Daily Archives: February 27, 2020

Rising at an impressive single digit CAGR, the global polymerase chain reaction market is predicted to attain a value of almost US$7.0 bn by 2026-end. Factors enabling the market to rise so impressively is the increasing research and development expenditure, gigantic strides made in the domain of pharmacogenomics, and rising trend of self-diagnosis of ailments. The global polymerase chain reaction (PCR) market is also being boosted by new technologies for diagnosis of cancer.

Further, research and development in advanced molecular biology, forensic science, and genetic engineering are also predicted to positively influence the global polymerase chain reaction (PCR) market. The only hurdle emergence of the alternative next-generation sequencing. The expensiveness of certain commercial PCR technologies is also dampening sales in the market to a degree.

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A few noticeable trends which key stakeholders in the global polymerase chain reaction (PCR) market need to keep in mind are as follows:

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Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industry Segment Held a Major Share of the Global PCR Market in 2017

The PCR technique has been found to be useful in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research activities as well as microbial quality testing. The technique is also applied in genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is the key driver for the global PCR market. It is used to identify genes related to certain phenotypes including genetic disorders. Regular testing of the microbial load of raw materials and finished products is an important process in the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industry. Sophisticated analytical methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been widely applied for quality control analysis in the pharmaceutical sector.

Market in Asia Pacific to Expand at a High CAGR

Molecular diagnosis has revolutionized the modern diagnosis technology. PCR has become a method of choice in early and accurate detection of diseases. Expansion by leading manufacturers of PCR products in the Asia Pacific region by strengthening of the distribution network and new product launches in developing countries of Asia Pacific are key factors likely to drive the PCR market in the region during the forecast period.

Moreover, rise in the incidence of cancer and infectious diseases has resulted in increase in the demand for use of the PCR technique in clinical diagnosis of these diseases in Asia Pacific. For instance, according to the Korea Central Cancer Registry published in 2016, there were 217,057 cancer cases in South Korea in 2014. Moreover, in 2016, the WHO estimated that the Asia Pacific region has the second-highest number (i.e. 5.1 million) of people living with HIV across the world. Thus, Asia Pacific is expected to be the most lucrative market for PCR by 2026.

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Competition Landscape

Major players operating in the global PCR market are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., QIAGEN N.V., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. Becton, Dickinson and Company, Abbott, Siemens Healthcare GmbH (Siemens AG), bioMrieux SA, Danaher Corporation, and Agilent Technologies. Key players are expanding their product portfolio through mergers and acquisitions and partnerships and collaborations with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and by offering technologically advanced products.

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Life Science Instrumentation Market: The global life science instrumentation market is projected to reach US$ 90 Bn by 2027, expanding at a single digit CAGR during the forecast period. Rise in prevalence and incidence rates of infectious diseases, high R&D investment by major players, and technological advancements are anticipated to drive the global market during the forecast period.

Molecular Diagnostic Market: Molecular diagnostics uses techniques such as nucleic acid amplification and hybridization for identification of microorganisms and presence of virulence factors. Various molecular assays have been developed using various technologies. These technologies increased the accuracy of the tests, producing rapid results.

Oligonucleotide Synthesis Market: According to the report by Transparency Market Research, the oligonucleotide synthesis market stood at US$1.65 bn in 2016 and is projected to reach a value of US$4.189 bn by the end of 2025. The market is likely to expand with a stellar CAGR of 11.2% over the forecast period from 2017 and 2025.

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Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Market: Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industry Segment Held a Major Share of the Global Market - BioSpace

Red Carpet: check. Crowd of proud community members: check. Three young shining examples of leadership from the Boys & Girls Clubs: triple check.

On Tuesday night, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tar River Region recognized Nia Ewuell, Caleb Woodard and Elijah Sellars as finalists in the regional level of the Youth of the Year competition. Of these three, one also was selected as the winner and will receive a $1,000 scholarship and the chance to compete in the state level of the competition.

I want to tell these kids and remind everyone that the world needs contributions from everyone, said Ron Green, CEO of the club. Its not just his story or her story. Its our story.

