Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Oct-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, October 30, 2014Oligonucleotide-based therapeutics present unique challenges when it comes to testing their potential to cause reproductive and developmental harm. New consensus guidelines for toxicity testing that take into consideration the combined chemical and biological characteristics of these novel biopharmaceuticals are presented in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers. The article is available free on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website until November 30, 2014.

Joy Cavagnaro, Access BIO (Boyce, VA), Cindy Berman, Berman Consulting (Wayland, MA), Doug Kornbrust, Preclinisight (Reno, NV), Tacey White, Exponent (Philadelphia, PA), Sarah Campion, Pfizer (Groton, CT), and Scott Henry, Isis Pharmaceuticals (Carlsbad, CA), coauthored the white paper that highlights key points to consider in the design of scientifically valid and predictive toxicity studies. The authors summarize the findings of the Reproductive Subcommittee of the Oligonucleotide Safety Working Group (OSWG) in the article "Considerations for Assessment of Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity of Oligonucleotide-Based Therapeutics."

"I highly commend this latest white paper from the OSWG to researchers and regulators alike involved in the development and implementation of oligonucleotide or antisense based interventions," says Executive Editor Graham C. Parker, PhD, The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI.

Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is under the editorial leadership of Co-Editors-in-Chief Bruce A. Sullenger, PhD, Duke Translational Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, and C.A. Stein, MD, PhD, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA; and Executive Editor Graham C. Parker, PhD.

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About the Journal

Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is an authoritative, peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online that focuses on cutting-edge basic research, therapeutic applications, and drug development using nucleic acids or related compounds to alter gene expression. Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is the official journal of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website.

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New guidelines for reproductive & developmental toxicity testing of oligonucleotide drugs

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

28-Oct-2014

Contact: Charli Scouller c.scouller@qmul.ac.uk 44-770-982-5741 Queen Mary, University of London @QMUL

A large analysis of over 40,000 individuals on statin treatment has identified two new genetic variants which influence how 'bad' cholesterol levels respond to statin therapy.

Statins are widely prescribed to patients and have been shown to lower bad cholesterol levels by up to 55%, making them a highly effective method of reducing risk of heart disease. However, despite this success, patient response can vary widely.

The study, led by Queen Mary University of London and published in Nature Communications, is the largest to date and involved analysing data from six randomised clinical trials and 10 observational studies to look for genetic variants influencing patients' response to statins.

Together with multiple universities around the world, the researchers validated their findings in a further 22,318 individuals and found two new common genetic variants which significantly affected the degree to which bad cholesterol was lowered during statin treatment.

Professor Mark Caulfield, Lead Author, Queen Mary University of London and the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, comments: "This study marks an important step toward understanding how genetic variations influence statin response. However, further research is needed to find out how we can apply this in care of patients receiving statins. We must build up a bigger picture of the genetic variation that predicts statin response. Only then will we be in a position to tell whether testing for these genetic variants is of benefit to patients who take statin therapy."

The effects of all four associated genetic variants collectively account for about 5% of the variation in inter-individual response to statins. One of the identified genetic variants was shown to enhance statin response. In contrast, the second variant, thought to have a role in the uptake of statins by the liver, decreased the effects of the drug. Together, these findings may enhance our understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying bad cholesterol response to statin therapy.

Dr Michael Barnes, Co-author, Queen Mary University of London and the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, comments: "Statins are one of the safest and most effective drugs in clinical use. Although all share a common target, some statins are more effective than others in different individuals. This study highlights a network of interacting genes which may individually or collectively influence the way that statins act in the body. In the future, this information could help us to select the most effective statin for each patient."

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Scientists find genetic variants influence a person's response to statins

On GMO Labeling, Oregon and Colorado Learn from California Ballot Defeat
After initiatives to label genetically engineered foods failed to pass in California and Washington state, activists have changed their strategy as they prepare for votes in Oregon and Colorado...

By: QUEST Science

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On GMO Labeling, Oregon and Colorado Learn from California Ballot Defeat - Video

A plan to save the cows and make milk in the lab could ease the environmental footprint of the dairy industry.(Reuters)

If the plans of a vegan duo materialise, cow's milk will soon be made minus the cow.

