Medicine for the treatment of cancer based on a virus destroying tumor cells for the first time successfully passed clinical trials in advanced stage, said U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturer Amgen.

A statement from the company product has achieved the main objective of the Phase III clinical trial in patients with advanced melanoma - the most aggressive type of skin cancer. The results showed that 16% of patients who received treatment had a significant tumor poured lasting six months or more, compared with only 2% of the control group.

A spokesman for the company declined to say whether the company will apply for registration to the FDA on the basis of this study.

It contains the virus Talimogene laherparepvec, genetically modified in a way that causes him to multiply only in rapidly growing cells. The product is injected directly into the tumor, after which the virus enters the cancer cells and causes them to synthesize large amounts of granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor - the hormone that stimulates the maturation of immune cells. When cancerous cells die, they release new amounts of virus and acquired therein colony stimulating factor, which boost the immune system.

The study was conducted in 400 patients, two thirds of whom received injections every two weeks. The rest of the participants received injections only granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor. According to Dr. Anthony Ribas, melanoma specialist at the University of Los Angeles, the study results are positive, but it is uncertain whether sufficient authorization for use.

FDA gave official permission for Lymphoseek (technetium 99, 99Ts) - radiodiagnostik injection intended for the detection of lymph vessels containing cancer cells. The product can be used to track the progress of breast malignancies and melanoma.

Lymph nodes lymphatic filtered liquid from body tissues. When this fluid comes from tissue containing tumor, she has cancer cells. By surgical removal of lymph nodes and study them under a microscope, doctors can determine whether they contain cancer cells if the tumor spreads.

Lymphoseek allows this analysis without removal of lymph nodes. It is the first product for mapping lymph nodes approved in 30 years. Administered through intravenous injection.

The safety and effectiveness of Lymphoseek is established by clinical study involving 332 patients with melanoma or breast cancer. Half of the participants were injected with Lymphoseek, and the other half - with blue dye, localized tumor cells in lymph nodes. Only in the study, surgeons remove lymph nodes of patients and analyze them under a microscope. The results indicate that dye and Lymphoseek found most of the nodes containing malignant cells, and that Lymphoseek found most of the lymph nodes that the dye can not identify.

In normal clinical setting, it is intended to be used without removing the lymph nodes.
 
During the study, the most common side effects are irritation and pain at the injection site.
 
The product is manufactured by Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, USA.

Genetically modified organisms can be defined as organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered intentionally. Technology by which this is achieved is often called recombinant DNA technology, recombinant technology or genetic engineering. This technology allows the transfer of genes from one organism to another, often unrelated - such as insulin and human growth hormone are produced in industrial quantities of yeast - single-celled fungi, which incidentally, is also used in the manufacture of wine, beer, bread, etc. .

Recombinant technology becomes more pervasive in the plant, and hence in refrigerators in each of us. This creates many, absolutely unjustified panic and even hysteria in the community, professionals need to dispel. On the subject, however, to speak and many pseudo experts that only fueled false rumors and myths and incite panic extra.
 
Topic is too broad, so here we only briefly describe the most relevant aspects.

First we point out that genetically modified foods are not mass produced because scientists or even farmers love to experiment with crops, but because they have serious economic benefits. This most often increased resistance to pests, increase yields, reduced need for irrigation and / or fertilization compared to current varieties, or some combination of these qualities. Simply put, the plants are imported genes that give them resistance to pests, herbicides, drought etc.. This increases yields significantly reduces the cost of farmers. In fact, the root cause for the introduction of recombinant technology in plants is notably increasing their resistance to parasites and viral diseases.

Many "experts" speak, often in the media, totally unprepared and totally unaware of the nature of the issue, as repeating ridiculous slogans such as "No mutants in the soup."
 
What many do not realize is that every plant food, used by XIX century, is genetically modified. Plum, for example, is a type that does not exist in nature - it is created by crossing the wild plums and sloes. Melons are types created by polyploidization (technique in biotechnology that will clarify this). The wheat we eat every day in the form of daily bread is not created by nature and man the crossing of wild species.

