Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online If youre thinking of eating a burger and have the right DNA, you might just get away with eating this fatty culinary delight without doing too much damage to your waistline. Researchers from the Health Sciences Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently found that genetics can affect the way a persons body-fat levels react to a fast-food diet. The researchers found a number of genes that they believe manage those reactions, adding further fuel to the debate over whether genes or environment are the main culprit in obesity, and providing at least a partial answer to the question: Is obesity genetic? The findings of the study were recently featured in the online edition of the journal Cell Metabolism. The scientists believe that the study is unique in its observation of metabolic responses in regards to a diet high in sugar and fat content. The team studied a diverse mouse population in specific environmental conditions, allowing them to create a model that resembled the diversity of natural human populations. What they found is that the risk of obesity was only partially affected by the amount and type of food … Continue reading →

CHAPEL HILL -- Even if the patients hadnt been as young as 4 months old, the surgery would have been harrowing: six holes bored into the skull, six tiny tubes inserted directly into targeted parts of the brain, then a solution containing hundreds of millions of viruses pumped in. But the rare degenerative illness it fights is even scarier. Canavan disease strikes infants, essentially making the brain attack itself with a toxic chemical, stopping and reversing development. It then kills, usually before age 10. The procedure used in the study though, slows Canavans progress and improves and may even help extend their lives, according to a study that appeared last month in the online journal Science Translational Medicine. It does that by using viruses as microscopic trucks to deliver missing genetic material precisely where its needed in the kids brains. This form of gene therapy was created at UNC-Chapel Hill, and the viral vehicle and genetic cargo used in the study were developed there at the medical schools Gene Therapy Center. Center director R. Jude Samulski was a senior author of the study, which began in 2001 and tracked 13 children who received the treatment. The youngest was 4 months … Continue reading →

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Even if the patients hadnt been as young as 4 months old, the surgery would have been harrowing: six holes bored into the skull, six tiny tubes inserted directly into targeted parts of the brain, then a solution containing hundreds of millions of viruses pumped in. But the rare degenerative illness it fights is even scarier. Canavan disease strikes infants, essentially making the brain attack itself with a toxic chemical, stopping and reversing development. It then kills, usually before age 10. The procedure used in the study though, slows Canavans progress and improves and may even help extend their lives, according to a study that appeared last month in the online journal Science Translational Medicine. It does that by using viruses as microscopic trucks to deliver missing genetic material precisely where its needed in the kids brains. This form of gene therapy was created at UNC-Chapel Hill, and the viral vehicle and genetic cargo used in the study were developed there at the medical schools Gene Therapy Center. Center director R. Jude Samulski was a senior author of the study, which began in 2001 and tracked 13 children who received the treatment. The youngest was 4 months … Continue reading →

For those who are overweight, it is not entirely your fault. Researchers at UCLA say it's not just what you eat that makes those pants tighter it's also genetics. In a new study, scientists discovered that body-fat responses to a typical fast-food diet are determined in large part by genetic factors, and they have identified several genes they say may control those responses. The study is the first of its kind to detail metabolic responses to a high-fat, high-sugar diet in a large and diverse mouse population under defined environmental conditions, modeling closely what is likely to occur in human populations. The researchers found that the amount of food consumed contributed only modestly to the degree of obesity. The findings are published Jan. 8 in the online edition of the journal Cell Metabolism and will appear Jan. 9 in the print version. Like many other medical conditions, obesity is the result of an interplay between genetic and environmental factors. Polymorphisms in various genes controlling appetite and metabolism predispose to obesity under certain dietary conditions. The percentage of obesity that can be attributed to genetics varies widely, depending on the population examined, from 6% to 85% as reported in various studies. … Continue reading →

Biostem US Corporation | HAIR.OB | HAIR | Free Research Report Download smallcapstockedge.com Smallcapstockedge.com has just published a new company overview report and fact sheet on Biostem US Corporation - ticker symbol HAIR.OB This report is available for free download from smallcapstockedge.com Discover how HAIR innovations, including the use of stem cell therapy and other technologies may revolutionize the field of regenerative medicine. Here's some of what is revealed in this free HAIR report: - The $1.8 Billion worldwide market HAIR has an opportunity to carve out a huge piece of - Why Biostem US will grow, expand and generate huge profit while avoiding risk of major capital investments - Where HAIR believes their technology has the potential to be both disruptive and complementary to certain currently established medical procedures. -And why the Company will profit either way. All this and more in this company overview report on HAIR.OB Biostem US Corporation Download your copy of this free HAIR.OB report at SmallcapStockEdge.com youtu.be By: SmallcapStockEdge … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeoStem, Inc. (NYSE MKT:NBS), an emerging leader in the fast growing cell therapy market, announced today that multiple abstracts presented December 8-11 at the 2012 American Society of Hematology ("ASH") annual meeting, add to the growing body of scientific work describing the capabilities of very small embryonic-like stem cells ("VSELs(TM)"). These papers are published as 2012 Annual Meeting Abstracts in the journal Blood, Volume 120, Issue 21. "Cell therapy has the potential to radically change the face of how diseases are treated, leading to longer and, more importantly, better quality lives," said Dr. Robin Smith, CEO of NeoStem. "These abstracts include one authored by members of the NeoStem research and development team and three coauthored by Mariusz Z. Ratajczak, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sci., co-inventor of VSEL(TM) Technology and member of NeoStem's Scientific Advisory Board. NeoStem's technologies, including its VSEL(TM) Technology which is in pre-clinical development, are supporting this paradigm shift in medical treatment that we believe is underway and that is developing cell therapies through amplification of our own body's natural repair mechanisms; a shift toward treating disease with our own cells and toward finding cures, as opposed to treating the symptoms of … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Verastem, Inc., (VSTM) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells, entered an agreement with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) (LH) to validate biomarkers for its lead focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor VS-6063 in the development of an applicable companion diagnostic. The biomarkers will be the subject of clinical studies in ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, including a potentially pivotal study of VS-6063 in mesothelioma expected to initiate later this year. The identification of patients most likely to benefit from targeted therapy is critical to accelerating the drug development and approval process, said Henri Termeer, Verastem Lead Director. Clinical assay validation is an integral component to all companion diagnostics entering an FDA approval process. Pioneering research by Robert Weinberg, Ph.D., Verastem cofounder and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, and others have demonstrated that FAK signaling plays a central role in the tumor-initiating capability of cancer stem cells and ultimate disease progression. VS-6063 is designed to target and kill cancer stem cells by inhibiting FAK signaling. Mesothelioma tumors lacking the tumor suppressor Merlin appear to be particularly sensitive to FAK inhibitors. As shown recently … Continue reading →

Podcast: Targeted Nanomedicine Cancer Treatment 12/28/2012 - Learn about a new nanomedicine particle that has the ability to target cancer cells, evade the immune system, and slowly release a chemotherapeutic. By: NanoNerds … Continue reading →