U.S. Supreme court bars
patents on natural DNA


The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that companies cannot patent human genes in their natural state. Patients’ rights groups are calling the decision a victory. The court, however, left room to protect patents on key biotechnology applications.

Myriad Genetics identified genes that raise a patient’s risk for breast and ovarian cancer. The company lifted those genes from the full set of genetic information that makes up a human being and patented them. That gave Myriad exclusive rights over the use of those genes.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been allowing patents on isolated DNA for three decades, said attorney Sandra Park with the American Civil Liberties Union.

“What was problematic about these patents was that Myriad was able to use those patents to stop other laboratories from providing genetic testing, even when those other laboratories were using different methods,” she said.

Ms, Park said that means genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer risk is more expensive than if other labs could compete with Myriad. And patients could not get a second opinion on an important medical issue. 

In a unanimous decision, however, the court struck down this type of patent because the genes are products of nature.

Lisbeth Ceriani was a plaintiff in the case. She is a breast cancer survivor who struggled to afford Myriad’s test.

“Our genes are not being held hostage by a private corporation anymore. We have the right to know that our doctor can look at our own genes and know what is there,” said Ms. Ceriani.

Supporters say the ruling will lower costs and improve access to testing for this and other genetic conditions for which companies have patents. Also, researchers will be able to share data that results from genetic testing, hopefully moving them closer to better treatment and prevention.

Myriad Genetics, however, also created versions of the genes called complimentary DNA [cDNA] - basically, cleaned-up versions of the genes - and patented those, too.

The Supreme Court said those patents are okay because cDNA does not exist in nature.

Jennifer Swize, an attorney for the company, said, “To Myriad, the decision is a win. For all practical purposes, companies like Myriad use cDNA to do their testing.”

Ms. Swize said the company will continue to move forward because it has 24 patents on its breast and ovarian cancer gene research, and the court only struck down five of those.

And cDNA is hugely important to the biotechnology industry. Insulin to treat diabetics is produced using cDNA, for example.

Paul Berghoff, an attorney for the Intellectual Property Owners Association, wrote in support of Myriad in the case. “Nobody in the biotech industry is going to be dancing in the streets because of this, but I don’t think this is too much of a setback, if any.”

Observers note that Myriad’s stock price rose after the decision, suggesting the markets saw the decision as a positive one for the biotech industry.


China's media cites Snowden
on claims of U.S. cyber attacks


China's state media have pounced on comments from former CIA analyst Edward Snowden that the U.S. government has been hacking computers in China for years, giving the issue prominent coverage. But when the Chinese foreign ministry was asked about the accusations Thursday, the response was slightly more muted.
 
State run Chinese media is reporting allegations from whistleblower Snowden that U.S. cyber attacks will weaken U.S.-China relations and stain Washington’s image overseas. 
 
When asked about Snowden’s charges, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying declined to comment specifically on his case, but reminded reporters that China also is a victim of cyber attacks. She said China strongly advocates cyber security and wants to carry out cooperation to maintain peace. Ms. Hua also said China will carry out constructive dialogue with the international community about cyber security. 

Snowden’s leaks came just days after a U.S./China summit in California, where U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to form a working group on cyber security. Wang Dong, a professor of international relations at Peking University, said China’s government likely will react cautiously to Snowden’s charges. 

“President Xi Jinping and President Obama just had a very successful and very historic meeting in California. And they had talked over a broad range of issues, and agreed to build a new type of power relationship,” said Wang.
 
Snowden claims the United States has been launching cyber attacks against Hong Kong and China since 2009, hacking universities, businesses, government officials and Chinese citizens in Hong Kong and the mainland. 

Snowden left the U.S. for Hong Kong in late May, where he said he has full faith in the local legal system and vows to resist extradition. 
 
The state-run China Daily newspaper cites analysts saying the news of U.S. hacking could pose a challenge to growing goodwill between the two nations and that the Sino-U.S. relationship is constantly soured on cyber security. 
 
Wang Dong said Snowden’s allegations will effect U.S. China talks on cyber security and may put the United States on the defense going forward. “It will shift the balance in the sense that the U.S. government, the American media and others have been accusing China of doing this, and that and all of a sudden you have to defend your own record about that.”
 
Snowden remains in hiding in Hong Kong after checking out of a hotel Monday morning in the city’s Kowloon District.



Mandela reported improving
although still on serious list


The South African government says former president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela continues to recover from a lung infection, but it says his condition remains serious.

