Posted: 11/16/2015
- Uncoiling collagen using advanced computers (This could be huge! “British and French researchers have used modern computing power to enhance mass spectrometry and analyse an extremely complex collagen molecule in a short time scale. ... Two-dimensional Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (2D FT-ICR MS), developed in the 1980s ... Collagen, a structural protein with a molar mass of over 400kDa, is a very stable molecule and lasts for thousands of years in old bones. ... aimed to use proteomics to study archaeological collagen samples, and in the process advanced 2D FT-ICR MS to new heights by encoding a modulation frequency in the precursor ions and spreading out the signals. A great advantage of the improved technique is the time scale – a tandem mass spectrum of collagen would take at least 14 hours to obtain, whereas 2D FT-ICR MS takes only an hour using the data processing programme in this study. ‘What’s really exciting about this work is that it shows that we can effectively use mass spectrometry to sequence all peptides in a terribly complex mixture”)
- How the shell of ancient Earth cracked, giving rise to moving continents (“The idea grew partly out of recent work on a vast deposit of oceanic basalt known as the Caribbean Large Igneous Province, ... An exceptionally hot mantle plume caused the basalt to erupt about 100 million years ago, and also appears to have triggered subduction along the Caribbean coasts of Central and South America. To explore whether the same process could have kick-started plate tectonics, ... modeling how plumes interact with the lithosphere ... the team describes how mantle plumes can initiate subduction in a three-dimensional model.”)
- The 3230 genes you can’t do without (“That’s the conclusion of a new study, which finds that about 15% of our 20,000 genes are so critical to our livelihood that certain changes can kill us before we’re born. ... The result: 3230 genes that had either no observed variation, or compared to what was expected, much, much less of the kind of changes that could lead to a malfunction of the gene. Such data suggests that, whenever one of these genes mutates, the embryo usually dies or the person is too sick to reproduce—so the variation disappears. ”Genes that displayed no variants should be essential or play crucial biological functions,” ... have similarly found such essential genes in bacteria or in mice. And many of the highlighted human genes are associated with the same critical cellular operations, such as the cell’s protein-building factories, as in those species ... About 20% of the human genes uncovered by the analysis are already associated with diseases, but many are not—yet.”)
- Chemical fingerprints of prehistoric beekeepers discovered (“Researchers have found evidence that humans have been exploiting honeybees for almost 9000 years by examining the 'chemical fingerprint' left by beeswax on pottery artefacts from the Neolithic period. ... Wall art by the ancient Egyptians and Stone Age civilisations suggests the relationship between humans and honeybees goes back thousands of years, but when and where they were first domesticated is unknown. The team were able to track the use of bee products by Neolithic farmers by searching for traces of beeswax – which is relatively stable over time and retains a characteristic chemical profile – in organic residues found on ancient pottery fragments.”)
- 500-Million-Year-Old Brains and Life in the Universe (“The bottom line is that the basic biological structures of brains emerged at least half a billion years ago, seemingly very soon after the emergence of truly complex multicellular life.”)
- Astronomers discover oldest stars ever seen (“These stars, which have been at the very centre of the Milky Way for billions of years, contain extremely low amounts of metal: one of the stars is the most metal-poor star yet discovered in the centre of our galaxy. The stars also contain chemical fingerprints which indicate that the earliest stars may have died in spectacular deaths known as hypernovae, which were ten times more energetic than a regular supernova.”)
- First 'porous liquid' invented (“What we have done is to design a special liquid from the 'bottom-up' - we designed the shapes of the molecules which make up the liquid so that the liquid could not fill up all the space. Because of the empty holes we then had in the liquid, we found that it was able to dissolve unusually large amounts of gas. These first experiments are what is needed to understand this new type of material, and the results point to interesting long-term applications which rely on dissolution of gases.”)
- Time for a New Definition Researchers uncover diverse subtypes of serotonin-producing neurons (“The researchers report in Neuron that serotonergic neurons come in at least six major molecular subtypes defined by distinct expression patterns of hundreds of genes. In many cases, the subtypes modulate different behaviors in the body.”)
- Memory-Boosting Devices Tested in Humans U.S. military research suggests that electrodes can compensate for damaged tissue (“By mimicking the electrical patterns that create and store memories, the researchers found that gaps caused by brain injury can be bridged.”)
