Category Archives: Molecular Genetics

Illustration: Benjamin Currie/Gizmodo

There are people who argue, persuasively, that Hollywood films are worse than they used to be. Or that novels have turned inward, away from the form-breaking gestures of decades past. In fact, almost anything can be slotted into a narrative of declinethe planet, most obviously, but also (per our former president) toilets and refrigerators. One of the few arenas immune to this criticism is science: I doubt there are very many people nostalgic for the days before the theory of relativity or the invention of penicillin. Over the centuries, science has just kept racking up the wins. But which of these winslimiting ourselves to the last half-centurymattered most? What is the most important scientific development of the last 50 years? For this weeks Giz Asks, we reached out to a number of experts to find out.

Research Assistant, Social Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin

A bit more than 50 years ago, but I would say the most influential were the related developments of the Journal Impact Factor and the Science Citation Index (precursor of todays Web of Science) by Eugene Garfield and Irving H. Sher between 1955 and 1961.

These developments laid the groundwork for current regimes of governance and evaluation in academia. Their influence on the structure of science as we know it can hardly be overestimated: Today, it is difficult to imagine any funding, hiring, or publication decision that does not draw in some way either directly on the JIF or data from the Web of Science, or at least on some other form of quantitative assessment and/or large-scale literature database. Additionally, the way we engage with academic literature and hence how we learn about and build on research results has also fundamentally been shaped by those databases.

As such, they influence which other scientific developments were made possible in the last 50 years. Some groundbreaking discoveries might have only been possible under this regime of evaluation of the JIF and the SCI, because those projects might not have been funded under a different regimebut also, its possible that we missed out on some amazing developments because they did not (promise to) perform well in terms of quantitative assessment and were discarded early on. Current debates also highlight the perverse and negative effects of quantitative evaluation regimes that place such a premium on publications: goal displacement, gaming of metrics, and increased pressure to publish for early career researchers, to name just a few. So while those two developments are extremely influential, they are neither the only nor necessarily the best possible option for academic governance.

Professor, History of Science, Stanford University, whose research focuses on 20th century science, technology, and medicine

That would surely be the discovery and proof of global warming. Of course, pieces of that puzzle were figured out more than a century ago: John Tyndall in the 1850s, for example, showed that certain gases trap rays from the sun, keeping our atmosphere in the toasty zone. Svante Arrhenius in 1896 then showed that a hypothetical doubling of CO2, one of the main greenhouse gases, would cause a predictable amount of warmingwhich for him, in Sweden, was a good thing.

It wasnt until the late 1950s, however, that we had good measurements of the rate at which carbon was entering our air. A chemist by the name of Charles Keeling set up a monitoring station atop the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, and soon thereafter noticed a steady annual increase of atmospheric CO2. Keelings first measurements showed 315 parts per million and growing, at about 1.3 parts per million per year. Edward Teller, father of the H-bomb, in 1959 warned oil elites about a future of melting ice caps and Manhattan under water, and in 1979 the secret sect of scientists known as the Jasons confirmed the severity of the warming we could expect. A global scientific consensus on the reality of warming was achieved in 1990, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change produced its first report.

Today we live with atmospheric CO2 in excess of 420 parts per million, a number that is still surging every year. Ice core and sea sediment studies have shown that we now have more carbon in our air than at any time in the last 4 million years: the last time CO2 was this high, most of Florida was underwater and 80-foot sharks with 8-inch teeth roamed the oceans.

Coincident with this proof of warming has been the recognition that the history of the earth is a history of upheaval. Weve learned that every few million years Africa rams up against Europe at the Straits of Gibraltar, causing the Mediterranean to desiccatewhich is why there are canyons under every river feeding that sea. We know that the bursting of great glacial lakes created the Scablands of eastern Washington State, but also the channel that now divides France from Great Britain. We know that the moon was formed when a Mars-sized planet crashed into the earth and that the dinosaurs were killed by an Everest-sized meteor that slammed into the Yucatan some 66 million years ago, pulverizing billions of tons of rock and strewing iridium all over the globe. All of these things have been only recently proven. Science-wise, we are living an era of neo-geocatastrophism.

Two things are different about our current climate crisis, however.

First is the fact that humans are driving the disaster. The burning of fossil fuels is a crime against all life on earth, or at least those parts we care most about. Pine bark beetles now overwinter without freezing, giving rise to yellowed trees of death. Coral reefs dissolve, as the oceans acidify. Biodisasters will multiply as storms rip ever harder, and climate fires burn hotter and for longer. Organisms large and small will migrate to escape the heat, with unknown consequences. The paradox is that all these maladies are entirely preventable: we cannot predict the next gamma-ray burst or solar storm, but we certainly know enough to fix the current climate crisis.

The second novelty is the killer, however. For unlike death-dealing asteroids or gamma rays, there is a cabal of conniving corporations laboring to ensure the continued burning of fossil fuels. Compliant governments are co-conspirators in this crime against the planetalong with think tanks like the American Petroleum Institute and a dozen-odd other bill-to-shill institutes. This makes the climate crisis different from most previous catastrophes or epidemics. It is as if the malaria mosquito had lobbyists in Congress, or Covid had an army of attorneys. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the Pyrocene, the Age of Agnotology!

So forget the past fifty years: the discovery of this slow boil from oil could well become the most important scientific discovery in all of human history. What else even comes close?

G/O Media may get a commission

Professor and Chair, History of Science, The University of Oklahoma

Id say the best candidate is the set of ideas and techniques associated with sequencing genes and mapping genomes.

As with most revolutionary developments in science, the genetic sequencing and mapping revolution wasnt launched by a singular discovery; rather, a cluster of new ideas, tools, and techniques, all related to manipulating and mapping genetic material, emerged around the same time. These new ideas, tools, and techniques supported each other, enabling a cascade of continuing invention and discovery, laying the groundwork for feats such as the mapping of the human genome and the development of the CRISPR technique for genetic manipulation. Probably the most important of these foundational developments were those associated with recombinant DNA (which allow one to experiment with specific fragments of DNA), with PCR (the polymerase chain reaction, used to duplicate sections of DNA precisely, and in quantity), and with gene sequencing (used to determine the sequences of base pairs in a section of DNA, and thus to identify genes and locate them relative to one another). While each of these depended upon earlier ideas and techniques, they all took marked steps forward in the 1970s, laying the foundation for rapid growth in the ability to manipulate genetic material and to map genes within the larger genomes of individual organisms. The Human Genome Project, which officially ran from 1990-2003, invested enormous resources into this enterprise, spurring startling growth in the speed and accuracy of gene sequencing.

