Development of a Biomedical Innovation Economy-Panama

In this study we consider the progress toward the development of innovation incubators within the Central American country of Panama. We attempt to identify the extent to which Panama, as a developing country with a small market size, has recognized the importance of technology and innovation in its efforts to build a sustainable economy. We examined the “Triple Helix” government-academia-industry model (Etzkowitz, 2008), and applied it to the bioscience sector, while also incorporating the role of foreign collaborators. By reinforcing and maintaining synergies among all stakeholders, while also concentrating resources in the areas of strengths and increasing R&D expenditures, Panama could become a key regional player in the bioscience sector. Examples of cooperative research innovation are highlighted, and suggestions are made to enhance their commercialization potential.In this study we consider the progress toward the development of innovation incubators within the Central American country of Panama. We attempt to identify the extent to which Panama, as a developing country with a small market size, has recognized the importance of technology and innovation in its efforts to build a sustainable economy. We examined the “Triple Helix” government-academia-industry model (Etzkowitz, 2008), and applied it to the bioscience sector, while also incorporating the role of foreign collaborators. By reinforcing and maintaining synergies among all stakeholders, while also concentrating resources in the areas of strengths and increasing R&D expenditures, Panama could become a key regional player in the bioscience sector. Examples of cooperative research innovation are highlighted, and suggestions are made to enhance their commercialization potential.In this study we consider the progress toward the development of innovation incubators within the Central American country of Panama. We attempt to identify the extent to which Panama, as a developing country with a small market size, has recognized the importance of technology and innovation in its efforts to build a sustainable economy. We examined the “Triple Helix” government-academia-industry model (Etzkowitz, 2008), and applied it to the bioscience sector, while also incorporating the role of foreign collaborators. By reinforcing and maintaining synergies among all stakeholders, while also concentrating resources in the areas of strengths and increasing R&D expenditures, Panama could become a key regional player in the bioscience sector. Examples of cooperative research innovation are highlighted, and suggestions are made to enhance their commercialization potential

Formin1 disruption confers oligodactylism and alters Bmp signaling

Proper limb development requires concerted communication between cells within the developing limb bud. Several molecules have been identified which contribute to the formation of a circuitry loop consisting in large part of secreted proteins. The intracellular actin nucleator, Formin 1 (Fmn1), has previously been implicated in limb development, but questions remain after the identification of a Gremlin transcriptional enhancer within the 3′ end of the Fmn 1 locus. To resolve this issue, a knockout mouse devoid of Fmn1 protein was created and characterized. The mice exhibit a reduction of digit number to four, a deformed posterior metatarsal, phalangeal soft tissue fusion as well as the absence of a fibula to 100% penetrance in the FVB genetic background. Importantly, this mutant allele does not genetically disrupt the characterized Gremlin enhancer, and indeed Gremlin RNA expression is upregulated at the 35 somite stage of development. Our data reveal increased Bone Morphogenetic Protein (Bmp) activity in mice which carry a disruption in Fmn1, as evidenced by upregulation of Msx1 and a decrease in Fgf4 within the apical ectodermal ridge. Additionally, these studies show enhanced activity downstream of the Bmp receptor in cells where Fmn1 is perturbed, suggesting a role for Fmn1 in repression of Bmp signalin

Turning the Page to Year 2016

As we conclude another year (2015), Volume 2 completed, we are pleased with the number of quality published manuscripts. We are also excited to announce Nanobiomedicine has been indexed in DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) (https://doaj.org/toc/1849-5435)! This was in part attributed with the help of our Special Editor, Dr. Barbara Smith, who spearheaded manuscripts highlighting innovative results that impacted the global health spectrum implementing new methods for disease diagnosis, including technological and product development for enhanced point-of-care and personalized health care. Dr. Smith undertook this endeavor as she transitioned from a post-doc position (from George Whitesides’ lab at Harvard University) to a faculty position at Arizona State, getting acclimated and setting up her laboratory. We want to thank Dr. Smith for her time and commitment to our journal. It’s worth noting, we had a high number of submissions throughout the year, however, the expectations of the manuscripts not published fell short due to our review process, indicating the emphasis of publishing high quality manuscripts. We thank all the reviewers for their time and feedback

An analytical framework to assess the governance of universities and their involvement in Smart Specialisation Strategies

The renewed EU agenda for higher education (European Commission, 2017) has emphasized that higher education institutions are not contributing as much as they should to innovation in their regions and countries. The engagement of universities in S3 has shown to be particularly important in countries and regions with weaker regional innovation systems and sub-critical public institutional capacity. The ability of universities to bring together education, research and innovation, places them as particularly important stakeholders to contribute to the research and innovation system. Nevertheless, becoming more engaged in regional innovation policies and S3 requires an important strategic vision and institutional change by HEIs to be able to engage in co-creation dynamics with quadruple helix actors. Moreover, the ability of universities to adjust their working agenda could require some change in their common practices. How they can manage this, mandates a governance framework which can allow for agility from institutes steeped in tradition. The issue of governance is complex, multi-dimensional, and often involves changes in policy, behaviour and outreach for a successful implementation of set objectives. Institutional governance in general and for universities in particular, implies setting in motion or overseeing various institutional processes and regulatory provisions to allow for the planned targets and outcomes to be achieved. The current report proposes an analytical framework for university governance allowing the comparison and benchmarking of governance systems across EU member states, which could serve as guidance for university managers and policy makers to design the institutional incentives and funding programmes for increased engagement in S3. This analytical framework is experimented through a survey involving 74 European universities, the analysis of country annual reports of the Research and innovation observatory (RIO) and the knowledge generated in S2E project covering particularly EU13 countries and the higher education for Smart specialisation initiative (HESS). The main results and limits are commented and discussed with some recommendations.JRC.B.3-Territorial Developmen

