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10 Of The Biggest World Revelations In The 21st Century – World Atlas

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:46 am

Numerous revelations about the world have been made in various forms throughout history. Researchers and scientists have continuously managed to discover new ways we can understand the world around us.

Major scientific breakthroughs have been made that helped improve our way of life and will make it easier for us to achieve even more amazing innovation eventually. The 21st century was especially fruitful for the advancements in technology and science. Many of the essential revelations in history were made during the last 100 years. This article will attempt to name the most important ones.

In 2015, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration managed to find evidence that proves that there is liquid water on Mars. Scientists were aided by the first spectrometer provided by NASA, called the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

With its help, they were able to detect hydrated salts all over the distant planet. The hydrated salts are more prevalent during the warmer seasons, which means that water is a crucial ingredient in their development.

Many scientists believe this to be the most crucial discovery of the 21st century. Since Albert Einsteins theory of relativity was published, the thought of time travel has excited scientific minds all over the world.

The LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) project in the United States is responsible for the detection of gravitational waves, which would imply that with enough research time travel could be possible. Journey to the earliest parts of our universe does not seem as impossible as before since this discovery.

Proof of the existence of Dark Matter was found in 2006 by a team of researchers, led by Maxim Markevitch of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. They proved its existence by measuring the location of mass that gets created when galaxies collide. Specific clusters of mass get disconnected, and a large amount of visible matter is what makes up dark matter. While this sounds overly complex, the important thing to remember is that this proves that dark matter makes up for 68% of the universe.

Through stem cell research, we can provide better access to organs for patients, meaning that patients no longer need to wait for donors, making it easier to cure certain conditions. Stem cells make it possible to grow an indefinite number of cells of the same type, but other types of cells also arise from that process. This means that it is possible to regenerate organs using skin cells. In the future, the discovery could make it so that the organs needed for treatment are created in a laboratory.

The process of face transplantation uses tissues of a dead person to replace another persons face. It is a complicated process that was first successfully performed in France in 2005. This transplant was only partial, but the first full-face transplant happened only five years later in Spain.

Since then, people with significant congenital disabilities or facial disfigures caused by diseases or burns have had this procedure performed on them in multiple countries. What seemed like science fiction in the 1990s is a reality now.

HIV is considered to be one of the deadliest viruses in the history of humankind. While we still have not found a cure for AIDS, the disease that is a result of an HIV that has advanced too much, we did manage to improve the treatment of HIV.

With the new methods, some of which were developed in Germany, patients with HIV can live longer, almost being able to lead healthy lives. With these exciting advancements, millions of lives have been saved, and it is only a matter of time before we find a complete cure.

Scientists atthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)managed to find a way to create false memories and plant them into the brains of mice. While this enormous scientific breakthrough can help us better understand the concept of mind and help us with dealing with mental health issues, it can still be problematic.

It does seem like a scene out of an old science fiction movie, but with this advancement, it could be possible to manipulate a persons memory, and who knows what consequences that could have.

Scientists at the University of Twente have developed robotic body parts using biomechanics. They managed to create robotic arms that can make life easier for people with severe muscular dystrophy. They also implemented previous research on prosthetics in creating these limbs. These robotic body parts could prove to be extremely helpful for wounded soldiers, people suffering from disabilities or older people.

A photon was teleported into space with the help of a laser beam by Canadian scientists. This process is called quantum teleportation, and it can be used to transport information about something, not its physical state. However, it is a step in the right direction of possibly making teleportation of physical matter possible someday.

The process itself was incredibly hard and required extreme precision. Photons are tiny, meaning that it will be a while until we can successfully teleport larger items.

Although the World Wide Web originated much earlier, it was not until the 21st century that we saw everything the internet is capable of. And it is a fitting way to end this list because it impacted more lives than anything else. Thanks to the internet, we can do things we could only imagine 20 years ago, basically from anywhere in the world. We can access any information, watch every movie in existence, or talk to people halfway around the world. It is the discovery of all the possibilities of the internet that made this century what it is, at least for now.

Where and when was the first face transplant procedure performed?

The first face transplant procedure was performed in France in 2005.

