A large, UK-based study of genetics and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been suspended, following criticism that it failed to properly consult the autism community about the goals of the research. Concerns about the study include fears that its data could potentially be misused by other researchers seeking to ‘cure’ or eradicate ASD.
Study aimed at collecting DNA from 10,000 people with autism and their families has drawn criticism for failing to consult the autism community.
Dr. Jennifer Garrison, PhD (http://garrisonlab.com/) is Assistant Professor, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Founder & Faculty Director, Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality (https://www.buckinstitute.org/gcrle/), Assistant Professor in Residence, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, UCSF and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Gerontology, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
Dr. Garrison’s lab is interested in understanding how neuropeptides (a large class of signaling molecules which are secreted from neurons and transmit messages within the brain and across the nervous system) regulate changes in normal and aging animals as well in understanding how they control behavior at both the cell biological and neural circuit level.
Dr. Garrison received her PhD from the University of California San Francisco in Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the laboratory of Dr. Jack Taunton, where she discovered the molecular target of a natural product and elucidated a novel mechanism by which small molecules can regulate protein biogenesis. As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Cori Bargmann’s lab at the Rockefeller University, she showed that the nematode C. elegans produces a neuropeptide that is an evolutionary precursor of the mammalian peptides vasopressin and oxytocin, and mapped a neural circuit by which this molecule, nematocin, modulates mating behavior.
Dr. Garrison was named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow and received a Glenn Foundation Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging in 2,014 and a Next Generation Leader at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2015. Her work is funded by the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation.
Epic has developed technology that serves as a digital vaccination verification by binding a person’s identity with their vaccination or lab results and displaying it via QR codes on a smartphone, Wisconsin State Journal reported Sept. 27.
Epic has rolled out technology that serves as a digital vaccination verification by binding a person’s identity with their vaccination or lab results and displaying it via QR codes on a smartphone, Wisconsin State Journal reported Sept. 27.
Seven things to know:
1. The new tech is currently live for 25 million patients, and 70 million to 80 million people will have access to it by the end of 2,022 Nick Frenzer, an Epic implementation executive, told the publication.
In case this hasn’t been posted here yet.
Ageing is inevitable, but what if everything we’ve come to believe about ageing is wrong and we’re able to choose our lifespans? What if ageing is a disease?
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To treat lymphoma in dogs, veterinarians have traditionally relied on chemotherapy drugs first designed for people.
Now, the FDA has approved a medication specifically designed to treat canine cancer — and the new approach to chemo drug development might end up helping humans.
Lymphoma in dogs: Lymphoma is a cancer that starts in the cells and tissues of the lymphatic system. It’s one of the most common cancers in dogs, accounting for up to 24% of all new cases and affecting up to 70,000 pets in the U.S. annually.
The FDA has approved a medication specifically designed to treat lymphoma in dogs, potentially helping extend the lives of thousands of pets.
Pfizer is investigating an oral antiviral drug that could prevent Covid-19 infection after being exposed to the virus, the company announced Monday, as scientists around the world work to develop new tools to fight Covid-19 and ease the burden on overwhelmed hospitals.
Pfizer said it is launching a mid-to-late-stage clinical trial to test whether the antiviral drug, PF-07321332, can prevent Covid-19 infection in some 2,660 healthy adults living in the same house as someone with a confirmed symptomatic infection.
The trial will test the safety and efficacy of the pill with ritonavir, another antiviral widely used to treat HIV.
Pfizer hopes the pill, taken twice a day, would stop someone from becoming infected with Covid-19.
A DNA robot that can walk across biological cell membranes is the first one that can control living cells’ behaviour. The researchers who made the robot hope that it could improve cell-based precision medicine.
A team led by Hong-Hui Wang and Zhou Nie from Hunan University, China, has created a synthetic molecular robot that walks along the outer membrane of biological cells. The robot, powered by an enzyme’s catalytic activity, traverses across receptors that act as stepping stones on the cell surface. With each step, the robot activates a signal pathway that regulates cell migration. Driven by the robot’s movement, the cells can reach speeds of 24 μm/hour.
The researchers write that the DNA robot offers, for the first time, an opportunity to accurately and predictably control the nanoscale operations that power a live cell. They suggest that similar molecular machines that guide cell behaviours could play a role in cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine.