Daily Archives: November 6, 2020

Premier faces fresh questions over Casey land deal as IBAC hearings resume – The Age

Posted: November 6, 2020 at 8:59 am

Asked in December about his relationship with Mr Woodman, Mr Andrews denied he had ever discussed individual planning matters with the developer. He may now face further scrutiny over whether he discussed planning matters with Mr Woodmans lobbyist, Mr Staindl.

Current Victorian MP Pauline Richards is also expected to appear as a witness along with former Labor MPs Jude Perera and Judith Graley. IBAC heard that all three received donations from Woodman who named them as supporters of his rezoning push during the earlier hearings.

Labor's MP for Cranbourne, Pauline Richards.

Ms Richards would be the first sitting MP to be called as a witness to a public hearing since the anti-corruption commission was established eight years ago. Last November Ms Richards denied making representations on behalf of Mr Woodman. She did not return phone calls from The Age this week.

Through seven weeks of earlier hearings between November and March, IBAC heard allegations of corruption including personal payments by Mr Woodman of more than $1.2 million to former mayors and Liberal party members Sam Aziz and Geoff Ablett.

Mr Aziz is set to appear as a witness in coming weeks after returning to Australia in August. He left the country last October after IBAC raided his properties.

The earlier public examinations also heard how Mr Woodman showered council and state parliamentary candidates from both sides of politics with donations and gifts including more than $150,000 in donations to Labor at the 2018 election.

Labor-linked lobbyist Phil Staindl.Credit:Joe Castro

Central to the Casey investigation, known as Operation Sandon, is Mr Woodmans push for rezoning of land in Cranbourne West from industrial to residential.

Had it been approved, the rezoning would have generated as much as $150 million for Mr Woodmans clients including construction giant Leighton (now known as CIMIC) along with big success fees for Mr Woodman himself and Mr Staindl, among others.

Mr Woodman steered the rezoning as far as the desk of Planning Minister Richard Wynne who was on the cusp of approving a version of it in October 2018 when The Sunday Age revealed concerns about Mr Woodmans influence at Casey and his donations to state Labor MPs including Ms Graley and Mr Perera.

Mr Wynne deferred his decision on the rezoning until after the state poll. Then, in February 2019, with the rezoning still undecided, Mr Staindl and Mr Andrews were together at a Labor event at a city restaurant known as Kirks.

Mr Staindl would not comment when The Age asked him about that gathering this week.

A spokesman for Mr Andrews said at the dinner in question the Premier had exchanged pleasantries with Mr Staindl, but did not discuss the rezoning at the heart of the IBAC hearing.

Mr Andrews has known both Mr Woodman and Mr Staindl for many years. Mr Woodman donated $2500 to Mr Andrews when he first ran for parliament in 2002 and had access to him as a "Platinum" member of Progressive Business, including meals at the up-market Flower Drum restaurant.

Mr Wynne finally refused the Cranbourne West rezoning in June this year following the first round of Casey public hearings.

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In an exclusive interview in late 2019, Mr Staindl told The Age he had lobbied for Mr Woodman off and on for about 15 years. Until late last year he was on a $3000 monthly retainer to act as a conduit to the Andrews Labor government. Mr Staindl was still working for Mr Woodman when he was at the Labor gathering with Mr Andrews in February 2019.

When details of the alleged corruption of councillors were aired in November, Mr Staindl resigned as a lobbyist to Mr Woodman and his son Heaths development company Wolfdene.

I was shocked by the revelations, he told The Age, saying he thought Mr Woodman limited his payments to councillors and politicians to donations.

Mr Perera retired from politics at the 2018 election and was replaced as the member for Cranbourne by Ms Richards. This week he confirmed that he had been called to appear as a witness over dealings he had with John Woodman.

While Operation Sandon is focused on Casey, IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich, QC, has expressed concerns about the planning system statewide and the need for reform. IBAC will also hear from experts in governance and donations as it shapes recommendations to the Andrews government about possible law reform.

Royce Millar is an investigative journalist at The Age with a special interest in public policy and government decision-making.

Clay Lucas is a senior reporter for The Age. Clay has worked at The Age since 2005, covering urban affairs, transport, state politics, local government and workplace relations for The Age and Sunday Age.

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The Sun Also Rises: Life and Love In a World Without Institutions – Yale Daily News

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Dora Guo

Paris is crowded, expensive and Godless. If you are young, if you are healthy, if you have money and if you are joined by friends, Paris is incomparably brilliant. Absent one of the above and the City of Lights very quickly loses its luster. The model of the modern city, Pariss enlightenment left us desecrated temples and a Pantheon for the dead. And no one smiles at you unless they are trying to earn your money. But isnt Paris just charming? Smile and nod.