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10 Of The Biggest World Revelations In The 21st Century - World Atlas

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Global Stem Cell Market Poised for Strong Growth as Global Regenerative Medicine Market Poised to Reach US$45 billion by 2025 – P&T Community

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:45 am

DUBLIN, Feb. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Stem Cell Banking - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The growing interest in regenerative medicine which involves replacing, engineering or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs, will drive market growth of stem cells. Developments in stem cells bioprocessing are important and will be a key factor that will influence and help regenerative medicine research move into real-world clinical use. The impact of regenerative medicine on healthcare will be comparable to the impact of antibiotics, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies in current clinical care. With the global regenerative medicine market poised to reach over US$45 billion by 2025, demand for stem cells will witness robust growth.

Another emerging application area for stem cells is in drug testing in the pharmaceutical field. New drugs in development can be safely, accurately, and effectively be tested on stem cells before commencing tests on animal and human models. Among the various types of stem cells, umbilical cord stem cells are growing in popularity as they are easy and safe to extract. After birth blood from the umbilical cord is extracted without posing risk either to the mother or the child. As compared to embryonic and fetal stem cells which are saddled with safety and ethical issues, umbilical cord is recovered postnatally and is today an inexpensive and valuable source of multipotent stem cells. Until now discarded as waste material, umbilical cord blood is today acknowledged as a valuable source of blood stem cells. The huge gap between newborns and available cord blood banks reveals huge untapped opportunity for developing and establishing a more effective banking system for making this type of stem cells viable for commercial scale production and supply. Umbilical cord and placenta contain haematopoietic blood stem cells (HSCs). These are the only cells capable of producing immune system cells (red cells, white cells and platelet).

HSCs are valuable in the treatment of blood diseases and successful bone marrow transplants. Also, unlike bone marrow stem cells, umbilical cord blood has the advantage of having 'off-the-shelf' uses as it requires no human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue matching. Developments in stem cell preservation will remain crucial for successful stem cell banking. Among the preservation technologies, cryopreservation remains popular. Development of additives for protecting cells from the stresses of freezing and thawing will also be important for the future of the market. The United States and Europe represent large markets worldwide with a combined share of 60.5% of the market. China ranks as the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 10.8% over the analysis period supported by the large and growing network of umbilical cord blood banks in the country. The Chinese government has, over the years, systematically nurtured the growth of umbilical cord blood (UCB) banks under the 'Developmental and Reproductive Research Initiation' program launched in 2008. Several hybrid public-private partnerships and favorable governmental licensing policies today are responsible for the current growth in this market.

Competitors identified in this market include:

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Global Stem Cell Market Poised for Strong Growth as Global Regenerative Medicine Market Poised to Reach US$45 billion by 2025 - P&T Community

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Indiana Regenerative Medicine Institute Offers Innovative Approaches in Regenerative Medicine, Hormone Replacement and Pain Management – Zionsville…

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:45 am

February 2020

Are you looking for a health care provider who offers innovative alternatives and a customized approach to your health issues? Indiana Regenerative Medicine Institute (IRMI) believes in offering specialized alternatives to health care. Its medical team, headed by Doctor of Chiropractic Preston Peachee, utilizes the latest developments in regenerative medicine, hormone replacement and pain management.

Dr. Peachee is a native of Jasper, Indiana. He graduatedfrom Logan College of Chiropractic and has been in practice since 2003. Hisareas of specialty include patients with chronic and severe back, neck andjoint pain as well as other complex neurological conditions.

Dr. Peachee has earned a reputation as an innovative thinkeras well as a compassionate practitioner who brings his wide expertise andexperience to the Greater Indianapolis area. His ability to help those in needof regenerative medicine, neuropathy pain relief, low testosterone or otherphysical ailments, such as back pain or fibromyalgia, makes him not only uniquebut highly sought-after.

A key member of the IRMI team is Leann Emery, FNP. Emery isa family nurse practitioner with more than 20 years of experience in hormonereplacement and alternative pain management. Emery provides optimal patientcare through personal consultations and assessments to identify her patientsspecific health needs. She was rated in the top 10% of providers in the U.S.with patient satisfaction.

Regenerative medicine is making huge leaps in our understanding of the human body, and it is offering real, possible treatments that would have seemed like science fiction a few short years ago, according to IRMI. Most patients we see have tried other more traditional treatments and have either not gotten any better or have gotten even worse. Unfortunately, a lot of people we see depend on multiple medications per day to try and function but still are not happy with how they feel or how they live their lives. It is unfortunately the nature of deteriorating and degenerative joints, they will get worse with time, and generally the pain increases as well.

