Summary

Scientists at the Sloan Kettering Institute have discovered that the ability of cancers to metastasize to other organs is dependent upon their ability to coopt natural wound-healing pathways. The findings provide a new way of looking at metastasis and its possible treatment.

Metastasis the spreading of cancer to other regions in the body is responsible for 90% of cancer deaths. Yet not much is known about what makes cancer cells capable of metastasizing. Now a major study from investigators at the Sloan Kettering Institute concludes that metastasis-initiating cells employ a devilish trick to spread: They co-opt the bodys natural wound-healing abilities.

The new findings, published January 13 in the inaugural issue of the journal Nature Cancer, provide a novel framework for thinking about metastasis and how to treat it.

We now understand metastasis as the regeneration of the wrong tissue the tumor in the wrong place distant vital organs, says Joan Massagu, Director of the Sloan Kettering Institute and the corresponding author on the paper. This is not just a metaphor. It is literally true in molecular and physiological terms.

There were previously clues that cancers might make use of wound-healing pathways to support their growth. Back in the 1980s, researcher Harold Dvorak dubbed tumors wounds that do not heal. But the new findings present the first detailed picture of how this process works on the level of cells and molecules and there are plenty of surprises.

This is not just a metaphor. It is literally true in molecular and physiological terms.

Though metastasis is deadly, its not something that cancer cells can do easily. To spread, cancer cells must successfully detach from their neighbors, break through tissue layers separating them from the circulation, swim or crawl to a new location in the body through blood or lymph fluid, exit these vessels, then take root and start growing in the new location.

At each step in this process, the majority of loose cancer cells die off. Fewer than 1% of all cancer cells shed from a tumor will ultimately form measurable metastases. But those that do will have proven themselves to be unusually hearty.

Once cancer cells learn how to survive the stress of living in a foreign environment, theyre very difficult to get rid of, says Karuna Ganesh, a physician-scientist in the Molecular Pharmacology Program at SKI and the papers first author. They are a completely different entity from the tumor that they started off in. But not, it seems, because they have different mutations.

Dr. Ganesh and her colleagues wanted to understand what enables some cells to survive this stressful journey. They homed in on a molecule called L1CAM, which previous studies from the Massagu lab had shown is necessary for numerous types of cancer cells to successfully metastasize to organs. Normal healthy tissues do not typically make L1CAM, but advanced cancers often do. Exactly what triggers the expression of L1CAM has so far been a mystery.

From looking at human tumor tissues under a microscope, it was clear to the researchers that dividing cells with L1CAM were more common in areas where an epithelial layer was disrupted that is, wounded. This led the scientists to wonder whether L1CAM is required for normal wound repair, such as occurs in the intestine following colitis. Using a mouse model of colitis, they found that indeed this was the case.

Next, they wanted to know exactly what it is about the wounding process that causes cells to switch on L1CAM. To find out, they turned to a recently developed technology called tissue organoids. These three-dimensional structures are grown from human cells and in many ways resemble human organs. Working with MSK colorectal cancer surgeon Julio Garcia-Aguilar, Dr. Ganesh was able to obtain fresh samples of metastatic colorectal tumors, which she then grew in jelly until they formed three-dimensional tumor organoids.

Using these tumor organoids, she and her colleagues were able to show that simply separating cells from their neighbors was enough to trigger L1CAM production. Whats more, the organoids enabled the researchers to work out in detail the molecular signals that switch on L1CAM.

Why would metastasis-initiating cells share a marker of wound healing? Fundamentally, wounds are a breach in the integrity of the epithelial layer of our skin: Cells that are normally linked tightly to each other to form a protective barrier are suddenly separated from their neighbors. Similarly, in metastasis, cells detach from their neighbors and adopt a migratory behavior to reach new locations. The researchers suspect that the wound repair program equips both types of cells to survive this anchorless state. In the first case, it allows cells to move into the breach and make new tissues, which is a good thing; in the second, it enables metastatic cells to detach and colonize new destinations, which is very bad.

Metastasis is wound healing gone wrong, Dr. Ganesh says.

What Is Metastatic Cancer? Answers to Six Common Questions

Learn about MSKs approach to treating cancer that has spread from the original tumor to other parts of the body.

Since previous researchers had linked cancer growth to wound healing, the SKI scientists asked whether cells that produce L1CAM are necessary to initiate the growth of a primary tumor. Using a mouse model, they found somewhat surprisingly that they were not; tumors formed fine without it. However, these L1CAM-making cells were necessary for tumors to metastasize. This led the researchers to conclude that the stem cells that form primary tumors are different from the ones that form metastases.

Scientists are increasingly interested in cancer stem cells the subset of cells within a tumor than can regrow a tumor. A crucial lesson from these findings is that cancer models that rely on the growth of primary tumors are not adequate for understanding metastasis or for testing medicines that might treat it. Thats because the stem cells that generate primary tumors are fundamentally different from those that generate metastases.

The SKI scientists think that this newly identified connection between metastasis-initiating cells and wound healing will open up promising avenues of research. They are currently looking for drugs that might block L1CAM and thereby rob cancer cells of their ability to metastasize. They plan to continue collaborating with MSK colleagues to bring these insights to the patients in the clinic.

There is such astrong translational environment at MSK, Dr. Ganesh adds. Everybody is eager to collaborate on work that might improve outcomes for patients with metastatic cancer.

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What Does Cancer Metastasis Have to Do with Wound Healing? More than You Might Think - On Cancer - Memorial Sloan Kettering

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Poblano peppers (Capsicum annuum) are a type of chili pepper native to Mexico that can add zing to your meals.

Theyre green and resemble other varieties of peppers, but they tend to be larger than jalapeos and smaller than bell peppers.

Fresh poblanos have a mild, slightly sweet flavor, although if they are left to ripen until theyre red, they taste much hotter.

Dried poblano peppers that are fully ripe and deep red are known as ancho chiles, a popular ingredient in mole sauces and other Mexican dishes.

This article provides a complete overview of poblano peppers, including their possible benefits and uses.

Poblanos are low in calories and rich in fiber and several micronutrients.

In fact, 1 cup (118 grams) of chopped raw poblano peppers provides (1):

Poblanos are particularly rich in vitamins A and C. These two nutrients act as antioxidants in your body and help fight underlying damage from free radicals, which may lead to disease (2).

Dried poblano peppers, or ancho chiles, have higher amounts of vitamins A and B2 and other nutrients, compared with fresh poblanos (3).

Poblano peppers are rich in fiber, vitamins A and C, and several other nutrients.

Due to their high amounts of nutrients and beneficial plant compounds, poblano peppers may provide health benefits.

However, there is no substantial research on the health effects of eating poblanos in particular.

Poblanos and other peppers in the Capsicum annuum family are rich in antioxidants, such as vitamin C, capsaicin, and carotenoids, some of which turn into vitamin A in your body (4).

Antioxidants help fight oxidative stress caused by excess free radicals.

Free radicals are reactive molecules that lead to underlying cell damage, which in turn may increase your risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia, and other chronic conditions (5).

Therefore, eating antioxidant-rich poblanos may help prevent illness related to oxidative stress (6, 7).

Capsaicin, a compound in poblanos and other peppers that imparts a spicy taste, may exert anticancer effects.

Specifically, capsaicin may influence genes involved in the spread of cancer and promote cancer cell death, though its role in this process is not fully understood (8).

Test-tube studies suggest that capsaicin may exert anticancer activity against human lung and colorectal cancer cells (9, 10).

However, a review of 10 observational studies in humans found that low capsaicin intake was associated with protection against stomach cancer, while medium-high intake may increase the risk of this disease (11).

More research is needed to fully understand whether eating poblano peppers and other foods with capsaicin has anticancer effects.

Capsaicin may also fight inflammation and help alleviate pain.

Some studies suggest that it binds to nerve cell receptors and, in turn, decreases inflammation and pain (12, 13).

There is limited research on the effects of dietary capsaicin, especially from poblano peppers, on pain. Still, studies in humans and rats suggest that capsaicin supplements may fight inflammation (14, 15).

One study in 376 adults with inflammatory bowel diseases and other gastrointestinal issues found that capsaicin supplements prevented stomach damage (14).

Still, be sure to consult your healthcare provider before taking capsaicin supplements to treat a medical condition.

Poblano peppers are loaded with vitamin C, a water-soluble nutrient thats vital to immune function. Not getting enough vitamin C can lead to an increased risk of developing an infection (16).

Whats more, the capsaicin in poblano peppers has been linked to optimal immune function.

Several animal studies have shown that capsaicin may influence genes involved in the immune response and help protect against autoimmune conditions (17, 18).

While theres no substantial research on the health effects of eating poblanos specifically, studies on the compounds in these peppers suggest that they may have anticancer effects, help fight inflammation, and even boost immunity.

Poblano peppers can be used in a variety of ways.

They can be enjoyed raw in salsas and other dips, as well as added to chilis, taco meat, or sauces.

To prepare a poblano pepper for these dishes, halve the pepper lengthwise, remove the stem and seeds, and then dice it into pieces.

You can also roast poblano peppers whole and then remove the skin, stem, and seeds.

One of the most popular ways to enjoy poblanos is stuffed with ground meat, beans, rice, spices, corn, and tomatoes.

To make stuffed poblanos, halve the peppers, remove the seeds, and roast them in the oven at 350F (177C) for 1015 minutes.

Stuff each pepper half with filling and sprinkle cheese on top, then put them back in the oven for a few more minutes.

You can enjoy poblano peppers in salsas and tacos, or make stuffed poblanos by filling them with meat, beans, tomatoes, corn, and cheese and baking them in the oven.

Poblano peppers are a mild variety of chili peppers that are highly nutritious and equally delicious.

Theyre rich in vitamins A and C, carotenoids, capsaicin, and other compounds that may act as antioxidants, have anticancer activity, and fight inflammation.

Poblano peppers can be added to soups, tacos, or salsas, or stuffed with meat, beans, rice, and cheese.

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What Are Poblano Peppers? Nutrition, Benefits, and Uses - Healthline

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Days after shaking hands with German regulators over the launch and coverage of its beta-thalassemia gene therapy, bluebird bio has wooed a Celgene exec to lead its European operations.

Nicola Heffron, a biopharma vet with stints across Eli Lilly, GSK and Shire, jumps from a brief tenure overseeing marketing for Celgenes myeloid portfolio in Summit, NJ. She will now be based in Zug, Switzerland.

Shes replacing Andrew Obenshain as he joins CEO Nick Leschly and the leadership team in Boston, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news. Obenshains new title is chief of wings.

