Daily Archives: March 11, 2017

Preview: MedX Future of Healthcare conference – The Mancunion

Posted: March 11, 2017 at 8:19 am

Photo: ReThinkX

The MedX Future of Healthcare conference will be held on 25th March at Citylabs 1.0, ran by ReThinkX, which aims to bridge the gap between the next generation and leaders of the field and to create an accessible medium to showcase the technology at the forefront of healthcare.

Tariq Ramtoola, Director of ReThinkX, says: We will have speaker panels running in the same time as workshops in order for people to feel more free to choose what mood they are in: listening to innovative speakers, be more hands on, be enthusiastic and debate, or even just relax in the chill-out area. There will be something for everybody!

We think traditional conferences are too rigid and set the agenda for attendees, says Ramtoola on the format of the conference.

Keynotes on the day include Hugo Mercier, CEO & co-founder of Rythm, a neurotechnology company that has made the first active wearable headband to help improve sleep. The Dreem headband is due to be available to consumers soon.

Also speaking is Dr Pablo Rojo, a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist from Madrid. Previously Dr Rojo is part of the EPIICAL project, which aims to provide new therapeutics to early treated HIV-infected children, and has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in his career.

Unlike other events of its kind, the MedX conference is free for students, but limited priced tickets are available for academics and professionals in the healthcare field. Explaining this decision, Ramtoola says that ReThinkX wanted to put great emphasis on accessibility.

Workshops will also be held throughout the day, including one by GMC which will challenge the ethical implications of social media and a digital world, led by Tista Chakravarty-Gannon, GMCs Principal Regional Liaison Advisor.

Bella Eacott, Research and Curriculum Manager at Clod Ensemble, and Suzy Wilson, Director of Performing Medicine, an education programme led by a theatre company will be holding a Circle of Care workshop, looking at art based methods in healthcare education.

In the future, ReThinkX hope to grow the conference so that it spans two days with 500 to 1000 delegates.

We are working with Manchester entrepreneurs, Manchester Science Partnerships and the North-West Biotech Initiative to create an entrepreneurship academy focused on small scale innovation, Ramtoola says.

Tickets are available here.

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Preview: MedX Future of Healthcare conference - The Mancunion

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2017 ICC To Host El Clasico Miami Between Real Madrid CF And FC Barcelona – MiamiDolphins

Posted: at 8:18 am

MIAMI (March 10, 2017) Relevent Sports announced today that defending La Liga champion FC Barcelona and defending UEFA Champions League winner Real Madrid C.F. will meet on July 29, 2017 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., as part of the 2017 International Champions Cup presented by Heineken.

El Clsico Miami will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 7:30PM ET. VIP travel and ticket packages are available now via the official hotel, Fontainebleau Miami Beach, at http://www.fontainebleau.com/elclasico. Exclusive presale tickets to the matchup will be available beginningFriday, March 17 at 10AM ETwith general public on sale beginningMonday, March 20 at 10AM ET at http://www.internationalchampionscup.com.

The International Champions Cup was launched by Stephen Ross and Matt Higgins in 2013 with the creation of Relevent Sports, led by Charlie Stillitano and Jon Sheiman. El Clsico Miami will mark the first-ever match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F. to take place in North America. Hailed as one of sport's all-time greatest rivalries, the current rosters for each club feature some of the best players in the world. Real Madrid C.F. is anchored by recently crowned FIFA Mens Player of the Year and Ballon DOr winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, alongside Welsh superstar Gareth Bale, while perennial world-class Argentinean national, Lionel Messi, and famed Brazilian Neymar lead FC Barcelona.

I am thrilled to bring the International Champions Cup back to the city of Miami, said Stephen Ross, RSE Ventures chairman and co-founder and Miami Dolphins owner. The opportunity to showcase two of the most storied clubs in the history of the sport is why we created this tournament. That it will take place at Hard Rock Stadium is a testament to the recent transformation of this venue into a global entertainment destination.

