ScienceDaily (June 13, 2012) In the not-too-distant future, scientists may be able to use DNA to grow their own specialized materials, thanks to the concept of directed evolution. UC Santa Barbara scientists have, for the first time, used genetic engineering and molecular evolution to develop the enzymatic synthesis of a semiconductor.

"In the realm of human technologies it would be a new method, but it's an ancient approach in nature," said Lukmaan Bawazer, first author of the paper, "Evolutionary selection of enzymatically synthesized semiconductors from biomimetic mineralization vesicles," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Bawazer, who was a Ph.D. student at the time, wrote the paper with co-authors at UCSB's Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Biomolecular Science and Engineering; Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies; California NanoSystems Institute and Materials Research Laboratory; and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. Daniel Morse, UCSB professor emeritus of biochemistry of molecular genetics, directed the research.

Using silicateins, proteins responsible for the formation of silica skeletons in marine sponges, the researchers were able to generate new mineral architectures by directing the evolution of these enzymes. Silicateins, which are genetically encoded, serve as templates for the silica skeletons and control their mineralization, thus participating in similar types of processes by which animal and human bones are formed. Silica, also known as silicon, is the primary material in most commercially manufactured semiconductors.

In this study, polystyrene microbeads coated with specific silicateins were put through a mineralization reaction by incubating the beads in a water-in-oil emulsion that contained chemical precursors for mineralization: metals of either silicon or titanium dissolved in the oil or water phase of the emulsion. As the silicateins reacted with the dissolved metals, they precipitated them, integrating the metals into the resulting structure and forming nanoparticles of silicon dioxide or titanium dioxide.

With the creation of a silicatein gene pool, through what Bawazer only somewhat euphemistically calls "molecular sex" -- the combination and recombination of various silicatein genetic materials -- the scientists were able to create a multitude of silicateins, and then select for the ones with desired properties.

"This genetic population was exposed to two environmental pressures that shaped the selected minerals: The silicateins needed to make (that is, mineralize) materials directly on the surface of the beads, and then the mineral structures needed to be amenable to physical disruption to expose the encoding genes," said Bawazer. The beads that exhibited mineralization were sorted from the ones that didn't, and then fractured to release the genetic information they contained, which could either be studied, or evolved further.

The process yielded forms of silicatein not available in nature, that behaved differently in the formation of mineral structures. For example, some silicateins self-assembled into sheets and made dispersed mineral nanoparticles, as opposed to more typical agglomerated particles formed by natural silicateins. In some cases, crystalline materials were also formed, demonstrating a crystal-forming ability that was acquired through directed evolution, said Bawazer.

Because silicateins are enzymes, said Bawazer, with relatively long amino acid chains that can fold into precise shapes, there is the potential for more functionality than would be possible using shorter biopolymers or more traditional synthetic approaches. In addition, the process could potentially work with a variety of metals, to evolve different types of materials. By changing the laboratory-controlled environments in which directed evolution occurs, it will be possible to evolve materials with specific capacities, like high performance in an evolved solar cell, for example.

"Here we've demonstrated the evolution of material structure; I'd like to take it a step further and evolve material performance in a functional device," said Bawazer.

Research for this paper was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Link:
Scientists synthesize first genetically evolved semiconductor material

13-06-2012 14:20 Year 10 doing genetic engineering.

Excerpt from:
Christian Fellowship School - Genetic Engineering/Making Human Insulin from Bacteria - Video

SANTA BARBARA In the not-too-distant future, scientists may be able to use DNA to grow their own specialized materials, thanks to the concept of directed evolution. UC Santa Barbara scientists have, for the first time, used genetic engineering and molecular evolution to develop the enzymatic synthesis of a semiconductor.

"In the realm of human technologies it would be a new method, but it's an ancient approach in nature," said Lukmaan Bawazer, first author of the paper, "Evolutionary selection of enzymatically synthesized semiconductors from biomimetic mineralization vesicles," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Bawazer, who was a Ph.D. student at the time, wrote the paper with co-authors at UC Santa Barbara's Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Biomolecular Science and Engineering; Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies; California NanoSystems Institute and Materials Research Laboratory; and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. Daniel Morse, UC Santa Barbara professor emeritus of biochemistry of molecular genetics, directed the research.

Using silicateins, proteins responsible for the formation of silica skeletons in marine sponges, the researchers were able to generate new mineral architectures by directing the evolution of these enzymes. Silicateins, which are genetically encoded, serve as templates for the silica skeletons and control their mineralization, thus participating in similar types of processes by which animal and human bones are formed. Silica, also known as silicon, is the primary material in most commercially manufactured semiconductors.

In this study, polystyrene microbeads coated with specific silicateins were put through a mineralization reaction by incubating the beads in a water-in-oil emulsion that contained chemical precursors for mineralization: metals of either silicon or titanium dissolved in the oil or water phase of the emulsion. As the silicateins reacted with the dissolved metals, they precipitated them, integrating the metals into the resulting structure and forming nanoparticles of silicon dioxide or titanium dioxide.

With the creation of a silicatein gene pool, through what Bawazer only somewhat euphemistically calls "molecular sex" the combination and recombination of various silicatein genetic materials the scientists were able to create a multitude of silicateins, and then select for the ones with desired properties.

"This genetic population was exposed to two environmental pressures that shaped the selected minerals: The silicateins needed to make (that is, mineralize) materials directly on the surface of the beads, and then the mineral structures needed to be amenable to physical disruption to expose the encoding genes," said Bawazer. The beads that exhibited mineralization were sorted from the ones that didn't, and then fractured to release the genetic information they contained, which could either be studied or evolved further.

The process yielded forms of silicatein not available in nature, that behaved differently in the formation of mineral structures. For example, some silicateins self-assembled into sheets and made dispersed mineral nanoparticles, as opposed to more typical agglomerated particles formed by natural silicateins. In some cases, crystalline materials were also formed, demonstrating a crystal-forming ability that was acquired through directed evolution, said Bawazer.

Because silicateins are enzymes, said Bawazer, with relatively long amino acid chains that can fold into precise shapes, there is the potential for more functionality than would be possible using shorter biopolymers or more traditional synthetic approaches. In addition, the process could potentially work with a variety of metals, to evolve different types of materials. By changing the laboratory-controlled environments in which directed evolution occurs, it will be possible to evolve materials with specific capacities, like high performance in an evolved solar cell, for example.

"Here we've demonstrated the evolution of material structure; I'd like to take it a step further and evolve material performance in a functional device," said Bawazer.

Research for this paper was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Continue reading here:
Synthesis of genetically evolved semiconductor material

MADISON, Wis., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI), the world's largest commercial producer of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines and tissue cells, today announced the launch of its MyCell Services. These services include novel iPS cell line reprogramming, genetic engineering and differentiation of iPS cells into commercially available iCell terminal tissue cells (for example, heart or nerve cells).

"CDI's mission is to be the top developer and manufacturer of standardized human cells in high quantity, quality and purity and to make these cells widely available to the research community. Our MyCell Services provide researchers with unprecedented access to the full diversity of human cellular biology," said Bob Palay, CDI Chief Executive Officer. "The launch of MyCell Services furthers CDI founder and stem cell pioneer Jamie Thomson's vision to enable scientists worldwide to easily access the power of iPSC technology, thus driving breakthroughs in human health."

Over the past 2 years, CDI has launched iCell Cardiomyocytes, iCell Neurons and iCell Endothelial Cells for human biology and drug discovery research. MyCell Services leverage CDI's prior investment in building an industrial manufacturing platform that can handle the parallel production of multiple iPSC lines and tissue cells, manufacturing billions of cells daily.

Chris Parker, CDI Chief Commercial Officer, commented, "Not all studies requiring human cells can be accomplished by using cells from a limited set of normal, healthy donors. Researchers may need iPS cells or tissue cells derived from specific ethnic or disease populations, and MyCell Services enable them to take advantage of our deep stem cell expertise and robust industrial manufacturing pipeline to do so. Previously, scientists had to create and differentiate iPS cells themselves. Such activities consume significant laboratory time and resources, both of which could be better applied to conducting experiments that help us better understand human biology. CDI's MyCell Services enable scientists to re-direct those resources back to their experiments."

CDI pioneered the technique to create iPS cells from small amounts of peripheral blood, although iPS cells can be created from other tissue types as well. Additionally, CDI's episomal reprogramming method is "footprint-free," meaning no foreign DNA is integrated into the genome of the reprogrammed cells, alleviating safety concerns over the possible use of iPS cells in therapeutic settings. These techniques have been optimized for manufacture of over 2 billion human iPS cells a day, and differentiated cells at commercial scale with high quality and purity to match the research needs.

Modeling Genetic Diversity

CDI has several projects already underway using MyCell Services to model genetic diversity of human biology. The Medical College of Wisconsin and CDI received a $6.3M research grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), announced July 2011, for which CDI's MyCell Services will reprogram an unprecedented 250 iPS cell lines from blood samples collected from Caucasian and African-American families in the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN) study. In addition, MyCell Services will differentiate these iPS cells into heart cells to investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, an increase of the size and weight of the heart that is a major risk factor for heart disease and heart failure.

Researchers are also using CDI's MyCell Services to generate iPS cells and liver cells from individuals with drug induced liver injury (DILI), toward an eventual goal of identifying genetic factors linked to idiosyncratic liver toxicity. "The most problematic adverse drug event is sudden and severe liver toxicity that may occur in less than one in one thousand patients treated with a new drug, and thus may not become evident until the drug is marketed. This type of liver toxicity is not predicted well by usual preclinical testing, including screening in liver cultures derived from random human donors," said Paul B. Watkins, M.D., director of with The Hamner - University of North Carolina Institute for Drug Safety Sciences. "The ability to use iPS cell technology to prepare liver cultures from patients who have actually experienced drug-induced liver injury, and for whom we have extensive genetic information, represents a potential revolution in understanding and predicting this liability."

Screening Human Disease

While most diseases are multi-systemic, focus typically centers on only one organ system. For example, congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) is a group of rare genetic diseases with a focus on skeletal muscle, yet other systems, including heart, eye, brain, diaphragm and skin, can be involved. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying complex disease phenotypes requires access to multiple tissue types from a single patient. While some systems are readily accessible for taking a biopsy sample, for example skin, other organs are not.

See more here:
Cellular Dynamics Launches MyCell™ Services

*In computer science, people come up with some metaphysical beach-head like artificial intelligence, and they sort of ooze over toward it all astral and handwave-y, and they they actually start coding. Then all kinds of weird boneless crude amphibian code-forms come gasping out of the surf and die on dry land.

IEA-AIE 2012 Event Full Name: Twenty Fifth International Conference on Industrial, Engineering & Other Applications of Applied Intelligent Systems Date: Sat, 06/09/2012 (All day) to Tue, 06/12/2012 (All day) Where: Dalian China Deadline: Fri, 11/11/2011 (All day)

Topics (((these are great))):

Adaptive Control Expert Systems Machine Learning Application to Design (((Im never gonna believe in a Designer Artificial Intelligence unless it designed its own interfaces and tidied away all its loose wiring))) Financial Applications (((Gosh thanks a lot))) Meta-heuristics Applications to Manufacturing Genetic Programming Model-based Reasoning Autonomous Agents (((Whats that helicopter rotor sound Im hearing Wait, were those gunshots?))) Heuristic Search Multi-Agent Systems Bio-informatics (((Ive got your Turing Machine right here in this Petri dish))) Human Robot Interaction (((Hey look, my new land-mine has Siri built in))) Natural Language Processing Case-based Reasoning (((In case someone mentions Teilhard de Chardin, you can GO TO the next paper))) Integration Systems for Real Life Applications (((Gimme $0.99))) Neural Networks Chance Discovery Intelligence (((Screw-Around Hermeneutics in Websurfing Class))) Intelligent Interfaces Reasoning under Uncertainty (((Am I in the right seminar?))) Computer Vision Intelligent Systems Social Networks Applications Constraint Satisfaction (((A big hit among the marriage-therapist user community))) Intelligent Systems in Education Soft Computing Conversational Informatics Internet Applications Spatial Reasoning Data Mining Interaction Planning and Scheduling Speech Recognition System Decision Support Systems KBS Methodology Temporal Reasoning Distributed Problem Solving Knowledge Management Evolutionary Algorithms Knowledge Processing

http://ssdut.dlut.edu.cn/iea-aie/webpages/index.htm

The 25th International Conference on Industrial, Engineering &

Other Applications of Applied Intelligent Systems

2012 Dalian, China

Sponsor:International Society of Applied Intelligence (ISAI)

Organized in cooperation with:

Go here to read the rest:
The 25th International Conference on Industrial, Engineering & Other Applications of Applied Intelligent Systems

YOKOHAMA, Japan, June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

ReproCELL, Inc. (CEO:Chikafumi Yokoyama PhD) announces today that the company will start commercializing human iPS-derived neurons in which an Alzheimer's disease related gene has been incorporated.

ReproCELL's scientists have successfully incorporated a gene related to Alzheimer's disease using homologous recombinant genetic engineering technology into undifferentiated human iPS cells and then differentiated them into neurons. In these cells, it has been confirmed that amyloid beta 42 is accumulated at higher levels compared to normal neurons. This phenomena is similar to what is observed in neurons of Alzheimer's patients. Accordingly, ReproCELL's scientists believe the newly developed iPS cells can be useful for drug screening to identify new therapeutic molecules to treat Alzheimer's disease patients.

The company will start marketing the cells on June 13th, 2012.

Details of data of the cells will be announced at the 10th annual meeting of ISSCR (International Society for Stem Cell Research) at Yokohama, Japan (June 13th-16th, 2012).

ReproCELL is a world-leading pioneer in commercializing human pluripotent stem cells as an effective tool for drug discovery and development. The company has successfully launched iPS-derived cardiomyocytes for cardiac toxicity testing, followed by the launch of iPS-derived dopaminergic neurons and hepatocytes for efficacy and toxicity screening of drug candidates.

This is the fourth product of the company using iPS technology and the first cellular disease model incorporating a disease-related gene.

Contact: info_en@reprocell.com Tel: 81-(0)45-475-3887 KDX Shin-Yokohama 381 bldg. 8F, 3-8-11 Shin-Yokohama, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 222-0033, Japan

Read the original here:
ReproCELL Launches Alzheimer's Disease Model Based on iPS-derived Human Neuronal Cells

A few blogs ago I asked, "Where, in fact, do 'the good ones' really come from?" By "good ones" I meant useful genome changes in evolution. This question stimulated some debate about whether it was possible to distinguish good changes from bad changes before they occur.

In the abstract, this may seem an overwhelmingly difficult problem. But if we think a bit about the highly organized state of the genome and non-random natural genetic engineering, biasing changes toward "good ones" becomes more conceivable.

I have already discussed purposeful, targeted changes in the immune system. The immune system illustrates how efficiently cells can target DNA restructuring by recognizing specific sequences and coupling DNA changes to transcription (copying DNA sequence into RNA).

Some evolutionists object that a somatic process like antibody synthesis provides no model for germline changes in evolution. So let's examine natural genetic engineering events in microbial cells. We'll look at mobile genetic elements targeted in ways that increase their evolutionary potential.

Mobile genetic elements come in many forms. Some operate purely as DNA. Others make an RNA copy and reverse transcribe it back into DNA as it inserts at a new location. Elements that move, or transpose, to multiple new locations are called "transposons" or "retrotransposons" (if they use an RNA intermediate).

Other mobile elements only insert in particular locations by a process called "site-specific" recombination. In bacterial evolution, this process is used in specialized structures called "integrons" that capture casettes containing protein coding sequences for antibiotic resistance, pathogenicity, and other functions.

What all mobile elements share are proteins that aid them to cut and splice DNA chains so that they can construct novel sequences, much as human genetic engineers do in their test tubes. These proteins have various names, such as "recombinase," "transposase," and "integrase." It is the specificity of the cutting reactions involving these proteins that determines where a mobile element moves in the genome.

One fascinating case of highly biased integration is the bacterial transposon Tn7. Tn7 has two specialized proteins to target its transposition. The TnsD protein directs Tn7 to insert into a special "attTn7" site in the chromosomes of many bacterial species where it does not disrupt any host functions and so causes no deleterious effects.

Another, more interesting protein, TnsE, directs Tn7 to insert into replicating DNA molecules. The reason this is important is that transmissible plasmids replicate their DNA as they transfer from one cell to another. TnsE targeting to plasmids in transit to new cells thus enhances the spread of Tn7 and the resistances it carries to many different kinds of bacteria.

Tn7 carries its antibiotic resistance determinants in an integron. Integrons and their recombinase proteins are likewise specialized to participate in plasmid spreading through bacterial populations. Plasmids enter new cells as single-stranded DNA. We learned just in 2005 that integron site-specific recombinases are special in operating on single-stranded DNA, not double-stranded molecules like previously studied recombinases. Moreover, integron recombinase synthesis is triggered by the entrance of single-stranded DNA into a cell. So integron activity is intimately linked in more than one way to plasmid transfer.

Continued here:
James A. Shapiro: Can Cells Bias Natural Genetic Engineering Toward Useful Evolutionary Outcomes?

7 June 2012

Councils protect their growers from GE

In the vacuum of inaction left by the National Government, local councils are having to lead the way in keeping New Zealand free of genetic engineering, the Green Party said today.

Hastings District Council have given official support to the GE free movement, voting unanimously in support of a proposal to declare the district GE free.

This is an exciting move made by the Hastings District Council but they have been forced to take this action because the National Government is refusing to, said the Green Party GE spokesperson Steffan Browning.

This region by region approach will be able to protect some growers but is not the real solution New Zealand needs.

The growers in the Hawkes Bay have identified that they need to be able to reap the significant branding benefits of being able to market GE free food, said Mr Browning.

These producers are receiving demand for GE free products and we need to be protecting their market for them

There are not sufficient liability protections for non GE growers should their produce get contaminated.

Farmers in Australia are already experiencing loss of income due to contamination by GE crops.

Visit link:
Councils protect their growers from Genetic Engineering

Researchers create transgenic cells that may help camels produce milk full of therapeutic proteins.

By Hayley Dunning | June 4, 2012

Camels highly adaptable nature and resistance to disease has always made them essential to desert-dwelling cultures, and with a little help from genetic engineering they may one day provide us with cheaper drugs. A team of researchers at Dubais Camel Reproduction Centre have created transgenic camel embryos to which they introduced non-human genes similar to those of humans, according to United Arab Emirates newspaper, The National. They havent yet been able to introduce human genes into the embryos, but the head of the Centres reproductive biology lab, Nisar Wani, told The National that he and his team have taken an important first step. If human genes that code for proteins such as insulin could be added, the camels could produce milk laden with pharmaceuticals to fight diabetes, obesity and emphysema.

Patients with genetic disorders need these proteins, which are very costly today because companies are producing them by bacterial cultures in their labs, Dr Wani said. But if were successful at producing them in the milk, say in 15 to 30 litres, we can get a huge quantity of protein and that will drastically decrease their cost worldwide.

Wanis group is currently working on increasing the ratio of implanted embryos that survive to delivery, and introducing new genes from other species to improve milk production. Increased lactation could bring the cost of milk-borne drugs down, but Wani cautions that mass-production is still at least five years off.

The Centres success with camels, including sequencing its genome and producing the first cloned camel in 2009, prompted Wani to predict that this new innovation could one day make camels ideal candidates for growing human organs for transplant.

Soon we will have organs that will be like universal tools for anybody who has a kidney failure or heart problems, he said. He can get the organ from the animal.

By Bob Grant

A genetic testing company fields concerns that their latest gene patent goes against their core beliefs regarding access to genetic information.

By Jef Akst

See the original post here:
Camel Pharmacies?

A flickering beacon of science and reason amid cables superstitious Dark Ages, Through the Wormhole With Morgan Freeman (9 p.m., Science) returns for a new season with its most controversial episode.

Is There a Superior Race? goes right to the heart of one of mankinds most vexing and flammable notions. The mapping of the human genome at the end of the 20th century was thought to have put an end to the idea of race. Since all humans share virtually identical genetic material, differences were dismissed as merely skin deep.

But over the past 10 years, a few scientists have begun to explore some of the genetic differences between racial groups, particularly those mutations that occurred during the past 20,000 years roughly the span of human history.

Charles Darwin theorized that once human beings formed civilizations, they would no longer mutate or evolve. But scientists have found an astounding number of recent genetic mutations that are clearly responsible for racial differences that transcend skin tone or bone structure.

Europeans have been raising livestock for dairy products for only a few thousand years, yet in that relatively short span they have developed genes that enable them to digest cows and goats milk. These genes are noticeably lacking in people from Asia, where widespread dairy agriculture never took hold. But its a perilous leap from genetic differences in human digestion to theorizing that some races have evolved to become smarter than others.

One pessimist suggests that genetic engineering may enable a handful of people to breed a stronger, disease-resistant race that could dominate the poorer multitudes, leaving them to reproduce the old-fashioned way.

Another theorist suggests that the evolution of the human mind may no longer be taking place in our brains or in our genes, but in our hivelike adaptation of social media. He envisions a future where billions of people linked by technology could solve problems together and advance humanity in ways we cant even imagine now.

Tonights other highlights

A new baby irks a pampered bulldog on Dogs in the City (7 p.m., CBS).

Toby Keith and Kristen Bell host the 2012 CMT Music Awards (7 p.m.).

Continue reading here:
‘Wormhole’ looks at race

TAMPA, Fla. & GERMANTOWN, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Oragenics, Inc. (ORNI) (the Company), a leader in the area of oral care probiotics and a developer of therapeutic products including novel antibiotics, and Intrexon Corporation, a synthetic biology company that utilizes its proprietary technologies to provide control over cellular function, announced today the formation of a global exclusive channel collaboration through which Oragenics intends to develop and commercialize lantibiotics, a novel class of broad spectrum antibiotics, as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for the treatment of infectious diseases in humans and companion animals.

