Conversation #39;s Michael Stone interviews Bill McKibben of 350.org
Bill McKibben, American environmentalist and writer, is the founder of 350.org, an international climate campaign. Bill frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he has been at the forefront of organizing and leading the largest civil demonstrations against global warming in history. It has been 3 decades since he wrote the End of Nature.From:divinemdsViews:294 1ratingsTime:09:58More inNonprofits Activism

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Baby A La Carte
Come to Baby A La Carte and design your baby today! Spoof of the designer baby aspect of Human Genetic Engineering (HGE), created to display one of the many potential, yet ethically flawed futures of HGE. Also created to spark curiosity and interest about HGE as a whole and the debate concerning its future. For more information about human genetic engineering, visit http://www.wix.com/kellyjo1216/hge.From:HGEGroupWRD111Views:23 0ratingsTime:04:41More inScience Technology

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Baby A La Carte - Video

Is human genetic engineering morally allowed?
Independent research report on human genetic engineering, for my subject SPU.From:NoadeZeeuw1Views:22 0ratingsTime:06:39More inEducation

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Is human genetic engineering morally allowed? - Video

Informatics 161 PSA: Human Genetic Engineering
This video is made for Bill Tomlinson #39;s IN4MATX 161 course at UCI. It poses the question, "What does it mean to be human?" if the technology and information tools today can be used to engineer the genetic makeup of babies, ie what color their eye color or gender will be. Video Credit: 0:01-0:06s - "Mcubed1010" http://www.youtube.com 0:11-0:13s - "CreativeIceDesigns" http://www.youtube.com Images: hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com http://www.scienceclarified.com http://www.obgynlondon.co.uk Music: "Tender Turn" - Michael Price Quotes: Snow, Kate. "Genetics Will Let Parents Build Their Baby." ABC News. ABC News Network, 03 Nov. 2006. Web. 24 May 2012.From:lisa nguyenViews:605 15ratingsTime:00:43More inEducation

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Informatics 161 PSA: Human Genetic Engineering - Video

Alien Human Modified DNA - LONG NECKS
Alien Human Modified DNA - LONG NECKS Alien Human Modified DNA Long Neck Reptilian Hybrid Genetic Xfiles Saurus Dinosaur Hybridizations Altered Human Genetic Engineering Illuminati Space Ufo Earth Universe Egypt Aliens Gods Energy Consciousness Ancient Light Truth History Spirit New World Physics Planet Secret Ascension Quantum Shapeshifters Conspiracy Draco ORIONFrom:Pocholo986Views:1221 0ratingsTime:01:53More inEducation

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Alien Human Modified DNA - LONG NECKS - Video

Human Genetic Engineering PSU Video
Human Genetic EngineeringFrom:stevie54271Views:59 1ratingsTime:14:07More inScience Technology

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Human Genetic Engineering PSU Video - Video

Blue Heart (First 4 Minutes) --Seeking Funding
Written and Directed by Miguel Coyula, Corazon Azul (Blue Heart) is a science fiction film about Human Genetic Engineering, set in an alternative reality where Havana is a polluted metropolis, ravaged by acid rain with an economy sustained by Chinese off-shore drilling. After the boom of Genetics, Fidel Castro sets out to build the New Man, this time through genetically enhanced individuals that will make Cuban Socialism a perfect system. Things go terribly wrong as the New Men turn out to be powerful individuals set out to destroy the current social order, with goals closer to anarquism and soon submerge the country into a state of even greater chaos. In tradition with my style of filmmaking this is being shot guerrilla style as a one man crew, mixing documentary with fiction through heavy manipulation of the images in postproduction. Currently looking for funding in exhange for rewards at Yagruma. Here is the link: http://www.yagruma.orgFrom:roadkill12Views:196 3ratingsTime:03:54More inFilm Animation

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Blue Heart (First 4 Minutes) --Seeking Funding - Video

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (SIAL) today announced that Sigma Advanced Genetic Engineering (SAGE) Labs, an initiative of Sigma Life Science, and Ekam Imaging, Inc. have partnered to develop a suite of preclinical services based on the advanced translational power of genetically engineered rat models from SAGE Labs and Ekam's expertise in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. For more information on SAGE Labs, visit http://www.sageresearchmodels.com.

Unlike the fMRI studies currently performed in drug development that require anesthetized, unconscious animals, Ekam Imaging's fMRI translational technology produces detailed maps of a conscious animal's brain activity, a state that much better represents the human condition.

