Category Archives: Stem Cells

Ezer Mizion, the worlds largest Jewish bone marrow registry, will host its Evening of Heroes for the Teaneck, Bergenfield, and New Milford communities on Saturday, November 9, at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck.

The evening begins with a musical Havdalah and mini-concert by the chasidic superstar Shulem Lemmer, the first chasidic singer to sign with Universal Records. Then Ezer Mizion will introduce IDF heroes who defend the State of Israel and have saved lives with their stem cells.

A stem cell recipient will recount the day he received a call letting him know that Ezer Mizion had identified a stem cell match for him a match that saved his life. Bret Stephens, a New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, and Nachum Segal will give a fireside chat about innovations from Israel, including the export of more than 60 percent of Ezer Mizions stem cell transplants.

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There will be a swabbing station for people who meet the basic criteria for donations. Israeli wines and shuk foods will be served.

The program aims to bring awareness of the organizations role in saving hundreds of lives around the world every year with its growing bone marrow registry. It has more than 1 million potential stem cell donors, and more than 550,000 of these donors are from the IDF. There is no cost to attend the adults-only evening; RSVPs are requested. For more information, go to eveningofheroes.com; email Ezer Mizions national director of development, Ryan Hyman, at ryan@ezermizionusa.org or call him at (718) 853-8400, ext. 109.

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Ezer Mizion's Evening of Heroes is November 9 in Teaneck - The Jewish Standard

In a recent issue, TIME rounded up 12 medical innovations that will transform "medicine at a remarkable pace" over the next decade.

Innovator: United Parcel Service CEO David Abney

Several operations have recently set their sights on delivering medical supplies via drone, and a big name in the effort is United Parcel Service (UPS), led by CEO David Abney. Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted UPS approval to expand its Flight Forward program, which uses drones to deliver medical samples and medications between hospitals. But UPS isn't the only name in the game. Wing, a division of Google's parent company Alphabet, also received FAA approval to make drone deliveries for Walgreens and FedEx. In Africa, the startup Zipline already delivers medical supplies to villages in Ghana and Rwanda.

Innovator: Christine Lemke, co-founder and president of Evidation

Tens of millions of people use wearables that track their health data. Now, data firms are looking into creating anonymous, searchable databases that aggregate data from wearables that researchers can use for studies. For instance, the data firm Evidation, co-founded by Christine Lemke, has developed a tool that aggregates the health information of three million volunteers for use in peer-reviewed medical studies.

Innovator: Doug Melton, co-founder of Semma Therapeutics

Ten years ago Doug Melton, a Harvard biologist, started researching how stem cells could be used to cure diabetes. In his research, Melton found that stem cells can create replacement beta cells that produce insulin. In 2014, he co-founded Semma Therapeutics and developed a small implant that holds millions of the replacement beta cells and blocks immune cells. "If it works in people as well as it does in animals, it's possible that people will not be diabetic" when treated with the implant, Melton said.

Innovator: Abasi Ene-Obong, founder of 54gene

While white people are in the minority globally, they make up almost 80% of subjects in human-genome research. To address the discrepancy, Abasi Ene-Obong founded a startup called 54gene that collects genetic data from volunteers across Africa to diversify drug research and development. "If [African people] are part of the pathway for drug creation, then maybe we can also become part of the pathway to get these drugs into Africa," Ene-Obong said.

Innovator: Sean Parker, founder of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, which is a network of top research institutions including the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering, aims to identify and break down obstacles to innovation in cancer research. To help accelerate the research process, the network will accept approvals from the Institutional Review Board of any of the participating institutions in order to "get major clinical trials off the ground in weeks rather than years," according to Sean Parker, founder of the institute and former president of Facebook. The institute has brought 11 projects to clinical trials since it was founded in 2016.

Innovator: Thomas Reardon, CEO and co-founder of CTRL-Labs

CTRL-Labs has developed a wearable device, called the CTRL-kit, which wearers can control with their minds. When the person wearing the device thinks about a movement, the device detects the electrical impulses that travel from their brain to their hand. The device holds the potential to allow patients recovering from debilitating conditions to access new forms of rehabilitation, according to Thomas Reardon, CEO and co-founder of CTRL-Labs.