On Monday bluebird announced that Germany will be the first country to commercially offer Zynteglo, their procedure encoding A-T87Q-globin gene in CD34+ cells extracted from patients. Under their value-based payment scheme, the $1.8 million price is divided into five installments. After an initial payment is made at the time of infusion, the payers wait and see and only pay if the patients continue to be transfusion-free.

Multiple statutory health insurances have signed onto the plan, bluebird said, and University Hospital of Heidelberg will host the first qualified treatment center.

The biotech has been busy sorting out manufacturing specs and talking to individual countries since the EU issued an historic OK last June. Its sanctioned for a specific group of beta-thalassemia patients those who are 12 years and older, transfusion dependent, do not have a 0/0 genotype and for whom hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is appropriate but a donor is not available.

For patients with TDT, lifelong chronic blood transfusions are required in order to survive, bluebird chief commercial officer Alison Finger emphasized in a statement. Their one-time infusion promises to do away with the transfusions for good.

A rolling BLA submission to the FDA has begun, bluebird added.

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Celgene exec jumps to head bluebird bio ops in Europe, where its $1.8M gene therapy Zynteglo is now available - Endpoints News

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What happens when you cross stem cells from a frog heart and frog skin? Not muchthat is, until you program those cells to move. In that case, you've created a xenobot, a new type of organism that's part robot, part living thing.

And we've never seen anything like it before.

Researchers from Tufts University, the University of Vermont, and Harvard University have created the first xenobots from frog embryos after designing them with computer algorithms and physically shaping them with surgical precision. The skin-heart embryos are just one millimeter in size, but can accomplish some remarkable things for what they are, like physically squirming toward targets.

"These are novel living machines," Joshua Bongard, a computer scientist and robotics expert at the University of Vermont who co-led the new research, said in a press statement. "They're neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. It's a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism."

By studying these curious organisms, researchers hope to learn more about the mysterious world of cellular communication. Plus, these kinds of robo-organisms could possibly be the key to drug delivery in the body or greener environmental cleanup techniques.

"Most technologies are made from steel, concrete, chemicals, and plastics, which degrade over time and can produce harmful ecological and health side effects," the authors note in a research paper published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "It would thus be useful to build technologies using self-renewing and biocompatible materials, of which the ideal candidates are living systems themselves."

Xenobots borrow their name from Xenopus laevis, the scientific name for the African clawed frog from which the researchers harvested the stem cells. To create the little organisms, which scoot around a petri dish a bit like water bearsthose tiny microorganisms that are pretty much impossible to killthe researchers scraped living stem cells from frog embryos. These were separated into single cells and left to incubate.

They differentiated the stem cells into two different kinds: heart and skin cells. The heart cells are capable of expanding and contracting, which ultimately aids the xenobot in locomotion, and the skin cells provide structure. Next, using tiny forceps and an even smaller electrode, the scientists cut the cells and joined them together under a microscope in designs that were specified by a computer algorithm.

Interestingly, the two different kinds of cells did merge together well and created xenobots that could explore their watery environment for days or weeks. When flipped like a turtle on its shell, though, they could no longer move.

Other tests showed whole groups of xenobots are capable of moving in circles and pushing small items to a central location all on their own, without intervention. Some were built with holes in the center to reduce drag and the researchers even tried using the hole as a pouch to let the xenobots carry objects. Bongard said it's a step in the right direction for computer-designed organisms that can intelligently deliver drugs in the body.

Sam Kriegman, UVM

While these xenobots are capable of some spontaneous movement, they can't accomplish any coordinated efforts without the help of computers. Really, xenobots couldn't fundamentally exist without designs created through evolutionary algorithms.

Just as natural selection dictates which members of a species live and which die offbased on certain favorable or unfavorable attributes and ultimately influencing the species' characteristicsevolutionary algorithms can help find beneficial structures for the xenobots.

A team of computer scientists created a virtual world for the xenobots and then ran evolutionary algorithms to see which potential designs for the xenobots could help them move or accomplish some other goal. The algorithm looked for xenobots that performed well at those particular tasks while in a given configuration, and then bred those microorganisms with other xenobots that were considered "fit" enough to survive this simulated natural selection.

In the video above, for example, you can see a simulated version of the xenobot, which is capable of forward movement. The final organism takes on a similar shape to this design and is capable of (slowly) getting around. The red and green squares at the bottom of the structure are active cells, in this case the heart stem cells, while the blueish squares represent the passive skin stem cells.

All of this design work was completed over the course of a few months on the Deep Green supercomputer cluster at the University of Vermont. After a few hundred runs of the evolutionary algorithm, the researchers filtered out the most promising designs. Then, biologists at Tufts University assembled the real xenobots in vitro.

Anything dealing with stem cells is bound to meet at least some flack because detractors take issue with the entire premise of using stem cells, which are harvested from developing embryos.

That's compounded with other practical ethics questions, especially relating to safety and testing. For instance, should the organisms have protections similar to animals or humans when we experiment on them? Could we, ourselves, eventually require protection from the artificially produced creatures?

"When youre creating life, you dont have a good sense of what direction its going to take," Nita Farahany, who studies the ethical ramifications of new technologies at Duke University and was not involved in the study, told Smithsonian Magazine. "Any time we try to harness life [we should] recognize its potential to go really poorly."

Michael Levin, a biophysicist and co-author of the study from Tufts University, said that fear of the unknown in this case is not reasonable:

At its heart, the study is a "direct contribution to getting a handle on what people are afraid of, which is unintended consequences," Levin said.

Source: The University of Vermont

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These Are the First Living Robots: Machines Made from Frog Stem Cells - Popular Mechanics

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Adult bone repair relies on the activation of bone stem cells, which still remain poorly characterized. Bone stem cells have been found both in the bone marrow and in the outer layer of tissue, called periosteum, that envelopes the bone. Of the two, periosteal stem cells are the least understood.

Having a better understanding of how adult bones heal could reveal new ways of repair fractures faster and help find novel treatments for osteoporosis. Dr. Dongsu Park and his colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine investigate adult bone healing and recently uncovered a new mechanism that has potential therapeutic applications.

Previous studies have shown that bone marrow and periosteal stem cells, although they share many characteristics, also have unique functions and specific regulatory mechanisms, said Park, who is assistant professor of molecular and human genetics and of pathology and immunology at Baylor.

It is known that these two types of bone stem cells comprise a heterogeneous population that can contribute to bone thickness, shaping and fracture repair, but scientists had not been able to distinguish between different subtypes of bone stem cells and study how their different functions are regulated.

In the current study, Park and his colleagues developed a method to identify different subpopulations of periosteal stem cells, define their contribution to bone fracture repair in live mouse models and identify specific factors that regulate their migration and proliferation under physiological conditions.

The researchers discovered specific markers for periosteal stem cells in mice. The markers identified a distinct subset of stem cells that showed to be a part of life-long adult bone regeneration.

We also found that periosteal stem cells respond to mechanical injury by engaging in bone healing, Park said. They are important for healing bone fractures in the adult mice and, interestingly, they contribute more to bone regeneration than bone marrow stem cells do.

In addition, the researchers found that periosteal stem cells also respond to inflammatory molecules called chemokines, which are usually produced during bone injury. In particular, they responded to chemokine CCL5.

Periosteal stem cells have receptors molecules on their cell surface called CCR5 that bind to CCL5, which sends a signal to the cells to migrate toward the injured bone and repair it. Deleting the CCL5 or the CCR5 gene in mouse models resulted in marked defects or delayed healing. When the researchers supplied CCL5 to CCL5-deficient mice, bone healing was accelerated.

The findings suggested potential therapeutic applications. For instance, in individuals with diabetes or osteoporosis in which bone healing is slow and may lead to other complications resulting from limited mobility, accelerating bone healing may reduce hospital stay and improve prognosis.

Our findings contribute to a better understanding of how adult bones heal. We think this is one of the first studies to show that bone stem cells are heterogeneous, and that different subtypes have unique properties regulated by specific mechanisms, Park said. We have identified markers that enable us to tell bone stem cell subtypes apart and study what each subtype contributes to bone health. Understanding how bone stem cell functions are regulated offers the possibility to develop novel therapeutic strategies to treat adult bone injuries.

Find all the details of this study in the journal journal Cell Stem Cell.

Other contributors to this work include Laura C. Ortinau, Hamilton Wang, Kevin Lei, Lorenzo Deveza, Youngjae Jeong, Yannis Hara, Ingo Grafe, Scott Rosenfeld, Dongjun Lee, Brendan Lee and David T. Scadden. The authors are affiliated with one of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Childrens Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Harvard University.

This study was supported by the Bone Disease Program of Texas Award and The CarolineWiess Law Fund Award, the NIAMS of the National Institutes of Health under award numbers 1K01AR061434 and 1R01AR072018 and U54 AR068069 and the NIDDK of the NIH.

By Ana Mara Rodrguez, Ph.D.

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There is a new player in adult bone healing - Baylor College of Medicine News

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Regenerative medicine has emerged as new paradigm in human health. It has the potential to resolve unmet medical needs. Rapid growth in the interdisciplinary field of regenerative medicine is altering the health care domain by converting fundamental science into a variety of regenerative technologies. Stem cell is an undifferentiated mass of cell that has the ability to divide indefinite times. It can be further differentiated into specialized cells such as blood cells, skin cells, neurons, heart cells, chondrocytes, and osteocytes under specific conditions. Unspecialized nature, self-renewal capability, and dedifferentiation are the unique features of stem cells. Thus, these cells are useful in different applications in pharmaceutical research and medical fields.

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Stem cell research has grown significantly since 1978, when stem cells were discovered in human cord blood. Incidence of cancer is increasing across the globe due to the rise in aging population and changing lifestyle habits. This, in turn, is boosting the demand for anticancer drugs and therapies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14.1 million new cancer cases were diagnosed around the globe in 2012 and around 19.3 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed each year by 2025. Rise in incidences of chronic diseases is boosting the demand for research, making stem cells a highly preferred system for drug discovery due to its self-renewal capability and unspecialized nature.

Over the last decade, the application of cell-based assays has increased at a rapid pace among research institutes and pharmaceutical industries. This was primarily ascribed to the ethical issues associated with the use of animals for clinical trials. Furthermore, rise in approvals of clinical trials for stem cells based therapy, increase in funds from government organizations, and technological advancements are some of the factors driving the stem cell assay market.

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But, human embryonic stem cells, which are derived from inner cell mass of blastocyst are currently high on the political issues ethical concerns in many countries hampering the growth of the market. Additionally, lack of required infrastructure in developing countries and high cost associated with products are some of the factors restraining the stem cell assay market. Evolution of new therapies and low regulatory frameworks in emerging regions are expected to provide opportunities for market growth during the forecast period.

