Archive for May, 2014

13 hours ago Figure 1: Quantitative base-induced DNA cleavage (QBIC) is a technique that allows DNA to be cleaved at any thymine site. Credit: lvcandy/iStock/Thinkstock

Genetic engineering of plants, animals and microorganisms such as bacteria typically involves the use of restriction enzymes to 'cut and paste' DNA fragments into certain genetic sequence locations. This process allows scientists to introduce new genes into an organism, but is constrained to specific recognition sequences, limiting the design of recombinant DNA molecules.

A research team led by Hiroki Ueda and colleagues from the Laboratory for Synthetic Biology at the RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center has now developed a chemical-based, non-enzymatic recombination technique that instead uses a DNA base analogue called 5-ethynyluracil to cleave DNA at any site containing the nucleotide thymine.

The technique developed by Ueda and his co-workers, which is called quantitative base-induced DNA cleavage (QBIC), starts with the generation of DNA fragments containing 5-ethynyluracil in place of thyminetwo molecules with similar structures. These products are then immersed in an aqueous solution containing methylamine, a derivative of ammonia. In this chemical bath, all the nucleotides containing 5-ethynyluracil become cleaved, introducing gaps near the cleaved ends. The gaps in the resulting DNA fragments create protruding ends that can be inserted into circular DNA molecules known as plasmids. The plasmids can then be inserted into the target organism, such as a bacterial cell, to complete the genetic engineering process.

"Compared with restriction enzymes, the QBIC reaction has the advantage that we can freely design the sequences at the protruding termini generated by the DNA cleavage," says Katsuhiko Matsumoto from the research team. "The experimental procedure for DNA concatenation using the QBIC reaction is also simple," he adds. "DNA can be concatenated by the addition and removal of methylamine, hybridized by heating and cooling, and incorporated into an organismin this case the bacterium Escherichia coli."

Another potential boon of the QBIC method is that it is less sensitive to laboratory conditions than enzyme-based techniques and can be run at room temperature. Being a chemical method, it is also generally cheaper to perform than enzyme-based methods. One limitation of the QBIC method in its present form is that long stretches of DNA can lose their structure after treatment with the methylamine solution, which prevents the two-stranded, helical shape from being restored. Ueda's team is now refining the protocol to extend its ability to handle longer DNA fragments. "If we find a solution to this problem," Matsumoto notes, "the QBIC method would become very attractive for the concatenation of long DNA fragments."

Explore further: New method for mass-producing high-quality DNA molecules

More information: Ikeda, S., Tainaka, K., Matsumoto, K., Shinohara, Y., Ode, K. L., Susaki, E. A. & Ueda, H. R. "Non-enzymatic DNA cleavage reaction induced by 5-ethynyluracil in methylamine aqueous solution and application to DNA concatenation." PLoS ONE 9, e92369 (2014). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092369

Journal reference: PLoS ONE

Provided by RIKEN

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New DNA cleavage technique could lead to more versatile genetic engineering

Nature News Blog

09 May 2014 | 19:32 BST | Posted by Heidi Ledford | Category: Biology & Biotechnology, Politics

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed a law mandating the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Picture credit: Community College of Vermont via Flickr

Vermont is the first US state to mandate labels on foods produced using genetic engineering.

Under a law signed by Vermont governor Peter Shumlin on 8 May, labels must be in place on food sold in Vermont by July 2016.

We have a right to know whats in the food we buy, said Shumlin during the signing, as attendees noshed on free Ben & Jerrys ice cream. I am proud that were leading the way in the United States to require labeling of genetically engineered food.

A host of other states are contemplating similar legislation. But even as consumer activists celebrated Vermonts label law, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a food-industry group based in Washington DC, pledged to file a lawsuit in federal court with the intention of overturning the law. And last month, Congressman Mike Pompeo (Republican, Kansas) introduced the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2014in the US House of Representatives, a bill that allows requirements for labeling of genetically engineered food only when that food differs substantially in make-up from non-engineered counterparts. The use of bioengineering does not, in itself, constitute a material difference, the bill states.

