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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Watch live: Soyuz booster set for launch with space station supply … – Spaceflight Now

Posted: February 22, 2017 at 3:51 am

A Soyuz rocket and Progress supply ship packed with nearly 3 tons of cargo, provisions and fuel for the International Space Station rolled out to a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday.

The Progress MS-05 cargo freighter is set for liftoff Wednesday at 0558:33 GMT (12:58:33 a.m. EST; 11:58:33 a.m. Baikonur time) on a two-day trip to the space station.

The launch will be the last mission of the Soyuz-U version of Russias most-flown rocket. The Soyuz-U was a workhorse for the Russian space program, launching nearly 800 times with military spy satellites, cosmonaut crews and space station resupply missions to a series of Russian orbital outposts since 1973.

Newer versions of the expendable Soyuz booster are now flying with upgraded engines.

Wednesdays launch will be the first Soyuz-U flight, and the first Progress cargo launch, since a rocket failure doomed a Russian resupply mission Dec. 1 on the way to the space station.

Russian investigators believe foreign object debris or a manufacturing defect in the third stages RD-0110 engine led the failure, which caused the Progress MS-04 spaceship to crash in Siberia downrange from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The most likely cause of the contingency was the third stage liquid oxygen tank opening as a result of exposure of (RD-0110) engine destruction elements that occurred (as a) result of fire, and further destruction of the oxidizer compound pump, the Russian space agency, or Roscosmos, said in a Jan. 11 statement.

The oxidizer pump fire could have been caused by the introduction of foreign object debris into the pump cavity, or a violation of engine assembly procedures, Roscosmos said.

Engineers replaced the third stage RD-0110 engine on the Soyuz-U booster flying Wednesday with a powerplant from a different manufacturing batch after the inquiry discovered some engines produced by the same contractor were made with substandard alloys.

The automated Progress MS-05 cargo freighter, known as Progress 66P in the space stations visiting vehicle manifest, will reach orbit around 8 minutes, 49 seconds, after liftoff Wednesday. Docking with the International Space Stations Pirs module is set for 0834 GMT (3:34 a.m. EST) Friday.

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State & Union: Part from local BOCES on way to space station … – Olean Times Herald

Posted: at 3:51 am

When SpaceXs Dragon capsule, loaded with supplies and experiments, docks with the International Space Station sometime Wednesday, a part from Olean will have made the trip.

Students in Jim Hilyers product design and manufacturing senior class at the Olean BOCES Career and Technical Education Center designed and manufactured part of the stainless steel latch assembly for a storage locker aboard SpaceX-11, which launched Sunday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The project was completed through High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH), an educational initiative started by Stacy Hale to give students the opportunity to create hardware with NASAs aid. NASA provides materials, equipment and mentoring to each of the HUNCH teams across the country so they can complete their projects to near-expert quality over the course of their studies.

Olean High School senior Korryn Martin served as the lead designer and programmer on this years project. She started with an original drawing of the part created in the 1980s as part of the space shuttle program which she used to develop a new, modified design. She explains the new drawing also involved changing some of the old coding.

Martin says she spent part or all of 20 classes on the project. In addition to creating the new drawing, she did all of the programming for the computer numeric control machining of the piece. Each piece takes about an hour to make on the machine, which uses three separate bits to slowly manufacture the part, taking 20/1,000ths off with each pass.

This project has been pretty interesting, Martin says. Im kind of interested in space, and ever since I was a young age, I have been interested in making or inventing something. So this project has brought both of those interests together.

Hale brought a storage locker to be used in the launch, about the size of a bread box, to the BOCES class so students could sign the locker with a special Sharpie.

It is cool that your signature is going to be out of this world, Hale told the students at the time.

Olean Mayor Bill Aiello was on hand, along with Joyce Louser, a representative of State Sen. Catharine Youngs office, who read a letter congratulating the class on its accomplishments.

The signatures will be short-lived, however, as once the items have been removed from the storage containers, the lockers are usually jettisoned and burn up upon re-entry into the earths atmosphere.

