Myriad Genetics’ Stock Is Starting To Make A Run – Seeking Alpha

August 2, 2017 medical

Healthcares been in the news a lot lately thanks to the Republicans efforts at healthcare reform. There are several bottoming heathcare and biotech stocks that could benefit from these efforts. One of those companies with potential is Myriad Genetics (MYGN). Myriad creates genetic tests to screen for genetic cancer risk and other diseases. Its currently coming out of a bottom and has the potential to continue moving up if it can capitalize on this growing market.

Myriad manufactures molecular diagnostic tests to screen for genetic dispositions to cancer, autoimmune diseases, and other maladies. The company is probably best known for its BRACAnalysis test. This test determines womens risk for breast cancer by detecting mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Genetic mutations greatly increase the risk of developing cancer. So these type of diagnostic tests are growing more and more important for detecting cancer risks early. Advanced diagnostics also allow doctors to tailor their preventative medicine programs to better serve the patients individual needs. In fact, personalized medicine is expected to be the wave of the future. Theres also an increasing need for better diagnostic tools as the population ages. So Myriads products can fill an important niche in a growing market.

Myriads stock was in some trouble until recently. A monthly stock chart shows that MYGN was in a bear market for pretty much all of 2016. It finally started to bottom late in 2016, and completed its bottom in May of 2017. Its currently moving up strongly out of its bottom, but has retraced a bit over the past month. MYGNs all time high is at about $47, so this stock some room to move up.

Figure 1: Monthly chart of MYGN. Chart provided by FreeStockCharts.com.

A weekly chart confirms that MYGN completed its bottom last May. The chart shows very large and strong white candles coming out of the bottom, lacking indecisive wicks and tails. Small black candles form for about a month after each strong move up, likely due to profit taking. The stock is also currently undergoing some profit taking after the last strong move up in June. There have been green volume surges on the moves up, with green volume bars outnumbering the red bars since coming out of the bottom.

Figure 2: Weekly chart of MYGN. Chart provided by FreeStockCharts.com.

We can see the current retracement in more detail in the daily chart. Black candles have been larger and more numerous over the past month. We can see the strength of the green volume in May and June. But volume has been low in July, with red volume becoming more and more dominant. The chart also shows that high frequency traders (HFT) tried to sell down this stock on 7/21, possibly in response to a news release that day. It looks like the HFTs moved in at the start of the day, but failed to move the stock down much.

Figure 3: Daily chart of MYGN. Chart provided by FreeStockCharts.com

The chart indicators also confirm this weakness in the current price action. RSI is moving down steadily to the bottom of the chart. Stochastics has also moved down well into oversold territory. Both indicators look a little overextended but dont show any signs of a reversal quite yet.

Figure 4: Indicator charts for MYGN. Chart provided by FreeStockCharts.com

MYGN really looks a little week right now. There arent enough buyers to stop the slip-slide due to profit taking. The pattern of this stock, however, has been to move up strongly and then slowly slide back for a month. So well see if the stock continues that trend in August.

The charts show that MYGN has recovered nicely in 2017. So lets check the fundamentals and see if they justify the stocks uptrend. Myriads income statement shows that revenues started to turn around in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. Revenues, however, were flat last quarter. Net income, on the other hand, has been inconsistent. Income has been up and down for the past several quarters. Costs have also continued to rise, but flattened out last quarter.

Figure 5: Income statement for MYGN. Data provided by Google Finance.

Myriad also took on a lot of debt in the second quarter of fiscal year 2017. The company started to pay down that debt last quarter, so at least its controlling its debt load. The current ratio is about 1.6, which is acceptable.

Figure 6: Balance sheet for MYGN. Data provided by Google Finance

Data from Nasdaq.com shows that the institutional holdings are above 100%. This usually means that some convertible bonds were executed, or that there was a direct stock sale to an institution. This should pattern out in the next quarter after Nasdaq.com updates its information. MYGN has 261 holders, so its pretty widely held for a small cap. And more funds started new positions or increased their positions compared to funds that sold out or decreased their holdings.

Figure 7: Institutional Holdings for MYGN. Data provided by Nasdaq.com.

A few giant funds are among the top holders of this stock, including Vanguard and Dimensional Fund Advisors. There are few giant banks in the mix as well, such as Blackrock and State Street. Some large banks have reduced their holdings in this stock though, which is interesting. The buy side institutions are doing the opposite; theyre increasing their positions or holding steady.

Figure 8: Top holders for MYGN. Data provided by Nasdaq.com.

Myriads financial performance improved last year but slowed down last quarter. Can it pick up again? A quick look at the last earnings report can show us what to expect. Myriad expects accelerating growth going forward, per CEO Mark Capone. Capone said, Coupled with meaningful sequential volume growth in all of our major pipeline tests including GeneSight, Vectra DA, Prolaris, and EndoPredict, we believe we are rapidly approaching an important inflection in our business where our new products will drive accelerated revenue growth and profitability.

