Category Archives: Genetics

Pink areas are bone and blue areas are cartilage in this head skeleton of a larval fish. Craig Albertson of UMass Amherst and a colleague report on experiments that looked at how a gaping behavior, a factor in the fish larvae's developmental environment that precedes bone formation, influences later development of cranio-facial bones. Credit: UMass Amherst

An unspoken frustration for evolutionary biologists over the past 100 years, says Craig Albertson at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is that genetics can only account for a small percentage of variation in the physical traits of organisms. Now he reports experimental results on how another factor, a "bizarre behavior" that is part of early cichlid fish larvae's developmental environment, influences later variation in their craniofacial bones.

Albertson has studied African cichlid fish for 20 years as a model system for exploring how biodiversity originates and is maintained, with a focus on genetic contributions to species differences. In a new series of experiments with former Ph.D. student Yinan Hu, now a postdoctoral fellow at Boston College, they examined a "vigorous gaping" behavior in larval fish that starts immediately after the cartilaginous lower jaw forms and before bone deposition begins. Results appear in the current early online issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

As Albertson explains, "We predicted that the baby fish are exercising their jaw muscles, which should impose forces on the bones they attach to, forces that might stimulate bone formation." Albertson and Hu observed that gaping frequency, which could reach as high as 200 per minute, varied by species "in a way that foreshadows differences in bone deposition around processes critical for the action of jaw opening."

Albertson, an evolutionary geneticist, says, "For over a hundred years, we've been taught that the ability of a system to evolve depends largely on the amount of genetic variation that exists for a trait. What is ignored, or not noted for most traits, is that less than 50 percent of genetic variation can typically be accounted for by genetics." He adds, "Variation in skull shape is highly heritable, so why can we only find genetic variability that accounts for such a small amount of variability in bone development? In my lab we have shifted from elaborating our genetic models to looking more closely at the interaction between genetics and the environment."

How the environment influences development is known as epigenetics in its original and broadest meaning, Albertson points out. Coined in the 1940s to mean anything not encoded in the nucleotide sequence, it has narrowed to refer to how the 3D structure of the DNA molecule is modified, he notes. "That meaning is true, but it isn't the only one. We're returning to the original definition."

In this sense, gaping is part of "a very dynamic developmental environment," Albertson notes. "Bones are not forming in static lumps of tissue. Rather, they are developing as part of, and perhaps in response to, a highly complex and dynamic system." The fact that species differ in gaping rate led the researchers to test the idea that differences in bone development could be accounted for by variation in this behavior. "We performed experiments to see if we could slow the rate in fast-gaping species and speed it up in slow-gaping species, and to see if this behavioral manipulation could influence bone development in predictable ways."

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Not only did these experiments work, but the magnitude of difference in skeletal morphology induced by these simple shifts in behavior was similar to those predicted to be caused by genetic factors. Albertson says, "What I find really exciting is that in 15 years of manipulating the genetics of craniofacial bone development we can account for up to 20 percent of the variability, so it's modest. When we manipulate gaping behavior, we can influence developmental variability by about 15 percent, which is comparable, almost equal to the genetic response."

The geneticist adds, "When I give talks, this is what surprises colleagues the most, that the environmental effect is on par with the genetic effect, and that it is not systemic but highly specific to important bones involved in fish feeding."

Alberston says this behavior makes sense because "Nature is all about efficiency. Fine-tuning an adaptive response to a particular niche increases the chances of survival. Sometimes longer bones are better, and one way to get there is to kick-start the bone developmental program. This gaping behavior precedes bone formation, so it may represent a way to increase efficiency by setting an animal on the trajectory toward an adaptive phenotype earlier."

He adds, "This is just the beginning. Our field has been entrenched in a gene-centered view of evolution for nearly a century. My hope is that this study adds to a growing body of literature that shows there are other important sources of variation. I hope we can expand the paradigm to consider the environmental context where development takes place, because the effects are likely greater and more widespread than we'd predict."

The next step for his lab will be to figure out how environmental stimuli influence development, Albertson explains. "We now need to understand how bone cells sense and respond to their mechanical environment. What are the molecules that enable this mechano-sensing?"

