Neuroscience

Zhongchao Inc. Partners with a Subsidiary of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) for Medical Education Services – BioSpace

SHANGHAI, June 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhongchao Inc. (NASDAQ: ZCMD) ("Zhongchao" or the "Company"), a healthcare services company offering online healthcare information, professional training and educational services, today announced the cooperation in physician education with AbbVie Pharmaceutical Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. ("AbbVie Shanghai"), a subsidiary of AbbVie Inc (NYSE: ABBV) ("AbbVie"). AbbVie is a research-based global biopharmaceutical company. Pursuant to an agreement to facilitate such cooperation, Zhongchao and AbbVie Shanghai will cooperate in, including but not limited to, developing the medical education contents and producing medical education courses.

Weiguang Yang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zhongchao, commented, "AbbVie is one of the top ten global research-oriented biopharmaceutical companies with numerous innovations in the core field of immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and Allergan Aesthetics. In recent years, AbbVie has introduced more and more innovative therapies and drugs to the Chinese market, benefitting Chinese patients. We are honored to cooperate with AbbVie Shanghai to promote the development of medical education."

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. They strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, virology, women's health and gastroenterology, in addition to products and services across its Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit http://www.abbvie.com.

About Zhongchao Inc.

Incorporated in 2012 with headquarter offices in Shanghai and Beijing, China, Zhongchao Inc. is an online provider of healthcare information, professional training and educational services to healthcare professionals under its "MDMOOC" platform (www.mdmooc.org) and to the public under its "Sunshine Health Forums" platform (www.ygjkclass.com) in China. More information about the Company can be found at its investor relations website at http://izcmd.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. When the Company uses words such as "may," "will," "intend," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate" or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the following: the Company's goals and strategies; the Company's future business development; product and service demand and acceptance; changes in technology; economic conditions; the growth of the professional training and educational services market in China and the other international markets the Company plans to serve; reputation and brand; the impact of competition and pricing; government regulations; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in China and the international markets the Company plans to serve and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing and other risks contained in reports filed by the Company with the SEC, the length and severity of the recent coronavirus outbreak, including its impacts across our business and operations. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available for review at http://www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forwardlooking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

For more information, please contact:

At the Company: Pei Xu, CFOEmail: xupei@mdmooc.orgPhone: +86 21-3220-5987

Investor Relations: Sherry ZhengWeitian Group LLCEmail: shunyu.zheng@weitian-ir.comPhone: +1 718-213-7386

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SOURCE Zhongchao Inc.

Company Codes: NASDAQ-NMS:ZCMD

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Zhongchao Inc. Partners with a Subsidiary of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) for Medical Education Services - BioSpace

Neuroscience

New research finds compound that blocks Covid-19 virus and protects lung cells – Hindustan Times

Research conducted at Louisiana State University Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence reports that 'Elovanoids', bioactive chemical messengers made from omega-3 very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, may block the virus that causes Covid-19 from entering cells and protect the air cells (alveoli) of the lung.

The findings of the research are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

"Because the compounds are protective against damage in the brain and retina of the eye and the Covid-19 virus clearly damages the lung, the experiment tested if the compounds would also protect the lung," noted Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Director of the LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center and senior author of the paper.

The research team tested Elovanoids (ELVs) on infected lung tissue from a 78-year-old man in petri dish cultures. They found that ELVs not only reduced the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to bind to receptors and enter cells, but they also triggered the production of protective, anti-inflammatory proteins that counteract lung damage.

The scientists report that ELVs decreased the production of ACE2. ACE2 is a protein on the surface of many cell types. ACE2 receptors act like locks on cells, and the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins act like keys that open the locks letting the virus enter cells to multiply rapidly. They also demonstrated for the first time that alveolar cells are endowed with pathways for the biosynthesis of ELVs.

"Since SARS-CoV-2 affects nasal mucosa, the GI tract, the eye, and the nervous system, uncovering the protective potential of ELVs expands the scope of our observations beyond the lung. Our results provide a foundation for interventions to modify disease risk, progression, and protection of the lung from Covid-19 or other pathologies (including some types of pneumonia)," added Dr Bazan.

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New research finds compound that blocks Covid-19 virus and protects lung cells - Hindustan Times

Neuroscience

Depression, anxiety during pandemic linked to poor sleep – Devdiscourse

Anxiety and depression during the first few weeks of the pandemic were associated with less and lower quality sleep, as per the findings of a study conducted on hundreds of twins led by Washington State University researchers. The study was published in Frontiers in Neuroscience. In a survey of more than 900 twins taken shortly after COVID-19 lockdown measures began, about half of the respondents reported no change in their sleep patterns, but around a third, 32.9 per cent, reported decreased sleep.

Another 29.8 per cent reported sleeping more. In the analysis, the researchers found that any change in sleep was connected to self-reported mental health issues, though it was more strongly associated with decreased sleep. "The results show that deviations from your typical sleep behavior may be associated with depression, anxiety and stress," said Siny Tsang, lead author on the study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.

Tsang, a staff scientist with the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, emphasised that this showed a connection, not a cause, but the study supports previous research that has found a two-way relationship between disrupted sleep patterns and poor mental health. In other words, when people do not sleep well, they are more likely to feel stress, anxiety and depression, and when they are dealing with those same problems, they are more likely to sleep less--and sometimes more--than the typical six to nine hours a night.

This study analyses survey responses collected between March 26 and April 5, 2020, from participants in the Washington State Twin Registry. Since then, the same group has answered three more waves of survey questions. Researchers are particularly interested in studying twins, so they can investigate whether associations are mediated by genetic factors, shared environment, or both. The pandemic also offered an opportunity for a natural experiment to see how a stressful situation affects sleep amount and quality among individuals in the community, Tsang said.

The research relies on the self-reported perception of sleep length and quality, but the researcher said that when it comes to mental health, perception can matter more than the real amount of sleep. "Even if your cell phone says you consistently sleep eight hours every day, you may feel that you slept less or slept poorly, and that may be linked to stressful or anxious feelings," Tsang said. "It may not matter whether or not the actual number has changed. It's how you are feeling that is associated with your mental health."

WSU researchers have also conducted twin studies on COVID-19 lockdown effects on alcohol use and pandemic stress and exercise. These have all been initial studies taken at the early stages of the pandemic and associated social distancing measures. The scientists are still analysing the results of later surveys, but they are starting to see a common theme. "A pattern that is consistent across these three studies is that people who reported change in physical exercise, alcohol use or sleep are more stressed, anxious and depressed than those who had said that they have had no change," Tsang said. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Depression, anxiety during pandemic linked to poor sleep - Devdiscourse

Genetics

Men: Know Your Genetics to Lower Your Cancer Risk and That of Your Family – Baptist Health South Florida

A gene mutation that could put you at higher risk for cancer is just as likely to come from your father as your mother. Unfortunately, only 4 percent of those undergoing hereditary cancer gene testing are male, leaving a huge gap in the knowledge that could help you avoid cancer altogether or inform treatment decisions, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Oncology.

Louise Morrell, M.D., a genetics specialist and medical director of Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health.

Men do not often seek testing and many times do not understand the importance of the information, saysLouise Morrell, M.D., a genetics specialist and medical director of Lynn Cancer Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health. The more accurate our information, the better our guidance on prevention. In genetics, unlike other areas, the benefit extends to family members and perhaps for generations to come.

Inherited Cancers

Today, up to 15 percent of cancers are tied to a hereditary link. Knowing about those links may help you and other members of your family prevent or reduce the risk of cancer.

Scientists have identified many mutations that increase the risk for breast and gynecologic cancers, some prostate cancers, colon cancer, gastro-intestinal cancers, kidney cancer and more. For example, a man with prostate cancer tied to aBRCA2mutation, could pass that mutation to his son or daughter, increasing the risk of breast cancer in both children and of prostate cancer in the son.

Raising awareness of the value ofgenetic assessmentandtesting, particularly among men, is important to the experts atLynn Cancer InstituteandMiami Cancer Institute. Because the field of genetics moves at a rapid pace, discoveries may impact everything from guidelines for cancer screenings to treatment options for those who have cancer.

Although researchers have worked for decades on uncovering the links between genetic mutations and cancer, public knowledge grew when actress Angelina Jolie had her breasts removed in 2013, and then her ovaries in 2015, because she carried theBRCA1 gene mutation that is linked to a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Ms. Jolies mother, grandmother and aunt had died from cancer, and her decision to prophylactically remove her breasts, ovaries and fallopian tubes to lower her cancer risk came after multiple tests and conversations with experts. The sameBRCA1andBRCA2mutations that raise the risk of breast cancer in women, also raise the odds of breast cancer in men by eight times, according to the American Cancer Society.

Ask Questions

Arelis Mrtir-Negrn, M.D., medical geneticist and head of the Clinical Genetics program at Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health.

Whether you are a man or a woman, your familys health history may be the key to your future, saysArelis Mrtir-Negrn, M.D., medical geneticist and head of the Clinical Genetics program at Miami Cancer Institute. Because as many men pass down mutations as women, you should be as aware of your fathers familys cancer history as your mothers. Know your family history. Ask questions. In general, the earlier cancer is caught, the better the chance of survival.

Like Ms. Jolie, when Matthew Knowles, the father of artists Beyonc and Solange, announced he had breast cancer in 2019, he put the spotlight on genetics. His mother, aunt and great aunt had died from breast cancer and he learned his rare male breast cancer was caused by aBRCA2 gene mutation. He understood that his daughters had a 50 percent chance of inheriting his mutation.

Genetic testing among Blacks is much lower than other races. Physicians would like that to change, particularly since some breast cancers that have a poorer prognosis also have a higher incidence in Black women. Fortunately, subsequent testing showed neither daughter had the mutation. Mr. Knowles underwent a mastectomy.

Thinking of genetics as a recipe may help some people better understand, genetic counselors say. All people inherit two copies of each gene: one from their mother and one from their father. Variations in genes are normal and are what give us our diversity. A slight change in the recipe may not make much of a difference but the wrong ingredient or too much or too little of something may cause the recipe to change drastically. In addition, not all mutations carry the same risk.

ABRCAmutation might lead to an 80 percent risk of breast cancer but anATMmutation might have a 20 percent lifetime risk, Dr. Morrell says. These are very different, which is why having this information is so valuable.

Its important to note that just because you carry a mutation doesnt mean you will get cancer. There are many things we take into account when we assess risk, Dr. Mrtir-Negrn says. We can suggest lifestyle modifications that could lower their chances of getting cancer. There are times when we might also suggest medications or present the idea of preventive surgery.

The genetic teams at Lynn Cancer Institute and Miami Cancer Institute offer multidisciplinary care to patients and often their family members who may also be affected to better understand their risks, help them determine if genetic testing would be beneficial, and assist them with understanding the results, whether they are positive, negative or inconclusive. The team also develops personalized cancer prevention for previvors, the term used for those with a predisposition to cancer.

Fortunately, technological advances continue to make it possible to test for more genes. In recent years, improvements have sped up testing and made it less expensive. In addition, in someone already diagnosed with cancer, the answers from genetic testing can help drive treatment and surgery decisions.

Who Should Consider Cancer Genetic Assessment?

Men should consider assessment if they:

Couples who have a family history of cancer and are considering pregnancy also frequently take advantage of genetic assessment. If you really want to be able to tell your children they are not at risk to have a particular mutation, you need to test both parents, Dr. Morrell says. The offspring can only inherit a mutation that the parents have. Mutations do not skip generations. The parent has to also inherit it.

For more information on genetic assessment, testing and counseling at the Morgan Pressel Center for Cancer Genetics at Lynn Cancer Institute, clickhere; for information on Miami Cancer Institutes Clinical Genetics program, clickhere.

Tags: genetic testing, Lynn Cancer Institute, Miami Cancer Institute

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Men: Know Your Genetics to Lower Your Cancer Risk and That of Your Family - Baptist Health South Florida

Genetics

Giles Yeo: Lets consider the type of food we eat, not fixate on calories – The Guardian

Since the dawn of the 20th century, almost all weight loss guidelines have used calories as a simple measure of how much energy were consuming from our food. But according to Giles Yeo, a Cambridge University research scientist who studies the genetics of obesity, theres one problem: not all calories are created equal. In his new book, Why Calories Dont Count, Yeo explains that what really matters is not how many calories a particular food contains, but how that food is digested and absorbed by your body.

Can you explain why you feel calorie-counting is a flawed approach to weight loss?There was an American chemist in the 19th century called Wilbur Olin Atwater who calculated the calorie numbers for different foods, by working out the total energy intake you get from them. But his calculations never took into account the energy it takes our cells to metabolise food in order to use it. This is important. Its why for example a calorie of protein makes you feel fuller than a calorie of fat, because protein is more complex to metabolise. For every 100 calories of protein you eat, you only ever absorb 70.

So we need to consider the type of food were eating, rather than fixating purely on the calorie content. You could be aiming to eat 800 calories a day, but how much energy your body actually absorbs will depend on whether youre eating sugar, celery, or steak.

How could people use this information practically when trying to manage their weight?What really annoys me is when weight loss gurus say things like: Oh, just replace the chocolate bar with a banana. Now thats a dumb thing to say, because sometimes life demands a banana, and sometimes life demands a chocolate bar.

But you can make a better practical choice in those situations by considering how the body processes food. It takes a lot longer to digest food elements like protein and fibre, so you absorb less of those calories, so if you choose a chocolate bar thats higher in nuts or dry fruits, that will make it a better chocolate bar.

Speaking of more nuanced approaches to managing weight, recently, body mass index has come under fire as being an inherently flawed measure of obesity. Is it still appropriate for doctors to use BMI?I would define an obese person as someone who is carrying too much fat, so that it begins to influence their health. But then the question is, how much is too much fat? Your fat cells are like balloons, they get bigger when you gain weight, they shrink when you lose weight. But everyones fat cells expand and contract to different amounts, so everybody has a different safe, fat-carrying capacity. Famously, us east Asians cannot get too big BMI-wise before we increase our risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, because we have a lower safe fat-carrying capacity.

BMI is very useful for looking at population trends, because its free to measure, and you only need your height and weight. But at an individual level, this is not useful to predict health because it doesnt take into account genetic and ethnic differences in fat capacity. You could be a rugby player, or the same size as a rugby player, and be all fat, and yet have the same BMI. So I think healthcare professionals need to consider the whole, rather than simply BMI itself.

