EVO DEVO

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Genesis, take two
ANNE MCILROY
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
November 2, 2007 at 9:34 PM EST
The chicken egg has been prepped for surgery – a pea-size hole cut in the shell and covered with sticky tape. And now Hans Larsson, a McGill University researcher, removes it from the incubator, places it under a microscope and prepares to operate.
He gently peels off the tape and teases back the membranes that line the shell with tweezers. Through the eyepiece, he can see the tiny dot of a heart, steadily beating. He can also see the bud where he implants a milky bead doused in a protein. He hopes it will coax the embryo to grow a big tail. A dinosaur-like tail.
A paleontologist, Prof. Larsson spends a significant portion of his time doing traditional dinosaur hunting, digging fossils as far afield as the Arctic and Africa with jackhammers and pickaxes. But he has long been frustrated with the limitations of studying old bones and what they reveal about the mysteries of evolution.
It was by examining ancient skeletons that paleontologists learned that modern birds, including chickens, descended from dinosaurs and that their relatives include such fierce predators as Tyrannosaurus rex. What fossils don't reveal, though, is how exactly such dramatic anatomical changes first arose. How did teeth the size of bananas turn into beaks? Or mighty tails become wimpy, feathered stumps?
Enlarge Image
By manipulating genes and proteins in his lab, Hans Larsson is trying to grow T. rex-like tails in chicken embryos. (CHRISTINE MUSCHI/FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
For answers, Prof. Larsson has turned to the burgeoning field of evo-devo – or evolutionary developmental biology – a radical new approach to understanding the past.
It is based on the astonishing discovery that modern animals, including humans, share many of the same body-building genes and that some of these genes have been around for millions of years.
How these “master genes” are used during the development of an embryo, when they are switched on and in what combinations is what makes chickens look so different from their ancient relatives.
And if you play with this complex genetic choreography in the embryos of modern chickens, you should, theoretically, be able to resurrect dinosaur-like features.
All of which means that scientists such as Prof. Larson may actually be able to mimic what occurred millions of years ago inside dinosaur eggs.
This could offer answers to some of the big questions in evolution. For example, how did the first wing get built? How did dinosaurs turn into chickens? In the future, evo-devo may also reveal how the human body is formed, and what can go wrong.
But if scientists can make chickens look like dinosaurs, what other creatures might they build? What variations on the human form are possible? Along with ethical issues, evo-devo also raises humbling questions about what it means to be human and what we might look like in the future.
If we are all repositories for ancient genes, could we devolve in the same way we've evolved? Pressed by radical environmental change, say, could humans grow fur like the apes or sprout tails like the common primate ancestor we share with baboons? Could we go back to walking on all fours, or breathing underwater?
Evo-devo is often characterized as a revolution in evolution, or as a new science.
In fact, Aristotle noted that chicken embryos went through a stage in which they looked like worms. And by the 1800s, comparing the physiology of embryos was a well-established field.
Charles Darwin drew heavily on this work for evidence that modern animals, including humans, descended from a common ancestor. He noted that the embryos of many species are far more similar than the adults. He also argued that many animals show traces of their evolutionary ancestry in their early stages of development. Some kinds of snakes, for instance, grow tiny legs as embryos, hinting at forbears that walked instead of slithered.
After the publication of The Origin of the Species in 1859, embryos were all the rage among anatomists. Of special interest were creatures such as the lung fish, which can breathe air and was thought to be a link between animals that lived in water and those that walked on land.
But interest dwindled in the next century, as modern genetics came to the fore. Biologists shifted their focus to basic units of heredity – which turned out to be genes made up of DNA. What makes lobsters look like lobsters, their argument went, are lobster genes. What makes leopards look like leopards are leopard genes. Embryos are merely delivery vehicles for the genes that make each species, including humans, what it is.
“Almost everyone switched to genetics, and embryos got left behind,” says Brian Hall, a researcher at Dalhousie University in Halifax who is a pioneer in evo-devo.
