Turner, Drew Smyly, Andy Oliver, Casey Crosby, Duane Below and Adam Wilk.

Dombrowski acknowledged that the 20-year-old Turner appears to have impressive potential, but none of the pitchers he listed have proven they can perform consistently well at the big league level.

“I’m not really sure if he’s ready or not, and I don’t know that we’ll know that until we get down there and see him perform and see some of those other guys perform,” Dombrowski said.

Turner allowed 12 earned runs in 12 2-3 innings with the Tigers last year, although his performance wasn’t much different from what another Detroit pitching prospect went through back in 2005.

Justin Verlander allowed nine earned runs in 11 1-3 innings that year. In 2006, he won AL Rookie of the Year honors in his first full season.

“When they get a cup of coffee here and they’re not quite ready at that time, it’s going so fast,” Dombrowski said. “All of a sudden in the wintertime, they digest that, they come back, and they pitch very well.”

More:
Dombrowski confident in Fielder's longevity

Tigers' Dombrowski confident in Fielder's longevity

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DETROIT (AP) -- Dave Dombrowski is showing no sign of buyer's remorse.

The Tigers' general manager spoke Tuesday as part of a Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association luncheon, expressing confidence new first baseman Prince Fielder can stay productive through most if not all of his expensive nine-year contract.

Detroit signed the hefty slugger to a $214 million deal last month. Dombrowski acknowledges the risk but points out that the hefty slugger is only 27.

"The prime of your career is what, through 32, 33?" Dombrowski said. "That's seven of the nine years already, and my gut reaction is that this guy will continue to swing the bat. How his body will look in nine years or seven years, I really don't know. He is a heavy-set guy but he's also become more aware of trying to keep himself in the best shape he possibly can."

The Tigers acquired Fielder to help them try to defend their AL Central title after designated hitter Victor Martinez went down with a severe left knee injury. Fielder and Miguel Cabrera should form a potent middle of the batting order, but the move did create some complications. Detroit is set to shift Cabrera from first base to third to make room for Fielder.

"There's very few guys that are Gold Glovers and are batting champions and All-Stars from an offensive perspective. They're called Hall of Famers - and even some Hall of Famers have had some shortcomings of one area or another," Dombrowski said. "We think Miguel will be adequate at third base from a defensive perspective. I don't mean to say he's going to be a Gold Glover. ... He's got good hands, he's got a strong arm, he wants to play there and he'll work very hard at it."

With the two power hitters both slated to play the field, the Tigers don't have anyone lined up to be an everyday DH. For now, they're not inclined to put Cabrera or Fielder there with too much regularity.

Martinez made the transition to DH last season, but not everyone is comfortable in such a specialized role.

"Usually when players are younger, they want to play. They want to be out there," Dombrowski said. "They want their juices flowing."

With spring training a couple weeks away, perhaps the biggest unanswered question for Detroit is who will be the No. 5 starter. Dombrowski mentioned a half-dozen in-house candidates to replace Brad Penny - including Jacob Turner, Drew Smyly, Andy Oliver, Casey Crosby, Duane Below and Adam Wilk.

Dombrowski acknowledged that the 20-year-old Turner appears to have impressive potential, but none of the pitchers he listed have proven they can perform consistently well at the big league level.

"I'm not really sure if he's ready or not, and I don't know that we'll know that until we get down there and see him perform and see some of those other guys perform," Dombrowski said.

Turner allowed 12 earned runs in 12 2-3 innings with the Tigers last year, although his performance wasn't much different from what another Detroit pitching prospect went through back in 2005.

Justin Verlander allowed nine earned runs in 11 1-3 innings that year. In 2006, he won AL Rookie of the Year honors in his first full season.

"When they get a cup of coffee here and they're not quite ready at that time, it's going so fast," Dombrowski said. "All of a sudden in the wintertime, they digest that, they come back, and they pitch very well."

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Tigers' Dombrowski confident in Fielder's longevity

Automatic suspension of insulin delivery via insulin pumps reduces hypoglycemia

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Public release date: 9-Feb-2012
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Contact: Cathia Falvey
cfalvey@liebertpub.com
914-740-2100
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, February 9, 2012?An automated on/off feature built into insulin pump systems can suspend insulin delivery when it detects low blood glucose levels (via continuous glucose monitoring), significantly reducing the severity and duration of hypoglycemia in individuals with type 1 diabetes, according to a study published in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online.

In the study, Satish Garg, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics and Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Denver, and colleagues from the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes (Aurora, CO), Rainier Clinical Research Center (Renten, WA), AMCR Institute, Inc. (Escondido, CA), Stanford University Medical Center (CA), Mills-Peninsula Health Services (San Mateo, CA), and Medtronic Inc. (Northridge, CA) used a regimen of fasting and exercise to induce hypoglycemia in a group of subjects with type 1 diabetes who use insulin pump delivery devices along with continuous glucose monitoring.

They compared the severity and duration of hypoglycemia and the risk of rebound hyperglycemia when the automated "low glucose suspend" feature of the pump was turned on or off. They report their findings in the article "Reduction in Duration of Hypoglycemia by Automatic Suspension of Insulin Delivery: The In-Clinic ASPIRE Study."

