New research at the University of Barcelona (UB) found the first genetic evidence that humanity has self-domesticated.

The team found a network of genes involved in the evolution of human face structure and prosociality in modern humans which is absent in the Neanderthal genome. This suggests that our ancestors preferred to hang out and mate with friendlier and more cooperative companions over less-cooperative, more aggressive ones. In effect, this amounted to selective pressure for prosocial behavior over time, meaning that we domesticated our own species.

Certain anatomical, cognitive, and behavioral traits of modern humans chief among them docility and a fragile facial structure are hallmarks of the domestication process. This led to the idea of human self-domestication being developed all the way back in the 19th century, the team explains. However, we lacked the tools to confirm that this process took place (i.e. that theres genetic evidence for it).

The study builds on the teams previous research that looked into genetic similarities between humans and domesticated animals. Now, the team went one step further and looked for genetic evidence for self-domestication in neural crest cells. This is a population of cells that have a major role to play in the early development of vertebrate embryos by differentiating into more specialized cells.

A mild deficit of neural crest cells has already been hypothesized to be the factor underlying animal domestication, explains co-author Alejandro Andirk, a Ph.D. student at the Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics of the UB.

Could it be that humans got a more prosocial cognition and a retracted face relative to other extinct humans in the course of our evolution as a result of changes affecting neural crest cells?

In order to test their hypothesis, the team focused on Williams syndrome disorder, a human-specific neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a deficit of neural crest cells as the embryo develops. It is characterized by mild to moderate intellectual disability or learning problems, unique personality characteristics, distinctive facial features, and cardiovascular problems.

The researchers used in vitro models of Williams syndrome (stem cells derived from the skin of patients with this syndrome). After poking around, they found that the BAZ1B gene, conveniently located in the region of the genome associated with Williams syndrome, is responsible for controlling the behavior of neural crest cells. If this gene was under-expressed, it led to reduced migration of these cells; higher expression levels led to greater neural crest migration. Then, they compared this gene to its equivalent in samples of archaic (i.e. extinct) and modern (i.e. our ancestors) human genomes.

We wanted to understand if neural crest cell genetic networks were affected in human evolution compared to the Neanderthal genomes, says Cedric Boeckx, ICREA professor at the Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics.

Differences in the BAZ1B gene between archaic and modern humans led to a high frequency of mutations in that accumulated over time in modern humans but not in any of the archaic genomes currently available. The team says this points to BAZ1B as being an important reason our face is so different when compared with our extinct relatives, the Neanderthals.

In the big picture, it provides for the first-time experimental validation of the neural crest-based self-domestication hypothesis, Boeckx adds.

The paper Dosage analysis of the 7q11.23 Williams region identifies BAZ1B as a major human gene patterning the modern human face and underlying self-domestication has been published in the journal Science Advances.

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We have the first genetic evidence of human self-domestication - ZME Science

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on We have the first genetic evidence of human self-domestication – ZME Science | December 6th, 2019

Stromal vascular fraction skin treatment is a type of stem cell therapy based on isolation of adipose tissue during liposuction or lipo-aspiration procedures of patients own body. In stromal vascular fraction treatment isolation of tissue contains fat cells, blood cells, and endothelial cells, as well as a large fraction of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells which provides regenerative properties and have positive anti-aging properties. A stromal vascular fraction is considered as a personalized stem cell therapy and effective tropical or injectable treatment.

With increasing age, regenerative and repair properties of skin are less effective due to decrease in stem cell count, and therefore, stromal vascular fraction treatment contains stem cell provides a boost in repair and maintenance mechanism of the skin leaving smooth, healthy, radiant skin. Stromal vascular fraction is a naturally occurring stem cell found in bundles of adipose tissues and are the primary source of growth factors along with macrophages and other cells. Due to the presence of growth factors, the stromal vascular fraction is utilized to decrease inflammation present in many diseases. A stromal vascular fraction is adopted in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, joint replacement, osteoarthritis, diabetes, Crohn's disease, and others.

Stromal Vascular Fraction Market: Overview

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Stromal vascular fraction is a combination of adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs), endothelial cells (ECs), endothelial precursor cells (EPCs), smooth muscle cells, macrophages, pericytes, and pre-adipocytes in the aqueous state. Stromal vascular fraction is advantageous over alternative medical treatments as SVF has the ability to regulate patients own system with the main focus on cell repair and regulation of defective cells. Stromal vascular fraction is a promising field for disease prophylaxis and currently are in clinical trials.

The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types, technology and applications.

The report covers exhaustive analysis on: Market Segments Market Dynamics Market Size Supply & Demand Current Trends/Issues/Challenges Competition & Companies involved Technology Value Chain

Stromal Vascular Fraction Market: Segmentation

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The globalstromal vascular fraction marketcan be segmented on the basis of type of therapy, end-user, and region.

By Therapy Type SVF Isolation Products Enzymatic Isolation Non-enzymatic Isolation Automated POC Devices SVF Aspirate Purification Products SVF Transfer Products

By End-user Hospitals Specialty Clinics Stem Cell Banks/Laboratories Others

By Application Cosmetic Soft-tissue Orthopedic Others

By Region North America Latin America Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) South Korea Middle East and Africa (MEA)

In its last part, the report offers insights on the key players competing in the global market for stromal vascular fraction. With detailed profiling of each of the key companies active on the competitive landscape, the report provides information about their current financial scenario, revenue share at a global level, development strategies, and future plans for expansion. Strategic collaborations, mergers, and acquisitions have also been considered as a key strategy among a majority of leading companies in the market.

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Stromal Vascular FractionMarket Estimated to be Driven by Innovation and Industrialization - The Market Expedition

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Stromal Vascular FractionMarket Estimated to be Driven by Innovation and Industrialization – The Market Expedition | December 6th, 2019

In the summer, a mother in Nashville with a seemingly incurable genetic disorder finally found an end to her suffering -- by editing her genome.

Victoria Gray's recovery from sickle cell disease, which had caused her painful seizures, came in a year of breakthroughs in one of the hottest areas of medical research -- gene therapy.

"I have hoped for a cure since I was about 11," the 34-year-old told AFP in an email.

"Since I received the new cells, I have been able to enjoy more time with my family without worrying about pain or an out-of-the-blue emergency."

Over several weeks, Gray's blood was drawn so doctors could get to the cause of her illness -- stem cells from her bone marrow that were making deformed red blood cells.

The stem cells were sent to a Scottish laboratory, where their DNA was modified using Crispr/Cas9 -- pronounced "Crisper" -- a new tool informally known as molecular "scissors."

The genetically edited cells were transfused back into Gray's veins and bone marrow. A month later, she was producing normal blood cells.

Medics warn that caution is necessary but, theoretically, she has been cured.

"This is one patient. This is early results. We need to see how it works out in other patients," said her doctor, Haydar Frangoul, at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville.

"But these results are really exciting."

In Germany, a 19-year-old woman was treated with a similar method for a different blood disease, beta thalassemia. She had previously needed 16 blood transfusions per year.

Nine months later, she is completely free of that burden.

For decades, the DNA of living organisms such as corn and salmon has been modified.

But Crispr, invented in 2012, made gene editing more widely accessible. It is much simpler than preceding technology, cheaper and easy to use in small labs.

The technique has given new impetus to the perennial debate over the wisdom of humanity manipulating life itself.

"It's all developing very quickly," said French geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier, one of Crispr's inventors and the cofounder of Crispr Therapeutics, the biotech company conducting the clinical trials involving Gray and the German patient.

Crispr is the latest breakthrough in a year of great strides in gene therapy, a medical adventure started three decades ago, when the first TV telethons were raising money for children with muscular dystrophy.

Scientists practising the technique insert a normal gene into cells containing a defective gene.

It does the work the original could not -- such as making normal red blood cells, in Victoria's case, or making tumor-killing super white blood cells for a cancer patient.

Crispr goes even further: instead of adding a gene, the tool edits the genome itself.

After decades of research and clinical trials on a genetic fix to genetic disorders, 2019 saw a historic milestone: approval to bring to market the first gene therapies for a neuromuscular disease in the US and a blood disease in the European Union.

They join several other gene therapies -- bringing the total to eight -- approved in recent years to treat certain cancers and an inherited blindness.

Serge Braun, the scientific director of the French Muscular Dystrophy Association, sees 2019 as a turning point that will lead to a medical revolution.

"Twenty-five, 30 years, that's the time it had to take," he told AFP from Paris.

"It took a generation for gene therapy to become a reality. Now, it's only going to go faster."

Just outside Washington, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers are also celebrating a "breakthrough period."

"We have hit an inflection point," said Carrie Wolinetz, NIH's associate director for science policy.

These therapies are exorbitantly expensive, however, costing up to $2 million -- meaning patients face grueling negotiations with their insurance companies.

They also involve a complex regimen of procedures that are only available in wealthy countries.

Gray spent months in hospital getting blood drawn, undergoing chemotherapy, having edited stem cells reintroduced via transfusion -- and fighting a general infection.

"You cannot do this in a community hospital close to home," said her doctor.

However, the number of approved gene therapies will increase to about 40 by 2022, according to MIT researchers.

They will mostly target cancers and diseases that affect muscles, the eyes and the nervous system.

Another problem with Crispr is that its relative simplicity has triggered the imaginations of rogue practitioners who don't necessarily share the medical ethics of Western medicine.

Last year in China, scientist He Jiankui triggered an international scandal -- and his excommunication from the scientific community -- when he used Crispr to create what he called the first gene-edited humans.

The biophysicist said he had altered the DNA of human embryos that became twin girls Lulu and Nana.

His goal was to create a mutation that would prevent the girls from contracting HIV, even though there was no specific reason to put them through the process.

"That technology is not safe," said Kiran Musunuru, a genetics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, explaining that the Crispr "scissors" often cut next to the targeted gene, causing unexpected mutations.

"It's very easy to do if you don't care about the consequences," Musunuru added.

Despite the ethical pitfalls, restraint seems mainly to have prevailed so far.

The community is keeping a close eye on Russia, where biologist Denis Rebrikov has said he wants to use Crispr to help deaf parents have children without the disability.

There is also the temptation to genetically edit entire animal species -- malaria-causing mosquitoes in Burkina Faso or mice hosting ticks that carry Lyme disease in the US.

The researchers in charge of those projects are advancing carefully, however, fully aware of the unpredictability of chain reactions on the ecosystem.

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Charpentier doesn't believe in the more dystopian scenarios predicted for gene therapy, including American "biohackers" injecting themselves with Crispr technology bought online.

"Not everyone is a biologist or scientist," she said.

And the possibility of military hijacking to create soldier-killing viruses or bacteria that would ravage enemies' crops?

Charpentier thinks that technology generally tends to be used for the better.

"I'm a bacteriologist -- we've been talking about bioterrorism for years," she said. "Nothing has ever happened."

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A #ReUp of 2019: The year when gene therapy, DNA modifications came of age & saved lives - Economic Times

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on A #ReUp of 2019: The year when gene therapy, DNA modifications came of age & saved lives – Economic Times | December 6th, 2019

Novadip Biosciences to present data at 17th Annual Meeting of the International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science

Mont-Saint Guibert, Belgium, 4 December, 2019: Novadip Biosciences (Novadip or the company), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its unique tissue regeneration technology platform to generate multiple product candidates, announces that it is presenting data in a series of presentations at the 17th Annual Meeting of the International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science (IFATS) taking place in Marseille, France, from 4-7 December 2019.

Dr Denis Dufrane, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder, Novadip, commented: The findings that will be presented at IFATS highlight the capabilities of Novadips 3-dimensional, scaffold-free extracellular matrix (ECM) technology platform utilizing adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) to generate product candidates to address critical size bone and skin reconstruction, as well as our manufacturing capabilities and expertise. We look forward to progressing our clinical programmes and generating further data in support of our unique platform as we look to address hard and soft tissue reconstruction for patients who have limited or no treatment options.

Novadip will deliver five oral presentations and one video presentation. Details of the presentations and short summaries are below.

Genetic stability assessment in bone tissue-engineered productsCline Pierard, oral presentation #8 (abstract 1395), 5 December 2019, 8:38 am CET

The presentation will discuss the different analytical approaches to predict the genetic behavior over the entirety of the manufacturing process for the companys product candidates for bone reconstruction.

A scaffold-free graft for large critical size bone defect: preclinical evidence to clinical proof of conceptSophie Veriter, video presentation #V5 (abstract 1363), 5 December 2019, 2:48 pm CET

The session will discuss how the scaffold-free 3D-graft (comprised of ASCs) plays a major role promoting ASCs engraftment and to induce osteogenesis in a fibrotic environment and promote bone fusion in a critical-sized bone defect.

The in vivo immunogenicity of a human 3D scaffold-free tissue engineered product for bone reconstruction: a xenogenic modelGatan Thirion, oral presentation #30 (abstract 1382), 5 December 2019, 4:30 pm CET

Detail will be provided on how the human scaffold-free 3D approach, in a xenogenic model, can elicit a specific anti-human immune response but can maintain the potential of in vivo osteogenicity.

An allogenic 3D scaffold-free tissue engineered product for deep thickness skin regeneration: in vitro development to in vivo proof of conceptSophie Veriter, oral presentation #88 (abstract 1317), 6 December 2019, 5:50 pm CET

The presentation will discuss how the scaffold-free approach with the allogenic 3D-graft (derived from ASCs) demonstrated safety and efficacy in a stringent xenogenic model of hyperglycemic and ischemic deep-thickness wound.

Allogenic 3D scaffold-free tissue engineered product for deep thickness skin regeneration: in vitro characterization and in vivo biocompatibilityValrie Lebrun, oral presentation #90 (abstract 1341), 6 December 2019, 6:06 pm CET

The presentation will provide an overview on how the allogenic scaffold-free 3D-graft improves ASC bioactivity for the angiogenesis and in vivo remodeling by the specific ECM-proteins of wound healing.

Monitoring of cell culture conditions and early prediction of the quality of an osteogenic cell-based medicinal productAnas Namur, oral presentation #136 (abstract 1392), 7 December 2019, 2:44 pm CET

The session will describe how cellular metabolism was studied throughout the companys manufacturing process to better understand the physiology of the proliferative and differentiated cells and subsequently develop predictive tests focused on critical attributes of the final product.

To view the full abstracts, please follow this link.

The full list of abstracts can be found here. Further information on IFATS is available here.

- Ends -

Notes to editors

Novadip Biosciences

Novadip Biosciences is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its unique 3D tissue regeneration technology platform to generate multiple product candidates to address hard and soft tissue reconstruction for patients who have limited or no treatment options. The companys proprietary 3M3 platform is a 3-dimensional, extracellular matrix that utilizes adipose-derived stem cells to deliver highly-specific growth factors and miRNA to mimic the physiology of natural healing and creates a range of products that address specific challenges in tissue regeneration. Novadips initial focus is on critical size bone reconstruction and its lead program is in development for a rare pediatric orthopedic disease. The company is also applying its 3M3 platform to develop truly novel off-the-shelf/allogeneic therapies to address more prevalent tissue defects. For more information, visit http://www.novadip.com .

For further information, please contact:

Novadip Biosciences

Jeff Abbey

Chief Executive Officer

+32 (10) 779 220

info@novadip.com

For media enquiries:

Consilium Strategic Communications

Chris Gardner, Matthew Neal, Angela Gray

+44 (0) 20 3709 5700

novadip@consilium-comms.com

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Novadip Biosciences to present data at 17th Annual Meeting of the International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science - GlobeNewswire

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Novadip Biosciences to present data at 17th Annual Meeting of the International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science – GlobeNewswire | December 5th, 2019

Photo: Courtesy of the Retailer

Some of the best things in life take a month before you can reap their full benefits. Like Advent calendars, or Augustinus Baders The Cream.

It takes between 30 and 40 days for skin cells to turn over, so using any new beauty product requires patience, not to mention compliance. It can be hard to wait that long, but for this cream, its worth it. Just ask Kate Bosworth, who says, It is truly the ONE product I cant live without. Or L.A. beauty expert Cassandra Gray, who puts it more succinctly: I look younger. Thats the easiest way to sell it. Or the Cuts own Kathleen Hou, who has called it the secret to rich-person skin.

The cream is fueled by a cocktail of active ingredients that includes vitamins, natural amino acids, and a bunch of allegedly miraculous synthesized molecules referred to as Trigger Factor Complex 8. The latter was formulated by a professor of applied stem cell biology at the University of Leipzig, who was looking for solutions to help burn survivors heal faster. Turned out, TFC8 kicks off the regeneration process within stem cells, enabling them to repair fine lines, dark spots, redness, and uneven tone and texture.

At $265, this product is not cheap. But it would be a great gift for someone you really love, who really loves skin care. Just make sure to check in with them 30 to 40 days later to hear what they think.

Augustinus Bader The Cream

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Gift of the Day: A Cream That Will Give You Rich Person Skin - The Cut

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Gift of the Day: A Cream That Will Give You Rich Person Skin – The Cut | December 5th, 2019

RELATED: This brand new anti-ageing treatment is a game-changer

The neck is a delicate area thats easy to overlook, but it plays a big role in giving our face an attractive shape and profile. Over time, the skin may weaken from sun damage, dryness, and stress making us look much older. This is where firming neck creams come in handy! Here are some important active ingredients to look for in anti-aging products:

These products are packed with anti-wrinkle chemicals that tighten problem areas with regular use. Simply apply it with gentle motions after a shower and work it into your skin until fully absorbed. Pair it with your trusted eye cream and your skin will be thanking you!

If youre worried about the price, you can rest easy! Weve made sure to include a few budget options in our list for the savvy consumer.

Pros & Cons: This cream is made with organic ingredients and collagen to give your skin a supple glow! The downside is that it can be hard to find local stocks since its made in China.

