Monthly Archives: January 2020

Immunology

Ervaxx and Cardiff University Enter Collaboration to Develop Novel T-cell and T-cell Receptor-based Immunotherapeutics Targeting Dark Antigens – Yahoo…

Collaboration also focuses on exciting research published earlier this week in Nature Immunology identifying MR1 as a target for novel anti-cancer immunotherapies

LONDON, Jan. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Ervaxx, a biotechnology company pioneering the use of Dark Antigens to developT-cell receptor (TCR)-based immunotherapies and off-the-shelf cancer vaccines, has entered a licensing and research collaboration with a leading T-cell immunology group at Cardiff University (Cardiff, UK).

The new collaboration will support a multi-year research program with Prof. Andrew Sewell's T-cell modulation group at Cardiff University focusing on the discovery and characterization of T-cells and TCRs reactive to cancer-specific antigens and ligands, including Ervaxx' proprietary Dark Antigens. Ervaxx will fund the program.

The collaboration will also advance exciting new research published earlier this week by the Cardiff University team in Nature Immunology1, where they identified a T cell clone that recognized and killed multiple different types of human cancer, while remaining inert to non-cancerous cells. The T cell clone targets MR1, an MHC class 1-related protein, via an unidentified cancer-specific ligand. These exciting findings, validated in a preclinical model, open the prospect of immunotherapies with broad utility across patients with diverse cancers. This approach into previously unexplored cell surface epitopes complements and extends Ervaxx's exploration of novel cancer-specific antigens.

Under the agreement, Ervaxx gains an exclusive license to relevant Cardiff University patents claiming T cells and TCRs reactive to cancer-specific antigens. The Company has the right to advance resulting candidate T-cell/TCR-based immunotherapeutics and cancer vaccines through development and commercialization. Cardiff University is eligible to receive milestone payments on any candidates that advance from the discovery collaboration into clinical development and royalty payments on sales of any products that reach the market.

Prof. Andrew Sewell, Head of the T-cell modulation group, Cardiff University, commented:

"Ervaxx's Dark Antigens, which are derived from the 98% of the genome that does not encode known proteins, constitute a promising and yet untapped source of targets for immunotherapies. This collaboration will use our world-class expertise in T-cell biology to identify T cells and TCRs reactive to those targets and pave the way for a new wave of treatments in cancer, and potentially other areas. This includes our most recent discovery, published in Nature Immunology, of a T-cell clone that targets MR1 to recognize and kill cancer cells, irrespective of cancer or human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type, offering opportunities for pan-cancer, pan-population cancer immunotherapies."

Kevin Pojasek, CEO of Ervaxx, said:

"We are excited to announce this collaboration with Prof. Sewell's world-class research group. We have great hope that through the combination of this expertise with our Dark Antigens and application of our EDAPT platform, we will be able to identify further targets to expand our portfolio of TCR-based therapies and cancer vaccines. We are also thrilled to contribute to the development of the group's exciting new MR1 research, which shows early but enormous potential for the treatment of cancers. This partnership, which follows those with the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, reinforces our ambition to collaborate with leading academic institutions and be at the cutting edge of the T-cell immunology field to drive the development of novel off-the-shelf cancer therapies."

Prof. Andrew Sewell is a member of Ervaxx' Scientific Advisory Board.

About Ervaxx

Ervaxx is pioneering the use of Dark Antigens to deliver targeted immunotherapies for treating and preventing cancer. Ervaxx Dark Antigens derive from vast untapped expanses of genetic 'dark matter' beyond the normal coding regions of the genome, which are generally silenced in normal tissue but can become selectively activated in cancer.

Ervaxx' powerful, proprietary EDAPT platform has been developed to discover and validate Dark Antigens providing an in-depth assessment of candidate antigens on primary tumor cells along with their immunogenic potential. The EDAPT platform has identified proprietary antigens that map to multiple solid tumor types and generate robust, antigen-specific T-cell responses. Ervaxx is advancing a pipeline of T cell receptor (TCR)-based therapies, off-the-shelf cancer vaccines and other immunotherapies leveraging these insights into the role of Dark Antigens in cancer.

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Ervaxx was co-founded by SV Health Investors and is based on pioneering research at the Francis Crick Institute (London, UK). The company has offices in London, UK and a laboratory in the Bioescalator Building at Oxford University, UK. Ervaxx also has a strategic partnership with a global pharmaceutical company.

For more information visit: http://www.ervaxx.com

Ervaxx, Dark Antigen and EDAPT are trademarks of Ervaxx Limited

About the T-cell Modulation Group, Cardiff University

Cardiff University T-cell modulation group, within the Division of Infection and Immunity, consists of 16 researchers with a diverse skill and knowledge base that covers all areas of T-cell biology including T-cell genetics, molecular biology, protein chemistry, crystallography, and cell biology. The overall goal of the T-cell modulation group is to understand the genetic, biochemical and cellular mechanisms that govern T-cell responses to human disease. Our research outputs are extremely wide ranging and include basic studies which are aimed at understanding how the T-cell immune response is regulated, through to translational studies which are aimed at developing tools, diagnostics and treatments for human diseases such as cancer, HIV, EBV, tuberculosis and many more.

For More Information

Ervaxx LimitedKevin Pojasek, CEOTel: +44-(0)-186-561-8828Email: info@ervaxx.com

Citigate Dewe RogersonMark Swallow, Frazer Hall, Nathaniel DahanTel: +44-(0)-20-7638-9571Email: ervaxx@citigatedewerogerson.com

1Crowther, M.D., Dolton, G., Legut, M. et al. Genome-wide CRISPRCas9 screening reveals ubiquitous T cell cancer targeting via the monomorphic MHC class I-related protein MR1. Nat Immunol (2020) doi:10.1038/s41590-019-0578-8

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SOURCE Ervaxx

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Ervaxx and Cardiff University Enter Collaboration to Develop Novel T-cell and T-cell Receptor-based Immunotherapeutics Targeting Dark Antigens - Yahoo...

Immunology

Dr. Dori Borjesson named dean of the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine – WSU News

Dr. Dori Borjesson

PULLMAN, Wash. Dr. Dori Borjesson, chair of the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, has been selected as the new dean of the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine.

Borjesson was chosen following a nationwide search to replace Dr. Bryan Slinker, who had announced plans to retire before being tapped to serve as interim provost. She will assume her new responsibilities leading WSUs cutting-edge veterinary, biosciences and global health departments on July 20.

The strength of Washington State Universitys research and its potential to impact communities locally and across the globe impressed me during the interview process, as did its dynamic clinical programs and the Washington-Idaho-Montana-Utah Regional Program in Veterinary Medicine, Borjesson said.

Im looking forward to building on Dr. Slinkers tremendous tenure of leadership, she continued. The enthusiasm for WSU among the community is impressive, and I look forward to building on that momentum.

In addition to her role as a department chair and full professor at UC Davis, Borjesson works as a clinical pathologist and is actively engaged in clinical service and laboratory test development. She served as the inaugural director of the Veterinary Institute for Regenerative Cures from 2015 to 2019 and continues to direct the Clinical Regenerative Medicine Laboratory.

Dr. Borjesson brings an important combination of strengths and experience to make her the right leader for the college, Slinker said. Shes a long-serving, highly regarded, and very effective academic leader, and an excellent clinician/scientist, at an aspirational peer institution. This background, combined with her intellectual rigor, openness, and compassion make her a great fit to lead the college in its next phase of growth and development as one of the nations top veterinary colleges.

Borjesson said shes thrilled to meet with WSU students, staff and faculty, as well as meeting with college and university stakeholders in the near future.

Being from the Pacific Northwest, this feels like a homecoming, said Borjesson, who was raised in Portland, Ore. Increasing engagement and outreach across the state is a top priority for me upon taking up this new role. In addition to engagement and strategic planning, Im also eager to face some of the critical issues facing members of the veterinary profession, including student debt and enhancing the well-being of our faculty, students and staff.

Among her more notable research contributions is using large animal models of disease to study cell therapy for inflammatory diseases.

Borjesson holds two patents in the area of mesenchymal stem cells and immunomodulation and has contributed to more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and in 2014 received the Zoetis Research Excellence Award. Alongside her own work, she has mentored more than three dozen veterinary residents and graduate students.

She and her colleague Dr. Aijun Wangs work with stem cells was highlighted in an extensive piece in the Los Angeles Times in 2018 about UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

Borjesson received her undergraduate education from the Colorado College in 1988, her Master in Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees from UC Davis in 1995. She completed a residency at UC Davis in clinical pathology in 1999, followed by her PhD in comparative pathology at the Center for Comparative Medicine at UC Davis in 2002.

After completing her PhD, Borjesson accepted an assistant professorship at the University of Minnesota, where she worked for four years before returning to UC Davis as an associate professor in 2006. She became a full professor in 2012. She has led the Integrative Pathobiology Graduate Group at UC Davis and is actively engaged in veterinary and graduate student curriculum development, teaching and mentoring.

Established in 1899, the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine is proud of its distinguished past as one of the oldest veterinary colleges in the United States. It is equally proud of its contemporary leadership nationally in offering programs for student wellness, its Teaching Academy, which leads its commitment to advancing the state of the art in both health professions and STEM education, and its research and graduate education programs. The breadth of research to discover foundational knowledge and to conduct research targeted to improve animal and human health both domestically and around the world places it in the top 10% of veterinary colleges in receipt of competitive federal research funding.

Phil Weiler, vicepresident for marketing and communications, 5093351221, phil.weiler@wsu.edu

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Dr. Dori Borjesson named dean of the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine - WSU News

Immunology

How Worried Should You Be About the New Coronavirus? – Slate

Travelers in Beijing taking a warranted precaution with face masks.

Nicolas Asfouri/Getty Images

The new coronavirus has infected over 900 people and killed 26. The recently-sequenced virus has spread from its point of origin, China, to Europe and the U.S., where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now confirmed two cases. Almost all of the cases are still concentrated in China, where prevention efforts have shut down Shanghai Disneyland, part of the Great Wall of China, and several McDonalds. The New York Times calls it a rapidly expanding outbreak which has fueled fears of a global pandemic. So how worried should you be? Weve sifted through the news and spoken with to two researchers who have studied similar kinds of viruses to find out.

Is it time to panic?

No. The important thing to remember is that while there are a lot of cases, a lot of them are not severe says Tracey Goldstein, a professor in the department of pathology, immunology and microbiology at the University of California, Davis. Im not worried right now about my personal risk. If youre going to be coming in contact with a lot of people, its prudent to wash your hands. But thats mostly because were in the middle of flu season.

But there are still concerns, right?

I think that our first concern can rightly be the people in China, says Columbia epidemiologist Simon Anthony. Both because of the virus, and because of the vigorous response, which is a hassle even if warrented: China has shut down outbound travel from Wuhan, where the virus originated. Wuhan resident Yasin Gaardo has been posting videos to Twitter, of police blocking a road, and of a supermarket running out of vegetables. Public transportation is locked up90 percent of Wuhan people are staying inside, he told CNN. I can say Im worried but Im not in panic mode right now. Perhaps as you should be.

The alarming part might be the speed at which the virus is spreading. The rapid pace is part of why it keeps making newsits an important global health story, even if most individuals are not personally at riskand the constant news fuels the feeling of panic. Im certainly more concerned now than I was a week ago, said Anthony, noting that the respiratory nature of the virus makes it relatively easy to spread from human to human. Theres also, he said, the fact that it brings back memories from SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

What kind of memories from SARS?

SARS also spreads via the air, through coughing, and traveled around the globe causing panic. And though SARS was more severe, both are coronaviruses. A coronavirus is a kind of virus with a spiky crown-like exterior that affects the respiratory tracts and guts in mammals. There are more than 3,000 species of coronavirus, but they are most commonly found in bats, as Goldstein and Anthony describe in a study in which they tested everything from humans to shrews. Just seven species (with the addition of this new virus) are known to affect humans. One of those is actually the cause of the common cold, to which the symptoms of coronavirus in many cases are similar, though complications of this new one can include pneumonia and sepsis. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), of which there was an outbreak in 2012, is another coronavirus. The new virus does not appear to be as deadly as MERS (34 percent mortality rate), or SARS (10 percent)its death rate is 4 percent.

Why doesnt the new coronavirus have a catchy name like MERS or SARS?

Technically speaking, its name is 2019-nCoV, short for 2019 Novel Coronavirus. Colloquially its going by a few things including Wuhan coronavirus. But as Helen Branswell points out in a piece for Stat News, the World Health Organization frowns on labeling diseases after a place or region. Its stigmatizing. It also doesnt really point out anything helpful about the virus.

Sure, but, why did it originate in Wuhan? Is that random?

Sort of! Theres quite a few things that need to align, says Goldstein, for a virus like this to make the jump to humans. Not only do humans need to come into contact with a bat (or snake), or other animal that the bat/snake has come into contact with, but the machinery of the particular species of virus needs to be able to infect humans. This coronavirus seems to have originated at market with animal meat.

OK, SARS, MERs, now this. Are these kinds of outbreaks becoming more frequent? And should we worry about that?

It does seem like theres been an uptick. There are two reasons for that, explains Goldstein. It might be that were just better at detecting and tracking the spread of viruses. But also, were moving around more; flying and interacting with more species, says Goldstein. The thing that definitely has changed is we are such a global world now.

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How Worried Should You Be About the New Coronavirus? - Slate

Immunology

Study reveals new "crosstalk" between intestinal microbes and developing thymic cells – News-Medical.net

Newborns face unique immunological challenges immediately after birth. As they depart a relatively sterile fetal environment, they are abruptly exposed to a multitude of foreign antigens, the major burden of which is in the form of the microbiota newly colonizing the gastrointestinal tract.

These rapidly multiplying foreign invaders represent, by far, the biggest threat to the neonatal immune system, which has to recognize and classify these organisms as benign, commensal or pathogenic.

Research shows that effective "crosstalk" or communication between early microbes and mucosal immune cells is essential to the formation of healthy microbial communities and promotion of a well-functioning immune system.

The cells of the immune system that participate in mucosal immunity develop in an organ called the thymus located under the breastbone above the heart. Until now, it has been unclear if intestinal microbes influence the development of these cells in the thymus in early life.

Researchers at the Mucosal and Immunology Biology Research Center (MIBRC) at Massachusetts General Hospital now report that gut microbes regulate the development of specialized immune cells in the thymus that play a critical role in mucosal tolerance.

The findings of their extensive research were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA this week. Nitya Jain, PhD, and colleagues focused their studies on a subset of immune cells that express the transcription factor PLZF.

These cells, collectively called innate and innate-like lymphocytes, typically function at the gut mucosal barrier interface and provide immune protection at mucosal sites.

To study the development of these immune cells in the context of gut microbes, researchers monocolonized germ-free mice with a model human commensal, Bacteroides fragilis, and demonstrated that this single species of bacteria could restore the development of PLZF+ innate and innate-like lymphocytes in the thymus of infant mice.

In further proof-of-concept studies, they showed that a mutant B. fragilis lacking expression of Polysaccharide A (PSA) was unable to do the same, suggesting that specific microbial antigens could regulate this early life developmental process.

A similar deficit in these cells was observed in mutant mice that lacked the expression of Toll like receptor 2, a receptor that recognizes bacteria and bacterial components, including B. fragilis PSA, to initiate host protective immune responses.

To understand how this microbial message was delivered to developing thymic cells, Jain's group used a novel mouse model to track the migration of cells from the colon to the thymus.

The photo-conversion strategy, developed with the help of MGH's Guillermo "Gary" Tearney's group at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, was highlighted in the Journal of Visualized Experiments in 2018.

Researchers showed that a class of antigen-presenting cells called plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are imprinted by intestinal microbes and migrate from the gut to the thymus in early life to regulate the development of thymic lymphocytes.

For the first time, Jain's group has revealed "a novel communication between intestinal microbes and developing cells in the thymus," says Jain. "It shapes the immune 'repertoire' in early life and affects how the host will respond to disease throughout the lifespan."

The unbalanced development of an infant's gut microbiome is thought to play a role in disease development later in life. Disturbing the microbiota in infancy by antibiotics or diet, for example, has been linked to increased risk of allergies, asthma and autoimmune disorders including celiac disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Jain's group demonstrates one mechanistic basis for this observation. They show that thymic PLZF+ cells did not develop efficiently in mice treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics in early life, but mice treated in later life were spared.

Jain says there "appeared to be an early-life time window when developing immune cells in the thymus were particularly susceptible to microbial influence."

Additionally, the study shows that microbe-induced altered development of thymic innate and innate-like cells in early life persists into adulthood and leads to increased susceptibility to experimental colitis.

