Monthly Archives: July 2021

We may be deflated, but theres lots to look forward to | Rachel Bayley – Burnley Express

Posted: July 14, 2021 at 1:45 pm

The past few weeks championing England in the Euros are just what many of us needed.

It was great to see children getting excited, houses adorned with flags and just a feel-good atmosphere all round.

Everywhere I went, people commented how great it would be if England took home the trophy and a week later, the majority of the Covid restrictions were lifted.

Its such a shame we lost by a penalty, but our national team can be proud of the way theyve conducted themselves throughout the tournament and the way they lifted our spirits.

However, we still have plenty to look forward to this summer, first and foremost the July 19th.

As long as we all remember to respect the choices of those around us, we can all fully enjoy what our borough has to offer.

One event that will be here before we know it is Retro in the Park. Scheduled for August 28th at Towneley Park, this popular event has confirmed headliners Roger Sanchez, N-Trance, Nightcrawlers and Graeme Park.

And its fantastic to see Burnley DJs Paul Taylor and Matty Robinson are also included in the line-up.

N-Trance Set You Free was THE anthem for my nights out when I was younger, many of which ended in the former Lava Ignite.

However, my 21-year-old colleague tells me Wile Out Festival, on August 29th also at Towneley Park, is the cooler one to be seen at.

Wile Out has the likes of Sigma, Tom Zanetti and Artful Dodger performing. Considering Ive heard of all three of them, maybe Im not

past it just yet. Nobody needs to know theyre the only three acts I know off the giant schedule!

Retro has been running for 30 years and is headed by the so-called godfather of house Paul Taylor.

He was incredibly disappointed that the event had to be cancelled last year after desperately wanting to put on such a huge festival in his hometown and calls the fact it can finally be held a piece of history in the making.

Burnley.co.uk and burnley.social will be there that weekend and weknow visitors to our borough will be impressed with the stunning setting, nearby restaurants, cafes

and bars and quality hotel accommodation.

Rosehill House, Crow Wood Hotel, The Lawrence, Holiday Inn and The Guest House Worsthorne are just a handful of the accommodation we have to offer. And we hope our guests blow away the cobwebs the next day by getting out and about in our countryside, whether its exploring Towneley Hall itself, walking up to the Singing Ringing Tree or getting out into Hurstwood.

Theres plenty of other events scheduled for 2021 too, with Padiham set to hold its Duck Race and Summer Fair on August 7th, the Beer Festival on September 3rd, Party in the Park and Teddy Bears Picnic September 5th and the popular Painting in Padiham on September 11th.

In fact, head over to Padiham.org.uk and theres a huge list of planned events for the rest of the year.

So, whilst the country dusts itself off, we can keep the party atmosphere going in Burnley and Padiham that little bit longer.

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Hahn, Thede and other candidates react to Emmy announcements | National News – Texasnewstoday.com

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I dont think its possible to expect all of this. You always wanted this to be the end result. But you really dont know. Regis Jean (page) and Phoebe (Dynever) There were many moments when I saw Jonathan (Bailey) and Nicola (Coughlan) and felt like I was doing something special. I couldnt predict this level of reaction. Bridgerton creator and showrunner Chris Van Dusen said in a telephone interview. The Netflix series has been nominated for the best drama series, and Reg-Jean Page has been nominated for the best actor.

I hope that all documentary filmmakers who are doing difficult work and working on difficult themes will find support in their work. You cant tell the unpleasant truth that its not easy. I know. I hope to signal this to continue. Amy Gling, co-director of Allen v. Farrow, about the implications / impact of the Emmy nominations. This project has been nominated for the best documentary or non-fiction series.

For six months, in the midst of a pandemic, Black and Latin, Trance and Queer artists worked together. With a brilliant cast and a tireless crew, Im with a great collaborator. Tells an ambitious story about family, resilience, potential, and most importantly love. With Billy Porter, who made history as the first transgender actress nominated for the drama actress category this morning. Excited by Mj Rodriguez Stephen Canals, co-creator and producer of Pose, said in a statement. There are nine nominations in the FX series.

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Focus. Fixate. Heal: The grammar and syntax of hypnosis – The Himalayan Times

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The word, hypnosis, therapeutic hypnosis, or, better still, hypnotherapy, connotes awe and perplexity in most people. It isn't either. It is essentially a condition, where the mind accepts suggestions 'articulated' by the therapist. Most clinical hypnotherapists prefer to call hypnosis 'a state of heightened suggestibility' that can be generated by a permutation of elements viz., the fixation of a point, a timepiece, rhythmic repetitive instructions and/or the use of a categorised series of suggestionsfor example, "You will now feel heavy in the eye."