Innovator: Jonathan Rothberg, founder and CEO of Butterfly Network

To close the gap in access to medical imaging, Butterfly iQ developed a handheld ultrasound device. The device costs $2,000 compared to the $100,000 cost of a machine in a hospital. While the device isn't as precise as hospital machines, Jonathan Rothberg, founder and CEO of Butterfly Network, said the goal is that the devices will make scanning more routine.

Innovator: Shravya Shetty, senior staff software engineer at Google

Lung cancer is usually diagnosed in its later stages, TIME reports, and early screening can lead to bad results, such as misdiagnosis. Shravya Shetty, senior staff software engineer at Google, and her team at Google Health built an artificial intelligence (AI) system that detected 5% more lung cancer cases and had 11% fewer false positives than a group of radiologists. While the technology isn't yet where it should be, Shetty said it could have a big impact in the future.

Innovator: Joanna Shields, CEO of BenevolentAI

More than two million peer-reviewed research papers are published each year, which is too many for scientists to read themselves, TIME reports. To help science keep up, BenevolentAI created an algorithm that can read through the research papers to detect previously overlooked discoveries related to disease, drugs, and genes.

Innovator: Sean Slovenski, SVP & president, Walmart Health & Wellness

More retailers are entering the health care market, and a company at the forefront of this movement is Walmart, according to TIME. Leading Walmart's push into health care is Sean Slovenski, a former Humana executive who now heads Walmart Health & Wellness. Tn September, Walmart opened its first Health Center, where customers can get primary care, vision tests, and lab work, according to TIME. The potential is "huge," TIME reports, but so are the possible repercussions. For instance, health care providers might struggle to adjust to retailers' lower prices, according to TIME.

Innovator: Charles Taylor, founder of HeartFlow

A lot of patients with suspected heart problems have to undergo invasive procedures to diagnose blocked arteries. To make the process less invasive, Charles Taylor founded HeartFlow to create personalized 3-D heart models that doctors can use to diagnose patients, allowing patients to avoid invasive procedures during the diagnosis process.

Innovator: Isabel Van de Keere, founder of Immersive Rehab

In 2010, Isabel Van de Keere was left with a cervical spine injury and severe vertigo after a work accident. After years of neurological rehab, de Keere founded Immersive Rehab, a startup that aims to incorporate virtual reality into neurological rehab. Virtual reality gives patients access to a variety of exercises, making rehab less monotonous and frustrating for patients (Park, Becker's Health IT & CIO Report, 10/29; TIME, 10/25).

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What health care will look like in 10 years, according to TIME - The Daily Briefing

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will each invest $100 million over the next four years to speed the development of affordable gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on a global scale.

This unprecedented collaboration focuses from the get-go on access, scalability and affordability of advanced gene-based strategies for sickle cell disease and HIV to make sure everybody, everywhere has the opportunity to be cured, not just those in high-income countries, said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD.

Seventy-five percent of babies born with SCD live in sub-Saharan Africa. It is hoped that experimental gene therapies would advance to clinical trials in the United States and relevant African countries within the next seven to 10 years, and that safe, effective, and inexpensive gene therapies be made available globally, including in low-resource settings where the cost and complexity of these therapies make them inaccessible to many.

In recent years, gene-based treatments have been groundbreaking for rare genetic disorders and infectious diseases, Trevor Mundel, MD, PhD, president of the global health program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said in a news release.

While these treatments are exciting, people in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to these breakthroughs. By working with the NIH and scientists across Africa, we aim to ensure these approaches will improve the lives of those most in need and bring the incredible promise of gene-based treatments to the world of public health, he added.

Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that binds oxygen, allowing oxygen to be transported around the body. Mutations in the HBBgene, which encodes a component of hemoglobin, result in the formation of sickle hemoglobin that causes sickle cell anemia.

