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ZMapp
ZMapp is an experimental biopharmaceutical drug comprising three chimeric monoclonal antibodies under development as a treatment for Ebola virus disease. Two of the three components were originally developed at the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML), and the third at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases; the cocktail was optimized by Gary Kobinger, a research scientist at the NML and underwent further development under license by Mapp Biopharmaceutical. ZMapp was first used on humans during the 2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak, having only been previously tested on animals and not yet subjected to a randomized controlled trial. The NIH ran a clinical trial starting in January 2015 with subjects from Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia aiming to enroll 200 people, but the epidemic waned and the trial closed early, leaving it too statistically underpowered to give a meaningful result about whether ZMapp worked. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mapp Biopharmaceutical
Mapp Biopharmaceutical is an American pharmaceutical company founded in 2003 by Larry Zeitlin and Kevin Whaley. Mapp Biopharmaceutical is based in San Diego, California. It is responsible for the research and development of ZMapp, a drug which is still under development and comprises three humanized monoclonal antibodies used as a treatment for Ebola virus disease. The drug was first tested in humans during the 2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak. The ZMapp drug is a result of the collaboration between Mapp Biopharmaceutical, LeafBio (the commercial arm of Mapp Biopharmaceutical), Defyrus Inc. (Toronto), the U.S. government, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The antibody work came out of research projects funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) more than a decade ago, and years of funding by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Helen Branswell for The Canadian Press. Aug. 5, 201Experimental Ebola drug based on research discoveries from Canada's nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Kobinger
Gary Kobinger is a Canadian immunologist and virologist who is currently the director at the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas. He has held previous professorships at Université Laval, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he was the chief of the Special Pathogens Unit at the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in Winnipeg, Manitoba for 8 years. Kobinger is known for his critical role in the development of both an effective Ebola vaccine and treatment. His work focuses on the development and evaluation of new vaccine platforms and immunological treatments against emerging and re-emerging viruses that are dangerous to human health. Biography Kobinger was born in Quebec City, Canada and did his undergraduate degree at Université Laval. He developed his passion for viruses after dropping out of medical school, planting trees for a year, then getting very ill during his tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neutralizing Antibody
A neutralizing antibody (NAb) is an antibody that defends a cell from a pathogen or infectious particle by neutralizing any effect it has biologically. Neutralization renders the particle no longer infectious or pathogenic. Neutralizing antibodies are part of the humoral response of the adaptive immune system against viruses, intracellular bacteria and microbial toxin. By binding specifically to surface structures (antigen) on an infectious particle, neutralizing antibodies prevent the particle from interacting with its host cells it might infect and destroy. Mechanism In order to enter cells, pathogens, such as circulating viral particles or extracellular bacteria, use molecules on their surfaces to interact with the cell surface receptors of their target cell which allows them to enter the cell and start their replication cycle. Neutralizing antibodies can inhibit infectivity by binding to the pathogen and blocking the molecules needed for cell entry. This can be due to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pharming (genetics)
Pharming, a portmanteau of "farming" and "pharmaceutical", refers to the use of genetic engineering to insert genes that code for useful pharmaceuticals into host animals or plants that would otherwise not express those genes, thus creating a genetically modified organism (GMO). Pharming is also known as molecular farming, molecular pharming or biopharming. The products of pharming are recombinant proteins or their metabolic products. Recombinant proteins are most commonly produced using bacteria or yeast in a bioreactor, but pharming offers the advantage to the producer that it does not require expensive infrastructure, and production capacity can be quickly scaled to meet demand, at greatly reduced cost. History The first recombinant plant-derived protein (PDP) was human serum albumin, initially produced in 1990 in transgenic tobacco and potato plants. Open field growing trials of these crops began in the United States in 1992 and have taken place every year since. While th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for countering weapons of mass destruction (WMD; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosives). According to the agency's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2018 to 2022, the DTRA mission "enables DoD and the U.S. Government to prepare for and combat weapons of mass destruction and improvised threats and to ensure nuclear deterrence." The agency is headquartered in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Organizational history DTRA was officially established on October 1, 1998, as a result of the 1997 Defense Reform Initiative, by consolidating several DoD organizations, including the Defense Special Weapons Agency (successor to the Defense Nuclear Agency) and the On-Site Inspection Agency. The Defense Technology Security Administration and the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense were also inco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Microbiology Laboratory
