Monthly Archives: January 2021

Anniversaries are opportune times to look back at struggles and triumphs, and also to look forward to, well, more struggles and triumphs. The important thing is to stay in the game. And here at GEN, weve been in the game for 40 years, for as long as the word biotechnology has been on peoples lips. To help us mark the occasion, weve invited industry-leading scientists to discuss subjects both enduring and timely. For example, biotech legend Leroy Hood, MD, PhD, draws on his experiences to offer sage advice about realizing scientific and practical breakthroughs. He insists on the value of thinking systemically, working collaboratively, and embracing change. We try, in our own modest way, to engage in these practices and to encourage them in others. Just look at any of our issuesbut especially the current issue, which not only includes articles on a range of exciting technologies, but also a thoughtful editorial contributed by GENs originator and publisher, Mary Ann Liebert. Besides looking back with pride on GENs contributions, she comments on current challenges and anticipates future achievements. GEN will continue, she writes, to identify what you need to know and whom you need to know about.

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GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News

2.08.1 Introduction to Genetic Engineering

With the discovery of DNA as the universal genetic material in 1944 [1] and the elucidation of its molecular structure approximately a decade later [2], the era of DNA science and technology had officially begun. However, it wasnt until the 1970s that researchers began manipulating DNA with the use of highly specific enzymes, such as restriction endonucleases and DNA ligases. The experiments in molecular biology conducted within Stanford University and the surrounding Bay Area in 1972 represent the earliest examples of recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering [3, 4]. Specifically, a team of molecular biologists were able to artificially construct a bacterial plasmid DNA molecule by splicing and combining fragments from two naturally occurring plasmids of distinct origin. The resulting recombinant DNA was then introduced into a bacterial Escherichia coli host strain for replication and expression of the resident genes. This famous example represents the first use of recombinant DNA technology to generate a genetically modified organism.

In general, genetic engineering (Figure 1) refers to all the techniques used to artificially modify an organism in order to produce a desired substance (such as an enzyme or a metabolite) that is not naturally produced by the organism, or to enhance a preexisting cellular process. As a first step, the desired DNA segment or gene is isolated from a source organism by extracting and purifying the total cellular DNA. The DNA is then manipulated using numerous laboratory techniques and inserted into a genetic carrier molecule in order to be delivered to the host strain. The means of gene delivery is dependent upon the type of organism involved and can be classified into viral and nonviral methods. Transformation (nonviral, for bacteria and lower eukaryotes), transfection (viral and nonviral, for eukaryotes), transduction (viral, for bacteria), and conjugation (cell-to-cell, for bacteria) are all commonly used methods for gene delivery and DNA transfer. Because no method of gene delivery is capable of transforming every cell within a population, the ability to distinguish recombinant cells from nonrecombinants constitutes a crucial aspect of genetic engineering. This step frequently involves the use of observable phenotypic differences between recombinant and nonrecombinant cells. In rare instances where no selection of recombinants is available, laborious screening techniques are required to locate an extremely small subpopulation of recombinant cells within a substantially larger population of wild-type cells.

Figure 1. Basic genetic engineering process scheme including replication and expression of recombinant DNA according to the central dogma of molecular biology.

Although cells are composed of various biomolecules including carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins, DNA is the primary manipulation target for genetic engineering. According to the central dogma of molecular biology, DNA serves as a template for replication and gene expression, and therefore harnesses the genetic instructions required for the functioning of all living organisms. Through gene expression, coding segments of DNA are transcribed to form messenger RNAs, which are subsequently translated to form polypeptides or protein chains. Therefore, by manipulating DNA, we can potentially modify the structure, function, or activity of proteins and enzymes, which are the final products of gene expression. This concept forms the basis of many genetic engineering techniques such as recombinant protein production and protein engineering. Furthermore, virtually every cellular process is carried out and regulated by enzymes, including the reactions, pathways, and networks that constitute an organisms metabolism. Therefore, a cells metabolism can be deliberately altered modifying or even restructuring native metabolic pathways to lead to novel metabolic activities and capabilities, an application known as metabolic engineering. Such metabolic engineering approaches are often realized through DNA manipulation.

