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Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

Covid-19 vaccines have weakened the anti-GMO movement – The Irish Times

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 1:50 am

Environmental groups opposed to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been very influential for a considerable time and capable of raising large public protests. But the anti-GMO movement is now in decline as the EU and various influential environmental organisations begin to cautiously welcome selected genetically engineered organisms.

The final nail in the anti-GMO coffin is likely to be the spectacular success of the genetic technology that has just developed several highly effective vaccines against Covid-19 within the miraculously short time frame of one year.

On January 10th, 2020, Chinese scientists published the genome of a new disease-causing coronavirus Sars-CoV-2, similar to the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in 2003.

But there were also striking differences and therefore nobody was immune. Developing vaccines against the rapidly spreading Sars-CoV-2 was the only hope of averting a deadly assault on public health but the problem was that it takes six to seven years on average to develop a new vaccine using traditional methods based on a weakened or killed Sars-CoV-2 virus.

This is where the smart new genetic techniques came to the rescue, aided by unprecedented international scientific collaboration, bottomless financial resources and an army of volunteers willing to participate in trials. By April 2020, 80 institutes and pharmaceutical companies were developing vaccines across 19 countries, mostly using gene-based methods. It was predicted that commercial vaccines would be available by early 2021. On January 4th, 2021 the UK started public inoculations with the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.

Several highly effective vaccines, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) and Sputnik V are now available, each having progressed through all the correct phases of vaccine development within one year. The biggest vaccination campaign in history is now under way more than 1.94 billion doses have been administered across 176 countries, vaccinating 12.7 per cent of world population as of early June.

Genetic technology powered development of Covid-19 vaccines. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, based on RNA molecules carrying genetic information for the synthesis of the spike protein of the Sars-CoV-2 virus that enables this virus to enter cells.

When the mRNA, enclosed in an artificial membrane, is injected into your arm the mRNA prompts cells near the injection site to make the spike protein. This trains your immune system to make antibodies and T-cells that will inactivate the Sars-CoV-2 virus if it infects you later.

The AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson and Sputnik V vaccines are fully genetically engineered.

They use a viral vector, an adenovirus a type of virus that causes the common cold to carry the vaccine into your cells. The adenovirus genome is stripped of any genes that might harm you and the Sars-CoV-2 spike protein genetic sequence is then spliced into the adenovirus genome.

This genetically doctored adenovirus carries the information for making the Sars-CoV-2 spike protein into your cells, training your immune system as already described for the mRNA vaccines.

For many years past the European Union set its face against genetically engineered organisms but this anti-GMO stance weakened recently mainly because biotechnology techniques can help the EU to meet environmental sustainability goals. And when the Sars-CoV-2 virus appeared on-stage the EU suspended some of its biotechnology regulations to fast-track development of Covid-19 vaccines.

Two powerful US environmental organisations, the Sierra Club and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), recently cautiously welcomed certain genetically engineered plants. American chestnut trees have been almost eradicated by a deadly fungus infection and the Sierra Club has endorsed release of a genetically engineered chestnut tree Darling 58 that resists the fungus infection.

The UCS has grown increasingly concerned about the environmental effects of animal agriculture. It is impressed with the potential of plant-based meats to reduce these impacts and recently changed its stance against the plant-based Impossible Burger whose key ingredient is made with the help of genetic engineering.

GMOs have a great safety record. Scientists who genetically enhance animal and plant organisms work extremely cautiously, knowing well that releasing even one genetically engineered organism that caused environmental harm would be disastrous to their whole project.

The anti-GMO lobby acts mainly out of ideological convictions, mistrusts science and exaggerates perceived dangers. But it now looks like their reign is almost over. Cautious general acceptance of GMOs will follow. Genetic modification has much to offer as everyone who offers their arm to the vaccination needle can confirm.

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Energy & environment research – Open Access Government

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 1:50 am

Dr Sanju A. Sanjaya received a PhD in 2003 from the University of Mysore, Mysore, India, on tree improvement and biotechnology. That same year, he joined the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center at Academia Sinica, in Taipei, Taiwan as a postdoctoral fellow working on the genetic engineering of orchids and tomatoes, for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. He has worked at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at Michigan State University as a Senior Research Associate on a project focused on increasing energy density in vegetative tissues. His credentials include three patent applications, 20 papers in refereed journals, six published book chapters and eight published reviews.

Dr Sanjayas lab leads an active research program to design photosynthetic organisms with enhanced bioenergy and industrial compounds for higher production, profitability and sustainability. Dr Sanjayas research group uses bioinformatics, biochemical, molecular, cell biology and genetic engineering approaches to understand the primary metabolism mechanisms in plants and microalgae. Dr Sanjayas lab also aims to advance the use of photosynthetic organisms to address water quality issues and phytoremediation.

The West Virginia State University Energy and Environmental Science Institute (WVSUEESI) mission is to conduct basic and applied interdisciplinary research in energy and the environment to generate technology and knowledge.

Our goal is to partner with public and private sectors, so we can work together to address pertinent energy and environmental issues for West Virginia, says WVSUEESI Director, Dr Sanjaya. Those issues include researching the feasibility and sustainability of alternative energy sources for the Mountain State as government regulation and environmental concerns continue to cast resources such as natural gas and coal in the national spotlight.