"The rat models created by SAGE Labs have been genetically modified to reflect patient-relevant mutations and exhibit highly relevant, robust phenotypes. The combination of these rats with Ekam's imaging platform presents a transformative opportunity for translational neuroscience programs. Ultimately, these types of studies will lead to better drugs targeting neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases," said Edward Weinstein, Ph.D., Director of SAGE Labs.

"Probing the brain functions of a conscious animal, specifically in rats which are prized by the neuroscience community for intelligence and complex social behaviors, produces data that is much more representative of a potential therapy's effects on human processes," said Mark Nedelman, MS, MBA, President and CEO of Ekam Imaging.

Nedelman's company is currently producing a detailed map of neural activity in SAGE Lab's Pink1 gene knockout rat, which SAGE Labs generated for The Michael J. Fox Foundation to model Parkinson's disease. The Pink1 gene knockout rat exhibits delayed-onset motor deficits, a key phenotype of Parkinson's disease in humans.

Sigma and Ekam plan to publicly launch services specific to SAGE Labs' neuroscience rat models in early 2013.

Cautionary Statement: The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "more precise," "unambiguously," "curtail," "rapidly" or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived there from. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that preclincal imaging assays or related services will assist the Company to achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding products associated with preclinical imaging assays or related services could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Sigma Life Science: Sigma Life Science is a Sigma-Aldrich business that represents the Company's leadership in innovative biological products and services for the global life science market and offers an array of biologically-rich products and reagents that researchers use in scientific investigation. Product areas include biomolecules, genomics and functional genomics, cells and cell-based assays, transgenics, protein assays, stem cell research, epigenetics and custom services/oligonucleotides. Sigma Life Science also provides an extensive range critical bioessentials like biochemicals, antibiotics, buffers, carbohydrates, enzymes, forensic tools, hematology and histology, nucleotides, amino acids and their derivatives, and cell culture media.

About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company whose biochemical, organic chemical products, kits and services are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostics and high technology manufacturing. Sigma-Aldrich customers include more than 1.3 million scientists and technologists in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals and industry. The Company operates in 38 countries and has nearly 9,100 employees whose objective is to provide excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to accelerating customer success through innovation and leadership in Life Science and High Technology. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at http://www.sigma-aldrich.com.

Sigma-Aldrich and Sigma are trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich Co, LLC registered in the US and other countries. SAGE is a registered trademark of Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC.

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SAGE® Labs, Ekam Imaging, Inc. Partner to Develop Preclinical Imaging Assays to Screen Therapies of Neurodegenerative ...

Bruce Lipton - New Health Paradigm
upliftfestival.com UPLIFT 2012 is thrilled to bring Bruce Lipton to Byron Bay! Bruce H. Lipton, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in bridging science and spirit. Stem cell biologist, bestselling author of The Biology of Belief and recipient of the 2009 Goi Peace Award, he has been a guest speaker on hundreds of TV and radio shows, as well as keynote presenter for national and international conferences. Dr. Lipton began his scientific career as a cell biologist. He received his Ph.D. Degree from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville before joining the Department of Anatomy at the University of Wisconsin #39;s School of Medicine in 1973. Dr. Lipton #39;s research on muscular dystrophy, studies employing cloned human stem cells, focused upon the molecular mechanisms controlling cell behavior. An experimental tissue transplantation technique developed by Dr. Lipton and colleague Dr. Ed Schultz and published in the journal Science was subsequently employed as a novel form of human genetic engineering. In 1982, Dr. Lipton began examining the principles of quantum physics and how they might be integrated into his understanding of the cell #39;s information processing systems. He produced breakthrough studies on the cell membrane, which revealed that this outer layer of the cell was an organic homologue of a computer chip, the cell #39;s equivalent of a brain. His research at Stanford University #39;s School of Medicine, between 1987 and 1992, revealed that the environment ...From:UPLIFTfestivalTVViews:35 0ratingsTime:02:48More inPeople Blogs

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ScienceDaily (Oct. 11, 2012) Scientists have observed the neurological mechanism behind temperature-dependent -- febrile -- seizures by genetically engineering fruit flies to harbor a mutation analogous to one that causes epileptic seizures in people. In addition to contributing the insight on epilepsy, their new study also highlights the first use of genetic engineering to swap a human genetic disease mutation into a directly analogous gene in a fly.

In a newly reported set of experiments that show the value of a particularly precise but difficult genetic engineering technique, researchers at Brown University and the University of California-Irvine have created a Drosophila fruit fly model of epilepsy to discern the mechanism by which temperature-dependent seizures happen.

