Archive for the ‘Female Genetics’ Category

PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Episona Inc., an epigenetics data company focused on improving outcomes in reproductive health, announced today that it has appointed Bob King, formerly of Good Start Genetics and a veteran in the field of reproductive health, as vice president, sales. Mr. King will oversee the commercial expansion of Episona's Seed test for evaluating male factor infertility and embryo quality.

"Bob's expertise and track record launching new products in the field of genetics and reproductive health will prove invaluable to Episona in this time of rapid growth for the company," said Episona CEO Alan Horsager. "We are thrilled to have Bob join our team and look forward to his contributions as we expand the commercial footprint of Seed."

Mr. King has nearly 20 years of experience in the reproductive health space. Most recently, he served as director of business development and strategic accounts at Good Start Genetics, where he secured large volumes of revenue for the company's flagship carrier screening product, GeneVu, and directed the launch of the pre-genetic screening test, EmbryVu. Mr. King was also a member of the founding commercial team at Natera, serving as area sales director. He also spent eight years at EMD Serono. Mr. King earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from East Carolina University.

"Episona's Seed test for evaluating male factor infertility and embryo quality is a significant innovation in the field of men's reproductive health," Mr. King said. "I am excited to be joining the Episona team to help bring Seed to more patients and physicians looking for additional information to help guide their fertility treatment decisions and to have healthy babies sooner."

Seed is currently available in approximately two dozen fertility clinics in 12 states andCanada. A physician-ordered test for use at home or in a fertility clinic, Seed evaluates the patient's risk of male factor infertility and poor embryo development. Male factor risk can help identify the severity of a patient's case, helping both the physician and patient understand whether to pursue less invasive procedures such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) or move directly to in vitro fertilization (IVF). By analyzing sperm's role in embryo development, Seed results can help identify problems that might occur with IVF and provide some answers if an IVF cycle fails or, in the case of seeking a donor, whether a male or female donor would be preferred.

Seed's novel approach is based on the science ofepigenetics, which examines external or environmental factors such as aging, smoking, obesity, environmental exposure or even exercise that can cause changes to the layer on top of the DNA known as the epigenome. These modifications to the DNA alter how genes are expressed, or read, which in turn can impact how genes function.

About Episona Inc.

Episona is an epigenetics data company focused on improving reproductive health outcomes. The company's first commercial product, Seed, evaluates epigenetic changes on DNA to predict the risk of male factor fertility and embryo quality.Epigenetics is the study of the environmental and external modifications to DNA that alter gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. Episona intends to develop additional epigenetic-based tests for other conditions and diseases in which epigenetics may play a role, such neurodevelopmental disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and alcoholism. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Pasadena, CA.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/episona-appoints-vice-president-of-sales-300504149.html

SOURCE Episona Inc.

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Episona Appoints Vice President of Sales - Markets Insider

Image: Center for Reproductive Health at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center

At Brigitte Adams' last job in tech, an office lactation room was turned into a prayer room. "There were no pregnant women at the company, ever," she said. "I was surrounded by men in engineering departments. You didn't see other women."

In the summer of 2011, Adams had just left a multinational corporation to become a consultant. She was 39 years old and not yet married, and began thinking about making plans for a future family. "It was sort of a typical scenario of a single career woman who really wanted kids," she said. Being a tech-minded person, she turned to a procedure that was at the time still labeled experimental: Egg freezing. Also known as oocyte cryopreservation, egg freezing is a process in which a woman's eggs are extracted, frozen, and stored for future use, as a way to preserve their reproductive potential.

It's been nearly three years since news broke that Apple and Facebook were offering egg freezing as part of their employee benefits packages, and a number of other tech companies have since followed suit. As more and more women in tech opt to undergo the procedure to improve their chances of pregnancy down the road, the question remains: Will egg freezing keep women from leaving the tech industry?

"For every woman I've talked to, and for myself, it's giving us more options," Adams, now 44, said. "As a woman, our span of finding the job, finding the mate, and getting a nest egg is just so compressed now that unless things work out perfectly and you meet the guy, for so many women, we're finding ourselves in our late 30s just sort of looking around saying, 'Why isn't this happening for me?'

"I think Apple and Facebook just brought to light that there are so many women dropping out of the workforce because they can't juggle it all."

It's no secret that there are a dearth of women in tech. In 2015, while women held 57% of all professional occupations, they only held 25% of all computing occupations, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, which collected several studies on the subject. Those numbers are even lower for women of color: Latinas hold only 1% of computing jobs, and black women hold 3%.

While 80% of women in science, engineering, and technology report "loving their work," 56% leave their organization at the mid-level point in their career, according to the Center for Talent Innovation.

One study found that about 50% of women in STEM fieldsprimarily computing and engineeringleft their jobs after 12 years for other roles or time out of the workforce, compared to only 20% of women in other professions. Women in STEM also were more likely to leave their jobs in the first few years of their career than women in non-STEM jobs.

Women exit these lucrative jobs for a number of reasons, including workplace environment, lack of growth opportunities, and, to a lesser degree, raising children. Only 20% of women who left large private sector companies did so to take time out of the workforceand evidence suggests that many of these women would not have left had there been more on- or off-ramping options, or more support for competing life priorities, according to the Center for Talent Innovation.

"From a tech perspective, any little thing that can help keep women in the workforce and feeling a sense that they have options is a great thing," Adams said. "It's just one more thing to almost get us up to that equal playing field. If sperm degenerated faster, I think we'd be having a different conversation."

Just 3% of all US companies covered egg freezing in 2016, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. In comparison, about 26% of enterprises offered in vitro fertilization coverage. But tech companies are at the forefront: Along with Apple and Facebook, Google, Uber, Intel, Spotify, and Salesforce now offer egg freezing and other fertility benefits.

A number of these companies faced backlash for offering egg freezing as a benefit, as critics feared that the true reason for the provision was to keep young women working at their desks longer.

"I don't think it's the cynical thing, that they want to keep their people working and delaying having children," said Dr. Carolyn Givens, medical co-director of the Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco. "I think they're trying to compete for employees, and this is just another benefit that can set them apart from their competitors."

Adams cringes at the depiction of women who choose to freeze their eggs as business-driven manipulators of Mother Nature. "There's a misconception that we're all career mad," Adams said. "When you really look at it, there are so many women in this position that don't want to be in this position, but they're doing it as a safeguard."

In 2012, Adams founded the website Eggsurance, which offers egg freezing information, facts, and community, to better inform women about the process.

"It's hard to do it all," Adams said. "I would have loved to have been in a relationship. I would have loved to have had kids earlier. It didn't happen for me. What egg freezing did was give me some time to figure some things out."

Pacific Fertility Center's cryo storage area.

Image: Pacific Fertility Center

Egg freezing is expensive: An average cycle, which includes hormone stimulation, egg retrieval, and lab processing, costs around $16,000. There are additional costs to store the eggs for later use. And many women choose to undergo two or three cycles to retrieve more eggs for better odds for a later pregnancy.

According to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), almost 5,000 women in the US froze their eggs in 2013up from just 500 in 2009. By 2018, fertility marketer EggBanxx estimates that some 76,000 women will elect to freeze their eggs. The majority of women who electively freeze their eggs are in their 30s, live in cities, and are white, the doctors interviewed for this story said.

FertilityIQ, a website aimed at assessing fertility doctors and clinics, estimates that 10,000 women completed between 25,000 and 30,000 egg freezing cycles in 2016, and that the volume is growing 30% year-on-year in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

For many years, the only people freezing their eggs were cancer patients about to undergo chemotherapy that would destroy any chances of fertility, according to Dr. Alan Penzias, chair of the Practice Committee of the American Society For Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and director of the Fellowship Program in Reproductive Endocrinology and infertility at Harvard Medical School.

These patients were the primary driver for the ASRM to remove the "experimental" label from egg freezing in 2012, along with growing data showing healthy babies being born from these frozen eggs.

However, the ASRM stated that its decision to drop the experimental label does not mean that it encourages the procedure for women without fertility issues.

Still, Dr. Marcelle Cedars, director of the Center for Reproductive Health at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, said she has seen increasing numbers of women across all industries electing to freeze their eggs, and that the age is skewing younger, with more women in their late twenties and early thirties coming in. Women in their mid-to-late thirties are increasingly undergoing the procedure as well, she said. Cedars estimates that the center's volume rose from less than 100 patients to around 250 over the past few years.

"The advantage of doing it sooner is that the eggs are more likely to be healthy, and you need less eggs to get a viable pregnancy," Cedars said. "The potential downside is that for most of the young women, it's a very good chance that they'll never use those eggs."

The process generally works like this: A woman goes to a fertility doctor for an evaluation. The doctor determines their ovarian reserve, or the number of follicles they have available each month, and counsels the woman on the number and health of her eggs.

If the woman elects to move forward, she goes through 10 to 12 days of self-administered hormone injections. At the end of that time frame, the eggs are ready for retrieval. The woman is given a mild anesthetic, and the doctor extracts the eggs via a vaginal ultrasound probe. The retrieval only takes about 10 minutes.

Typically, women only need to take one day off of work for the procedure. For about two to three weeks after, they are not allowed to exercise, but can generally go back to normal life. If they want to do a second cycle, they can start the process again as early as one month later, and a third cycle the month after that, if they so choose.

"For women who are young and healthy, it's sometimes more difficult because it is something totally new for themthey're used to being healthy, they're not used to seeing doctors, and they're not used to having restrictions on their activities," Cedars said.

SEE: Egg freezing, so hot right now (CNET)

Though many tech giants now offer egg freezing benefits that are ostensibly meant to attract and retain female employees, most of them are very quiet about it, said Jake Anderson-Bialis, cofounder of FertilityIQ.

"Nobody wanted there to be a whole lot of publicity about this," Anderson-Bialis said, especially after the negative reaction that Apple and Facebook's news provoked from many in the media.

"At Facebook, Google, Apple, and now Uber, you see female employees freezing their eggs at a pretty quick clip now," Anderson-Bialis said. One reason companies may hesitate to announce these benefits is because they are expensive. Some also offer fertility benefits only to certain employees, such as heterosexual couples but not gay couples, or couples but not single women, and don't want to invite scrutiny, Anderson-Bialis said.

The tech industry far exceeds others when it comes to generous fertility benefits packages, according to research from FertilityIQ. Tech companies offered benefits nearly 35% higher than their peers across other industrieseven relatively smaller businesses like Spotify, Gusto, and Wayfair.

When companies offer any sort of fertility benefit, including egg freezing, employees have higher levels of gratitude and loyalty to the company, according to research from FertilityIQ. "When we looked at fertility benefits in general, a majority of patients who enjoyed fully covered fertility treatments said they were more loyal to the company, and stayed in their job longer than they otherwise would have if this benefit had not been in place," Anderson-Bialis said. "I think that's a major driving factor for the companies to make the decision that they doto satisfy the employee."

It is still too early to do a cost-benefit analysis on the egg-freezing perks announced by Apple and Facebook in 2014, according to a paper published in the DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law earlier this year. But a 2015 survey from Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey found that 68% of US adults aged 25 to 40 said they were willing to change jobs to ensure they had infertility coverage. That number jumped to 90% of those who had experienced fertility issues.

Jean (whose name has been changed), a 38-year-old who works at Google, was unaware the company offered egg freezing until Dr. Givens, who she knew socially, brought it up to her. "I'm not married, never had kids, and had never really considered freezing my eggs until I was chatting with Dr. Givens," Jean said. "That got me thinking, 'Well, if it's a benefit...' since the most prohibitive part of it is cost. And so I started looking into it to see if it was something I wanted to do.

"At this point, I don't even know if I want to have kids. I haven't made that decision yet," Jean said. "But when the time comes, I may not have that option naturally, so I wanted to do this so that it can still be an option for me."

Jean underwent three cycles in 2016, and Google covered the vast majority of the procedure, she said. "It's an amazing benefit," Jean added. "It definitely beat a lot of the more fluffy benefitsteam outings and things like that will only do so much. But this type of benefit is one that makes you believe the company truly values their employees."

Google declined to comment for this story.

"It gives me freedom," Jean said. "I don't even know if I'll end up using them. But I like that it relieves the stress that a lot of women go through getting to a certain age, and removes that timing from a consideration of who I date or my career choices. I don't have to consider that aspect anymore."

Image: Center for Reproductive Health at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center

Since egg freezing is a relatively new procedure, there is little research on its safety and success.

The chance that any individual frozen egg will lead to a birth is about 2% to 12%, according to the ASRM. This low number tends to surprise patients, Cedars said.

Pregnancy rates are highly dependent on how old the woman is when the eggs are retrieved, and how many eggs were retrieved. While there is no comprehensive data on live birth rates from elective egg freezing, SART found that of the 414 egg thaw cycles in 2013, 99 babies were born, representing about 24%. However, some of these eggs may have been frozen using an older method, which has a lower success rate.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that there is a specific number of eggs you can freeze that will guarantee you have a baby, Penzias said. "Certainly having more eggs frozen gives you a better chance than having fewer, but biology is subject to vagaries we are always trying to figure out," he said. "We would never want somebody to walk away believing that no matter how many eggs are frozen, it guarantees having a child."

Adams only underwent one cycle of extraction. She was paying for the procedure out of pocket, and said that her doctor did not counsel her to complete a second or third cycle. From the 11 eggs she froze, only one viable embryo was created upon thawing.

"That was the hardest news I ever got," Adams said. "At 44, there's no way of going in and retrieving more eggs. You have to remember that this is not a guarantee, it's a possibility. When I went into it, I was very aware of that, and was willing to take the gamble. Now that I'm in the midst of it, it's very hard. I've seen so many women get pregnant with their frozen eggsit was sort of an expectation."

In a March blog post on Eggsurance, Adams shared some heart-wrenching news.

"I was told on Saturday that I was pregnant. I was told on Tuesday the embryo had died," she wrote. "I have no more eggs to try. I have no more eggs to retrieve. I have no energy to try again. I am mourning the loss of a baby and the loss of ever having a biological child."

Stories like this make it important for women to be educated and prepared for the realities of egg freezing, Cedars said. Because doctors only focused on patients with cancer or fertility problems for so long, the increase in elective egg freezing spurred in part by tech company benefits requires a new way of thinking. "This is a group that comes in thinking they're doing something proactive for themselves, and I think we have realized that we need to counsel them a bit differently because they are a healthy patient population doing an elective procedure," she said.

Even with the lifting of the experimental label, "there has not been additional evidence produced, or studies done on the safety and efficacy of egg freezing," said Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society. "We have a lot of anecdotal evidence that there are problems, and we don't have the kind of studies you would expect for a procedure that so many women are undergoing."

Tech companies who want to retain female employers should instead look to their workplace policies, Darnovsky said. For example, offering parental leave, creating a culture that does not penalize women for taking time off to care for a newborn, and providing a work/life balance that allows time to grow relationships with potential partners and families would all support women and families, Darnovsky said.

"All those types of things would be far better insurance for women who want to have families than a technique that, for that purpose, remains experimental, is risky for women, and may be risky for the children who might ultimately be born," Darnovsky said.

In 2016, Intel expanded its fertility benefits to include egg freezing and storage of egg, embryo, sperm, and cord blood, according to Danielle Brown, Intel's vice president of human resources and chief diversity and inclusion officer. That year, the company also quadrupled its fertility benefits coverage, increasing it from $10,000 to $40,000 for medical services, and $20,000 for prescription expenses. The benefits were announced formally to employees and the public.

"We made these changes to help our employees reach all of their goals, not just work goals, by reducing the significant financial burden of fertility treatment," Brown said. "Offering egg freezing is another way for us to give employees choices and flexibility in deciding when to start a family while pursuing their careers."

She also noted that the company offers many programs for working parents, including eight weeks paid bonding leave, doubled reimbursement for emergency backup child care, and near-site child care centers.

In August 2016, human resources startup Gusto became the first company in California to offer full fertility benefits to all employees, including LGBT workers and their same-sex partners. The company eliminated the need for a medical diagnosis of infertility for its employees to get fertility treatments covered, said Katie Evans-Reber, a member of the People team at Gusto. About 10 employees have used the benefits so far, she said.

