Category Archives: Transhuman News

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the central information storage system of most animals and plants, and even some viruses. The name comes from its structure, which is a sugar and phosphate backbone which have bases sticking out from it--so-called bases. So that "deoxyribo" refers to the sugar and the nucleic acid refers to the phosphate and the bases. The bases go by the names of adenine, cytosine, thymine, and guanine, otherwise known as A, C, T, and G. DNA is a remarkably simple structure. It's a polymer of four bases--A, C, T, and G--but it allows enormous complexity to be encoded by the pattern of those bases, one after another. DNA is organized structurally into chromosomes and then wound around nucleosomes as part of those chromosomes. Functionally, it's organized into genes, of which are pieces of DNA, which lead to observable traits. And those traits come not from the DNA itself, but actually from the RNA that is made from the DNA, or most commonly of proteins that are made from the RNA which is made from the DNA. So the central dogma, so-called of molecular biology, is that genes, which are made of DNA, are made into messenger RNAs, which are then made into proteins. But for the most part, the observable traits of eye color or height or one thing or another of individuals come from individual proteins. Sometimes, we're learning in the last few years, actually, they come from RNAs themselves without being made into proteins--things like micro RNAs. But those still are relatively the exception for accounting for traits.

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Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) - Genome.gov

Biologists in the 1940s had difficulty in accepting DNA as the genetic material because of the apparent simplicity of its chemistry. DNA was known to be a long polymer composed of only four types of subunits, which resemble one another chemically. Early in the 1950s, DNA was first examined by x-ray diffraction analysis, a technique for determining the three-dimensional atomic structure of a molecule (discussed in Chapter 8). The early x-ray diffraction results indicated that DNA was composed of two strands of the polymer wound into a helix. The observation that DNA was double-stranded was of crucial significance and provided one of the major clues that led to the Watson-Crick structure of DNA. Only when this model was proposed did DNA's potential for replication and information encoding become apparent. In this section we examine the structure of the DNA molecule and explain in general terms how it is able to store hereditary information.

A DNA molecule consists of two long polynucleotide chains composed of four types of nucleotide subunits. Each of these chains is known as a DNA chain, or a DNA strand. Hydrogen bonds between the base portions of the nucleotides hold the two chains together (). As we saw in Chapter 2 (Panel 2-6, pp. 120-121), nucleotides are composed of a five-carbon sugar to which are attached one or more phosphate groups and a nitrogen-containing base. In the case of the nucleotides in DNA, the sugar is deoxyribose attached to a single phosphate group (hence the name deoxyribonucleic acid), and the base may be either adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), or thymine (T). The nucleotides are covalently linked together in a chain through the sugars and phosphates, which thus form a backbone of alternating sugar-phosphate-sugar-phosphate (see ). Because only the base differs in each of the four types of subunits, each polynucleotide chain in DNA is analogous to a necklace (the backbone) strung with four types of beads (the four bases A, C, G, and T). These same symbols (A, C, G, and T) are also commonly used to denote the four different nucleotidesthat is, the bases with their attached sugar and phosphate groups.

DNA and its building blocks. DNA is made of four types of nucleotides, which are linked covalently into a polynucleotide chain (a DNA strand) with a sugar-phosphate backbone from which the bases (A, C, G, and T) extend. A DNA molecule is composed of two (more...)

The way in which the nucleotide subunits are lined together gives a DNA strand a chemical polarity. If we think of each sugar as a block with a protruding knob (the 5 phosphate) on one side and a hole (the 3 hydroxyl) on the other (see ), each completed chain, formed by interlocking knobs with holes, will have all of its subunits lined up in the same orientation. Moreover, the two ends of the chain will be easily distinguishable, as one has a hole (the 3 hydroxyl) and the other a knob (the 5 phosphate) at its terminus. This polarity in a DNA chain is indicated by referring to one end as the 3 end and the other as the 5 end.

