DALLAS, May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ —

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The stem cell research products market (excluding stem cell antibodies) was valued at $1.28 billion for the full year 2011 and is projected to increase to $2.10 billion by 2016. The total market for all types of stem cell products – including stem cell research products, stem cell antibodies, and stem cell therapies – was valued at $5.72 billion for the full year 2011. This report identifies, defines, and quantifies each market segment within the stem cell product industry.

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What if your very own bone marrow stem cells, upgraded with more immune cells, could be used to increase your chances of survival after a heart attack? Sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but according to a study done by Timothy Henry, MD of the Minneapolis Heart Institute and colleagues, it may in fact be possible. The findings, which were presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography, are considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal, but they are definitely promising.

“With stem cells, we’ve been successful with processes that improve blood flow,” Henry told MedPage Today, and added that there is a significant number of class III heart failure patients who don’t do well on medications or with devices.

“A therapy that would delay heart failure progression would be a major step forward,” he said. “This small trial proved the intervention is safe and all the trends were in the right direction.”

The next phase of the trial will begin in the summer. Stay tuned!

Read the original:
Stem Cells May Help Heart Patients

Published on May 15, 2012 at 5:02 AM

Dr. Darja Marolt, an Investigator at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory, is lead author on a study showing that human embryonic stem cells can be used to grow bone tissue grafts for use in research and potential therapeutic application. Dr. Marolt conducted this research as a post-doctoral NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellow at Columbia University in the laboratory of Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic.

The study is the first example of using bone cell progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells to grow compact bone tissue in quantities large enough to repair centimeter-sized defects. When implanted in mice and studied over time, the implanted bone tissue supported blood vessel ingrowth, and continued development of normal bone structure, without demonstrating any incidence of tumor growth.

Dr. Marolt’s work is a significant step forward in using pluripotent stem cells to repair and replace bone tissue in patients. Bone replacement therapies are relevant in treating patients with a variety of conditions, including wounded military personnel, patients with birth defects, or patients who have suffered other traumatic injury.

Since conducting this work as proof of principle at Columbia University, Dr. Marolt has continued to build upon this research as an Investigator in the NYSCF Laboratory, developing bone grafts from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. iPS cells are similar to embryonic stem cells in that they can also give rise to nearly any type of cell in the body, but iPS cells are produced from adult cells and as such are individualized to each patient. By using iPS cells rather than embryonic stem cells to engineer tissue, Dr. Marolt hopes to develop personalized bone grafts that will avoid immune rejection and other implant complications.

The New York Stem Cell Foundation has supported Dr. Marolt’s research throughout her career, first through a NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellowship to fund her post-doctoral work at Columbia University, and now with a NYSCF – Helmsley Investigator Award at The New York Stem Cell Foundation Laboratory. “The continuity of funding provided by NYSCF has allowed me to continue my research uninterrupted, making progress more quickly than would have otherwise been possible,” Dr. Marolt said.

Source: New York Stem Cell Foundation

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Human embryonic stem cells can be used to grow bone tissue grafts

Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) May 16, 2012

QualityStocks would like to highlight International Stem Cell Corporation, a publicly traded company focused on the therapeutic applications of human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSCs) and the development and commercialization of cell-based research and cosmetic products. ISCO’s core technology, parthenogenesis, results in the creation of pluripotent human stem cells from unfertilized oocytes (eggs).

In the companys news yesterday,

International Stem Cell Corp. announced that several of its leading scientists will be presenting experimental results from three of ISCOs pre-clinical therapeutic programs at the 15th Annual Meeting of American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, in Philadelphia at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 17th.

Firstly, the application of A9 dopaminergic neurons derived from human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSC) for the treatment of Parkinsons disease. Demonstrating functional dopaminergic neurons in vivo represents an important milestone towards the goal of creating well characterized populations of cells that could be used to develop a treatment for Parkinsons.

