Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

The European Union has the chance to shape the digital market for the better for the next generation. As digital citizens, its our responsibility to keep track of the issues that matter writes Nayef Al-Rodhan.

When the newly appointed European Commissioners officially take up their posts on 1stNovember, some very important technology policy questions will once again come into view. These are decisions that could fundamentally reshape the business models of Big Tech firms, redraw the landscape of competition and affirm Europe as the dominant global rule maker when it comes powerful tech companies and the effects they have on our politics and culture.

It indispensable that we keep checks on technological progress. Human innovation is advancing at breakneck speeds. Things we never dreamed of are becoming reality, such as synthetic biology, bioinformatics, cognitive enhancement, genetic engineering, 3D and 4D printing, Artificial intelligence, automated weapon systems, invisibility cloaks, quantum computing and even neuromorphic computing. Along with their obvious massive potential, these advancements also pose significant risks to social stability, equality, human dignity, free will, national and global security, and even to the very survival of our species.

How can we make sure that these constantly evolving technological innovations dont destroy humanity or exacerbate inequalities and privacy intrusions? Emerging technologies offer states more instruments and means for control and surveillance, often infringing on civil liberties. The balance between States need to know in the name of security and the respect for privacy must be pursued more fervently. Also non-state actors like large multi-national corporate entities that collect massive amounts of personal data, need to be better regulated.

We must balance the dizzying potentials of technological advancements with security and ethical concerns, and move from risks to regulations. This must also include mechanisms for overseeing the overseers or regulating the regulators, so it is equally important that we are aware of the powers that be when it comesto regulating the global landscape.

Their ambition must be to promote my previously published governance-based9 dignity needs which include: reason, security, human rights, accountability, transparency, justice, opportunity, innovation, and inclusiveness, and balance them with the 3 human nature attributes :emotionality, amorality and egoism without stifling innovation.

In the race to regulate Big Tech, it has in recent years become overwhelmingly clear that the first mover becomes the primary global rule maker. The group of policymakers first able to put forward a vision of regulation at global level has an evident advantage enabling them to pressure other regulatory bodies into embracing their rules, even when contrary to their domestic agendas.

With a large market of 500 million citizens, the majority of whom are comparatively wealthy on a global scale, and equipped with the ability to coordinate action on controversial issues such as privacy, competition, and digital tax, the EU has established itself as the worlds regulatory pacesetter.

In these spheres, the EU has projected itself onto the global stage with particular force in the last year and a half, by advancing its regulatory prerogatives within the agendas of international forums such as the G7 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Crucially, Brussels is emerging as the most important formulator of antitrust regulation. Earlier this year, European officials published a report which pushed for regulators to more heavily scrutinize proposed takeovers based on how companies used data.

Margrethe Vestager, the EUs highly interventionist competition commissioner, who has launched several high profile cases against Google, Amazon and Apple, has been reappointed to her role for an unprecedented second term. So the trend that has been set in motion on these issues is looking likely to continue, if not grow stronger. She has already recently warned Silicon Valley that she will move beyond fines during her second term and look at other measures to ensure a fair playing field.

Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming head of the EUs executive arm, has hinted at new laws on artificial intelligence and the use of big data within 100 days of taking office next month. She and her team are also reportedly considering creating a dedicated multibillion-euro fund to support and promote the European technology sector.

As digital consumers around the globe continue to pay closer attention to their relationships with companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple whose users number in the billions worldwide it seems inevitable that one region needs to begin taking the lead in debating and implementing appropriate forms of regulation.

Effective decision-making by the next Commission, undertaken with the aim of defending basic rights while energising digital markets through the principles of fairness and competition could have the potential to revolutionise the digital economy bringing about a world in which there are many more winners, rather than a small number of companies whose established advantages skew the market in favour of monopolies. What remains to be seen is whether these difficult but necessary questions will be tackled head on, or conveniently avoided.

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Tags: digital market, eu, europe, European Commission, European Union, featured, full-image, Nayef Al-Rodhan

Category: A Frontpage, Data, Data protection, Digital economy, Digital Single Market, Digital Society, Digital technology

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Governing the Global Commons - EU Reporter - EU Reporter

A made-in-Canada medical breakthrough that disappeared from the market because it wasn't profitable is being revived by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC).

It's the latest chapter in the saga of Glybera, the world's first approved gene therapy, which also became the world's most expensive drug after it was licensed toa Dutch company and priced at $1 million for a one-time dose.

Glybera treats arare and potentially deadly genetic disorder called lipoprotein lipase deficiency, or LPLD.Canada has the world's largest population of LPLD patients clustered in the Saguenay region of Quebec, where an ancestor with the genetic mutation settled several hundred years ago.

