StemCell Therapy

Scientific advances with stem cells and gene editing have raised the prospect that many diseases, traumatic injuries, and chronic conditions could one day be treatedeven curedwith products derived from human biological materials. Most cell- and gene-based regenerative therapies remain in clinical trials or earlier stages of development; a handful have gained Food and Drug Administration approval as new drugs. However, hundreds of businesses in the United States have seized on public interest in this promising field to sell unproven and potentially dangerous stem cell treatments directly to consumers. Patients receiving such products have experienced bacterial infections, permanent vision loss, strokes, and other harms.

Knowingly or not, many clinics offering cell-based therapies may be violating federal law and regulations governing the approval of new drugs, medical devices, and biologic products. FDA has taken important steps to prompt these businesses to comply with appropriate requirements, and the agency should continue enforcement activities to reduce and ultimately eliminate the marketing of unapproved stem cell products.

As of May 2017, at least 716 clinics, spread across 45 states and the District of Columbia, offered unapproved stem cell products.1 (See Figure 1.) The number of new stem cell businesses with websites doubled on average every year between 2009 and 2014, suggesting that the total number operating today could be significantly larger.2

Stem cell businesses promote their products as treatments for a wide range of conditions, from orthopedic pain and arthritis to multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease. Little to no evidence exists to support most claims, but several of these treatments have adversely affected patients. For example:

Such cases underscore the public health risks when businesses fail to demonstrate a products safety and effectiveness to FDA prior to marketing and do not adhere to the agencys rules for good manufacturing practices.

Broader enforcement activitiesbacked by sufficient resources from Congressare needed to protect Americans from the risks that unapproved stem cell products pose. The agency should maintain pressure on businesses offering these products to ensure that this promising medical field develops into one that clinicians and patients can trust and safely access.

FDA established a regulatory framework for regenerative therapies in 2005 and issued four guidance documents in November 2017 to clarify the characteristics and approval requirements associated with low-, middle-, and high-risk products. High-risk therapies include those in which stem cells undergo more than minimal manipulation or are intended to perform a different function in the recipient than they do in the donor; this is referred to as nonhomologous use.7 Such products must receive FDA approval as new drugs, devices, or biologics before they enter the market.

These materials laid important groundwork for broader enforcement efforts. Agency leaders have said they will target enforcement resources at products that pose the greatest risks to patients until November 2020. FDA should build on this foundation for effective oversight by using its full array of enforcement tools, including:

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FDA Enforcement Will Foster Development of Safe, Effective Regenerative Therapies - The Pew Charitable Trusts

Ethan Brown, CEO of Beyond Meat, turned heads this week when he announced that his company is going to become the Amazon or Tesla of the meat industry.

Like, why is Tesla able to do what it does? Brown told Business Insider on Wednesday. There is a DNA to certain companies that allow them to get an insight into an industry and get far enough ahead before others catch on. And then the game is to just stretch that lead and continue to play into your strengths.

It may not offer an online store that offers almost everything, nor does it promise to popularize the electric car, but Beyond Meats plant-based burgers could have a major influence on the $1.4 trillion meat industry.

Alternatives to traditional meats termed alt-meats by the New York Times and Fast Company are on the rise. While plant-based burgers have made a big impact on the market, new foods and even lab-grown meats could take it to all-new levels.

I dont think Ive personally, in a very long career, seen anything quite like this, Marie Wright, chief global flavorist for Archer Daniels Midland, tells Inverse. I think its exciting and I think its necessary. We need other sources of protein, other sources of food, if were going to feed the world.

Traditional meat has played a key role in the human diet for thousands of years. Human remains in a cave near Beijing suggest some of the earliest modern humans regularly ate fish 40,000 years ago.

Fast forward 40 millennia and foods that recreate the taste of animal meat are on the rise. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, founded in 2009 and 2011 respectively, are both aiming to use plants to recreate the taste of meat. Lab-grown meat, which some experts expect to reach dinner plates in 2021, encourage stem cell growth in a bioreactor to produce more animal tissue and eventually cut the animal from the equation.

Plant-based meats have made a big impact on the market. The Good Food Institute, a non-profit organization that lobbies for alt-meats, released a report in July that found plant-based meat is growing five times faster than animal meats in the American retail space.

Its set to rise further. Consultancy firm AT Kearney found in June 2019 that plant-based meat would account for 10 percent of the market by 2025. By 2040, its set to account for 25 percent of the market while lab-based meat accounts for 35 percent.

The main area where these products will grow is expanding into other areas of meat. Wright explains that new advancements in flavor technology can unlock new alt-foods. Developing a cleaner pea protein, for example, could mask its vegetable tastes and enable its use in other products. Beyond Meat uses pea protein, while Impossible Foods uses soy and potato protein. Advancements in flavor can pave the way for new dishes.

I think were going to see an expansion into other products, Wright says. Steak. Chicken, which is a much lighter tasting meat. Maybe fish eventually. Fish is a hard one, but chicken certainly.

Both companies are already expanding their repertoire. Impossible Foods has been experimenting with an anchovy-like broth that could make fish. Its partnered with Wow Bao to make an Impossible Bao, while Dos Toros is using the firms ground beef to create burritos. Beyond Meat has partnered with Subway to create a plant-based meatball sub.

These new meats may pose problems. Chicken is relatively easy to accomplish, but the use of coconut and palm to simulate chicken fat could pose sustainability and taste issues. Fish is a more complex and harder meat to simulate in terms of taste.

But Wright also notes that foods of the future may not necessarily aim to simply replace meat. It could mix both meat and meat replacements, appealing to flexitarians less concerned with reducing animal consumption. It could experiment with more flavors and spices, appealing to consumer interest in food variety. The race to directly mimic meat products could fade away: Wright notes how China has a long history of using meat alternatives like seitan, which retain the umami flavors of meat.

At the moment excitement is on the mimicking, Wright says.

Lab-based meat could transform this area. Researcher Mark Post publicly ate a cultured burger in 2013, a burger that experts at the tasting previously told Inverse resembled a McDonalds burger.

Ahead of an expected launch in supermarkets over the next two years, researchers have been growing meat in space, developing edible scaffolding, and even experimenting with new meats. Suggested products include kangaroo, bacon, steak, foie gras, seafood, and even combination portions that take cells from multiple animals.

Wright suggests, however, that these meats may still require some perfection to attain the feeling of traditional meat.

Meat as it is today, whether its grass-fed, the age, Wright says. Theres different flavors associated with that. Its like wine. If you grow wine in different terroirs, you get different flavors.

Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Browns comparison to Tesla may have raised eyebrows, but it could prove particularly relevant as this area develops. When Tesla launched the Roadster in 2008, it could only travel 240 miles per charge. Its second-generation Roadster, set to launch next year, reaches 620 miles per charge. Similarly, the initial offerings from Beyond Meat and others could pale in comparison to what comes next.

Plant-based meat, a passing fad? The alt-meat industry could just be getting warmed up.

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As Beyond Meat aims to be the next Tesla, heres how alt-meat could surge - Inverse

The 4.5 trillion global food industry is currently being influenced by numerous developments. From how food is designed, grown to how its consumed, the next generation of foodtech entrepreneurs are fighting for its piece of the pie. In the meantime, funding for food tech has skyrocketed and according to a report from Dealroom.co, foodtech has created 35 unicorns globally, with a combined value of 169 billion, of which 30 billion from Europe.

Few innovations introduced by European startups are currently shaping the future of food and give us a glimpse of what the future holds for the food industry.

The Magic of Food Science

One of the most interesting developments in the food industry is the introduction of new origins of food. Have you ever imagined that food could actually be made of electricity, air and water? Well, the Finnish company Solar Foods is here to make you believe it. They have produced a nutrient-rich protein, Solein, with air, water, and electricity as its main resources, laced with bacteria. Solar Foods makes Solein by extracting CO from the air using carbon-capture technology, and then combines it with water, nutrients and vitamins, using 100 percent renewable solar energy. Science fiction? Not so much. More like science fact. The end product looks and tastes like wheat flour, with 50% protein content and 510 % fat and 2025 % carbs. Producing Solein is entirely free from agriculture it doesnt require arable land or irrigation and isnt limited by climate conditions, said Solar Foods. And the best part of it? It will never run out.

Changing the way we source ingredients brings us to the next big thing in food science meat grown in a lab. Lab-grown meat is slowly becoming an alternative food option. A few years ago, Mosa Meat got the worlds attention when it announced the first-ever lab-grown meat burger from cow cells. The spin-off company from Maastricht University introduced the cultured meat in Europe and now, one of the newest companies to enter the market is Higher Steaks. Using state-of-the-art cell culture techniques, the UK-startup develops cell-based meat that has the potential to use 99% less land, 96% less water, 45% less energy and has up to 96% less greenhouse gas emissions, all the while tasting as conventional meat. The company uses stem cells obtained via a small blood sample or a skin patch and patented protocols licensed exclusively from its American university partners, allowing them to reprogramme stem cells into tissues like muscle and fat. A single blood sample could allow indefinite production of many meat products, its website states. Around the world, the demand for clean meat is consistently growing. Optimistically, their pork sausages will reach the market by 2021.

Diet for One and the Birth of Personalised Nutrition

One of the biggest advantages of nutrition in the modern age is personalisation. The basic idea is very simple: we all love food, but which food is good for us? Nutrino can give you the answer. The company unlocks the potential of nutritional data and provides its users with smart, personalised analyses of how their bodies interact with the foods they eat. By using machine learning and artificial intelligence, Nutrinos platform collects, processes, and analyses food-related data from its users, matches it with their ever-growing nutritional database and defines an individualised nutrition profile, called FoodPrint. By knowing your own FoodPrint, you will never again question what to eat. Closely related to the idea of eating the food that suits you best is the freedom to choose it. But in todays hectic world, we often forget about its importance.

Luckily, we have Gousto. Providingusers with 40 recipes on a weekly basis, this cook-at-home meal kit service delivers to your doorstep correctly portioned fresh ingredients matched to each recipe of your choice. Backed by an AI recipe recommendation tool, cooking at home has never been easier. Gousto has setanambitious target of delivering 400 million balanced and nutritious meals by 2025. As consumers growingrequest towards greater convenience in eating fresh foods and leading healthier lives increases, Gousto will reach its goal in no time.The same applies for Frichti, the most-funded food startup in France. Aiming to become the second kitchen of Parisians, Frichti offers healthy, seasonal meals at affordable prices, coupled with a fast delivery service. Now their recipe for success is expanding across Europe.

