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The move from reading to writing the human genome offers new opportunities to improve human health. The United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) Somatic Cell Genome Editing (SCGE) Consortium aims to accelerate the development of safer and more-effective methods to edit the genomes of disease-relevant somatic cells in patients, even in tissues that are difficult to reach. Here we discuss the consortium's plans to develop and benchmark approaches to induce and measure genome modifications, and to define downstream functional consequences of genome editing within human cells. Central to this effort is a rigorous and innovative approach that requires validation of the technology through third-party testing in small and large animals. New genome editors, delivery technologies and methods for tracking edited cells in vivo, as well as newly developed animal models and human biological systems, will be assembled-along with validated datasets-into an SCGE Toolkit, which will be disseminated widely to the biomedical research community. We visualize this toolkit-and the knowledge generated by its applications-as a means to accelerate the clinical development of new therapies for a wide range of conditions.

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Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the predominant cause of dementia on a global scale, significantly impacting the health of the elderly population. The pathogenesis of AD is closely linked to neuroinflammation. The present study employs a bibliometric analysis to examine research pertaining to neuroinflammation and AD within the last decade, with the objective of providing a comprehensive overview of the current research profile, hotspots and trends. Methods: This research conducted a comprehensive review of publications within the Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science Core Collection Database spanning the years 2014 to 2024. Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer (version 1.6.19) and CiteSpace (version 6.3.R1) software to visualize data on countries, institutions, authors, journals, keywords, and references. Results: A total of 3,833 publications on neuroinflammation and AD were included from January 2014 to January 2024. Publications were mainly from the United States and China. Zetterberg, Henrik emerged as the author with the highest publication output, while Edison, Paul was identified as the most cited author. The most productive journal was Journal of Alzheimers Disease, and the most co-cited was Journal of Neuroinflammation. Research hotspot focused on microglia, mouse models, oxidative stress, and amyloid-beta through keyword analysis. Additionally, keywords such as blood-brain barrier and tau protein exhibited prolonged citation bursts from 2022 to 2024. Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive review of the last 10 years of research on neuroinflammation and AD, including the number and impact of research findings, research hotspots, and future trends. The quantity of publications in this field is increasing, mainly in the United States and China, and there is a need to further strengthen close cooperation with different countries and institutions worldwide. Presently, research hotspots are primarily concentrated on microglia, with a focus on inhibiting their pro-inflammatory responses and promoting their anti-inflammatory functions as a potential direction for future investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some existing confidence interval methods and hypothesis testing methods in the analysis of a contingency table with incomplete observations in both margins entirely depend on an underlying assumption that the sampling distribution of the observed counts is a product of independent multinomial/binomial distributions for complete and incomplete counts. However, it can be shown that this independency assumption is incorrect and can result in unreliable conclusions because of the under-estimation of the uncertainty. Therefore, the first objective of this paper is to derive the valid joint sampling distribution of the observed counts in a contingency table with incomplete observations in both margins. The second objective is to provide a new framework for analyzing incomplete contingency tables based on the derived joint sampling distribution of the observed counts by developing a Fisher scoring algorithm to calculate maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of interest, the bootstrap confidence interval methods, and the bootstrap testing hypothesis methods. We compare the differences between the valid sampling distribution and the sampling distribution under the independency assumption. Simulation studies showed that average/expected confidence-interval widths of parameters based on the sampling distribution under the independency assumption are shorter than those based on the new sampling distribution, yielding unrealistic results. A real data set is analyzed to illustrate the application of the new sampling distribution for incomplete contingency tables and the analysis results again confirm the conclusions obtained from the simulation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers news briefs on biotechnology. The U.S. will be repositioned as a major partner in science and technology research which is considered by Caroline Wagner of Pennsylvania State University as a major shift in the landscape of global research. Systems biology aims to realize a virtual cell system in the computer which allows quantitative and accurate predictions of the effects of changes in culture environment. The development of bioenergy or renewable energy to displace fossil fuels in China is acknowledged.

Urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract represents only 5% of all urothelial cancers. The 5-year cancer-specific survival in the United States is roughly 75% with grade and stage being the most powerful predictors of survival. Nephroureterectomy with excision of the ipsilateral ureteral orifice and bladder cuff en bloc remains the gold standard treatment of the upper urinary tract urothelial cancers, while endoscopic and laparoscopic approaches are rapidly evolving as reasonable alternatives of care depending on grade and stage of disease. Several controversies remain in their management, including a selection of endoscopic versus laparoscopic approaches, management strategies on the distal ureter, the role of lymphadenectomy, and the value of chemotherapy in upper tract disease. Aims of this paper are to critically review the management of such tumors, including endoscopic management, laparoscopic nephroureterectomy and management of the distal ureter, the role of lymphadenectomy, and the emerging role of chemotherapy in their treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has now been 100 years since Dorothy Reed, at the age of 28, wrote her paper on Hodgkin’s disease. Her biography reveals the difficult lives of women entering the hitherto male-dominated field of medicine, let alone medical research. Her historic paper on Hodgkin’s disease is remarkable for its brilliant observations and concise scientific reasoning. Nevertheless, she was told that as a woman she could not hope for a career as an academic pathologist. After marriage to Charles Elwood Mendenhall, Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin and after giving birth to four children, the second part of her career began. Motivated by the loss of her firstborn, she began a study of infant mortality, an interest that lasted throughout her career. In 1926, Mendenhall undertook a survey comparing infant and maternal mortality rates in Denmark and the United States. This influential study concluded that American mortality rates were higher because of unnecessary interference in the natural process of childbirth and recommended the education of midwives follow the Danish model. In 1937, her efforts were rewarded when Madison, WI received recognition for having the lowest infant mortality of any city in the United States. Reading Reed’s paper on Hodgkin’s disease, we see that her observations go far beyond a description of a specific cell. Her presentation of macroscopic and microscopic features is remarkable for the distinction between “young” and “old” growths: Reed saw Hodgkin’s disease as a process, rather than the spreading of a cancer. She was the first to note that those most commonly affected are boys or young adults, especially those whose general health before the disease had been excellent. She was also the first to note anergy to tuberculin. Dorothy Reed defined Hodgkin’s disease in relation to tuberculosis, described its pathologic features, and offered comments on its pathogenesis, epidemiology, and immunology that still deserve to be discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Editorial. Focuses on contributions made by researcher Philip J. Fialkow, who died in November 1996, in the field of leukemia research. Educational background of Fialkow; Awards and honors bestowed upon Fialkow; Contribution of Fialkow towards understanding of chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Two research papers, one from a group led by Dr. Haifan Lin of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA and another from two laboratories led by Drs. Yihong Ye of National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA, and Ting Zhang of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China, respectively, won the 2017 Ming K. Jeang Award for Excellence in Cell & Bioscience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An algal bloom caused by the dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea was observed in October–November 2009 along the central Oregon coast (44.6°N), off Newport, Oregon, U.S.A. In this paper, the conditions are described which led to the development and demise of this bloom. The bloom was observed for 1 month from 5-October until 4-November with the peak of abundance on 19-October (347,615cellsL−1). The A. sanguinea bloom followed September blooms of the diatoms Pseudo-nitzschia spp, Chaetoceros debilis, and the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum gracile. The bloom occurred when nitrate and silicate concentrations were <2μM and <8μM, respectively, and when the water column was stratified. This A. sanguinea dinoflagellate bloom event was closely related to the anomalous upwelling conditions in 2009: upwelling ceased early, at the end of August, whereas a normal upwelling continues into early October. This relaxation extended to near the end of September as a prolonged downwelling event, but then active upwelling reappeared in October and November. The explanation for the occurrence of the A. sanguinea bloom in October may be related to a combination of a prior diatom bloom, a stratified water column with low nutrient concentration in September, and an active upwelling event in October. As for the ultimate source of the cells, the hypothesis is that the seed stock for the A sanguinea bloom off Oregon was southward transport of cells from the Washington coast where a massive bloom of A. sanguinea was first observed in September 2009. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article informs that Aaron Levine, a Princeton University doctoral student in science and public policy, compared the number of human embryonic stem cell, related publications since such cells were first derived in 1998 with numbers of papers appearing in five other hot fields of biotech during the 6 years following their introduction. The U.S. combined percentages of papers in the other five fields, including DNA microarrays and RNA interference, were consistently higher, going from 74% in the first year to 51% in the sixth. Levine offers some possible explanations, including that more research may be conducted in the U.S. private sector, where there is "less incentive to publish."

Rationale: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a genetically heterogeneous, recessive disorder of motile cilia, is associated with distinct clinical features. Diagnostic tests, including ultrastructural analysis of cilia, nasal nitric oxide measurements, and molecular testing for mutations in PCD genes, have inherent limitations.Objectives: To define a statistically valid combination of systematically defined clinical features that strongly associates with PCD in children and adolescents.Methods: Investigators at seven North American sites in the Genetic Disorders of Mucociliary Clearance Consortium prospectively and systematically assessed individuals (aged 0-18 yr) referred due to high suspicion for PCD. The investigators defined specific clinical questions for the clinical report form based on expert opinion. Diagnostic testing was performed using standardized protocols and included nasal nitric oxide measurement, ciliary biopsy for ultrastructural analysis of cilia, and molecular genetic testing for PCD-associated genes. Final diagnoses were assigned as "definite PCD" (hallmark ultrastructural defects and/or two mutations in a PCD-associated gene), "probable/possible PCD" (no ultrastructural defect or genetic diagnosis, but compatible clinical features and nasal nitric oxide level in PCD range), and "other diagnosis or undefined." Criteria were developed to define early childhood clinical features on the basis of responses to multiple specific queries. Each defined feature was tested by logistic regression. Sensitivity and specificity analyses were conducted to define the most robust set of clinical features associated with PCD.Measurements and Main Results: From 534 participants 18 years of age and younger, 205 were identified as having "definite PCD" (including 164 with two mutations in a PCD-associated gene), 187 were categorized as "other diagnosis or undefined," and 142 were defined as having "probable/possible PCD." Participants with "definite PCD" were compared with the "other diagnosis or undefined" group. Four criteria-defined clinical features were statistically predictive of PCD: laterality defect; unexplained neonatal respiratory distress; early-onset, year-round nasal congestion; and early-onset, year-round wet cough (adjusted odds ratios of 7.7, 6.6, 3.4, and 3.1, respectively). The sensitivity and specificity based on the number of criteria-defined clinical features were four features, 0.21 and 0.99, respectively; three features, 0.50 and 0.96, respectively; and two features, 0.80 and 0.72, respectively.Conclusions: Systematically defined early clinical features could help identify children, including infants, likely to have PCD. Clinical trial registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00323167). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the successful transformation of adult human skin cells into embryonic stem cells (ESCs) made by two research groups in Japan and the U.S. It says that the new cells, called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, were generated by using a retrovirus to activate specific transcription genes in the skin cells. James Thomson, senior author of the U.S. study, claims that their paper shows a method to make cells essentially identical to embryonic stem cells.

The article discusses on various medical researches in the U.S. A computational design procedure on electrostatic binding contributions has been introduced. Distinct populations of cancer stem cells determine growth and metastatic activity in human pancreatic cancer. Parallel artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA) used for predictions of absorption.

Bacteria from the genus Polaromonas are dominant phylotypes in clone libraries and culture collections from polar and high-elevation environments. Although Polaromonas has been found on six continents, we do not know if the same phylotypes exist in all locations or if they exhibit genetic isolation by distance patterns. To examine their biogeographic distribution, we analyzed all available, long-read 16S rRNA gene sequences of Polaromonas phylotypes from glacial and periglacial environments across the globe. Using genetic isolation by geographic distance analyses, including Mantel tests and Mantel correlograms, we found that Polaromonas phylotypes are globally distributed showing weak isolation by distance patterns at global scales. More focused analyses using discrete, equally sampled distances classes, revealed that only two distance classes (out of 12 total) showed significant spatial structuring. Overall, our analyses show that most Polaromonas phylotypes are truly globally distributed, but that some, as yet unknown, environmental variable may be selecting for unique phylotypes at a minority of our global sites. Analyses of aerobiological and genomic data suggest that Polaromonas phylotypes are globally distributed as dormant cells through high-elevation air currents; Polaromonas phylotypes are common in air and snow samples from high altitudes, and a glacial-ice metagenome and the two sequenced Polaromonas genomes contain the gene hipA, suggesting that Polaromonas can form dormant cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents excerpts of articles related to life sciences research in the United States. Perpetuation of left-handedness; Findings of researchers on the influence of severe emotional distress on the fast ageing of the body's cells; Challenges of the condor recovery program.

