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Immunology

REPEAT – QUESTCAP TO INVEST $1 MILLION WITH SUNNYBROOK RESEARCH INSTITUTE TO ESTABLISH THE SUNNYBROOK TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH GROUP FOR EMERGING AND…

TORONTO, April 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

QuestCap Inc. (QuestCap or the Company) (CSE: QSC; OTCMKTS: COPRF; FRA: 34C1) is pleased to announce an investment of $1 million in the Sunnybrook Research Institutes COVID-19 research. With these funds, Sunnybrook will establish the Sunnybrook Translational Research Group for Emerging and Respiratory Viruses (SERV) and QuestCap will receive a 3.5% royalty on any revenues earned by Sunnybrook from the commercialization of any of the research done by SERV.

Led by infectious diseases physician and microbiologist Dr. Samira Mubareka, SERVs work will focus on three crucial streams of research: vaccines and therapeutics, virus biology and transmission prevention. Dedicated investment in SERV means Dr. Mubareka and her team will be able to accelerate the pace of further research into COVID-19 at a crucial time.

Dr. Lawrence Steinman and Mike McCarthy Appointed as Advisors

QuestCap is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Lawrence Steinman and Mike McCarthy to the board of advisors. Dr. Lawrence Steinman is Professor of Neurology, Neurological Sciences and Pediatrics at Stanford University and Chair of the Stanford Program in Immunology from 2001 to 2011.

Mike McCarthy has more than 14 years of experience with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and 24 years in health policy and delivery. He was appointed Senior Policy Advisor to the Progressive Conservative Minister of Health of Ontario, advising on physician, nursing and primary care, public health, laboratories, OHIP, organ transplant, HIV and blood issues. In 2003, he provided strategic support and counsel to the government of Ontario during the SARS outbreak.

Lawrence Steinman stated that, The Sunnybrook technology will be a key tool for the development of both powerful and safe vaccines against COVID-19, and for the development of point of care and even home diagnostics to test whether one is immune to the COVID-19 virus. Those who are immune can return to work and can provide safe and needed duties to the community. It would be especially important to know if you are a health care worker, grocer or delivery person whether or not you have immunity. You could then be safe and carry on as a SuperWomen or SuperMan in these times, knowing you are immune! Mike McCarthy adds I look forward to advising QuestCap in its visionary efforts to bring innovative testing and vaccine technologies to Canada and the world to combat COVID-19.

The Company has granted 500,000 stock options to Mr. Steinman pursuant to the Companys stock option plan. The stock options shall vest in four equal instalments every three months such that all stock options fully vest by the date that falls 12 months from the date of grant and may be exercised at a price of $0.305 per common share for a period of five years from the date of grant. This grant of options is subject to the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

Sunnybrook Translational Research Group

Sunnybrook has been at the global forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic since the first Canadian case was identified, both clinically and on the research front. Dr. Mubareka, along with clinical microbiologist Dr. Robert Kozak and a team of close collaborators, has led Sunnybrooks research response efforts since the earliest days of the pandemic. Their work has been globally significant, leading to early implementation of a hospital-based COVID-19 test. Most crucially, on March 10, 2020, their team isolated the agent responsible for the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19. The isolated virus is helping researchers in Canada and elsewhere to develop better diagnostic testing, treatments and vaccines, and gain a better understanding of the viruss biology, evolution and clinical shedding.

This is extremely time-sensitive research, says Dr. Mubareka. As a scientist on the frontlines, I have seen the devastation this virus can cause. We all feel the effects of physical distancing as our lives are fundamentally changed. This is why support from our community is so important right now. The more we understand how this virus behaves, the better we can limit its spread as we race to find a treatment or vaccine. This investment will be put to work immediately toward our human and operational funding needs to rapidly accelerate research into COVID-19.

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Now is the time to dedicate as many resources as possible to stopping the spread of this highly contagious virus, explains Dr. Andy Smith, Sunnybrooks President and CEO. On behalf of Sunnybrook, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to QuestCap for stepping up with this inspiring investment. Your support will have a direct impact on the lives of countless people in our communities, across Canada and around the world.

With these crucial tools in hand, QuestCap saw an opportunity to give this research a major boost at a critical juncture. As countries grapple with the effects of COVID-19, there has been a collective global effort to help minimize the impacts of this deadly virus, says Stan Bharti, Co-Chairman of QuestCap. QuestCap, through its investment platform, is looking to do its part by providing a critical investment to help fund the vital research being conducted by Dr. Mubareka, Dr. Kozak and their teams.

