Genetic engineering: It’s a technology, not an ideology – FoodNavigator.com
By Dr. Matthew Watson
![]() FoodNavigator.com | Genetic engineering: It's a technology, not an ideology FoodNavigator.com Genetic engineering shouldn't be a political issue, no matter how much sci-fi-sensitive individuals might be reminded of the plot from The Day of the Triffids. Plants can be engineered in many ways, and their potential benefits should be balanced with ... |
Genetic engineering of Pyrococcus furiosus to use chitin as a carbon source – 7thSpace Interactive (press release)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Genetic engineering of Pyrococcus furiosus to use chitin as a carbon source 7thSpace Interactive (press release) Bioinformatic analysis of the genes coding for the chitinase in Pyrococcus furiosus and Thermococcus kodakarensis revealed that most likely a one nucleotide insertion in Pyrococcus caused a frame shift in the chitinase gene. This splits the enzyme into ... |
The hidden costs of genetic engineering – SunLive (blog)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
![]() SunLive (blog) | The hidden costs of genetic engineering SunLive (blog) Genetically engineered pollen that blows across the road is perfectly happy to mate with the flowers that live there. If you grow from genetically engineered seed, your crop is patented and you do not own it. You are simply licensed to grow and sell it ... |
Angel Biotechnology firm on the brink – Edinburgh Evening News
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Angel Biotechnology firm on the brink Edinburgh Evening News Penicuik-based Angel Biotechnology said it had been forced to take the step after talks with an overseas consortium over a strategic partnership broke down. Administrators at KPMG said they were assessing Angel's finances with a view to finding a buyer. Angel Biotechnology falls into administrationScotsman Angel Biotechnology to call in administratorsBusiness7 ANGEL BIOTECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS PLC : Statement re. Suspension4-traders (press release) nebusiness.co.uk -Herald Scotland -ShareCast all 7 news articles » |
Cuba – Investing In Biotechnology To Battle Cancer – Medical News Today
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Cuba - Investing In Biotechnology To Battle Cancer Medical News Today Dr. Augstin Lage Davila, General Director of the Center of Molecular Immunology (CIM), said "Biotechnology is key to transforming cancer from a deadly disease into a chronic one. Our drugs make chemo and radiation therapies more effective and less toxic. Cuba on the way to turning cancer into a chronic diseasePravda |
BioTime acquires Geron’s stem cell program – Nature.com
By Dr. Matthew Watson
BioTime acquires Geron's stem cell program Nature.com Nature Biotechnology. Full text access provided to Googlebot Access by Web Services. Search Go Advanced search · nature.com · journal home · current issue · News; full text. Nature Biotechnology | News. Print; Email; Share/bookmark. Cite U Like ... |
Forum engages media on biotechnology for food productivity – Myjoyonline.com
By Dr. Matthew Watson
![]() Myjoyonline.com | Forum engages media on biotechnology for food productivity Myjoyonline.com By working closely with scientists and policy makers, the media should define an African agenda for biotechnology or else the continent will forever be dependent on food aid from countries that have adopted innovative agricultural technologies to ... Africa urged to use biotechnology to address food insecurityGhana Business News |
Environmentalist has change of heart about biotechnology – Western Farm Press
By Dr. Matthew Watson
![]() Oregon Natural Resources Report | Environmentalist has change of heart about biotechnology Western Farm Press Mark Lynas says his opinion on biotech crops was changed because he became familiar with scientific literature and realized he had never done any academic research on biotechnology – despite being a fervent opponent against it for years. Top environmentalist converts on GMOOregon Natural Resources Report GM-food activist switches sides of the debateVancouver Sun |
Biotechnology finishing school to train second batch – Times of India
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Biotechnology finishing school to train second batch Times of India LUCKNOW: A biotech park has introduced a biotechnology finishing school to help students who pass out with a degree in BTech, MSc and other disciplines of life sciences but are not equipped with skills needed by the industry and advance institutes of ... |
Riverside Newspaper: ‘Ethical Minefield’ Still Not Cleared at Stem Cell Agency
By Dr. Matthew Watson
The California stem cell agency's
attempts to deal with the conflict of interest problems at the $3
billion research program amount to a minor fix that is not a “serious solution,” the Riverside Press-Enterprise editorialized yesterday.
launches a road trip campaign to convince newspaper editorial boards around
the state that the agency is worthy of continued financial support.
