Physiology

Organs-on-chips Market Competitive Analysis and Forecast 2017-2025 – Curious Desk

Global AC Organs-on-chips Market: Snapshot

Organs-on-chips or organ-on-a-chip is an electronic gadget that consists of a 3D microfluidic cell culture-based multi-channel structure. This gadget essentially is a chip that can control mechanisms, activities, and physiological responses of organs and organ systems, after being implanted in the body. In a more simplistic manner, this chip acts mainly as an artificial organ, or an artificial system that undertakes processes controlled by human bodies in a natural state. A brisk rise in research in the field of biomedical engineering, particularly to find alternatives for replacing failed human organs has formed a distinct organs-on-chips market.

This market is being pushed to attain substantial growth owing to a rise in healthcare industry applications. Surging cases of organ failure in the form of liver, kidneys, lungs, and heart also are prime reasons for fueling the search to find viable alternatives.

Know the Growth Opportunities in Emerging Markets

The bioelectronics components are mainly created on small microchips, which have tiny chambers formed by living cells. These cells are arranged in such a manner that they mimic human body physiology on a micro-level scale. These simulations are utilized on a macro scale by enhancing them with the help of various methods. According to the organs mentioned above, there are separate chips made for each organ, and even for some smaller constituents that make up an organ. For example, heart-on-a-chip, skin-on-a-chip, artery-on-a-chip, lung-on-a-chip, and kidney-on-a-chip are key organ-on-a-chip gadgets that are being extensively used. Installation of each of these chips depends on several factors such as body acceptability, medical condition of patient, and physiological responses, among others.

Organs-on-chips Market: Overview

Organ-on-chip is multichannel 3D micro-fluidic cell culture gadget, which prompts mechanisms, activities, and physiological reflexes of human organs. This chip builds up a thin channel for the air and blood flow in organs including gut, lung, heart, liver, and so on. This gadgets is created on a microchip, which has constantly perfused chambers made by living cells arranged in a way to invigorate tissue- level physiology and organ-level physiology. It is utilized to sustain interior organs with the support of silicone.

The worldwide organ-on-chip market is fragmented based on geography and type. On the basis of type, the market is partitioned into human-on-chip, heart-on-chip, lungs-on-chip, intestine on-chip, liver-on-chip, and kidney-on-chip. Based on geography the organs-on-chips market is segmented into Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

The analysts of the report have utilized skilled procedures to anticipate the patterns in the market for organs-on-chips keeping in mind the end goal to make precise projections. The examination of different market components has been utilized to illustrate noteworthy, current, and provisional future patterns, which would enable the market players to get a domain of the market.

Organs-on-chips Market:Trends and Prospects

The development of the global organ-on-chip market is driven by rise in its applications in the healthcare industry, increase in demand for drug screening, and soaring demand for kidney applications and lung-based organ culture. Be that as it may, high cost and early stage in research and development obstruct the market development. These components are expected to either drive or hamper the market. But, nevertheless, rise in research processes on organ-on-chips is estimated to offer plenty of opportunities for the leading players.

Deficiency of donor lungs for transplantation has prompted increase in number of patients dying due to illness. In this way, increase in demand to create lab-engineered, functional organs is expected to supplement the development of the market. Recellularized strong organs can perform organ-specific tasks for limited amount of time, which shows the potential for clinical utilization of artificially designed strong organs later on.

Rise in demand for organ-on-chip gadgets in the medical industry is foreseen to help the development of the global market. Organ-on-chip gadgets are known to be useful in in-vitro analysis of biochemical, real-time imaging, and metabolic and genetic activities of living cells in a functional tissue, which majorly boost their adoption.

Drug screening is a practical technique utilized for quickly reviewing samples. Researchers and analysts utilize organ-on-chips culture gadgets to monitor the impacts of medications in the body. Moreover, drug effectiveness or drug toxicity in different organs of the body is checked utilizing this procedure, which helps the market development.

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Organs-on-chips Market:Regional Outlook

The heart-on-chip segment has higher potential for development in the global market. Lung-on-chip led the global organ-on-chip market in 2016, and is anticipated to continue its predominance within the forecast period. North America held the biggest market share, because of advanced technological innovations and rise in healthcare applications. Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the most astounding development due to various growth opportunities offered by nations, for example, India, China, and Japan. The accessibility of new and advanced organs-on-chips in the market, and ideal government activities as far as financing and projects for essential drug advancement and research, and the advent of key pharmaceutical organizations. These are regions where the lions share of drug development activity is focused.

Organs-on-chips Market:Vendor Landscape

Emulate, Inc., CN Bio Innovations, Ascendance Biotechnology, Inc., Mimetas B.V., Organovo Holdings, Inc., Tara Biosystems, AxoSim Technologies LLC, Hurel Corporation, Insphero AG, and Nortis Inc. are among the major players in the global organs-on-chips market.

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Organs-on-chips Market Competitive Analysis and Forecast 2017-2025 - Curious Desk

Physiology

Equal roles for women in Indian Armed Forces: The road ahead – WION

The recent decisions of the Supreme Court regarding grant of permanent commission to women officersareseen as a landmark step towards women empowerment and corrective change to prevent perceived gender bias against women.

The concerns expressed by the government, on behalf of Indian Armed Forces, like physiology, motherhood and physical attributes, did not hold ground under the basic tenet of constitutional entitlement to dignity, which attaches to every individual irrespective of gender.