The investment to Sunnybrook will help researchers in Canada and across the world develop better diagnostic testing, treatments and vaccines, and gain a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 biology, evolution and clinical shedding for the development of commercial applications (Commercial Applications). As consideration for its investment, QuestCap will receive a 3.5% royalty on any revenue earned by Sunnybrook from the any Commercial Applications resulting from the research conducted by SERV.

At a time of global uncertainty as COVID-19 continues to devastate people, families and entire countries, the urgency of research has never been greater, says Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, Vice President of Research & Innovation at Sunnybrook. Yet, often times, there simply isnt enough funding for research. I am deeply grateful to QuestCap for this clear statement on supporting the power of research to save and change lives.

About the Research

SERV is a three-pronged COVID-19 research response program, consisting of the following critically important areas of focus:

1. Virus biology (genomics): Identifying the genetic sequence of a virus is an essential step for identifying key targets for treatments and vaccines. It also tells the story of origin and its relation to other viruses. This approach provides precision genomic data, which will be essential for outbreak investigation. Funds for SERV allow Sunnybrook scientists to turn around whole genome viral sequences at the site of care: Sunnybrook.

2. Vaccines and therapeutics: Our ability to identify and isolate the virus that causes COVID-19, based on samples from infected patients, allows us to collaborate on antiviral research and conduct our own vaccine and transmission work. With SERV, Sunnybrook will share our findings about the virus within the Canadian research and diagnostic community, thereby driving further innovative solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. Transmission prevention: As part of a World Health Organizations effort to evaluate risk to health-care workers of providing certain support measures, such as high-flow oxygen use, Sunnybrook is building a simulation space for live virus experiments using mannequins with funds for SERV. This is important because protecting care providers is key to preventing the spread of the virus within hospitals.

About Lawrence Steinman

Steinman is Professor of Neurology, Neurological Sciences and Pediatrics at Stanford University and Chair of the Stanford Program in Immunology from 2001 to 2011. His research focuses on antigen specific tolerance in autoimmune disease and in gene therapy for degenerative neurologic diseases. He has elucidated what provokes relapses and remissions in multiple sclerosis (MS). He is taking forward a pivotal clinical trial with antigen specific tolerization therapy for type 1 diabetes. He serves as attending neurologist at Stanfords Lucille Packard Childrens Hospital. Steinman is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.

Steinman was senior author on the 1992 Nature article that led to the drug Tysabri, approved for MS and Crohns disease. Tysabri has been taken by over 200,000 individuals with MS.

Dr. Steinman graduated from Dartmouth College, Magna Cum Laude in Physics. His MD is from Harvard Medical School. He was a post-doctoral fellow in chemical immunology fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science. After neurology residency he remained on the faculty in 1980. He has received numerous honors, including the John M. Dystel Prize in 2004, the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the NINDS twice, the Charcot Prize in MS research, and the Cerami Prize in Translational Medicine. Steinman is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Steinman co-founded several biotech companies, including Neurocrine, Atreca, 180 Therapeutics, and Tolerion. He was a Director of Centocor from 1988 until its sale to Johnson and Johnson.

About Mike McCarthy

Mike is widely recognized across Canada as a stellar health care advocate and system expert. As a volunteer Vice-President of the Canadian Hemophilia Society, Mike was the national spokesperson for Canadians infected by blood tainted with Hepatitis C. His tireless efforts resulted in a landmark $2 billion settlement with the federal government in 2006, and the Queens Golden Jubilee Award presented by the Governor General of Canada.

Presently Mike is a Principal at Grosso McCarthy and provides counsel to clients in both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors. He helps clients navigate provincial, federal and international governments at the levels of the civil service and elected officials. Mike has also been on the front lines of health care, working for 18 years as a psychiatric nurse.

As a principal with Grosso McCarthy, Mike builds on more than 14 years of experience with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and 24 years in health policy and delivery. He was appointed Senior Policy Advisor to the Progressive Conservative Minister of Health of Ontario, advising on physician, nursing and primary care, public health, laboratories, OHIP, organ transplant, HIV and blood issues.

In 2003, he provided strategic support and counsel to the government of Ontario during the SARS outbreak.

About QuestCap

QuestCap is an investment company that seeks to enhance shareholder value over the long term by opportunistically making various investments that may include, without limitation, the acquisition of equity, debt or other securities of publicly traded or private companies or other entities, financing in exchange for pre-determined royalties or distributions and the acquisition of all or part of one or more businesses, portfolios or other assets.

For additional information, please contact:

G Scott Moore

Co-Chairmansmoore@forbesmanhattan.com1-416-861-5903

Media contact:

Wynn TheriaultThirty Dash Communications34 King St East #400Toronto M5C 2X8416.710.3370

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-lookingInformation

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the investment with SERV; the grant of options; and Sunnybrook and the appointment of advisory board members. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

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REPEAT - QUESTCAP TO INVEST $1 MILLION WITH SUNNYBROOK RESEARCH INSTITUTE TO ESTABLISH THE SUNNYBROOK TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH GROUP FOR EMERGING AND...