Secondly, the differentiation of hpSC and embryonic stem cells into cornea-like constructs for use in transplantation therapy and the in vitro study of ocular drug absorption. There are approximately ten million people worldwide who are blind as a result of damage to their cornea. Generating human corneas from a pluripotent stem cell source should increase the likelihood that people will receive treatment in the future even in the absence of suitable tissue from eye banks.

Lastly, the in vivo and in vitro characterization of immature hepatocyte derived from hpSC. Such cells could be used to develop a treatment for individuals with a liver that has been damaged by disease or sufferers of genetic disorders that inhibit normal liver function. In both cases, implanting healthy hepatocyte cells could treat the underlying disease and prolong the life of the individual.

These results not only show the progress we have made in these important programs, but also demonstrate the broad application of human parthenogenetic stem cells in the development of treatments for incurable diseases, stated Dr. Ruslan Semechkin, Vice President of Research and Development.

About QualityStocks

QualityStocks, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a free service that collects data from hundreds of Small-Cap and Micro-Cap online Investment Newsletters into one Daily Newsletter Report. QualityStocks is dedicated to assisting emerging public companies with their investor communication efforts and connecting subscribers with companies that have huge potential to succeed in the short and long-term future.

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QualityStocks News – International Stem Cell Scientists to Present Pre-Clinical Research Results at Gene and Cell …

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Advanced Cell Technology of Marlborough have become the first to publish a study involving the use of embryonic stem cells in humans.

The study, published online in the British medical journal The Lancet and involving just two patients, was designed to test the safety of injecting the cells into patients with degenerative eye conditions. In both patients, the cells behaved as expected after four months, with no safety concerns arising, the researchers reported today, and the patients reported improvement in their vision.

The study provides a boost for the beleaguered field of embryonic stem cell research but must be view cautiously, said Dr. George Q. Daley, director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Childrens Hospital Boston and a faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

Were all enthusiastic to see actual trials of cells based on human embryonic stem cells, but it really is far too preliminary to conclude anything other than that more studies are warranted, he said. What we have to do is temper our hope with real skepticism.

The researchers injected one eye of each patient with specialized eye cells derived from embryonic stem cells, which promote the health of photoreceptors in the eye. One, an adult woman, had Stargardt disease, a form of inherited juvenile macular degeneration. The other had age-related macular degeneration.

Dr. Robert Lanza, an author of the study and chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology, a publicly traded company that funded the research, said the fact that the patients both reported improvements in their vision was a bonus, though he acknowledged that some of the change could be attributed to the placebo effect, or the patients own expectation for improvement as a result of the study.

The patient with Stargardt disease could detect hand motion before the injection. Within two weeks afterward, she could count fingers, the study said. She also reported improvements in her ability to detect color with the injected eye. There was no change in her other eye, the study said. The other patient showed improvement in reading a vision chart.

In these advanced patients it would be hard to expect much improvement but were surprised, Lanza said.

The patients were the first two in a set of trials that will study the use of the cells in a total of 24 people. The researchers injected the first patient in a separate trial in Europe on Friday.

Excerpt from:
Advanced Cell Technology reports positive early results from embryonic stem cell trial

May 15, 2012

A New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) scientist has shown in new research that human embryonic stem cells can be used to grow bone tissue grafts for use in research and potential medical applications.

Dr. Darja Marolt, an investigator at the NYSCF, is the lead author of the study, which was published this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

It is the first example of using bone cell progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells to grow compact bone tissue in quantities large enough to repair centimeter-sized defects. When implanted in mice and studied over time, the implanted bone tissue supported blood vessel in-growth, and continued development of normal bone structure, without demonstrating any incidence of tumor growth.

This is a significant step forward in using pluripotent stem cells to repair and replace bone tissue in patients, noted the researchers. Bone replacement therapies are relevant in treating patients with a variety of conditions, wounds, birth defects, or other traumatic injuries.

