Category Archives: DNA

A team of Stanford researchers has found a way to grow graphene nanoribbons using strands of DNA. This important development could be the key to large-scale production of graphene-based transistors that are orders of magnitude smaller, faster and less power-hungry than current silicon technology.

Chip manufacturers happily invest billions of dollars every year into making their transistors just a tiny bit smaller, faster, and less power-hungry. Though they may seem insignificant individually, when taken together these small year-by-year changes are the main factors that drive the exponential growth in the performance of today's microchips.

Silicon transistors have come very a long way, but there are hard limits to how much they can shrink and how fast they can run: beyond a certain point, interferences brought on by both waste heat and leakage current make further progress nearly impossible. It should therefore come as no surprise that researchers have been looking into manufacturing transistors with alternative materials.

Graphene, a one-atom-thick layer of carbon atoms, is one of the frontrunners in this race. Because of its excellent electrical conductivity, it holds a lot of promise for producing faster and more efficient transistors that are also cheaper and significantly smaller than what we have today.

Graphene transistors can be produced using nanoribbons very narrow strips of graphene only 20 to 50 atoms wide. However, mass-producing nanoribbons of such a small size has so far proven a tough challenge.

As it turns out, DNA molecules are approximately as big as the graphene nanoribbons that researchers are trying to create, and they also carry carbon atoms, which are the only constituent of graphene. This gave Stanford researcher Zhenan Bao and colleagues the idea to use DNA to help them assemble graphene nanoribbons.

Using a known technique, the researchers first "combed" the DNA strands into relatively straight lines. They then exposed them to a solution of copper salt, which resulted in copper ions being absorbed into the DNA itself.

The DNA was then heated and surrounded in methane gas. The heat freed carbon atoms from both the DNA and the methane, and through a chemical reaction the carbon atoms quickly and orderly assembled to form graphene ribbons that followed the structure of DNA.

After succeeding in the experiment, the team took things a step further and actually used the technique to manufacture working graphene transistors.

While the assembly process still needs to be refined (the carbon atoms sometimes bunch up together instead of forming in a clean one-atom-thick sheet), this work is truly paving the way toward a highly scalable, cheap and precise way to manufacture graphene electronics.

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Stanford scientists use DNA to assemble graphene transistors

HOW TO EXTRACT YOUR DNA AT HOME (REUPLOADED)
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HOW TO EXTRACT YOUR DNA AT HOME (REUPLOADED) - Video

DNA Amsterdam / Los Angeles - GRAND OPENING - Promo vido
Grand Opening of clothing store DNA Amsterdam / Los Angeles. With guest appearances from Rakaa Iriscience and DJ Babu of Dilated Peoples.

By: Ed Jansen

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DNA Amsterdam / Los Angeles - GRAND OPENING - Promo vido - Video

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has insisted a new database of DNA samples from convicted criminals and suspects in serious crimes will respect human rights.

Publishing a Bill for the establishment of the DNA database, the minister said the intelligence generated by the system would be "invaluable" to gardai in tackling crime.

"I made it a priority to bring forward comprehensive legislation to facilitate the optimal use of DNA in the fight against crime and to enhance co-operation within the EU and with other countries," Mr Shatter said.

"In doing this, I was also determined that the legislation would fully respect human rights. I am satisfied that we have met all of these objectives."

The Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill 2013 allows for officials to take mouth swabs or hair follicles from suspects and convicted criminals, including sex offenders.

Their DNA profile would be added to a database which will also include samples from unsolved crimes.

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DNA data 'to respect human rights'

DNA evidence found inside a baseball cap led New Orleans police to arrest a man Tuesday in the March murder of a man in eastern New Orleans, according to records filed in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. An anonymous tip also helped lead detectives to 22-year-old Armand Williams, who was arrested in the murder of Tyson Pittman, 27, the record shows.

Pittman was found shot to death on March 26 about 10:40 p.m., inside a car parked outside an apartment complex in the 8000 block of Trapier Avenue.

Police said when they arrived on the scene, Pittman's body was slumped over the wheel in the driver's seat of a gray Nissan Altima. The driver's side window was riddled with bullet holes and the rear passenger's side window was shattered.

Police searched the car and found two baseball caps, only one of which belonged to Pittman, the car's owner told detectives.

The other hat -- a "New Era" Miami Dolphins baseball cap -- was found on the passenger seat of the car.

Sometime during the investigation, detectives began questioning Williams. He told them that he had been in Pittman's car earlier that week, but that he hadn't left anything in the car.

Both hats found in the car, Pittman's cap and the Dolphins cap, were taken to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab, where they were tested for DNA. The hat that was said to belong to Pittman had a mixture of different profiles, police said, and so did the Dolphins cap, although tests showed that Williams' DNA was a "major contributor" to the Dolphins cap.