The first genetically engineered product approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for commercial manufacturing appeared in 1982 when a strain of E. coli was engineered to produce recombinant human insulin [5]. Prior to this milestone, insulin was obtained predominantly from slaughterhouse animals, typically porcine and bovine, or by extraction from human cadavers. Insulin has a relatively simple structure composed of two small polypeptide chains joined through two intermolecular disulfide bonds. Unfortunately, wild-type E. coli is incapable of performing many posttranslational protein modifications, including the disulfide linkages required to form active insulin. In order to overcome this limitation, early forms of synthetic insulin were manufactured by first producing the recombinant polypeptide chains in different strains of bacteria and linking them through a chemical oxidation reaction [5]. However, nearly all current forms of insulin are produced using yeast rather than bacteria due to the yeasts ability to secrete a nearly perfect replica of human insulin without requiring any chemical modifications. Following the success of recombinant human insulin, recombinant forms of other biopharmaceuticals began appearing on the market, such as human growth hormone in 1985 [6] and tissue plasminogen activator in 1987 [7], all of which are produced using the same genetic engineering concepts as applied to the production of recombinant insulin.

As a result of the sheer number of applications and immense potential associated with genetic engineering, exercising bioethics becomes necessary. Concerns pertaining to the unethical and unsafe use of genetic engineering quickly arose with the advent of gene cloning and recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s, predominantly owing to a general lack of understanding and experience regarding the new technology. The ability of scientists to interfere with nature and alter the genetic makeup of living organisms was the focal point of many concerns surrounding genetic engineering. Although it is widely assumed that the potential agricultural, medical, and industrial benefits afforded by genetic engineering greatly outweigh the inherent risks surrounding such a powerful technology, most of the moral and ethical concerns raised during the inception of genetic engineering are still actively expressed today. For this reason, all genetically modified products produced worldwide are subject to government inspection and approval prior to their commercialization. Regardless of the application in question, a great deal of responsibility and care must be exercised when working with genetically engineered organisms to ensure the safe handling, treatment, and disposal of all genetically modified products and organisms.

As the field of biotechnology relies heavily upon the application of genetic engineering, this article introduces both the fundamental and applied concepts with regard to current genetic engineering methods and techniques. Particular emphasis shall be placed upon the genetic modification of bacterial systems, especially those involving the most famous workhorse E. coli on account of its well-known genetics, rapid growth, and ease of manipulation.

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Genetic Engineering - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Exacis Biotherapeutics, Inc., a development-stageimmuno-oncology company working to harness the immune system to cure cancer,today announcedthe addition of Dirk Huebner,MD,as its Chief Medical Officer. Exacis launched in 2020 to develop next generation mRNA-based cellular therapeutics to treat liquid and solid tumors.

Exacis CEO Gregory Fiore MD said, "Dirk is a wonderful addition and a great fit for our management team. His extensive experience in oncology drug development, including antibody related therapies will be instrumental as we build our pipeline to include high performance stealth edited NK and T cells, with and without CARs (ExaNK, ExaCAR-NK and ExaCAR-T). We look forward to Dirk's insights and medical leadership as we build the company and advance our portfolio."

Dr. Huebner joins Exacis from Mersana Therapeutics where he wasthe Chief Medical Officer,oversaw their clinical developmentand helped build thecompany'sclinical infrastructure. Dr Huebnerhas worked in oncology and immuno-oncology drug development and academiafor more than 25 yearsand brings a deep understanding of the needs in the oncology space as well as the ability to successfully deliverproducts to meet those needs.

Commenting on the new role, Dr. Huebner said, "I am thrilled to join the Exacis team and work with best-in-class technology to create innovative, next-generation engineered NK and T cell therapies that have the potential to improve outcomes and treatment experiences for patients with challenging hematologic and solid tumor malignancies."

About Exacis Biotherapeutics

Exacis is a development stageimmuno-oncologycompany focused on harnessing the human immune system to cure cancer. Exacis uses its proprietary mRNA-based technologies to engineer next generation off-the-shelf NK and T cell therapies aimed at liquid and solid tumors.Exacis was founded in 2020 with an exclusive license to a broad suite of patents covering the use ofmRNA-based cell reprogramming and gene editing technologiesfor oncology.

ExaNK, ExaCAR-NK and ExaCAR-T utilize mRNA cell reprogramming and mRNA gene editing technologies developed and owned by Factor Bioscience. Exacis has an exclusive license to the Factor Bioscience technology for engineered NK and T cell products derived from iPSCs for use in oncology and holds all global development and commercial rights for these investigational candidates.

About T and Natural Killer (NK) Cell Therapies

T and NK cells are types of human immune cells that are ableto recognize and destroy cancer cells and can be modified through genetic engineering to target specific tumors.

SOURCE Exacis Biotherapeutics, Inc.

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Exacis Biotherapeutics Announces Key Addition To Its Executive Leadership Team With Dirk Huebner MD Joining As Chief Medical Officer - PRNewswire

Our genetic codes control not only which proteins our cells produce, but also to a great extent in what quantity. This ground-breaking discovery, applicable to all biological life, was recently made by systems biologists at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, using supercomputers and artificial intelligence. Their research, which could also shed new light on the mysteries of cancer, was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

DNA molecules contain instructions for cells for producing various proteins. This has been known since the middle of the last century when the double helix was identified as the information carrier of life.

