Going to the Delaware Beaches Soon? DC Says You’ll Have to Quarantine When You Get Back – Washingtonian

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Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a new quarantine order for DC Friday, saying that anyone coming into the city from designated high-risk spots must self-quarantine for 14 days. The list of affected states was released today. If youre currently at the beach in Rehoboth, or Bethany, or Deweyor heading there in the next two weeksyou may need to re-jigger some of your plans. Delaware is among the 27 high-risk states on Bowsers list.

The quarantine orders affects people traveling for non-essential activities. Virginia and Maryland are not on the list. Bowsers office has said it will be revising and reissuing the list every 2 weeks.

How will the order be enforced? When asked at a press conference Friday, Bowser didnt directly say. People shouldmonitor their activities and do what is right for their neighbors and the District, she said.

Heres the full list of high-risk states, effective until August 10, when it will be revised:

ArkansasArizonaAlabamaCaliforniaDelawareFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIowaKansasLouisianaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew MexicoNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasUtahWashingtonWisconsin

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Articles Editor

Kristen Hinman has been editing Washingtonians features since 2014. She joined the magazine after editing politics & policy coverage for Bloomberg Businessweek and working as a staff writer for Voice Media Group/Riverfront Times.

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Going to the Delaware Beaches Soon? DC Says You'll Have to Quarantine When You Get Back - Washingtonian

The Best Beach Getaways in the U.S. – Cond Nast Traveler

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Nothing beats spending an entire vacation next to the oceanin fact, its a scientific fact that water makes people happier. Even though American travelers might not be able to jet off to the Mediterranean coast or choose a Caribbean island at will right now, there are plenty of hotels in the United States that are perfect for your next beach getaway. Weve rounded up our favorite oceanfront hotels spanning the entire contiguous U.S., and we guarantee theres a listing here for every type of traveler. So whether youre craving an intimate retreat in Big Sur, a family-friendly cabin on Cape Cod, or a five-star high-rise located directly on Miami Beach, this list of the best beach getaways should have you covered.

All listings featured on Cond Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Newport has a long history of catering to the countrys upper-crust, and few places appeal to that Im friends with at least one Vanderbilt clientele better than The Chanler at Cliff Walk. The gilded-age manor was built in 1873 for Margaret Astor Ward (great-granddaughter of John Jacob), but opened its doors to the public as a hotel in 2003. The rooms are decorated in the styles of different historical periods, each somehow more extravagant than the next. Our favorite is the Marthas Vineyard villa, an ocean-view beauty with a mantled fireplace, two prim blue chairs, and a canopied, four-poster bed with intricately carved wooden frame.

Book Now: From $538 per night at Skylark.com

Its no secret that Montauk is one of the best beach getaways for New Yorkers, but booking a room at Gurneys Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa will take your semi-staycation to the next level. With its ocean-fed saltwater pool and in-the-sand daybeds adorned in yellow and cream, the beach scene here is the stuff Hamptons dreams are made of. People come to Gurneys beach club from all over the area just for happy hour, but you can dodge the mid-afternoon crowds in one of the resorts 38 oceanfront guest rooms, complete with private verandas and floor-to-ceiling windows.

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The Best Beach Getaways in the U.S. - Cond Nast Traveler

141 tickets issued for alcohol, other violations at Westerly beaches in past 10 days – The Westerly Sun

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WESTERLY A series of complaints has led to officers resuming alcohol enforcement along the town's beaches, and in just 10 days the effort has led to the issuance of 141 tickets for various violations.

Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey said that from July 18 through Monday, the department had cited a total of 103 individuals for consuming an alcoholic beverage in public and issued 36 tickets to underage persons in possession of alcohol. One person was cited with possession of marijuana and another faces a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.

The department had already issued another 12 alcohol-based violations as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, but details of those summonses were not available as officers were still in the middle of enforcement.

"It is by far the most I've seen in such a short period," Lacey said Tuesday. "I know for many, that already sounds like a lot, but the number of violators is likely even higher. For every summons, officers must do approximately 30 minutes of paperwork. They've been busy."

The Westerly Police Department has traditionally conducted early-season enforcement involving plainclothes officers in an effort to set a tone for the season, Lacey explained. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions and other unusual circumstances, the department did not conduct their normal early-season enforcement in 2020.

Over the first few weeks of July, however, he said the agency began to receive "numerous complaints" from residents, business owners and beachgoers regarding unruly behavior, drinking and smoking of marijuana. The complaints continued to pour in after the July 4 holiday, which ultimately led to police organizing the beach patrols.

Unlike in years past, officers are not in plain clothes. Lacey said due to national tensions and concerns regarding public perception that such operations are too covert, he ordered officers to instead utilize their bicycle-officer uniforms, which include shorts and a police-labeled golf shirt, while on the beach.

"They aren't the traditional black uniforms, but they are still in uniforms," Lacey said.

Over the course of the first 10 days, Lacey said officers conducted the patrols along the entire 9-mile length of Westerly's beaches. He noted that, as a result of an executive order from Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo pertaining to COVID-19, there are certain sections of the beach near local bars that are designated to allow for patrons to drink, allowing more opportunity to do so legally than in years past.

Most of those charged were not local, Lacey noted, with charges split primarily between beachgoers from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island who had driven 30 minutes or more.

Consumption of alcohol in public is an infraction that carries carries a minimum fine of $100 and violators are issued a summons to Westerly Municipal Court. Minors in possession of alcohol, ages 18 to 21, are referred to Fourth Division District Court, and violators face a minimum penalty of a $200 court-ordered contribution to a charitable organization, 20 hours of community service, and a 60-day loss of their driver's license. Cases involving those under 18 are referred to Rhode Island Family Court.

Lacey said daily enforcement would continue "for at least another few weeks," then the agency will reevaluate and determine whether further daily efforts are still needed.

"Typically we'd found with the early enforcement, word spreads around, and we get a voluntary compliance from most people," he said. "Unfortunately, that just hasn't been the case this year."

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141 tickets issued for alcohol, other violations at Westerly beaches in past 10 days - The Westerly Sun

Itchy invaders: Sea lice reported at Dariens Weed Beach – Darien Times

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Thimble jellyfish, whose larval form is known as "sea lice."

Thimble jellyfish, whose larval form is known as "sea lice."

Photo: Ethan Daniels Contributed / Getty Images/WaterFrame RM

Thimble jellyfish, whose larval form is known as "sea lice."

Thimble jellyfish, whose larval form is known as "sea lice."

Itchy invaders: Sea lice reported at Dariens Weed Beach

Darien beaches have certainly been popular throughout the summer to the point of having to close parking lots. But last Friday, there was a different kind of visitor.

Bathers were warned of the presence of sea lice at Weed Beach on July 24 after a swimmer spotted them. Lifeguards were immediately instructed to post signs.

