NEWS POST: Japan Human Trial Tests iPS Cell Treatment For Parkinson’s

Japan's Riken research institute in Kyoto is a world leader in groundbreaking iPS cells

Japanese researchers on Monday announced the first human trial using a kind of stem cell to treat Parkinson's disease, building on earlier animal trials. The research team at Kyoto University plans to inject five million induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells -- which have the potential to develop into any cell in the body -- into patient brains, the university said in a press release.

The iPS cells from healthy donors will be developed into dopamine-producing brain cells, which are no longer present in people with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects the body's motor system, often causing shaking and other difficulties in movement. Worldwide, about 10 million people have the illness, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. Currently available therapies "improve symptoms without slowing or halting the disease progression," the foundation says.

But the new research aims to actively reverse the disease.

The clinical test with seven participants aged between 50 and 69 will begin on Wednesday. The university will monitor the conditions of the patients for two years after the operation.

The human trial comes after an earlier trial involving monkeys.

Researchers announced last year that primates with Parkinson's symptoms regained significant mobility after iPS cells were inserted into their brains. They also confirmed that the iPS cells had not transformed into tumors during the two years after the implant. iPS cells are created by stimulating mature, already specialized, cells back into a juvenile state -- basically cloning without the need for an embryo.

These can be derived from the patient, making them less likely to be rejected, while also sidestepping ethical qualms about taking cells from embryos. The cells can be transformed into a range of different types of cells, and their use is a key sector of medical research.

In 2014, Riken, a Japanese government-backed research institution, carried out the world's first surgery to implant iPS cells to treat a patient with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common medical condition that can lead to blindness in older people.

Osaka University is also planning a clinical test to treat heart failure by using a heart muscle cell sheet created from iPS cells.

In the US, scientists from Duke University said in January they had managed for the first time to grow functioning human muscle from iPS cells in the lab.

Originally published on DAILY MAIL WIRES/AFP

NEWS POST: Android Software Puts Google At Heart Of Mobile Life

People pose for a picture near a Google sign and Android statue at the tech giant's California Googleplex in 2016

The Google Android operating system, the target of a long-running EU antitrust investigation, powers the vast majority of the world's smartphones and firmly rules the mobile world.

Android software acts as the brains for mobile devices, coordinating tasks from phone calls and map directions to games, Twitter posts, or online searches. Google, the revenue-pumping heart of corporate parent Alphabet, makes Android available free to device makers, earning money from ads, content or subscriptions at online services crafted to work smoothly with the operating system.

According to industry-tracker Gartner, Android dominated the smartphone market with a share of 85.9 percent last year, to around 14 percent for Apple's iOS. Some 1.3 billion Android smartphones were sold last year, compared with approximately 215 million running on iOS and 1.5 million with other operating systems, according to the research firm.

The first version of Android was released a decade ago.

In a playful way, Google has named Android iterations after tasty treats including Kit Kat, Marshmallow and Nougat. A fresh version, Android P, is in beta testing mode and is expected to be given a yummier moniker before it is officially released.

- Free to tinker -

Google makes the Android operating system available free to device makers, but EU authorities claim the tech giant uses its leverage to induce manufacturers to pre-install other Google apps

Android is "open source," meaning that device makers can use it free of charge and customize it as they wish.

This led to complaints that the world of Android was "forked," with compatibility of applications inconsistent and device makers slow or reluctant to push updated versions or security patches to users.

Apple, in contrast, tightly controls its software and hardware, so an application that works on one device works on all. Apple also prides itself on pushing the most up-to-date version of iOS out to mobile devices.

While Android operating system software is free, EU authorities claim Google uses its leverage to get mobile device makers to install its other mobile apps like YouTube, Chrome, Gmail, Maps and Translate to cement its dominant position.

Android is used by a host of mobile device makers, including South Korea-based Samsung, which is the world's top smartphone maker in terms of volume.

Before Google shook up the market with Android, gadget makers paid to license operating systems or relied on their own.

Microsoft took that approach with the operating system for Windows Phone, before surrendering the market in the face of runaway success by Android and Apple.

- Pixel -

Google's Android operating system, a mascot of which is seen in this 2016 photo, has been the target of a long-running antitrust investigation by EU authorities

Google makes its own premium Pixel smartphones, which showcase the capabilities of Android and are kept up to date with software improvements. Pixel smartphones account for only a small sliver of the market.

According to EU investigators, Google has required device makers to install its search engine and the Google Chrome browser on phones, and to set Google Search as the default, as a condition for licensing some Google apps. The California tech giant disputes this, saying mobile device manufacturers, if they wish, can install applications that compete with those offered by Google.

For example, Samsung smartphones can come new with Chrome and another web browsing program built-in, or offer both Google Pay and Samsung Pay digital wallets for use. Android users are free to patronize online venues other than the Google Play Store for apps, games, music or other digital content.

Google does promote its own services as being optimized for Android, and backed by "cloud" computing capabilities for backing up data and being able to shift seamlessly between devices such as smartphones and laptop computers.

Daniel Castro of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank, said Google's strategy tries to "limit fragmentation across Android devices" so as to attract application makers and protect the reputation of the brand.

Originally published on DAILY MAIL/AFP

NEWS POST: Cash Is Pouring Into Tech Startups From Every Source

How much capital is too much capital? (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

When it comes to raising money, right now is one of the best times in history to start a technology company. Global initial public offerings (IPOs) for tech firms are off to their hottest start since the dot-com bubble in 2000. Venture capitalists, meanwhile, have invested more than twice that amount in the sector. The crypto craze is also fanning the flames, offering a new source of highly speculative (and legally ambiguous) capital.

A mountain of cash is available for young tech companies, following years of easy money policies from the biggest central banks. Venture capital firms have invested about US$67 billion globally so far this year, on pace to exceed the record high of US$87 billion in 2016, according to PitchBook data. Valuations have skyrocketed for some startups, altering the mechanics of the investing process, said Michael Jackson, a partner at Mangrove Capital Partners. Some fund managers feel pressured to join in at almost any valuation, he said.

“Indeed we live in bubbly times, but of course the use of digital devices and services is exploding,” said Jackson, who was previously Skype’s chief operating officer.

The optimism is not unfounded, as most of the global economy is growing solidly. Entrepreneurs have learned to transplant ideas from one geography to another, and the so-called gig economy is opening up new opportunities for companies and workers. But in some regions, the last downturn—a big one, granted—was about a decade ago, which suggests some complacency may also be at play. Jackson points out that 30-year-old founders and financiers may have never worked through a major plunge in valuations.

In the IPO market, tech companies have raised US$27 billion, a first-half result only exceeded by the blistering US$56 billion raised in the first six months of 2000, according to Dealogic. It’s not quite as impressive when adjusted for inflation: in current prices, the amount raised in the first half of 2000 was a whopping US$82 billion, three times more than the same period this year.

The public market, while generous, hasn’t necessarily been an elevator to higher valuations. Dropbox’s IPO in New York valued the company at around US$8.2 billion, compared with US$10 billion in a round of private funding several years earlier. When Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi made its public debut in Hong Kong, its market capitalization of roughly US$50 billion was about half of what it hoped for.

Then there’s initial coin offerings (ICOs), which resemble crowdfunding souped up with crypto tokens. ICOs have already set an annual record, according to CoinDesk data, raising US$13.6 billion from a combination of retail investors and trend-chasing VC firms. While it’s probably the frothiest funding market out there, the amount raised doesn’t suggest a threat to financial stability. It seems more like a symptom of the dreamy, optimistic times tech investors are living in.

But venture capital is where the big money is going to work in tech. The numbers may seem less frothy when mega-deal outliers are stripped out, but then there are still all the app-enabled scooter startups, which have raised nearly US$1 billion since 2017. These, and other tech firms, may turn out to be sound investments. Right now, though, it looks like there’s too much money chasing every opportunity.

Originally published on QUARTZ INDIA

NEWS POST: The Problem With Simply Growing More Tech Hubs In Africa

Yaba, Lagos is Nigeria's Silicon Valley. Connections necessary. (Reuters-Akintunde Akinleye).jpg

More than 130 new hubs have opened in Africa over the last two years, and there are still not enough.

Many hubs get financial and technical support from foundations as well as tech and telco corporates among others. More recently, Facebook and Google have both rolled out significant new Lagos centers, with NG_Hub and Launchpad respectively. There are promises of more to come elsewhere.

The “tech hub” label includes a wide range of very different types of operations. Many, perhaps most, are community centers in the most important way possible. There’s immense value, for aspiring entrepreneurs to be around like-minded innovators and technology dreamers if you’re in an African city where trying to be the next Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the most obvious ambition.

Then there are those like those supported by Google and Facebook, which are a bit more than just being a place for good wifi and regular electricity. If you can get into their programmes, your startup would likely get some crucial world- class technical support.

What the tech giants are offering

Facebook’s hub will be home to workspaces, an event space and is to host digital training programmes including Fb Start Accelerator Programme and SheMeansBusiness. It will also offer grants of $20,000 in equity-free funding. Over a three-year period, Google’s Launchpad Accelerator Africa programme will offer US$3 million in similar funding to more than 60 startups on the continent as well as provide mentorship and technology support.

Tech hub numbers in Africa have grown 40% in the last two years

There’s also an end-to-end model, which provides community, technical support and early equity investment. One example: MEST, one of the longest-running headquartered in Accra, now also has hubs in Lagos and Cape Town, with Nairobi expected by the end of the year.

Many more are needed, says Rebecca Enonchong, who chairs Afrilabs, a pan-African network of around 90 hubs across 30 countries.

“When local corporates see Facebook and Google opening up they’ll follow. And that’s good because we need more hubs, not fewer,” she said during last month’s Vivatech event. As Enonchong sees it, the role of tech hubs enabling startups by providing access to training and networking could be even more important than raising money.

The biggest needs now, beyond sheer numbers

So perhaps the most pressing need is more and different types of hubs. As the market matures, there will be demand for specialized knowledge, suggests Aaron Fu, who runs MEST Africa. “I think there needs to be a more collaborative model between hubs,” says Fu. “There could be some that specialize in different sectors that we could direct our startups to collaborate with.” Examples could be a UX/design center or a fintech hub.

One of the less discussed blind spots has been the absence of close links to academic centres of innovation, similar to how Stanford University has always had close links with Silicon Valley in California. Addressing this will require hands-on support from the local private sector, which can benefit from sharing the risks of innovation.

Julius Akinyemi, enterpreneur-in-residence at MIT Media Lab, sees this lack of a full eco-system and lack of cross pollination of ideas and skills across African tech hubs. “We need to find a solution to the private sector getting involved in R&D to fuel innovation that then creates trust in startup companies for local funds to invest in them and create local wealth,” he says. “This is why countries in the western world benefit from institutions’ innovation to create new products and/or new market.”

Originally published on QUARTZ