In a statement Thursday, President Jacob Zuma appealed to the people of South Africa and beyond to keep Madiba -- Mandela's clan name -- in their prayers, and to wish him a speedy recovery.

The 94-year-old icon was hospitalized in Pretoria last week in serious but stable condition. It was his fourth such hospitalization since December.

Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to the tuberculosis he contracted during his 27-year imprisonment under South Africa's apartheid system. He was released in 1990, and four years later was elected president in the country's first democratic polls.



Researchers find deadly link
between insecticide and bees


A steady decline in the overall honeybee population year to year is a growing problem worldwide. The decreasing bee population could contribute to a dramatic increase in commodity prices for goods dependent upon pollination by honeybees. Researchers continue to study the decline as beekeepers are struggling to keep their colonies and their profits alive.

Terrence Ingram considers himself a naturalist. He said he’s best able to commune with the natural world around him at the center of a swarm of bees. “I love beekeeping. It’s one of God’s greatest miracles."

Since 1954, Ingram has raised tens of thousands of honeybees in managed colonies behind his house in rural Apple River, Illinois.

“We had 250 hives at one time. We sold five, six tons of honey a year,” said Ingram.

But that amount is dwindling. "Now we’re down to about probably four tons." And that's not because the 73-year-old Ingram is slowing down, but because he says there are fewer bees producing honey, something he blames on the use of insecticides and herbicides in the farmland surrounding his property. The gradual decline in his bee population began in 1996.

“Every three weeks that summer, they were spraying with the airplane, and by the end of the year, I didn’t have any of my 250 hives left,” he said.

This phenomenon caught the attention of researchers like Purdue University entomology Professor Christian Krupke.

“There have been similar reports from Europe in the past, and so we looked into it a little bit further from the point of view of wondering first of all what is killing these bees, and second how are these bees acquiring whatever this toxic chemical is,” said Krupke.

There are many reasons for the worldwide bee decline, not just insecticides.

But in this instance, Krupke and his colleagues focused on insecticides known as neonicotinoids that adhere to the seeds as they are planted in the ground, rather than from spraying above.

“The two compounds that kept coming up when we tested these dead bees were the pesticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam. Those are insecticides that are applied to corn seed. The key route for those acute bee kills that we have seen in past years and again this year is the planter exhaust. The talc that contacts seed and then is exhausted,” said Krupke.

About 30 years ago, there were about 4 million of these kind of managed bee colonies throughout the United States. Today, there are less than 2 million, and researchers say that’s due in part to the introduction of these insecticides.

“Can we get by without neonicotinoids insecticides in these field crops? I think we can. I believe we have data that show that we can. So that’s maybe something that’s a little more promising as far as reducing the stress on the honeybee population,” said Krupke.

In December, the European Union plans to ban the use of certain insecticides researchers linked to bee deaths. But no such restrictions are planned in the United States. For Illinois beekeeper Ingram, some of the damage already done is permanent.

“We’ve got many beekeepers who have quit, just gone out of business because they can’t succeed,” he said.

But not Ingram, who said his passion for bees is just as strong as it was when he tended his first colony, more than 60 years ago.


New York City might be
most diverse for languages


In the Big Apple, home to more than 8 million people, one can find nearly every kind of food, music, art, people and nearly every kind of language. Some linguistic experts say it may be the most diverse city in the world with as many as 800 spoken languages.

With hundreds of languages and dialects spoken from around the world, few cities are as diverse as New York.

"New York is the capital of the world, where we live together in peace," said Ernesto Arias.

Arias from Bolivia says this is all possible without loss of tradition or the mother language. He speaks in his native Spanish.

“There are people from every background, so you’ll hear a variety of languages and dialects.  For example, in my country, they speak Aymara and Quechua.  Of course, here we’re starting to lose that.  But we are making an effort to maintain our community in some form so that we don’t lose it," he said.

According to the 2010 census, 51 percent of New Yorkers speak only English. The remaining 49 percent, according to experts, speak hundreds of other languages.

For many residents it probably comes as no surprise that the second-most spoken language in New York is Spanish, representing 25 percent of the population.

“It’s a very cosmopolitan city where you see people from around the world and listen to every language possible in the elevators, on the street, doing business.  I don’t know about 800 languages, but they all sound very different," said Gabriela Pisterna, Argentinian tourist.