Immunology

Carterra to Provide Antibody Screening and Characterization for the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC) – Technology Networks

Carterra Inc., specialists in high-throughput antibody screening and characterization tools, and La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have announced that they will use Carterras proprietary LSA platform to screen hundreds of antibodies in just a few days, allowing CoVIC to move therapeutic candidates to the clinic as early as this summer.

La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) has been awarded a $1.73 million grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish a Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC) as part of the foundations global efforts to stem the tide of the current coronavirus outbreak, the Institute announced yesterday. Antibody therapies are often the first novel therapies advanced for an emerging infectious disease.

Headquartered at LJI, CoVIC will serve as a clearinghouse to understand which antibodies are most effective against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and to accelerate the research pipeline to provide immunotherapeutics in order to protect vulnerable individuals from severe manifestations of COVID-19 in all parts of the world, including low-resource settings.

This effort is being funded as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator launched in early March by the Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard. The Accelerator provides fast and flexible funding at key stages of the development process to de-risk the pathway for drugs and biologics to prevent and treat COVID-19.

The effort is led by Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D., a professor in LJIs Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, who draws on her broad research experience guiding the development of antibody drugs and galvanizing a global research coalition that helped define which therapeutic antibodies effectively combat disease in humans infected with Ebola virus.

We are thrilled that Carterra will provide full antibody characterization data using affinity measurements and, potentially more importantly, ultra-high resolution information of the epitopes, says Dr. Ollmann Saphire. Knowing how well these antibodies bind to the target is important but understanding their mechanism of action and how different antibodies can complement each other will determine what ends up in the clinic.

Traditional antibody discovery requires a primary screen of ever-expanding antibody libraries. Only a small group of candidate antibodies are then characterized on traditional, low-throughput, low-resolution biosensor tools which provide real-time readout of the binding profile. This workflow runs the risk that potential drug candidates could be missed or that the process of candidate selection could be exceedingly long.

Carterras LSA is turning that model on its head by enabling the high-resolution analysis of entire libraries, combining screening and characterization into one seamless step, thereby minimizing the risk of missing a potent therapeutic candidate. The LSAs dramatic throughput condenses months of work into days. Infectious diseases are ideal for leveraging the power of the LSA platform as evidenced in recent studies of Yellow Fever and Ebola where the LSA helped elucidate the immunity of survivors.

Additionally, the LSA platform offers investigators the most resolved view of the epitope the location an antibody binds to its target. An epitope is an innate property that cannot be changed and must be discovered empirically. The LSA is the only technology that enables characterization of epitope binding at the full library level.

The world is in need of a solution to COVID-19, says Josh Eckman, Carterras Chief Executive Officer. Were honored to be the provider of high-throughput antibody screening and characterization data to CoVIC. They have the most ambitious research goals and aggressive timelines. The Carterra LSA is the right tool at the right time.

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Carterra to Provide Antibody Screening and Characterization for the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC) - Technology Networks

Immunology

The first US coronavirus patients are being treated with convalescent plasma therapy. Will it work? Not even the doctors know – USA TODAY

Why a treatment used for over a century on diseases like measles, mumps and influenza could work to treat the new coronavirus strain. USA TODAY

In New York and Houston, pints of straw-colored convalescent plasma have dripped into the veinsof fiveU.S. coronavirus patients.Hundreds more there and across the nation are set to follow.

Whether the plasma, derived from the blood of people who recovered from COVID-19, will help them fight off the devastating disease caused by the new coronavirus that haskilled more than 5,100Americans is unknown. In less than three weeks, the effort to find out has gone from an ideato a worldwide program entirely self-organized by medical researchers.

Like so muchabout the desperate efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, its seat-of-the-pants medicine. Doctors dont know whether it will work buthopeto find out in weeks, not the years it typically takes for studies to yield answers.

Our treatments began on Saturday, said AniaWajnberg, an internist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City who directs its Serum Antibody program.

There are 8 strains of the coronavirus circling the globe: Here's what clues theygive scientists.

It was only four days before that, March 24, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began allowing researchers to request emergency authorization to test whether the plasma will help.

Plasma is the almost clear liquid that remains after red and white blood cells and platelets are removed from blood. It contains antibodies that can fight disease.

The Chinese paper came out days ago, but days are feeling like years to me right now, Wajnberg said, referring to a paper published March 27 in the Journal of the American Medical Associationthat described a test of convalescent plasma on five critically ill patients in Shenzhen, China.