Currently, gene therapies for SCD involves altering the patients own hematopoietic stem cells (bone marrow cells that divide and specialize to produce blood cells including red blood cells). Genes are introduced into the cells using a modified, harmless virus (known as a viral vector). The cells are then transplanted back into the patient where they will produce healthy red blood cells. Gene therapy has an advantage over a bone marrow transplant, as it circumvents the complications associated with a bone marrow donation.

The first goal of the collaboration between the NIH and the Gates Foundation is to develop an easy-to-administer gene-based intervention to correct the mutations in the HBBgene or deliver a functional gene that will promote the production of normal levels of hemoglobin without the need to extract cells from patients and modify them in the lab before introducing the cells back. However, this strategy, known as in vivotreatment, requires the advancement of more efficient delivery systems that can deliver the gene therapy specifically to hematopoietic stem cells.

A second goal of the collaboration will be to work together with African partners and bring potential therapies to clinical trials.

Further research is required to understand the burden of SCD in sub-Saharan Africa and to screen newborns at high risk for the disease, a task that the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has started to tackle by building the necessary infrastructure for clinical research.

The NIH and the Gates Foundation will help boost this infrastructure to allow point-of-care screening (for example, when infants receive vaccinations), and to initiate a standard of care. This will occur outside of the official collaboration.

Our excitement around this partnership rests not only in its ability to leverage the expertise in two organizations to reduce childhood mortality rates in low-resource countries, but to bring curative therapies for sickle cell disease and HIV to communities that have been severely burdened by these diseases for generations, said Gary H. Gibbons, MD, director of the NHLBI.

A persons health should not be limited by their geographic location, whether rural America or sub-Saharan Africa; harnessing the power of science is needed to transcend borders to improve health for all, he added.

Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti, the regional director for Africa at the World Health Organization said, We are losing too much of Africas future to sickle cell disease and HIV.

Beating these diseases will take new thinking and long-term commitment. Im very pleased to see the innovative collaboration announced today, which has a chance to help tackle two of Africas greatest public health challenges, Moeti added.

Patricia holds her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from University Nova de Lisboa, and has served as an author on several research projects and fellowships, as well as major grant applications for European Agencies. She also served as a PhD student research assistant in the Laboratory of Doctor David A. Fidock, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York.

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Margarida graduated with a BS in Health Sciences from the University of Lisbon and a MSc in Biotechnology from Instituto Superior Tcnico (IST-UL). She worked as a molecular biologist research associate at a Cambridge UK-based biotech company that discovers and develops therapeutic, fully human monoclonal antibodies.

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SCD, HIV Gene Therapy Efforts Get $200M from NIH, Gates Foundation - Sickle Cell Anemia News

TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BioLineRx Ltd. (NASDAQ: BLRX) (TASE: BLRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, announced today that it will deliver the following poster presentations at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer(SITC) 34th Annual Meeting to take place November 6-10, 2019 at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland:

About BL-8040

BL-8040 is a short synthetic peptide that functions as a high-affinity best-in-class antagonist for CXCR4, a chemokine receptor over-expressed in many human cancers, where it has been shown to be correlated with poor prognosis, and plays a key role in tumor growth, invasion, angiogenesis, metastasis and therapeutic resistance. CXCR4 is also directly involved in the homing and retention of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and various hematological malignant cells in the bone marrow.

In a number of clinical and pre-clinical studies, BL-8040 has shown a critical role in immune cell trafficking, tumor infiltration by immune effector T cells and reduction in immunosuppressive cells within the tumor niche, turning "cold" tumors, such as pancreatic cancer, into "hot" tumors (i.e., sensitizing them to immune check point inhibitors). BL-8040-mediated inhibition of the CXCR4-CXCL12 (SDF-1) axis has also shown robust mobilization of HSCs for transplantation in hematological malignancies.

BL-8040 was licensed by BioLineRx from Biokine Therapeutics and was previously developed under the name BKT-140.