When the subject relaxes during hypnosis, they yield control of themselves in several ways. When one progressively enters a trance-like state, where they feel, or act, in the exact manner as defined by the therapist, they will 'live through' what they are being toldthat alcohol is disgustingly perilous, that smoking is 'killing,' or that you will be able to do well in academics, sports or career.

On the scientific 'upside', brain effect studies explain why hypnosis has become increasingly useful as a therapeutic tool in conventional medicine as also complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) protocols. A brainimaging study, conducted at the University of Iowa, US, evidenced that hypnosis actually blocks pain signals from getting to the part of the brain responsible for conscious perception of such distress. This elucidates why hypnosis often helps one to go through the ordeal of tooth extraction, or third-degree burns, as not 'overly' agonising, or for cancer patients to construe that chemotherapy isn't nauseating at all.

A typical hypnosis session encompasses of the following stages: 1) age regression, where the subject returns to a world of an earlier period, and acts accordingly; 2) amnesia, where one is not able to recollect what happened during the trance; 3) time distortion, where a short period feels like a long time; and, 4) analgesia, where one is insensitive to normal painful stimuli.

Subjects, in deep hypnotic states, go through a host of patternschange of breathing, skin complexion, from bright to pale, postural slump, rapid eye movement (REM)-type of fluttering of eyelids, amplified watery, red 'appearance' around the eyes, frequent swallowing of saliva, and so on.

Hypnosis is primarily a subjective experience.

From the psychological point-of-view hypnosis enables one to suspend 'normal' cynicism, or scepticism this allows the individual to focus attention on a solitary, or distinct, element and be open to suggestions 'created' by the therapist.

My mentor, the late Prof B V Krishna Murthyengineer, academician, educationist, philosopher and hypnotherapistwould often refer to hypnosis, for easy comprehension, as 'daydreaming', but with a purpose, something that you experience while reading a book, watching a comedy, or suspense movie, or listening to lilting music while driving, without even realising how you reached home almost on 'auto-pilot'. Brain studies of people who are susceptible to hypnotic suggestions indicate that when they 'act' on the therapist's suggestions, their brains display profound changes in how they process information.

Hypnotic suggestions literally transform what people see, hear, feel, think and believe to be true, including memory issues. One classical technique that exemplifies the idea is called post-hypnotic amnesia (PHA). It 'models' memory disorders, such as functional amnesia, often dramatised in movies, which typifies sudden memory loss, primarily due to psychological trauma, rather than actual brain damage, or disease.

Hypnotherapists 'trigger' PHA by suggesting to the hypnotised individual that after hypnosis they will forget specific things until they receive a 'cancellation note', such as, "Now, you can remember everything."

Hypnosis is evidenced to leave the individual with more control over their actions in health and illness.

However this may be, the therapy, on its own, cannot treat all psychosomatic and/orfunctional disorders.

It has its advantages and limitations-like any other system of healing.

This is also because most organic disorders require medication, clinically-focused treatments and lifestyle changes. Hypnosis would be useful, in such cases, as an adjuvant, because the anxiety factor, the most likely bugbear, can be reduced and the rate of recovery speeded up.

Hypnosis has also proved to be a successful supplementary therapeutic tool in the treatment of asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, atopic dermatitis (eczema), psoriasis, warts, vaginismus, and so onnot to speak of obesity. Hypnotherapy, especially self-hypnosis is a feasible adjuvant for cancer patients to coping with a plethora of symptoms,viz., pain, nausea, fatigue, depression, hot flushes and sleep-related disorders preferably under professional guidance. Self-hypnosis may also be more than just a useful tool, afocused relaxation practice, to beating the numerous anxieties and fears vis--vis the on-going, awfully dreadful COVID-19 pandemic.

Hypnotic suggestions, from sittings or after repeated hearings, from a recorded clip, may be of enormous help, too. They can ease, for instance, the pain complex for the expectant mother during labour.

They can also help one get over a bad habit smoking, alcohol, or drug addictionor, make an extremely nervous individual relax. They could help one overcome stammering, too.

In addition, hypnosis can be used to improve learning skills and 'propel' sportspersons to overcoming a mental block.

The reason is simple. Relaxation, as hypnosis achieves, is everything. It brings out the best in us just as nature has endowed us withto augment and expand our self-assurance, or take us to the next level.

Nidamboor is a wellness physician

A version of this article appears in the print on July 14 2021, of The Himalayan Times.

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How Tidy Trax embodies the loud, proud spirit of Northern hard house – DJ Mag

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When it takes place next year, Amo says Tidy 25 will offer a rare opportunity for those who came to their first event, which he remembers as a baptism of fire, very homemade, to recapture that moment of their youth. Pontins hasnt changed in 50 years, let alone 20, he chuckles. Many iconic clubs have lost their venues Creams home was demolished, Turnmills where Trade was closed down, but Tidy 25 will feature the same smell, the same dancefloor, the same euphoria.