Depending on the injury, Dr. Peachee will often combinelaser therapy with the regenerative medicine protocols to improve the outcomesand try and speed the recovery process.

We offer mesenchymal stem cell therapy, Dr. Peachee said. With the combination of laser therapy, mesenchymal stem cell therapy is incredibly effective for rotator cuff problems and treating knee pain. Eighty percent of our stem patients are dealing with knee pain or Osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis-or O.A. of the knee- is a huge problem for a lot of people, and we get great results from these therapies. Most people can even avoidknee surgery.

Dr. Peachee recently introduced hormone treatments for low testosterone. Family Nurse Practitioner Leann Emery has been doing [hormone] treatments for 20 years, and that area of medicine became a natural fit for IRMI.

I have several patients who were seeking this type ofcaremany who are police officers and firefighterswho couldnt find thetherapy and individualized care and attention that they needed.

Dr. Peachee explained that low T treatments help patients with unique and even complicated cases of Erectile Dysfunction (E.D.). Most people seek us out for treatment because they are tired, worn out, stressed out and just simply lack the energy they used to have.

We are able to fill a niche with patients who hadcomplicated cases that were not responding well with their primary careproviders or other places, Dr. Peachee shared. We have a patient who hasstruggled for a long time with fertility issues but has done very well [withtreatments], and we just got good news that he and his wife are expecting aftertrying for a really long time. So, he is really enthused about that.

The typical candidates for low T treatments, according toDr. Peachee, are men who feel worn out, are lethargic and have lost theirzest for life.

Our patients dont have the same pep that they had 10 or20 years ago, Dr. Peachee stated. They struggle getting up in the morning andmight be struggling in the afternoon after having six cups of coffee or threeRed Bulls just to get through the day. We have a lot of people that want to getback into the gym and get the maximum benefit of their workouts. We can helpthem improve their overall health and energy so that they can enjoyrecreational activities like working out or practice with the Little Leaguewith their kids. Many times we hear from spouses, friends and family how muchbetter they feel and that they seem happier and get more out of life again.

It goes without saying that proper hormonal balance canimprove a patients personal relationships as well and improve the overallmental health of a patient by reducing stress, anxiety and depression oftencaused by symptoms related to low testosterone levels.

We focus on injectable [low T] treatments because we canmodify the dosage and give more frequent doses to keep our patients at a levelthats going to give them the maximum benefit and improvement for theirconditions, Dr. Peachee explained.

With the modern changes in medicine over the last 20 and 50years, were helping people to live a lot longer and adding 20 to 30 years totheir lives, but we have not given them an improved quality of life as theyage. By working with their hormones and getting them in balance, their qualityof life becomes way better, and were seeing a positive improvement for manypeople with these treatments.

Patients suffering from severe disc injuries, such a bulgingor herniated disc or discs, or who suffer from degenerative disc disease mayhave undergone treatment from chiropractors or have seen physical therapistsbefore coming to Indiana Regenerative Medicine Institute.

Our typical patient who comes in for this type of treatmenthas seen other therapists or chiropractors but hasnt found lasting relief,Dr. Peachee said. Many of our patients want to get off the rollercoaster ofopioids and pain medications. They are looking for a solution without narcoticsand risk of addiction or other possible negative side effects of narcoticsand/or surgery. We are generally able to alleviate the pain in 90% of patientsand are able to keep them from having surgery or from taking addictivemedications.

Laser therapy allows Dr. Peachee to work on the damaged tissue so that it can heal, and the method reduces inflammation and swelling in a way that traditional treatments cannot.

Its an innovative new therapy within the last decade thatallows us to do some amazing things, Dr. Peachee stated. We perform ourprocedures in our office and have several different devices for the specificneeds and issues of our patients. For instance, we have a unique device forpeople with knee pain that can help the majority of our patients walk betterand live more pain-free. We get a phenomenal outcome with this procedure.

One of the other major differentiators that sets IndianaRegenerative Medicine Institute apart from other offices and clinics is thatthey are advocates for their patients, especially when it comes to dealing withtheir patients insurance providers.

A lot of our low T patients are able to get their insurancecarriers to cover the services so that it doesnt cost them as much out ofpocket for the care they seek, Dr. Peachee said. Weve partnered with abilling company that has helped us to be able to navigate the craziness of ourmodern insurance companies, and by doing so, were able to keep the cost downfor a lot of patients. Not every insurance plan will cover this type of care,but a lot of them will. When its possible and ethical, we do whatever we canto benefit our patients to help keep the cost low. I have spent a lot of freetime writing letters on behalf of our patients. We go above and beyond with ourservice and care of our patients.