The FDAs approval of semaglutide the first new drug to be approved for obesity since 2014 has made a lot of headlines this year. Is obesity something we should be treating with drugs?I see it as being part of the toolkit. A lot of people consider obesity as a lifestyle disease; they perceive that being larger than someone else comes down to choice, when this is not the case. For many people, its more difficult to say no to food purely because of their genetics.

Semaglutide makes your brain think youre slightly fuller than you are, so you eat less, and if someone is finding it difficult to lose weight, why not use it? Im not countenancing drugging the entire population, but I think semaglutide should be one of the tools we use, alongside lifestyle intervention, exercise, all of those things.

You research genetic factors that control susceptibility to obesity. What do these genes do?We now know that more than 1,000 genes are linked to obesity, and the vast majority of them influence pathways in three different parts of the brain that ultimately influence your feeding behaviour. One is the brains fuel sensor called the hypothalamus, then theres the part of the brain that senses how full you get, and then theres the hedonic part of the brain that makes eating feel good. All of these regions speak to one another, and some of these 1,000 genes influence these pathways. A mutation that causes a slight insensitivity in your brain to how full you are could influence how much you want to eat, making it more difficult to say no to temptations.

For example, we know that one in 330 people in the UK have mutations in a particular pathway called the leptin-melanocortin pathway, which renders your brain slightly less sensitive to how much fat youre carrying.

Will we be able to use our genetic knowledge of obesity to develop new treatments that regulate appetite?Yes, theres now a drug called setmelanotide, which targets the leptin-melanocortin pathway. It has just been approved in the US for rare genetic causes of obesity, and the European Medicines Agency should be approving it within weeks. Eventually it will be trialled in the larger population, much like semaglutide was, to see whether you can fool your brain into thinking that youre carrying more fat, and so you end up eating less. This is an example of how understanding the basic biology of obesity, the wiring, the genes involved, can result in cogent and hopefully sustainable ways of tackling it.

In your book, you touch on how obesity isnt solely genetic, and factors such as socioeconomic status play a key role in determining how those genes are expressed, and how much they matter.The heritability of body weight the percentage of the trait that is down to your genes is a range, which lies somewhere between 40 and 70%.

A colleague of mine, Professor Clare Llewellyn at UCL, has a twin cohort called the Gemini study, where shes looked at the role of socioeconomic status on body weight. Shes shown that if you take middle-class families, the heritability of their body weight is roughly around the 40% mark. But you go to households with the lowest socioeconomic class, and the highest levels of food insecurity, suddenly it jumps to 70%.

Genetically, theres no difference between people who are poorer and those who are richer its an accident of birth. But because of your socioeconomic situation, your risk of obesity can jump from 40% to 70%. It shows that if we manage to cure poverty, childhood poverty in particular, we can drop the heritable risk of obesity from 70% to 40% without even touching the biology of the system.

Exercise has been getting a bad rep for its weight loss powers. Is that really deserved? You run a lot: are you doing that to keep trim or for other reasons?In and of itself, exercise is not effective for weight loss. It is in principle possible to lose weight through exercise Tour de France cyclists eat at least 5,000 calories a day and still lose weight during the three-week race. The problem is most of us mere mortals dont exercise anywhere near enough for this to be effective. It is, however, useful for weight maintenance after you have achieved weight loss. So I stay active on my bike and running, to stay fit, but also to maintain my weight.

Why Calories Dont Count by Giles Yeo is published by Orion (14.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

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Giles Yeo: Lets consider the type of food we eat, not fixate on calories - The Guardian

Genetics

Free genetic testing offered to propel medical research, All of Us program building most diverse database – KLAS – 8 News Now

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us Research Program is offering no-cost genetic testing, just in time for Fathers Day.

The free genetic testing kit offers a unique opportunity to discover your ancestral past and learn more about your own health.

By participating in the NIH program, researchers will be able to study your results in hopes of better understanding how certain genetic traits affect underrepresented communities, which could greatly affect the future of customized healthcare.

Matthew Thombs, Senior Project Manager of Digital Health Technology at Scripps Research walked 8NewsNow through what participants would experience when they sign up for the study. He also explained why he is proud to be a part of the All of Us Research Program:

I joined the All of Us Research Program a little over a year ago and have fallen in love with its mission of creating the largest and most diverse health resource ever. I lost a close family member a few years ago to a condition I believe could have been managed with changes to their lifestyle. What we are building will empower researchers with the information needed to make such conclusions and forever alter how diseases are treated. I hope that what we are doing here will help my son grow up in a world where health care is more of a priority and many of the ailments we seetodayare things of the past.

You can sign up for the program online or by downloading the All of Us mobile application from the iOS or Android app store. Once you open the application, you would create a personal profile, sign the necessary consent forms and decide if you would also like to receive a salivary kit. The test kit would be mailed to you free of charge, and include a pre-paid mailing label to return your sample.