But until now, the factor which determines what quantity of a certain protein will be produced has been unclear. Measurements have shown that a single cell can contain anything from a few molecules of a given protein, up to tens of thousands.

With this new research, our understanding of the mechanisms behind this process, known as gene expression, has taken a big step forward. The group of Chalmers scientists have shown that most of the information for quantity regulation is also embedded in the DNA code itself. They have demonstrated that this information can be read with the help of supercomputers and AI.

You could compare this to an orchestral score. The notes describe which pitches the different instruments should play. But the notes alone do not say much about how the music will sound, he explains.

Information for the tempo and dynamics of the music are also required, for example. But instead of written instructions such asallegroorfortein connection with the notation, the language of genetics spreads this information over large areas of the DNA molecule. Previously, we could read the notes, but not how the music should be played. Now we can do both, states Aleksej Zelezniak.

Another comparison could be that now we have found the grammar rules for the genetic language, where perhaps before we only knew the vocabulary.

What then is this grammar, which determines the quantity of gene expression? According to Aleksej Zelezniak, it takes the form of reoccurring patterns and combinations of the four notes of genetics the molecular building blocks designated A, C, G and T. These patterns and combinations are known as motifs.

The crucial factors are the relationships between these motifs how often they repeat and at exactly which positions in the DNA code they appear.

We discovered that this information is distributed over both the coding and non-coding parts of DNA meaning, it is also present in the areas that used to be referred to as junk DNA.

The researchers tested the method in seven different model organisms from yeast and bacteria to fruit flies, mice, and humans and found that the mechanism is the same. The discovery they have made is universal, valid for all biological life.

According to Aleksej Zelezniak, the discovery would have not been possible without access to state-of-the-art supercomputers and AI. The research group conducted huge computer simulations both at Chalmers University of Technology and other facilities in Sweden.

This tool allows us to look at thousands of positions at the same time, creating a kind of automated examination of DNA. This is essential for being able to identify patterns from such huge amounts of data.

Jan Zrimec, postdoctoral researcher in the Chalmers group and first author of the study, agrees, saying:

With previous technologies, researchers had to tell the system which motifs in the DNA code to search for. But thanks to AI, the system can now learn on its own, identifying different motifs and motif combinations relevant to gene expression.

He adds that the discovery is also due to the fact they were examining a much larger part of DNA in a single sweep than had previously been done.

The new knowledge could also make it possible to better understand how mutations can affect gene expression in the cell and therefore, eventually, how cancers arise and function. The applications which could most rapidly be significant for the wider public are in the pharmaceutical industry.

It is conceivable that this method could help improve the genetic modification of the microorganisms already used today as biological factories leading to faster and cheaper development and production of new drugs, he speculates.

Reference: Zrimec J, Brlin CS, Buric F, et al. Deep learning suggests that gene expression is encoded in all parts of a co-evolving interacting gene regulatory structure. Nat Commun. 2020;11(1):6141. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19921-4.

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Deep Learning Shows How Genetic Motifs Conduct the Music of Life - Technology Networks

Genetically modified crops could provide a solution to the world hunger problem, but how serious are the risks for our ecosystems?pixnio.com

Just over 20 years ago, agroup of environmental activistsdestroyed experimental GM maize being grown on a Norfolk farm in a landmark act of protest, which brought genetically-engineered crops into the public eye, and was followed by global demonstrations and the adoption of severely restrictive legislature by the EU. Whilst some of the major food-producing countries of the world have become more open to genetically-engineered crops, public attitudes still remain largely hostile. In the UK, 40% of adults surveyed in 2012 believed the government should not be endorsing the use of genetically-engineered crops. These expressions of distrust largely stem from a lack of understanding surrounding genetically-engineered crops asurvey in 2019 found that only 32% of UK adults felt informed about GM crops, and misinformation spread by anti-GMO campaigns has done nothing to alleviate this.

In reality, the facts of genetic engineering are far simpler than such campaigns would make them appear.

In reality, the facts of genetic engineering are far simpler than such campaigns would make them appear. Earlier efforts mainly relied on the use of the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens to introduce foreign DNA into the genome of a plant embryo, and the use of antibiotic-resistance marker genes to select transformed plants. This initially gave rise to fears of spreading antibiotic resistance through genetic engineering, although these marker genes have generally been replaced by plant-derived markers in the transformation process.