The Indiana Regenerative Medicine Institute team will make housecalls or come to a patients place of work when the situation calls for thatlevel of care.

We will go and draw blood for blood work, bring medications and even do exams in some situations, Dr. Peachee said. As I mentioned before, we see a lot of police officers and firemen all over the statefrom Mishawaka to South Bend and all over Indiana. We go once a month to see these patients at their departments and stations so that we see them all in one day versus making 10 to 15 guys drive hours to come in to see us. Its a service we can offer because we are a small clinic and we are focused on that one-on-one patient attention and relationship building. We have great relationships with our patients, and thats something that we work very hard at.

Building trust and transparency is crucial to the success ofhis practice, Dr. Peachee emphasized. The trust that we build with ourpatients is crucial to not only the success of the practice but to thepatients outcomes. And not just with hormone therapy but also with ournonsurgical spinal decompression patients. These are patients with significant discinjuries, and we need them to tell us everything we need to know so we can givemore accurate and complete care for a better outcome.

I would say to anybody if you have any doubts or reservations to take some of the burden and some of the anxiety out of the equation and schedule an initial consultationabsolutely free of charge, Dr. Peachee encouraged.

Dont put off living your best life any longer. Visit Indiana Regenerative Medicine Institutes website at indianaregen.com or call (317) 653-4503 for more information about its services and specialized treatments and schedule your free consultationtoday!

Writer:

Janelle Morrison

Photography:

Laura Arick and submitted

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Too Lazy to Exercise? Is It Genetic? – Science Times

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:45 am

(Photo : Piqsels)A recent study suggests that laziness can be blamed on one's genes.

Do you ever wonder why you find it hard to exercise everyday, while others don't? It must be your genes. A recent study found that a certain genetic mutation reduces one's ability to exercise.

For quite some time now, it has been thought that some people consider exercising much easier than others. While some find joy in jogging off to the gym, others find it terrifying to even do anything that may possibly lead to shortness of breath or perspiration. Now this is no longer just some random situation. In fact, scientists have already discovered the link between one's ability to efficiently exercise and certain genes.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported that a genetic mutation in some individuals are making it more difficult for them to exercise. The mutation can impact the "cellular oxygen sensing" that is linked to ahuman's ability to effectively work out.

The research team also found that those with the gene had reduced growth rate, constantly low blood sugar, limited capacity for exercise and an extremely high red blood cell number. With these findings, it can then be said that laziness is indeed, hereditary.

ALSO READ:Wearable Medical Devices: The Next Most Popular Gadgets for Health and Fitness Enthusiasts

(Photo : Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash)

In an attempt to figure out why individuals with a limited capacity to exercise behave the way they do, the team of researchers thoroughly evaluated one case study.

After several tests, including genetic analysis, the scientists found that themutated genebeing examined was thevon Hippel-Lindau, or the VHL gene. It is a type of gene playing a vital role in one's genetic makeup, mainly contributing to the survival of human cells when the ability to take in oxygen is reduced.

Additionally, the researchers also found that the VHL gene was damaged in some individuals struggling to exercise. The main reason for this is that this gene is associated with the mitochondria. When the mitochondria fail to fire on all cylinders, which is the usual case in those with mutated VHL, exercising is certainly quite a hard thing to do.

Dr. Federico Formenti, one of the study's lead authors said that they find this discovery of mutation, as well as the linked phenotype, exciting as it allows for a deeper understanding of human physiology, particularly when it comes how the human body senses and responds to the reduced availability of the oxygen.

The researchers experimented on mice, which were bred to have a mutation ingenesclose to that of humans in order to interrupt its function. In relation to this, researchers characterized the mice in terms of obesity, physical activity, as well as the cellular biology to understand how this gene was associated with obesity.

The saidstudyshowed the levels of physical activity, body weight and how much the mice ate. The study also showed othercellular level measurements that are obesity-related, such as the expression of the protein on the brain cells' surface.

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Trends that will shape the 2020s: Psychedelics as medicine, diagnostic cell phone apps and AI prediction of disease outbreaks – Genetic Literacy…

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:45 am

Clearly, a lot can happen in a decadebut innovation has to start somewhere. Based on whats breaking through now, here are some trends that have the potential to shape the 2020s.