Those new energy sources include renewable resources from plant-based biomass. Scientists at WVSU conduct ongoing projects focusing on feedstock improvement, biofuels and bioproducts; genomics; bioremediation, environment and sustainability. One project involves increasing the production of plant oils in the biomass of bioenergy crops that can be used to produce biodiesel and replanted onto formerly mined areas to determine how well crops will grow on reclaimed land.

One of the goals of the WVSUEESI is to generate technologies and provide hands-on research opportunities to students and science-based outreach opportunities for K-12 youth; Research and Teaching Graduate Assistantships in the MS Biotechnology Program; the Research Rookies Program in energy-related research; Agricultural and Environmental Science Careers for Non-Traditional Students (AESCONTS) throughout the region in the hope of generating the tomorrows scientists.

Ive always wanted to progress professionally and academically and to enrich my previous experience working with energy and environmental science, Dr Sanjaya explains. One of my biggest interests in being at WVSU is the opportunity to work in a team, with hard-working and smart students and scientific community.

Dr Sanjaya hopes the research will ultimately attract industry and academic partners to the region, enhancing economic development and workforce opportunities.

In addition to his ambitious research, Dr Sanjaya is a true leader in the classroom at WVSU who enjoys interacting with and motivating his students. He goes on to provide further detail: I often bring my students to the lab to do the real work theyre learning about in the classroom. Its a different opportunity for learning because my research is very hands-on.

Ever the visionary, Dr Sanjaya not only hopes his research will motivate West Virginians to stay in the State, but he looks forward to the day that young people will flock to West Virginia to work in science and research.

Dr Sanjaya adds: If my research is even a small piece of the puzzle that helps West Virginia, then I am happy.

As we enter an era where global food production is likely to double as the human population increases, sharing prime agricultural lands and resources for food and energy production becomes an even greater challenge. A breakthrough technology that enables the cultivation of an energy crop on a vast area of marginal lands can address these issues. Dr Sanjaya uses a gene-editing technique called CRISPR that gives him the ability to alter genes in plants, enabling them to grow on mountainous terrain, in soil with low nutrients, and even under drought conditions. This research is considered cutting edge, but has already proven viable in other parts of the world.

Dr Sanjaya then turns the discussion towards current research when it comes to improving the nutritional and energy content of crops. Dr Sanjaya considers why this is necessary for society today and how this incorporates gene technology.

Currently, the majority of the oils used in biodiesel production come from the seeds of plants, Dr Sanjaya comments. Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals. By increasing the energy provided by plants, the land required to grow both biodiesel and food crops could be significantly reduced, he adds.

Plants accumulate oils within the tissue of the seeds to help with the energy-intensive process of germination and growth of new seedlings. By harnessing the mechanism used by the plant to send and store these oils within the seeds, Dr Sanjaya and his team aim to create new breeds of plants that accumulate higher amounts of oils within the rest of the plants vegetative tissue the leaves, stems and roots.

To increase the amount of oils stored in the vegetative tissue of plants, Dr Sanjaya and his colleagues have taken a two-pronged approach. Plants can only capture a finite amount of carbon in any period, so increasing the amount of oils created and stored necessarily requires a reduction in the amount of starch being produced.

First, the researchers used advanced molecular techniques to manipulate the genes involved in producing and accumulating oils called triglycerides using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This flowering plant species is related to mustard, cabbage and radishes and is ideal for testing and refining genetic techniques because of its small size and short generation times.

By increasing the activity of a gene controlling seed oil production, Dr Sanjayas team created a version of the plant that tends to store these oils within the vegetative tissue.

Following this, the team focused on a gene involved in starch production. They found that when this gene was edited to exhibit decreased activity, more carbon was left available to be routed into the production of oils. The resulting plant that possesses both edited genes divides more of the carbon captured during photosynthesis into oils than into starch.

Our long-term goal is to develop energy-dense bioenergy crops that can grow on vast areas of reclaimed coal mine lands of West Virginia and the Appalachian coal basin, Dr Sanjaya comments.

Ultimately, he says, this work could bring sustainable agriculture and sustainable energy-related industry to the State.

FUNDING: USDA NIFA and NSF RIA

Please note: This is a commercial profile

2019. This work is licensed under aCC BY 4.0 license.

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Get the females and beat the disease – Mint

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 1:50 am

But I also thought of mosquitoes.

Now I have never been to Florida. But the state is known for its mosquitoes. The humorist Dave Barry lives there and has often mentioned the insects in his columns: ... as the Sun set, we experienced a sensation that I will never forget: The sensation of being landed on by every mosquito in the Western Hemisphere. There were so many of them that they needed Air Traffic Control mosquitoes to give directions."

Long story short: Florida has swarms of mosquitoes. They are constantly biting residents of and visitors to the state, so much so that I feel for the person I know who is going there. Still, get this: in an effort to fight the mosquito menace last April, a biotech firm went to the Keys to release ... more mosquitoes. Hundreds of thousands of mosquitoes, brought to the Keys as eggs actually, allowed to hatch there and live out their lives.

What hare-brained scheme is this, you may wonder. Many people have so wondered, and in the Keys, there has been plenty of oppositionso it is a controversial programme. Yet, it at least deserves some thought, especially given that swarms of mosquitoes are a feature of life in much of India too.

The mosquitoes introduced into the Keys were genetically engineered.

A little background, first. There are plenty of mosquitoes in Florida, certainly, and it cant be pleasant to suffer their bites. But only the species Aedes aegypti actually carries diseaseschikungunya, dengue and moreand they make up only 4% of the mosquito population in Florida. Whats more, only female mosquitoes actually bite humans. Males feed on nectar and their sole purpose in life is to mate with females and produce more mosquitoes. None of this is meant to say that we should ignore these pests. But it does suggest a possible way to fight them thats more efficient than blanket applications of insecticide: target the females.