Importantly, disease severity could be moderated by the transfer of PLZF+ cells from mice that developed with normal microbiota in early life, says Jain.

She adds, "This has significant implications for the design of strategies to treat autoimmune disorders such as IBD. Our studies point to a previously unexplored pathway that may be developed as an adoptive cell therapy for patients."

MIBRC Director Alessio Fasano, MD notes that growing evidence shows that early development of a healthy immune state requires an ideal symbiotic relationship between developing infants and their community of microorganisms.

How we 'choose' our ideal microbiome to teach our immune system to defend us rather than harm us is still a big question mark. Nitya and her group--for the first time--have shed light on the very early mechanisms that are in charge of establishing a healthy relationship between the human host and the microbiome."

Alessio Fasano, MD, Director,MIBRC

Source:

Journal reference:

Ennamorati, M. et al. (2020) Intestinal microbes influence development of thymic lymphocytes in early life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1915047117.

Excerpt from:
Study reveals new "crosstalk" between intestinal microbes and developing thymic cells - News-Medical.net

Immunology

As Chinese celebrate Lunar New Years Eve and coronavirus continues to spread @umich experts available to discuss health, economy, engineering…

MEDIA CONTACT

Available for logged-in reporters only

Jan. 24, 2020

U-M has a satellite uplink/LTN TV studio and an ISDN/IP radio line for interviews.

EXPERTS ADVISORY

Coronavirus: U-M experts can discuss

Mary Gallagher, professor of political science and director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, is an expert on Chinese politics, U.S.-China relations, labor and workers in China, and employment and labor law in China. She can discuss the political and economic implications of the travel lockdown on the eve of the Lunar New Year.

"The Chinese government response to the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis is like the 2003 SARS crisis, but sped up," she said. "This shows that the government realized its mistakes more quickly this time. What took months in 2003 took days in 2019.

"But still, for a resident of Wuhan or any large Chinese city, it must be confusing and infuriating that on the weekend the government reassured citizens that the virus did not spread between humans and was under control, and then, only four days later, to initiate an unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and other cities on Thursday.

"It remains unclear if the early inaction was due to a lack of urgency, an inability to test people properly and quickly, or a desire to maintain a sense of stability before the Lunar New Year. Crises like this undermine people's confidence in the governments credibility and compassion."

Contact: 734-615-9154, metg@umich.edu

Herek Clack, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the College of Engineering, has studied airborne disease transmission and has developed a technologya nonthermal plasma reactorthat can remove and inactivate airborne pathogens by electrically charging them.

"We've tested it in our lab at the University of Michigan on a surrogate virus, proving that it's 99.9% effective at either removing or inactivating that virus," he said.

Clack can discuss the airplane environment, and the issues that surround contagions in the cabin air.

"All commercial aircraft have particulate filters in their cabin air treatment system. The problem is that viruses are much smaller than the smallest particles that typically can be captured on those filters. So, unless the virus is in, or on, a larger particle, it is unlikely that the virus by itself would be substantially removed as a result of being filtered by the typical passenger airplane filters."

Read a news release about his technology. Watch a video about his technology being tested for use in agricultural settings.

Contact: 734-763-6830, hclack@umich.edu

Aubree Gordon, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, works on infectious disease epidemiology and global health, particularly the epidemiologic features and transmission of influenza and dengue fever. She is an investigator with the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance.

"While the full extent of human-to-human transmission is still not known, Chinese authorities have verified multiple generations of transmission, meaning that transmission is clearly occurring in the community," she said. "This is worrisome as the easier it is for this virus to be transmitted, the harder it will be to control the outbreak.

"Initial reports suggest the severity of illness caused by this virus may not be as severe as SARS in 2002-03, however it is still very early in the outbreak and the true extent of severity is not yet known. We do know that it's causing severe lower respiratory disease in more than 20% of detected cases to date. What we don't know is if there are many more mild cases that occurred at the same time and were not detected."

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Contact: gordonal@umich.edu

Arnold Monto, the Thomas Francis Jr. Collegiate Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health, is an internationally known expert on the transmission, prevention, mitigation and social response to outbreaks and pandemic planning including transmission modes. He has served as an adviser for the World Health Organization, consulted with the U.S. Department of Defense on communicable diseases, and visited Beijing during the SARS coronavirus episode in 2003.

Contact: 734-764-5453, asmonto@umich.edu

Howard Markel, the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine at the Medical School and director of its Center for the History of Medicine, has studied epidemics over history and the effectiveness of efforts to contain their spread. He can speak on issues related to quarantine and travel.

His collaborative study with the Global Migration and Quarantine division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 1918-19 influenza pandemic has played a major role in shaping the policies of the federal government, nations around the globe and the World Health Organization as they consider how to mitigate future pandemics. He is the author of "When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed."

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Contact: Kara Gavin, 764-2220, kegavin@umich.edu

Emily Toth Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, is an infectious disease epidemiologist with a focus on virus epidemiology and the use of vaccines and therapies to prevent and treat infection. Her research includes optimizing the use of diagnostics for viral diseases.

"We know this virus is a coronavirus," she said. "Other coronaviruses have caused very serious infections, like during the SARS outbreak, but some cause mild symptoms like the common cold. It's too soon to know how efficiently this virus is spreading between humans, or whether it is likely to die out on its own. There is a lot yet to learn about this virus, so public health officials are being cautious."

Video clipContact: 734-647-4723, etmartin@umich.edu

Theodore Standiford is a professor of medicine and interim chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

"Based on disease modeling, it is quite likely that the number of cases has been considerably underestimated and could be more than one thousand," he said. "In contrast to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, there has been no documented cases of individuals being infected outside of Wuhan, China, and no documented infections in health care workers caring for infected patients.

