Category Archives: Michigan Stem Cells

Post COVID-19 Impact on 3D Cell Culture Market With the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis, the world is fighting a health pandemic as well as an economic emergency, almost impacting trillions of dollars of revenues. Research Dive group of skilled analysts provide a solution to help the companies to survive and sustain in this economic crisis. We support companies to make informed decisions based on our findings resulting from the comprehensive study by our qualified team of experts.

Our study helps to acquire the following: Long-term and short-term impact of Covid-19 on the market Cascading impact of Covid-19 on 3D Cell Culture Market, due to the impact on its extended ecosystem Understanding the market behavior Pre- and Post-COVID-19 pandemic Strategy suggestions to overcome the negative impact or turn the positive impact into an opportunity Well help you fight this crisis through our business intelligence solutions.

Pre COVID-19 Analysis of 3D Cell Culture Market

According to a study of Research Dive, global 3D Cell Culture market forecast shall cross $12,638.8 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 29.4 during forecast period.

3D Cell culture is an essential tool in clinical analysis and biological science. It has multiple applications such as in biosensors, drug screening and others. Many improvements have been made in automated high-throughput cell culture systems. Increasing demand for regenerative medicine and economic drug discovery is expected to drive the demand for the 3D cell culture market. 3D cell cultures are primarily used to observe the abnormal behavior of cells and the cell-cell interaction. Furthermore, 3D cell culture systems play a significant role in the development of precision medicine and personalized medicine. For instance, as per study of cancer researchers (University of Michigan) newly invented 3D structure could enable physicians to test medications on model tumors grown from a patients own cells. These advances are projected to boost the growth of global cell culture market. However, more complex culture system, added expenses and threats from substitutes like 2D cell cultures are projected to limit the 3D cell culture market growth.

With new advances, 3D composite scaffolds have many versatile properties. It will be tremendously useful to develop treatments for nerve disorders and spinal cord injury (SCI) by taking help of cell transplantation methodologies and biomaterials. The most remarkable advantage of 3D cell culture is, their properties can be easily adapted by modifying the structure and composition. These key factors of 3D cell culture are projected to create enormous opportunities for the growth of 3D cell culture industry.

According to Analyst Evaluation, Microchips market shall register a revenue of $2,515.5 million by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 30.1% during the forecast period; this is significantly due to new advances in 3D culture organs-on-chips. Organs-on-chips allow study of human physiology and also reveal development of novel in vitro disease models. It could provide potential replacements for animals used in toxin testing and drug development. These advancements are anticipated to grow the demand of microchips in global market, and are projected to boost the global market. Scaffold-based platforms have the largest market share and this segment will register a revenue of $3,425.1 million by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 28.4%. Scaffolds can be significantly used in drug development therapeutic or specialty areas; which is anticipated to fuel the of global market growth.

Based on applications, the market is segmented into Stem Cell research, drug discovery, cancer research, and regenerative medicine. 3D cell culture market size for cancer research will generate a revenue of $4,057.1 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 28.5% throughout the forecast period; this is majorly due to various types of cancers such as breast cancer, lung cancer and others being dominant among the population. Cancer has a pervasive prevalence across the globe, which has led to rise in demand for cancer research, which is further attributed to boost the demand for 3D cell culture market. 3D cell culture market for regenerative medicine will register a revenue of $3,690.5 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 30.1%. Many developed and developing countries such as Japan is focusing more on contract manufacturing tie-ups, and continues to be a lucrative place for biotech ventures to do business. Japan is the world leader in regenerative medical products; these key strategies of the government are anticipated to spur the growth of 3D cell culture market.

3D cell culture market for biotechnology & pharmaceutical companies will register a revenue of $5,184.4 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 28.9% during the forecast period; this is majorly due to huge developments in the laboratory, technology and operations. Furthermore, rising pressure on sales of established treatments, rapid growth of cell therapies and focus on advanced manufacturing and technologies are the factors expected to grow the market.

Heavy investments in research & development, high healthcare expenditure, and extensively increasing number of cancer cases are considered to be one of the driving factors that are booming the growth of North American market.

3D Cell Culture market share for Asia-Pacific region is expected to rise at a CAGR of 30.7% by generating a revenue of $3,020.7 million by 2026. The market growth in the region is increasing drug discovery initiatives among pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies in the region. Major economies such as India, Singapore, Japan and South Korea are emphasizing more on public sector openness to partnership with established companies. For instance, leading market players such as Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca are collaborating with Singapore partners across drug discovery.

The major 3D Cell Culture manufacturers includeQGel SA, Hrel Corporation, SynVivo, Greiner Bio-One International, Advanced BioMatrix, Lonza, Corning Incorporated, Thermo Fisher Scientific, TissUse GmbH, 3D Biotek. Players using updated technologies for their 3D Cell Culture will have good probability of having success in the rapidly blooming market. For example, Lonza has innovated the RAFT 3D Culture System that produces hepatocytes with increased stability and stronger cytochrome responses.

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Latest Update 2020: What Are the Key Players Evolving In the Growth of the 3D Cell Culture Market? - re:Jerusalem

ABC NEWS DEBUTS NEW PRIMETIME SERIES "THE CON," NARRATED BY WHOOPI GOLDBERG

Series Documents the Stories and People Behind the Most Stunning Cons

Series Premiere Examines a Love Story Gone Bad for a Television Producer and Her World-Renowned Surgeon Fianc, Wednesday, Oct. 14 (10:02-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC

ABC News will debut the new primetime series "The Con," narrated by Emmy(R), GRAMMY(R), Tony(R) and Oscar(R) winner and "The View" moderator Whoopi Goldberg, on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The series explores the troubling tales of people taken in by claims and promises that proved too good to be true, from identity fraud and misleading romance to the high-profile college admission scandal and Fyre Festival. It will reveal how the victims were fooled and the cost of their false trust - emotional and financial. "The Con" will feature interviews with the key people caught up in the cons, including victims and eyewitnesses, and, in some cases, law enforcement and the perpetrators themselves. The series will lift the curtain on the people behind some of the most outrageous cons ever. "The Con" kicks off Wednesday, Oct. 14 (10:02-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.

