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Neuroscience

New Director of Research Computing – University of Arkansas Newswire

University of Arkansas

Donald DuRousseau joins IT Services

DonaldDuRousseaujoinedIT Servicesas director of research computing on June 29.

In this role,DuRousseauwill provide strategic leadership in the areas ofcyberinfrastructuretechnologies and academic research computing services for the university.

DuRousseaubrings 20 years of technology experience including leadership with Cyber Security Education Solutions and George Washington University. He holds an M.B.A. from George Washington University and a B.S. in Computational Neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley.

"This is a key role for IT Services as we partner with academic leaders on our campus to enhance and support the university'sresearch and discovery goals," said SteveKrogull, interim chief information officer. "Donald's focused experience within academic research will help us meet the needs of our students, faculty and staff in new innovative ways.

Learn more about IT Services leadership.

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New Director of Research Computing - University of Arkansas Newswire

Neuroscience

Nanotechnology applied to medicine: The first liquid retina prosthesis – Science Codex

Genoa (Italy), 29 June 2020 - Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) has led to the revolutionary development of an artificial liquid retinal prosthesis to counteract the effects of diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration that cause the progressive degeneration of photoreceptors of the retina, resulting in blindness. The study has been published in Nature Nanotechnology: http://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-020-0696-3

The multidisciplinary team is composed by researchers from the IIT's Center for Synaptic Neuroscience and Technology in Genoa coordinated by Fabio Benfenati and a team from the IIT's Center for Nano Science and Technology in Milan coordinated by Guglielmo Lanzani, and it also involves the IRCCS Ospedale Sacrocuore Don Calabria in Negrar (Verona) with the team lead by Grazia Pertile, the IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino in Genoa and the CNR in Bologna. The research has been supported by Fondazione 13 Marzo Onlus, Fondazione Ra.Mo., Rare Partners srl and Fondazione Cariplo.

The study represents the state of the art in retinal prosthetics and is an evolution of the planar artificial retinal model developed by the same team in 2017 and based on organic semiconductor materials (Nature Materials 2017, 16: 681-689).

The "second generation" artificial retina is biomimetic, offers high spatial resolution and consists of an aqueous component in which photoactive polymeric nanoparticles (whose size is of 350 nanometres, thus about 1/100 of the diameter of a hair) are suspended, going to replace the damaged photoreceptors.

The experimental results show that the natural light stimulation of nanoparticles, in fact, causes the activation of retinal neurons spared from degeneration, thus mimicking the functioning of photoreceptors in healthy subjects.

Compared to other existing approaches, the new liquid nature of the prosthesis ensures fast and less traumatic surgery that consist of microinjections of nanoparticles directly under the retina, where they remain trapped and replace the degenerated photoreceptors; this method also ensures an increased effectiveness.

The data collected show also that the innovative experimental technique represents a valid alternative to the methods used to date to restore the photoreceptive capacity of retinal neurons while preserving their spatial resolution, laying a solid foundation for future clinical trials in humans. Moreover, the development of these photosensitive nanomaterials opens the way to new future applications in neuroscience and medicine.

"Our experimental results highlight the potential relevance of nanomaterials in the development of second-generation retinal prostheses to treat degenerative retinal blindness, and represents a major step forward" Fabio Benfenati commented. "The creation of a liquid artificial retinal implant has great potential to ensure a wide-field vision and high-resolution vision. Enclosing the photoactive polymers in particles that are smaller than the photoreceptors, increases the active surface of interaction with the retinal neurons, allows to easily cover the entire retinal surface and to scale the photoactivation at the level of a single photoreceptor."

"In this research we have applied nanotechnology to medicine" concludes Guglielmo Lanzani. "In particular in our labs we have realized polymer nanoparticles that behave like tiny photovoltaic cells, based on carbon and hydrogen, fundamental components of the biochemistry of life. Once injected into the retina, these nanoparticles form small aggregates the size of which is comparable to that of neurons, that effectively behave like photoreceptors."

"The surgical procedure for the subretinal injection of photoactive nanoparticles is minimally invasive and potentially replicable over time, unlike planar retinal prostheses" adds Grazia Pertile, Director at Operating Unit of Ophthalmology at IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria. "At the same time maintaining the advantages of polymeric prosthesis, which is naturally sensitive to the light entering the eye and does not require glasses, cameras or external energy sources."