"This is the first randomized cross-over trial with an attempt to develop an artificial pancreas," says Dr. Garg.

###

Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics is a monthly peer-reviewed journal that covers new technology and new products for the treatment, monitoring, diagnosis, and prevention of diabetes and its complications. Technologies include noninvasive glucose monitoring, implantable continuous glucose sensors, novel routes of insulin administration, genetic engineering, the artificial pancreas, measures of long-term control, computer applications for case management, telemedicine, the Internet, and new medications. Tables of content and a free sample issue may be viewed online.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery, Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, Childhood Obesity, and Population Health Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on our website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101

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Automatic suspension of insulin delivery via insulin pumps reduces hypoglycemia

Rare subset of diseases involving the lymphatic system

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Public release date: 8-Feb-2012
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Contact: Cathia Falvey
cfalvey@liebertpub.com
914-740-2100
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, February 8, 2012?A clinically challenging and under-studied subset of diseases affecting the lymphatic system and grouped under the disease spectrum lymphangiomatosis and Gorham's disease is the focus of a special issue of Lymphatic Research and Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.. The issue is available free online at http://www.liebertpub.com/lrb

Guest Editor, and Journal Associate Editor Francine Blei MD, MBA, St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, NY, has compiled a collection of articles that highlight the complex characteristics of these diseases, which can be localized, affect multiple sites, or be systemic, may be congenital or acquired, and may cause symptoms that range from mild to severe to life-threatening. The articles focus on current knowledge, ongoing research, and how these diseases differ from other lymphatic disorders.

"This disease spectrum affects a patient population that is small in number, but the effects of the disease(s) are devastating," says Stanley G. Rockson, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Lymphatic Research and Biology and Allan and Tina Neill Professor of Lymphatic Research and Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA. The collection of articles in this special issue, "highlights the current state of knowledge (and ignorance) in this paradoxically neglected area of lymphatic health and disease."

###

Lymphatic Research and Biology is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online that delivers the latest developments and advances in lymphatic biology and pathology from the world's leading biomedical investigators. Topics covered include vasculogenesis and angiogenesis, genetics of lymphatic disorders, human lymphatic disease, tumor biology and metastasis, pharmacology, lymphatic imaging, and inflammation, infection, and autoimmune disease. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed online at http://www.liebertpub.com/lrb

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals and DNA and Cell Biology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at http://www.liebertpub.com

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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Rare subset of diseases involving the lymphatic system

New treatment for chronic pain after spinal cord injury

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Public release date: 8-Feb-2012
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Contact: Cathia Falvey
cfalvey@liebertpub.com
914-740-2100
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, February 8, 2012?Chronic neuropathic pain following a spinal cord injury is common and very difficult to treat, but a new therapeutic strategy requiring a one-time injection into the spinal column has potential to improve patient outcomes. This cutting-edge pain management strategy is described in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at http://www.liebertpub.com/neu, along with a related article on pain following spinal cord injury.

A single injection of fibronectin, a glycoprotein produced in the body that helps anchor cells in place, can prevent the development of chronic pain that often develops after a spinal cord injury. Ching-Yi Lin, Yu-Shang Lee, Vernon Lin and Jerry Silver, from the Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, and Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, OH, describe the successful outcome following injection of a small quantity of fibronectin into the spinal dorsal column of animals immediately after a spinal dorsal column crush injury. The treatment inhibits the development of a particular type of chronic pain?mechanical allodynia, or pain from pressure that would not normally cause pain?which is common in spinal cord injury patients. The authors report their findings in the article "Fibronectin Inhibits Chronic Pain Development after Spinal Cord Injury."

Changes that occur outside the central nervous system can also play a role in the development of chronic pain after spinal cord injury. Another article in the Journal by Supinder Bedi and colleagues, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, reports that a type of nerve cell present in the peripheral nervous system, called a nociceptive primary afferent neuron, is hyperexcitable and displays spontaneous activity after spinal cord injury, which might be important for the development of chronic pain. They present their findings in the article "Spinal Cord Injury Triggers an Intrinsic Growth-Promoting State in Nociceptors."

"These highlighted experimental studies provide new information on mechanisms underlying the development of neuropathic pain and potential therapeutic interventions to treat pain after spinal cord injury," says Deputy Editor of Journal of Neurotrauma, W. Dalton Dietrich III, PhD, Scientific Director, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and Kinetic Concepts Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neurology and Cell Biology at University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Lois Pope LIFE Center.

###

Journal of Neurotrauma is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 18 times per year in print and online that focuses on the latest advances in the clinical and laboratory investigation of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. Emphasis is on the basic pathobiology of injury to the nervous system, and the papers and reviews evaluate preclinical and clinical trials targeted at improving the early management and long-term care and recovery of patients with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma is the Official Journal of the National Neurotrauma Society and the International Neurotrauma Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed online at http://www.liebertpub.com/neu

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, Tissue Engineering, and Brain Connectivity. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at http://www.liebertpub.com

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101
http://www.liebertpub.com

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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Sustainable land use strategies to support bioenergy described in Industrial Biotechnology journal

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Public release date: 9-Feb-2012
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Contact: Cathia Falvey
cfalvey@liebertpub.com
914-740-2100 x2165
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, February 9, 2012?Applying 21st century tools and technologies to manage land use, maximize biomass production, and increase the efficiency of processes for extracting energy from renewable resources will enable the biofuels industry to overcome current challenges in bioenergy production, according to a comprehensive review article published in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (http://www.liebertpub.com). The article is available free online at http://www.liebertpub.com/ind.

