“Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) and NABT to Launch Stem Cell ... - Earthtimes” plus 4 more

Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) and NABT to Launch Stem Cell ... - Earthtimes
Shape of things to come: Structure of HIV coat could lead to new drugs - Science Centric
Peirone’s building new digs - The Spokesman-Review
Public in Chatham to learn about wild edible plants - Recorder Community Newspapers
Structure of HIV coat may help develop new drugs - Top News India

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Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) and NABT to Launch Stem Cell ... - Earthtimes

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 05:05 AM PST

DENVER - (Business Wire) The Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) and National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) will launch the first Stem Cell Education Summit on Saturday, November 14, as part of the NABT's 2009 Professional Development Conference at the Sheraton Denver.

The Summit will cover a wide range of topics relevant to field including science, ethics and policy. Nobel Laureate Mario R. Capecchi, PhD, Co-Winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine will provide the keynote address. Representative Diana DeGette will discuss "US Stem Cell Science & Policy: Past, Present and Future." There will be additional panels and workshops covering science, ethics, policy and career opportunities.

Designed to complement the offerings of an established professional conference for biology teachers, the Stem Cell Education Summit will host stem cell experts from multiple disciplines in a unique, interactive learning environment. "The Genetics Policy Institute is very pleased to partner with NABT for this important educational event," said Bernard Siegel, Executive Director of GPI. "Utilizing our network of experts in science, law and policy, GPI will deliver, to this outstanding audience, the critical information they require to introduce these important discoveries into their classrooms."

Bunny Jaskot, President- Elect of the NABT said, "Understanding biology's role in the broader scope of education, NABT recognizes how the efforts of teachers positively influences students, affects communities, and impacts the environment. By working with major partners like GPI, NABT has been instrumental in raising awareness and educating the public on issues ranging from medical and technological advancement to global issues such as conservation and sustainability."

For more information, visit www.stemcelleducationsummit.org

About NABT

For the last 70 years, this non-profit association has served biology teachers around the world, upholding scientific integrity and fighting for the right to teach accurate and current science without penalty from political or religious influence on content. For more information, visit www.nabt.org.

About GPI

Genetics Policy Institute was formed in 2003 with the mission of promoting and defending stem cell research and its application in medicine to develop therapeutics and cures for many otherwise intractable diseases and disorders. GPI pursues this mission through its flagship annual World Stem Cell Summit, publication of the World Stem Cell Report, special projects, speaking engagements, teaching initiatives and strategic collaborations. For more information, visit www.genpol.org.

Genetics Policy Institute
Bernard Siegel, 305-801-4928
bernard@genpol.org

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Shape of things to come: Structure of HIV coat could lead to new drugs - Science Centric

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 06:31 AM PST

Structural biologists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have described the architecture of the complex of protein units that make up the coat surrounding the HIV genome and identified in it a 'seam' of functional importance that previously went unrecognised. Those findings, reported today in Cell, could point the way to new treatments for blocking HIV infection.

The researchers used a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance and cryoEM, which are standard structural biology tools, to see both the overall shape and the atomic details of capsid protein (CA) assembly. It takes about 1,500 copies of CA to make the coat, or capsid, that surrounds the genome of the AIDS virus.

'This strategy allowed us to see both the forest and the trees,' explained study co-author Peijung Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Structural Biology, Pitt School of Medicine. 'Knowing what the CA protein looks like and how the capsid is built will allow scientists to rationally design therapeutic compounds that interfere with assembly of the protein and affect its function.'

Capsid proteins, and particularly the interfaces or seams where one connects to another, are very important for assembling and disassembling the HIV coat, said senior author Angela Gronenborn, Ph.D., chair, Department of Structural Biology, and director, University of Pittsburgh Centre for HIV Protein Interactions. The study indicates that these seams provide the flexibility to dismantle the coat efficiently after viral entry into the host and to put it back together when new viruses emerge from the cell.

'Our lab experiments show that if we replace a few of the pivotal stitches in the seam by mutation, the resulting viruses are less infectious or even non-infectious,' Dr Gronenborn said. 'The capsid, and therefore the virus, can no longer function properly.'

Source: University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

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Peirone’s building new digs - The Spokesman-Review

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 07:14 AM PST

November 13, 2009 in Business

Peirone's building new digs

70,000-foot warehouse going up on West Plains

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By next spring, Peirone Produce Co. food handlers will be sorting eggs, lettuce and other food items at a new, 70,000-square-foot warehouse and operations center on the West Plains.

Pronounced "Pear-own" and not "pier-oni," the company is one of the largest food distributors in the area. Its workers deliver food products in Eastern Washington, North Idaho, Western Montana and northeast Oregon. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of wholesaler URM Stores Inc., based in Spokane.

Ground preparation started this summer at the 9-acre site at 9818 W. Hallett Road, just east of the Medical Lake interchange. Vandervert Construction is handling the project, estimated at about $10 million.