That sounds promising, but we need more specifics. Luckily, the report also provides guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017. The company expects revenues of $192-$194 million, which is flat to slightly down compared to last quarter. Earnings per share are expected in the range of $0.11 to $0.13, which is a large improvement over the $0.06 per share reported last quarter. Revenues for the full fiscal year are expected to be $763-$765, up just 1% over 2016. Earnings per share are expected to drop from 2016, down to $0.23-$0.25. This reflects the slowdown in earnings that was observed in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2017. The company needs to show that it can continue to grow revenues and earnings more consistently. Itll be interesting to see what the guidance is for 2018 in the next earnings release. Myriad is expected to report around August 8th.

MYGN has trended up fairly strongly out of its 2016 bottom. Its also in a market with a lot of potential, notwithstanding the healthcare shenanigans going on in Congress right now. The companys financials showed improvement earlier in the year, but have started to lag more recently. It needs to continue to grow revenues and earnings, otherwise the current profit taking could turn into broader selling. The 2016 high of $40 could also challenge the uptrend if the financials dont continue to improve. The stock shows some promise, but theres also some uncertainty about companys performance in the next fiscal year. The fact that large funds are interested in this stock bodes well for it though. And an earnings report that beats expectations could cause the stock to move up strongly again. Investors that are interested this companys technology should wait until the profit taking ends before entering this stock though. The $27 level looks like a good place to enter. For everyone else, its best to wait until the next earnings report to see the companys projections for fiscal year 2018.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Read more from the original source:
Myriad Genetics' Stock Is Starting To Make A Run - Seeking Alpha

Genetics

The DNA of ancient Canaanites lives on in modern-day Lebanese, genetic analysis shows – Los Angeles Times

August 2, 2017 medical

The Canaanites lived at the crossroads of the ancient world. They experienced wars, conquests and occupations for millennia, and as a result evolutionary geneticists expected that their DNA would become substantially mixed with incoming populations.

Astonishingly, new genetic analysis shows that scientists were wrong. According to a new study in the American Journal of Human Genetics, todays Lebanese share a whopping 93% of their DNA with the ancient Canaanites.

The study also found that the Bronze Age inhabitants of Sidon, a major Canaanite city-state in modern-day Lebanon, have the same genetic profile as people living 300 to 800 years earlier in present-day Jordan.

Later known as Phoenicians, the Canaanites have a murky past. Nearly all of their own records have been destroyed over the centuries, so their history has been mostly pieced together from archaeological records and the writings of other ancient peoples.

Archaeologists at the Sidon excavation site have been unearthing ancient Canaanite secrets for the last 19 years in the still-inhabited Lebanese port city. The team has uncovered 160 burials from the Canaanite period alone, said Claude Doumet-Serhal, director of the excavation. They have found people of all ages in these Canaanite burials, she said children were buried in jars and adults were placed in sand.

Claude Doumet-Serhal / The Sidon Excavation

An aerial view of the Sidon excavation site.

An aerial view of the Sidon excavation site. (Claude Doumet-Serhal / The Sidon Excavation)

Aided by new DNA sampling techniques, a team of evolutionary geneticists including Marc Haber and Chris Tyler-Smith from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute stepped in.

They sequenced the whole genomes of five individuals found in Sidon who lived about 3,700 years ago. The team then compared the genomes of these ancient Canaanites with those of 99 Lebanese people currently living in the country, along with the previously published genetic information from modern and ancient populations across Europe and Asia.

First, they investigated the genetic ancestry of the Canaanites themselves. They found that these Bronze Age inhabitants of Sidon shared about half their DNA with local Neolithic peoples and the other half with Chalcolithic Iranians. Interestingly, this genetic profile is nearly identical to the one evolutionary geneticist Iosif Lazaridis and his team found last year in Bronze Age villagers near Ain Ghazal in modern-day Jordan.

This suggests that Canaanite-related ancestry was spread across a wide region during the Bronze Age and was shared between urban societies on the coast and farming societies further inland. This evidence supports the idea that different Levantine cultural groups such as the Moabites, Israelites, and Phoenicians may have had a common genetic background, the authors said.

The researchers were also able to determine that the genetic mixing of the Levantine and Iranian peoples happened between 6,600 and 3,550 years ago, a range they would be able to narrow down with more ancient DNA samples from the region.

Claude Doumet-Serhal / The Sidon Excavation

The buried remains of a Canaanite adult whose DNA was sequenced in the study.

The buried remains of a Canaanite adult whose DNA was sequenced in the study. (Claude Doumet-Serhal / The Sidon Excavation)

Next, the team wanted to compare the Canaanite genome with the genetic makeup of the people who currently inhabit the ancient Canaanite cities. To do this, they collected DNA from 99 Lebanese people Druze, Muslim, and Christian alike.