The agency will run out of money for new grants in less than four
years.
new, independent majority on the 29-member board. None of the current
members are independent. The ballot measure that created the
agency required board members to be appointed from various
constituencies.
“That arrangement is hardly a model
of objective decision making. The agency so far has distributed about
$1.7 billion in grants, with about 90 percent of that money going to
institutions represented on the governing board.
“Voluntary abstentions are not a
serious solution to that ethical minefield. Nor would that approach
eliminate potential conflicts, because the agency would still allow
the abstaining members to take part in the discussions and debate
about who should get the grants.
“The Institute of Medicine instead
recommended remaking the board with truly independent members who
have no stake in grant awards. The stem-cell agency rejected that
step because it would require changing Prop. 71, either through a
super-majority in the Legislature or another ballot measure. That
excuse should be a vivid warning to Californians about the dangers of
passing complex, costly and inflexible initiatives.
“Agencies handling billions of
taxpayers’ dollars should not avoid good government practice or
basic fiscal safeguards. The stem-cell institute offers minor fixes
when it needs substantial changes — and legislators should not
accept that cavalier approach.”
Stem Cell Agency Board Member Defends Independence of Many on Board
By Dr. Matthew Watson
A member of the governing board of the
California stem cell agency is taking exception to a statement on the
California Stem Cell Report that no independent members sit on that
body.
physician and a patient advocate member of the board, referred to the
“ethical minefield” item Feb. 5, 2013. Here is the text of what
Prieto wrote,
“I have to object to this line: 'None
of the current members are independent. The ballot measure that
created the agency required board members to be appointed from
various constituencies.'
“I think I am absolutely independent,
and I think the same applies at the very least to most if not all of
my fellow patient advocates, and probably to the biotech
representatives as well – remember that they all must come from
companies that are not involved in stem cell research. Although
I supported the proposition, I was not involved directly in the
campaign in any way, and I did not meet Bob Klein (the first chairman of the stem cell board) or any of my fellow
board members until the day I was sworn in at our first meeting.
“The Prop. 71 language I believe
specifies that advocates must have a record of advocating for people
with the disease or diseases they represent, and not that they belong
to or work for any specific organization. Checking my binder,
it refers to 'groups' but does not specify those – for example, it
refers to 'representative of a California regional, state or national
HIV/AIDS disease advocacy group.' I’m not sure how you would
define 'independent' but I certainly don’t think it means
'disinterested.'”
members, obviously not finding sufficient, if any, independent
members on the agency board. The IOM, the most prestigious organization of
its kind in the country, said changes were needed because of damaging
conflict of interest issues at the stem cell agency.
agency in 2004, was carefully crafted to avoid the use of the word
“independent” when describing the necessary qualifications for a
board member.
must come from very specific education institutions. (You can find the CIRM summary of all qualifications within this document.) In other cases, the speaker of the
state Assembly appoints “one representative of a California
regional, state, or national mental health disease advocacy group.”
The leader of the state Senate appoints “one representative of a
California regional, state, or national HIV/AIDS disease advocacy
group. “ Four other statewide elected officials appoint an
executive from a “California life science commercial entity.”
believes he is “absolutely independent.” But he fills a category
that represents a special constituency. What is missing from the
board is anyone who does not come from one special constituency or
another. The board was constructed in that manner to make sure it
would win the broadest measure of support from all the various major
constituencies by guaranteeing them a seat at the table where the
money is handed out. Ironically, the full formal name of the CIRM governing board is the "Independent Citizens Oversight Committee," a piece of political legerdemain to mask the actual nature of who would sit on the board.
