New breed of GM animals on the way – Independent Online
By Dr. Matthew Watson
 Independent Online | New breed of GM animals on the way Independent Online Professor Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin said that the new technique produces GM animals with between 10 and 15 percent efficiency, compared with an efficiency of less than one percent for the standard method of genetic engineering. “We can do it without ... Pig born using new GM approachTelegraph.co.uk Scientists who created Dolly the sheep clone bring GM food a step closer by ...Daily Mail A pig similar to this one has been created by scientists using 'gene editing ...Metro RT all 9 news articles » |
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April 21st, 2013
Are Biodegradable Heart Stents Safe?
By Dr. Matthew Watson
A breakthrough has been achieved in the stream of medical science. An alternative to the metallic stent has been found and is called biodegradable or bio-absorbable stents.
Difference between the two
Metallic stents which are in use for a long time now, had some disadvantages. These stents helps to keep the blocked arteries open to enable the flow of oxygen and blood, but also causes retenosis, that is, it scars up vessel tissue causing the arteries to clog again. Even though drug infused metallic stents have also been used as an alternative, it still does not lower the risks of other complications.
Biodegradable stents, on the other hand causes no such complications. It opens up the blocked arteries and dissolves itself after fulfilling its task, thus, minimizing the occurrence of any complication. It is made up of poly-l-lactide, a naturally dissolving material. It is said to dissolve in a time span of 18 months to three years. Another advantage of this stent is that it does not prevent the detection of other blockages as opposed to the metallic stents which would refract the rays of the scan, making it hard for detection.
Benefits of not having a permanent stent
One of the greatest benefits of not having a permanent stent is that it allows the lumen to expand. When a permanent metallic stent is used it does not allow the lumen to grow, thus hindering remodeling even though it allows the vessel around the stent to develop.
Another benefit is they do not produce any kind of inflammatory reactions as opposed to metallic stents.
How does a biodegradable stent work?
Arteries start getting clogged up due to the accumulation of fatty matter like chlorestol on the inner wall of the arteries that are responsible for providing blood to the heart. As it advances, it reduces the width of the lumen in return diminishing the amount of blood flowing into the heart. This is when a person undergoes a chest pain known as angina.
This disease can be arrested at the initial stage with the help of medication. But a person suffers a heart attack when the precautions are not taken, or when the artery is fully obstructed. That is when the surgical procedure of angioplasty is done. In angioplasty, a balloon is introduced into the artery through a guide wire and is inflated where the blockage is located. After this the stent is introduced so that it keeps the artery open.
The biodegradable stent releases a drug called everolimus which prevents irregular tissue growth.
Researches and studies that classify biodegradable as safe
Kunhiko Kosuga, who has a MD, PhD and is also the director of cardiology at Shiga Medical Center for Adults in Moriyana City, Japan, did a research on these new stents. He and his fellow researchers studied 44 men and 6 women who had undergone angioplasty and had used biodegradable stents to open up the affected arteries. They looked for various complications like clots, deaths, and other causes. The result is as follows:
? for the deaths associated with heart diseases, the survival rate was 98%.
? for death from all causes, the survival rate was 87%.
? there was no main cardiac problems in half the patients.
? Only four patients suffered heart attacks.
? The blood vessel involved had re-narrowed in 16% of the patients, in one year after undergoing the procedure.
? there were two clots that were found within the stent. One was due to the drug-infused stent close to the biodegradable one.
Countries who welcomed biodegradable stents
Nine European countries, Middle East, parts of Latin America and parts of Asia like India, Hong Kong, Philippines and Vietnam are already using these stents. In Europe, Asia-Pacific, Canada and Latin America, over 600 patients have taken part in the trial which aspires to have 1000 patients from over 100 centres present in these counties. Even Singapore has approved of these stents from 20th December, 2012.
However, doctors are still awaiting results for the long term effects on the patients
Even though the cost for manufacturing these stents is very expensive, doctors worldwide are optimistic that they will replace metallic stents eventually.
