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Latin America has been especially hard hit in recent months by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as describe...

Latin America has been especially hard hit in recent months by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as described in WilmerHales recent client alerthere. The resulting travel restrictions, physical safety precautions and public health concerns have created uncertainty for many companies confronting the need to conduct cross-border Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations in the region, where some countries are currently difficultor impossibleto access.[1]

Despite these challenges, effective internal investigations remain central to a robust FCPA compliance program, as underscored by the recently released FCPA2020 Resource Guide, summarized by WilmerHalehere. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that it does not expect any slowdown in its FCPA enforcement actions during the pandemic.[2]Moreover, the goals of an internal investigation go beyond satisfying the requirements of government authorities. Conducting a thorough, reliable and effective FCPA investigation is in the best business interests of the company itself.

With this difficult environment in mind, this client alert sets out 10 key tips for conducting effective Latin America-focused FCPA investigations under pandemic conditions.

The first step in any internal investigation is important: frame the investigation. Ask the following questions, which can be especially important and complex during the pandemic:[3]

In any Latin American FCPA investigation, having a well-organized team in place is criticaleven more so during the current crisis. While the pandemic restricts travel, an investigation may rely even more heavily on local resources to stand up, carry out and manage the investigation.[4]

A combination of local and international expertise is essential. Be sure to consider the language skills of these team members and to structure any engagement so that their work enjoys applicable attorney-client privilege and/or work product privilege protections. The team should include:

A crucial consideration for assembling a team is understanding how legal privilege will apply. Failing to understand how privilege appliesor doesntin the country where the investigation is taking place can be a major and potentially fatal pitfall. Because many Latin American countries are civil law jurisdictions, their legal privilege protections operate in a manner fundamentally different from those familiar to US lawyers.[5]

For example, only in fall 2019 did Mexicos antitrust authority, the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE, as abbreviated in Spanish), issue guidelines for recognizing attorney-client communication protections in connection with antitrust investigations.[6]Although Mexican law does generally prohibit the disclosure of client information, it does not include broad legal protection from government seizure. This risks sensitive disclosure to government authorities if not handled correctly. Recent case law suggests that these protections may be expanding, but the current legal landscape presents more questions than answers.[7]

Companies should be vigilant in maintaining and protecting privileged material during the course of a Latin America FCPA investigation. This may prove even more important during the pandemic, when coordinating is more likely to be done via email, text and other written meansmeans that government authorities may try to collect and over which companies may not have as much control as in non-pandemic conditions.

Even prior to the pandemic, preserving, archiving and collecting local documents and evidence for investigations in Latin America could prove challenging. Today, in the midst of COVID-19, those challenges have multiplied. Working swiftly and coordinating with the on-the-ground team will be critically important.

Prompt document preservation is the most important first step to ensure a complete investigation. Of course, relying on individuals themselves for preservation and collection while working remotely raises its own issues. When planning out the document preservation and collection process, consider how to stage processes and requests to minimize the possibility of spoliation. A truly bad actor may be willing to destroy evidence at the first sign of an investigation, so to the extent practical, IT should take steps to preserve evidence (such as by remote back up and capture of data) before preservation notices are sent.

Once those key preservation steps have been taken, another important step is sending a preservation notice to individuals who are likely to have relevant evidence. The preservation notice directs these individuals not to delete or destroy material relevant to the investigation.[8]In Latin America, even in companies where employees are expected to have a working knowledge of English, providing translations of this noticein Spanish, Portuguese and/or any other relevant languageswill be critical to ensuring compliance. In addition, employees who receive a preservation notice should be required to acknowledge receipt via email or other written means, and IT experts should track this acknowledgment information.[9]

The pandemic will likely also make traditional in-person collection efforts difficult if not impossible to complete, so creativity will be required. Obviously, where employees cell phones or laptops can be imaged remotely, such imaging is a key first step. In addition, identifying and collecting text messages, chats and conversations through applications such as WhatsApp (widely used for business in Latin America) is essential.[10]You may also consider collecting from personal accounts or personal devices, especially if individuals indicate that they used personal accounts for business-related communications and data storagewhich is likely happening more often with people working more from home. But when doing so, pay particular attention to the limits local privacy law and regulation may place on those efforts, as discussed next.

The process of preserving and collecting relevant data and documents is made more complex by Latin Americas patchwork of data privacy protections, which can complicate even the most straightforward FCPA investigation. This is especially true if an investigation might attract the interest of enforcement authorities in the United States or Europe. Add to this the specific challenges presented by the pandemic, and the risks can seem dizzying. Local counsel or US counsel with links to trusted local practitioners will be invaluable in navigating Latin Americas complex and ever-changing data privacy regimes.

Many Latin American countries have been heavily influenced by the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation. But countries in the region also have adopted a special emphasis on consent for processing data and for legitimizing transfers to inadequate countries (though it is rarely clear which outside countries are deemed adequate).[11]Each country also presents unique data protection rules and investigation challenges, which require country-specific legal analysis. For more discussion on privacy laws in Latin America, see WilmerHales detailed analysishere.

Not surprisingly, the pandemic itself now shapes and tests the regions maintenance of these privacy rules. In Brazil and Panama, for example, the implementation of recently enacted privacy laws will likely be postponed in response to the pandemic.[12]On the other hand, COVID-19 and the response to it have complicated some of the commonly used approaches to comply with foreign data privacy laws. In some cases, investigation teams have deployed US counsel to review data within the jurisdiction; that is difficult now, if not impossible, in many jurisdictions due to travel restrictions.

With this complicated and ever-changing set of data privacy protections across Latin Americamany of which are not intuitive to counsel trained in the United States, Europe or elsewherecompanies conducting FCPA investigations in Latin America should engage local experts to ensure that an investigation does not run afoul of local data privacy laws.

In addition, local labor and employment law may impact when, how and whether employee interviews may take place in an FCPA investigation as well as what the scope of permissible employee discipline may be. A discussion of employment law across Latin America is beyond the scope of this alert. The complexity of local employment law, like privacy law, underscores the importance of considering at the outset of an FCPA investigation whether and how to engage experienced local counsel in the jurisdiction at issue.[13]

As WilmerHale described in its2019 FCPA Year in Review, local enforcement authorities in Latin America have continued recently to investigate alleged corruption within their borderswith or without US authorities cooperation.

For example, Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro initiated his administration in January 2019 with a promise to stamp out corruption in Brazil. President Bolsonaro has introduced broad anti-corruption legislation[14]and Brazilian prosecutors have been active over the past few years in tackling deep-rooted corruption in the country. However, the pandemicand the Bolsonaro administrations own corruption scandalspresent fundamental challenges to these goals, including the Brazilian governments diversion of resources that had been dedicated to investigating and prosecuting COVID-19-related corruption.[15]

In Mexico, President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador also campaigned on an anti-corruption platform and took actions at the outset of his administration to combat graft. For example, his administration has gone after the countrys national oil company, Pemex, including charging and even arresting former Pemex executives living abroad.[16]In 2019, President Obrador appointed the countrys first chief anticorruption prosecutor, Luz Mijangos Borja, who was reported to have initiated 680 investigative cases in the first eight months of her term.[17]

Given this and similar recent investigation activity,[18]local enforcement interests have always been an important consideration in FCPA investigations. But during the pandemic, local authorities enjoy greater access to documents and individuals on the ground than do US officials. The importance of expecting and planning for potential local investigations is only heightened as a result.

Communication with relevant outside stakeholders in an FCPA investigation, including, where relevant, enforcement authorities and external auditors, has always been critically important.

The pandemic has only underscored this need for communicationDOJ and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials have recently highlighted the importance of communicating COVID-19 challenges to enforcement authorities, and they have signaled that these agencies will work with companies to address investigatory issues presented by the pandemic. For example, in April, officials from the DOJ and SEC FCPA units explained that they are trying very hard to be sensitive to the realities of what everybody is dealing with.[19]A few weeks thereafter, in mid-May, DOJ and SEC officials shared that their foreign bribery units were experiencing pandemic-related challenges but were in no way hitting the pause button on their investigations.[20]

Similar considerations also apply to communicating with external auditors. In certain instances, a company may be required to inform its regular outside auditor of an FCPA investigation.[21]In those cases, pandemic-related challenges that affect the inquirys timing, scope and action plan should be communicated to external auditors sooner rather than later.

Although the pandemic presents challenges to Latin America FCPA investigations for companies and regulators alike, it has also presented opportunities to take advantage of new technologies and creative strategies. For example, firms might cut significant costs by standing up remote document review platforms via remote secure workspacesof course, ensuring compliance with local privacy laws.[22]For further discussion of such technology and strategies in the investigations and strategic response context, see WilmerHales analysishere. (WilmerHale also releases CLE credit webinars about cutting-edge investigation strategies during COVID-19, ashere, so please feel free to subscribe to the latest news and events from the firm.)

In the current environment, conducting interviews virtually where possible under local law and investigation circumstances has become a common approach.[23]Video interviews, of course, pose their own challenges and limitations. It is important to be realistic about how long participants can be engaged during a videoconference;[24]it may be better to break interviews into two half-day sessions rather than one full day. Finally, in the interest of maintaining the confidentiality of the investigation, counsel should attempt to avoid sending documents to the intervieweeparticularly one who is not employed by the client or its subsidiarybut rather should try to share documents on screen during the interview, in real time.

When relying on new technologies, hope for the best but plan for the worst. For example, if you are conducting a videoconference, have a backup telephone line. If conducting remote document review, make sure to build in time for technical difficulties and system shutdowns.

Finally, the most important tip for conducting an FCPA investigation in Latin America during the pandemic:be flexible. Companies, individuals and regulators are all working to continue their lives and livelihoods during this global health emergency. Even the most seasoned investigators should be prepared for both the challenges and the opportunities presented by the pandemic, as outlined in each of the tips above.

