Bharat Rakshak

The technology is prohibitively expensive and it is not likely that dumb country doctors will get their hands on it. Basic primary health care should be the main objective for dumb country doctors.
The rich will sooner or later find a way to have designer babies and it is more than likely that some Indian Whiz will pioneer the technology, but projecting from current trends it does not seem likely that designer babies will pass the ethical test. However like India is a hugely popular destination for firangis looking for a takeaway organ transplant centres, genetic engineering too will probably fall in the same category.

This moral dielmma of the west is pure eyewash, western companies fund clinical trials in developing countries with the aim of marketing the drug in the West first.

Are stem cell related bio stocks worth investing in ?

Is this area likely to hold great promise ?


Thanks

It will have to be a very long term investment as there are no existing stem cell therapies (to earn from) in western countries now. Most of them are in development phase and some are in Phase I & II clinical trials. Upside being that share values of such companies is very less now and with Obama in power there is more hope for stem cell dependent therapies or developments towards that direction and you might have a good windfall profits if you hold on to them.

That's what I'm asking for.

Are you in the industry and do you know what company might be following a promising angle to stem cell research ?

Anant, would you be able to shed some light on successes of stem cell treatment vs gene therapy?

broadly speaking stem cells seem to succeed when the right "ambiance" in terms of chemical signaling from surrounding cells exist while gene therapy is stuck on finding the exact and reliable marker probes to successfully switch the coding regions

while people are successful at gene arrays which involve same population of nucleotides per sample, gene therapy also acting on a population of similarly expressing cells is still not reliable even at the aggregate level?

Thank you my brothers.

What are your opinions on the state of stem cell research and where its headed. Would you say its more hype than substance at this point or are we approaching some kind of critical mass?

My gut feeling is that this area holds great promise. Many have/are/will be rushing into stem cell/genetics related stocks and hardly anyone (myself included) will have a clue what we are buying into.

Any investor getting the timing wrong between now and then is liable to get his head handed to him as these stocks have an alarming tendency to trend towards zero I notice.

In your opinion, is there anything stem cell related worth investing in for the long haul ? If not, how far out would you say are we to a 'take off point'.

we are working on full organs at the moment so no not light years. I do it routinely on a daily basis.

don't invest in stem cell companies (yet). In a year or so, my answer will change.

Funny you mention Stem Cell Therapeutics. Yes, I know them and yes I've met them. First, if the stock is a penny stock, you shouldn't be hanging out in that neighborhood at all. Stocks like that are illiquid, pumped and dumped and often hard to get rid off. Be darn careful ok?

As far as your understanding of organogenesis is concerned, you are correct and wrong. Indeed, we are making organs like skin and cardiomyocytes but we are also creating full organs, e.g. bladders, livers on scaffolds, and even hearts.

Why did I suggest a year? Its because IPS or induced pluripotent stem cells will revolutionize the field and we are rapidly in the process of moving these from viral based methodologies to patient matched non viral methods of generation.

At any rate, glad to discuss these topics. I plan on setting up a stem cell presence in India and am gauging interest there at the moment. All the best folks.

A Marine Bio-Technology Park will be set up at Mamallapuram and the State government has already identified 300 acres for the purpose.

encouraged by the success of TICEL Biotechnology Park-I, the State government was establishing TICEL Biotechnology Park-II at the cost of Rs.150 crore.

Mr Stalin said Park-II would be completed in 2011 and would provide employment opportunities for 1,500 scientists.

Dr. P M Murali, Convenor, CII Tamil Nadu Biotechnology Panel, said the Rs 14,000-crore biotech industry in India was expected to expand 5 times by 2015.

GANDHINAGAR: In a major boost to the state's biotech mission, the National Centre of Biotechnology Information (NCBI), US, which is the global repository for genomic sequence information of humans, animals, plants and micro-organisms, has recognized Gujarat Genomics Initiative's (GGI's) whole genome sequencing of aciditiohbacillus sp as the only standalone work done anywhere in India.