These are welcomed societal changes and the military system has to gear up accordingly to mitigate the concerns, yet ensuring that the operational effectiveness of the Armed Forces is not compromised. The issue was extensively covered by the media, and the Armed Forces responded positively with Army Chief indicating that the roadmap for granting permanent commission to women officers is being put in place. The implementation, however, needs some serious analysis of some key issues to.

Decoding Alleged Gender Bias in Indian Armed Forces

A glance at the open-source coverage of SC decisions, seemed to suggest that Indian Military had the patriarchal mindset and SC has bettered the system with this landmark judgement. The background needs to be put into perspective. The women were first inducted as Military Nursing Officers in 1927, as Medical Officers from 1943 in British Indian Army as per organisational needs to look after troops, families and public during deployments, which included female population. Post-independence, the Induction of women officers into the Indian Army through Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES) started in 1992, after the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.

In February 2019, the government granted a permanent commission to women officers in eight streams of the Army, in addition to the JAG and AEC, to which it was granted earlier in 2008. All these decisions were also pathbreaking, need-driven, societal changes taken voluntarily by Indian Military and not after the intervention of Courts; hence it may not be right to perceive that Indian Military carried patriarchal mindset and resisted such changes. It is a fact that there are different conditions of service for women officers and their men counterpart in most cases. These conditions of service keep getting modified to address concerns of women officers, starting from five years of service, changed to extendable by five years (5+5 years), followed by 5+5+4 and later made to 10+4 years.

The fact is that women officers are proud and essential members of the Indian military and their entry was need-based and not court driven.

The differences in conditions of service for women officers and their men counterparts can be perceived in favour, as well as, against them. No one can deny that women officers have concessions in physical standards during recruitment, in battle physical efficiency tests and are generally given softer appointments with due considerations to hygiene, sensitivities and privacy issues while accommodating them.

For selection they compete with female counterparts; hence selections of a specified number of women officers is assured, as they do not compete with men counterparts. The disadvantages of difference in service conditions were unequal growth opportunity to women officers, need for permanent commission and inadequate incentive, which have been the main reasons for the redressal given the Supreme Court. The cases wherein male officers tenures in difficult field stations have increased, in adjusting women officers for spouse postings, child care leave. This results in reduced leaves for male officers to be with family in peace locations, to attend to their family needs. Although male officers have not gone to courts against the resultant extra hardship caused in an attempt to help out women officers by the organisation.

This gender bias against men officers also needs to be set right. Gender Equality is the societal need of the hour and applies to both female and male officers and should be ensured in the spirit of the judgement.

Operational Efficiency and Command Assignments

To implement the latest rulings of the SC on the grant of permanent commission to all women officers, their terms of engagement will have to be revised. As per media report,s the Indian Military is already working out models for it and I am sure that the system will settle down in due course, with some adjustments. The selection for command assignments has to merit-based irrespective of gender, which must not be compromised to ensure operational efficiency of the Indian Armed Forces. Translating the same in the spirit of achieving gender equality and SC judgement, the same standards have to be applied across the board, without any gender bias.It entails same hardships be suffered by all officers and the same selection process followed for successive promotions, irrespective of the gender.

To implement the same, the selection for the command should be done through their confidential reports and closed promotion board, common for both genders, and the names and gender of the profile should be hidden from selection board.

The best officers should get the command irrespective of gender, as the troops respect competent leaders, who rough out inconvenient times with them. These are some basics of soldiering, which must not be violated to ensure operational efficiency. It means that the concessions given to women officers in recruitment and softer tenures must be withdrawn, and they must go through the field and rough appointments with troops, to be at par with male counterparts and be accepted as Leaders and not Appointed Officers.

Women Officersin Combat Arms

The fact that SC gave a decision, in March 2020, to induct women officers in all types of warships in Indian Navy, as a natural process of societal evolution, the possible induction of women into combat arms is going to be the next challenge, which Indian Military will be confronted with. The leadership in combat arms at each level, from detachment to highest formation, is laid on a bedrock principle of Leading from the front which must not be compromised.

It implies that all officers and soldiers must go through same selection, toughness schedule, promotion exams, command criteria assignments and appointments with no concessions. SC has also endorsed suitability of the candidate as one of the criteria for such assignments in its ruling on March 17, 2020. Most foreign armies having women officers already have gender neutrality in physical standards or are working towards it. The issues like physiology, minimal facilities for habitat, hygiene in combat ships, bunkers and long-range patrols, privacy needs, motherhood and childcare concerns are well known to women officers, as well as, courts and public.

The women officers who volunteer for combat arms must be determined to overcome these issues. The only aspect which needs to be ensured is that the standards should not be lowered to adjust women officers, otherwise it will amount to compromising operational effectiveness of military for appeasement of few.

The principle for selections in career progression should be the same as explained earlier for command assignments. It, therefore, implies that if every male infantry officer has to go through commando course, every women officer opting for infantry must go through the same. If every other combat arms officer has to go through Commando/Counterinsurgency/Mountain warfare course and serve in Rashtriya Rifle or Assam Rifle for at least one tenure, the same yardstick must apply to women officers.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

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Equal roles for women in Indian Armed Forces: The road ahead - WION

Physiology

Rutgers Researcher Partners with NYU in Creating Sleep Apnea Machine Alternative to Ventilators and a Virus-Trapping Hood – Newswise

Newswise A Rutgers researcher is testing modified sleep apnea machines intended to help relieve the shortage of mechanical ventilators for COVID-19 patients.