Company President and CEO Pat Davidson said the new building will be occupied next month, with another three months needed to install coolers and other utilities.

"We should be operating in there about March," he said.

The company has roughly 100 employees; 60 will work at the warehouse, the others are drivers.

The new building replaces Peirone's dated warehouse on the east edge of downtown, at 524 E. Trent. Once Peirone leaves that building, which has about 28,000 square feet of space, its owner – Washington State University – gets to decide whether to raze it or renovate for another tenant.

The West Plains facility is designed more efficiently than Peirone's present food warehouse, Davidson said.

Whitworth breaks ground on science building

Whitworth University in Spokane is starting construction on a $32 million biology/chemistry building on the north end of campus, just west of the Eric Johnston Science Center.

Set to open in late summer or early fall 2011, the building will be the most expensive in the history of the private liberal arts university.

The science center is the first phase of a $53 million project to revamp the university's science facilities in response to growing demand. Science majors there now number 632, up from 420 a decade ago.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new project was held Thursday.

The three-story, 63,000-square-foot structure mainly will house Whitworth's biology and chemistry departments. It will have state-of-the-art laboratories and instrumentation, animal-research facilities, and classrooms that can be converted to labs to meet science and classroom needs for the next 20 years.

Plans call for a $16 million second phase of the project, including a 16,000-square-foot addition to the north end of the Johnston center.

The green design of the new biology/chemistry building features a skylight that will flood the building with natural light; rainwater collection for landscape irrigation; steam or geothermal heating; energy-efficient air-handling; and use of locally produced building materials.

Spokane-based Bouten Construction Co. is the contractor. The building was designed by Seattle-based Miller Hull Partnership LLP.

Whitworth is paying for the project through a combination of donations, government funds and a bond issue.

Kootenai Cancer occupies new Post Falls building

Kootenai Cancer Center is seeing patients in a new, 21,000-square-foot building in Post Falls.

Cancer services previously offered at the Kootenai Health Park have moved to the new center, at 1440 E. Mullan Ave.

Kootenai also has cancer centers in Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint. It sees about 50,000 cancer patients a year.

The new facility represents a $15 million investment in Post Falls, Kootenai Health said.

Architects Rann Haight and Roy Marshall, both of Coeur d'Alene, designed the structure.

Drs. Haluk Tezcan and Brian Samuels, both medical oncologists; Dr. Karie-Lynn Kelly, a radiation oncologist; and nurse-practitioner Sue Herbst are based in the Post Falls center.

Additionally, Kootenai's Cancer Research Program, a laboratory and a pharmacy are housed in the two-story building.

A therapy program that includes massage, yoga, acupuncture, strength training and skin therapy will be added to the Post Falls operation in 2010.

Polka Dot opens third location

Kimberly Geiger's growing paint-your-own pottery business, Polka Dot Pottery, recently opened its third shop, inside downtown Spokane's River Park Square.

Geiger's other two pottery shops are in Spokane Valley and in northwest Spokane. The downtown Spokane shop, on the mall's second level, has seating for 70.

Geiger will set aside about 300 square feet of space to sell her own pottery. The rest of the shop, where people can paint items or take pottery-making classes, takes about 1,500 square feet of space.

For information call (509) 624-2264.

Deputy City Editor Scott Maben contributed to this report. Here's the Dirt is a weekly report on new developments and business openings, closings or movement in the Inland Northwest. E-mail business@spokesman.com or call (509) 459-5528.

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Public in Chatham to learn about wild edible plants - Recorder Community Newspapers

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 07:28 AM PST

Structure of HIV coat may help develop new drugs - Top News India

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 05:05 AM PST

Structure of HIV coat may help develop new drugs Washington, Nov 13 : Scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have unravelled the complex structure of a coat surrounding HIV genome – a finding that would pave way for new treatments for blocking the infection.

During the study, they used a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance and cryoEM, which are standard structural biology tools, to see both the overall shape and the atomic details of capsid protein (CA) assembly.

It takes about 1,500 copies of CA to make the coat, or capsid, that surrounds the genome of the AIDS virus.

"This strategy allowed us to see both the forest and the trees," said study co-author Peijung Zhang, Ph. D., assistant professor in the Department of Structural Biology, Pitt School of Medicine.

"Knowing what the CA protein looks like and how the capsid is built will allow scientists to rationally design therapeutic compounds that interfere with assembly of the protein and affect its function," Zhang added.

The study indicates that these seams provide the flexibility to dismantle the coat efficiently after viral entry into the host and to put it back together when new viruses emerge from the cell.

"Our lab experiments show that if we replace a few of the pivotal stitches in the seam by mutation, the resulting viruses are less infectious or even non-infectious," Dr. Gronenborn said.

"The capsid, and therefore the virus, can no longer function properly," Gronenborn added. (ANI)

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Biology

Friday, November 13, 2009