Written in the decade after the Great War, Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises explores life in a world without institutions. Although never discussed, the war casts a grim shadow upon the book, reminding all involved that life is utterly futile, death utterly inevitable. The world had revealed societal institutions what Edmund Burke called the decent drapery of life for the fictions they really were. God had died in the killing fields of the Somme (the novels theology, not mine). Machine guns, it turned out, could not discriminate between a marquess and a low-born private. Why should we? The strictures of marriage, only ever a working-class virtue, now seemed quaint in a throwaway world. When the decent drapery of life is gone, what is left?

Out of that dead land springs forth the lilac of Jacob Barnes and Lady Brett Ashleys romance. The novel opens in Paris where Barnes, an American veteran who never returned home after the war, edits a daily newspaper. Following him from lonely bars to insufferable dinners, we witness the daily ordeal of litterati social life. Like revolutionary cultists of reason bowing obsequiously before idols of their own creation, Barness expatriate friends recite their ritual affirmations: How do you like Paris? Isnt it just charming?

Perpetually broke and morally bankrupt, Barness friends cheat, flirt and dance their way through nightclubs anything to get them drunk enough to shirk off the plague of remembering. Everyones cheating on everyone and everyones waiting to finalize their divorce so they can move onto the next cheap fling. In a world without a moral center, marital strife becomes a cliche. Robert Cohn, Jakes thin-skinned, thick-knuckled frenemy, kicks his soon to be ex-wife out of their home, even though he cant afford the 200 pounds to ship her off to England.

Aristocracy has lost all dignity and meaning, as epitomized in the character of Count Mippipopolous, whose name must be Hemingways version of a joke. The Greek count (is he really a count? Who knows? Who cares?) is a fat capitalist who owns a chain of candy stores in the States. Hes perfectly happy to play the part of cuckold, paying for Lady Brett and Jakes dates and intimate dances while he watches and drinks himself to a quick death. Immediately after meeting Mippipopolous for the first time, Jake Barnes walks by a towering statue of Marshal Ney, the common-born general who slaughtered enough men that Napoleon named him prince. The fat cuckold just doesnt match up.

Even Lady Brett Ashleys title is revealed to be merely the decent drapery of a barbaric marital life. Twice divorced, Brett earned her noble title by marriage to a sailor, the ninth baronet of Ashley. Crazed by war, every night Bretts first husband forced her, always at gunpoint, to sleep on the bare floor with him instead of in a bed.

Unmoored by either church or state this is a story of atheist expatriates (theyve even abandoned the community of their native tongues!) Barnes lost generation roars their way through Paris, but without making any progress. Devoid of any grounding, they seek instead to find affirmation (or perhaps justification for existence) in love. When it turns out that mortal lovers cannot provide absolute meaning, Barnes Parisians constantly divorce and move onto the next lover, in the hopes of finding purpose in the next bedfellow. The definition of insanity, one remembers, is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting something to change.

Hemingway almost seems to long for the pre-modern world; after all, many modernist writers were themselves quite conservative. But, of course, Hemingway had bled to bring down three pre-modern empires. And even if he had wanted to restore the kaiser, there seemed no path back to 1913. The solution Hemingway discovered, imperfect at best, was Spain.

Like an artillery round on the Western Front, Jacob Barnes hurtles himself out of the licentious, entrenched, meaningless battleground of Paris. Barnes, Brett and friends (nearly all of whom have been, at one time or another, Bretts sexual partners) head down to Spain to go enjoy the festival of San Fermin, a bullfighting extravaganza. The novel spends more time than one would expect describing the border between France and Spain, and the reader understands that this is a journey not just geographically, but also politically, spiritually and temporally backwards, backwards, backwards.

Immediately upon crossing into Spain, Barnes exits his high-speed train replete with dining cars and expensive bottles of wine and hops onto the roof of a country bus, sharing spurts of wine from communal wineskins with the well-tanned Basque natives. The Spanish countryside is blissfully underdeveloped, the locals generous with wine and affection, and the summer sun smiles ceaselessly.

After taking separate routes, Jake and one companion hurry ahead to indulge in a quick fishing trip to quiet and sane Bayonne. The rural fishing village revivifies one form of pre-modern life: pastoral, idyllic, serene. They then meet their friends in the regional capital of Pamplona. An old city still rooted in tradition and the communitarian structures of a pre-modern society, Pamplona provides a glimpse into a world already past, the world of yesterday, where societal institutions still hold sway and neighbors still feel some sense of community. Stopping before the Gothic cathedral, Jake and Brett even try to pray, on separate occasions.

As natives and bullfighting aficionados assemble for the festival of San Fermin, the novel speeds toward the heart of its second act. In fervent Pamplona, the ostensibly Catholic festival of San Fermin exhorts its practitioners to fits of pagan ecstasy. Wine flows without ceasing in a near-Bacchic rite, fantastic fireworks explode overhead and nobody ever sleeps. Drunk with exhaustion and with wine and running on pure adrenaline, the entire city rocks and rolls and explodes into fits of passion to the beat of bull hooves. Aficionados, eager to imitate their hero matadors, chase down parading bulls in the street. Some suffer a nasty goring. Some die. The voyeuristic crowd moves onto the next bullfight and cheer as their young gladiators slaughter bull after bull in the arena.

This is a pocket of the pre-modern world, which Hemingway preserves for us as if in amber. Pamplona drinks itself to crazed rapture on blood and wine. But the matadors themselves are a grim lot. They know they may soon die. And yet, day after day, fight after fight, they climb back into the arena, all for a fit of vainglory.

But even in this corner of the world, the modern world encroaches. An innkeeper, Jakes friend, has to shield 19-year-old Pedro Romero, the most beautiful, most heroic, most pre-modern, rugged bullfighter, from the throwaway world outside. When the American ambassador to Spain invites Romero to dinner intending to pump him full of cash, pimp his talent out for as much profit as state-side audiences will proffer and then throw him away like any other cheap product past its use the innkeeper hides the invitation from Romero.

Hemingway supplies two other bullfighters as foils to Pedro Romero, so that we may see what we lose when the modern world takes over. One is not nearly as good and demonstrates the comparative excellence of Romero. The other, a legendary veteran who sold out to commercial sponsors, turns out to be nothing more than a capitalist fraud: so well-funded, so well-advertised and such a cheap imitation of true heart and passion that every audience, which pays top dollar to see him, cannot help but be disappointed by the corporate performance.

Anxiety over the coming storm of capitalism, which threatens to batter down all the old ways of life, manifests itself in the intense, violent anti-Semitism of the novels characters. Robert Cohn is a complex character, and Hemingway is careful to introduce him by laying out the anti-Semitism he has had to endure, so as to endear him to the reader. We learn that Cohn became a formidable boxer to defend himself against the ceaseless WASP bullying at Princeton he even knocks out several characters in the book. But Cohn is ultimately the antagonist (if there is one) of the novel, and he plays into several anti-Semitic tropes, not the least of which is the lustful Jewish villain trying to steal another mans wife. Jake and his compatriots, dreading the fast-approaching capitalist future, misdirect their agitation about society into unbridled bursts of anti-Semitism directed at Cohn.

And this brings us to the last, most haunting message of The Sun Also Rises. Released in 1926, the novel now reads like a modern Cassandra, desperately screaming unheeded warnings of what is to come. In just seven years, Mussolinis blackshirts will provide an absolute solution to a dissolute world. In 10, Francos fascists, feeding on the existential dread of tomorrow that pervades Hemingways story, will rise up to force Spain into reactionary retreat. In a way, Franco will play the part of Lady Ashleys first husband, forcing Spain, at gunpoint, to abandon modernity for a nasty, crude and primitive tyranny.

Reading Hemingway, one feels that modernity is too feeble, too rootless, too abstract to compete with the blinding forces of fanaticism, tribalism and bloody, martial glory. This is the charge of learned authoritarians like Harvard law professor Adrian Vermeule, who want to return us to brutish absolutism. In an August 2020 tweet, he suggested replacing liberal democracy with loyalty to living rulers who embody the polity in a concrete way.

Following Jake and his friends meaningless Parisian life, one understands why absolutist movements like fascism and communism held such appeal in the modern world. And one understands further the appeal of cults of personality and online conspiracy theories that provide an all-encompassing answer no matter how absurd, horrible, or inhumane to the problems of modernity. Given all the hype of Enlightenment-esque thinkers like public intellectual Steven Pinker, who insist the world is still, on the balance, sprinting ahead into a new age of liberty, equality and fraternity, it is remarkable how contemporary The Sun Also Rises reads. Slang aside, Hemingway could have written the story yesterday.

At least 87 current or former congressional candidates in this election cycle have openly embraced QAnon. Senator Perdue in Georgia ran anti-Semitic ads against his Jewish opponent, attempting to paint the picture of a Jewish, Democratic cabal in the Senate, controlling D.C. In the absence of God or national unity, a secular fundamentalism attempts to fill the void.

Things fall apart; the center, it seems, may not hold. We are reminded once again, to our horror, that the past is never dead. Its not even past.

Timothy Han | timothy.han@yale.edu

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The Sun Also Rises: Life and Love In a World Without Institutions - Yale Daily News

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Three greenbelt areas in Bolton may be lost to jobs schemes – The Bolton News

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THREE greenbelt areas have been allocated for industrial development in Bolton under a Greater Manchester-wide plan for new homes and jobs over the next 17 years.