Then came shocking evidence of just how much genetic material species have in common. Humans share almost 99 per cent of their genes with chimpanzees and 85 per cent with mice. Even the barrel-shaped sea squirt shares 80 per cent of its genes with us.
Since the 1980s, scientists have also found that the same genes (or very similar ones) govern embryonic development in animals that are nothing alike. The construction of the human heart, it turns out, is directed by a gene that gives insects their primitive hearts. Our eyes are built with the help of the same gene that directs the formation of eyes in flies and frogs.
In many animals, the same family of genes – called the Hox family – determines which end is up, or which part of the embryo will be the head. Hox genes also tell cells in the embryo which kind of appendage they should grow – arms, legs, antennae or wings.
And the Hox genes date back half a billion years, evolutionary biologists say, to the ancestors of all the major animal groups now found on Earth.
Nature, it seems, doesn't like to upgrade construction equipment that is working well. Why invent a new way to build a leg or an eye when the old way has been working just fine for hundreds of millions of years?
In other words, while no one has sequenced dinosaur DNA, it is highly likely that the same genes that directed the embryonic development of T. rex do the job in the modern chicken. And if all animals – ancient and modern – share the same body-building genes, it should be possible to get a chicken embryo to grow a monster tail.
CAN EVOLUTION BE REVERSED?
This may also explain the occasional blast from the past we see in modern humans: the rare cases of babies born with hairy faces, extra nipples, short tails or webbed fingers and toes – ancestral traits called atavisms.
According to reports in the medical literature, human tails are sometimes made up of fatty tissue. But in other cases they have extra vertebrae and muscle and can move. Most are removed after birth.
Geneticists who have studied this kind of abnormal development say the genes involved are the same ones that direct the process of laying down the vertebral column in all animals with spines. But this process stops earlier in us than in vertebrates with tails – or than they once did in our ancestors – except in rare cases where the timing is somehow thrown off.
A Mexican family offers another example of how ancient traits can resurface, Dalhousie's Prof. Hall says. He wrote a paper about them for the British journal Nature in 1995 that was accompanied by a picture showing a six-year-old boy whose entire face, other than his eyes and lips, is covered with black hair so dense it looks like fur.
The boy is part of a large family and over five generations 19 of his relatives were born with excessive body hair, especially on their upper torsos and faces.
Prof. Hall says it is likely that the mutation geneticists found on one of their chromosomes triggers an ancestral distribution and density of body hair.
Atavisms have been well documented in other species too. Whales, which descended from terrestrial mammals, are sometimes found with tiny bones that look like hind limbs. Horses are sometimes born with three toes, like their ancestors.
These throwbacks used to be an embarrassment to evolutionary biologists, Prof. Hall says. How could evolution move backward?
Now, however, they are seen as potent evidence of how much genetic potential we retain. Snakes may have lost their legs and humans may have lost their tails, but that doesn't mean the ability to make these structures has disappeared.
And in the distant future, says Prof. Hall, who has published dozens of papers about evo-devo and what is considered the seminal text in the field, humans may once again be furry or grow tails if environmental conditions favour those developments and the traits get passed down for many generations.
This would not happen at the pace of Hollywood movies though. In the futuristic Kevin Costner thriller Waterworld, mutant humans develop fins and gills in time to cope with the melting ice caps.
In the real world, Prof. Hall says, “it would take a long time.”
RECIPE FOR A DINOSAUR TAIL
In Prof. Larsson's laboratory, meanwhile, experiments with atavisms take about five days of incubation.
He soaks small beads in a yellowish liquid containing a protein produced by one of the genes involved in building animal embryos. Then he implants them in about two dozen eggs.
He suspects that dinosaurs – with their huge tails – used far more of this protein than modern chickens and that this affected other genes. He hopes that by tinkering with chicken embryos he may mimic, however briefly, the process that gave T. rex its mighty appendage.
Like a small but growing number of paleontologists, Prof. Larsson was attracted to evo-devo because it opens up just this door to recreating the past. So although the 36-year-old – who studied at McGill and the University of Chicago – learned the techniques of traditional paleontology and how to describe ancient life, he has also mastered the tools of molecular biology and embryology.
