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‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Justin Chambers on Karev’s Fate: ‘He Just Never Seems to Catch a Break’ – Variety

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Last weeks Greys Anatomy revealed the fate of Alex Karev (Justin Chambers).

After numerous episodes this season dealt with the aftermath of Karev beating up DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti), Alex had decided to accept a plea deal, which would put him behind bars. However, he had gone missing and no one knew what he was up to until last week when suddenly, he surprised Meredith at home.

The episode last week cut with Karevs surprise return home, begging the question, how did he get out of jail time? Tonights ep will reveal all of those details. But first,Variety chatted with Chambers aboutwhat to expect now that Alex is back.

I think having everything taken from him I think he learned a lot there, but I think he appreciates being in peace and hes very good at what he does and he thrives there, Chambers explains of how the experience will change Alex.

As for Jo (Camilla Luddington), their relationship will require a lot of work to get back on track. He was going to take a plea deal to protect his girl. Theyre not together right now, but well see where that goes, Chambers says.Hes still angry with her, but if anyone knows anything about second chances, its Alex. So he has that to think about. She messed up, but there must be a piece of him that still feels for her. Love just doesnt die like that.

Whatever happens, Chambers has a personal wish for his character: I just hope Alex finds some happiness. Crap. He just never seems to catch a break. Im thinking soon there might be some stability, he teases.

However, in real life, Chambers is ecstatic to be experiencing 13 seasons of stability

Its a blessing. Its crazy. Its so awesome, the original cast member says of Greys Anatomys flourishing in its 13th season.With a laugh, he adds, Even ER, I think theirratings dropped a lot in their 13th year.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Star Justin Chambers on Karev's Fate: 'He Just Never Seems to Catch a Break' - Variety

Genetic Engineering – The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Interspecies gene transfer occurs naturally; interspecies hybrids produced by sexual means can lead to new species with genetic components of both pre-existing species. Interspecies hybridization played an important role in the development of domesticated plants.

Interspecies gene transfer occurs naturally; interspecies hybrids produced by sexual means can lead to new species with genetic components of both pre-existing species. Interspecies hybridization played an important role in the development of domesticated plants. Interspecies hybrids can also be produced artificiallly between sexually incompatible species. Cells of both plants and animals can be caused to fuse, producing viable hybrid cell-lines. Cultured hybrid plant cells can regenerate whole plants, so cell fusion allows crosses of sexually incompatible species. Most animal cells cannot regenerate whole individuals; however, the fusion of antibody-forming cells (which are difficult to culture) and "transformed" (cancer-like) cells, gives rise to immortal cell-lines, each producing one particular antibody, so-called monoclonal antibodies. These cell-lines can be used for the commercial production of diagnostic and antidisease antibody preparations. (Fusions involving human cells play a major role in investigations of human heredity and GENETIC DISEASE.)

In nature, the transfer of genes between sexually incompatible species also occurs; for example, genes can be carried between species during viral infection. In its most limited sense, genetic engineering exploits the possibility of such transfers between remotely related species. There are two principle methods. First, genes from one organism can be implanted within another, so that the implanted genes function in the host organism. Alternatively, the new host organism (often a micro-organism) produces quantities of the DNA segment that contains a foreign gene, which can then be analysed and modified in the test tube, before return to the species from which the gene originated. Dr Michael SMITH of the University of British Columbia was the corecipient of the 1993 NOBEL PRIZE in Chemistry for his invention of one of the most direct means to modify gene structure in the test tube, a technique known as in vitro mutagenesis.

The continuing development of modern genetic engineering depends upon a number of major technical advances: cloning, gene cloning and DNA sequencing.

Cloning is the production of a group of genetically identical cells or individuals from a single starting cell; all members of a clone are effectively genetically identical. Most single-celled organisms, many plants and a few multicellular animals form clones as a means of reproduction - "asexual" reproduction. In humans, identical twins are clones, developing after the separation of the earliest cells formed from a single fertilized egg.

Cloning is not strictly genetic engineering, since the genome normally remains unaltered, but it is a practical means to propagate engineered organisms.

In combination with test-tube fertilization and embryo transplants, Alta Genetics of Calgary is a world leader in the use of artificial twinning as a tool in the genetic engineering of cattle. Manipulating plant hormones in plant cell cultures can yield clones consisting of millions of plantlets, which may be packageable to form artificial seed.

Cloning of genetically engineered animals is generally difficult. Clones of frogs have been produced by transplanting identical nuclei from a single embryo, each to a different nucleus-free egg. This technique is not applicable to mammals. However, clones of cells derived from very young mammalian embryos (embryonic stem cells) can be used to reconstitute whole animals and are widely used for genetic engineering of mice. There is no reported instance of cloning of humans by any artificial means. Nonetheless, frequent calls for regulation of human cloning and genetic engineering occur, which stem from the same considerations that lead most commentators to reject eugenics.

