September 12 2015
Utilizing Aptamer Technology to develop truly personalized medicine
  


This issue includes an overview of our current work with aptamer technology for drastically improved surgical outcomes, introduces one of our invaluable SAB members, and features our first ever Biologics Fun Fact. 

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Biologics Fun Fact: Why do chickens lay green eggs?  Our first fun fact goes beyond Sam-I-Am to explore the science behind egg colors and the history of some exotic breeds (and includes lots of cute chick-pics).

2. Aptamer Technology: The key to unlocking advanced healing through personalized medicine.  Check out our two overviews of the technology for a breakdown of what aptamers are, how they work, and why they are superior to traditional diagnostic options as well as additional key published research.
 
3. Welcome to Dr. Schierle:  Meet the newest member of our Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Clark Friedrich Schierle, MD, PhD, a nationally recognized and published expert dedicated to advancing both the cosmetic and reconstructive aspects of plastic surgery.  Dr. Schierle is a board certified Chicago plastic surgeon specializing in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, breast and body.

We hope you enjoy these updates!

Guy Cook,
CEO
Lattice Biologics, Inc.
Green Eggs and Ham?Green     
Skip the ham, but keep the eggs!
 
You have likely experienced both white and brown chicken eggs (many foodie types insist the brown ones taste superior - but you'll learn better than that by the end of this article). But, did you know that chickens also lay eggs in many other colors? In fact, eggshells occur naturally in a wide range of colors, including: white, cream, pink, and tan as well as shades of blue, green, brown, and even speckled.

After years of wanting a flock, this spring we became proud chicken owners. Backyard chickens are a great diversion and conversation starter. One of the questions they produced is: why do different chickens lay different colored eggs?

So, what makes an eggshell green? Here's a hint: it's not what they eat! While age and health factors can alter shade over time, genuine eggshell color is actually determined by genetics and breed. To answer this question, it helps to start at the beginning...
 
In spite of the fact that eggshells can sport a rainbow of colors, there are only two true base shell colors: white and blue.

WHITE EGGS - the first surprise:
Despite the "natural" look of brown eggs, white eggs are actually the wild type, meaning that is the "normal, non-mutated version of a gene common in nature."
 
Fun Fact: All eggshells start out white.  Depending on the breed of the chicken laying the egg (not, interestingly enough, the breed of the chicken that would hatch from it), the egg will either remain white or "turn" a shade of pink, brown, blue, or green.

BROWN EGGS: Tinted (off-white or tan) eggs and brown eggs occur as the result of porphyrins (pigment derived from hemoglobins in the mother hen's blood), which are applied like a dye coating to the outside of the shell during the last few hours in the hen's uterus and isthmus (a short portion of the oviduct). The particular shade of pigmentation is breed specific and controlled by 13 or more genes.
 
Fun Fact: Blue and Copper Marans are known for the prized dark chocolate color of their eggs.

BLUE EGGS: The sole non-white base shell color is produced by only three breeds of chickens, each of which originating from the Chilean area: Cream Legbars, Araucanas, and Ameraucanas. These breeds carry a dominant gene for blue egg shells. The blue pigment is created by oocyanin, a byproduct from the hen's bile production, which is applied early in the laying process. The color is integral throughout the egg's shell, making it blue on the inside as well as out, unlike brown eggs, which are only colored on the outside. The amount of oocyanin lessens throughout the course of hens' lay cycles, producing progressively lighter blue eggs in later years. 
 
Fun Fact: There is currently a theory that blue-green eggshell pigments help protect growing embryos from solar radiation. This may be why blue pigments are found in breeds originating from tropical regions.
 
GREEN EGGS - here's the magic:
This color results from a happy genetic marriage when a blue egg layer is crossed with a brown egg layer. Green eggs are blue on the inside, since the blue is deposited on the white shell early in production and seeps through, then the brown coating is applied on top of later, resulting in a greenish color. Varying amounts and shades of brown result in the various shades of green eggs.   
 