"It helps with retention, and helps us demonstrate the care that we have for mothers and families in general," Evans-Reber said. "I think when Facebook and any other business giant did it, there was some sort of backlash, and it was perceived in the Valley as wanting to keep folks at their desk longer and put off having a family. We don't view it like that at all. We want you to have a family, so we're just as encouraging to our parents and new parents in particular."

Image: Extend Fertility

Dr. Givens of the Pacific Fertility Center said her practice has seen a 50% increase in the number of egg freezing cycles in the past year, with about 300 completed procedures. She is also seeing more interest from younger women.

The increase is largely due to buzz and word of mouth, Givens said, particularly in cities like San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where there are a lot of thirtysomething professional women who are still single. "When half of your friends are freezing their eggs, you're going to feel like, 'Maybe I should be doing this,'" Givens said. "And then when the companies start covering it, then it almost becomes a no-brainer."

"News of employers offering it in their benefits has opened doors for conversation on the topic that really hasn't happened before," said Ilaina Edison, CEO of Extend Fertility in New York City, a clinic that offers egg freezing exclusively. "It's moving from something that used to be taboo to something that's much more openly discussed amongst groups of women."

Meg, a 29-year-old tech company cofounder in New York City, had been thinking about freezing her eggs for years. When she felt ready to explore the procedure more seriously, she posted on Facebook, "Where should I get my eggs frozen in NYC?"

"One of the beautiful things about technology, especially social networks, is that we have more conversations about everything," Meg said. "For me it was similar to asking 'What Italian restaurant should I go to in my neighborhood?'"

Meg began the injections, slipping away to take them in the bathroom after giving a keynote talk at a conference, and doing the same even while out on a date. The hormones made her body feel uncomfortable, she said, but she didn't feel that her life had to change much while undergoing it. She paid for the procedure out of pocket.

Jamie, 37, works at a small tech company in San Francisco. She froze her eggs in February, after a coworker went through the process. "We're about the same age, and we've gone through the battles of trying to find love here in the Bay Area, and just not getting there as quickly as we wanted," Jamie said. "I started really thinking about it and recognizing that I'm 37, I'm still singlehow much do I want a family, and what steps should I take so that I don't ever have regrets?"

She went to a doctor in November 2016 for an initial screening. Her January work schedule was busy, so she decided to go through the process in February 2017. "The procedure itself was easy," she said. "I took a day off work for it, and the next day I was in the office at 7:00 am."

Jamie said she didn't anticipate how emotional the experience would be. The hormones made work feel more overwhelming than usual. "I was so attached to [the eggs] developing and being the best they can be because these could be my potential children," Jamie said. "You want it to be successful."

She paid for the procedure out of pocket, with help from a government 340B program, which covered a majority of the prescription costs.

Jamie recently took on more travel for work. "I feel more comfortable saying yes to that travel because I'm like, 'OK, you gave yourself a couple more years to be able to find that person,'" she said. "If I didn't do this, I probably would be pushing back on some of this travel to get out there and date. I'd still be under pressure."

A number of Jamie's friends in their late 30s working in tech are considering freezing their eggs, she said. "There is this pressure on you, because we're all moving into bigger roles from where we started out," she said. "We're seeing ourselves progress to VP or director-level positions, where we can't take the brakes off too much, but we also want to be able to achieve some of those life goals too, and try to find a balance."

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How egg-freezing is keeping more women in the tech industry: The inside story - TechRepublic

Meeganwas found unconscious in her flat in June (Picture: Facebook)

A bodybuilder died after her body rejected her strict protein diet.

Meegan Hefford had been consuming a number of protein shakes and egg whites in a bid to improve her fitness.

The 25-year-old was unaware that she suffered from Urea Cycle Disorder which meant her body could notproperly dispose of ammonia, a waste product of proteindigestion.

She was found unconscious in her flat in June after an estate agent let himself in to conduct an inspection.

Despite being rushed to hospital, the young mum died just hours later.

Her causes of death were listed as the intake of bodybuilding supplements as well as the condition.

Meegan, from Mandurah in Western Australia, left behind herseven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son.

Speaking to Perth Now, her family said they are now calling for more restrictions on the diet industry, stating the bodybuilder did not know she had the genetic condition.

They claim more warnings need to be put in place regarding the potential dangers of consuming a high protein diet.

Ms White said that before her death, Meegan started complaining that she felt tired and weird.

The condition affects one in every 8,000 people and is children usually show symptoms in the first 24 hours of life.

According to Genetics Home Reference, the disorder means that the nitrogen accumulates in the form of ammonia, a highly toxic substance, resulting in hyperammonemia.

Ammonia then reaches the brain through the blood.

It can cause irreversible brain damage, a coma and death.

She said: I couldnt believe what the doctors were telling me, she was dying.

I said, You have to give her more time, because she didnt look sick, she looked beautiful.

Losing Meegan, its so awful and I still cant believe shes gone but I have to focus on the positives that at least I had 25 years with her and she jammed so much into her life, its almost like she knew her time would be short.

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Bodybuilder dies after her body rejects strict egg and protein diet - Metro

Written by Harish Damodaran | Published:August 16, 2017 1:06 am A farmer in a village near Anand, Gujarat, feeding his young calf. Express photo by Bhupendra Rana

In these times of gaurakshak activism, there can be nothing worse for dairy farmers than their cows or buffaloes delivering male calves. Fortunately, technology is now available to address the problem to an extent in the form of sexed semen having 90%-plus sperms carrying the X-chromosome, and capable of producing only female offspring.

A bulls sperm has 30 chromosomes, including one which is either an X- or a Y-chromosome whose genes code for sex. The egg of a cow, too, contains 30 chromosomes, one of which is, however, always an X-chromosome (just as the human sperm and egg have 23 chromosomes each, one of them either an X- or a Y-chromosome in the case of the former, and one only an X-chromosome for the latter).When a sperm and egg unite, and the former carries the X-chromosome, the resultant offspring is female (XX). When a Y-chromosome-bearing sperm fertilises an egg, the result is a male calf (XY).

Sexed semen technology is about preselecting the sex of offspring by sorting or separating the X-sperms from Y-sperms. The aim is to deliver freedom from male calves, by ensuring that cows are inseminated by semen containing only X-chromosome-bearing sperms. The sorting process basically involves exploiting the differences in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content between X-chromosome-bearing and Y-chromosome-bearing sperms. The former contains slightly more DNA, with the difference ranging from 3.6% to 4.2%, depending upon the breed of the cattle or buffalo.

In 2004, a Texas-based company, Sexing Technologies (ST), commercialised sexed semen production using a procedure to stain the sperm cells with a fluorescent dye that binds to their DNA. The dyed cells are made to pass through a laser beam from a machine (flow cytometer) that can sort the sperms based on the amount of fluorescent light they give off. As the X-chromosome-bearing sperms contain more DNA, these cells absorb more dye and emit more light. That, then, allows for separation of the X- and Y- sperm fractions in the semen.

STs sperm-sorting technology is claimed to be 93% accurate. Thus, if a cow is inseminated using such sexed semen, there is a 93% chance that the calf produced will be female. With ordinary semen used in artificial insemination (AI), that probability is 50-50.

Sexed semens usefulness is obvious, particularly in a country where even male calves cannot be sent freely to the slaughterhouse. That freedom has been further curtailed in a regime of empowered gaurakshaks on the prowl. If a cow after insemination and 9-10 months of pregnancy produces a male calf, the loser is the farmer who will have to rear an animal thats not going to yield him either milk or an income. Worse, he cant be sure that the same cow 13-14 months down the line assuming 3-4 months of post partum rest and 9-10 months pregnancy will deliver a female calf.

But the issue here is cost, which, for AI using conventional semen frozen in 0.25-ml vials (straws), is just over Rs 50 per insemination dose. The comparable cost of sexed semen to the farmer is now anywhere between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,600 per straw.

Semen cost goes up if it is from a bull with higher genetic merit (evaluated in terms of milk yields, number of productive lactations, fat and protein content, etc.) that can also be transmitted to the progeny, notes Daljeet Singh, president of the Progressive Dairy Farmers Association (PDFA) of Punjab, which annually imports 15,000-20,000 frozen sexed semen doses on behalf of its members. The semen is sourced from bovine genetics firms such as World World Sires, Genex and ABS Global of US, and Semex of Canada.

The high cost is due to two main reasons.

The first is the virtual monopoly over knowhow. Sexed semen even that supplied by global animal genetics majors is produced from raw ejaculate, largely using STs proprietary sperm-sorting technology. The parallel one could cite is the near-stranglehold enjoyed by Monsanto vis--vis Bt cotton.

Secondly, the sexed semen currently being used by farmers like those affiliated to PDFA is entirely imported, and based on 100% Holstein Friesian (HF) or Jersey bulls. Semen imports are, moreover, subject to cumbersome procedures entailing approvals from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade and animal husbandry departments, both at the Centre and state levels.

There have been some recent encouraging developments, though, on both counts. In April, ABS Global was granted an injunction by a US court against ST, after the latter was found to have wilfully maintained monopoly power in the market for sexed bovine semen processing. It paved the way for ABS to commercially launch its own Genus Sexed Semen technology, which the Wisconsin-headquartered firm plans to introduce worldwide, including in India.

Indian farmers at present have access only to imported sexed semen from HF and Jersey bulls abroad. From September 1, we will offer them sexed semen also from local HF-Sahiwal and HF-Gir crossbreds; 100% indigenous Sahiwal, Gir and Red Sindhi bulls; and pure Murrah buffaloes. Since the semen is being processed domestically, the cost would be half that of the imported sexed material, says Arvind Gautam, managing director of ABS India, which has a stud farm facility at Bhilwadi in Sangli (Maharashtra), housing over 100 bulls with annual semen production capacity of 70 lakh straws.

R G Chandramogan, chairman of Chennai-based Hatsun Agro Product Ltd Indias biggest private sector dairy that undertakes 5.5 lakh-odd AIs a year believes the domestic market is large enough for sexed semen to be made available at well below Rs 500 per straw.

In 2015-16, about 670 lakh AIs were carried out in India, covering an estimated 30% of its breedable cows and buffaloes. No country will give you this kind of volumes for sexed semen, even if fewer AIs are required to produce the same number of female calves, points out Chandramogan.

But pricing is only one part. The conception rate chances of the animal getting pregnant from sexed semen is 10-20% lower compared to conventional semen. The reason for it is lower sperm count (machine sorting speeds and efficiency arent high enough) and possibility of damage to the cells during the sorting process (from staining with dye, exposure to laser light beam, etc.).

As a result, sexed semen is more effective in inseminating young heifers and cows that have calved only once. The older animals may require more AIs relative to insemination done using normal semen. That raises costs further, even if there a greater likelihood of a female calf getting delivered.

But for all its drawbacks, this is a technology still evolving and destined for improvement. ABS claims its new product is gentler on the sperm cells, with lower processing pressures. There is no doubting sexed semens utility to the Indian dairy farmer today with or without the gaurakshak.

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How technology can deliver freedom from the male calf - The Indian Express

From the opening scene, questions of identityboth existential and scientificprovide the shows narrative thrust.

BBC America

This article contains spoilers about the series finale of Orphan Black.

After five seasons of clone cabals, the BBC America/Space series Orphan Black has come to a mostly happy end. Yet an ellipsis follows wrapping of the show, hinting at bigger questions that transcend the characters storylines. Orphan Blacks conspiracies, camp, and Tatiana Maslanys riveting performances as a dozen different clones make it easy to overlook its prescience and profundity. From the opening scene in which Sarah Manning sees her clone kill herself by stepping in front of a train, questions of identityboth existential and scientificprovide the shows narrative thrust. Who created the clones? How? Why? How much control do their creators have over them? The shows final season provides answers while raising questions that transcend science fiction. What role should ethics play in science? Do scientific subjects have the right to self-determination?

If you stopped watching a few seasons back, heres a brief synopsis of how the mysteries wrap up. Neolution, an organization that seeks to control human evolution through genetic modification, began Project Leda, the cloning program, for two primary reasons: to see whether they could and to experiment with mutations that might allow people (i.e., themselves) to live longer. Neolution partnered with biotech companies such as Dyad, using its big pharma reach and deep pockets to harvest peoples genetic information and to conduct individual and germline (that is, genetic alterations passed down through generations) experiments, including infertility treatments that result in horrifying birth defects and body modification, such as tail-growing.

In the final season, we meet the man behind the curtain: P.T. Westmoreland, who claims to be 170 years old thanks to life-extension treatments such as parabiosis (transfusions of young blood). Westmoreland wants to harness the healing powers of the particular LIN28A gene mutation found in the fertile clones kids. (Real-world studies suggest that while LIN28A mutations are linked to cancer, its RNA-binding protein promotes self-renewal of embryotic stem cells.)

Westmorelandultimately discovered to be a fraud who assumed the original Westmorelands identity after he diedpersonifies one of the shows messages: that pseudoscience and megalomania can masquerade as science. Just because someone has a genetic sequencer and a lab coat doesnt mean hes legitimate, and just because someones a scientist doesnt mean hes ethical.

Orphan Black demonstrates Carl Sagans warning of a time when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few. Neolutionists do whatever they want, pausing only to consider whether theyre missing an opportunity to exploit. Their hubris is straight out of Victor Frankensteins playbook. Frankenstein wonders whether he ought to first reanimate something of simpler organisation than a human, but starting small means waiting for glory. Orphan Blacks evil scientists embody this belief: if theyre going to play God, then theyll control not just their own destinies, but the clones and, ultimately, all of humanitys. Any sacrifices along the way are for the greater goodreasoning that culminates in Westmorelands eugenics fantasy to genetically sterilize 99 percent of the population he doesnt enhance.

Orphan Black uses sci-fi tropes to explore real-world plausibility. Neolution shares similarities with transhumanism, the belief that humans should use science and technology to take control of their own evolution. While some transhumanists dabble in body modifications, such as microchip implants or night-vision eye drops, others seek to end suffering by curing human illness and aging. But even these goals can be seen as selfish, as access to disease-eradicating or life-extending technologies would be limited to the wealthy. Westmorelands goal to sell Neolution to the 1 percent seems frighteningly plausibletranshumanists, who statistically tend to be white, well-educated, and male, and their associated organizations raise and spend massive sums of money to help fulfill their goals. Critics raise many objections to transhumanism, including overpopulation and the socioeconomic divide between mortals and elite immortals, which some think might beget dystopia. Researchers are exploring ways to extend the human lifespan whether by genetic modification, reversing senescence (cellular deterioration with age), nanobots, or bio-printed tissues and organs, but in the world of Orphan Black we dont have to speculate about the consequences of such work.

The show depicts the scientists dehumanization of the clones from its first scene, when Beth, unable to cope with the realities of her cloned existence, commits suicide. When another clone, Cosima, tries to research her DNA, she gets a patent statement: This organism and derivative genetic material is restricted intellectual property. It doesnt matter that Cosima is sick or that shes in love. Shes not a person: Shes a trademarked product, as are the other clones.

Orphan Black warns us that money, power, and fear of death can corrupt both people and science.

The shows most tragic victim is Rachel, the evil clone. Shes the cautionary tale: Frankensteins monster, alone, angry, and cursed. The only one raised with the awareness of what she is, Rachel grows up assured of her own importance and motivated to expand it by doing Neolutions dirty work. Westmoreland signs a document giving Rachel sovereignty, but later she sees computer files in which shes still referred to by her patent number. Despite her leadership, cunning, and bravery, even those working with her never regard her as human. Her willingness to hurt her sisters and herself shows what happens to someone whose experience of nature and nurture is one and the same.

We, the viewers, also dehumanize Rachel by writing her off as one of them. When she lands on the side of her sisters, she does so not out of morality but out of vengeance. At the end, Westmoreland, the closest thing she has to a father, taunts her: its fitting you return to your cage. All lab rats do. But her childhood flashbacks suggest she doesnt want others to experience what she has. When Neolutionists take 9-year-old Kira from her home at gunpoint, Rachel initially supports the plan to load Kira with fertility drugs and then harvest her eggs to access her mutated gene. But when Kira gives Rachel a friendship bracelet (and perhaps her first friendship), Rachels haunted expression suggests that beneath her usually unflappable demeanor, shes still a frightened little girl. When Kira asks, Who hurt you? Rachel responds, They all did.

Whether motivated by retaliation, morality, or both, Rachel helps save Kira and takes down Neolution. Yet its unclear whats left for her as shell never be welcomed into Clone Club. Her last act is to provide a list of clones around the world so Cosima and former Dyad researcher Delphine can cure them. Rachel gives the clones control over their livesand in so doing, asserts control over her own.

Ultimately, Orphan Black is all about choice. Theres much in life we cant choose: our parents, the circumstances of our birth, our DNA. Its no surprise that a show that espouses girl power (the future is female is both spoken and seen on a T-shirt in the final two episodes) dwells on the importance of choice. The finale flashes back to Sarah in front of Planned Parenthood debating whether to have an abortion. Reckless, rough Sarah surprises herself (and Mrs. S, her foster mother) by deciding to keep the baby. Years before she learns how many decisions others have made about her body, she makes a decision for herself.

On Orphan Black, denial of choice is tantamount to imprisonment. That the clones have to earn autonomy underscores the need for ethics in science, especially when it comes to genetics. The shows message here is timely given the rise of gene-editing techniques such as CRISPR. Recently, the National Academy of Sciences gave germline gene editing the green light, just one year after academy scientists from around the world argued it would be irresponsible to proceed without further exploring the implications. Scientists in the United Kingdom and China have already begun human genetic engineering and American scientists recently genetically engineered a human embryo for the first time. The possibility of Project Leda isnt farfetched. Orphan Black warns us that money, power, and fear of death can corrupt both people and science. Once that happens, loss of humanityof both the scientists and the subjectsis inevitable.

In Carl Sagans dark vision of the future, people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority. This describes the plight of the clones at the outset of Orphan Black, but as the series continues, they challenge this paradigm by approaching science and scientists with skepticism, ingenuity, and grit. The lab rats assert their humanity and refuse to run the maze. Freedom looks different to everyone, Sarah says in the finale. As she struggles to figure out what freedom will look like for hershould she get her GED? Sell the house? Get a job?its easy to see how overwhelming such options would be for someone whose value has always been wrapped in a double helix. But no matter what uncertainties their futures hold, the clones dismantle their cages and make their own choices, proving what weve known all alongtheir humanity.

This article is part of Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

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Orphan Black Was Never About Cloning - Slate Magazine

Imagine the moment, youve just been told youre expecting twins. You are trying not to think about The Shining.

You are wondering why you, specifically, have somehow ended up doubly pregnant. Allow Techly to shed some light on the subject.

Now while that clip from the late 80s buddy comedy Twins isnt the most scientific thing youll see today, its always fun to see Arnie acting in the rare scenes when he isnt mowing down foot soldiers and it does raise a significant point. There is a large difference between identical (or monozygotic) twins and fraternal (dizygotic) twins, here demonstrated ably by DeVito and Schwarzenegger.

In the case of identical twins, as the medical term monozygotic may suggest, they occur when one zygote (essentially a fertilized egg) splits into two halves during early development, meaning both embryos have identical genetic information. Fraternal twins, on the other hand, develop from two separate zygotes and are therefore made up of differing, while similar, genetic information.

So, is there a genetic reason for the occurrence of twins? Could there be some genetic predisposition to carrying twins? Well according to this post on The Stanford Tech forum its kind of yes and no territory. To be more specific, the post states identical twins do not run in families and a history of fraternal twins only helps if it comes in on the mothers side. Furthermore, it says that a female fraternal twin is 2.5 times more likely to give birth to a further set of twins and that goes up to 3-4 times when the woman already has already given birth to a set of fraternal twins.

According to the Sciencemag site scientists from eight countries found two genes that increase a womans chance of having twins. A team of researchers in Amsterdam, where the Nederlands Twin Register which currently contains 75,000 cases, started in 1987 collated data from databases in the Nederlands, USA and good ol Australia.

The researchers, working on a sample of over 2000 births, examined the genetic information of the mothers to see if there was a common link between the mothers of fraternal twins. They eventually narrowed it down to two SNPs (essentially single stretches of DNA that signpost genetic differences between people) and subsequently reported in the American Journal of Human Genetics that having a copy of each of them will increase that persons chances of giving birth to fraternal twins by a huge 29%. The first SNP relates to the production of the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), which, if the levels remain quite high while the ovaries mature, can lead to the production of more than one egg. The other SNP is a little more mysterious, SMAD3 has been noted to change how ovaries respond to FSH, at least in mice but in terms of its role in human fertilization, research is ongoing.

So there you have it, of course, a full genetic analysis is not necessarily available to everyone, so whether or not you are genetically predisposed to have your own DeVito/Schwarzenegger caper may have to remain a surprise for now. Having said that, youre family history can, of course, be a handy indicator when considering your own genetic make-up, so Auntie Jane should be able to give you some idea!

Originally posted here:
Techly Explains: Are twins genetic? - Techly

Much of the civil society has become political. Even the sciences are not immune. Climatology is an example of a hard science that has been overwhelmed by politics, and of course anything that has to do with sexuality even pediatrics is consumed by politics.

With that in mind, let us take a look at one aspect of the recent county ordinance passed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors, which restricts the treatment of children with gender dysphoria. The ordinance was passed 3-2, with Supervisors Ally Miller and Steve Christy voting against.

The new political narrative that has subsumed the science of pediatric medicine states that the psyche of the child is immutable, so if it is non-conforming with regard to the physical sex, then the physical sex must be modified to conform to the psyche and of course all that is necessary to determine the nature of the psyche is to ask the child. Children as young as 4 have been asked questions regarding gender preferences.

Alas, the notion that a childs gender identity is immutable has no basis in science. When we think immutable, we think genetics, when we think genetics, we look at identical twin surveys. As it turns out, surveys of transgender identical twins show that both of the twins are transgender only 28 percent of the time, while only one is transgender 72 percent of the time. If gender identity was in fact immutable (as in genetics), then both of the identical twins should be transgender very close to 100 percent of the time.

Another important thing that the political narrative overlooks is the fact that there is more to the difference between children and adults than size. Children are generally immature. Their bodies are developing, as are their psyches. They are incapable of adult judgement.

That is why it is inappropriate to ask a child, Would you like to try a shot and a beer? or Would you like to sign this contract? or In your heart of hearts, do you feel like a male or a female? Heres a crazy idea, maybe it would be better to altogether avoid discussions relating to sexuality with pre-pubescent children, and discuss matters with the older ones with the understanding that they are not yet adults. After all, before the political narrative caught hold, these issues would many times resolve themselves after puberty. That is when the cake is baked.

A peer-reviewed article by Michelle A. Cretella, M.D. titled Gender Dysphoria in Children and Suppression of Debate provides detailed information on the current state of pediatrics in this regard.

Pima County declares that, The purpose of this chapter is to protect the health, safety, and well being of minors in Pima County. If that is true, then why does the county not concern itself with pre-pubescent hormone therapy, puberty blockers and post-pubescent radical surgeries including double mastectomies instead of condemning the helping of children to align themselves with their respective physical realities?

I sought comments from each of the supervisors regarding their votes. Supervisor Steve Christy said, I think the ordinance heads down a slippery and sloped pathway of interfering with parental rights and choice. I read the ordinance again and found it very telling that no form of the word parent appeared anywhere in the text. Christy also expressed concern with the board grandstanding on the national stage.

Now, I understand that its helpful for elected officials to pander to their base every now and then, and who wants to be the last Democratic county in the country to pass such an ordinance, but is the sacrificing children on the altar of political correctness really representative of the people of Pima County?

Jonathan Hoffman has lived and worked in Tucson for 40 years. He has served on the Tucson Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee and on the board of the Pima Trails Association. Email him at tucsonsammy@gmail.com

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Jonathan Hoffman: Pima County should butt out of medical decisions - Arizona Daily Star

Katalina Murrie came in last in her heat at the Whitewater National Championships last weekend, but the transgender athlete was simply happy to be able to compete with other female athletes and inspire other trans athletes.

She's not the only one who has been fighting stereotypes to compete in the gender in which she identifies.

Sports organizations across Canada have been scrambling to develop policies on trans athletes and many are taking cues from guidelines developed by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.

While many sports vary on how they welcome trans athletes, "the guidelines suggest that sport organizations allow individuals to participate in sport in the gender in which they identify," the guideline's co-author Jennifer Birch-Jones told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

That's because the centre's research found there was no evidence that testosterone was a "consistent and reliable predictor of competitive advantage," she said. And the science doesn't support requiring an athlete to take hormone suppressants.

The centresuggests following thoseguidelines evenif an athlete isn't yet eligible to compete internationally.

The International Olympic Committee mandates that male transgender athletes can compete without any restrictions, however, trans women must have identified as female for at least four years and must have a testosterone level below a certain level for at least a year before her first competition.

Even though there's a 10 to 12 per cent performance advantage between men and women in various sports, that gap is closing, said Birch-Jones.

What the science does show, she said,is a greater variation within a gender than between genders and any advantage an athlete has depends more on genetics.

Birch-Jones said no one questions when a woman who is five foot four inches competes against someone who is six foot two, until that woman is transgender; that's when questions about competitive fairness are voiced.

But that person could just be an exceptional athlete, which isn't tied to his or her gender, she said.

"There's lots of transathletes who just want to play their sport," she said.

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Trans athletes should be able to compete in gender they identify with: centre for ethics in sport - CBC.ca

MATTOON -- Sarah Bush Lincoln has been named one of Americas Best Hospitals for Orthopedics by the Womens Choice Award, Americas trusted referral source for the best in health care, according to a press release. The award signifies that Sarah Bush Lincoln is in the top 11 percent of 3,229 U.S. hospitals offering orthopedics services.

SBL President & CEO Jerry Esker said, We are honored to receive this significant designation based on data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and patient experience. Our Orthopedic staff is excellent and has vast experience in diverse areas, and our surgical teams are superb as well.

SBL Orthopedics & Sports Medicine is staffed by six orthopedic surgeons: Eric Brewer, DO. (beginning in the fall), Michael Chioffe, MD, Jim Kohlmann, MD, Louis Mendella, DO, Donald Sandercock, DO, and Jeremy Stevens, MD. Orthopedic Surgeon Muthana Sartawi, MD, and Neurosurgeon Emilio Nardone, MD, also perform surgeries at Sarah Bush Lincoln.

Sarah Bush Lincoln is one of 374 award recipients representing the hospitals that have met the highest standards for orthopedics care in the U.S. by the Womens Choice Award.

There are clear gender differences in musculoskeletal disease, according to a study reported in The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Structural anatomy differences, hormones, and genetics are factors in optimizing care for male verses female orthopedic patients. Because women have higher rates of arthritis than men, some 60 percent of joint replacement surgeries are performed on women.

In a national survey conducted by the Womens Choice Award, female orthopedic patients identified the following key priorities when choosing a hospital for orthopedics:

Women have different orthopedics needs, particularly as they grow older and become more at risk for osteoporosis and fractures, said Delia Passi, founder and CEO of the Womens Choice Award. They also have different health care preferences, which we use to evaluate the recipients of Americas Best Hospitals for Orthopedics. We are the only award that recognizes a hospitals ability to meet womens distinctive needs.

The methodology used to select Sarah Bush Lincoln as one of Americas Best Hospitals for Orthopedics is unique in that it evaluates Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey results along with primary research about womens healthcare preferences. Award recipients are also measured on their incidence of surgical complications and infections, including:

A hospital must have arthroscopy, joint replacement and spine surgery orthopedic services available to patients, onsite physical therapy, and an MRI in order to qualify for the award. It is the only award recognizing excellence in orthopedics based on robust criteria that consider patient satisfaction and clinical excellence.

The Womens Choice Award is a trusted referral source, empowering women to make smart healthcare choices by identifying the countrys best healthcare institutions based on robust criteria that consider female patient satisfaction and clinical excellence. The Womens Choice Award was recently honored by the INC 5000 List of Americas Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2016 for a second consecutive year. Visit http://www.womenschoiceaward.com/ to learn more.

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Sarah Bush Lincoln receives the 2017 Women's Choice Award - Journal Gazette and Times-Courier

Animal studies are the backbone of medical and scientific research. Because of animal testing, humans have developed vaccinations for smallpox, nearly eradicated polio, discovered chemotherapy, and made countless other innovations across the medical spectrum. But theres a major flaw in the way we conduct these experiments: Far too many animal tests ignore biological sex entirely.

A new study from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, published in Nature Communications, argues that too many animal experiments have failed to take into account sexual dimorphismthe traits that differ between sexes in a species, from size to bone density to coloring. This blind spot may be skewing the results of animal testing. And that could have big consequences for the conclusions that we take from animal studies and apply to humans.

Science has a long history of making incorrect assumptions about biological sex that skew testing on live subjects. For much of history, scientists have tended to regard female bodies as simply scaled-down versions of males, which meant that one could just test on men and draw conclusions about womens medical needs. This has backfired repeatedly. In one notable case, in 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration had to cut the recommended dosage for zolpidem (Ambien) for women by half after it was discovered that taking a normal dose often resulted in serious overdoses for women.

At the same time, scientists thought female bodies were too complex and variable to be reliable test subjects, owing to monthly hormone cycles and menstruation. As it happens, male test animals show as much hormonal variation as female animals, so that argument has since been disproven. We also now know that the female body, in many ways, operates differently than the male body. New evidence this week shows that female brain patterns are more active than mens, a revelation that joins a corpus of science proving that women, far from being tinier men, are a category unto themselves.

Women were also viewed as particularly vulnerable if experiments went wrong, both because of impacts on fertility and childbearing, and because of perceptions of greater physical delicacy. Up until 1993, American females of child-bearing age were banned from taking part in early research of any kind as subjects. As a consequence, male-centric trials have been the norm for much of medical history. Unfortunately for everybody, this exclusion has ignored the fact that female imperfection as test subjects doesnt preclude womens need for medical care. After all, sex has been shown to influence the development, progression, and symptoms of conditions like multiple sclerosis, strokes and migraines, asthma, and a host of other illnesses.

Its been legally necessary to include women in clinical trials in the US since 1994. But progress has been slow. A study in 2009 found that compliance with the laws was still low in many published experiments. And the debate around sex, gender, and inclusivity has, until now, centered on humans, neglecting to consider how the issue may be replicated in animal research.

The Nature Communications analysis explicitly aims to explode some of the myths surrounding biological sex testing in animalsnamely, that its unnecessary and a waste of resources. Sex doesnt exert enough influence on our most favored experimental animal, the humble mouse, to require testing both males and females, right?

Au contraire, the results say. The scientists of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute looked at the many ways in which sexual dimorphism influences genetic traits in mice, using 14,250 normal mice (whose genetics were untouched) and 40,192 mutant ones (who had at least one gene knocked out for research purposes).

The study looked at two distinct types of traits. Qualitative traits, like eye color, are controlled by a single gene or small group of genes, and dont really change in response to the environment. Quantitative traits, like metabolism or height, are controlled by a big group of genes and can be responsive to outside influences. The conclusion? A huge number of genetic traits in the mice showed distinct signs of influence by sex.

In normal or wild-type mice, 9.9% of qualitative traits and 56.6% of quantitative ones were influenced in some way by sex. And even in mutant mice with deliberately altered genes, 13.3% of qualitative traits and 17.7% of quantitative ones were sexually modified in some way. That, to put it mildly, is an experiment-altering amount of difference.

The problem in animal testing has been so frustrating for so long that the National Institute of Health took to Nature in 2014 to yell at scientists for not even bothering to use female lab animalsmuch less account for sex in their experiments. And now we know that the most commonly tested animals in medical history have bodies that react to sex differences across the genetic spectrum. The implications are pretty intense: This blindness has a direct impact on biomedical research, and might be part of the reason why progressing from animal trials to human medicine is so tricky.