Robert Diltz, Heather Luckarift, and Glenn Johnson, Air Force Research Laboratory, Tyndall Air Force Base, FL, and Universal Technology Corporation, Dayton, OH, provide a detailed review of the current methods in use for producing bioenergy and the key hurdles yet to overcome. The article, "Sustainable Land Use for Bioenergy in the 21st Century," focuses on three main areas: enhancing the growth of biomass from a variety of resources; optimizing the thermo-chemical conversion of biomass to energy; and implementing land management strategies to create a sustainable biomass-to-energy industry that does not have an undesirable impact on the environment. The authors emphasize the need for innovative methods to increase the energy density of biomass, enhance growth strategies, improve energy yield, and maximize the use of waste generated as a result of biomass processing.

"It is so important that we begin to envision bioenergy development from a broader systems perspective with an eye on sustainability. This review explicitly captures this need." says Larry Walker, PhD, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Professor, Biological & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

###

Industrial Biotechnology, led by Co-Editors-in-Chief Larry Walker, PhD, and Glenn Nedwin, PhD, MBA, President, Human Therapeutics Division, Intrexon Corporation, Germantown, MD is an authoritative journal focused on biobased industrial and environmental products and processes, published bimonthly in print and online. The Journal reports on the science, business, and policy developments of the emerging global bioeconomy, including biobased production of energy and fuels, chemicals, materials, and consumer goods. The articles published include critically reviewed original research in all related sciences (biology, biochemistry, chemical and process engineering, agriculture), in addition to expert commentary on current policy, funding, markets, business, legal issues, and science trends. Industrial Biotechnology offers a premier forum bridging basic research and R&D with later-stage commercialization for sustainable biobased industrial and environmental applications.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc (http://www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Environmental Engineering Science and Sustainability: The Journal of Record. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at http://www.liebertpub.com.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101

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Sustainable land use strategies to support bioenergy described in Industrial Biotechnology journal

DA Establishes DNA Crop Library

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MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) is establishing a DNA Library of Crops, Fisheries, and Livestock (LCFL) which will help speed up crop improvement and enhance Philippines' ability to benefit economically from genetic and proprietary rights.

DA already started the DNA LCFL Library under its 2011 biotechnology program which for the first time received a P150 million budget under the 2011 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

DA Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano said that DA already has a more stable budget for biotechnology program office (BPO) as government recognizes the function of new techniques in its poverty and hunger reduction and food security aims.

"We're making sure we're getting our due share from the more than 60 percent budget increase for the DA system," said Serrano.

Dr. Candida B. Adalla, director of DA's biotechnology program office (BPO), in an interview, said they have already started the project last year.

"We have already done barcoding for native chicken. It will be a continuing thing as we work on other crops," Adalla said.

For about 10 years since 2000, the BPO obtained its budget from the US PL480 Food forr Peace program for a total of P280 million. But the GAA funding through the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) will make commitments for BPO more permanent through a yearly allocation.

Adalla said the DNA Library is an electronic or digital database of genetic materials that will be kept and maintained by the Bureau of Plant Industry's National Seed Industry Council.

"If I'm a breeder I can easily improve on my crop because I will have access to a database of the genetic material that I need," she said.

The database will enhance the country's intellectual property claims for plant and animal genetic development.

Under the 2011 PL480 research and development program, BPO had 28 programs for crops and plants, six programs for livestock and poultry, and three for fisheries and aquatic species.

The program under the 2011 GAA include varietal improvement for non genetically modified (GM) crops using biotechnology tools such as marker assisted selection or breeding which took up the highest number of projects at 22 percent of total while genetic conservation and gene banking got 14 percent.

Other BPO projects are varietal improvement for GM technologies, improvement of bioprocessing using biotechnology tools, commercialization of biotechnology products, and support for policy, regulation, and quality assurance and safety.

BPO is also allocating a significant budget for skills or capability building as government needs to strengthen presence of research experts although it already has a good number.

"We have very robust pool of scientists. There are many at UPLB (University of the Philippines Los Banos) as we offer a BS on Agricultural Biotechnology. In terms of budget our P150 million for biotechnology research and development is significant in contrast to zero, said Adalla.

"Before we depended on grant, foreign projects. This time it's people's money allocated already which means that government has recognized the importance of biotechnology," said Adalla.

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DA Establishes DNA Crop Library

Posted in DNA

Group wants DNA test in 1992 Ky. 'satanic' killing

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — When Rhonda Sue Warford died in a rural field near Brandenburg, she had multiple stab wounds to her chest, back and neck, including one that destroyed her brain stem, and two gray hairs clenched in her right hand.

Two decades later, those hairs are at the center of a legal battle over DNA testing that appellate attorneys hope will upend the convictions of two men serving life in prison for Warford's murder.

