Biology | SilverScorpio.Com

First synthetic bacterial genome created

May 21, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 21 (ANI): In the third meeting of Hastings Center workshop examining moral issues in synthetic biology, the J. Craig Venter Group have announced the creation of the first synthetic bacterial genome.

The Hastings Center has been at the forefront of interdisciplinary research into ethical issues in emerging technology.

Project participants include synthetic biologists, bioethicists, philosophers, and public policy experts.

“Synthetic biology certainly raises deep philosophical and moral questions about the human relationship to nature,” said Gregory Kaebnick, a Hastings Center scholar who is managing the project.

“It’s not clear what the answers to those questions are. If by ‘nature’ we mean the world around us, more or less as we found it, we may well decide that synthetic biology does not really change the human relationship to nature—and may even help us preserve what is left of it,” he added.

Nor is it clear that the questions raised by synthetic biology are new ones.

“We have come up against similar problems in other domains—most notably, in work on nanotechnology and gene transfer technology—but synthetic biology poses them especially sharply and pressingly,” said Thomas H. Murray, president of The Hastings Center and the project’s principal investigator. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Bacterial Genome, biologists, biology, Center Workshop, Emerging Technology, Ethical Issues, forefront, Gene Transfer Technology, Hastings Center, human relationship, j craig venter, Moral Issues, Moral Questions, nanotechnology, philosophers, principal investigator, Project Participants, Public Policy Experts, technology project, Thomas H Murray

Scientists find genetic secrets to common kidney cancer

May 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 19 (ANI): Researchers at Mayo Clinic”s campus in Florida have discovered genetic secrets to common kidney cancer.

By examining expression of every human gene in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) compared to normal kidney cells, researchers have discovered gene signatures that explain much of the biology of this common and difficult-to-treat kidney cancer.

The researchers say they have found: a biological pathway signature of ccRCC for a group of altered genes that give this distinct cancer its “clear cell” appearance; other genes that confer stem cell-like properties to the cancer; and a set of master genes lost in ccRCC that they believe likely pushes initial development of the cancer.

“Understanding these genes and the pathways they regulate could provide valuable insight into how to treat ccRCC,” said hematologist/oncologist Han W. Tun, the study”s first author.

This cancer makes up 80 percent of all kidney cancer and is often resistant to both chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Dr. Tun said.

Senior investigator John Copland, a cancer biologist, said: “Up until this point, ccRCC was largely a mystery, but now we have new and exciting clues that seem to reveal the origin and development of this cancer.”

The study appears in the May 18 issue of PLoS ONE. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: biologist, biology, cancer cell, cancer genes, carcinoma, Ccrcc, chemotherapy, genetic secrets, human gene, Initial Development, john copland, Kidney Cancer, Kidney Cells, mayo clinic, pathways, plos one, Radiation Treatment, renal cell carcinoma, signatures, Stem cell

Fish dislike their own reflections

May 18, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 18 (ANI): When facing themselves in a mirror, fish become feisty but fearful, say two Stanford biologists.

“It seems like something they don”t understand,” said Julie Desjardins, a post-doctoral researcher in biology and lead author of a paper to be published in Biology Letters describing the study. “I think this stimulus is just so far outside their realm of experience that it results in this somewhat emotional response.”

Desjardins and coauthor Russell Fernald, professor of biology, arrived at their conclusion by comparing the behavior and brain activity of male African cichlid fish during and after one-on-one encounters with either a mirror or other another male of about the same size.

Cichlids grow to several inches in length and territorial males typically have bright blue or yellow body coloration.

Territorial male cichlids usually react to another male by trying to fight with it in a sort of tit-for-tat manner. Desjardins suspects the fish fighting their own reflections become fearful because their enemy in the mirror doesn”t exhibit the usual reactions they would expect from another fish.

“In normal fights, they bite at each other, one after the other, and will do all kinds of movements and posturing, but it is always slightly off or even alternating in timing,” Desjardins said. “But when you are fighting with a mirror, your opponent is perfectly in time. So the subject fish really is not seeing any sort of reciprocal response from their opponent.”

The discovery that fish can discern a difference so subtle could prompt researchers to take a second look at how well other lower invertebrates can discriminate among various situations. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: African Cichlid Fish, biologists, biology, Body Coloration, Brain activity, coauthor, Desjardins, discovery, doctoral researcher, emotional response, Enemy In The Mirror, invertebrates, opponent, reflections, Russell Fernald, several inches, stanford, stimulus, Territorial Male, Territorial Males

Mosquitoes are choosy on where they lay their eggs

May 8, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 8(ANI): A new Baylor study suggests that female mosquitoes have the ability to sense if larvae have been laid successfully at a place earlier. They then choose the same place to lay their eggs.

According to Dr. Richard Duhrkopf, associate professor of biology at Baylor, once a safe site is found the number of eggs laid may be three times more than the last time. This also indicates that female mosquitoes can detect metabolic by-products of larvae.

Duhrkopf and his team created five separate water-based solutions where the mosquitoes could choose to lay their eggs, one of which was collected from a backyard where the water contained the mosquito larvae.

The results show that the ‘back yard’ water solutions significantly attracted more females and more eggs per positive trap. The back yard water solutions had 1,808 eggs on them versus the next highest one, deionized water, which had only 799.

The results were presented at the South Central Regional Mosquito Control Conference. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: associate professor, back yard, Based Solutions, Baylor, biology, dr richard, eggs, female mosquitoes, females, last time, mosquito, Mosquito Control, mosquito larvae, mosquitoes, study suggests that, three times, Water Solutions

Mothers pass on the ‘curse of morning sickness’ to daughters

April 30, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, Apr 30 (ANI): Mothers-to-be are three times more likely to suffer from severe morning sickness if their mums did, a new study claims.

According to the study of 2.3 million births, mothers who suffer excessive nausea and vomiting in pregnancy – known as hyperemesis gravidarum – are at a threefold higher rate of having the condition if their mums had it too, reports The BBC.

To reach the conclusion, boffins analysed birth records, which included information on pregnancy complications, from 1967 to 2006.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, they said the study “shed a new light” on the causes of hyperemesis in pregnancy.

“It might lead to a better appreciation of the underlying biology,” they added. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: bbc, biology, Birth Records, Births, British Medical Journal, conclusion, curse, Hyperemesis Gravidarum, Hyperemesis In Pregnancy, lead, London, Morning Sickness, mums, Nausea And Vomiting, Nausea And Vomiting In Pregnancy, pregnancy complications, shed, three times, Vomiting In Pregnancy

New discovery could protect humans from influenza virus

March 31, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, March 31 (ANI): Scientists have identified an influenza detector gene that could potentially prevent the transmission of the virus to humans.

A University of Alberta-led research team has discovered the genetic detector that allows ducks to live, unharmed, as the host of influenza.

The duck”s virus detector gene, called retinoic acid inducible gene—I, or RIG-I, enables a duck”s immune system to contain the virus, which typically spreads from ducks to chickens, where it mutates and can evolve to be a human threat like the H5N1 influenza virus.

The first human H5N1 cases were in Hong Kong in 1997. Eighteen people with close contact to chickens became infected and six died.

The research by Katharine Magor, a U of A associate professor of biology, shows that chickens do not have a RIG-I gene.

A healthy chicken can die within 18 hours after infection, but researchers have successfully transferred the RIG-I gene from ducks to chicken cells.

The chicken”s defenses against influenza were augmented and RIG-I reduced viral replication by half.

One potential application of this research could affect the worldwide poultry industry by production of an influenza-resistant chicken created by transgenesis.

The study appears in the online, early edition of Proceedings from the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: academy of sciences, associate professor, biology, cells, chickens, close contact, ducks, Early Edition, H5n1 Cases, H5n1 Influenza Virus, Human Threat, immune-system, influenza, Magor, National Academy of Sciences, new discovery, University of Alberta, viral replication, Virus Detector, Worldwide Poultry Industry

Study on sheep shows link between personality, survival, and reproductive success

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 16 (ANI): Canadian researchers have established a link between personality, survival, and reproductive success by carrying out a study on male bighorn sheep.

Denis Reale, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UQAM and Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Ecology, says that the new study offers insight into personality differences in animals and humans, from an evolutionary perspective.

Since 1969, several teams of researchers have been studying this population of bighorn sheep in Alberta, Canada. They have collected considerable data over the years.

Working in collaboration with researchers from the University of Sherbrooke and the University of Alberta, Reale identified the rams in terms of boldness and docility.

The researchers then conducted paternity tests to determine which rams were reproducing.

They point out that in a system like that of bighorn sheep where there is strong competition among the males for impregnating females, large size and high dominance status are normally key factors in a male’s success.

Males usually attain these conditions in the prime of life, between 6 and 12 years, the researchers say.

However, the paternity tests showed that some young males manage to fertilize females.

The researchers also concentrated on the risk associated with participation in the rut-males can be injured or fall from a cliff in fighting.

Reale and his colleagues hypothesized that the young males that manage to reproduce would be the boldest and most combative, and analysis of the data confirmed it.

However, in exchange for sexual precocity and risk-taking, these rams often die younger than their more docile peers. The latter, instead, invest in the long term, breed later and reach an older age.

Based on their observations, the researchers came to the conclusion that their findings indicate a variation in the personalities and life histories of the population, with two extreme types: one that could be characterised as “live fast and die” and the other as “slow and steady wins the race”.

Depending on their personality, the males managed to breed and to transmit their genes, but in different ways.

The study demonstrates that personality has a direct influence on the lifestyle of individuals.

A research article describing the study has been published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: age, alberta, Alberta Canada, Analysis, ANI, Article, behavioural, bighorn, bighorn sheep, biological, biological sciences, biology, boldness, breed, Canada, canada research chair, canadian researchers, chair, cliff, collaboration, competition, conclusion, denis, Denis Reale, department, docility, dominance, ecology, evolutionary, evolutionary perspective, exchange, fall, females, fertilize, influence, insight, journal, latter, life, Life Histories, Lifestyle, link, male, participation, paternity, personality, Personality Differences, perspective, population, precocity, Prime Of Life, professor, Race, Rams, reproductive success, Research, risk, risk-taking, September, september 16, Sexual Precocity, sheep, Sherbrooke, size, status, study, success, survival, system, term, University, University of Alberta, University Of Sherbrooke, uqam, variation, Washington, working

Scientists develop ‘electronic nose’ that can sniff out toxins by changing colors

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 14 (ANI): A team of scientists has developed a sensor that works as an ‘electronic nose’ in sniffing out some known poisonous gases and toxins, simply by changing colors.

