SAIC & NIH to develop XMRV Toolkit
Thread starter beesknees
beesknees
The xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has been implicated as a possible causative agent of prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Science Applications International Corporation in Frederick, MD (SAIC-Frederick) have developed sixty four (64) protein expression plasmids for components of XMRV. One or more XMRV proteins made available through these expression plasmids could have clinical relevance to diagnosing or treating human disease. The work to develop this technology was performed in the Protein Expression Laboratory at SAIC-Frederick in collaboration with expert retrovirologists from the National Cancer Institutes Frederick, MD campus, a site well-positioned to develop these expression plasmids from initial cloning to final validations. The development of these XMRV tools is expected to save researchers months in laboratory production time and thousands of dollars in labor costs.
The XMRV strain utilized to generate these expression plasmids is a reference strain isolated from a human patient. Each expression plasmid encodes one of the ten proteins that comprise the XMRV retrovirus (matrix, p12, capsid, nucleocapsid, protease, reverse transcriptase, integrase, surface, transmembrane, and envelope). Nine of the ten XMRV proteins expressed by these clones have been successfully purified in large quantities using scale-up processes. The expression vectors were generated utilizing the Gateway? cloning system and consist of Gateway? entry clones, bacterial (Escherichia coli) expression clones, baculovirus expression clones, and mammalian expression clones. Expression of the appropriate XMRV protein from its corresponding expression clone has been confirmed. The entry clones have been validated for Gateway? subcloning and the baculovirus clones have been validated for baculovirus production and can be transposed into baculoviral genomes. The plasmids have been fully mapped and sequenced and contain one or more elements to facilitate laboratory use, such as antibiotic resistance genes, specialized promoter sequences, maltose-binding protein and His tags, TEV protease sites, Kozak-ATG sequences, signal peptides, and other elements.
sensing progress
no idea what it means. where did you find it?
I found it on a website called Techcombo.com. The article was titled An XMRV Tool Box. Expression plasmids, genes, and proteins for all components of Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus Related Virus.
http://http://techcombo.com/2010/08/25/an-xmrv-tool-box-expression-plasmids-genes-and-proteins-for-all-components-of-the-xenotropic-murine-leukemia-virus-related-virus-xmrv-123/
valentinelynx
I'm not a virologist, but this appears to be an announcement of the availability of a set of productstools researchers can use to study the XMRV virus and how it works in cells or for studying ways to target XMRV (development of antivirals). Also for mad scientists to use in developing the doomsday virus . The expression plasmids are little bits of DNA that encode for proteins that make up different parts of a XMRV virion (a single viral particle). I think the researchers would insert these plasmids into bacteria so that the bacteria's cellular machinery then manufactures the proteins using the plasmid's DNA template. Hurry and get yours before the rush!
I forwarded it on to Dr Mikovits in case they are not aware of it, but if the WPI are working with NIH then hopefully they are already.
I thought SAIC was connected to military/nuclear test sites in Nevada? Its good to see that they may also be involved in work of huge benefit to a very large civilian population - worldwide!
Its great that some big bucks organisations are finally getting involved, but it would be great if they could also pass funds in the direction of the WPI to do further lab test developments etc.
Logan, Queensland, Australia
From the text, this is a project to genetically engineer bacteria to manufacture XMRV proteins on demand, in large quantities. This means we can have enough protein to do real research, particularly with respect to antibody based tests and vaccine development. It is a huge step forward if it succeeds.
Full story at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-21349.htm
Hi Beesknees - is it possible to rename this thread to "SAIC & NIH to develop XMRV Toolkit" -
or something similar, so that we can get more input from more of the science minded people on the forum (like Alex & ValentineLynx)?
Its a really great find!
RustyJ
Contaminated Cell Line 'RustyJ'
Mackay, Aust
How do you rename your thread? I've tried to do it but couldn't.
Grrrrrrr!
Near Cognac, France
I'm curious as to what this means :
"SUMMARY: The inventions listed below are owned by an agency of the U.S.
Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance
with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results
of federally-funded research and development."
.... and, is the SAIC mentioned as the inventor the SAIC defence contractor?
Exactly which part of the Fed were working on XMRV research before August 2010?
Not sure how to change thread names either.
Come to think of it - I've no idea how to contact one of the moderators - they still haven't responded to a previous query I posted on another thread.
MODERATORS - HELLO? (We ask politely!)
Perhaps they're all tied up with the debate on the Home page.
it has been changed.