It was a coup for McGill to lure him back from the United States, where top paleontologists are far better funded than in Canada. And Prof. Larsson, born in Alberta and raised in Ontario, is happy to be back. He loves that his job combines the thrill of the hunt with the challenges of experimental science.
“A few of us are realizing that paleontology can be so much more,” he says.
But figuring out how to get a chicken to grow a dinosaur-like tail isn't easy. It is a bit like a novice baker trying to make bread with no instructions and knowing only a fraction of the basic ingredients, say water and salt. What would you do first?
If you had a recipe, it would tell you to mix the yeast with warm water and a bit of sugar, then add it to the flour and salt. Next, knead the dough and let it rise in a warm place.
Without instructions, you might guess that you need yeast, but throw it in at the last minute. Or use a cup of sugar instead of a few teaspoons. What if you used a bucket of flour? Or something that looks like flour but isn't edible, such as plaster of Paris? Or several cups of salt? You could end up with anything from biscotti to bricks.
The basic ingredients for assembling a dinosaur tail are the proteins produced by the common body-building genes, but like the novice baker Prof. Larsson has only a few of them on his grocery list. He is trying to figure out the rest and get the timing and combinations for the recipe right.
Luckily, it is relatively easy to play with proteins. “It is amazing, in a crude scale, the kinds of things we are doing, manipulating timing of expression of proteins, turning them up or turning them down,” he says. “You turn this dial to get these ancestral patterns.”
POSSIBILITY AND PRINCIPLE
At this stage, Prof. Larsson is waiting for clear signs of what exactly his chicks will become.
The tray of embryos in his laboratory fridge – operated on earlier – look pink and otherworldly. And their tails appear to be significantly longer than in normal embryos. But they are clearly still too stumpy to qualify as dinosaurian. Chicken tails typically have four to five free vertebrae, while dinosaur tails involve 40 to 60.
Still, if Prof. Larsson succeeds with the tails, he will work on getting the embryos to grow dinosaur-like hands, feet and skulls. And while his work is confined to embryos right now – they are all killed before they hatch – if he can create chickens that look like dinosaurs, he says, he will want to let them grow unhindered, at least once.
He knows, however, that some tough ethical questions will have to be answered first. “Should this organism be allowed to live? Should we even be doing this to an embryo with the intent of letting it live? Those questions have not been brought in the public eye yet,” he says.
To put his work in context, biologists have been creating grotesque and troubling mutants for decades as they attempted to understand how embryos develop. The researchers figuring out the details of the Hox genes, for example, ended up with fruit flies that had feet where their mouths should have been.
And while ethical questions hang in the air, Prof. Larsson's contemporaries continue to explore the frontier between the past and the present, trying to produce evolutionary throwbacks in their labs.
Last year, researchers at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Manchester coaxed chicken embryos to briefly develop alligator-like baby teeth. Eventually, the field may move into manipulating developmental genes in human embryos.
“It is probably not going to be done for many, many decades,” Prof. Larsson says, “but we certainly have the potential to make a human with 60 back vertebrae [almost twice as many as we now have] or six limbs.”
Other evo-devo scientists are probing how turtles first grew shells, or why storks have such big beaks and sparrows such little ones. Their work involves comparing the genes that are at work during various stages of embryonic development in different, but related species.
For example, Prof. Hall is trying to figure out how some kinds of fish traded a set of fins for powerful suckers that allow them to hang onto rocks in strong currents and even climb waterfalls.
So when should we start the conversation about this type of work and where it may lead? Some might say it is already too late, that the proverbial genie is out of the bottle. Prof. Larsson argues that it is better to wait until we know what is possible.
The goal of evo-devo, he says, is not to create bizarre hybrids of ancient and modern creatures. It is to produce the complete book of life, one that would explain where modern animals come from and how our different bodies took shape. It would chart, in exquisite detail, how a single-cell organism developed into what Darwin described in the final passage of his most famous book as “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful.”
“That's the holy grail,” Prof. Larsson says.
Anne McIlroy is The Globe and Mail's science reporter.
New Feature: Recommend this article to other Globe readers



