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Dr. Raj & Stem Cell Therapy Innovation – LATF USA

By adminOctober 18, 2019Platelet Rich Plasma Injections

For anyone who has had hip replacement surgery, Im sure they will agree that it is better to get hit by a bus than to undergo another one. Last year after several years of suffering, I decided to take the leap and go for the hip replacement that my specialist recommended. I was told that it was a common surgery and that it was the best solution for me. Between us; it was probably the most painful thing I have ever gone through. So much so, that at the time, I just wanted to die. Not only did the pain persist for several weeks after the operation, but I was on painkillers for days, which eventually added to my suffering. I had to use a walker for the first 2 weeks and then depended on a cane for over 2 months before I could walk on my own.

My entire demeanor changed, as well as the way I dealt with what once were minor things in life. I feared slipping in the shower, going down the stairs or walking my dogs. No one had prepared me for this. Ive had my share of surgeries including a double mastectomy when I was diagnosed with breast cancer but pain wise; this one was by far the worse. I was hoping after a very long recovery that I would never have to face this situation again. Unfortunately, a year later, I am starting to feel pain on the other side and dread the re-experience of my nightmare.

Although, I heard about Stem Cell, I did not know much about it. So I started to investigate for myself, speak to people, enquire about the procedure and look for a doctor in my area who specialized in Stem Cell. I was willing to do just about anything before considering another hip replacement. After extensive research, I came across Dr. Raj, a Double-Board Certified Orthopedic doctor in Beverly Hills, CA. Going to his website; I learned that he has been in private practice for 10 years. He has been named as one of Americas Top Orthopedists, been featured on the Best of LA and has received numerous other accolades and awards as one of the Top Orthopedic doctors. Providing the ultimate in state-of-the-art orthopedic care, Dr. Rajs practice is always on the cutting-edge of surgical and nonsurgical technologies, such as PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injections, stem cell injections for tendinitis and arthritis, minimally invasive surgery and more.

He is Board Certified as a Medical Legal Specialist in America, as well as, Canada and Dubai (Trial, Testimony, Deposition, IME) with a Subspecialty in Hip and Knee Surgery in Los Angeles, including Sports Surgeries.

He is also an Undergraduate from Dalhousie University in Halifax and Canada. He pursued his medical education at Memorial University PGME, before doing his internship and residency in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. Now that I had found Dr. Raj, all I needed was to get myself educated. So lets start by what are stem cells? This is what I read: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), commonly called stem cells, are precursor cells that havent decided yet what they are going to be in the body. They can differentiate into multiple forms including bone, cartilage, fat and other connective tissues. They play a significant role in the reparative processes throughout the human body.

Where do we find stem cells?

They may be harnessed from fat tissue, bone marrow, synovial tissue or umbilical cord tissue. While stem cell therapy is a promising technology, there is much we are still learning about the causes and pathways that lead to symptomatic osteoarthritis. We have not optimized the factors found in stem cell therapies. To be sure, only the good cells and growth factors are injected into a specific joint. And that is why further research is necessary before being approved by the FDA.

My next move would be to consult with Dr. Raj who would tell me the medical truth, beginning with this question:

What is the current state of Stem Cells and its success rate?

It's relatively new. It's been popular for about 20 years, internationally. In areas like Germany and Korea, it was utilized a lot more. It became popular here when athletes like Kobe Bryant started going to Germany for modified versions of PRP, which led on to regenerative technologies. We have a stigma correlating stem cells with abortions and issues like that. This in itself is completely different. We are not utilizing amniotic stem cells or placenta stem cells. We're utilizing your own stem cells. For issues such as a hip replacement, the most powerful stem cells are the ones in your body. Bone marrow stem cells work well on joints. Joints have zero blood supply. So, if God or the higher power created us where we had blood supply going through our joints, like a cut in our skin - we would constantly replenish or repair. A break in our bone would repair. If you get stem cells and you're in decent enough shape, you will heal no matter what because these stem cells will deposit. Will you heal straight? Probably not - that's where we come into play.

The reason why joints; hips, knees and shoulders degenerate is because there is no blood supply. So, if you have a cut or a loss of cartilage, it stays like that and accumulates overtime. The only way you can control it is externally. You get stronger, you lose weight and you increase your range of motion. But you can't control anything internally.

So regenerative technology is basically utilizing these cells to regenerate cartilage and repair. These are the same cells that flow through our body - and upon signal of an injury will heal skin to skin, bone to bone, tendon to tendon, muscle to muscle. Our joints are just an alcove of joint fluid and no blood supply. The whole concept is - throughout the years, we did steroid injections - they're like band aids. Basically they mask pain. What does masking pain do? It propagates injury. Because we put the band aid on, we don't feel it and we do more. We take this little cut or loss of cartilage and we make it even more over time.

Why is it that specialists do not recommend seeing a surgeon at a certain stage?

There are a lot of people who think one way and everyone is entitled to their own opinions. You can't change opinions.

Are people afraid of stem cells?

Some people are afraid because of stem cells causing cancer. But that's embryonic stem cells.

What is the process?

Bone marrow stem cells are the best because there is a higher chance of live stem cells. Less manipulation, meaning that - in a Mayo Clinic study 4 or 5 years ago, which has a two year follow through on people who are ready to get replacements for joint or knee - they had an 80% success rate where they didn't need it. I do replacements and I do stem cells.

How do you determine what's better for the patient?

My knowledge and years of experience. Also, my knowledge with fitness and being athletic myself. Understanding at a certain point, someone is mechanically compromised. Bone on bone is a term that's been used for years. There are a lot of people who think they are 'bone on bone." Coming from Canada, the US is notorious for doing unnecessary surgeries and replacements. It's the highest rate of replacements in the world. I do not like the term 'bone on bone' because a surgeon will look at an x-ray and say you're bone on bone because that's all they do: replacements. They become a 7-11 or 99 Cents store, lining up 21 people a day. That's not the right way to do things. You don't want to be one of those 21 people getting a replacement because you're not getting that surgeon's full attention. The reality is - you have a PA or an old plastic surgeon who's doing most of your surgery and there is more likelihood of issues. Amongst every specialty there is a lot of ignorance. The whole concept is - you preserve what you have for as long as you can. You have beauty on the outside; you need beauty on the inside too. What's beauty on the inside? Feeling good, you're less inflamed and your joints are healthy.

How does it work with a stem cell procedure?

I extract bone marrow from your pelvis. Take approximately 6 ccs. Under slight sedation, it takes about 5 minutes to take it. Then we separate it via an FDA approved technique. Per FDA, we cannot add anything to it, nor would I want to. We cannot harvest it because the longer it's outside of the body, the better it is. Basically, we then inject those pure cells right away into the joint. It's a four month process for an 80% of regeneration. So, it's not just reduction of inflammation, it's regeneration. It will be a year for a 100% effect. I've had probably about 20% of patients who have taken 6 months+. I've had over a 95% success rate with this technology.

