Breast cancer is a cancer of prosperity: Mary-Claire King

A few decades ago, when the predominant belief was that breast cancer was caused by
viruses and when DNA sequencing technology was yet to be discovered, Dr. Mary-Claire
King proved that the disease was linked to genetic mutations. It took Dr. King — who is
currently Professor Genome Sciences at the University of Washington — 15 years to build a
mathematical model to support the hypothesis. In the 1990s, she and her team identified the
BRCA1 gene, popularly called the breast cancer gene.

Prof. King was in the city on Wednesday to give a lecture — Understanding Inherited Breast
and Ovarian Cancer: From Gene Discovery to Precision Medicine and Public Health — for
the seventh edition of the Cell Press-TNQ India Distinguished Lectureship Series, 2017.
She opened with a chart showing incidence rate of breast cancer in Bengaluru from the late
1980s to the present. The shape of the curve goes up rapidly, compared to the incidence rate
of cervical cancer which is dropping. This kind of pattern is reflected everywhere in the
world, but Bengaluru’s curve is one of the steepest.

“Breast cancer is uniquely a cancer of prosperity. It’s a cancer of women who are educated
and consequently decide to postpone having their children. Of young girls who are wellnourished
and consequently begin menstruation or menarche at a younger age,” she said,
adding that the interval between the age of menarche and the age of first pregnancy is now
three-four times longer than it was a 100 years ago. “And the link of that interval has been
shown by epidemiological studies worldwide to be primary determinant of breast cancer
risk,” she said.

While incidence of breast cancer is higher in the European Union and the U.S. when
compared with India, the mortality rates are “not that dissimilar”. “This is because survival is
poorer here because breast cancer still presents itself in India at considerably later stages,”
she said.

She underscored the importance of identifying and screening women above the age of 30 who
were at the very highest risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Breast cancer when
detected at its later stages, is much harder to eradicate. The best way to combat this is through
genetic to see if a person is predisposed to mutations.

But will India rise to this challenge? Screening does not come cheap, and will be a burden on
the country’s healthcare, but Prof. King expressed confidence in the technologies coming out
of India that will reduce costs. “If we are in a resource-limited environment, we can focus the
resources that there are on people for whom they will have the greatest yield,” said Prof.
King.

At the lecture, the finalists for the Inspiring Science Award for the best published scientific
paper in the Life Sciences from India were also announced.

Breaking barriers
When Dr. Mary-Claire King shifted her focus from mathematics to genetics at the University
of California, Berkeley, more than four decades ago, the field of science was as much a
testosterone-filled male dominated bastion as a male locker room. After she accepted a
position in the School of Public Health at her alma mater, the epidemiology division head
said to her, “I just want you to know that you are only here because of all these new
regulations, and we are really scraping the bottom of the barrel in hiring you.” Her reply was
a succinct, “We’ll see how long you feel that way.” And she did just that.

Source: The Hindu

Fast to reverse diabetes

MANAGING DIABETES: Better to check fasting and post prandial blood glucose with

advanced digital glucometers may help diabetics to keep their diabetes under control.

A study on mice demonstrated reversal
A type of fasting diet may reprogramme pancreas cells, promote the growth of new insulinproducing
pancreatic cells and reduce symptoms of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, a study has
shown.

In the study, led by researchers from the University of Southern California, mice were placed
on fasting mimicking diet (FMD) for four days each week.
They showed remarkable reversal of diabetes.

The mice regained healthy insulin production, reduced insulin resistance.
They also demonstrated more stable levels of blood glucose — even in the later stages of the
disease, the researchers said in the paper published in the journal Cell.
The genes normally active in the developing pancreas of embryonic/foetal mice are

reactivated in diabetic adult mice when cycling FMD with normal diets.

This increases production of the protein neurogenin-3 (Ngn3) and, as a result, promotes the
creation of new, healthy insulin-producing beta cells.

Researchers also examined pancreatic cell cultures from human donors and found that, in
cells from Type 1 diabetes patients, nutrients mimicking fasting also increased expression of
the Ngn3 protein and insulin production.

“These findings warrant a larger FDA trial on the use of the Fasting Mimicking Diet to treat

diabetes patients,” said Valter Longo from the University of Southern California.
“People with diabetes could one day be treated with an FDA-approved Fasting Mimicking
Diet for a few days each month, eat a normal diet for the rest of the month, and see positive
results in their ability to control their blood sugar by producing normal levels of insulin and
improving insulin function,” Longo added.

Source: The Hindu

We are losing fifth of world food to overeating, wastage

Almost 20% of the food made available to consumers worldwide is lost through over-eatingor wastage, according to a new study . The world population consumes around 10% morefood than it needs, while almost 9% is thrown away or left to spoil, researchers said.Efforts to reduce the billions of tonnes lost could improve global food security -ensuringeveryone has access to a safe, affordable, nutritious diet -and help prevent damage to theenvironment, they said. Scientists at University of Edinburgh in the UK examined 10 keystages in the global food system -including food consumption and the growing and harvestingof crops -to quantify the extent of losses.Using data for 2011 (the most recent date for which the researchers said all required data wasavailable) collected primarily by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, the team foundthat more food is lost from the system than was previously thought. Almost half of harvestedcrops -or 2.1 billion tonnes -are lost through over-consumption, consumer waste andinefficiencies in production processes, researchers said.Livestock production is the least efficient process, with losses of 78% or 840 million tonnes,the team found.Some 1.08 billion tonnes of harvested crops are used to produce 240 milliontonnes of edible animal products including meat, milk and eggs. This stage alone accounts for40% of all losses of harvested crops, researchers said. Increased demand for some foods,particularly meat and dairy products, would decrease the efficiency of the food system andcould make it difficult to feed the world's expanding population in sustainable ways, theysaid. Meeting this demand could cause environmental harm by increasing greenhouse gasemissions, depleting water supplies and causing loss of biodiversity.Encouraging people to eat fewer animal products, reduce waste and not exceed nutritionalneeds could help reverse these trends, the team said.“Until now, it was not known how overeatingimpacts the system. Not only is it harmful to health, we found that overeating is badfor the environment and impairs food security,“ Peter Alexander from Edinburgh's School ofGeoSciences said.

Source: The Times of India

Vitamin D can protect against colds, flu: Study

Vitamin D can protect against colds, flu and other respiratory infections, said a study on
Thursday which reopened a debate on the usefulness of over-the-counter supplements.

A review of 25 clinical trials in 14 countries yielded “the first defi 14 countries yielded “the
first definitive evidence“ of a link between vitamin D and flu prevention, researchers claimed
. For the study , researchers from the Queen Mary University of London conducted the
biggest-ever survey of trials involving nearly 11,000 people.

“The bottom line is that the protective effects of vitamin D supplementation are strongest in
those who have the lowest vitamin D levels, and when supplementation is given daily or
weekly rather than in more widely-spaced doses,“ lead researcher Adrian Martineau said in a
statement.

Vitamin D is thought to protect against respiratory infections, including bronchitis and
pneumonia, by boosting levels of antibiotic-like peptides in the lungs, said the team. This fits
with an observation that colds and flu are more common in winter and spring, when vitamin
D levels are lowest.

It may also explain why vitamin D seems to protect against asthma attacks, they said.

Source: The Times of India

US experts soften stand on DNA editing of human eggs

Powerful gene editing tools may one day be used on human embryos, eggs and sperm to

remove genes that cause inherited diseases, according to a report by US scientists released on

Tuesday .

The report from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine

said scientific advances has made gene editing in human reproductive cells “a realistic

possibility that deserves serious consideration“. The statement signals a softening in approach

over the use of technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 that has opened up new frontiers in

genetic medicine because of its ability to modify genes quickly and efficiently.

In December 2015, scientists at a meeting in Washington said it would be “irresponsible“ to

use gene editing technology in human embryos for therapeutic purposes. The latest NAS

report said that clinical trials for genome editing of the human germline could be permitted,

“but only for serious conditions under stringent oversight“.

CRISPR-Cas9 works as a type of molecular scissors that can selectively trim away unwanted

parts of the genome, and replace it with new stretches of DNA. The concern is that use of the

technology may allow the changes pass along to the offspring.

Source :  The Times of India

In a relief to lakhs of patients, price of life-saving coronary stents capped at 30,000

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped the price

of life-saving coronary stents, a spring-like metal device used to prop open blocked arteries in

the heart, at ₹ 30,000.

In effect, the selling price of stents has been slashed by up to 85% by the country’s top body

that fixes prices for drugs that will come as a relief for lakhs of patients who pay inordinately

high amounts for the device.

There are massive margins charged at each step in the distribution and supply of stents and by

the time the patient gets it, the increase from the original cost is often in the range of 1000-

2000%.

The Union health ministry included stents in the National List of Essential Medicines

(NLEM) in 2016 after the Delhi high court sought action on a petition seeking price control

on the device. All medicines under the NLEM have to be notified as schedule-I drugs so that

their prices can be controlled.

Stents are broadly categorised as bare metal stents and drugeluting stents, the fixed rate of

which will be now around ₹ 7,260 and ₹ 29,600 respectively.

According to NLEM data, the cost of bare metal stent ranges between ₹ 25,000 and ₹ 75,000,

while a drug-eluting stent costs between ₹ 40,000 and ₹ 1,98,000. More than 90% of the

stents used are the drug eluting ones.

The number of angioplasties performed in the country went up by 42% in 2015 as compared

to the previous year, according to the National Interventional Council (NIC) data.

During 2015, 3.75 lakh angioplasties were performed and 4.75 lakh stents were used.

Source: Hindustan Times

'Noxious weed' may help fight superbugs

A noxious weed that plagues homes across Florida may hold the secret to fighting deadly

antibiotic-resistant superbugs, according to a new study.

The red berries of the Brazilian peppertree contains an extract that can disarm the staph

bacteria. “Traditional healers in Amazon have used the Brazilian peppertree for hundreds of

years to treat infections of the skin and soft tissues,“ said Cassandra Quave, an assistant

professor at Emory University.

“We pulled apart the chemical ingredients of the berries and tested them against diseasecausing

bacteria to uncover a medicinal mechanism of this plant,“ Quave said. The

researchers showed that a refined, flavone-rich composition extracted from the berries

inhibited formation of skin lesions in mice infected with methicillin-resis tant Staphylococcus

auereus (MRSA). The compound works by repressing a gene that allows the MRSA bacteria

cells to communicate with one another.

Blocking that communication prevents the cells from taking collective action, a mechanism

known as quorum quenching. “It disarms the MRSA bacteria, preventing it from excreting

the toxins it uses as weapons to damage tissues,“ Quave said. “The body's normal immune

system then stands a better chance of healing a wound.“

Source : The Times of India

Gender of foetus can affect pregnant women immunity, says study

The immunity of pregnant women can be affected by the gender of the baby, say scientists.

They found that women carrying female foetuses showed a heightened inflammatory

response.

Researchers from The Ohio State University in the U.S. followed 80 pregnant women

through the course of their pregnancy to find out if they exhibited different levels of immune

markers called cytokines based on the gender of the foetus.

Analyses were conducted on the level of cytokines in the blood and levels produced by a

sample of immune cells that were exposed to bacteria in the lab.

“While women didn’t exhibit differences in blood cytokine levels based on foetal sex, we did

find that the immune cells of women carrying female foetuses produced more proinflammatory

cytokines when exposed to bacteria,” said Amanda Mitchell, a postdoctoral

researcher. “This means that women carrying female foetuses exhibited a heightened

inflammatory response when their immune system was challenged,” said Ms. Mitchell.

Inflammation is a critical part of the immune response involved in wound healing and

responses to viruses, bacteria and chronic illnesses. However, excessive inflammation is

stressful to the body.

The heightened inflammation observed among women carrying female foetuses could play a

role in why mothers-to-be tend to experience exacerbated symptoms of some medical

conditions, including asthma, when carrying a female foetus.

The study was published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity. 

Source: The Hindu