I thought Dr. Lo did a lot of work for SAIC defense department, does anybody have info on that?? But wow, yeah this is a laboratory tool kit so that anybody who wants to do research on XMRV can. This indicates that they are looking at long term research projects or lots of research projects that they would develop a kit like this. It took much longer to develop one for HIV, like two years I think.
Looking good folks, looking good.
Yep lookin good
SAIC is a great company involved in many different areas - see their website
SAIC is into everything. Yes, they are defense contractors but they do all sorts of different work at their many different sites. They are a good company and really hire some of the best. I had many friends who worked at SAIC Vienna, VA and they were super smart. Really good company with the very best people in the different industries they are involved in. See http://www.saic.com/
SAIC also draws from the Federal government to get the best employees from there as well. It has a really great reputation in Washington/VA/MD and people want to work for them as they are not the typical slimey Beltway Bandit. I am glad to see SAIC involved.
From their website on HEALTH: SAIC's Health SolutionsWe contribute to projects of national importance, drawing upon our extensive knowledge of the health industry. We approach each project from a solid grounding in the health domain, allowing for significant insight and a disciplined approach to tackling our customers' most difficult problems.
We feature health, scientific, engineering and technical personnel who are experienced professionals in the areas of Health Information Technology, Public Health, Life Sciences, and Health Services. We strive to provide best value solutions, without sacrificing functionality, performance, or quality.
Innovation, quality, and insight are the hallmarks of SAIC's health solutions.
Our team of public health experts includes epidemiologists, biostatisticians, scientists, physicians, nurses and public safety and security specialists. We apply our domain expertise to devise innovative solutions to the dynamic challenges facing public health professionals and organizations.
SAIC helps to enable effective public health surveillance, situational awareness, case investigation, and outbreak response through the adoption and use of national and international standards. These standards include both technical standards for enabling efficient data exchange, and domain-specific terminology standards for enabling information exchanges to be semantic interoperable. With integrated and semantically consistent data, we can provide effective analytical, visualization, and reporting solutions to enable public health systems and professionals to detect and characterize health threats.
Using our knowledge and experience, SAIC trains healthcare providers and first responders to effectively respond to and recover from biological and chemical disasters. SAIC helps our clients design medical emergency response plans, implement biosurveillance and response solutions, and perform forensic analyses of health threats. SAIC's solutions enable our clients to prevent, prepare for, detect, and successfully respond to public health emergencies.
Our public health capabilities include:
Disease/medical surveillance
Epidemiology and Biostatistics support
Mala said:
Thanks to all for the great post!
Invention disclosure, Stuart Le Grice (NCI) one of the inventors.
"This technology is likely to give companies in the prostate cancer arena
or the emerging chronic fatigue syndrome market a competitive
advantage for developing anti-XMRV products faster than competition."
"Those individuals diagnosed with CFS are a vocal patient group desiring
expanded research into the cause of CFS and possible treatments and/or cures."
Someone is finally listening!
"Those individuals diagnosed with CFS are a vocal patient group desiring expanded research into the cause of CFS and possible treatments and/or cures."
Good selection there in bold Gemini.
They could have added something along the lines of, ''Patients who are increasingly told they are mentally ill by the CDC leading to deaths of which suicide is a common finding''
Shame they didn't. Maybe one day.
Thanks Frank!
btw, off topic, but we have 2 x threads on the UK's ME Association and their recent XMRV statement (posted an hour apart 2 days ago - wed.) - is it possible to merge them somehow please?
It may not matter in a week or so, or ever at all, but people are still posting on both.
(There are also a couple of different UK media threads).
To me its just more good news that the Feds are putting resources into this and believe its real... I think the tipping point is coming or has occurred. Actually I think the tipping point has occurred in the background and this is one bit of public evidence that that is so and we'll see more over the next month. Who knows - by the end of Sept the focus of the research community could be completely changed (altho given how slowly they work maybe thats unrealistic - but who knows?
We've had such a depressing time in the UK on the lack of media coverage of the Alter story (in only one online version of one newspaper, nowhere else at all) and I've been wondering what it would take - what kind of more definitive proof of potential MLV/CFS causality - for this to start being covered in our media and taken seriously by our government and health service.
I think you're right - that there's a lot going on behind the scenes that isn't being announced publicly at the instant it happens because scientists need to be in control of when and how they release the information. I'm hoping that we'll hear a lot more about progress at the upcoming Sept 6/7 XMRV conference.
God, I hope so! I have felt as though I have been living in an episode of "The Prisoner" in the UK since Monday's news.
Please say something to cheer me up, somebody! :worried: