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A 16-year-old from the Toronto area used a supercomputer system to find a new drug combination that shows potential in treating the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis, and won top honors for his work. Marshall Zhang, an 11th-grade student at Richmond Hill's Bayview Secondary School, received first place Tuesday (May 10) in the 2011 Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge, a contest in which students conduct their own research projects with the help of mentors. Cystic fibrosis is a potentially fatal condition caused by a genetic mutation, or error. It causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and elsewhere. Cystic fibrosis...

My friend's 14 year old daughter has cystic fibrosis. She has been admitted to the hospital last evening; has lost a lot of weight and 50% of lung function. My friend is devastated and extremely worried.

A DESPERATE woman texted photos of herself slowly DYING to her mum as she lay suffering on a hospital bed - being ignored by NHS doctors. Tragic Jo Dowling, 25, sent over forty messages to her mother and best friend including pictures of a deadly rash spreading across her body as her life ebbed away. The pretty youngster was diagnosed by her family GP with suspected Meningococcal Septicaemia after developing a purple skin rash and low blood pressure last November. She was rushed to Milton Keynes Hospital where A&E doctors rejected the diagnosis believing instead her illness was a mild...

Conservative Black Republican Congressional Candidate Thrown Out Of Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser Because Big Donor Dems Object FR Exclusive You would think it couldn’t happen in America but it has. Retired Army Lt. Colonel Allen West is a conservative Black Republican. He was to be honored at an upcoming Cystic Fibrosis Fundraising Dinner in Florida, but the invitation was withdrawn because of pressure from liberal Dems who also support the Foundation. Allen is running, (and running well) for the Congressional seat now held by far-left Democrat Ron Klein. The district, Florida 22, covers the east coast of Florida from Fort Lauderdale...

Inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis can be caused by genetic "nonsense mutations" that disrupt the way human cells make proteins. David Bedwell, Ph.D., a professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Microbiology, says scientists are now closer to producing drugs that will fix this disruption and drastically improve treatment of genetic disease. Bedwell is a renowned researcher on the select group of genetic alterations called nonsense mutations - DNA alterations that can lead to nonfunctional or missing proteins. He presented recent findings on an experimental drug that may help to treat some cystic fibrosis patients...

When the cystic fibrosis gene was found in 1989, therapy seemed around the corner. Two decades on, biologists still have a long way to go, finds Helen Pearson. During the day, Lap-Chee Tsui and Francis Collins were attending a gene-mapping workshop. At night they were scrutinizing the pages churning out of a fax machine they had set up in a dorm room. Their hunt for the cause of cystic fibrosis had reached a gene that looked from its sequence like it might have a role in transporting ions through cell membranes, a process that goes awry in those with the...

Carleton University is in Ottawa, Canada. At Carleton the students participate in the annul Shinearama fundraiser. This is an annual fundraising event involving students from 65 colleges and universities across Canada. Carleton has been involved for 25 of the 50 years of the Shinearama; but no longer. The Shinearama, you see, has been raising money for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. That's not good, at least insofar as the Carleton University Student's Association is concerned. The student association was told that Cystic Fibrosis only affects white people. This meant that the disease was not inclusive enough. So ... Carleton University...

November 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - I had an ethics teacher in high-school of a particularly volatile and appallingly (or delightfully, depending upon your perspective), politically incorrect sort. Indeed, he one day related to our class that while in university he discovered that there existed on his campus a black lesbian club. This my teacher found amusing. It also gave him an idea. And so, being the roguish fellow that he is, he promptly marched off to one or another administrator’s office and announced his intention to start up a white, heterosexual male club, and could he please get the...

Embarrassed Carleton students are getting closer to ousting the members of their student council responsible for a cystic fibrosis gaffe that garnered national attention. Frustrated by their student council's recent decision to drop a cystic fibrosis charity as the beneficiary of its annual Shinearama fundraiser because the disease "has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men," Carleton students are attempting to clear their school's name with a petition to impeach their union president. The motion to change the frosh week charity passed the Carleton University Students' Association council almost unanimously earlier this week, but a national...

It only kills people like Dean Barnett. Not nearly progressive enough. Cystic fibrosis “has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men” said the motion read to student councillors, who voted almost unanimously in favour of it… Carleton students have fanned out across the city near the beginning of the school year to raise money to fight the illness for years. But according to the motion read Monday night to student councillors, “all orientees and volunteers should feel like their fundraising efforts will serve the their (sic) diverse communities.”… “I think they see this, in their own...