For Wajnberg and thousands of other doctors worldwide, nothing feels fast enough.

One of the first COVID-19 antibody tests in the USA is being used on recovered patients in New York City to determine whether they produced a high amount of antibodies. If so, they could donate their antibody-rich plasma to help others mount an immune response.(Photo: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)

Methodist Hospital in Houston began recruiting plasma donors Friday and gave the first plasmatransfusions to a COVID-19 patient the following day.

Its a gamble of time, energy and money, said William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious disease at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.

Convalescent plasma therapy has a mixed history of success. It's time-consuming, expensive and difficult to deploy on a large scale. Even so,hes all in favor of it.

Any port in a storm and weve got one heck of a storm out there, he said.

The project, dubbed the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project, posted a protocol for clinical trials on its website.

"The world is downloading it," said Arturo Casadevall, one of the project's organizers and chairman of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The plasma iscollected from patients who recovered from COVID-19. Each donates apintof blood. The red and white blood cells are separated and put back intothe donors bloodstream while the blood plasma, rich with virus-fighting antibodies, is kept aside.

Those coronavirus 'cures' you're hearing about?They're fake.

The donor and the patient must be fromcompatibleblood types, and the plasma is tested for multiple diseases, including COVID-19, HIV and hepatitis, to ensure it cant transfer them.

Though convalescent plasma (from the blood of people convalescing, or recovered, from a disease) has been used successfully in outbreaks of other diseases, such as polio, measles and mumps, its by no means a slam-dunk.

Its been used for other viruses, some with efficacy and some without, Wajnberg said.

The plasma showed promising results in the small Chinese studyposted as a preprint March 27. Another preprint, released March 16, about plasma treatment in10 severely ill patients in Wuhan, China, found similar results.

Blood plasma is processed at the New York Blood Center. Blood plasma contains antibodies that can fight diseases. An experimental treatment is being tried to use blood plasma from people who recovered from COVID-19 to treat patients who are severely ill with the disease.(Photo: New York Blood Center)

Preprints are papers posted to online open-access sites before theyhave gone through the rigorous scientific peer review process, soinformation can be shared rapidly. During the COVID-19 crisis, they have been crucial in quickly disseminating essential data.

In bothstudies, almost all the patients also receivedantiviral and other treatments, making it difficult to know in a group of only 15 patients what specifically helped.

For now, plasma therapy isone of few options for doctors when critically ill patients "don't have much time,"saidEric Salazar, principal investigator in the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine at the Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute.

Have you recovered from coronavirus?Here's how you can help doctors find a treatment.

Convalescent serum therapy could be a vital treatment route because, unfortunately, there is relatively little to offer many patients except supportive care, Salazar said.

No one anticipates the treatment will have a "Lazarus-like effect on the really ill," cautioned Michael Joyner, who worked to set up trials at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he is a professor of anesthesiology.

"What's more likely is that the slope of the patient's decline will gradually slow and that they can be weaned off of ventilation," he said.

The idea of giving desperately ill patients blood plasma from people who recovered from the same illness is more than a century old and was first used to treat a German child suffering from diphtheria.

Using it to fight COVID-19 has gone fromone paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on March 13 suggesting the idea of a large trial to a broad program in less than three weeks.

Its become an international effort, showing the ability of scientists to self-organize at a speed unimaginableeven three months ago. As of Monday, more than 100 researchers and 40 large hospitals in 20 states are involved in the effort to bring survivor plasma to clinical trials, according to project leaders.

'Who lives and who dies': In worst-case coronavirus scenario, ethics guide choices on who gets care

Other countries are joining what began as a grassroots endeavor by doctors and scientists.

"We brought in the United Kingdom over the weekend. Ireland, too," said Casadevall, who co-wrote the paper March 13.

When a person is infected with COVID-19, the body creates blood proteins called antibodies to attack the virus, said Mark Slifka, a viral immunologist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.

When the body mounts an antibody response, it clears the virus, and then you maintain that antibody response, said Slifka, who studies the bodys immunological memory after vaccination or infection.

Depending on the disease, the body keeps making those antibodies for weeks to months to a lifetime. No one knows how long the antibodies against COVID-19 will stay in the bloodstream, but work on similar coronaviruses suggestsits at least a year, he said.

The plasma is taken from people who were exposed to or contracted COVID-19 about three weeks ago and recovered. That seems to be the time the body requires to mount a strong immune response to the virus.

People who tested positive for COVID-19 and fully recovered can register on the Plasma Project's website to see whether they are eligible and if there's a plasma donation program near them.