Real Madrid C.F. and FC Barcelona both return to the ICC with the goal of adding another title to their already world-class resumes. Real Madrid C.F. will be making a record fifth appearance in the ICC, having played in every year of the tournaments history. Real Madrid C.F. returns to Miami for a second time as part of the ICC after defeating Chelsea F.C. to win the inaugural tournament in 2013 in front of a crowd of 67,273 attendees, one of the largest for a soccer match in the venues history. They also were crowned champions of the first-ever ICC China and ICC Australia which took place in 2015.

FC Barcelona makes its third appearance in the ICC after appearing in both the 2015 and 2016 tournaments. Their 2016 tournament included two wins and a finale highlighted by the second largest crowd in Wembley Stadium history (89,845) to watch them take on Liverpool F.C.

El Clsico Miami will be held at the newly renovated Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., the first soccer event to take place since the stadiums latest renovations. Hard Rock Stadium returns as a venue for the ICC after hosting the championship match in each of the first two years of the tournament. The renovations to Hard Rock Stadium have made it possible to host the highest caliber of soccer competition while serving as the home of the Miami Dolphins. The venue also serves as home to the University of Miami football team, Orange Bowl, Super Bowl LIV, the College Football Playoff Semifinals and a host of world class events. Hard Rock Stadium will host an additional match on Wednesday, July 26 as part of the 2017 International Champions Cup presented by Heineken. Further details will be announced on March 21.

As part of this momentous event, the ICC and El Clsico Miami management team will develop a program of exciting events leading up to the match including concerts, brand activations, team pep rallies, art activations, and more which will be hosted in and around Hard Rock Stadium as part of an immersive experience site that will be available to fans from Tuesday to Sunday. Additionally, El Clsico Miami week will provide an opportunity for fans to experience the culture of Miami by creating events around Miami Beach, Wynwood and Bayfront Park. The week will be filled with concerts, beach parties and art activations that create a spectacle of events around the match.

Heineken is the presenting sponsor for the 2017 International Champions Cup. For the second consecutive year, all matches for the International Champions Cup will be carried on ESPN networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and streaming network ESPN3, accessible through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.

As one of the premier supporters of soccer both globally, and in the U.S., our partnership with the International Champions Cup continues our goal to bring U.S. fans closer to the beautiful game, said Ralph Rijks, senior vice president at HEINEKEN USA. Soccers growth is unparalleled in the States, and its rise to prominence is worth raising a glass to. Were excited to further our reach both on and off the pitch, while putting Heineken front and center of this historic match-up in Miami."

Since launching in 2013, the ICC has hosted matchups at some of the most renowned venues across the world including Michigan Stadium, the Rose Bowl, Yankee Stadium, Stamford Bridge, Melbourne Cricket Ground and Wembley Stadium. The ICC has featured teams from the worlds most renowned soccer leagues including the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and German Bundesliga.

In 2015, the ICC expanded to include tournaments in both Australia and China. It has featured matches in Melbourne, Beijing, and Shanghai over the past two years. Overall, the ICC has hosted matches in more than 30 cities, 11 countries and four continents.

The International Champions Cup presented by Heineken is proud to host El Clsico Miami and other matches of this caliber for a fifth consecutive year, offering a level of skill and competition previously unseen in the United States. Relevent Sports will reveal the entire lineup of world-class teams, venues and matchups for the 2017 tournament at a national launch event in New York City on Tuesday, March 21.

Fans can follow the ICC on social media at @intchampionscup for exclusive content and announcements, and join the conversation using #ElClasicoMiami and #2017ICC. Fans can sign up for up news, updates and ticket information at http://www.internationalchampionscup.com.