The NCBI came into existence as a result of the human genome project, launched in 1990 in collaboration with the US department of energy, US' National Institute of Health, UK's Welcome Trust and 20 various other world organizations. The project was completed in 13 years, after which NCBI as the global repository of all genetic research came into existence.

An internal note of the state science and technology department calls aciditiohbacillus sp"an important bacteria studied widely for bioleaching – or extraction of metals". It adds, "It offers exceptional opportunity to probe life in extremely acidic environments, offering insights into ancient ways of life in Archaean, acidic seas. It also suggests potential biomarkers to be used when searching for evidence of extra-terrestrial life."

GGI is a state government project — which with two other proje-cts, Gujarat Biodiversity Gene Ba-nk and Virtual Institute of Bioinfo-rmatics — seeks to create an integrated platform for the whole geno-me sequencing. The whole set of ge-nes of an organism is called geno-me and process of sequencing and analysis of whole DNA of a cell of the organism is called whole genome sequencing

There were celebrations outside the Supreme Court as the landmark decision was read out. One charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres, called it a victory for poor patients not just in India but across the world.

Experts say Monday's court order will set a precedent for the so-called "patent cliff" - a phrase used to describe the expiry of pharmaceutical patents across a range of blockbuster drugs.

It is estimated that drugs with combined annual sales of $150bn will go off-patent by 2015 and that could help companies here earn millions of dollars in profits.

Swiss pharma major Novartis on Monday said it will not invest on research and development in India and move R&D to favourable destinations following the Supreme Court order rejecting its patent plea on cancer drug Glivec.

The company will continue to introduce products in the country, but not invest in R&D here, Novartis India Ltd Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Ranjit Shahani said at a press conference in Mumbai.

"The multinational companies will have to find new ways of doing business in India," said Deepak Malik, healthcare analyst at brokerage Emkay Global, suggesting they may consider licensing agreements with local firms to offer cheap versions of branded drugs like Glivec.

Ranjit Shahani, managing director of Novartis India Ltd, the firm's locally listed unit, said it will still file patents and carry on investing in the country, but with caution, and will continue to refrain from research and development activities there.

"The intellectual property ecosystem in India is not very encouraging," Shahani told reporters in Mumbai after the ruling.

The ruling may dampen that enthusiasm in the short term, said S. Majumdar, head of law firm S. Majumdar & Co based in the eastern city of Kolkata.

"But they (foreign pharmaceutical firms) will have to get used to it and learn to live with the law," he said.

Pfizer's cancer drug Sutent and Roche's hepatitis C treatment Pegasys lost their patented status in India last year, decisions the companies are fighting to have reversed. The Supreme Court's latest ruling will make it tougher for them to win back patent protection.

"Henceforth, multinational pharma companies are likely to want that their patents are first recognized in India before launch of a patented product," said Ameet Hariani, managing partner at Mumbai-based law firm Hariani & Co.