Support for the development and application of this electronic nose comes from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Once fully developed, the sensor could be useful in detecting high exposures to toxic industrial chemicals that pose serious health risks in the workplace or through accidental exposure.

While physicists have radiation badges to protect them in the workplace, chemists and workers who handle chemicals do not have equivalent devices to monitor their exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.

The investigators hope to be able to market the wearable sensor within a few years.

“The project fits into the overall goal of a component of the GEI Exposure Biology Program that the NIEHS has the lead on, which is to develop technologies to monitor and better understand how environmental exposures affect disease risk,” said NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum.

“This paper brings us one step closer to having a small wearable sensor that can detect multiple airborne toxins,” she added.

Kenneth S. Suslick, the M.T. Schmidt Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his colleagues have created what they refer to as an optoelectronic nose, an artificial nose for the detection of toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) that is simple, fast, inexpensive, and works by visualizing colors.

“We have a disposable 36-dye sensor array that changes colors when exposed to different chemicals. The pattern of the color change is a unique molecular fingerprint for any toxic gas and also tells us its concentration,” said Suslick.

“By comparing that pattern to a library of color fingerprints, we can identify and quantify the TICs in a matter of seconds,” he added.

The power of this sensor to identify so many volatile toxins stems from the increased range of interactions that are used to discriminate the response of the array.

To test the application of their color sensor array, the researchers chose 19 representative examples of toxic industrial chemicals.

Chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine, nitric acid and sulfur dioxide at concentrations known to be immediately dangerous to life or health were included.

The arrays were exposed to the chemicals for two minutes.

Most of the chemicals were identified from the array color change in a number of seconds and almost 90 percent of them were detected within two minutes. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accidental, Accidental Exposure, acid, Airborne Toxins, ammonia, ANI, application, array, Artificial Nose, biology, biology program, Champaign, change, Changing Colors, chemistry, chlorine, color, component, concentration, detection, Development, dioxide, Director Linda Birnbaum, disease, dye, Electronic Nose, environmental, environmental exposures, Environmental Health Sciences, equivalent, exposure, fingerprint, Gas, GEI, Goal, Health, illinois, industrial chemicals, institute, Institute Of Environmental Health, Kenneth S. Suslick, library, life, Linda Birnbaum, M.T. Schmidt, matter, Molecular Fingerprint, national, National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, niehs, nose, number, paper, part, pattern, percent, Poisonous Gases, power, professor, program, project, radiation, Radiation Badges, range, representative, response, risk, sensor, Sensor Array, September, serious health, step, sulfur, support, team, tics, toxic chemicals, University, University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign, Urbana, Washington, workplace

Soon, ‘robobees’ that mimic bees’ behaviour

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 13 (ANI): A Northeastern University neurobiologist is collaborating with Harvard University researchers to develop micro flying robots that will emulate the bees’ brain, body and collective behaviour.

Biology professor Joseph Ayers would create robots, called the robobees, which would mimic the communal feeding behaviour of bee colonies.

The project will draw on the knowledge of computer scientists, engineers, and biologists to construct an electronic nervous system, a supervisory architecture and a high-energy source to power the innovative robots.

“This project will integrate the efforts and expertise of a diverse team of investigators to create a system that far transcends the sum of its parts. We expect substantial advances in basic science at the intersection of these seemingly disparate disciplines to result from this effort,” said Ayers.

Inspired by the biology of the bee and the insect’s colonial behaviour, the project aims to advance miniature robotics and the design of compact high-energy power sources.

The project would also spur innovations in ultra-low-power computing and electronic “smart” sensors that mediate biomimetic control.

In addition, it would refine coordination algorithms to manage multiple, independent machines.

Ayers is widely known for his work in biomimetics- the science of adapting the control systems found in nature to inform design of engineered systems to solve real-world problems-including the development of RoboLobster and RoboLamprey.

The autonomous, biomimetic underwater robotic models emulate the operations of the animals’ nervous systems using an electronic controller based on nonlinear, moving models of neurons and synapses.

“Animals have evolved to occupy every environmental niche where we would hope to operate robots, save outer space. They provide proven solutions to problems that confound even the most sophisticated robots, and our challenge is to capture these performance advantages in engineered devices,” said Ayers. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: addition, ANI, architecture, basic science, Bee, bee colonies, behaviour, biology, Biology Professor, biomimetics, body, brain, challenge, Collective Behaviour, colonial, Computer, computer scientists, computing, confound, control, controller, coordination, design, Development, Disparate Disciplines, effort, Electronic Controller, expertise, feeding, harvard, Harvard University Researchers, Independent Machines, insect, intersection, Joseph Ayers, knowledge, Miniature Robotics, Nature, nervous systems, neurobiologist, niche, nonlinear, Northeastern, northeastern university, performance, Performance Advantages, power, Power Computing, professor, professor joseph, project, RoboLamprey, RoboLobster, Science, Sep, smart sensors, Sophisticated Robots, source, space, Substantial Advances, sum, system, team, University, Washington, work

Polar bears face extinction in less than 70 years because of global warming

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 11 (ANI): A new research has warned that polar bears face extinction in less than 70 years because of global warming.