Historically, the Big Apple has been known for welcoming immigrants, earning it the unofficial title of “Capital of the World.”

“Every place is represented here, at least from Latin America, there are so many," said Edmundo Datri, another Argentinian tourist.


Tomato packer raided
in Mexican slavery case


Mexico abolished slavery in the early 19th century, but many poor Mexicans live and work in slave-like conditions either at home or abroad.  Mexican authorities this week rescued 275 people who said they were forced to work at a tomato plant in the western State of Jalisco for inadequate pay and housing.

Bioparques de Occidente is a tomato sorting and packing company in the municipality of Toliman in the western state of Jalisco.  The management finds workers to get the tomatoes ready for export in nearby rural areas.

Regional prosecutor Salvador Gonzales said people are lured to the plant by offers of reasonable wages, accommodation and schools for their children.  "They were offered jobs in Ciudad Guzmán where they were offered 100 pesos per day, schools, accommodation. The offer was attractive. But when they arrived here they realized it was a different reality. They made them work more than eight hours and didn't pay them 100 pesos,'' he said. 100 pesos is about $7.85.

Officials said the victims were mainly paid in vouchers redeemable at the company store, where items were sold at overinflated prices.  The living conditions were crowded and dirty.  But the workers were not permitted to leave.

Alejandro Acosta said they were treated cruelly. "We are badly treated here. It's not fair. They should pay us what they owe us in any case. Scoldings in the morning when one has a sick baby. They go to your room, kick the door open and tell you: 'Go to work, now!' If one does not go to work in the field you are not given any food, no food and apart from that you have to work here, sweep the floor, clean toilets, collect rubbish," Acosta explained. "It's not fair.''

But one man managed to escape and alert authorities in the state capital, Guadalajara.

Five foremen were arrested on charges of grave violations and crimes, including the illegal privation of liberty and human trafficking. 

In 2007, Mauritania became the last country to ban slavery officially, but rights groups said that global slave trade in various forms continues, generating an estimated $32 billion a year.

A recent study, by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, estimated that 880,000 people are trapped in forced labor in nine European countries alone: France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden.



Chemical in plastics can
hurt human tooth enamel


A chemical compound that’s been linked to a number of health problems in animal studies may also damage tooth enamel in humans. BPA is found in many resins and plastics that people use everyday, such as water and baby bottles and food containers.

BPA, or Bisphenol A, can leach from the plastic and into food, water or snacks and from there into humans. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control survey in 2003 and 2004 found detectable levels of the chemical in 93 percent of more than 2,500 urine samples tested. It can also contaminate the environment with countless plastic bottles littering many landscapes and waterways.

The National Institutes of Health, says, “Animal studies indicate BPA may cause adverse effects, such as obesity, behavioral changes, diabetes, early onset puberty, asthma, cardiovascular diseases, reproductive disorders and development of prostate, breast and uterine cancer.”

It adds there is “reason for concern, especially for parents, because some animal studies report effects in fetuses and newborns exposed to BPA.” There’s ongoing research on whether BPA does indeed affect people the way it can animals.

French researcher Sylvie Babajko is the lead author of an article on BPA appearing in the American Journal of Pathology. She said that BPA is an endocrine disruptor.

An endocrine disruptor is a substance that disturbs the endocrine system. That means hormones in humans, as well as in progeny.

The endocrine system is a series of glands, such as the thyroid pituitary and adrenal, which release hormones affecting sexual development, growth and metabolism. And these hormones go everywhere in the body. Some chemicals can make their levels go up and down.

Ms. Babajko and fellow researchers are now trying to confirm that BPA can damage tooth enamel. She said they were notified about the possible link by others studying the effects of endocrine disruptors on lab animals’ reproductive systems.

“They found that the rats exposed to low doses of endocrine disruptors presented white spots on incisors. They called us, and we studied these white spots and found that there was an enamel hypomineralization due to endocrine disruptors exposure,” she said.

In other words, BPA, circulating in the body, can adversely affect cells that produce tooth enamel, making it fragile or brittle. The question is: Are those white marks now showing up on human teeth as well?

“It is probably a problem,” she said, “because things and food contain BPA and we are probably all exposed to BPA. And it has been shown, at least with experiments on animals, that BPA can cause a lot of defects and teeth are one additional target of BPA.”

