Archive for December, 2019

WVE-120102 demonstrates statistically significant reduction in disease-causing mutant HTT protein in CSF vs. placebo

No difference in total HTT protein or neurofilament light chain in treated patients vs. placebo

Additional cohort expected to initiate in January 2020

Wave to host investor conference call and webcast at 8:00 a.m. ET today

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (Nasdaq: WVE), a clinical-stage genetic medicines company committed to delivering life-changing treatments for people battling devastating diseases, today announced topline data from the ongoing Phase 1b/2a PRECISION-HD2 trial evaluating investigational therapy WVE-120102, designed to be the first allele-selective approach to treat Huntingtons disease (HD). In an analysis comparing all patients treated with multiple intrathecal doses of WVE-120102 to placebo, a statistically significant reduction of 12.4% (p<0.05) in mutant huntingtin (mHTT) protein was observed in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). An analysis to assess a dose response across treatment groups (2, 4, 8 or 16 mg) suggested a statistically significant response in mHTT reduction at the highest doses tested (p=0.03). WVE-120102 was generally safe and well tolerated across all cohorts. These data support the addition of higher dose cohorts, and Wave expects to initiate a 32 mg cohort in January 2020.

This topline analysis has given us the opportunity to evaluate early data from our ongoing dose finding study. The data demonstrate a reduction in mutant HTT and a safety and tolerability profile that supports exploration of higher doses of WVE-120102, with the goal of maximizing mutant HTT reduction and avoiding a negative impact on the healthy huntingtin protein, said Michael Panzara, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer ofWave Life Sciences. We plan to initiate the 32 mg cohort imminently and look forward to sharing data in the second half of 2020.

WVE-120102 was developed as an allele-selective molecule, designed to preferentially lower mHTT protein by targeting single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs362331 (SNP2) in order to keep the level of healthy or wild-type HTT (wtHTT) protein relatively intact. The wtHTT protein is important for neuronal function and may be neuroprotective in an adult brain. There is currently no assay available to directly measure wtHTT in the CSF; therefore, Wave is using an assay developed by CHDI Foundation, a not-for-profit biomedical research organization devoted to HD, to measure total HTT (tHTT) protein to indirectly assess effects on wtHTT. With this assay, a non-allele selective, pan-silencing approach would be expected to lead to a commensurate reduction in tHTT relative to mHTT.

While there was a statistically significant reduction in mHTT with WVE-120102 compared to placebo in the topline analysis, there was no difference in tHTT compared to placebo, suggesting WVE-120102 may have a potentially differential effect on huntingtin as measured by the mHTT and tHTT assays. Wave will continue to explore these potential effects with higher doses, where larger reductions of mHTT may be expected and where a more discernible impact on tHTT may be observed. Wave is continuing to work with CHDI Foundation and other research partners on methods to assess wtHTT protein preservation.

The topline analysis also assessed the presence of neurofilament light chain (NfL) in the CSF, and there was no difference in NfL between the WVE-120102 and placebo-treated groups. NfL is a protein component of the neuronal cytoskeleton. Its levels in the CSF are generally elevated when neurons are damaged in the setting of many neurological disorders, including HD.

WVE-120102 was generally safe and well tolerated among patients receiving doses up to 16 mg in both single and multidose portions of the study. A total of 72% of those who received WVE-120102 experienced an adverse event (AE) as compared with 83% on placebo, most of which were mild to moderate in intensity. The most common AEs (those occurring in at least 10% of patients on WVE-120102) were headache, procedural pain, falls and viral upper respiratory infection. There were no serious adverse events (SAEs) related to treatment with WVE-120102 and no study stopping rules were met, allowing dose escalation to continue. There were no notable changes in laboratory tests including liver or renal function tests, platelets or markers of immune activation.

PRECISION-HD2 is an ongoing, Phase 1b/2a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, which is evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of single and multiple doses of WVE-120102 in adult patients with early manifest HD who carry SNP2. The trial included both single and multidose portions where patients were randomized to either WVE-120102 or placebo and received up to four intrathecal doses. The trial was designed for patients to receive a single dose and then undergo a washout period of at least eight weeks before entering the multidose portion which includes three monthly doses. Forty-four patients (31 WVE-120102 and 13 placebo) participated in the multidose portion and data from 39 patients (27 WVE-120102 and 12 placebo) were available for mHTT assessment as of data cut-off. In October 2019, Wave initiated an open-label extension (OLE) study open to patients outside of the U.S. who participated in the Phase 1b/2a PRECISION-HD2 trial and dosing of patients in the OLE is ongoing.

Wave is also conducting the PRECISION-HD1 Phase 1b/2a trial assessing WVE-120101 in early manifest HD patients who carry SNP rs362307 (SNP1). PRECISION-HD1 includes four cohorts (2, 4, 8 or 16 mg intrathecal doses). Given the PRECISION-HD2 results, PRECISION-HD1 will remain blinded and Wave plans to add a 32 mg cohort. Topline results from PRECISION-HD1, including those from the 32 mg cohort, are now expected in the second half of 2020.

Investor Conference Call and WebcastWave management will host an investor conference call today at 8:00 a.m. ET to discuss these topline results. The conference call may be accessed by dialing (866) 220-8068 for participants based in the United States or +1 (470) 495-9153 for participants based outside the United States and entering conference ID 9594572. The live webcast may be accessed by visiting the investor relations section of the Wave Life Sciences corporate website at http://www.ir.wavelifesciences.com. Following the webcast, a replay will be available on the website.

About Huntingtons Disease Huntingtons disease (HD) is a debilitating and ultimately fatal autosomal dominant neurological disorder, characterized by cognitive decline, psychiatric illness and chorea. HD causes nerve cells in the brain to deteriorate over time, affecting thinking ability, emotions and movement. HD is caused by an expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) triplet repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) gene that results in production of mutant HTT (mHTT) protein. Accumulation of mutant HTT causes progressive loss of neurons in the brain. Wild-type, or healthy, HTT (wtHTT) protein is critical for neuronal function and suppression may have detrimental long-term consequences. Approximately 30,000 people in the United States have symptomatic HD and more than 200,000 others are at risk for inheriting the disease. There are currently no approved disease-modifying therapies available.

About WVE-120101 and WVE-120102WVE-120101 and WVE-120102 are investigational stereopure antisense oligonucleotides designed to selectively target the mutant huntingtin (mHTT) mRNA transcript of SNP rs362307 (SNP1) and SNP rs362331 (SNP2), respectively. SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, are naturally occurring variations within a given genetic sequence and in certain instances can be used to distinguish between two related copies of a gene where only one is associated with the expression of a disease-causing protein.

In vitro studies in patient-derived cell lines have shown that WVE-120101 and WVE-120102 selectively reduce levels of mHTT mRNA transcript and protein, while leaving wild-type, or healthy, HTT mRNA transcript and protein relatively intact. The healthy transcript is required to produce wild-type HTT (wtHTT) protein, which is important for neuronal function, as evidenced by multiple preclinical studies indicating that long-term suppression of wtHTT protein may have detrimental consequences. Waves allele-specific approach may also enable the company to address the pre-manifest, or asymptomatic, HD patient population in the future.

About Wave Life Sciences Wave Life Sciences (Nasdaq: WVE) is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company committed to delivering life-changing treatments for people battling devastating diseases. Wave aspires to develop best-in-class medicines across multiple therapeutic modalities using PRISM, the companys proprietary discovery and drug development platform that enables the precise design, optimization and production of stereopure oligonucleotides. Driven by a resolute sense of urgency, the Wave team is targeting a broad range of genetically defined diseases so that patients and families may realize a brighter future. To find out more, please visit http://www.wavelifesciences.comand follow Wave on Twitter @WaveLifeSci.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements concerning our goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives and plans, and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts, including statements regarding the following, among others: our commitment to advancing genetic medicines; our intent to add higher dose cohorts to PRECISION-HD2, including our plans to initiate a 32 mg cohort in January 2020 and to report that data in the second half of 2020; our intent to add higher dose cohorts to the Precision-HD1 trial, including a 32 mg cohort, and to report topline results from PRECISION-HD1, including those from the 32 mg cohort, in the second half of 2020; our ability to deliver on the promise of our current and future pipeline; the future performance and results of our programs in clinical trials and in preclinical development; and the benefit of nucleic acid therapeutics generally. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the following: our ability to finance our drug discovery and development efforts and to raise additional capital when needed; the ability of our preclinical programs to produce data sufficient to support our clinical trial applications and the timing thereof; our ability to continue to build and maintain the company infrastructure and personnel needed to achieve our goals; the clinical results of our programs, which may not support further development of product candidates; actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of clinical trials; our effectiveness in managing future clinical trials and regulatory processes; the effectiveness of PRISM; the continued development and acceptance of oligonucleotides as a class of medicines; our ability to demonstrate the therapeutic benefits of our candidates in clinical trials, including our ability to develop candidates across multiple therapeutic modalities; our dependence on third parties, including contract research organizations, contract manufacturing organizations, collaborators and partners; our ability to manufacture or contract with third parties to manufacture drug material to support our programs and growth; our ability to obtain, maintain and protect intellectual property; our ability to enforce our patents against infringers and defend our patent portfolio against challenges from third parties; and competition from others developing therapies for similar uses, as well as the information under the caption Risk Factors contained in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in other filings we make with the SEC from time to time. We undertake no obligation to update the information contained in this press release to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.

Investor Contact:Kate Rausch617-949-4827krausch@wavelifesci.com

Media Contact:Alicia Suter617-949-4817asuter@wavelifesci.com

Patient Contact:Nikki Levy617-475-7236nlevy@wavelifesci.com

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Wave Life Sciences Announces Topline Data and Addition of Higher Dose Cohort in Ongoing Phase 1b/2a PRECISION-HD2 Trial in Huntington's Disease -...

The global CNS Gene Therapy Market reached ~US$ xx Mn in 2019 and is anticipated grow at a CAGR of xx% over the forecast period 2018 2028. The business intelligence study of the CNS Gene Therapy Market covers the estimation size of the market both in terms of value (Mn/Bn USD) and volume (x units).

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CNS Gene Therapy Market To Boost Demand And Forecast In Upcoming Year 2018 2028 - Market Reports Observer

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The report has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the Precision Cancer Therapiesmarketcollected from specialized sources. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players. company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, new project launched, recent development analysis are the parameters included in the profile.

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Exclusive Research on Precision Cancer Therapies Market 2019-2025 Industry Growth Prospects by Key Companies Abbott Laboratories, Bayer HealthCare,...

A sugar stat to swallow: along with acne, weight gain, and mood swings, sugar can also play a part in triggering painful headaches.

You might assume they're triggered by too much sugar at one time (and you're actually right), but consuming too little sugar can also contribute to the problem, Dr. Anisha Patel, DO of Medical Offices of Manhattan, explains.

"Sugar-related headaches come from a rapid swing in your blood sugar level," Dr. Patel notes. "So it's not actually the sugar itself that causes the headache but the quick change in consumption."

That could explain why you might have experienced a headache after, say, intermittent fasting or eating a large bowl of ice cream with plenty of fudge topping.

According to Dr. Patel, glucose level fluctuations affect your brain more than any other organ, and it's normal for someone without a medical condition to experience a headache under these types of conditions.

Sugar-related headaches could also be symptoms related to hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, which Dr. Patel says aren't diseases themselves but rather symptoms or indicators of a larger health problem.

Blood sugar dropping too low is known as hypoglycemia, which "can be caused by sugar withdrawals caused by very strict dieting (especially when the diet involves skipping meals), and delayed or irregular meals," Dr. Eric Ascher, DO, Family Medicine Physician at Northwell Health, explains.

"You may experience fatigue, moments of confusion, lightheadedness, and weakness, and many will complain of a headache sometimes migraine-like in nature. Although rare, if your body experiences hypoglycemia for too long, you are at risk for coma and death."

Dr. Patel adds that hypoglycemia is often associated with diabetes treatment and can also be a side effect although rare of medication, alcohol consumption, severe liver illnesses, or hormone deficiencies.

"If you think you're experiencing a hypoglycemic attack, you should go to the doctor immediately," Dr. Patel says. "Those with diabetes or hormone deficiencies should consult their physicians about long-term symptom relief plans, which generally include a structured diet."

Then there's a condition called "reactive hypoglycemia," more informally dubbed as "the sugar hangover."

"When we eat a carb-heavy or sugar-overloaded meal especially if our body is unfamiliar with that much glucose, our body will supply a rush of insulin to help combat all that excess sugar that is shocking our bodies," Dr. Ascher explains. "Sometimes this may cause glucose levels to abruptly drop really low. This may cause hypoglycemia-like symptoms. Perhaps that is why you feel drained after a meal that concludes with a rich and heavy dessert."

On the opposite side of the sugar spectrum is hyperglycemia, which could also result in headaches. "Hyperglycemia occurs when the body is not producing or using enough insulin, the hormone that absorbs glucose into cells to be used for energy," Dr. Patel says. She adds that this is typically seen in diabetics.

However, Dr. Ascher says if your headaches are associated with increased thirst, increased urination, and blurred vision, you should speak with your doctor so they can monitor your blood glucose levels.

It's important to note that Dr. Ascher says that nondiabetic individuals normally have ebbs and flows in glycemic levels, as the body has capabilities to deal with these fluctuations; however, those with diabetes need extra support with medication.

If you think you have a sugar headache that is related to diabetes, hypoglycemia, or hyperglycemia or simply deal with these headaches often you should reach out to your doctor.