"Also, the risk for pandemic spread of the virus has been minimized by the early actions of the Chinese health authorities, WHO and CDC, including prompt closure of the site where the infection originated (fish and animal market in Wuhan City), systematic screening and quarantining of travelers departing from Wuhan and in destination cities nationally and internationally, and earlier and better adherence to contact and respiratory isolation precautions of infected subjects.

"Fortunately, the illness caused by 2019-nCoV appears to be less severe than that caused by SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, coronaviruses which were associated with mortality rates of approximately 10% and 35%, respectively."

The Wuhan Novel Coronavirus: Should You Be Worried?

Contact: Kelly Malcom, 734-764-2220, kmalcom@umich.edu

Krista Wigginton is an associate professor of environmental engineering at the College of Engineering. Her research interests include the detection and fate of viruses in water and air, and on how to better control the environmental transmission of viruses. She led a 2015 study looking at the potential presence and fate of enveloped viruses in the urban water cycle, with emphasis on coronaviruses (e.g., SARS and MERS) and avian influenza viruses.

"The transmission of enveloped viruses, like coronaviruses and influenza viruses, is not usually associated with water; however sewage did play a role in some SARS coronavirus transmission," she said. "We need to anticipate the potential role of the urban water cycle in the spread of pandemic viruses, particularly for avian influenza viruses and coronaviruses. In order to address this, virologists, environmental engineers, and public health researchers must work together."

Contact: 734-763-9661, kwigg@umich.edu

Peter Jacobson, professor of health management and policy at the School of Public Health, can discuss the legal issues involving the spread of infectious diseases, including quarantine. His research focuses on the relationship between law and health care delivery, law and public health systems, and health equity. He has looked at previous cases including the 2014 Ebola outbreak, when several states imposed quarantines exceeding guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"As long as the screening is conducted in a nondiscriminatory manner and is limited in duration and scope, CDC appears to be acting appropriately under the circumstances," he said.

Contact: 734-936-0928, pdj@umich.edu

Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, is an expert on infectious disease epidemiology and has 20 years of experience in microbial risk assessment work focused on water quality. He is part of a group of scientists from around the country who are involved with the Modeling Infectious Disease Agents Study, an NIH-funded program that focuses on infectious disease transmission modeling with a particular focus on waterborne pathogens. Their work has informed recent Ebola projections about infection rates and deaths.

Contact: 734-764-5435, jnse@umich.edu

Linda Lim, professor emerita of corporate strategy and international business at the Ross School of Business, focuses her research on the political economy of multinational and local business in Southeast Asia. That includes the changing international trade and investment environment, and the influence of domestic politics, economic policy and culture on business structure, strategy and operations.

Contact: 734-665-4803, lylim@umich.edu

Michael Imperiale, professor of microbiology and immunology at Michigan Medicine, studies virus replication, virus-host cell interactions and science policy. He serves as U-M's associate vice president of research-policy and compliance and has served on the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a presidentially commissioned advisory board, and on various policy-related committees of the National Research Council and the National Academies.

Adam Lauring is associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and infectious diseases, at Michigan Medicine. He studies RNA viruses, which include coronaviruses, evaluating their rapid mutation rate and implications for human disease. He collaborates with researchers at the School of Public Health to study how the influenza virus changes in home and clinical settings.

Contact: Kelly Malcom 734-764-2220, kmalcom@umich.edu

Sandro Cinti, professor of infectious disease at Michigan Medicine, is involved in preparation for bioterrorism and emerging infections at the national, state and local levels. In addition to treating infectious disease patients and training medical students and residents in the identification and care of infectious conditions, he helps lead biopreparedness activity at Michigan Medicine and coordinates with colleagues across the metro Detroit area and beyond.

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As Chinese celebrate Lunar New Years Eve and coronavirus continues to spread @umich experts available to discuss health, economy, engineering...

Genetics

What Causes Autism? Researchers ID 102 Genes Linked to Condition – Healthline

In the largest genetics study of its kind to date, scientists have identified 102 genes associated with the risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Researchers also gained further insight into which of these genes are associated with both ASD and other disorders that cause intellectual disability and developmental delay.

For the study, an international team of researchers analyzed more than 35,000 participant samples, including almost 12,000 from people with ASD.

Researchers used a genetic technique called exome sequencing, which looks at all the regions of a persons genetic information or genome that are translated into proteins. This testing can pick up rare genetic mutations that might not show up with other methods.

Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Stollery Childrens Hospital Foundation Chair in Autism at the University of Alberta, called this an exciting study, both for the sophisticated methods used and the large sample size.

These enabled researchers to identify a larger number of genes than ever before, which gives insight into how those genes operate and how they might increase the risk of ASD, said Zwaigenbaum, who wasnt involved in the research.

The study results were published January 23 in the journal Cell.

ASD is a group of neurological and developmental conditions that affect communication and behavior. Theres wide variation in the type and severity of symptoms in people with ASD.

Scientists believe that both genes and environment are involved in the development of ASD, with genetics playing a big part.

We know that inherited and unique mutations in the genome are a major source of risk for developing ASD, but specific causes of ASD are not yet well understood, said Lori J. Warner, PhD, director of the Center for Human Development and Ted Lindsay Foundation HOPE Center at Beaumont Childrens Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, who wasnt involved in the study.

Although environmental factors play some role in ASD, scientific studies have found that theres no link between receiving vaccines and developing ASD.

The new study marks an important step forward in scientists understanding of the genetic basis of ASD.