It will also boast, largely, the same DJs. Pulling in stars from across hardcore, hard house, trance and the tougher end of house. Its a summation of the scene they were central to creating, an ecosystem of events that stretched from Leicesters Storm to Insomniacz in Sheffield, and from Synergy and Goodgreef in Manchester to Promise in Newcastle. But its also a sign of how little those at the top have changed.

This is the impetus behind Tidy Pro, the labels new production school. Hard house became niche, so it became quite insular, admits Amo. Now were seeing that wheel turning again, so we have the chance to bring new talent through. Offering mentoring and classes on components such as arrangement, composition, programming breakdowns and riffs, and mixing down, Tidy Pro aims to have the old guard help bring through a new generation.

Part of the wider renaissance, they point out, is that those who came to their first few weekenders, perhaps even meeting the person they married at a Tidy event, potentially now have teenage kids who have grown up around their music.

I was influenced by my parents music when I was a kid and I still listen to it, says Andy, who tells us his own 18-year-old son has absorbed a love of hard house from being around it. Hard houses love of dressing up, from bright 90s clubwear to full-on outre outfits, often proves mind-blowing to twenty-somethings, says Amo, whove only ever been to a Defected party, where theres one blue light and everyone is standing still. They come to a Tidy party and see people dressed as washing machines, jumping around and having the time of their life.

The first time they saw a Tidy logo tattooed on someones back the size of a dinner plate, the pair began to realise the fanaticism behind hard house and the strength of their brand. For Andy, Tidys weekenders have followed in the footsteps of Northern soul, the 1970s dance phenomenon that first turned UK holiday resorts into meccas for young dancers looking for hedonism. The basis is a tribe of people coming together to celebrate their thing.

Like Northern soul, Amo goes on, hard house is an entirely non-commercial music, barely represented on radio so its built around a culture of going out and dancing. This created a close-knit community. Hard house is the punk rock of dance music, he says. Such is its emotional resonance, every week Tidy gets a request for the instrumental version of Til Tears Do Us Part by Heavens Cry, one of the labels biggest releases, to play at a wedding or a funeral. This is a culture that people have grown up with.

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US Special Operations Command to Test Anti-Aging Pill – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

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The U.S. military says it is months away from launching clinical trials of a pill designed to block or reduce many degenerative effects of agingan oral treatment that a leading researcher in the field says is better than nothing while questioning how effective it will ultimately prove.

U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM)which develops and employs Special Operations Forces worldwide to advance U.S. policies and objectiveshas completed preclinical safety and dosing studies in anticipation of follow-on performance testing of a first-in-class nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, oxidized state (NAD+) enhancer, a small molecule drug being developed by Metro International Biotech (MetroBiotech), Navy Cmdr. Timothy A. Hawkins, a spokesperson for SOCOM, told GEN.

SOCOM and MetroBiotech are set to start clinical trials during the 2022 federal fiscal year, which starts October 1.

If the preclinical studies and clinical trials bear out, the resulting benefits include improved human performance, such as increased endurance and faster recovery from injury, Hawkins said.

This effort in particular is about enhancing the mission readiness of our forces by improving performance characteristics that typically decline with age, Hawkins explained. These efforts are not about creating physical traits that dont already exist naturally.

The SOCOM testing is among studies being carried out to assess MetroBiotechs lead candidate, David J. Livingston, PhD, MetroBiotechs president and CSO, told GEN.

I can confirm that we and our clinical partners have completed multiple Phase I human safety trials of a lead molecule, Livingston said. Metrohas also initiated exploratory Phase II studies in several areas of therapeutic application, including the treatment of rare diseases, diseases of aging, and incollaboration with SOCOM, studies on the effects of our compounds on muscle energetics and human performance.

Livingston said MetroBiotech wont discuss details of its clinical trials in advance offuture postings on ClinicalTrials.govor joint publications of clinical data.

SOCOM has spent $2.8 million on its anti-aging effort since it began in 2018, Hawkins said.

Lisa R. Sanders, director of science and technology for Special Operations Forces, Acquisition, Technology, & Logistics, said during a virtual conference last month that SOCOM was able to fund its anti-aging testing through Other Transaction Authority (OTA) funds and Middle Tier Acquisition authority, created in 2015 to enable rapid acquisitions designed to deliver capabilities within 25 years.

This small molecule has the potential, if it is successful, to truly delay aging [and] truly prevent onset of injury, which is just amazingly game-changing, Sanders said, addressing Assisting the Modern Warfighter, a featured session held as part of the Defense One Defense Tech Summit, held June 2125.

