RNL BIO CO LTD has announced the filing of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) to initiate clinical trials phase II and III assessing the company's RNL-Astrostem(TM) stem cell drug in patients with cerebral palsy.

Cerebral Palsy is caused by non-progressive brain damage from single or multiple defect(s) on the nerve/muscular system and results in disorder in motion and sensory integration. According to Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the prevalence of cerebral palsy is 3.5 per 1000 male to 2.8 per 1000 female children, averaged at 3.2 per 1000 children, which is expected to increase due to reduction of premature death.

Maybe it is not just sentimental. Perhaps the connection to "man's best friends" is literally in our heads.

Skull shape is a complex trait, involving multiple genes and their interactions. Thanks to standardized canine breeding, which documents more than 400 breeds worldwide, and their distinct morphological features, researchers can disentangle traits such as skull shape, which is often a breed-defining variation. 

It's the weekend, which means it is time for scientists, science journalists, book authors and intellectually curious readers to think about microbiology.  And that means beer. Beer is actually safer to drink than water. You didn't know that?  Let's talk some biology.

The master ingredient in beer is yeast. That's a microbe! So if you do experiments with beer this weekend, you are advancing the world of science.  If you make beer, you are a microbiologist.  If you drink beer, you are a microbiologist. Microbiologists understand beer and bacteria and stuff, which is why they drink beer more than water.

Adding fruits and vegetables to diets may help protect the kidneys of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with too much acid build-up, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). This is good news, since it has also been shown that frequent dialysis poses risks for kidney patients.

Compared with standard dialysis, frequent  hemodialysis,  requires accessing the blood more often than conventional hemodialysis, can cause complications related to repeated access to the blood, requiring patients to undergo more repair procedures to the site through which blood is removed and returned, according to a study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). 

Requiring individuals to pay a premium for public health insurance coverage will counteract the coverage effects of expanding eligibility for public health insurance programs to higher income families, according to a paper in the journal Health Services Research.

Estimating using their numerical model, researchers from Georgetown University School of Nursing&Health Studies (NHS), University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and Columbia University examined how income eligibility thresholds and premium contribution requirements associated with public health insurance programs affect children's health insurance coverage outcomes. 

At the start of this year, a controversial feature of President Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect.

Under the ACA, medical devices companies will have to pay new tax of 2.3% on gross sales. While medical devices companies have opposed the tax, saying it will hurt research and development activities, proponents of ACA say, of course, that more taxes will be good for them. In progressive economics, companies such as Hologic Inc. and St. Jude Medical Inc. will get more customers due to their higher taxes and that will boost sales of medical devices.  

Two new studies look for ways to improve surgical treatment for a debilitating condition called  neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, which is caused by compressed nerves in the neck and shoulder and causes pain, numbness or tingling in the shoulder, arm or hand.

It is most common in baseball pitchers and other elite athletes. Patients often describe pain and tension in the neck and upper back, numbness and tingling in the fingers, headaches and perceived muscle weakness in the affected limb.

Researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Southampton have brought the science of repairing broken bones into the 21st century, using adult bone stem cells combined with a degradable lightweight plastic  that encourages real bone to re-grow.

Almost two years ago, I wrote an article entitled "What is life - Part 1" describing various aspects of life that dealt with the issues of "intent" and "purpose".  These are obviously heavily loaded terms, and represent a tremendous difficulty in defining life and trying to come to terms with the obvious and yet inexplicable behaviors we see.

Yet, we all recognize this type of behavior and biology even uses the term teleonomy to characterize this (1).