About BioLineRx

BioLineRx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on multiple oncology indications. The Company'slead program, BL-8040, is a cancer therapy platform currently being evaluated in a Phase 2a study in pancreatic cancer in combination with KEYTRUDA and chemotherapy under a collaboration agreement with MSD. BL-8040 is also being evaluated in a Phase 2b study in consolidation AML and a Phase 3 study in stem cell mobilization for autologous bone-marrow transplantation. In addition, the Company has an ongoing collaboration agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, evaluating BL-8040 in combination with Genentech's atezolizumab in two Phase 1b/2 solid tumor studies.

BioLineRx is developing a second oncology program, AGI-134, an immunotherapy treatment for multiple solid tumors that is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2a study.

For additional information on BioLineRx, please visit the Company's website at http://www.biolinerx.com, where you can review the Company's SEC filings, press releases, announcements and events. BioLineRx industry updates are also regularly updated on Facebook,Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Various statements in this release concerning BioLineRx's future expectations constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include words such as "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," and "intends," and describe opinions about future events. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of BioLineRx to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these risks are: changes in relationships with collaborators; the impact of competitive products and technological changes; risks relating to the development of new products; and the ability to implement technological improvements. These and other factors are more fully discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of BioLineRx's most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28, 2019. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent BioLineRx's views only as of the date of this release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. BioLineRx does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements unless required by law.

Contact:Tim McCarthyLifeSci Advisors, LLC+1-212-915-2564tim@lifesciadvisors.com

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Tsipi HaitovskyPublic Relations+972-52-598-9892tsipihai5@gmail.com

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BioLineRx to Present Two Posters at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 2019 - P&T Community

Doting dad Stephen Armstrong knows all too well what its like to be waiting for a transplant donor.

His son Jacob was diagnosed at two years old with a rare blood disorder and called on the public to donate stem cells to find him a match.

He then set out to raise as much money as he could for the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan in a bid to save lives.

And now, after raising over 20,000, his efforts have been recognised by the charity as they honour him at an awards ceremony held at the Tower of London in November.

Stephen, 33, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, has been shortlisted for the Individual Fundraiser of the Year Award at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards 2019.

The prestigious awards are back for their seventh year and will recognise the outstanding achievements of the volunteers, fundraisers and campaigners who help the pioneering blood cancer charity save lives.

Stephens nomination is in recognition of his incredible fundraising efforts, leading a group of 19 friends and family in a series of physical challenges, all while his son was undergoing treatment.

After Jacob was diagnosed in 2017, Stephen set out to find a matching stem cell donor, as well as raise awareness of the need for more people on the register.

From here Jacobs Journey was born, and through a series of challenges including the Great North Run, the Great North Bike Ride and climbing Ben Nevis, Stephen has helped raise over 20,000 for the charity.

Jacob, who turns four in November, and his family have been told he does not need a transplant, but Stephen and his family want to continue raising awareness for others who arent so lucky.

When Jacob was diagnosed, we were stunned by how few people were on the stem cell donor register. I couldnt believe how a stranger in the street could potentially save our little boys life, said Stephen, an assistant manager for Dixons Carphone.

Anthony Nolan helped us massively while Jacob was ill and provided a great support network. I feel very proud to be nominated for an award, and I hope it can help build even more awareness for the cause.

Stephen and mum Kirsty, 28, received the news in December 2017 that Jacob was suffering from bone marrow failure, which affects between 30 and 40 children each year.

They first became concerned about his health when they went abroad to get married and noticed he was getting bruised easily. The marks would take weeks to disappear, so when the couple returned to the UK they decided to take Jacob to the doctor for a check up.

After tests he was then diagnosed and was treated at the Great North Childrens Hospital in Newcastle, where he received two blood transfusions.

Stephen added: When we were told Jacob did not need the transplant it was the best news in the world, a total relief. He still needs check ups every three months and his consultants is keeping an eye on him. There are so few people on the stem cell donor register so I just wanted to create a ripple effect with awareness and get more people on it.

Stephen, who has raised a further 8,000 for other smaller charities, has also been nominated for our Chronicle Champions Award in the Champion Fundraiser category.