Formin 2 links neuropsychiatric phenotypes at young age to an increased risk for dementia

Age-associated memory decline is due to variable combinations of genetic and environmental risk factors. How these risk factors interact to drive disease onset is currently unknown. Here we begin to elucidate the mechanisms by which post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a young age contributes to an increased risk to develop dementia at old age. We show that the actin nucleator Formin 2 (Fmn2) is deregulated in PTSD and in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Young mice lacking the Fmn2 gene exhibit PTSD-like phenotypes and corresponding impairments of synaptic plasticity, while the consolidation of new memories is unaffected. However, Fmn2 mutant mice develop accelerated age-associated memory decline that is further increased in the presence of additional risk factors and is mechanistically linked to a loss of transcriptional homeostasis. In conclusion, our data present a new approach to explore the connection between AD risk factors across life span and provide mechanistic insight to the processes by which neuropsychiatric diseases at a young age affect the risk for developing dementia

Formin1 Mediates the Induction of Dendritogenesis and Synaptogenesis by Neurogenin3 in Mouse Hippocampal Neurons

Neurogenin3, a proneural transcription factor controlled by Notch receptor, has been recently shown to regulate dendritogenesis and synaptogenesis in mouse hippocampal neurons. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in these actions of Ngn3. We have used a microarray analysis to identify Ngn3 regulated genes related with cytoskeleton dynamics. One of such genes is Fmn1, whose protein, Formin1, is associated with actin and microtubule cytoskeleton. Overexpression of the Fmn1 isoform-Ib in cultured mouse hippocampal neurons induced an increase in the number of primary dendrites and in the number of glutamatergic synaptic inputs at 4 days in vitro. The same changes were provoked by overexpression of Ngn3. In addition downregulation of Fmn1 by the use of Fmn1-siRNAs impaired such morphological and synaptic changes induced by Ngn3 overexpression in neurons. These results reveal a previously unknown involvement of Formin1 in dendritogenesis and synaptogenesis and indicate that this protein is a key component of the Ngn3 signaling pathway that controls neuronal differentiation

Formin 1-Isoform IV Deficient Cells Exhibit Defects in Cell Spreading and Focal Adhesion Formation

Background: Regulation of the cytoskeleton is a central feature of cell migration. The formin family of proteins controls the rate of actin nucleation at its barbed end. Thus, formins are predicted to contribute to several important cell processes such as locomotion, membrane ruffling, vesicle endocytosis, and stress fiber formation and disassociation. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study we investigated the functional role of Formin1-isoform4 (Fmn1-IV) by using genetically null primary cells that displayed augmented protrusive behaviour during wound healing and delayed cell spreading. Cells deficient of Fmn1-IV also showed reduced efficiency of focal adhesion formation. Additionally, we generated an enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP)-fused Fmn1-IV knock-in mouse to monitor the endogenous subcellular localization of Fmn1-IV. Its localization was found within the cytoplasm and along microtubules, yet it was largely excluded from adherens junctions. Conclusions/Significance: It was determined that Fmn1-IV, as an actin nucleator, contributes to protrusion of the cell’s leading edge and focal adhesion formation, thus contributing to cell motility

The motivation for citizens’ involvement in life sciences research is predicted by age and gender

Open Science is an umbrella term encompassing multiple concepts as open access to publications, open data, open education and citizen science that aim to make science more open and transparent. Citizen science, an important facet of Open Science, actively involves nonscientists in the research process, and can potentially be beneficial for multiple actors, such as scientists, citizens, policymakers and society in general. However, the reasons that motivate different segments of the public to participate in research are still understudied. Therefore, based on data gathered from a survey conducted in Czechia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the UK (N = 5,870), this study explores five types of incentives that can motivate individuals to become involved in life sciences research. The results demonstrate that men and younger individuals are more persuaded by extrinsic motives (external benefits or rewards), as compared with women and older people, who are driven by intrinsic motives (that originates from within an individual). This paper shows that specific strata of the population are differentially motivated to engage in research, thereby providing relevant knowledge for effectively designing public involvement activities that target various groups of the public in research projects

Nice Finish to 2014 and Looking Forward to 2015

This editorial article summarizes last year’s achievements and current plans for 2015 that focuses on attracting a high quality, variety of articles with more emphasis in engaging with academia and industry in the field of nanotechnology and biomedical research