Stem cells as a promising therapeutic direction for the treatment of serious diseases

ABSTRACT. Stem cells have attracted scientific, clinical and public interest because they can regenerate and develop in certain types of cells, depending on their source of origin and biological plasticity. Several strategies for the use of cell therapy are currently being explored. A total of 8357 clinical trials of various stages using stem cells have been registered. The possibility of using multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells in patients with COVID-19-induced complications is being actively investigated. However, among the stem cell products, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has so far approved only those that are produced from umbilical cord blood. In the USA and European countries, there are private clinics that provide services for the collection and cultivation of stem cells, mainly autologous. Such medical centers can become the point of concentration of personalized medicine, focused on the needs of a particular patient and his/her possibilities of receiving targeted therapy for severe, difficult-to-treat conditions using modern methods in cellular technologies. The article presents an analysis of existing strategies for the therapeutic use of stem cells and the most promising directions for their further study.

How to Build a Super Predator

We present a drawing discovery lab that crosscuts multiple disciplines in biology and links concepts in genetics and evolutionary thinking to enhance understanding of the genotype-to-phenotype transformation. These combined concepts are also linked to ecological frameworks in nature through the model of biological plasticity. Students and teachers explore drawing skills to flesh out the future of a predator while engaging with the computational software MEGA, which introduces students and teachers to nucleotide changes, mutations, variation, phylogenetics, and molecular evolution.

NEW RED GRAPE WINE VARIETY OF KRASNOSTOP CARPI

The selection process for getting the perfect variety is continuous and always relevant. In the context of the development of domestic viticulture and winemaking, modern economic and environmental conditions require a wide range of grapes that have a set of various economically valuable qualities, including high adaptability, biological plasticity, combined with consistently high quality of the crop. It is especially important to develop competitive, highly profitable grape varieties that do not require a large pesticide load and are resistant to frost and fungal diseases.The paper presents the results of agrobiological study of the red Krasnostop Carpi wine grape variety. Agrobiological and morphological characteristics of the variety are given according to research data for 3 years. The authors carried out ampelometric screening of the leaf to certify the variety.The Krasnostop Carpi is a mid-late ripeness variety of grape. The weight of berry is 1.9–2.0 g.The skin is of medium thickness. The pulp is meaty and juicy. The taste is harmonious. Sugar content is 220–240 g/dm3, acidity – 6.3 g/dm3. The variety can withstand frost down to – 25–27°С, resistant to mildew and powdery mildew. The Krasnostop Carpi variety is promising for cultivation in the northern industrial viticulture of Russia. The variety passed State testing in 2018, it features high biological plasticity: resistance to thermal stress and fungal diseases. It is used for the production of dry wines of high quality.The authors recommend the variety for commercial growing in Region 6 using the uncovered growing technology with two preventive treatments against fungal diseases.

Impressionable Biologies: An interview with Maurizio Meloni

Florence Chiew interviews Maurizio Meloni on his new book, Impressionable Biologies: From the Archaeology of Plasticity to the Sociology of Epigenetics. The conversation reflects on a number of key themes and arguments in Meloni’s work, such as the use of the term ‘impressionability’ to explore longstanding ideas of the permeable body in constant flux in response to cosmological changes. This notion of the body-porous is one whose history Meloni traces back to ancient traditions and systems of medicine, such as humoralism. In this important book, Meloni makes a compelling argument for questioning the current emphasis on the novelty of biological plasticity as an exclusively contemporary phenomenon, and urges us to take a longer genealogical perspective to appreciate how histories of corporeal plasticity have always been part of deeply gendered, racialized and classed discourses in which social hierarchies have been made through physiological distinctions.

Evaluation of adaptive capacity of genotypes of spring cereals in arid conditions of the Astrakhan region

Objects of research were: spring wheat Saratovskaya 70-st, Cardinal, 3 Curenta, Madam, Nil avocet yr7's, Angarida; spring barley Ratnik-st, Medium 135, grace, Vakula, Brassa; spring oats Showjumping-st, Leo, Bulan, Kuranin. As a result of the study of these varieties of spring crops, the most adapted to local soil and climatic conditions samples were identified. The selected samples were distinguished by high biological plasticity, growth and development rates, maximum use of moisture, as well as the ability to form high grain yields.