Many people seem to be afraid of the sound of the word mutant, but it's nothing terrible. It comes from the Latin mutatio, monstrosity does not mean, as many people probably think and change. Mutant mean modified organism, not a freak. In this sense, genetic engineering changes the plants (including those used for food) to make them better - more productive, more stable, etc. Without realizing it, people are engaged in genetic engineering since the dawn of civilization - and cross picking out certain individuals, they received new breeds and varieties in which a certain quality is selectively enhanced - production at chicken or the department of dairy cows crop yield etc. It is to the latter, for example, was established wheat, which is obtained by complex crosses of several plant species. Thus, the person creates something that nature could not create. In essence, the process of creating new plants through cross from the growers do not differ in anything from the analogous process in the laboratory. Nobody refuses melons, watermelons, bread and plum because not exist in nature and man-made "mutants". Why not give the new "genetically modified" foods? In the laboratory, scientists months can achieve results that would have taken decades of growers to be reached. Recombinant technologies also provide a number of completely new features that are unavailable through classical breeding and selection of animals or plants.

For those who are still concerned about the presence of "mutants" on the shelves of supermarkets will clarify that food produced by biotechnology, pass more rigorous tests created a "traditional" - by crossing plants, selecting at high yield, etc. This is not the most appropriate solution because the two slightly different techniques and is much more likely with "traditional" method to create dangerous foods to be noticed than those to be created by means of biotechnological and reach supermarkets. Also, any kind of new biotech pass rigorous tests for toxicity, allergenicity, nutritional changes due to mutation, unforeseen health effects due to mutation and others.

Some will point out this time somewhat appropriate that they can be obtained changes that make some people allergic to one food or another. It really is. But not all the new foods are tested for allergenicity? He is allergic to them, just not to consume them as people who are allergic to strawberries, do not eat them. The fact that some people are allergic to strawberries does not mean that strawberries should be banned for everyone. The same goes for GM foods.

Researchers in Japan have produced 26 successful generations of cloned mice from a single individual. That's a total of 598 mice, all of whom are essentially genetic duplicates. The achievement was made possible by a new cloning technique that allowed researchers to overcome genetic degradation problems characteristic of generational re-cloning. The breakthrough shows that mammalian cloning lines can be extended and reproduced without limit.

Indeed, animal re-cloning (i.e. cloning a clone) works great, but up to a point. Eventually, over the course of several generations, a clonal line will ultimately fail, the result of accumulated lethal genetic and epigenetic abnormalities. But the Japanese researchers devised a crafty biohack that appears to remedy this problem.

The new technique, developed by Teruhiko Wakayama of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, was so successful that it resulted in well over two dozen generations of re-cloned mice. Moreover, the cloning efficiency did not decrease over the course of those generations, and the project was allowed to continue indefinitely (and in fact, the project is still going!). In all, nearly 600 viable offspring were produced from a single donor mouse. The experiment started seven years ago and it is considered the largest cloning project using a mammal to date.

Wakayama and his team achieved this by using the standard cloning technique, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and adding a histone deacetylase inhibitor (trichostatin), and other chemicals to the process.

In SCNT, the nucleus of a somatic cell is transferred to the cytoplasm of an egg that has had its nucleus removed (an enucleated egg). Once inside the egg, the somatic nucleus is reprogrammed to become a zygote nucleus, what is really a fertilized egg.

But as noted, this can’t be done indefinitely, as genetic problems start to creep in over successive generations. But adding the HDI to the mix seemed to do the trick. It's a class of compounds that interfere with the function of histone deacetylase, a class of enzymes that allow histones (proteins that package and order the DNA into nucleosomes) to wrap DNA more tightly. They can also be used to alter gene expression.

According to the researchers, the cloned mice had normal biological features, including regular lifespans and reproductive capabilities. That said, genetic analysis did show some minor abnormalities, including an oversized placenta. But none of these characteristics had a detrimental impact on the line’s clonal health. The researchers noted that “serially recloned mice have the same characteristics as standard clones.”

Their results show that repeated iterative re-cloning is possible. The researchers wrote that “with adequately efficient techniques, it may be possible to re-clone animals indefinitely.”