The researchers used a technique called homologous recombination -- a more precise and sophisticated technique than transgenic gene engineering -- to give flies a disease-causing mutation that is a direct analogue of the mutation that leads to febrile epileptic seizures in humans. They observed the temperature-dependent seizures in whole flies and also observed the process in their brains. What they discovered is that the mutation leads to a breakdown in the ability of certain cells that normally inhibit brain overactivity to properly regulate their electrochemical behavior.

In addition to providing insight into the neurology of febrile seizures, said Robert Reenan, professor of biology at Brown and a co-corresponding author of the paper in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study establishes

"This is the first time anyone has introduced a human disease-causing mutation overtly into the same gene that flies possess," Reenan said.

Engineering seizures

Homologous recombination (HR) starts with the transgenic technique of harnessing a transposable element (jumping gene) to insert a specially mutated gene just anywhere into the fly's DNA, but then goes beyond that to ultimately place the mutated gene into exactly the same position as the natural gene on the X chromosome. HR does this by outfitting the gene to be handled by the cell's own DNA repair mechanisms, essentially tricking the cell into putting the mutant copy into exactly the right place. Reenan's success with the technique allowed him to win a special grant from the National Institutes of Health last year.

The new paper is a result of that grant and Reenan's collaboration with neurobiologist Diane O'Dowd at UC-Irvine. Reenan and undergraduate Jeff Gilligan used HR to insert a mutated version of the para gene in fruit flies that is a direct parallel of the mutation in the human gene SCN1A that causes febrile seizures in people.

When the researchers placed flies in tubes and bathed the tubes in 104-degree F water, the mutant fruit flies had seizures after 20 seconds in which their legs would begin twitching followed by wing flapping, abdominal curling, and an inability to remain standing. After that, they remained motionless for as long as half an hour before recovering. Unaltered flies, meanwhile, exhibited no temperature-dependent seizures.

The researchers also found that seizure susceptibility was dose-dependent. Female flies with mutant strains of both copies of the para gene (females have two copies of the X chromosome) were the most susceptible to seizures. Those in whom only one copy of the gene was a mutant were less likely than those with two to seize, but more likely than the controls.

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Engineered flies spill secret of seizures

A Japanese and a British scientist were awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Monday for their groundbreaking work in turning adult cells into immature ones that might be tweaked further to treat a wide spectrum of diseases. Such research is being aggressively pursued at scientific institutions across San Diego County.

Shinya Yamanaka of Japan and John Gurdon of Great Britain showed that it is possible to alter adult cells to the point where they are very similar to human embryonic stem cells. But the process does not involved the destruction of embryos.

In essence, scientists can now take cells from, say, a person's skin and turn back the clock, making the cell essentially act as though it were new.

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute issued a statement today saying, "These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and cellular specialisation. We now understand that the mature cell does not have to be confined forever to its specialised state. Textbooks have been rewritten and new research fields have been established. By reprogramming human cells, scientists have created new opportunities to study diseases and develop methods for diagnosis and therapy.

"The discoveries of Gurdon and Yamanaka have shown that specialised cells can turn back the developmental clock under certain circumstances. Although their genome undergoes modifications during development, these modifications are not irreversible. We have obtained a new view of the development of cells and organisms.

"Research during recent years has shown that iPS cells can give rise to all the different cell types of the body. These discoveries have also provided new tools for scientists around the world and led to remarkable progress in many areas of medicine. iPS cells can also be prepared from human cells.

"For instance, skin cells can be obtained from patients with various diseases, reprogrammed, and examined in the laboratory to determine how they differ from cells of healthy individuals. Such cells constitute invaluable tools for understanding disease mechanisms and so provide new opportunities to develop medical therapies."

Gurdon -- who was working in his lab today when he learned that he'd won a Nobel -- made the initial breakthrough about 50 years ago, and Yamanaka built on that work, accelerating the process through genetic engineering.

The Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute was created in La Jolla, in part, to probe exactly this area of research.

Will La Jolla scientists win this year's Nobel Prizes?

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Nobel Prize awarded for work on stem cells

ScienceDaily (Oct. 9, 2012) Using genes as interchangeable parts, synthetic biologists design cellular circuits that can perform new functions, such as sensing environmental conditions. However, the complexity that can be achieved in such circuits has been limited by a critical bottleneck: the difficulty in assembling genetic components that don't interfere with each other.

Unlike electronic circuits on a silicon chip, biological circuits inside a cell cannot be physically isolated from one another. "The cell is sort of a burrito. It has everything mixed together," says Christopher Voigt, an associate professor of biological engineering at MIT.

Because all the cellular machinery for reading genes and synthesizing proteins is jumbled together, researchers have to be careful that proteins that control one part of their synthetic circuit don't hinder other parts of the circuit.