In the series premiere, Goldberg introduces viewers to Benita Alexander, an award-winning documentary television producer and single mother, and Paolo Macchiarini, an internationally renowned surgeon. Alexander meets Macchiarini while producing a documentary on his groundbreaking surgical techniques using stem cells in synthetic trachea transplants. Despite crossing professional lines, Alexander finds herself wooed by Macchiarini's charm, intellect and good looks, and the pair quickly falls in love. After traveling the world together, the couple gets engaged and, according to Alexander, Macchiarini tells her he wants to take over planning the wedding. It quickly becomes a grand, fairy-tale affair with an impressive guest list, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Elton John. He says they'll even be married by the pope. However, weeks before their Italian wedding, Alexander realizes things aren't as perfect as they seem and uses her investigative producer skills to uncover the truth behind Macchiarini and the planned wedding.

At around the same time, the Karolinska Institute, where Macchiarini performed some of his transplant surgeries, has been digging into allegations from Macchiarini's colleagues that he fabricated parts of his medical research. Macchiarini eventually loses his position at the institute. His groundbreaking surgeries have been under investigation by Swedish prosecutors, and just last week he was indicted on charges of aggravated assault relating to three of his surgeries. A court date has yet to be set and Macchiarini has not yet entered a plea. He has denied all of the allegations against him. The premiere episode includes interviews with Alexander, her friends, family and former co-workers.

Each week, "The Con" will document a different con and its victims. Future episodes feature the stories of Johnathan Walton and con artist Marianne Smyth, who claimed to be an Irish heiress whose family was trying to swindle her out of her massive inheritance; Anthony Gignac of Michigan, who created a false identity to deceive people into thinking he was a member of the Saudi royal family; and the story of three women who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to psychic frauds who preyed on their vulnerability and dependency.

For the series, David Sloan is senior executive producer, and Carrie Cook and Colleen Halpin serve as executive producers for ABC News. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers for IPC, along with executive producer and director Star Price. The premiere episode of "The Con" is produced by ABC News. Other episodes in the series are produced by Industrial Media's The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) for ABC News.

About ABC News

ABC News is responsible for all of The ABC Television Network's news programming, including broadcast, digital and radio. ABC's award-winning newscasts include "Good Morning America," "World News Tonight with David Muir," "Nightline," "20/20" and "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." ABC's "The View" joined the news division in 2014; and in 2018, ABC News launched 24/7 streaming news channel ABC News Live and acquired renowned data journalism organization FiveThirtyEight. NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, provides live and packaged news, sports and weather reports as well as footage of news events to over 200 ABC affiliates and more than 30 domestic and international clients. More people get their news from ABC News than from any other source.

About The Intellectual Property Corporation

Industrial Media's The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) is an Emmy-winning IP creation and production studio based in Van Nuys, California. Founded in 2016, IPC develops and produces a wide range of television, film, documentary, and interactive mobile content. The company has series in production or development with a wide range of US broadcast, cable networks, and streamers, and is well known for being awarded with two Emmy Awards and a Producers Guild Award for its series Leah Remini: Scientology & the Aftermath. IPC was acquired by Industrial Media in 2018.

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Listings - CON, THE on ABC | TheFutonCritic.com - The Futon Critic

Premiering October 14.

ABC News will debut the new primetime series "The Con," narrated by Emmy(R), GRAMMY(R), Tony(R) and Oscar(R) winner and "The View" moderator Whoopi Goldberg, on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The series explores the troubling tales of people taken in by claims and promises that proved too good to be true, from identity fraud and misleading romance to the high-profile college admission scandal and Fyre Festival. It will reveal how the victims were fooled and the cost of their false trust - emotional and financial. "The Con" will feature interviews with the key people caught up in the cons, including victims and eyewitnesses, and, in some cases, law enforcement and the perpetrators themselves. The series will lift the curtain on the people behind some of the most outrageous cons ever. "The Con" kicks off Wednesday, Oct. 14 (10:02-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.

In the series premiere, Goldberg introduces viewers to Benita Alexander, an award-winning documentary television producer and single mother, and Paolo Macchiarini, an internationally renowned surgeon. Alexander meets Macchiarini while producing a documentary on his groundbreaking surgical techniques using stem cells in synthetic trachea transplants. Despite crossing professional lines, Alexander finds herself wooed by Macchiarini's charm, intellect and good looks, and the pair quickly falls in love. After traveling the world together, the couple gets engaged and, according to Alexander, Macchiarini tells her he wants to take over planning the wedding. It quickly becomes a grand, fairy-tale affair with an impressive guest list, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Elton John. He says they'll even be married by the pope. However, weeks before their Italian wedding, Alexander realizes things aren't as perfect as they seem and uses her investigative producer skills to uncover the truth behind Macchiarini and the planned wedding.

At around the same time, the Karolinska Institute, where Macchiarini performed some of his transplant surgeries, has been digging into allegations from Macchiarini's colleagues that he fabricated parts of his medical research. Macchiarini eventually loses his position at the institute. His groundbreaking surgeries have been under investigation by Swedish prosecutors, and just last week he was indicted on charges of aggravated assault relating to three of his surgeries. A court date has yet to be set and Macchiarini has not yet entered a plea. He has denied all of the allegations against him. The premiere episode includes interviews with Alexander, her friends, family and former co-workers.

Each week, "The Con" will document a different con and its victims. Future episodes feature the stories of Johnathan Walton and con artist Marianne Smyth, who claimed to be an Irish heiress whose family was trying to swindle her out of her massive inheritance; Anthony Gignac of Michigan, who created a false identity to deceive people into thinking he was a member of the Saudi royal family; and the story of three women who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to psychic frauds who preyed on their vulnerability and dependency.

For the series, David Sloan is senior executive producer, and Carrie Cook and Colleen Halpin serve as executive producers for ABC News. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are executive producers for IPC, along with executive producer and director Star Price. The premiere episode of "The Con" is produced by ABC News. Other episodes in the series are produced by Industrial Media's The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) for ABC News.