Genetically engineered yeast will churn out milk proteins in a liquid that tastes and feels like cow's milk.

Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi who founded Muufri, a synthetic dairy start-up in San Francisco, started lab trials early this year and hope to have their synthetic cow's milkready by early 2017.

The duo want to save cows from the harrowing trials of modern-day industrial farms that feed them growth hormones, artificially inseminate them and take away the calves to make the milk available for humans, they told National Geographic.

They plan to insert DNA sequences from cattle into yeast cells, grow the cultures at a controlled temperature and harvest milk proteins.

While the proteins will come from yeast, the fat will be extracted from vegetables. Minerals, like calcium and potassium, and sugars available in the market will be added to the brew.

They intend to use healthier fat than found in natural milk and a sugar more suited to people who are lactose intolerant.

Water makes up almost 87% of milk. Casein protein, whey proteins, fat, lactose (the milk carbohydrate), glucose and some trace elements make up the rest.

Not everyone is enthused by the idea or believes it will work.

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Genetic Engineering: Synthetic Milk May Be Next After Synthetic Meat

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

27-Oct-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, October 27, 2014More than half of women with children less than a year old are working, and work travel can make breastfeeding a challenge. A study of 100 U.S. airports found that few provided a suitably equipped, private lactation room, even though most described themselves as being breastfeeding friendly, as reported in Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Breastfeeding Medicine website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/bfm.2014.0112 until November 27, 2014.

In "Airports in the United States. Are They Really Breastfeeding Friendly?," authors Michael Haight, University of California, San Francisco-Fresno and Joan Ortiz, Limerick Inc. (Burbank, CA), report that while 62% of the airports surveyed answered yes to whether they were "breastfeeding friendly," only 37% provided a specific lactation room. In only 8% of the airports did that designated space offer the minimum requirements of not being used as a bathroom and having an electrical outlet, table, and chair. These included San Francisco International, Minneapolis-St. Paul International, Baltimore/Washington International, San Jose International, Indianapolis International, Akron-Canton Regional (OH), Dane County Regional (WI), and Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional (FL) airports.

"This study presents provocative data about our airports," says Ruth Lawrence, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine. "The good news is that 62% think they are 'breastfeeding friendly.' The bad news is that their actions do not support the claim. There is a lot of work to be done to make travel possible for breastfeeding dyads."

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About the Journal

Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, is an authoritative, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published 10 times per year in print and online. The Journal publishes original scientific papers, reviews, and case studies on a broad spectrum of topics in lactation medicine. It presents evidence-based research advances and explores the immediate and long-term outcomes of breastfeeding, including the epidemiologic, physiologic, and psychological benefits of breastfeeding. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Breastfeeding Medicine website at http://www.liebertpub.com/bfm.

About the Publisher

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Which US airports are breastfeeding friendly?

Rotten Potatos and the national intelligence genius genetic engineering study group
So look i know you bloody americans need help from time to time so heres a nice little place to go, Rotten Tomatos, ill give ya some stats on it and we can go from there. until next time i...

By: BoksCo

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Rotten Potatos and the national intelligence genius genetic engineering study group - Video

Scientists say they can embed sophisticated genetic tests onto a piece of paper.

These slips of paper carry freeze-dried ingredients for simple scientific experiments.

Could complex genetic experiments one day be as simple to carry out as an over-the-counter pregnancy test?

Thats the idea behind new research from James Collins, a synthetic biologist at Boston University, who says hes been able to print the ingredients for simple DNA experiments on paper, freeze-dry them, and use them as much as a year later.

The work, described this week in the journal Cell by Collins and colleagues from Harvard, could lead to bandages that change color if an infection is developing, environmental sensors worn on clothing, or cheap diagnostics for viruses like Ebola.

The idea of inexpensive paper-based diagnostics isnt new. But so far, these tests have relied on traditional chemistry like pregnancy tests do (see Super-Cheap Health Tests and Paper Diagnostics). Collins says his work now extends the idea to precisely engineered genetic reactions.

The technology is an adaptation of a workhorse lab method known as a cell free system, in which the basic processes of a cellsuch as reading a DNA strand to make a proteinare carried out in a test tube.

The advance Collins made was to embed cell-free systems onto porous paper. His team added some essential enzymes as well as specially designed genes that make proteins, but only if theyre triggered by a matching strand of DNA or RNA.

Its a pragmatic, very big-deal improvement, says Julius Lucks, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Cornell University. Now we can ask What do we want to do [with it]?

Collins showed the system could detect the Ebola virus, whose genetic code consists of RNA. When his team added bits of Ebola RNA to paper test strips, the genetic material completed a circuit allowing production of a protein which stained the paper, causing it to turn dark purple in about an hour.

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Synthetic Biologists Create Paper-Based Diagnostic for Ebola

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

22-Oct-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, October 22, 2014A panel of leading clinicians and researchers across various general and specialty pediatric fields developed a consensus statement recommending how to evaluate youngsters in whom neuropsychiatric symptoms suddenly develop, including the abrupt, dramatic onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This difficult diagnosis is typically made by pediatricians or other primary care clinicians and child psychiatrists, who will benefit from the guidance provided in the recommendations published in Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article, part of a forthcoming special issue on PANS/PANDAS, is available free on the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology website until November 22, 2014.

Representing the PANS Collaborative Consortium, Kiki Chang, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford, CA) and coauthors describe the goals of the First PANS Consensus Conference, from which the expert panel derived its recommendations: to clarify the diagnostic boundaries of PANS, to develop systematic strategies for evaluation of suspected PANS cases, and to set forth the most urgently needed studies in the field. Most cases of PANS appear to be triggered by an infection, and most often an upper respiratory infection.

In the article "Clinical Evaluation of Youth with Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS): Recommendations from the 2013 PANS Consensus Conference," the authors detail the core components of a thorough diagnostic evaluation, including family history, medical history, physical examination, psychiatric and mental status exam, laboratory studies, and an infectious disease evaluation.

"This is a watershed moment in our thinking about PANS," says Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology and President of the Child Mind Institute in New York. "For too long confusion and a lack of understanding concerning this syndrome have left severely impaired children with few, if any, treatment options. This effort promises an improvement in the quality of care and we are grateful to be able support it and to publish our special issue on the topic."

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About the Journal

Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 10 times per year online with Open Access options and in print. The Journal is dedicated to child and adolescent psychiatry and behavioral pediatrics, covering clinical and biological aspects of child and adolescent psychopharmacology and developmental neurobiology. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology website.

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Expert recommendations for diagnosing pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Oct-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, October 23, 2014Rapid lowering of body temperature following an acute myocardial infarction (MI) can be an effective therapeutic strategy to minimize damage to the heart muscle caused by the loss and restoration of blood flow to the heart. While hypothermia shows clinical promise, current methods to cool the heart are insufficient. Faster, more effective techniques are needed to realize the full cardioprotective potential of this emerging intervention, as described in an article in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ther.2014.0016 until November 23, 2014.

In the article "Hypothermia in the Setting of Experimental Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Comprehensive Review", Michael J. Herring and coauthors from Good Samaritan Hospital and Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (Torrance, CA) examine the benefits and limitations of past and current methods of delivering hypothermia. These include topical regional hypothermia, an open-chest method of cooling the heart; endovascular cooling using a heat exchange balloon catheter to cool the blood that flows through the heart; surface cooling with blankets or convective-immersion therapy; and other methods.

"This timely review on the use of therapeutic hypothermia targeting myocardial necrosis emphasizes the need for additional investigations to maximize the benefits of this experimental therapy in promoting recovery in this patient population," says W. Dalton Dietrich, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management and Kinetic Concepts Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery, Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neurology and Cell Biology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

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About the Journal

Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management provides a strong multidisciplinary forum covering all aspects of hypothermia and temperature considerations relevant to this exciting field, including its application in cardiac arrest, spinal cord and traumatic brain injury, stroke, and burns. Novel findings from translational preclinical investigations as well as clinical studies and trials are featured in peer-reviewed articles, state-of-the-art review articles, provocative roundtable discussions, clinical protocols, and best practices. Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management is the journal of record, published online with Open Access options and in print. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management website at http://www.liebertpub.com/ther.

About the Publisher

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New, faster therapeutic hypothermia techniques

Biotechnology 1: Genetic Engineering
First of 3 video podcasts.

By: Alan Allmen

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Biotechnology 1: Genetic Engineering - Video