The three-dimensional structure of DNAthe double helixarises from the chemical and structural features of its two polynucleotide chains. Because these two chains are held together by hydrogen bonding between the bases on the different strands, all the bases are on the inside of the double helix, and the sugar-phosphate backbones are on the outside (see ). In each case, a bulkier two-ring base (a purine; see Panel 2-6, pp. 120121) is paired with a single-ring base (a pyrimidine); A always pairs with T, and G with C (). This complementary base-pairing enables the base pairs to be packed in the energetically most favorable arrangement in the interior of the double helix. In this arrangement, each base pair is of similar width, thus holding the sugar-phosphate backbones an equal distance apart along the DNA molecule. To maximize the efficiency of base-pair packing, the two sugar-phosphate backbones wind around each other to form a double helix, with one complete turn every ten base pairs ().

Complementary base pairs in the DNA double helix. The shapes and chemical structure of the bases allow hydrogen bonds to form efficiently only between A and T and between G and C, where atoms that are able to form hydrogen bonds (see Panel 2-3, pp. 114115) (more...)

The DNA double helix. (A) A space-filling model of 1.5 turns of the DNA double helix. Each turn of DNA is made up of 10.4 nucleotide pairs and the center-to-center distance between adjacent nucleotide pairs is 3.4 nm. The coiling of the two strands around (more...)

The members of each base pair can fit together within the double helix only if the two strands of the helix are antiparallelthat is, only if the polarity of one strand is oriented opposite to that of the other strand (see and ). A consequence of these base-pairing requirements is that each strand of a DNA molecule contains a sequence of nucleotides that is exactly complementary to the nucleotide sequence of its partner strand.

Genes carry biological information that must be copied accurately for transmission to the next generation each time a cell divides to form two daughter cells. Two central biological questions arise from these requirements: how can the information for specifying an organism be carried in chemical form, and how is it accurately copied? The discovery of the structure of the DNA double helix was a landmark in twentieth-century biology because it immediately suggested answers to both questions, thereby resolving at the molecular level the problem of heredity. We discuss briefly the answers to these questions in this section, and we shall examine them in more detail in subsequent chapters.

DNA encodes information through the order, or sequence, of the nucleotides along each strand. Each baseA, C, T, or Gcan be considered as a letter in a four-letter alphabet that spells out biological messages in the chemical structure of the DNA. As we saw in Chapter 1, organisms differ from one another because their respective DNA molecules have different nucleotide sequences and, consequently, carry different biological messages. But how is the nucleotide alphabet used to make messages, and what do they spell out?

As discussed above, it was known well before the structure of DNA was determined that genes contain the instructions for producing proteins. The DNA messages must therefore somehow encode proteins (). This relationship immediately makes the problem easier to understand, because of the chemical character of proteins. As discussed in Chapter 3, the properties of a protein, which are responsible for its biological function, are determined by its three-dimensional structure, and its structure is determined in turn by the linear sequence of the amino acids of which it is composed. The linear sequence of nucleotides in a gene must therefore somehow spell out the linear sequence of amino acids in a protein. The exact correspondence between the four-letter nucleotide alphabet of DNA and the twenty-letter amino acid alphabet of proteinsthe genetic codeis not obvious from the DNA structure, and it took over a decade after the discovery of the double helix before it was worked out. In Chapter 6 we describe this code in detail in the course of elaborating the process, known as gene expression, through which a cell translates the nucleotide sequence of a gene into the amino acid sequence of a protein.

The relationship between genetic information carried in DNA and proteins.

The complete set of information in an organism's DNA is called its genome, and it carries the information for all the proteins the organism will ever synthesize. (The term genome is also used to describe the DNA that carries this information.) The amount of information contained in genomes is staggering: for example, a typical human cell contains 2 meters of DNA. Written out in the four-letter nucleotide alphabet, the nucleotide sequence of a very small human gene occupies a quarter of a page of text (), while the complete sequence of nucleotides in the human genome would fill more than a thousand books the size of this one. In addition to other critical information, it carries the instructions for about 30,000 distinct proteins.

The nucleotide sequence of the human -globin gene. This gene carries the information for the amino acid sequence of one of the two types of subunits of the hemoglobin molecule, which carries oxygen in the blood. A different gene, the -globin (more...)

At each cell division, the cell must copy its genome to pass it to both daughter cells. The discovery of the structure of DNA also revealed the principle that makes this copying possible: because each strand of DNA contains a sequence of nucleotides that is exactly complementary to the nucleotide sequence of its partner strand, each strand can act as a template, or mold, for the synthesis of a new complementary strand. In other words, if we designate the two DNA strands as S and S, strand S can serve as a template for making a new strand S, while strand S can serve as a template for making a new strand S (). Thus, the genetic information in DNA can be accurately copied by the beautifully simple process in which strand S separates from strand S, and each separated strand then serves as a template for the production of a new complementary partner strand that is identical to its former partner.

DNA as a template for its own duplication. As the nucleotide A successfully pairs only with T, and G with C, each strand of DNA can specify the sequence of nucleotides in its complementary strand. In this way, double-helical DNA can be copied precisely. (more...)

The ability of each strand of a DNA molecule to act as a template for producing a complementary strand enables a cell to copy, or replicate, its genes before passing them on to its descendants. In the next chapter we describe the elegant machinery the cell uses to perform this enormous task.

Nearly all the DNA in a eucaryotic cell is sequestered in a nucleus, which occupies about 10% of the total cell volume. This compartment is delimited by a nuclear envelope formed by two concentric lipid bilayer membranes that are punctured at intervals by large nuclear pores, which transport molecules between the nucleus and the cytosol. The nuclear envelope is directly connected to the extensive membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum. It is mechanically supported by two networks of intermediate filaments: one, called the nuclear lamina, forms a thin sheetlike meshwork inside the nucleus, just beneath the inner nuclear membrane; the other surrounds the outer nuclear membrane and is less regularly organized ().

A cross-sectional view of a typical cell nucleus. The nuclear envelope consists of two membranes, the outer one being continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum membrane (see also Figure 12-9). The space inside the endoplasmic reticulum (the ER lumen) (more...)

The nuclear envelope allows the many proteins that act on DNA to be concentrated where they are needed in the cell, and, as we see in subsequent chapters, it also keeps nuclear and cytosolic enzymes separate, a feature that is crucial for the proper functioning of eucaryotic cells. Compartmentalization, of which the nucleus is an example, is an important principle of biology; it serves to establish an environment in which biochemical reactions are facilitated by the high concentration of both substrates and the enzymes that act on them.

Genetic information is carried in the linear sequence of nucleotides in DNA. Each molecule of DNA is a double helix formed from two complementary strands of nucleotides held together by hydrogen bonds between G-C and A-T base pairs. Duplication of the genetic information occurs by the use of one DNA strand as a template for formation of a complementary strand. The genetic information stored in an organism's DNA contains the instructions for all the proteins the organism will ever synthesize. In eucaryotes, DNA is contained in the cell nucleus.

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The Structure and Function of DNA - Molecular Biology of ...

STONY BROOK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: APDN) (the Company), a leader in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA manufacturing and nucleic acid-based technologies, announced today that its wholly-owned clinical laboratory subsidiary, Applied DNA Clinical Labs, LLC (ADCL), intends to deploy its Linea 1.0 COVID-19 Assay (the Linea 1.0 Assay or the Assay), part of ADCLs Linea COVID-19 diagnostics and testing portfolio, for the rapid detection of samples containing a mutation profile that is indicative of the BA.2 subvariant (BA.2) of Omicron in COVID-19-positive samples.

ADCL believes the Linea 1.0 Assay has clinical utility as a genomic surveillance solution to enable public health authorities to detect and assess BA.2 spread via the reflex testing of COVID-19 positive samples with the Linea 1.0 Assay. When used as a reflex test, the Company believes the Linea 1.0 Assay allows for the rapid and inexpensive identification of positive COVID-19 samples that are indicative of BA.2 relative to costly and time-consuming next-generation sequencing.

First identified in November 2021, BA.2 is a descendant of the Omicron variant (BA.1) but differs in some of its genetic traits, including certain mutations in the spike protein, which may make it somewhat harder to detect via S-gene target failure (SGTF") on certain third-party assays. SGTF was used globally to track the spread and prevalence of the Omicron variant (BA.1). In silico analysis of the BA.2 subvariant conducted by ADCL indicates that BA.2 will likely result in a unique detection signature on the Linea 1.0 Assay that is distinct from BA.1 and other currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and/or interest. The Linea 1.0 Assays ability to identify samples containing a mutation profile indicative of BA.2 via SGTF is possible due to the Assays unique double S-gene target design.

BA.2 has been identified in nearly 50 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Israel, and Denmark, where the subvariant accounts for almost half of Omicron cases. According to Denmarks Statens Serum Institute, the country's top infectious disease authority, preliminary calculations suggest BA.2 could be 1.5 times more infectious than BA.1. On January 27, 2022, the New York State Health Department, the State in which most ADCLs COVID-19 testing clients reside, confirmed its first cases of BA.2. The subvariant has been sequenced in at least 20 States.

Deploying Linea 1.0 Assay towards BA.2 potentially positions ADCL for incremental testing demand while also offering clinical utility to epidemiologists presently analyzing BA.2 to determine its characteristics and their clinical significance to understand better how the subvariant might shape the nations pandemic response going forward. As a result of the Assays double S-gene target design, we believe public health officials can be ahead of the curve in case of BA.2 prevalence, stated Dr. James A. Hayward, president and CEO of Applied DNA.

About Applied DNA Sciences

Applied DNA is commercializing LinearDNA, its proprietary, large-scale polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based manufacturing platform that allows for the large-scale production of specific DNA sequences.

The LinearDNA platform has utility in the nucleic acid-based in vitro diagnostics and preclinical nucleic acid-based drug development and manufacturing market. The platform is used to manufacture DNA for customers as components of in vitro diagnostic tests and for preclinical nucleic acid-based drug development in the fields of adoptive cell therapies (CAR T and TCR therapies), DNA vaccines (anti-viral and cancer), RNA therapies, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) based therapies, and gene therapies.

The LinearDNA platform also has non-biologic applications, such as supply chain security, anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft technology. Key end-markets include textiles, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, and cannabis, among others.

Leveraging its deep expertise in nucleic acid-based technologies, the Company has also established safeCircle, a high-throughput turnkey solution for population-scale COVID-19 testing. safeCircle is designed to look for infection within defined populations or communities utilizing high throughput testing methodologies that increase testing efficiencies and provide for rapid turn-around-times.

Visit adnas.com for more information. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Join our mailing list.

The Companys common stock is listed on NASDAQ under ticker symbol APDN, and its publicly traded warrants are listed on OTC under ticker symbol APPDW.

Applied DNA is a member of the Russell Microcap Index.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements made by Applied DNA in this press release may be forward-looking in nature within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe Applied DNAs future plans, projections, strategies, and expectations, and are based on assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Applied DNA. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to its history of net losses, limited financial resources, limited market acceptance, the possibility that Applied DNAs assay kits or testing services could become obsolete or have its utility diminished and the unknown amount of revenues and profits that will results from Applied DNAs testing contracts. Further, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future data and analysis, including whether any of Applied DNAs or its partners future diagnostic candidates will advance further in the research process or receiving authorization, clearance or approval from the FDA, equivalent foreign regulatory agencies and/or the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), and whether and when, if at all, they will receive final authorization, clearance or approval from the FDA, equivalent foreign regulatory agencies and/or NYSDOH, the unknown outcome of any applications or requests to FDA, equivalent foreign regulatory agencies and/or the NYSDOH, the unknown limited duration of any EUAs from the FDA, changes in guidance promulgated by the CDC, FDA, CMS an/or NYSDOH relating to COVID-19 testing, whether and when, if at all, the FDA will review any EUA request, disruptions in the supply of raw materials and supplies, continued mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and various other factors detailed from time to time in Applied DNAs SEC reports and filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on December 9, 2021, and other reports we file with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. Applied DNA undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, unless otherwise required by law.

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Applied DNA to Deploy Linea 1.0 COVID-19 Assay for Rapid Detection of New Omicron Subvariant BA.2 - Business Wire

The Earth Biogenome Project, a global consortium that aims to sequence the genomes of all complex life on earth (some 1.8 million described species) in ten years, is ramping up.

The projects origins, aims, and progress are detailed in two multi-authored papers published on January 18, 2022. Once complete, it will forever change the way biological research is done.

Specifically, researchers will no longer be limited to a few model species and will be able to mine the DNA sequence database of any organism that shows interesting characteristics. This new information will help us understand how complex life evolved, how it functions, and how biodiversity can be protected.

The project was first proposed in 2016, and I was privileged to speak at its launch in London in 2018. It is currently in the process of moving from its startup phase to full-scale production.

The aim of phase one is to sequence one genome from every taxonomic family on earth, some 9,400 of them. By the end of 2022, one-third of these species should be done. Phase two will see the sequencing of a representative from all 180,000 genera, and phase three will mark the completion of all the species.

DNA sequence.

The grand aim of the Earth Biogenome Project is to sequence the genomes of all 1.8 million described species of complex life on Earth. This includes all plants, animals, fungi, and single-celled organisms with true nuclei (that is, all eukaryotes).

While model organisms like mice, rock cress, fruit flies, and nematodes have been tremendously important in our understanding of gene functions, its a huge advantage to be able to study other species that may work a bit differently.

Many important biological principles came from studying obscure organisms. For instance, genes were famously discovered by Gregor Mendel in peas, and the rules that govern them were discovered in red bread mold.

DNA was discovered first in salmon sperm, and our knowledge of some systems that keep it secure came from research on tardigrades. Chromosomes were first seen in mealworms and sex chromosomes in a beetle (sex chromosome action and evolution has also been explored in fish and platypus). And telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes, were discovered in pond scum.

Comparing closely and distantly related species provides tremendous power to discover what genes do and how they are regulated. For instance, in another PNAS paper, coincidentally also published on January 18, my University of Canberra colleagues and I discovered Australian dragon lizards regulate sex by the chromosome neighborhood of a sex gene, rather than the DNA sequence itself.

Scientists also use species comparisons to trace genes and regulatory systems back to their evolutionary origins, which can reveal astonishing conservation of gene function across nearly a billion years. For instance, the same genes are involved in retinal development in humans and in fruit fly photoreceptors. And the BRCA1 gene that is mutated in breast cancer is responsible for repairing DNA breaks in plants and animals.

The genome of animals is also far more conserved than has been supposed. For instance, several colleagues and I recently demonstrated that animal chromosomes are 684 million years old.

It will be exciting, too, to explore the dark matter of the genome, and reveal how DNA sequences that dont encode proteins can still play a role in genome function and evolution.

Another important aim of the Earth Biogenome Project is conservation genomics. This field uses DNA sequencing to identify threatened species, which includes about 28% of the worlds complex organisms helping us monitor their genetic health and advise on management.

Until recently, sequencing large genomes took years and many millions of dollars. But there have been tremendous technical advances that now make it possible to sequence and assemble large genomes for a few thousand dollars. The entire Earth Biogenome Project will cost less in todays dollars than the human genome project, which was worth about US$3 billion in total.

In the past, researchers would have to identify the order of the four bases chemically on millions of tiny DNA fragments, then paste the entire sequence together again. Today they can register different bases based on their physical properties, or by binding each of the four bases to a different dye. New sequencing methods can scan long molecules of DNA that are tethered in tiny tubes, or squeezed through tiny holes in a membrane.

Chromosomes consist of long double-helical arrays of the four base pairs whose sequence specifies genes. DNA molecules are capped at the end by telomeres.

But why not save time and money by sequencing just key representative species?

Well, the whole point of the Earth Biogenome Project is to exploit the variation between species to make comparisons, and also to capture remarkable innovations in outliers.

There is also the fear of missing out. For instance, if we sequence only 69,999 of the 70,000 species of nematode, we might miss the one that could divulge the secrets of how nematodes can cause diseases in animals and plants.

There are currently 44 affiliated institutions in 22 countries working on the Earth Biogenome Project. There are also 49 affiliated projects, including enormous projects such as the California Conservation Genomics Project, the Bird 10,000 Genomes Project and UKs Darwin Tree of Life Project, as well as many projects on particular groups such as bats and butterflies.

Written by Jenny Graves, Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Vice Chancellors Fellow, La Trobe University.

This article was first published in The Conversation.

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Monumental Project Underway To Sequence the Genome of Every Complex Species on Earth - SciTechDaily

Angelo Colon-Ortizs defense counsel announced in Worcester Superior Court Thursday an appeal of a judges recent pretrial ruling to admit DNA evidence allegedly linking the Worcester man to the murder of Vanessa Marcotte, who was killed while jogging in Princeton in 2016.

Ortiz-Colons attorneys John Gregory Swomley and Eduardo Masferrer announced the appeal in a Thursday morning status review in the case.

The appeal comes after Worcester Superior Court Judge Janet Kenton-Walker ruled to deny a motion from Colon-Ortizs defense to suppress DNA evidence collected from the defendant, which argued that state troopers who went to his home to collect the sample did not get his knowing and voluntary consent for the sample due to translation issues and seized the DNA without a search warrant or probable cause.

Marcotte, a 27-year-old Google employee who lived in New York, was visiting her mothers home in Princeton in August 2016 when she went out for a jog. She never returned home, and her body was found on Aug. 7 in the woods off Brooks Station Road, not far from her mothers home.

The sample collected from Colon-Ortiz later matched DNA found underneath Marcottes fingernails during an autopsy, according to officials. He has been charged with murder.

The defense last year said it believed that the DNA waiver police provided to their client was improperly and inadequately translated into Spanish and did not properly state the rights being waived or that consent was being given to police to obtain a DNA sample.

The DNA sample was collected from Colon-Ortiz on March 16, 2017, according to court records.

Police collected the DNA sample during a visit to Colon-Ortizs apartment from state troopers Robert Parr, Michael Travers and Thiago Miranda as part of an investigation into the death of Marcotte. A witness account and DNA profile led police to identify Colon-Ortiz as a person of interest in the case.

Kenton-Walker denied the motion on Jan. 11, but called the consent form Massachusetts State Police used to collect a buccal DNA swab from Colon-Ortiz, the product of carelessness, court records show.

Considering the totality of the circumstances in this case, the consent form, together with the interview with the police, conveyed that information, Kenton-Walker wrote. The other information in the form, while important and valuable, did not defeat Colon-Ortizs free and voluntary decision to consent to providing a DNA sample.

The next status review for Colon-Ortiz will be held on April 7.

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Angelo Colon-Ortiz appeals ruling on DNA that allegedly ties him to killing of Vanessa Marcotte - MassLive.com

The DNA of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry will accompany the ashes of his wife and the actor who played chief engineer Scotty when the first Vulcan rocket lifts off in a mission dubbed the Enterprise flight, scheduled for later this year.

Celestis, a Houston-based space memorial services company, said this week that the ashes of Canadian actor James Doohan and actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who died in 2008, will accompany the DNA samples of her late husband. Gene Roddenberrys ashes were scattered in space in 1997, six years after his death.

Were very pleased to be fulfilling, with this mission, a promise I made to Majel Barrett Roddenberry in 1997 that one day we would fly her and husband Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry together on a deep space memorial spaceflight, said Charles M. Chafer, the CEO of Celestis.

They will be among more than 150 capsules that contain the cremated remains, DNA samples and messages of Star Trek fans who paid to be blasted into the final frontier after their deaths.

United Space Launch, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing that services government contracts, has agreed to accommodate the remains as part of an unrelated mission.

What a fitting tribute to the Roddenberry family and the Star Trek fans to be a part of the maiden flight of Vulcan, our next-generation rocket, said Tory Bruno, president and CEO of the company based in Centennial, Colorado.

The maiden flight of the Vulcan Centaur rocket, delayed several times during the development of its BE-4 engine, has the primary purpose of launching Astrobotics Peregrine lunar lander. The human remains of the Enterprise flight will come along as a secondary payload.

Officials said the rocket will rendezvous with the moon, continue into deep space and orbit around the sun with the remains. The launch date has not been scheduled.

The Vulcan rocket bears the same name as the planet and race of Mr. Spock, one of the television franchises most beloved characters.

Doohan was a World War II veteran who participated in the D-Day landing at Juno Beach, where he lost his right middle finger and took pains to conceal its absence throughout a decades-long acting career. A linguist who created the Vulcan and Klingon languages for the franchise, he died in 2005.

Majel Roddenberry, who acted under the name Barrett, appeared in every incarnation of Star Trek produced during her lifetime. She married Gene Roddenberry, a Texas native and a veteran television producer, in 1969 the last year that the original Star Trek series aired.

Later in her career, she produced the science-fiction television shows Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict, based on notes from her late husband.

The launch comes as private space flight has increasingly become a popular option for wealthy celebrities.

Last year, 90-year old Star Trek actor William Shatner, who played Capt. James T. Kirk in the show, traveled into space on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket.

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First Vulcan flight to carry DNA of 'Star Trek' creator, ashes of wife and chief engineer Scotty - Washington Times

Greek mezedes. Credit: Garrett Ziegler/CC BY-NC-ND-2.0

Mezedes are the very DNA of Greek food.

By Giorgio Pintzas Monzani

A sip, a bite, a word. For those who know the world of mezedes closely, you can easily find yourself in this sentence. For those who are not yet fully familiar: you have a world to discover.

You can call them samplers, you can call them an aperitif. But you would have it wrong.

We could describe them as appetizers, only they do not precede any main course: they are the meal itself.

Mezedes are a way, a style of eating; a set of courses, of small to medium size, which accompany the real protagonist of those tables: the beverage.

Related: Giorgio Pintzas Monzanis Savory Vasilopita appetizers

Mezedes originate from the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and from countries further south, such as Lebanon and Syria.

Their history runs through the centuries in the very DNA of these countries, thus going hand in hand with some of the most long-lived peoples in these, the lands of history and antiquity.

Their name comes from the Persian language, where mazzeh or mazidan meant taste, flavor. As if today it was a tasting.

The culture of mezedes is strongly connected to some fundamental principles of all the above-mentioned countries, especially of Greece. Conviviality and the characteristic hospitable attitude have found a practical metamorphosis in these banquets, where there are no personal courses, but only dishes to be shared.

This was true up until the beginning of the last century, when it was customary not even to bring plates to the diners, who would have served themselves directly from those of the course, to reinforce the idea that there should be no divisions within such a sacred gesture such as the meal.

As mentioned previously, the mezedes almost play a framing role during these distinctive meals. The real protagonists, the real focus of the gathering, are the drinks served with them. The list of spirits we find on these tables is extensive.

From raki, in Greece and Turkey, to arak, which is found in the Levant, up to the well-known ouzo and tsipouro.

They are all strong distillates and they are preferred cold. Some like theirs with ice and others with a drop of water.

In recent years, however, the consumption of beer and wine has seen increasing growth: also thanks to their taste, they are preferred by the new generations.

In short, the important thing is to eat well; but the fundamental thing is to drink well.

This liqueur is one of the most well-known symbols of Hellenic gastronomic culture.It is a brandy with a strong alcohol content, about 45 proof.

It has both the pure variant and the one flavored with aniseed: among Greek tables you will hear about tsipouro (me) and tsipouro ; that is with and without aniseed.

However, in reality, this distillate does not only represent a meal element, culturally speaking. Inside every sip of the liqueur is hidden a story of rebirth and hope.

In September of 1922, the Greek city of Smyrna was invaded by Turkish military forces and the entire Greek and Armenian quarters of the city were burned down a few days later.

This fact marks the end of the Greek-Turkish war, and in October of the same year was signed the armistice: which saw about a million Greeks having to leave the shores of Asia Minor and go to live in Greece.

This fact irrevocably stained the Greek history of the early 1900s.

The new immigrants who arrived in the city of Volos, a port city on the outskirts of Thessaly, began working in the local fishing boats and ships.

During their breaks from work, in the desperate search for a moment of serenity in their lives which had been turned upside down, they found themselves coming together to dine: everything revolved around the tsipouro, which not only gave them energy but above all a sense of being carefree.

They brought with them various delicacies as well, mainly the traditional recipes of Constantinople. Thats how the first establishments called (tsipouradika), or places of tsipouro, were born.

Where the only thing that could be ordered was the distillate, in various quantities, while the dishes were chosen by the cook and the host, according to availability. Places of gathering and a strong sense of identity, where the brandy was the common denominator between people in search of comfort as they fought against the oblivion of their past memories.

In short, a lifeline in a single sip.

One sip, one bite, one word.We are what we used to eat

Giorgio Pintzas Monzani is a Greek-Italian chef, writer and consultant who lives in Milan. His Instagram page can be found here.

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Mezedes, the DNA of Greek Food - Greek Reporter