Weve stayed out of long-term genetic engineeringthat makes people very, very uncomfortablebut theres a huge commercial marketplace for things that can avoid injury, that can slow down aging, that can improve sleep, Sanders added.

That marketplace is set to grow 55% over the next five years, according to a market study issued in January by 360 Market Updates, from $84.6 billion this year to $130.87 billion by 2026a compound annual growth rate of 7.5%.

Can MetroBiotechs treatment be the one that can tap into that potentially lucrative anti-aging marketplace?

This is better than nothing, but not much better, cautioned Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey, PhD, a biomedical gerontologist who is CSO and co-founder of SENS Research Foundation. De Grey is also editor-in-chief of Rejuvenation Research, a peer-reviewed journal published by GEN publisher Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Based in Mountain View, CA, SENS Research Foundation aims to prevent and reverse age-related ill-health by applying principles of regenerative medicine to repair the damage of agingat the level where it occurs. The foundation focuses on rejuvenation biotechnologies designed to restore the normal functioning of the bodys cells and essential biomolecules, returning aging tissues to health and bringing youthful vigor back to the human body.

According to de Grey, SENS approach to anti-aging contrasts with MetroBiotechs, which he characterized as reflective of a consensus view within gerontology toward simply reducing the rate of cellular damage from aging.

Unfortunately the field of gerontology went about it in another wrong way, which was to try to, in effect, clean up metabolism, to slow down the rate at which metabolism generates damage and thereby to postpone the age at which damage reaches this pathogenic threshold. That has been basically unsuccessful, de Grey said. The pill that MetroBiotech is looking at is probably going to fail, for that reason.

Not so, insists MetroBiotech.

Our companys strategy is to design small molecule therapeutics that leverage our scientists detailed understanding of the biochemistry and genetics of human pathways of aging and stress response, Livingston said. Based on discoveries in these exciting areas of biology, Metro has created a library of novel NAD enhancers as therapeutics for the treatment of human disease and preservation of muscle and cognitive performance.

Privately-owned MetroBiotech, based in Worcester, MA, states on its website that it has established the most comprehensive portfolio of proprietary NAD+ precursors in the world. The company reasons that increasing NAD+ to preserve health and normal metabolism has broad pharmaceutical potential since levels of NAD+ have been shown to decline as people age. Reduced levels of NAD+ are linked to aging and numerous diseases, including mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, and a variety of associated diseases.

NAD+ plays a key role in the function of all living cells,as a cofactor required for the enzymatic processes that generate energy within the cell through the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) cycleboth in traditional oxidoreductase reactions and as a signaling molecule for reactions catalyzed by sirtuins, which regulate cellular health, and poly-ADP ribose polymerases (PARPS), proteins that help cells repair themselves.

MetroBiotechs lead pipeline candidate, MIB-626, is one of over 100 novel NAD+ enhancers the company says it has designed, synthesized, and screened for optimal therapeutic properties. MetroBiotech says its efforts have resulted in robust preclinical data that support the broad therapeutic potential of modulating NAD+.

Most recently, in a study published last year in the journal Experimental Neurology, researchers at Medical University of South Carolina and Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland studies two approaches to increasing NAD+availability in mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Ablation of a NAD+-consuming enzyme (CD38), and supplementation with a bioavailable NAD+precursor, nicotinamide riboside or NR.

While the ablation approach showed no effect on the survival of the mouse models, adding NR delayed motor neuron degeneration, decreased markers of neuroinflammation in the spinal cord, appeared to modify muscle metabolism and modestly increased the survival of the hybrid superoxide dismutase 1 G93A (hSOD1G93A) mouse model of ALS.

The results indicate that the approach used to enhance NAD+levels critically defines the biological outcome in ALS models, suggesting that boosting NAD+levels with the use of bioavailable precursors would be the preferred therapeutic strategy for ALS, researchers concluded in the study, whose corresponding author Marcelo R. Vargas, PhD, is now at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

While acknowledging that an oral treatment to reverse aging would be much easier for patients than a surgical approach, de Grey of SENS added; The way I look at it is, first of all get something that works, even if its really nasty in terms of needing surgery, and then you can refine it and make it injectable and maybe even oral.

He cited growing researcher interest in an anti-aging application for one already-marketed drug long in use by patients. The type 2 diabetes treatment Metformin is set to be the subject of the proposed Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME) Trial. TAME, to be managed by the American Federation for Aging Research, will be a series of nationwide, six-year clinical trials at 14 top-tier research institutions across the United States that are designed to engage over 3,000 individuals between the ages of 6579.

Another potential anti-aging treatment already under clinical study is rapamycin, a natural anti-fungal antibiotic that has shown antitumor and immunosuppressive activity. The University of California, Los Angeles, partnered with AgelessRx last year to launch the Phase II Participatory Evaluation (of) Aging (With) Rapamycin (for) Longevity Study (PEARL) trial (NCT04488601), designed to evaluate Rapamycin in an estimated 1,000 older adults.

