StemCell Therapy

A new study led by the University of Bristol has shown a common eye condition, glaucoma, could be successfully treated with a single injection using gene therapy, which would improve treatment options, effectiveness and quality of life for many patients.

Glaucoma affects over 64 million people worldwide and is a leading cause of irreversible blindness. It is usually caused by fluid building up in the front part of the eye, which increases pressure inside the eye and progressively damages the nerves responsible for sight. Current treatments include either eye drops, laser or surgery, all of which have limitations and disadvantages.

The research team led by academics at the Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences tested a new approach that could provide additional treatment options and benefits. Their findings are published in the journalMolecular Therapy.

The researchers designed a gene therapy and demonstrated proof of concept using experimental mouse models of glaucoma and human donor tissue.

The treatment targeted part of the eye called the ciliary body, which produces the fluid that maintains pressure within the eye. Using the latest gene editing technology called CRISPR, a gene called Aquaporin 1 in the ciliary body was inactivated leading to reduced eye pressure.

Dr Colin Chu, Visiting Senior Research Fellow in theBristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciencesand corresponding author, said: "Currently there is no cure for glaucoma, which can lead to loss of vision if the disease is not diagnosed and treated early.

"We hope to advance towards clinical trials for this new treatment in the near future. If it's successful it could allow a long-term treatment of glaucoma with a single eye injection, which would improve the quality of life for many patients whilst saving the NHS time and money."

The academics are currently in discussion with industry partners to support further laboratory work and rapidly progress this new treatment option towards clinical trials.

Reference: Wu et al. (2020). Gene Therapy for Glaucoma by Ciliary Body Aquaporin 1 Disruption Using CRISPR-Cas9. Molecular Therapy.DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2019.12.012.

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Glaucoma Could Be Successfully Treated With Gene Therapy - Technology Networks

A CAMPAIGN has been launched that could help save the lives of babies during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bradford Partnership, which works to safeguard children in the district, says the Covid-19 lockdown can make it especially difficult for anyone coping with the challenge of caring for a new born infant.

Often new parents would be able to call on the support of other family members, such as grandparents, or take time out with support from others and get out and about with the baby.

Self-isolation, social distancing restrictions on activities which might lessen stress, like sports, social engagements and entertainment, and restrictions on parent and baby groups and classes, and baby clinics, might all add pressure.

The Partnership understands that mums and dads who cant calm their baby can feel helpless, or think they are a poor parent. When this happens some people feel they are going to tip over the edge. They can become so angry and frustrated they act on impulse and shake their baby.

Shaking or losing your temper with a baby is very dangerous and can cause blindness, learning disabilities, physical disabilities or even death, the Partnership says.

Using the message Babies Cry, You Can Cope, a four step approach using the word ICON is designed to give parents a strategy for managing a crying infant.

Jane Booth, Independent Chair of the Partnership, said: A babys cry is designed to get our attention. Unfortunately, when a parent is very stressed or anxious it can cause an over-reaction that can sometimes lead to physical abuse.

The ICON approach sets out clear steps parents can take that will relieve pressure so that they dont find themselves in a position where they shake or strike an infant. Its about providing support at a time when people cant always get help in their community because of social distancing.

Cllr Adrian Farley, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Children and Families, said: Bringing up young children can be stressful, and we know that coronavirus (Covid-19) is putting families under additional strain.

This initiative helps to provide parents with helpful ways to try and stop a baby crying and advice on what to do if they cant.

The Partnership says babies can cry for no particular reasons or because they are hungry, tired, wet/dirty or unwell.

Dont get angry with your baby or yourself. Put the baby in a safe place and walk away so that you can calm yourself down by doing something that takes your mind off the crying. After a few minutes when you are calm, go back and check on the baby.

Parents can visit Bradford Council's Early Year's advice website for more information.

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New campaign could save lives of Bradford babies during lockdown - Bradford Telegraph and Argus

Nathaniel Hiers is no longer a professor at the University of North Texas. He was let go after the administration said he mocked "microaggression" fliers passed out on campus. According to the College Fix, Hiers found a stack of fliers referring to microaggression issues on campus in the faculty lounge and decided to make what he called a "joke." Hiers leaned one of the fliers on the bottom of the chalkboard and wrote above it, "Please don't leave garbage lying around."

Microaggression:

is a term used for brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative prejudicial slights and insults toward any group, particularly culturally marginalized groups.

The fliers reportedly came from the University of New Hampshire's ADVANCE PROGRAM and partially focus onphrases like; "America is a melting pot," claiming a term like this canpropagate the myth of meritocracy and promote color blindness. The fliers also claim that being "forced" to choose male or female when completing basic forms issexist/heterosexist.

In the wake of his firing, Nathaniel Hier filed a First Amendment lawsuit last Thursday (4/16/20) and is being represented byAlliance Defending Freedom. The suit claims Hier was retaliated against and this isviewpoint-based discrimination.

I will now recuse myself from any and all national social discussions of any kind. If this is even a bullet point on the greater agenda in this county, I'll just take the check please. Another day, another "words hurt" topic.

Here's an idea, instead of focusing any energy on language, language use, intent or perceived intent make the life you want and surround yourself with people whose opinions you can tolerate. The reality is no one wants to do that, instead we will all continue to fire hot air at one another about our opinions and feelings while the world melts around us.

Have a ball y'all, I'm out!

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University of North Texas Professor Fired For Mocking 'Microaggression' Fliers on Campus - i95rock.com

A RESTAURANT has lost its licence after three Bangladeshi men were found illegally working in the kitchen during an immigration raid.

The Home Offices Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) team executed a search warrant alongside Essex Police at the Great Gurkha in Old Road, Clacton, earlier this year.

Police and immigration officers found five men in the restaurant, three of whom were working illegally.

All three had overstayed their visas and were arrested before being released on immigration bail.

The restaurant was previously raided in February last year and two men were arrested for immigration offences.

It was decided at that time to issue a formal warning rather than to apply for a review.

But following the latest raid on January 10, Essex Police called on Tendring Council to revoke the restaurants licence, which gives it permission to sell alcohol on and off the premises, play recorded music and offer late night refreshment.

A report by Essex Police said: Whether by negligence or wilful blindness one or more illegal workers were engaged in activity on the premises, yet it is a simple process for an employer to ascertain what documents they should check before a person is allowed to work.

Essex Police asks that the premises licence is revoked. Merely remedying the existing situation - for instance by the imposition of additional conditions or a suspension - is insufficient to act as a deterrent to the licence holder and other premises licence holders from engaging in criminal activity by employing illegal workers and facilitating disqualified immigrants to work illegally.

A firm response to this criminal behaviour is required to ensure that the licence holder and its agents are not allowed to repeat the exercise and in particular, in the interests of the wider community to support responsible businesses and the jobs of both UK citizens and lawful migrants.

Tendring Councils licensing sub-committee met online on Wednesday to considered the reports and evidence presented by the licensing team, Essex Police and immigration officials, and decided to revoke the premises licence.

This sanction, the most severe the panel could impose, was issued in line with the council's policy which states that even in the case of a first immigration offence revocation could be considered.

In their reasoning councillors stated that the fact it was a second breach within 12 months meant that a warning, tightening or suspension of the licence would not be severe enough to reflect the seriousness of the offence..