The ramifications of this cluster of developments, both intellectual and practical, have been enormous. One the practical side, the use of DNA evidence in criminal investigation (or in exonerating the wrongly convicted), is now routine, and the potential for precise, real-time genomic identification (and surveillance) is being realized at a startling pace. While gene therapies are still in their infancy, the potential they offer is tantalizing, and genomic medicine is growing rapidly. Pharmaceutical companies now request DNA samples from individual experimental subjects in clinical trials in order to correlate drug efficacy with aspects of their genomes. And, perhaps most important of all, the public health aspects of gene sequencing and mapping are stunning: the genome of the SARS-2 Coronavirus that causes Covid-19 was sequenced by the end of February 2020, within weeks of the realization that it could pose a serious public health threat, and whole-genome analysis of virus samples from around the world, over time, have enabled public health experts to map its spread and the emergence of variants in ways that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago. The unique aspects of the virus that make it so infectious were identified with startling speed, and work on an entirely new mode of vaccine development began, leading to the development, testing, and mass production of a new class of vaccines (mRNA vaccines) of remarkable efficacy, in unbelievably short timeless than a year from identification of the virus to approval and wide use. It is hard to overstate how amazing this novel form of vaccine development has been, and how large its potential is for future vaccines.

On the intellectual/cultural side, the collection of techniques for manipulating and mapping genetic material is challenging longstanding ideas about what is natural and about what makes us human. Organic, living things now can be plausibly described as technologies, and thats an unsettling thing. Aspects of our individual biological identities that once were givens are increasingly becoming choices, with implications we are just beginning to see. In addition, these same techniques are being deployed to reconstruct our understanding of evolutionary history, including our own evolution and dispersal across the globe, and perhaps nothing is more significant than changing how we understand ourselves and our history.

Professor, Science and Technology Studies, University College London, who researches the history of modern science and technology

My answer would be PCRPolymerase Chain Reaction. Invented by Kary Mullis at the Cetus Corporation in California in 1985, its as important to modern genetics and molecular biology as the triode and the transistor to modern electronics. Indeed it has the same role: its an amplifier. DNA can be multiplied. Its a DNA photocopier. Without it, especially once automated, much modern genetics would be extremely time-consuming, laborious handcraft, insanely expensive, and many of its applications would not be feasible. It enables sequencing and genetic fingerprinting, and we have it to thank for COVID tests and vaccine development. Plus, you can turn it into a fantastic song by adapting the lyrics to Sleaford Mods TCR. Singalong now: P! C! R! Polymerase! Chain! Reaction!

Read more:
What Is the Most Important Scientific Development of the Last 50 Years? - Gizmodo

Professor Michle Ramsay, Professor of Human Genetics and the director of the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience at Wits University. (Photo: Supplied / Spotlight)

As a child, South Africas Prof Michle Ramsay never dreamt of a future in academia or receiving an Oscar in Science. Instead, she was interested in climbing trees and pretending they were spaceships.

By the time she started her first year at the University of Stellenbosch, Ramsay had lived in four countries South Africa (Vereeniging), Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom. Her father was an engineer and the family followed him to where his work took him. It is these experiences that gave Ramsay valuable insight into the diversity of people and which shaped her worldview.

Today, Ramsay is a professor of human genetics and director of the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience at Wits University. Last year, Ramsay won the National Science and Technology Forum-South32 Lifetime Achievement Award for pioneering genomic medicine approaches in Africa, and for leading a transcontinental study to search for factors that contribute to diseases among people living on the African continent. The awards are dubbed the Oscars of Science.

Genetics: A passion is born

Well, I can definitely tell you, I never dreamt of being an academic, says Ramsay. That came much later. I did enjoy biology at school, but my real interest started when I got to university and had my first exposure to the field of genetics. After three lectures, I knew this was what I wanted to do.

At that stage, it didnt matter to me if it was human, plant or animal genetics. Inheritance patterns were so logical and interesting.

Although being an academic was never part of her plan, she now heads a research institute building knowledge on African genomic diversity and providing clues for genetic susceptibility to many diseases.

Ramsay says the best part of her journey has been growing alongside a new field of knowledge molecular genetics. When I started, so little was known about the human genome. It was unthinkable that we could look at a persons DNA and make a diagnosis for a disease or perform a prenatal diagnosis where we could diagnose babies in utero to see if they inherited a genetic disease from their parents.

I feel that I have been so fortunate in my career to have experienced all these changes and to work in a field that is in its heyday right now.

Ramsay says for years they have been working in labs on the human genome and now, with Covid-19, the field of genomics has become popular since everyone is talking about it.

Before joining a Zoom meeting with Spotlight, she was at another meeting where they are planning the third international summit on human genome editing. Genome editing involves changing an organisms DNA using new technologies.

There have been huge strides in the field and it is extraordinary that the scientific community is developing technologies to edit genomes. There are so many ethical issues for the field, in addition to the scientific challenges. We ask many questions, such as should it be done, is it safe, will there be equity in terms of access and affordability? [There are] so many things to think about, she says.

We felt like pioneers

Ramsay says that when she finished her postdoctoral fellowship in London in 1989, she had the option to stay there. But I wanted to come back to South Africa. I knew I could make a meaningful contribution in my country and Im happy that I came back, she says.

Ramsay was part of a team that set up a DNA diagnostic laboratory for genetic diseases in South Africa in 1980.

We felt like pioneers. The techniques were very new and we had to teach ourselves and learn as we went along, she says. A three-month student exchange visit to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel at that time was a huge help. It was an interesting time because we had to put everything together for our experiments, she says, adding that there were no kits and very little expertise. They had to develop reagents and plan experiments, putting all the components together.

One of the highlights of my career was setting up the molecular diagnostic laboratory to do the first prenatal diagnosis by DNA analysis in South Africa. We published this in 1984, not long after the methods had first been applied elsewhere in the world. It was good to know that we could do in South Africa what was at the forefront elsewhere in the world, she says.

Research for the future

Her interest has now turned to understanding interactions between genetic variations and the environment.

In terms of the health of a person, this is really a difficult thing to study because there are endless combinations, and trying to understand what is relevant and important is not so easy, she tells Spotlight.

Another area of research at our institute is to understand how people respond to drugs. For example, if there are 100 people with hypertension, some will respond to one drug and normalise their blood pressure, but for other people, that drug wont work and doctors need to try another drug. It is often a trial-and-error process. What do you start off with first? But, if you understand the genetics behind the drug response, that can often help a doctor find the right drug quicker for their individual patients, she says.

This is what we would like to be able to do in the future. We would be developing this field that we call precision medicine and it will be appropriate for Africans because we are doing the research here. It is about having enough information about a patient to help a doctor get to the right treatment at the right time in a much shorter period.

Covid-19 and the host

Another thing that interests her is the role of the genome of the host following SARS-CoV-2 infection. She explains that the person who becomes infected by the virus is the host. The viral genome is being studied, but few people are looking at the host genome.

What we do know is that when the virus infects the host, the response is different between people. The large majority of people dont even know that they are infected. Some may have a cough or an elevated temperature for a while and they go on with life. Then there are others who have to go to hospital. Some of them will get oxygen, take a week to recover, and go home. [Others] get progressively more ill, needing a ventilator, and some of them die.

Trying to understand why this happens is fascinating. We have started a project to explore the genetic contribution of the host and why some people are more likely to become severely ill, she says.

If you knew who is more likely to become severely ill, doctors could start treatment much sooner and have better outcomes. There are groups all over the world doing this research, but it hasnt been done on Africans (people living on the African continent). This is the focus of our work.