Gene cloning is fundamental to genetic engineering. A segment of DNA from any donor organism is joined in the test tube to a second DNA molecule, known as a vector, to form a "recombinant " DNA molecule.

The design of appropriate vectors is an important practical area. Entry of DNA into each kind of cell is best mediated by different vectors. For BACTERIA, vectors are based on DNA molecules that move between cells in nature - bacterial VIRUSES and plasmids. Mammalian vectors usually derive from mammalian viruses. In higher plants, the favoured system is the infectious agent of crown-gall tumours.

Gene cloning in microbes has reached commercial application, notably with the marketing of human INSULIN produced by bacteria. Many similar products are now available, including growth hormones, blood-clotting factors and antiviral interferons. Gene cloning has revolutionized the understanding of genes, cells and diseases particularly of CANCER. It has raised the diagnosis of hereditary disease to high science, has contributed precise diagnostic tools for infectious disease and is fundamental to the use of DNA testing in forensic science.

The ability to clone genes led directly to the discovery of the means to analyse the precise chemical structure of DNA; that is, DNA sequencing. A worldwide co-operative project, the Human Genome Project, is now underway, with the object of cloning and sequencing the totality of human DNA, which contains perhaps 100000 or more genes. To date, at least 80% of the DNA has been cloned and localized roughly within the human chromosome set. It is predicted that the sequencing will be effectively completed in less than 20 years. However, it is clear that the biological meaning of the DNA structure will take decades, if not centuries, to decipher.

To avoid potential hazards deriving from genetic engineering, gene cloning even in bacteria is publicly regulated in Canada and the US by the scientific granting agencies and in some other countries by law. Biological containment, the deliberate hereditary debilitation of host cells and vectors, is required. In using mammals and higher plants, especially strict regulations apply, requiring physical isolation.

A great deal of work remains, both in the development of techniques and in the acquisition of fundamental knowledge needed to apply the techniques appropriately. Nonetheless, genetic engineering promises a world of tailor-made CROP plants and farm animals; cures for hereditary disease by gene replacement therapy; an analytical understanding of cancer and its treatment; and a world in which much of our present-day harsh chemical technology is replaced by milder, organism-dependent, fermentation processing.

In Canada, genetic engineering research is taking place in the laboratories of universities, industries, and federal and provincial research organizations. In the industrial sector, medical applications are being developed, for example at Ayerst Laboratories, Montral, AVENTIS PASTEUR LTD., Toronto, and theINSTITUT ARMAND-FRAPPIER, Laval-des-Rapides, Qubec.

Inco is researching applications for MINING and METALLURGY, and LABATT'S BREWERIESis applying recombinant DNA techniques to brewing technologies. A large number of Canadian companies engage in the research and development of genetically engineered products, particularly in the area of PHARMACEUTICALS and medical diagnostics. As many as half of the federally operated NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL Research Institutes have significant involvement with genetic engineering, including the Biotechnology Research Institute (Montral) and the Plant Biotechnology Institute (Saskatoon), whose mandates are largely in this area. The Veterinary Infectious Disease Organization, based at University of Saskatchewan, is using genetic engineering technology for production of new vaccines for livestock diseases.

See also ANIMAL BREEDING; PLANT BREEDING; HUMAN GENOME PROJECT; BIOTECHNOLOGY; TRANSPLANTATION.

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Genetic Engineering - The Canadian Encyclopedia

How evolution alters biological invasions – Phys.org – Phys.Org

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February 13, 2017 by Todd B. Bates A paramecium, one of the protozoans used in the Rutgers evolution and invasions experiment. Credit: Peter J. Morin

Biological invasions pose major threats to biodiversity, but little is known about how evolution might alter their impacts over time.

Now, Rutgers University scientists have performed the first study of how evolution unfolds after invasions change native systems.

The experimental invasionselaborate experiments designed by doctoral student Cara A. Faillace and her adviser, Professor Peter J. Morintook place in glass jars suitable for savory jam or jelly, with thousands of microscopic organisms on each side. After entering the jarsuncharted territory - the invaders won some battles and lost some against the "natives."

"Oftentimes, we know the initial impacts of invasive species but we don't know the long-term impactsif things will get better or worse," said Morin, a distinguished professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Natural Resources in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. "Cara found that both things can happen, and it will depend a lot on the details of the biology of the species that's introduced and the biology of the community that's invaded."