The global stem cell assay market has been segmented based on product, assay type, application, end-user, and region. In terms of product, the market for stem cell assay has been divided into human embryonic stem cell kits and adult stem cell kits. The adult stem cell kits segment is further divided into induced pluripotent stem cells kits, hematopoietic stem cell kits, mesenchymal stem cell kits, umbilical cord stem cell kits, and others.

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The adult stem cell kits segment is expected to account for the prominent share of the global stem cell assay market during the forecast period, led by the rise in product innovation activities and increasing focus on drug screening by biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Based on assay, the global stem cell assay market has been segregated into viability or cytotoxicity assay, cell identification assay, proliferation assay, differentiation assay, apoptosis assay, isolation & purification assay, and functional assay. Among these, the viability or cytotoxicity assay segment is anticipated to constitute key share of the global stem cell assay market during the forecast period, as cytotoxicity is an unavoidable stage during research.

In terms of application, the global stem cell assay market has been segmented into drug discovery & development, regenerative medicine & therapy development, and clinical research. The regenerative medicine & therapy development segment is anticipated to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period due to the rise in incidence of Parkinsons, Alzheimers, diabetes, and cancer diseases. This is anticipated to augment the focus on the development of new therapies and innovative drugs. Evolution of new therapies is estimated to provide new opportunities for the growth of the stem cell assay market during the forecast period.

Based in end-user, the global stem cell assay market has been segregated into government research institutes, private research institutes, and industry research. The industry research segment is projected to account for the major share of the global stem cell assay market during the forecast period. Growth in adoption of stem cell assays for drug screening process and testing is likely to drive the segment in the near future.

In terms of geography, the global stem cell assay market has been divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to dominate the global stem cell assay market during the forecast period. Governmental initiatives for stem cell based research in North America are anticipated to boost the stem cell assay market in the region. The stem cell assay market in Asia Pacific is estimated to expand at a rapid pace; it is projected to overtake Europe in the near future. Development in the clinical research field and rise in patient pool are projected to augment the adoption of stem cell assay in Asia Pacific.

Key players operating in the stem cell assay market are Thermo Fisher Scientific,Merck KGaA, Promega Corporation, STEMCELL Technologies Inc., Bio-Techne Corporation, GE Healthcare, Cellular Dynamics International Inc., Hemogenix, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., and Cell Biolabs Inc.

I am Sheila Shipman and I have over 16 years experience in the financial services industry giving me a vast understanding of how news affects the financial markets.

I am an active day trader spending the majority of my time analyzing earnings reports and watching commodities and derivatives. I have a Masters Degree in Economics from Westminster University with previous roles counting Investment Banking.

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Stem Cell Assay Market Global Competitive Analytics and Insights 2024 - Voice of Reports

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Experts from the Mayo clinic warned that spots on the skin may signal a blood cancer. In connection with what experts suggest as soon as possible to go to the doctor when the symptom of.

Leukemia is a cancer primarily occurs in the bone marrow as a result of mutations in blood stem cell. The consequence is the loss of the descendants of the mutated cells ability to differentiate to Mature blood cells. The danger of the disease is that the symptoms are not specific, often among the signs unexplained weight loss, fever and chills. The experts considered it important to warn you that spots on the skin can indicate cancer of the blood that allows an early identification is a deadly health hazard. Among the other important symptoms of blood cancer: swollen lymph nodes, enlarged liver or spleen, frequent nosebleeds, excessive sweating, especially at night, bone pain, constant fatigue, recurrent infections.

With regard to treatment, the experts from Mayo clinic said: chemotherapy is the main form of treatment. Biological therapy works by using methods that help the immune system to recognize cancer cells and attack them. Among the methods of struggle with a deadly disease and radiation therapy, which destroys leukemia cells and stop their growth. Among the solutions and stem cell transplantation is bone marrow transplantation. The essence of the procedure is that the blood stream is filled with healthy blood cells, which often helps to restore normal functioning of the hematopoietic system.

Natasha Kumar is a general assignment reporter at the Times Hub. She has covered sports, entertainment and many other beats in her journalism career, and has lived in Manhattan for more than 8 years. Natasha has appeared periodically on national television shows and has been published in (among others) Hindustan Times.? Times of India

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Experts from the Mayo clinic: Spots on the skin can indicate cancer of the blood - The Times Hub

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This Cosmetic Skin Care market report endows with a far-reaching survey of key players in the market which is based on a range of objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization. One of the sections in the report covers the evaluation of probabilities of the new investment projects and overall research conclusions are offered. Thus, the transparent, truthful and extensive market information and data included in this global industry report will definitely help develop business and improve return on investment (ROI).

Global cosmetic skin care market is set to witness a substantial CAGR of 5.5% in the forecast period of 2019- 2026. The report contains data of the base year 2018 and historic year 2017. Increasing self-consciousness among population and rising demand for anti- aging skin care products are the factor for the market growth.

Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market By Product (Anti-Aging Cosmetic Products, Skin Whitening Cosmetic Products, Sensitive Skin Care Products, Anti-Acne Products, Dry Skin Care Products, Warts Removal Products, Infant Skin Care Products, Anti-Scars Solution Products, Mole Removal Products, Multi Utility Products), Application (Flakiness Reduction, Stem Cells Protection against UV, Rehydrate the skins surface, Minimize wrinkles, Increase the viscosity of Aqueous, Others), Gender (Men, Women), Distribution Channel (Online, Departmental Stores and Convenience Stores, Pharmacies, Supermarket, Others), Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2026 ;

Complete report on Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market Research Report 2019-2026 spread across 350 Pages, profiling Top companies and supports with tables and figures

Market Definition: Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market

Cosmetic skin care is a variety of products which are used to improve the skins appearance and alleviate skin conditions. It consists different products such as anti- aging cosmetic products, sensitive skin care products, anti- scar solution products, warts removal products, infant skin care products and other. They contain various ingredients which are beneficial for the skin such as phytochemicals, vitamins, essential oils, and other. Their main function is to make the skin healthy and repair the skin damages.

Key Questions Answered in Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market Report:-Our Report offers:-

Top Key Players:

Market Drivers:

Market Restraints:

Key Developments in the Market:

Customize report of Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market as per customers requirement also available.Market Segmentations:Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market is segmented on the basis of

Market Segmentations in Details:By Product

By Application

By Gender

By Distribution Channel

By GeographyNorth America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

South America

Middle East & Africa

Competitive Analysis: Global Cosmetic Skin Care Market

Global cosmetic skin care market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of cosmetic skin care market for Global, Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, South America and Middle East & Africa.

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Cosmetic Skin Care Market Competitive Insights, Trends and Demand Growth 2019 to 2026 - Food & Beverage Herald

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Also, I think we're all trying to be kinder to the environment with our lifestyle choices, and unlike most sheet masks on the market, it's made with100 per cent natural cotton fibres that will biodegrade six months after use. The packaging itself is recyclable too.

If you've ever watched one of those videos of a baby smiling with glee after they try chocolate for the first time, that was me with chemical exfoliation. Unlike scrubs which use psychical exfoliation to buff away at dead skin, chemical exfoliants like AHAs, glycolic acid and lactic acid dissolve dead skin and sebum which can cause breakouts and dull skin.

And when it comes to products which do just that, this cult-favouritemask is one of my personal picks.

Not only does it kind of smell, and look, like theinside of a pumpkin pie, the wonderful combo of glycolic acid, fruit stem cells, Vitamin C, Manuka honey andantioxidant-rich pumpkin puree works to give you the deliciously radiant skin you crave.

In terms of tingliness, there was less sensation than the CannaCell Glow Mask but the results were equally as impressive. My pores appeared tighter, and the texture of my skin felt smoother, brighter and just... better.

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In 2019, Massive Science covered some ground. We wrote about climate change killing off biodiversity, galaxies eating one another, parakeet mate selection, and on and on. We polled the Massive staff for their favorite stories of the year, both in what we worked on and in the outside world. But first, our top five most popular articles of the year:

#5

After another devastating intergovernmental report on wildlife loss, Cassie Freund wrote this urgent call for action. It's the very real end of the world, why isn't anyone acting?

#4

Neuroscience is Massive's bread-and-butter, so Claudia Lopez-Lloreda's story on fish giving up and the brain cells responsible checked a lot of boxes. Next time you quit on something, you'll know who's at fault.

#3

"Unexpected science" is another angle our writers have gotten serious mileage out of, and Darcy Shapiro's article on gorilla teeth, snacks, and how that changes human history is a classic of the genre.

#2

Definitely another "unexpected science" entry, Molly Sargen's story combined math, bridge building, and breakfast food. Now we know our audience likes that and more breakfast food science will be coming in 2020.

#1

It's got it all: space and a vague sex angle. What more could you want? You might say that Mackenzie Thornbury's article went viral. We won't though.

Sometimes though, what we think is cool and what you all think is cool doesn't match up. We're not mad about though, we know disagreement is natural. Not mad at all. Here are our personal faves that we think you should give a second shot. No pressure though!

Or, as it was more affectionately known in the Slack channel: Babies...in...SPAAAAAAACE.

Another Cassie Freund work on the actual human effort to get around conservation efforts that other humans are employing to save the planet.

"Connecting brains" is a sub-genre of our normal neuroscience work and Jordan Harrod wrote one of the best ones we've ever seen.

Yeah, the science is cool, the writing is great, but you know what really spiced up Luyi Cheng's debut article? The gifs.

We love all Our Science Heroes equally, but there's something about du Chtelet. If a man had had her adventurous, influential life that included standing on Newton's shoulders and having Voltaire as a kept man, there'd be movies made about that man's life. This is our pitch for a du Chtelet biopic. Hollywood, please call us.

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Jean Chen Smith, Correspondent for Memphis Commercial Appeal Published 6:00 a.m. CT Jan. 10, 2020

During the first part of winter, the holidays can be all-consuming from shopping to stressing to spending time with friends and family.But there's so much more to the season than that.

Here are nine tips and trends to keep things fresh this winter:

With shorter days and busy schedules, it becomes more difficult to eat delicious and nutritious meals. Heres where Fresh n Lean comes in. This healthy and convenient service was conceptualized by founder Laureen Asseo while preparing meals for friends and family during a time when her father was facing serious health concerns. The meal delivery service provides specialized categories such as Keto, Paleo and Vegan using the highest quality organic ingredients without preservatives or added sugar.The cost is as low as $11 a meal, and menu choices include dishes such as Coconut Chicken Curry with Mixed Vegetables and Chile Lime Salmon with Broccoli.The dishes are never frozen and can be heated up in less than 3 minutes.

Details: freshnlean.com

Bring the outdoors inside with the AeroGarden Harvest Elite Slim.(Photo: AeroGarden)

With the AeroGarden Harvest Elite ($125), you can grow an indoor garden of gourmet herbs, heirloom salad greens, red heirloom cherry tomatoes or cascading petunias. Easy to use and sleek with a premium brushed stainless-steel finish, the AeroGarden requires minimal care and can be set on vacation mode, all the while dressing up the kitchen countertop.

Details: aerogarden.com/harvest-elite-slim.html

... Or maybe it never left. When more is required of you than the Casual Friday outfit, men will find the Treffort Contemporary Fit Signature Oxford Shirt ($165) is a wardrobe essential for any office.The mens shirts are made with premium 100% Egyptian and Turkish cotton, using organic colorants that boast unique patterns to create soft comfort with minimal creasing. The company strives for eco-friendly production without sacrificing quality.

Details: treffortshirts.com

The SOUVENIR Toulouse Top is inspired by world travel.(Photo: SOUVENIR)

The silk Moroccan-inspired Toulouse Top ($300) bySOUVENIR is a beautiful novelty printed silk top that is super versatile.It can be worn with a structured woven jacket for a business lunch, free flowing out to dinner or as a pullover on vacation.Based in Los Angeles, the brand is inspired by travel and world culture, with a focus on bright colors and fun prints.

Details: escapetosouvenir.com

Just because its cold outside and you need to bundle up doesnt mean you cant look good.For men, Obermeyers Down Snowshirt ($159) is the perfect remedy with itscasual, lightweight fabric and engineered quilting. Featuring certified 550 Fill Power Duck Down, snap placket, cuffs, chest and hand warmer pockets, it can be worn as a layering piece or as a casual top.

Details: obermeyer.com

Orvis men's flannel provides casual warmth.(Photo: Orvis)

Orvis Mens Flat Creek Tech Flannel ($98) is comfortable and made from recycled oyster shells and PET polyester (think plastic bottles) to create an eco-blend that is then brushed to a soft hand.

Details: http://www.orvis.com

Available for both men and women, Gobi Heats outerwear such as the Victoria Heated Puffer Coat and Sahara Mens Heated Jacket are wind- and water-resistant, keeping you warm and dry throughout the season.Stylish and comfortable, the jackets have an easy one-touch LED controller with three heat settings: low, medium and high.

Details: gobiheat.com

Frances Austen cashmere Is the ultimate staple for your winter wardrobe.(Photo: Frances Austen)

Cashmere is one of the most precious and sought-after fibers because of its soft, silken feel.Frances Austenmakes the same heirloom-quality luxury cashmere that your grandmother owned, but at a more reasonable price point. The company partners with Scotland-basedJohnstons of Elgin, sweater manufacturer to big European fashion houses, and only releases two collections a year.The companys best-seller, Raw Edge Crew Neck(prices vary), is spun in Italy and perfectly matches with a pair of dress pants or jeans. It's also available in a colorblock version.

Details: francesausten.com

Lascanas Quilt Panel Moto Jacket ($89) is not only stylish and reasonably priced, it looks like the real deal while it is faux leather. With chic rose gold zippers and a flattering fit, this is a great item for any size and shape.

Details: http://www.lascana.com

Cat lovers will rejoice at how easy it is to feed fresh, human-grade food to their furry friend with Smalls, which ships directly to your door. The company makes freeze-dried raw kibble and treats that are specifically tailored to fit your cats nutritional needs. You simply add warm water, mix and serve.Smalls believes in giving back and works with shelters and animal nonprofits across the United States to provide quality food to cats in need.With their Shelter Program, shelters can order Smalls in bulk at cost-pricing.

Details: smallsforsmalls.com

The new CannaCell line from Andalou Naturals is super-powered by antioxidants from hemp stem cells, which help to defend against free radicals and counteract premature aging due to oxidative damage, pollutionand UV sun exposure. Hemp stem cells and hemp seed oil provide the skin with nourishing proteins, nutrients and minerals so that the products penetrate the skin for optimal results.

Details: andalou.com

Check out Revos 1985 sunglasses collection, which pays homage to the '80s with sixclassic unisex frame styles that not only look great but are also functional. Heralded as the leader in polarized lens technology, the brand was created using technology developed by NASA as solar protection for satellites.

Details: http://www.revo.com

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From stylish clothes to indoor gardening, 9 tips and trends to try this winter - Commercial Appeal

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Cheap, re-purposed cancer drugs, negative carbon-emissions technology, calculating how fast the universe is expandingand huge leaps forward in quantum computing.

Will one of these be the biggest scientific breakthrough of 2020?

We asked a handful of New Zealand's top scientists what "Eureka!" moments might be on the cards next year but even with their formidable combined brain power and expertise, some found it hard to answer and hinted it was difficult to sheet home specific advances to any one year.

And, as one scientist says, 2020's most ground-breaking discovery may come as a total surprise, made accidentally by a student in a lab late one night.

READ MORE:*Scientists are baffled: What's up with the universe?*Medicine already in use may help cancer treatments*Roger Hanson: How you figure out the age of the universe*Doing my part not only to be carbon neutral but carbon negative

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2020's most ground-breaking discovery may come as a total surprise, made accidentally by a student in a lab late one night.

Wellington's Gillies McIndoe Research Institute is carrying out cutting-edge research into ways of treating cancer without radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery.

The institute's founder and executive director, Dr Swee Tan, believes significant steps will be made in 2020 towards "re-purposing" existing drugs for cancer treatment.

Tan, a plastic surgeon and medical researcher who has received international recognition for dealing with life-threatening and disfiguring conditions, saiddrugs licensed and marketed for a particular treatment often had other benefits.

"They can be re-purposed for another condition, for the treatment of cancer. This is usually with drugs that have been around for some time they are off-patent, so they become generic, which means they cost next to nothing.

"Another advantage is their safety profile is well understood."

Wellington's Gillies McIndoe Research Institute's founder and executive director, Dr Swee Tan, believes significant steps will be made in 2020 towards "re-purposing" existing drugs for cancer treatment.

Globally, 18 million new cancer cases are diagnosed each year, resulting in nearly 10 million deaths.

"In New Zealand alone, new cancer cases are about 25,000 a year, and on top of that there are 11,000 non-melanoma skin cancers.

"The incidence of cancer is predicted to increase by 50 per cent by 2035, which is just around the corner. We are completely unprepared for that."

The increased incidence of cancer largely bowel, breast, prostate and lung cancers, and melanoma is mostly because people are living longer and due to lifestyle and diet, Tan says.

"Part of the problem now is the expense of treatment. In New Zealand, we spend $1 billion a year to treat cancer, and that is just the fiscal cost, that doesn't count emotional or personal.

"The cost is escalating because of the novel cancer drugsand, at some point, we are not going to be able to afford treatment for cancer.

"This creates disparity in access to treatment because some of these drugs are not funded and, if you have the means, you can buy it, but I don't think that is a good way to run a society. I think a society should allow people to access healthcare, regardless of personal circumstance."

Royal Society Te Aprangi/VIMEO

New Zealand is as vulnerable as all countries to the global growth in antimicrobial resistance that is making some diseases untreatable. Dr Siouxsie Wiles, a microbiologist from the University of Auckland, a Royal Society Te Aprangi Councillor and an expert adviser on the report on antimicrobial resistance produced by Royal Society Te Aprangi explains why it is such a big issue for us.

The institute has been undertaking a clinical trial based on drug re-purposing to control cancer stem cells, the proposed origin of cancer.

"It consists of a combination of low-cost, off-patent, oral medications to control cancer stem cells. We believe this would be more effective than using a single drug.

"For the cost of the drug itself, it costs about $4000 a year a patient, compared with the average cancer treatment, which is about $50,000 per patient.

"You have to prove it is effective first. The big issue with drug re-purposing is 'big pharma' is not interested because there is no money in it. The only way that we can realise the potential is for philanthropy and government to support initiatives like this."

Propranolol, a beta-blocker, had been added to the treatment for melanoma and angiosarcoma.

During 2020, GMRI would also be working on treatments for disfiguring keloid scars.

"They can cause quite significant issues with quality of life. They affect about 2 per cent of the general population, but in dark-skinned races, especially from the African continent, incidence can be up to 16 per cent.

"Treatment is really quite unsatisfactory, hence the reason why we are researching a solution. If you do surgery to remove it, almost every single one returns. Sometimes surgery is followed by radiotherapy to prevent recurrence. Topical chemotherapy is also used.

"What we have found is stem cells as the underlying problem. We are doing further work, which may allow us to develop a simpler, more effective, low-cost treatment taken by mouth, or by applying to the keloid lesion directly."

University of Auckland molecular biologist Dr Hilary Sheppard, a specialist in developmental and stem-cell biology, thinks there will be more emphasis next year on the gene-editing of adult cells.

University of Auckland microbiologist,associate professor Siouxsie Wiles, a specialist in infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, says there are "desperately" needed breakthroughs in her field next year and beyond, including:

- Rapid "bedside" diagnostic tests that are cheap and can tell the medical practitioner if the patient has a bacterial or viral infection "a bonus if it can tell, if bacterial, what antibiotics would kill the bacterium responsible".

- Effective vaccines for tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, Staphylococcus aureus, Group A and B Streptococci, giardia "I could go on and on".

- Drugs that can kill carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae "a very scary group of organisms that are becoming untreatable".

"The other breakthroughs we need aren't scientific, they are political," she says.

"[We need] a global agreement on tackling antimicrobial resistance, which would include incentives to bring the pharmaceutical industry back in to antimicrobial development.

"Failing that, nationalisation of pharmaceutical companies so that development of drugs isn't a for-profit initiative."

Phil Doyle/Stuff

University of Auckland microbiologist, associate professor Siouxsie Wiles, says a global agreement on tackling antimicrobial resistance is desperately needed.

University of Auckland molecular biologist Dr Hilary Sheppard, a specialist in developmental and stem-cell biology, thinks there will be more emphasis next year on the gene-editing of adult cells.

"We have seen some major breakthroughs this year, such as the versatile tool which allows for gene-editing with increased precision over existing tools so the technique is becoming more reliable and safer. Hopefully, next year, we will see these newer techniques being tested in clinically relevant cells.

"As part of that, I hope we will see a community-wide discussion about the ethics of gene-editing with a particular focus on adult cells. Personally, I do not think we should be editing germline cells or embryos at least not for the next five years, while the ethical issues are debated.

"Part of gene-editing is knowing what DNA sequence needs to be edited, so I think I hope this could be the year where personalised medicine and individual genotyping takes off.