Parks & Rec Director Pam Gery and Health Department Director David Knauf said all we can do is warn people.

The worst thing is there is no way to predict how long they will be around. They are found in the warm waters and swim in blooms. They can get stuck in bathing suits and sting in defense, Gery said.

Sea lice are no relation to head lice, according healthline.com. They are actually jellyfish larvae. They get trapped underneath bathing suits and the pressure causes them to release inflammatory, stinging cells that cause itching, irritation and red bumps on the skin. Doctors also call this sea bathers eruption.

According to National Geographic, sea lice are the larvae of a small species of jellyfish called thimble jellyfish. It also reports they are transluscent so they are hard to avoid in the water.

Not everyone gets virtual itches from even the concept of sea lice. Though it was canceled this year, the annual international sea lice convention has been rescheduled for September 2021 in the Faroe Islands off Scotland. Begun in 1992, attendees can have a unique opportunity to interact with internationally renowned sea lice researchers.

Early bird registration ends on May 29, 2021.

Swimmers are advised to remove bathing suits promptly, shower and wash the suit before wearing it again.

Hydrocortisone cream provides some relief for the itch, which will go away in a week or so. That appears to be the worst of the effects, according to Knauf and Gery.

For the latest on Darien beaches and updates from the health department, visit Darienct.gov.

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Itchy invaders: Sea lice reported at Dariens Weed Beach - Darien Times

FDNY battles fire in Midland Beach townhouses; 1 firefighter injured – SILive.com

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A fire that spread within a row of Midland Beach homes Tuesday night left one firefighter injured.

The FDNY responded to the scene located at 1187 Father Capodanno Boulevard at around 9:45 p.m., a department spokesperson said, and worked to quell a fire that was on the second floor and roof of the residence.

Sal Monforte, 56, who lives in the immediate area, said there was a lot of smoke coming from the building but that no one lived in the home where the fire is thought to have begun.

The family in the adjoining home were able to safely leave the building, he said.

Firefighters could be seen removing debris from the second story of two conjoined homes after the fire was put out. Traffic was restricted along Father Capodanno Boulevard during the emergency response.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire. It was officially placed under control at 10:49 p.m., an FDNY spokesman said.

The injured firefighter was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze. The extent of the firefighters injuries was not immediately available.

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FDNY battles fire in Midland Beach townhouses; 1 firefighter injured - SILive.com

Winklevoss Twin: Next Bitcoin Bull Run Will Be Dramatically Different – Cointelegraph

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Cameron Winklevoss, the billionaire founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, believes the next Bitcoin (BTC) bull run will be much different. When compared to previous bull markets, Winklevoss noted that there is substantially more capital, infrastructure, and better projects.

Winklevoss said:

The next Bitcoin bull run will be dramatically different. Today, theres exponentially more capital, human capital, infrastructure, and high-quality projects than in 2017. Not to mention the very real specter of inflation that all fiat regimes face going forward. Buckle up!

Various data points hint at a significant increase in the amount of capital held by investors in the cryptocurrency market. Major cryptocurrency exchanges have also received more regulatory clarity, improving the infrastructure of the market.

Two metrics primarily show that more money could be involved in the latest Bitcoin rally. First, the market capitalization of Tether (USDT) has surpassed $10 billion. Second, the assets under management (AUM) by Grayscale Investments recently achieved a new high.

Tether (USDT) market capitalization hits $10 billion. Source: CoinMarketCap

To date, Tether is the biggest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market. Investors, especially in countries with regulatory uncertainty, rely on the stablecoin to trade crypto assets. A rapid rise in the market cap of Tether could indicate more money is waiting to deploy on crypto exchanges.

Grayscales crypto-asset trusts are arguably the most widely-utilized investment vehicles by institutions to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies. Within the last quarter, the assets under management in Grayscales suite of products hit an all-time high at $5.1 billion.

Grayscale AUM reached $5.1 billion. Source: Grayscale

Grayscale CEO Barry Silbert said:

In 2013, everybody thought we were crazy for launching a Bitcoin investment fund. Well, look at us now

The confluence of Tethers market cap and Grayscales ballooning assets under management shows that capital held by institutions and retail traders continues to increase substantially.

In 2020, exchanges and banks in the U.S. primarily saw regulatory clarity regarding cryptocurrencies.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the U.S. (OCC) allows banks to provide and operate crypto custodial solutions. It is essentially a green light for financial institutions in the U.S. to get involved in the cryptocurrency market.

JPMorgan is also reported to have accepted Gemini and Coinbase, two of the largest spot exchanges in the U.S., as clients. Through this, the fear of strained banking relationships affecting exchanges and users has subsided.

Clarity around cryptocurrencies by major U.S. regulators and banks could improve the perception of the asset class by the mainstream. This means if Bitcoin approaches a new bull market, the improved sentiment around the entire industry could benefit BTC adoption and its value.

Overall, projects and companies in both the Bitcoin and crypto markets are seemingly increasing in quality. This is partially due to increased regulatory clarity and the fact that more traditional firms are willing to collaborate with crypto firms.

As an example, Bitcoin Lightning startup Zap is working with Visa and has participated in its Fintech Fast Track Program. This allows Zap to launch Visa cards as a part of the partnership.

Zap CEO Jack Mallers said:

We're contractually obligated to launch one in the next 12 months and we plan on launching one in the next few months.

Better projects, increased capital, and improving infrastructure are resulting in boosted confidence levels among Bitcoin investors and this is raising sentiment across the entire sector. In the medium-term, high-profile investors are hopeful BTC would reflect these factors.

Also, dont miss our upcoming conference Cointelegraph Crypto Traders Live.

More than 30 star speakers including Raoul Pal, John Bollinger, Mike Novogratz, DataDash and Jon Najarian will gather on July 30th to discuss the challenges of crypto trading. Join the show for over 9 hours of crypto trading content!

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Winklevoss Twin: Next Bitcoin Bull Run Will Be Dramatically Different - Cointelegraph

Whales Are Buying This Relatively Unknown Cryptocurrency As Money Moves to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Large-Cap Coins – The Daily Hodl

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As Bitcoin continues to skyrocket in price and momentum moves to large-cap coins, the crypto analytics firm Santiment reports that whales are rapidly accumulating the relatively unknown cryptocurrency Ren (REN).

Ren, which provides inter-blockchain liquidity for decentralized applications, gained more than 350% in value since the beginning of April and hit its all-time high of about $0.199 on July 8th. It is currently ranked 64th among cryptos by market capitalization and trading around $0.168 at time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.

Santiment utilizes a metric that examines the amount of tokens held by top non-exchange owners, otherwise known as whales. And that metric indicates whales have been purchasing REN for the last two months.

Santiment does note, however, that with Bitcoin trading around $11,000, the overall momentum seems to be favoring large-cap coins, which could push DeFi coins lower in the near term.

amongst the top 100 highest market cap crypto assets, 20 of the 30 projects that have had positive gains in the past day are in the top 40.