Voigt and his students have now developed circuit components that don't interfere with one another, allowing them to produce the most complex synthetic circuit ever built. The circuit, described in the Oct. 7 issue of Nature, integrates four sensors for different molecules. Such circuits could be used in cells to precisely monitor their environments and respond appropriately.

"It's incredibly complex, stitching together all these pieces," says Voigt, who is co-director of the Synthetic Biology Center at MIT. Larger circuits would require computer programs that Voigt and his students are now developing, which should allow them to combine hundreds of circuits in new and useful ways.

Lead author of the paper is former MIT postdoc Tae Seok Moon, now an assistant professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Other authors are MIT postdocs Chunbo Lou and Brynne Stanton, and Alvin Tamsir, a graduate student at the University of California at San Francisco.

Expanding the possibilities

Previously, Voigt has designed bacteria that can respond to light and capture photographic images, and others that can detect low oxygen levels and high cell density -- both conditions often found in tumors. However, no matter the end result, most of his projects, and those of other synthetic biologists, use a small handful of known genetic parts. "We were just repackaging the same circuits over and over again," Voigt says.

To expand the number of possible circuits, the researchers needed components that would not interfere with each other. They started out by studying the bacterium that causes salmonella, which has a cellular pathway that controls the injection of proteins into human cells. "It's a very tightly regulated circuit, which is what makes it a good synthetic circuit," Voigt says.

The pathway consists of three components: an activator, a promoter and a chaperone. A promoter is a region of DNA where proteins bind to initiate transcription of a gene. An activator is one such protein. Some activators also require a chaperone protein before they can bind to DNA to initiate transcription.

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Most complex synthetic biology circuit yet: New sensor could be used to program cells to precisely monitor their ...

ScienceDaily (Oct. 10, 2012) Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited genetic disorder caused by the multiple repetition of a DNA sequence (the nucleotides CAG) in the gene encoding a protein called "Huntingtin". People who do not suffer from the disease have this sequence repeated 10 to 29 times. But in an affected person, the triplet is present more than 35 times.

Huntingtin protein can be found in various tissues of the human body and is essential for the development and survival of neurons in adults. When the mutant gene is present, an aberrant form of the Hungtingtin protein is produced, causing the symptoms of the disease: involuntary movements, changes in behavior and dementia, among others. Although there are several promising studies, there is currently no cure for HD. There are only palliative treatments of symptoms, and Huntington's patients die about 15 years after the symptoms onset.

Unlike other neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer or Parkinson), only a single gene is responsible for HD (i.e. the disorders is monogenic), and a therapy based on the inhibition of the gene, will open new perspectives of research for the development of a treatment.

A recently developed tool by scientists around the world is based on the modification of proteins that are found naturally in all living beings. These proteins are called Zinc Finger proteins, and can recognize and bind to specific DNA sequences. This enables the regulation of those genes to which they are attached.

A study conducted by researchers of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona provides positive results reducing the chromosomal expression of the mutant gene, which would prevent the development of disease. The research is published in Early Edition by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"We designed specific ZFP that recognize and specifically bind to more than 35 repetitions of CAG triplet, preventing the expression of the gene containing these repeats and reducing the production of the mutant Huntingtin protein. When applying this treatment to a transgenic mouse model carrying the human mutant Huntingtin gene, we observed a delayed onset of the symptoms, "says Mireia Garriga-Canut, first author of the study and researcher at the Gene Network Engineering group at the CRG. Another co-author of the study, Carmen Agustn Pavn, adds that "the next step is to optimize the design for an effective and durable treatment for patients. This would pave the way to find a therapy for Huntington's disease".

The research was funded by the FP7 program of the European Commission and the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain.

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Zinc fingers: A new tool in the fight against Huntington's disease

MIT biological engineers created new genetic circuits using genes found in Salmonella (seen here) and other bacteria. Credit: NIH

Using genes as interchangeable parts, synthetic biologists design cellular circuits that can perform new functions, such as sensing environmental conditions. However, the complexity that can be achieved in such circuits has been limited by a critical bottleneck: the difficulty in assembling genetic components that don't interfere with each other.

Unlike electronic circuits on a silicon chip, biological circuits inside a cell cannot be physically isolated from one another. "The cell is sort of a burrito. It has everything mixed together," says Christopher Voigt, an associate professor of biological engineering at MIT.

Because all the cellular machinery for reading genes and synthesizing proteins is jumbled together, researchers have to be careful that proteins that control one part of their synthetic circuit don't hinder other parts of the circuit.