Are you one of the only doctors doing this in LA?

I'm one of them. There are some family and pain management doctors who are doing it. I'm the only Orthopedic surgeon doing it. I'm sure different practitioners are starting to.

Dr. Raj and patient Paula Abdul

How often do you do the stem cell procedure?

You do it one time. It's a powerful injection and there are people Ihave 6 years out who are doing well.

Does it hurt after the fact?

No, not at all. You can walk and move. For example, with your hip - I would combine it with physical therapy to increase your range of motion. Once you have the anti-inflammatory effect, you have to take advantage of it. If you don't increase your range of motion - what happens is - you're walking on one nail vs. 100 nails. You want to dissipate the force over a greater area so that there's a higher chance of external success. Then you strengthen the muscles.

Are there people who are not good candidates for it?

Yes, when it's too far gone. Like I said, people are told they're bone on bone when they're not. They show you different views. It's a marketing gimmick. That person is lined up and ready to sell. Age is relative. There's physiologic age. It really depends on the person. Hypothetically, if you're an inflamed mess, a drinker and abusive to your body, then nothing is going to work. If you take care of yourself and you're motivated with the right protoplasm, then it's going to work.

What about the skeptics or the ones who think it's bad for you?

Don't get me wrong; amniotic stem cells are good for certain situations. Embryonic is bad. It means that it's too far gone. You want live stem cells in an area that does not have blood supply. The data is out there. How can you argue against a Mayo Clinic study with an 80% success rate? How can you argue against the hospitals for special surgery in New York that's doing it, or the Steadman Hawkins Clinic, I'm doing it. Top facilities in the world are doing it and a number of top athletes who are getting it done with success rates. Who's ignorant? Is it that one surgeon or everyone else?

Does insurance cover it?

No, not yet. Insurances are very backwards in terms of their understanding. They would rather cover a replacement.

Is it expensive?

If you break it down par and par and avoid a replacement, not really. On average, you're talking about $7,000, versus hospital, surgeon, facility fees+++,which can be about $25,000.

You're very progressive.

There are a lot of things that I do to try and reduce pain significantly.When I use screws, I use screws that are made out of calcium so they dissolve in your body. Some of my colleagues use tourniquet, I don't use one. I control bleeding and do it in less than an hour. The whole concept is, you don't have atourniquetsqueezing your leg and toxins causing significant pain.

And there you have it. Everything is a risk in life, we do not know if we will wake up tomorrow or if you will get hit by a car and so on so why not try this procedure. I believe that I am lucky enough to have met Dr. Raj. I have taken the decision to undergo the stem cells therapy FDA approved or not, anything before going under the knife one more time. Stay tuned, I will give you a report on the progress.

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Dr. Raj & Stem Cell Therapy Innovation - LATF USA

Deepak Chopra Has Never Been Sick – The New Yorker

By adminOctober 18, 2019Gene Therapy Clinics

Deepak Chopra, the doctor and self-help guru, who turns seventy-three next week, has written more than one book for every year he has been alive. Chopra was born in New Delhi and studied medicine in India before moving to the United States, in 1970. After practicing as an endocrinologist in Massachusetts, he became involved in the Transcendental Meditation movement. He eventually relocated to the West Coast, left T.M. behind, and became a spiritual adviser to Michael Jackson and other celebrities. A quarter century later, his books have sold millions of copies, and his television appearancesespecially alongside Oprah Winfreyhave made him perhaps the most prominent advocate for alternative medicine recognizable around the world.

Chopras work evinces a consistent skepticism toward the scientific consensushe has called into question whether evolution is merely a process of the mindand a firm belief that mental health can determine physical reality. He has written of a place called perfect healththe title of one of his books, and now the slogan for one of his wellness retreatsin which human beings can go somewhere internally that is free from disease, that never feels pain, that cannot age or die. These beliefs have made him controversial among doctors and scientists. In 1998, Chopra was awarded the satirical Ig Nobel Prize for his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic happiness. A random Chopra-quote generator is popular online, and Chopra has been called out for tweeting and writing phrases that, in the words of one paper, may have been constructed to impress upon the reader some sense of profundity at the expense of a clear exposition of meaning or truth. (Example: Attention and intention are the mechanics of manifestation.)

Chopras latest book is Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential, and it touches on a number of themes that have been present throughout his career: that human beings can become metahuman by reaching a new place of awareness; that science has served to block the way to the absolute freedom that metahuman holds out; and that self-improvement can move creation itself. I recently spoke by phone with Chopra. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed controversial remarks he has made about cancer and AIDS, his claim to have never been even a tiny bit sick, and whether there is a reality that exists independently of our own minds.

How do you define yourself and what you do?

I would say that to define oneself is to limit oneself. But Ive had various roles through my life. Im an internist, an endocrinologist, a neuro-endocrinologist; a teacher of integrative medicine and an author; a husband, a son, a father, a child.

I know you are a doctor, but does thinking about yourself as a doctor seem limiting to you in some way?

It seems limiting to me, but I would say I think of myself closer to a healer. Because, when I look at healing and the origins of the word healing, its related to the word whole. So wholeness means everything, including body, mind, and spirit, and the environment. I think of myself as a doctor who is interested in the physical body, but also in all aspects of human experiencehuman emotions, human thinking, human experience, and, ultimately, in understanding ourselves beyond the conditioned mind. So I would say I want to be a healer. Thats my aspiration.

At what point in your career did you become famous?

Some people think it happened with The Oprah Winfrey Show, in 1993, when she did a one-to-one with me for a book called Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, which then stayed on the New York Times best-seller list for thirty-some weeks. Actually, my most well-known book is The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. But I have to say that Oprah helped me a lot with the launch of my career, and shes been an ally ever since. Weve taught six million people meditation online together.

How many books have you written now?

This is my ninetieth book.

Would you say your writing process has changed between your first and your ninetieth?

Yes. My process was more structured in the past. And now I feel its more a flow than anything else. I used to always be told by media and publishers, and even the BBC when I was in England, to dumb everything down, and I used to, and I dont anymore. I feel free to say whatever I want to.

Ive been looking for a through line in your work, and the one that Ive noticed most is the idea that our minds can determine reality, or that theres a connection between our minds and reality. Is that a fair way of phrasing it?

Yes. The correct phrase would be that our experience of the world, and of our body, is a projection of our conditioned mind. So, when youre born, you have no human constructs. Youre looking at the world as a messy, gooey experience of color, form, shapes, sounds, pictures, smells, tastes, and random thoughts, which are yet not clear. But then a construction process begins. And so youre told, Youre male, youre of a religious background, ethnic background, nationality, gender. And that begins to create a provisional identity. And then that provisional identity has perceptual experiences but interprets them as the physical body and the world. But, in the deeper reality, theres no such thing. All there is is consciousness experiencing itself perceptually, as perceptual activity, which is species-specific. You dont see the same world as a painted lady, a species of butterfly that smells the world with an antenna, tastes the world with her feet. So what is the picture of the world to a snake that navigates through the experience of infrared?

