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ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2008) — Scientists have taken a critical step toward the development of new and more effective antibacterial drugs by identifying exactly how a specific antibiotic sets up a road block that halts bacterial growthfull story here http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081022135615.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2008) — A world-first: researchers announce the birth of a white rhino after artificial insemination with frozen sperm. The rhino baby, a male, was born at 4:57am in the Budapest Zoo on the 22nd of October 2008. In June 2007, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin artificially inseminated his mother, the rhino cow Lulu, with frozen bull semen.Full story here http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081024103856.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2008) — Scientists are using designs in nature from extreme environments to overcome the challenges of producing materials on the nanometre scale. A team from the UK’s John Innes Centre, the Scripps Research Institute in California and the Institut Pasteur in Paris have identified a stable, modifiable virus that could be used as a nanobuilding block.Read Full Story- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081014092722.htm-Vikrant
ScienceDaily (Oct. 17, 2008) — A classic experiment proving amino acids are created when inorganic molecules are exposed to electricity isn't the whole story, it turns out. The 1953 Miller-Urey Synthesis had two sibling studies, neither of which was published. Vials containing the products from those experiments were recently recovered and reanalyzed using modern technology. The results are reported in this week's Science.
Full Story. Read Here-
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081016141411.htm-Vikrant
Lab method for extracting DNA from human cheek cells.
Difficulty Level: Easy Time Required: 15 minutes
Here's How:
1) Gather together sodium chloride, liquid soap, 2 glass beakers, bottled and distilled water, 2 test tubes, test tube stoppers, glass rod, a plastic cup and rubbing alcohol.
2) Place 8 grams of sodium chloride in one of the beakers and dissolve with 92 milliliters of distilled water.
3) In a second beaker, combine 25 milliliters of liquid soap with 75 milliliters of distilled water. 4) Pour 1 milliliter of the sodium chloride solution into a large test tube.
5) Pour 10 milliliters of the bottled water into a plastic cup and swirl the water in your mouth for 30 seconds.
6) Spit the water back into the cup and pour the contents into the test tube containing the sodium chloride solution.
7) Add 1 milliliter of liquid soap to the test tube.
8) Cover the top of the test tube with a stopper and gently mix the contents by turning the test tube upside down and right side up.
9) Add 5 milliliters of the rubbing alcohol to the test tube making sure to pour it at an angle down the side of the test tube.
10) Wait for about 5 minutes and watch as the DNA floats to the surface.
11) Pour 1 milliliter of alcohol into the second test tube.
12) Use the glass rod to remove the DNA from the first test tube by twirling the rod in a circular motion.
13) Place the DNA into the second test tube containing the alcohol.
Tips:
If more DNA is desired, repeat the procedure making sure to wash your mouth more vigorously in step 5. Reference http://biology.about.com/c/ht/00/07/How_Extract_DNA_Human0962932481.htm
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have demonstrated the potential of a new strategy for genetic modification of large animals. The method employs a harmless gene therapy virus that transfers a genetic modification to male reproductive cells, which is then passed naturally on to offspring.For Entire news
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Growing evidence shows that surgery may effectively cure Type 2 diabetes — an approach that not only may change the way the disease is treated, but that introduces a new way of thinking about diabetes.For Full story, visit
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Binocular vision gene is discoveredCAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- A team of U.S., Australian, and German researchers have identified the gene needed for binocular vision in mice.Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Mriganka Sur and colleagues from the University of Sydney and the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Germany studied normal mice, as well as mice in which the activity of the critical gene was suppressed.They noted many animals, including mice and humans, are able to perceive depth because of the successful coordination of different images from each eye.The scientists found mice with the suppressed gene were blind, although their eyes worked normally. The investigators discovered the image from one eye suppressed the image from the other eye. When the neural signals from one eye were blocked, the affected mice could once again see, though only with monocular vision."This is an amazing instance of 'gain of function' that proves immediately that the gene is directly responsible for creating matched projections from the two eyes," Sur said, noting the finding could lead to new treatments for visual disorders.
Anti-aging study finds enzymes protect cellsA new study concludes that two enzymes--SIRT3 and SIRT4--play a key role in mitochondria, regulating the aging process. The researchers say that a drop in calorie intake triggers these two enzymes, invigorating mitochondria--which convert nutrients to energy--creating stronger and more efficient cell batteries. The rise of enzymes prevents mitochondria from developing pores in their membranes that allow protein to leech into the rest of the cell, triggering apoptosis, or cell death. Both SIRT3 and SIRT4 are sirtuins, which have become an intense focus for a handful of biotech companies concentrating on the developing of anti-aging therapies. Harvard Medical School's David Sinclair says that he believes that SIRT3 may prove to be the most effective anti-aging enzyme, because it not only protects cells but provides the same benefits as exercise.
Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that the bacteria Oxalobacter formigenes (O. formigenes), a naturally occurring bacterium that has no known side effects, is associated with a 70 percent reduction in the risk of recurrent kidney stones.Full story- Kidney stones are an important health problem in many countries. In the United States, the lifetime risk for developing a stone is five to 15 percent, and a five-year risk for recurrence is 30 to 50 percent. The economic impact of hospital admissions for this condition is $2 billion per year.
According to the researchers, up to 80 percent of kidney stones are predominately composed on calcium oxalate (CaOx) and urinary oxalate is a major risk factor for CaOx stone formation. O. formigenes metabolizes oxalate in the intestinal tract and is present in a large proportion of the normal adult population.
Data was collected in the Boston, Massachusetts and Durham, North Carolina areas from 247 adult patients with recurrent CaOx stones and compared with 259 age, sex, and region-matched controls. O. formigenes colonization was determined by culture of stool samples. Information was obtained by interview and self-administered dietary questionnaire. 24-hour oxalate excretion and other urinary risk factors were measured in a subset of 139 cases and 138 controls. The prevalence of O. formigenes was 17 percent among cases and 38 percent among controls, giving an odds ration of 0.3. The finding was consistent in subgroups defined according to age, sex, race, region and antibiotic use.
"We observed a strong inverse association between colonization with O. formigenes and recurrent CaOx kidney stones, with a 70 percent reduction in overall risk," said lead researcher David Kaufman, ScD, a professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. "Our findings are of potential clinical importance. The possibility of using the bacterium as a probiotic is currently in the early stages of investigation," added Kaufman.
These findings appear online in the March issue Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