The research study is based on preclinical models and further experimentations will be fundamental to make the technique a clinical treatment for diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

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Nanotechnology applied to medicine: The first liquid retina prosthesis - Science Codex

Neuroscience

Tests of Hearing Could Reveal HIV’s Effects on the Brain – Technology Networks

Even with effective anti-retroviral therapy, patients infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) sustain central nervous system damage. Whether these problems can be mainly attributed to the disease, its treatments, or the bodys immune responses is still being debated, but detecting these changes early and reliably is difficult.Findings from a new study published in Clinical Neurophysiology, involving a collaborative effort between Dartmouths Geisel School of Medicine and the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University, are shedding further light on how the brains auditory system may provide a window into how the brain is affected by HIV.

Weve been performing a variety of hearing tests on an established cohort of HIV-positive patients in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, says Jay Buckey, Jr., MD, a professor of medicine at Geisel who co-led the study. Initially, we thought wed find that HIV affects the ear, but what seems to be affected is the brains ability to process sound.

To test this hypothesis, the researchers used whats called a speech-evoked frequency-following response (FFR). In this test, brain waves are recorded from scalp electrodes (as in an electroencephalogram) while sounds common to everyday speech, like ba, da, or ga, are played into the ear. This offers an objective, non-invasive way to record brain waves and assess the brains auditory functions.

There are many acoustic ingredients in speech, such as pitch, timing, harmonics, and phrase, says Nina Kraus, PhD, Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology at Northwestern, who co-led the study with Buckey. The FFR enables us to play speech sounds into the ear of study participants and figure out how good a job the brain is doing processing these different acoustic ingredients.

When comparing the FFR results of 68 HIV-positive adults to 59 HIV-negative adults, the investigators found that the auditory-neurophysiological responses to certain speech cues were disrupted in HIV-positive adults, even though they performed normally on hearing tests confirming that these hearing difficulties are grounded in the central nervous system.

When the brain processes sound, its not like a volume knob where all of the acoustic ingredients are either processed well or poorly, Kraus explains. With the FFR, were able to see which aspects of auditory processing are affected or diminished and ask, Is there a specific neural signature that aligns itself with HIV?

Thats why the researchers envision the FFR as a viable tool for further understanding not only the mechanisms of brain dysfunction associated with HIV, but also other disorders that affect the brain such as concussion, Alzheimers disease, and the Zika virus infection.

Typically, if you want to assess cognitive function, youre going to do things like have people do math problems, remember a list of words, work on some sort of puzzle or task, or do a drawing, says Buckey. It requires people who are trained in doing this kind of testing, and the tests may be fairly specific to the language people speak and the culture they come from.

Whats significant about our results is that the test doesnt require any actions on the patients part; its recorded passively subjects can even sleep or watch a movie, he says. We think the FFR holds a lot of promise as a way to assess the brain easily and objectively.

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Tests of Hearing Could Reveal HIV's Effects on the Brain - Technology Networks

Neuroscience

HMC-Sidra Medicine team saves baby from rare brain condition – Gulf Times

A team of experts from Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) Hamad General Hospital (HGH), Neuroscience Institute and Sidra Medicine has saved the life of a newborn with a rare brain condition. Led by a neuro-interventional radiologist and his team from Hamad General Hospital, in collaboration with Sidra Medicine, the life-saving procedure was performed when the baby was less than two weeks old.