People with LPLD lack a critical enzyme that helps their bodies process the fat from food. There is currently no available treatment and no cure. Those with LPLDmust avoid most dietary fat to try to prevent painful and dangerous attacks of pancreatitis.

The decision to re-develop a Canadian version of Glybera is the result of a serendipitous series of events, beginning when the NRC'sdirector of research and development for translational bioscience happened to be watching CBC'sThe Nationallast November.

Dr. Danica Stanimirovic was in the process of selecting the first project for a new federally funded program aimed at bringing rare gene and cell therapies to Canadians at an affordable price. Thenshe sawCBC's feature report telling the story ofhow Glybera was pulled from the Europeanmarket after only one commercial sale. The drug was never offered for sale in Canada or the U.S.

"That really sparked some thinking," she said."We really have the abilityto advance that."

So she picked up the phone and called Dr. Michael Hayden in Vancouver.He's thescientist at the University of British Columbiaand the BC Children's Hospital whose team developed Glybera.Hayden said he was happy to get the call.

"I was thrilled because this represented a unique response to solve a big Canadian problem, particularly for families in Quebec.And I was just thrilled that we could do something as a national effort to achieve this."

The Glybera story started at UBC in the early 1990s, when Hayden and his teamdiscovered the first genetic mutations that caused LPLD. The researchers then developed a method to fix the malfunctioning gene and allow patients to live a nearly normal life.

After doing the preliminaryresearch, the Canadian discovery was licensed to a Dutch companycalled uniQure, which took Glybera through the rigorousclinical trialandapproval process.

When the treatment was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2012, it made headlines as the world's firstgene therapy the first treatment that could repair a faulty gene.

When it went on sale in Europe in 2015,Glybera quickly made headlines again, this time as the "world's most expensive drug,"priced at $1 millionfor the one-time dose.

Dr. Sander van Deventer,uniQure's chief scientific officer, told CBC News last year that the price was a business calculation based on the price of other drugs that treat rare diseases. Many of those drugs cost more than $300,000 per patient per year.Because Glybera is a one-time treatment thatkeeps working for years, the $1-million price seemed reasonable, he said.

Less than twoyears later, the drug was pulled from the market after only one commercial sale. uniQure has no plans to revive the therapy.

Although Hayden discovered the gene mutation and developed the early phase of the treatment, he had no role in the commercialization of his discovery. And that meant he also had no control over the price.

"You don't determine the outcome, you don't determine its costs," he said."I'd say what went wrong is that it was very hard to be able to make sure that this got to patients at a reasonable cost."

Stanimirovic said the fact that Canada has such a large population of LPLD patients was an important factor in deciding to give Glybera a second chance.

"This gene mutation is very prevalent in Canada compared to other places in the world," she said. "For us, it was almost calling us to do something on the manufacturing side for this particular gene therapy."

LPLD is rare, affecting one or two out of every million people around the world. But inthe Saguenay region of Quebec, where the gene mutationhas been passed down through generations,the numbers are 30 times higher.Up to one in 50 people in some communities are carrying the gene mutation. Both parents must have the mutation for a child to inherit the disease.

The ultimate goal of gene therapy is to fix a genetic problem by giving the patient a new gene. Specially engineered viruses are used to deliver therepair gene to the patient's cells. The cost of manufacturing those virusesis often cited as one reason for the high price of therapies. The need to generate pharmaceutical shareholder profits is another factor.

"[Gene therapies] areusually targeted to very smallpatient populations," Stanimirovicsaid. "It's hard to make them in a typical pharma-driven model because it drives theprice of these therapies to astronomical levels."

At its facility in Montreal, theNRChas already developed expertise in producing viral vectors thatact as the delivery system for gene therapy. Because the scientistswill be re-engineeringGlyberausing new viral vectors,and improving the therapy, any remainingpatentswill not be an obstacle,Stanimirovicsaid.

The ultimate plan is to developpublic sector manufacturing capacity to create not just an affordable version of Glybera but other gene and cell therapies as well. The total federal funding for six projects including Glyberais estimated at about $80 million over seven years.

"Our goal is to create new partnership models that will create therapies that are more accessible and more affordable," said Stanimirovic. "We hope we can do that through public partnership or public/private partnerships. So the end goal is to really, through this project, develop Canadian capacity to take on subsequent gene therapies."

Hayden called the plan a "beautiful Canadian story."

"Now we have to translate this into something that will truly be effective forpatients in a limited time frame and I'm so excited to do this."