Innovations in Food Creation: 3D Food Printing

As the world goes digital, its time to digitise our kitchens as well. A Spanish startup called Natural Machines has introduced to the world a 3D food printer by the name of Foodini. Foodini uses fresh ingredients loaded into stainless steel capsules to make foods like pizza, pasta, quiche, pancakes or brownies. Not to be mistaken, a real pizza will not come of Foodini, but the dough for the pizza will be as it was prepared by an Italian grandmother. Foodini simply manages the difficult and/or time-consuming parts of handmade food preparation that often discourage people from cooking at home. The decorative potential of the device is also worth mentioning. From everyday foods to elaborate creations, each piece is visually appealing, inviting Michelin-star restaurants to boost their culinary creativity and elevate the restaurant experience.

The Rise of the Functional Beverage

One bottle. One meal. This is the new norm across Europe. Feed has made sure of that. The French startup has introduced a nutritionally complete and convenient meal packed in a bottle, containing just the right amount of protein, essential fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. All the nutrients ones body needs. Just add some water, shake it a bit and drink it. Feed is a new form of nutrition that offers you freedom. Healthy, convenient and economical, Feed will simplify your life,said Anthony Bourbon, CEO of Feed. Feed is vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, GMO-free, nut-free and comes in the form of nutrition bars (100g), drinks (500ml), drink mixes and other products. Holding the reputation of delivering quick nutrition, it seems like meal replacements are here to stay. This just might be the end of food, as we know it.

The Future of Dining is Delivery

Welcome to Keatz, the virtual restaurant without guests. Under the slogan We cook, you enjoy. Keatz has been operating since 2016 as the latest addition to the restaurant delivery marketplace. As one of the pioneers of the Ghost restaurants concept, Keatz is up and running thanks to the ongoing popularity of food delivery platforms. Currently it operates a total of 10 virtual restaurants in Berlin, Munich, Madrid, Amsterdam and Barcelona, focusing exclusively on food made for delivery, with minimal capital expenditure and time. Their idea is rather simple. Why should you do groceries and spend time cooking if you can get a great meal delivered in 20 minutes? Living in an on-demand society, consumers are expecting to get what they need whenever they want, and wherever they want. Food is no exception to that.

Fixing Food Loss with Technology

1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year, taking an enormous toll on the planet. At the same time, hunger remains one of the most urgent development challenges of our time. Luckily,consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious and plus, now they have technology to help them distribute the leftovers. This is what Karma is doing. Helping restaurants, cafes and shops to distribute their surplus food to Karma users who get to buy food at half price or more. By making a shared platform on which customers and food providers co-exist and benefit from each other, Karma has found an effective solution for tackling the issue of food waste. A win -win situation.Over 550 tonnes of food have so far been rescued and counting

Looking for startups innovating in a particular sector?If youre a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out ourStartup Sourcing Service!

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The food of tomorrow the latest innovations from Europe's foodtech sector - EU-Startups

Growing meat in a lab has the potential to change the face of food production, offering an alternative to current meat production methods thats both greener and more ethical. But, shallow creatures that we are, lab-grown meat is going to have to taste like the real thing before a large number of people are willing to give it a try. Thats where new research from Harvards John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) comes into play.

Scientists in Professor Kit Parkers lab at SEAS have developed a new method of growing rabbit and cow muscle cells on edible gelatin scaffolds. Sound kinda gross? Perhaps, but the important thing is that the results more accurately mimic the texture and consistency of real meat.

One of the main challenges holding back industrial production of lab-grown or cultured meat is the requirement for muscle cells to attach to something when they are growing in 3D, Dr. Luke MacQueen, a research scholar in Parkers lab, told Digital Trends. We found a way to convert gelatin, an edible component of natural meats, into 3D fiber networks that allow muscle cells to attach and grow in 3D. The combination of cells and scaffolds makes a tissue. Meat is mostly skeletal muscle tissue so our scaffolds cultured with muscle cells are a first step toward cultured meat.

The nanofiber production process pioneered by the team was inspired by cotton candy machines. They begin by feeding a solution of gelatin dissolved in water into a rotating reservoir with small holes in its walls. The rotation forces the gelatin solution out through the holes, forming gelatin jets which travel through the air for around 10 centimeters before being dehydrated in an ethanol bath. Finally, the gelatin fibers are freeze-dried and stored for future use.

We have a lot of work in progress on this topic, MacQueen continued. Some of that involves new scaffold formulations, including plant proteins, and some involves new cell types, like stem cells and fat. We are planning to commercialize this research.

A paper describing this research, titled Muscle tissue engineering in fibrous gelatin: Implications for meat analogs, was recently published in the journal Nature Science of Food.

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Cotton candy machines inspired this breakthrough in lab-grown meat - Digital Trends

Would you live in a city without streets? Or in a flat with no walls? Probably not and the cells in our bodies expect the same level of comfort. Today, were taking a look at the tissues that create and maintain an ideal working environment for our tissues: the extracellular matrix.

Weve had a look at the differences between animal and plant cells before (heres a refresher). One of the key differences between them is that plants reinforce their cells with thick, sturdy walls. These walls are why plant tissues such as wood can get so resilient. However, the reverse of the coin is that it also limits plant cells somewhat: a muscle made out of wood wouldnt be very effective.

Animals need cells that can perform a wide variety of activities, but these cells also need biological and mechanical support to perform their tasks. Thats where the extracellular matrix, or ECM, comes in.

The ECM is a complex mix of proteins and carbohydrates that fills the spaces between cells; it is comprised of the basement membrane and interstitial matrix. Going forward, Ill use the term ECM quite loosely to mean both the extracellular matrix and the interstitial matrix. If I dont mention the basement membrane specifically, Im probably talking about the interstitial matrix (as its the more dynamic and frankly more interesting half of the topic).

Think of the basement membrane as a sheet of plastic wrap the body stretches over every individual tissue or organ to keep everything tidy and in place. This membrane is made up of two layers of cells and its quite fibrous and hard to rip.

The interstitial matrix is, for lack of a better term, the goo that our cells live in. Most of the time, it looks and feels a bit like a clear gel. Its produced by the cells themselves, which secrete and release certain compounds around them.

The simplest definition of the extracellular matrix is that it represents the sum of non-cellular components present within all tissues and organs. As we go forward, keep in mind that the ECM isnt the same everywhere.

Although, fundamentally, the ECM is composed of water, proteins, and polysaccharides, each tissue has an ECM with a unique composition and topology that is generated during tissue development, Christian Frantz, Kathleen M. Stewart, Valerie M. Weaver, 2010.

Collagen, the most abundant protein in mammals, is the main component of the ECM. Outside the cell, collagen binds with carbohydrate molecules and assembles into long molecules called collagen fibrils. These fibrils extend through the ECM and lend flexibility and strength to the material, acting similarly to the role of rebar in reinforcing concrete (which is tough but inflexible). Collagen fibrils are flexible and tough to break, so theyre used to bind together the rest of the ECM. In humans, genetic disorders that affect collagen (such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) cause tissues to become fragile and tear easily.

While the ECM contains a wide range of proteins and carbohydrates, another important set of compounds alongside collagen are proteoglycans (groups of proteins tied to simple sugars). Proteoglycans come with many shapes and functions, depending on which proteins and sugars theyre made of, and perform a wide range of tasks in the ECM. They can also bind to each other, to collagen (forming cartilage), or to hyaluronic acid, making them even more versatile. As a rule of thumb, proteoglycans act as fillers and regulate the movement of molecules through the ECM among other functions.

Their overall structure looks like a tree: the sugar part of the polyglycans are twigs set on a branch (the protein), which ties to a trunk made out of polysaccharide (many-sugar) molecules. A class of proteins in the membranes of cells, called integrins, serve as connection ports between the membrane and material in the ECM (such as collagen fibers and proteoglycan-polysaccharide bundles). Beneath the membrane, integrins tie into the cells support girders (the cytoskeleton).

The type of ECM Ive described so far is your run of the mill variety that youll find in skin, around muscle fibers, in adipose tissue (fat), and so on. But each tissue has an ECM that fully supports its function blood plasma is the interstitial matrix of blood. Unlike the ECM of muscles, for example, which is meant to reduce friction and wear in the tissue, blood plasma primarily works as a medium to carry blood cells around. Blood vessels are coated with a basement membrane, and together, they form the ECM of blood. Each type of animal connective tissue has its own type of ECM, even bone.

Seeing as there are many types of ECM out there, it stands to reason that there are many functions they perform. However, by and large, there are a few functions that all ECMs fulfill.

The first and perhaps most important function is that they provide support to tissues, segregate (separate) them, and that they mediate intercellular communication. The ECM is also what regulates a cells dynamic behavior i.e. whether a cell moves around, and how. The ECM keeps cells in place so we dont simply unravel. The connections formed between the ECM and integrins on a cells membrane also function as signaling pathways.

It is also essential for the good functioning of tissues at large. The ECM creates and maintains the proper environmental conditions for cells to develop, multiply, and form functioning tissues. While the exact details are still unknown, the ECM has been found to cause tissue regrowth and healing after injury. In human fetuses, for example, the extracellular matrix works with stem cells to grow and regrow all parts of the human body. Fetuses can regrow anything that gets damaged in the womb, but since babies cant, we suspect that the matrix loses this function after full development. Researchers are looking into applying it for tissue regeneration in adults.

The ECM can also act as a storage space for various compounds. In joints, it contains more hyaluronic acid which in turn absorbs water and acts as a mechanical cushion. ECMs can also store a wide range of cellular growth factors and release them as needed. This allows our bodies to activate cell growth on a dime when needed without having to produce and ship these factors to a certain area.

It also seems to impact cell differentiation and gene expression. Cells can switch genes on or off depending on the elasticity of the ECM around them. Cells also seem to want to migrate towards stiffer areas of the ECM generally (durotaxis) from less-firm ones.

The ECM isnt very well known today, and it definitely goes unsung. But no matter how you cut it, it is a key part of biology as we know it today. Without it, both animals and plants would be formless, messy blobs quite literally. And I dont know about you but I love it when my tissues stay where theyre supposed to, the way theyre supposed to.