OTTAWA -- The Carleton University Students' Association has voted to drop a cystic fibrosis charity as the beneficiary of its annual Shinearama fundraiser, supporting a motion that argued the disease is not "inclusive" enough. Cystic fibrosis "has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men" said the motion read Monday night to student councillors, who voted almost unanimously in favour of it.

Close window Published online: 9 November 2006; | doi:10.1038/news061106-16 Drug makes cells ignore mutationExperimental cystic-fibrosis treatment could be used in many diseases.Claire AinsworthA drug that corrects the effects of a genetic mutation has produced encouraging results in tests on patients. The drug, PTC124, is designed to fool a patient's cells into producing a functional protein, even though that protein's gene is mutated. PTC124, made by New-Jersey-based biotech company PTC Therapeutics, is part of a growing field of research targeting therapies at the RNA that ferries information between DNA and proteins. Although results so far are preliminary, they provide proof...

Discovery step toward developing treatment for various lung diseasesResearchers at the University of Minnesota have, for the first time, coaxed umbilical cord blood stem cells to differentiate into a type of lung cell.  The cord blood cells differentiated into a type of lung cell called type II alveolar cells. These cells are responsible for secreting surfactant, a substance which allows the air sacs in the lungs to remain open, allowing air to move in and out of the sacs. The cells are also responsible for helping to repair the airway after injury.  "In the future, we may be able to...

St. Paul, MN (LifeNews.com) -- An advance in adult stem cell research could someday lead to treatments for patients with lung diseases. The advance shows that adult stem cells continue to be more ethical and effective than embryonic stem cells, which are only obtained by destroying human life and haven't yet helped any patients. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have, for the first time, coaxed umbilical cord blood stem cells to differentiate into a type of lung cell, according to a statement LifeNews.com obtained. The cord blood cells differentiated into a type of lung cell called type II alveolar...

Cygenics (ASX: CYN) announce the first cystic fibrosis cord blood collection. Clinical history was made at The Mercy Hospital in Werribee on Easter Saturday, when baby Aiden Brundell donated his cord blood in the hope that his precious stem cells could one day rejuvenate sister Mikaela's lungs, which are failing from cystic fibrosis (CF), and save her life. This first collection of cord blood from the sibling of a child with CF is a major step towards treating the deadly effects of Australia's most common severe genetic condition among children, for which there is no cure. Aiden's cord blood collection...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Dec. 14, 2005) -- From privates first class to sergeants major to lieutenant colonels, all Marines who saw the newly promoted sergeant walking through their work areas were quick to render the appropriate military courtesies. After all, Brandon Rasnick had accomplished what no one else in the 2nd Marine Division had, made the rank of sergeant in one day. It’s a success the Lehigh Acres, Fla., native did not tout as he made his rounds throughout the base. Rather, the Marines and sailors smiled and waved as the shortest noncommissioned officer they had ever...

TORONTO, NOV. 12, 2005 (Zenit.org).- A growing demand for "perfect children" is leading to the elimination of unborn babies with health problems. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported Oct. 28 that the number of children born with cystic fibrosis has fallen sharply in recent years. According to research published in the Journal of Pediatrics, currently 1 in 3,608 babies born in Canada suffer from cystic fibrosis, compared with 1 in 2,714 before a genetic test for this disease existed. "Our hypothesis," Mary Corey, a senior scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, told the Globe and Mail, "is...

Asking for prayers for a young girl named, Leah, who has a persistant cough. Ordinarily this would not be a concern, but this young lady has Cystic Fibrosis. She is one of four girls in her family and three of them have the disease. The good news is that they have all been singing Southern Gospel Music since they were big enough to hold a mike. Because of the singing, their lung capacity has stayed in the normal range. So, a persistant cough becomes a worry for her family and they have asked for prayers that the cough will clear...

When Karen Coveler and her husband began trying to have a child, she told her obstetrician that she wanted to take all the DNA tests she could to determine whether she was at risk of passing on a genetic disease to her child. Based on her Ashkenazi Jewish background, Ms. Coveler was offered 10 tests, all of which were negative, and went on to have a normal pregnancy. It was not until her son, Benjamin, was born that she discovered he was deaf. And it was not until a few weeks later that she learned a simple blood test could...

A year ago, I requested prayers for my 12 year old niece Sondra who had cystic fibrosis and was waiting for a double lung transplant. In February, she finally went through with the transplant successfully. However, a few months later, she was saddled with both a bacterial and fungal infections. As her immune system was not strong enough to fight off the infection, the doctors tried their best to give her everything to fight it off. Sondra went home to God on June 8, 2004. Her funeral was held on 6/11/04, the same day as President Reagan's. Her family and...