The 2010s saw18 statesapprove the use of marijuana for medical purposes, bringingthe total to 33 states. In the 2020s, research into the potential medicinal uses of psychedelics could increase dramatically.

In another recent example, one researcher found that MDMA, or ecstasy, can make thecharacteristically shy octopus act friendlier. Though cephalopod brains are more similar to snails than to humans, scientists gleaned insights about how neurons and neurotransmitters behave on the drug that could inform future studies in humans. Other researchers doing experiments with mice hope MDMA ability to manipulate oxytocin could benefit people suffering PTSD.

At the University of California, Berkeley, scientists have developedcell phone appsthat can spot pathogens in biologic samples. The World Health Organization hasincreased fundingto initiatives working to scale up vaccine production in disease-afflicted countries.Artificial intelligenceis also starting to make a big splash in the infectious disease arena as computer scientists deploy the technology to predictand hopefully temperoutbreaks that originate in animals.

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zPREDICTA Enters Strategic Collaboration with LabCorp to Advance the Use of 3D Cell Cultures in Research and Drug Development – Business Wire

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:45 am

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--zPREDICTA, Inc., the leading provider of tumor-specific 3D cell culture models for the in vitro testing of anti-cancer therapeutics, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with LabCorp, a leading global life sciences company. The agreement will support the adoption of zPREDICTAs proprietary 3D cell culture platform for preclinical testing and research studies in the biopharmaceutical industry.

The collaboration combines zPREDICTAs strengths in the development of clinically relevant 3D cell culture models with LabCorps strengths in drug development and precision medicine. Since its founding in 2014, zPREDICTA has provided customized tumor-specific 3D cell culture models and in vitro testing services to leading global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The collaboration with LabCorp is an important next step in the evolution of zPREDICTAs business.

Julia Kirshner, Ph.D., founder and CEO of zPREDICTA, commented, We are very pleased to enter into this strategic collaboration with LabCorp, and we look forward to working together to accelerate the adoption of our 3D cell culture platform across the biopharmaceutical industry. LabCorp is one of the worlds leading life science companies, and its drug development business, Covance, is one of the leading end-to-end development partners for the biopharmaceutical industry. With this strategic relationship, we are well-positioned to offer our cell culture technology to a much larger customer base and also to expand the number of cell culture models that we offer.

Given our focus on precision medicine, particularly in the area of oncology, we are looking forward to working with zPREDICTA to develop and commercialize tumor-specific preclinical models based on its 3D cell culture technology, said Steve Anderson, Ph.D., Covance chief scientific officer. Covance continues to invest in innovations that improve drug development. We believe the zPREDICTA 3D in vitro models offer a more predictable method for early evaluation of responses to immuno-oncology therapies.

About zPREDICTA

zPREDICTA has developed a proprietary 3D cell culture platform for the testing of a broad range of therapeutic agents. zPREDICTAs 3D cell culture models are tissue-specific and disease-specific thus offering higher predictive and analytical value than traditional 2D testing or non-specific 3D models. zPREDICTA provides in vitro testing services to some of the leading global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

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Saving theAmerican chestnut – The Recorder

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:44 am

While a college student in Worcester, Brian Clark, of Ashfield remembers when he read for the first time about the American chestnut, once known as Americas most iconic tree, which by then had become decimated by blight from Mississippi to Maine.

Back in Ashfield, his father, Malcolm, told him, Oh yeah, I remember going out on Ridge Hill when I was a kid with my mother to collect chestnuts. Malcolm Clark remembered later trying to get a chestnut sprout from a neighbors farm to grow, without success.

The fast-growing American chestnut, which could reach 100 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter, had light, straight-grained wood that was popular for furniture and timber, shingles and flooring. The wood had also been used by native Americans for dugout canoes, its leaves and bark had medicinal properties, and its nuts were a nutritious food supply for humans and wildlife.

Clark, who is now vice president of the American Chestnut Foundations Massachusetts-Rhode Island Chapter, examined a grove of about 3,000 chestnut trees recently at Smith CollegesAda and Archibald MacLeish Field Station in West Whately some of them the smaller, multi-stem Chinese chestnut, which is blight resistant. Most, though, were American chestnut saplings, planted from seeds collected around the region by the roughly 300-member foundation.