# # #

Founded in 1899, FC Barcelona is one of the most iconic soccer clubs in the world. With some of the greatest players in soccer history, FC Barcelona has won 24 league titles, 28 Copa Del Rey titles and five UEFA Champions League titles. In 2009, FC Barcelona performed the extraordinary feat of winning all six major trophies they were competing for, winning La Liga, Copa Del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Between 2008 and 2012, FC Barcelona won two Champions League trophies, three league titles and a World Club Cup title. The Spanish club added to their already illustrious trophy cabinet by winning the ever-elusive treble during the 2014-2015 season; winning La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the crown jewel of European football - The Champions League. The current FC Barcelona squad includes global soccer superstars Lionel Messi, Luis Surez, Andrs Iniesta, Ivan Rakiti and Neymar. For more information on FC Barcelona, please visit http://www.fcbarcelona.com.

Founded in 1902, Real Madrid C.F. hold the record for most European Cup/UEFA Champions League championships in any clubs history - a staggering total of 11 titles, its most recent arriving in the 2015-2016 season. In addition, the Royal Whites have won a record 32 La Liga titles, while winning the domestic cup 19 times. Los Blancos currently field a roster featuring some of the best players in the world including Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France) as well as home-grown Spanish talent like Isco and captain Sergio Ramos. Led by former Real Madrid C.F. midfielder, French footballing legend and current manager Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid C.F. returns to the International Champions Cup for the fifth consecutive year, having won each of the inaugural tournaments to take place in the United States and China. For more information on Real Madrid C.F., please visit http://www.realmadrid.com.

# # #

About Relevent Sports

Relevent Sports provides an innovative approach to building a soccer presence in the United States and around the globe. Relevent Sports showcases the best matchups and tournaments in soccer featuring the top clubs, international teams and players. In addition to hosting the International Champions Cup annually every summer, Relevent Sports works closely with national teams including Brazil, Argentina and Portugal to host exhibition matches in major sports venues throughout the year. Utilizing brand development, grassroots planning, corporate sponsors, international touring and philanthropic initiatives, Relevent Sports promotes and grows the love of soccer worldwide.

About the International Champions Cup Presented by Heineken

The International Champions Cup is the worlds premier summer soccer tournament organized by Relevent Sports, featuring the best clubs from around the world. A staple property of Relevent Sports and RSE Ventures, the International Champions Cup works with leading sponsors such as Heineken, Nike, Visit Orlando, and Ally, among others, to bring the best in soccer to iconic sports venues across North America, Europe and China.

The International Champions Cup has hosted some of the most iconic matchups in the world, including the two most attended soccer matches in U.S. history. First came when 109,318 fans saw Real Madrid and Manchester United play in Michigan Stadium at the University of Michigan. Real Madrid returned to the Big House to take on Chelsea in front of 105,826 fans, second all-time, as part of the 2016 tournament. The International Champions Cup has also hosted the most attended soccer matches in Minnesota (64,101 at U.S. Bank Stadium) and Ohio (86,641 at Ohio Stadium) state history. In its four-year history, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain have all won installments of the tournament.

About RSE Ventures

Founded in 2012 by Stephen M. Ross and Matt Higgins, RSE Ventures is a multi-national sports and entertainment venture firm with a focus on new technologies. RSE builds, owns and operates companies in sports, media, entertainment and technology, including Catalyst Media Group, VaynerMedia, Vayner/RSE, Relevent Sports, Ascendent Sports Group and the International Champions Cup.

About HEINEKEN USA

HEINEKEN USA Inc., the nation's leading upscale beer importer, is a subsidiary of HEINEKEN International NV, the world's most international brewer. European brands imported into the U.S. include Heineken, the world's most international beer brand, Strongbow Hard Apple Ciders, Amstel Light, and Newcastle Brown Ale. HEINEKEN USA also imports the Dos Equis Franchise, Tecate Franchise, Sol, Indio, Carta Blanca and Bohemia brands from Mexico. For the latest information on our company and brands, follow us on Twitter @HeinekenUSACorp, or visit HEINEKENUSA.com.

About Hard Rock Stadium

Hard Rock Stadium is a global entertainment destination that serves as home to the Miami Dolphins, University of Miami football team, Orange Bowl, Super Bowl LIV and the 100th anniversary of the NFL, College Football Playoff Semifinals, major concerts, international soccer and a host of world-class events. The facility is in the midst of Phase III of a $500 million, multi-year renovation privately funded by Owner Stephen Ross.

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2017 ICC To Host El Clasico Miami Between Real Madrid CF And FC Barcelona - MiamiDolphins

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Today Analysts Focus on CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF), Rowan Companies plc (RDC) – StockNewsJournal

Posted: at 8:18 am

Today Analysts Focus on CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF), Rowan Companies plc (RDC)
StockNewsJournal
Investors who are keeping close eye on the stock of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) established that the company was able to keep return on investment at -1.41 in the trailing twelve month while Reuters data showed that industry's average stands ...

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Today Analysts Focus on CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF), Rowan Companies plc (RDC) - StockNewsJournal

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Looking at the Tea Leaves for CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF) – The USA Commerce

Posted: at 8:18 am

Looking at the Tea Leaves for CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF)
The USA Commerce
We have gathered the technical data on CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF), and see some interesting trends in the stock's behavior of late. In the end, it's all about what a stock does that matters. In the case of this particular stock, the chart tells ...

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Eugenics was a progressive cause – MyDaytonDailyNews

Posted: at 8:17 am

WASHINGTON The progressive mob that disrupted Charles Murrays appearance last week at Middlebury College was protesting a 1994 book read by few if any of the protesters. Some of them denounced eugenics, thereby demonstrating an interesting ignorance: Eugenics controlled breeding to improve the heritable traits of human beings was a progressive cause.

In The Bell Curve, Murray, a social scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, and his co-author, Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein, found worrisome evidence that American society was becoming cognitively stratified, with an increasingly affluent cognitive elite and a deteriorating quality of life for people at the bottom end of the cognitive ability distribution. They examined the consensus that, controlling for socioeconomic status and possible IQ test bias, cognitive ability is somewhat heritable, that the black/white differential had narrowed, and that millions of blacks have higher IQs than millions of whites. The authors were resolutely agnostic concerning the roles of genes and the social environment. They said that even if there developed unequivocal evidence that genetics are part of the story, there would be no reason to treat individuals differently or to permit government regulation of procreation.

Middleburys mob was probably as ignorant of this as of the following: Between 1875 and 1925, when eugenics had many advocates, not all advocates were progressives but advocates were disproportionately progressives because eugenics coincided with progressivisms premises and agenda.

Progressives rejected the Founders natural rights doctrine and conception of freedom. Progressives said freedom is not the natural capacity of individuals whose rights pre-exist government. Rather, freedom is something achieved, at different rates and to different degrees, by different races. Racialism was then seeking scientific validation, and Darwinian science had given rise to social Darwinism belief in the ascendance of the fittest in the ranking of races.

Progressivisms concept of freedom as something merely latent, and not equally latent, in human beings dictated rethinking the purpose and scope of government.

Economist Richard T. Ely, a founder of the American Economic Association and whose students at Johns Hopkins included Woodrow Wilson, said God works through the state, which must be stern and not squeamish. Charles Van Hise, president of the University of Wisconsin, epicenter of intellectual progressivism, said: We know enough about eugenics so that if that knowledge were applied, the defective classes would disappear within a generation.

In 1907, Indiana became the first of more than 30 states to enact forcible sterilization laws. In 1911, now-Gov. Wilson signed New Jerseys, which applied to the hopelessly defective and criminal classes. In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Virginias law, with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes saying that in affirming the law requiring the sterilization of imbeciles he was getting near to the first principle of real reform.