MOVING AWAY FROM ONE-SIZE-FITS ALL HEALTH CARE

Thombs says a fun aspect of TheAll of UsResearch Program is learning more about traits that may have been passed down to you. Can you roll your tongue like your father? Does caffeine sensitivity run in your family?

You may even discover that you need to modify or remove something from your diet to improve your health or help you feel better. Your test kit results provide you with information on what makes you you.

The information collected is also shared anonymously with more than 800 researchers in search of medical discoveries for COVID-19, Alzheimers, Cancer, and other conditions.

INVITATION JOIN THE RESEARCH PROGRAM

Thombs says The All of Us Research Program is working to build a diverse community of one million or more participants across the country to help researchers learn more about how genetics, environment and lifestyle affect individuals health, especially those in communities who have largely been left out of these kinds of research programs.

We want to be able to propel research forward, said Thombs.

Perhaps your genetic makeup allows you to recover from certain ailments and return to excellent health. That data is valuable and can help someone whose body struggles with the same illness. To understand how humans function and what makes us sick, all human beings need to be included in research studies.

According to Thombs, participants can provide as much or as little information as they like, every single data point matters.

Feel free to visit the All of US website at http://www.joinallofus.org/health for more information.

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Free genetic testing offered to propel medical research, All of Us program building most diverse database - KLAS - 8 News Now

Genetics

The global animal genetics market is projected to reach USD 7.7 billion by 2026 from USD – GlobeNewswire

New York, June 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Animal Genetics Market by Products Genetic Testing ) - Global Forecast to 2026" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06094510/?utm_source=GNW On the other hand, the shortage of skilled professionals in veterinary research, and emergence of alternatives like lab-based meat are some factors restraining market growth.

The live animals accounted for the largest share of the animal genetics market in 2020.Based on products and services, the animal genetics market has been segmented into live animals, genetics materials, and animal genetic testing services.The factors attributing to the large revenue of the live animals segment include the high demand for live animals for breeding purposes.

The introduction of disease-resistant animals has further boosted the demand for live animals, as they are economically viable for owners and increase their profitability.

The market in Asia Pacific is projected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period (20212026).Europe accounted for the largest share of the animal genetics market in 2020. Better accessibility to technologies and well-established distribution channels, the growing demand for livestock food products, high intake of animal-derived proteins, and increasing animal welfare activities in the developed countries of Europe and North America account for their larger market shares.

A breakdown of the primary participants referred to for this report is provided below: By Company Type (Supply-side): Tier 1: 25%, Tier 2: 35%, and Tier 3: 40% By Designation: C-level: 20%, Director-level: 55%, and Managers: 25% By Region: North America: 40%, Europe: 25%, Asia-Pacific: 20%, Latin America: 10% and Middle East & Africa: 5%The major players in the animal genetics market include Neogen Corporation (US), Genus (UK), URUS (US), EW Group (Germany), Groupe Grimaud (France), CRV Holding (Netherlands), Topigs Norsvin (Netherlands), Zoetis (US), Envigo (US), Hendix Genetics (Netherlands), Animal Genetics (US), VetGen (US), DanBred (Denmark), Tropical Bovine Genetics (India), Trans Ova Genetics (US), Inguran LLC dba ST Genetics (US), Semex Alliance (Canada), Genetic Veterinary Sciences (US), Cobb-Vantress (US), Milk Source (US), Eurogene AI Services (Ireland).

Research Coverage:The report analyzes the animal genetics market and aims at estimating the market size and future growth potential of this market based on various segments such as product and services, and region. The report also includes competitive analysis of the key players in this market along with their company profiles, product and service offerings, recent developments, and key market strategies.

Reasons to Buy the ReportThe report can help established firms as well as new entrants/smaller firms to gauge the pulse of the market, which, in turn, would help them garner a greater share. Firms purchasing the report could use one, or a combination of the below mentioned five strategies.

This report provides insights into the following pointers: Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on the product portfolios of the top players in the animal genetics market. The report analyzes the market based on the products and services, and region. Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research and development activities, and product launches in the animal genetics market. Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyzes the markets for various types of animal genetics solutions across regions. Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about products, untapped regions, recent developments, and investments in the animal genetics market. Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, strategies, products, distribution networks, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in the animal genetics markets.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06094510/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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The global animal genetics market is projected to reach USD 7.7 billion by 2026 from USD - GlobeNewswire

Genetics

The sequencing of genetic material is a powerful conservation tool – The Economist

Jun 15th 2021

IN SEPTEMBER AND October 2000, the carcasses of several northern hairy-nosed wombats and some fragments of intestine were discovered in Australias Epping Forest National Park, apparently left behind by a mystery predator. Cattle farming has shrunk the wombats natural habitat and consequently their population, which reached a low of just 20-30 animals in the 1970s before land-management policies helped push numbers back up to roughly 100 in the early 2000s. By sequencing DNA extracted from the Epping Forest remains, researchers identified six males and one female. But what had slain 6% of the known wombat population?

