StemCell Therapy

Joseph Coolon, Gabrielle Piedad Ponce-Hegenauer, and Felipe Ramrez, c/o wesleyan.edu

Associate Professor of Biology Joseph Coolon, Associate Professor of Letters Gabrielle Piedad Ponce-Hegenauer, and Associate Professor of Mathematics Felipe Ramrez were conferred tenure on July 1, 2022. This comes after a board of trustees meeting that took place at the end of the Spring 2022 semester, at which eleven other professors were also promoted.

These eleven promotions include Professor of Computer Science Norman Danner, Professor of Music Roger Mathew Grant, Professor of Science in Society Anthony Ryan Hatch, Adjunct Associate Professor of Physical Education Christine Kemp, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Robert Lane, Associate Professor of the Practice in Film Studies Marc Longenecker, Adjunct Professor of Spanish Louise Neary, Associate Professor of the Practice in Film Studies Richard Parkin, Professor of Psychology Anna Shusterman, Adjunct Professor of Physical Education Benjamin Somera, and Associate Professor of the Practice in Integrative Sciences Kelly Thayer.

Coolon joined the University in 2015 as an assistant professor in biology and integrative sciences. He received both his BS and PhD from Kansas State University. Coolons research falls into three main categories: ecological and evolutionary genomics, genetics of host specialization in Drosophila, and information flow through regulatory networks.

Tenure at a prestigious university is a goal I have had since I started working in a research lab as an undergraduate more than 20 years ago, Coolon wrote in an email to The Argus. At the heart of it all for me was a never-ending love for learning and teaching and all things science that made the work seem much more like recreation. Working for two decades to make this achievement possible makes it one of the most important moments in my academic life thus far.

Ponce-Hegenauer joined the University in 2016 as an assistant professor of letters. She received her BA from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and her MFA and PhD from John Hopkins University. She is an expert on the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, who is the topic of her upcoming book Cervantes the Poet: The Don Quijote, Poetic Practice and the Conception of the First Modern Novel.

It is a great boon to have the support of my colleagues in becoming a member of the intellectual community both at Wesleyan and within my field, Ponce-Hegenaeur wrote in an email to The Argus. I think that stability of all kinds allows professors to give more attention to both research and teaching. Its wonderful to have my awareness freed to focus on both of those things.

Ramrez joined the University in 2015 as an assistant professor of mathematics. He received his BS from Colorado State University and his PhD from the University of Michigan. His research is focused on ergodic theory and dynamical systems, Diophantine approximation, and fractal geometry.

Its hard to express how important this promotion is for me, Ramrez wrote in an email to The Argus. Its an honor to be promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Its a validation of the work Ive done at Wesleyan. In practical terms, tenure means job security and academic freedom. It means I can take on more ambitious projects in my research and teaching. It means I dont have to uproot my family if those projects dont go perfectly! Its a privilege to have tenure, and I feel extremely grateful and relieved.Yoni Semel can be reached at ysemel@wesleyan.edu

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Three Professors Conferred Tenure and Eleven Promoted - Wesleyan Argus

We live in a time where the rate of medical and superlative scientific advances is accelerating by more than 1,300% since 1985, according to one recent estimate. With so many unprecedented, transformative breakthroughs happening, forecasting which one will be awarded top research honors isnt getting any easier. But with the naming of this years Nobels fast approaching the medicine award will be announced on Oct. 3, physics on Oct. 4, chemistry on Oct. 5 prize prognosticating for the World Series of Science is once again in full swing.

Public polls, tallies of other elite awards, and journal citations have helped betting-minded people collect the names of whos most likely in the running. The shortlist includes researchers who elucidated how cells make energy, those who discovered the chemical chatter of bacteria, many of the brilliant minds who shepherded us into the era of the genome, and most prominently, the pioneers behind the mRNA Covid vaccines.

How Nobels are decided is a matter of grave secrecy records of who nominated and voted for whom are sealed for 50 years making forecasting new winners even more of a challenge. Still, some experts have developed systems that do a decent job.

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David Pendlebury of Clarivate looks at how often a scientists key papers are cited by peers and awarded so-called predictive prizes like the Lasker or Gairdner awards. Each year he comes up with a group of Citation Laureates, and since 2002, 64 of his picks have gone on to receive a Nobel Prize.

Using that strategy, Pendlebury thinks the medicine Nobel could go to the researchers who discovered that different kinds of malformed protein aggregates, in different cell types, underlie a number of neurological diseases including Parkinsons, ALS, and frontotemporal dementia. Virginia Man-Yee Lee of the University of Pennsylvania published a seminal Science paper in 2006, which has now been cited more than 4,000 times. When Pendlebury dug into those citations, he noticed that researchers almost always mentioned that paper in tandem with a very similar but much lower-profile study published a few months later by Masato Hasegawa of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science.

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This phenomenon of simultaneous independent discovery is very common in science, more than I think people understand, Pendlebury told STAT. So the citations tend to go to the first mover, but they are really a pair. And since their papers, the field has blossomed in many directions, because it was a big step forward for trying to find therapies for these kinds of diseases.

For similar reasons, Pendlebury also has his eyes on two scientists who made groundbreaking discoveries about the genetic basis of disease: Mary-Claire King of the University of Washington for uncovering the role of mutations in the BRCA genes in breast and ovarian cancers, which revolutionized cancer screening, and Stuart Orkin of Harvard Medical School for identifying the genetic changes behind the various types of thalassemia leading to promising new gene-based therapies for inherited blood disorders.

Another thing that Pendlebury takes into account in his predictions is periodicity. The committees tend to take turns rewarding different disciplines; neuroscience, cancer, or infectious-disease discoveries win every decade or so. For the medicine prize, periodicity also shows up between discoveries of basic molecular biology and ones that lead to people actually being treated or cured of the things that ail them.

In the past decade, the medicine prize has more times than not gone back to basics. In 2013, it went to intra-cell transportation, in 2016 to the process of cellular self-destruction, in 2017 to the genetic clocks that control circadian rhythms, in 2019 to how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability, and last year to how cells sense temperature and touch. Prizes with a more clinical focus have been awarded in 2015, (roundworm and malaria therapy), 2018 (immuno-oncolgy), and 2020 (hepatitis C).

Thats just one reason why cancer biologist Jason Sheltzer of the Yale School of Medicine is so bullish on this years medicine prize going to Katalin Karik of BioNTech and Drew Weissman of Penn Medicine for taking messenger RNA, or mRNA, on a 40-year journey from an obscure corner of cell biology to a pandemic-halting vaccine technology. Its such a radical change in vaccine technology, at this point billions of doses have been given, and it has incontrovertibly saved millions of people from dying of Covid, Sheltzer said. To me, its just a slam dunk.Sheltzer has been making Nobel predictions on Twitter since 2016 and correctly chose immuno-oncology pioneer James Allison for the 2018 medicine prize. His methodology is a bit more straightforward; he tracks winners of seven major science prizes the Horwitz, Wolf, Albany, Shaw, and Breakthrough Prize, in addition to the Lasker and Gairdner because the data show that theres only so long the Nobel Committee can ignore people whove won at least two. Karik and Weissman have won five of the six. Its not a question of if it will happen, its just a question of when, he said.

Hes less certain about the chemistry prize. Might David Allis of Rockefeller and Michael Grunstein of UCLA finally get the call to Stockholm? They discovered one way genes are activated through proteins called histones for which they shared a 2018 Lasker and a 2016 Gruber Prize in genetics. The control of gene expression, otherwise known as epigenetics, is a fundamental process in cell biology that researchers and industry are just beginning to harness to treat human disease. But the last time epigenetics got the Nobel nod was in 2006, with Roger Kornbergs win in chemistry for his work unlocking the molecular mystery of how RNA transcripts are assembled.

Its been nearly 20 years since that field has been recognized with a prize, so you could make the case that its very much due this year, said Sheltzer.

Thats even more true for DNA sequencing, which was last awarded a Nobel in 1980 to Wally Gilbert and Frederick Sanger for their work developing the first (eponymously named) method for determining the order of base pairs in nucleic acids. But so much has happened in the field since then, that the slate of worthy sequencing successors is practically overflowing.

Should it go to the scientists who gave us the first-ever draft of the human genome, and if so, which ones? Hundreds of researchers all over the world aided in the effort, which was a feat of engineering and mass production as much as scientific innovation. If the chemistry or medicine Nobel committees takes a cue from their physics counterpart, who in 2017 honored the organizers of the international project that discovered gravitational waves, then the top contenders would likely be the Human Genome Projects cat-herder-in-chief and recently departed director of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, and Eric Lander, whose lab at the Broad Institute churned out much of the draft sequence. A third might be Craig Venter, whose competing private sequencing push at Celera raced the public effort to a hotly contested draw.

Perhaps a more deserving trio would be Marvin Caruthers of the University of Colorado, Leroy Hood of the Institute for Systems Biology, and Michael Hunkapiller, former CEO of DNA-sequencing behemoth Pacific Biosciences. They invented the technology behind the first automated sequencers, which powered the Human Genome Project (and were Pendleburys pick for the chemistry Nobel in 2019).

Or perhaps the call from Stockholm will go out to David Klenerman and Shankar Balasubramanian of the University of Cambridge, who developed the sequencing-by-synthesis technology that came after the Human Genome Project and is now the workhorse of the modern sequencing era (and for which they won the 2020 Millennium Technology Prize and this years Breakthrough Prize in life sciences). More recent inventions, like the nanopore sequencing technologies that have enabled the construction of the first actually complete human genomes in the last few years are also in the running, but probably a longer shot, despite their obvious contributions to both chemistry and medicine. Thats because the Nobel committees tend to tilt toward true trailblazers and away from those who extend an initial, foundation-laying discovery or insight.

