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Women with hot flashes during menopause at greater risk of this disease – Lebanon Democrat

Posted: June 4, 2024 at 2:46 am

Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Women who suffer hot flashes during menopause are more likely to develop a form of liver disease, warns new research.

Those experiencing moderate-to-severe flashes and night sweats - also known as vasomotor symptoms - face a three times greater risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) compared to those with mild symptoms, according to the findings.

NAFLD affects up to one in four people worldwide. Most wont have symptoms, and some may never know they have the condition. But up to one-in-20 will experience complications from the fat in their livers.

Hot flashes and night sweats have become synonymous with menopause, say scientists.

Study lead author Dr. Eleni Armeni said: This research is significant as it contributes to understanding the link between vasomotor symptoms and cardiometabolic risk factors.

It is crucial for the general public because it emphasizes how hot flashes and night sweats can signal an increased risk for heart and metabolic issues.

The research team set out to analyze the likelihood of someone developing NAFLD related to menopause and the potential link with vasomotor symptoms.

Dr. Armeni, a research fellow at Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, said: Women experiencing these symptoms should consult a health care professional to address the symptoms and assess their cardiovascular health.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

Previously, vasomotor symptoms were primarily seen as indicators of estrogen deficiency, but this study suggests broader implications for cardiovascular health related to this hormonal imbalance.

Dr. Armeni and her colleagues evaluated 106 peri- and post-menopausal women treated in an outpatient clinic.

The team estimated steatotic liver disease (SLD) to determine the risk on the fatty liver index. They took into account factors including age, exercise, alcohol, smoking, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use.

The results showed that 42 women with moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms had a three times higher risk for NAFLD compared with 64 women who had mild symptom severity.

That risk was 9.3 times higher when they limited the sample to those who experienced symptoms within five years after the menopausal transition.

Dr. Armeni added: We hope these findings will encourage healthcare providers to offer comprehensive care to peri- and post-menopausal women, going beyond discussions solely focused on hormone replacement therapy."

She is due to present the findings on Monday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Societys annual meeting in Boston, Mass.

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SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE NEWS: Mouse embryonic stem cells differentiate in opossum eyes – BioProcess Online

Posted: June 4, 2024 at 2:46 am

Findings have implications for treating eye diseases as well as brain disorders

In a positive sign for future treatment of human eye diseases, researchers from Iowa State University (Ames) and Harvard Medical School (Boston) found that transplanted mouse stem cells become integrated into the retinas of Brazilian opossums.

"The research is a promising step for using cell replacements to treat diseases of the human eye like glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy," said Don Sakaguchi, a developmental neurobiologist and associate professor of zoology and genetics at Iowa State.

"The work also may have implications for treating brain disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's as well as injuries to the brain or spinal cord," said Sakaguchi, who reported on the research on November 7 at the Society of Neuroscience's annual meeting in New Orleans.

In order to be able to follow the fate of transplanted stem cells, Sakaguchi, in collaboration with Harvard scientist Michael Young, engineered mice to produce enhanced green fluorescent protein in all its cells. Stem cells isolated from embryonic brains of these transgenic mice were then transplanted by intraocular injection into the eyes of Brazilian opossum pups of various ages (from 10 days to two years). The researchers determined the fate of transplanted cells by tracking GFP in sectioned eyes at various times following transplantation.

After only one week, GFP-expressing cells had not only been incorporated into the retina, but were expressing proteins characteristic of retinal cellsneurofilament protein, calretinin, and others. The researchers also found that the younger the animal was at the time of transplantation, the more highly differentiated the stem cells became.

"Experiments by other scientists have had limited success in integrating neural stem cells into adult animals," Sakaguchi said. "Our results suggest stem cells stand a better chance if they can be transplanted into an embryo-like environment."

Opossum neonates provide that kind of environment, as the opossum's pea-sized newborns are very immature.

Seven-day-old opossum pups attached to mother's nipples

"With the newborn opossum, we essentially have access to an embryonic stage of brain development," Sakaguchi said. "This makes the opossum a good model to study cellular connections in the brain as they become established."

The researchers will next try to identify the conditions in this embryo-like environment that enhance the survival and differentiation of stem cells. With this information, researchers can try to mimic the conditions so stem cells stand a better chance for use in adult animals. In the future, the researchers would like to transplant stem cells into animals with eye or other brain disorders to see whether the cells help treat the disease.

Abstract Number 415.2 and 415.2 Incorporation and differentiation of embryonic mouse stem cells transplanted into the mammalian retina. S.J. Van Hoffelen; A.M. Benediktsson; M.A. Shatos; M.J. Young; M.H. West Greenlee; D.S. Sakaguchi, Neuroscience Program, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, and Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Edited by Laura DeFrancesco Managing Editor, Bioresearch Online Email: ldefrancesco@bioresearchonline.com

Click here for more news from the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting.

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In a 1st, scientist grow mini brains with functional blood-brain barriers – Livescience.com

Posted: May 27, 2024 at 2:49 am

For the first time, scientists have grown miniature models of the human brain that incorporate the organ's built-in security system.

The roughly sesame seed-size models include functional blood-brain barriers (BBB). In a full-size brain, the BBB would protect the delicate organ from potentially harmful substances that might be circulating through the rest of the body.

"Lack of an authentic human BBB model has been a major hurdle in studying neurological diseases," study co-author Ziyuan Guo, a neurobiologist and stem cell scientist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said in a statement. "This is an important advance because animal models we currently use in research do not accurately reflect human brain development and BBB functionality."

Guo and his colleagues described their tiny, BBB-carrying brain models in a recent study, published May 15 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Related: Lab-grown minibrains will be used as 'biological hardware' to create new biocomputers, scientists propose

In the body, the BBB lines blood vessels that pass through the brain and allows only some substances through, such as hormones and glucose, while blocking out threats, such as toxins and bacteria. It also blocks out many medicines, which poses a challenge for drug developers working on treatments for brain diseases.

The new, lab-grown models combine cerebral organoids 3D clusters of brain cells grown from stem cells with blood-vessel organoids, which are also grown from stem cells but resemble vasculature in the body. Together, these two types of organoids form what the researchers call "assembloids," which simulate how maturing brain and blood vessel cells grow and interact with one another.

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The study showed that, about a month after being combined, the two types of organoids merged together into spherical structures that each measured about the size of a sesame seed. The culture that supports the growth and merger of the two organoids must be carefully controlled, and a physical gel matrix acts as a scaffolding to help support the assembloids, Guo told Live Science in an email.

As proof-of-concept for how these models might be used, the researchers grew assembloids with cells from patients with a cerebral cavernous malformation, meaning a cluster of abnormally shaped blood vessels in their nervous system. These malformations sometimes arise from genetic mutations and can cause symptoms that lead to serious complications, such as stroke and seizure.

The researchers' assembloids captured cellular features seen in people with cerebral cavernous malformations, "offering new insights into the underlying molecular and cellular pathology of cerebral vascular disorders," Guo said in the statement.

In the team's initial tests, the BBB assembloids can be grown for up to five months, or potentially longer, but this hasn't been tested, he added in an email. Four to five months of growth corresponds with roughly the second semester of brain development in the womb.

In the future, the team aims to grow similar assembloids using stem cells from people with different brain diseases, so that the final models would reflect the underlying biology of those conditions.

And more broadly, such assembloids could not only be used to study brain diseases but also to test new drugs, investigate how toxins injure the brain and BBB and reveal novel strategies for delivering medicines through the BBB.

"BBB assembloids represent a game-changing technology with broad implications for neuroscience, drug discovery, and personalized medicine," Guo said in the statement.

Editor's note: This story was updated shortly after publishing with additional quotes from Guo.

Ever wonder why some people build muscle more easily than others or why freckles come out in the sun? Send us your questions about how the human body works to community@livescience.com with the subject line "Health Desk Q," and you may see your question answered on the website!

