Health Meaning

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - There is more variety in the DNA you might be thinking, deletions or additions of genetic material between individuals, called number variations (CNV), are a common source of genetic diversity. Now the preliminary work reported here today at the American Society of Human Genetics meeting suggests that men who have more than average CNV may be more likely to bulls children with eye cancer retinoblastoma. The research reflects the growing enthusiasm among geneticists for CNV, a type of genetic variation that has not received much attention until recently, but is now being linked to a number of diseases.

All young people who develop retinoblastoma in both eyes inherited a defective gene that caused the disease. But in 80% of cases, neither parent carries the mutation. Somehow, he was raised in the father's sperm. Nobody knows how it happens, but the researchers speculated that some fathers may be more sensitive to DNA damage than others. At the University of Pennsylvania (Penn U) and the Philadelphia Children's Hospital, the researchers spent about 7 years collecting cases of this rare cancer and to collect DNA from children and their parents. They are also inquiring about a range of environmental exposures that may have affected fathers, but this information is not yet available.

The genetic results, however, are slowly coming together. At the meeting, the geneticist Elizabeth Chao, a postdoctoral researcher at U Penn geneticist working with Arupa Ganguly, describes DNA taken from 169 fathers whose children have developed the disease. They identified 37 CNVs they saw as a big - more than 500,000 DNA bases - and in general found that more fathers had CNV as witnesses, about eight average against three. Twenty-one dads had undetectable CNV at all, but Chao suspect this may be due to the technology, which has difficulty picking up very small stretches of DNA that are duplicated or deleted.

Particularly interesting were CNV in genes that protect against DNA damage, such as breast cancer gene BRCA2 . Chao does not know if these CNVs are inherited by the parents of their own parents or if they accumulate with age. And it is too early to say how or even if CNVs contribute to the risk of retinoblastoma gene mutated. One possibility, Chao said, is that the high number of CNVs cause sort of DNA damage by making Dads less able to protect themselves against environmental aggressors such as radiation. Another explanation is that the CNV are merely "markers of a genome less stable," suggesting that these men are more vulnerable to DNA damage in general. The fathers are not at higher risk of cancer them -Same, Chao added.

Although these dads are healthy, the results are similar to other diseases related to high levels NVC. for example, take Li-Fraumeni syndrome, genetic disease that leads to a number of cancers. in a work published in August in the Proceedings of the national Academy of sciences and presented today, researchers at the Hospital for sick Children in Toronto , Canada, studied 11 affected families Li-Fraumeni syndrome and reported that those involved had an average of 12 CNVs in their genome, against three in controls. further work describes an increased burden of CNVs in schizophrenia , particularly in the DNA which is part of a gene.

Retinoblastoma is working "very preliminary," said geneticist Stephen Scherer of the Hospital for Sick Children, who participated in the study of Li-Fraumeni. In general, the CNV data is "getting a lot better," but the work is always difficult because different technologies provide different variations of the number of copies. "He's really, really hard" to both identify with CNV accuracy and determine their relevance to the disease, he said. Still, Scherer said, large rare CNVs identifications are likely to be accurate, and the approach offers new hope in the identification of DNA that is driving disease .

To help doctors and health workers in developing countries diagnose disease, researchers have developed simple detection devices made only of paper and adhesive tape that costs a fraction of conventional diagnostic equipment. The technology could also find applications in environmental monitoring and homeland security.

The laboratory work that hospitals and clinics regularly perform in developed countries is often unavailable in the Third World. Two main reasons are cost and lack of qualified personnel. The situation is unlikely to change anytime soon, so some researchers have been looking for simpler alternatives and cheaper chemical based analysis tools - such as beakers and test tubes - that workers' health use to detect diseases. That's what three Harvard University chemists have tried with a technology they call microPADs.

Their invention comprises pieces of double-sided carpet tape, pieces of paper, and a mixture of cellulose powder and the water used to fill between the sheets. The trio of chemists - Andres Martinez, Scott Phillips and George Whitesides - channel laser cut into the paper, punched holes in the tape, then stacked the two components in alternate layers. When the liquid droplets are deposited in the holes on the top of microPADs, capillary action draws through separate channels and down in small reservoirs in the lower layer. Scientists consider that the tanks contain chemical markers standards or tests, that change color when they detect the presence of bacteria, viruses or dangerous substances in the human body - or water supply. For example, if a volunteer lay person wanted to test a suspect water sample for lead levels in excess, all he or she needs to do is place a few drops in the upper holes, wait a few minutes and then how special chemicals react on the bottom.

As the researchers describe online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the microPADs prototypes transported four separate liquid samples to 64 tanks designated within 5 minutes. In 27 tests on 30 devices moved the liquid without mixing. This means that theoretically microPADs can simultaneously test for thousands of potentially harmful chemicals - such as dioxin, lead, mercury or - for diseases such as diphtheria, malaria or typhoid. And the results can be transmitted from field agents to centralized laboratories taking a cell phone photo of the results on the colored dots (see picture). Researchers estimate that each Micropad could cost as little as 3 cents when produced in commercial quantities

The technique "has broad implications, and I would venture to suggest that it will also have an interest in developed countries. - as well as developing -. world "to produce inexpensive testing devices, said chemist Timothy Swager from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge He also said the microPADs are compatible with sufficient standard tests that they could even "inspire the creation of new tests." Whitesides said he and his colleagues are exploring uses for environmental monitoring devices, agricultural testing, and military operations.

September called neglected diseases has just become a little less neglected. This morning, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a new grant of $ 34 million in support of a global network that aims to reduce the rates of easily treatable infectious diseases that affect as much as 1.4 billion poor people.

Although research and budgets of treatment for HIV / AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis has exploded in recent years, many lesser known tropical diseases have not had nearly the same attention, even if the charge of their group health is just as high or higher, and cheap, effective drugs exist for the seven most common, says Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute at the school of medicine and health sciences in Washington DC George Washington University and a founder of the global Network for neglected tropical diseases.