About The Author: Alia is a writer/blogger by profession. She loves writing, travelling and reading books. She contributes to Hydroxycut
Source:
http://www.biotechblog.org/entry/biodegradable-heart-stents-safe/
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April 21st, 2013
America’s Supreme Court is to rule on the patenting of genes – The Economist
By Dr. Matthew Watson
 The Economist | America's Supreme Court is to rule on the patenting of genes The Economist It pits America's Association for Molecular Pathology and various other interested parties—represented by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union—against Myriad Genetics, a biotechnology firm that holds patents on two human genes, called ... US Supreme Court asks whether human genes can be patented?Economic Times Our View: Patents for genes not OKMerced Sun-Star In Australia, Gene Patents Also Subject of High Court StruggleScience AAAS Lamron -The National Law Review -Bloomberg BNA all 53 news articles » |
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April 21st, 2013
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology offers the latest in biotechnology … – al.com (blog)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
 al.com (blog) | HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology offers the latest in biotechnology ... al.com (blog) HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Interested in learning -- quickly -- what some of Alabama's smartest minds are working on in biotechnology? Block out April 26 from 3-6 p.m. on your calendar when the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology showcases its resident ... |
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April 21st, 2013
HDL expanding in BioTechnology Research Park – Richmond Times Dispatch
By Dr. Matthew Watson
HDL expanding in BioTechnology Research Park Richmond Times Dispatch Last year, HDL embarked on a two-phase expansion of its office and laboratory buildings in the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. Phase one, which is now complete, included demolition of the former BioTech Three building at East Jackson and North ... |
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April 21st, 2013
6 Ways Gene Patent Case Could Impact Biotechnology – Yahoo! News
By Dr. Matthew Watson
ABC News | 6 Ways Gene Patent Case Could Impact Biotechnology Yahoo! News The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today (April 15) in a case to decide whether human genes can be patented. The court will decide whether Myriad Genetics, a biotechnology company, has the right to patent human genes — in this case, two gene ... Goodwin Procter | Supreme Court to Decide Important Biotechnology Patent ...Linex Legal (registration) (press release) Human Gene Patent Case Goes to Supreme CourtU.S. News & World Report Biotech Industry at Stake as High Court Weighs Human Gene Patent (Washn)Toledo Blade Kaiser Health News -Bloomberg -WEAR all 229 news articles » |
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April 21st, 2013
Biotechnology can bring revolution in agri sector – The Nation – The Nation
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Biotechnology can bring revolution in agri sector - The Nation The Nation LAHORE : Use of biotechnology can bring a revolution in the fields of agriculture, medicine and pharmaceutical industry. Those countries who are using biotechnology, their economies are rapidly growing, said chairperson Federation of Bio-tech ... |
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April 21st, 2013
Sound Shore Medical Center Announces New Chief of Molecular Genetics – Talk of the Sound
By Dr. Matthew Watson
 Talk of the Sound | Sound Shore Medical Center Announces New Chief of Molecular Genetics Talk of the Sound NEW ROCHELLE, NY -- Sound Shore Medical Center (SSMC) is pleased to announce Subhash Gulati, MD, PhD as Chief of Molecular Genetics. While Dr. Gulati has been a member of the Medical Staff since 1997, this new position will expand his presence ... |
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April 21st, 2013
Clinic, neuropathology and molecular genetics of frontotemporal dementia: a … – 7thSpace Interactive (press release)
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Clinic, neuropathology and molecular genetics of frontotemporal dementia: a ... 7thSpace Interactive (press release) Clinic, neuropathology and molecular genetics of frontotemporal dementia: a mini-review. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) represents a group of clinically, neuropathologically and genetically heterogeneous disorders with plenty of overlaps ... |
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April 21st, 2013
Opening new genetic windows on diagnosis – Siliconrepublic.com
By Dr. Matthew Watson
 Siliconrepublic.com | Opening new genetic windows on diagnosis Siliconrepublic.com Women make up the majority of the Molecular Genetics team at the National Centre for Medical Genetics in Dublin - 22 of the 25-strong team are female. Claire O'Connell finds out from Dr Aileen Butler how mining into genes can help patients get the ... |
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April 21st, 2013
Boston and ‘Lone Wolf’ Terrorism – UC Los Angeles