As expected, they found some new additions to the modern Lebanese genome since the Bronze Age. About 7% of modern Lebanese DNA originates from eastern Steppe peoples found in what is now Russia, but wasnt represented in the Bronze Age Canaanites or their ancestors. What surprised the team was what was missing from their genetic data.

If you look at the history of Lebanon after the Bronze Age, especially it had a lot of conquests, Haber said. He and Tyler-Smith expected to see greater genetic contributions from multiple conquering peoples, and were surprised that as much as 93% of the Lebanese genome is shared with their Canaanite predecessors.

Though a 7% genetic influx from the Steppe seems very small, that number might be covering some hidden complexities, said Lazaridis, who worked on the Bronze Age Jordanian samples but was not involved in the new study.

Not much is known about the migrations of these eastern Steppe populations, he said. If the genomes of the incoming people were only half Steppe, for example, 14% of the Lebanese genome could have come from the new migrants.

Haber and Tyler-Smith said they want to explore this complexity further. Who were those eastern migrants? Where did they come from? And why did they migrate toward the Levant region? Haber asked. Analyzing more samples from different locations and periods could lead to an answer.

The team also wanted to know if the individuals from Sidon are more similar to modern-day Lebanese than to other modern Eurasian populations.

Despite small genetic variations between the three religious groups caused by preferential mating over time, the Lebanese genome is not widely varied. As a whole, the Lebanese people have more genetic overlap with the Canaanites from Sidon than do other modern Middle Eastern populations such as Jordanians, Syrians or Palestinians.

The difference is small, but its possible that the Lebanese population has remained more isolated over time from an influx of African DNA than other Levantine peoples, Lazaridis suggested.

Claude Doumet-Serhal - The Sidon Excavation

An archaeologist sorts pottery at the Sidon excavation site.

An archaeologist sorts pottery at the Sidon excavation site. (Claude Doumet-Serhal - The Sidon Excavation)

The findings have powerful cultural implications, Doumet-Serhal said. In a country struggling with the ramifications of war and a society fiercely divided along political and sectarian lines, religious groups have often looked to an uncertain history for their identities.

When Lebanon started in 1929, Doumet-Serhal said, the Christians said, We are Phoenician. The Muslims didnt accept that and they said, No, we are Arab.

But from this work comes a message of unity. We all belong to the same people, Doumet-Serhal said. We have always had a difficult past but we have a shared heritage we have to preserve.

mira.abed@latimes.com

Twitter: @mirakatherine

ALSO:

Fake news about statins is discouraging the use of these life-saving drugs, expert warns

Read the rest here:
The DNA of ancient Canaanites lives on in modern-day Lebanese, genetic analysis shows - Los Angeles Times

Neuroscience

NSF issues awards to advance a national research infrastructure for … – National Science Foundation (press release)

August 2, 2017 medical

News Release 17-069

NeuroNex projects will develop new tools, partnerships to understand the brain

August 1, 2017

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has made 17 Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience (NeuroNex) awards to aid the research community as it pursues one of its grandest challenges: understanding the brain.

These projects will support the development of innovative, accessible and shared capabilities and resources, as well as theoretical frameworks and computational modeling to advance neuroscience research.

NSF's NeuroNex awards will bring together researchers across disciplines with new technologies and approaches, yielding novel ways to tackle the mysteries of the brain. Befitting its multidisciplinary approach to research, the NeuroNex program involves participation from multiple NSF directorates. The overall goal of this activity is to establish a coherent national infrastructure to enhance our understanding of brain function across organizational levels and a diversity of species.

"Through the development of advanced instrumentation to observe and model the brain, we're closer to our goal of building a more complete knowledge base about how neural activity produces behavior," said Jim Olds, NSF assistant director for Biological Sciences. "NeuroNex seeks to take that progress forward, by creating an ecosystem of new tools, resources, and theories. Most importantly, NeuroNex aims to ensure their broad dissemination to the neuroscience community. With these awards, NSF is building a foundation for the next generation of research into the brain."

NeuroNex is one element of Understanding the Brain, NSF's multi-year effort to enable a scientific understanding of the full complexity of the brain. Through Understanding the Brain, NSF participates in the national Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, an alliance of federal agencies and other partners seeking to enhance our understanding of the brain.

Nine of the new awards are for NeuroNex Neurotechnology Hubs, which will focus on the development, refinement and dissemination of innovative neurotechnologies. These hubs will provide:

Two of the awards are for NeuroNex Theory Teams, which will advance theoretical and computational frameworks for understanding the brain. Both of the awarded teams will focus on developing novel conceptual tools to decipher how the structure and dynamics of neurons give rise to behavior. The teams will work in concert with the Neurotechnology Hubs. Each of these eleven awards is for up to $2 million per year, for up to five years.

In addition, NSF issued six smaller NeuroNex Innovation awards, focused on developing potentially revolutionary, early-stage tools that can be integrated with other NeuroNex projects. All NeuroNex awards will also support workforce training opportunities. The complementary nature of the technologies and the mutual synergies between the technologies and the theories hold the promise of ushering in new ways of conducting neuroscience research.

The award titles, principal investigators and sponsor institutions are listed below.

NeuroNex Neurotechnology Hub awards:

NeuroNex Theory Teams awards:

NeuroNex Innovation awards:

-NSF-

Media Contacts Sarah Bates, NSF, (703) 292-7738, sabates@nsf.gov Rob Margetta, NSF, (703) 292-2663, rmargett@nsf.gov

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2017, its budget is $7.5 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 48,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.

Get News Updates by Email

Useful NSF Web Sites:NSF Home Page: https://www.nsf.govNSF News: https://www.nsf.gov/news/For the News Media: https://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jspScience and Engineering Statistics: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/Awards Searches: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/

Blood cell reconstructions from University of Texas at Austin researcher Kristen M. Harris.Credit and Larger Version

Cornell University's Chris Xu studies how brains produce behavior in a range of species.Credit and Larger Version

Image from the lab of Spencer Smith, who will study next-generation multiphoton neuroimaging.Credit and Larger Version

Karl Deisseroth, professor of bioengineering, in his lab at Stanford University.Credit and Larger Version

An abstract 3-D model of connected neurons, sculpted by neuroscientist Xaq Pitkow.Credit and Larger Version

Go here to read the rest:
NSF issues awards to advance a national research infrastructure for ... - National Science Foundation (press release)

Neuroscience

Brown to lead ‘NeuroNex’ center for creating bioluminescent neuroscience tools – Medical Xpress

August 2, 2017 student

Four tubes contain the ingredients that produce bioluminescence: Coelenterazine appears buoyant, swirling as it interacts with luciferase. The three tubes on the right also contain different colored fluorescent proteins attached to the luciferase which, as a result, emit cyan, green or yellow light. Credit: Nathan Shaner

With up to $9.2 million in funding over five years from the National Science Foundation, Brown University will lead a national center dedicated to developing and disseminating new tools based on giving nervous system cells the ability to make and respond to light. Neuroscientists could use the tools to uniquely manipulate and observe the circuitry of the brain in a variety of model organisms.

The new "NeuroNex Technology Hub" is a collaboration of labs at Brown, Central Michigan University and the Scintillon Institute. The team's charge is to invent, improve upon and combine several unique bioengineering technologies to create new research capabilities. They will then make their advances rapidly, easily and freely available to the global scientific community.

"Through NeuroNex, we want to enable all scientists to take advantage of the best tools," said principal investigator Christopher Moore, a professor of neuroscience at Brown and associate director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science (BIBS). "There is a real problem in science of certain inequities in access. The idea is to systemically address that."

The center's other leaders are Diane Lipscombe, a Brown professor of neuroscience and BIBS director, Ute Hochgeschwender, a professor at CMU, and Scintillon researcher Nathan Shaner. Justine Allen, a graduate of Brown's doctoral program in neuroscience, will serve as the center's administrative director.

In addition to creating the new tools for the scientific community, the team intends to turn its research, which combines elements of biology, chemistry, physics and engineering, into a curriculum to engage and educate high school students.

Enlightened brains

The research has its roots in bioluminescence, the natural ability of cells to make light, as fireflies and many aquatic animals do. Moore, Lipscombe, Hochgeschwender and Shaner have already been working together to engineer bioluminescence into a variety of cells, including neurons, in a project supported in its early stages by the W. M. Keck Foundation. Their work includes making light production contingent on an influx of calcium, a typical means that neurons employ to trigger each other into action. They've also created a brighter form of bioluminescence with proteins they call LumiCaMPsins. In the new project, they will continue to work to create even brighter calcium-modulated bioluminescence in neurons.

The team combines this engineered bioluminescence with optogenetics, a decade-old technology in which distinct types of neurons can be genetically altered to turn on and off in response to light. Currently, optogenetics requires scientists to inject light into the brain of an animal via fiber optics at times and places they hope are appropriate for their work. But when bioluminescence and optogenetics are combined (the scientists call this "BL-OG"), cells can illuminate and regulate themselves when an event, such as a particular behavior, spawns an uptick in calcium. Cells programmed in this way, Moore said, can automatically respond to experimental conditions without the scientists having to manually stimulate them.

As a hypothetical example of how meaningful that could be, Moore posits a clinical application of the technology (should it become applicable in humans in the future). Imagine that a person with epilepsy is about to have a seizure, he says. As neurons with BL-OG begin to become overly activated by surging calcium levels, they could emit light that would optogenetically override that hyperactivity, automatically dampening out the seizure before it can get started.

Beyond programming cells to regulate their own activity, the team also hopes to develop ways to make cells stimulate each other with light. Such "inter-luminescence" would allow scientists to program and observe calcium-modulated dynamics in whole circuits, Moore said.

