The Benefits of Stem Cell Research Essay example -- Papers Science Bio

The Benefits of Stem Cell Research Stem cells are considered â€Å"master cells† with the ability to divide for indefinite periods in cultures and can be manipulated and transformed into any type of cell in the body. The most common use would be the generation of cells and tissues that could be used to either create organs or tissues to be used in transplantation and to treat many diseases and disabilities. There is a great difference of opinion surrounding stem cell research; conservatives and pro-choice activists are highly against further research, but the tremendous advances in health care and President Bush’s recent decision to fund more research, have made the future of stem cells seem much more promising. In every ground breaking scientific topic there seems to be controversy, and stem cells are no exception. Stem cell research is so controversial because the best source of stem cells are derived from human fetal tissue. Removing the stem cells destroys the embryo, which leads many people to believe this process to be immoral. One advantage of using stem cells found in embryos is their ability to transform themselves into almost every type of cell in the body. There are also not enough adult stem cells to allow for therapeutic applications, like transplants to regenerate tissues or organs that were damaged by disease. Adult stem cells are rare and are many times hard to identify, isolate, and purify. However, stem cells found in the embryo can be generated in large quantities in the laboratory. Many people argue that human embryos should not be the subjects of stem cell research that would benefit anyone other than the embryos themselves. Embryos are still human beings and just because they are immature hu... ...purpose of stem cell research. Generous funding on ethical issues was spent on current and future research, along with generous funding for research relevant to fetal, embryonic, and adult stem cells. With the enormous potential of stem cells developing new treatments for some of the most devastating diseases, it is crucial to search for the best sources of stem cells, regardless of where they come from. There are many pros and cons encompassing this issue with the pro-choice activists and conservatives being so avidly against it, with the remarkable advances in health care the research brings, and with President Bush’s decision to go ahead with further research. Even though there is still a great deal of controversy surrounding the issue of stem cell research, I think all people can agree that whoever saves one life is as if he saved an entire world.

Education On Health Promotion Essay

Q. 1 Validity is said to be the power to convince about the conclusions that have been found. It is the strength that the conclusion has to convince others on the facts that have been outlined. There are said to be four types of validity namely external, conclusion, construct and internal validity (http://www. brainyquote. com). The external validity is about the ability to generalize the findings to other settings, the conclusion looks for a relationship between the outcomes and the program, the construct validity determines the presence of a relationship between concepts in a study and an actual casual relationship and finally the internal validity looks for the relationship between the study object and the outcomes of the study. On the other hand, reliability is said to be the ability to get the same results over and over again when performing the same test at different times (http://www. asiamarketresearch. com). It is said to estimate how consistent your measurements are. For a tool of measurement to be reliable, it has to give the same results when used at different times by different people to measure the same thing. It can be tested through using different questions that measure the same thing to see if the answers are consistent while the test/retest method means getting the same findings for the same test done at different times but under the same conditions. Validity and reliability will be used in the dissertation to test the conclusion. First checking on the reliability of the tools of measurements does this. This ensures that the data provided for the study is to be trusted as being correct. It also helps eliminate the data that contains some inconsistencies. Once all the reliable data has been compiled, it can then be used to arrive at some conclusion. This conclusion will be valid if all the measurements that have been done have involved the data that was supposed to be measured. If one has been using the correct data using reliable tools then the conclusion will be a valid one. The correct questions have to be asked in relation to the topic and the measurement tools have to be reliable for the conclusion to be valid. Q. 2 When starting a project one begins with choosing a topic on which to research on (http://www. ri. net/schools/East_Greenwich/research. html). This topic should not be too general as to include subjects that are not relevant to the researcher instead it should be very specific on what is to be research on. When choosing a topic, one uses the tool of research called the â€Å"human mind†. This is because a topic is chosen according to how the researcher perceives the surroundings and thus requires reasoning and analyzing which uses the brain. Next is gathering the relevant background information concerning the topic. This can be done through the use of the computer and its software. It is done to get the most basic information on the chosen topic. This information can be supplemented by the use of the library where one can find encyclopedias among other sources. This information is used to refine the chosen topic (http://www. ri. net/schools/East_Greenwich/research. html). If there is need to change the research topic it is done now. After revisiting your topic, you now need to gather the information needed. This is done by the use of the computer and the library. This information is then supplemented by fieldwork, which uses different methods of gathering information. This is done to confirm or challenge the statistics gotten from the library and computer software. While conducting the field research, one has to estimate the reality of the tools of measurement so as to ensure the information gotten is correct and in the process eliminate those, which contain errors after this is done, the information is coded and analyzed. The information is now ready for use to get the conclusion and then organize it to be able to write it in a way that the reader will understand. When it comes to the writing part, the language to be used has to be chosen carefully. It has to be a language accessible to all the presumed readers. The research is then written and is used to justify the problem statement and why the project should be undertaken. The conducting of a research and writing of a dissertation are the actual start of a project. This is because they justify the reason why the project can now start. All the six tools of research are used to ensure that the information provided in the research is reliable and valid. One can only gain experience in the use of these tools by conducting many researches. By writing dissertations and research papers, one ahs to use these tools and in so doing gets a lot of experience in their use. Over time one gets to learn how to use the various tools. When it comes to computers, one has to solicit the help of computer experts an also using the help icon in the computer. For a researcher, it is very useful to join research projects as an assistant researcher. This ensures that one gains a lot of experience and by working with an expert researcher one is able to pick up quite a number of tricks in the research field. Also as a research assistant, one does a lot of work and so is able to come up with new and more effective ways of using the tools of research. On top of this, one is able to choose which tools they can use best and which ones they need to work on to understand how they are used. To learn to be an expert researcher, one can only go through the above mentioned process of first becoming a research assistant. The expert researcher has to be able to use the six tools of research namely the human mind, the computer and its software, the statistics, the traditional library, tools of measurement and the language facility. It one has gone through the process of becoming a research assistant, there is knowledge gained from constant use of the tools and one can then be able to decide which tools they are most comfortable using. All the tools are important and necessary to any researcher but the order of importance assigned to each tool is what differs from researcher to researcher. It is only through experience of having worked on many research projects does one become competent in the use of all the tools and so that is what any novice researcher concentrates more on. Q. 3 The dissertation topic is education on health promotion.  From the interview with the researcher, I have learned how to use the six tools of research in the dissertation topic. By using the human mind, the topic, which is education on health promotion, was chosen. Using the computer and its software, the topic will be researched on and the basic knowledge gathered. Since the topic has enough materials to be used, it will not be changed. The information is then supplemented with that from the traditional library. After the topic has been re-affirmed, the field information will be collected and this will be done by using tools of measurement that are reliable (http://www. ih. gov/news/researchtools/). Once the information has been collected, it is then analyzed, cleaned and coded. The findings will now be used in writing the paper. When writing the paper the language to be used has to be that which the targeted readers can understand. When writing one has to avoid plagiarism and ensuring that any information from other sources is cited will do this. The paper must be in the proper format and should include all the parts of a project paper. The conclusion will have to support the topic and reason for the research. It will therefore have to support education on health promotion

Central and Eastern Europe Environmental Issues Essay Example

Central and Eastern Europe Environmental Issues Essay Example Central and Eastern Europe Environmental Issues Paper Central and Eastern Europe Environmental Issues Paper Essay Topic: East Of Eden Abstract Eastern Rupees environmental problems are not as simple as they may seem on the surface. The environmental problems that face Eastern Europe are complicated by political, economic, and social implications. The current environmental problems are a bi-product of rapid industrial expansion under a socialist government. The soviet government was more concerned with surpassing the western cultures in technology and military might than the environmental damage they were doing to their country. The following paragraphs will address the current environmental problems facing Eastern Europe, the various solutions to the environmental problems, and the efforts taken to correct the environmental problems. Environmental Problems in Europe Eastern Europe during the asses had rapidly become the industrial giant for the Soviet Union. Massive industrial factories would be built throughout the eastern bloc of the Soviet Union and the factories used obsolete technology to provide the industrial needs of the country. The heavy industrial activity characteristic of the post-World War II period took a heavy toll on both the regions population and its environment(LLC. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). Various local populations were suffering from high rates of cancer, respiratory issues, and infant moralities. The environments in the areas around the industrial regions were also being damaged on unprecedented levels. Legacy of Pollution According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (2010), The outmoded, energy-intensive technologies were such an integral part of Central and Eastern Europe (ICE) and New Independent States of the former Soviet Union (ENS) regions economy in the post-war era not only wasted sources, but also caused severe local, regional, and trans-boundary pollution problems. Not only was the industrial technology outdated, the communication among the post-war government, local governments, and various environmental ministries was ripe with secrecy and non-communication between each other. The results would prove to be catastrophic pollution of the air, surface water, soil, ground water, marine zones, and coastal areas. Air Pollution Air pollution in Eastern Europe is the top concern because of the levels of sulfur dioxide found in all the industrial areas. High levels of sulfur dioxide exposure can lead to asthmatic children and adults, respiratory illness, decreased lung defenses, and worsening Of existing cardiovascular diseases. When Sulfur Dioxide is exposed to rain it creates acid rain and raises the acidity level of everything it touches such as soil, lakes, and streams. Buildings corrode faster and there is also a reduction in visibility. Water Pollution Agricultural and industrial practices were causing large spread water pollution because of outdated waste regulation practices and no environmental regulation. According to Oilier (1 990), Drinking-water supplies throughout Eastern Europe are heavily contaminated. Vast reaches of the Fistula River in Poland, which drains much of the country, are classified as unfit for use even by industry. The Baltic and Black Sea coasts are badly degraded by domestic sewage, agricultural run-off, and heavy metals and organic pollutants from industry. The Eastern Europe governments have been slow to implement solutions to purify the drinking water in the various regions. Soil Pollution Samples of produce from upper Poland have yielded 30 to 70 higher regenerates of cadmium, lead, zinc and mercury then acceptable levels listed by the World Health Organization. The high percentages of these heavy materials indicate how polluted the soil is in the upper polish regions. In Hungary alone, waste generators dispose Of more than 500,000 tons waste found in illegal landfills. The local government has trouble tracking any kind of waste transportation and disposal due to obsolete tracking processes, and because not all waste is indicated as waste before being disposed of. Eastern Europe is wreaked with not only environmental problems, but also tit government, and local government problems also. The good news is that there are viable solutions to the environmental problems that the Eastern Europe countries are having. Viable Environmental Solutions The environmental problems that face Central and Eastern Europe are much the same as any other country in the world with one exception, the proximity of the environmental hazards. Most countries in the world deal with environmental hazards, but the hazards are spread out over different parts of the country. Central and Eastern Europe are unique when it comes o environmental disasters because Central and Eastern Europe was the industrial might behind the soviet military. For every environmental disaster Central and Eastern Europe faces, there is a viable solution thanks to modern technology and proven environmental regulations. Possible environmental solutions Because of the vast environmental disasters throughout Central and Eastern Europe there are several possible environmental solutions. The possible environmental solutions that Central and Eastern Europe are considering will be decided by the cost of the solution, ease of implementation, and consultation from environmental agencies such as the United States Environmental Agency. Even with the various economic, governmental agency communication problems, and various ecological disasters Central and Eastern Europe have a number of viable solutions. Air Pollution Solutions One of the possible remedies for air quality in Europe would be to switch to burning low sulfur coal. When coal is burned, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury compounds are released. For that reason, coal- fired boilers are required to have control devices to reduce the amount of missions that are released. The amount of sulfur oxides produced by power can be reduced by using coal with low amounts of sulfur present. Another possible air solution would be to use scrubbers. Scrubbers are an air pollution control system that removes pollutants from the air stream they are most commonly used to help control the emissions of sulfur into our air. There are a few pipes of scrubber, Air scrubbers, wet scrubbers, and gas scrubbers are differentiated by the manner in which they remove gases and particulates from the air; either wet or dry. Wet scrubbers literally wash dust ND particles out of the air. Exhaust air is forced into a spray chamber, where fine water particles cause the dust to drop from the air stream. The dust- laden water is then treated to remove the solid material and is often re- circulated. Dry scrubbers are used more commonly with acid gases. The pollutant is collected On or in a solid or liquid material, which is injected into the gas stream. A dry scrubber produces a dry product that