John N. Bonfiglio, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Oragenics, stated, We are excited about the tremendous potential that the collaboration brings to the Company and we look forward to working with Intrexon. Intrexons state-of-the-art science will allow us access to new techniques and processes which could rapidly allow us to move toward commercializationofthis exciting and novel class of antibiotics.

Randal J. Kirk, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Intrexon, said, Intrexon thrives on accepting challenges and solving problems that have proved resistant to the efforts of its predecessors. As was the case with our recombinant human alpha 1-antitrypsin (rHuA1AT) project, the production of lantibiotics through bioindustrial process has been a high-value goal that we now take on with confidence and commitment. We are pleased to be working with the Oragenics team on this high-value opportunity.

Under the collaboration, Oragenics will utilize Intrexon's advanced transgene and cell engineering platforms for the development and production of lantibiotics, a class of peptide antibiotics that naturally are produced in Gram-positive bacteria and contain the characteristic polycyclic thioether amino acids lanthionine and methyllanthonine. Lantibiotics have shown broad-spectrum antibiotic properties against Gram-positive bacterial infections, such as MRSA and VRE in pre-clinical studies, yet their development as commercially viable products continues to be subject to significant technological hurdles.

Intrexon will be responsible for technology discovery efforts, cell-engineering development, and certain aspects of the manufacturing process. Oragenics will be responsible for conducting preclinical and clinical development of candidate lantibiotics, as well as for other aspects of manufacturing and the commercialization of the product(s).

Under terms of the transaction agreements:

Oragenics will receive an exclusive, worldwide license to utilize the products of Intrexons modular genetic engineering platform for the development of API and drug products involving the direct administration to humans or companion animals of a lantibiotic for the prevention or treatment of infectious disease.

Intrexon will apply its proprietary platforms and technologies, including UltraVector, DNA and RNA MOD engineering, protein engineering, transcription control chemistry, genome engineering, and cell system engineering, to Oragenics lantibiotics program.

Oragenics is responsible for funding the further anticipated development of lantibiotics toward the goal of commercialization.

Go here to see the original:
Oragenics and Intrexon Announce Worldwide Exclusive Collaboration for Lantibiotics

LA JOLLA, Calif., May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Scripps Research Institute Professor Richard A. Lerner, MD, has won a prestigious international honor, the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research, according to an announcement made today by the Prince of Asturias Foundation. Lerner shares the award with British biochemist Sir Gregory Winter, PhD.

Sometimes called the "Spanish Nobel Prize," the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research is bestowed for findings that "represent a significant contribution to the progress and welfare of mankind." Winners receive 50,000 Euros (about $62,000), a diploma, an insignia bearing the foundation's coat of arms, and a sculpture specially created for the awards by the late Spanish artist Joan Miro.

"This honor for Richard is richly deserved," said Scripps Research President and CEO Michael A. Marletta, PhD. "His discoveries have had a very significant impact on the treatment of disease and I am delighted that this recognition has come to him."

"It is my honor to accept this prestigious award together with Sir Greg," said Lerner, "This is a wonderful recognition for the field of immunochemistry and combinatorial antibody libraries and all that they have contributed to human health."

The announcement of the jury was broadcast live from Oviedo, Spain, to more than 150 countries at noon, local time.

The foundation's statement reads, "The researchers Gregory Winter and Richard A. Lerner stand at the forefront of research on the immune system. The advances in the use of antibodies as therapeutic tools have provided new ways of preventing and treating immune disorders, degenerative diseases and different types of tumours. In many cases, the use of antibodies has alleviated the suffering of patients and has halted the progression of the disease. These researchers have managed to create a synthetic immune system in the test tube, as well as demonstrating its preventive and therapeutic potential due to exceeding the natural antibody repertoire the human body can generate."

This work has resulted in two drugs currently on the market, as well as other compounds currently in clinical trials. The drug Humira (adalimumab), marketed by Abbott, provides a treatment for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and plaque psoriasis. Humira is now reported to be the top selling drug in the world.

Benlysta (belimumab), which was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Human Genome Sciences, was approved in the United States for the treatment of the most common type of lupusa chronic, life-threatening autoimmune diseasein the spring of last year. At that time, Benlysta became the first new drug for lupus in 50 years.

41 Nominations This year, 41 nominations from Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and Spain were in the running for the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research. This prize is the fourth of eight awards bestowed each year by the Prince of Asturias Foundation. The others are in the fields of the arts, communications and humanities, literature, sports, social sciences, international cooperation, and concord (peace).

The Prince of Asturias Foundation was founded in the city of Oviedo on September 24, 1980, at a formal ceremony presided over by His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias, heir to the throne of Spain, who was accompanied by his parents, Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain.

See original here:
Scripps Research Institute's Richard A. Lerner Wins Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research

When news broke a vial of Ronald Reagans blood was being auctioned, the price quickly jumped to $30,000 as websites and blogs explored a tantalizing possibility: Did this mean the late president could be cloned?

Before mad scientists got the chance to perform a Dolly-the-Sheep experiment with the 40th president, the seller succumbed to criticism and decided to donate the blood to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. But this should only encourage the cloning speculation because the Gippers DNA is now in the hands of those who would most like to reproduce him: Republicans.

Party officials have been making the pilgrimage to the Reagan Library this year to express their wish to re-create the great man. I believe boldness and clarity of the kind that Ronald Reagan displayed in 1980 offer us the greatest opportunity to create a winning coalition in 2012, vice presidential aspirant Paul Ryan said at the library last week.

Also making the trip were VP hopefuls Marco Rubio and Chris Christie. Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in what this country and its citizens can accomplish, the latter declared. The America I speak of is the America Ronald Reagan challenged us to be.

The man they hope to join on the ticket, Mitt Romney, once boasted he was not trying to return to Reagan-Bush. Now he says the partys standard-bearer should be in the same mold as Ronald Reagan.