Price: $AUD46.30

Buy It On: eBay

Pros & Cons: The combination of Hyaluronic Acid and creatine work together with Q10 coenzymes to regenerate new skin cells. A fair warning: some customers dont enjoy how the yellow colour of the pearls that stick to the skin.

Price: $AUD17.99

Buy It On: Amazon

Pros & Cons: This cream is made with aloe vera and Hyaluronic Acid, perfect for refining stubborn lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation on the neck. However, some people dont enjoy the grainy texture of the cream.

Price: $AUD52

Buy It On: Brickell Mens Products

Pros & Cons: Harnessing natures powerful vitamins, this cream uses botanical extracts to purge your skin of impurities. It works best for medium to dry skin, but could cause oily skin to break out.

Price: $AUD24.95

Buy It On: Swiss

Pros & Cons: This rich night cream is infused with Hyaluronic Acid and Retinol to replenish dull skin. It has lots of rave reviews for boasting visible results within a week, but the smell might be a little intense for some people.

Price: $AUD24.49

Buy It On: Amazon

Pros & Cons: Made with rosehip, olive, green coffee, and quinoa; this non-toxic, vegetarian cream brings out the best in your skin. But it may take a while to see results since it contains mild ingredients.

Price: $AUD16.95

Buy It On: Ebay

Pros & Cons: South Beach Skincare combines Vitamin C and Hyaluronic Acid with Retinol to create a paraben-free cream for all skin aging problems. Although its quite pricey, customers believe its worth every dollar!

Price: $AUD189

Buy It On: Life Cell Skin

Pros & Cons: This fragrance-free night cream evens out discolouration to give you a healthy glow, minimising stubborn imperfections with vitamins and minerals. Use it sparingly at night to avoid feeling greasy.

Price: $AUD20.99

Buy It On: Chemist Warehouse

Pros & Cons: Made with collagen and aloe vera, this cream repairs, hydrates, and protects your skin all day and night. Its the cheapest option available, so some customers think its too good to be true!

Price: $AUD5.26

Buy It: Ebay

Pros & Cons: Enriched with sunflower and green seaweed extracts, this light cream is easily absorbed by the skin for fast-acting results. Its great for all skin types, but some claim that they changed their formula recently.

Price: $AUD100

Buy It: Clarins

Pros & Cons: This cold cream works wonders on dry, flaky skin! Infused with organic Manuka honey from New Zealand, it locks moisture in to reduce pores and wrinkles. Apply sparingly to avoid getting sticky!

Price: $AUD40

Buy It On: Woolworths

Pros & Cons: Proven to be one of the top choices for middle-aged women, this cream uses Idebenone technology to target and repair areas damaged from harsh chemicals. Its quite costly, but it totally works!

Price: $AUD140

Buy It On: Myer

Pros & Cons: This cream is clinically-proven to fight saggy skin, discolouration, and visible signs of aging with amino acids and stem cell extracts. Just take it easy with application because the scent can be a bit overpowering.

Price: $AUD69.95

Buy It: NeoStrata

Pros & Cons: This tiny jar of plastic surgeon-approved cream is jam-packed with collagen, niacin, and complex amino acids. Its considered the holy grail for restoring the necks elastic texture, but it tends to run out fast!

Price: $AUD68

Buy It On: Sephora

Getting yourself a neck lift doesnt have to be drastic! Its all about keeping yourself moisturised and protected so you can look and feel younger at any age. Its time to get your cream on!

RELATED: Why the world can't stop talking about jade rollers

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15 Best Neck Creams (That Actually Work) - New Idea

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on 15 Best Neck Creams (That Actually Work) – New Idea | December 5th, 2019

Transitional beauty can be a challenge. With shifting temperatures and weather, our hair and skin can feel dried out and dull, leaving our overall look (and feel) a little less than. But never fret, beauty babes! Ahead we've got our favorite new finds to keep you hydrated, moisturized, and looking luminous as heck all winter long and beyond!

Each & Every Worry-Free Deodorant ($15): Calling all sweaty Betty's, this 'Everlane of deodorants' is 2019's all-natural answer to your stinky woes. Made without aluminum, parabens, synthetic fragrances, gluten (yes, that's a thing), or baking soda, this cruelty-free stick comes in eight fab fragrances to keep you feeling dry and smelling fresh all day long.

On All Eyes On Me ($28): Instantly lift and cool those puffy, morning-after eyes with these slip-free eye gels. Packed with the good stuff like vitamin C, cucumber, and arnica and none of the bad, this travel-friendly 5-pack is ideal for your upcoming holiday adventures.

Kiehl's Avocado Nourishing Hydrating Mask ($45): What's better than avocado toast? Almost nothing. But this ultra-nourishing face mask is a close second. Rich and creamy, this fragrance-free formula takes just 15 minutes to give you the full, moisturized effects.

Maria Nila Silver Shampoo ($27): Summer may be gone, but your bright blonde doesn't have to go anywhere. Violet pigment and blackberry extract are the secrets to this 100% vegan and Swedish-made shampoo that's formulated to make your golden locks shine their lightest and brightest.

Alfie Firming Facial Serum ($64): Buh-bye pesky wrinkles! This serum does it all with the help of a few friends. Hyaluronic Acid, plant stem cells, and organic CBD are blended to firm up your face, hydrate lost moisture, improve blood flow, and reduce tension.

Kitsch Dalmatian Jasper Crystal Facial Roller ($24): ICYMI, gemstone rollers are all the rage right now, and we can see why. This Jasper beaut will gently massage away tension and stress to reduce wrinkles and help circulate blood.

Save Me From Chemical Conflict Tip To Hair Reboot ($78): Is your hair broken and therefore your life feels a little broken, too? Repair bleach damage and overprocessed locks with a scalp and hair treatment we can't stop raving about. Your radiant reboot begins NOW.

Milo New York Amber Fort Elixir Oud ($62+): A little facial oil can go a long way, especially when it's packed with vitamin C, alpha hydroxy acid, and Indian pink lotus flower. Brighter, smoother, more luminous skincare is here.

UMA Oils Flawlessly Firming Neck, Chest & Decolletage Serum ($105): Your skin deserves to feel smooth and firm no matter how old of a millennial you happen to be. Worth the extra buck, this antioxidant-rich serum is fast-absorbing and gives a more ageless appearance to your most delicate areas.

Tweezerman Lash Assist ($18): Lash on, lash off. From the pros who brought us a really good brow tweeze comes a one and done for your fake lashes. Seamlessly and precisely apply either individual or strip lashes for that glam effect you've always wanted sans stress!

Verb Curl Kit ($80): Calling all curly gals! This four-part kit is just what your locks will love. Clean, hydrate, restore, and define and keep those curls lookin' and feelin' healthy year-round.

RELATED: These Are the Best Everyday Face Sunscreens of 2019

Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

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Say Hello to Hydration With These Winter Beauty Essentials - Brit + Co

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Say Hello to Hydration With These Winter Beauty Essentials – Brit + Co | December 5th, 2019

The healthcare industry has been focusing on excessive research and development in the last couple of decades to ensure that the need to address issues related to the availability of drugs and treatments for certain chronic diseases is effectively met. Healthcare researchers and scientists at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the Hong Kong University have successfully demonstrated the utilization of human induced pluripotent stem cells or hiPSCs from the skin cells of the patient for testing therapeutic drugs.

The success of this research suggests that scientists have crossed one more hurdle towards using stem cells in precision medicine for the treatment of patients suffering from sporadic hereditary diseases. iPSCs are the new generation approach towards the prevention and treatment of diseases that takes into account patients on an individual basis considering their genetic makeup, lifestyle, and environment. Along with the capacity to transform into different body cell types and same genetic composition of the donors, hiPSCs have surfaced as a promising cell source to screen and test drugs.

In the present research, hiPSC was synthesized from patients suffering from a rare form of hereditary cardiomyopathy owing to the mutations in Lamin A/C related cardiomyopathy in their distinct families. The affected individuals suffer from sudden death, stroke, and heart failure at a very young age. As on date, there is no exact treatment available for this condition. This team in Hong Kong tested a drug named PTC124 to suppress specific genetic mutations in other genetic diseases into the iPSC transformed heart muscle cells. While this technology is being considered as a breakthrough in clinical stem cell research, the team at Hong Kong University is collaborating with drug companies regarding its clinical application.

The unique properties of iPS cells provides extensive potential to several biopharmaceutical applications. iPSCs are also used in toxicology testing, high throughput, disease modeling, and target identification. This type of stem cell has the potential to transform drug discovery by offering physiologically relevant cells for tool discovery, compound identification, and target validation. A new report by Persistence Market Research (PMR) states that the globalinduced pluripotent stem or iPS cell marketis expected to witness a strong CAGR of 7.0% from 2018 to 2026. In 2017, the market was worth US$ 1,254.0 Mn and is expected to reach US$ 2,299.5 Mn by the end of the forecast period in 2026.