It's also important to take into consideration what else you ate prior to this headache popping up.

"Some people find that certain foods cause headaches, like chocolate and caffeine," Jeff McGrath, RD at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York, says. "Foods containing chocolate and caffeine often have added sugar, and one might falsely accuse the added sugar of being the headache-causing agent."

If you do have a headache due to too much sugar, McGrath says to stop eating sugar for the rest of the day and to consider limiting your daily sugar intake moving forward.

"Experts recommend limiting your sugar intake to less than 10 percent of your daily caloric allowance (15 grams of sugar provides 60 calories, for reference). Otherwise, to reduce headaches, try to stay hydrated and limit alcohol consumption, especially at your holiday parties and gatherings."

Click here for more health and wellness stories, tips, and news.

Image Source: Getty Images / PeopleImages

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Sugar-Related Headaches Are Real Heres How It Happens - POPSUGAR

Falls are a risk for everyone during slushy winter months, but the risk is especially high for people with cancer. Memorial Sloan Kettering physical therapist Jillian Hobson walks readers through what they can do to minimize the chance of falling.

Why are people with cancer prone to falls?Older adults with a history of cancer have anywhere between a 15% and 20% greater risk of falling compared to the general population of adults age 65 or older. Thats because cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, can cause side effects that increase the risk of falls. These include weight loss, muscle weakness, numbness or tingling in the feet, dizziness, changes in eyesight and fatigue. When you lose sensation in your feet, for example, its harder to find your balance during challenging situations, such as walking on a slippery sidewalk. Its harder to know how to find your center of gravity.

Are there warning signs that a person may be at a greater risk for a fall?There are several behaviors that suggest a person with a history of cancer may be at a greater risk for falling. The person may rely on furniture and walls for support when walking around the house. They may trip or have times when they almost fall. Someone who has fallen in the past or is at risk for falling may also avoid crowded environments, such as busy sidewalks, the grocery store or other peoples homes. At MSK, outpatient physical therapists ask every patient, regardless of age, Have you fallen in the past 12 months? If they say yes, we try to prevent it from happening again.

What steps can people take to minimize their risk of falling?There are many. First, secure throw rugs to the floor with nonslip backing. Clear hallways of clutter, and consider installing handrails in the bathroom or for outdoor stairs. Formulate a plan for snow removal during the winter, preferably before snow starts. During the winter, wear boots with good traction. People who are concerned about falling or have fallen in the past should speak to their doctor to see if physical therapy could help.

What should someone do in the event of a fall?Today, there are many smartphone apps that can signal a fall to emergency responders. Some smartwatches also have an alert system that can tell when a fall has taken place and can call 911 for you if you are unable. Its important that your cell phone stays with you at all times and stays on in case of an emergency.

In the event of a fall, people should contact their medical team immediately to determine if they need follow-up care or a referral to physical therapy. If physical therapy is recommended, the physical therapist will identify exercises that promote improved balance, strength and stability. And because falls are not entirely preventable, a physical therapist will also teach strategies for safely getting up from the floor if a fall occurs.

Information provided by MSK (Information) is not intended as a substitute for medical professional help or advice but is to be used only as an educational aid in understanding current medical knowledge. A physician should always be consulted for any health problem or medical condition. Use of the Information is further subject toMSKs Website Terms and Conditions.

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Winter Is Coming: How People with Cancer Can Prevent Slips and Falls - Curetoday.com

captionChildren, teens, and people at risk of heart rhythm problems should not try the keto diet.sourceBURCU ATALAY TANKUT/Getty Images

Compared to the low-fat craze in the 90s, the keto diet seems to go against all diet logic. Because instead of cutting out fat, you eat large amounts of it for every meal.

And research shows that this diet can be effective and help fight diseases related to obesity. That said, the keto diet is not for everyone. Heres what you need to know.

The ketogenic diet was first introduced in the 1920s as a way to treat epilepsy, a seizure disorder. Medical professionals used the diet for two decades until modern epilepsy drugs were developed and it fell out of favor by the 1950s.

That was it for the keto diet for over half a century. Then, about 15 years ago, the diet reemerged. This time as a treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

But even people who are not obese or have type 2 diabetes have adopted the keto diet at some point, including celebrities like Halle Berry, Vaness Hudgens, and LeBron James.

The way it works is that you eat mostly fat and very few carbohydrates. A typical keto diet consists of 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs. Compared to the average American diet which is 33% fat, 16% protein, and 51% carbs. On keto, common foods include:

When you follow the keto diet, your body stops relying on carbs as the main source of energy, which sends your body into ketosis. Ketosis is when your metabolism changes to burn fat for energy instead. This can lead to a loss of body fat, which can help prevent or improve medical conditions related to obesity like type 2 diabetes.

Thats because, on keto, your body may also become more sensitive to insulin, a hormone that helps balance your blood sugar. A 2017 review of nine studies found that people with type 2 diabetes on a low-carb diet generally could control their blood glucose levels better than diabetes patients on either a normal or high-carb diet.

When following the keto diet, weight loss can vary from person to person, says Jeff Volek, a registered dietitian and professor at Ohio State University. When people with excess weight start a ketogenic diet, they typically lose about 6 to 8 pounds the first week, then about 1 to 2 pounds per week thereafter, Volek says.

However, some people who go on keto reportedly suffer from some initial side effects including:

The initial weight loss is partly due to losing water weight because you tend to retain less water on a low-carb diet. And some studies suggest that you may not continue to lose weight on keto long-term. Some call this the keto plateau which is when you stop losing weight altogether.

Volek says that the keto diet is safe for many people to try and that it may mimic the way early humans ate. However, Volek says that in some cases, you should proceed with caution. If you have diabetes and are using diabetes medications to control blood sugar, you should work closely with your physician in order to adjust medications appropriately.

The keto diet can be very restrictive and may be difficult for people to stick to, says Little. The average healthy person probably does not need to follow a keto diet but they could probably benefit from reducing their intake of refined/processed carbohydrates.

Keto isnt necessarily for everyone. Take kids, for example. Nutritionists recently told Insider that putting children or teens on the keto diet or basically any restrictive diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies and eating disorders.

Moreover, keto isnt great long-term if you have, or are at risk of, heart rhythm problems. A large 2019 study, published by the American College of Cardiology, that involved medical records of nearly 14,000 people reported that people who dont consume many grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables for years at a time, are at a higher risk of developing a heart condition called AFib.

Even if youre otherwise healthy, long-term keto could lead to vitamin B and C deficiencies, since many foods rich in these vitamins like beans, legumes, and fruit are also high in carbs. And if youre not getting the right nutrients, keto may actually lead you to gain weight, not lose it.

Bottom line: The keto diet is not for everyone and you should speak with a certified nutritionist before starting it, especially if you have a medical condition that the diet may affect.

See more here:
Everything you need to know about the keto diet - Business Insider

The first time I held my niece, it confirmed something I had been unsure about for over two decades: I wanted to become a parent. I was 31. The average age of first-time mothers in Canada is about 30. Nothing very out of the ordinary, right?

But, I had medically transitioned years ago. I had been on testosterone injections for seven years and had masculinizing chest surgery. My transition felt complete. Perhaps this is why I could begin to envision myself as a parent a father.

Kinnon MacKinnonMy fertility preservation journey took almost two years just to get started.

In theory, I could probably become physically pregnant if I discontinued testosterone, but it wasnt something I felt very open to though plenty of incredible men do carry their own children.

Fertility preservation seemed like a good option for me. I was about halfway into a PhD program and didnt want to take a parental leave. To give myself some more time and options, I decided to freeze my eggs.

I had also just learned that the Ontario Ministry of Health was funding fertility preservation for trans people through the Ontario Fertility Program (OFP). But I had reservations would my eggs still be good after all those years of weekly testosterone injections?

I made a visit to my family doctor, who specializes in trans care. She assured me that there is no clear evidence that testosterone negatively impacts egg reserve or egg quality. A recent study seems to confirm this, but more research is needed.

My doctor recommended a few fertility clinics in Toronto that had good reputations for working with LGBTQ people. I was referred to the Mount Sinai Fertility Clinic. I felt hopeful.

I was 31 when I had my initial consultation. By the time my name made it to the top of the list for funded fertility preservation, I was nearly 33.

For some trans people, fertility preservation is an important component of transition-related care. Psychologist and professor Dr. Damien Riggs believes that fertility preservation is a reproductive right for trans people.

A 2017 survey found that 97 per cent of trans people living in Toronto felt that they should be offered fertility preservation prior to beginning hormone therapy. The same survey found that only three per cent had banked sperm or eggs.

The most common barrier noted: Cost.

Ontarians receive provincially funded fertility preservation, while those who live in Nova Scotia (my home province) are on their own coverage varies by province. This inconsistent access to care simply isnt fair.

In regions lacking coverage virtually everywhere outside Ontario out-of-pocket expenses for egg retrieval and its associated medications often exceed $10,000. This price tag skyrockets when the procedure needs to be repeated to retrieve the number of eggs statistically likely to result in a live birth.

UniversalImagesGroup via Getty ImagesCosts for egg retrieval are out of reach for many Canadians. Stock image.

Tax credits are available in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Quebec, but the services must be paid for up front. This constitutes a major financial barrier for the majority of Canadians who would not have a $10,000 (or more) rainy day fertility fund.

On the surface, freezing sperm seems more manageable (under $1,000). But paying storage fees, whether for eggs or sperm, adds up. Yearly storage fees can vary and are not covered by the OFP. I paid $300 in 2018. I paid another $300 in 2019.

These costs are out of reach for the many trans Canadians, who live in poverty due to rampant employment discrimination.

When I first started transitioning nine years ago, I remember my university health clinic physician encouraging me to think about fertility preservation options. This is considered standard medical practice with trans people who are considering hormone therapy or lower surgeries today.

At the time, delaying starting testosterone by another several months for egg retrieval felt impossible. For trans people beginning medical transition, this can feel like having to choose between fertility or transition.

Im fortunate that going off testosterone to prepare for egg retrieval was not difficult for me, emotionally, psychologically or otherwise. I knew it would be time-limited, and it was for a worthwhile cause.

However, its good practice to assume that discontinuing hormone therapy may be hard for myriad reasons, even when self-motivated by the idea of one day becoming a parent. Health-care providers should be mindful of, and responsive to, this reality, and the many other challenges that LGBTQ people experience with respect to fertility.

Once my ovulation cycle resumed, my fertility treatment resembled that of a cisgender female. I began medications that stimulated my ovaries. I also had regular bloodwork and ovarian follicle tracking to see how many follicles were growing.

Many people report symptoms of hormonal mood issues when taking fertility drugs. This was not the case for me. I did have a difficult time with the daily subcutaneous injections into my stomach, however. After years of weekly testosterone injections, I was confident they would be a total breeze. I was wrong.

The actual egg retrieval was the hardest part of the entire experience. I anticipated discomfort it was agony. I was right to shy away from pregnancy. I was not built for the pain of childbirth! But the procedure was over quickly. Thankfully, my partner was at my side the whole time. Relative to the procedure, the recovery was simple and painless.

Despite seven years of testosterone, the eggs we retrieved went on to produce high-quality embryos. We now have several frozen embryos rated AA, the best possible score, ready for whenever we are.

UniversalImagesGroup via Getty ImagesWith high-quality embryos frozen for preservation, my partner and I have more options to start a family. Stock image.

So, to transmasculine people out there: do not let concerns about testosterone treatment deter you from egg retrieval. Age, overall health and genetic factors might be better predictors of egg quality and fertility.

For me, egg retrieval was largely a positive experience. But this didnt happen through luck alone. It started with Ontarios policy decision to fund fertility preservation procedures, and continued through to the trans-inclusive medical care I received at my primary care provider and the fertility clinic.

I asked Nurse Practitioner Eileen McMahon, who coordinated all aspects of my fertility care at Mount Sinai, what the clinic did to improve their capacity to work with trans people like me. She told me they had created a trans community advisory committee who made several suggestions. Following the advisory committees lead, the clinic provided trans-inclusion training to all staff; revised clinic intake and consent forms; and updated their website and patient handouts to be inclusive of diverse gender identities, bodies, sexualities and relationships.

This is the kind of care and attention that trans people need and deserve in fertility clinics and, more broadly, in all health and social services.

As a patient on the receiving end, I couldnt help but wonder how things could have turned out differently if I had wound up at a clinic that hadnt been so sensitive to my needs. If I had been misgendered upon arrival at the clinic, could I have seen the process through to the end? While I dont have a clear answer, I do feel grateful for the experience that I did have.

After completing egg retrieval and creating embryos, my partner and I now have more options to eventually start a family one day.

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Not All Trans People Have Access To Freezing Embryos. I Am One Of The Lucky Ones. - HuffPost Canada

December 24, 2019 Cover

The Laughlin resorts offer a variety of dining and entertainment specials for New Years Eve.

Long before there was Motown, several black groups in the early 1950s struggled to make a difference on the music scene. To a world dominated by white artists, the deep soulful harmonies and soaring vocals of R&B were a little unsettling. The powerful music couldnt be ignored for very long, simply because it was that good. Proving that point on every level The Platters.

When Jazzin' Jeanne Brei decided to call her group The Speakeasy Swingers, it seems appropriate for the kind of vintage song and dance shows they deliver, or so one would think.Yet people in a younger age bracket didnt know what a speakeasy was, while others idea of swinging had nothing at all to do with dancing. A speakeasy used to mean an illicit establishment that sold illegal alcoholic beverages mostly during the Prohibition era in the 1930s, when the music was usually jazz-tinged and the dancing and fashion was considered a bit risqu for the time.