- NASA Adds to Evidence of Mysterious Ancient Earthworks (Possibly the discovery of a new ancient civilization! “Described last year at an archaeology conference in Istanbul as unique and previously unstudied, the earthworks, in the Turgai region of northern Kazakhstan, number at least 260 — mounds, trenches and ramparts — arrayed in five basic shapes. … Spotted on Google Earth in 2007 by a Kazakh economist and archaeology enthusiast, Dmitriy Dey, the so-called Steppe Geoglyphs remain deeply puzzling and largely unknown to the outside world.”)
- Got allergies? Blame parasites (“Why are millions of people allergic to peanuts or pollen, but hardly anyone seems to have a reaction to rice or raisins? Because only some of these things carry molecules similar to those found in parasites that send our immune systems into hyperdrive, according to a new study. … a group of scientists led by computational biologist Nicholas Furnham at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine looked for similarities among 2712 proteins known to cause allergies and more than 70,000 proteins from 31 species of parasites. Using computer programs that compared the protein sequences as well as their 3D structures, the researchers identified a list of 2445 parasite proteins that are very similar to allergenic proteins. For instance, they found a protein in the worm Schistosoma mansoni that closely resembles one in birch pollen that makes people sneeze. ”)
- Designer antibodies may rid body of AIDS virus (“Anti-HIV drugs have extended life for millions of people, but they have never eliminated the virus from anyone. That’s because HIV integrates its genetic material into the chromosomes of some white blood cells, helping it escape notice of the immune system. Two new studies show that artificial antibodies could “redirect” the immune response to these latently infected cells and help drain those HIV reservoirs in the body. But this creative strategy also carries risks. … The bispecific antibody first binds to CD3 on cells that harbor latent HIV. This prompts the cells to divide, an “activation” process that wakes up the sleeping virus. New HIV proteins are subsequently produced that migrate to the surface of the cell. Now, the bispecific antibody grabs a killer T cell that has a CD3 receptor and, with its second arm, finds a recently activated cell that has HIV proteins on its surface.”)
- Gene-editing method halts production of brain-destroying proteins (“As neurological diseases go, Huntingtons is an ideal candidate for CRISPR therapy, because the disease is determined by a single gene, Déglon notes. … Using a virus as a delivery vehicle, the researchers infected two separate groups of healthy adult mice with a mutant huntingtin gene, but only one group received the therapy: a CRISPR “cassette,” which includes DNA for the gene-editing enzyme Cas9 and the RNA to target the huntingtin gene. CRISPR-Cas9 works by “silencing” the part of the huntingtin gene that signals protein production. Researchers hypothesized that by cutting into these so-called “start sites,” they would be able to permanently pause synthesis of the huntingtin protein. ... After only 3 weeks, the two groups of mice showed a striking contrast: Those without the CRISPR treatment had large areas of protein aggregation, and those with the treatment had almost none—CRISPR’s editing had prevented nearly 90% of the rogue proteins.”)
- This Camera Sees What Your Eyes Can't HyperCam, an affordable hyperspectral imaging camera, can tell if your food's gone bad, among other things (This could be powerful at everyone’s fingertips!)
- Mysterious ‘holes’ in neuron net may help store long-term memories (“Scientists now know that perineuronal nets (PNNS) are scaffolds of linked proteins and sugars that resemble cartilage ... a growing body of research suggests that PNNs may control the formation and function of synapses, the microscopic junctions between neurons that allow cells to communicate, and that may play a role in learning and memory, Palida says.”)
- The Tantalizing Links Between Gut Microbes and the Brain Neuroscientists are probing the idea that intestinal microbiota might influence brain development and behaviour (Very recommendable survey article! “A growing body of data, mostly from animals raised in sterile, germ-free conditions, shows that microbes in the gut influence behaviour and can alter brain physiology and neurochemistry. … Researchers are starting to uncover a vast, varied system in which gut microbes influence the brain through hormones, immune molecules and the specialized metabolites that they produce. … Recent studies also demonstrate that gut microbes directly alter neurotransmitter levels, which may enable them to communicate with neurons.”)
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