Latest news with #Genetics
NDTV
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Ram Charan's "Pure Grit" Gets Reflected In His Chiselled Muscles. Keeping Calm Is Not An Option
New Delhi: Telugu superstar Ram Charan treated his fans to a Monday surprise. The actor shared a picture of himself from his workout session. Ram Charan let his chiselled muscles do all the talking. What's Happening Ram Charan captioned the picture, "Changeover for @peddimovie begins!!" He added in his post, "Pure grit. True joy." Let's have a quick look at the comments section. A fan wrote, "That Bicep Scares me more." Another fan wrote, "Telugu lo one of the best Genetics (Blood Alantidi mari )." Ram Charan is undergoing rigorous training for his upcoming film Peddi, co-starring Janhvi Kapoor. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ram Charan (@alwaysramcharan) About Peddi Directed by Buchi Babu Sana, Peddi is among the most ambitious films in Charan's career. It is produced by Venkata Satish Kilaru under Vriddhi Cinemas and presented by Mythri Movie Makers and Sukumar Writings. With music by AR Rahman, visuals by R Rathnavelu, and editing by Navin Nooli, Peddi is touted to be a grand cinematic spectacle. The film is slated for release on March 27 next year, coinciding with Ram Charan's birthday. Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar, Jagapathi Babu, and Divyendu Sharma are also a part of the cast. Ram Charan's look shows him in his rugged avatar, channeling his physical vigour and emotional depth for a demanding role. In A Nutshell Ram Charan's gym look had the Internet buzzing as he's gearing up to start a new schedule of his upcoming film Peddi, co-starring Janhvi Kapoor.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Benchmark Holdings PLC (STU:31B) (H1 2025) Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Challenges with ...
Revenue: Fell by 17% at constant exchange rate. Gross Margin: Advanced Nutrition gross margin back to the 50% range. Adjusted EBITDA: GBP4.2 million from the continued business. Adjusted Operating Profit: GBP2.4 million for the first half of the year. Net Profit: GBP76 million, driven by profit on discontinued operations of GBP89.1 million. Operational Cost Reduction: 13% reduction achieved over the first half. Health Business Revenue: Fell by 73% at constant exchange rate. Nutrition Sales: Fell by 1% at constant exchange rate. Cash Flow from Operations: Outflow driven by lower trading and corporate costs. CapEx: GBP2.4 million during the half year. Debt Status: Company is debt-free post Genetics transaction. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with STU:31B. Release Date: June 12, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Benchmark Holdings PLC (STU:31B) completed the Genetics deal, providing significant proceeds and leaving the company debt-free. The company has announced a proposal to return capital to shareholders, including a special dividend and a tender offer. Advanced Nutrition showed improved performance with a better product mix and increased adoption of new and existing nutrition solutions. The Health business area is now restructured, profitable, and cash positive, primarily based on Salmosan sales. Operational costs have been reduced by 13% in the first half, with further cost reductions expected from ongoing corporate streamlining. Revenues are down compared to last year, primarily due to changes in the Health business and ForEx headwinds in Advanced Nutrition. Adjusted EBITDA has decreased compared to the first half of last year, partly due to lower revenues and gross margins in Advanced Nutrition. The shrimp market continues to present challenging conditions for Advanced Nutrition. Sales in the Health business fell by 73% at a constant exchange rate, mainly due to the exit of Ectosan from the market. The company faces uncertainty related to announced US trade tariffs, which could impact future performance. Q: Can you provide an update on the Genetics deal and its impact on the company's financials? A: Trond Williksen, CEO, explained that the Genetics deal was completed at the end of Q2, providing significant proceeds that have been used to repay debt, leaving the company debt-free. This transaction is reflected in the financials for the first half of the year and has led to corporate streamlining, positioning the group for future growth. Q: How has the Advanced Nutrition segment performed in the first half of the year? A: Trond Williksen, CEO, noted that Advanced Nutrition saw improved performance in Q2, driven by a better product mix and increased adoption of nutrition solutions. Despite challenging market conditions in the shrimp market, the segment benefited from positive conditions in the marine fish market in the Mediterranean. Q: What are the financial highlights for the first half of the year? A: Septima Maguire, CFO, reported that revenues were down 17% at constant exchange rates, primarily due to the exit of Ectosan from the Health segment. However, operational costs were reduced by 13%, and adjusted operating profit improved to GBP2.4 million. The company also saw a significant reduction in depreciation and amortization costs. Q: What is the outlook for the Health business area? A: Trond Williksen, CEO, stated that the Health segment is now smaller but profitable and cash positive, primarily based on Salmosan sales. The company is working on relaunching Ectosan with a new business model, subject to sufficient customer uptake. Q: What are the strategic plans for returning capital to shareholders? A: Trond Williksen, CEO, mentioned that the Board has proposed returning capital to shareholders, including delisting from AIM and Euronext Growth, and offering a special dividend. These proposals are subject to shareholder approval at the EGM on June 18. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Entrepreneur
19-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
23andMe Is Selling All User Data to Drug Developer Regeneron
Genetic testing startup 23andMe, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, announced on Monday that it has agreed to sell the genetic data of its 15 million users, along with its core business, to drug developer Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The acquisition, which followed a bankruptcy auction, is valued at $256 million and is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. Regeneron told 23andMe customers that it would adhere to 23andMe's privacy policy, which allows customers to request to delete their personal information. Related: 'Surprised and Disappointed': All Independent Board Members of 23andMe Resign, Leaving Only the CEO "We assure 23andMe customers that we are committed to protecting the 23andMe dataset," Aris Baras, head of the Regeneron Genetics Center, said in a press release. Baras explained that the Regeneron Genetics Center has experience with genetic data, processing the genetic information of nearly three million people in research studies since it was founded in 2013. Regeneron "shares 23andMe's founding vision of the power of genetics and data," Baras stated. Regeneron's acquisition includes 23andMe's personal genome service, which conducts DNA testing for genetic predispositions, ancestry, and traits based on a small saliva sample. Under the acquisition, 23andMe will continue its daily operations as a personal genomics service, but as a subsidiary of Regeneron, and continue to offer genetic testing. Anne Wojcicki. Photo by Cindy Ord/VF24/Getty Images for Vanity Fair Related: 'Difficult but Necessary': 23andMe Is Cutting 40% of Its Workforce The only part of 23andMe's business that the acquisition does not cover is its telehealth division, Lemonaid Health, which 23andMe plans to shut down. Company staff in divisions other than Lemonaid Health, numbering around 300 employees, will keep their jobs. The deal still has to be approved by the judge overseeing the bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in late March following a tumultuous few years. The company's reputation took a hit after a data breach in 2023 exposed the data of nearly seven million people, or about half of the company's users. 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million in September to settle a lawsuit about the breach, but data privacy remains a point of concern. 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki, 51, resigned as 23andMe's CEO following news of the bankruptcy but continued to serve on the company's board of directors. Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andMe in 2006 and owns 49% of the company, said that she had resigned from the CEO role in order to be "in the best position" to bid for total ownership of the company. Wojcicki submitted a few rejected proposals to buy 23andMe, one in July 2024 and another in February to purchase all of the company's shares that she didn't already own in cash for $2.53 per share, for an equity value of $74.7 million. In September, all of 23andMe's independent directors resigned from the board due to strategic differences with Wojcicki. They have since been replaced. The company laid off 40% of its workforce, or over 200 people, in November to cut costs. 23andMe went public in 2021 and was valued at around $6 billion that year at its peak.
South China Morning Post
16-05-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Horses were running between Asia, North America 50,000 years ago: study
'We find that Late Pleistocene horses from Alaska and northern Yukon are related to populations from Eurasia and crossed the Bering land bridge multiple times during the last glacial interval,' the team wrote. Researchers in Britain , Canada, France, Russia and the United States published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Friday. In the latest study, the scientists found that horses undertook multiple migrations across the Bering land bridge between 50,000 and 13,000 years ago, with genetic exchanges between North America and Eurasia in both directions. Among the studied fossils are Dalianensis horses, named after the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, near where they were unearthed. They are shown to have a mixed ancestry from both Eurasian and American populations. Ancient horses repeatedly migrated between North America and Eurasia, reaching today's Russian Far East near China , during the late Pleistocene when sea levels dropped and a land bridge connected the two continents, a new study found. 'We also find deeply divergent lineages north and south of the American ice sheets that genetically influenced populations across Beringia and into Eurasia.' Researchers in five different countries have found that some ancient horses shared both Eurasian and North American ancestry. Credit: Sacred Way Sanctuary Horses evolved in the Americas around 4 million years ago. About 20,000 years ago, warming after the Last Glacial Maximum submerged the Bering land bridge, which led to a decline in horse populations in North America. Advertisement They largely disappeared from the region about 10,000 years ago but continued to evolve and were domesticated in Eurasia. Spanish settlers likely reintroduced horses to the Americas in the 1500s. Horses were then moved through trade routes and became key to many Indigenous cultures across the American Southwest and the Great Plains. Lead author Ludovic Orlando, director of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics in France, said while some lineages native from America migrated and brought their genes far into Eurasia, a Eurasian lineage expanded from the Ural Mountains into western Alaska and all across the Arctic. Advertisement This region comprises present-day northern Russia, Siberia and Alaska. 'The lineage that migrated the other way around from America into Eurasia indeed reached out to China, since we find subfossils in the Sukhkaya cave in the Russian Far East, not far from the Chinese city of Dalian and next to the Jilin Province, carrying a fraction of American genetic ancestry,' he said. 'These subfossils are older than 50 thousand years ago, and related to Equus dalianensis from around Dalian.' Horses became key to many Indigenous cultures across the American Southwest and the Great Plains. Pictured is First Nations Elder Jane Stelkia and the Okanagan Nation horse. Credit: Little Pine Productions He said Dalianensis horses could be seen as 'a mixture of populations originating both from Eurasia and America'. Advertisement 'It implies that a Eurasian lineage first established and evolved in the region, and at some point mixed with another lineage that expanded in the region, and originated all the way up to America,' Orlando added. When asked about the motivations for horses to migrate vast distances across continents in both directions, he pointed to a Native American Lakota concept for the rationale for life forms to move. Orlando said when environmental conditions became suboptimal for horses and their associated microbes and food sources, 'they would reach out to other more favourable environments where they can thrive again, and maybe merge with other populations that would reinforce them'. Advertisement 'Migration is thus one of the key ways that life has to develop,' he said. 'Maintaining populations as they are and within limited habitats may not be enough as they could not [necessarily] thrive, mix and develop new alliances to face fast-changing environments.' 00:48 Thousands of horses gallop majestically as a herd for tourism festival in China Thousands of horses gallop majestically as a herd for tourism festival in China First author Yvette Running Horse Collin, a postdoctoral researcher in the archaeology, genomics, evolution and societies group of the laboratory in France, said horses 'moved great distances regularly until relatively recent times when their natural patterns were interrupted'. Advertisement 'For the Lakota, and many Indigenous Peoples, our relationship and science around the horse helps us to understand that the horse was designed to move,' she said. 'The horse is not only responding to change, it is also actually part of the change.' To conserve horses, Collin said it was important to protect other forms of life that move with horses. 'It is for this reason that one of the research outcomes of this study is to suggest the creation of corridors that would allow life to move – together – as needed,' she said. Advertisement 'One of our next steps will be to apply the findings in this study to preserve life in our traditional territory in the Black Hills of South Dakota and provide for the scientific measurement of those efforts.' Advertisement