Mice are also not the typical mammal, despite being sold as such to generations of biologists. And many findings for animals dont necessarily apply to human beings. But if more experiments accounted for sex, wed close at least part of the gap between the human and the animal.

The costs of neglecting female biomedical responses have been evident for a while now. Eight of the ten drugs withdrawn by the FDA between 1997 and 2001 (pdf) were taken off the market because of serious side effects for women, from birth defects in children to increased cancer risk. In most cases, the drugs were recalled after female patients went public with negative consequences. And evidence has shown that womens bodies metabolize various medications in different ways, from antipsychotics to anestheticsdifferences that have huge consequences for treatment and surgical practice.

Animal studies are meant to be the first line of exploration in discovering new ways to understand and conquer human disease. Leaving sex out of the equation means that women and men are both hobbled at the starting gate.

Follow Jennifer on Twitter. Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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A major blind spot in animal testing is endangering the lives of women - Quartz

By now, most of us have heard about Googles so-called anti-diversity manifesto and how James Damore, the engineer who wrote it, has been fired from his job.

Titled Googles Ideological Echo Chamber, Mr. Damore called out the current PC culture, saying the gender gap in Googles diversity was not due to discrimination, but inherent differences in what men and women find interesting. Danielle Brown, Googles newly appointed vice-president for diversity, integrity and governance, accused the memo of advancing incorrect assumptions about gender, and Mr. Damore confirmed last night he was fired for perpetuating gender stereotypes.

Despite how its been portrayed, the memo was fair and factually accurate. Scientific studies have confirmed sex differences in the brain that lead to differences in our interests and behaviour.

As mentioned in the memo, gendered interests are predicted by exposure to prenatal testosterone higher levels are associated with a preference for mechanically interesting things and occupations in adulthood. Lower levels are associated with a preference for people-oriented activities and occupations. This is why STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields tend to be dominated by men.

We see evidence for this in girls with a genetic condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, who are exposed to unusually high levels of testosterone in the womb. When they are born, these girls prefer male-typical, wheeled toys, such as trucks, even if their parents offer more positive feedback when they play with female-typical toys, such as dolls. Similarly, men who are interested in female-typical activities were likely exposed to lower levels of testosterone.

As well, new research from the field of genetics shows that testosterone alters the programming of neural stem cells, leading to sex differences in the brain even before its finished developing in utero. This further suggests that our interests are influenced strongly by biology, as opposed to being learned or socially constructed.

Many people, including a former Google employee, have attempted to refute the memos points, alleging that they contradict the latest research.

Id love to know what research done [] for decades hes referring to, because thousands of studies would suggest otherwise. A single study, published in 2015, did claim that male and female brains existed along a mosaic and that it isnt possible to differentiate them by sex, but this has been refuted by four yes, four academic studies since.

This includes a study that analyzed the exact same brain data from the original study and found that the sex of a given brain could be correctly identified with 69-per-cent to 77-per-cent accuracy.

Of course, differences exist at the individual level, and this doesnt mean environment plays no role in shaping us. But to claim that there are no differences between the sexes when looking at group averages, or that culture has greater influence than biology, simply isnt true.

In fact, research has shown that cultures with greater gender equity have larger sex differences when it comes to job preferences, because in these societies, people are free to choose their occupations based on what they enjoy.

As the memo suggests, seeking to fulfill a 50-per-cent quota of women in STEM is unrealistic. As gender equity continues to improve in developing societies, we should expect to see this gender gap widen.

This trend continues into the area of personality, as well. Contrary to what detractors would have you believe, women are, on average, higher in neuroticism and agreeableness, and lower in stress tolerance.

Some intentionally deny the science because they are afraid it will be used to justify keeping women out of STEM. But sexism isnt the result of knowing facts; its the result of what people choose to do with them.

This is exactly what the mob of outrage should be mobilizing for, instead of denying biological reality and being content to spend a weekend doxxing a man so that he would lose his job. At this point, as foreshadowed in Mr. Damores manifesto, we should be more concerned about viewpoint diversity than diversity revolving around gender.

Debra Soh writes about the science of human sexuality and holds a PhD in sexual neuroscience from York University.

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No, the Google manifesto isn't sexist or anti-diversity. It's science - The Globe and Mail

An embryo that is free of a gene that has a risk of having a certain type of disease, such as cancer, can be selected through technology.

Couples in the UAE are turning to fertility treatment to not only have a chance at a successful pregnancy, but also to help curb birth defects, choose the baby's gender, and what doctors call, "tailor-make their baby, Khaleej Times has learned.

Dr Braulio Peramo Moya, obstetrics, gynaecology and IVF consultant, Al Ain Fertility Centre, said that more than 500 couples in Al Ain have turned to fertility treatment within the past year alone.

Dr Moya explained that through Preimplantation Genetics Diagnostics (PGD), doctors are able to help curb diseases in future generations, such as cancer, as well as birth defects and syndromes, including Down's syndrome.

"An embryo that is free of a gene that has a risk of having a certain type of disease, such as cancer, can be selected through technology.

"The same technology can be used to select an embryo with a physical trait, including the colour of the eyes, but this is not legal in the UAE and cannot be done in any fertility clinics."

He said through modern technology, couples are, however, choosing the sex of their baby. "We take an embryo biopsy where we remove one or two cells and analyse these cells genetically.

"When we have the report of the genetic analysis, we will know the health of the embryo and the sex of the baby. Once we know the embryo is male or female, then we can decide which one can be selected."

Dr Moya explained that the technology used to perform genetical analysis also allows doctors to analyse chromosomes. "There are some diseases we link to abnormalities in the number of chromosomes, known as aneuploety."

"For example, Down's syndrome has an extra 21 chromosomes. With PGD, we can analyse the number of chromosomes contained in an embryo and rule out syndromes and any other abnormalities."

PGD can also be used to identify the embryos that contain genetic diseases, including thalassaemia, which is the most frequent and most common genetic disease in the country.

Moreover, a relatively new technology, known as the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), allows the analysis of the entire genome. "NGS can identify not only abnormalities in the number of chromosomes, but also abnormalities inside the chromosomes.

"Before this, doctors were only able to analyse five to seven chromosomes, but with NGS, we can analyse every single chromosome."

Another genetic analysis in the embryos is identifying abnormality in the gene, which is inside the chromosome itself - even if certain chromosomes contain more than 1,500 genes inside.

"A couple who are thalassaemia carriers, have a risk of having a baby carrying the severe disease if they risk conceiving naturally." He said however, if the couple conceive through IVF PGD, doctors will be able to analyse the embryo and assure it is free of the disease.

Dr Moya added that genetic analysis is becoming more accurate within time and the IVF success rates themselves have reached a whopping 75-80 per cent for couples, when the female patient is under 30 years of age.

"Low responders and women older than 40 have a lower success rate," he added. "The most heartwarming case I had in the UAE was a case of an Emirati couple who had 16 failed IVF attempts."

"When the woman found out that she was finally pregnant, she was the happiest woman in the world. She could not believe it," Dr Moya recalled.

jasmine@khaleejtimes.com

Dr Braulio Peramo Moya, obstetrics, gynaecology and IVF consultant, Al Ain Fertility Centre, said a new revolution in fertility treatment will soon make its way in clinics in the UAE, which will spur hope for thousands of struggling couples - beyond the regular IVF treatment."There is something spectacular, which we are working on now, known as gene-editing, where abnormal embryos can literally be edited, as if you are editing a word document."This means abnormal embryos don't have to be discharged - because we are implementing a technology to edit and correct the gene - so abnormal embryos become normal embryos."The technology, 'CRISPR,' will allow the edited and corrected embryos to be transferred into the woman's womb, instead of being discharged."There has been experiments in animal and human embryos, and within one or two years maximum, it will be clinically available in the UAE.""Gene-editing will be a revolution in fertility treatment, because right now, we have to discharge too many embryos because we find abnormal ones - there is no way we can use them - but soon gene-editing will become a reality and will change the lives of couples who will no longer have to go through countless IVF treatments."

Link:
Couples can tailor-make their babies - Khaleej Times

Company Formally Announces Trials at University of Kentucky, Purdue University and the University of Nevada, Reno

NEW ORLEANS, LA--(Marketwired - Aug 11, 2017) - Dewmar International BMC, Inc. (the "Company")(OTC PINK: DEWM)today discussed its investment in New West Genetics ("New West") and the phenomenal progress that has been achieved in only the past year.

Dewmar International Health & Wellness Research Consortium, LLC, a subsidiary of Dewmar, is a direct investor in New West Genetics and through New West, the consortium is using proprietary technologies and a knowledge base to genetically engineer the cannabis sativa plant to create low THC varieties that will be far superior to the common varieties known in the world today.

New West's business strategy is using genomic technology and data-driven discovery to create large-scale, harvestable cannabis, greatly enhancing the sustainability of the industry and paving the way for large-scale product development of novel nutritional and therapeutic extracts, serving the fastest growing and largest segment of the cannabis market, to use its technology and its knowledge base of genetic engineering to develop and market what it believes are superior, differentiated products.

For thousands of years and since the first farms appeared on the face of the earth, farmers saved seeds from one farming season to another. There wasn't anything that was truly proprietary, seed types mutated to a certain climate and soil type, and all the farmers in a region of the world essentially farmed the same variety.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office throughout its history refused to grant patents on seed types. They viewed seeds as a form of life and refused to grant patents on a living thing that had way too many variables that couldn't be controlled. This all changed in 1980 when in a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court finally decided to allow the patenting of seeds. This created an entire industry which is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide today.

Over the past few decades, smaller seed companies have been bought out and the industry is essentially controlled by major players such as Monsanto, Bayer, Dow, Dupont and BASF. Monsanto is the world leader and the intellectual property is so valuable that companies such as Monsanto create internal programs with safeguards to protect their intellectual property. In the case of Roundup seeds, which is owned by Monsanto, farmers are required to sign agreements that they will not save the seeds after harvesting and they will not sell the seeds to other farmers.

The revival of industrial hemp (also referred to as hemp) in the United States is well underway but for decades, hemp has been illegal to grow in the United States.Thanks to the 2014 Farm Bill, it is no longer considered illegal to grow. Hemp fiber has always been known as the longest and strongest natural fiber known to man. It is of superior strength and durability as compared to other natural fibers. Hemp and all products made of hemp fiber are biodegradable. Hemp has also been used to make clothing, money, rope and many other essential products.

Over the past 2 decades, hemp has morphed into a super food besides the industrial applications, which has a history spanning many centuries. For example, hemp seeds contain about 44% oil by weight in which 80% is a perfect balance of Omega-3, that is known to improve heart function, and Omega-6 essential fatty acids which are essential in hair and skin growth. The protein profile of hemp seeds is more complete than the protein of fish, chicken and red meat. Hemp protein contains all known amino acids and the 9 essential ones that adult bodies can't produce.

Industrial hemp is also rich in cannabinoids, the chemical structures in industrial hemp that are being studied for a wide range of medical ailments including cancer, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Some strains of industrial hemp are also rich in CBD (cannabidiol). Cannabidioil is non-psychoactive while having the potential to possess a variety of therapeutic properties in many medical conditions. CBD has been studied for its therapeutic potential in many serious medical ailments such as epilepsy, cancer, pain, arthritis, and many others. CBD oils and infused products can be purchased in the entire United States without a prescription.

There is a tremendous demand for hemp seed genetics. Today, companies throughout the world are trying to genetically engineer the hemp plant to make it an even better superfood with greater percentages of certain cannabinoids and even higher levels of protein per plant.

New West Genetics has made significant progress in 2017 including entering into a seed licensing deal with potential revenue of $3 million over 3 years. The company's proprietary RELY hemp seed is the first United States hemp-bred seed to pass a Colorado Department of Agriculture trial. RELY was planted in five diverse regions including variations in altitude and weather pattern. The result of the trial reached a successful endpoint when the THC content never exceeded .2% (two-tenths of a percent THC). In a Colorado seed lab test, the RELY seed resulted in 99% purity, 99% germination and 0% weeds.

"Ultimately, my vision is to conduct research with the assistance of New West and one or more Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to create a high CBD, low THC producing hemp seed that contains the proper combination of healing and pain relief proteins to manufacture and distribute the first over-the-counter nutritional supplement to generate millions of dollars in revenue per month," says Dr. Marco Moran, CEO of Dewmar International.

This will not be Dr. Moran's time to create such a high profit earning business model and thanks to the vision and continued support of Dr. Ivory Toldson, Jr., former Executive Director of White House Initiative on HBCUs.Dewmar participated in the Billion Dollar Corporate round table discussion at a prior year's conference in Washington, D.C. which afforded both him and Dewmar President, J.D. Houston, the opportunity to personally meet and discuss hemp growing programs with Chancellors, Provosts, Deans and Presidents of many top HBCU Agricultural Programs who collectively control thousands of acres of land and whom all gladly accepted our program offerings.

Dewmar is also proud to announce that New West's seeds have been entered into trials at the University of Kentucky and Purdue, two of the leading agricultural colleges in the United States. Both universities are active participants in the nationwide revival of the hemp industry.

New West has 4 breeding sites this year plus a 20-acre site which is currently producing hemp from the genetically engineered seed RELY. This large production will give the company verifiable yield rates, which will be demonstrable to large buyers who are looking for seeds in the United States.

One of the key researchers behind New West's work is Dr. John McKay. Dr. McKay is the Chief Investigator at the McKay Lab at Colorado State. The McKay Lab studies the ecology, evolution and genetics of local plant adaptation in natural plant populations. Dr. McKay was invited as a special guest by Dr. Moran to meet his long-time friend and colleague, Dr. Toldson, at a national White House Initiative on HBCU conference years ago. By the end of the conference, Dr. McKay renewed and strengthened his commitment to advance the post-graduate education and increased participation of HBCU students in the studies of Plant Genetics.

"For the past several years, I have worked quietly, yet diligently, toward my vision of empowering HBCU's across the country with agricultural programs to become financially self-sufficient due to favorable changes in the Farm Bill by aiding them in implementing strong industrial hemp programs. I met with Dr. McKay on numerous occasions in Colorado and in Washington, D.C. to develop the proper partnership that entailed both an investment by our Company and in depth discussions with former the White House via, Dr. Ivory Toldson, Jr. to propose the initiation of grants and creative funding mechanisms for HBCU Agricultural Programs," said Dr. Moran.

Click on the link here to learn more about why Dewmar considers themselves a perfect investor and implementation partner with New West Genetics; the leaders in cannabis sativa seed breeding and THC trials. Dewmar's strategic HBCU initiative partnership with MJardin and GHD was formed to implement state of the art growth programs paired with New West leadership in plant genetics. This unique, selfless combination is not be matched by any other consortium within the industry.

"Dewmar boasts that its product development, R&D, manufacturing, brand management and retail product placement verticals create a massive seed-to-consumer retail sales program that is not easily duplicated. This quiet storm of success is a result of years of strategically calculated and well-groomed proper planning over the past 5 years and the time has come to execute," says J.D. Houston, Dewmar International President.

Dr. Marco Moran states, "We are one of the most respected suppliers of the world's largest retailer, Walmart, and they have an increasing number of food and beauty supply products that contain hemp oils, seeds, proteins and powders. My vision is to have HBCU farms with thousands of acres across the U.S. supplying the best in hemp seed byproducts for the millions of consumers worldwide as they become more educated about the positive effects of CBD and of hemp infused medicinals."

Unfortunately, for now, most of the hundreds of millions of dollars of hemp products sold in the U.S. are imported mainly from China and Canada.However, Dewmar plans to grab its fair share of the market as an official registered supplier of Walmart JUMP (Jobs in U.S. Manufacturing) for the fourth year. Furthermore, as Chair of the Mississippi District Export Council, Dr. Moran is perfecting the Company's ability to increase revenue via exports and to utilize the many tools offered by the United States Commercial Service which is the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration.