Progressives derided the Founders as unscientific for deriving natural rights from what progressives considered the fiction of a fixed human nature. But they asserted that races had fixed and importantly different natures calling for different social policies. Progressives resolved this contradiction when, like most Americans, they eschewed racialism the belief that the races are tidily distinct, each created independent of all others, each with fixed traits and capacities. Middleburys turbulent progressives should read Leonards book. After they have read Murrays.

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Eugenics was a progressive cause - MyDaytonDailyNews

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HR 1313: part of the trend of eugenics – Patheos (blog)

Posted: at 8:17 am

Advocates for the rights of the disabled have already expressed concern about the direction taken by the Trump administration. Trump famously mocked a disabled reporter during the election, but this was not surprising to anyone familiar with both his bullying tactics and his tradition of promoting ideas that smack of eugenics:

Trumps father instilled in him the idea that their familys success was genetic, according to Trump biographer Michael DAntonio.

The family subscribes to a racehorse theory of human development, DAntonio says in the documentary. They believe that there are superior people and that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get a superior offspring.

The Huffington Post dug back through the archives and found numerous examples of Trump suggesting that intellect and success are purely genetic qualities and that having the right genesgave him his very good brain.

The page about people with disabilities has been removed from the White House website. We have a Secretary of Education who had never even heard of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, prior to her appointment, and an Attorney General who actively opposes it. Now, with the rolling-back of Medicaid expansion, we seethe likelihood that disabled and autistic children will be left without coverage. In short, thisregime is primed to move in the dangerous direction of creating an illusion of wealth and prosperity by weeding out the undesirables (immigrants, the poor, the disabled).

And now a new bill, HR 1313, has been proposed, which would allow employers to require genetic testing of its employees, and give them the right to access employees health and genetic records. This bill is unequivocally opposed by the American Society of Human Genetics:

If enacted, this bill would fundamentally undermine the privacy provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

We urge the Committee not to move forward with consideration of this bill, said ASHG president Nancy J. Cox, PhD. As longtime advocates of genetic privacy, we instead encourage the Committee to pursue ways to foster workplace wellness and employee health without infringing upon the civil rights afforded by ADA and GINA.

A key component of ADA and GINA is that they prevent workers and their families from being coerced into sharing sensitive medical or genetic information with their employer. For GINA, genetic information encompasses not only employees genetic test results but also their family medical histories. H.R.1313 would effectively repeal these protections by allowing employers to ask employees invasive questions about their and their families health, including genetic tests they, their spouses, and their children may have undergone. GINAs requirement that employees genetic information collected through a workplace wellness program only be shared with health care professionals would no longer apply.

The bill would also allow employers to impose financial penalties of up to 30 percent of the total cost the employees health insurance on employees who choose to keep such information private. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage in 2016 was $18,142. Thus, for such a plan, a wellness program could charge employees an extra $5,443 in annual premiums if they choose not to share their genetic and health information.

Recently I had genetic testing done, of my own volition, because of my familys history of breast cancer, associated with a gene mutation common in those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. The conversations surrounding the decision to have testing done were fascinating, because questions about ancestry, genetics, and inherited traits lead one to conversations about the racial prejudice. Being Jewish means many wonderful things, but unfortunately it means being more at risk for carrying a killer gene, and this is exactly the sort of thing that anti-semitic eugenicists love to jump on. Among the semi-educated, the talk can slip from ancestry to ancestral curses, and all the vile reasons racists have concocted, to justify their hatred and oppression of the Jews.

Luckily, I tested negative for the gene. But what if I hadnt? What if, a few years from now, I suddenly found myself denied health coverage because of this curse? If this bill passes, how many women (and men) who carry the breast cancer gene are going to find themselves unable to procure health care? And would people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent or other genetically at-risk demographics be especially targeted for mandatory testing?