Once refined, the technique could result in the large-scale production of cloned animals for farming or conservation purposes. Moreover, animals can continue to be cloned long after the source individual has died.

For the first time scientists have deciphered the DNA of flat worms, which may reveal new therapeutic targets for future drugs. The genome is a new resource and the path to faster development of new drugs are urgently needed - flat worms cause two of the seventeen "neglected" tropical diseases listed by the World Health Organization - echinococcosis and cysticercosis.

The research team determined the DNA sequence of the four types of tapeworms to better study the biology and genetics of intestinal parasites. In most species, adults cause few complaints while in the intestines. The larvae, however, can cause serious medical complications in moving their body. They form cysts in the bodies of humans and animals, which can lead to complications such as blindness or epilepsy.

According to Dr. Matthew Beriman of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, parasitosis of flat worms are widespread. Their global burden is comparable to that of multiple sclerosis and melanoma.

Typically, the researchers analyzed the DNA of pathogens and compare it with that of man, and thus identify potential targets for future drugs. In this study, however, researchers are mainly interested in the similarities in the DNA of human intestinal parasites. This is because unlike most pathogens such as bacteria and viruses, flat worms are eukaryotic organisms like humans. Flatworms much more like a human structure and physiology of any bacteria or virus.

Furthermore, by analyzing the similarities between the genomes, researchers discovered which of already existing drugs might be effective against parasites. This can save hundreds of decades of work and millions of dollars in investments.

It turns out that some tapeworms are sensitive to the drugs currently used to treat cancer. Another potential solution is cholesterol lowering medication. In the course of evolution, flat worms have lost the ability to synthesize their own cholesterol, which obtain at the expense of the host. Promising target for new drugs are proteins, through which the larvae absorb cholesterol from the intestine. If the function of these proteins has been crossed, the larvae will stop development and will die.

Studies of "drug" are still in a very early stage and tests are performed only on mice.

Soon fans will be able to cup sober just one pill. Researchers made ​​a cocktail of alcohol metabolizing enzymes rapidly reduce the level of alcohol in the blood while drunk mouse forward "Daily Mail". 

"Treatment", which compares with having millions of liver cells in your stomach, you may have a lasting impact on fans of spirits. Yangfeng Lou - professor of chemistry and biomolecular engineering, and Cheng Zhi - Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Southern California, injected mice with drunk nanocapsule containing two enzymes. One of the enzymes - oxidase comes as a by-product of hydrogen peroxide, which can be harmful. That's why he has to work with another enzyme to break down hydrogen peroxide. The study shows that drunken mice that were injected with these nanocapsule, sobered much faster than those who did not receive enzyme "treatment". The breakthrough is still in a very early stage and can not speak for its application in humans.

But expert Lou argues that experience can lead to the invention of a new drug to act as an antidote to alcohol. He states that "drug" can be taken as a simple pill. "It's like you have millions of liver cells in your stomach that help you revise alcohol," said Professor Lu.

According to a report published in the Annals of Oncology, women with Herr-2 positive breast cancer who received trastuzumab as adjuvant therapy are at significantly increased risk of metastases in the central nervous system as a first recurrence of the tumor.

According to Dr. Erin Olson, a neurologist at Ohio State University and author of the study, trastuzumab significantly reduced the risk of recurrence, but clinicians should be aware that it increases the risk of them occur in the nervous system. Physicians should carefully monitor patients for neurologic symptoms.

It is suggested that the nervous system is the "refuge" for micro metastatic tumors because trastuzumab does not cross the blood-brain barrier or because tumor cells that do not overexpress Herr-2 receptor migrate more easily into the brain.

In previous studies, Dr. Olson and her team showed that anti Herr-2 targeted therapies increase the frequency of brain metastases. This spurred her to investigate the relationship between brain metastases and trastuzumab. The team analyzed four Phase III clinical trials with a total of 9,020 participants.

Since 4921 women receiving trastuzumab, 125 relapse in the breast (incidence of 2.56%). Of 4099 women who received trastuzumab, 78 relapse of the tumor in the brain (1.94%). In patients treated with trastuzumab treatment brain metastases / total metastases is 16.94 / 100, while those treated with other adjuvant is 8.33 / 100.