The National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) is part of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the agency of the Government of Canada that is responsible for public health, health emergency preparedness and response, and infectious and chronic disease control and prevention. NML is located in several sites across the country including the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health (CSCHAH) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. NML has a second site in Winnipeg, the Wilt Infectious Disease Research Centre on Logan Avenue which serves as a hub for HIV research and diagnostics in Canada. The three other primary sites include locations in Guelph, St. Hyacinthe and Lethbridge. The CSCHAH is a biosafety level 4 infectious disease laboratory facility, the only one of its kind in Canada. With maximum containment, scientists are able to work with pathogens including Ebola, Marburg and Lassa fever. The NML's CSCHAH is also home to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's National Centre for Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicotiana Benthamiana
''Nicotiana benthamiana'', colloquially known as benth or benthi, is a species of ''Nicotiana'' indigenous to Australia. It is a close relative of tobacco. A synonym for this species is ''Nicotiana suaveolens'' var. ''cordifolia'', a description given by George Bentham in ''Flora Australiensis'' in 1868. This was transferred to ''Nicotiana benthamiana'' by Karel Domin in ''Bibliotheca Botanica'' (1929), honoring the original author in the specific epithet. History The plant was used by people of Australia as a stimulant, containing nicotine and other alkaloids, before the introduction of commercial tobacco ('' N. tabacum'' and '' N. rustica''). Indigenous names for it include ''tjuntiwari'' and ''muntju''. It was first collected on the north coast of Australia by Benjamin Bynoe on a voyage of in 1837. Description The herbaceous plant is found amongst rocks on hills and cliffs throughout the northern regions of Australia. Variable in height and habit, the species may be er ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhesus Macaques
The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or grey in colour, it is in length with a tail and weighs . It is native to South, Central, and Southeast Asia and has the widest geographic range of all non-human primates, occupying a great diversity of altitudes and a great variety of habitats, from grasslands to arid and forested areas, but also close to human settlements. Feral colonies are found in the United States, thought to be either released by humans or escapees after hurricanes destroyed zoo and wildlife park facilities. The rhesus macaque is diurnal, arboreal, and terrestrial. It is mostly herbivorous, mainly eating fruit, but will also consume seeds, roots, buds, bark, and cereals. Studies show almost 100 different plant species in its diet. Rhesus macaques are gener ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passive Immunity
Passive immunity is the transfer of active humoral immunity of ready-made antibodies. Passive immunity can occur naturally, when maternal antibodies are transferred to the fetus through the placenta, and it can also be induced artificially, when high levels of antibodies specific to a pathogen or toxin (obtained from humans, horses, or other animals) are transferred to non-immune persons through blood products that contain antibodies, such as in immunoglobulin therapy or antiserum therapy. Passive immunization is used when there is a high risk of infection and insufficient time for the body to develop its own immune response, or to reduce the symptoms of ongoing or immunosuppressive diseases.Microbiology and Immunology On-Line Textbook : USC School of Medicine Passive immunization can be provided when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agroinfiltration
Agroinfiltration is a method used in plant biology and especially lately in plant biotechnology to induce transient expression of genes in a plant, or isolated leaves from a plant, or even in cultures of plant cells, in order to produce a desired protein. In the method, a suspension of '' Agrobacterium tumefaciens'' is introduced into a plant leaf by direct injection or by vacuum infiltration, or brought into association with plant cells immobilised on a porous support (plant cell packs), whereafter the bacteria transfer the desired gene into the plant cells via transfer of T-DNA. The main benefit of agroinfiltration when compared to the more traditional plant transformation is speed and convenience, although yields of the recombinant protein are generally also higher and more consistent. The first step is to introduce a gene of interest to a strain of ''Agrobacterium tumefaciens''. Subsequently, the strain is grown in a liquid culture and the resulting bacteria are washed and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monoclonals
A monoclonal antibody (mAb, more rarely called moAb) is an antibody produced from a cell Lineage made by cloning a unique white blood cell. All subsequent antibodies derived this way trace back to a unique parent cell. Monoclonal antibodies can have monovalent affinity, binding only to the same epitope (the part of an antigen that is recognized by the antibody). In contrast, polyclonal antibodies bind to multiple epitopes and are usually made by several different antibody-secreting plasma cell lineages. Bispecific monoclonal antibodies can also be engineered, by increasing the therapeutic targets of one monoclonal antibody to two epitopes. It is possible to produce monoclonal antibodies that specifically bind to virtually any suitable substance; they can then serve to detect or purify it. This capability has become an investigative tool in biochemistry, molecular biology, and medicine. Monoclonal antibodies are being used on a clinical level for both the diagnosis and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ebola Virus
''Zaire ebolavirus'', more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus ''Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and other mammals, known as Ebola virus disease (EVD). Ebola virus has caused the majority of human deaths from EVD, and was the cause of the 2013–2016 epidemic in western Africa, which resulted in at least suspected cases and confirmed deaths. Ebola virus and its genus were both originally named for Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the country where it was first described, and was at first suspected to be a new "strain" of the closely related Marburg virus. The virus was renamed "Ebola virus" in 2010 to avoid confusion. Ebola virus is the single member of the species ''Zaire ebolavirus'', which is assigned to the genus ''Ebolavirus'', family ''Filoviridae'', order ''Mononegavirales''. The members of the species are cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
