All posts by student

Human Behavior

Are you responsible for your spouse’s behavior? – The Standard

"Mom, can you do something, please..."

Jael's voice trailed off as she spoke to her mother on phone. She started sobbing even before she hung up.

Life had not been kind to Jael. She felt older than her 42 years of age. Where did she go wrong?

She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander. She grew up in an average family. Her mother was a teacher while her father was a businessman. Her father was now deceased and her mother - who had already retired from her teaching job - was in charge of the family businesses.

A Happy Marriage

Jael's marriage was full of ups and downs. She met Mike when still at the university and they started dating almost immediately. He was really charming and treated her like a queen. They moved in together a few months after her graduation and legalized their union less than a year later.

Mike treated her really well, taking her out for surprise dinners and occasionally even taking her away for weekends to exotic locations in different parts of the country. This did not stop even after the children came. The family lived quite well and life was good.Mike and Jael were blessed with three children; two girls and one boy.

All No Longer Well?

The first indication that all was not well in their lives happened after 15 years of marriage. There were many times that Mike's phone would ring and he would not pick the calls. Then, Mike changed his telephone line without any explanation. When he told Jael that he had a new cell phone number, she was surprised. She asked him why he would change his number yet most of his contacts did not have the new number. He could not explain but told her that it was no big deal.

Things just did not look the same. Mike's circles had changed. He no longer seemed to keep the same company like before. He had also become secretive. Suddenly, Jael realized that her husband was slowly becoming a stranger. She started wondering whether he was in an extra-marital relationship that he was trying to hide from her.

It did not take long for her to fit the jigsaw puzzle. She started receiving telephone calls from people who were known to both of them, requesting her to tell Mike to switch on his phone for they were trying to get in touch with him. She would tell him but he would not comment.

With time, the message in the calls changed to telling her to let Mike know that they were expecting the payments as agreed. When she would give Mike the messages he would not comment.

Trouble With The Law

It was not until the day that a colleague from Mike's office called Jael to inform her that Mike had been arrested. That was the beginning of a long journey of turmoil for Jael and her family. The family got auctioned twice within a space of one year and Mike got arrested a number of times. Their lives turned into a nightmare.

It was a rude awakening to Jael to discover that a lot of what she believed about Mike was fake, including his academic credentials. He even had a fake identity and some people knew him by names she did not know. In short, Mike's life was largely a lie and he had misrepresented himself to many different people mainly to extort money from the unsuspecting people.

The first few times her family got into trouble, her mother and her siblings put some cash together and bailed her family out. They helped out a number of times till it dawned on them that Mike's problems were beyond what they could handle.

Jael would call her family members and beg them to help but they totally refused to get involved. She eventually surrendered to fate. Mike was found guilty of a number of crimes and sentenced to prison.

Rebuilding

Jael started to rebuild her life from humble beginnings. She moved to a cheaper house that she could afford to pay for. She struggled to keep the children in school and often paid school fees in installments. The high life they had lived for years gradually became a distant dream.

The children struggled to adjust to their new status and it was initially difficult for Jael to cope with the backlash. They got angry, became rebellious, got into trouble in school and in the neighborhood and disobeyed her. It was a very difficult road for her family but she took it one day at a time.

A man is the head of his household. He provides direction and leadership for his family. To learn more about how to effectively lead a family, here are useful tipssecure-your-family's-future-through-strong-leadership.

We often like to quote about the two becoming one in marriage. So, now that you are married, do you take responsibility for the behavior of your spouse, whom you consider to be your better half?

Two people meet when they are already adults, fall in love and decide to get married. In a few exceptional cases, couples have known each other from a young age, sometimes from childhood.

Should You Take Responsibility For Your Spouse's Behavior?

You are married probably to the love of your life. Is it your fault that your spouse is cheating on you, disrespects or abuses you or probably engages in criminal activities? Is it your behavior that taught him or her to be that way, to treat you that way or to have a certain attitude towards family responsibilities?

Human behavior refers to the sum total of actions and emotions associated with a human being. It is complicated. For those who think that everything human behavior is simply a matter of good or bad choices, that is oversimplifying a complex topic.

So, What Shapes Human Behavior?

1.Genetics

Genetics refers to the traits we inherit from our parents. Genetic influence on behavior has been studied using identical twins who were adopted by different families at birth such that besides inheritance, everything in their upbringing environment was different. Siblings who were adopted sometimes discover each other as adults only to find out that they have a lot of similarities and not just in terms of physical appearance.