The Qatari baby boy suffered from Vein of Galen Malformation (VOGM), a rare condition that occurs before birth and results in abnormal connections between blood vessels within the brain and associated congenital heart defects. The condition, which occurs in 1 to 2% of vascular malformations of the brain, was detected during a routine scan by the team at Sidra Medicine late in the mother's pregnancy. To protect the baby and reduce the risk of complications during the final weeks of pregnancy, the baby was delivered three weeks early by Caesarian section at Sidra Medicine.An extensive multidisciplinary team of neuro and interventional radiologists, cardiac interventionalists, neurosurgeons, and neonatologists was assembled to oversee the newborn's care. Dr Ayman Zakaria, Senior Consultant, Interventional Neuroradiology at Hamad General Hospital, and the Neuroscience Institute, along with his team, led the procedure. "Babies with Vein of Galen Malformation normally develop the condition during the first trimester of pregnancy. It results in abnormal arteries that connect directly into the precursor of the Vein of Galen instead of connecting with capillaries. This leads to extra pressure in the vein. It can bleed or dilate to prevent the drainage of the fluids inside the brain or cause a rush of blood towards the heart and lungs, causing extreme pressure on the right side of the heart, leading to congestive heart failure," said Dr Zakaria.The first procedure, which took five hours, was performed by Dr Zakaria and his team and supported by Dr Walid Mubarak, a senior attending physician from Sidra Medicine's Diagnostics Imaging Unit. The procedure was conducted at Sidra Medicine's world-class intra-operative imaging suite (IMRIS); a hybrid operating theatre featuring intraoperative imaging capabilities with the capacity to run complex interventions within the same setting.The first procedure was a success and was followed by a second procedure a week later to further improve the baby's heart circulation.The second procedure was also performed by Dr Zakaria and his team from Hamad General Hospital, with the support of DrAshley Robinson, Division Chief of Interventional Radiology at Sidra Medicine. The baby is recovering well at Sidra Medicine's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and is showing marked improvement in his cardiac and vital signs.Another follow-up session will be performed by Dr Zakaria when the baby is around two months old. This procedure will complete the closure of the remaining shunts and ensure normal physical development and brain function. "The teams at both HMC and Sidra Medicine are delighted with the outcome of this complex endovascular procedure. This procedure had a set of unique risks and the successful outcome in managing this rare, life-threatening vascular malformation is the result of continuous scientific collaboration between Hamad General Hospital and Sidra Medicine teams," said Head of HMC's Neurosciences Institute Dr Ahmed Own.The Chief Medical Officer at HMC Dr Abdulla al-Ansari explained that all healthcare providers are determined to continue delivering the best medical care with the highest international standards in Qatar during these unprecedented times of the Covid-19 pandemic."I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in helping to provide a healthy physical and mental life for this young baby boy and wish him and his family the best of health for the future," said Dr al-Ansari.The Acting Chief Medical Officer at Sidra Medicine Professor Ziyad Hijazi said: "We are proud of our collaboration with our colleagues from Hamad General Hospital and HMC and thrilled that this collaboration with the Neurosciences Institute has led to a continuum of service provision for the children of Qatar. Our multidisciplinary team-based approach was key to providing the baby with lifesaving care and highlights the world-class services available in the country."

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HMC-Sidra Medicine team saves baby from rare brain condition - Gulf Times

Neuroscience

Tau protein modifications may be linked to heterogeneity in Alzheimers disease – News-Medical.Net

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jun 24 2020

A new study reveals a possible biological reason that Alzheimer's Disease (AD) progresses at different rates in different patients.

The study, which was led by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers, focused on tau, a protein found in the neurofibrillary tangles in the brain that are a well-known sign of AD.

Tau can undergo a variety of modifications during the course of the disease including phosphorylations. Researchers found that the presence of different forms of phosphorylated tau could explain why the disease has variable effects.

The study's lead author is Simon Dujardin, PhD, post-doctoral research fellow at Mass General.

Physicians have long known that, from patient to patient, there can be substantial variation in the clinical presentation of Alzheimer's Disease, including age of onset, rate of memory decline and other clinical measures.

Also, higher levels of pathological tau in the brain are associated with more severe disease. However, there are few clues as to what causes this variation between patients.

This team studied samples from 32 patients who were diagnosed with what is considered "typical AD" while living, and that diagnosis was confirmed after death.

The age at diagnosis and the rate of disease progression varied markedly among these patients.

The researchers also conducted an in-depth characterization of the molecular features of tau proteins within the brains of these patients.

This included levels of different species of tau, capacity of tau to induce aggregation (also called seeding), as well as the presence of specific post-translational modifications using biochemical, biophysical and bioactivity assays, as well as advanced mass spectrometry techniques, working with teams at Children's Hospital, Boston and Merck.

The researchers found "striking" variation in the presence of phosphorylated tau oligomers that associates with greater tau spread, and, importantly, worse disease.

Different specific modifications were associated with different degrees of severity and progression rate.

