Offshore ReWIND: The Most Read News in 2019 – Offshore WIND

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To remind how the offshore wind industry developed in 2019, the Offshore WIND editorial team compiled a list of the most read articles as chosen by our readers.

Jan De Nul Orders Mega Jack-Up

Jan De Nul Group has ordered the Voltaire, its third jack-up installation vessel, at COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry in China, in preparation for the wind turbines of the future.

15 Injured After CTV Collides with Cargo Ship Off Rgen

All 15 people aboard the CTV World Bora were injured after the vessel collided with a cargo shipseveral nautical miles northeast of the Rgen island in the German Baltic Sea in the morning of 19 February.

First UK Offshore Wind Farm Disappears from Horizon

E.ON has decommissioned the two-turbine Blyth project, the first offshore wind farm built in UK waters.

Largest Wind Turbine for Largest Offshore Wind Farm

Dogger Bank Wind Farms, which is developing what will become the worlds largest offshore wind farm when built, has unveiled GE Renewable Energy as its preferred turbine supplier.

Swedish Armed Forces Shoots Down Vattenfalls Offshore Wind Farm Project

Swedish energy company Vattenfall and its partner Wallenstam have canceled the Taggen offshore wind project in Sweden after the Swedish Armed Forces said no to the wind farm.

Siemens Gamesa Launches 10+ MW Offshore Wind Turbine

Siemens Gamesa has launched the SG 10.0-193 DD, the companys first 10+ MW offshore wind turbine.

France Reveals Dunkirk Tender Winner

France has selected the consortium of EDF Renouvelables, innogy and Enbridge to construct and develop the Dunkirk offshore wind project.

Wison Unveils New Tower Concept for Deepwater Turbines

Wison Offshore & Marine has launched a novel solution for installing offshore wind turbines in deep waters called BT Wind, which uses a truss buoyant tower for supporting a large turbine.

Haliade X- 12MW Prototype Stands Complete

The third and final 107m blade was installed on theprototype GE Haliade-X 12MW offshore wind turbine in Maasvlakte, the Port of Rotterdam, in mid-October.

Vattenfall Wins Second Dutch Zero Subsidy Offshore Wind Tender

The DutchMinistry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has selected Vattenfall as the winner of the zero-subsidy Hollandse Kust (Zuid) III & IV offshore wind tender.

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Offshore ReWIND: The Most Read News in 2019 - Offshore WIND

Apache and Total form joint venture to explore Suriname offshore block – Oilfield Technology

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Apache Corp. and Total S.A. have announced a joint venture (JV) agreement to explore and develop Block 58 offshore Suriname.

Under the terms of the agreement, Apache and Total will each hold a 50% working interest in Block 58, which comprises approximately 1.4 million acres in water depths ranging from less than 100 m to more than 2100 m. Apache will operate the first three exploration wells in the block, including the Maka Central-1 well, and subsequently transfer operatorship to Total.

In exchange for a 50% working interest, Apache will receive various forms of consideration, including: US$5 billion of cash carry on Apaches first US$7.5 billion of appraisal and development capital; 25% cash carry on all of Apaches appraisal and development capital beyond the first US$7.5 billion; various cash payments in conjunction with closing of the joint venture agreement and future production from joint development projects; and reimbursement of 50% of all costs incurred to date in Block 58. Apache and Total have also agreed to bear their proportionate working interest share of costs on all future exploration wells. The transaction has received all necessary approvals from Suriname and is expected to close within three days. Further details of the terms are outlined on Apaches website.

Suriname Block 58 presents a unique, large-scale oil resource opportunity, and we are very pleased to welcome Total to our existing partnership with Staatsolie, the national oil company of Suriname. Totals extensive offshore operational experience and global footprint make it an ideal partner for a block of this size and potential, said John J. Christmann, CEO and President of Apache. Upon meeting certain drilling commitments, the partnership has the rights to explore the entire block through mid-2026 without acreage relinquishments. This provides for a thorough evaluation of the multiple play types we have identified in this emerging oil-prone basin.

We are very pleased to team up with Apache and Staatsolie, and to become operator of this promising license where we will bring our deepwater expertise. It is indeed a unique exploration opportunity in a prolific basin, said Patrick Pouyann, Chairman and CEO of Total.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/exploration/02012020/apache-and-total-form-joint-venture-to-explore-suriname-offshore-block/

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Apache and Total form joint venture to explore Suriname offshore block - Oilfield Technology

Estonia Starts Construction Permit Process for 1GW Offshore Wind Farm – Offshore WIND

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The Estonian government has initiated a construction permit procedure for Eesti Energias 1GW offshore wind project in the Gulf of Riga.

The move allows the developer to continue its research and search for partners for the construction of the offshore wind farm, Enefit Green, a member of Eesti Energia group said.

According to Aavo Krmas, CEO of Enefit Green, it has been agreed in the Prnu marine spatial plan that the building permit area is well suited for the development of wind energy. Wind, ice and bird surveys carried out so far by Eesti Energia have also shown that the location is suitable for the construction of an offshore wind farm.

The Gulf of Riga offshore wind farm has the potential to become the first joint Estonian-Latvian renewable energy production project, as the Latvian-developed wind farm development area is only 10 km away from the Gulf of Riga. There is no experience of building an offshore wind farm in Estonia, so it is logical that an offshore wind farm of this size will be made in cooperation with several companies. The doors are open for partners to cooperate, said Krmas.

As reported earlier, the representatives from the Latvian and the estonian government met earlier this month to discuss potential cooperation on an offshore wind project in the Gulf of Riga.

Given the cross-border nature of potential cooperation, the importance of cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and its Latvian counterpart in agreeing on the infrastructure solution needed to develop the project should be emphasized here. We hope to continue the very good cooperation in this regard, said Krmas.

Eesti Energia started planning the Gulf of Riga wind farm in 2009, and over the course of time primary wind measurements, seabed, ice, and bird surveys have already been carried out.

Up to 160 wind turbines with a total capacity of 1,000MW are planned for the offshore wind farm. The production of such an offshore wind farm would cover almost half of Estonias electricity needs, Enefit Green said.

The wind farm is expected to be completed before 2030.

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Estonia Starts Construction Permit Process for 1GW Offshore Wind Farm - Offshore WIND

RTS and EEW OSB Team Up on Hornsea Two – Offshore WIND

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EEW Offshore Structures Britain (EEW OSB) has appointed the UK-based professional personnel leasing specialist RTS Wind Recruitment as the main supplier.

RTS has partnered with EEW-OSB for a number of years throughout the Hornsea Project One and has recruited for various different positions all working towards the completion of the transition pieces.

The next project the two companies will be cooperating on is the 1.4GW Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm for which EEW OSB is producing 30 transition pieces.

RTS is starting the recruitment for the next phase of the onshore fabrication of the Hornsea Two Project in January. Roles available cover plating, welding, outfitting, as well as mechanical and electrical roles.

Hornsea Project Twois located 89 kilometres north-east of Grimsby andwill comprise165 Siemens Gamesa 8MW wind turbines scheduled to be commissioned in 2022.

Bladt Industries will deliver the remaining 135 transition pieces. EEW OSBs parent company, EEW, will manufacture and deliver the monopile foundations.

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RTS and EEW OSB Team Up on Hornsea Two - Offshore WIND

Tekmar, in Newton Aycliffe, secures deal at world’s largest offshore wind farm in inland water – The Northern Echo

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A MARINE engineering firm has secured an international offshore contract set to power 500,000 homes.

Tekmar Energy, a Newton Aycliffe manufacture, whose products protect offshore wind farm cables from the elements, will supply its TekLink system to contractor Van Oord for Windpark Frysln.

The contractor is a Dutch family-owned company with 150 years of experience as an international marine contractor.

Windpark Frysln is a 382MW near-shore windfarm holding 89 wind turbines.

It is based six kilometers off the Frisian part of the IJsselmeer, near Breezanddijk, in the Netherlands.

Once constructed it is expected to power about 500,000 households in the region and will be the worlds largest offshore wind farm in inland water.

Tekmar Energy is providing 167 cable protection systems for the infield array cables, providing full protection from topside hang-offs through to burial into the seabed.

Russell Edmondson, managing director of Tekmar Energy said: We are delighted that Tekmar has been selected for Windpark Frysln.

This continues our trusted relationship with Van Oord and furthers our position as the world market leader in offshore wind cable protection systems.

The cable protection products will be made in Tekmar Energys state of the art manufacturing facility in Newton Aycliffe.

The deal follows a successful contract which saw the firm selected to by power cable provider JDR Cables, part of TFKable Group, to make a protective coating for undersea cables for a Taiwan windfarm.

Tekmar Energy provided about 60 cable protection systems and a further 60 hang off clamps which hold the subsea cable in place within the turbine transition piece.

The engineering business is one of Tekmar Group PLC's four primary operating companies, in addition to Subsea Innovation, AgileTek Engineering and Ryder Geotechnical.

Tekmar Groups vision is to be the partner of choice for the supply and installation support of subsea protection equipment to the global offshore energy markets.

For more information visit tekmar.co.uk or call 01325-379520.

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Tekmar, in Newton Aycliffe, secures deal at world's largest offshore wind farm in inland water - The Northern Echo

Ireland promises offshore wind ‘revolution’ – Energy Reporters

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Planning reforms for offshore wind projects will cause a renewable energy revolution, according to Irelands Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (pictured).

The Irish cabinet has approved the Marine Development Bill, which would change the application assessment for offshore renewable projects.

Fossil fuels currently provide much of Irelands energy, including half of its electricity.

EirGrid said it planned to ensure renewable energy accounted for 70 per cent of all electricity use by 2030.

The agency that runs the national grid said natural gas would provide the backup for renewable sources.

It promised that the Irish Sea would produce offshore wind at competitive prices.

The legislation would give An Bord Pleanla an independent body that decides on planning appeals primary responsibility for granting permission for offshore wind farms.

Public consultation exercises are being planned for the new year.

The proposed legislation would involve a single consent principle, according to a government source, to remove duplication in the current planning process.

Varadkar said the Republic of Ireland had fallen behind where we should be on offshore wind because our planning system, for offshore and foreshore, just doesnt work.

The country has been slow to adopt offshore wind and tidal power, despite its lengthy, windswept coastline which is constantly buffeted by the Atlantic Ocean.

Varadkar said the government was intent on delivering its Climate Action Plan to reduce emissions, improve air quality and create jobs in the renewable sector.

The Climate Change Advisory Councils 2019 review said the average Irish home emitted 58 per cent more energy-related carbon than the average EU household. It blamed the high use of fossil fuels, particularly coal, peat and oil for heating and minimal renewable generation and district heating compared to other EU countries. With 20 per cent of homes heated by solid fuel, Ireland has the second-highest use of solid fuel for domestic heating in the bloc, after Poland, where 44 per cent of homes are heated by solid fuels.

Varadkar says planning reform could help unlock Irish renewable potential.

So its a new planning system, a little bit like the land planning system working with An Bord Pleanla and that will allow us to have what I believe will be a revolution in terms of offshore wind energy, the prime minister said. And we need to do that. Were going to get from 30 per cent renewables now to 70 per cent by 2030.

Thats much harder than people might think because theres rising energy demand, and rising demand for electricity and the more data centres we have, the more electric vehicles we have, the more people we have who heat their homes with electricity rather than oil or gas or solid fuels, the more electricity well need. So were going to need a huge level of investment in wind energy and solar too, and were going to need to make sure that happens.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Picture credit: Wikimedia

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Highlights of the Month December 2019 – Offshore WIND

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We bring you the ten most-read articles on OffshoreWIND.biz for the month of December 2019.

Turbines Wanted for 900MW German Offshore Wind Farm

EnBW He Dreiht GmbH is seeking a turbine supplier for the 900MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.

Ming Yang Rolls Out First 10MW Turbine Nacelle

Chinas Ming Yang Smart Energy has marked the start of the mass production of the MySE8-10MW typhoon-resistant offshore wind turbine at its factory in Yangjiang, Guangdong.

rsted Looks to Switch to Single Labour Services Sourcing Provider

Worlds leading offshore wind developer rsted is seeking a managed service provider (MSP) for sourcing of labour services.

Sif Removes Vineyard Wind from 2020 Order Book

Sif has removed the Vineyard Wind project from its 2020 order book since the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has not yet issued a permit.

DEME Lays Keel for First Offshore Wind Maintenance SOV

DEME Group has held a keel-laying ceremony for its first dedicated service operation vessel (SOV) for offshore wind farm maintenance.

Denmark Embarks on 10GW Offshore Wind Energy Island Mission

Denmark has initiated studies to find possible locations for one or more energy islands supporting at least 10GW of offshore wind capacity.

GE Offshore Wind CEO Talks Haliade-X 12MW (Video)

President and CEO ofGE RenewableEnergys Offshore Wind business John Lavelle has revealed details about the Haliade-X 12MW turbine to the Offshore WIND team during theinauguration ceremonyheld on 17 December in Rotterdam.

Merkur Offshore Wind Farm to Change Hands

The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) and the Dutch pension investor APG have signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Merkur Offshore GmbH, the owner and operator of the 396MW Merkur offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.

Ireland Unveils Renewables Auction Scheme

Ireland has revealed details of the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auction which has received government approval as the country looks to move to 70% renewable electricity by 2030.

Sif Receives Foundation Order from Japan

Sif Holding has entered into exclusive negotiations for the delivery of 33 monopiles and transition pieces for an offshore wind project in Japan.

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Highlights of the Month December 2019 - Offshore WIND

If You Had Bought Global Offshore Services (NSE:GLOBOFFS) Stock Five Years Ago, Youd Be Sitting On A 99% Loss, Today – Simply Wall St

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Were definitely into long term investing, but some companies are simply bad investments over any time frame. It hits us in the gut when we see fellow investors suffer a loss. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding Global Offshore Services Limited (NSE:GLOBOFFS) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 99%. And its not just long term holders hurting, because the stock is down 63% in the last year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 14% in the last 90 days.

While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isnt as important as health and happiness.

View 4 warning signs we detected for Global Offshore Services

Global Offshore Services wasnt profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely well see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. Thats because its hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

In the last five years Global Offshore Services saw its revenue shrink by 25% per year. Thats definitely a weaker result than most pre-profit companies report. So its not that strange that the share price dropped 63% per year in that period. We dont think this is a particularly promising picture. Ironically, that behavior could create an opportunity for the contrarian investor but only if there are good reasons to predict a brighter future.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

If you are thinking of buying or selling Global Offshore Services stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

Investors in Global Offshore Services had a tough year, with a total loss of 63%, against a market gain of about 5.5%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last years performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 63% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. You could get a better understanding of Global Offshore Servicess growth by checking out this more detailed historical graph of earnings, revenue and cash flow.

We will like Global Offshore Services better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on IN exchanges.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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If You Had Bought Global Offshore Services (NSE:GLOBOFFS) Stock Five Years Ago, Youd Be Sitting On A 99% Loss, Today - Simply Wall St

Second WindFloat Atlantic platform heads offshore – Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

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The structure for the WindFloat Atlantic project comprises a floating platform and what is said to be the largest wind turbine ever installed on a floating structure.

(Courtesy EDP Renewables)

Offshore staff

LISBON, Portugal The second of the three platforms for the WindFloat Atlantic project has left the Port of Ferrol for its final destination 20 km (12 mi) offshore Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

The structure, which has set off from the outer harbor of Ferrol, comprises a floating platform and what is said to be the largest wind turbine ever installed on a floating structure.

Upon arrival to the project site, it will be installed next to the first floating platform, which has the same dimensions: 30 m (98 ft) in height and with 50 m (164 ft) between each column. When the final platform once arrives to the site, it will complete the first floating offshore wind farm in Continental Europe.

The 25-MW the wind farm will be able to generate enough energy to supply the equivalent of 60,000 users each year.

The WindFloat Atlantic project is led by the Windplus consortium, comprising EDP Renewables (54.4%), Engie (25%), Repsol (19.4%) and Principle Power Inc. (1.2%).

12/30/2019

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A New York Times column on ‘Jewish genius’ draws criticism for linking to a debunked University of Utah study – Salt Lake Tribune

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When it was first published last week, a controversial New York Times column about the secrets of Jewish genius linked to a 2005 study from a researcher labeled an extremist, revered by white supremacists and discredited by scientists and who, for years, worked as a distinguished professor at the University of Utah.