Dr. Marolt conducted this research as a post-doctoral NYSCF Druckenmiller Fellow at Columbia University in the laboratory of Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic. Since conducting this work, Marolt has continued to build upon the research, developing bone grafts from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

IPS cells are similar to embryonic stem cells in that they can also give rise to nearly any type of cell in the body, but iPS cells are produced from adult cells and as such are individualized to each patient. Marolt hopes that by using iPS cells to engineer tissue, she can develop personalized bone grafts that will avoid immune rejection and other implant complications.

The New York Stem Cell Foundation conducts cutting-edge translational stem cell research in its laboratory in New York City and supports research by stem cell scientists at other leading institutions around the world.

Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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Human Embryonic Stem Cells Used To Grow Bone Tissue

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff

Two teams of Boston scientists have developed new ways to turn stem cells into different types of lung tissue, surmounting a major hurdle for scientists trying to harness the power of stem cell biology to study and develop treatments for major lung diseases.

One team then used skin cells from cystic fibrosis patients to create embryonic-like stem cells, then working in lab dishes used those cells to grow tissue that lines the airways and contains a defect responsible for the rare, fatal disease. The technique — essentially a recipe for growing such lung tissue — could provide a powerful platform to screen drugs and study the biology of the disease.

Growing lung tissue in the laboratory has long been a goal of stem cell scientists, but has been more technically difficult than growing other types of tissues, such as brain cells or heart cells. Such lung tissue is valuable because it could be used to screen potential drugs and more closely probe the problems that underlie diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and rare genetic diseases. Such techniques may also one day help researchers grow replacement tissues and devise ways to restore or repair injured lung tissue.

A team led by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers created lung tissue from a patient with the genetic mutation that most commonly underlies cystic fibrosis and researchers hope the technique will also be a powerful tool to study other diseases that affect the airway tissue, such as asthma and lung cancer. The other team, led by Boston University School of Medicine scientists, was able to derive cells that form the delicate air sacs of the lung from mouse embryonic stem cells. The team is hoping to refine the recipe for making the cells so that they can be used to derive lung tissue from a bank of 100 stem cell lines of patients with lung disease. Both papers were published Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge biotechnology company, earlier this year received approval for Kalydeco — the first drug to directly target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis. That compound was discovered by screening massive numbers of potential drugs against cells engineered to carry the same defect that underlies cystic fibrosis.

We had to use engineered cells, and certainly using more native human cells … would be potentially beneficial, said Dr. Frederick Van Goor, head of biology for Vertexs cystic fibrosis research program. We had to rely on donor tissue obtained from patients with cystic fibrosis, and its a bit more challenging, because the number of donor lungs you can get and the number of cells you can derive from there are more limited.

Van Goor said it was too soon to say whether the company would use the new technology in screening, but noted that the tests the company had used to determine whether a drug was likely to work against the disease had, in some cases, given scientists false leads. Some molecules that worked on the engineered cells did not work in the complicated biology of the lung.

Its a significant event for the lung field, said Dr. Thiennu Vu, associate professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, who was not involved in the research. She added that much work remains before such cells could be used to repair or replace damaged tissue, and even before such cells would necessarily be useful for drug screening. It will be important, she said, to refine the recipe to ensure that the technique yields pure populations of the specific types of functional lung cells.

In the competitive world of science, where credit for being the first to do something is crucially important, the two research teams accomplishments are an unusual example of competitors turning into collaborators — forging a relationship that both teams felt helped speed up progress.

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Boston scientists grow lung tissue from cystic fibrosis patients’ skin cells

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. & CAMBRIDGE, England–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Avita Medical Ltd. (ASX: AVH), (OTC: AVMXF), (OTCQX: AVMXY),the regenerative medicine company, today announced that it has commenced enrolment in the US FDA-approved feasibility study for the use of ReCell Spray-On-Skin in the treatment of hypertrophic dyspigmented scars (raised and/or discoloured scars).