Councillors debated the final draft of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) this week with one party leader saying swathes of green belt land will be lost in Westhoughton if the plans go ahead as proposed.

The GMSF says of the 179,090 homes in Greater Manchester planned to be built by 2037, 13,226 will be in Bolton.

It concludes the supply of brownfield sites in urban areas of the borough will be enough to meet that requirement, and does not propose to allocate any sites in the greenbelt for housing.

This works out as an annual average of 778 homes to be built per year.

This would be phased so from 2020-2025, the annual average would be 504, then 778 from 2026-2030, then 974 from 2031-2037.

The GMSF proposes sites for development if they are currently in the green belt. If the draft were adopted unchanged, then these sites would be removed from the greenbelt.

In Bolton, there are three such sites, all for employment uses, at Bewshill Farm in Great Lever, Chequerbent North next to the M61 in Westhoughton and a much larger site west of Wingates.

The GMSF proposes two greenbelt additions in Bolton, at Horwich Golf Club, where there has been a rejected plan for housing, and Ditchers Farm, Westhoughton.

All 10 Greater Manchester councils must approve the plan in the coming weeks before a final public consultation in December.

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Roger Hayes said : "Weve done a good job on the housingside but very large swathes of greenbelt Westhoughton is going to industrial land.

"Im also concerned about consulting over Christmas in a lockdown,it will prevent a proper consultation. Our group will vote against the plans.

Council leader Cllr David Greenhalgh said the plans were a good deal for Bolton and if it was not adopted the borough faced more risk to greenbelt for housing schemes.

He said: We know greenbelt land has been under considerable pressure and we have lost many greenbelt development rejections on appeal.

Without GMSF that would continue particularly in the west of the borough, the hardest hit being Westhoughton and Horwich where greenbelt is in jeopardyas when the councilrefuses the appeals are going against us.

We cant carry on with this uncertainty. If we do green spaces in Horrocks Fold, Astley Bridge, Bradshaw and Bromley Cross could fall foul of the appeal structure.

Any encroachment of greenbelt is regrettable but without a doubt Bolton has got least reduction into green belt of any other GM borough. We have come up with the best scheme possible.

Deputy Labour leader, Cllr Akhtar Zaman, said: This proposal needs to go through. There is always tension between economic development and green belt protection."

Bolton Council will decide whether to adopt the GMSF at a meeting on December 3.

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US Will Emerge from Polls Torn & Bleeding: Why India Stands Warned – The Quint

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But this election has made it clear that Trumpism is not a surreal interlude as some liked to describe it, but a reflection of America as it is today nativist, protectionist, quite deeply racist and misogynist. The Americans we foreigners are likely to meet dont like to see themselves that way, and preferred to speak of Trumps behaviour, his demagoguery and populism, as idiosyncratic and untypical but the election confirms that in fact at least half of America sees themselves in him, in what he stands for and the behaviour he embodies.

Bidens predicted victory was seen as a restoration of normalcy to American life, a reclaiming of the American soul from the clutches of one manifestly unfit for the exalted office he holds. Not so: Americans did not in fact reject Trumpism, despite his Administrations mishandling of COVID, his encouragement to white supremacists, his irrational 3 AM tweeting, and his obsessive personal narcissism.

The pollsters got it wrong; they gave Trump nearly 50 percent of their votes. And what he stands for is clearly here to stay, even if Biden wins the presidency this time. A narrow Biden win in a closely-fought and disputed race can hardly be described as a repudiation of Trumpism.

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Human Genetics – David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

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A hub of deep expertise, the Department of Human Genetics helps partners across UCLA interpret data and leverage genomic technology to improve study design and solve medical problems.

We demystify genetic complexities to provide vital insights for a range of clinical and research applications. We strive to improve the care of as many patients as possible by pushing our capabilities, developing novel ways to address unanswered questions.

Your next collaboration is right down the street.

Our enviable proximity to the worlds brightest scientific minds enables both thriving scheduled events and impromptu sidewalk powwows. A casual conversation during your coffee run could lead to your next big publication.

Come find out why innovation lives here.

LEARN MORE

Steve Horvath, PhDThe precision of the epigenetic clock is the methodology that accurately measure biomarker of aging and could measure child development.Learn More

Chongyuan Luo, PhDThe Department of Human Genetics welcomes Dr. Chongyuan Luo as our new Assistant Professor to our team of world class faculty researchers here at the UCLA.Learn More

Sriram Sankararaman, PhDArun Durvasula

Science Advancespublished a paper on a study that uses genetic information to identify archaic 'ghost population'. PhD Candidate Arun Durvasula is first author and Principal Investigator Sriram Sankararaman serves as co-author. Both are from Human Genetics.Learn More

Yi Yin, PhD The Department of Human Genetics welcomes Dr. Yi Yin as our new Assistant Professor. She joined our team of world class faculty researchers in March 2020. Learn More

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Largest Study To-Date Focused on Undiagnosed Genetic Disease Patients Reveals That Bionano’s Optical Genome Mapping Technology Can Diagnose…

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SAN DIEGO, Nov. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bionano Genomics, Inc. (Nasdaq: BNGO) announced the publication of a study led by scientists and clinicians from the Institute for Human Genetics and the Benioff Childrens Hospital at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) that evaluated the ability of Bionanos optical genome mapping technology and another genome analysis method to diagnose children with genetic conditions who previously went undiagnosed by the standard of care methods alone. Of the 50 children in the study, the optical genome mapping results were sufficient to definitively diagnose 6 patients (or 12%) and, for another 10 patients (or 20%), the Bionano data revealed candidate pathogenic variants. Upon further analysis, it is expected that an additional 3 patients could be diagnosed with the Bionano data, bringing the total of definitively diagnosed patients to 9 (or 18%).

Erik Holmlin, Ph.D., CEO of Bionano Genomics commented, Increasing the number of patients who receive a definitive molecular diagnosis is the driving force behind much of the development of new diagnostic technologies. Every major change in medical guidelines connected to introducing novel methods has been driven by the ability of new methods to diagnose more patients than the previously existing standard of care. This study by the UCSF team shows that Bionanos optical genome mapping can potentially bring another such leap to the clinic by diagnosing many more patients than what existing chromosomal microarray (CMA) and whole exome sequencing (WES) can. Several studies released this year have shown that Saphyr can detect all clinically relevant variants identified by karyotyping, microarray and FISH in both leukemias and genetic disease cases. This UCSF study now shows in the largest cohort analyzed to date that Bionanos optical genome mapping diagnoses more patients than the traditional methods. We believe the increase in diagnosis over conventional methods can be a significant factor in Saphyr gaining widespread adoption as a clinical tool for genetic disease diagnosis and next-generation cytogenomics.

As described in the publication, the UCSF team performed full genome analysis by combining optical genome mapping with Bionano technology and linked-read sequencing on 50 undiagnosed patients with a variety of rare genetic diseases and their parents to determine if this full genome analysis method could help solve cases that had not been diagnosed with previous testing. Of the 50 cases, 42 were previously analyzed by CMA, the first tier medical test for genetic disease cases, and 23 had previously been analyzed with commercial trio whole exome sequencing, and no pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were identified by these methods.

Bionanos optical genome mapping technology identified a number of pathogenic variants unidentified by CMA and undetectable by WES, including duplications and deletions that were too small to be identified by CMA, or occurred in regions of the genome not typically covered by CMA or WES. Of the additional 7 patients with variations considered to be candidates for pathogenic variants, the findings included deletions, duplications, and inversions. Before concluding that these variants are sufficient to diagnose the patients, further analysis is required since these variants had not previously been reported in patients with similar disease.

The publication is available at: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.22.20216531v1A recording of the webinar is available at: https://bionanogenomics.com/webinars/optical-mapping-in-rare-genetic-disease-diagnosis/

About Bionano GenomicsBionano is a genome analysis company providing tools and services based on its Saphyr system to scientists and clinicians conducting genetic research and patient testing, and providing diagnostic testing for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disabilities through its Lineagen business. Bionanos Saphyr system is a platform for ultra-sensitive and ultra-specific structural variation detection that enables researchers and clinicians to accelerate the search for new diagnostics and therapeutic targets and to streamline the study of changes in chromosomes, which is known as cytogenetics. The Saphyr system is comprised of an instrument, chip consumables, reagents and a suite of data analysis tools, and genome analysis services to provide access to data generated by the Saphyr system for researchers who prefer not to adopt the Saphyr system in their labs. Lineagen has been providing genetic testing services to families and their healthcare providers for over nine years and has performed over 65,000 tests for those with neurodevelopmental concerns. For more information, visitwww.bionanogenomics.com or http://www.lineagen.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as may, will, expect, plan, anticipate, estimate, intend and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes and are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: the contribution of Bionanos technology to the diagnosis of more genetic disease patients when compared to traditional standard of care methods; the capabilities of Bionanos technology in comparison to other genome analysis technologies; our expectations regarding the adoption of Saphyr as a clinical tool for genetic disease diagnosis and next-generation cytogenomics; and Bionanos strategic plans. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include the risks and uncertainties associated with: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and the global economy; general market conditions; changes in the competitive landscape and the introduction of competitive products; changes in our strategic and commercial plans; our ability to obtain sufficient financing to fund our strategic plans and commercialization efforts; the ability of medical and research institutions to obtain funding to support adoption or continued use of our technologies; the loss of key members of management and our commercial team; and the risks and uncertainties associated withour business and financial condition in general, including the risks and uncertainties described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and in other filings subsequently made by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made and are based on management's assumptions and estimates as of such date. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of the receipt of new information, the occurrence of future events or otherwise.

CONTACTSCompany Contact:Erik Holmlin, CEOBionano Genomics, Inc.+1 (858) 888-7610eholmlin@bionanogenomics.com

Investor Relations Contact:Ashley R. RobinsonLifeSci Advisors, LLC+1 (617) 430-7577arr@lifesciadvisors.com

Media Contact:Darren Opland, PhDLifeSci Communications+1 (617) 733-7668darren@lifescicomms.com

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Largest Study To-Date Focused on Undiagnosed Genetic Disease Patients Reveals That Bionano's Optical Genome Mapping Technology Can Diagnose...

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Invitae Reports $68.7 Million in Revenue Driven by 170,000 Samples Accessioned in the Third Quarter of 2020 – PRNewswire

Posted: at 8:58 am

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Invitae Corporation (NYSE: NVTA), a leading medical genetics company, today announced financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020.

"Strategic, commercial and operating results in the third quarter continued to demonstrate the value and leverage available from our global, diversified business. These strong results are a testament to our unique combination of comprehensive menu, durable customer relationships and ability to execute," said Sean George, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Invitae. "We further advanced clinical understanding of the importance of genetic information with the publication of several studies, including a collaboration supporting universal testing for cancer patients. Looking ahead, we believe recent acquisitions and integrations, coupled with our internal development efforts, will provide access to new and developing markets and improve ease-of-use for customers, enhancing our ability to meet the needs of patients and clinicians as the use of genetics in healthcare continues to accelerate."

Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Total operating expense, excluding cost of revenue, for the third quarter of 2020 was $102.9 million. Non-GAAP operating expense was $102.6 million in the third quarter of 2020.

Net loss for the third quarter of 2020 was $102.9 million, or $0.78 net loss per share, compared to a net loss of $78.7 million in the third quarter of 2019, or $0.82 net loss per share. Non-GAAP net loss was $81.7 million, or $0.62 non-GAAP net loss per share, in the third quarter of 2020.

At September 30, 2020, cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities totaled $368.0 million. Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash for the quarter was $61.4 million. Cash burn was $64.9 million for the quarter.

Corporate and Scientific Highlights

Webcast and Conference Call DetailsManagement will host a conference call and webcast today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern / 1:30 p.m. Pacific to discuss financial results and recent developments. To register for the conference call and webcast, please use one of the methods below. Upon registering, each participant will be provided with call details and a registrant ID.

Online registration: http://www.directeventreg.com/registration/event/7916067

Phone registration: (888) 869-1189 or (706) 643-5902

The live webcast of the call and slide deck may be accessedhere or by visiting the investors section of the company's website atir.invitae.com. A replay of the webcast and conference call will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call and will be archived on the company's website.

About Invitae

Invitae Corporation(NYSE: NVTA)is a leading medical genetics company whose mission is to bring comprehensive genetic information into mainstream medicine to improve healthcare for billions of people. Invitae's goal is to aggregate the world's genetic tests into a single service with higher quality, faster turnaround time, and lower prices. For more information, visit the company's website at invitae.com.

Safe Harbor StatementThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the company's belief regarding the value and leverage of its global, diversified business; the company's belief regarding the impact of its unique combination of comprehensive menu, durable customer relationships and ability to execute; the importance of the company's recent studies and collaborations; the company's belief regarding the momentum of its business and ability to continue to deliver on its mission to bring genetic information into mainstream medicine; the impact of the company's acquisitions, including its completed merger with ArcherDX, as well as its internal development efforts, partnerships and product offerings; and the company's beliefs regarding its ability to access new and developing markets, improve ease-of-use for customers, and meet the needs of patients and clinicians. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the impact of COVID-19 on the company, and the effectiveness of the efforts it has taken or may take in the future in response thereto; the company's ability to continue to grow its business, including internationally; the company's history of losses; the company's ability to compete; the company's failure to manage growth effectively; the company's need to scale its infrastructure in advance of demand for its tests and to increase demand for its tests; the risk that the company may not obtain or maintain sufficient levels of reimbursement for its tests; the company's failure to successfully integrate or fully realize the anticipated benefits of acquired businesses; risks associated with litigation; the company's ability to use rapidly changing genetic data to interpret test results accurately and consistently; security breaches, loss of data and other disruptions; laws and regulations applicable to the company's business; and the other risks set forth in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Invitae Corporation disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Non-GAAP Financial MeasuresTo supplement Invitae's consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP), the company is providing several non-GAAP measures, including non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP cost of revenue, non-GAAP operating expense, including non-GAAP research and development, non-GAAP selling and marketing, non-GAAP general and administrative and non-GAAP other income (expense), net, as well as non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net loss per share and non-GAAP cash burn. These non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by GAAP and are not necessarily comparable to similarly-titled measures presented by other companies. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in evaluating the company's ongoing operating results and trends.