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Boston and 'Lone Wolf' Terrorism UC Los Angeles Los Angeles Magazine on Thursday featured a Q&A with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, executive director of the UCLA Wireless Health Institute and a visiting professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, highlighting his career and his ... |
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April 21st, 2013
Heirlooms or not? – Muscatine Journal – Muscatine Journal
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Heirlooms or not? - Muscatine Journal Muscatine Journal Another term along with “heirloom” and “hybrid” is “genetically modified organisms” or (GMOs) which can be any plant, animal or microorganism which has been genetically altered using molecular genetics techniques such as gene cloning and protein ... |
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April 21st, 2013
Dr. Ted Ross of VGTI Florida to present ‘Novel Approaches to Vaccine Design’ – TCPalm
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Dr. Ted Ross of VGTI Florida to present 'Novel Approaches to Vaccine Design' TCPalm He previously was an associate professor in the Center for Vaccine Research and the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. He received his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Vanderbilt University. He trained in HIV/AIDS and Vaccine ... |
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April 21st, 2013
Fish genome offers insights into evolution of land vertebrate – Hindustan Times
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Hindustan Times | Fish genome offers insights into evolution of land vertebrate Hindustan Times Sequencing the coelacanth genome has been a long-sought goal and a major logistical milestone, said Chris Amemiya, PhD, Director of Molecular Genetics at the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) and Professor of Biology at the University ... Coelacanth Genome: Unexpected Insights From Fish With A 300-million-year ...RedOrbit A*STAR Scientists Decipher Genome Code of a Living FossilSYS-CON Media (press release) |
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April 21st, 2013
Applied BioCode Appoints Michael Aye, Ph.D. as its Vice President of Molecular … – The Herald | HeraldOnline.com
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Applied BioCode Appoints Michael Aye, Ph.D. as its Vice President of Molecular ... The Herald | HeraldOnline.com Dr. Michael Aye has over 8 years of research and development experience at Focus Diagnostics, Inc. and Beckman Coulter, Inc. Prior to his industrial experience Dr. Aye has spent 10 years in academia focused on research in molecular genetics and ... |
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April 21st, 2013
Advocating for Women Scientists – BU Today
By Dr. Matthew Watson
BU Today | Advocating for Women Scientists BU Today ... Institute and director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, and Janet Rowley, the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, and of Human Genetics at the University of Chicago Medical Center. |
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April 21st, 2013
2013 Annual Regenerative Medicine Industry Report
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Tweet
The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine announced today the release of the 2013 annual regenerative medicine industry report. Here is the announcement in the Wall Street Journal online.
I'm proud to have been a part of putting it together and hope people find it useful. It is available for download on the ARM website here.
In addition to the complete download, ARM will make many of the figures, charts, tables and sections available for members to download and use in their own publications and presentations. Watch for these resources to be announced soon.
Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CellTherapyBlog/~3/yFBYKblnudk/2013-annual-regenerative-medicine.html
Regenerative Medicine
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April 21st, 2013
California Stem Cell Agency Budget Up 4.6 Percent, Topping $17 Million
By Dr. Matthew Watson
During the past couple of years, the California stem cell agency has vastly improved the way it
budgets the relatively tiny amount it spends on operational expenses.
operational budget was often all but incoherent to the public and to
at least some members of its governing board. (See here, here and
here.) But times have changed. The process for its operational
budget, which amounts to about $17 million for the 2013-14 fiscal
year, is now more transparent and better organized.
credited to the hiring of Matt Plunkett in December 2011 as its first
chief financial officer in its eight-year history, as well as the
efforts of CIRM directors Michael Goldberg and Marcy Feit. Goldberg,
a venture capitalist, is chairman of the board's Finance Subcommittee
and Feit, CEO of Valley Healthcare in Pleasanton, Ca., is vice chair. Plunkett, however,
left the agency suddenly last summer and the agency has no plans to
replace him. CIRM Chairman J.T. Thomas says Plunkett put new
financial systems in place that can be operated without a CFO.
what is upcoming for CIRM spending beginning in July in documents prepared for the Monday meeting of the governing board's Finance
Subcommittee meeting. The agenda, however, lacks a much-needed
explanation and justification for the spending. All that is presented
now for the public are raw numbers and a PowerPoint presentation,
which is no substitute for a nuanced, written overview.