must be collected downstream from this control device. Water Pollution Solutions One of the many possible water pollution solutions would be aeration. Aerating is the process to bring river water at the bottom of rivers up to the surface so that the entire river is oxygenated by the atmosphere surface to bottom. They can do this by pumping air into bodies of water at the very bottom. On the other hand Central and Eastern Europe could use more wastewater treatment plants these types of plants would drastically help the water quality in Central and Eastern Europe by removing harmful bacterias, animal wastes and pollutants and then recycling the clean water back into their system.. Soil There are many different types of soil pollution that hurt the environment ND by treating Sewage before dumping wastes would cut back on many of the current environmental issues. Spraying pesticides may be good for the crops but MIS destroying the soil and the drain off into the water system is affected by this as well. Cutting down on the usage of fossil fuels would create less solid waste and harmful gases that may seep into the soil. Eastern Europe needs to adapt to more of these possible solutions. Using low sulfur coals, Scrubbers and limestone in the remedies of air pollution would set a chain reaction in the environment the water would then become leaner along with the soil. These remedies may not fix the issue completely for Eastern Europe, but it would help them greatly. Efforts to correct Central and Eastern Europe have been left untouched since the end of the Nazi/German rule and the fall of the Great Berlin Wall on November 9th, 1989. Many of the people living in such a terrible environment still struggle every day to survive, but it is not a war against other countries it has turned into an environmental war and one that is near impossible for them to win without help. As with most all larger countries around the world Eastern and Central Europe are suffering from the same types of environmental issues but, in their case they do not have the means that we do in order to make the necessary changes that they need. Practical and low cost solutions need to be the wave of the future and used as often as possible. The problems need to be prioritize based on the highest health risk and the surrounding public will be educated and involved in its own environmental decision making. AIR- Airborne pollution is said to be one of the greatest environmental risks identified in the region. There is a large amount of sulfur dioxide found in the IR, it comes from several different places but are byproducts of several different types of older industrial facilities like the old coal burning power plants that used to be found there (ERA). The Ignited states are one of the few countries in which it is a law for vehicle owners to participate in an annual emissions test. The Czech government however has accelerated its efforts in cleaning the air pollution through it $240 million project that will assist its residents in converting homes from coal to natural gas in hopes to subsidize conversion costs (EPA). Along with this local agencies in many areas lack the equipment needed to assess and identify local problems so the Krakow Air Monitoring project. This project is under the supervision of the EPA and the Polish environmental experts are working together to identify and measure the major sources of industrial, residential and vehicle emissions testing (EPA). Along with such a huge problem facing the countries the EPA has also transferred some very low-cost techniques to help them out. Water pollution- Along with clean air there is the Krakow Water and Wastewater Improvement project, the idea here is to provide safe drinking water to city residents. Most people are drinking from contaminated drinking sources, especially those outside of the city limits. The idea here is not only to decontaminate the water before it is consumed, but to attack the problem at the source and to educate the people of the possible affects that waste dumping in insecure facilities can have on them and their families. The Krakow project as a result installed modern connation and chlorination equipment that in turn disinfected the drinking water of 400,000 residents in the area. It also focused on the improvement the forming of the Arab River Watershed Association as well as focusing on the agricultural runoff into local streams and rivers (EPA). In addition to this a team of EPA, Wisconsin, and Latvia environmental managers have also come up with a solution to protect supplies of future ground water in Disvalues, this is where the national ground water protection strategy is based. Solid and Hazardous Waste- All types Of waste needs to be dumped somewhere and the most contaminated solid waste sites are often found on military bases in Eastern Europe. They can be found on active or former military base cites, these are still dumping ties. Children in these areas are affected the most and are still being diagnosed with very high blood-lead levels, due to these case studies the EPA has provided special equipment and training to local officials to assess possible impacts of lead exposure. Due to such high levels of exposure in certain areas additional support has been provided by Romania officials to assist areas in the cleanup of contaminated soil, the Czech Council of Ministers even committed to assist the cleanup of future development cites by approving $40 million to get started, this is called Project Ecclesia. This is to the only cleanup plan in effect there is also the Solid Waste Policy Demonstration Project, this idea helps to train local communities in the proper way to carry out more effective policies of cleaning and recycling waste. Pilot programs include the construction of new sanitary landfills, the cleanup of existing landfills, curbside recycling, are probably the most important public outreach programs taking place (EPA). Technology Transfer- the EPA has also helped with the development of a geographic information system (GIS), this system helps to track different trends that occur over time. The GIS is a computer-based mapping system that over time will Store and track other environmental information that identifies pollution source and tracks it over time. This system will help the public become more informed and promote better decision making (EPA). The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Management Project is yet one more idea that is hoped to assist different storage areas of nuclear material in a quick-turnaround of radiochemistry data in case of any future leaks and potential disasters. To be able to assist such tracking a mobile radiology laboratory was created by the EPA along tit the United Nations Development Program and SAID, have provided the Ukraine with possibly one of the worlds best equipped mobile radiation monitoring laboratories.

Zinc finger nuclease technology and its potential for modelling and treating disease The WritePass Journal

Zinc finger nuclease technology and its potential for modelling and treating disease Introduction Zinc finger nuclease technology and its potential for modelling and treating disease IntroductionMechanisms of DNA double strand break repair  Ã‚   Gene edition using ZFNs gene disruption and gene correction Gene addition Therapeutic applications of ZFNsLimitations of ZFNsReferences Related Introduction Methods to introduce site specific, stable modifications in complex genomes hold great potential, not only for the study of gene function but also for biotechnological and therapeutic applications (Sollu et al., 2010).   A promising new approach is based on zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), artificially constructed endonucleases that are designed to make a double strand break in a pre-determined genomic target sequence. This can then be followed by the generation of desired modifications during subsequent DNA repair. ZFNs are engineered to contain a DNA binding domain, composed of zinc finger proteins, and a non-specific endonuclease domain derived from the FokI restriction enzyme (Urnov et al., 2010). The zinc finger protein region provides a ZFN with the ability to bind to a discrete base sequence. Each zinc finger domain consists of   ÃŒ ´ 30 amino acids which fold into a ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ± structure, this is stabilised by chelation of a zinc ion by the conserved Cys2-His2 residues (Durai et al., 2005). Each domain recognises and binds to approximately 3bp of DNA. Binding to longer sequences is achieved by linking several of these zinc fingers in tandem to form zinc finger proteins. As the catalytic FokI domain must dimerise to induce a double strand break (Vanamee et al., 2001), two different ZFN subunits are designed that bind the sequence of interest in the opposite orientation and with the correct spacing. The combined target sequence is sufficient in length to be statistically unique, even in complex genomes (Sollu et al., 2010) (figure 1). ZFNs have been proven to work successfully in Arabidopsis thaliana (Zhang et al., 2010), Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster (Carroll et al., 2008), zebrafish (Doyon et al., 2008), rats (Mashimo et al., 2010) and human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) (Zou et al., 2009). Mechanisms of DNA double strand break repair  Ã‚   All eukaryotic cells have effective mechanisms to repair double strand breaks in DNA. The two primary repair pathways are non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous directed repair (HDR) (Jackson and Bartek, 2009). These highly conserved pathways can be exploited to generate a defined genetic outcome across a wide range of cell types (Urnov et al., 2010). In NHEJ, the two broken ends are simply ligated back together. If the double strand break is complex, creating ends that are not compatible then repair by NHEJ will be mutagenic; the repaired DNA will contain small insertions or deletions at the site of the break, resulting in gene inactivation (Durai et al., 2005). If a double stranded oligonucleotide is provided with overhangs (sticky ends) complementary to those left by the ZFNs, it will be ligated into the chromosome, this approach can be used to add tags to endogenous genes. Alternately, two simultaneous double strand breaks made on the same chromosome can lead to a deletion of the entire intervening stretch (Lee et al., 2010) (figure 2). The other major repair pathway is HDR, a form of homologous recombination that faithfully copies the genetic information from a DNA molecule of related sequence. In HDR the 5Ê ¹ ends of the double strand break are resected to generate 3Ê ¹ single stranded tails, allowing strand invasion by donor DNA, which serves as a template for DNA replication (Durai et al., 2005). In normal double strand break repairs the DNA donor is the sister-chromatid, therefore the template is identical to the damaged DNA, resulting in a perfect form of repair. In gene targeting an exogenous donor DNA template is provided (usually an episomal or linear extrachromosomal donor) in combination to the ZFNs. If the donor DNA specifies solely a single nucleotide change, such as a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) encoding a novel allele, this will result in gene correction, that subtly edits the endogenous allele (Urnov et al., 2005). HDR can also be used for the addition of genes, if the donor pro vided carries an open reading frame (ORF), a transgene or even multiple trasngenes at the position corresponding to the site of the break, the sequence will be transferred to the chromosome (Moehle et al., 2007) (figure 2). Figure 2 | Types of genome editing made possible using ZFNs. The two primary repair pathways: non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous directed repair (HDR) with the different outcomes that can result from the introduction of a site specific DNA double strand break. Adapted from (Urnov et al., 2010). Gene edition using ZFNs gene disruption and gene correction The simplest means of gene editing is gene disruption, which takes advantage of errors introduced during DNA repair to disrupt or abolish the function of a gene or genomic region. Gene knockout (KO) is an affective tool for analysing gene function and generating model animals that recapitulate genetic disorders. Using ZFN technology, Mashimo et al., 2010 created knockout rats with X-linked Server Combined Immunodeficiency (X-SCID). They injected mRNAs encoding ZFNs designed to target the rat interleukin 2 receptor gamma (II2rg) locus, where orthologous human and mouse mutations cause X-SCID, into the pronucleus of fertilised rat oocytes. They found that the offspring carried a variety of deletion/insertion mutations, most of which were expressed as frameshift or splicing errors, resulting in no or very little expression of II2rg mRNA. The ZFN modified founders faithfully transmitted their genetic changes to the next generation along with the SCID phenotype (Mashimo et al., 2010). The X-SCID rats generated in studies such as this can be valuable in vivo tools for pre-clinical testing during drug development or gene therapy as well as model systems for examining the treatment of xenotransplanted malignancies. Another approach, gene correction allows the transfer of single nucleotide changes from a DNA donor to the chromosome following a ZFN induced double strand break. Urnov et al., 2005 designed ZFNs directed against the X-linked SCID mutation hotspot in the interleukin-2 receptor-ÃŽ ³ (IL2RÃŽ ³) gene. Using the ZFNs on K562 cell lines, they found that ~20% of the population carried a modification at the endogenous loci and about 7% of the cells were homozygous for the donor specified genotype, which was accurately reflected at the mRNA and protein levels. The modified cells were found to be stable for extended periods in cell culture while transcriptionally and translationally manifesting their new genotype (Urnov et al., 2005). Gene addition Transgenesis of human cells is used in functional genomics, proteomics and protein structure-function studies, and is routinely accomplished by random integration combined with drug selection. Expression of a randomly integrated transgene can be unpredictable and tends to be unstable over time due to epigenetic effects (DeKelver et al., 2010). The precisely placed double strand break induced by ZFNs can stimulate integration of long DNA stretches into a predetermined genomic location, resulting in site-specific gene addition. Moehle et al., 2007 introduced ZFNs directed against the interleukin-2 receptor-ÃŽ ³ (IL2RÃŽ ³) gene (exon 5), in combination with a DNA donor carrying a 12bp tag and a 900bp open reading frame (ORF), flanked by locus specific homology arms into HEK293 cells. After 72 hours, ~5% of the chromatids had acquired the transgene between the ZFN recognition sites (Moehle et al., 2007). ZFNs have also been used in human EPCs and iPSC to efficiently target a drug resistance marker to a specific gene. Hockemeyer et al., 2009, used ZFNs specific for the OCT4 (POU5F1) locus and a donor constructs containing a splice acceptor (SA) followed by an enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP)-2A-puromycin cassette. They reported expression of two proteins, a fusion protein comprising the first 132 amino acids of human OCT4 fused to eGFP (OCT4EX1-eGFP) and puromycin N-acetyltransferase, both under the control of the endogenous OCT4 promoter, therefore generating reporter cells which can monitor the pluripotent state of human ESCs (Hockemeyer et al., 2009). Therapeutic applications of ZFNs Site specific manipulation of the genome by ZFNs has revolutionised biology and holds great promise for molecular medicine (Lombardo et al., 2007). For example a corrected allele of a disease causing gene could be curative in several monogenetic diseases. Alternatively, the knockout of a gene encoding a virus receptor could be shown to eliminate rather than merely reduce infection. ZFN mediated gene disruption is the first ZFN based approach that has been taken to clinical trails, specifically for the treatment of glioblastoma (NCT01082926) and HIV (NCT00842634 and NCT01044654). In glioblastoma phase I clinical trials, the glucocorticoid receptor gene is disrupted by ZFNs as part of a T cell based cancer immunotherapy (Urnov et al., 2010). In the HIV trials, ZFNs targeting the chemokine (C-C motif) receptor type 5 (CCR5) gene have been delivered via adenoviral vector to isolated T cells from subjects. The CCR5 protein is required for certain common types of HIV infection to enter into and infect T cells. The ZFN mediated CCR5 knockout T cells then are returned to the subject.   (Perez et al., 2008). An advantage of using ZFN technology is that it creates a fully penetrant, heritable gene knockout that will persist for the lifetime of that cell and its progeny, therefore removing the need for persistent therapeutic exposure. Limitations of ZFNs A potential limitation of the ZFN targeting approach is off-target DNA breaks induced at related sequences elsewhere in the genome, which may cause unpredictable genotoxic. To overcome this, ZFNs can be designed to with longer DNA recognition sites such as 12bp-18bp, which upon dimerisation of the FokI nuclease domain will recognise a 24bp-23bp sequence (such sites are rare even in complex genomes). This alongside bioinformatic tools such as SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) can be used determine the specificity for a ZFN DNA binding domain and generate a rank order of potential off-target site with highest similarity (Tuerk et al., 1990).   Another challenge when designing ZFNs is the choice delivery system (DNA, RNA or viral), the ideal method has proven to be dependent on cell type. Lombardo et al., 2007 found that integrase-defective lentiviral vectors (IDLV) support functional delivery of both ZFNs and donor DNA templates to a variety of cell ty pes, including haematopoietic progenitors and embryonic stem cells (Lombardo et al., 2007). Aside from the various limitations, ZFN technology has allowed site specific genome editing to become established in human cells and a number of model organisms, opening the door to a powerful range of new experimental and therapeutic possibilities. References Carroll, D., Beumer, K. J., Morton, J. J., Bozas, A. and Trautman, J. K. (2008) Gene targeting in Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans with zinc-finger nucleases, Methods Mol Biol, 435, pp. 63-77. DeKelver, R. C., Choi, V. M., Moehle, E. A., Paschon, D. E., Hockemeyer, D., Meijsing, S. H., Sancak, Y., Cui, X., Steine, E. J., Miller, J. C., Tam, P., Bartsevich, V. V., Meng, X., Rupniewski, I., Gopalan, S. M., Sun, H. C., Pitz, K. J., Rock, J. M., Zhang, L., Davis, G. D., Rebar, E. J., Cheeseman, I. M., Yamamoto, K. R., Sabatini, D. M., Jaenisch, R., Gregory, P. D. and Urnov, F. D. (2010) Functional genomics, proteomics, and regulatory DNA analysis in isogenic settings using zinc finger nuclease-driven transgenesis into a safe harbor locus in the human genome, Genome Res, 20, (8), pp. 1133-42. Doyon, Y., McCammon, J. M., Miller, J. C., Faraji, F., Ngo, C., Katibah, G. E., Amora, R., Hocking, T. D., Zhang, L., Rebar, E. J., Gregory, P. D., Urnov, F. D. and Amacher, S. L. (2008) Heritable targeted gene disruption in zebrafish using designed zinc-finger nucleases, Nat Biotechnol, 26, (6), pp. 702-8. Durai, S., Mani, M., Kandavelou, K., Wu, J., Porteus, M. H. and Chandrasegaran, S. (2005) Zinc finger nucleases: custom-designed molecular scissors for genome engineering of plant and mammalian cells, Nucleic Acids Res, 33, (18), pp. 5978-90. Hockemeyer, D., Soldner, F., Beard, C., Gao, Q., Mitalipova, M., DeKelver, R. C., Katibah, G. E., Amora, R., Boydston, E. A., Zeitler, B., Meng, X., Miller, J. C., Zhang, L., Rebar, E. J., Gregory, P. D., Urnov, F. D. and Jaenisch, R. (2009) Efficient targeting of expressed and silent genes in human ESCs and iPSCs using zinc-finger nucleases, Nat Biotechnol, 27, (9), pp. 851-7. Jackson, S. P. and Bartek, J. (2009) The DNA-damage response in human biology and disease, Nature, 461, (7267), pp. 1071-8. Lee, H. J., Kim, E. and Kim, J. S. (2010) Targeted chromosomal deletions in human cells using zinc finger nucleases, Genome Res, 20, (1), pp. 81-9. Lombardo, A., Genovese, P., Beausejour, C. M., Colleoni, S., Lee, Y. L., Kim, K. A., Ando, D., Urnov, F. D., Galli, C., Gregory, P. D., Holmes, M. C. and Naldini, L. (2007) Gene editing in human stem cells using zinc finger nucleases and integrase-defective lentiviral vector delivery, Nat Biotechnol, 25, (11), pp. 1298-306. Mashimo, T., Takizawa, A., Voigt, B., Yoshimi, K., Hiai, H., Kuramoto, T. and Serikawa, T. (2010) Generation of knockout rats with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) using zinc-finger nucleases, PLoS One, 5, (1), pp. e8870. Moehle, E. A., Rock, J. M., Lee, Y. L., Jouvenot, Y., DeKelver, R. C., Gregory, P. D., Urnov, F. D. and Holmes, M. C. (2007) Targeted gene addition into a specified location in the human genome using designed zinc finger nucleases, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 104, (9), pp. 3055-60. Perez, E. E., Wang, J., Miller, J. C., Jouvenot, Y., Kim, K. A., Liu, O., Wang, N., Lee, G., Bartsevich, V. V., Lee, Y. L., Guschin, D. Y., Rupniewski, I., Waite, A. J., Carpenito, C., Carroll, R. G., Orange, J. S., Urnov, F. D., Rebar, E. J., Ando, D., Gregory, P. D., Riley, J. L., Holmes, M. C. and June, C. H. (2008) Establishment of HIV-1 resistance in CD4+ T cells by genome editing using zinc-finger nucleases, Nat Biotechnol, 26, (7), pp. 808-16. Sollu, C., Pars, K., Cornu, T. I., Thibodeau-Beganny, S., Maeder, M. L., Joung, J. K., Heilbronn, R. and Cathomen, T. (2010) Autonomous zinc-finger nuclease pairs for targeted chromosomal deletion, Nucleic Acids Res. Urnov, F. D., Miller, J. C., Lee, Y. L., Beausejour, C. M., Rock, J. M., Augustus, S., Jamieson, A. C., Porteus, M. H., Gregory, P. D. and Holmes, M. C. (2005) Highly efficient endogenous human gene correction using designed zinc-finger nucleases, Nature, 435, (7042), pp. 646-51. Urnov, F. D., Rebar, E. J., Holmes, M. C., Zhang, H. S. and Gregory, P. D. (2010) Genome editing with engineered zinc finger nucleases, Nat Rev Genet, 11, (9), pp. 636-46. Vanamee, E. S., Santagata, S. and Aggarwal, A. K. (2001) FokI requires two specific DNA sites for cleavage, J Mol Biol, 309, (1), pp. 69-78. Zhang, F., Maeder, M. L., Unger-Wallace, E., Hoshaw, J. P., Reyon, D., Christian, M., Li, X., Pierick, C. J., Dobbs, D., Peterson, T., Joung, J. K. and Voytas, D. F. (2010) High frequency targeted mutagenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana using zinc finger nucleases, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 107, (26), pp. 12028-33. Zou, J., Maeder, M. L., Mali, P., Pruett-Miller, S. M., Thibodeau-Beganny, S., Chou, B. K., Chen, G., Ye, Z., Park, I. H., Daley, G. Q., Porteus, M. H., Joung, J. K. and Cheng, L. (2009) Gene targeting of a disease-related gene in human induced pluripotent stem and embryonic stem cells, Cell Stem Cell, 5, (1), pp. 97-110.