///////////////////////Who Designed the Human Body?
Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible designers of the human body.
One said, "It was a mechanical engineer. Just look at all the joints."
Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections."
The last said, "Actually it was a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic waste pipeline through a recreational area?''[an error occurred while processing this directive]




////////////////////OBJECT TO SPECIESM=OBJECT TO CRUELTY TO ANIMALS



/////////////////NRIPATI=NASAL INTONED VOICE OF BENGALI COMEDY



//////////////////////Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:
A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in judging self.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as theuncontrollable urge to extend it.






////////////////////AVOID CHCKN AND FISH AND PROMOTE VEGETARIANISM



/////////////////EpiPen use in children with food allergies=http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_09_051107/letters_051107_fm-1.html




///////////////////Body weight - controlling your portion sizes
To maintain a healthy body weight, we need to balance the energy we take in from food with the energy that we use up through activity.
In the UK, unhealthy diets and inactivity are tipping this balance and leading to higher levels of obesity.
The food we are eating is part of the problem – often, it is loaded with fat and sugar so you only need to eat a little to get more energy than you need. The extra, unused energy leads to weight gain.
But in many cases, people are simply eating larger portions than ever before.
More and more food
It is very easy and tempting to eat too much food. In the last few decades, the portion sizes of food sold in shops and served in restaurants has grown tremendously. A study by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) found that burgers have doubled in size since 1980. And pasta servings are about five times larger.
Larger portions set up a vicious cycle. People who eat larger meals are used to seeing bigger portions of foods and get stuck in the habit of eating lots of calories that they don't burn off.
Research has shown that people eat more if they are given a larger portion of food than they would normally have. You can’t always rely on your body to register all those extra calories and adjust your appetite throughout the day.
So to stop yourself putting more weight on and maybe lose some weight, you will need to keep an eye on the amount of food you eat, and think about cutting it down. Here are our ideas for being portion-savvy.
At home
Eat off a smaller plate – you are more likely to eat less food.
Fill your plate up with lots of vegetables (except for potatoes). They are low in calories, good for you, and will help to fill you up.
Be careful when you read food labels. A ‘portion’ of food as defined by the manufacturer may not be the same as a healthy-sized portion.
Cook smaller quantities of food. This will reduce the temptation for second-helpings.
After you’ve served yourself, refrigerate or freeze leftovers so that you’re not tempted to have seconds.
Use smaller amounts of spreads or fillings and choose low fat varieties.
Don’t eat from the bag – place foods in a bowl so you can see how much you’re eating.
Eating out
If you’re eating out at night, think about what you eat during the rest of the day. Don’t skip meals – this might make you overeat later. Instead, plan to eat lighter meals earlier on in the day so you don’t take in too many calories.
Have a salad as a starter. And don’t commit yourself to ordering a dessert until you’ve finished your main course.
If you’re eating a meal with lots of dishes, like tapas or dim sum, be careful how many you order.
If you have a choice, order regular portion sizes instead of large ones.
Try splitting a starter or side dishes with a friend – it’s sociable and will cut down on your calorie intake.
Do not feel you have to clear your plate. It can help to decide in advance what you’re going to eat and push the rest to the side of the plate.
Ask for food the way you want it. You could for example, ask for sauces on the side. These can be high in fat, so you can get more control over how much you put on your meal.



//////////////////CREDIT=CANCER RESEARCH
The Top Ten Tips
The tips are simple habits that everyone can permanently fit into their daily routines. Keeping up all ten tips in the long term will help you lose weight and keep it off.
Keep to your meal routine. Try to eat at roughly the same times each day, whether this is two or five times a day. For more information, go to our Eating Habits section.
Go reduced fat. Choose reduced fat versions of foods such as dairy products, spreads and salad dressings where you can. Use them sparingly as some can still be high in fat. For more information, go to our Hidden Calories section.
Walk off the weight. Walk 10,000 steps (about 60-90 minutes of moderate activity) each day. You can use a pedometer to help count the steps. You can break up your walking over the day. For more information, go to our Walking section.
Pack a healthy snack. If you snack, choose a healthy option such as fresh fruit or low calorie yogurts instead of chocolate or crisps. For more information, go to our Healthy Meal Ideas section.
Look at the labels. Be careful about food claims. Check the fat and sugar content on food labels when shopping and preparing food. For more information, go to our Look at the Labels section.
Caution with your portions. Don’t heap food on your plate (except vegetables). Think twice before having second helpings. For more information, go to our Portion Caution section.
Up on your feet. Break up your sitting time. Stand up for ten minutes out of every hour. For more information, go to our Keep on Moving section.
Think about your drinks. Choose water or sugar-free squashes. Unsweetened fruit juice contains natural sugar so limit it to 1 glass per day (200ml / 1/3 pint). Alcohol is high in calories; try to limit the amount you drink. For more information, go to our Hidden Calories section.
Focus on your food. Slow down. Don’t eat on the go or while watching TV. Eat at a table if possible. For more information, go to our Eating Habits section.
Don’t forget your 5 a day. Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (400g in total). For more information, go to our Five a Day section.



////////////////Walk off the weight
10000 steps is roughly the equivalent to walking 4-5 miles depending on your stride length and pedometer.
So 2000 steps is approximately 1 mile or 15-20mins brisk walking
Try walking for part of your journey to work e.g. get off the bus a stop earlier
Talk a 15 minute brisk walk at lunch time
Try working out a 10 minute, 15 minute, and 20 minute walk route from your front door and back. Depending on your time available you’ll have a ready prepared walk to fit in!



//////////////////////What is a portion?
A portion is about 80g of fruit or vegetables. This is roughly equal to:
an apple, orange, banana, or similarly-sized fruit
two plums, nectarines or similarly-sized fruit
a handful or grapes or berries
a slice of melon, pineapple or large fruit
one tablespoon of raisins or other dried fruit
two serving spoons of cooked vegetables, e.g. broccoli or carrots
a dessert bowl of salad
two serving spoons of beans and pulses (only one portion per day)
a 150ml glass of fresh fruit juice or smoothie (only one portion per day)
Beans, pulses can only count towards one portion a day. This is because they are high in fibre but don’t contain the same balance of nutrients as other fruit and vegetables.
Fruit juice can also only count towards one portion a day. This is because they are high in nutrients but low in fibre. And extracting the juice releases sugars which are bad for your teeth.
Mushrooms can also count towards your portions. But try not to fry them in lots of oil as they will readily soak it up.
The NHS 5-a-day website has a full list of portion sizes for different fruit and vegetables.
Do all fruit and vegetables count?
Dried or tinned fruit, and tinned or frozen vegetables can all count towards your daily portions. But try to eat tinned fruit kept in natural fruit juice rather than syrup. And check the salt content of tinned foods, as it can sometimes be high.
The fruit and vegetables in ready meals or takeaways can also count towards your portions. But these foods are often high in fat and added salt and sugar, so try to eat them in moderation.
Potatoes are nutritious but are classified as starchy foods, so for these purposes, don’t count towards your portions. And chips certainly don’t count either!
Variety is the spice of life
Different types of fruit and vegetables contain different combinations of fibre, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Eating a variety of fruit and vegetables will ensure that you get a good mix.
A good rule of thumb is to eat fruit and vegetables of different colours. Often the chemicals that are responsible for the colours are the same ones that are good for health.
Five easy tips for Five-a-Day
A glass of pure unsweetened fruit juice is a quick and easy portion, but it can only count for one of your daily five.
When you feel like a snack, go for fresh or dried fruit instead of crisps or chocolate. Or try vegetable sticks with a low-fat dip.
Liven up the food you already eat with crunch or colour — put tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber in sandwiches, berries and bananas in yogurt and cereal, or vegetables in pasta, stir-fries and soups.
Make fruit and vegetables fun for children. Cut them into funky shapes, make a smiley face with fruit pieces, and get the kids involved when you’re cooking.
Keep your kitchen well stocked with fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables. Remember that going for those in season is cheaper when buying fresh.




