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the new organ, a book to know what happens inside the organism – Explica

February 14th, 2021 7:08 pm

The microbiota is a very little known concept even in the world, which is revolutionizing the field of medicine and health care. Thanks to studies of varying rigor, today it is known that hundreds of millions of microorganisms, including viruses, fungi, bacteria and parasites, live in the body that can be the answer in the fight against diseases such as obesity, colon cancer, diabetes, autism, among many others, as well as in the improvement of the immune system.

The good news is that we can change, says Dr. Pablo Pea, specialist in Orthomolecular Medicine and director of Masquelier Integrative Medicine and author of the book Microbiota: the new organ.

With the adoption of healthy habits and the balance of the microbiota of the person, it is possible to stop expressing the bad genes inherited from the ancestors and that condition different diseases.

We are not entirely determined by genetics, we can change from our own choices, said the professional.

The book Microbiota: the new organ has a didactic and practical application approach, so that readers learn to adopt personal habits that allow them to have a healthy microbiota and, consequently, a better quality of life. It also includes a series of recipes to bring a diet favorable to the microorganisms that inhabit us.

Pea affirmed that for 10 years they have been working in the clinic on how the microbiota modulates, how to improve it and all that experience of a decade was turned over to the book where the concept, the factors that affect it, how to care for it, how it affects health and the most important thing is the ideal nutrition to have the desired balance, Pea explains TODAY.

Since before birth

From the uterus, human beings have, through defense cells, contact with the maternal microbiota and from the moment they go outside they are colonized with the mothers microbiota, the sheet with which it is covered at birth, with that of father and thus they are colonizing.

Breast milk covers an essential function for proper training, it also influences whether the baby is born by cesarean section or vaginal delivery, says the professional.

He recalled that major epidemics and pandemics occurred over the centuries, the Black Death that killed millions of people, Spanish fever, polio, measles, tuberculosis, syphilis and even Covid-19, all caused by bacteria and virus.

So they have a very bad press and that there are viruses and pathogenic bacteria, they exist but the vast majority are good and help us to be healthy, the pathogens that make us sick are a small group, but because of it we generalize the concept of bad bacteria and viruses, explains Pea.

Although, biologically it cannot be classified as an organ, there is a Microbiota-intestine-brain axis; the microbiota intestine lung axis; the microbiota gut immune system axis; the microbiota intestine skin axis and others, that is, it is related to many other organs and as it was not known and the studies that were more than 70,000 in the last 15 years, made a re-discovery in Medicine.

Contribution of the Microbiota and how to develop it

Homeostasis is balance and the holobiont are the millions of living beings living together inside the human being. Their 3 million genes and our 26 thousand human genes, that is the greatest contribution, the state of balance that equals health, strong and balanced defenses, a balanced metabolism, balanced hormones and a balanced digestive and nervous system.

First we must know that the first 1000 days are everything for development (270 days of pregnancy, 365 days of the first and second year) is like planting a tree, everything is formed there. So we must take care of the Microbiota of our children, very little known by most doctors today. Second, when we go through that with a diverse diet, such as not always eating the same type of coffee with milk with bread, sugar and jam, but eating a variety of colors in fruits and vegetables, eating avocado, suckling pig, tangerine, lettuce, tomato, arugula, radish , he exemplified.

Diversity and colors four times a day and the secret when you are an adult also involves physical exercise, stress management, among other topics that are addressed in the book so that people can learn about them.

The author stressed that the launch of the book would not have been possible without the support of Editorial Dos Maletas with editor Christian Kent and producer Esteban Aguirre and his team. We did it taking advantage of the quarantine time, throughout this past 2020. It was finished printing this January at the Mercurio publishing house and has been on sale since February in the main bookstores in the country, shared Pea.

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the new organ, a book to know what happens inside the organism - Explica

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4 Sneaky Tricks To Stay Hydrated *Without* Chugging Water, From A Functional MD – mindbodygreen.com

February 14th, 2021 7:08 pm

"A green smoothie a day is probably the most incredible thing you can do to hydrate yourself," Cohen remarks. That's because all those greens (spinach, kale, what have you) contain significant amounts of fiber, which helps you hold on to water much better. "The fiber is what really acts as a sponge," Cohen notes.

More hard data is needed, she adds, but her anecdotal evidence speaks volumes: In Cohen's practice, patients who incorporate a green smoothie into their daily regimen feel way more hydrated. "[I have] patients who say, 'I drink so much water all day but I can't quench my thirst.' And I have them add a green smoothie or two a day, and it changes everything," she recounts.

Cohen's own morning sip includes a handful of greens, half an apple ("an apple and a bottle of water is more hydrating than two bottles of water," she notes), some lemon, and a knob of ginger, but you can learn how to create your own concoction here.

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4 Sneaky Tricks To Stay Hydrated *Without* Chugging Water, From A Functional MD - mindbodygreen.com

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Hydrosol: Benefits, Uses, Precautions, DIY, and More – Healthline

February 14th, 2021 7:08 pm

Hydrosols are water-based products made from the distillation of fresh flowers, leaves, fruits, and other plant materials. Theyre a byproduct of the essential oil manufacturing process and share many of the same properties as essential oils.

The difference is that hydrosols are mostly water. This means theyre much less concentrated than essential oils. They also have a softer, more subtle scent.

Hydrosols are often used in skin care or aromatherapy products. While theyve also been used for medicinal purposes, more research is needed to prove their effectiveness.

Keep reading to learn about how hydrosols are used and their purported benefits.

Hydrosol products should be used with caution, since theyre not regulated by any governing body and theres a lack of scientific research about their safety and effectiveness.

Hydrosols are water-based products made from the distillation by water or steam of plant matter. The distilling process produces two end-products:

Many different types of plants can be made into hydrosols not just flowers but also bark, roots, and other plant components like leaves.

Essential oils and hydrosols have some similar properties, but hydrosols have a much higher water content.

This means theyre gentler than essential oils and can be applied directly to your skin without needing to dilute them with a carrier oil. They also have a more subtle scent than their essential oil counterparts.

Hydrosols may be used in a variety of products, including:

They can even flavor drinks and other foods.

Theres a lack of scientific research on the benefits of hydrosols. But anecdotal evidence suggests that certain plants converted into hydrosols may be useful in several ways.

For example, here are some plants and a few of their purported benefits:

Some hydrosols such as lavender, chamomile, and the curry plant have carboxylic acids. These acids may target and reduce inflammation, according to research from 2016.

One older 2008 study suggested that rose hydrosols may help people with insomnia. However, its important to note that the most effective rose hydrosol in the study contained more essential oil than the other hydrosols examined.

More research is needed to prove the effectiveness of hydrosols.

Hydrosols sweetened with sugar or honey are used as nutritive waters in the Middle East. There are more than 50 kinds of these hydrosols available in Iran, but theyre not available elsewhere in the world.

Hydrosols may also be used in products not intended for oral use. These include:

There are many hydrosol products available commercially.

Consider the manufacturer along with any other added ingredients before purchasing and using them. Fragrances and dyes may irritate your skin if you apply the product topically.

Theres not a substantial amount of evidence regarding the safety of hydrosols in the United States. Like essential oils, hydrosols arent regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). So, you use them at your own risk.

A 2017 study of hydrosol drinks in Iran found that most hydrosols are considered safe and effective. The studys researchers also remarked that consuming hydrosols is safer than consuming essential oils because theyre diluted with water.

But theres a scant amount of research in Western culture on hydrosols and their safety.

In the United States, using aromatherapy and other types of plant-based medicines is considered a complementary or alternative therapy. This means they are treatment methods outside of conventional medicine.

Complementary medicine is when you use these products along with medicines or therapies prescribed by your doctor. Alternative medicines are when you use these products in place of conventional medicines.

These therapies lack definitive research. Thats why theyre not proven as scientifically based treatments.

You should talk with a doctor before ingesting these products. Discuss how these treatments might interact with other medications you take. Stop using them if you have a reaction.

Hydrosols can be made intentionally or as a byproduct in the essential oil distillation process.

Look for products intentionally made as hydrosols. These may be of higher quality. Manufacturers of specific hydrosol products versus those packaging the byproduct may put more care and attention into the product they produce.

Hydrosols should be packaged in bottles similar to essential oils. Dark bottles prevent light from altering the product. Also avoid overheating hydrosol products.

Manufacturers create hydrosols with steam, water, or a combination of both. In some distillation techniques, herbs sit above heated water.

Equipment captures the steam, moves the vapor into equipment that can condense it, and then extracts it as hydrosols.

You can make hydrosols at home along with essential oils. Heres what youll need:

Recipes to create flower waters exist, but these are not hydrosols. Flower waters are made by adding plants to water, then exposing them to the sun for a period of time.

These types of flower waters are similar to products like Bachs Rescue Remedy. Research from 2010 on these products shows that theyre no more effective than placebos.

Hydrosols are a water-based product made from plants. You may consider using them for a variety of purposes, such as on your skin or in your bath water.

In the Middle East, sweetened hydrosol beverages are popular because of their purported medicinal value.

Use hydrosols with caution. Theres not a lot of scientific evidence on their safety or effectiveness, and theyre not regulated by the FDA.

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18 Surprising Foods That Tom Brady Never Eats | Eat This Not That – Eat This, Not That

February 14th, 2021 7:08 pm

On Sunday, Tom Brady made history. At 43 years old, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback is the oldest player to ever play in a Super Bowl. He also has had more appearances in the big game than any other player in NFL history at 107 of which he and his team took the championship title. While it's a given that Brady's hard work and training play a big role in his success over the years, there are some other lifestyle changes he's made that have helped the quarterback stay fit and agile in his later years.

Thanks to Alex Guerrero, Brady's personal trainer and body coach, the quarterback reportedly goes to sleep at 9 p.m.and focuses a lot on his flexibility. But perhaps the most important (and unconventional) change is adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet.

With the help of Brady's (former) personal chef, Allen Campbell, the quarterback developed and follows a fairly strict, plant-based diet that leaves out many popular foods.

"My philosophy is that a plant-based diet has the power to reverse and prevent disease," Campbell said in an interview with the Boston Globe in 2016. (After the interview came out and after helping Brady write his TB12 Nutrition Manual, Campbell parted ways with the quarterback.)

Brady's meals consist of roughly 80 percent plant-based foods and 20 percent animal-based foods, according to a TB12 blog post. But there are many foodsboth plant and animal-basedthat Brady avoids, and he's attributed this avoidance to a lot of his athletic performance.

We reviewed interviews with Brady's personal chef alongside blog posts on his personal website, TB12, to find the 18 foods Brady never eats. Read on, and for more on healthy eating, don't miss 7 Healthiest Foods to Eat Right Now.

