First 'mixed embryo' monkeys born

First 'mixed embryo' monkeys born The monkeys' cells are derived from more than one embryo,

 yet they are normal and healthyThe animals were born after researchers combined cells from different embryos and implanted them into female monkeys.Such animals, which contain genetically distinct groups of cells from more than one organism, are called "chimeras".A US team, which has reported its work in the journal Cell, says the advance could have "enormous" importance for medical researchChimeras are important for studying embryonic development, but research has largely been restricted to mice.The rhesus monkeys, which are normal and healthy, are made up of a mixture of cells representing as many as six distinct individuals.

"The cells never fuse, but they stay together and work together to form tissues and organs," said co-author Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, US.

Early decisions

Initial efforts by Dr Mitalipov's team to produce living monkey chimeras by introducing cultured embryonic stem cells into monkey embryos - a well-established means for generating chimeric mice - failed.Stem cells are the "master cells" that can transform into a variety of more specialised cells required in the body.

The embryonic stem cells the team tried and failed with were at a developmental stage known as "pluripotency". This means they can transform into any tissue type in the body, but cannot turn into the placenta or an entire animal.

The researchers were only able to make monkey chimeras when they mixed cells from very early stage embryos, in which each individual embryonic cell was "totipotent".

These totipotent cells are capable of giving rise to a whole animal as well as the placenta and other life-sustaining tissues.

Dr Mitalipov said it appeared that primate embryos prevented cultured embryonic stem cells from becoming integrated as they do in mice.

The study also suggests that cultured primate and human embryonic stem cells, some of which have been maintained in labs for as long as two decades, may not be as potent as those found inside a living embryo.

Primate embryos seem to resist the integration of cultured embryonic stem cells

Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, from the UK National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, called the advance "very important".

The researcher, who was not involved in the study, told BBC News: "Assumptions about the way human embryos develop have always been based on the mouse."

But he added that this could be a "dangerous assumption".

Chimeras can be used to understand the role of specific genes in the development of embryos as well as for studying the overall mechanisms of development.

For example, if studying a genetic mutation that causes cells to die, it is much more useful if the embryo is rescued by normal cells that allow the scientists to continue their work.Prof Lovell-Badge said there had been a growing feeling for some time that pluripotent stem cells from humans and monkeys were different from those in mice.

The latest research suggests the biological pathways to restrict cells in their ability to form different tissue types are passed earlier in monkeys than they are in mice.

"We cannot model everything in the mouse," Dr Mitalipov explained. "If we want to move stem cell therapies from the lab to clinics and from the mouse to humans, we need to understand what these primate cells can and can't do.

"We need to study them in humans, including human embryos."

But he stressed there was no practical use for producing human chimeras.

Stem cell therapies hold promise for replacing damaged nerve cells in those who have been paralysed due to a spinal cord injury and, for example, the brain cells lost in Parkinson's Disease.

CONCEPT OF BEAUTY!

faulty breast implants

One in 12 of the 40,000 British women who have received faulty breast implants containing industrial silicone is at risk of developing serious medical complications, The Independent on Sunday has learned.

Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, ordered an urgent review yesterday into the quality of data about the proportion of women who have had problems with the French-made Poly Implants Prothèses (PIP) implants at the centre of the scandal.

The IoS can exclusively reveal the investigation was triggered by a leading cosmetic surgery firm, which privately warned ministers that the proportion of women at risk is as high as 8 per cent, rather than the 1 per cent previously claimed in the UK.

The company is responsible for about 4,000 of the UK's PIP implants, but if an 8 per cent rupture rate proves accurate and is widely replicated, it could mean a total of 3,200 women are affected. In France, where authorities shut down PIP last year, the risk of rupture is said to be about 5 per cent, and women have been advised to have the implants removed – a move backed by British surgeons but not, so far, by ministers.