Customization to be the Key Focus of Market Players

Due to the evolving needs of the research community, the demand for specialized cell lines have increased to a certain point where most vendors offering these products cannot depend solely on sales from catalog products. The quality of the products and lead time can determine the choices while requesting custom solutions at the same time. Companies usually focus on establishing a strong distribution network for enabling products to reach customers from the manufacturing units in a short time period.

Entry of Multiple Small Players to be Witnessed in the Coming Years

Several leading players have their presence in the global market; however, many specialized products and services are provided by small and regional vendors. By targeting their marketing strategies towards research institutes and small biotechnology companies, these new players have swiftly established their presence in the market.

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Assessed To Tell Apart High Growth By Implies In 2018 to 2026 - Wolf Mirror

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A new study released today in STEM CELLS outlines how fat grafting - which previous studies have shown can reduce and even reverse fibrosis (scar tissue) buildup - also improves the range of motion of the affected limb. The study, conducted by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, was conducted on mice.

DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --A new study released today in STEM CELLS outlines how fat grafting which previous studies have shown can reduce and even reverse fibrosis (scar tissue) buildup also improves the range of motion of the affected limb. The study, conducted by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, was conducted on mice.

The tumor-destroying capabilities of radiation therapy can be a life saver for a person suffering from cancer. But it's a therapy that has several unwanted side effects, too, including causing substantial damage not just to cancerous cells, but any healthy tissue in its path. Over time, fibrosis builds up in the treated area which, in the case of an arm, shoulder, or leg, for example, can lead to painful contractures that significantly limit extensibility and negatively impact the person's quality of life.

The Stanford team irradiated the right hind legs of subject mice, which resulted in chronic fibrosis and limb contracture. Four weeks later, the irradiated limbs of one group of the mice were injected with fat enriched with stromal vascular cells (SVCs). These potent cells already naturally exist in fat, but supplementation of fat with additional SVCs enhances its regenerative capabilities. A second group was injected with fat only, a third group with saline and a fourth group received no injections, for comparison. The animals' ability to extend their limb was then measured at baseline and every two weeks for a 12-week period. At the end of the 12 weeks, the hind limb skin underwent histological analysis and biomechanical strength testing.

"Each animal showed significant reduction in its limb extension ability due to the radiation, but this was progressively rescued by fat grafting," reported corresponding author Derrick C. Wan, M.D., FACS. Fat grafting also reduced skin stiffness and reversed the radiation-induced histological changes in the skin.

"The greatest benefits were found in mice injected with fat enriched with SVCs," Dr. Wan added. "SVCs are easily obtained through liposuction and can be coaxed into different tissue types, where they can support neovascularization, replace cells and repair injured issue.

"Our study showed the ability of fat to improve mobility as well as vascularity and appearance," he continued. "We think this holds enormous clinical potential especially given that adipose tissue is abundant and can be easily collected from the patients themselves and underscores an attractive approach to address challenging soft tissue fibrosis in patients following radiation therapy."

Furthermore, said co-author and world-renowned breast reconstructive expert Arash Momeni, M.D., FACS, "Our observations are potentially translatable to a variety of challenging clinical scenarios. Being able to reverse radiation-induced effects holds promise to substantially improve clinical outcomes in implant-based as well as autologous breast reconstruction. The study findings are indeed encouraging as they could offer patients novel treatment modalities for debility clinical conditions.

"Excessive scarring is a challenging problem that is associated with a variety of clinical conditions, such as burn injuries, tendon lacerations, etc. The potential to improve outcomes based on treatment modalities derived from our research is indeed exciting," Dr. Momeni added.

"Skin and soft tissue scarring and fibrosis are well-established problems after radiation. The current study, showing that human fat grafting can normalize the collagen networks and improve tissue elasticity in immune deficient mice, provides molecular evidence for how fat grafting functions," said Dr. Jan Nolta, Editor-in-Chief of STEM CELLS. "The studies indicate that, with the appropriate regulatory approvals, autologous fat grafting could potentially also help human patients recover from radiation-induced tissue fibrosis."

The full article, "Fat grafting rescues radiation-induced joint contracture," can be accessed at https://stemcellsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/stem.3115.

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About the Journal: STEM CELLS, a peer reviewed journal published monthly, provides a forum for prompt publication of original investigative papers and concise reviews. The journal covers all aspects of stem cells: embryonic stem cells/induced pluripotent stem cells; tissue-specific stem cells; cancer stem cells; the stem cell niche; stem cell epigenetics, genomics and proteomics; and translational and clinical research. STEM CELLS is co-published by AlphaMed Press and Wiley.

About AlphaMed Press: Established in 1983, AlphaMed Press with offices in Durham, NC, San Francisco, CA, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, publishes three internationally renowned peer-reviewed journals with globally recognized editorial boards dedicated to advancing knowledge and education in their focused disciplines. STEM CELLS (http://www.StemCells.com) is the world's first journal devoted to this fast paced field of research. THE ONCOLOGIST (http://www.TheOncologist.com) is devoted to community and hospital-based oncologists and physicians entrusted with cancer patient care. STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE (http://www.StemCellsTM.com) is dedicated to significantly advancing the clinical utilization of stem cell molecular and cellular biology. By bridging stem cell research and clinical trials, SCTM will help move applications of these critical investigations closer to accepted best practices.

About Wiley: Wiley, a global company, helps people and organizations develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. Our online scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, combined with our digital learning, assessment and certification solutions, help universities, learned societies, businesses, governments and individuals increase the academic and professional impact of their work. For more than 200 years, we have delivered consistent performance to our stakeholders. The company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.

SOURCE STEM CELLS

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Fat grafting improves range of motion in limbs damaged by radiation therapy - Yahoo Finance

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Fat grafting improves range of motion in limbs damaged by radiation therapy – Yahoo Finance | December 3rd, 2019

Dr Sister Ltd continues to offer effective skin treatments to both men and women, and they have been doing this for over 45 years now. Doctor Sister provides a comprehensive portfolio of treatments while at the same time delivering natural-looking, regenerative and enhancing results for the face and body. They are big believers in helping slow down the ageing process for each client, as of course, they are unable to stop time for you.

At Dr Sister Ltd, you can be treated by a professional doctor that trains other practitioners. Dr Sisterhimself has introduced over ten ground-breaking treatments to the UK market, along with eight published books, many articles in international peer reviews medical journals and general press, as well as being one of UKs and Europes leading lecturer and trainer in the field of Aesthetic Medicine.

The treatments offered by Dr Sister Ltd are non-invasive so there is no surgery and no downtime. Some of the skin treatments on offer at Dr Sister Ltd include the following; mini face lift, non-surgical face lift, vampire facial, PRP treatment and PRP injection. That is not an exhaustive list and he is also a renowned hormonal expert.

Dr. Sister has perfected safe, effective, natural-looking treatments, which has made him a worldwide expert and teacher in regenerative and innovative procedures such as Dracula PRP, Mint Lift including the new Stem Cell Facelift.

The PRP treatment (Dr. Sister has his own superior trademarked version called Dracula Therapy) may be unfamiliar to some clients. Dr Sister explains the procedure in great detail on their site. APRP treatment is a powerful anti-ageing treatment that involves using your blood as an injectable treatment (PRP Injection). Dr Daniel Sister was the first to introduce the treatment into the UK, and now he calls it Dracula Therapy.

With the Dracula Therapy or vampire facial, you will notice results within 3-4 weeks, and often only one PRP injection is required. However, the treatment may need to be repeated every 2-6 months because of the on-going ageing process.

The PRP injections generally appeal to patients looking for a more natural approach to facial rejuvenation, which is the rejuvenation process of using their cells. This treatment does not use synthetic fillers or animal products and has no risks or side effects.

At Dr Sister Ltd, they are well known for their aesthetic treatments, in particular, the MINT lift and Dr Sister is the training partner for the MINT lift. It is a PDO thread lift that offers exceptional results. Dr. Sister has been particularly impressed by the results as it provides an immediate and obvious lift, which many of his patients are looking for.

Dr Sister Ltd also mentions that local anaesthetic is used making the procedure pain free, and patients generally return to work and usual activities the following day. There are many benefits such as soft tissue lifting, instant lift, results lasting around 18 months.

If you would like to find out more about the treatments on offer at Dr Sister Ltd, there are many ways to get in touch. You can email press@drdanielsister.com your query, and they will get back to you as soon as possible, or you can go online to their website at https://drdanielsister.com. On their site, you will find all the information about the top treatments, fees, testimonials, and Dr Sister Ltd.

Source:https://thenewsfront.com/dr-sister-ltd-offers-effective-skin-treatments-to-both-men-and-women/

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Dr Sister Ltd Offers Effective Skin Treatments to Both Men and Women - The News Front

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Dr Sister Ltd Offers Effective Skin Treatments to Both Men and Women – The News Front | December 3rd, 2019

The healthcare industry has been focusing on excessive research and development in the last couple of decades to ensure that the need to address issues related to the availability of drugs and treatments for certain chronic diseases is effectively met. Healthcare researchers and scientists at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the Hong Kong University have successfully demonstrated the utilization of human induced pluripotent stem cells or hiPSCs from the skin cells of the patient for testing therapeutic drugs.

The success of this research suggests that scientists have crossed one more hurdle towards using stem cells in precision medicine for the treatment of patients suffering from sporadic hereditary diseases. iPSCs are the new generation approach towards the prevention and treatment of diseases that takes into account patients on an individual basis considering their genetic makeup, lifestyle, and environment. Along with the capacity to transform into different body cell types and same genetic composition of the donors, hiPSCs have surfaced as a promising cell source to screen and test drugs.

In the present research, hiPSC was synthesized from patients suffering from a rare form of hereditary cardiomyopathy owing to the mutations in Lamin A/C related cardiomyopathy in their distinct families. The affected individuals suffer from sudden death, stroke, and heart failure at a very young age. As on date, there is no exact treatment available for this condition. This team in Hong Kong tested a drug named PTC124 to suppress specific genetic mutations in other genetic diseases into the iPSC transformed heart muscle cells. While this technology is being considered as a breakthrough in clinical stem cell research, the team at Hong Kong University is collaborating with drug companies regarding its clinical application.

The unique properties of iPS cells provides extensive potential to several biopharmaceutical applications. iPSCs are also used in toxicology testing, high throughput, disease modeling, and target identification. This type of stem cell has the potential to transform drug discovery by offering physiologically relevant cells for tool discovery, compound identification, and target validation. A new report by Persistence Market Research (PMR) states that the globalinduced pluripotent stem or iPS cell marketis expected to witness a strong CAGR of 7.0% from 2018 to 2026. In 2017, the market was worth US$ 1,254.0 Mn and is expected to reach US$ 2,299.5 Mn by the end of the forecast period in 2026.

Customization to be the Key Focus of Market Players

Due to the evolving needs of the research community, the demand for specialized cell lines have increased to a certain point where most vendors offering these products cannot depend solely on sales from catalog products. The quality of the products and lead time can determine the choices while requesting custom solutions at the same time. Companies usually focus on establishing a strong distribution network for enabling products to reach customers from the manufacturing units in a short time period.

Entry of Multiple Small Players to be Witnessed in the Coming Years

Several leading players have their presence in the global market; however, many specialized products and services are provided by small and regional vendors. By targeting their marketing strategies towards research institutes and small biotechnology companies, these new players have swiftly established their presence in the market.

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market To Register High Revenue Growthat 7% CAGR Throughout 2018 to 2026 - Kentucky Reports

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market To Register High Revenue Growthat 7% CAGR Throughout 2018 to 2026 – Kentucky Reports | December 3rd, 2019

Within days of giving birth, a womans estrogen and progesterone levels quickly drop, leading to chemical changes in the brain that might give rise to shifts in mood. In fact, as many as three in four mothers experience symptoms of depression soon after childbirth. But for one in nine mothers, those symptoms result in a more serious, longer-lasting, and potentially life-threatening condition known as postpartum depression. The disorder, which manifests as a significant change in mood within hours to weeks of giving birth, is the most common complication of pregnancy. Currently, the depression drugs used to treat it take weeks to months to kick intime that new mothers (and their infants) cant afford. Zulresso is the first FDA-approved medication designed to tackle postpartum depression, and it does so at speed. The drug is a synthetic form of allopregnanolone, a hormone that dampens neural activity and eases depression symptoms when estrogen and progesterone levels dip. In double-blind control studies run by the creators at Sage Therapeutics, Zulresso worked within 60 hours. Right now, the drug is administered via a 60-hour intravenous infusion (common among new medicines), but alternative treatments, including a pill form, are currently in clinical trials.

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100 greatest innovations of 2019: Best of What's New - Popular Science

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on 100 greatest innovations of 2019: Best of What’s New – Popular Science | December 3rd, 2019

Collagen seems to be one of the buzziest words in wellness, with just about anyones ears perked up at the mention of the wordno matter how young they are. Because when it comes to healthy skin aging, we know that prevention is everything, and delaying the process before it starts is key to maintaining a smooth, even complexion well into the autumn of life.

Enter all the collagen-promoting creams, serums, supplements, and diets the world has to offerand now, a new drug may do just the trick.

A new study published in the journal, Geroscience, found a new, unexpected formula to help with healthy aging. This specific drugcalled rapamycinhas been primarily used for patients who have undergone an organ transplant, as it helps prevent the immune system from rejecting the new organ. Rapamycin has also been used to combat a rare lung disease called lymphangioleiomyomatosis, as well as inhibiting tumor growth.

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Study Finds This Medication May Reduce Wrinkles & Even Skin Tone - mindbodygreen.com

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Study Finds This Medication May Reduce Wrinkles & Even Skin Tone – mindbodygreen.com | December 2nd, 2019

Soon youll be able to cover your imperfect flesh with more flesh. (Photo: KaoJapan)

FOX NEWS - Soon youll be able to cover your imperfect flesh with more flesh.

Japanese cosmetics company Kao Corporation has developed a custom synthetic spray-on skin to cover unwanted blemishes, moles or other marks on the natural epidermis.

READ MORE ON FOXNEWS.COM

The artificial product, called est, is composed of tiny, liquid fibers. When sprayed, the substance adheres to human skin, transforming into an extremely thin, derma-like material, the Daily Mail reports.

It has a similar elasticity to skin, and its porous, too. Water vapor and air can pass through this second skin to moisten the living dermis beneath. At its edges, est forms an even thinner bond, helping it blend in with natural flesh.

Est is set to hit the market exclusively in Japan beginning Dec 4. and will sell for roughly $532 as a diffuser and potion combination, with diffuser refills priced at $73. A lotion version will sell for $110, and everything will become available online in January, according to Japanese publication the Asahi Shimbun.

Japanese-language advertisements for the product call it Future Skin, which uses Fine Fiber Technology. Kao has plans to expand the line beginning next year and hopes to soon enter the medical market.

Until then, American consumers can check out the SkinGun by RenovaCare, which shoots a liquid mist infused with human stem cells and can help burn victims skin.

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Makeup brand offers spray-on 'skin' to cover up zits and scars - FOX 10 News Phoenix

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Makeup brand offers spray-on ‘skin’ to cover up zits and scars – FOX 10 News Phoenix | December 1st, 2019

Were always happy to geek out over a buzzyskin careingredient when we see it making the rounds on product labels. (See: lactic acid, rosehip oil, bakuchiol) So when we started noticing the proliferation of niacinamide, we were surprised to learn that not only has it been around for a while buttheres a decent body of research behind the multipurpose vitamin. Heres what you need to know about niacinamidesbenefits for your skin.

Niacinamide, a form of vitamin B3 also known as nicotinamide, is a water-soluble vitamin that has potent antioxidant activity and reduces inflammation, saysboard-certified dermatologistDavid Lortscher, CEO of Curology.

It would be an exaggeration to call niacinamide a cure-all, but it does have a pretty extensive range when it comes to the conditions it can treat: acne, oil regulation, fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, enlarged pores and sun damage. Its especially good at repairing skins moisture barrier (aka its first line of defense) and protecting against environmental stressorsits even been shown to help prevent skin cancer in certain studies.

Niacinamides nourish and calm redness and inflammation,says DendyEngelman, a board-certified dermatologist in New York. She particularly likes niacinamide for dry and sensitive skin: It has similar effects to retinol by strengthening the skin barrier, but itfortifies from the get-go without sensitivity or irritation.Dr. Lortscher also has high praise: Because of its role in repairing the skin barrier, niacinamide is one of the most effective treatments for photoaging [damage caused by UV rays], according to most anti-aging research.

It starts to get technical here, but as Dr. Engelman explains it, Niacinamide helps support the cellsmetabolic system, specifically fibroblasts. We use fibroblasts tomake and repair DNA,which,in turn, activates collagen production. So by using niacinamides to boost fibroblast production, we are supporting collagen production and repairing damaged collagen.

Lots of products contain niacinamideserums, moisturizers, even cleansersand it works well in conjunction with other active ingredients, like retinol. It can be used both morning and night, though as with any goodskin careregimen, you should follow it up with a sunscreen during the day.

Niacinamide should be compatible with most otherskin careproducts and is well tolerated by all skin types,including sensitiveskin, Dr. Lortscher says. For best results, use leave-on products with niacinamide. Its safe to use around the eyes, anditmay improve the appearance of under-eye darkness and wrinkles.

Convinced yet? Check out a few of our favorite products containing the powerhouse ingredient below.

RELATED: We Ask a Derm: What Ingredients Should You Avoid If You Have Oily Skin?

Of course, the uber-popular, wallet-friendly brand is on top of it. This serum is especially helpful for congested, acne-prone skin: The niacinamides anti-inflammatory propertiescalm active breakouts, while its oil-regulating properties (and the addition of zinc, which also keeps oil in check) help keep new ones from forming.