Almost all of the people who learned they are positive for antibodies to the virus and eligible to donate plasmahave offered to do so.

The race for a vaccine: Thousands of scientists are studying 41 possibilities

Thats been a bright spot in all this, everybody wants to help. Its nice to see, Wajnberg said.

Patients are given one to two units of the plasma, about one to two pints. Doctors hope to find out quickly how much is required.

At Mount Sinai, a committee is deciding the right candidates forpossible treatment. Only hospitalized patients with severe clinical disease are considered. Those who get the plasma are meticulously tracked to see its impact.

If it does help, scientists hope to build a pool of plasma for all blood types that can be given to severely ill patients.

Maybe in a few weeks, well be able to report our first 10 or 20 patients, Wajnberg said.

One donors blood is enough to give to no more than one or two recipients. We will need a lot of donors, Wajnberg said.

The Plasma Project is working on the problem, and"a national distribution plan (for the plasma) is being worked on as we speak," Joyner said.

Your coronavirus questions, answered: Are malaria meds working? How many people have recovered?

The effort is an example of how medical researchers are self-organizing in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.The project has proceeded with "terrific" help from the FDA, Casadevall said, but has no government lead.

"What hasn't materialized is a federal coordinator," Casadevall said.

The effort is guided by an executive committee from theIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Michigan State University and Johns Hopkins University. The groupconvenes meetings by conference call once or twice a week.

The project's unofficial motto reflects the doctors'drive to do everything they can to fight the virus:"Don't permit what you cannot do to interfere with what you can do."

Weise of USA TODAY reported from San Francisco;Johnson of the Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported from Milwaukee.

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/04/01/coronavirus-plasma-therapy-5-us-patients-covid-19-donors/5090946002/

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The first US coronavirus patients are being treated with convalescent plasma therapy. Will it work? Not even the doctors know - USA TODAY

Biochemistry

Tulane researchers discover possible pathways to treating drug-resistant infections – News from Tulane

William Wimley holds the George A. Adrouny, Ph.D. Professorship in Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Tulane University School of Medicine.

Drug-resistant bacterial infections are on the rise, while the development of new antibiotics to fight these infections has slowed in recent decades. Mathematical models predict more than 10 million people will die annually from drug-resistant bacterial infections by 2050 if the current rates of increase continue. Now researchers at Tulane University have developed a novel way to identify a new class of antibiotics for use in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Membrane permeating antimicrobial peptides have long been considered a potentially promising class of antibiotic that could be used for wound treatment, however, while the peptides work well under laboratory conditions, previous studies have shown these chains of amino acids become inactive in the presence of host cells.

Researchers led by William Wimley, the George A. Adrouny, Ph.D. Professorship in Biochemistry at Tulane University School of Medicine, developed a new way using an animal model to identify compounds that protect wounds in mice from common drug-resistant bacterial infections, including MRSA.The researchers tested antimicrobial peptides directly in the presence of host cells and discovered which peptides retained their activity the longest. They also compared the peptide antibiotics to conventional antibiotics and found, while the bacteria rapidly became resistant to conventional antibiotics, it did not gain any resistance to the peptides.

The next step is to continue our studies in animal models of infection and explore the potential for these peptides to have real clinical applications, Wimley said. We need to fully characterize how they function and, if that works, move in the direction of clinical trials.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result.

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Tulane researchers discover possible pathways to treating drug-resistant infections - News from Tulane

Biochemistry

UM biochemistry professor making hand sanitizer – Missoulian

Kelly Webster, chief of staff at the UM President's Office, helped Bridges order bulk quantities of the raw materials. The neurosciences lab in the Skaggs Building is currently empty, so he set up a space for mixing the alcohol and glycerol.

"I'm using 70% isopropyl," he explained. "The CDC recommends 70% for isopropyl and at least 60% for alcohol."

He made about 25 gallons of the viscous stuff earlier this week and distributed bulk jugs to firefighters, but he knows there's a need for smaller, individual-sized bottles. So he ordered a bulk quantity and hopes to funnel about 1,000 on Friday.

"It's not real high-tech here," he said, grinning and explaining how he's mostly improvising on everything except the proportion of the ingredients.

Other labs on campus donated equipment, he added, so it's a group effort. He's run into problems with the supply chain of course.

"Freaky things happen. One of the main suppliers of glycerol in Salt Lake City couldn't deliver because of the earthquake, so this came in from Texas," he said. "And one bottle company had bottles without caps, and another company had only caps but they were out of bottles."

Scott Whittenburg, UM's vice president for research and creative scholarship, said he's putting the material costs on a credit card right now and worrying about paying for it later. He said the UM community is working hard during the crisis.