In fact, Dr. Moran has accepted a request from one of the top credentialed, licensed female cardiologists in the state of Mississippi to develop one of the first over-the-counter (OTC) heart healthy CBD + hemp protein infused nutritional supplements.This physician and the team of Dewmar Medical Advisory Board practitioners plan to schedule a clinical study soon after product launch to track the long-term effectiveness of the product to prevent or reduce the chances of heart disease and to greatly improve heart health in a high risk patient population.

About Dewmar International BMC, Inc.

Dewmar International BMC, Inc. is a certified service-disabled veteran-owned business concern, new product development, manufacturing and brand management company. Established in 2003, Dewmar's primary business strategy has been in creating high profit margins with functional foods and beverages, such as Lean Slow Motion Potion; the longest placement period of all relaxation beverages in Walmart's history and Kush Cakes; the top selling relaxation brownie in the U.S. market. The company has offices in Clinton, MS; Houston, TX; Denver, CO and New Orleans, LA. Dewmar was rated by the Mississippi Business Journal as one of the State's top 15 publicly traded companies.

Follow Dewmar on its official Facebook and Twitter sites where the CEO is inclined to provide information, sometimes on a daily basis, about some of the Company's current activities. Also, subscribe to our Company Newsletter on the bottom right of our homepage to receive updates.

Click here for the Safe Harbor Statement.

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Dewmar International BMC, Inc. (DEWM) Announces Investment in New West Genetics, Better Than Expected Progress ... - Benzinga

Google has diversity problems

Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty

By Lara Williams

Sexism in the tech sector has been a long-standing problem. The latest manifestation of an industry in which machismo reigns and women are grossly underrepresented came as an internal memo written by James Damore an engineer employed by Google (Google has since fired Damore).

The essay, which has been described as an anti-diversity manifesto, is titled Googles Ideological Echo Chamber. It comprises 10 pages of bad science and biological determinism.

Damore outlines research that he says supports his view that women are intrinsically different to men, broadly less likely (and capable) of working in the same careers and industries. Women, on average, have more: he begins, before listing various attributes as innate to women: openness, interest in people over things, preference for social and artistic work, neuroticism and anxiety, extraversion expressed as gregariousness and a harder time negotiating salaries.

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Philosophically, he reasons, I dont think we should do arbitrary social engineering of tech just to make it appealing to equal portions of both men and women.

Some of the science Damore uses to prop up his argument, as Angela Saini points out in The Guardian, is valid; but only insofar as there is a school of neuroscientific thought venturing theories of anatomical differences in men and womens brains. Equally, there is a school of thought dismissing this idea. There are published scientific papers out there to support every possible opinion, Saini states. Science is a slow process, not a growing string of truths.

One truth though is that biological determinism has a history of being trotted out to justify sexism and it is problematic for a number of reasons. Damores manifesto portrays women as a product of inherited traits; understanding womanhood as an expressly anatomical concept without social and cultural influence. He needs to heed French intellectual and feminist Simone de Beauvoirs famous line, one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.

Feminist identity politics are, broadly speaking, concerned with the ways female identity and prescriptive modes of femininity are shaped and constructed. Damores assertions presume gender identity happens in a cultural vacuum.

We ask why we dont see women in top leadership positions, but we never ask why we see so many men in these jobs, Damore states. These positions often require long, stressful hours that may not be worth it if you want a balanced and fulfilling life.

But we absolutely do ask. Men do not have biological predisposition towards stressful hours any more than women do; likewise, a balanced and fulfilling life comes with different expectations if it is likely you are the half of a partnership required to pick up the majority of the domestic labour and child-rearing duties. The structural differences that create inequality are more nuanced than genitals and genetics.

Damore outlines Googles diversity strategies, such as mentoring and classes for marginalised candidates, as harmful, stating they actually increase race and gender tensions. Such strategies increase tensions only for those with a sense of privilege and entitlement, threatened by the usurping of a status quo they benefit from.

What he does not address is the widely discussed prevalence of an aggressively masculine bro-culture, making those long office hours even less palatable for women. A 2016 survey found that 60 per cent of female employees in tech roles reported unwanted sexual advances and 87 per cent reported demeaning comments from male colleagues.

Damore will no doubt, however, be heartened to know Google presently has a 69 per cent male employee majority and so the damaging culture of gender parity he evidently fears is still a long way off. Phew.

More on these topics:

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Memo to all tech bros: Sexism, not biology, holds women back - New Scientist

By Mark Knauer, North Carolina State University Assistant Professor and Extension Swine Specialist; and Garrett See, North Carolina State UniversityIn recent years industry geneticists have chosen to focus on increasing sow output through increases in litter size. At some point we may reach an optimal litter size at the commercial level. Some may debate we are there now. Yet geneticists are working to enhance piglet quality which should make it easier for farmers to wean large, quality litters in the coming years.

So what future opportunities do we have to enhance female reproduction through genetics? Genetically reducing age at puberty offers producers multiple avenues to reduce sow herd costs. Recent research by Garrett See (2017) suggests genetically reducing age at puberty would allow gilts to be mated at younger ages and lighter weights. The author reported that after four generations of selection for young puberty, average age and weight at puberty were 163 days and 224 pounds, respectively.

Hence, in theory, you could farrow your gilts at an average age of 10 or 11 months versus a year of age. Not only would this allow you to substantially reduce gilt feed cost, but also potentially market late puberty gilts as full-value market animals. See (2017) further suggests selection for reduced age at puberty would increase gilt retention, enhance sow longevity and improve piglet quality. Hence the benefits of a genetically young puberty gilt are multiple. Yet more research around early puberty is warranted. Can we consistently breed genetically young puberty gilts to farrow at 10 months of age? What is the true economic value of age at puberty?

Genetic suppliers will tell you age at puberty is a challenging trait to capture at the nucleus level. They are currently correct. Yet I think there are some strategies to reduce the cost of capturing puberty data in the nucleus. At the commercial level Im not sure many changes would be needed to incorporate early puberty females, just start breeding at a younger age.

I would like to acknowledge the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and North Carolina Pork Council for their support of this project. Contact Mark Knauerwith questions.

ReferencesSee, Garrett. 2017. Correlated Responses to Selection for Age at Puberty in Swine. M.S. Thesis. North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

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Genetic strategies to reduce gilt feed and development costs - National Hog Farmer

A Google employee recently published an anti-diversity manifesto on an internal discussion board that has gone viral and stirred furious debate both inside and outside the company.

In the essay, James Damore claimed that differences in the number of women and men in tech companies such as Google can be largely explained by biological differences, rather than sexism. As a result, some diversity efforts aimed at increasing the representation of women and other minorities are discriminatory against men, he argued. (After the memo went public, Google fired Damore for perpetuating gender stereotypes, Reuters reported.)

But what does science have to say about the biological differences between men and women, and how do they affect the gender gap in tech?

"It would be foolish to say there are no biological differences between men and women," said Margaret McCarthy, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland who studies gender differences in the brain. "Sex is the most potent of all biological variables." [Men vs. Women: Our Key Physical Differences Explained]

However, pinning the lack of women in tech to biological differences is on much shakier ground, when socialization or sexism are much likelier explanations, several experts told Live Science.

In Damore's manifesto, he claimed that, compared with men, women on average are more attracted to aesthetics than to ideas, more empathizing than systematic and more extroverted than introverted, but less assertive and less competitive. As a result, he said, women may have more difficulty negotiating higher salaries, speaking up or asking for raises.

He also claimed that women exhibited higher neuroticism, which is manifested in lower stress tolerance and higher anxiety, and that women are less willing to work the long hours necessary to achieve high-paying, high-status jobs. In another section of the manifesto, he said people on the ideological left deny biological differences when they are tied to IQ and sex differences.

It turns out, there are extensive neuroanatomical differences between men's brains and women's brains on average, said Larry Cahill, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine. This shouldn't be surprising; after all, humans are mammals, and mammals exhibit extensive sex-based differences in brain chemistry, anatomy, genetics and function, Cahill told Live Science.

McCarthy agreed.

"We are biologically different," McCarthy told Live Science. "It would be crazy to say that difference in biology doesn't to some degree extend to our brains. To think that we have somehow escaped millions of years of evolution because we're modern humans, I think, is just folly."

For instance, women on average have more gray matter, the computational workhorse of the brain, while men have more white matter, which connects brain cells in different regions of the gray matter. Men and women also have different connective networks between brain cells, on average, according to a 2013 study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. What's more, men's brains tend to be larger than women's. And sex hormones such as testosterone and estrogen, which vary dramatically between men and women, also bind differently to receptors in the brain. [10 Surprising Facts About a Man's Brain]

However, these average differences do not make it possible to type individual brains: A 2015 study in the same journal found it was impossible to categorize most brains as stereotypically male or female based on gray matter in several brain regions.

"Gender differences, small or large, do not 'add up' to create two types of people," said Daphna Joel, a neuroscientist at Tel Aviv University in Israel who was one of the authors of the 2015 study. "Rather, each person has a unique mosaic of feminine (that is, more common in women than in men) and masculine (that is, more common in men than in women) psychological characteristics."

Once scientists make the leap from brain anatomy to function, the connection gets even shakier. For instance, bird brains are smaller than mammalian brains, and they're wired very differently. Yet many birds can tackle brainy feats that stymie the smartest nonhuman mammals. Clearly, brain anatomy does not reveal the whole story, McCarthy said. [Are Big Brains Smarter?]

What's more, many differences in the structure of men's brains versus women's brains may actually counteract gender differences in behavior,a 2004 study in the journal Endocrinologyfound. For instance,women inherit two X chromosomes,while men inherit an X and a Y. But in women's brains,one of the X chromosomes is almost completely silenced to keep them from getting a double dose of gene expression,meaning that men's and women's brains express roughly the same number of X chromosome genes even though, genetically, they have this chromosome difference.

Still, there's no reason to discount the possibility that anatomical or biological differences translate to behavioral differences, Cahill told Live Science.

"Is it inherently plausible that biologically based sex-related influences affect all aspects of human behavior, including careers people choose?" Cahill asked. "The answer is yes."

Still, many of the average differences between men and women that were described in the manifesto are either small or near zero, according to a 2005 study in the journal American Psychologist. Some, if not all, of the average differences could be due to socialization rather than biology, several experts said.

For instance, across cultures, men tend to be better at rotating objects in their mind than women are. However, in India, tribal women in matrilineal societies who hold the purse strings perform better at this task than women in nearby, genetically similar tribes, which are patrilineal. Education also dramatically shrinks this gap in spatial abilities, the researchers found.

In the United States, men outperform women on the math SAT, while in Japan, men and women perform equally well on the math portion of this standardized test and outperform both their male and female American counterparts, McCarthy said. Meanwhile, in some Nordic countries, women outperform men on the math portion of the SAT.

Similar disparities in science versus reading abilities exist across countries, said Bernd Frick, a professor of organizational economics at Paderborn University in Germany. [6 Myths About Girls and Science]

"Girls are told that reading abilities are important. Boys are told that sciences are important, and you see that reflected in standardized tests with young kids ages 8 to 9 or 10 to 12," Frick told Live Science.

However, more patriarchal societies show a much larger gap in these test scores, while egalitarian cultures show only a tiny gap, he added. That suggests that culture, rather than brain differences, explains most of the gap, he added.

As for women's versus men's average intelligence (IQ), there is no average difference.

"That has been shown over and over and over with millions and millions of data points," McCarthy said.

Women do tend to exhibit higher rates of diagnosis with certain types of neuropsychiatric diseases, such as major depressive disorder, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, McCarthy said. However, the difference in the gender ratio for anxiety is quite small compared with differences for other diseases such as anorexia nervosa or autism. Men are also less likely to seek out diagnoses and more likely to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs, meaning at least some of the gender difference in the rates of depression or anxiety could be due to underdiagnosis in men, not a differential response to stress, she added. [7 Ways Depression Differs in Men and Women]

"Is the gender difference in the level of stress you're manifesting, or is it that you're willing to admit you're feeling that stress and anxiety?" McCarthy asked. "These are very complex questions [that] we don't know the answer for."

Also, gender differences may wax or wane through the life span, making it difficult to tease out the effects of socialization versus biology. For instance, young girls tend to start out being much more aggressive and assertive but become less so by the adolescent years.

"Is it because they are punished for getting out of their 'gender lane,' or is it because they go through puberty?" McCarthy said. Right now, there's no way to know, she said.

Other work has shown that women are less competitive than men on average. However, a 2011 study of ultramarathoners, published in the Journal of Sports Economics, showed that as societies become more egalitarian and the prize money women compete for approaches the pots for men, the competitiveness gap disappears.

"So it's a matter of culture," Frick said.

The manifesto goes way out on a limb, however, when it aims to explain the gender gap in tech to biology when other factors such as sexism or outmoded family structures clearly play a role, McCarthy said.

For instance, several studies have shown that a powerful way to attract more women to leadership positions is to have more women in leadership roles, McCarthy said. So the dearth of senior women in tech could lead to a vicious cycle of under-representation, she added.

What's more, women do not inherently want to work fewer hours. Rather, many are expected to shoulder a second shift of childcare and chores when they get home, McCarthy said.

"They have two jobs," McCarthy said.

And sexism in the tech world isn't benign either, Cahill said.

"I always hear about a bro cultulre [in tech]," Cahill said. "It's probably the case that the average woman will chafe more at the average bro culture than the average man."

What's more, no studies have shown that the skills and personality traits needed for tech jobs are uniquely male. For instance, no studies suggest that being agreeable, empathetic or extroverted (the traits Damore ascribed to women) are liabilities for those in the tech field, McCarthy said.

"If Google needed only people with only extremely masculine characteristics, then there would be more suitable male candidates than female candidates," Joel said. "But even in the relatively narrow field of tech, there are many different combinations of characteristics (some more common in women and some more common in men) that fit, so sex differences in the prevalence of these mosaics is unlikely to explain the gender gap in tech."

Originally published on Live Science.

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Google Manifesto: Does Biology Explain Gender Disparities in Tech? - Live Science

Says Debra Soh, a scientist who specializes in sexual neuroscience. Excerpts:

Despite how its been portrayed, the memo was fair and factually accurate. Scientific studies have confirmed sex differences in the brain that lead to differences in our interests and behaviour.

As mentioned in the memo, gendered interests are predicted by exposure to prenatal testosterone higher levels are associated with a preference for mechanically interesting things and occupations in adulthood. Lower levels are associated with a preference for people-oriented activities and occupations. This is why STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields tend to bedominatedby men.

We see evidence for this in girls with a genetic condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, who are exposed to unusually high levels of testosterone in the womb. When they are born, these girls prefer male-typical, wheeled toys, such as trucks, even if their parents offer morepositive feedbackwhen they play with female-typical toys, such as dolls. Similarly, men who are interested in female-typical activities were likely exposed to lower levels of testosterone.

As well, newresearchfrom the field of genetics shows that testosterone alters the programming of neural stem cells, leading to sex differences in the brain even before its finished developing in utero. This further suggests that our interests are influenced strongly by biology, as opposed to being learned or socially constructed.

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As the memo suggests, seeking to fulfill a 50-per-cent quota of women in STEM is unrealistic. As gender equity continues to improve in developing societies, we should expect to see this gender gap widen.

This trend continues into the area of personality, as well. Contrary to what detractors would have you believe, women are, on average, higher in neuroticism and agreeableness, and lower instress tolerance.

Some intentionally deny the science because they are afraid it will be used to justify keeping women out of STEM. But sexism isnt the result of knowing facts; its the result of what people choose to do with them.

This is exactly what the mob of outrage should be mobilizing for, instead of denying biological reality and being content to spend a weekend doxxing a man so that he would lose his job. At this point, as foreshadowed in Mr. Damores manifesto, we should be more concerned about viewpoint diversity than diversity revolving around gender.

Read the whole thing.Gender non-essentialists are the young earth creationists of the Left.

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Damore Has Science On His Side - The American Conservative

NEW YORK While President Donald Trump has thrust transgender people back into the conflict between conservative and liberal values in the United States, geneticists are quietly working on a major research effort to unlock the secrets of gender identity.