The Rutgers scientists coauthored a study"Evolution Alters the Consequences of Invasions in Experimental Communities"that was published recently in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Typically, biological invasions unfold when humans introduce exotic species - either accidentally or on purpose - into areas where they are not native, Faillace said. Invasive species, a subset of exotic species, usually are ecologically or economically harmful.

"Invasions can cause extinctions and that's been documented globally," she said. "They can also reduce diversity through competition, predation and when they introduce a pathogen."

In their study, the Rutgers researchers compared the performance of populations of resident and invading species before and after they interacted, and potentially evolved, for about 200 to 400 generations. They used two different groups of resident species consisting of aquatic bacteria, ciliates - protozoans with hair-like projections called ciliaand rotifers, organisms with cilia-laced mouths and retractable feet. The ciliates and rotifers were collected from Bamboo Pond in Rutgers Gardens in New Brunswick.

For the nearly two-year experiments, one species from each group was designated as an invader of the other community. One group had five ciliates and a rotifer. The other group had three different ciliates and a different rotifer.

The organisms' worlds were loosely lidded 8.5-ounce jarsabout the size of a jelly jar. The jars contained food, vitamins, sterile water and two sterile wheat seeds for extra nutrients.

There were likely hundreds of thousands of protozoans in a microcosm, or jar, and populations turned over fairly quickly, with many chances for mutations, Morin said.

"Every time an individual divides, it's still alive and it takes six to 24 hours for most of these organisms to reproduce," he said.

The study's results showed that the microbes' interactions altered the performance of the resident and invading species, and the researchers think evolution led to differences in performance.

A couple of species were abundant in the beginning but went extinct (they could not be found in the jar) after being invaded, Faillace added.

In nature, most biological invasions are accidental, Morin said.

"It took several tries to get the European starling in North America established, and that was intentional," he said. "Now they're the bane of every native bird."

"Gypsy moths were brought to North America by someone who wanted to see if they could establish a silk industry using gypsy moths," Morin said. "The cage they were kept in was damaged, they were released and the rest is history."

Yet many organisms, such as the emerald ash borer, which kills ash trees, get introduced accidentally through commerce, Faillace said. They include the Asian longhorned beetle, which also attacks and kills trees and likely arrived in shipping containers or pallets.

Biological invasions are especially damaging when a predator or pathogen is introduced and when native species have never encountered a predator, the scientists said.

Climate change is a major factor in biological invasions and its impact is likely increasing, Faillace said.

"Presumably as climate shifts, the species that can invade will change or the ranges of species that have invaded will change," she said.

"The bottom line is that we should expect to see changes in the impacts of invasive species as invaders and native species evolve over time," Morin said.

Explore further: Predator or not? Invasive snails hide even when they don't know

More information: Cara A. Faillace et al, Evolution alters the consequences of invasions in experimental communities, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2016). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-016-0013

Recognizing the signs of a predator can mean the difference between living to see another day and becoming another critter's midday snack.

Biological invasions get less prime-time coverage than natural disasters, but may be more economically damaging and warrant corresponding investments in preparedness and response planning, according to three biologists writing ...

The second longest river in the UK, the River Thames, contains 96 non-native species, making it one of the most highly invaded freshwater systems in the world.

When non-native herbivores invade new geographic regions, the consequences can be devastating to the native plants. Epidemic levels of herbivory damage may ensue because the delicate biological interactions that keep everything ...

Invasions from alien species such as Japanese Knotweed and grey squirrels threaten the economies and livelihoods of residents of some of the world's poorest nations, new University of Exeter research shows.

For the first time it is now possible to get a comprehensive overview of which alien species are present in Europe, their impacts and consequences for the environment and society. More than 11,000 alien species have been ...

Biological invasions pose major threats to biodiversity, but little is known about how evolution might alter their impacts over time.

From eyes the size of basketballs to appendages that blink and glow, deep-sea dwellers have developed some strange features to help them survive their cold, dark habitat.

Growing up in tough conditions can make wild animals live longer, new research suggests.

Cells need to repair damaged DNA in our genes to prevent the development of cancer and other diseases. Our cells therefore activate and send "repair-proteins" to the damaged parts within the DNA. To do this, an elaborate ...

Previous studies of flocks, swarms, and schools suggest that animal societies may verge on a "critical" pointin other words, they are extremely sensitive and can be easily tipped into a new social regime. But exactly how ...

A team at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has discovered how a promising malarial vaccine target - the protein RH5 - helps parasites to invade human red blood
cells. Published today in Nature Communications, the study ...

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How evolution alters biological invasions - Phys.org - Phys.Org

Roses are red, violets are bluewhat gives flowers those eye-catching hues? – Phys.Org

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February 13, 2017 by Cheryl Dybas Knock-your-eyes-out red: A flowering plant native to Mexico called early jessamine or red cestrum. Credit: Stacey Smith

To solve the mystery of why roses are red and violets are blue, scientists are peering into the genes of plant petals.