After testing for safety and efficacy, the design will be available free to medical professionals and can be created quickly using readily available components. It was created by a team led by Vikram Kapila, a professor at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering.

Patients using the modified breathing supports called the NYU Tandon AirMOD wear a non-vented mask with filters that trap the virus when they exhale and keep it from entering the environment. The machines also can be used as breathing support for critical care patients being eased off ventilators, thereby freeing those ventilators for other patients. Unlike other methods being used to convert these CPAP and BiPAP sleep apnea machines for COVID-19 use, these design modifications assemble in minutes and use FDA-approved off-the-shelf components in stock at most hospitals.

Rutgers is also testing a prototype for a second system called the NYU Tandon AirVENT. It is a portable, personal, negative pressure hood that sucks virus particles exhaled by the wearer into a filter and traps them. The hood was designed to allow health care workers easy access to the patient. It can be placed over possible COVID-19 patients in waiting rooms and be used in ICUs, while physicians intubate patients or during patient transfers.

Jorge Serrador, associate professor of pharmacology, physiology and neuroscience at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, is testing both systems for safety and efficacy. A normal CPAP or BiPAP machine would spread the virus widely because not only is the mask vented, but pressurized air from the system would amplify the dispersion of the virus. The AirMOD design cuts off that avenue of exhaust and uses a system that filters out the virus before it enters the environment, he said.

To test the designs, Serrador measured how much carbon dioxide, which is expelled through breathing, is present outside the devices while they are being used. When we turn on the fan inside the hood, we see the level of carbon dioxide outside the hood decrease to the level seen in normal room air, which indicates that expired air and thus the virus is not escaping, he said. Negative pressure rooms are already used safely for infectious disease patients. We have just created a personal negative pressure area around the patients head. (See test results here.)

The AirMOD design is less expensive than ventilators and has other benefits to health care workers, such as being portable and requiring minimal set-up. There are also benefits to patients, Serrador said. It gives people the assistance they need in their natural breathing to maintain their oxygen levels while allowing their bodies to deal with the virus. Since they are not intubated, they do not need to be sedated and can talk, clear their throats and cough, which helps prevent pneumonia.

The AirMOD modifications were also reviewed by pulmonologists and physicians at NYU Langone and other centers. The designs can be downloaded here.

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Rutgers Researcher Partners with NYU in Creating Sleep Apnea Machine Alternative to Ventilators and a Virus-Trapping Hood - Newswise

Genetics

The Better Half by Sharon Moalem review on the genetic superiority of women – The Guardian

Lets hear it for the female of the species and (more guardedly) for her second X-chromosome! Female superiority in colour vision, immune response, longevity, even basic survival from birth to death are illustrated in Sharon Moalems The Better Half. After decades, if not centuries, of bad press for women and their vulnerable biology, this book argues that in fact almost everything that is biologically difficult to do in life is done better by females.

Moalem, a Canadian-born physician, is a research geneticist who has identified two new rare genetic conditions. He has worked across the world in paediatric medicine, including clinics for HIV-infected infants and is also a biotechnology entrepreneur and bestselling author. The Better Half is his latest foray into the field of popular science, and presents a general argument for the superiority of womens biology to mens.

In most circumstances, a human female has two X-chromosomes, one from her father and one from her mother; a male has just one, inherited from his mother, which is paired with a Y-chromosome, inherited from his father. Moalem believes that the X-chromosome has always received a poor press, and that it is time this negative view is counteracted. He draws on swathes of medical and historical data to show that, in many instances, the superiority of womens biology is explicitly linked to their possession of the second X-chromosome. The greater complexity of womens biology, he claims, is the secret of their success it is more difficult to make a female but, once made, she trumps the male in her lifelong survival skills, for instance in her hyperefficient immune system shrugging off infection and maximising the benefits of vaccination which means that females can avoid the consequences of a wide range of life threatening events ranging from starvation and cancer to, Moalem has cautiously concluded, Covid-19.

In mainstream genetics it was long held that, despite having two X-chromosomes, female cells only made use of one: the second randomly switched off or deactivated early on in embryonic development, a process rather summarily described as an instance of genetic redundancy. There was some evidence that the deactivation reduced female chances of succumbing to X-linked problems, due to the availability of an undamaged back-up. It was acknowledged, for example (though rather grudgingly), that women generally escaped being colour blind. Moalem notes that when he was studying genetics there was much emphasis on the tiny Y-chromosome as what makes a man. He observes wryly that maybe this positivity was related to the fact that most of the people who were speaking breathlessly about the Y had one as well.

Now a new spin on the X-inactivation story is emerging in genetics. Via a process called escape from X-inactivation, it turns out that the silenced X-chromosome is not so silent after all there are escapees which may continue to offer back-up services, for instance providing extra cellular recovery options in the face of traumatic injury. It is to the benefits offered by this flexible availability within different cells that Moalem attributes the secrets of womens biological superiority.