A consortium of five research institutions in Europe and the United States, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center, George Washington University and Boston Children's Hospital, is looking to the genome, a person's complete set of DNA, for clues about whether transgender people are born that way.

Two decades of brain research have provided hints of a biological origin to being transgender, but no irrefutable conclusions.

A worker checks the serial number on a slice of human brain before using a saw to cut a piece from the sample at a brain bank in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York, U.S. June 28, 2017. CARLO ALLEGRI / Reuters

Now scientists in the consortium have embarked on what they call the largest-ever study of its kind, searching for a genetic component to explain why people assigned one gender at birth so persistently identify as the other, often from very early childhood.

Researchers have extracted DNA from the blood samples of 10,000 people, 3,000 of them transgender and the rest non-transgender, or cisgender. The project is awaiting grant funding to begin the next phase: testing about 3 million markers, or variations, across the genome for all of the samples.

Knowing what variations transgender people have in common, and comparing those patterns to those of cisgender people in the study, may help investigators understand what role the genome plays in everyone's gender identity.

"If the trait is strongly genetic, then people who identify as trans will share more of their genome, not because they are related in nuclear families but because they are more anciently related," said Lea Davis, leader of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute.

The search for the biological underpinnings is taking on new relevance as the battle for transgender rights plays out in the U.S. political arena.

One of the first acts of the new Trump administration was to revoke Obama-era guidelines directing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice. Last week, the president announced on Twitter he intends to ban transgender people from serving in the military.

Related: Despite Trump's Tweets, Trans Army Sergeant Keeps Proudly Serving

Texas lawmakers are debating a bathroom bill that would require people to use the bathroom of the sex listed on their birth certificate. North Carolina in March repealed a similar law after a national boycott cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business.

Currently, the only way to determine whether people are transgender is for them to self-identify as such. While civil rights activists contend that should be sufficient, scientists have taken their search to the lab.

That quest has made some transgender people nervous. If a "cause" is found it could posit a "cure," potentially opening the door to so-called reparative therapies similar to those that attempt to turn gay people straight, advocates say. Others raise concerns about the rights of those who may identify as trans but lack biological "proof."

Davis stressed that her study does not seek to produce a genetic test for being transgender, nor would it be able to. Instead, she said, she hopes the data will lead to better care for transgender people, who experience wide health disparities compared to the general population.

One-third of transgender people reported a negative healthcare experience in the previous year such as verbal harassment, refusal of treatment or the need to teach their doctors about transgender care, according to a landmark survey of nearly 28,000 people released last year by the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Related: Major Transgender Rights Case Returns to Lower Court

Some 40 percent have attempted suicide, almost nine times the rate for the general population.

"We can use this information to help train doctors and nurses to provide better care to trans patients and to also develop amicus briefs to support equal rights legislation," said Davis, who is also director of research for Vanderbilt's gender health clinic.

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee has one of the world's largest DNA databanks. It also has emerged as a leader in transgender healthcare with initiatives such as the Trans Buddy Program, which pairs every transgender patient with a volunteer to help guide them through their healthcare visits.

The study has applied for a grant from the National Institutes of Health and is exploring other financial sources to provide the $1 million needed to complete the genotyping, expected to take a year to 18 months. Analysis of the data would take about another six months and require more funding, Davis said.

The other consortium members are Vrije University in Amsterdam and the FIMABIS institute in Malaga, Spain.

PROBING THE BRAIN

Until now, the bulk of research into the origins of being transgender has looked at the brain.

Neurologists have spotted clues in the brain structure and activity of transgender people that distinguish them from cisgender subjects.

A seminal 1995 study was led by Dutch neurobiologist Dick Swaab, who was also among the first scientists to discover structural differences between male and female brains. Looking at postmortem brain tissue of transgender subjects, he found that male-to-female transsexuals had clusters of cells, or nuclei, that more closely resembled those of a typical female brain, and vice versa.

Swaab's body of work on postmortem samples was based on just 12 transgender brains that he spent 25 years collecting. But it gave rise to a whole new field of inquiry that today is being explored with advanced brain scan technology on living transgender volunteers.

Dr. Ivanka Savic points to a study on the screen of her computer at her home in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 30, 2017. Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Among the leaders in brain scan research is Ivanka Savic, a professor of neurology with Sweden's Karolinska Institute and visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her studies suggest that transgender men have a weakened connection between the two areas of the brain that process the perception of self and one's own body. Savic said those connections seem to improve after the person receives cross-hormone treatment.

Her work has been published more than 100 times on various topics in peer-reviewed journals, but she still cannot conclude whether people are born transgender.

"I think that, but I have to prove that," Savic said.

Related: Pressure Mounts to Curtail Surgery on Intersex Children

A number of other researchers, including both geneticists and neurologists, presume a biological component that is also influenced by upbringing.

But Paul McHugh, a university professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has emerged as the leading voice challenging the "born-this-way" hypothesis.

He encourages psychiatric therapy for transgender people, especially children, so that they accept the gender assigned to them at birth.

McHugh has gained a following among social conservatives, while incensing LGBTQ advocates with comments such as calling transgender people "counterfeit."

Last year he co-authored a review of the scientific literature published in The New Atlantis journal, asserting there was scant evidence to suggest sexual orientation and gender identity were biologically determined.

The article drew a rebuke from nearly 600 academics and clinicians who called it misleading.

McHugh told Reuters he was "unmoved" by his critics and says he doubts additional research will reveal a biological cause.

"If it were obvious," he said, "they would have found it long ago."

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Researchers Explore the Science of Gender Identity - NBCNews.com

In 2014, the University of Arkansas estimated one purebred calf born from embryo transfer must have a market premium of $1,500 to $2,000 greater than naturally conceived calves in order to pay for the costs to produce it.

In the roughly 40 years or so that ET has been conducted in cattle, it wasnt until recently that embryos could be sorted according to sex. And most of that has been done in the dairy cattle businessnot the beef cattle business. That means even a successful ET calf on the ground may not in fact meet the ranchers selection requirements for that premium price that would pay their costs of production. Or, the calf may not exhibit the physiological traits that would match what his or her genetic potential had been on paper.

Months of planning and thousands of dollars invested in harvesting and implanting an embryo may either wind up in a stellar replacement female to advance your herds geneticsor it might result in a bull destined for the steer pen.

But Matt Barten, of Embruon, Salina, Kansas, is working to change that one beef calf embryo at a time. His company uses bovine embryo biopsy and genomic data captured by the various purebred beef cattle associations to evaluate embryos for producers. With a few cells, Bartens company can tell a rancher not only the sex of the embryo, but also what genetic traits the calf will exhibit in the pasture or in the feedlot.

I say that its making those genetic decisions at negative nine months, Barten said. By the time you have an embryo calf on the ground, you could have up to $2,000 in that calf. So, if you can make the decision to implant that embryo based on what that calf is in the nitrogen tank, it saves you time and money.

With embryo transfer, by and large, the biggest dollar figure and resources that you have tied up are in the recipient herd, Barten explained. Using his embryo biopsy technology a rancher can make transplant decisions as to not only what gender those embryos are, but if they have a recessive genetic profile or traits that a rancher would like to bring into a herd, before a pregnancy occurs.

Maybe more important is that it can help cattlemen build the desired genetics in their herds with more precision than they have ever had in the past.

Early adopter

Charlie Cartwright owns Cannon Ridge Angus in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He and his wife have built their Angus herd using artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer since he retired from the military in 2013.

We bought the first 10 pregnant cows in September of 2013, just by going to various sales across the nation and trying to build our genetics, Cartwright said. Cannon Ridge markets replacement females to purebred cattlemen, so its important that he be able to select female embryos to transfer. But some ranchers might be more interested in the other capabilities of the testing, such as telling if an embryo carries harmful genetic traits that theyd like to select against.

My focus right now is on getting more females, Cartwright said. But as we get down the road and as GE-EPDs and DNA testing is more prevalent, we might start to look more at the DNA of the embryos. If Matt can tell me that these are her numbers, I can choose if I want to put that embryo in. If the embryo shows more traits coming from the mother or the sire, maybe I decide not to put the embryo in.

When we got started it was because I wanted to do full genomic profiling, Barten said. We wanted to offer the GE-EPD at Embruon. So now, using information from the Angus breed association, we can know genomically what that calf will be at the embryo level. We can tell within a group of 10 or 100 which embryos will have more carcass potential or more maternal potential genomically.

And, with each breed association collecting more genomic data on its cattle, the Embruon process can be used for practically any purebred cattle embryos.

Cell amplification

The process is breed-specific, Barten said. Probably the most applicable in the dairy industry because they have so many genotyped animals already. The Angus breed, though, is one that has built up its number of genotyped animals, he added.

Embruons process is fairly simple. A rancher like Cartwright can use conventional flushing methods to get embryos from his cows. Then, he overnight ships the embryos to Barten at Embruon in a culture media to grow while theyre on the way. Barten said its like culturing bacteria on a petri dish. The embryos are biopsied the next day.

The biopsy just takes a few cells from the outer layer of the embryo cell, what would eventually develop into the placenta for the calf in utero, Barten explained. This is where the process gets really delicate. Unlike a DNA sample from a live animals hair or tissue that is composed of hundreds of thousands of cells, there are fewer cells in an embryo to test. Barten works with Neogens GeneSeek Operations in Lincoln, Nebraska, to amplify the number of cells to get enough DNA for evaluation using the genomic data from the breed association.

Embryo before biopsy. (Photo courtesy ofEmbruon.)

Embryo after biopsy. (Photo courtesy ofEmbruon.)

Embryo recovering from biopsy. (Photo courtesy ofEmbruon.)

Embryo before biopsy. (Photo courtesy ofEmbruon.)

Embryo after biopsy. (Photo courtesy ofEmbruon.)

Embryo recovering from biopsy. (Photo courtesy ofEmbruon.)

The most difficult part of this was trying to get the DNA to amplify, Barten said. Its like having to turn a bushel basket of corn into two semi-loads so that you can run it through the pipeline.

Except, in this case every copy of those embryonic cellsevery corn kernelhas to be identical following amplification, or youll introduce errors. Barten said if theres an error in the cell amplification, it can introduce bias into the testing.

These cells have to go through amplification somewhere on the scale of 2,100 times, Barten explained. If you introduce an error, then the genetic prediction starts to get really skewed. Think about a sniper taking a shot at a half of a mile. If youre just one-eighth of an inch off, when you shoot, by the time the bullet reaches the target its a foot off. It took Barten working with GeneSeek a year to get the process fine-tuned so that theres a high degree of accuracy.

We need two things at the end of the day, Barten said. We have to have a high degree of accuracy in predicting what the embryo will become, and we have to be able to transfer the embryo for pregnancy.

Following their biopsy, the embryos stay on their culture for a little while to recover. Barten will look at the embryos under the microscope and evaluate if they are recovered and able to be implanted.

Moving the cost curve

From here, a breeder has two choices. The embryos can be frozen and the breeder can wait on the data to decide to implant them, or they can go ahead and implant them and decide after he gets the data if the pregnancies are what he desired. It all depends on their market goals, their labor resources and other factors.

This process works well for ranchers who dont have an infinite pool of recipient cows at their disposal, and who really need to make every decision count before they tie up their resources, Barten said. Its about moving the cost curve back to the point before theres a calf, and resources are devoted to something that isnt desired.

By making their decisions at negative nine months, the rancher can do in a year or two what it would take some other operation three to four years to do, Barten explained. Thats because every year hes making his decisions on the embryonic level, knowing what hell get. Barten worked with a Kansas State University graduate student, Dustin Aherin, to crunch the numbers. Using computer modeling they found the expense to run double the number of recipient cows in a year can add up to $40,000 in costs in a year, and a rancher could still wind up with calves he would not be able to sell at or above market value.

Bovine embryo biopsy isnt new, Barten said. The technology is used in many other applications. Barten developed his concept for Embruon after he graduated from Fort Hays State University. Hes worked as a bovine ultrasound technician and as an embryo transfer technician. In 2014, he had some clients who were dealing with a recessive trait in their herd, and he thought if he could identify the embryos that were free of the disorder versus those who were carriers, that he could help them. Eventually that led to the creation of Embruon, Barten said.

The science of the technology is what appeals to Cartwright and one of the reasons why hes an early adopter. Hes looking to see this fall in the 10 recipient cows hes implanted with Embruon-evaluated embryos what their pregnancy rates were and what were the final costs of his operation invested in the procedure.

Every cow and every rancher is different, and there are a lot of ways to do embryonic production, Cartwright said. I look at each one as a tool in the box. He added that ranchers need to evaluate for themselves if technology like this will work for them.

Barten is optimistic about the future of his company. They have plans to expand laboratory space into Wichita, Kansas, and adding staff to ease the workload. But for him, the real point of pride is helping cattlemen like his dad improve their herds more efficiently than they were ever able to before.

And all before an embryo is ever implanted.

Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached at 620-227-1807 or jlatzke@hpj.com.

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Selecting at negative 9 months - High Plains Journal

Physiological differences mean different training programmes depending on your sex

The biggest single difference in sporting performance separating one cyclist from another is gender. Since 1983, when the gender gap stabilised in Olympic sports, there has been a consistent average difference across all sports of around 10 per cent.

In track cycling, Dutch researchers found an average speed discrepancy of 12.6 per cent; the figure from similar German research was 11 per cent. On the roads, world and US masters records show the difference in the 25-mile TT is around 10 per cent.

The most obvious place to search for an explanation of this difference is in our physiology. However, very little sports science research is undertaken on women. This is partly because hormonal fluctuations mean you need a greater number of female subjects to obtain reliable results. We have a large gap in our collective understanding of how sex-related characteristics affect performance.

Drawing comparisons is also difficult; among women athletes, rarely are we comparing like with like. Body size is just one important difference with huge variation, and other physiological variables must be scaled accordingly. This presents challenges to science.

Jamie Pringle, a physiologist who has coached many world and Olympic champions, says: The most consistent observation about the difference is that women have lower total mass of haemoglobin in their blood, compared to men, and less blood in total. This means less capacity to transport oxygen in the blood, which, when combined with the hearts ability to pump that blood, and the muscles capacity to extract the oxygen from it, is a key determinant of aerobic fitness and endurance.

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According to Pringle, a well-trained female has about 10 to 12 per cent less haemoglobin for each kilogram of body mass compared to a male athlete. To test the impact of this difference, researchers had 10 male cyclists donate approximately one litre of blood so that their haemoglobin levels matched those of the studys 10 female participants.

Three days later, the riders undertook a VO2 max test and a performance trial: the mens VO2 max values had fallen by seven per cent and their endurance capability was cut by around five per cent, indicating that haemoglobin accounts for at least half of the performance difference between the sexes.

Testosterone level is another important point of difference. Research published in the latest edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that female athletes with higher levels of testosterone had a competitive advantage of up to 4.5 per cent over rivals with typical levels. Other differentiators include the amount of oxygen used per watt of power generated, and fat-burning capacity.

The menstrual cycle can have a huge impact on a female riders performance (Credit: Jesse Wild)

Dr Adam Simon, the chief medical officer at Push Doctor, says: Men tend to be more muscular and have heavier bones, whereas women naturally have more body fat.

The body fat issue is important because, to climb well, it is advantageous to have low body fat. For a female athlete, having very low body fat risks both their bone and reproductive health.

In assessing how these sex-related differences affect trainability and adaptation to exercise, science has much more work to do.

Human performance is far too complex to be attributable to isolated genes, says Pringle. It will be a while until this physiological photograph develops.

Nonetheless, some studies on nutrition have found that gender has an impact on optimal hydration; and men have been found to respond better then women to carb-loading.

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Developments in genomics are likely to uncover many more differences between the sexes. In a recent study comparing the physical traits of mice, at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, researchers found that sex affected nearly 60 per cent of quantitative traits such as bone mass and 10 per cent of qualitative traits such as head shape.

Sex was also seen to influence the switching on and off of certain genes, a finding that has implications for disease treatment and possibly, one day, individualised training.

