Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

Some of the ITBF delegates in Newmarket | ITBF

The International Thoroughbred Breeders' Federation (ITBF)'s successful biennial four-day General Meeting concluded on Thursday in Newmarket. Attended by 23 of its 25 member countries, the programme included visits to all the leading Newmarket stallion studs, as well as two equine veterinary hospitals. Over 40 delegates had earlier attended the ITBF Derby Experience, provided by The Jockey Club, over the past weekend.

A half-day veterinary meeting plus an all-day General Meeting; covered areas of worldwide interest and included presentations on varying subjects from, amongst others, the JRA (Japan Racing Association), Weatherbys, SITA (Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers), the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA), The TBA of Chile and Thoroughbred Breeders Australia. Members also voted unanimously to continue to stand resolute against the use of artificial breeding methods (artificial insemination, embryo transfer, cloning, sexing of sperm, genetic engineering/manipulation, and other possible methods yet to be defined).

The ITBF will continue working to advance and protect the interests of Thoroughbred breeders' interests; throughout the world. Its next General Meeting will be hosted by Japan in 2024.

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This story was posted in Europe, Shared News Europe and tagged biennial General Meeting, General Meeting, International Thoroughbred Breeders' Federation, ITBF, Newmarket.

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ITBF Conference In Newmarket A Success - Thoroughbred Daily News

From Michael Crichtons original best-seller in 1991 to the upcoming movie of Jurassic World: Dominion, the Jurassic Park legacy has been a pop culture landmark. Inspiring the public to fall in love with dinosaurs all over again, Steven Spielbergs 1993 blockbuster adaptation only strengthened the entire Jurassic universes foothold on the imagination of the entire planet.

Which means that theres a lot of stuff to keep up with over the course of almost 30 years, as books, video games, and even a TV show have become part of that very dino dynasty. If youre looking for a guide to not just the movies, but also the fun Jurassic lore thats waiting to be discovered in other media, youve come to the right place.

Naturally, this isnt everything, as this is a pretty expansive universe, but we spared few details in including the notable properties you should dig into as a Jurassic Park fan. Hold onto your butts, as the tours about to start!

It all started with a duology of books that best-selling author Michael Crichton would pen throughout his storied career. While one would set the table for the Jurassic Park craze, another was written directly as a result.

Jurassic Park (1990)Written throughout the 80s, Jurassic Park was the novel that helped catapult Crichton further into literary stardom. There are some stark Jurassic differences between the book and the movie, especially when it comes to tone and characters. The novel is a bit more horrific in its events. Also, Ian Malcolm was heavily implied to have died at the end.

The Lost World (1995)Surprise! Ian Malcolm isnt dead, and returns in 1995s The Lost World! This book exists because of the success of Jurassic Park the movie. Its Crichtons only sequel to one of his novels, with the main difference between book and movie taking place in a battle between Dr. Malcolm and his companions vs. Lewis Dodgson and BioSyn - inGens main competitor.

The decades-long friendship between Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton led to the key business deal that would make Jurassic Park happen. As mentioned in the book, Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History (opens in new tab), this partnership was one of mutual respect, as Crichton really wanted Spielberg to direct the adaptation of that first book.

Jurassic Park (1993)Drs. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are brought as endorsements for John Hammonds (Sir Richard Attenborough) unique amusement park. Unfortunately for all involved, life finds a way to turn the entire experience into a genetically engineered nightmare from hell. Jurassic Park landed itself in the history books as a massive hit, and as an adaptation some argue is better than Michael Crichton's book.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)Four years after the events on Isla Nublar, something has survived. Isla Sorna, also known as Site B, is now overrun with the dinosaurs bred for Jurassic Park. Dr. Ian Malcolm returns, in order to prevent John Hammonds scheming nephew, Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard), from apprehending the remaining creatures.

Jurassic Park III (2001)Another four years sees Dr. Alan Grant lured to Isla Sorna on a search and rescue mission. Lessons in Raptor communication, a vicious Spinosaurus, and a small detour into how Alan and Dr. Ellie Sattler broke up, all take place.

Throughout the years after Jurassic Park III, there were several attempts to revive the franchise. Some of the resulting story ideas were wild, like a Jurassic Park IV involving human/dino hybrids. Eventually, Jurassic World would be revealed as the start of the new era in the franchises history, with director Colin Trevorrow kicking things off.

Jurassic World (2015)Twenty-two years after John Hammonds dream seemingly collapsed, the park is open. Introducing trilogy stars Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), another day in the park is ruined by a psychotic genetic hybrid.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)After the Jurassic World incident, Owen and Claire are recruited to head back to the ruins of Isla Nublar to recover the dinosaurs still living on the island. Yet again, humanitys bright ideas involving genetic engineering and profiteering backfire, with dinosaurs left to run rampant around the world.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (2020-2022)Taking place during events in the Jurassic World trilogy, Camp Cretaceous uses a TV show to throw its young campers into dino-danger. Theres as much cuteness as there is horror, and though the series is ending this July, Jurassic Park fans should totally watch this Netflix show.

Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)The end of the Jurassic era, this summers big blockbuster reunites Owen and Claire, as well as introduces them to Drs. Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm. Needless to say, were not going to reveal much about this one, because spoilers; but heres a hint: theres more dinosaurs.

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There was another common practice that the Jurassic Park movies werent immune to: tie-in video games. While theres plenty more than what were about to mention, here are the more notable entries in the Jurassic gaming canon.

Jurassic Park (1993)Depending on what sort of gamer you were, Jurassic Parks adaptation was a wildly different experience. The Super Nintendo version apparently included first person shooter sequences, as well as other tasks like rebooting the computers. Meanwhile, the Sega Genesis version of Jurassic Park was a side-scrolling shooter/fighter, where you could play as Dr. Alan Grant or a Velociraptor!

Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (Sega Genesis - 1994)Heres another case of the consoles diverging wildly in their approach. Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition sees Alan Grant crashing back onto Isla Nublar, with our Velociraptor friend remaining on the island as well. Both fight off dinosaurs and inGen personnel in a slightly more brutal follow-up.

Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues (Super Nintendo - 1994)Taking the side-scrolling approach from its Genesis counterpart, Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues has Alan Grant trying to stop BioSyn employees from raiding the island for dinosaurs/specimens. It should be noted that both this and the Rampage Edition were released about a year before The Lost World novel would find its way into the world

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)While not exactly a direct adaptation of the film, The Lost Worlds video game allowed you to play as several dinosaurs, and Julianne Moores character from the film, Dr. Sarah Harding. This title is notable for two reasons: its music was one of the projects that put young Michael Giacchino on the worlds radar, and of course, the snarky Jeff Goldblum video that basically tells players to touch grass.

Trespasser (1998)Most excitingly, The Lost World: Jurassic Park had a digital sequel, the 1998 game Tresspasser. A woman named Anne (Minnie Driver) crash lands on Isla Sorna, years after The Lost World, and has to survive the dinosaurs still on the island. The game was janky, but ambitious, and theres a community thats still keeping it alive to this day.

Warpath: Jurassic Park (1999)Two words sum up the officially licensed Jurassic Park fighting game: dino fights. It may not have done much back in the day, but it may have influenced some of the prize fights in the Jurassic World saga.

Perhaps the best part of the video game angle of the Jurassic world are the park sims!

Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (2003)This is pretty much the only game from the Jurassic Park III era that is worth mentioning. Acting as a sort of Roller Coaster Tycoon in the Jurassic saga, you could build your own Jurassic Park, and take part in both the business and maintenance end. Good luck finding an affordable copy, but if you can get your hands on it, its worth it.

The Jurassic World: Evolution Games (2018/2021)If you dont want to spend the massive cash on getting Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, then you can snag the more modern, massively more affordable versions! 2018s beautiful Jurassic World: Evolution, and the 2022 sequel, Jurassic World: Evolution 2, both allow you to build and maintain your own dinosaur park; but with new and exciting challenges. Also, Jeff Goldblum and Bryce Dallas Howard take part in some of the voice acting throughout the games, which really helps sell that Jurassic World feeling.

Almost 30 years of history in the books and Jurassic Parks legacy is stuffed with a ton of proof to show its impact on pop culture. Again, this isnt even close to everything we could have discussed. If you really want to dig into the history of the first three Jurassic movies, then check out Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History (opens in new tab)! And dont forget, Jurassic World: Dominion is currently in theaters, continuing the tradition of dinosaurs snacking on humanity.

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The Jurassic Park Universe Explained: Your Guide To The Movies, Books, And More - CinemaBlend

Samsung launches Solve for Tomorrow

Samsung has launched the inaugural edition of Solve for Tomorrow, a new youth-centric national education and innovation competition, which invites Indias brightest young minds to come up with innovative ideas in the areas of Education, Environment, Healthcare and Agriculture. Support will include mentoring by industry experts and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi). For details visit http://www.samsung.com/in/solvefortomorrow

The Learn Fest 2022

Teacher skilling platform OrangeSlates has announced the second edition of The Learn Fest 2022 to be held on June 25 and 26. The theme this time is Taking NEP 2020 into classrooms. Educators interested in participating can register at https://LearnFest.OrangeSlates.com

RGCB opens applications

The Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), an autonomous institution of Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, invites applications from GAT-B qualified candidates for its M.Sc. Biotechnology programme for the academic year 2022-24. The course offers specialisations in Disease Biology, Molecular Diagnostics & DNA Profiling, and Genetic Engineering. Applicants must also have 60% aggregate in their Bachelors degree in any branch of Science, Engineering or Medicine. Last date is June 30. Visit https://rgcb.res.in/msc2022.php for details

MindBox launches summer courses

MindBox has announced the launch of its design and coding led summer courses, which include2D Animation, Multimedia Design, Graphic Design Photoshop, Digital Design SketchUp, AI with Python among others. For details, visit https://mindboxindia.com/

Free mock test series for CLAT

Edtech startup Oliveboard has announced a free mock test series for CLAT aspirants (2022) to help them prepare for the exam. The Oliveboard Mock Test is currently live and can be accessed on the website/app until the exam day.

Holberton partners with Jigsaw Academy

The U.S.-based ed-tech company Holberton has partnered with Jigsaw Academy to offer a PG Certificate in Full Stack Development. Holberton will provide the projects, platform, tools and services while Jigsaw will deliver the programme from the Holberton platform and also provide mentoring support to the students.

IET India Scholarship Award

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has opened applications for the sixth edition of the IET India Scholarship Award, with a combined prize money of Rs 10 Lakhs. The programme aims to reward and celebrate individual excellence and innovation among undergraduate engineering students in ACITE and UGC approved institutes and national institutes in India. For more information, please visit https://scholarships.theietevents.com/#!

Webinar on Management Education

EduCrack will host a webinar at 6.00 p.m. on June 11 to guide students who want to opt for an MBA. Rammohan, Chief Knowledge Officer, EduCrack, will talk about various specialisations and the career options these will lead to. Those interested can join through https://bit.ly/3mw9zaN

Applications open up Rishihood University

Rishihood University (RU) invites applications for its 2022 intake commencing September 2022. At the UG level, the University offers degrees in Design, Visual Arts, Psychology, Education, Leadership among others. Minor specialisations include Computer Science, Law, Media and Sanskrit with electives like Sustainable Development and Creative Writing. At the PG level, programmes include PG Diploma in Leadership, , MA in Interdisciplinary Humanities and Research, MBA, MBA (Entrepreneurship) and M.Design. For details call 1800 120 6631 (toll-free) or visit https://apply.rishihood.edu.in/

WWI entrance exams in June

Whistling Woods International (WWI) has announced the dates for the June round of entrance examinations for the 2022 intake. The last date to register is June 18 and the exams will take place from June21-24. The institute offers degree, post-graduate, and diploma programmes under an agreement with Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD). For details of programmes offered and to apply, visit http://www.whistlingwoods.net

MyCoolGuru launched

MyCoolGuru, a career tech platform, was launched recently. It will offer online and offline courses, list tutors, trainers and counsellors, have notes and questions for exam prep and guidance from industry mentors. Operating through a membership model, it has on boarded 300 tutors and curated over 100 study materials across 25 courses. More details at http://www.mycoolguru.com

Graduation Day celebrated

Saveetha Engineering College celebrated its 15th and 16th Graduation Days earlier this month. Among the dignitaries present were Prof. K.K. Aggarwal, Chairman NBA; S. Suresh Babuji, Joint Director & Head of Office, MSME DI Chennai; Dr. N. M. Veeraiyan, Founder President & Chancellor SIMATS; Dr. S. Rajesh, Director SEC; and Dr. N. Duraipandian, Principal, and the heads of various departments. Over 900 students from the 2019 batch and 830 students from the 2020 batch received their degrees.

Partnerships

Vivekanand Education Societys College of Arts, Science and Commerce (Autonomous) has partnered with GlobalGyan Academy of Management Education to launch new autonomous courses, including undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. Students who have completed their Class 12 exam, from any stream, board and institute, are eligible to apply. For more, visit https://ves.ac.in/

The Karnataka State Education Department and EMBIBE, an AI-powered personalised adaptive learning platform, have entered into a partnership to make available Karnataka Board curriculum in the local language. The objective is to provide students with quality digital education and 3D content for Science and Maths in their language. The platform caters to Classes 6 to 12 and to Engineering and Medical entrance exams.

Crimson Education has partnered with Nxt Venture Labs LLP for EpicQuest, a young entrepreneurial leader in-residence programme. The four-week programme is exclusively designed for Indian high school students; to guide and prepare them via hands-on exposure to effective global business management practices, and entrepreneurial leadership training. EpicQuest will continue till July 4. Each group will consist of 10 students between the ages of 14 to 16 years. For more information, visit https://www.crimsoneducation.org/in/

Lovely Professional University invites applications its B.Tech CSE (AI & Data Engineering) in association with Futurense Technologies. by the university.

Eligibility: 65% aggregate in 10+2 (with Physics, Mathematics and English); qualification in LPUNEST and interview by Futurense Technologies.

Details at https://bit.ly/3HeocZF

Environment Studies course

Augustana University, the U.S., has opened applications of its Environment Studies course for the Spring 2023 intake. The university offers merit-based scholarships of $15,000 to $25,000 for candidates from India, depending on their academic qualifications. For more details, visit https://bit.ly/3aOurHG

IIM-Bangalore in the PIR 2022

IIM-Bangalore features in the top category (Level 5) in the Positive Impact Rating (PIR) 2022. The Indian quartet of IIM-Bangalore, SPJIMR, XLRI, and Woxsen Business School has achieved the highest level of the PIR as Pioneering Schools. The Positive Impact Rating (PIR) is a rating conducted by students and for students to assess the positive impact of business schools.

World Environment Day celebrated

Smiling Tree celebrated World Environment Day along with Leelawanto Saraswati Vidya Mandir School. Students were encouraged to become green warriors, take care of the environment and inspire others to do so.

Noida International University organised a poster making and essay competition on the theme Only One Earth. The aim was to create awareness about climate change and encourage students to take action. Over 70 students from NIUs 12 schools participated.

Orchids The International School has partnered with Citizens Association for Child Rights (CACR), a development partner of UNICEF for WASH, to sensitise its students to environmental issues like waste segregation.