If you and a snake perceive the world differently and experience it differently, does that mean that the world is actually different? Or does it just mean that we perceive it differently?

We can only experience a narrow band with our perceptual reality. So there is no such thing as a physical world. Thats where Im going. Our experience of the world is species- and culture-specific. And that is what we interpret as fundamental reality.

You once said, Consciousness is key to evolution and we will soon prove that. What did you mean?

You know, Ive said in the past that Darwinian evolution is a human constructthat, ultimately, consciousness drives at least human evolution. We can direct our evolution by the choices we make. And now that we know the science of epigenetics and neuroplasticity, we can see very clearly that, because we are self-aware, unlike other species, we can consciously direct our evolution. And that is what epigenetics and neuroplasticity are showing us.

Epigenetics is not that we can direct our evolution, though, is it?

Well, we can trigger the activity of certain genes and decrease the activity of certain other genes. So, when people practice self-reflection or mindful awareness, or they have the experience of transcendence, you can actually see which genes get activated and which genes get deactivated. Theres a mechanism to that. So you can actually activate the genes that cause self-regulation or homeostasis, and actually decrease the activity of the genes that cause inflammation. So what is healing? It is nothing but self-regulation or homeostasis. And what is disease is mostly linked to chronic inflammation. Only five per cent of disease-related gene mutations are fully penetrant, which means they guarantee the disease. That includes everything, from Alzheimers to cancer to autoimmune disease. Only five per cent is related to genetic determinism. The rest is influenced by life style. [Gerard Karsenty, the chair of the Department of Genetics and Development at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, says, Those assumptions include non-Mendelian diseases. It is for now hard to precisely assess in multigenic diseases the extent of the contribution of gene mutations and the one of lifestyle taken in a broad sense. This is particularly true for autoimmune diseases that hit at all ages, including during childhood and with a higher incidence in women.]

You tweeted, An emerging view, alternate to Darwins random mutations & natural selection is that consciousness may be the driver of complexity/evolution.

Correct. But there are a few people who agree with that.

So, you know, scientists generally are nave realists. Which means they look at the picture of the world, and thats what it is.

What do you do, if not that?

Ive become aware of that which is having the experience rather than the experience, which in spiritual traditions is called the self. The body, the mind, and the world are the self.

It seems like all of these things are fitting under the rubric of what we were talking about earlier about consciousness and reality. I know you once said something like, The moon doesnt exist unless someone sees it. Is that right?

No, no. That was Einsteins quote, by the way. He actually said, I refuse to believe that the moon doesnt exist if no one is looking at it. [In his biography of Einstein, Abraham Pais recounted an interaction he had with the physicist who asked me if I really believed that the moon exists only if I look at it.] Thats a statement coming from a nave realist. The moon that you and I see is a human experience. A horseshoe crab doesnt have that experience living in the depths of the ocean.

Einstein was incredulously asking someone whether they really believe that the moon only exists when its looked at. Correct?

Yes. The moon is an experience in human consciousness. The moon that you and I see is an experience in human consciousness. If there was no human consciousness, no body, mind to go with it, there would be no awareness of the moon.

But the moon would still be there, correct?

How do you prove that? How do you validate that? How do you disprove that? How do you prove an unobserved phenomenon?

The moon is a human story. The universe is a human story. Its a human construct, or human experiences, and interpreted by the human mind.

So this would be akin to the question, which Im sure weve all heard, that if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?

Correct. The sound is only in consciousness. Before that its a vibration of air molecules.

But the vibration of air molecules are occurring. Correct?

The vibration of air molecules is a human construct for a human mode of knowing and experience in human consciousness, so yes, they are constructs. The air molecules are as much of a construct as latitude and longitude, as The New Yorker, as Greenwich Mean Time, as money, as Wall Street, as Manhattan.

Im not sure what that means.

Human constructs are human ideas around modes of human knowing.

I see.

So an atom, a molecule, a force field, vibration of moleculesthese are all human constructs.

So its not that the tree is making a sound and we just happen to be there or not there to hear it. Its that the sound is only present to the degree that we are also present.

Actually, there is no tree and there is no sound and there is no body and there is no mind. Theres only consciousness thats having an experience. The rest is human constructs.

In your book Quantum Healing, you wrote, Research on spontaneous cures of cancer conducted in both the United States and Japan has shown that just before the cure appears, almost every patient experiences a dramatic shift in awareness. He knows that he will be healed and he feels that the force responsible is inside himself, but not limited to him. It extends beyond his personal boundaries throughout all of nature. Suddenly he feels, I am not limited to my body. All that exists around me is part of myself. At that moment, such patients apparently jumped to a new level of consciousness that prohibits the existence of cancer. Then the cancer cells either disappear, literally overnight in some cases, or at the very least stabilize without damaging the body any further.

So if you were a scientist and you saw one case of that, one in a billion, youd want to know the mechanism. And I feel the mechanism is a return to fundamental homeostasis, which means self-regulation, and total absence of fear, including the fear of death. Because your identity is no longer your body-mind.

And so is that more important than medicine?

No, I think medicine is very useful for acute illness. If you have pneumonia, I certainly tell you to take an antibiotic. You break your leg, Id have you see an orthopedic surgeon. If you have cancer, there are many types of chemotherapy and radiation and stem-cell therapies and immunotherapies that will help you. But, in todays age, if you dont understand that integrating that with good sleep, with meditation, with stress management, with mindfulness, with healthy emotions, with good food that actually changes the activity of your microbiomeif you dont conform to that, then youre out of date.

This is from your book Perfect Health: There exists in every person a place that is free from disease, that never feels pain, that cannot age or die. When you go to this place, limitations which all of us accept cease to exist. They are not even entertained as a possibility. This is the place called perfect health. Visits to this place may be very brief, or they may last for many years. Even the briefest visit, however, instills a profound change. As long as you are there, the assumptions that hold true for ordinary existence are altered. If you can be in this place, why would you necessarily need medicine to stay healthy?

We dont. Ive never used medicine myself. Im seventy-three years old, never been in the hospital, never had surgery. Cant even remember having a cold.

You would vaccinate your children, correct?

Of course I would, if Im in a surrounding where there is... You know, I would not vaccinate a child in New York City for polio, because it doesnt exist. But I would for measles, because it does exist.

Even if the child was in this state that you call perfect health?

The child is in a state of perfect health if its born normally. Its in a state of homeostasis. But we also live in a world that has environmental toxins, that has climate change, that has extinction of species, that has poison in our food chain, and that is ready for extinction. And all of that is the projection of our collective insanity.

You say, The cause of disease is often extremely complex, but one thing can be said for certain: no one has proved that getting sick is necessary.

Right. My own situation says that.

Because youve never been sick.

Yes.

Because youre in this place called perfect health?