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The extracellular matrix, and how it keeps you in tip top shape - ZME Science

Whether youve been recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) or have been living with the condition for a while, chances are youll sometimes hear terms from your healthcare team that are new to you.

The following is a quick, alphabetical guide to the terminology you may need to know as you manage your condition:

Ankle-Foot Orthosis (AFO) A brace designed to support the position of the foot and motion of the ankle to compensate for nerve damage and muscle weakness in the area caused by MS and other movement disorders. An AFO is typically used to stabilize weak limbs or to reposition a limb with contracted muscles into a more normal position.

Autoimmune Disease Your immune system plays a major part of your bodys defense against bacteria and viruses by sending out cells to attack them once they enter your body. However, if you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in your body, causing them to weaken or break down. MS is thought to be just one example of an autoimmune disease. It has been suggested that in MS, your immune system may mistakenly attack the cells in your central nervous system.

Axon Long threadlike structures of nerve cells that send impulses to other cells in your body. Research suggests that damage to or loss of these fibers in progressive MS may be linked to worsening disability and more severe progression.

Central Nervous System (CNS) The group of organs in your body that includes the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. If you have MS, your bodys immune system may be working against the CNS, producing neurological symptoms such as muscle weakness and vision problems.

Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) A clear, colorless liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord to protect the CNS and assist in the circulation of nutrients and removal of waste products. In MS, damage to the myelin sheath of nerve cells causes certain types of proteins to be released into the spinal fluid. The presence of these proteins in the CSF, but not in the blood, may point to a diagnosis of MS.

Clinically Isolated Syndrome (CIS) A first episode of neurologic symptoms that lasts at least 24 hours and is caused by inflammation or demyelination (loss of the myelin that covers the nerve cells) in the CNS. People who experience CIS may or may not go on to develop MS. However, when CIS is accompanied by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)detected brain lesions similar to those found in MS, you have a 60 to 80 percent chance of a second neurologic event and diagnosis of MS within several years, according to the National MS Society.

Cog Fog A commonly used term that refers to the cognitive changes experienced by many people with MS. According to MS Australia, approximately 50 percent of people with the condition will develop some degree of cog fog, or inhibited ability to think, reason, concentrate, or remember. For some, cognitive problems will become severe enough to interfere in a significant way with daily activities.

Corticosteroids (or Steroids) Prescription medication used to treat relapses in relapsing-remitting MS. Your doctor may prescribe intravenous (IV) corticosteroids if the symptoms of your relapse are causing significant problems, like poor vision or difficulty walking. These drugs work by suppressing the immune system and reducing inflammation in the CNS, and they may help relapse symptoms resolve more quickly. But they wont affect your ultimate level of recovery from a relapse or the long-term course of your MS. Methylprednisolone is a commonly used corticosteroid in MS.

Diplopia (or Double Vision) An eye problem in which you see two images of a single object. It may be present when only one eye is open (monocular) or disappear when either eye is closed (binocular). Diplopia is a common symptom of MS, and it occurs because of damage to the optic nerve.

Disease-Modifying Therapies (DMTs) Drugs designed to reduce new relapses, delay progression of disability, and limit new CNS inflammation in people with MS. Although there are multiple DMTs that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in MS, these drugs generally work by reducing inflammation in nerve cells in theCNS.

Dysarthria A speech disorder caused by neuromuscular impairment and resulting in disturbances in motor control of the muscles used in speech. Its believed the demyelinating lesions in MS may result in spasticity, weakness, slowness, or ataxic incoordination of the lips, tongue, mandible, soft palate, vocal cords, and diaphragm, causing this speech impairment.

Dysphagia (Difficulty Swallowing) A condition that may occur in people with MS, leading to difficulty in eating solid foods or liquids, frequent throat clearing during eating or drinking, a feeling that food is stuck in the throat, or coughing or a choking sensation when eating or drinking. Its the result of nerve damage within the muscles that control swallowing.

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) A virus believed to be a possible cause or trigger for MS. Although the exact cause of MS remains unknown, researchers suggest an infectious agent may be involved in its development. Studies have found that antibodies (immune proteins that indicate a person has been exposed to a given virus) to EBV are significantly higher in people who eventually develop MS than in those who dont. Other research has noted that people with a specific immune-related gene and high levels of antibodies to EBV in their blood are 9 times more likely to develop MS than others.

Evoked Potentials A test that measures the speed of nerve messages along sensory nerves to the brain, which can be detected on your scalp using electrodes attached with sticky pads. Its sometimes used in the diagnosis of MS, because nerve damage can slow down the transmission of nerve signals. Evoked potential tests can indicate nerve pathways that are damaged prior to the onset of MS symptoms.

Exacerbation An occurrence of new symptoms or the worsening of old symptoms that may also be referred to as a relapse, attack, or flare-up. Exacerbations can be very mild, or severe enough to interfere with a person's ability to perform day-to-day activities.

Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) A scale used for measuring MS disability and monitoring changes in the level of disability over time. Developed by neurologist John Kurtzke, MD, in 1983, the EDSS scale ranges from 0 to 10 in 0.5-unit increments (scoring is based on a neurological exam) and relies on walking as its main measure of disability. People with an EDSS of 1 have no disability and minimal loss of function, while those with an EDSS of 9.5 are confined to bed and totally dependent on others for functions of daily living.

Foot Drop (or Drop Foot) A symptom of MS caused by weakness in the ankle or disruption in the nerve pathway between the legs and the brain, making it difficult to lift the front of the foot to the correct angle during walking. If you have foot drop, your foot hangs down and may catch or drag along the ground, resulting in trips and falls. Foot drop can be managed with an AFO or other treatments.

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) A procedure designed to reboot the immune system, the National MS Society says, using hematopoietic (blood cellproducing) stem cells derived from a persons own bone marrow or blood. If your doctor recommends HSCT, youll undergo a chemotherapy regimen before these cells are reintroduced to the body via IV injection, where they will migrate to your bone marrow to rebuild the immune system.

John Cunningham (JC) Virus A common infection completely unrelated to MS that is found in as many as 90 percent of people, according to the UK's MS Trust. JC virus has no symptoms and is normally controlled by the immune system. However, if your immune system is weakened, the JC virus can reactivate, causing potentially fatal inflammation and damage to the brain known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Certain MS disease-modifying therapies have been linked with increased risk for PML.

Lhermittes Sign An electric shock-like sensation experienced by some with MS when the neck is moved in a particular way. The sensation can travel down to the spine, arms, and legs.

Lesion (or Plaque) Refers to an area of damage or scarring (sclerosis) in the CNS caused by inflammation in MS. These lesions can be spotted on an MRI scan, with active lesions appearing as white patches. With regular MRIs, a neurologist can tell how active your MS is.

Lumbar Puncture (or Spinal Tap) A procedure used for the collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), sometimes done to help diagnose MS. For this procedure, your doctor will ask you to lie on your side or bend forward while seated, before cleansing an area of your lower back and injecting a local anesthetic. He will then insert a hollow needle and extract a small amount of spinal fluid using a syringe.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) The diagnostic tool that currently offers the most sensitive noninvasive way of imaging the brain, spinal cord, or other areas of the body, according to the National MS Society. Its the preferred imaging method for diagnosis of MS and to monitor the course of the disease. MRI uses magnetic fields and radio waves to measure the relative water content in tissues, which is notable in MS because the layer of myelin that protects nerve cell fibers is fatty and repels water. In areas where myelin has been damaged by MS, fat is stripped away and the tissue holds more water. This shows up on an MRI as a bright white spot or darkened area, depending on how the images are made.

McDonald Criteria A guidance used in the diagnosis of MS, authored by an international panel of experts on the condition, originally in 2010. The guidance was updated in 2017. Among the key changes: advising for the use of brain MRI as part of the diagnostic process.

MS Hug A common symptom of MS. If you experience the MS hug, you may feel like you have a tight band around your chest or ribs, or pressure on one side of your torso. Some people find that it is painful to breathe. The MS hug can last for seconds, minutes, hours, or even longer.

Myelin A substance rich in lipids (fatty substances) and proteins that helps form the myelin sheath. In MS, particularly relapsing-remitting MS, an abnormal immune response produces inflammation in the CNS, effectively attacking the myelin in the cells.

Myelin Sheath An insulating layer of fatty substances and proteins that forms around the nerves in body, including those in the CNS. It allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly and efficiently along the nerve cells, but these impulses can be slowed if the sheath is damaged, causing MS.

Neurodegeneration Refers to the process by which the myelin sheath of cells in the CNS is damaged in MS. Its believed to be a major contributor to neurological disability in the condition, and may be the reason immune modulation treatments (disease-modifying therapy) are generally less effective in the progressive MS than in the relapsing-remitting MS.

Neurologist The point person for monitoring your MS treatment and managing MS symptoms. This specialist typically focuses on conditions affecting the CNS.

Neuropathic Pain A type of pain common in MS that results from changes or damage to the myelin sheath and the axons, or nerve fibers, it normally covers. MS-caused neuropathic pain may be chronic, intermittent, or occur only in response to a stimulus.

Neuropsychologist A specialist you may be referred to who helps you manage the cognitive effects of MS. Neuropsychological testing (or testing of the functioning of your brain) involves identifying memory or learning difficulties associated with MS. Cognitive rehabilitation may improve functioning.

Nociceptive Pain Caused by damage to muscles and joints, it can be either acute or chronic, and may not result from MS itself, but be caused by changes in posture or walking or the overuse of assistive devices in those with the condition.

Nystagmus A common eye abnormality in MS, its characterized by involuntary, rhythmic, back-and-forth motion of the eyeball, either horizontally or vertically. For those with nystagmus, the perception of the rhythmic movement of the surrounding stationary world (oscillopsia) can be disorienting and disabling.

Oligoclonal Bands (OCBs) Immunoglobulins, or proteins, that collect in blood plasma or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Although not every person with MS has OCBs, their presence can support a diagnosis of MS. Having OCBs is generally associated with a younger age of MS onset and a poorer prognosis.

Optic Neuritis An inflammatory condition that damages the optic nerve, a bundle of nerve fibers that transmits visual information from your eye to your brain, causing pain and temporary vision loss in one eye. Its been linked with nerve damage resulting from MS, and may be among the first symptoms a person with the condition experiences.

Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) A neurologic effect experienced by roughly 10 percent of people with MS as well as some with Parkinsons disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA). Its characterized by sudden, uncontrollable expressions of laughter or crying without an obvious cause, which can be distressing as well as embarrassing to those who experience it. PBA is believed to be a mood disorder related to the disruption of nerve impulses in the CNS, but its different from depression, which is also common in MS.

Pseudoexacerbation A temporary worsening of symptoms without actual myelin inflammation or damage. It is often triggered by other illnesses or infection, exercise, a warm environment, depression, exhaustion, and stress. Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common type of infection to cause a pseudoexacerbation.

Sclerosis A general hardening of the body tissue. The term multiple sclerosis refers to the multiple areas of scar tissue often called lesions that develop along affected nerve fibers and that are visible in MRI scans.

Spasticity A symptom of MS that causes your muscles to feel stiff, heavy, or difficult to move. When a muscle spasms, youll experience a sudden stiffening that may cause a limb to jerk. This may be painful.

Trigeminal Neuralgia (or Tic Douloureux) A type of neuropathic pain that occurs on the face (usually on one side only). Its a known symptom of MS, and you may experience it in your cheek; upper or lower jaw; inside the mouth; or in the area around your eyes, ears, or forehead. In MS, its typically caused by damage to the myelin sheath around the trigeminal nerve, which among other functions controls the muscles used in chewing. The condition is triggered by everyday activities, like tensing facial muscles while shaving or when chewing.

Vertigo An intense sensation of the surrounding environment spinning around one. In MS, vertigo is typically caused by growth of an existing lesion or development of a new lesion on the brain stem or cerebellum, the area in the brain that controls balance. It can also be a symptom of a problem with the inner ear, or it can be side effect of medication used to treat MS or other health conditions you may have.

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Speaking Multiple Sclerosis: A Glossary of Common Terms - Everyday Health

Research at the Roslin Institute is focusing on identifying genes linked with fat production and muscular development in pigs, with a view to producing leaner animals or more meat from fewer animals.

The team aims to grow cells that can be used to produce muscle and fat in the laboratory tohelp identify specific variants of genes in pigs that are linked with generating leaner or fatter meat.Eventually, the researchers say thiswould create the potential for such genes to be bred out, leading to leaner pigs which produce more meat.

Thousands of genes are potentially involved in the production of fat and muscle, which means it is difficult to carry out this research with cells taken from live pigs. The team is instead carrying out work, in collaboration with an industry partner, to generate a laboratory model of pig muscle.

Their partner, Stemnovate, will provide expertise in stem cells and 3D tissue engineering. The company was funded by Innovate UK in support of advancing organs on silicon chip systems, which seek to simulate artificial organs for study in the lab.

Instead of periodically having to obtain muscle tissue from pigs, we want to be able to grow stem cells for long periods in culture, and use them whenever we need to produce muscle in the lab, says Xavier Donadeu, group leader at the Roslin Institute.

It will be an exciting project the ability to grow muscle cells in the lab and engineer for production is highly valuable for the potential industrial applications, saysRuchi Sharma,CEO, Stemnovate

The project has recruited a PhD student who will work in the Roslin Institute and undertake a three-month work placement with Stemnovate in Cambridge.The studentship is funded by the East of Scotland Bioscience doctoral training partnership, supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Source: Roslin Institute, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

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Stem cell studies look toward producing leaner pigs with more meat - National Hog Farmer

Stem cell therapy, which All Blacks prop Owen Franks used to help fix a damaged shoulder, is raising hopes of a whole range of medical breakthroughs.

But there's a way to go before the medical establishment is convinced.

In late 2017, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner ScottGottliebhad this to say:"We're at the beginning of a paradigm change in medicine with the promise of being able to facilitate regeneration of parts of the human body, where cells and tissues can be engineered to grow healthy, functional organs to replace diseased ones; new genes can be introduced into the body to combat disease; and adult stem cells can generate replacements for cells that are lost to injury or disease."

REGEN CELLULAR

Dr Hassan Mubark takes blood from All Blacks prop Owen Franks.

Yet, as an indication of how far there is still to go, the FDA has also warnedpeople in the USagainst "unscrupulous providers" offering stem cell products that were unapproved and unproven.

READ MORE:*Rugby World Cup 2019: All Black Owen Franks thrown a stem cell lifeline*Owen Franks hits back at critics following omission from Rugby World Cup squad*Stem cell therapy for All Black Israel Dagg as he hits comeback trail with Crusaders*Experimental stem cell treatment shows results for Waikato woman with MSA Cerebella*Stem cell clinics accused of taking advantage of patients*Reported stem cell treatment could give hope to Michael Schumacher

"Researchers hope stem cells will one day be effective in the treatment of many medical conditions and diseases," it said, thenadded: "Stem cells have been called everything from cure-alls to miracle treatments. But don't believe the hype."

Looking at just the area of deteriorating joints, it's easy to see how stem cell therapies, if they deliver on the promise,could make life much better for many people with osteoarthritis who are in pain and have restricted movement.

Last week, Otago University researchers predictedthe number of knee replacement surgeries needed for osteoarthritis would increase from around 5000 a year in 2013 to abut9000 in 2038.

AP

Former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher received devastating head injuries in a ski accident six years ago. Last month it was reported he has undergone stem cell treatment in Paris.

Osteoarthritis is the area where ReGen Cellular,the clinic where Franks had the therapy, has done most of its work in the past two to three years, although ithas recently expanded its services to include a range of diagnosed auto-immune conditions, among them rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes.

ReGensaid 55 per cent of its patients were aged over 60, 35 per cent were 40-60 and 10 per cent were sports-based.

Theclinic usesPure Expanded Stem Cell (PESC) therapy, which involves taking 40 grams - about a teaspoon - of fat from around a patient's stomach. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)in that sample are then multiplied in the clinic's Queenstown laboratory for about eight weeks. At the end of that process 100 million to 200 million cells have been produced.

Otago University

Otago University, Christchurch regenerative medicine research team have invented a bio-ink - a gel-like substance mixed with human stem cells - to be used with a bio-printer to make human body parts. Video shows the printer using bio-ink to make a body part.

For the treatment of osteoarthritis, between 50m and 100m stem cells are injected into larger joints, with 25m to 50m into smaller joints. ReGen said the therapy provided immediate pain reduction and increased mobility. MRI scans showed cartilage could and did regenerate.

ReGendescribedMSCs as the cells that "wake up damaged or lazy cells". Slightly more technically, Nature.com said MSCs wereadult stem cells present in multiple tissues, including the umbilical cord, bone marrow and fat.MSCscan self-renew by dividing and can differentiate into multiple tissues including bone, cartilage, muscle and fat cells, and connective tissue.

ReGen director of patient care Marcelle Noble said the clinic believed its treatments, if offered early enough, would save the public health system hundreds of millions of dollars through lessened replacement surgeries, and would save ACC millions of dollars in lengthy rehabilitation programmes.

The treatment for two knees was half the price of one knee replacement surgery within the public health system, she said. ReGen advertises osteoarthritis treatment for a single joint at $12,500 and for two joints at $15,000.

GETTY IMAGES

Former All Black Israel Dagg had stem cell therapy for an injured knee, but in the end had to give the game away because of the injury.

So far mainstream funding hadnot been offered for the therapy, Noble said. But the clinic had a "big breakthrough" earlier this year when two insurers in New Zealand accepted patients'PESC therapy claims. In July, ACC accepted consultation by ReGen's chief medical officer Dr Hassan Mubark.

ReGen only had data for the past five years on the success of its therapy, but the fact patients were returning to have other areas of their body treated was an indication of how people feltthe therapy was improving their quality of life, Noble said.

Globally, "massive" R&D spending was going into stem cell research. More therapies would become available and stem cell treatment would become "commonplace".

At any one time ReGen had 50-75 patients' cells growing in its incubators, Noble said. Of the patients treated, 40 per cent hadailments in therknees, 30 per cent in their hips, 20 per cent in their shoulders. The final 10 per cent were for sports and other issues, including problems with tendons, muscles, cartilage tears, fingers, elbows, ankles and hands.

SUPPLIED

Dr Ron Lopert undergoing part of the PESC treatment.

The first patient to undertake ReGen's PESC therapy was retired GP Dr Ron Lopert, who lives in Tauranga.

For five to 10 years, he had beengetting aches and pains in his hips after playing sport, and the problem was becoming more noticeable, he said. In 2013 he had an x-ray that showed he had moderate to severe osteoarthritis in both hips,more severein his right hip.

He stopped playing all sports and started researching different forms of treatment. Ideally, he wanted to be able to get some of his own cartilage back and reverse the osteoarthritis. It seemedPESCshould do that.

In 2015, aged 61, he had the therapy, with stem cells being injected into each hip joint.Within weeks henoticed an improvement in the range of motion and a decrease in pain, Lopert said.Some of that was just the anti-inflammatory component of stem cell injection, but he thought he also received a longer term benefit from cartilage regeneration.

SUPPLIED

Dr Lopert on his recent travels. He says he has much less hip pain.

He put the success of the procedure at75 per centin terms of symptoms and function, and100 per cent when it came to avoiding invasive surgery."I opted for a much more natural treatment where my own tissue is regenerating, instead of a metal prosthesis," Lopert said.

He was not sure all the improvement came from the stem cell treatment. As well as avoiding overuse of the joints, which meant he hadn't returned to playing sport, he had also switched to an anti-inflammatory diet.

His left hip continued to have hardly any symptomsbut he had started noticing the "odd twinge now and then" in his right hip.

"The vast majority of days it's fine provided I'm just walking and doing ordinary things. On the odd occasion I might carry something heavy, then I would notice it the next day and it (right hip) would stay painfulintermittentlyfor the next couple of days," Lopert said.

Sean Gallup

In this picture from February, German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks through a microscope at brain organoids grown from stem cells.

Some of his stem cells had been retained after the treatment, and he was booked in for a follow-up injection for his right hip at the end of October.

He expected the therapy would become a "go to" treatment, and would become an early intervention for osteoarthritis. But more independent research was needed to confirm the success of the treatment. "The evidence is slowly building up but there needs to be more before the Government will accept it," Lopert said.

In his case, he thought there had been cartilage regeneration in his hips, but that was based on his symptoms. "It would have been nice had I had MRI scans before and after the injection for objective evidence," he said.