It is official: India is siding with poor cancer patients over profits for multinational drug giants.The Supreme Court of India has rejected a plea by Swiss pharma giant Novartis that ends the seven-year legal battle to restrict Indian companies from copying blood cancer drug Glivec. Novartis had filed a plea with the Supreme Court after the Intellectual Property Appellate Board had rejected a patent claim for Glivec. Glivec is marketed as Gleevec in the United States. In 2001, Time magazine called it the magic bullet for cancer patients. The drug was originally developed as Imatinib using rational drug design after Philadelphia chromosome mutation was discovered.In India, Glivec costs about 120,000 rupees for a one month dose. In contrast, generic copies by Indian companies cost about 8,000 rupees, or about $148 at current exchange rates.The decision is being hailed by activists and has major implications for multinational pharmaceutical firms. The decision opens the door for Indian companies to continue to make generics of a large number of drugs that are under patent in the developed world.The decision is also a big setback for the ever-greening strategy employed by big pharma. In this strategy, big pharma makes minor changes to extend patents.Lately, American investors have shown irrational exuberance about pharmaceutical stocks. Pharmaceutical stocks have been one of the best performing groups.Bulls on pharmaceutical stocks cite two reasons behind their analysis. First, they deem pharmaceuticals as safe at a time of uncertainty in Europe and slowing growth in China. The thinking goes that people will always need drugs. Second, pharmaceutical stocks typically pay high dividends and buying dividend stocks is in fashion because there are not many other places to get yield.Bulls miss two key points. The fastest growing markets are not the developed markets, but the developing markets such as India. Now India has thrown down the gauntlet against big profits on branded drugs. My expectation is that most emerging markets will follow. In the long run, this is a very negative development for big pharma.The second point is that it is easy to forget $15 trillion in debt at a time when the stock market is in party mode. The debt situation is partly exasperated by ever increasing spending on Medicare and Medicaid. In the long run, the growth of Medicare and Medicaid at present rates is unsustainable. At present Medicare and Medicaid do not obtain competitive pricing for drugs; this situation cannot last forever. Typically, branded drugs in the U. S. tend to cost more than many other places in the world.
Bulls are right that the drug lobby is strong and politicians prefer to kick the can down the road. However, sooner or later the pricing of branded drugs in the U. S. is bound to come under pressure and herein lies a valuable insight for the long-term investors. Investors may want to exercise caution in stocks of firms such as Pfizer, Merck, Lilly, and Bristol-Myers. Aggressive investors can also take advantage of the present irrational exuberance to start slowly and cautiously building short positions in pharmaceuticals.

This article deals with the news of a new research about the herbal plant Tulsi. A new study has revealed the natural property of Tulsi plant leaves and stems which can help detoxifying fluoridated water. The cost-effective and environmental friendly process involves keeping the leaves or stems of Tulsi plant immersed in a glass of water for about 20 minutes to effectively detoxify fluoridated water. The water so treated satisfies fluoride content limits prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Tulasi the wonder medicinal plant

• Most of the people in India know Tulsi plant to be deity which is worshipped by many Hindu women along with other Hindu gods and goddesses. Tulsi plant is therefore grown in the courtyard of the house either on a sort of raised round or square structure made for this purpose or is planted in the earthen pots. It is considered as holy herb. A Hindu house appears to be incomplete without a Tulsi plant. Tulsi plant is also known as Basil plant. The scientific name of Tulsi is ocimum sanctum. The herbal plant is used in many Ayruvedic medicines.

• Tulsi leaves and stems are said to contained properties of great medicinal value. Tulsi leaves have proven to a good nerve tonic. The leaves of Tulsi plant when boiled along with tea leaves act as preventive cure for certain type of fevers and common colds. The common ailments like cough and sore throat are well treated by doing gargling with Tulsi leaves boiled in water. Honey and ginger with decoction of Tulsi leaves provide relief for bronchitis, influenza, cough and cold. Influenza can also be cured with the decoction of Tulsi leaves, cloves and common salt. One can simply chew Tulsi leaves to get relief from cold and flu. There are reports of the effectiveness of the Tulsi leaves juice mixed with honey to help remove kidney stones. But this must be taken for a minimum period of 6 months on a regular basis.

• Tulsi also helps in the reduction of blood cholesterol. Tulsi leaves are said to act as anti-stress agents. These help in purifying the blood. The Tulsi leaves if chewed regularly also help in curing the infections of the mouth. The researchers have found several used of the Tulsi plant in curing disorders of skin, teeth and eyes. Decoction of leaves of Tulsi plant also relieves headache in certain cases. A little juice of the Tulsi leaves applied repeatedly on insect bites and stings helps in relief from them.

Tulsi has properties to detoxify the fluorides found in water.

• There are several places in India where there is a lot fluoride content in the water. The high fluoride content in water. Excess fluoride content is widely found in many states in India. It is reported that over 10 lakh of population spread over in 500 villages in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh are affected by high fluoride content in the ground water. The ground water content in water in this area ranges between 0.4 ppm and 20 ppm. The maximum permissible content of fluoride permitted in drinking water in India is 1.2 mg/L. The government of India is therefore under obligation to start water treatment projects to bring down the fluoride content in the water.