Moreover, the group also plans to create new imaging tools. Using a variety of fluorescent molecules, including some that Shaner helped to pioneer, scientists today can make cells glow in response to experimental events, Moore said, but that requires shining a stimulating light on them that can damage tissue and adds a source of noise as that incoming light scatters. Bioluminescence allows cells to glow on cue without that external stimulation, reducing the possibility of damage and reducing a source of scatter. Implanted imaging devices could also be lighter and use less power if they don't have to produce stimulating light.

Moore said one of the reasons the collaborators are excited to share what they are finding is that there is much more room for innovation with the technology than they can fill on their own.

"In our own experience as a cloud of labs working on this stuff, the list of things we want to create to make the world better is getting bigger and bigger," Moore said. "We want to enable the whole field to let them all go after it."

Enlightening minds

As they develop new tools and techniques, the team will employ several means to disseminate them, Moore said. They will produce a website with downloadable experimental protocols, genetic sequences and other documentation and will send "emissaries" to teach other research groups. They will annual hold workshops for visiting scientists to come together, generate and discuss ideas, form new collaborations and learn how to use the new technologies.

"Bring all your students and all your postdocs, and inspire them to take a few of these research questions," Allen said. "Take those home and let this grow."

Moore noted that the collaborators have a strong ethic of such openness. He serves on the board of OpenEphys, an open-source initiative to promote sharing of electrophysiology tools started by two former graduate students in his lab. Lipscombe, Hochgeschwender and Shaner have also openly shared tools and technologies with the research community before, he said.

In addition to teaching other scientists, Moore said, the collaboration will also teach students at several different levels. They plan to hold a weeklong "intensive practicum" course for undergraduate students every spring at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., to which they encourage applications from students underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. They will also create and teach courses in local Providence high schools that already work with the Brown Brain Bee. And finally, Moore said they hope to create an online version of the curriculum for other schools nationwide.

Explore further: Revolutionizing the revolutionary technology of optogenetics

View original post here:
Brown to lead 'NeuroNex' center for creating bioluminescent neuroscience tools - Medical Xpress

Neuroscience

Neuroscience in the Land of the Rising Sun – PLoS Blogs (blog)

August 2, 2017 student

Japan is like no other country in the world, fusing the ancient and the modern seamlessly. As soon as I landed in Tokyo, I noted the presence of a girl in a kimono against the scintillating neon billboards and endless flow of salarymen. Dressed in a sakura print and wooden sandals, she exhibited a timeless beauty.

The Japanese capital delivers an incredible array of experiences, from festivals at shrines to crane games at arcades. Opportunities for scientific growth are also among the offerings in Japan. This summer, I had the chanceto attend a weeklong lecture course in the greater Tokyo area called, Exploring and Emulating the Brain, organized and held by the RIKEN Brain Science Institute. In recapping my trip, I hope to make apparent the benefits of exploring your field in a new place.

My First Day

As I sat down for breakfast on the first day of the program, I was overcome with anxiety. Surrounded by strangers on the opposite side of the world, I moved to the rightmost corner of the lobby. I sipped on miso soup as I eavesdropped on awkward conversations about the brain and jetlag. Choosing not to socialize, I walked to the campus alone.

Too shy to initiate conversation, I sat in the lecture hall reading The New Yorker. Someone soon approached me holding out his ID badge. I put away my iPad and remembered that my primary goal for this course was to engage with fellow program participants. As aspiring young scientists, we build our professional networks and create job opportunities through communication and collaboration. Although it may not feel like it in the moment, an uncomfortable situation can help you grow as a person. The challenge is to get past that initial discomfort to learn something new. I was able to experience that this summer through the RIKEN BSI Summer Program.

Course Content

Alongside my peers, I was able to learn from the noted neuroscientists in attendance. Each lecture was an hour and a half, which enabled professors to share their findings in great detail. Andrew Zalesky of the University of Melbourne, Australia gave the first of fifteen lectures. He presented on neural connectomics, which is the production of comprehensive structural maps. Many researchers question the usefulness of connectomes. Its like a road map that tells you where cars can drive, but does not tell you when or where cars are actually driving, says Oliver Hobert of Columbia University. However, Zalesky elegantly argued that connectomics revealed topological properties shared across scales and species. One such property is hub nodes, which are brain regions that integrate information to enable efficient signaling.

As neuroscience details the anatomy and activity of the brain, artificial intelligence seeks to develop a non-biological path to intelligence. In a discussion panel on neuroscience and artificial intelligence, we heard from prominent researchers such as Yoshua Bengio, Shun-ichi Amari, and Andrew Zalesky. My takeaway was that artificial intelligence is not the equal of natural intelligence in most important tasks for human cognition such as vision and natural language processing. However, this is not to say that artificial intelligence wont ultimately achieve principles of natural intelligence.

Through this course, I learned how experimental and theoretical research could benefit each other. Speakers such as Terrence Sejnowski created a model based on experimental data to generate hypotheses. His computational background enabled him to bring new approaches to problems that had been accepted in sleep research. With data-driven predictions, perhaps experimental neuroscience can accelerate more rapidly and we can come closer to understanding what makes us human.

Conclusion

My greatest takeaway from this course was the incredible people I met. I had the opportunityto interact withpeople from all over the world aspiring to become scientists. Through conversations with graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, I was also able to learn about life as a scientist in Japan.

After each day of lectures, we set out to explore Tokyo in the evenings and participated in the optional Tokyo tour at the conclusion of the program. From feeling at home in the hipster district of Shimokitazawa to being overwhelmed by the pachinko parlors of Akihabara, it was incredibly rewarding to experience Tokyo in all its flavors. The RIKEN Brain Science Institute Summer Program surpassed my expectations and I highly recommend it.I encourage fellow early career researchers to immerse themselves in a new culture while pursuing science.

References

Salaryman. (2017, July 13). Retrieved July 31, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaryman

RIKEN Brain Science Institute Summer Programs Poster,http://www.brain.riken.jp/en/asset/img/summer/Poster2017.pdf

Daniel Mediati, Science is the Name but Collaboration is the Game, April 14, 2017. http://blogs.plos.org/thestudentblog/2017/04/14/science-is-the-name-but-collaboration-is-the-game/.

RIKEN Brain Science Institute,http://www.brain.riken.jp/en/.

Dr. Andrew Zalesky, People: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne. Retrieved July 31, 2017, from http://www.ee.unimelb.edu.au/people/staff.php?person_ID=24599

PLOS One Connectomicshttp://journals.plos.org/plosone/browse/connectomics

Oliver Hobert Lab Website, Columbia University,http://hobertlab.org/.

YoshuaBengio. Retrieved July 31, 2017, from http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~bengioy/yoshua_en/

Shun-ichi Amari, RIKEN Brain Science Institute,http://www.brain.riken.jp/labs/mns/amari/home-E.html.

The Sejnowski Lab,http://cnl.salk.edu/.

Photographs provided by the author.

Here is the original post:
Neuroscience in the Land of the Rising Sun - PLoS Blogs (blog)

Cell Biology

Salk scientist Reuben Shaw wins NCI Outstanding Investigator Award – News-Medical.net

August 2, 2017 student

August 1, 2017

Salk Professor Reuben Shaw has received the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award (OIA), which encourages cancer research with breakthrough potential. Shaw, a member of Salk's Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory and holder of the William R. Brody Chair, will receive $4.2 million in direct funding over the next seven years to further his work. The award is granted, according to the NCI website, to innovative cancer researchers with outstanding records of productivity to allow them to take greater risks and be more adventurous in their research.

"It was extremely exciting to get this award as it will provide my lab both the resources and the stability for our ongoing efforts," says Shaw, who is also the director of the Salk Cancer Center, which is one of just seven NCI-designated Basic Research Cancer Centers in the country.

Shaw's research focuses on cancer metabolism: how metabolic pathways are altered in cancer and play a role in the origins and progression of the disease. While investigating one of the most commonly mutated genes in lung cancer, Shaw discovered an energy-sensing pathway that shuts down cell growth and reprograms metabolism when nutrients are scarce. This energy-sensing "starvation" pathway suggests an unexpected and direct link between metabolic pathways and cancer.

His lab went on to molecularly decode a number of new components of this cellular starvation pathway, which connects nutrition and exercise to suppression of both cancer and diabetes. From this work, the lab's studies have led to the discovery of new therapies for cancer and metabolic diseases. Recently, Shaw's lab showed that using a small molecule to target one of the pathways that cells use to synthesize fat can starve cancer cells of the building blocks they need to grow. Previously, he published work showing how different cancers are sensitive to different sources of cellular energy and how a common, deadly lung cancer spreads.

"Reuben's pioneering research points to potential new ways to unravel a variety of cancers and target the disease precisely and effectively," says Salk President Elizabeth Blackburn. "We are delighted that his work is being recognized with this award."

Some of the Shaw lab's ongoing efforts have involved identifying unique metabolic features of tumor cells. Shaw wants to better define different genetic subsets of lung cancer by these features and pinpoint ways to treat them based on that knowledge. "We want to identify the Achilles heel of each tumor subset," he says. "We're not going to treat all lung cancers the same way but rather tailor our attacks based on unique properties of each subtype of cancer. This should yield more effective treatments for all forms of cancer. Our work decoding new components of the energy-sensing pathway has also led to new therapeutic targets for many difference forms of cancer, which alter these same pathways through many different mechanisms."