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ABC News Debuts New Primetime Series THE CON Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg - Broadway World

Q: When can I pick my pumpkins and how do I do it right? I have a bunch of nice ones in my garden but I dont want them to rot before Halloween.

A: The longer they can remain attached to their vines the better, even if the vines are dead. But do not allow them to get frosted or frozen.

You might want to put a small piece of board or something else under each pumpkin where it is sitting. This will keep the bottoms dry and help to prevent rotting. You also dont want those attractive slugs feeding on the softened spots.

When you do harvest the pumpkins, dont try to break the pumpkins from the stems; cut them with a knife or pruners. Cut the stem several inches above the pumpkin. This is your handle. If the stem is broken off right at the pumpkin, it can begin rotting there sooner.

Once a pumpkin is removed, be careful that it does not get bruised or have the skin broken or abraded.

If the pumpkin is damp or wet, dry it off. Some people will wipe the pumpkin with a 10% bleach solution to remove bacteria. Thats one part household bleach to nine parts water. Then, dry the pumpkin. You can tip the pumpkin on its side to let the bottom dry. Store the pumpkins out of the sun but in a cool area, such as a garage or barn. Put them on newspaper or something dry. Cold concrete floors attract moisture.

If you plan to carve the pumpkins, do it right before the holiday, because carving will cause them to break down rapidly, especially if the weather is warm. Keep them from frosting, which also breaks down the cells. Small pumpkins that are not carved can be used for pumpkin pie, and the others can be composted.

Q: I just went to the sale of all sales for plants. The deals were amazing. I bought many potted perennials for a flower garden that I have yet to make. I know I wont get this area ready until next spring. But how to I keep the plants in good shape until next spring? I have gotten some advice but I dont trust how good it is. What can I do?

A: Lets start with several things that wont work.

Leaving the plants and pots sitting on top of the ground will cause big trouble. Plants go dormant when its cold enough, but the small amount of soil in the pots will freeze and thaw dozens of times over the winter. This slow-motion yo-yo behavior will kill them.

In Michigan, the goal is for plants to go dormant as the soil freezes and stay that way until spring. The soilless potting medium in the pots is porous and freezes and thaws much more rapidly than the mineral soil in the garden. Thats why its a good idea to pick away some of the soilless stuff when you plant and integrate some of your mineral soil around the plants next spring. Do it carefully and dont trash the roots on your new plant kiddies.

The soilless medium also accepts water differently. If you have heavy soil, the water remains with the porous rootball and the roots marinate in in the small swamp you created. Root rot will soon follow.

Putting plants in a dark garage is not much protection if the winter is cold, and a heated garage does not allow them to go dormant. Packing straw or leaves around the pots is one possibility, but they still can freeze and thaw just more slowly.

The best solution is to sink your pots into the ground up to their rims. Put at least 3 inches of straw or leaves over them. You can tell where they are in the spring by the protruding rims.

If you live in Critterville, you may want to put a piece of hardware screening over the tops of the straw and weigh down the corners and sides. Hardware screening has smaller holes than chicken wire and will keep dinkies like voles out.

Questions? MSU Master Gardener Hotline 888-6783464. Gretchen Voyle is an MSU extension horticulture educator, retired.

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HOME GROWN: Pumpkins best left on the vine for as long as possible - The Oakland Press

Thomas Shulick prayed inside a church at the end of July at the Muskegon Correctional Facility in Michigan. He had regularly attended services since joining a faith-based dormitory at the prison for inmates within a few years of their release date. Men from the prisons other units were also in attendance, all wearing face masks.

Shulick wasnt concerned about becoming infected by the coronavirus that morning. The Muskegon prison, which has 1,319 beds set up mostly in two-man cells, had remained unscathed by the pandemic, recording zero infections even as the virus ripped through the states prison system earlier in the year. More than 5,000 prisoners at other facilities had been infected, and 68 had died.

We had dodged it so long, and out of a general trust for the administration, I assumed it was safe to go to these programs, Shulick told The Intercept. But unbeknownst to him, the virus was quietly spreading at Muskegon, which would soon become the site of the states worst prison outbreak.

On July 31, after several weeks with no reported new infections across the entire prison system, the Michigan Department of Corrections reported six positive Covid-19 cases at Muskegon. The prison then commenced testing everyone at the facility, sending the number of cases skyrocketing. By late September, 997 prisoners more than 75 percent of those in custody had tested positive for the virus, in addition to 27 staff members.

The Intercept spoke with Shulick and two other men at the prison, and collected the accounts of two others. They describe a situation in which the Michigan DOC exacerbated the incipient outbreak from the start, by shuffling prisoners between units in a haphazard attempt to separate the confirmed infected from both the uninfected and possibly infected.

I feel like this prison had plenty of time to learn from the mistakes of other prisons.

The institutional errors they cite include the frequent mixing of potentially infected and uninfected prisoners; inadequate sanitation of prison cells between occupants; and at least one improper transfer of a person who was not known to be infected to a unit full of infected prisoners.

That person, Ruben Jordan, tested positive for the virus within days and died two weeks later at a local hospital. His was the first Covid-19 death of a Michigan prisoner since June 2, and the 69th overall. The Michigan DOC confirmed that Jordan, who also worked as a groundskeeper at the prison, had been inadvertently moved to the unit for infected prisoners after his roommate tested positive, then sent back to his original unit the same day potentially carrying the virus with him. Three others who had originally been incarcerated at Muskegon died from the virus in September.

Advocates say that in addition to incompetence by prison staff, the states severely overcrowded prison system added to the difficulty of separating prisoners in time to stem the outbreak. And prisoners say these institutional flubs were aided by some correction officers callous disregard for their lives.

In response to questions from The Intercept, Michigan DOC spokesperson Chris Gautz said the prison couldnt verify the source of the outbreak. But because visitors have not been allowed into the prisons since early March and transfers have been rare, it likely came from prison staff, who Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon called the principal vector for Covid-19 to enter a prison facility. On August 22, well into the outbreak, Gordon issued an executive order mandating that all staff working at facilities with an infected prisoner be tested each week.

Staff at Muskegon werent tested for the virus until August 25.