Police again interviewed Williams and he again told police that he hadn't been inside Pittman's car the night of the murder and reiterated that he hadn't left any articles of clothing inside the car on previous occasions.

Records show that detectives also received an anonymous tip identifying Williams and, that coupled with the DNA evidence, police were able to secure an arrest warrant for him. Williams was booked on charges of second-degree murder. He is being held in lieu of a $350,000 bond.

In April of 2013, Williams was arrested on a charge of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling and is currently awaiting trial on that charge.

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DNA found inside baseball cap ties suspect to March murder

Criminals compelled to give DNA samples

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Convicted criminals and suspects detained as part of serious criminal investigations are to be compelled, by force if necessary, to provide DNA samples for a new national database.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter yesterday published a bill for the establishment of a DNA database

By Dan Buckley

The new legislation was welcomed by victim support groups, including Rape Crisis Network Ireland and CARI, the organisation that assists child victims of sexual abuse.

It was also given a guarded welcome by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

Making the announcement, Mr Shatter said: I am very pleased to publish this long-awaited legislation which provides for the establishment of a DNA database. I campaigned for such a database for many years in opposition and its establishment is a commitment contained in the Programme for Government.

When I became Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence in 2011, I made it a priority to bring forward comprehensive legislation to facilitate the optimal use of DNA in the fight against crime and to enhance co-operation within the EU and with other countries. In doing this, I was also determined the legislation would fully respect human rights. I am satisfied that we have met all of these objectives.

The database will be used to link crimes, identify suspects in relation to unsolved crimes, and help find or identify missing persons.

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Criminals compelled to give DNA samples

Sep. 10, 2013 Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have made a basic science discovery that advances the understanding of how DNA repairs itself. When DNA becomes too damaged it ultimately leads to cancer.

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Mark Glover and his colleagues published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal, Structure (Cell Press), earlier this summer. For years, scientists thought two key proteins involved in DNA repair operated in exactly the same way. Glover's team discovered how the proteins operate and communicate is vastly different -- information that could lead to improved cancer treatments.

Glover explains that a protein known as BRCA1 acts like a hallway monitor -- constantly scanning DNA for damage. At the first sign of problems, this protein figures out what kind of help is needed, and "radios" in a cleanup crew of other proteins.

A second protein, known as TopBP1, ensures that DNA can copy itself when needed. When this process stalls due to DNA damage, this protein also calls in a cleanup crew. But Glover likens its method of communication to tweets, rather than radio.

"The two proteins may be related and look very similar, but their roles and the way they communicate are in fact very different, which was surprising to us," Glover says. "Each protein plays a role in recognizing damaged regions of DNA, but the problem they each solve is different.

"The question now is how can we use this information to try to improve cancer therapies? Could we temporarily knock out cancer DNA's ability to repair itself from radiation damage? Could we administer radiation at a point that prevents cancer DNA from copying itself? Could we inhibit the activity of proteins that are normally trying to run around and fix the damage?

"Maybe some of these ideas could ultimately translate into less radiation or chemotherapy needed for patients, if the treatment can be more targeted," says Glover, who works in the Department of Biochemistry.

His team is continuing its research in this area, and wants to learn more about the role of the TopBP1 protein and why it favours communicating with a specific protein. They also want to conduct tests in their lab to see if the use of certain medications could alter the way these proteins work in a way that could result in new or improved cancer treatments.

Glover's lab members make 3-D images of proteins, making it easier to understand and see how proteins work.

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DNA repair could lead to improved cancer treatments

11 September 2013 Last updated at 07:21 ET

The Irish justice minister has published legislation to introduce a national DNA database in the Republic of Ireland.

Work to prepare the legislation has been under way for two years and Justice Minister Alan Shatter said he expects the database to be operational in 2014.

He said the key aim of the bill was to assist police in tackling crime.

Mr Shatter said it would help link crimes and identify suspects.

"The intelligence generated will be invaluable to the Garda in relation to identifying prolific offenders involved in volume crime such as burglary, but also in relation to serious offences against the person, such as homicide and sexual offences," he said.

"It will contribute to the move towards more effective, targeted and smarter policing and will also facilitate co-operation with other police forces in relation to mobile criminals."

The minister insisted the database would also be of benefit in establishing the innocence of persons suspected or wrongly convicted of offences.

Mr Shatter said "substantial changes" had been made to the bill put forward by the previous government in 2010.

"The bill published today is substantially amended in many respects to address issues that gave rise to genuine concerns, including in relation to the sensitive area of the retention of samples and DNA profiles of persons who are not subsequently convicted in order to ensure that any interference with their privacy rights is justified by the public interest in the investigation of crime and is proportionate," he said.

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Irish DNA database to be introduced

DNA can disclose complex information about a persons family relationships, ethnic group and medical conditions, and continuous advances in science make it impossible to determine the full capabilities of DNA information.