Shaw is the second Salk scientist in the award's three-year history to be named an NCI Outstanding Investigator. The other is Geoffrey Wahl, a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory.

a9e7f880-a833-4ae8-9ac9-ddce025dbab4|0|.0

Posted in: Medical Research News | Medical Condition News

Tags: Cancer, Cell, Diabetes, Exercise, Gene, Gene Expression, Genes, Genetic, Genetics, Immunology, Laboratory, Lung Cancer, Metabolism, Molecule, Neuroscience, Nutrients, Nutrition, Tumor

Cell Biology

College Notes – Times Herald-Record

August 2, 2017 medical

College Notes appear on a space-available basis. To submit an announcement, email to communities@th-record.com. Put College Notes in the subject line. Announcements can also be mailed to College Notes, Times Herald-Record, P.O. Box 2046, Middletown 10940.

Michael S. Rallo, son of Melissa and Jack Rallo of Chester, graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., with a Bachelor of Science in Cell Biology and Neuroscience and Exercise Science and Sport Studies. He was named to the dean's list all four years. Rallo will be continuing his education in the MD/PhD program at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Princeton University.

Read this article:
College Notes - Times Herald-Record

Human Behavior

Geckos rapidly evolve bigger heads in response to human activity – New Atlas

August 2, 2017 medical

Life is adept at adapting to changes in the environment and the environment is changing faster than ever, thanks to us. Evolution is normally thought of on the scale of millions of years, but a new study has observed how human activity has directly driven separate populations of geckos to evolve new attributes in the space of just 15 years.

The human activity in question began in 1996, with the building of the Serra da Mesa Hydroelectric Plant in Brazil. An artificial reservoir was created by flooding 656 sq mi (1,700 sq km), and in the process almost 300 new islands were now cut off from the "mainland."

UPGRADE TO NEW ATLAS PLUS

More than 1,500 New Atlas Plus subscribers directly support our journalism, and get access to our premium ad-free site and email newsletter. Join them for just US$19 a year.

Researchers from the University of Brasilia and the University of California, Davis studied the newly-separated populations of animals on these islands, focusing on the most common gecko species in the area, Gymnodactylus amarali. The team found that over 15 years, G. amarali on the islands had grown bigger heads on average than those of the same species found on the mainland.

Before the dam was built, the geckos in the area had lived mostly off termites, with larger lizard species eating the bigger bugs and leaving the smaller ones to G. amarali. But it turns out that flooding the valley had wiped out those larger lizards, and with less inter-species competition for food, G. amarali adapted to fill the niche they left behind. The geckos grew larger mouths and heads to help them chow down on the newfound bounty of bigger termites.

It's a great "Petri dish" example of natural selection at work. Essentially, those G. amarali with bigger heads had access to more food, leading to them being more successful at survival and reproduction. Over time, the big-head genes were passed down to later generations in higher numbers, until it became a common characteristic of the island-dwelling geckos. Those still on the mainland, meanwhile, still faced competition from the larger lizards and so saw no change in head size, making them a perfect control group.

While their heads grew, the lizards' bodies stayed more or less the same size. The researchers say this is most likely a matter of efficiency: bigger bodies require more energy to run, which would offset the advantage of a larger head. And as further evidence that a bigger head relative to body size was the most efficient evolutionary path, the researchers found that the trait independently became common among populations on five islands isolated from each other.

The story of G. amarali isn't necessarily a sad one, but it does highlight just how much influence human behavior has on the environment, both directly and indirectly.

The research was published in the journal PNAS.

Source: Keele University via The Conversation

Read the original:
Geckos rapidly evolve bigger heads in response to human activity - New Atlas

Human Behavior

Here’s How Pheromones Are Driving Your Sex Life – The Alternative Daily (blog)

August 2, 2017 student

Cupids arrow has long symbolized the mysteries of sexual attraction. But what factors really drive romantic interest? Scientists speculate that airborne chemical signals known as pheromones may explain the biochemistry of love and lust.

The existence of human pheromones remains controversial. Its clear that many plants and animals species use hormonal secretions to communicate information relating to reproduction. For example, in 1959 researchers discovered that female silkworms secreted a powerful aphrodisiac, called bombykol, that can attract male silkworms from miles away. To date, however, ironclad evidence that human behavior is governed by pheromones remains elusive.

Nevertheless, there are a number of intriguing studies, which suggest the surprising ways that scents, secretions and body odors containing pheromones may influence human behavior unconsciously.

According to Bettina Pause, a psychologist, Weve just started to understand that there is communication below the level of consciousness. My guess is that a lot of our communication is influenced by chemosignals.

Scientists explain that pheromones in animals are released in sweat, urine and saliva. These chemical messengers appear to have both an emotional and physical effect on other members of their species.

In mammals, for instance, pheromones are detected by a structure in the nose called the vomeronasal organ, which relays signals to the hypothalamus a region of the brain that controls emotional states, hormonal regulation and sexual arousal.

Some of the most important evidence for the existence of human pheromones comes from a 1998 study by Dr. Martha McClintock, who found that women who live in close proximity (the same dorm, for example) tend to have synchronized menstrual cycles. Scientists believe that chemical messages in sweat are responsible for this harmonization of periods.