“Recent projections suggest polar bears could be extinct within 70 years,” Eric Post, associate professor of biology at Penn State University, who led the latest study, told the Telegraph.

“But we think this could be a very conservative estimate. The outlook is very bleak for them and other creatures such as ringed seals,” he said.

Melting ice is causing Polar bear numbers to drop dramatically, scientists warn.

“The rate at which sea ice is disappearing is accelerating and these creatures rely on it for shelter, hunting and breeding. If this goes, so do they,” said Post.

Others also at risk include ivory gulls, Pacific walruses, ringed and hooded seals and narwhals, small whales with long, spiral tusks.

One of the problems is that other animals are moving north, encroaching on their territory, spurred by increasing temperatures, pushing out native species.

The animals are also struggling with the loss of sea ice.

The international team analyzed average temperature in the Arctic over the last 150 years and warned many animals that are dependent upon the stability and persistence of sea ice are faring especially badly.

Polar bears and ringed seals both give birth in lairs or caves under the snow and can lose many newborn pups when the lairs collapse in unusually early spring rains, triggered by climate change.

Among animals migrating further north are red foxes, which are driving out the smaller Arctic foxes. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: ANI, arctic, arctic foxes, average temperature, bear, biology, birth, change, climate, climate change, collapse, conservative estimate, Early Spring, Eric Post, estimate, extinction, face, face extinction, global warming, Gulls, Hooded Seals, hunting, ice, Ivory, Lairs, London, loss, melting, melting ice, native species, newborn pups, outlook, pacific, penn, penn state university, persistence, polar, Polar Bear, polar bears, professor, rate, red foxes, Research, Ringed Seals, risk, sea, sea ice, September, shelter, snow, spiral, spring, stability, state, study, team, Telegraph, temperature, territory, tusks, University, warming

Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke linked to liver disease

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 11 (ANI): People can develop liver disease even when they are exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke, according to a study.

Scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have found that exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common disease and rising cause of chronic liver injury wherein fat accumulates in the liver of people who drink little or no alcohol.

For their study, the researchers exposed some mice to second-hand cigarette smoke for a year in the lab, and observed fat build-up in their liver cells, a sign of NAFLD that eventually leads to liver dysfunction.

The researchers focused on two key regulators of lipid (fat) metabolism that are found in many human cells as well: SREBP (sterol regulatory element-binding protein) that stimulates synthesis of fatty acids in the liver, and AMPK (adenosine monophosphate kinase) that turns SREBP on and off.

They found that second-hand smoke exposure inhibits AMPK activity, which, in turn, causes an increase in activity of SREBP.

More active SREBP results in more fatty acids getting synthesized, they say.

The result is NAFLD induced by second-hand smoke, according to the researchers.

“Our study provides compelling experimental evidence in support of tobacco smoke exposure playing a major role in NAFLD development,” said Manuela Martins-Green, a professor of cell biology, who led the study.

“Our work points to SREBP and AMPK as new molecular targets for drug therapy that can reverse NAFLD development resulting from second-hand smoke. Drugs could now be developed that stimulate AMPK activity, and thereby inhibit SREBP, leading to reduced fatty acid production in the liver,” Martins-Green added.

A research article describing the study has been published in the Journal of Hepatology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: ''cause, acid, Acid Production, activity, adenosine, alcohol, alcoholic fatty liver, ampk, ANI, Article, binding protein, biology, build-up, California, cell, cell biology, cigarette, cigarette smoke, common disease, Development, disease, drug, dysfunction, evidence, exposure, fatty, fatty liver disease, green, Hepatology, human cells, increase, injury, journal, Kinase, lab, lipid, liver, liver cells, Liver Dysfunction, liver injury, Manuela Martins-, martins, metabolism, molecular targets, monophosphate, NAFLD, non alcoholic fatty liver, non alcoholic fatty liver disease, production, professor, protein, regulatory element, Research, result, Riverside, role, second hand smoke, September, sign, smoke, srebp, sterol, study, support, synthesis, Synthesis Of Fatty Acids, therapy, tobacco, Tobacco Smoke Exposure, turn, UCR, University, university of california riverside, Washington, work, year

Silk made by common Australian green lacewing toughest: Study

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, September 10 (ANI): A new research has found that Australian lacewings build tougher silk than silkworms.

Scientists at CSIRO Entomology have learnt that silk made by the common Australian green lacewing can be stretched up to six times further than silkworm silk.

Moreover, its unusual structure makes it potentially much easier to manufacture artificially.

The common Australian green lacewing (Mallada signata) produces silk to create tiny stiff stalks to hold each of its eggs on.

The insect pushes out a liquid drop of silk dope before stretching it out to the point at which it stiffens and then placing the egg safely on top.

Researchers found that the lacewing silk was different from the silk created by other insects and had had its own evolutionary pathway.

Unlike the plank-like structure of other silks from spiders or silkworms, lacewing silk contains two fibrous proteins structured like a concertina door, giving it extra toughness and elasticity.

According to Dr Tara Sutherland, who was part research team, the lacewing silk protein is also shorter and less repetitive, making it easier to reproduce artificially by fermentation in bacteria.

“Silks are made under benign conditions. They’re made at room temperature, from an aqueous system and from readily replaced building blocks, so it’s a very environmentally friendly process, in contrast to the synthetic equivalents,” ABC Science quoted Sutherland as saying.

She added: “The material has a lot of strength and it’s very, very light so it’s quite remarkable. It’s also very tough.”

Apart from the traditional textile uses, the biocompatibility of the natural fibre allows this kind of silk to be used in high-tech medical applications such as providing the scaffolding for growing new human cells on.

The research will be published in the Journal of Structural Biology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: abc, abc science, ANI, Benign Conditions, biocompatibility, biology, building, concertina, contrast, csiro, Csiro Entomology, door, dope, Dr Tara Sutherland, drop, egg, elasticity, entomology, Evolutionary Pathway, fermentation, fibre, Fibrous Proteins, Green Lacewing, human cells, insect, journal, kind, Lacewings, learnt, Liquid Drop, lot, Mallada, material, Medical Applications, Melbourne, natural fibre, part, pathway, point, process, protein, Research, room, scaffolding, Science, September, signata, silk, Silk Protein, silks, silkworm, silkworms, strength, Structural, structural biology, structure, study, system, team, temperature, textile, top, toughness

Vitamin C can help protect DNA damage of skin cells

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Leicester and Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal have found that vitamin C can help protect DNA damage of skin cells and lead to better skin regeneration.

Previous research has shown that DNA repair is upregulated in people consuming vitamin C supplements.

In the new study, the researchers have provided some mechanistic evidence.

The researchers used affymetrix microarray, for looking at gene expression, and the ‘Comet’ assay to study DNA damage

“The exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation increases in summer, often resulting in a higher incidence of skin lesions. Ultraviolet radiation is also a genotoxic agent responsible for skin cancer, through the formation of free radicals and DNA damage,” said lead researcher Tiago Duarte, formerly of the University of Leicester, and now at the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal.

“Our study analysed the effect of sustained exposure to a vitamin C derivative, ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AA2P), in human dermal fibroblasts.

“We investigated which genes are activated by vitamin C in these cells, which are responsible for skin regeneration.

“The results demonstrated that vitamin C may improve wound healing by stimulating quiescent fibroblasts to divide and by promoting their migration into the wounded area. Vitamin C could also protect the skin by increasing the capacity of fibroblasts to repair potentially mutagenic DNA lesions,” Duarte added.

The researchers hope that the results will be of great relevance to the cosmetics industry.

“The study indicates a mechanism by which vitamin C could contribute to the maintenance of a healthy skin by promoting wound healing and by protecting cellular DNA against damage caused by oxidation,” said Dr Marcus S. Cooke from the Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and Department of Genetics, at the University of Leicester.

“These findings are particular importance to our photobiology interests, and we will certainly be looking into this further,” Cooke added.

The findings have been published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: acid, affymetrix, Agent, ANI, area, assay, better skin, biology, cancer, cancer studies, capacity, cellular, Cellular Dna, comet, Comet Assay, consuming, Cooke, Cosmetics Industry, damage, department, dermal, dna, dna damage, dna lesions, dna repair, dr marcus, Dr Marcus S, Duarte, effect, evidence, exposure, expression, formation, free, free radicals, gene, gene expression, genetics, importance, incidence, industry, institute, journal, leicester, maintenance, mechanism, medicine, microarray, migration, molecular, molecular and cellular biology, Molecular Medicine, oxidation, phosphate, Photobiology, portugal, radiation, radical, regeneration, relevance, repair, Research, researcher, Sept, skin, skin cancer, skin cells, skin lesions, Skin Regeneration, Solar Ultraviolet Radiation, study, summer, the, Tiago, ultraviolet, University, university of leicester, vitamin, vitamin C supplements, Washington

Taller people are happier than shorter ones

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 9 (ANI): Taller people are much happier with their lives than shorter peers, says a new study by U.S. academics.

The research published in science journal Elsevier’s Economics and Human Biology claimed people of greater height ‘live better lives’ on average, as they are better equipped to deal with life’s problems compared to their vertically challenged counterparts and they possess more of a positive outlook.

To reach the conclusion, scientists interviewed around 454,065 American adults, asking them all to detail their height, their emotions and where they saw themselves on an “imaginary life ladder.”

From analyses, boffins found that taller people reported a range of positive emotions such as enjoyment and happiness than shorter people in the survey, reports The Daily Express.

Men who reported that their lives were the ‘worst possible’ were more than eight tenths of an inch (2cm) shorter than the average man.

Women who saw themselves ‘on the bottom step’ were shorter than the average woman by half an inch (1.3cm).

However, not everything was rosy for leggier participants.

The taller you are, the more likely you are to experience stress and anger, whilst tall women have a tendency to over-worry, the study found. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: anger, ANI, biology, conclusion, daily, detail, economics, elsevier, enjoyment, everything, Express, happiness, height, human, inch, journal, ladder, leggier, life, London, man, Men, outlook, range, Research, Science, Sept, step, stress, study, survey, taller, tendency, the, US, whilst, woman, Women

Immersion of Ganesha idols poses threat to aquatic life in Surat

September 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Surat, Sep 5 (ANI): The immersion of thousands of idols during the recently concluded Ganesha festival in the waters of Ukai dam near Surat poses a pollution threat.

Most of the elaborately painted and decorated idols are worshipped before being taken in mass processions for immersion into nearby rivers, lakes and sea.