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Vermont to require labeling of genetically modified foods

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

8-May-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2156 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, May 8, 2014The powerful anti-inflammatory compound interleukin-10 (IL-10) plays a crucial role in regenerative, scarless healing of fetal skin. Studies of IL-10 in postnatal skin wounds have demonstrated its promise as an anti-scarring therapeutic agent, as described in a Critical Review article published in Advances in Wound Care, a monthly peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers and an Official Journal of the Wound Healing Society. The article is available free on the Advances in Wound Care website.

In "Regenerative Wound Healing: The Role of Interleukin-10," Sundeep Keswani and co-authors, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (OH), and Children's Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, review the complex processes, cell types, growth factors, and other agents needed for successful wound healing. The authors explore the ability of fetal skin to heal without scars and describe the results of ongoing studies to develop IL-10 as an anti-scarring agent.

"Regenerative healing in adults is approachable through lessons learnt from fetal wounds," says Editor-in-Chief Chandan K. Sen, PhD, Professor of Surgery and Director of the Comprehensive Wound Center and the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cell-Based Therapies at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH.

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About the Journal

Advances in Wound Care is a monthly peer-reviewed journal published online and in print that reports the latest scientific discoveries, translational research, and clinical developments in acute and chronic wound care. Each issue provides a digest of the latest research findings, innovative wound care strategies, industry product pipeline, and developments in biomaterials and skin and tissue regeneration to optimize patient outcomes. The broad scope of applications covered includes limb salvage, chronic ulcers, burns, trauma, blast injuries, surgical repair, skin bioengineering, dressings, anti-scar strategies, diabetic ulcers, ostomy, bedsores, biofilms, and military wound care. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Advances in Wound Care website.

About the Publisher

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Promising role for interleukin-10 in scarless wound healing

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

8-May-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, May 8, 2014When Massachusetts enacted its own statewide health insurance reform in 2006, low-income women transitioned from receiving free, federally subsidized screening for breast and cervical cancer and cardiovascular disease risk to an insurance-based payment system. The effects on screening rates in this vulnerable population are explored in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/jwh.2013.4612.

A group of authors from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and several women's health centers and community hospitals in Boston, MA gathered data to evaluate whether the prevalence of screening mammography, Pap smear, and blood pressure measurement improved, stayed the same, or declined pre- and post-health insurance reform. In the article "Preventive Care for Low-Income Women in Massachusetts Post-Health Reform," the authors reviewed screening information for women treated at five community health centers between 2004 and 2010, spanning the period before and after the introduction of health reform.

"There are lessons learned from the Massachusetts experience of health care reform that can help inform health care changes nationally," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.

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About the Journal

Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. The Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh. Journal of Women's Health is the official journal of the Academy of Women's Health and the Society for Women's Health Research.

About the Academy

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Health screening for low-income women under health care reform: Better or worse?

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

8-May-2014

Contact: John Wallace wallacej@vcu.edu 804-628-1550 Virginia Commonwealth University

Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes account for nearly 25 percent of hereditary breast cancers and most hereditary ovarian cancers, yet a study by cancer prevention and control researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center suggests an alarmingly small amount of women who qualify for BRCA genetic counseling actually receive the services. Additionally, they found that a significant proportion of women with a family history of breast and ovarian cancer underestimate their own risk.

The study, published in the April edition of the Journal of Community Genetics, collected data from 486 women over the course of two years. Of these women, 22 met the criteria to be referred for BRCA counseling. However, only one of the women reported receiving genetic counseling and only one reported prior genetic testing. And while perceived risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer was higher among high-risk women, 27 percent of high-risk women felt their risk was "low," and 32 percent felt their risk was "lower than average." Despite having a diverse population, the researchers did not find any significant differences associated with factors such as age, race, family size or the patient's knowledge of genetic testing.

"Despite recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force that primary care physicians screen for hereditary cancer risk, it seems that too few women who meet the eligibility criteria are actually following through with BRCA counseling services," says the study's lead investigator John Quillin, Ph.D., M.P.H., member of the Cancer Prevention and Control research program and genetic counselor in the Familial Cancer Clinic at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and assistant professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics in the VCU School of Medicine. "Unfortunately, this means that a significant number of women who are at high-risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer may not be taking advantage of preventive measures that could ultimately save their lives."