For patients suffering from LPLD, the wait is frustrating.

Felix Lapointe, a 10-year-old from Repentigny, Que.,was fiveweeks old when his mother learned the terrible news that her son had thepotentially deadly genetic disease.

Because there is no treatment available right now, he'smanaging the disease through a strict diet to reduce the risk of dangerous pancreatic attacks. He will have to wait another five years for the first clinical trials of the re-inventedGlybera.

"We'd like it to happen tomorrow morning," said Brenda Potter, Felix's mother. "Still, we're a little used to this. We'vebeen fighting for 10 years with doors closed. The possibility that something is comingis encouraging, but yes, it's long."

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Canadian breakthrough that became the world's most expensive drug, then vanished, gets second chance - CBC.ca

Nelson-based trial resultsshowing hatchery musselscan grow up to twice as fast as those caught in the wildis expected to be worth about $200 million a year to the wider New Zealand economy.

Greenshell mussel companySPATnzreleased theresults of its multi-year breeding programme on Friday, developed in partnership with Sanford, the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Cawthron Institute.

SPATnzprogramme manager Rodney Roberts saidhis teamand all who were involvedwerethrilled with the results.

"The final results from this seven-year Primary Growth Partnership programme have exceeded all our expectations."

READ MORE:* Algal blooms in Marlborough Sounds could be an annual issue for mussel farmers * Nelson hatchery showing their mussel in spat-growing technology* Nelson mussel hatchery research bears fruit with first harvest

Growth rates for mussel spat from the hatchery were compared withthose collected in the wild from Golden Bay and Kaitaia.

Roberts said trials showed the SPATnz mussels reached market sizeat a significantly faster rate taking an average of 16.7 months to grow from seed to harvest size of around 55 grams.

In comparison,wild-caughtvarieties took28.3 months to reach weighted averages nearly a year longer.

The biggest contrast was with Kaitaia mussels, which were the main seed source for the industry. The quickest of three hatchery strains halved the growing time of Kaitaia mussels in Marlborough, which Roberts said was"a pretty incredible result".

TheSPATnzhatchery opened in 2015 at the Cawthron Aquaculture Park in Nelson New Zealand and employs 23 people.

SPATnzhas developed hatchery facilities and methods capable of producing spat for around 30,000 tonnes a year of adult mussels. Last year the industry produced a total of 90,000 tonnes of Greenshell mussels.

SPATnz

SPATnz Programme Manager Rodney Roberts, centre, with some of his Nelson-based team studying swimming Greenshell mussel larvae through a microscope.

Cawthron's MBIE-funded Cultured Shellfish programme developed the fundamentals of the selective breeding programme in anticipation of hatchery spat production.

Commercialisation of the selective breeding was then jointly funded by Sanford Ltd and MPI through the Primary Growth Partnership.MPIdirector of investment programmes StevePennosaidthe results weregreat news for the mussel sector.

The breeding programme relies on conventional selective breeding, similar to the way terrestrial farmers breed more productive sheep and cows.

Thereis nogenetic engineering involved in the selective breeding. The scientists pick the cream of the crop as parents for selective breeding so their offspring are among the best that nature provides.

The programme wasnot aiming to produce a single "super mussel" but maintaineda wide range of high performing lines to choose from.

Hatchery spat are currently growing on mussel farms in Pelorus Sound in Marlborough.

MPIdirector of investment programmes StevePennosaidthe results weregreat news for the mussel sector.

"Faster growing mussels means more of this great product will be available to consumers both in New Zealand and around the world.

"MPI is investing inSPATnzas it has the potential to be a real game-changer for New Zealand's Greenshell mussel industry, delivering benefits for mussel farmers, our economy and the environment."

Sanford chief executiveVolkerKuntzschsaidthe success ofSPATnzwasan excellent example of the benefits of innovation and collaboration.

He said wider utilisation of thespat wouldsee a potential increase in sales for the New Zealand mussel sector of $229m a year by 2026,which meant a thriving mussel industry, more regional jobs and stronger regional economies.

"With an ambitious and exciting goal from the New Zealand Government for the aquaculture sector to be worth $3 billion in annual sales by 2035, this is a great stepping stone towards that target."

SPATnz

SPATNZ operations manager Dan McCall caring for Greenshell mussel spat at the SPATnz hatchery in Nelson.

Both Kuntzschand Roberts agreedthe mussel breeding programme could helpmitigate the impact of climate change ontheaquaculture sector.

"What we have done is selectively breed by choosing some of the best mussels that nature has to offer as the parents to produce our mussel families," Roberts said.