Now in its eighth year, this one-acre orchard is one of three test plots of American chestnuts in Franklin County there are also two research groves in Conway and Hawley, including a 150-acre plot in Conway State Forest that are part of an effort by conservationists experimenting with ways to cross-breed in resistance, in order to restore through hybridization this functionally extinct grand tree to American forests.

The method, developed in the late 1970s by ACF founder Charles Burnham, breeds blight resistance into the American chestnut by backcrossing the best characteristics of American and Chinese varieties. In theory, the hybrid would blend 94 percent American and 6 percent Chinese genes.

Paul Wetzel, who oversees the Whately test orchard as a staff ecologist for Smith Colleges Center for Environmental and Ecological Design and Sustainability, points to the rusty-colored wound of the blight on a sample tree just above where it was inoculated as part of an ongoing experiment to see which of the Chinese-American hybrids are most blight resistant. The blight girdles the stem, locking the trees cells above to prevent water from being carried up. Below the canker, the chestnuts roots and stem can live on and send out shoots that may reach 15 feet or more before succumbing to blight again. Millions of American chestnuts therefore survive, but very few reach the stage where they are able to flower and reproduce.

The Whately breeding grove boasts hybrids from three rows of each of 20 different genetic lines from Chinese chestnuts, combined with seeds from American chestnuts from around Massachusetts and Rhode Island in an attempt to bring about as much diversity as possible.

With 16 ACF chapters, its hoped that maximum genetic diversity can produce trees that fight off blight as well as other pathogens or predators to make a comeback over time.

Even though its all the same species, there may have been some local adaptations to the environmental conditions across such a big region, said Wetzel. The idea of having local chapters is to take local trees and cross them with the Chinese trees, so if there is some local adaptation that gets passed into the genetics, it will still be there. Its estimated there were 4 billion American Chestnuts in North America before the blight, and if all of a sudden it funnels down to 500 or 1,000, theres a huge genetic bottleneck. If you just took a tree thats growing in Maine and started propagating it, youd essentially have a monoculture across the whole area.

For that reason, he said, its important to be mindful of assuring theres a diverse genetic pool, regardless of whatever species thats being reintroduced.

With the threat of climate change, there are also concerns that a different pathogen, which rots the trees roots but has only been a problem in the South where ground freezing doesnt occur, may begin moving northward as well.

Efforts to bring back the American chestnut stir not only the imagination, says Wetzel, but also cultural memories about a tree that was such a core part of eastern forests.

The chestnut was a very culturally important tree to eastern North America. It had the most economic value of any species of tree. It grows fast, it grows in many different areas, except for wet areas, and the wood is strong, its easy to work and its rot-resistant. It produces great nuts, theyre very high-protein and produced a lot of food for wildlife. Theres this whole cultural background. People talked about roasting chestnuts and buying it off the streets in big cities. It was the original fast food.

At least nine genes, according to Wetzel, are responsible for the resistance of the smaller, orchard-size Chinese chestnut trees, and its been thought that hybrids with their American cousins. ...With 45 percent of American chestnut to advance its more familiar characteristics, may be whats needed to bring back the tree that was once loved.

As the chestnut advocates try to accelerate the regeneration that would occur naturally, Wetzel says, We thought we were pretty close. We thought we were creating seeds that are resistant, but then were finding out, if you look at 150 trees, most of them have some blight canker on them, and Ive already cut down the worst ones. The original Burnham program was designed on the assumption that only two to three genes were involved in resistance.

But extensive genetic analysis theyve begun doing in the past few years has shown there are at least nine, so theyre seeing the need to step up the effort, maybe by lowering expectations from a tree thats 94 percent American to allow natural selection to do more of the sorting, or maybe crossing more Chinese varieties that have natural resistance to the blight. There are also efforts to develop a cost-effective way to test younger saplings for resistance, as well as tests of a transgenic approach to hybridize an American chestnut seed with the same kind of natural blight resistance that occurs in wheat and other grains.

The work is important, and much of it is done primarily by volunteers. Funding comes primarily from ACF members.

Using seeds available from the foundation, Clark has an American chestnut growing in front of his house that he guesses is more than 35 feet tall, part of a grove that hes hoping will continue to flourish. But getting the trees to make a real comeback on a wider scale, he and Wetzel say, will take time, more research and plenty of patience.

Recently retired, Richie Davis was a writer and editor for more than 40 years at the Greenfield Recorder. He blogs at richiedavis.net.

