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February 18, 2004
Sweden: Stem Cell Research Powerhouse
Sweden, a country of 9
million people, may become a center for a multibillion-dollar market for
drugs based on stem cell therapies. In the January 2004 issue of BioPharm
International describes that while "ethical debates have limited embryonic
stem cell research in many countries" including the US, "Sweden has decided
that the potential benefits of both embryonic stem cell research and
therapeutic cloning are paramount".
Sweden is one of the world's largest
producers of biotechnology knowledge per capita and has many science based
companies, such as Amersham Biosciences, Ative Biotech, Pharmacia
Diagnostics, Medivir, Karo Bio and Melacure. There are distinguished
researchers both in academia and industry and a strong culture of
collaboration.
Christer Kohler, head of AstraZeneca's global
Discovery Research in Central Nervous System commenting on Sweden's goal to
establish a center of excellence for early diagnostics and treatment of
neurogenerative diseases says that "If Sweden succeeds with its proposed
endeavors, this country could very well take a world-leading position in
neuroscientific experimental medicine."
The initiative is appropriately called The
Brain Power and the market potential is "mind boggling". The total market
for the care and treatment of brain-related diseases in the EU and the US
and Japan is estimated at $400 billion annually and the market for CNS drugs
is about $48 billion.
While the US is prohibiting embryonic stem
cell research based on the mystical notion that a collection of cells in a
petri dish is a human being, other countries will reap the benefits of this
amazing and exciting area of research. One can only say more power to the
Swedes.
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January 22, 2004
Using viruses to Kill Cancer cells
The knowledge that viruses could fight cancer has
been around for over a century but it is only until fairly recently that
scientists have had the ability, thanks to molecular biology, to use this
knowledge to fashion viruses that
kill the cancer but do no harm to the patient.
For example, a herpes virus was re-engineered to cure
mice of an aggressive form of brain cancer. The reason viruses are the ideal
way to battle cancer is because they are uniquely designed to be particular
about the cells they invade. Remember that viruses must invade a cell in
order to reproduce. Well, now the scientists, using molecular biology can
achieve more pinpoint control by adding and deleting viral genes.
The conventional way to treat cancer is with
radiation and chemotherapy which do a lot of damage to the bone marrow - the
source of all types of blood cells. "We've shown these viruses don't harm
bone marrow" says Dr. Robert L. Martuza (director of neuro-oncology at
Massachusetts General Hospital).
Herpes and polio viruses have been engineered to
first be harmless and second to kill glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer,
as well as metastatic liver cancer.
The downside is that viruses trigger an immune
response that then attacks other cancer cells but the immune attack also
attacks the virus. Therefore "it is difficult to maintain an ongoing viral infection...". There are problems to overcome
but the future for new therapies for this scourge of nature, cancer, looks
promising. |
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January 17 2004
VET MEDICINE: FOREFRONT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Writing in
Technology Review, Michael Schrage predicts that "pampered pets will
soon be in the vanguard of human health care". Because the government is
imposing restrictions on embryonic-stem-cell research and cloning, animal
lovers are driving researchers to move out of human medicine into pet
medicine. There are thousands of people willing to spend big bucks for the
research necessary to keep Fido alive and we all know that science cannot be
squelched in the long run because of the irrational fears of the "what if
(name your disaster) crowd.
The rate of growth of veterinary research is
currently $19 billion and veterinarians are getting ever more specialized
today in areas such as cardiology, radiology, oncology and ophthalmology.
With these vet specialists new doors open in the areas of
embryonic-stem-cell therapy for dogs with an autoimmune disease and research
into cloning.
As Schrage writes, "The very effectiveness of
veterinary biotech would subvert the regulatory and ethical underpinnings of
human-research constraints. It's almost impossible to imagine society
saying, 'It's all right to use embryonic stem cells to save your dying dog,
but it's not okay to use them to save your dying child'."
He concludes that "America's love affair
with animals will inevitably undermine the religious, moral, and ethical
arguments against genome-based therapies for people."
The undermining of these false arguments
against this life-enhancing research will come about because people will
take them for the irrational arguments that they are. One often shouted
argument is that we cannot play "God". Well we play God every day of our
lives in the millions of decisions we make as individuals in our private and
public spheres. Humans are always figuring out ways to make nature better.
And this is good because we cannot survive otherwise. The good is that
which is good for every single individual. Medicine is good. Treatments of
diseases are good. Therefore, research is good. Bring on the stem-cells
and cloning. It is the future and we will insist on treatments for our
beloved children through our love for our pets.
UK Creates Animal Gene Bank
Along the same vein as the previous news on
Vet Medicine, the United Kingdom has created an archive of animal DNA in
order to investigate genetic diseases of cats, dogs and horses. The DNA
information will be used by scientists to develop cures for inherited animal
diseases which, of course will spill over into human genetic research
studies. (http://www.news.scotsman.com).
New Jersey to Allow Stem cell use research
Governor James E McGreevey (New Jersey)
signed legislation on January 4, 2004 promoting stem cell research.
Naysayers such as Marie Tasy have spoken, "This law will result in a grisly
human experimentation and organ harvesting. It is truly a dark day for New
Jersey. They actually opened the door to human cloning."
But McGreevey taking a positive tone said,
"This legislation is about providing lifesaving medicine. We can bring hope
to thousands of citizens all across the state of New Jersey. Today we
celebrate the possible." (http://www.nj.com)
Stem cell research could lead to significant
advances in areas such as organ creation, diabetes, skin grafting and many
others. Slowly, but surely the voices for reason and man are marking
perhaps the beginning of a new era of converting the science fiction of
yesterday to the realities of tomorrow.
Biotech Crops Grow Around the World
Farmers around the globe are adopting more
and more genetically altered crops, up 15 percent last year. These crops
have been modified to resist pests and weeds and the acreage devoted to them
continues to rise in the US with the biggest rise in developing countries.
Many of these small farmers are in China where they are growing modified
cotton. Farmers are deciding that the benefits which include higher yields
and/or lower costs for labor and chemicals are worth the added expense of
the modified seeds.
The
Washington Post reports meanwhile that Europe has blocked most of the
biotech crops following a public controversy in the late 1990s. Monsanto,
the industry leader, says the crops are safe to eat and good for the
environment. This is the second agricultural revolution and those on board
will be the winners.
Goats Milk Engineered with Malaria Vaccine
Malaria, a disease found in in developing
countries, affects millions of people every year. Well now there is new
hope for these sufferers thanks to scientists at GTC Biotherapeutics in
Massachusetts. The milk in the herd of transgenic goats contains the
malarial merozoite surface proteins (MSPs) and each goat can produce 1 gram
of this protein for each liter of milk. Harry Meade, Vice President of
research and development at GTC estimates that a herd of 50 goats could
yield 25 kg of crude protein in a year which translates to about 5 kg of
protein for use in vaccine. "With a herd of goats, you could cover the
world." See the full article on
BioMedNet
(you must register at the site - for free - to get access to the article). |
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May 21, 2003
Parthenogenesis may
quiet the controversy over stem cell research
Wow, parthenogenesis! What's that? This is the process whereby an unfertilized
egg can start developing without the help of sperm as happens in some insects
and reptiles. In mammals parthenogenesis can be induced with an electric
or chemical stimulus but within a few days the resulting embryos die.
David Wininger at the biotech firm Stemron in Maryland has been able to grow
parthenogenetic human embryos to the blastocyst stage. And this is important
because this is the stage at which stem cells can be obtained. A blastocyst
is an embryo that has divided many times to a point at 5-6 days old, when it
is ready to implant into the uterine wall.
These amazing scientists
have been able to coax cells from one of these embryo to survive for a few days.
The next step is to coax these cells to grow indefinitely in culture.
There is
precedent set by Kent Vrana
of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina who has a monkey
cell line growing for 2 years.
Now the reason this is so exciting is that since these "virgin" embryos would
die anyway no one can object to creating and using them to isolate stem cells
which can then be used, possibly, to grow different tissues that patients may
need. This is a very exciting development indeed. |
| May 11,
2003
Staph bacteria can
cause B cells to commit suicide
One of the major problems with Staphylococcus aureus (staph) infections is that
they are so common and many people get them recurrently. B cells are at
the very beginning of a normal defense against invading bacteria and from this
immunologic experience, memory B cells are developed which can then recognize
antigens from another bout with this particular bacteria. However with
staph infections this immune process can be thwarted. Researchers at the
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in the May 5, 2003 issue
of the Journal of experimental Medicine reported that in studies using mice
they found a staph protein, called SpA which acts like a B cell toxin.
SpA mounts a preemptive attack on a specific region of antigen receptors ultimately
causing the B cells to self destruct, a process called apoptosis. So the
B cell never develops the memory cells necessary to fight off future infection
with staph. The major spin-off from these studies, if the findings hold true
in humans, is to treat patients who have auto immune diseases such as lupus
that occur due to faulty B cells.
Vaccines or DNA may be carried in Microgel Polymer Beads for therapy
Today's injectable vaccines employ deactivated viruses to ferry antigens into
the cell interior. The problem with this method is that the virus is not
always completely deactivated. Professor of chemistry Jean M. Frechet
and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory have designed a polymer that "falls apart in acid to form
thousands of little molecules that swell and explode the cell's digestive chamber
(called lysosomes) before the acids have a chance to degrade the antigens."
This technique avoids the problem of the cell's stomach acid often destroying
the protein antigens before they can be used to elicit an immune response.
Tests have been conducted only in cultured cells. The concept has to be
tested next in mice and these studies are
underway.
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April 9, 2003
ANTIDOTE TO ANTHRAX CLOSE
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard University are
closer to developing an antidote to the deadly anthrax toxin.
Anthrax, an infectious disease caused by the sporeforming bacteria Bacillus
anthracis usually infects wild and domestic livestock and is not infectious.
Most commonly, anthrax is contracted when bacteria enters a cut on the
skin. The more dangerous route is through inhalation of the spores or
through the gastrointestinal route by eating contaminated meat although this
is rare. The reason that it is used as a weapon is because of its high
lethality, easy storage and longevity. All you need is the right wind
and weather conditions to release a cloud of colorless, odorless spores on an
unsuspecting population.
While antibiotics can be used to kill the bacteria in the early stages of infection,
the symptoms are not readily recognized until after the bacteria have started
producing toxin that can cause death. This toxin gets into the cells causing
their death. The researchers have found two receptors on cells that allow
the toxin to bind and be taken inside the cell. They then made a piece
of the receptors which are free-floating and act as decoys binding the toxin
thereby not allowing it to bind to the cell and wreak its destruction.
In the test tube the decoys are effective and scientist anthrax researcher John
Collier has tested them in rats with promising results.
More...
BACTERIA FOUND UNDER SEA FLOOR
Thermophiles are bacteria that love the heat. These types of bacteria
were found in Old Faithful, the geyser located in Yellowstone park. Now
scientists have discovered thermophiles in ocean water circulating through deep
sea-floor rocks. Why is this important? Because this supports a
controversial idea that beneath the ocean floor, the oceanic crust is teaming
with life. Oceanographer H. Paul Johnson (University of Washington, Seattle)
says that the results are akin to “finding an undiscovered world”.
SARS MAY BE A CORONAVIRUS
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS originated in China causing an outbreak
and is almost certainly a new type of coronavirus (an RNA virus). The
coronaviruses in general infect a variety of mammals & birds. The exact number
of human isolates are not known as many cannot be grown in culture. They cause
respiratory infections more commonly and enteric infections occasionally mostly
in infants less than 12 months of age. The virus is transmitted by aerosols
of respiratory secretions. There is no adequate animal model for the human
respiratory coronaviruses. Clinically, most infections cause a mild, self-limited
disease (classical 'cold' or upset stomach), but there may be rare neurological
complications. The greatest incidence in children occurs during the winter,
less in adults. Re-infections appear to occur throughout life (implying multiple
serotypes (at least four are known) and/or antigenic variation) hence prospects
for immunization appear bleak.
More...
The new SARS virus diverges 50-60% from the three known groups of coronavirus
which is typical of the variation between coronaviruse groups says Stephan Gunther
of the
Bernhard Nocht
Institute of Tropical Medicine in Hamburg. |
March 7, 2003
Scientists show that drugs can turn off cancer by turning on genes
Scientists have recently recognized he importance of the addition of a methyl
group to a stretch of DNA, called DNA methylation, which can lock or silence
a specific gene that would normally, say, control cell growth. That locked
or silenced gene may play a critical role in the development of cancer by allowing
uncontrolled cell growth which is what cancer is.
“The concept that the silencing of genes is a critical part of the cancer process
is a major conceptual advance in this field,” notes Dr. Peter A. Jones, director
of the University of Southern California/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“Realizing that, it becomes very important to find keys to unlock those silenced
genes.”
One of those keys may be a drug called zebularine. Oral administration
of zebularine can inhibit the process of DNA methylation according to researchers
at the Keck School of Medicine USC. The drug reduces the size of tumors
by turning on tumor suppressor genes that have been turned off. What is unusual
is that the drug survives passage through the acidic environment of the stomach
which would make it easy for patients ro use according to the results of studies
conducted in mice. Other studies using cultures human cells indicate that
zebularine’s effects are specific for the tumor cells and not the normal dividing
cells. The drug has for this reason been found to be nontoxic in mice.
Dr. Jones noted however that it may be some time before zebularine is tested
in humans. Right now, he said, "it's not very efficiently incorporated into
DNA." Future studies will focus on trying to find ways to increase that efficiency.
See the full article on
EurekAlert. |
March 7, 2003
It’s the Bacteria in the Sponges
The marine biotechnology industry have always considered sponges a promising
source of bioactive compounds of pharmaceutical interest. Not anymore.
The bioactive compounds thought to originate from sponges have been shown to
actually come from microbes that live in the sponges. Since there is a
serious shortage of natural sponges this is good news for bacteriologists as
well as marine biologists.
Russell Hill’s group from the Center of Marine Biotechnology at the University
of Maryland was the first to describe a cultured microbe from a sponge that
can be grown in the laboratory and still produce an important compound thought
previously to be produced by the sponge..
