Chemotherapy breakthrough could could dramatically reduce side-effects
September 11, 2011 No Comment
Scientists have developed ‘smart-bomb chemotherapy’ which can isolate and destroy tumours without damaging healthy cells Cancer researchers have developed a “smart bomb” treatment that can target tumours with drugs while leaving healthy body cells intact. The technique means that patients will suffer fewer side-effects from the toxic drugs used in chemotherapy. The side-effects of cancer therapy – including hair loss, nausea and suppression of the immune system – can be debilitating. In many cases, the effects of the drugs can contribute to the ultimate cause of death. In experiments on mice, Laurence Patterson of the University of Bradford found that he could localise a cancer drug to the site of tumours and thereby limit its toxic impact in the body. All the animals, which had been implanted with human cancer cells responded to the targeted treatment and saw their tumours shrink. In half the animals, the tumours disappeared altogether. Professor Patterson will present his work at the British Science Festival in Bradford on Monday. “We’ve got a sort of smart bomb that will only be active in the tumour and will not cause damage to normal tissue,” he said. “It’s a new cancer treatment that could be effective against pretty much all types of tumour – we’ve looked at colon, prostate, breast, lung and sarcoma so far, and all have responded very well to this treatment.” The drug is based on a modified version of an existing cancer drug called coltrazine. In normal situations, this drug is delivered as part of a patient’s chemotherapy regime and, in addition to attacking cancer cells, it can kill healthy cells, too. “There are many agents currently used in the clinic for the treatment of cancer that are essentially poisons,” said Patterson. “Normal chemotherapy can often be the cause of death of the patient as opposed to dying from the tumour growth itself. Any treatment that is a poison that can be retained and is only active in the tumour is clearly very attractive.” Patterson’s team has designed a way to make the coltrazine active only when it comes into contact with a tumour. They did this by attaching a string of specific amino acids to the coltrazine, which made the drug inert. In this state, it can wander through the body freely and will not kill any cells it comes into contact with. But when the drug reaches the site of a solid tumour, the chain of amino acids is removed by an enzyme present on the surface of the cancer, called MMP-1. At this point, the coltrazine becomes active and can do its work in killing nearby cells. MMP1 is used by tumours to break down the cellular environment around itself and to enable the tumour to dig a path through normal tissue. It also gives the tumour access to nutrients and oxygen by encouraging the normal blood supply of a person to grow towards it. “If you can starve that tumour of that blood supply, then you shut off its ability to grow and move around the body,” said Patterson. In the experiments, he said, all the mice responded to the treatment. “Sometimes, the treatment is so effective, you remove the ability of that tumour to grow – you appear to cure the mouse. In some studies, we were able to cure half the mice: these animals no longer had any tumour growing in them and they appeared healthy for the 60 or so days of the trial.” An important use of the technique is that it can reach tumours that have spread throughout the body. Paul Workman, head of cancer therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research, said: “This is an interesting new approach to targeting tumour blood vessels that solid cancers need for their growth. The project is still at quite an early stage, but the results so far look promising in the laboratory models that have been studied. If confirmed in more extensive laboratory studies, drugs based on this approach could be very useful as part of combination treatments for various cancers.” The Bradford scientists hope that, with adequate funding, their drug delivery system could enter phase 1 clinical trials on people within 18 months. Cancer Medical research Cancer Health Alok Jha guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Vickers report: banks get until 2019 to ringfence high street operations
September 11, 2011 No Comment
• ICB stops short of recommendation for full break-up • Osborne promises legislation in this parliament • Up to £2tn of assets could be behind firewall • Barlays and RBS likely to be most affected Britain’s biggest banks are to be given until 2019 – longer than had been expected – to implement radical reform of their operations to prevent another taxpayer bailout of the system. The Independent Commission on Banking – issuing its report almost three years to the day after the collapse of Lehman Brothers which led to the major 2008 bank bailouts – said that banks should ringfence their high street banking businesses from their “casino” investment banking arms. The much anticipated final report by Sir John Vickers admitted its proposed reforms would cost between £4bn and £7bn but were more practical and less expensive than the full-scale separation of the kind that business secretary Vince Cable had called for in opposition. The ICB conceded that its reforms were “deliberately composed of moderate elements” but insisted “the reform package is far-reaching”. It said: “Together with other reforms in train, it would put the UK banking system of 2019 on an altogether different basis from that of 2007. In many respects, however, it would be restorative of what went before in the recent past – better-capitalised, less leveraged banking more focused on the needs of savers and borrowers in the domestic economy. Banks are at the heart of the financial system and hence of the market economy. The opportunity must be seized to establish