To this end, the researchers demonstrated that mechanical-load-induced shifts in skeletal development are associated with differences in expression of the ptch1 gene, implicated previously in mediating between-species skeletal shap differences. "That the same molecule is involved in mechano-sensing within species and genetic divergence between species is very cool as it's consistent with evolutionary theory," Albertson says.

The idea is that when an animal population is exposed to a new environment, certain molecules will enable them to respond by conforming their bodies to meet new challenges. If the new environment is stable, natural selection should favor genetic mutations in these molecules that fix the original, transient response. This theory establishes a framework for the initial steps in species divergence. "We think that we now have a molecular foothold into this process," Albertson explains. "These are exciting times."

Explore further: A mechanism of how biodiversity arises

More information: Baby fish working out: An epigenetic source of adaptive variation in the cichlid jaw, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or .1098/rspb.2017.1018

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Evolutionary biologists identify non-genetic source of species ... - Phys.Org

What happened

Shares of Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN), a company focused on genetic testing, rose more than 26% in June, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence.

Investors can credit the gains to a trio of positive announcements.

First, Myriad announced results from a 2,000-patient study using its myRisk Hereditary cancertest. Data from the study showed that 50% of breast cancer mutationsare missed with current testing guidelines and that 34% of these mutations were notpredicted by family history. This data helped to demonstrate the clinical advantages of the using company's test and could help to spur demand.

Image source: Getty Images.

Second, Myriad said that 17 health insurance plans have decided to cover the company's EndoPredict breast cancer test. Those 17 plans represent more than 35 million lives and bring the company's private pay coverage total up to109 million lives.

Finally, the company reported clinical results from its phase 3 OlympiAD trial with partner AstraZeneca. Data from the trial showed that Myriad's BRACAnalysis CDx companion test helped to identify patients with BRCA-mutated HER2-metastatic breast cancer. Physicians then used that identification to treat patients with either AstraZeneca's drug olaparib or standard chemotherapy. The data showed that using olaparib led to a meaningfulgain in progression-freesurvival. Myriad plans on using the data to seek FDA approval for this new test, which, if approved, could triple its addressable market.

Myriad's stock continues to climb back from the drubbing that it took last year. That beating was caused by falling profits due to pricing pressure in the company's corehereditary cancer testing business. Given the declines, it is easy to understand why the company is putting an emphasis on its other fast-growing testing products.

In spite of the advances, Wall Street doesn't have a lot of hope for this company's long-term profit growth potential. In fact, current estimates call for Myriad's profits to decline by more than 7% annually over the next five years. For that reason, I think that investors would probably be best served by looking elsewhere for investment opportunities.

Brian Feroldi has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Why Myriad Genetics Stock Rocketed 26.3% Higher in June -- The ... - Motley Fool

For one week this summer, students from local high schools came together to study genetics in Project GENES, and even take a look at their own genes.

The project, supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, involves students from Gray Stone Day School, Independence High School and Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology in hands-on activities, labs and field trips involving DNA.

These students recently met for a residential camp at Pfeiffer University, where biology professors Dane Fisher and Laura Reichenberg guided them through genetics investigations.

Our goal is to do STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] outreach to high school students, with a focus on students underrepresented in science, Reichenberg said. We collaborate with their high school science teachers and the teachers recruit students each year.

The students recruited take part in Project GENES for one year. Fisher and Reichenberg visit their high schools for DNA modules that increase in complexity, then the students come together for the summer camp, where they put in practice what they have learned.

Theyre basically isolating their own DNA. They get to amplify one of their own genes, Reichenberg said.

Students run tests on their PTC gene, a gene that determines a persons ability or inability to taste a specific flavor. Students then get the chance to try to taste the flavor, comparing those results with their lab work.

This year, students attending the camp took a field trip to the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, where they looked at samples under microscopes and tested them for antimicrobial properties.

According to Reichenberg, several students who attended the Project GENES camps in previous years have since graduated and gone on to STEM careers.

The former Oakboro Elementary is scheduled to open in August as Oakboro Choice STEMSchool for kindergarten through eighth grade.

Marina Shankle is a freelance contributor for The Stanly News &Press.

