Archive for November, 2014

As 'good' cholesterol goes up, odds of heart disease, stroke go down

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By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Nov. 6, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Even among people who live well into their 90s, those with a particular gene variant may survive the longest, a new study finds.

The variant is in a gene known as CETP, and researchers have known for more than a decade that people who carry it have a better shot at an exceptionally long life -- past 95 or even 100.

CETP is involved in cholesterol metabolism, and the longevity-linked variant raises blood levels of HDL cholesterol (the "good" kind) and promotes larger-than-normal HDL particles, researchers say.

The new findings show that even when you look at people who've already lived beyond age 95, those with the "favorable" CETP variant survive longer, said Dr. Sofiya Milman, an assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Milman was scheduled to present the findings Thursday at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in Washington, D.C. Data and conclusions presented at meetings are usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

The results build on work that began at Einstein in the late 1990s. Researchers there have been studying centenarians in and around New York City, all of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. They've found that people in this long-lived group often carry the CETP variant, and have very high HDL levels.

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'Longevity Gene' One Key to Long Life, Research Suggests

6- Mutation Genetic Engineering

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6- Mutation & Genetic Engineering - Video

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Newswise Angelina Jolies decision to undergo a double mastectomy inspired many other women to seek genetic counseling, too. But for women in rural areas, getting a genetic test can impose its own set of barriers, like multiple long trips for counseling, testing and follow-up. New research by Anita Kinney, PhD, RN, offers some hope. The research showed that telephone counseling was just as effective as in-person counseling in many respects. Dr. Kinney, now at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center, and her colleagues published the work in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The research team identified the 988 women in the study as being at-risk for hereditary breast or ovarian cancer or both. They gave each a personalized brochure and other materials about genetic testing. A board-certified genetic counselor reviewed the materials with each woman. The research team assigned about half of the women to meet with the genetic counselor in person; they assigned the other half to talk with the counselor over the phone. They surveyed the women one week after initial counseling.

If a woman chose to have genetic testing after talking with the counselor, the researchers gave or mailed her a genetic testing kit. Each kit contained instructions explaining how to take a cheek-swab DNA sample and mail it for testing. Women who were tested also discussed their results with the genetic counselor and were surveyed one week after their test result counseling session. The researchers surveyed all the women again after six months.

More of the women who talked with a genetic counselor in person chose to get a genetic test than women who talked with a counselor over the phone. But the research team found no difference between the groups in measures of anxiety, distress, quality of life and knowledge gained. They also found no difference in how the women felt about the counseling sessions.

The researchers suggest that more women who received in-person counseling chose to undergo genetic testing because they could give their DNA sample and send it for testing immediately. Women counseled on the phone may have changed their minds because they had to wait for the testing kit to arrive in the mail and then had to drive to a mailing location to send the kit. The researchers suggest further study to understand how women make these decisions.

But the study showed that genetic counseling over the phone was just as helpful as in-person counseling. Over-the-phone counseling gave women the information they needed to make a decision about genetic testing. And it explained the results of the genetic testing for urban and rural women.

This research shows that using the telephone is a viable alternative to in-person genetic counseling, Dr. Kinney says. Using the phone, we can effectively increase womens access to genetic counseling services. And that can help them make informed and life-saving decisions for their health no matter where they live.

About Anita Kinney PhD, RN Anita Kinney, PhD, RN, is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Epidemiology, at the UNM School of Medicine and is The Carolyn R. Surface Endowed Chair in Cancer Control and Population Sciences. Dr. Kinney serves as Associate Director for Population Sciences and as Cancer Control Research Program Co-Leader at the UNM Cancer Center. She trained at the University of Pennsylvania, UT-Houston School of Public Health, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Kinney is an internationally recognized and highly acclaimed expert in cancer prevention and public health. Her research focuses on understanding variations in cancer risk and outcomes, in diverse populations and communities and developing effective strategies to prevention and control cancer.

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Phones Bring Genetic Counseling to Rural Women

Health Longevity: Genetics is not an Excuse | Dr. Weston
The debate continues to rage on whether health and longevity is affected more by genetics or lifestyle choices. Dr. Weston tells us that while we can #39;t do an...

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SOUTH West Genetics' annual Mortlake on-property sale sold 22 of 44 rams offered to $800.

Selling agent Garry Whitehead, Landmark attracted Mortlake said while the Texel rams subdued interest, the 121 quality one year-old Coopworth- cross ewes drew strong competition and sold for $152.

"Crossbreed Texels are doing well but there is further positive publicity needed to boost interest in the breed," Mr Whitehead said.