After the past couple months were all about DeFi and altcoins having all the fun, the narrative has quickly switched back to BTC and large-cap assets. This shift could be long lasting with our DAA and volume indicators supporting a movement toward top cap projects.

As for Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has been rising at a faster pace than Bitcoin. However, there are signs it may pull back in the short term, according to the analytics firm.

Santiment utilizes a metric called Daily Active Addresses (DAA) vs. Price Divergence, which comparesan assets price action to the number of unique crypto addresses interacting with that specific coin on a daily basis. The metric views price action that outpaces DAA as a bearish signal, and vice versa.

For the first time since the middle of June, Ethereum earlier this week saw a deficit in daily active addresses. Still, Santiment says the assets overall fundamentals remain strong:

Featured Image: Shutterstock/NanEstalrosa

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Whales Are Buying This Relatively Unknown Cryptocurrency As Money Moves to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Large-Cap Coins - The Daily Hodl

There are now 18000 Bitcoin millionaires – Nairametrics

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BTC whales have been moving large stacks of Bitcoins lately, triggered by the recent bullish momentum in the BTC market.

According to data obtained from BTCBlockbot, a crypto analytic tracker, an unknown whale moved 15,022 BTC in block 641,074, estimated to be roughly worth about $162 million, about 10 hours ago.

READ MORE: Over 900,000active Bitcoinwallets pushtransactions to3-yearhigh

It should be noted that Bitcoin is not really anonymous, because all BTC transactions are kept permanently and publicly on the blockchain or ledger system. This makes it very easy for anyone to see the transactions and balances of any BTC address.

According to data obtained from Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin traded at $11,000 with a market capitalization of $202 billion, at the time this report was drafted.

READ ALSO: Tether whales move USDT 110,000,000 in 1 hour

Quick fact: At the BTC market, investors or traders who own large amounts of cryptocurrency are typically called BTC whales. This means that a BTC whale would be an individual or business entity (with a single Bitcoin address) owning around 1000 BTCs or more.

As BTC whales accumulate BTCs, the circulating supply reduces, and this can weaken any bearish trend Bitcoin finds itself in. What this means in essence is that over time, as BTC approaches its fixed supply of 21 million, its possible that the price of BTC will go up, with BTCs present demand factored in.

READ ALSO: Bitcoin thieves move 3,897 BTC worth $42 million in 1 hour

Although it is difficult to predict market movements, Bitcoin whales have shown historically that they often determine Bitcoinstrend.

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There are now 18000 Bitcoin millionaires - Nairametrics

Investors are now rushing into Ethereum, as gains surge by 262% in 4 months – Nairametrics

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Ethereum (ETH), the worlds second most valuable cryptocurrency by market value, has more than doubled in value over the last four months. This has left BTC, the worlds flagship currency, in the dust.

Data from Coinmarketcap showed that Ether was trading around $293 at the time of this report, representing about 262% gain since March 12th, 2020, when it traded at $112. Its market capitalization presently at $32 billion.

In addition, ETH miners are smiling to the bank as data feed obtained from Glasscode has shown revenue from fees surging to an all-time high. On the hourly chart, Nairametrics observed that more than a third of the ETH miner revenue currently comes from fees rather than blocks; up from less than 5% in April.

READ MORE: BTC & ETH on pace to hit transactions worth $1.3 trillion in 2020

Recall that Nairametrics had earlier given valuable insight about Ethereums price action, revealing ETH was finally breaking out of its long $200-$250 daily close range, and that it was time to revisit its historical model that illustrated the number of times a daily close transition had occurred between psychological support levels.

ETH is sitting in its sweet spot where the most polarization has historically unfolded (between the $200 and $300 levels) during its five-year history. A close above $300 in the near future would be the 42nd instance of the price closing above or below it.

READ: Dogecoin gains 50% in less than 24 hours, highest single-day gain since 2017

ETH is a cryptocurrency designed for decentralized applications and deployment of smart contracts, which are created and operated without any fraud, interruption, control or interference from a third party. It is a decentralized system, fully independent, and is not under anyones authority. It has no pivotal point, and its platform is connected to thousands of its users through their computing system around the world, which means its almost impossible for ETH to go offline.

Like with many other crypto assets, speculating with Ethereum can be highly profitable and has had a good history of giving its investors huge returns. However, there are also many other options to make income from Ethereum. These options include Ethereum mining, Ethereum faucets, and ETH staking.

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Investors are now rushing into Ethereum, as gains surge by 262% in 4 months - Nairametrics

CEO of genome analysis firm: We have the data to prove people will take care of themselves – University of Miami

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Anne Wojcicki spoke Wednesday as the inaugural speaker for the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business Schools Knight Venture Leaders Series.

As the inaugural speaker of the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business Schools Knight Venture Leaders Series, Anne Wojcicki, the CEO and co-founder of the worlds largest genome analyzing firm, explained that the company seeks to empower its customers to be more responsible for their own health and well-being.

Wojcicki said Wednesday that the 10 years she spent working on Wall Street, primarily investing in biotechnology companies, provided an incredible opportunity to learn about the health care industry and birthed the impetus and ideas for the company she co-founded in 2006.

23andMe started with the idea that the individual can step up when given the opportunity, she said, citing the example of type 2 diabetes as among the most prevalent, pernicious, and yet preventable health conditions in the United States. According to Wojcicki, when customers learn about their genetic likelihood of developing such an illness, they are likely to be motivated to change their lifestyle and ultimately help themselves prevent the disease.

The health care system assumes that you are not capable of taking care of yourselfand I fundamentally dont agree with that, she said. I get so agitated when people tell me that a consumer cant handle knowing information about their own health. We have the data to prove that people are far more capable of making the necessary lifestyle changes than you can ever imagine.

Wojcicki said that the activism of the HIV community in the late 1990s also supported her belief that people should have more say in the decisions regarding their health and care.

They werent just wearing a ribbonthey were angry, and they were demanding accountability and change, she explained. They wanted to be involved and trusted as a partner in their own care.

President Julio Frenk welcomed Wojcicki as a legendary figure in the innovation space and said he was already aware of her many accomplishments when the two met several years ago, soon after he had arrived in Miami. She gifted him with a 23andMe kit.

Issues of ancestry have always been of great interest to me, and the testing results have provided really vital health information and given me a glimpse into genetically determined propensities, Frenk said.

In answer to a question from moderator John Quelch, dean of the Miami Herbert Business School, Wojcicki cited two principles that define her leadership style.

One, that Im very directI never want there to be any ambiguity on where I stand, she said. I have learned over time that it helps everyone to eliminate some of the fluff.

Secondly, she pointed out that she is very family friendly. Im a huge believer that people do their best work when they dont have to worry about their families. I want people to feel like 23andMe is a nurturing placewhen you do that, they give you their best.

After launching 23andMe, the company partnered with pharmaceutical firms for many years to do the research regarding medicines that might reduce or eliminate illnesses.

At some point we realized the best way to make advances of human genetics was to do drug discovery ourselves, Wojcicki noted. The company now has a 100-person research and development team.

As the world seeks to develop a vaccine and preventions to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Wojcicki said 23andMe is well poised to help because of the survey system and database it established years ago.

On April 6, we launched a survey to our 12 million customers. One million responded and 10,000 said they have the virus and another thousand reported they had been hospitalized, she said. The existing health information related to the respondents provided valuable data relating to blood types that might be more susceptible to the virus.

I can easily partner and put out surveys regularly to that community and partner those findings with academic or other programs, Wojcicki said. We can follow these people to understand what is happening. The only way were going to understand and eventually conquer COVID-19 is to collect the data so we can make some progress on the vaccines, the treatments, and the prevention.

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CEO of genome analysis firm: We have the data to prove people will take care of themselves - University of Miami

Researchers from U of T, Harvard study collective human behaviour amid COVID-19 – News@UofT

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A new collaboration between researchers at the University of Toronto and Harvard University will use machine learning to gain a better understanding of human social networks in a post-pandemic world.

Joel Levine, a professor of biology at U of T Mississauga,andTakao Hensch, professor at Harvard University and the University of Tokyo, will lead one of six projects supported by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. The researchers hold senior positions with CIFARs child andbrain development program, where Hensch is program director and Levine is a senior research fellow.

The duo will draw upon their ongoing work with fruit flies and mice to develop new computational modelling software. The tool will aid in the analysis of data sources, such as videos, to reveal patterns of behaviour in human social interactions, and provide insights into the developmental and neural basis of social structures.

Levine, who studies the link between genetics and fruit fly behaviour, says we can see patterns of behaviour in all corners of the animal kingdom, includingflies, ants and bees.

There are collective behaviours that seem to be wired into us, too, he says. If youre walking in a flow of people on the street and stop to look up, youll find that people who pass will look up, too.

Understanding these dynamics can provide insight into the rules that guide us, and the consequence for following those rules.

Levine is excited about the possibilities for the new software.

This project will create methods to better understand the way networks are created, and how they might be manipulated or reconfigured to maintain the value of the way humans interact in groups, allowing for environmental considerations such as the COVID-19 virus, he says.

This grant will allow us to develop those methods and create a software pipeline to analyze experiments on social networks and the mechanisms that create them.

U of T Mississauga alumnaSara El-Shawawill develop software for the program. The data scientist studied computational science and biology at U of T before taking an internship with Henschs lab at Harvard. She will begin graduate studies with another CIFAR fellow at the University of Guelph this fall.

COVID-19 has given us an opportunity to look at questions about social processes like the delivery of health care or goods and services, says Levine. This tool will provide insight into how we connect with each other and how that contributes to our quality of life.

The initiative is one of six projects to receive funding through theManulife CIFAR Population Health & Well-being Grant Program, which enables interdisciplinary research on social, cognitive and biological implications of the pandemic. Projects by two U of T researchers also received funding through the program.Associate ProfessorAnna Goldenbergof the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the Hospital for Sick Childrenis a collaborator on a cross-disciplinary study of how the pandemic affects the brains and immune systems of children. ProfessorGoldie Nejatof the department of mechanical and Industrial Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering will study how robots might serve vulnerable communities.

Levine holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in mechanisms and features of social behaviour. His research is supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Disturbance in the Caribbean Becomes Tropical Storm Isaias; Could Have Impacts to Florida This Weekend – The Weather Channel

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Tropical storm warnings extend from the Lesser Antilles to parts of the Bahamas, including Puerto Rico, as Tropical Storm Isaias (ees-ah-EE-ahs) moves into the Greater Antilles and could affect Florida this weekend and parts of the eastern U.S. early next week.

The disturbance formerly known as Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine developed a closed circulation south-southwest of Puerto Rico, Wednesday night, allowing the National Hurricane Center to reclassify the system as a tropical storm.

(MORE: Hurricane Season Terms You Need to Know)

The latest watches and warnings are shown in the map below, from the Leeward Islands to the central Bahamas. A warning means tropical storm conditions are expected in the next 36 hours. A watch means tropical storm conditions are possible within 48 hours.

Watches and Warnings

Bands of heavy rain and squalls continue to rotate through the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and are beginning to arrive in the Dominican Republic. At times, these bands are producing wind gusts above 40 mph.

One squall produced a 52 mph gust as it swept through St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands late Wednesday morning. A wind gust to 51 mph was clocked at San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday afternoon.

Current Radar, Satellite, Watches and Warnings

Below is a look at what we know about the forecast for any potential U.S. and Caribbean impacts.

The NHC projected path below shows that this system could be located near or on either side of the Florida Peninsula by this weekend, then gradually northeastward. However, this forecast is not nearly as straightforward as it might seem.

Current Information and Projected Path

There are a number of reasons for this uncertainty.

First, this system is in a formative state, with transient centers of circulation that may hop around over the next day or so.

Eventually, one cluster of thunderstorms may begin to take over in this large storm. Where exactly that occurs is uncertain, and could cause a shift to the position, and, hence, the forecast path of this system.

This system also has multiple obstacles to combat with the next few days that are important for its potential mainland U.S. future.

One of those obstacles could be a track of this system over the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola - Dominican Republic and Haiti - long known as a hurricane shredder with mountains up to 10,000 feet elevation.

The mountainous terrain of Hispaniola can significantly impact tropical cyclones and disturbances.

Hispaniola could either be a speed bump or completely shred the system as it passes through Thursday.

But there's an alternative scenario in which the main area of low pressure could finally form north of Hispaniola, avoiding the "shredding scenario" over land.

This system may also have to battle unfavorable upper-level winds - producing what meteorologists refer to as wind shear - along its Caribbean and Bahamas track. This is a nemesis of tropical cyclones.

Current Satellite, Wind Shear Analysis

The bottom line is that it's too early to precisely determine this system's future track and intensity, especially with regard to the mainland U.S.

It's even possible the system could be ripped apart, or at least weakened by any of the aforementioned obstacles before it ever nears Florida.

As it stands now, the system, in whatever form, is expected to arrive in eastern Florida Saturday, and possibly central or northern Florida Saturday night into Sunday.

However, the possible outcomes with regard to the mainland U.S. ranges from a track into the eastern Gulf of Mexico to a track over at least parts of the U.S. East Coast to a near-miss of the Eastern Seaboard.

This is due to the steering features in the atmosphere - the Bermuda high and an upper-level dip in the wind flow over the Mississippi Valley - as well as the strength of the system.

In general...

-Farther west track: If the system is weaker and/or the Bermuda high is stronger and extends farther west.