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons are still in high demand. Even in their soaring Sherry days, Valli and his Seasons werent stars of Broadway and subjects of a marquee show in Vegas. But thanks to the musical Jersey Boys, Valli and the Four Seasons have become cultural icons and subjects of art as well as artists themselves.There is a tribute show making a return visit for a series of shows Thursday-Monday, Dec. 26-30 (8 p.m.) at Harrahs Laughlin that goes after some of that Four Seasons magic in the form of a tribute show called Oh What A Night!

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Baby-led weaning can be a confusing and complicated process. When Juno DeMelo's daughter went from drinking almost a liter of breastmilk a day to wanting nothing to do with it, the new mom was left physically and emotionally unmoored.

The first time I stuffed my bra was in middle school. It was actually a swimsuit, and I used shoulder pads that I had to keep wringing out by crossing my arms. The second time, I was of advanced maternal age, and I lined my nursing bra with cabbage leaves.

I was already popping maximum-strength Sudafed and chugging peppermint tea to cut off my milk supply. By that point Id been breastfeeding for almost a year, and my output was nourishing not just my daughter but also an adopted infant and the preemie recipients of my frequent donations to the local milk bank.

At first, I had trouble getting any milk to come out. For close to a week, I produced only colostrum, and despite the lactation consultants reassurance that newborns stomachs are the size of a walnut, I feared my daughter, Margot, was starving.

I struggled despite the fact that Id taken an all-day breastfeeding class and read a 352-page book that laid out breastfeeding in seven easy steps. I flailed even though I set up my pump while I was still pregnant and bought a nursing pillow called My Brest Friend. In the hospital, I received hands-on coaching from a nurse who made my nipple into a supposed sandwich. Everyone stood around in the hospital room watching the frog baby whod just emerged from my vagina covered in slime try to suck on the one sexualized body part that hadnt yet been mommified (its worth noting that spell check would like this to say mummified).

And then, on day seven, we achieved liftoff. It finally rainedand then it poured. My boobs ballooned to an F cup. Margot started nursing for eight hours a day, according to the app I used to time how long she spent on each side. When I pumped, I would fill two, sometimes three, bottles, a freakish amount. (Breastfed babies take in an average of 25 ounces of breast milk over the course of a day. I once pumped 16 ounces before 6 a.m.) I froze the extra milk in bags, dated and labeled with the number of ounces they contained.

I got clogged ducts that made it feel like someone had slipped dice into my breast tissue. I shoved heart-shaped reusable bamboo pads into my bras, which were already bursting at the seams. I soaked through them, so I switched to disposable ones with waterproof backings that crinkled every time I moved. I woke up each morning looking like Id slipped my pajama shirt on over a wet bikini top. Nonetheless, I kept at it. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding until one one year. Determined to do motherhood right, I made this my goal. Well ahead of reaching it, though, I began worrying about having to hurry Margot along to the next milestone.

Even as an egg, her pace had never matched mine. It had taken me forever to get my period again after going off of birth control, then long enough to get pregnant that I made a fertility appointment I cancelled at the last minute, after finally seeing a blue line on the pregnancy strips Id bulk-ordered from Amazon.

I didnt start getting contractions until five days after my due date, and my labor lasted 20 hours, ending only when my OB-GYN plunged Margot out by the head. Margot nursed leisurely, taking long, slow gulps for half an hour long after everyone said she would speed up.

So when she refused to nurse one evening around 10 months old, I chalked it up to a fluke, probably an illness, definitely not a sudden spurt of baby-led weaning. By that point Margot had already had two bouts of hand-foot-mouth disease, bronchiolitis that landed her in the emergency room, and a weeks-long spell of projectile vomitingat a baby shower, birthday party, and restauranttriggered by anything that wasnt breast milk. We had ointments and drops for eczema, pink eye, and diaper rash. We were intimately acquainted with the thermometer and a plastic contraption that allowed us to suck the mucus out of her nose using the force of our breath. What fresh hell is this? is something I asked myself often.

When she refused to nurse one evening around 10 months old, I chalked it up to a fluke, probably an illness, definitely not a sudden spurt of baby-led weaning.

My husband wondered whether Margot, crying hysterically by this point, had broken a bone, thats how surprising it was when she refused to nurse. The mom friends I met that night for dinner had another idea.

Well, shes done breastfeeding, one said. Mine started to lose interest around this age too.

They were mothers of two, more experienced and less fazed by the unexpected than I was. My baby, I insisted, was not theirs. Our bond was an airtight latch between rosebud mouth and nipple. There was no slow leak, and there was certainly no precedent of what amounted to a sudden flat tire on the freeway.

The next morning, I pumped before going to the gym, and my husband gave Margot the breast milk in a bottle. Then we packed up the car for our first road trip, to the Oregon coast. She slept most of the way, waking up just as we pulled onto the unpaved road leading to our cabin.

Ingrid Frahm, Getty Images

We were, as was my wont, early. The woman cleaning the place suggested we kill time by checking out the beach. It was a short, steep hike away, down a dirt path lined with blackberries we popped into our mouths as we walked. When we got to the shore, I plopped down on a piece of driftwood and pulled out my boob. Id seen friends doing this on Instagram, nursing on grey, deserted Oregon beaches. I felt like Margots trusty goatskin of cold white wine.

But her mouth, stained purple, would not open. She thrashed around as if my nipple were antimagnetic. Seagulls were squawking, waves were crashing, and it was, as it always is on Oregon beaches, cold and windy. How can someone concentrate under these circumstances? I asked myself. A small part of me, though, started to worry my friends were right.

We walked back to the house, and a few hours later, I tried nursing Margot again on the couch, facing the ocean. She looked at my nipple as if shed never seen it before, plucked at it with her tiny fingers, and laughed. I was fucked.

She looked at my nipple as if shed never seen it before, plucked at it with her tiny fingers, and laughed.

Already, my milk felt like Tetris blocks stacking up with alarming quickness in my boobs. I texted my mom friends that they had, in fact, told me so. They replied telling me to go cold turkey in order to shut down my supply ASAP. They tried to contextualize my shock and prepare me for more of it.

Think of how many times our kids will do something were not ready for between now and when they go to college! one wrote.

Oh, God, just think. After running ahead and doubling back for so long, Id finally been left in the dust by Margot. How else would she surprise me? And how could I, someone who cannot float down a river without trying to use my flip-flops to steer myself into the current the whole time, learn to go with a flow that trickled and then gushed and now needed to be dammed? Id hurried Margot all her short life, worried shed get left behind, or more accurately, that shed slow me down. I wanted her to hit one developmental benchmark after another ahead of schedule, untilwhat, she leaves the house the day she turns 18? She gets to her grave? She buries me in mine?

I couldnt control Margot or myself. After tracking my ovulation for over a year, spending 10 months pregnant, and then nursing for nearly another year, Id looked forward to the end of nursing as the opportunity to get my body back. But my body kept doing its own thing. I couldnt keep it from making milk, which a physician assistant warned me could continue for up to a year. My identity was shifting yet again, from possibly infertile to with-child to milk machine to something akin to a used condom, and it was disorienting. My daughter had outgrown me literally overnight, and my torn and leaking body was outlasting its utility. Shed been ripped from my body a second time, only this time shed done the ripping, and that hurt worse.

My daughter had outgrown me literally overnight, and my torn and leaking body was outlasting its utility.

I called my hospitals mother-baby center, which had been incredibly helpful to me when I was struggling to breastfeed. The woman who answered sounded stunned that anyone could need help quitting their goal, as if I were trying to get less fit. Maybe its because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is working to get the proportion of infants who are breastfed at one year up to (a mere) 34.1 percent.

A lot of my friends breastfed for that long, but 60 percent of moms quit sooner than theyd intended to. Some never really like it as much as they wish they did. Others dont have time to pump once they go back to work, or their milk dries up, or their babies never latch properly.

No matter when they quit or why, most breastfeeding mothers feel conflicted. The emotions around weaning are layered and nuanced and can be contradictory, says Pooja Lakshmin, M.D., a reproductive psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine. You can be joyful that you have your body back to yourself, but you could also have grief about not having that close, connected time with your infant.

One thing thats fairly universal: The belief that breast is best. The whole birth-industrial complex is devoted to women only so long as theyre doing whats best for their babies. Youre a relative princess when youre pregnant. Other people carry your bags. You have a dedicated clinician who sees you every week toward the end of your pregnancy, and, if youre lucky, a lactation consultant.

The problem is that no one is there to help you dismantle all the scaffolding youve built to support another human being. Postpartum, you carry the bags and the baby. No one much cares about your hemorrhoids or lower back pain or stretch marks or infected boobs that are causing a fever to spread throughout your body. You have a six-week follow-up, and they send you on your way. You have a baby, and that is your reward and your curse.

The medical community and our culture tends to talk more about babies than women around the transition to motherhood, says Alexandra Sacks, M.D., a reproductive psychiatrist and the host of the Motherhood Sessions podcast. Weaning is a continued time where discussion about the babys health and wellness dominates the conversation.

I was lucky that I could turn to my friends, but still, none of them brought up weaning until I did. I tried to dig up studies and found very few. Even the mom blogs were relatively mum on the topic. One explanation: Its assumed that weaning is easy or that it just happens, when in fact its quite a complicated process, says Lakshmin. I also think theres so much guilt and shame and pressure around breastfeeding conversations, the decision to stop might be one that women feel badly about it, or they worry theyll be judged.

Its assumed that weaning is easy or that it just happens, when in fact its quite a complicated process.

With little to go on, I pumped a tiny bit when my boobs felt like they might explode and suffered through the uncomfortable fullness the rest of the time. I tried drugs and herbs and vegetable poultices. I squeezed my extra ample bosom between the straps of a hiking carrier so we could march along the coastline with Margot. I offered her pouches of purplish sludge instead of nursing her when she fussed.

We returned home in the middle of a Tuesday. I walked in the door and couldnt decide what to put down first or where. I felt paralyzed and hot and unmoored. My levels of the feel-good hormones oxytocin and prolactin were plunging, bringing back the horrible anxiety Id felt postpartum.

For a long time, I tried to understand why no one told me the truth about birth. (Sacks actually co-wrote a book called What No One Tells You. The mothers emotional experience is under-discussed, she says. Youre not alone in feeling that you wish there had been more open education about the transition.) Were they keeping their experiences to themselves, or were theirs just less traumatic than mine? I wondered the same thing about weaning.

It turns out it isnt just different for different women, its also felt differently on a hormonal level. Theres a subset of women who are much more sensitive to hormone changes than others, whether theyre on their period, pregnant, breastfeeding, or weaning, explains Lakshmin. So theres a huge variation, which is why some women had a horrible time with weaning, and for others it was a nonevent.

Eventually, it did become a nonevent. I gave my pump to one friend and my nursing bras to another. As my milk began to dry up, my boobs swam a little in my old underwire bras. There was enough room in there for shoulder pads or cabbage leaves. Theyd once been bigger than a newborns head and just as round and hard. Now they were floppy and soft, dual Velveteen Rabbits.

We worked our way through all the frozen breast milk and transitioned Margot to cows milk, which we started sending in her lunchbox to Montessori. Her teacher poured it into a little metal condiment cup she still drinks from with two hands, as if its a chalice. For a long time, Margot would cry at drop-off, but she grew to look only a little nervous. She sat herself on a child-size wooden bench to remove her shoes, and when she did this, she looked like a tiny woman awaiting a train she wasnt sure she wanted to take.

On Fridays, Montessori serves banana waffles for second breakfast. One day, when I dropped Margot off, she made a beeline for her teacher, an unflappable woman with dark hair I often turn to for parenting advice. Margot softly touched her teachers knee and turned around to look at me, still in her rain jacket, her hair a wild nest of curls she wont let me put in a ponytail. It was all Id hoped for when she was an infant: walking, solid food, a good head of hair, independence. I stood there in my slightly too-big bra, holding a Neoprene lunch sack with a bottle of milk in it, stunned again to be left behind, in a position I longed for but never could envision actually arriving at, again.

Read more here:
How to Wean When Your Baby Stops Breastfeeding - HarpersBAZAAR.com

Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living (Max, 1852/1970:15).

If we must understand the possible future direction of the society and make it under circumstances directly encountered from the past as said by Marx, we must therefore attune to dig deeper into the current trends of nature. With this, and digging deeper into the past and microscoping the current trend of Liberia, once can safely conclude that George Weah and his cabal of state looters are product of historical accident.

Noting to argue. The ascendancy of the current regime is an historical accidental packaged and imposed on the people by their class oppressors. Of course, that element is Madam Ellen Johnson Sireleaf. The Sirleafs then used the anger of the people and bought their ignorance of governance to further protect she and her cryonics. It then became a necessity to the people to throw Liberia to the dogs. As it stands, we cant locate the flash neither the bones of the States.

It is now palpable that the current intense human suffering and the crumbled economic structures coupled with an unworkable policy of the Weahs government is nothing for him to worry on. He sees them as irrelevant and trivial to issues for us it is not a surprise; we saw him long ago as a carpenter captaining a cargo ship over a deep sea. In the midst harden poverty, this President took the airwave only to tell the people how he and some politicians eat at one another house a total display of immense leadership tragedy.