WilmerHale, too, remains abreast of the latest developments in FCPA enforcement, Latin America COVID-19 response (for example, see WilmerHales latest client alert onCOVID-19 response in Latin America) and other legal issues around the globe. We are available to provide timely guidance for our clients and partners.

WilmerHale has strong relationships with a wide range of local consultants and local counsel throughout Latin America. In certain countries, we have connections with multiple firms that might be considered collaborative partners, depending on the nature of the matter. The firm also taps its alumni network where useful in pursuit of our clients legal and business objectives. These resourcesemployed in concert with WilmerHales FCPA investigation expertisehave helped countless firms navigate complicated and high-stakes issues in cross-border investigation and litigation, including some of the most common complications discussed in this alert.

[1] Since March 31, 2020, the US State Department has issued a global level four do not travel health advisory, encouraging US citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19. Furthermore, some Latin American countries, such asArgentina,Bolivia,Chile,Colombia,Costa Rica,El Salvador,Guatemala,PanamaandParaguayhave effectively closed their borders to non-citizens and non-residents.Ecuadoris imposing a mandatory 14-day preventative quarantine on all non-citizens and non-residents in government-approved temporary housing or hotels. Some countries, such asBrazil,Mexicoand theDominican Republic, still have at least somewhat open borders. However, Mexico has announced that it allows only essential travel of non-citizens and non-residents from the United States, and some travelers may be asked to provide an employer letter certifying the essential nature of their business at hotels.Seehttps://mx.usembassy.gov/travel-restrictions-fact-sheet/.

[2] At a virtual FCPA conference on July 14, DOJ Criminal Division Chief Brian Rabbit stated that he expects to see a number of FCPA settlements this year: 2020 has obviously been challenging in a number of different ways, but we have been able to move forward with a number of key prosecutions and resolve a number of cases in 2020, including the Novartis case. I expect to see more of those in the coming months additional FCPA resolutions despite the pandemic, so that obviously remains a priority.https://globalinvestigationsreview.com/article/jac/1228948/acting-criminal-division-chief-expects-more-fcpa-resolutions-in-coming-months.

[3]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/publications/united-states-handling-internal-investigations.

[4]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/publications/2016-11-22-united-states-handling-internal-investigations;https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/publications/20171220-beginning-an-internal-investigation-the-uk-perspective.

[5]https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/publications/blt/2016/07/12_borrasso/.

[6]https://www.cofece.mx/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DOF-30septiembre2019-01.pdf;https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antitrust-division-applauds-recognition-attorney-client-privilege-mexicos-competition-agency.

[7]https://globalcompetitionreview.com/article/1209247/mexico-recognises-legal-privilege-in-antitrust-probes

[8]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/publications/united-states-handling-internal-investigations.

[9]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/publications/united-states-handling-internal-investigations.

[10]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/publications/united-states-handling-internal-investigations.

[11]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/media/recording---wilmerhale-webinar-emerging-privacy-and-cybersecurity-laws-in-latin-america-and-asia.Unless otherwise indicated, all references in this section come from this WilmerHale webinar.

[12] For example, last year, Panama enacted a data protection law that was scheduled to enter into force in March 2021; only time will tell whether the pandemic slows the implementation or enforcement of this regulation.Seehttps://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=58c7fd6b-d468-40fb-b330-83c4d9387585. And in Brazil, lawmakers recently voted to postpone the deadline for compliance with the General Data Protection Law from August 2020 to January 2021, citing concerns about the economic impacts of the pandemic (seehttps://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/impact-postponing-brazils-data-protection-law;https://economia.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,senado-aprova-projeto-que-suspende-prazos-contratuais-ate-outubro-aluguel-residencial-fica-de-fora,70003259159).

[13] See, e.g.,https://globalinvestigationsreview.com/chapter/1179068/beginning-an-internal-investigation-the-uk-perspective, 5.3.2.

[14]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20200228-latin-america-anti-bribery-year-in-review-2019-developments-and-predictions-for-2020

[15]https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/08/americas/brazil-coronavirus-corruption-intl/index.html;https://www.ft.com/content/94c87005-7eb1-47c4-9698-5afb2b12ab54;https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/brazil/politics-brazil/investigations-on-covid-19-related-corruption-amount-to-r1-07-billion/.

[16]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20200228-latin-america-anti-bribery-year-in-review-2019-developments-and-predictions-for-2020

[17]https://fcpablog.com/2019/12/18/new-corruption-prosecutor-opens-680-investigations/.

[18] Other Latin American enforcement authorities that have shown recent interest in dedicating significant resources to corruption investigations include Ecuador, in the case of PetroEcuador, for example, and Venezuela, in the case of PDVSA, for example.WilmerHale, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Alert: Global Anti-Bribery Year-in-Review: 2018 Developments and Predictions for 2019(Jan. 17. 2019),https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20190117-global-anti-bribery-year-in-review-2018-developments-and-predictions-for-2019.

[19]https://globalinvestigationsreview.com/article/jac/1226073/fcpa-officials-urge-companies-to-communicate-pandemic-related-difficulties-quickly.

[20]https://globalinvestigationsreview.com/article/jac/1226760/sec-enforcement-chief-discusses-coronavirus-challenges;https://globalinvestigationsreview.com/article/jac/1227005/were-not-hitting-the-pause-button--says-sec-foreign-bribery-chief.

[21]https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/fcpa/fcpa-resource-guide.pdf.

[22]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20200409-government-investigations-and-covid-19-remain-engaged-and-prepare-for-a-post-crisis-response.

[23]https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20200409-government-investigations-and-covid-19-remain-engaged-and-prepare-for-a-post-crisis-response.

[24]https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-does-zoom-exhaust-you-science-has-an-answer-11590600269.

This article was first published here.

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COVID-19: Investigations in the Time of Coronavirus: Conducting FCPA Investigations during the Pandemic | Latin America - ICLG.com

In 2007, a group of researchers reported a startling discovery: They had created sperm-like cells out of stem cells taken from the bone marrow of human men. Two years later, however, the study was retracted due to charges of plagiarism. Thirteen years later, the ability to create functional human sperm out of stem cells remains elusive.

Scientists have been trying to figure out how to create functioning human gametes eggs and sperm from stem cells for 20 or 30 years, says Vittorio Sebastiano, a stem cell biologist at Stanford University whose research focuses on reproductive biology. Doing so would help people struggling with infertility have children and help scientists unlock the secrets of human development. Since 2007, scientists have made considerable progress on this front, creating healthy mouse pups from stem cell-generated gametes and even immature human egg cells. But there is still a long road ahead before scientists will be able to convert skin or bone marrow into babies.

We are trying to really find ways to efficiently, robustly generate germ cells that can be, in the short term, used to understand the biology of these concepts, but in the long term [used to be] able to restore fertility, says Sebastiano.

When the first baby conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF) was born in 1978, it was a major step forward for reproductive science and a precursor to the stem cell research conducted by Sebastiano and others today, he says. But IVF is not an option for every individual or couple trying to have a biological child, including those who are born without gametes or who receive aggressive cancer treatments at a young age. This scientific technique would offer these individuals a new shot at reproduction.

The next major step came in the 2000s, with the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These cells are taken from blood or skin cells and reprogrammed to behave like embryonic cells, which have the ability to develop into any type of cell in the body. Since then, researchers have been trying to figure out how to turn these embryonic-like cells into functional sperm and eggs.

A colony of induced pluripotent stem cells used to treat the rare genetic disorder Fanconi anemia. (Credit: Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Salk Institute for Biological Studies)

Part of what has made this work so challenging is that scientists havent been able to fully grasp what happens in a human embryo during normal development, says Sebastiano. Scientists understand this process in mice because the rodents are easy to study in the lab. But ethical restrictions and technical factors (like having access to the embryos at just the right point in time) make this phenomenon hard to study in people, he says.

Despite the roadblocks, scientists have made significant progress in the last 10 years. In 2012, a group of researchers in Japan created fertile mouse eggs from iPSCs and used those eggs to breed healthy mouse pups. In [the] mouse, the whole circle has already been completed, says Sebastiano. Now it has been shown by a couple of groups in the UK and in Japan that you can generate embryonic-like cells from mice and then you can actually push these cells to become eggs or sperm, fully functional.

In 2018, the same group of Japanese scientists made another major breakthrough. Using human blood cells and the pluripotent stem cell technique, they managed to produce immature human eggs.

Similar efforts to create sperm are not as far along, says Sebastiano. Several efforts over the years have purported to create sperm-like cells, including the 2007 blood marrow study. A much-heralded study published in 2014 also made major news, but Sebastiano says the development of the cells in that study didnt go far beyond the earliest stages of differentiation.

But, we are actively working on it, says Sebastiano. Probably in the next few years we will be able to generate fully functional sperm and fully functional oocytes. Then, the question will be how do scientists test the quality of these gametes, he says.

The only way to fully assess the quality and functionality of a sperm or egg is to use it to, well, try to fertilize another gamete and produce a baby. Thats why this work has to be approached with the utmost care, says Sebastiano. He hypothesizes that once scientists have developed techniques that they think produce mature human oocytes and sperm, the next step will be testing these techniques in primates. That way, researchers can follow the entire life of individual animals produced from this technique to see if any unexpected problems develop, he says.

Sebastiano has no doubt that one day, these stem cells could help individuals struggling with infertility to produce healthy children. This, along with a fascination with biological development, is what drives Sebastianos work. There are also, of course, significant ethical considerations that have to be carefully considered. This technique has the potential to affect human life on a generational level, he notes. And many people also raise concerns about other future consequences, like the ability to create designer babies or produce offspring from hairs stolen from unsuspecting celebrities. Bioethics experts have written about the need to start working through the medical and legal issues around this technique now, before it is viable.

There is a need actually to develop this, but since we are really dealing with a very unique cell type we need to be cautious, says Sebastiano.