Celebrating diversity

The student-initiated campaign Yaadhum Manamae Yaavarum Kaelir by the Department of Public Relations, Stella Maris College, celebrated its valedictory with a walkathon conducted at Elliots Beach, Besant Nagar. The event was inaugurated by Santhtosh Pratha, actor and mixed martial arts athlete, and S. Nelson, ACP Adyar. Theatre Akku also staged a Tamil play Komaligal that threw light on issues such as gender inequality and intersectional abuse.

Sanskriti team develops electric Buggy

A team of six students (Thokchom, Satish, Monu, Deepak, Jivan, and Akhilesh) from Sanskriti University has developed an electric Buggy, for travelling in sandy and off-road terrain. The team was led by Prof. Anshuman Singh, of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

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News from the world of education - June 10, 2022 - The Hindu

The combination of the pandemic and new innovations in tech have contributed to huge changes within the food industry in recent years and these developments are likely to keep coming in 2022 and beyond.

From ghost kitchens and lab-grown meat to vertical farming and super crops, the food industry landscape has changed almost beyond recognition, helping us to eat more ethically while safeguarding the future of the sector. We look in more detail at these advances below and also speculate on what is likely to be the next game-changing development in the food industry.

With environmental concerns moving to the forefront of public consciousness over the last few years, the move to biodegradable packaging has become mainstream, with the majority of restaurants, cafes, and takeout establishments offering recycled and recyclable packaging.

Advances in this field are set to continue: there is currently a focus on innovating packaging from the waste products created by the food industry itself. For example, scientists are currently working on ways to turn the millions of metric tons of shellfish waste into a biodegradable, natural wrap that could be used for storing food.

Point of sale (POS) systems refer to the equipment and system used to process customer transactions; however, things have moved miles beyond this, simply including physical elements such as the cash register and handheld payment terminals. Now, advanced point of sales systems specifically designed for restaurants and bars allow customers to make and manage bookings online and for menus to be added and amended with a couple of clicks of the mouse.

Next-generation POS systems also feature inventory management features with the option to automate many of the processes regarding this and even customer relationship management tools that enable business owners to tailor specific offers and marketing drives to different customer groups. For an example of one such advanced POS system, take a look at this information on the Toast payment system, which has been designed specifically for businesses in the food sector. It offers a cloud-based solution, so theres no need to worry about storage and security, either. Toast also features an impressive array of reporting features and a scannable dashboard that makes for easy interrogation of the stats and figures.

Again, environmental concerns have led to innovations in the lab-grown food sector, with more people than ever before becoming aware of the environmental damage that factory and mass meat farming can cause.

The first lab-grown burger was presented to the public in 2013, and its estimated that by 2040 more than half of the meat we eat will either be lab-grown or made from plant alternatives. Continuing advances in this field have led to lab-grown meat entering the mainstream market and becoming a popular choice for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike.

While ghost kitchens were growing in number pre-pandemic, it was Covid 19 that created a huge spike in the businesses choosing to operate using this new model.

As a way to cut costs and boost efficiency, ghost kitchens are perfect. Theyre a delivery-only proposition and often operate out of an existing restaurants kitchen. Sometimes a single ghost kitchen will host the production and delivery of several different food brands, thereby cutting back on waste and optimizing staff time. With companies like Deliveroo potentially taking a commission of around 30% of an orders value, ghost kitchens have been a useful way for food businesses to cut out the middle-man and protect their profit margins.

Vertical farming is the term used to describe crops that are grown indoors, in urban areas often in large warehouses, for example. As well as requiring less land and water, it is believed that this method can generate a significantly higher yield than traditional farming is able to partly because of the close monitoring of the plants and the inherent protection from pests that indoor growing facilitates.

At present, vertical farming is in its infancy, and progress will be dependent on the sectors ability to find ways to harness renewable energy although growing crops on rooftop terraces are also being increasingly used as a way to produce food for a city.

With the worlds population growing and increasingly extreme weather wiping out swathes of crops on a regular business, one of the key innovations of the next few years will be the development of super crops that can withstand heat, drought, and flood, and pack a bigger nutritional punch.

Scientists in Dubai are already modifying crops like quinoa so that they can grow and thrive even in desert conditions, while the aptly named scuba rice can survive when submerged in water for up to two weeks.

Selective breeding, biofortification, and genetic engineering are all expected to play a part in the creation of these super crops, which could be game-changing and life-saving in areas of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa, where the threat of malnutrition is often ever-present.

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Food Industry Innovations of Recent Years and Those Coming in 2022 - Startup.info

Chimeric Therapeutics has cut out significant global supply chain problems facing the cell therapy industry by developing its own viral vector system to deliver its patented treatment for killing brain tumours or glioblastoma.

Viral vectors are tools commonly used by molecular biologists to deliver genetic material into cells.

Creating the viral vector system was a key milestone in commercialising the patented protein derived chimeric antigen receptor, or CLTX CAR T therapy and was developed and manufactured in partnership with world-renowned cancer research and treatment hospital, City of Hope, near Los Angeles.

Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord and whilst relatively rare, is almost always lethal, with less than 5 per cent of patients surviving more than five years.