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Biogen teams up with Sangamo in gene therapy deal worth up to $2.7B – MedCity News

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:43 am

A large biotech is partnering with a firm developing cell and gene therapies on treatments for neurological diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen said Thursday afternoon after markets closed that it had partnered with Brisbane, California-based Sangamo Therapeutics in a deal that could be worth up to $2.7 billion. The partnership will initially focus on two preclinical Sangamo gene therapy candidates ST-501 for tauopathies such as Alzheimers and ST-502 for synucleinopathies like Parkinsons disease, plus an undisclosed neuromuscular target. It also includes exclusive rights for up to nine other undisclosed neurological targets.

Biogen will pay Sangamo $350 million upfront, which includes a license fee and equity investment, while Sangamo will be eligible for up to $2.37 billion in milestone payments, plus royalties.

Shares of Sangamo were up more than 28% on the Nasdaq after markets opened Friday. The company had also announced its fourth quarter and full year 2019 financial results. Biogens shares were down 2.6%.

Sangamo had reached out to multiple companies in a competitive process. While declining to say how many companies the biotech had spoken to, Sangamo head of corporate strategy Stephane Boissel said in a phone interview that it had put together multiple term sheets.

Its a combination of economics, but also the expertise of that partner in that particular field, Boissel said, referring to why the company had chosen Biogen. Biogen, in the pharma world, is probably the best franchise when it comes to neurology.

Adrian Woolfson, Sangamos executive vice president for research and development, said in the same call that it was also because of an appreciation for Biogens enthusiasm and energy.

I think its fair to say we had a very good chemistry with them at a personal level when we went to meet with them in Boston, and we seemed to get along very well, Woolfson said.

Sangamo has existing partnerships with a number of other firms, including Pfizer and Gilead Sciences.

Biogens moves into Alzheimers disease have not been without controversy. The company plans to file for Food and Drug Administration approval of aducanumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the amyloid beta protein that has long dominated Alzheimers research. The company initially halted the Phase III development program for the drug when it was predicted to fail, but revived it when a post-hoc analysis indicated potential efficacy. Investors have remained skeptical.

Still, that did not come up in the minds of Sangamos executives, Boissel said. While emphasizing that he could not compare the two companies approaches, Woolfson added that gene therapies are potentially better ways to address neurological diseases like Alzheimers because they can switch off genes completely rather than being limited to taking out specific proteins, as monoclonal antibodies are.

ST-501 targets tau, another protein that has been researched as a potential therapeutic target in Alzheimers. ST-501 and ST-502 use adeno-associated viral vectors to deliver zinc finger protein transcription factors (ZFP-TFs), a form of gene therapy that Sangamo said in its quarterly earnings presentation is ideally suited to neurological disorders due to its ability to up- or down-regulate gene expression.

Boissel did not disclose specific timelines for ST-501 and ST-502, but noted that the next steps in their development will be preclinical studies to enable them to enter the clinic.

Photo: John Tlumacki, The Boston Globe, via Getty Images

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Biogen teams up with Sangamo in gene therapy deal worth up to $2.7B - MedCity News

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More Cell and Gene Therapy Facilities in the Hundreds are Needed – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:43 am

The bioindustry will require more cell and gene therapy plants, says an expert, who says the facilities of the future must be automated, scalable, and flexible.

The number of cell and gene therapies entering clinical development has increased significantly in recent years. According to the Alliance for Regenerative Medicines (ARM) there are 1,066 such therapies in trials at present1, which is a 32% increase on the number of studies in 2014. But the surge in clinical activity has not been matched by an increase in production capacity says Darren Dasburg, a cell and gene therapy-focused consultant.

Hundreds of facilities will be needed to manufacture the treatments that are in play now, he said, adding that if you factor in the plants needed to make viral vectors that could exceed a thousand facilities.

The good news, Dasburg says, is that these facilities are more like labs than traditional large biopharmaceutical plants.

Viral vector capacity is critical to the cell and gene therapy sector. Vectors are hollow viruses used to insert genetic material into cells, both cells used in protein expression and cells used therapeutically. Various organisations have voiced concerns about industry capacity to make vectors. In 2018, for example, the Alliance for Advanced Biomedical Engineering said the scarcity of viral vectors could hamper expansion2. Since then the situation has improved, but it has not been resolved3. While viral vector production capacity in the contract services sector has increased, the expansion is still falling short of demand.

Partly this is because of the complexity of making the vectors, according to Dasburg.