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Suspicion fell on either dingoes or wild dogs, and the final answer came packaged inside faeces collected in the park. Some yielded the same genetic sequences as the carcasses. They had been left by dingoes. The team had identified their killers, and in 2002 a 20km protective fence was put up around the forest.

Environmental DNA, or eDNA, has emerged as an increasingly popular tool among conservation biologists and land managers, as DNA-sequencing tools have become progressively smaller, faster and cheaper. The field began in the late 1980s, when microbiologists started using it to look for bacteria in rivers and sediment. This had previously involved smearing water or dirt on Petri dishes to grow colonies of the resident microbes and then identifying them under the microscope, based on the shape of the colonies or how they responded to being stained with dye. It was lengthy and error-prone. Extracting DNA from samples instead, and comparing their genetic sequence to reference libraries, was quicker and more reliable.

The same approach was adopted and built upon in the early 2000s by ecologists, who were aware that the animals they studied were constantly shedding DNA in faeces, saliva, blood, scales and sloughed tissue. Gathering and sequencing this material provided valuable information without needing to interact with the animals themselves. The approach found particular favour early on with researchers studying freshwater systems. By simply dipping a test tube into a stream, they could find out if a target species was present and even how abundant it was.

Because trace amounts of DNA can be amplified before sequencing using a method called polymerase chain reaction (PCR, the same method used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in coronavirus testing), eDNA studies can detect species present in low numbersa useful tool for tracking down rare species, or spotting invasive ones before they wreak havoc on a fishery. Other studies have sought evidence that escapees from fish farms were mating with wild populations, potentially eroding them.

DNA from scat, as wild animal droppings are known, can map out food chains without having to capture and kill animals in order to examine the contents of their guts. Killing large or rare species like whales, even for conservation purposes, poses ethical and practical challenges. But whale scat has the great advantage of buoyancy. Finding a turd floating in the middle of the ocean is made easier with the help of dogs that are trained to sniff out the signature smells of excrement belonging to a range of endangered species. DNA in the netted excrement can be analysed to determine what the animal ate, or what bacteria live in its gut.

On land, researchers can use eDNA from faeces, urine or hair to see how populations are interacting. In Malaysia, an ongoing project is focused on whether sub-populations of the Malayan tiger are still connected when deforestation has fragmented their habitat. In Britain eDNA is used to monitor a protected newt. Other projects have begun to show that cells left in footprints in snow can yield enough DNA to identify species and possibly sex.

Several groups are attempting to identify all the individuals belonging to a population from footprint DNA, which would transform monitoring of populations, help with the tracking of animals as they roam across wide areas without the need for radiotags, and setting sustainable hunting quotas. Researchers at the US Forest Service are trying this with wolves.

So-called metagenomic studies use e DNA to map the genetic make-up of entire communities, such as coral reefs, or the vast, largely unexplored bacterial community that lives deep inside the Earths crust and whose biomass is an order of magnitude greater than that of all animals combined. Such studies can offer a genetic snapshot that might take years of field studies to establish.

The field is booming, but there are challenges. It can be difficult to tell when eDNA was deposited. DNA sampled at one point in a river could have come from anywhere upstream. And species identification is only as good as the species-specific genetic barcodes and reference genomes that serve as points of comparison. This has spurred a rush of projects to either identify a unique genetic signature for every species, such as the International Barcode of Life, or sequence the whole genomes of as many species as possible (see chart). The $4.7bn Earth Biogenome Project aims to sequence 1.5m species in ten years. As well as collecting and preserving genomes, such genetic databases can be mined for information on susceptibility to disease, or for potential medicines.

But even though genetic sequencing has become much cheaper since the late 20th century, it remains prohibitively expensive for most researchers outside America, Europe and China. Sequencing technologies are improving rapidly, however. In particular, Oxford Nanopore, a British company, has developed portable technology that allows sequencing to be done in the field, not just in the lab. It relies on nanopore sequencing, a technique in which strands of DNA are drawn through a nanometre-sized pore in a biological membrane. Each of the four letters of the DNA alphabet produces a distinct electrical signal as it passes through the pore, allowing the sequence to be read in real time.

Oxford Nanopores Min ION, a USB-powered, pocket-sized device, allows every part of the sequencing process to be done in the field. Sequences are produced within an hour. The devices are relatively affordable: prices start at around $1,000, though subsequent recharges are needed to run more samples. They have been used to sequence viruses in Brazil, amphibian DNA in Tanzania and bacteria on the International Space Station.

The technology also opens up new possibilities for investigation and enforcement. Genetic sequencing in the field can be used to identify the nature and origin of illegal bushmeat, fish or smuggled ivory. A paper published in Forensic Science International: Genetics in March 2021 compared results obtained by the Min ION with the standard sequencing methods used in wildlife forensics. It found the results to be comparable, potentially paving the way for handheld devices to be used in wildlife-crime prosecutions.