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Bone-marrow-homing lipid nanoparticles for genome editing in diseased and malignant haematopoietic stem cells – Nature.com

Posted: May 27, 2024 at 2:49 am

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Past, present, and future of cell replacement therapy for parkinson’s disease: a novel emphasis on host immune … – Nature.com

Posted: May 27, 2024 at 2:49 am

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Past, present, and future of cell replacement therapy for parkinson's disease: a novel emphasis on host immune ... - Nature.com

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PhD Candidate within Molecular Medicine job with NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY – NTNU … – Times Higher Education

Posted: May 27, 2024 at 2:49 am

About the job

We have vacancy for one PhD candidate at theOtterlei groupat the Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine. The project addresses the need for new antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action and new treatment regimens to handle the emerging antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Based on knowledge of peptides with antibacterial activities and conserved mechanisms for mutagenesis, we have designed synthetic peptides with strong anti-mutagenic, antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities. These peptides interfere with DNA translesion synthesis (i.e. mutagenesis), bacterial replication, and cellular signalling, and is targeting the bacterial DNA sliding clamp, the b-clamp. The project specifically focuses on development of second-generation antibacterial peptides. This project is part of a multidisciplinary collaboration project (TAMiR - NTNU) between two faculties at NTNU, University of Oslo / Oslo University Hospitaland University of Copenhagen and cover competences from basic molecular microbiology, chemical synthesis and structural biology/modelling, bioinformatics, cell biology and immunology/infectious diseases.

The PhD candidate will study antimicrobial activities of the peptides using several different methods used in medical microbiology and evaluate the toxicity of the peptides in cell line based assays as well as initial toxicity studies in animals.

Required selection criteria

The PhD-position's main objective is to qualify for work in research positions. The qualification requirement is that you have completed a masters degree or second degree (equivalent to 120 credits) with a strong academic background in biochemistry, microbiology, molecular and cell biology or equivalent education with a grade of B or better in terms ofNTNUs grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you are unable to meet these criteria you may be considered only if you can document that you are particularly suitable for education leading to a PhD degree.

Master's students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented by the end of june 2024.

The appointment is to be made in accordance withRegulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidateandRegulations concerning the degrees ofPhilosophiaeDoctor (PhD)andPhilosodophiaeDoctor (PhD) in artistic researchnational guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant

Preferred selection criteria

Personal characteristics

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal suitability.

We offer

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 532200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3years.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to thePhD programme in Medicine and Health Scienceswithin three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerningState Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution on a daily basis.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must be attached to the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

If all,or parts,of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can befoundhere. If you already have a statement fromNOKUT,pleaseattachthisas well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according toThe San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees needs.

The city of Trondheimis a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

As an employeeatNTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance withcurrent legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Professor Marit Otterlei, telephone +47 72573075, emailmarit.otterlei@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Vebjrn F. Andreassen, e-mail: vebjorn.andreassen@ntnu.no

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.

Application deadline: 10.06.2024

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

The Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine (IKOM):

The Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine (IKOM) is NTNUs largest department, with 450 employees. Our research and teaching help to improve treatment and health.

IKOM has expertise in basic, clinical and translational research within broad disciplinary areas. We study childrens and womens health, cancers, blood disorders and infectious diseases, gastroenterology, inflammation, metabolic disorders, laboratory sciences and medical ethics. The Department offers teaching in medicine at masters and PhD level. We also offer continuing education for employees in the health services.

Deadline10th June 2024 EmployerNTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology MunicipalityTrondheim ScopeFulltime Duration Project Place of serviceErling Skjalgssons gate 1, 7030 Trondheim

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PhD Candidate within Molecular Medicine job with NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - NTNU ... - Times Higher Education

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2024: Prof Eugenia Piddini Medical Sciences Fellow | School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine – University of Bristol

Posted: May 27, 2024 at 2:49 am

Professor Eugenia Piddini has been elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences respected and influential Fellowship. She joins 58 exceptional biomedical and health scientists selected for their exceptional contributions to the advancement of medical science.

The newFellows, announced on Tuesday 21 May, have been recognised for their remarkable contributions to advancing biomedical and health sciences, groundbreaking research discoveries and translating developments into benefits for patients and wider society.

Awardees join an esteemed Fellowship of over 1,400 researchers who are at the heart of the Academy's work, which includes nurturing the next generation of researchers and shaping research and health policy in the UK and worldwide. The expertise of Fellows elected this year spans a wide range of clinical and non-clinical disciplines, from midwifery to cancer stem cell biology.

Eugenia Piddini,Professor of Cell Biology in theSchool of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, is conducting innovative work to identify cell competition-based strategies to gain control over tissue colonisation, its impact in tissue colonisation in regenerative medicine and to prevent tumour expansion in cancer.