"Our research focuses on patients with a fragile skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa (EB). We are pushing to get patients with EB genotyped so that we can perform gene-editing on their skin cells we can't do anything useful without this information.

"Currently, we are paying for the genotyping out of our research budgets. Of course, genotyping raises its own ethical and societal issues, so I hope we will see more discussion about this."

In 2020, results should start rolling in from clinical trials using edited T-cells against melanoma and edited bone-marrow cells to treat patients with sickle-cell anaemia, Sheppard says.

"These are very exciting times. I'm sure we'll see more clinical trials targeting previously untargeted disorders soon perhaps for conditions like Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis."

RNZ

In this podcast, The Detail's Sharon Brettkelly talks to Auckland University physics professor Shaun Hendy about his no-flying mission for the whole of last year.

While Tan, Sheppard and Wiles are looking for discoveries on the tiniest of scales, other scientists are grappling with the biggest question in the universe.

Theoretical cosmologist and University of Auckland professor of physics Richard Easther is among those hoping for a resolution of what has become known as "Hubble tension" a growing disagreement in calculations of how fast the universe is expanding, which has repercussions on its likely age.

The Hubble Constant the number that tells us how fast the universe was expanding has always been hard to measure, he says.

"There was a period of time when a whole different bunch of approaches to measuring it had converged on a single value, which is fascinating. But just over the last couple of years, it seems like there are now two different sets of numbers you get and they've pulled apart a little bit.

"You know, there's this joke that science isn't so much about people saying 'Eureka!' but about someone looking at something and going, 'well, you know, that's funny'.

"This is increasingly resembling one of those moments.

"The numbers are clustering around two values one that would put it in the early to mid-70s [kilometres per second per megaparsec], and one that would put it in the mid- to late 60s, and the uncertainty in the measurements is such that they don't really overlap with each other.

"As the individual measurements get more accurate, the sharpness of the disagreement is growing."

University of Auckland physicist, professor Shaun Hendy, is expecting leaps ahead in clean energy in 2020.

Does it matter? Of course, Easther says.

"There are different physical assumptions that go into the different measurementsandso, if there is a real discrepancy, it would tell us there's something about the expansion of the universe that we don't understand.

"It's hinting at that. The implication seems to be that the story is one step more complicated than current models of the expanding universe might recognise.

"One thought is, that in one set of numbers, there's something that got missed and kind of got away. The other possibility is, there's something kind of physical, that isn't included in our current thinking of the expanding universe.

"The idea that there is something interesting going on is something that cosmologists over the course of the last year have grown substantially more willing to entertain."

Chris Skelton/STUFF

Nicola Gaston is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland and Co-Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.

At the University of Otago, associate professor Mikkel Andersen, a physicist in the university's Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, has been making astounding international discoveries and controlling the movement of individual atoms in a world-first laboratory experiment.

Such control opens up possibilities for a "second quantum technology revolution" and quantum supremacy, something Andersen says will creep closer in 2020.

The first quantum revolution was made possible by the discovery of quantum mechanics in the 1920s, leading to the development of transistors and lasers, the building blocks of all computers.

In the second, he says quantum computers of fewer than 100 atoms will ultimately be able to out-compete "the world's combined conventional computing power".

"Reaching quantum supremacy means that a quantum computer will be able to do calculations that cannot be done on the world's conventional computers. I do not know if it will happen next year, but it will happen eventually.

"In recent years, Google, IBM, Microsoft and a lot of others have invested enormously in development of quantum computers. Quantum supremacy is likely still some years away, but it is one of those things that would clear all the headlines if it happened in 2020."

University of Auckland physicist,professor Shaun Hendy, agrees.

"Google declared quantum supremacy last month they demonstrated that a quantum computer could beat a conventional computer, albeit at a very niche task.

"We'll see more of this next year, as quantum computers start to stretch their legs just don't expect to see one on your phone any time soon."

Ross Giblin

Victoria University of Wellington's professor James Renwick hopes to see breakthroughs in climate change science which reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hendy is also expecting leaps ahead in clean energy in 2020.

"We will continue to see the cost of solar and battery technologies fall, to the extent that they will start to disrupt other energy systems. We have seen this already in Australia, where it has become a defining political issue.

"It will play out differently in New Zealand, because our grid is already more than 80 per cent renewable, while many of our industrial energy systems are not. Expect to see some of our big industrial corporates Fonterra, NZ Steel etc moving to greener industrial processes."

Victoria University of Wellington's Professor James Renwick, head of the school of geography, environment and earth sciences, hopes to see breakthroughs in climate change science which reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He points to work being done at the Cawthron Institute in Nelson into the benefits of using the seaweed Asparagopsis armata as cattle feed. Chemicals in the red seaweed reduce microbes in the stomachs of cattle that make them burp when eating grass.

Renwick is also excited about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help with severe weather prediction.

"Weather forecasters are totally inundated with information these days, volumes of radar data and satellite data coming through every 10 minutes. So, AI can help in making sense of all that, and what is the most important in determining where, for example, a severe storm will happen."

University of Otago associate professor Mikkel Andersen believes a "second quantum technology revolution" and quantum supremacy will creep closer in 2020.

Auckland University of Technology senior lecturer Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh also foresees huge steps forward in AI and its applications next year and beyond.

"In the medical sector, AI is being used to speed up symptom recognition and diagnosis. Early warning signs can be easily detected, allowing fast reaction.

"Environment and climate monitoring using AI can assist with weather-cycle predictions, frost warnings, and harvest alerts. Automated irrigation is possible using moisture and temperature sensors."

There are also uses in New Zealand's burgeoning space industry, in traffic management and in the "smart home" of the future, she says.

"New Zealand is a leader and frontrunner in the development of AI and related fields. The next 10 years of technology development are set to be exciting."

David White

Auckland University of Technology senior lecturer Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh foresees huge steps forward in AI and its applications next year.

University of Auckland physicist, associate professor Nicola Gaston, co-director of the Victoria University of Wellington-hosted MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, told Stuff scientific discovery did not happen "one year at a time".

"Discoveries that impact on our lives next year will be built on work that has been going on for decades. The biggest discoveries of next year will be the ones that impact on our lives in a decade or two.

"But there is no competition between this fundamental scientific work of discovery and the development of technologies. The two go in tandemand, perhaps in 2020, we can try to appreciate that."

That may be finding a way of moving to negative emissions technologies, or changing the chemistry of materials so they are recyclable and avoid environmental pollution.

"The most important breakthrough of 2020 will be one that none of us sees.

"It'll be a dedicated student or post-doc in a lab somewhere, or up late at night on a computer, who solves the last remaining piece of one of the puzzles that underpin so much of what we hope technology can do for us in the future."

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Highlights

Skin stem cells and the mechanism of skin repair: illustrating how skin stem cells are involved in the skin repair process.

Cell products for skin repair: the history of skin repair products and newly emerging medications applying stem cell biology.

Drug reviewing issue of skin cell products: the disputations of dermatological drug development and critical recommendations.

Stem cell products and its clinical applications have been widely discussed in recent years, particularly when the Japanese induced pluripotent stem cells founder Dr. Yamanaka was awarded as Nobel Prize laureate in 2013. For decades, major progresses have been achieved in the stem cell biology field, and more and more evidence showed that skin stem cells are involved in the process of skin repair. Stem/progenitor cells of the epidermis are recognized to play the most essential role in the tissue regeneration of skin. In this review, we first illustrated basic stem cell characteristics and various stem cell subtypes resided in the skin. Second, we provided several literatures to elucidate how stem/progenitor cells collaborate in the process of skin repair with the evidence from animal model studies and invitro experiments. Third, we also introduced several examples of skin cell products on the pharmaceutic market and the ongoing clinical trials aiming for unmet medical difficulties of skin. Last but not least, we summarized general reviewing concerns and some disputatious issues on dermatological cell products. With this concise review, we hope to provide further beneficial suggestions for the development of more effective and safer dermatological stem/progenitor cell products in the future.

Cell therapy

Dermatology

Drug reviewing

Recommended articlesCiting articles (0)

2017 Food and Drug Administration, Taiwan. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.

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Cara Gormallys pregnancy was shadowed by grief. As a queer woman wanting to have a baby, the biology professor had figured finding a sperm donor would be the only obstacle she and her partner faced. But thanks to Gormallys organizational skills and love of making lists, the couple landed on a donor with relative ease.

Then, Gormally struggled to conceive. Each month brought fresh disappointment and loss.

So much of the process depended on random, heart-breaking chance, she says. The emotional and financial roller coaster was exhausting.

But it wasnt the hardest part. The couple had accepted that, as much as they wanted a baby, their child wouldnt be biologically related to Gormallys spouse.

I grieved that our child wouldnt be genetically related to both of us, Gormally says. I longed for the biologically impossible.

But now, a new set of technologies have the potential to change whats possible allowing same-sex partners to have kids who share their genetic material, just like straight couples.

In mammals, pretty much every cell in the body carries two sets of genetic material. One set comes from mom and the other from dad. Eggs and sperm are the only exceptions; they have just one set. Then, when a sperm fertilizes an egg, those two sets combine, restoring the usual number to two sets per cell.

Gormally and other same-sex partners are currently barred from their dreams by a phenomenon called genomic imprinting. It uses a distinct tag from each parent to mark the DNA that mammals pass on to their offspring. The process ensures that, for a small percentage of genes, we only express the copy of genetic material provided by our mother or our father. When this imprinting process goes awry, kids can end up with inactive gene regions that cause miscarriages, developmental defects and cancer.

(Credit: Jay Smith/Discover)

During this genomic imprinting, moms distinct collection of tags typically turns off certain genes, so that just dads copy is expressed. And dad imparts his own marks that leave only the maternal copy on. (Most imprints silence gene expression, but some activate it.) Thats a problem for same-sex couples who want to have a baby. If both sets of an offsprings genes come from maternal DNA, for example, then both copies of imprinted genes will be off. So, the embryo cant make any of the genes products.

We dont get the full set of [gene] products that we need to undergo proper development unless we have both a maternal and paternal contribution to a fertilized egg, says Marisa Bartolomei, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who discovered one of the first imprinted genes in mice.

Scientists discovered genomic imprinting in mammals about 30 years ago. During experiments in the mid-1980s, researchers removed either the maternal or paternal genetic contributions from newly fertilized mouse eggs. Then, they transferred in a second set of genes from another mouse to create embryos with either two sets of female genetic material or two sets of male genetic material. A surrogate mouse was able to gestate the embryos, but none survived. The finding showed normal development requires genetic material from both a father and the mother. More than that, the outcomes revealed that maternal and paternal genetic material differ from each other in meaningful ways.