"Careful selective breeding can help future-proof the New Zealand mussel industry against threats like ocean acidification, global warming and disease."

Roberts saidshellfish generally were"an extremely sustainable food" and that wastrue of Greenshell mussels.

"Compared to other forms of animal protein, they have an extremely light touch on the environment," he said.

As well as faster growth,SPATnzand Cawthron werefocusing on other characteristics that selective breeding couldpromote, such as better mussel condition, as well as looking at enhancing theanti-inflammatory qualities of Greenshell mussels.

Kuntzschsaidwith mussel powderand oil highly sought after on global markets, Sanford was already exploring the incredible opportunities in thenutraceuticalsmarket.

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$200 million payoff expected from SPATnz Greenshell mussel breeding trial results - Stuff.co.nz

Companies that reject shareholder primacythat prioritize the needs of society, community, consumers, and employees above shareholder valueand those that fully understand the social and environmental impacts of their entire supply chain, irrespective of product or industry, will be the ones to thrive.

Companies that reject shareholder primacythat prioritize the needs of society, community, consumers, and employees above shareholder valueand those that fully understand the social and environmental impacts of their entire supply chain, irrespective of product or industry, will be the ones to thrive.

To define the characteristics of those companies: They will demonstrate emotional intelligence, flexibility, and the ability to adapt to complex, quickly-shifting conditions, work forces, and social movements. The companies that develop innovative products and services designed to protect people from climate impacts (sea-level rise, extreme heat, disaster) will prosper as well. Examples are companies that make cooling vests for outdoor workers, police officers, and firefighters; flood-response companies; design firms that build resilient structures capable of floating or adapting to rising waters; even private extraction companies like those being used by oil and gas entities to extract personnel from harmful situations like political conflicts, violence, or natural disasters.Further, companies with a majority of women on their boards and executive teams will outperform competitors and lead in their industry. In fact, I would venture that the numbers of men will flip to a women-led majority in most everything in the next 50 years.

Finally, given the increase in both the types of risk and the size of risk exposures such as hurricane, drought, extreme heat, and floods, property and casualty industry will finally transform. Along with reinsurance companies, they will offer individual policies that pay quickly based on a metric such as wind speed or sustained temperature.

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What will the world look like in 50 years? - Quartz

People who have had their legs amputated often use prosthetics to improve mobility and independence. But 75% of those wearing such prosthetics encounter problems such as skin tears, ulceration, and blisters.

The problem is that the prosthetics rub against skin (called stump skin) unequipped to deal with rubbing or supporting too much weight. Stump skin breaks down, causing blistering and ulcers, which can lead to infection and a lot of pain. This means that many patients wearing lower prosthetic legs often find more relief from taking off their prosthetics than they do from wearing them.

To sidestep this issue, engineers from Imperial University, UK, want to re-engineer the skin where the prosthetic contacts the patient. They hope to make it more resistant to friction and rubbing by making it thickerand thus, better at bearing weight and mechanical force. The researchers want to model the new skin after the thick, tough skin from the sole of the foot as a template for sturdier stump skin.

The bottom of the foot is covered with plantar skin; this skin is unique to the soles of our feet. It is particularly thick and padded, which lets it stay intact despite having to bear so much weight and rub against shoes or the ground. Plantar skin is genetic; it does not develop as an adaptation to pressure, a la callouses.

The researchers modeled the plantar skin and found it behaves differently than regular skin under pressure. The outermost layer of sole skin, the stratum corneum, plays the largest role in protecting the skin from tears and blisters. This layer is much thicker in sole skin than other skin types.

But the thicker skin did not protect itself from ulcers. The major factor in that role was the way strong structural proteins, called keratin and collagen, are arranged. The epidermis on the sole, which is the layer beneath the stratum corneum, contains far more keratinas well as different types of keratinthan other skin, which helps the skin resist breaks and tears. And the collagen is arranged in much thicker bundles, and the collagen fibers are also thicker.

These factors make plantar skin tougher and more resistant to injury. The researchers knew their goal was to engineer skin that had thicker collagen fibers, thicker bundles of collagen, and different types of keratin.

One method of doing this might be to incorporate genetic material into the patients stump skin so it becomes thicker and changes its make-up. This might be done using sole skin-grafts.

Another method would be to alter and manipulate the genetic material in the patients stump skin to morph it into the desired characteristics. This approach relies on the physiology of skin that gives it the potential to grow in different ways. For example, doctors could inject fibroblasts, cells which trigger collagen production. This could alter the type of keratin produced, leading to thicker skin layers over time.