A portion of the grant, announced today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, will be used to help beat the more financial support for the network, Hotez said, while the rest go to treatment scale seven infectious diseases in developing countries. The septet includes ascariasis, hookworm, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, trachoma and trichuriasis.

On Friday, the FBI announced that it had arrested four animal rights extremists suspected of harassing researchers working at the University of California (UC) in Berkeley and Santa Cruz campuses. The four are accused of violating the company animals Terrorism Act by participating in several incidents in the homes of researchers dating back to October 07, including a Feb. 24, 08, in which would be several protesters tried to break into the house of a UC Santa Cruz researcher during a birthday party for her young daughter. They have not been charged in connection with firebombings targeting UC Santa Cruz researchers last summer.

Researchers in the US have increased slightly protests at home and other personal forms of intimidation by militant animal rights in recent years. A spokesman UC Berkeley, quoted by Los Angeles Times , said police reported 158 such incidents in Berkeley between August 07 and December 08. If convicted, the four defendants could serve up 5 years in prison for each offense.

Science Insider has obtained the text of a decree and a memorandum signed by President Barack Obama this morning. The first deals to reverse the restrictions imposed by former President George W. Bush on funding for embryonic stem cells, and the second with the protection of the scientific process from political interference. You can read both after the jump.

The decree on stem cells:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release Release March 9, 09
EXECUTIVE ORDER
- - - - - - -
rEMOVE bARRIERS tO tHE rESEARCH SCIENTIST RESPONSIBLE
INVOLVING HUMAN STEM CELLS

by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. Research on human embryonic stem cells and human non-embryonic stem cells has the potential to lead to better understanding and treatment of many diseases and disabling conditions. The progress over the past decade in this promising scientific field have been encouraging, leading to broad consensus in the scientific community that the research should be supported by federal funds.
For the last 8 years, the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund and conduct research on human embryonic stem cells was presidential limited by shares. The purpose of this order is to remove these limitations on scientific research, to expand NIH support for the exploration of research on human stem cells, and thereby to strengthen the contribution of American Scientists significant new discoveries and new therapies for the benefit of mankind.

Sec. 2. Research. The Secretary of Health and rights (secretary), by the director of NIH, may support and conduct responsible research, scientifically worthy human stem cells, including research on embryonic stem cells, to the extent permitted by law .

Second. 3. Guidance. Within 0 days from the date of this order, the Secretary, the Director of the NIH, examines the existing NIH guidance and other widely recognized guidelines on research on human stem cells, including provisions establishing appropriate safeguards, and to issue new NIH guidelines such research that is consistent with this order. The Secretary, through NIH, shall review and update the guidelines periodically, as appropriate.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (A) This order shall be implemented in accordance with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (B) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or more (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget proposals, administrative or legislative. (C) This order is not intended to and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees or agents, or any other person.

Sec. 5. revocations. (A) The presidential statement of 9 August 01, limiting federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells, has no other effect as a statement of government policy. (B) 13435 decree of 20 June 07, which supplements the August 9, 01 statement on research on human embryonic stem cells is repealed.

BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 9, 09.

Decree on scientific integrity:

lA WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
for immediate release March 9, 09
March 9, 09

PROTOCOL fOR thE HEADS dE dEPARTMENTS AND GOVERNING BODIES
RE: scientific integrity

science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my administration on a wide range of issues, including the improvement of public health, protection of the environment, increased efficiency in the use of energy and other resources, mitigation of the threat of climate change, and protection of national security.
the public must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions. politicians should not delete or modify the findings and scientific or technological findings. If scientific and technological information is developed and used by the federal government, it should normally be made available to the public. To the extent permitted by law, there should be transparency in the preparation, identification and use of scientific and technological information in policymaking. The selection of scientists and technology professionals for positions in the executive branch should be based on their knowledge, skills, experience, and scientific and technological integrity.

On that note, I assign to the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (Director) the responsibility of ensuring the highest level of integrity in all aspects of the participation of executive branch with scientific and technological processes. The director gives, where appropriate, with the heads of executive departments and agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget and offices and agencies
more in the Executive Office of the President (collectively, the "agencies "), and recommend a plan to achieve this goal throughout the executive branch
specifically, I direct the following :.

1. Within 0 days from the date of this note, the Director shall develop recommendations for presidential action to ensure the scientific integrity throughout the executive branch, the the following principles: (a) the selection and retention of candidates for science and technology positions in the executive branch should be based on knowledge, skills, experience and integrity of the candidate;
(b) Each organization shall have appropriate rules and procedures to ensure the integrity of the scientific process within the agency; (C) When scientific or technological information is considered in policy decisions, the information should be subject to well-established scientific processes, including peer review, as appropriate, and each agency should of appropriately and accurately reflect that information in compliance with and enforcement of the relevant statutory standards; (D) With the exception of information that is properly limited to disclosure under procedures established by the law, regulation, order or Presidential Memorandum, each agency shall make public the considered results or scientific or technological findings or invoked in political decisions; (E) Each organization must have procedures in place to identify and address instances where the scientific process or the integrity of the scientific and technological information may be compromised; and (f) Each agency must adopt such additional procedures, including appropriate whistleblower protections that are necessary to ensure the integrity of information and scientific and technological processes on which the agency relies in its decision or otherwise uses or prepares.

2. Each agency shall make available all information deemed necessary by the Director to inform the Director to make recommendations to the President as required by this memorandum. Each agency is coordinating with the Director in the development of all interim procedures considered necessary to ensure the integrity of the scientific decision-making pending the recommendations of the Director required by this memorandum.

3.. (A) departments and executive agencies shall carry out the provisions of this Protocol, to the extent permitted by law and consistent with their legal and regulatory authorities and their enforcement mechanisms (b) Nothing in this Protocol shall be construed to damage or otherwise affect: (i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget proposals, administrative or legislative. (C) This memorandum is not intended to and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers , employees or agents, or any other person.

4. The Director is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

An animal rights terrorist victim takes to the streets in favor of animal research.

last month, the extremist animal rights torched the car of the University of California, Los Angeles, neuroscientist J. David Jentsch. In response, Jentsch founded a chapter of Pro-Test, a group that started in Oxford, U.K., and attracted media attention and public support for animal testing. Jentsch is organizing a pro-research rally at UCLA to be held April 22.

The car bombing was the latest in a long series of attacks against researchers at UCLA, and Jentsch said he felt he had to do something when he saw the the impact of the attack on his car had on his students and colleagues. "People feel more and more victims, even by proxy," he said. "All we're doing now is not working, so we need to try something new."

The plans for the rally are still in shape.

Several speakers will talk about the value of biomedical research, including Tom Holder, a former Oxford student in philosophy and pro-activist research. "The goal is to be a source of inspiration to bring together people with a common mission and give them the opportunity to show solidarity," said Jentsch.

Jentsch expected the event will take place simultaneously, but in a different location from the location of a rally for animal rights for the intended UCLA as part of the annual "World Week for animals in laboratories. "He says he is not seeking a confrontation. the Office of north American press animal liberation issued a statement this week saying the two doctors involved in vivisection movement" taste debate with UCLA Pro-test organizers. "

based on the responses it has obtained to date, Jentsch expecting a few hundred people to attend the Pro-test rally, including students of UCLA and scientists and researchers from local biotech companies and other universities. as more details become available, updates will be posted on the group's website and Facebook page.

(Pro-Test Photo)

Until now, the main route that are self-righteous have supported malaria treatment programs worldwide development was to give the governments of poor countries money to buy drugs. The idea was that patients get their drugs from government clinics

But in what has been called "an incredibly exciting experience" in economics, started today a new way to make drugs against malaria to the poorest people in the world :. Go private road. The scheme, called Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria was officially launched today in Oslo with a budget of $ 225 million, thanks to donations from the United Kingdom and UNITAID, a fund full of taxes on airline tickets.

The effort aims to tackle a major problem in malaria control. A new generation of drugs called combination treatments of artemisinin is safe, effective and cheap by Western standards; but in the pharmacies from which the poorest people of the world buy their drugs, they can still easily cost $ 6 or more per course of treatment. It's easily 30 times more than older, ineffective drugs and counterfeit medicines. With the new grant, paid directly to drug manufacturers, the price of a complete treatment with new drug combinations on the private market should fall to between 20 and 50 cents per course of treatment. This should make it much more attractive for patients to make the best choice.

From history Science the new method, published in November:

"For years, we say in public health: If only we knew how Coca-Cola gets his boxes in the remotest African villages, we could do the same for drugs ", says health economist Ramanan Laxminarayan of resources for the future in Washington, DC, sat on the IOM panel "well, here's how they do it. - based on the market."

the new scheme will be managed by the global Fund to fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Geneva; new director of the institution is a former economist with the World Bank Olusoji Adeyi

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today it has found no new cases of swine flu country other than the eight identified earlier. Since last night, Mexico has reported 1004 suspected cases and 68 deaths (of which 20 were confirmed).

At a press conference this afternoon, the CDC officials stressed that the questions were many more answers and that the situation remained fluid. "These are very dynamic times and many things will change," said Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health. CDC is coordinating a national effort by national and local public health departments to find new case, she said. "Now we are looking more widely, I expect us to find more in the country." CDC now has a team in Mexico helping health workers there.

Currently, the CDC one of the few laboratories that can test for the new virus and confirmed all the cases of the United States, and seven samples from Mexico. But displayed the World Health Organization today the virus DNA sequence, as well as information for diagnostic laboratories. CDC says it has developed a better reaction assay polymerase chain reaction to detect the virus and will soon send to a network of 140 laboratories working with the agency. "If there is no appearance that things are not available to people, it is mainly because it is a new virus. We reagents for this and it is just a matter of time for us to get them out, "said Daniel Jernigan, a medical epidemiologist in the influenza division. Jernigan said CDC anticipated that these reagents will be available" very soon ".

Meanwhile, New York City is looking in possible cases of swine flu, and the WHO has decided not to raise its pandemic threat level, although it has called the situation "international public health concern of emergency."

- Several news reports about the outbreak of swine flu have pointed a finger in a massive pig farm in Veracruz, Mexico, as a potential source of the first transmission to humans. Fat chance, says the company.

A local newspaper even argued in a title 15-April before the outbreak was officially recognized-that the company, Granjas Carroll, caused an epidemic of respiratory infections in the city of Veracruz La Gloria. The story gained further impetus yesterday when the Mexican government said the first confirmed case was a boy from a town near La Gloria. But the Mexican Secretary of Health José Ángel Córdova said that 29 other suspected cases in the city are not new virus plague.

Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer in the US and a 50% owner of Granjas Carroll, strongly refuted these stories. "Smithfield has no reason to believe that the virus is in any way connected to its operations in Mexico," the company said in a statement on April 26. Granjas Carroll testing its swine flu for each month, according to the statement, and "found no clinical signs or symptoms of the presence of swine flu in pigs in the herd of the company or its employees." swine flu is not transmitted by pork products.

the company refused Science the application of the initiate for an interview, but in a second statement issued today, he again stressed that he was "fully cooperate with the Mexican authorities" and was " voluntarily submitting new samples from their swine herds for the analysis of genetic sequence and the first results are expected by the end of the week. "

South Korean media (history, history, history) report that the country's bioethics committee gave the green light to a group research Cha General Hospital in Seoul to conduct research on embryonic stem cells. If the group gets final approval from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, will be the first such research in South Korea since 06, when Seoul National University concluded that Woo Suk Hwang had falsified data in several newspapers claiming major advances.

The herd of pigs infected with swine flu in Alberta, Canada, seems to have been infected by a worker farm who had recently returned from Mexico with flu-like symptoms. As these were the first pigs ever found to house the virus, which obviously raises the possibility that infected humans and played a role in the origin of the epidemic.