The researchers aim to establish a long-term safety profile, determine the long-term efficacy of Rapamycin in reducing clinical aging measures, and biochemical and physiological endpoints associated with declining health and aging in healthy older adults, according to the trials ClinicalTrials.gov page.

MetroBiotech has disclosed one clinical trial for its lead NAD+ candidate MIB-626 on ClinicalTrials.gov. The Phase II trial (NCT04817111) does not involve SOCOM, but is designed instead to assess MIB-626 in up to 10 adults with Friedreichs Ataxia (FA) without overt heart failure and with a left ventricular ejection fraction 40%.

A key secondary objective is to test the effects of MIB-626 on cardiac and skeletal muscle bioenergetics, according to MetroBiotech.

The trials estimated primary completion date is April 10, 2022.

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Cellares closed automated cell therapy system gets new industry partner – Cleanroom Technology

Posted: at 1:44 pm

14-Jul-2021

Design and Build | Pharmaceuticals

Poseida Therapeutics has agreed to provide insight into autologous and allogeneic CAR-T workflows, as well as emerging programs that include TCR-T, genetically modified NK cells, and other cell therapy manufacturing workflows for Cellares Corporation

Cellares Corporation, a life sciences technology company pioneering a revolutionary automated approach to cell therapy manufacturing, has announced that Poseida Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilising proprietary genetic engineering platform technologies to create cell and gene therapeutics with the capacity to cure, has joined its Early Access Partnership Program (EAPP).

Poseida is the third organisation to participate in Cellares' EAPP, following industry partner PACT Pharma and academic partner Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Cellares initiated the EAPP in 2020 to provide participants with visibility and early access to Cellares' Cell Shuttle, a next generation cell therapy manufacturing platform enabling closed, automated, and scalable production of cell therapies.

By entering the programme, Poseida is helping advance the Cell Shuttle's development, range of use, and applicability via insight and experience with respect to manufacturing workflows for a variety of autologous and allogeneic cell therapies.

The Cell Shuttle is an automated and closed end-to-end manufacturing solution that enables running the exact processes specified for each cell therapy

"We're thrilled to have Poseida Therapeutics on board to help broaden the possibilities for our Cell Shuttle platform," said Cellares co-founder and chief executive officer Fabian Gerlinghaus. "Poseida's tremendous expertise in the cell therapy space, especially spanning a diverse range of therapeutic modalities, is a huge boon to our developmental efforts. We anticipate our work with Poseida to demonstrate the Cell Shuttle's adaptability for multiple cell therapy modalities, particularly CAR-T cells."

Poseida currently has two autologous CAR-T product candidates in the clinic, including P-BCMA-101, for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, and P-PSMA-101, for patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. The company, which completed an initial public offering in July 2020, also has off-the-shelf versions of both therapies in development, and is exploring TCR-T, anti-c-kit CAR-T, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and genetically modified hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and NK cells. Immunotherapy pioneer and distinguished oncologist Carl June, M.D., an advisor to Cellares who helped guide the development of the Cell Shuttle, recently joined Poseida's Immuno-Oncology Scientific Advisory Board.

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"The flexibility of the Cell Shuttle matches the breadth of approaches we are developing at Poseida," said Kerry Ingalls, Chief Operating Officer at Poseida. "To work across our cell therapy portfolio, an automated manufacturing system should be capable of reliably producing a range of therapies autologous and allogeneic CAR-T and in both solid and hematological cancers, for research and at scale for clinical trials and, ultimately, commercial applications. By joining forces with Cellares, we believe we can leverage the Cell Shuttle's capabilities to help support our overall manufacturing strategy, further advancing cell therapy manufacturing."

As part of Cellares' EAPP, Poseida will evaluate the Cell Shuttle prototypes and provide data and written feedback relevant to its function and performance. This will include user studies that assess the Cell Shuttle's hardware and software, product requirements, release criteria, and process workflows to help ensure product-market fit.

The Cell Shuttle is an automated and closed end-to-end manufacturing solution that is flexible and scalable, enabling customers to run the exact processes specified for their cell therapy.

Compared with currently available cell therapy manufacturing methods, this next-generation platform enables a three-fold reduction in process failure rates and is capable of producing 10+ patient doses in parallel, which increases manufacturing scalability by an order of magnitude. This will reduce the per-patient manufacturing cost by up to 70% for most processes.

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Response to UK Government’s gene editing consultation – The Pig Site

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The Roslin Institute has responded to the UK Governments public consultation on the regulation of gene-editing technologies.