-Farther east track: If the system is a bit stronger and/or the Bermuda high is not as strong and farther east.

Steering Factors in Play

Furthermore, if wind shear isn't too hostile and the system avoids as much land as possible, warm water is plentiful, and could allow the system to intensify more than expected.

Residents along the Southeast and Gulf Coasts should monitor the progress of this system closely and have their plans ready to go, in case they're needed.

This system is producing strong wind gusts and bands of heavy rain over the U.S. territories.

Current Wind Field

Conditions in the northern Leeward Islands should improve Thursday.

Heavy rain and gusty winds in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will last into Thursday morning before conditions improve.

For the Dominican Republic and Haiti, their worst conditions with the system will occur from Thursday morning through Thursday night.

Conditions will begin to deteriorate in the southeast Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Thursday afternoon, with rain and squalls possible into Friday.

While some rain is needed to help the long-term drought in eastern and southern Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, locally heavy rainbands will likely trigger dangerous flash flooding and mudslides, particularly in higher terrain.

Hispaniola's mountainous terrain will also make it very prone to flooding and mudslides. Locally up to 8 inches could fall in some areas through Thursday.

Rainfall Forecast

The Weather Companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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Disturbance in the Caribbean Becomes Tropical Storm Isaias; Could Have Impacts to Florida This Weekend - The Weather Channel

Tit For Tat For Trump In The Bahamas: Now Americans Are The ‘Very Bad People’ – WLRN

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COMMENTARY

When the Bahamas closed its doors to American visitors this week because of the U.S.s catastrophic inability to control the new coronavirus you could hear the payback.

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The countries that come out of this better will be the disciplined countries, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in what many took as a dig at President Trumps widely condemned pandemic leadership. Countries and people who do not follow sensible public health advice will have more deaths, sickness and chaos.

The leader of one of the small, poor and predominantly Black island nations Trump likes to call shitholes is reminding us the world considers Trumps America an epidemiological sinkhole a place where public health discipline disappears.

READ MORE: Political Paella: Why the 'Goyaffair' Could Really Hurt - or Really Help - Trump

It was especially notable coming from Minnis and especially as we near the dangerous days of the hurricane season. After Hurricane Dorian destroyed the northern Bahamas last September, Trump made a political base-pleasing point of denying Bahamians escaping the devastation a customary visa waiver. They could have entered the U.S. temporarily to recover and regroup but it was too risky, Trump insisted. In racist Trumpese, he said too many refugees might be very bad people and some very bad gang members and some very, very bad drug dealers.

In one instance, Trumps edict got more than 100 Bahamian evacuees, including children, booted off a ferry boat headed for Florida in the days after the deadly storm, when food and fresh water were scarce.

The leader of one of the small, poor and predominantly Black island nations Trump likes to call shitholes is reminding us the world considers Trump's America an epidemiological sinkhole.

That insult stung Bahamians more because by then, they and everyone else in the Caribbean were all too aware of why the hurricanes slamming them today are bigger and stronger. Scientists say the reason is climate change global warming caused largely by the greenhouse carbon belched into the atmosphere not by small, poor and predominantly Black island nations like theirs, but by large, rich and industrialized countries like the U.S.

A few days after Dorian ravaged The Bahamas, I toured Grand Bahama island with a local Anglican pastor named Father Stephen Grant. He showed me not just the destruction but several examples of how monsters like the near-record storm surge could have been mitigated. Sites, for example, where watershed construction would make a difference.

It can be done, Grant told me as we stood outside a house where storm surge had claimed the lives of a family trapped in the attic. But we need help from the countries like yours that bear a certain responsibility for this new kind of storm phenomenon.

Minnis said much the same thing to CBS 60 Minutes a few months later when he showcased the infrastructure changes The Bahamas is pursuing, like solar-powered energy microgrids, to make its vulnerable islands more storm-resilient.

We cannot afford italone, Minnis said, adding, First World nations should contribute because they make the greatest contribution to climate change.

VERY INFECTIOUS PEOPLE

Now Minnis is saying, as he indefinitely bars U.S. commercial flights and ships from entering The Bahamas, that the First World nation next door presents the greatest threat of COVID-19 transmission. I doubt anyone but Trump and MAGA World would have objected if the Prime Minister had also remarked that too many American tourists might be very infectious people, very infectious mask-rejecting gang members and some very, very infectious hydroxychloroquine dealers.

In fact, given the surreal corona-chaos were witnessing in U.S. hotspots like Florida, Minnis actually would have been justified tossing in a jibe like that as opposed to the bogus, bad-hombre aspersions Trump cast on Bahamians whod just had their homes razed by 200-mph winds.

Minnis has reason to be nervous. Yes, The Bahamas has a population of fewer than 400,000 and has recorded fewer than 200 COVID-19 cases. But more than a quarter of those infections were registered since just last Saturday. Thats the kind of spike that, given this pandemics insidious history, prods responsible heads of state to take measures like putting Grand Bahama under a two-week lockdown, as Minnis also did this week.

What the Bahamas cant do is ban the effects of Americas carbon emissions or make the U.S. share the cost of hurricane defense. But it can ban contagious Americans. And deliver Trump a little well deserved payback along the way.

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Tit For Tat For Trump In The Bahamas: Now Americans Are The 'Very Bad People' - WLRN

USA College of Medicine research examines novel genetic pathway that could treat COVID-19, new viral infections – FOX10 News

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USA College of Medicine research examines novel genetic pathway that could treat COVID-19, new viral infections - FOX10 News

Make-A-Wish continues to bring kids hope during the pandemic – Roanoke Times

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Five-year-old Abby Alvey of Richmond, who has Neimann-Pick disease, recently received a backyard playground through Make-A-Wish. Shes pictured with her grandmother, Patricia Savino; her parents, Melissa and Garland Alvey; and her older sister, Claire Alvey. Even with this medication, we dont know at any time when shell get worse. These could be the best years of her life, her dad said. My first thought what can we do to brighten her life a little bit? And of course, everyone thinks of Make-A-Wish.

When Evers Beck was 10, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Two years later, Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia sent him and his family to Japan, where they visited Mount Fuji, took sushi-making classes and traveled on the worlds fastest high-speed train.

When Evers Beck was 10, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Through Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia, he and his family were able to visit Japan. His mom, Joey Beck, said he loves Pokmon, sushi and anime, so Japan was the perfect trip.

Evers Beck, who traveled to Japan several years ago through Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia, is now a local Wish Ambassador.

When Evers Beck was 10 years old, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and qualified for a wish through Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia.

Two years later, in 2017, he took a break from his chemotherapy treatments and boarded a plane to Japan.

I didnt really know much about Make-A-Wish other than what youd see on the news, said his mother, Joey Beck of Roanoke. So I was like, my sons not dying, were not applying.

But eventually the Beck family was persuaded. Beck said her son loves Pokmon, sushi and anime, so Japan was the perfect trip.

