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Planet of the Apes: What is that big hunk of 'junk' DNA up to ?

Posted: September 10, 2012 at 11:10 am

Last week, in response to a media blitz promoting a $288 million DNA project called ENCODE, headlines announced that most of our DNA formerly known as "junk" was actually useful.

A number of scientists both inside the study and out took issue with this claim - which centered on the 98 percent of our DNA that isn't officially part of any gene.

Sorting the workers from the freeloaders in our DNA is crucial to understanding how our genetic code works, how it drives human evolution and influences our traits and health.

Some biologists dislike the term "junk DNA" because they already knew at least part of it is doing something essential - like regulating how the instructions in the genes are carried out.

The genes hold recipes for making proteins - the working parts and scaffolding of the body. Some of the rest of the DNA tells the genes how much of a given protein to make at any given time.

The goal of the ENCODE (Encylopedia of DNA Elements) project was to figure out which parts have those important regulatory jobs.

According to some scientists involved, they succeeded in pinning down where many of those regulators lurked and identified variants in that DNA that other studies have connected to a variety of diseases. Those findings could lead to new targets for drug research and new avenues for predictive genetic testing.

But long before this project was conceived, scientists had begun to explore our jungle of mystery DNA. The question of non-gene DNA came up in 1975, when researchers discovered that humans and chimpanzees were 98 percent genetically identical. That meant we and chimps were more closely related than mice were to rats, or chimps were to gorillas.

The researchers who did the comparison pointed out that some of our differences might stem not from the genes, but from our other DNA that is regulating the genes.

That regulatory role is crucial when animals are developing in the womb. Some stretch of non-gene DNA could, for example, signal the human brain to keep growing long after chimp brain development would have shut off.

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UNC Lineberger scientists lead definition of key lung cancer genome

Posted: at 11:10 am

Public release date: 9-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dianne G. Shaw dgs@med.unc.edu 919-966-7834 University of North Carolina Health Care

In the September 9, 2012 early online edition of Nature, scientists with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) report that they have characterized the lung squamous cell carcinoma genome.

Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of lung cancer, a disease that kills more Americans than any other type of cancer.

The national team of scientists examined tumor samples from 178 patients with untreated lung squamous cell carcinoma and completed genetic analysis of the tumors, work that paves the way for developing better, more targeted therapies to treat the cancer.

Neil Hayes, MD, MPH, a UNC investigator with TCGA, explains, "The work confirms the prevalence of commonly known cancer genes such as p53 and p16 in LSCC: alteration of p53 in patients is approaching 100 percent while 70-80 percent of patients have clear alterations of p16. Our report documents a long list of mutations that could be targeted therapeutically, some even now with drugs currently available or in clinical trials."

Dr. Hayes served as co-chair of the manuscript writing committee for the paper. With Matthew Wilkerson, PhD, he served as genomic analysis leader and mRNA sequence analysis. Dr. Hayes is an associate professor of medicine.

He says, "UNC scientists generated all of the microarray and sequencing data on RNA and provided technical expertise in analyzing it. Analyzing gene expression data is very challenging, and UNC brought a large number of collaborators in computer science, statistics, and genetics to help.

"We and all TCGA scientists worked closely together on all aspects of this work," he explains. "Participating institutions provided high-quality tumor samples for the analysis. The study required a wide range of technical expertise to perform all the assays, and no one center could have done it all. "

Putting the study in a scientific context, he explains, "This is like a lot of great science advances. Think back to the late 1700s before it was widely known that many diseases were caused by infections. It's very hard to consider the idea of an antibiotic until you've thought of a germ. We have a disease that's caused by alterations in DNA. It's hard to think about therapies until you know what's wrong with the DNA. In the case of lung cancer, we've made a huge step forward in understanding what's wrong with the DNA of lung cancer."

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Malaya Business News Online | Philippine Business News

Posted: at 11:10 am

Details Published on Monday, 10 September 2012 00:00 Written by JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR-REYES

Eczema affects about 15 to 20 percent of children and one to three percent of adults globally.

It is not contagious but could be inherited.

Eczema is a long lasting condition and anyone can have eczema which usually begins early among infants and children and may continue through adulthood.

It can easily be mistaken as a rash which oftentimes prevents people from giving it the proper attention and treatment resulting in a worsened condition that usually results to itching -especially at night that prevents one from getting a good night sleep.

Those suffering from eczema which is usually accompanied by dry, red, scaly and itchy rashes either on the neck, elbows, back of the knees, scalp, writs, and ankles among others, may also end up having low self esteem as they would be teased by their peers especially in the young ones while adults may become moody and withdraw from society which affects their productivity and well being.

Hannah Pangilinan, who just turned 13 this month, use to have this problem.

One of the five children of celebrity couple Anthony and Marcicel Pangilinan, Hannah is into sports particularly gymnastics, biking and swimming and she did not let her eczema stopped her from doing what she loves, nor would her mother Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan allow it.

Of course, I dont want to stop Hannah from going outside and enjoying life. So I had to constantly remind her to be careful and avoid triggers. Panay din ang research ko online on how I can help control the symptoms of eczema at home. Oatmeal baths, clean clothes, no chocolates, I dont even put curtains up anymore. There was even a time when I would put mittens on Hannahs hands kasi eczema usually attacks at night time, Laxa-Pangilinan said.

She said aside from Hannah, two of her other five children also have eczema though it was the worst for Hannah whose rashes are usually triggered by the smallest everyday things like sweat and dust.

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10 Easy Ways to Prevent Eczema Flare-Ups

Posted: at 11:10 am

Living with eczema can be hard, but that doesn't mean you have to let it wear you down. Here are ways that would help prevent eczema flare-ups.

1. Know what triggers your flare-ups.

Before anything else, it is most important to take note of what triggers eczema and eliminate factors that may exacerbate flare-ups. These include harsh soaps, detergents, certain chemicals, jewelry, smoke, abrasive clothing and exposure to extremes of temperature and humidity.

2. Limit contact with irritants. Patients with eczema (atopic dermatitis) are more susceptible to irritants than are unaffected individuals. Alcohol and astringents found in toiletries can have a drying effect on the skin. Bath soaps can contain fragrances, which can also exacerbate flare-ups. A fragrance-free bath soap with neutral ph is therefore recommended. Wash new clothing items before wearing them to decrease levels of formaldehyde and other added chemicals. Use liquid, rather than powder detergent, and add a second rinse cycle to facilitate removal of detergent.

3. Consider environmental living conditions. Humidity and perspiration are several factors that could also cause flare-ups and should therefore be properly addressed. Try to keep children's activities as normal as possible. Keep in mind that certain sports may be better tolerated than others. Swimming is a good alternative because it does not involve heavy perspiration, physical contact or tight clothing. However, it is important to take a shower after going out of the pool to get rid of chlorine in pool water which may irritate the skin.

4. Use sunscreen. Ultraviolet light may be beneficial to some patients with eczema however too much sun may cause sunburn. Use a sunscreen to help protect your skin. Be sure to choose a non-irritating product since some sunscreens may contain irritants.

5. Identify specific allergens that may exacerbate the eczema. Infants and young children are more likely to have food allergies. Older children and adults are more likely to react to environmental and aeroallergens (allergens present in the air) which include dust mites, animal danders, molds and pollens. Potential allergens can be identified through food challenge tests or skin prick tests. Avoidance of food implicated in controlled food challenge tests usually results in clinical improvement. In patients allergic to dust mites, use of dust mite-proof encasings of pillows and mattresses, weekly washing of bed linens in hot water, removal of bedroom carpeting, and using air conditioner in decreasing the rooms humidity are proven to be also effective.

6. Wear loose cotton clothing. Clothing made of cotton are ideally recommended for patients with eczema since synthetic fabrics, wool, and other materials with rough texture can also trigger eczema flare-ups.

7. Avoid emotional stressors. Although emotional stressors do not cause eczema, it can exacerbate the illness. Some patients oftentimes react to frustration, embarrassment or other stressful events with increased itching and scratching. Psychological counseling can be beneficial for patients, who have difficulty in dealing with emotional triggers, most especially in adolescents, who consider their skin disease disfiguring. Relaxation and behavioral modification are helpful in patients with habitual scratching.

8. Dont scratch the itch. The more you scratch, the more it itches. It then becomes a never-ending cycle. Scratching can produce breaks in the skin, making it easier for bacteria and other allergens to penetrate the skin leading to worsening of the condition. Reduction of skin inflammation and dryness with topical glucocorticoids and skin hydration often symptomatically reduce the itching. Application of cold compress over the affected area also helps lessen itching, as well as the desire to scratch.

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Space Station fixed with $3 toothbrush

Posted: September 9, 2012 at 3:11 pm

International Space Station engineers improvised a set of tools to repair a malfuctioning power unit, using spares that included a $3 toothbrush. Picture: NASA Source: Supplied

IN a move that would have made MacGyver proud, astronauts have fixed a series of electrical malfunctions on the International Space Station - with a toothbrush.

For more than a week, astronauts on the station have been trying to figure out how to replace a malfunctioning Main Bus Switching Unit, which transfers power from the massive solar panels into the station, space.com reported.

Without the 100kg MBSU the station was unable to get power from two of its eight panels. Then on Saturday another malfunction put a third panel offline - making for a nervous time on the station as they conserved power to keep vital life support systems functioning.

Last week a marathon eight-hour spacewalk failed to fix the problem, as a pair of stubborn bolts thwarted their efforts to install a spare MBSU.

A fisheye lens attached to an electronic still camera was used to capture this image of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams. Picture: NASA

Experts at NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston worked around the clock to figure out a solution, improvising a set of tools from existing supplies on the station that could help fix the stuck bolt. Their solution included an Allen wrench taped to a bolt, and a $3 toothbrush used to clear metal shavings from the threaded bolt hole.

"It's been like living on the set of Apollo 13 the past few days," astronaut Jack Fischer said from Mission Control in Houston, referring to the brainstorming session that figured out how to save the stranded Apollo 13 astronauts - portrayed in a movie starring Tom Hanks.

On Thursday NASA's Sunita Williams and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide spent six and a half hours outside the space station fixing the MBSU.

Astronaut Aki Hoshide, Expedition 32 flight engineer, during a six-hour, 28-minute spacewalk to complete the installation of a Main Bus Switching Unit that was hampered last week by a possible misalignment and damaged threads where a bolt must be placed. Picture: NASA

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Astronauts repair space station with help of toothbrush

Posted: at 3:11 pm

Spacewalking astronauts triumphed over a stubborn bolt and installed a critical power-switching box at the International Space Station this week, reviving electrical systems.

"Looks like you fixed the station," mission control at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre in Houston told the crew on the radio.

The problem had cut the amount of electrical power available to the orbiting lab and a variety of equipment had to be turned off.

Engineers on the ground and the astronauts in orbit scrambled over the weekend to devise makeshift tools to clean metal shavings from the socket of the troublesome bolt after last week's failed effort to plug in the new power-relay unit.

This time, NASA's Sunita Williams and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide, part of NASA's Expedition 32 mission to the ISS, were armed with a blue toothbrush, a wire brush and other jury-rigged tools.

The two applied grease to the sticky bolt as well as extra pressure and plain old jiggling. They also brushed and blew away most if not all the metal shavings, debris that was discovered during last Thursday's eight-hour repair session, one of the longest spacewalks on record.

Wednesday's outing lasted 6 1/2 hours.

Although the space station remained stable, NASA was in a hurry to get the problem fixed because of the impending departure of Joseph Acaba, the U.S. astronaut who operated the hefty robot arm from inside. Acaba is due to return to Earth in 1 1/2 weeks.

Altogether, the space station has four of these power-switching units, which relay electricity from the eight solar wings. Being down one unit meant the orbiting complex could draw power from only six of those wings.

The power store was further degraded over the weekend when, in an unrelated problem, a tripped circuit breaker prevented full access to yet another solar panel. That left the space station running on just five wings, a vulnerable situation.

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Decoding Human DNA

Posted: at 3:11 pm

In a milestone for the understanding of human genetics, scientists just announced the results of five years of work in unraveling the secrets of how the genome operates.

The ENCODE project, as it is known, dispensed with the idea that our DNA is largely "junk," repeating sequences with no function, finding instead that at least 80 percent of the genome is important.

The new findings are the latest in a series of increasingly deep looks at the human genome. Here are some of the major milestones scientists have passed along the way.

1. An understanding of heredity, 1866

The realization that traits and certain diseases can be passed from parent to offspring stretches back at least to the ancient Greeks, well before any genome was actually decoded. The Greek physician Hippocrates theorized that "seeds" from different parts of the body were transmitted to newly conceived embryos, a theory known as pangenesis. Charles Darwin would later espouse similar ideas.

What exactly these "seeds" might be was destined to remain a mystery for centuries. But the first person to put heredity to the test was Gregor Mendel, who systematically tracked dominant and recessive traits in his famous pea plants. Mendel published his work on the statistics of genetic dominance in 1866 to little notice. [Genetics by the Numbers: 10 Tantalizing Tales]

2. Chromosomes come to light, 1902

But the painstaking work of cross-breeding pea plants wouldn't languish for long. In 1869, Swiss physician Johannes Friedrich Miescher became the first scientist to isolate nucleic acids, the active ingredient of DNA. Over the next several decades, scientists peering deeper into the cell discovered mitosis and meiosis, the two types of cell division, and chromosomes, the long strands of DNA and protein in cell nuclei.

In 1903, early geneticist Walter Sutton put two and two together, discovering through his work on grasshopper chromosomes that these mysterious filaments occur in pairs and separate during meiosis, providing a vehicle for mom and dad to pass on their genetic material.

"I may finally call attention to the probability that the associations of paternal and maternal chromosomes in pairs and their subsequent separation may constitute the physical basis of the Mendelian law of heredity," Sutton wrote in the journal The Biological Bulletin in 1902. He followed up with a more comprehensive paper, "The Chromosomes in Heredity" in 1903. (German biologist Theodor Boveri came to similar conclusions about chromosomes at the same time Sutton was working on his chromosome discovery.)

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Paul Fenech’s Housos gets second series on SBS

Posted: at 3:11 pm

Fenech: Brain behind Housos

SBS has commissioned another series of nine episodes of Paul Fenechs politically incorrect comedy Housos.

Production of the new series set in a fictional housing commission block in Sunnyvale starts in Sydneys western suburbs on Monday.

The cast includes Encore columnistJason Jabba Davis, Habib Tahir, Melissa Tkautz, Amanda Keller and Angry Anderson. Narrator Ian Turpie passed awayin March this year.

Since it first aired on SBS, Fenech has also shot a Housos feature film.

Tony Iffland, SBSs director of television and online content, said: Housos became hugely successful with its tongue-in-cheek humour. The new season will continue our commitment to commissioning and supporting Australian content and talent. We are delighted to be working with Paul again on a second series.

Fenech best known for Fat Pizza said: The new season of Housos gives fans the chance to unite and get in touch with their inner-bogan. Whether you have to beg, borrow or literally steal a TV set to watch it, we have enough surprises to make it worth your while.

The first series of the unashamedly unsophisticated show was SBS best performing in its timeslot. The show gained notoriety before it even aired after Nines A Current Affair mistook it for a documentary.

September 9th, 2012 at 4:56 pm

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Is it a bird, is it a phone, no it’s… Smarterman

Posted: at 5:14 am

BRITS are using smartphones more and more research shows they are replacing watches, address books, MP3 players and even TVs. And thats not the limit of their potential.

Here futurist BEN HAMMERSLEY, author of 64 Things You Need To Know Now For Then and editor-at-large of technology magazine Wired, tells us what we can expect in the future.

Futurist ... Ben Hammersley

YOU are a superhuman. Or if youre not, you at least know someone who is.

Dont believe me?

Can you summon vast swathes of knowledge in just a few seconds? Can you tell how your friends are feeling, even if theyre miles away?

If you get lost, can you locate yourself to within three feet, in just seconds?

Can you remember whole novels, albums, calendars and to-do lists flawlessly?

Anyone with a smartphone can do all of these things.

The technology has made superheroes of us all.

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MacGyver in space? Astronauts fix space station with toothbrush. (+video)

Posted: September 8, 2012 at 2:11 pm

Using makeshift tools that included a spare toothbrush, a pair of spacewalking astronauts successfully fixed a vital power system aboard the International Space Station.

It took hard work, determination and some MacGyver-esque ingenuity for a pair of spacewalking astronauts to fix a key power system aboard the International Space Station Wednesday (Sept. 5).

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Suni is currently taking part in a planned 6 Hour, 30 Minute spacewalk to install a new Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) on the truss outside the International Space Station.

NASA spaceflyerSunita Williamsand Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide spent nearly 6 1/2 hours yesterday outside in the vacuum of space to properly install a pair of bolts that had caused problems for the pair during a previous spacewalk last week.

In addition to their regular spacewalking gear, Williams and Hoshide were armed with some makeshift tools including animprovised wire cleaner and a toothbrush to help them get the job done.

On Aug. 30, Williams and Hoshide completed a marathon spacewalk that lasted more than 8 hours, but the astronauts were thwarted by a stubborn bolt and were unable to finish connecting the so-calledmain bus switching unit(MBSU). The stuck bolt forced NASA to add Wednesday's extra spacewalk.

But, following last week's unsuccessful attempt, flight controllers, engineers and veteran spacewalkers worked around the clock at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to devise a solution to the problem. Using only the supplies available on the space station, the teams came up with creative new tools for Williams and Hoshide to use to install the MBSU.

One was a modified toothbrush that was used to lubricate the inside of the bolt's housing after debris and metal shavings from inside had been removed. Another improvised instrument included a cleaning tool that had been made from wires that were bent back to form a brush, explained Kieth Johnson, lead spacewalk director at the Johnson Space Center. [Photos: Spacewalkers Fix Space Station Power Unit]

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