By Tom Watts For The Oakland Press Photo by Tom Watts Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay was at Troy Sports Center as he prepares for the 13th annual Ted Lindsay Foundation Celebrity Outing on Sept. 9, at Wabeek Country Club in Bloomfield Hills. Former Detroit Red Wings great and Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay recalled how he first heard of autism and its effects on children and their families. It was 13 years ago and his friend John Czarnecki was providing Lindsay stretching treatment at Troy Sports Center when he heard how Czarneckis son, Dominic, had autism. John mentioned his son had autism and I didnt even know what autism was, Lindsay said. I asked how I could help and he said raise money for autism. Lindsay, 88, went one step further: he and Czarnecki started The Ted Lindsay Foundation, and on Monday, Sept. 9, the 13th annual Ted Lindsay Foundation Celebrity Golf Outing will be held at Wabeek Country Club located at 4000 Clubgate Drive in Bloomfield Hills. How do athletes raise money? Lindsay asked. They hold golf fundraisers. This is our 13th year and were getting an awful lot of people recognizing what autism is. The money we … Continue reading →

Public release date: 29-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Clare Ryan clare.ryan@ucl.ac.uk 44-020-310-83846 University College London A genetic phenomenon that allows for the selection of multiple genetic mutations that all lead to a similar outcome -- for instance the ability to digest milk -- has been characterised for the first time in humans. The phenomenon, known as a 'soft selective sweep', was described in the population of Ethiopia and reveals that individuals from the Eastern African population have adapted to be able to digest milk, but via different mutations in their genetic material. A team of geneticists from UCL, University of Addis Ababa and Roskilde University have shown that five different alleles are found in the Ethiopian population that cause adult lactase production, one of which is newly confirmed. Their study is published in The American Journal of Human Genetics. Professor Dallas Swallow, from the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, senior author of the paper said: "Our genetic make-up determines our ability to digest milk into adulthood. Just over a third of the global population have inherited genes that allow us to make lactase, the enzyme that digests milk, as adults. "This study shows that several different … Continue reading →

Aug. 27, 2013 Like volunteers handing out cups of energy drinks to marathon runners, specially engineered "helper cells" transplanted along with stem cells can dole out growth factors to increase the stem cells' endurance, at least briefly, Johns Hopkins researchers report. Their study, published in the September issue of Experimental Neurology, is believed to be the first to test the helper-cell tactic, which they hope will someday help to overcome a major barrier to successful stem cell transplants. "One of the bottlenecks with stem cell therapy is the survival of cells once they're put in the body -- about 80 to 90 percent of them often appear to die," says Jeff Bulte, Ph.D., a professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Institute for Cell Engineering. "We discovered it helps to put the stem cells in with some buddies that give off growth factors." Stem cells can morph to take on any role in the body, making them theoretically useful to treat conditions ranging from type 1 diabetes (replacing insulin-producing cells in the pancreas) to heart disease (taking over for damaged heart cells). The biggest problem for transplanted stem cells, Bulte says, is that they're initially grown in a … Continue reading →