From the perspective of the medical establishment, the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association said it supported a position statement on stem cell therapy produced by the Royal Australian College of Surgeons.

That paper, approved in mid-2018,noted stem cell therapy was a "rapidly advancing" area, but many proposed stem cell therapies were experimental and not yet proven. It did not support surgeons administering stem cell therapy outside of an ethically approved registered clinical trial.

"Whilst there may be scope for innovative treatment in the future, currently, the clinical effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapies remain scientifically unproven," RACS said.

In this country, an ACC spokesperson said ACC did not have an official position on stem cell therapy for the treatment of injuries. An internationally standardised evidence-based healthcare approach was used to help ACC decide how it covered injuries and funded treatments.

Dr HassanMubark, ReGen's chief medical officer, was a healthcare provider contracted to ACC in the specialty of rheumatology, and ACC had funded consultation fees with Mubark, the spokesperson said. Those consultations were for diagnostic and treatment planning purposes and did not need prior approval from ACC.

ACC had to consider legislative criteria when deciding whether to fund any particular treatment. There would be many reasons why ACC might decide to fund a client to see a rheumatologist for an opinion on the diagnosis and possible management of their condition. That would not commit ACC to funding any proposed treatment but would provide the client and ACC with information to help decision-making.

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New research links a genetic anomaly and some forms of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, which claims the lives of more than 3,000 infants a year.

The research, published in Nature Communications, focuses on mitochondrial tri-functional protein deficiency, a potentially fatal cardiac metabolic disorder caused by a genetic mutation in the gene HADHA.

Newborns with this genetic anomaly cant metabolize the lipids found in milk, and die suddenly of cardiac arrest when they are a couple months old. Lipids are a category of molecules that include fats, cholesterol, and fatty acids.

There are multiple causes for sudden infant death syndrome, says Hannele Ruohola-Baker, professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who is also associate director of the Medicine Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine.

There are some causes which are environmental. But what were studying here is really a genetic cause of SIDS. In this particular case, it involves defect in the enzyme that breaks down fat.

Lead author Jason Miklas, who earned his PhD at the University of Washington and is now a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, says he first came up with the idea while researching heart disease and noticed a small research study that had examined children who couldnt process fats and who had cardiac disease that was not readily explained.

So he and Ruohola-Baker started looking into why heart cells, grown to mimic infant cells, died in the petri dish where they were growing.

If a child has a mutation, depending on the mutation the first few months of life can be very scary as the child may die suddenly, Miklas says. An autopsy wouldnt necessarily pick up why the child passed but we think it might be due to the infants heart stopping to beat.

Were no longer just trying to treat the symptoms of the disease, Miklas says. Were trying to find ways to treat the root problem. Its very gratifying to see that we can make real progress in the lab toward interventions that could one day make their way to the clinic.

In MTP deficiency, the heart cells of affected infants dont convert fats into nutrients properly, resulting in a build-up of unprocessed fatty material that can disrupt heart functions. More technically, the breakdown occurs when enzymes fail to complete a process known as fatty acid oxidation. It is possible to screen for the genetic markers of MTP deficiency; but effective treatments remain a ways off.

Ruohola-Baker says the latest laboratory discovery is a big step towards finding ways to overcome SIDS.

There is no cure for this, she says. But there is now hope, because weve found a new aspect of this disease that will innovate generations of novel small molecules and designed proteins, which might help these patients in the future.

One drug the group is focusing on is Elamipretide, used to stimulate hearts and organs that have oxygen deficiency, but barely considered for helping infant hearts, until now. In addition, prospective parents can undergo screening to see if there is a chance that they could have a child who might carry the mutation.

Ruohola-Baker has a personal interest in the research: one of her friends in Finland, her home country, had a baby who died of SIDS.

It was absolutely devastating for that couple, she says. Since then, Ive been very interested in the causes for sudden infant death syndrome. Its very exciting to think that our work may contribute to future treatments, and help for the heartbreak for the parents who find their children have these mutations.

The National Institutes of Health, the Academy of Finland, Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research of Canada, an Alexander Graham Bell Graduate Scholarship, and the National Science Foundation funded the work.

Source: University of Washington

Original Study DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12482-1

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Some cases of SIDS may have this genetic cause - Futurity: Research News

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Incyte Corporation (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced positive results from the Novartis-sponsored pivotal Phase 3 REACH2 study evaluating ruxolitinib (Jakafi) in patients with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The study met its primary endpoint of improving overall response rate (ORR) at Day 28 with ruxolitinib treatment compared to best available therapy. No new safety signals were observed, and the ruxolitinib safety profile in REACH2 was consistent with that seen in previously reported studies in steroid-refractory acute GVHD.

Further analysis of the safety and efficacy data is ongoing. Novartis expects to initiate discussions with ex-U.S. regulatory authorities in 2020, and to submit REACH2 results for presentation at an upcoming scientific meeting.

GVHD is a challenging and serious disease, and physicians around the world need access to therapies that can improve outcomes for patients, said Peter Langmuir, M.D., Group Vice President, Targeted Therapies, Incyte. This positive result of the REACH2 study is excellent news for patients as it further reinforces the potential of ruxolitinib as a treatment option that can provide meaningful results for patients with steroid-refractory acute GVHD.

GVHD is a condition that can occur after an allogeneic transplant (the transfer of stem cells from a donor) where the donated cells initiate an immune response and attack the transplant recipients organs, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. There are two major forms of GVHD, acute and chronic, that can affect multiple organ systems including the skin, gastrointestinal (digestive) tract and liver.

Earlier this year, Jakafi was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute GVHD in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older based on results of the REACH1 trial. Jakafi is marketed by Incyte in the U.S.; ruxolitinib (Jakavi) is licensed to Novartis ex-U.S.

In addition, the pivotal REACH3 trial evaluating ruxolitinib in patients with steroid-refractory chronic GVHD is ongoing. A recent interim efficacy and safety analysis conducted by an Independent Data Monitoring Committee has recommended that REACH3, which is co-sponsored by Incyte and Novartis, should continue without modification. The results of the REACH3 trial are expected to be available in 2020.

About REACH2

REACH2 (NCT02913261) is a randomized, open-label, multicenter Phase 3 study sponsored by Novartis, evaluating safety and efficacy of ruxolitinib compared with best available therapy in patients with steroid-refractory acute GVHD.

The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) at Day 28, defined as the proportion of patients demonstrating a best overall response (complete response or partial response). Secondary endpoints include durable ORR at Day 56, ORR at Day 14, duration of response, overall survival and event-free survival, among others. For more information about the study, please visit https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02913261.

About REACH

The REACH clinical trial program is evaluating Jakafi in patients with steroid-refractory GVHD and includes the collaborative Novartis-sponsored randomized pivotal Phase 3 trials: REACH2 and REACH3. The ongoing REACH3 trial is evaluating patients with steroid-refractory chronic GVHD with results expected next year. For more information about the REACH3 study, please visit https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03112603.

The REACH program was initiated with the Incyte-sponsored REACH1 trial, a prospective, open-label, single-cohort, multicenter, pivotal Phase 2 trial (NCT02953678) evaluating Jakafi in combination with corticosteroids in patients with steroid-refractory grade II-IV acute GVHD. For more information about the study, including trial results, please visit https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02953678.

About Jakafi (ruxolitinib)

Jakafi is a first-in-class JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor approved by the U.S. FDA for treatment of steroid-refractory acute GVHD in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older.

Jakafi is also indicated for treatment of polycythemia vera (PV) in adults who have had an inadequate response to or are intolerant of hydroxyurea as well as adults with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis (MF), including primary MF, post-polycythemia vera MF and post-essential thrombocythemia MF.

Jakafi is marketed by Incyte in the United States and by Novartis as Jakavi (ruxolitinib) outside the United States. Jakafi is a registered trademark of Incyte Corporation. Jakavi is a registered trademark of Novartis AG in countries outside the United States.

Important Safety Information

Jakafi can cause serious side effects, including:

Low blood counts: Jakafi (ruxolitinib) may cause your platelet, red blood cell, or white blood cell counts to be lowered. If you develop bleeding, stop taking Jakafi and call your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider will perform blood tests to check your blood counts before you start Jakafi and regularly during your treatment. Your healthcare provider may change your dose of Jakafi or stop your treatment based on the results of your blood tests. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you develop or have worsening symptoms such as unusual bleeding, bruising, tiredness, shortness of breath, or a fever.

Infection: You may be at risk for developing a serious infection during treatment with Jakafi. Tell your healthcare provider if you develop any of the following symptoms of infection: chills, nausea, vomiting, aches, weakness, fever, painful skin rash or blisters.

Skin cancers: Some people who take Jakafi have developed certain types of non-melanoma skin cancers. Tell your healthcare provider if you develop any new or changing skin lesions.

Increases in cholesterol: You may have changes in your blood cholesterol levels. Your healthcare provider will do blood tests to check your cholesterol levels during your treatment with Jakafi.

The most common side effects of Jakafi include: for certain types of MF and PV - low platelet count, low red blood cell count, bruising, dizziness, and headache; and for acute GVHD low red blood cell counts, low platelet counts, low white blood cell counts, infections and fluid retention.

These are not all the possible side effects of Jakafi. Ask your pharmacist or healthcare provider for more information. Tell your healthcare provider about any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

Before taking Jakafi, tell your healthcare provider about: all the medications, vitamins, and herbal supplements you are taking and all your medical conditions, including if you have an infection, have or had tuberculosis (TB), or have been in close contact with someone who has TB, have or had hepatitis B, have or had liver or kidney problems, are on dialysis, have a high level of fat in your blood (high blood cholesterol or triglycerides), had skin cancer or have any other medical condition. Take Jakafi exactly as your healthcare provider tells you. Do not change or stop taking Jakafi without first talking to your healthcare provider.

Women should not take Jakafi while pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Do not breast-feed during treatment with Jakafi and for 2 weeks after the final dose.

Full Prescribing Information, which includes a more complete discussion of the risks associated with Jakafi, is available at http://www.jakafi.com.

About Incyte

Incyte Corporation is a Wilmington, Delaware-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics. For additional information on Incyte, please visit the Companys website at http://www.incyte.com.

Follow @Incyte on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Incyte.