Citing the late U. anthropologist Henry Harpending, expectedly, touched off criticism. Hours after it appeared online, The Times commentary was updated with an editors note saying it had been a mistake to mention the study, which has been widely questioned and long seen as an argument of racial superiority.

The note suggests that conservative columnist Bret Stephens did not know that Harpending promoted racist ideas. It also says Stephens was not endorsing the study or its authors views but acknowledges that his reference to the research, nevertheless, left an impression with many readers that Mr. Stephens was arguing that Jews are genetically superior. That was not his intent.

The paragraph Stephens wrote about Harpendings research has since been deleted online. And on Friday, the University of Utah deleted a complimentary memorial post from its Department of Anthropology that had said Harpendings scholarly and personal footprint will be long lasting in the field.

The U. also noted in response to the column that none of the three authors of the paper Harpending, Gregory Cochran or then-student Jason Hardy work at the school any longer. Harpending was there from 1997 until he died of a stroke in 2016.

Statements attributed to Henry Harpending that promote ideas in line with white nationalist ideology stand in direct opposition to the University of Utahs values of equity, diversity and inclusion ... " said Annalisa Purser, the universitys spokeswoman.

As such, we will meet these words with ours: Racist views and rhetoric that position one race as superior to another are inaccurate and harmful," she said. "The University of Utah is bolstered by its diversity, which allows individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives to come together to address challenges in new and creative ways.

Neither Cochran nor Hardy could not be reached by The Salt Lake Tribune for comment. Its unclear why none of the researchers faced censure while at the university for publishing the piece, though Purser added, Speech even when it is racist is protected by the U.S. Constitution and is necessary for the free exchange of ideas.

This has been a very painful time already for Jews in the United States, said Amy Spiro, a Jewish journalist whose work has been published in Variety, Jewish Insider and The Jerusalem Post. And then this column came out, she told The Tribune in a phone interview. Its just generated a lot of controversy. It doesnt seem like this is helpful in any way.

In their disputed study, the U. researchers focused on Ashkenazi Jews, or those who settled in central and Eastern Europe (as opposed to Spain or the Middle East). Among supremacists, the group is often seen as pure because many are white.

Harpending, Cochran and Hardy argue that Ashkenazi Jews have higher IQs, on average, than the general public (including other non-Ashkenazi Jews). Their theory is that in medieval times, individuals in the faith group in Europe were pushed into finance jobs because of the Christian prohibition of usury, or lending money for interest. Over time, many became rich and had more surviving children than poorer families who worked on farms. They also married within the community and stayed fairly isolated.

The University of Utah has long been known as an expert in genetic research, but this paper Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence is typically seen as a low point in that expertise. The authors created their own algorithm for determining genetic makeup and cited several scientists also viewed as racist.

The researchers have been criticized on and off since the study came out in 2005 and was published in The Journal of Biosocial Science the next year; that publication was previously called The Eugenics Review up until the 1970s. Eugenics is the controversial pseudo-science popular among Nazis for improving the human race by forced sterilization of poor people.

The Times piece on the study was largely uncritical beyond that; it was written by reporter Nicholas Wade, who later wrote his own book on genetics that shares some ideas with Harpending and Cochran. (Cochran had previously written about incorrect claims that being gay was caused by an infectious disease.)

The head of New York Universitys human-genetics program said: Its bad science not because its provocative, but because its bad genetics and bad epidemiology.

In a 2007 press release about later research by Harpending, the school acknowledged his 2005 paper had created a stir and that critics had questioned the quality of the science.

Harpending continued to speak, though, including at white supremacist conferences, about his also inaccurate ideas that black people are genetically prone to be lazy. His profile on the Southern Poverty Law Centers page lists him as a white nationalist and an extremist who believed in eugenics.

In other words, as an anthropologist looking around the world, he said in 2009 at the Preserving Western Civilization conference, what I see is that men work and produce things when theyre forced into it, and when theyre not, they quit. And Im thinking about, you know tribes in central Africa, but you know its true in Baltimore too, right?

His obituary noted he came to Utah from Pennsylvania State University after earning his doctorate at Harvard.

Stephens, who is Jewish, ultimately argues in his column that theres a cultural not genetic explanation for Jewish genius, stemming from Judaisms religious tradition of encouraging believers to not only observe and obey but also discuss and disagree. He also believes group members became more innovative and creative by typically being in the minority wherever theyve lived.

His original mention of the study read: The common answer is that Jews are, or tend to be, smart. When it comes to Ashkenazi Jews, its true. Ashkenazi Jews have the highest average I.Q. of any ethnic group for which there are reliable data, noted one 2005 paper. During the 20th century, they made up about 3 percent of the U.S. population but won 27 percent of the U.S. Nobel science prizes and 25 percent of the ACM Turing awards. They account for more than half of world chess champions.

That data on awards is not technically wrong, though it broadly counts anyone as Jewish who has a grandparent with ancestry in the faith.

Stephens mentioned Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka and Karl Marx as prime examples of Jewish intelligence, before asking: How is it that a people who never amounted to even one-third of 1 percent of the worlds population contributed so seminally to so many of its most pathbreaking ideas and innovations?

His use of the paper is just stunning, Kennedy told The Tribune, saying the study was obviously a main tenet of Stephens argument, and not a minor point, like the editors note suggests. I think it should have been killed before it ever got published.

In the later edits, all references to Ashkenazi Jews (which also appeared in two other places in the column) were removed. Many have questioned why Stephens referred to Ashkenazi Jews at all if he didnt agree with the paper and was generally talking about Jewish culture, and not superiority.

What was even the point of the column? Spiro asked. Its confusing.

Stephens joined The Times in 2017, after winning a Pulitzer Prize for his work at The Wall Street Journal in 2013 and serving as editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post. He has previously come under fire for bullying a professor who called him a bedbug.

Some have called for his resignation, particularly liberal readers who disagree with his more conservative pieces, but Kennedy believes the Jewish genius piece is a new low. The associate professor, who teaches ethics in journalism at Northeastern, said the commentary needed more than an editors note about the concerns raised.

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A New York Times column on 'Jewish genius' draws criticism for linking to a debunked University of Utah study - Salt Lake Tribune

Gene editing breakthroughs that cured genetic diseases in 2019 – The Star Online

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IN the summer of 2019, a mother in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States, with a seemingly incurable genetic disorder finally found an end to her suffering by editing her genome.

Victoria Grays recovery from sickle cell disease, which had caused her painful seizures, came in a year of breakthroughs in one of the hottest areas of medical research gene therapy.

I have hoped for a cure since I was about 11, the 34-year-old said.

Since I received the new cells, I have been able to enjoy more time with my family without worrying about pain or an out-of-the-blue emergency.

Over several weeks, Grays blood was drawn so that doctors could get to the cause of her illness stem cells from her bone marrow that were making deformed red blood cells.

The stem cells were sent to a Scottish laboratory, where their DNA was modified using Crispr/Cas9 pronounced Crisper a new tool informally known as a molecular scissors.

The genetically-edited cells were transfused back into Grays veins and bone marrow. A month later, she was producing normal blood cells.

Medics warn that caution is necessary, but theoretically, she has been cured.

This is one patient. This is early results. We need to see how it works out in other patients, said her doctor, Haydar Frangoul, at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville.

But these results are really exciting.

In Germany, a 19-year-old woman was treated with a similar method for a different blood disease beta thalassemia.

She had previously needed 16 blood transfusions per year. Nine months later, she is completely free of that burden.

For decades, the DNA of living organisms such as corn and salmon has been modified. But Crispr, invented in 2012, made gene editing more widely accessible.

It is much simpler than preceding technology, cheaper and easy to use in small labs.

The technique has given new impetus to the perennial debate over the wisdom of humanity manipulating life itself.

Its all developing very quickly, said French geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier, one of Crisprs inventors and the co-founder of Crispr Therapeutics, the biotech company conducting the clinical trials involving Gray and the German patient.

Gene cures

Crispr was the latest breakthrough in a year of great strides in gene therapy, a medical adventure that started three decades ago, when the first TV telethons were raising money for children with muscular dystrophy.

Scientists practising the technique insert a normal gene into cells containing a defective gene.

It does the work the original could not, such as making normal red blood cells in Grays case or making tumour-killing super white blood cells for a cancer patient.

