Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

8-Jan-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 x2156 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, January 7, 2014Packaging replacement genes in viruses is an effective method to deliver them to target tissues, but the human body mounts an immune response against the virus. The systemic and local immune reactions induced by an adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy to treat lipoprotein lipase deficiency, approved for use in Europe, does not affect the safety of gene therapy or expression of the replacement gene for at least one year after delivery, according to a study published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Human Gene Therapy website.

Valeria Ferreira and coauthors, uniQure BV and Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and University of Montreal and Chicoutimi Hospital, Quebec, Canada, evaluated measures of inflammation and adverse clinical events and the expression of a replacement lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene that was injected intramuscularly into patients with LPL deficiency. The gene was packaged in an AAV vector, as described in the article "Immune responses to intramuscular administration of alipogene tiparvovec (AAV1-LPLS447X) in a phase II clinical trial of Lipoprotein Lipase deficiency (LPLD) gene therapy."

"The clinical data published in this paper were critical to the approval of Glybera," says James Wilson, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Human Gene Therapy and Director of the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia. "Furthermore, they provide context for laboratory measurements of immune responses which apparently did not impact product performance."

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About the Journal

Human Gene Therapy, the official journal of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, British Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, French Society of Cell and Gene Therapy, German Society of Gene Therapy, and five other gene therapy societies, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online. Human Gene Therapy presents reports on the transfer and expression of genes in mammals, including humans. Related topics include improvements in vector development, delivery systems, and animal models, particularly in the areas of cancer, heart disease, viral disease, genetic disease, and neurological disease, as well as ethical, legal, and regulatory issues related to the gene transfer in humans. Its sister journals are Human Gene Therapy Methods, published bimonthly and focused on the application of gene therapy to product testing and development, and Human Gene Therapy Clinical Development, published quarterly and featuring data relevant to the regulatory review and commercial development of cell and gene therapy products. Tables of content for all three publications and a sample issue may be viewed on the Human Gene Therapy website.

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Does the body's immune response to viral vector delivery systems affect the safety or efficacy of gene therapy?

Carp species are found to live successfully in the Great Lakes, but at what price?

Blocking Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes could require an engineering marvel that rivals the reversal of the Chicago River more than a century ago, according to a new federal study that promises to reignite a fierce debate about the region's waterways.

Among the options outlined Monday by the Army Corps of Engineers to thwart the voracious fish and other invasive species from spreading is permanently separating Lake Michigan from the river and its connected waterways. Such a project would restore the once natural divide between the Great Lakes and rivers southwest of Chicago that drain into the Mississippi River.

Chicago blasted through that hydrological barrier when it dug the Sanitary and Ship Canal and Cal-Sag Channel at the turn of the last century to divert the region's sewage away from its source of drinking water. It also created a shipping link between two of the nation's major trade routes.

Separating the lake and the river again could cost more than $18 billion and take up to 25 years, the Corps' study concluded, making that option the most expensive of the eight studied. Another option, carrying a $15 billion price tag, would allow portions of the Chicago River, Sanitary and Ship Canal and Calumet River to flow into Lake Michigan.

Reflecting the development of Chicago from a swampy prairie outpost to a sprawling city, both of those options would require a multibillion investment in giant stormwater tunnels and massive flood-control reservoirs, according to the study.

Several political leaders said the potential cost and time frame could scuttle the plan before Congress considers it.

"I've seen too many of these long-term Corps projects languish for years and fall victim to congressional inaction," said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat and assistant Senate majority leader. "We can't gamble with the threat of Asian carp ... or risk severe flood damage to the Chicago metropolitan area by pursuing a risky plan at the expense of our current efforts."

A lobbyist for one of the industries that still relies on the river system was even more blunt. The study "clearly indicates that physical separation is too expensive, too slow and too uncertain to be a viable solution to the spread of invasive species," said Mark Biel, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois.