Statistics going back as far as 1662 show women living longer than men, and todays figures show that 95% of people who have reached the age of 110 and over are female. In sport, womens success in races such as ultra-marathons offer a different perspective on what it means to be physically superior. In the spirit of Angela Sainis book Inferior, Moalem notes that this superiority has largely been ignored by medical science. And he discusses the medical trial data whose absence is observed by Caroline Criado-Perez in Invisible Women, her exploration of how the world is designed for men. Medicine needs to stop ignoring the secrets of womens biological successes, Moalem argues, and find ways of harnessing them to improve the survival chances of the whole of the human race.

Imagine you live in a world where most individuals can see 1m colours. But in one group of these people (lets call them males), about 8% cannot tell the difference between colours such as red and green, and a smaller number are totally colour blind. In a second group in this population (lets call them females), almost all can see the standard 1m colours, but some (perhaps as many as 15%) can see 100m colours. Would you excitedly rave about the amazing talent of this latter group? Or would you just describe them as not usually colour blind? This same group has an immune system that has a profound talent to fight off many forms of infection and reap major benefits from vaccinations with the down side that sometimes such hyperefficiency can lead to autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis. Would you celebrate the former or emphasise the latter? For years, it is the drawbacks that have been underlined.

Research geneticists rarely get out in the field to notice the much greater survival rates of girls in paediatric ICUs

The Better Half is an eye-opening book. In explaining why the advantages that accompany females greater genetic options have to date been largely ignored, Moalem points to paradigm blindness, and to the fact that research geneticists rarely get out in the field to notice, for example, the much greater survival rates of girls in paediatric ICUs (rates which, he discovers, have been clearly obvious to the nurses doing the frontline caring).

I take issue with one part of his chapter on The Male Brain, for the moment setting aside the unproven assumption that the brains of men are different from the brains of women. Moalem chooses to consider autism, and it appears as a given in his book that autism is more common in boys than girls (itself an assumption that is increasingly being challenged). Yet at the more impaired end of the autism spectrum, it is possible that there are as many girls as boys, and his suggestion that females have a different kind of autism doesnt quite prove his wider argument. The X-linked disorders such as fragile-X or Rett syndrome receive only a passing mention not surprisingly perhaps as they run counter to his argument about the superiority of the X-chromosome.

What about hormones? Moalem has perhaps missed a good opportunity to counter oestrogens frequently negative press, and to laud its potentially neuroprotective effects. The greater susceptibility of women to Alzheimers disease is put down by Moalem to a form of anti-inflammatory process linked to an overefficient immune system; their lesser susceptibility to Parkinsons disease (surely a possible inclusion in the list of female genetic successes) is unexplained.

One section of the book focuses on why womens health is not mens health, and considers the failures of drug companies to test their products on females as well as males. For sure this has had detrimental consequences on, for example, the accuracy of dosage rates. But in at least one of the examples he gives, that of Ambien, body mass and blood volume are key factors in calculating dosage rates: because people vary enormously in size and shape, simply dividing test participants into males and females still risks inaccuracy. He is talking about averages, its true, but even so Moalem seems firmly wedded to the notion that genetic females and genetic males can be neatly categorised into two distinct types, and that the understanding of genetic sex will provide all the answers we need.

The impression given in The Better Half is that there is a lifelongfree-ranging choice between X-chromosomes available to the female, her cells dancing back and forth between the best options that will help her to heal quicker after a car crash or to overcome the bacterial infection that might lead to an ulcer. There are brief and tantalising hints about the escapees from X-inactivation in several chapters of Moalems book, but it is a shame that we are never given a full, head-on account.

Yet this book is full of wonderful titbits of information from the existence of a female prostate gland to the number of honey bee flying miles it takes to make 1lb of honey. The celebration of the genetic diversity offered by the females second X-chromosome is wholehearted and the examples Moalem gives are highly effective. He has written a powerful antidote to the myth of the weaker sex.

The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women by Sharon Moalem is published by Allen Lane (RRP 20).

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The Better Half by Sharon Moalem review on the genetic superiority of women - The Guardian

Genetics

Genetic Testing: Are Over-the-Counter Options Reliable? – Curetoday.com

An expert raises her concerns about direct-to-consumer testing and shares ways people can protect themselves.

In an interview with CURE, Lisa Schlager, vice president of public policy for Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) and a BRCA1 mutation carrier, discussed OTC genetic tests versus those provided by health care professionals and what consumers should keep in mind as they make health decisions.

CURE: What are the major differences between OTC genetic tests and those ordered by a physician or genetic counselor?

Schlager: Its like night and day. As an example, 23andMe has a component where you can opt to test for the BRCA mutations, although it looks for only three of the potentially thousands of BRCA mutations. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are associated with increased risk of breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancer, and some people are interested to know if they may have one of these mutations.

But when youre testing for only three of the potentially 5,000 mutations, and those three mutations are most commonly found in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, youre going to miss a lot of information. The fact that the Ashkenazi Jewish population is about 2% of the population in the United States means that 98% of the population in this country is unlikely to have those specific mutations.

If you were to go to a genetic counselor or a health care specialist with expertise in genetics, they would talk to you about your family history, determine which testing is most appropriate and probably give you a test that is much more expansive.

We must understand also that BRCA mutations are not the only mutations that cause an increased risk of cancer. We now have dozens of mutations with names like PALB2, CHEK2, ATM and Lynch syndrome. These are all mutations that cause increased cancer risk, and if you test for only the three BRCA mutations, youre really not getting good information about your potential risk.

How can consumers determine which OTC tests are reputable?