"I make conscious decisions to buy local and organic, and to stay away from GMOs, and to think about the future of the planet and the future of humans," said Campbell.

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Brady doesn't eat strawberries for any nutritional reasonhe simply doesn't like the smell, according to the TB12 blog post.

"I try to avoid eating anything that comes in a box or a bag, as well as foods containing white flour or added sugars," Brady says in a TB12 blog post.

"I try to limit cereal, white bread, white rice, pasta, cakes, and cookies. Less inflammation is the key for me," Brady says in a blog post.

In his 2016 interview with the Boston Globe, Campbell said that Brady won't eat this highly-processed additive.

Campbell said that he only cooks with organic foods, and often shops at farmer's markets or at Whole Foods. So that means that any conventional produce or meats are off the table.

"I use Himalayan pink salt as the sodium. I never use iodized salt," said Campbell. Although Brady doesn't eat iodized salt, nutrition experts recommend making iodized salt a staple in a healthy diet, as many people don't consume enough of the nutrient, which is essential to a healthy thyroid.

"Fats like canola oil turn into trans fats," says Campbell. Instead of vegetable oil, Cambell uses olive oil and coconut oil. (Related:What Happens To Your Body When You Eat Olive Oil)

One of the most famous parts of the quarterback's diet is his avoidance of tomatoes and nightshades. "[Tom] doesn't eat nightshades, because they're not anti-inflammatory," says Campbell. "So no tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, or eggplants. Tomatoes trickle in every now and then, but just maybe once a month. I'm very cautious about tomatoes. They cause inflammation."

Nightshades are a botanical family of plants, called Solanaceae, explains UC Davis Integrative Medicine. The term "nightshade" was coined since many of these plants prefer to grow in shady areas or often flower at night. These foods contain chemical compounds called alkaloids, which some say cause inflammation, but that haven't been scientifically proven to do so.

So that means no pasta sauce, no pizza, no salsa!

Sweet peppers are another nightshade that Brady doesn't eat. This also includes chili peppers, so presumably, Brady avoids hot sauce. Many experts criticize leaving out this vegetable, as it's incredibly high in vitamin C. However, there are other foods high in vitamin C, and a blog post on TB12 recommends consuming such foods. "Consider supplementing with 600 mg of vitamin C per day if you're not able to regularly consume those nutrient-rich foods," the blog notes.

Campbell called out eggplant as another nightshade that Brady avoids. Another nightshade Campbell didn't list is white potatoes; however, it's likely that Brady still consumes sweet potatoes, according to a TB12 blog post.

Campbell listed mushrooms as one of the nightshades that Brady doesn't eat, however, the fungus isn't technically a nightshade. Regardless of that fact, Brady doesn't eat them or any fungus.

Campbell listed coffee or any caffeinated foods among those that Brady doesn't consume. That means he won't have to experience any of the Ugly Side Effects of Drinking Too Much Coffee, According to Science.

As dairy can be inflammatory to a population with lactose intolerance or sensitivity, Campbell says it's not in Brady's diet.

Gluten may also cause inflammation in those sensitive to the protein. For that reason, Campbell explains that Brady avoids any gluten-containing foods. "[I use] tamari because we stick to gluten-free for everything," he says. That means bread, anything with wheat, barley (so that means no beer), rye, crackers, bagels, flatbread, tortillas, cake, cookies, doughnuts, pretzels, pancakes, pasta, cereal, and some protein bars.

Besides avoiding beer due to its gluten content, Brady skips out on all alcohol. "Overdoing it can take a toll on your health, performance, and ability to recover," a TB12 blog post notes. "Alcohol is a double whammy: It can be both inflammatory and dehydrating."

Most processed meats are cured with preservatives like nitrates and nitrites. These ingredients have been linked to cancer, and processed foods like hot dogs, lunchmeat, and bacon are associated with a myriad of health problems, says a TB12 blog. "It's best to avoid processed meats as much as possible."

However, Brady isn't extremely strict about this rule: "If I'm craving bacon, I have a piece. Same with pizza. You should never restrict what you really want. We're humans, here for one life," the quarterback told Men's Health.

Forget french fries and potato chips. "Regardless of how much you love fried chicken, fried foods are an inflammation nightmare. Cooking food at the high temperatures required to fry them produce something called advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which have been shown to contribute to chronic inflammation," says a TB12 blog post. For more, see these Dangerous Side Effects of Eating Fried Foods, According to Science.

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18 Surprising Foods That Tom Brady Never Eats | Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

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Impact Entrepreneur Kunal Sood is transforming the world by impacting a billion lives – Fortune India

February 14th, 2021 7:08 pm

On 21 September 2019 founder Kunal Sood conceptualized and launched #WeThePlanet as a high-level in-person convening at the United Nations during the 74th UNGA with the President of the UN General Assembly Mara Fernanda Espinosa Garcs and H.E. Thomas Remengesau Jr., President of Palau to transform our world for a better future. #WeThePlanet is on a mission to make the impossible possible by uniting the youth and the elders, the left and the right to positively impact a billion lives over the next decade. Sood and co-founder Laura Muranaka are actively creating a virtual platform and real life #WeThePlanet Campus to safeguard and protect all life on land and under the sea.

We as humans must go above and beyond just serving We the People by focusing on serving something that is larger than ourselves. As a force for good, we must come together without fear or favor and become #WeThePlanet, Sood explains.

There is a connection between the current pandemic and the lost harmony between humanity and nature. Integral ecology architecture is one way to demonstrate how human systems can reorient to address human and planetary longevity, social inequities, and increase health and wellness to flourish into the future. COVID-19 highlighted the challenges faced in both the in-person summit industry and the urban architectural industry surrounding the future of working environments. #WeThePlanet attempts to investigate new and forward-looking opportunities for people-friendly architecture in harmony with nature. The #WeThePlanet Campus serves as a communicative media platform to protect all life on land and under the sea while advancing the frontiers of design. The floating building campus is aimed at serving as an inspiring example for future life, living and working environments, and will be addressing topics such as longevity, climate change, social justice and equal opportunities. The 50/50 concept foresees architecture for the future centered on shared spaces that increase wildlife habitat in urban environments.

#WeThePlanet is a culmination of over two decades worth of experience that led Sood from India to New York working alongside extraordinary style icons in the fashion world, and working in global health and integrative medicine, alongside world-renowned physician Dr. TJ Cherian in Chennai, India. In 2006, tragically Sood lost his mentor to suicide. This tremendous loss served as a catalyst for founding #WeThePlanet and creating eight virtual #WeThePlanet global summits during the pandemic in 2020 that highlighted the voices of change-makers such as Kajol, Deepak Chopra, Sidharth Malhotra, Shekar Kapur, Aloe Blacc, Susan Rockefeller, Jane Seymour and extraordinary youth. India is a model nation with the power of youth to galvanize #WeTheFuture as a week in the world focused on empowering next generation leaders. Furthermore, #WeThePlanet successfully launched #WeHaveADream on Gandhi Jayanti as a movement to end all forms of social, racial and environmental injustice inspired by the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Most recently at Princeton University, Sood recently keynoted and co-hosted the Art of Social and Racial Injustice virtual symposium to reinforce Gandhi and MLKs lessons of exponential leadership to unite the east and the west.

Growing up in India, Sood suffered as a young child from a learning disability and obesity and was known as the Rasna Kid in the infamous television ad where he drank the entire jug of Rasna, and then said, I love you Rasna. Given this stereotype he was often the target of bullying in school and identified as a misfit and outlier. Early in life this suffering taught him valuable lessons where he transformed to build the moral courage, emotional resilience and mental strength to stand up to his adversaries. Sood learned how to harness his learning disability as a superpower and made it his lifes calling to serve as a guardian and protector of the people and the planet.

After curating TEDx at the United Nations and launching the first-ever Novus Summit at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in 2016, Sood became a TED Resident, Tribeca Disruptor Honoree, Stanford CCARE Fellow and Innovation Fellow at Columbia University. Soods role in the company is to set the overall vision and culture of #WeThePlanet and develop and execute global strategies to make the impossible possible. He recently launched We The Future (WTF) on Clubhouse a new social app and as already gained over 25,000 members and followers.

Today Kunal Sood is a world renowned impact entrepreneur and award-winning disruptive innovator. From serving in the slums of Mumbai as a global health scientist with Harvard at PUKAR to building Global Movements at the United Nations General Assembly he is focused on unlocking humanity's exponential potential to usher in a new era of human prosperity and planetary flourishing. Forbes named him an Impact Icon and spotlighted as a Global Movement Builder given his passion for building the network of networks. He has a life-long love for learning having earned five masters degrees that include an MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern University, MA from CIIS, MSc from UCSF, MAPP/MPhil from University of Pennsylvania and is currently an Innovation Fellow at Columbia Business School.

The next decade has been hailed by the United Nations as the decade of action. Given the democratization of information, ideas and technology, it has caused a kind of perfect storm for humanity to come together and make the impossible possible. #WeThePlanet recognizes that amidst this global change, there is a new force of young entrepreneurs working to create social impact-driven business models and strategic frameworks by focusing on consumer consciousness as opposed to just profit-driven conventional businesses. As high impact purpose-driven entrepreneurs and exponential leaders solving the most pressing social and environmental challenges, Sood is focusing their efforts in the company on leadership, strategy and impact to protect the biodiversity of the planet while creating a world of abundance.

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How an Empath Copes with Shocking Events – Healthline

February 14th, 2021 7:08 pm

An empath or highly sensitive person (HSP) is someone who experiences the emotions of others. Empaths have the unique ability to sense and absorb others emotions, which typically makes them extremely caring, compassionate, and understanding people.

Empaths have the ability to easily see another persons perspective. On one hand, this is a wonderful trait, but it can create some real challenges. Empaths can feel misunderstood or become easily overwhelmed.

It can be especially challenging when an empath is exposed to emotionally intense information on the daily.

According to the American Psychological Associations Stress in America Survey, theres plenty of conflict between the need to stay informed about current events and the stress that it causes. The survey indicates that 95 percent of adults follow the news regularly, but 56 percent of those who do so say it causes them stress.

For empaths, this stress is even more acute.

A 2017 study found that many people avoid empathy due to its cognitive costs. Thats not possible for empaths. For us, it becomes increasingly difficult to navigate shocking events.

As the media is designed to get the attention of the rest of the population who do not feel deeply and have sensitive nervous systems, a sensitive person will feel emotionally bombarded, overwhelmed, and overstimulated if they consume as much media as a less sensitive person, says Katie T. Larson, PhD.

Larson is a researcher, author, and growth coach who works exclusively with highly sensitive people, empaths, and intuitives.