But of course, Africa is not homogenous. Its a very complex continent of people with different genetic backgrounds and different environments, she says, adding that because Africa is the cradle of humankind, there is more genetic variation in the people of Africa than anywhere else in the world, yet it is understudied.

Living through Covid-19

As with most people, the pandemic forced Ramsay to shift into a lower gear and slow down.

The things that are important to me during this time are the small things, like walking in my garden. I remember when we had the first hard lockdown, how I watched the strelitzias every day as the buds slowly opened up into magnificent flowers. This is amazingly uplifting, she says. I didnt do that before because I was always rushing off to work and rushing back again, often after dark. I think the pandemic has made me appreciate many joyful small things in life.

Among her reading stack is The Promised Land by former US president Barack Obama, which she picks up in between other books.

I find it a fascinating read. The things he had to overcome during his presidency, and the challenges that he faced. We all face challenges and its up to us how we deal with them. What I enjoy is working with people who are willing to learn and to think about making [a] positive change. It is exhausting when people only see the problems, she says.

The proud mother of two says her son just completed his PhD as a chemical engineer and her daughter is an intern medical doctor.

As a career woman and a mother, you always feel that you put so much into your work and professional life and that you may have neglected your kids from time to time. I am glad my children seem none the worse for it and I am happy that they have careers of their own ahead of them, she says, adding that she is also blessed with a husband who is a good listener and has always supported her.

Ramsay says she also took up knitting and is now making a Covid blanket.

The blanket will be a reminder of these challenging times for us in years to come and something to tell our grandchildren about one day. We are having Zoom meetings all the time and when Im not presenting or taking notes, I actually knit. I find I concentrate better when my hands are busy, she says.

The secret to knitting, Ramsay says, is to find big needles and beautiful wool colours. DM/MC

This article is part of Spotlights Women in Health series featuring the remarkable contributions of South African women to medicine and science.

This article was produced by Spotlight health journalism in the public interest.

View post:
Women in Health: Its all in the genes for Prof Michle Ramsay - Daily Maverick

A drug used to treat certain advanced breast cancers may offer a new treatment option for a deadly blood cancer known as myelofibrosis, new research from UVA Cancer Center suggests.

The drug, palbociclib, may be able to prevent the scarring of bone marrow that existing treatments for myelofibrosis cannot. This scarring disrupts the marrows production of blood cells and causes severe anemia that leaves patients weak and fatigued. The scarring also reduces the number of platelets in the blood, making clotting difficult, and often causes an enlarged spleen.

Current therapies only provide symptomatic relief without offering significant improvement of bone marrow fibrosis. So, there is a critical need to develop more effective therapy for myelofibrosis, said senior researcher Golam Mohi of the University of Virginia School of Medicines Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. We have identified CDK6, a regulator of cell cycle, as a new therapeutic target in myelofibrosis. We demonstrate that CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib, in combination with ruxolitinib, markedly inhibits myelofibrosis, suggesting this drug combination could be an effective therapeutic strategy against this devastating blood disorder.

Myelofibrosis is a form of leukemia. It occurs in approximately 1 to 1.5 of every 100,000 people, primarily those who are middle-aged or older. Patients with intermediate or high-risk cases typically survive only 16 to 35 months.

Existing treatments for myelofibrosis do not address the bone marrow scarring that is a hallmark of the disease. The drug ruxolitinib is used to relieve patients symptoms, but Mohis new research suggests that pairing the drug with palbociclib may make a far superior treatment.

Palbociclib, by itself, reduced bone marrow scarring in two different mouse models of myelofibrosis. It also decreased the abnormally high levels of white blood cells seen in myelofibrosis and shrank the mices enlarged spleens.

Combining the drug with ruxolitinib offered even more benefits, restoring the bone marrow and white blood cell counts to normal and dramatically reducing the size of the mices enlarged spleens.

Additional research is needed to determine if the findings will hold true in human patients, but Mohi and his team are hopeful. They note that palbociclib is known to quiet the activity of bone marrow in patients with metastatic breast cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of the body), and they hope there will be beneficial effects in patients with myelofibrosis.

A combinatorial therapeutic approach involving palbociclib and ruxolitinib will enable lowering the doses of each of the inhibitors and thus reducing toxicities while enhancing the therapeutic efficacy, they write in a new scientific paper outlining their findings.

New treatments for myelofibrosis are particularly needed because ruxolitinib treatment does not offer significant reduction in bone marrow fibrosis and often loses its effectiveness with prolonged use, the researchers note.

The findings from this study are very exciting, and they support the clinical investigation of palbociclib and ruxolitinib combination in patients with myelofibrosis, Mohi said.

Mohi and his team havepublished their findings in the journal Cancer Research. The research team consisted of Avik Dutta, Dipmoy Nath, Yue Yang, Bao T. Le and Golam Mohi.

The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health grants R01 HL095685, R01 HL149893 and R21 CA235472.

To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA, subscribe to theMaking of Medicineblog.

See the article here:
UVA Discovery Suggests Potential New Treatment for Deadly Blood Cancer - University of Virginia

MARION -A group of Ohio State University Marion faculty researchers were recently awarded a $156,000 federal grant from the National Institutes of Healths National Cancer Institute for research in the role of chromatin remodeling factors in DNA double strand break repair.

Assistant Professor of Molecular GeneticsDr. Ruben Petreaca, Associate Professor of Chemistry and BiochemistryDr Ryan Yoder, and Assistant Professor of Chemistry and BiochemistryDr. Renee Bouley are collaborating toward the goal of identifying molecular mechanisms that drive cancer, which if successful would make significant impact in the field of cancer research. The funds from the grant cover primarily undergraduate research salaries and materials between May 1, 2021, and April 30, 2023.

When considering the groups research, Petreaca shared that one challenge to understanding the genetic change in cancer cells is the complexity of the different processes that participate in DNA damage repair.

Errors in some of these repair processes cause accumulation of various forms of DNA damage that eventually leads to cellular transformation and cancer, said Petreaca.

Here we propose novel protein modeling and genetic analysis to understand the interactions between various repair complexes and determine the roles they play in promoting accurate repair, he added.

As a scientist and researcher, Petreaca boiled it down to two basic conceptsthe importance of grants to the discovery process and involving students in research.

It means we can keep doing science, said Petreaca. More importantly, this grant will be used exclusively to fund undergraduate research at Marion.

Yoder echoed Petreacas sentiment about the funding directly benefitting undergraduate research and added his thoughts on the unique aspect of collaboration between different departments and majors working toward a unified goal.

I think its important to stress the interdisciplinary nature of this work, said Yoder.We have faculty with three very different backgrounds (molecular genetics, biochemistry, molecular modeling) who are all bringing our own strengths to this effort.

That means our students who work on this project will be exposed to many different research methods and techniques, he added, which can only benefit them as they move forward in their educational journey.

Having the resources and backing of a tier 1 research university, while having the advantages of a small campus setting to enhance such a collaborative project is at the core of what Ohio State Marion is all about, Yoder shared.