The Human Genome Project, a perennial topic of conversation among Nobel-casters, has inspired even more intrigue than usual this year, following the surprise exit of Eric Lander from his position as White House science adviser in the wake of workplace bullying allegations.

Although the rare Nobel has been awarded to well-known jerks or kooks Kary Mullis, the eccentric inventor of PCR, and James Watson, the dubious co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA (and frequent maker of racist, sexist remarks) come to mind the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which selects the physics and chemistry laureates, and the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, which chooses the physiology/medicine winner, tend to steer clear of controversy.

Its hard to find many examples of a Nobel being awarded to someone whos been super controversial, said Sheltzer.

Among Pendleburys picks, the person who skirts closest is perhaps Stephen Quake of Stanford University and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, who provided advice to He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who created the worlds first CRISPR babies. Stanford later cleared Quake of any misconduct. Quake has made important discoveries in microfluidics which led to rapid advances in noninvasive testing and single cell sequencing, and Pendlebury sees him as a favorite for a physics Nobel.

In chemistry, Pendlebury likes another Stanford University engineer, Zhenan Bao, for her paradigm-shifting work in the field of semiconducting polymers making stretchable electronic skin. Hes also got his eye on Daniel Nocera at Harvard University for foundational work illuminating the proton-coupled electron transfer process that powers cells, and the team of Bonnie Bassler from Princeton University and E. Peter Greenberg of the University of Washington for their discovery of quorum sensing a chemical communication system between bacteria.

Besides citations, prediction prizes, and periodicity, Pendlebury is also playing the long game. I pay special attention to papers that are 15, 20, 25, 30 years old, because it usually takes a decade or two for research to be selected by the Nobel Prize Committee, he said.

That might complicate things for one of the leading vote-getters in an online poll for the chemistry Nobel John Jumper of the Alphabet-owned company DeepMind and a 2023 Breakthrough Prize in life sciences winner. His work leading the AlphaFold artificial intelligence program stunned the world two years ago by essentially solving one of biologys most enduring challenges: quickly and accurately predicting the 3D structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence.

Thats why this first-time Nobel forecaster is betting on another top vote-getter for the chemistry prize, Carolyn Bertozzi of Stanford University, who has spent much of her illustrious career devising methods to understand an elusive but critical class of sugar-coated molecules called glycans found on the surface of almost all living cells. Shes been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2005 and won the Wolf prize earlier this year, in recognition of founding the field of bioorthogonal chemistry a term Bertozzi coined two decades ago that refers to reactions scientists can perform within living organisms without interfering with their normal functions.

Sticking with dark-horse picks (because, why not), Im going with Yuk Ming Dennis Lo of the Chinese University of Hong Kong for the medicine prize. In 1997, he reported that a growing fetus sheds cell-free DNA into the mothers blood. Ten years later, he found a way to use that DNA to detect the signature abnormalities associated with Down syndrome. Together, these discoveries revolutionized clinical practice of screening for fetal genetic abnormalities, leading to the development of non-invasive prenatal testing now used by millions of people every year. Lo has only just begun to be recognized for that work, winning last years Breakthrough Prize for life sciences and this years Lasker Award for clinical medical research, which was announced on Wednesday. He also founded companies based on this same principle for the early detection of multiple cancers, one of which was acquired by pioneering liquid biopsy giant Grail.

Other crowdsourced efforts to predict Nobel winners arent making a return appearance, including the March Madness-style brackets run for many years by the scientific research honors society Sigma Xi. (Last year saw Bertozzi lose in the finals to Omar Yaghi and Makoto Fujita, pioneers of metal-organic self-assembling structures.) Sigma Xi couldnt be reached for comment, but the change comes amid increasingly loud criticism of the Nobel Prizes, for the way they distort the collaborative nature of the scientific enterprise and overlook many of its important contributors (including many women and people of color).

Even Nobel obsessives like Sheltzer admit those arguments are becoming more compelling. But he likes how, at least for a few days every October, he can count on scientific discoveries splashing across the front page of the New York Times and leading the hour on the nightly news. There are amazing things happening in the scientific world right now, like CRISPR gene editing and immunotherapy for cancer, that I think should really be front-page news much more frequently than they are, said Sheltzer. But Im glad that the Nobel Prize shines a spotlight on them and elevates them into the national consciousness, even if just for a brief period of time.

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Who will get the call from Stockholm? It's time for STAT's 2022 Nobel Prize predictions - STAT

Fifty years ago, German Canadian scientist Dr. Gerhard Herzberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. As part of an initiative to mark the anniversary and celebrate the life and legacy of the renowned chemist, Dalhousie University will host the exhibition Enterprises of the Human Spirit: 50 Years of Scientific Excellence in Germany and Canada.

The Dalhousie community is invited to a public celebration to officially open the exhibition on October 4 at 10 a.m. in the lobby of LeMarchant Place. The show will be presented in three locations on campus over its run at Dalhousie, including LeMarchant Place from October 4 to 7, the Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building from October 11 to 14, and Richard Murray Design Building from October 17 to 21.

The opening celebration will also provide an opportunity to recognize Dalhousies winners of NSERCs Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Drs. Jeff Dahn (2017), Axel Becke (2015), Ford Doolittle (2013). The annual award was created to recognize their research contributions characterized by both excellence and influence two qualities that defined Dr. Herzberg's illustrious career.

Drs. Doolittle and Dahn will speak at the event about the impact Dr. Herzberg had on their work. Dr. Erin Johnson, Dalhousies Herzberg-Becke Chair in Theoretical Chemistry, will speak on behalf of Dr. Becke. The researchers achievements will be highlighted in a banner added to the exhibit for the Dalhousie stop.

Sponsored by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, the exhibition is travelling to universities and research institutions across Canada. It had its inaugural showing in April at the University of Saskatchewan, where Dr. Herzberg and his wife and scientific partner, Luise Herzberg, spent their first 10 years after emigrating from Germany in 1935.

Exhibition as presented at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, BC.

The exhibition also marks the passing of the 50th anniversary of the 1971 signing of the Canada-Germany Science and Technology Agreement, a partnership that has helped spur more than 1,000 joint research projects.

Celebrating the achievements and legacy of Dr. Gerhard Herzberg provides a wonderful opportunity to recognize Dalhousie and Canadas important contributions to science, says Dr. Alice Aiken, Dalhousies vice president of research and innovation. Dr. Herzberg is an important figure who exemplifies the great achievements that can be realized through the common language of research.

Dr. Herzberg was a passionate and outspoken scientist who believed strongly in the value of basic research and international research collaboration. In addition to the scientists life, the exhibition highlights Canadas many important collaborations that continue today with research partners in Germany.

Related reading:Triple threat(DAL Magazine)

From 2017 to the present, researchers at Dalhousie have co-authored a total of 1,163 publications with colleagues at 243 German institutions. Key areas of collaboration include medicine, earth and planetary sciences, biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, agricultural, biological sciences, physics, and astronomy.

There are numerous high-profile funded projects in partnership with German institutions and Dal scholars currently underway, including ground-breaking studies focused on cardiovascular and brain health, hydrogen production, digital literacy, ocean science and more. In particular, Dalhousies Ocean Frontier Institute which is focused on harnessing the vast potential of the worlds ocean to meet ecological, economic and societal challenges has established partnerships with three German institutions as part of its international network.

Dalhousies strategic partnership with Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel is empowering a multi-faculty research and training partnership to support the exchange of undergraduate students and staff and serve as a foundation for initiation of large-scale, transatlantic, collaborative research projects focused on the ocean, molecular diversity, materials for life, and genomics and evolution.

The Enterprises of the Human Spiritexhibition was developed by Defining Moments Canada, a digital heritage and education company. The organization is offering additional resources and educational material about Dr. Herzberg to educators and students through their Herzberg50 website.

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Dalhousie to present exhibition celebrating Gerhard Herzberg and his legacy - Dal News

Have you ever noticed that after a few sips of coffee, you're bouncing off the walls, while your friends are seemingly unaffected? If that sounds like you, you might have a caffeine sensitivity and if you do, drinking that morning coffee could be more troublesome than you think.

Caffeine sensitivity can be caused by your genetic makeup or may be prompted by external factors like a new medication, as Healthline explains. And as you might expect, the symptoms of caffeine sensitivity are, well, feeling very caffeinated, with anxiety, a faster heartbeat, headaches, and restlessness occurring after just a few sips of coffee.

While caffeine sensitivity can often be confused with a caffeine allergy, they're entirely different conditions, with caffeine allergies prompting a response similar to that of other allergies (like hives or irritated skin). If you have caffeine sensitivity, by far the wisest thing to do is to limit your caffeine intake or remove it from your diet entirely. Some people may find that they're able to drink a smaller amount of caffeine without negative consequences. Interestingly, the opposite can also be true: caffeine hyposensitivity affects around one in ten people, and those people can drink way more coffee without feeling any significant effect, according to a study published in Human Molecular Genetics.

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Why Some People Should Rethink Their Morning Cup Of Coffee - Health Digest

Cell and gene therapies seek to correct the root cause of an illness at the molecular level. These game-changing medicines are reshaping how we address previously untreatable illnesses transforming peoples lives.

Cell and gene therapy represent overlapping fields of research with similar therapeutic goals developing a treatment that can correct the underlying cause of a disease, often a rare inherited condition that can be life-threatening or debilitating and has limited treatment options.

While these technologies were initially developed in the context of treating rare diseases caused by a single faulty gene, they have since evolved towards tackling more common diseases, says Professor Rafael J. Yez-Muoz, director of the Centre of Gene and Cell Therapy (CGCT) at Royal Holloway University of London.