Debunking California Stem Cell Agency Claims of ‘No Actual Conflicts’
By Dr. Matthew Watson
In the wake of recent considerable
criticism concerning conflicts of interest at the $3 billion California stem
cell agency, its leaders have taken to saying “no actual conflicts”
have been found at the agency.
repeated in some news stories, published in at least one agency press
release and peddled by stem cell advocates and some members of the
governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
(CIRM), as the agency is formally known.
cited prominently as a major problem at CIRM by the blue-ribbon
Institute of Medicine (IOM) report. In December, the IOM recommended that a new majority of independent members be created on the stem
cell agency's governing board. The existing stem cell board has
ignored that recommendation and wants to settle for something considerably less as it tries to find a way to build support for
continued financing of its efforts.
long history of problems involving conflicts of interest, “actual”
and otherwise. Here is a rundown on what has been reported on the
California Stem Cell Report.
CEO of the Sanford-Burnham Institute, was warned by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission about his violation of conflict of interest rules. Reed's intervention on behalf of a grant was made at the suggestion of then CIRM Chairman Robert Klein, an attorney who
led the drafting of Proposition 71, the ballot initiative that created the stem cell
agency in 2004.
researchers seeking $31 million. And then the agency shamefully scapegoated employees for the problem.
violation, which the agency felt necessary to report to the
California legislature.
who has deep connections to the biomedical industry, served as the
agency's interim chief scientific officer and helped to develop the agency's first, signature $225 million disease team round while also
serving on the CIRM board. As chief scientific officer, Love
presumably would have had access to proprietary information and trade
secrets contained in grant applications. In 2009, in response to
questions from the California Stem Cell Report, the agency said that Love would only serve as a part-time adviser to the agency president, not as chief scientific officer. Nonetheless, in 2012, the board
passed a resolution with high praise for Love and his performance as the chief scientific officer.
million in awards from the agency. The contributions were 25 percent
of the total in the campaign, which was headed by Klein.
fall was awarded $40 million by the CIRM board despite having one of
its $20 million applications rejected twice by grant reviewers. The
action came after the board was vigorously lobbied by former Chairman
Klein. Researcher Irv Weissman of Stanford, who founded StemCells, Inc., and
is on its board, was featured in a TV campaign ad for Proposition 71 and helped to raise millions for the ballot campaign.
applicant from industry about conflicts of interest on the part of a
reviewer were brushed off by Klein. He told the applicant the board needed to discuss naming CIRM-funded labs and then go to lunch.
industry consultants in positions that raise conflict of interest
problems, in 2010 and again in 2012.
increased funding as the result of the appointment of sympathetic
individuals to the board. That occurred last fall when Diane Winokur
was appointed. The chief scientist for The ALS Association, said
Winokur will be “a tremendous asset in moving the ALS research field forward through CIRM funding."
considerable time debating a minor requirement involving press
releases. They were concerned that the proposal would make their
institutions subordinate to the interests of CIRM. At the end of the
discussion, the institutional directors prevailed and kept their PR
departments from having to notify CIRM about press releases dealing
with the hundreds of millions of dollars in state grants that they
receive.
CIRM Chairman Jonathan Thomas was quoted in a CIRM press release as
saying “no one has found any actual conflicts” at the
agency.
stories have reported that the IOM did not find any “actual”
conflicts at the agency. The explanation for that is simple, but
mainly omitted from the articles. The IOM did not look for any
conflicts of “inappropriate behavior,” as its report clearly
states. The California Stem Cell Report last weekend asked the
chairman of the IOM panel, Harold Shapiro, why it did not look for
conflicts. He replied,
“Our committee was given a set of
defined tasks from the IOM(which was under a $700,000 contract with
CIRM), and we followed them."
too many” board members are linked to institutions that receive
funds from CIRM. A compilation by the California Stem Cell Report
shows that about 90 percent of the $1.7 billion that the board has
awarded has gone to institutions linked to past and present board
members.
the CIRM board is that nearly all the California institutions that stood to
benefit from the agency's largess were given seats at the table where the
money is handed out, under the terms of Proposition 71.
