Aurora magazine

The Stanford University opens the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine (CDCM), the new center for treating genetic diseases. The initiative seeks to use gene therapy and stem cells to combat today's incurable pathologies.

Center doctors will use the findings of Stanford Laboratories to develop readable therapies for clinical trials. Instead of relying on medicines generated by biotech companies, they will use those created by university labs.

Stem cells and gene therapy have proven effective against Type 1 diabetes, some metabolic syndromes, and neurodegenerative diseases. For the time being they can not cure the disease, but they can at least weaken their symptoms. With gene therapy, it is possible to correct the DNA of some stem cells and use them for treatment.

Inside the center, professionals from various sectors will work. Their common goal will be to find a cure for today's incurable genetic diseases. A goal in some cases is much more handy than you might think.

According to Professor Anthony Gold, the solution will take some stem cells from children with genetic diseases and correct the defective gene. Once done, the cells will be retrieved again to correct the problem. This will avoid the risk of rejection and the problems associated with immunosuppressive drugs.

Before the procedure is fully feasible, further studies will be required. The potential, however, is very high and could turn into many theories today only theoretical.

Source: stanforddaily.com

Extending non-invasive prenatal screening to all 24 chromosomes would help and expose new genetic disorders. It could also explain cases of spontaneous abortion and anomalies during pregnancy. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers say.

Typical genetic testing focuses on chromosomes 21, 18 and 13 to detect Down's syndrome and the most common trisomies. They rarely analyze all 24 human chromosomes. Yet doing so would increase the accuracy of the tests and explain why some of the very few false positives.

Dr. Diana W. Bianchi's team analyzed all the chromosomes of 90,000 maternal plasma samples. Of these 72,972 came from the United States and 16,885 from Australia. For each of them, researchers have calculated a normalized index of chromosome quality. The index measured the probability that the sample contained the two standard copies of each chromosome. Under the age of 50, the researchers proceeded with further analysis.

The team identified 328 US samples and 71 Australian abnormal samples, of which 60 were rare trisomies. Thanks to the full analysis, researchers found cases of trisomy 7, 15, 16 and 22. Some of these were related to difficulties in gestation and spontaneous abortion. In some cases, researchers also reported abnormal cellular placenta levels related to malformations.

Source: medicalxpress.com

US authorities have approved a new leukemia-based gene therapy, effective in 8 out of 10. Researchers have tested the treatment on 64 children with acute leukemia. Chemotherapy and other drugs had already proved useless to these children. Novartis's approach, however, saved their lives.

The treatment starts with the withdrawal of some patient blood samples. Physicians isolate T lymphocytes and bind them to the CAR-T receptor, so they detect a protein of the diseased cells. This allows them to target leukemic cells and destroy them within 3 months, leaving intact healthy cells.

Although the therapy has saved life to 8 children over 10, it has been shown to have even important side effects. It causes a decrease in pressure, pulmonary congestion and in some cases neurological problems. In fact, T lymphocytes release harmful substances for the functions of the body. However, there are consequences that can be faced and certainly preferable to an almost inevitable death.

The tests had already shown the efficacy of the treatment but lacked FDA approval for marketing. Thanks to the free way, doctors of authorized hospitals will take the T lymphocytes from the patients and send them to the company's offices. There some specialists will be able to engineer them within a month, so that they are injected into the patients.

Source: corriere.it

Not everyone knows there is an important difference between cannabis for recreational use and therapeutic cannabis. The two types are different not only for the purpose of recruitment, but especially for the contained chemical principles.

Cannabis is a herbaceous plant that can reach up to 5 meters in height, with a strong aroma. It has palm-shaped leaves with thin strips and with the characteristic margins of sawdust. Depending on the variety, however, the shape and number of foliar leaves varies considerably. The leaves of the most common varieties have between 5 and 13 segments, usually.

Marijuana has been recognized for decades. Intake stimulates appetite reduces nausea and controls anxiety. For this reason it is especially useful for patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. It is also helpful to relieve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The merit is of two substances present in the leaves, Thc and cannabidiol.

Over the years, several cannabidiol-based drugs have been developed, indicated for the treatment of anxiety, depression, and epilepsy. There were also born poor varieties of psychotropic principles for therapeutic use. However, some negative effects of the substance, especially for young people, are still unclear.

Intensive use of marijuana in adulthood does not seem to have any particular adverse effects. On the other hand, the consequences on young people are discussed. According to some studies, taking cannabis during adolescence would increase the risk of schizophrenia. It would also be linked to a decrease in the intellectual quotient in adulthood.