The researchers analyzed data from a pilot study called Kin Fact (Keeping Information about Family Cancer Tune-up) that was conducted at the VCU Women's Health Clinic. Kin Fact works by having a clinical research associate intervene during a woman's annual gynecology appointment to discuss the patient's genetic cancer risks. Participants were asked to complete a self-administered survey that asked questions about their knowledge of genetic counseling and their perceived cancer risk. After completing the survey, the study's recruiters obtained information about the patient's hereditary cancer risks by noting all breast and ovarian cancers among first-and second-degree relatives. The researchers' goals were to assess the amount of women eligible for BRCA counseling in a primary care setting, explore associations between high-risk status and characteristics such as age, race and genetic literacy, and determine whether high-risk patients received genetic counseling and/or testing.

"We need to examine whether patients are fully aware of their family history, and if there are ways to optimize family history collection in clinical settings," says Quillin. "This will help determine if educational interventions are needed for providers, patients or both."

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Quillin collaborated on this study with Alexander H. Krist, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Population Health at the VCU School of Medicine and member of the Cancer Prevention and Control research program at Massey; Maria Gyure, M.S., C.G.C., research coordinator and genetic counselor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at the VCU School of Medicine; Rosalie Corona, Ph.D., L.C.P., associate professor of health psychology and clinical psychology in the VCU Department of Psychology and founding director of the VCU Latino Mental Health Clinic; Vivian Rodriguez, graduate student in the VCU Department of Psychology; Joseph Borzelleca, Jr., M.D., M.P.H., emeritus professor in the VCU Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology; and Joann N. Bodurtha, M.D., M.P.H., professor of pediatrics and oncology at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

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Few women at high-risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer receive genetic counseling

A scientific breakthrough has expanded the way genetic information can be stored.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- All of life as we know it on Earth -- pigs, pandas, fish, bacteria and everything else -- has genetic information encoded in the same way, with the same biological alphabet.

Now, for the first time, scientists have shown it is possible to alter that alphabet and still have a living organism that passes on the genetic information. They reported their findings in the journal Nature.

"This is the first experimental demonstration that life can exist with information that's not coded the way nature does (it)," said Floyd Romesberg, associate professor of chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

Medicine can greatly benefit from this discovery, Romesberg said. There's potential for better antibiotics and treatments for a slew of diseases for which drug development has been challenging, including cancers.

The findings also suggest that DNA as we know it on Earth may not be the only solution to coding for life, Romesberg said. There may be other organisms elsewhere in space that use genetic letters we have never seen -- or that don't use DNA at all.

"Is this alien life? No," he said. "Does it suggest that there could be other ways of storing information? Yes."

How they did it

For their genetic experiments, Romesberg and colleagues used molecules, called X and Y, that are completely different from the four building blocks of DNA.

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'Alien' DNA used to create life

CA2AK Genetics in the house.
18 over. MMMP PATIENT AND CAREGIVER IN FULL COMPLIANCE. Big thx to CA2AK fir these awesome chem and OG crosses!!! Very greatfull the hindu is one of my fav...

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How Your Genetics Affects Your Nutrition
http://www.ihealthtube.com http://www.facebook.com/ihealthtube How much of a role does genetics play in our overall health? Dr. Michael Greger discusses this...

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How Your Genetics Affects Your Nutrition - Video

Advanced Genetics Tutorial | Attack Of The B-Team
quick and simple way to learn advanced genetics All The Abilities -No-Fall (Chicken): You take no fall damage. -Infinite Milk (Cow): Player or mob can produce milk by right-clicking with...

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Advanced Genetics Tutorial | Attack Of The B-Team - Video

Molecular Genetics Genomic Medicine - Benjamin D. Solomon
Video Highlight: Author, Benjamin D. Solomon on his recently published Molecular Genetics and Genomic Medicine paper entitled "Obstacles and opportunities for the future of genomic medicine"....

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Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine - Benjamin D. Solomon - Video

2014 AG INNOVATION NATIONAL GENETICS SALE : Lot 90 TARANGOWER 12002
For more information, please visit: http://abri.une.edu.au/online/cgi-bin/i4.dll?1=3538202F 2=2934 3=56 5=2B3C2B3C3A 6=5F58255D265A21 9=5F5E5F5C 11=52505B5D 12=43425850.

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2014 AG INNOVATION NATIONAL GENETICS SALE : Lot 90 TARANGOWER 12002 - Video

Let #39;s Play The Sims 3 - Perfect Genetics Challenge - Episode 39
My Sims 3 Page: http://mypage.thesims3.com/mypage/Llandros2012 My Blog: http://Llandros09.blogspot.com My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Llandros09?

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Let's Play The Sims 3 - Perfect Genetics Challenge - Episode 39 - Video

gene therapy~3

By: Clara Chong

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gene therapy~3 - Video

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Newswise Two new gifts from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation to UCLA totaling $4 million will fund research in stem cell science and digestive diseases and support the recruitment of key faculty at two renowned research centers.

The gifts bring to $30 million The Broad Foundation's total support of faculty recruitment and basic and translational research at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA and at the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at UCLA's Division of Digestive Diseases.

A $2 million gift to the Broad Stem Cell Research Center adds to The Broad Foundation's original 2007 gift of $20 million, which has supported faculty and research and launched the Innovation Award program, which furthers cutting-edge research at the center by giving UCLA stem cell scientists "seed funding" for their research projects. The new gift will enable the continuation of the award program, which has yielded a 10-to-1 return on investment with grantees securing additional funding from other agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and more than $200 million in total grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency.

"The Broads' generous support has been essential to the development of new therapies that are currently in, or very near, clinical trials for treating blindness, sickle cell disease and cancer," said Dr. Owen Witte, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center. "The Broad Stem Cell Research Center's work, supported by critical philanthropic and other resources, is quickly being translated from basic scientific discoveries into new cellular therapies that will change the practice of medicine and offer future treatment options for diseases thought to be incurable, such as muscular dystrophy, autism and AIDS."

The $2 million gift to the Division of Digestive Diseases builds on nearly $6 million in previous commitments from The Broad Foundation since 2003.

The gifts have enabled the division to develop a comprehensive research and clinical enterprise focused on inflammatory bowel disease, one of only a few such centers in the world. Earning a multifold return for The Broad Foundation's initial investments, these grants have enabled investigators to secure $11 million in funding from pharmaceutical companies, the National Institutes of Health and nonprofit foundations.

In addition, The Broad Foundation's Broad Medical Research Program has provided more than $600,000 in grants to UCLA researchers over the past decade for the study of inflammatory bowel disease.

The new gift will support the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and research led by Dr. Charalabos "Harry" Pothoulakis, the center's director. Pothoulakis' team conducts research aimed at identifying the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of this group of chronic debilitating diseases, for which there is no cure.

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$4 Million from Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation Will Support UCLA Research

Pronounce Medical Words Personalized Medicine
This video shows you how to say Personalized Medicine. How would you pronounce Personalized Medicine?

By: Medical 101

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Pronounce Medical Words Personalized Medicine - Video

Perspectives on Pain: A Spinal Cord Injury Panel Discussion
A large percentage of people with SCI have frequent pain that can interfere with daily activities. Finding ways to minimize the pain and, when necessary, to ...

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Perspectives on Pain: A Spinal Cord Injury Panel Discussion - Video

Innovative technology offers new hope for paraplegics
Originally published on April 9, 2014 Check out our official website: http://us.tomonews.net/ Check out our Android app: http://goo.gl/PtT6VD Check out our iOS app: https://itunes.apple.com/app/t...

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Innovative technology offers new hope for paraplegics - Video

"SMART PILLS" on Fox 5 News - Medidata #39;s Glen de Vries
Fox 5 New York stopped by Medidata #39;s NYC headquarters to talk to Medidata president Glen de Vries about "smart pills" and the future of personalized medicine, highlighting how smartphones and...

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"SMART PILLS" on Fox 5 News - Medidata's Glen de Vries - Video

Scotiabank Half - Spinal Cord Injury BC
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Life After A Spinal Cord Injury And Acquired Brain Injury
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Cleveland, Ohio (PRWEB) May 08, 2014

ChanTest announces a new Heart-in-a-Dish in vitro cardiac safety assessment tool to support this critical component of the drug development process for biopharmaceutical companies.

ChanTest has developed this breakthrough in safety assessment by taking advantage of the pairing of two recent technologies stem cell-derived human cardiomyocytes, and Multi-Electrode Array (MEA) recording -- to open a new avenue toward simplifying the cardiac risk assessment process.

Adult human cells can be reprogrammed to simulate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). These iPSCs can be differentiated into heart cells (myocytes) and can be grown in culture dishes to form a spontaneously beating layer of myocytes that display the electrical properties similar to an intact human heart.

With the application of multiple electrodes, this Heart-in-a-Dish will generate a signal that closely resembles an EKG which has been recorded in the doctors office. Now imagine a miniature version of this system. By miniaturizing the recording system in the form of multi-well MEA assay plates, this enables simultaneous, parallel measurements from this Heart-in-a-Dish in order to detect potentially dangerous arrhythmias before human clinical trials.

This powerful system rapidly tests the safety of multiple compounds, at multiple concentrations and time points, explained Chris Mathes, Ph.D., Chief Commercial Officer at ChanTest. And the new offering keeps ChanTest on the cutting edge of providing services tuned to the current regulatory environment for drug discovery.

ChanTest has developed this Heart-in-a-Dish multi-well MEA assay that enables the recording of EKG-like signals to identify side effects from drugs. This new tool can allow biopharmaceutical companies and other drug discovery teams to screen compounds in an informative and robust manner, prior to implementing in vivo animal or human studies.

About ChanTest The Ion Channel Expert ChanTests mission is to serve the drug discovery and development needs of customers worldwide. Since its start in 1998, the Contract Research Organization has tested compounds for more than 300 global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. ChanTest also partners with these companies to accelerate the drug development process for the release of better, safer drugs. ChanTest offers integrated ion channel and GPCR services (GLP and non-GLP) and reagents. The companys library of validated ion channel cell lines, and nonclinical cardiac risk assessment service portfolio, is the most comprehensive commercial library available today.

Because of ChanTests influential role in the cardiac safety field, along with the companys uncompromising commitment to quality, an independent survey has named ChanTest the most trusted and most used fee-for-service provider since 2006. ChanTest is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Visit http://www.chantest.com to learn more about ChanTest.

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ChanTest Launches new Heart-in-a-Dish Cardiac Safety Assessment Tool

Bone marrow stem cells are special cells within the bone marrow that can form into any type of blood cell when triggered. This allows the bone marrow to supply blood cells to the body as they are needed. The bone marrow acts as a sort of factory or manufacturing station for blood cells, using these undifferentiated stem cells as raw material for white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.

Doctors and scientists have known that bone marrow stem cells can grow into any type of blood cell. Research has shown, however, that these cells also can develop into other types of cells such as cardiac cells, skin cells, and even muscle cells. This research indicates that bone marrow stem cells might be able to be used to treat a number of diseases that are not necessarily related to blood.

Bone marrow stem cells are used to treat several blood-based diseases. Perhaps the best known of these treatments is the bone marrow transplant, commonly used to treat leukemia and lymphoma. In these forms of cancer, intense radiation therapy or chemotherapy destroys the bone marrow cells, which in this case have begun to malfunction. The malfunctioning bone marrow is then replaced with cells from a bone marrow donor. In some cases, a patient may donate blood cells but the cells must be cancer-free for the treatment to be effective; this process is referred to as autologous bone marrow.

For a bone marrow donation to be effective, the blood type of the donor and other factors typically must be evaluated and matched to that of the patient. The more similar characteristics that exist between patient and donor, the more likely the transplant is to be successful. Because of this, close relatives of the patient are more likely to be able to provide a compatible donation. Donations also can come from non-related people, as well.

It is possible to be tested for these important factors ahead of time and be placed on a list of possible donors. In cases where bone marrow stem cells are needed for a transplant, individuals on the list will be evaluated to look for a match with the patient. Like blood banks, bone marrow donations lists are a vital tool to help those afflicted with certain types of devastating diseases. As scientific research continues, more uses for bone marrow stem cells are likely to surface, some of which could revolutionize modern medicine.