CIRM and government agencies. They are also a matter of concern at
nonprofit, grant-making foundations, which in some ways CIRM
resembles.
national nonprofit association of more than 1,700 grant-making
organizations, takes pains on its web site to explain the
importance of managing and avoiding conflicts of interests. In its advice to its members, the group makes it clear that the issue goes
well beyond simple financial conflicts. It says,
“(Board) members must represent
unconflicted loyalty to the interest of the foundation. This
accountability supersedes any conflicting loyalty such as that to
advocacy or interest groups, business interests, personal interests or paid or volunteer service
to other organizations.”
the “unconflicted loyalty” is to the people of California. Perhaps the California stem cell agency
can convince state leaders, both public and private, and its voters
that no conflicts exist at the state agency. But it is a big bet and
probably carries with it the entire future of what the board and many
believe is an exceedingly promising scientific effort.
to step back and say, “Yes, there are serious conflict problems at
CIRM. We recognize that and are working on additional measures to
create an independent board as recommended by the IOM.”
Skin stem cells hold promise for burn patients – Video
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Skin stem cells hold promise for burn patients
Vincent Gabriel, MD Jeff Biernaskie, PhD Recipients of Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions Collaborative Research Innovation Opportunities program
By: AIHSChannel
Read the rest here:
Skin stem cells hold promise for burn patients - Video
Stem Cell Therapy With Bob – Thomas Schwarzl – SBI – Runner up 2013 – Video
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Stem Cell Therapy With Bob - Thomas Schwarzl - SBI - Runner up 2013
Tom is a science punk from the Alps doing his PhD with Systems Biology Ireland. He likes to challenge everything, discover patterns in high complex problems and making them clear for everyone to understand. Besides his scientific interest in stem cell therapy and cancer research, he likes Post Secret, street art, and is planning a start-up after his PhD.
By: thesisin3
Here is the original post:
Stem Cell Therapy With Bob - Thomas Schwarzl - SBI - Runner up 2013 - Video
Can pills or genetic engineering make children more moral? – BioEdge
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Can pills or genetic engineering make children more moral? BioEdge One of today's stories reminds me of something that happened in Melbourne a couple of years ago. For a while, just once a month, I used to help out with a soup van for homeless people. One chilly Saturday evening we pulled up at a crisis centre around ... |
Generex Biotechnology Corporation’s CEO Discusses Investor Conference Call … – Seeking Alpha
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Generex Biotechnology Corporation's CEO Discusses Investor Conference Call ... Seeking Alpha Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Generex Biotechnology Conference. At this all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session and instructions will be given at that time. (Operator Instructions). Generex Points to Potential of Antigen Express Technology Platform beyond Its ...PR Newswire (press release) |
Voices of protest at biotechnology centre – Nature.com
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Voices of protest at biotechnology centre Nature.com There's a whiff of revolt at the New Delhi unit of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). In a step embarrassing the ICGEB governing board, a majority of senior scientists of the unit have expressed "no confidence ... |
Biotechnology Industry Soars in 2012 as FDA Drug Approvals at a 15-Year High – Marketwire (press release)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Biotechnology Industry Soars in 2012 as FDA Drug Approvals at a 15-Year High Marketwire (press release) NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Feb 1, 2013) - A sharp increase in drug approvals and mergers and acquisitions combined to create a bull market for the Biotechnology Industry in 2012. The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (IBB), the SPDR S&P Biotech ... |
Cuba – Battling cancer with biotechnology – World Health Organization (press release)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
![]() World Health Organization (press release) | Cuba – Battling cancer with biotechnology World Health Organization (press release) Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Cuba, after cardiovascular diseases. It is estimated that every year about 21 000 people die of cancer on the island and more than 31 000 cancer cases are newly diagnosed. “Cancer is one of the major ... |
Worries Over US Economy Drag Market Lower: Chesapeake Energy … – MarketWatch (press release)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Worries Over US Economy Drag Market Lower: Chesapeake Energy ... MarketWatch (press release) Jan 31, 2013 (ACCESSWIRE-TNW via COMTEX) -- January has been a month of impressive gains for both the Dow and S&P 500 but the rally came to a halt yesterday after a report revealed that the U.S. Economy contracted in the fourth quarter. The major ... |