Hale says the storage lockers weigh a little over 9 pounds, but each locker requires more than 170 pounds of raw materials to make. In addition to providing a valuable learning experience for the students, the HUNCH program has saved NASA a lot of money, he says.

Before HUNCH, Lockheed wanted to charge NASA $1 million to make 20 of the storage lockers, he says. That is about $50,000 each. We probably make them for less than $4,000.

Hilyer, the BOCES teacher, says the NASA HUNCH program has been great for our CTE students, giving them the opportunity to work on real-world projects that incorporate CAD, CNC programming and machining. Its also great that our students can put on their resume that theyve created parts for NASA.

Several students from the Olean BOCES classes plan to attend a HUNCH ceremony April 22 at the Plum Brook Station, a remote test facility for the NASA Glenn Research Center located in Sandusky, Ohio.

Meanwhile, Martins mother, Kristina Capizzi, says her daughter struggled in school but has been much more interested since she started attending the CTE Center as a junior last year.

For her part, Martin agrees.

I am planning to move to Florida after graduation, she says. I am thinking of possibly taking a two-year course in programming or CAD design.

Elon Musks SpaceX developed the Dragon rocket and capsule as a private contractor working with NASA.

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State & Union: Part from local BOCES on way to space station ... - Olean Times Herald

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SpaceX, Russian cargo ships heading for space station – CBS News

Posted: at 3:51 am

As a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship closed in on the International Space Station early Wednesday, a Russian Soyuz-U rocket making the venerable boosters final flight successfully lifted a Progress supply ship into orbit, three months after an upper stage failure destroyed another station-bound freighter.

Mounted atop a snow-covered launch pad -- the same pad used by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the Space Age -- the Soyuz-U rocket carrying the Progress MS-05/66P cargo ship thundered to life at 12:58 a.m. EST (11:58 a.m. local time) and climbed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Streaking through a cold, cloudless sky, the booster arced away to the east, climbing directly into the plane of the space stations orbit. Four liquid-fuel strap-on boosters and the rockets central core stage performed normally, leaving it to the third stage RD-0110 engine to complete the push to orbit.

The most recent previous Progress launch on Dec. 1 ended in failure when the upper stage engine apparently malfunctioned, possibly because of debris sucked into an oxygen turbopump. But it was clear sailing Wednesday and, eight minutes and 46 seconds after liftoff, the cargo ship was released into its planned preliminary orbit.

If all goes well, the Progress will execute an automated approach to the space station, docking at the Earth-facing Pirs module around 3:34 a.m. Friday. On board: 1,763 pounds of propellant, 926 pounds of water, 51 pounds of oxygen and 2,900 pounds of food, crew supplies and other dry goods.

While the Progress was climbing into orbit and setting off after the station, a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship launched Sunday atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center was on final approach to the station.

The Dragon was programmed to approach the outpost from behind and below, pulling up to within about 30 feet around 6 a.m. EST and then standing by so European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, operating the labs robot arm, could lock onto a grapple fixture.

At that point, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston planned to take over arm operations, pulling the Dragon in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.

Another view of the Progress/Soyuz launch at the snow-covered Baikonur Cosmodrome.

NASA/Roscosmos

Mounted in the capsules pressurized compartment are 3,150 pounds of supplies and equipment, including 580 pounds of crew food and clothing, 842 pounds of spare parts and other vehicle hardware and more than 1,600 pounds of science gear.

Twenty mice also are on board to help researchers learn more about what processes prevent most vertebrates from regrowing lost limbs or tissue. Also on board: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, in an experiment to learn more about how the deadly bacteria mutate to design more effective drugs.

Mounted in the Dragons unpressurized trunk section are another 2,100 pounds of equipment: a $92 million ozone monitoring instrument, a $7 million sensor to monitor lightning strikes and experimental gear designed to help engineers perfect autonomous rendezvous and docking software.