But if the risk rate is confirmed as being substantially higher in the UK than in France, pressure will grow for the Department of Health to follow the French Health Minister, Xavier Bertrand, in urging women to have them removed. Abnormal rupture rates of the implants, which contain industrial-strength silicone commonly used in mattresses, emerged in 2009. Symptoms can include lumps around the implant or in the under-arm, inflammation in the breast tissue and a hardening of the breast.

"Our priority is making sure that women get the correct advice so that they are kept safe," Mr Lansley said, as he announced that the NHS medical director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, will review the data given to the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

An emergency report is expected on Mr Lansley's desk early this week. The MHRA will audit all data held on the quality of the implants, including information from private clinics, which are responsible for about 95 per cent of implant procedures.

More than 250 British women are said to be suing the clinics that treated them. Mr Lansley said: "I want to reassure women that if any new data calls into question the safety of these implants, we will act swiftly to help them." He highlighted concerns about the "content and quality of the data that cosmetic surgery providers are sharing with the regulator".

Last night, surgeons accused the MHRA of downplaying the true extent of the problem and called for an implant register to track when things go wrong. The MHRA is now considering such a move. If British women are advised to have the PIP implants removed, the NHS could be left to pick up the bill as many of the clinics responsible are no longer in business.

Fazel Fatah, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: "[It could be] better to take them out now rather than wait for them to rupture, which makes the procedure more complicated. We think the French decision is not unreasonable at all."

Andy Burnham, the shadow Health Secretary, said: "The Government should provide more advice and support to women who may be affected by this announcement. I have heard reports that some women are experiencing delays or difficulty in accessing records from private cosmetic surgery companies, or in some cases large fees. That is unacceptable."

Dr Susanne Ludgate, clinical director of the MHRA, said concerns had been raised by "conflicting data" coming from the cosmetic surgery industry. "It raises doubts about the surveillance and reporting of incidents by these companies. We will urgently work to identify where problems may be," she added.

Paul Balen, of Freeth Cartwright solicitors, has spent years representing British women who have been fitted with PIP implants. The implant company came to the attention of the MHRA more than a decade ago, when concerns over its Trilucent implants led to them being recalled in 2000; the MHRA advised removing them, according to Mr Balen.

Peter Walsh, from the patient safety charity Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA), said there can be "no doubt that the systems of regulation which are supposed to protect patients have already been shown to be wanting". The AvMA is now calling for the Commons Health Select Committee to investigate.

Breast Augmentation with Silicone Implants

Indian products

New Delhi:

 Chinese manufacturers are increasingly "faking" popular Indian products of consumer goods giants such as Dabur and ITC, undermining the legitimacy of brands and causing losses worth as much as $5 billion annually, officials said.


"A lot of counterfeit Dabur products are made in China. We have conducted at least 20 raids in China but no proper action has been taken by the Chinese," said Ashok Jain, general manager of finance at Dabur India, the country's fourth largest FMCG firm.


He said such fake products manufactured in China with "Made-in-India" tag are supplied across the world, mostly in India and African countries.


"It causes huge damage to the brand. Those fake products are obviously not up to our standards and supplied at very low prices," Jain told IANS.


Dabur, which has nearly $4 billion market capitalisation, operates in key consumer product categories like healthcare, skin care, hair care and oral care. The company's revenue last fiscal was $910 million.


Pradeep Dixit, a senior official of ITC, a $33-billion conglomerate, said the popular FMCG brands of the company were counterfeited by unscrupulous firms and supplied in domestic as well as foreign markets.


"Our popular cigarette brand is faked and supplied widely in the states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said.


"China is a big problem everybody is facing," said S.K. Goel, chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, told IANS.


Goel said the big international brands like Nokia, Adidas, Reebok and Nivea were also widely counterfeited in China and supplied in India and other parts of the world.


Chinese manufacturers are also faking drugs, endangering lives of patients. Fake drugs, carrying " Made in India" tags, supplied from China were recently detained in Nigeria and other African countries.