This is untenable from a pro-life standpoint. This is part of a larger plan which is driven, not by humanitarian motives or by any acceptable ethic, but by an insidious movement to remove support from the most vulnerable, for the sake of the evil dream of eugenics.

image credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Eugenics_congress_logo.png

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HR 1313: part of the trend of eugenics - Patheos (blog)

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Police warn of criminals cloning credit cards using stolen information … – ABC Action News

Posted: at 8:17 am

We all know our credit card information is under constant attack, but according to law enforcement, more criminals are using that information to make physical, fraudulent credit cards.

"The criminals who have bee doing this for a while, it's actually really easy," Detective Tim White, with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Economic Crime Division, said. They're able to buy the different mechanisms to make the cards and to re-code the mag-strip that's on the back of the card."

Law enforcement just arrested 34-year-old Joandy Jimenez of Miami with 20 counterfeit cards at a gas station on Gunn Highway. He was using the cards to fill an illegal bladder with as much gasoline as he could.

According to White, the criminals can re-code old credit cards or prepaid debit cards. Some criminals have the ability to print brand new cards.

"They may even print a fake number on the front of it," he said.

White says some clerks are checking to see if numbers match after the card is swiped and new chip technology is making counterfeiting more difficult.

He says the most popular ways for criminals to get your information is through unsecured wifi connections, unprotected websites and skimmers at gas stations and ATMs.

He said the best way to keep from becoming a victim is to check your credit card and bank activity daily.

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Police warn of criminals cloning credit cards using stolen information ... - ABC Action News

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Hard drive imaging vs. cloning: What’s the difference? – Windows Central

Posted: at 8:17 am


Windows Central
Hard drive imaging vs. cloning: What's the difference?
Windows Central
Before you perform either process on your PC, it's good to know exactly what imaging and cloning are. They both involve creating a backup of your hard drive, but there are significant differences that make them suitable for different situations ...

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Hard drive imaging vs. cloning: What's the difference? - Windows Central

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Synthetic Yeast Chromosomes Help Probe Mysteries of Evolution – Scientific American

Posted: at 8:16 am

Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould once pondered what would happen if the cassette tape of life were rewound and played again. Synthetic biologists have tested one aspect of this notion by engineering chromosomes from scratch, sticking them into yeast and seeing whether the modified organisms can still function normally.

They do, according to seven papers published today inSciencethat describe the creation, testing and refining of five redesigned yeast chromosomes. Together witha sixth previously synthesized chromosome, they represent more than one-third of the genome of the bakers yeastSaccharomycescerevisiae.An international consortium of more than 200 researchers that created the chromosomes expects to complete a fully synthetic yeast genome by the end of the year.

The work the team has already done could help to optimizethe creation of microbes to pump out alcohol, drugs, fragrances and fuel. And it serves as a guide for future research on how genomes evolve and function.

The amazing thing here is that they are figuring out how to tweak the genomenot just synthesize itthrough a design-build-test-learn cycle, says Jack Newman, co-founder of Amyris Biotechnologies in Emeryville, California. The approach is similar to one that computer scientists might take when trying to understand a computer code written a decade ago, he adds, although the task is much harder with genomes that have undergone millions of years of evolution. Yeast originated more than 50 million years ago, when theSaccharomyceslineage branched off from other fungi.

In 2010, geneticist Craig Venter and his team revealedthe first synthetic genome, a stripped-down version of the genetic code from a bacterial parasite,Mycoplasma mycoides. Four years later, a team led by Jef Boeke, a yeast geneticist at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, synthesizeda chromosome from yeast, a more complex organism that is classified as a eukaryotea group that also includes plants, worms and people.

Venters goal was to realizethe smallest genome needed to sustain life, but Boeke sought to explore fundamental questions about evolution, such as whether yeasts could have evolved through alternate routes. He turned the query into a hypothesis testable with synthetic biology: how much can you change a genome and still have a working organism?

To look for an answer, Boeke assigned each ofS. cerevisiaes 16 chromosomes to teams of collaborators, spread across the United States, United Kingdom, China, Singapore and Australia. Each was to create a chromosome that was stable yet evolvable, and would keep yeast functioning as usual.