Nearly two years as President of the State, he further exposed his least understanding of complicated governance issues especially in a troubling economic and political time like ours. This President, who has only spoken to the People through a prerecorded and edited audio since his ascendency to the highest seat of the motherland, took the airwave on Friday, December 20, 2019 and spewed out compiled gibberish to an unimaginable zenith. The interview was nothing but a serious national embarrassment with an irreplaceable damage to the image of State. It further validates our consistent argument that President Weah swims in idea and leadership insolvency We still doubt that this bankruptcy is even repairable.

With this, go with us as we dig into Mr. Weahs interview. Comrades, people are laid off, wages has being unreasonably reduced and persistently delayed , inflation is an all-time high of 31.30 percent as of August 2019, and the citizens are struggling to cope with prices of commodities as they keep sky-rocketing with all of these, the President seems not be in control. To him the economy pitfall is a nature force; the crises are therefore normal as stated by him during his interview.

Such statement that the current crisis of the state is normal sounds hysterical and irreverent to mass of the struggling people who has been relegated further to the dungeon of unrecoverable poverty by Mr. George Weah and his gang of incompetent bigots. Mr. Weah need to know that no crises in human history are normal. All crises are initiated by enforcing contradictions and other imposing conditions that act on the existing condition. Therefore, the prevailing economic condition of the state is not normal. It is a condition melted on our people by you and your predecessor. It has become complicated due to the inability of your Administration to find a genuine solution we therefore reject your claim that the current situation of the State is normal.

In a country where the leaders lives with deceptions, it signifies dancing on a rope over a deadly valley. President Weah is that character; He is dangling in blatant falsehood and diabolical deceptions. He has chosen to run the nation as gangster paradise. He befriends corruption with smile and openly frowns on transparency. He parades with lies and Pompousness while milking the sucking the resources of the State an outcome of chosen an inexperienced carpenter to captain a cargo ship over a deep sea. Indeed, the result will be nothing but a disaster.

Mr. President, you are noted for poor proper recollection of the past. We can therefore not get tire reminding you. On January 22, 2018 delivering your first Legislature agenda to the 54th Legislature in the Joint Chambers of the Capitol, you asserted that the countrys economy is broken and by extension the government. On the contrary, your predecessor Madam Sirleaf debunked you on February 13, 2018 that the National Coffers are not empty. With this response, your government is yet to respond to Madam Sirleaf neither have you commissioned a comprehensive audit of her regime.

Another lie pulled out shamelessly by the president is the circumstances surrounding the missing sixteen billion Liberia Dollars and the twenty-five millions United States Dollars misapplied by him and Samuel Tweh. He stated in his interview that the L$16billion came in the country but not under his administration. Here again, we see the President as messenger of lies abusing the patience of the People. How can President Weah tell the public that his administration never received 16 billion when said funds was taken from the Freeport of Monrovia on March 2, 2018? Is this not him who was inaugurated on January 22, 2018 as the President of Liberia? Of course, it is Mr. Weah. Again, we hold Weah and his gang of looters solely responsible for our missing billions. He is the chief culprit, noting cant convince us that President Weaah and the CDC are innocent of our missing billion not even an adapted report that was intended to seizure him from public persecution.

The Presidents interview was just outrageous as the existing contradictions under his Administration. The President sat on the radio and rang praises on a Samuel Tweh, the man who looted US$ 25 million. And this President wants us to believe that the current economic crisis is normal. No, it is not. How can you choose to protect a certified thief who manages the fiscal affairs of the State and wants the citizens to believe that the current economic crisis is normal this is a total mockery!

The President claims that people dont have confidence in the banks. You want the people to trust a system that does not meet up with their demand. In the midst of an unbearable hardship, you create an artificial shortage of money to make the citizens feel that there is true shortage of Liberian dollars. The Banks are holding on to the people money they are losing their friends and relative to death, starvation is eating up people, their kids are thrown out of school, they cant respond to their daily economic demand and you want them to trust this system that does not work for the poor. Mr. President, it is now time that you transition from comicality to puffer a matured statesmanship. Governing a State like Liberia is not the same as pushing a round object for ninety minutes.

When the country has an excessively corrupt and dysfunctional system, the president becomes the chief priest of lies and messenger of hate President Weah is indeed a chief priest of falsehood, his tongue dances better than his legs. On his recent interview, he said his government does not support war and economy crime court. On the contrary, this same president wrote the National Legislature on September 12, 2019 asking them to provide guidance on all Legislative and other necessary measures towards the implementation of the Truth & Reconciliation (TRC) report, including the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court. This same president repeated his call for war and economic crimes courts when he addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly in September of this year. Again, we can say his recent rejection to bring the perpetrators of crime against humanity to justice by establishing the War and Economic Crime Courts proves that Mr. Weah does act on facts but instant and emotion that dictate to his current position thee impact of his decision is never a concern to him.

Comrades, Mr. Weah and the CDC have plundered the state into mess. He cant escape his indictment in the court of public persecution. He must account; the time is not what matters. The present condition will inform the next move of the people. It is a fact, Mr. Weah is a very simple footballing president; he does not understand the nuances of complicated governance issue. His responses to critical questions as seen in his last interview is a total shame. The government is a mixture of incompetent and loosed talking bureaucrats. The appointed officials of the government are impressionists who serve not to improve the material condition of the people but to facilitate mass looting of state resources. Indeed, Liberia has fallen The Economy is crumbling, the health system is in ruins, the working class labor daily but cant get their poverty wages sadly, we have a president that is yet to wake up from his slumber.

During his interview, Mr. Weah elected to praise his predecessor, Madam Sirleaf. The Political thief who robbed the Liberian people of their votes to give him power. A Sirleaf who along with her clique of thieves looted and bankrupted the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) and other states resources. A Sirleaf that embraced nepotism and cronyism with no regard to the rule of law; A Sirleaf that embraced corruption as her working tool you praise this Sirleaf but criticize her Party. It baffles us to query the difference between Madam Sirleaf and the Unity Party!

The belief that Weah and his gang of thieves will deliver Liberians from gloomy poverty to prosperity is an illusion that only makes sense to his zealots who have dug themselves in the mud blind sycophancy. Mr. Weah is a fair product of fraud and political conspiracy. He lacks what it takes to understand the nuances of a complicated governance issue especially in a troubling time like this. By all means, what Mr. Weah spewed out on December 20, 2019 during his purported live radio interview did not in any way surprise us. We long predicted Mr. Weah. Our call to the masses is to remain resilient and battle the excess mess created by Madam Sirleaf and complicated by his imposed. The masses are the makers of history. At the point of objective condition, they will liberate themselves through the guidance of conscious patriots.

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Dangling in Falsehoods and Deceptions: A Response to President Weah! - Front Page Africa

Often, science moves ahead incrementally. Yet sometimes it advances in dramatic leaps and bounds that can stir new hopes for medical benefits while shaking society to its very core. We saw both in 2019, as work using the gene-editing tool CRISPR gained momentum.

The year opened with the scientific community scrambling to respond to the news that Chinese researcher He Jiankui had used CRISPR technology to edit the genomes of human embryos. The experiments resulted in the November 2018 birth of twin girls, the first humans with genetically altered germline cells which means their genetic changes are heritable and can be passed on to future generations.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a crucial public supporter of biomedical research, is among the many who consider such experiments both irresponsible and unethical. The NIH has not funded any use of heritable gene-editing technologies in human embryos, and it has no intention of doing so.

But NIHs strong stance against heritable gene editing does not mean that we think CRISPR has no role in the future of clinical medicine. This innovative technology possesses enormous potential for therapeutic good if used for making nonheritable genetic changes. In that approach, genetic material is altered only in relevant somatic (nonreproductive) cells, so there is no chance of passing those changes on to future offspring.

NIHs highest priorities in 2019 included supporting research aimed at using nonheritable gene editing to help people with life-threatening disorders, such as sickle cell disease, HIV infection, cancer and muscular dystrophy. Indeed, such applications may offer the best hope not only for treating, but for curing, many of the nearly 6,000 human genetic diseases that still lack treatments.

Now, scientists and leaders around the globe have an obligation to consider the appropriate use if any of heritable human gene editing. This involves scrutinizing the safety of such experiments, including the risk of unintended mutations, as well as a clear-eyed analysis of actual medical need. In our view, the current arguments that the benefits outweigh the risks are surprisingly uncompelling. But our deliberations should not stop there. We must weigh the profound social, ethical and moral issues associated with modifying the germline in ways that could change the human species forever.

Given the significance of these decisions, in March, leading scientists from seven countries led by Eric Lander and including CRISPR pioneers Feng Zhang and Emmanuelle Charpentier called for a five-year international moratorium on the use of gene editing to modify the human germline for clinical purposes. The NIH supports such a moratorium.

Despite the calls for caution, some researchers are forging ahead. In June, Russian molecular biologist Denis Rebrikov announced plans to implant gene-edited embryos into women. Like his Chinese counterpart, Rebrikov planned to use CRISPR to target the CCR5 gene to protect against HIV; he later changed course to focus on GJB2, a gene linked to heritable hearing loss.

Direct editing of embryos is not the only way to alter the human germline in heritable ways: In August, New York-based reproductive biologist Gianpiero Palermo went public with his plans to use CRISPR technology to target a gene that increases cancer risk in human sperm.

But such moves continued to meet vigorous opposition. In August, a number of research groups working on gene-editing therapeutics issued a statement asserting heritable gene editing is currently inappropriate for use in human clinical studies. That same month, a group of international research societies convened to discuss recommendations for appropriate research, which are slated for completion in spring of 2020.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organizations new expert advisory committee, convened in the wake of Hes experiments, sidestepped the issue of a moratorium at its August meeting. It did, however, establish a global registry to track all kinds of human gene-editing research and to offer consultation on governance of such technologies.

A moratorium of at least five years on heritable human gene editing would provide us time to engage in proactive, rather than reactive, discussions about the future of such technology. That discussion has to be inclusive of many societal perspectives. We must never allow our technology to eclipse our humanity. As an interconnected global society, we have a responsibility to ask ourselves some very hard questions about heritable gene editing and the dangers of human hubris. While difficult, this is a debate that we simply cannot afford to postpone.

Francis S. Collins is the director of the National Institutes of Health.

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NIH Director on Human Gene Editing: 'We Must Never Allow our Technology to Eclipse our Humanity' - Discover Magazine

NewsScienceThis was the decade designer babies went from concept to feasibility

Saturday, 28th December 2019, 7:02 am

Gene editing

This was the decade when designer babies went from science fiction to fact as a Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, made the shock announcement in December 2018 that the worlds first genetically modified children had been born. He was working illegally and he was widely condemned for not waiting until regulations had been put into place.

But the move showed just how rapidly the Crispr-Cas9 gene-editing technique likened to a find and replace command wasadvancing.

Embryonic and pluripotent Stem Cellresearch

This potentially revolutionary field of medicine has developed to the point where treatments are just around the corner.

Embryonic, or pluripotent, stem cells have extraordinary medical potential because they can develop into any one of the 220 or so mature, specialised cells of the body from insulin-making pancreatic cells to the nerve cells of the brain. In 2018, scientists restored the vision of two UK patients with age-related macular degeneration by inserting a patch of embryonic stem cells into their eyes. The research team hopes an affordable, off-the-shelf therapy could be available to NHS patients within five years.

Treatments for spinal cord injury, heart failure, diabetes, Parkinsons disease and lung cancer are also in advanced trials.

Higgs Boson

Gravitational waves

Scientific history was made in December 2016 as gravitational ripples in the fabric of spacetime, first predicted by Albert Einstein 100 years earlier, were detected, opening new vistas into the dark side of the universe. Physicists around the world confirmed they had detected unambiguous signals of gravitational waves emanating from the collision of two black holes 1.3 billion light years away.

The observations not only confirmed Einsteins general theory of relativity; they also provided the first direct detection of black holes colliding.

Black holes

Neanderthals

The Neanderthals may have been extinct for thousands of years, but in 2010, geneticists mapped their genome using DNA extracted from ancient bones. This led to a startling discovery: our ancestors interbred with other species after they migrated out of Africa.

So in the UK, most of us have a small percentage of Neanderthal genes in our DNA.

Read more:
From gene editing to black holes and the Neanderthals, here's the biggest advances in science over the past decade - inews

National Science Foundation via Getty Images

December 28, 2019

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Capturing a black holeScientists this year unveiled the first-ever image of a black hole. One of the universe's most enigmatic phenomena, a black hole is a cosmic abyss so dense with matter that not even light can escape. The picture from Messier 87, a galaxy 55 million light-years away, shows a bright ring of particles heated to billions of degrees, circling a supermassive black hole some 25 billion miles wide. To capture the image, scientists focused eight ultrapowerful radio telescopes around the world on Messier 87 for 10 days. Researchers compared the resulting images to millions of simulations of what the black hole might look like and found a match. "We have seen what we thought was unseeable," says project leader Shep Doeleman.

Fighting EbolaEbola could soon be classified as a curable disease, thanks to a trial of experimental treatments in Congo. An epidemic of the hemorrhagic disease has killed more than 2,200 people in the African nation; about 70 percent of those who catch Ebola die. But the death rate plummeted to 29 percent for patients on one new drug, and 34 percent for those on another. Among patients who began treatment soon after developing symptoms, rates fell to 6 percent and 11 percent, respectively. The drugs use monoclonal antibodies: Y-shaped proteins that call on immune cells to attack the Ebola virus.