The initial three patients were treated by Dr Rajiv Sood, at the Richard M. Fairbanks Burn Center of Wishard Hospital, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, for scarring resulting from previous grafting due to burn injuries.

The approved FDA protocol permits the Company to treat 20 patients with scars at up to four U.S. study sites; patients will be assessed for healing and pain on a weekly basis during the initial four weeks post-treatment; at weeks 12 and 24 the treatment site will be assessed for healing and aesthetic outcomes by both the patient and an independent observer.

“Commencement of the FDA scar study is an important milestone for Avita,” said Dr William Dolphin, Avita Medicals CEO. “ReCell has shown the potential to provide significant benefits over current options in the treatment of acute and chronic wounds and for a wide range of skin defects. We are confident that this study will demonstrate the effectiveness of ReCell in the corrective treatment of scars, making ReCell directly applicable and immediately relevant to the very large aesthetic markets.

The feasibility study is primarily designed to confirm the effectiveness of ReCell for the treatment of scars in a single session in comparison to the current standard of care involving dermabrasion of the scar and often requiring multiple treatment sessions; study endpoints are time-to-healing and aesthetic outcomes. Following completion of the study, Avita will submit the feasibility data and seek FDA approval for a statistically powered, pivotal clinical trial.

The study is funded by the US Department of Defense in partnership with the OSD Manufacturing Technology Program and Rapid Fielding Directorate for the Limb Salvage and Regenerative Medicine Initiative. The contract is a Technology Investment Agreement that is focused on the transition of the capability to meet DoD needs. ReCell was selected as it has the potential to be a quantum advance over the existing ability to treat and re-grow tissue and to substantially reduce the effects and appearance of scarring and thereby profoundly assist in the treatment and rehabilitation of wounded warriors suffering from disfigurement and impeded function due to combat injuries.

An interview with Dr Sood regarding the use of ReCell in treatment of scars and acute wounds is available at http://soundmedicine.iu.edu/segment/3245/Spray-on-Skin.

ABOUT AVITA MEDICAL LTD.

Avita Medical (www.avitamedical.com) develops and distributes regenerative and tissue-engineered products for the treatment of a broad range of wounds, scars and skin defects. The companys lead product, ReCell Spray-On-SkinTM, is used in a wide variety of burns, plastic, reconstructive and cosmetic procedures. ReCell is patented, CE-marked for Europe, TGA-registered in Australia, and SFDA-cleared in China. ReCell is not available for sale in the United States; in the U.S. ReCell is an investigational device limited to investigational use.

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Avita Medical Initiates US FDA Study of Its ReCell® Spray-On-Skin™ for Reconstructive and Aesthetic Indications

Regenerative medicine startup Juventas Therapeutics has begun enrollment in a phase 2a trial of critical limb ischemia patients.

The Cleveland-based company, which recently secured an important investment from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, is planning to enroll 48 patients and complete enrollment early next year, CEO Rahul Aras said.

Juventas technology, called JVS-100, works by recruiting stem cells from the bone marrow to create new blood vessels. Its based on Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1 (SDF-1), a naturally produced molecule that attempts to repair the heart immediately following a heart attack.

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients are enrolling at several U.S. hospitals, as well as three in India. CLI is a severe obstruction of the arteries that greatly decreases blood flow to the extremities.

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CLI has become a very exciting clinical opportunity, Aras said. Its becoming a growing area of interest for a number of biotech and pharma companies.

Other companies pursuing CLI treatment include Aastrom Biosciences, Arteriocyte and Biomet.

Among the top advantages of Juventas CLI therapy is its simplicity and cost-effectiveness, Aras said. Patients can be injected with the companys therapeutic in an easy procedure at a physician office, and the approach doesnt require bone marrow aspiration to obtain patients own stem cells or complex cell processing as some competing therapeutics do.

Juventas also has a phase 2 trial underway to investigate its therapy with heart failure patients.

The company is expected to shortly announce a series B round of investment, which includes the funding from Takeda, that totals around $20 million or $25 million.

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Regenerative medicine company begins enrollment in critical limb ischemia trial

Scientists are forecasting that by 2030, 42 percent of the U.S. population will be obese.

This would cost an additional $550 billion in healthcare expenditures, according to the study published by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

Despite reports that obesity levels were tapering off, the scientists found that Americans are gaining weight all the time. There’s also been a surge in severe obesity, or being overweight enough to reduce your life expectancy by at least seven years.

Given the many caveats listed in the preceding paragraph, the current study forecasts a 33% increase in the prevalence of obesity over the next 2 decades based on extrapolating prior available data and assuming these trends continue into the future. If these forecasts prove accurate, this will further hinder efforts for healthcare cost containment.

Here’s a chart showing their projections. The blue line is the previous forecast of 35 percent obesity by 2030. The orange line is what the scientists found by studying trends so far and predictions for the future:

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Terrifying Study Predicts Half Of The US Will Be Obese By 2030

Why silverware? Why didnt people choose to eat and drink from palladium, ivory, or other materials? Of course many people did. Throughout history people have used gold, clay, wood, and a wide range of other items at mealtime. For many of those who chose silver, however, it was more than just a fad or a symbol of financial standing. Ancient civilizations reportedly used silver because they recognized a connection between the metal and their health. Today, people are also finding silver to be increasingly useful in health-related applications. But will these uses have a material effect on the silver market?

For thousands of years, individuals have used silver at the table, on the battlefield, and in healthcare. The metal has been relied upon to prevent and treat infections, to treat wounds, to prevent food spoilage, and to prevent water contamination. Since long ago, the metal has been credited as having antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antiseptic properties.

Medical uses of silver and preventative applications

Many readers have probably received a silver treatment at least once, as silver nitrate is commonly placed in the eyes of newborns to prevent infections that could cause blindness. Silver has also been widely used in dentistry to fabricate fillings.

Today, the uses of silver for its healing and preventative properties are growing.

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For example, it was only in 2007 that the US Food and Drug Administration approved the marketing of silver-coated breathing tubes. Prior to this approval, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, 15 percent of patients on ventilators contracted ventilator-associated pneumonia. For tens of thousands of people these infections proved fatal. Including silver in the fabrication of these endotracheal breathing tubes reduces this risk and has likely saved many lives.

Silver is also used in much the same way for catheters and other medical implantation devices. The metal is used to coat surgical instruments and emergency ward equipment to prevent and reduce the transmission of infections.

Wound creams, gels, and powders are made with silver, and the metal is fabricated into wound dressings because it is considered toxic to germs and can prevent the invasion and livelihood of bacteria and yeast. Silver has also been found to reduce the adhesion of dressings to wounds and thus improves the comfort of burn victims.

A recent edition of Silver News spotlights the Trinity Bed Protection System. The covering system is supposed to provide an effective and impermeable barrier between patients and the surfaces they lie on, such as mattresses and stretchers. A notable benefit of this bedding is that it is supposed to retain itsantimicrobialproperties even after repeated washings.

Continued here:
Silver in Medicine: Support for the Market?

Scientists are forecasting that by 2030, 42 percent of the U.S. population will be obese.

This would cost an additional $550 billion in healthcare expenditures, according to the study published by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

Despite reports that obesity levels were tapering off, the scientists found that Americans are gaining weight all the time. There’s also been a surge in severe obesity, or being overweight enough to reduce your life expectancy by at least seven years.

Given the many caveats listed in the preceding paragraph, the current study forecasts a 33% increase in the prevalence of obesity over the next 2 decades based on extrapolating prior available data and assuming these trends continue into the future. If these forecasts prove accurate, this will further hinder efforts for healthcare cost containment.