SpaceX plans three more 2017 cargo delivery missions to the station, in April, August and November. Two more Progress missions are on tap, in July and October, along with two flights by Orbital ATKs Cygnus cargo ship in March and October.

The Russians are retiring the Soyuz-U rocket, first launched in 1973, in favor of an upgraded version, the Soyuz 2A.1, that features improved avionics but the same RD-0110 upper stage engine that is used in piloted versions of the rocket.

In the wake of the December failure, the Soyuz-U launched Wednesday was subjected to extensive inspections, a new RD-0110 upper stage engine was installed and cameras were mounted on the rockets hull to document ascent performance -- a first for the workhorse rocket.

The successful flight Wednesday is expected to clear the way for the return of three station fliers and the launch of two more in April.

The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft is scheduled to land in Kazakhstan on April 10, bringing commander Sergey Ryzhikov, flight engineer Andrey Borisenko and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough back to Earth after 173 days in space.

Ten days later, on April 20, the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft will carry veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA rookie Jack Fischer into orbit. They will join Expedition 51 commander Peggy Whitson, Pesquet and Oleg Novitskiy aboard the space station.

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Homeworld Developer is Making a Game for NASA | Kotaku UK – Kotaku UK (blog)

Posted: at 3:50 am

Blackbird Interactive, the studio made up of ex-Relic staff and the team who made Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, has revealed that it's working on a game for NASA.

Called Project Eagle, it's an interactive art demo of what a Mars base in 2117 might look like:

According to a post from Blackbird, Dr. Jeff Norris from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory got in touch to see if the studio would like to collaborate on the project. "The proposal was to create an interactive art demo showcasing what a base on mars could look like, with the hopes of inspiring new generations to dream of human settlement beyond planet Earth and support the exploration and colonization of our solar system," Blackbird says. "When you are a company of self proclaimed 'space nerds' this is simply an offer you cant refuse.

"Project Eagle is an interactive model of a Mars colony in Gale Crater at the base of Mount Sharp, near the original landing site of the Mars Curiosity Rover. It was created using terrain data from the HiRise camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and designed with input from NASA scientists about the technological and material constraints and possibilities for building human habitation on the red planet. Project Eagle is set in 2117, 44 Martian years (82.8 Earth years) after first human mission to Mars."

The demo is going to be shown off in full on Wednesday at the D.I.C.E. summit. Until then we can only stare at these lovely images:

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This Is What Real Human Genetic Engineering Looks Like – Pacific Standard

Posted: at 3:50 am

A cancer treatment with genetically engineered cells may change how we think about human modification.

By Michael White

When Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein 200 years ago, there was no such thing as genetic engineering, and nobody knew what a gene was. But Shelleys sense that it is wrong, even monstrous, to tinker with the building blocks of life haunts genetic engineering today. This is especially true of human genetic engineering, which our popular culture often portrays as an obsession of mad scientists or a totalitarian tool of social control. Weve inherited our views of human genetic engineering from a time when it was just an idea, not a reality. But now that the reality is here, it turns out that widespread human genetic engineering, at least in its initial form, wont look as radical as we thought it would.

One sign that routine human genetic engineering has nearly arrived appeared earlier this month, when the Food and Drug Administration allowed French biotechnology company Cellectis to initiate United States clinical trials for a new cancer therapy. The therapy is based on so-called CAR-T cells (chimeric antigen receptor T cells), which are human immune cells genetically engineered to be cancer fighters. Various forms of CAR-T therapy have been in clinical trials for a few years now, and scientists first started trying to build the cells in the late 1980s. But whats notable about the Cellectis CAR-T cells is that they are the first off-the-shelf version. That is, unlike other CAR-T therapieswhich are custom products made by genetically engineering each patients own cellsCellectis manufactures CAR-T cells from healthy donors. Human genetic engineering is about to become a commodity trade.

Whats striking about CAR-T therapiesboth the custom form and Cellectis off-the-shelf versionis that they are simultaneously a radical departure and an incremental step from existing medical techniques. In practice, CAR-T therapies involve a familiar procedure, the transfer of cells into a patient to treat an illness. The first successful human blood transfusion was performed in 1818 (coincidentally, the year Frankenstein was published), and the first bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia occurred in the 1950s. Seen from this angle, CAR-T therapy is just a new variation on an old theme.

But though CAR-T therapy may look familiar, it is unprecedented. The first CAR-T treatments for cancer may become generally available within the year, despite some recent setbacks. This means that, over the coming years, there will likely be hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions, of people treated with genetically engineered human cells. This is what the first widespread use of human genetic engineering is going to look like.

Scientists have long anticipated this development because the powerful genetic tools that we routinely use to control biology in a petri dish have such obvious medical potential. We shut genes on or off at will, add or subtract them, and even build synthetic genes with new functions. The advantage of genetic engineering for medicine is that, unlike chemical drugs, cells are functioning systems with the ability to sense signals, to make decisions, and to perform complex behaviors. Cellular signal-sensing and decision-making are key built-in features of the cells that make up our immune system; CAR-T technology harnesses those abilities to help the immune system train its tremendous firepower on cancer cells. Genetic engineering is essentially a form of biological reprogramming, and scientists talk about building CAR-T cells with AND, NOT, and OR circuits; feedback control systems; and kill switches. No drug will ever have those capabilities.

Reprogramming human biology like this may sound ethically suspect in the abstract, but when were talking about a life-saving therapy for someones child or grandparent, its hard not to be sympathetic. Human genetic engineering is thus making its entrance to society as a medical treatment that, on the surface, seems incremental, avoiding the drama and questionable ethics that we expected.

There is an upside and downside to this. The obvious benefits of something like CAR-T therapy make it easier to set aside any knee-jerk moral disgust with genetic engineering, and instead think clearly about ethical boundaries. But the risk is that we become too complacent about the ethics, especially as genetic engineering for health purposes comes to seem normal.

For this reason, its fortunate that the U.S. National Academy of Sciences has just released a report laying out ethical guidelines for human genetic engineering. Recognizing that human genetic engineering is no longer just a fantasy, the report lays out two key questions we should ask ourselves as we consider whether particular cases of human genetic engineering are justified.

Most importantly, we should ask: Is the genetic change limited to one person, or will it be passed on to future generations? Patients who receive CAR-T cells dont transmit the genetic edits on to their children, and thus each patient can choose for herself whether to accept any risks posed by genetic engineering. But children who are born from genetically modified embryos will pass on those modifications, together with any associated health risks or social stigmas, to their descendants. The National Academy report therefore argues that we should set a much higher ethical bar for genetic edits to human embryos, only allowing them as a last resort to prevent certain inherited genetic diseases.

The second question to pose is: What is the purpose of the genetic editsto cure disease or to simply enhance human abilities? The report recommends that human genetic engineering should only be aimed at curing disease, and that genome editing for enhancement should not be allowed at this time. That rules out genetic engineering to, say, make someone a better athlete. Why? The report provides two reasons: First, the technology still poses risks that arent outweighed by any benefits of enhancement. And second, the public doesnt seem ready to go there yet. A society in which only the rich have access to genetic enhancements, or, conversely, where everyone is under tremendous social pressure to buy such enhancements, sounds as dystopic as science fiction.

But the question of what qualifies as enhancement is almost certainly going to be a sticking point, because there is a wide range of things you can do between curing cancer and producing super-athletes. What if a company sells a product like CAR-T cells that, rather than fighting cancer, prevents it instead? If you use genetic engineering to lower your cancer risk, is that enhancement? If it is, why should we reject it?

The National Academy report purposely leaves the answer to such questions unanswered, recognizing that there are inevitable differences, rooted in national cultures, that will shape perspectives on whether and how to use these technologies. Our national cultures perspective has been shaped by 200 years of science fiction. But as human genetic engineering becomes realtaking the form of a life-saving cancer treatmentwe will get used to it, and our perspective is likely to change.

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Is Genetic Engineering Recreating the Sin of Noah’s Generation? – Breaking Israel News

Posted: at 3:49 am

Consider the work of God; for who can make that straight, which He hath made crooked? Ecclesiastes 7:13 (The Israel Bible)

(Shutterstock)

New technology enabling scientists to manipulate genes, mixing human genes and organs with those of animals, is a disturbing trend in science which one rabbi believes mirrors the sin that led to global destruction in the generation of Noah.

Last week, the National Academies of Sciences and Medicine released a new report including recommendations to ensure genetic research done in the United States is performed responsibly and ethically. In essence, this report gave the greenlight to gene research, even though funding for such research is currently banned by the government because of the ethical dilemmas it raises.

The new technology bears with it practical risk. Genetic research can take two forms: gene editing to cure or prevent disease, and gene editing to enhance humans. Genetics is uncharted territory and scientists could accidentally introduce a dangerous mutation that will harm future generations, or, in an attempt to create vaccines, inadvertently create a superior form of the disease which could threaten mankind.

Rabbi Moshe Avraham Halperin of the Machon Madai Technology Al Pi Halacha (the Institute for Science and Technology According to Jewish Law) stated in response to the report that there are clear Torah guidelines for this new technology. Rabbi Halperin referred to the Biblical law concerning mixing of species.

Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. Leviticus 19:19

It is forbidden to create a creature that is a mixture of species, but as long as they are not producing a new creature that has a different form, it is permitted, Rabbi Halperin told Breaking Israel News.

However, he noted, Improving species, even the human race, is not forbidden by Jewish law. Changing the color of the skin or hair is permitted, even more so when it concerns removing genetic maladies. But the process certainly needs oversight.

Rabbi Yosef Berger, rabbi of the Tomb of King David on Mount Zion, stressed that the issue of mixing species had serious Biblical ramifications, noting that the verse forbidding mixing breeds of animals directly preceded a section of the Torah dealing with sexual impropriety.

And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. Leviticus 19:20

The rabbi explained the connection between the two distinct commandments.

This is also expressed in the sin of the generation of Noah, which, according to Jewish tradition was the forbidden mixing of animals and man, Rabbi Berger told Breaking Israel News, quoting Genesis.

And Hashem said: I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them. Genesis 6:7

Noahs generation sinned sexually, but it was expressed in the mixing of species, he explained.

This sexual sin could prevent the coming Messianic era as the connection between man and woman is a holy part of the process of bringing geula (redemption). This is the basis of the requirement to be fruitful and multiply: to bring Moshiach (Messiah).

Rabbi Berger stressed that this mitzvah(Torah commandment) requires a proper level of purity. Mixing of species is an improper manifestation of procreation that led to the destruction of the generation of Noah.

Thus, even when saving lives, one of the most important mitzvot, one must be mindful of dangers and limits, Rabbi Berger cautioned.

The limits of science and ethics are indeed being expanded and tested in remarkable ways. In 2015, several groundbreaking experiments took place in genetic engineering. A herd of cloned cattle, genetically engineered with human DNA, were used to incubate antibodies against the Ebola virus. In the same year, scientists at Duke University announced that they had successfully boosted brain size in mice by using human DNA as a catalyst.

Also at Duke, kidneys from aborted human fetuses were transplanted into rats in order to determine if human organs could be grown in animals, solving the problem of organ donations.

In one particularly disturbing case, geneticists in China modified the DNA of human embryos, concentrating on the gene responsible for -thalassaemia, a potentially fatal blood disorder. However, in their final report, the researchers said they found a surprising number of unintended mutations.

These experiments illustrate just some of the astounding areas researchers are exploring. The science involved is staggering, but the ethical considerations are even more perplexing, and less likely to receive clear-cut answers.

Certain areas of research in the United States are stalled until the issue of abortions is resolved, establishing once and for all the legal status of fetuses and embryos. Manipulating genes in utero to eradicate genetic disease can alleviate great suffering, but brushes up against eugenics, the intentional improving of the human race. Negative eugenics were first espoused by the Nazis and other racist ideologies as a method of creating a master race.

The research takes on dark spiritual overtones in the context of the growing transhumanism movement, which believes that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations by means of science and technology.

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Can food poisoning permanently damage your DNA? – New Atlas

Posted: at 3:49 am

Cornell researchers have found that salmonella-induced food poisoning could permanently damage your DNA(Credit: iLexx/Depositphotos)

A bad bout of food poisoning will knock you off your feet, but a few days later you'll hopefully be back to your old self like nothing ever happened. But new research from Cornell University suggests that certain types of salmonella, one of the main bacterial causes of food poisoning, can have much longer-lasting effects. In some cases it could actually cause permanent damage to your DNA, leaving you more vulnerable to illness in the future.

According to the CDC, salmonella is responsible for about a million cases of food-borne illnesses in the US every year, but it's rarely deadly. Less than 400 of those infected will die from the illness, with the rest usually recovering by themselves in a few days or a week.

At the center of the Cornell study was the salmonella serotype, Typhi, the bug that causes typhoid fever. Typhi produces cytolethal distending toxin (S-CDT), a substance that's known to attack the cells of its host and damage DNA. The researchers examined other strains of salmonella, including common food-poisoners like Javiana, Montevideo, Oranienburg and Mississippi, and found that they also have the potential to express S-CDT.

When the team tested the effects that these S-CDT-producing bacteria have on lab-grown human cells, they found clear signs of DNA damage. While the researchers don't fully know what the run-on effects such damage can have on the body, it could make future food-borne illness episodes last longer.

"Think about possible DNA damage this way: We apply sunscreen to keep the sun from damaging our skin," explains Rachel Miller, author of the study. "If you don't apply sunscreen, you can get a sunburn and possibly develop skin problems later in life. While not the sun, salmonella bacteria may work in a similar way. The more you expose your body's cells to DNA damage, the more DNA damage that needs to be repaired, and there may one day be a chance that the DNA damage is not correctly repaired. We don't really know right now the true permanent damage from these salmonella infections."

The research was published in the journal mBio.

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Study details ringed structure of ORC in DNA replication – Phys.org – Phys.Org

Posted: at 3:49 am

February 21, 2017

An international collaboration of life scientists, including experts at Van Andel Research Institute, has described in exquisite detail the critical first steps of DNA replication, which allows cells to divide and most advanced life, including human, to propagate.

Results of the study are published in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology and reveal that a ring-shaped protein called origin recognition complex (ORC) possesses a special alpha-helix, which slips into a groove on DNA and initiates a cascade of microscopic interactions that copy DNA.

"This is a story of one ring that lords over another ring," says Huilin Li, Ph.D., a professor in Van Andel Research Institute's Center for Epigenetics and a senior author of the paper. "Biologists have known for many years that both ORC and helicase are ring-shaped structures essential in the initiation and execution of DNA replication, but until now we never understood exactly how the ORC ring loads the helicase ring onto DNA."

The work also reveals that ORC, with the help of Cdc6 and Cdt1, loads the helicase core onto DNA via paired interactions of the so-called winged helix domains. The resulting 14-protein structure completes the loading of the first helicase ring and is now prepared to load the next ring.

This process represents the inception of an immensely complex and elegant system that is constantly ongoing at tens of thousands of points on the DNA in many cells of the human body, and it all starts with ORCs.

"We hope that by mapping this process, others will eventually convert this knowledge into new treatments for DNA replication-related conditions, including many cancers and rare disorders," says Li.

At the outset, the six-protein ORCs assemble into a crescent, which envelops the DNA duplex. The ORCs then recruit a seventh protein, called Cdc6, to encircle DNA. Next, this ring threads the second ring, called minichromosome maintenance protein (Cdt1-bound Mcm2-7 hexamer), around DNA, which completes loading of the first Mcm2-7 hexamer.

"It's like threading a pearl onto a string; but unlike a short piece of string, the DNA strand is incredibly long and so the bead cannot be threaded on at one end," says Christian Speck, a professor at Imperial College of London's Institute of Clinical Sciences, leader of the DNA Replication group at MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences and a senior author of the paper. "Instead, it must somehow be opened up, slotted around the strand, and closed again."

The study was conducted on the DNA of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, better known as baker's yeast, because of its biological and genomic similarity to larger organisms, including mammals, at an average resolution of 3.9 Angstrms (about 40 billionths of a meter), which is roughly the diameter of a single atom of sodium.

Magnification of this scale is currently possible only with cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM), a revolutionary technology VARI continues to invest in through its recently established Cryo-EM Core. Imaging for this study was conducted at Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus and at Scripps Research Institute.

Explore further: New study reveals the structure of DNA helicase at the replication fork

More information: Zuanning Yuan et al. Structural basis of Mcm27 replicative helicase loading by ORCCdc6 and Cdt1, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.3372

Scientists at Van Andel Research Institute and Rockefeller University have successfully described a crucial structure involved in DNA replication, placing another piece in the puzzle of how life propagates.

In a study published today in Genes & Development, Dr Christian Speck from the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre's DNA Replication group, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), New York, reveal the intricate ...

For years, scientists have puzzled over what prompts the intertwined double-helix DNA to open its two strands and then start replication. Knowing this could be the key to understanding how organisms - from healthy cells to ...

Building on earlier work exploring the complex choreography by which intricate cellular proteins interact with and copy DNA prior to cell division, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory ...

In the second part of his lab's recent one-two punch, Florida State University researcher Daniel Kaplan said he has solved a cell division mystery in a way that will intrigue the makers of cancer-fighting drugs.

The proteins that drive DNA replicationthe force behind cellular growth and reproductionare some of the most complex machines on Earth. The multistep replication process involves hundreds of atomic-scale moving parts ...

Beetles that copulate with the same mate as opposed to different partners will repeat the same behaviour, debunking previous suggestions that one sex exerts control over the other in copulation, new research has found.

They build among the tallest non-human structures (proportionately speaking) in the world and now it's been discovered the termites that live in Australia's remote Top End originated from overseas - rafting vast distances ...

A Rice University study suggests that researchers planning to use the CRISPR genome-editing system to produce designer gut bacteria may need to account for the dynamic evolution of the microbial immune system.

For decades, scientists working with genetic material have labored with a few basic rules in mind. To start, DNA is transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA), and mRNA is translated into proteins, which are essential for almost ...

Researchers have discovered a key gene that influences genetic recombination during sexual reproduction in wild plant populations. Adding extra copies of this gene resulted in a massive boost to recombination and diversity ...

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DNA, shoe print analysis fail to link murder trial defendant to crime scene – Modesto Bee

Posted: at 3:49 am

Modesto Bee

DNA, shoe print analysis fail to link murder trial defendant to crime scene
Modesto Bee
California Department of Justice officials on Tuesday testified that an analysis of DNA evidence and a shoe print failed to link Carlos Ivan Flores to the scene of a 2015 deadly home-invasion robbery in west Modesto. Flores is on trial, accused of ...

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DNA, shoe print analysis fail to link murder trial defendant to crime scene - Modesto Bee

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Cisco deepens enterprise network virtualization, security detection of DNA suite – Network World

Posted: at 3:49 am

Cisco today announced a variety of hardware, software and services designed to increase network virtualization and bolster security for campus, branch office and cloud customers.

The products, which include a Network Functions Virtualization branch office device and improved security network segmentation software, fall under Ciscos overarching Digital Network Architecture plan. DNA offers integrated networking softwarevirtualization, automation, analytics, cloud service management and security under a single suite.

+More Cisco News on Network World: Cisco reserves $125 million to pay for faulty clock component in switches, routers+

DNA offers IT leaders a blueprint for building digital ready networks. In just under 18 months we have seen over1,900 organizations deploy our SDN controller, APIC-EM, in their networks and start laying a foundation capable of enabling their digital transformation, said Ciscos Prashanth Shenoy, vice president of marketing, Enterprise Networking and Mobility.

On the hardware side, Cisco rolled out the Enterprise Network Compute System (ENCS) 5400 Series, a 1RU Intel Xeon server that includes an eight-port GE Switch which supports LTE, T1, DSL and more, as well as Dual-Phy Gigabit Ethernet WAN connectivity and 64Gb of memory.

The 5400 a purpose-built branch platform aimed at helping customers accelerate their Enterprise NFV deployments by extending routing, security, WAN optimization and other network services to their branch environments, Shenoy said.

The 5400 is all about the speed and agility in setting up a branch office rollout that secures virtualized services," Shenoy said. A branch office that took days to set up and provision previously can now be done virtually in minutes with security, QoS and management capabilities.

Cisco does offer other SD-WAN packages and the 5400 is another option but one that focuses on customers interested in virtualizing network functions, experts said.

For security, Cisco extended its TrustSec security software across all its network components and offers security segmentation to isolate attacks and restrict threats in the network.

TrustSec 6.1 now extends from the campus to the branch office and the cloud, all in an effort to avoid and prevent pervasive threats Shenoy said.

In that vein, Cisco also enhanced its Identity Services Engine (ISE). ISE 2.2 offers much deeper visibility into applications on endpoints, including detection of anomalous behavior. It also offers more granular control with the ability to define "DEFCON" policy sets that lets customers escalate their response to prolific threats, Shenoy stated.

Together ISE and TrustSec can help turn the network into a sensor and enforcer, Cisco said. ISE provides visibility and control of users and devices on the network, while TrustSec provides software-defined segmentation to isolate attacks and restrict movement of threats in the network.

Rather than changing the authorization of individual users and devices, or implementing policy changes manually, changing DEFCON state changes the TrustSec policies defining how users, devices, and systems can talk to others essentially raising the network drawbridges to protect your critical data and maintaining essential services. For example, you could define DEFCON 4 to kick all guests off the network, DEFCON 3 to kick all BYOD users off the network, DEFCON 2 to restrict peer-to-peer traffic, and DEFCON 1 to severely limit access to your crown jewels, wrote Kevin Skahill, director, product management in Ciscos Secure Access and Mobility Product Group in a blog detailing the new security software.

ISE 2.2 also provides streamlined workflows that include guest, secure access, and BYOD setup with Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers in as little as 10 minutes. This approach also extends to customers migrating from the Cisco Access Control System (ACS), which Cisco recently announced will go end-of-sale, Skahill stated.

On the services side, Cisco announced an online DNA Advisor and network assessment tool that helps customers define their digital network. The company also announced DNA Advisory Services that will offer in-depth consulting to help enterprises formulate a digital strategy.

Cisco dovetailed the DNA announcement with the release of a study that looked at the issues surrounding what it calls digital-ready networks. Conducted by IDC and commissioned by Cisco, the research surveyed 2,054 global organizations across 10 countries to determine the digital readiness of their networks. A couple findings from the study included:

Outdated infrastructure characteristics such as manual configuration and management processes, overlay security geared mainly toward external threats, and siloed network domains hinder the networks ability to further the goals of digital business. For IT staff, valuable time is spent keeping the lights on instead of aligning network capabilities with strategic initiatives that improve operational efficiency and enhance customer experience. A network that is truly digital ready is a network that can dynamically align with the ever-changing needs of the enterprise. That means a network that allows more agility and faster time to innovation, better security, and greater operational efficiency and simplicity, IDC wrote.

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Cisco deepens enterprise network virtualization, security detection of DNA suite - Network World

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Category Archives: Transhuman News

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