Notably, these specific molecular characteristics led to variable recognition by antibodies which are currently being considered for the therapeutic targeting of tau proteins in AD and associated diseases.

We speculate that there are different molecular 'drivers' of Alzheimer's progression, with each patient having their own set of these. This is similar to what we see in cancer, where there are several types of lung or breast cancer, for example, and the treatment depends on the particular molecular drivers in the patient's tumor."

Bradley Hyman, MD, PhD, senior author of the report and director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the Massachusetts General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND)

This was a multi-institution, cross-disciplinary collaboration between clinicians, neuroscientists and neuropathologists. The team included Judith Steen, PhD, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Neuroproteomics Laboratory in the F. M. Kirby Neuroscience Center at Boston Children's Hospital, as well as Matthew Kennedy, PhD, of the Department of Neuroscience, Merck & Co.

Source:

Journal reference:

Dujardin, S., et al. (2020) Tau molecular diversity contributes to clinical heterogeneity in Alzheimers disease. Nature Medicine. doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0938-9.

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Tau protein modifications may be linked to heterogeneity in Alzheimers disease - News-Medical.Net

Neuroscience

Takeda and Carmine Enter $900 Million Non-Viral Gene Therapy Collaboration – BioSpace

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Carmine Therapeutics inked a research collaboration deal with Japans Takeda Pharmaceutical to develop and commercialize non-viral gene therapies for two rare diseases.

Under the terms of the deal, Takeda will pay Carmine an undisclosed upfront payment and research funding support. Takeda has committed to a $5 million convertible loan to support the development of Carmines REGENT technology platform. Carmine is also eligible for more than $900 million in milestone payments and tiered royalties. Takeda has an option to license the programs after preclinical proof-of-concept studies are concluded and would then take over clinical development and commercialization.

Typically, gene therapies rely on viruses as vector for delivering gene therapies to target cells, usually adeno-associated viruses (AAV). Carmines REGENT technology platform uses red blood cell extracellular vesicles (RBCEVs). Broadly speaking, the technology uses engineered O-type blood cells to carry the RNA payload to the target cells.

One advantage over AAV-based gene therapies is the potential for repeat dosing, a larger payload capacity, and improved bio-distribution in selected tissues by modifying the surface molecules of the RBCEV.

We are pleased to enter this collaboration with Takeda, a recognized global leader in rare disease therapies, slightly more than a year since Carmine was created and incubated by Esco Ventures X, said XQ Lin, founding chief executive officer of Carmine. This provides Carmine with significant funding to further develop our REGENT platform and advance our wholly-owned programs.

Carmine was founded in 2019 by Esco Ventures X, Harvey Lodish with the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and MIT, and Singaporean researchers Minh Le and Jiahai Shi. So far, the company has raised more than $9.4 million in seed equity financing led by Esco Ventures and Takeda Ventures.

In December 2019, Carmine won the Bristol Myers Squibb 2019 Golden Ticket for LabCentral. LabCentral is a shared laboratory launchpad for life sciences and biotech startups in Cambridge. Bristol Myers Squibb, as part of the Golden Tickets program, could choose up to two companies per year to underwrite the cost of one lab bench for one year in LabCentrals facility in Kendall Square.

At the time, Ronne Yeo, vice president of Discovery at Carmine, said, Nucleic acid therapeutics will take center stage in the 21st century, however their delivery has been a huge technical challenge. The beauty of Carmines REGENT platform is that we are able to harvest large quantities of extracellular vesicles very economically, and load them with nucleic acid payloads to be delivered in various sites in the body, overcoming several limitations of todays gene therapy vehicles.

Takeda has been building its pipeline in gene therapy and protein replacement technology. In March, Takeda entered a multi-target partnership with Evox Therapeutics to develop protein replacement and mRNA therapies for rare diseases. The deal involved five new therapies, including Evoxs preclinical program for Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC). That deal included $44 million in upfront, near-term milestone payments and research funding in addition to $882 million in various milestone payments.

Collaborating on the Evox exosome platform also complements our expanding capabilities in cell and gene therapies, said Madhu Natarajan, Takedas Rare Diseases Drug Discovery unit head, particularly with the potential to develop new delivery approaches in addition to our cutting-edge adeno-associated virus platform, to provide transformative therapies or functional cures for people living with rare diseases.