This is great news for humans and animals since bacteria are easier to grow
and handle, are microscopic and not a scarce resource like sponges are.
Possibility Exists To Fight
Fatal Brain Wasting Disease
The culprit in the fatal brain-wasting diseases such as scrapie in sheep and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, is a prion which is a protein found in
the brain. Antibodies directed against prions were given to infected mice before
they showed symptoms of the disease. Promisingly, the mice remained disease-free
and healthy long after the untreated mice with scrapie had died (Nature 2003;422:80-83).
The disease was untreatable, however, once the mice developed neurological symptoms
of the scrapie disease. The word was “cautious optimism” as a lot of work
still needs to be done to develop similar antibodies that will work in humans. |
March 6, 2003
Bears may show way
for treating osteoporosis
Researchers at Penn State Milton Hershey
Medical Center and Michigan Technological University show that wild black bears
have a way to cope with the resulting fragile bones caused by their long hibernation.
The study was published in the March 2003 issue of Clinical Orthopedics and
Related Research. In humans, long bed rest, injury or exposure to microgravity
during extended space flight can cause rapid bone loss which may be unrecoverable.
In the study blood samples were collected from radio-collard bears during hibernation
and active summer periods. The blood was spun in a centrifuge to obtain
the serum and radioimmunoassays were performed to determine the concentrations
of cortisol, ICTP (a marker of bone loss), and PICP (a marker of bone formation).
Higher levels of ICTP and PICP indicate bone loss or formation of bone respectively.
“These findings lend support to the hypothesis that black bears have the ability
to minimize bone loss during disuse by maintaining bone formation and completely
recover lost bone by increasing bone formation during remobilitzation,” said
Henry J. Donahue, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan
Technological University
Studies using animals to shine a light for a better treatment for osteoporosis
may benefit the millions of people, especially older women, who suffer the debilitating
effects of bone loss.
Read the article by
Science News.
Cattle Genes to be Sequenced
Cattle genes will be sequenced in total at the Baylor College of Medicine and
Texas A&M University to be financed by $50 million from The National Human Genome
Research Institute. An additional $25 million has to come from other sources.
The bovine genome has about 3 billion base pairs, similar to that of humans
and other mammals. Information regarding cattle genetics could help the
beef and dairy industries to produce healthier cattle and more nutritious milk.
It may also offer insights into human diseases. Read the article by
Reuters.
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| March 3, 2003
Parasites Beware
Parasitic roundworms destroy billions of dollars in crops and cause debilitating
diseases in farm animals and pets. In humans diseases such as ascariasis,
hookworm and elephantiasis affects almost 3 billion people worldwide.
Scientists are worried about the development of resistance by those parasites
to the drugs currently being used to combat them.
But thanks to scientists at the University of California, San Diego, they have
discovered that the bacterium Bacillus thuringensis, or Bt not only can produce
insecticides (these have been already used by organic farmers for five decades)
but can also produce proteins that are toxic for nematode parasites. These findings
appear in the March 4 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Raffi V. Aroian head of the study at UCSD said, “ All of the data show that
these crystal proteins are nontoxic to animals with backbones. What our
discovery suggests is the potential for preventing not only billions of dollars
worth of agricultural damage from parasitic roundworms each year, but also the
potential for preventing some important debilitating forms of human and animal
disease”.
These proteins from this marvelous bacteria, Bacillus thuringensis, may one
day provide protection to over a quarter of a billion humans and we can only
say a hurrah and a thank you for the wonderful scientists who selfishly pursue
their happiness in the field of biological discovery who show dedication, genius
and persistence. Read the
UCSD press release
on this story. |
Scientist Closer to
Growing Organs
Scientists may be one step closer to growing organs for human transplantation.
Reports say that scientists have successfully grafted a pig’s heart to a sheep
by manipulating the immune systems of both animals. However, other scientists
say that the results of the University of Nebraska Medical Center study, which
appears in the February issue of Journal Annals of Surgery, are limited because
the animals are genetically similar. Nevertheless, this is a step closer
to creating a future where humans in dire need of an organ to sustain life will
be able to get one.
More...
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Genetically Modified
Fish
Scientists interested in creating new sources of food have altered the genes
of fish to grow more quickly, produce greater supplies of and more disease-resistant
fish (which would bring down the price of fish on world markets), serve as a
source of Factor VII (a clotting agent essential for hemophiliacs), and develop
shrimp that do not initiate allergic reactions in humans.
The possibility are endless |
New Bandage Saves Lives
on Battlefield
A soldier on the battlefield can bleed to death in less than an hour depending
on the extent of his wounds. But medic’s have a new bandage that contains
the clotting agent which will be a powerful tool in his efforts to save lives.
Laboratory animal tests show that the bandage when applied to a wound can stop
bleeding in just 2 minutes.
Read the article on CNN. |
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