A cell and developmental biologist,Eugenia is known for her seminal work in the field of cell competition the mechanism of tissue quality control that removes damaged cells from tissues. Eugenias discoveries have helped widen the scope of cell competition in terms of physiological relevance and potential therapeutic impact. Recently, Eugenias group demonstrated that cell competition acts in adult tissues. There it can potentially slow down the onset of disease/ageing by eliminating damaged cells.

Eugenias team has also shown that tumour cells kill surrounding normal cells via cell competition to free space for their own growth. Their work has identified many mechanisms and signals that cells use to compete. By explaining the mechanisms that cells use to compete the Piddini group aims to identify cell competition-based strategies to gain control over tissue colonisation.

In recognition of her work Eugenia, who is also School Research Director, was awarded theBritish Society for Cell Biology Hooke Medalin 2019 and in 2023, was elected as aMember of the European Molecular Biology Organisation.

Alongside Professor Piddini, Professor Gene Feder OBE, has also been elected from the University. Gene Feder,is a GP and Professor of Primary Care at BristolsCentre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School and Director of VISION, aUK Prevention Research Partnership(UKPRP) consortium.

Professor Andrew Morris PMedSci, President of theAcademy of Medical Sciences, said: It is an honour to welcome these brilliant minds to our Fellowship. Our new Fellows lead pioneering work in biomedical research and are driving remarkable improvements in healthcare. We look forward to working with them, and learning from them, in our quest to foster an open and progressive research environment that improves the health of people everywhere through excellence in medical science.

This year's cohort marks a significant milestone in the Academy's efforts to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within its Fellowship election. Among the new Fellows, 41 per cent are women, the highest percentage ever elected. Additionally, Black, Asian and minority ethnic representation is 29 per cent, an 11 per cent increase from the previous year. The new Fellows hold positions at institutions across the UK, including in Edinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and York.

Professor Morris added: It is also welcoming to note that this year's cohort is our most diverse yet, in terms of gender, ethnicity and geography. While this progress is encouraging, we recognise that there is still much work to be done to truly diversify our Fellowship. We remain committed to our EDI goals and will continue to take meaningful steps to ensure our Fellowship reflects the rich diversity of the society we serve."

The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony on Wednesday 18 September 2024.

The Academy of Medical Sciences is the independent, expert body representing the diversity of medical science in the UK. Its mission is to advance biomedical and health research and its translation into benefits for society. The Academy's elected Fellows are the most influential scientists in the UK and worldwide, drawn from the NHS, academia, industry and the public service.

About theAcademy of Medical SciencesTheAcademy of Medical Sciencesis the independent, expert voice of biomedical and health research in the UK. Our Fellowship comprises the most influential scientists in the UK and worldwide, drawn from the NHS, academia, industry, and the public service. Our mission is to improve the health of people everywhere by creating an open and progressive research sector. We do this by working with patients and the public to influence policy and biomedical practice, strengthening UK biomedical and health research, supporting the next generation of researchers through funding and career development opportunities, and working with partners globally.

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Radar Therapeutics Raises $13.4M in Seed Funding to Develop Smart Programmable Medicines Using Molecular … – BioSpace

Posted: May 27, 2024 at 2:49 am

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Radar Therapeutics, a biotech company developing smart programmable medicines, today announced the completion of an oversubscribed $13.4 million in seed financing led by NfX Bio. Major investors Eli Lilly and Company, Biovision Ventures, and KdT Ventures also joined the round, with participation from PearVC, BEVC and other investors. The financing will support advancement of Radars internal programs, team expansion and partnering.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240523395742/en/

Radar Therapeutics founders Sophia Lugo, CEO and Eerik Kaseniit, PhD, CSO & President. Photo credit: Radar Therapeutics

Current genetic medicines, including mRNA therapeutics, are not targeted and typically rely on cell surface proteins to confer targeting, which limits application. This often means that ex vivo cell therapies, where genetic material is introduced outside of the body, have to be used.

Radar is developing programmable genetic and mRNA-based therapeutics that use RNA sensors mRNAs that gate their expression based on other RNAs in the cell for specific payload expression to deliver targeted, timed delivery of the drug payload into the right cells at the right time. Controlled translation of the mRNA therapy avoids systemic toxic side-effects in non-target cells. The RADAR platform enables "smart," rationally designed precision therapeutics.

With Radars technology, we can now precisely alter the biology of the cell, delete harmful cells, or potentially reprogram cells for autoimmune diseases. This has the potential to enable a new generation of safer, more durable and effective mRNA therapeutics for applications beyond vaccines, said synthetic biology pioneer Jim Collins, Ph.D., Co-Founder at Radar Therapeutics and the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science and Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT.

Creating genetic expression-regulation systems that operate at the level of translation while being programmable to ensure compatibility with next-generation mRNA-based medicines has been a long-lived dream, said Xiaojing Gao, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford and Radar Co-Founder.

Like a safety switch, our payload is always off, and only gets turned on in the right cell, said Sophia Lugo, CEO & Co-Founder, Radar Therapeutics. We can selectively write a function into any cell type. Programmable mRNA-based therapies have the potential to be in vivo, scalable and modular, to improve patient access. Were thrilled to have the support of these top-tier investors as we advance our preclinical programs.

Unlike approaches using microRNAs to turn payload expression off in predefined cells, Radar's technology enables the activation of protein expression in desired cells, said Eerik Kaseniit, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder, Radar Therapeutics. Were leveraging the explosion in single-cell transcriptomic data, and advances in our understanding of RNA-editing enzymes such as ADAR, to design simple switches to create smart mRNA therapies. Weve assembled a world class team to push the platform towards product and are excited to use these funds to grow the team further.

Radar's focus on full transcriptomic analysis sets them apart from traditional targeting methods that rely solely on cell surface markers, said Omri Drory, PhD, Partner, NfX Ventures. By leveraging a broad dataset offered by single-cell transcriptomics, Radar can precisely identify cellular signatures and engineer programmable therapies accordingly, offering unparalleled specificity to avoid off-target effects.

A publication in Nature Biotechnology describes the design of a highly specific, compact sensor sequence to the driver RNAs or disease markers of a cell of interest, including a stop codon in front of the mRNA payload. In non-target cells without the marker RNAs, the payload is not expressed due to the stop codon, which prevents ribosomal translation. In target cells, the stop codon is selectively removed through interactions with cell-type-defining marker RNAs.

Radar Therapeutics is advancing this technology even further by developing a proprietary methodology that only uses endogenous enzymes to achieve high expression levels, which is a significant advancement in the field of RNA editing, as it will potentially enable the development of safer, more effective, and cost-efficient therapies for various diseases.

The companys scientific advisory board includes: Xiaojing Gao, Ph.D., Co-Founder, James J. Collins, Ph.D., Co-Founder, David Schaffer, PhD., Eric Klein, M.D., and Svetlana Lucas, PhD.

Radar has received a number of industry awards including: Abbvie Golden Ticket, J&J West Coast Cell and Gene Therapy Symposium "Judge's Choice" award, and an Amgen Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Award.

About Radar Therapeutics

Radar Therapeutics is a biotech company developing programmable precision therapeutics. Leveraging innovative mRNA technology and proprietary regulatory control elements, the company aims to revolutionize medicine by enabling targeted, timely, and controlled therapeutic interventions. Radar is committed to advancing the boundaries of genetic medicine to address unmet medical needs and improve patient access. The company is based in Berkeley, CA. For more information, visit http://www.radartx.bio.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240523395742/en/

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Radar Therapeutics Raises $13.4M in Seed Funding to Develop Smart Programmable Medicines Using Molecular ... - BioSpace

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UN treaty to look at indigenous medicine, genetic resources in patents | Loop St. Lucia – Loop News St. Lucia

Posted: May 27, 2024 at 2:49 am

GENEVA (AP) UN member countries on Friday concluded a new treaty to help ensure that traditional knowledge about genetic resources, like medicines derived from exotic plants in the Andes mountains, is properly traced.

It marks the first time the 193 member states of the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization have reached agreement on patent protections about historic knowledge from indigenous cultures, which have long been exploited by colonists, traders and others.

The treaty doesn't address compensation to indigenous communities for their historic expertise about products drawn from things like from tropical plants.

But the accord is seen as an important first step. It requires patent applicants, like foreign entrepreneurs or international companies, to specify where they got ideas about what goes into their products, especially inputs drawn from the knowledge of indigenous or local peoples.

Daren Tang, the organization's director-general, said the agreement showed that "multilateralism is alive and well at WIPO."