Two years in the making, the study comes amid a series of alarming findings that raise the possibility it might be too late for new federal action to stop Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes and threatening the region's $7 billion fishing industry.

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Engineering marvel may be needed to stop Asian carp

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

7-Jan-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, January 7, 2014African American men have an increased risk of prostate cancer and are two times more likely than Caucasian American men to die from the disease. Despite recent questions about the overall usefulness of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing to detect prostate cancer, should PSA screening be used to detect early-stage disease to help save lives in this at-risk population? The controversy is explored in a Review article in Journal of Men's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Men's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jomh.

In the Review "PSA Screening for the African American Male: When and Why?" Tyler Luthringer, Ilija Aleksic, Vladimir Mouraviev, and David Albala, Associated Medical Professionals of NY, PLLC, and SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, support the American Urological Association's position that early detection of prostate cancer should include multiple parameters to assess personal risk. Together with their physicians, men should decide on an individualized approach to risk assessment and screening, which may include PSA testing and digital rectal examination.

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Increased risk of prostate cancer in African American men; implications for PSA screening

A fight over whether to require genetically modified foods to be labeled in New Hampshire is coming before the House this month.

Supporters argue New Hampshire residents have a right to know whether their food is produced with genetic engineering, but critics say the federal Food and Drug Administration has not mandated the labeling because it determined the foods are safe.

The House Environment and Agriculture Committee split in its recommendation on the bill, with a majority favoring killing it. But a minority is arguing its time for states like New Hampshire to lead, regardless of the federal position on the issue.

While we have concerns about the lack of safety and health testing by parties independent of the bio-tech industry, we are not opposed to the use of (genetic engineering) technology per se. We simply feel that people should have the freedom to make their own choices about food, and since knowledge is essential to the proper exercise of that freedom, information about genetically engineered content should be available on food labels, state Rep. Peter Bixby wrote to the House.

But state Rep. Robert Haefner countered in his message to the House on the bill that a label would in effect serve as a skull and crossbones, suggesting to the consumer that there is something dangerous in the product when in fact science has shown there is not.

Haefner said the bill would be difficult and expensive for the state to enforce.

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GMO bill to go before the House this month

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Margaret Smith is a professor of plant breeding and genetics who leads a Cornell University program to help farmers and the public understand plant breeding and genetic engineering. She says the recent move by General Mills to eliminate genetically modified organisms from its Cheerios cereal might please GMO-shy consumers, but it won't alter the iconic cereals make up one bit.

Smith says:

Corn starch and sugar are highly refined products, so they contain no DNA (which is what is introduced into a genetically engineered organism) and no protein (which is what the new DNA would produce in a genetically engineered organism). Because of that, corn starch and sugar from a genetically engineered corn variety are nutritionally and chemically identical to corn starch or sugar from a non-genetically engineered variety.

This means that the new version of Cheerios that is being made without use of genetically engineered varieties will be nutritionally and chemically identical to the previous version. So it will not offer anything new to consumers other than to give them the option to buy a product that does not support planting more acres to genetically engineered crop varieties.

Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews.

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Plant Genetics Expert - in the Bowl, GMO-Free Cheerios Identical to Current Crop

Bohemia, NY (PRWEB) January 03, 2014

Colle Farmers Market, an organic food advocate, responds to an article published by Surfer Magazine on December 18th, which discusses the protests involving genetic engineering on Hawaiian soil.

According to the Surfer Magazine article titled Surfers Say No to GMOs, Hawaiian citizens and organic advocates were protesting against the genetic engineering experiments happening in Hawaii. The article says Kamehameha Schools leased 1000 acres of land to Monsanto, the company that has been performing the genetic modification experiments.

Most developed countries have banned this type of experimentation, mainly because of the potential environmental harm these experiments could have. However, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically engineered foods are still legal in the United States.

The article says, "This push came on the heels of the recently passed Kauai Bill 2491legislation requiring companies to disclose their use of GMOs, pushed through after the city council overturned the mayors veto weeks before the opening of Hawaiis legislature."

A representative from Colle Farmers Market, an organic food advocate, says if more people adopted an organic lifestyle, the amount of GMO foods will decrease. We should be eating food the way nature intended, he says. Organic food is all natural, and free from preservatives, chemicals, and pesticides. Humans were not designed to eat food made in a lab or developed with chemicals. We were made to eat fresh food. GMOs are genetically engineered organisms that are produced in a lab and have the potential to significantly harm our bodies and environment.

The Colle rep says organic food also helps to keep the soil healthy. GMOs and conventional farming can have horrible affects on the ground soil, he says. By advocating and adopting an organic lifestyle, farmers and consumers can ensure help keep the environment healthy. We applaud these Hawaiians and surfers for standing up for what they believe in and raising awareness.

Colle Farmers Market is an E-Commerce enabled farmers market community that is passionate about sustainable consumption and responsible conservation. The Colle movement is dedicated to connecting natural product vendors, organic farmers and all people who are living an organic and natural lifestyle.

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Organic Food Advocate, Colle Farmers Market, Comments on Hawaiian Surfers Protesting Genetic Engineering

One of the toughest problems facing embryonic stem cell therapy, immune rejection of transplanted cells, may have been solved, according to a UC San Diego-led research team.

The cells can be made invisible to the immune system by genetically engineering them to make two immune-suppressing molecules, according to the study. Researchers tested the approach in mice given a human immune system. Immune functioning in the rest of the animal remained active.

If the approach works in people, patients receiving transplanted tissue or organs made from embryonic stem cells wouldnt have to take harsh immune-suppressing drugs, said study leader Yang Xu, a UC San Diego professor of biology.

Human embryonic stem cells. The green markers indicate the presence of a protein expressed only in these cells. / Samantha Zeitlin, 2006 CIRM fellow

Researchers placed genes in the stem cells to produce the two molecules, called CTLA4-lg and PD-L1, naturally made in the body. The mice accepted transplants of heart and skin cells derived from the engineered stem cells. They rejected transplants derived from regular embryonic stem cells.

The study was published online Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Its findings will have to be confirmed for safety and effectiveness before human trials can be considered, which will take years.

Three scientists given the paper for comment had mixed reactions. While they praised the works scientific prowess, two said genetically engineering the transplanted cells could cause serious side effects that might preclude their use.

The researchers employed a clever strategy to use the immune systems natural regulatory systems, said Mitchell Kronenberg, president of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology.

This is an especially promising approach, because it avoids the toxic side effects of the drugs now used to suppress the rejection response, and therefore this is an important step forward in showing the feasibility of using human embryonic stem cells from unrelated donors, Kronenberg said.

More skeptical were Jeanne Loring, a stem cell researcher at The Scripps Research Institute, and Craig M. Walsh, associate director of the Institute for Immunology at UC Irvine.

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Embryonic stem cell rejection problem fixed, study says

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

2-Jan-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, January 2, 2014Minority women tend to be less aware of the increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) they face by being overweight or obese. The results of a study that compared Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women based on their knowledge of heart disease risk factors and their perceptions of their own weight is published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh.

Elsa-Grace Giardina, MD and coauthors, Columbia University Medical Center (New York, NY), report that although awareness of CVD and recognition that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the U.S has increased, knowledge of these risk factors still remains low among minority women, making prevention efforts more difficult. The authors compared how women estimate their weight and view their risk of heart disease and present their findings in the article "Cardiovascular Disease Knowledge and Weight Perception Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Women."

"Based on these findings, prevention strategies need to target CVD knowledge and awareness among overweight and obese Hispanic women," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.

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About the Journal

Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. The Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh. Journal of Women's Health is the Official Journal of the Academy of Women's Health and the Society for Women's Health Research.

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Hispanic women are less aware of weight and heart disease risk

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