///////////////////The EPIC study
Cancer Research UK is co-funding the UK arm of a massive study called EPIC, the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer. EPIC researchers have carefully designed the study to overcome the limitations of previous investigations.
EPIC is a long-term study of more than 500,000 people in ten European countries. This includes around 90,000 British men and women, including about 30,000 vegetarians, recruited by Cancer Research UK groups in Oxford and Cambridge.
EPIC aims to produce detailed, reliable information about diet and cancer. Unlike many other studies, it has the following important design features:
It’s huge. At over 500,000 participants, EPIC is the largest study of diet and health ever undertaken.
It looks forward. Only healthy people were recruited and their health was then followed for many years. This type of study is called a prospective study. Many other studies ask patients who already have cancer to recall their lifestyles before their diagnosis - a much less accurate approach.
It’s accurate. Each participant completed detailed diet and lifestyle questionnaires and most also provided blood and urine samples so the researchers could analyse their nutrient levels.
It’s long-term. EPIC participants will be followed for at least 10 years. Participants fill out repeat surveys every three years or so.
It has a wide geographical coverage. People from the 10 EPIC countries have very varied diets. This will allow the researchers to make more reliable assessments of the effects of different aspects of our diet.
EPIC results so far
EPIC scientists have published several papers in the last few years. They have found, among other things, that:
High intakes of fibre reduce the risk of bowel cancer.
High intakes of red or processed meat increase the risk of bowel cancer and stomach cancer.
Eating lots of fish may reduce the risk of bowel cancer, but this effect varied between different countries.
Beingoverweight or obese increases the risk of breast cancer in women after their menopause.
Beingoverweight or obese also increases the risk of kidney and oesophageal cancers.
People with large waist circumferences of large waist-to-hip ratios have higher risk of pancreatic cancer.
High intakes of saturated fat increase the risk of breast cancer. People with the most fat in their diet had twice the risk of those with the least.
Women who eat high-fat diets have higher risks of dying from cancer than those who eat low-fat diets.
High levels of fruit and vegetables, as indicated by vitamin C levels, reduce the risk of dying early from any cause by 20%. People could gain this benefit by eating just one extra portion of fruit or vegetables a day.
High intakes of fruit and vegetables do not reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancers. High intakes of fruit may reduce the risk of lung cancer.
High intakes of milk and cheese, and high levels of calcium in our diet, are linked to a reduced risk of bowel cancer.
Smoking increases the risk of stomach cancer, and passive smoking increases the risk of lung cancer.
High levels of hormones such as oestrogen and testosterone affect breast cancer risk.