"The Texel rams displayed the major performance data required in the (prime lamb) industry and have always been a high indexing breed but it wasn't reflected in the sale which was disappointing because the quality was there.

"The strong interest in the Coopworth cross ewes was terrific and reflected the growing attraction to maternal type sheep within the industry."

Several rams sold to the top price of $800, with Tony Dupleix, Leslie Manor being a volume buyer at the sale purchasing five rams to av $680.

"Texel's are performing well for tenderness (shear force) and lean meat yield, generally having a positive correlation whereas the general rule is a negative correlation," South West Genetics principal Steve Parker said."

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

Contact: Yixian Zheng zheng@ciwemb.edu 410-246-3032 Carnegie Institution @carnegiescience

Baltimore, MD--As animals age, their immune systems gradually deteriorate, a process called immunosenescence. It is associated with systemic inflammation and chronic inflammatory disorders, as well as with many cancers. The causes underlying this age-associated inflammation, and how it leads to diseases, are poorly understood. New work in Carnegie's Yixian Zheng's lab sheds light on one protein's involvement in suppressing immune responses in aging fruit flies. It is published in Cell.

Insects have an immune organ called the fat body, which is roughly equivalent to the mammalian fat and liver. It is responsible for many immune functions. Zheng and her team--Carnegie's Haiyang Chen and Xiaobin Zheng--found that the fruit fly fat body experiences a great deal of inflammation in aged flies.

These inflamed fly fat bodies then secrete proteins that lead to a reduction in immune response of the gut. This reduction of the gut immune response causes the gut's stem cells to undergo excessive division and inappropriate differentiation, creating a condition called hyperplasia that shares features with the precancerous polyps found in human guts.

Zheng and her team found that the gradual reduction of a protein called lamin-B in the fat bodies of aging flies is the culprit behind fat body inflammation and the resulting hyperplastic gut, all of which falls under the umbrella of immunosenescence.

Lamin-B is part of the lamin family of proteins, which form the major structural component of the material that lines the inside of a cell's nucleus. Lamins have diverse functions, including suppressing gene expression, and they are found in an array of tissues and organs. In humans, diseases caused by mutations in lamins are called laminopathies and include premature aging.

B-type lamins have long been suspected to play a role in gene suppression by binding to segments of DNA. The team's work revealed that when the fruit fly fat body was depleted of lamin-B, the normal suppression of genes involved in the immune response is reversed, just as it would be in response to bacterial infection or injury, but in this case there is no apparent infection or injury. The un-suppressed immune response initiates the inflammation and resulting gut hyperplasia.

"Our findings have implications for mammals as well as for insects, as immune response genes in mammals also are known to have lamins present on them," Zheng explained. "We think that lamin-B might play an evolutionarily conserved role in suppressing inflammatory genes in immune organs in the absence of infection or injury and our work could provide insight into immunosenescence in humans."

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A cause of age-related inflammation found

New research from McLean Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute has shown that stem cell therapy reduces seizures in mice.

Researchers used an animal model to transplant seizure-inhibiting, human embryonic stem cell-derived neurons into the brains of mice that had a common form of epilepsy. Half of the mice that received the transplanted neurons no longer had seizures, while the other half experienced a significant drop in seizure frequency.

The transplanted neurons integrated into the mouse brains and began to receive neuronal activity. The neurons then released GABA, an inhibitory response that reversed the electrical hyperactivity that causes seizure.

Previous studies showed increasing inhibition in the epileptic brain can help control the seizure and also a lot of anti-epilepsy drugs are mimicking this GABA, so many of them worked by binding to the GABA receptors, researcher Sangmi Chung, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard, told FoxNews.com.

Researchers initially set out to test the functionality of human neurons, but later decided to test their effect on epilepsy because it is such a devastating disease. About 30 percent of people do not respond to seizure drugs and one out of 26 people will be affected by seizures in their lifetime, Chung said.

Over 65 million people worldwide are affected by epileptic seizures, which can cause convulsions, loss of consciousness and other neurological symptoms. Patients are treated with anti-seizure drugs, and may choose to have a portion of their brain removed.

Because mouse cells mature more quickly than human cells within weeks instead of years it was unclear how long a stem cell transplant in a human would take before becoming effective, Chung noted.

If we compare it with the mouse [model], we believe it will be years, not weeks, she said.

However, the study found that, even without full maturation, the cells integrated into the epileptic mouse brains, receive signals and release GABA, therefore preventing seizures.

I think its really good news in terms of transplantation even maturing, not fully mature [cells] still work, Chung said.

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Stem cell transplants may help reduce seizures, study says

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Newswise Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) give rise to all blood and immune cells throughout the life of vertebrate organisms, from zebrafish to humans. But details of their genesis remain elusive, hindering efforts to develop induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) replacements that might address a host of blood disorders.

In a paper published Nov. 20 in the journal Cell, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine describe the surprising and crucial involvement of a pro-inflammatory signaling protein in the creation of HSCs during embryonic development, a finding that could help scientists to finally reproduce HSCs for therapeutic use.

The recent breakthrough of induced pluripotency has made the concept of patient-specific regenerative medicine a reality, said principal investigator David Traver, PhD, professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. The development of some mature cell lineages from iPSCs, such as cardiac and neural, has been reasonably straightforward, but not with HSCs. This is likely due, at least in part, to not fully understanding all of the factors used by the embryo to generate HSCs. We believe the discovery that pro-inflammatory cues are important in vivo will help us recapitulate instruction of HSC fate in vitro from iPSCs.

Traver and colleagues specifically looked at the role of a cytokine (a type of cell signaling protein) called tumor necrosis factor alpha or TNFa, which plays a pivotal role in regulating systemic inflammation and immunity. The work extended previous research by Spanish biologist Victoriano Mulero, who had reported that TNFa was important in the function of the embryonic vascular system and that in animal models where TNF function was absent, blood defects resulted.

The Cell papers first author Raquel Espin-Palazon, a postdoctoral researcher in Travers lab and a former colleague of Muleros, determined that TNFa was required for the emergence of hematopoietic stem cells during embryogenesis in zebrafish a common animal model.

Traver said the finding was completely unexpected because HSCs emerge relatively early in embryonic formation when the developing organism is considered to be largely sterile and devoid of infection.

Thus, there was no expectation that pro-inflammatory signaling would be active at this time or in the blood-forming regions, Traver said. Equally surprising, we found that a population of embryonic myeloid cells, which are transient cells produced before HSCs arise, are the producers of the TNFa needed to establish HSC fate. So it turns out that a small subset of myeloid cells that persist for only a few days in development are necessary to help generate the lineal precursors of the entire adult blood-forming system.

The newly discovered role of TNFa in HSC development mirrors a parallel discovery regarding interferon gamma (INFg), another cytokine and major mediator of pro-inflammatory signaling, highlighting multiple inputs for inflammatory signaling in HSC emergence. Traver said the crucial roles of TNFa and INFg in HSC emergence are likely similar in humans because of the highly conserved nature of HSC development across vertebrate evolution.

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Before There Will Be Blood

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Newswise LA JOLLAResearchers at the Salk Institute have healed injured hearts of living mice by reactivating long dormant molecular machinery found in the animals cells, a finding that could help pave the way to new therapies for heart disorders in humans.

The new results, published November 6 in the journal Cell Stem Cell, suggest that although adult mammals dont normally regenerate damaged tissue, they may retain a latent ability as a holdover from development like their distant ancestors on the evolutionary tree. When the Salk researchers blocked four molecules thought to suppress these programs for regenerating organs, they saw a drastic improvement in heart regeneration and healing in the mice.

The findings provide proof-of-concept for a new type of clinical treatment in the fight against heart disease, which kills about 600,000 people each year in the United Statesmore than AIDS and all cancer types combined, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Organ regeneration is a fascinating phenomenon that seemingly recapitulates the processes observed during development. However, despite our current understanding of how embryogenesis and development proceeds, the mechanisms preventing regeneration in adult mammals have remained elusive, says the studys senior author Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory at Salk.

Within the genomes of every cell in our bodies, we have what information we need to generate an organ. Izpisua Belmontes group has for many years focused on elucidating the key molecules involved in embryonic development as well as those potentially underlying healing responses in regenerative organisms such as the zebrafish.

Indeed, back in 2003, Izpisua Belmontes laboratory first identified the signals preceding zebrafish heart regeneration. And in a 2010 Nature paper, the researchers described how regeneration occurred in the zebrafish. Rather than stem cells invading injured heart tissue, the cardiac cells themselves were reverting to a precursor-like state (a process called dedifferentiation), which, in turn, allowed them to proliferate in tissue.

Although in theory it might have seemed like the next logical step to ask whether mammals had evolutionarily conserved any of the right molecular players for this kind of regenerative reprogramming, in practice it was a scientific risk, recalls Ignacio Sancho-Martinez, a postdoctoral researcher in Izpisua Belmontes lab.

When you speak about these things, the first thing that comes to peoples minds is that youre crazy, he says. Its a strange sounding idea, since we associate regeneration with salamanders and fish, but not mammals.