Analysis of the rats’ teeth show similar characteristics found in about 18 percent of children between the ages 6 and 8. These kids may have teeth that are extra sensitive to pain or more liable to get cavities. It’s believed humans are most sensitive to BPA in the first years of life. Further study is needed, but those white streaks may be an indication of early exposure to the chemical.

Since BPA can disrupt estrogen levels in animals, there’s concern that could affect men’s reproductive health. Men do produce estrogen, but usually in much lower levels than women. However, Ms. Babajko said that’s not been confirmed and is difficult to prove.

“It is possible, but not demonstrated in humans, of course, because we are all subjected to many endocrine disruptors. And it is difficult to be sure that BPA is the only one that is responsible for the reproductive defects. It is difficult to know precisely if BPA is the only one or if it is acting in combination with other molecules,” she said.

Concerns about BPA have led to the production of BPA-free plastic products. Europe banned baby bottles containing the chemical in January 2011. The U.S. took similar action in July of last year. While the Food and Drug Administration began voicing concerns about BPA in 2010, it has not officially reversed its 2008 decision declaring BPA safe.

France intends to extend the BPA ban to all food containers in July 2015.



Genetic dyslexia component
clarified in Yale research


A new study of the genetic origins of dyslexia and other learning disabilities could allow for earlier diagnoses and more successful interventions, according to researchers at Yale School of Medicine. Many students now are not diagnosed until high school, at which point treatments are less effective.

The study is published online and in the July print issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics. Senior author Jeffrey R. Gruen, professor of pediatrics, genetics, and investigative medicine at Yale, and colleagues analyzed data from more than 10,000 children born in 1991 and1992 who were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children conducted by investigators at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

Gruen and his team used the data to unravel the genetic components of reading and verbal language. In the process, they identified genetic variants that can predispose children to dyslexia and language impairment, increasing the likelihood of earlier diagnosis and more effective interventions.

Dyslexia and language impairment are common learning disabilities that make reading and verbal language skills difficult. Both disorders have a substantial genetic component, but despite years of study, determining the root cause had been difficult.

In previous studies, Gruen and his team found that dopamine-related genes ANKK1 and DRD2 are involved in language processing. In further non-genetic studies, they found that prenatal exposure to nicotine has a strong negative affect on both reading and language processing. They had also previously found that a gene called DCDC2 was linked to dyslexia.

In this new study, Gruen and colleagues looked deeper within the DCDC2 gene to pinpoint the specific parts of the gene that are responsible for dyslexia and language impairment. They found that some variants of a gene regulator called READ1 (regulatory element associated with dyslexia1) within the DCDC2 gene are associated with problems in reading performance while other variants are strongly associated with problems in verbal language performance.

Gruen said these variants interact with a second dyslexia risk gene called KIAA0319. “When you have risk variants in both READ1 and KIAA0319, it can have a multiplier effect on measures of reading, language, and IQ,” he said. “People who have these variants have a substantially increased likelihood of developing dyslexia or language impairment.”

“These findings are helping us to identify the pathways for fluent reading, the components of those pathways; and how they interact,” said Gruen. “We now hope to be able to offer a pre-symptomatic diagnostic panel, so we can identify children at risk before they get into trouble at school. Almost three-quarters of these children will be reading at grade level if they get early intervention, and we know that intervention can have a positive lasting effect.”



Green coffee questioned
as an obesity antidote


A major ingredient in those green coffee bean dietary supplements — often touted as “miracle” weight-loss products — doesn’t prevent weight gain in obese laboratory mice fed a high-fat diet when given at higher doses. That’s the conclusion of a first-of-its-kind study published in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. It also linked the ingredient to an unhealthy build-up of fat in the liver.

Vance Matthews, Kevin Croft and their team note that coffee is rich in healthful, natural, plant-based polyphenol substances. They cite evidence from past studies that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and other disorders collectively termed the “metabolic syndrome.” Chlorogenic acid, one coffee polyphenol, is the main ingredient in scores of dietary supplements promoted as weight-loss products. Much research has been done on mixtures of coffee polyphenols. Until now, however, scientists have not checked the effects of higher doses of chlorogenic acid alone on obesity and other symptoms of the metabolic syndrome. Matthews’ team decided to do that, using special laboratory mice that are stand-ins for humans in such tests.

They report that mice on a high-fat diet and mice on a high-fat diet plus chlorogenic acid gained the same amount of weight. The chlorogenic acid mice, however, were more likely to develop disorders that often lead to type 2 diabetes. They also accumulated fat inside the cells in their livers.