It wasnt until my late 20s that I began to realize I process emotions differently than others. I felt vulnerable to every hurt and injustice but came across as cold and distant in an effort to shield myself.

Ive experienced both ends of the spectrum. In some cases, I attracted narcissists and emotional manipulators. Other times, I was written off as indifferent because I didnt know how to care without getting completely crushed.

Fortunately, Ive learned ways to cope. While Im not always able to follow these guidelines perfectly, I feel a huge difference in my mental health when I do.

One of the most practical ways to cope with shocking events is to limit your time scrolling social media and watching the news.

I cant even begin to count how many times Ive looked up to realize I just spent hours scrolling. Scheduling your news and even using an actual timer makes a world of difference.

Dr. Tiffany Caplan, DC, is a celebrity doctor, board certified in integrative medicine, and a self-described empath. She has resorted to getting creative about keeping up with world events.

My husband is very good about being objective about events and keeps up with everything going on. I, therefore, rely on him for just the facts of whats going on so I dont personally have to see images or read things that will upset me, Caplan says.

I dont say no well. When I do, I often feel incredibly guilty even when I shouldnt.

This is sometimes referred to as jellyfish boundaries because you easily get stung. You become drained, irritable, and overwhelmed, leading to more guilty feelings.

While it may seem like setting boundaries doesnt apply to watching current events, its important to know that some outlets present news in sensational ways to evoke emotional responses.

Take the time to find and consume news founded on logic, reason, and balance. Or try comedic sources of news for a lighthearted approach.

Setting boundaries with others when discussing current events is important too.

Not only are we often consuming negativity through the news, many of us then find ourselves stuck in conversations about it. You can make it clear to others if you dont feel comfortable or need a break from discussing current events.

Catastrophizing is a pattern of thinking that jumps to the worst-case scenario. Focusing on what-ifs often increases feelings of stress and anxiety. In truth, we dont need much help exaggerating current events.

Start by getting clear on the current situation. Ask yourself, Whats actually true right now?

Be honest with yourself when youre focused on what-ifs. You can tell yourself, This isnt actually happening. Its just a fantasy.

If you find yourself starting to spiral with panic and anxiety, its important to ground yourself back in the present moment. You can do this by using the 5-4-3-2-1 method, meditation, and guided imagery.

Larson suggests creating a visualization or audio mantra that keeps you safe within your own energetic field. Some people choose phrases like white bubbles or I am safe and repeat them throughout the day to keep their nervous system calm and intact.

Annie McDonnell is a licensed acupuncturist and sound therapy practitioner who focuses on giving patients self-care tools for emotional health and resilience. According to McDonnell, it helps to focus on the nervous system.

By stimulating the vagus nerve to go into parasympathetic mode (rest and digest vs. fight or flight), we can help regulate our breathing, heart rate, and digestion. There are a few different ways to activate this mode, she says.

One way to do this is with deep belly breathing.

While there are many wonderful breathing techniques, this is the simplest one for when your anxiety is triggered, McDonnell says.

Another option is a soothing ear massage.

Note: While research suggests there are health benefits, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesnt monitor or regulate the purity or quality of essential oils. Its important to talk with your healthcare provider before you begin using essential oils. Be sure to research the quality of a brands products. Always do a patch test before trying a new essential oil.

You can also take 10 minutes to tune into a sound bath or make your own sound vibration therapy by closing your eyes and humming.

Part of the problem for empaths and anyone who suffers from headline anxiety is that you want to help everyone but you cant.

Its impossible to make things better for everyone, but you can still do it for a few. Take action by volunteering for a cause thats important to you, or engage in a simple act of kindness.

Simple acts of empathy can restore your sense that theres good in the world too.

When you take up a hobby, exercise, or explore your feelings through journaling, youre focusing on the now.

Exercise can be especially potent in changing your energy state.

Allow your body to move and literally shake off the emotions that are not yours. Movement is key, as there is much research to suggest actual immobility keeps emotions stuck as well, says Larson.

Even if you dont like exercise, anything that brings you joy can help.

We have been conditioned to react to headlines with outrage at all times, so our nervous systems become addicted to that pathway. When we engage in joyful, delightful, and pleasurable activities more often, we are retraining the pathways of our brain, adds Larson.

Everyone wants alone time at some point, but empaths need it. Its the main way we recharge our batteries and cleanse our emotional palate.

For me, thats usually getting lost in a good book or hiking. It can be whatevers best for you. Its ideal to do it as part of your regular routine instead of waiting until youve hit complete overload.

Shocking news events are challenging for everybody these days, especially empaths. Know there are things you can do.

You can take control of your media consumption by limiting the duration and timing. You dont have to let your mind run rampant with negative news.

If youve been exposed, find ways to release the negative energy you have inside of you. You can replace it with positivity through meditation, mindfulness, and acts of kindness.

You dont have to let shocking news control your life.

Ashley Hubbard is a freelance writer based in Nashville, Tennessee, focusing on sustainability, travel, veganism, mental health, social justice, and more. Passionate about animal rights, sustainable travel, and social impact, she seeks out ethical experiences whether at home or on the road. Visit her website.

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Working in Wellness: The Allure of Acupuncture – Mpls.St.Paul Magazine

February 14th, 2021 7:08 pm

The pandemic has upended some industries entirely, leaving workers scrambling to figure out their Plan B. As they weigh their options, theyre considering the staying power of other occupations. Amainstay of traditional Chinese medicine dating back to 3,000 years ago, it's safe to say that acupuncture is here for the long run. This multi-track field combines caring for others with flexible work schedules and lifelong learning, says Jessica Frier, DAOM, LAc, and dean of the College of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington.

People are drawn to acupuncture as a second career, because they want to help others in a way that focuses on a persons own innate ability to heal, she says. So, youre helping patients take control of their health, their pain, or their diet.

For many, acupuncture is their first career choice, but other practitioners are finding that acupuncture is a natural extension of work they are already doing.

You see people coming from the nursing field, or they have been yoga practitioners and they want to do more with a holistic viewpoint of health care, Frier says. Thats generally what attracts people to a second career in acupuncture.

She points to an array of acupuncture specialties and an increasing number of places to put that training to work, including chiropractic offices, primary care clinics, hospitals, pain clinics, physical therapy departments, athletic facilities, hospices and massage therapy practices. You could also open your own business and practice in that manner, Frier says.

Kate Moknes Bowman, DACM, LAc, says everyones journey into Chinese medicine is different. Her journey began in a pre-med program that led her to degrees in social work and business and, eventually, a doctorate in acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

I really like medicine, but how I got onto this track is that I really wanted to know more about nutrition and the root cause behind why we get sick, she says. And that is really what Chinese medicine is all abouta functional medicine approach.

Now she puts her social work training, business education, and doctorate to work in her acupuncture clinic and NWHSUs Human Performance Center, where she helps elite athletes stay healthy and recover from injuries.

I love doing both, seeing the patients, having all of the issues come into the clinic and whats going on in the community, and then Im able to translate going back and teaching the students, Bowman says.

She also teaches a new generation of acupuncture practitioners at NWHSU and makes time to study advances in science about the biomedical effects of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

She once found it puzzling when engineers studied acupuncture as a second career, she says, but she realized they were drawn to the field for the same reason she wasproblem solving.

For me, its really about finding what actually is the root of the health issue, she says. So, I think thats how engineering comes in, although it is a different path than mine.

How do you make the leap to acupuncture and determine if its the right fit for you? Bowman says its easy to find out. Go shadow someone and make sure its something you want to do something youre passionate about.

The gateway to becoming an acupuncturist is through NWHSUs masters program, says Frier. It gives you a solid foundation in all of the modalities that encompass being an acupuncturist.

Depending on the program, it takes two-and-a-half to four years worth of study to earn a masters. But students are ready to begin practicing as an acupuncturist as soon as they complete their degree, because they have completed clinical work during their studies.

We have one of the most robust clinical experiences of any college in the country, Frier says. That includes specialty clinics out in the community with special populations like HIV patients, geriatric patients. We have a number of hospital rotations, too.

NWHSU offers flexible schedules to allow students to earn degrees while they are working or raising a family, which explains why it can take as little as two-and-a-half years or as long as four years to earn a degree.

Were accustomed to working with people like that, Frier says. It might take you a little longer to get done, but eventually we get you through. Classes begin in September and January, but those embarking on a fall program can take summer classes to hit the ground running in September.

For those who want to lean into more theory, clinical applications of Chinese medicine and research, a doctorate in acupuncture is often a goal. At NWHSU, it takes a little over three years to complete the degree. And, yes, acupuncturists with a masters can return and earn a doctorate.

Frier describes it as looking more into the integrative perspective around health care and the acupuncturists role in health care. So, it really is a dive into medicine.

One of the beautiful parts of East Asian or Chinese medicine in general is the flexibility, she says, the ability to practice in a way that makes sense to you.

Located in Bloomington,Northwestern Health Sciences Universityis a pioneer in integrative natural health care education, offering degree programs in chiropractic, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, massage therapy, medical assisting, medical laboratory programs, post-bac/pre-health, radiation therapy, and B.S. completion. ItsBloomington clinicis open to the public andprovides chiropractic treatment,acupuncture, Chinese medicine, massage therapy, naturopathic medicine, and cupping.

See more content fromNorthwestern Health Sciences University.

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Health Coaching Industry Market 2021 Growth Analysis, Competitive Insights, by Key Players:Wellcoaches School of Coaching, Aetna, National Consortium…

February 14th, 2021 7:08 pm

The report by Orbis Pharma Reports also includes a dedicated section on pandemic management guide. According to expert financial analysts, global economy is anticipated to take a derogatory turn, while plummeting to tremendous lows in the coming months, also likely to continue at the same pace even in 2021. Therefore, this report is mindfully developed to aid all financial investments on the part of new aspirants and leading players, aiming to seek easy market penetration. The report is also likely to come in handy for all established players in the competitive landscape as well who are amidst unprecedented crisis and seeking appropriate guidance for making adequate investment decisions to maintain sustainability.

Get sample copy of Health Coaching Market [emailprotected] https://www.orbispharmareports.com/sample-request/88322

The report is an ideal source of vivid information that allow report readers to realign their growth strategies and tactical business discretion. With ample cues available in this high end research report, interested players across the value chain may initiate profitable business strategies and expansion plans across emerging markets as well as popular growth hubs as observed by Health Coaching research professionals.