The new CRISPRScientists have developed a gene-editing tool that could one day correct 89 percent of the genetic mutations that cause inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia. The most popular existing gene-editing approach, CRISPR-Cas9, uses "molecular scissors" to locate faulty genetic code, then cuts both strands of the DNA double helix and splices in a new section of code. Though cheap and fast, this process often damages nearby code or inserts the new material in the wrong place. The new technology, known as prime editing, cuts only one strand of the double helix minimizing the risk of unintended changes.

Mind-reading robo-suitA quadriplegic man in France can move all four of his paralyzed limbs again, thanks to a pioneering brain-controlled bodysuit. The patient, identified only as Thibault, had two implants surgically placed over the parts of his brain that control movement. His brain signals are sent to a nearby computer, which translates them into movement instructions for the exoskeleton suit. Though years away from being publicly available, the technology could pave the way for mind-controlled wheelchairs and similar equipment. Thibault said taking his first steps felt like being "the first man on the moon."

Previously on The Week: The 34 most memorable looks of the 2010s

Blood test for Alzheimer'sDoctors could soon use a simple blood test to predict if a patient will develop Alzheimer's, years before symptoms appear. An international team of researchers found that people genetically predisposed to the disorder had distinctly higher levels of neurofilament light chain a protein found in the brain and spinal cord seven years before symptoms began, and noticeably faster-growing levels more than 16 years in advance. An early test could help scientists determine whether new Alzheimer's drugs are effective. Study author Mathias Jucker says the reason there is no effective treatment for the condition is "partly because current therapies start much too late."

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The biggest scientific breakthroughs of 2019 - The Week

A gene editing technology which utilises special proteins found in the natural defence mechanisms of bacteria which can chop up DNA of invading organisms and destroy them. CRISPR (pronounced "crisper" and standing for "Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats") can quickly and relatively cheaply provide alterations to DNA sequences and correct genetic defects causing diseases ranging from cystic fibrosis to cataracts.

3D printing

This decade has seen 3D printing become more accessible, cheaper and efficient. The manufacturing system allows designers and engineers to perfectly transfer a digital model to a physical three-dimensional part. Accurate models can be created by putting down material a layer at a time which also facilitates intricate and complex structures. This means anything can be created such as tools, boats and even topological maps without additional assembly.

SpaceX reusable launch system

A method that enables space-going rockets to take-off and land without jettisoning any elements of the craft. By maintaining a single reusable structure, SpaceX can drastically minimise the costs of space exploration. Traditional rockets need to release not only the giant external tank but also its solid rocket boosters. Replacing these components can be lengthy and expensive. The technology to land a rocket vertically is very impressive and a must-see.

Power banks

Energy storage devices have the capacity to change the world. Historically it has been difficult to be completely self-sufficient on clean and renewable energies as systems because solar power is reliant on the sun and that source is lost at night. Devices such as Tesla's power wall offer a way to cut emissions for the average household.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing products think Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services allow companies and individuals to access and administer complex services without the hassle of personally maintaining underlying hardware and software. The upshot? We can all enjoy office productivity suites without having any onsite servers.

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Technology: Sean Dimmock's top five innovations and advances of the decade - HeraldScotland

The pancreas is a multi-tasker. Unfortunately, so is its most common cancer.

A pancreatic cancer diagnosis can carry the weight of a death sentence more than nine out of every 10 people dont live to see the 5 year anniversary of their diagnosis. Celebrity diagnoses, like Alex Trebek's, popularize an anxiety felt by the roughly 50,000 people diagnosed each year. The disease progresses so quickly, andfrequently without detection, that treatment is often futile. But, new research reveals how pancreatic cancer cells spread with ease and how we might stop their hostile takeover.

The multitasking pancreas.

Max Levy

Shaped like a comma and nestled atop the small intestine, the pancreas is responsible for a vital arsenal of hormones that help maintain blood sugar levels. But it also spends time working with its downstairs neighbor, the intestine, to help us digest. It produces a thick juice, (actual technical term) that pours down a duct to supply the small intestine with enzymes that break down carbs, fats, and proteins. Cancer of that duct, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, claims over 40,000 lives every year. By the time a doctor breaks the news to their patient, that cancer has likely spread elsewhere and will be difficult to treat.

Most cancers are riddled with avenues of perforated blood vessels. Ambitious cancer cells can use them to spread tumors elsewhere, but those avenues also make it easier to treat the disease with drugs. With this type of pancreatic duct cancer, its the worst of both worlds.

Adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. The dark purple circles in the center of the tumor are the nuclei of cancer cells.

Ed Uthman on Flickr

They escape really early but they dont have a lot of vessels, says Duc-Huy Nguyen, a co-author of the study. A healthy pancreas has far more blood vessels than a cancerous one. According to Nguyen, some doctors have reported diseased pancreases with structures that look likenormal blood vessels, but are in fact nonfunctional tubes lined with cancer cells rather than healthy ones. Nobody knew why or how the cancer could kill and replace healthy cells.

Nguyen knew that the answer likely had to do with a biological competition between different types of cells: cancerous pancreatic cells, and healthy endothelial cells that line nearby bloodstreams.

You have two different cell types and you place them next to one another, says Nguyen, If you ask who is going to win? Id believe the tumor cell is going to.

Nguyen and his team designed a clear plastic chip to support pancreatic cancer cells beside an artificial bloodstream lined with endothelial cells. With total visibility and control, the team could watch cancer cells inch towards their rivals. Nguyen expected to see a typical process called intravasation when cancer cells casually slip past healthy ones to enter the bloodstream. He was surprised to witness something far more destructive.

Alex Trebek's recent diagnosis of pancreatic cancer brought the condition into the limelight

Anders Krusberg/Peabody Awards via Wikimedia Commons

The cancer cells muscle their way into a stronghold over their neighbors. First, they sneak up on the endothelial cells; then they wrap around them like sleeve. Endothelial cells represent a sort of blockade, preventing undesired cells from entering the bloodstream. But this mob of cancer cells isaggressive, and quick to overpower this blockade meant to keep them out of the blood. Before long, this protective barrier of endothelial cells is no more, and cancerous cells fill the channel. The cancer can then juggle a lethal combination of offensive and defensive maneuvers: hijacking blood vessels to isolate itself from attack, and dispatchingeven more cancer cells to spread elsewhere.

Zooming in on the drama was interesting to Nguyen, but the science could leap from interesting to useful ifhe could devise a way to slow the cancer's progression.So we just asked the question: what really happens there? Nguyen and his team set out toeavesdrop on the chemical conversations going on between cells.

They began by tinkering with the cancers main line of communication with the outside world: a horde of chemicals and receptors called the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-) signaling pathway. Finding the right chemical signal that prompts the cancer's outward progression, Nguyen says, could reveal a treatment that stops the takeover in its tracks.

The team quickly confirmed they were on to something. Using a TGF--inhibiting drug in their the chip-model, Nguyen switched off large chunks of the signaling pathway as soon as the cancer reached healthy cells. That change significantly reduced the blood vessel destruction.

Encouraged, the team used CRISPR gene editing to delete individual receptors in both cell types. One by one, Nguyen examined the cancers progress, hoping to pinpoint a secret weapon. He finally found that weapon in the form of a receptor called ALK7. By knocking out the pancreatic cancer cells ALK7, they rescued the endothelial cells from certain defeat. The team then repeated the experiment using mice carrying the genetically modified cancer and found that mouse blood vessels survived far better than those exposed to the unmodified cancer. Hampering that receptor amounted to swapping out the cancers bazooka for a rubber pistol.

I thought this was important work, says Melissa Skala, a cancer researcher at the Morgridge Institute not affiliated with the study. There are very few treatment options for pancreatic cancer, so any development that enables more targeted drugs is very important.

I felt they were actually very careful with their claims, says Shannon Stott, a scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital unaffiliated with this study. Stott creates devices to study how cancer spreads and paid keen attention to the design of the cancer model. She says this experiment has an important balance: it is simple enough to study the disease reliably, and complex enough to obtain potentially critical for real patients. Its a clever, elegant study.

Since cancer is such a diverse disease, this treatment cant treat every type of cancer. But Nguyen believes that some, such as ovarian cancer, may respond to the same treatment.

Were still far from using this work to treat patients. Still, models like this one give us a platform to understand diseases and pinpoint their weaknesses. My takeaway was not, Oh, we can start treating patients with this, says Stott. It opens the door for us to expand upon this to ask interesting questions.

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To stop pancreatic cancer from spreading, cut out the chatter - Massive Science

US Pentagon in Washington DC.

For years, many of us in the genetics community have strongly suggested thatconsumers think long and hard beforeordering recreational genetic test kits for Christmas or any other occasion. But when thePentagon sends a stern warningto its military members, even Santa needs to listen.

Military Mission at dusk

Why would the Pentagon be worried about our military using at-home DNA kits?A memo issued to service membersfrom the Office of the Secretary of Defensestates that recreational genetic kits could give military personnel inaccurate information about their health. These inaccurate results couldhave negative professional consequences,particularly because military members, who are required to report medical problems, are not covered bytheGenetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA),which prohibits genetic discrimination by employers and health insurers.

It is already well known that thesekits should not be usedto answer serious medical questions based on a personal or family history of disease. Anyone with such a history shouldconsult a certified genetic counselorto ensure that an accurate test is ordered and interpreted correctly.The Pentagon concurs, saying they dont advise against genetic testing altogether, but recommend that service members get genetic information from a licensed professional rather than a recreational kit.

But are there other reasons the Pentagon may be warning against recreational genetic test kits? Couldthis genetic information lead to genetic surveillance, tracking, and grave privacy concerns for military personnel and others who use these kits?

China has already demonstratedthat genetic technology and research findings, intended to help people, can instead be used to harm. It is believed that the Chinese government has collected DNA samples from its citizens throughmandatory physicals to create a large databasethats being used to weed out up to one million Uighurs to be sent toconcentration camps. Although U.S. citizens, thankfully, enjoy greater protections than those in China, this example illustrates that our DNA can give insight into ancestry and ethnic origins that can be used for grave harm.

In fact, genetic data can reportedly be usedto determine how gay a person is, and if you are a 23andMe user who shared your data for research, you may have contributed to this study. Could DNA data be used to determine if military personnel may be gay? And if so, could that information beused against them?

And, of course, none of these companies can guarantee that their databases wont be hacked,as has happened in the past. Recently, GEDmatch, the genealogy company used to track down the Golden State Killer, wasacquired by a company created to work with crime labs. Other testing companies have chosen toshare their user data with the FBI.How will all of this consumer data be used, for good or evil? The truth is, we dont know.

finger print with DNA code at background

What we do know is thatundercover military agentscould likely be identified using a small sample of blood or saliva and large DNA databases. This may be true whether or not they personally have undergone recreational genetic testing,since one of their relatives probably has. For our military working undercover, this means that anonymity is likely a thing of the past.

Read more:
Why The Pentagon Is Warning US Military Not To Use Recreational Genetic Test Kits - Forbes

When Anne Weber became pregnant with her first child at age 28, little did she suspect that, rather than bringing home a bundle of joy, she would have to contend with a cancer diagnosis that would change the course of her life.

At her first ultrasound, not only did she find out that she had miscarried but also that she had a large cyst on one of her ovaries. That cyst turned out to be cancer.

"Because I didn't have a strong family history of cancer, everyone assumed it would be benign," she recalled in an interview with Medscape Medical News. "We were all very surprised when the pathology report came back with ovarian cancer."

Although the incidental finding may have been heartbreaking, it may also have been lifesaving. Because it was caught early, her ovarian cancer was of stage I. She underwent surgery and is now telling her story, 10 years later.

Weber is now a patient advocate at FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to individuals affected by hereditary breast, ovarian, and related cancers, andpreviously worked for a while at genetic testing company Myriad Genetics.

How Weber developed ovarian cancer at such a young age was initially a mystery. Without a family history and without symptoms or personal risk factors for it, her physician did not suspect a hereditary cancer even though at the time, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommended that physicians consider genetic testing for anyone younger than 50 who are found to have ovarian cancer. However, her physician didn't offer genetic testing, or even counsel her about it.

Weber was left with nagging questions. She wanted to know why she'd gotten ovarian cancer and how she could prevent a recurrence. So she started sleuthing around on the Internet.

"When I was diagnosed, I knew nothing about this. Literally, I didn't know what terms to type into the search engine," she said.

When she stumbled onto an online forum that linked her to the NCCN guidelines, the pieces of the puzzle began fitting together.

This was 2009, and she was living in Atlanta at the time. She asked her physician about genetic testing, and her doctor referred her to the only genetic counselor in the city, who was at Emory University. At that time, the wait time for genetic testing was 6 months.

"Six months when you're dealing with something like cancer can be pretty dire," Anne said.

Genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer has not always been straightforward, and fast-moving research means that genetic testing is becoming more and more complex all the time.

The NCCN may have recently provided a step in the right direction. On December 4, the NCCN released updated clinical practice guidelines on genetic/familial high-risk assessment for breast and ovarian cancer.

The guidelines represent a fairly radical shift from previous recommendations, which focused on BRCA genes, according to Robert Pilarski, MS, LGC, MSW, LSW, a genetics counselor and professor of clinical internal medicine at Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was also vice chair of the NCCN guidelines panel that updated the guidelines.

The NCCN recommendations remain anchored in strong, unbiased evidence and reflect a conservative approach regarding genes for which there is lack of evidence, he said. But the guidelines also acknowledge a shift toward panel testing and include a table of 17 moderate- and high-penetrance genes that should be considered in addition to BRCA genes. They also provide management recommendations for people who carry these genes.