In CAR T therapy, a patients own T-cells are taken from their body and trained before being put back in to target cancerous cells. The therapy uniquely utilises CLTX, a protein derived from scorpion toxin, as the tumour-targeting component of the treatment where the T-cells are enhanced by the protein from the scorpion toxin.

Viral vectors underpin the manufacture of a CAR T-cell therapy as they hold the genetic engineering instructions. The timely manufacturing and release of viral vectors is regarded as one of the most challenging and critical components of cell therapy operations.

Chimeric said the current shortage of vector manufacturing capability has significantly delayed other companies development programs, as well as challenging commercial manufacturers.

Given the difficulties, the company says developing the system is a critical milestone for Chimeric in supporting the broader phase 1 glioblastoma clinical program expansion of CLTX CAR T, also known as CHM 1101, as well as a new phase 1 clinical basket trial in solid tumours.

This enlarged clinical program requires coordinated expansion of Chimerics current technical functions.

Vector supply significantly challenges the cell therapy industry with current backlogs of more than a year to access vector manufacturing. Securing vector for the expansion of our CHM 1101 development program enables us to move forward and is a clear demonstration of the benefit of our experienced cell therapy development team.

Chimeric is developing several cell therapies to broaden its suite of potential treatments.

The company is aiming to develop another four new next-generation cell therapy assets, with plans for phase 1 clinical trials on solid tumours and blood cancers to start next year.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au

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Chimeric develops own method to deliver cancer treatment - The West Australian

PHILADELPHIA, June 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Century Therapeutics (NASDAQ: IPSC), an innovative biotechnology company developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapies in immuno-oncology, today announced that it will host a virtual Research and Development (R&D) Day on Monday, June 13, 2022, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM ET.

The R&D Day will feature presentations from the Companys management team and Sheila Singh, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Surgery and Biochemistry, Chief Pediatric Neurosurgeon at McMaster Childrens Hospital, the Division Head of Neurosurgery at Hamilton Health Sciences, and the inaugural Director of McMaster's new Cancer Research Centre. The event will focus on the Companys next-generation iPSC-based cell therapy platform technologies and includes a discussion on its strategy in GBM with CNTY-103.

For additional information on how to access the event, please visit the Events & Presentations section of Centurys website.

About Century TherapeuticsCentury Therapeutics (NASDAQ: IPSC) is harnessing the power of adult stem cells to develop curative cell therapy products for cancer that we believe will allow us to overcome the limitations of first-generation cell therapies. Our genetically engineered, iPSC-derived iNK and iT cell product candidates are designed to specifically target hematologic and solid tumor cancers. We are leveraging our expertise in cellular reprogramming, genetic engineering, and manufacturing to develop therapies with the potential to overcome many of the challenges inherent to cell therapy and provide a significant advantage over existing cell therapy technologies. We believe our commitment to developing off-the-shelf cell therapies will expand patient access and provide an unparalleled opportunity to advance the course of cancer care. For more information on Century Therapeutics please visit http://www.centurytx.com.

Century Therapeutics Forward-Looking StatementThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of, and made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of, The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as may, might, will, should, expect, plan, aim, seek, anticipate, could, intend, target, project, contemplate, believe, estimate, predict, forecast, potential or continue or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance These risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the Risk Factors section of our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available at http://www.sec.gov. You should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

For More Information: Company: Elizabeth Krutoholow investor.relations@centurytx.comInvestors: Melissa Forst/Maghan Meyers century@argotpartners.comMedia: Joshua R. Mansbach century@argotpartners.com

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Century Therapeutics to Host Virtual Research and Development Day on June 13, 2022 - GlobeNewswire

Our senses are constantly inundating the brain with multifarious information. The brain must therefore continuously tune out distractions to focus on what matters. Understanding how organisms represent the external world internally is a key question for neuroscientists, psychologists, and computer scientists, but the strategies and efficiencies of representing the world in the brain remains understudied.

A paper published on June 6, 2022, reports a study conducted on mice that claims sensory systems compress representations of the external world in the brain while preserving information. Through modeling dopamine neuron activity and behavior during a time-restricted decision-making task, the scientists demonstrate cognitive systems in the brain compress representations if overall rewards are preserved.

The study, published in the Nature Neuroscience article titled, Efficient coding of cognitive variables underlies dopamine responses and choice behavior resulted from a collaboration of scientists from the neuroscience program at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal, the department of electrical and computer engineering at the Carnegie Mellon University, and the Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Joe Paton, PhD, director of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Research Program, is a senior author of the study [Alexandre Azinheira]Our goal was to try and understand the form of internal of cognitive representations in the brain. The world as you see it is a construction that your brain actively creates. We were trying to understand what this construction looks like and whether its form could help us to derive general principles by which the brain constructs our internal sense of the world, said co-senior author of the study, Joe Paton, PhD, director of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Research Program.

Christian Machens, PhD, head of the theoretical neuroscience lab at the Champalimaud Foundation, is a co-senior author of the study [Alexandre Azinheira].Another co-senior author of the study, Christian Machens, PhD, head of the theoretical neuroscience lab at the Champalimaud Foundation said, Compressing the representations of the external world is akin to eliminating all irrelevant information and adopting temporary tunnel vision of the situation.

The authors claim, these finding have broad implications in neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI). Paton said, While the brain has clearly evolved to process information efficiently, AI algorithms often solve problems by brute force, using lots of data and parameters. Our work provides a set of principles to guide future studies on how internal representations of the world may support intelligent behavior in the context of biology and AI.

Lead author of the study, Asma Motiwala, PhD, said, By modelling dopamine neuron activity and behavior in a time-based decision making task, we reveal signatures of a core principle that may shape internal representations for behavior and cognition.

The researchers used a task where mice had to determine whether two tones were separated by an interval longer or shorter than 1.5 seconds to receive a reward, while the activity of their dopamine neurons were recorded. Machens said, Its well known that dopamine neurons play a key role in learning the value of actions. If the animal wrongly estimated the duration of the interval on a given trial, then the activity of these neurons would produce a prediction error that should help improve performance on future trials.

Midbrain dopamine neurons act like teaching signals in AI algorithms. Studying dopamine activity therefore offers a route to uncovering principles of information representation in neural circuits.

Paton explains, Imagine you wanted to know the formation of a football team on the field, but you only had access to a video of the crowd at the stadium. Because you know that the crowd tends to look at the ball, if you track where the crowd is looking, you can infer where the players are, and thus the teams formation. Now imagine you want to know the principles that coaches use to choose formations. You might be able to show that the formations used tend to maximize goals scored in relation to goals suffered, while at the same time minimizing the distance that players need to run.

Motiwala built different computational reinforcement learning models to test which model best captured both neuronal activity and animal behavior. The models shared common principles but differed in how they represented the information. The researchers found only models that compressed task representation could account for the data.

Machens said, The brain seems to eliminate all irrelevant information. Curiously, it also apparently gets rid of some relevant information, but not enough to take a real hit on how much reward the animal collects overall. It clearly knows how to succeed in this game.

The information represented captured variables of the task and the animals actions. Previous research has focused on the features of the environment independent of the individuals behavior. But we found that only compressed representations that depended on the animals actions fully explained the data, said Motiwala. Our study is the first to show that the way representations of the external world are learnt, especially taxing ones, may be dependent on and interact in unusual ways with how animals choose to act.

The team also found that a key behavioral signature of this interaction in their model and rats wasprocrastinationof a subset of challenging decisions.Paton said, When the mice were most uncertain about the correct choice, they tended to procrastinate in making their decision, until their limited representation of the task fooled them into thinking they were more likely to get the correct answer.

Paton believes, this work that helps clarify how the brain transforms the external world into internal representations, also provides a set of principles by which AI algorithms might profitably do the same.

Motiwala said, Our work shows an important set of interactions between actions and representations that may come about only during end-to-end trainingreward-based signals. This is likely to shed light not only on understanding how these networks operate, but open new perspectives with which we understand how neural representations may be learnt by different interacting brainsystems.

In their future studies, the scientists intend to investigate the representations of cognitive variables in other areas of the brain that drive dopamine neuron activity in this timing task, and extend the computational model to incorporate additional factors.

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Tune Out and Drop In! The Brain Focuses on What Matters through Data Compression - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Dive Brief:

Though small in scope, Immatics and Editas deal adds to a flurry of recent activity involving treatments that harness gamma delta T cells, rare white blood cells with unique tumor-fighting capabilities.

Unlike the T cells used in Novartis, Gilead and Bristol Myers Squibbs treatments, gamma delta cells have elements of both innate and adaptive immunity, which could enable them to generate a broader response against cancers. These cells also have key differences that make them less likely to trigger graft-versus-host disease, give them the potential to persist in the body for years, and to recognize a range of targets.

Those traits have already prompted drugmakers including Takeda, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers and Regeneron to make investments. Clinical data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology has further elevated the profile of gamma delta cell therapy, as a treatment from Adicet Bio has shown early promise against non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Immatics has already capitalized on the momentum, turning its alliance with Bristol Myers into a new, lucrative deal. Now Immatics is bringing gene editing tools in as well.

Genetic engineering is already part of many cell therapies, as CAR-T treatments involve modifications that help T cells recognize cancer. But CRISPR and other gene editing approaches could help do more. Allogene Therapeutics, for example, uses gene editing to make changes aimed at reducing the risk of graft-versus-host disease. Nkarta and CRISPR Therapeutics plan to give treatments involving natural killer cells, which share some similarities with gamma delta T cells, more tumor-killing punch.

Immatics and Editas appear to share a similar goal, saying in a statement that they want to make gamma delta cells with enhanced tumor recognition and destruction. Those potential benefits do come with added risk, however. U.S. regulators halted testing of Allogenes programs last year to investigate whether the gene editing involved in its treatment led to a chromosomal abnormality in a treated patient. Follow-up investigation exonerated Allogenes treatment, but the setback led to a lengthy delay.

For Editas, the deal adds to multiple other partnerships involving cell therapy. The company is already working with Bayer's Bluerock Therapeutics subsidiary on natural killer cell therapies for solid tumors, and with Bristol Myers on so-called alpha-beta T cell treatments.

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Immatics and Editas join up to bring CRISPR to 'gamma delta' cell therapy - BioPharma Dive

Representative image. Photo: Amit Dave/Reuters

It is a sad irony that a country in which only 16.6% of all scientists are women also places many obstacles in their path including dismissing years of challenging work on specious charges.