Because Im aware of being aware and I can choose the experiences I want and I focus on love, compassion, joy, equanimity, and Im beyond the fear of personal death because I dont identify with my provisional, personal, so-called identity. The question you asked me when we started, How do you define yourself?I dont.

If we were all in this place, would we need medicine?

Yes. Because of the world weve created, we would, yes.

But not because

And, besides that, the ecosystem is a predatory play of consciousness where, you know, its a recycling of experience. Birth, death, illness: they are part of our provisional identity, but I dont identify with that identity. If you do not identify with the experience, if consciousness that is aware of experience, if the awareness of experience is not the experience, then youre intrinsically free of the experience. Do you know what Im saying?

Im not sure.

O.K. If you are aware of a thought, then youre not the thought, youre the awareness of the thought.

Dr. Stacia Kenet Lansman, whos a leading vaccine skeptic, cited your work as an inspiration. Do you

I have never been against vaccination.

I know you havent.

I have never spoken against medical treatment or intervention. You should do whatever works.

But do you worry that the idea that we can achieve this place of perfect health based on our own mental state can give license to anti-scientific thinking, like we see in the anti-vaccine movement?

You asked me if I worry about that. I dont worry about anything.

Which is why you havent gotten sick.

But people can take what I say and interpret it how they want to. Theres also a difference between scientism and science. Science is a very neutral activity: theories, observation, experiments, validation or invalidation. Period. I am a big proponent of science as the greatest adventure that human consciousness has taken. With scientism, its a different thing. Its being a fundamentalist and believing that science has all the solutions for human problems, including the existential dilemmas we have about our identity, our fear of old age, infirmity, and death.

There was an interview you gave many years ago, with Tony Robbins, about AIDS. Hed put forth the idea that H.I.V. is not the source of AIDS. You said, H.I.V. may be a precipitating agent in a susceptible host.The material agent is never the cause of the disease.It may be the final factor in inducing the full-blown syndrome in somebody whos already susceptible. He then asked,Butwhat made them susceptible? You answered, Their own interpretations of the whole reality that theyre participating in. Do you still feel that way about H.I.V. and AIDS?

I still feel that pathogens are precipitating factors in susceptible hosts, and that the outcome of illness and recovery is very complex. Now, having said that, when you can find a single agent that you can either attack or get rid of, then, of course, thats the solution. You know, you and I can be exposed to a pneumococcus and one person gets pneumonia and the other doesnt. So you can see that illness is not just one mechanistic happening, an encounter with the pathogen. It has to do with everything. Are you deeply rested, are you stressed, whats your nutrition, what are your personal relationships, what is your emotional stateall of these things have an influence. Every experience we have is ultimately metabolized into a molecule in the body. If I gave you bad news right now, your blood pressure would go up. In fact, if I sent a mean tweet to Mr. Trump, his blood pressure would go up even further.

You went on to say, I have a lot of patients with so-called AIDS, this label that weve given them, that are healthier than most of the population thats living in downtown Boston. They havent had a cold in ten years. And then Robbins said, But someone has told them they have this disease. You said, Yes, somebody has told them that. And Robbins says, And they bought into it. And you said, Exactly.

Listen. You can do a five-hour interviewyou can edit it into any way you want. You can take statements out of context.

No, thats the whole context.

And then you can say, This is what you said. Right? I had that experience myself as a physician. I said to the patient, You have cancer. Immediately, he looked like he was going to have a stroke. He was going to faint. And then I realized I read the wrong chart and I said, Sorry, that was somebody else. In two seconds I could see him recover from high blood pressure, sticky platelets, a jittery heart, and so on. So, you know, there is a lot more to reality than just a simple diagnosis and the label.

But to go on to the point youre just making now, about diagnosis, when Robbins said about the diagnosis of AIDS, People are accepting this, and when they accept this, what happens to them? You replied, When they accept it, then they make it happen. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Is that what youre saying?

Yeah. I might have said that. And, if I did, I regret it.

What I say today is, Believe the diagnosis, but dont believe the prognosis.

Youve been criticized before for selling products that people claim can help cure cancer or other diseases via meditation.

No, Ive never claimed that. No.

Never?

If you find a reference of that, let me know.

Well, there was a video called Return to Wholeness: A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Cancer. And the release about it says, Meditation and visualization are two of the most

Right. That video was a program to help people visualize and get into a relaxed state. I believe it was promoted as that on my Web site until I became aware of it, and then it was taken off.

And then you took it down?

Yeah. It was actually an artificial-intelligence program for meditation and self-regulation. And, by the way, used at many cancer-therapy clinics across the world as an aid to relaxation. [A member of Chopras staff named Cancer Treatment Centers of America as one of the clinics that use the video, but a representative for the treatment centers was unable to verify this.]

So, when you say in your best-sellers, like Super Brain, that increased self-awareness can reduce the risks of aging and help people achieve freedom and bliss, do you feel that youre doing that at all, or not?

I am. Of course. Im seventy-three years old, and I dont think my biological age is seventy-three. In fact, I have publicly declared that I am slowing down my aging process. And I think you can go on social media and look at all the pictures over the last few years and you can see, physically, that I am not looking as old, or feeling as old, as I was twenty-five years ago. I know what Ive said is outrageous, but, if people actually listen carefully, they will see that they determine a lot of what goes into well-being and health. And, ultimately, I dont think that health is physical at all. Because, ultimately, we are all going to die, and all going to have some kind of infirmity. But most of what we do is creating anxiety from living a full life in the present moment.

So you feel that youve reached a different stage of human existence?

Im just following the example of people who have lived long, healthy lives without any infirmity and died peacefully in meditation. In the Indian tradition, its called mahasamadhithe big meditation.

When youre selling books by saying that theres a network of intelligence in the human body that has the potential to defeat cancer, heart disease, and even aging itself, is that not selling to people that cancer can be beaten by something other than medicine?

Have you read the book? Or have you read criticisms of the book?

Ive read several of the books, and some criticisms.

So then you have to make up your own mind. Im not a purveyor of false hope. In fact, I think the term false hope is an oxymoron. Either you have hope or you dont. And those that have hope do better than those who dont.

So there is no false hope?

Its up to you how you interpret this, and it doesnt actually affect me. You know, Im at a stage in my life where Ive gone beyond criticism and/or flattery. I dont need that.

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Deepak Chopra Has Never Been Sick - The New Yorker

Opinion: Neighborhood Health Clinic contributes to the overall wellbeing of Naples – Naples Daily News

By adminOctober 18, 2019Stem Cell Clinic

Leslie Lascheid, CEO Published 12:44 p.m. ET Oct. 16, 2019

On Monday, October 7, 2019, Gregg Semenza, MD, Ph.D., Director of Vascular Research at the Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and American Cancer Society Research Professor, received a call he will never forget.

Shortly before 4 a.m., the Nobel Committee called Semenza to inform him that hed won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), the protein complex that turns off and on our genes in response to low oxygen levels.