"Most people now are doing panel testing where the panel involves multiple genes besides BRCA," Pilarski said, "This guideline update is the closest that we've got to a consensus [regarding breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer] because it now specifies a set of genes that are reasonable to include in at least a basic panel."

The use of multigene panels is controversial, as previously reported by Medscape Medical News. A study published in early 2019 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggested that roughly half of breast cancer patients who carry a pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutation are missed by current genetic testing guidelines. That study used an 80-gene panel, and the authors recommended expanded panel testing for all patients with breast cancer.

Critics shot back, arguing that universal testing is not warranted and that large, multigene panels may create undue anxiety among patients as well as confusion among physicians. Research is in its infancy for many of these genes, and physicians don't know how or even whether to act on results for some of them. That's especially true for variants of unknown significance, which have not been confirmed to increase risk for disease.

Perhaps in response to this controversy, the NCCN guidelines do not recommend universal testing for breast or ovarian cancer. Instead, they provide clinical scenarios in which genetic testing is clinically indicated, may be considered, or has low probability of clinical utility. The NCCN authors hedge their bets by not endorsing for or against multigene panel testing.

"I think we held back from becoming too definitive because there may be times when other genes are appropriate," Pilarski explained. "We didn't want to lock patients out of insurance coverage, and we didn't want to lock ourselves into a set of genes that could change next week with changing evidence."

This "wishy-washiness" over multigene panels creates a problem for Mehmet Copur, MD, FACP, an oncologist who wrote a critical response to the study published earlier this year. He is affiliated with the Morrison Cancer Center in Hastings, Nebraska, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

"I believe they have tried to please both parties, and they have been too nice," he said. "My personal opinion is that I would go for high-penetrance genes in clinically suspicious settings. I would ignore that disclaimer note and say, 'I'm going to do this 17-gene panel.' "

Going one step further, he suggested the creation of commercially available gene panels based on the NCCN recommendations for these 17 genes.

"There are a wide variety of panels available with different genes on different panels. There is a lack of consensus among experts regarding which genes should be tested in different clinical scenarios. If possible, it would be helpful to create commercially available gene panels based on the updated NCCN recommendations," he said.

In another major change, the guidelines now include pancreatic cancer for the first time. But in contrast to breast and ovarian cancer, the NCCN recommends that all patients with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer receive genetic testing.

"Approximately 1 in 20 patients with pancreatic cancer will have an inherited susceptibility gene. Most people with pancreatic cancer who carry these mutations do not have a family history of pancreatic cancer, so you can't rely on family history to guide you about who should get genetic testing," Michael Goggins, MD, MBBCH, who was also involved in updating the NCCN guidelines, told Medscape Medical News. Goggins is director of the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.

Advantages of genetic testing for pancreatic cancer include guidance regarding choice of chemotherapy and the possibility of cascade testing for prevention or earlier detection of pancreatic cancer in family members.

Other additions to the guidelines include new recommendations for genetic testing for individuals with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, as well as new or updated recommendations for Li-Fraumeni syndrome and Cowden/PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome.

The guidelines also offer an expanded section on genetics risk assessment and genetic counseling. Genetic testing has become increasingly complex, and the NCCN emphasizes the importance of genetic counseling throughout the testing process.

It has been 10 years since Anne Weber was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Because she was diagnosed at a young age (28 years) and her other ovary was unaffected, she opted for surgery to remove only the ovary with the tumor.

After her own Internet research and at her own request, Weber underwent genetic testing. She found out that she is a carrier of the BRCA2 mutation, which carries high risk for breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer.

Current recommendations are that people with BRCA2 mutations start breast cancer screening at age 25, so Weber was screened immediately.

Her first breast MRI revealed a mass that was found to be stage I breast cancer. At that point, she chose to have her other ovary removed, as well as both fallopian tubes and both breasts, which significantly reduces her risk for recurrence.

"I'm so incredibly grateful that I found the information. All the guidelines say that I shouldn't even have had my first mammogram at my current age of 39. So there is low likelihood that I would have been diagnosed by now, and it certainly would not have been stage I," she said.

Since her diagnosis, she and her husband have adopted a child.

"Genetic testing isn't right for everyone. People aren't going to make the same decisions I did," she said. "The biggest thing is to understand that being positive doesn't mean that you're going to get cancer. It just allows you to have that circle of care to try to prevent cancer, or at least catch it earlier, when it's more treatable."

NCCN. Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast, Ovarian, and Pancreatic Version 1.2020. Full text

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Heartbreaking News, Then Tumor Find Leads to Genetic Testing - Medscape

Genetic tests sold directly to consumers have been growing in popularity. And Im not just referring to the tests that show your ethnic ancestry, but also those that claim to identify genetic-based health risks. Experts warn that these tests should not be used to inform health decisions without further scrutiny, as the results of these tests can easily be misinterpreted or unreliable.

Business of Healthcare | December 27, 2019

Most genetic testing is done through healthcare providers such as physicians, nurse practitioners and genetic counselors. These providers determine which test is needed, order the test from a laboratory, collect and send the DNA sample, interpret the test results, and share the results with the patient.

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing is different. These tests can be bought online or in stores. Customers send the company a DNA sample and receive their results directly via a secure website or mailed report. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing provides access to genetic information without necessarily involving a healthcare provider.

Dozens of companies offer these tests for a variety of purposes. The most popular uncover genetic variations to make predictions about health, provide information about common traits, andyesoffer clues about a persons ancestry. While the number of companies providing direct-to-consumer genetic testing is growing, along with the range of health conditions and traits tested for, there is very little regulation of these services.

That means if you do use one of these tests to get genetic information about your health, dont make any decisions based on the results without talking to a medical professional.

Original post:
Business of Health Care: Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing - KWBU

As expected, the number of confirmed cases of hepatitis A in Yakima County continues to increase.

There have been 22 confirmed hepatitis A cases in the county as of Thursday, up from 18 on Dec. 3, according to the Yakima Health District, with the majority of the cases tied to people experiencing homelessness and those using illicit drugs.

One confirmed case has no identifiable risk factors, district spokesman Nathan Johnson said in an email Friday.

It is not uncommon to have an occasional hepatitis A case with no identifiable risk factors during an outbreak. However, we are recommending that everyone gets their hepatitis A vaccine if they have not gotten it yet, Johnson said.

The health district, in partnership with the Union Gospel Mission and Yakima Neighborhood Health Services, has been vaccinating people since the outbreak was reported in early November. Health officials also have been working closely with the Camp Hope homeless encampment and offering vaccines at clean needle exchanges.

The number of cases will likely continue to increase and cases will likely continue into spring, health district officials have said. The incubation period for hepatitis A is 15 to 50 days. Someone can be infected and not know they are spreading it, said Melissa Sixberry, director of disease control for the health district.

Hepatitis A is a liver disease usually transmitted when someone unknowingly ingests the virus from touching objects or consuming food contaminated with stool from someone who is infected. It also can be spread by close personal contact.

Symptoms include yellow skin or eyes, dark urine and/or pale stool, loss of appetite, fever, diarrhea, fatigue, vomiting and abdominal pain. Cases often result in overnight hospitalizations.

The best protection is the hepatitis A vaccine and frequent hand-washing, health officials say. Anyone can get the vaccine by contacting their doctor.

Genetic testing found the hepatitis A strain in Yakima County is related to a hepatitis outbreak in Spokane County. As of Dec. 17, the Spokane Regional Health District confirmed 70 cases of hepatitis A since April. Sixberry has said Spokane and King counties still have active outbreaks.

As of Dec. 19, there were 157 hepatitis A cases in Washington state, 82 hospitalizations and two deaths, according to the state Department of Health. The state first announced a multi-county outbreak on July 30. Other states also have reported outbreaks, primarily among persons experiencing homelessness and people who use illicit drugs.

Originally posted here:
Hepatitis A cases at 22 in Yakima County and still rising - Yakima Herald-Republic

Aytu Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:AYTU) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 13th, there was short interest totalling 420,100 shares, an increase of 13.2% from the November 28th total of 371,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 132,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

NASDAQ AYTU traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $0.98. 112,225 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 149,923. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $0.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.30. Aytu Bioscience has a 52-week low of $0.65 and a 52-week high of $2.61. The company has a market capitalization of $21.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.28 and a beta of 4.53.

Aytu Bioscience (NASDAQ:AYTU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.30) by ($0.02). Aytu Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 252.42% and a negative net margin of 390.43%. The company had revenue of $1.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.45 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aytu Bioscience will post -1.3 EPS for the current year.

Several analysts recently issued reports on AYTU shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH boosted their target price on shares of Aytu Bioscience from $4.00 to $4.75 in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Aytu Bioscience from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. ValuEngine cut shares of Aytu Bioscience from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Northland Securities assumed coverage on shares of Aytu Bioscience in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a buy rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company.

In other Aytu Bioscience news, CEO Joshua R. Disbrow acquired 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $0.83 per share, for a total transaction of $45,650.00. Also, major shareholder Armistice Capital Master Fund acquired 78,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $0.90 per share, for a total transaction of $70,909.20. Company insiders own 5.80% of the companys stock.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AYTU. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aytu Bioscience during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Aytu Bioscience in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Aytu Bioscience during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Searle & CO. raised its stake in Aytu Bioscience by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 249,848 shares of the companys stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 48,601 shares during the period. 27.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aytu Bioscience

Aytu BioScience, Inc, a specialty healthcare company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel products in the field of hypogonadism (low testosterone), insomnia, and male infertility in the United States and internationally. The company markets Natesto, a nasal gel for the treatment of hypogonadism (low testosterone) in men; and ZolpiMist, an oral spray for the treatment of insomnia.

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Short Interest in Aytu Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:AYTU) Expands By 13.2% - Riverton Roll

2019 has been a banner year for history, especially for those in the field archaeologists of all stripes, historians, war experts and more had a annus mirabilis a miraculous year, thanks to some innovative technology that they previously couldnt access, and good, old fashioned elbow grease that brought some amazing finds to light.

From a shipwreck in the Arctic to Crusader tunnels, from King Tuts tomb to woolly mammoths, all of this was at the fingertips of historians, all of whom were dazzled by these developments. Heres a roundup of what made the history books and headlines during 2019.

The long lost ship was finally made accessible thanks to underwater drones, that went down to the ship and captured images of rust-laden artifacts for the first time in 174 years. (The video is available for viewing on You Tube). The ship went out to find the elusive Northwest Passage, helmed by Sir John Franklin, but he and his crew of almost 130 died, thanks to cold and starvation. They tried to ward off the latter by resorting to cannibalism, but to no avail; none of the men were ever seen or heard from again.

HMS Terror thrown up by the ice.

In Norway, the 1,000 year-old remains of a female Viking were found, along with weapons, in her burial site. Scientists were to able to do a 3D recreation of her which showed the extent of her combat experience. She looks eerily modern, right down to her long hair, and it gave us evidence that to a certain extent women participated in battle and provides a glimpse of what some women achieved back then right beside their male counterparts.

Viking woman

Although some scientists arent sure of this development in DNA research, all agree that we evolved from hominids who lived in Africa. This theory about this history came to the fore in 2019 thanks to a team led by Vanessa Hayes of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sidney, Australia. Using mitochondrial DNA, it claims to pinpoint the exact location of early human beginnings to an area in Botswana, according to National Geographic. Specifically it refers to the MakgadikgadiOkavango palaeo-wetlands, commonly known as the Kalahari section of northern Botswana. This is where they believe the earliest modern human genetic relationships began, even though the oldest human bones ever found were in eastern Africa.

Location of Botswana in Africa. Image by TUBS CC by 3.0

It took 10 years of hard work, scrubbing away decay and restoring gold in several layers in intricate detail, but the restoration of King Tutankhamens tomb is finally complete. The tomb had been subject to the harsh Egyptian sun while on display, to say nothing of the sweat and moisture left by millions of tourists, but the ancient tomb is now back in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, ready for exhibition. A date for the grand opening has yet to be announced, but it will, officials say, be in early 2020.

Mask on Tutankhamuns innermost coffin

This year archaeologists found 800 miles of tunnels under the city of Acre, in Israel, that are linked to the Knights Templar, who were described by one researcher as warrior monks (that) are the stuff of legend, as is the gold treasure they supposedly hoarded. The legend say that the monks used the ancient tunnels to travel in secret to carry out their deeds, and that work on the tunnels may lead scientists to the mysterious gold. At the time of this writing, no date has been announced on when excavation of the tunnels may begin, but a new documentary series by National Geographic, entitled Lost Cities, was launched with an episode on this discovery.

The Templar Tunnel in Acre, Israel. Photo by Geagea CC BY-SA 2.0 .

Its not surprising that the DNA of a Blackfoot man, who lives near Butte, Montana, has found to have the oldest DNA in America, according to the lab that tested him, CRI Genetics. Scientists have long believed that Native Americans date back thousands of years, when people from Siberia traversed what we now call the Bering Strait to settle in the United States. However, many First Nations people believe they date back further than that, even, saying their ancestors have been on American soil since time immemorial, as one expert called it. The man was found to have DNA that dated back 55 generations, or about 17,000 years!

The Oldest American DNA

A Florida researcher, Bruce Campbell, had no idea the tapes in his basement were so historically significant, until he finally heard them in 2019. Voices from the landing boats at D-Day beaches are audible, and though it took a while for Campbell to realize what the tapes contained, when he did he donated them to the National D-Day Memorial in Virginia. Also on the tapes is the voice of famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, who covered the war for several radio stations back home.