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Salk Scientists Discover a Key to Mending Broken Hearts

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By Emily J. Weitz

As a winter chill creeps into the air, we have to armor ourselves with extra layers of clothing, and make sure our homes are well-insulated. This carries over, too, to the way we care for our skin. Naturopathica, a business that started in East Hampton whose products can now be found in 350 spas across North America, offers a wide array of healing elixirs specifically formulated to balance and protect skin.

In New York, the winters tend to be cold and windy, said Barbara Close, Founder and CEO of Naturopathica. Cold air, wind, and artificial heat pull moisture from the skin and attack our skin barrier, which can lead to dry, irritated, sensitized and devitalized skin.

This can lead to skin losing its summer glow, and also to longer term issues like wrinkles and spotting. But having a consistent, healthy skincare regimen is a way to combat these issues.

If you consistently promote healthy skin with ingredients that target your concerns, said Ms. Close, you will experience the best possible result.

Other problems, like environmental pollutants, poor nutrition, and stress affect skin health.

Using ingredients with antioxidant and protective benefits on a daily basis helps to prevent premature aging and other visible concerns.

But Ms. Close says that even more important is how a skincare regimen can protect against disease. Specific ingredients to look for in your skincare products include Micronized Zinc Oxide, which reflects UVA/UVB rays. This compound is not absorbed into the bloodstream, so it remains on top of the skin like a shield. She also recommends seed oils, like carrot seed oil or rosehip seed oil.

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Naturopathica: Soothing Winter Skin

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

Contact: David McKeon dmckeon@nyscf.org 212-365-7440 New York Stem Cell Foundation @nyscf

New York, NY (November 6, 2014) - A team of scientists led by The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute successfully created a human stem cell disease model of Parkinson's disease in a dish. Studying a pair of identical (monozygotic) twins, one affected and one unaffected with Parkinson's disease, another unrelated Parkinson's patient, and four healthy control subjects, the scientists were able to observe key features of the disease in the laboratory, specifically differences in the patients' neurons' ability to produce dopamine, the molecule that is deficient in Parkinson's disease. In addition, the scientists also identified a potential strategy for developing novel therapies for Parkinson's disease.

Attributed to a combination of genetic and nongenetic factors, Parkinson's disease has no completely effective therapy or cure. Parkinson's disease is moderately heritable, but the mechanisms of this inheritance are not well understood. While genetic forms of the disease exist, sporadic forms are far more common.

"The unique scenario of identical twins, one with this disease and one without, allowed our scientists an unprecedented look into the mechanisms of Parkinson's disease," said Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF Chief Executive Officer. "Advanced stem cell research techniques allow us to push the boundaries of science and see what actually goes wrong at the cellular level, step by step during the disease process."

DNA mutations resulting in the production of a specific enzyme called glucocerebrosidase (GBA) have been linked to a five-fold greater risk of developing Parkinson's disease; however, only 30% of individuals with this mutation have been shown to develop Parkinson's disease by the age of 80. This discordance suggests that multiple factors contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease, including both genetic and non-genetic factors. To date, there has been no appropriate model to identify and test multiple triggers leading to the onset of the disease.

In this study, published today in Cell Reports, a set of identical twins, both with a GBA mutation, provided a unique opportunity to evaluate and dissect the genetic and non-genetic contributions to the development of Parkinson's disease in one twin, and the lack of disease in the other. The scientists made induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from skin samples from both twins to generate a cellular model of Parkinson's in a dish, recapitulating key features of the disease, specifically the accumulation of -synuclein and dopamine deficiency.

Upon analyzing the cell models, the scientists found that the dopamine-producing neurons from both twins had reduced GBA enzymatic activity, elevated -synuclein protein levels, and a reduced capacity to synthesize and release dopamine. In comparison to his unaffected brother, the neurons generated from the affected twin produced less dopamine, had higher levels of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B), and poor ability to connect with each other. Treating the neurons with molecules that lowered the activity of MAO-B together with overexpressed GBA normalized -synuclein and dopamine levels in the cell models. This suggests that a combination therapy for the affected twin may be possible by simultaneously targeting these two enzymes.

"The subject of Parkinson's disease discordant twins gave us an incredible opportunity to utilize stem cell models of disease in a dish to unlock some of the biological mechanisms of disease," said Dr. Scott Noggle, NYSCF Vice President, Stem Cell Research and The NYSCF - Charles Evans Senior Research Fellow for Alzheimer's Disease. "Working with these various different groups and scientists added to the depth and value of the research and we hope our findings will be applicable to other Parkinson's disease patients and other neurodegenerative disorders."

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Scientists create Parkinson's disease in a dish

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Induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) created from adult cells hold promise for therapeutic transplantation, but their potential in this capacity has been limited by failed efforts to maintain such cells in the desirable multi-potent NSC state without continuous expression of the transcription factors used initially to reprogram them.

Now, Whitehead Institute scientists have created iNSCs that remain in the multi-potent state without ongoing expression of reprogramming factors. This allows the iNSCs to divide repeatedly to generate cells in quantities sufficient for therapy.

"Therapeutically, it's important to make neural stem cells because they can self-renew and make lots of cells," says Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch, who is also a professor of biology at MIT. "If you just make mature neurons, which has been done by others, you never get enough cells."

To make iNSCs via direct lineage conversion researchers use viruses to insert a cocktail of transcription factors into the genome of mouse adult skin cells. A drug triggers these transcription factors to turn on genes active in neural stem cells. This direct conversion, known as transdifferentiation, bypasses the step of pushing the cells first through an embryonic stem-cell-like state.

In previous research, iNSCs remained addicted to the drug and reprogramming transcription factors; if either the drug or the factors was removed, the cells revert to skin cells.

"If the reprogramming factors are still active, it's horrible for the cells," says John Cassady, a scientist in Jaenisch's lab. "The cells would be unable to differentiate and the resulting cells would not be therapeutically useful."

In a paper published online this week in the current issue of the journal Stem Cell Reports, Cassady and other Whitehead scientists describe how they prevented the cells' relapse without keeping the reprogramming factors active. First, the cells were grown in a special medium that selects for neural stem cells. Then, the drug is removed. Instead of reverting into skin cells, the iNSCs remain in a multi-potent state that can differentiate into neurons and glia cells. Cassady also refined the reprogramming cocktail to contain eight transcription factors, which produces iNSCs that are transcriptionally and epigenetically similar to mouse neural stem cells.

Cassady notes that a random sample of skin cells can contain neural precursor cells, which can more easily make the transition to iNSCs. To eliminate the possibility that his method might actually rely on cells having this sort of "head start", Cassady converted fully mature immune system cells called B-lymphocytes, which have a very specific genetic marker, to iNSCs. The resulting cells had the profile of their new identity as iNSCs, yet retained their B-lymphocyte genetic marker, showing that Cassady's method could indeed convert non-neural cells to iNSCs.

Although promising, all of the work to date has been conducted in mouse cells. According to Cassady, researchers should next test this protocol in human cells to see if it can successfully produce the cell populations necessary for therapeutic use.

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Direct generation of neural stem cells could enable transplantation therapy

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Newswise SYRACUSE, N.Y. Scientists at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) are growing the first American chestnut trees that can withstand the blight that virtually eliminated the once-dominant tree from the eastern United States.

Members of the ESF research team recently published three peer-reviewed papers that, along with continuing research, support their conviction that their biotechnology work with a gene originating in wheat makes the American chestnut tree at least as blight resistant as the Chinese chestnut tree that can co-exist with blight with minimal ill effects.

Our goal was to develop an American chestnut tree that has blight resistance equal to that of a Chinese chestnut and we are there. Weve done it, said Dr. William Powell, an ESF professor who leads the research project along with Dr. Chuck Maynard. The leaf assays show it, the small-stem assays show it, Powell said, referring to the analytical processes the researchers go through to determine the level of blight resistance. These American chestnut trees are blight resistant.

It is tremendously satisfying to reach this level of success. We have a lot of people to thank for this. Its been a long haul but we are happy with where we are, Maynard said. A significant milestone in the process, he said, was reached when the transgenic trees, inoculated with the blight during testing, remained essentially as healthy as control trees that had been inoculated with only water.

The tree was once prominent enough to have earned a place in American culture, with chestnuts roasting over open fires in the winter, and Chestnut Streets running through towns across the country. The wood of American chestnuts is rot-resistant, making it suitable for construction purposes, and its abundant nuts were once a dietary staple for wildlife.

The next step in its return is for the researchers to select one of the 14 lines of transgenic trees with blight resistance and submit a detailed application to the federal agencies that will conduct a rigorous review process. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, and Food and Drug Administration must approve the trees before they are available to the public for planting. If all goes well, the process could take around five years.

This is the first time the approval process will be used for a tree that is ultimately destined to be planted in the wild. The process has been applied to many crops, orchard and plantation trees, but not to species that are native to U.S. forests.