The winner was announced at the end of the show. Leading up to the report, attendees were able to enjoy a step dance performance by a group in the club, listen to a speech by Green that rhymed impressively all the way through and talked about famous African-Americans such as Frederick Douglass and Serena Williams, sing along with Tobias Hopkins to U2s Lean On Me and watch in amazement as another young man from the club played an electric guitar along to Michael Jacksons Rock the Night Away.

Everyone was so excited to clap for him that he had to give a thumbs up for when he was done as small rounds of applause kept breaking out during the song.

The audience also heard from the three finalists. Prior to the event, contestants had been judged by six members of the community for things such as academic success, public speaking ability and demonstrated leadership within the club. A shopping trip for formal dress clothing was sponsored by Rocky Mount Toyota.

Woodward spoke first, dressed in a classy blue suit. He thanked the club for the love and time they had poured into him and talked about how, moving forward, he wanted to focus on addressing the growing obesity rate in youth.

Sellars, in a sharp burgundy suit and bow tie, brought a remarkable energy to the stage. His speech sounded as though it was a series of journal entries, all beginning with: Are you there, God? Its me, followed by discussion of a rough childhood involving topics such as drugs and an absent father, as well as the happiness he found in the Boys & Girls Clubs.

In a stylish pink blouse, black suit and heels, Ewuell spoke about how the club influenced who she has become, recognizing the empathy and acceptance she has learned and her plans to continue to develop those traits as she becomes a lawyer.

All three received a commemorative medal and a gift. Woodward was announced as third, leaving Sellars and Ewuell waiting at the front of the stage.

Green paused for a long moment, then finally announced: Of our two remaining, it couldve been either one. Tonight, our winner is Elijah Sellars.

As soon as Sellars was announced, he and Ewuell grabbed onto each other in a hug, with Woodward joining soon after. After several pictures with the oversized check and various members of the club, Sellars was able to approach the podium with his closing remarks, a grin stretched wide across his face.

To all of the kids from the Boys & Girls Club here today, and everyone else too, we are the future, but we are also the present, he said. Its up to us. I challenge each one of us to start shaping our own futures.

Sellars, a sophomore, hopes to one day attend either N.C. State University or Duke University to study genetic engineering. He plans to use the scholarship to help pay for his education, or, if expenses can be covered another way, use the money to invest in another youth of the year by sponsoring a shopping trip or another way to give back.

What I learned from the Boys & Girls Club is just how important it is to lean on one another, Sellars said. Im excited to represent kids Ive known my whole life, kids I know and love, in this competition. Im nervous about the next step, of course, but I know I have my clubs support.

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Area's Youth of the Year honored | Local News - Rocky Mount Telegram

Two more cases of the new strain of coronavirus have been confirmed at the San Antonio military base where some evacuees from a cruise ship were quarantined Monday, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said at a press conference Friday. This brings the number of confirmed Texas cases of the strain named COVID-19 to three.

The two evacuees were among 329 Americans repatriated against the CDC's recommendation after disembarking from the Diamond Princess off of Japan. Another 16 cruise ship evacuees quarantined in California and Nebraska have also been confirmed to have coronavirus.

"[The passengers] are considered at high risk for infection, and we do expect to see additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the passengers," said Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, during the press conference.

There are also several Americans hospitalized in Japan who are "seriously ill," she said.

The first Texas case was confirmed Feb. 13 when one of 91 Americans evacuated from the Hubei province of China, the epicenter of the outbreak, was hospitalized. The remaining 90 Americans were released from the San Antonio base Thursday because they showed no symptoms after a 14-day quarantine.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a public health emergency by last month. According to the latest CDC report, there are over 75,000 confirmed cases worldwide, and the death toll has surpassed 2,000. But outside of China, there have been only three fatalities, and none in the U.S.

The total number of confirmed U.S. cases is 34. However, the CDC makes a distinction between cases among repatriated Americans and all other U.S. cases, as the former aren't an accurate representation of how the virus is spreading within the country, according to Messonnier.