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UM biochemistry professor making hand sanitizer - Missoulian

Biochemistry

Biochemistry captures the attention of medical school hopeful | News, Sports, Jobs – Williamsport Sun-Gazette

It hasnt taken long for the new biochemistry major at Lycoming College to spark interest among students.

Launched in the fall of 2018, the lab-based science that marries biology and chemistry is becoming a popular choice for students who aspire to work in academia, industrial settings, pharmaceuticals, health professions and more.

For Nicholas Russello 20 of Guilford, Conn., it was a biochemistry course that ignited in him a curiosity in research that hadnt existed before.

Biochemistry was not yet an established course of study when Russello started at Lycoming in the fall of 2016, so he pursued a degree as a biology and chemistry double major with plans to enter the medical field. With aspirations of becoming a surgeon, Russello had been focused solely on patient care. Instead of pursuing a research path, he opted to become an EMT (emergency medical technician) to get patient contact hours. But when Allison Saunders, assistant professor of biochemistry, joined the faculty in the fall of 2019, Russello took notice.

I thought biochemistry could be very interesting. I wanted to see how biology and chemistry are connected, and it ended up being one of my favorite courses to date, said Russello. I loved the way the material blended, and became not only happy, but excited to do research with Dr. Saunders.

Russello became the first Lycoming student to complete biochemistry research, spending the fall semester working with Saunders in the newly established biochemistry laboratory and later presenting Cloning and Expression of a Radical SAM Gene, in the chemistry colloquium.

The research is on a gene in the microorganism Clostridium populeti, that expresses a putative radical SAM protein in the gut microbiota of Parkinsons disease patients.

This area interests me primarily because it has large scale implications within the medical world. Biochemical research has provided many of the useful drugs that are present today. A further understanding of various proteins and their mechanisms of action can be pivotal toward understanding and treating diseases, thus affecting the lives of thousands or more, he said.

Nick is a motivated student, and his taking on a research project while I was setting up a brand new lab was a good fit, Saunders said. Hes set a high bar for the biochemistry research students who are sure to follow in his footsteps.

Looking back at the start of his undergraduate career, Russello settled on Lycoming because he thought that the small liberal arts and sciences environment would provide a unique opportunity to involve himself in many facets of campus life, both socially and academically, and become more well-rounded.

As a student athlete, Russello learned to balance his academics with his commitment to the Mens Lacrosse Team a commitment that sometimes required upwards of 30 hours per week.

By necessity, I became an expert at managing my time and living a healthy lifestyle. I can confidently say that being a student athlete has been pivotal in developing my drive. If Im not filling my time with something that will better me as a person, I have a nagging feeling that I can do more, he said. Research has opened my eyes to a realm in which I never thought Id find interest. I am willing and hopeful that I will be able to find an opportunity to continue to do research in medical school.

During his last semester as an undergraduate at Lycoming, Russello had some parting words for his fellow Warriors: I would encourage everyone to seek out opportunities they may think dont suit them. The beauty of Lycoming is that there is so much to discover and you never know what may interest you if you dont put yourself out there and find out.

Funding for the new major was established by Peter and Joyce Lynn, through the Peter 69 and Joyce Lynn Endowed Program in Biochemistry.

The Lynns passion for philanthropy and interest in STEM education has influenced their support of several significant college initiatives, including the addition of the Lynn Science Center the multi-curricular facility named after the couple for their leadership gift to the building.

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Biochemistry

UH students turn alcohol project into hand sanitizer – UH System Current News

CTAHR students distilling alcohol into hand sanitizer.

Desperate times call for imaginative measures. Instead of making rum and ginger beer, students in the University of Hawaii at Mnoas College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering (MBBE) are using the knowledge they gained to distill hand sanitizer to help combat COVID-19.

The project began in early March, when classmates in fermentation biochemistry were originally planning to make rum for the annual CTAHR Awards Banquet by fermenting sugar and water to be distilled into alcohol. However, public shortages of hand sanitizer caused by COVID-19 led them to change direction and turn the product into hand sanitizer.

The class only had to alter a few steps in the process, including distilling the spirit to a greater percentage of ethanol. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines call for hand sanitizers to be at least 60 percent alcohol to kill the coronavirus, and the students product will meet that mark.

Fermentation biochemistry course consultant and MBBE PhD candidate Nick Sinclair is excited about the project. We are hoping that all of Hawaii will be able to benefit from us alleviating at least our section of the populace from having to buy hand sanitizer, he said. This is also a learning experience for everyone involved, so this experience enriches our education as well.

After distillation, the pulp of fresh, locally grown aloe provided by specialist Ken Leonhardt from the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences was extracted and blended smooth. This creates a gel-like consistency and keeps the spirit from drying out hands excessively. Next, it will be mixed with the distilled alcohol and the product will be tested.