According to a May 6 "status report" issued by the European Centre for Prevention and Disease Control, Canadian veterinary officials sent an updated report of the European Commission with new information farm worker. "The report says the Canadian entrepreneur, working with the herd of swine, developed a flu-like illness after travel to Mexico, but negative for influenza A (H1N1) after recovery," the report of situation. "Two weeks after returning from this contractor, pigs on this farm evidenced fever and loss of appetite particular, no mortality, and tested positive for influenza A H1 subtype." The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) quarantined the farm, which was initially reported that 220 of 2,0 swine herd infected with the virus.

science Insider had arranged an interview yesterday with the veterinarian Jim Clark CFIA, and was abruptly canceled this morning, 10 minutes before the scheduled time. "Due to a scheduling conflict, Dr. Jim Clark, our spokesperson on the case of swine flu, will be unable to meet the media this morning," wrote agency spokesman in E-mail.

Two groups joined in cancer patients and doctors yesterday to launch a sweeping attack on patent human genes. They filed a complaint claiming that those of breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 , controlled by the diagnostics company Myriad Genetics in Salt Lake City, Utah, are illegal. Among other things, the plaintiffs claim that these patents violent speech right to free because they prevent patients taking the Myriad test to get a second opinion.

If successful, and it's a long shot, the case could undermine many gene patents.

This challenge arose from complaints originally filed by breast cancer patients who have opposed the Myriad control the monopoly on the tests and interpreting the risks associated with such cancer genes. The dispute is reported by the Public Patent Foundation, headed by Daniel Ravicher, a patent lawyer Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, and the American Civil Liberties Union. They filed their complaint yesterday in federal court in New York against the US Patent and Trademark Office and others. One of the many researchers support lending to the cause's genome scientist and Nobel prize John Sulston of the University of Manchester, UK, which warns that "gene patents can have a deterrent impact on research , hinder the development of new genetic tests, and interfere with medical care. "

Department of Mexico's Health regularly publishes informative, detailed graphs of his home that received little exposure in prime time. Even if you do not read Spanish, you can glean treats loads from the charts. On May 15, for example, a graph that shows the case of accumulation confirmed by the date of the onset of symptoms indicates that cases peaked in April 26. The curves show that the epidemic has decreased as health officials in Mexico, he claimed (though there may be a detection bias due to factors such as the treatment of the oldest samples first). Also note that the chart has 34 cases were symptomatic before 1 April, the date of "patient zero" well ballyhooed La Gloria, Veracruz. Other maps show the distribution of confirmed cases by age, sex and the States, as well as the frequency of specific symptoms

Image Credit :. Ministry of Health, Mexico

See picture

National Institutes of Health officials are busy sorting thousands of comments on the proposed guidelines on stem cells in the body that poured in until the deadline of 23 hours on May 26 Last week, Acting Director Raynard Kington NIH said the agency had received 20,000 submissions; Officials said today that the final number is likely much higher.

Stem cell advocates have expressed serious concern for the ethical requirements set out in the draft in particular guidelines, informed consent procedures for donor-embryo will spread the use of several existing human embryonic stem cell lines including 21 lines approved under the Bush administration.

In his commentary on the draft policy, the International Society for Stem Cell Research NIH request to set a "core principles" covering what is ethically acceptable rather than setting explicit rules that could exclude "lines which were used routinely for the last ten years. "Others have called for NIH to" grandfather "in the Bush-approved lines. NIH must make its final policy on July 7.

The inevitable became official. Today the head of the World Organization of Health Margaret Chan announced that it had raised the pandemic alert level to 6, the highest level, indicating that a pandemic caused by influenza A (H1N1 ) virus of swine flu is ongoing. "The scientific criteria have been met," said Chan journalists gathered in the main WHO meeting room in Geneva, Switzerland, just after 18 pm local time. "The world is now at the beginning of the influenza pandemic of 09."

Agency officials all but acknowledged at a news conference Tuesday that the declaration was imminent, as they had in early May as well. WHO official count stood at 28.774 cases in 74 countries today, including 144 deaths.

Chan stressed that Phase 6 indicates that the distribution and does not represent an increase of gravity. WHO characterizes the severity of the pandemic as "moderate," but Chan warned that the virus "can change the rules, without rhyme or reason, at any time."

Yesterday, Chan spoke through teleconference with several WHO member countries on the spread of a (H1N1) in their places. entry led her to seek advice from an emergency Committee, as specified in the International health Regulations. " All member countries, as well as experts from the emergency committee reviewed the evidence and there was a consensus, a unanimous decision, we have indisputable evidence that we are the days from a global pandemic caused by a new H1N1 virus, "said Chan.

a major concern to WHO is that developing countries, already burdened with more lower diseases and health systems could be disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Chan urged international solidarity to prevent this from happening. "this is a time when the countries of the world ... must come together," she said. "the people of no country should be left behind without help." but it did not provide details when asked later how the supplies of a vaccine against the new H1N1 virus, which will be very limited initially, can be distributed fairly.

Some companies have already started to produce the vaccine against swine flu, said Chan; many others are now wrap their production of vaccine against seasonal influenza for next winter in the Northern Hemisphere and should go to the pandemic strain soon.

Asked what is likely to happen next, WHO chief expert of influenza Keiji Fukuda said that as many people worldwide become infected, immunity virus will build, which should eventually slow the spread of the virus. At that time, A (H1N1) is likely to become a seasonal strain, he said, joining the other three, including a human A (H1N1) currently circulating.

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immediately held a press conference to discuss the WHO decision. "The declaration of a pandemic does not suggest that there has been a change in the behavior of the virus, only that it is spreading to other parts of the world," said recently appointed Director Thomas Frieden CDC. "And really for all practical purposes, the US government was in phase 6 of the pandemic for some time. However, this is important because it is made to send the strong message that the virus is there, it is in all likelihood , here to stay, and it is important that we continue our aggressive efforts to prepare and respond. "

This month has been tumultuous for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Marie Csete, Scientific Director of the transaction of $ 3 billion, has resigned after just over a year, says Consumer Watchdog.