Forward Looking Statements

Except for the historical information set forth herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements regarding whether and when the REACH2 data will be presented, when results from the REACH3 study will be available, and the effect of the REACH2 results on patients with GVHD, contain predictions, estimates and other forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on the Companys current expectations and subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including unanticipated developments in and risks related to: unanticipated delays; further research and development and the results of clinical trials possibly being unsuccessful or insufficient to meet applicable regulatory standards or warrant continued development; the ability to enroll sufficient numbers of subjects in clinical trials; determinations made by the FDA; the Companys dependence on its relationships with its collaboration partners; the efficacy or safety of the Companys products and the products of the Companys collaboration partners; the acceptance of the Companys products and the products of the Companys collaboration partners in the marketplace; market competition; sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution requirements; greater than expected expenses; expenses relating to litigation or strategic activities; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Companys reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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Incyte Announces that the REACH2 Pivotal Trial of Ruxolitinib (Jakafi) Meets Primary Endpoint in Patients with Steroid-Refractory Acute...

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (AgeX; NYSE American: AGE), a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics for human aging and regeneration, announced today that founder and CEO Michael D. West, PhD will deliver a presentation titled The Age-Related Metabolic Program as part of a session at Metabesity 2019, October 15-16 in Washington, DC.

Details of the session follow.

Wednesday, October 16Carnegie Institution for Science 1530 P Street NWWashington, DC 20005

9:40-10:45am Panel Session: Clinical Development Issues Challenges and Opportunities

Dr. West will be joined on the panel by:

The full event program is available here.

A copy of the presentation will be available on the Investors section of the companys website at http://www.agexinc.com.

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.

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.

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AgeX Therapeutics to Present at Metabesity 2019 - Business Wire

The wellness field can be confusing to navigate. A seemingly endless number of companies offer a wide range of products, and it can be difficult to know where to turn with specific ailments. To shed some light on this area, we wanted to look at a leader in the field, LifeWave, and offer a review of the company and its products. Read on to learn more about how LifeWave uses innovative methods to help its customers meet a range of wellness goals.

Company Origins

One thing that sets the company apart from others in the wellness field is its origins and leadership. Founded in 2004 by CEO David Schmidt, the companys technology was born out of his research onthe use of phototherapy to improve several processes in the body. At present, the CEO holds over 100 patents and patents pending related to his technology and has made extensive headway in the field of regenerative science and technology. He has also used his background in business and product development to promote his findings and bring his technology to the companys wide customer base.

In his experiences prior to the creation of LifeWave, he worked with numerous organizations to develop innovative solutions to difficult problems. He helped createnew methods of producing hydrogen and oxygen, prototyped new turbine power generation systems, and helped design alternative rocket engines. During this period, he first conceived of the ideas that would become the basis for his wellness company, including the concept of using the bodys fat-burning pathways as an alternative means of raising energy levels without stimulants.

Phototherapy

Before looking at the companys offerings, lets first examine the field of phototherapy, which is intricately connected to much of LifeWaves work. Phototherapy, at its most fundamental level, is the process of using light to promote wellness in the body. This is a well-established scientific field with a wide range of applications in modern wellness. For instance, sunlight exposure is commonly used to raise levels of vitamin D in those who are deficient. Laser light is also used in several procedures. Infrared saunas are another frequently utilized wellness tool.

While many other phototherapies rely on a device or other external means of generating light, LifeWaves wellness products reflect light back onto the body to achieve results. This is done using topical patches of different designs and placements tailored to the desired outcomes. As infrared light generated by the body hits the patches, specific frequencies of light are reflected back into the bodys tissue to elicit wellness-promoting effects at the cellular level.

Examples of LifeWaves Offerings

To help illustrate how the company applied its phototherapy technology, we first looked at some of its original products that have been popular with customers from the start. One such product is its Energy Enhancer Patch. This patch has been shown to increase energy and endurance and has been used by many customers to support a physical fitness routine. Like the companys other offerings, the patches provide energy boosts without the use of drugs to provide wellness benefits that arent encumbered by the side effects that many pharmaceuticals can cause.

The companys energy patches came to national prominence when LifeWave began working with Richard Quick, the iconic coach of the Stanford University womens swim team. Schmidt saw an opportunity to show Quick the benefits of the patches by helping the team improve its athletic performance. The team began using the patches, and a mere three weeks later, 75 percent of the team had broken personal lifetime records. The team believed so deeply in the beneficial effects of the patches that they even brought them to their Olympic swimming trials. When the patches were featured in the spotlight of the national media, they gained attention quickly. Soon, the patches had a large and growing base of satisfied customers.

New Developments

The success of LifeWaves energy patches and other products has helped pave the way for a new product line that has been creating excitement in an entirely new area the field of longevity science. This product, the companys X39 patch, offers customers the potential to promote stem cell activation through phototherapy, a claim that we found interesting due to the many beneficial effects that increased stem cell activity can have on the body. The companys research shows that the patches can have a variety of positive wellness effects, including wound healing, pain relief, improved skin appearance, and improved inflammatory markers.

While these effects are beneficial for people of a wide range of ages, theyre potentially most important for those of advanced age. Thats because our stem cell activity tends to decrease as we get older, and since these cells are the precursors for every cell in our body, when stem cells become less active, we lose one of our key pathways of regeneration. The idea behind the X39 product is to reflect specific frequencies of light into the body, there by resetting stem cells back to where they were during more youthful times in our lives. Though the product is new, it has the potential to become a popular offering based on the effects that it can deliver.

Since wellness companies come in so many different shapes and sizes, it helps to take an overall look at a single company to see the true effectiveness of what it can provide to customers. Looking at the companys origins, product offerings, overarching philosophy, and leadership can all help you evaluate a companys impact on the market. LifeWaves product line stems from a thoughtfully conducted development process by a leadership team that hasa firm background in regenerative technology. These insights, coupled with positive responses to existing products, make the company a solid resource for those looking to improve well-being.

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LifeWave Review: A Look at the Company and What It Offers - Gazette Day

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC), also termed Mesenchymal Stromal Cells, are multipotent cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types and have the capacity for self renewal. MSC have been shown to differentiate in vitro or in vivo into adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteoblasts, myocytes, neurons, hepatocytes, and pancreatic islet cells. Optimized PromoCell media are available to support both the growth of MSC and their differentiation into several different lineages. Recent experiments suggest that differentiation capabilities into diverse cell types vary between MSC of different origin.

PromoCell hMSC are harvested from normal human adipose tissue,bone marrow, andumbilical cord matrix (Whartons jelly) of individual donors.

The cells are tested for their ability to differentiate in vitro into adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteoblasts. OurhMSC show a verified marker expression profile that complies with ISCT* recommendations, providing well characterized cells.

*ISCT (International Society for Cellular Therapy) Cytotherapy (2006) Vol. 8, No. 4, 315-317

NEW: Our hMSC are now also available from HLA-typed donors.

Available formats:

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Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSC) | PromoCell

If you are suffering from osteoarthritic pain and are researching alternatives to joint replacement or for help in relieving continued pain after joint replacement you will come upon information comparing the use of bone marrow derived stem cells and adipose or fat derived stem cells in aiding your situation.

In my office I choose to use bone marrow-derived stem cells because I find that we can achieve both success in the patients expectations and the goals of the treatment of Stem Cell Therapy, which can be accomplished best and simply by harnessing bone marrow stem cells.

We do not use adipose (fat) stem cells since it is more traumatic for the patient. In addition to breaking up fat tissue with a long trocar, a thick needle has to be used for the injections. In short, adipose procedures are not liked by patients.

Bone Marrow Aspiration (harvesting the stem cells from bone marrow) takes about a minute once I locate the specific area to aspirate, is basically painless for most patients after a lidocaine injection, and can be injected with very small needle. In addition, when we use bone marrow, we are injecting both platelets (PRP) from the bone marrow and stem cells from the bone marrow, in essence two treatments instead of one.

As we discuss these techniques it is important to understand that medicine is a practice and an evolving one. Medicine is also a technology and the technology is ever advancing. Tomorrow Stem Cell Therapy may evolve into something altogether different and we may find new techniques that achieve the results we are looking for.

Researchers have evaluated the effectiveness of Stem Cell Therapy and tissue engineering for treating osteoarthritis. Both bone marrow and adipose-derived stem cells have the potential to provide a permanent biological solution.

One must be careful in analyzing studies.

One study I read suggests that there are more stem cells in adipose than bone marrow. But we are not sure that the number of cells is important, since stem cells divide logarithmically inside the body. And the following studies show that bone marrow stem cells are more effective than adipose stem cells.

A paper from 2016published by doctors at the Department of Orthopedics, Georgia Regents University compiled the following findings:

This clinical study from the Guilin Medical College in China, demonstrated bone-marrow-MSCs to have greater in vivo chondrogenic potential than periosteum, synovium, adipose, and muscle MSCs in this research from the Department of Orthopaedics, the Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical College, Guilin, China.6

In an editorial in the January 2016 issue of the Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery, Associate Editor Merrick J. Wetzler, M.D., wrote: Harvesting of the ADSCs [fat stem cells] does require an additional procedure, and the cost-effectiveness of the procedure is still under investigation, but as researchers stated in their editorials in 2012 and 2013, We are believers in Stem Cell Therapy and Stem cells have substantial potential to allow 21st century physicians and surgeons to achieve unprecedented tissue healing and repair.

We do believe that it is only a matter of time before the harvesting and growth of stem cells will become cost-effective and commercially available and will be added to our treatment options for restoration of articular cartilage.

That is a good endorsement from surgeons however, as Dr. Wetzler noted, there is an added cost of the stem cell procedure using adipose (fat) stem cells, along with the more complex harvesting procedure involved in obtaining the fat cells.

Nevertheless, there is more research pending on the value of stem cells from bone marrow vs fat, and other doctors in the field have not concurred on the best modality. In time, studies will most likely provide the answer. And since the field is fairly new, much more exploration is required.

1 Shapiro SA, Kazmerchak SE, Heckman MG, Zubair AC, OConnor MI. A Prospective, Single-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate for Knee Osteoarthritis. Am J Sports Med. 2017 Jan;45(1):82-90. doi: 10.1177/0363546516662455. Epub 2016 Sep 30.