By the time officials there discovered the outbreak, there were so many positive cases that the DOCs Correctional Facilities Administration deputy director, Ken McKee, decided to quarantine entire units at the prison based on three designations: confirmed infected, confirmed uninfected, and potentially infected (prisoners whod had close contact with confirmed infected). A Michigan DOC flow chart indicates that infected prisoners are normally transferred to one of several designated facilities, but officials did not follow this protocol at Muskegon because the outbreak was so widespread.

Prisoners who spoke with The Intercept believe that rather than contain the virus, officials actions contributed to its spread. In a handwritten letter obtained by The Intercept, one prisoner who had not tested positive for the virus said that he and dozens of others were forced to move from a unit with only two confirmed cases to a unit with more than 50 confirmed cases. The prisoner was transferred to a cell where sick prisoners had been staying less than 24 hours before, he said.

The majority of rooms we were moved to had positive case people moved out of it the same day, without sanitation of rooms until we were forced to move in, wrote the prisoner, who did not want his name published for fear of retribution. He wrote that he was provided with rubber gloves and bleach to clean the cell himself a task normally relegated to cleaning staff.

According to Michigan DOC protocol, officials are recommended to close off areas used by ill prisoners and wait up to 24 hours before cleaning and disinfection.

Gautz, the spokesperson, confirmed to The Intercept that some units were not properly cleaned but noted that the issue was promptly addressed to ensure it would not happen again.

A week after he was moved, the prisoner who wrote the letter tested positive for the virus.

Another prisoner who spoke with The Intercept, Larry Cowan, said that he was moved to a new unit in early August after being informed that he had come into close contact with somebody who tested positive. But rather than being isolated, he was moved to a cell with a bunkmate in a unit with infected prisoners.

They said we could only shower every other day, Cowan said. They were treating us like were in the hole or did something wrong.

Then, he said, prison officials started bringing him back and forth between two units at the prison until he was finally kept in his original unit, which by then had been designated for infected prisoners. Cowan had also tested positive by that point, 10 days after his initial move. For at least one night, the unit was kept on lockdown for 18 hours, and prisoners couldnt leave their cells even to use the bathroom.

Sick prisoners were beating on their doors to use the bathroom, Cowan recalled. They eventually resorted to urinating and defecating in trash bags. They didnt tell us why we were being locked down.

Theres a feeling among prisoners that the strategy is now just to let it run its course or maybe even help it along.

Another prisoner at Muskegon, who preferred to use the pseudonym Adam, was transferred out of his unit after his bunkmate tested positive for the virus. When Adam spoke to The Intercept, he was being held at a unit for those suspected of coming into contact with the virus, where prisoners were free to move around in common areas.

Every time they bring new people in, they are exposing potentially infected prisoners to whole new groups of people, he complained. They sent me over here and gave me another bunkmate, so now Im being exposed to this guy and everyone this guy was exposed to.

Shulick, the prisoner whod been at church in late July, was at first moved inexplicably from his unit to another one with his bunkmate. After that bunkmate tested positive for the virus, Shulick was moved again, this time to the same close contact unit as Adam. He hasnt tested positive but fears its inevitable.

I feel like this prison had plenty of time to learn from the mistakes of other prisons, he told The Intercept. He says that one guard told him that prisoners in his current unit should hurry up and test positive so the prison could resume normal operations without the constant transfers.

Adam echoed this perspective.

Theres a feeling among prisoners that the strategy is now just to let it run its course or maybe even help it along, he stated.

The problems at Muskegon were part of a broader year of mishaps by the Michigan DOC to properly handle the pandemic in its facilities.

In April, people incarcerated at four Michigan prisons hardest hit by the virus filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that the DOC neglected to move infected prisoners out of their cells, electing instead to quarantine entire units with both infected and non-infected prisoners.

Prisoners also alleged that officers did not change their clothing in between visits to infected and non-infected units; that they did not make cleaning supplies readily available; and that they did not properly sanitize nurses offices.

In June, officials mixed up more than 100 coronavirus test results at the Macomb Correctional Facility, leading them to house infected and non-infected people together in the same units. Several people in custody at the Michigan Reformatory prison facility also reported to The Intercept that the DOC lost track of their tests results, though this doesnt appear to have seeded an outbreak.

Daniel Manville, the lead lawyer suing the Michigan DOC, said hes heard a number of times that prison officials at other facilities moved prisoners around in a similar fashion as at Muskegon.

It doesnt make any sense, because Covid-19 is in the air, its on the beds, its on whatever [in] the housing unit, Manville said.

One place where Manville, people in custody, and the Michigan DOC agree is that the prison systems extreme overcrowding makes it impossible to effectively separate prisoners or practice social distancing. Several factors have contributed to this problem.

The state passed a truth-in-sentencing law in 1998 that mandated people serve their full minimum prison sentence, greatly reducing the number who could be eligible for early release. According to the Michigan DOC, few of its 37,000-plus prisoners are parole-eligible; 4,797 people since March have been released on parole. A lawsuit that aimed to put the repeal of truth-in-sentencing to a ballot vote in November was dismissed by a federal judge in June.

Relief for prisoners at Muskegon and elsewhere in Michigan is not likely to come any time soon.

Manvilles lawsuit stalled after an injunction approved by a U.S. district judge was stayed by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The stay was prompted after another appeals court denied relief in a similar lawsuit against the federal Bureau of Prisons.

And Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has the power to release prisoners via executive order, has declined to do so and shown no indication of changing her mind.

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Official Missteps in Michigan's Worst Covid Prison Outbreak - The Intercept

Many Americans, and indeed people all over the world, were outraged when reports surfaced this past summer that President Trump had once dismissed the dead from one of World War Is iconic battles, The Battle of Belleau Wood, as suckers and losers. Amputees should be excluded from parades because nobody wants to see them, the article also reports he had said.

The president denied these claims, but the outcry highlighted the high regard in which the American public holds veterans; although the country is sharply divided politically, it is united by the pride and respect the people hold for those brave enough to risk life and limb for their country.

The number of injured soldiers returning home alive has risen from 75% to 92% since the Vietnam War, but combat takes a toll on the survivors. Its estimated that one in every 10 veterans alive today was injured seriously while serving. And, for many, the nature of the injury makes treatment very difficult. Soldiers can find themselves returning home with severe burns, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, blindness, deafness, brain injuries and loss of limbs, as well as psychological trauma, some linked directly to physical injuries.

The most significant development in recent years for severely maimed veterans and other victims of physical injuries is the acceleration of whats known as regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine was first defined in 1999 and it encompasses many disciplines of science. Its goal is to provide clinicians with the tools to effectively repair or replace a patients damaged tissues and organs in order to return normal function.

The technology really emerged into the public consciousness in the 2000s because of the Iraq war and, since then, great strides have been made in applying it to treating many different healthcare issues. So, what about the specifics? What are the most promising breakthroughs in recent years?

Some of the most challenging war-related injuries involve bones. Severe burns, spinal cord injuries, blast injuries, traumatic brain injuriesthese seemingly disparate traumas can each lead to a painful complication during the healing process called heterotopic ossification (HO).

A team at Michigan Medicines Department of Surgery is focusing its research on how the healing process often goes awry. The problem often emerges at limb amputation sites. Weeks after surgery or injury, abnormal bones often form within soft tissues like muscleplaces where theyre not supposed to be, causing the patient agonizing pain.

Theres no way to prevent it and once its formed, theres no way to reverse it, said Benjamin Levi, M.D, co-head of the research team at the Center for Basic and Translational Research at Michigan Medicines Department of Surgery.

There may be a solution thanks to a collaborative study between Levi and a research group led by Stephen Kunkel, Ph.D. at Michigans Department of Pathology. It had been theorized that HO could be linked to inflammation at the site of injury or surgery. The researchers built on this theory by studying the cells that are present at the early stages of HO.

Working with mice, they have been able to identify a specific protein that is responsible for sending the signals that trigger stem cells within the bone to start this process of uncontrolled tissue growth. By targeting this protein and stopping its action, it could be possible to stop the process in the first place. This would improve the quality of life for many injured veterans.

Treating HO is very much a case of prevention being better than cure. Progressing this discovery into a therapeutic setting could eventually provide doctors with a mechanism to stop HO before it has a chance to develop. It would be a game changer for many veterans who would otherwise be left with this agonizing condition.

Severe blast injuries and bullet traumas also leave many veterans needing implants or prosthetics to replace bone that has been lost to severe injury. If you break a leg, a doctor will put it in a cast and allow the natural healing process to occur. If its a severe break, you may need surgery. But when a soldiers bone is ripped apart by a gunshot or a blast, the damage to the network of cells within the bone is so severe that it often cannot heal on its own.

Regenerative medicine may provide a solution. After leaving the US Army more than 20 years ago, solider Luis Alvarez founded a firm at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that developed a paint derived from key proteins that can trigger bone regeneration. The inspiration behind Alvarezs innovation?

During my time in Iraq, I witnessed service members who suffered traumatic injuries undergo amputations weeks or months after the initial wound, because there was no reliable method for regenerating the bone.

The technology developed by his company allows doctors to coat implants with specific proteins, allowing them to trigger regeneration, thus aiding recovery of the damaged tissue. They are making great progress and looking to have something ready for doctors to use in clinics by 2021. Its an inspiring story. The company is rolling out multiple therapies heading into clinical trials over the next two years.

The military is also starting to invest heavily in one of the most exciting avenues of regenerative medicine to help veterans replace lost tissue. Bioprinting uses human cells mixed with specially designed bioinks to 3D print tissue-like structures for the purpose of regenerating damaged body parts. Using bioprinting, scientists can build replacement grafts using a patients own stem cells, thus removing the issues associated with transplant rejection. The technology is still in its infancy but, thanks to recent military investment, scientists are now applying bioprinting to the generation of skin grafts to treat the severe burns that many veterans are afflicted with.

Treating severe burns is an incredibly difficult process and many rarely heal completely. Patients can be left with extreme scarring, tight and itchy skin and disfigurement. When the skin is severely burned the body focuses on preventing infection by closing the wound as quickly as possible. New skin is generated but the structure is vastly different to normal tissue.

A 5-year research project led by Prof Jeff Biernaskie at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine has made a big step forward.

What weve shown is that you can alter the wound environment with drugs, or modify the genetics of these progenitor cells directly, and both are sufficient to change their behaviour during wound healing. And that can have really quite impressive effects on healing that includes regeneration of new hair follicles, glands and fat within the wounded skin.

This research could lead to new drugs that greatly improve the healing process.

It is clear from the number of veterans currently coping with a compromised quality of life that we need to do more to treat their injuries. It is estimated that the number of veterans currently living with these life changing injuries is in the millions and their healthcare needs come at an immense economic cost. Fortunately, there is now a much stronger horse in the race to a cure.

Regenerative medicine was estimated to draw nearly $15 billion in investments in 2017. That figure is predicted to rise to in excess of $79 billion by 2026. Those are serious resources, providing hope that our veterans will benefit in the decade ahead.

Sam Moxon has a PhD in regenerative medicine and is currently involved in dementia research. He is a freelance writer with an interest in the development of new technologies to diagnose and treat degenerative diseases. Follow him on Twitter@DrSamMoxon

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Regenerative medicine and war: The next breakthrough in treating injured veterans? - Genetic Literacy Project

Chicago, United States: The report on Global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Market provides the complete overview of the several key segments of the market. Report provides accurate calculation and qualitative analysis. Report gives the in depth analysis on various factors, for example market size, segmentations, competitive landscapes, geographical regions and end users. Regional analysis provides a systematic knowledge about the opportunities in business, market status & forecast, possibility of generating revenue, regional market by different end users as well as types and future forecast of upcoming years. The report entitled Global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Market 2020 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2026 released by Report Hive Research comprises an assessment of the market which provides the real-time market scenario and its projections during 2020 to 2026 time-period [5 Years Forecast].

The report offers an understanding of the demographic changes that took place in recent years. The report presents an analysis of market size, share, growth, trends, statistical and comprehensive facts of the global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) market. This research study presents informative information and in-depth evaluation of the market and its segments based totally on technology, geography, region, and applications.

>>>>The study encompasses profiles of major companies operating in the global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Market. Key players profiled in the report include: Kite Pharma Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, PromoCell, CellGenix Technologie Transfer GmbH, Cesca Therapeutics Inc., R&D Systems, Genlantis, Lonza Group Ltd., TiGenix N.V., ScienCell Research Laboratories, China Cord Blood Corporation, Vcanbio, Boyalife, Beike Biotechnology

Drivers And Risks:

The report covers the basic dynamics of the global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) market. It scrutinizes several data and figures, and numerous volume trends. A number of potential growth factors, risks, restraints, challenges, market developments, opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses have been highlighted. Another factor affecting market growth has also been included in the report.

Global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs)Market by Type:-

Leukocyte, Lymphocytes, Red Blood Cells, Platelets

Global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Market by Application:-

Blood System Diseases, Autoimmune Diseases, Others

Regional Analysis:

The report comprises of regional development status, covering all the major regions of the world. This regional status shows the size (in terms of value and volume), and price data for the global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) market. The development of the industry is assessed with information on the current status of the industry in various regions. Data type assessed concerning various regions includes capacity, production, market share, price, revenue, cost, gross, gross margin, growth rate, consumption, import, export, etc.

Regional coverage: North America (United States, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.), Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)

The key questions answered in the report:

* What will be the market size and growth rate in the forecast year?

* What are the key factors driving the Global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Market?

* What are the risks and challenges in front of the market?

* Who are the key vendors in the Global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Market?

* What are the trending factors influencing the market shares?

* What are the key outcomes of Porters five forces model?

* Which are the global opportunities for expanding the Global Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Market?

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* This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics

* It provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth

* It provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow

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Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) Market Primary Research, Secondary Research, Product Research, Trends And Forecast By 2026- Kite Pharma Inc., Thermo...

Differences in biological sex can dictate lifelong disease patterns, says a new study by Michigan State University researchers that links connections between specific hormones present before and after birth with immune response and lifelong immunological disease development.

Published in the most recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study answers questions about why females are at increased risk for common diseases that involve or target the immune system like asthma, allergies, migraines and irritable bowel syndrome. The findings by Adam Moeser, Emily Mackey and Cynthia Jordan also open the door for new therapies and preventatives

This research shows that its our perinatal hormones, not our adult sex hormones, that have a greater influence on our risk of developing mast cell-associated disorders throughout the lifespan, says Moeser, Matilda R. Wilson Endowed Chair, professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and the studys principle investigator. A better understanding of how perinatal sex hormones shape lifelong mast cell activity could lead to sex-specific preventatives and therapies for mast cell-associated diseases.

Mast cells are white blood cells that play beneficial roles in the body. They orchestrate the first line of defense against infections and toxin exposure and play an important role in wound healing, according to the study, Perinatal Androgens Organize Sex Differences in Mast Cells and Attenuate Anaphylaxis Severity into Adulthood.

However, when mast cells become overreactive, they can initiate chronic inflammatory diseases and, in certain cases, death. Moesers prior research linked psychological stress to a specific mast cell receptor and overreactive immune responses.

Moeser also previously discovered sex differences in mast cells. Female mast cells store and release more inflammatory substances like proteases, histamine and serotonin, compared with males. Thus, female mast cells are more likely than male mast cells to kick-start aggressive immune responses. While this may offer females the upper hand in surviving infections, it also can put females at higher risk for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

IBS is an example of this, says Mackey, whose doctoral research is part of this new publication.

While approximately 25% of the U.S. population is affected by IBS, women are up to four times more likely to develop this disease than men.

Moeser, Mackey and Jordans latest research explains why these sex-biased disease patterns are observed in both adults and prepubertal children. They found that lower levels of serum histamine and less-severe anaphylactic responses occur in males because of their naturally higher levels of perinatal androgens, which are specific sex hormones present shortly before and after birth.

Mast cells are created from stem cells in our bone marrow, Moeser said. High levels of perinatal androgens program the mast cell stem cells to house and release lower levels of inflammatory substances, resulting in a significantly reduced severity of anaphylactic responses in male newborns and adults.

We then confirmed that the androgens played a role by studying males who lack functional androgen receptors, says Jordan, professor of Neuroscience and an expert in the biology of sex differences.

While high perinatal androgen levels are specific to males, the researchers found that while in utero, females exposed to male levels of perinatal androgens develop mast cells that behave more like those of males.

For these females, exposure to the perinatal androgens reduced their histamine levels and they also exhibited less-severe anaphylactic responses as adults, says Mackey, who is currently a veterinary medical student at North Carolina State University.

In addition to paving the way for improved and potentially novel therapies for sex-biased immunological and other diseases, future research based will help researchers understand how physiological and environmental factors that occur early in life can shape lifetime disease risk, particularly mast cell-mediated disease patterns.

While biological sex and adult sex hormones are known to have a major influence on immunological diseases between the sexes, were learning that the hormones that we are exposed to in utero may play a larger role in determining sex differences in mast cell-associated disease risk, both as adults and as children, Moeser said.

For more information on Moesers research, go to the Gastrointestinal Stress Biology Laboratory. Also, visit the MSU College of Veterinary Medicines website for more about its research efforts.

(Note for media: Please include the following link to the study in all online media coverage: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/09/10/1915075117)

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New research connects the hormones we're born with to lifetime risk for immunological diseases - MSUToday

Despite the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic, 10 new faculty members have joined MIT in the departments of Biology; Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences; Mathematics; and Physics. The School of Science welcomes these new faculty, most of whom began their appointment July 1, amidst efforts to update education and research plans for the fall semester. They bring exciting and valuable new areas of strength and expertise to the Institute.

Camilla Cattania is an earthquake scientist. She uses continuum mechanics, numerical simulations, and statistics to study fault mechanics and earthquake physics at different scales, from small repeating events to fault interaction on regional and global scales. The models she has developed can help forecast earthquake sequences caused by seismic or aseismic events, such as aftershocks and swarms induced by forcing mechanisms like magma moving under the Earths surface. She has also developed theoretical models to explain why certain faults rupture in predictable patterns while others do not. Cattanias research plans include widening her focus to other tectonic settings and geometrically complex fault structures.

Cattania earned her bachelors and masters degrees from Cambridge University in experimental and theoretical physics in 2011, after which she completed a PhD in Germany at the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences and the University of Potsdam in 2015. Subsequently, she spent a few months as a researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and as a postdoc at Stanford University and her doctoral institution. She joins the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences as an assistant professor.

Richard Fletcher researches quantum physics using atomic vapors one-millionth the density of air and one-millionth the temperature of deep space. By manipulating the gas with intricately sculpted laser beams and magnetic fields, he can engineer custom-made quantum worlds, which provide both a powerful test bed for theory and a wonderful playground for discovering new phenomena. The goal is to understand how interesting collective behaviors emerge from the underlying microscopic complexity of many interacting particles. Fletchers interests include superfluidity in two-dimensional gases, methods to probe the correlations between individual atoms, and how the interplay of interactions and magnetic fields leads to novel physics.

Fletcher is a graduate of Cambridge University, where he completed his bachelor's in 2010. Before returning to Cambridge University to earn his PhD in 2015, he was a research fellow at Harvard University. He originally came to MIT as a postdoc in 2016 and now joins the Department of Physics as an assistant professor. Fletcher is a member of the MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms.

William Frank investigates deformation of the Earths crust. He combines seismology and geodesy to explore the physical mechanisms that control the broad continuum of rupture modes and fault instabilities within the Earth. His research has illuminated the cascading rupture dynamics of slow fault slip and how the aftershocks that follow a large earthquake can reveal the underlying behavior of the host fault. Frank considers shallow shifts that cause earthquakes down to deep creep that is all-but-invisible at the surface. His insights work to improve estimates of seismic hazards induced by tectonic dynamics, volcanic processes, and human activity, which can then inform risk prediction and mitigation.

Frank holds a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan in earth systems science, which he received in 2009. The Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris awarded him a masters degree in geophysics in 2011 and a PhD in 2014. He first joined MIT as a postdoc in 2015 before moving to the University of Southern California as an assistant professor in 2018. He now returns as an assistant professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

Ronald Fernando Garcia Ruizadvances research on fundamental physics and nuclear structure largely through the development of novel laser spectroscopy techniques. He investigates the properties of subatomic particles using atoms and molecules made up of short-lived radioactive nuclei. Garcia Ruizs experimental work provides unique information about the fundamental forces of nature and offers new opportunities in the search beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. His previous research at CERN focused on the study of the emergence of nuclear phenomena and the properties of nuclear matter at the limits of existence.

Garcia Ruizs bachelors degree in physics was achieved in 2009 at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. After earning a masters in physics in 2011 at Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, he completed a doctoral degree in radiation and nuclear physics at KU Leuven in 2015. Prior to joining MIT, he was first a research associate at the University of Manchester from 2016-17 and then a research fellow at CERN. Garcia Ruiz has now joined the Department of Physics as an assistant professor. He began his appointment Jan. 1. He is also affiliated with the Laboratory for Nuclear Science.

Ruth Lehmann studies germ cells. The only cells in the body capable of producing an entire organism on their own, germ cells pass genomic information from one generation to the next via egg cells. By analyzing the organization of their informational material as well as the mechanics they regulate, such as the production of eggs and sperm, Lehmann hopes to expose germ cells unique ability to enable procreation. Her work in cellular and developmental biology is renowned for identifying how germ cells migrate and lead to the continuation of life. An advocate for fundamental research in science, Lehmann studies fruit flies as a model to unveil vital aspects of early embryonic development that have important implications for stem cell research, lipid biology, and DNA repair.

Lehmann earned her bachelors degree in biology from the University of Tubingen in Germany. She took an interlude from her education to carry out research at the University of Washington in the United States before returning to Germany. There, she earned a masters equivalent from the University of Freiburg and a PhD from the University of Tubingen. Lehmann was subsequently a postdoc at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the UK, after which she joined MIT. A faculty member and Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research member from 1988 to 1996, she now returns after 23 years at New York University. Lehmann joins as a full professor in the Department of Biology and is the new director of the Whitehead Institute forBiomedical Research.

As an astrochemist, Brett McGuire is interested in the chemical origins of life and its evolution. He combines physical chemistry experiments and analyses with molecular spectroscopy in a lab, the results of which he then compares against astrophysics observation. His work ties together questions about the formation of planets and a planets ability to host and create life. McGuire does this by investigating the generation, presence, and fate of new molecules in space, which is vast and mostly empty, providing unique physical challenges on top of chemical specifications that can impact molecular formation. He has discovered several complex molecules already, including benzonitrile, a marker of carbon-based reactions occurring in an interstellar medium.

McGuires BS degree was awarded by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009. He completed a masters in physical chemistry in 2011 at Emory University and a PhD in 2015 at Caltech. He then pursued a postdoc at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He joins the Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor.

Dor Minzer works in the fields of mathematics and theoretical computer science. His interests revolve around computational complexity theory, or more explicitly probabilistically checkable proofs, Boolean function analysis, and combinatorics. With collaborators, he has proved the 2-to-2 Games Conjecture, a central problem in complexity theory closely related to the Unique-Games Conjecture. This work significantly advances our understanding of approximation problems and, in particular, our ability to draw the border between computationally feasible and infeasible approximation problems.

Minzer is not new to online education. After earning his bachelors degree in mathematics in 2014 and a PhD in 2018, both from Tel-Aviv University, he became a postdoc at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He joins the Department of Mathematics as an assistant professor.

Lisa Piccirillo is a mathematician specializing in the study of three- and four-dimensional spaces. Her work in four-manifold topology has surprising applications to the study of mathematical knots. Perhaps most notably, Piccirillo proved that the Conway knot is not "slice." For all other small knots, "sliceness" is readily determined, but this particular knot had remained a mystery since John Conway presented it in the mid-1900s. After hearing about the problem at a conference, Piccirillo took only a week to formulate a proof. She is broadly interested in low-dimensional topology and knot theory, and employs constructive techniques in four-manifolds.

Piccirillo earned her BS in mathematics in 2013 from Boston College. Her PhD in mathematics was earned from the University of Texas at Austin in 2019, and from 2019-20 she was a postdoc at Brandeis University. She joins the Department of Mathematics as an assistant professor.

Jonathan Weissmans research interest is protein folding and structure, an integral function of life. His purview encompasses the expression of human genes and the lineage of cells, as well as protein misfolding, which can cause diseases and other physiological issues. He has made discoveries surrounding protein folding mechanisms, the development of CRISPR gene-editing tools, and other new therapeutics and drugs, and in the process generated innovative experimental and analytical methods and technologies. One of his novel methods is the ribosome profiling approach, which allows researchers to observe in vivo molecular translation, the process by which a protein is created according to code provided by RNA, a major advancement for health care.

Weissman earned a bachelors degree in physics from Harvard University in 1998 and a PhD from MIT in 1993. After completing his doctoral degree, he left MIT to become a postdoc at Yale University for three years, and then a faculty member at the University of California at San Francisco in 1996. He returns to MIT to join the Department of Biology as a full professor and a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

Yukiko Yamashita, a stem cell biologist, delves into the origins of multicellular organisms, asking questions about how genetic information is passed from one generation to the next, essentially in perpetuity, via germ cells (eggs and sperm), and how a single cell (fertilized egg) becomes an organism containing many different types of cells. The results of her work on stem cell division and gene transmission has implications for medicine and long-term human health. Using fruit flies as a model in the lab, she has revealed new areas of knowledge. For example, Yamashita has identified the mechanisms that enable a stem cell to produce two daughter cells with distinct fates, one a stem cell and one a differentiating cell, as well as the functions of satellite DNA, which she found to be crucial, unlike the waste they were previously thought to be.

Yamashita received her bachelors degree in biology in 1994 and her PhD in biophysics in 1999, both from Kyoto University. After being a postdoc at Stanford University for five years, she was appointed a faculty member at the University of Michigan in 2007. She joined the Department of Biology as a full professor with a July 1 start. She also became a member of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research and is a standing investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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School of Science grows by 10 - MIT News

There is no silver bullet at the moment, and there might never be, said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom at a virtual press conference at the beginning of August. While it was this bleak sound bite that made the headlines, Tedros also had words of praise for the progress made towards identifying treatments that aid the recovery of COVID-19 patients with the most serious forms of the disease.Research towards treatments for COVID-19 has been developing at a phenomenal speed, even though it feels as though solutions cant come soon enough; the widespread transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has had significant health, economic and social impacts across the globe, and as of September 8th more than 27 million cases and 890,000 deaths have been recorded in 188 countries.

Research groups across the world have set about identifying drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, by screening both novel and existing drugs for their ability to alleviate symptoms and stem viral replication. Here, we provide an update on ongoing global efforts to develop and test drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 and explore the range of strategies being employed.

COVID-19 is a disease which can leave you with anything between a mild sniffle to an unpleasant combination of high fever, heavy fatigue, and lung inflammation and damage. The drivers of clinical symptoms can be roughly divided into two categories: the virus itself and the hyperinflammatory response to the virus that occurs in the most severely ill people. Consequently, efforts to identify appropriate treatments are often focused on one category, and sometimes, a particular patient group or stage of disease. Given the nature of COVID-19, it is highly likely that a combination of drugs (drug cocktail) will be needed to both neutralize the virus and suppress the symptoms of COVID-19. Antiviral treatments may target viral components directly, or other cellular processes involved in viral infection or replication. To date, interventional studies for COVID-19 have attempted to achieve a wide range of goals, including:

Addressing the threat of new and potentially life-threatening pathogens requires deep understanding and accurate, reproducible techniques for developing better tests, vaccines, and treatments. Agilent provides the complete breadth of systems, consumables, software, services, and knowledge you need to support your success.

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Meet the scientists on the frontline with coronavirus. Video credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Of the ~12,000 compounds screened, 100 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in mammalian cells, 21 of which did so in a dose-response fashion. Achieving a sufficiently high dose concentration to elicit antiviral effects in vivo was predicted to be practical and possible for 13 of these compounds based on EC50 values in various cell lines. The most potent of these were evaluated for antiviral activity in human induced pluripotent stems cell (iPSC)-derived pneumocyte-like cells (five candidates) and in an ex vivo lung culture system (one candidate). The latter candidate is called apilimod, a small molecule inhibitor of an enzyme (phosphoinositide 5-kinase or PIKfyve, an endosomal lipid kinase) important to the endocytic pathway in which SARS-CoV-2 travels along during its journey through the cell. Encouragingly, apilimod potently antagonized viral replication in these tissues, and the findings are in agreement with those of another research group. This month, Kang et al. published an article in PNAS, describing the potent inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 by apilimod, providing further evidence to suggest PIKfyve-inhibition as a potential strategy that could limit infection and disease pathogenesis. The authors also noted that apilimod has passed safety tests in previous clinical trials for nonviral indications.

Chanda highlights the incredible pace at which this work was produced. Typically, a project like this would take years, rather than months. He points out that by wanting to do something quickly, there were sacrifices (and not just weekends). For example, they ran with the assay and the cell lines that allowed them to produce results quickly. This is the reason we put the entire dataset out there not one/three/20 molecules, we put all 100 molecules out there. These are the ones we found because of our experimental system, but please keep testing the others because youll probably find other things that work, said Chanda.

To design multiple peptide sequences that can competitively bind to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain, the University of Michigan research group used a protein design system called EvoDesign.EvoDesign is the first de novo protein design protocol developed in our lab; it performs design simulation by combining the evolution-based information collected from protein databases and an accurate physics- and knowledge-based energy function, namely EvoEF2, for computing atomic interactions such as van der Waals forces, electrostatics, hydrogen bonding, and desolvation energies, said Huang.

Overall, these sophisticated computational tools represent a promising new avenue for the de novo development of drug discovery studies.

Michele Wilson is a freelance science writer for Choice Science Writing.

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COVID-19 Drug Discovery and Development Why Diverse Strategies Are Critical - Technology Networks