Management is excluding from some or all of its non-GAAP operating results (1) amortization of acquired intangible assets, (2) acquisition-related stock-based compensation, (3) post-combination expense related to the acceleration of equity grants or bonus payments in connection with the company's business combinations, (4) adjustments to the fair value of acquisition-related liabilities and (5) acquisition-related income tax benefits. These non-GAAP financial measures are limited in value because they exclude certain items that may have a material impact on the reported financial results. Management accounts for this limitation by analyzing results on a GAAP basis as well as a non-GAAP basis and also by providing GAAP measures in the company's public disclosures.

Cash burn excludes (1) changes in marketable securities, (2) cash received from equity financings and (3) cash received from exercises of warrants. Management believes cash burn is a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash consumed by the operations of the business. A limitation of using this non-GAAP measure is that cash burn does not represent the total change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash for the period because it excludes cash provided by or used for other operating, investing or financing activities. Management accounts for this limitation by providing information about the company's operating, investing and financing activities in the statements of cash flows in the consolidated financial statements in the company's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K and by presenting net cash provided by (used in) operating, investing and financing activities as well as the net increase or decrease in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash in its reconciliation of cash burn.

In addition, other companies, including companies in the same industry, may not use the same non-GAAP measures or may calculate these metrics in a different manner than management or may use other financial measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of these non-GAAP measures as comparative measures. Because of these limitations, the company's non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the non-GAAP reconciliations provided in the tables below.

INVITAE CORPORATION

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

September 30,2020

December 31,2019

Assets

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents

$

106,436

$

151,389

Marketable securities

254,848

240,436

Accounts receivable

27,328

32,541

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

26,492

18,032

Total current assets

415,104

442,398

Property and equipment, net

46,130

37,747

Operating lease assets

39,007

36,640

Restricted cash

6,685

6,183

Intangible assets, net

187,060

125,175

Goodwill

211,225

126,777

Other assets

7,961

6,681

Total assets

$

913,172

$

781,601

Liabilities and stockholders' equity

Current liabilities:

Accounts payable

$

15,589

$

10,321

Accrued liabilities

77,986

64,814

Operating lease obligations

6,628

4,870

Finance lease obligations

1,237

1,855

Total current liabilities

101,440

81,860

Operating lease obligations, net of current portion

42,363

42,191

Finance lease obligations, net of current portion

1,834

1,155

Convertible senior notes, net

279,870

268,755

Deferred tax liability

10,250

Other long-term liabilities

60,864

8,000

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Invitae Reports $68.7 Million in Revenue Driven by 170,000 Samples Accessioned in the Third Quarter of 2020 - PRNewswire

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NIH researchers identify gene in mice that controls food cravings, desire to exercise – National Institutes of Health

Posted: at 8:58 am

News Release

Thursday, November 5, 2020

National Institutes of Health researchers have discovered a gene in mice that controls the craving for fatty and sugary foods and the desire to exercise. The gene, Prkar2a, is highly expressed in the habenula, a tiny brain region involved in responses to pain, stress, anxiety, sleep and reward. The findings could inform future research to prevent obesity and its accompanying risks for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The study was conducted by Edra London, Ph.D., a staff scientist in the section on endocrinology and genetics at NIHs Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and colleagues. It appears in JCI Insight.

Prkar2a contains the information needed to make two subunits molecular components of the enzyme protein kinase A. Enzymes speed up chemical reactions, either helping to combine smaller molecules into larger molecules, or to break down larger molecules into smaller ones. Protein kinase A is the central enzyme that speeds reactions inside cells in many species. In a previous study, the NICHD team found that despite being fed a high fat diet, mice lacking functioning copies of Prkar2a were less likely to become obese than wild type mice with normally functioning Prkar2a.

The researchers determined that Prkar2a-negative mice ate less high-fat food than their counterparts, not only when given unlimited access to the food, but also after a fast. Similarly, the Prkar2a negative mice also drank less of a sugar solution than the wild type mice. The Prkar2a-negative mice were also more inclined to exercise, running 2-3 times longer than wild type mice on a treadmill. Female Prkar2a-negative mice were less inclined to consume high fat foods than Prkar2-negative males, while Prkar2-negative males showed less preference for the sugar solution than Prkar2-negative females.

Edra London, Ph.D., staff scientist in the NICHD Section on Endocrinology and Genetics, is available for comment.

London, E et al. Loss of habenular Prkar2a reduces hedonic eating and increases exercise motivation. JCI Insight. 2020.

About the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): NICHD leads research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all. For more information, visit https://www.nichd.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

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NIH researchers identify gene in mice that controls food cravings, desire to exercise - National Institutes of Health

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Experiencing happiness likely contributed to the dramatic growth and complexity of the human brain – Genetic Literacy Project

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The neocortex enables us to speak, dream and think. In search of the causes underlying neocortex expansion, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, together with colleagues at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, previously identified a number of molecular players. These players typically act cell-intrinsically in the so-called basal progenitors, the stem cells in the developing neocortex with a pivotal role in its expansion.

The researchers now report an additional, novel role of the happiness neurotransmitterserotoninwhich is known to function in thebrainto mediate satisfaction, self-confidence and optimismto act cell-extrinsically as a growth factor for basal progenitors in the developing human, but not mouse, neocortex. Due to this new function, placenta-derived serotonin likely contributed to the evolutionary expansion of the human neocortex.

Abnormal signaling of serotonin and a disturbed expression or mutation of its receptor HTR2A have been observed in various neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, such as Down syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism. Our findings may help explain how malfunctions of serotonin and its receptor during fetal brain development can lead to congenital disorders and may suggest novel approaches for therapeutic avenues, [said study supervisor Wieland Huttner.]

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Experiencing happiness likely contributed to the dramatic growth and complexity of the human brain - Genetic Literacy Project

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Race, genetics, and their impact on health – Mumbai Mirror

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Amongst the various forms of discriminations the world has seen, Apartheid, a system of institutionalised racial segregation practised in South Africa, was one of the worst. I went to medical school with several South African students and the stories of discrimination they told me about were horrifying. Thankfully Apartheid, which was based on white supremacy and lasted more than 40 years, ended in the early 1990s.

I am often asked by my Caucasian friends if I felt discriminated against in the UK because of my brownness. I reply that it may have been true in early 1970s. I remember waiting in line to be served a pint of beer, only to be ignored by the proprietor of the pub. When I had the good fortune of going with a white girl, there was never a problem getting served.

Of course things have changed in the UK, which is today a proudly multicultural country. Overt discrimination of the kind that existed earlier is no longer tolerated. Asian communities especially are a thriving group, eagerly courted by political parties. Today when I go to a pub in London, I find the barmaid waiving me in.

This brings us to the topic of todays column: the role of race in health outcomes. Differences in health status, life expectancy and other indicators in different racial and ethnic groups are well documented. But before we get to that, let me get a somewhat controversial subject out of the way: the dominance of black athletes.

Black athletes enjoy a huge over-representation at the highest level of many sports - from the 100 metres sprint through to the marathon, every single record is currently held by athletes of African origin.

Sir Roger Bannister, who ran the first sub-4-minute mile, said in a speech to the British Association of Advancement of Science in 1995 that heel-bone length, subcutaneous fat and differences in the length of the Achilles tendon may explain the advantage that Africans may have in running sports. A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology reported that Africans display an enhanced resistance to fatigue while running on a treadmill. There are tens of such studies - many of them controversial - which are beyond the scope of one column.

Coming back to race and health outcomes: Diabetes, for example, is 60 per cent more common among African Americans than white Americans. Black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to suffer limb amputations and 5.5 times likely to suffer from kidney disease because of diabetes.

Blacks in America are more likely to die of asthma than whites and, despite lower tobacco exposure, Blacks are 50 per cent more likely to get lung cancer.

Black Americans suffer twice the risk of stroke than Whites; strokes kill four times more 35- to 54-year-old Blacks than white. Black men have a 40 per cent high cancer death rate, and women 20 per cent higher death rate, than their white counterparts.

The stats for the other major minority group in America - the hispanics - are similarly depressing.

Around 15 years ago, the US FDA controversially approved a drug called BiDil for a single racial-ethnic group - African Americans - for treatment of congestive heart failure. The scientific research leading to BiDils approval tested the drug only in African American populations.

Craig Venter, the famous American biotechnologist who produced the map of the human genome, said it was disturbing to see things categorised in terms of race.

Is race really a surrogate marker for describing human genetic variation? In India genetics and race are certainly considered interchangeable. People still prefer getting married to someone of their own community. One of the major consequence of endogamy - the practice of marrying within the same community - is genetic diseases arising out of a limited gene pool. We would certainly be better off if we looked to widen our gene pool.

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Race, genetics, and their impact on health - Mumbai Mirror

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