Science Translational Medicine

[Perspectives] Cell-Based Therapeutics: The Next Pillar of Medicine

Sci Transl Med 3 April 2013:
Vol. 5, Issue 179, p. 179ps7
Sci. Transl. Med. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3005568 INNOVATION Michael A. Fischbach1, 2,*, Jeffrey A. Bluestone3 and Wendell A. Lim1,4,5,*

1UCSF Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.

2Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.

3Diabetes Center and the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.

4Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.

5Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. ?*Corresponding author. E-mail: fischbach{at}fischbachgroup.org (M.A.F.); lim{at}cmp.ucsf.edu (W.A.L.) Two decades ago, the pharmaceutical industry—long dominated by small-molecule drugs—was revolutionized by the the advent of biologics. Today, biomedicine sits on the cusp of a new revolution: the use of microbial and human cells as versatile therapeutic engines. Here, we discuss the promise of this “third pillar” of therapeutics in the context of current scientific, regulatory, economic, and perceptual challenges. History suggests that the advent of cellular medicines will require the development of a foundational cellular engineering science that provides a systematic framework for safely and predictably altering and regulating cellular behaviors.

Copyright © 2013, American Association for the Advancement of ScienceCitation: M. A. Fischbach, J. A. Bluestone, W. A. Lim, Cell-Based Therapeutics: The Next Pillar of Medicine. Sci. Transl. Med. 5, 179ps7 (2013).

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[Podcasts] Science Translational Medicine Podcast: 3 April 2013

Sci Transl Med 3 April 2013:
Vol. 5, Issue 179, p. 179pc2
Sci. Transl. Med. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3006201 DRUG DISCOVERY Copyright © 2013, American Association for the Advancement of ScienceCitation: J. Uslaner, O. Smith, Science Translational Medicine Podcast: 3 April 2013. Sci. Transl. Med. 5, 179pc2 (2013).

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First tests of old patent medicine remedies from a museum collection

What was in Dr. F. G. Johnson's French Female Pills and other scientifically untested elixirs, nostrums and other quack cures that were the only medicines available to sick people during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries?

Scientists provided a glimpse today based on an analysis of a museum collection of patent medicines used in turn-of-the-century America. It was part of the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, which is being held here this week.

Mark Benvenuto, Ph.D, who headed the study, explained that hundreds of untested products were sold in stores, by mail order or in traveling medicine shows during the patent medicine era. The products were called "patent medicines" not because they had been granted a government patent, but from an unrelated term that originated in 17th century England.

"This was an era long before the controlled clinical trials and federal regulations that ensure the safety and effectiveness of the medicines we take today," Benvenuto explained. "Many patent medicines had dangerous ingredients, not just potentially toxic substances like arsenic, mercury and lead, but cocaine, heroin and high concentrations of alcohol."

The samples came from the collection of the Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn, Mich. The museum houses artifacts celebrating American inventors of various items, including planes, cars, trains, machines, furniture and more. The 50 patent medicines in the analysis were among hundreds in the museum's Health Aids collection. The results of Benvenuto's study are on display at the museum.

Undergraduate students working under Benvenuto's supervision performed the bulk of the research. Andrew Diefenbach, a senior and mechanical engineering major at the university, presented the group's research in a talk here today. He got involved in the project as a freshman in Benvenuto's general chemistry course. "I'm interested to see what other comments people have, and what kind of things they may have thought of that we haven't thought of so far that we can use to further the research," Diefenbach said.

Some of the ingredients in the samples of old patent medicines, including calcium and zinc, actually could have been healthy and are mainstays in modern dietary supplements, said Benvenuto. He is with the University of Detroit Mercy. But others were clearly dangerous. Analysis of Dr. F. G. Johnson's French Female Pills, for instance, revealed iron, calcium and zinc. But the nostrum also contained lead, which is potentially toxic. Others contained mercury, another potentially toxic heavy metal, and arsenic.

Benvenuto explained that the presence of heavy metals may have been due to contamination. On the other hand, there actually was a rationale for including some of them. Arsenic and mercury were mainstays for treatment of syphilis, for instance.

Provided by American Chemical Society

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Research links geochemistry, medicine

Groundbreaking work that straddles the fence between geochemistry and medicine was the subject of a recent article appearing on AZCentral. The March 6 article, written by Dianna M. Náñez, examined the research of a team of ASU researchers pioneering a new technique that could detect certain cancers earlier.

Ariel Anbar, a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry in ASU's College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, has been working to refine a technique that would measure calcium isotopes in blood and urine samples.

Bone loss occurs in a number of cancers in their advanced stages. By the time these changes can be detected by X-rays, as a loss of bone density, significant damage already has occurred.

With the new technique, bone loss is detected by carefully analyzing the isotopes of the chemical element calcium that are naturally present in urine.

"The hope is to establish a biomarker that would detect the spread of breast cancer to bone tissue earlier, detect a precursor condition tied to bone-density loss in patients that may develop multiple myeloma and assess whether cancer and bone-loss treatments are working," Náñez writes.

Melanie Channon, a Bisgrove Scholar recipient, joined Anbar's team as a postdoctoral research assistant. Her award funding will allow her to dedicate the next two years to cancer research.

Anbar and Channon's research piqued the interest of Mayo Clinic doctors who have provided blood and urine samples from their cancer patients.

More information: www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/20130304asu-research-links-geochemistry-medicine.html

Provided by Arizona State University

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