"We don't yet have a vaccine for this novel virus, nor do we have a medicine to treat it specifically," Messonnier said.

The goal now is to slow the introduction of the virus into the U.S. to buy time to prepare the community for more cases and possibly sustained spread, she added.

Two elderly Japanese passengers aboard the Diamond Princess died after testing positive for the virus, Japan's health minister said Thursday.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are working on a vaccine, and a Houston-based genetic engineering company announced this week it finished developing one. However, the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved a vaccine.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Originally posted here:
Texas coronavirus cases climb to three in San Antonio - The Texas Tribune

Wei-Hua Shao,1 4,* Cheng-Yu Wang,4,5,* Lei-Yun Wang,1 4 Fan Xiao,1 4 De-Sheng Xiao,6 Hao Yang,4,5 Xue-Ying Long,7 Le Zhang,8 Heng-Gui Luo,9 Ji-Ye Yin,1 4 Wei Wu4,5

1Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Peoples Republic of China; 2Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University; Hunan Key Laboratory of Pharmacogenetics, Changsha 410078, Peoples Republic of China; 3Engineering Research Center of Applied Technology of Pharmacogenomics, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410078, Peoples Republic of China; 4Department of Geratic Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, Peoples Republic of China; 5National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Changsha, Hunan 410008, Peoples Republic of China; 6Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital/School of Basic Medicine, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Hunan, Peoples Republic of China; 7Department of Radiology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Peoples Republic of China; 8Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, Peoples Republic of China; 9Department of General Surgery, The Central Hospital of Xiangtan City, Xiangtan, Hunan, Peoples Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Wei WuDepartment of Geratic Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha 410008, Hunan, Peoples Republic of ChinaTel +86 731 89753053Email wwtw1972@126.com

Purpose: In order to clarify which variants of the MMR gene could provide current healthy members in affected families a more accurate risk assessment or predictive testing.Patients and Methods: One family, which meets the criteria according to both Amsterdam I/II and Bethesda guidelines, is reported in this study. The proband and some relatives of the patient have been investigated for whole genome sequencing, microsatellite instability, immunohistochemical MMR protein staining and verified by Sanger sequencing.Results: A heterozygous insertion of uncertain significance (c.420dup, p.Met141Tyrfs) in MSH2 gene was found in proband (III-16) and part of His relatives. The variant was associated with a lack of expression of MSH2 protein (MMR deficient) and high microsatellite instability analysis (MSI) status in tumor tissues of LS patients. In addition, we found that the variant could affect the expression of MSH2 and the response to chemotherapy drugs in vitro.Conclusion: We identified an insertion mutation (rs1114167810, c.420dup, p.Met141Tyrfs) in MSH2 in LS using whole genome-wide sequencing (WGS). We further confirmed that this mutation plays an important role in LS patients of this pedigree based on in vivo and vitro study.

Keywords: Lynch syndrome, genetic variation, mismatch repair gene, MSH2, chemotherapy resistance

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

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A Hereditable Mutation of MSH2 Gene Associated with Lynch Syndrome in | CMAR - Dove Medical Press

As Western culture becomes more and more secular, or to use Charles Taylors fascinating word disenchanted, traditions and practices once largely normal seem more and more strange. Large families, choosing church over Little League, or smudged foreheads just arent as normal as they used to be, and the second glances or raised eyebrows they create reveal more than a confusion about the thing itself.

In fact, Im not sure there is a Christian observance that more directly collides with the widely accepted values of secularism than the imposition of the ashes, a tradition that goes back about ten centuries and marks the beginning of the season of Lent on the Church calendar.

Like Advent, the season of Lent is about preparation. Before Christmas, our Christian forebears thought it wise to prepare a bit, and that by diving deeply into Old Testament promises and prophecies wed better understand the birth of Christ in the full context of redemptive history. So too, in Lent, our Christian forbears thought it wise to prepare for Holy week, especially for celebrating the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

A key distinction is that Lenten disciplines, beginning with Ash Wednesdays reminder that You are dust and to dust you shall return, place our celebration of resurrection in the context of our humanity, both our mortality and our fallenness. Even if the church calendar and its accompanying disciplines is not part of your church tradition, these two aspects of our humanity deserve our focused, intentional, and extended reflection.

Of course, most Christians would quickly reply that, of course, sin and death affect us all post-Eden. The problem is, in a secular culture, these beliefs that are crucial to a Christian worldview can be subtly secularized in our own hearts and minds.

Years ago, when my grandfather was dying, he suffered terribly for three or four months. In sorrow, I asked my pastor, Why doesnt God just take him? I expected him to say something along the lines of, Well, God has His ways, and His own timing, but instead he said something Ill never forget: Because your grandfather needs to know his mortality before he meets his maker.

What Ponce de Leon once sought in the waters of a Fountain of Youth, we still seek today via genetic engineering, eugenics, and other technologies. In other words, we seek control over this world and even over death itself.

Despite our search, death remains the universal problem of the human condition, one that afflicts us all. A secular culture is led by the reality of death to fear death itself, so that we either attempt to control death or distract ourselves from the thought of it. As a result, we learn to live life in light of the moment, rather than eternity.

The reality of death should, instead, remind us to fear God. That after death, we will meet the maker of life, is worth pondering, not just at the moment of death, but constantly throughout our lives.

Theologian Craig Gay warned in his book The Way of the Modern World that many of us who believe in God live as if God were largely irrelevant to most of life. The reminder of our mortality in the words, You are but dust and to dust you shall return, is a wonderful antidote for what he called practical atheism.

Just like with the idea of mortality,our understanding of our own sinfulness is also under threat of being secularized in our own minds. In a culture committed, in the name of freedom, to removing the categories of sin or guilt, one quick to give away nearly universal get-out-of-jail-free cards in the name of sexual freedom, too many Christians lose any abhorrence for that which ought shock and shame us.

Perhaps this is why the salvation brought by Christs life, death, and resurrection is so often described as a wonderful example of love and sacrifice or how to gain purpose and perspective, but so rarely in the terms of judicial forgiveness and cosmic victory that Paul and Peter and Jesus Himself so often used.

Being confronted with our own sinfulnessis certainly no fun, but God graciously does it. After all, the cruelest thing to tell someone whos not okay is that they are, as both secularized cultures and secularized churches too often do. Repentance is a gift, the only way forward for those on the edge of the moral abyss. Its proof that God is kind, the Scriptures say.

We just dont hear these things often enough. So, thank God for Lent.

Publication date: February 26, 2020

Photo courtesy: Ahna Ziegler/Unsplash

BreakPointis a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.

John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN),and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

Excerpt from:
You Are but Dust, and to Dust You Shall Return - Christianheadlines.com

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Protein Sequencing Market by Product and Service Technology and Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global protein sequencing market size was valued at $ 5,399.9 million in 2018 and is expected to reach $ 9,926.7 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 7.8% from 2019 to 2026.

Protein sequencing provides information regarding the amino acids that make up a protein. While performing the sequencing process, amino acids are sequentially removed from the N-terminal end of the protein strand and identified in the order they occur in the protein. Protein sequencing finds its wide applications in the field of genetic engineering, and biotherapeutics. There are two main technologies available for protein sequencing namely Edman degradation and mass spectrometry. Edman degradation is considered as the gold standard for protein sequencing.

The major factors contributing to the growth of the protein sequencing market include surge in focus on biotherapeutics development biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in various developing and developed regions. Technological advancements in de novo peptide-sequencing methods and analytical methods, with the application of neural networks, have opened new avenues in the market. However, high cost of infrastructures and the required equipment such as mass spectrometers, hamper the market growth. On the contrary, technological advancements for the identification of isobaric residues in protein sequences are expected to create lucrative opportunities in the near future.

KEY BENEFITS FOR STAKEHOLDERS

Key Findings of the Protein Sequencing Market:

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1. Report Description

1.2. Key Benefits For Stakeholders

1.3. Research Methodology

1.3.1. Secondary Research

1.3.2. Primary Research

1.3.3. Analyst Tools & Models

Chapter 2: Executive Summary

2.1. CXO Perspective

Chapter 3: Market Overview

3.1. Market Definition And Scope

3.2. Porter's Five Forces Analysis

3.3. Market Share Analysis

3.4. Market Dynamics

3.4.1. Drivers

3.4.1.1. Increasing Focus On Target-Based Drug Development

3.4.1.2. Advancements In Mass Spectrometry And Analytical Techniques

3.4.2. Restraints

3.4.2.1. Dearth Of Skilled Researchers And Laboratory Professionals

3.4.3. Opportunities

3.4.3.1. Opportunity In Computational Proteomics

Chapter 4: Protein Sequencing Market, By Products & Services

4.1. Overview

4.2. Reagents & Consumables

4.3. Instruments

4.4. Analysis Product

4.5. Protein Sequencing Services

Chapter 5: Protein Sequencing Market, By Technology

5.1. Overview

5.2. Mass Spectrometry

5.3. Edman Degradation

Chapter 6: Protein Sequencing Market, By Application

6.1. Overview

6.2. Biopharmaceuticals

6.3. Biotechnology Research

Chapter 7: Protein Sequencing Market By Region

7.1. Overview

7.2. North America

7.3. Europe

7.4. Asia-Pacific

7.5. LAMEA

Chapter 8: Company Profiles

8.1. Charles River Laboratories

8.2. Shimadzu Corp.

8.3. Agilent Technologies

8.4. Thermo Fischer Inc.

8.5. Selvita

8.6. Rapid Novor.

8.7. Sgs

8.8. Proteome Factory

8.9. Bioinformatics Solution

8.10. Water Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tahl8q

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Global Protein Sequencing Market Drivers, Restraints & Opportunities During the Forecast Period, 2019-2026 - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business...

With Calyxt making fried foods healthier, maybe celebs will actually eat them instead of just posing with them. Rich Polk/Getty Images for The Weinstein Company

Eat up, America. Your favorite standby comfort foodthose slightly greasy, salted-just-right French fries that have thrown many a dieter off the straight and narroware now healthy. Or at least healthier than they ever have been, thanks to food-tech disruptor Calyxt (pronounced Kay-Lix with an aspirated t at the end) and its breakout vegetable oil, which is designed with less saturated fat and more healthy oleic acid than typical unmodified frying oils.

I first stumbled across Calyxts healthy frying oil at the most unlikely of places: the Minnesota State Fair,a 320-acre mecca of unhealthy eating, butter sculptures, live farm animal births and other assorted curiosities.

SEE ALSO: How Blue Apron Became a Massive $2 Billion Disaster

Any good Minnesotan worth his weight in walleye, even those of us like me who have lived all over the world, will always make a point to come back to our native Land of 10,000 Lakes in late August, in part so we can take in one of the states few months of non-sub-zero temperatures, but also because the second half of August is precisely when we can visit the two-week affair known among locals as the The Great Minnesota Get-Together. Its the largest of its kind in the country, and last years attendance drew in over two million visitors, meaning over a third of all Minnesotans took a day out of their lives to join in on the perennial celebration.

At last years gathering, word was spreading quickly that the Ball Park Caf, a long-time state fair staple, known for its famous beer selection, burgers and garlic fries, had switched to Calyxts healthier vegetable oil for all of its frying needs. Given that the fair happened to fall just as I was several weeks into one of my many concerted efforts to finally get back in shape, I was intrigued.

I was expecting the fries I ordered to taste somehow artificial or rubbery, as do many healthy versions of other foods, but the flavor and consistency of the Calyxt-fried Freedom Fries was exactly as one might expect from a normal bath of hot oilcrispy and yummy. Decadence never tasted so good.

Several weeks after the fair, I looked up the company behind this healthy oil and scheduled a meeting with Calyxts communications head, Trina Lundblad and company CEO Jim Blome. We decided to meet at their offices, a sleek, ultra-modern building in a Minneapolis suburb, overlooking a large swath of prairie grass and pristine crop rows.

The Calyxt headquarters have a definite Silicon Valley feel. Were not an ag company; were a tech company that is applying its IP to the ag sector, said company spokeswoman and communications head Trina Lundblad. Courtesy of Calyxt

For the next several hours that I spent touring the Calyxt headquarters, I came to realize that I was not just visiting, contrary to my expectations going in, another food-based CPG company simply riding the wave of a popular new frying oil with a healthy twistI was at ground zero of the tech revolution in agriculture, where genome editing is revolutionizing the nutritional attributes of the foods we, as humans, will need to continue as a species in the years and centuries to come.

If that sounds like a big deal, its because it is.

Calyxt describes its oil, the product of an improved soybean plant, as having the heart-healthy fat profile of olive oil without the distinctively earthy aftertaste that is fine for spaghetti, but less so for waffles or fried chicken. By using a breakthrough gene-editing technology, Calyxt is engineering an entirely new set of processes for improving the genetic profile for many staples of the nutritional supply chain without introducing transgenic, foreign properties into the mix; Calyxts technology stands out in that it is simply accelerating and improving upon what nature would have probably gotten around to eventually on its own, only several millennia later.

Importantly, the process used by Calyxt, which relies on DNA-cutting enzymes that thankfully go by the abbreviation TALEN (transcription activator-like effector nuclease), sidesteps much of the public and regulatory outcry often associated with traditional GMOs (genetically modified organisms), in which an organisms genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using transgenic technology that combines, in a sort of Frankenstein-esque way, plant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

Calyx, which is a publicly-traded company on the NASDAQ, is improving upon the farm to table fever, by starting upstream.

Way upstream.

Calyxts unique engineering process begins in the high-tech labs on the top floor of the companys headquarters, where a team of scientists reconfigure gene molecules on large computer monitor screens before instructing robotically controlled laboratory pipettes to do their thing. Later, embryonic plant cells are transferred to petri dishes that deliver the customized TALENs, which are then bathed in stimulating hormones and left to grow until they become big enough to see if the edits made upstream in the top floor lab were successful.

Plants that meet the designer teams original specs get pampered in high-tech temperature-regulated nurseries before later graduating to a greenhouse or to the small outdoors plot trials that abut the Calyxt headquarters. From the top performing plants, Calyxt begins developing seed banks that will eventually be sold to farmers.

But that is only the beginning. Its here, at this leg of the business, where Calyxt is positioning itself for long-term, paradigm shifting growth at the crossroads of technology and agriculture.

Jim Blome, the CEO of Calyxt, grew up in a family farm in central Iowa. Today, he leads a company that is playing a major role in defining the future of food on a global scale. Courtesy of Calyxt

Unlike most biotech companies that play in the broader competitive landscape of gene-editing, Calyxt is unique in that it is vertically integrating, contracting with farmers across the Midwest to grow its gene-edited, high oleic soybeans. Earlier this month, the company achieved an important milestone, having successively contracted 100,000 soybean acres with U.S. farmers, more than doubling the size of its planted acres from the previous year. Calyxt CEO Jim Blome lauded the achievement stating that 100,000 contracted acres will support market demand for our high oleic soybean oil.

Calyxts scientists design gene-editing molecules on computer screens, then use robots to build them using a set of DNA-cutting enzymes called TALENs, which are later transferred to petri dishes for analysis. Courtesy of Calyxt

After the growing season, just a few weeks after the Minnesota State Fair wraps up, Calyxt exercises its contracts to buy back the beans from the farmers at a premium to market prices and crushes them to make its healthy, french fry-friendly oil, which it is currently shipping across the country to food services companies and restaurant chains.

Farmers love the higher-than-market commodities prices Calyxt agrees to pay them. The food services sector loves the healthy aspects of the Calyxt end-product, which also has a reuse rate far more efficient than other oils on the market. And Calyxt loves sitting in the middle of both the supply and distribution chains.

