I had my 25th class reunion this past weekend. Flying all the way back to Maine, having flights delayed then cancelled (thanks American Airlines), and then needing to rent a car to drive 9 hours from Philadelphia to Bangor gave me more grey hairs than I already had. But going to my 25th class reunion, I was already grey and balding. So what?

Months before I was to attend, I was trying a new product out to "lessen the amount of grey" that I was sporting up there. I didn't tell any of my friends or my barber. It was a gradual fade that my roommates and even my workwife did not notice I was doing, but they could tell something was different. It was so good that they were recommending it to their loved ones over the products they were already using.

Was I cheating? Was I going to be lying to my classmates? Would I lose some of my daddy bear status? I was going to continue anyway.

Soon, we all may have a way to be less grey and even fill in some spots.

Dallas doctor finds the root of balding and graying hair and is working on treatment

When the mice went gray and bald, the doctor knew he was onto something.

For more than 10 years, Dr. Lu Le had studied cells and genes, hoping to understand the roots of cancer and further the search for a cure.

Instead, in his lab at UT Southwestern Medical Center, he discovered something unexpected a chemical and biological process that could explain gray hair and bald heads in people.

Science often works this way. A search in one direction leads to an entirely different discovery in another. For Le, baldness and graying werent concerns of his research. And yet, there they were, gray and bald mice inside his lab. - dallasnews.com

Accidental discovery

Accidents are a good thing, no? While focusing on how cancer begins, Le and his discovered the role a protein called KROX20 plays not just in nerve development but in hair color and growth.

The KROX20 protein turns on in skin cells that develop into shafts of hair. These cells then produce a protein called stem cell factor (SCF) that is essential for hair color. When that SCF protein was deleted from mice in KROX20 cells, their hair turned gray and then white. And when the scientists deleted the KROX20 cells, the mice turned bald.

"The mice turned gray and then completely white. That was unexpected," Le said. - dallasnews.com

Whether baldness and loss of hair color is reversible is a long way from being answered.

If doctors could prevent greyness and balding, would you do it?

Would you entertain the idea of growing back your hair or getting rid of the grey?

I stopped coloring my hair a month before the reunion, had all the fake color cut out and didn't think twice about it.

h/t: dallasnews.com

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Balding & Greying May Soon Be A Thing Of The Past. Get Your ... - Instinct Magazine

Transformation of a new scientific idea into a new oncology-based drug requires atremendous amount of time, effort and investment. The initial, but critical first step in thisprocess is transferring basic oncology research into a clinical application known as atranslational or bench to bedside study. As a postdoctoral fellow who performsprostate cancer research related bench work, I have been asking how long my project might take to reach a patient as a cure rather than just becoming another scientific publication! I realize that for a cancer patient who has been waiting for a new drug treatment to survive, the time length that is required for drug development could actually cost the patient their life. From this point of view, the time length between bench work and a follow-on translational study (also called time lag) is critically important. Clearly the biggest problem is to ask and determine how it could be possible to decrease the time lag and allow potential benefits of a bench work to reach patients more quickly.During my Advanced Studies in Technology Transfer program at the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) Graduate School at NIH, I worked to uncover answers for these questions as my Capstone Project.

The calculated time lag typically of 10 years for new oncology treatmentBefore proposing solutions to shorten time lag in oncology drug development, I wanted to better define the time lag between bench work and translational study. For this purpose, I used the Pharmaprojects database (produced by Citeline/Informa PLC), to follow the global clinical drug development from bench to patient and to calculate the time lag for the three most common cancer types: breast, lung and prostate cancer. 97 drugs were examined for time lag calculation for either breast, lung or prostate cancer. The time length between patent priority date and regulatory approval date was calculated for each drug. The average time required to launch a cancer drug was determined to be 11 years, 10 years and 10 years, respectively for breast, lung and prostate cancer.

What are the reasons for time lag?To be able to uncover the reasons for a 10 year long time lag in cancer drug development, the key opinion leaders, including principal investigators, scientists, researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Queens University School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Science, Belfast (U.K), and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals were interviewed, to formulate suggestions for helping new drugs reach from bench to bed side more quickly.