Major Company Profiles operating in the Health Coaching Market:

Wellcoaches School of CoachingAetnaNational Consortium for Credentialing of Health & Wellness CoachesDuke Integrative MedicineHumanaNational Society of Health Coaches

Browse the complete report @ https://www.orbispharmareports.com/covid-19-outbreak-global-health-coaching-industry-market-report-development-trends-threats-opportunities-and-competitive-landscape-in-2020/

Market Segmentation:A systematic categorization of various segments along with their sub-segments have been holistically referred in the report by research professionals at Orbis Pharma Reports. The report therefore aids to comprehend segment competencies. Based on these specific competencies, the report carefully incorporates thorough assessment of market participation showcased by inquisitive market players, followed by an assessment of their overall footing in the competitive isle.Clear comprehension with vivid detailing of each market segments and sub-segments is indispensable to understand profitability potential of these segments, based on which new and aspiring market participants along with established players in the competition graph may also design and deploy influential growth strategies.

By the product type, the market is primarily split into

Health EducatorsHealth CoachesWellness Coaches

By the application, this report covers the following segments

RadiologyObstetrics and GynecologyCardiovascularGastroenterologyOther Applications

Regional Overview:This versatile research report presentation on global keyword market, presented by Orbis Pharma Reports has maintained highest parameters of research practices to unravel crucial details. Holistic geographical diversifications have been carefully analyzed and prominent growth centers have been categorically flagged to maintain uniform growth trends.Besides entailing region-specific details, country-wise detailing have also been included to encourage rapid decision making. For maximum reader discretion and subsequent investment decisions, this report on global keyword market as assessed by Orbis Pharma Reports reveals Germany, France, Italy, UK as ideal growth hotspots, followed by American growth hubs such as Mexico, Brazil, US and Canada. MEA countries and APAC nations have also been thoroughly scanned to understand growth patterns, competition intensity as well as vendor activities across these growth points.

For Any Query on the Health Coaching Market: https://www.orbispharmareports.com/enquiry-before-buying/88322

About Us :

At Orbispharma we curate the most relevant news stories, features, analysis and research reports on the important challenges undertaken by the pharmaceutical and related sectors. Our editorial philosophy is to bring you sharp, focused and informed perspective of industries, the end users and application of all upcoming trends into the pharma sector. Orbispharma believes in conversations that can bring a change in one of the most crucial economic sectors in the world. With these conversations we wish our customers to make sound business decisions with right business intelligence.

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Pandemic Lessons in Improving the Medical System – The New York Times

February 14th, 2021 7:07 pm

One of the most dramatic examples was the abrupt substitution of telemedicine for in-person visits to the doctors office. Although telemedicine technology is decades old, the pandemic demonstrated how convenient and effective it can be for many routine medical problems, Dr. Navathe said.

Feb. 14, 2021, 6:09 p.m. ET

Telemedicine is more efficient and often just as effective as an office visit. It saves time and effort for patients, especially those with limited mobility or who live in remote places. It lowers administrative costs for doctors and leaves more room in office schedules for patients whose care requires in-person visits.

Even more important, the pandemic could force a reckoning with the environmental and behavioral issues that result increasingly in prominent health risks in this country. We need to stop blaming genetics for every ailment and focus more on preventable causes of poor health like a bad diet and inactivity.

Consider, for example, the health status of those who have been most vulnerable to sickness and death from Covid-19. Aside from advanced age, about which we can do nothing, its been people with conditions that are often largely preventable: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and smoking. Yet most physicians are unable to influence the behaviors that foster these health-robbing conditions.

Many people need help to make better choices for themselves, Dr. Navathe said. But the professionals who could be most helpful, like dietitians, physical trainers and behavioral counselors, are rarely covered by health insurance. The time is long overdue for Medicare and Medicaid, along with private insurers, to broaden their coverage, which can save both health and money in the long run.

Policy wonks should also pay more attention to widespread environmental risks to health. Too many Americans live in areas where healthful food is limited and prohibitively expensive and where the built environment offers little or no opportunity to exercise safely.

Individuals, too, have a role to play. The pandemic has fostered an opportunity for patients to take on a more active role in their care, Dr. Shrank said in an interview.

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The Role of Hormones in Immunocompetence – Anti Aging News

February 14th, 2021 7:07 pm

The growing importance of hormonal health is becoming an integral component of modern medicine especially as the focus shifts toward maintaining and boosting immunocompetence in the population. Many plausible benefits of hormonal factors on autoimmunity have received growing attention in recent years from the scientific community. Research has been conducted investigating the relationship between immune system function and sex hormones testosterone and estrogen.

Importantly, the immune systems of men and women are known to function differently with 80% of autoimmune diseases occurring in women who tend to show stronger immune responses than their male counterparts. Stronger immune responses in women produce faster pathogen clearance and improved vaccine responsiveness while also contributing to their increased susceptibility to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Results from previous experimental studies have revealed that testosterone can have a medium-sized immunosuppressive effect on immune function, however, the impact of estrogen can vary depending on the immune marker measured. Such differences in immune function and responses have contributed to health- and life-span disparities between sexes yet the role of hormones in immune system aging remains to be understood.

Immune Differences and Dimorphism

The differences in immunocompetency between male and female patients are associated with varying testosterone and estrogen levels major regulators of the immune system. Differences in gene expression between the sexes contribute to the concept of immune dimorphism though they are limited to one or a few types of immune cells. Furthermore, genomic differences between sexes have been found to become more prominent after the age of 65 with men having a higher innate and pro-inflammatory activity along with lower adaptive activity.

Female and males have different energy and nutrient requirements largely based on interactions between external factors and sex hormones; interactions between hormones and a patients environment, including cigarette smoke and viral infections, can lead to variable responses in both genders. While enhanced immunity has been reported in female patients, making them less susceptible to viral infections, their hyper immune response can predispose them to immune-pathogenic effects. In addition, sex hormones can control the immune response via circadian rhythms and their ability to regulate T-cell mediated inflammation.

Microbial Composition

Emerging evidence also indicates that sex hormones can impact the guts microbial composition and thus, impact immunocompetency. Studies have shown that diet-based effects on the microbiome are more prominent in men than in women implicating that dietary interventions may have an influence on sex-based immune responses.

The gut microbiota landscape can impact the systemic levels of testosterone, changing metabolic profiles which may heighten the risk for chronic disease including diabetes. However, current knowledge of the mechanism by which microbiome-derived sex steroids impact immunity remains limited.

Previous research has shown that hormonal contraceptives can increase bacterial species, highlighting sex-hormone-dependent differences and their effects on systemic immune responses. However, the gut microbial composition can be influenced by a variety of factors outside of hormonal levels, such as genetics and dietary habits.

The mechanism underlying sex hormone expression and immunocompetency continues to be investigated; this may result in the improvement of future designs for targeted therapeutics that mitigate sex hormone-inflammatory activity or autoimmune diseases. Clinicians interested in expanding their knowledge on the role of hormones in immune function and longevity are invited to attend the cutting-edge, interactive online Role of Hormones in Immunocompetency and Longevity workshop taking place on February 20, 2021.

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Celebrate the Third Annual Medical Genetics Awareness Week April 13-16, 2021 – PRNewswire

February 14th, 2021 7:06 pm

BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --The third annual Medical Genetics Awareness Week will be celebrated April 1316, 2021. Through Medical Genetics Awareness Week, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) aims to promote awareness of the importance of medical genetics professionals on the healthcare team, including medical geneticists, laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors, nurses and physician assistants. The theme of Medical Genetics Awareness Week is "Celebrating the Contributions of the Entire Medical Genetics Team to Patient Care and Public Health."

New for 2021 are high-quality face masks and a Zoom virtual background to help individuals "Share Your Medical Genetics Pride." Participants can share their pictures to social media wearing a Medical Genetics Awareness Week face mask (free for ACMG members) or a Medical Genetics Awareness Week hashtag button; using a new Medical Genetics Awareness Week Zoom virtual background; or displaying a Medical Genetics Awareness Week sticker.

Since 2019, Medical Genetics Awareness Week has brought together people from across the globe to celebrate the important work of medical genetics professionals. Medical Genetics Awareness Week is celebrated to recognize the critical contributions that medical genetics healthcare professionals make in the diagnosis, management and prevention of genetic diseases, and the difference these professionals make in the lives of patients and families. Medical Genetics Awareness Week is also intended to educate other healthcare professionals and students and trainees on who medical geneticists are, how they are trained and what they do in the clinic and laboratory.

Also new for 2021 are themed days that will include a Diversity Day and a Student and Trainee Day. Follow Medical Genetics Awareness Week on social media by searching the #MedicalGeneticsAwareness hashtagand sign up to receive news and updates about Medical Genetics Awareness Week by clicking here. Log in (or create a free ACMG account) and, on the privacy preferences page, opt in to receive news and updates about Medical Genetics Awareness Week.

"Medical genetics and genomics is now deeply wedged into nearly all disciplines of medicine," said ACMG President Anthony R. Gregg, MD, MBA, FACOG, FACMG. "It is a natural extension that we remind the public and all healthcare professionals that those of us who practice medical genetics in clinics, clinical laboratories and research environments work tirelessly and with great enthusiasm. Our singular common goal is to bring accurate genetic information to the bedside that will improve people's lives."

Events related to Medical Genetics Awareness Week will be held during the ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting A Virtual Experience, April 1316, 2021, but participants don't need to be a meeting registrant to participate in the week's activities. The ACMG Annual Meeting is the largest conference specifically for clinical and laboratory geneticists in the United States. Those interested in collaborating with ACMG to celebrate Medical Genetics Awareness Week, holding their own events or becoming an "ambassador" for medical genetics are invited to email ACMG Communications Coordinator Reymar Santos at [emailprotected]for more information.

"Medical genetics is for all of us," said Max Muenke, MD, FACMG, ACMG'schief executive officer. "I am delighted to celebrate my colleagues in this important field: genetic counselors, laboratory geneticists, medical geneticists, and other allied healthcare professionals who are committed to optimal patient care."

Visit the Medical Genetics Awareness Week web pageson ACMG's website for resources and tips designed to support the week's celebrationsand to join the Medical Genetics Awareness Week email list. When posting on social media, participants are encouraged to tag @TheACMG and include the following hashtags in posts related to Medical Genetics Awareness Week:

#MedicalGeneticsAwareness#IamaMedicalGeneticist#FutureGeneticsProfessional#IamaLabGeneticist#IamaGeneticCounselor#IamaGeneticsPA#IamaNurseinGenetics#IamaGeneticsNP

About the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and ACMG Foundation

Founded in 1991, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics and the only medical specialty society in the US that represents the full spectrum of medical genetics disciplines in a single organization. The ACMG is the largest membership organization specifically for medical geneticists, providing education, resources and a voice for more than 2,400 clinical and laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors and other healthcare professionals, nearly 80% of whom are board certified in the medical genetics specialties. ACMG's mission is to improve health through the clinical and laboratory practice of medical genetics as well as through advocacy, education and clinical research, and to guide the safe and effective integration of genetics and genomics into all of medicine and healthcare, resulting in improved personal and public health. Four overarching strategies guide ACMG's work: 1) to reinforce and expand ACMG's position as the leader and prominent authority in the field of medical genetics and genomics, including clinical research, while educating the medical community on the significant role that genetics and genomics will continue to play in understanding, preventing, treating and curing disease; 2) to secure and expand the professional workforce for medical genetics and genomics; 3) to advocate for the specialty; and 4) to provide best-in-class education to members and nonmembers. Genetics in Medicine, published monthly, is the official ACMG journal. ACMG's website (www.acmg.net) offers resources including policy statements, practice guidelines, educational programs and a 'Find a Genetic Service' tool. The educational and public health programs of the ACMG are dependent upon charitable gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals through the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

Kathy Moran, MBA[emailprotected]

SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

http://www.acmg.net

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Myriad Genetics to Participate in Multiple Upcoming Health and Technology Conferences – GlobeNewswire

February 14th, 2021 7:06 pm

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN), a leader in genetic testing and precision medicine, announced today that it will participate at multiple upcoming health and technology conferences, sharing insights on how the company is intensifying its focus on serving patients and healthcare providers in Womens Health, Oncology and Mental Health.

Paul J. Diaz, president and CEO at Myriad Genetics, and R. Bryan Riggsbee, CFO, will participate in a fireside chat at the BTIG Virtual MedTech, Digital Health, Life Science & Diagnostic Tools Conference on February 19 at 10:30 a.m. EST.

On February 24, 2021, Mr. Riggsbee will participate in a fireside chat at the Leerink Global Healthcare Conference at 5:00 p.m. EST.

On March 2, 2021, Mr. Diaz will participate in a fireside chat at the Cowen Annual Healthcare Conference at 9:50 a.m. EST.

The presentations will be available through a live audio webcast link in the investor information section of Myriads website at http://www.myriad.com.

About Myriad GeneticsMyriad Genetics, Inc. is a leading genetic testing and precision medicine company dedicated to improving health and transforming patient lives worldwide. Myriad discovers and commercializes genetic tests that: determine the risk of developing disease, accurately diagnose disease, assess the risk of disease progression, and guide treatment decisions across medical specialties where critical genetic insights can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. For more information, visit the Company's website: http://www.myriad.com.

Myriad, the Myriad logo, BART, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, myPath, myRisk, Myriad myRisk, myRisk Hereditary Cancer, myChoice, myPlan, BRACAnalysis CDx, Tumor BRACAnalysis CDx, myChoice CDx, Vectra, Prequel, Foresight, GeneSight, riskScore and Prolaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-F, MYGN-G.

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How will WNY fare in the race between vaccines and coronavirus variants? – Buffalo News

February 14th, 2021 7:06 pm

Doctors and researchers understand much more now than they did a year ago about virus spread and the damage it can inflict. Treatments have improved greatly. It is apparent who is most at risk, although people of all ages, races and socio-economic backgrounds have been hospitalized and died.

Public health leaders and infectious disease specialists includingDr. John Sellick Jr., aprofessor of medicine at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, encourage Western New Yorkers to practice Covid-prevention measures and refrain from travel until vaccination rates lower fears about the spread of new coronavirus variants.

The vaccination race will be critical to whether we need to resume the kinds of lockdowns that have taken place in recent months in Great Britain, Sellick said, but again, its back to the basics: masks, use of physical distancing, avoiding crowds, good hand hygiene. The more we do that, the more we're going to neutralize the effect of one of these more easily transmissible strains.

Q: What if a relative or a friend is planning a trip south or west to enjoy warmer weather?

I don't want those people around me for even five minutes, Sellick said, because travel in such uncertain times especially to places with beaches, outdoor restaurants and other magnets for large gatherings raises the risk of contracting the virus, or a variant, and endangering others.

Q: What states pose the greatest risk for contracting and spreading the virus?

The positive virus test rate in the region at the end of last week was about 3.5%. The rate in Florida was twice that, and it was more than three times higher in Texas and Georgia. The rate was at least five times higher in Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky and South Dakota, according toBeckers Hospital Review.

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ASCO GU 2021: The Landscape of Genetic Alterations Using ctDNA-based Comprehensive Genomic Profiling in Pat… – UroToday

February 14th, 2021 7:06 pm

(UroToday.com)Genomics, both of the tumor (somatic) and germline, are increasingly being incorporated into clinical oncologic care, both with regard to specific targeted therapy selections (e.g.PARP inhibitors) and therapy intensity (e.g.aggressive variants,e.g.genomic alterations inRB1, TP53).Often re-biopsy can impose an additional barrier for a patient, or is limited by site of metastasis, such as bone.These realities are justifications for the herald of the non-invasive evaluation of tumor genomics from the circulating (blood) compartment via circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).Herein, Dr. Tukachinsky and colleagues endeavored to evaluate via hybrid-capture-based targeted gene panel next generation sequencing (NGS) the landscape of genomic alterations (GA) found in the plasma of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), and, in a subset, evaluate concordance with tissue-based NGS assessments.

Plasma samples were culled from 3334 men with advanced prostate cancer, including 1674 subjects from the TRITON2/3 studies of rucaparib and 1660 non-trial clinical samples.The observed GA landscape was compared to 2006 metastatic biopsies, with concordance assessed in 837 patients.In keeping with previous reports of ctDNA burden, 94% (3127) of subjects had detectable ctDNA with 8.8% (295) with mutations inBRCA1/2.Concordance with tissue evidence ofBRCA1/2mutations was observed in 93% of evaluable subjects (67/72) and 20 subjects had evidence of such mutationsonlyin ctDNA.Notably, subclonal reversion mutations inBRCA1/2were observed in 10 of 1660 routine clinical specimens, suggesting a mechanism for PARPi resistance, at least in a subpopulation evaluated.

Alterations inAR, the gene encoding the androgen receptor, were detected in 42% (940/2213) samples, including amplifications and hotspot mutations.Among the mutations detected are specific alterations which confer resistance to commonly used highly-potent ARSIs, such as abiraterone acetate and enzalutamide.The authors also describe a subset of samples with rare compound double mutations and novel potentially activating mutations in AR. Additional GAs were detected in relevant signaling pathways including PI3K/AKT/mTOR (14%), WNT/beta-catenin (17%), and RAS/RAF (5%).Microsatellite instability was rare (1.4% of 2213 patients).

These data lend further support to the relative reliability (as compared to tissue assays) of using plasma for evaluating relevant tumor genomic alterations in the advanced metastatic setting, reflecting genomics data demonstrating that dominant metastatic clones found at autopsy can be found in the circulating compartment1.This is particularly powerful as detection of resistant subclones that may not be in a tissue-based sample, either because these cells reflect occult or unsampled metastatic samples, could impact therapeutic decisions. It should be considered that use of subjects from the TRITON studies, which comprised approximately half of the cohort may result in higher rates of observed GAs inBRCA1/2than in daily practice, given the enrichment in such genomic alterations as ground truth in this group.As noted by the authors, the limitations of the assay in these studies includes an inability to detect deletions inBRCA1/BRCA2, as well as other clinically-relevant commonly-deleted prostate cancer genes (e.g. PTEN). Further evaluation using orthogonal assays, such as RNAseq, would add additional detail, particularly along the AR signaling axis, to these promising results. Finally, the authors astutely recommend that a degree of caution must be taken when interpreting liquid biopsy results, given the influence of alterations representing clonal hematopoiesis.

Publication of full length publication can be found in the February 8thissue ofClinical Cancer Research.

Presented by: Hanna Tukachinsky, PhD, Foundation Medicine Inc., Cambridge, MA

Written by: Jones Nauseef MD, PhD. Fellow, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital. Twitter: @DrJonesNauseefduring the2021 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU), February 11th to 13th, 2021

References:1. Woodcock DJ, Riabchenko E, Taavitsainen S, et al., Prostate cancer evolution from multilineage primary to single lineage metastases with implications for liquid biopsy. Nature Comm. 11:5070 (2020). DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-18843-5.

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The Human Genome and the Making of a Skeptical Biologist – Scientific American

February 14th, 2021 7:06 pm

Graduate and medical school interviews are not democratic spaces. Whatever the interviewer says during that 30 minutes, is the rule of law.

Surely there were policies about the legality of certain questions, but those often arent operational during the interview. Those of us in the chair only hope that the questions arent too difficult, that the interviewer doesnt focus on (or conjure) a flaw in our application, spend the 30 minutes of our engagement berating us for it, breaking our self-esteem for all of eternity.

One interview day during the fall of 2001, however, was special. Interviewer Z, as we will call them, had a different agenda than most.

Across a wooden desk they sat, their attention focused on a computer slightly off to my left. They tilted the monitor so that we could both see it, and walked me through a few of the things that they had worked on.

Interviewer Z was a physician turned basic scientist who made a name for themself as a virologist. In the last several years, they had moved into studying adenovirus-associated vectors (AAV) that were being used as delivery vehicles for gene therapy.

They told me that I was a promising researcher and were curious why I wanted to bother with clinical medicine at all (they were onto something). In light of that, they preferred to spend our interview time teaching me how to build a successful scientific career.

Their tips to building a career? Identify somethinga gene, a protein, a pathway, perhaps an organismand study a feature of it that no one has, in great depth. Study it well enough to publish results in a reasonably well-regarded journal. Present broadly on this topic. Talk to multiple audiences, make a case for why the thing you work on reveals everything about everything.

The advice they were giving me was about how they were able to be nimble, relevant and well-funded. I sat and listened closely.

With your microbiology background, you need to find a way to cash in on the human genome craze. Us virologists are going to win a Nobel Prize for it, you know.

They learned over and said, almost under their breath:

This is how we win.

THE NATURE AND NURTURE OF A SKEPTIC

Before this interview, I had never thought about scientific ambition in such organized terms. My scientific mentors until that pointa young physical chemist named Vernon Morris, and bacterial geneticist Susan Gottesmandidnt appear to work that way. That is, while each had their strategies (like all successful scientists do), they didnt describe their scientific ambitions like a military operation: no fields to take over, no one to defeat, nothing to win.

From my vantage point (nave at the time), they seemed to love the ideas, loved working with people, and only wanted to do good in the world (their behaviors reflected that).

My experience with Interviewer Z took place less than a year after the announcement of the completion of the first draft of the human genome. The announcement shook the world but was especially exciting for me because it was something of a local affair. I was working at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the time, on the campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. (where the Human Genome Project lived and where I commuted to work, while pursuing my degree at Howard University in nearby Washington, D.C.).

The months that followed the February 2001 announcement would be defined by as much scientific evangelism as you will ever see. The claims? That the completion of a draft of the human genome was our moon landing, our generations moment when we transcended possibility, forever saw the universe in a different light.

But while this hyper-optimism certainly lived in the vapors of the NIH campus, it didnt follow me into the laboratory where I worked.

My advisor, Susan Gottesman, barely spoke of the announcement. Not because she denied its importance, but rather, because she had other things to do and think about.

Her research program almost functioned as the anti-announcement: she studied gene regulation in Escherichia coli, the most unpretentious of model systems. Biology didnt operate further from the spectacle of human biology than the vagaries of E. coli and phage genetics. But these were her instruments, where shed built an international reputation for genetic approaches to understanding how proteins are managed inside of cells, how microbes respond to stressful environments.

Rather than grand statements about what understanding a genome could do in a fight against superbugs across the universe, Gottesman would speak directly about how studying single sets of genes, in a single species of bacteria (E. coli) could tell us about the quirks of microbial metabolism and physiology, how they operated like a board of modules and switches.

So detailed and pure in thought was she that she barely made reference to disease in her work, even though her discoveries absolutely applied to pathogenic organisms (for example, the small regulatory RNAs that she helped to discover in E. coli have now been found to regulate virulence genes in pathogens like Vibrio cholerae).

But her greater gospel, that I learned by osmosis (we didnt talk much about matters not directly about the work), is that the details matter at least as much as the hifalutin concepts do.

This was an important spirit to be around at that time. I was a college activist, who was consuming and reciting big ideas in the genus of social justice (ideas I stand behind, even today). My favorite writers were James Baldwin and Stephen Jay Gould, both authors of bold and beautiful manifestos (even in short essay form).

And it was all of these forces, a nonlinear mix of nature and nurturemy politics, my background (a young, financially disadvantaged African American, raised in a single parent home), and the environments in which my scientific ethics were madethat made me a natural skeptic of big announcements, big pronouncements and scientific grandstanding.

And yes, this included the notion that the draft of the human genome was our moon landing.

LESSONS FROM GELSINGER

After Interviewer Zs advice on how to win, I tried my hand at offering a real response in the form of a question.

Given recent events, did they plan on pivoting away from the study of adenovirus-associated viral vectors for delivering gene therapy? I asked it with a rebellious buzz in my chest, but it was a perfectly reasonable question.

In September 1999, roughly two years before that interview, a young person named Jesse Gelsinger had died while enrolled in a clinical trial for gene therapy run by the University of Pennsylvania. Gelsingers death had a large effect on me: we were close in age, and his death happened less than two years after the release of Gatttaca, a film about a perilous future defined by genetic discrimination.

Since the Gelsinger death, I had noticed a subtle signature of virology programslike the one run by Interviewer Zmigrating away from a gene-therapy focus vectors and into other areas of virus biology.

The brand of gene therapy that had been in voguenear the turn of the millenniumwas one where the corrected form of genes were delivered to the site of interest using viral vectors. Thousands of viruses have evolved machinery to integrate their DNA into their hosts. The logic followed that this aspect of viruses, where they can deliver genes to certain parts of the host genome, could be manipulated for our own goodwe can fix gene variants associated with disease. And after some early promising results, clinical trials were set up to test this in patients.

Gelsinger died during a clinical trial to cure ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency, a genetic condition that he suffered from. After injection with an adenovirus vector, Gelsingers body mounted a large immune response against the virus, which led to a cascade of events culminating in his death.

The Gelsinger death, combined with my personality, experiences and developing ethics, was the reason that the announcement of the completion of the first draft didnt land on me the way it did many others. I had already seen big ideas in science rise and fall.

Twenty years later, I can say that some of my skepticism was poorly founded and misguided. I can proudly admit that almost every field of biology has been irreversibly changed, if not revolutionized, by technology that sprung from that announcement.

We now understand more about the origins of species, the ones that Darwin speculated on, than we ever have.

We have almost real-time outbreak pictures of bacterial and viral genomes creeping through sequence space, sometimes landing on jackpot solutions that facilitate adaptations (but more often landing nowhere, and quite often, off a cliff towards genetic doom).

Genomic technologies driven by the announcement allow us to assess our risk for many important diseases and afflictions.

We can even quantify, to some degree, the magical biodiversity that populates our planet.

The completion of the draft of the human genome helped to democratize the technology, through making genomic sequencing more affordable. You no longer need to study a well-funded human genetic disease in order to afford the tools to sequence and analyze DNA. People who study rainbow trout use genomics. People who study archaea use genomics.

But while some of my young takes might have been sophomoric, others were mature and responsible (even wise).

Among the central messages during the last two decades of genomic science is that the relationship between genotype and phenotype does not function like the pieces of a puzzle. Genes and mutations speak to each other and the environments in which they operate, in surprising ways that defy any existing analogies.

Weve learned that resolving phylogenetic relationships between species and organisms can be a nightmare because biology doesnt operate according to the categories that make it easy to understand. (To put this in perspective, we cant even agree on the very basics, like whether there are two or three domains of life)

Weve learned that genes for disease A often dont cause disease at all. And paradoxically, many people with disease A dont have any identifiable genetic predisposition.

And Homo sapiens? Were an even messier story than we ever predicted: not only are social ideas like race unhelpful for understanding anything essential about the species, they are plainly in the way of a full grasp of the increasingly complex picture of our true origins. Genes from several nonhuman species are peppered throughout our genomes in nontrivial amounts, telling a story of wanderlust and widespread copulation.

As it turns out, my education about the rules of biology over the past two decades has functioned a lot like my education about the rules of real life.

With regard to the latter, there are truths that I can and will hold onto: nice people are great. Greed is bad, and so is racism.

But life isnt that simple.

Because Ive also learned that some people are mean for a reason, greed might happen by accident, and maybe weve all been raised to be bigoted in one way or another. Ive learned the challenge and joy in being empathetic, recognizing our privileges, and dealing with our own biases.

Similarly, DNA is the most fascinating and important string of information in the universe. It tells powerful stories about this bizarre collection of matter that we call life on earth. And it is a privilege to be a part of the species that can study and discuss what it is and how it works.

But it isnt everything. Because life isnt that simple.

And this is what Interviewer Z has since learned. Opportunism around big announcements didnt land them where they hoped. And ironically, the discovery that created the modern face of genetic modification and was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2020CRISPRwas the product of tinkering in microbes in a manner that resembled Susan Gottesmans methods, more than it did Interviewer Zs Art of War tactics.

Months after the interview, I would begin a two-decade-long scientific adventure, where Ive since engaged insect ecology, medicine, biophysics, evolutionary biology and othersalmost entirely (I believe) based on inspiration.

I have landed as an academic who runs my own research program in infectious disease, and am not much younger today than Interviewer Z was at the time of our 2001 interview.

But the advice I give young people today is much different than theirs:

Who the hell knows where the next big discovery will come from? Just hustle and flow, enjoy learning, and ignore the fads and big announcements.

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Stem cell study illuminates the cause of an inherited heart disorder | Penn Today – Penn Today

February 14th, 2021 7:05 pm

Scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine have uncovered the molecular causes of a congenital form of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), an often-fatal heart disorder.

This inherited form of DCMwhich affects at least several thousand people in the United States at any one time and often causes sudden death or progressive heart failureis one of multiple congenital disorders known to be caused by inherited mutations in a gene called LMNA. The LMNA gene is active in most cell types, and researchers have not understood why LMNA mutations affect particular organs such as the heart while sparing most other organs and tissues.

In a study published in Cell Stem Cell, the Penn Medicine scientists used stem cell techniques to grow human heart muscle cells containing DCM-causing mutations in LMNA. They found that these mutations severely disrupt the structural organization of DNA in the nucleus of heart muscle cellsbut not two other cell types studiedleading to the abnormal activation of non-heart muscle genes.

Were now beginning to understand why patients with LMNA mutations have tissue-restricted disorders such as DCM even though the gene is expressed in most cell types, says study co-senior author Rajan Jain, an assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine and cell and developmental biology at the Perelman School of Medicine.

This story is by Sophie Kluthe. Read more at Penn Medicine News.

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The race to treat a rare, fatal syndrome may help others with common disorders like diabetes – Science Magazine

February 14th, 2021 7:05 pm

Misfolded proteins (orange) in the endoplasmic reticulum may play a role in Wolfram syndromes many symptoms.

By Mitch LeslieFeb. 11, 2021 , 2:00 PM

Maureen Marshall-Doss says the first sign that her vision was deteriorating came when she misidentified the color of a dress. At a backyard get-together about 20 years ago, the Indianapolis resident pointed out an attractive yellow dress another woman was wearing. You see that as yellow? Shes wearing a pink dress, Marshall-Doss recalls her husband responding.

Today, Marshall-Doss is virtually blind. With help from custom made eyeglasses that magnify objects 500 times, I can see shapes, she says. But she can no longer drive and had to quit the job she loved as a school librarian. Along with her dimming vision, she has type 1 diabetes and has lost her sense of taste and smell.

Marshall-Doss is one of 15,000 to 30,000 people around the world with Wolfram syndrome, a genetic disease. For decades, the condition remained enigmatic, untreatable, and fatal. But in the past few years, insights into its mechanism have begun to pay off, leading to the first clinical trials of drugs that might slow the illness and sparking hopes that gene therapy and the CRISPR DNA-editing tool might rectify the underlying genetic flaws. Here is a rare disease that the basic science is telling us how to treat, says physiologist Barbara Ehrlich of the Yale School of Medicine.

The research could also aid more than the relatively few patients with Wolfram syndrome. Driving the diseases many symptoms is a malfunction of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the multichambered organelle that serves as a finishing school for many cellular proteins. Known as ER stress, the same problem helps propel far more common illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinsons disease, and Alzheimers disease. Wolfram syndrome is the prototype of an endoplasmic reticulum disorder, says medical geneticist Fumihiko Fumi Urano of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Because Wolfram syndrome is simpler, says Scott Oakes, a cell biologist and pathologist at the University of Chicago, researchers think it could illuminate the mechanisms of other ER-disrupting diseases, which affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

In the late 1930s,four children with diabetes were going blind, and doctors were stumped. Like many other people in the United States struggling through the Great Depression, the siblings ate a paltry diet, subsisting on potatoes, bread, oatmeal, and a little milk. But after examining three of the children, Donald Wolfram, a physician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and an ophthalmologist colleague ruled out malnutrition as the cause of their puzzling condition. Lead poisoning and syphilisthough common enoughwerent to blame, either. When Wolfram and his partner wrote up the cases in 1938, they concluded that the symptoms could be manifestations of an hereditary or acquired cerebral lesion.

The physicians were right that the syndrome eventually named for Wolfram is hereditary. Recessive mutations in the gene for a protein called wolframin are responsible for most cases, with glitches in a second gene causing most of the rest. However, the pair was wrong to think the defect lies only in the brain. Instead, the symptoms stem from widespread cell death. Its definitely a disease that affects the whole body, Marshall-Doss says.

The first sign of the illness, appearing when patients are children, is usually diabetes mellitus, or faulty sugar metabolism, sparked by the demise of insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas. Most patients also develop the unrelated condition diabetes insipidus, in which the pituitary gland doesnt dole out enough of a hormone that helps control the bodys fluid balance, causing the kidneys to produce huge amounts of urine.

Mutations in the gene for wolframin disrupt the endoplasmic reticulum and lead to cell death throughout the body, causing a range of symptoms.

V. Altounian/Science

Ellie White, 19, of Centennial, Colorado, who was diagnosed with Wolfram syndrome 12 years ago, says she hasnt had a full night of sleep since she was 3 years old. She gets up again and again to use the bathroom and monitor her blood sugar.

Yet she and other patients say that as disruptive as those problems are, they are not the diseases most dismaying consequence. The biggest symptom of Wolfram syndrome that affects me the most is my vision, White says. Because neurons in the optic nerve perish, patients usually go blind within 10 years of their first visual symptoms.

Other neurons die as well. As the disease progresses, brain cells expire, and walking, breathing, and swallowing become difficult. Most people with Wolfram syndrome die before age 40, often because they can no longer breathe. At 57, Marshall-Doss is one of the oldest patients; one of her mutated genes may yield a partly functional version of wolframin, triggering a milder form of the disease, Urano says.

Two advanceshave made it possible to begin to tackle those symptoms. The first was Uranos discovery nearly 20 years ago that linked Wolfram syndrome to ER stress. The ER is where about one-third of a cells newly made proteins fold into the correct shapes and undergo fine-tuning. Cells can develop ER stress whenever they are under duress, such as when they dont have enough oxygen or when misfolded proteins begin to pile up inside the organelle.

In test tube experiments, Urano and his colleagues were measuring the activity of genes to pinpoint which ones help alleviate ER stress. One gene that popped up encodes wolframin, which scientists had shown in 1998 was mutated in patients with Wolfram syndrome. Following up on that finding, Urano and his team determined that wolframin takes part in whats known as the unfolded protein response, which is a mechanism for coping with ER stress in which cells take steps including dialing back protein production.

Scientists think wolframin plays a key role in the unfolded protein response, though they havent nailed down exactly how. When wolframin is impaired, cells become vulnerable to ER stress. And if they cant relieve that stress, they often self-destruct, which could explain why so many neurons and beta cells die in the disease.

Defective wolframin may harm cells in other ways. The ER tends the cells supply of calcium, continually releasing and absorbing the ion to control the amount in the cytoplasm. Changes in calcium levels promote certain cellular activities, including the contraction of heart muscle cells and the release of neurotransmitters by neurons. And wolframin affects calcium regulation.

Beta cells genetically engineered to lack functional wolframin brim with calcium, Ehrlich and colleagues reported in July 2020 in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. When exposed to lots of sugar, the altered cells release less insulin and are more likely to die than healthy beta cells, the team found. The cells share that vulnerability with beta cells from patients with Wolfram syndrome. We think that excess calcium is leading to excess cell death, Ehrlich says.

ER malfunctions could hamstring other organelles as well. The ER donates calcium to the mitochondria, the cells power plants, helping them generate energy. In 2018, a team led by molecular biologist Ccile Delettre and molecular and cellular biologist Benjamin Delprat, both of the French biomedical research agency INSERM, discovered that in cells from patients with Wolfram syndrome, mitochondria receive less calcium from the ER and produce less energy. Those underpowered mitochondria could spur the death of optic nerve cells, the researchers speculate.

Fumihiko Urano holds dantrolene, a muscle relaxant drug he helped test as a treatment for Wolfram syndrome.

The link between ER stress and Wolfram syndrome has been crucial for identifying potential treatments because otherwise we would have nothing to target, Urano says. But a second development was also key, he says: the advocacy and support of patient organizations, such as the Snow Foundation and the Ellie White Foundation, headed by its namesakes mother. The foundations have stepped up with money for lab research and clinical trials when other sources, including government agencies, didnt come through.

Scientists, patients, and their advocates say Urano also deserves much of the credit. Besides treating patients, he heads the international registry of cases and has taken the lead in organizing clinical trials, screening compounds for possible use as treatments, and devising potential therapies. Fumi is clearly the driving force, says Stephanie Snow Gebel, co-founder of the Snow Foundation, who about 10 years ago helped persuade him to forgo a plum job as department chair at a Japanese university and take over the Wolfram program at Washington University.

Patients could soonstart to reap the benefits. In 2016, Urano and colleagues started the worlds first clinical trial for the disease: a phase 1/2 study of dantrolene, an approved muscle relaxant. The molecule was a top performer when they screened 73 potential treatments for their ability to save cells with terminal ER stress. Dantrolene didnt improve vision in the 22 participants, including White, the scientists reported in an October 2020 preprint. But in some patients, beta cells appeared to be working better and releasing more insulin. The drug is safe, but Urano says it will need to be chemically tweaked to target its effects before future trials are warranted.

Researchers are pursuing other possible treatments targeting ER stress or calcium levels. In 2018, U.K. scientists launched a trial that will include 70 patients to evaluate sodium valproate, a therapy for bipolar disorder and epilepsy that, in the lab, prevents cells with faulty wolframin from dying. Last year, another compound that emerged from Uranos screens, the diabetes drug liraglutide, entered a clinical trial. Also last year, an experimental drug developed by Amylyx Pharmaceuticals for Alzheimers disease and ALS received orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Wolfram syndrome because it curbs ER stress. That designation offers tax breaks and other incentives, and it will get trials started sooner, Urano says.

Ehrlich and her team have a candidate of their own that they have begun to test in rodents: the drug ibudilast, which is approved in Japan to treat asthma. The researchers found it reduces calcium levels in beta cells lacking wolframin and boosts their survival and insulin output. New screening projects may reveal still more candidates.

But Urano knows that even if a treatment receives approval, it would be only a Band-Aid for Wolfram syndrome. Hoping to develop a genetic cure, he and colleagues are introducing replacement genes into cells from patients and from mice engineered to replicate the disease. The researchers are endowing the cells with healthy copies of the gene for wolframin or the gene for a protein that reduces ER stress to determine whether they restore cellular function and reduce cell death. At INSERM, Delettre and colleagues are also evaluating whether directing a working gene into optic nerve cells can curtail vision loss in mice with faulty wolframin. The scientists are still gathering data, but early results suggest the treatment can halt the deterioration.

Urano and his collaborators have also turned to the genome editor CRISPR, deploying it to correct the gene defect in patients stem cells and then growing them into beta cells. When the researchers transplanted the revamped cells into mice with diabetes, the animals blood sugar returned to healthy levels, the team reported in April 2020 inScience Translational Medicine.

Stem cell biologist Catherine Verfaillie of KU Leuven is collaborating on the CRISPR research. But she notes that because the faulty wolframin gene affects so many tissues, researchers will have to figure out how to deliver the CRISPR components to most cells in large organs such as the brain and livera prospect she calls pretty daunting. Urano agrees, predicting that CRISPR-based Wolfram therapies might take 10 to 20 years to develop. The alternative approach, gene therapy, could reach clinical trials more quickly, in 3 to 10 years, he says, because researchers have more experience with gene therapy and have created several treatments that have already been approved for other illnesses.

Because it stems from a single genetic glitch, Wolfram syndrome could also help scientists tease out the role of the ER in more complex diseases, including neurological conditions, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. The ER also falters in those diseases, causing cells to die, but the mechanism is harder to discern because they stem from myriad genetic and environmental factors. In Alzheimers disease, for instance, neurons develop ER stress as misfolded proteins accumulate inside and outside the cells.

Besides deepening researchers understanding of other conditions, the research on Wolfram syndrome might even deliver candidate treatments. Everyone would be very excited if we can make advances in targeting ER stress in Wolfram syndrome, Oakes says. It would open up the whole field to doing this in other degenerative diseases.

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Jasper Therapeutics Announces Positive Data from Phase 1 Clinical Trial of JSP191 as Targeted Stem Cell Conditioning Agent in Patients with…

February 14th, 2021 7:05 pm

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jasper Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on hematopoietic cell transplant therapies, today announced positive preliminary findings from its ongoing multicenter Phase 1 clinical trial of JSP191, a first-in-class anti-CD117 (stem cell factor receptor) monoclonal antibody, as a conditioning agent in older patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) undergoing hematopoietic (blood) cell transplantation.

Data from the first six patients who received a single dose of JSP191 prior to transplantation showed successful engraftment in all six patients. Complete donor myeloid chimerism (equal or greater than 95%) was observed in five of six evaluable patients at 28 days, and all three evaluable patients had total donor chimerism equal or greater than 95% observed at day 90. In addition, at 28 days, three of five evaluable patients showed complete eradication of measurable residual disease (MRD) as measured by next-generation sequencing. Two of the five evaluable patients showed substantial reductions in MRD. No treatment-related serious adverse events were reported.

The findings were presented by lead investigator Lori Muffly, M.D., M.S., Assistant Professor of Medicine (Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation) at Stanford Medicine, as a late-breaking abstract at the 2021 Transplantation & Cellular Therapy (TCT) Meetings of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) and the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).

These early clinical results are the first to demonstrate that JSP191 administered in combination with a standard non-myeloablative regimen of low-dose radiation and fludarabine is well tolerated and can clear measurable residual disease in older adults with MDS or AML undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation a patient population with historically few options, said Kevin N. Heller, M.D., Executive Vice President, Research and Development, of Jasper Therapeutics. These patients could be cured by hematopoietic cell transplantation, but the standard-of-care myeloablative conditioning regimens used today are highly toxic and associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality particularly in older adults. Traditional lower intensity transplant conditioning regimens are better tolerated in older adults, but are associated with higher rates of relapse in MDS/AML patients with measurable residual disease. JSP191, a well-tolerated biologic conditioning agent that targets and depletes both normal hematopoietic stem cells and those that initiate MDS and AML, has the potential to be a curative option for these patients.

The open-label, multicenter Phase 1 study (JSP-CP-003) is evaluating the safety, tolerability and efficacy of adding JSP191 to the standard conditioning regimen of low-dose radiation and fludarabine among patients age 65 to 74 years with MDS or AML undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation. Patients were ineligible for full myeloablative conditioning. The primary outcome measure of the study is the safety and tolerability of JSP191 as a conditioning regimen up to one year following a donor cell transplant.