Evers is 15 now, and although the tumor is still there and is being monitored, he has been off of treatment for three years.

He had a huge boost and it was a nice break for us, for the whole family, his mother said.

But his wish trip wouldnt be possible today.

Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia has paused travel wishes, and anything else that involves a social gathering due to COVID-19 health concerns. The nonprofit organization, which serves critically ill children throughout the state except for counties and cities surrounding Washington, normally sees that about 80% of its wishes involve travel every year, said CEO Sheri Lambert.

Right now, none of those are being granted. Lambert said that families planning to go on trips have been asked to re-imagine their wishes.

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Make-A-Wish continues to bring kids hope during the pandemic - Roanoke Times

Caught in the act: Microscopy reveals key detail in retrovirus replication – Penn State News

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HERSHEY, Pa. A protein that is critical for retrovirus replication may select viral genetic material for packaging within the nuclei of host cells, rather than in the cytoplasm, as was previously believed. The research, led by a team at Penn State College of Medicine, could have implications for the development of therapeutics that target this protein.

Retroviruses are a type of virus that use cells asmachines to make more virus particles that are spread fromcell to cell. There are three major infectious human retroviruses, including human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1), the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The lab of Dr. Leslie Parent, vice dean for research and graduate studies and professor of medicine, studies the avian retrovirus Rous sarcoma virus, which replicates similarly to HIV and causes tumors in domestic fowl.

Their research focuses on the role of a special protein called Gag that acts as an escort for genetic material in viral replication. It forms a complex by binding to the viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) to package it into an infectious virus particle. According to Parent, a professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology, their latest discovery puts scientists one step closer to developing therapeutics that can stop this complex from forming.

Our primary goal has been to understand where the initial interaction between the Gag protein and viral RNA occurs, said Parent. Other drugs and approaches have targeted viral replication after these complexes form. Our hope is that if we can better understand this interaction, early intervention strategies could be developed.

For years, scientists who studied retroviruses believed that Gag protein and viral RNA interacted only in the cytoplasm of the cell. But prior work by the Parent lab revealed that Gag proteins entered the nucleus of the cell as well. Based on that finding, they hypothesized that Gag protein might select viral RNA for packaging in the nucleus, where the RNA is made.

With so much activity going on in a cell, Parent and her colleagues put fluorescent "labels" on the Gag protein and viral RNA so they could watch their interactions in live cells using confocal microscopy. The images and videos of this process were captured and published with their data in mBio, a journal of The American Society for Microbiology.

As they hypothesized, they observed that Gag does bind viral RNA in the nucleus, and the complex traffics out of the nucleus. They propose that the viral Gag-RNA complex ultimately travels to the outer membrane of the cell where the viral particle is released to infect new cells. According to Parent, advances in technology have made this finding possible.

Visualizing a live cell in real time allows you see the intricate dynamics of its functions, Parent said. She noted the College of Medicines core facilities, including leading-edge live-cell microscopy, were integral to carrying out this project that has been years in the making. When you observe a cell over time, you can see the start, end and speed of various processes. It allows you to witness how a live cell deals with a viral infection.

Rebecca Kaddis Maldonado and Breanna Rice, postdoctoral scholars at the College of Medicine and coauthors on the publication, said knowing that Gag protein selects viral RNA in the nucleus opens up more questions that will be explored in future studies. They want to understand more about the kinetics of the interaction between Gag protein and viral RNA in the nucleus, mechanisms for how the complex moves outside the nucleus, and what other elements of the host cell may play a role in the process.

This observation is just the first of a series of investigations we need to carry out in order to understand this interaction, Maldonado said. The more we know about the details of this process, the better suited well be to propose or develop therapeutic targets.

Coauthors include Eunice Chen, Kevin Tuffy and Estelle Chiari of Penn State College of Medicine and Kelly Fahrbach and Thomas Hope of Northwestern University. Eunice Chen is a student in the College of Medicines MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program.

This research was supported by grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Health using Tobacco Settlement CURE Funds and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Caught in the act: Microscopy reveals key detail in retrovirus replication - Penn State News

Myriad Launches Proprietary AMPLIFY Technology, Further Increasing the Performance of its Prequel NIPS Test – BioSpace

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SALT LAKE CITY, July 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leader in molecular diagnostics and precision medicine, announced today that the company has launched its proprietary AMPLIFY technology, which further increases the performance of its Prequel noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) test. The proprietary AMPLIFY process increases the fetal fraction of a NIPS sample by preferentially sequencing the fetal cell-free DNA fragments that circulate in a mothers blood. AMPLIFY technology enables more accurate detection of fetal chromosome abnormalities. In the analytical validation involving samples from more than 1,000 pregnant women, fetal fraction is 2.3 times greater on average with AMPLIFY than with standard NIPS. This improvement reduces false positive and false negative resultsincluding for common aneuploidies, expanded aneuploidies, microdeletions and a babys sex. For instance, false negative performance in common aneuploidies improves 45x with AMPLIFY technology. Additionally, no samples powered by AMPLIFY technology had a fetal fraction below four percent. Other laboratories may fail samples with less than four percent fetal fraction.

Prequel already provided highly accurate results and this proprietary technology further increases the sensitivity of our test, said Nicole Lambert, president of Myriad International, Oncology and Womens Health. With AMPLIFY, Prequel maintains an industry-leading low rate of failed samplesdelivering results to 99.9 percent of patients. The important clinical benefits are that each woman who receives the test can expect highly accurate NIPS results, regardless of body mass index (BMI), race, or ethnicity.

Up to 50 percent of pregnant women present with high BMI to their healthcare provider. Studies have demonstrated that BMI is not evenly distributed across ethnicities, and up to 24 percent of women with high BMI will not receive a result on standard NIPS platforms due to low fetal fraction. Women who dont receive a result may do no further prenatal screening at all; they may go through subsequent rounds of NIPS, or they may undergo invasive procedures such as an amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling, which can increase the risk of miscarriage and add unnecessary expense to the US healthcare system. Prequel with AMPLIFY technology overcomes the limitations of standard NIPS in order to provide equity of care to pregnant women.

About Prequel Prenatal ScreenThe Myriad Prequel Prenatal Screen is a non-invasive prenatal screen (NIPS) that uses cell-free DNA (cfDNA) to determine if a pregnancy is at an increased risk for chromosome abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. Compared to screening methods which use maternal age, ultrasound and serum screening, Prequel has been shown to be superior than by achieving a lower false-positive rate and false-negative rate than these other methods. Among other NIPS, Prequel has an industry leading test failure rate of 0.1 percent. The Prequel Prenatal Screen can be ordered with the Foresight Carrier Screen and offered to all women, including those with high body mass index, and ovum donor or a twin pregnancy.