Voigt and his students have now developed circuit components that don't interfere with one another, allowing them to produce the most complex synthetic circuit ever built. The circuit, described in the Oct. 7 issue of Nature, integrates four sensors for different molecules. Such circuits could be used in cells to precisely monitor their environments and respond appropriately.

"It's incredibly complex, stitching together all these pieces," says Voigt, who is co-director of the Synthetic Biology Center at MIT. Larger circuits would require computer programs that Voigt and his students are now developing, which should allow them to combine hundreds of circuits in new and useful ways.

Expanding the possibilities

Previously, Voigt has designed bacteria that can respond to light and capture photographic images, and others that can detect low oxygen levels and high cell densityboth conditions often found in tumors. However, no matter the end result, most of his projects, and those of other synthetic biologists, use a small handful of known genetic parts. "We were just repackaging the same circuits over and over again," Voigt says.

To expand the number of possible circuits, the researchers needed components that would not interfere with each other. They started out by studying the bacterium that causes salmonella, which has a cellular pathway that controls the injection of proteins into human cells. "It's a very tightly regulated circuit, which is what makes it a good synthetic circuit," Voigt says.

The pathway consists of three components: an activator, a promoter and a chaperone. A promoter is a region of DNA where proteins bind to initiate transcription of a gene. An activator is one such protein. Some activators also require a chaperone protein before they can bind to DNA to initiate transcription.

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Researchers build most complex synthetic biology circuit yet

BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Delphi Genetics SA (Delphi) has announced today a broad licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, for the use of the StabyExpress technology, which allows high yield, cost effective protein expression without the use of antibiotics.

Under the agreement, Merck receives a non-exclusive license to use the StabyExpress technology for protein expression in research and product development. In exchange, Delphi is eligible to receive milestone payments associated with the development of Merck product candidates that utilize the StabyExpress technology, as well as royalties on sales of such products. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Cdric Szpirer PhD, Delphi Genetics Founder and CEO, explained: This is Delphi's first broad-based licensing agreement that covers potential use of the StabyExpress technology for protein based product in the areas of human and animal health.

Guy Hlin, CBO, added: This is the third licensing agreement that we have announced with a world leading healthcare company. The non-exclusive nature of this agreement enables us to consider similar collaborations with other strategic partners, including partners in other fields than biopharma production.

Delphi also has licensing agreements with Sanofi-Pasteur, announced in June 2009, and with GSK, announced in September 2010.

About StabyExpress

StabyExpress technology can be applied to any industrial protein production process that involves bacterial fermentation. Biopharmaceutical production represents a rapidly growing market and its share of the overall medication market today is estimated at 15%. Moreover, the technology is consistent with the recommendations of the FDA and the EMA with regard to the elimination of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in protein production processes for both human and veterinary uses. Currently, Antibiotic Resistance Genes are used as selection markers for the design of the majority of the genetic systems enabling protein production. The technology is also usable to produce DNA vaccines in order to avoid completely the use of antibiotics resistance genes from DNA cloning to DNA production.

About Delphi Genetics SA

Founded at the end of 2001, Delphi Genetics develops more effective products and technologies for genetic engineering and for protein expression in bacteria by using its unique expertise in the field of plasmid stabilisation systems. Delphi Genetics patented StabyExpress technology increases the recombinant protein production output without the use of antibiotics, which is the traditional approach. In January 2012, together with academic and Biotech key-players, Delphi Genetics announced its participation in a research project during the next 3 years for the development of DNA vaccines using the technology. Other research projects are under way to adapt the technology to mammalian cells and yeast.

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Delphi Genetics Grants Merck License for the Use of the StabyExpress™ System

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. & PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Trellis Bioscience LLC (Trellis) and Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. (OMT) today announced a new collaboration where the companies will join forces to generate human antibodies against therapeutic targets identified by Trellis and its partners using OMTs OmniRat platform. Trellis will apply its CellSpot antibody screening technology to libraries of OmniRat-generated B cells to discover high affinity, ultra rare antibodies with precisely defined specificity. Trellis will advance and partner each program and share the deal economics with OMT depending on the stage of development.

Stote Ellsworth, Trellis CEO and President, said: Trellis CellSpot platform has shown in four consecutive programs the unique ability to mine rare, best-in-class therapeutic antibodies directly from human blood. In addition to our native human approach, the collaboration with OMT will leverage Trellis powerful multiplexed screening in the context of antibody libraries generated with the OmniRat platform. This will allow Trellis to expand into new therapeutic areas and expand its commercial opportunities, particularly in the field of cancer.

Dr. Roland Buelow, OMT CEO and Founder, continued: "We are pleased to collaborate with Trellis to capture the synergies of our complementary antibody discovery technologies. This collaboration further illustrates OMTs ability to partner with a range of companies to produce human therapeutic antibodies.