But before they go filling that mold by mapping the Reagan genome, Republicans may wish to consider some genetic flaws that party scientists should repair in the cloning process. To make the Reagan clone more compatible with todays Republican Party, a bit of genetic engineering may be in order:

AFL-1: Reagans AFL-1 gene, on the labor chromosome, has a mutation that made him susceptible to workers rights. He said of unions: There are few finer examples of participatory democracy. He said the right to join a union is one of the most elemental human rights. And he said collective bargaining played a major role in Americas economic miracle.

EPA-4: Reagans EPA-4 gene, on the regulatory chromosome, has a protein that can summon anti-industry sympathies. He signed a law establishing efficiency standards for electric appliances and an update to the Safe Drinking Water Act punishing states that didnt meet clean-water standards.

SSA-2 and MDCR-1: These related genes, on the long arm of the retirement chromosome, are problematic. Reagan expanded Social Security in 1983 and imposed taxes on wealthy recipients. He also signed what was at the time the largest expansion of Medicare in its history.

DEBT-1, DEBT-2, DEBT-3: A trio of abnormalities on the fiscal chromosome caused Reagan to increase taxes several times after his initial tax cut, to embrace much higher taxes on investments than current rates and to sign 18 increases in the federal debt limit.

Read the original here:
Milbank: Before GOP clones Reagan genetic flaws must be fixed

Public release date: 3-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jia Liu liujia@genomics.cn BGI Shenzhen

June 3, 2012, Shenzhen, China BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, together with other 17 international institutes, announced that they completed the second generation of maize HapMap (Maize HapMap2) and genomics studies on maize domestication and improvement. The two separate studies were published online in the same issue of Nature Genetics.

The studies mark an important milestone in Maize (Zeamays) genomics research, providing an unprecedented glimpse into maize's 'wonderful diversity' and revealing new insights into the evolutionary history of maize genome. These studies will provide valuable insights for botanists and breeders worldwide and facilitate the genetic engineering of this vital cereal crop in the world.

In addition to BGI, the other collaborative organizations include U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, University of California Davis, Cornell University, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and others.

Characterizing Maize's Impressive Diversity

Maize's impressive diversity has been attracting much attention in the academic community and agricultural sector. However, characterizing this diversity- in particular at high levels- has been technically challenging. In this study, researchers developed a novel population-genetics scoring model for comprehensively characterizing the genetic variations, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), small insertion-deletions, and structural variations (SVs). Through the comprehensive analysis, about 55 million SNPs were identified across 103 inbred lines of wild and domesticated maize. They also found that SVs were prevalent throughout the maize genome and were associated with some important agronomic traits, such as those involved in leaf development and disease resistance.

The researchers also investigated the major factors that influence the maize genome size. The results showed the genome size variations between maize and Gama grass (Tripsacum dactyloides), maize's sister genus, are mostly driven by the abundance of transposable elements (TE). In contrast with the fact that the intra-species genome size variation is influenced by the DNA structure known aschromosomal knobs. In addition to the differences, there is tremendous unity of gene content between maize relatives, suggesting that the adaptations, such as frost and drought tolerance, amongst all of maize's relatives are likely integratable in maize.

Tracing Maize's Evolution and Improvement

Since maize was domesticated approximately 10,000 year ago, its wild progenitor went through a particular transformation that had radically altered maize's wild species to meet human's needs. To comprehensively trace maize's evolution process, researchers sequenced 75 wild, landrace and modern maize lines. Through the comparative population genomics analysis, they found the evidence of new genetic diversity that has arisen since domestication, maybe due to the introgression from wild relatives. They also identified a number of genes that obviously had played important roles in the transition from wild to domesticated maize.

More here:
Latest genomic studies shed new light on maize diversity and evolution

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Genetics Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail;Medical Devices / Diagnostics Article Date: 29 May 2012 - 11:00 PDT

Current ratings for: 'People's Geographic Origins Traceable With New Genetic Method'

5 (1 votes)

The team, from the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, UCLA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Tel Aviv University, write about their work in a paper published online in Nature Genetics on 20 May.

The researchers hope their method, which they call "spatial ancestry analysis" or SPA, will increase understanding of genetic diversity among populations, which in turn helps us better understand human disease and evolution.

Research areas that may benefit from the new method include finding links between genetic variants and disease and locating parts of genomes that have been subject to positive selection.

SPA is a software tool for analyzing spatial structure in genetic data. It models genotypes in two- and three-dimensional space.

With SPA researchers can model the spatial distributon of each genetic variant. And in this study, the team showed that particular frequency patterns of spatial distribution of gene variants are tied to particular geographic locations.

For genetic variants the team used SNPs ("snips", short for single-nucleotide polymorphisms) from various parts of the genome, including "the well-characterized LCT region, as well as at loci including FOXP2, OCA2 and LRP1B".

An SNP is a DNA sequence variation where there is a single nucleotide (A, T, C or G) difference in the "spelling" of the sequence.

Original post:
People's Geographic Origins Traceable With New Genetic Method

I was at a conference in Venice a few weeks ago on "Evolution in the Age of Genomics." The most interesting presentation at the meeting was by Peter and Rosemary Grant, Princeton biologists who have been studying Darwin's finches in the Galapagos for the past three-plus decades. This work is all the more important because these birds, especially their beaks, have been the poster children of Darwinian evolution for a century and a half.

While most population biology is highly theoretical and conjectural, the Grants have been following what has actually been going on in the wild. Theirs is an exciting scientific and human story, including raising and educating their daughters in a tent while making field observations.