With the advent of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, however, engineering of plant genomes has become significantly easier. CRISPR-Cas9 utilises a mechanism found in prokaryotic immune systems, in which characteristic DNA sequences of potentially harmful bacteria are stored in a cluster of sequences, known as CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). These sequences can be transcribed and used to guide the DNA-cleaving activity of the Cas9 protein in genetic engineering, guide RNA for a locus in the plant genome is used to target cuts. CRISPR-Cas9 technology is proving crucial in genetic engineering, thanks to the ease with which endogenous genes can be edited without inserting foreign DNA, which helps the public image of genetically-engineered crops.

But whilst health risks of genetically-engineered crops on the market have been rigorously examined and disproved, these crops are not without their faults. One of the greatest risks posed by transgenic crops is the potential for transgene flow into wild crop relatives, potentially conferring pest or herbicide resistance. Whilst experimental crops are isolated to reduce this risk, this is often not possible for commercial crops, and evidence suggests some small-scale spread of transgenic traits occurring around fields of transgenic crops. The difficulty in preventing transgene spread, however, is that the methods used for instance, pollen sterility can prevent farmers from harvesting and replanting seeds, forcing them to repeatedly buy expensive seed from the developers. This may create a financial barrier to the benefits of such crops for those who might need them most.

Yet with the world population set to hit 8.1 billion by 2025, global solutions are now required to meet the challenges of feeding the growing population in an increasingly adverse climate. Given that roughly 37% of habitable land area is already used in agriculture, the capacity for further expansion is limited, and so increasing the efficacy of crop growth is therefore needed to meet demand. This will likely require the rapid improvement of crops through genetic engineering, with advances in adapting existing plant responses to abiotic stress for instance, increasing the production of osmoprotectants that protect protein structure in drought conditions likely to prove crucial in improving crop productivity whilst minimising strain on land and water resources.

Despite the risks, the improving reliability of transgeniccrop isolation and the benefits of genetically-engineered crops make a compelling case for extending their use. This is especially true for countries experiencing massive population growth, which often also bear the brunt of climate change so what is hindering this?

You dont have to look any further than the case of Golden Rice for the answers. The poster child of the genetically-engineered crop movement, Golden Rice was initially developed in the early 2000s as a transgenic rice strain with aVitamin A content sufficient to provide 80-100% of the RDI in a single cup of rice. This was a solution developed to combat the lack of the vitamin in the diets of many developing countries, with a third of children worldwide estimated to be Vitamin A deficient, leaving them at high risk of death or blindness. Given repeated testing proving both the efficacy and the safety of the rice, it would seem a foregone conclusion that its use in filling the coverage gaps in vitamin supplement distribution would be widely approved. Yet to this day, not a single crop of Golden Rice has been grown outside of experimental trials.

The reasons for this can be traced back to the legislation governing genetically-engineered crops, such as the Cartagena Protocol, which prevents the introduction of new biotechnology should it pose a risk to human or environmental health. Despite very low rates of gene flow from cultivated rice to wild species, and limited evidence to suggest the transgene would persist in wild populations, this protocol was used to ban the introduction of Golden Rice in the EU, which, in conjunction with Greenpeace campaigns, fed fears surrounding the unsafe nature of the crop. However, rulings in recent years appear to be turning the tide; earlier approval from the health authorities of the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada has been followed by approval in the Philippines and impending approval in Bangladesh, which hopefully signals the start of Golden Rice growth in countries affected by Vitamin A deficiency.

The challenge for the future lies mainly in the general publics understanding and perception of genetic engineering

Although progress is being made in the introduction of genetically-engineered crops, the future of research and development in crop engineering is looking dim. With recent reclassification of GM crops by the EU to include gene-edited crops, those edited using CRISPR-Cas9 are now as severely restricted as transgenic crops. This comes at a time when effective solutions for food production are needed more than ever, and so immediate action is needed if genetically-engineered crop development is to continue. The challenge for the future lies mainly in the general publics understanding and perception of genetic engineering; if improved, this could have considerable influence in producing a more considered approach to GM crop legislation cutting the red tape and allowing the benefits of genetically-engineered crops to reach those most in need.

Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges.

We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding, and during this unprecedented global crisis, we expect to have a tough few months and years ahead.

In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content and of course in print too.

Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as 1, to help with our running costs at least until this global crisis ends and things begin to return to normal.

Many thanks, all of us here at Varsity would like to wish you, your friends, families and all of your loved ones a safe and healthy few months ahead.

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There are plenty of reasons to want to shift away from eating meat: its better for the planet and certainly better for animals that would otherwise be eaten. But meat is still a big draw, both in the U.S. and increasingly in medium-income countries like China.