Environmentalists said the idols are mostly made of non-biodegradable material such as plastic, cement and plaster of Paris and painted using toxic dyes, which are harmful for mud, water and micro-organisms living in water.

“Idols immersed in water have polluted water in a big way. Chemicals and colours are used in making idols. All these are very harmful for mud, water and micro-organisms living in water both for short-term and long-term,” said Mohini Gadia, Professor, Aquatic Biology Department, Vir Namard University.

Devotees said that parts of the idols could seen floating in water, which was an insult to lord Ganpati.

“Due to lack of water, the idols could not be properly immersed in water. The remains of idols are lying all around. It is very unfortunate. This is an insult to lord Ganpati. The authorities concerned should think about this,” said Dhananjay Purohit, a devotee. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, Aquatic, Biodegradable Material, biology, biology department, Cement, colours, Dam, department, devotee, devotees, Dhananjay, environmentalists, festival, ganesha, Ganpati, Idols, immersion, insult, lack, life, living, lord, mass, material, micro organisms, Mohini Gadia, mud, Namard, Nearby Rivers, Paris, plaster, Plaster Of Paris, Plaster Paris, plastic, Plastic Cement, polluted water, pollution, Pollution Threat, professor, purohit, sea, Sep, Surat, threat, Toxic Dyes, Ukai, University, Vir, water, way, worshipped

Why broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower are good for heart

September 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 5 (ANI): Here’s why broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are good for the heart – a chemical found in these vegetables can boost a natural defence mechanism to protect arteries from disease.

The build up of fatty plaques in arteries called atherosclerosis leads to heart disease.

The Imperial College London team has shown that a protein that usually protects against plaque build up called Nrf2 is inactive in areas of arteries that are prone to disease.

Treatment with a chemical found in green “brassica” vegetables such as broccoli can activate Nrf2 in these disease-prone regions.

“We found that the innermost layer of cells at branches and bends of arteries lack the active form of Nrf2, which may explain why they are prone to inflammation and disease,” BBC News quoted lead researcher Dr Paul Evans as saying.

“Treatment with the natural compound sulforaphane reduced inflammation at the high-risk areas by ‘switching on’ Nrf2.

“Sulforaphane is found naturally in broccoli, so our next steps include testing whether simply eating broccoli, or other vegetables in their ‘family’, has the same protective effect.

“We also need to see if the compound can reduce the progression of disease in affected arteries,” he added.

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, which funded the research said that the new findings provide a possible mechanism by which eating vegetables protects against heart disease.

During the study, the researchers genetically engineered mice to lack the Nrf2 protein.

The research found that in straight sections of arteries Nrf2 was present in the endothelial ‘lining’ cells. Through its action on other proteins, it prevented the cells from becoming inflamed, an early stage in the development of atherosclerosis.

The study appears in Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: action, ANI, arteries, Arteriosclerosis, bbc, BBC News, biology, brassica, Brassica Vegetables, British, British Heart Foundation, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chemical, college, compound, defence, Defence Mechanism, Development, director, disease, Dr Paul Evans, effect, endothelial, family, fatty, fatty plaques, form, Foundation, heart, imperial, Imperial College London, inflammation, innermost, Innermost Layer, lack, layer, lining, London, mechanism, natural compound, Natural Defence, NEWS, Nrf, paul evans, plaque, professor peter, Professor Peter Weissberg, progression, Prone Regions, protein, Research, researcher, risk areas, Sept, stage, Straight Sections, study, sulforaphane, team, testing, Thrombosis, treatment, vascular, Vascular Biology, Washington

Spare gene in fish provides raw materials for evolution of new Traits

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 4 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have discovered that a duplicate copy of a gene involved in embryonic development of fish has taken up a newer role in the evolution of fish scales.

Scientists have suspected that spare parts in the genome-extra copies of functional genes that arise when genes or whole genomes get duplicated-might sometimes provide the raw materials for the evolution of new traits.

Now, researchers say that they have discovered a prime example of this in fish.

The researchers show that a duplicate copy of a gene involved in embryonic development has taken up a newer and decidedly less essential role in the development of fish scales.

Zebrafish carrying a mutant version of that extra fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (fgfr1) gene show decreases in their scale formation.

What’s more, the spare fgfr1 gene is at the root of similar scale loss seen in domesticated carp, which have been selectively bred by humans for the last 2,000 years.

“Our finding is an excellent case for (gene) duplication supporting diverse forms,” said Matthew Harris of the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology.

“By ‘tweaking’ the use of one of the two copies of the fish fgfr1, the teleost order that contains zebrafish and carp have a specialized ‘toolbox’ gene that now controls adult-specific variation in form,” added Nicolas Rohner, also of the Max Planck Institute.

Fish species outnumber all other vertebrates combined and include many with spectacular features to match the diverse environments in which they live, according to Harris and Rohner.

Teleost fish in particular represent the largest assemblage of vertebrates, comprising over 26,000 species with astonishing diversity in their form and physiology.

Although little is known about the genetic basis of that diversity, it is clear that gene duplication is commonplace within teleost groups, providing a source of genetic raw material for selection.

To further explore in the new study, the researchers first examined mutant strains of zebrafish in search of those with changes to their fins, skulls, or scales, all structures that tend to vary among species.

They focused their attention on one with fewer scales and in an unusual pattern-an abnormality they traced to fgfr1.