Val Guglielmi, sub-committee chairman, said: There is a wide range of fabulous restaurants and takeaways across Tendring, not only providing delicious food but also creating jobs.

However, it is important that businesses operate legally, and as per our policy we will not hesitate to take action against those who do not follow the law.

Restaurant owner Aishwarya Enterprise and designated premises supervisor Mithula Varatharasa were permitted to take part, but did not attend the online meeting.

But in a statement to the police the supervisor said she had been taking a break due to health issues and that another person was looking after the businesses at the time of the raid The statement said she admitted to having lost control of business and that the chef must have brought his friends in to work independently.

The restaurant could not be contacted for comment, but a notice in the shop window stated it was temporarily closed due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The licence holder has 21 days within which to lodge an appeal at magistrates court against the decision.

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Restaurant's licence revoked after illegal immigrants found working in kitchen - Clacton and Frinton Gazette

Specialist opticians, Flint and Partners Optometrists, is remaining on hand to help people with acute emergency eye problems amid coronavirus.

The opticians, which has sites in Codsall, Wednesfield and Wolverhampton, has made the decision to remain open and doing so has saved the eyesight of Richie Carter, head coach at Wolverhampton Amateur Boxing Club.

The company's decision aims to ease the burden on GPs and hospitals, treating patients with infections, injuries and other sight threatening conditions.

Richie had been sparring in the garden with his son and sustained a blow to the right side of his head.

A few days later, knowing something wasn't quite right, Mr Carter called Flint and Partners to explain his symptoms and an appointment was arranged for him to attend for a consultation at the Tettenhall Road practice.

Using specialist tests, a tear was found in his retina that could have lead to blindness if left untreated - an appointment was arranged with a surgeon at New Cross within the hour, and his eye was operated on the following morning.

Mr Carter said: "I can't thank Flints enough, Mr Lyons - the fella who dealt with me - got me sorted straight away, diagnosed my problem and got me into the hospital - he saved the sight in my right eye".

Anyone with concerns about their eyesight can contact Flints on 01902 422096.

Link:
Wolverhampton optician saves eyesight of city boxing coach - expressandstar.com

I dont know why people pay attention only to vaccines and treatments against the new coronavirus. Stem cell therapies are more useful to treat Covid-19.

So claimed Lee Hee-young, president of the Korean Association of Stemcell Therapy, at a news conference in Seoul, Monday. He called for active use of stem cell therapies to treat Covid-19 patients.

Several studies have proved the effects of autologous stem cells in treating acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is the leading cause of death in Covid-19 patients, Lee said. The concept of stem cell therapy is the same as that of blood transfusion or bone marrow transplantation. Decades of cell therapies have proved that stem cell therapy is safe.

While the development of a treatment or a vaccine against Covid-19 takes a long time and it may not be able to treat patients immediately because of virus mutation possibilities, stem cell therapies can restore damaged lungs directly, Lee claimed.

It is more important to restore damaged lungs than to fight the virus. Stem cell therapy restores the lungs, giving patients time to beat the virus, he went on to say. However, people are paying attention to vaccine or treatment candidates only. This is why I am holding a news conference.

Lee pointed out that the local environment makes it difficult to use stem cell therapies. Thus, the government should ease regulations on the management and use of cell culture facilities so that doctors can perform stem cell therapies with simple cell culture, he said.

As long as physicians have a positive pressure facility and a culture kit, they can separate and culture cells with simple training, he said. If the authorities allow doctors to perform stem cell therapies with a disposable mobile culture autonomously, the cost of stem cell therapies will go down significantly.

Lee added that he asked related officials to include such rules in the Act on Safety and Support for Advanced Regenerative Medicine and Advanced Biopharmaceuticals, which is to take effect in the second half of the year.

same@docdocdoc.co.kr

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'Stem cell therapy more effective on Covid-19' - Korea Biomedical Review - Korea Biomedical Review

Using induced pluripotent stem cells produced from the skin of a patient with a rare, genetic form of insulin-dependent diabetes calledWolfram syndrome, researchers transformed the human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and used the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to correct a genetic defect that had caused the syndrome. They then implanted the cells into lab mice and cured the unrelenting diabetes in those mice.

The findings, from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, suggest the CRISPR-Cas9 technique may hold promise as a treatment for diabetes, particularly the forms caused by a single gene mutation, and it also may be useful one day in some patients with the more common forms of diabetes, such as type 1 and type 2.

The study is published online April 22 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Patients with Wolfram syndrome develop diabetes during childhood or adolescence and quickly require insulin-replacement therapy, requiring insulin injections multiple times each day. Most go on to develop problems with vision and balance, as well as other issues, and in many patients, the syndrome contributes to an early death.

This is the first time CRISPR has been used to fix a patients diabetes-causing genetic defect and successfully reverse diabetes, said co-senior investigatorJeffrey R. Millman, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine and of biomedical engineering at Washington University. For this study, we used cells from a patient with Wolfram syndrome because, conceptually, we knew it would be easier to correct a defect caused by a single gene. But we see this as a stepping stone toward applying gene therapy to a broader population of patients with diabetes.

Wolfram syndrome is caused by mutations to a single gene, providing the researchers an opportunity to determine whether combining stem cell technology with CRISPR to correct the genetic error also might correct the diabetes caused by the mutation.

A few years ago, Millman and his colleagues discovered how to convert human stem cells into pancreatic beta cells. When such cells encounter blood sugar, they secrete insulin. Recently, those same researchers developed a new technique to more efficiently convert human stem cells into beta cells that are considerably better at controlling blood sugar.

In this study, they took the additional steps of deriving these cells from patients and using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool on those cells to correct a mutation to the gene that causes Wolfram syndrome (WFS1). Then, the researchers compared the gene-edited cells to insulin-secreting beta cells from the same batch of stem cells that had not undergone editing with CRISPR.

In the test tube and in mice with a severe form of diabetes, the newly grown beta cells that were edited with CRISPR more efficiently secreted insulin in response to glucose. Diabetes disappeared quickly in mice with the CRISPR-edited cells implanted beneath the skin, and the animals blood sugar levels remained in normal range for the entire six months they were monitored. Animals receiving unedited beta cells remained diabetic. Their newly implanted beta cells could produce insulin, just not enough to reverse their diabetes.

We basically were able to use these cells to cure the problem, making normal beta cells by correcting this mutation, said co-senior investigatorFumihiko Urano, MD, PhD, the Samuel E. Schechter Professor of Medicine and a professor of pathology and immunology. Its a proof of concept demonstrating that correcting gene defects that cause or contribute to diabetes in this case, in the Wolfram syndrome gene we can make beta cells that more effectively control blood sugar. Its also possible that by correcting the genetic defects in these cells, we may correct other problems Wolfram syndrome patients experience, such as visual impairment and neurodegeneration.

In the future, using CRISPR to correct certain mutations in beta cells may help patients whose diabetes is the result of multiple genetic and environmental factors, such as type 1, caused by an autoimmune process that destroys beta cells, and type 2, which is closely linked to obesity and a systemic process called insulin resistance.

Were excited about the fact that we were able to combine these two technologies growing beta cells from induced pluripotent stem cells and using CRISPR to correct genetic defects, Millman said. In fact, we found that corrected beta cells were indistinguishable from beta cells made from the stem cells of healthy people without diabetes.