Crispr goes even further: instead of adding a gene, the tool edits the genome itself.

After decades of research and clinical trials on a genetic fix to genetic disorders, 2019 saw a historic milestone: approval to bring to market the first gene therapies for a neuromuscular disease in the US and a blood disease in the European Union.

They join several other gene therapies bringing the total to eight approved in recent years to treat certain cancers and an inherited blindness.

Serge Braun, the scientific director of the French Muscular Dystrophy Association, sees 2019 as a turning point that will lead to a medical revolution.

Twenty-five, 30 years, thats the time it had to take, he said. It took a generation for gene therapy to become a reality. Now, its only going to go faster.

Just outside Washington, at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers are also celebrating a breakthrough period.

We have hit an inflection point, said US NIHs associate director for science policy Carrie Wolinetz.

These therapies are exorbitantly expensive, however, costing up to US$2 million (RM8.18 million) meaning patients face grueling negotiations with their insurance companies.

They also involve a complex regimen of procedures that are only available in wealthy countries.

Gray spent months in hospital getting blood drawn, undergoing chemotherapy, having edited stem cells reintroduced via transfusion and fighting a general infection.

You cannot do this in a community hospital close to home, said her doctor.

However, the number of approved gene therapies will increase to about 40 by 2022, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers.

They will mostly target cancers and diseases that affect muscles, the eyes and the nervous system.

In this Oct 10, 2018, photo, He speaks during an interview at his laboratory in Shenzhen, China. The scientist was recently sentenced to three years in prison for practicing medicine illegally and fined 3 million yuan (RM1.76 million). AP

Bioterrorism potential

Another problem with Crispr is that its relative simplicity has triggered the imaginations of rogue practitioners who dont necessarily share the medical ethics of Western medicine.

In 2018 in China, scientist He Jiankui triggered an international scandal and his excommunication from the scientific community when he used Crispr to create what he called the first gene-edited humans.

The biophysicist said he had altered the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of human embryos that became twin girls Lulu and Nana.

His goal was to create a mutation that would prevent the girls from contracting HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), even though there was no specific reason to put them through the process.

That technology is not safe, said Kiran Musunuru, a genetics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, explaining that the Crispr scissors often cut next to the targeted gene, causing unexpected mutations.

Its very easy to do if you dont care about the consequences, he added.

Despite the ethical pitfalls, restraint seems mainly to have prevailed so far.

The community is keeping a close eye on Russia, where biologist Denis Rebrikov has said he wants to use Crispr to help deaf parents have children without the disability.

There is also the temptation to genetically edit entire animal species, e.g. malaria-causing mosquitoes in Burkina Faso or mice hosting ticks that carry Lyme disease in the US.

The researchers in charge of those projects are advancing carefully however, fully aware of the unpredictability of chain reactions on the ecosystem.

Charpentier doesnt believe in the more dystopian scenarios predicted for gene therapy, including American biohackers injecting themselves with Crispr technology bought online.

Not everyone is a biologist or scientist, she said.

And the possibility of military hijacking to create soldier-killing viruses or bacteria that would ravage enemies crops?

Charpentier thinks that technology generally tends to be used for the better.

Im a bacteriologist -- weve been talking about bioterrorism for years, she said. Nothing has ever happened. AFP Relaxnews

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Gene editing breakthroughs that cured genetic diseases in 2019 - The Star Online

Ambroxol Reverses Bone Damage in Girl With GD Type 1, Case Study Shows – Gaucher Disease News

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Treatment with ambroxol a medication used to treat respiratory conditions associated with excessive mucus reversed bone damage and decreased the excessive liver and spleen volume of a 5-year-old girl with Gaucher disease (GD) type 1, a case study shows.

Titled Ambroxol improves skeletal and hematological manifestations on a child with Gaucher disease, the case study was published in the Journal of Human Genetics.

Mutations in the GBA gene in people with Gaucher alter the formation of the beta-glucocerebrosidase enzyme, which in turn leads to the toxic buildup of a lipid (fat) called glucocerebroside in the spleen, liver, lung, bone, and brain cells.

Ambroxol, an available cough and cold medicine, is known to boost beta-glucocerebrosidase activity. It works as a chaperone therapy, a type of small molecule that binds to faulty enzymes and helps them fold properly. High-dose oral ambroxol also has shown promise in easing the neurological symptoms of patients with GD type 3.

Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) has been the mainstay treatment for people with GD type 1. It has led to significant improvements in complications such as the abnormal enlargement of abdominal organs, called hepatosplenomegaly, and blood disorders. However, it has shown limited efficacy to the progressive skeletal manifestations in GD, the researchers said.

A team from China now described the case of a 5-year-old girl with complaints of severe pain in both legs, which restrained her from walking independently. According to her parents, the child had intermittent GD-related bone crises over two years. These were worse in the winter and eased upon several days of rest.

Clinical examination revealed enlargement of the girls spleen and liver. Imaging showed that both femurs, or thighbones, had aseptic necrosis, meaning that the bone tissue had died due to lack of blood supply. Aseptic necrosis is a well-known skeletal complication in GD.

Results of abone marrow biopsy and a measurement of beta-glucocerebrosidase activity levels were consistent with a diagnosis of GD. Genetic testing showed the girl had two distinct mutations in the GBA gene.

Given her age and manifestations, ERT and substrate reduction therapy were both contraindicated. After obtaining parental consent, doctors enrolled the patient in a compassionate use clinical protocol for ambroxol.

The girl received up to 15 mg/kg of daily ambroxol for three years without any side effects. No further bone crisis was seen after treatment initiation. Importantly, ambroxol reduced liver and spleen volume, and slightly increased white and red blood cell counts after two years.

In addition, disease severity gradually decreased after almost three years, as measured by the blood activity of chitotriosidase, a GD biomarker.

Annual imaging also showed a reversal of damage in the top part of the girls femurs, allowing the near-normal growth of the femoral heads.

Cellular assays revealed increased activity of beta-glucocerebrosidase in the patients lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. The scientists suggested that ambroxols small size might contribute to its efficient penetration into bone tissue as indicated by the observed skeletal improvements.

In conclusion, this is the first report describing the therapeutic effects of oral ABX [ambroxol] on the bone and hematological manifestations of a child with an established [GD1], the scientists said.

Randomized and controlled clinical trials are necessary to further assess and confirm these findings, they added.

With over three years of experience in the medical communications business, Catarina holds a BSc. in Biomedical Sciences and a MSc. in Neurosciences. Apart from writing, she has been involved in patient-oriented translational and clinical research.

Total Posts: 24

Jos is a science news writer with a PhD in Neuroscience from Universidade of Porto, in Portugal. He has also studied Biochemistry at Universidade do Porto and was a postdoctoral associate at Weill Cornell Medicine, in New York, and at The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. His work has ranged from the association of central cardiovascular and pain control to the neurobiological basis of hypertension, and the molecular pathways driving Alzheimers disease.

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Ambroxol Reverses Bone Damage in Girl With GD Type 1, Case Study Shows - Gaucher Disease News

Digid8 and the Emergence of DNA Matchmaking – Study Breaks

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Dating apps such as Tinder, Bumbleand Plenty of Fish (POF) are changing dating patterns and habits. Instead of traditional ways of courtship, individuals are meeting others online. Today, millions of users download such apps to connect with other singles. Matching on these apps rely on an algorithm, in which a score is assigned to each user. This score depends on the number of swipes or likes received. People with similar scores are matched together.

However, if that wasnt enough, imagine if a dating app was to determine matching based on each persons genetics. Harvard geneticist George Church announced that he has decided to partner with Barghavi Govindarajans digid8 to create a DNA-based dating app. The products end goal is to avoid the births of people who could inherit severe genetic diseases. Matches are determined by whether individuals are dominant or recessive carriers of certain genes. Incompatible or screened-out matches are those that, in the event of pregnancy between the two people, would result in severe illnesses that could lead to premature death and strenuous pain for the offspring. Approximately 5% of the matches would be ruled out, but according to Church, about 7,000 genetic diseases such as Tay-Sachs disease, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia and thalassemia would be eliminated by using digiD8. This would lead to huge savings in medical costs and expenses. It would also play a significant role in affecting health and longevity in the long run.

