PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 3-Jul-2014 Contact: Shawna Williams shawna@jhmi.edu 410-955-8236 Johns Hopkins Medicine Johns Hopkins researchers have begun to connect the dots between a schizophrenia-linked genetic variation and its effect on the developing brain. As they report July 3 in the journal Cell Stem Cell, their experiments show that the loss of a particular gene alters the skeletons of developing brain cells, which in turn disrupts the orderly layers those cells would normally form. "This is an important step toward understanding what physically happens in the developing brain that puts people at risk of schizophrenia," says Guo-li Ming, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology and neuroscience in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Institute for Cell Engineering. While no single genetic mutation is known to cause schizophrenia, so-called genomewide association studies have identified variations that are more common in people with the condition than in the general population. One of these is a missing piece from an area of the genome labeled 15q11.2. "While the deletion is linked to schizophrenia, having extra copies of this part of the genome raises the risk of autism," notes Ming. For the new study, Ming's research group, along with that of her husband and … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise (NEW YORK CITY July 3, 2014) Pediatric patients and their families recently joined physicians from The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and representatives from the Genetic Disease Foundation (GDF) to introduce revamped quarters for the Food for Life program, which serves patients in Mount Sinais Program for Inherited Metabolic Diseases one of the largest centers of its kind. Food for Life was created to improve access to the specialized and often costly foods patients need to manage their health. Established with a grant from the GDF, the program features an on-site pantry stocked with food products made available at no cost to qualifying patients, along with advice and recipes from staff nutritionists. Were extremely pleased to implement the Food for Life program with the GDFs support to help our patients, many of whom are children, overcome barriers to optimal health and well-being, said Melissa Wasserstein, MD, Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomics and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of the Program for Inherited Metabolic Diseases. Enormous strides in research and biochemical genetics mean that once-fatal metabolic disorders, usually diagnosed at … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 2-Jul-2014 Contact: Kristina Grifantini press@salk.edu Salk Institute LA JOLLA-Researchers around the world have turned to stem cells, which have the potential to develop into any cell type in the body, for potential regenerative and disease therapeutics. Now, for the first time, researchers at the Salk Institute, with collaborators from Oregon Health & Science University and the University of California, San Diego, have shown that stem cells created using two different methods are far from identical. The finding could lead to improved avenues for developing stem cell therapies as well as a better understanding of the basic biology of stem cells. The researchers discovered that stem cells created by moving genetic material from a skin cell into an empty egg cell-rather than coaxing adult cells back to their embryonic state by artificially turning on a small number of genes-more closely resemble human embryonic stem cells, which are considered the gold standard in the field. "These cells created using eggs' cytoplasm have fewer reprogramming issues, fewer alterations in gene expression levels and are closer to real embryonic stem cells," says co-senior author Joseph R. Ecker, professor and director of Salk's Genomic Analysis Laboratory and co-director of the Center of … Continue reading →

Salk Institute scientist Joseph Ecker holds a flow cell slide used in a genome sequencing machine. Ecker and colleagues compared the genomes of two kinds of artificial embryonic stem cells for a study comparing their quality. (This article has been corrected -- see note at end) In a setback for hopes of therapy with a promising kind of artificial embryonic stem cells, a study published in the journal Nature has found that these "induced pluripotent stem cells" have serious quality issues. However, scientists who performed the study, including researchers from the Salk Institute and UC San Diego, say it should be possible to improve the quality of these IPS cells. They say lessons can be learned from studying a newer technique of making human embryonic stem cells through nuclear transfer, the same technology used to create Dolly the cloned sheep. In addition, the study does not prove that the quality problems will affect therapy with the cells, said scientists who examined the study. That remains to be tested. The IPS cells are made from skin cells treated with "reprogramming" factors that turn back the clock, so they very closely resemble embryonic stem cells. The hope is that these IPS cells … Continue reading →

The field of nanomedicine is inherently multidisciplinary requiring the involvement of those with knowledge of engineering, physics, chemistry, biology as well as medicine. The commercialization of nanomedicine adds further complexity and requires additional participation from those with experience in manufacturing, intellectual property, regulatory issues, strategic partnering, and raising investment. Suffice it to say, getting a nanomedicine to the clinic is a tremendous challenge. Given that nanomedicine is still a fairly nascent area, most nanomedicines are currently being developed in academia. The Wyss Institute at Harvard University The Wyss Institute at Harvard University is a collaborative effort between researchers, clinicians, corporations, and startups. The Institute is partnership between the following entities: Programmable, or smart, nanomaterials can be formed from numerous types of materials including metals, polymers, and ceramics. At the Wyss Institute, nucleic acids (RNA, DNA) are the building blocks of their programmable nanomaterials. Nucleic acid-based nanostructures such as DNA origami are being developed to enable multiplexed diagnostic assays and medical imaging techniques and to form nanoparticle drug carriers targeting diseased sites within the body. Heres a video from the Wyss Institutes website discussing DNA-based programmable nanomaterials. To facilitate the launch of new ideas that may transcend into potential medical solutions, … Continue reading →

Albany, New York (PRWEB) July 04, 2014 The new title on Nanomedicine Market (Neurology, Cardiovascular, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-infective, and Oncology Applications) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019," predicts that the total nanomedicine market globally will be worth USD 177.60 billion by 2019, growing considerably from its 2012 value of USD 78.54 billion. This market is expected to achieve a compounded annual growth rate of 12.3% between 2013 and 2019. Browse Nanomedicine Market Research Report with full TOC: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nanomedicine-market.html. The report talks about the major growth areas of within the nanomedicine market over the period of forecast. The introduction of new technologies and applications in this sector will propel growth to a significant degree at the global level. Further, the initiatives taken by various governments as well as privately-funded institutions towards promoting the commercialization of new nanomedicine products will boost this market. The report also dwells on the role played by the rising geriatric population base, the prevalence of medical needs that are in need of treatment, as well as the rising incidence of chronic diseases globally. Make and inquiry: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1753. According to the report, the leading application segment within the nanomedicine market was that … Continue reading →

July 3, 2014 redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online A new process known as somatic cell nuclear transfer is far better and much more accurate when it comes to coaxing embryonic stem cells out of human skin tissue, according to new research appearing in Tuesdays edition of the journal Nature. Scientists from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies created stem cells using two different methods: nuclear transfer, which involves moving genetic material from a skin cell into an empty egg cell, and a more traditional method in which activating a small number of genes reverts adults cells back to an embryonic state. Experts believe that stem cell therapies could someday be used to replace human cells damaged through injury or illness, including spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Parkinsons disease and multiple sclerosis. Human embryonic stem cells (ES cells), which are cells cultured from discarded embryos, are viewed by scientists as the gold standard of the field, and the new study reports that somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) more closely resembled ES cells. This marks the first time that researchers had directly compared the … Continue reading →