StemCell Therapy

MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/ An international research team from Novosibirsk State University (NSU), the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICG SB RAS), and the National University of Singapore have identified and analyzed the mechanism enabling plants to adapt to cold temperatures. This breakthrough was announced by NSUs Computational Transcriptomic and Evolutionary Bioinformatics Laboratory (LCTEB).

It turns out that plants sacrifice their newborn cells of the root tip in order to survive cold temperature conditions and retain their own stem cells. The study was published recently in the journal, Cell.

Plants possess stem cells just as animals do, which are the cells located at the tip of roots or sprouts from where any other plant tissues originate. Researchers from Singapore revealed that at a low temperature (+4 C) the DNA in a plants stem cells is damaged which can result in the death of the cells offspring. With that, the death of cells inside the root tip has been shown to help other tissues survive and toughen up the plant in such a way that it becomes more resistant to any other types of stress.

"Only a few stem cell offspring die (during cold spells), and thats despite the fact that the lifespan of these cells are very short even under normal conditions. By contrast, the other tissues remained unscathed," Victoria Mironova, PhD Biologist and Head of the NSUs Computational Transcriptomic and Evolutionary Bioinformatics Laboratory and Chief of the Sector for System Biology of Plant Morphogenesis at the RAS Institute of Cytology and Genetics of Siberian Branch, commented.

Russian scientists addressed the processes occurring at the roots tip using a mathematical approach. The mechanism which decides on what cells will be sacrificed in order to enable a plant to survive, is controlled by the genes responsible for transmitting auxin, the hormone required for the normal growth of roots.

"The modeling proved that under cold temperature conditions, the concentration of this hormone drops which puts the lifespan of a plant in jeopardy. If the cells at the root tip are destroyed, the concentration of auxin is restored providing for the stem cells maintenance, Maria Savina, the leading engineer at LCTEB at NSU and a junior research assistant at ICG SB RAS explained.

According to the scientists, continued research on this topic might be very beneficial for agriculture. Plants and crops could be treated with auxin prior to the onset of any cold spell. This way, it would be possible to avoid the death of cells and help plants overcome severe temperature stress without resorting to any sacrifices. The studys results could be also applied in analyzing mammals mechanisms for adapting to cold temperatures, since the structure of stem cell niches, their functions and sensitivity to stress have many similarities between animals and plants.

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Russian, Singaporean scientists reveal how plants weather cold temperatures - TASS

In rural Uganda, people who are blind or visually impaired often go to the city to look for work. But jobs are hard to find, and many end up as street beggars.

Instead, Ojok Simon wants them to know about a way they can earn money without leaving home: beekeeping. Simon, 36, became visually impaired after he was severely beaten by rebels who came to his village when he was a child. He has been a beekeeper for 15 years, and in 2013 he co-founded Hive Uganda, an organization that educates advocates for visually impaired people and teaches the sightless to make a living raising honeybees.

Ojok Simon, a beekeeper, co-founded Hive Uganda, an organization that teaches visually impaired people how to make a living raising honeybees. (The Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired)

This year, his organization will receive a boost: Simon is one of three winners of the first Holman Prize, given by the San Francisco nonprofit Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. There were 202 applicants from 27 countries and 35 U.S. states who submitted 90-second video pitches for their projects.

Its like a blind Fulbright, Will Butler,the organizations communication director, said of theaward. The honor grantsup to $25,000each toblind and visually impaired people seeking funding for ambitious personal projects.

The prize is named for James Holman, a 19th-century Britishnavy lieutenant who lost his sight at age 25. In those days, if a military man became blind, the usual thing was theyd go sit in a convent or church and pray for the souls of dead English soldiers and sailors, said Bryan Bashin, the Lighthouses chief executive.Holman didnt think that sounded like fun. So, at a time when people didnt even think that blind people could get out of the house, he began to travel, and he became the most traveled blind person of the 19th century, evenventuring across Siberia, Bashin said.

Another winner of this years prize,Penny Melville-Brown of Farnham, Britain, lost her sight while she was a commanderin the BritishRoyal Navy. Her project, Baking Blind, will take her around the world to cook with blind and sighted chefs including stops in China, Australia, Malawi and Virginia Beach, where she hopes to link up with some navy veterans, especially blind ones, to share stories.

Penny Melville-Brown of Farnham, U.K., will travel the world cooking with other visually impaired and sighted chefs for her "Baking Blind" project. (The Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired)

Along the way she will videotape her encounters and blog abouther journey. Her goal, she said, is to show that blind people and other disabled people have got lots of get-up-and-go and ability, and they are a great resource for the rest of the community, the rest of society, and particularly employers, to use better.

Melville-Brown was thrilled to learn she had won (My thinking is its a cross between the Paralympics and The Apprentice, with a whiff of the Nobel! she wrote to the organizers in an email). But she also said the honor comes with a great responsibilitybecause I am sort of representing lots of blind people, and especially those who were candidates for the prize. Im sort of doing it on their behalf.

A third winner, Ahmet Ustunel, a San Francisco teacher and avid kayaker, plans todevelop a guidance system to kayak solo 500 miles in locations around the world, including crossing the Bosporus from Europe to Asia in his native Turkey.

Ahmet Ustunel, a San Francisco teacher and avid kayaker, will develop a guidance system to solo kayak 500 miles in different locations around the world. (The Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired)

We were staggered by the amount of interest and the quality and diversity of the proposals, Bashin said. One of the biggest obstacles is our own perceptions of our capabilities, and part of the Lighthouses mission is to change perceptions of the abilities of the blind in all fields.

Winners will be flown to San Francisco and work with aproject manager to refine their ideas. A year later, they will return to report on their efforts.

In the Gulu district of northern Uganda, Simons organization has already taught 38 people how to become beekeepersby using local materials to make beehives and learning aboutbees behavior.

Ugandans prize the insects for their honey, wax (used in soap and cosmetics), propolis (a resin used to close holes in their hives) and even their venom, which can be used to boost immunity. But much of the harvesting is done in the wild, which presents a challenge for the visually impaired. Hive Uganda teaches people to use frames and assess the honey harvest by feeling how heavy they are.

Winning the Holman will allow Simon to expand the number of people he can help.

I feel that now Im going to be addressing the larger society to empower East Africa in general, he told The Washington Post. My dream is becoming reality, and that change that I wanted, I started feeling at my fingertips.

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Blindness does not stop this beekeeper, this baker and this kayaker ... - Washington Post

Somewhere in an album at Mum's place there's a photo of me kneeling in front of George Pell as I'm confirmed an adult in the Catholic Church.

It was taken in 1994, when I was 11 years old.Pell was the local regional bishop, based in Mentone.I remember him speaking to the class beforehand about footy and the Richmond Tigers, about which I knew and cared little.

My real interests were in history and politics.The intersection of those topics with religion is what continued to fascinate me well into adulthood, even as my Mass-going waned.

I was fascinated by stories of the ALP Split, of Bob Santamaria and the Movement (some of whose principal figures lined up in the same parish each week to take communion).

I ended up writing a PhD thesis on a voluntary association of clergy known as the National Council of Priests, which sprang up in Australia in the aftermath of Vatican II and associated events such as the moratorium movement.The NCP is a moderately conservative group of men and it comprises about half of all the Catholic priests in Australia, including bishops.

It's had two principal aims during its nearly 50 years of existence: first, to unite the clergy during a period of rapid change and, second, to Australianise Catholicism to make it a religion of this land and its people, more so than a Roman branch office or, in Patrick White's words, an Ireland of the South Pacific.