“We were surprised to find severe coding mutations in such an important developmental gene to cause an adult-specific and viable phenotype,” Harris said.

Further study showed the reason why: zebrafish maintain two copies of fgfr1 that function redundantly during embryonic development. One of those two genes is also required for the formation of the scales in juveniles. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: abnormality, ANI, assemblage, Astonishing Diversity, attention, basis, biology, Carp, case, copy, Development, developmental, developmental biology, diversity, duplication, Embryonic Development Of Fish, evolution, Evolution Of Fish, example, Extra Copies, factor, FGFR, Fibroblast, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor, fish, Fish Scales, fish species, form, formation, function, gene, Gene Duplication, growth, Growth Factor Receptor, institute, loss, material, Matthew Harris, max, max planck institute, max-planck, mutant version, Nicolas Rohner, order, outnumber, phenotype, physiology, Planck, reason, receptor, Research, research scientists, Rohner, role, root, scale, Scale Formation, search, selection, September, show, source, spare, Spectacular Features, study, teleost, Teleost Fish, toolbox, traits, tweaking, use, variation, version, Washington, zebrafish

Scientists identify ‘tipping points’ at which sudden shifts to new conditions occur

September 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 3 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have identified ‘tipping points’ at which sudden shifts to new conditions occur in the world.

The research was done by Martin Scheffer of Wageningen University in The Netherlands and co-authors, including William Brock and Stephen Carpenter of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and George Sugihara of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.

They found that abrupt changes in ocean circulation and Earth’s climate, shifts in wildlife populations and ecosystems, the global finance market and its system-wide crashes, and asthma attacks and epileptic seizures share generic early-warning signals that indicate a critical threshold of change dead ahead.

The team found that similar symptoms occur in many systems as they approach a critical state of transition.

“It’s increasingly clear that many complex systems have critical thresholds – ‘tipping points’ – at which these systems shift abruptly from one state to another,” according to the scientists.

Especially relevant, they discovered, is that “catastrophic bifurcations,” a diverging of the ways, propel a system toward a new state once a certain threshold is exceeded.

A system follows a trail for so long, then often comes to a switchpoint at which it will strike out in a completely new direction.

That system may be as tiny as the alveoli in human lungs or as large as global climate.

“These are compelling insights into the transitions in human and natural systems,” said Henry Gholz, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Division of Environmental Biology, which supported the research along with NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences.

“The information comes at a critical time – a time when Earth’s and, our fragility, have been highlighted by global financial collapses, debates over health care reform, and concern about rapid change in climate and ecological systems,” he added.

It all comes down to what scientists call “squealing,” or “variance amplification near critical points,” when a system moves back and forth between two states.

“A system may shift permanently to an altered state if an underlying slow change in conditions persists, moving it to a new situation,” said Carpenter.

According to scientists, “In systems in which we can observe transitions repeatedly, such as lakes, ranges or fields, and such as human physiology, we may discover where the thresholds are.”

“If we have reason to suspect the possibility of a critical transition, early-warning signals may be a significant step forward in judging whether the probability of an event is increasing,” they added. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: alveoli, amplification, ANI, asthma, asthma attacks, biology, California, care, change, circulation, climate, Climate Shifts, concern, critical threshold, direction, director, division, Earth, environmental, Environmental Biology, epileptic seizures, event, finance, Foundation, fragility, George Sugihara, global climate, Health, health care reform, Henry Gholz, Human Lungs, information, institution, Institution Of Oceanography, Jolla, madison, market, Martin Scheffer, national, national science foundation, NSF, ocean, ocean circulation, Oceanography, physiology, possibility, probability, program, reason, reform, Research, research scientists, Science, Scripps, Scripps Institution Of Oceanography, September, situation, state, step, Stephen Carpenter, Sudden Shifts, switchpoint, system, team, the Netherlands, threshold, time, trail, transition, University, University Of Wisconsin At Madison, variance, Wageningen, Washington, wildlife, wildlife populations, William Brock, Wisconsin, world

Indian-origin scientists find novel therapeutic target for autoimmune diseases

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 2 (ANI): A research team led by Indian-origin scientists from University of Michigan have discovered a new mechanism that would help in future therapies for conditions ranging from autoimmune diseases to organ transplants to cancer.

U-M biochemistry professor Ruma Banerjee and her colleagues have identified a mechanism that keeps a check on aggressive immune cells that can attack the body’s own cells.

They found that immune system’s regulatory T cells influence aggressive immune cells by regulating the chemical environment between cells.

“Now we know that the redox environment outside the cell is a very important dynamic. It regulates cell function,” Nature quoted Banerjee as saying.

The processes known as redox chemistry are fundamental to the way cells derive and consume energy.

She said that regulatory T cells appear to alter the chemical environment around their aggressive cousins, known as autoreactive T cells, which either curb them or cause them to proliferate.

This mechanism is likely to be involved in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and ulcerative colitis.

The study conducted over live mouse immune cells showed that important redox communication occurs between dendritic cells, which are the first immune cells to detect a foreign agent, and autoreactive T cells.

Dr Sanjay Garg, a research investigator in the U-M Department of Biological Chemistry, said that the dendritic cells alter the chemical environment outside cells in a way that promotes activation of the T cells.

But then T regulatory cells “intervene in the redox chatter” and suppress that effect.