I have spent my life in agriculture, and there is nothing as revolutionary happening around genome editing as what we are doing at Calyxt, added Blome, who previously served as the president and CEO of the North American Crop Science division of Bayer, the German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences juggernaut. We are developing a foundation for the future of global agriculture through precision plant breeding and advanced analytical tools to solve complex challenges with system-based approaches. Tillable land is growing increasingly scarce, populations are growing and the earth is warming, and frankly, we arent ready for what this will mean even five or 10 years down the road.

What we are doing at Calyxt is harnessing the technology that will enable the entire global nutritional and industrial supply chain to adapt to these seismic changes underfoot. And were doing it in a responsible, ethical manner, that brings new opportunities to U.S. farmers, added Blome.

The Calyxt chief isnt simply talking about healthier frying oils, there is a much, much bigger play in the offing: Calyxts technology can be harnessed to address some of the most pressing concerns across all of food and nutritionfrom removing the allergens from nuts and peanuts, to designing better cereal plants, such as wheat, that not only deliver better yields but also address common allergies and afflictions like gluten intolerance. Tubers, tree fruits, CBD productsthe list of potential applications for Calyxt genome-editing is nearly endless.

Where high-tech meets agriculture. Calyxt researchers and plant scientists use state-of-the-art aeroponics growing facilities to iterate on plant-based genome editing. Courtesy of Calyxt

Chris Neugent, a veteran food marketer and former CEO of Post Consumer Brands, the maker of everything from Oreo Os to Grape-Nuts, sits on the board of Calyxt, bringing mission-critical consumer marketing and story-telling gravitas to a company known best for its high-tech bioengineering.

If the Calyxt story was a book, then you could say we are still in the first chapter, probably still on page one. Our work with smarter, healthier soybean oilsas groundbreaking as it isis still proof of concept. As we scale our business and begin adding more products, the market will begin to see us not as the healthier french fry guys but as a company that is revolutionizing next-generation nutrition in agriculture, observed Neugent. We are literally laying track for the biggest agricultural revolution since the transformation of human societies from hunting and gathering to farming. Its that big.

This Second Agricultural Revolution Neugent is alluding to envisages a not-so-far-off future in which Calyxt is redesigning crops to better withstand the massive changes underfoot caused by global warming, over-population and other seismic shifts affecting the future of food.

A young soybean plant flowers inside the Calyxt high-tech laboratory facilty. Courtesy of Calyxt

Like any industry that is shaking up the status quo, Calyxt is beginning to encounter its share of crosscurrents. So far, at least, U.S. regulators seem to be of the opinion that as long as Calyxt is making genetic alterations that could have conceivably occurred naturally, as opposed to other transgenic techniques used in GMOs, no special regulation is needed.

Other incumbent seed engineering companies have dabbled in the high oleic soybean space, but for the most part, they have come at the challenge through a more conventional gene-editing approach, which mixes in organisms that do not naturally conjoin outside of a laboratory, necessitating additional layers of regulatory safeguards.

Calyxt is using high-tech genome editing to serve up healthier versions of the same delicious plant-based foods that we have eaten for decades. Courtesy of Calyxt

For now, Calyxts approach doesnt require any additional oversight or specific product labeling, nor do company executives feel that any will be required at any point in the foreseeable future. The 2018 USDA-released GMO labeling requirements defines bioengineered foods as those containing detectable genetic material that has been modified through lab techniques that cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature. As a result, Calyxt is not subject to any additional regulatory or labeling requirements, which is allowing the company to forge ahead on multiple fronts. The company is already engaged in early experimentation with genome edited wheat plants, and it has scores of other applications in development.

For now, Calyxt is a still a small company, but one poised to make a big impact on the global food market.

However, for most of usat least those of us that just like to be able eat French fries from time to time and not feel too bad about it the next dayCalyxt is performing an equally important service on par with helping prepare global food sourcing for the impacts of climate change; they are giving us peace of mind the next time we hit the state fair, or anywhere else where Calyxt-fried French fries are being served.

See more here:
Healthy-ish French Fries Are Now a Thing Thanks to Genetic Redesigning - Observer