The idea for a national DNA database has been circulating for a decade. Michael McDowell, then minister for justice, proposed it in 2003. The Law Reform Commission called for it in 2005. Garda, the Director of Public Prosecutions and victim support groups, which see it as a vital tool in fighting crime, are long-time advocates. The proposal came closest to fruition three years ago, when the Fianna Fil-Green Party government published a Bill on the topic but with that coalition consumed by the economic collapse and itself rapidly disintegrating, the legislation fell by the wayside. New safeguardsThe Bill published yesterday by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is a substantial reworking of the 2010 Bill. It takes account of what Shatter acknowledged were genuine concerns about the previous version, introducing new safeguards on the destruction of samples, the deletion of DNA profiles from the database and the methods by which garda will take samples. DNA databases involve striking a delicate balance between their undoubted advantages to the criminal justice system and, on the other hand, the privacy rights of the individual. DNA can disclose complex information about a persons family relationships, ethnic group and medical conditions, and continuous advances in science make it impossible to determine the full capabilities of DNA information.

The human rights benchmark on DNA databases are clearly set down in the case of S and Marper v United Kingdom, decided in 2009 by the European Court of Human Rights. In that case, in which the court found that the UKs database was in breach of article 8 (right to private life) of the convention, the crux was whether the retention of DNA of people who were suspected but had not been convicted of a crime was justified. The court held that the indefinite retention of the applicants DNA did not strike a fair balance between the competing public and private interest. It found that indefinite retention of DNA was not justifiable under article 8 and struck down the blanket and indiscriminate nature of the power of retention in England and Wales as a disproportionate interference with the applicants right to private life.

In the new Bill, the default position shifts towards the destruction of samples and profiles of people who are not convicted. Although the authorities will be empowered to take DNA samples from most categories of suspects in connection with serious offences, the bias will be towards the prompt destruction of samples where an individual is not convicted. The Garda Commissioner will have the power to authorise retention for 12 months (which will be renewable) but he will have to meet a statutory test to do so and his decision will be appealable. The same goes for profiles generated from the DNA samples of suspects who are not convicted, although for profiles the retention period that can be granted by the commissioner will be six years for adults and three years for children. Substantial concernsThese changes take account of some of the substantial concerns raised by the Irish Human Rights Commission in 2010. In its response, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties acknowledged Shatter had gone to some lengths to take on board the criticism of the previous legislation.

Some questions have not gone away, however. Chief among these is how extensively DNA profiles will be shared with other countries, and how much control the State will retain over this highly sensitive information if it is accessible outside the State. The new Bill formally implements the DNA aspects of the Prm EU convention, named after the German town in which it was signed in 2005, which provides for co-operation between states in relation to automated searching of DNA data and the exchange of such data between police forces.

The director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Mark Kelly, in his initial response yesterday, said the organisation had reservations about the extent to which DNA samples or profiles may be transmitted to other states.

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Reworked DNA Bill seeks balance between privacy and better crime detection

Fiserv Inc (FISV) recently signed a contract with Texas-based Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union (:RBFCU) to implement the DNA account processing system. The RBFCU, which manages assets worth $5.5 billion, selected Fiservs DNA platform to upgrade its enterprise infrastructure to better serve more than 430K members.

Fiservs DNA account processing solution has gained significant momentum in recent times. The solution won 5 new contracts in the second quarter, making it a total of 10 in the first half of 2013. The DNA banking platform was the primary reason behind Fiservs acquisition of Open Solutions early this year.

DNA was Open Solutions flagship product and had more than 800 customers at the time of acquisition. The acquisition of the DNA platform is expected to expand Fiservs customer base, going forward. Most of the DNA contracts are long term in nature, which is significant. These will be a recurring revenue source for Fiserv, going forward.

Fiserv expects the synergies from the Open Solutions acquisition to exceed the original revenue and expense target of $75.0 million and $50.0 million, respectively. The acquisition is expected to be significantly accretive to earnings per share, going forward.

Accretive acquisitions have been a key growth factor for Fiserv over the years. They have helped Fiserv expand its foothold in the financial and payment solutions business through its diversified product portfolio and continued technology upgrades. The companys advanced products are likely to further enhance its revenue streams.

This is evident from the fact that the company signed 98 new clients, which helped it to expand its total number of clients for the Mobiliti solution to 1,600 at the end of the second quarter.

Client demand for the Popmoney solution continues to remain strong as Fiserv signed 64 new institutions in the quarter. During the quarter, Fiserv signed 71 electronic bill payment clients and 38 debit processing clients.

We believe that various contract wins and accretive acquisitions will help Fiserv to fight stiff competition from Fidelity (FIS), Mastercard (MA) and Global Payments (GPN) in the near term.

However, a volatile macroeconomic environment, banking and financial service consolidation, poor cash flow, higher amount of debt and increasing industry regulations are the primary near-term concerns.

Currently, Fiserv has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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Fiserv Wins DNA Contract from RBFCU