The third approach has researchers taking plantar skin cells into the lab and growing thick layers of them. These layers would then be grafted onto the patients stump.

This is a different approach to biomedical engineering in that most researchers try to improve the prosthetics rather than improving the interface between patient and technology.

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Toughening Skin to Withstand the Pressure of Prosthetics - Machine Design

Haven is pleased to present its fifth DIRECTORS HAVEN, the company's ever-growing initiative annually showcasing the talents of three rising directors. This season, Lauren Katz directs Caryl Churchill's ambitious surrealist work THIS IS A CHAIR; Aaron Mays helms Sonia Sanchez's lyrical drama 2 x 2; and AJ Schwartz directs Dan Giles' tender yet challenging one-act HOW YOU KISS ME IS NOT HOW I LIKE TO BE KISSED.

The three productions, which will have the support of a full production team, will run back-to-back in one program. DIRECTOR'S HAVEN 2019 will play October 14 - 30, 2019 at Haven's resident home, The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets ($10 suggested donation) are currently available at havenchi.org.

Comments Artistic Director Ian Damont Martin, "This cohort of directors is more than ready to bring their work to the Chicago community, and Haven couldn't be more excited to facilitate and support them in this fifth year of our Directors Haven program. Each of these early-career directors have interests and visions that are specific, intelligent and downright exciting. The pieces they have individually selected are glimpses of the kind of work we need to be seeing and making right now - work that asks us the difficult questions - work that makes space for the marginal and the marginalized. This is met with an articulated interest and commitment in intentional processes, which is becoming increasingly important at Haven. We are very much looking forward to bringing you this necessary work from the next generation of artists helping to find and define the future of our practice."

DIRECTORS HAVEN 2019 includes:

By Caryl Churchill

Directed by Lauren KatzMentor: Devon de Mayo

Featuring Catherine Dvorak, Tamsen Glaser, Lakecia Harris, Isaac Snyder, Julian "Joolz" Stroop and Diego Zozaya

This is a Chair is composed of a series of individual vignettes, each including a headline that is meant to be clearly displayed or stated. Each title refers to a contemporary world issue, including "The War in Bosnia," "Genetic Engineering," and "Pornography and Censorship" - titles that seemingly share no connection to the scene at hand. Caryl Churchill invites us to dig deep into our personal lives and relationships, exploring the depths of how we interact with the world around us.

By Sonia Sanchez

Directed by Aaron Mays

Mentor: Pemon Rami

Featuring Dionne Addai, Sheree Bynum, Simon Gebremedhin, Merrina Millsapp and Juwon Perry

Beverly Smith is watching her family fall apart. Her grandchildren are in need of her care while her daughter Ramona, once a fierce activist, struggles with addiction. When Beverly goes to take the kids home with her, she learns about Ramona's past passion for activism and what led to her decline. This lyrical drama set in North Philadelphia explores social activism, generational differences and the hardships facing urban black communities through the lens of a mother-daughter relationship.

By Dan Giles

Directed by AJ Schwartz

Mentor: Monty Cole

Featuring Morgan Lavenstein and Rolando Serrano

It's a love story that transcends labels. Two people meet, they fall in love, they U-Haul, life happens. A couple just like any other - well, almost. How You Kiss Me Is Not How I Like To Be Kissed innovatively addresses the urgent contemporary issue of straight representation in the arts. This groundbreaking and oh-so-needed play brings important visibility to the sorrows and joys - and even the inherent flaws - of the heterosexual lifestyle.

The production team for DIRECTORS HAVEN 2019 includes Will Tople (scenic design), Angela Mix (costume design), Sim Carpenter (lighting design), Jonesy Jones (sound design) and Emily Boyd (resident props).

The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Previews: Monday, October 14 at 7:30 pm and Tuesday, October 15 at 7:30 pm. Regular Run: Wednesday, October 16 - Wednesday, October 30, 2018. Curtain Times: Sundays at 3 pm; Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 pm. Tickets: $10 suggested donation. Tickets are currently available at havenchi.org.

About the Directors

Lauren Katz (This is a Chair) is a freelance director, dramaturg, and teaching artist. She served as the 2016-17 Artistic Apprentice at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and as a fellow in the 2018-19 Directors Inclusion Initiative at Victory Gardens. Recent directing projects include: Subjective is Beauty (Prop Thtr), Toni and Marcus: From Village Life to Urban Stress (Illinois Holocaust Museum) and Salena's Story (iO Theater). As an assistant director and dramaturg in Chicago, Lauren has worked with various companies including About Face Theatre, Firebrand Theatre, Theater Wit, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Writers Theatre and Windy City Playhouse. As a teaching artist, Lauren works with Lookingglass Theatre and Mudlark Theatre.

Aaron Mays (2 x 2) is an emerging director and playwright in Chicago with a passion for stories of the African diaspora and the narratives of marginalized voices. Aaron's most recent directing credits include Waiting for Godot (Tympanic Theatre) with an all-Latinx cast and Tug of War (CIRCA Pintig), a series of short plays on war, trauma and immigration. In addition, he has worked with Chicago's top directors, serving as the assistant director for such productions as Sweat (Goodman Theatre), Mosque Alert (Silk Road Rising), Two Trains Running (Goodman Theatre) and Seven Guitars (Court Theatre).

AJ Schwartz (How You Kissed Me is Not How I Like to be Kissed) is a director living and making art in Chicago since 2013. As a theatremaker, they aim to use performance to explore the world through a radical, iconoclastic and undeniably queer lens. Their recent credits include Mike Pence Sex Dream, Refrigerator (assistant director, First Floor Theater), This Bitter Earth (dramaturg), Time Is on Our Side (assistant director, About Face Theatre), Zurich (assistant director, Steep Theatre Co.), and The Henry V Project (director, Loyola University Chicago).

Photo Credit: Austin D. Oie

Merrina Millsapp and Sheree Bynum

Simon Gebremedhin, Dionne Addai and Juwon Perry

Merrina Millsapp

Sheree Bynum

Merrina Millsapp and Sheree Bynum

Catherine Dvorak and Isaac Snyder

LaKecia Harris, Isaac Snyder and Catherine Dvorak

LaKecia Harris and Julian "Joolz" Stroop

Isaac Snyder and Julian "Joolz" Stroop

LaKecia Harris, Tamsen Glaser and Julian "Joolz" Stroop

Rolando Serrano and Morgan Lavenstein

Morgan Lavenstein and Rolando Serrano

Morgan Lavenstein and Rolando Serrano

Rolando Serrano and Morgan Lavenstein

Morgan Lavenstein and Rolando Serrano

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Photo Flash: Haven Presents DIRECTORS HAVEN 2019 At The Den Theatre - Broadway World

Galperin and her team focus on protecting the activists, dissidents, lawyers, journalists, and civilians who find themselves in an increasingly lopsided conflict with entities that hack, surveil, and sabotage themor better yet, equipping them to protect themselves. I think that empowering people to confront power is good, she says. Thats how change happens.

In part, Galperin aims to create tools that level the playing field for surveillance victims. In its first months, for instance, the Threat Labs tiny team of three full-time staffers has been building a device to detect a common form of police surveillance: fake LTE cell towers that trick phones into connecting to them, enabling police to pinpoint the location and track the identities of protesters and other surveillance targets.

The Threat Lab also does detective work to expose perpetrators of state-sponsored surveillance. For years, even before the teams creation, Galperin and fellow EFF researcher Cooper Quintin investigated a hacking operation that planted spyware on the computers of journalists and opposition figures in Kazakhstan. Working with the mobile security firm Lookout, Galperins team found that some of the same toolsperhaps made by the same for-hire hackerswere being used in a massive campaign to spy on civilian targets in Lebanon. At one point during that investigation, the EFF had a researcher walk the streets of Beirut with a smartphone to find the Wi-Fi network theyd linked with the hackers. The researcher discovered it was emanating from inside the headquarters of the Lebanese General Security Directorate.

The EFF had a researcher walk the streets of Beirut with a smartphone to find the hackers Wi-Fi network. It was emanating from inside the headquarters of the Lebanese General Security Directorate.

Galperins own obsession is the scourge known as spouseware, or stalkerware: hidden apps installed on a smartphone by someone with physical access to the deviceoften a domestic abuserthat let them spy on the phones owner. Since early 2018, Galperin has offered her services as a kind of first responder, security consultant, and therapist for stalkerware victims.

But Galperin wasnt satisfied with the scale of that hands-on approach. So she began shaming and pressuring the antivirus industry, which has long neglected stalkerware, to take it far more seriously. Several companies have since pledged to catalog and eradicate the apps just as thoroughly as they do traditional malware. Stalkerware is considered beneath the interest of most security researchers, Galperin says. Changing norms takes time. But it starts with someone standing up and saying This is not OK, this is not acceptablethis is spying.

Galperin, who has silvery-violet hair and a cyberpunk aesthetic, got her start as a systems administrator, attending security conferences and being treated, she says, like some hackers girlfriend who looks after Solaris boxes. In 2007 she joined the EFF, where her first job was to answer the 50-plus calls and emails that came in every day from people seeking help. The organization had recently filed a lawsuit against AT&T for aiding warrantless NSA spying, and Galperin was flooded with messages from people who had been targeted for surveillance. Her desk became a kind of security crisis hotline.

According to Danny OBrien, Galperins former boss at the EFF, the experience gave her a strong sense of the victims perspectivesomething thats often overlooked by the cybersecurity research community, which tends to focus more on sexy new hacking techniques than on the people who suffer from their use. Eva isnt afraid to plot out the consequences of hackers actions, OBrien says, to stare those consequences down until the problem is solved.

Shes also good at plotting out, and maximizing, the consequences of her own actions. Galperin says she has no illusions that she or her small team alone can tip the balance of security for vulnerable people worldwide. But in line with the EFFs longtime tactic of choosing cases that can set legal precedents, she says she chooses projects that promise to have cascading effects, that will force the industry to change its priorities or inspire other researchers. You figure out the place where you need to push, she says, not just to help the people you help every day, the individuals, but to change the game. To change the system. Andy Greenberg

FOUNDER & CEO / Rigetti Computing

In 2013, Chad Rigetti became aware that the field of quantum computing was entering a kind of adolescence. Sketched out in the 1990s, the technology was supposed to leapfrog conventional computing by tapping into the weird physics of subatomic particles. For years, researchers had been held up by the devilish unreliability of qubits, the devices needed to perform quantum manipulations on data. But now, finally, they were finding new ways to tame them. It was black magic, and then a framework emerged, Rigetti says. You could start to see all the pieces coming together. Thats when he quit his job at IBM and struck out on his own. Six years later, in labs stocked with steampunky equipment and liquid helium, Rigetti Computing is manufacturing small quantum processors.

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WIRED25: Stories of People Who Are Racing to Save Us - WIRED

Gene Expression Market Size - USD 6.05 Billion in 2018, Market Growth - CAGR of 8.1%. Gene Expression industry Trends - Product launches and application of new techniques like NGS and DNA micro-arrays

NEW YORK, Oct. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the current analysis of Reports and Data, the Global Gene Expression market is expected to reach USD 11.37 billion by the year 2026, in terms of value at a CAGR of 8.1% from 2019-2026. Gene expression promises to tap into a previously unexplored segment in the vast and burgeoning genetic engineering industry. Gene expression is the process by which the genetic code - the nucleotide sequence - of a gene is used to direct protein synthesis and produce the structures of a cell. It is the process by which instructions in the DNA are converted into a functional product like protein. The commercial applications of gene expression have been studied and researched upon extensively in recent years. Many diverse and wide ranging applications have been found for this novel technique. With the increased availability and lowering costs of DNA technologies, gene expression has become a more readily used tool indispensable in drug discovery and development.

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Increase in investments in the market, which are supporting the technological advancements, and rise in healthcare expenditure are estimated to shape the growth of the gene expression market. Drug discovery & development and increase in demand for personalized medicine in chronic diseases such as cancer will be observed as the most lucrative applications for gene expression analysis in the forecast period. Application of gene expression in clinical diagnostics, on the other hand, will reflect a moderate growth throughout the analysis period. Moreover, the falling costs of sequencing have facilitated the integration of genomic sequencing into medicine. With the increased availability and lowering costs of DNA technologies, gene expression has become a more readily used tool indispensable in drug discovery and development. Many companies and educational institutions are collaborating to make gene expression publicly accessible through databases such as the Connectivity Map (CMap), Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) and the Tox 21 project.

New product development has been the consistent strategy undertaken by majority of the players to expand their product portfolio for serving a larger consumer base. For example, in September 2019, Qiagen N.V., launched the newly enhanced GeneGlobe Design & Analysis Hub, which integrates the company's manually curated knowledge base on over 10,000 biological entities with the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of tools for next-generation sequencing (NGS), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and functional analysis. Other companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific and Illumina Inc. have launched new products in the last few months which are being used in the gene expression market.

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Segments covered in the report:

For the purpose of the study, this Reports and Data has segmented the Gene Expression Market on the basis of product type, platform type, prescription mode, end user and the regional outlook

Product and Services (Revenue, USD Million; 20162026)

Capacity (Revenue, USD Million; 20162026)

Application (Revenue, USD Million; 20162026)

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Regional Outlook: (Revenue, USD Million; 20162026)

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View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gene-expression-market-to-reach-usd-11-37-billion-by-2026--reports-and-data-300937775.html

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Gene Expression Market to Reach USD 11.37 Billion by 2026 | Reports and Data - Yahoo Finance

Dutch scientists are on the verge of a breakthrough. They predict that within a decade, they will be able to create a working prototype of an artificial womb, something that could save the lives of millions of babies who die due to the premature births.

Researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology in Netherlands have been given a 2.6m grant to work on the development of a prototype for artificial wombs that could be used in clinics. Artificial wombs could help reduce complications and even save a prematurely born baby's life by acting as a replacement womb that could allow the fetus to complete full gestation period.

The external womb does so by simulating conditions naturally present withing a womb using a faux placenta that is connected to the fetus's umbilical chord.

Why is this important?

According to accepted norms, any birth that occurs before the 37th week of pregnancy is considered premature. At present, about a million babies across the world die because of premature of birth, The Guardian reported. Even the ones who survive incur a range of medical difficulties and disabilities.

As per data collected by Tommy's, a UK-based not-for profit organisation that funds prenatal and neonatal research, babies born at 22 weeks of gestation have just a 10 percent chance of surviving. However, in just two weeks of added gestation, chances of survival shoot up to 6- percent.

External, artificial wombs could be extremely useful in such cases as they could provide almost perfect natural, womb-like conditions and allow a fetus to get adequate oxygen and nutrients through the umbilical chord. Unlike current incubation methods that deliver oxygen and nutrients directly to the organs like the lungs which may not have the full capacity to handle the treatment, the newer system would allow fetuses to grow its organs under natural conditions.

Research into the idea has been ongoing. In 2017, a team of researchers from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in US successfully tested an artificial womb meant to carry premature births on a lamb feotus.

Why is it controversial?

While the implication of artificial wombs in terms of prenatal care could be miraculous, critics have already raised alarm bells over what this could mean for women's rights. Some feminist thinkers, as Professor Julien S. Murphy of the University of Southern Maine wrote in her book 'Feminist Perspectives in Medical Ethics' wrote, have raised concerns about how birthing outside of the human body, or ectogenesis, will affect the perception of women. Some even fear that deleting the need for women's bodies from the reproductive process could lead to women becoming obsolete. It would also impact abortion rights and the global women's movement to reclaim control over their bodies.

Strides in ectogenesis could also open up a minefield of political and ethical complications. While medical science is still a long way from completely growing babies from petri dishes, the possibility raises concerns about reproductive rights and genetic engineering.

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Artificial Wombs Could Help Save Millions of Premature Babies Within the Next Decade - News18

When someone has a severe burn, a protective covering needs to be temporarily grafted onto the wound site and as soon as possible. Although that covering typically consists of skin from a human cadaver, genetically-engineered live-cell pig skin has now been used on a patient for the first time.

Applied to second- and third-degree burns, sheets of human cadaveric skin also known as allografts initially help to protect wounds against infection and fluid loss, along with the potentially-lethal complications that could follow. Once the recipient has stabilized, the allograft is removed and a piece of the patient's own skin is permanently transplanted onto the wound, from another part of their body.

Unfortunately, though, allografts are often in short supply, plus they can be expensive. With that in mind, scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) developed a genetically-modified line of pigs, back in the 1990s. Those animals lack a gene that is ordinarily present in pigs but not in humans, allowing skin grafts from the pigs to appear less "foreign" to a human patient's immune system.

The technology has since been commercialized by spinoff company XenoTherapeutics, in the form of live-cell tissue grafts known as Xeno-Skin. In a recent clinical trial, MGH surgeon Jeremy Goverman used one of those "xenografts" on a human recipient for the first time.

Measuring 5 by 5 cm (2 by 2 inches), the Xeno-Skin was applied to a burn alongside a larger conventional allograft. Both were secured in place using surgical staples and gauze bandages, and then removed five days later. At that point, the two coverings were found to be "indistinguishable from each other" in appearance, having performed equally well at protecting the underlying wound by temporarily adhering to it as the patient stabilized.

A skin graft from the recipient's own thigh was then permanently applied to the wound, with healing now progressing as anticipated. Importantly, the scientists detected no transmission of porcine endogenous retroviruses, the risk of which has previously limited the viability of transplanting live tissue or organs from pigs to humans.

"This small step we took today, represents a massive number of hours spanning decades of research in a multitude of fields including transplantation biology, immunology and genetic engineering," says Goverman. "Additionally, rapid advancements in gene-editing technology open a vast new avenue for genetically modifying pig skin that isnt rejected, representing the next chapter in standards of care for burn and transplant patients alike."

Sources: Massachusetts General Hospital, XenoTherapeutics

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Live-cell pig skin successfully used to treat human burn wound - New Atlas