Go here to read the rest:
How Close Are We To Making Babies from Bone Marrow? - Discover Magazine

The clinical presentation of COVID-19 can include a variety of symptoms, but not all patients exhibit the same signs, and many infected people are asymptomatic. The novel coronavirus doesnt even have that many specific signs that would allow physicians to diagnose the infectious disease without a PCR test. The sudden loss of smell and taste is one such unique symptom thats likely to appear after a COVID-19 infection. But not for everyone.

Thats not the only downside of these unspecific COVID-19 symptoms. You might freak out whenever you experience a potential COVID-19 symptom, as youll have no way of knowing whether its the virus or something else. Only a test can bring you peace of mind, because the virus can infect various parts of the body, not just the lungs. The eye is one location where the virus can multiply, giving you a red eye or pink eye condition that you wouldnt necessarily associate with COVID-19. However, you should absolutely be aware of this possibility, as this manifestation of COVID-19 could be serious, and could even impact your eyesight.

A nurse in Kirkland, Washington said back in late March that every patient shed seen after testing positive for coronavirus had red eyes. They called the phenomenon allergy eyes because allergies can give you the same condition. Other healthcare workers noticed the same symptom in Canada in early March, detailing a case of keratoconjunctivitis in a 29-year-old patient who experienced no other major signs of COVID-19 infection. The study was published in The Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology.

The young woman spent a month in the Philippines and one day in San Francisco before returning to Canada. After one day of experiencing conjunctivitis, a clear watery discharge, and photophobia in her right eye, she went to an eye doctor. Other symptoms included rhinorrhea, cough, and nasal congestion, which we now know can be caused by COVID-19. She did not have a fever, but the medication she took over the counter may have masked it.

She returned on February 29th and went to the hospital multiple times in early March with worsening eye-related symptoms. She was diagnosed with keratoconjunctivitis, which is a complex eye condition.

The anatomy of the human eye. Image source: macrovector/Adobe

As the name suggests, the diagnosis is comprised of two distinct elements. Keratitis is the inflammation of the cornea or the transparent part of the eye in front of the pupil and the iris. Conjunctivitis, meanwhile, is the inflammation of the transparent tissue that covers the white of the eye and the surface of the eyelid. In either case, you might refer to it as a red eye or pink eye the illustration above shows the anatomy of the eye.

Now, heres an image of the patients eye taken before her second visit dated March 5th:

From the study: External photograph of the right eye taken by the patient before the second visit (March 5th) to the eye clinic demonstrating marked conjunctival injection and watery discharge. Photograph provided by the patient (used with permission). Image source: The Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology

Her eyesight was not impaired after the first two visits, but on March 5th, her vision had started to decline from 20/20 visual acuity to 20/40 pinhole to 20/30. Further examinations revealed epithelial damage and the patient continued the prescribed treatment for her condition. She did not qualify for COVID-19 testing according to the Canadian protocols at the time, but doctors had collected eye swabs to test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and bacterial culture. The tests were negative, but the tests were later used to check for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the eye.

By March 6th, COVID-19 testing in Canada had changed, and she qualified for testing. A PCR test on March 8th was positive, and then samples from her eye were tested as well, confirming that the virus was present for the lesions in the eyes.

From the study: Schematic representation of the slit-lamp examination findings over progressive clinic visits; note the increase in the cornea lesions over time. Image source: The Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of COVID-19 (caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus) presenting with keratoconjunctivitis as the main symptom, the researchers concluded.

The patient did not present with conjunctivitis as previously reported for COVID-19 cases, but as keratoconjunctivitis. It was also apparent from the clinical examinations that the epithelial defects varied from one examination to the next and appeared as a pseudodendrite perhaps from a healing epithelial defect or possibly as a progressing subepithelial infiltrate.

The patients primary symptom and reason for repeatedly seeking care was a red eye with watery discharge, the study reads. If youre experiencing similar eye issues, you should consider the possibility of being infected with SARS-CoV-2. The CDC has a thorough list of coronavirus symptoms that you should check out if you suspect an infection. The New York Times created an interactive infographic that shows the most common symptoms associated with the illness.

The researches warn that healthcare workers treating patients that manifest such symptoms should know that a red eye could be an indication of COVID-19. Patients who have a red eye; respiratory symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath; and recently traveled to areas with known outbreaks are at higher risk of having COVID-19, the doctors note. Clinical interactions with any patients presenting with similar upper respiratory tract symptoms should be done with mouth and eye protection routinely if exposure to the patients secretions is possible. n this particular case, five physicians and three healthcare workers had to be placed in self-isolation for 14 days after treating the woman.

Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it he was sharing his views on tech stuff with readers around the world. Whenever he's not writing about gadgets he miserably fails to stay away from them, although he desperately tries. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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This common eye issue might be a sign of coronavirus infection - BGR

Eyesight deterioration and general eye health: what can I do to protect my vision?

It is easy to take your eyes and sight for granted, but if you develop problems, you will soon realise how much you depend on your vision every moment of every single day.

That is why it is important to look after your vision now before issues might arise that could have been avoided. The good news is that there are things you can do to lower your risk of vision loss. Lets take a look at some of them.

Investigate your familys healthy history

It is important to learn more about the health history of your family. This way, you can know if you are at a higher risk of any eye disease. For example, check if any of your family has glaucoma, high blood pressure or diabetes. If they do, you should make your eye doctor aware of this so that your eyesight can be monitored.

Regular screening for conditions like glaucoma can spot the problem early and provide you with support. Conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure can lead to eye problems if they are not addressed.

Thankfully, there is a lot of research and new treatment developments, such as at the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute, that are going to help with eye conditions.

Everyone is always telling you to enjoy a healthy diet. In particular, this is going to be important for preventing vision loss. For example, you should make sure that you enjoy a lot of fruit and vegetables in your diet. Studies are showing that leafy vegetables contain nitrates, which can lower your risk of glaucoma by up to 30 percent. This works by improving blood flow to your eyes through the nitric oxide that is created.

Making a conscious effort to adjust your meals and snacks during the day can really make a difference.

In recent years, the damage of smoking has been recognised across the world. But did you know that smoking doesn't just affect your lungs? It can also cause damage to your eyes too. For example, you can be more at risk of macular degeneration and glaucoma. It is time to kick the habit and focus on living a healthier lifestyle. While this can be difficult at first, there are many advantages to giving up smoking. Do not be afraid to reach out for support.

There are a lot of things in your daily life that can increase the risk of eye damage. You should always wear protective eyewear if you work in construction or other jobs where there are machinery and chemicals. In addition, everyone is advised to wear sunglasses in order to block out harmful UV light.

Even if you go swimming, it is recommended that you wear goggles so that chlorine does not irritate your eyes. Simple steps like these ensure your vision is protected.

Continued here:
How to lower your risk of vision loss - Midhurst and Petworth Observer

Will I go blind? Its a frightening thought that most people have when they are first told they have glaucoma.

Patients are almost always concerned that they are going to lose their vision, says Andrew Iwach, M.D., executive director of the Glaucoma Center of San Francisco. The good news for the majority of patients is that we can maintain their vision with treatment.

The sneak thief of sight

Glaucoma, an eye disease that damages the optic nerve, is the leading cause of irreversible blindness. Currently, it affects more than three million people in the United States. The National Eye Institute projects this number will rise by 58% over the next decade to 4.2 million people.

The most common form of the disease is open-angle glaucoma, which affects 90% of patients and occurs when the eyes drainage canals become clogged over time, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation.

Open-angle glaucoma has been called the sneak thief of sight because it strikes without symptoms. In fact, experts estimate that half of the patients who have glaucoma dont know it. As much as 40% of vision can be lost without a person noticing. And once that eyesight is lost, its permanently gone.

I didnt have any symptoms prior to diagnosis, says Richie Kahn, 34, who was diagnosed in March 2019. By then, glaucoma had already stolen part of my vision. I was surprised to learn that my brain was actually compensating for my vision loss by filling in the blanks.

Hope through treatment

Since glaucoma has no symptoms in its early stages and progresses slowly over many years, eye doctors emphasize the importance of regular eye exams to detect the disease before theres a significant loss of vision.

The target for glaucoma therapy is to lower intraocular pressure (IOP). High IOP causes damage to the optic nerve, which produces vision loss in the disease. Approaches to lowering IOP include a wide range of eye drop medications, laser treatments that are performed in a doctors office, and several types of incisional surgery.

Trinh Green, M.D., has lived with glaucoma for 24 years after being diagnosed at age 21. Like Richie, she had no symptoms of the disease, so news of her diagnosis came as a total surprise. Her advice to others is to remain calm and stay optimistic throughout their care and treatment.

I think its very important for people to stay calm after learning they have glaucoma, says Trinh. There are many more treatments available in the last few years. I also owe so much to Dr. Iwach. Hes a very calming presence. Whenever there was a setback and the disease progressed, he would tell me, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.

The power of knowledge

In addition to early detection and treatment, Dr. Iwach emphasizes the importance of patients learning everything they can about glaucoma.

Getting the facts, including risk factors and treatment options, can empower patients to improve their outcomes and reduce their fears, he says.

Dr. Iwach encourages all his patients to read Understanding and Living with Glaucoma, published by the Glaucoma Research Foundation. The free booklet, updated and newly illustrated, offers a comprehensive introduction to glaucoma and guidance about how patients can work with their doctors to manage the disease.

Glaucoma patients like Richie found power in knowledge in their fight against glaucoma.

Everyones journey will be different and you have to be willing to advocate for yourself, says Richie. I learned a lot from the Glaucoma Research Foundation. Staying informed about my particular situation allows me to be an active member of my own care team, doing my part to preserve my vision.

A free copy of Understanding and Living with Glaucoma can be downloaded or ordered at http://www.glaucoma.org/booklet.