2: Jakobsen RB, Shahdadfar A, Reinholt FP, Brinchmann JE. Chondrogenesis in a hyaluronic acid scaffold: comparison between chondrocytes and MSC from bone marrow and adipose tissue. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2010 Oct;18(10):1407-16. doi: 10.1007/s00167-009-1017-4. Epub 2009 Dec 18. Erratum in:Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2014 Jul;22(7):1711-4.

3. Shafiee A, Seyedjafari E, Soleimani M, Ahmadbeigi N, Dinarvand P, Ghaemi N. A comparison between osteogenic differentiation of human unrestricted somatic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and adipose tissue. Biotechnol Lett. 2011 Jun;33(6):1257-64. doi: 10.1007/s10529-011-0541-8. Epub 2011 Feb 2.

4. Frisbie DD, Kisiday JD, Kawcak CE, Werpy NM, McIlwraith CW. Evaluation of adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction or bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of osteoarthritis. J Orthop Res. 2009 Dec;27(12):1675-80. doi: 10.1002/jor.20933. Colorado State University

5 Burke, J., Hunter, M., Kolhe, R., Isales, C., Hamrick, M., & Fulzele, S. (2016). Therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cell based therapy for osteoarthritis.Clinical and Translational Medicine,5, 27. http://doi.org/10.1186/s40169-016-0112-7

6. Li Q, Tang J, Wang R, Bei C, Xin L, Zeng Y, Tang X. Comparing the chondrogenic potential in vivo of autogeneic mesenchymal stem cells derived from different tissues. Artif Cells Blood Substit Immobil Biotechnol. 2011 Feb;39(1):31-8. doi: 10.3109/10731191003776769. Epub 2010 Nov 30. PubMed PMID: 21117872. Guillen China

7 Niemeyer P, Fechner K, Milz S, Richter W, Suedkamp NP, Mehlhorn AT, Pearce S, Kasten P. Comparison of mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and adipose tissue for bone regeneration in a critical size defect of the sheep tibia and the influence of platelet-rich plasma. Biomaterials. 2010 May;31(13):3572-9.

8 Vidal MA, Robinson SO, Lopez MJ, Paulsen DB, Borkhsenious O, Johnson JR, Moore RM, Gimble JM. Comparison of chondrogenic potential in equine mesenchymal stromal cells derived from adipose tissue and bone marrow. Vet Surg. 2008 Dec;37(8):713-24. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-950X.2008.00462.x. PubMed PMID: 19121166;PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2746327.

9 Chang YH, Liu HW, Wu KC, Ding DC. Mesenchymal stem cells and their clinical applications in osteoarthritis. Cell Transplant. 2015 Dec 18. [Epub ahead of print.]

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Fat stem cells or bone marrow stem cells? - Dr. Marc ...

We often hear about the next big thing in stem cell therapy, though few of these promises eventuate or are backed up by evidence.

Well, we think were close to a genuine breakthrough in stem cell therapy, based on new research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

We have developed a stem cell technique capable of regenerating any human tissue damaged by injury, disease or aging.The new technique, which reprograms bone and fat cells into induced multipotent stem cells (iMS), has successfully repaired bones and muscles in mice. Human trials are set to begin next year.

Injecting stem cells to repair damaged tissue is not a new concept. Every time someone receives a bone marrow transplant, they have in fact received blood stem cells to rescue their blood production.

But bone marrow is easy to extract and blood is constantly replaced. Therefore, blood stem cells are relatively easy to source.

This is not the case if you need stem cells to repair damage to muscles, cartilage or organs such as the heart and brain. These stem cells are not easy to extract and their turnover is low.

If stem cells are hard to extract, another option is to reprogram mature cells from other parts of the body that are relatively easy to extract. We have developed a method that converts fat or bone cells, which are relatively easy to extract, into induced multipotent stem cells.

This method involves culturing fat or bone cells with a drug called Azacitidine and a naturally occurring growth factor called platelet-derived growth factor. Azacitidine is used to treat blood disorders and has the ability to relax the hard-wired gene expression patterns that make a fat cell a fat cell or a bone cell a bone cell. We think the combination of erasing the cells memory with Azacitidine and forcing the cell to proliferate with the growth factor are key to converting fat and bone cells into induced multipotent stem cells.

UNSW.

The new technique is similar to the limb regeneration of the salamander, which can repair multiple tissue types, depending on which body part needs replacing.

In 2006, Japanese Nobel Prize-winning stem cell researcher Shinya Yamanaka identified a small number of genes that could reprogram skin cells from mice into immature stem cells, which could grow into all types of cells in the body.

However, these induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, like embryonic stem cells, which are derived from early embryos, are not suitable as a stem cell therapy because they can form tumours rather than repairing damaged tissue.

Since then, scientists have identified different combinations of genes that can reprogram skin or other cells into tissue-specific stem cells that only make cells of a single type of tissue.

A drawback with these reprogramming methods is the use of viral elements to force gene expression. Researchers use a virus as a mechanism to inject the gene into the cell.

Multipotent stem cells, in contrast, are produced without using any viral elements. They can regenerate damaged tissues without making unwanted tissues or tumors at the site of transplantation.

We have reprogrammed mouse bone cells into induced multipotent stem cells and injected these cells into mice with damaged bone and muscle.

We were astounded by the ability of these induced multipotent stem cells to regenerate these damaged tissues and also generate their own blood supply to carry nutrients to these developing tissues.

The transplanted cells appear to follow instructions from adjacent cells and divide and mature in an orderly fashion.

We are still investigating the safety and regenerative potential of human-induced multipotent stem cells.

We have injected human-induced multipotent stem cells, made by reprogramming human fat cells, into our animal models of tissue injury. We are monitoring signals from these cells and know they are retained at the site of injection.

In a few months, we will retrieve tissues from these mice to measure the contribution from transplanted human-induced multipotent stem cells to tissue regeneration in mice.

We need evidence of robust tissue regeneration and the absence of any unwanted tissues or tumours at these sites before commencing human trials.

The process of human induced multipotent stem cell production is free of animal products and is being developed to meet manufacturing standards appropriate for human cell transplantation.

Our initial clinical focus will be using induced multipotent stem cells either as a stand-alone treatment or with spinal implants to treat degenerative disc disease towards the end of 2017.

Low back and neck pain is frequently associated with degenerative disc disease and is a major cause of disability, affecting millions of people globally with crippling physical and economic costs.

Our aim is to use induced multipotent stem cells to regenerate discs to retain the flexibility of the native spine or to stabilise spinal implants by helping them fuse with adjacent bone.

We need further research to understand how mouse- and human-induced multipotent stem cells respond to signals from damaged tissues. It will also be important know how long induced multipotent stem cells remain at sites of transplantation and retain their ability to proliferate and make new tissues.

Nevertheless, this efficient virus-free method of generating tissue regenerative stem cells brings us a step closer to realising stem cell therapy for repairing tissue injury in the human body.

By John Pimanda, Associate Professor of Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, UNSW Australia; Ralph Mobbs, Neurosurgeon at the Prince of Wales Hospital; Conjoint Lecturer, UNSW Australia, and Vashe Chandrakanthan, Researcher, regenerative medicine, UNSW Australia. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Regenerating Body Parts: Fat Cells to Stem Cells to Repair ...

DNA

'Ahimsa meat' is the latest type of meat in the Indian market which researchers claim do not need the rearing and slaughter of animals. The meat, which was synthesised from stem cells, was created in Hyderabad in a joint effort by Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and National Research Centre on Meat (NRCM), reports The Times of India.

The researchers said that the synthetic meat will look, taste and feel the same. Different types of meat can be produced, including chicken and mutton. They added that the nutritional content of the meat will be the same as the natural ones.

However, this meat will be boneless and fat-free. By producing this type of meat, the scientists hope that there would be a reduction in the carbon footprint and they will contribute to animal welfare.

The laboratories were given a budget of Rs 4.5 crore to develop the meat. Maneka Gandhi, a known animal rights activist, had asked to start producing synthetic meat on a commercial scale in five years.

Humane Society of India, which is one of the top promoters of synthetic meat, claimed that the government's investment in the project is the largest compared to any other country.

What do international meat suppliers have to say?

Peter Verstrate, the CEO of Dutch company Mosa Meat, told Labiotech that by moving towards synthetic meat, methane emissionswould reduce. Along with this, 95 per cent of water spent on rearing the farm animals could be saved.

"We have billions of animals that are being raised and are being eaten. If you can just reduce that 10 per cent, 20 per cent it would be massive on the environment, but we don't expect that to be done within 10 years. The only thing that is now on our horizon is just stopping the growth of animal consumption. If we can just do that it will be a huge win," said Daan Luining, the CTO of Meatable, cultured meat company in Denmark.

Study suggests ultra-processed foods could increase risk of cancer

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What is ahimsa meat? Scientists create fat-free, boneless ...

Our results

Patient from Portugal, 44 years old. Diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis.

In December 2012 his condition exacerbated. He started using wheelchairs. His disease progressed. He was not able to walk. He was not able to see. Nine months of usual treatments for MS accompanied by chemotherapy did not help. Then he found Swiss Medica Stem Cell Clinic. Stem celltreatment started immediately. One month later he was able to walk again.

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Patient from Uk, 51 years old. Diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis.

After having a stem cell treatment in Moscow his condition, in his words, got 80% better. Before the life changing treatment he was unable to walk long distances without the NHS support. Now he feels much healthier, has more energy and moves without significant difficulties. He is able to regularly go to the gym, he spends time with his two daughters and lives his life to the fullest.

See whole story about Shaun Lawrence >>>

Holistic medicine considers a person to be a functional unit. The disease symptoms are signs of disruption in the system of the body. By activating the bodys ability of self-regulation we can eliminate this disruption. In Swiss Medica XXI Century S.A. we seek the cause of the disease, and provide a setting: to allow the body to use its own powers of self-healing to overcome the disease.

Our primary task is to make your own cells treat your own body. We use advanced technology to activate mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue, bone marrow, etc. Donated cells can also be used. Introduced to the patients body, these cells help to regenerate damaged tissue. Symptoms become less obvious and/or disappear.

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Swiss Medica XXI - Stem Cells Treatment Clinic

PROCEDURE

What is anAutologousAdipose Stem Cell Procedure?

A small sample of Adipose tissue (fat) is removed from above the Superior Iliac spine (love handles) or abdomen under a local anesthetic.