Researchers identified both inherited genetic mutations and de novo mutations ones that occur spontaneously when an egg or sperm form.

They also found that the ASD genes identified in the study can affect brain development or brain function. And they showed that two major types of nerve cells can be affected in ASD.

Of the 102 genes identified in the study, 49 were associated with other developmental delays.

Some genes appear connected to the development of ASD, whereas others may increase risk for ASD plus severe neurodevelopmental disorder, said Warner. We dont yet understand fully this process, but differentiating ASD from other disorders is important for effective treatment.

Zwaigenbaum said the overlap between ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders fits with previous research.

This study reinforces that there are many genes that may have some role in autism vulnerability, but that also have a broader role in early brain development, said Zwaigenbaum.

These genes have a broader expression in terms of developmental abilities and challenges of the affected individual.

While scientists now understand ASD better as a result of this study, this kind of research also points toward better ways to help children with ASD.

The greatest benefit of studies of this type is helping researchers, families, and interventionists better understand how genetic factors actually function in the developing brain and body of the individual, said Warner, so that treatments can be developed to ameliorate or completely block the disruptive changes that lead to disorders such as ASD.

But Zwaigenbaum cautions that the results of the study will not lead to clinical benefits right away.

Theres a lot of translational work that would still need to happen in order to assess whether the findings from this study will directly inform assessment, diagnosis, or treatment, he said.

Still, he said the results provide direction for future research into potential biological treatments, as well as genetic tests that could allow earlier diagnosis of ASD.

Warner said there are medications currently approved for use in children with ASD, but they address symptoms like agitation or anxiety, rather than the core social or behavioral deficits of ASD.

Early diagnosis is another goal of ASD research, because the sooner children are identified and appropriately assessed, the sooner families can receive needed supports, said Warner.

But ASD is a complex condition, so genetic diagnosis isnt always straightforward.

Although studies like this continue to expand our appreciation for the increasing number of genes associated with ASD, the reality is that a genetic cause is seldom identified in most children with ASD even with the most sophisticated genetic testing, said Andrew Adesman, MD, chief of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics at Cohen Childrens Medical Center in Queens, New York, who wasnt involved in the study.

But he said theres still value in parents of a child with ASD seeking out genetic testing, especially as genetic technologies advance.

There have been steady gains in terms of the diagnostic yield of genetic testing, said Adesman. For this reason, parents of children with ASD may wish to discuss with their pediatrician whether their child should have the newer genetic tests done.

In the absence of a simple test for ASD, there are still things parents can do for their children.

The single most important things families and healthcare providers can do is to be aware of the risk factors and early signs and symptoms of autism, and get connected with needed services as soon as possible, said Warner.

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What Causes Autism? Researchers ID 102 Genes Linked to Condition - Healthline

Genetics

Genetics will aid tomato taste – Fruitnet

A University of Florida (UF) tomato expert has called on researchers worldwide to use genetics to help farmers grow tastier tomatoes in many geographic locations.

Consumers crave tasty tomatoes, but the trick comes in growing flavourful fruit in different environments, said UF professor emeritus Jay Scott.

I am proposing a worldwide approach involving public and private breeding programs that one day might make dissatisfaction with tomato flavour obsolete, said Scott, who gave a presentation at the Tomato Breeders Roundtable and Tomato Disease Workshop in November in Clearwater, Florida.

In a recent follow-up interview, Scott recommended scientists use genetic markers genes that are tightly associated with various traits to efficiently breed tomatoes that are more likely to appeal to consumers taste buds. Furthermore, researchers must develop more flavourful fruit in various types of soil and weather conditions, he said.

According to Scott, weather and other conditions constitute 'different environments' specifically, various soils, irrigation, rain, fertilisation programs and temperature, among other factors.

For example, a tomato that tastes good in Florida may taste even better if grown in Mississippi because Floridas soils are not as good as those in Mississippi, he explained.

Theres a huge environmental effect on flavour in tomatoes, Scott said. You may not get the same flavour in different places. The big trick is to get an environmentally stable good flavour.

Scott has spent more than 30 years as a tomato breeder at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, Florida, east of Tampa, during which time he has released many different tomato varieties.

We should test material around the world, he said. This approach would involve a whole bunch of people. Everybodys input would be helpful. Plus, I like the international cooperation aspect.

At UF/IFAS, assistant professor Sam Hutton is developing several flavourful tomato varieties. Other scientists around the world are developing similar types of tomatoes.

Scott has encouraged them to share seeds of those new types of tomatoes to grow and taste in their fields and labs, allowing scientists to find out if, for example, tomatoes developed in California taste good in Asia, Africa or South America.

Heres the thing: When people go to the grocery store, theyre not necessarily going there with the goal of buying the tastiest tomatoes, Scott said. They go to the store and buy tomatoes, thinking, Im making a salad tonight or Im making tacos tonight. Commercial tomatoes get a bad rap because people compare them to home garden tomatoes that dont have to be packed and shipped. We want to change that perception.

In my career, there has been a dissatisfaction among consumers with the flavour of commercial tomatoes, Scott outlined. Were trying to make it so that in the future, people think, tomatoes taste good and wonder why there used to be dissatisfaction with them.

I have long had a hypothesis that if I could develop a tomato variety with flavour that everyone liked, then all the problems in the world would be resolved," he added. "Although this might sound absurd, there is still no evidence against the hypothesis because there are always some that dont like the flavour. If the proposed research is carried out, then I would keep the hypothesis but change the I to we."

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Genetics will aid tomato taste - Fruitnet

Genetics

Quest buys Helsinki-based Blueprint Genetics to expand reach – MedTech Dive

Dive Brief:

Though FDA is ramping up its scrutiny of genetic tests claiming to predict individual patient responses to drugs,payers have become more open to the idea of reimbursing for the tests. In response, major labs and pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to establish relationships with DNA sequencing players that could be lucrative down the line.

Blueprint, founded in 2012,provides genetic diagnostics of rare diseases based on an NGS method developed at Stanford, which was an early investor in the startup. The eight-year-old company has scaled relatively quickly by decreasing the price of genetic diagnostics while adding clinical insights through gene variant interpretation of the results, identifying associations between quirks in the gene and potential diseases and treatment responses.

Quest already sells more than 700 genetic tests but is looking to Blueprint to spur growth across diseases and geographies.

"Blueprint Genetics has developed a proven model for delivering highly specialized genetic insights that we believe we can scale to serve new patient populations with unmet clinical needs," Quest CEO Steve Rusckowski said in a Wednesday statement.

It's the latest acquisition from Quest as the 53-year-old lab behemoth elbows for market share with Burlington, North Carolina rival LabCorp. Quest has embarked on sustained M&A over the past three years, most recently nabbing the clinical lab services of Columbia, Missouri-based Boyce and Bynum Pathology Laboratories in November 2018.

Though the pace of acquisitions last year was slower than Wall Street expected, both Quest and LabCorp reiterated their eat-or-be-eaten strategy at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco earlier this year, highlighting acquisitions and market share gains as key drivers of diagnostic growth.

Blueprint, which operates in more than 70 countries, "considered joining forces with several organizations" before agreeing to be acquired by Quest, according to Tommi Lehtonen, Bueprint's CEO, who will stay on as VP and general manager. The privately held DNA player has raised more than $26 million over four funding rounds, most recently a Series B round in November, and brings in an estimated $4 million in annual revenue, according to Owler.

As the biopharma business grows, Blueprint opened its first North American lab in October: a hub facility in Seattle. The company says it plans to scale further by leveraging Quest's national infrastructure (it serves half the health systems and providers in the U.S.), though Quest noted Blueprint will continue to "operate largely independently" from its headquarters in Helsinki.

Unlike the roiling direct-to-consumer space, Blueprint's genetic tests are targeted for hospitals and research groups. But there's significant overlap between players, especially as heavy hitters Ancestry and 23andMe look to carve out market share in health testing. Ancestry announced in October it was partnering with clinical labs, including Quest and rival Illumina, to sell physician-ordered tests for genes relates to heart disease and other conditions.

Quest plans to announce fourth quarter earnings Jan. 30.

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Quest buys Helsinki-based Blueprint Genetics to expand reach - MedTech Dive

Genetics

Scientists uncover genetic information of what keeps us healthy – News-Medical.net

Genetics plays a role in the overall health and well-being of humans. Genes provide instructions for making proteins, which help determine the structure and function of each cell in the body. Aside from determining the characteristics inherited, genes have been linked to many diseases. Scientists have determined the genetic information of health.

A team of researchers aimed to better understand the disease process and the role of genes in disease development. To do this, they need to study the genomics of health, or how these genes influence what keeps us healthy.

For the first time, the team, who were from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, collated a genome reference of thousands of healthy Australians, who were between 64 and 95 years old. The study may help predict gene variants more accurately than methods in the past.

The findings of the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, included the first 2,570 genomes of the Medical Genome Reference Bank (MGRD), which is a combination of two studies, the ASPREE study and the Sax Institutes 45 and Up Study.

With a comprehensive analysis of healthy people, the researchers were able to provide a clear understanding of which genes are linked to disease, and which are not. The researchers believe that the MGRB will give a good and ideal baseline for genomic studies in the future.

No two persons are alike, and the same is true when it comes to their genetic makeup. Every individual has about 6 billion DNA letters encoded in their genome, which are tied to all the information vital for cellular processes in the body. In fact, between two unrelated individuals, there are millions of single-letter variations or differences.

These variations in the genome make people unique and different, but some of these differences can lead to disease. Hence, the researchers wanted to identify which genes make people sick and which do not.

By studying about 2,570 healthy adults in Australia, who were free from diseases such as neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer until the age of at least 70, the researchers have a new baseline and a more statistically powerful framework to identify disease-causing gene variants.

For example, the team studied genomes of prostate cancer patients and discovered that by using the MGRB as a control, it provided a 25-percent higher predictive power of disease-linked gene variants, than other genome databases.

The researchers used whole-genome sequencing to determine the biological age from DNA and to detect changes tied to aging, such as less mitochondrial DNA, caps at the end of chromosomes, or having shorter telomeres.

The amount of mitochondrial DNA, which codes for the energy generators of cells, has been linked to higher grip strength in men. The scientists were able to find certain genome changes that could distinguish between healthy older adults that share the same age but have varying physical function. The findings of the study hint that the DNA in a persons blood sample may provide a marker for their biological age than their chronological age.

The ability to derive a measure of biological age may better predict health outcomes for individuals. As our population ages, understanding the genetic basis for healthy aging will become more and more important," Professor David Thomas, Garvan Cancer Research Theme Leader and Director of The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, said.

The MGRB will contain genomic information from more than 4,000 older adults in Australia once its completed.

Journal reference:

Pinese, M., Lacaze, P., Rath, E.M. et al. The Medical Genome Reference Bank contains whole genome and phenotype data of 2570 healthy elderly. Nat Commun 11, 435 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-14079-0, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-14079-0

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Scientists uncover genetic information of what keeps us healthy - News-Medical.net

Genetics

DNA Collection at the Border Threatens the Privacy of All Americans – The New York Times

What if the United States government took the DNA of vast numbers of Americans for use without their consent? The Trump administration has just brought us one step closer to that dystopia. On January 6, the federal government began collecting DNA from any person in immigration custody previously, it had required only fingerprints. With this move, the federal government took a decisive step toward collecting and tracking large numbers of its citizens genetic information too.