In the meantime, Powell, a molecular plant biologist, and Maynard, a tree improvement specialist, will produce as many trees as possible, perhaps 10,000, so they are ready for planting if and when the approval process is complete. The ESF College Foundation, Inc., which supports the colleges educational mission, continues fundraising efforts to support the work.

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Blight-Resistant American Chestnut Trees Take Root at SUNY-ESF

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

Contact: David McKeon dmckeon@nyscf.org 212-365-7440 New York Stem Cell Foundation @nyscf

New York, NY (November 6, 2014) - A team led by New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute scientists conducted a study comparing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and embryonic stem cells created using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The scientists found that the cells derived from these two methods resulted in cells with highly similar gene expression and DNA methylation patterns. Both methods also resulted in stem cells with similar amounts of DNA mutations, showing that the process of turning an adult cell into a stem cell introduces mutations independent of the specific method used. This suggests that both methods of producing stem cells need to be further investigated before determining their suitability for the development of new therapies for chronic diseases.

The NYSCF Research Institute is one of the only laboratories in the world that currently pursues all forms of stem cell research including SCNT and iPS cell techniques for creating stem cells. The lack of laboratories attempting SCNT research was one of the reasons that the NYSCF Research Institute was established in 2006.

"We do not yet know which technique will allow scientists to create the best cells for new cellular therapies," said Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF CEO and co-founder. "It is critical to pursue both SCNT and iPS cell techniques in order to accelerate research and bring new treatments to patients."

While both techniques result in pluripotent stem cells, or cells that can become any type of cell in the body, the two processes are different. SCNT consists of replacing the nucleus of a human egg cell or oocyte with the nucleus of an adult cell, resulting in human embryonic stem cells with the genetic material of the adult cell. In contrast, scientists create iPS cells by expressing a few key genes in adult cells, like a skin or blood cell, causing the cells to revert to an embryonic-like state. These differences in methods could, in principle, result in cells with different properties. Advances made earlier this year by NYSCF Research Institute scientists that showed that human embryonic stem cells could be derived using SCNT revived that debate.

"Our work shows that we now have two methods for the generation of a patient's personal stem cells, both with great potential for the development of treatments of chronic diseases. Our work will also be welcome news for the many scientists performing basic research on iPS cells. It shows that they are likely working with cells that are very similar to human embryonic stem cells, at least with regard to gene expression and DNA methylation. How the finding of mutations might affect clinical use of stem cells generated from adult cells is the subject of an ongoing debate," said Dr. Dieter Egli, NYSCF Senior Research Fellow, NYSCF - Robertson Investigator, Assistant Professor in Pediatrics & Molecular Genetics at Columbia University, and senior author on the paper.

The study, published today in Cell Stem Cell, compared cell lines derived from the same sources using the two differing techniques, specifically contrasting the frequency of genetic coding mutations seen and measuring how closely the stem cells matched the embryonic state through the analysis of DNA methylation and of gene expression patterns. The scientists showed that both methods resulted in cell types that were similar with regard to gene expression and DNA methylation patterns. This suggested that both methods were effective in turning a differentiated cell into a stem cell.

The scientists also showed that cells derived using both SCNT and iPS techniques showed similar numbers of genetic coding mutations, implying that neither technique is superior in that regard. A similar number of changes in DNA methylation at imprinted genes (genes that are methylated differentially at the maternal versus the paternal allele) were also found. It is important to note that both types of techniques led to cells that had more of these aberrations than embryonic stem cells derived from an unfertilized human oocyte, or than embryonic stem cells derived from leftover IVF embryos. These findings suggest that a small number of defects are inherent to the generation of stem cells from adult differentiated cells and occur regardless of the method used.

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Scientists find that SCNT derived cells and IPS cells are similar

No one has used genetic engineering to do something beneficial for the environment.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- In the first use of genetic engineering to save a species in the wild, SUNY researchers say they have created a new strain of blight-resistant American chestnut that could restore the majestic tree to the American landscape.

After 25 years of research, a pair of professors at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry say they have used a gene from wheat to create an American chestnut that could withstand the blight that wiped out up to 5 billion of the trees in the United States.

"It is tremendously satisfying to reach this level of success," said ESF professor Chuck Maynard, who worked with fellow professor William Powell to build the blight-resistant tree.

Before the blight nearly wiped out the trees by the 1950s, chestnuts ranged from Florida to Maine and comprised up to 25 percent of Eastern forests. Its rot-resistant wood was an important source of lumber for log cabins and railroad ties for an emerging nation. The nutrient-rich nuts provided food for wildlife and humans; the roasted nuts were so delicious they even inspired a Christmas song.