Henny Braund, Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan, said: It is remarkable to see how many people support our work to find a match for those in need of a stem cell transplant. Without them, none of our lifesaving work would be possible.

Stephen has shown tremendous commitment to Anthony Nolan by continually going above and beyond in his fundraising efforts.

Henny added: We want to extend a huge congratulations to Stephen and look forward to celebrating with him at the awards.

The awards take place on Thursday 28 November at the Tower of London, and all winners will be revealed on the night.

Anthony Nolan is the charity that finds matching stem cell donors for people with blood cancer and blood disorders and gives them a second chance at life. It also carries out ground-breaking research to save more lives and provide information and support to patients after a stem cell transplant, through its clinical nurse specialists and psychologists, who help guide patients through their recovery.

To see the full shortlist, and find out more about the charity visit http://www.anthonynolan.org/awards

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Dad who called on the public for stem cells for his son is up for an award - Chronicle Live

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In addition, the paper presents a previously unpublished in vivo observation on allogeneic human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) modified with AgeXs proprietary immunotolerance technology, UniverCyteTM. In humanized mice (those with a functional human immune system), UniverCyte-positive hPSCs formed larger and heavier tissue compared to controls. This observation provides support for the premise that UniverCyte-expressing tissue was potentially hypoimmunogenic and might have escaped recognition by a functional human immune system and continued to grow. Further work is required to substantiate this preliminary in vivo finding.

Hypoimmunogenic allogeneic cells are the Holy Grail in regenerative medicine, and a number of accomplished researchers have made great strides toward engineering them over the last few years, commented Dr. Nafees Malik, Chief Operating Officer at AgeX, Head of Cell & Gene Therapy at Juvenescence (a major investor in AgeX), and lead author on the paper. This is a huge area of focus for us at AgeX, via our UniverCyte technology platform. In support of our own research and as a service to the overall field, we decided to put together this paper, analyzing all the leading strategies to engineer universal cells and encapsulating them in one paper.

Dr. Maliks co-authors on the paper are Gregory Bailey, MD, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AgeX and CEO of Juvenescence; Annalisa Jenkins, MBBS, FRCP, who serves on the Board of Directors of AgeX; and Jim Mellon, Chairman of Juvenescence.

Mr. Mellon added, AgeXs UniverCyte technology platform will not only be important to the company in developing in-house therapies, it may also be transformative for the wider cell therapy industry via collaborations and licensing deals. It is quite conceivable that in the near future, allogeneic cell therapies may potentially need to be universal to be clinically and commercially competitive.

AgeX is developing its UniverCyte technology platform at its new 15,700-square-feet R&D facility, in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has current good manufacturing practices (cGMP)-capable manufacturing capacity.

Universal cells would help us and others to fulfill the original vision of cell therapy, said Dr. Bailey. Thus, I am pleased that my colleagues at AgeX and Juvenescence have put together this paper, as it should be of considerable benefit to researchers, possibly enabling them to accelerate their progress. He added, AgeXs UniverCyte technology uses a novel, modified form of the tolerogenic molecule HLA-G, which in nature plays a key role in preventing a mother from rejecting her semi-allogeneic baby.

The paper is being published online ahead of print on Wednesday, October 30, 2019. It may be found here.

About AgeX Therapeutics

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging. Its PureStem and UniverCyte manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly-defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a whole host of diseases with a high unmet medical need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1 (brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeXs revolutionary longevity platform named induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR) aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an iTR-based formulation in preclinical development. HyStem is AgeXs delivery technology to stably engraft PureStem cell therapies and slowly release iTR molecules in the body. AgeX is developing its core product pipeline for use in the clinic to extend human healthspan and is seeking opportunities to form licensing and partnership agreements around its broad IP estate and proprietary technology platforms for non-core clinical applications.