"Today we made history in many ways," he said. "Through this, we are showing that the IP system can continue to incentivize innovation while evolving in a more inclusive way, responding to the needs of all countries and their communities."

The WIPO Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge treaty, reached by consensus after more than two decades in the making, will take effect as international law after 15 countries adopt it.

The agreement centers on genetic resources like medicinal plants, crops from farms and some animal breeds. It will not be retroactive, meaning that it's only applicable to future discoveries, not past ones.

WIPO's rules don't allow for intellectual property protection of natural or genetic resources themselves but do help to safeguard inventions by people that put those resources to work for humankind, whether historically or recently.

The deal will, for example, require companies in industries like fashion, luxury goods and pharmaceuticals to specify the origin of the plant-based chemicals in medicines or plants in skin creams that they use for their products, if drawn from local knowledge.

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UN treaty to look at indigenous medicine, genetic resources in patents | Loop St. Lucia - Loop News St. Lucia

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Hormone Replacement Therapy May Benefit Some Women with Pulmonary Hypertension – Managed Healthcare Executive

Posted: May 27, 2024 at 2:49 am

New evidence suggests the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may lead to benefits in certain women with pulmonary hypertension. The findings add to a long debate over the role of hormones like estrogen in the course of the disease.

During a presentation at the American Thoracic Societys 2024 International Conference in San Diego, investigators said HRT appeared to improve pulmonary vascular disease and right ventricular (RV) function in a cohort of 742 women who participated in the study

Corresponding author Audriana Hurbon, M.D., of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, explained along with colleagues that previous research has indicated women with World Symposium Group 1 pulmonary hypertension have improved preservation of RV function compared to men in the same disease group. Yet, Hurbon and colleagues said it was not clear whether the preservation of RV function was linked with endogenous and/or exogenous exposure to female hormones, and it was not known if the apparent benefits of female hormones applied to all groups of pulmonary hypertension or merely to Group 1.

While it is accepted that in World Symposium Group 1 pulmonary hypertension female sex is associated with preservation of right ventricular function, the role of estrogen in pulmonary hypertension has been controversial, Hurbon explained, in a press release. Additionally, we know that women are affected by pulmonary hypertension more often than men, but when compared to each other, women seem to present less severely than men.

The more than 700 participants in Hurbons research were part of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute-funded Pulmonary Vascular Disease Phenomics (PVDOMICS) Study. The women represented all five World Symposium disease groups, along with healthy controls and comparators who had risk factors for pulmonary hypertension but had not been diagnosed with the disease.

The authors set out to compare participants using mean pulmonary artery pressure on right heart catheterization to measure pulmonary vascular disease related to pulmonary hypertension, and characterizing RV function based on RV fractional shortening and RV ejection fraction from echocardiography.

Endogenous hormone exposure was quantified based on self-reported lifetime duration of menses. Participants were considered to have exogenous exposure to hormones if they had ever received HRT.

Hurbon and colleagues found that people with greater lifetime duration of menses had decreased average pulmonary arterial pressure regardless of which pulmonary hypertension group they belonged in. Specifically, they found mean pulmonary arterial pressure was 4714 mmHg for participants with 20-30 years of menses, versus 3713 mmHg for participants with more than 50 years of menses.

Additionally, participants who had taken HRT had lower mean pulmonary artery pressure (3511 vs 4214, P = 0.002) and pulmonary vascular resistance (53 vs 74, P = 0.006) and higher RV fractional shortening (3711 vs 329, P = 0.001) and RV ejection fraction (4813 vs 4012 %, P < 0.0001). However, when broken out by subgroup, the investigators only found statistically significant impacts in patients with Group 1 pulmonary hypertension.

Hurbon said in the press release that further analysis also suggests that older age and HRT exposure may have a positive synergistic effect.

This could support a theory suggesting a threshold of estrogen exposure necessary for a protective effect, she said.

The authors described their findings as preliminary, but they said their data suggest more research is needed to better understand the potential impacts of HRT, both positive and potentially negative, on patients with pulmonary hypertension.

We hope this study will be a catalyst for further exploration of the mechanisms of female reproductive hormones to identify therapeutic targets for right ventricular preservation in pulmonary hypertension, Hurbon said.

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Hormone Replacement Therapy May Benefit Some Women with Pulmonary Hypertension - Managed Healthcare Executive

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