Here’s a chart showing their projections. The blue line is the previous forecast of 35 percent obesity by 2030. The orange line is what the scientists found by studying trends so far and predictions for the future:

More From Business Insider

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STUDY: 42% Of The US Will Be Obese By 2030

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MetLife Foundation Recognizes Alzheimer's Disease Research with Prestigious Awards

SALT LAKE CITY, May 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYGN – News) announced today the presentation of a study at the American Society of Clinical Oncology(R) (ASCO) Annual Meeting, including the complete results from a study titled, “Use of a proliferation-based mRNA signature to predict outcome in early-stage non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma.” The abstract of the presentation (#7023) is available on the ASCO Meeting website, www.asco.org.

Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Myriad Genetics generated a cell cycle progression (CCP) score for 256 patients with stage I and II lung adenocarcinoma by analyzing the level of expression in 46 cell-cycle progression and housekeeping genes. The study then assessed the prognostic value of the CCP score in predicting patient outcomes as well as the correlation between the CCP score and clinical variables including age, stage of disease, gender, smoking status, tumor size and treatment.

The market need for a lung cancer prognostic test stems from the absence of a molecular diagnostic test to accurately predict disease aggressiveness for patients diagnosed with stage I or II lung adenocarcinoma. Myriad’s goal is to develop a prognostic lung cancer test that helps patients understand the aggressiveness of their disease.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics, Inc. is a leading molecular diagnostic company dedicated to making a difference in patients’ lives through the discovery and commercialization of transformative tests to assess a person’s risk of developing disease, guide treatment decisions and assess risk of disease progression and recurrence. Myriad’s portfolio of nine molecular diagnostic tests are based on an understanding of the role genes play in human disease and were developed with a focus on improving an individual’s decision making process for monitoring and treating disease. With fiscal year 2011 annual revenue of over $400 million and more than 1,000 employees, Myriad is working on strategic directives, including new product introductions, companion diagnostics, and international expansion, to take advantage of significant growth opportunities. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company’s website: www.myriad.com.

Myriad, the Myriad logo, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, Melaris, TheraGuide, Prezeon, OnDose, Panexia and Prolaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-G

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the Company’s presentation of a lung cancer study at the American Society for Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting; the market needs for a lung cancer prognostic test to help patients understand the aggressiveness of their disease; the Company’s goal and plans to develop a prognostic lung cancer test; and the Company’s strategic directives under the caption “About Myriad Genetics”. These “forward-looking statements” are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that sales and profit margins of our existing molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services may decline or will not continue to increase at historical rates; the risk that we may be unable to expand into new markets outside of the United States; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that we may not successfully develop new markets for our molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services, including our ability to successfully generate revenue outside the United States; the risk that licenses to the technology underlying our molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services and any future products are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with manufacturing our products or operating our laboratory testing facilities; risks related to public concern over genetic testing in general or our tests in particular; risks related to regulatory requirements or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries and changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems; risks related to our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations and acquire new technologies or businesses on satisfactory terms, if at all; risks related to our ability to successfully integrate and derive benefits from any technologies or businesses that we acquire; the development of competing tests and services; the risk that we or our licensors may be unable to protect the proprietary technologies underlying our tests; the risk of patent-infringement and invalidity claims or challenges of our patents; risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; and other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in Item 1A in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

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Myriad Genetics Announces Presentation of Lung Cancer Study at American Society for Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting

WESTMINSTER, Colo., May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — GeneThera, Inc. (GTHR.PK) announced today that Applied Genetics, GeneThera’s majority owned subsidiary, signed a research and test validation agreement with Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). Scope of the agreement is to validate GeneThera proprietary Johne’s disease (JD) HerdCheck Field Collection System (FCS) Molecular Assay in Mexico. Dr. Tony Milici, interim president of Applied Genetics and CEO of GeneThera, stated, “This agreement is another major milestone in establishing GeneThera and Applied Genetics’ leadership in the field of Johne’s disease molecular testing. UNAM’s support is of fundamental importance to speed up the validation process of GeneThera’s Johne’s disease molecular testing, which will lead to JD test approval by the Mexican Government.”