The year 2012 was a good one for Manjula Maralappanavar (53), a crop-breeder at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UASD), Karnataka. After a decade of research, her dedication had paid off and she had developed a new transgenic cotton variety called event no. 78.

According to experts, An event is defined as a specific set of genes that have been placed in specific plant background material.

In simple terms, she had modified an Indian-variety cotton plant called RAH 100 by transferring a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (thus the prefix Bt). The result was that the modified plant could be used to produce varieties of Bt cotton. As such, event no. 78 could have been Indias first public-sector Bt cotton variety. But it wasnt to be.

B. thuringiensis produces an insecticidal toxin in one stage of its lifecycle. Transferring the genes responsible for this action to a plant allows the plant to produce the same toxin as well, and thus defend against certain insects without requiring synthetic insecticides.

In 2014, just as Maralappanavars research on cotton was being recognised, the UASD suddenly transferred her to the safflower unit in Annigeri, about 60 km away from the university campus. The institutions authorities said their decision was motivated only by the universitys needs but to Maralappanavar, there seemed to be more to it than met the eye. There was also a report in the national press about how the university was allegedly trying to sabotage its own researcher.

UASD did not allow Maralappanavar to continue her work on cotton even as she was harassed by the institutes top brass, she said. In 2014, she finally filed a complaint with the Karnataka state womens commission against B.M. Khadi, then director of research, and D.P. Biradar, then vice-chancellor, both of UASD. After that, the university allowed her to work for one day every week on cotton, but at the Institute of Agri-Biotechnology in UASDs biotechnology instead of in her office.1

It got worse. To Maralappanavars horror, the laboratory she had set up for her work had been dismantled. When the university had transferred her, she had been asked to hand over research materials to another scientist. Maralappanavar had refused because, she said, the cotton seeds were patentable. This scientist H.M. Vamadevaiah along with Khadi had been investigated by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) after they had claimed to have developed a new Bt cotton variety called BNBt, when tests revealed it was really the Monsanto gene MON 51.

Finally, after much effort and many petitions, UASD allowed Maralappanavar to return to her cotton research station in 2018.

Despite the tribulations Maralappanavar faced between 2014 and 2017, she persisted in her efforts to transfer the seeds of event no. 78 to the ICAR with a view to protect the results for the national cotton-breeding programme. After several follow-ups, an agreement materialised between the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), the National Institute for Plant Biotechnology (NIPB), the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and the UASD on August 18, 2017.

As part of the agreement, UASD transferred the seeds of event No. 78 to CICR, which is in Nagpur, on January 1, 2018. The CICR was to conduct biosafety research trials but it didnt. So Maralapannavar had little choice but to use the funding she had from the UASD and initiate the level 1 trial in 2019.

In January 2022, the NIPB sequenced the genome of event No. 78, and allegedly found in the subsequent computational analysis the genetic presence of a Chinese event that had not been approved for use in India. But the NIPB also wrote in its report that the event no. 78 was also present.

The presence of a Chinese event was a serious allegation and threatened Maralappanavars career, but it was also surprising. (This is a short list of transgenic crop events approved in India.)

In an online meeting on January 17, 2022 (an audio recording of which The Wire Science has accessed), NIPB scientist Rohini Sreevathsa called the presence of the alleged coexistence of event no. 78 a silver lining. Sreevathsa also said that the seed had been evaluated in 2019 itself and that evidence of the presence of the Chinese gene construct had been communicated to ICAR.

Why NIPB hadnt communicated as much to Maralappanavar as well, before 2022, remains a mystery.

In the same January 17 meeting, NIPB director A.K. Shashany can be heard directing CICR (orally) to not conduct any more research on event no. 78, due to the presence of the Chinese event.

Maralappanavar suspects foul play even as she is unable to understand how an unapproved Chinese gene could have made its way into the seed she developed. In her compliance report to ICAR, dated April 20, 2022, she had written that she had not procured the Chinese event.

The event [no. 78] had been developed with all the due permissions from regulatory bodies, as per their guidelines of collaborating with the CICR, Nagpur, and NIPB, New Delhi, under the memorandum of agreement during 2017, she told The Wire Science.

She also said she had obtained the gene construct from ICGEB, after permission from the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation, and that the Department of Biotechnology had funded her work at UASD from 2005 to 2008.

Maralappanavar also said that the NIPB report had not considered the complete results and that its conclusion ignored the existence/development of event no. 78 instead of supporting the facts and encouraging the development of a public-sector transgenic event. She added that the NIPB report also clearly referred to the presence of event no. 78 but the authorities were ignoring that.

After the NIPB sent out its report to the concerned institutions in January, R.K. Singh from ICAR emailed her on April 4 and UASD thus: As per conclusion made by director, ICAR-NIPB in the report, the UASD 78 event is showing 100% similarity with Chinese event. ICAR has called another meeting, scheduled to happen a week from today (June 16) to finalise the findings of the NIPB report.

Maralappanavar circled back to the NIPBs admission that even if its analysis had found the presence of a Chinese event, her own event was also present. She said that researchers could purify it with further research and isolate it. According to her, event no. 78 had good botanical characteristics and a higher Bt toxin expression compared to Monsantos Bollgard 2 event. She also said that various tests had confirmed the efficacy of the event.