A powerful example is the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, which have been approved for treating certain blood cancers. The approach involves genetically modifying a patients T cells in the laboratory before reintroducing them into the body to fight their disease.

For the first time, we had an example of gene therapy to treat a more common disease demonstrating that the technology has wide applicability, enthuses Yez-Muoz.

To date, 24 cellular and gene therapy products have received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) including life-changing treatments for patients with rare diseases, such as inherited forms of blindness and neuromuscular conditions. A variety of gene and cell-based therapies for both rare and common diseases are also currently in development across many therapeutic areas, offering hope for many more families in coming years.

This webinar will provide an introduction to the regulatory framework for cell and gene therapies and highlight the importance of chemistry, manufacturing and controls. Watch to learn about regulatory concerns, safety and quality testing throughout the product lifecycle and key acronyms and terminology.

Gene therapies seek to introduce specific DNA sequences into a patients body to treat, prevent or potentially cure a disease. This may involve the delivery of a functional gene into cells to replace a gene that is missing or causing a problem or other strategies using nucleic acid sequences (such as antisense oligonucleotides or short interfering RNAs [siRNAs]) to reduce, restore or modify gene expression. More recently, scientists are also developing genome-editing technologies that aim to change the cells DNA at precise locations to treat a specific disease.

The key step in successful gene therapy relies on the safe and efficient delivery of genetic material into the target cells, which is carried out by packaging it into a suitable delivery vehicle (or vector). Many current gene therapies employ modified viruses based on adenoviruses, adeno-associated viruses (AAV), and lentiviruses as vectors due to their intrinsic ability to enter cells. But non-viral delivery systems such as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have also been successfully employed to deliver RNA-based therapeutics into cells.

A big advantage of using viral vectors for gene delivery is they are longer lasting than non-viral systems, states Dr. Rajvinder Karda, lecturer in gene therapy at University College London. Many of the rare diseases were aiming to tackle are severe and we need to achieve long-term gene expression for these treatments to be effective.

While improved technological prowess empowers the development of CRISPR-edited therapies, supply-chain and manufacturing hurdles still pose significant barriers to clinical and commercialization timelines. Watch this webinar to learn more about the state of CRISPR cell and gene therapies, challenges in CRISPR therapy manufacturing and a next-generation manufacturing facility.

Viral-vector gene therapies are either administered directly into the patients body (in vivo), or cells harvested from a patient are instead modified in the laboratory (ex vivo) and then reintroduced back into the body. Major challenges for in vivo gene delivery approaches are with the safe and efficient targeting of the therapeutic to the target cells and overcoming any potential immune responses to the vectors.

As well as getting the genetic material into the affected cells, we also need to try and limit it reaching other cells as expressing a gene in a cell where its not normally active could cause problems, explains Dr. Gerry McLachlan, group leader at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh.

For example, the liver was identified as a major site of toxicity for an AAV-based gene therapy approved for treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a type of motor neuron disease that affects people from a very young age.

Unfortunately, these viruses are leaky as theyre also going to organs that dont need therapy meaning you can get these off-target effects, says Karda. Theres still work to be done to develop and refine these technologies to make them more cell- and organ-specific.

It is also important to ensure the gene is expressed at the right level in the affected cells too high and it may cause side effects and too little may render the treatment ineffective. In a recent major advancement in the field, scientists developed a dimmer switch system Xon that enables gene expression to be precisely controlled through exposure to an orally delivered small molecule drug. This novel system offers an unprecedented opportunity to refine and tailor the application of gene therapies in humans.

Download this whitepaper to discover an electroporation system that resulted in CAR transfection efficiencies as high as 70% in primary human T cells, can avoid the potential risks associated with viral transduction and is able to produce CAR T cells at a sufficient scale for clinical and therapeutic applications.

In 1989, a team of researchers identified the gene that causes the chronic, life-limiting inherited disease cystic fibrosis (CF) the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). This was the first ever disease-causing gene to be discovered marking a major milestone in the field of human genetics. In people with CF, mutations in the CFTR gene can result in no CTFR protein, or the protein being made incorrectly or at insufficient levels all of which lead to a cascade of problems that affect the lungs and other organs.

Our team focuses on developing gene therapies to treat respiratory diseases in particular, were aiming to deliver the CTFR gene into lung cells to treat CF patients, says McLachlan.

The results of the UK Respiratory Gene Therapy Consortiums most recent clinical trial showed that an inhaled non-viral CTFR gene therapy formulation led to improvements in patient lung function.

While this was encouraging, the effects were modest and we need to develop a more potent delivery vehicle, explains McLachlan. Weve also been working on a viral-based gene therapy using a lentiviral vector to introduce a healthy copy of the CTFR gene into cells of the lung.

Kardas team focuses on developing novel gene therapy and gene-editing treatments for incurable genetic diseases affecting the central and peripheral nervous system and Yez-Muoz is aiming to develop new treatments for rare neurodegenerative diseases that affect children, including SMA and ataxia telangiectasia (AT).

But a significant barrier for academic researchers around the world is accessing the dedicated resources, facilities and expertise required to scale up and work towards the clinical development and eventually the commercial production of gene and cell therapies. These challenges will need to be addressed and overcome if these important advancements are to successfully deliver their potentially life-changing benefits to patients.

Download this app note to discover how electron activated dissociation can obtain in-depth structural characterization of singly charged, ionizable lipids and related impurities, decrease risk of missing critical low abundance impurities and increase confidence in product quality assessment.

After many decades of effort, the future of gene and cell therapies is incredibly promising. A flurry of recent successes has led to the approval of several life-changing treatments for patients and many more products are in development.

Its no longer just about hope, but now its a reality with a growing number of rare diseases that can be effectively treated with these therapies, describes Yez-Muoz. We now need to think about how we can scale up these technologies to address the thousands of rare diseases that exist and even within these diseases, people will have different mutations, which will complicate matters even further.

But as more of these gene and cell-based therapies are approved, there is a growing urgency to address the challenge of equitable access to these innovative treatments around the world.

Gene therapies have the dubious honor of being the most expensive treatments ever and this isnt sustainable in the longer term, says Yez-Muoz. Just imagine being a parent and knowing there is an effective therapy but your child cant access it that would be absolutely devastating.

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Cell and Gene Therapy: Rewriting the Future of Medicine - Technology Networks

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Complete the form below to unlock access to this Audio Article: "What are Progenitor Cells? Exploring Neural, Myeloid and Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells"

Every cell in the human body, and that of other mammals, originates from stem cell precursors. Progenitor cells are descendants of stem cells that then further differentiate to create specialized cell types.There are many types of progenitor cells throughout the human body. Each progenitor cell is only capable of differentiating into cells that belong to the same tissue or organ. Some progenitor cells have one final target cell that they differentiate to, while others have the potential to terminate in more than one cell type.

Stem cells share two qualifying characteristics. Firstly, all stem cells have the potential to differentiate into multiple types of cells. Secondly, stem cells are capable of unlimited self-replication via asymmetric cell division, a process known as self-renewal.There are two broad categories of stem cells found in all mammals. The first are embryonic stem cells. These cells arise from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst in an early-stage embryo. Embryonic stem cells are the blueprint used to create every cell in the body. Because they can be used to create any type of cell, they are known as pluripotent.

The second type of stem cells found in mammals are adult stem cells (or somatic stem cells). Unlike pluripotent embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells are more limited in relation to the type of cells that they become. Unlike embryonic stem cells that could be used to create any cell, adult stem cells are limited to generating cell types within a specific lineage, such as blood cells or cells of the central nervous system. This level of differentiation potential is termed multipotent.

Stem cells create two types of progeny: more stem cells or progenitor cells. All progenitor cells are descendants of stem cells. When it comes to cell differentiation, they fall on the spectrum between stem cells and fully differentiated (mature) cells.

Whilst stem cells have indefinite replication (left) progenitor cells can at most differentiate into multiple types of specialized cell (right).

Function:

Cellular repair or maintenance

Cell Potency:

Multipotent, oligopotent, or unipotent

Self-renewal:

Limited

Origin:

Stem cells

Creates:

Further differentiated cells (either progenitor cells of mature/fully differentiated cells)

Progenitor cells are an intermediary step involved in the creation of mature cells in human tissues and organs, the blood, and the central nervous system.

The human central nervous system (CNS) contains three types of fully differentiated cells: neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The latter two are collectively known as glial cells.Every neuron, oligodendrocyte and astrocyte in the CNS evolves from the differentiation of neural progenitor cells (NPCs). NPCs themselves are produced by multipotent neural stem cells (NSCs). Both NPCs and NSCs are termed neural precursor cells.Before the 1990s, it was believed that neurogenesis terminated early in life. More recent studies demonstrate that the brain contains stem cells that are capable of regenerating neurons and glial cells throughout the human lifecycle. These stem cells have only been found in certain brain regions, including the striatum and lateral ventricle.

Hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) are an intermediate cell type in blood cell development. HPCs are immature cells that develop from hematopoietic stem cells, cells that can both self-renew and differentiate into hematopoietic progenitor cells. HPCs eventually differentiate into one of more than ten different types of mature blood cells.Hematopoietic progenitor cells are categorized based upon their cell potency, or their differentiation potential. As blood cells develop, their potency decreases.

First, hematopoietic stem cells differentiate into multipotent progenitor cells. Multipotent progenitor cells are those with the potential to differentiate into a subset of cell types. These cells then differentiate into either the common myeloid progenitor (CMP) or common lymphoid progenitor (CLP). Both CMPs and CLPs are types of oligopotent progenitor cells (progenitor cells that differentiate into only a few cell types).

CMPs and CLPs continue to differentiate along cell lines into lineage-restricted progenitor cells that become final, mature blood cells.Myeloid progenitor cells are precursors to the following types of blood cells:

Lymphoid progenitor cells (also known as lymphoblasts) are precursors to other mature blood cell types, including:

The primary role of progenitor cells is to replace dead or damaged cells. In this way, progenitor cells are necessary for repair after injury and as part of ongoing tissue maintenance. Progenitor cells also replenish blood cells and play a role in embryonic development.

Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) are being explored alongside neural stem cells for their potential to treat diseases of or injury to the central nervous system. A deeper understanding of how these cells function on a cellular and molecular basis is needed to progress from early experimental research to therapeutic use.NPCs are currently utilized in research conducted on CNS disorders, development, cell regeneration and degeneration, neuronal excitability, and therapy screening. When compared to induced pluripotent stem cells, which are cells reprogrammed into a pluripotent state, NPCs can cut down on time in some experiments.Hematopoietic progenitor cells and stem cells are being researched for their capacity to treat blood cell disorders. They are also currently used to help treat patients with a variety of malignant and non-malignant diseases via bone marrow transplants that deliver bone marrow and peripheral blood progenitor cells to patients. These procedures can assist patients in recovering from the damage caused by chemotherapy.Additionally, researchers are examining the potential of using progenitor cells to create a variety of tissues, such as blood vessels, heart valves, and electrically conductive tissue for the cardiovascular system.

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What are Progenitor Cells? Exploring Neural ... - Technology Networks

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Biotechnology Market Research Report by Technology (Cell-based Assays, Chromatography, and DNA Sequencing), Application, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Biotechnology Market size was estimated at USD 876.74 billion in 2021, USD 1,023.15 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 16.87% to reach USD 2,234.84 billion by 2027.

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The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.

FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Biotechnology Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.

Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments

The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Biotechnology Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Biotechnology Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Biotechnology Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Biotechnology Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Biotechnology Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Biotechnology Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Biotechnology Market?

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Challenges

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ijpdlj

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The Worldwide Biotechnology Industry is Expected to Reach $2234 Billion by 2027 - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business Wire

In brief

By National Law No. 27,685 ("Law"), published on 16 September 2022, Law No. 26,270 was amended, expanding throughout the entire national territory the promotion regime for the development and production of modern biotechnology and nanotechnology. The regime will be in force up to 31 December 2034.

The Law set forth the following tax benefits: (i) the accelerated amortization of the capital goods, special equipment, and parts or elements forming those new goods, which were acquired for the project; (ii) the anticipated refund for the VAT corresponding to the goods acquired for the project; and (iii) the granting of a tax credit bond equivalent to 50% of expenses paid for hiring investigative and development services from institutions that are part of the national public system of science, technology and innovation. The tax credit bond will be valid for 10 years and it will only be transferable once.

In focus

The Law includes the concept of nanotechnology in the definition of "Modern Biotechnology", which means every technological application based on rational knowledge and scientific principles that derive from biology, biochemistry, microbiology, bioinformatics, molecular biology and genetic engineering, or that uses live organisms or parts of them, either for the production of goods and services, or for the substantial improvement of products and productive processes.

The Law set forth the following tax benefits:

Click here to download the Spanish version.

Content is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. This may qualify as "Attorney Advertising" requiring notice in some jurisdictions. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. For more information, please visit:www.bakermckenzie.com/en/client-resource-disclaimer.

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Argentina: Promotion of modern biotechnology and nanotechnology - Lexology

Press release

Cambridge, MA U.S.A. (September 26, 2022) Allarity Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALLR) (Allarity or the Company), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing novel oncology therapeutics together with drug-specific DRP companion diagnostics for personalized cancer care, today announced the appointment of Jerry McLaughlin as a new member of its Board of Directors, effective October 1, 2022.

Mr. McLaughlin is a highly accomplished biotechnology executive with extensive experience in financing, drug development, licensing, commercialization, and product lifecycle management. Mr. McLaughlin is expected to serve on the compensation, and audit committees as an independent director.

I am delighted that Jerry has chosen to join Allaritys board at this crucial time in our evolution, said Dr. Duncan Moore, Allaritys Chairman of the Board. His operational experience in clinical stage therapeutic development and capital markets acumen will be of great value as we continue to implement the Companys combination therapy-focused strategy.

Mr. McLaughlin said: I firmly believe Allarity Therapeutics is in a unique position to become a leader within the personalized medicine space by developing novel combination oncology therapies together with the Companys unique DRP companion diagnostics. Allaritys recent strategic shift is aligned with the ongoing patient and market realities in oncology, as we continue to see substantially higher patient benefits with combination therapies. I look forward to supporting the CEO, Jim Cullem, and the rest of the Allarity team in unlocking both the clinical and commercial potential of this strategy.

Mr. McLaughlin has three decades of experience in leading operational and executive management roles. He made key contributions to significant life science milestones, including product launches, acquisitions, and financings. He is currently serving as CEO and Board Member of Life Biosciences, LLC, a development-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing therapeutics for patients with neurological and psychiatric diseases. Prior to serving in this role, he was President, CEO, and Member of the Board of Directors at Neos Therapeutics (acquired by Aytu BioScience.) Before joining Neos Therapeutics, he served as President, CEO, and Member of the Board of Directors at AgeneBio, Inc. Earlier in his career, he held corporate leadership roles at NuPathe, Inc., Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Merck & Co., Inc. He received his B.A. from Dickinson College and his MBA from Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

About Allarity Therapeutics

Allarity Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALLR) develops drugs for personalized treatment of cancer guided by its proprietary and highly validated companion diagnostic technology, the DRP platform. The Company has a mature portfolio of three drug candidates: stenoparib, a PARP inhibitor in Phase 2 development for ovarian cancer; dovitinib, a post-Phase 3 pan-tyrosine kinase inhibitor; and the European rights to IXEMPRA (Ixabepilone), a microtubule inhibitor approved in the U.S. and marketed by R-PHARM U.S. for the treatment of second-line metastatic breast cancer, currently in Phase 2 development in Europe for the same indication. Additionally, the Company has rights in two secondary assets: 2X-111, a liposomal formulation of doxorubicin in Phase 2 development for metastatic breast cancer and/or glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which is the subject of discussions for a restructured out-license to Smerud Medical Research International AS; and LiPlaCis, a liposomal formulation of cisplatin and its accompanying DRP, being developed via a partnership with Chosa ApS, an affiliate of Smerud Medical Research International, for late-stage metastatic breast cancer. The Company is headquartered in the United States and maintains an R&D facility in Hoersholm, Denmark. For more information, please visit the Companys website at http://www.Allarity.com.

About the Drug Response Predictor DRP Companion Diagnostic

Allarity uses its drug-specific DRP to select those patients who, by the genetic signature of their cancer, are found to have a high likelihood of responding to the specific drug. By screening patients before treatment, and only treating those patients with a sufficiently high DRP score, the therapeutic response rate can be significantly increased. The DRP method builds on the comparison of sensitive vs. resistant human cancer cell lines, including transcriptomic information from cell lines combined with clinical tumor biology filters and prior clinical trial outcomes. DRP is based on messenger RNA from patient biopsies. The DRP platform has proven its ability to provide a statistically significant prediction of the clinical outcome from drug treatment in cancer patients in 37 out of 47 clinical studies that were examined (both retrospective and prospective), including ongoing, prospective Phase 2 trials of Stenoparib and IXEMPRA. The DRP platform, which can be used in all cancer types and is patented for more than 70 anti-cancer drugs, has been extensively published in peer reviewed literature.

Follow Allarity on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllarityTx/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allaritytx/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/allaritytx

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide Allaritys current expectations or forecasts of future events. The words anticipates, believe, continue, could, estimate, expect, intends, may, might, plan, possible, potential, predicts, project, should, would and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to clinical and commercial potential due to the Company advancing dovitinib in combination with another therapeutic candidate or other approved drug, any statements related to ongoing clinical trials for stenoparib as a monotherapy or in combination with another therapeutic candidate for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer, or ongoing clinical trials (in Europe) for IXEMPRA for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, and statements relating to the effectiveness of the Companys DRP companion diagnostics platform in predicting whether a particular patient is likely to respond to a specific drug. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on managements current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,the risk that results of a clinical study do not necessarily predict final results and that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change following more comprehensive reviews of the data, and as more patient data become available, the risk that results of a clinical study are subject to interpretation and additional analyses may be needed and/or may contradict such results, the receipt of regulatory approval for dovitinib or any of our other therapeutic candidates or, if approved, the successful commercialization of such products, the risk of cessation or delay of any of the ongoing or planned clinical trials and/or our development of our product candidates, the risk that the results of previously conducted studies will not be repeated or observed in ongoing or future studies involving our therapeutic candidates, and the risk that the current COVID-19 pandemic will impact the Companys current and future clinical trials and the timing of the Companys preclinical studies and other operations. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled Risk Factors in our Form S-1 registration statementon file with theSecurities and Exchange Commission, available at the Securities and Exchange Commissions website atwww.sec.gov, and as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and other important factors in the Companys subsequent filings with theSecurities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and the Company undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

###

Company Contact:

Thomas JensenSenior V.P. of Investor Relationsinvestorrelations@allarity.com

Investor Relations:

Chuck PadalaLifeSci Advisors+1(646) 627-8390chuck@lifesciadvisors.comU.S. Media Contact:

Mike Beyer Sam Brown, Inc. +1 (312) 961-2502 mikebeyer@sambrown.com

EU Media Contact:

Thomas PedersenCarrotize PR & Communications +45 6062 9390tsp@carrotize.com

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Allarity Therapeutics Appoints Seasoned Biotechnology Executive Jerry McLaughlin to Board of Directors - GlobeNewswire

As a rapidly advancing climate emergency turns the planet ever hotter, the Dallas-based biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences has a vision: To see the Woolly Mammoth thunder upon the tundra once again. Founders George Church and Ben Lamm have already racked up an impressive list of high-profile funders and investors, including Peter Thiel, Tony Robbins, Paris Hilton, Winklevoss Capital and, according to the public portfolio its venture capital arm released this month, the CIA.

Colossal says it hopes to use advanced genetic sequencing to resurrect two extinct mammals not just the giant, ice age mammoth, but also a mid-sized marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, that died out less than a century ago. On its website, the company vows: Combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery, we endeavor to jumpstart natures ancestral heartbeat.

In-Q-Tel, its new investor, is registered as a nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the CIA. On its surface, the group funds technology startups with the potential to safeguard national security. In addition to its long-standing pursuit of intelligence and weapons technologies, the CIA outfit has lately displayed an increased interest in biotechnology and particularly DNA sequencing.

Why the interest in a company like Colossal, which was founded with a mission to de-extinct the wooly mammoth and other species? reads an In-Q-Tel blog post published on September 22. Strategically, its less about the mammoths and more about the capability.

Biotechnology and the broader bioeconomy are critical for humanity to further develop. It is important for all facets of our government to develop them and have an understanding of what is possible, Colossal co-founder Ben Lammwrote in an email to The Intercept. (A spokesperson for Lamm stressed that while Thiel provided Church with$100,000 in funding to launchthe woolly mammoth project that became Colossal, he is not a stakeholderlike Robbins, Hilton, Winklevoss Capital, and In-Q-Tel.)

Colossal uses CRISPR gene editing, a method of genetic engineering based on a naturally occurring type of DNA sequence. CRISPR sequences present on their own in some bacterial cells and act as an immune defense system, allowing the cellto detect and excise viral material thattries to invade. The eponymous gene editing technique was developed to function the same way, allowing users to snip unwanted genes and program a more ideal version of the genetic code.

CRISPR is the use of genetic scissors, Robert Klitzman, a bioethicist at Columbia University and a prominent voice of caution on genetic engineering, told The Intercept. Youre going into DNA, which is a 3-billion-molecule-long chain, and clipping some of it out and replacing it. You can clip out bad mutations and put in good genes, but these editing scissors can also take out too much.

The embrace of this technology, according to In-Q-Tels blog post, will help allow U.S. government agencies to read, write, and edit genetic material, and, importantly, tosteerglobal biological phenomena that impact nation-to-nation competition whileenabling the United States to help set the ethical, as well as the technological, standards for its use.

In-Q-Tel did not respond to The Intercepts requests for comment.

In recent years, the venture firms portfolio has expanded to include Ginkgo Bioworks, a bioengineering startup focused on manufacturing bacteria for biofuel and other industrial uses; Claremont BioSolutions, a firm that produces DNA sequencing hardware; Biomatrica and T2 Biosystems, two manufacturers for DNA testing components; and Metabiota, an infectious disease mapping and risk analysis database powered by artificial intelligence. As The Intercept reported in 2016, In-Q-Tel also invested in Clearista, a skincare brand that removes a thin outer epidermal layer to reveal a fresher face beneath it and allow DNA collection from the skin cells scraped off.

President Joe Bidens administration signaled its prioritization of related advances earlier this month, when Biden signed an executive order on biotechnology and biomanufacturing. The order includes directives to spur public-private collaboration, bolster biological risk management, expand bioenergy-based products, and engage the international community to enhance biotechnology R&D cooperation in a way that is consistent with United States principles and values.

The governments penchant for controversial biotechnology long predates the Biden administration. In 2001, a New York Times investigation found that American defense agencies under Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton had continued to experiment with biological weapons, despite a 1972 international treaty prohibiting them. In 2011, The Guardian revealed that the CIA under President Barack Obama organized a fake Hepatitis B vaccine drive in Pakistan that sought to locate family members of Osama bin Laden through nonconsensual DNA collection, leading the agency to eventually promise a cessation of falseimmunization campaigns.

CIA Labs, a 2020 initiative overseen by Donald Trumps CIA director, Gina Haspel infamous for running a torture laboratory in Thailand follows a model similar to In-Q-Tels. The program created a research network to incubate top talent and technology for use across U.S. defense agencies, while simultaneously allowing participating CIA officers to personally profit off their research and patents.

In-Q-Tel board members are allowed to sit on the boards of companies in which the firm invests, raising ethics concerns over howthe non-profit selects companies to back with government dollars. A 2016 Wall Street Journal investigation found that almost half of In-Q-Tel board members were connected to the companies where it had invested.

The size of In-Q-Tels stake in Colossal wont be known until the nonprofit releases its financial statements next year, but the investment may provide a boon on reputation alone: In-Q-Tel has claimed that every dollar it invests in a business attracts 15 more from other investors.

Colossals co-founders, Lamm and Church, represent the ventures business and science minds, respectively. Lamm, a self-proclaimed serial technology entrepreneur, founded his first company as a senior in college, then pivoted to mobile apps and artificial intelligence before helping to start Colossal.

Church a Harvard geneticist, genome-based dating app visionary, and former Jeffrey Epstein funding recipient has proposed the revival of extinct species before. Speaking to Der Spiegel in 2013, Church suggested the resurrection of the Neanderthal an idea met with controversy because it would require technology capable of human cloning.

We can clone all kinds of mammals, so its very likely that we could clone a human, Church said. Why shouldnt we be able to do so? When the interviewer reminded him of a ban on human cloning, Church said, And laws can change, by the way.

Even when the methods used for de-extinction are legal, many scientists are skeptical of its promise. In a 2017 paper for Nature Ecology & Evolution, a group of biologists from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand found that [s]pending limited resources on de-extinction could lead to net biodiversity loss.

De-extinction is a fairytale science, Jeremy Austin, a University of Adelaide professor and director of the Australian Center for Ancient DNA,toldthe Sydney Morning Herald over the summer, when Colossal pledged to sink $10 million into the University of Melbourne for its Tasmanian tiger project. Its pretty clear to people like me that thylacine or mammoth de-extinction is more about media attention for the scientists and less about doing serious science.

Critics who say de-extinction of genes to create proxy species is impossible are critics who are simply not fully informed and do not know the science. We have been clear from day one that on the path to de-extinction we will be developing technologies which we hope to be beneficial to both human healthcare as well as conservation, Lamm wrote to The Intercept. We will conitnue [sic] to share these technologies we develop with the world.

It remains to be seen if Colossal, with In-Q-Tels backing, can make good on its promises. And its unclear what, exactly, the intelligence world might gain from the use of CRISPR. But perhaps the CIA shares the companys altruistic, if vague, motives: To advance the economies of biology and healing through genetics. To make humanity more human. And to reawaken the lost wilds of Earth. So we, and our planet, can breathe easier.

Update: September 28, 2022, 1:00 p.m. ETThis story has been updated with a statement from Colossal co-founder Ben Lamm.

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CIA Just Invested In Woolly Mammoth Resurrection Tech - The Intercept

Impacting more than 12 million people globally, HDV is the most aggressive form of viral hepatitis

Novel combination strategy designed toreduce HDV viremia and block viral entry

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR) today announced that the first patient has been dosed in the Phase 2 SOLSTICE clinical trial evaluating VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 as monotherapy and in combination for the treatment of people living with chronic hepatitis D virus (HDV), which occurs as a simultaneous co-infection or super-infection alongside hepatitis B virus (HBV). HDV infection, the most aggressive form of viral hepatitis, increases the risk of poor outcomes, including liver cancer and death, compared with HBV alone.

VIR-2218 is an investigational small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) that diminishes the level of all HBV proteins in vitro, including hepatitis B surface antigen, a protein necessary to create infectious HDV virions. VIR-3434 is an investigational hepatitis B surface antigen targeting monoclonal antibody designed to remove both HBV and HDV virions from the blood and block the entry of these viruses into liver cells. VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 are currently being evaluated for the treatment of HBV in the Phase 2 MARCH (Monoclonal Antibody siRNA Combination against Hepatitis B) trial. Previously reported results from Part A of the MARCH trial demonstrated that the combination of VIR-3434 and VIR-2218 resulted in an approximate 3 log decline in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).

Globally, more than 12 million people are living with HDV, and with no approved therapies available in the United States, there is an urgent need for the development of novel treatment strategies that will improve outcomes for patients, said Carey Hwang, M.D., Ph.D., Virs senior vice president, clinical research, head of chronic infection. Recent research suggests that reducing HDV viremia, by preventing virion formation as well as facilitating virion removal, in conjunction with blocking HDV virion entry into liver cells could be effective in suppressing chronic HDV infection. The initiation of SOLSTICE, our first clinical trial in HDV, is an important milestone as we advance our broad therapeutic portfolio for viral hepatitis, which also includes the pursuit of a functional cure for chronic HBV infection.

Design of the Phase 2 SOLSTICE TrialThe multi-center, open-label Phase 2 SOLSTICE trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 in adult patients (age 18 to 69) with chronic HDV infection receiving nucleot(s)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitor therapy. Depending on the cohort, trial participants will receive multiple doses of VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 as either monotherapy or in combination administered via subcutaneous injection for up to 88 weeks. The primary endpoints of the trial are the proportion of study participants achieving either a 2log10 decrease in HDV RNA compared to baseline, or HDV RNA less than the limit of quantification and normalization of alanine transaminase (ALT) at Week 24, as well as the proportion of participants with treatment-emergent adverse events and serious adverse events. Vir expects initial data from the SOLSTICE trial in 2023.

About Chronic Hepatitis DChronic hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection occurs as a simultaneous co-infection or super-infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). An estimated 12 million patients globally are infected with HDV, representing approximately 5% of those infected with HBV. HDV-HBV co-infection is considered the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis due to more rapid progression toward hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related death.

About Chronic Hepatitis BChronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains an urgent global public health challenge associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Approximately 300 million people around the world are living with HBV and approximately 900,000 of them die from associated complications each year. These patients are significantly underserved by existing therapies with low functional cure rates, lifelong daily therapy and poor tolerability. Vir is working to achieve a functional cure for the millions of people with HBV around the world through its broad and differentiated portfolio.

About VIR-2218VIR-2218 is an investigational subcutaneously administered HBV-targeting siRNA that has the potential to stimulate an effective immune response and have direct antiviral activity against HBV and HDV. It is the first siRNA in the clinic to include Enhanced Stabilization Chemistry Plus (ESC+) technology to enhance stability and minimize off-target activity, which potentially can result in an increased therapeutic index. VIR-2218 is the first asset in the Companys collaboration with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to enter clinical trials.

About VIR-3434VIR-3434 is an investigational subcutaneously administered antibody designed to block entry of HBV and HDV viruses into hepatocytes and to reduce the level of virions and subviral particles in the blood. VIR-3434, which incorporates Xencors Xtend and other Fc technologies, has been engineered to potentially function as a T cell vaccine against HBV and HDV in infected patients, as well as to have an extended half-life.

About Vir BiotechnologyVir Biotechnologyis a commercial-stage immunology company focused on combining immunologic insights with cutting-edge technologies to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. Vir has assembled four technology platforms that are designed to stimulate and enhance the immune system by exploiting critical observations of natural immune processes. Its current development pipeline consists of product candidates targeting COVID-19, hepatitis B and hepatitis D viruses, influenza A and human immunodeficiency virus. Vir routinely posts information that may be important to investors on its website.

Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as may, will, plan, potential, aim, expect, anticipate, promising and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions, or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Virs expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the ability of VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 in combination to treat chronic HDV and HBV infection; the potential benefits of VIR-2218 and VIR-3434; Virs plans and expectations for its HDV and HBV portfolios; the initial results of the MARCH trial; the timing for and design of the Phase 2 SOLSTICE trial; the treatment of HDV and HBV; and risks and uncertainties associated with drug development and commercialization. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including risks that Vir may not fully enroll the Phase 2 SOLSTICE trial or it will take longer than expected; unexpected safety or efficacy data or results observed during the Phase 2 SOLSTICE trial or in data readouts; the occurrence of adverse safety events; risks of unexpected costs, delays or other unexpected hurdles; difficulties in collaborating with other companies; challenges in accessing manufacturing capacity; successful development and/or commercialization of alternative product candidates by Virs competitors; changes in expected or existing competition; delays in or disruptions to Virs business or clinical trials due to the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical changes or other external factors; and unexpected litigation or other disputes. Drug development and commercialization involve a high degree of risk, and only a small number of research and development programs result in commercialization of a product. Results in early-stage clinical trials may not be indicative of full results or results from later stage or larger scale clinical trials and do not ensure regulatory approval. You should not place undue reliance on these statements, or the scientific data presented. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in Virs filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the section titled Risk Factors contained therein. Except as required by law, Vir assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, even as new information becomes available.

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Vir Biotechnology Announces First Patient Dosed in the Phase 2 SOLSTICE Trial Evaluating VIR-2218 and VIR-3434 for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis...

England is in crisis. They lost a beloved figurehead this month but for decades prior were losing scientific ground. If you look for the home of the modern organic food and anti-vaccine movements, you find their nexus in 1990s England.

The primary royal behind those beliefs is now King Charles III.

In order to manage the $28 billion he inherits (tax-free, paying taxes only applies to peasants in England)(1) he will have to give his $1.5 billion estate to his son, the new Prince of Wales, William (also tax free) but the Prince is not only taking over during a time when Brits are wondering why they still care about a throne that hasnt been relevant in hundreds of years, he is taking over at a time when being anti-science is no longer fashionable for progressive elites.

Though it was recently the darling of the intelligentsia, and Prince Charles longed to belong in that circle, anti-vaccine sentiments have become proletariat since COVID-19. The war on science when it comes to food harms a lot more people worldwide each year than the pandemic did. Hundreds of thousands of kids could stop going blind each year with Golden Rice but elites like King Charles III give money to groups that block its implementation.

Prince William could start to gain back some credibility for the family by jettisoning the organic food fetish of his father. Organic food, like the anti-vaccine movement, is a relic of 1990s England. Dr. Andrew Wakefield set off the modern anti-vaccine craze the same way that English environmental activists set off the Frankenfood one. Now supplements, wellness, and organic are all giant businesses based on exploitation of famous names who wanted to impress their elite friends

The world should have passed the anti-vaccine and anti-food movement by but they persist in large part because of the new British monarch and his quasi-American royalty of American Democrats counterpart, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.(2)

Its easy to embrace science, especially in light of their history making changes when it was needed. They changed their name to Windsor from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha during World War I to help commoners forget the British royal family is German during a time that Germany was shooting at English men in Europe. Given that public relations success, they can certainly change their tune when it comes to science.

Perhaps due to an infusion of new blood outside the shockingly limited pool drawn from during the 19th and 20th centuries, Prince William seems to be a more genetically gifted thinker than his father. He can show it by embracing the modern world, where food and medicine are embraced.(3)

He doesnt actually have to divest from the farm, that is just me getting attention in a title. It is enough if he acknowledges that having peasants toil for his carrots only using specially labeled toxic pesticides is a pastime for the rich, and not a way to feed the world.

(1) The same way California Governor Gavin Newsom doesnt want people who make over $2 million each year to pay higher taxes to subsidize the electric cars the Governor insists Uber drivers need to buy. High taxes are for the middle class and the poor, not the donors he will need in order to fail running for President in 2024.

(2) Nothing looks more hypocritical than people on the left in England and the US suddenly endorsing vaccines when just two years ago they opposed them. It instead reeks of politics, and politics need to be a no-no for the new generation of British royals, lest they be relegated to the name recognition of the Queen of the Netherlands, whoever that is.

(3) and not just engage in publicity stunts about energy costs that are squarely the blame of the government his father now seeks to lead.

Hank Campbell founded Science 2.0 in 2006, and writes for USA Today, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and more. His first book,Science Left Behind,was the #1 bestseller on Amazon for environmental policy books. Follow Hank on Twitter@HankCampbell

A version of this article was originally posted atScience 2.0and is reposted here with permission. Science 2.0 can be found on Twitter@science2_0

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Viewpoint: Will King Charles abandon his kooky ideas about agriculture and help accelerate Britain's embrace of sustainable biotechnology tools? -...

Biotechnology is a fast-growing field that is revolutionizing healthcare and other industries. Biotech companies are developing new drugs, diagnostics, and agricultural products to meet the needs of society and global markets. Biotech stocks have also been performing well as of late. The market has been kind to biotech stocks over the past couple of years, and many analysts suggest that this trend will continue into 2022. So if youre looking for some great biotech stocks to buy in 2022, we can help you out. This article will discuss three top biotech stocks to buy in 2022 and provide helpful information about these companies and their competitors.

Aurinia is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for patients with rare and neglected diseases. The companys lead product, voclosporin, is designed to treat lupus nephritis, a kidney inflammation caused by systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). The company has a robust business model, and voclosporin effectively treats lupus nephritis in several clinical trials. Aurinia is expected to begin Phase III clinical trials for voclosporin in early 2022. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is currently trading at $4.56 per share. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion and a price-to-book ratio of 1.44. The company is expected to have annual revenue of $784 million in 2022.

Verve is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for rare central nervous system (CNS) disorders and diseases of the eye. The companys lead product, a treatment for retinal vein occlusion (RVO), is currently in Phase III clinical trials. Verve was formed due to a merger between Neurocrine Biosciences and Ferrokinetics. After the two companies merged, the company was renamed Verve Therapeutics and continued to work on the same RVO treatment. Verves RVO treatment is expected to be commercially available in 2022. Verve Therapeutics is currently trading at $3.63 per share. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion and a price-to-book ratio of 0.99. The company is expected to have annual revenue of $539 million in 2022.

Neurocrine is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for severe and rare diseases. The companys lead product, INGREZZA, is destructive dyskinesia (TD), a movement disorder characterized by involute notary facial, arm, and leg movements. TD is a severe and long-term condition that is often associated with the use of certain psychiatric medications. INGREZZA is effective in treating TD in several clinical trials. Neurocrine was formed due to a merger between Vercure Pharmaceuticals and Ferrokinetics. After the two companies merged, the company was renamed Neurocrine Biosciences. Neurocrine Biosciences is currently trading at $26.37 per share. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion and a price-to-book ratio of 1.69. The company is expected to have annual revenue of $1.13 billion in 2022.

Regenxbio is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immuno-oncology therapies and bispecific antibodies (Bi-SBIs). Immuno-oncology treatments are being developed to treat various cancers by activating the immune system. Bi-SBIs are engineered to bind to two different targets at the same time. The companys lead product, RG101, is being developed as a treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME), a degenerative eye disease that affects individuals with diabetes. RG101 is effective in treating DME in several clinical trials. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation designation. Regenxbio is currently trading at $27.09 per share. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion and a price-to-book ratio of 4.24. The company is expected to have annual revenue of $1.32 billion in 2022.

Biotechnology is a fast-growing field that is revolutionizing healthcare and other industries. Biotech companies are developing new drugs, diagnostics, and agricultural products to meet the needs of society and global markets. Biotech stocks have also been performing well as of late. The market has been kind to biotech stocks over the past couple of years, and many analysts suggest that this trend will continue into 2022. If youre looking for some great biotech stocks to buy in 2022, we can help you out. This article will discuss three top biotech stocks to buy in 2022 and provide helpful information about these companies and their competitors. Now its time for you to decide which biotech stocks to buy in 2022. Remember that these are just some suggestions, so do your research before investing in any company or store.

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Top Biotechnology Stocks to Buy in 2022 - Best Stocks

There are many foundations and charities which aim to tackle health conditions through funding medical research to develop better treatment options, improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

People often bequest money in their will to these organisations, donate after a loved one has been struck down by a particular illness or at funerals ask for donations to a an organisation in lieu of traditional flowers.

And while these organisations do great work, what about considering investing directly in medical companies for the greater good? Biotechnology investing is one sector which stands out for not only potential to deliver quality returns but also contribute positively to society.

Australias biotech representative body AusBiotech CEO Lorraine Chiroiu told Stockhead many of us unfortunately have a personal connection to catastrophic disease and, motivated by our experiences, are seeking avenues to put our philanthropic and investment dollars where we can make a meaningful and sustainable difference.

AusBiotech is receiving increasing enquiries from people who want to gift, bequeath or invest in a way that gives the best chance of new medical treatments and cures making their way to people experiencing disease, she said.

For example, we recently received a call from a father whose only son had passed away from cancer. Nobly, he wanted to make a purposeful investment into a company working to provide treatment for the disease that took his son in the hope that other families wouldnt have to go through the same suffering as his family.

Indeed many biotech companies have been founded by grieving family or friends that are passionate about finding a cure for a disease that took their loved one too soon.

Chiroiu said biotechnology companies are the vehicles that move medical research along the translation and commercialisation pathway to patients.

Companies operating in the life science and medtech sectors are in a unique position where business foundations are often influenced by a strong value-driven purpose one that offers positive social impact as the company develops life-saving and life-enhancing technologies.

Focusing clearly on patient impact, social good is codified into biotech companies DNA and are a great avenue for ethical investors to consider diversifying their portfolio.

She said we are living in an age of profound acceleration in medicinal discoveries and healthcare options, as well as a time that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought biotechnology especially in the form of vaccines into sharp focus.

As we emerge from the pandemic, the chronic health challenges and increasing burdens of disease associated with ageing populations around the world has many of us wondering how we can help move medical research from the bench to the bedside the answer is via business, she said

Australias biotech industry is on a strong growth trajectory, through substantially increasing numbers of organisations. Figures released by AusBiotech show the sector has grown 43% since 2019 and 60% since 2017.

Amid a thriving and expanding biotech industry in Australia, feeding the need for commercialisation, clinical development and growth is key and the diversity of investment sources remains a pressing issue, Chiroiu said.

Capital is the lifeblood of these companies and in response to this increasing need, AusBiotech has bolstered its investment program with a goal that Australian and overseas investors increasingly see Australian life sciences research and small-to-medium enterprises as viable and attractive investment options.

Global X head of investment strategy Blair Hannon told Stockhead biotechnology investing is well positioned to tick the boxes of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations of both institutional and retail investors.

For environmentally minded investors, the biotech industry has a low carbon footprint as most work is research-driven and not energy-intensive and as such, adding biotech exposure can help lower the average carbon footprint of a portfolio, Hannon said.

The biotech industry is highly regulated as measured by the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index and is free of any violators of the UN Global Compact (UNGC), which is a widely-followed benchmark of corporate good behaviour.

Hannon said alongside many other sectors, biotechs are striving towards ESG targets. Whilst a diversified biotech ETF such as its S&P Biotech ETF (ASX:CURE) is not explicitly tracking an ESG framework, Hannon noted many biotech companies within the fund focus on social good as their technology aims to aid people from all walks of life with disease treatments or even eradication.

Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX)CEO and managing director Steven Yatomi-Clarke told Stockhead bringing life-changing therapies to patients is an incredibly challenging undertaking that requires resources and resilience.

PTX is at the forefront of game-changing personalised cancer treatments with a strong pipeline of promising therapies. The company has a growing list of collaborations with leading cancer organisations globally including Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Yale, Oxford and UPenn.

Companies brave enough to take on this challenge call on investors to fund the research and development at least, until they become profitable, he said.

But at Prescient, when we accept a dollar from an investor, we are focussed on growing that into more than one dollar.

He said in the last two years, Prescient has spent around $8m of shareholder funds, but through consistent delivery of milestones and progress, the company has translated this $8m into over $100m of shareholder value.

So shareholders have enjoyed a handsome financial return, but additionally, they can be satisfied in knowing that their investment has resulted in incredibly exciting progress to create therapies that we believe are going to change lives.

AusBiotech is aiming to educate potential investors in life sciences companies about the unique ecosystem, through in-person events such as its AusBioInvest 2022 in Perth in October as well as plain English resources including The Guide to Life Sciences Investing

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Prescient Therapeutics is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

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Biotechnology investing for the social good making money and a difference - Stockhead

SEATTLE, Sept. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: NAUT; or Nautilus), a company pioneering a single-molecule protein analysis platform for quantifying the proteome, today announced the company will be participating in the upcoming Capital One Spatial Biology & Proteomics Summit taking place virtually on Wednesday, September 28, 2022.

Nautilus co-founder and CEO Sujal Patel is scheduled to participate in the following two executive panel discussions:

Interested parties may contact kristen.patrick@capitalone.com to register to attend the virtual event.

About Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc.With its corporate headquarters in Seattle and its research and development headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nautilus is a development stage life sciences company creating a platform technology for quantifying and unlocking the complexity of the proteome. Nautilus mission is to transform the field of proteomics by democratizing access to the proteome and enabling fundamental advancements across human health and medicine. To learn more about Nautilus, visit http://www.nautilus.bio.

Media Contactpress@nautilus.bio

Investor Contactinvestorrelations@nautilus.bio

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Nautilus Biotechnology to Participate in the Capital One Spatial Biology & Proteomics Summit - GlobeNewswire

NEW YORK What would you miss looking at the most if you lost your vision? According to a survey of 2,000 Americans, respondents say theyd miss seeing their childrens milestones (26%), scenes of nature (23%), their pets (22%), and their favorite TV shows and movies (15%).

When asked which of the five senses are the most important to them, vision tops the list with 77 percent of the votes. The other senses, such as hearing (14%), touching (6%), smelling (2%), and tasting (1%), trailed extremely far behind. With that in mind, its no surprise that 65 percent wish they took better care of their eyes, while another 58 percent feel they take their vision for granted.

Conducted by OnePoll for NVISION, the study also found that the average person first begins to worry about their vision at 39 years-old. Although 48 percent of respondents rate their eyesight as good, most find it easy to take care of their eyes (62%), because they care about their vision (69%), go to a good eye doctor (51%), and follow a daily routine (48%).

Meanwhile, a fifth find it difficult (19%), citing challenges like gaps in insurance coverage (48%), lack of resources (39%), and no way to access a good eye doctor (38%).

Regardless, 45 percent believe its very important to visit the eye doctor annually, with respondents saying theyve gone to their optometrist an average of four times in the last five years. Americans have also taken matters into their own hands with habits like eating a healthy diet (43%), wearing sunglasses (41%), getting more sleep (40%), drinking more water (40%), avoiding rubbing their eyes too much (39%), and washing their hands regularly (38%).

Every day, I see patients with eye diseases that were either preventable or treatable if caught earlier, says Dr. Dagny Zhu, a Harvard-trained surgeon at NVISION Eye Centers, in a statement. Patients who eat healthy, exercise regularly, dont smoke, and wear sunglasses can prolong the health of their eyes and delay the need for some treatments like cataract surgery. Other eye problems like glaucoma are silent and go unnoticed until its too late and significant vision has been lost. Thats why its so important to take care of your eyes and to see the eye doctor regularly for routine checkups.

The survey also asked respondents about their opinions on several eye health statements with 46 percent believing that staring directly at the sun is bad for your eyes, which Zhu says is the case. Many think wearing the wrong eyeglasses (39%) and staring at the TV very closely can cause damage (38%). Other statements people commonly believe are true include reading in dim light is harmful to your eyes (35%), using computers frequently can damage your eyes (35%), and you lose your vision as you age (34%).

Of the 72 percent of respondents whove never undergone LASIK surgery, 43 percent revealed they wouldnt be afraid to do so if their eyesight began to diminish. In comparison, 35 percent expressed hesitation, fearing permanent blindness (67%), pain (53%), and a lengthy recovery process (47%).

LASIK is one of the most studied elective procedures available today and has been shown to be safe and effective with a high level of patient satisfaction. LASIK is not painful, adds Zhu. There are many safety mechanisms built into the laser machine, making complications during the procedure extremely rare.

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Can you see me now? Average person begins worrying about their vision at age 39 - Study Finds

A rare, but serious, eye infection can be avoided in contact lens wearers who practice simple, healthy habits.

People who wear reusable contact lenses are nearly four times more likely to develop a rare, sight-threatening eye infection than those wearing daily disposables, a new study has found.

Multiple factors increase the risk of acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), including reusing lenses or wearing them overnight or in the shower, say the researchers from University College London.

READ MORE |6 top tips to keep your eyes healthy

AK is a condition that results in inflammation of the cornea. The rare but serious eye infection can result in permanent visual impairment or blindness, explains the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While it is most common in people who wear contact lenses, anyone can develop the infection, it adds.

"Contact lenses are generally very safe but are associated with a small risk of microbial keratitis, most commonly caused by bacteria, and which is the only sight-threatening complication of their use," lead author, professor John Dart from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, says in a university news release.

READ MORE | GRAPHIC: Woman has 14 worms pulled from eye after rare infection

Dart adds: Given that an estimated 300 million people across the globe wear contact lenses, it is important that people know how to minimise their risks for developing keratitis."