Studying the ageing process also helps explain the impact of physiological differences between the sexes. Before puberty, girls and boys show similar red blood cell profiles; the differences emerge only after menstruation begins. Girls body fat levels increase while boys gain muscle mass and their testosterone levels increase. Importantly for cyclists, males end up with higher lean leg volume.

At the older end of the scale, a US study found womens performances in the 25-mile TT declined faster as they aged; the drop-off steepened from 9.5 per cent at 40 to 16.6 per cent at 50.

These differences could be down to the menopause, which, explains Simon, causes lots of symptoms that are unhelpful for a womans cycling performance. The arrival of hot flushes means that blood has a tendency to head for the surface of the skin rather than the muscles where its needed. Hormonal changes mean that building and maintaining muscles becomes harder and, to complete the double whammy, it becomes harder to stay lean.

The key difference pre-menopause is menstruation. Georgia Bruinvels, a PhD researcher at UCL, found that 41.7 per cent of female athletes felt their menstrual cycle affected their performance. The effects include increased injury risk from hormonal changes, having to deal with pain and cramps, and of course monthly loss of blood, potentially resulting in iron deficiency.

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The physiological differences, largely limiting power rather than endurance, suggest the gender performance gap should reduce as the distances increase. Male traits more fast-twitch fibres, more haemoglobin and therefore higher V02 max are less advantageous in ultra-endurance events. In fact, certain female traits become advantageous.

In cycling, it pays to be aerodynamic, says Pringle. A typically smaller-framed female athlete is more aerodynamic and lighter in the hills.

Ultra-distance cyclist Jasmijn Muller agrees: Whereas over shorter distances males larger muscles may help with sprinting efforts, they also fatigue more quickly. Women can keep going for longer on less fuel, as they have proportionally more fat, which burns more slowly than carbs.

Over longer distances, mental strength and competitiveness can prove decisive, and Muller believes women have the edge in this regard too. The longer the race, the more mental a game it becomes. Women are built for labour, which is after all a very painful endurance feat. A high tolerance to pain, and a strong desire to prove that we can perform as well as men in ultra races, can get you a long way.

Are there really psychological differences between men and women? Sports psychology rarely finds major differences in terms of personality traits or mental skills, but interesting findings have been made relating to confidence. Broadly, female athletes have been shown to display higher levels of anxiety.

Of course, its hard to determine whether this higher anxiety is down to genetics or environment (including social factors), or a combination of the two. It could be that attitudes around cycling e.g. the presumption that men are naturally more competitive have a persistent, widespread effect. Social elements are clearly important, as they can affect confidence and anxiety and even, for women, whether they choose to ride bikes in the first place.

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Far fewer women than men race bikes: only 18 per cent of British Cycling licence holders are female. Some of the average difference in performance inevitably comes down to participation levels: greater numbers mean raised competitiveness the performance bar is pushed higher. There have been standalone exceptional female cyclists, such as Beryl Burton, but could such women have performed even better in stacked fields with close rivals snapping at their heels?

Muller says she would love to see more women challenging her. It creates a great atmosphere, and competition spurs you on to go faster and really be your best. I love racing in long-distance time trials where I know some of my key female rivals will be competing. In 2015, Jill Wilkinson and I battled it out over 12 hours, with me taking the win by a mere 192 metres.

The UK government is currently trying to increase female participation across all sports. A recent survey for Womens Sports Week found that while 83 per cent of sports now pay equal prize money, cycling is in the minority that does not. Coryn Rivera received 1,100 for winning the womens Tour of Flanders, whereas Philippe Gilbert netted 20,000 for winning the mens version.

When wages and sponsorship are added into the mix, the disparity widens. Why would parents encourage their daughter into a sport that values her race-winning talent, skills and time as worth only one 20th of a mans?

The second-class culture isnt just about money. It is about wider support. The way cycling is set up, from UCI level downwards, means that female athletes receive less technical help, have to make do with less advanced equipment, and often miss out on physiological or psychological support.

>>> How elite riders combine high level racing with full-time jobs

Most elite female athletes unless they are on the GB programme have to work full-time and squeeze in their training on top.

Even the timing of events means that the big crowds or TV coverage are reserved for the mens races, which creates a very different race environment. Only a few weeks ago at the Irish National Road Race Championships, the female peloton was pulled over and made to wait for the mens race to pass.

Add into this dubious mix a cycling culture that still features podium girls, objectifying marketing tactics, a pink it and shrink it attitude to female kit, and high-profile claims of sexism (revealed in recent reports and rider autobiographies) is it any wonder cycling is failing to attract women?

So, on average, male riders are stronger and more powerful. They have more blood carrying more oxygen, less fat, and more fast-twitch fibres. And they can train unrestricted by menstrual cycles and attendant fluctuating hormone levels.

As distances lengthen, these physiological differences become less important, yet there remains a persistent gender gap. There are problems with the culture of the sport and low participation levels among women.

To reduce the performance gap, we need to move away from thinking of female athletes as little men and instead design training that optimises their physiology. At the same time, we need to take a long, hard look at the culture in cycling to ensure we treat cyclists equally, whatever their gender.

Male and female athletes, because of the differences in their physiology, sometimes need to train differently. Georgia Bruinvels, a research scientist at analytics specialist Orreco, and Level 3 coach Holly Seear of Spring Cycling Coaching, explain.

Men develop more fast-twitch fibres than women. Women dont naturally use their posterior chain, activate their core and glutes as much as men. Female athletes are more quad-dominant and develop muscle more slowly.

Female athletes should therefore do more core and glute activation and more specific acceleration work. Males can pick certain times of the year for strength training, while allowing their legs to feel fresher during race season.

Men benefit from higher levels of testosterone, which help to build muscle and bone mass. Women need many hormones working in unison for menstrual cycles. And everyone relies on the healthy levels of metabolic hormones such as adrenalin and insulin.

Female athletes need to spot the patterns because at different times of the month different proportions of glycogen and fats are needed to fuel training, sweat responses, core temperature and blood plasma volume and can even affect emotional response. It is therefore important for women to time training sessions accordingly, as well as paying particular attention to diet.

Male athletes need to be aware that testosterone levels can fall as they age, which can have an impact on their cycling through loss of muscle mass, fatigue, increased body fat and decreased bone mass. A blood test can check your levels.

The menstrual cycle increases the likelihood of cramping at certain times of the month. Female athletes should follow a four-week training cycle with three weeks hard training followed by a recovery week.

Male athletes can have more flexibility about how often they take easier weeks for recovery to fit in with their racing plans.

Again, the menstrual cycle can raise injury risks for females, who should, during ovulation, enhance their warm-up, be cautious with short, sharp efforts, and maximise recovery by fuelling correctly and smartly.

Male athletes have been found to be more prone than females to ignoring niggles, which can turn into full-on injuries.

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Cycling and gender: how and why male and female cyclists need to train differently - Cycling Weekly

Scientists have successfully edited the DNA of human embryos to erase a heritable heart condition that isknown for causingsudden death in young competitive athletes, cracking openthe doors toa controversial new era in medicine.

This is the first time gene editing on human embryos has been conducted in theUnited States. Researcherssaid in interviews this weekthat theyconsider their work very basic. The embryos were allowed to grow for only a few days, and there was never any intention to implant them to create a pregnancy. But they also acknowledged that they will continue to move forward with the science, with theultimate goal of being able to correct disease-causing genes in embryos that will develop into babies.

News of the remarkable experiment began to circulate last week, but details became public Wednesday with a paper in the journal Nature.

The experiment is the latest example of how the laboratory tool known as CRISPR (orClustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), a type of molecular scissors, is pushing the boundaries of our ability to manipulate life, and it has been receivedwith both excitement and horror.

The most recent work is particularly sensitive because it involves changes to the germ line that is, genes that could be passed on to future generations. The United States forbids the use of federal funds for embryo research, and theFood and Drug Administration is prohibited from considering any clinical trials involving genetic modifications that can be inherited. A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in February urged caution in applying CRISPR to human germ-line editingbut laid out conditions by whichresearch should continue. The new study abides by those recommendations.

This animation depicts the CRISPR-Cas9 method for genome editing a powerful new technology with many applications in biomedical research, including the potential to treat human genetic disease or provide cosmetic enhancements. (Feng Zhang/McGovern Institute for Brain Research/MIT)

Shoukhrat Mitalipov, one of the lead authors of the paper and a researcher at Oregon Health & Science University, said that he is conscious ofthe need for a larger ethical and legal discussion about genetic modification of humans but that his team's work isjustified because it involves correcting genes rather than changing them.

Really we didnt edit anything. Neither did we modify anything, Mitalipov said. Our program is toward correcting mutant genes.

Alta Charo, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who is co-chair of the National Academies committee that looked at gene editing,said that concerns about the work that have been circulating in recent days are overblown.

What this represents is a fascinating, important and rather impressive incremental step toward learning how to edit embryos safely and precisely, she said. However, no matter what anybody says, this is not the dawn of the era of the designer baby. She said that characteristics that some parents might desire, such as intelligence and athleticism, are influenced by multiple genes and that researchers don't understand all the components of how such characteristics areinherited, much less have the ability to redesign them.

The research involved eggs from 12 healthy female donors and sperm from a male volunteer who carries the MYBPC3 gene, which causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. HCM is a disease that causes an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle butcan cause no symptoms and remain undetected until it causes sudden cardiac death. There's no way to prevent or cure it, and it affects1 in 500 people worldwide.

Around the time the sperm was injected into the eggs, researchers snipped out the gene that causes the disease. The result was far more successful than the researchers expected: As the embryo's cells began to divide and multiply, a huge number appearedto be repairing themselves by using the normal, non-mutated copy of the gene from the women'sgenetic material. In all, they saw that about 72 percent were corrected, a very high number. Researchers also noticed that theredidn't seem to be any off-target changes in the DNA, which has been a major safety concern ofgene-editing research.

Mitalipov said he hoped the technique could one day be applied to a wide variety of genetic diseases and that one of the team'snext targets may be the BRCA gene mutation, which is associated with breast cancer.

The first published work involving human embryos, reported in 2015, was done in Chinaand targeted a gene that leads to theblood disorder beta thalassemia. But those embryos were abnormal and nonviable, and there were far fewer than the number used in the U.S. study.

Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a researcher at the Salk Institute who is also a co-author on the new study, saidthat there are many advantages to treating an embryo rather than a child or an adult. When dealing with an embryo in its earliest stages, only a few cells are involved, while in a more mature human being there aretrillions of cells in the body and potentially millions that must be corrected to eradicate traces of a disease.

Izpisua Belmonte said that even if the technology is perfected, it could deal with only a small subset of human diseases.

Idont want to be negative with our own discoveries, but it is important to inform the public of what this means, he said. In my opinion the percentage of people that would benefit from this at the current way the world is rather small. For the process to make a difference, the child would have to be born through in vitro fertilization or IVF and the parentswould have to know the child has the gene for a disease to get it changed. But the vast majority ofchildren are conceived the natural way, and this correction technology would not work in utero.

For years, some policymakers, historians and scientists have been calling for a voluntary moratorium on the modification of the DNA of human reproductive cells. The most prominent expression of concern came in the form of a 2015 letter signed by CRISPR co-inventor Jennifer Doudna, Nobel Laureate David Baltimore and 16 other prominent scientists. They warned that eliminating a genetic disease could have unintended consequences on human genetics, society and even the environment far into the future.

On Wednesday,Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, warned that the O.H.S.U. research would result in fertility clinics offering genetic upgrades to those able to afford them.

Once those commercial dynamics kick in, we could all too easily find ourselves in a world where some peoples children are considered biologically superior to the rest of us, she said in a statement. We need to ask ourselves whether we want to add that new kind of excuse for extreme social disparities to the ones we already tolerate.

Researchers who worked on the heart-condition experiment appear to have differing views on where their work is headed.

Paula Amato, a reproductiveendocrinologist with O.H.S.U., was excited about the idea of being able to editout diseases before birth. She said that while pre-implantation genetic screening of embryos is now available, it isn't perfect.She talked about how one of her patients went through three cycles of in vitro fertilizationbut all theeggs that were harvested hadthegene mutation that causes diseases.

With gene correction technology, Amatosaid, we could have rescued some of those embryos.

ButIzpisua Belmonte said he is focusing on using thefindings from this study to further research into gene modifications during a pregnancy or after birth into adulthood.

Ifeel that the practical thing to do is deal with the diseases people have, not with the disease they may have, he said.

Mitalipov said he hopes regulators will provide more guidance on what should or should not be allowed.

Otherwise, he said, this technology will be shifted to unregulated areas, which shouldnt be happening.

This story has been updated.

Read more:

A new CRISPR breakthrough could lead to simpler, cheaper disease diagnosis

Scientists debate the ethics of CRISPR

Ethicists urge caution in applying CRISPR to humans

Jennifer Doudna ponders 'what it means to be human' on the frontier of gene editing

Excerpt from:
First human embryo editing experiment in US 'corrects' gene for heart condition - Washington Post

The bagrada bug (Bagrada hilaris), an African native, was first found in California in 2008. By 2010, it had spread to southern New Mexico and was found in Santa Fe County in 2012. Adults and nymphs pierce leaves, stems, flowers, and seeds with their needle-like mouthparts, inject digestive enzymes, and suck plant juices. Starburst-shaped, brown lesions form on leaves and stems. Other damage includes scorched leaves, stunted growth, and forked or multiple heads on cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. Bagrada bugs may kill seedlings.

Bagrada bugs prefer to feed on members of the Brassicaceae family, which also includes kale, mustard, and arugula; and ornamental plants such as sweet alyssum, stock, and candytuft. However, they may eat many different crops, among them corn, potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, melons, carrots, peppers, roses, and cotton. The bugs feed on both cruciferous plants (wild mustards, shepherds purse, London rocket) and non-cruciferous weeds (lambs quarters, purple nutsedge, field bindweed). The adults are shield -shaped and 3/16- to 1/4-inch long and are black with orange markings. The first instar nymph is bright orange and the second through fifth nymphs are red with dark markings.

Bagrada bugs overwinter as adults in leaf litter or topsoil. In the spring, females lay their eggs (singly or in small batches) on the soil surface or on the leaves of host plants. Each female lays about 100 eggs in her life. The eggs hatch in four to nine days. Larvae progress through five stages. The egg-to-egg cycle depends on the temperature, generally taking 38 to 65 days. In New Mexico, two or three generations per year are possible. They become locally abundant in mid-July and may reach high densities with hundreds of bugs feeding on a single plant.

Control of the bagrada bugs is difficult. They are not easily seen until the infestation is out of control. Feeding damage is easier to spot earlier in the summer than the insects themselves; they are more active (and more easily spotted) when the temperature is above 75 degrees.

In a home garden, the bugs can be removed by hand (wear gloves they stink) and drowned in soapy water. Large numbers of bugs can be shaken onto a sheet and vacuumed. The trapped bugs should then be bagged or killed since they can survive vacuuming. Pyramid traps baited with crushed sweet alyssum can destroy bugs, particularly when numbers are high. These traps can be made from soda bottles or adapted from commercially available stink bug traps. (Chemical lures that attract other stink bugs will not work.)

Currently there are no effective biological controls in the USA. Birds find their taste to be unpleasant. The adult bugs usually escape pesticides by flying away only to return later. Until there are approved pesticides, home vegetable growers need to use manual methods or bag the plant (including the stem) to exclude the bugs.

Terry McGuire was a professor of genetics at Rutgers University for 36 years. He was also a senior fellow of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement, helping educators connect science to civic issues. He moved to Santa Fe in 2014. He is a Master Gardener and a Master Composter.

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About a new pest: the bagrada bug - Santa Fe New Mexican

Dr. Ivanka Savic points to a study on the screen of her computer at her home in Los Angeles, California, US June 30, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

New York: While President Donald Trump has thrust transgender people back into the conflict between conservative and liberal values in the US, geneticists are quietly working on a major research effort to unlock the secrets of gender identity.

A consortium of five research institutions in Europe and the US, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center, George Washington University and Boston Childrens Hospital, is looking to the genome, a persons complete set of DNA, for clues about whether transgender people are born that way.

Two decades of brain research have provided hints of a biological origin to being transgender, but no irrefutable conclusions.

Now scientists in the consortium have embarked on what they call the largest-ever study of its kind, searching for a genetic component to explain why people assigned one gender at birth so persistently identify as the other, often from very early childhood.

Researchers have extracted DNA from the blood samples of 10,000 people, 3,000 of them transgender and the rest non-transgender, or cisgender. The project is awaiting grant funding to begin the next phase: testing about three million markers, or variations, across the genome for all of the samples.

Knowing what variations transgender people have in common, and comparing those patterns to those of cisgender people in the study, may help investigators understand what role the genome plays in everyones gender identity.

If the trait is strongly genetic, then people who identify as trans will share more of their genome, not because they are related in nuclear families but because they are more anciently related, said Lea Davis, leader of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute.

The search for the biological underpinnings is taking on new relevance as the battle for transgender rights plays out in the US political arena.

One of the first acts of the new Trump administration was to revoke Obama-era guidelines directing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice. Last week, the president announced on Twitter he intends to ban transgender people from serving in the military.

A Quinnipiac University poll released on Thursday found 68% of Americans say transgender people should be allowed to serve in the military, an even larger majority than the 58% found in a Reuters/Ipsos poll last week.

Texas lawmakers are debating a bathroom bill that would require people to use the bathroom of the sex listed on their birth certificate. North Carolina in March repealed a similar law after a national boycott cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business.

Currently, the only way to determine whether people are transgender is for them to self-identify as such. While civil rights activists contend that should be sufficient, scientists have taken their search to the lab.

That quest has made some transgender people nervous. If a cause is found it could posit a cure, potentially opening the door to so-called reparative therapies similar to those that attempt to turn gay people straight, advocates say. Others raise concerns about the rights of those who may identify as trans but lack biological proof.

Its an idea that can be wielded against us, depending on the ideology of the user, said Kale Edmiston, a transgender person and postdoctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh specialising in neuroimaging.

Dana Bevan, a transgender woman, psychologist and author of three books on transgender topics, acknowledged the potential manipulation of research was a concern but said, I dont believe thatsciencecan or should hold back from trying to understand whats going on.

Davis stressed that her study does not seek to produce a genetic test for being transgender, nor would it be able to. Instead, she said, she hopes the data will lead to better care for transgender people, who experience wide health disparities compared to the general population.

One-third of transgender people reported a negative healthcare experience in the previous year such as verbal harassment, refusal of treatment or the need to teach their doctors about transgender care, according to a landmark survey of nearly 28,000 people released last year by the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Some 40% have attempted suicide, almost nine times the rate for the general population.

We can use this information to help train doctors and nurses to provide better care to trans patients and to also develop amicus briefs to support equal rights legislation, said Davis, who is also director of research for Vanderbilts gender health clinic.

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee has one of the worlds largest DNA databanks. It also has emerged as a leader in transgender healthcare with initiatives such as the trans buddy program, which pairs every transgender patient with a volunteer to help guide them through their healthcare visits.

The study has applied for a grant from the National Institutes of Health and is exploring other financial sources to provide the $1 million needed to complete the genotyping, expected to take a year to 18 months. Analysis of the data would take about another six months and require more funding, Davis said.

The other consortium members are Vrije University in Amsterdam and the FIMABIS institute in Malaga, Spain.

Probing the brain

Until now, the bulk of research into the origins of being transgender has looked at the brain.

Neurologists have spotted clues in the brain structure and activity of transgender people that distinguish them from cisgender subjects.

A seminal 1995 study was led by Dutch neurobiologist Dick Swaab, who was also among the first scientists to discover structural differences between male and female brains. Looking at postmortem brain tissue of transgender subjects, he found that male-to-female transsexuals had clusters of cells, or nuclei, that more closely resembled those of a typical female brain, and vice versa.

Swaabs body of work on postmortem samples was based on just 12 transgender brains that he spent 25 years collecting. But it gave rise to a whole new field of inquiry that today is being explored with advanced brain scan technology on living transgender volunteers.

Among the leaders in brain scan research is Ivanka Savic, a professor of neurology with Swedens Karolinska Institute and visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her studies suggest that transgender men have a weakened connection between the two areas of the brain that process the perception of self and ones own body. Savic said those connections seem to improve after the person receives cross-hormone treatment.

Her work has been published more than 100 times on various topics in peer-reviewed journals, but she still cannot conclude whether people are born transgender.

I think that, but I have to prove that, Savic said.

A number of other researchers, including both geneticists and neurologists, presume a biological component that is also influenced by upbringing.

But Paul McHugh, a university professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has emerged as the leading voice challenging the born-this-way hypothesis.

He encourages psychiatric therapy for transgender people, especially children, so that they accept the gender assigned to them at birth.

McHugh has gained a following among social conservatives, while incensing LGBT advocates with comments such as calling transgender people counterfeit.

Last year he co-authored a review of the scientific literature published in The New Atlantis journal, asserting there was scant evidence to suggest sexual orientation and gender identity were biologically determined.

The article drew a rebuke from nearly 600 academics and clinicians who called it misleading.

McHugh told Reuters he was unmoved by his critics and says he doubts additional research will reveal a biological cause.

If it were obvious, he said, they would have found it long ago.

(Reuters)

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Researchers Prepare to Explore the Genetics of Gender Identity, With Caution - The Wire

Scientists have successfully edited the DNA of human embryos to erase a heritable heart condition that is known for causing sudden death in young competitive athletes, cracking open the doors to a controversial new era in medicine.

This is the first time gene editing on human embryos has been conducted in the United States. Researchers said in interviews this week that they consider their work very basic. The embryos were allowed to grow for only a few days, and there was never any intention to implant them to create a pregnancy. But they also acknowledged that they will continue to move forward with the science, with the ultimate goal of being able to "correct" disease-causing genes in embryos that will develop into babies.

News of the remarkable experiment began to circulate last week, but details became public Wednesday with a paper in the journal Nature.

The experiment is the latest example of how the laboratory tool known as CRISPR (or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), a type of "molecular scissors," is pushing the boundaries of our ability to manipulate life, and it has been received with both excitement and horror.

The most recent work is particularly sensitive because it involves changes to the germ line that is, genes that could be passed on to future generations. The United States forbids the use of federal funds for embryo research, and the Food and Drug Administration is prohibited from considering any clinical trials involving genetic modifications that can be inherited. A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in February urged caution in applying CRISPR to human germ-line editing but laid out conditions by which research should continue. The new study abides by those recommendations.

No editing, just correcting

Shoukhrat Mitalipov, one of the lead authors of the paper and a researcher at Oregon Health & Science University, said that he is conscious of the need for a larger ethical and legal discussion about genetic modification of humans but that his team's work is justified because it involves "correcting" genes rather than changing them.

"Really we didn't edit anything. Neither did we modify anything," Mitalipov said. "Our program is toward correcting mutant genes."

Alta Charo, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who is co-chair of the National Academies committee looking at gene editing, said that concerns about the work that have been circulating in recent days are overblown.

"What this represents is a fascinating, important and rather impressive incremental step toward learning how to edit embryos safely and precisely," she said. However, "no matter what anybody says, this is not the dawn of the era of the designer baby." She said that characteristics that some parents might desire, such as intelligence and athleticism, are influenced by multiple genes and that researchers don't understand all the components of how such characteristics are inherited, much less have the ability to redesign them.

72 percent corrected

The research involved eggs from 12 healthy female donors and sperm from a male volunteer who carries the MYBPC3 gene, which causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. HCM is a disease of that causes an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle but can cause no symptoms and remain undetected until it causes sudden cardiac death. There's no way to prevent or cure it, and it affects 1 in 500 people worldwide.

Around the time the sperm was injected into the eggs, researchers snipped out the gene that causes the disease. The result was far more successful than the researchers expected: As the embryo's cells began to divide and multiply, a huge number appeared to be repairing themselves by using the normal, non-mutated copy of the gene from the women's genetic material. In all, they saw that about 72 percent were corrected, a very high number. Researchers also noticed that there didn't seem to be any "off-target" changes in the DNA, which has been a major safety concern of gene-editing research.

Mitalipov said he hoped the technique could one day be applied to a wide variety of genetic diseases and that one of the team's next targets may be the BRCA gene mutation, which is associated with breast cancer.

First work involving emrbyos

The first published work involving human embryos, reported in 2015, was done in China and targeted a gene that leads to the blood disorder beta thalassemia. But those embryos were abnormal and nonviable, and there were far fewer than the number used in the U.S. study.

Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a researcher at the Salk Institute who is also a co-author on the new study, said that there are many advantages to treating an embryo rather than a child or an adult. When dealing with an embryo in its earliest stages, only a few cells are involved, while in a more mature human being there are trillions of cells in the body and potentially millions that must be corrected to eradicate traces of a disease.

Izpisua Belmonte said that even if the technology is perfected, it could deal with only a small subset of human diseases.

Utero is non viable option

"I don't want to be negative with our own discoveries, but it is important to inform the public of what this means," he said. "In my opinion the percentage of people that would benefit from this at the current way the world is is rather small." For the process to make a difference, the child would have to be born through in vitro fertilization or IVF and the parents would have to know the child has the gene for a disease to get it changed. But the vast majority of children are conceived the natural way, and this correction technology would not work in utero.

For years, some policymakers, historians and scientists have been calling for a voluntary moratorium on the modification of the DNA of human reproductive cells. The most prominent expression of concern came in the form of a 2015 letter signed by CRISPR co-inventor Jennifer Doudna, Nobel laureate David Baltimore and 16 other prominent scientists. They warned that eliminating a genetic disease could have unintended consequences - on human genetics, society and even the environment - far into the future.

Researchers who worked on the heart-condition experiment appear to have differing views on where their work is headed.

Paula Amato, a reproductive endocrinologist with Oregon Health, was excited about the idea of being able to edit out diseases before birth. She said that while pre-implantation genetic screening of embryos is now available, it isn't perfect. She talked about how one of her patients went through three cycles of in vitro fertilization but all of the eggs that were harvested had the gene mutation that causes a diseases.

With gene correction technology, Amato said, "we could have rescued some of those embryos."

But Izpisua Belmonte said he is focusing on using the findings from this study to further research into gene modifications during a pregnancy or after birth into adulthood.

"I feel that the practical thing to do is deal with the diseases people have, not with the disease they may have," he said.

Mitalipov said he hopes regulators will provide more guidance on what should or should not be allowed.

Otherwise, he said, "this technology will be shifted to unregulated areas, which shouldn't be happening."

Continued here:
Embryo editing 'corrects' genetic heart condition - The Guam Daily Post

It is a common misconception that heart disease only affects the elderly. This belief couldn't be more wrong - coronary artery disease does affect people in their twenties.

Young and middle-aged individuals can, and often do, suffer from heart problems - especially now that obesity, type II diabetes, hypertension and other risk factors are becoming more common at a younger age than ever before.

These risk factors significantly increase the chances of heart disease. How you live now affects your risk for cardiovascular disease later in life.

While comfort breakfasts like nasi lemak and fried noodles may seem permissible at this stage, plaque can start accumulating within the body and eventually lead to clogged arteries, causing cardiovascular complications.

What are other myths about heart disease? Dr. Derek Yong, Medical Director at Restore Heart Centre (Mount Alvernia Hospital Medical Centre) and Ms Susan Kevork, Nestle Nutrition Network Zone Lead AOA, debunk common myths.

1. Heart disease is a men's disease.

Many people mistakenly believe that heart disease is "for men" and breast cancer is "for women".

The reality is that cardiovascular disease singularly causes the most number of female deaths not only in Singapore, but also internationally. In fact, it is more fatal than all cancers combined - including breast cancer - and affects more women than men.

Although the incidence of heart attack is lower in women than men, this risk drastically increases after menopause. Women with coronary heart disease are on average about 10 years older than men at the time of diagnosis - so may feel less concerned about the condition while they're younger.

Often, women also may not recognise their symptoms as indicators of heart disease and may brush aside their symptoms, despite this being dangerous to their health and safety.

2. All cholesterol is bad.

LDL-C is known as "bad" cholesterol, because high levels of it can lead to plaque buildup in your arteries and result in heart disease and stroke. Foods that are high in saturated and trans fats can raise blood cholesterol and are commonly found in fried fast foods, pies and pastries, fries, doughnuts and fatty meats.

On the other hand, HDL cholesterol absorbs "bad" cholesterol and carries it back to the liver, which flushes it from the body. HDL is known as "good" cholesterol, given its potential to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Foods that can help raise HDL cholesterol are mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats which are found in oils like olive, rice bran or sunflower oils and foods like avocado, nuts, seeds and fish.

To help reduce LDL cholesterol, eating foods with plant sterols and beta-glucans can block a percentage of the bad cholesterol from entering the bloodstream. Eating a diet high in fibre, especially soluble fibre, can also speed up the removal of cholesterol through the bowel.

Soluble fibre is found in foods such as oats, oat bran, barley bran, dried beans, lentils, fruit and vegetables.

3. If I reduce my salt intake, my sodium intake is regulated.

The average Singaporean consumes around 9g of salt per day, according to the Singapore Health Promotion Board, which far exceeds the recommended amount advised by health experts of 5g.

Even if you cut down on the amount of salt or soy sauce you add to your food, salt/sodium is hidden in condiments, canned foods, deli meats and restaurant food.

This unknowingly elevates your blood pressure, in turn increasing your risk of heart disease.

Stay aware and check nutrition labels on the supermarket foods you purchase, while continuing to make efforts to reduce your salt intake.

A 2013 study from Harvard Medical School and other institutions predicted that even gradually reducing sodium intake by four per cent per year, over 10 years, could save up to half a million lives.

4. I am doomed to suffer from heart disease if it runs in my family.

Traditionally, certain genetic markers have been associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

However, their overall effect on risk beyond traditional risk factors has not been established, and they have not conclusively proven to improve on the prediction of coronary heart disease risk.

At this stage, genetics are not used definitively in determining overall cardiovascular risk, so there is no large cause for alarm even if you have a family history of heart disease.

Having said that, it is important to take precautionary steps as far as possible. To reduce risk, opt for heart-healthy nutrition.

In Singapore, we often consume meals that contain excessive sodium, sugars and saturated fats, leading to increased risk of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia - all important indicators of heart disease that can cause coronary blockages.

Choose foods that consist of wholegrains such as brown rice and oats, as well as plant sterols and beta-glucans, such as Nestle Omega Plus Milk with Oats. You can look out for food that contain these ingredients for breakfast.

Switch out meals that are high in oil for those containing leafy greens, beans, nuts, lean poultry and fish.

5. If I was in any danger of having high blood pressure or a heart attack, I would have felt the signs already.

High blood pressure is often dubbed a "silent killer" because you don't usually know you have it, which is why annual health checks are so important.

Most people recognise heart trouble through its obvious symptoms - pain in the chest, shortness of breath and bouts of cold sweat. However, a heart attack may not always manifest in the same way, and sometimes reveals no symptoms at all.

This is called a silent heart attack - affected people often do not realise that they need to seek emergency care.

6. There is no need for me to undergo any heart screenings until a problem arises.

To reduce the risk having of heart disease, it is important to take constant note of your heart health before danger strikes. Whilst the symptoms of heart disease can be managed and alleviated after proper treatment, there is no single cure for the condition.

Take steps to prevent its occurrence by adopting a heart-healthy diet and lifestyle, including exercise for at least 20-30 minutes every day.

At least annually, you should undergo a full medical checkup that includes assessment of cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and hypertension.

A focused history and physical examination by a doctor, along with an estimate of the short- and long-term risk of heart disease, should also be included in annual heart screenings.

If you are suffering from any cardiac risk factors - diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia - seek immediate guidance on appropriate management.

It is also advisable to go for cardiac screening before embarking on a new exercise programme.

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Top 6 myths about heart disease debunked - AsiaOne