The intimate setting of Ohio State Marion, along with (the resources available at) our Science & Engineering Building, Yoder said, allows for such interdisciplinary research to thrive and provide our students such opportunities to participate in cancer research.

According to Bouley, even before she officially began her tenure on campus, she began working on a project with Dr. Petreaca and got advice on purchasing start-up equipment.

I love how collaborative the science faculty are at Ohio State Marion, said Bouley.

It has been so helpful to team up with other faculty in different fields of expertise to tackle challenging problems such as understanding what causes cancer to develop, she said.

Much like Petreaca and Yoder, for Bouley the grant is about supplying their research materials and hiring bright and energetic young minds who will greatly benefit their future education and career by being involved in research on the undergraduate level.

This grant is currently supporting several undergraduate students and most importantly for my lab, Bouley said, research supplies to be able to conduct biochemistry experiments.

The recent Pelotonia fellow Lauren Frank is currently working on purifying proteins and modeling protein-protein interactions as part of this grant, she explained.

Lauren Frank is the campuss third Pelotonia Undergraduate Fellowship recipient in the past four years, demonstrating the campuss strong science programs and the level of faculty engagement with students in interdisciplinary research.

Excerpt from:
Marion scientists awarded grant to identify molecular mechanisms that drive cancer - Marion Star

University Relations

TheFulbright College of Arts and Sciencesat the U of A has named the 2021 winners of its annual teaching and research faculty awards. The recipients were each selected for their demonstrated excellence in these areas.

"Honoring our phenomenal and inspiring faculty members is so important, and each year selecting the honorees becomes more and more difficult as so many of our folks are doing such stellar and vital work to help our students succeed and to advance research in their respective fields," said Todd Shields, dean of Fulbright College.

"We could not be prouder to introduce our 2021 awardees, many of whom have been going above and beyond in their service and research for years," Shields added. "These folks consistently demonstrate the highest levels of dedication, professionalism and passion, which betters our college and the world beyond."

The college honors up to three outstanding teachers annually, and selection is based on a letter of nomination, teaching evaluations and documentation about the nominee's teaching activities.

The 2021 recipients include:

Douglas Adams, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology, whom his colleague and nominator Mindy S. Bradley describes as "a kind and devoted teacher" who "brings creativity and enthusiasm to the classroom." Adams regularly teaches the department's General Sociology course, helping hundreds of students each semester to stay "in the flow or zone, the cognitive area of focus where students are actively learning and engaged." Bradley said Adams is "always revising and trying new things" such as teaching strategies rooted in social psychology, and that he is often the first faculty member the department's students meet since he's so involved in recruitment, too. Department chair Shauna Morimoto added that Adams' "energy is infectious, while his compassion is enduring. His classroom presence, combined with his innovative teaching techniques and the application of his research to his teaching underscore his pedagogical excellence and enhance Fulbright College as an institution, as well as the lives of the many students he teaches."

Lorraine Brewer, instructor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, whom her colleague and nominator Francis Millet describes as unmatched in innovation and dedication to her students. For the past 44 years, Brewer has taught University Chemistry and multiple other courses. However, as Millet said, "University Chemistry is the most demanding and important course in our department since it provides the critical foundation of chemistry required for all our other courses. [It] is also the most difficult course to teach in our department because it has the largest number of students and the greatest variation in student backgrounds. [Brewer] usually teaches over 1,000 students a semester in different sections of over 200 each and has often taught in difficult environments including Barnhill Arena." Despite the challenges this might present in connecting with individual students, Brewer is known for doing exactly that, forming "a close relationship with each of her students" and excelling as an "outstanding mentor" to students and younger faculty alike.

Rhodora Vennarucci, assistant professor of classics in the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, whom her colleague and nominator Daniel Levine describes as spellbinding and impressive, adding that "her students' love of her teaching make me envious; her energy in encouraging student learning and research amaze me." Vennarucci teaches in a wide variety of areas, including classics, history, art history, archeology and Latin, as well as helps students succeed through mentoring, advising, study abroad opportunities and program building. Levine noted that Vennarucci's ability to "reach out to all of her students and encourage them to continue their studies with renewed vigor" ultimately "empowers her students," and "it is no exaggeration to say that she actually makes them stronger." Steven Bell, the department's chair, added that "even in a department blessed with many outstanding and award-winning teachers such as ours, professor Vennarucci stands out as a truly stellar figure in the art of teaching the comprehensive scope of [her] talents and activities documented is truly astonishing."

The honor is awarded to up to three outstanding researchers. Awardees are chosen based on a nomination letter, the nominee's research accomplishments documented in a one-page summary of his or her research outlining its importance, a list of 10 publications, supporting evidence of exceptional performance in research, his or her curriculum vitae and an evaluation by the departmental chairperson.

The 2021 recipients include:

Kevin Fitzpatrick, University Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology, whom his nominating colleagues describe as "an outstanding scholar" with a research record to match. As a researcher of community health, Fitzpatrick's scholarship is both "wide-ranging and intellectually rigorous." He has published three monographs, three edited volumes and over 50 peer-reviewed refereed articles and book chapters. Department chair Shauna Morimoto added that Fitzpatrick also secured $4 million in research funding and an additional $900,000 grant to build the Community Family Institute, which he directs. Morimoto said Fitzpatrick has "made prodigious contributions to the field of sociology, with extraordinary impact on scholarship and community. He is an exemplary researcher in the most classic sense, with an insatiable mission to understand the causes and correlates of contemporary social problems, with the knowledge that doing so is the only way to begin to address these issues. [He] is able to make a significant contribution to scholarly literature while simultaneously changing the day-to-day lives of the most vulnerable people in local communities - in terms of their access to food, housing, healthcare and social services."

Douglas Rhoads, University Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, whom his department chair and nominator David S. McNabb describes as "an accomplished academic researcher with a global reputation" who in 2020 alone published a co-edited book on genomics research in poultry science, published six refereed journal articles with an additional manuscript submitted, was awarded nearly $160,000 in new funding on top of the $500,000 of his existing funding as the PI and the $10 million in funds as a co-PI, and presented internationally. McNabb said Rhoads has been exhibiting this stellar level of research activity since joining the U of A in 1990 to bring molecular genetics research to the university. Rhoads also helped establish and directs the Cell and Molecular Biology Program and is "at the forefront of developing industry partnerships in research," McNabb said. Rhoads has also served as mentor to dozens of students at all collegiate levels as well as postdoctoral or visiting scientists, demonstrating "his commitment to training the next generation of scientists." These high-volume and high-profile research and training activities speak directly to the "distinguished quality of Dr. Rhoads' research," McNabb added.

Sean Teuton, professor in the Department of English, whom his nominating colleagues describe as someone they "are exceedingly fortunate to have on our faculty." Teuton is a foremost scholar in Native American studies and has published extensively in the field of Native American literature and Indigenous studies. "His three groundbreaking books and numerous articles have reshaped these fields among other tributes, renowned Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday deems Dr. Teuton's Native American Literature 'a compendium of the human condition,'" said his colleague, Susan Marren. Teuton is the author of Native American Literature: A Very Short Introduction; Reasoning Together: The Native Critics Collective (co-authored with the Native Critics Collective); and Red Land, Red Power: Grounding Knowledge in the American Indian Novel. William A. Quinn, chair of the Department of English, said Teuton's work "will influence how readers think about Native American literature, as well as how they think about Native American history, experiences and contributions to American society in general." With another manuscript under final revision and work on another book well underway, Quinn said Teuton "promises to continue to be exceptionally productive as an internationally recognized scholar."

This award recognizes a faculty member's exceptional contributions to the departmental or college advising program. Awardees are chosen based on a letter of recommendation from someone who is acquainted with the candidate's work as an advisor along with letters of support from colleagues and former students.

The 2021 recipient is:

Ron Warren, associate professor in the Department of Communication, whom his department chair and nominator Stephanie Schulte describes as "the most talented and dedicated adviser I have ever seen" who is "exceptional in his dedication, compassion, responsiveness, sensitivity to individual needs and mental flexibility" as well as "generous with his time and attention, and always ready to share his extensive institutional knowledge with students and colleagues." Schulte said Warren has served the department in numerous leadership and advising capacities. Some of these many roles include being faculty adviser for Lambda Pi Eta and Honors Program Advisor. He was also the department's first undergraduate director and helped revise the B.A. program. Warren has directed dozens of undergraduate honors theses, independent study research projects and Honors College Research grants, as well as directing or serving on more than 100 M.A. graduate thesis, dissertation, and comprehensive exam committees. He also helped the communication graduate program refocus on civic engagement, which received national acclaim. His students have found academic and media industry success, and frequently note how Warren helped them achieve these accomplishments through being so invested in "building up students and faculty, in helping them achieve their dreams."

This award is given to a Fulbright College graduate assistant in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the teaching mission of the college and university. Awardees are chosen based on a letter of nomination, a recommendation by the departmental chairperson, assessments of classroom visitations and other types of departmental review, his or her curriculum vitae, letters of support from faculty and peers as well as current and former students, a list of courses taught at the university and a summary of student evaluations for each course.

The 2021 recipient is:

Den Wamsley, in the Department of Psychological Science, who was nominated by her doctoral adviser, professor Denise R. Beike. Wamsley has served as Beike's support teaching assistant and lab manager, as well as supervised an undergraduate honors thesis under Beike's direction. "She has demonstrated excellence in every type of teaching: in the classroom, remotely, in the laboratory, of facts, of research, of writing. Her experience, drive and heart make her the best graduate student teacher in Fulbright College," Beike said. "Den works passionately to make material accessible and lively to students. She also structures her courses and assessments in a way that maximizes student learning. She is there for students, patiently and selflessly offering time to help them succeed. I can't imagine a graduate student teacher more worthy of this prestigious award."

Originally posted here:
Fulbright College Announces 2021 Annual Faculty Teaching and Research Awards - University of Arkansas Newswire

Children and adolescents who had mild to asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 were found to have robust antibody responses up to four months after infection, according to a study of 69 children tested at Duke Health.

The study, appearing in the journal JCI Insight, found that the children and adolescents who previously had COVID-19 developed antibody responses that were capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Further, these responses were comparable or superior to those observed in adults.

These findings are encouraging, especially because we cannot yet vaccinate children under the age of 12 against the virus, said co-lead author Jillian Hurst, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine. The study shows that children whove had mild infections or even those who did not have any symptoms, develop an immune response that will likely provide some protection against future infections.

The researchers -- including senior authors Genevieve Fouda, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine and Matthew Kelly, M.D., assistant professor in Pediatrics, and co-first author Carolina Garrido, Ph.D., of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute -- evaluated the SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses in 69 children and adolescents, with ages ranging from 2 months old to 21 years-old. The median age of participants was 11.5 years, and 51% were female.

The researchers measured antibody responses among children and adolescents with asymptomatic and mild symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and found that the antibody response did not differ based on the presence of symptoms, and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies remained detectable in the majority of participants up to four months after infection.

The researchers also compared the childrens immune responses to those of adults. They found that all children, regardless of age group, had equivalent or slightly higher levels of antibodies than adults at two months and four months after acute infection.

Most studies of the immune responses of children to SARS-CoV-2 have focused on patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19 or multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), or have assessed immunity only during acute infection, Fouda said. Our study provides important information that SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses, regardless of disease severity, may decline over time more slowly in children and adolescents.

Study authors said the findings suggest vaccinating young children against COVID-19 could also elicit a similar or greater degree of protection than that of adults.

Reference:Garrido C, Hurst JH, Lorang CG, et al. Asymptomatic or mild symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection elicits durable neutralizing antibody responses in children and adolescents. JCI Insight. 2021. doi:10.1172/jci.insight.150909

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Read more:
Children With Mild COVID-19 Have Robust Antibody Responses Months Later - Technology Networks

Jordan initiated the development of the Stem Cell Research Ethics Law and consequent regulations as a result of Dr Rana Dajanis genome-wide association studies on diabetes and cancer on stem cells on ethnic populations. However, the Jordanian-Palestinian-Syrian authority on the genetics of the Circassian and Chechen populations in the Hashemite Kingdom has also been making another kind of difference at the countrys Hashemite University. The go-getting scientist, who has been working as a full-time tenured professor there since 2019, is undoubtedly a leading light for her female students hoping to make it big in the medical field.

Dajani, an expert in molecular genetics, metabolic syndrome and induced pluripotent stem cells, worked as an Associate Professor at the Zarqa-based university for six years before her current position. A Biology graduate from the University of Jordan, Dajani has used problem-based learning and service learning as well as drama and art while teaching Biology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics to her undergraduate and graduate students. The trailblazer, who went on to earn a Ph.D. in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Iowa, has also worked as an Assistant Professor and Director for Centre of Studies at the Hashemite University, where she has held an impressive number of different duties too. Dajani, an advocate for the biological evolution theory in relation to the religion of Islam, has also been associated with Ammans Amman Academy and Philadelphia University.

From 2017-2018 the Fulbright scholar alumna, who was among seven to receive the inaugural IIE Global Changemaker Award, was a Rita E. Hauser Fellow, Visiting Professor at Harvard Universitys Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The following three years, she was the 2019-21 Zuzana Simoniova Cmelikova Visiting Scholar at the University of Richmonds Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Armed with an Eisenhower Fellowship too, Dajani additionally has visiting professor at Yale Universitys Yale Stem Cell Center and visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge and Jordans Stem Cell Therapy Center on her CV.

As well as being a higher education reform expert and scientist, Dajani is a mother of four and feminist. The genetics authority strongly believes in the education and empowerment of women. In addition to being the President of the Jordan Chapter for the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, which provides research training and networking opportunities for women scientists, she is an advisor for the UN Women Jordan Advisory Council. Dajani, a seasoned public speaker, is also the founder of the Three Circles of Alemat Mentoring programme for female scientists in the Arab world, which was formed in response to the low representation of women in academia and the challenges they face. The toolkit, which earned her the 2014 PEER Award, inspires women to create social networks to advance their professional life and boost their personal well-being, according to the website.