After Churchs 60 Minutes appearance, many are outraged about the potential harms of digiD8. Many liken his idea to eugenics, a set of beliefs that promotes the improvement of the genetic quality of the human population through means of forced sterilization, breeding and extermination. This ideology was ultimately promoted by the Nazis to create a pure Aryan race. Fordham ethics professor Elizabeth Yuko claims that by having a DNA-based app, humans would be classified into a group of acceptables and another that was classified as the others. A slippery slope would emerge as trans people, people of certain races, along with the disabled and chronically sick would be further socially stigmatized. They would be targeted for being different and diversity would be reduced. Standards of perfection would also be imposed, instead of accepting the beauty in human flaws and the uniqueness in individuals appearances.

Despite that, Church claims that the app had no intentions of trying to categorize certain individuals as inferior, and that unlike eugenics, which was forced on different human beings, the app will rely on its users consent.

Like other forms of tech, there are additional concerns regarding privacy and data security. Many are unsure if the company would misuse the results for their own economic gain. App developers could utilize genetic research about complex traits to program the app for their own purposes. The data could also be sold to biomedical companies and firms without informing users.

Another valid concern pertains to data protection, as many DNA testing companies such as MyHeritage Ancestry have faced scrutiny for data breaches. The usernames, passwords, emails and account information of over 92 million users were compromised. Thankfully, no actual genetic data was leaked. If information about peoples DNA and genes were leaked, hackers could profit illegally from selling and copying genetic code, as well as individuals health histories. In the FAQ for the app, Church has stated that the app would rely on encryption and blockchain to keep the data safe.

The app is still a work in progress. When digiD8 is finally released, it will be interesting to see how people respond to it. There are some who might be interested in finding love based on genetics. Others who are less interested about reproduction might overlook such an app. Pending research would have to be done to observe the correlation between love and DNA.

Besides that, its important to observe how law will respond to this technological catalyst. How will laws address issues that arise from the dating app?

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Digid8 and the Emergence of DNA Matchmaking - Study Breaks

The Face of Science – Clemson World magazine

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That next day, Drake preferred sleeping over eating. But then, thats common with newborns. Tarah and Eric would wake him for feeding, careful to make sure he got plenty of nourishment.

By Saturday, these experienced parents became uneasy. Drake was just too lethargic. It was harder to wake him for feedings. The OSullivans called Drakes doctor and were assured there was nothing to be concerned about; Drake had been healthy when he left the hospital two days ago. And, the doctors office assured them, they would be checking him again on Monday at a scheduled office visit.

But the OSullivans disquiet grew by the hour. By Sunday evening, Drake would not open his eyes or respond to them. He was growing limp and struggling to breathe. The OSullivans rushed Drake to the hospital where the staff flew into emergency mode. Too sick for care at the local hospital, Drake was stabilized for transport to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Greenville Memorial Hospital. Just 72 hours after birth, Drake lapsed into a coma. And no one knew why.

That unforgettable night was the beginning of a long journey of test after test and a diagnosis by elimination.

Drake continued to decline as each negative test pushed aside another horrible possibility. You would think that eliminating terrible diseases would be a good thing, says Eric. But that just meant we were looking at something very rare.

Finally, blood tests revealed an ever-elevating level of glycine in Drakes blood, a symptom of an extremely rare, genetic metabolic disease called nonketotic hyperglycinemia or NKH.

The words nonketotic hyperglycinemia meant nothing to Tarah and Eric. But the next words were clear: Drake had a less than 10 percent chance of survival.

The diagnosis was like a starters pistol for the OSullivans. From that moment, everything would be a race against time to save Drake.

After 28 days of tests, monitors, tubes and wires, Drake was released to go home. There, as Tarah explains, Our house became a sort of lab. There were blood tests, feedings, medications and monitoring day and night, 24/7. Glycine became the OSullivans obsession as they tried desperately through medication and diet to moderate Drakes levels. They began to search for information, research, treatment, medical advice anything to save his life.

The OSullivans contacted anyone who might know about NKH, have a related research project or could tell them more. They learned that NKH affects fewer than 500 people worldwide and has no cure. There was no research underway, and no funding for research. And because there is no medically recognized cure for NKH, all treatments are considered experimental and not covered by medical insurance. Period.

So Tarah became a lay scientist. She read everything, called and emailed medical researchers and established the Drake Rayden Foundation to raise awareness for NKH, fight for better treatment and support research. She entered a world of genetics and vectors, glycine and metabolic pathways. Tarah had quit college just shy of completing her business degree. Now she desperately needed the scientific expertise that would help her understand the disease and find the cure.

Tarah decided to return to college.

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The Face of Science - Clemson World magazine

Etched in DNA: Decoding the secrets of the past – Christian Science Monitor

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The study of ancient DNA has enriched our evolving tale of early human history. In the field, its resolved long-standing debates, raised new questions, and added nuance to our perpetual quest to answer what it means to be human.

A decade ago, a team of scientists announced that they had pieced together the full genome of a 38,000-year-old Neanderthal. Their findings ushered in a new decade of discovery and understanding. The sequence was not only a marvel of new technology; it shed light on a debate about how these archaic humans may have interacted with our direct ancestors.

The two had interbred. The idea had circulated in some circles, but had long been considered the musings of a lunatic fringe by many in the field. But now, there it was, etched in the DNA.Paleogeneticists are also digging into ancient genomes looking for biological answers to those questions.

But piecing together a fuller story will take a multidisciplinary approach.Im done with who questions, says archaeology professor John Shea. Ancient DNA is freeing archaeologists up to start looking at the really interesting questions. And the most interesting question is how.

Human origins research. The phrase probably evokes an image of dusty scientists hunched over in the sun, combing the ground for scraps left behind by people of millennia past. The field has long been the realm of stones and bones, with test tube-filled laboratories playing second fiddle.

But thats changing. Paleoanthropology has found a second home in the lab, as geneticists have joined the field, extracting DNA from fossils in search of new insights into early human history.

Its white coat science, says John Shea, a professor of archaeology at Stony Brook University. Its not bluejeans and khaki shirt science.

Over the past decade, the study of ancient DNA has enriched our evolving tale of early human history. In the field, its resolved long-standing debates, raised new questions, and added nuance to our perpetual quest to answer what it means to be human.

I cant tell you how many times Ive had to rewrite lectures because of new paleogenetics revelations, says Jennifer Raff, an anthropological geneticist at the University of Kansas. I cant wait to see what the next decade brings.

Ancient DNA, or aDNA, was just beginning to catch on when Dr. Raff finished her dual Ph.D. in anthropology and genetics in 2008. Fragments of ancient genomes were being sequenced, analyzed, and discussed. But Dr. Raff was unsure if science could ever recover full genomes from long back in time.

But then it happened. The following year, a team of scientists announced that they had pieced together the full genome of a 38,000-year-old Neanderthal. They published their findings in May 2010 in the journal Science, ushering in a new decade of discovery and understanding.

The sequence was not only a marvel of this new technology; it shed light on a long-standing debate about how these archaic humans may have interacted with our direct ancestors.

The two had interbred. The idea had circulated in some circles, but had long been considered the musings of a lunatic fringe by many in the field. But now, there it was, etched in the DNA.

For decades, scientists categorized hominins based on the differences in the shape of their bones. But DNA has brought a faster way to get more definitive answers about the identities of ancient peoples.

Im done with who questions, Dr. Shea says. Ancient DNA is freeing archaeologists up to start looking at the really interesting questions. And the most interesting question is how. How did a group of ancient people move across a forbidding landscape? How did they survive through frigid winters?

Those questions can help to animate our view of the past, and deepen our understanding of where we come from. Paleogeneticists are digging into ancient genomes looking for biological answers to those questions, too, but piecing together a fuller story will take a multidisciplinary approach, says Dr. Raff.

Theres a whole field of anthropology that talks about what makes us human, and thats not just our biology, she says. Its also culture and technology and behavior and ecology. Theres just so much that goes into understanding the past.

The revelation that Neanderthals interbred with early Homo sapiens has raised some fundamental questions about what it means to be human.

Traditionally, the line between species is defined by whether they can interbreed and produce viable offspring that can, in turn, produce viable offspring. But, due to similarities in the bones and now the genetic evidence, some anthropologists have labeled Neanderthals as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and anatomically modern humans as Homo sapiens sapiens.

One such researcher is Fred Smith, professor emeritus of anthropology and biology at Illinois State University. He argues it from a morphological point of view, too.