AK causes the front surface of the eye (cornea) to become painful and inflamed, explain the authors. The most severely affected typically end up with less than 25% of vision or become blind following the disease and face prolonged treatment. Overall, 25% of people affected require corneal transplants to treat the disease or restore sight.

What they found

The team recruited more than 200 patients from Moorfields Eye Hospital. Each patient was asked to complete a survey, including 83 people with AK. This was compared with a control group of 122 participants who came to eye care clinics with other conditions.

People who wore reusable soft contact lenses (such as monthly pairs) had 3.8 times the odds of developing AK compared to those who wore daily disposable lenses.

Heres what else they found:

READ MORE |Optometrist on good eye health

Previous studies have linked AK to wearing contact lenses in hot tubs, swimming pools or lakes, but the latest research adds showers to that list, and underlines that exposure to any water when wearing lenses should be avoided, says study author, associate professor Nicole Carnt.

Dart believes that all contact lens packaging should include basic information on lens safety, even a simple sticker warning stating 'no water' on each case.

That said, here are important safety tips for taking care of your contact lenses the right way.

"Basic contact lens hygiene measures can go a long way in avoiding infections, such as by thoroughly washing and drying your hands before putting in your lenses, says Dart.

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Contact lens wearers at higher risk of rare eye infection are you caring for your lenses the right way? - News24

Jeremy West (right) with Dr. Rahul Khurana (left), a retinal surgeon who operated on his eye.Slava Blazer Photography

A man almost lost his vision in one eye after opening a bottle of champagne on Mother's Day last year.

Jeremy West had an operation that saved his eyesight, but it never fully recovered.

People with champagne cork eye injuries should immediately go to the ER, a specialist told Insider.

A man almost lost his vision in one eye after a champagne cork flew into it during a Mother's Day celebration.

Ahead of Eye Injury Prevention Month in October, Jeremy West, 40, told Insider that the accident left him with worse vision and intermittent spots in his right eye "that look like a bug flying around."

Champagne cork eye injuries are rare, but when they occur the damage can be devastating and permanent, partly because corks can fly out of bottles at around 50 miles per hour, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

West, a software engineer from the Bay Area in California, was dating a single mom at the time and decided to treat her to a Mother's Day brunch at his house, with mimosas.

That afternoon, on May 9 2021, West went to open a second bottle of champagne, placing it on a counter and standing behind it, using his thumb to release the cork. He expected it to fly out in front of him but it didn't.

"It happened very fast. All of a sudden, it went pop and then my eye was shut and I was in a ton of pain," hesaid.

West said that there was "extremely intense throbbing" in his right eye, "like you poked yourself in the eye, times a thousand."

When he tried to open it, he saw a yellow, orange color, caused by bleeding blood vessels.

"I could see bright spots where there were light sources, but I couldn't see my hand in front of my face," he said.

Due to its size, getting a champagne cork in the eye can be more dangerous than being punched, because it can pass bones to directly hit the eye, Dr. Rahul Khurana, West's surgeon and a clinical associate professor in ophthalmology at UCSF Medical Center, told Insider. The injury can cause the eye to bleed or rupture and the retina at the back of the eye to detach, leading to potential irreversible vision loss.

Story continues

It's "very important" to get seen immediately at the ER after getting hit in the eye with a cork, Khurana, who is also an AAO spokesperson, said. People should be monitored by an opthalmologist after the injury even if things seem OK at first, as problems can take a while to develop, he said.

After getting hit in the eye West immediately went to the ERin a taxi, where he passed out in the hot stuffy waiting room, in excruciating pain.

The ophthalmologist in the ER could only see blood in the eye at the time, so they gave West eye drops and advised him to sit upright to help clear it. After West was discharged, his eye was assessed twice a week for the next few weeks.

As it was healing, West noticed a black shadowy patch at the bottom right of his vision, and sometimes he'd get "these weird, like bright halo effects" around the outside of his eye.

It got so bad that he couldn't see out of the bottom third of his eye, and he lost his peripheral vision.

The ophthalmologist referred West to Khurana, who diagnosed him with retinal detachment. West had urgent surgery, where a silicon band was placed around his eyeball to try to squeeze the retina back into place.

The bruising and swelling from surgery took two weeks to settle. West also needed a vitrectomy, which removed the gel-like substance from the middle of the eye and meant he had to sleep upright for two weeks, as well as a "painful," "hot" laser treatment.

It took four months for his eye to heal and his vision has never fully recovered.

Khurana recommended that people follow the AAO's guidance to prevent champagne cork injuries, such as chilling the champagne before opening, placing a towel over the cork when opening, and pressing down as you twist the bottle open.

West gets anxious when others open champagne around him,but he continues to drink mimosas, always using a towel to open the bottle.

"Sometimes when I open a bottle, I get a little jumpy," he said.

Read the original article on Insider

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A man who popped a champagne cork into his eye says it felt like being poked 'times a thousand.' His vision was saved after months of treatment but it...

HOUSTON, Sept. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --Whitsett Vision Group announced today it is the first ophthalmologist group in the country to perform cataract surgeries using a new lens approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that the practice has added another lens to its patient offerings. Both lenses have been shown to improve patients' vision and overall quality of life.

The two new lenses include the Lenstec ClearView 3, a multifocal intraocular lens, and the RxSight Light Adjustable Lens (LAL).

"Through recent advancements and technology, we can correct cataracts and enhance our patients' quality of life as we've never been able to before," said Jeffery Whitsett, board-certified ophthalmologist, and founder of the Whitsett Vision Group and VISTA Ophthalmics.

In clinical trials, patients reported having high-quality distance and near vision after receiving the ClearView 3 lens. They also did not experience dysphotopia, a common condition after cataract surgery, which is best described as the appearance of arcs, streaks, starbursts, or rings.

"The ClearView 3 from Lenstec has been designed with increased precision, accuracy, and stability, which results in excellent long-term visual outcomes at near, intermediate, and distance," said Whitsett.

Whitsett and his team performed the first surgeries using ClearView 3 as recently as Aug. 15.

The LAL lens is another option for Whitsett Vision Group's patients and is the only intraocular lens that enables ophthalmologists to customize a patient's vision after cataract surgery.

"This lens allows us to customize vision for each patient and adjust after surgery during a routine appointment. It can be adjusted to meet every patient's lifestyle needs and allows them to essentially 'test drive' the lens to experience and design their best visual outcome with complete confidence," said Whitsett.

Studies show that patients receiving the LAL and the recommended post-surgery treatments were more likely to achieve 20/20 vision or better without glasses than cataract patients with standard lens implants.

Surgeries using the LAL lens at Whitsett Vision Group started in late August.

Whitsett, who has helped pioneer ophthalmology research for new devices, procedures, and medications, was heavily involved in the FDA trials for the ClearView 3.

For more information about Whitsett Vision Group, visitwww.whitsettvision.com.

Images, videos, and background images are available here.

About Whitsett Vision Group

Whitsett Vision Group was founded in 1999 by Dr. Jeffrey Whitsett to bring superior eye care and surgical vision treatment options to the city of Houston. Since its inception, Whitsett Vision Group has been focused on custom cataract and LASIK surgery, utilizing advanced technologies and innovative lens solutions to provide patients with the best visual outcomes after surgery. More information about Whitsett Vision Group is available atwww.whitsettvision.com.

Media Contact:

Laura Frnka-DavisLFD Communications for Whitsett Vision Group713-409-1480[emailprotected]

SOURCE Whitsett Vision Group

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Whitsett Vision Group First to Use Revolutionary New Lens to Dramatically Improve Patients' Eyesight - PR Newswire

Highlights

Mr Grillet has developed a condition known as retinal detachment in his right eye and, as a result, has lost more than 50 per cent of his sight.

Oswaldo Grillet finds peace and the ability to switch off his daily concerns while practising yoga.

Normally, an operation can resolve the (retinal detachment) if treated immediately, but I was in a remote location and it took two or three days before I was able to see a real professional, he recalls.

... in life there is always a before and an after... you must learn to let go when you have to let go...

Mr Grillet says he was mountain bike riding in a remote part of New Zealand when he noticed a problem in his vision which literally stopped him in his tracks and forced him to seek urgent medical attention.

Oswaldo Grillet used to enjoy mountain bike riding.

Without a doubt, in my life there is a before and after... and you have to learn to let go... and yes, I had to stop doing things I loved, or I had to do them differently and make adjustments," he said.

A new beginning

With the partial loss of his vision, he says he was forced to look for paths that allowed him to practice introspection and in that space, he says discovered his priorities and the ways to accept the changing processes in life.

... whenever you lose something, a new space is created... it's an opportunity to understand that something new and different is coming.

Discovering a 'scientific, mystical path'

Mr Grillet is an experienced practitioner of yoga and meditation who began exploring both techniques in Venezuela when he was a teenager, and, years later, he travelled to India where he lived as a monk, studying and practising yoga, devotional music, transcendental meditation and Ayurvedic medicine.

This wealth of knowledge facilitated his path after his diagnosis, and increased his personal awareness to help him find ways to adapt to the new circumstances.

You think you're being productive the more active you are but it turns out that you might be hurting yourself because your stress levels are too high, even if you're doing a sport.

Knowing how to meditate helps you perceive life as it is and not as your mental conditioning wants it to be... that's what's important... and if you think about it and decide to consider making it part of your life, you're going to empower yourself, you're going to be at peace, regardless of what is happening in the external world.

The International Day of Yoga

During the pandemic, there was a growing tendency for people around the world to adopt this practice to stay healthy and rejuvenated and to combat social isolation and depression, says the UN.

... yoga also played an important role in the psychosocial care and rehabilitation of patients with COVID-19 to alleviate their fears and anxieties.

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'As one door closes, another opens': Adelaide man turned to yoga, meditation after major vision loss - SBS