Dr. Svetla Bogdanova, a specialist neurologist. He graduated in medicine in 1985 at the Medical University of Pleven, Bulgaria. In 1990 acquired specialty of neurology at the Medical University - Sofia, Bulgaria.

Passed courses and specializations in "Thermal burns" to MHATEM "Pirogov", "General EEG" at the Medical University - Sofia neurophysiology, "Doppler Neurosonology" at the Medical University - Sofia "Health Management" at the Medical University - Plovdiv. She has worked as head of the Regional Coordination Headquarters - Center for Emergency Medical Care, Sofia. He is currently a neurologist at Military Medical Academy and Medical Manager of Tissue stem cell bank "Biohelenika."

Really stem cells gives rise to the human body?

For the last 4-5 years in many international forums symposia and publications advocates topic of stem cells. Detailing their meaning and application. Each organ is composed of cells, such as liver is composed of hepatocytes, neurons of the brain, bone osteocytes, blood leukocytes and erythrocytes from lung pulmotsin etc. All these cells are highly specialized and differentiated function they perform. Stem cells are precisely those that develop in the earliest stages of embryonic development and have assigned a function to be performed. This is what is valuable. They have the original genetic material of an individual, not differentiated, ie the future is ahead of them and can be converted (transformed) into specialized cells of various organs. The most important thing about stem cells is that they are born the youngest cells, unaffected by external factors and aging. This is unique.

Is proven and diseases which are used?

Bone marrow transplantation was first performed in 1968 Bone marrow cells are used to treat patients diagnosed with leukemia, aplastic anemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, immune disorders, cancer. We know how is hard to find a suitable donor, how long to wait and how costly it. The decision to proceed with private banking (storage) of stem cells, so is the business organization and authorization of Biohelenika - stem cell bank, of which I am medical director. Modern medicine has come to the conclusion that everyone is good to have available their own stem cells.

Since 1988, stem cells from umbilical cord was successfully applied to replace the bone marrow. Stem cell transplants allow treatment of many serious diseases. This type of therapy have proven their undeniable advantage in the treatment of blood cancers - leukemia and lymphoma, is increasing. 107.3 to 100 thousand in 2005

We want it or not, teeth wear out with age comes a time when you need to replace them with artificial ones. But now there may be an alternative to artificial prostheses - and it is real teeth, "grown" in a lab and created by human cells wreath.
 
Studies were conducted with mouse stem cells are derived from embryos and specially selected so as to be able to produce growth in other cells to grow out of their teeth. So the combination of murine stem cells and human gingival cells in the laboratory has produced a real tooth - shaped with enamel and roots. The roots were fully alive, suggesting that transplanted into human mouth, most likely belonged to the bone.
 
The results of this discovery may mean turning point in the treatment of periodontal disease and produce new teeth in people who for some reason have lost their. Of course, the stem cells in the formation of teeth, suitable for implantation in humans must be human rather than mouse and extracting stem cells from human embryos for scientific purposes is not perceived as ethical. Scientists argue that stem cells can be easily extracted from the pulp of human wisdom as to produce the same effect.

Nanoparticles carrying substance in bee venom can successfully stop the spread of HIV

Chemicals found in bee venom can stop the spread of HIV.

U.S. researchers found that nanoparticles carrying substance in bee venom can successfully stop the spread of HIV, which causes AIDS, said the "Daily Mail".

Toxins from the sting of these insects attack only successful virulent organisms, leaving surrounding cells intact.

The active substance in bee venom, destroying the human immunodeficiency virus, called melitin. It pierced the outer protective shell of the virus and kill it.

The study was led by Dr. Joshua Hood the medicine at Washington University.

He directed the team's efforts in the development of vaginal gel nanoparticles to eliminate the infection still in its infancy.

Until now most familiar to medical drugs only slow the progress of the virus, while the venom he successfully attacked and eradicated.

Even more significantly, in the words of Dr. Hood, HIV can not adapt and counter melitina.

"Our hope is that in places where HIV is widespread, people can use the gel as a precaution to prevent any infection," said study authors.