You would never mistake a Neanderthal for anything but a human, Dr. Smith says. It might not be a human that youd like to go on a blind date with, but if you saw one, you wouldnt think of it as not being human.

By that logic, many researchers refer to other members of the genus Homo as human, too. But some say it might be our understanding of speciation that needs revising, not the distinctions among species in the genus.

The pattern of evolutionary thinking is that you have a point in time where two lineages diverge, after which they do not cross again, says Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural Historys Human Origins Program.

But that branching model of evolution and speciation is proving to be too simplistic across biology, with hybridizing appearing among present-day creatures, too. Evolution and the formation of species are a process, not an event, he says.

Regardless of whether we can call Neanderthals one of us, the revelation of prehistoric trysts between the two peoples has changed our perception of those other humans.

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Before ancient DNA came on the scene, Neanderthal was often lobbed as an insult and sometimes still is. When archaeologists suggested that they had found Neanderthal art and musical instruments, they were dismissed quickly, as the logic went that only Homo sapiens could have the cognitive abilities for that level of creativity. But with the revelation that we are similar enough to them that we could interbreed, that kind of research has been entertained and discussed more frequently.

I think it gives a very important correction on those who would see the Neanderthal simply as incapable of thought, incapable of being clever, Dr. Potts says. And it also, I think, gives a bit of humility to ourselves for those who are willing to look at it.

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Etched in DNA: Decoding the secrets of the past - Christian Science Monitor

The End of Infertility Is in Sight – UCSF News Services

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Fertility expert Marcelle Cedars discusses the future of reproductive medicine.

By Ariel Bleicher UCSF Magazine

Advances in medicine and public health have dramatically extended the human lifespan. Our hearts, lungs, and other vital organs now last 79 years on average. For women, however, the ovaries which stop functioning at an average 51 years remain a stubborn exception. That may soon change, says fertility expert Marcelle Cedars, MD, during a conversation on the future of reproductive medicine.

There are two aspects. One is qualitative. As a woman ages, the quality of her eggs meaning their capacity to make a healthy baby declines. We understand very little about what causes this decline. If we understood that process better, we could dramatically impact fertility success rates.

The other aspect is quantitative. Women are born with a finite number of eggs, and they lose those eggs throughout their lifetime. In fact, that rapid decline in egg numbers starts even before birth. Theres a peak in utero of five to six million eggs. At birth, a woman has only about 1.5 million eggs; at the time of puberty, about 500,000. Through genetics research, were learning that the rate of this decline and the variability from woman to woman is largely driven by ones genes.

Exactly. But what if we could use your genetics and other biological data to understand your unique fertility risks and develop therapies specifically for you or for groups of women like you? This approach is called precision medicine. It has made a huge impact in the world of cancer in terms of improving survival rates. But in the field of reproductive health, precision medicine is still in its infancy.

Potentially. If we can pinpoint the mechanisms of ovarian aging, we could potentially develop a therapy that enables you to still have healthy eggs into your 50s, possibly your 60s. But just because we can do something doesnt always mean we should do it. We know that as women get older, pregnancies are more complicated. You have higher risk for things like high blood pressure, diabetes, and preterm labor. There are many downstream implications, both for the mothers health and the childs.

I dont think the goal should be to enable women to get pregnant into their 60s. Rather, we want women to have the best reproductive lifespan possible to be able to have children when they want to and to not have children when they don't want to and to have a society that supports women across that spectrum.

Were starting to believe that some of the same cellular mechanisms that underlie general aging might also control ovarian aging. This revelation makes the ovary even more interesting to study because its early demise could be a unique window into the bodys aging process. If we can identify cases of accelerated ovarian aging and understand the underlying causes, we might be able to improve not only reproductive function in individual women but also overall health and longevity for all women.

Samesex couples having genetically related children is probably on the horizon. Scientists are learning how to take skin cells or blood cells and turn them into stem cells, which can then be turned into eggs or sperm. Thats not science fiction; its already happening. We just need to figure out how to do it well and safely in humans.

Well probably also see germline engineering. Thats the process of editing genes in reproductive cells or embryos. It has the potential to cure disease before birth. This technology is here. But will society be ready to accept it? A lot of questions need to be answered before its put to use. In addition to technical hurdles, there are innumerable social issues. For instance, if we can eliminate a certain disease, will there be less focus on treatments for people who still have the disease? And what about access to care and social equity? Who would be able to afford these procedures? How will they be applied?

Restrictions are currently preventing the U.S. government from funding research that involves the manipulation of human embryos. As a result, funding for reproductive science is low, which has driven a lot of experts out of academia. If we want to see a revolution in reproductive health, like whats happening with precision cancer medicine, we need to invest in the development of scientific knowledge that will move this field forward.

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The End of Infertility Is in Sight - UCSF News Services

Aborting Babies Because They’re Gay: Coming Soon to China – Patheos

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DNA with rainbow colors behind (CC0 NeedPix)

New scientific discoveries mean that parents can do some selection regarding the sexual orientation of their children. They can determine a little bit about the probability their child will be homosexual and abort if they dont like those odds. It seems that sexual orientation has certain genetic factors but is not determined. I think this creates a conundrum for many who support abortion and in-vitro fertilization, but also think discriminating against homosexuals is wrong. Aborting people because they are more likely to be homosexuals is extreme discrimination. I will list the science, a bit of the Chinese and American cultural reactions, and then note a Catholic response.

The Genetic Literacy Project reported:

In October 2018, geneticist Andrea Ganna and his team at the Broad Institute reported that their review of markers across the entire genome of more than 493,000 test participants identified 4 genome-wide significant loci for homosexual behavior, with many more loci identified for partner count (meaning lifetime number of sexual partners) in heterosexuals. These results led researchers to estimate that 8-20% of variation in non-heterosexual behavior could be attributed to common genetic variants (those most likely to be detected through GWAS) found in this study. Some these genes display curious overlap with others that affect biological processes such as smell and hormone production, hinting at complex cross-genome relationships between sexual preference and other phenotypes. Previous twin and family studies had already suggested that about40 percentof our sexual orientation is genetically heritable.

The significance of these results isnt their confirmation of a genetically heritable component to homosexuality, but rather their identification of some of the specific gene variants involved. Scientists need to know which variants, or SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) are associated with which phenotypic traits to employ such technologies as PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) and gene editing to alter the genetic makeup of future children. Identifying the SNPs associated with homosexual behavior means that manipulating the genetics of sexual orientation could one day become possible.

The reaction here is vastly different in the West and the East. In the USA, testing to eliminate homosexual babies is unlikely to take hold but this will likely become a standard part of pre-implantation diagnosis done in IVF cases. The Genetic Literacy Project notes how this is received in the West:

In the United States, the political and party divisions that separate the conservative-religious right from the social-justice left do not prevent them from agreeing on the issue of gene-editing technologies, albeit for very different reasons. Typically, conservatives are afraid of playing God, while liberals are more focused on worsening inequality or harming vulnerable minority groups.

The article goes on to note how homosexuality is no longer stigmatized in North America or Europe.

GLP also notes the attitude in China, which are quite different

With no law prohibiting selectionagainstorforspecific sexual preferences yet in place, it remains possible that prospective parents may one day be able to choose or alter a future childs sexual preferences.

With strong growth in preimplantation genetic diagnosis procedures and no laws directly prohibiting selection of sexual orientation, its possible that Chinese parents could soon begin deciding their childs likely sexual preferences. The implications of this lie deep within the cultural context, as here homosexuality was banned for most of the 20thcentury. After legalization in 1997, it was finally removed from the official list of mental illnesses in 2001. Still, many taboos against homosexuals remain, and the status of LGBT culture is semi-underground. []

Unlike in American culture where fears of eugenics and an elite genetic class still linger after experiences from the first half of the 20thcentury, PGD [Pre-Implantation Diagnosis] in China has little stigma attached. The practice is being widely adopted across the country, and this continues to accelerate.

First of all, abortion is always wrong. There is no moral reason to directly kill an innocent baby in the womb or tiny zygote before implantation. We were all zygotes.

Second, using abortion for discrimination adds a layer of nastiness. This is why the Church has been doubly against sex-selective abortions. The catechism speaks out about discriminating against persons who have homosexual tendencies in 2358:

They [men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies] must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill Gods will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lords Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

The latter part of that reminds us to call these people to live Christian chastity.It is important to note that all humans are genetically predisposed to certain sins more than others and this varies per person. Some are more prone to anger or gluttony. We should not use this either to consider homosexuality different or use a genetic predisposition to change the moral code.

We Catholic should speak out about the intrinsic discrimination in any form of PGD as we should respect the humanity of each human conceived.

Hopefully, this never comes to the USA or Canada. Hopefully, it helps to humanize the unborn so people realize that an unborn baby is a person. If we will avoid this for homosexuality, why not also avoid it for other issues like Downs Syndrome?

Note: Please support me via Patreon so I can write more on the Catholic approach to genetic bioethics. If you cant give monthly, a one-time Christmas gift would be appreciated.

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Aborting Babies Because They're Gay: Coming Soon to China - Patheos

Mutants among us: "Natural short sleepers" reveal the genetics of sleep – Inverse

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Humans spend about one-third of our lives asleep, but scientists still dont fully understand how sleep works and why some people have different sleep habits than others. Natural short sleepers are a perfect example: The average person requires seven hours a night, but these folks only need about four to six hours of snooze time.

In August 2019, scientists discovered that these natural short sleepers have something unusual a mutation in the gene ADRB1. The finding suggests genetics may at least in part underlie natural short sleepers tendencies. Understanding why they need different doses of daily rest than the average Joe could help scientists finally pinpoint just how much sleep humans really need to be well-rested.

This is #2 on Inverses 25 most WTF science stories of 2019

Lead study author Ying-Hu Fu, a neurology professor at UC San Francisco, told Inverse at the time she hoped the finding would not only bring relief to those who suffer from sleep problems, but increase sleep efficiency for everyone to ensure healthy aging.

Fu and her team analyzed a family of short sleepers genes and found that they all carried mutations in ADRB1. The gene is involved in neurons in a brain region called the dorsal pons which play a role in regulating sleep-wake behavior.

From there, they compared the mutated ADRB1 genes protein to that of a non-mutated version, and found that the mutant version of the protein was less stable. This suggests that the mutation doesnt interact with the neurons as expected that may explain why carriers of the genetic variant have an atypical sleep-wake cycle.

To confirm their results, the researchers bred mice with the mutated ADRB1 gene and compared them to controls. The mutant mice woke up 55 minutes earlier than the control mice on average. They also saw that the gene was expressed at high levels in the mutant mices brains dorsal pons region.

Untangling the genetics underlying sleep could one day help people get better at sleeping, said Fu. Her team has also found that natural short sleepers may carry a different mutation in the DEC2 gene, which helps regulate circadian rhythms. And there are likely more discoveries to come as scientists get to grips with the biology of this universal human activity.

As 2019 draws to a close, Inverse is counting down the 25 science stories from this year that made us say WTF. Some are incredible, some are icky, and some are just plain strange. This has been #2. Read the original article here.

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Mutants among us: "Natural short sleepers" reveal the genetics of sleep - Inverse

The Libertarian Movement Needs a Kick in the Pants – Reason

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In a provocative yet thoughtful manifesto, economist Tyler Cowen, a major figure in libertarian circles, offers a harsh assessment of his ideological confreres:

Having tracked the libertarian "movement" for much of my life, I believe it is now pretty much hollowed out, at least in terms of flow. One branch split off into Ron Paul-ism and less savory alt right directions, and another, more establishment branch remains out there in force but not really commanding new adherents. For one thing, it doesn't seem that old-style libertarianism can solve or even very well address a number of major problems, most significantly climate change. For another, smart people are on the internet, and the internet seems to encourage synthetic and eclectic views, at least among the smart and curious. Unlike the mass culture of the 1970s, it does not tend to breed "capital L Libertarianism." On top of all that, the out-migration from narrowly libertarian views has been severe, most of all from educated women.

As an antidote, Cowen champions what he calls "State Capacity Libertarianism," which holds that a large, growing government does not necessarily come at the expense of fundamental individual rights, pluralism, and the sort of economic growth that leads to continuously improved living standards. Most contemporary libertarians, he avers, believe that big government and freedom are fundamentally incompatible, to which he basically answers, Look upon Denmark and despair: "Denmark should in fact have a smaller government, but it is still one of the freer and more secure places in the world, at least for Danish citizens albeitnot for everybody."

In many ways, Cowen's post condenses his recent book Stubborn Attachments, in which he argues politics should be organized around respect for individual rights and limited government; policies that encourage long-term, sustainable economic growth; and an acknowledgement that some problems (particularly climate change) need to be addressed at the state rather than individual level. You can listen to a podcast I did with him here or read a condensed interview with him here. It's an excellent book that will challenge readers of all ideological persuasions. There's a ton to disagree with in it, but it's a bold, contrarian challenge to conventional libertarian attitudes, especially the idea that growth in government necessarily diminishes living standards.

I don't intend this post as a point-by-point critique of Cowen's manifesto, whose spirit is on-target but whose specifics are fundamentally mistaken. I think he's right that the internet and the broader diffusion of knowledge encourages ideological eclecticism and the creation of something like mass personalization when it comes to ideology. But this doesn't just work against "capital L Libertarianism." It affects all ideological movements, and it helps explain why the divisions within groups all over the political spectrum (including the Democratic and Republican parties) are becoming ever sharper and harsher. Everywhere around us, coalitions are becoming more tenuous and smaller. (This is not a bad thing, by the way, any more than the creation of new Christian sects in 17th-century England was a bad thing.) Nancy Pelosi's sharpest critics aren't from across the aisle but on her own side of it. Such a flowering of niches is itself libertarian.

Cowen is also misguided in his call for increasing the size, scope, and spending of government. "Our governments cannot address climate change, much improve K-12 education, fix traffic congestion," he writes, attributing such outcomes to "failures of state capacity"both in terms of what the state can dictate and in terms of what it can spend. This is rather imprecise. Whatever your beliefs and preferences might be on a given issue, the scale (and cost) of addressing, say, climate change is massive compared to delivering basic education, and with the latter at least, there's no reason to believe that more state control or dollars will create positive outcomes. More fundamentally, Cowen conflates libertarianism with political and partisan identities, affiliations, and outcomes. I think a better way is to define libertarian less as a noun or even a fixed, rigid political philosophy and more as an adjective or "an outlook that privileges things such as autonomy, open-mindedness, pluralism, tolerance, innovation, and voluntary cooperation over forced participation in as many parts of life as possible." I'd argue that the libertarian movement is far more effective and appealing when it is cast in pre-political and certainly pre-partisan terms.

Be all that as it may, I agree that the libertarian movement is stalled in some profound ways. A strong sense of forward momentumwhat Cowen calls flowamong self-described libertarians has definitely gone missing in the past few years, especially when it comes to national politics (despite the strongest showing ever by a Libertarian presidential nominee in 2016). From the 1990s up through a good chunk of the '00s, there was a general sense that libertarian attitudes, ideas, and policies were, if not ascendant, at least gaining mindshare, a reality that both energized libertarians and worried folks on the right and left. In late 2008, during the depths of the financial crisis and a massive growth of the federal government, Matt Welch and I announced the beginning of the "Libertarian Moment." This, we said, was

an early rough draft version of the libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick's glimmering "utopia of utopias." Due to exponential advances in technology, broad-based increases in wealth, the ongoing networking of the world via trade and culture, and the decline of both state and private institutions of repression, never before has it been easier for more individuals to chart their own course and steer their lives by the stars as they see the sky.

Our polemic, later expanded into the book The Declaration of Independents, was as much aspirational as descriptive, but it captured a sense that even as Washington was about to embark on a phenomenal growth spurtcontinued and expanded by the Obama administration in all sorts of ways, from the creation of new entitlements to increases in regulation to expansions of surveillancemany aspects of our lives were improving. As conservatives and liberals went dark and apocalyptic in the face of the economic crisis and stalled-out wars and called for ever greater control over how we live and do business, libertarians brought an optimism, openness, and confidence about the future that suggested a different way forward. By the middle of 2014, The New York Times was even asking on the cover of its weekly magazine, "Has the 'Libertarian Moment Finally Arrived?"