Full contents of this Technology QuarterlyThe other environmental emergency: Loss of biodiversity poses as great a risk to humanity as climate changeSensors and sensibility: All kinds of new technology are being used to monitor the natural world* Cracking the code: The sequencing of genetic material is a powerful conservation toolCrowdsourced science: How volunteer observers can help protect biodiversitySimulating everything: Compared with climate, modelling of ecosystems is at an early stageBack from the dead: Reviving extinct species may soon be possibleBridging the gap: Technology can help conserve biodiversity

This article appeared in the Technology Quarterly section of the print edition under the headline "Cracking the code"

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The sequencing of genetic material is a powerful conservation tool - The Economist

Genetics

Woman finds her biological father through DNA kit, after decades of searching – wtkr.com

SEAFORD, Va. - This Fathers Day is one to remember for a father-daughter duo who recently met her biological dad, thanks to a 23andMe DNA kit after several years of searching for him.

Adopted at 5-years-old, 43-year-old Julie Lane had always wondered who her biological father was. After more than ten years of searching for her father, she had almost given up.

I always wanted to know. You feel like youre missing a part of who you are, she said.

Julie had tried several things from researching to several genetics companies. She says her dads common name made it hard to track him.

"The information I had, his name, his ex-wifes name, the fact that he was military. I thought surely I can find him. After about ten years, I had kind of given up.

Then her family encouraged her to try something new.

"My husband and best friend pushed me and said why dont you try one more genetic tests before you give up."

Thats when she brought a 23andMe DNA kit as a last resort. To her surprise, she matched with a cousin that led her to what she always wanted, her biological father.

I just didnt expect that when the results came, it to go like it did. It's 8 o clock at night and theyre calling around and saying hey there's this girl on 23andMe and she comes up as a DNA match and she thinks youre her dad, could it be."

Julie's father had been looking for her too.

"I started trying to find her in the mid-80s. It still is overwhelming," Jeff Williams said.

In March, her father drove up from Texas to meet her. She also met her brother JP, whos ten years younger than her. Her dad left her a briefcase full of pictures during the visit.

She says the first time she saw a picture of her brother she recently met, he looked almost identical to her son.

News 3 reached out to 23andMe and they released this statement:

With genetic testing readily available to consumers, we are increasingly hearing stories of families discovering and reuniting with newfound relatives, and of customers finding unexpected results in their reports. Although 23andMe was not designed specifically to help people confirm parentage or find biological parents, our DNA Relatives tool does help people find and connect with participating genetic relatives. This feature is completely optional, meaning customers must actively choose to participate and are informed up front that by using the tool, they may discover unexpected relationships.

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Woman finds her biological father through DNA kit, after decades of searching - wtkr.com

Genetics

Rapid Genetic Testing May Have Spared This Baby From Death – MedPage Today

For an infant with seizures, every passing hour risks more harm to the newborn's brain.

That's why this story from Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego is so inspiring, not just for parents and their children, but for doctors and geneticists.

It shows the huge progress since the start of the Human Genome Project 30 years ago, not only in faster sequencing of 3.2 billion base pairs, but the ability to convert that information into a diagnosis. This case, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is one that was easy and inexpensive to treat.

The ordeal began one Sunday night in October 2020 when a frightened couple took their 41-day-old child to Rady's emergency department (ED) because he wouldn't stop crying. The same thing happened to their newborn daughter 10 years earlier, before genetic testing was as advanced. The sister deteriorated rapidly and died before her first birthday. Would her brother have the same dire course?

'This Is Why I Chose Genetics'

"This [baby] is exactly the reason I chose biogenetics," said Anna-Kaisa Niemi, MD, who is both a Rady neonatologist and metabolic geneticist. "You always try to find the defect and the diagnosis and if you do, you're able to start treatment fast. But it's never happened this fast before."

Late that October night, a head CT showed worrisome changes and an MRI revealed concerning white patterns in the infant's basal ganglia. The ED team transferred the baby to the hospital's NICU. When Niemi arrived Monday morning, the child was still crying.

"It wasn't a hungry cry, or 'my diapers are dirty' cry, or even 'I have a broken bone' cry. It was non-stop, inconsolable crying, like something is very wrong in the brain," Niemi told MedPage Today. "I don't want to say scary, but it was very alarming to me. I knew we needed to figure it out right away."

A physical exam revealed downward eye deviation, and the parents disclosed they are first cousins, more hints for a possible genetic abnormality. An electroencephalogram identified brain seizures.

Mallory Owen, MBChB, a pediatric neurologist who then was working with the affiliated Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine (RCIGM), described what happened next.

"We got a call from the [hospital] medical director who said we have a baby in the NICU who I think might really benefit from having this research protocol, 'ultra-ultra' rapid whole genome sequencing," said Owen.

There are some 1,500 genetic diseases associated with epileptic encephalopathy with similar or identical symptoms but very different treatments, Owen said.

To attempt to figure out which one it could be, a blood sample was drawn by 4 p.m. Monday and sequencing began at 7:23 p.m. It was completed by 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to a timeline prepared by Owen, lead author of the case report.

By 7:24 a.m. Tuesday, the in-house sequencing process was aided by Rady's partners, Illumina, which has developed DNA PCR-Free Prep, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, whose scientists helped narrow the list of variants to match the infant's symptoms.

One in a Million

The result, 10 minutes later, revealed the boy had autosomal recessive thiamine metabolism dysfunction, syndrome 2, (THMD2) a defect in the mechanism responsible for transporting thiamine from the blood to the brain. But lucky for him, oral supplements of two over-the-counter vitamins, thiamine and biotin, resolved the problem.

THMD2 is extremely rare, occurring in an estimated one-in-a-million babies, according to the institute's medical director, David Dimmock, MD. It's a two base-pair frameshift, which Owen described as like a line of text in which the last two letters of one word are shifted into the next word, "and suddenly all the words don't make sense because the spaces between the words are in the wrong places."

It is likely that because the mutation is homozygous, the child inherited one copy from his mom and one from his dad, who each had the same mutation because they are related, she said.

By 12:13 p.m. Tuesday, vitamin tablets were crushed, added to liquid in appropriate dosage and administered to the infant through a feeding tube. Six hours later, his crying, seizures and irritability had resolved and as of June 14, have not returned. "The baby looked completely different," said Niemi. "It's unbelievable how fast (the vitamins) worked."

Time will tell if the baby, now 9 months old, will have permanent damage from his first 5 weeks of life. Owen acknowledged some signs of delayed development that could resolve in time, though it's too soon to tell. "No baby with this particular disease has been treated this early," she said.

But without this diagnosis, Owen is confident the boy would follow the path of his sister, who had the same seizures and "basically made no developmental progress from 2 months of age to the time of her death."

RCIGM had been working on developing a way to sequence the entire genome faster for 6 years. At commercial labs nationally, standard whole-genome sequencing can take weeks to identify a culprit sequence variant.

'Ultra-Ultra-Rapid' Sequencing

Like several other genetic projects around the globe, the institute has developed faster techniques: a "rapid" method that takes less than a week and an "ultra-rapid" protocol that averages between 30 and 50 hours. Still experimental, however, is this 13.5-hour process, nicknamed "ultra-ultra-rapid" by the team.

Time is of the essence in newborns, and a week or two delay can be fatal. During that time, the clinician has already administered ineffective treatments that may even have caused harm. "There could already be permanent brain damage, and when that happens, it's irreversible," Owen said.

Marc Williams, MD, president of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, who heard about the case on social media, called Rady's latest sequencing speed "transformative," potentially saving many children from conditions such as intellectual disability or cerebral palsy.

For most hospitals today, if a clinician orders a sequence for a child with a suspected abnormality, it would be sent to an outside laboratory and take anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks to get back, and even then, may not give enough specific information.

"One could argue the difference between 50 hours or 30 hours or 13 hours isn't all that big of a deal," he told MedPage Today. But the bigger deal, he said, is now we have "a child who has a chance at a normal outcome, as opposed to either death or severe disability if we did things the way we've always done them."

Asked if there is a kind of race going on among geneticists to see who can beat the clock, Williams said Rady's team keeps trying to beat itself. "They're pushing the limit to show how fast we can do this, in some ways, like a sprinter who sets a world record, but now says I think I can go faster."

The institute now does sequencing for a network of 60 other children's hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. Since last October, it has performed ultra-ultra-rapid sequencing on two other babies and got a diagnosis for one of them, a rare mitochondrial disease. That case is being written up for publication.

Does Rady see itself as the go-to institute for hospitals with patients suspected of having treatable genetic conditions?

Mallory said that becoming a "center of excellence" for whole genome sequencing is one of its aims, especially for NICU babies. But, she said, "rapid sequencing needs to be something that is not led by a single center. It's a huge project, with huge massive data requirements, and really should be pushed forward by a large assortment of institutions, of which Rady is one."

Rady's ultra-ultra-rapid sequencing is still in the research phase. It was funded by numerous federal grants to its president/CEO, Stephen Kingsmore, MBChB, DSc, and did not cost the family.

Currently, the Rady institute's cost is around $10,000 for standard sequencing, although this varies case by case. When it's ready and has received required approvals, the ultra-ultra-rapid will cost much more.

That's why bills were recently introduced in the U.S. Senate and in the California legislature to cover the cost.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), introduced S. 2022, the Ending the Diagnostic Odyssey Act, which would give states the option of providing federal matching funds for whole genome sequencing for Medicaid-eligible children with conditions that are suspected of having a genetic cause.

In California, state Assemblymember Brian Maienschein, whose district includes Rady Children's, has introduced AB 114, the Rare Disease Sequencing for Critically Ill Infants Act, which would improve access to rapid whole genome sequencing for Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

Cheryl Clark has been a medical & science journalist for more than three decades.

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Rapid Genetic Testing May Have Spared This Baby From Death - MedPage Today