Dr. Gilberto Chaves Griz, Professor of Veterinary Pathology, in the Department of Veterinary medicine at UNAM and Director of the Johne’s Disease Center, who is one of the world’s most renowned expert in the field of Johne’s disease declared, “We are very pleased to partner with Applied Genetics and GeneThera to work on this project. It is extremely critical that we can diagnose JD in Mexico using the most advanced technology available. It is also of paramount importance to establish a Johne’s disease program at the national level. Mexico has one of the largest cows, goat and sheep populations in Northern and Central America, yet no data exists to the extent of Johne’s infection in these animals. It is our firm intention to establish a National Testing Program for Johne’s Disease in Mexico with the help of Applied Genetics and GeneThera’s state of the art technology.” UNAM is the largest University in Mexico. Applied Genetics is a molecular diagnostic company that focuses on commercializing molecular testing for Johne’s disease in Mexico.

Johne’s disease is a global devastating and incurable disease of dairy cows, sheep and goats caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis sub. Avium, (MAP). Dairy products, contaminated with MAP, are the vehicles by which the infection spreads in the human intestine triggering the onset of Crohn’s disease. Applied Genetics employs the use of GeneThera HerdCheck to test and control the spread of Johne’s disease in Mexico. HerdCheck is a proprietary molecular diagnostic system based on the use of high throughput robotics and Real time PCR.

About GeneThera, Inc.

GeneThera, Inc. is a molecular biotechnology company located in Westminster, Colorado. The Company’s proprietary diagnostic solution is based on a genetic expression system (GES) and Johne’s disease management system, HERDCHECK, designed to function on a highly automated Fluorogenic PCR platform. This platform enables GeneThera to offer tests that are presently not available from other technologies. The GES and HERDCHECK systems are designed for a host of individual diseases, the current priority being Johne’s disease. For more information, contact Dr. Tony Milici at 720 439-3011.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “intends,” “believes,” and similar expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of products and technologies, the ability to secure additional sources of finance, the ability to reduce operating expenses, and other factors described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The actual results that the Company achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statement due to such risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

http://www.genethera.net

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Applied Genetics Signs Agreement With The National University Of Mexico (UNAM)

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Top Sierra Tucson Docs to Present at Mindfulness Conference This Week

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Amy McGuire, JD, PhD, "Genomic Medicine: Ethical, Legal

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a genetic test that can accurately predict whether the most common form of eye cancer will spread to other parts of the body, particularly the liver.

In 459 patients with ocular melanoma at 12 centers in the United States and Canada, the researchers found the test could successfully classify tumors more than 97 percent of the time.

The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Ophthalmology, but is now online.

“When the cancer spreads beyond the eye, it’s unlikely any therapy is going to be effective,” says principal investigator J. William Harbour, MD. “But it’s very possible that we can develop treatments to slow the growth of metastatic tumors. The real importance of this test is that by identifying the type of tumor a patient has, we can first remove the tumor from the eye with surgery or radiation and then get those individuals at high risk into clinical trials that might be able to help them live longer.”

Harbour believes the test should allow ocular oncologists to quickly evaluate the risks associated with particular tumors and to begin treatment the moment they can detect any spread of the cancer.

Melanoma of the eye is relatively rare, diagnosed in about 2,000 people in the United States each year. Advances in treatment have allowed surgeons to preserve patients’ vision, but when cancer spreads beyond the eye, it often is deadly.

About a decade ago, Harbour, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, began using gene expression profiling to monitor the activity of thousands of genes in and around ocular melanoma tumors.