Banerjee insists that she needs to conduct more study to fully understand the process before they can use their insights to block or encourage T regulatory cell activity in animal studies of IBD or another autoimmune disease.

The study appears in Nature Chemical Biology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: activation, activity, Agent, ANI, animal, animal studies, autoimmune disease, autoimmune diseases, banerjee, biochemistry, biochemistry professor, biological, biological chemistry, biology, body, bowel, cancer, cell, chatter, check, chemical, chemical biology, Chemical Environment, chemistry, communication, dendritic cells, department, disease, dr sanjay, Dr Sanjay Garg, dynamic, effect, energy, environment, function, ibd, immune cells, indian origin, inflammatory bowel disease, investigator, London, mechanism, michigan, mouse, Nature, novel, organ, organ transplants, process, professor, redox, Regulatory Cells, Regulatory T Cells, Research, Research Investigator, Ruma, Ruma Banerjee, Sept, study, system, target, team, therapeutic target, ulcerative colitis, University, way

Climate change mitigation strategies ignore carbon cycling processes of inland waters

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 2 (ANI): In a new report, scientists have determined that climate change mitigation strategies ignore carbon cycling processes of inland waters.

Scientists from the University of Vienna, Uppsala University in Sweden, University of Antwerp, and the US based Stroud Water Research Center, authored the report, which is published in the September issue of Nature Geoscience.

They argue that current international strategies to mitigate manmade carbon emissions and address climate change have overlooked a critical player – inland waters.

Streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands play an important role in the carbon cycle that is unaccounted for in conventional carbon cycling models.

According to Dr. Tom J. Battin of the department of Freshwater Ecology at the University of Vienna and lead author of the report, “While inland waters represent only 1 percent of the Earth’s surface, their contribution to the carbon cycle is disproportionately large, underestimated, and not recognized within the models on which the Kyoto protocol was based.”

The team of scientists points out that all current global carbon models consider inland waters static conduits that transfer carbon from the continents to the oceans.

In reality, inland waters are dynamic ecosystems with the potential to alter the fates of terrestrial carbon delivered to them including: burial in sediments leading to long-term storage or sequestration; and metabolism in rivers and subsequent outgassing of respired carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

“Twenty percent of the continental carbon sequestration actually occurs as burial in inland water sediments,” said Dr. Lars Tranvik, Professor of Limnology at Uppsala University in Sweden.

“River outgassing of respired carbon, contributes carbon to the atmosphere in an amount equivalent to 13 percent of annual fossil fuel burning,” said Dr. Anthony K. Aufdenkampe, a scientist at the Stroud Water Research Center.

Because the amount of atmospheric carbon is well known and conservation of matter requires a balanced global carbon budget, this previously unaccounted for source of carbon to the atmosphere implies the existence of an additional continental carbon sink such as higher rates of biomass accrual in forests.

“A larger accumulation of carbon in forest ecosystems that could offset the outgassing from rivers would be more consistent with current independently-derived estimates of carbon sequestration on the continents,” said Dr. Sebastian Luyssaert of the department of Biology at University of Antwerp in Belgium. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accrual, accumulation, Address Climate Change, amount, ANI, antwerp, atmosphere, Aufdenkampe, author, Battin, Belgium, biology, budget, burial, burning, carbon, carbon emissions, carbon sequestration, center, change, climate, Climate Change Mitigation, conservation, contribution, critical player, cycle, cycling, department, dioxide, Dr. Lars Tranvik, Dr. Sebastian Luyssaert, Dr. Anthony K, Dr. Tom J, Dynamic Ecosystems, Earth, ecology, existence, forest, freshwater, fuel, geoscience, Global Carbon Models, Inland Waters, International Strategies, issue, kyoto, kyoto protocol, Lakes Reservoirs, Limnology, long term storage, Manmade, matter, metabolism, mitigation, mitigation strategies, Nature, percent, player, potential, professor, protocol, reality, report, report scientists, Research, river, role, scientist, Sept, September, sequestration, sink, source, storage, Streams, Stroud, surface, Sweden, Sweden University, team, transfer, University, university in sweden, university of antwerp, university of vienna, Uppsala, uppsala university in sweden, US, Vienna, Washington, water, Water Research Center

First synthetic bacterial genome created

Scientists find genetic secrets to common kidney cancer

Fish dislike their own reflections

Mosquitoes are choosy on where they lay their eggs

Mothers pass on the ‘curse of morning sickness’ to daughters

New discovery could protect humans from influenza virus

Study on sheep shows link between personality, survival, and reproductive success

Scientists develop ‘electronic nose’ that can sniff out toxins by changing colors

Soon, ‘robobees’ that mimic bees’ behaviour

Polar bears face extinction in less than 70 years because of global warming

Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke linked to liver disease

Silk made by common Australian green lacewing toughest: Study

Vitamin C can help protect DNA damage of skin cells

Taller people are happier than shorter ones

Immersion of Ganesha idols poses threat to aquatic life in Surat

Why broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower are good for heart

Spare gene in fish provides raw materials for evolution of new Traits

Scientists identify ‘tipping points’ at which sudden shifts to new conditions occur

Indian-origin scientists find novel therapeutic target for autoimmune diseases

Climate change mitigation strategies ignore carbon cycling processes of inland waters

Search More News

Technology News

Ads