PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 10-Dec-2014 Contact: Shawna Williams shawna@jhmi.edu 410-955-8236 Johns Hopkins Medicine @HopkinsMedicine While many different combinations of genetic traits can cause autism, brains affected by autism share a pattern of ramped-up immune responses, an analysis of data from autopsied human brains reveals. The study, a collaborative effort between Johns Hopkins and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, included data from 72 autism and control brains. It will be published online Dec. 10 in the journal Nature Communications. "There are many different ways of getting autism, but we found that they all have the same downstream effect," says Dan Arking, Ph.D. , an associate professor in the McKusick-Nathans Institute for Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "What we don't know is whether this immune response is making things better in the short term and worse in the long term." The causes of autism, also known as autistic spectrum disorder, remain largely unknown and are a frequent research topic for geneticists and neuroscientists. But Arking had noticed that for autism, studies of whether and how much genes were being used -- known as gene expression -- had thus far involved too little data to draw many useful … Continue reading →

Google has spent the past decade-and-a-half perfecting the science of recognizing patterns in the chaos of information on the web. Now its applying that expertise to searching for clues to the genetic causes of autism in the vast sea of data contained in the human genome. On Tuesday, autism advocacy group Autism Speaks said it was partnering with Google to sequence the genomes of 10,000 people on the autism spectrum along with their family members. Google will host and index the data for qualified researchers to sift as they hunt for variations in DNA that could hint at autisms genetic origins. We believe that the clues to understanding autism lie in that genome, Rob Ring, Autism Speaks chief science officer, told WIRED. Wed like to leverage the same kind of technology and approach to searching the internet every day to search into the genome for these missing answers. The project will make use of Google Genomics, a tool launched by the company several months ago with little fanfare on Googles Cloud Platform. As sequencing the human genome becomes ever-faster and cheaperRing says it can be done for about $2,500, compared to nearly $3 billion for the Human Genome Projectthe volume … Continue reading →

Major study: Professor Thomas Preiss from ANU JCSMR who has been involved in an international project researching stem cells. Photo: Graham Tidy Scientists, including some from Canberra, have identified a new type of stem cell which is easier to grow and manipulate as part of a major study detailing the changes cells undergo as they reprogram into stem cells. Experts from across the globe, including some from the Australian National University John Curtin School of Medical Research, have carried out the most detailed study of how specialised body cells can be reprogrammed to be like cells from the early embryo. "The ultimate goal with this work is to develop therapies in regenerative medicine which is a therapeutic approach whereby you would ultimately replace cells or tissues or organs that are failing in a patient with replacement parts that are made in a laboratory from the patient's own cells or from genetically highly similar stem cells," Professor Thomas Preiss from ANU's JCSMR said. Professor Preiss said it was hoped the research could help speed up the development of treatments for many illnesses and conditions. Advertisement "There's a range of diseases where tissues are damaged or cells or lost. It ranges from … Continue reading →

MONDAY, Dec. 8, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Some professional football players are seeking unproven stem cell therapies to speed their recovery from injuries. But experts are concerned that they may be unaware of the potential risks, a new report shows. Stem cell therapy has attracted the attention of elite athletes. A number of National Football League (NFL) players have highlighted their use of those therapies and their successful recoveries. Twelve NFL players are known to have received unapproved stem cell treatments since 2009. "The online data on NFL players and the clinics where they obtained treatment suggest that players may be unaware of the risks they are taking," report co-author Kirstin Matthews, a fellow in science and technology policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, said in a university news release. "Players who are official spokespersons for these clinics could influence others to view the therapies as safe and effective despite the lack of scientific research to support these claims," she added. Most of the players receive treatment in the United States, but several have gone to other countries for stem cell therapies that aren't available in the United States. "With the rise of new and unproven stem … Continue reading →

Image Caption: Harvard researchers have created a system using human stem cells to screen for compounds that have the potential to turn white, or bad, fat cells into brown, or good, fat cells. Pictured are human pluripotent stem cell-derived fat cells. Credit: Tim Ahfeldt/Harvard University Provided by B. D. Colen, Harvard University Harvard stem cell researchers say they finally can turn bad fat into good Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers have taken what they describe as the first step toward a pill that can replace the treadmill for the control of obesity, though that shift, of course, would not provide all of the many benefits of exercise. HSCI principal faculty member Chad Cowan and his team members at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a Harvard affiliate, say they have created a system using human stem cells to screen for compounds that have the potential to turn white, or bad, fat cells into brown, or good, fat cells, and have already identified two compounds that can accomplish that in human cells. The path from these findings to a safe and effective medication may not be easy, and the findings will have to be replicated by other research groups, … Continue reading →