/////////////////////////Handy Hints to help you get on your feet!
Get-up during TV adverts, have a walk around, do some jumps, stretch or shake your body
Socialise actively with friends: Walk and talk, rather than sit and chat
If you spend a long time sitting at work try to spread your errands through-out the day: go to the post box, get-up to speak to someone rather than use the phone or email
Stand-up and chat to work colleagues (even if you’re on the phone), rather than sitting, do leg raises or march on the spot (although this might get you some funny looks from your fellow colleagues, you’ll be working towards tip 7 perfectly!)
Stair walking and calorie burning
Using the stairs, burns off more calories than standing in a lift or on an escalator
Going up and down 120 stairs (or 8 flights, where 15 stairs is equal to 1 flight) can burn up to an extra 100 calories a day if you can manage to do this 3 to 4 times through-out the day. That’s an extra 700 calories burnt over a week, from just stair climbing
Top Tips for Stair Walking - Count the number of flights of stairs you do a day, try and increase this by 3 extra flights per a day - If you work with a computer set reminders to yourself to go for a walk or to climb a flight of stairs to go to the loo!- Have a 10 minute break at work and try walking up and down the stairs- Climb the stairs at home between TV adverts



//////////////Some Top Tips from our volunteers
Try a 30 minute evening walk, this can add up to 3000-4000 steps.
“Taking an evening walk for 30 minutes helps me to reach my 10000 steps”
Try having an apple, banana, plum, orange and either carrot or celery sticks as healthy snacks
“Having fruit & veggie sticks as a snack, makes meeting 5-a-day no problem”
Plan your meals and healthy snacks at the start of the week
“Planning my meals and shopping in advance, ensures I have healthy food to cook and eat all week”
Use the shopping card to choose the low-fat and sugar options
“The shopping card has really helped although I have been shocked by some things. The card always comes to the supermarket with me”




////////////////////Dealing with lapses
Learning how to manage those times when we stray away from the tips is crucial in helping to develop the most challenging tips, to become healthy habits. Try following these lapse tips:
Top Lapse Tips
STOP doing what you are doing, take yourself away from the situation.
RECOGNISE that one lapse is not the end of the world.
LEARN by thinking about what was happening around you, and inside you.
PLAN what you could do differently, to prevent your lapse happening again.
BE POSITIVE and get back on track as soon as possible.