Later experiments revealed mice developed differently depending on whether they happened to receive both copies of certain regions of DNA from one parent (rather than one copy from each parent).

Mice with hairpin-shaped tails were telling examples. When researchers deleted the gene region responsible for a hairpin tail from a mothers genome, mice embryos grew large and died partway through gestation. In contrast, deleting the same region from the paternal genome had no effect on the rodents growth or development.

In the three decades since, researchers have found more imprinted genes (they suspect there are between 100 and 200 such genes) and the molecular tags that silence them. Scientists have also taken strides connecting imprinting defects to developmental disorders in humans. But all along, researchers have known that imprinting prevents same-sex parents from having children.

In October 2018, researchers overcame this impossibility in mice. By deleting imprinted regions, Wei Li and a team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing produced healthy mice from two moms. The researchers also created mouse pups from two dads for the first time. However, the offspring died just a few days after birth.

Despite the loss, Li is optimistic. This research shows us what is possible, he says.

To overcome the imprinting barrier, Li and his fellow researchers turned to CRISPR, a gene-editing technique thats made altering genomes easier than ever. They used the tool to delete gene regions from embryonic stem cells from mice mothers. The researchers then injected these modified stem cells into the egg of a female mouse and then used a third surrogate female mouse to carry the fetus to term.

The team had already seen some success two years earlier when they created mouse pups with two genetic mothers by deleting two imprinted regions. Although these bimaternal mice also grew to adulthood and produced pups of their own, they developed growth defects. On average, the bimaternal mice were 20 percent lighter than their hetero-parental counterparts. In their latest study, Li and his team also deleted a third region from the mothers genes, which restored the animals growth to normal.

But the scientists had to clear a few more hurdles to generate mice with two genetic fathers. They found, through a process of trial and error, that they needed to remove twice as many imprinted regions in the bipaternal mice as the bimaternal mice. In total, the team deleted seven imprinted regions to successfully create mice from two dads.

Still, the numbers were not in their favor. Only two and a half percent of embryos made it to term and less than half of one percent lived for two days. None made it to adulthood.

The produced bipaternal mice are not viable, which implies more obstacles are needed to cross to support their postnatal survival, if possible, Li says. The lower birth rate, on the other hand, implies the existence of an unknown barrier hindering the development of bipaternal embryos.

In contrast, the bimaternal mice fared much better. These mice grew to adulthood and were healthy enough to have pups of their own by mating with typical male mice. They also behaved the same as the control mice. As far as the researchers could tell, the bimaternal mice appear as healthy and normal as any other laboratory mice.

It does not mean that they are normal in every aspect, Li cautions. One cannot investigate all the aspects under restricted experimental conditions with a limited number of animals.

Despite the researchers success, Li says the technique is not ready for use in humans. It is never too much to emphasize the risks and the importance of safety before any human experiment, he says, particularly in regard to the bipaternal offspring, which currently are severely abnormal and cannot survive to adulthood.

The bimaternal offspring hold more promise. The team is now working to translate their findings to monkeys. And that work could bring the impossible one step closer to feasible for humans.

Lis research is encouraging but its a long way from helping Gormally and her spouse. However, its also not the only shot for same-sex couples. Another new technology called in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, may be an alternative potential path for same-sex couples to have their own kids.

Scientists use the technique to make eggs and sperm from other cells in the body. To do so, biologists first reprogram adult skin cells to become stem cells. Then, they stimulate the skin-derived stem cells to develop into eggs or sperm.

Researchers from Japan have now perfected the technique in mice. And in groundbreaking work, Katsuhiko Hayashi and Mitinori Saitou and their team generated functional eggs from mice tail cells.

The researchers then fertilized the eggs with sperm from male mice and implanted the embryos into surrogate mothers. The offspring grew up healthy and fertile. In principle, this approach could allow a womans skin cells to be engineered into sperm and used to fertilize her partners egg.

IVG could transform same-sex couples ability to have their own children. If it had been possible at the time, we definitely wouldve have tried to do it, says Gormally, who is now a proud parent to a toddler thanks to her and her spouses sperm donor. [Its] a total game-changer.

This story is part of "The Future of Fertility" a new series on Discover exploring the frontiers of reproduction.

Read more:

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The Slow March Toward the First Same-Sex Couple to Have a Baby - Discover Magazine

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Last year left us with this piece of bombshell news: He Jiankui, the mastermind behind the CRISPR babies scandal, has been sentenced to three years in prison for violating Chinese laws on scientific research and medical management. Two of his colleagues also face prison for genetically engineering human embryos that eventually became the worlds first CRISPRd babies.

The story isnt over: at least one other scientist is eagerly following Hes footsteps in creating gene-edited humans, although he stresses that he wont implant any engineered embryos until receiving regulatory approval.

Biotech stories are rarely this dramatic. But as gene editing tools and assisted reproductive technologies increase in safety and precision, were bound to see ever more mind-bending headlines. Add in a dose of deep learning for drug discovery and synthetic biology, and its fair to say were getting closer to reshaping biology from the ground upboth ourselves and other living creatures around us.

Here are two stories in biotech were keeping our eyes on. Although successes likely wont come to fruition this year (sorry), these futuristic projects may be closer to reality than you think.

The idea of human-animal chimeras immediately triggers ethical aversion, but the dream of engineering replacement human organs in other animals is gaining momentum.

There are two main ways to do this. The slightly less ethically-fraught idea is to grow a fleet of pigs with heavily CRISPRd organs to make them more human-like. It sounds crazy, but scientists have already successfully transplanted pig hearts into baboonsa stand-in for people with heart failurewith some recipients living up to 180 days before they were euthanized. Despite having foreign hearts, the baboons were healthy and acted like their normal buoyant selves post-op.

But for cross-species transplantation, or xenotransplants to work in humans, we need to deal with PERVsa group of nasty pig genes scattered across the porcine genome, remnants of ancient viral infections that can tag along and potentially infect unsuspecting human recipients.

Theres plenty of progress here too: back in 2017 scientists at eGenesis, a startup spun off from Dr. George Churchs lab, used CRISPR to make PERV-free pig cells that eventually became PERV-free piglets after cloning. Then last month, eGenesis reported the birth of Pig3.0, the worlds most CRISPRd animal to further increase organ compatibility. These PERV-free genetic wonders had three pig genes that stimulate immunorejection removed, and nine brand new human genes to make themin theorymore compatible with human physiology. When raised to adulthood, pig3.0 could reproduce and pass on their genetic edits.

Although only a first clinical propotype that needs further validation and refinement, eGenesis is hopeful. According to one (perhaps overzealous) estimate, the first pig-to-human xenotranplant clinical trial could come in just two years.

The more ethically-challenged idea is to grow human organs directly inside other animalsin other words, engineer human-animal hybrid embryos and bring them to term. This approach marries two ethically uncomfortable technologies, germline editing and hybrids, into one solution that has many wondering if these engineered animals may somehow receive a dose of humanness by accident during development. What if, for example, human donor cells end up migrating to the hybrid animals brain?

Nevertheless, this year scientists at the University of Tokyo are planning to grow human tissue in rodent and pig embryos and transplant those hybrids into surrogates for further development. For now, bringing the embryos to term is completely out of the question. But the line between humans and other animals will only be further blurred in 2020, and scientists have begun debating a new label, substantially human, for living organisms that are mainly human in characteristicsbut not completely so.

With over 800 gene therapy trials in the running and several in mature stages, well likely see a leap in new gene medicine approvals and growth in CAR-T spheres. For now, although transformative, the three approved gene therapies have had lackluster market results, spurring some to ponder whether companies may cut down on investment.

The research community, however, is going strong, with a curious bifurcating trend emerging. Let me explain.

Genetic medicine, a grab-bag term for treatments that directly change genes or their expression, is usually an off-the-shelf solution. Cell therapies, such as the blood cancer breakthrough CAR-T, are extremely personalized in that a patients own immune cells are genetically enhanced. But the true power of genetic medicine lies in its potential for hyper-personalization, especially when it comes to rare genetic disorders. In contrast, CAR-Ts broader success may eventually rely on its ability to become one-size-fits-all.

One example of hyper-tailored gene medicine success is the harrowing story of Mila, a six-year-old with Batten disease, a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that is always fatal and was previously untreatable. Thanks to remarkable efforts from multiple teams, however, in just over a year scientists developed a new experimental therapy tailored to her unique genetic mutation. Since receiving the drug, Milas condition improved significantly.

Milas case is a proof-of-concept of the power of N=1 genetic medicine. Its unclear whether other children also carry her particular mutationBatten has more than a dozen different variants, each stemming from different genetic miscodingor if anyone else would ever benefit from the treatment.

For now, monumental costs and other necessary resources make it impossible to pull off similar feats for a broader population. This is a shame, because inherited diseases rarely have a single genetic cause. But costs for genome mapping and DNA synthesis are rapidly declining. Were starting to better understand how mutations lead to varied disorders. And with multiple gene medicines, such as antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) finally making a comeback after 40 years, its not hard to envision a new era of hyper-personalized genetic treatments, especially for rare diseases.

In contrast, the path forward for CAR-T is to strip its personalization. Both FDA-approved CAR-T therapies require doctors to collect a patients own immune T cells, preserved and shipped to a manufacturer, genetically engineered to boost their cancer-hunting abilities, and infused back into patients. Each cycle is a race against the cancer clock, requiring about three to four weeks to manufacture. Shipping and labor costs further drive up the treatments price tag to hundreds of thousands of dollars per treatment.

These considerable problems have pushed scientists to actively research off-the-shelf CAR-T therapies, which can be made from healthy donor cells in giant batches and cryopreserved. The main stumbling block is immunorejection: engineered cells from donors can cause life-threatening immune problems, or be completely eliminated by the cancer patients immune system and lose efficacy.

The good news? Promising results are coming soon. One idea is to use T cells from umbilical cord blood, which are less likely to generate an immune response. Another is to engineer T cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)mature cells returned back to a young, stem-like state. A patients skin cells, for example, could be made into iPSCs that constantly renew themselves, and only pushed to develop into cancer-fighting T cells when needed.

Yet another idea is to use gene editing to delete proteins on T cells that can trigger an immune responsethe first clinical trials with this approach are already underway. With at least nine different off-the-shelf CAR-T in early human trials, well likely see movement in industrialized CAR-T this year.

Theres lots of other stories in biotech we here at Singularity Hub are watching. For example, the use of AI in drug discovery, after years of hype, may finally meet its reckoning. That is, can the technology actually speed up the arduous process of finding new drug targets or the design of new drugs?