Leslie Lascheid(Photo: rolandscarpa[photography])

Specifically, the role HIF-1 plays in cancer metastasis (spreading), metabolism, stem cell maintenance, immune evasion and chemotherapy resistance.

Awarded jointly to Semenza; William G. Kaelin Jr., Harvard University; and Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, University of Oxford in England, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; his finding has far-reaching implications for cancer treatment, coronary artery disease, blood disorders, diabetes, eye diseases and other conditions.

As the C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Semenzas relationship opened a window of opportunity for the clinic since C. Michael Armstrong, who funds Semenzas position serves on our executive board as treasurer. As a result of the connection, we were able to bring Semenza to tour the clinic and update our medical committee and volunteer physicians on his research inFebruary 2018.

Dr. Semenza has visited Naples as part of the Neighborhood Health Clinics ongoing efforts to provide the 250 physicians who volunteer at our campus access to the latest research, technological advances and practices available.

With Armstrong on the Board, our ability to bring such leaders to Naples has expanded. In fact, he arranged for Dr. Ben Carson, neurosurgeon and United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to tour and host a private physician seminar in 2014.

The importance of these visits is multifaceted. First, the information these leaders share not only benefits the uninsured workers our 385 medical/dental volunteers provide during 11,000 patient visits annually, but enhances the care they offer in their private practices and hospital service across the area.

Its also a meaningful way for the clinic to say thank you to the professionals who so generously donate their time and expertise providing more than 27,095 medical and dental procedures annually.

Educational opportunities like these also provide another avenue for the clinic to fully engage our board members, as well as show our supporters that our charity is a good steward of the resources entrusted to us. Finally, its another way the clinic contributes to the overall wellbeing of Naples.

When my parents Dr. Bill and Nancy Lascheid started the Neighborhood Health Clinic in 1999, they couldnt have imagined that we would provide more than 107,000 patient visits in the years that followed.

They did see that we would continue to expand to meet the growing needs of the areas uninsured workers, which now exceeds 50,000 women and men.

So, as we congratulate clinic-friend Dr. Semenza on his accomplishments, we also honor all the medical researchers working diligently to ensure nonprofits like the Neighborhood Health Clinic truly do provide our communities both hope and healing.

For more information, including volunteer opportunities, please visit http://www.NeighborhoodHealthClinic.org, or call 239.261.6600.

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New research center to explore muscle health and disease – Newswise

By adminOctober 18, 2019Stem Cell Clinic

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Newswise With collaborating labs across the University of Washington campus and at other Seattle-area institutions and beyond, the Center for Translational Muscle Research will encompass a myriad of muscle science and disease investigations. Studies will range from the basics of muscle-related proteins, genes and cell biology to the design of potential treatments for devastating muscle diseases. At present, only symptom management and supportive care is available for many of these conditions.

The latest advances in such areas as gene therapy and stem cell biology are putting medical science closer to finding options for people with as-yet incurable muscle conditions that cause disability and shorten lives. A few of these disorders eventually result in neuromuscular breathing weakness or failure requiring mechanical ventilation.

What the new muscle research center offers patients with these diseases, many of whom are racing against time, is hope, said center director Michael Regnier, professor of bioengineering, a jointly operated department of the University of Washington College of Engineering and the UW School of Medicine.

A few of the several diseases for which the new center initially will be seeking answers are

Time is of the essence for many patients eagerly awaiting treatment progress in muscle diseases that are characterized by a decline and weakening.

Clinical partners include pediatric experts in rare genetic disorders and physical medicine physicians who care for patients with neuromuscular disorders at the UW Medical Center Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic and other settings.

One of several areas in which the center is expected to take a major leadership role is in growing human stem cells, some of which will be derived from patient cells, to produce disease-in-a-lab-dish models. These models will improve understanding of how the disease pathology begins and develops, and will also serve for testing possible treatments.

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New research center to explore muscle health and disease - Newswise

Magenta Therapeutics Appoints Jan Pinkas as Senior Vice President, Head of Translational Sciences and Announces Transition of Chief Scientific Officer…

By adminOctober 18, 2019Stem Cell Clinic

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Magenta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MGTA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel medicines to bring the curative power of stem cell transplant to more patients, today announced the appointment of Jan Pinkas, Ph.D., as Senior Vice President, Translational Sciences. The Company also announced that Mike Cooke, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, will leave Magenta to pursue other opportunities.

We have made tremendous progress at Magenta, with two clinical programs in multiple trials and with our targeted antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for patient preparation advancing toward the clinic, said Jason Gardner, D. Phil., Chief Executive Officer and President, Magenta. Jan is an expert drug developer who will provide critical translational input and help us accelerate the advancement of our programs as we work to make cures possible for more patients.

Magenta is uniquely positioned as the only company taking a comprehensive approach to unlocking the power of stem cell transplant medicine, said Dr. Pinkas. I am very excited to be part of the team that is building and expanding upon this foundational and innovative work to bring potentially transformative therapies to patients.

Dr. Pinkas is a seasoned scientist with deep expertise in leading drug development programs, specifically ADCs. Prior to joining Magenta, he was Head of Translational Research & Development at Immunogen, where he led nonclinical and translational research and development-related activities for all programs in discovery through late-stage clinical development. Dr. Pinkas earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Johns Hopkins University and his doctorate in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

As Magenta has evolved into a clinical-stage company with a robust pipeline of preclinical assets, Mike has made tremendous contributions. He has built a world-class research organization and advanced our pipeline. Mike and I agreed that now, with a well-established Magenta research platform that is generating strong conditioning ADCs, validated targets, and discovery biology, it is the right time for Mike to explore other opportunities. We wish him well in his new adventure and will always be grateful for his scientific contributions, added Dr. Gardner.

I am very proud of Magentas rapid progress since our launch three years ago, and I am particularly proud of the cutting-edge scientific work that has come from our platform, said Dr. Cooke. I am confident that the scientific groundwork we have laid will help ensure that Magenta achieves its vision to transform the lives of many patients.

About Magenta TherapeuticsHeadquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Magenta Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel medicines for patients with autoimmune diseases, blood cancers and genetic diseases. By creating a platform focused on critical areas of unmet need, Magenta Therapeutics is pioneering an integrated approach to allow more patients to receive one-time, curative therapies by making the process more effective, safer and easier.

Forward-Looking StatementThis press release may contain forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. The use of words such as may, will, could, should, expects, intends, plans, anticipates, believes, estimates, predicts, projects, seeks, endeavor, potential, continue or the negative of such words or other similar expressions can be used to identify forward-looking statements. The express or implied forward-looking statements included in this press release are only predictions and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, without limitation risks set forth under the caption Risk Factors in Magentas Registration Statement on Form S-1, as updated by Magentas most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although Magenta believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, except as required by law, neither Magenta nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements included in this press release. Any forward-looking statement included in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it was made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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Magenta Therapeutics Appoints Jan Pinkas as Senior Vice President, Head of Translational Sciences and Announces Transition of Chief Scientific Officer...

An Oncologist Asks When Its Time to Say Enough – The New York Times

By adminOctober 17, 2019Uncategorized

Raza documents the failure of chemotherapy to help the great majority of patients with metastatic disease, and the immense cost and suffering involved. She castigates pharmaceutical companies (as have many others) for concentrating on drugs that often fail and at best achieve, on average, a few extra months of life. She quotes research that in the United States, over 14 years, 42.4 percent of the 9.5 million cancer cases had lost all of their life savings within two-plus years.

Raza also accuses research scientists and her fellow oncologists of unshakable hubris, convinced as we are that we possess the power to untangle the intricacies of as complex a disease as cancer. She dismisses much current research with the comment that it is pure arrogance to think the problem can be solved by a few molecular biologists; research, she says, should be based on studying humans, not mice. She goes on to say: Our lives are at stake. Our future is at stake.

Cancer is overwhelmingly a disease of old age, even though ads for cancer charities invariably show pictures of children and young women. It is worth noting that most of the patients whose stories Raza recounts are relatively young as well. She writes, An effective treatment for cancer can only be developed essentially after we understand how life works, how we age, since aging and cancer are two sides of the same coin. Fine words, but the reader can be forgiven for feeling that they smack of the same hubris afflicting those molecular biologists, toiling away in the lab with their mouse models.

So what is the answer? Raza suggests the first cancer cell that gives rise to a tumor is like a grain of sand that precipitates the collapse of a sand pile. Research, she says, should concentrate on finding these early changes, before an actual tumor develops. There is research going on along these lines, but Raza argues that its funding is insufficient compared with the resources being poured into new drug development.

A quantum leap is required, and this will involve genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics; indeed, panomics. It will also involve smart bras and special toilets real-life technologies in various stages of development, she assures us. I am in no position to know whether these technologies represent a paradigm shift in the treatment of cancer, or whether they are akin to the magical thinking that geoengineering will save us from the unfolding apocalypse of climate change, or to the gullibility that gave rise to the Theranos scandal.

CRISPR Therapeutics and KSQ Therapeutics Announce License Agreement to Advance Companies’ Respective Cell Therapy Programs in Oncology – SynBioBeta

By adminOctober 17, 2019Uncategorized

CRISPR Therapeutics to receive non-exclusive access to certain KSQ IP for its allogeneic CAR-T programs

KSQ Therapeutics to receive non-exclusive access to certain CRISPR IP for its autologous cell therapies, including its existing eTILTM cell franchise

ZUG, Switzerland & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.(BUSINESS WIRE)CRISPR Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CRSP), a biopharmaceutical company focused on creating transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases, and KSQ Therapeutics, a biotechnology company using CRISPR technology to enable the companys powerful drug discovery engine to achieve higher probabilities of success in drug development, today announced a license agreement whereby CRISPR Therapeutics will gain access to KSQ intellectual property (IP) for editing certain novel gene targets in its allogeneic oncology cell therapy programs, and KSQ will gain access to CRISPR Therapeutics IP for editing novel gene targets identified by KSQ as part of its current and future eTILTM (engineered tumor infiltrating lymphocyte) cell programs. The financial terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

We are thrilled to gain access to CRISPR Therapeutics foundational IP estate through this agreement, said David Meeker, M.D., Chief Executive Officer at KSQ Therapeutics. Our eTILTM programs involve editing gene targets in human TILs that were discovered at KSQ by applying our proprietary CRISPRomics approach to immune cells in multiple in vivo models. This agreement clears an important path for us to be able to bring these programs through development and commercialization, leveraging CRISPR Therapeutics proprietary editing technology.

The gene targets within the scope of the license agreement were identified using KSQs proprietary CRISPRomics drug discovery engine, which allows genome-scale, in vivo validated, unbiased drug discovery. These specific targets were uncovered in screens to identify genetic edits that could enhance the functionality and quality of adoptive cell therapies in oncology.

KSQ has built an industry-leading platform to screen for novel gene targets using its technology, and has identified a group of targets that could help unlock the full potential of adoptive cell therapy in oncology, said Samarth Kulkarni, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at CRISPR Therapeutics. As a result of this license agreement, CRISPR Therapeutics will have the opportunity to bring these novel targets into our leading allogeneic CAR-T development platform to further strengthen our future programs in this important therapeutic area.

About KSQ Therapeutics

KSQ Therapeutics is using CRISPR technology to enable the companys powerful drug discovery engine to achieve higher probabilities of success in drug development. The company is advancing a pipeline of tumor- and immune-focused drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, across multiple drug modalities including targeted therapies, adoptive cell therapies and immuno-therapies. KSQs proprietary CRISPRomics drug discovery engine enables genome-scale, in vivo validated, unbiased drug discovery across broad therapeutic areas. KSQ was founded by thought leaders in the field of functional genomics and pioneers of CRISPR screening technologies, and the company is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit the companys website at http://www.ksqtx.com.

About CRISPR Therapeutics

CRISPR Therapeutics is a leading gene editing company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform. CRISPR/Cas9 is a revolutionary gene editing technology that allows for precise, directed changes to genomic DNA. CRISPR Therapeutics has established a portfolio of therapeutic programs across a broad range of disease areas including hemoglobinopathies, oncology, regenerative medicine and rare diseases. To accelerate and expand its efforts, CRISPR Therapeutics has established strategic collaborations with leading companies including Bayer AG, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and ViaCyte, Inc. CRISPR Therapeutics AG is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, CRISPR Therapeutics, Inc., and R&D operations based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and business offices in London, United Kingdom. For more information, please visit http://www.crisprtx.com.

CRISPR Therapeutics Forward-Looking Statement

This press release may contain a number of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including statements regarding CRISPR Therapeutics expectations about any or all of the following: (i) the intellectual property coverage and positions of CRISPR Therapeutics, its licensors and third parties and (ii) the therapeutic value, development, and commercial potential of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technologies and therapies. Without limiting the foregoing, the words believes, anticipates, plans, expects and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Although CRISPR Therapeutics believes that such statements are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations, forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and they are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk. Actual performance and results may differ materially from those projected or suggested in the forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: the outcomes for each CRISPR Therapeutics planned clinical trials and studies may not be favorable; that one or more of CRISPR Therapeutics internal or external product candidate programs will not proceed as planned for technical, scientific or commercial reasons; that future competitive or other market factors may adversely affect the commercial potential for CRISPR Therapeutics product candidates; uncertainties inherent in the initiation and completion of preclinical studies for CRISPR Therapeutics product candidates; availability and timing of results from preclinical studies; whether results from a preclinical trial will be predictive of future results of the future trials; uncertainties about regulatory approvals to conduct trials or to market products; uncertainties regarding the intellectual property protection for CRISPR Therapeutics technology and intellectual property belonging to third parties; and those risks and uncertainties described under the heading Risk Factors in CRISPR Therapeutics most recent annual report on Form 10-K, and in any other subsequent filings made by CRISPR Therapeutics with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. CRISPR Therapeutics disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, other than to the extent required by law.