Csete, who came to CIRM in March 08, will leave at the end of July. His brief letter to the board offers no explanation or indication of future plans.

The announcement of Csete comes less than two weeks after the chairman of the board Robert Klein told the board that he will leave next year at the end of his term of 6 years. The move was unexpected since Klein had previously indicated that he was there for the long term.

Note :. This article has been corrected to indicate that the proposed regulations were issued in April rather than in March as previously reported

National Institutes of Health holds a press conference at 13 pm EDT on its lines guidelines finals for research on human embryonic stem cells, but the rules quietly went public this morning. Draft regulations issued in April after President Barack Obama lifted restrictions the Bush era set tough new standards of informed consent that many scientists fear even prevent the use of stem cell lines approved 21 by Bush in 01. NIH will create a registry of stem cells so that individual institutions will not have the burden of determining whether a cell line is eligible for federal funding. Cell lines that preceded the guidelines and there are hundreds, plus Bush-lines will be examined by an NIH advisory committee. The first reactions of the scientists were positive.

the health care workers should be first in line when vaccinations against the swine flu virus are ready and approved, a expert group of the World Health Organization concluded in a meeting last week. The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) also said that countries should consider vaccinating other groups such as those most at risk of death and illness, but said each country must chart its own strategy depending on what he hopes to achieve and the amount of vaccine available to it.

SAGE held a special meeting July 7 to discuss the pandemic and the development of vaccines in development. A summary of its recommendations approved by the Director-General Margaret Chan, July 11, was released in a statement today and discussed at a press conference (audio file) by Marie-Paule Kieny, head of 'WHO Initiative for vaccine research.

protect doctors, nurses and other medical staff is the key to maintaining health care systems running, SAGE concluded. If countries have enough vaccine, they can reduce disease and death in high-risk groups such as pregnant women, people with chronic health problems, or even all young adults in good health aged between 15 and 49, the age group that is most vulnerable vaccinated. They can also choose to try to slow transmission of the virus, in which case the vaccination of healthy children is an option, Kieny said, because they are a "transmission amplifier."

Meanwhile, the amount of vaccine available in the world could be much lower than expected because of a problem in the production process. Kieny said that, for reasons that are not entirely understood, vaccine manufacturers that use eggs to grow vaccine virus yields of only 25% to 50% of those obtained during the production of seasonal vaccine. WHO influenza laboratory network is currently producing a new series of seed virus which Kieny hope will result in higher yields. If successful, the delivery of the vaccine should not be delayed, Kieny said, because regulators are likely to accept clinical trials should soon be * with low-yield strains, although the high-yield strains used to produce the vaccine. But if yields remain low, it would take many more months to produce billions of doses of vaccine WHO hoped, according to Kieny presentation to SAGE meeting.

total vaccine supply will depend on several other unknown, especially if 15 micrograms of antigen is sufficient, as is the case with the vaccine and seasonal whether one or two shots are necessary. A key factor is how many companies will use so-called adjuvants that stimulate the immune response and thus reduce the amount of antigen needed per shot. A recent survey of 36 vaccine producers, also presented by Kieny, showed that only 12 of the 33 proposed vaccine formulations will contain an adjuvant. Many companies have never used adjuvants and now adding them would raise additional security issues, Kieny said. "It is very difficult to mix the antigen of a company with an adjuvant of another company when they have never been tested together."

* The tests are currently underway as stated above.

Yesterday, the White House announced that it will appoint epidemiologist David Michaels to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency Labour Department which defines safety standards workers. Michaels is a familiar face for observers of environmental health policy. As an official in the Ministry of Energy in the late 190s, he discovered documentation of health risks of nuclear weapons workers designed a compensation program. After moving to the George Washington University in Washington, he joined other scientists in protest against the manipulation of science in the Bush administration. Bravo for his appointment accumulate, but Michaels is not without critics.

The new director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established its priorities today spend his first day of work talking to his staff and journalists . geneticist Francis Collins said he plans to emphasize five "themes", including the reform of health care and translating research into medicine. Collins also sought to allay perhaps the biggest concerns about his appointment last month by President Barack Obama, saying he will protect science investigator and that his religious interests will not influence how he runs the agency.

Collins, who in 08 resigned after 15 years as director of the Genome Institute of NIH, has spoken publicly about his ideas for the first time since his name surfaced as the leading candidate to head the agency. At a town hall meeting with NIH staff, he said he now has a "daunting, and perhaps the most amazing exciting task than anyone could ever ask for." He assured his audience that "the pillar" is the individual researcher; anyone who thinks differently "need look no further" than the intramural program of the Genome Institute, where research is "driven by ideas" and that he will keep his laboratory.

At the same time , big biology projects are one of the five priorities of Collins. It will promote broadband technologies in areas that are "ready for this kind of approach," such as gene transcription and studies autism. He plans to focus on translational research, as a new NIH program to develop drugs for rare diseases. The other three themes are reforming health care, including research comparing treatments, which he NIH "should encompass"; global health; and "empower [ing] community of biomedical research," which he said includes sustainable, by encouraging young researchers, and funding of innovative research.

Collins said that "employment a 'faces what happens when the $ 10.4 billion the NIH received as part of this year's stimulus plan is taking place in 2011. NIH faces a "perfect storm," he said, partly by a flood of more than 20,000 stimulus grant applications funded, which could bring the historically low success rate if the agency's budget does not exceed the current $ 30.6 billion. He will argue more funding telling Congress that NIH funding boosts local economies and focusing on 'the themes that clearly resonate. "He noted that $ 40 billion, some groups are pushing for, is" in [the] envelope "that NIH would need to restore losses to inflation since 03.

Collins also addressed concerns he said he" honored many pages of the blogosphere "as well the op-ed page of the New York Times, that his evangelical Christian beliefs could influence the way he directs NIH. He said he resigned BioLogos the foundation to explore science and faith he started. He told reporters that the "personal interests ... not to interfere with the judgments that I'll need to do as the Director of NIH."

Regarding management issues, Collins chose to keep Raynard Kington as his principal deputy director. Kington held that position until becoming interim director after NIH Elias Zerhouni resigned last fall. Collins plans to hold off on the search for a permanent director of the Institute of alcoholism because of an ongoing discussion about whether it should merge with the NIH institute addiction. Asked about the intramural program of the NIH, it is "resistant to the idea that [the program] is in the need for some sort of dramatic redo, "but considering the possibility of creating a pool of money intramural that as the NIH common Fund could be used to fund cutting quickly research.

the United States has currently 82 viruses and bacteria on its list of certain agents, pathogens whose handling requires compliance with a number of safety and security rules prescribed by the federal government. A new bill introduced in the US Senate yesterday proposed to revise the selection agent program by creating a tiered system that switched the safety requirements for the most dangerous pathogens on the list while relaxing them for others .

mass destruction (WMD) Prevention and 09 Protection Act, introduced by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and ranking member of the committee, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), is a response to growing concerns about biosafety in the United States. public anxiety on the issue has increased since the Army researcher Bruce Ivins involvement in the anthrax attacks of 01 and a December 08 report from the warning of the WMD Commission of the high probability of a bioterrorist attack on the floor of the United States over the next five years. At the same time, scientists have expressed concern that excessive regulatory controls can stifle biomedical research and harm public health in the long term. For example, vaccine researchers who need some viruses on the list for testing drug delivery systems already complaining about the restrictions following the current rules.

We dare not bury our heads in the sand and ignore the very real risks we face a terrorist WMD attack, "Lieberman said at a news conference yesterday." This bill would help to prevent such attacks and to better prepare the nation to respond should one occur. "

Bill attempts to strike a balance between the need for greater security and progress of the research. Below, the anthrax-pathogen most feared, smallpox, and dozen others, would be designated as Tier 1 agents.

the Department of Homeland security (DHS) establish and apply new safety standards for laboratories and those working with these pathogens, including further control and monitoring of background research. While select rules for existing officers are supervised by the Department of Health and Human services and the US Department of Agriculture, the new bill would provide for DHS working with both organizations. the bill also authorizes DHS to grant $ 50 million in grants each year from 2010 to 2013 to help level handling establishments 1 agents to improve biosecurity. The remaining pathogens on the list of selection agents are designated as level 2 agents, and those who are governed by less strict rules. The bill would also add to the list a third level of still other pathogens, less dangerous; Laboratories working with those who would have to register with the government to allow a rapid response in case of epidemics. A companion bill has not been introduced in the House of Representatives.

A new analysis of grantsmaking process the National Institutes of Health (NIH) unveils how many grant proposals are funded, even if they fall below a threshold based on peer review scores. The bottom line least 19% of basic research portfolio NIH funded for reasons that go beyond the quality can inflame simmering concerns about the policy of the organization that promotes young researchers.

The conclusion is part of a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today which examined management practices at 27 institutes and centers of the NIH. A delicate question is how often they go to "priority scores" assigned by peer juries. Institutions usually put a "payline" or minimum score that a proposal should receive funding. But they also finance the proposals below that line, for reasons that include the balancing of the portfolio of the institute and giving researchers a new leg.

Until this week, the scale numbers NIH has not been made public. The most surprising aspect of the GAO report, in addition to the total number of exceptions, is his discovery of a sudden increase in 2 years ago. In 03, 625 of the 6461 R01 grant for basic research of the NIH, fell below the quality threshold. In 07, the most recent year examined, the total had risen to 1059 of 5715 prices (see chart).

The GAO report refers to "a substantial increase" but NIH says there's really nothing to worry about. The subsidies are "examined meritorious applications," said Sally Rockey, NIH acting deputy director for extramural research. The recent rise, she notes, is almost entirely due to the new policy of NIH encouraging new researchers to curb a steady increase in the average age at which an investigator receives a first R01.

Yet data surprised an observer familiar with the NIH grant award process. "There will be people who will say, 'what's going on here? "Note the molecular biologist Keith Yamamoto of the University of California, San Francisco, who for years has been involved in redesigning the system peer. in as relentless promoter of the new policy of the investigator, however, it is comfortable with the increasing number of exceptions.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), which was also investigated financial conflicts in medicine, requested the report after questions were raised in 07 about the proposals with scores below Payline funded by the Institute of environmental health NIH. GAO recommends that the NIH Director closer monitoring of these exceptions, calling them "a potential risk area because [institute] administrators have the latitude." Makers disagree NIH with this remedy, however, and wrote GAO the institutes already document the reasons for decisions.

The UNESCO Institute of Statistics shows that the number of researchers in developing countries jumped 1,800. 000-2700000 in 5 years (02-07), an impressive increase in developed countries only 45% saw an increase of 8.6% over the same period.

in the National Press Club this afternoon, the US Department of Agriculture has officially launched its National Institute of Food and Agriculture -the new home for extramural funding -with an administration show of support. "The White House is behind you 100%," said John Holdren, director of the Political Bureau of Science and Technology at the event. "My communications director wanted me to say 150%, but as a scientist I could not do that to me," he joked. A NIFA new story will appear in tomorrow's issue of Science .

With his wrinkled skin and Bucked teeth, the naked mole-rat is not going to win a beauty contest. But the burrowing, desert rodent is exceptional in another way: It does not get cancer. The naked mole rat cells hate being crowded, it is, so they stop growing before they can form tumors. The details could one day lead to a new strategy for treating cancer in people.

A search of clues on aging, cell biologists Vera Gorbunova, Andrei Seluanov, and colleagues at the University of Rochester have been comparing that vary in size and duration of life, mouse beaver. The naked mole-rat is distinguished because it is small but can live more than 28 years - seven times longer than the house mouse. cancer resistance might be an important factor; while most laboratory mice and rats die from the disease, he was never seen in naked mole rats.

team looked Gorbunova mole rat cells for an answer. normal human and mouse cells will grow and divide in a Petri dish until they mash closely against each other in a single dense layer -. "contact inhibition" a mechanism known as naked mole rat cells are more sensitive to their neighbors, the researchers found. The cells stop growing when they touch. The strategy helps keep rodents probably without cancer, as contact inhibition fails in cancer cells, causing them to accumulate.

The reason, the researchers found, is that the naked mole rat cells rely on two proteins-- named p27 ^Kip1 and p16 ^Ink4a - stops cell growth when they touch, while the human and mouse cells rely mainly on p27 ^Kip1 . "They use an additional point of control," said Gorbunova, whose study appears online today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS ). When the team mutated rat cells naked mole so that they grew much closer together than before, the levels of p16 ^Ink4a dropped.

the type of prevention cancer naked mole rat may be relevant to humans because the same genes are involved, says Brown University biologist John Sedivy cancer. rat defenses "have evolved separately, but use the same nuts and bolts," dit- it. Sedivy writes in an accompanying commentary in PNAS it may be possible to "change the entire network [of tumor-suppressing pathways] to develop new prevention strategies."

the next step, Gorbunova says, is to find other proteins and molecules that make up this new way of contact inhibition. One obstacle is that little is known about the genes of the naked mole rat. The creature has been proposed for genome sequencing but so far has been turned down. "I hope Vera's study will put the naked mole rate higher in the queue," said George Martin, a researcher who studies aging and professor emeritus at the University of Washington.

Titles are laced with fear. "Nanoparticles" can damage DNA. "" Security Nanoparticles Watch more complicated. "" Nanoparticles indirect threat to the DNA. "All seem to suggest that a new study, published yesterday, found that nanoscale materials, used in everything from medical imaging for cancer treatment, can damage the genetic material in our bodies, fueling public fears. But this study has little relevance to the risk of human exposure, experts say, and it is deeply flawed in other ways. "I think it is a study of meaning, to be frank, "said Günter Oberdörster a nanotoxicologist at the University of Rochester in New York.

Oberdörster and others agree that some concerns over nanoparticles are valid. These particles, 1 to 100 nanometers, are made from a wide variety and a combination of elements. Their small size gives them optical, electrical and unique chemical, raising concerns they might have unforeseen effects in the body. And a variety of studies in animal models have shown that nanoparticles can trigger damage in living tissue ( Science , 18 June 04, p. 1732).

But the new work was narrower. Charles Patrick Case, an orthopedic specialist at the University of Bristol in the UK, and a number of colleagues reported yesterday online Nature Nanotechnology that particles of cobalt-chromium - a smaller version of the metal alloy which is widely used in replacement joints -. can damage the distant cells in a specially designed cell culture

case exposed a "barrier" thin four layers of cancer cells to ions, or particles of cobalt-chromium. Relatives cells nanoparticles have experienced signs of mitochondrial damage. But even the cells on the other side of the fence was damaged DNA, the team found, despite the fact that there was no evidence that the metals themselves moved across the cells on the other side of the barrier. Other studies have suggested that damage to cells of the barrier set off a chemical cascade that has affected neighboring cells, says Case.

In the document, the case and colleagues suggest that, according to the results, the nanoparticles used in a clinical setting may need to be evaluated for these unforeseen effects. "The potential damage to the tissues located behind cell barriers should be considered when using nanoparticles to target disease states," the team writes. The point was also stressed in a press release issued by Nature Nanotechnology this week: "These results suggest that the direct and indirect effects of nanoparticles on cells were equally important when considering the risks potential use in nanomedicine. "

is the kind of language that scares and confuses the public, says toxicologist Andre Nel of the University of California, Los Angeles. Above all, he and others say, when there is no evidence that the results are reflected in people.

In addition, there are other reasons why the study is not applicable to human health, said Andrew Maynard, scientific director for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at Washington, DC to start, Maynard and others point out that the case team in cells exposed metal particles at a concentration of thousands of times higher than could be expected to occur in the body. "They completely forget that it is the dose that makes a poison and a mechanism of action," said Oberdörster. Although the group found that metal particles of micron size and metal ions also damage DNA, they focused mainly on nanoparticles. "The effects appear to be specific nanoparticle," says Maynard.

In a press conference yesterday to discuss the results of the paper, the case has said his team does not aim to draw conclusions about the effects the metals can have in the body. Instead, he said, the study was designed to ask the more fundamental question of whether a physical barrier cells would indeed act as a barrier to avoid damage to the cells on the other side.

These conservative interpretations are often lost in news coverage and efforts by journals to promote the coverage of particular documents, however. Nature Nanotechnology not only highlighted paper in a news release, but also organized the press conference, drawing extra attention to the study. "the danger is that they have created controversy by giving this attention "says Maynard. Nel points out that this is a regular event in the field of nanotechnology, because the field is hot and plays into the fears of the people about the new technology. "We must be much more careful in interpreting these results," said Oberdörster.

In two weeks, the human geneticist Eric green take the reins of the National human genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the arm of the National Institutes of health who led the sequencing of the human genome and led the effort to genomics US. In doing so, this M.D./Ph.D. not in the shoes now released the Director Francis Collins NIH in August 08 after 15 years.

A Energizer Bunny among scientists, Green will turn his energy and enthusiasm for the treatment with both monetary stimulus down funding position and the need for more urgent to transform the sequencing information into relevant biological and biomedical information. Continuing advances in DNA sequencing technology will make sequencing a routine bioassay. "The biggest challenges are how to ensure biological knowledge and functional studies to keep pace with an ever faster rate in our ability to generate the sequence," says Claire Fraser-Liggett University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. "Green is a very progressive thinker and has the ability to begin to develop strategies that all this new technology will allow us to do."

Green began his career at the NIH in 1994, focusing first on the physical mapping of chromosomes. He and his lab were part of planning and sequencing the genome, in particular chromosome 7, from beginning to end human. From the beginning of his group conducted comparative studies by sequencing the regions equivalent to human chromosome 7 in other mammals. In 02 he took over the intramural program of the Institute and as scientific director of the institute founded the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, a branch of social and behavioral research, and programs on genomics and health World, as well as undiagnosed disease.