a much more secure foundation for the UK banking system of the future”. George Osborne welcomed the report and said: “The government will now get on with implementing the report.” He promised legislation would be passed before the end of this parliament – but would give banks the time frame recommended by Vickers. The chancellor is to address parliament on Monday afternoon. Up to £2tn of assets could end up inside the fire wall – including all domestic high street banking services – as the ICB said that the aggregate balance sheets of the UK’s banks was over £6tn and that between one sixth and one third of these should be protected from investment banking operations. While the ICB makes it clear that it does not believe that the current crisis in the eurozone should delay the reforms, it also sets a deadline of 2019 for implementation of the changes to coincide with the international capital rule changes being introduced by regulators in Basel, Switzerland. “Postponement of reform would be a mistake, as would fail to provide certainty about its path. However, it is important that the current economic situation be taken into account in the timetable for implementation of reform. The Commission’s view is that setting 2019 as the final deadline for full implementation provides ample time to minimise any transition risks.” The ringfencing is expected to have the biggest implications for Barclays and the bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland. But the ICB provided some relief for bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group by back-tracking on an idea that it be forced to sell off an extra tranche of branches in addition to the 632 currently up for sale to meet EU demands on state aid. However, it said that the high street banking businesses – dominated by Lloyds since the rescue of HBOS in September 2008 – should be referred for a full competition investigation in 2015. Lloyds, which had lobbied hard against the proposal, said on Monday it is “currently assessing the full implications”. The British Bankers’ Association said: “UK banks are well on the way to implementing the sweeping reforms already brought in and expected to be brought in by UK, EU and global authorities to make banks and the system safer and to ensure that banks can fail in the future with savers and taxpayers protected and the supply of finance to the economy maintained. The ICB’s recommendations cover the same important issues. Any further reform measures adopted by the UK authorities need to be carefully analysed and compared with those agreed internationally. It is vital that the full impact any further reforms will have on the economy, the recovery and banks’ ability to support their customers in the UK is understood.” Banking reform Banking Financial sector Barclays Royal Bank of Scotland Lloyds Banking Group George Osborne Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Vickers report: banks get until 2019 to ringfence high street operations
September 11, 2011 No Comment
• ICB stops short of recommendation for full break-up • Osborne promises legislation in this parliament • Up to £2tn of assets could be behind firewall • Barlays and RBS likely to be most affected Britain’s biggest banks are to be given until 2019 – longer than had been expected – to implement radical reform of their operations to prevent another taxpayer bailout of the system. The Independent Commission on Banking – issuing its report almost three years to the day after the collapse of Lehman Brothers which led to the major 2008 bank bailouts – said that banks should ringfence their high street banking businesses from their “casino” investment banking arms. The much anticipated final report by Sir John Vickers admitted its proposed reforms would cost between £4bn and £7bn but were more practical and less expensive than the full-scale separation of the kind that business secretary Vince Cable had called for in opposition. The ICB conceded that its reforms were “deliberately composed of moderate elements” but insisted “the reform package is far-reaching”. It said: “Together with other reforms in train, it would put the UK banking system of 2019 on an altogether different basis from that of 2007. In many respects, however, it would be restorative of what went before in the recent past – better-capitalised, less leveraged banking more focused on the needs of savers and borrowers in the domestic economy. Banks are at the heart of the financial system and hence of the market economy. The opportunity must be seized to establish a much more secure foundation for the UK banking system of the future”. George Osborne welcomed the report and said: “The government will now get on with implementing the report.” He promised legislation would be passed before the end of this parliament – but would give banks the time frame recommended by Vickers. The chancellor is to address parliament on Monday afternoon. Up to £2tn of assets could end up inside the fire wall – including all domestic high street banking services – as the ICB said that the aggregate balance sheets of the UK’s banks was over £6tn and that between one sixth and one third of these should be protected from investment banking operations. While the ICB makes it clear that it does not believe that the current crisis in the eurozone should delay the reforms, it also sets a deadline of 2019 for implementation of the changes to coincide with the international capital rule changes being introduced by regulators in Basel, Switzerland. “Postponement of reform would be a mistake, as would fail to provide certainty about its path. However, it is important that the current economic situation be taken into account in the timetable for implementation of reform. The Commission’s view is that setting 2019 as the final deadline for full implementation provides ample time to minimise any transition risks.” The ringfencing is