Most viral vectors are produced using adherent manufacturing technologies which are expensive to operate, he explains. A vial of just 20 million cells can cost $2030K because it is so challenging to make.

To bring down costs, vector capacity still needs to increase, continues Dasburg, who predicted that biopharma will continue to rely on CDMOs for the foreseeable future.

Cell and gene therapy manufacturing is still a young industry. Biopharma is still figuring out what the ideal production facility should look like.

Building for flexibility and multipurpose manufacturing is important, Dasburg says, noting that explaining CDMOs and IP holders need to understand they are attacking rare genetic diseases and ailments where the therapy might be a third-line treatment. The numbers are often quite lower, and the treatments can be one and done. All meaning the companies of the future will be attacking many more areas of need.

In terms of technology, all cell and gene therapy facilities should feature sufficient isolator capacity, Dasburg says. Isolators are probably the number one investment to make. Too many people are trying to work five people in full dress in a small room attempting to manufacture in a hands-on traditional way when isolation and automation could help immensely.

Dasburg pointed to benchtop platforms capable of processing a single CAR-T patients treatment as an example of an innovative approach being used. These can be arranged in an array within a single ballroom-like facility providing 100% containment going from leukapheresis bag to treatment bag without any human intervention.

References1. alliancerm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CBX-Meeting-7-Feb-2020-FINAL.pdf2. aabme.asme.org/posts/virus-shortage-for-cell-therapies-creates-engineering-opportunity3. http://www.genengnews.com/insights/gene-therapy-dollar-is-waiting-on-viral-vector-dime/

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More Cell and Gene Therapy Facilities in the Hundreds are Needed - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

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FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Expands Its Gene Therapy Manufacturing Capacity At Its College Station, Texas Location – Tyler Morning Telegraph

Posted: February 29, 2020 at 9:43 am

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Feb. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies U.S.A., Inc. (FDB), a world leading cGMP Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) supporting its partners in the biopharmaceutical industry with the development and manufacture of their biologics, vaccines and gene therapieshas announced that it has commenced the planned capacity expansion of its "Flexible Biomanufacturing Facility" at its College Station, Texas location. The Flexible Biomanufacturing Facility is designed to support late phase and commercial manufacturing of gene therapies and other advanced therapies. The Flexible Biomanufacturing Facility complements the extensive development and early phase manufacturing capabilities provided by the company from the National Centre for Therapeutic Manufacture also located in College Station, Texas.

The expansion project will include the addition of cell culture and high throughput manufacturing suites. The expanded facility will house multiple 500L and 2000L bioreactors to support the production of gene therapy products that have high production demands. This $35M USD expansion is part of the previously announced capital investment of approximately 13 billion yen (approx. $120 million USD) in the gene therapy field by FUJIFILM Corporation.

"The capacity increase to our Flexible Manufacturing Facility will allow us to support the growing demand for commercial-ready, high volume production of gene therapy products, many of which are in development to treat rare diseases, which makes this announcement even more significant, as today we honor rare disease patients on Rare Disease Day," said Gerry Farrell, chief operating officer, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Texas.

"These investments are part of FUJIFILM Corporation's long term strategy to provide leading, future proofed end-to-end gene therapy solutions, from pre-clinical to commercial launch," said Martin Meeson, president and chief operating officer, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, U.S.A.

FDB expects the expansion of its Flexible Biomanufacturing Facility to complete by Fall 2020.

About Fujifilm

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies an industry-leading Biologics Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) with locations in Teesside, UK, RTP, North Carolina, College Station, Texas and Hillerod, Denmark. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies has over thirty years of experience in the development and manufacturing of recombinant proteins, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, among other large molecules, viral products and medical countermeasures expressed in a wide array of microbial, mammalian, and host/virus systems. The company offers a comprehensive list of services from cell line development using its proprietary pAVEway microbial and Apollo cell line systems to process development, analytical development, clinical and FDA-approved commercial manufacturing. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is a partnership between FUJIFILM Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation. For more information, go to: http://www.fujifilmdiosynth.com

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings cutting edge solutions to a broad range of global industries by leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies developed in its relentless pursuit of innovation. Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the various fields including healthcare, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document products. These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies. For the year ended March 31, 2019, the company had global revenues of $22 billion, at an exchange rate of 111 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit: http://www.fujifilmholdings.com.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

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FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Expands Its Gene Therapy Manufacturing Capacity At Its College Station, Texas Location - Tyler Morning Telegraph

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