Category Archives: Transhuman News

DNA ET ATACAMA / BOSTON / OTROS TEMAS. Hagount a las 9pm

By: larutaverde

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DNA ET ATACAMA / BOSTON / OTROS TEMAS. Hagount a las 9pm - Video

DnA - Valentine
Val, Plusieurs semaines avant ton dcs, tes amis et collgues Dime et Alain ont crit et enregistr cette chanson, en s #39;inspirant de toi mais pas uniquement...

By: Thibaud Haquin

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DnA - Valentine - Video

A record-breaking 12-and-a-half-pound bass recently caught in a Nacogdoches lake is one of the many offspring of a another record-setter caught several years ago in a Laredo lake, roughly 450 miles apart.

In December 2004, Jerry Campos was fishing for bass on Falcon Lake in Laredo and he caught a 14-pound largemouth bass, later named the ShareLunker 370. Nine years later, Allen Lane Kruse of Nacogdoches set a water-body and catch-and-release record for Lake Naconiche when he caught the 12.54 pound bass.

DNA testing showed that the recent catch is the son of ShareLunker 370, which spawned at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. Campos had entered his fish into a "ShareLunker" program, which allows catchers to share their prize fish with others. Fingerlings from the program that spawned have stocked into more than 60 reservoirs across Texas.

If Campos had not submitted his catch, the Nacogdoches fish would not have existed for Kruse to catch.

The Lake Naconiche fish has even more connections to the program, including its father in Lake Fork in 2000, its grandmother from Lake Fork caught in 1994 and a great grandmother caught in Gibbons Creek in 1988.

The mother of the new fish produced 12,699 fingerlings, some of which were kept at the Athens facility to breed more fish. The fish caught by Kruse was one of 173 adult offspring that were released in Lake Naconiche in 2009. The adult fish are now 8 years old and are almost old enough to attain the 13-pound size necessary to be entered into the Toyota ShareLunker program.

Officials said Lake Naconiche is poised to produce big bass for years to come.

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DNA test reveals surprising origin of Texas man's record-breaking fish

Public release date: 19-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Caroline Clancy caroline.clancy@bristol.ac.uk 44-011-792-88086 University of Bristol

Scientists have revealed how a bacterial enzyme has evolved an energy-efficient method to move long distances along DNA. The findings, published in Science, present further insight into the coupling of chemical and mechanical energy by a class of enzymes called helicases, a widely-distributed group of proteins, which in human cells are implicated in some cancers.

The new helicase mechanism discovered in this study, led by researchers from the University of Bristol and the Technische Universitt Dresden in Germany, may help resolve some of the unexplained roles for helicases in human biology, and in turn help researchers to develop future technological or medical applications.

A commonly held view of DNA helicases is that they move along DNA and "unzip" the double helix to produce single strands of DNA for repair or copying. This process requires mechanical work, so enzyme movement must be coupled to consumption of the chemical fuel ATP. These enzymes are thus often considered as molecular motors.

In the new work, Ralf Seidel and his team at the Technische Universitt Dresden developed a microscope that can stretch single DNA molecules whilst at the same time observe the movement of single fluorescently-labelled helicases. In parallel, the Bristol researchers in the DNA-Protein Interactions Unit used millisecond-resolution fluorescence spectroscopy to reveal dynamic changes in protein conformation and the kinetics of ATP consumption.

The team studied a helicase found in bacteria that moves along viral (bacteriophage) DNA. The work demonstrated that, surprisingly, the enzyme only consumed ATP at the start of the reaction in order to change conformation. Thereafter long-range movement along the DNA was driven by thermal motion; in other words by collisions with the surrounding water molecules. This produces a characteristic one-dimensional "random walk" (see picture), where the protein is just as likely to move backwards as forwards.

Mark Szczelkun, Professor of Biochemistry from the University's School of Biochemistry and one of the senior authors of the study, said: "This enzyme uses the energy from ATP to force a change in protein conformation rather than to unwind DNA. The movement on DNA thereafter doesn't require an energy input from ATP. Although movement is random, it occurs very rapidly and the enzyme can cover long distances on DNA faster than many ATP-driven motors. This can be thought of as a more energy-efficient way to move along DNA and we suggest that this mechanism may be used in other genetic processes, such as DNA repair."

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The work in Bristol has been funded by the Wellcome Trust through a programme grant to Professor Mark Szczelkun from the School of Biochemistry.

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Random walks on DNA

This spring will bring swarms of cicadas to the U.S. East Coast, from North Carolina up to Connecticut. Yet it has long been a puzzle how cicadas got stuck in 13- and 17-year life cycles.

Periodical cicadas spend most of their lives underground while surviving on bacteria and tree roots. When the ground thaws to 65F (18C) in the 13th or 17th year (depending on their species), they leave their homes to search for a mate.

Different broods of cicadas have different population sizes and different breeding schedules, but Brood 2, the population that will appear this month, is expected to fill the skies with millions of cicadas.

Some researchers think that cicadas developed their cycles through millennia of evolution. The ones that emerged on regular one- or two-year timelines were killed by waiting predators. The 13- and 17-year life cycles make it hard for predators to predict their emergence from underground nests.

A 2004 Brazilian study suggested that cicadas didn't just settle on a random number, but instead found that intervals based on prime numbersintegers divisible by only one and themselves (3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, etc.)offered the best breeding strategy for staying alive.

Now, researchers in Japan and the U.S. reveal in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science that breeding on intermittent cycles has changed the insect's DNA over time. The study showed that cicadas of different species, despite the similar way they emerge on specific timelines, evolved independently over millions of years.

The findings came from analyzing DNA from 30 years of samples kept at the University of Connecticut. Researchers effectively charted cicada history by comparing nuances in DNA and doing geographic sampling of existing species. The overlap between results of both techniques revealed that at least three cicada speciesthe number researchers studied out of a possible sevenfirst diverged from each other 3.9 million years ago, according to co-author John Cooley.

"What this shows is there is genetic patterning among these species," says Cooley, an environmental scientist and cicada researcher at UConn. "There seems to be multiple evolutions of 13- and 17-year cicadas distinct from each other."

Even though it's in their genes, cicadas aren't bound to the number of years in their breeding cycle. Earlier research found that the insects can alternate between 13- and 17-year cycles. The usual cause of the switch may be dramatic changes in the Earth's climate that confused the cicadas' innate timekeeping mechanism.

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Cicada DNA Helps Explain Strange Breeding Cycle

DALLAS, Pa., April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Digital Net Agency, Inc. (DNA), a leading performance-based digital agency, today announced that its affiliate management division is offering Google Affiliate Network Merchants complimentary network migration to the partner network of their choice, effective immediately. In addition, DNA has negotiated with its premier network partners to waive network launch and transaction fees during the migration, as well as to offer flexible contractual terms to match those previously provided by Google Affiliate Network. DNA's program offer comes in the wake of Google's announcement thatit willleave the affiliate marketing business and shut its network.

"DNA stands at the forefront of the Google Affiliate Network issue, working with our network partners to help address the needs of affected merchants -- starting with the waiving of all traditional migration fees, no matter how complicated the migration, for any new DNA affiliate management clients," said DNA CEO Aaron Baker. "In addition, we have arranged preferred contractual arrangements with our premier affiliate network partners that waive affiliate network launch, integration and transaction fees during the migration process, and offer flexible contractual terms that match Google Affiliate Network terms."

Baker also noted that, unlike most of the top tier networks that are challenged with strained resources, DNA has the enormous bandwidth and experience - needed to effectively perform multiple simultaneous migrations, as well as the in-house capabilities to instantly begin these migrations. The DNA team has handled over 1,000 migrations, including complex migrations for multiple premier brands and, as the leading affiliate management agency for premier brands, DNA has one of the most experienced and tenured teams in the industry.

"As a full service digital agency, DNA's hands-on, in-house team is poised to migrate Google Affiliate merchants to any of our partner networks, including Pepperjam Exchange, Commission Junction and Linkshare. We are able to support network migrations with a complete slate of management services, assuring a smooth, seamless and ultimately profitable transition for both advertisers and affiliates," said Samantha Morris, DNA's VP of Affiliate Marketing. "We see this as a terrific opportunity for impacted advertisers to turn a negative into a positive. We can clean up their existing programs as they move forward with key affiliate partners and because of our advanced business intelligence technologies, we can facilitate rapid new affiliate recruitment and program optimization enabling advertisers improved revenue and ROI, and affiliates to achieve greater levels of revenue than ever before."

DNA, which has offices in Pennsylvania, New York City and Raleigh, NC, was founded by, and is staffed, with a team of veterans from Top Digital Agencies. The DNA team has helped hundreds of advertisers from start-ups to Fortune 500 brands - manage the most complex online marketing programs in the world. Dedicated to putting talent, research, technology and proven strategies at the forefront of its business, DNA offers unique pricing models to metrically-align its partnerships with advertisers.

DNA's complimentary migration program will only be offered until May 31, 2013 and requires the engagement of DNA's affiliate management services. The program will include:

Interested merchants can contact DNA for a network landscape showing the benefits of each network at sales@digitalnetagency.com or by calling 1.866.DNA.1275 x706.

About DNA

Digital Net Agency, Inc. (DNA) is a leading performance-based digital agency offering a full slate of services including Affiliate Management, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Brand Protection, Brand and Website Development, and CRM Management. Founded by a team of veteran search and affiliate marketing experts from Top 10 digital agencies, DNA is dedicated to partnering with clients to fuel growth while delivering maximum accountability through its performance-based models. DNA is based in Dallas, PA, with offices in New York City and Raleigh, NC.

Media Contact: Melanie Webber, mWEBB Communications, 424-603-4340, Melanie@mwebbcom.com

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DNA Offers 'Google Affiliate Network' Merchants Complimentary Migration Services and Special Terms with Affiliate ...