About Trellis Bioscience LLC

Trellis is a venture funded therapeutic antibody company formed around a breakthrough, high throughput discovery platform capable of isolating ultra-rare therapeutic-grade antibodies directly from the blood of humans and other mammals, and from other antibody library sources including hybridomas. Trellis CellSpot technology has generated a robust pipeline of early-stage programs targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), influenza, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Streptococcus A (GAS) and cancer.

Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. naturally optimized human antibodies

Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. (OMT) is a leader in genetic engineering of animals for development of human therapeutic antibodies. OMT has developed OmniRat, the first fully human monoclonal antibody platform using transgenic rats. OmniRat is based on an improved understanding of B cell development and a novel approach to inactivation of endogenous antibody expression. These transgenic animals make antibodies as efficiently as wild type animals. OmniRat is a new and proprietary technology with unrestricted development options for fully human monoclonal antibodies for all targets and indications worldwide.

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Trellis and OMT Announce Therapeutic Antibody Discovery Collaboration

An interesting pair of news posts caught my eye this week, and theyre worth presenting for general discussion. First, VentureBeat has an interview with futurologist Ray Kurzweil, who made waves in 2005 with his book The Singularity Is Near. In it, Kurzweil posits that were approaching a point at which human intelligence will begin to evolve in ways we cannot predict.

The assumption is that our superintelligent computers (or brains) will allow us to effectively reinvent what being human means. In our present state, we are, by definition, incapable of understanding what human society would look like after such a shift.

Mrow

Meanwhile, Google is working to put its neural network technology to work on different sorts of problems. This past summer, the company taught its network how to recognize a cat by showing it YouTube videos. Specifically, it showed 16,000 processors enough cat videos that the network itself learned how to see cat without human intervention. Total visual accuracy, according to the initial paper, is about 16%. The announcement is about applying similar strategies to language processing and how computers can learn to understand the specifics of human speech.

Kurzweil, as you can see in the video at the bottom, is a persuasive speaker and Googles success with teaching a network to recognize cats really is impressive. Reading stories like these, however, I come away skeptical. Its not that I doubt the individual achievements, or that they can be improved, but focusing on specific achievements ignores the greater problem:We have no idea how to build a brain.

Kurzweil uses advances in scanning resolution and genetic engineering together as proof that at some point, well be able to either program cell structures to do the things we want far more effectively than we can currently, or that well simply be able to build mechanical analogs. On some scale, this is probably true. The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans has 302 neurons. We could build a neural network (or neural network analog) with 302 nodes fairly easily Googles neural node structure is far more complex than that.

Unfortunately, just having nodes isnt enough. The human brain has an estimated 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses. Different neurons are designed for different tasks and they respond to different stimuli. They respond to and release an incredibly complex series of neurotransmitters, the functions of which we dont entirely understand. Its not enough to say Yes, the brain is complex the brain is complex in ways that dwarf the best CPUs we can build, and it does its work while consuming an average of 20W.

Thats a monkey brain. Weve got more.

This is where Moores Law is typically trotted out, but its a wretchedly terrible comparison. Scientists have already demonstrated transistors as small as 10 atoms wide. Your average neuron is between 4 and 100 microns. If groups of transistors equals neural networks, brains would be no problem. Its not that simple. We dont know how to build synapse networks at anything like the appropriate densities. We dont even know if consciousness is an emergent property of sufficiently dense neural structures or not.

Self-driving cars (an example Kurzweil mentions) are a sophisticated application of refined models, meshed with sensor networks on the vehicle and additional positional data gathered from orbit. Theyre an example of how being able to gather more information and correlate that information more quickly allows us to create a better program but they arent smart. Our best neural networks are single-task predictors that gather information at a glacial pace compared to the brain.

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The vast gulf between current technology and theoretical singularity