Its true, the male and the female of the species do look different, but thats if you get a chance to peer closely at them. So, its in no way practical to visually identify only the female mosquitoes in a given area and whack them dead. But what if theres a way to ensure that when a mosquito pair reproduces, the female, and only the female, offspring die? What if such death comes early in their lives, even before they attack humans for the first time? Carnage like this means that the offspring left alive will mostly be males. They will mate with the remaining females, with the same morbid results for the resulting female offspring. Over time, youd expect the mosquito population to become more and more male. With less and less females to mate with, the Aedes aegypti population will naturally decline.

Genetic engineering (or genetic modification) offers a way to accomplish more or less this. Though with various plant species especially, plenty of controversy surrounds the process. Consider:

Proponents point out that humans have been doing such engineering indirectly for many millennia: breeding plants and animals selectively for certain desirable characteristics. For example, modern corn looks nothing like the grass-like Mexican plant with rudimentary ears, teosinte, that it is descended from. Thats because we humans have for uncounted generations selected plants with juicier, bigger and more succulent ears and kernels and used only those plants to generate their next crop. Much the same applies to plenty of other crops and domesticated animals.

Critics, though, say that todays techniques of actually modifying genes are entirely different from selective breeding, and theres definite danger there. For example, the wind can carry pollen from genetically modified (GM) crops to fields of non-modified crops, causing unpredictable and undesirable problems. Besides, the GM crop industry is dominated by a few large biotech firms. So, the prospect of widespread use of such crops raises serious concerns about monopolies, especially for small farmers like in India.

The fear that genetic engineering can have unpredictable consequences is why many residents of the Keys opposed the new genetically-engineered male mosquitoes.

Still, lets look at how they were engineered and then released. These Aedes aegypti males have had their DNA altered: scientists have edited" two particular genes into particular locations in the mosquitos genome:

* a fluorescent marker" gene that glows in red light, which will later be used to identify engineered mosquitoes.

* a self-limiting" gene.

When the insects reproduce, both genes are passed on to their offspring. The self-limiting" gene has no effect on males. But in larval females, it inhibits the storage of a specific protein that would otherwise build up as the insect grows. The result is that the female dies before it can mature.

This is the theory, of course. But these engineered mosquitoes have been released in Brazil, Panama and even Indiain the last two years, over a billion of them. The British biotech company that produced them, Oxitec, reports that in those areas, the populations of Aedes aegypti shrank by over 90%. Youd think that would certainly have an effect on the incidence of mosquito-borne diseases.

What of unpredictable consequences? The Brazil trial suggested that the self-limiting gene did not kill all the female offspring before they could mate, because other genes from the engineered mosquitoes appeared among other local mosquitoes. What effect this will have on the local ecosystem is not yet clear. But this is the kind of fallout of genetic engineering that worries many people.

Still, in April, Oxitec placed boxes containing eggs of the engineered mosquitoes in six different locations in the Florida Keys. Each week between May and August, about 12,000 of the mosquitoes will hatch from their eggs and emerge into the Florida air, ready to find willing females to mate with. Every now and then, Oxitecs researchers will collect mosquitoes and use red light to identify the engineered ones. They want to know such details as their life spans, the distance they have travelled from their boxes, and how many of the females who inherit the self-limiting gene have actually died. All this will shape a second and larger trial later this year, when Oxitec plans to release 20 million engineered mosquitoes. Data from these trials will help decide whether it is worth releasing mosquitoes more widely across the US.

Clearly, theres still plenty to learn about genetically engineered mosquitoes. But till now, insecticides have been our weapons of choice against mosquitoes. They kill the insects, sure, but also other insects we would rather save, like honeybees.

Consider this parallel to cancer. Our weapon of choice there one thats just as blunt as insecticidesremains chemotherapy. It kills cancer cells, sure, but also plenty of other cells in our bodies. What if we instead found a way to introduce a particular kind of cancer cell into the body, one that would single out and kill the malignant cells?

We dont know of such a cell (yet, anyway), but thats how to think of genetically engineered mosquitoes. And if you think about it some more, theres also a parallel of sorts to vaccines for a certain virus that we are all a little too familiar with these days.

Once a computer scientist, Dilip DSouza now lives in Mumbai and writes for his dinners. His Twitter handle is @DeathEndsFun

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UGA grad named winner of Nesbitt-Flatt Outstanding Senior award – Henry Herald

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 1:50 am

ATHENS William Flatt served as the dean of the University of Georgias College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from 1981 to 1994. Coming in as dean, Flatt recognized that college enrollment was low and tackled the challenge of recruitment using his problem-solving skills and charisma.

This years Nesbitt-Flatt Outstanding Senior Award recognized a student with the same charisma and determination as Dean Flatt. Arjun Bhatt was recognized as this years recipient during the 2021 Student Awards and Leadership Celebration held on YouTube. Bhatt recently graduated with bachelors degrees in both applied biotechnology and psychology.

Bhatt originally entered UGA as a biochemistry major in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, but he wanted to study something more tailored toward his interests of translational science, synthetic biology and genetics. After skimming through the UGA Bulletin, he found exactly what he was looking for applied biotechnology. Bhatt also decided to add a psychology major because of his interest in understanding the human experience.

The way we think, feel and behave is inextricably bound to the way we are built at a molecular level psychology helped me bridge the gap between the hard sciences and the soft sciences, Bhatt explained.

Through his involvement across several campus organizations and labs, Bhatt dived deeper in his chosen field of study. In Brian Kvitkos lab in the Department of Plant Pathology, Bhatt was president and lead researcher of UGA iGEM, an undergraduate-led research team that uses genetic engineering and synthetic biology to solve real-world problems. As he led the team to its first-ever silver medal, Bhatt learned to use both what is known and unknown to solve a problem and in the process, he discovered his true passion.

My passion is problem-solving, Bhatt said. Thats what keeps me up at night. Thats why I work in translational research. I enjoy using what we know and dont know to solve problems. That process helps someone, a community or a cause.

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Identifying the core of what made him tick was one big step forward for Bhatt, helping him to put things into perspective and leading to a philosophical revelation.

While reflecting on his time at UGA, Bhatt realized that for a portion of his college career he was in a rat race seeking external glorification and prestige. While mentoring freshmen, Bhatt noticed they were entering the same rat race he had escaped, and he wanted to help them realize there is more to success than external reward. His realization is what Bhatt calls the prestige trap, which he defines as chasing what others think is important rather than what we actually think is important.

This idea this thought led Bhatt to scrap his original idea for a TEDxUGA talk he was scheduled to submit just two days before the due date. He unveiled his prestige trap concept at the 2021 TEDxUGASalon series in a presentation called Escaping the prestige trap: How to reshape our definition of success.

Outside of his academic pursuits, Bhatt found comfort and support from the familylike environment he found in CAES as well as organizations like the Indian Cultural Exchange, Georgia Saazish and the Chess Dawgs.

Now a strategy consultant for Deloitte, a global professional services firm, Bhatt is excited to trade medical diagnostics for business diagnostics. He will be working in the companys government and public services branch, helping large federal, state and local organizations improve productivity, efficiency and overall performance. Much as Flatt brought skills and charisma to his challenges at CAES, Bhatt is ready to apply his passion and experiences to a new industry, motivating and aiding societal institutions as Flatt did the college.

Stacker explores the 100 top-rated TV shows of all time.The shows with the highest IMDb score are ranked the highest, with #1 being the best TV show of all time, as rated by IMDb users, and with ties broken by the number of votes. Click for more.

Courtney Cameron is a digital marketing intern for the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Office of Marketing and Communications.

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Scientists Discover Unreported Plant Body Part "I Thought It Must Be an Artifact of Genetic Contamination" – SciTechDaily

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 1:50 am

Cantils, so named for their cantilever function of supporting the flower-bearing stalk, are newly reported plant structures that develop in wild-type Arabidopsis as a consequence of delayed flowering under short-day lengths. The image shows a FLOWERING LOCUS T mutant strain (ft-10) flowering under a long-day length. One long and two short cantils are visible. Credit: Timothy Gookin

For many, the Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) is little more than a roadside weed, but this plant has a long history with scientists trying to understand how plants grow and develop.Arabidopsiswas first scientifically described as early as the 16th century and the first genetic mutant was identified in the 1800s. Since the 1940s,Arabidopsis has increased in popularity within the scientific community, which continues to use it as a model system to explore plant genetics, development, and physiology to this day.

One might expect that after decades of scientific scrutiny the structure ofArabidopsishad been fully documented, but a new study from scientists from The Pennsylvania State University, USA, has revealed that this humble plant still has some surprises. The researchers describe a previously unreported structure called the cantil, which connects to the stem at one end and hangs in the air to hold up the flower-bearing stalk, similar to the function of a cantilever in structural engineering.

I first observed the cantils in 2008, said Dr. Timothy Gookin, a postdoctoral researcher working in the group of Professor Sarah Assmann. I initially didnt trust any of the results; I thought it must be an artifact of genetic contamination, perhaps combined with environmental contamination of the water, soil, fertilizer, or even the building air supply.

How have cantils eluded scientists for so long? First, cantils are rare; they only develop under certain conditions that cause the plant to delay flowering, such as short day lengths, and cantils only form at the precise point at which the plant begins to flower. In addition, as Dr. Gookin discovered, some popular Arabidopsisstrains have genetic mutations that make them incapable of producing cantils at all.

Nonetheless, Dr. Gookin set about the gargantuan task of proving that cantils are a naturally occurring structure and not an artifact of mutation or contamination an effort that took more than a decade. It took over 12 years of experimentation to really get a grasp on what we were seeing and to understand how cantils were regulated. This study required the growth of 3,782 plants to full maturity and the manual inspection of over 20,000 flower-bearing stalks in 34 unique plant lines, explained Dr. Gookin. I finally deemed the cantils a natural phenomenon after identifying them in wild-type (non-mutant) plants from different sources, which were growing in independent locations and diverse conditions.

During his extensive research, Dr. Gookin identified a number of mutant plants in which cantils appear more frequently, revealing some of the genetic factors that control cantil development. The discovery of cantils is not only a lesson in the virtues of perseverance, but their development also provides important clues for understanding the conditional growth of plant structures in response to their environment. One speculative interpretation is that the cantil represents a highly repressed ancestral linkage between different types of flowering plant architectures; the multiple layers of genetic and environmental factors that regulate cantil development are certainly quite striking, said Dr. Gookin.

Reference: Cantil: a previously unreported organ in wild-type Arabidopsis regulated by FT, ERECTA and heterotrimeric G proteins by Timothy E. Gookin and Sarah M. Assmann, 15 June 2021, Development.DOI: 10.1242/dev.195545

Timothy Gookin is a postdoctoral researcher, and Sarah Assmann is the Waller Professor of Biology at Pennsylvania State University. Timothy Gookin is the lead corresponding author of the article.

Funding: National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences

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Israelis taste the future with lab-grown chicken ‘food revolution’ – FRANCE 24

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 1:50 am

Ness Ziona (Israel) (AFP)

It looks like chicken and tastes like chicken, but diners in Israel are tucking into laboratory-grown "meat" that scientists claim is an environmentally friendly way to feed the world's growing population.

In a small restaurant in a nondescript building in a science park in the central Israeli town of Ness Ziona, diners munched burgers and minced meat rice rolls made with "cultured chicken" -- meat grown in the adjacent SuperMeat production site.

"It was delicious, the flavour was great," said Gilly Kanfi, a self-described "meat eater" from Tel Aviv, who had signed up for the meal months in advance.

"If I didn't know, I would have thought it was a regular chicken burger."

The Chicken, as the eatery is called, is a testing ground of sorts for SuperMeat, hosting periodical test meals to generate customer feedback while waiting for regulatory approval.

- Rapid growth -

The restaurant's dark and elegant interior is framed by large windows looking onto a bright-lit laboratory, where technicians monitor large stainless-steel fermentation vats.

"This is the first time in the world people can actually have a taste of a cultivated meat product, while observing the production and the manufacturing process in front of their eyes," said Ido Savir, SuperMeat's chief executive.

Here, at least, the laboratory has made redundant the age-old question of whether the chicken or the egg came first.

The process involves cultivating cells taken from a fertilised chicken egg.

Cell cultures are fed a plant-based liquid including proteins, fats, sugars, minerals and vitamins.

With all the feed going directly into production, it grows rapidly, with the mass doubling within a matter of hours, the company says.

Savir, a vegan with a background in computer science, sees himself as being at the "forefront of a food revolution" trying to help supply food while limiting the impact on the planet.

Developers said they are working to provide more ethical and sustainable ways to create cruelty- and slaughter-free meat, with the product grown without using genetic engineering or antibiotics.

The company is currently able to produce "hundreds of kilogrammes" each week, Savir said.

- 'Game-changer' -

But he hopes to earn regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, and would then increase production to a "commercial" scale.

"This way we'll be able to reduce the amount of land, water use and so many other resources, and keep the product very healthy and clean," he said, noting the high prevalence of diseases among chickens produced in factory-style production.

Global meat production is projected to rise 15 percent by 2027, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

SuperMeat is not the first to develop the technology. In December, a Singapore restaurant made history when it became the first to sell lab-grown chicken meat.

The Israeli firm has developed a versatile product, blending muscle, fat and connective tissue cells to create different cuts -- even including pet food.

Zhuzha, a white bull terrier attending the meal along with its owner, enthusiastically devoured the SuperMeat dog food it was handed.

"Pets love our meat as well," Savir said with a smile.

The human diners said the product was as good as the real thing.

"It really surprised me," said Lisa Silver, a regular meat-eater. "If I can get that in a restaurant, I will go vegan, totally. It's a game-changer."

For her sister Annabelle, it was the first time in years she had eaten meat.

"One of the reasons that I became vegetarian originally was because it's not ethical, it's not sustainable," she said.

"To get meat minus the cruelty is just amazing, it's perfect, I could eat this every single day."

- Vegetarian-friendly? -

But the question whether the product should be considered meat is one faced not only by vegetarians -- but also Jewish rabbinic authorities.

Producing meat in a cruelty-free way that does not harm the environment is a positive development that will "save the world problems", said Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, a member of Israel's Chief Rabbinate Council.

While rabbis would have to learn the novel process and supervise it, Weisz said he expected the product would eventually receive a kosher designation.

Tal Gilboa, a prominent veganism activist who served as an adviser to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was leading the way on cultured meat technology.

Gilboa would like the world to turn to a plant-based diet, and sees cultivated meats as a pragmatic way for people to take the first steps to vegetarianism.

"The world population is increasing at a break-neck speed," she said, adding that the only way to keep up will be "through technology".

Savir believes the technology could change humanity for the better.

"Like we saw with the revolution of the smart phone, once this is available, we'll start producing so much meat," he said.

"It would increase food security for nations around the world, a very sustainable, animal-friendly and efficient process."

2021 AFP

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Kytopen Awarded NIH Grant of Up to $2M to Unlock the Power of Engineered Natural Killer (NK) Cells via Flowfect Platform – Business Wire

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 1:50 am

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kytopen., a transformative biotechnology company offering non-viral delivery that links the discovery, development and manufacturing of engineered cell therapies, today announced it was awarded a SBIR Fast Track grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH). Kytopen is eligible for up to $2M over the course of the 3-year award as project milestones are successfully completed within the Phase I and Phase II portions of the grant.

Natural killer (NK) cells represent a high impact population for cell therapy, but due to limitations in current methodologies for gene delivery, NK cells remain a largely untapped resource. This SBIR grant will be used to demonstrate that non-viral delivery via Kytopens Flowfect platform can alleviate this limitation on NK cell gene editing at both research and manufacturing scale, which is needed for pre-clinical and clinical studies. Due to the major potential impact NK cells represent in a clinical setting, non-viral Cas Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) gene knockout will allow for novel therapeutic applications in infectious disease, autoimmune disorders, and immuno-oncology.

