TOP STORY
Genetic Septet in Control of Blood Platelet Clotting In what is believed to be the largest review of the human genetic code to determine why some people’s blood platelets are more likely to clump faster than others, scientists have found a septet of overactive genes, which they say likely control that bodily function. [Press release from Johns Hopkins Medicine discussing online prepublication in Nature Genetics]
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SCIENCE NEWS
Twelve New Genes Linked to Type 2 Diabetes Twelve new genes associated with type 2 diabetes have been identified in the largest study yet of the connections between differences in people’s DNA and their risk of diabetes. [Press release the University of Oxford discussing online prepublication in Nature Genetics]
Virus Works with Gene to Cause Crohn's-Like Illness Scientists have shown that a specific virus can interact with a mutation in the host's genes to trigger disease. The observation may help explain why many people with disease risk genes do not actually develop disease. [Press release from Washington University School of Medicine discussing online prepublication in Cell]
Scientists Implant Regenerated Lung Tissue in Rats Scientists report that they have achieved an important first step in regenerating fully functional lung tissue that can exchange gas. [Press release from Yale University discussing online prepublication in Science]
Living, Breathing Human Lung-on-a-Chip: A Potential Drug-Testing Alternative Researchers have created a device that mimics a living, breathing human lung on a microchip. [Press release from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University discussing online prepublication in Science]
Microbial Protein Restores Vision in Blind Animals Neurobiologists have devised a gene therapeutic method to restore the functionality of the cone cells in models of retinitis pigmentosa. They used a light-sensitive protein called halorhodopsin from archaebacteria to re-establish vision. [Press release from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research discussing online prepublication in Science]
Researchers Create Self-Assembling Nanodevices That Move and Change Shape on Demand By emulating nature's design principles, researchers have created nanodevices made of DNA that self-assemble and can be programmed to move and change shape on demand. [Press release from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering discussing online prepublication in Nature Nanotechnology]
Studying Cells in 3D Could Reveal New Cancer Targets A new study indicates that viewing cell behavior in three dimensions could lead to important advances in cancer research. [Press release from Johns Hopkins University discussing online prepublication in Nature Cell Biology]
New Lung Cancer Treatment Is Saving Lives Chemotherapy given after surgery for lung cancer improves overall survival rates in the general population. [Press release from Queen’s University discussing online prepublication in the Journal of Clinical Oncology]
Molecular Discovery Suggests New Strategy to Fight Cancer Drug Resistance Scientists have found a way to disable a common protein that often thwarts chemotherapy treatment of several major forms of cancer. [Press release from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute discussing online prepublication in Nature Chemical Biology]
Gene Linked to Blood Clots During Cancer Therapy A new study has found a gene mutation that can increase the risk of developing blood clots in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment with the drug tamoxifen. [Press release from BioNews discussing research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute]
Scientists Capture Structure of Virus Changing During Infection Using intricate scientific techniques that involved freezing bacteria and virus and transporting in liquid nitrogen, scientists used powerful cryo-electron microscopes to determine how the structure of the virus changes during infection, allowing it to release its DNA into the cell. [Press release from the Baylor College of Medicine discussing online prepublication in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology]
Control of Cancer Cell Pathways Key to Halting Disease Spread Scientists have deciphered a part of the pathway used by the oncogene called Myc to exert its malignant effect. Their findings confirm that at least some cancerous cells have within them the seeds to stop their own growth, if Myc can first be disabled. [Press release from Stanford University School of Medicine discussing online prepublication in Genes and Development]
Multinational Research Team Sequences Body Louse Genome A global research team published a new study describing the sequencing and analysis of the body louse genome. [Press release from the J. Craig Venter Institute discussing online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA]
