Objective To investigate the current situation, problems of medicinal biotechnology in China, and to provide the relevant countermeasures for its development. Methods We surveyed the units which could carry out medicinal biotechnology projects in 30 provinces except Tibet, and compared the results with that in America.Results The questionnaire were returned from 25 provinces (83.4%), and there were 1 477 medicinal biotechnology projects carried out by 149 units in the past 10 years. These projects ranged from basic biotechnology to regenerative medicine and stem cell researches. The basic research projects constituted quite large percentage among all the projects. But the development levels in different areas were imbalanced, cross correlation with the development levels of economy. An echelon team of talents has been developed, most of them were trained in China. The invested capital differed considerably among units, in general the amounts were insufficient. Most invested capital came from the government. The number of patent application for projects based on independent-developed technology was small. This showed that project principals had a poor understanding of patents. More than half of units did not have a Bioethics Committee. From the search result for documents, the number of articles on stem research of China was close to that in America; and the number of articles on gene treatment and tissue engineering has already exceeded that of America. However, research on gene diagnosis of China was lagging far behind America. Conclusions An echelon team of talents has been developed, most of them are trained in China.We should give full play to the advantage of the distribution of qualified personal resources in developed economical areas so as to promote the applicability and popularity of medicinal biotechnology in less developed areas.Regarding to applicability and development, we should first develop applied technology to form the core competetiveness of basic research, technology development and application; we should also strengthen the training in ethics and regulation to establish a set of scientific assessment of medicinal biotechnology and management system.
Objective To review the advance of gene diagnosis and gene therapy on gastric cancer. Methods Literatures about the advance of gene diagnosis and therapy on gastric cancer were reviewed. Results Detection of tumor marker by gene technique is important for early diagnosis, follow-up and therapy evaluation of gastric cancer in clinic. But there are still many problems in gene therapy of gastric cancer. Conclusion Gene detection and gene therapy will become important supplementary means for diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer.
ObjectiveTo comprehensively analyze the relationship between microRNAs and intervertebral disc degeneration at home and abroad. MethodsThe literature about the relationship between microRNAs and intervertebral disc degeneration was reviewed and analyzed. ResultsMicroRNA can lead to intervertebral disc degeneration by regulating the gene expression, thus influencing the cell's apoptosis and proliferation, increasing of the production of inflammatory mediator and protease, which play important roles in intervertebral disc degeneration. ConclusionMicroRNA is a research focus in the field of intervertebral disc degeneration. Further research of the relationship between microRNAs and intervertebral disc degeneration will help to identify the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc degeneration and furnish the new ideal for the diagnosis and treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.
Objective To detecting the genetic etiology of a family with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and make gene diagnosis for the patient, so as to guide the targeted treatment and early intervention for the patient and her families. Methods The phenotype information of the family members was reviewed and their peripheral blood was collected for genomic DNA extraction. Exome sequencing was used to screen the mutations and proving the selected mutations by PCR-Sanger sequencing method. The pathogenicity of candidate mutation sites were searched through PubMed and related databases, and analyzed by protein function software. The judgement of pathogenicity was considered by clinical presentations and sequencing results of the patients based on Standards and guidelines for the interpretation of sequence variants revised by ACMG. Results At present, there was only one patient with pulmonary hypertension in this family, and other family members had no clinical manifestations of pulmonary hypertension. The female patient had BMPR2 gene c.1748dupA(p.Asn583Lysfs*6) heterozygous mutant. Her father and second son had BMPR2 gene c.1748dupA(p.Asn583Lysfs*6) heterozygous mutant, but none of the other members of the family had the mutation. Conclusions The heterozygous mutation of c.1748dupA (p.Asn583Lysfs*6) of BMPR2 gene is the genetic cause of the idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension patient, and the clinical significance of c.1748dupA(p.Asn583Lysfs*6) is pathogenic. The patient can be further diagnosed as pulmonary hypertension, primary 1 (PPH1) by gene diagnosis, and the mutant is novel and pathogenic for PPH1.