Another potentially game-changing story is that of Biogens Alzheimers drug candidate, which reported contradicting results last year but was still submitted to the FDA. If approved, itll be the first drug to slow cognitive decline in a decade. And of course, theres always the potential for another mind-breaking technological leap (or stumble?) thats hard to predict.

In other words: we cant wait to bring you new stories from biotechs cutting edge in 2020.

Image Credit: Image by Konstantin Kolosov from Pixabay

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The Top Biotech Trends We'll Be Watching in 2020 - Singularity Hub

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PLC () dipped 3% to 286.52p in mid-afternoon after announcing the acquisition of multi-let office space in Staines, Surrey, as well as the sale of a London building to a private developer.

TWENTY was bought for 19mln, is currently let to four tenants and has a vacancy of 23%, while Quayside Lodge in Fulham, London, was sold for the same amount.

TWENTY Kingston Road offers strong reversionary potential with a yield of 7% once fully let and the acquisition is in line with our opportunistic approach, chief executive Fredrik Widlund said in a release.

s () lost 2% to 227.01p after posting like-for-like sales including fuel fell 1.1% in the 15 weeks to 4 January, while total retail sales slipped 0.9%.

The LFL sales slip was slightly worse than analyst expectations which had predicted that sales in the period would be mostly flat.

The FTSE 100 grocer is another major name in the sector suffering sales declines over the so-called golden Christmas quarter.

PLC () gained 6% to 86.63p in early afternoon trades on the back of an acquisition from Cemex SAB de CV ADR ().

The AIM-listed construction materials company will snap up the UK arm and some operation of the Mexican company for 178mln in cash, debt-free.

It will add 170mln tonnes of mineral reserves and resources while adding to the development of Breedons national asphalt strategy and increasing footprint in areas where it is underrepresented.

() rose 7% to 0.41p after updating investors on the Bonya tungsten and copper deposit in Australia resource potential.

Thor is drilling to establish Bonya as a source of ore to extend the life of its nearby Molyhil project.

Latest holes to be drilled showed best results of a 23m intersection at a grade of 0.58% WO3 (tungsten) from the surface at White Violet and a 9m copper band at Samarkand.

Pharos Energy PLC (LON:PHAR) slipped 5% to 55p at lunchtime after informing investors that the 2020 dividend will be halved compared to the 2019 payment.

The oiler will issue 2.75p per share, a yield of 5% on yesterday's close of 58p, to focus on capital investment in the expanded portfolio.

Production in Egypt came as a disappointment as well, with 6mln barrels of oil per day (boe/d) as opposed to the 6.5mln boe/d guidance.

() lost 4% to 156.5p as the footwear retailer posted lower profits but managed to keep the final divi at 8p per share.

The AIM-listed firm attributed the decline to government imposed increases in its operating costs.

For the year ended 5 October, the company reported an underlying pre-tax profit of 9.8mln, down from 11.4mln in the prior year, while revenues edged up 0.9% to 1.62bn.

MPAC Group PLC () shares were trading 16% higher at 240p in late morning after upgrading full-year profit expectations for the second time in four months.

The company, which provides high speed packaging and automation services, attributed the continuing momentum to a strong Q4 order intake and accelerated project execution.

I am confident that we will be able to report an excellent financial performance for 2019 and improved outlook for 2020 which gives us confidence for the future progress of the business, chief executive Tony Steels said in a release.

()(NASDAQ:MTP) hiked 24% to 3.4 on the back of positive results from additional studies on its MTD201 cancer drug.

The analysis revealed the candidate can be delivered via an injection under the skin rather than into the muscle.

It is a key advantage paving the way for approval, while a pivotal study is planned for later in the first half with preparations already underway.

PLC () topped the losers list with a 21% stumble to 65.35p as the mineral resource estimate for its Asacha Gold Mine was reduced after further analysis.

As of 20 December, the asset is estimated to hold 312,558 ounces of gold, as opposed to 553,052 ounces a year before.

The AIM-listed miner is now undertaking a new drilling campaign to upgrade the resources, while formal guidance for the current year will be published shortly.

Travelex owner () was not doing much better with a 16% fall to 130p after updating on the Sodinokibi Windows ransomware attack.

The FTSE 250-listed firm was asked to pay US$6m (4.6m) to restore the customer data they claimed to have swiped from Travelexs systems, or else they would sell it on the dark web.

Finablr said there was no evidence that personal customer data has been encrypted and no evidence that any data has been exfiltrated, adding that Travelex has successfully contained the spread of the ransomware.

() lost 14% to 2.5p after announcing the process for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is taking longer than expected.

The AIM-listed engineering and technology solutions provider to the bioenergy sector said admission to trades will occur in the first half of 2020.

Management added trading in the second half of 2019 remained strong and is optimistic for the current period.

Asimilar Group PLC (LON:ASLR) jumped 25% higher to 40.66p in early morning trade on Wednesdayafter launching a placing at a premium to Tuesday's closing share price, hot on the heels of last months change of name from YOLO Leisure.

The AIM-listed big data and Internet of Things firm raised 6.8mln by placing 17mln new shares at a price of 40p each withexisting and new investors, a 15% premium to Tuesdays closing price of 33.8p.

Chairman John Taylor said in a release the proceeds will be used to pursue potentially bold and transformative investment options.

() was also onthe gainers list with a 5% push upwards to 247.9p after announcing full-year profit before tax will be comfortably ahead of market expectations.

The financial services provider and retailer mentioned strong trading during the Christmas period, when the jewellery segment recorded double-digit revenue growth.

The company noted that a high gold price boosted profits in the precious metals segment while its pawnbroking and foreign currency divisions continued to produce good results.

() also nudged higher, up 4% to 18.25p as it set up a joint venture with Korean firm Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co.

The firms will develop new cell and gene therapies using Avactas Affimer proteins which will specifically target the development of a new class of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

The AIM-listed company said its research and development costs for these targets will be fully covered by the joint venture which is funded by Daewoong.

() has confirmed that it has received a premium-priced takeover offer from (), and, it is now in advanced talks with the FTSE 100-listed miner. The offer is pitched at 5.5p per share, which is a 34.1% premium to yesterdays closing price of 4.1p. In a statement released after the market close on Tuesday, Siriuss management team said it would be prepared to recommend an offer at that price.

() (NASDAQ:MTP) has hailed the positive results from a study assessing the potential to deliver one of its drugs via an injection under the skin rather than into the muscle. MTD201, which is being developed to treat carcinoid cancer and the growth hormone condition acromegaly, was able to maintain the correct levels of plasma octreotide over six to eight weeks using this subcutaneous method, researchers found.

() has signed an exclusive agreement worth up to US$63mln for its iron deficiency treatment Feraccru to be sold in China. The deal with ASK Pharm (Beijing Aosaikang Pharmaceutical), covers China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and will involve an upfront payment of US$11.4mln and up to US$51.4mln in milestone and royalties. ASK Pharm will also pay for the marketing authorisation process and commercialising of Feraccru, which is branded as Accrufer in the US.

() has set up a joint venture to develop new cell and gene therapies using its Affimer proteins. The new JV with Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co will specifically target the development of a new class of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), multipotent cells where functions can include being agents for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

() has signed a one-year exclusive evaluation agreement with Corteva Agriscience. The American giant, valued at US$21bn, wants to assess the potential of the UK biopesticides specialists encapsulation technology, focusing on formulations for seed treatments.

() said it has now completed the fundraising it announced on 30 September 2019, which in total raised approximately 412,000, with the final stage raising 150,360 via an issue of 2,148,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 7p each to Zark Capital Limited. Following the issue, Zark will hold 6,000,000 ordinary shares, representing 9.7% of ADMs issued share capital.

() is to trial its graphene-enhanced asphalt Gipave at Romes Fiumicino airport. Gipave will be tested for six months on the airports Alpha taxiway, which handles intercontinental aircraft such as Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s.

() said it has won two large contracts for delivery of Knowledge Capture, part of its information management suite of products, with a minimum combined contract value of 0.9mln over their minimum term. In a statement, the leading global big data technology company noted that the latest contract wins add to a growing list of multi-national clients for both the group's RAPid supply chain analytics and information management solutions, adding 200,000 to the company's annual recurring revenue.

() announced that it has delivered network services to more than 100 hospital and specialist care sites as part of a government contract with the NHS. AdEPT was contracted in 2018 to improve network and bandwidth capacity, to allow for financial savings and better access to clinical systems, after the previous connection managed by () was deemed obsolete.

Group PLC () has seen strong inflows of new money in the first three months of its current year. The sustainable investment specialist said funds under management rose 7% to 16.1bn in the quarter to December with 771mln of new funds and a 289mln gain from market movements.

() has sold its UK B2C business for 200,000 as part of its restructuring plans. In an announcement after the close on Tuesday, the online gaming platform operator said the B2C business was sold by administrators to Grace Media Limited, and the firm had now entered a B2B partnership with Grace Media to facilitate continued delivery of its B2C services to its white label partners, through which it will receive monthly royalties

() on Wednesday confirmed the receipt of US$6.7mln in oil payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). In a statement, the Iraq-based crude producer reported that the partners in the Taq oil field were paid US$6.7mln gross for oil sales in August 2019, and, its 44% net share amounted to US$3.6mln.

() has released a statement informing investors that it has received notice of a potential claim against the company from a former energy advisor, Askell Limited. In a brief statement, the small cap oiler said: AAOG believes the Askell claim is without merit and the company intends to defend the claim vigorously.

() has announced the appointment of Oscar Marin Garcia as a non-executive director of the company with immediate effect. The group noted that Garcia has over 20 years' experience, specialising in retail business in the Extremadura region of Spain and managing family office investments, and is co-founder and CEO of Lider Aliment, SA, a 200mln sales family owned company. W resources pointed out that Garcia has a beneficial interest in 114,655,600 ordinary shares, representing approximately 1.8% of the companys share capital.

() said that, further to its announcement on 23 December 2019, the sale of its Malaysian business to AAA Management Science Academy PLT for a total cash consideration of MYR 400,000 (approximately 75,000), payable over a 13 month period, has duly completed. Sam Malafeh, CEO of Malvern, commented: "We are delighted to have completed this transaction, as we can now bring greater focus to growing our UK and Singapore operations."

() said it, has collaborated with BMW Group to integrate its FOVIO driver monitoring technology into the BMW i Interaction EASE. It noted that this integration will be featured at the CES 2020 technology show in Las Vegas at the BMW booth Tech East Outside Area. The firm noted that BMW i Interaction EASE leverages Seeing Machines' technology as a component of their innovative HMI (Human-Machine Interface) concept, visualized through a windshield projected Head-up Display (HUD). It added that Seeing Machines' SVP of Fleet and Human Factors, Dr Mike Lenn, will also be conducting daily presentations on BMW's CES booth from Wednesday through Friday.