At the Tufts School of Engineering, a team of scientists led by Professor David Kaplan is exploring another avenue to feed this trendmeat grown directly from animal cells. It could be the start of an entirely new agricultural industryas humane and green as plant-based meat substitutes, but providing taste, texture, and nutrition that is even closer to the experience of eating real meat.

The technology is already familiar to cell biologistsgrowing and harvesting cells from a single sample of tissue from a live anesthetized animal, but doing it in ways that may help the cells transform into something similar to the muscle tissue people enjoy eating from beef, chicken, and fish, including shrimp and scallops.

Meat from animals contains connective tissue, vascular networks, fat, and other cell types, as well as blood, biological fluids, and a complex mix of proteins and sugars, all of which contribute to the unique taste and texture of the meat. Replicating that structure and content is the technical challenge that the Tufts team is working on using the tools of tissue engineering.

A variety of flavors and textures can be achieved by growing different types of cells together, like skeletal muscle, fat cells and fibroblasts (the most common type of cell in connective tissue), adding nutrients to the surrounding media (the soup in which the cells grow), or using genetic modification to add components that not only introduce flavors, but can modify color or even improve on the nutritional quality of natural meat.

Andrew Stout, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering, has explored adding myoglobin to the cell growth media, for example. Myoglobin, a natural component of muscle, is a protein that carries iron and oxygen, and is associated with the bloody flavor of meat. He found that its addition to the mix helps improve the color of the cell mass, and even enhanced the growth rate of the meat substitute.

Stout has also been working to enhance the nutritional content of cell-based meat. In a recent journal publication, he reported how he had modified muscle cells from cows by genetically adding enzymatic machinery to produce the antioxidants phytoene, lycopene, and beta-carotene, normally found in plants.

Think of it as a way to make cell-based meat more plant-like in the healthy nutritional components it offers. Adding beta-carotene, for example, could have protective effects against colorectal cancer, which tends to be more prevalent among those with a high intake of red meat. Another benefit of this type of metabolic engineering is that the antioxidants could improve the quality and shelf-life of the meat.

How far can they take this nutritional engineering? I think other nutrients would definitely work, said Stout. Thats one of the things that I am the most excited about. Putting plant genes into mammalian cells is pretty un-travelled scientific territory, and so theres a lot of space to explore other nutrients, flavor, and color compounds. In addition, he adds, the cell-based meat can be engineered as a therapeutic food.

Most cell-based approaches have emulated processed meat such as hamburger, sausage, and nuggets. Replicating the appearance and texture of whole cuts of meat, like steak, is a different kind of challenge.

Tissue engineering experts in the Kaplan lab bring a lot of experience to the task of aligning cells and creating fibers resembling real meat structure, using things like mechanical tension and micropatterned substrates to help align cells into fibers.

Natalie Rubio, a Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering, found that switching from cows to caterpillars as a source of cells can have some advantages. The muscle and fat stem cells originating from the eggs of the tobacco hornworma beefy little caterpillarcan be used to generate tissue that resembles other invertebrates that were used to eating, like shrimp and scallops.

A vast amount of knowledge has already developed around large scale invertebrate cell culture, since insect cells are widely used in the production of pharmaceuticals. Suspended in a liquid medium, they tend to grow to very high density and have simpler requirements for maintenance and growth. Yields could be greater and production costs lower than from mammalian cells.

But Rubio explains that there is a very important step remaining to transform a soup of cells into something resembling real meatproviding a scaffold to shape and orient the cells.

The scaffold is the backbone of the meatit provides structure and texture, said Rubio. If we did not have that support structure, the meat would just look like slime.

Rubio generates scaffolds from chitosana polymer found in a closely related form (chitin) in exoskeletons such as crab shells and fungi. Chitosan is a great material to make scaffolds from because it is edible, abundant, and inexpensive, she said.

Chitin can be isolated from fungi and easily converted to chitosan and then formed into films, fibers, or sponges to act as scaffolding for cell culture. Rubio grows insect muscle and fat cells on the chitosan scaffolds to generate small, structured meat constructs.

Kaplans lab has been a hub and catalyst for cellular agriculture research and development in the academic sector for many years, he said. That continues with an annual course for undergraduates on cellular agriculture, which is again being offered this spring semester.

Cell-based meat has not yet been commercialized, but the first cultured beef burger was produced by Maastricht University in 2013, and a number of start-up companies are now working to create new products to sell.

Alumni from our group have fanned out across the globe to help create the foundation of a nascent cell-based agricultural industry, Kaplan said. They include Laura Domigan, who is a principal investigator at University of Auckland; research scientist Amanda Baryshyan at Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute; Ryan Pandya, CEO of Perfect Day Foods; Viktor Maciag, head of tissue engineering at Mission Barns; and Robin Simsa, CEO of Legendary Vish.