That question was loudly answered in the negative as the bizarre 2016 presidential season got underway and Donald Trump appeared on the horizon like Thanos, blocking out the sun and destroying all that lay before him. By early 2016, George Will was looking upon the race between Trump and Hillary Clinton and declaring that we were in fact not in a libertarian moment but an authoritarian one, regardless of which of those monsters ended up in the White House. In front of 2,000 people gathered for the Students for Liberty's annual international conference, Will told Matt and me:

[Donald Trump] believes that government we have today is not big enough and that particularly the concentration of power not just in Washington but Washington power in the executive branch has not gone far enough.Today, 67 percent of the federal budget is transfer payments.The sky is dark with money going back and forth between client groups served by an administrative state that exists to do very little else but regulate the private sector and distribute income. Where's the libertarian moment fit in here?

With the 2020 election season kicking into high gear, apocalypticism on all sides will only become more intense than it already is. Presidential campaigns especially engender the short-term, elections-are-everything partisan thinking that typically gets in the way of selling libertarian ideas, attitudes, and policies.

Cowen is, I think, mostly right that the libertarian movement is not "really commanding new adherents," including among "educated women." He might add ethnic and racial minorities, too, who have never been particularly strongly represented in the libertarian movement. And, increasingly, younger Americans, who are as likely to have a positive view of socialism as they are of capitalism.

Of course, as I write this, I can think of all sorts of ways that libertarian ideas, policies, and organizations actually speak directly to groups not traditionally thought of libertarian (I recently gave $100 to Feminists for Liberty, a group that bills itself as "anti-sexism & anti-statism, pro-markets & pro-choice.") School choice, drug legalization, criminal justice reform, marriage equality, ending occupational licensing, liberalizing immigration, questioning military intervention, defending free expressionso much of what defines libertarian thinking has a natural constituency among audiences that we have yet to engage as successfully as we should. That sort of outreach, along with constant consideration of how libertarian ideas fit into an ever-changing world, is of course what Reason does on a daily basis.

All of us within the broadly defined libertarian movement need to do better. And in that sense at least, Cowen's manifesto is a welcome spur to redoubling efforts.

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The Libertarian Movement Needs a Kick in the Pants - Reason

Libertarian says college district is using the number 8 to influence Chinese voters – The Daily Post

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BY SONYA HERRERADaily Post Staff Writer

A local Libertarian said in a ballot argument for the March election that the Foothill-De Anza Community College District is trying to trick Chinese residents into voting for new taxes by flashing around the number 8.

The number 8 has long been associated with good fortune in Chinese culture. Often companies market products using the number. Thats why certain real estate listings include several 8s, and why other businesses try to get as many 8s in their phone numbers as possible.

Mark Hinkle of Morgan Hill, who regularly writes ballot arguments against tax measures, claims that the college district is using the number 8 to manipulate Chinese voters.

The college district is asking voters on March 3 to approve Measure G, a $898 million bond sale, and Measure H, a $48 parcel tax.

Hinkles co-signer on the ballot argument, Mountain View attorney Gary Wesley, said that he attended a college district board meeting in 2006 when they were discussing a $490.8 million bond measure. He recalled that a board member asked why there was a .8 at the end of the amount. A district employee answered that 8 was considered lucky in Chinese culture, Wesley said.

The 1999 bond measure had been $248 million. This one is $898 million, Wesley said. You will find no other credible explanation for the $898 (million) total proposed for March 3.

District board members did not respond to requests for comment.

Hinkle, president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, typically writes ballot arguments against tax increases in every election. The arguments for and against a measure are printed in the Voter Guide thats mailed to residents.

Heres a look at some of the arguments voters will see in the guide prior to the March election.

For Measure G, the college district would borrow $898 million, which would be repaid with a property tax of $160 per $1 million of assessed property value. The amount district property owners would have to repay is estimated at $1.56 billion, which includes principal and interest. The taxes to repay the bonds would continue through 2053-54, according to the districts website. The district says the sale of the bonds would pay for upgrading and repairing classrooms and labs, improving access to buildings for students with disabilities, and repairing plumbing and electrical systems.

Measure H is a parcel tax for the district that would be in place for five years. The tax would cost $48 per year per parcel and would pay for faculty salaries and new programs to help students who are homeless or hungry.

District trustee Patrick Ahrens wrote the arguments for Measure G and H and the rebuttals to the arguments against the measures.

These documents were signed by district trustee Pearl Cheng; student trustees Tiffany Nguyen and Genevieve Kolar; Dudley Andersen, former chair of the districts past bond oversight committee; Foothill student Luis Herrera; former De Anza instructor Harry Price; Dick Henning, founder of Foothill Colleges Celebrity Forum; De Anza instructor Bill Wilson; and resident George Tyson.

Ahrens wrote that Measure G would ensure that the colleges will continue their current classes, and that the colleges have been excellent stewards of taxpayers money. Ahrens wrote that Measure H money cannot be used for administrator salaries or pensions.

Hinkle wrote the arguments against Measures G and H and the rebuttals to the arguments in favor of the measures. He wrote that Measure G is the third bond measure from the district in 20 years, and that if it passes, your grandchildren will still be paying for the debt incurred today.

Hinkle wrote that Measure G would permit the district to sell the bonds in later years, possibly at much higher interest rates, which would more than double what taxpayers would have to repay. Hinkle said that while enrollment at the districts two colleges has dropped, the number of retiring employees has risen. Hinkle said that the pension liabilities and other benefits owed to these district retirees will cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and said that as written, Measure H allows the district to spend the money however it wants.

Measure T is a bond measure for Mountain View Whisman School District. The district would borrow $259 million, which would be repaid through a $300 tax per $1 million of assessed property value. The estimated total repayment amount is about $538 million, and the estimated revenue from the tax is $18.6 million each year. The district says the sale of the bonds would pay for repairing, upgrading and building new facilities and classrooms.

The argument in favor of Measure T and the rebuttal to the argument against Measure T were written by Cleave Frink, a member of the districts bond oversight committee for Measure G, which was passed in 2012. The argument in favor was signed by Realtor Aileen La Bouff; teacher Margaret Poor; district trustee Tamara Wilson; resident William Lambert; financial planner Niki Theil; Realtor Nancy Stuhr; Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District trustee Fiona Walter; retired fire chief Dale Kuersten; and teacher Gail Lee.

Frink wrote that Measure T would ensure that schools in the district would have modern classrooms, science labs and computer systems, and provide housing for teachers and district employees. Frink pointed out that Hinkle, the lone opponent to Measure T, doesnt live in Mountain View.

The argument against Measure T and the rebuttal to the argument in favor of Measure T were written by Hinkle, who said the bond is a blank check, and that the interest rate could be much higher and result in a higher repayment amount.

Measure D would change the Mountain View rent control law voters passed in 2016. The measure would, among other things, eliminate the current limit on rent increases, which is the consumer price index, and replace it with a 4% ceiling.

The argument for Measure D and the rebuttal to the argument against Measure D were written by multiple authors, including Frink and Fiona Walter; city council members John McAlister, Margaret Abe-Koga and Chris Clark; Environmental Planning Commissioner William Cranston; former Mountain View Whisman School board member Christopher Chiang; Greg Cooper, president of Mountain View Professional Firefighters Local 1965; Mountain View Whisman School District trustee Jose Gutierrez Jr.; and renter LJ Gunson III.

In the ballot argument, they said that Measure D allows landlords to fix up older apartments rather than tear them down. The group wrote that Measure D lowers rent increases from 5% to 4% per year, and that those increases arent automatic. They said courts have ruled that the citys current law doesnt cover mobile homes, and that Measure D allows city council to enact mobile home renter protections next year.

The argument against Measure D and the rebuttal to the argument in favor of Measure D were also written by multiple authors, including Sally Lieber, former mayor and state Assemblywoman; Tamara Wilson, Mountain View Whisman School District trustee; resident Alex Nunez; Trey Bornmann, president of Mountain View Mobile Home Alliance; Anthony Chang, member of Mountain View Homeowners Against Displacement; and former mayor Pat Showalter.

They wrote that Measure D would result in higher rents and more renters being displaced from their homes.

The group said that Measure D does not set new safety rules, and that the measure allows landlords to raise the rent up to 10% for non-safety property upgrades. They added that city council is only studying protections for mobile home renters next year, and that this study session does not guarantee protections for mobile home renters.

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Libertarian says college district is using the number 8 to influence Chinese voters - The Daily Post