“At the time, we were surprised to see that based on these gene expression profiles, the tumors clustered into two groups that corresponded, almost perfectly, to patients whose cancer spread and those whose cancer was confined within the eye,” says Harbour, who directs Washington University’s Center for Ocular Oncology. “Tumors with a class 1 gene expression profile, or ‘signature,’ very rarely spread, but those with a class 2 profile frequently develop into metastatic cancer.”

Initially, Harbour’s group identified differences in approximately 1,000 genes between class 1 and class 2 tumors, but they whittled down that number, hoping to develop a simple test that could be used easily by ophthalmologists. Eventually, they settled on about a dozen genes that could be evaluated in tumor samples collected with a needle biopsy.

“We went through a number of sophisticated algorithms and validations, and we came up with a group of 12 genes,” he says. “We also included three more genes that don’t change whether they are in tumor tissue or healthy tissue. Those genes act as our ‘controls’ in this prognostic test.”

Link:
Genetic test can accurately predict spread of eye cancer

Researchers may be closing in on diseases inherited component

Web edition : Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

Schizophrenias elusive genetic roots may finally be within grasp. A new, wide-ranging effort has uncovered a set of DNA signatures that are shared by people with the disease consistently enough that the set can be used to reliably predict whether someone has the disease. If replicated, the results may point out ways to diagnose schizophrenia and suggest new targets for treatment.

By analyzing a battery of 542 genetic variants, researchers could predict who had schizophrenia in a group of European Americans and African Americans. The confirmation of the result in people of varying ancestry suggests that the set of genes truly does detect the core features of the disorder, scientists report online May 15 in Molecular Psychiatry.

Genetic studies in psychiatry tend to produce initial excitement but are then not reproduced in independent populations, which is the most important proof that a finding is solid and real, says study coauthor Alexander Niculescu of the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.

Niculescu and his colleagues created their gene panel by assessing a slew of earlier studies on schizophrenia: Data from humans and animals on gene variation and gene behavior all fed into the teams analysis. If a gene popped out of several different datasets, the reasoning went, it is probably important to schizophrenia. Niculescu compares this method called convergent functional genomics to an Internet search: The more links to a web page, the higher it comes up on your search list.

After sifting through all of this data, the team identified some top candidates, some already known to be related to schizophrenia (DISC1, a known culprit, sits at the top of the list) and a handful that have never before been linked to the disease.

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Schizophrenia’s core genetic features proposed

A new study of the protein-coding genes in 100 breast cancer tumors revealed vast differences among the cancers and highlights how complicated the disease really is, researchers said Wednesday.

A sobering perspective on the complexity and diversity of the disease is emerging, they wrote in the online edition of the journal Nature (subscription required), which is publishing a series of studies of the genetic changes in breast cancer.

The scientists, led by Michael Stratton at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, England, found 73 different combinations of disease-causing mutations in the tumors, each involving up to six different genes from a set of 40 driver genes.

Seven of the 40 individual driver genes were mutated in more than 10% of cases, but 33 others that were less common also contributed to the development of the cancers, the team reported. In 28 cases, a single mutation was enough to cause disease.

The researchers identified nine new genes that caused the cancers, and also found mutations in genes that were already known to cause breast and other cancers.

Discovering that a single disease breast cancer can appear in so many different guises means that developing targeted therapies tailored to a patients tumor type will remain a tall order in the near future.

The situation is more complex than anyone would like to see, said Christina Curtis, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at USC and first author of another paper in Nature, released in April, that detailed several new breast cancer subcategories.

But it seems were getting closer, Curtis added. With each study were getting a new vantage point.

Curtis said that finding new driver genes and new combinations of driver genes could still eventually pave the way to new treatment options, once researchers dig further and figure out exactly how the different combinations of mutations change cellular function, causing cancer.

Her team at USC is working on techniques to examine mutations in single cells, which will let scientists study genetic variation within tumors as well as between then.

Continue reading here:
Breast cancer study reveals 'substantial genetic diversity'