ANATOLIA, 9,000BC - The rising sun advanced over the hills, engulfing the arid land in a blaze of warmth. Below the amber sky lay a patchwork of wheat fields, in which a scattering of stooped figures silently harvested their crops. Later, their harvest would be scrutinised, and only the largest grains selected for planting in the autumn. A revolution was occurring. For the first time in 3.6 billion years, life had subverted the evolutionary process and began to steer it not with natural selection, but artificial selection. Selection pressures became synonymous with the needs of the architects; the farmers. The technique led to a widespread transition from hunter-gathering to agriculture, a shift that would transform human culture and lay the foundations for the first civilisations. Moreover, in their efforts to permanently remodel the characteristics of a species, early farmers were pioneers of genetic modification. The modification of plants would later be followed by the domestication of animals, and perhaps eventually, human beings. From the promotion of eugenics to justify genocide in Nazi Germany, to the mass-produced and homogenous population of Aldous Huxley's dystopian future in the novel 'Brave New World', to 'Frankenfood', genetic engineering has amassed a reputation as a treacherous pursuit. However, a recent development appears to have slipped under the public radar: human pre-natal diagnosis. Screening foetal genomes to eliminate genetic 'defects' may lead to incremental changes in the human genetic reservoir, a permanent shift in our characteristics and eventually, self-domestication. The technique involves testing for diseases in a human embryo or foetus, and may be performed to determine if it will be aborted, or in high-risk pregnancies, to enable the provision of immediate medical treatment on delivery. Until recently, pre-natal screening required invasive procedures such as amniocentesis, in which the fluid from the sac surrounding the foetus, the amnion, is sampled and the DNA examined for genetic abnormalities. The procedure can only be performed after the 15th week of pregnancy, and carries a 1% risk of miscarriage and the possibility of complications. In the light of such limitations and risks, the technique hasn't gained widespread popularity. However, a research group based at the University of Washington in Seattle has developed an alternative. Their simple test can be performed weeks earlier than current pre-natal screening, and crucially, requires only a maternal blood sample and DNA from both parents. The technique exploits the fragments of foetal DNA in the mother's blood plasma, which can be strung together by sequencing each nucleotide many times, and then differentiated from maternal and paternal DNA by statistical comparison. It's quick, harmless, and may soon become widely available. Therein lies the problem. Such a tool is a powerful new route gleaning information about unborn offspring. The object of the exercise: to identify foetuses with the earmarks of genetic disease as candidates for abortion. Inevitably, the technique is vulnerable to abuse and will empower parents to discriminate the characteristics of their progeny pre-emptively, in a step towards 'designer babies'. Nevertheless, there is a more immediate concern. Screening for inheritable disorders requires knowledge of their genetic basis, which can be dangerously precarious. Some conditions, such as Down's syndrome; characterised by the presence of an extra chromosome, are glaringly obvious. Others have more subtle and complex genetic origins. Just as the invention of vaccines to prevent infectious diseases was followed by attempts at total eradication, our efforts to eliminate genetic characteristics may have permanent consequences. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has already been singled out as a potential target for the screening technology. The disorder, which is characterised by difficulties in communication and social interaction, and repetitive or stereotyped behaviours and interests, has a strong but elusive genetic basis. Intriguingly, there has been much speculation that the genes involved in the development of ASD may be linked to mathematical and scientific ability. The theory has roots in the overlap between certain useful aptitudes in technical professions, and behaviour typical of ASD. An obsessive attention to detail, the ability to understand predictable rule- based systems, 'systemising', and a narrow range of interests, are traits characteristic of both groups. Professor Baron Cohen of the University of Cambridge is a strong proponent of the idea, and has suggested that scientist couples are more likely to have children with the disorder. It's a compelling idea with intuitive plausibility, but the evidence isn't there (yet). Until we know better, perhaps restraint is needed in eliminating these potentially important genes from our gene pool. There has been speculation that Einstein and Newton were 'on the spectrum'- what if we inadvertently 'cured' the future world of similar talent? Will our descendants be less than human? Another candidate for remedy with reproductive technology is schizophrenia. The disorder affects cognition, and can lead to chronic problems with emotional responsiveness. The 1% prevalence of schizophrenia makes it an apt target for prevention. However, the globally consistent and high incidence of this disease may be an indicator of its association with advantageous genetic characteristics. The 'social brain hypothesis', the main theory to explain the evolution of schizophrenia, suggests that the human brain evolved to select for genes associated with schizophrenia in a trade for higher order cognitive traits. These include language and the ability to interpret the thoughts and emotions of others. Schizophrenia is the cost that humans pay for being able to communicate, and as such, the genes responsible may be an essential component of the human gene pool. As with ASD, the elimination of the disease may have unintended consequences, and permanently alter the social dynamics within our species. This mechanism, termed a 'heterozygote advantage', can arise from the benefits of carrying different forms of a gene, as opposed to two of the same variant, or 'alleles'. The phenomenon has been proposed for a wide variety of genetic diseases; however usefulness is often dependent on environmental context. Because human lifestyles have diversified to such an extent from those of our ancestors, certain advantages may be outdated. The malaria protection conferred by carrying a single sickle-cell gene is hardly worth the risk of debilitating anaemia if you end up with two- especially in a modern world where anti-malarial medication is widely available. The systematic eradication of this disorder, and many others, will be a welcome and significant medical advancement. But caution is needed. Following a recent project to build a comprehensive map of the functional elements in the human genome, ENCODE, a function was assigned to 80% of our DNA sequence. However, our genomes are still poorly understood. Many sequences are multi-functional, and knowledge of mechanisms of gene expression is essential to any meaningful model. We urgently need a regulatory framework for the use of procedures such as pre-natal screening, and to exercise restraint in gene eradication. A detailed assessment and forecast of the long- term consequences is essential before a potentially corrosive procedure become entrenched in modern society. The alternative: we might just end up domesticating ourselves. DNA image: Altered from original by Sponk on Wikimedia Commons.

Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news. 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

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Warning: Genetically Modified Humans

Wu Feng, associate professor of computer science in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, will engage in Big Data research with promising advances for genomics. Credit: Virginia Tech

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced nearly $15 million in new big data fundamental research projects. These awards aim to develop new tools and methods to extract and use knowledge from collections of large data sets to accelerate progress in science and engineering research.

Among the awards is a $2 million grant to Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and Stanford University to develop high-performance computing techniques on massively parallel heterogeneous computing resources for large-scale data analytics.

Such heterogeneous computing resources include the NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) funded HokieSpeed supercomputing instrument with in-situ visualization. HokieSpeed was the highest-ranked commodity supercomputer in the U.S. on the Green500 when it debuted in November 2011.

Specifically, the three-university team intends to develop techniques that would enable researchers to innovatively leverage high-performance computing to analyze the data deluge of high-throughput DNA sequencing, also known as next generation sequencing (NGS).

The research will be conducted in the context of grand challenge problems in human genetics and metagenomics or the study of metagenomes, the genetic material received directly from environmental samples.

On this grant, working together are Srinivas Aluru, a chaired professor of computer engineering at Iowa State University and principal investigator; Patrick S. Schnable, a chaired professor of agronomy, also at Iowa State; Oyekunle A. Olukotun, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University; and Wu Feng, http://www.cs.vt.edu/user/feng who holds the Turner Fellowship and who is an associate professor of computer science at Virginia Tech. Olukotun and Feng are co-principal investigators.

In previous research Aluru has advanced the assembly of plant genomes, comparative genomics, deep-sequencing data analysis, and parallel bioinformatics methods and tools. Aluru and Schnable previously worked together on generating a reference genome for the complex stalk of corn genome that will help speed efforts to develop better crop varieties.

Feng's relevant prior work lies at the synergistic intersection of life sciences and high-performance computing, particularly in the context of big data. For example, in 2007, Feng and his colleagues created an ad-hoc environment called ParaMEDIC, short for Parallel Metadata Environment for Distributed I/O and Computing, to conduct a massive sequence search over a distributed ephemeral supercomputer that enabled bioinformaticists to "identify missing genes in genomes."

Feng said, "With apologies to the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, one can view ParaMEDIC as WonkaVision for Scientific Data a way to intelligently teleport data using semantic-based cues. "

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Virginia Tech to tackle the 'Big Data' challenges of next-generation sequencing with HokieSpeed

Got milk allergies? Then New Zealand may have a Franken-cow thats right for you!

Researchers at the University of Waikato say they have come up with a way to tinker with bovine DNA and engineer cows to produce hypoallergenic milk, according to ABC News.

The scientists essentially selected for genes that would cause the cows to make less BLG, a protein in cow milk that 23 percent of the general population is allergic to.

Milk allergies are, of course, far more serious than your garden-variety lactose intolerance. For those who are allergic to milk, reactions can range from hives to difficulty breathing, vomiting and diarrhea. (Milk allergies mostly affect young children, who typically outgrow them by age 3.)

MORE: 18 Companies That Oppose GMO Food Labeling

Dont expect hypoallergenic milk to appear in your local dairy aisle anytime soon, however. Stateside critics of the Kiwis work point out that while the GMO cows did produce far less BLG, thats probably not even the protein that causes milk allergy sufferers the most trouble in the first place.

Casein, actually, is the major milk protein that we believe causes most of the severe milk allergies, Dr. Scott Sicherer, a professor and researcher at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, tells ABC.

And, in fact, as BLG levels dropped in the cows milk, levels of casein actually rose.

Of course, the mutant Kiwi cows are only the latest headline-maker in the controversial scientific quest to genetically engineer better cows and frankly, theyre not even the creepiest.

That dubious honor probably goes to Chinese researchers, who last year announced they had created a mutant herd of 300 dairy cows capable of producing human milk. (Air quotes abound in trying to write about genetic engineering.)

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Can Genetically Modified Cows Produce Allergy-Free Milk?