Smokers are more likely to have children who also smoke, even if they quit before their child was born, MedPage Today reported. In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers discovered that the children of people who smoked only in their teenage years were still 3.2 times more likely to also pick up the habit, compared to children whose parents had never smoked. For the study, researchers gathered data from a sample of ninth grade students in St. Paul, Minn. They followed this group from 1988 through age 38 - and then also gathered data from the children of that cohort, starting at age 11. Overall, they found the rate of smoking was 23 to 29 percent among kids ages 11 and older whose parents had once smoked or currently smoked, compared with 8 percent among children of parents who had never smoked, MedPage Today reported. Children who had older siblings who smoked were also more likely to smoke, researchers reported. "We don't know exactly what's going on here, but my hypothesis is that there is a genetic predisposition toward smoking, Dr. John Spangler, a family and community medicine specialist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., … Continue reading →

COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) -- Stem cell therapy developer Osiris Therapeutics Inc. said Monday it took a smaller loss in the second quarter on greater product sales. Osiris' products include Grafix, which is used to treat chronic and acute wounds, Ovation for tissue repair, and acute cartilage injury therapy Cartiform. The company started selling Cartiform during the fourth quarter of 2012, and it is hiring its own sales representatives to market Cartiform and Grafix. Osiris said it lost $3.8 million, or 11 cents per share, in the latest quarter. A year earlier it took a loss of $4.3 million, or 13 cents per share. The company said product revenue rose to $5.3 million from $1.6 million. That made up for an increase in costs as it hired more sales representatives. The two analysts who reported estimates to FactSet were expecting an average loss of 9 cents per share and $4.5 million in revenue. Osiris shares fell 20 cents to $11.25 in morning trading. The stock has climbed 74 percent since the end of February, and it reached an annual high of $12.55 on July 19. Original post: Osiris Therapeutics pares 2Q loss as sales rise … Continue reading →

For a Northwestern University biopharmaceutical spinoff, a second tranche of Series B funding will push along pre-clinical development of gene-regulating therapies for multiple diseases. AuraSense Therapeutics isnt disclosing how much was raised in the second tranche of its Series B, but the company says funding came from AbbVie Inc. and angel investors including David Walt, a co-founder of Illumina, and Craig Mundie, senior advisor to the CEO at Microsoft. According to SEC filings, AuraSense first secured $5.4 million in Series B funds back in 2011. The startup is developing a platform for nucleic-acid based therapeutics with applications in oncology, dermatology, neurology and for immune disorders. It says its spherical nucleic acid (SNA) conjugates overcome the greatest obstacles to gene regulation: they dont need carrier agents, they provoke minimal immune response and they have no known toxicity. The technology is based on gold nanoparticles, which have also formed the foundation of several other drug companies platforms because of their accessibility, versatility and ability to attach easily to other molecules. AuraSenses differentiator? Its scientific co-founder,Chad Mirkin, is a pioneer in the field of nanomedicine. He developed the first SNA constructs nearly two decades ago and has since founded four companies based on … Continue reading →

Stem cell clues uncovered Proper tissue function and regeneration is supported by stem cells, which reside in so-called niches. New work from Carnegie's Yixian Zheng and Haiyang Chen ... By: CarnegieInstitution … Continue reading →