Fourth Canadian farm hit by pig killing virus: Ontario official

(Reuters) – The piglet killing Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus has spread to a fourth farm in the Canadian province of Ontario, the provincial government said on Wednesday, despite the hog industry’s efforts to stop it by disinfecting delivery trucks and clothing used on farms. The virus has killed more than 1 million piglets in the United States but it has so far been contained within Canada to southern Ontario farms. The fourth case has been confirmed in Norfolk County along the north shore of Lake Erie, said Mark Cripps, a spokesman for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. Ontario confirmed the first Canadian case last week.

Scientists hail breakthrough in embryonic-like stem cells

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) – In experiments that could open a new era in stem cell biology, scientists have found a simple way to reprogram mature animal cells back into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue. Chris Mason, chair of regenerative medicine bioprocessing at University College London, who was not involved in the work, said its approach in mice was “the most simple, lowest-cost and quickest method” to generate so-called pluripotent cells – able to develop into many different cell types – from mature cells. The researchers took skin and blood cells, let them multiply, then subjected them to stress “almost to the point of death”, they explained, by exposing them to various events including trauma, low oxygen levels and acidic environments. Within days, the scientists found that the cells had not only survived but had also recovered by naturally reverting into a state similar to that of an embryonic stem cell.

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