Dajani is also author of Five Scarves: Doing the ImpossibleIf We Can Reverse Cell Fate, Why Cant We Redefine Success? The book looks into how the hurdles women face in academia differ across varies across cultures, religions and disciplines. It also highlights how women have faced the challenges in various ways. Additionally, Dajani has written in Nature about education and females in the Arab world. The expert, who has also written for Science, also organised the first gender summit for the Arab world in 2017.

The barrier breaker, who wears many scarves and is president of the Society for Advancement of Science and Technology in the Arab World, can add social entrepreneur to her super impressive feats as well. She is the founder and director of We Love Reading, which was created to foster a love of reading in young children around in the region. The non-governmental organisation is based on holding read aloud sessions on a routine basis in a public space and has established multiple libraries across Jordan. The project that encourages refugee and Jordanian children to read for pleasure with their parents has earned Dajani many awards, including the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award Middle East, the Stars Award for Impact 2015, a WISE Award for Innovation in Education and the 2009 Arab World Social Innovator Award by Synergos.

Dajanis astounding career has earned her a plethora of other accolades too. In her homeland, she has received the Order of Al Hussein for Distinguished Contributions of the Second Class, granted to "those who have made distinguished contributions to society." She also earned the King Hussein Cancer Institute for Cancer and Biotechnology Award 2009, a place in the American embassys Women in Science Hall of Fame 2015 and the Jordan Star of Science in the Biology category. As well as all the the nods, whether local, regional and international, the super scientist has been mentioned on various female power lists, whether its in Arabian Business, CEO Middle East or Muslim Science.

View original post here:
Dr. Rana Dajani: One Of The World's Leading Muslim Female Scientists - About Her

Health & Welfare

Monday, 19 July 2021 Silvia Garca-Ballesteros, Ph.D. Beatriz Villanueva, Ph.D. Jess Fernndez, Ph.D. Juan Pablo Gutirrez, DVM Isabel Cervantes, DVM

Most selective breeding programs for shrimp focus on improving growth traits only, but as growth rate increases and production intensifies, other traits related to the quality and uniformity of the final product gain importance for both consumers and producers, including size uniformity.

Shrimp are graded and classified according to standards that are defined in high-quality marketing evaluations and are mainly determined by their physical characteristics and uniformity of size. In particular, shrimp are graded according to their size and count per unit of weight. Prices between size categories vary widely and a larger number of smaller shrimp per unit weight reduces their price, so increasing the consistency of size within a specific count range can improve profitability.

In addition, large variation in body size can cause competition among shrimp (dominance hierarchies), which negatively affects growth rate, mortality and feed efficiency, and increases the need for management practices such as size grading. Another indirect benefit of improving uniformity is the potential to improve resilience, which is defined as the ability of an animal to maintain performance in spite of environmental perturbations. For all these reasons, and given that weight is genetically highly correlated with size, uniformity of weight is a clear candidate trait to be included in shrimp breeding programs.

Weight uniformity depends on the sensitivity of an individual to macro- and micro-environmental factors. Macroenvironmental factors are measurable factors such as temperature, seasonality, diet and management, whereas microenvironmental factors are non-measurable animal-specific factors within a given macroenvironment. A necessary condition to increase weight uniformity is the existence of genetic variance for response to such microenvironmental factors, such that individuals with genotypes [complete set of genetic material] that make them less sensitive to environmental disturbances will have more homogeneous offspring and show less environmental within-family variance.

In aquaculture selective breeding programs, the breeding nucleus (in which selection is performed) is usually kept separate from the commercial population that is composed of individuals destined for sale in the market. In aquaculture, the macroenvironmental rearing conditions can differ greatly between the nucleus and the commercial population. Thus, if genotype-by-environment interactions exist, genetic improvement achieved in the nucleus may not be fully translated to the commercial population.

This article summarized and adapted from the original publication [Garca-Ballesteros, S. et al. 2021. Genetic parameters for uniformity of harvest weight in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). Genet Sel Evol 53, 26 (2021)] reports on a research study to estimate the genetic variance of body weight uniformity in a farmed population of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), and to investigate whether selecting for increased weight uniformity in the breeding nucleus leads to improvement of uniformity in the commercial population.

Influence of stressors on shrimp susceptibility to White Spot Disease, Part 1

The data used in this study were obtained from CAMANICA S.A., a Nicaragua-based company, carrying out a breeding program in shrimp with discrete generations and selection for shrimp body weight. Once animals reach the appropriate size, random samples of individuals are tagged, with half of them being individually tagged with eye-rings and assigned to the nucleus (N) population and the other half being tagged at the family level with elastomers and assigned to the commercial (C) population.

Within the nucleus, all families are reared in the same tank. However, in the commercial population, three to four ponds that are located in different geographical zones are used per generation, with each family equally represented in each pond. Environmental conditions differ greatly between the nucleus and the commercial populations. Thus, weight in the selection nucleus and weight in the commercial population are considered as two different traits.

The data used here are from three consecutive generations and 425 families. The total number of individuals with phenotypic records for body weight at harvest was 89,643, of which 51,346 belonged to the nucleus and 38,297 belonged to the commercial population. Harvest time was established by estimating the days required to reach an average weight of 15 grams in the nucleus. This time was set for both commercial (all ponds) and for the nucleus environments. However, for management reasons, recording the phenotypes of all shrimp can take a few days. Sex, year and pond were also recorded.

The resulting database had records for body weight on 51,346 shrimp from the selection nucleus and 38,297 shrimp from the commercial population. We used a double hierarchical generalized linear model [used in genetics studies to model quantitative traits (a measurable phenotype the observable characteristics or traits of an organism from genetic and environmental factors spread in magnitude in a population rather than none or all) with respect to molecular marker effects (molecules containing genetic information from a sample) to analyze weight uniformity in the two environments. Fixed effects included sex and year for the nucleus data and sex and year-pond combination for the commercial data. Environmental and additive genetic effects were included as random effects.

For detailed information on the study data, parameters evaluated, and analyses, refer to the original publication.

Although weight uniformity is a very relevant trait with the potential of being included in shrimp breeding programs, there is very little information on the existence of genetic variation for this trait. To our knowledge, ours is the first study that uses a double hierarchical generalized linear model to estimate genetic variance for body weight uniformity in shrimp and constitutes a first step to investigate the possibility of including this trait in the breeding goal. This is important since the weight uniformity evaluated here was individual sensitivity to microenvironmental disturbances.

Estimates of the additive genetic variance, heritability and genetic coefficient of residual variation for weight uniformity that were obtained for this L. vannamei population in the nucleus, in which selection takes place, were all different from 0, which indicates that genetic improvement for this trait is possible. In addition, the genetic correlation of weight uniformity between the nucleus and the commercial population was relatively high, which indicates that improvement obtained in the nucleus would be partially transmitted to the commercial population, with the economic benefits that this would entail.