2.Social Norms

An individual's behavior is shaped by the group one is a part of. That is why people from the same cultural or religious group have similar attitudes and practices such as what they consider an acceptable dressing code. There is warmth in a sense of belonging and human beings make effort to fit in or to find acceptance, even when the practices of the group might be destructive to them. Norms also govern families.

3.Attitudes

Attitudes have roots in past experiences and conditioning. An individual associates certain things with certain experiences. For example, a child associates going out to the park with pleasure and going to the dentist with pain. Changing one's attitude takes a conscious effort to question the norms. Negative attitudes can be changed by evaluating reasons behind the attitudes.

4.Mind and Body

Behavior is affected by what is going on in our bodies. Hormonal changes at certain periods of time such as teenage, pregnancy, during certain times in women's monthly cycle and during menopause; affect behavior.

Nutrition also affects behavior and that is the genesis of the saying 'a hungry man is an angry man. Hunger or having a brain that is starved of nutrients affects mood negatively and can make one quick to anger. Conditions such as having a brain tumor in certain areas of the brain or having low levels of feel-good neurotransmitters in the brain can affect mood negatively.

The mind and body are connected and influence each other. That is why we talk of 'a healthy mind in a healthy body'.

5.Coping Mechanisms

All human beings face difficulties and challenges from time to time but some cope better than others. Coping mechanisms are dependent on one's overall personality and lessons learned in life. There are people who train themselves in coping mechanisms such breathing in and out before reacting when provoked or engaging in vigorous physical activity when angry. Coping mechanisms can be trained as part of upbringing, through therapy or one can learn them independently.

When two people get married, the behavior of each of them is already fully established; it is not taught by the spouse. Much as one can do their best to influence the spouse positively, there is a lot that is already deeply entrenched in the individual that might not be possible to change, unless through therapy.

Achieving behavior change takes work; it is not handed to anyone on a silver platter. It, therefore, depends on whether the individual is ready to pay the price of change or not. People do not change themselves because someone else told them to change.

Read the rest here:
Are you responsible for your spouse's behavior? - The Standard

Cell Biology

ISU researchers receive $2.98 million grant – Iowa State Daily

Iowa State researchers were awarded a four year, $2.98 million grant Tuesday from the National Institutes of Health.

The research will work todevelop innovative technology to search the genome of zebrafish for genes leading to advances in human health.

By identifying specific genes related to disease and switching them off and on, the researchers hope their findings could lead to new treatments for health issues such as cancer, vascular disease and neurological disorders.

We need to determine if a gene is curative, said Jeff Essner, professor ofgenetics, development and cell biologyand research team member. Were hoping to develop a toolbox that will allow us to identify genes in zebrafish, and ultimately in humans, that can be targeted with therapy to cure various ailments.

Zebrafish are small, freshwater fish.Zebrafish are ideal for this kind of genetics work because their embryos are fertilized outside the body of the mother.

The embryos are also transparent, making them easy for scientists to collect and target with the gene-editing technology.

Zebrafish share many genes with humans which lead to disease, said Maura McGrail,professor ofgenetics, development and cell biologyand another research team member.

The researchers can activate fluorescent genes in the zebrafish to cause certain tissues to glow.

Essner said this effect allows the researchers a direct way to confirm the gene-editing technology is working as they intend.

The team will also includeDrena Dobbs, a university professor of genetics, development and cell biology. They will also work withKarl Clark and Stephen Ekker at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who are conducting similar gene editing research in cultured human cells.

See the original post here:
ISU researchers receive $2.98 million grant - Iowa State Daily

Cell Biology

‘Transformative’ cancer treatment: FDA approves gene therapy that functions as a ‘living drug’ – Los Angeles Times

In a step that heralds a new era in cancer treatment, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it has approved a form of gene therapy that is highly effective at fighting an aggressive form of leukemia in young patients with no other options.

The treatment, to be marketed under the name Kymriah, is neither a pill nor an injection, but a personalized medicine service that functions as a living drug. Patients would have their bodys own disease-fighting T cells fortified and multiplied in a lab, then get the cells back to help them fight their cancer.

In clinical trials of 88 patients with a relapsing or treatment-resistant form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 73 went into remission after receiving the experimental treatment.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, himself a survivor of blood cancer, predicted that this new approach to cancer treatment will change the face of modern medicine.

Cancer researchers and physicians outside the agency shared Gottliebs enthusiasm.

Dr. Crystal L. Mackall, associate director of Stanford Universitys Cancer Institute, called Kymriah a transformative therapy. It represents an entirely new class of cancer therapies that holds promise for all cancer patients.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemiais the most common form of pediatric cancer, affecting some 3,000 children and young adults yearly in the United States. Though it is considered highly curable in most patients, about 600 each year either do not respond to chemotherapy or see their leukemia return after an initial round of successful treatment.

Those patients dont make it none of them do, said Dr. Stephan A. Grupp, director of the cancer immunotherapy program at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, who administered the first course of Kymriah five years ago when it was an experimental treatment called CTL019.

That initial patient, 7-year-old Emily Whitehead of Philipsburg, Pa., saw her leukemia remit completely within three weeks of getting the treatment. Now 12, she was among those calling on the FDA to approve Kymriah for other patients like her.

Certainly for blood cancers, this is a game-changer, Grupp said. Adapting this therapy for patients with solid tumors, he said, will be the work of the next five years.

The new approach was designed to fight some of the most stubborn cancers by giving the bodys immune system a very specific assist.

It starts by harvesting a cancer patients T cells, the warriors of the immune system. The cells are delivered to a specialized lab where scientists alter their DNA, essentially reprogramming them to target cancer cells. These reengineered cells are called chimeric antigen receptor T cells, or CAR-T cells.

The new and improved cells are copied millions of times before theyre sent back to the patient. Once infused into the bloodstream, the CAR-T cells are much better equipped to hunt down and kill cancer cells, wherever they may hide.

Novartis, the company that developed Kymriah, intends to have 32 certified treatment centers up and running by the end of 2018. Patients up to the age of 25 would go to one of these centers to have their T cells harvested and later reintroduced in their modified form.

The cells themselves will be genetically engineered at a Novartis manufacturing facility in Morris Plains, N.J.

Kymriah is the first CAR-T treatment to come before the FDA, but it wont be the last. No fewer than 76 CAR-T treatments are currently under review at the FDA, and Gottlieb predicted that other approvals would follow.

Therapies that would operate in similar ways engineering the immune systems T cells to fight disease more effectively are under investigation for a host of other conditions, including HIV/AIDS, genetic and autoimmune disorders and other forms of cancer.

Todays FDA ruling is a milestone, said Dr. David Maloney, medical director of cellular immunotherapy at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. This is just the first of what will soon be many new immunotherapy-based treatments for a variety of cancers.

Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company that is gearing up to provide Kymriah to as many as 600 patients a year, said it would charge $475,000 for the treatment.

Novartis representatives said they calculated a cost-effective price for the therapy that fell between $600,000 and $750,000. But the company chose instead to charge a price that it said would cover costs, and to introduce a novel approach to billing. Chief Executive Joseph Jimenez said the company will not charge hospitals for the therapy if the patient does not fully respond in a given period of time.

The company also said it will launch a patient assistance program for those who are uninsured or underinsured, and provide some travel assistance for patients and caregivers seeking the treatment.

Gottlieb touted Kymriahs approval as a turning point for the FDA as well. Novartis application for Kymriah came just seven months ago. The agency tagged the application with two designations that ensured its speedy review.

First proposed in 1972, the idea of correcting or enhancing genes to treat disease has a history buoyed by promise but also buffeted by failures. With recent advances in genomic medicine, cell biology and genetic engineering, efforts to locate and edit the genes and cells that play a key role in disease have injected new hope for such treatments.

Gene and cell therapies that target the immune system for enhancement have been particularly promising. They do, however, come with risks specifically, that the activation of immune cells will run amok, sparking reactions ranging from rash and itching to fever and flu-like symptoms that can lead to death.

In approving Kymriah, the FDA warned that it has the potential to cause severe side effects, including cytokine release syndrome, an overreaction to the activation and proliferation of immune cells that causes high fever and flu-like symptoms, and neurological events. Both can be life-threatening. Kymriah can also cause serious infections, low blood pressure, acute kidney injury, fever and low oxygen levels.

The FDA called for continuing safety studies of the new therapy.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

@LATMelissaHealy

MORE IN SCIENCE

FDA cracks down on clinics selling unproven stem cell 'therapies'

Catastrophic storms, once rare, are almost routine. Is climate change to blame?

NASAs Cassini spacecraft nears a fiery, brutal end, when it will plunge into Saturn

Read more from the original source:
'Transformative' cancer treatment: FDA approves gene therapy that functions as a 'living drug' - Los Angeles Times

Physiology

The Daily News | Watch your neck: Physiology and the advent of the … – The Daily News Online

The following editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday, Aug. 28.

In his 2010 book I Live in the Future & Heres How It Works, the technology writer Nick Bilton relayed anecdotes about early 19th-century anxieties in Britain at the dawn of train travel. It was thought that people would asphyxiate if carried at speeds of more than 20 mph and reputable scientists believed that traveling at a certain speed could actually make our bones fall apart. So far, that hasnt happened. While adjusting to the future is often alarming, as Bilton illustrated, humans find a way to cope.

A recent article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette drove that point home. Doctors have identified the condition of text neck, found most often in teenagers and young adults who stare down at their smartphones for two to four hours a day. An orthopedic surgeon quoted in the article advises people to simply take a break from that thing. If that proves unrealistic, theres a Pilates class geared for teenagers, which includes a focus on overcoming text neck. The instructor noticed that four girls in a recent class could not drop their heads in a relaxed position during the exercises a clear sign of TN.

It is beyond doubt that the proliferation of digital devices is changing the way people process information: smaller gulps from wider sources, less sustained attention. When you can pry your hands from your own smartphone for a minute, go ahead and wring them over this decline in intellectual capacity. But the endurance of the human species is testimony to its remarkable ability to adapt. And theres one constant: Each generation is horrified by the decadence of the one following.

The fork ratings are based primarily on food quality and preparation, with service and atmosphere factored into the final decision. Reviews are based on one unsolicited, unannounced visit to the restaurant.

See the original post here:
The Daily News | Watch your neck: Physiology and the advent of the ... - The Daily News Online

Biochemistry

Tang Prize Foundation, IUBMB cooperate in promoting science education – Focus Taiwan News Channel

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Taiwan's Tang Prize Foundation announced Wednesday that it had formed a partnership with International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) in promoting the advancement of biopharmaceutical science Education.

The foundation signed a 9-year partnership project agreement with IUBMB in 2016 which is currently on the move, according to a statement issued by the organization.

Chern Jenn-chuan (), chief executive of the foundation, said in the statement that IUBMB plays a significant role in uniting researchers and scientists in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology from 77 countries.

The cooperation project with IUBMB marked another step forward by the foundation in promoting the biopharmaceutical science education after it signed a memorandum of cooperation that established a 10-year partnership with the Experimental Biology (EB) in 2015, the statement said.

The EB, an annual gathering of professional research scientists, is sponsored by six societies: American Association of Anatomists (AAA), the American Physiological Society (APS), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET).

Furthermore, the Tang Prize Foundation will support outstanding young scientists to attend the "New Horizons in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education" conference which will be held Sept. 6-8 in Israel, it said.

The conference will be coorganized by the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) of Israel, IUBMB and the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS), the statement said.

Taiwanese chemist Andrew Wang (), president-elect of IUBMB who serves as the distinguished visiting chair of the Institute of Biological Chemistry at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top academic research institution, will also attend the conference which is aimed at providing a think tank setting that can bring inspiration to the teaching of biochemistry and molecular biology, it added.

The conference will be followed by the FEBS 2017 congress which will take place Sept. 10-14 in Jerusalem, the foundation said.

Feng Zhang (), one of the 2016 Tang Prize winners in Biopharmaceutical Science, is to host a Tang Prize/IUBMB lecture in the conference on Sept. 12 on the topic "From Microbial Immunity to Genome Editing."

Zhang shared the Tang Prize with Emmanuelle Charpentier of France and Jennifer Doudna of the United States for the development of CRISPR/Cas9 as a breakthrough genome editing platform that promises to revolutionize biochemical research and disease treatment.

The cooperation between the Tang Prize and the world's top research organizations not only promotes awareness of the Prize in biopharmaceutical ccience but also encourages education and technology exchange in the Prize's four fields.

The Tang Prize awards were established by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin () in 2012 to honor people who have made significant contributions in the fields of sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and rule of law. They are dubbed as the "Asian Nobel Prize."

(By Romulo Huang) Enditem/sc

Originally posted here:
Tang Prize Foundation, IUBMB cooperate in promoting science education - Focus Taiwan News Channel

Genetics

New ‘hit-and-run’ gene editing tool temporarily rewrites genetics to treat cancer and HIV – GeekWire

Nanoparticles (orange) deliver temporary gene therapy to immune cells (blue) to give them disease-fighting tools. (Fred Hutch Illustration / Kimberly Carney)

CAR T immunotherapies are all the rage in the medical community, reprogramming a patients immune system to fight cancer. For some patients, theyve produced near-miraculous recoveries, and they could be a huge breakthrough in cancer treatment.

The business community is taking note as well: Kite Pharma, a biotech company developing these therapies, announced a deal to be acquired for $11.9 billion on Monday, sending stock prices of Seattle immunotherapy developer Juno Therapeuticsskyrocketing.

But there are still giant pitfalls to using the therapies on a large scale because they are incredibly complex and expensive to produce. Researchers from Seattles Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center are taking the problem head-on with new hit-and-run gene editing technology.

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers led by Dr.Matthias Stephan reported they have developed a nanoparticle delivery system that can temporarily alter cells so they are able to fight cancer and other diseases.

The best part? The treatment is a powder that just needs to be mixed with water to activate and even better, it could be an essential breakthrough in making cutting-edge medical technology affordable for patients.

Stephan told GeekWire in a previous piece on the technology that his goal is to make immunotherapy so easy to access that it replaces chemotherapy as the front-line treatment for cancer.

What I envision is like the Walgreens flu shot scenario, or you go to your doctor and you get hepatitis B shot, he said at the time. You go there every Friday, and thats it.

We realized in order to outcompete chemotherapy, we have to design something that is at least as affordable and can be manufactured at large scale by one biotech company and shipped out to local infusion centers, Stephan said. At the moment, CAR T cell therapies must be made individually for each patient in specialized labs.

Heres how the new tech works: The nanoparticles designed by Stephan and his team act like shipping containers for bundles of mRNA, the molecules that tell cells how to build disease-fighting proteins. The nanoparticles also have molecules attached to the outside to help them find the right kind of cells, like a shipping label on a package.

When the mRNA is delivered to the cell, it prompts the cell to grow disease-fighting features, like the chimeric antigen receptor in CAR T cells that help them identify and kill cancer.Researchers said the technology could potentially be used to develop treatments for HIV, diabetes and other immune-related diseases.

In the short run, the tech could help researchers discover new treatments and therapies in the lab. It could one day be used in hospitals and clinics around the world, but will first need to undergo extensive clinical trials to ensure the tech is effective and safe to use in humans.

View post:
New 'hit-and-run' gene editing tool temporarily rewrites genetics to treat cancer and HIV - GeekWire

Genetics

Seven years in the making, Seattle Genetics picks up early option on Genmab’s ADC effort – Endpoints News

Clay Siegall

Seven years after Copenhagen-based Genmab inked a collaboration deal with Seattle Genetics, the US biotech has decided to opt-in on a development partnership.

The pact struck in 2010 gave Genmab rights to Seattle Genetics antibody-drug conjugate tech so it could work on a new approach for its HuMax-TF antibody targeting the tissue factor antigen. A year later they struck a deal giving Seattle Genetics an opt-in on tisotumab vedotin, now in several Phase I/II studies for solid tumors, including recurrent cervical cancer.

Whatever data that early program has produced was good enough to persuade Seattle Genetics to agree to share the development costs and any profits 50/50.

Seattle Genetics has run into a series of late-stage mishaps over the past year. The biotech was forced to scrap a Phase III study of vadastuximab and halt a slate of other trials as researchers puzzled out what caused an imbalance of deaths between the drug and control arms. Just a few weeks before the June imbroglio, Seattle Genetics was also forced to throw the towel in on a $2 billion deal to collaborate with Immunomedics, further limiting its late-stage effort. Seattle Genetics mainstay franchise drug did score a win on frontline Hodgkin lymphoma at the end of H1, but the gain was so marginal that some analysts fretted it looked like the kind of small advantage that may not be worth much commercially.

Our ADC partnership with Genmab has generated promising Phase I/II data for tisotumab vedotin in patients with recurrent cervical cancer. As Seattle Genetics opts into co-development of this clinical program, we add another potential product to our strong pipeline, said Seattle Genetics CEO Clay Siegall.

Full-text daily reports for those who discover, develop, and market drugs. Join 17,000+ biopharma pros who read Endpoints News by email every day.

Read the original here:
Seven years in the making, Seattle Genetics picks up early option on Genmab's ADC effort - Endpoints News

Anatomy

Gail’s Anatomy turns Newberry Street fountain teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month – Aiken Standard

The water flowing in the Newberry Street fountain is teal because September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

During a brief ceremony Wednesday morning, Debbie Mills and Alicia Owens of Gails Anatomy got the organizations commemoration efforts started a little early by pouring dark, greenish-blue dye into the fountain.

The more than 20 people who joined them included Dr. Todd Wright, general manager and executive vice president of AECOMs Nuclear & Environment Strategic Business Unit, and Aiken City Council members Gail Diggs and Lessie Price.

The fountain is in a good location to help us spread awareness about ovarian cancer to Aikens residents and visitors, Mills said. There are festivals and different events in the area, and The Alley is close by. Were also putting up teal bows in downtown Aiken.

Mills is the founder and director of Gails Anatomy, and Owens is the co-director.

In 2007, Mills daughter, Gail Mills, died of ovarian cancer less than four months after being diagnosed with the disease. A graduate of Silver Bluff High School and USC Aiken who worked at Target, she was only 30 years old.

I wanted to make something positive out of the whole experience and tell people about ovarian cancer and try to save lives, Debbie said.

Not long after Gails death, family, friends and co-workers formed a team for an American Cancer Society Relay For Life fundraiser.

The theme was Night of a Thousand Stars, which had to do with movies and TV shows, and Gails favorite TV show was Greys Anatomy, so we called our team Gails Anatomy, Debbie said.

Afterward, Debbie decided she wanted to do more to educate women about ovarian cancer, and that led to Gails Anatomy becoming a group with a year-round mission to raise awareness.

I want to prevent what we went through from happening to someone else, Debbie said. Because it happened to Gail, I know it can happen to anybody. She did everything she was supposed to do. She went to the doctor every year. We didnt have any history of ovarian cancer or breast cancer in our family.

Symptoms of ovarian cancer include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, loss of appetite or feeling full more quickly than usual and a more frequent or urgent need to urinate.

For more information about Gails Anatomy, visit the organizations website, http://www.ovariancancerawareness4life.org, or its Facebook page.

Dede Biles is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013. A native of Concord, N.C, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

See more here:
Gail's Anatomy turns Newberry Street fountain teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month - Aiken Standard

Cell Biology

New grant will help Iowa State University scientists search zebrafish genome to promote human health – Iowa State University News Service

Researchers can activate fluorescent genes in zebrafish to cause certain tissues to glow, an indication their gene editing techniques are working as planned. ISU scientists hope to find genes in zebrafish that can lead to new treatments for diseases in humans. Image courtesy of Wesley Wierson. Larger image.

Ames, Iowa Iowa State University researchers have received a grant to further develop innovative technology that allows them to scour the genome of zebrafish for genes that might lead to advances in human health.

The researchers will use the latest gene editing techniques to create precise mutations in zebrafish. The project, supported by a four-year, $2.98 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, aims to identify genes connected to some of the most serious ailments humans and animals face, including cancer, vascular disease and neurological disorders.

By identifying particular genes related to disease and then switching them off and on again, the researchers hope their findings could lead to new treatments for various diseases.

We need to determine if a gene is curative, said Jeff Essner, a professor of genetics, development and cell biology and research team member. Were hoping to develop a toolbox that will allow us to identify genes in zebrafish, and ultimately in humans, that can be targeted with therapy to cure various ailments.

Many of the genes that lead to disease in humans are present in the zebrafish genome as well, said Maura McGrail, an assistant professor of genetics, development and cell biology and a member of the research team.

If we identify a gene in a zebrafish that affects disease, theres a good chance those results carry over to humans and agriculturally important animals as well, McGrail said. The genomes are about the same size and complexity. There are differences, but its a great starting point.

The Essner and McGrail laboratories boast scores of tanks that contain zebrafish, a small freshwater species that grow only a few centimeters in length. Zebrafish make good model organisms for this kind of genetics work because their embryos are fertilized outside the body of the mother and are transparent, making them easy for scientists to collect and target with the gene-editing technology.

The researchers can even activate fluorescent genes in the zebrafish to cause certain tissues to glow. Essner said doing so offers a direct way to confirm the gene-editing technology is working as intended. It also makes for a striking image.

The ISU team also includes Drena Dobbs, a University Professor of genetics, development and cell biology. The team will collaborate with Karl Clark and Stephen Ekker at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who are conducting similar gene editing research in cultured human cells.

Continued here:
New grant will help Iowa State University scientists search zebrafish genome to promote human health - Iowa State University News Service