K.K. Vyas, Delhi's deputy commissioner of police (crime), said the police have seized and confiscated a lot of fake and counterfeited products of popular brands in the national capital recently.


Vyas emphasised on the need for enhancing punishment for unscrupulous manufacturers and importers. "Punishment needs to be enhanced. Also there is need that judiciary addresses these issues quickly."


"Counterfeiting is a big menace. It is hurting everybody - consumers, industry and the exchequer," said Anil Rajput, chairman of the anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting committee of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).


Recently, FICCI formed a panel called "FICCI-Cascade" that expands into a committee on anti-smuggling and counterfeiting activities destroying the economy. Chaired by Rajput, the committee is working closely with the government to curb this menace.


According to a report by think tank Indiaforensic Research Foundation, the total loss to the economy annually due to crimes such as counterfeiting, commercial fraud, smuggling, drug trafficking, bank fraud, tax evasion and graft is estimated at Rs.22,528 crore.

Christmas trees

Unwanted Christmas trees

Christmas trees help Teignbridge Scouts and zoo animals

Unwanted Christmas trees could benefit both scouts and zoo animals in Devon.

Teignbridge Scouts, who are trying to raise funds for new headquarters in Kingkerswell, plan to collect trees and take them to Paignton Zoo in January.

The zoo said many of its animals will enjoy playing with the Christmas trees, provided they have not been sprayed with toxic fake snow or glitter.

The scouts, who are asking for a minimum donation of £5, will carry out tree collections on 7 and 8 January.

'Novelty value'

In order to help the scout troop's venture, a number of local Christmas tree retailers handed out flyers with the trees.

Scout spokesman Steve Michaels said it was a service with multiple benefits.

"It's great to be able to deliver the trees to the zoo rather than send them off to landfill," he said

"This is helping young people, helping the environment and helping the animals at the zoo."

Paignton Zoo spokesman Phil Knowling said meerkats, primates and tapirs were among the animals that would benefit.

"The new textures and scents are stimulating - and you can't underestimate the sheer novelty value of a small conifer tree suddenly appearing in an enclosure," he said

Tainted milk product in China

Tainted milk product scare causes outrage in China

Food safety scandals have blighted China's dairy industry in recent years.

• The Chinese dairy company 'sincerely' apologizes to customers for the problems
• The products, containing high levels of a potentially carcinogenic substance, have been destroyed
• The company says the products did not go on sale and remained in storage
• Chinese microblog users urge others to boycott the company's products

Beijing (CNN) -- Criticism of lax food safety standards at Chinese companies abounded on microblogging sites in China on Tuesday following the latest scare involving dairy products in the country.
Tests found that cartons of milk made by Mengniu Dairy Co., the largest Chinese dairy company, had excessive levels of aflatoxin M1, a substance that can cause liver cancer.
The tests were carried out by the Chinese Administration of Quality Supervision in an inspection of nationwide milk products on Saturday.
The toxin came from contaminated feed consumed by the cows that produced the milk, China's official news agency, Xinhua, reported.
The milk cartons did not make it to market but remained in storage during the inspection, according to a statement from the company on Sunday. Mengniu said that it had destroyed all the toxic milk as it sought to reassure consumers on its commitment to product safety.
Mengniu "once again would like to sincerely apologize to all consumers," said the statement. "We should earnestly learn from this lesson and comply with state and company quality and inspection standards with precision and care, making sure our product quality from every sector is approved in the future."
Users commenting on Chinese social media sites offered scathing opinions about the management of Chinese companies following Mengniu's admission of problems.
"Businesses in China are destroyed by Chinese businessmen themselves," said one user on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. "Don't ever blame us on buying foreign goods."
"If I have a baby one day, I will also buy safer milk powder produced overseas," the user wrote Tuesday.
"Let us boycott Mengniu altogether, show the shameless businessmen our strength." said a posting by another user.
Food safety scandals have blighted the dairy industry in China since 2008, when melamine-tainted milk killed at least six babies and caused kidney stones and urinary tract problems in hundreds of thousands of children.
Twenty-one people were tried and sentenced for their roles in the scandal, and two of them were executed.
In April, the police in Southwestern China seized more than 26 tons of melamine-tainted milk intended for use in ice cream, according to local officials.