Results showed that our estimates of the global heritability for body weight at harvest in N and C were within the range of those found in the literature for shrimp. More important is the fact that estimates of the additive genetic variance for uniformity of weight and for the residual heritability were also in the range of those described for shrimp, other aquaculture species and various terrestrial species. This indicates the existence of genetic variation in microenvironmental sensitivity among full-sib families [common parents], which implies that the phenotypes of offspring of different families will be differentially affected by the environment. Thus, our results show that the potential of genetic selection to improve weight uniformity in L. vannamei is similar to that for other species.

To evaluate the potential economic benefit of including weight uniformity in the breeding goal, correlations with other traits that are currently in the breeding goal, such as body weight, must be estimated. The ideal scenario would be the existence of a negative genetic correlation between weight and its variability because it would facilitate selection for higher weight and more uniformity. In aquaculture, estimates of the genetic correlation between weight and its variability vary largely in the literature. Our estimate was not significantly different from 0, which indicates that it may not be difficult to improve weight and weight uniformity simultaneously through a selection index. This would require the economic value for uniformity to be determined, which is unknown at this point.

It is very important that genetic improvements made in the nucleus are transferred to the commercial population that is composed of individuals for sale in the market. Thus, a high genetic correlation between the nucleus and commercial environments for traits that are selected for in the nucleus is desirable. This is not always the case because, although conditions are intended to be similar in the two environments, this is not usually feasible. Particularly in aquaculture species, some environmental factors are more important than others in affecting the re-ranking of individuals based on their estimated breeding values.

In our study, estimates of the genetic correlation between environments N and C were for weight and for weight uniformity were within the range reported for weight in other aquaculture species. Our estimate of the genetic correlation of weight between environments was lower than what has been reported for shrimp by some researchers, but within the range reported by others. Our study provides, for the first time, an estimate of the genetic correlation of weight uniformity between different environments for shrimp, and it is similar to what has been reported for trout.

Many studies have shown that the proportion of phenotypic variance [variability in phenotypes in a population, including height, weight, body shape and others] due to common environmental effects, although significantly different from 0 in shrimp and other aquaculture species, is of low magnitude. Some studies have suggested that common environmental effects are difficult to separate from family genetic effects. The few studies that have included common environmental effects for weight uniformity did not achieve significant estimates.

Our results show that genetic variability for the environmental variance of weight at harvest exists in shrimp, both in the selection nucleus and in the commercial population. The genetic variation for these traits (uniformity measured in the nucleus and in the commercial population) was large enough to conclude that response to selection could be obtained if these traits were included in the breeding program.

Including weight uniformity should not decrease weight since the genetic correlation between the two traits was not significantly different from zero. Further investigation is necessary to determine what is the best combination of these traits to reach the greatest economic benefit. Based on the genetic correlation of weight uniformity between the two environments estimated here, selection in the nucleus will be transmitted to the commercial population.

we hope youll consider supporting our mission to document the evolution of the global aquaculture industry and share our vast network of contributors expansive knowledge every week.

By becoming a Global Aquaculture Alliance member, youre ensuring that all of the pre-competitive work we do through member benefits, resources and events can continue. Individual membership costs just $50 a year. GAA individual and corporate members receive complimentary access to a series of GOAL virtual events beginning in April. Join now.

Not a GAA member? Join us.

Read the original:
Estimating the genetic variance of body weight uniformity in a farmed population of Pacific white shrimp Global Aquaculture Advocate -...

MILAN, July 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Panaks Partners, the leading Italian venture capital firm in the Life Sciences sector, announces the first closing of its 150 million ($180 million) Purple Fund, the firm's second fund.

Panaks' Purple Fund is currently the largest venture capital fund actively investing in Italian companies and the most significant fund dedicated wholly to the Life Sciences sector in Italy. The fund will invest in companies at the forefront of innovation, with a focus on Europe, and Italy in particular, which remains underserved in terms of Venture Capital funding.

The Purple Fund is the second venture capital fund dedicated to life sciences launched by Panaks Partners. Panaks' first fund, raised in 2016, supported companies in the medtech sector. To-date it has invested in 12 portfolio companies, which have collectively received almost 200 million in funding. Thanks to this financial support, these companies have already brought five innovative medical products to the market and have a further ten products in active clinical trials.

The Purple Fund has been backed by investors from the first fund as well as new investors. The Fund's two anchor investors are EIF and the Fund of Funds FoF VenturItaly managed by CDP Venture Capital SGR. The EIF investment is backed under both the InnovFin Equity initiative from the European Commission under Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, as well as the pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF).

These anchor investors have been joined by several Italian banking foundations and pension funds, as well as numerous Italian companies and family offices in the Life Sciences sector. These include Menarini, the Cogliati family (Elemaster Group), the Colombo family (SAPIO Group), the Rovati family (Rottapharm Biotech), the Petrone family (Petrone Group), the Re family (Digitec Group), the Bassani family (Movi Group) and others.

The Purple Fund will invest mainly in Series A funding rounds, as well as later stage opportunities. The majority of investments will be in companies developing innovative therapeutics and products in the fields of biotechnology, diagnostics, and medical devices.

The fund aims to support the growth of entrepreneurial companies who will reshape healthcare globally by addressing real medical needs, saving lives and providing a better quality of life for patients. By achieving these goals, the fund aims to generate value for both investors and for society as a whole.

"We are delighted with the successful first close of our new Purple Fund, and we would like to thank the high-quality investors who have trusted us. Over 500 innovative life science companies have already submitted funding requests to us in the first six months of 2021," said Fabrizio Landi, President of Panaks and a founding partner of the firm alongside Diana Saraceni and Alessio Beverina. "The fund will remain open for additional subscribers until the end of the year, with a new target of 180 million. By expanding into the biotech sector, we hope to contribute to the growth of companies active in the development of new therapies and vaccines," concluded Landi.

"Panaks has established a strong track record and solid international credibility since it was created a few years ago, also with the support of the CDP Group," commented Enrico Resmini, Chief Executive Officer of CDP Venture Capital SGR. "We are delighted to invest in Panaks' second fund, as it extends its activity into biotechnology, a sector where long-term planning and the availability of capital is essential to finance the R&D that is expected to lead to the innovative new therapies of tomorrow."

Alain Godard, Chief Executive of the European Investment Fund (EIF/FEI), added: "We are happy to once again support Panaks after our previous investment in its first fund. Panaks has managed to build a strong brand in Italy and beyond thanks to its expertise in identifying and investing in novel medtech opportunities. With the extension of its investment strategy into biotech and the resulting growth of the team, Panaks will be able to further support European Life Sciences companies, and particularly those in Italy, which have exceptional R&D but are strongly underserved in terms of Venture Capital funding. We are glad to be able to use both the InnovFin mandate from the European Commission and the direct backing of EU Member States under the European Guarantee Fund to further support this exciting market segment."

To support its expansion into the biotech sector, Panaks intends to recruit three new professionals with significant experience in drug discovery and development in the pharmaceutical industry to its existing team, which is currently made up of 11 professionals. Recently, Barbara Castellano has been promoted to the role of Partner, while the management team of the SGR has been strengthened with the arrival of a new CFO, Lorenzo Giordano, and a Financial Assistant, in the person of Andrea Steffanini.

Panaks Advisory Board has also been expanded and strengthened with the appointment of Biotech and Digital Health industry experts Fabio Pammolli, Professor of Economics, Finance, and Management Science at Politecnico di Milano, and Sergio Abrignani M.D. Ph.D. Full Professor at the National Institute of Molecular Genetics (INGM) in Milan.

About Panaks

Panaks Partners is a Milan-based venture capital firm that aims to improve the lives of people around the world by providing the most promising companies and teams with the financial and corporate support needed to build the next generation of companies bringing revolutionary technologies and products to the field of life sciences. Panaks was founded in 2015 by Fabrizio Landi, Alessio Beverina and Diana Saraceni.

http://www.Panaks.it

About CDP Venture Capital SGR Fondo Nazionale Innovazione

CDP Venture Capital is an asset management company (70% owned by CDP Equity and 30% owned by Invitalia) with over 1 billion euro of assets under management. It aims to make Venture Capital a strategic pillar to Italy's economic development and innovation, creating the conditions for a comprehensive and sustainable growth of the Venture Capital ecosystem. It operates through a series of funds that aim to support startups in all their life cycle stages, making both direct and indirect investments.

About EIF

TheEuropean Investment Fund(EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. The EIF investment is supported by InnovFin Equity, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020). Through or alongside selected Venture Capital (VC), Business Angels (BA), Technology Transfer funds and funds-of-funds, the EU provides risk capital financing to enterprises, research organisations, universities in their proof-of-concept, pre-seed, seed, start-up and other early-stage phases allowing them to set up or reach their next stage of development.The EIF participation is also backed under the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), which was set up by the EIB Group with contributions from Italy and other EU Member States to shield companies suffering from the COVID-19 crisis. Using nearly EUR 25 billion in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and the EIF to quickly make loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity and other financial instruments available to mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. The EGF is part of the European Union's recovery package aiming to provide a total of EUR 540 billion boost those parts of the EU economy that have been hit the worst.

Media Contacts:

Panaks Partners

news@panakes.it

MEDiSTRAVA Consulting

Sylvie Berrebi, David Dible

panakes@medistrava.com

Tel: +44 (0)20 7638 9571

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/panakes-partners-announces-the-first-closing-of-its-new-purple-global-biotech-medtech-fund-at-150-million-180-million-301337128.html

SOURCE Panaks Partners

More:
Panaks Partners Announces the First Closing Of Its New 'Purple' Global Biotech/ Medtech Fund at 150 Million ($180 Million) - WFMZ Allentown

Photo Submitted

The figure above summarizes the findings of the team in terms of genetic, epigenetic and stochastic differences among the EGFR-mutant lung cancer cells studied.

Leonard Harris, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, led a team of researchers from Vanderbilt Universitythat has shown how an in vitro model of tumor heterogeneity, or diversity, resolves three different sources of cell state variability in cancer cells.

The paper has been published in PLOS Biology, part of the Public Library of Science.

A heterogeneous tumor is a tumor that is made up of many different types of cancer cells. Often, the cells have different types of genetic mutations and co-exist within a tumor. The diversity of the tumor is what makes cancer difficult to treat.

"It's like the success of a diverse team," Harris explains. "A team made up of people from different backgrounds, ages, stages of their career, etc., are often better at tackling problems because the team members provide different perspectives."

In a tumor, different cells respond to drug treatments differently. Some cells are able to survive and regrow the tumor and spread, which is why Harris and his team continue to research the ways surviving cancer cells differ from the other tumor cells.

But genetic mutations are not the only way cancer cells can differ from each other. Cells that have the exact same DNA can exist in very different states. For example, your skin cells and your liver cells have exactly the same DNA but they function very differently; that is an example of epigenetic heterogeneity. Moreover, when a skin cell divides, it produces two skin cells. The cells do not inherit the skin cell state from the DNA; it has to come through some other means. It is this non-genetic form of inheritance that makes the process epigenetic.

Cancer cells also differ due to random fluctuations in molecule numbers inside each cell: molecules randomly interact with each other, degrade, are synthesized by the cell, secrete into and out of the cell, etc. This type of non-genetic heterogeneity is called stochastic variability and is not heritable, unlike epigenetic processes. It might not seem like a big deal, but researchers have shown that stochastic variability can have major effects.

The experimental and computational work reported in the paper was performed at Vanderbilt University in collaboration with Corey E. Hayford, Darren R. Tyson, C. Jack Robbins III, Peter L. Frick and Vito Quaranta and has motivated many additional research projects. It is now the foundation for Harris' U of A laboratory.

"Cancer is commonly referred to as a 'genetic disease', meaning it is caused by mutations in critical parts of the DNA that cause cells to grow out of control," Harris said. "This has led to decades of research on the genetics of cancer, which has resulted in significant advances, including the development of numerous therapeutic drugs that target so-called 'driver oncogenes.' While exceptionally effective in the short term, these targeted drugs fail almost universally, with patient tumors recurring within a few months to a few years. This has led many researchers to begin considering the role of non-genetic processes in the response of tumors to drugs."

Modeling and experimental techniques were used to distinguish the three different sources of variability among lung cancer cells: genetic, epigenetic and stochastic. As stated above, epigenetic and stochastic variabilities are different types of non-genetic variability. Epigenetically distinct cells look different, like the skin and liver cells from the example above, whereas stochastically distinct cells appear nearly identical but may act completely different.

"Distinguishing genetic from non-genetic, and epigenetic from stochastic, factors in drug response is crucial for developing new therapies that can kill tumor cells before they have a chance to acquire genetic resistance mutations," Harris said. "They all contribute to tumor drug response in different ways."

A framework for distinguishing genetic and non-genetic sources of heterogeneity in tumors has been proposed previously but is not yet widely accepted within the cancer research community because of a lack of strong experimental evidence. The team's paper provides strong support for this framework.

The analysis presented in the paper was applied specifically to EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. Harris' lab is currently applying these ideas to other cancer types as well, including small cell lung cancer, melanoma and bone-metastatic breast cancer.

"In my laboratory, we are working on building computational models of the molecular networks within cancer cells that give rise to the different epigenetic states, across which cells can transition to survive drug treatments," Harris said. "The long-term goal of my lab's research is to expand these models until they are of sufficient detail to act as virtual platforms for testing the effects of various drugs and identifying novel drug targets."

By constructing these so-called "digital twins," the hope is to one day use them to perform virtual drug screens on models built from samples of real patient tumors and then design personalized treatment options for those patients. This will require forming collaborations with bioinformaticians, experimentalists and clinicians here at U of A, the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciencesin Little Rock, and elsewhere. "Hopefully, the publication of this paper will help spark some of those collaborations," Harris said.

About the Public Library of Science: The Public Library of Science states on its website, "PLOS Biology empowers authors to publish the full arc of their research without compromising quality. Researchers can more fully and accurately represent their science and get credit for all their work."

Read the original post:
Research Shows Non-Genetic Tumor Diverseness Contributes to Treatment Failure in Cancer Patients - University of Arkansas Newswire