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Greetings to all the Salk community.
The second month of 2017 is a contender for the record books, highlighted by recognition and scientific breakthroughs that captured the collective reporter notebooks of media around the globe.
On the programs front, we have just two concerts left in this season's Salk Science & Music Series, while Salk Women & Science promises a lively forum next month with a panel discussion by women in leadership roles in science, technology and business.
And last but not least, the latest news of recognition of our faculty's extraordinary science: I am delighted to share that Tony Hunter has been awarded the inaugural Sjöberg Prize for Cancer Research for his discoveries that led to new and effective cancer treatments. Tony travels to Stockholm next month to attend the award ceremony, which will take place during the Royal Swedish Academy's annual meeting in the presence of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and H.M. Queen Silvia.
Yours in Discovery,
Elizabeth Blackburn
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Salk scientist awarded inaugural Sjöberg Prize for cancer breakthrough
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Salk Professor Tony Hunter, who holds an American Cancer Society Professorship, has been awarded $500,000 as part of the $1 million Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' inaugural Sjöberg Prize for Cancer Research for "groundbreaking studies of cellular processes that have led to the development of new and effective cancer drugs." The prize ceremony will be held in Stockholm during the Academy's annual meeting on March 31, 2017, in the presence of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen of Sweden. Hunter shares the honor with immunologist James P. Allison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Hunter studied how normal cells become tumor cells, demonstrating that a special process was necessary: tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins. His discovery led to the development of a new type of cancer pharmaceutical, tyrosine kinase inhibitors. These have revolutionized the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and also are of great benefit in several other forms of cancer. Hunter's work has led to a complete catalogue of the 90 human genes that encode tyrosine kinases, over half of which have become targets for the development of drugs to treat cancer and other human diseases. Currently, 26 tyrosine kinase inhibitors are FDA approved for human therapy, with many more in clinical trials.
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New findings highlight promise of chimeric organisms for science and medicine
The lab of Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte made headlines around the world with a paper in Cell that described how the team grew a rat pancreas, heart and eyes in a developing mouse, showing that functional organs from one species can be grown in another. They also generated human cells and tissues in early-stage pig and cattle embryos, a first step toward generating transplantable human organs using large animals.
More media coverage:
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Feed a cold, starve a fever? Not so fast, according to Salk research
In a paper appearing in Cell, Janelle Ayres' lab revealed how the microbe Salmonella typhimurium blocks the appetite loss response in their host to both make the host healthier and also promote the bacteria's transmission to other hosts. The bacteria was able to do this by acting on the intestine to suppress appetite loss. This surprising discovery reveals a link between appetite and infection and could have implications in treating infectious diseases, infection transmission and appetite loss associated with illness, aging, inflammation or medical interventions (like chemotherapy).
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Don't kill the messenger RNA
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on how an mRNA therapy, delivered to mice with hemophilia B via injectable lipid (fatty) nanoparticles, was able to effectively treat the debilitating blood-clotting disorder. The study suggests such mRNA therapy could be applied to a range of other genetic diseases, especially where the therapeutic protein needs to be modified to have biological activity.
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Samuel Pfaff's lab published a paper in eLife describing the process by which the team generated brain circuits in a dish (which they dubbed "circuitoids") from stem cells. The clusters of diverse neuron types exhibited spontaneous rhythmic firing of the kind that occurs in the brain and is known to underlie repetitive movement like walking. The work could inform methods to treat dysfunctional firing patterns in the central nervous system, such as seen in ALS or Parkinson's.
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Finding our way around DNA
Joseph Ecker's team developed a computational algorithm that integrates two different data types to make locating key regions within the genome more precise and accurate than other tools. The method, which was described in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help researchers conduct vastly more targeted searches for disease-causing genetic variants in the human genome.
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The Internet and your brain are more alike than you think
Saket Navlakha published work in Neural Computation detailing how the Internet and the human brain use a similar algorithm to control information flow. The work improves our understanding of engineered and neural networks and potentially even learning disabilities.
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Telomeres and aging are topics of KPBS interview
Salk President Elizabeth Blackburn joined Maureen Cavanaugh, host of KPBS' Midday Edition radio program, to talk about her new book The Telomere Effect, and the research that shows how good health habits can keep telomeres intact as we age. The topic covers exciting developments in the field, as the Salk Institute and other research efforts strive to better understand aging and telomeres to improve human health.
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A panel of accomplished women in the fields of life sciences, research and technology will share their experiences and challenges during Salk Women & Science's spring forum, "Inspiring Women to Lead: Why it matters to science, technology and business," at 4:00 p.m. March 29 in the auditorium at the Institute. Salk President Elizabeth Blackburn will host the afternoon and Rebecca Newman, Salk's vice president of External Relations, will moderate the conversation.
Recipients of the 2017 Salk Women & Science Awards will also be announced at the spring event. The awards provide selected graduate students and postdoctoral trainees funding for one year from $10,000 to $25,000 to pursue high-risk, high-reward research.
For more information about the Salk Women & Science program, contact Betsy Collins at (858) 500-4883 or via email at becollins@salk.edu.
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The Salk Science & Music Series continues its fourth season with a concert by pianist
Zlata Chochieva at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 12, in the Conrad T. Prebys Auditorium. Chochieva is world renowned for her masterful executions of some of the most demanding pieces in classical music with virtuoso technique and extraordinary power. Comprising the science component of the afternoon is Salk Assistant Professor
Eiman Azim of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory who will discuss his research.
- March 12, 2017 - Zlata Chochieva with Eiman Azim
- April 30, 2017 - Helen Sung Quartet with Nicola Allen
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The Salk Institute's Twitter account and Facebook page are just clicks away from each having 10,000 fans. You can add to Salk's social media fan base by choosing either or both!
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Download some amazing Salk Science images for your smartphone, tablet or desktop.
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This month's image features a confocal microscope immunofluorescent image of a spinal cord neural circuit made entirely from stem cells and termed a "circuitoid."
Courtesy of the Pfaff lab.
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