expected to have the biggest implications for Barclays and the bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland. But the ICB provided some relief for bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group by back-tracking on an idea that it be forced to sell off an extra tranche of branches in addition to the 632 currently up for sale to meet EU demands on state aid. However, it said that the high street banking businesses – dominated by Lloyds since the rescue of HBOS in September 2008 – should be referred for a full competition investigation in 2015. Lloyds, which had lobbied hard against the proposal, said on Monday it is “currently assessing the full implications”. The British Bankers’ Association said: “UK banks are well on the way to implementing the sweeping reforms already brought in and expected to be brought in by UK, EU and global authorities to make banks and the system safer and to ensure that banks can fail in the future with savers and taxpayers protected and the supply of finance to the economy maintained. The ICB’s recommendations cover the same important issues. Any further reform measures adopted by the UK authorities need to be carefully analysed and compared with those agreed internationally. It is vital that the full impact any further reforms will have on the economy, the recovery and banks’ ability to support their customers in the UK is understood.” Banking reform Banking Financial sector Barclays Royal Bank of Scotland Lloyds Banking Group George Osborne Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
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Scientists hope cloning technique that produced genetically modified cats will aid human and feline medical research It is a rite of passage for any sufficiently advanced genetically modified animal: at some point scientists will insert a gene that makes you glow green. The latest addition to this ever-growing list – which includes fruit flies, mice, rabbits and pigs – is the domestic cat. US researcher Eric Poeschla has produced three glowing GM cats by using a virus to carry a gene, called green fluorescent protein (GFP), into the eggs from which the animals eventually grew. This method of genetic modification is simpler and more efficient than traditional cloning techniques, and results in fewer animals being needed in the process. The GFP gene, which has its origins in jellyfish, expresses proteins that fluoresce when illuminated with certain frequencies of light. Poeschla, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, reported his results in the journal Nature Methods. This function is regularly used by scientists to monitor the activity of individual genes or cells in a wide variety of animals. The development and refinement of the GFP technique earned its scientific pioneers the Nobel prize for chemistry in 2008. In the case of the glowing cats, the scientists hope to use the GM animals in the study of HIV/Aids. “Cats are susceptible to feline immunodeficiency virus [FIV], a close relative of HIV, the cause of Aids,” said professors Helen Sang and Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, where scientists cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996. “The application of the new technology suggested in this paper is to develop the use of genetically-modified cats for the study of FIV, providing valuable information for the study of Aids. “This is potentially valuable but the uses of genetically modified cats as models for human diseases are likely to be limited and only justified if other models – for example in more commonly used laboratory animals, like mice and rats – are not suitable.” Dr Robin Lovell-Badge, head of developmental genetics at the Medical Research Council’s national institute for medical research, said: “Cats are one of the few animal species that are normally susceptible to such viruses, and indeed they are subject to a pandemic, with symptoms as devastating to cats as they are to humans. “Understanding how to confer resistance is … of equal importance to cat health and human health.” Medical research Animals United States Cloning Genetics Biology Aids and HIV Alok Jha guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Already being outplayed by Sam Stosur in the US Open final, the last thing Serena Williams needed was to lose a game for yelling during a point. That’s exactly what happened early in the second set, leading to an argument between Williams and the chair umpire, a scene less ugly…
Continue reading …Cash-strapped donkey owners in Texas are abandoning the animals in record numbers, creating a headache for authorities and a devoted group of donkey rescuers, the Houston Chronicle reports. Authorities say dire drought and high feed costs are making donkeys, like horses, much harder to keep. “Donkey rescues have gone through…
Continue reading …A woman plowed her Mercury Grand Marquis into a neighbor’s house outside Chicago yesterday, killing him and exposing his marijuana-growing operation, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The 63-year-old’s accelerator apparently jammed as she was pulling out of the driveway. The victim, Zachary Isenberg, 28, walked to his window just as the…
Continue reading …Ten years later, and still no great 9/11 novels? Yes, because “at its heart, 9/11 was meaningless,” writes Laura Miller at Salon . “I realize that sounds inflammatory, but hear me out.” A novelist explores “the winding and unwinding of long strands of cause and effect, in the reasons people do…
Continue reading …After visits to New York’s Ground Zero and a memorial in rural Pennsylvania where Flight 93 went down, President and Michelle Obama continued their solemn remembrance of 9/11 today at the Pentagon, the AP reports. The president lay a wreath at a bench and small pool that memorialize the Pentagon’s…
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