One powerful form of evidence that pheromones exist comes from PET scanning technology, which can examine the effect of chemical odors on male and female brains. In one study, researchers found that certain hormone-like smells activated specific areas in the hypothalamus related to sexuality, which are not triggered by other odors.

In the words of Dr. David Berliner, These findings corroborate that human pheromones do exist, and that women can communicate chemically with men and vice versa. This is a very important finding because it shows specific areas of the brain that are activated by these chemicals.

As you might expect, the brains of heterosexual men and women respond very differently to specific chemical messengers. For example, the brain regions in the female hypothalamus are highly active when women are exposed to testosterone-like chemicals (while exposure to estrogen-like messengers has no effect). Conversely, the brain areas in the male hypothalami light up like a Christmas tree when men are exposed to estrogen-like hormones.

Scientists believe this gender-specific response to chemical secretions shapes the way men and women to perceive each other on an unconscious level.

If pheromones govern sexual arousal, then can they be harnessed to make people more attractive? More specifically, could pheromones be added to perfumes, which could be used to lure desired mates?

One study from the University of Chicago found that pheromone-type chemical can heighten the heart rate, increase body temperature and change mood. As of yet, however, scientists have been unable to isolate the specific chemicals that trigger attraction and sexual desire.

Of course, many perfume manufacturers claim that their fragrances can spark desire. In fact, most of these products contain pheromones from animals. However, most scientists insist that pheromones are species specific. In other words, until researchers can isolate specific human pheromones or develop synthetic analogs, then a true love potion of love will remain elusive.

Nevertheless, scientists are continuing to investigate pheromones for their scientific, commercial and therapeutic potential. For example, a company called Pherin Pharmaceuticals is looking into ways to use pheromones messengers to alleviate stress, anxiety and menstrual cramps.

The science of pheromones is still very unsettled. However, lets look at some ways researchers believe these chemical signals may be influencing you and driving your sex life:

Research by Wysocki and others indicates that women prefer the musky scent of men who happen to have gene characteristics that match up well with their own DNA. In other words, the nose knows. That is, odor prints may be a huge driver of attractiveness in so far as they help people pick mates with DNA that complements their own. This unconscious form of selection benefits offspring.

Scientists are still a long way off from unraveling the mysteries of attraction and the role that pheromones may play in influencing sexual behavior. For centuries, people have used expressions like love is in the air and love is a matter of chemistry. The emerging science of pheromones suggests that these proverbial adages may be far truer than anyone imagined.

Scott OReilly

Human Behavior

The path of the solar eclipse is already altering real-world behavior – Washington Post

August 2, 2017 medical

The upcoming solar eclipse is poised to become the most photographed, most shared, most tweeted event in human history, in the words of one astronomer.Millions of people will watchit, potentially overwhelming the cities and towns along the eclipse's path of totality.

According to Google, interest in the eclipse has exploded nationwide in the past few months, mirroring national media attention. The county-level search data above, provided by Google, paints a striking picture: Interest in the eclipse is concentrated in the path of totality that cuts through the middle of the country, recedingsharplythe farther you go from that path.

The searches arean uncanny virtual reflection of the eclipse itself. Experts say the difference between a total eclipse (viewable only in the path of totality) and a partial one (everywhere else) is quite literally the difference between night and day. Web users in counties within the path of the totality arelooking up information on the eclipse five to 10 times more often than those well outside, according to Google's data.

In the past week, interest was highest in rural Clark County, Idaho, which lies directly in the eclipse's path. Nearby Idaho Falls plans to hold a four-day outdoor country music festivalit's calling Moonfest.

[Q&A: Do you have a question about the total solar eclipse coming in August?]

Nebraska's Pawnee and Banner counties, situated at opposite ends of the state, show the next-highest amount of interest. Banner county lies just outside the path of totality, while Pawnee is directly within it.

Rounding out the top five counties are Rabun and Towns counties in northeast Georgia, both squarely within the eclipse's path.

In the past week, people searching the Web forthe eventare mostly looking up basic facts a map of the eclipse's path, its exact time and information on the special glasses you'll need to avoid burning your eyeballs while looking at it.

The physical world asserts itself in our virtual lives in myriad ways. Searches for seasonal affective disorder follow a north-south gradient, for instance, and you can use Google searches to track everything from flu season to mosquito hatchings.

The eclipse searches are perhaps the most striking example of this phenomenon yet, as millions of Americans along an invisible celestial pathtap their keyboards together, unknown to one another.

Capital Weather Gang's Angela Fritz breaks down what will happen when a total solar eclipse crosses the U.S. on Aug. 21. (Claritza Jimenez,Daron Taylor,Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)

[A total solar eclipse is happening Aug. 21, and heres what you need to know]

Read this article:
The path of the solar eclipse is already altering real-world behavior - Washington Post