And in September 2019, Takeda and Evotec partnered on at least five drug discovery programs across a broad range of indications. Then in April of this year, the two companies initiated a long-term research deal in support of Takedas gene therapy discover programs. Under the alliance, Evotec supports various Takeda programs aligned with Takedas four therapeutic areas: oncology, rare diseases, neuroscience and gastroenterology.

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Takeda and Carmine Enter $900 Million Non-Viral Gene Therapy Collaboration - BioSpace

Genetics

Genotype analysis of six popular dog breeds finds reduced genetic diversity within subpopulations – PRNewswire

VANCOUVER, Wash., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Wisdom Health Genetics, the world's leader in pet genetics and makers of the WISDOM PANELdog DNA tests, announced today the publication in Canine Medicine and Genetics of a study conducted in collaboration with the University of Eastern Finland.

The study, Variation in breeding practices and geographic isolation drive subpopulation differentiation, contributing to the loss of genetic diversity within dog breed lineages,describes genetic subpopulation differentiation and related loss of genetic diversity discovered in six dog breeds: the Belgian Shepherd, English Greyhound, Finnish Lapphund, Italian Greyhound, Labrador Retriever, and Shetland Sheepdog.

Researchers examined the six popular dog breeds based on differential breeding strategies -- such as breeding for characteristics desired in 'sporting' compared to 'show' lines -- and geography using genotype analysis, finding that each of the breeds showed subpopulation differentiation contributing to a lack of genetic diversity.

For the Italian Greyhound and Shetland Sheepdog, the differentiation could be attributed to the founder effect -- or the reduction in genetic diversity caused when a population descends from a small number of 'founding' ancestors, combined withgeographical isolation based on continent. Breeder preferences accounted for the genetic structure of the remaining four breeds: the English Greyhound and Labrador Retriever breed structures were selected for either show, sport, or working lineages. Analysis of the Belgian Shepherd breed structure shed light on the genetic relationships between different subvarieties of the breed; analysis of the Finnish Lapphund revealed a relatively recent, unexpected split within that subpopulation due to breeder preference.

"These findings are yet another example of how the genetic data generated during our commercial testing at Wisdom Health Genetics can be used to gain insight into the population structure and diversity levels of breeds and their subpopulations," said Jonas Donner, PhD, Discovery Manager at Wisdom Health Genetics.

Though breed differentiation can serve important purposes, selection must be done critically and carefully to maintain healthy genetic diversity and increase gene flow between isolated populations.

"Breeding dogs to fulfill specific breed ideals, by definition, will result in a loss of variation over time; this differentiation is not generally negative. However, due to their size, many small breed populations are in danger of suffering from the accumulated effects of inbreeding depression over the generations," said study co-author Jaakko Pohjoismaki, PhD, senior researcher in genetics at the University of Eastern Finland. "Breed organizations should be more proactive in mixing the dogs between specialized lineages or closely related breeds to prevent deleterious effects of inbreeding depression."

It is essential to maintain a balance between preserving diversity within the breeds when selecting for desired characteristics; to continue responsible breeding, genetic diversity and selecting for positive health traits are central to keeping a population healthy.

"The results of this study highlight the importance of careful balancing between selection for desired traits and health, and avoiding loss of genetic diversity," said Rebecca Chodroff Foran, PhD, R&D Director at Wisdom Health Genetics. "Through our research, we aim to improve the lives of pets everywhere, and identifying opportunities to maintain genetic diversity will ultimately help create and support healthier populations."

Based on the observed loss of genetic diversity in subpopulations of the six breeds studied, the researchers recommend that breeders take steps to encourage genetic diversity, facilitating exchange of dogs across geographical borders and avoiding unnecessary artificial boundaries between lineages.

About the Subpopulation Genetic Differentiation Study:

About Wisdom Health Genetics

The mission of the Wisdom Health business is to strengthen the bond between pets and their people through world-leading insights powered by DNA. Wisdom Panel dog DNA tests - backed by the WISDOM HEALTH scientific research - can help pet parents plan better, care smarter, and love longer. For more than a decade, Wisdom Health scientific research contributed to develop state-of-the-art genetic tests for companion animals, revolutionizing personalized pet care. By unlocking the secrets of their dog or cat's DNA, pet parents and veterinarians can work together to tailor wellness programs that fit the one-of-a-kind needs of their pets. Wisdom Panel products are recommended by veterinarians, and the tests are currently offered by 7000+ veterinarians worldwide. For more information, visithttp://www.wisdompanel.com, or follow the Wisdom Panel brand onFacebook andInstagram.