Brain Scans Support Genes' Role in Alzheimer's Disease Scientists have confirmed that four suspect genes are tied to Alzheimer’s disease and linked the disease to two new genes, offering unexpected targets for future research. [Press release from the National Institutes of Health discussing online prepublication in the Archives of Neurology]
Inovio Pharmaceuticals' Optimized DNA Vaccine Demonstrates Significant Advantages in Non-Human Primates Compared to Leading Viral Vector Based Vaccine Researchers noted that significant advances in the design, formulation, and delivery of DNA plasmid-based vaccines have dramatically increased their ability to induce antigen-specific immune responses. [Press release from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discussing online prepublication in Molecular Therapy]
CEL-SCI Collaborator Presents Data Showing LEAPS™ Vaccine Technology Generates Dendritic Cells That Can Protect Animals Against Viral Illness and Other Diseases CEL-SCI Corporation and researchers at the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy jointly announced that a LEAPS™-based vaccine (Ligand Epitope Antigen Presentation System) study has demonstrated the technology's potential using dendritic cells to stimulate the immune system to fight viral illnesses and other diseases. [Press release from CEL-SCI Corporation discussing online prepublication in Vaccine]
University of Texas Medical Branch Grows Lung from ‘Skeletons’ Specialists in the field of tissue engineering have been frustrated by the problem of coaxing undifferentiated stem cells to develop into the specific cell types that populate different locations in the lung. Now, researchers have demonstrated a potentially revolutionary solution to this problem. [Press release from the University of Texas Medical Branch discussing online prepublication in Tissue Engineering Part A]
Identification of a Novel Tumor Suppressor Scientists have identified a novel tumor suppressor playing an important role in T-cell lymphoma. The protein kinase NDR1 has so far been implicated in the processes controlling cell death and centrosome duplication. [Press release from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research discussing online prepublication in Science Signaling]
Building a Substitute Pancreas for Diabetics Implants containing specially wrapped insulin-producing cells derived from embryonic stem cells can regulate blood sugar in mice for several months. [Press release from MIT Technology Review discussing research presented at the 8th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research]
Scientists Successfully Engineer Heart Tissue Scientists in China have successfully engineered myocardial tissue that is likely to share structural and functional similarities with natural myocardium. [Press release from the World Heart Federation discussing research presented at the World Congress of Cardiology 2010]
Stem Cells Offer Hope in Cerebral Palsy Battle Researchers have begun a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-authorized random clinical trial to see if cord blood stem cells have the ability to cure or lessen spastic cerebral palsy in children aged 1 to 6. [Triangle Business Journal]
Gene Therapy a Step Closer to Mass Production Researchers have synthesized and studied a range of organic compounds able to carry genetic material into individual cells where it can remedy the diseases caused by defective genes. Still under development, these compounds are much more readily produced than the viral carriers now in use and avoid their side-effects. [EUREKA Network Press Release]
Neurologix Announces Successful Phase II Trial of Gene Therapy for Parkinson's Disease Neurologix, Inc. announced positive results in a Phase II trial of its investigational gene therapy for advanced Parkinson's disease, NLX-P101. [Neurologix, Inc. Press Release]
Cellonis Diabetes Stem Cell Therapy: A Chance for Insulin Independence and the Reversal of Complications A new personalized diabetes treatment concept has demonstrated an amazing improvement in treated patients’ conditions. The ongoing clinical study shows the treatment’s best case could reconstruct a patient’s natural insulin production and even reverse later complications like kidney failure. [Cellonis Press Release]
Mologen AG Receives Approval for Clinical Study with Cell-Based Gene Therapy Against Renal Cancer Mologen AG has received approval from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut to carry out a Phase I/II clinical study with its innovative new MGN1601 cancer medicine. MGN1601 is a cell-based gene therapy for the treatment of advanced renal cancer. [Mologen Press Release]
CURRENT PUBLICATIONS (Ranked by Impact Factor of the Journal)
Limbal Stem-Cell Therapy and Long-Term Corneal Regeneration Cultures of limbal stem cells represent a source of cells for transplantation in the treatment of destruction of the human cornea due to burns. [N Engl J Med]
Genome-Wide Meta-Analyses Identifies Seven Loci Associated with Platelet Aggregation in Response to Agonists Researchers identified associations of seven loci with platelet aggregation near or within GP6, PEAR1, ADRA2A, PIK3CG, JMJD1C, MRVI1 and SHH. [Nat Genet]
Twelve Type 2 Diabetes Susceptibility Loci Identified Through Large-Scale Association Analysis By combining genome-wide association data from 8,130 individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and 38,987 controls of European descent and following up previously unidentified meta-analysis signals in a further 34,412 cases and 59,925 controls, researchers identified 12 new T2D association signals. [Nat Genet]
Virus-Plus-Susceptibility Gene Interaction Determines Crohn's Disease Gene Atg16L1 Phenotypes in Intestine Researchers provide a specific example of how a virus-plus-susceptibility gene interaction can, in combination with additional environmental factors and commensal bacteria, determine the phenotype of hosts carrying common risk alleles for inflammatory disease. [Cell]
Tissue-Engineered Lungs for In Vivo Implantation To explore whether lung tissue can be regenerated in vitro, researchers treated lungs from adult rats using a procedure that removes cellular components but leaves behind a scaffold of extracellular matrix that retains the hierarchical branching structures of airways and vasculature. [Science]
Reconstituting Organ-Level Lung Functions on a Chip Researchers describe a biomimetic microsystem that reconstitutes the critical functional alveolar-capillary interface of the human lung. [Science]
Genetic Reactivation of Cone Photoreceptors Restores Visual Responses in Retinitis Pigmentosa Researchers show that expression of archaebacterial halorhodopsin in light-insensitive cones can substitute for the native phototransduction cascade and restore their light sensitivity in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa. [Science]
Self-Assembly of Three-Dimensional Prestressed Tensegrity Structures from DNA Researchers report nanoscale, prestressed, three-dimensional tensegrity structures in which rigid bundles of DNA double helices resist compressive forces exerted by segments of single-stranded DNA that act as tension-bearing cables. [Nat Nanotechnol]
The MCL-1 BH3 Helix Is an Exclusive MCL-1 Inhibitor and Apoptosis Sensitizer By leveraging nature's solution to ligand selectivity, researchers generated an MCL-1–specific agent that defines the structural and functional features of targeted MCL-1 inhibition. [Nat Chem Biol]
Structural Changes in a Marine Podovirus Associated with Release of Its Genome into Prochlorococcus Observations suggest a mechanism whereby, upon binding to the host cell, the tail fibers induce a cascade of structural alterations of the portal vertex complex that triggers DNA release. [Nat Struct Mol Biol]
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POLICY
President of EFPIA Calls for a ‘New Dialogue’ on Medicines Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline and President of European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), the body representing the research-based pharmaceutical industry in Europe, called for ‘a new dialogue’ between governments and the pharmaceutical industry in order to deliver patient access to better medicines and enhance Europe’s competitiveness as a base for R&D investment. [European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, European Union]
Public Wants Synthetic Biology Regulated, Survey Says According to the most extensive public survey yet, the British public are at ease with the idea of synthetic biology — but only if it is responsibly regulated. [Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom]
FDA Told to Step Up Oversight of Offshore Clinical Trials The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn't done enough to monitor clinical trial data coming from overseas sites and patients, which increasingly dominate the studies used to support U.S. drug applications, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general. [Department of Health and Human Services, United States]
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BUSINESS
Gamida Cell-Teva Joint Venture Receives FDA Fast Track Designation for StemEx® for Leukemia and Lymphoma Gamida Cell announced that the Gamida Cell-Teva Joint Venture has received a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Fast Track Designation for StemEx, in development as an alternative to a bone marrow transplant for patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. [Gamida Cell Press Release]
Sanofi-Aventis and Regulus Therapeutics Form Major Strategic Alliance on microRNA Therapeutics Regulus Therapeutics Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis announced that they have entered into a global, strategic alliance to discover, develop, and commercialize microRNA therapeutics. [Regulus Therapeutics Inc. Press Release]
Valeant and Biovail Agree to Merge Valeant and Biovail announced that both companies' Boards of Directors have unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement under which the companies would combine to generate enhanced value for stockholders. The combined company will be called Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. [Biovail Corporation Press Release]
AGTC and Icagen Announce Technology Transfer Agreement AGTC and Icagen, Inc. announced the completion of an agreement for the purchase and sale of certain patent rights between the companies. [Icagen, Inc. Press Release]
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Announces Licensing Agreement with Targepeutics for Worldwide Intellectual Property Rights to Validated Immunotherapy Target ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. announced it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Targepeutics, Inc. for ImmunoCellular’s acquisition of Targepeutics’ worldwide intellectual property rights surrounding the IL-13 receptor, alpha 2. [ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. Press Release]
AstraZeneca and MMV Join Efforts in the Fight Against Malaria AstraZeneca and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announced a collaborative agreement designed to identify novel candidate drugs for the treatment of malaria. [AstraZeneca Press Release]
CIRM Allocates $25 Million to Overcome Immune Rejection of Stem Cell Transplantation Therapies The Governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved $25 million to fund 19 projects intended to overcome immune rejection of transplanted stem cells. [California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Press Release]
$5.6 Million Awarded for Stem Cell Research at Stanford Four researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine were awarded about $5.6 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to study how to overcome the immune rejection of cells and tissues derived from stem cells. [Stanford University School of Medicine press Release]
SEK 100 Million for Research into Regenerative Medicine Karolinska Institutet has received a grant of SEK 100 million from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation for a regenerative medicine research centre – the Wallenberg Institute for Regenerative Medicine. [Karolinska Institutet Press Release]
London's 'Somewhat Unusual' New Research Centre Britain plans a £600-million biomedical facility for young investigators, the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation. [NatureNews]
t2cure’s Cellular Therapeutic Receives Orphan Drug Designation t2cure GmbH announced that the Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to t2c001 for the treatment of Buerger’s Disease. [t2cure GmbH Press Release]
FDA Approves First-of-Its-Kind HIV Test Which Can Detect HIV Days Earlier Than Current U.S. Tests Abbott's ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay is the first test approved in the United States that can simultaneously detect both HIV antigen and antibodies. [Abbott Laboratories Press Release]
Pluristem is Advancing Toward Two Phase IIb Clinical Trials for Treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia and Moderate-Severe Claudication Pluristem Therapeuitcs Inc. announced that following its meeting with the Paul Ehrlich Institute, the German regulatory authority for advanced therapy products, the company is advancing toward designing two Phase IIb clinical trials for its placenta-derived cell therapy product, PLX-PAD, for the treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia and Moderate-severe Claudication. [Pluristem Therapeuitcs Inc. Press Release]
Radient Phamacueticals Strategic Partner Jaiva Technologies Plans to Submit Application for Phase II Human Clinical Trials for Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma Radient Pharmaceuticals Corporation (RPC) and Jaiva Technologies, Inc. announced that Jaiva plans to submit a clinical trial application to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization in India to commence human Phase II trials for RPC’s Combination Immunogene Therapy technology as a vaccine therapy for non-small cell lung carcinoma. [Radient Pharmaceuticals Corporation Press Release]
Cheryl Moore Named HHMI’s First Chief Operating Officer Robert Tjian, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, announced the appointment of Cheryl A. Moore as the Institute’s first chief operating officer. [Howard Hughes Medical Institute Press Release]