June 18, 1944: US Army reinforcements march up a hill past a German bunker overlooking Omaha Beach after the D-Day landings near Colleville sur Mer, France. source

Scientists discovered the remains of at least 14 enormous woolly mammoths caught in man-made traps, in pits, in Tultepec, Mexico this year. Each pit is approximately 82 feet across, and scientists say that they found clear evidence that the creatures were actually hunted. Before this find, archaeologists and anthropologists believed that man only scavenged woolly mammoths when one was sick, or hurt, because they were so massive up to six tons, and they stood as high as 11 feet. But this find proved that humans made calculated hunting attempts at these giant beasts. Most mammoths went extinct about 10,000 years ago; the site in Mexico is thought to be approximately 15,000 years old.

Woolly mammoth

These are just 10 of the headline making, jaw dropping, amazing events, discoveries and advances talked about in 2019 in the field of history. No doubt the year ahead has much more in store; more in science, more in history, more in archaeology, and maybe other fields we havent even mentioned yet.

Related Article: Incredible Historical Coincidences Too Strange to be True?

Who knows where the first big news will come from below the sea, under the ground, in the world of antiquities or perhaps the world of nature? No one can predict that, but we can say one thing with certainty: during the first week of 2020, some bigs news will break on one or all of those fronts. 2019 wont be the only great year for history. Be sure to stay tuned, and keep reading!

Continued here:
What a Year for History! The 8 Biggest Events that made 2019 Amazing - The Vintage News

SALT LAKE CITY We leave an invisible trail of it behind us everywhere we go and of late, millions of us have voluntary harvested and submitted it to find out more about who we are and where we come from.

While once only a theoretical mystery, Its been well over a decade since the international Human Genome Project announced reaching the end of its inward voyage of discovery, successfully completing a project that provided the world the ability, for the first time, to read natures complete genetic blueprint for building a human being.

Since then, genomic innovations have advanced at a dramatic rate, including the development of technology that has enabled a new realm of direct-to-consumer genetic testing services that are cheap, fast and ubiquitous. Spit into a tube, send it out the door and in mere weeks you can find out the ethnic and geographic origins of your ancestors and, more personally, some pretty minute details about what physical and psychological anomalies may be coming your way.

A collateral outcome of this new volume of genetic testing are massive new databases holding troves of genetic data, veritable gateways to the most personal information about tens of millions of individuals.

Now civil rights advocates are joining Utah lawmakers in the effort to establish some basic protections on this data as law enforcement and other government agencies are increasingly accessing this information as a genetic blueprint for building the perfect criminal case.

Connor Boyack, president of Utah-based libertarian public advocacy group Libertas Institute, said while the technology is a boon to amateur genealogists, the way it is being leveraged by government agencies raises concerns.

In the past couple of years, law enforcement around the country have identified a new opportunity to use DNA to find and catch bad guys, Boyack said. At first blush, many might think this is an exciting new tool to catch criminals, however, when you look at it more closely, its actually a very profound violation of privacy.

DNA samples harvested by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies have been in use for years via the federally managed Combined DNA Index System, but Boyack said his concerns are focused on law enforcement access to public and privately managed DNA databases. Some DNA testing services like Ancestry.com and 23andMe assert they will staunchly defend unwarranted law enforcement access while other service providers in the sphere of genetic analysis have taken markedly different stances.

One company, GEDMatch, is not a testing service but instead provides a platform that allows consumers who have had their DNA tested elsewhere to upload their results with the hope of connecting with unknown family members or to find out more about their DNA profiles. The company was founded nine years ago with the goal of providing a tool for amateur genealogists.

GEDMatch was acquired by San Diego-based forensic genealogy firm Verogen earlier this month but has previously made its database, which currently includes some 1.3 million samples, accessible to law enforcement. Its a practice thats earned the company headlines for its involvement in helping close outstanding criminal cases like that of Californias Golden State Killer, and closer to home, recently helping Clearfield police apprehend a suspect in a horrific assault case. In May, the company drastically increased restrictions on warrantless law enforcement scanning, limiting access to DNA test results from those users who have expressly issued consent for that purpose. Before that change, however, the site had reportedly been used to solve some 70 criminal cases.

Boyack said the proposal hes been working on with stakeholders, industry experts and lawmakers would create privacy protections around consumer-side DNA databases that would require law enforcement to adhere to the particularity mandate of the Fourth Amendment.

Our bill would allow law enforcement to take their DNA sample and run it through (Combined DNA Index System) as well as other state and local law enforcement DNA databases of known criminals, Boyack said. However, it would prohibit dragnet-style familial searches of consumer databases.

If law enforcement has some blood or evidence obtained from other investigatory methods that identify Bob is a suspect, they can get a warrant for Bobs blood or saliva and even without a warrant collect DNA from Bobs trash. That would still be allowed because, again, theres a suspect. Beyond that our proposal would deny law enforcement the ability to go on fishing expeditions. No mass searching of private or public databases without an individual suspicion.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah is participating in drafting the proposal and, like Libertas, has concerns centered on unfettered law enforcement access to the DNA data of millions of individuals.

This moment in time demonstrates that we really need to try and figure out clear roles around secondary uses (of DNA data), said Marina Lowe, the ACLU of Utahs legislative and policy counsel. People will submit an Ancestry test kit to find about their familys ethnic heritage or help identify health risks in their family lineage. Law enforcement gaining access to this is a secondary use that people may not be expecting. My hope is this legislation will make that clear if you sign up for one of these programs youre doing so for a particular purpose and law enforcement shouldnt have open access to information that was clearly shared for a different purpose.

There is little in the way of existing legislation at either the state or federal level that has sought to specifically regulate how, when and where law enforcement or other government agencies can access DNA data, outside the DNA data already under their purview.

While creating bright line definitions of the circumstances under which this data can be accessed is the focus of the current and still evolving Utah proposal, there could be other ways to limit so-called fishing expeditions.

Teneille Brown is a professor at the University of Utahs S.J. Quinney College of Law and an expert in health law and medical ethics. Brown has had a chance to review the potential Utah legislation and believes there may be other ways to bolster privacy protections as they relate to consumer DNA test data.

Brown noted that the user agreements every consumer consents to when submitting a sample for DNA testing are fungible and the ability for a company to change those agreements, whether motivated by internal policy revisions or via an acquisition or ownership change, is a point of concern.

Law enforcement access (of consumer DNA databases) to identify relatives connected to crime scene DNA is not where I see privacy concerns, Brown said. What the real weak points are is the people who are uploading (DNA) snip profiles. Do they understand what that action means? Theyre downloading their profile and uploading it to a service or website, but they need to be aware of and worried about the consent theyre granting. And how hard it may be to opt out later if and when that agreement changes.

Brown explained that the owners of DNA databases could and should create protections for the deeper, underlying data that can reveal very personal insights about individuals. She noted law enforcement agencies can access the DNA data they need for a familial match for a criminal investigation and dont need and shouldnt get to see the deeper DNA information.

The (genetic test snip) data is the genetic mutation data that could be used to make predictions about someones health, Brown said. But the cops dont have that, and they dont need it. GEDMatch, 23andMe and Ancestry have that raw (snip) data in their databases, and the user can download their own, if they want to, but there would be no reason to share this data with law enforcement.

Law enforcement doesnt need the raw data to make a match with a relative. GEDMatchs algorithm just spits out a match, and does not share the (snip) data of the third or fourth cousin. Similarly, Ancestrys algorithm predicts relationships and if provided by the user, could render a name. Because law enforcement does not need the (genetic snip) data itself to render a name/match to a distant relative, denying them access would just make our DNA privacy better, at very little cost to solving cold crimes.

While the fine-tuning of the proposals specific language is likely to continue, Rep. Craig Hall, R-West Valley City, said hes set to sponsor the effort in the upcoming legislative session. Hall said he believes it is necessary to establish some statutory privacy protections when it comes to law enforcement access to DNA data.

There are certain companies out there that do genetic testing that will strongly fight against any law enforcement searching in their database, Hall said. Ancestry and 23andMe, they resist searches by law enforcement. And there are some databases that are more publicly available ... and some of those individuals using those services may quote-unquote consent to letting the government search their own DNA but the challenge with this is when one person submits their DNA, theyre not only submitting their own information, but that of their family members who not only may not have consented, but who in fact may strongly dissent.

Hall said creating new rules to govern how an individuals DNA data is used requires navigating the territory between appropriate law enforcement procedures and the constitutional rights of every individual.

We all want to hold criminals accountable, but in the balancing act of privacy and due process, the mass search of genetic databases is too problematic to allow, Hall said.

Read the original:
DNA and crime: When does it cross the line of personal privacy rights? - Deseret News

Sharks are arguably some of the coolest creatures on Earth. From the magnificent great white shark to the long-extinct megalodon, these ancient predators have always played an important role in their ocean ecosystems, yet scientists still have much to learn about them. Here at Live Science we love writing about sharks. Here are 10 of our favorite shark stories from 2019.

We started the year off with one of the most unusual shark stories we've ever reported on: A California fisherman was convicted of illegally shooting and killing a great white shark. The mysterious death of the 9-foot-long (2.7 meters) great white shark made headlines months earlier when it washed up on Beer Can Beach in Aptos, California, and became the subject of a criminal investigation. Authorities were tight-lipped about the investigation until six months later, when they charged commercial fisherman Vinh Pham for the shark's death. Pham was fined $5,000 and placed on conditional probation for two years.

Read more about the great white shark criminal investigation.

Great white sharks can be ferocious predators, but one of these giant fish overestimated its hunting abilities when it crunched down on a sea turtle and then choked to death. According to one expert, this was a remarkably rare occurrence. Not only is it unusual for a great white to choke on prey, it's even rarer that a great white fits an entire sea turtle in its mouth in the first place.

Read more about this shark's fatal error.

This summer, an underwater remotely operated vehicle from the Okeanos Explorer, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel, filmed an incredible scene of nearly a dozen dogfish sharks feasting on an enormous swordfish carcass that had fallen to the sea floor. As if that wasn't impressive enough, a few minutes into filming, a goliath grouper (a really big fish) slipped into the picture and gulped one of the sharks down, swallowing it whole. The rest of the sharks remained laser-focused on getting as much of the carcass into their bellies as fast as they could, undisturbed by the larger predator in their midst.

Read more about the dining shark that became dinner.

Great white sharks have the seemingly magical abilities to grow very large, live long lives, heal quickly and they probably don't get cancer. How these ocean beasts pull all that off has long been a mystery to scientists, although they're starting to discover clues. Earlier this year, an international team of researchers sequenced the genome of the great white shark and compared it with the genomes of several other vertebrate species. The team discovered a wealth of unusual genetic characteristics that could explain why white sharks are basically the superheroes (or supervillains, if you're a plump sea lion) of the sea.

Read more about the great white shark genome.

A large, female great white shark pregnant with a record 14 pups was accidentally caught by fishers off the coast of Taiwan and sold at a fish market. The enormous 15-foot-long (4.7 m) mamma was reportedly purchased for less than $2,000 by a Taiwanese taxidermy company. Although this shark suffered an untimely death, it provided a rare opportunity for scientists to examine a pregnant great white shark.

Read more about this record-breaking mamma shark.

Scientists described a new species of shark that's so small you could hold it in your hand. Tiny, adorable, blunt-headed sharks called pocket sharks are so rare that until just a few years ago, only one individual had ever been collected from the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Then, in 2010, researchers with NOAA caught a second pocket shark in the Gulf of Mexico. Measuring only 5.5 inches (14 centimeters) in length, the wee male shark was identified as a separate species the American pocket shark, and given the scientific name Mollisquama mississippiensis.

Read more about this adorable pocket shark.

The coast of South Carolina is often blessed with the presence of several great white sharks each year, but two exceptionally large specimens cruised close to shore this past spring. In May, a 15-foot (4.6 m) great white named Luna spent time swimming above an undersea bank about 80 miles (129 kilometers) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. A smaller shark, Caroline, who clocks in at 12 feet, 9 inches (3.9 m), was hanging out closer to shore at South Carolina's Edisto Beach. At the time, The Charlotte Observer reported that Luna was headed northward to the Outer Banks.

Read more about South Carolina's shark visitors.

A new study suggested that ancient, massive megalodon sharks were outcompeted by a smaller, savvier predator: great whites.

Scientists used to think the megalodon went extinct around 2.6 million years ago as part of a mass extinction event in the ocean. But the fossil record for these sharks between 2.6 and 3.6 million years ago is rather murky, leading scientists to suspect the giant predator may have gone extinct closer to 3.6 million years ago. Great whites arrived in the oceans about 4 million years ago, just 400,000 years before megalodon's revised death date. So, the researchers said it's possible that the great white eventually beat out the megalodon as a top ocean predator.

Read more about how great whites outlived megalodons.

It's a common piece of surfing wisdom that where dolphins swim, there are never sharks. But for oceangoers who take comfort in a pod of dolphins swimming by, shark experts have bad news.

"This is a myth," Andrew Nosal, a shark expert at the University of San Diego, previously told Live Science in an email.

In fact, the opposite is probably true. That's because sharks and dolphins both of whom are carnivores go to the same spots to hunt. That doesn't mean the two species are buddies, but don't be surprised to see them in the same area. If you're concerned about sharks in the area you want to swim, experts told Live Science you should avoid swimming when visibility is poor or near areas where sharks like to hang out, like near cliffs or drop-offs.

Read more about the true swimming habits of dolphins and sharks.