During these interviews, the following questions were discussed:

Scientific and Non-Scientific Reasons for Long Time Lag

For cancer patients, the10-year period to translate a new drug into clinical application is unfortunately more than a life time of delay. After interviews with many researchers, the reasons for a 10 year long time lag could be divided into two categories, scientific and non-scientific reasons. Problems in reproducible data generation, inappropriate use of in vitro/vivo models, and variation in human sample collection are classified as important scientific reasons. On the other hand, poor collaboration among industry and academia, problems in intellectual property (IP) sharing, ineffective public-private partnership due to lack of sharing of research tools are considered as non-scientific reasons.

Future Direction in Oncology-Based Drug Development:Collaboration, Collaboration and Collaboration!

One of the most common recommendations from all researchers whom I interviewed was the importance of collaboration. Most of the researchers think that collaboration should be considered as an inevitable requirement for all scientists to shorten the time lag, because no one can do all by himself/herself. This would encourage the application and use of differing expertise and points of views to support a steadier and more effective overall oncology research program.

Synergy between Academia and Industry

Researchers from both academia and industry also highlighted the importance of academia and industry partnership. Academic researchers have deep scientific knowledge, however they have been facing funding problems to pursue their researchand utilize this basic knowledge. On the other hand, pharmaceutical companies generally have funding and applied skills, but they are often dependent on academiaand small biotech companies for fundamental knowledge and novel discoveries. It isreally a relay race against time for scientists from both academia and companies needto complete together in order to benefit oncology patient care. Therefore establishing astronger and living connections between academia and pharmaceutical companies cancreate a shortcut and synergy to make to the journey from bench side to bedsidequicker than ever before.

Repurposing of FDA Approved Drugs for Oncology Applications

For one of the interviews for this article, a principal investigator from a major universitysaid that the time lag in bringing his research to market is only 2-3 years, because hislaboratory studies FDA-approved drugs for different indications. Using FDA-approved drugs for other indications, or repurposing the drug, would dramatically reduce time lagand overall cost. The most exciting part of successfully repurposing drugs, of course, is that development of a drug into a new treatment for a patients benefit will be quicker.

About the AuthorBerna Uygur is Postdoctoral Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at NICHDwhere she has been researching the role of cell fusion mediated cancer stem cell regeneration and drugresistancein prostate cancer microenvironment and she has been also researching extracellularvesiclesmediated communication between prostate cancer cells. Prior to joining theNICHD,Berna received her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UniversityofMaine, USA, where she studied Regulatory Role of Slug Transcriptional Factor inProstateCancer. She received her Master of Science degree in Applied MedicalScience from Universityof Southern Maine, USA, where she studied Toxicology ofSilver Nanoparticles in DifferentOrigins of Human Cells. She received both her firstMaster of Science degree and Bachelor Science degree in Textile ChemistryEngineering from Ege University, Turkey. Berna isinterested in translational scienceand technology transfer in biomedical research. Sheadvanced her interest intechnology transfer by completing the Advanced Studies inTechnology Transferprogram at the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) GraduateSchool at NIH. She has been pursuing her interest in translational science byattendingNIH-Duke University Clinical Research Training Program at NIH.

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A Guide to Time Lag and Time Lag Shortening Strategies in Oncology-Based Drug Development - Biotech Blog (blog)

Billy Hix of Motlow State Community College, the founder of the colleges STEM outreach program, gave a presentation on the total solar eclipse Thursday to Cascade Elementary School students. The upcoming total eclipse will be Monday, Aug. 21. People who miss the upcoming event will have to travel to see the next eclipse, which will move on a path from Texas to Maine in 2024. The next total eclipse taking place in the Nashville area will be 2562, he said. Here, Hix uses a flashlight to simulate a total solar eclipse. One girl, second from left, holds a ball representing Earth, while the girl to her right holds the Moon. The shadow representing the total eclipse appears on the projection screen next to the photo of a past eclipse.

T-G Photo by Jason M. Reynolds

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- With the total solar eclipse right around the cosmic corner, eye doctors are going into nagging overdrive.

They say mom was right: You can damage your eyes staring at the sun, even the slimmest sliver of it.

So it's time to rustle up special eclipse eyewear to use Aug. 21, when the U.S. has its first full solar eclipse spanning coast to coast in 99 years.

Hix talks about the proper way to use eclipse glasses.