About Kinship Labs

Advances in science, technology, health and nutrition offer an opportunity to transform the $100B+ pet care industry. With industry-leading data and analytics capabilities, a $100M venture fund and pioneering startup accelerator program, unique set of technology businesses like Whistle Labs and Wisdom Health Genetics,Kinship Labs is building the first-of-its-kind coalition of partners to transform the future of pet care. Kinship Labs is a business division of Mars Petcare, the global leader in pet health, nutrition and services, dedicated to one purpose:A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS. Follow @kinshipco to learn more.

About Mars Petcare

Part of Mars, Incorporated, a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love, the 85,000 Associates across 50+ countries in Mars Petcare are dedicated to one purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS. With 85 years of experience, our portfolio of almost 50 brands serves the health and nutrition needs of the world's pets including brands PEDIGREE, WHISKAS, ROYAL CANIN,NUTRO, GREENIES, SHEBA, CESAR, IAMS and EUKANUBA as well as the Waltham Petcare Science Institute which has advanced research in the nutrition and health of pets for over 50 years. Mars Petcare is also a leading veterinary health provider through an international network of over 2,000 pet hospitals and diagnostic services including BANFIELD, BLUEPEARL, VCA, Linnaeus, AniCura and Antech. We're also active in innovation and technology for pets, with Wisdom Panel genetic health screening and DNA testing for dogs, the WHISTLE GPS dog tracker, LEAPVENTURE STUDIOaccelerator and COMPANION FUND programs that drive innovation and disruption in the pet care industry. As a family business guided by our principles, we are privileged with the flexibility to fight for what we believe in and we choose to fight for our purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS.

Media Contact:Lesley Albert[emailprotected]

SOURCE Wisdom Health

http://www.wisdompanel.com

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Genotype analysis of six popular dog breeds finds reduced genetic diversity within subpopulations - PRNewswire

Genetics

Want to help with COVID-19 research? If you tested positive, share your genetic makeup with DNA testing sites – The Union Leader

DNA testing companies like Ancestry.com and 23andMe are using their expertise in the fight against COVID-19.

Ancestry.coms study is available only to its members, but 23andMe is asking past and present COVID-19 patients (customers or not) to take part in a study that will contribute to ongoing research on the new coronavirus.

23andMe asked existing customers in April if they would allow their DNA sample to be used for research aimed at determining if there are genetic factors affecting immune response to the virus. Then the company opened the study to include non-23andMe customers who had been hospitalized with COVID-19.

According to Adam Auton, principal scientist at 23andMe and lead researcher on the study, the testing company is hoping research will offer insight into differences in risk among individuals, and help academic and scientific communities in their efforts to treat the illness.

When the pandemic was getting going, we here at 23andMe were beginning to think through what could we do to really try and help and contribute to the science and understanding of this disease, he said.

Given that we have a very large cohort of people who have had their genomes genotyped, we really felt that we might be able to make an impact on the question of why do some people get very, very sick with a COVID infection whereas other people may have not even noticed that they had an infection at all? And given our expertise in genetics, we wanted to ask the question to what extent genetics plays a role in those outcomes.

Auton said the response has been a positive one. He said hundreds of thousands of people already have completed the survey to participate in the genome study, and of those, over 9,000 individuals said they have tested positive for COVID-19.

Auton is hoping more participants join the study to get a wider spectrum of coronavirus experiences. To join, individuals have to be over 18, live in the United States, be willing to provide a saliva sample for analyzing different parts of your genome, be willing to complete online study surveys, must have tested positive for COVID-19 and must have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 symptoms. Those who qualify will receive the 23andMe Health + Ancestry Service at no cost.

Edgewater resident Judy Schneider, 75, did a 23andMe kit almost 10 years ago. Having rebounded from a COVID-19 diagnosis in March, she was excited to hear about the 23andMe study.

I would participate because Im interested from the point of view that I have asthma and my mother had asthma, she said. Im concerned about being reinfected, so I would participate.