It's depressing to think about, but what would happen if sharks disappeared?

Approximately 25% of all shark, skate and ray species are currently threatened with extinction, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Ocean Portal. In recent decades, some shark populations have declined by up to 90%, reflecting an unsustainable trend of overexploitation in ocean habitats, according to Jenny Bortoluzzi, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Zoology at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.

If sharks were to disappear, the repercussions on ocean food webs would ultimately affect humans, too.

"Fisheries may collapse, with artisanal fishers being the likely most affected, and popular tourism destinations which rely on sharks to attract tourists will also suffer greatly," Bortoluzzi previously told Live Science.

Read more about what would happen if sharks went extinct.

Originally published on Live Science.

The rest is here:
The 10 Coolest Shark Stories of 2019 - Livescience.com

Illustration: Damon Dahlen/HuffPost; Photos: Alamy/Getty Images

Farewell To... is an end-of-decade series that explores some of the biggest cultural trends of the last 10 years. HuffPosts culture team says bye to the celebrity feminist litmus test, so long to lily-white and mostly male literary institutions, RIP to the movie star and more.

Vampires: mysterious, manipulative, bloodthirsty, cold creatures of the night or as the last decade illustrated our pretty teenage boyfriends.

Throughout the late 2000s and 2010s, sparkly, vegetarian bloodsuckers made their way into the zeitgeist in the form of morally conscious manpires like Edward Cullen of Twilight, Bill Compton of True Blood and Stefan Salvatore of The Vampire Diaries. But how could a monster once seen as repulsive morph into something so beautiful?

According to experts, particular adaptations of the undead are conjured up as a way to address public needs and process not only current events but also social injustices. Whereas the 1980s and 90s vampire craze consisting of everything from The Lost Boys (1987) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) to Interview With the Vampire (1994) and Blade (1998) was thought to be fueled by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the forbiddenness of blood, as podcaster and author Eric Nuzum noted to HuffPost, real-life crises led to this decades initiation of a more liberated vampire.

Nuzum, who studied vampire lore for his 2007 book, The Dead Travel Fast, said updated versions of these monsters cycle in when we dont know how to confront something as a society or when we need to find a metaphor to help us understand a situation. In his view, the recent vampire trend was ignited by the financial crisis and perhaps sustained by the divisive nature of our political and social environments.

In 2007 and 2008, were finding out about all this fiscal malfeasance and the inability of the government to protect us. The world was becoming a very scary place, filled with people whove done bad things. So we kind of leaned into the vampire ... a fantastical creature with supernatural powers who can confront the forces of reality, Nuzum said. Sometimes the most telling parts of the vampire story arent the vampire. Its everything that happens around them. Thats where you really see the cultural knitting happening between reality and fiction.

Since the literary phenomenon of Bram Stokers Dracula in 1897, vampires have been a fixture in popular culture. But as the 1931 Dracula film or the 1922 classic Nosferatu presented gothic horror tales about murderous nocturnal fanged monsters, the adaptations of the 2010s relied on relatable, humane vampires who lounge in meadows and sparkle in the sun to propel the genre. These iterations speak directly to people who feel like an outsider be it through their sexuality, economic status, race or gender and give them a character to relate to.

John Edgar Browning, a vampire theory scholar and professor of liberal arts at Savannah College of Art and Design, told HuffPost the vampires we saw with, and since, the Vampire Renaissance were, and are, more free to be.

Im not saying that vampires today are gayer or more sexually liberated; it just matters less to us where they are putting their fangs, Browning said. Vampires are us, in a manner of speaking, so how we regulate them is how we regulate ourselves. Freer vampires and monsters are a sign of a healthier culture.

Illustration: Damon Dahlen/HuffPost; Photos: Getty Images

When the HBO series True Blood, based on the Sookie Stackhouse books, premiered in 2008, for example, audiences were introduced to the progressive world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, where vampires attempted to exist peacefully among mortals thanks to a synthetic blood concoction called TruBlood. The vampire-human romance between Bill (Stephen Moyer) and telepathic waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin) explored abstinence and indulgence, while other relationships on the series dissected themes of sexuality, exclusion and intolerance. The show became somewhat of a fantasy allegory for the queer rights movement before it ended in August 2014, less than a year before same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S.

It took fiction to make the vampire palatable, Browning said. Whereas centuries ago vampires served as conduits through which we could express fear, in fiction they assumed the twofold role of fear and desire a different conduit for a different time. Today were still using vampires to help us express fears and forbidden desires, only now, more often than not, vampires are helping us fight fear and prejudice and liberate in others a host of desires that greater society is finally willing to accept.

If True Blood made the vampire digestible for mature audiences, Twilight gave young adults an outlet to express their own wants and needs. When Stephenie Meyers book series began in 2005, a mascot for the vampire boyfriends was born in Edward Cullen, a fantastically beautiful member of the undead who lives on animal blood and has the porcelain skin of a 17-year-old Nicole Kidman. These are the vampires you can take home to meet your parents, Taekia Blackwell, the chief operating officer of fan convention organization Mischief Management, told HuffPost.

Edward further entranced the adolescent demographic when the five-part film series premiered in 2008, starring Robert Pattinson as the stand-in for the pleasures and perils of teenage desire, a vampire who adamantly fights the urge to kill, and be intimate with, the one mortal hes in love with, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). Unlike True Blood, virginity is paramount in this made-for-tweens tale, but despite its conservative approach to sex, Nuzum noted that Twilight made that mix of fear and desire accessible to young girls who were confronting the world as adult women for the first time and all the bullshit that comes along with it.

Real life is scary, he said. And you want to live in a fantasy place, even for a moment, that shows theres a way above it and through it.

Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) of The CWs The Vampire Diaries was another manpire who not only captured the attention of the YA audience but illustrated the drive to be and do better. Stefan, a character from L.J. Smiths 1990s book series, fought every day to follow a moral code in light of his indelible lust for blood. He gravitates toward Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), a high school student grieving the loss of her parents, but his dark past as a ripper and blood-a-holic makes it difficult for him to maintain self-control. Although he tries to live on animal blood, he eventually steals blood bags from the hospital and spirals back into addiction. Still, his desire to protect Elena and her friends from his race ultimately outlasts his thirst for blood, making him one of the redeemable vampires of the 2010s.

I think our modern pop-culture vampire just makes it a little less intense and more relatable, Blackwell said of the allure of the ethical vampire and its rise to prominence. The danger is lessened by the conscience.

Priscilla Frank/HuffPostIllustration of Damon Salvatore, Elena Gilbert and Stefan Salvatore of "The Vampire Diaries."

These stories clearly resonated with viewers, who were not only escaping the daily grind but also ingesting material that spoke to the larger themes of discrimination, hate and love. True Blood ran for seven seasons while The Vampire Diaries aired for eight. And moviegoers flocked to the theaters to see Edward and Bella fight for and defend their fanged family in dreary Forks, Washington. The final installment of the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn - Part 2, made almost $830 million worldwide, and the film series as a whole garnered $3.3 billion.

And wed be remiss not to mention the countless vampire movies that came out in the 2010s, including Let Me In (2010), Fright Night (2011), Byzantium (2012), The Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014). By mid-decade, audiences seemed to lose interest in the genre, with the Johnny Depp-fronted Dark Shadows (2012) and Dracula Untold (2014), starring Luke Evans, failing to get high marks at the domestic box office. The zombies of The Walking Dead and the dragons ofGame of Thrones soon took over. Now witches are having their moment with shows like Sabrina andCharmed.

Hot vampires are kind of like the skinny jeans of monsters. I wouldnt say theyve dwindled or disappeared, but theyre definitely not at the forefront of fashion or as talked about as they once were, said Shanyce Lora, the senior marketing manager of Mischief. Monsters really have cycles in pop culture.

Ian Somerhalder, who played Stefans morally conflicted vampire brother Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries, is not giving up on the lore just yet. His new Netflix series fits into the overcrowded genre, but instead of focusing on glittery, wrinkle-free undead beings, V Wars addresses vampirism through climate change and revives scary, toothed fiends. Based on the comics by Jonathan Maberry, the series follows scientist Dr. Luther Swann (Somerhalder), whose best friend (Adrian Holmes) is a victim of a fast-spreading genetic mutation after a millennia-old bacterium is unknowingly exhumed in Antarctica. As far-fetched as it sounds, V Wars drops the romantic, kindhearted vampires or bloods, as theyre known in the show and focuses in on the social and environmental effects that exacerbate an epidemic.

Having done 171 episodes of The Vampire Diaries, I acquired some skill sets that allow me to understand the genre in a really profound way, Somerhalder told HuffPost during a recent Build Series interview. This genre is amazing. It stands the test of time; it transcends generations and demographics, and it can be quite a lesson because, at the end of the day, vampires are the story of the outsider, the ostracized, the alone.

Similar to experts comments about international crises and their connection to on-screen iterations of vampire stories, Somerhalder explained that cancer is an allegory for his new project, which addresses tentpole topics such as diversity, disease and border control. If he had it his way, the actor, director and executive producer would want V Wars to come off as 28 Days Later meets The Handmaids Tale by way of Walking Dead.

What happens when there are so many bloods that airlines cant fly anymore? Somerhalder said. What happens when theres a new mortgage crisis because the banking world is starting to fall apart because millions of people are sick? What happens when telecommunication companies cant function? When society starts to fracture? These are all big, amazing thematics we cant wait to tell.

The series premiered on Dec. 5, and audiences are responding well to its premise, but time will tell if it ushers in another wave of vampirism.

No matter how oversaturated our cultural landscape may be with monsters today, theyll never truly go away. Vampires will just rip those stakes out of their hearts, steer clear of holy water and adapt for a new time. Over the last 120 years, audiences have seen these beings go from pointy-eared goblins to chiseled Adonises. They have murdered innocent bystanders and tackled deer for nourishment. But again, these stories are not necessarily about the vampire itself they address larger themes that relate to the current struggles of todays world. And thats what keeps them relevant.

Vampires and zombies belong to that class of monster we call the undead, and whoever could keep the undead down, for very long anyway? Browning said. A resurgence of fang and decaying matter is, I suspect, on the horizon who better to help fight bigotry.

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The Coffin Is Closing On Vampires, At Least For Now - HuffPost

One of my guy friends got out of the military a few years ago and needed work. Rather than spending months or years agonizing over what he was passionate about and what his calling was, he took a practical approach.

He went to the library, got out a book about the top 100 professions currently in the highest demand (and predicted to be highly in-demand over the next decade) ... and then went to nursing school.

Just over two years later, he was an orthopedic surgical nurse bringing in $100,000+ a year.

There are lots of ways to decide what to do with your time and your work life. If you're not ready to quit everything and become a nurse (althoughif you aren't sure quite what to do and like helping people, you should think about it), there are other options.

One is setting up a side hustle. And again, instead of just doing something about which you're intensely passionate, you could more targeted and pragmatic in your approach.

Enter a seemingly random industry but one that will only grow in size: fish-free omega-3 supplements.

Yes, it sounds extremely specific (because it is), but it's also big business. In 2018, the fish-free omega-3 industry saw 6.5% year-over-year growth, reaching a market valuation of $550M. It's slated to be a $1B industry by 2029.

Why? Because there are tons of people who want to incorporate omega-3s into their diet but don't want fishy products.

By now, if you're at all educated about health, you know you need omega-3sand omega-6s in your diet. They lower your blood pressure; reduce your likelihood of heart attack and stroke; and improve brain functioning. There's also preliminary evidence that shows that DHA & EPA supplementscan boost your moodand help those suffering from depression.

And you probably alsoyou can find said omega-3s in fish like salmon. You may have even purchased fish-oil supplements in the past, whichtasted ... well, kind of gross.

It turns out a whole lot of people are deterred by that fishyodor--or are vegetarians or vegans who object to the omega-3s in their diet coming from fish. They know they need omega-3s, but they want plant-based options.

In fact, consumers are already hunting for quality, vegetarian sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids--to the tune of predictions of this single supplement becoming a billion-dollar industry over the next decade.

Now imagine entering a multi-million dollar industry where you knew there was demand already, and not very much supply to meet it. It would be like shooting fish (oil) in a barrel.

So how do you get started? Well, it's pretty easy to enter the supplements market. There are plenty of companies that can help you white-label your supplements (meaning they provide the actual productand you do the rest.) Of course you want to research those places and ensure that you're getting high-quality, plant-based omega-3s and omega-6s--but that's just a matter of vetting.

Then these companies can help you drop-ship your product, so you don't have a bunch of cases of plant-based omega-3 hanging out in your garage.

Once you've found your white-label supplier, all that's left is to set yourself up as a seller on a platform like Amazon. You can do that in a few hours.

Then you market the hell out of your product. You write blogs, you do videos, you post on social media, you run Facebook or Google ads--whatever you want. If you use key words like "vegetarian omega-3s" or "plant-based omega-6s" you're already slated to succeed. You don't have to guess whether people will buy what you're selling--you know they will.

The search term "side hustle" has spiked in recent years. It's not a new concept, but in an economy that's increasingly comprised of freelancers and less-than-stable job security, it's no wonder.

What would you do with an extra $1,000 a month? Put it towards childcare? Pay down debt? Split it up between self-care activities like getting massages, and contributions to causes in which you believe?

Too many people start side businesses without actually feeling out the market. But if you know ahead of time that there's definitely demand for what you're going to sell ... you're in it to win it.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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Looking for a Side Hustle? Consider This Rapidly-Growing Industry -- It Will Reach $1B by 2029 - Inc.