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EVENTS
16th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Gene Therapy (JSGT) July 1-3, 2010 Utsunomiya City, Japan
Worldwide Innovative Networking (WIN) Symposium in Personalized Cancer Medicine July 7-9, 2010 Paris, France
Translational Cancer Medicine 2010 – USA July 11-14, 2010 San Francisco, United States
United Kingdom National Stem Cell Network (UKNSCN) Annual Scientific Conference July 12-14, 2010 Nottingham, United Kingdom
2nd International Conference on Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (ICCMB2) August 2-4, 2010 Singapore City, Singapore
CHI's 5th Annual Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Summit (ImVacS) August 17-19, 2010 Cambridge, United States
Select Biosciences 3rd Annual Stem Cells Europe Conference August 24-25, 2010 Edinburgh, Scotland
Select Biosciences 2nd Annual World Biobanking Summit August 24-25, 2010 Edinburgh, Scotland
Select Biosciences Inaugural Cellular Therapy Summit August 24-25, 2010 Edinburgh, Scotland
Viral Vectors in Gene Therapy: Applications and Novel Production Methods August 26-September 4, 2010 Kuopio, Finland
Clinical Trials International Summit 2010 September 1-2, 2010 Shanghai, China
International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) – Europe 2nd Regional Meeting September 11-14, 2010 Belgirate, Italy
Hydra VI: The European Summer School on Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine September 11-17, 2010 Hydra, Greece
Joint Metastasis Research Society – American Association of Cancer Research Conference on Metastasis and the Tumor Microenvironment September 12-15, 2010 Philadelphia, United States
Stem Cells USA & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2010 September 13-15, 2010 Philadelphia, United States
Select Biosciences 7th Annual RNAi & miRNA Europe September 14-15, 2010 Dublin, Ireland
Select Biosciences Inaugural Epigenetics Europe Conference September 14-15, 2010 Dublin, Ireland
Select Biosciences Inaugural Genomics Automation Europe Conference September 14-15, 2010 Dublin, Ireland
Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) – Asia Pacific 2010 September 15-17, 2010 Sydney, Australia
International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy of Cancer (ISCGT) Congress September 27-29, 2010 Doha, Qatar
4th American Association of Cancer Research International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development September 27-30, 2010 Denver, United States
Select Biosciences 6th Annual Ion Channel Targets Conference September 28-29, 2010 Washington, DC, United States
Cytokines 2010: Cytokines in Infectious Diseases, Autoimmune Disorders and Cancer October 3-7, 2010 Chicago, United States
2010 World Stem Cell Summit October 4-6, 2010 Detroit, United States
5th World Congress on Preventive & Regenerative Medicine (WCRM) October 5-7, 2010 Hannover, Germany
17th Annual Meeting German Society for Gene Therapy (DG-GT e.V.) October 6-9, 2010 Munich, Germany
COGEM Symposium: GM Viruses as Medicine: Panacea or Pandora's Box? October 7, 2010 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) Annual Meeting & Cellular Therapy and Transfusion Medicine Expo (CTTXPO) 2010 October 9-12, 2010 Baltimore, United States
Translational Cancer Research for Basic Scientists October 17-22, 2010 Boston, United States
European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) 18th Annual Congress October 22-25, 2010 Milan, Italy
3rd Annual Dubai Congress on Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine (DCAAAM) October 26-27, 2010 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Congress Asia 2010 October 26-29, 2010 Singapore City, Singapore
Select Biosciences 3rd Annual Molecular Diagnostics World Congress October 28-29, 2010 San Diego, United States
Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium 2010 October 29-30, 2010 Leipzig, Germany
Stem Cell Society Singapore Symposium 2010: Translating Science to Therapy November 2-3, 2010 Singapore City, Singapore
World Cord Blood Congress November 4-7, 2010 Marseille, France
Select Biosciences 5th Annual European Biomarkers Summit November 9-10, 2010 Florence, Italy
Select Biosciences International Forum on Stem Cells November 12-13, 2010 Tianjin, China
Select Biosciences 2nd Annual RNAi Asia Conference November 15-16, 2010 Singapore City, Singapore
9th Annual Gene Therapy Symposium for Heart, Lung, and Blood Diseases November 17-19, 2010 Sonoma, United States
Stem Cell Network 10th Annual Scientific Meeting November 22-24, 2010 Calgary, Canada
Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) – North America 2010 Annual Conference December 5-8, 2010 Orlando, United States
Phacilitate 7th Annual Cell & Gene Therapy Forum 2011 January 24-26, 2011 Washington DC, United States
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