About Myriad GeneticsMyriad Genetics Inc., is a leading personalized medicine company dedicated to being a trusted advisor transforming patient lives worldwide with pioneering molecular diagnostics. Myriad discovers and commercializes molecular diagnostic tests that: determine the risk of developing disease, accurately diagnose disease, assess the risk of disease progression, and guide treatment decisions across six major medical specialties where molecular diagnostics can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. Myriad is focused on three strategic imperatives: transitioning and expanding its hereditary cancer testing markets, diversifying its product portfolio through the introduction of new products and increasing the revenue contribution from international markets. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website: http://www.myriad.com.

Myriad, the Myriad logo, BART, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, myPath, myRisk, Myriad myRisk, myRisk Hereditary Cancer, myChoice, myPlan, BRACAnalysis CDx, Tumor BRACAnalysis CDx, myChoice CDx, Vectra, Prequel, Foresight, GeneSight, riskScore and Prolaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-F, MYGN-G.

Safe Harbor StatementThis press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to launch of the Companys proprietary AMPLIFY technology; and the Companys strategic directives under the caption "About Myriad Genetics." These "forward-looking statements" are based on management's current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: uncertainties associated with COVID-19, including its possible effects on our operations and the demand for our products and services; our ability to efficiently and flexibly manage our business amid uncertainties related to COVID-19; the risk that sales and profit margins of our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services may decline; risks related to our ability to transition from our existing product portfolio to our new tests, including unexpected costs and delays; risks related to decisions or changes in governmental or private insurers reimbursement levels for our tests or our ability to obtain reimbursement for our new tests at comparable levels to our existing tests; risks related to increased competition and the development of new competing tests and services; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that we may not successfully develop new markets for our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services, including our ability to successfully generate revenue outside the United States; the risk that licenses to the technology underlying our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services and any future tests and services are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with operating our laboratory testing facilities and our healthcare clinic; risks related to public concern over genetic testing in general or our tests in particular; risks related to regulatory requirements or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries and changes in the structure of the healthcare system or healthcare payment systems; risks related to our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations or licenses and acquire new technologies or businesses on satisfactory terms, if at all; risks related to our ability to successfully integrate and derive benefits from any technologies or businesses that we license or acquire; risks related to our projections about our business, results of operations and financial condition; risks related to the potential market opportunity for our products and services; the risk that we or our licensors may be unable to protect or that third parties will infringe the proprietary technologies underlying our tests; the risk of patent-infringement claims or challenges to the validity of our patents or other intellectual property; risks related to changes in intellectual property laws covering our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services and patents or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries, such as the Supreme Court decisions in Mayo Collab. Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., 566 U.S. 66 (2012), Assn for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 569 U.S. 576 (2013), and Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Intl, 573 U.S. 208 (2014); risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; the risk that we may be unable to comply with financial operating covenants under our credit or lending agreements; the risk that we will be unable to pay, when due, amounts due under our credit or lending agreements; and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

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Myriad Launches Proprietary AMPLIFY Technology, Further Increasing the Performance of its Prequel NIPS Test - BioSpace

UConn Researchers Collaborate with Ovid Therapeutics on Genetic Therapy for Angelman Syndrome – UConn Today

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Angelman syndrome, a rare genetic condition, has been a central focus of UConn researcher Stormy Chamberlains career for over a decade. Since 2009, Chamberlain has been using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in her lab at UConn Health to study human imprinting disorders that could lead to a cure.

Through a newly announced exclusive licensing agreement and research collaboration, Chamberlain and fellow UConn School of Medicine researcher Noelle Germain are now working with biopharmaceutical company Ovid Therapeutics Inc. on a promising genetic therapy.

Angelman syndrome affects approximately 1 in 12,000 to 1 in 20,000 people globally, and there are currently no approved therapies. People with Angelman syndrome experience developmental delays, have trouble walking or balancing, and are prone to seizures. They also have limited speech abilities, despite a tendency to laugh, smile, and have a happy demeanor. Individuals with Angelman syndrome typically have normal lifespans but are unable to live independently and require constant care from family or caregivers.

Current treatment options primarily consist of behavioral interventions and pharmacologic management of symptoms. Chamberlain and Ovid hope to provide more options to patients with Angelman through their strategic research collaboration.

Angelman syndrome occurs when a single gene inherited from a mothers 15th chromosome is deleted or inactive. The paternal copy of that gene, known as ubiquitin protein ligase E3A or UBE3A, is normally silenced in brain cells by UBE3A-antisense, a regulatory RNA.

Through the research collaboration and license agreement, Chamberlain, Germain, and Ovid will work to accelerate the development of a next-generation short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-based therapeutic for Angelman syndrome. An shRNA-based therapeutic may address the underlying genetic cause of Angelman syndrome by reducing the expression of UBE3A-antisense and restoring the function of UBE3A. This genetic approach may be used in combination with OV101 (gaboxadol), Ovids novel therapy. OV101 is currently in clinical development for the treatment of Angelman syndrome and Fragile X syndrome. Topline results in Angelman syndrome are expected at the end of 2020.

An shRNA therapeutic can target the genetic cause of Angelman syndrome at its source and may offer potential advantages to other next-generation approaches, says Chamberlain. Ovid is uniquely positioned to accelerate an shRNA therapeutic through late preclinical and clinical development, and our lab looks forward to working with the team at Ovid towards our common objective of impacting the lives of individuals living with Angelman syndrome and their families.

While Ovid and the UConn research team are hopeful that OV101 will serve as a core therapy for this Angelman syndrome, the collaboration will also grow the research pipeline for the future to ensure new therapies for individuals living with Angelman syndrome.

This collaboration was supported by UConns Technology Commercialization Services group through Amit Kumar, PhD. For more information about partnering with UConn and available technologies, visit innovation.uconn.edu.

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UConn Researchers Collaborate with Ovid Therapeutics on Genetic Therapy for Angelman Syndrome - UConn Today

How a renowned scientist used her personal network to transform UTA’s North Texas Genome Center into a COVID-19 testing facility – The Dallas Morning…

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Dr. Florence Haseltines resume is robust, if not intimidating: She has attended and taught at world-renowned universities, and received awards for championing womens health and advocating for womens rights. Most recently, she transformed the North Texas Genome Center at the University of Texas at Arlington into a COVID-19 testing facility for students.

Haseltine, 77, leveraged her personal connections, built on 27 years of working at the national level, to make sure that the center has the supplies necessary for testing. And that will promote her aspirations for the center: to study why the novel coronavirus appears to affect men more than women.

From a young age, she was determinedly curious about the differences between men and women. I kept asking my father, who was a scientist, why there are two sexes, and he tried hard to explain it, she said. I kept bugging him so much that finally one day he threw up his arms and said, When you grow up, you figure it out.

Haseltines career has centered on this question she asked her dad. After studying at the University of California at Berkeley and MIT, and getting her M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she trained as a reproductive endocrinologist and researched in vitro fertilization at Yale University. Her work helped couples struggling to have children. The Yale Fertility Center was one of the first clinics in the U.S. to offer in vitro fertilization.