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CRISPR Therapeutics and KSQ Therapeutics Announce License Agreement to Advance Companies' Respective Cell Therapy Programs in Oncology - SynBioBeta

Accomplishments of Dr. Steven Rosenberg in Cancer Immunotherapy Inspire Young Researchers in Japan & XIV Fujio Cup Quiz on Stem Cells Is Won by…

By adminOctober 17, 2019Uncategorized

TOKYO Utilizing the capability of ones own immune system to tackle cancer, an out-of-the box idea was the brain child of Dr. Steven Rosenberg almost three decades ago. His initiative which paved way for a new chapter in oncology, inspired many young scientists and clinicians in the NCRM NICHE 2019 held in Tokyo, Japan, as his acceptance speech in the Edogawa NICHE Prize ceremony was videocast.

NCRM NICHE, an active knowledge gaining academic event since 2006 in which young scholars from all over the world compete for the Fujio Cup Quiz (FCQ) in regenerative medicine is evolving to be an open innovation platform according to Dr. Shojiro Katoh, Chairperson of Edogawa Evolutionary Lab of Science (www.eels.tokyo), a co-host. He added that the FCQ motivated his team research on 16 different themes in Regenerative Medicine in various clinical specialties, among which two have completed clinical pilot studies with successful outcome viz., corneal endothelial regeneration and urethral stricture repair.

The XIV edition of FCQ contest that witnessed teams from Malaysia, Indonesia and India in the finals, was won by Reshma Romanas and Aayurshi Agrahari of Kasturba Medical College, India. Alumni of the FCQ are now eligible to nominate the awardees for Edogawa NICHE Prize which was established in 2018 to honour scientists or clinicians who develop novel solutions in healthcare, based on inter-disciplinary interactions. Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg, Chief of surgery, National Cancer Institute, NIH, USA is the recipient of the award in 2019. The award portrays such accomplished role models to the FCQ Elites according to the organizers who have instituted Joyce & James Till Travel Grant with a generous grant by Prof James Till, that supports travel of yesteryears FCQ Elites, who are now accomplished researchers in their own rights to meet and inspire the FCQ Elites of today, thus bringing together science and generations across nations.

NCRM NICHE is supported by a consortium with EELS as knowledge partners and JBM Inc., as industry partners based in Tokyo which has set up a hybrid cell culture cum biomaterials lab for taking forward the cell therapy and tissue engineering innovations to bed side, with future plans to propagate them globally through networking with like-minded academic and industry partners.

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Accomplishments of Dr. Steven Rosenberg in Cancer Immunotherapy Inspire Young Researchers in Japan & XIV Fujio Cup Quiz on Stem Cells Is Won by...

Tucson Tech: Ventana Medical Systems founder tells the rest of the story in new book – Arizona Daily Star

By adminOctober 17, 2019Uncategorized

If youve been in Tucson long, you may have heard the story of how Ventana Medical Systems was founded here more than 30 years ago by a University of Arizona pathologist who invented an automated instrument to deliver fast diagnostics for cancer.

And you may have also heard what seemed to be the end of the story: How Ventana grew into a multi-billion-dollar public company and was acquired by Swiss drug giant Roche for $3.4 billion in 2008.

Now, company founder and UA professor emeritus Dr. Thomas Grogan has penned the rest of the story.

Grogans new book, Chasing the Invisible: A Doctors Quest to Abolish the Last Unseen Cancer Cell is a remarkable story, a loving memoir with elements of a spy thriller, a medical whodunit and a compelling business story.

It also has an intriguing cast of characters, including Grogans own mother, former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, an Inuit woman, intrepid scientists and Wall Street money men.

Grogan, 74, who retired from the UA about nine years ago and stepped down in 2017 from active duty at what is now Roche Tissue Diagnostics, said he may have learned as much about himself as he did about book publishing during the writing process.

Its been a great experience. The amazing part of writing a memoir is you relive what happened, Grogan said. And my story is one part personal, one part diagnostic medicine, one part technology, one part entrepreneurship and one part big pharma and Roche.

But getting the book published wasnt easy, said Grogan, who noted that his work was rejected by a dozen traditional publishers.

He finally reached a deal with Virginia-based Koehler Books to print the book under a co-publishing deal.

The initial critique from Koehlers editor was decidedly mixed.

The editor said, Okay, its interesting, its well-written but its a lousy memoir because you dont talk about yourself, Grogan said.

At one point in his draft, the editor demanded Grogan explain a passage noting that he had grown up living in dangerous places in dangerous times.

Finally I admitted to him, if I tell that part of the story I have to say something I was raised in the family to never talk about that my father was a CIA officer in the Middle East and Africa, Grogan said.

With his mothers blessing, Grogan detailed his familys life on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus in the early 1950s, when Cypriots rebelled against the last vestiges of British rule as Greece and Turkey began fighting for control.

Grogan recounted how his mother fearlessly drove the family car through an angry mob of Cypriots to deliver him and his brother to a Christmas pageant rehearsal at church.

Theres this whole episode where were attacked by a mob, and my mom says, Get down! And hits the accelerator, he said.

Grogans book starts with a scene about five years ago, when his 90-year-old mother asks him for advice after doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in her skull they believed may have been a recurrence of earlier breast cancer and suggested she consider hospice care.

She decided to get further tests and instead of metastatic breast cancer, the tumor was identified as a large B-cell lymphoma.

Well, I dont see giving up yet, she says. After all, they havent done a biopsy and we dont know the nature of the beast yet.

After testing with Ventana instruments and treatment with a Roche drug, Grogans mother recovered and remains disease-free today, Grogan said.

Grogan relates his inspiring meeting with a Libyan doctor who treated Gadhafis sister and later won funding for Ventana instruments from late dictator.

He also tells the story of how during a fishing trip to Alaska he met a native Inuit woman with cancer.

Grogan helped her understand the importance of testing to get the right treatment, and after her successful treatment, the need to keep the invisible disease from recurring using the analogy of how mosquitoes return every summer.

The book also describes Ventanas diagnostic technology in detail, but in terms most laymen can understand.

Grogans story of how he started Ventana seems to parallel his own life, overcoming obstacles, fighting the unseen, never giving up.

He relates how, after filing for a business license to start Ventana in 1985, a UA lawyer told him he could already be a felon because state law prohibited state employees from forming private businesses while on the state payroll.

That law was changed to accommodate Ventana and has led to the formation of countless faculty startups.

Grogan details how he was rejected by 35 investor groups before finding investors to bankroll Ventanas development, how the company went public and at one point losses had piled up to nearly $50 million, and how convincing the famed Cleveland Clinic to adopt the companys instruments helped the company break into the market.

He details how Roches advances were initially viewed with skepticism but what began as a hostile takeover put the company on a path to global acceptance as a standard of cancer diagnostics.