The teams used computer programs to design the codes of their respective chromosomes. They omitted some sequences found in naturally occurring yeast chromosomes, such as repetitive parts of the genome, in hopes of increasing the stability of the synthetic versions. And they endowed their creations with a mechanism that mimics the random variation that drives evolution. When this scrambling system is triggered, it can shuffle, duplicate and delete genes at random.

A team led by researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris documented dramatic structural changes in the nucleus of the synthetic yeasteven as it continued to thrive, making proteins and reproducing. It seems like we can really kind of torture the genome in complicated ways and frequently the yeast shrugs its shoulders and grows like normal, Boeke says.

Some teams in the consortium invented techniques to rapidly identify errors in synthetic chromosomes. Another group, led researchers at Tianjin University in China, optimized techniques to remove bugs in the genetic sequences of the chromosomes, in one instance by using the gene-editing tool CRISPRCas9.

Considering that they synthesized 536,024 base pairs in that chromosome and only used CRISPR to mess around with 45 of them is kind of refreshing, says George Church, a geneticist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It makes you feel like maybe this is the next big thing.

Genome synthesis is unlikely to displace tools such as CRISPR, which allow scientists to add or subtract a limited number of genes in an organism, he says. But it may become the favoured method for applications that require complicated genetic changes. This includes engineering yeast and other microbes to produce fragrances and other materials; manufacturers that rely on such microbes could use synthetic genomes to make those organisms more resilient to harmful viruses, for example.

If you took those [microbe] strains offline and reprogrammed their code, then put them back in, the viruses would be so far out of touch they couldnt come back, Church says. It would be like going back to the Middle Ages and giving one country hydrogen bombs.

Several groups have launched efforts to synthesize genomes from species such as the bacteriumEscherichia coliand from people. Boeke is confident that his consortium will create a fully synthetic yeast genome by the years end. The team has already created several additional chromosomes, and is debugging and testing them.

The groups latest results will encourage others to dream big, Church says: Theyve been able to induce radical changes in the code, so it emboldens you to be even more radical.

This article is reproduced with permission and wasfirst publishedon March 9, 2017.

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Synthetic Yeast Chromosomes Help Probe Mysteries of Evolution - Scientific American

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Inertia Slows Evolution For Open Scientists – Intellectual Property Watch

Posted: at 8:16 am

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch

It is still a long way to a new generation of open scientists, German open data researcher Christian Heise found out in his just-published PhD thesis. Heise not only investigated drivers and barriers for what he expects to be an evolution from open access to open science by theory and a survey of over 1100 scientists. He tried the concept open science the hard way, opening up the writing of his thesis paper on the net.

About the first open PhD thesis, see here.

Interested fellow researchers, friends and family were able to see how the research developed and the text grew. To explore this, Heise had to get a special permission from the university, Leuphana University in Lueneburg, Germany, because a PhD thesis usually has to fulfil certain criteria with regard to recency and originality. It took close to a year to solve the legal issues alone.

Heise had made sure that the work would be his own. Direct comments on the PhD thesis blog were not possible which in some way made additional innovative steps like collaboration directly on the text impossible. Challenges he faced during the process, according to his resume, were also technical as there was a lack of tools for handling evolving versions of such a large text, plus additional material like survey data and literature research. In the end, Heise changed to GitHub, a tool well-known by open source developers.

Additional qualifications (programming) and a bigger work-load made two of the barriers on the way towards becoming an open scientist. But Heise also stated that while a majority of scientists favor open access and faster time to market/public for their research, the scientific communication system had remained highly stable.

It was not only the big publishing houses pushing to keep their business models, but also a certain level of inertia in the scientific community that is causing the persistence.

A process to negotiate next steps in the development of open science following earlier processes on open access (see here and here) is needed, he said.

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Inertia Slows Evolution For Open Scientists - Intellectual Property Watch

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