Consumer behaviors case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consumer behaviors case - Essay Example It seems that people are not ready for a change and that is the hardest part of the project. These are some of the facts that have contributed to the slow implementation of green marketing However, there are consumers who are loyal to the green products, believe in them, and know the benefits associated with green products. For this reason, companies should come up with strategies to incorporate green marketing. Companies ought to match the green products with the consumer’s traditional non-green products’ attributes, such as convenience, availability, price, quality, and performance. The green products should be available in nearby locations in such a way that the customers will not have to travel for long to look for the products. The green products should be available in shops that the non-green products used to be found. The price should be fair. That means that they green products should not be much expensive as compared to the non green products. Green products are more productive and of a higher quality than the non-green products. That information should be passed to the customers so that they can be attracted to the new products. The managers sh ould educated customers on the associated with the use of the green products and that will increase the sales of the green products. This will enable the consumer to relate with the products, as not much will have changed from their original package. The marketing strategies that the company adopts should also be right, with knowledge that different strategies work differently under different markets and competitive conditions. Managers should also understand the strategies and the reasons behind the strategies. Green marketing has not fulfilled its initial promise, but companies can take a more effective approach if they realize that a one-size-fits-all strategy does not exist. (JILL and PAUL 3) The company

IAS 17 Leases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

IAS 17 Leases - Essay Example This accounting standard is quite comprehensive in its nature such that it encompasses different aspects of leases in a very detailed manner. This section briefly analyzes 1) Scope of IAS 17, 2) Classification of Leases, 3) Accounting by Lessor, 4) Accounting by Lessee, 5) Disclosure Requirements for Lessor and, 6) Disclosure Requirements for Lessee. 1. Scope of IAS 17 The applicability of IAS 17 rests with all the leased assets except the following assets: †¢ Natural regenerative resources including oil, gas and other minerals †¢ Licensing agreements in respect of videos, manuscript, copyrights, brands, films, games etc. †¢ Investment property valued on fair value basis by lessee under IAS 40 †¢ Investment property considered as operating lease by the lessor under IAS40 †¢ Biological assets considered as finance lease by the lessee under IAS 41 †¢ Biological assets considered as operating lease by the lessor under IAS 41 2. Classification of Lease Lease s are generally classified into either finance lease or operating lease. The major distinguishing factor between a finance lease and an operating lease is the transfer of substantial risk and rewards even if the ownership is not transferred. It is important to note that the classification must be made before the commencement of the lease. The major criteria for the finance lease is as followed: †¢ At the expiry of the lease term, the ownership title is transferred to the lessee. At the inception of the lease the lessee has been provided the option to purchase the leased asset a price lower than the fair value of the asset, and there is likelihood that the option would probably be exercised by the lessee. Leased asset is provided to the lessee for a major part the useful life of the leased asset. The present value of the minimum lease payments (MLP) should be approximately equal to the fair value of the leased asset at the inception of the lease. The leased assets can be used by the lessee without any significant modification in the asset due to its specialized nature. 3. Accounting by the Lessor The following accounting treatment is provided under IAS 17 for the recognition of the leased assets by the lessor: There are three major recognition criteria should be used by the lessor in respect of accounting for lease. The criteria are highlighted as under: Finance lease should be recorded by the lessor in the balance as a receivable. The amount of the receivable should be approximately equal to the net investment made in the lease by the lessor. For finance lease, the income earned from the leased asset by the lessor should be presented as a constant rate of return of the outstanding amount of the lease by lessor. For the case of operating lease, those leased assets should be recognized in the balance sheet according to the nature of the leased asset. The income earned in respect of the operating lease should be recognized on straight line basis over the lea se term of the leased asset or on the basis of any other suitable and systematic criteria. 4. Accounting by the Lessee The following accounting treatment is provided under IAS 17 for the recognition of the leased assets by the lessor: In respect of the finance lease, the

Effects of Entire les Murs On Traditional French National Identity Essay

Effects of Entire les Murs On Traditional French National Identity - Essay Example This report stresses that someone who views this film for the first time may be obliged to have a negative attitude towards French culture due the fact that pupils are a force to learn it at schools. The fact that this teacher enjoys French does not mean that everybody will like it and failure to understand that will cause someone who might have been willing to learn the French culture to have second thoughts about it. If a certain pupil does not understand this language, then definitely he/she will assume that their culture is not that pleasing as well hence dislikes it. This paper makes a conclusion that the Entre les murs is a good representation of the French education system that has its guiding rules from the western ideas. However, these ideas have caused problems by affecting other cultural groups without taking into consideration their rights. Although public education is free in France and it has been every citizen's right to access it, the way it is made available violates other people's culture and rights. This is because the education system is public centralized and incorporates compulsory French language classes that are not liked by many. This film widely focuses on ethnicity and the failure of the French education system to incorporate other people's ethnicity into their system. If that were not possible, then the education system would try to avoid making the French culture compulsory to foreign students who were interested in learning in France.