The Isbar (pronounced "ice bar"), which hails from Sweden, was created in the 1950s through the genetic experimentation of Martin Silverudd, a Catholic monk, and is the only pure breed of chicken in the world that lays green eggs. The green shade of the Isbar's eggs vary from dark olive to lighter moss green.
 
However, you don't have to have Swedish monk connections to score green eggs for your own breakfast table! Breeders have developed several genetic "mutts" utilizing the blue and brown egg gene cross to produce green egg layers, the most common of which is known as an Easter Egger (EE), a puffy-cheeked chicken developed by a cross between one of the South American blue egg laying breeds and any brown egg laying breed. The fun name comes from the various attractive colors of eggs that can lay, including shades of green (mint, pale, bright, olive), pink, or cream eggs.
 
Fun Fact: EE hens will only lay one color of egg their entire life, but that color will be a surprise until the first egg is laid. Mystery egg!
 
In order to guarantee hens who will lay dark green eggs, many breeders are currently creating their own strain of mixed breeds to produce Olive Eggers (bred from a cross between any blue egg layer, such as the Araucanas or Ameraucana and a dark-brown egg layer (usually a Maran) and named for their shells' deep shade of green).


What's next?     
Having a burning biological question you want answered? 
Introduction to Apatmer Technology CBarticle
Aptamers as Markers of Cell Viability in Regenerative Medicine
 
Aptamer technology is a key that will take regenerative medicine in new directions, leading to our goal of providing stronger and more efficient surgical and therapeutic solutions. Our Project Manager, Christopher Bradley, Ph.D., explains how aptamer technology is making our Next Generation Allograft products possible.

Aptamers offer one of the best solutions for concisely assessing the status of stem cells, without the shortcomings of t raditional diagnostic technologies.  They are capable of greater specificity and affinity than antibodies, yet are more stable at ambient temperatures, are easily modified for chemical tailoring, and can be used on living cells for a more accurate "snapshot" of the health of the cells, as opposed to existing methods that involve killing the cells and separating their components.

 

Lattice Biologics & Aptamer LatticeApTechnology     
The key to unlocking advanced healing through true personalized medicine

 
See additional publications about Aptamer technology in the column to the right. 
Lattice WelcomesSchierle
Dr. Clark Schierle, New Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Member!  
 
Lattice Biologics is honored to announce the addition of Dr. Clark Friedrich Schierle, MD, PhD, a nationally recognized and published expert dedicated to advancing both the cosmetic and reconstructive aspects of plastic surgery, to our SAB.  Dr. Schierle is a board certified Chicago plastic surgeon specializing in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, breast and body who has made astounding contributions to the field since receiving his MD/PhD from Harvard Medical School in 2003.
 
He has been invited to present at over 50 national and international meetings such as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, the Chinese Society of Plastic Surgeons, and the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations. Dr. Schierle has authored almost 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, including the definitive book chapter on endoscopic plastic surgery of the breast. His work has been featured in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery, Journal of Trauma, Wound Repair & Regeneration and the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.

Dr. Schierle's clinical areas of research focus include: endoscopic breast augmentation with silicone gel implants, rhinoplasty, abdominoplasty, breast reduction, and breast reconstruction.