Our response is focused on our experience of fundamental and applied research using gene editing, and its potential applications to improve livestock and aquaculture production and sustainability.

Selective breeding practices have significantly improved the productivity of farmed animals, particularly in the past century, reducing the feed required per animal and consequently the carbon footprint of each animal raised.

Modern selective breeding programs are both effective and sustainable, and their applications have been expanded to include a focus on improving animal welfare.

However, some characteristics of farmed animals are not easily improved by genetic selection. Gene-editing technologies offer new opportunities to improve traits of relevance to sustainable farmed animal production, including improving animal health and welfare, and reducing environmental impact.

These new technologies have the advantages of being specific by introducing a single, planned genetic change, with reduced potential for unplanned negative effects compared to other genetic engineering technologies.

A major challenge for conventional breeding is genetic improvement for disease resistance, an important target for improving animal welfare and reducing environmental impact.

Roslin research has a major focus on using our knowledge of the fundamental biological mechanisms in major infectious diseases of farmed animals to make precise, specific genetic changes that block or otherwise mitigate infection.

This can be achieved by using gene-editing technologies, as we have shown by the production of pigs that are genetically fully resistant to infection by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus.

These pigs have a very small genetic change, are healthy, and cannot be infected by PRRS virus.

Our response outlines our reasons for proposing that gene-editing applications in animal breeding should not fall under genetically modified organism (GMO) regulations.

We recommend that any new regulations are proportionate, assess the outcomes of the genetic change in terms of animal welfare and any potential environmental impacts, but are not driven by the use of gene editing technology itself.

The Roslin Institute is in Scotland, where regulatory changes on gene editing introduced by the UK Government may not be implemented.

There is substantial industry and academic research and development into the application of gene editing, for example, to improve sustainable aquaculture production, a major Scottish industry, and we hope to discuss these opportunities further with the Scottish Government.

"Gene-editing technology offers the potential to efficiently enable beneficial changes in DNA. Within animal agriculture, genetic engineering technologies hold great potential in mitigating disease, improving the welfare and productivity of animals, and addressing a demand for animal products driven by population growth and climate change," said Professor Bruce Whitelaw, the chair of Animal Biotechnology at the Roslin Institute.

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22nd Century Group Adds Strategic Partnerships With Sawatch Agriculture and Folium Botanical … – The Bakersfield Californian

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Company Already Operating With Expert Alkaloid-Based Plant Breeders, Critical to Scaling Up New, Disruptive Plant LinesExpands Companys Operating Network in the Northern Hemisphere to Provide Indoor and Outdoor Alkaloid-Based Plant Line Breeding, Scale-Up, and Cultivation ProgramFolium Botanical Is In Close Proximity to and Allows for Vertical Integration of Breeding Expertise With Needle Rock FarmsNew Lines Already Completing the Initial Two-Year Development Cycle and Emerging From Companys Vast Portfolio of Hemp/Cannabis Lines Poised to Be Monetized in the Fourth QuarterCollaborations Key to Development of New, Commercially Valuable Plant Lines and Related IP in Two-Year Cycles, A Fraction of the Time Typically Required to Develop New PlantsAddition of Southern Hemisphere Breeder to Be Announced Shortly Will Provide 22nd Century with Year-Round Growing Capabilities

BUFFALO, N.Y., July 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII ), a leading plant-based biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research, today announced that it has added strategic partnerships with expert commercial-scale plant breeders Sawatch Agriculture and Folium Botanical. The partnerships with these two northern hemisphere breeders add to the breeding capabilities that 22nd Century already has through its close partnership with Aurora Cannabis, and another southern hemisphere-based breeder that will be announced shortly, providing 22nd Century year-round growing capabilities.

With decades of combined specialized alkaloid plant breeding and plant biotechnology experience, these expert breeders have proven next-generation technologies and innovations on breeding, commercial scale-up, and cultivation, many of which are far beyond those of independent competitive breeders or in-house breeding in consumer product companies. Under 22nd Centurys direction, proprietary plants will be developed with optimum levels of cannabinoids that meet high-quality standards when grown at commercial scale.

We are thrilled to announce the addition of these world-class alkaloid-based plant breeding specialists to complement 22nd Centurys capabilities in our upstream value chain. Our four breeding partnerships complete our portfolio of comprehensive plant science capabilities, enabling the rapid creation and scale-up of stable, tailored, highly disruptive plant lines with predictable yields critical to the mass cultivation of hemp/cannabis, which will be absolutely necessary to meet the rapidly growing market demand for improved, stable genetics. We are giving growers a competitive advantage by substantially improving crop yield and optimizing the time that it takes to develop new lines to a two-year cycle, a reduction from the 7 to 10 years that would typically be necessary to create new lines using our proprietary capabilities, said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. Along with new lines progressing in development, we have lines emerging from our vast portfolio of hemp/cannabis lines that are completing the initial two-year development cycle. We look forward to the monetization of these lines and our current hemp/cannabis IP portfolio, with our first revenue from our hemp/cannabis franchise expected in the second half of 2021. Our complete upstream hemp/cannabis capabilities enable us to rapidly offer additional disruptive, commercially valuable hemp/cannabis plant lines at large scale and with increased, stable yields to very attractive end-use markets.