We designed JSP191 to be given as outpatient conditioning and to have both the efficacy and safety profile required for use in newborn patients and older patients for successful outcomes, said Wendy Pang, M.D., Ph.D. Executive Director, Research and Translational Medicine, of Jasper Therapeutics. We are enthusiastic about the reduction of measurable residual disease seen in these patients, especially given that it is associated with improved relapse-free survival. We are excited to continue our research in MDS/AML, with plans for an expanded study. We are evaluating JSP191, the only antibody of its kind, in two ongoing clinical studies and are encouraged by the positive clinical data seen to date.

About MDS and AML

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of disorders in which immature blood-forming cells in the bone marrow become abnormal and do not make new blood cells or make defective blood cells, leading to low numbers of normal blood cells, especially red blood cells.1 In about one in three patients, MDS can progress to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rapidly progressing cancer of the bone marrow cells.1 Both are diseases of the elderly with high mortality. Each year, about 5,000 patients with MDS and 8,000 people with AML in the G7 countries receive hematopoietic cell transplants. These transplants are curative but are underused due to the toxicity of the current high-intensity conditioning regimen, which includes the chemotherapy agents busulfan and fludarabine.

About JSP191

JSP191 (formerly AMG 191) is a first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody in clinical development as a conditioning agent that clears hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow. JSP191 binds to human CD117, a receptor for stem cell factor (SCF) that is expressed on the surface of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. The interaction of SCF and CD117 is required for stem cells to survive. JSP191 blocks SCF from binding to CD117 and disrupts critical survival signals, causing the stem cells to undergo cell death and creating an empty space in the bone marrow for donor or gene-corrected transplanted stem cells to engraft.

Preclinical studies have shown that JSP191 as a single agent safely depletes normal and diseased hematopoietic stem cells, including in animal models of SCID, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and sickle cell disease (SCD). Treatment with JSP191 creates the space needed for transplanted normal donor or gene-corrected hematopoietic stem cells to successfully engraft in the host bone marrow. To date, JSP191 has been evaluated in more than 90 healthy volunteers and patients.

JSP191 is currently being evaluated in two separate clinical studies in hematopoietic cell transplantation. A Phase 1/2 dose-escalation and expansion trial is evaluating JSP191 as a sole conditioning agent to achieve donor stem cell engraftment in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which is potentially curable only by this type of treatment. Data presented at the 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting showed that a single dose of JSP191 administered prior to stem cell transplantation in a 6-month-old infant was effective in establishing sustained donor chimerism followed by development of B, T and NK immune cells. No treatment-related adverse events were reported. A Phase 1 clinical study is evaluating JSP191 in combination with another low-intensity conditioning regimen in patients with MDS or AML undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation. For more information about the design of these two ongoing clinical trials, visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02963064 and NCT04429191).

Additional studies are planned to advance JSP191 as a conditioning agent for patients with other rare and ultra-rare monogenic disorders and autoimmune diseases.

About Jasper Therapeutics

Jasper Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel curative therapies based on the biology of the hematopoietic stem cell. The companys lead compound, JSP191, is in clinical development as a conditioning antibody that clears hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow in patients undergoing a hematopoietic cell transplant. This first-in-class conditioning antibody is designed to enable safer and more effective curative hematopoietic cell transplants and gene therapies. For more information, please visit us at jaspertherapeutics.com.

1 https://www.cancer.org/cancer/myelodysplastic-syndrome/about/what-is-mds.html

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The Very First Signs of an Immune Response Have Been Filmed in a Developing Embryo – ScienceAlert

February 14th, 2021 7:05 pm

Even as a hollow ball of embryonic cells, developing fish and mammals are not entirely defenceless.

The very first tissue, formed on the surface of a vertebrate blastula, has been shown to possess an innate immune response.

Incredible new research has shown that long before the development of organs or specialized immune cells, this simple protective layer, known as the epithelium, can reach out with its arm-like protrusions and detect, ingest, and destroy defective cells - helping to increase the embryo's chance of survival.

This 'surprisingly' efficient process, which was filmed in zebrafish and later confirmed in mice, is the earliest sign of an immune response in vertebrates.

Better understanding how it works could help researchers figure out why some embryos fail to form in those earliest states, potentially leading to new approaches for treating infertility or early miscarriages.

"Here we propose a new evolutionarily conserved function for epithelia as efficient scavengers of dying cells in the earliest stages of vertebrate embryogenesis," says cell biologist Verena Ruprecht from the Centre for Genomic Regulation.

"Our work may have important clinical applications by one day leading to improved screening methods and embryo quality assessment standards used in fertility clinics."

In developing animals, it's not uncommon for embryos to produce cellular errors during rapid cell division, and these can cause the whole embryo to fail if not taken care of. In fact, such mistakes are thought to be a leading reason for why embryos do not survive to reach implantation.

Scientists have long suspected there is an innate immune response at play, keeping fragile young embryos from threats such as sporadic cell death, inflammation, and infectious agents.

Recent research has revealed such innate immune responses in both mouse and human embryonic stem cells. But up until now, no one had ever seen it in action at the earliest stages.

This newest study is the first to explain how 'garbage collectors' like apoptotic cells are cleared out of the blastula without a specialised immune system. As you can see in the footage below, it looks a little like PAC-MAN.

So how does it work?

The blastula is a hollow ball, one cell thick, and the first stage of embryogenesis. The next stage includes further division into three germ layers, known as the gastrula.

In both these preliminary stages, researchers found evidence for the clearance of apoptotic cells, which initiate cell death.

Using four dimensional in vivo imaging of mice and zebrafish embryos, the authors show two types of epithelial 'arms' that seem to gobble up and destroy these apoptotic cells.

The first protrusion is called a phagocytic cup, and it helps scoop up and swallow the apoptotic target, a process known as phagocytosis. This structure is not unlike what we see in adult organisms, where epithelial phagocytosis keep organs and tissues healthy from infection and inflammation.

The second protrusion is a previously undescribed structure that is fast and can mechanically push apoptotic targets around, herding them into manageable positions.

"The cells cooperate mechanically," explains developmental biologist Esteban Hoijman, "like people distributing food around the dining table before tucking into their meal, we found that epithelial cells push defective cells towards other epithelial cells, speeding up the removal of dying cells."

Three dimensional tracking of these defective cells show they actually accumulate inside the epithelium, which suggests this protective layer is singling out certain cells specifically and gulping them up.

Even in conditions with abundant apoptosis, or cell death, occurring, zebrafish embryos were able to survive, which suggests this immune response is a highly efficient one.

Within two hours, in fact, the authors found the embryonic epithelium could remove 68 apoptotic particles.

Even when programmed cell death was triggered in the blastula using only two photons of illumination, the embryo showed epithelial clearance, indicating an impressive level of sensitivity.

"Together, these observations establish epithelial clearance as an error-correction mechanism that is present at the blastula stages of embryonic development," the authors conclude.

Zebrafish are model organisms for studying embryonic development, but to see whether this 'epithelial scavenging' also stood in mammals, the authors investigated what cell death looks like in mouse blastocysts.

Through time lapse imaging, the results reveal several apoptotic events, whereby cells are forced out of the blastocyst cavity and later ingested by the trophoblast. This is a tissue on the outside of the mammalian embryo that later forms a large part of the placenta. It also shows some level of innate immune response.

When mouse blastocysts were transplanted with apoptotic embryonic stem cells, the authors observed trophoblast cells eating up the targets.

Similar functions have also been documented in the human trophectoderm, which suggests the phagocytic epithelium has also been conserved in mammals and doesn't just appear in fish.

Knowing how mammal embryos survive from blastocyst to implantation could not only allow scientists to develop better fertility treatments, it could also teach us something about the early immune system - a power we could possibly try to replicate in adult tissues.

"Here we show that during early vertebrate development, epithelial cells specialize to perform phagocytic immune functions in the complete absence of immune cells," the authors write.

"At later developmental stages, professional phagocytes differentiate and can share their phagocytic tasks with mesenchymal or epithelial cells."

Future research will determine if the same innate immune process is also observed in invertebrates.

The study was published in Nature.

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Arlo’s Army needs stem cell donor as mum begs for help to save three-year-old’s life – Glasgow Live

February 14th, 2021 7:05 pm

Gorgeous little Arlo McArthur looks the picture of health and happiness.

Loved and adored by his family this little lively three-year-old from Milngavie is spoiled rotten by his three big sisters and his ultimate day out is playing golf with his daddy.

But behind the cheeky grin lies a devastating truth - he's a "ticking-timebomb" and needs a stem cell transplant to save his life.

So today, we've joined with Arlo's mum Nicole, dad Ian and his three doting sisters Carys, Brooke and Holly in asking Glasgow Live readers to step up and help this brave little boy.

They need young men, between 16 and 30 to volunteer to be tested to see if they are a match for the toddler. There's not much to it, a simple swab test carried out at home is enough for the experts to determine if you're a match.

The more people who register to be tested the better chance there is of finding the ideal candidate willing to donate the bone marrow little Arlo desperately needs.

For this family your help could mean the difference between life and death.

They've lived with the knowledge since he was 10 weeks old that a rare genetic condition could rob their precious little boy of his future.

Diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, it means Arlo's immune system doesn't function properly and it's difficult for his bone marrow to produce platelets, making him prone to bleeding.

Its estimated there are between 1 and 10 cases per million males worldwide. Arlo was only the third case at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Doctors say they cant take the risk with an older donor as he was lucky to survive a previous transplant which failed when he was a baby.

His back-up is his dad Ian, 31, but he's only a half-match.

Sadly little Arlo's story isn't unique, across the country 2,300 people a year need a stem cell transplant and charity Anthony Nolan coordinates the search and raises money to support their vital work.

Nicole, 37, dreams of seeing her little boy attend his first day at school next August and believes someone out there can help that dream come true.

She pleaded: "Were asking as many people as possible to register and help give Arlo the life he deserves.

"We want to love and enjoy having our little boy around for a long time. He should be able to live out his life of dreams.

"Put yourself in the shoes of a parent whose child is ill, or someone else who is about to lose a loved one. Youve just been told in a room that they wont make it without stem cells. How does it feel?

"Its not just our Arlo, there are plenty of Arlos out there who need your help."

"People don't realise how easy it is to do. It's not this big operation, just a few injections and a day at an out-patient clinic to save someone's life. I wish it was opt-out, like organ donation.

"We dont have much time but I know in my heart the right match is out there."

To find out how you can can join the register and help the fight to save little Arlo and others just like visit Anthony Nolan's website here.

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