The federally administered CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, has expanded dramatically in scope since its inception. Virginia established the first forensic DNA database in 1989, with the federal government following suit in 1994. Today, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the federal government collect, store and share genetic information through CODIS. Initially, many states limited DNA collection to sex offenders. But today, nearly all states compel DNA from all convicted felons, while many states collect DNA from individuals convicted of mere misdemeanors. Most states also collect DNA from some individuals merely arrested on charges of, but not yet convicted of, a crime.

The Supreme Court blessed the expansion to arrests in Maryland v. King, a narrowly divided 2013 decision, over a furious dissenting opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, three years before his death. Justice Scalias opinion railed against the civil rights implications of expanding CODIS in this way. The Trump administrations recent immigration policy is the latest development in a worrying trend of escalating DNA surveillance.

Despite these significant expansions in CODIS, one constant has remained: Until now, CODISs crime-solving components have contained genetic profiles only of individuals connected with criminal activity, whether accused or convicted. Now, for the first time, CODIS will warehouse the genetic data of people who have not been accused of any crime, for crime detection purposes. Noncitizens in immigration custody are not criminals as a rule. The vast majority of immigration infractions that land an immigrant in detention are civil in nature, akin to the I.R.S. asking a citizen to pay a penalty when she fails to withhold enough money from her paycheck. And in the case of refugees seeking asylum (a large and increasing proportion of the detained noncitizen population), international and domestic law expressly allow these individuals to enter the United States to claim the right to refuge. By severing the longstanding prerequisite of prior (alleged) criminal conduct for compelled DNA collection, the government puts us all at risk.

How we treat the people that cross our borders speaks to our identity as a nation. Immigrants are Americans of the future and the criteria we use to select or bar immigrants reflect our aspirations for the society we wish to become. The new DNA collection program may yet revive darker, eugenic impulses in immigration history. Modern, quota-based immigration law was born of a desire to improve the quality of Americas racial stock by drastically limiting immigration from peoples scientifically believed to be less intelligent than other groups. Italians and other southern European immigrants, for example, were granted fewer visas based on this false science.

It is a small leap from requiring immigrants to submit their DNA to verify familial relationships, or to mitigate future criminal risk (the pretexts the government has cited to justify its recent policy change) to requiring DNA screening of immigrants for health, disability, intelligence or disease. These screens for fitness likely based on questionable science could ultimately be used to deny entry into the United States or, if discovered later, as a basis for expulsion. Regardless of reliability we would not support genetic screening for fitness. Courts have usually failed to protect immigrants from such impulses, so it is up to citizens to learn from this history and decide that building a society this way is unacceptable.

More broadly, once you break the norm requiring criminal conduct for inclusion in CODIS, it is difficult to re-establish. That is why many civil rights groups have long objected to forced mass collection even in criminal contexts. In arguing that collecting DNA from arrestees should be unconstitutional, the ACLU, Electronic Freedom Foundation and others have worried about precisely this shift from forced criminal DNA collection to forced DNA collection from law-abiding individuals. With every expansion in CODISs reach, the government has shown that these concerns about eroding privacy were well placed.

The Supreme Court justices who dissented in Maryland v. King saw this threat clearly as well. Justice Scalias dissenting opinion foresaw the construction of a genetic panopticon, a DNA watchtower that the government could use to monitor all of its people. This new immigration policy moves us toward completion of that dystopian tool: a genetic database that will ultimately encompass anyone within United States borders, including ordinary Americans neither convicted nor even suspected of criminal conduct.

History has repeatedly shown that freedom from the governments prying eyes is essential for liberty. Resistance to government overreach has relied on the governments less-than-perfect ability to identify and discipline its subjects. The Constitution takes this as a bedrock principal, with the Fourth Amendment forbidding the government from engaging in unreasonable searches and seizures.

Anonymity can be of real social value. Being able to stay unknown enables people to do important things, like protest the government. If the government has the genetic profiles of all Americans, it may be able to trace us wherever we go. That raises significant constitutional and other concerns even if accurately deployed. Among other possible misuses, such a comprehensive DNA database would empower the White House to crack down on civil protest or monitor political critics and opponents.

And what if the government gets things wrong? A comprehensive DNA database may lead law enforcement to lean even more heavily on genetic technology. But forensic genetics can point to the wrong suspect. A contaminated specimen of crime scene DNA might well result in a false match. Counterintuitively, as DNA analysis becomes more sensitive, forensic genetic analysis may be more likely to falsely implicate a person in a crime. We constantly shed our DNA, and it can travel from place to place on the objects we touch. In the future, simply sneezing somewhere that becomes a crime scene could be enough to make you a suspect. As with many other forms of data collection, the more complete the information database, the more suffocating, dehumanizing and potentially totalitarian the society.

We as Americans should take heed of how these quiet expansions in genetic surveillance may threaten our democratic way of life. The courts and Congress have been largely complicit in amplifying these threats to individual and collective liberty. It will be up to citizens themselves to make clear to those who wield power in their names that they do not wish to live under the gaze of a genetic panopticon.

Daniel I. Morales is an immigration law theorist and a professor at the University of Houston Law Center. Natalie Ram is a genetic privacy scholar and an associate professor of law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Jessica L. Roberts is a bioethicist and law professor who specializes in peoples legal rights in their genetic data. She is the director of the Health Law & Policy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center.

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DNA Collection at the Border Threatens the Privacy of All Americans - The New York Times