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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GENES: High school students participate in genetics camp - Stanly News & Press

With herd averages approaching 40,000 lb of milk per cow and the single lactation record nearly double that, it begs the question: Are we approaching the genetic limits of milk production.

In a word: No, say Kent Weigel, a geneticist with the University of Wisconsin and Chad Dechow, a geneticist with Pennsylvania State University.

We really arent, says Weigel. The same question was asked 40 years ago when Beecher Arlinda Ellen produced 55,561 lb of milk in a 365-day lactation. That record wasnt broken for 19 years. But then, the record toppledagain and again and again. Last year, Ever-Green-View My Gold-ET, set a new single lactation milk production record with 77,480 lb in 365 days. In percentage terms, My Gold out-did Ellen by nearly 40%!

I think we have a little way to go before we reach the limit, says Dechow. If you look at the Predicted Transmitting Ability for milk on these record cows, theyre just slightly above average.

The other way to look at, says Weigel, is to consider feed intake as a multiple of the maintenance requirement. In the 1980 and 1990s, top cows were producing maybe five times their body maintenance levels. We didnt have any cows at 6 or 7X maintenance; now we do, he says.

So theres no evidence were hitting a limit, but at some time, we might simply reach the physical capacity of the udder, I guess.

To me, it more a question of cost, says Weigel. Is the extra pound of milk worth the cost of producing it, and is it my best strategy for profitability? If I have to spend 99 to get $1 back, is it worth it? Is increasing production per cow the lowest hanging fruit on my farm?

Selecting for larger cows, with bigger frames and more rumen capacity, is not the answer, say both Weigel and Dechow. Larger is not more efficient; larger is actually less efficient, says Dechow. We actually need smaller cows to be more efficient at current levels of milk production.

Look at Jerseys. Some Jerseys are making 40,000 lb of milk, and they dont have nearly the size and scale of Holsteins.

Health traits are becoming a larger proportion of selection indexes, which is a good thing. Unhealthy cows simply burn through calories to power their immune system. Healthy cows produce more, says Weigel

A bigger issue might be that farmers are placing less urgency on reproduction than they were a decade ago, says Dechow. Many herds are now reliant on reproductive hormone protocols to get cows bred. But if those tools are ever lost, it could become a problem.

Inbreeding is also a concern, and it continues to increase. Bull studs are doing a good job of weeding out detrimental genetic recessives. The real issue, says Dechow, is that the industry is likely weeding out just the worst recessive genes with obvious problems. The ones that we dont see as major recessives may be causing more subtle problems, he says.

Still, both Weigel and Dechow say industry selection indexes do a pretty good job of balancing production, health traits and conformation. While every herd doesnt need a customized index, the geneticists say each dairy owner should think about what he or she is trying to accomplish with the genetics they buy. If there are a diversity of goals, there will be diversity of selection and inbreeding wont be as big of a concern, says Weigel.

Genetics isnt really the issue limiting production and efficiency, he says. The limiting factors in most herds are cow comfort and herd management.

Most herds are doing 70% to 80% of things right, and are getting good production. But if they can get 99% right, wow! Thats when you see production jump.

Note: This story appears in the July 2017 issue of Dairy Herd Management.

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Is There a Genetic Limit to Milk Production? - Dairy Herd Management

VOL. 132 | NO. 135 | Monday, July 10, 2017

A pair of scientists in Memphis is using almost $2 million in grant money to make improvements to an online database and open-source software system called GeneNetwork, used by researchers to study genetic differences and evaluate disease risk.

Drs. Robert Williams and Saunak Sen, both part of the faculty at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, won a grant from the National Institutes of Health for the project. GeneNetwork was launched in 2001 as part of a NIH Human Brain Project grant to UTHSC and was one of the first websites designed for gene mapping.

Williams, who chairs the Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics at UTHSC, said the grant money will be used to support major upgrades for the software infrastructure for gene mapping and analysis for the system. One of the systems main uses, he said, is being able to predict more accurate health outcomes from genetic and environmental data.

The system itself is like a combination of Microsofts popular Excel spreadsheet software paired with large amounts of financial data. Except in this case, its biological rather than financial data, combined with a sophisticated spreadsheet that allows users to perform their analyses.

Those users include undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students. The biggest slice of users is scientists, Williams said, who are interested in understanding the relationship between genetic differences and health status.

The grant has four major aims that will be stretched out over four years, Williams said. The first is to make this more useful to a larger community of users. Getting data in and out of GeneNetwork is quite a bit of work, so were going to be building some software that allows easier data entry into GeneNetwork.

The team at UTHSC which is where the GeneNetwork hub exists also wants to make some statistical improvements to the system. Theyll also be developing new analytical methods as well as tools so that the system is accessible not only to students and scientists but also professional statisticians, computer scientists and users at big pharmaceutical companies who Williams said need a different type of interface than what exists now.

The team supporting GeneNetwork actually extends beyond Memphis, spanning the globe, in fact. Other key members include Dr. Pjotr Prins, a computer programmer based in the Netherlands whos responsible for the software architecture. Dr. Karl Broman, a statistical geneticist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is also contributing to the project. And at UTHSC, Dr. Yan Cui, a computational biologist in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, is also working on the project.

According to Dr. Sen, GeneNetwork will facilitate reproducible research because of the way it gives researchers open access to both the data and the software code used to process it. Reproducibility, he said, is essential to the scientific method, and were proud to be part of the open science movement.

The second generation of the service, called GeneNetwork 2, can be accessed at http://gn2.genenetwork.org/.

There are exponentially growing databases on humans and mice and rats and plants, Williams said. And its really difficult to handle all those huge data sets. So what we need are online tools for analyzing and integrating those data sets, and GeneNetwork is a tool for doing just that.

It provides access to a lot of data sets and the genotypes of subjects, and it allows you to analyze what the relationship is between genetic differences and outcome measurements. Like, how much do you weigh, are you likely to have diabetes, how long will you live, things like that.

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Memphis Researchers Planning Big Upgrades to Online Genetics Database - Memphis Daily News

In genetics, a mosaic (or mosaicism) means the presence of two different genotypes in an individual which developed from a single fertilized egg. As a result, the individual has two or more genetically different cell lines derived from a single zygote.[1]

Mosaicism may result from:

The phenomenon was discovered by Curt Stern. In 1936, he demonstrated that recombination, normal in meiosis, can also take place in mitosis.[2] When it does, it results in somatic (body) mosaics. These are organisms which contain two or more genetically distinct types of tissue.[3]

A genetic chimera is an organism composed of two or more sets of genetically distinct cells. Dispermic chimeras happen when two fertilized eggs fuse together. Mosaics are a different kind of chimerism: they originate from a single fertilized egg.

This is easiest to see with eye colours. When eye colours vary between the two eyes, or within one or both eyes, the condition is called heterochromia iridis (= 'different coloured iris'). It can have many different causes, both genetic and accidental. For example, David Bowie had the appearance of different eye colours due to an injury that caused one pupil to be permanently dilated.

On this page, only genetic mosaicism is discussed.

The most common cause of mosaicism in mammalian females is X-inactivation. Females have two X chromosomes (and males have only one). The two X chromosomes in a female are rarely identical. They have the same genes, but at some loci (positions) they may have different alleles (versions of the same gene).

In the early embryo, each cell independently and randomly inactivates one copy of the X chromosome.[4] This inactivation lasts the lifetime of the cell, and all the descendants of the cell inactivate that same chromosome.

This phenomenon shows in the colouration of calico cats and tortoiseshell cats. These females are heterozygous for the X-linked colour genes: the genes for their coat colours are carried on the X chromosome. X-inactivation causes groups of cells to carry either one or the other X-chromosome in an active state.[5]

X-inactivation is reversed in the female germline, so that all egg cells contain an active X chromosome.

Mosaicism refers to differences in the genotype of various cell populations in the same individual, but X-inactivation is an epigenetic change, a switching off of genes on one chromosome. It is not a change in the genotype.[6] Descendent cells of the embryo carry the same X-inactivation as the original cells. This may give rise to mild symptoms in female 'carriers' of X-linked genetic disorders.[7]

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Mosaic (genetics) - Simple English Wikipedia, the free ...

Family photo provided by Katie Rosenbaum via AP

WASHINGTON Colon cancer. Uterine cancer. Pancreatic cancer. Whatever the tumor, the more gene mutations lurking inside, the better chance your immune system has to fight back.

Thats the premise behind the recent approval of a landmark drug, the first cancer therapy ever cleared based on a tumors genetics instead of the body part it struck first. Now thousands of patients with worsening cancer despite standard treatment can try this immunotherapy as long as genetic testing of the tumor shows theyre a candidate.

Its like having a lottery ticket, said Johns Hopkins oncologist Dr. Dung Le, who helped prove the new use for the immunotherapy Keytruda. Weve got to figure out how to find these patients, because its such a great opportunity for them.

Today, doctors diagnose tumors by where they originate breast cancer in the breast, colon cancer in the colon and use therapies specifically tested for that organ. In contrast, the Food and Drug Administration labeled Keytruda the first tissue-agnostic treatment, for adults and children.

The reason: Seemingly unrelated cancers occasionally carry a common genetic flaw called a mismatch repair defect. Despite small studies, FDA found the evidence convincing that for a subset of patients, that flaw can make solid tumors susceptible to immunotherapy doctors otherwise wouldnt have tried.

We thought these would be the hardest tumors to treat. But its like an Achilles heel, said Hopkins cancer geneticist Bert Vogelstein.

And last month FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told a Senate subcommittee his agency will simplify drug development for diseases that all have a similar genetic fingerprint even if they have a slightly different clinical expression.

Its too early to know if whats being dubbed precision immunotherapy will have lasting benefits, but heres a look at the science.

WHOS A CANDIDATE?

Hopkins estimates about 4 percent of cancers are mismatch repair-deficient, potentially adding up to 60,000 patients a year. Widely available tests that cost $300 to $600 can tell whos eligible. The FDA said the flaw is more common in colon, endometrial and gastrointestinal cancers but occasionally occurs in a list of others.

Say, have I been tested for this?' is Les advice for patients.

MUTATIONS AND MORE MUTATIONS

Most tumors bear 50 or so mutations in various genes, Vogelstein said. Melanomas and lung cancers, spurred by sunlight and tobacco smoke, may have twice as many. But tumors with a mismatch repair defect can harbor 1,500 mutations.

Why? When DNA copies itself, sometimes the strands pair up wrong to leave a typo a mismatch. Normally the body spell checks and repairs those typos. Without that proofreading, mutations build up, not necessarily the kind that trigger cancer but bystanders in a growing tumor.

THE PLOT THICKENS

Your immune system could be a potent cancer fighter except that too often, tumors shield themselves. Mercks Keytruda and other so-called checkpoint inhibitors can block one of those shields, allowing immune cells to recognize a tumor as a foreign invader and attack. Until now, those immunotherapies were approved only for a few select cancers Keytruda hit the market for melanoma in 2014 and they work incredibly well for some patients but fail in many others. Learning whos a good candidate is critical for drugs that can cost $150,000 a year and sometimes cause serious side effects.

In 2012, Hopkins doctors testing various immunotherapies found the approach failed in all but one of 20 colon cancer patients. When perplexed oncologists told Vogelstein, a light bulb went off.

Sure enough, the one patient who fared well had a mismatch repair defect and a mind-boggling number of tumor mutations. The more mutations, the greater the chance that at least one produces a foreign-looking protein that is a beacon for immune cells, Vogelstein explained.

It was time to see if other kinds of cancer might respond, too.

WHATS THE DATA?

The strongest study, published in the journal Science, tested 86 such patients with a dozen different cancers, including some who had entered hospice. Half had their tumors at least shrink significantly, and 18 saw their cancer become undetectable.

Its not clear why the other half didnt respond. Researchers found a hint, in three patients, that new mutations might form that could resist treatment.

But after two years of Keytruda infusions, 11 of the complete responders have stopped the drug and remain cancer-free for a median of eight months and counting.

Catherine Katie Rosenbaum, 67, is one of those successes. The retired teacher had her uterus removed when endometrial cancer first struck, but five years later tumors returned, scattered through her pelvis and colon. She tried treatment after treatment until in 2014, her doctor urged the Hopkins study.

Rosenbaum took a train from Richmond, Virginia, to Baltimore for infusions every two weeks and then, after some fatigue and diarrhea side effects, once a month. Then the side effects eased and her tumors started disappearing. A year into the study she was well enough to swim a mile for a Swim Across America cancer fundraiser.

Nothing else had worked, so I guess we could say it was a last hope, said Rosenbaum, who now wants other patients to know about the option.

___

This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Getting tumors tested for genetics is the latest theory to help drugs target cancer - The Denver Post

An announcement is expected on Thursday, and the companies hope to complete the transaction by the end of the year. Ambry Genetics declined to comment.

The Japanese government is helping to drive the diversification efforts. A state-backed investment fund, the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, is teaming up with Konica Minolta in the Ambry acquisition. According to the people familiar with the deal, Konica Minolta would take a 60 percent share in Ambry, with the rest to be acquired by the fund.

Ambry, which is privately held, would retain its current leadership, these people said. The management team includes the company founder and chairman, Charles L. M. Dunlop, who has said his own experience with prostate cancer now in remission influenced his decision to make public anonymized information from Ambrys database.

Pooling data from many people is considered crucial to finding genetic elements that contribute to illnesses.

For Konica Minolta, the acquisition would confirm the acceleration of efforts to diversify beyond photocopiers and printers, areas where revenue and profit have been shrinking.

The Japanese company has identified health care, and cancer screening in particular, as a possible mainstay of business. It has been developing its own cancer-detecting technology using light-emitting nanoparticles to mark proteins that are drawn to cancer cells.

Other Japanese businesses have tried similar expansions. Fujifilm, for instance which, like Konica Minolta, built a name decades ago in photography has established a profitable health care and cosmetics division, helping it survive the end of the analog film era.

Other Japanese groups health care ventures have been less successful, however.

Follow Jonathan Soble on Twitter @jonathan_soble.

Chad Bray contributed reporting from London.

A version of this article appears in print on July 6, 2017, on Page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: Konica Minolta Nears Genetics Deal.

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Konica Minolta, With Eye on Health Care, Nears Deal for US Genetics Firm - New York Times

Smart technology is a real game changer in healthcare sector. Tony Mira, President and CEO at Anesthesia Business Consultants and also CEO at Ajuba International LLC, shares his views with ETHealthworld about the impact of technological innovations and more precisely the scope of genetic enhancements in healthcare. Edited excerpts.

Please share your views on the role of quality in evidence-based healthcare?

Healthcare today is evolving into a more technologically driven industry with rapid innovations and change, both planned and unplanned. As our client base grows, so does the level of analytics we can utilize to aid in treatment strategies and the volume of data available to clients to monitor their own level of care. Quality care which is accessible and affordable is our topmost priority. Integration of applicable technology into our policies and procedures, along with the appointment and training of dynamic professionals, is crucial for treating and diagnosing patients. A satisfied patient becomes a repeat client. Streamlining processes, reducing errors and delays, as well as working to ensure proper treatment that can be delivered with the necessary reliable output, adds to the credibility of our healthcare. Only when you can demonstrate a strong level of excellence, can the quality care aspect be respected and promoted to the next levels.

How has smart technology transformed patient-based healthcare and kindly please throw light on the future disruptions which will bring about the next revolution in this sector?

Smart technology is a real advantage for our healthcare sector. Modern diagnostics and clinical processes are enhanced with modern technology from inception through diagnosing, error correction and final output. Digital solutions and cloud-based technology allow us to serve patients better. Telemedicine is also an evolving revolution.

Another potential source of innovation is the technological revolution with sources such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, also facilitated by data analytics and cloud computing. The manual records of the past have been replaced in the cloud format with electronic health records (EHR). While treating patients and diagnosing them, along with ensuring proper medications and effective medical intervention, we benefit hugely from these digital records because of the clarity and the wide range of information they provide us, enhancing treatment and diagnosis.

The medical device industry is a huge business. What are the benefits which we are witnessing in terms of the transformational impact of medical technology coupled with the simplification of procedures while treating patients?