Borrowing from CJ Dennis, I called that thesis The Sacramental Bloke.

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In researching the story of the NCP, it became evident that there were strong subterranean movements taking place within the church during the 1970s, eighties and nineties.

At one level, this coincided with broader changes in Australia that included women's liberation, gay lib, state aid for Catholic schools, no-fault divorce, decriminalised abortion, legislation for women's equal pay, the AIDS crisis and so on.

Pell is part of a movement within the church that views some of these developments as expressions of "modernism", which it regards with extreme suspicion.

That faction within the church has its roots in the 1940s and fifties, when Australia was in the midst of the Cold War and the great fight that was taking place in domestic politics was between Communists and anti-Communists for control of the ALP.

Such was the acrimony created by this movement that the Vatican intervened to sort out the situation in 1957, declaring that the church had no place in officially involving itself in electoral politics.

But significantly for this story, that movement never went away.

It just went underground, transmuting itself through various guises such as the National Civic Council, the Australian Family Association and the opinion pages of The Daily Telegraph.

For Catholics within those groups, and those who supported them, such as George Pell, the great test to be applied to any co-religionist during the 1980s and 1990s was fidelity to Rome.

At a time during which non-traditional practices of sex and gender had become visible and their supporters loud, the test for theological conservatives within the church was about how strongly one supported and promoted the Roman line: no to contraceptives in marriage, no to homosexuals in the priesthood and no to married clergy or women priests.

The great irony here is that facilitating a wider discussion of human sexuality in all its forms would have allowed for homosexuals and celibates (including priests) to raise their voices and to be seen as leading legitimate lives of their own choosing.

Instead, just as the first clerics were being charged with sexual abuse offences, Melbourne Catholics were dished up documents by Pell such as "Why Can't Catholic Women be Priests?" (1993).

At the time, a sympathetic bishop advised members of the NCP to refrain from responding to Pell's publication "as Bishop Pell does have a certain following".

In seemingly keeping a lid on any real discussion of sexuality in the church, it became easy for those of a traditionalist bent to associatehomosexuality with paedophilia, just as the rest of society started to associated celibacy with sexual abuse.

The net effect was to make all clergy seem aberrant and potentially dangerous.

There is a real danger here that if we remain ignorant of the way that Pell and his supporters responded to broader changes in church and society, we can become too smug about the position he now finds himself in.

We can continue to buy into the cheap notion that the church is some sort of evil institution staffed by a quackish bunch of freaks and weirdos.

Or we can start to have an open discussion about sexuality, gender and the abuses that humans continue to perpetrate on one another well beyond institutional settings.

We owe that to the many victims out there who do not have a royal commission on their side, whose attackers are going about their business as respectable citizens today, safe in the knowledge that they will probably never be brought to justice.

Dr Damien Williams is an adjunct research fellow at the Centre for Religious Studies at Monash University.

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Denialism and blindness en masse - The Sydney Morning Herald

If this year follows the past, there will be many preventable eye injuries and cases of blindness.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and all ophthalmologists, are urging people to attend public fireworks displays put on by professionals rather than attempt to ignite their own fireworks. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 9,000 fireworks-related injuries are reported in emergency rooms each year. Of these, nearly 50 percent are head-related injuries and almost 30 percent of these are eye injuries. Twenty-five percent of fireworks-related eye injuries result in permanent vision loss or blindness. In addition, there will be injuries to hands, faces and other parts of the body.

The typical injured person is young: Children 15 years or younger account for 50 percent of all fireworks eye injuries in the United States, and one-third of all fireworks injuries in children younger than 5 are the result of sparklers, which can burn at nearly 2,000 degrees.

The AAO offers the following safety tips:

As parents and adults, we have an obligation to prevent much needless blindness or lessor eye damage by simply alerting young people and ALL adults as to the dangers of fireworks.

FRANK J. WEINSTOCK, MD, CANTON

Professor of Ophthalmology,

Northeast Ohio Medical University

Fellow of the American College of Surgeons

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Letter to the Editor: You can prevent blindness - The Repository - Canton Repository

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says it has arrested Lucy Ogbadu, the Director-General of National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), over alleged N23 million fraud.

The spokesperson of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this in a statement he issued on Thursday.

Mr. Uwujaren said Ms. Ogbadu was picked up by EFCC operatives in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, following her alleged link with the Bayelsa State Director of Bio-resources Development Centre, Josiah Habu.

Mr. Habu, according to him, is being investigated by the anti-graft agency in a case of fraudulent diversion of N75 million.

He said investigations by the EFCC revealed that Ms. Ogbadu allegedly received N23 million through a bank account belonging to the wife of Mr. Habu, Esther Habu.

The EFCC spokesperson stated that Ms. Ogbadu admitted the transaction in a voluntary statement made to the commissions investigators.

Further investigations also revealed that Mrs Habu is one of the contractors with Bio-resources Development Centre, Odi, Bayelsa State.

A total of N603 million has been traced to her in different deals involving over 20 directors of the centre across the country.

Ogbadus involvement is being investigated. She has been duly served with bail conditions while investigations continue, Mr. Uwujaren added.

Ms. Ogbadu, a professor of microbiology, was appointed NABDA director-general in November 2013.

(NAN)

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Director General of Nigeria's biotechnology agency arrested over ... - Premium Times

For older adults who suffer from knee pain caused by osteoarthritis, the future can look a bit bleak. But what if there was an opportunity to find relief, make some new friends and improve your lifestyle all by becoming part of a research study?

Wake Forest University will be conducting a study on knee osteoarthritis, otherwise known as OA, within a community setting, thanks to a federal grant, and they need willing participants. Curious? Here are 5 facts about the study to help you decide if its right for you.

1. The study has passionate and dedicated scientists rooting for it to work

Does 28 years sound like a long while? Thats the amount of time that Wake Forest professor Steve Messier and his colleagues have studied the topic of osteoarthritis and how diet and exercise can affect its severity.

According to Messier, OA is the leading cause of disability in older adults, with more than 250 million people suffering from it. Its safe to say the scientists behind these studies have your best interest at heart.

2. Wake Forest is bringing together a highly skilled and experienced team of scientists for the study

The National Institutes of Health have awarded this research team with the largest grant in the history of Wake Forest University, and the folks at Wake Forest are excited to share the process with a few other reputable institutions. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard University, East Carolina University and the University of Sydney in Australia are all planned as co-investigators in the study.

3. Unlike earlier studies, this one will be less controlled and more realistic

The latest study, which is known as WE-CAN, Weight Loss and Exercise for Communities with Arthritis in North Carolina will put the many years that Messier and his colleagues have worked on clinical study results into what they called a real-world setting. The study will have more variables than controls, since it will care for people with knee osteoarthritis in a community setting.

4. The results of WE-CAN could be a game-changer for those with OA

Doctors often treat OA with surgery or medicines and havent had a vehicle, as Messier puts it, to assist their patients with lifestyle changes, WE-CAN will be an ideal component to achieving success with exercise and diet.

The ultimate goal is to inspire communities to establish easily assessable common fitness spots, such as churches and community recreation centers, in both rural and urban areas in which physicians can direct their patients for long term treatment with exercise and diet that is cost-effective, an important component that could make it attractive to insurance companies.

5. If you suspect youre a candidate, you probably are

If participating in this new community study sounds appealing to you, theres a probability youre a candidate. Participants should be at least 50 years of age and overweight, with ongoing knee pain on most days. They will be grouped into two segments, with one as the diet and exercise group and one as the nutrition and health group. All in all, there is room for 820 adults (450 in Forsyth County) to take part in the study.

This study is significant in that it will test the effectiveness of a long-awaited and much needed community-based program, Messier says. It will serve as a blueprint for clinicians and public health officials in both urban and rural communities.

To learn more about this study, call 713-8539.

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Suffer from Arthritis? Study Seeks to Learn if Weight Loss and Exercise Help - Winston-Salem Journal

Diabetes can be deadly. Each year, more than 70,000 Americans die from complications of the disease. About half of all people with type 2 diabetes dont have their condition under control. Now, new research shows a well-known procedure for weight loss may be the best bet for patients with uncontrolled diabetes.

This was the old Lisa Shaffer. At her heaviest: almost 300 pounds!

When I was obese, my life was so limited, Lisa said.

Her health suffered, too. Lisa had type 2 diabetes, and she tried everything to control it.

She explained, Nothing worked, nope.

But today, Lisa is 120 pounds lighter and her diabetes is gone. The reason; gastric bypass surgery.

Its been incredible. Yeah. It really did give me my life back. she exclaimed.

Phillip Schauer, MD, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Bariatric and Metabolic Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, led a study that compared bariatric surgery, either gastric bypass or gastric sleeve, to intense medical therapy in people with diabetes. After five years, the gastric bypass patients did the best. Many were in complete remission without drugs or insulin.

Which is pretty remarkable. Thats about as close to a cure that you can get, Dr. Schauer explained.

Twenty-nine percent of gastric bypass and 23 percent of gastric sleeve patients achieved and maintained normal blood sugar levels -compared to just 5 percent of medication-only patients. The surgery groups also lost more weight and reported a better quality of life.

The patients who had surgery did better and were happier at the five- year mark, Dr. Schauer stated.

Three days after her surgery, Lisa was off all of her meds. Her A1c, a measure of blood sugar control, was 10.5 before the surgery and today, its 5.3. Now shes able to live the life shes always wanted.

Ever since I lost the weight, Ive run three 5ks. Ive done zip lining with the family, which is fantastic. Just no limits anymore, theres no limitations on my life anymore. she said.

Doctor Schauer says weight loss is one reason diabetes patients benefit from bariatric surgery. The other is something that happens in the body as a result of the surgery. When the intestines are bypassed, special hormones increase, which helps the pancreas produce insulin more effectively.

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Best bet for uncontrolled diabetes - WTAJ

Cynthia McCormick @Cmccormickcct

WEST BARNSTABLE The YMCA Cape Cod is holding a grand opening of its newly renovated Weny Diabetes Resource Center at 5 p.m. today with an emphasis on nutrition counseling and classes for Cape Codders with diabetes and prediabetes.

Were trying to make this free and open to the public, said YMCA of Cape Cod CEO and President Stacie Peugh.

Individuals diagnosed with type 1 or 2 diabetes are entitled to five free visits with nutritionist Lauren Kunkler, Peugh said.

As part of its diabetes programming, the YMCA of Cape Cod also hosts prediabetes education and lifestyle coaching classes at the Mashpee-based Community Health Center of Cape Cod, Harbor Health Services in Hyannis, Duffy Health Center in Hyannis and the Falmouth Service Center, Peugh said.

The YMCA is planning to launch a support group for people with diabetes in collaboration with NAMI Cape Cod & the Islands, an advocacy group for people with mental illness, Peugh said.

There is actually a correlation between depression and diabetes, Peugh said during an interview in the newly renovated resource center, located by the front door of the YMCA.

With its blond wood shelving, soft blue-green walls and clear plastic furniture, the resource center is fairly small in size but was designed to appear bright and inviting, said Paula Drury of Brown, Lindquist Fenuccio & Raber Architects, the architect/designer for the project.

Located since 2008 at the back of the YMCA building where the front door used to be situated the new position is designed to attract the attention of the hundreds of people who enter the Y each day, Peugh said.

In addition to individual consulting, the diabetes center was designed to serve as a library and resource center for people with diabetes and their families, Drury said.

Websites relating to diabetes and health care have been built into two Apple desktop stations, and books and informational packets fill the resource centers book shelves.

The space and services offered are designed to help guide people past nutrition information overload and into useful, health-enhancing practices, Peugh said.

Diabetes is considered a metabolism disorder that affects the way the body uses food, according to information online from Cape Cod Healthcare.

The pancreas of diabetics either produces too little insulin, or the cells of the body do not respond to the insulin that is produced, according to the fact sheet.

The resulting glucose accumulation in the body can lead to multiple health issues including heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, nerve damage and blindness.

According to a public information platform called DataUSA, 8.6 percent of Barnstable County residents are living with diabetes. The percentage was based on data collected in 2013.

Todays open house will feature an appearance by Roger Ludwig, a trustee with the Weny Charitable Trust, and a discussion of the centers new partnership with NAMI, Peugh said.

Refreshments will be served. Peugh said the Weny Charitable Trust,which contributed $1 million to the expansion of the YMCA of Cape Cod 10 years ago, funded the relocation and renovation of the diabetes resource center with a gift of $100,000.

Follow Cynthia McCormick on Twitter: @CmccormickCCT.

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Expanded diabetes center opens today - Cape Cod Times (subscription)

Lifestyle is a decisive factor in preventing or stabilising diabetes. From diet and exercise to stress management, here are a few lifestyle changes to consider.

Diabetics dont need to have to skip dessert, but they should definitely make wise food choices.

Pick products that have a naturally low glycemic index to prevent spikes in blood sugar.

Top fruits on that front are red berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries), apples, pears, oranges, grapefruit, peaches and nectarines.

Note that cinnamon can help lower blood sugar levels.

It can be used to sweeten coffee or tea or sprinkled on yogurt or fromage frais.

Certain bakeries make cakes and cookies specifically for diabetics.

These sweet treats typically contain half the amount of sugar, notably by using natural sugar substitutes.

Still, they should only be eaten occasionally and always as part of a meal in order to limit the hyperglycemic effect.

Add berries and fruit to your deserts.

Most diabetics know that they should avoid pre-prepared supermarket dishes and ready meals.

These meals are often too high in fat and salt, and can be lacking in vitamins and minerals.

Cooking from scratch with quality produce remains the best option.

When it comes to grains, oats and barley are allowed.

These cereals fibres slow down the absorption of carbohydrates in the intestine and help control blood sugar levels and insulin requirements.

Walking for 10 minutes right after eating could be more effective for controlling blood sugar than walking at another time of day.

Do this after an evening meal, when blood sugar can drop by 22%, according to research from New Zealand.

Current recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend at least the equivalent of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per day, five times a week.

You can develop diabetes from too much stress and not enough sleep.

Unfortunately, it is possible to develop type-2 diabetes due to chronic stress from work or personal lives.

Permanent stress can contribute to increasing insulin resistance.

Thats why it is recommended to take regular exercise, learn relaxation techniques and organize break times on downtime in your day.

Keep an eye on shut-eye too (minimum seven hours sleep per night), as, according to several studies, this can help curb cravings for fatty or sugary foods, among other things. AFP Relaxnews

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If you really want to take control of your diabetes, follow these 4 tips - Star2.com

Please take note this is only one aspect in weighing the attractiveness or non-attractiveness of the companies mentioned as an investment and should not be used independent of other factors. This article examines one segment of the companies' businesses, and other factors such as valuation are not addressed.

Chinas dialysis population has seen a steady increase over the years.

Source: Wolfgang Meichelboeck, Dipl.-Ing. Pentenried Germany

The number of dialysis cases is growing in China. China had approximately 440,000 dialysis patients last year, an increase of 80% over five years.

Source: European Renal Association

The national prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) was 10.8% (estimated at over 100 million Chinese) and end stage renal disease (ESRD) stood at 0.03% of the Chinese population.

Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease worldwide, although glomerular disease tended to be the leading cause in China caused for instance by taking medications and herbal medicines which damage the kidneys.

Source: nature.com

However, after decades of economic growth and the resulting unhealthy change in dietary habits, diabetes cases have seen a corresponding increase in China and this has contributed to a shift in the causes of kidney failure in China. A study found that chronic kidney disease related to diabetes was progressively becoming more common than chronic kidney disease related to glomerulonephritis in both the general population and hospitalized urban population in China. In 2010, among hospitalized patients, the percentage with chronic kidney disease related to diabetes was lower than the percentage with chronic kidney disease related to glomerulonephritis (0.82% vs. 1.01%). Beginning in 2011, the percentage with chronic kidney disease related to diabetes exceeded the percentage with chronic kidney disease related to glomerulonephritis, and the gap between them increased progressively.

Source: The New England Journal of Medicine

In 2015, the percentage of the hospitalized Chinese population with chronic kidney disease related to diabetes and to glomerulonephritis was 1.10% and 0.75%, respectively. In both 2010 and 2015, the percentage of hospitalized urban patients with chronic kidney disease related to diabetes was higher than that of hospitalized urban patients with chronic kidney disease related to glomerulonephritis, and the gap had increased by 2015 (1.02% vs. 0.84% in 2010 and 1.55% vs. 0.72% in 2015). However, among hospitalized rural patients during that same time frame, glomerulonephritis-related chronic kidney disease predominated, and the percentage with chronic kidney disease related to diabetes was lower than the percentage with chronic kidney disease related to glomerulonephritis, though the gap had narrowed by 2015 (0.68% vs. 1.51% in 2010, and 0.76% vs. 0.95% in 2015).

Chinas economic growth led to changes in Chinese citizens lifestyle and dietary habits. In the 1980s diabetes affected just about 1% of Chinas population. By 2015, this figure rose to roughly 10% of Chinas population, numbering around 110 million (compared to the U.S. where it is about 30 million) making it the country with the highest number of diabetics in the world and home to about a third of the worlds diabetic population.

The number is expected to continue rising as diets change in the country alongside economic growth. Almost 500 million people in China are estimated to be pre-diabetic about 1 times the size of the entire U.S. population.

By 2040, China is expected to have 150 million diabetics, presenting a growth opportunity for companies such as Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) which are the leading multinational insulin providers in China accounting for over 80% of Chinas insulin market.

Source: Marketwatch

The rate of chronic kidney disease increases with age, reaching over 30% of adults aged 70 years and older according to a study conducted by Peking University first Hospital.

The increasing incidence of obesity (over one third of adults in China are overweight and 7% of adults are obese) and Type II diabetes (a major risk factor for kidney disease), along with an aging population (in 2015, 9.5% of Chinas population was aged 65 or older and the U.N. projects this percentage to increase to 27.5% by 2050) suggests China could see rising chronic kidney disease (CKD) cases going forward.

Access to dialysis is lower in developing countries than developed countries, for reasons such as financial constraints and inadequate clinical infrastructure.

Source: The George Institute

China, the worlds largest developing country bears an enormous burden of kidney disease. For reasons such as a lack of financial and clinical resources, the rate of patients currently receiving dialysis treatment in China is lower than in developed countries such as the United States.

Majority of Chinese renal failure patients, mostly located in rural China do not have access to dialysis. While dialysis treatment is available for patients in urban China, access to dialysis treatments is inadequate for patients in the rest of the country due to a shortage of equipment, doctors and limited awareness levels.

Of the approximately 100 million Chinese with chronic kidney disease, about 2% of these patients are expected to develop into end stage kidney disease which means approximately 2 million people will require renal treatment therapy. However, according to the national renal registries, the number of patients who actually received treatment was less than 0.5 million.

According to a report by the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, in China, less than 30% of patients with end-stage kidney disease are treated with dialysis. For the rest, renal treatment therapy is not available due to a number of factors such as financial constraints, inadequate infrastructure and limited awareness.

Chinas ongoing healthcare reform is expected to alleviate this shortage of dialysis supply. Basic medical insurance covers over 90% of Chinas population and a high reimbursement policy for catastrophic diseases including end stage kidney disease has been established.

A report by Allied Market Research expects the global dialysis market to expand at a CAGR of 4.5% between 2017 and 2023 and Asia-Pacific led by China is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period presenting an opportunity for dialysis companies.

Chinas dialysis market is still at early stages and offers long term growth potential. Chinas dialysis market is dominated by foreign brands with over 90% of dialysis equipment and over 80% of hemodialysis consumables in China being imported from overseas.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) and DaVita (NYSE:DVA) two of the worlds largest dialysis product companies are well established in the Chinese dialysis market. A few years ago, Fresenius opened an R&D center in Shanghai and this year, Fresenius acquired a 70% stake in Kunming Wuhua Health Hospital, a private Grade II hospital in Kunming (the capital of Yunnan province) which is specialized in chronic disease management and hemodialysis. This marks the companys first joint venture (JV) hospital in China and may be aimed at capitalizing on a new policy issued by the China State Council and The National Health And Family Planning Council which states that chronic disease management will be gradually migrated from larger hospital outpatient departments to smaller Grade II hospitals and community hospitals.

DaVita entered into a joint venture with Shunjing Renal Hospital in China with the aim of building and operating dialysis chains.

Early this year Baxter (NYSE:BAX) announced that it was exiting India, Turkey and Venezuela this year and refocusing its business on Latin America and China. China is expected to become a US$ 1 billion market in the next few years. Baxter operates a Flying Angel program in partnership with China's Ministry of Health, which is aimed at improving access to peritoneal dialysis for patients in rural areas.

Most renal treatment therapy (RRT) in China occurs at HD (hemodialysis) centers and the country has about 4,000 dialysis centers.

Source: Wolfgang Meichelboeck, Dipl.-Ing. Pentenried Germany

Hemodialysis is costlier than peritoneal dialysis not only for the patients but also for Chinas healthcare system as well. With the prevalence of end stage renal disease in China increasing rapidly, the government has begun examining the feasibility of expanding peritoneal dialysis as a treatment option in China.

A report assessing dialysis options and costs in China from the National Health Development Research Center showed that the annual cost of peritoneal dialysis (PD) is about 93,520 Chinese yuan (US $14,380), whereas the cost of in-center hemodialysis (HD) is 103,416 Chinese yuan (US $15,910). The report also notes the advantages of PD for patients in rural areas. Peritoneal dialysis is a home-based treatment, offering greater freedom for rural patients and reducing the inconvenience and financial burden of having to commute several times a week to and from the hospital for treatment. To facilitate peritoneal dialysis expansion, the Chinese government is planning on adjusting reimbursement policies and the Chinese Ministry of Health has certified over 30 training centers across the country to promote the implementation of peritoneal dialysis by establishing regional satellite centers which would provide staff training, patient education and the implementation of quality assurance protocols. Baxter appears well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity. Morningstar estimates that Baxter absolutely dominates the global peritoneal dialysis market with a 72% market share.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Excerpt from:
China's Dialysis Market: Potential For Growth Driven By Diabetes And Aging Population - Seeking Alpha

AsianScientist (Jun. 29, 2017) - Researchers from the National University of Singapore have found that some plants selectively kill parts of their roots to survive in cold conditions. These findings, published in Cell, could pave the way for the development of novel strategies to improve the growth and yield of crops that undergo such environmental stress.

Plants adopt different strategies to survive the changing temperatures of their natural environments. This is most evident in temperate regions where forest trees shed their leaves to conserve energy during the cold season. Studies have shown that temperature can induce damage in the DNA of plant cells and has a profound effect on plant development and growth. However, its effects on plant stem cell behaviour and activity are still not well understood.

In the present study, a team led by Assistant Professor Xu Jian from NUS studied the effect of low temperatures on a small flowering plant called thale cress, known scientifically as Arabidopsis. This plant is a member of the Brassicaceae family, and its relatives include mustard greens, cabbage and kale.

The study of plant roots has been largely neglected by agricultural researchers in crop improvement until recently. Examining roots is important as they serve as the major interface between a plant and its soil environment, and are responsible for water and nutrient uptake; both resources which are critical for a plants survival, said Xu, who is also from the Centre for BioImaging Sciences at NUS.

To investigate the effect of chilling temperature on root development and growth, the team used the Arabidopsis root stem cell niche as an experimental model to perform in-depth studies at high spatial and temporal resolutions. They found that a chilling temperature of four degree Celsius leads to DNA damage in the root stem cells of the Arabidopsis, as well as their early descendants.

However, this DNA damage only caused the newly generated daughter stem cells to die, allowing the plants to maintain a functional stem cell niche. Inhibiting the DNA damage response in these daughter cells prevents their death, but this in turn increased the likelihood that other stem cells in the root stem cell niche would die, ultimately leading to the plants death.

The sacrificial mechanism improves the roots ability to withstand other low temperature-related stresses. When optimal temperatures are restored, the plant stem cells can divide at a faster rate, which will in turn enhance recovery and survival of the plant, said study first author Dr. Hong Jing Han.

Our discovery of how the Arabidopsis plant slays its columella stem cell daughters shed light on the plants unique strategy to survive harsh weather conditions, and demonstrates that the potential of engineering cold tolerance in plants to help them withstand harsh environmental conditions, added Xu.

The ability to do so will certainly allow farmers to extend the growing season of crops and the land area in which to grow them, increasing both yield stability and production capacity.

Xu and his team next plan to uncover the gene regulatory network that has underpinned the successful adaptation of plants and their stem cells to cold environments.

The article can be found at: Hong et al. (2017) A Sacrifice-for-Survival Mechanism Protects Root Stem Cell Niche from Chilling Stress.

Source: National University of Singapore. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

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Plants 'Sacrifice' New Stem Cells To Survive The Cold - Asian Scientist Magazine

Genome editing specialist Cellectis has kicked off clinical tests in the US for the very first of-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapy in acute myeloid leukaemia.

The company said it enrolled the first patient with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) to be treated with UCART123 at Weill at Cornell Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital. UCART123 is a TALEN-genome edited chimeric T cell receptor targeting the CD123/IL3R antigen on the surface of blasts and dendric cells, which is administered on allogeneic donor T cells. The team of Gail J. Roboz will investigate the safety and will collect first indications for efficacy of UCART123 in patients with AML. The Phase I trial is part of a strategic translational research alliance that was formed between Cellectis and Weill Cornell Medicine in 2015.

While Novartis AG and Kite Pharma are leading the CAR-T cell therapy development in AML, Cellectis hopes to overtake its competitors. It has the only approach that works with allogenic CAR-engineered T cells that could be centrally pre-manufactured in contrast to the autologous patient T cells. Those need to be isolated, engineered and expanded during the at least 14 day hospital stay of the patients to be treated making the procedure costly, lengthy and laborious. On the other hand, Cellectis therapy does not target the CD19 T cell antigen but CD123//IL3R giving the company another unique selling point.

Cellectis has used TALEN technology to block expression of the TCRa constant (TRAC) gene though blocking expression of the natural TCR. According to Andr Choulika, Cellectis CEO, TALEN technology shows less off-target effects compared to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. Following apheresis, donor T cells are engineered to express an anti-CD123 CAR (CD123 scFv-41BB-CD3z) and an RQR8 depletion ligand that confers susceptibility to rituximab. Theoretically, specifity of of UCART123 therapy might be higher in patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) than in patients with AML as CD123 expression is 10fold higher in the precursors of plasmacytoid dendritic cells than in blast occurring in the course of AML.

Cellectis also announced two new entries to ists Board of Directors. Ex-Novartis pharma division head Rainer Boehm will lead commercialisation of Cellectis lead candidate. Ex Novartis Oncology President and Incyte Corp CEO Herv Hoppenot will lead clinical development.

Read more:
AML: Cellectis testing allogenic CAR-T cell therapy - European Biotechnology

Press articles about Puma Biotechnology (NYSE:PBYI) has been popular fairly negative last few days, Accern reports. The analytics team pointing out the bullish and bearish news analysis by observing larger than 20 Million public financial documents, market websites and SEC sources in real-time. Accern grades analysis of public companies ranging from -1 to 1, with ranks nearest to 1 is considered more positive. Puma Biotechnology achieved a news impact rank of -0.01 on Accerns range. Accern issued stories about the biopharmaceutical company a media impact point of 66 out of 100, pointing that recent news analysis is likely to impact the share value upcoming future.

Puma Biotechnology (NYSE:PBYI) previously disclosed its earnings report on early Wed, May 10th. The biopharmaceutical business posted ($1.97) Earnings per share for the period, reaching the Thomson Reuters average forecast of ($2.06) by $0.09. Brokerage firms predict that Puma Biotechnology to post ($8.50) earnings per share for the full year.

Puma Biotechnology (NYSE:PBYI) transacted up 4.71% throughout intraday market trading on early Wed, topping $88.85. the share had a trading volume of 872,030 Stocks. Puma Biotechnology has a 52 week low of $27.64 and a 52 week high of $92.00. The stocks market valuation is $3.28 B. Companys 50 Day SMA is $59.74 and its 200 day SMA is $42.39.

PBYI has been the topic of many Study analysis. Citigroup boosted Puma Biotechnology to a buy recommendation and fixed a $105.00 target price for The corporation in a study note on Sunday, May 28th. Zacks Lowered Puma Biotechnology from a buy recommendation to a hold recommendation in a analysis note on early Wed, Jun 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy recommendation and fixed a $105.00 target price on stock of Puma Biotechnology in a study note on early Mon, Jun 5th. J P Morgan Chase & Co reissued an overweight recommendation and fixed a $89.00 target price on stock of Puma Biotechnology in a study note on early Tue, Jun 6th. Lastly, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Puma Biotechnology from $60.00 to $88.00 and issued the shares a sector perform recommendation in a analysis note on Tue, Jun 6th. 1 investment expert has recommended the share with a sell recommendation, two have published a hold recommendation and six have published a buy recommendation to The corporation. Puma Biotechnology currently has a average recommendation of Buy and an consensus price target of $86.94.

In other Puma Biotechnology news, large stockholder Adage Capital Partners Gp, L.L unloaded 507,128 stocks of the firms shares in a trade on early Mon, Jun 5th. The stock was unloaded at a price range of of $87.84, amounting $44,546,123.52. The information was declared in a transaction filed with the securities and exchange commission, which is available through the Security and Exchange Commission website. executive have unloaded 1,990,088 stocks of company shares valued $157,553,113 during the last ninety days. Executives own 22.70% of the firms stock.

Original post:
Puma Biotechnology (PBYI) Earns Slightly Unfavorable Press Analysis, Based On In-Depth Analysis - Insider Tradings

Newswise Industrial biotechnology scientists, educators, entrepreneurs and executives from around the globe will be convening on the University of California San Diego campus this summer to explore the latest advances and world-changing innovations heating up the white-hot field of industrial biotechnology with workshops in microbial fermentation and metabolic engineering.

UC San Diego Extension will host its annual Industrial Biotechnology Workshops on Aug. 14 through 18. Participants can attend the whole program or attend the workshops on microbial fermentation or metabolic engineering separately.

Now in its fifth year, this widely acclaimed educational event creates an informal, intimate environment for robust exchange of knowledge and ideas among world-class academic instructors and leaders of cutting-edge companies of every size from startup to mature, said Hugo Villar, associate dean of Professional & Continuing Education for UC San Diego Extension.

Whether from California or China, biotechnology professionals attending these workshops will have a front-row seat to learn about current developments and advanced scientific skills being used to solve some the worlds most difficult problems, Villar said.

Microbial Fermentation

For the past four years, the workshop focused primarily on microbial fermentation, which is the transformation of feedstocks, such as plant sugars, into useful products, like fuels, chemicals, beer or antibiotics, by bacteria, yeast, fungi or algae.

The Microbial Fermentation Workshop will be held Aug. 16 to 18. Participants will be introduced to the fundamental knowledge and practical skills needed to design, develop, optimize, control, scale-up, analyze and troubleshoot fermentation processes.

As one of just a handful of programs in the world that provide in-depth, practically oriented coursework in microbial fermentation, it is expected to draw participants from Connecticut to Croatia.

While workshop participants should have some basic knowledge and experience in fermentation, everyone from scientists to biotech business executives to graduate students could benefit from the microbial fermentation workshop.

This years program features some of the brightest minds in the field, including:

Jeff Lievense, senior advisor of Bioengineering & Technology, Genomatica;

Rachel Dutton, assistant professor of Molecular Biology, UC San Diego;

Michael Japs, senior director of Process Technology, Genomatica;

Jon Hansen, principal of New Leaf Biotech;

Jason Ryder, vice president, Process R&D, Hampton Creek; and

Karen Fortmann, senior research scientist, White Labs.

Five interactive case studies, including production of microbes for cheese and beer, will allow attendees to practice what they learn, while the Fermentation Firing Line segment will offer a lively, open ended forum for posing questions to the instructional team on fermentation-related topics.

In addition, everyone in attendance can participate in a tour of the global headquarters of White Labs, which produces yeast for beer making, and attend a hosted reception in its craft beer tasting room.

Metabolic Engineering

A new segment on metabolic engineering, which will run Aug. 14-15, will also be offered.

Recently named as one of the top 10 emerging technologies by the World Economic Forum, metabolic engineering focuses on the design and development of equipment and processes for manufacturing products such as agriculture, food, animal feed and pharmaceuticals.

Instructors joining the interactive course with case studies throughout the curriculum include:

John Pierce, MIT lecturer and former scientist at multinational firms BP and DuPont;

Adam Feist, project scientist, UC San Diego;

Ben Griffin, senior director, Microbial and Enzyme Engineering, Synthetic Genomics;

Jeff Lievense, senior advisor, Genomatica;

Jim Mills, chief technology officer, BioAmber, Inc.;

Bernhard Palsson, principal investigator, UC San Diego; and

Kristy Salmon, head of research, BP.

Those who attend the Metabolic Engineering segment are also invited to participate in a tour of the global headquarters of White Labs, which produces yeast for beer making, and attend a hosted reception in its craft beer tasting room.

Those interested in finding out more about the upcoming workshops can visit http://extension.ucsd.edu/industrialbiotech , call (858) 534-9353 or email unexbio@ucsd.edu.

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Explore Innovations in Industrial Biotechnology at Upcoming ... - Newswise (press release)

A new cream being tested at the Royal Adelaide Hospital could provide relief for both arthritis and dermatitis patients.

Developed by a Melbourne pharmaceutical company, the "wonder cream" contains a new chemical which could help to suppress inflammation caused by both conditions.

A small pilot trial carried out on arthritis sufferers proved to be successful, with researchers surprised at just how effective the topical treatment was.

"We've noticed patients coming back the next day saying my pain has dramatically reduced," Dr Guy Ludbrook from the Royal Adelaide Hospital said.

Tamara Tipple was among the first contingent of participants to test it out.

The 42-year-old was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2014 after experiencing severe pain in her hands and shoulders while working in a kitchen.

"I was in excruciating pain before. I didn't know if I could continue my employment," she said.

She used the cream for a week and says the results were life-changing.

"Within a day, I could just put it on my knuckles and joints and get instant relief," she said.

Researchers believe the cream could have fewer side effects than some current treatments and say it could help sufferers of all types of arthritis; however, the cream still needs to be tested on a larger contingent of patients to prove its effectiveness.

Their focus is now on the next trial, which will look at whether dermatitis patients will also experience the same results.

"You think dermatitis might be quite different to arthritis but funnily enough those cytokines (proteins that regulate inflammatory responses) and those inflammatory mechanisms cross both. So what we're very excited about is a drug that can potentially have a broad range of applications," Dr Ludbrook said.

Recruitment is currently underway for the dermatitis trial.

To see if you're eligible to participate, please contact the hospital on 8222 2712 or email http://www.adelaide.edu.au/painresearch.

Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2017

The rest is here:
New 'wonder cream' could provide relief for arthritis and dermatitis sufferers - 9news.com.au

Arthritis in rural communities Arthritis effects 54 million adults throughout rural America.

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Gretchen Stelter, Michigan State University Extension

The number of adults who live in rural or urban areas and are affected by arthritis was the topic of a recently published CDC analysis. Researchers found that more adults in rural areas are affected by arthritis with nearly 1 in 3 affected, than in urban areas. One of the challenges in rural areas is transportation, as often many roads and paths are unsafe to walk on. Winter in Michigan can last quite a bit longer than many other states and if you live in a rural area of Michigan it is more difficult to be on the go.

Those that suffer from chronic diseases such as arthritis, must keep moving. If a person with arthritis does not have an exercise routine, they will encounter limitations when performing daily tasks along with work and social limitations.

Water exercise is one of the best exercises for arthritis due to less irritation on the joints. Many times balance is affected due to arthritis in the legs or back. Participate in a balance class such as tai chi or yoga, or a chair exercise class such as A Matter of Balance.

Also, diet plays a key role in managing arthritis. Limiting sodium and alcohol helps keep down the inflammation of arthritis. It is a good idea to communicate with your health provider about foods that may trigger inflammation. You can also go to the Arthritis Foundation for ideas on living a healthy lifestyle with arthritis

Michigan State University Extension offers Chronic Pain PATH. The program is designed for those who are living with a chronic condition such as arthritis. Participants learn important skills such as goal-setting, dealing with pain and fatigue, communicating with health care professionals and managing medications. Topics discussed during this educational series better equip individuals to face daily challenges of living with chronic conditions.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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Arthritis in rural communities - Michigan State University Extension

Emma Hodson

Neurosurgeon Harry Bulstrode at the University of Cambridge, UK, is eager to research new treatments for glioblastoma, an aggressive yet common type of brain tumour. In May, he won a 200,000 (US$255,000) Cancer Research UK Pioneer Award to investigate whether the Zika virus, which has been linked to thousands of cases of microencephaly in newborns, offers a promising treatment pathway.

What attracted you to glioblastomas?

They are the most aggressive of primary brain tumours. Fewer than 5% of the 2,300 people diagnosed in England each year survive for 5 or more years. These tumours have rather unusual biology. They are mainly creatures of brain tissue; they don't usually spread throughout the body. All through my PhD programme, a recurring theme was the parallels between how glioma stem cells drive tumour development and how neural stem cells grow in fetuses. As a rule, adult brain cells don't display this rapid growth pattern. Glioblastoma tumours are the exception. My PhD work left one question unanswered how to specifically target these tumour-causing cells.

How did you get the idea to test Zika as a possible brain-tumour treatment?

As soon as published papers confirmed that Zika caused specific damage to the developing brain while generally sparing mature cells, a light bulb went on for me. If the cancer cells resemble those in the developing brain, maybe Zika could attack them, too? If Zika could cross the bloodbrain barrier and target glioma stem cells while passing by normal adult brain cells two formidable hurdles for existing treatments it could open up a way to use Zika to attack the tumour.

Did you seek advice from colleagues?

Yes. I dropped the idea into an e-mail to my PhD adviser, Steven Pollard. He said that it was an interesting idea, and reassured me that I wasn't crazy. Other mentors linked me up to a facility working with Zika and put me onto the Pioneer Award idea.

Are there concerns about your Zika research?

Pollard pointed out that any clinical trial could struggle to secure ethics approval to deliberately infect people with Zika. But I thought, why not explore the idea? Three million people have had this infection in the Americas. And adults who contracted it have almost universally made excellent recoveries or did not even notice the infection. I don't think it's a crazy idea to one day be able to offer the Zika virus or a modified version of it in a clinical trial to a person facing the prospect of death by brain tumour. But even before that step, this research offers interesting prospects for learning from Zika how to design potential therapies. A group at Cambridge recently published a study highlighting how Zika binds to a protein produced by neural stem cells, which simultaneously increases the viral turnover that leads to their destruction (P. L. Chavali et al. Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aam9243; 2017).

How would you describe the risk level for this project?

The Pioneer Award is for high-risk projects. That said, I think this is quite a safe bet. The techniques are not revolutionary: cell cultures of tumour lines and neural stem cells are well established. The mouse models might be difficult to get right. Mice don't get Zika, so we'll need to work on how to give brain tumours and Zika to immune-compromised mice. If we can use Zika to show that tumours in the mice are smaller or ablated, that would be a huge result.

How might this project impact your career?

As an MD-PhD, my hope is to offer people with tumours the option of being involved in clinical trials. I think this project should help set me up well for that.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Continued here:
Turning point: Tumour tactician - Nature.com

June 28, 2017 A model of erythropoetin, a glycoprotein involved in red blood cell production. Glycans are indicated in purple. Credit: Mark Wormald, Oxford Glycobiology Institute

Over two weeks in 2004, Song Zhiwei witnessed the slow death of a colony of cells. Song, a bioengineer at the A*STAR Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI), had bathed a plate of Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) with lectin, a toxic protein derived from plants. He then observed the millions of cells shrink to a dozen survivors. They looked average, but Song knew they had superpowers. The secret was hidden in the sweetening.

Sugars are essential for life. Among the most important class of sugars are those that are chemically attached to proteins. These glycoproteins are involved in everything from recognizing immune system invaders to lubricating membranes and stimulating the thyroid. They also fuel a booming pharmaceutical industrymany household drugs contain glycoproteins, and biotech companies invest significant resources in optimizing the sugaring of these proteins to improve their bioactivity and therapeutic potency.

Lectin is known to bind to sugars dangling on the ends of glycoproteins. In Song's experiment, only mutant CHO cells that did not produce those binding sugars could survive the lectin treatment. This approach of 'seeing what sticks' is an established method of identifying mutants that can subsequently be mass-produced by the biotech industry.

Song spent the next two years conducting cell culture experiments, molecular biology studies and genetic tests to prove that the cells were actually mutants. Determining the exact structure of the mutant glycoproteins required help from his colleague Lee May May, who headed the analytics group at BTI. May used mass spectrometry tools to determine the exact biochemical structure of the proteins produced by Song's mutant cells, revealing that they lacked key sugars. Song had created the first sugar-mutant cell lines applicable to biotech manufacturing.

The collaboration has since expanded into a globally renowned partnership between bioengineers and bioanalysts at A*STAR, advancing understanding of the role of sugars in disease.

Sweet talk

Sugars are the smallest and simplest form of carbohydrate, made of single or connected molecular units of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Our blood contains hundreds of types of sugars: some floating freely, but many more attached to proteins like decorations on a Christmas tree. Almost 70 per cent of the proteins in our body are glycosylated, which means that they won't function without their sugary accoutrement. The specific arrangement of sugars, or glycans, on a glycoprotein determines how a protein folds and interacts with other molecules, alters its solubility and sometimes even the messages it transmits to cells. "The cell expends an enormous amount of energy to put sugars on proteins," says Pauline Rudd, a veteran in the field of glycobiology, who joined the BTI analytics team in 2015. "If you didn't have sugars, you wouldn't survive."

Researchers first discovered the critical role of glycoproteins in the early 1900s. An Austrian physician, Karl Landsteiner, noticed that human blood mixed with the blood of animals, or even other humans, forms clumps. These clumps can clog vessels or crack open to release toxic proteins into the body. However, Landsteiner noticed that some blends did not coagulate. This discovery led him to the blood-group classification still used todayA, B, AB and Oand won him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930. In the 1950s researchers determined that the sugars exposed on the surface of red blood cells determined which blood group they belonged to.

The blood work encouraged research into glycoproteins. By the 1990s, biologists were caught up in the genetics craze. The cure for everything, they posited, was hidden in our DNA. "Genes were claimed to be the cause of everything," says Rudd, who saw funding for glycobiology wane. Between 1998 and 2000, $3.5 billion was spent globally on genomics research, including the initiative to sequence the entire human genome. "There was a lot of information but it didn't give us a direct route to understanding disease," says Rudd. "People began to suggest that maybe genes don't do anything except code for proteins."

Scientists shifted their attention to the many other stages of biological activity until they arrived again at sugars.

"DNA is the first layer of information. This information is transcribed into RNA, which sends a message that is translated into a protein with a function," says Song. "Carbohydrates, or sugars, are the last layer of biological information."

Knowing the importance of sugars didn't make them any easier to study. DNA and proteins are essentially linear structures that "curl up into fancy shapes," says Rudd. Sugars branch out into multiple chains. "They are like big trees hanging off the sides of proteins." It would take several years before sugars could be analyzed with the precision and speed of genes and proteins.

Shake up

In 1989 an earthquake hit California. Rudd remembers it well. She was deep into a collaboration between the Oxford Glycobiology Institute (led by Director Raymond Dwek) and a research team in London, looking for changes in the way proteins are glycosylated in patients with autoimmune diseases. She was analyzing 600 samples of the immunoglobulin G (IgG) protein, using a special gel to filter the sugars. The factory that produced this gel was destroyed by the earthquake.

When the factory was rebuilt, its gel was not the same. "It was completely useless," remembers Rudd. "I was tearing my hair out trying to get these 600 samples analyzed."

Necessity breeds invention, so Rudd looked around and noticed the liquid chromatography (LC) columns she had been using to sort proteins. She stuck a syringe filled with a mixture of sugars released from her glycoprotein samples into the columns. The LC device filtered the sugars to a much higher resolution than the gel process. "We never went back," she says.

Since then, Rudd has collaborated with private and institutional partners to speed up, automate and improve the specificity of techniques for sorting and characterizing sugars from a sample. What used to take a year can now be done in a day.The workflow, bioinformatics and databases developed by Rudd's team at the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (Dublin, Ireland) have been incorporated into Waters Corporation's UNIFI analytical coupled liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry platform, which means that much of the complexity of glycoanalysis is now automated. Hence, glycoanalysis has entered a new era of glycomics, bringing it closer to the big-data universe of genetics, transcriptomics and proteomics.

"We can now look at large cohorts of samples to understand more about diseases and to support biologic development and production," says Terry Nguyen-Khuong, who heads the analytics group at BTI. Since teaming up with Rudd, A*STAR has expanded its analytics portfolio to zoom in on sugars and identify their exact location, basic building blocks and linking structures.

Pharming glycoproteins

Glycoproteins fuel a US$163 billion biopharma industry of drugs whose efficacy can be dictated by sugars. For example, when the hormone erythropoietin is adorned with sialic acid sugars, it is ten times more effective at stimulating red blood cell production in anemic patients than the hormone alone.

In the glycoprotein business, CHO cells comprise the entire workforce. They can produce any proteins the biotech industry demands, and can sugar-coat the proteins in the same way humans do.

Before Song created his first CHO-cell mutants, no-one had been able to control the glycosylation of proteins in mass-producible cell lines. Pamela Stanley's group in the United States had been tweaking the glycosylation of CHO cells for years using cell lines that lived and died on a flat petri dish, fed on protein-rich cow's blood. Song instead developed mutants using cells that he knew could replicate indefinitely while swirling in spherical 20,000-liter bioreactors used in biopharma factoriesfree of bovine additives.

He named the cell line CHO-glycosylation mutant 1 (GMT-1), and since then, more than twenty successors have followed in numerical order. When tools emerged that made editing genes as simple as cutting and pasting words on a computer screen, he used them to generate more mutants.

In GMT-3, he deleted a gene required to fix fucose sugars to proteins. GMT-9 glycoproteins lack the sugars fucose and galactose; and GMT-17 lacks fucose, galactose and sialic acid. The absence of these sugars can dictate the potency of drugs. Song's cells produce antibodies that are up to a hundred times better at killing cancer cells than their equivalent drugs in the market, such as rituximab (branded Rituxan) to treat leukemia. "The cell lines are comparable to industrial lines and are ready for commercialization," says Song, who has been managing a S$11 million glycomics grant called GlycoSing since 2014. Treatments with these improved antibodies would mean significantly reduced doses.

In 2008, Andre Choo, a researcher at BTI, developed the first antibodies that could specifically kill embryonic stem cells, alleviating concerns about the cells forming tumors in transplant patients. The antibodies have since been licensed to several companies.

Many diseases have a distinct sugar profile, a concept that Choo has begun to exploit for cancer therapeutics. He screens for antibodies that specifically target aberrant sugar molecules on the surface of cancer cells, working with Rudd and Nguyen-Khuong's team to analyze them.

Recently this year, his team generated an antibody that recognizes sugars expressed on ovarian cancer cells. "In the past we would generate an antibody without really knowing what it targeted, we are now focused on trying to get these anti-glycan antibodies."

At A*STAR, research has expanded into dengue, the Zika virus and heart disease. "All major areas in medicinecancer, infectious disease and inflammatory problemsare related to glycoproteins," says Song, whose mutants could potentially cure these diseases.

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The body relies on thousands of sugarprotein complexes to stay healthy - Phys.Org

Dr Samuel Udoetuk, an optometrist, has advised the public to embark on regular eye check in order to prevent blindness.

Udoetuk gave the advice in an interview with newsmen on Wednesday in Gwagwalada (FCT) at the free eye screening organised by J.A Eagle Hospital.

He said that the aim of the free eye screening was to educate and eradicate blindness in the rural areas where it was found to be common.

To avoid blindness, a person should visit the hospital at least once in a year for proper eye check.

And if anything is detected, it can be treated immediately to avoid complications that might lead to blindness.

During any eye check, a lot of things will be looked out for to detect if there is any pathology in the eyes.

He listed some of the common eye diseases to include glaucoma, cataract, long and shortsightedness among others.

According to him, glaucoma is an increased pressure called intraocular pressure of the eye; it could damage the optic nerve which transmits images to the brain.

Udoetuk said that if the damage continued, glaucoma could lead to permanent vision loss, adding that without treatment, glaucoma could cause total blindness within a few years.

He said; cataract which is a clouding of the lens in the eye and which leads to decrease in vision, often developed slowly and could affect one or both eyes.

In cataract, the patient may notice some symptoms such as faded colours, blurry vision, halos around light, trouble with bright lights and trouble seeing at night.

According to him, if any of these eye diseases is noticed early, it goes a long way in preventing the possible cause of blindness.

He said the screening which would last for one week was another opportunity for residents of FCT to know their eye status.

NAN

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Embark on regular eye check to avoid blindness Optometrist advises Nigerians - TheNewsGuru

Bengaluru: The Karnataka IT and Biotechnology department on Wednesday granted Rs 3.18 crore to fund 12 start-ups in the areas of agriculture, biotechnology, security, communications and robotics.

"The dozen start-ups have been selected for funding to innovate products and solutions as they have been part of the Idea2PoC (Proof of Concept) scheme of the IT department's Start-up Cell," said an official statement in Bengaluru.

The Idea2PoC is a part of the country's first multi-sector start-up policy, unveiled by the state government to encourage entrepreneurs with funding to commercialise their innovation.

The start-ups with seed funding are Dr. Live Software (Rs 10 lakh), EasyKrishi (Rs 15 lakh), Lightmetrics (Rs 30 lakh), PiOctave Solutions (Rs 30 lakh), Geeksynergey Technologies (Rs 30 lakh), ispAgro Robotics (Rs 20 lakh), Astrome (Rs 30 lakh), Esyasoft (Rs 20 lakh), Geotraq Safety (Rs 45 lakh), NammaNimma Cycle Foundation (Rs 10 lakh), Sirena Technologies (Rs 48 lakh) and Selfdot Technologies (Rs 30 lakh).

"Though Bengaluru is the country's IT hub, we are seeing its start-up culture spreading to other areas, including agriculture, biotechnology, security, communications, robotics and gaming rapidly. Our aim is to mentor and help them to become self-sufficient," said IT & BT Principal Secretary Gaurav Gupta on the occasion.

Kartnataka Biotechnology and Information Techology Services (KBITS) Managing Director Salma K. Fahim said the state government was also targetting start-ups in emerging technologies such as animation, artificial intelligence, big data and virtual reality.

"These technologies can solve our long-standing problems, create hundreds of jobs and help in the 'Make in India' programme of the central and state governments," added Fahim.

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Karnataka IT and Biotechnology Dept Grants Rs 3.18 cr to 12 Start-ups - News18