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.

	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.

If claims made by scientists come out true then days are not far away when they will come out with a portent weapon to cure patients with HIV infection, as a new study shows them way to remove the virus from infected cells, bringing a glimmer of hope for the more than 40 million people infected worldwide.

Actually, researchers have engineered an enzyme that attacks the DNA of the HIV virus, cutting it out of the infected cells.

Throwing more light on the hope, which this study has sprouted Alan Engelman of Harvard University’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, writes:

A customized enzyme that effectively excises integrated HIV-1 from infected cells in vitro might one day help to eradicate (the) virus from AIDS patients.

Well, it would be too premature to become very enthusiastic about this new finding as the enzyme is still far from being ready to use and hasn’t even been tested in animals yet. However, one thing could certainly be said that this new way would revolutionize the way HIV-infected patients are treated.

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

Scientists have developed a new technique by which they are able to create cloned sperms. In future this technique could enable men with very low sperm counts to become fathers.

This technique has been tested in mice where a single healthy mouse sperm was injected into a mouse egg from which all the genetic material was removed. The sperm then was able to make more sperms on its own. Scientists have stated that further refinement of the technique will make it fit for humans as well.

Some experts have however raised safety concerns as some mice made from cloned sperms were abnormal. However, still four of these offspring had grown into normal adults.

Researchers now will need to figure out why some mice were born abnormal. They however believe that the technique had enough potential to be used in humans.

Fertility is a common problem and one in every seven couples attempting a first pregnancy face this problem and out of these couples male fertility is the reason in 40% cases.

In such a case researchers will use one of the sperm and inject it into the egg from where the genetic material will be removed, once there the sperm will develop more sperms in an effort to guarantee that the implanted embryo is healthy.

Before using the technique in humans, researchers will have to check the next generation of mice born from clone-made rodents as there might be some genetic disorders which might affect the future generations of these mice.

In major breakthrough, researchers from the University of Dana-Farber Institute, at Harvard University in Massachusetts, have found a protein called; p53 that they believe could help protect against skin cancer along with tanning your skin.

Actually, protein p53 is activated when the sun’s ultraviolet rays damage DNA. As a result, alpha-MSH (a hormone that makes the pigment melanin) is produced, which assists in the tanning of skin.

I see this finding as a significant one because it raises hope of better treatment for patients with melanoma skin cancer, the fastest-increasing form of cancer in the world. Moreover, it provides researchers with a strong base upon which they may find way to tan skin without the use of the Sun or artificially made products.

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.