Buy it ($6)

Nia 24 uses a patented form of niacinamide thats designed to absorb better into skin (and therefore work its magic more effectively). This rich cream strengthens the skin barrier with its namesake ingredient, plus hyaluronic acid, licorice root extract, peptides and ceramides.

Buy it ($118)

Give parched, dull skin a quick pick-me-up with a five-star-rated gel sheet mask. Reviewers rave about its glow-inducing, hydrating properties and the fact that its gentle enough for sensitive skin.

Buy it ($3)

Cursed by the ghosts of pimples past? Niacinamide, glycolic acid and NASA-developed plant stem cells (!) work together to combat hyperpigmentation and scarring.

$20 on Amazon

Derms, dry-skinned gals and makeup lovers alike know oil cleansers are a godsend forwashing off the days makeup withoutstripping any precious natural moisture. This cleanser amps up the effects with niacinamides barrier-strengthening effects, plus offers a gentle exfoliation thanks to fruit enzyme.

Buy it ($42)

SkinCeuticals serums are cult faves for a reason, and this 5 percent niacinamide serum is no exception. Its amped up with amino acids, algae extract and peptides to target the effects of environmental stress and promote collagen production.

Buy it ($112)

RELATED: The Best Face Moisturizer for Dry, Sensitive Skin, According to People Who Use Them

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Heres How Niacinamide Benefits Your Complexion (and How to Work It into Your Skin Care Routine) - Yahoo Lifestyle

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Heres How Niacinamide Benefits Your Complexion (and How to Work It into Your Skin Care Routine) – Yahoo Lifestyle | December 1st, 2019

This picture shows a spirited flying Taiwan Blue Magpie displaying a full array of flight feathers in action. Credit: Shao Huan Lang

If you took a careful look at the feathers on a chicken, youd find many different forms within the same birdeven within a single feather. The diversity of feather shapes and functions expands vastly when you consider the feathers of birds ranging from ostriches to penguins to hummingbirds. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Cell on November 27, 2019, have taken a multidisciplinary approach to understanding how all those feathers get made.

We always wonder how birds can fly and in different ways, says corresponding author Cheng-Ming Chuong of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Some soar like eagles, while others require rapid flapping of wings like hummingbirds. Some birds, including ostriches and penguins, dont fly at all.

This picture shows a the asymmetric vane and tapering main shaft of a single flight feather from a goshawk. Credit: Hao Howard Wu and Wen Tau Juan

Such differences in flight styles are largely due to the characteristics of their flight feathers, Chuong adds. We wanted to learn how flight feathers are made so we can understand nature better and learn principles of bioinspired architecture.

In the new study, the researchers put together a multidisciplinary team to look at feathers in many different ways, from their biophysical properties to the underlying molecular biology that allows their formation from stem cells in the skin. They examined the feathers of flightless ostriches, short-distance flying chickens, soaring ducks and eagles, and high-frequency flying sparrows. They studied the extremes by including hummingbirds and penguins. To better understand how feathers have evolved and changed over evolutionary time, the team also looked to feathers that are nearly 100 million years old, found embedded and preserved in amber in Myanmar.

Based on their findings, the researchers explain that feathers modular structure allowed birds to adapt over evolutionary time, helping them to succeed in the many different environments in which birds live today. Their structure also allows for the specialization of feathers in different parts of an individual birds body.

The flight feather is made of two highly adaptable architectural modules: the central shaft, or rachis, and the peripheral vane. The rachis is a composite beam made of a porous medulla that keeps feathers light surrounded by a rigid cortex that adds strength. Their studies show that these two components of the rachis allow for highly flexible designs that enabled to fly or otherwise get around in different ways. The researchers also revealed the underlying molecular signals, including Bmp and Ski, that guide the development of those design features.

Attached to the rachis is the feather vane. The vane is the part of the feather made up of many soft barbs that zip together. The researchers report that the vane develops using principles akin to paper cutting. As such, a single epithelial sheet produces a series of diverse, branched designs with individual barbs, each bearing many tiny hooklets that hold the vane together into a plane using a Velcro-like mechanism. Their studies show that gradients in another signaling pathway (Wnt2b) play an important role in the formation of those barbs.

To look back in time, the researchers studied recently discovered amber fossils, allowing them to explore delicate, three-dimensional feather structures. Their studies show that ancient feathers had the same basic architecture but with more primitive characteristics. For instance, adjacent barbs formed the vane with overlapping barbules, without the Velcro-like, hooklet mechanism found in living birds.

Weve learned how a simple skin can be transformed into a feather, how a prototypic feather structure can be transformed into downy, contour, or flight feathers, and how a flight feather can be modulated to adapt to different flight modes required for different living environments, Chuong says. In every corner and at different morphological scales, we were amazed at how the elegant adaption of the prototype architecture can help different birds to adapt to different new environments.

The researchers say that, in addition to helping to understand how birds have adapted over time, they hope these bioinspired architectural principles theyve uncovered can be useful in future technology design. They note that composite materials of the future could contribute toward the construction of light but robust flying drones, durable and resilient wind turbines, or better medical implants and prosthetic devices.

Team co-leader and biophysicist Wen Tau Juan of the Integrative Stem Cell Center of China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan, has already begun to explore the application of feather-inspired architectural principles in bio-material design. The team also hopes to learn even more about the molecular signals that allow the formation of such complex feather structures from epidermal stem cells that all start out the same.

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Reference: The Making of a Flight Feather: Bio-architectural Principles and Adaptation by Wei-Ling Chang, Hao Wu, Yu-Kun Chiu, Shuo Wang, Ting-Xin Jiang, Zhong-Lai Luo, Yen-Cheng Lin, Ang Li, Jui-Ting Hsu, Heng-Li Huang, How-Jen Gu, Tse-Yu Lin, Shun-Min Yang, Tsung-Tse Lee, Yung-Chi Lai, Mingxing Lei, Ming-You Shie, Cheng-Te Yao, Yi-Wen Chen, J.C. Tsai, Shyh-Jou Shieh, Yeu-Kuang Hwu, Hsu-Chen Cheng, Pin-Chi Tang, Shih-Chieh Hung, Chih-Feng Chen, Michael Habib, Randall B. Widelitz, Ping Wu, Wen-Tau Juan and Cheng-Ming Chuong, 27 November 2019, Cell.DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.11.008

This work was supported by the ISCC, CMUH, Taiwan, the Drug Development Center, CMU, Higher Education Sprout Project, Ministry of Education (HESP-MOE), and grants from the National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, iEGG/Avian Genetic Resource/ABC supported by HESP-MOE, the Human Frontier Science Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC, Academia Sinica Research Program on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Top Notch Project, NCKU, and a University Advancement grant by MOE, Taiwan.

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How Flight Feathers Evolved: Study of Chickens, Ostriches, Penguins, Ducks and Eagles - SciTechDaily

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on How Flight Feathers Evolved: Study of Chickens, Ostriches, Penguins, Ducks and Eagles – SciTechDaily | December 1st, 2019

Birds of a feather may flock together, but the feathers of birds differ altogether.

New research from an international team led by USC scientists set out to learn how feathers developed and helped birds spread across the world. Flight feathers, in particular, are masterpieces of propulsion and adaptation, helping penguins swim, eagles soar and hummingbirds hover.

Despite such diversity, the feather shares a common core design: a one-style-fits-all model with option trims for specialized performance. This simplicity and flexibility found in nature holds promise for engineers looking for better ways to build drones, wind turbines, medical implants and other advanced materials.

Those findings, published today in Cell, offer an in-depth look at the form and function of a feather based on a comparative analysis of their physical structure, cellular composition and evolution. The study compares feathers of 21 bird species from around the world.

Weve always wondered how birds can fly in so many different ways, and we found the difference in flight styles is largely due to the characteristics of their flight feathers, said Cheng-Ming Chuong, the studys lead author and a developmental biologist in the Department of Pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. We want to learn how flight feathers are made so we can better understand nature and learn how biological architecture principles can benefit modern technology.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the flight feather, Chuong formed a multi-disciplinary international team with Wen Tau Juan, a biophysicist at the Integrative Stem Cell Center, China Medical University in Taiwan. The work involved experts in stem cells, molecular biology, anatomy, physics, bioimaging, engineering, materials science, bioinformatics and animal science. The bird species studied include ostrich, sparrow, eagle, chickens, ducks, swallow, owl, penguin, peacock, heron and hummingbird, among others.

They compared feathers using fossils, stem cells and flight performance characteristics. They focused on the feather shaft, or rachis, that supports the feather much like a mast holds a sail, bearing the stress between wind and wing. They also focused on the vane, the lateral branches astride the shaft that give the feather its shape to flap the air. And they examined how evolution shaped the barbs, ridges and hooks that help a feather hold its form and lock with adjacent feathers like Velcro to form a wing. The goal was to understand how a simple filament appendage on dinosaurs transformed into a three-level branched structure with different functions.

We want to learn how flight feathers are made so we can better understand nature and learn how biological architecture principles can benefit modern technology.

Cheng-Ming Chuong

For birds such as ducks, eagles and sparrows that fly in different modes, the scientists noted significant differences in the feather shaft compared to ground-hugging birds. On the rigid exterior, the shaft cortex was thinner and lightweight, while the interior was filled with porous cells resembling bubble wrap, aligned into bands of various orientations and reinforced with ridges that operate like tiny lateral beams. Together, it forms a light, hollow and buoyant structure to enable flight. Cross-sections of feather shafts of different birds show highly specialized shapes and orientations of the inner core and outer cortex.

The flight feather is made of two highly adaptable architectural modules, light and strong materials that can develop into highly adaptable configurations, Chuong said.

The researchers discovered two different molecular mechanisms guiding feather growth. Cortex thickness was governed by bone morphogenetic proteins, which are molecular signals for tissue growth. The porous feather interior, or medulla, relied upon a different mechanism known as transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-b). Both components originate as stem cells in the birds skin.

By contrast, feathers in flightless birds were simpler, consisting of a dense cortex exterior that is more rigid and sturdy with fewer internal struts and cells found in flying birds. The features were especially pronounced for penguins, which use wings as paddles under the water.

As part of the study, the researchers looked at 100 million-year-old feathers, found embedded in amber in Myanmar. These fossils show early feathers lacked one key feature that modern birds have. Specifically, the researchers report that fossil feathers had barb branches and barbules, which form a feather vane by overlapping, but not hooklets. The hooklets, which act like clasps to turn fluffy feathers into a tight flat plane for high-performance flight, evolved later. The scientists also identified WNT2B, another growth factor, as the agent that controls hooklet formation. These also originated from epidermal stem cells.

Taken together, the findings show how feathered dinosaurs and early birds could form a primitive vane by overlapping barbule plates, although that wasnt aerodynamically fit to carry much load. As more complex composite features occurred in the wing, it got heavier, so feather shafts became stronger yet more lightweight, which led to stiffer feathers and sturdy wings that powered flight to carry birds around the world.

Our findings suggest the evolutionary trends of feather shaft and vane are balanced for the best flight performance of an individual bird and become part of the selective basis of speciation, the study said. The principles of functional architectures we studied here may also stimulate bio-inspired designs and fabrication of future composite materials for architectures of different scales, including wind turbines, artificial tissues, flying drones.

Chuong and Juan are co-leaders of the 31-person team, joined by co-authors Randall B. Widelitz, Shuo Wang, Michael Habib, Ting-Xin Jiang, Zhong-Lai Luo and Ping Wu of the Keck School of Medicine of USC; Wei-Ling Chang, Hao Wu, Yung-Chi Lai, Ming Xing Lei, and Shih-Chieh Hung of the China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan; Ming-You Shie, Jui-Ting Hsu, Heng-Li Huang and Yi-Wen Chen of the China Medical University, Taiwan; Chih-Feng Chen, Ping Chi Tang, Hus Chen Cheng, and Yen-Cheng Lin of the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan; How-Jen Gu, Yu-Kun Chiu, Tse-Yu Lin, Shun-Min Yang, Tsung-Tse Lee, J.C. Tsai and Yeu-Kuang Hwu of the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan; Cheng-Te Yao of the Endemic Species Research Institute, Taiwan; Shyh-Jou Shieh of the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan; Ang Li of the University of Texas, Arlington.

Work at USC was supported by the National Institutes of Health (AR 047364, AR 060306) while team members in Taiwan were supported by grants from their own institutes and the Taiwan government.

More stories about: Biology, Research

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How birds fly: New USC study examines the evolution of flight feathers - USC News

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on How birds fly: New USC study examines the evolution of flight feathers – USC News | November 29th, 2019

The most raved about secret in beauty this year wasn't a magic facialist or Real Housewife-lauded injection, it was an unassuming moisturizer made by a 60-year-old German scientist who'd never worked in the industry, let alone had an Instagram following. And yet, despite having none of the traditional resources that makes a beauty brand an overnight successlike paid celebrity spokespeople, $1 million ad campaigns, or millennial pink packagingAugustinus Bader became a sleeper hit purely through word of mouth.

In the nearly two years since it launched, AB's "miracle cream" has gotten accolades from Ashley Graham, Kate Bosworth, and Victoria Beckham (who's since launched a moisturizing primer with the brand). Glamour even gave it a Beauty Award for Best Moisturizer, a highly competitive category as you can surely imagine. So before I even uncapped the weighty blue-and-copper tube of its famed The Cream, which costs a cool $265 for 50 mL, I was basically set to fall in love with itprice tag be damned.

But the only kind of hype I pay real attention to is beauty editor hype; if my product-inundated colleagues are raving about it, I figure it has to stand out from the pack. And for weeks, every single editor I knew had told me about the cream in an attitude I can only describe as reverent. I was ready to experience my own Bader-sparked miracle.

Bizarrely, I didn't immediately fall head over heels for it (don't worry, a second plot twist will follow shortly). Sure, it was a good face cream. The light texture absorbed quickly and my skin looked decent, but it didn't exactly wow me. I felt like a thin layer just wasn't doing much in the moisturizing departmentwhich, apparently, I later learned isn't even what The Cream claims to do. It's more of an overall skin rejuvenator. The brand also sells a Rich Cream for dry skin, which contains additions like avocado and argan oil to aide with extra hydration, but I began with the original thinking it'd be enough.

In order to get maximum effectiveness from the active ingredients, I did what a few other friends and makeup artists had advised and skipped all other products, except face wash. The Bader formula is based on TFC8 (Trigger Factor Complex 8), a proprietary cocktail of over 40 different ingredients, including vitamins and amino acids. It's meant to encourage regeneration and healingProfessor Bader actually discovered the formula while looking for solutions to help burn survivors heal quickerand TFC8 is supposed to activate your stem cells, which go to work to repair fine lines, dark spots, and visible pores. I had heard that the ingredients within were enough to replace all other skin care, so I devoted myself to a one-step kind of lifestyle and waited for my skin to start looking like I had just walked out of a spa. And then I waited some more...

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Augustinus Bader The Cream Review: Why It's Worth Every Cent - Glamour

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Augustinus Bader The Cream Review: Why It’s Worth Every Cent – Glamour | November 29th, 2019

Winter is not just for hot cocoa and cozy blankets; the season is not always kind to the skin.

When the air outside gets gold and dry, without proper care, you skin can quickly follow suit. Having dry skin is the most uncomfortable feeling in the world.

The entire winter season, dead skin cells can build up on the skin's surface, which would result in a dry and dull complexion. The cold weather can lead to chapped lips, cracked hands and dry flaky skin.

Once the temperatures drop, your skincare routine should rise to the challenge.

That's why it's important to moisturize at this time of the year. However, it's also important to keep exfoliation in your winter skincare routine, and here's why.

Exfoliation isn't something yo;ll need to put on the back burner. In fact, winter is one of the best times for exfoliations. If you aren't spending your snow days sloughing away dead skin, then you're totally missing out.

Exfoliations helps replenish the skin.

Between the dry indoor heating and the cold air outside, your skin cells need to hydrate. They easily die out faster in the colder season, so it's essential to buff away the dead cells so new cells can come in healthier. It's recommended to exfoliate at least twice a week.

Exfoliators improve the effectiveness of the moisturizers.

Because you'll be slapping extra heavy lotion for the winter, you'll want to maximize its power. Do this by exfoliating regularly. The dead cells block moisture from the layers of live skin cells that actually need it.

Exfoliating beads, salt or sugar scrubs, dry scrubbing or even common body sponges are best examples of physical exfoliants that will help tremendously.

The usual at-home scrubs are the sugar scrub and the salt scrub.

The difference between the two is that the sugar scrub is more gentle, less abrasive and tends to dissolve fast in warm water.

Whereas the salt scrub tends to be a little more aggressive because the granules are larger. With a salt scrub, you're going to want to exfoliate a little less than you would with a sugar scrub or other exfoliating beads.

Keep scrolling to check 5 of our top picks for adding some body scrub time to your tub or shower regime.

M3 Naturals Himalayan Salt Scrub

Detoxify the skin with the M3 Naturals Himalayan Salt Scrub. It is infused with collagen and stem cell that increases skin cell longevity. Combined, these deliver an anti-aging performance.

This salt scrub is made from an all-natural Himalayan pink salt with lychee fruit and almond oil that will provide moisture and cleans out impurities of the skin and will effectively remove dirt, oil and reduce the appearance of acne, scars, blackheads and cellulites.

(Photo : Amazon)

Dove Exfoliating Body Polish Body Scrub

This easy-to-find exfoliating body scub removes dull, dry skin while deeply nourishes it to restore its natural nutrients.

The product is formulated with moisturizing cream and has a whipped texture that provides a creamy coverage.

(Photo : Amazon)

Brooklyn Botany Arabica Coffee Scrub

A coffee body scrub that can be used on the face, hand and foot. It will easily remove dead skin giving you a fresher, younger and moisturized appearance.

It will also reduce the signs of aging because of the coffee's antoxidants, fighting the appearance of fine lines, sun spots and wrinkles.

(Photo : Amazon)

Majestic Pure Cosmeceuticals Sweet Orange Body Scrub

A vegan-friendly, bright and refreshing body scrub crafted with nourishing ingredeints such as sweet orange oil, dead sea salt, organic aloe vera juice and coconut oil.

Using this product can promote more supple and smooth skin, gently removing dead skin and exposing it to enriching and moisturizing minerals and nutrients.

(Photo : Amazon)

Shea Moisture Exfoliating Hand and Body Sugar Scrub

The sugar scrub is made from natural ingredeints that gently cleanses skin from impurities, pollutants and build-up. It is created with argan oil and organic raw shea butter.

It will provide your skin with intense moisture and can exfoliate your hand and body by removing dead skin cells.

(Photo : Amazon)

READ MORE: 7 Gifts that Will Not Break Your Bank Account this Christmas 2019

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles

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5 Scrubs and Exfoliators You NEED This Winter 2019 - Enstarz

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on 5 Scrubs and Exfoliators You NEED This Winter 2019 – Enstarz | November 29th, 2019

Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are a group of very rare disorders, also known as orphan diseases. They belong to the group of lysosomal storage diseases which are caused by a deficiency of one of the enzymes involved in the degradation of mucopolysaccharides (the acid glycosaminoglycans or GAGs). The enzymes are coded by genes which produce deficient gene products due to gene variants in each of the two gene-alleles.

Children of two carriers as parents have a 25% risk to suffer from MPS. For many families, the birth of the first affected child is a shock and a disaster. The disease is continuously progressing, and life spans are dramatically decreased without therapy. As a result, extensive efforts are put into the cure of these fatal disorders.

Enzymes are relatively small proteins, produced in the endoplasmatic reticulum of each cell. Before reaching the locus of their function, the lysosomes, additional modifications with special sugars are performed in the Golgi apparatus (glycosylation). Via mannose-6-phosphate marker, they connect to the mannose-6-phosphat receptor on the lysosomal membrane and can reach the final locus of their function. In the lysosomes, enzymes degrade the GAG chains into the smallest molecules for recycling or excretion. Any disturbance in this process leads to the accumulation of non-degraded material, which affects many other cell functions such as homeostasis, calcium metabolism, accelerates apoptosis and induces inflammation processes.

As lysosomes are ubiquitous, any disturbance leads to storage in many different tissues and organs. MPSs are a good example for chronic progressive multi-systemic disorders. The best theoretical option for treatment of any patient is to supplement the missing enzyme which could reach any organ via blood flow and get inside the lysosomes continuing the interrupted degradation processes.

The enzymes are ubiquitous and have some tissue specific compositions. Enzymes produced in the different cells and tissues have their own characteristics and are available on site. The production of recombinant enzymes means that the artificial glycosylation is created in a uniform composition for intravenous substitution with the aim to reach the organs with the blood-flow. There is no doubt that the therapeutic efficacy is ideal for many organs, such as liver, spleen, lung, and skin. All these organs have a good blood circulation and some ability to regenerate.

However, after years of treatment with the already available enzymes, it is shown that some organs are poorly supplied with blood and renewal cycles are slow, the ability to regenerate is decreased. Organs such as bones, cartilage, muscles, cornea, heart valves, meninges or the brain do not show the hope-for effect. All MPS types with brain involvement (neuronopathic forms of MPS types I, II and VII) or predominant skeletal dysplasia (MPS types IVA and B) cannot benefit from enzyme-replacement therapy and do not show the desired improvement.

In animal studies, modifications of glycosylation can change the ability to pass into organs not yet sufficiently reached such as cartilage or bones, but tissue-specific features cannot be sufficiently considered in any artificial production of the enzymes.

Avascular cartilage, heart valves and corneas cannot be reached by blood flow. Also, between blood vessels and brain tissue, several specialised cells form the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) to protect the brain from any unwanted substances in the blood. Therefore, new strategies are necessary to improve the therapeutic efficiency and to provide better outcomes for the affected patients. If patients with MPS I are diagnosed at a very young age, the best option is to treat them with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Migrating stem cells can reach the brain and other organs, and then differentiate into organ-specific cells producing the missing lysosomal enzymes.

A straightforward method to overcome BBB is the direct injection of a recombinant enzyme into the cerebral fluid. This can be by lumbar puncture (intra-thecal) or intra-ventricular injections in the brain ventricles. Effects can be observed, however unfortunately not all challenges can currently be solved. The liquor flow can be reduced by thickened meninges with storage and vertebral deformities, which are typical for the disease. However, the barrier between cerebral fluid and brain tissue has still not been fully studied. The half-life of enzymes is limited, and the procedure has to be repeated regularly. The clinical trials for patients with MPS I, II, IIIA and IIIB could show some reduced or reversed progression of CNS pathology but long-term effects remain unclear.

Another possibility to overcome BBB is to fuse the enzyme proteins with macromolecules which enter the brain through receptor mediated active transport systems. This physiological transport is known for hormones, neurotransmitters and many other proteins (such as transferrin and insulin). They are transported through the BBB directly into the brain via specific receptores, so, the strategy is to fuse the natural proteins with the artificial enzymes needed in the MPS patient. It is important to note that clinical trials could potentially still show some improvement in affected MPS patients.

Another method is to conjugate the therapeutic enzymes with nano-capsules and to then ferry them across BBB via transcytosis or other transport mechanisms directly into brain cells. Pharmacological chaperones have been proven to be effective in other lysosomal storage diseases such as Gaucher or Fabry disease. Chaperones are able to stabilise three-dimensional conformation of misfolded proteins, such as enzymes. This would be the case of genetic variants causing missense mutation and exchange of only one amino acid in the protein chain. The misfolding pathology reduces stability, half-life and effect of the genetically conditioned enzyme, whereas the chaperone can reverse this disadvantage and increase the activity and efficacy of the enzyme. As a result, pharmacological chaperones are a good option for some diseases and could therefore be an option for some MPS patients in the future.

Some genetic variants cause stop-codons and the production of truncated dysfunctional peptides without any enzymatic activity and degradation within the cell. Stop-codon read through therapy aims for the genetic correction on an RNA level, resulting in the production of a sufficiently functioning gene product. It is already used for some specific mutation for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but it is too early to predict positive results for patients with MPS I.

Another possibility in the future might be the use of GAG-reducing small molecules such as Genistein, Pentosam polysulfate or Rhodamine B. They are able to influence and/or reduce the synthesis of GAGs which cannot be degraded sufficiently by the genetically changed enzymes with reduced function.

To reduce the GAGs as substrate, could be a chance to create a better relation between substrate and the impaired substrate reducing enzyme. As a result, lysosomal storage could therefore be reduced. Substrate reduction therapy is an established therapeutic concept in some of the other lysosomal storage diseases, but the usefulness in MPS disorders still needs to be proven.

The genetic corrections of DNA sequences in patient cells are no longer only future options as they have now become a reality. Gene variants causing missing or impaired functioning gene products could be replaced by correct genetic sequences and genes. This can be made as an ex vivo approach, where stem cells or fibroblast are removed from the patient and are then cultured in vitro, genetically corrected and consecutively re-injected into the patient.

The genetically corrected DNA in the re-transplanted autologous cells is able to produce correct gene products (in terms of MPS, this is the specific enzyme). The amounts of newly produced enzymes might be sufficient to positively influence the disease course of the treated patients.

An in vivo approach utilises viral vectors which invade cells, and even cell nuclei. Such viruses used are adeno-associated-viruses or lenti-viruses. Such manipulated viruses with the corrective genetic material are directly injected into the patient where they are internalised into deficient cells and are then able to produce the missing gene product. In the case of MPS, the aim is to produce enzyme proteins with sufficient concentrations and activity to prevent the storage of GAGs. Furthermore, clinical trials are underway for several MPS types and therefore, might offer a therapeutic opportunity in early life for affected patients. However, larger studies and a longer follow-up is still needed.

To conclude, MPS are rare genetic disorders and for a long time, they were linked with the myth of being untreatable diseases. Although some of the new therapeutic options are still in clinical trials and not routinely used, the present shows that many of the patients can benefit from the yet available options of HSCT and enzyme replacement therapies. These therapies have an undoubted effect for some of the MPS patients, especially if any form of therapy is started early or if the course of the disease does not affect the nervous system.

However, in the future, new therapeutic options will hopefully bring benefits to those that are not sufficiently improved; the decision of the best therapy will be made on the basis of factors such as the genetic defect, the type of MPS, and the age during treatment. This individualised and personalised therapy will improve the success of MPSs therapies.

Susanne Gerit KircherMedical University of Vienna, AustriaCenter of Pathobiochemistry and Geneticssusanne.kircher@meduniwien.ac.atwww.mps-austria.at

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Mucopolysaccharidoses: future therapies and perspectives - SciTech Europa

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Mucopolysaccharidoses: future therapies and perspectives – SciTech Europa | November 29th, 2019