The article reports on how the Mitosis and Cell Processes module worked in a seventh-grade classroom in an urban school in the U.S. According to the authors, the module has been designed through Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE). It cites that the module is also designed to assist middle school students gain an integrated understanding of mitosis. It reveals that the students should have some experience observing living cells under a microscope prior to the Mitosis and Cell Process module. Moreover, it is noted that the module has featured interactive visualizations to illustrate how the mitotic process works.

Abstract??Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonaeis the myxozoan parasite responsible for proliferative kidney disease (PKD) of salmonid fishes. This disease affects farmed species in North America and Western Europe where it results in significant economic losses for the rainbow trout industry. The parasite has two hosts in its life cycle, salmonid fish, and freshwater bryozoans. In this study, we describe the development of the parasite at the ultrastructural level within the bryozoan hostFredericella sultana. Single celled, presaccular stages form aggregates within the metacoel of this host which resolve into spore sacs. Within these sacs sporogenesis is initiated with the differentiation of presporogonic cells into sporogonic and valvogenic cells. These latter cells surround a sporogonic cell which subsequently divides to form a sporoplasmogenic cell and a capsulogenic cell. The capsulogenic cell divides further to form four cells each with a polar capsule, while the sporoplasmogenic cell divides resulting in four cells, two primary cells and two secondary cells. The secondary cells are engulfed by the primary cells resulting in a mature sporoplasm. It is hypothesized that autogamy occurs during the initial formation of the spore sac and that allogamy is also possible during this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article sheds light on various accomplishments and future perspectives in tissue engineering. A team of researchers in Switzerland, Germany and the U.S. have succeeded in engineering a living heart valve that resembles normal valves in both microstructure and mechanical properties. Engineering efficient structures is not and involves the contribution of researchers from other fields, such as material science and chemistry. A supporting matrix has to sustain and guide the growth of cells, and should provide all of the signals that are needed for cell growth, differentiation and cell interaction. Another important challenge for biologists is the selection of appropriate cells, and the conditions for their isolation, purification and cultivation.

The article offers information on the research living cells grown in tube. A research was conducted at the National Institutes of Health in the United States, of devising an artificial circulatory network that allows them to grow living animal cells in the laboratory to density that resembles natural body tissue. Scientists involved to the research include Richard A. Knazek, Peter O. Kohler, and William R. Kidwell. With the research many types of human and animal cells can be grown in the test tube.

The North America Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) reports Daily Maximum Atmospheric Surface Air Temperatures (2 meters above ground level) for the entire contiguous United States for years 1979 to 2010. This contiguous area is completely divided into 52,314 cells of 14 km x 14 km and the daily maximum temperature at the centroid of each cell is computed by algorithm from the surface measurements of maximal air temperatures. The annual average of these more than 19 million daily maxima represents the average maximum temperature value for the entire contiguous U.S. in that year. A plot of these 32 annual average maximum temperatures shows that this measure of temperature is increasing with time according to the relation that average Tmaximum °F = (0.0555°F/year) Year - 48.26°F. Thus in the 32 years of record, 1979-2010, the U.S. average maximum daily temperature has increased by approximately 1.8°F or 1°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research study on a new imaging technique for qualitatively measuring cell mass with light. It references a study of University of Illinois researchers that was published in "Proceedings of the National Academy of Science" on spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) method that used two beams in measuring cell mass with femtogram accuracy. Findings indicated the application of SLIM in the observation of growth variations in cancer cells and normal cells.

The article focuses on the research on different combinations of chemical modifications that affect the expression of almost 12,500 genes in CD4+T cells conducted by Keji Zhao of the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and his colleagues. It states that section of its DNA that a cell expresses lies in part on chemical modifications to the histone proteins around which DNA is wound. The authors discovered that a set of 17 chemical modifications is associated with a quarter of all promoters in human immune cells. However, acetylation does not directly determine whether a gene is "read," as had been surmised, but appears to prime the gene for activation.