Category Archives: Transhuman News

Intelligent flash storage arrays

Most people have heard of the human genome project (HGP), few have yet heard of the human proteome project (HPP) but it is going to transform your life in a far more fundamental way than the HGP never did.

The human genome project was completed in April 2003 - we are currently the only species known to have deciphered its own code. Our genome is the code that defines us. In one sense we all share the human genome, but each of us has our own unique version (which is what makes us individuals and not clones) and a copy is to be found in every cell of our bodies.

Technically, the genome is held in the nucleus of the cell and not all cells have a nucleus (red blood cells do not, for instance), so it's more accurate to refer to every nucleated cell of our bodies". Also, identical twins share genomes so the genome isnt unique for every single individual.

The HGP was a massive effort, excellently documented by Nobel prize winner John Sulston and Georgina Ferry in The Common Thread: A Story of Science, Politics, Ethics and the Human Genome.

Genes are simply the blueprint of the body, so when you become ill, the blueprint isnt affected but your proteins are. Drugs that we take to cure illness or ameliorate symptoms do not work on your genes, they interfere (in a good way) with your proteins

I, and many other people, regard the HGP as one of the major pinnacles of scientific achievement. The guys who did it were working right at the forefront of what could be achieved at the time - both in terms of the biology and the computing. Not only that, they ensured that the rights to the human genome belong to all of us and not to a corporation (it was a close run thing, but read the book for more info.)

The HGP was also heralded as work that would change medicine forever by opening the floodgates for a whole new range of drugs and treatments. So why hasnt this happened yet? The simple answer is that most illnesses dont attack the genome, they attack the proteome.

Whats the proteome? Well, it's the sum total of all of the proteins in your body. So when you look at me you see the proteome not the genome. We can also say that the proteome is the expression of the genome because our genes tell our body what proteins to make and proteins are the functional molecules in a human body.

The genome isnt unique for every single individual (twins), but its still the code that defines us

Read the rest here:
Beyond the genome: YOU'VE BEEN DECODED, again

A team of scientists has sequenced the genome of the centipede for the first time and found that it has around 15,000 genes -- about 7,000 fewer than humans do.

Arthropods -- the most species-rich group of animals on Earth -- are divided into four classes, including insects, crustaceans, chelicerates and myriapods. The latter group, which includes centipedes, is the only class for which no genome had yet been sequenced, scientists said in a study, published in the journal PLOS Biology.

With genomes in hand from each of the four classes of living arthropod, we can now begin to build a picture of the genetic make-up of their common ancestor, Frank Jiggins, of the University of Cambridge's genetics department, and one of the researchers involved in the study, said in a statement. For example, by comparing flies and mosquitoes with centipedes, we have shown that the innate immune systems of insects are much older than previously appreciated.

As part of the study, the scientists sequenced the genome of Strigamia maritima, a northern European centipede. They found that its genome is more conserved than that of many other arthropods, such as the fruit fly, suggesting that the centipede has evolved more slowly from their common ancestor. Despite their name, centipedes do not have hundred legs. Strigamia maritima, which lives in coastal habitats, can have between 45 and 51 pairs of legs, but the number of pairs is always odd.

The researchers also discovered that the centipedes have lost the genes encoding all of the known light receptors used by animals, as well as the genes controlling the circadian rhythm, or the body clock.

Strigamia live underground and have no eyes, so it is not surprising that many of the genes for light receptors are missing, but they behave as if they are hiding from the light. They must have some alternative way of detecting when they are exposed, Michael Akam of the University of Cambridge and one of the lead researchers of the study, said in the statement.

Go here to see the original:
Centipede Genome Sequencing Reveals Animal Has 7K Fewer Genes Than Humans