() announced that it has terminated its broker services agreement with GMP . Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited is now the company's sole broker and Strand Hanson Limited continues to act as the company's Nominated & Financial Adviser, the group said.

Bluebird Merchant Ventures () announced that its Annual General Meeting, held on 28 December 2019 in Jersey, all resolutions were duly passed.

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CLS Holdings dips over acquisition, sale - Proactive Investors UK

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on CLS Holdings dips over acquisition, sale – Proactive Investors UK | January 8th, 2020

This is a sponsored story

The start of a new year is the perfect time to prioritize self-care and set health and wellness goals, so make 2020 your happiest yet with a new, enhanced version of you. Use this guide to find the doctors, therapists and practitioners that can help you look and feel your best.

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RELATED Where Should You Brunch this Weekend? We've Got 9 Suggestions

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How These Practitioners Can Help with New Year, New You Goals - Milwaukee Magazine

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on How These Practitioners Can Help with New Year, New You Goals – Milwaukee Magazine | January 7th, 2020

Welcome to Try Before You Buy, a monthly series where we talk about the pricey beauty products and in-office treatments that are getting major buzz and give our honest feedback. This month, our Senior Beauty & Fashion Editor, Pia Velasco, talks about theAugustinus Bader cream that has changed her skin.

As a beauty editor, Ive tried hundreds (and maybe even thousands) of skincare products since starting my career seven years ago. There have been creams that promise to give me skin as soft as babys bum, serums that pledge to erase all signs of dark spots, face masks that swear theyll make my skin so radiant that itll blind my enemiesand guess what, most of them fell through on their promises. As such, Ive become skeptical when a brand tells me that their product is life-changing and that there isnt anything like it on the market. So when I met Professor Augustinus Bader, the director of the Applied Stem Cell Biology and Cell Technology at the University of Leipzig in Germany, earlier this year and he and his team told me about his epigenetic skincare line that changes the skin to the point of altering DNA, I have to admit that I did mentally raise an eyebrow.

However, I had heard about epigenetic skincare before and was fascinated by the science behind it. Essentially, epigenetics refers to the naturally occurring biological modification process of the DNA thats influenced by the environment and lifestyle patterns. For example, if you have a healthy diet and exercise on the regular, your genetic coding will eventually change to be healthier, and youll be able to transfer those healthy genes onto your offspring. Epigenetic skincare is the same conceptif you train your skin cells to be healthy, your skins DNA will change. Needless to say,I was curious to try it, and when a fellow beauty editor friend told me that she stopped using all of her skincare products after trying the Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream, I went from being curious to being eager to try it.

A quick background on my skin. Ive always had acne-prone skin, and because of my medium skin tone, Im also very prone to hyperpigmentation. Most of the skincare products I use target my acne concerns, but I also go ham on texture-refining products in hopes that one day Ill achieve glass-like skin. Im used to looking at ingredients that target specific skincare concerns (salicylic acid for acne, retinol for anti-aging, vitamin C for brightening, etc.), and for the first time, I was using a product that claimed that it would address all my concerns at once. Because of the way epigenetic skincare works, instead of targeting just one skincare concern, the product tells skin cells to be healthy, which in turn helps skin be the best version of itself.I know it sounds too good to be true, and while it may not work for everybody, holy shit it worked wonders for me.

Courtesy of Augustinus Bader

I started testing out the cream the way I approach all my beauty testing, I did a test-drive on half my face. On the left side of my face, I continued to use the products that were already in my arsenal, and on the right side of my face, I used the Augustinus Bader cream and nothing else. After about two weeks I started seeing a shiftmy acne wasnt working up, my skin texture was a lot more smooth, and it just looked overall healthier. I quickly tossed my other products and switched over to using The Rich Creamevery day. After a while, my skin started balancing out and both looked and felt a whole lot better. Now, Im not saying this product is magicbut Im also not saying that its not.

Im currently testing a whole new array of skincare products for the upcoming HelloGiggles Beauty Crush Awards (stay tuned!), and so Ive had to sacrifice the left side of my face to test new products (I switch off between sides). As a result, my skin has started to shift back into its old ways, with a resurgence of blemishes, dark spots, and uneven texture as I test out new formulas. But the right side of my face is still in A+ condition.

Sure, this product is definitely on the pricier side, but its a product that I can say with full confidence that I would actually buy if I wasnt a beauty editor. (Full disclosure: I receive a lot of free products from beauty brands, and Ive only bought about a handful of products with my own money since working in the business.) For me, getting my ideal skin has always been a battle, and Im so happy to have finally found a product that works magic for me, which is why I was excited to learn that the brand recently launched a body cream as well.

Courtesy of Augustinus Bader

Its important to remember that body care requires skincare too, after all, we do have skin on our bodies. The Augustinus Bader body cream fulfills the basic requirement of moisturizing skin, but what makes this anti-aging body product stand out is that it uses its epigenetic technology to target and treat stretch marks and cellulite with continued use. Now, I havent used it long enough to speak to its long-term effects, but I can say that its fast-absorbing formula does make my skin feel baby soft and look way smoother than it did before. Also, Im typically very good about sharing my beauty products with others, but when my boyfriend asked if he could use this cream I may or may not have told him Id put a curse on his ancestors if he dared. Nothing gets in the way of me and my Augustinus Bader products.

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The viral Augustinus Bader rich cream has completely changed my skin for the better - Yahoo Lifestyle

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on The viral Augustinus Bader rich cream has completely changed my skin for the better – Yahoo Lifestyle | January 7th, 2020

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

Report Includes: - An overview of recent advances in stem cell therapies and coverage of potential stem cells used for regenerative advanced therapies

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05835679/?utm_source=PRN

- Discussion on role of genomic and epigenomics manipulations in generating safe and effective treatment options - Identification of autologous and allogeneic cells and their usage in creating advanced therapy medical products (ATMPs) - Information on 3D cell culture and discussion on advances in gene editing and gene programming techniques such as CRIPSR/Cas9, TALEN, and ZINC fingers - Insights into commercial and regulatory landscape, and evaluation of challenges and opportunities for developing autologous and allogenic "off the shelf" solutions

Summary Stem cells are unique in their ability to divide and develop into different cell types that form tissues and organs in the body during development and growth.The stem cell's role is to repair impaired or depleted cells, tissues and organs in the body that are damaged by disease, injury, or normal wear and tear.

Stem cells are found in every organ, but are most abundant in bone marrow, where they help to restore the blood and immune system.

Stem cells may be derived from various sources, including - - Adult stem cells (ASCs): Derived from tissue after birth, these include bone marrow, brain, peripheral blood, skeletal muscle, skin, teeth, heat, gut, liver, ovarian epithelium and testis, as well as umbilical cord stem cells and blood. These cells are currently most widely used for cellbased therapies. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are derived from bone marrow, can give rise to red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, whereas mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are derived from the stroma and give rise to non-blood forming cells and tissues. - Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs): Derived from embryos, these include stems cell lines, aborted embryos or from miscarriages, unused in vitro fertilized embryos and cloned embryos. There are currently no clinically approved treatments for embryonic stem cells. - Inducible pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs): These are stem cells generated in the laboratory by reprogramming adult cells that have already differentiated into specific cells, such as liver cells. They are used either for research purposes (e.g., experimental medicine testing toxicity of new drugs) or are under research for potential future clinical use.

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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has been monitoring the global amniotic membrane market since 2019 and the market is poised to grow by USD 1.48 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of more than 13% during the forecast period. Request a free sample report

Read the 145-page report with TOC on Amniotic Membrane Market Analysis Report by Geography (Asia, Europe, North America, and ROW), Type (Cryopreserved amniotic membrane and Dehydrated amniotic membrane), and the Segment Forecasts, 2020-2024.

https://www.technavio.com/report/amniotic-membrane-market-industry-analysis

The market is driven by the rising demand for biocompatible scaffolds. In addition, the rise in the development of new applications through research is anticipated to boost the growth of the amniotic membrane market.

The rising need for naturally derived materials in tissue scaffolding is increasing the demand for amniotic membranes. This is due to the specialized structure of amniotic membranes that exhibit high biological viability, making them ideal for creating bio-scaffolds. Moreover, the epithelial cells in amniotic membranes have the advantages of stem cells which provide a native environment of cell seeding. Bio-scaffolds are widely used in regenerative therapies for the treatment of bone, cartilage, skin, vascular tissues, and skeletal muscles. With growing geriatric population, the demand for such orthopaedic regenerative therapies is expected to increase significantly during the forecast period. This will have a positive impact on the demand for amniotic membranes.

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Major Five Amniotic Membrane Market Companies:

Celularity Inc.

Celularity Inc. operates its business through the Unified Business Segment. BIOVANCE is the key offering of the company. It offers a decellularized, dehydrated human amniotic membrane allograft that contains natural extracellular matrix (ECM) that helps in wound regeneration and tissue restoration.

Human Regenerative Technologies LLC

Human Regenerative Technologies LLC operates the business across segments such as Flowable and Membrane. HydraTek amniotic membrane products, is the key offering of the company. It includes thin and thick dehydrated amniotic membranes used in covering and protecting the recipient's tissue.

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp.

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. operates its business across segments such as Codman Specialty Surgical, and Orthopedics and Tissue Technologies. The company offers a wide range of amniotic membrane products. Some of the key offerings include AmnioExcel Amniotic Allograft Membrane, BioDDryFlex Amniotic Tissue Membrane, BioDOptix Amniotic Extracellular Membrane, and Integra BioFix Amniotic Membrane Allograft.

Katena Products Inc.

Katena Products Inc. operates the business across segments such as Instruments, Biologics, Plugs, Lenses, Devices, and Blink Medical. Amniotic Membrane Surgical and Amniotic Membrane Clinic are some of the key offerings of the company.

MiMedx Group Inc.

MiMedx Group Inc. operates the business in the Regenerative biomaterial products and bioimplants segment. The company offers a wide range of amniotic membrane products. AmnioFix, EpiFix, and EpiBurn are the key offerings of the company.

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Amniotic Membrane Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020 - 2024)

Amniotic Membrane Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020 - 2024)

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Global Amniotic Membrane Market 2020-2024 | Evolving Opportunities with Celularity Inc. and Human Regenerative Technologies LLC | Technavio - Business...

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Global Amniotic Membrane Market 2020-2024 | Evolving Opportunities with Celularity Inc. and Human Regenerative Technologies LLC | Technavio – Business… | January 7th, 2020