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Protecting your Eyesight Against the Silent Advance of Glaucoma Pasadena Weekendr - Pasadena Now

Your eyes deserve all the care in the world because if you get an eye disease, the world would not only be less interesting but also difficult to live in. A balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle are very important to maintain perfect vision. The deficiency of some nutrients, like vitamins A, C and E, omega-3 fatty acids, minerals like zinc, and antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin from your diet can lead to a number of eye diseases in the long run.

So, if you want to avoid everything from dry eyes and night blindness to cataracts and glaucomas, including foods that improve vision in your diet is very important. The best part, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), is that foods that are good for your eyes are also brilliant for your heart. So, include the following seven foods in your diet to improve your eye health:

1. Green leafy vegetables:Green veggies like spinach, kale, lettuce and collard arent just rich in dietary fibre and vitamin C but are also chock full of antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin.

2. Carrots:Vitamin A plays a vital role in maintaining vision because it is a component of a protein, rhodopsin, which helps your eyes absorb light. Carrots are also full of beta carotene, which is also essential for eye health.

3. Fish:Oily fish like tuna, salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and trout are not only packed with lean proteins but also have high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids which are highly beneficial for your eyes.

4. Nuts and seeds:Vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, phytochemicals - is there anything nuts and seeds have which isnt great for your eyes? Go on and include almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, sesame seeds and peanuts into your daily diet.

5. Citrus fruits:Fruits like oranges, lemons, cantaloupes, grapefruits are full of vitamin C, which is amazing for your eyes. Apart from that, these citrus fruits also pack other vitamins, essential minerals and antioxidants.

6. Eggs:There might be a lot of controversy surrounding the whole egg, but you should know that eggs are packed with healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and proteins - and all of these are great for your eyes. So, forget what youve heard about yolks being unhealthy and eat whole eggs (in moderation, of course) for eye health.

7. Legumes:Legumes, also known as dal in India, are great sources of plant-based proteins, and also have high levels of vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids, which are great for your vision. Make sure you have a bowl of dal every day.

For more information, read our article onHow to improve eyesight.

Health articles on News18 are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.

The information provided here is intended to provide free education about certain medical conditions and certain possible treatment. It is not a substitute for examination, diagnosis, treatment, and medical care provided by a licensed and qualified health professional. If you believe you, your child or someone you know suffers from the conditions described herein, please see your health care provider immediately. Do not attempt to treat yourself, your child, or anyone else without proper medical supervision. You acknowledge and agree that neither myUpchar nor News18 is liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred by you as a result of the information provided here, or as a result of any reliance placed by you on the completeness, accuracy or existence of any information provided herein.

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7 Foods That Can Improve Your Vision And Keep Eye Diseases At Bay - News18

eSight has won CE mark for a wearable assistive technology that can enhance vision for people living with low vision and legal blindness.

The device works for those living with visual acuities from 20/60 to 20/1400 (perfect vision is 20/20) caused by more than 20 different eye conditions including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and Stargardt's disease.

Macular degeneration is a global phenomenon that millions of people suffer from, Robert Vaters, esights president and CEO, told MD+DI. We have the best product to help people navigate it.

The Toronto-based companys technology works by combining a camera and lens technology with advanced sensors and algorithms to maximize the quality of information sent to the brain, which in turn dramatically augments sight.

Wireless with built-in vision controls, the eSight 4 headset features an ergonomically designed halo band with a rechargeable battery that can be replaced within seconds for all-day comfort and use. eSight 4 is also cloud-based, so wearers are provided with easy and instant access to the latest features and invite loved ones and eSight support members to see what they are seeing and help manage their eSight experience.

Other key features of the device include advanced controls, allowing the user to control their vision with 24x zoom and a bioptic tilt to maintain use of natural peripheral vision, and a new Apple and Android mobile apps that make it easier for people with low vision to see their smartphone screen in detail and watch content.

Because of the impact of COVID-19, eSight had to forego a traditional launch of the product and instead move toward a virtual one.

Traditionally, we would be present at conferences where there are physical people, he said. We would also have launch events in localities like for example Florida. Its been a thing that everybody in every kind of business has had to adjust to. I think weve done quite a really good job because we were already in the process before COVID of doing demos online and working with our potential customers through the product remotely.

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eSight Wins CE Mark for Wearable to Enhance Vision - Medical Device and Diagnostics Industry

What is Vision Care?

Vision care is the care and treatment of eyes, eyesight conditions, and vision. The exploding use of electronic devices for everyday functioning has also been related to eye disorders. In recent years, the use of technology has particularly increased among children. Studies suggest excessive use of electronic devices could lead to eye disorders. This indirectly is stoking demand for vision care products.

The vision care market is driving due to the rising geriatric population more susceptible to eye diseases and technological advances in eye care devices. Moreover, the raise awareness for eye health and to address vision-related problems is also serving to boost the vision care market.

Request Sample Copy of Vision Care Market at: https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPRE00011953/

The research provides answers to the following key questions:

Vision Care Industry Report focuses on Market Influence Factors, Growth Drivers, Restraints, Trends and Opportunities so that Market Players can face any challenges and take advantage of Lucrative Prospects available in the Global Vision Care market.

The Vision Care Market Analysis to 2027 is a specialized and in-depth study of the healthcare industry with a special focus on the global market trend analysis. The report aims to provide an overview of vision care market with detailed market segmentation by product type and distribution channel. The vision care market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading players in vision care market and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.

The Emerging Players in the Vision Care Market includes Alcon, Bausch and Lomb, Carl Zeiss, CooperVision, Essilor, Johnson & Johnson, LUXOTTICA GROUP, Rodenstock, Safilo Group, ZEISS, etc.

The Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is impacting society and the overall economy across the world. The impact of this pandemic is growing day by day as well as affecting the supply chain. The COVID-19 crisis is creating uncertainty in the stock market, massive slowing of supply chain, falling business confidence, and increasing panic among the customer segments. The overall effect of the pandemic is impacting the production process of several industries including Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, Healthcare and many more. Trade barriers are further restraining the demand- supply outlook. As government of different regions have already announced total lockdown and temporarily shutdown of industries, the overall production process being adversely affected; thus, hinder the overall Vision Care Market globally. This report on Vision Care Market provides the analysis on impact on Covid-19 on various business segments and country markets. The report also showcase market trends and forecast to 2027, factoring the impact of Covid -19 Situation.

Competitive scenario:

The study assesses factors such as segmentation, description, and applications of Vision Care industries. It derives accurate insights to give a holistic view of the dynamic features of the business, including shares, profit generation, thereby directing focus on the critical aspects of the business.

Scope of the Report

The research on the Vision Care market focuses on mining out valuable data on investment pockets, growth opportunities, and major market vendors to help clients understand their competitors methodologies. The research also segments the Vision Care market on the basis of end user, product type, application, and demography for the forecast period 20212027. Comprehensive analysis of critical aspects such as impacting factors and competitive landscape are showcased with the help of vital resources, such as charts, tables, and infographics.

Vision Care Market Segmented by Region/Country: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Central & South America

Major highlights of the report:

All-inclusive evaluation of the parent market

Evolution of significant market aspects

Industry-wide investigation of market segments

Assessment of market value and volume in past, present, and forecast years

Evaluation of market share

Study of niche industrial sectors

Tactical approaches of market leaders

Lucrative strategies to help companies strengthen their position in the market

Interested in purchasing this Report? Click here @ https://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPRE00011953/

Thanks for reading this article; you can also customize this report to get select chapters or region-wise coverage with regions such as Asia, North America, and Europe.

About Us:

The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are committed to provide highest quality research and consulting services to our customers. We help our clients understand the key market trends, identify opportunities, and make informed decisions with our market research offerings at an affordable cost.

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Vision Care Market 2020 Global Overview, Growth, Size, Opportunities, Trends, Leading Company Analysis and Forecast to 2027 - Chelanpress

Don't worry that your dog's world is visually drab.Kevin Short/EyeEm via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question youd like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Do dogs really see in just black and white? Oscar V., age 9, Somerville, Massachusetts

Dogs definitely see the world differently than people do, but its a myth that their view is just black, white and grim shades of gray.

While most people see a full spectrum of colors from red to violet, dogs lack some of the light receptors in their eyes that allow human beings to see certain colors, particularly in the red and green range. But canines can still see yellow and blue.

Different wavelengths of light register as different colors in an animals visual system. Top is the human view; bottom is a dogs eye view. Top: iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images. Bottom: As processed by Andrs Pter's Dog Vision Image Processing Tool

What you see as red or orange, to a dog may just be another shade of tan. To my dog, Sparky, a bright orange ball lying in the green grass may look like a tan ball in another shade of tan grass. But his bright blue ball will look similar to both of us. An online image processing tool lets you see for yourself what a particular picture looks like to your pet.

Animals cant use spoken language to describe what they see, but researchers easily trained dogs to touch a lit-up color disc with their nose to get a treat. Then they trained the dogs to touch a disc that was a different color than some others. When the well-trained dogs couldnt figure out which disc to press, the scientists knew that they couldnt see the differences in color. These experiments showed that dogs could see only yellow and blue.

In the back of our eyeballs, human beings retinas contain three types of special cone-shaped cells that are responsible for all the colors we can see. When scientists used a technique called electroretinography to measure the way dogs eyes react to light, they found that canines have fewer kinds of these cone cells. Compared to peoples three kinds, dogs only have two types of cone receptors.

Light travels to the back of the eyeball, where it registers with rod and cone cells that send visual signals on to the brain. iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Not only can dogs see fewer colors than we do, they probably dont see as clearly as we do either. Tests show that both the structure and function of the dog eye leads them to see things at a distance as more blurry. While we think of perfect vision in humans as being 20/20, typical vision in dogs is probably closer to 20/75. This means that what a person with normal vision could see from 75 feet away, a dog would need to be just 20 feet away to see as clearly. Since dogs dont read the newspaper, their visual acuity probably doesnt interfere with their way of life.

Theres likely a lot of difference in visual ability between breeds. Over the years, breeders have selected sight-hunting dogs like greyhounds to have better vision than dogs like bulldogs.