• A report published in the Deccan Chronicle from Secunderabad on January 21, 2012 has revealed a very astonishing study carried out by the scientists of the Department of Environmental Sciences of Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya, Chandrapur. The team of this institute has very successfully found out that the leaves and stems of the Tulsi (Basil) herbal plant have a wonderful property of detoxifying the fluoridated water. The team members of the institute demonstrated their experiment by using both the dried and fresh leaves and stems of the Tulsi plant to prove their research.

• One of the members of the team, Mr Kamble said while reporting the experiment, "With initial fluoride concentration of 5 ppm, it was observed that maximum 94 per cent of fluoride can be removed with a dose of 75 mg of fresh basil leaves for a sample of 100 ml for a contract period of 20 minutes.". The study revealed that fresh basil stems with a dose of 100 mg / 100 ml had a removal efficiency of 75 per cent. When the dry leaves and dry stems of the Tulsi plant were used with a dose of 250 mg / 100 ml, the removal efficiency came down to 78 per cent in case of dry leaves and 74 per cent in the case of dried stems.

• The process of detoxifying the fluoridated water with Tulsi plant is very simple and easy for anyone to do. One has to keep the leaves of stems of the Tulsi plant immersed in a glass of water for about 20 minutes for the detoxification to take place. Afterward this period, one has to simply remove the leaves and stems from the water and drink the same. The water so treated is just at par with the norms laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The fluoride content within the permissible limit of Indian standard for drinking water is (IS 10500:1991, Fluoride 1.0 – 1.5 ppm).

Conclusion

• The natural bio-absorbent properties of Tulsi plant leaves and stems create a 20 minute wonder when immersed in water for this period. This is going to give a great relief to the millions of Indians who live in the fluoride hit areas. This cost-effective and environmental friendly simple technique can prove to a boon of health to the people which can help improve the health of the people who might otherwise been afflicted by the ailments caused by the high fluoride content in the water. Thanks to the spirited work of the team of the department of environmental sciences of the Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya, Chandrapur.

Very high mutation rate.. I imagine maintaining the genotypical purity is difficult of probiotic phage is difficult. It indeed is a good option, if one is sure that the infection is by single strain of bacterium. If the infecting bacterium mutates slightly in the genes whose proteins phage targets to bind, enter and lyse its bacterial host, it become a moot point..

If it is for intestinal infections, how to make sure that virus reaches intestine without being digested in stomach?

Clinical trials of drugs in India have seen a drastic fall this year after toughened norms were introduced following Supreme Court directives.Not only have the number of trial approvals in the country reduced, there has also been a significant reduction in the number of sponsoring pharma firms applying for such approvals.Official Health Ministry data shows that until January 31 this year, only six trials had been approved. Even these pertained to older applications where the Drug Controller General of India had asked the applying firms to make some amendments.Sources say until April, only around 12 approvals have been granted by the DCGI for trials of drugs in India. Pending applications for trials as of today are just 70.This is in sharp contrast to the past when the number of Global Clinical Trials (GCTs) approved for conduct in India was in hundredsThough in 2008 the DCGI had granted just 65 approvals for trials, the number in 2009 rose sharply to 391.The trend continued with a whopping 500 GCTs being allowed in 2010 and 325 in 2011 followed by 262 approvals in 2012.Admitting that there has been a drastic fall in fresh applications for conduct of global clinical trials of drugs in the country, DCGI GN Singh told PTI, "The safety and well being of Indian subjects participating in clinical trials is the foremost in our minds."This is why the Government has tightened the norms putting the onus of safety of participants on firms conducting the trials. It is for the first time that such norms have been put in place."As many as 2,262 people died in these trials during the past five years, leading to a public outcry and Supreme Court intervention for stricter norms for holding drug trials. The apex court had rapped the Health Ministry for allowing Indians to be used as "guinea pigs" in the conduct of drug trials.