For more information, please visit http://www.agexinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

About Juvenescence

Juvenescence is a life sciences company developing therapies to increase healthy human longevity. It was founded by Jim Mellon, Dr. Greg Bailey and Dr. Declan Doogan. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced drug developers, entrepreneurs and investors with a significant history of success in the life sciences sector. Juvenescence will create, partner with or invest in new companies with longevity-related therapeutics, by in-licensing compounds from academia and industry, or forming joint ventures to develop therapeutics for longevity. Juvenescence believes that recent advances in science have greatly improved our understanding of the biology of aging and seeks to develop therapeutics with the possibility of slowing, halting or potentially reversing elements of aging.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not historical fact including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates should also be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in more detail in AgeXs reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commissions (copies of which may be obtained at http://www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. AgeX specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191030005329/en/

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AgeX Therapeutics and Juvenescence Publish Paper on Engineering Strategies for Universal Cells and Provide in Vivo Observation on Immunotolerance...

Emmerdales Charley Webb has revealed that she and her co-star husband Matthew Wolfenden stored the stem cells of their youngest son, Ace.

The Debbie Dingle actress and Matthew, who plays David Metcalfe on Emmerdale, opened up on their decision in case they need the stem cells in future for a treatment.

In an emotional post, Charley, 31, said that she hopes they never need to use the stem cells, but are glad they are stored if they need the.

The mum-of-three shared a gorgeous picture of Ace in his cot as she wrote: We decided to store Aces stem cells. As parents every single one of us wants to do whats best for our children.

When I was pregnant, I heard about the possibility of collecting and storing my baby's umbilical cord stem cells, which could then be used in the future should they be needed for treatment (I hope with every part of me we never need it).

After researching, we learned that the baby's umbilical cord is a valuable source of stem cells, and these cells can be collected at birth and stored. These could then be used as a crucial part of treating or curing an illness.

Currently, there are over 80 diseases cord blood stem cells can treat.

I decided to use Smart Cells to store the stem cells: the process was easy (genuinely) and they organised everything.

Like I said, we hope we never need to use them, but it's comforting to know that we have them stored if we ever do. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Im so grateful we were able to do this. Xx.

Many of Charleys fans told her that they too have made the decision to store their babies stem cells, while others thanked her for sharing the knowledge.

One person said: Wow Ive never heard of this thanks for sharing.

Another said: Amazing. Such an important thing and I think every parent should consider doing this it may save a life, so much respect for you. And ace is so cute.

And a third commented: Wow! Never knew you could do this! Great idea!

Along with baby Ace Gene, Charley who has hit out at parenting trolls is also mum to sons Buster, nine, and Bowie, three.

Bowie recently had his sweet long hair cut shorter, which resulted in Charley having to address the reasons for his hair cut on her Instagram account.

Taking to her Instagram stories, Charley denied that Bowies hair cut was a result of negative comments from trolls about the length of his hair.

Speaking to the camera, she said: "I can't believe how many messages I've had asking if I've cut Bowie's hair because of negative comments on Instagram or online.

"No! The answer to that is no. If I was cutting my child's hair because people were being negative that would be very worrying."

Revealing the real reason behind Bowies new look, Charley said: "He had it cut because he saw a picture of short hair that was all different colours like red, yellow, blue, and he wanted it to look like that and he thought it would change colour.

Obviously it didn't but he still has the hair, so it's fine."

Charley had shared a cute snap of Bowie pulling on tassels on his knitted hat which is slightly tilted to show part of his new, shorter do before she defended the chop.

She said in the caption of the snap: Hair cut=cute face visible. Bowie 3 years and 10 months. [sic]

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Charley Webb reveals emotional reason she stored son Aces stem cells as fans thank her for educating them - OK! magazine

Hair care is being taken to the next level, by utilising recombinant DNA technology to restore one's confidence and crowning glory.

Such hair restoration products or treatments are made using recombinant DNA - or DNA cloning - where selected pieces of DNA from different organisms are combined to construct artificial DNA.

At Ageless Medi-Aesthetics, its latest AnteAge MD Hair Treatment is a non-invasive procedure that involves applying the AnteAge MD Hair Growth Factor solution or serum - made from potent recombinant growth factors and cytokines - onto skin prepared with microneedling.