Mike Silver can be reached at mike.silver@tufts.edu.

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Their Goal: Meat That's Better Than Meat | Tufts Now - Tufts Now

New York, Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Animal Genetics Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product, Genetic Material, and Services and Geography." - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06010023/?utm_source=GNW However, the market is likely to get impacted by the limited number of skilled professionals in veterinary research and stringent government regulations for animal genetics during the forecast period.

The branch of genetics that deals with the study of gene variation and inheritance in companion, domestic and wild animals is called as animal genetics.Animal genetics are used for genetic trait testing, DNA testing, and genetic disease treatment.

Animal genetics is one of the best mainstays of livestock development (alongside animal nutrition, animal health, and husbandry concerns such as housing). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, it is a wide field, ranging from characterization to maintenance to genetic improvement, and involves activities at local, national, regional, and global scales.Increasing population and rapid urbanization across the world has resulted in growing preference for animal derived food products such as dairy products and meat that contain high protein.The demand for animal derived proteins and food products, which, in turn drives the growth of animal genetics market.

Growing focus on developing superior animal breeds using genetic engineering to obtain high reproduction rates for large-scale production of modified breeds is expected to drive animal genetics market during the forecast period.Based on product, the market is segmented into poultry, porcine, bovine, canine, and others.The porcine segment held the largest share of the market in 2019, whereas the same segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period.

Growth of this segment is attributed to rise in production of porcine and increase in pork consumption across the globe.Based on genetic material, the market is segmented into semen and embryo. The embryo segment held the largest share of the market in 2019, and the semen segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period.COVID-19 pandemic has become the most significant challenge across the world.This challenge would be frightening, especially in developing countries across the globe, as it may lead to reducing imports due to disruptions in global trade, which further increases the shortages of meat and dairy product supplies, resulting in a considerable price increase.

Asian countries such as China, South Korea, and India are severely affected due to COVID-19 outbreak.The World Health Organization, Food and Drug Administration, American Pet Products Association, American Veterinary Medical Cattle Health, and Welfare Group for Disease Control and Prevention are among the major primary and secondary sources referred for preparing this report.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06010023/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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(TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower photo illustration)

For more than a decade, Washington State University geneticist Amit Dhingra has been trying to figure out the underlying genetics of pear ripening in order to design postharvest products that could deliver consistent fruit quality.

A series of research projects that began with trying to understand the seemingly unpredictable impacts of 1-MCP (1-methylcyclopropene, which blocks ethylene receptors) on pears and find postharvest products that would deliver consistent fruit quality are now starting to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle, Dhingra said, with new tools to spur ripening and a genetic understanding of how and why they work.

A new Specialty Crop Block Grant from the Washington State Department of Agriculture will help Dhingra and a commercial partner, Crunch Pak of Cashmere, to commercialize the use of the ripening tools on 1-MCP-treated fruit in a sliced pear application that Dhingra believes could create a new pear market.

This is a unique niche where 1-MCP-treated fruit can be put into this category, Dhingra said. Before we replant the entire acreage of pears, we need to bring money into the industry. A toolkit of 1-MCP plus the ripening compound can make that possible.

On the research front, Dhingra calls pears a great teacher for studying which genes control fruit ripening.

We wanted to understand what is happening in pears during conditioning, and most of the previous studies looked at ethylene only, Dhingra said. Ripening fruit produce ethylene, which then drives most of the ripening process in climacteric fruit fruit that continues to ripen after harvest such as pears. Many Anjou pears are now ethylene-treated to promote more uniform ripening just before delivery to customers. But, as Dhingras team found, ethylene doesnt tell the whole story for European pears.

When we started looking at a whole suite of genes beyond ethylene, to our surprise we found there is a metabolic pathway that gets activated, preclimateric, in pears, he said. Preclimateric refers to the fruit before the surge in ethylene that occurs during ripening.

Looking at dozens of genes in freshly picked and ripe pears, to see which played a role in ripening, Dhingra and his graduate students, Seanna Hewitt and Christopher Hendrickson, zoomed in on some unexpected gene activity in whats known as the alternative oxidase pathway that started in both Bartlett and Anjou pears during cold conditioning.

Pears, when they are harvested, they dont have the entire energy currency they need to drive the starch conversion to sugar, Dhingra said. This alternative respiratory pathway produces the energy to kick-start the ripening pathway.

The cold temperatures that pear packers have long known are key to successful ripening appear to kick-start this AOX pathway, which then activates the better understood ethylene-driven ripening process. Thats different than most other climacteric fruits, where the AOX pathway exists but occurs after ethylene surges.

However, cold alone doesnt spur the AOX into action. Once they understood the pathway involved, the researchers went searching for chemical compounds that might also trigger it, Dhingra said. They found one called glyoxylic acid, about five years ago.

Since then, theyve tested it, patented it and published several scientific papers proposing the underlying mechanisms. That genetic understanding could someday be used to inform breeding or genetic engineering to target pear ripening.

But the road from promising research to commercial use is long.

Longtime pear research advisor Bob Gix said hes excited about Dhingras findings but also cautious, considering the challenges of proving new tools in a commercial setting.

These new fundamental understandings represent a fantastic building block for ripening in pear fruit with the goal of delivering a more consistent high-quality product to the consumer, Gix said. The greatest endorsement of these discoveries will be common industry use. I do not believe we are there yet.

On the commercial front, the most promising application so far seems to be in sliced pears, where exposed flesh treated with glyoxylic acid consistently overcomes the ripening pause created by 1-MCP. Ray Schmitten, a grower serving on an industry research advisory committee, suggested the idea.

Everybody would like to see (sliced pears), but its not as easy as we would like it to be, Schmitten said, reflecting on many years of industry-funded research into the feasibility of sliced pears. The warehouse he works for, Blue Star Growers, provides fruit to Dhingras research trials.

Its something obvious in hindsight, but much to our surprise, we saw a huge jump in ethylene when we applied (glyoxylic acid) to sliced 1-MCP fruit, Dhingra said. It would allow packers to treat and store pears for subsequent slicing and ripening so the consumers get the convenient fruit at peak quality.

With funding from the Fresh Pear Committee, Dhingra partnered with Crunch Pak several years ago to test out the viability of the sliced pear application, which was well received by consumers in taste tests, he said. Crunch Pak, which primarily markets sliced apple products, did not return requests for comment.

But the team also discovered that packaging plays a significant role in the quality of the final product, Dhingra said. Modified atmosphere plastics regulate gas exchange to keep produce fresh longer.

In the modified atmosphere bag world, you have to find a bag that corresponds to the respiration rate of the fruit in question, Dhingra said. He found that in one bag, fruit spoiled too quickly, and in another, the fruit moved toward ripening too slowly.

The new grant will enable testing of four different modified atmosphere bags to find the Goldilocks fit for sliced Anjous, he said, as well as dialing in the correct amount of the ripening compounds to apply for consistent, high-quality results.

Part of the challenge in commercializing the glyoxylic acid is that for whole pears, the amount needed depends on the amount of 1-MCP the fruit was treated with. Thats a surprisingly hard thing to measure, as warehouses treat pears with 1-MCP in parts per billion, as opposed to the parts-per-million rates common in apples.

Its a technical challenge. When you are looking at a parts-per-billion application changing physiology, any small variation can have a significant effect, he said.

The use of 1-MCP has become controversial in pears in recent years, with some packing houses swearing off it and others working with longtime manufacturer AgroFresh to dial in the dosing to account for growing conditions, harvest timing and storage goals to optimize performance, commercial development manager Fernando Edagi said. 1-MCP is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Schmitten, who took a strong stand against overuse of 1-MCP, now says the product has its place in long-term storage, and applications such as pairing with this novel ripening compound could be another beneficial use.

Dhingra hopes his new compound can help packers take advantage of the benefits of 1-MCP and reduce the drawbacks, saying it basically exploits this back door that nature showed us to use these metabolic compounds to overcome the limitations of 1-MCP.

by Kate Prengaman

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Restart the ripening clock - Good Fruit Grower

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., an oncology company focused on developing and commercializing primary allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell therapies to treat cancer, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide collaboration and license agreement with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, to develop novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cell therapies targeting solid tumor-associated antigens. The collaboration will leverage Artivas off-the-shelf allogeneic NK cell manufacturing platform, along with its proprietary CAR-NK technology. The collaboration initially includes two CAR-NK programs with an option for a third, none of which are in Artivas current or planned pipeline. The agreement provides that Artiva will develop the CAR-NK programs through the first GMP manufacturing campaign and IND preparation, followed by transfer to Merck for clinical and commercial development.

Under the terms of the agreement, Artiva will receive a $30 million upfront payment for the first two programs and an additional $15 million payment if Merck exercises its option for a third program. Artiva is also eligible to receive future development and commercial milestones of up to $612 million per program and royalties are payable by Merck on worldwide sales of any product derived from the collaboration. Merck agreed to provide research funding to Artiva for each of the programs under the collaboration.

Our NK platform has been developed to be truly off-the-shelf and we believe it will be further validated by this exclusive collaboration with Merck, as we work together to bring cell therapies to all patients who may benefit, said Dr. Peter Flynn, COO of Artiva. This collaboration will combine Mercks leading immuno-oncology expertise and capabilities with our highly scaled and optimized CAR-NK platform, added Dr. Fred Aslan, CEO of Artiva.

At Merck, we continue to explore new ways to transform the most innovative science into better therapies for patients who need them most, said Dr. Nick Haining, Vice President, Head of Discovery Oncology and Immunology, Merck Research Laboratories. We look forward to working with the team at Artiva with the hope of developing new NK cell-based treatments for cancer.

Artivas targeted NK cell therapies leverage the innate anti-tumor biology and safety features of NK cells. The therapies are optimized for enhanced efficacy through CARs, therapeutic antibody combination therapy, and genetic engineering. The Merck CAR-NK collaboration programs will leverage Artivas novel NK-specific CAR costimulatory structures and highly scaled, proprietary NK cell manufacturing platform. Artivas manufacturing platform supports large-scale production and cryopreservation of off-the-shelf allogeneic NK cell therapies and proprietary CAR-NK and NK-specific gene-editing technologies to augment therapeutic activity.

About Artiva Biotherapeutics: Scaling NK Cell Therapy for Cancer

Artivas mission is to deliver to cancer patients highly effective cellular immunotherapies that are safe and immediately accessible. Artivas internal CAR-NK programs include AB-201, a novel HER2-specific CAR-NK cell therapy for the treatment of HER2+ solid tumors, and AB-202, a CD19-specific CAR-NK cell therapy for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, which is being developed under Artivas master license and option agreement with GC LabCell Corporation, with plans to enter clinical trials in 2022. Artivas pipeline also includes AB-101, a universal NK cell therapy for use in combination with monoclonal antibodies or innate-cell engagers. The company is currently advancing a clinical trial of AB-101 in combination with rituximab for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphomas. Artivas NK cell platform incorporates cell expansion, activation, and engineering technology developed by the companys corporate partner, GC LabCell, a member of the GC family of companies, one of the Republic of Koreas leading biopharmaceutical groups. Artiva is headquartered in San Diego. For more info, please visit http://www.artivabio.com.

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Artiva Biotherapeutics Announces Exclusive Worldwide Collaboration and License Agreement with Merck to Develop Candidate CAR-NK Cell Therapies -...

Delay after hospitalisation

The Health Ministry on January 14 circulated a note on precautions and contraindications (reasons not to give the Covid-19 vaccine to certain people). The vaccine is only for people above the age of 18. Interchangeability is not allowed, which means that the second dose should be of the same vaccine (Covishield or Covaxin) that was given as the first dose. For acutely unwell or hospitalised patients due to any illness, vaccination can be deferred for four to eight weeks after recovery.

Not for pregnant women

Pregnancy alters the bodys immune system and its response to viral infections in general, which can occasionally be reflected in more severe symptoms. This holds true for Covid-19 as well. Pregnant or lactating women have not been part of any Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial, and so women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy, as well as lactating women, should not receive the vaccine at this time, experts have said. This is also part of the Health Ministry advisory.

Those with weaker immunity

The Ministry has advised caution in vaccinating persons with a history of bleeding or coagulation disorder. A Bharat Biotech fact sheet says the vaccine is not advisable for persons with allergies, bleeding disorder or weaker immunity, or on medicine that affects the immune system. Dr Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India, said that for those with compromised immunity, I would say inactivated virus (Bharat Biotech vaccine) is safer but it is up to the treating doctor to decide.

Chronic illness no bar

Among those who are not contraindicated and can take the vaccine are persons with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, those with a history of chronic diseases and morbidities (cardiac, neurological, pulmonary, metabolic, renal, malignancies), or immunodeficiency HIV, and patients on immune suppression due to any condition. This was part of the advisory sent by Dr Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on January 14 to chief secretaries across states, mission directors and state immunisation directors.

Diabetics & the obese

Dr V S Chauhan, former director of International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (known for his efforts to develop a vaccine for malaria), said those with diabetes and obesity must be in the priority list. Anyone who is susceptible to allergies if they decide to take the vaccine have to be observed very carefully. However, for those people who are heavily immune-compromised, the vaccine does not really hurt them but the system for mounting antibodies responses would be slow, Dr Chauhan said.

Voluntary, but advisable

Individuals who have one or more co-morbid conditions can take the vaccine as they are at high risk, and their medication will not interfere with vaccine efficacy, said Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS, during an audiovisual session on questions on the vaccine; the video has been posted on the Health Ministry website. Vaccination is voluntary but it is advisable to protect oneself and close contacts, Dr Guleria said. Over 28 lakh health workers have been vaccinated in India in 13 days.

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Explained: Who can take the Covid-19 vaccine, and who are advised not to - The Indian Express