budget proposed for 2013-14 stands at $17.4 million, up 4.6 percent, according to California Stem Cell Report calculations, or $771,000 from forecast expenditures for the current year. The
budget represents the cost of overseeing $1.8 billion in grants and
loans and preparing new proposals and reviews of applications for
hundreds of millions of dollars in additional awards.
personnel – $12.1 million, up from $10.7 million. Second largest
is outside contracting at $2 million, down from $2.9 million for the
current year, continuing a trend away from outside contracts, which
once were burgeoning.
meetings and workshops,”- which are expected to cost $1.8 million
this year. Next year, they are budgeted for $2 million. Some might
look askance at those sorts of expenditures for “meetings.”
However, that includes the fees and expenses for scientific reviewers
for multi-day meetings in the San Francisco area, which is a high
cost area, and other large gatherings. However, the figure does not
include travel for reviewers, who come from out of the state and even
from overseas.
three-day grant review session last September at the Claremont Hotel
in Oakland that cost $44,019. A two-day meeting at the same hotel for
the 29-member CIRM governing board cost $34,424. (These figures and others involving outside contracts can be found on the agenda of the
board's Governance Subcommittee meeting April 10.)
from different perspectives on expenditures. The spending plan
includes $2.0 million for the office of Chairman Thomas and $1.6
million for the office of President Alan Trounson. Comparable
figures for actual spending this fiscal year were not provided,
however, by CIRM for the Finance Subcommittee meeting. The size of
the chairman's budget reflects the controversial dual executive nature of management at CIRM, which has come under repeated
criticism, including from the recent blue-ribbon report by the
Institute of Medicine.. However, the arrangement is locked into state
law as the result of the ballot measure, Proposition 71, that created
the stem cell agency in 2004.
million with public relations and communications running slightly
more than $1 million. The scientific office, as one might expect,
consumes much larger amounts, with basic research, translational
research, grants review and grants administration budgeted at $4.7
million. The development side of the scientific office, which
focuses on pre–clinical and clinical research, is slated for $3.4
million. The agency did not offer comparable figures for the current
year.
legally spend only 6 percent of its $3 billion in bond funding for operational
expenses. At one time the agency had a 50-person staff cap, but that
was altered several years ago by the legislature. The most recent
figures show it has 54 employees. However, this month's budget
documents did not list the number of staff for this year or next.
it expects to spend an additional $1 million a year for rent
beginning in 2015, when a free rent deal provided through the city of
San Francisco expires. The city put together a $18 million package to
attract the CIRM headquarters in a bidding war with other California
cities. The agency has never produced a public accounting of whether
it has received full value on the package.
approved by the Finance panel next week without significant changes
and then by the full board late in May.
Finance meeting at two locations in San Francisco one each in Irvine,
Pleasanton, La Jolla and Berkeley. Specific locations can be found onthe agenda.
Source:Stem Cell Therapy
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April 21st, 2013
Meager California Biotech Representation in Governor’s China Trip
By Dr. Matthew Watson
California Gov. Jerry Brown and a flying squad of business types visited China last week, beating the drum for the Golden State in an effort to raise billions of dollars in investments.
“I do not know how this set of delegates were selected. What I do know is that this is the first of several delegations of California business delegates going to China with Governor Brown, and that more trips are scheduled. The focus of this first trip is Energy and Environment, and this might be why there is no biotech delegates in this trip. I am quite sure that they will participate in the following trips.”
(Following the posting of this item, Ron Leuty of the San Francisco Business Times gave us a heads up on the latest on the site. He reported in March that Joinn Laboratories, a Chinese contract research organization, purchased the site. Leuty said that its plans are vague about future development, but that it may lease some of the space.)
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/x57uSahTPNI/meager-california-biotech.html
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April 21st, 2013
Why Tanzania must accelerate agricultural biotechnology research – Daily News
By Dr. Matthew Watson
Daily News | Why Tanzania must accelerate agricultural biotechnology research Daily News WHEN Dr Joseph Ndunguru of M i k o c h e n i A g r i c u l t u r a l Research Institute speaks about cutting edge science, he does so with passion. He believes that such science is possible in Tanzania -- and that agricultural biotechnology remains the ... |
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April 20th, 2013