The Innocence Project, a New York-based group that works with inmates to obtain DNA testing, is reinvestigating the murder of Warford, a 19-year-old from Louisville who died in 1992 in what prosecutors called a satanic ritual murder. The legal fight has made its way to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which is weighing whether to hear the appeal of 42-year-old Garr Keith Hardin and 41-year-old Jeffrey Dewayne Clark's and order DNA testing on the hairs.

Their case is a challenge to the scope of Kentucky's post-conviction DNA testing law, which applies only to death row inmates and is considered by defense attorneys to be among the weakest in the country. Kentucky legislators are also considering a bill that would allow more inmates access to DNA testing of evidence.

The utility of testing the hairs is a point of contention between prosecutors, who say the tests won't help Hardin and Clark, and the Innocence Project, which says tests matching someone else will clear their clients.

In briefs filed with the Kentucky Supreme Court, Innocence Project attorney Jason Kreag said test results on the hairs could match an alternate suspect and definitively point to someone other than Hardin and Clark as the killer.

"Tragically, in many exoneration cases, the actual perpetrator has gone on to commit additional crimes while the wrong person served time in prison," Kreag said in a letter to the Kentucky Attorney General's Office.

Kentucky prosecutors oppose the testing. They say it won't exonerate the two convicted men, though it might point to a third person being involved.

"The evidence in the record is enough to sustain any convictions," said Assistant Attorney General Perry Ryan, who is handling the appeal.

Kreag declined to comment to The Associated Press, citing the ongoing investigation and legal proceedings. Warford's family declined to discuss the case.

Forty-eight states have post-conviction DNA testing laws. Some, such as Colorado, allow anyone convicted of a felony to seek testing while others limit the crimes that qualify for testing. Maryland and Washington state, for example, limit the eligible crimes to murder or sexual offenses.

Oklahoma and Massachusetts have no laws allowing post-conviction access to DNA testing.

At least three people in Kentucky have reached agreements with prosecutors for post-conviction DNA testing and left prison exonerated, but the testing didn't come under Kentucky's access law. Under that law, enacted in 2001, only death row inmates may petition a court to gain access to evidence and have it tested.

The case of Hardin and Clark has its roots in the on-again, off-again relationship between Warford and Hardin. They dated for a while, with sometimes volatile results.

A witness at Hardin's trial, Hope Jaggers, said Warford told Hardin she was pregnant. Hardin responded by saying "if you are pregnant, I will kill you and that ... baby," Jaggers testified in 1995.

Warford disappeared early on the morning of April 2, 1992, after telling her mother she was going out. Her mother, Mary Warford, called Louisville police to report her missing when the teen didn't return home.

Investigators found Warford's body, face down, clad in white canvas tennis shoes, red sweat pants, a dark blue shirt and a multicolored jacket, three days later in "Dead Horse Holler," a rural section of Meade County about 45 miles west of Louisville. An autopsy showed Warford had been stabbed multiple times. She had stab wounds on her hands, which prosecutors theorized were defensive injuries sustained in trying to fight off the attack.

A medical examiner found a tattoo of an inverted cross on Warford's left clavicle, as well as a hair on her sweat pants. DNA testing was unavailable, but the examiner called the hair similar to Hardin's. Detectives found Warford's fingerprint in Clark's car, even though he said Warford had not been in the vehicle since December 1991.

A search turned up occult-related items and documents and knives at the homes of Hardin and Clark. Both men also told detectives that they had taken part in Satanic worship either around the time of the slaying or in the past. Hardin told police detectives on April 7, 1992, that he had a "vision" that Warford, wearing red clothes, had been killed in a field. Prosecutors said Clark twice confessed to a fellow jail inmate that he killed Warford.

Prosecutors took a mix of physical and circumstantial evidence to trial, even telling jurors that the gray hairs were found but couldn't be matched to anyone suspected in Warford's death. Jurors convicted both men of first-degree murder, but declined to impose a death sentence.

In 2009, The Innocence Project began the push for DNA testing of the gray hairs, but prosecutors opposed the request.

Meade County Circuit Judge Sam Monarch rejected testing in January 2010, ruling that matching the evidence to a third party wouldn't exonerate Hardin and Clark and would only implicate a third party.

"Assuming that DNA analysis would confirm what was known prior to the time of trial, this would not be anything new," Monarch wrote.

Since then attorneys for Hardin and Clark have focused on another man, identified in some court records as "John Doe," as an alternate suspect. They say he is the source of the gray hairs. The defense attorneys said they have obtained DNA from "John Doe" to test, should the court grant DNA testing in the case.

Prosecutors are relying on Kentucky's high court to agree with Monarch's logic in rejecting the testing — that there's nothing new about the hairs that could help Hardin and Clark.

"The jury has already considered the fact that the gray hairs could not be tied to Mr. Clark, Mr. Hardin or Ms. Warford and found that this fact did not create a reasonable doubt," Monarch wrote.

______

Associated Press reporter Brett Barrouquere is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BBarrouquereAP

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Group wants DNA test in 1992 Ky. 'satanic' killing

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Blocking DNA repair enzyme could eventually lead to cancer therapy

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Washington, Feb 11 (ANI): Scientists have shed light on what happens in cells when DNA is damaged.

The research group in the Faculty of Medicine 'n' Dentistry at the University of Alberta hopes that their latest discovery could one day be used to develop new therapies that target certain types of cancers.

Mark Glover, his graduate student Zahra Havali-Shahriari and post-doctoral fellow Nicolas Coquelle solved the structure of a DNA repair enzyme called polynucleotide kinase/phosphatase, or PNKP.

This allows them to see what is happening when this enzyme is repairing DNA.

In normal cells damaged DNA can lead to the breakdown of chromosomes and, ultimately, cancers. On the other hand, damaging DNA in cancer cells is a useful way to kill them. A long-term goal of this research is to find ways to specifically block PNKP from doing its repair work in cancer cells as a possible new cancer therapy.

"We can finally visualize it bound to the damaged ends of DNA," said Glover, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry.

"We've trapped the enzyme bound to the damaged DNA before it actually repairs the damage. One of the surprising things that comes out of this study is that we also see that the enzyme has to unwind the DNA double helix."

Work over the last 10 years, pioneered in large part in the Faculty of Medicine 'n' Dentistry, revealed that the enzyme PNKP plays a critical role in the repair of broken DNA ends produced by radiation and other agents.

Until now, though, no one knew how it finds and repairs the damage.

"It breaks base pairs [of DNA] apart, peels off the broken end and then PNKP inserts that broken end into the enzyme," explained Glover.

"It then performs a chemical reaction on the damaged DNA end, reversing the damage and releasing it so that the broken DNA strand can be welded together with the rest of the double helix.

"We now understand more about how this thing works; an enzyme that is protecting us from getting cancers."

However, the same enzyme also protects cancer cells.

"We find a lot of tumours become resistant to these therapies [radiation and chemotherapy]," said Glover.

"The holy grail of cancer therapy is to find drugs that we could give to people that would sensitize their tumours to these therapies.

"One way you could sensitize tumours is to target what they're using to repair damaged DNA. One of the ideas is that we could specifically inhibit this PNKP enzyme."

Sensitizing the tumours to therapies could also lower side effects, insisted Glover.

The lab is already starting to test some compounds that could act as inhibitors for PNKP in tumours and they've seen some positive early results.

Because radiation is proven effective in some but not all cancers, new treatment avenues are necessary. Glover is playing a vital role in moving potential new treatment forward.

"It requires a lot of basic research to find out what's going on in all these different cancers," he added.

The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a high-impact scientific journal. (ANI)

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Blocking DNA repair enzyme could eventually lead to cancer therapy

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DNA Brands' Television Interview to Air on Fox Business Network

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BOCA RATON, Fla., Feb. 8, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DNA Brands, Inc. (DNAX.OB) today announced that an interview with Darren Marks, the Company's CEO, will air nationally on the Fox Business Network on Wednesday evening February 8, 2012 at 10:30 Pacific time and then again at the same time on the following two Wednesdays. To view the interview click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLNn5vK5IeA

Mr. Marks said, "Having the opportunity to be interviewed by Mr. Crowley, such a well-known and respected figure in the financial community, was a real honor. As a Company we have a powerful story to tell and interviews like this give us a chance to convey our message coast-to-coast to consumer markets and the investment community alike." Mr. Marks concluded, "We have been featured in several Money-Talk Radio programs."

About Wall Street Cast/Steve Crowley/Money Talk Radio http://www.moneychannel.tv

Steve Crowley is the Editor and Host of the daily "American Scene" Radio programs which have been airing nationally since June 1990. After an impressive career as a partner in a CPA firm, a Financial Reporter for WJAR-TV 10 in Providence and Host of "Money Talks", a PBS television program, Mr. Crowley made the full-time transition to the world of television and radio broadcasting. Steve then became the Financial Reporter for WPLG-TV10, the ABCV affiliate in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market. Steve was also the Money Editor of ABC's "Good Morning America". Steve currently hosts America's #1 Money-Talk Radio Program, Steve Crowley's "American Scene". Today, 3,000,000 listeners take advantage of the three-hour daily broadcasts through the Information Radio Network, and on the Internet worldwide.

About DNA Brands, Inc.

DNA BRANDS, make DNA Energy Drink(R), the award-winning, best-tasting energy drink at the 2010 World Beverage Competition, and DNA Beef Jerky(TM) and DNA Shred Stix(TM). DNA Energy Drink(R) is a proprietary blend of quality ingredients in four flavors Citrus, Lemon Lime, Sugar Free Citrus and CRANRAZBERRY. DNA is a proud sponsor of many action sport teams consisting of top athletes from Motorcross, Surf, Wakeboard and Skateboard has received tremendous TV and media coverage.

Independent retailers throughout the state sell the DNA Brand products as well as national retailers including Walgreens, Race Trac and Circle K.

True to its actions sports roots, DNA BRANDS, INC., has earned national recognition through its sponsorship of the DNA Energy Drink/Jeff Ward Racing team where it competes on a world-class level in Supercross and Motocross, reaching millions of fans. DNA Energy Drink(R) can also be found in other action sports such as Surfing, BMX, Wakeboarding and Skateboarding and its athletes are recognized stars in their own right.

For more information about DNA Energy Drink, its athletes and sponsorships, please visit http://www.dnabrandsusa.com

The DNA Beverage Corp. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7258

Safe Harbor Forward-Looking Statements

To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, future collaboration agreements, the success of the Company's development, events conditioned on stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made.

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DNA Brands' Television Interview to Air on Fox Business Network

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Witness: LA Detective's DNA Matched Bite Mark

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DNA taken from the mouth of a former police detective so closely matched saliva from a bite mark on the arm of a murdered woman that no one else could have produced that genetic similarity, a criminalist told jurors Friday.

Los Angeles Police Department scientist Jennifer Francis, who analyzed evidence in the 26-year-old murder case, offered a conclusion that bolstered prosecution claims that defendant Stephanie Lazarus murdered her romantic rival.

Francis said the DNA of Lazarus was found on the bite mark discovered on victim Sherri Rasmussen's body after she was slain in 1986.

The case lay dormant and was reopened after two decades, with DNA analysis credited with reviving the case and implicating Lazarus.

The 51-year-old Lazarus, once a decorated LAPD investigator, listened attentively as Francis provided the strongest evidence against her.

Lazarus has pleaded not guilty and her lawyer, Mark Overland, has suggested that the DNA swabs taken at the time of Rasmussen's killing were corrupted over the years and are not reliable evidence.

Prosecutors claim that Lazarus was consumed with jealousy when her longtime lover, John Ruetten, announced he had decided to marry Rasmussen, a nursing supervisor at a hospital. When Rasmussen was killed, investigators believed she was the victim of a home invasion robbery.

Lazarus' name came up when the case was reopened and new detectives looked at the facts. Other police witnesses have told how they followed Lazarus surreptitiously and collected her DNA from a cup she discarded during a shopping trip.

It provided a partial match to DNA from the bite, they said. But it wasn't until Lazarus provided a DNA sample from her mouth while in custody that they had a perfect match, they said.

Francis described how she received swabs for testing that had been placed in an envelope a quarter century before. She identified pictures of the envelope which she said was in "ratty" condition and had at least one large tear. A photo projected on a courtroom screen showed a test tube top sticking out of a tear in the envelope. Francis said she also cut a slit in the envelope to remove the tube.

That has led to claims of evidence tampering by the defense.

During cross-examination by Overland, Francis said DNA evidence is highly susceptible to contamination and degradation over time. But she said laboratories have controls to prevent that.

She also testified that she was first approached to analyze materials in the case in 2004. In early 2005, she determined the person who made the bite mark was probably a female.

For unexplained reasons, the case then sat dormant again until 2009, when a detective reopened it and Francis compared the genetic profile of the biter with the DNA sample taken from Lazarus' mouth.

Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Paul Nunez, Francis said the genetic profile of Lazarus and the bite mark would be expected to be found in one in 402 quadrillion individuals.

"On our Earth would you expect to find another individual with the profile of Stephanie Lazarus and Exhibit 30 (the bite)?" Nunez asked.

"No," said the witness.

The trial is in recess until Tuesday. Monday is a court holiday.

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Witness: LA Detective's DNA Matched Bite Mark

Posted in DNA

Witness: Detective's DNA matched bite mark

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — DNA taken from the mouth of a former police detective so closely matched saliva from a bite mark on the arm of a murdered woman that no one else could have produced that genetic similarity, a criminalist told jurors Friday.

Los Angeles Police Department scientist Jennifer Francis, who analyzed evidence in the 26-year-old murder case, offered a conclusion that bolstered prosecution claims that defendant Stephanie Lazarus murdered her romantic rival.

Francis said the DNA of Lazarus was found on the bite mark discovered on victim Sherri Rasmussen's body after she was slain in 1986.

The case lay dormant and was reopened after two decades, with DNA analysis credited with reviving the case and implicating Lazarus.

The 51-year-old Lazarus, once a decorated LAPD investigator, listened attentively as Francis provided the strongest evidence against her.

Lazarus has pleaded not guilty and her lawyer, Mark Overland, has suggested that the DNA swabs taken at the time of Rasmussen's killing were corrupted over the years and are not reliable evidence.

Prosecutors claim that Lazarus was consumed with jealousy when her longtime lover, John Ruetten, announced he had decided to marry Rasmussen, a nursing supervisor at a hospital. When Rasmussen was killed, investigators believed she was the victim of a home invasion robbery.

Lazarus' name came up when the case was reopened and new detectives looked at the facts. Other police witnesses have told how they followed Lazarus surreptitiously and collected her DNA from a cup she discarded during a shopping trip.

It provided a partial match to DNA from the bite, they said. But it wasn't until Lazarus provided a DNA sample from her mouth while in custody that they had a perfect match, they said.

Francis described how she received swabs for testing that had been placed in an envelope a quarter century before. She identified pictures of the envelope which she said was in "ratty" condition and had at least one large tear. A photo projected on a courtroom screen showed a test tube top sticking out of a tear in the envelope. Francis said she also cut a slit in the envelope to remove the tube.

That has led to claims of evidence tampering by the defense.

During cross-examination by Overland, Francis said DNA evidence is highly susceptible to contamination and degradation over time. But she said laboratories have controls to prevent that.

She also testified that she was first approached to analyze materials in the case in 2004. In early 2005, she determined the person who made the bite mark was probably a female.

For unexplained reasons, the case then sat dormant again until 2009, when a detective reopened it and Francis compared the genetic profile of the biter with the DNA sample taken from Lazarus' mouth.

Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Paul Nunez, Francis said the genetic profile of Lazarus and the bite mark would be expected to be found in one in 402 quadrillion individuals.

"On our Earth would you expect to find another individual with the profile of Stephanie Lazarus and Exhibit 30 (the bite)?" Nunez asked.

"No," said the witness.

The trial is in recess until Tuesday. Monday is a court holiday.

Excerpt from:
Witness: Detective's DNA matched bite mark

Posted in DNA

High-Speed DNA Scans Help Most Lung Cancer Patients, Study Finds

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February 12, 2012, 7:13 PM EST

By Robert Langreth

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- More than half of lung and colon cancer patients may benefit from high-speed tests that detect DNA flaws doctors can target with existing medicines, a study found.

Researchers used a gene test made by closely held Foundation Medicine Inc. to sequence 145 cancer-associated genes in 40 colon tumor samples and 24 lung tumors. They found that 53 percent of colon tumors and 71 percent of lung tumors had mutations that may be attacked with cancer medicines on the market or in human trials, according to the study published today in Nature Medicine. In some cases, the results revealed what drugs wouldn’t work against the tumors.

The study from researchers at Foundation Medicine and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, shows the value of using DNA sequencing machines to optimize treatment by matching drugs against specific gene abnormalities inside a patient’s tumor, said Pasi Janne, a study co-author.

“It is moving closer and closer to real personalized medicine,” Janne, a lung cancer specialist at Dana-Farber, said in an interview. “It is fantastic as we can tailor our therapy to the particular genetics of a patient’s cancer.”

The DNA sequencing field has drawn increased interest from pharmaceutical makers focused on developing gene-targeted therapies. Roche Holding AG, the world’s biggest maker of cancer medicines, last month began a $5.7 billion hostile takeover offer for Illumina Inc., the maker of gene sequencing machines that Foundation Medicine uses in its tests.

Pfizer’s Sutent

The researchers also spotted a previously unknown genetic flaw in 2 percent of 561 lung tumors tested. The flaw activates a growth-boosting protein targeted by Pfizer Inc.’s kidney- cancer drug Sutent, hinting that the treatment from the New York-based drugmaker may also work in these lung patients, said Janne. He wants to begin a trial of Sutent in lung-cancer patients with the gene change by year end, he said.

Researchers in Japan also reported finding the same new genetic change in a fraction of lung tumors, according to two other studies published today in Nature Medicine. Until the three new studies, the genetic change had never been seen in any cancer, said Janne.

The change fuses two unrelated genes together to form KIF5B-RET, turning on a growth-driving protein called RET that is usually not active in lung cells. When Janne and his collaborators treated cells with the aberrant gene using Pfizer’s Sutent or AstraZeneca Plc’s thyroid-cancer drug Caprelsa, the cells died. Both drugs block RET.

Finding Gene Abnormalities

Maureen Cronin, a study co-author and molecular pharmacologist at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Foundation Medicine, said her company was finding new gene abnormalities at a much higher rate than they expected as it performs DNA scans on tumors.

“We expected to find new things, but not at the frequency we are finding them,” she said in a telephone interview. The results “are very surprising.”

The study also suggests cancer researchers may need to rethink the way they classify and treat the disease, Cronin said. The particular genetic abnormality inside tumor DNA may matter as much as what organ the tumor came from, she said.

Pfizer is aware of the new lung cancer gene finding and “believes the data are interesting,” said Jenifer Antonacci, a company spokeswoman, in an e-mail.

Laura Woodin, a spokeswoman for London-based AstraZeneca, said the company “is constantly alert to new developments and research in the science of oncology and we review relevant, peer reviewed studies for what they might mean for patients and drug development.”

Foundation Medicine performs a $5,800 test that takes tumor samples and sequences DNA from 200 genes relevant to cancer. It is funded with $33.5 million in venture capital from Third Rock Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google Ventures, according to its website.

--Editors: Angela Zimm, Andrew Pollack

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Langreth in New York at rlangreth@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

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High-Speed DNA Scans Help Most Lung Cancer Patients, Study Finds

Posted in DNA

Heathwood Hall planting seeds of change

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It may be early February, but 10th-grade biology students at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School already have their hands in the dirt, planting trays of dill and peppers that will be ready in early spring.

“Believe it or not guys,” says science teacher, Jim Morris “together you’ve planted almost 100 seed trays.”

Students file out of the classroom and take a spiral staircase down to the school’s Robert Clark Greenhouse, where they will be filling more plastic trays with dirt and making tiny indentations in the soil — all part of the effort to get ready for Heathwood Hall’s April 12 spring plant sale.

Both the sale and the greenhouse lessons are part of a larger “green” initiative at the private school, called School Environmental Education, or SEED.

“The school has always had a deep commitment to environmental education,” said Morris, SEED’s co-director. “But it’s been each individual teacher doing their own project. SEED was created to be an umbrella group to pull all of these activities together.”

