Skyrocketing oil prices and concerns about security of supply are encouraging many researchers to consider the potential advantage of plant-derived biofuels. Moving from fossil fuels to biofuels is still facing questions about its practicality. Moreover, is it possible to avoid contamination in biofuels?
Right now, many countries are using several plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, and sugarcane to produce biofuels. As a solution to all these problems, researchers are looking for crops other than these, which are already been cultivated for commercial purpose.
In this category, Willow, Hemp and switchgrass, which are already being used in various industries such as rope making, basket making, etc., are likely to be the future target for biofuels. As an advantage, these crops do not compete with food crops.
But, various views, doubts and complexities leaves us in a dilemma. International Water Management Institute, which led a five-year global study on water involving more than 700 researchers, found that if China and India pursue their current biofuel plans, they would face water scarcity by 2030.
Goran Berndes, a researcher at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, expressed the problem in following words: “If you need less land, you cannot be sure you need less water.”
Nestle, the world’s largest food company is happily ready to lobby biofuel crops but, showed concerns about the growing prices of food crops.
To avoid such a calamity researchers are all set to harness second generation biofuel plants to avoid energy crisis as well as rising conflict about food crops which asks a genuine question that, whether is it more important to feed our cars than starving people.
Science Daily — A gene mutation that appears to be responsible for changing relatively mild forms of the West Nile virus into a highly virulent and deadly disease in American crows has been identified by a team of scientists led by a researcher at the University of California, Davis.
Researcher Becky Walther blows on feathers to inspect the skin underneath a crow suspected of having died from West Nile disease. (Credit: UC Davis photo)
Because it is highly susceptible to West Nile virus, the American crow has served as the major sentinel species, playing an important role in alerting scientists and health professionals to the movement of the disease across North America.
"The findings from this study highlight the potential for viruses like West Nile to rapidly adapt to changing environments when introduced to new geographic regions," said Aaron C. Brault, a virologist at the Center for Vectorborne Diseases in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
"The study also suggests that the genetic mutations that create such adaptive changes may result in viral strains that have unexpected symptoms and patterns of transmission," Brault said.
About West Nile virus
West Nile virus, which is passed back and forth between birds and mosquitoes and transmitted to humans via mosquito bites, was first identified in 1937 in Uganda. Although it was recognized as a cause of severe encephalitis and meningitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, respectively) during a 1957 outbreak in Israel, it has been primarily associated with mild infections accompanied by fevers in humans in Africa and the Middle East.
In 1996, West Nile virus caused an outbreak of encephalitis in Romania, moving on to cause similar outbreaks throughout the next several years in Israel, Tunisia and Russia.
In 1999, the virus was first recognized in North America and has since been reported in humans, birds, horses and mosquitoes in Canada and in all of the contiguous U.S. states. It has become the leading cause of encephalitis from a virus transmitted by arthropods, a group of invertebrates that includes insects, spiders and ticks.
West Nile in birds
A variety of North American bird species, including ring-billed gulls, house finches, crows and black-billed magpies, are extremely susceptible to West Nile virus. In fact, a hallmark of the West Nile virus in North America has been how deadly the virus has been among wild and captive birds. Particularly vulnerable to West Nile virus is the American crow, which is common in urban and suburban areas as well as in all natural habitats except the Southwestern deserts.
Because the American crow is so common and so highly susceptible to West Nile virus, it has served as the sentinel species in North America. Epidemiological studies have found that deaths of American crows due to West Nile virus are associated with higher rates of infection among mosquito populations and clusters of the disease in humans.Although scientists and health professionals have thoroughly described how West Nile virus spreads through both human and animal populations in North America, it has been unclear just how the virus emerged to cause such serious disease in birds, particularly the American crow.
Pinpointing the gene mutation site
To identify how West Nile virus developed into such a deadly disease for birds, the research team looked to the genetic makeup of the virus. West Nile virus is an RNA virus -- its genetic material being composed of RNA, rather than DNA. Although RNA and DNA molecules differ somewhat in structure and function, both play key roles in enabling cells to build the proteins necessary for reproducing and carry out the cells' functions.
The researchers analyzed the evolutionary relationships of the West Nile virus genomes, or entire collections of genes, for 21 different strains of West Nile viruses that had been sampled globally in recent years, including strains from North America. Analysis of genetic patterns indicated a disproportionate rate of change at a particular amino acid within one of the viral genes.
Onto this genome "tree" for the various strains of West Nile virus, they mapped the mutational changes in the same gene region mentioned above. They found that the same amino acid change had occurred three different times and that the resulting virus had been associated with human disease outbreaks.
In order to determine if this mutation was associated with the increased virulence of the West Nile virus in birds and its subsequent ability to spread to humans, the researchers introduced the mutation independently into the low-virulence virus. They also removed that mutation from the highly virulent North American strain.
At that location, the researchers made changes in the amino acids, which they suspected might change a relatively mild West Nile virus strain from Kenya into a much more virulent strain and, conversely, could weaken the more potent New York strain.
Then they inoculated American crows with either a parent virus or one of the newly created recombinant viruses in order to observe the viruses' activity.
As expected, they found that the parent virus from the relatively mild Kenya strain did not become detectable in the crows' bloodstream until two to three days after the birds were infected. However, the new recombinant form of that viral strain quickly became detectable in the crows' bloodstream, and by the third day was present at 10,000 times the concentration of the parent virus from which it was developed, killing nearly all.
The researchers then made the reciprocal amino acid change in the parent virus of the virulent New York strain of West Nile virus, drastically reducing its deadliness in crows. This weakened New York strain was comparable to the relatively mild parent virus from Kenya in terms of detectable levels in the bloodstream and its deadliness among the inoculated crows.
"It appears that the naturally occurring changes in the amino acids at this particular gene site have played an important role in increasing the virulence of West Nile virus in birds before it appeared in North America," Brault said. "Furthermore, these data indicate how much West Nile virus relies on replicating to high levels in birds for efficient transmission of the virus, potentially leading to human disease outbreaks."
The results of the study were reported in the August 12 online issue of the journal Nature Genetics.
Funding for the study was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Pacific Southwest Regional Center for Excellence.
Blood Clot Fiber Tougher Than Expected! It May Aid Treatment
Body parts to heal body parts! Blood clots are made of fibers that are found to be not only more elastic than rubber bands, but also stretchier than spider webs! They are rather even tougher than doctors suspected. This discovery is groundbreaking as could help improve treatment of heart attacks and strokes.
These fibers, 1,000 times smaller than a human hair – are really and amazingly tough. Once it is understood, how much these fibers can be stretched before they break, it would be able to bust up blood clots on demand.
The Eyes Have It: What Do We See When We Look At Ads?
Science Daily — How do consumers look at advertisements? Most marketing textbooks advance the theory that looking at ads is a predominantly "dumb process," driven by visual stimuli such as the size of the ad or the color of the text.
However, new research by researchers from the Netherlands and the University of Michigan uses eye-tracking software to reveal that it may be our goals -- the tasks we have in mind -- that drive what we pay attention to, even during a few seconds of ad exposure.
In the August issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, Rik Pieters (Tilburg University, The Netherlands) and Michel Wedel (University of Michigan) perform an eye tracking experiment on 220 consumers. The consumers are split into four groups, each with a different goal, and given free rein to view a series of advertisements.
The study is self-paced -- that is participants are allowed to look at the ads for as long or as short of a time as they would like. Overall, the participants looked at the 17 target ads in the study for an average of about 4 seconds only -- but with notable differences in focus.
Those asked to memorize the ad focused on both the body text and the pictorial representation of the product. Those asked to learn about the brand, on the other hand, paid enhanced attention to the body text but simultaneously ignored the pictorial.
This supports the Yarbus thesis that ad informativeness is goal-contingent. Differences in pupil diameter between ad objects but not between processing goals reflect the pupil's role in maintaining optimal vision.
"The fact that even during the few seconds of self-paced ad exposure, attention patterns already differ markedly between consumers with different goals underlines the importance of controlling and knowing consumers' processing goals in theory building and during advertising pre- and post-testing," the researchers write.
In other words, the eyes are a reflection of consumer goals.
Functioning Neurons From Human Embryonic Stem Cells Produced
Science Daily — Scientists with the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA were able to produce from human embryonic stem cells a highly pure, large quantity of functioning neurons that will allow them to create models of and study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, prefrontal dementia and schizophrenia.
Researchers previously had been able to produce neurons - the impulse-conducting cells in the brain and spinal cord - from human embryonic stem cells. However, the percentage of neurons in the cell culture was not high and the neurons were difficult to isolate from the other cells.
UCLA's Yi Sun, an associate professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Thomas Südhof at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center were able to produce 70 to 80 percent of neurons in cell culture. Sun and Südhof also were able to isolate the neurons and determine that they had a functional synaptic network, which the neurons use to communicate. Because they were functional, the neurons can be used to create a variety of human neurological disease models.
"Previously, the system to grow and isolate neurons was very messy and it was unknown whether those neurons were functioning," Sun said. "We're excited because we have been able to purify so many more neurons out of the cell culture and they were, surprisingly, healthy enough to form synapses. These cells will be excellent for doing gene expression studies and biochemical and protein analyses."
Sun's method prodded human embryonic stem cells to differentiate into neural stem cells, the cells that give rise to neurons. When the time was right, Sun's team added protein growth factors into the cell culture that stopped the neural stem cells from self-renewing and prodded them into differentiating into neurons.
To isolate the cells, Sun and her team added an enzyme that digests a sort of protein matrix that holds cells in culture together. The neurons could then be separated from the neural stem cells that had not yet differentiated, a sort of chemical round-up that isolated the neurons. The cells were then put into a cell strainer that allowed passage through of the isolated neurons.
The large number of pure neurons produced will allow Sun and her team to study their biological form and structure, the genes they express, the development of synapses and the electric and chemical communication activities within the synapse network.
"We will be able to study the cellular properties of neurons in a very defined way that will maybe tell us what goes wrong in diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," Sun said. "We're currently creating many models of human neurological diseases that may provide the answers we're looking for. We don't know what causes prefrontal dementia, Huntington's disease or schizophrenia. The key is likely in the quality of neuronal communications. By studying the chemical and electrical transmissions, we may be able to determine what goes wrong that leads to these debilitating diseases and find a way to stop or treat it."
Sun will be among the first researchers to be able to study true neuron function.
A second important discovery in Sun's study showed that two embryonic stem cells lines derived in similar manners, and therefore expected to behave similarly when differentiating, did not. Using the same techniques to prod the two embryonic stem cells lines to differentiate, Sun found that one line had a bias to become neurons that are found in the forebrain. The other line differentiated into neurons found in rear portions of the brain and spinal cord. The finding was surprising, and significant, Sun said.
"The realization that not all human embryonic stem cell lines are born equal is critical," Sun said. "If you're studying a disease found in a certain part of the brain, you should use a human embryonic stem cell line that produces the neurons from that region of the brain to get the most accurate results from your study. Huntington's disease, for example, is a forebrain disease, so the neurons should be differentiated from a cell line that is biased to produce neurons from the forebrain."Sun said there are ways to prod an embryonic stem cell line biased to become neurons found in the rear brain to become neurons found in the forebrain. However, there are limits to how much prodding can be done.
Sun and her team confirmed that the two embryonic stem cell lines were different through gene expression analysis -- neurons that perform different functions in different parts of the brain express different genes. The cell line prone to becoming neurons found in the forebrain expressed genes typically found those neurons, while the other line expressed genes found in the rear brain and spinal cord.
Sun and her team now are studying why the two human embryonic stem cell lines have biases to become different types of neurons.
"If we knew that, we might be able to tweak or alter whatever is driving the bias so that limitation in the stem cell line could be bypassed," Sun said.
Study results were recently published in an early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Good news for the farmers and shepherds! You no longer have to worry of the mad cow disease that kills hundreds of thousands of cattle each year. To get away with the nuisance of mad cow disease, U.S. and Japanese scientists have produced cattle in their lab, capable of resisting mad cow disease! They are optimistic that their genetically engineered cattle can produce the brain-destroying disease-free herds, capable of providing dairy products, gelatin and other products.
The brain-destroying disease, or mad cow disease is also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE.
According to the researchers, the cattle’s lacking of the nervous system prions – a protein-type – lead o the BSE’s attack. The new cattle were made by Yoshimi Kuroiwa of Kirin Brewery Co. in Tokyo, Japan and colleagues. Known as “knockouts” the cattle has a specific gene that has been “knocked” out of them by using a method — called gene targeting.
James Robl of Hematech, a South Dakota subsidiary of Kirin said,
By knocking out the prion protein gene and producing healthy calves, our team has successfully demonstrated that normal cellular prion protein is not necessary for the normal development and survival of cattle. The cows are now nearly 2 years old and are completely healthy.
World’s First Schizophrenic Mouse Developed by Gene Modification
From the dawn of medical history, mice have always been a tool, used for the development of medical treatments and understanding of human anatomy. In medical history, mice models have greatly helped medical scientists to study mainly, structure and diseases related to heart, kidney and genes.
Scientists at John Hopkins University in Baltimore have another success in medical history as they bred world’s first schizophrenic or mentally ill mouse.
For the first time we have an animal genetically engineered with a mental illness. It will allow researchers to study the disease and develop treatments.
To develop this mouse, scientists modified its DNA to mimic the gene responsible for schizophrenia. This gene was inserted into the egg cell and then fertilized by using surrogate mothers. Features, such as hyperactivity and depression, similar to those humans with schizophrenia, were detected in mice’s brain.
This gene is believed to be found first in a Scottish family with high incident of schizophrenia, which affects one in about every 100 people.
However, such an act of forcing animals to mental suffering is an ethical issue for animal right campaigners. They called it an immoral and unnatural act. They further showed doubts about the reliability of mice models in modeling human diseases.
However, scientists are of the opinion that ninety-nine percent of human genes share a comparable version in the mouse, and many of them appear in the same order in our chromosomes. Therefore, we have similar reproductive and nervous system. That is why mouse has served as a model for biomedical studies for more than a century. By some estimates, 25 million mice are used in medical research each year.
While humans on one hand are competing to exploit nature to the maximum to let their selfish ends meet, scientists on the other hand, seems to be up with arms to find out alternatives to help meet man’s demands without injuring the nature.
One such gesture is manifested in an Australian researcher’s innovation with a new ‘source of phosphorus,’ which is suffering from global shortage – its ‘human urine!’
So, while urinating, you can well be assured of its no longer being considered as a waste, but a fertilizer that can help meet its increasing demands across the world – call it organic fertilizer?
So, with the world’s phosphorus deposits due to run out in about 50 years, recycling urine seems to be the new answer to the looming shortage.
Ah! A person producing 500 liters of urine each year can produce a considerable amount of the fertilizer component – phosphorus.
Associate Professor Cynthia Mitchell, of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology in Sydney says,
Urine is the most concentrated source of phosphorus. At the moment, we dilute that through our sewage system and send it out to the ocean.
In the industrialized world, we must start moving to a resource-recovery approach rather than the current waste-treatment approach.
This finding calls for a ‘sanitation revolution’ which demands new technology capable of separating urine right at home while urinating, as is already being used in Sweden.
If this turns out to be successful, lack of phosphorus would be a tell-tale, hence future soil quality and production would no longer be a matter of worry.
The analysis shows the Greenland ice could last longer than we thought, reports Roger Highfield
Today, Greenland is mostly covered with ice, with rugged mountainous terrain that is barren.
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| Artist's impression of southern central Greenland based on findings from the Dye 3 basal ice |
But this was not the case millennia ago, when it was a verdant paradise, according to a remarkable study of ancient DNA that also suggests Greenland's ice will tolerate more global warming than thought.
Investigations of an ice core from deep in the ice in southern Greenland has revealed a trove of ancient genetic traces of plants and animals -probably the oldest DNA ever analysed - which provide the first evidence of a surprisingly lush forest that existed in the region within the past million years.
The findings from an international study published in the journal Science also suggest that the southern Greenland ice sheet may be much more stable against rising temperatures caused by climate change than previously believed.
For the study, researchers analysed ice cores from a number of locations in Greenland, including one called Dye 3 in the south. From the base of one 2000 metre deep core, they were able to extract what they believe is the oldest authenticated DNA obtained to date.
By analysing DNA the researchers identified a surprising variety of plant and insect life, including beetles, flies, spiders, butterflies and moths.
The researchers believe that the samples most likely date back to between 450,000 and 800,000 years ago, when it was covered in conifer forest and had a relatively mild climate, overturning all previous assumptions about Greenland.
"We have shown for the first time that southern Greenland, which is currently hidden under more than 2000m of ice, was once very different to the Greenland we see today," says Prof Eske Willerslev, from the University of Copenhagen, who led the study and is the world's leading expert in extracting DNA from organisms buried in permafrost.
"Back then, it was inhabited by a diverse array of conifer trees and insects," he says. "We have found grain, pine, yew and alder. These correspond to the landscapes we find in Eastern Canada today.
The trees provide a backdrop from which we can also ascertain the climate since each species has its own temperature requirements. The yew trees reveal that the temperature during the winter could not have been lower than -17°C, and the presence of other trees shows that summer temperatures were at least 10 degrees".
The ancient forests covered southern Greenland during a period of increased global temperatures, known as an interglacial period. When temperatures fell again, the area became covered in ice. This ice persisted during the last interglacial period (116,000-130,000 years ago) when the temperature was 5°C warmer than today, contrary to the view currently held by many scientists.
Prof Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, also at the University of Copenhagen, has data showing that in fact, even during this interglacial period, the ice thickness at Dye 3 would only have been reduced to 1000 metres in the face of temperatures that will not be reached for many decades as a result of today's global warming.
This work suggests that the whole ice sheet will resist melting to cause tremendous sea-level rises which have been the subject of so much discussion. "If our data is correct, then this means that the southern Greenland ice cap is more stable than previously thought," says Prof Willerslev.
"This may have implications for how the Greenland ice sheet respond to global warming."
However, he added that warming would still raise sea levels. During the last interglacial, sea levels rose by 5-6m even though Greenland was still covered in ice, and the water responsible for this rise must have come from others sources other than Greenland, such as Antarctic ice.
"I would anticipate that as the Earth warms from man-made climate change, these sources would still contribute to a rise in sea levels."
Today's study shows conclusively that ancient DNA from the base of ice cores can be used to reconstruct the environments hidden underneath ice-covered areas and can yield insights into the climate and the ecology of ancient environments.
Ten per cent of the Earth's surface has been covered with ice for thousands of years. No one knows what lies beneath. Using the same methods elsewhere "could open up a world of new discoveries," says Dr Enrico Cappellini of the University of York, coauthor.
In a ground breaking research organized by United States National Human Genome Research Institute the scientists are on the verge of start rethinking everything about the genes and their behavior. The research conducted with 35 groups from 80 organizations around the World concluded with the speculation that the human genome might not be a tidy collection of independent genes at all, with each sequence of DNA linked with a single function, such as heart disease or as a predilection to diabetes etc. Instead genes appear to operate in a complex network and interact and overlap with one another and with other components in a not completely understood way.
The human genome project was one of the most exciting and challenging part of modern science. But according to the institute, after this research, scientists from all over the World may need to start rethinking everything afresh. These findings will certainly challenge scientists’ long held views about the genes and how they behave.
The network effect of genes is not a new one in the world of biology. Biologists have been noticing this interesting fact from quite a log time in other organisms. They were linked with some other creatures; so our human world carefully avoided them.
The genes operate individually, this is the most fundamental belief in the field of genetics. This presumption has been established since 1976 with the establishment of the first biotech company. Now this experiment may have an effect of nullifying the previous factor and it is a possibility that everything may need to be started afresh.
The fundamental principle of molecular biology says that each gene in living organisms, from human to bacteria, carries the information needed to construct one single protein. Proteins are the driver of the cells, and finally the organism. In 1960s, scientists discovered that a gene producing one type of protein in one organism will produce a similar protein in some other organism. This similarity has made insulin acquired from pigs as a life saving treatment for diabetes.
In the year 2005 a study showed that more than 4000 human genes have been patented in US alone, and this is a very less fractional amount of the entire amount of patents issued to genes found in other organisms. In light of the recent research, the defensibility of those patents is under fire.
Scholars all over the world have come out with their comments about this matter. According to some, the biotech industry has adopted a pre-matured commercial agenda in the very beginning of a particular field. It is possible that what we have known long might be incomplete or erroneous.
With the recent research and its result, the biotech industry may have to start experimenting with the more vivid reaction of their products.
Whatever be the solution, the World needs to choose the right alternative among many of them available. According to Prof. Heinemann, a professor of molecular biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and director of its Center for Integrated Research in Biosafety, many companies have already carried a kind of gene profile research. But they are not required to submit them to regulatory bodies, so they do not submit. For this action research on this particular field is still in a stagnant position.
He further said:
Something that is front and center in the biosafety community in New Zealand now is whether companies should be required to submit their gene-profiling data for hazard identification. With no such reporting requirements, companies and regulators alike will continue to blind themselves to network effects.
Source: NYTimes
A study carried out by Michael Daly and his team at the ‘Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences’ in Bethesda, Maryland, has put new lights on the effect of radiation on DNA.
According to Daly, it has long been thought that radiation was dangerous because it shatters DNA into fragment but, instead it is protein damage that is the killer. Daly says:
The ability of cells to survive radiation is highly dependent on the amount of protein damage caused during irradiation.
The bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans, which is nicknamed ‘Conan the Bacterium’ because of its high radiation resisting ability, was used in the study done by Daly and his team.
Daly and his team exposed Deinococcus and other resistant bacteria to radiation and found that the resilience of a cell’s repair proteins is linked to the number of manganese ions in the cell. Manganese prevents oxidative damage to repair proteins and allows them to swing into action after radiation has damaged DNA.
The study shows that it doesn’t matter even if your DNA is shattered, as long as the repair proteins are intact the DNA can be stitched back.
According to Daly, it may be possible to increase radiation resistance by delivering Deinococcus repair proteins into animal cells. This could be useful in space travel, where radiation sickness is the main setback.
A study on DNA “bar coding” put forth by the Canadian researchers is being anticipated to the unearthing of myriad number of new species. The study researchers foresee a kind of handheld device that would allow anyone to identify any species of plants or animals along with their biological characteristics within no time.
Paul Hebert, study co-author and director of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph said:
Any person equipped with a bar-coder can walk through the forest and identify the life around them. Bar-coding is revealing legions of unrecognized species, and it’s going to change the species count for the planet.
Bar coding endeavors to segregate a tiny piece of DNA and have it characterized as a discrete numerical sequence that is about 650 digits long. The study also discovered sets of DNA “twins”. The handheld device that is likely to be the size of a global positioning system is expected to meet realism in around 10 years.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish appearance as seen from Earth.A terrestrial planet, Mars has a thin atmosphere and surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth. It is the site of Olympus Mons, the highest known mountain in the solar system, and of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon. In addition to its geographical features, Mars' rotational period and seasonal cycles are likewise similar to those of the Earth.
This video shows the rotation speed of the red planet Mars relative to Earth, the seasonal cycles on Mars and its surface structure.
07:01 myagolo
First the DNA Wrapping is animated.
The wrapping allows 6 feet of the long DNA molecule to be densely packed into the tiny nucleus of every cell. The process starts when DNA is wrapped around special protein molecules called histones. The combined loop of DNA and protein is called a nuclei zone. Next the nuclei zones are packed into a thread. The end result is fiber known as chromatin. This fiber is looped and coiled yet again leading to the familiar shapes known as chromosomes which can be seen in the nucleus of dividing cells. Chromosomes are not always present - they form around the time cells divide when the two copies of the cell's DNA need to be separated.
Using computer animation based on molecular research we are now able to see how DNA is actually copied in living cells.
An assembly line of amazing biochemical machines are pulling apart the DNA double helix and cranking out a copy of each strand.
This presentation was made by Drew Barry at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
A revolutionary home test reveals an unborn baby’s sex at six weeks! Is the phenomenon, an advancement of medical science or a kind of bane on the human existence?
About two years ago, the Early Baby Gender Mentor DNA test was launched. It purportedly tested for fetal DNA in maternal blood to see if there was any DNA from the Y chromosome - yes means boy, no means girl. Now another similar test is being sold called the Pink or Blue test.
The consequences would be- Babies were being aborted simply for being the ‘wrong’ sex!
The cost of the entire kit is around $376. Its opponents fear that it might create a massive leap in abortions if would-be parents are not having the gender they want.
Previously the gender of a baby could be known at the 20-week scan, four weeks before the legal limit for an abortion. However, the new home test would explode the conventional test which confirms the gender of the unborn.
The Pink or Blue Early Test Kit, launched on the internet this week by DNA Worldwide, is claimed to be 98 per cent reliable.
Would be moms are suppose to give a sample of their blood by pricking their fingers, the sample is then is taken on a filter paper and send it to lab for testing.
Lab technicians determine the sex by looking for the Y chromosome found in males in three tests. Each works because an unborn baby’s DNA is present in the mother for six weeks.
David Nicholson, director of DNA Worldwide said, Parents are excited by the pregnancy and want to know the sex of their baby. A lot even build an extra room or redecorate one for the baby — and they don’t want to wait until their 20-week scan to find the sex.
Cancer particularly of the stomach, colon and liver is listed among the top 20 causes of mortality around the world. With a lot of research into newer and newer drugs to tackle it, science has bought to the forefront the role of naturally-occurring compounds from plants and more recently from animals in aborting the progression of cancer. 
One such compound which has caught the attention of members of scientific community is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Typically CLA is a fatty acid and has been shown to be similar to a fatty acid - linoleic acid. However, CLA has been found to be beneficial as opposed to linoleic acid since it prevents the progression of cancer unlike linoleic acid, which has been found to promote cancer.
The sources of CLA in nature are meat and dairy products obtained from grazing animals, particularly feeding more on grass rather than grains. In the market however, diet supplements available contain synthetic CLA with meager health benefits as compared to the naturally occurring compound. Earlier studies into health benefits of CLA have shown that it is effective against diabetes and obesity as well.
The research pertaining to CLA is still in its nascent stages and there is a long way to go before its long term beneficial effects to human health are established however, the few trials conducted so far look quite promising particularly in tackling some of the common cancers like breast and colon cancers.
With a lot of naturally-occurring compounds exhibiting the potential to tackle cancer more avenues for cancer research and treatment should be explored.
American scientists have come up with a new method of treating cancer. They aspire to start clinical trials of the method, which has minimum risks of invasion, soon on individuals with prostate cancer.
The process, called irreversible electroporation (IRE), has been devised by Virginia Techbiomedical engineer Rafael V. Davalos and University of California bioengineering professor Boris Rubinsky.
Researchers have been cognizant for a long time now of electroporation increasing the permeability of a cell from none to a reversible opening to an irreversible opening. Since irreversible concept kills the cells, Davalos and Rubinsky used it to target cancer cells.
Davalos, recipient of the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award for Most Promising Engineer or Scientist in 2006, said:
IRE removes tumors by irreversibly opening tumor cells through a series of short intense electric pulses from small electrodes placed in or around the body
He further explained that this application creates permanent openings in the pores in the cells of the undesirable tissue which eventually result in the death of the cells eliminating the need to use potentially harmful chemotherapeutic drugs.
The researchers carried out a fruitful operation by using the IRE pulses in the livers of male Sprague-Dawley rats.
We did not use any drugs, the cells were destroyed, and the vessel architecture was preserved,
Davalos said.
Davalos and Rubinsky also told that the new process was more useful compared to the currently available methods for destroying tumors using heat or freezing, because these techniques may damage healthy tissue or leave malignant cells.
The researchers said that the process of IRE enabled them to adjust the electrical current and kill the targeted cells without affecting surrounding tissue or nearby blood vessels.
Th researchers held that IRE shows remarkable promise as a minimally invasive, inexpensive surgical technique to treat cancer. This method is expedient because it is not disturbed by local blood flow and can be supervised and checked by using electrical impedance tomography.
The researchers said that they would keep promoting the promising method to treat cancer, which is being featured in a special issue of Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment.
Indeed, this new development in cancer research may go a long way in negotiating the deadly ailment as it seems full of high potentials.
Nanotechnology, after expanding its horizon in leaps and bounds, has eventually penetrated the world of plant biology, thanks to a team of U.S. scientists. They have used nanotechnology for penetrating the walls of plant cells.
With the use of nanotechnology, the experts have delivered a gene and a chemical into the cell walls to precisely trigger the expressions of the genes.
This innovation with introducing nanotechnology to plant biology and agricultural biotechnology has helped in creating a powerful tool to target plant cell-deliveries.
Though, scientists have already successfully introduced a gene into a plant cell, unlike this new application, in other cases, chemicals are used to just activate the functions of a gene. But, the process is not as precise as the new nanotechnology-based one, and the chemicals could also be toxic to the plant.
It is a real breakthrough by the team of Iowa State University researchers.
Study leader Professor Kan Wang said,
With the mesoporous nanoparticles, we can deliver two biogenic species at the same time. We can bring in a gene and induce it in a controlled manner at the same time and at the same location. That`s never been done before.
So, here comes ‘nanotechnology’ to help a more precise gene activation in plant cell as well as trigger their expressions at the same time.
Scientists have developed a new type of nanoparticles that can aim, image and destroy tumor cells. This technology can also be used to develop means by which cancer can be cured.
The system contains gold nanoparticles which branching polymers called dendrimers. These dendrimers sprout out from the surface of the nanoparticles. These particles can be used to launch a multiprong attack against the tumors.
The arms of these dendrimers can carry many different molecules, including those that can fight cancer cells and even drugs that can slow their growth or destroy them completely.
Scientists aim that this method should be able to destroy the cancer cells without harming anything else in the body. Currently researchers are pursuing tests on animals and once the technology pass some more tests then it should be made available for human use.
At parked near a fast food restaurant in the New York area Steyten-Aylend young man beaten zabludivshegosya Award.
As the Burger King fast food, Apo Award for their parking and sat on top of the bonnet of a car. Surprised by institutions gathered around and started to feed birds bread, with the appearance of an unknown young man, aged about 20 years.
Award attacker grabbed by the neck, pulled to the ground and was stamped and kicked him. When witnesses tried to stop him, he screamed : "I Vampire killing!" .
The snack bar had called the police, but the man fled when he heard approaching police cars. The vetnadzora had lulled Award-injuries were too severe, he experienced almost all of the tail feathers.
The police were searching for the assailant and try to find out where in a car park by Burger King in a New York Award.
Australian neurosurgeon warned Progress in the treatment of psychiatric and neurological diseases in the country is under threat because of a lack of brainpower is meant for research.
According to the representative of the Australian Bank brain Professor Katrena McLean, there are two reasons : First, fewer and fewer young doctors rely on the autopsy to determine the cause of death, trusting tests that do not require autopsies. Secondly, the majority of Australians believe that agreeing to death after their bodies for research, they automatically agree to allocate and brain, and by law it must be a separate agreement.
Australian Bank brain responsible for the collection, storage and distribution of brain tissue for research in the country.
Conception through cloned sperm cause deviations
American scientists have developed and successfully tested in mice sperm cloning technique, and are ready to use it in the treatment of male infertility.
During the experiment conducted in the laboratory of the University of Cornell, a single kernel mouse sperm was transferred to mice cells, which previously had its own genetic material removed.
The dividing eggs obtained a large number of spermatozoa, which were oplodotvoreny female mice. Four born in mice are healthy, in most cases this conception led to the development of embryos from different variations, abortion or the death of offspring soon after birth.
According to the scientists, those violations are not yet known, and so may be many additional experiments. At the same time, researchers are confident that they have developed machines breeding sperm may in the future be useful in medicine.
In particular, artificial male gametes may increase the chances of fatherhood to
Mike Jones and Matt Garber of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst is the new technology of remote surveillance of animals. This experiment is a Deerfield River in western Massachusetts. Biologists and computer scientists have joined forces to test a wireless data network consisting of devices attached to the back turtles. Using a combination of orthodontic cement and taped, biologists established in animal species waterproof computers, the size of a postcard. These vehicles are equipped with a solar panel and wireless data transmission systems, as well as GPS satellite navigation and sensor body temperature animal.
Scientists lose romantic songs, trying to adjust to the sharks love mood. All of this phantasmagoria is in aquaria Germany.
All 10 German marine aquariums are involved in the project, because, according to experts, sharks do not give enough offspring in captivity.
Zubastye predators twice a day for hours listening to romantic songs, ranging from classical music until popsy and reggae.
"We have tried all other ways, and they have not worked, so we are taking a new approach. His conduct with pandas and primates, and we have nothing to lose by trying to set music to a love of shark's seat, "said one of the sponsors.
If music therapy works, visits an aquarium The unforgettable sight : shark mating ritual is something fantastic. Male sharks seeking females with perseverance and even keel biting his girlfriend.
theme music from the film "duck" in the repertoire is not included, but songs, listen to sharks, "endless love" Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross and "Let's get 'Marvin Gaye.
A special requests after the visitors added another aquarium shark in the repertoire "Good Heart Fergal Sharkey and" Vibrations "by Beach Boys."
The Hawaii Natural Energy Laboratory Center who studies ocean thermal energy, discovered unknown animal species, which is described as "kalmaroosminogom (octosquid), said Honolulu Star Bulletin. His zasosalo the pipe, which is a laboratory for sea water from a depth of three thousand feet (about 900 metres).
According to Richard Young, Professor of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, individuals may belong to a detachment Mastigoteuthis squid. The animal, as the publication, the body of squid, octopus head, and eight, rather than 10 tentacles.
In captivity, "kalmaroosminog" lived for about three days. After the death of his placed in a cooler and then transferred to the analysis of experts Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory.