There have been a lot of reports in the media of people selling tests to unwitting consumers who dont realize who they are dealing with, who dont realize that theyre being duped out of their insurance or Medicare information. I think the important thing is that if you go to a qualified health care professional, they are more likely to steer you to a reputable genetic test. If youre going to do a test over the counter, look at it for what it is. Its kind of a fun thing, and it may provide you with some interesting information, but the best place to learn about health risks and health conditions is through a qualified health care professional or genetics counselor. Ultimately, if you do test positive for one of these health risks ... you need to confirm it with a health care provider anyway. The other thing to be aware of is that if something seems suspicious, go with your gut.

Should consumers be more aware of certain characteristics of these fraudulent tests?

Absolutely. (Be wary of) those that are making promises about coverage and that everyone is able to get it covered now, 100% free or no cost to you, or if they are aggressively marketing. We have seen people marketing these tests at health fairs and senior centers. Thats not a reputable way to do this. Thats not how health care is supposed to be done.

Some of these tests, such as 23andMe, have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). What does this mean?

FDA approval means that the FDA has vetted it and determined that the test is in fact accurate for what it claims to do. The reality is that the vast majority of genetic tests are not FDA approved, they are CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) approved, which is a designation under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

So, it comes down to knowing who is providing the test to you and making sure that the company, the test provider, the laboratory, is a reputable lab.

What is the biggest takeaway for consumers who are concerned about their risk?

Talk to a doctor that you have a relationship with and share your concerns. Most doctors will either have a mechanism for assessing risk in office or will refer you.

Ultimately, there is coverage for genetic testing for people who have a family history or personal cancer history. People dont need to turn to these less reliable tests to get the testing.

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Genetic Testing: Are Over-the-Counter Options Reliable? - Curetoday.com

Genetics

New Tool Helps Gather Useful Genetic Information Obtained from Blood, Skin Tissues – Global Health News Wire

Researchers at CHOP and University of Pennsylvania developed an online tool to refine results from RNA sequencing obtained from clinically accessible tissues

DNA sequencing is becoming a more commonplace method for detecting diseases and improving precision medicine. Because DNA sequencing does not detect all possible disease-causing mutations, RNA sequencing is often used to address this important gap. However, RNA sequencing is typically performed on clinically-accessible tissues from blood and skin and likely does not represent a complete view of the rest of the body.

Hoping to refine the usefulness of RNA sequencing, a team of researchers from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reviewed a database of RNA sequencing results in non-clinically-accessible tissues from organs like the brain and heart. This helped them identify differences between tissues that were well expressed to help identify when clinically-accessible tissues like blood and skin samples are most useful and when they are not. To aid future sequencing and aid diagnosis, the study team also developed an online resource outlining how these differences affect specific tissues and genes of interest. The findings were published in the journal Genetics in Medicine.

Researchers continue to improve the ability of sequencing tests to detect genetic mutations that drive disease. Exome sequencing captures about 31% of inherited genetic disorders, and genome sequencing improves this rate somewhere between 10% and 15%, meaning that the majority of patients who receive this screening will not receive a proper molecular diagnosis. One of the primary difficulties is the number of non-coding variants these tests capture. These variants are capable of causing disease, but they are difficult to predict and therefore often ignored by existing diagnostic techniques.

One way these variants can cause problems is their ability to alter RNA splicing, or the process by which non-coding parts of genes are removed so that only the coding portions are available to create necessary proteins. Therefore, variants that affect RNA splicing can alter the function of essential proteins, which can lead to disease. RNA sequencing can help detect these variants and add to the knowledge gleaned from exome and genome sequencing. However, RNA sequencing is complicated because the gene must be expressed in the tissue of interest, and often those tissues are not accessible.

We know that we are unable to test tissues in the brain, heart and certain other organs for diagnostic purposes, but we also know that using RNA sequencing on these tissues could reveal important genetic information we might not otherwise be able to capture, said Elizabeth Bhoj, MD PhD, an attending physician with the Division of Human Genetics at CHOP, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine, and senior co-author of the study. By studying both clinically- and non-clinically-available tissues, we hoped this study would reveal the true extent of what we may be missing with current RNA sequencing methods.

The study team quantified RNA splicing in 801 RNA-sequenced samples from 56 different adult and fetal tissues. Genes and splicing events were identified by the team in each non-clinically-available tissue, which then allowed the researchers to determine when RNA sequencing in each clinically-available tissue actually inadequately represents them. The team then developed its own online resource, MAJIQ-CAT, so that others could explore their analysis for specific genes and tissues.

The researchers found that 40.2% of non-clinically-available tissues have RNA splicing that is inadequately represented in at least one clinically-available tissue, and 6.3% of genes have splicing inadequately represented by all clinically-available tissues. While a majority (52.1%) of these genes have low expression in clinically-available tissues, the study team showed that 5.8% are inadequately represented despite being well-expressed, thereby representing a significant portion of genes of interest not being properly captured by traditional RNA sequencing methods.

By using MAJIQ-CAT, researchers can determine which accessible tissues, if any, best represent RNA splicing in genes and tissues of interest, Bhoj said. While this does not address the entire gap left by current exome and genome sequencing methods, we believe we can capture more genes and determine how they affect human health.

The research team drew from their diverse scientific backgrounds for this study to improve clinical diagnosis. Bhoj and her lab provided expertise in genetics and clinical diagnostics with the computational expertise of the lab of Yoseph Barash, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Genetics at Penn. The work was led by Joseph Aicher, an MD/PhD student in the Genomics and Computational Biology program at Penn who was co-mentored by Bhoj and Barash.

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New Tool Helps Gather Useful Genetic Information Obtained from Blood, Skin Tissues - Global Health News Wire

Genetics

Here’s how scientists are tracking the genetic evolution of COVID-19 – TheStreet

Niema Moshiri, University of California San Diego

When you hear the term evolutionary tree, you may think of Charles Darwin and the study of the relationships between different species over the span of millions of years.

While the concept of an evolutionary tree originated in Darwins On the Origin of Species, one can apply this concept to anything that evolves, including viruses. Scientists can study the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 to learn more about how the genes of the virus function. It is also useful to make inferences about the spread of the virus around the world, and what type of vaccine may be most effective.

I am a bioinformatician who studies the relationships between epidemics and viral evolution, and I am among the many researchers now studying the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 because it can help researchers and public health officials track the spread of the virus over time. What we are finding is that the SARS-CoV-2 virus appears to be mutating more slowly than the seasonal flu which may allow scientists to develop a vaccine.

Viruses evolve by mutating. That is, there are changes in their genetic code over time. The way it happens is a little like that game of telephone. Amy is the first player, and her word is CAT. She whispers her word to Ben, who accidentally hears MAT. Ben whispers his word to Carlos, who hears MAD. As the game of telephone goes on, the word will transform further and further away from its original form.

We can think of a biological genetic material as a sequence of letters, and over time, sequences mutate: The letters of the sequence can change. Scientists have developed various models of sequence evolution to help them study how mutations occur over time.

Much like our game of telephone, the genome sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus changes over time: Mutations occur randomly, and any changes that occur in a given virus will be inherited by all copies of the next generation. Then, much as we could try to decode how CAT became MAD, scientists can use models on genetic evolution to try to determine the most likely evolutionary history of the virus.

DNA sequencing is the process of experimentally finding the sequence of nucleotides (A, C, G and T) the chemical building blocks of genes of a piece of DNA. DNA sequencing is largely used to study human diseases and genetics, but in recent years, sequencing has become a routine part of viral point of care, and as sequencing becomes cheaper and cheaper, viral sequencing will become even more frequent as time progresses.

RNA is a molecule similar to DNA, and it is essentially a temporary copy of a short segment of DNA. Specifically, in the central dogma of biology, DNA is transcribed into RNA. SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus, meaning our DNA sequencing technologies cannot directly decode its sequence. However, scientists can first reverse transcribe the RNA of the virus into complementary DNA (or cDNA), which can then be sequenced.

Given a collection of viral genome sequences, we can use our models of sequence evolution to predict the viruss history, and we can use this to answer questions like, How fast do mutations occur? or Where in the genome do mutations occur? Knowing which genes are mutating frequently can be useful in drug design.

Tracking how viruses have changed in a location can also answer questions like, How many separate outbreaks exist in my community? This type of information can help public health officials contain the spread of the virus.

For COVID-19, there has been a global initiative to share viral genomes with all scientists. Given a collection of sequences with sample dates, scientists can infer the evolutionary history of the samples in real-time and use the information to infer the history of transmissions.

One such initiative is Nextstrain, an open-source project that provides users real-time reports of the spread of seasonal influenza, Ebola and many other infectious diseases. Most recently, it has been spearheading the evolutionary tracking of COVID-19 by providing a real-time analysis as well as a situation report meant to be readable by the general public. Further, the project enables the global population to benefit from its efforts by translating the situation report to many other languages.

As the amount of available information grows, scientists need faster tools to be able to crunch the numbers. My lab at UC San Diego, in collaboration with the System Energy Efficiency (SEE) Lab led by Professor Tajana imuni? Rosing, is working to create new algorithms, software tools and computer hardware to make the real-time analysis of the COVID-19 epidemic more feasible.

Based on current data, it seems as though SARS-CoV-2 mutates much more slowly than the seasonal flu. Specifically, SARS-CoV-2 seems to have a mutation rate of less than 25 mutations per year, whereas the seasonal flu has a mutation rate of almost 50 mutations per year.

Given that the SARS-CoV-2 genome is almost twice as large as the seasonal flu genome, it seems as though the seasonal flu mutates roughly four times as fast as SARS-CoV-2. The fact that the seasonal flu mutates so quickly is precisely why it is able to evade our vaccines, so the significantly slower mutation rate of SARS-CoV-2 gives us hope for the potential development of effective long-lasting vaccines against the virus.

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Niema Moshiri, Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, University of California San Diego

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Here's how scientists are tracking the genetic evolution of COVID-19 - TheStreet

Genetics

Resurrected greenhouse to honor father of modern genetics – Inhabitat

International architecture and urban design practiceCHYBIK + KRISTOF has unveiled designs for an energy-efficient greenhouse to commemorate Gregor Mendel, a scientist and Augustinian friar regarded as the founder of the modern science of genetics. Set on the foundations of the 19th-century Brno greenhouse where Mendel conducted his pioneering experiments, the new greenhouse will pay homage to the original architecture and Mendels teachings. The greenhouse is slated for completion in 2022 to commemorate Mendels birth 200 years ago.