Eventually, we hope to be able to distribute it at the very least to people around us, but the class is also working on other channels of distribution, said Sinclair.

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UH students turn alcohol project into hand sanitizer - UH System Current News

Biochemistry

Miami names associate provost and dean of the graduate school – Miami Student

Michael Crowder, the current chair of Miami Universitys Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, has been named the new associate provost and dean of the graduate school effective July 1.

This is Crowders 25th year at Miami. He started as an assistant professor in 1995, and hes held the position of chair of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department since 2013.

Crowder did not apply to the graduate dean position when it was first available. However, his concerns of low revenue, low national visibility and low enrollment numbers for the graduate program compelled him to apply for the position.

Crowder will also serve as interim vice president for research and innovation (VPRI).

Jim Oris held the position of associate provost, graduate school dean and VPRI until October 2019. Then, the positions were split, and Oris remained the VPRI and became associate dean of the graduate school. Rose Marie Ward became the interim dean of the graduate school and associate provost.

As of July 1, Crowder will hold all the positions, returning the responsibilities to one person.

I believe that Jim and Rose Marie did remarkable jobs under incredibly tough situations, Crowder wrote in an email to The Miami Student.

There are incredible challenges facing both positions, given budget issues caused by [the novel] coronavirus and pressures in higher education, Crowder wrote. So our teams need to be extremely strategic in the use of valuable resources and time.

Crowders vision for the graduate school has three aspects: to strengthen, build and modernize the program.

To strengthen the graduate school, Crowder aims to increase national visibility and create competition with other domestic graduate programs.

To build the graduate school, Crowder hopes to create new programs within the graduate school to gain revenue and enroll a larger student body.

To modernize the graduate school, Crowder aims to create a requirement of students to take an internship in their preferred occupation and to set up a study abroad opportunity if the funding is available. He also wants to increase the graduate schools online presence.

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Miami is known for its undergraduate program, not the graduate program, Crowder said. But grad education is very important. In order to have a good undergrad program, we need a good grad program.

@haubenstrickerc

haubence@miamioh.edu

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Miami names associate provost and dean of the graduate school - Miami Student

Biochemistry

Single mutation leads to big effects in autism-related gene – National Institutes of Health

News Release

Thursday, April 2, 2020

NIH study provides insight into one mechanism underlying the higher prevalence of males in some cases of autism.

A new study in Neuron offers clues to why autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is more common in boys than in girls. National Institutes of Health scientists found that a single amino acid change in the NLGN4 gene, which has been linked to autism symptoms, may drive this difference in some cases. The study was conducted at NIHs National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Researchers led by Katherine Roche, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at NINDS, compared two NLGN4 genes, (one on the X chromosome and one on the Y chromosome), which are important for establishing and maintaining synapses, the communication points between neurons.

Every cell in our body contains two sex chromosomes. Females have two X chromosomes; males have one X and one Y chromosome. Until now, it was assumed that the NLGN4X and NLGN4Y genes, which encode proteins that are 97% identical, functioned equally well in neurons.

But using a variety of advanced technology including biochemistry, molecular biology, and imaging tools, Dr. Roche and her colleagues discovered that the proteins encoded by these genes display different functions. The NLGN4Y protein is less able to move to the cell surface in brain cells and is therefore unable to assemble and maintain synapses, making it difficult for neurons to send signals to one another. When the researchers fixed the error in cells in a dish, they restored much of its correct function.

We really need to look at NLGN4X and NLGN4Y more carefully, said Thien A. Nguyen, Ph.D., first author of the study and former graduate student in Dr. Roches lab. Mutations in NLGN4X can lead to widespread and potentially very severe effects in brain function, and the role of NLGNY is still unclear.

Dr. Roches team found that the problems with NLGN4Y were due to a single amino acid. The researchers also discovered that the region surrounding that amino acid in NLGN4X is sensitive to mutations in the human population. There are a cluster of variants found in this region in people with ASD and intellectual disability and these mutations result in a deficit in function for NLGN4X that is indistinguishable from NLGN4Y.

In females, when one of the NLGN4X genes has a mutation, the other one can often compensate. However, in males, diseases can occur when there is a mutation in NLGN4X because there is no compensation from NLGN4Y.

The current study suggests that if there is a mutation in NLGN4X, NLGN4Y is not able to take over, because it is a functionally different protein. If the mutations occur in regions of NLGN4X that affect the protein levels, that may result in autism-related symptoms including intellectual deficits. The inability of NLGN4Y to compensate for mutations in NLGN4X may help explain why males, who only have one X chromosome, tend to have a greater incidence of NLGN4X-associated ASD than females.