How do I know if stem cell therapy is right for me?

Discussing treatment options with your physician is an important first step in making a decision regarding stem cell therapy. Potential outcomes, an integrative and comprehensive treatment plan, and financial costs are all factors to consider.

A small sample of Adipose tissue (fat) is removed from above the Superior Iliac spine (love handles) or abdomen under a local anesthetic.

Obtaining Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) is much easier and less invasive than performing a bone marrow extraction. In addition, adipose tissue contains much larger volumes of mesenchymal stem cells than does bone marrow. We use the patient's own adipose tissue to extract the stem cells. Autologous means that the donor and the recipient are the same person.

Benefits of ADSCs: Stem cells play an integral part in wound healing and regeneration of tissue at the cellular level.

What is anAutologousAdipose Stem Cell Procedure?

Is this procedure a significant improvement on other treatments currently available?

The Major Advantages of Adipose Stem Cell Therapy:

Our technology allows us to complete the entire procedure on the same day, using less than minimally manipulated methods.

*High Yield: A high-dose of stem cells can be obtained in just a couple of hours.

*Mesenchymal stem cell yields from peripheral fat are much higher than from bone marrow.

*Patients receive their own autologous cells, so there is a very low risk of immune rejection.

*A minimally invasive outpatient procedure makes it easier to harvest from fat than from bone marrow and more comfortable for patients.

Yes We can now obtain Adult Stem Cells (ASCs) from a fat sample. This in-clinic treatment is completed the same day, and there is no need to ship samples to an outside laboratory and wait days for the cells to be returned for an injection on a second visit.

This faster process provides increased stem cell counts, without manipulation.

Is an Autologous Adipose Stem Cell Procedure Safe?

Yes because the adipose tissue is removed from one's own body via sterile technique and remains in a controlled environment there are no problems with cell rejection or disease transmission.

The interview, physical, harvesting, and administration of stem cells are all performed in-house under a physicians control.

How do I know if stem cell therapy is right for me?

Discussing treatment options with your physician is an important first step in making a decision regarding stem cell therapy. Potential outcomes, an integrative and comprehensive treatment plan, and financial costs are all factors to consider.

I have heard Stem Cell Treatments are VERY expensive, can I afford this?

Yes you can!

Due to our advanced adult stem cell technology provided in the form of an in house procedure, our Stem Cell Center can now provide this service at a fraction of the cost previously incurred. Even better, its a same day procedure.

We offer theentirety of our treatment in Phoenix, Arizona -USA and we have been able to lower our cost to a flat rate of $7,100.00 per treatment (including consultation). Fees are subject to change and some more complex proceduresmay incur additional costs.

Why Choose an Adipose Stem Cell Procedure?

Adipose-derivedmesenchymalstem cells areeasier to harvest than bone marrowand can be obtained in much larger quantities. In addition, it is much less painful and involves lower risks.

*There is a much shorter time from extraction to the administration oftreatment.No culturing or manipulation is needed using our procedure, as opposed to a bone marrow extraction which requires days or weeksto reach the necessary therapeutic threshold.

*There are no ethical or moral issues involved in harvestingautologousAdult Stem Cells (ASCs).

Are There Detrimental Side Effects from an Adipose Stem Cell Procedure?

No, the adipose tissue is extracted from the patients own body sono foreign donors are used. This minimizes the potential for immune rejection.Our procedure is performed completely in-house and administered by licensed physicians here in the United States.

Please keep in mind that every procedure does have its risks, but we do practice sterile technique which makes the risk of infectionvery low.In fact, we have not had any infections develop in any of the stem cell patients we have treated as we take great care in keeping a sterile environment.

AutologousGrowth Factor Components ofPRP:

PRP(Platelet Rich Plasma) contains many growth factors, and has been successfully used clinically to improve hard and soft tissue healing

TGF-(Transforming growth factor alpha & beta)

EGF(Epidermal growth factor)

FGF(Fibroblast growth factor)

IGF(Insulin growth factor)

PDEGF(platelet derived epidermal growth factor)

PDAF(platelet derivedangiogenesisfactor)

IL-8 (Interleukin-8)

TNF-(Tumor necrosis factor alpha)

CTGR(Connective tissue growth factor)GM-CSF (Granulocytemacrophage colony stimulating factor)

KGF(Keratinocytegrowth factor)

High concentration of leukocytes (neutrophils,eosinophils) formicrobicidalevents

High concentration of wound macrophages and otherphagocyticcells, for biological debridement

Histamines, Serotonin, ADP,ThromboxaneA2, and othervasoactiveandchemotacticagents

High platelet concentration and native fibrinogen concentration for improvedhemostasis

What You Can Expect When Visitingthe Stem Cell Rejuvenation Center:

Consultation: Each patient receives a consultation lasting up to 1 1/2 hours prior to the treatment: History, Medications, Patient desires and expected outcomes are discussed.

Harvest:Using a tumescent anesthetic, a sample of adipose tissue is collected from the patient.

PRP:If needed, it is isolated from the patient's own blood.

Stem Cells:Ourlaboratory staff will isolate the Adult Stem Cells (ASCs) and other progenitor cells in a sterile environment from the collected fat sample ensuring that no contamination occurs. There is a difference betweenaspeticand sterile technique. It is extremely important to note that sterility means that the cells are not exposed to air particles and contaminants.

Prepare: If the doctor wishes, she/he will offer antioxidant and nutritional IV's prior to infusion to prepare the patient for the therapy.

Infuse:The cells are then administered back to the patient through one or more of the following modes of administration:

Intravenous:The Stem Cells are administered via an intravenous push

Localized:The Stem Cells are administered directly into a localized area.

Intramuscular:The Stem Cells are implanted into the muscle.

Intranasal:This therapy relies on direct transmission through thecribiformplate, bypassing the Blood Brain Barrier, along the olfactory andtrigeminalnerve pathways.

Differences BetweenAn Adipose And A Bone Marrow Procedure:

Disclaimer:Even though our Treatments are done usingautologouscells, our Stem Cell Therapies are not approved by the FDA. Stem Cell Treatments are not a cure for any condition, disease or injury, nor a substitute for proper medical diagnosis and care.Again, StemCell Treatments are not a cure for any condition, disease or injury, nor a substitute for proper medical diagnosis and care. The information we communicate is not medical advice. It is intended to be used for educational and information purposes only. We do not usecollagenasein our stem cell treatment.Its important for you to do your own research based on the options that we present to you so that you can make an informed decision.

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Stem Cell Procedure | Arizona | Stem Cell Rejuvenation Center

Stem cells in menstrual blood have similar regenerative capabilities as thestem cells in umbilical cord blood and bone marrow. Cryo-Cell's patent-pendingmenstrual stem cell service offers women in their reproductive years the ability to store and preserve these cells for potential use by herself or a family memberfree from ethical or political controversy.

Cryo-Cell is the only stem cell bank in the world that can offer womenthe reassurance and peace of mind that comes with this opportunity.

What are menstrual stem cells?Stem cells in menstrual blood are highly proliferativeandpossess the unique ability to develop into various other types of healthy cells. During a womans menstrual cycle, these valuable stem cells are discarded.

Cryo-Cell'smenstrual stem cell bankingservice captures those self-renewing stem cells, processes and cryopreserves them for emerging cellular therapies that hold the promise of potentially treatinglife-threatening diseases.

How are menstrual stem cells collected, processed and stored?The menstrual blood is collected in a physicians officeusing a medical-grade silicone cup in place of a tampon orsanitary napkin. The sample is shipped to Cryo-Cell via a medical courier and processed in our state-of-the-art ISO Class 7 clean room.

The menstrual stem cells are stored in two cryovials that are overwrapped to safeguard them during storage. The overwrapped vials are cryogenically preserved in a facility that isclosely monitored at all times to ensure that your menstrual stem cells are safe and ready for future use.

What are the benefits of banking menstrual stem cells?Cryo-Cell's innovative menstrual stem cell banking service provides women with the exclusive opportunity to build their own personal healthcare portfolio with stem cells that will be a 100% match for the donor. Menstrual stem cells have demonstrated the capability of differentiating into many other types of stem cells such as cardiac, neural, bone, fat and cartilage.

Bankingmenstrual stem cells now is an investment in your future medical needs. Currently, they are being studied to treat stroke, heart disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, and ischemic wounds in pre-clinical and clinical models.

Cryo-Cells activities for New York State residents are limited to collection, processing, and long-term storage ofmenstrual stem cells. Cryo-Cells possession of a New York State license for such collection, processing, and long-term storage does not indicate approval or endorsement of possible future uses or future suitability of these cells.

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Banking Menstrual Stem Cells | What are Menstrual Stem ...

Stem cell therapies have come a long way since the 1970s and 1980s. Today the ethical issues of harvesting stem cells have long been resolved through the discovery of several sources of potent stem cell types. Common sources include in the umbilical cord and placenta (post birth), bone marrow, and the fatty layer that lies just beneath everyones skin (adipose fat tissue). Of these resources, by far the most commonly accessed in the United States are adipose fat and bone marrow stem cells.The National Stem Cell Institute (NSI), a leading stem cell clinic in the U.S., has seen the development of these living resources usher in an exciting new age known as regenerative medicine. Because of their potency and new technologies that allow ease of access, stem cells are changing the very face of medicine. In particular, the harvesting of bone marrow stem cells has developed into a procedure that is minimally invasive, far more comfortable than bone marrow harvesting of the past, and able to be complete in just a few hours.Some Basics About Bone Marrow Stem CellsBone marrow is the living tissue found in the center of our bones. Marrow is a soft, sponge-like tissue. There are two types of bone marrow: red marrow and yellow marrow. In adults, red marrow is found mainly in the central skeleton, such as the pelvis, sternum, cranium, ribs, vertebrae, and scapulae. But it is also found in the ends of long bones such as in the arms and legs.When it comes to bone marrow stem cells, red marrow is what its all about. Red marrow holds an abundance of them. Stem cells are a kind of protocell that has not yet been assigned an exact physical or neurological function. You can think of them as microscopic packets of potential that stay on high alert for signals telling them where they are needed and what type of cell they need to become.Bone marrow stem cells are multipotent, which means they have the ability to become virtually any type of tissue cell, including:

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Bone Marrow Stem Cells | NSI Stem Cell