Green said one of his first priorities is to complete a long-term plan that has been in the works for the institute, with four white papers now available for public comment. And Eric Boerwinkle, a human geneticist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is confident Green will give the proper conduct of the Institute of $ 500 million. "He will be able to find the right balance between basic science and applied translational research "

photo credit: Maggie Bartlett, NHGRI

Last week, a commotion erupted on a draft anthrax canceled at Oklahoma State University (OSU), Stillwater . The National Institutes of Health has agreed to fund the study, which involved the creation of an animal model of anthrax infection in baboons, and the use and care of the University Committee of the animals gave fire green. But OSU President Burns Hargis decided that the project would not be allowed on campus, for reasons that are not immediately clear.

Hargis made the decision based on several factors, vice president of the USO for the transfer of research and technology, Stephen McKeever, said Science Insider Friday. "The question he was most worried about was that he did not really attract controversy among violent elements of various groups of animal rights. He did not want to OSU in this spot and so unnecessarily distract or interfere with the current research. " While McKeever said no attacks or threats against specific OSU factored into the decision, attacks by extremist animal rights have been on the rise in the US in recent years.

OSU Researchers and elsewhere were quick to speculate that the decision was influenced by Hargis Madeline Pickens, a donor and rights activist rich animals. Her husband, T. Boone Pickens, donated $ 458 million to the university in recent years. Last week, the website Madeleine Pickens published an article DVM Newsmagazine the decision of anthrax, annexing the original title with the exclamation "Kudos for a great decision!" and highlighting comments from a professor in OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences suggesting that Pickens had played a role in the decision.

McKeever denies that Pickenses had a role in the decision to block the coal project. "We never had discussions with them on this issue," he said. "How can I say that it had no other than to say that it did not happen? "

Here we go there again. Last year, scientists seem to be homing on the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) -excessive fatigue and other symptoms that have no known biological cause - finding a supposed viral link. But a new paper challenges this link, a development that could plunge the new field in the same confusion and acrimony that has characterized it for years.

Many CFS patients report that their symptoms began after an acute viral infection. However, scientists were able to identify CSA common viruses such as Epstein-Barr virus. As a result, patients have faced skepticism for years that the CSA may not be a real disease, or it may be a psychiatric disorder.

A team of US researchers thought he finally hit pay dirt last October when he reported in science found that DNA traces of a virus in blood cells of two thirds of 101 CFS patients compared to 4% of 218 healthy controls. XMRV is a retrovirus also involved rodent in aggressive prostate cancer, although why it could cause or be associated with CFS remains unclear.

Other scientists have expressed doubts about the XMRV connection. They criticized the Americans for not explaining enough about the demographics of their patients and infection control procedures. Many virologists around the world practically sprinted to their laboratories to repeat experiments, and the discovery that a clinic associated with the Science paper was the sale of a diagnostic test for XMRV $ 650 because of the most pressing issue. A British team is already exploring the XMRV in prostate cancer link won the race, report to demystify the application on 1 December.

The team, led by Myra McClure, professor of Retrovirology at Imperial College London, examined the DNA of 186 patients with blood CFS aged 19 to 70, with an average age of 40. most were clearly sick. McClure's team used a PCR machines - which copies and amplifies the DNA remains - to search two viral sequences, one of XMRV and the other from a closely related virus. They found nothing. At a press conference to discuss the findings, published in PLoS ONE , McClure was blunt and confident: "If there was a copy of the virus in these samples, we found it."

This null result prompts the question of what - if anything - was wrong with the original article. In their own paper, PLoS ONE authors seem to suggest that the contamination was at fault, stating that they were careful to work in laboratories that had never treated XMRV and the PCR machines that analyze any mouse tissues. But McClure said his group simply wanted to make this explicit, not accuse anyone.

Regardless, the US team has followed the same procedures, said Vincent Lombardi, a biochemist at the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease in Reno, Nevada, and co-author of science paper. He also expressed confusion as McClure group did not seek his samples CWS for the same sequence of DNA that his team, raising the possibility that this is why the two groups came up with different results. McClure and his colleagues, however, sought not only an XMRV sequence but also a sequence in a closely related virus, MLV. This MLV sequence, highly conserved among his class of virus would likely have been found if XMRV was present, they said.

a distinct possibility, says John Coffin, a microbiologist at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, who studies retroviruses is that the two documents are right. He called PLoS ONE paper too "preliminary" to settle the debate and said XMRV could show the most genetic variety, and therefore more difficult to detect than anyone assumed. It is also possible that different strains of XMRV appear in different parts of the world, such as HIV and HTLV retroviruses (a leukemia virus).

Coffin said another possibility, raised by many scientists is that CFS is actually a suite of diseases that have the same symptoms and so can have many causes. Lombardi seconds that. "It is naive to think that everyone with chronic fatigue has the same etiology. It will probably be a subset of people with CFS who have XMRV, and it will probably end up being classified as CFS linked XMRV. "

All this leaves doctors and patients in a muddle. It no doubt they are hungry for information. out of curiosity, Lombardi has done a Google search on "XMRV" the eve of Science hit paper and found about 22,500 hits. Three months later there are 400,000 hits.

But some scientists, including Coffin and McClure, fear that the Lombardi clinic benefited from hunger by offering $ 650 diagnostic test, 300 were administered up now. the group of Lombardi never claimed XMRV cause CFS, so it is not known what the patient could do with a positive result. Lombardi says patients can avoid infecting other people with XMRV and their diagnoses validated, if nothing else. His test results also strengthen science in the original document - it says 36% of tests detected XMRV, including some of the UK

To resolve the dispute, both sides say they are willing to work. and optionally with the other test samples of each. Meanwhile, more documents exploring the link are scheduled to appear in the coming months, and each side says he knows of work supporting his hypothesis. Meanwhile, the area will continue to multiply. As McClure said Science "We do not take pleasure in finding colleagues wrong or dashing the hopes of patients, but it is imperative that the truth comes out."