Ashantis Jones, 26, of Lakeview, did a 23andMe kit with her family two Christmases ago. But she said she wouldnt add her genome information to the COVID-19 study.

Theres a cultural implication especially around people of color because weve been tested on since America has become America, she said. So there is a historical context, too, so no. Youre not just going to take my stuff and test. It just starts to get a little bit too Big Brother.

Auton says 23andMe wants to be as transparent as possible with the study, so the studys protocols are overseen by a third-party ethical review board.

I think its super important to emphasize that all of the research that we do is entirely opt-in, Auton said. They can withdraw their consent at any point, and we will stop using their data. We really are very conscious of this. Frankly, we know we couldnt do this research without our participants, so were just extremely grateful to those that have chosen to participate.

Preliminary data shows a variant in the ABO gene (which is associated with blood type) linked to a lower risk, when comparing research participants who reported that they tested positive for COVID-19 with those who tested negative. Auton said data collection will continue through the summer.

We know that genetics is important when determining outcomes across essentially all human diseases, so your genome may have some information in it that confers risks for certain diseases or protection for other diseases, Auton said.

Given that COVID-19 is so new in our lives, I think we just dont know at this stage whether genetics has a really big role to play in determining these outcomes or whether it has a small role. And if we can establish that it has a role, it may be informative about the developments of potential therapies for people who do have these kinds of severe outcomes.

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Want to help with COVID-19 research? If you tested positive, share your genetic makeup with DNA testing sites - The Union Leader

Genetics

Cancer Genetics CEO "excited about the vision and future" by being highly focused on drug discovery – Proactive Investors USA & Canada

Cancer Genetics, Inc () CEO Jay Roberts tells Proactive the drug discovery and preclinical oncology and immuno-oncology services provider says he's 'excited about the vision and future' of the firm by focusing more on drug discovery and by strengthening its balance sheet.

Roberts says the firm is well positioned to carry through new strategic alternative activities to further strengthen its position in the industry.

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Cancer Genetics CEO "excited about the vision and future" by being highly focused on drug discovery - Proactive Investors USA & Canada

Anatomy

The anatomy of Delhi riots: How rioters mobilised through SMS and WhatsApp messages – Times Now

Representational Image  |  Photo Credit: ANI

New Delhi: A WhatsApp group comprising members of a particular community created on February 25 during the Delhi riots was allegedly used to mobilise and commit maximum violence. The members of the group led to the killing of nine people and dumping their bodies in the drains, a recent charge sheet filed by the Delhi police claims.

It was on the intervening night of February 25th-26th, when a group of rioters randomly attacked passer-byes after checking their identity at Nala Road, Johripur Puliya on the stretch of Bhagwati Vihar and Ganga Vihar, Delhi.

Nine accused people have been charge-sheeted in three separate killings during the north-east riots in Delhi. Hamza, Bhure Ali and Amin were found in the drain in Bhagwati Vihar of north-east Delhi.

The rioters kept on stopping random men and killed them with sticks and rods after asking for their identity. Nine bodies were found in the days to follow.

Delhi police charge sheet claims that they have identified and arrested those behind the killings. All men were part of a WhatsApp group, created to take revenge from the members of other community for burning their property.

Crime branch SIT probing the riots have arrested Nine members of a WhatsApp group createdto take revenge during the riots. They have been challenged for the killing of Hamza, Bhure Ali and Amin.

Two of the initial arrests led to the identification of other members after their mobile handsets were scanned. According to the Delhi police charge sheet, the accused were members of Kattar Hindut Ekta.

One of the members of the group, who identified himself as Lokesh Solanki from Ganga Vihar spilt the beans. On February 26, at 11:39 PM, he started instigating others with a text

Bhai Mai Ganga Vihar se Lokesh Solanki hu agr kisi ko koi problem ho or wha log Kam pde to bta dena Mai apni Puri Ganga Vihar ki team k sath aayunga Sara Saman hai humare pass goli bandook sab kuch," says the crime branch charge-sheet.

In the later texts, he accepted killing two men and dumping their bodies at the Nala. The same description matched with the victims in the case.

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The anatomy of Delhi riots: How rioters mobilised through SMS and WhatsApp messages - Times Now