Strategic Partnerships Maximize 22nd Centurys Cannabinoid Value Chain

With todays announcement of these expert breeding partnerships, 22nd Century has secured all key partnerships needed to maximize and support each of the segments of its cannabinoid value chain: plant profiling (CannaMetrix), plant biotechnology (KeyGene), plant breeding, commercial-scale plant cultivation, and ingredient extraction/purification (Sawatch Agriculture, Folium Botanical, Aurora Cannabis, Needle Rock Farms, and Panacea).

22nd Centurys plant science mission and expertise serve as the crucial link between these partner companies to create the specific traits needed to optimize hemp/cannabis products at commercial scale. Mass cultivation is quickly becoming a critical challenge in the hemp/cannabis industry. Most existing plant lines do not exhibit the stable genetics, predictable yield, or specific composition of cannabinoids required to fully unlock the value of the hemp/cannabis industry. 22nd Centurys upstream capabilities provide for optimized plant products and scale-up as the industry evolves toward mass production.

The Companys goal is to provide leading brands in the life science, consumer product, and pharmaceutical end-use markets a license to utilize the new lines or ingredients (flower, distillate, isolate, etc.) derived from the most stable, predictable, and reliable hemp/cannabis lines with differentiated traits. These licenses or ingredients will serve to enhance their respective products, consumers experience, and commercial success. Using its genetically engineered hemp/cannabis plants and ability to scale, 22nd Century can accelerate development and speed to market of products with desired end-user benefits based on specific cannabinoid and terpene profiles at scale in a fraction of the time of competitors.

Multiple Hemp/Cannabis Revenue Streams in 2021 anda Long Growth Runway

The Company is actively pursuing multiple hemp/cannabis revenue streams in 2021 and beyond. These include monetization of a portion of the Companys valuable hemp/cannabis intellectual property, including through its recently announced strategic partnership with Aurora Cannabis, and offtake commitments for the Companys high CBD and CBG plant lines currently growing in its prime Colorado hemp/cannabis growing location, 22nd Centurys world-class Needle Rock Farms, for commercialization in the forms of flower, distillate, and isolate. Additional new plant lines coming through the development pipeline will expand revenue generation opportunities for years to come creating a long growth runway.

About 22nd Century Group, Inc. 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII) is a leading plant biotechnology company focused on technologies that alter the level of nicotine in tobacco plants and the level of cannabinoids in hemp/cannabis plants through genetic engineering, gene-editing, and modern plant breeding. 22nd Centurys primary mission in tobacco is to reduce the harm caused by smoking through the Companys reduced nicotine content tobacco cigarettes containing 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarettes. The Companys primary mission in hemp/cannabis is to develop and commercialize proprietary hemp/cannabis plants with valuable cannabinoid profiles and desirable agronomic traits.

Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on Twitter @xxiicentury, and on LinkedIn.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as anticipate, believe, consider, continue, could, estimate, expect, explore, foresee, goal, guidance, intend, likely, may, plan, potential, predict, preliminary, probable, project, promising, seek, should, will, would, and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 11, 2021. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation, or sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

Investor Relations & Media Contact: Mei Kuo Director, Communications & Investor Relations 22nd Century Group, Inc. (716) 300-1221 mkuo@xxiicentury.com

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22nd Century Group Adds Strategic Partnerships With Sawatch Agriculture and Folium Botanical ... - The Bakersfield Californian

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The cell line development and characterization services markets are projected to be worth over USD 12 – GlobeNewswire

Posted: at 1:44 pm

London, July 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Roots Analysis has announced the addition of Cell Line Development and Characterization Services Market, 2020- 2030 report to its list of offerings.

The development and characterization of cell lines is both technically challenging and financially demanding; as a result, drug developers and academic institutions are becoming increasingly reliant on contract service providers, which have the necessary infrastructure and the adequate skillset to carry out advanced genetic engineering and routine analytical procedures in minimum time with reduced chances of failure.

To order this 400+ page report, which features 150+ figures and 200+ tables, please visit https://www.rootsanalysis.com/reports/cell-line-development-and-characterization-services.html

Key Market Insights

Presently, more than 220 players claim to offer services for the development of cell linesNearly 90% of the aforementioned players provide services for the development of mammalian cell lines, while more than half the companies mentioned in the report (55%) have the necessary expertise to develop microbial expression systems.

Over 80 companies presently offer different types of cell line characterization services

Close to 83% of the abovementioned players are capable of assessing cell line identity / stability. Among available bioanalytical assays, DNA fingerprinting / profiling is currently the most widely used technique in this field. For biosafety testing, majority (37%) of the firms claim to offer tests for the detection of mycoplasma; of these, nearly 25% also offer mycoplasma clearance services.

There are 60+ non-industry players with cell line characterization capabilities

Nearly 90% of these entities offer STR-based cell line authentication services, with majority (43%) of them using Promegas GenePrint 10 System to create human genetic profiles.

Partnership activity in this domain has grown at a CAGR of 18%, between 2015 and 2020More than 330 partnership deals have been signed between industry stakeholders and sponsors in the given time period; majority of the deals were licensing agreements (23%), followed by mergers and acquisitions (18%). In 2020, nearly 30% of the established agreements were focused on R&D, manufacturing, licensing, commercialization, and distribution and supply of vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 viral strain.

The cell line development services market is anticipated to be worth over USD 5.3 billion by 2030At present, the highest share of service revenues (82%) is estimated to be generated from development projects involving mammalian cell lines; this trend is unlikely to change in the foreseen future as well. Further, majority of the market opportunity (80%) in 2030 is expected to be generated from GMP projects, focused on biotherapeutic production.

The cell line characterization services market is projected to grow at a CAGR of ~25% till 2030

In 2030, the highest share of the market (in terms of service revenues) is anticipated to be captured by North America (50%), followed by Europe (26%). In is worth mentioning that the service revenues in the Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America, are expected to grow at a relatively higher rate (CAGR >15%) between 2020 and 2030.

To request a sample copy / brochure of this report, please visithttps://www.rootsanalysis.com/reports/cell-line-development-and-characterization services/request-sample.html

Key Questions Answered

The USD 5.3 billion (by 2030) financial opportunity within the cell line development services market has been analyzed across the following segments:

The USD 7.0 billion (by 2030) financial opportunity within the cell line characterization market has been analysed across the following segments:

The report features inputs from eminent industry stakeholders, according to whom, the competition within the cell line-related services market is expected to grow significantly, resulting in a corresponding increase in overall market value in the foreseen future. The report includes detailed transcripts of discussions (in reverse chronological order) held with the following individuals:

The report includes detailed profiles of key players (listed below), each featuring an overview of the company, its financial information (if available), a description of the service(s) offered, details of recent developments related to cell line development and characterization offerings, along with an informed future outlook.

For additional details, please visithttps://www.rootsanalysis.com/reports/cell-line-development-and-characterization-services.htmlor emailsales@rootsanalysis.com

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The cell line development and characterization services markets are projected to be worth over USD 12 - GlobeNewswire

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Sinovac-produced antibodies ‘halve every 40 days’ – Bangkok Post

Posted: at 1:44 pm

Antibody levels in people fully vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine decline by half every 40 days, according to findings from a joint study between Thammasat University's faculty of medicine and the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Biotec).

The findings were revealed by Anan Jongkaewwattana, director of Veterinary Health Innovation and Management Research Group of Biotec.

Mr Anan wrote on Facebook that their study of 500 people, who received two doses of Sinovac, indicated that the level of antibodies drops by 50% every 40 days. The level of antibodies in people who received a second jab more than 60 days after the first was on average lower than that of those who got the second dose in less than 60 days, he said.

Mr Anan said the vaccine potency within 60 days of the second shot is between 60%-70% against the original strain. The potency against the original strain declines to about 50% in those receiving the second shot for over 60 days.

However, no data is available about the potency of two doses of Sinovac against variants, especially the highly contagious Alpha and Delta strains.

The overall level of immunisation is likely to drop in older people, he said, adding those aged over 40 showed lower antibody levels than those younger.

Meanwhile, Chalermchai Boonyaleepun, deputy chairman of the Senate committee on public health, posted on Blockdit that vaccines have done their job in lowering Covid-19 infections and fatalities in healthcare workers despite reports that some of them who had received the vaccines still caught the virus.

He did not mention the vaccine types but most medical workers received two doses of Sinovac.

Citing information from the Department of Disease Control, he said of the 700,000 who were fully vaccinated, 707 became infected, a ratio of 101:100,000. Of the 21,000 not vaccinated, 173 were infected, a ratio of 823:100,000. The rate among medical workers not vaccinated is eight times higher, he said.

Seven medical workers have died from Covid-19, two of whom were vaccinated. The death rate in the vaccinated group was 0.28% while in the non-vaccinated group it was 2.89%.

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Sinovac-produced antibodies 'halve every 40 days' - Bangkok Post

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