U.S. Will Not Finance New Research on Chimps

Tim Mueller for The New York Times

A chimpanzee at the New Iberia Research Center of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where hepatitis C research is done.

By JAMES GORMAN

Published: December 15, 2011The National Institutes of Health on Thursday suspended all new grants for biomedical and behavioral research on chimpanzees and accepted the first uniform criteria for assessing the necessity of such research. Those guidelines require that the research be necessary for human health, and that there be no other way to accomplish it.

In making the announcement, Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the N.I.H., said that chimps, as the closest human relatives, deserve “special consideration and respect” and that the agency was accepting the recommendations released earlier in the day by an expert committee of the Institute of Medicine, which concluded that most research on chimpanzees was unnecessary.

The report and the quick response by the N.I.H. do not put an end to research on chimps, but they were claimed as victories by animal welfare groups that have long been fighting for a ban on such research, arguing that chimps should not be subjected to experimental use. They said that the move was a step toward eventually ending chimp research, already a tiny segment of federal research.

Jeffrey Kahn, chairman of the Institute of Medicine committee that produced the report and a professor of bioethics and public policy at Johns Hopkins University, said the group’s recommendations would make it harder to use chimps in research.

“What we did was establish a set of rigorous criteria that set the bar quite high for use of chimpanzees in biomedical or behavioral research,” he said. He also said that, in effect, the writing was on the wall: “One of the important themes in the committee report is that there is a trajectory toward decreasing necessity for the use of chimps in biomedical and behavioral research.”

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, which is strongly opposed to any experimentation on chimpanzees, said, “We’re tremendously encouraged.” He said the report’s “overarching conclusion was that chimps are largely unnecessary” for research, and that the report and N.I.H. action could influence two other continuing efforts to stop research on chimps.

One is the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act of 2011, now before both houses of Congress. Another is a petition before the federal Fish and Wildlife Service to declare captive chimpanzees endangered, as wild chimpanzees are. The exemption has allowed research to continue and permits the use of chimpanzees in entertainment and as pets.

“ ‘Endangered’ stops all those uses,” Mr. Pacelle said, and the report’s skeptical assessment of the value of chimps in research would provide support for the Fish and Wildlife Service to categorize all chimps as endangered.

At the same time, people involved in chimp research said they, too, were happy.

Dr. Thomas Rowell, director of the New Iberia Research Center in New Iberia, La., which houses 471 chimpanzees, more than any other center in the country, also said he was “quite pleased” with the report. “It just confirms what we’ve been saying all along in regard to the chimpanzee model for advancing public health research,” he said, referring to the necessity of the chimpanzee for some research on public health.

Dr. Collins said the N.I.H. would set up a working group to decide how to carry out the recommendations. Until the group finishes its deliberations, no new grants would be awarded and all N.I.H. chimpanzees that are not already enrolled in experiments would not be involved in any further research projects. Dr. Collins did not offer a timeline or say how many chimpanzees were currently involved in research.

Use of chimpanzees has already been waning, partly because it is expensive. The report covers only chimps owned or supported by the government, 612 of a total of 937 chimps available for research in the United States. Only a few are in experiments at any one time.

The committee identified two areas where it said the use of chimpanzees could be necessary. One is research on a preventive vaccine for hepatitis C. The committee could not agree on whether this research fit the criteria and so left that decision open.   

In the second area, research on immunology involving monoclonal antibodies, the committee concluded that experimenting on chimps was not necessary because of new technology, but because the new technology was not widespread, projects now under way should be allowed to reach completion. 