Dr Lam Bee Lan, director of Ageless Medi-Aesthetics, told The New Paper: "Recombinant DNA technology is more efficient in producing large amounts of artificial messenger proteins effective for skin and hair renewal compared with stem cells derived from plants."

Methods of hair restoration are often divided into two broad categories - invasive techniques and topical and/or oral solutions. They can either be expensive or linked to side effects such as erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction and loss of libido.

But Dr Lam cautioned that before treatments are prescribed, patients must consult with a physician to ascertain if they are suitable for them.

"Treatments based on recombinant DNA technology should be worked in as a first-line treatment when you start to experience more hair loss than usual, or as part of a regular routine in maintaining a full head of hair.

"For more severe hair loss, patients should consider a hair transplant," she said.

While there are minimal side effects such as occasional soreness and redness that will resolve within one to two hours, Dr Lam noted that most patients will experience slowing down of hair loss after the first session, while new hair will grow after the second session.

Home-grown scalp specialist PHS Hairscience has also explored stem cell technology and cell signalling technology since 2014 to treat hair loss or greying hair on the cellular level.

Ms Anita Wong, its chief executive and founder, told TNP: "As the body ages or changes due to reasons such as stress or lifestyle choices, cell functions can deteriorate, and cell activity that directly impacts new hair growth or melanin (hair pigment) production becomes less than optimal."

PHS Hairscience's marquee treatment, Miracle Stem Cell Solution, leverages on stem cell science and cell signalling to reactivate dormant follicle cells to promote hair growth. At $297 a session, it can be complemented with the FEM/HOM Thickening range of products.

She said: "These active botanical stem cells also work to increase the life span of hair follicles so your hair can remain in the anagen (growth) phase of the hair growth cycle for a longer period of time.

"Keeping the hair in this growth phase will maximise the length and thickness of new hair, as well as stop the existing strands from shedding."

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Restore your crowning glory with recombinant DNA tech - The New Paper

Putting your pregnancy on pause until the time is right to give birth sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but for many mammals whats known as embryonic diapause is an essential part of raising their young.

Although scientists have known since the 1850s that some animals have this ability, it is only now becoming clear how it could teach us valuable lessons about human pregnancy, stem cells, and cancer.

More than 130 species of mammal can pause their pregnancies. The pause can last anywhere between a couple of days and 11 months. In most species (except some bats, who do it a little later) this happens when the embryo is a tiny ball of about 80 cells, before it attaches to the uterus.

Its not just a single group of mammals, either. Various species seem to have developed the ability as needed to reproduce more successfully. Most carnivores can pause their pregnancies, including all bears and most seals, but so can many rodents, deer, armadillos, and anteaters.

Read more: What marsupials taught us about embryo implantation could help women using IVF

More than a third of the species that take a breather during gestation are from Australia, including some possums and all but three species of kangaroo and wallaby.

The record-holder for pregnancy pause time is the tammar wallaby, which has been studied extensively for its ability to put embryos on hold for up to 11 months.

The main advantage to pausing pregnancy is that it separates mating and birth. There are two main ways in which animals do this.

The first way is to mate soon after giving birth, to have a backup pregnancy in case something happens to the newborn young. The stress of lactating triggers a pause that lasts during suckling, and the pregnancy restarts once the young leave.

The second way is to pause every pregnancy until the time is right (usually depending on the season). For example, minks mate around the start of March but put the embryos on pause until after the spring equinox (March 21), when the days are growing longer in their northern hemisphere homes. This ensures that the young are born in spring when conditions improve, and not in winter.

The tammar wallaby combines these two methods (suckling in the first half of the year, short days in the second) to pause for almost a year and give birth in January. This ensures the young leave the pouch the following spring instead of in the middle of a hot Australian summer.

Diapause was first identified in 1854 after hunters in Europe noticed that pregnancy in roe deer seemed to last a lot longer than normal. Since then scientists have been fascinated by this process and it has helped us understand more about basic reproductive processes in all mammals.

But it took until 1950 before our knowledge of pregnancy had increased enough so that we could confirm what the hunters had observed 100 years earlier.

But how the process worked at the molecular level is still a mystery. Until recently, there seemed to be no connection between which species used it and which didnt and there didnt seem to be a unifying mechanism for how pregnancy was paused. Even the hormones controlling diapause are different between mammal groups.

However, research now suggests that regardless of what hormones affect the uterus, the molecular signalling between the uterus and the embryo is conserved, at least between the mouse, mink and tammar wallaby.

Furthermore, researchers in Poland paused embryos from sheep (a non-diapause species) by transferring them into a mouse uterus and then back into the sheep with no ill effects.

This indicates the potential for diapause could lie in all mammals, including humans.

Its unlikely that pausing pregnancy will become the norm in humans. For starters, youd have to know you were pregnant within five days of conceiving to match the time when most species start diapause.

Understanding how mammals pause their pregnancies does have significant implications for our understanding of how to make healthy embryos. The time when the embryo enters into diapause is the same time in IVF when an embryo is transferred into the uterus. Diapause could help us improve how we grow embryos in culture or how to recognise which is the best embryo to transfer.

Read more: Explainer: what are stem cells?

Diapause could also help create better stem cells and find new cancer treatments. The first stem cells ever isolated by scientists came from a mouse embryo in diapause, when the cell cycle of the embryo is arrested. Stem cells are also remarkably similar to a diapaused embryo.

So understanding how diapause works at the molecular level could lead to new therapies to halt cell division or to identify markers for tumour stem cells, which are thought to be responsible for metastasis in cancer.

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Some animals pause their own pregnancies, but how they do it is still a mystery - The Conversation AU

In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka shook stem cell research with his discovery that mature cells can be converted into stem cells, relieving a longstanding political-ethical blockage and throwing open medical research on everything from curbing eye degeneration to organ printing.

But that process still has pitfalls, including in risk and scalability, and some researchers are exploring another way first hinted at years ago: new technology to convert mature cells directly into other mature cells without the complex and time-consuming process of first making them into stem cells.

One of those companies, Mogrify, just raised $16 million in Series A financing to bring its overall funding to over $20 million since its February launch. Led by CEO Darrin Disley, the funding will help expand their new base in Cambridge to a 60-strong staff and push forward their direct-conversion approach to cell therapy through research and licensing. Investors include Parkwalk Advisors and Ahren Innovation Capital.

They list potential applications as treatments for musculoskeletal and auto-immune disorders, cancer immunotherapy, and therapies for ocular and respiratory diseases. For example, you could use it regenerate cartilage in arthritis patients.

If you could take a cell from one part of the body and turn it into any other cell at any other stage of development for another part of the body, you effectively have the Holy Grail of regenerative medicine, Disley told Labiotech.eu in April.

Mogrifys advantage over the Yamanaka method called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), is that in theory it can be more scalable and avoid the problems associated with iPS. These include instabilities arising from the induced immature state and an increased risk of cancer if any pluripotent cells remain in the body.

The concept behind Mogrify actually predates, by nearly 19 years, Yamanakas discovery, which fast won him the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine. A 2017 Nature study on transdifferentiation, as the process is called, of fibroblasts into cardiac tissue traced the idea to a 1987 findingthat a master gene regulator could convert mice fibroblasts into skeletal muscle.

The problem though, according to Mogrify, is that most current efforts rely on an exhausting guess-and-check process. With hundreds of cell types and an even greater number of transcription factors the program that recodes the cell finding the right factor for the right cell can be like a custodian with a jangling, unmarked key ring trying to get into a building with thousands of locks.

Mogrifys key tech is a computer model they say can predict the right combination. The scientists behind the platform published a 2016 study in Nature applying the model to 173 human cell types and 134 tissues.

Before Mogrify, Disley led the Cambridge-based gene-editing company Horizon Discovery.

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Cell therapy startup raises $16 million to fund its quest for the Holy Grail in regenerative medicine - Endpoints News