Day: May 24, 2018
Precision Medicine: NIH’s Brainchild PanCancer Atlas Could Deliver a Cure for 33 Types of Cancer
Cancer is one of the biggest health fears that people face, but this might soon change as a leading medical research center has discovered a way to identify and prepare people for fighting the deadly disease. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has recently broken the barriers that separate cancer from a possible remedy. NIH was able to come up with a complete and detailed genomic data analysis called PanCancer Atlas.
PanCancer Atlas is a data set of various clinical and molecular information from more than 10,000 tumors that denote 33 types of cancer.
According to the Director of NIH Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., “This project is the culmination of more than a decade of groundbreaking work. This analysis provides cancer researchers with an unprecedented understanding of how, where, and why tumors arise in humans, enabling better-informed clinical trials and future treatments.”
NIH financed more than two dozen institutions and 150 researchers from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) in order to map out the key genomic changes in the 33 types of cancer. TCGA was able to receive a total funding of over $300 million.
Reports also suggested that the National Cancer Institution (NCI) and the National Human Genome Research Institution (NHGRI) were the ones that started and supported the PanCancer Atlas project of NIH.
PanCancer Atlas does not just focus on cancer genome sequencing as it also tackles different types of data analytics like protein expression profiles and investigating gene – associating them with imaging and clinical data.
The Director of NHGRI’s Division of Genome Sciences and the NHGRI team leader for TCGA Carolyn Hutter, Ph.D. mentioned, “TCGA was the first project of its scale to characterize – at the molecular level – cancer across a breadth of cancer types. At the project’s infancy 10 years ago, it was not even possible, much less on such a scale, to do the types of characterization and analysis that were being proposed. It was a hugely ambitious project.”
What is Inside PanCancer Gene Mapping Atlas?
The innovative project contains three topics including cell of origin, oncogenic processes, and oncogenic pathways. The summary paper includes findings for each topic. A number of companion papers that account for in-depth explorations of individual topics are also in the paper.
The first summary paper talks about a method known as molecular clustering that groups tumors according to their molecular characteristics instead of their tissue of origin.
Researchers were able to examine protein expression, DNA modifications, gene expression, and other facts from more than 10,000 samples of tissue that correspond to 33 various types of cancer. The results gathered have the ability to guide the treatment of patients with cancer that until now has no known cause.
In the second summary paper, the authors introduce a comprehensive interpretation of the results collected by TCGA on the procedures that lead to the growth of cancer and its progression. The results have identified three dangerous oncogenic processes: the interaction of both immune and tumor cells; the effect of the primary epigenome and genome of the tumor on protein and gene expression; the mutation of both somatic and germline.
The results of the PanCancer Atlas project have the ability to highlight the creation of new immunotherapies and treatments for the different kinds of cancers.
The third summary paper highlights the genomic changes in 10 key signaling pathways that have the capacity to control the levels of the life cycle, growth, and death of each cell. Scientists and researchers discovered that 89% of tumors had a minimum of one alteration process in the pathways.
It was also revealed that 57% of cancer tumors have at least a single alternation process that could potentially be targeted with known drugs and 30% had multiple targetable alternations.
Here are the 33 types of cancers included in the PanCancer Atlas:
- Uveal Melanoma
- Esophageal Cancer
- Lower Grade Glioma
- Colorectal Adenocarcinoma
- Breast Ductal Carcinoma
- Clear Cell Kidney Carcinoma
- Prostate Adenocarcinoma
- Uterine Carcinoma
- Ovarian Serous Cystadenocarcinoma
- Mesothelioma
- Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma
- Papillary Kidney Carcinoma
- Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma
- Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
- Cutaneous Melanoma
- Thymoma
- Urothelial Bladder Carcinoma
- Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
- Pheochromocytoma
- Glioblastoma Multiforme
- Paraganglioma
- Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma
- Adrenocortical Carcinoma
- Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
- Cholangiocarcinoma
- Sarcoma
- Cervical Cancer
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia
- Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma
- Stomach Cancer
- Lung Adenocarcinoma
- Breast Lobular Carcinoma
- Testicular Germ Cell Cancer
PanCancer Atlas is going to become a powerful data set in the industry of medicine. The innovative project will not just create a bold impact on various clinicians, but also help researchers and scientists develop a cure that could finally fight off cancer.
New e-Games Sports Network Launched by Women Gamers
The long wait is finally over as gamers all around the world have successfully found their new home. In a multi-billion-dollar gaming and e-sports industry, Gamer World News (GWNe) is here to fill critical gaps. Its free and fully independent 24/7 network showcases gamer news, e-sports, original entertainment, and latest programing dedicated to competitive, professional, and casual gamers. The network officially debuted April 26, 2018.
Not only is GWNe accessible on its official website, but it’s also available on major platforms including Amazon Fire, AppleTV, AndroidTV, Roku, YouTube, and Facebook. It will soon be available on PlayStation, Xbox, and other gaming platforms. Moreover, the network is introducing its bold social media activities on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Flipboard, Snapchat, and over 200,000 worldwide publishing sites.
The network covers gaming news and e-Sports related to both the industry and up-to-date worldwide events. Utilizing Avid’s NSYNC2 motion tracking with the latest gamer engine technology, GWNe offers a mix of live, advertised, and produced materials.
GWNe features groundbreaking reviews, news, fresh gaming-related technology, scores, health and psychology articles. Viewers will also experience exclusive interviews and tips with top ranking teams, publishers, leagues, and world-renowned gamer. In addition, GWNe will provide an exclusive insider admission for special grant access to elite gaming-related content from pros and competitive gamers all throughout the world.
The Woman Who Launched Gamer World News
Gamer World News was founded by Gayle Dickie, a well-recognized and highly-respected TV syndicator and producer. Dickie is an effective executive in the TV syndication arena; She is a veteran entertainment executive with good solid affiliation in several industries such as film, television, music, licensing, animation, marketing, promotion, and packaging.
In her role as a syndicator, Dickie was regarded as one of the first female vice presidents at Blair NY and had accomplished holding executive positions at Viacom, Mattel Television Syndication, Tribune’s Television Program Enterprises, Fries Entertainment and Orion Television Syndication. While working with the highest broadcast owned-and-operated networks in the US, she managed $25 million in revenues and more than $25 million in advertising, selling some of the most popular shows in television.
With GWNe, Gayle Dickie is now making a bold new venture that reflects the global prominence of the eSports industry and the growing participation of women in it.
More and More Women in the e-Sports Arena
Currently, the e-sports gaming industry is experiencing an astounding 22% growth rate per year and is closing in on about $1.5 billion in global revenues. Furthermore, female gamers continue to play their part as the essential contributors in the industry, with more than 40% of e-sports enthusiasts nowadays being female from different parts of the world.
e-Sports is a great tool for connecting people. It brings female gamers together and half of the world’s population of gamers are women. Within the hustle and bustle of their daily lives, women tend to retreat to online gaming to relax, relieve stress, and take a rest. In fact, 60% of women state that online gaming helps them to feel really good. With more and more women participating in this industry and area of development, a lot of bold opportunities to create awesome games that cater to a wider, more diverse game players arises.
Commenting about the GWNe launching, Gayle Dickie says, “e-Sports is an undeniably explosive market that’s been underserved for far too long when it comes to quality news and original programming. My profound gratitude to everyone on the GWNe team and our valued investors for bringing this launch about as we look forward to being the true global independent leading news source for eSports pros, competitive players, everyday gamers, fans and advertisers around the world for many, many years to come.”
New Element Alternatives To Lithium-Ion Batteries are Being Searched for!
The lithium-ion battery is underappreciated for its usage in various devices and machines. These include tablets, smartphones, power tools, laptops, hybrid vehicles, power walls and electric cars. One of the battery’s major components is cobalt. Experts believe that because of the high demand from the lithium-ion battery, the availability of cobalt could suffer. Thus, it’s no wonder that there’s a search for new element alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. To date, industries are worried that one day they will wake up to a shortage of cobalt. A startup company is presenting a bold idea to help companies sort the best batteries for their products and services. The company could even find an alternative for cobalt.
In Search for New Element Alternatives To Lithium-Ion Batteries
Wildcat Discovery Technologies is a private company widely known because of its contribution in discovering and developing specialty resources for clean tech energy applications. In 2008, it started focusing on creating top-of-the-line materials for primary and rechargeable batteries.
According to the California-based startup, it uses exclusive synthesis and testing platforms in order to go through different materials quickly. The approach of Wildcat Discovery Technologies lessens the cost of R&D and speeds time to market. Companies like Volkswagen, Tesla, BMW, Samsung and Apple are currently making sure that they have a stable supply of cobalt. Because of Wildcat, the burden of finding a substitute element or new element alternatives to lithium-ion batteries could be over soon.
Proving that Wildcat Can Do It
Recognizing various gaps in the works of its partners or clients and developing brand new trials to enhance the areas of research are just two of the many capabilities of Wildcat. So, because of that, it was able to come up with a solution to make batteries last longer. In 2011, the California-based startup created a pair of new materials dubbed as EM1 and CM1. EM1 is a high-voltage electrolyte material, while the CM1 is a high-voltage cathode material. They immensely increase energy compactness. The development team of Wildcat stated that EM1 and CM1 allow lithium-ion batteries to last between 25 percent and 65 percent longer.
Wildcat Discovery Technologies CEO Mark Gresser mentions: “This is a breakthrough discovery by our development team, which can lead to batteries capable of storing much energy than current materials allow. When batteries hold more energy, it creates new options for design engineers—electric cars can go farther, tablets, laptops, and smartphones can be smaller with no loss of runtime, soldier packs can be lighter, and implanted medical devices can last longer before the need for replacement surgery. And while our initial tests have shown a 61 percent improvement in energy density, this is just the beginning—because the EM1 electrolyte is stable at 5-volt operation, it opens the door to the development of a new world of cathode materials that should bring even greater advances.”
Wildcat has not yet discovered a replacement for cobalt. Nevertheless, because of its expertise in primary and rechargeable batteries, it may just be a matter of time to discovering a replacement or new element alternatives to lithium-ion batteries.
Is Iron the Answer to the Search of New Element Alternatives to Lithium-Ion Batteries?
Gresser and his company, Wildcat Discovery Technologies are striving to be the first ones to discover the probable substitute for cobalt. However, it seems like the end of the road for them. Christopher Wolverton, a Professor at McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University, and the scientists at Argonne National Laboratory are proposing that iron could be the next big element.
The team was able to create a rechargeable lithium-iron-oxide battery that can produce more lithium ions than the lithium-ion battery that uses cobalt. This case means the newly developed battery could make battery-powered vehicles and smartphones last much longer.
Despite the breakthrough, the announcement from Wolverton did not sit well with critics because the inexpensive metal has already failed a couple of times in batteries. It is also said to be unstable.
Nevertheless, Wolverson says, “Our computational prediction of this battery reaction is very exciting, but without experimental confirmation, there would be a lot of skeptics. But the fact that it actually works is remarkable.”
Because the research was a success, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research Center program vowed to support it. The lithium-iron-oxide battery is also far better than the one that uses cobalt as it has an affordable price. Now, Wolverton and his team have filed an exclusive right for the battery. In addition, they are planning to use other elements to see if they too could be used as an alternative.
Recycling may be the Solution
Neometals is an Australian startup that has a slightly different approach to the whole lithium-ion battery dilemma or amid the search for new element alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. It is planning to build a factory in order to retrieve different raw materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper from batteries that are already expired. The Perth-based company believes that recycling coveted metals from expired electronic and EV batteries can become more lucrative than to mine or extract them from the ground.
Neometals COO Mike Tamlin shares: “The world needs recycling to stop us drowning in batteries.” He added, “And it also has the potential to produce components at a lower cost. What we are hoping to prove in the pilot plant is that it does provide a better net margin.”
Samsung SDI—which is the No. 1 battery-maker in South Korea—is also following the footsteps of Neometals. The well-known lithium-ion battery manufacturer presented plans to recycle batteries and to create lithium-ion batteries without using cobalt. The team behind Samsung SDI said that they are moving on with the plan to counterbalance the soaring price of cobalt.
New Element Alternatives To Lithium-Ion Batteries — Bold Action from Bold Companies
Indeed, Neometals and Samsung SDI are just some of the companies that wanted to help lower the use of cobalt. There is no alternative to the usage of cobalt. However, the problem is now being addressed.
For 20 years, cobalt has been utilized in lithium-ion batteries. Its existence is important in the growing industry and the market of primary and rechargeable batteries. The previously mentioned companies guarantee that the success well-established by lithium-ion batteries and cobalt will not be wasted.