The report offered two sets of criteria, one for biomedical experiments, which it said could be considered necessary when there was no other way to do the research — with other animals, lab techniques or human subjects — and if not doing the research would “significantly slow or prevent important advancements to prevent, control and/or treat life-threatening or debilitating conditions.”

For behavioral and genomic experiments, the report recommended that the research should be done on chimps only if the animals are cooperative, and in a way that minimizes pain and distress. It also said that the studies should “provide otherwise unattainable insight into comparative genomics, normal and abnormal behavior, mental health, emotion or cognition.”

The report also recommended that chimpanzees be housed in conditions that are behaviorally, socially and physically appropriate. All United States primate research centers are already accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, and Dr. Kahn said that this accreditation meets the committee’s recommendation.

That was one area where the Humane Society disagreed with the report. “That language,” said Mr. Pacelle, referring to the requirements for adequate cages and enclosures, “was disappointing to us,” because it could mean that chimps that were not in experiments would stay at research centers.

“I’m arguing for the movement of all of them to the sanctuaries,” he said, where large open enclosures are much more common.

The N.I.H. commissioned the report after an outcry over its plan in 2010 to move a colony of chimpanzees it owned out of semiretirement in Alamogordo, N.M., and back into medical research at a primate center in Texas.

The N.I.H. responded in January 2011, by announcing it would leave the chimps in New Mexico for the time being, and by commissioning the Institute of Medicine to do the study released on Thursday. Dr. Collins confirmed that for now, the Alamogordo chimps would stay where they were
.

chickenpox

Sun 'stops chickenpox spreading'

Continue reading the main story

Exposure to sunlight may help impede the spread of chickenpox, claim researchers.

The University of London team found chickenpox less common in regions with high UV levels, reports the journal Virology.

Sunlight may inactivate viruses on the skin, making it harder to pass on.However, other experts say that other factors, including temperature, humidity, and even living conditions are equally likely to play a role.

The varicella-zoster virus is highly contagious, while it can be spread through the coughs and sneezes in the early stages of the infection, the main source is contact with the trademark rash of blisters and spots.

Pollution

UV light has long been known to inactivate viruses, and Dr Phil Rice, from St George's, University of London, who led the research, believes that this holds the key why chickenpox is less common and less easily passed from person to person in tropical countries.

It could also help explain why chickenpox is more common in the colder seasons in temperate countries such as the UK - as people have less exposure to sunlight, he said.

He examined data from 25 earlier studies on varicella-zoster virus in a variety of countries around the world, and plotted these data against a range of climatic factors.

This showed an obvious link between UV levels and chickenpox virus prevalence.

Even initially confusing results could be explained - the peak incidence of chickenpox in India and Sri Lanka is during the hottest, driest and sunniest season.

However, Dr Rice found that, due to atmospheric pollution, UV rays were actually much lower during this season compared with the rainier seasons.

He said: "No-one had considered UV as a factor before, but when I looked at the epidemiological studies they showed a good correlation between global latitude and the presence of the virus."

Professor Judy Breuer from University College London said that while UV could well be contributing to the differences in the prevalence of chickenpox between tropical and temperate regions, there were other factors which needed to be considered.

She said: "Lots of things aside from UV could affect it - heat, humidity and social factors such as overcrowding.

"It's quite possible that UV is having an effect, but we don't have any firm evidence showing the extent this is happening."

1,000 children a year in England are being adopted for the "wrong" reasons and should stay with their families

MP claims 1,000 children "wrongly" adopted every year

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A Liberal Democrat MP is claiming up to 1,000 children a year in England are being adopted for the "wrong" reasons and should stay with their families.John Hemming says the threshold for taking children into care is also often too low.

He is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the secret court decisions that lead to many adoptions.

But his claims have been strongly disputed by the government's adoption adviser Martin Narey.

Both men have been giving evidence to the Commons Education Committee inquiry into child protection.

Mr Hemming who set up the Justice for Families to help families who believe their children have been wrongly taken into care, said the child protection system is in "crisis"

He told the MPs that into two cases when parents talked to their children in a manner that a court believed "undermined their self-esteem" the children were taken into care and later adopted.

"Secrecy without accountability"

He also highlighted another case: "Somebody fails an assessment because mum puts a baby on a mat with another baby and that's deemed to be risky to the baby and that's just not on."

He says the threshold at which children are initially taken into care - when social workers "believe" there is a risk - is too low.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

To suggest that a 1,000 out of 1,300 forced adoptions were inappropriate is I believe very misleading”

Martin NareyGovernment adoption adviser

Once a child is in care system it often proved difficult for them to return to their parents.

He said too many are being "wrongly" adopted.

"I estimate is about 1,000 a year based on looking at comparative statistics over a number of years," he said.

"The difficulty is that it is all done without real transparency. The whole process has not got integrity because it operates in secrecy without accountability."

But Martin Narey, who is the ministerial adviser on adoption and was previously chief executive of Barnardo's, said the number of adoptions is too low and should be increased by about 50% a year.

"I differ very strongly from Mr Hemming," he said. "Last year there were 3,040 adoptions 1,360 were without the parents' consent.

"Overwhelmingly in all the cases that I have looked at, in all the research I have read I don't think there's anything to suggest that a significant proportion of those are inappropriate."

"The proportion would be tiny, 1 or 2%. And to suggest that a 1,000 out of 1,300 forced adoptions were inappropriate is I believe very misleading."

The latest official statistics show that the number of children being adopted is falling.

In the year ending 31 March 2011, there had been a 5% decrease in the number of children in care placed for adoption

24,000 diabetes deaths a year 'could be avoided'

Up to 24,000 deaths from diabetes could be avoided in England each year, if patients and doctors better managed the condition, a report concludes.

The first-ever audit of patient deaths from the condition said basic health checks, a good diet and regular medication could prevent most of them.

Diabetes UK said it was vital the 2.3 million sufferers had top quality care.

The Department of Health in England said shocking variations in care and an unacceptable death toll were evident.

About a third of people in the UK affected do not realise they have the condition.

It means their bodies cannot use glucose properly. If they do not manage it, they can develop potentially fatal complications like heart or kidney failure.

The report, by the NHS Information Centre, compared information about people with diabetes in England with data from death records.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quo

Around 70-75,000 diabetic patients die every year.

The study estimated that a third of them were dying from causes that could be avoided if their condition were better managed.

That includes basic health checks from doctors, and patients taking medication and keeping to a healthy diet.

For patients with Type 1, the risk of dying was 2.6 times higher than it was for the general population.

With Type 2, the risk was 1.6 times higher.

But in younger age groups, the risk was far greater. Women between the ages of 15 and 34 with diabetes were nine times more likely to die than other women of the same age.

Men in the same age group were four times more likely to die if they had the condition.

It is the first time there has been such a comprehensive assessment of the number of affected people dying.

The National Diabetes Information Service said the number of people with the condition was rising, so if nothing was done, the number of deaths would also increase.

'Shocking' variations

"Many of these deaths could be prevented," said Dr Bob Young, diabetologist and spokesman for the National Diabetes Information Service.

"Doctors, nurses and the NHS working in partnership with people who have diabetes should be able to improve these grim statistics."

Diabetes UK described the figures as alarming.

"We know that half of people with Type 2 and more than two thirds of people with Type 1 diabetes are not receiving the care they need to stay healthy," said Barbara Young, Diabetes UK chief executive.

"It is imperative we take action now to stop even more lives being needlessly cut short.

"We will be holding the NHS to account wherever it fails to deliver high-quality care."

The Department of Health in England said the audit had revealed shocking variations in care, and an unacceptable death toll.

Care services Minister Paul Burstow said: "I expect the NHS to learn from the best. It's not rocket science - integrated health care can help people manage their diabetes, and stay well and out of hospital.