"The team has accomplished a major goal, the generation of a blight-resistant American chestnut tree," said Dr. Timothy Tschaplinski, a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in a statement released by ESF. "The sum total of these efforts is a major step forward for the goal of restoration of American chestnut to the North American landscape."

Genetic engineering has been used to increase production of crops, particularly corn and soybean, and to make medicines such as insulin.

"No one has used genetic engineering to do something beneficial for the environment," Powell said. "This technique can be used for many species of trees that are threatened by disease. It goes beyond the American chestnut."

ESF's American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project has long been one of the leaders in the movement to restore the tree to the landscape.

Developing a blight-resistant chestnut was a long and tedious process. Through trial-and-error, Powell and Maynard tried 30 genes, extracting them and then using bacteria to deliver the genes to individual chestnut cells. Each of those cells had to grow into trees large enough to test for blight resistance. The first attempt took 2.5 years, Powell said.

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Breakthrough at SUNY-ESF: Genetic engineering may save the nearly extinct American chestnut

A 9,300-year-old frozen bison mummy has been found in Eastern Siberia, according to a presentation this week at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologys Annual Meeting in Berlin.

The still-furry beast is one of the most complete frozen mummies ever found. It literally freezes in time the appearance and anatomy of a steppe bison (Bison priscus), whose species went extinct shortly after the end of the Ice Age.

Mummies Faces,Hair-dos, Revealed in 3D: Photos

Its been named the Yukagir bison mummy, after the region where it was found.

The exceptionally good preservation of the Yukagir bison mummy allows direct anatomical comparisons with modern species of bison and cattle, as well as with extinct species of bison that were gone at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, co-author Evgeny Maschenko from the Paleontological Institute in Moscow was quoted as saying in a press release.

The remarkable specimen still has its complete brain, heart, blood vessels and digestive system. Some of its organs have significantly shrunk over time, but thats to be expected given its advanced age.

Video: Three Extinct Animals Making a Comeback

The researchers, led by Natalia Serduk of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, conducted a necropsy on the remains. The investigation determined that the bison showed a relatively normal anatomy. A clue to its demise, however, is a lack of fat around its abdomen. This suggests that the bison died from starvation, but the scientists arent sure of that yet.

Compared to todays bison in America, the Ice Age bison sported much larger horns and a second back hump. Steppe bison like this now-frozen one were commonly featured in Stone Age cave art, often shown being hunted by humans.

Remains for a woolly rhino, a 35,00039,000-year-old horse, and a mammoth were also recently found near the Siberian site where the bison mummy was discovered.

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9,300-Year-Old Bison Mummy Found in Siberia

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

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

New Rochelle, NY, November 6, 2014--Lower-cost 3D printers for the consumer market offer only a limited selection of plastic materials, while industrial additive manufacturing (AM) machines can print parts made of high-performance metals. The application of a novel process called Selective Inhibition Sintering (SIS) in a consumer-priced metal AM machine is described in an article in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing website until December 6, 2014.

Payman Torabi, Matthew Petros, and Behrokh Khoshnevis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, explain this innovative process, present sample parts printed using the technology, and discuss the next steps in research and development in the article "SIS -- The Process for Consumer Metal Additive Manufacturing" The SIS process differs from traditional research in powder sintering, which focuses on enhancing sintering (a process of fusing materials using heat and pressure); instead, SIS prevents sintering in selected regions of each powder layer.

"This technology uses a fundamentally new approach to 3D printing, one that could expand the reach of metal printing," says Editor-in-Chief Hod Lipson, PhD, Professor at Cornell University's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ithaca, NY.

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About the Journal

3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing is a peer-reviewed journal published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print. Spearheaded by Hod Lipson, PhD, Director of Cornell University's Creative Machines Lab at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the Journal explores emerging challenges and opportunities ranging from new developments of processes and materials, to new simulation and design tools, and informative applications and case studies. Spanning a broad array of disciplines focusing on novel 3D printing and rapid prototyping technologies, policies, and innovations, the Journal brings together the community to address the challenges and discover new breakthroughs and trends living within this groundbreaking technology. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (http://www.liebertpub.com/3dp) website.

About the Publisher

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Novel 3D printing process enables metal additive manufacturing for consumer market

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2014

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

IMAGE: Industrial Biotechnology, led by Co-Editors-in-Chief Larry Walker, PhD, Biological and Environmental Engineering Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and Glenn Nedwin, PhD, MoT, CEO and President, Taxon Biosciences, Tiburon, CA, is...

New Rochelle, NY, November 6, 2014Screening large cell culture collections containing plant samples obtained from diverse geographic regions, climates, and soil and growing conditions for biological activity can reveal a wealth of natural compounds with potential applications for crop improvement and protection. The capability to do reproducible screening and genomic analysis of the more than 2,000 plant cell lines maintained in culture at the Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering, in Kiev, Ukraine is describe in an article in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Industrial Biotechnology website.

In the article "Screening Plant Biodiversity In Vitro for New Natural Products," Prof. Nikolay V. Kuchuk and coauthors from the Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering and Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev; Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA; and Hunter-Cevera & Associates, Ellicott City, MD, provide a detailed description of their methods for plant cell culture and the development of plant extracts for screening. The authors present the results of large-scale screening for insecticidal and fungicidal activity in 1,200 plant samples.

The article is part of the IB IN DEPTH special section entitled "Plants and Microorganisms: Moving Food and Agricultural Biotechnology Forward," led by Guest Editor Jennie Hunter-Cevera, PhD, Hunter-Cevera & Associates.

This issue of IB also features an Overview entitled "Exploring Plant-Microorganism Relationships for Natural Solutions to Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production," the Roundtable Discussion "Opportunities and Challenges for Plant Natural Product Research and Development," the Patent Update "Intellectual Property of Plants and Plant Products: Is Fruit Juice Eligible for Patent Protection?" and two Review articles: "Potential for Industrial Application of Microbes in Symbioses that Influence Plant Productivity and Sustainability in Agricultural, Natural, or Restored Ecosystems" and "Delayed Ripening of Climacteric Fruit by Catalysts Prepared from Induced Cells of Rhodococcus rhodochrous DAP 96253A Case for the Biological Modulation of Yang-Cycle Driven Processes by a Prokaryote."

"Leveraging the genetic diversity of the plant world is an important activity for agricultural, environmental, and industrial biotechnology sectors and is key to addressing a spectrum of global sustainability challenges," says Co-Editor-in-Chief Larry Walker, PhD, Professor, Biological & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

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Biodiversity of plant cell culture collections offers valuable source of natural insecticidal and fungicidal products

November 6, 2014

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Researchers have long suspected that Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease have factors in common and a new genetics study in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics has identified eight molecular pathways common to both diseases.

In the study, scientists used a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) and health records of nearly 8,200 black women, 3,500 Hispanic women and 3,700 white women. In evaluating women with both Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease compared to healthy subjects, the team discovered inconsistencies in eight pathways regulating how cells stick within tissues, talk to each other, how neurons interact with target locations, the physical support system within tissues, and numerous forms of heart muscle complications.

Study author Simin Liu, professor of epidemiology and medicine in the Brown University, said the team focused on how specific genes and the proteins they produce interact to affect physiology and health.

Looking at genes one by one is standard, Liu said in a recent statement. But ultimately, the interactions of biology are fundamentally organized in a pathway and network manner.

Image Above: A genetic network shows 10 proposed key driver genes that may have especially great influence in both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Credit: Liu lab/Brown University

The study found molecular evidence of the eight pathways across all ethnicities and found a few pathways that were ethnicity-specific. The researchers used five different methodologies to analyze the pathways and identified one only if it showed up in at least two analyses. The researchers also exposed the pathways to a network investigation to spot genes that could be key drivers of the two conditions. They were able to find and report ten in the paper.

These [key driver] genes represent central network genes which, when perturbed, can potentially affect a large number of genes involved in the (cardiovascular disease) and (Type 2 diabetes) pathways and thus exert stronger impact on diseases, the team wrote.

Originally posted here:
Genetic Connection Between Diabetes And Heart Disease

Genetics Biology Song using Vocab #DUD
We had a song where we had to use our biology vocal to make a parody or an original song. This was a dud. Instrumentals from "Frozen Heart"

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Genetics Biology Song using Vocab #DUD - Video

NMRiH Gene Therapy Animation
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NMRiH Gene Therapy Animation - Video

Fall Into Cash Draw 2014 - Spinal Cord Injury Newfoundland and Labrador
Fall Into Cash Draw 2014 Spinal Cord Injury Newfoundland and Labrador Draw Date: November 4th, 2014 1st Prize $12000 Ticket # 05946 2nd Prize $2500 Ticket ...

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Fall Into Cash Draw 2014 - Spinal Cord Injury Newfoundland and Labrador - Video

Keynote: Molecular Regulation of Stem Cell Quiescence Activation
Keynote Speaker: Thomas Rando, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging, Stanford University School of Medicine.

By: Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

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Keynote: Molecular Regulation of Stem Cell Quiescence & Activation - Video