Born in 1822, Gregor Mendel spent eight seasons, from 1856 to 1863, cultivating and breeding pea plants in a 19th-centurygreenhousethat had been built in the St. Thomas Augustinian Abbeys gardens to cement the monastery as a leading center for scientific research. In 1870, however, a storm destroyed the building, leaving only its foundations intact today. The experiments that Mendel had conducted within the greenhouse are now widely recognized as the foundation of modern genetics.

CHYBIK + KRISTOFs resurrection of the historic greenhouse begins with the preservation of the foundations that will be integrated into the new structure and left visible. The foundations will inform the orientation and shape of the greenhouse, which will be reminiscent of the original building. While the trapezoidal volume is identical to the original edifice, the reimagined supporting steel structure seeks inspiration from Mendels three laws of inheritance and the drawings of his resulting heredity system, explained the architects. Likewise, the pitched roof, consisting of a vast outer glass surface, reflects his law of segregation and the distribution of inherited traits, and is complemented by a set of modular shades.

Related: Kuehn Malvezzi tops a brick office building in Germany with an energy-efficient greenhouse

In addition to celebrating Mendels work, the revived structure will primarily be used as a flexible events space that can adapt to a variety of functions, from conferences and lectures to temporary exhibitions. The flexible design will also be entirely exposed to the outdoors. For energy efficiency, the architects have integrated a concealed system of underground heat pumpsinto the greenhouse, as well as adjustable shades and embedded blinds to facilitate natural cooling and ventilation.

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Genetics

ACMG and ABMGG Collaborate to Provide Trainees and Genetic Counseling Students Complimentary Access to Online Medical Genetics Education Courses…

BETHESDA, Md., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) recognize that medical genetics and genomics trainees and genetic counseling students are experiencing unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are unable to engage in planned educational activities necessary to meet training program requirements.

Founded in 1991, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics. (PRNewsfoto/American College of Medical G...)

In an effort to help lighten this burden and to provide top-quality online educational opportunities to those who may be either quarantined or must work from home,the ACMG and the ABMGG are collaborating to provide complimentary access to educational programming for clinical genetics residents, laboratory genetics fellows and genetic counseling students.

ACMG President Anthony R. Gregg, MD, MBA, FACOG, FACMG said, "As the COVID-19 pandemic challenges each of us to adapt, ACMG looks forward to providing high-quality educational materials at no charge to trainees and genetic counseling students. At ACMG we value education. It is a core member service. If you are a trainee whose education is threatened by COVID-19, we will help you beat that threat. This makes perfect sense - if you are a trainee or student - you are us!"

"Optimal patient care begins with optimal education of trainees in medical genetics and genomics in training programs across the country," said Max Muenke, MD, FACMG, chief executive officer of the ACMG. "We at the College have a passion for education. At a time of COVID-19 where most trainees are working from home, we are happy to offerfree of chargea number of online courses and lectures to genetic counseling graduate students, residents in clinical genetics and genomics, and fellows in all laboratory specialties of genetics and genomics."

Medical genetics and genomics residents and lab fellows, as well as genetic counseling students, will be able to access an extensive, curated collection of educational content online at the ACMG Genetics Academy at http://www.acmgeducation.netIndividuals must attest that they are current trainees in an ACGC-, ACGME- or ABMGG-accredited training program.

Miriam Blitzer, PhD, FACMG, CEO of the ABMGG, commented, "The ABMGG recognizes that current circumstances surrounding COVID-19 are impacting trainees and have disrupted required training. We are excited that ACMG is offering access to excellent educational activities to allow for continued learning during this time."

ACMG's "Curated Collection of Educational Resources for Genetics and Genomics Residents, Trainees and Genetic Counseling Students" will include:

Individuals who complete coursework through the ACMG Genetics Academy will obtain a certificate of completion. ACMG and ABMGG both commit to providing these free educational resources until September 1, 2020.

Staying current on advances in medical genetics and genomics is more important than ever. ACMG and ABMGG wish the next generation of the medical genetics healthcare team strength, resilience and good health as we work together to fight the pandemic and to care for patients and families. We appreciate your commitment to caring for patients whether you are in the lab, the clinic, providing telegenetics services, or serving your patients and communities in other ways. Our primary concern, now and always, is for the health, safety and well-being of healthcare providers, patients, students and the communities we serve.

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About the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and ACMG Foundation

Founded in 1991, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics and the only medical specialty society in the US that represents the full spectrum of medical genetics disciplines in a single organization. The ACMG is the largest membership organization specifically for medical geneticists, providing education, resources and a voice for more than 2,400 clinical and laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors and other healthcare professionals, nearly 80% of whom are board certified in the medical genetics specialties. ACMG's mission is to improve health through the clinical andlaboratory practice of medical genetics as well as through advocacy, education and clinical research, and to guide the safe and effective integration of genetics and genomics into all of medicine and healthcare, resulting in improved personal and public health. Four overarching strategies guide ACMG's work: 1) to reinforce and expand ACMG's position as the leader and prominent authority in the field of medical genetics and genomics, including clinical research, while educating the medical community on the significant role that genetics and genomics will continue to play in understanding, preventing, treating and curing disease; 2) to secure and expand the professional workforce for medical genetics and genomics; 3) to advocate for the specialty; and 4) to provide best-in-class education to members and nonmembers. Genetics in Medicine, published monthly, is the official ACMG journal. ACMG's website (www.acmg.net) offers resources including policy statements, practice guidelines, educational programs and a 'Find a Genetic Service' tool. The educational and public health programs of the ACMG are dependent upon charitable gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals through the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

About the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics

The American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to serve the public and medical profession by establishing professional certification standards and promoting lifelong learning, as well as excellence in medical genetics and genomics. Established in 1980, the ABMGG is one of the 24 certifying boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). For more information, visit http://www.abmgg.org.