In 1985, Haseltine became the Director of the Center for Population Research at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health. Working there for nearly three decades, she helped increase federal funding for womens health research.

In 2018, a few years after Haseltines retirement, the president of UT-Arlington recruited her as a faculty member. The prospect of studying the human genome, or all of our genetic material, seemed like a perfect reason for her to return to academia.

Her career was influenced by her younger brother, William Haseltine. He developed some of the methodologies and technology used in genomics research as the founder of the biotechnology company Human Genome Sciences. It was clear if I was to make a second jump [in academia], it would be into the genome, she said.

When Haseltine first came to UT-Arlington, she planned to study why certain diseases affect men and women differently, and why, in some cases, one sex might suffer from more severe symptoms.

She thought that it might be due to differences between the sexes when it comes to some genetic information that determines our immune response. In particular, she wants to investigate a group of genes called human leukocyte antigens, or HLA.

HLA genes serve as an early warning for the immune system. These genes provide pieces of proteins made by foreign invaders, like a virus, to specialized immune cells that can then fight and eliminate the pathogen.

To proceed with the research, the North Texas Genome Center needed federal certification for processing human samples to diagnose, prevent and treat diseases. Last summer, Haseltine brought Anajane Smith, a researcher who studied HLA genes in Seattle, out of her own retirement to help the center get certified.

Haseltine knew Smith since the age of 6. They parted ways after college when she took a job on the East Coast and Smith took a position on the West Coast. Even after all this time, Smith jumped in to help when Haseltine needed her expertise.

With Smiths guidance, the North Texas Genome Centers officials got their required certification in January. Then the pandemic struck Texas and the university encouraged the centers director, Jon Weidanz, to shift the centers focus to testing for COVID-19.

Through personal relationships, Haseltine got the supplies necessary to test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. She reached out to Dr. Mary Lake Polan, whom she had mentored at Yale University in 1975.

She has the ability to deal with people, so that, as focused as she is, she doesnt put them off, said Polan. They want to help her.

Polan is a board member of Quidel Corporation, a company that makes diagnostic healthcare products. Haseltine was able to get one of the companys SARS-CoV-2 assays or products that analyze COVID-19 tests the day that the assay was approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Then she needed to make sure that the assays worked with the UT-Arlington centers equipment. She needed the genetic material, or the RNA, of SARS-CoV-2 to test the assays.

She contacted Scott Weaver, a colleague from the Global Virus Network, an international coalition of scientists dedicated to managing viral diseases.

Weaver, director of the Institute for Human Infections & Immunity at the University of Texas Medical Branch, gave Haseltine some SARS-CoV-2 RNA from the universitys World Reference Center on Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses.

With Haseltines help, staff at the North Texas Genome Center recently ran their first successful assays. Staff started processing tests from student athletes this month, and will continue to do so every four weeks thereafter. Other students can be tested after they return to campus if they show symptoms. And students will have no out-of-pocket costs for testing, according to a UT-Arlington spokesperson.

Haseltine now has the opportunity to join other members of the scientific community in studying why SARS-CoV-2 seems to affect men more than women. Haseltine and Weidanz have a hunch that certain forms of some HLA genes could offer a protective role against COVID-19 in women.

Science can be an incredibly competitive field. So the amount of cooperation by scientists to work together and fight COVID-19 stunned many, including Haseltine. Ive had a lot of people help me in my life, but Ive never seen this level of cooperation, she said. Everybody wants to do whatever they can.

Gina Mantica reports on science for The Dallas Morning News as part of a fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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How a renowned scientist used her personal network to transform UTA's North Texas Genome Center into a COVID-19 testing facility - The Dallas Morning...

Cincinnati is key in hope for COVID-19 vaccine before the end of 2020 – WLWT Cincinnati

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A vaccine with the potential to be ready for distribution before the end of the year now moves into the final phase of testing, and Cincinnati is playing a key role in the research.The Moderna vaccine is being tested in the labs at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.We get to contribute to the solution and to have Cincinnati and our community to be involved in that is amazing, said UC College of Medicine faculty member Dr. Maggie Powers-Fletcher. Im thankful, and our study team is so grateful, to have this opportunity to participate.The Moderna study moved into phase three, which is when they inject about 30,000 people to see if the vaccine is effective and for how long.UC is one of about 100 testing laboratories across the nation involved in testing the vaccine for the Moderna study.Its very exciting. Were getting the ball rolling on a very important effort to learn more about the use and success of the vaccine against COVID-19, said Powers-Fletcher.This week, some sites are starting the first of two injections that will be given about a month apart. UC will begin their first injections in August.This is a unique vaccine in that its part of the genetic code, only a piece of the genetic code, that creates or prompts your body to make something that triggers your immune system, Powers-Fletcher said.The goal is to have a safe and effective vaccine ready before the end of 2020.The UC College of Medicine lab is within sight of the lab at Childrens Hospital where the Pfizer vaccine, which is also considered to be very promising, is being tested.Both studies are still looking for volunteers to participate in the research. To sign up for the UC Moderna study, click here or call 513-245-3417.To sign up for the Children's Pfizer study, email gambleprogram@cchmc.org or call 513-636-7699.

A vaccine with the potential to be ready for distribution before the end of the year now moves into the final phase of testing, and Cincinnati is playing a key role in the research.

The Moderna vaccine is being tested in the labs at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

We get to contribute to the solution and to have Cincinnati and our community to be involved in that is amazing, said UC College of Medicine faculty member Dr. Maggie Powers-Fletcher. Im thankful, and our study team is so grateful, to have this opportunity to participate.

The Moderna study moved into phase three, which is when they inject about 30,000 people to see if the vaccine is effective and for how long.

UC is one of about 100 testing laboratories across the nation involved in testing the vaccine for the Moderna study.

Its very exciting. Were getting the ball rolling on a very important effort to learn more about the use and success of the vaccine against COVID-19, said Powers-Fletcher.

This week, some sites are starting the first of two injections that will be given about a month apart. UC will begin their first injections in August.

This is a unique vaccine in that its part of the genetic code, only a piece of the genetic code, that creates or prompts your body to make something that triggers your immune system, Powers-Fletcher said.

The goal is to have a safe and effective vaccine ready before the end of 2020.

The UC College of Medicine lab is within sight of the lab at Childrens Hospital where the Pfizer vaccine, which is also considered to be very promising, is being tested.

Both studies are still looking for volunteers to participate in the research.

To sign up for the UC Moderna study, click here or call 513-245-3417.

To sign up for the Children's Pfizer study, email gambleprogram@cchmc.org or call 513-636-7699.

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Cincinnati is key in hope for COVID-19 vaccine before the end of 2020 - WLWT Cincinnati