Dr. Schierle's appointments and affiliations include:
  • Director, Aesthetic Surgery - Northwestern Specialists in Plastic Surgery, S.C.
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor of Surgery - University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery
Dr. Schierle has won numerous awards and honors:
  • Vitals.com - Patients' Choice Award, 2010, 2011 & 2012
  • Vitals.com - Compassionate Doctor Recognition, 2010
  • Midwestern Association of Plastic Surgeons - 1st place Best Basic Science Paper, 2010
  • Northwestern Memorial Foundation - Goldberg Family Charitable Trust Award
  • American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery - Best Scientific Exhibit Award, 2010
  • Midwestern Association of Plastic Surgeons - 2nd place Best Basic Science Paper, 2009
  • Wound Healing Society - Young Investigator Award
Professional Associations:
  • International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Member
  • American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Member (Inservice Exam Question Writing Committee)
  • American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Member (Program, Industry Exhibits, and Membership Committees)
  • American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery, Member
  • American Association for Hand Surgery, Member
  • American Medical Association, Member
  • American College of Surgeons
  • Wound Healing Society, Member
  • Society for the Advancement of Wound Care, Member
  • Chicago Reconstructive and Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Society, President  
Background and professional distinctions:
Dr. Clark Schierle received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) at 16, where he began as a full-time student at the early age of 12. After completing a postgraduate research fellowship in Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, he spent the next ten years earning a PhD in the same subject as well as a MD, both from Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his plastic surgery training at the prestigious Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency program at Northwestern University where he received extensive training in cosmetic and re-constructive surgery.

Welcome, Dr. Schierle!

Issue: 5
In This Issue
THIS ISSUE'S BIOLOGIC FUN FACT: All about the Eggs! 

Getting Fancy
While shell color is determined by genetics, Michael Mazourek of Blue Hill Farm has proven that yolk color can be transformed through careful feeding techniques, as demonstrated by the " red pepper egg " from hens fed high-carotenoid peppers, which was featured on Dan Barber's episode of Netflix's fantastic "Chef's Table" series.
Time & Color
The laying process takes approximately 26 hours for an egg to travel through a female chicken's reproductive tract, with shell completion requiring about 20 hours. Brown eggshells "turn" color during the last 4-6 hours of the process.
Our chickens' brown eggs for devilled eggs at this year's Easter.
Meet Vanna
This sassy Cream Legbar is the meanest chicken in our yard (even pecking the young roosters!), but she lays gorgeous pale blue eggs. True to the Breed Standard, she is a pastel rainbow, with cream, softly barred (striped) grey neck hackles, a salmon breast, barred silver body, and peppered wings.
Vanna's blue eggs
Fingers Crossed for GREEN EGGS!
These skittish beauties are our 3 Easter Eggers. Since they are still babies: two pullets (young hens) and a cockerel (young rooster), we do not yet know what color eggs the girls will lay, though my fingers are definitely crossed for green!
The pullets are lighter and the cockerel is flashier
Does Color Affect Taste?
Nope!  The only factors that affect taste are the health and diet of the hen.  And I am proud to say our free-range chicken eggs and ham are not green but they are delicious!
Poached eggs Arizona-style on a tortilla
MORE ABOUT APTAMERS 

 
- Kyung-Mi Song, Seonghwan Lee, and Changill Ban
 
- Jeremy S. Paige, Thinh Nguyen-Duc, Wenjiao Song, Samie R. Jaffrey
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GET TO KNOW LATTICE

 

Lattice Biologics Inc. is an emerging leader in the field of cellular therapies and tissue engineering, with a focus on bone, skin, and cartilage regeneration.  

 

We develop, manufacture, and market biologic products to domestic and international markets.

 

Our products are used in a variety of applications, including:

 

Enhancing fusion in spine surgery

 

Enhancing  breast reconstruction post mastectomy for breast cancer patients

 

Sports medicine indications, including ACL repair

 

Promotion of bone regeneration in foot and ankle surgery

Enhancing wound repair in burn victims

 

Subchondral bone defect repair in knee and other joint surgeries


Contact us today
to learn more about our products and technologies.

 

Click here to download our Executive Summary. 


 


JUST FOR FUN -
MORE CHICK-PICS
How many chickens do you count?  At bedtime, their favorite spot is on top of their neighbor.
This morning's eggs.
Babies! R to L: our Male Black Crested Blue Polish, Female Black Orpingtons, Female Buff Silkie, and Female Black Crested Blue Polish
Lattice Biologics, Inc. | Scottsdale, Arizona