T-G Photo by Jason M. Reynolds

"We have an opportunity to experience a spectacular natural phenomenon, and we can enjoy it with some simple protection. But if you don't use that protection, you'll be paying for it for the rest of your life," says Dr. Paul Sternberg, director of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute in Nashville, smack dab in the middle of the total eclipse path.

Don't peek

No peeking, for example, without eclipse glasses or other certified filters except during the two minutes or so when the moon completely blots out the sun, called totality. That's the only time it's safe to view the eclipse without protection. When totality is ending, then it's time to put them back on.

To be clear, totality means 100 percent of the sun is covered. That will occur only along a narrow strip stretching from Oregon, through the Midwestern plains, down to South Carolina. The rest of the U.S. gets a partial eclipse that extends into Canada and to the top of South America.

So it's important to know exactly where you are on eclipse day in relation to that path of totality, advises Dr. B. Ralph Chou, a retired professor of optometry at the University of Waterloo in Ontario who is also an astronomer and eclipse chaser. He'll be in Oregon for his 19th total solar eclipse.

"Unfortunately, when it comes to safety with a solar eclipse, 99.9 percent coverage means a 0.1 percent area of the sun that is still uncovered and is every bit as dangerous," Chou said.

For example, Boise, Idaho, will see 99 percent sun coverage; Omaha, Nebraska, 98 percent; Savannah, Georgia, 97 percent; and Memphis 94 percent. So for those cities -- and anywhere else with a partial eclipse -- you need to keep those solar specs on the whole time.

Dangerous look

What can happen when you look directly at the sun? You're essentially cooking your retina, the delicate, light-sensitive tissue deep inside the eyeball. Solar radiation can kill those cells. Hours can pass before you realize the extent of the damage.

It's known in the trade as solar blindness or solar retinopathy -- not total blindness, rather more like age-related macular degeneration, where you have trouble reading or recognizing faces, or lose those abilities altogether.

Seconds are enough for retinal sunburn. And unlike with the skin, you can't feel it. The damage can be temporary or permanent.

"It's really important to resist the urge to look even momentarily, directly in the sun because you have no real sense of time," says Dr. Christopher Quinn, president of the American Optometric Association. "What you think may be a glancing look could be a more substantial amount of time, and that can result in permanent damage."

Certified safe

Forget sunglasses. Certified eclipse glasses or hand-held viewers are a must for direct viewing. Or you can look indirectly with a pinhole projector -- homemade will do, crafted from a shoebox, or grab a kitchen colander -- that casts images of the eclipsed sun onto a screen at least 3 feet away.

When it comes to eyewear, though, the emphasis is on certified.

Worried about potentially dangerous knockoffs, NASA, the American Astronomical Society and others are urging eclipse watchers to stick with reputable makers of sun-gazing devices. The society's solar eclipse task force has put out a list of approved manufacturers.

Don't use eclipse glasses with filters that are crumpled, scratched or torn. If you can see any light besides the sun, it's time for new solar specs. Also beware if the eclipse glasses are older than 2015, when international safety standards were adopted.

Eclipse glasses can be worn directly over your prescription glasses or with contacts. As for binoculars, telescopes and cameras, high-quality solar filters are essential and must be mounted at the front end.

Age matters

Chou collected and studied 20 reports of temporary eye injuries following a 1979 total solar eclipse that included Canada. Males under age 20 were found to be particularly susceptible; they tended to ignore safety warnings, he said.

In 1999, British doctors reported 70 cases of temporary eye damage following a full solar eclipse. Most cases involved no or inadequate eye protection and many were from spots with a partial eclipse, just shy of a full one.

Chou stresses that outside the path of totality, where there's only a partial eclipse, "it's never safe to take the filters off."

-- This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Billy Hix of Motlow State Community College, the founder of the college's STEM outreach program, gave a presentation on the total solar eclipse Thursday to Cascade Elementary School students. The upcoming total eclipse will be Monday, Aug. 21. Billy Hix uses a flashlight to simulate a total solar eclipse. One girl, second from left, holds a ball representing Earth, while the girl to her right holds the Moon. The shadow representing the total eclipse appears on the projection screen next to the photo of a past eclipse. BELOW: Hix talks about the proper way to use eclipse glasses.

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Keep an eye on safety - Shelbyville Times-Gazette