But thats not the end of the story. While people have a tough time seeing clearly in dim light, scientists believe dogs can probably see as well at dusk or dawn as they can in the bright middle of the day. This is because compared to humans, dog retinas have a higher percentage and type of another kind of visual receptor. Called rod cells because of their shape, they function better in low light than cone cells do.

Dogs also have a reflective tissue layer at the back of their eyes that helps them see in less light. This mirror-like tapetum lucidum collects and concentrates the available light to help them see when its dark. The tapetum lucidum is what gives dogs and other mammals that glowing eye reflection when caught in your headlights at night or when you try to take a flash photo.

Dogs share their type of vision with many other animals, including cats and foxes. Scientists think its important for these hunters to be able to detect the motion of their nocturnal prey, and thats why their vision evolved in this way. As many mammals developed the ability to forage and hunt in twilight or dark conditions, they gave up the ability to see the variety of colors that most birds, reptiles and primates have. People didnt evolve to be active all night, so we kept the color vision and better visual acuity.

Before you feel sorry that dogs arent able to see all the colors of the rainbow, keep in mind that some of their other senses are much more developed than yours. They can hear higher-pitched sounds from farther away, and their noses are much more powerful.

Even though Sparky might not be able to easily see that orange toy in the grass, he can certainly smell it and find it easily when he wants to.

Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question youd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.

And since curiosity has no age limit adults, let us know what youre wondering, too. We wont be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

Nancy Dreschel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license.

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Do dogs really see in just black and white? - North Platte Telegraph

Imagine this: Youre on a drive through cotton country. The suns out, tops down. Its a beautiful, totally normal day. Only, what was once a sea of white puff balls has transformed into a multi-hued swirl. Lines of deep purple, bright yellow, midnight blue. All the colors in the rainbowand your t-shirt drawer, as it so happens.

Today, youd do well to check your water. But in the future, colorful cotton could be the normAustralian scientists are having early success genetically modifying the crop to make it multicolored. And although color is their latest project, theyre also working to make synthetic-like, stretchy cotton.

The team hopes their new cotton plants might eventually be grown widely and made into clothes, helping to displace the toxic dyes and synthetic materials used by the fashion industry.

And thats a worthy cause.

The numbers are hard to pin down exactly, but theres little doubt that how we make clothes could be more environmentally friendly. In textile manufacturing, which often takes place in developing countries, those harmful dyes can cause health problems for workers and do more damage as toxic runoff. Also, the life cycle of clothing isnt as long as it once was. While some items will get a second life by way of a thrift store, it all eventually makes its way to a landfill, where the synthetic materials in many clothes can take centuries to break down.

The holy grail then? Non-toxic, compostable clothing. And while its still early, the tools of synthetic biology and genetic engineering may well prove a big part of the solution.

To be totally clear, cotton doesnt only grow in one color. (This was news to me, so maybe it is to you too.) Some varieties, dating back millennia, are naturally dark chocolate, light brown, and even mauve. These were traditionally used in handwoven textiles, but with the Industrial Revolution, naturally pigmented cotton gave way to white cotton because it had longer, higher quality fibers, you could dye it any color on the cheap, and it didnt require specialized equipment or methods to harvest.

In the 80s and 90s, as people became more environmentally conscious, there was a revival of naturally pigmented cotton. You could make clothes from it without dye and suppliers were often small, organic farmers. There was even work to make it amenable to industrial looms. Sally Fox, for example, developed varieties with longer fibers in an array of colors.

Still, naturally colored cotton is generally more expensive to produce, the color range is limited, and the fiber quality is lower than white cotton.

Enter genetic engineering.

As far back as 1993, people were talking about adding color genes to cotton. Two biotech companies, Agracetus and Calgene, had plans to splice in genes from the indigo plant to make cotton for blue jeans. Of course it will work, Ken Barton, vice-president of research and development at Agracetus, said at the time. Give a scientist enough time and money and he can do anything. Of course, were still dying jeans 27 years laterbut maybe the time has come.

As with all things in the realm of biology, the devils in the details, but our tools for manipulating nature have advanced in the last few decades too.

An array of tiny, brilliantly colored buds of cotton tissue are sitting in a few dozen petri dishes in a Canberra greenhouse (check out images here). In one dish, the cotton is raspberry red; in the other its yellow like a mango. The tissue, which carries genes for color spliced in by scientists at Australias scientific research agency, CSIRO, is only the first step, but its a promising one. In the next few months, the team, led by senior research scientist, Colleen MacMillan, will coax the tissue into full-grown cotton plants.

If all goes to plan, the cotton fiber will be just as colorful as the petri dish tissue. The team points to splotches of color on leaves of tobacco plants carrying the cotton genes as likely evidence theyll take. If the leaves of the cotton plants are similarly colored, the cotton fiber will be too.

Weve seen some really beautiful bright yellows, sort of golden-orangey colors, through to some really deep purple, Filomena Pettolino, a scientist on MacMillans team, told Australias ABC News. The team is also working on black cotton, which would be a significant achievementblack dyes are notoriously the nastiest, most toxic of the lot. And the less dye the better.

Though theyre favored for speed and quality, synthetic dyes can include formaldehyde and heavy metals which stain the skin and cause cancer. That early-90s dream to make jeans with blue cotton? Its just as relevant today. In the Chinese province of Xintang, where 300 million pairs of jeans are dyed each year, the toxic runoff flows into rivers by the gallon.

In parallel to their work in multicolored cotton, the team has a longer-term project to make synthetic-like cotton. Synthetics like polyester and nylon make their way into the environment from washing machineswhich pull off and flush microfibers from the fabricand of course, they also line landfills. The team is screening thousands of plants, hunting for proteins with just the right properties: stretchy, wrinkle-free, and maybe even waterproof.

Were looking into the structure of cotton cell walls and harnessing the latest tools in synthetic biology to develop the next generation cotton fiber, CSIRO scientist Dr Madeline Mitchell said. Weve got a whole bunch of different cotton plants growing; some with really long thin fibers, others like the one we call Shaun the Sheep, with short, woolly fibers.

It remains to be seen whether this next-gen cotton can keep up with fashions insatiable demand for new huesthough black is never out of styleif it can yield as much as a standard cotton plant, and what it will cost farmers.

First, though, this team (or another) will need to prove they can grow the stuff and produce seeds at scale. But if it works, you or someone you know may one day rock a pair of fully compostable, bright purple yoga pants of gene-hacked cotton.

Image credit: Crystal de Passill-Chabot / Unsplash

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Scientists Gene-Hack Cotton Plants to Make Them Every Color of the Rainbow - Singularity Hub

Transfer of Caribous novel microbial IP will enable new therapeutic opportunities for Novome

License to CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property controlled by Caribou will accelerate the development of preclinical candidates built on Novomes proprietary synthetic biology platform

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novome Biotechnologies, Inc., a biotechnology company engineering first-in-class, living medicines for chronic diseases, today announced that it has taken assignment to certain microbial intellectual property, and has non-exclusively licensed foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property controlled by Caribou Biosciences, a leading CRISPR genome editing company, to expand its therapeutic pipeline and platform capabilities.

This is an important milestone for Novome that should unlock new therapeutic avenues while we accelerate the pace of preclinical development at the company. The ability to leverage the efficient and flexible CRISPR-Cas9 system will allow us to rapidly iterate on GEMM strain designs to generate the most promising therapeutic candidates, said Blake Wise, Chief Executive Officer of Novome. Additionally, we are excited to leverage the progress made by Caribous microbial group and advance this promising science.

Under the terms of an assignment agreement, Novome acquired ownership of certain intellectual property and preclinical projects related to undisclosed therapeutic areas. Additionally, pursuant to a license agreement, Novome received a non-exclusive license to foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property controlled by Caribou for genetic modification of bacterial species for administration as therapeutics in humans. Terms of the agreements have not been disclosed. Novome will have full control of development, manufacturing, and commercialization of any product candidates covered by either the assignment agreement or the license agreement.

Novome developed the first platform for controlled and robust colonization of the human gut with engineered therapeutic bacteria, its Genetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs) platform. The Company is focused on advancing its lead hyperoxaluria program through Phase 1 clinical proof-of-concept work and expanding its platform and pipeline to address additional disease indications.

Novome was founded in 2016 by scientists from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, based on research performed in the laboratory of Scientific Co-founder Dr. Justin Sonnenburg, Associate Professor, Stanford University. The founding team, Drs. Will DeLoache, Weston Whitaker, Zachary Russ, and Liz Shepherd, combines deep expertise in synthetic biology and the study of the gut microbiota. Their work has led to numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications, as well as the filing of a portfolio of patents, both developed at Novome and licensed exclusively from Stanford.

About Genetically Engineered Microbial MedicinesGenetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs) are proprietary bacterial strains designed to colonize the gut at a controllable abundance and express therapeutic transgenes at clinically meaningful levels. Colonization is maintained using a daily dose of prebiotic polysaccharide that GEMMs are engineered to depend upon for their survival.

About NovomeNovome Biotechnologies, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on engineering defined activities into the human gut microbiota to treat chronic diseases. The Company has developed the first-ever platform for controlled colonization of the gut with engineered bacteria, enabling first-in-class living therapeutics: Genetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs). Novome is utilizing its proprietary GEMMs platform in its lead preclinical program in hyperoxaluria, which is focused on the development of a therapeutic strain of bacteria that degrades oxalate to prevent the formation of kidney stones. Efforts are also directed to the expansion of its proprietary synthetic biology platform into additional indications.

Source: Novome Biotechnologies, Inc.

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Novome Biotechnologies Expands Therapeutic Focus and Platform Capabilities with Acquisition of Preclinical Projects and Intellectual Property from...

Baseceuticals recently announced its release of the oncolytic virus service aiming to accelerate the development of gene therapy.