Despite his editors best efforts to get Grogan to talk about himself, he spends much of the book praising the efforts of colleagues, including his UA pathology department head, the late Dr. Jack Layton, for encouraging his work; key investor John Patience for his unwavering support; and his UA lab team and fellow pathologists for their hands-on work to develop and perfect the game-changing diagnostics.

Grogan does acknowledge he has one talent.

I had my own talents, but my success had to do with the ability to create alliances, Grogan, said, describing how he lured top talent with the promise of transforming medicine.

The reason to read this is, theres something to learn about global medicine, something to learn about how it is that this hidden world is really something thats actionable, he said.

Because its like the story I tell about the Inuit woman theres a strength you gain when you know what youre dealing with.

The Medicine Cabinet Of The Future: If You Can Imagine A Drug, This Company Can Make It – Forbes

By adminOctober 17, 2019Uncategorized

Codexis CEO John Nicols has made his company a protein engineering powerhouse, and in doing so has become an important resource for the biopharma industry. If you can imagine a drug, chances are his company can help make it.

I have previously written how big pharma has been slow to innovate and adopt the latest synthetic biology tools, which could vastly speed the creation of new treatments and vaccines.

Im changing my mind.

Last week, on the heels of SynBioBeta 2019, Codexis held its annual Protein Engineering Forum in Palo Alto, California. The forum brought together leading scientists and engineers to share the latest in protein engineering, which is being revolutionized by the tools of synthetic biology. The forum aimed to see where science is taking proteins, and what proteins can offer the world.

Codexis CEO John Nicols opened the two-day forum by remarking on the extraordinary success protein engineering has had in bringing real-world applications to market faster and more often, and the hope that the meeting would represent another milestone in the progress of proteins.

It certainly seemed to be. Here are a few examples of how biopharma is making the jump to lightspeed:

Accelerating evolution to make drugs with biology: I recently wrote about Nobel Laureate Frances Arnolds pioneering principles for nudging nature to do what she does best: evolve. Merck has taken this to heart by using her directed evolution methods to go from chemistry-based to biology-based production of its diabetes drug, Januvia. The result: an efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly process for manufacturing a range of drugs.

Unleashing computers: To respond to a wider range of more complex diseases, companies like Amgen are making their R&D pipeline more flexible and higher volume. To do this, they are integrating the latest in computation and experimental methods. This promises to speed the development of protein therapeutics, which can replace abnormal or deficient proteins in diseases like arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and blood disorders.

Cascade reactions: The ability to engineer extremely effective enzymes the proteins that catalyze chemical transformations allows biologists to put many steps in a single pot, going from starting materials to finished product in one go. This makes the process more sustainable and more efficient; to paraphrase one participant, If its sustainable, its also cheaper. Researchers at biopharma giant GSK reported that most of their projects are going in this direction. GSKs commitment to the environment is reflected in giving projects an environmental score and cascade reactions are a green dream.

The DNA to build it all: Using the power of silicon to write the DNA needed for just about any biopharma application, CEO Emily Leproust described how her company helped researchers develop a rapid response tool to make antibodies to fight global viral threats like Zika and Ebola. The company also spun out Twist Biopharma with an emphasis on creating new antibody drugs for difficult-to-target diseases.

The protein revolution isnt limited to biopharma, either. Here are a few other areas highlighted at the forum where protein design is having big impacts:

Cannabinoids: Ive previously written about the benefits of brewing cannabinoids as you would beer, such as producing rare cannabinoids not easily purified from plants. Companies like Invizyne are going one step further by taking biology pathways out of cells and into cell-free systems. Invizyne is just one player in a field of heavy-hitters pursuing cannabinoids, including Amyris, Ginkgo Bioworks, and Intrexon.

Bioplastics: Theres a buzz about bioplastics. Protein engineers are evolving enzymes to break down plastic in the environment. Conversely, they can and have created bioplastics from biological sources, ones that are more biodegradable than their petrochemical cousins.

Biofuels: In the earliest days of synthetic biology, pioneers like Jay Keasling went after biofuels. As a commodity chemical, this was a very challenging first target: its a commodity chemical that must be produced on a tremendous scale, and compete economically with the petrochemical industry. (Thats why much of the industry retreated to higher-value chemicals from the top of the barrel.) Fast-forward to 2019: James Liao, Keasling, and other researchers have tools to radically change the way we ferment ethanol and other fossil fuel replacements, hinting at the new golden age of biofuels to come.

What does this mean for manufacturing?

The science and technology we use to make proteins are going to transform manufacturing, but how? Will manufacturing continue to require central manufacturing facilities with their high capital equipment costs? Or are markets going to benefit from faster, cheaper, and better ways of making chemicals and materials?

We think about this all the time, said one participant. We see a day when, instead of large, expensive manufacturing facilities, you will have your entire biomanufacturing platform on a skid. Add glucose and your enzyme cocktail, and it will produce your final product, maybe even in pill form. You could pick it up, put it on a plane, send it anywhere in the world that its needed.

Where do big data and AI fit in?

Industry has invested billions in R&D to bring products to the market. In doing so, it has accumulated enormous amounts of data. Much of that data is about failed attempts, such as drug candidates that fail in the late stages of clinical testing. Companies tend to share info about successes, but not about failures. So all that data remains locked in company databases, waiting for the day we can learn from it with computer algorithms and other sources of big data.

How can we encourage companies to share with the rest of the world? Can the government play a role in providing sharing incentives? If companies could find good ways to share that information, with the right incentives for everyone involved, it would open up a huge range of new possibilities for the industry. Maybe advanced encryption techniques could allow companies to share some data and conceal others.

What does it all mean for you and me?

Some of us are already benefiting from advances in protein science, such as the diabetes medicine Januvia I mentioned above, where the same product is now made with reduced pollution and waste. But for others, the revolution in protein engineering is shortening the time it takes to take a drug from bench to bedside.

At the Codexis forum, there was a confidence on the part of the biopharma participants that synthetic biology tools and technologies will soon be able to make just about any drug or vaccine you can think of. As one participant put it, When were asked, Do you have an enzyme that can make that?, the answer isnt yes or no. The answer is yes or not yet.

In the future, we can expect entirely new products. For example, an engineered probiotic is now available to prevent hangovers.

Perhaps the most important area is the one we can all relate to the most: human disease. Gjalt Huisman, Senior VP of Strategic Development at Codexis, has spent most of his career in biotherapeutics, and he shared an experience he had at a conference on phenylketonuria a rare but potentially devastating disease.

I was speaking at a conference with patients and their family members in the audience, as well as scientists, Huisman said. After our session, this older man came up to me and said, simply, My granddaughter has PKU, and we count on you. It was a revelation to me, and a reminder of the big job we have ahead of us in the real world.

With a little courage and the right tools, biopharma is poised to make me a believer.

Acknowledgment: Thank you to Kevin Costa for additional research and reporting in this post.

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The Medicine Cabinet Of The Future: If You Can Imagine A Drug, This Company Can Make It - Forbes