The knowledge about these proteins will help doctors treating patients with mutations in NLGN4X better understand their symptoms, said Dr. Roche.

This work was supported by the NIH Intramural Research Program.

The NINDSis the nations leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system.The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

TA Nguyen et al. A cluster of autism-associated variants on X-linked NLGN4X functionally resemble NLGN4Y. Neuron. April 2, 2020.

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Single mutation leads to big effects in autism-related gene - National Institutes of Health

Biochemistry

Sexually transmitted infection testing restricted as testing kits needed for Covid-19 – Stuff.co.nz

Some sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing is being restricted nationwide, because ituses some of the elements needed forCovid-19 testing.

Many of thetests for sexuallytransmitted conditions like gonorrhoea and chlamydia use the same reagents and swabs used incoronavirustesting.

Compounding the problem was that New Zealand usually importedreagents-substances or mixtures used in chemical analysis - from Italy and the United States, two of the countrieshardest hit by coronavirus, providing a major obstacle inthe supply chain.

POOL VISION

Dr Caroline McElnay, director of public health, says there will be an increase in testing.

The New Zealand Microbiology Network began redirecting resources to Covid-19 testing last month, meaning chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing for asymptomatic patients was restricted from March 20.

READ MORE:*Coronavirus: New Zealand nears 800 cases, as another 89 cases are counted*Coronavirus: Jacinda Ardern wants to ramp up Covid-19 testing*Coronavirus: Dr Lance O'Sullivan seeking cheaper, quicker tests*Coronavirus: Doctors and nurses say tests are being withheld, PM says clinicians have enough swabs

Testing of known contacts should be treated "empirically" or through observation without testing, a statement read.

RNZ

An infectious diseases specialist says new, wider Covid-19 testing rules still won't test enough people to give a true picture of community transmission.

New Zealand Sexual Health Society Incorporated member, Dr Jane Morgan said there had been a "very clear directive" about increasing the amount of Covid-19 testing, which meant it had to be prioritised over STI testing for some patients.

"I don't think people appreciate some of the supply chain issues around the Covid-19 testing. It's a brand new test but it uses reagents which are used in other types of testing, like forgonorrhoea. Those reagents are manufactured overseas and need to be imported.

"Every country in the world is competing for that supply, so while we have been waiting for production to increase worldwide, New Zealand has been very clear about wanting to conserve the reagent it has so that it can go to Covid testing.

TOM LEE/STUFF

Dr Jo Hicks, a Waikato University biochemistry lecturer, examines gonorrhoea colonies on an agar plate inside one of the university's physical containment laboratories. (File photo)

"It's the consumables - all the swabs, the reagents, every single bit that's needed in order to do a Covid-19 test, making sure that those supply chains are secure so that we can ramp up testing to the level that we need," the Hamilton Sexual Health Service clinical director said.

Urgent STI work was taking place in time-sensitive cases, where a patient could come to harm in the next few weeks, as well as in sexual assault cases.

"But people who just want a peace-of-mind STI check, we're asking them to wait," Morgan said.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF

New Zealand Sexual Health Society's Dr Jane Morgan says people wanting routine STI checks are being asked to wait. (File photo)

Family Planning New Zealand national medical advisor Dr Beth Messenger said genital herpes testing in Wellington hadbeen restricted since March 16, with the agency also asked to limit all routine STI testing "due to lab capacity".

Most District Health Board sexual health services were only seeing clients with symptoms for face-to-face consultations, or following sexual assault, Messenger understood.

SUPPLIED

Family Planning New Zealand national medical advisor Beth Messenger says the agency was asked to restrict all routine STI screening from March 20. (File photo)

Blood testing for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B and C was so far continuing to take place, but only clients showing symptoms were being seen for review.

Because diagnostic labs carried out the testing, ESR was unable to say how many STI tests were carried out each year.

However, the agency reported there had been 624cases of syphilis, 5993 cases of gonorrhoeaand 32,041 chlamydia casesin the year to June 30,2019.

Anyone who was showing STI symptoms or their partner hadtold them they hadbeen exposed was encouraged to contact sexual health clinics which werestill offeringconsultations over the phone.

If a clinician believeda face-to-face consultation was needed, patients could be seen in aclinic where numbers would be monitored to ensure social distancing was maintained.

Morgan hoped the Alert Level Four-enforced social distancing andlockdown messages to"staying within your bubble" would mean less STI testing would be needed.

The Ministry of Health says the major focus for labs is testing for Covid-19, so demand for other testing was low.

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Sexually transmitted infection testing restricted as testing kits needed for Covid-19 - Stuff.co.nz