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What Are Bone Marrow Stem Cells? (with pictures)

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-May-2014

Contact: Nick Miller nicholas.miller@cchmc.org 513-803-6035 Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

CINCINNATI A new study in Nature challenges research data that form the scientific basis of clinical trials in which heart attack patients are injected with stem cells to try and regenerate damaged heart tissue.

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), report May 7 that cardiac stem cells used in ongoing clinical trials which express a protein marker called c-kit do not regenerate contractile heart muscle cells at high enough rates to justify their use for treatment.

Including collaboration from researchers at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles and the University of Minnesota's Lillehei Heart Institute, the study uncovers new evidence in what has become a contentious debate in the field of cardiac regeneration, according to Jeffery Molkentin, PhD, study principal investigator and a cardiovascular molecular biologist and HHMI investigator at the Cincinnati Children's Heart Institute.

"Our data suggest any potential benefit from injecting c-kit-positive cells into the hearts of patients is not because they generate new contractile cells called cardiomyocytes," Molkentin said. "Caution is warranted in further clinical testing of this method until the mechanisms in play here are better defined or we are able to dramatically enhance the potential of these cells to generate cardiomyocytes."

Numerous heart attack patients have already been treated with c-kit-positive stem cells that are removed from healthy regions of a damaged heart then processed in a laboratory, Molkentin explained. After processing, the cells are then injected into these patients' hearts. The experimental treatment is based largely on preclinical studies in rats and mice suggesting that c-kit-positive stem cells completely regenerate myocardial cells and heart muscle. Thousands of patients have also previously undergone a similar procedure for their hearts but with bone marrow stem cells.

Molkentin and his colleagues report those previous preclinical studies in rodents do not reflect what really occurs within the heart after injury, where internal regenerative capacity is almost non-existent. Molkentin also said that combined data from multiple clinical trials testing this type of treatment show most patients experienced a roughly 3-5 percent improvement in heart ejection fraction a measurement of how forcefully the heart pumps blood. Data in the current Nature study suggest this small benefit may come from the ability of c-kit-positive stem cells in heart to cause the growth of capillaries, which improves circulation within the organ, but not by generating new cardiomyocytes.

"What we show in our study is that c-kit-positive stem cells from the heart like to make endothelial cells that form capillaries. But in their natural environment in the heart, these c-kit positive cells do not like to make cardiomyocytes," Molkentin said. "They will produce cardiomyocytes, but at rates so low roughly one in every 3,000 cells it becomes meaningless."

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Study urges caution in stem cell clinical trials for heart attack patients

Knee arthritis 9 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson
Carol describes her outcome from stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson for her arthritic knee http://www.docereclinics.com.

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Knee arthritis 9 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson - Video

A service dog that has come from the brink of death and back was in Terry on Wednesday to receive cutting-edge stem cell therapy.

Davis Hawn said his dog, Booster, saved his life and now he's working to return the favor.

"With Booster by my side, I greet each day knowing we can change the world for the better," Hawn said.

Together, Hawn and Booster helped foster international relations by appearing on TV in Cuba. They reassured Thai orphans infected with the HIV virus that life will be OK and they are loved. The list of accomplishments continued to grow until Booster developed hip dysplasia.

"When Booster couldn't get off the floor, I couldn't get out of bed," said Hawn, who suffers from depression. "Just as assuredly as God put Booster into my life, He again answered the call when I read about the modern day marvel of stem-cell implantation."

Medivet America, a global leader in veterinary science with more than 1,000 clinics in 28 countries, learned of Booster's plight and jumped in to help.

"They arranged to perform a procedure in which they injected Booster's own stem cells into his hips and got him back up and running again," Hawn said. "When I went to pay the bill, they refused to accept payment. I like to say that God paid the bill."

In January 2013, Booster again faced a health battle. He was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma and given three weeks to live. An aggressive tumor had eaten through Booster's skull cap and left him writhing in pain. In an effort to save Booster's life, Hawn moved to Florida where the University of Florida operated on Booster and a referral clinic performed radiation therapy.

The University of Minnesota took a piece of the tumor that was removed from Booster and used it to developed the first vaccine for squamous cell carcinoma in dogs.

Booster is now a cancer survivor.

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Service dog receives cutting-edge stem cell therapy