Launched last spring, the initiative uses a multipronged approach to coordinate what had become a long list of green projects or ecologically-minded programs, a focus for the school founded in 1951.

A team of 25 — including faculty, administration, student council officers and parents — representing seven subcommittees helps direct the program’s goals and ensure there aren’t redundancies.

“We operate on the premise that everyone takes ownership,” Morris said. “So it’s a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down approach.”

Projects have included conventional green programs, such as community cleanups, compost bins and vegetable and shade gardens. But the SEED team also has employed the unconventional, marrying environmental initiatives with other school programs.

“A huge number of people here have a classic land ethic to protect the environment,” Morris said. “So we have always looked for opportunities to tie all of our programs in together with environmental science.”

Case in point: The spring plant sale not only serves as a lesson in photosynthesis and seed germination — something biology students were studying recently — but also raises funds for those same students to take part in their senior trip to rehabilitate homes on Johns Island in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. The money raised from the sale will go toward paint and building materials.

Biology Buddies, which pairs preschoolers with high school students, is another example of a Heathwood program doing double, even triple, duty.

“Little kids can play in the dirt till the cows come home,” Morris said. “But older kids will get bored after awhile. So we’ve found the combination, with older and younger students together, works well. It’s very productive.”

The kids, Morris said, not only receive a science lesson but gain important socialization skills in the process. It’s a holistic approach that’s become a hallmark of how the school approaches education.

“We do that in various forms here,” Morris said.

The approach seems to be working.

Sophomore Thomas Smith said he didn’t think he would enjoy biology class. The 15-year-old, who tends to lean more toward history and English as his favorite subjects, said he’s since changed his mind.

“I’ve gotten into medicinal plants,” he said. “Like herbal remedies. So this (class) has got me interested in that.”

While Morris and Todd Beasley, the program’s other director, say some of the initiative’s goals may be lofty, ultimately they may prove beneficial to the community as well.

“Jim and I always like to think big,” said Beasley, who teaches fifth-grade science. “So we sometimes have to remind ourselves this has only been the first year.”

In addition to encouraging students to take behaviors such as recycling and planting gardens home to their families, the program helps students rediscover the world around them, Beasley said.

“It’s this idea more or less of a ‘green hour’ to get them outside for an hour,” he said. “One of our goals is to not necessarily say ‘you need to put down the video game’ but just get them thinking about other ways of entertaining themselves and get them reconnected to the outdoors.”

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Heathwood Hall planting seeds of change

Roche Supports the Smithsonian's National Zoo with Next-Generation Sequencing Instrument for Animal Conservation …

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BRANFORD, Connecticut, February 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Roche and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, DC announced today a collaboration agreement to use Roche's GS Junior benchtop sequencing system for research in SCBI's Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics. SCBI's state-of-the-art genetics laboratory, based at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, will house the next-generation sequencing instrument and will use its deep DNA sequencing powers for a variety of research projects in areas of animal disease resistance, population genetics and molecular ecology.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute plays a key role in the Smithsonian's global efforts to understand and conserve species and train future generations of conservationists, while specializing in areas of animal ecology, management, health and breeding. Researchers at SCBI plan to use the GS Junior System's DNA sequencing technology to gain deeper insight into the genetics of dangerous pathogens that threaten animal species. Specific projects include:

Sequencing strains of the deadly amphibian chytrid fungus that has devastated amphibian populations worldwide. Sequencing highly pathogenic strains of the elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV1). Sequencing invasive avian malaria strains that are devastating most species of native Hawaiian birds.

"The power of next-generation sequencing is remarkable," said Rob Fleischer, head of SCBI's Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics. "We are thrilled to work with Roche to bring the GS Junior System into our laboratory. The system is perfectly sized for our research and the long read lengths are critical to our particular areas of focus in pathogen detection and viral/bacterial comparative genomics."

"We are honored to support the Smithsonian Institution and the National Zoo's animal conservation projects, which are vital to the future health of our planet," said Thomas Schinecker, President of 454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company. "This collaboration demonstrates the tremendous potential of our sequencing technology to broaden understanding of all species on earth - from humans to plants and animals."

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2011, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 42.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: http://www.roche.com.

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute plays a key role in the Smithsonian's global efforts to understand and conserve species and train future generations of conservationists. Headquartered in Front Royal, Va., SCBI facilitates and promotes research programs based at Front Royal, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and at field research stations and training sites worldwide.

For life science research only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

454, 454 LIFE SCIENCES, 454 SEQUENCING, and GS FLX are trademarks of Roche.

All other product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For further information please contact:

Roche Diagnostics 454 Life Sciences Corporation, a Roche Company

Dr. Burkhard Ziebolz
Phone: +49-8856-604830
Email: burkhard.ziebolz@roche.com

Katie Montgomery
Phone: +1-203-871-2300
Email: katie.montgomery@roche.com
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Lindsay Renick Mayer
Phone : +1-202-633-3081
Email: RenickMayerL@si.edu

Original post:
Roche Supports the Smithsonian's National Zoo with Next-Generation Sequencing Instrument for Animal Conservation ...