Paulo Garcia, Kytopens CEO and Co-Founder will serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) on the grant. Dr. Garcia explains that engineered NK cells have tremendous therapeutic promise including the potential to treat solid tumors in an allogeneic modality. The Flowfect platform will facilitate high-throughput target discovery while providing a clear path towards clinical manufacturing of next-generation cell products.

NK cells are a subset of innate immune cells that can respond to threat without antibody priming. This quick response to stimuli makes them an ideal immunotherapy candidate. Yet, genetic modification in NK cells has proven to be difficult using conventional viral and non-viral transfection methodologies. Alternative delivery methods are necessary in order to make genetic modifications at reproducible and efficient rates, while maintaining high cell viability and functionality.

The awarded study leverages continuous fluid flow coupled with low energy electric fields for transfection via a proprietary Flowfect platform (Figure 1). This platform represents a novel approach to non-viral delivery in historically hard-to-transfect human cells. The current research proposes to engineer non-activated NK cells with Cas RNPs for gene editing using the Flowfect platform. To achieve this goal, Kytopen has outlined a two-phase research strategy which focuses on stability and functionality of edited NK cells both in vitro and in vivo.

NIH sponsored grant programs are an integral source of capital for early-stage U.S. small businesses that are creating innovative technologies to improve human health. These programs help small businesses break into the federal research and development arena, create life-saving technologies, and stimulate economic growth. Kytopen is honored to be a recipient of this competitive award from the NIH/NIAID and looks forward to unlocking biological capabilities of engineered NK cells for improving patients lives during the performance of this project.

About the Flowfect Technology

Kytopens proprietary Flowfect platform eliminates the complexity of gene editing and integrates discovery, development and manufacturing in one flexible and scalable non-viral delivery solution. The Flowfect technology utilizes electro-mechanical energy to disrupt the cell membrane and introduce genetic material (such as RNA, DNA, or CRISPR/Cas RNP) to a wide variety of hard-to-transfect primary cells. During the Flowfect process, a solution containing cells and genetic payload suspended in a proprietary buffer flows continuously through a channel while the solution is exposed to a low energy electric field. Due to the continuous flow and low electrical energy required, cells engineered using Flowfect exhibit high viability while also exhibiting high transfection efficiency post-processing. The Flowfect technology utilizes relatively high flow rates enabling cell engineering in minutes for discovery and optimization (e.g. 96 well plate in <10 minutes) and direct scale up to manufacturing volumes of >10mL, engineering over 2 billion cells per minute in a single channel.

About Kytopen

Kytopen, an MIT spin-out, is a transformative biotechnology company that offers a customizable yet scalable multi-solution platform, which seamlessly links the discovery, development and manufacturing phases of cell engineering. Flowfect, a gentle, non-viral delivery method unlocks new therapeutic approaches, by engineering immune cells with minimal disruption, preserving the functionality and viability of human cells and enhancing the cells biology. The Flowfect platform accelerates therapies from the bench to clinical through flexibility and scalability, which drives higher cell yields, faster approvals, and better outcomes from potentially curative cell-based treatments. Kytopens goal is to enable simple and efficient non-viral manufacturing of cell therapies in days versus weeks to increase access to many more patients. For more information, visit: http://www.kytopen.com

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Kytopen Awarded NIH Grant of Up to $2M to Unlock the Power of Engineered Natural Killer (NK) Cells via Flowfect Platform - Business Wire

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Tumors Next Target for T Cell Therapies with U Minnesota Research – BioSpace

Posted: June 23, 2021 at 1:50 am

New research from a University of Minnesota team shows T cells can be engineered to migrate more effectively inside tumor microenvironments, raising hopes of reproducing the remarkable outcomes seen for certain hematological cancer patient subsets in broader populations and indications.

T cells have been key to two promising families of cancer immunotherapies, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells and immune checkpoint inhibitors. After two new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals earlier this year for Bristol Myers Squibbs Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel) and Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel), there are now five marketed CAR T cell therapies for a range of hematological cancers, including large B-cell and mantle cell lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and multiple myeloma. These therapies are patient-derived T cells engineered to express a CAR that directs them to a specific tumor.

By contrast, immune checkpoint inhibitors function by targeting sets of natural immune system brakes, either on a tumor or directly on immune cells. The seven FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitors allow T cells to kill a growing list of hematological and solid tumors, and show impressive outcomes but in a fraction of patients.

Both approaches have been more effective in hematological cancers, and one obstacle in solid tumors is a literal barrier. T cells have to migrate through the complex, dense, and rigid tumor microenvironment, which can misdirect and slow down the immune cells.

The new paper, published in Nature Communications, shines a light on how T cells move within these physical features, informing new methods to rationally engineer the cells for more effective therapies.

T cell engineering has focused on cancer identification and targeting, said Paolo Provenzano, associate professor at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center and an author on the paper.

Were trying to add on a piece to that: they know what to kill, how do they get there? he said.

The researchers looked at pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a particularly fibrotic cancer known for limited cytotoxic T cell infiltration. Provenzano and colleagues had previously shown that antifibrotic therapies could improve immune cell infiltration in PDAC, but the group is now focused on rationally designing physical attributes of the T cells themselves.

Provenzanos team started by testing T cell migration on specialized artificial 2-D nanotextured platform that mimicked elements of the stromal extracellular matrix of tumors. T cells use lamellipodia and filopodia to sense biophysical cues and guide migration, and can switch between more flexible and stiffer phenotypes, to adapt to different conditions.

Theyre never all or one, theyre on this sliding scale, mediated by the muscle-like contractions of microtubules, Provenzano said.

The researchers found that while in a more amoebalike phenotype, cells had enhanced speed and motility, improving how quickly and effectively the cells could navigate the matrix. The researchers used the chemotherapeutic nocodazole, known to destabilize microtubules, to increase contractility and induce more amoebalike phenotypes, and another chemotherapeutic, paclitaxel, for the inverse. Cells with the nocodazole-induced amoebalike phenotypes could contract into smaller balls, and could shoot out protrusions faster, allowing for better motility than the paclitaxel-induced stiffer ones, and migrating between 50-100% faster in artificial 3-D matrices and mouse PDAC model tumor slices.

Thinking about personalized combination approaches to cancer treatment, this raised a red flag for Provenzano, as taxane agents are commonly used to treat solid tumors like breast and pancreatic cancer. The findings suggest certain chemotherapies might not be right if youre trying to elicit the bodys own immune response against these tumors, or mixing with a T cell therapy, he said.

The effect of chemotherapies on T cell microtubules is transient, so next the researchers explored a genetic engineering approach, using CRISPR technology to engineer T cells lacking GEF-H1, a gene they hypothesized mediates cell contractility. In a 3-D matrix, the knockout lines migrated 50% compared with controls.

Provenzano envisions different T cell engineering tweaks as part of the increasingly personalized approach to cancer treatment. Cells engineered to migrate faster have promise particularly in fibrotic tumor microenvironments, where T cells move about half as fast.

They get to sample less volume before they become exhausted, he said.

T cell exhaustion is a key limitation for CAR-T therapies and combining them with T cells that are physically optimized for faster migration could be synergistic in these patients.

If tumors are like unique obstacle courses for T cells, though, then different athletes or teams might be suited for different cancer types and patients.

Maybe we engineer five different T cells that navigate different obstacles, then mix them in cocktail and bring them back in. Thats what were thinking as our ultimate goal, he said.

Provenzanos lab is now using physics-based mathematical models to predict what the optimal cell would be.

We dont know the most physically optimized cell looks like yet, he said. But the paper represents just the first foray into the optimization process for just the first athlete. This will be what at least half my lab will be publishing on for the next decade.

There is active interest in the approach, but Provenzano said the work is not yet being commercialized. He hopes to find a partner with an ongoing T cell therapy clinical trial that could add an arm with his groups physically optimized cells, but trials are probably still years away.

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Gaining Exposure to the BioRevolution Megatrend – ETF Trends

Posted: June 6, 2021 at 1:56 am

By Jeremy Schwartz, CFA, Global Head of Research;Kara Marciscano, CFA, Associate, Research

If the 19th century was the century of chemistry and the 20th the century of physics, the 21st will be the century of biology. Jamie Metzl

Revolutionary advances across multiple fields including computer science, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, automation, chemistry, biology and engineering are creating previously unimaginable new opportunities to reengineer biological systems in ways that will revolutionize health care, agriculture, manufacturing, energy production, consumer services and data storage.

The revolution in our ability to read, understand, write and hack DNA, the genetic code of all life, will touch most aspects of how we live.

All organisms have their own genome, a complete set of DNA that contains instructions to develop and direct the activities of life.

Researchers can sequence DNA (determine the order and information carried in DNA) more rapidly and cost-effectively than ever before, which is driving transformations in health care and many other sectors of our global economy.

The development of Modernas COVID-19 vaccine is just one poignant exampleit took the company only two days to design the sequence for its mRNA vaccine!1

We believe the biology revolution is creating a historic investment opportunity equivalent to the industrial and internet revolutions, and theWisdomTree BioRevolution Fund (WDNA)may be uniquely positioned to capture the companies at the intersection of science, technology and engineering.

WDNA seeks to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of theWisdomTree BioRevolution Index (WTDNA), which provides targeted exposure to companies that we believe lead the transformations and advancements in genetics and biotechnology.

To construct the WisdomTree BioRevolution Index, we leverage data from leading technology futurist2Dr. Jamie Metzl as a third-party consultant. Recognized as a thought leader on the biology revolution, Dr. Metzl authored Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity, and he serves as a member of the World Health Organizations expert committee on human genome editing.

Considering proprietary data from Dr. Metzl, WTDNA identifies the key sectors and industry verticals that are expected to be most significantly transformed by advances in biological science and technology, as well as the companies that WisdomTree believes are most representative of this wave of innovation.

The technologies underpinning the biology revolution are connected and reinforce advancements across interdisciplinary fields. We have identified four key BioRevolution sectors, each including multiple subsectors of impact.

Human Health The genetics and biotechnology revolutions are most often associated with health care because many of the most high-profile preliminary applications are health care related. The quantity and quality of these applications will increase significantly as our health care systems transition from generalized medicine based on population averages to personalized, or precision, health care based on each persons individual biology. When the amount of data collected on the human genome reaches critical mass, our system will transition to a predictive and preventive health care system that will help us live healthier and longer lives.

Although health care is the most mature market to date, we expect other sectors to catch up.

Agriculture & Food Technologies will supercharge the selective breeding process to accomplish in months or a few years what previously might have taken centuries or millennia. Pest resistance, yield and variety can be enhanced significantly for staple crops, which can also be engineered to significantly increase photosynthesis to slow climate change. Domesticated animals can be engineered to increase disease resistance, productivity and product quality through marker-assisted selective breeding targeting specific desired outcomes.

Materials Chemicals & Energy The sourcing of industrial inputs for manufacturing is another area ripe for transformation. As the human population grows toward an estimated 10 billion people by mid-century, current resource extraction models will not be sustainable. The tools of the genetics and biotechnology revolutions, however, are making it possible to create materials at scale by manipulating genetic code rather than extracting them from nature. Instead of making plastic from petroleum and fragrances from flowers, for example, we can produce both through the genetic engineering of yeast and other microbes.

Biological Machines & Interfaces Connection and communication between the biology of humans and computers, including the use of DNA for computing and storage, is increasing the potential to extract, store and process data from individuals.

WTDNA currently holds approximately 80% of its weight within the Human Health sector. Over time, we expect the maturation of Agriculture & Food as well as Materials, Chemicals & Energy to drive their increased representation in WTDNA.

Although the general direction and accelerating pace of this revolution are nearly certain, the time horizons for how each specific application will play out will vary. Our approach targets dynamic companies deploying revolutionary technologies both in and outside of health care, and it invests in a wide range of 115 companies across the BioRevolution impact spectrum to reduce single-stock concentration risk.

We believe the diverse portfolio of companies captured in WDNA is the best way for investors to gain exposure to the biology revolution that we expect to fundamentally transform our world and lives over the coming years.

Originally published by WisdomTree, 6/3/21

1As of 5/25/21, WTDNA held 0.6% of its weight in Moderna.2An individual who studies or predicts the future based on current trends in technology

Important Risks Related to this Article

There are risks associated with investing, including possible loss of principal. The Fund invests in BioRevolution companies, which are companies significantly transformed by advancements in genetics and biotechnology. BioRevolution companies face intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence. These companies may be adversely affected by the loss or impairment of intellectual property rights and other proprietary information or changes in government regulations or policies. Additionally, BioRevolution companies may be subject to risks associated with genetic analysis. The Fund invests in the securities included in, or representative of, its Index regardless of their investment merit, and the Fund does not attempt to outperform its Index or take defensive positions in declining markets. The composition of the Index is governed by an Index Committee, and the Index may not perform as intended. Please read the Funds prospectus for specific details regarding the Funds risk profile.

U.S. investors only: Clickhereto obtain a WisdomTree ETF prospectus which contains investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other information; read and consider carefully before investing.

There are risks involved with investing, including possible loss of principal. Foreign investing involves currency, political and economic risk. Funds focusing on a single country, sector and/or funds that emphasize investments in smaller companies may experience greater price volatility. Investments in emerging markets, currency, fixed income and alternative investments include additional risks. Please see prospectus for discussion of risks.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. This material contains the opinions of the author, which are subject to change, and should not to be considered or interpreted as a recommendation to participate in any particular trading strategy, or deemed to be an offer or sale of any investment product and it should not be relied on as such. There is no guarantee that any strategies discussed will work under all market conditions. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. This material should not be relied upon as research or investment advice regarding any security in particular. The user of this information assumes the entire risk of any use made of the information provided herein. Neither WisdomTree nor its affiliates, nor Foreside Fund Services, LLC, or its affiliates provide tax or legal advice. Investors seeking tax or legal advice should consult their tax or legal advisor. Unless expressly stated otherwise the opinions, interpretations or findings expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of WisdomTree or any of its affiliates.

The MSCI information may only be used for your internal use, may not be reproduced or re-disseminated in any form and may not be used as a basis for or component of any financial instruments or products or indexes. None of the MSCI information is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. Historical data and analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance analysis, forecast or prediction. The MSCI information is provided on an as is basis and the user of this information assumes the entire risk of any use made of this information. MSCI, each of its affiliates and each entity involved in compiling, computing or creating any MSCI information (collectively, the MSCI Parties) expressly disclaims all warranties. With respect to this information, in no event shall any MSCI Party have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, punitive, consequential (including loss profits) or any other damages (www.msci.com)

Jonathan Steinberg, Jeremy Schwartz, Rick Harper, Christopher Gannatti, Bradley Krom, Tripp Zimmerman, Michael Barrer, Anita Rausch, Kevin Flanagan, Brendan Loftus, Joseph Tenaglia, Jeff Weniger, Matt Wagner, Alejandro Saltiel, Ryan Krystopowicz, Kara Marciscano, Jianing Wu and Brian Manby are registered representatives of Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

WisdomTree Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC, in the U.S. only.

You cannot invest directly in an index.

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Genetically modified mosquitoes and Africa – SciDev.Net

Posted: June 6, 2021 at 1:56 am

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Episode 44

In Sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is a leading cause of death for children under five and with an estimated 220 million cases worldwide every year, malaria remains a public health crisis.

For some, genetically modified mosquitoes could be a game-changing tool in the fight against malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. But others say that genetic engineering threatens the delicate circle of life.

The World Health Organization has just released an updated version of its Guidance framework for testing of genetically modified mosquitoes. Our reporter Michael Kaloki finds out what genetically modified mosquitoes are, why guidance has been developed around this research, and what it all means for Africa.

Send us your questions from anywhere in the world text or voice message via WhatsApp to +254799042513.

Africa Science Focus, with Selly Amutabi.

This programme was funded by the European Journalism Centre, through the European Development Journalism Grants programme, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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