/////////////////HIV VAXN=
Excellent Results Received From GeoVax's Full-Dose HIV/AIDS Vaccine TrialMain Category: HIV / AIDS NewsArticle Date: 04 Nov 2007 - 0:00 PDT email to a friend printer friendly view / write opinions rate article newsletters
Visitor Ratings: Healthcare Professional: General Public: >> rate this articleGeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GOVX), an Atlanta based biotechnology company, announced today excellent safety and immunogenicity data from its full-dose HIV/AIDS vaccine human trial which began in September 2006.This full-dose trial is the second in a series of four Phase 1 human trials designed to test the safety and immunogenicity of the GeoVax HIV/AIDS vaccines. Involving 36 participants of which 30 received vaccine and 6 received placebo, this trial protocol included vaccination with two full-doses of GeoVax's DNA vaccine to prime the immune response followed by two full- doses of GeoVax's MVA vaccine to boost the immune response. GeoVax's DNA and MVA vaccines express over 50% of the AIDS virus (HIV-1) protein components in order to stimulate a broad anti-HIV immune response. The vaccines cannot cause AIDS because they do not include complete virus. A Phase 1 human trial, started in April 2006, evaluated the delivery of only 1/10th of the full dosage and utilized the same vaccine regimen evaluated in the full dose trial.From data collected from the 26 participants who completed the trial, the following positive conclusions were observed:-- GeoVax HIV/AIDS vaccines, both DNA and MVA, continue to demonstrate that they are quite safe and immunogenic following the delivery of the four full-doses (two of each vaccine) used in the trial's protocol-- The full-dose regimen of GeoVax vaccines continues to be well tolerated without any type of reaction, mild or systemic, in the majority of participants-- CD4 T-cell and CD8 T-cell responses are very evident both in the 1/10th dose and full-dose vaccine recipients-- Antibody responses to the envelope glycoprotein (Env) increased following the fourth vaccination, and were present in 88% of the full-dose participants-- Delivery of the fourth vaccination increased the frequency and magnitude of the CD8 T-cell and Antibody responsesTwo additional Phase 1 human trials testing different vaccine regimens started in June 2007 and are currently in process. Planning of a large Phase 2 trial is underway and tentatively scheduled for a mid-2008 start."These results extend the earlier positive results for both our full and 1/10th dose groups to a larger number of volunteers," says Dr. Harriet Robinson, GeoVax Chief Scientific Advisor. "They are extremely encouraging and provide a strong foundation for proceeding with phase 2 human testing."The human trials, testing GeoVax's HIV/AIDS vaccines, are conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) based in Seattle, Washington. The HVTN, funded and supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the largest worldwide clinical trials program dedicated to the development and testing of HIV/AIDS vaccines. Preclinical work enabling the development of the clinical evaluation of GeoVax's DNA and MVA vaccines was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the US National Institute of Health. The NIH recently provided additional support to GeoVax's vaccine development program in the form of a $15 million IPCAVD grant awarded in October 2007.About GeoVax Labs, Inc.GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a biotechnology company, established to develop, manufacture, license and commercialize human vaccines for diseases caused by HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and other infectious agents. GeoVax's vaccine technology is protected by 20 filed patent applications and issued patents.GeoVax HIV/AIDS vaccines are designed to prevent development of Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease (AIDS), caused by the virus known as HIV-1, by vaccinating individuals prior to infection with the AIDS virus. In addition, GeoVax AIDS vaccines may be effective as therapeutics (treatment of people infected with AIDS virus). Studies evaluating these vaccines in already HIV/AIDS infected individuals are being planned.GeoVax DNA and Recombinant MVA HIV/AIDS vaccines:-- Use DNA vaccines to "prime" immune responses and MVA vaccines to "boost" immune responses against the AIDS virus-- Vaccinate against more than 50% of AIDS virus components and cannot cause AIDS-- Protected 22 of 23 (96%) non-human primates against the development of AIDS for over 3 1/2 years-- Are manufactured & tested under GMP/GLP - EMEA (EU) and FDA guidelines-- Satisfactorily completed earlier DNA HIV/AIDS vaccine Phase 1 human trial-- Are currently being tested in 4 Human Trials. Two started in 2006, two in summer 2007-- Have been demonstrated safe to date in human trials-- Are demonstrating positive immune responses against HIV in the majority of vaccine recipients-- Are in planning stage for a larger Phase 2 human trial in 2008For further information visit http://www.geovax.com.Safe Harbor Statement: All statements in this news release, not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward- looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, whether: GeoVax can develop and manufacture these vaccines with the desired characteristics in a timely manner, GeoVax's vaccines will be determined to be safe for use in humans, GeoVax's vaccines will be effective in preventing AIDS in humans, the vaccines will receive the regulatory approvals necessary to be licensed and marketed, GeoVax can raise the required capital to complete development of its vaccines, there is development of competitive products that may be more effective or easier to use than GeoVax's products, and other factors over which GeoVax has no control. GeoVax assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and does not intend to do so. Certain matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitations, risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and report.GeoVax Labs, Inc.http://www.geovax.com





////////////////////How much cheese can you eat?
A maximum of 1 serving a day from your dairy foods
For 100 kcals - 25g (or a small matchbox) of hard cheeses (Cheddar, Leicester, Double Gloucester, Lancashire, Danish Blue, Gouda, Stilton) or full fat cream cheese
For 70-80 kcals – 25g of Half fat cheddar cheese, Edam, Feta, Camembert, Brie, Mozzarella, 50g of low fat soft cream cheese or Ricotta, and 75 g of cottage cheese or fromage frais






/////////////////////Monitor your weight on a regular basis (e.g. daily or weekly). Research shows that people who regularly monitor their weight are more successful at controlling it in the long-term


/////////////////////////SHOPPING CARD=http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/images/pdfs/TTTlabelcard.pdf




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