Moving forward, the process of making beta cells from stem cells should get easier, the researchers said. For example, the scientists have developed less intrusive methods, making induced pluripotent stem cells from blood and they are working on developing stem cells from urine samples.

In the future, Urano said, we may be able to take a few milliliters of urine from a patient, make stem cells that we then can grow into beta cells, correct mutations in those cells with CRISPR, transplant them back into the patient, and cure their diabetes in our clinic. Genetic testing in patients with diabetes will guide us to identify genes that should be corrected, which will lead to a personalized regenerative gene therapy.

Reference:

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Diabetes Reversed in Mice With CRISPR-Edited Stem Cells From Patients - Technology Networks

More than five million Americans, mostly sixty-five or older, suffer from Alzheimers disease (AD), and that number is expected to triple by 2060, as todays twenty-somethings become seniors. No treatments exist for this devastating disease, and its root causes remain as tangled as the curious brain deformities that German physician Alois Alzheimer first described in 1906.

Now a team of Tufts researchers from the School of Medicine and the School of Engineering has received a five-year, $5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study the role of different cell types and mutations in AD. They will use a unique bioengineered mini brain that realistically simulates the human brain environment for years.

The work, which builds on years of collaboration among the researchers, will overcome two traditional stumbling blocks to such studies: the limited relevance of animal models and the inability of cell culture systems to reproduce the physiology of the human brain. While age is the biggest risk factor for AD, genetics also plays a role. Scientists have uncovered twenty gene variants that increase the risk of AD, said Giuseppina Tesco, professor of neuroscience and lead investigator on the research, who has devoted her career to studying the disease.

Recent studies show that most of the genes that carry these variants are expressed in glial cells, particularly astrocytes and microglial cells. Once dismissed as onlookers in the brain, glia are now front and center in Alzheimers research said glia expert Philip Haydon, a principal investigator on the project. Haydon, the Annetta and Gustav Grisard Professor of Neuroscience, likens these cells to the pit crew for the flashy race-car-like neurons, supporting top performance by, for example, preventing buildup of protein plaques.

But unlike neurons, human glial cells behave very differently from those of other mammals. What we can learn from mouse models is very limited. It is very important to study these genes in human cells, said Tesco. And we need to do this over time. It may take months to see the effect of genetic variation.

The Tufts team will use cells derived from patients with AD as well as healthy subjects, drawing on advanced stem cell technology that makes it possible to reverse engineer human primary cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, which can then differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and microglia.

These glia and other brain cells will grow on a unique three-dimensional doughnut-shaped scaffold made of porous silk and collagenwhat the researchers have dubbed a mini brain. Bioengineer David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor and a principal investigator on the grant, and his team have spent six years perfecting the mini brain for research on AD, traumatic brain injury, and brain cancer.

This model allows us to put cells where we want, determine ratios of different cells to use in the system, and control interactions, so we can study electrophysiology, synaptic activity, and other functions as the tissue ages, said Kaplan. That control over the long term supports exploration of age-related questions about disease progression and contributes to reproducibility, a scientific pillar. Past experiments using these mini brains have mimicked structural and functional features and neural activity for up to two years.

In contrast, a two-dimensional culture systemlike the proverbial petri dishwont replicate the complexities of multiple cell types and physiologies. And organoidssimplified organs in miniature now in vogueare subject to cellular death after a few weeks or months.

To complement the in vitro studies with the scaffolds, scientists in Haydons lab will transplant some of the human cells, both mutated and normal, into mice. As they grow, the human glia cells will replace the mouse cells, giving researchers an opportunity to study human brain function. This is the first step towards translational studies, said Haydon.

The grant complements donations from Tufts alumni, parents, friends, and other private individuals who have experienced the pain of Alzheimers disease in their own lives. Donor dollars really got some of our early, exploratory work up and running, said Haydon. Now we are building on that.

The NIH support is a bright spot at a time when COVID-19 has forced Tufts scientists, like their peers around the world, to halt laboratory research, sometimes losing years of work.

Tesco said that while it is difficult to be away from her lab, safety is more important than anything else. Im from Italy, where we have more than 22,000 deaths, she said. Being healthy and having the possibility to continue to do some work, I feel lucky. Well be in the best position possible when were ready to start because well be able to start something completely new and very exciting.

Kim Thurler can be reached at kimberly.thurler@tufts.edu.

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Stem Cells and Silk Make a New Way to Study the Brain - Tufts Now

The work, just published in Nature, provides insights into the earliest stages of uterine cancer development.

The endometrium is the inner part of the uterus, more commonly known as the womb lining. It is regulated by hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone and enters different states during childhood, reproductive years, pregnancy and after menopause.

Uterine cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women in the UK, accounting for five per cent of all new female cancer cases. Around 9,400 new cases are diagnosed every year, leading to the death of 2,300 women. Most cases occur in the seventh and eighth decades. Since the early 1990s, the incidence of uterine cancer has risen by 55 per cent in the UK*.

All cancers occur due to changes in DNA, known as somatic mutations, which continuously occur in all of our cells throughout life. A tiny fraction of these somatic mutations can contribute to a normal cell turning into a cancer cell and are known as driver mutations, which occur within a subset of cancer genes.

This study used whole-genome sequencing to better understand the genetic changes in healthy endometrial tissue. The team developed technology to sequence the genomes of small numbers of cells from individual glands in the endometrial epithelium, the tissue layer that sheds and regenerates during a womans menstrual cycle.

Laser-capture microscopy was used to isolate 292 endometrial glands from womb tissue samples donated by 28 women aged 19 to 81 years**, before DNA from each gland was whole-genome sequenced. The team then searched for somatic mutations in each gland by comparing them with whole genome sequences from other tissues from the same individuals.

The researchers found that a high proportion of cells carried driver mutations, even though they appeared completely normal under the microscope. Many of these driver mutations appear to have arisen early in life, in many cases during childhood.

Dr Luiza Moore, the lead researcher based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: Human endometrium is a highly dynamic tissue that undergoes numerous cycles of remodelling during female reproductive years. We identified frequent cancer driver mutations in normal endometrium and showed that many such events had occurred early in life, in some cases even before adolescence. Over time, these mutant stem cells accumulate further driver mutations.

Despite the early occurrence of the first cancer-driver mutations, it takes several decades for a cell to accumulate the remaining drivers that will lead to invasive cancer. Typically, three to six driver mutations in the same cell are required for cancer to develop. As such, the vast majority of normal cells with driver mutations never convert into invasive cancers. When an invasive cancer develops, it may have been silently evolving within us for most of our lifetime.

Dr Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, University of Cambridge and Director of the Cambridge Biorepository for Translational Medicine (CBTM), said: Incidence of uterine cancers have been steadily rising in the UK for several decades, so knowing when and why genetic changes linked to cancer occur will be vital in helping to reverse this trend. This research is an important step and wouldnt have been possible without the individuals who gifted precious samples for this study, including transplant donors and their families.

Professor Sir Mike Stratton, Director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, added: New technologies and approaches to investigating DNA mutations in normal tissues are providing profound insights into the procession of genetic changes that convert a normal cell into a cancer cell. The results indicate that, although most cancers occur at relatively advanced ages, the genetic changes that underlie them may have started early in life and we may have been incubating the developing cancer for most of our lifetime.

*Information and statistics about uterine cancers are available from the Cancer Research UK website: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/uterine-cancer

**The Cambridge Biorepository for Translational Medicine (CBTM) supports research requiring human tissue that aims to improve healthcare for patients. Tissue samples used in this study were from post-mortem or transplant donors, with samples also coming from biopsies for non-endometrial diseases. The authors would like to acknowledge all those who provided tissue used in this study, one third of whom were post-mortem or transplant donors. Their generous contribution is incredibly important for facilitating research that will help to improve the quality of healthcare for patients. https://www.cbtm.group.cam.ac.uk/aboutus

Luiza Moore, Daniel Leongamornlert and Tim H. H. Coorens et al. (2020). The mutational landscape of normal human endometrial epithelium. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2214-z

Image: Endometrial_glands_Luiza Moore_ Wellcome Sanger Institute

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Normal human uterus is colonised by clones with cancer-driving mutations that arise early in life, study finds - Cambridge Network

This story appeared as part of the Atmoss Stewards of The Wild portfolio. Buy the print copy here.

Professor Thomas Hildebrandt, head of the reproduction management department at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, leads the team of scientists who announced in September of last year that they had successfully created two viable northern white rhino embryos using in vitro technology and sperm from long-dead males. Following decades of poaching for their horns, there are just two northern white rhinos left in existence, mother and daughter pair Najin and Fatu, who live under 24-hour guard at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenyas central highlands. Both are infertile. The two embryos will now be inserted into a surrogate southern white rhino, the closest subspecies. If a calf is born, it would herald a new era for conservation -- and for one of the worlds most important critically endangered animals.

Jennifer OMahony: When did you start working with the concept that in vitro technology could be an asset for biodiversity and conservation?Thomas Hildebrandt: For the northern white rhino project, there are two really important developments. Firstly, the in vitro technology that was already used for other species in the past. What is new since 2012 was pairing that with stem cell technology, because for the northern white rhino, assisted reproduction would be not sufficient to actually create a self-sustaining population. If you dont get together enough genetic diversity in the population, then it makes no sense to speak about future reintroduction plans. By pairing these two approaches, that gave us a totally new horizon on saving critically endangered species, and it also changed the way we evaluate the status of species which are on the brink of extinction. While in the past, that was based on the number of fertile individuals in the population, that is no longer necessaryor at least in the future it will no longer be unnecessary, because every infertile or even dead animal can contribute to the population by utilizing this kind of technique.

And how have you shifted your approach as the technology has evolved? We were quite disappointed, because we worked with the northern white rhinos in the early 2000s, and all our efforts got less and less successful because of a very small population. We went to San Diego Zoo, we scanned all the individuals there, we collected semen from the last bull, which had a poor semen quality. We did that, but we were not hopeful that it had any implication for saving the species. At that time, there was the existing population of 30 individuals in Garamba. And actually, we were invited to go there to harvest more semen from the wild ones, when they were supposed to get a transponder put into their horns. But the trip was cancelled, due to the civil war. So, we never went and shortly after, all of those individuals were gone. And there is still a rumor that there are some remaining individuals left in Sudan, but nobody can prove that. The stem cell technique is only proven in a mouse, not in a rhinoceros, but its available to us. These samples we have for the northern white rhino are of equal or even higher genetic diversity than those of the southern white rhino (there are more than 17,000 southern white rhinos left in existence and just two northern white rhinos).

The last male northern white rhino, Sudan, died in 2018 leaving behind a daughter and granddaughter. Before his death, nine years had gone by with no northern white rhino births. Why is it so hard for rhinos to reproduce?Infertility comes quite early. In the wild, the female would have one ovarian cycle every five years, because she finds a suitable breeding partner, and then she gets pregnant for 16 months. After she gives birth, then shes lactating and is raising the calf, and during that entire time, we have an ovarian dormancy (she cannot get pregnant). If the suitable breeding partner is missing, then the female is ovulating every month, and estrogen is a carcinogenic substance. If you have about two years of cycle activity in a female rhino, then the likelihood that you develop severe pathologies is very high.

So, it is dangerous for them not to get pregnant?The pregnancy is actually a curing element, and ovulation is a very rare event. A rhino ovulates every four years.

What is the best way to tackle the biggest threat to rhinos: poaching?There are different organizations which are quite good at stopping smugglers and enforcing a military presence in natural reserves or national parks. But theres one aspect, which I think should be a little bit more explored: the option to breed or to produce rhino horn in vitro. Nobody is doing that. If there is such demand on the Asian market for this kind of product, it could be easilywell, not easily, but at least it is thinkable that you could produce it like you do silk from spiders. Then, most likely is the argument that these people want the real horn. But I think that would be an option, but on every side, its very hard. And it is really a kind of war. Its a very sad point, and as a reflection of that, we always get the argument, You are now spending so much effort and so much resources to create the northern white rhino population to a level that you can reintroduce them, and then they will all be shot again. My answer to that is that we see a lot of examples, and the best one is in Australia. In the 1930s, Australia paid a bounty for killing Tasmanian tigers, and they erased all the Tasmanian tiger population. And now they invested millions of Australian dollars to create an institute exploring the option to recreate the Tasmanian tiger to reintroduce it to Tasmania. I think if the African nations get the option to utilize the northern white rhino as a magnet for ecotourism, there will be sufficient protection from the government and from the younger generation, which will allow them to propagate in the right way and will protect them in the future.

Species have died out throughout history. Why do you think its important to focus research and money on these larger mammals like rhinos? What is it about them for you that makes them so important to save?The rhino didnt die out because of a failure in evolution. It died out because its not bulletproof. Its an absolutely human-made effect. And its a key species, which is an umbrella species for hundreds of other species. It distributes plants on a large scale; it produces feces for insects; it makes avenues for small antelopes and other small animals; its a landscape architect, one of the most important ones. It lives in swampy areas, so you cant actually bring southern white rhinos to Central Africa. So, it is a very important element, and you may remember what happens when you disturb a fragile ecosystem. It didnt fail in evolution, it didnt fade out slowly, but it was shot. So, by messing with this fragile ecosystem, by taking out such an important element, I think we will pay badly for this mistake, and therefore, I think its our responsibility to fix it.

Do you think in your lifetime, you will see a rhino being born from the embryos that you have developed?It is not the scale of my lifetime, it is a scale of the lifetime of Najin and Fatu. So, we have to be successful as soon as possible, because we have the genetic code, which makes up species, but we also have tradition, we have the behavior aspect (any future calf would be born from a surrogate, but raised with the last remaining northern white rhinos who are both infertile). And we really want that new northern white rhino calf. These embryos have the potential to develop into such a calf, and they can learn from the last two remaining northern white rhinos. That is our goal right now. I hope I dont fail in this kind of hope.

Credits

All images courtesy Atmos

i-D is committed to ongoing coverage of the global climate crisis. Read all of our Earth Day 2020 coverage here, and more of our climate change coverage here.

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Photos of the fight to save the world's last two northern white rhinos - i-D

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Emily Y. Chew, M.D.Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical ApplicationsDeputy Clinical Director at the National Eye Institute (NEI),National Institutes of Health

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Dementia is a common disorder that was estimated to have a worldwide prevalence of 44 million in 2016 and is projected to hit 115 million by 2050. Many phase 3 trials of various therapies have failed and we have no treatment currently available for the prevention or reduction of the course of dementia. A slow neurocognitive decline throughout life is part of the normal process of aging. However, there is a subset of individuals who may have accelerated aging and is at high risk of development dementia. If the course of such accelerated decline could be altered in any way, it would be important to evaluate. The role of diet with biologic aging has been studied and diet has been also found to be associated with age-related conditions linked to dementia, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

We were interested in the cognitive function of our participants who had another neurodegenerative disease, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We had conducted two randomized controlled clinical trials designed to evaluate the role of oral supplements for the treatment of AMD. We also studied cognitive function in both clinical trials of nearly 8,000 participants who were followed for 10 years. We also evaluated the dietary habits of the participants with food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) at baseline. Cognitive function testing was conducted in the first study, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) near the end of the clinical trial while the AREDS2, the second study, evaluated cognitive function testing at baseline and every 2 years until year 6. AREDS study evaluated cognitive function with in-clinic study visits while AREDS2 was conducted using telephone interviews.

Our aim was to determine whether closer adherence to the alternative Mediterranean diet (aMED) was associated with impaired cognitive function these two studies. We were interested in the particular components of the Mediterranean diet that may be important. We also evaluated the interaction of genetics with the diet.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response: Mediterranean diet adherence was associated with decreased risk of cognitive impairment. There was a dose response relationship in that the higher the adherence, the better the beneficial effect. The results were consistent between the two clinical trials of persons who did not have cognitive impairment at the baseline of the study but did have varying degrees of severity of AMD. The strength of this relationship of diet with cognitive function was fairly large with 40 to 50 % reduction.

Higher fish consumption was associated with decreased risk of cognitive impairment and slower cognitive decline. Fish may be the component that drives the effects of the Mediterranean diet on cognitive function to a certain extent. But in general, the Mediterranean diet with all its components may play a very important role in cognitive function.

MedicalResearch.com: What role did theApoE gene have on the results?

Response: Although APOE risk haplotypes were significantly associated with faster decline in cognitive impairment scores (p<0.0001) in general, APOE status did not influence the association of the Mediterranean diet with decreased risk of cognitive impairment and nor did it have an influence on the association of fish consumption with decreased risk of cognitive impairment and slower cognitive decline.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: It is important to consider possible modification with your diet. These are not the results of a randomized trial but the data are quite compelling. And other studies have supported this theory that you are what you eat. Eating fish twice a week has beneficial effects and having a Mediterranean diet has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of heart disease and impairment in cognition.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: This is a study of association so it would be important to have randomized controlled clinical trials to test the effect of a Mediterranean Diet on cognitive function. A randomized trial (PREDIMED) conducted in Spain with comparisons between Mediterranean diet vs. low fat diet found that participants randomized to a Mediterranean diet had higher cognitive function scores after 6.5 years than those randomized to a low-fat control diet. The NIH is also supporting the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Study. This is a Phase III randomized controlled trial designed to test the effects of a 3-year intervention of a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, called MIND, on cognitive decline among 600 individuals 65+ years without cognitive impairment who are overweight and have suboptimal diets, as described the clinicaltrials.gov. That would be the gold standard for establishing a potential treatment for cognitive impairment. This study is done in persons who are high risk of developing cognitive decline.

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"Viral vector manufacturing has transitioned from a niche industry to the cornerstone of the future of biopharmaceuticals," said Udit Batra, member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science. "Few companies have the scale and quality systems in place for manufacturing commercial viral vector products. Building on our success in helping customers commercialize their gene therapies made possible by viral vectors, our expansion will help innovators produce at a scale that ensures these therapies reach more patients in need."

Merck's Life Science business sector facility in Carlsbad manufactures gene therapies for its customers globally. Gene therapy involves the delivery of a genetic payload into patient cells to produce a therapeutic effect such as correction of a mutated gene or retargeting of an immune cell to fight cancer. Diseases such as hemophiliaand cancer are being investigated using this technique where a single dose may cure the disease. Viral vectors are often called the most complex therapeutic manufactured today.The gene therapy market, which accounted for $1 billion in 2018, is expected to reach $10 billion by 2026, according to a recent Biotech Forecasts global market analysis and industry forecast.

Merck's new, 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility will support viral and gene therapy production at the 1000-liter scale using its Mobius single-use equipment. The site is part of the Life Science business' expanding product and service offering to the viral and gene therapy marketplace. Merck has close to three decades of experience in cell and gene therapy, and its Carlsbad, California, U.S.A site has been involved in the gene therapy area since 1997, near the time that clinical trials for gene therapy began. In the interim, the company manufactured viral vectors for two cell and gene therapy products.

This expansion underscores Merck's continued investment in viral and gene therapies from clinical to commercial scale and marks the second major investment at its Carlsbad facility in recent years. In 2016, the investments resulted in nearly doubling its former production capacity. The upgraded facility grew from 44,000 square feet to 65,000 square feet. Today, the Carlsbad site is home to 16 modular viral bulk manufacturing cleanroom suites with single-use equipment and two fill/finish suites for gene therapy, viral vaccine and immunotherapy products. With the expansion, the company will add 11 suites, bringing the total to 27, used in various steps of manufacturing.

In addition to contract development and manufacturing services for viral vectors, Merck also provides seamless manufacturing and testing services at its pharma and biopharma testing sites globally.

Merck recognizes that cell and gene therapy has resulted in major advancements in medicine. The company supports these therapies under consideration of ethical and legal standards; it has established an independent, external Bioethics Advisory Panel. This panel provides guidance on various topics, including gene editing and stem cells usage, in which its businesses are involved. The company has also defined a clear operational position taking into account scientific and societal issues.

All Merck news releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to http://www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.

About MerckMerck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 57,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck generated sales of 16.2 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck's technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science and EMD Performance Materials.

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Merck Boosts Commercial Viral Vector and Gene Therapy Manufacturing Capacity - PR Newswire UK

We are all dealing with a threat that few of us have the knowledge or skills to combat directly. Helpless dread is an unbearable feeling. What do we do?

Fear is meant to affect our systems. We are to freeze or energetically deal with palpable physical threats that are the focus of fear. Our bodies feel some degree of fear now of the virus, the illness, the uncertainty or the socio-economic upheaval. Yet, no physical flight, fight or freezing can help us here. We are to keep calm and carry on. Still the fear acts on our system. And it can show in our thinking patterns.

Denial is a sort of a mental freeze. We conserve our energy by stating that the problem is not that big or perhaps doesnt even exist. Conserving our energy, not stressing excessively, can serve a purpose, keep us cool. Sadly, it hasnt remained that simple. Were seeing fellow citizens become so attached to their denial that theyre expending energy to prove how much they deny. People have congregated together, carelessly or carefully, to show their disregard for caution. Some have sickened or even died as a result. Their illness endangered, burdened and grieved their loved ones. A natural reaction gone too far.

Sometimes people are rather energized by fear. Good effects of this energy has been the community support organizations springing up, the creation of new ways to be neighborly and the flood of lovingly sewn cloth masks. It seems to me that most people have channeled their energy within this measure. Sadly weve also seen some frenetic extremes: food hoarding; bleach gargling; fistfights for toilet paper. In a panicky desire to feel control over uncontrollable circumstances, some energized minds have latched onto conspiracy theories. Some have acted on them.

People have attacked individuals of Asian heritage, burned cellphone towers and publicly accused everyone else of manufacturing bioweapons. I suppose even a scapegoat as large as a cellular network or a nation could feel less overwhelming than a random, invisible, mutable virus; the chain of cause and effect seems simpler. We all like to strike a blow at feeling helpless. But thats not where these blows ultimately landed. People have been hurt. A reaction gone way too far.

Why have we not been taught more about how our fear works and how we might make it work for us? Fear, like all of our emotions, is information about our situation and should be heeded as such. And fear, like all information, needs to be fact-checked and put in context.

As much as we would like to take direct action and make this threat go away, we dont yet have the tools to effectively fight this novel coronavirus. In the current context, our success will be just making as little happen as possible. The reactive part of our brains ask your kids about Survival State cant understand this lack of action; but our problem-solving Executive State can. We can fortify our executive state with good exercise, good music, deep breathing, prayer, meditation, dance, family hugs, all those arts and crafts you excel at and other techniques you already have. Keep calm and carry on.

Theres yet one more active inactivity that may help. Foldingathome.org is a distributed computing project for simulating protein dynamics. Volunteers let software run simulations on their personal computers that can help medical researchers find the weak points of the coronavirus. Its running in the background of my computer with no harm done. We can even form local teams, letting the Pendleton-Hermiston rivalry ride again for a good cause. Check it out at https://foldingathome.org/covid19.

Vikiirna Wenzel is a learner and a teacher, somewhere in the middle of East Umatilla County.

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Somewhere in the middle | Between blindness and frenzy - East Oregonian

Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in the world. Its estimated that by 2040 there will be about 112 million people in the world with glaucoma mostly in Africa and Asia. The best that medical science can do at present is identify it early and slow or halt its progression.

The disease affects the optic nerve, which normally sends signals from the eye to the brain. With glaucoma, this nerve doesnt work properly. The first sign is loss of peripheral vision. This gradually progresses to tunnel vision and, ultimately, blindness.

The most important risk factor for developing glaucoma is having high pressure inside the eyeball. Reducing this pressure is currently the only way to treat glaucoma. Its done with eye drops, laser treatment or surgery.

The most common type of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma, which typically begins in middle to older age. Visual loss is only noticeable at an advanced stage of the disease. Its more common in populations of African descent than in those with European or Asian ancestry. In African populations it starts at an earlier age and progresses faster. The prevalence of primary open-angle glaucoma in Africans between the ages of 40 and 80 is about 4.2%.

The cause and mechanisms underlying this condition are poorly understood. But its known that family members of affected individuals are much more likely to get the disease. We conducted a study to identify genetic risk factors for primary open-angle glaucoma in African populations.

Identifying glaucoma associated genetic factors could make it easier to identify patients at risk before they develop the disease. It could also shed light on the cause and unlock new treatments.

We found a new genetic association that may help us achieve these goals.

Most primary open-angle glaucoma is inherited in a complex manner. In other words there is not just one mutation in a single gene that is sufficient to cause the disease. Rather there are small variations in several genes that contribute to an increase in risk for the disease.

Genetic risk factors have been identified using association studies. In these studies thousands of affected individuals are compared with even larger numbers of unaffected individuals. This identifies associations between certain genes and either glaucoma or characteristics associated with glaucoma (like high pressure inside the eye). Each association provides information about the diseases.

Most of these studies have been performed on European populations. Genetic enquiry in African populations is challenging because there is so much more diversity within African genomes.

The genome is the complete set of genetic material we carry in all the cells of our bodies. Genes are the parts of the genome that contain instructions to make proteins. All humans genomes are almost identical but tiny variations occur. It is these variants that determine our individuality. The more ancient a population, the more time there has been for variants to develop and the more genetic diversity there will be in that population.

Read more: What we've learnt from building Africa's biggest genome library

This diversity means that African populations are valuable in studies of the links between genes and diseases like glaucoma.

Our group of researchers (the Genetics of Glaucoma in People of African Descent Consortium) recently published an association study of close to 10,000 primary open-angle glaucoma patients of African descent.

We identified a new association, with a gene called APBB2. It occurs in all populations but the variant associated with glaucoma was only found in Africans.

We demonstrated that this genetic variant results in increased amyloid deposition in both the eye and the part of the brain responsible for vision. Amyloid is a protein that is toxic to brain tissue and is associated with Alzheimer-type and related dementias. We cant yet say for certain that amyloid depositions cause glaucoma, but this seems likely. If further studies can prove this, then drugs that were developed to treat dementias might be useful to treat primary open-angle glaucoma.

Read more: Alzheimer's: the 'switch-on moment' discovered

There is no evidence that glaucoma occurs more frequently in individuals with dementia or vice versa. But this study found a genetic link that could help explain how the optic nerve is damaged in glaucoma.

We recently confirmed this direct genetic link in a large analysis of data from different studies all over the world. The analysis identified another three genes that are known to cause Alzheimer-type dementias and are also associated with primary open-angle glaucoma.

Discovering the genetic associations of an inherited disease is an important step. It identifies biological pathways that may cause the disease.

In a complex condition like primary open-angle glaucoma, it is likely that there are several different pathways involved which all end up with damage to the optic nerve. Only by studying multiple populations will a true picture of all the genetic associations emerge. There may already be treatments available that target the biological functions of these associated genes which could then be used to treat glaucoma. Alternatively, new treatments targeting these functions could be developed specifically for glaucoma.

Knowing about genetic associations in specific populations will make it possible to focus prevention and treatment on those who will benefit most, sparing expense and side effects from those who will not.

Ultimately genetics could pave the way for precision medicine in glaucoma: tailoring care to the individual patient.

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How African genetic studies offer hope for preventing a common cause of blindness - The Conversation Africa

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have identified a so-called "executioner cell" that may hold the key to eventually finding a treatment to slow retinal degeneration that causes blindness in millions of people each year.

A multi-disciplinary team involving experts from TCD believe they have pinpointed a potential new therapeutic target for treating retinal degeneration.

It found a protein described as an "executioner cell", known as SARM1, is involved in neuronal cell injury. They believe that the same cell could also have a role in the progression of retinal degeneration leading to blindness.

The team's findings, which have been published in the journal 'Life Science Alliance', could hold out hope to millions of people around the world who are suffering varying degrees of loss of vision due to what are currently irreversible degenerative diseases of the retina.

In Ireland, around 5,000 people suffer vision impairment due to inherited degeneration of the retina. Another 80,000 also live with age-related macular degeneration.

Dr Ema Ozaki, research fellow at Trinity, said: "Lots of different factors can initiate retinal degeneration and lead to severe visual impairment and eventual blindness, but ultimately the end-point is photoreceptor cell death. Although it seems unlikely, the process of cell-death is in fact a programmed event that directs proteins in our cells to take on 'executioner' roles."

Photoreceptor cells are specialised neurons found in the back of our eyes that convert light into electrical signals that allow us to see. It is the death of these cells, and the cells that nourish them, that is termed retinal degeneration and is a characteristic of blinding diseases such as AMD and retinitis pigmentosa.

Assistant professor of immunology Dr Sarah Doyle said: "Our research indicates that SARM1 is likely to be a key executioner in the process of retinal degeneration, so inhibiting SARM1 activity may offer an option for protecting vision across multiple retinal degenerative diseases."

Irish Independent

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'Executioner cell' find may help to treat the causes of blindness - Independent.ie

Editor: David L. Joffe, BSPharm, CDE, FACA

Author: ChardaeWhitner, 2020 PharmD. Candidate, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

Could vision loss and the visual disturbances that diabetes patients experience be prevented?

Diabetes can be a complicated disease, with many compounding factors for patients diagnosed with the disease. One of these many factors would be ocular complications, which are three times more likely to occur in patients with diabetes compared to those without. However, even with the evidence suggesting that patients with diabetes are at a high risk of developing ocular complications, there is limited data that explores the incidence of visual impairment and blindness in patients with diabetes. Also, the predictors of vision loss have limited data. Research conducted by Drinkwater J. et al. aimed to assess the 4-year cumulative incidence of visual impairment and blindness and their determinants in well-characterized community-based people with type 2 diabetes.

The Fremantle Diabetes Study Phase II (FDS2) recruited 1551 subjects to participate in a prospective, observational study. Participants were selected from a zip code defined as an urban community surrounding the port of Fremantle in the state of Western Australia. Also, individuals who participated in the Fremantle Diabetes Study Phase I (FDS1) were eligible to participate.

During this 4-year study, participants were assessed at baseline and biennially with questionnaires covering health care utilization, medical condition, medication use, socioeconomic, demographic and lifestyle data, and physical examination. Fasting blood glucose and urine samples were also obtained. The visual acuity of the participants was measured using a Bailey Lovie chart at a distance of 3m in a well-lit room, with examiners using the best-corrected visual acuity measurement. Visual acuity chart used was 6/48, parameters were set as follows: >6/19 and <6/48 was classified as visual impairment >6/48 and those who could only count fingers or worse was classified as blindness. This measurement was assessed at each biennial face-to-face visit. The difference between the number of letters read by the best eye at baseline, and the year four visits was a way to determine if there was a change in vision. This was defined as a difference in visual acuity of >10 letters (two lines of the visual acuity chart). The presence and severity of retinopathy was assessed by using fundus photography; the severity of the diabetic retinopathy was classified as none, mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, or severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Ascertainment of other ocular conditions was also accessed such as cataract or glaucoma. Researchers used The Hospital Morbidity Data Collection, which captures all hospitalizations within the state of Western Australia, to determine if participants of the study had intraocular lens implantation for a cataract before and during the follow-up to the year four visit. Also, at each face-to-face visit subjects of the study were questioned as to if they had been told by a provider whether or not they had a cataract or glaucoma.

From the results gathered from this 4-year prospective, observational study, 70 of the participants were excluded from the study due to missing visual acuity data at baseline or presence of visual impairment or blindness at baseline. Of the 1481 participants who had a normal or near-normal vision at baseline, 882 participants (58%) had their visual acuity measured at the Year 4 visit. For the participants included in the analysis, during the 4.1 years of follow-up the cumulative incidence of visual impairment was 0.9%, representing a crude incidence of 0.2% per year. None of the participants who were evaluated with normal or near-normal vision at baseline were found to have developed blindness by the Year 4 visit. Of the visual acuity observed, a cumulative incidence of vision loss was 2.9% and 1.9% had improved visual acuity.

The study also measured predictors of vision loss, and it was found that participants who had vision loss during follow up were more likely to be insulin-treated, have had a severe hypoglycemic event, have worse kidney function and be a current or ex-smoker at baseline compared to those without vision loss. Those who had vision loss also were observed as having higher systolic blood pressure and worse kidney function than those without. Those individuals who had improved visual acuity were likely to have had an intraocular lens inserted.

This study found that modifiable risk factors were independently associated with vision loss in community-dwelling patients with type 2 diabetes, which were smoking, severe hypoglycemia and highuACR. Strategies that focus on smoking cessation, avoiding severe hypoglycemia, and persevering kidney function will be pivotal in preventing vision loss in patients with type 2 diabetes.

PracticePearls

Drinkwater, Jocelyn J., et al. Incidence and Predictors of Vision Loss Complicating Type 2 Diabetes: The Fremantle Diabetes Study Phase II.Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications, Elsevier, 22 Feb. 2020,www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1056872720300027?via=ihub.

ChardaeWhitner, 2020 PharmD. Candidate, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

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Predicting Vision Loss in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes - Diabetes In Control

The Tej Kohli Cornea Institute is building on its track record for funding research in the USA and on its 6-year legacy of making direct treatment interventions in India.

A new series of grants will support innovative UK technology, science and research projects that can help to alleviate and end corneal blindness by 2035.

The limitations of existing treatments for corneal blindness have created a substantial treatment gap in the poorer countries where 90% of visually impaired people live.

LONDON, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tej Kohli Cornea Institute, a longstanding project of philanthropist Tej Kohli, has established a series of grants to support UK-based innovations in science and technology with a clear pathway to alleviating corneal blindness. Annual grants are available to UK-based projects led by scientists, ophthalmologists, doctors, researchers and influencers in science and technology. The Tej KohliCornea Institute has also paid out an emergency grant of 80,000 toward the development of a genetic vaccine for COVID-19.

A young patient of the the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute in India awaits a free corneal transplant. The Tej Kohli Cornea Institute in the UK is building on its track record for making interventions to cure blindness by funding the invention of new and novel treatment solutions in the UK that can be scaled into poorer communities around the world.

The Tej Kohli Cornea Institute's move to support innovations borne from UK based scientific ingenuity reflects the need to develop brand new solutions that can bridge the corneal blindness treatment gap. The Institute will build on its track record for funding research in the USA. It will also leverage its existing knowledge and expertise gained from making thousands of treatment interventionsto alleviate corneal blindness in Indiabetween 2015 and 2019.

An Advisory Board that includes experts in ophthalmology and experimental medicine from institutions such as Moorfields Eye Hospitaland the UCL Institute of Ophthalmologywill connect the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute with high-impact scientific projects across the UK.

Tej Kohli, co-Founder of the Tej Kohli Foundationsaid:

"The UK ranks third out of 128 counties in the 2019 Global Innovation Indexand more than half of UK postgraduate researcherscome from outside of the UK. This UK ecosystem will enable the kind of unique interdisciplinary innovation that is needed to develop novel new solutions."

Sajjad Ahmad, consultant corneal surgeon and clinical academic at Moorfields Eye Hospital, and Tej Kohli Cornea Institute Advisory Board member, said:

"The UK is a leader in translating experimental medicine and laboratory science into corneal therapies. These grants will help to support UK ingenuity in developing new treatments that can be made accessible in poorer communities around the world."

Website: http://www.tejkohlicorneainstitute.com

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UK Science Is Boosted by the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute - Yahoo Finance

An unhealthy lifestyle translates into many health problems.

Smoking, binge drinking and illicit drug use are known to cause cancer, diabetes, heart disease, lung damage, stroke and death. They can also lead to serious eye problems.

Cigarette smoking remains a major health issue despite of years of health warnings and public awareness campaigns.

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Smoking has been linked to early development of macular degeneration and cataracts.

Compared to non-smokers, people who smoke a pack or more per day are two-to-three times more likely to develop macular degeneration an aging condition in the retina, affecting the central vision.

The inhaled substances in cigarette smoke constrict the blood vessels and promote blood clot formation in the retina and optic nerves.

Partial to almost complete blindness happens when there is thrombosis, or blood clot, in the central retinal artery, which is the main artery that supplies blood, oxygen and nutrients to the retina.

Smoking increases the risk of ischemia, or stroke, in the optic nerve, which transmits the images from the eye to the brain, resulting significant permanent visual loss.

About one-in-six adult Americans binge drinks about four times a month, consuming about eight drinks each time.

There is a well-established linkage between Type 2 diabetes and excessive alcohol consumption.

The most serious ocular complications of diabetes is diabetic retinopathy. The diabetes-damaged retina develops hemorrhages and swelling, resulting in visual loss.

Alcohol abuse increases the incidence of early onset of cataracts and macular degeneration.

More: Focus on Eyes: Chinese ophthalmologist warned about COVID-19 outbreak

More: Focus on Eyes: Celebrating America's first black ophthalmologist

More: Focus on Eyes: What does it mean to have 20/20 vision

Methanol, or wood alcohol, in contaminated moonshine damages the optic nerve, and if untreated,the person will suffer partial to total blindness.

Ocular trauma with visual loss is too often seen with alcohol intoxication.

Illegal substance abuse is at the extreme end of vices.

It is estimated about 10 percent of adults use illegal drugs.

There are many deleterious effects to the eyes.

Intranasal cocaine use is particularly damaging and potentially leading to acute attack of angle closure glaucoma, retinal hemorrhages and optic nerve damage.

Smoking crack cocaine is associated with infection and diminished blood flow to the retina.

Methamphetamine use is known to cause infection in the cornea which is the transparent tissue in front of the eye.

Retinal inflammation is also seen in methamphetamine use.

Intravenous drug abuse introduces infection to the eyes and particles clotting the blood vessels in the retina and the optic nerve.

Many people assume their vices will get their eyes red and eyelids droopy.

In fact, they can suffer from many sight threatening complications.

Hopefully, this will motivatethem to give up their vices and adopt healthy habits.

Dr. Frederick Ho,the medical director of Atlantic Eye MD and Atlantic Surgery and Laser Center, is a board certified ophthalmologist. Atlantic Eye MDis located at 8040 N. Wickham Road in Melbourne. To make an appointment please call (321) 757-7272. To learn more visit AtlanticEyeMD.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Focus on Eyes: Cocaine, meth, other vices affect eyes more than you know

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Focus on Eyes: Cocaine, meth, other vices affect eyes more than you know - msnNOW

We often take our sight for granted until it starts to fade. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the top cause of severe vision loss and blindness in adults over age 50 in this country, affecting as many as one in three people as they age. AMD destroys the macula, the part of the eye that provides central vision, the type of vision you need to see whats in front of you in sharp detail. This is important for activities like driving which many of us arent doing as much of right now but also reading, cooking and gardening, which you may be doing more of. Its also important for seeing faces, and thats true whether those faces are in the room with you or on Zoom.

Research suggests that people who eat lots of leafy greens, and a variety of other fruits and vegetables, may have less risk of developing AMD or cataracts. Carotenoids are a family of nutrients that provide the yellow, orange and red colors in many fruits and vegetables. Our bodies use beta-carotene to make vitamin A, which is critical for vision. Two other carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, act as natural antioxidants, protecting eyes from the damaging ultraviolet light that could increase cataract risk.

Your body absorbs carotenoids best from vegetables that have been chopped, pureed or cooked. Cooking vegetables in oil or serving them with fat in the meal also boosts absorption. Dietary sources of carotenoids include:

For a 2015 study, researchers examined data from more than 100,000 adults enrolled in the Nurses Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The group who had the highest blood levels of lutein and zeaxanthin were about 40% less likely to develop advanced AMD than the group with the lowest levels. Other carotenoids seemed to reduce risk by about 25 to 35%.

While getting nutrients from food is ideal whenever possible, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), conducted by the National Institutes of Healths National Eye Institute, examined the effects of a cocktail of vitamin and mineral supplements. Researchers found that the risk of developing advanced AMD dropped by about 30%, helping to preserve vision longer, but it didnt prevent cataracts or early-stage AMD. Participants who benefited most were those who had the least healthful diets and who didnt eat many foods rich in lutein and zeaxanthin.

The high levels of vitamins and minerals used in AREDS are difficult to achieve from diet alone. If you have intermediate AMD in one or both eyes, or advanced AMD in one eye, you might consider taking a widely available AREDS supplement, which should contain 500 mg vitamin C, 400 IU vitamin E, 10 mg lutein, 2 mg zeaxanthin, 25 mg zinc (as zinc oxide), and 2 mg copper (as cupric oxide). If you smoke, or used to smoke, its important to avoid older formulations that include beta-carotene, as beta-carotene in supplement form could increase your risk of lung cancer. While there is no treatment that can prevent AMD from developing, the AREDS formula can delay the progression to advanced AMD and help you keep your vision longer. Of course, consult your primary care doctor or eye care specialist.

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Heres how to eat in a way that naturally keeps your eyesight sharp - Seattle Times

Indore: Very strange news has come out of Chambal's ravaged Bah. Two Mazra Pura Dal and Pura Shivlal villages of a village panchayat here have caused panic among the villagers after the news of about 20 dogs dying blindly after coughing. When informed to the administration, on the report of Lekhpal, the SDM of Bah has instructed the team of Animal Husbandry Department to investigate the matter.

According to the information received, about 20 dogs, blinded after coughing for three days, have diedofMazra Pura Dal and Pura Shivlal of Zebra Gram Panchayat located in the Cachar of Chambal river. Taking this as a side effect of the coronavirus epidemic, there is an atmosphere of panic among villagers and livestock farmers. The villagers have reported the death of the dogs to Lekhpal Rakesh Kumar.

Lekhpal has sent the report to the tehsil administration. Baham SDM Abdul Basit has issued instructions to veterinary officer Baah Dharmendra Kumar to go on the spot with the team and investigate the entire case. SDM Bah, quoting the oral report of Lekhpal, confirmed the death of the dogs and also said to send a veterinary doctor on the spot. He says that the matter will be cleared only after the report of the veterinary officer comes out.

Indore: Very strange news has come out of Chambal's ravaged Bah. Two Mazra Pura Dal and Pura Shivlal villages of a village panchayat here have caused panic among the villagers after the news of about 20 dogs dying blindly after coughing. When informed to the administration, on the report of Lekhpal, the SDM of Bah has instructed the team of Animal Husbandry Department to investigate the matter.

According to the information received, about 20 dogs, blinded after coughing for three days, have diedofMazra Pura Dal and Pura Shivlal of Zebra Gram Panchayat located in the Cachar of Chambal river. Taking this as a side effect of the coronavirus epidemic, there is an atmosphere of panic among villagers and livestock farmers. The villagers have reported the death of the dogs to Lekhpal Rakesh Kumar.

Lekhpal has sent the report to the tehsil administration. Baham SDM Abdul Basit has issued instructions to veterinary officer Baah Dharmendra Kumar to go on the spot with the team and investigate the entire case. SDM Bah, quoting the oral report of Lekhpal, confirmed the death of the dogs and also said to send a veterinary doctor on the spot. He says that the matter will be cleared only after the report of the veterinary officer comes out.

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Corona: 20 dogs died after coughing and blindness in Chambal - News Track English