What the Grants emphasized, among many fascinating observations, was the major role hybridization and introgression between distinct "species" played in producing genetic variability in the wild populations. (Introgression means the introduction of part of the genome from a distinct species.)

Whenever there was high inherited variability in a particular population, examination of the DNA indicated that it arose from introgression from a different species. The Grants also described the formation of what would be classed as a new finch species resulting from the full hybridization of two distinct species.

In the discussion session following their joint presentation, someone asked why more attention had not been paid to these inter-species genome transfer events. Peter Grant answered, "Ernst Mayr". What Peter meant was the influence of Mayr's theoretical dictum that recently separated species did not interbreed.

Since Mayr was one of the neo-Darwinian giants of the Modern Synthesis, his speculations were taken as accepted fact. The answer prompted someone in the audience to comment, "Great biologists can only impede progress, not stimulate it."

While interspecific hybridization is now widely accepted in plant evolutionary biology, neo-Darwinian theorists like Jerry Coyne continue to minimize its importance in animals: "Polyploidy is a rapid form of evolution and speciation, one that is fairly common in plants, but very rare in animals. (The reason for its rarity in animals isn't understood, but we discuss the theories in the book I wrote with Allen Orr, Speciation."

Examples of introgression and interspecific hybridization in many different animals are accumulating. Documentation of these processes is aided, as in the Grants' studies, by the application of forensic DNA methods to determine the origins of various genome components. Using the same kind of "microsatellite" markers as in criminal investigations, field biologists can use small tissue samples from wild organisms to pinpoint the sources of DNA regions in their genomes.

A recent paper in Nature, "Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species" by The Heliconius Genome Consortium describes the role that interspecific DNA transfers play in the evolution of mimetic wing patterns in butterflies. Similar cases have recently been documented in rodents, newts, and flatfishes. It is likely that interspecific hybridization is far more common in animals than commonly believed.

The reason I was particularly interested in the Grants' observations was that they exemplified an overlooked aspect of population behavior that is relevant to natural genetic engineering. Introgression is a form of horizontal DNA transfer, and interspecific hybridization is one of the most important triggers of large-scale genome restructuring by natural genetic engineering. We are beginning to understand the molecular basis of this triggering because interspecific hybridization is also a destabilizing event for the epigenetic controls that regulate natural genetic engineering functions.

Here is the original post:
James A. Shapiro: Interspecific Hybridization and Introgression in Animal Evolution

ScienceDaily (May 16, 2012) Microscopes provide valuable insights in the structure and dynamics of cells, in particular when the latter remain in their natural environment. However, this is very difficult especially for higher organisms. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, and the American National Institutes of Health (NIH) have now developed a new method to visualize cell structures of an eighth of a micrometer in size in living fish larvae.

It is published in Nature Methods.

"The zebrafish is perfectly suited for genetic studies of cells, as its larvae are completely transparent," explains Marina Mione, KIT. To visualize certain structures, these are colored mostly by genetic engineering methods using a fluorescent dye. Mione studied parts of the cellular skeleton of fish, the so-called microtubuli. The thread-shaped microtubuli have a length of about 100 m and a diameter of about 20 nm, corresponding to a hundred thousandth of a human hair. "Microtubuli exist everywhere in the cell and are required for its division and motion."

In the new microscopy method, the object is not illuminated completely, but only at a certain spot with special light. Scattered light is minimized and the illuminated detail is represented sharply. A series of images taken at variable illumination is then processed by a computer. In this way, an overall image is obtained. Smart illumination even allows to adjust the depth of field, to image various depth levels, and to combine them into a three-dimensional image on the computer. "Meanwhile, it is possible to reach resolutions of 145 nm in the plane and 400 nm in-between," says Marina Mione. The images are taken within a few seconds, such that movement of the cells does not cause any blurring.

Based on a series of images, videos of the movement of the microtubuli are obtained. In the experiment, it was observed over a period of 60 minutes how the early stage of the fish's lateral line develops about 45 m below the skin of the fish. Via this organ, the fish perceives movement stimuli in water. Such images of living organisms also provide valuable findings regarding the development of vertebrates on the cellular level.

The tropical zebrafish living in freshwater has several advantages as a genetic model organism. It is sufficiently small for easy cultivation and large enough to easily distinguish individual organs. It has a short generation cycle and produces many offspring. As a vertebrate, it has a number of microbiological properties in common with human beings.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, via AlphaGalileo.

Read the original here:
Microscope looks into cells of living fish

Darpa's "Living Foundries" program is looking to "transform biology into an engineering practice." Photo: VA

The military-industrial complex just got a little bit livelier. Quite literally.

Thats because Darpa, the Pentagons far-out research arm, has kicked off a program designed to take the conventions of manufacturing and apply them to living cells. Think of it like an assembly line, but one that would churn out modified biological matter man-made organisms instead of cars or computer parts.

The program, called Living Foundries, was firstannounced by the agency last year. Now, Darpas handed outseven research awardsworth $15.5 million to six different companies and institutions. Among them are several Darpa favorites, including the University of Texas at Austin and the California Institute of Technology. Two contracts were also issued to the J. Craig Venter Institute. Dr. Venter is something of a biology superstar: He was among the first scientists to sequence a human genome, and his institute was, in 2010, the first to create a cell withentirely synthetic genome.

Living Foundries aspires to turn the slow, messy process of genetic engineering into a streamlined and standardized one. Of course, the field is already a burgeoning one: Scientists have tweaked cells in order to developrenewable petroleumandspider silkthats tough as steel. And a host of companies areinvestigatingthe pharmaceutical and agricultural promise lurking with some tinkering, of course inside living cells.