But for her to continue her work, she will need continuous support and funding from ICAR as well as UASD. More importantly, she will also need the NIPB to revoke its decision that she shouldnt continue her research on this front. So now, she said, her prospects look bleak. She repeated that she had adhered to all the proper protocols and procedures in her research.

Two requests asking NIPB director Shashany to respond went unanswered. The then acting-director of CICR, Vijay N. Waghmare, said he couldnt talk about the event since it was unapproved. UASD M.D. Chetti didnt respond to WhatsApp messages nor did P.L. Patil, UASDs director of research.

R.K. Singh, the assistant director-general (commercial crops) at the Crop Science Division, ICAR, said he was on leave and will be back next week. This report will be updated as and when any of them responds.

This was not the first setback for Maralappanavar in her long career as a cotton scientist. She is also known for her work on brown cotton. But in spite of having published several papers and authored other research articles, and in spite of having received UASDs support in the past, the university also took away her research materials when it transferred her to the safflower unit in 2014, and didnt give them back when she rejoined cotton research in 2018.

Maralappanavar has suffered considerable mental stress through this ordeal, and it still hasnt ended. Women scientists in India have a tough time throughout the pipeline due to various barriers, including lack of family support, misogyny at the workplace and systemic biases against female researchers in promotions and academic publishing.

The resulting stress is exacerbated when women also work on vitiated topics like genetic modification where what little support is available is complemented by political considerations, commercial interests and, as in Maralappanavars case, Kafkaesque allegations.

Meena Menon is an independent journalist.

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The Weird Case of What Could've Been Our First Public-Sector Bt Cotton Variety The Wire Science - The Wire Science

The US Food and Drug Administration has been considering whether to approve a Covid-19 vaccine produced by Novavax, an American biotechnology company.

This vaccine was given approval by the European Medicines Agency in December and has already been widely used across Europe.

It was also approved by the UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, in February.

Here we consider how the Novavax vaccine works, how it compares to other vaccines and how significant it might be in the fight against Covid-19.

The Novavax vaccine is a recombinant protein-based vaccine, which means that it involves genetic engineering technology and uses cells to produce the coronavirus spike protein.

In the case of the Novavax shot, an insect virus called a baculovirus is genetically engineered with a gene for the spike protein.

This baculovirus, Novavax explains in an online briefing document, are used to infect a type of moth cells called Sf9 cells.

The baculovirus multiplies inside the moth cells and the gene for the spike protein produces a type of genetic material called mRNA.

This mRNA causes the moth cells to produce large amounts of the coronavirus spike protein.

The proteins are purified and arranged around a tiny nanoparticle, which the company says helps your immune system recognise the target spike.

Novavax mixes these with an adjuvant, a substance that stimulates the immune system, which in this case comes from tree bark.

Once a person is injected with the vaccine, the immune system reacts against the spike proteins, resulting in a response that is protective in the event that the person is infected with the coronavirus.

The longest-established form of vaccine consists of the virus in a weakened form that is usually unable to cause disease.

In rare instances, particularly in people with compromised immune systems, such vaccines have led to illness.

Valneva, a French company, has developed a Covid-19 vaccine based on the inactivated coronavirus, although this has faced regulatory hurdles.

A later development was to use dead forms of the pathogen. While the risk of causing disease is eliminated, some such vaccines have not stimulated enough of an immune response.

The virus has to be grown in culture, which is easier for some than others, said Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading, so this can act as a technical hurdle for production.

People ride a New Jersey bus after the US government announced it would no longer enforce a mask mandate on public transport. Reuters

A third type of vaccine involves genetic engineering and results in the production of proteins from the pathogen. They include the Novavax shot and are quite widespread, Prof Jones said.

There are some for influenza. The vaccine for shingles, thats a single recombinant protein. They have a very good safety record, he said.

The technology behind recombinant protein vaccines is longer established than that used in the mRNA Covid-19 injections (such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), and the viral vector vaccines (such as Oxford-AstraZeneca and Janssen or Johnson & Johnson shots).

While mRNA and viral vector vaccines use newer technology, these vaccines have been extensively tested and found to be safe, with only rare serious side effects.

With billions of doses of different types of Covid-19 vaccine already administered around the world, it raises the question of whether we need any more vaccines.

The commonsense thing is that the more options available, the better. I know the vaccine has proved safe and effective in Europe, said David Taylor, professor emeritus of pharmaceutical and public health policy at University College London.

Prof Taylor said that, theoretically, being able to identify very specific proteins that produce an immune response, as is the approach with recombinant protein vaccines, was the ideal approach, although in practice that was not always the case.

Prof Jones said the coronavirus was still circulating and continued to cause serious illness in some people, so vaccines were still needed.

He said the Novavax vaccine might be more appealing to people who had concerns about receiving some of the existing Covid-19 injections, for example because they were based on newer technology.

They may feel reassured that this version is using a technology that has been established for many other things," Prof Jones said. "There will be a class of individuals who feel happier with this form of vaccine."

Updated: June 07, 2022, 9:36 PM

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What is the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine? - The National