New York, USA - August 12, 2020 - Baseceuticals, the major division of Creative Biogene, mainly targets on gene therapy to provide various services for researchers and institutes to develop new drugs, including genetic modification, gene delivery systems and preclinical trials, recently announced its release of the oncolytic virus service aiming to accelerate the development of gene therapy.

As a global leader in the field of gene therapy, Baseceuticals provides high-quality oncolytic virus services based on an excellent and mature platform. Relying on the most advanced technology and the most advanced equipment, the experienced technical team has successfully completed many oncolytic virus projects, including oncolytic virus construction, engineering and verification. After communicating and analyzing the specific situation, Baseceuticals can propose the best strategy for the project to meet specific needs.

Oncolytic viruses have been used for treatment in clinical trials, and an oncolytic virus product T-VEC has been approved by the FDA. Oncolytic virus therapy has been recognized as a promising and effective cancer treatment method. Compared with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, it is easier to destroy tumor cells.

Oncolytic viruses (OV) are a group of tumor-killing viruses with replication ability that can effectively multiply in cancer cells without damaging healthy cells. According to development, oncolytic viruses can be divided into two categories, namely natural viruses and genetically modified viruses. Among them, natural viruses include broad and natural variants of weak viruses. The main advantage of oncolytic viruses is that they can quickly produce virus particles and genetically engineer other genes to enhance anti-tumor immunity, increase tumor cell sensitivity and improve patient safety. Oncolytic virus services provided by Baseceuticals include oncolytic virus construction, oncolytic virus engineering, oncolytic virus verification, and development of disease-specific oncolytic virus therapy.

Highlights of Oncolytic Virus Service in Baseceuticals:

1. Years of rich experience in oncolytic virus services2. Leading equipment and first-class technology3. Fast turnaround time and reliable results4. A variety of oncolytic viruses are available5. Reasonable price and quality service6. Customize services to meet specific requirements through feasible suggestions

"Baseceuticals provides high-quality oncolytic virus services, our technical research team specializes in efficient systems and procedures in projects related to oncolytic viruses," said Marcia Brady, she also claimed, "Our oncolytic virus service starts with free communication and then feasible suggestions to meet your specific needs. We are confident to provide the best oncolytic virus service at an affordable price and reliable results."

About Baseceuticals

With years of experience and advanced technologies, Baseceuticals provides worldwide customers with innovative products and services to greatly enhance the clinical application and drug launches. As a division of Creative Biogene, Baseceuticals has become a well-recognized industry leader to support scientists from research institutes, government, pharmaceutical companies, diagnosis industries and testing laboratories.

Media ContactCompany Name: Creative BiogeneContact Person: Marcia BradyEmail: Send EmailPhone: 1-631-619-7922Country: United StatesWebsite: https://baseceuticals.creative-biogene.com

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Baseceuticals Offers Oncolytic Virus Services to Accelerate the Development in Gene Therapy - Press Release - Digital Journal

2020 will be remembered as the year the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill, as national lockdowns were instituted across the globe. As sectors of the global economy have endured lockdown, curfews and structural changes to combat the virus, global businesses have been forced to adapt and overcome unforeseen challenges and circumstances.

Despite such fundamental changes, some of the brightest minds in the investment world have carried on with their innovations, whether it be in fintech, space exploration, biomedical research or other sectors.

After extensive research and evaluation, here is our list outlining the top 5 investors making the biggest impact in 2020:

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) was founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Based in Silicon Valley, the company has been massively successful under the leadership of Marc and Ben. Ben has overseen investment across several industry sectors, including crypto, fintech, healthcare and consumer goods. With respect to crypto, a16z has made a large bet on Ripple, which with the sole exceptions of Bitcoin and Ethereum, is the most valuable crypto by market capitalization. Bens firm currently manages over $12 billion in assets and continues to grow rapidly. As if that wasnt enough, Ben is now a New York Times best-selling author. 2020 has not slowed Ben or a16z down, and Ben continues to be one of the leading investors in the world.

Peter Thiel is number 2 on the list, and he is known as a prolific entrepreneur and venture capitalist with an estimated worth of $2.3 billion USD. He is a co-founder of PayPal, and also took the company public after leading it as CEO. He also serves as chairman of Palantir Technologies which, alongside PayPal and Facebook, is rumoured to be the main source of his current wealth. His is a partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Founders Fund and has a passion for investing in startups that he sees potential in. He is also a New York Times bestselling author for his books How to Build the Future and Zero to One: Notes on Startups.

Coming in at number 3 on our list is Dylan Taylor, who is an active pioneer in the super-hot industry of space exploration. Taylor is regarded as a super angel investor in the NewSpace industry but more recently, he has turned his attention to controlling interest investments. Taylor is the CEO and Chairman of Voyager Space Holdings, which is an international corporation focused on acquiring and integrating space exploration enterprises on a global level. Earlier in 2020, Dylan was awarded the space industrys top honour by the Commercial Spaceflight Federation for his contributions to business and finance.

Number 4 on our list, Laura Deming is a New Zealand born venture capitalist who has focused her investments on biological research with the aim of reversing, or at least reducing, the effects of aging. At a very young age, she showed interest in the possibilities of genetic engineering to extend lifespans, and she was accepted into MIT at the age of 14 to study physics. She dropped out of MIT after receiving a $100,000 investment from Peter Thiel (number 2 on our list) to start her own venture capital firm, The Longevity Fund. As the name implies, The Longevity Fund is focused on investments in aging and life extension, and as its founder, Laura is considered a leader in the anti-aging field and has been a keynote speaker on the topic.

Lee Fixel is an American venture capitalist who has had a range of outstanding successes. He joined Tiger Global in March 2006 and established himself as one of the pre-eminent investors in software and internet-based companies. Fixel has backed companies like Flipkart and Peloton, both of which have been incredibly successful and have achieved unicorn status. After leaving Tiger Global in 2019, Fixel has set his sights on a new target, having spent much of his recent time away from the public eye. Whether this is because of COVID-19 or personal reasons remains to be seen; however, Fixel has announced the formation of a multi-stage venture capital firm called Addition. The VC firm has already raised more than $1.3 billion and is backing well-known companies like Fauna.

Cameron Dickerson is a seasoned journalist with nearly 10 years experience. While studying journalism at the University of Missouri, Cameron found a passion for finding engaging stories. As a contributor to Kevs Best, Cameron mostly covers state and national developments.

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Top 5 Investors That You Should Certainly Know About in 2020 - Kev's Best

No rest until the government bans the use of glyphosate in all its forms

To the Expositor:

Islanders rightly oppose use of glyphosate-based herbicides, but this is a world-wide problem.

Over the last two years, a small group of concerned Islanders have often felt like mosquitoes trying to sting a corporate elephant. This powerful corporationoriginally Monsantonow part of an even larger corporationBayeris worth around $100 billion!

Originally, their focus was local, urgent and modest in scope. Some Island residents (Zak Nichols, Petra Wall, myself and Pat Hess) had seen statutory notices published in our local media informing the Manitoulin public that Hydro One was planning to spray a herbicide (glyphosate-based Garlon) in sections of its rights of ways on the Island, and they were opposed to this.

They approached several Island municipal councils to get their support for trying to stop this. That support was eventually given, though not without some resistance.

In parallel, the group set up petitions to approach the Ontario governments Minister of Environment asking for the legislation governing pesticide use (Pesticides Act) to be changed. Between the two, they collected well over 1,000 signatures from Islanders who shared their concern about the use of glyphosates. MPP Michael Mantha presented the petitions to the Ontario legislature and to the appropriate minister. Unfortunately, all the group got back were perfunctory replies.

The Expositor and Recorder have done a wonderful job in the past reporting on the groups efforts to highlight the questionable use of pesticides on the Island.

Glyphosate-based products have been around for several decades. They became controversial in the early 2000s when Monsanto packaged glyphosate for residential use as Roundup targeted for spraying dandelions on home lawns and driveways (generally referred to as cosmetic use).

Local municipalities responded to citizens of the day with local bylaws that covered the full spectrum of limitations and bans. By 2009, this had become such an irritant to the government that the then-minister, John Gerretsen, enacted the Cosmetic Pesticides Act which took away all authority from the municipal level to enact further bylaws, and rendered all those that existed as retroactively inoperative, leaving municipalities with few tools in their toolbox to respond to citizens concerns.

Zak Nichols and myself got hundreds of signatures on a petition a couple of years ago. Petra Wall got a similar number so Manitoulin residents and other Ontarians agree there are concerns. Mike Mantha carried the petitions to Queens Park and sent them to the then Minister of the Environment, but since then there have been three changes of minister (maybe fourits getting hard to keep count). Several Manitoulin municipalities were formally supportive of our efforts but couldnt pass bylaws on this because the Ontario government took away their authority to do that.

So, what has happened since then? Well, the pesticides in question, glyphosates, found in products like Garlon and Roundup, has been proven to be cancer-causing. The manufacturer, Bayer-Monsanto, has been losing court cases in the US so fast it is now contemplating make a $12 billion offer to all litigants so it can get on with the rest of its business.

Meanwhile, many other jurisdictions have begun to phase out use of glyphosates. The latest is Mexico, which announced in June that it will be ordering the phasing out of glyphosate use by 2024. Canada currently appears to be ignoring what is happening in the rest of the world. If anything, the current Ontario government appears to be loosening the rules for use of pesticides generally.

So, what is the group looking for now? First, they would like the government of Ontario (and ideally the government of Canada) to ban use of glyphosate in all its forms. That would address their immediate concern which is the use of this poisonous product for vegetation management alongside roads by the utility companies and the contractors they use. Some of them are frankly careless in the way they use the product and several Islanders have reported incidents they have observed where the spraying is taking place. There are specialized contractors on the Island. We understand that they are conscientious and use great care, but they are using glyphosate products (Roundup) and should prepare to change. Second, they want authority to manage these kinds of threats to be passed back to the municipalities which are answerable to their populations. As climate change continues, it will have different impacts in local zones and it is vital that local authorities have all the tools they need to manage problems that could occur.

And the mosquito and the elephant? They have had experiences of both government (specifically environment) and corporate entities (Hydro One) increasingly ignore them even though what they were asking for was reasonable to they hope glyphosates will be banned here sooner or later. Hydro One has been implying recently that they are now a private sector entity and not subject to Access to Information requirements. Well, these mosquitoes will not be brushed off and will find ways to penetrate the hides.

Of course, the cosmetic use of glyphosate products is just the tiniest tip of the smallest market for this pesticide. For the real part of glyphosate use, you have to look at agriculture (incidentally one of the four areas of exception in the Pesticides Act following enactment of the Cosmetic Pesticides Act).

Worldwide, glyphosate based products total up to an estimated 8.6 billion kilograms annually (the figures for Canada not available at time of going to press). Not bad for a chemical which in its early days couldnt find a use!

But for a general herbicide that kills on a broad spectrum, not exactly useful in agriculture until someone in Monsanto thought now genetic engineering is well understood. If we could genetically engineer crop seeds to be resistant to glyphosate, we could have a lock on the market both coming and going so voila, along came GMO seeds and the rest is history.

Paul Darlaston

Kagawong

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Letter: A hardy group of concerned Islanders remain at the forefront against herbicides - Manitoulin Expositor

Global CRISPR Gene-Editing Market report performs systematic gathering, recording and analysis of data about the issues related to the marketing of goods and services and serves the businesses with an excellent market research report. The report provides intelligent solutions to complex business challenges and commences an effortless decision-making process. The report analyses and evaluates the important industry trends, market size, market share estimates, and sales volume with which industry can speculate the strategies to increase return on investment (ROI). In the Global CRISPR Gene-Editing Market document, the statistics have been represented in the graphical format for an unambiguous understanding of facts and figures.

CRISPR gene-editing marketis rising gradually with a healthy CAGR of 23.35 % in the forecast period of 2019-2026. Growing prevalence of cancer worldwide and expanding the application of CRISPR technology by innovative research from the different academic organizations are the key factors for market growth.

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Key Market Players:

Few of the major competitors currently working in the global CRISPR gene-editing market are Applied StemCell, ACEA BIO, Synthego, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, GenScript, Addgene, Merck KGaA, Intellia Therapeutics, Inc, Cellectis, Precision Biosciences, Caribou Biosciences, Inc, Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc, OriGene Technologies, Inc, Novartis AG, New England Biolabs among others

Market Dynamics:

Set of qualitative information that includes PESTEL Analysis, PORTER Five Forces Model, Value Chain Analysis and Macro Economic factors, Regulatory Framework along with Industry Background and Overview.

Global CRISPR Gene-Editing Market By Therapeutic Application (Oncology, Autoimmune/Inflammatory), Application (Genome Engineering, Disease Models, Functional Genomics and Others), Technology (CRISPR/Cas9, Zinc Finger Nucleases and Others), Services (Design Tools, Plasmid and Vector, Cas9 and g-RNA, Delivery System Products and Others), Products (GenCrispr/Cas9 kits, GenCrispr Cas9 Antibodies, GenCrispr Cas9 Enzymes and Others), End-Users (Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Companies, Academic & Government Research Institutes, Contract Research Organizations and Others), Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2026

Global CRISPR Gene-Editing Research Methodology

Data Bridge Market Research presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The data thus presented is comprehensive, reliable, and the result of extensive research, both primary and secondary. The analysts have presented the various facets of the market with a particular focus on identifying the key industry influencers.

Major Drivers and Restraints of the CRISPR Gene-Editing Industry

High prevalence of cancer worldwide is driving the growth of this marketJoint ventures by biotechnical companies for the advancement of genetic engineering for the development of CRISPR worldwide can also boost the market growthExpanding the application of CRISPR technology by innovative research from the different academic organizations also enhances the market growth

High finance in research and development also acts as a driving factor in the growth of this marketProbable mistreatment of CRISPR gene editing device and CRISPR/Cas genome editing device is restricting the growth for the marketScientific and major technical challenges for the production of disease specific novel CRISPR gene editing can also hamper the market growthLack of healthcare budget in some middle-income countries restricts the market growth

Complete report is available (TOC) @https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-crispr-gene-editing-market

The titled segments and sub-section of the market are illuminated below:

By Therapeutic

OncologyAutoimmune/Inflammatory

By Application

Genome EngineeringDisease ModelsFunctional GenomicsOthers

By Technology

CRISPR/Cas9Zinc Finger NucleasesOthers

By Services

Design ToolsPlasmid and VectorCas9 and g-RNADelivery System ProductsOthers

By Products

GenCrispr/Cas9 kitsGenCrispr Cas9 AntibodiesGenCrispr Cas9 EnzymesOthers

By End-Users

Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical CompaniesAcademic & Government Research InstitutesContract Research OrganizationsOthers

Top Players in the Market are:

Few of the major competitors currently working in the global CRISPR gene-editing market are Applied StemCell, ACEA BIO, Synthego, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, GenScript, Addgene, Merck KGaA, Intellia Therapeutics, Inc, Cellectis, Precision Biosciences, Caribou Biosciences, Inc, Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc, OriGene Technologies, Inc, Novartis AG, New England Biolabs among others

How will the report help new companies to plan their investments in the CRISPR Gene-Editing market?

The CRISPR Gene-Editing market research report classifies the competitive spectrum of this industry in elaborate detail. The study claims that the competitive reach spans the companies.

The report also mentions about the details such as the overall remuneration, product sales figures, pricing trends, gross margins, etc.

Information about the sales & distribution area alongside the details of the company, such as company overview, buyer portfolio, product specifications, etc., are provided in the study.

Any query? Enquire Here For Discount Or Report Customization: @https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-crispr-gene-editing-market

Some of the Major Highlights of TOC covers:

Chapter 1: Methodology & Scope

Definition and forecast parameters

Methodology and forecast parameters

Data Sources

Chapter 2: Executive Summary

Business trends

Regional trends

Product trends

End-use trends

Chapter 3: CRISPR Gene-Editing Industry Insights

Industry segmentation

Industry landscape

Vendor matrix

Technological and innovation landscape

Chapter 4: CRISPR Gene-Editing Market, By Region

Chapter 5: Company Profile

Business Overview

Financial Data

Product Landscape

Strategic Outlook

SWOT Analysis

Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.

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An absolute way to forecast what future holds is to comprehend the trend today!Data Bridge set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.

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CRISPR Gene-Editing Market Future Growth Analysis, Business Demand and Opportunities to 2027 | Applied StemCell, ACEA BIO, Synthego, Thermo Fisher...

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced it will report its second quarter 2020 financial and operating results following the close of U.S. financial markets on Monday, August 10, 2020.

Conference call details are as follows:

Conference call and webcast replay:

About Novavax

Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq:NVAX) is a late-stage biotechnology company that promotes improved health globally through the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases. Novavax is undergoing clinical trials for NVX-CoV2373, its vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. NVXCoV2373 was generally well-tolerated and elicited robust antibody responses numerically superior to that seen in human convalescent sera in its Phase 1 portion of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial. NanoFlu, its quadrivalent influenza nanoparticle vaccine, met all primary objectives in its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in older adults. Both vaccine candidates incorporate Novavax proprietary saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant in order to enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies. Novavax is a leading innovator of recombinant vaccines; its proprietary recombinant technology platform combines the power and speed of genetic engineering to efficiently produce highly immunogenic nanoparticles in order to address urgent global health needs.

For more information, visit http://www.novavax.com and connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

InvestorsSilvia Taylor and Erika Trahanir@novavax.com240-268-2022

MediaAmy Speakamy@speaklifescience.com617-420-2461

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Novavax to Host Conference Call to Discuss Second Quarter Financial and Operating Results on August 10, 2020 - GlobeNewswire

Cell, Gene & Tissue-Based Therapy Developers Poised to Break Year-Over-Year Global Financing Records

WASHINGTON, D.C. August 6, 2020 The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), the leading international advocacy organization dedicated to realizing the promise of regenerative medicines and advanced therapies, today announces the publication of its H1 2020 Global Sector Report, Innovation in the Time of COVID-19. The report provides an in-depth look at trends and metrics in the gene, cell, and tissue-based therapeutic sector in the midst of the pandemic.

As the voice of the sector globally, ARM regularly publishes sector data reports to showcase clinical and scientific progress, as well as advancements and remaining challenges in the policy environment surrounding cell, gene and tissue-based therapies. The report also includes updated metrics on fundraising and clinical trials from more than 1,000 therapeutic developers worldwide.

Highlights from the H1 2020 Global Sector Report include:

Janet Lambert, CEO of ARM, commented: The regenerative medicine and advanced therapy sector has shown remarkable resilience in the face of many new challenges posed by COVID-19. Most importantly, were continuing to see patients benefit from the profound therapeutic effects of both approved products and those currently in clinical development. ARM will continue to work with our membership and with policymakers in the second half of 2020 to further advance these transformative technologies. We are committed to bringing these life-changing therapies to patients in need.

This report is the latest in ARMs series of global regenerative medicine sector reports, providing up-to-date metrics on financings and the clinical landscape, as well as expert commentary on key trends and progress in the field. The full report is available online here, with key sector metrics and infographics available here. For more information, please visit http://www.alliancerm.org or contact Kaitlyn (Donaldson) Dupont at kdonaldson@alliancerm.org.

About the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) is the leading international advocacy organization dedicated to realizing the promise of regenerative medicines and advanced therapies. ARM promotes legislative, regulatory and reimbursement initiatives to advance this innovative and transformative sector, which includes cell therapies, gene therapies and tissue-based therapies. Early products to market have demonstrated profound, durable and potentially curative benefits that are already helping thousands of patients worldwide, many of whom have no other viable treatment options. Hundreds of additional product candidates contribute to a robust pipeline of potentially life-changing regenerative medicines and advanced therapies. In its 11-year history, ARM has become the voice of the sector, representing the interests of 360+ members worldwide, including small and large companies, academic research institutions, major medical centers and patient groups. To learn more about ARM or to become a member, visit http://www.alliancerm.org.

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New Report: Regenerative Medicine & Advanced Therapies Sector Thriving Despite COVID-19 - PharmiWeb.com

The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves inside the spine that gives your body structure and support. Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) tend to be devastating and most are permanent. Recent research has shown that motor neuron obtained from skin cells could serve as potential treatments for spinal cord injuries, and thus has received considerable research attention. With this, a new door has been opened for treating not only spinal cord injuries, caused by workplace accidents and car crashes, but also Lou Gehrigs disease, known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS.

A research team, led by Professor Jeong Beom Kim and his research team in the School of Life Sciences at UNIST has demonstrated that human fibroblasts can be converted into induced motor neurons (iMNs) by sequentially inducing two transcription factors, POU5F1(OCT4) and LHX3. The research team further investigated the therapeutic effects of iMNs for treating traumatic spinal cord injury using rodent spinal cord injury model. Their findings indicate that the sequential induction of two transcription factors is essential for generating self-renewing iMNICs more efficiently. This method not only ensures large-scale production of pure iMNs, but also facilitates the feasibility of iMNs for SCI treatment.

The spinal cord is responsible for transmitting signals from the brain to the rest of the body, and vice versa. Along with motor and sensory deficits, damage to the spinal cord can cause long-term complications, including limited mobility. Although there are many treatment options available for people with SCI, most of them have adverse side effects that impact therapy. And this is why stem cell (SC) therapies to restore functions of damaged tissues are attracting attention, recently. Among those cells constituting the spinal cord, motor neurons that involved in the regulation of muscle function have emerged as a promising candidate for the stem cell-based therapy for SCIs. Despite these encouraging advances, ethical issue of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and tumorigenic potential of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have impeded their translations into clinical trials.

Figure 1. The experimental scheme for the generation of induced motor neurons (iMNs) from human fibroblasts via sequential transduction of two transcription factors.

To overcome these limitations, Professor Kim and his research team established an advanced direct conversion strategy to generate iMNs from human fibroblasts in large-scale with high purity, thereby providing a cell source for the treatment of SCI. These iMNs possessed spinal cord motor neuronal identity and exhibit hallmarks of spinal MNs, such as neuromuscular junction formation capacity and electrophysiological properties in vitro. Importantly, their findings also show that transplantation of iMNs improved locomotor function in rodent SCI model without tumor formation. According to the research team, This proof-of-concept study shows that our functional iMNs can be employed to cell-based therapy as an autologous cell source. Through this, they resolved the problem of immune rejection, and thus reduce the risk of cancer.

In the study, we succeeded in generating iMNs from human fibroblasts by overexpressing POU5F1(OCT4) and LHX3, says Hyunah Lee (Combined MS/Ph.D program of Life Sciences, UNIST), the first author of the study.

Figure 2. Therapeutic effects of iMNs in rat spinal cord injury model in vivo. (A) The position of hindlimbs in control rat and iMN-transplanted rat after 8 weeks of transplantation. (B) C staining analysis of spinal cords after 8 weeks of transplantation (I; Control, J; iMN-transplanted).

The developed motor nerve cell manufacturing method has the advantage of being capable of mass production. A sufficient amount of cells is required for patient clinical treatment, but the existing direct differentiation technique has limited the number of cells that can be obtained. On the other hand, the method developed by the research team is capable of mass production because it undergoes an intermediate cell stage capable of self-renewal. After injecting the produced cells into the spinal cord injury mice, it was confirmed that the lost motor function is restored and the nerves are regenerated in the damaged spinal cord tissue.

Although further investigation on mechanism responsible for cell fate conversion may be needed, our strategy is a safer and simpler methodology that may provide new insights to develop personalized stem cell therapy and drug screening for MN diseases or spinal cord disorders, says Professor Kim. If combined with SuPine Patch, an adhesive hydrogel patches with the purpose of regenerating the damaged spinal cords, its therapeutic effects will be maximized. He adds, As the incidence of spinal cord injury is high due to industrial accidents, synergistic effects with public hospitals specializing in industrial accidents scheduled to be built in Ulsan should be expected.

This study has been jointly carried out with Professor Kims startup company, SuPine Therapeutics Inc. with the support of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS). The findings of this research have been published in the 2020 June issue of the online edition of eLife, a renowned academic journal of the European Molecular Biology Organizationl (EMBO).

Journal Reference

Hyunah Lee, Hye Yeong Lee, Byeong Eun Lee, et al., Sequentially induced motor neurons from human fibroblasts facilitate locomotor recovery in a rodent spinal cord injury model, eLife, (2020).

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New Study Presents Cell-based Therapy for MN Diseases or Spinal Cord Disorders - Mirage News

LONDON :Human embryos could be susceptible to COVID-19 as early as the second week of pregnancy, if the mother gets sick, potentially affecting the chances of a successful pregnancy, according to a study.

Scientists at the UK's University of Cambridge and California Institute of Technology in the US found that genes thought to play a role in how the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects our cells have been found to be active in embryos as early as during the second week of pregnancy.

While initially recognised as causing respiratory disease, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19 disease, also affects many other organs, they said.

Advanced age and obesity are risk factors for complications but questions concerning the potential effects on foetal health and successful pregnancy for those infected with SARS-CoV-2 remain largely unanswered, according to the researchers.

In the journal Open Biology, the researchers described how they used technology to culture human embryos through the stage they normally implant in the body of the mother to look at the activity - or 'expression' - of key genes in the embryo. On the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are large 'spike' proteins. Spike proteins bind to ACE2, a protein receptor found on the surface of cells in our body, the researchers explained. Both the spike protein and ACE2 are then cleaved, allowing genetic material from the virus to enter the host cell.

The virus manipulates the host cell's machinery to allow the virus to replicate and spread, they said.

The researchers found patterns of expression of the genes ACE2, which provide the genetic code for the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, and TMPRSS2, which provides the code for a molecule that cleaves both the viral spike protein and the ACE2 receptor, allowing infection to occur.

These genes were expressed during key stages of the embryo's development, and in parts of the embryo that go on to develop into tissues that interact with the maternal blood supply for nutrient exchange.

Gene expression requires that the DNA code is first copied into an RNA message, which then directs the synthesis of the encoded protein.

"Our work suggests that the human embryo could be susceptible to COVID-19 as early as the second week of pregnancy if the mother gets sick," said Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, who holds positions at both the University of Cambridge and Caltech.

"To know whether this really could happen, it now becomes very important to know whether the ACE2 and TMPRSS2 proteins are made and become correctly positioned at cell surfaces.

If these next steps are also taking place, it is possible that the virus could be transmitted from the mother and infect the embryo's cells," Zernicka-Goetz said.

Professor David Glover, also from Cambridge and Caltech, noted that genes encoding proteins that make cells susceptible to infection by the novel coronavirus become expressed very early on in the embryo's development.

"This is an important stage when the embryo attaches to the mother's womb and undertakes a major remodelling of all of its tissues and for the first time starts to grow," Glover said.

He added that COVID-19 could affect the ability of the embryo to properly implant into the womb or could have implications for future foetal health.

The team said that further research is required using stem cell models and in non-human primates to better understand the risk.

However, they said their findings emphasise the importance for women planning for a family to try to reduce their risk of infection.

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Embryos could be vulnerable to covid-19 in second week of pregnancy: Study - Livemint

Stromal vascular fraction is gaining significant importance in various fields, including internal medicine, orthopaedics, plastic and general surgery,and wound healing.

Ease of harvest, abundant availability, and stable phenotype are some factors increasing the demand for stromal vascular fraction. Also, stromal vascular fraction secretes several soluble factors with anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and analgesic effects, which leads to an alternative treatment option for various diseases, significantly benefitting the growth of thestromal vascular fraction marketduring the forecast period.

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Company Profiles

Delivery of stromal vascular fraction by intra-articular injection has advantages over surgical implantation, such as less invasiveness, better patient compliance, and lower cost.

The global stromal vascular fraction market was valued atUS$ 76 Mnin 2018, and is expected to witness a CAGR of around4%over the forecast period (2019-2029).

Key Takeaways of Stromal Vascular Fraction Market Study

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Stromal vascular fraction has emerged as an efficient alternative in the field of regenerative medication. However, better-structured and significant clinical investigations need to be carried out to demonstrate and define the therapeutic potential of stromal vascular fraction,says a PMR analyst.

Stromal Vascular Fraction Manufacturers Focusing on Innovative Methods to Optimize Tissue Recovery

Consistent up-gradation and innovation in methods to recover adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ATD-MSCs) for autologous use in regenerative medication applications are expected to offer significant opportunities for the stromal vascular fraction market.

For instance, LipoCell from Tissyou, is furnished with a semipermeable film that separates fat tissues from squander components with the assistance of continuous irrigation. The dialysis of the tissue limits the pressure and trauma to the cell and extracellular matrix, evacuating the blood and oil deposits, which are pro-inflammatory.

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More Valuable Insights on Stromal vascular fraction Market

Persistence Market Research brings a comprehensive research report on the forecasted revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels, and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the segments from 2014 to 2029.

The global stromal vascular fraction market is segmented in detail to cover every aspect of the market and present a complete market intelligence approach to the reader.

The study provide compelling insights on the stromal vascular fraction market on basis of product (SVF isolation products, SVF aspirate purification products, and SVF transfer products), application (cosmetic applications, orthopedic applications, soft tissue applications, and others), and end user (hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, stem cell laboratories, and others), across six major regions.

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Stromal Vascular Fraction Market 2019 to 2029 Size by Product Analysis, Application, End-Users, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies and Forecast...