Kathy Moran, MBAkmoran@acmg.net

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Cell Biology

Column: Biology basics: What is a virus, bacteria, fungus? And how can we kill them? – The Morning Sun

With the coronavirus on everyones mind, lets go back to some basics. Like what is a virus and how do we get rid of it? Modern medicine seems to cure most anything, so why is it so hard to destroy the coronavirus?

There are three major pathogens (biological structures that can make humans ill). They are bacteria (bacterium), fungi (fungus) and viruses (virus). Each one is unique in its structure and complexity. Therefore, the way to destroy each of them is also unique.

We are exposed to thousands, if not millions, of unique pathogens. Our immune system must learn how to destroy each and every one. When we are born, we have almost no immune system; we are incredibly vulnerable to infection and sickness. We must build up our immune system with antibodies. Antibodies are how the immune system can identify, tag, and destroy the pathogens making a person sick. The only way an immune system can build up antibodies is to be exposed to a pathogen and learn how to identify, tag, and destroy the pathogen. The only shortcut to this is when a mother can pass some antibodies to a nursing infant through her breast milk. (This is only one of the many reasons why a newborn should be breast fed.)

However, once our immune systems have the antibodies needed to identify, tag, and destroy a specific pathogen, it will remember that pathogen. So, the next time you are exposed to it, your immune system will produce the antibodies to destroy the pathogen much quicker, ideally even before you feel sick.

Sometimes our immune systems cannot do it on its own, that is where medicine is required. Remember, there are bacteria, fungal and viral pathogens.

First, fungi tend to be external organisms that live on surfaces. Mold, mushrooms, and mildew are some classic examples and good to use as a reference. They grow in dark, moist places on decaying matter. The hypha or roots burrow into the organic matter to extract the nutrients it needs for life. Athletes foot, jock itch and yeast infections are all common pathogens many of us have suffered. Although, internally fungi are lethal, they are rare. Most external fungi can be destroyed with an anti-fungal cream or pill. Fungi tend to be on the low side of complexity and relatively easy to kill.

Bacterial pathogens are individual living organisms. They are the germs that we think of swimming around under a microscope. There are millions of varieties of them. They live on their own, on surfaces within the air, in foods and water. Many ear, throat, and sinus infections are bacterial. Fortunately, our immune system is pretty good at identifying these foreign organisms living within our bodies and can destroy them on its own. And if it cannot, a doctor can prescribe an antibiotic (penicillin) to finish the job.

On the other hand, viruses are non-living, they are DNA pirates. They cannot live or reproduce on their own. Think of a virus as a blob of grease or oil with a single strand of DNA within it. No nucleus, no organelles, just a microscopic ball of fat with a code to cause some biological mutiny.

Viruses require a host cell for reproduction. The virus does this by taking over a host cell and forcing the cell to reproduce the virus and its fatty shell, much like a pirate hijacking a ship for its own purposes. Unfortunately, the cell will no longer be able to perform the life-sustaining job it was intended to be doing; hence you feel sick. The host cell will continue to perform the pirates task, reproduce the virus, until it destroys itself. Then, liberating more DNA pirates to repeat the process.

The fact that the virus lives inside the cell makes it hard for the immune system to identify the pathogen, let alone destroy it. The only way to destroy the virus is to destroy the cell itself. The pirate will never leave the ship, the ship must be destroyed to kill the pirate.

This is what our immune systems does anti-bodies identify, tag, and destroy the living cells that have the virus within them. This explains our symptoms which can range from minor aches and pains to lethal tissue and organ damage. Your immune system is literally destroying your own cells.

Fortunately, we have billions of cells and our immune system can be very targeted once the anti-bodies have figure out which cells have been pirated by the virus. White blood cells can then effectively destroy only the pirated cells and recovering will begin.

A major problem with the coronavirus in humans is our immune systems have a hard time identifying which cells have been pirated by the virus and which cells are still healthy. Human immune systems seem to be over-reacting and destroying all the surrounding cells. Since the virus is often found in the lungs, heart, and kidneys these are the organs that seem to be suffering the most.

So how do we destroy the coronavirus? They only thing that can destroy a virus is our own immune system. The medical field has had little success in developing anti-viral medications. We can only support our immune system to learn quicker, to produce the antibodies needed and then the immune system can become much more targeted.

Vaccines do this by providing a weakend version for the immune system to learn from. Anti-body therapy takes the anti-bodies from one immune system that has already learned how to identify the virus and directly gives it to an un-learned immune system.

Unfortunately, we do not have any solutions yet! So, the best way to be healthy is to not get sick in the first place. Stay away from the pirates! You all know what to do, washing your hand, social distance, etc. Be safe.

Andrew J. Frisch is a teacher at Farwell High School.

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Column: Biology basics: What is a virus, bacteria, fungus? And how can we kill them? - The Morning Sun