But those breakthroughs, while exciting, have also been time-consuming and expensive.As Darpa notes, even the most cutting-edge synthetic biology projects often take 7+ years and tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to complete. Venters synthetic cell project, for example,costan estimated $40 million.

Synthetic biology, as Darpa notes, has the potential to yield new materials, novel capabilities, fuel and medicines everything from fuels to solar cells to vaccines could be produced by engineering different living cells. But the agency isnt content to wait seven years for each new innovation. In fact, they want the capability for on-demand production of whatever bio-product suits the militarys immediate needs.

To do it, Darpa will need to revamp the process of bio-engineering from the initial design of a new material, to its construction, to its subsequent efficacy evaluation. The starting point, and one that agency-funded researchers will have to create, is a library of modular genetic parts: Standardized biological units that can be assembled in different ways like LEGO to create different materials.

Once that library is created, the agency wants researchers to come up with a set of parts, regulators, devices and circuits that can reliably yield various genetic systems. After that, theyll also need test platforms to quickly evaluate new bio-materials. Think of it as a biological assembly line: Products are designed, pieced together using standardized tools and techniques, and then tested for efficacy.

The process, once established, ought to massively accelerate the pace of bio-engineering and cut costs. The agencys asking researchers to compress the biological design-build-test cycle by at least 10X in both time and cost, while also increasing the complexity of systems that can be designed and executed.

Original post:
Darpa, Venter Launch Assembly Line for Genetic Engineering

Sections of living DNA glow red or green to store computer data Could be used like computers inside the body DNA storage can be written, rewritten and erased at will 'Took us three years and 750 attempts,' says lead researcher

By Rob Waugh

PUBLISHED: 10:33 EST, 22 May 2012 | UPDATED: 02:48 EST, 23 May 2012

The idea of storing information in living cells has been the plot of sci-fi fantasies such as Johnny Mnemonic, starring Keanu Reeves - and today it has become reality

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction fantasies, but scientists have turned living cells into data storage devices - like 'living hard drives'.

The idea of storing computer information inside living cells - or human brains - has formed the plot of sci fi thrillers such as Johnny Mnemonic (pictured).

But in reality, the cells are likely to become a method for retrieving information from inside the human body.

The information - stored in the DNA code - can be rewritten and erased at will, so could be used to study ageing cells, and even 'turn off' cells before they turn cancerous.

The cells would be like tiny computers that can 'live' with the body - and could be an incredibly important tool for both computing and medicine.

It took us three years and 750 tries to make it work, but we finally did it, said Jerome Bonnet, PhD, of his latest research, a method for repeatedly encoding, storing and erasing digital data within the DNA of living cells.

Go here to read the rest:
Sci-fi becomes reality as DNA is turned into living drive able to store, read and erase data

By Babu G. Ranganathan

Christian leaders across denominations have compromised with Darwinian evolutionary theory, which has caused havoc of faith for millions. Many Christian leaders argue that God used evolution to create all life. This position is neither biblical nor scientific and opens the door for utter ridicule and disrespect. If Darwinian macro-evolutionary theory is true then any belief in God is nothing more than blind faith because God is not necessary for the process.

The Bible teaches that God began with a perfect creation where there was no suffering and death. There was death of plant life but not life possessing "soul" (i.e. animals and humans). There was even perfect peace and harmony between animals. There were no meat-eating animals in the beginning (Genesis 1:30). Animal and human death did not occur until after man sinned. There was no struggle and survival-of-the-fittest among animals or man in the beginning. Man and all creation, which was placed under man, fell to imperfection, struggle, suffering, and death because of the sin of Adam and Eve, mankind's first parents. All this is opposite to what Darwinian macro-evolutionary theory teaches. Unlike the Bible, the theory of evolution teaches the world was never perfect and the animal kingdom always existed with struggle and suffering and death (extinction). Scripture teaches these conditions came into being after the fall of man - not before!

You cannot mix Darwinian macro-evolution and the Bible. To say God used evolution to create man is in direct contradiction to the doctrine of the Fall of Man because the process of evolution involves struggle, pain, suffering, and death. God did not begin with these or with half-evolved fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, etc. God created a perfect world with complete, fully-functioning, and fully-formed species from the very beginning (i.e. complete fish, complete amphibians, complete reptiles, complete birds, complete mammals, etc.). How could a partially-evolved species survive anyway? It would be unfit for survival. Survival-of-the-fittest wouldn't allow for partially-evolved species with partially-evolved tissues, organs, and biological functions and structures to survive!

More and more evolutionary scientists are abandoning the theory of gradual macro-evolution and are adopting a new theory, "Punctuated Equilibrium" which teaches that life forms changed suddenly, not gradually, by chance from one kind to another as a result of massive random genetic mutations caused by massive random radiation from the environment.

The reason for this big change among evolutionists is because they realize that species cannot survive in a partially evolved state with incomplete traits, tissues, organs, and body functions. A reptile with scales in the process of turning to feathers would not have the function of either trait.

The problem with punctuated equilibria, however, is that it is contrary to what we know about the nature of mutations and radiation. Punctuated equilibrium is nothing more than blind faith.

In Genesis 1, God says 10 different times that all living things must reproduce after their own "kind," not into other kinds! A dog must reproduce a dog. Different varieties of dogs are possible genetically, but they will all still be dogs and not something else.

God placed within the "kinds" the genetic ability for variation and change to adapt to changing environments, but this is not the same as evolution from one kind into another kind as Darwinian macro-evolutionary theory teaches.

All the biological similarities between species are because of a common Designer (God) Who designed similar functions for similar purposes in all the various forms of life, not because of a common ancestry as evolutionists teach.

Here is the original post:
Evolution and Bible cannot mix