The Supreme Court came to a landmark decision on Thursday ruling that the discovery of gene sequences is not patentable. This ruling has sparked much debate and controversy but for those who are on the front lines of research, this is a decision that was long overdue and necessary.

“The Supreme Court ruling is splendid for patients, their families, their physicians, scientists and common sense,” Mary-Claire King, the geneticist who discovered the breast-cancer genes said in an email on Thursday.

Colleagues of King’s at the University of Washington shared her elation that the practice of patenting human genes has come to an end. Head of Medical Genetics, Gail Jarvik said that exclusive rights to genetic material have disadvantaged research and forced patients to rely on a limited number of expensive commercial tests. Patients now can get a more sensitive and comprehensive types of screening tests developed by medical researchers like King.

It was while King was working at the University of California, Berkeley that she discovered the first breast-cancer genes and identified them to a specific chromosome. But scientists at the University of Utah patented them and formed Myriad Genetics, the firm whose patents were at heart of this court case, to market the tests. The company also controls large quantities of testing data, which could be very useful to scientists working in cancer research. As soon as the ruling was issued, several companies publicized the availability of new genetic screens that are cheaper than those produced by Myriad.

For the complete article, visit The Seattle Times website.

In an effort to fight obesity, New York City has proposed legislature to cap soda-size. The effort hopes to reduce the amount of large sugary-beverages that individuals consume and in turn help fight obesity. Although approved by the New York City Board, it was rejected by the New York State Supreme Court in March. Now currently under appeal, the legislation is creating much discussion including criticisms that the legislation is discriminatory against the poor. In a recent study conducted by researchers, it was found that restricting the purchases of large sugary beverages would affect overweight individuals more than it would affect the poor.

Researchers in the study analyzed around 20,00 dietary records and used national data. After analyzing the demographics from 2007-2010, the researchers confirmed that the results were a strong validation of the obesity-prevention measure despite where the participants lived or their economic status. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that Americans with income less than that of the poverty line consumed large sugary drinks in equal proportion to those with greater incomes.

It was found that more than 50 percent of Americans consumed sugary drinks on a daily basis. Researchers said it would be difficult to calculate how the new policy would cut calories, but the hopes are that the restriction will cause many large soda drinkers to downsize their intakes thus reducing the number of calories they consume.

For the full article, visit UPI’s website.

Ice shelves are portions of larger ice sheets that extend over the ocean. Antarctica, a continent largely covered by ice, is home to many of these ice shelves. This ice, due to global warming, has been melting at an extremely rapid pace and is a topic that many scientists have been fervently studying.

In a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, it was found that more than half of melting occurs at just ten small ice shelves. How does this melting occur?
It was found that the everyday interactions with warm ocean currents could cause more than half of the ice to melt along Antarctica’s coastline. This study bridges a gap in science’s understanding of how ice sheets interact with their surroundings and shows that oceans play a larger role than scientists previously thought.

Previous knowledge supported that calving, which is the break off of large chunks of ice, was the main factor behind ice shelf dynamics. Capitalizing on newly available monitoring data, a team of scientists led by Eric Rignot at the University of California, Irvine, has for the first time quantified the ocean’s effect on the continent’s ice shelves. Now recent research has highlighted the role of melting from below, called basal melting.

The results suggest that warm ocean currents are melting Antarctica’s ice shelves significantly at certain locations around the continent. It surprisingly accounts for 55% of the world’s annual melted water. The findings will help scientists to confront larger questions about how the Antarctic ice sheet might change in future and its contribution to global rises in sea-levels

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For the full article, visit Nature.com.

Courtesy of gossipy.co

A deadly new virus has infected at least 49 people as of Thursday. The SARS-like MERS-CoV virus has claimed 27 lives so far, the most recent of which had been from  Saudi Arabia.

The World Health Organization is declaring the virus to be “a threat to the entire world.” All of the reported cases as of now can be traced back to theMiddle East. InFranceand theUnited Kingdom, there have been incidents of local transmission between infected travelers recently returning from theMiddle Eastand people who had not been there.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the illness mimics a cold virus and attacks the respiratory system. The symptoms are severe and may lead to pneumonia and kidney failure. Not much is known is known about how the virus spreads, which presents a challenge to scientists working to prevent further infections.

The World Health Organization is calling for the world to work together to study and defeat the virus.

• The employer of a limited company with directors can apply for these benefits.
• The premiums should be paid by the employer.
• It is a single-life, standalone policy, exclusively designed to protect the employees of small organizations.
• One cannot add a critical illness to this type of policy.
• The client stops receiving the benefits of this policy once he reaches his 75th birthday.
• One cannot add a disability cover.
• No surrender value is involved in this type of policy.
• The benefits are transferred through a discretionary trust and it is ensured that the money is sent to the right nominees.
• The employer can be one of the trustees, whereas the employer’s spouse or the solicitor or the accountant of the company can be additional trustees.

Tax Benefits –

Both the employer and the employee get to enjoy certain tax advantages while opting for a relevant life policy. In fact, this policy is highly popular among the employers mainly due to this reason -

• The benefits that the family members of the policyholder get to enjoy after his death, are absolutely tax free.
• The employer, too, is entitled to corporation tax relief since the premiums that are paid are treated as trading expenses and not as benefits in kind.
• Neither the employee nor the employer is entitled to National Insurance Liabilities.

Other Advantages –

Employees those are offered this relevant life policy get to enjoy certain other benefits as well. Those who are entitled to pension funds are especially benefited as they don’t need to include the benefits of this policy in their pension fund. Moreover, the employee can leave a ‘letter of wishes’ mentioning whom he wants to receive the money as the nominee.

The Food and Drug Administration is coming forward with information that an experimental drug used to help those with insomnia is safe and effective. The drug, developed by Merck & Co., would help affected insomnia patients fall asleep and actually stay asleep. Despite earlier evidence from the company that the drug may cause daytime sleepiness, the FDA panel who conducted the study has found that the proposed starting dose recommended does not appear dangerous.

During company trials, Merck found that the sleeping aid used called suvorexant caused daytime drowsiness, difficulty driving and even suicidal thoughts. The FDA however disagrees with this negative review and endorsed the safety of the doses that Merck proposed. The FDA panel did however recommend that patients start low with doses and work their way up to higher doses of the drug if they do not respond to lower doses. The risks of the higher doses are more substantial than those associated with a lower dose of the drug.

If suvorexant is approved by the FDA, it will be the first drug of its kind that blocks chemical messengers that keep people awake in order to help aid sleep. Expected to have a decision by mid-year, the drug would be considered a controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The FDA panel heavily focused on the side effects of sleeping pills already on the market and discussed how this drug when taken in the correct doses can limit those effects such as lingering drowsiness. Other drugs on the market, such as Ambien, are now given in lowers doses due to FDA regulation. Their reasoning was based on studies showing how drugs that aid in sleeping remain in the bloodstream at high enough levels to effect daily activities such as operating a vehicle.

For more information on the panel’s discussion visit NBC News.