The medical device industry is a rapidly evolving billion dollar industry. New modern updated versions of medical devices utilize digital solutions like cloud, analytics and artificial intelligence. Complicated medical diagnosis and surgeries are able to be performed in a more simplified format. Genetics enhancements have the capability to produce a revolutionary effect in the field of medical sciences. With more app-based digital solutions, along with smart use of world class benchmarks of excellence, the healthcare industry keeps integrating innovation resulting in very credible patient care outcomes. We must be cognizant of the fact that advanced technology also comes with more cost associated to it. Patient care should be based on the quality of the outcome and also affordable at the end. We must implement technology that enhances the client outcome.

The recent cyber-attack on hospital systems proved to be very costly and also sends a clarion call demonstrating the need for security of our confidential systems. Your comments.

Cyber security is a very crucial aspect globally since the online space is vulnerable. Data threats and ransomware attacks have increased in frequency. We must continuously work to ensure that confidential patient data is not compromised and that level of commitment can prove to be very costly. Cyber security professionals need to be vigilant guarding the cyber space for an organisation. This specialization requires a specialized approach and experienced, skilled staff who can provide security to our systems and data. Hospitals must ensure that their electronic records and digital content are kept secure as their credibility will be impacted if such sensitive details are leaked or lost. In this age of digital content and IoT, we need to be vigilant to protect confidential data since prevention is key. More awareness through conferences, summits, workshops and training sessions, coupled with a system of checks and balances in order to learn from our past experiences, along with the implementation of current technology are extremely necessary at this point of time when such attacks are rampant and unpredictable.

In terms of treatment and diagnosis of terminal diseases, we are slowly evolving world class medical technology inching towards coming up with solutions to the most complicated health conditions. You take on this.

Genetics has solutions to some of most complicated problems in life sciences. Cancer and other dreaded complications can, with the research currently being conducted in genetics, have some very effective enhancements to care working toward a long-term cure to diseases. Medical diagnosis has evolved at a remarkable level where we can actually be proud of its innovations and path-breaking scientific experiments. Also in this age of technological boom, precision-based diagnostics, along with analytics and artificial intelligence, are creating a new wave in this sector where we are coming very close to understanding some of the unknown mysteries in biological sciences.

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Research in genetics promises a long-term cure to diseases : Tony Mira, CEO at Ajuba International LLC - ETHealthworld.com

July 07, 2017 07:00 ET | Source: NewLink Genetics Corporation

AMES, Iowa, July 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NewLink Genetics Corporation(NASDAQ:NLNK), today announced that it will release its second quarter 2017 financial results onFriday, July 28, 2017. The company has scheduled a conference call for8:30 AM ETthe same day to discuss the results and to give an update on its clinical and development activities.

NewLink Genetics'senior management team will host the conference call, which will be open to all listeners. There will also be a question and answer session following the prepared remarks.

Access to the live conference call is available by dialing (855) 469-0612 (U.S.) or (484) 756-4268 (international) five minutes prior to the start of the call. The conference call will be webcast live and a link can be accessed through theNewLink Geneticswebsite athttp://edge.media-server.com/m/p/mqa6eh65. A replay of the call will be available for two weeks from the date of the call and can be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056 (U.S.) or (404) 537-3406 (international) and using the passcode 51432155.

AboutNewLink Genetics Corporation

NewLink Geneticsis a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering, developing and commercializing novel immuno-oncology product candidates to improve the lives of patients with cancer.NewLink Genetics'IDO pathway inhibitors are designed to harness multiple components of the immune system to combat cancer.Indoximod is being evaluated in combination with treatment regimens including anti-PD-1 agents, cancer vaccines, and chemotherapy across multiple indications such as melanoma, prostate cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and pancreatic cancer. For more information, please visithttp://www.newlinkgenetics.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements ofNewLink Geneticsthat involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements, within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "target," "potential," "will," "could," "should," "seek" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements include any statements other than statements of historical fact. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements thatNewLink Geneticsmakes due to a number of important factors, including those risks discussed in "Risk Factors" and elsewhere inNewLink Genetics'Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year endedDecember 31, 2016and other reports filed with theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The forward-looking statements in this press release representNewLink' Genetics'views as of the date of this press release.NewLink Geneticsanticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. However, while it may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representingNewLink Genetics'views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

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NewLink Genetics to Host Its Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results Conference Call on July 28, 2017 - GlobeNewswire (press release)