GM Rice Could Fight Diarrhea

A genetically modified strain of rice produces an antibody that helps mice fight off rotaviruses. Genetically modified rice could help protect children and the immunocompromised from diarrheal disease, according to a study published last week (August 8) in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. More than 600,000 children die of rotavirus infections each year, and researchers say the rice could eventually supplement currently available vaccines and other treatments to reduce the rates of rotavirus-related death. To produce their virus-fighting rice, the researchers inserted genes from llamas in order to get the plants to produce a key section of a rotavirus-targeting antibody, MucoRice-ARP1. This antibody fragment survives digestion, making oral administration possible. The researchers tested the product in mice, giving them water mixed with rice powder before inoculating the animals with rotavirus. The mice that had received the genetically modified rice water had less diarrhea and a lower viral load than those not given the treatment. There are already two vaccines available for rotavirus, but they have relatively low efficacy, possibly because they do not work well in immuno-compromised individuals. The researchers suggest that their GM rice could supplement the vaccines, providing protection for the immunocompromised and infants who are at particularly high risk of diarrheal disease. But Mathuram Santosham, who studies rotaviruses at Johns Hopkins University, told SciDev.net that substantially more research is needed to understand the potential impact of this intervention in humans. She added that, in the meantime, it is important to remember that we have highly effective tools, which are available now, including rotavirus vaccines, oral rehydration solution, and zinc supplementation. Reaction: I believe that this breakthrough will be a very effective and very helpful progress in the world of science especially in the field of medicine and healthcare. Since diarrhea is common in children located especially in the financially-challenged regions of the world, and rotavirus vaccines are given to every child for immunization completion, this project will eventually decrease cases of diarrhea, and maybe even deaths due to exposure to rotaviruses. Not only is this very helpful to the children, but the community and/or the parents themselves may benefit from this by acquiring the skills of developing, farming, and harvesting the said GM rice. However, not all successful researches on mice subjects are successful on humans, therefore I recommend that further research, evaluation and confirmation shall be done. Source/Reference: Yandell, Kate. October 13, 2013. The Scientist Website, http://www.the-

scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/37019/title/GM-Rice-Could-Fight-Diarrhea/

In mouse model, researchers regrow hair, cartilage, bone, soft tissues

Young animals are known to repair their tissues effortlessly, but can this capacity be recaptured in adults? A new study from researchers at the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's Hospital suggests that it can. By reactivating a dormant gene called Lin28a, which is active in embryonic stem cells, researchers were able to regrow hair and repair cartilage, bone, skin and other soft tissues in a mouse model. The study also found that Lin28a promotes tissue repair in part by enhancing metabolism in mitochondria - the energy-producing engines in cells - suggesting that a mundane cellular "housekeeping" function could open new avenues for developing regenerative treatments. Findings were published online by the journal Cell. "Efforts to improve wound healing and tissue repair have mostly failed, but altering metabolism provides a new strategy which we hope will prove successful," says the study's senior investigator George Q. Daley, MD, PhD, director of Boston Children's Stem Cell Transplantation Program and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "Most people would naturally think that growth factors are the major players in wound healing, but we found that the core metabolism of cells is rate-limiting in terms of tissue repair," adds PhD candidate Shyh-Chang Ng, co-first author on the paper with Hao Zhu, MD, both scientists in the Daley Lab. "The enhanced metabolic rate we saw when we reactivated Lin28a is typical of embryos during their rapid growth phase." Lin28, first discovered in worms, functions in all complex organisms. It is abundant in embryonic stem cells, expressed strongly during early embryo formation and has been used to reprogram skin cells into stem cells. It acts by binding to RNA and regulating how genes are translated into proteins. To better understand how Lin28a promotes tissue repair, the researchers systematically looked at what specific RNAs it binds to. They initially had their sights on a tiny RNA called Let-7, which is known to promote cell maturation and aging. "We were confident that Let-7 would be the mechanism," says Shyh-Chang. "But there was something else involved." Specifically, the researchers found that Lin28a also enhances the production of metabolic enzymes in mitochondria, the structures that produce energy for the cell. By revving up a cell's bioenergetics, they found, Lin28a helps generate the energy needed to stimulate and grow new tissues. "We already know that accumulated defects in mitochondrial metabolism can lead to aging in many cells and tissues," says Shyh-Chang. "We are showing the converse - that enhancement of mitochondrial metabolism can boost tissue repair and regeneration, recapturing the remarkable repair capacity of juvenile animals." Further experiments showed that bypassing Lin28a and directly activating mitochondrial metabolism with a small-molecule compound also had the effect of enhancing wound healing. This suggests the possibility of inducing regeneration and promoting tissue repair with drugs. "Since Lin28 itself is difficult to introduce into cells, the fact that we were able to activate mitochondrial metabolism pharmacologically gives us hope," Shyh-Chang says. Lin28A didn't universally induce regeneration in all tissues. Heart tissue showed little effect, and while the researchers were able to enhance the regrowth of finger tips in newborn mice, they could not in adults. "Lin28a could be a key factor in constituting a healing cocktail," says Shyh-Chang, "but there are other embryonic factors that remain to be found."

Reaction: This research is quite interesting because it gives a chance for adult animals to mend broken parts of their bodies, maybe even growing a whole limb, and we all know that humans are longing for growing limbs and mending broken body parts at this period of time. But this study also needs further revaluation and confirmation tests since not all genes from a mouse can be found in humans, let alone introduce them to the human body. However, if by chance the scientist/s working on this study will be able to introduce the gene to the human body, there is a huge possibility that the human immune system will deal with the gene as a foreign body, thus putting the human subjects at risk. Source/Reference: November 11, 2013. The Medical News Today Website,

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/268554.php