"When you ask anyone how one flower is different from another, for most of us, color is the feature that first comes to mind," says evolutionary biologist Stacey Smith of the University of Colorado Boulder.

Most people don't think about why a flower is a particular color, but it's an important question for biologists, says Prosanta Chakrabarty, a program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology, which funds Smith's research.

Smith and her team are "looking at the genetics of flower colors, and at changes in those colors over time," Chakrabarty says.

It all comes down to biochemistry

In nature, flowers come in hues that span the rainbow.

"On a microscopic level, the colors come from the biochemical composition of petal cells," Smith says.

Pigments are the main chemicals responsible. Plants contain thousands of pigment compounds, all of which belong to three major groups: flavonoids, carotenoids and betalains. Most flower colors come from flavonoids and carotenoids.

"In addition to giving flowers their colors, carotenoids and anthocyaninswhich are flavonoidshave antioxidant and other medicinal properties, including anti-cancer, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory activity," says Simon Malcomber, a program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology.

Malcomber says the research could show how plants evolved to synthesize the carotenoids and anthocyanins that produce red flowers. "The results could be used in future drug discovery research," he says.

Much of Smith's work is focused on understanding how changes in flavonoid and carotenoid biochemistry relate to differences in flower colors. She and colleagues conduct research on the tomato family, a group of about 2,800 species that includes tomatoes, eggplants, chili peppers, tobacco and potatoes.

"These domesticated species don't have a terribly wide range of flower colors and patterns, but their wild relatives often do," Smith says. "So we study wild, or undomesticated, species, which are most diverse in South America."

Hot pursuit of red-hot color

Smith has had her share of adventures in the fieldlike the time she tried to find a plant with red flowers that lives at the base of a volcanic crater in Ecuador.

"It was my very first field trip, and I wasn't super-savvy," Smith says. "I took a bus to the outside of the crater, dragged my suitcase up to the rim then down into the crater, assuming there would be a village and a way to get out. There was neither. Thankfully, there was a park station nearby where I was able to stay overnight. I found the species in full flower in the forest the next day."

Smith is currently in hot pursuit of an answer to the question: When did red flowers first appear in the tomato family? "We thought that red flowers might have evolved many times independently of each other because red-flowered species are scattered among many branches of this family tree," she says.

Just 34 species in the entire tomato family, however, have red flowers.

"With such a small number, we can take samples of every one of these species to find out whether it represents an independent origin, and to determine the biochemistry of how it makes red flowers," Smith says.

She and other biologists traveled from Brazil to Colombia to Mexico to track down red flowers and measure their pigments. "We found surprising patterns," Smith says, "including that nearly every red-flowered species represents a new origin of the color, so red flowers have evolved at least 30 different times."

While the researchers expected that flowers would be red due to the presence of red pigments, they found that plants often combine yellow-orange carotenoids with purple anthocyanins to produce red flowers.

"Our studies are now aimed at tracing the entire genetic pathway by which plants make flower colors and identifying genetic changes to see if there are common mechanisms," Smith says.

The scientists want to know, for example, what changes have taken place since flowers first became red.

Answers in a petunia

"We're focusing on a single branch of the tomato family [petunias], creating an evolutionary history and conducting measurements of gene expression, pigment production and flower color," says Smith.

Petunias and their colorful relatives are good choices for this research, according to Smith.

"Most of us have seen the tremendous variation in petunia colors at our local nurseries, and indeed, petunias have served as models for studying flower color and biochemistry for decades."

Few people, though, are aware of the variation in petunias' wild relatives, most of which are found in Argentina and Brazil. "We're harnessing this natural diversity, as well as genetic information already available from ornamental petunias, to reconstruct the evolutionary history of flower colors," says Smith.

"If earlier studies taught us anything," she adds, "we shouldn't expect flowers to play by the rules."

Will roses always be red, and violets blue?

Explore further: Turning pretty penstemon flowers from blue to red

While roses are red, and violets are blue, how exactly do flower colors change?

Flower colors that contrast with their background are more important to foraging bees than patterns of colored veins on pale flowers according to new research, by Heather Whitney from the University of Cambridge in the UK, ...

(Phys.org) -- A team of researchers in Australia has shown that the evolution of flowers in that country was driven by the preferences of bees, rather than the other way around. In their paper published in the Proceedings ...

Researchers have uncovered the secret recipe to making some petunias such a rare shade of blue. The findings may help to explain and manipulate the color of other ornamental flowers, not to mention the taste of fruits and ...

Male hummingbirds drive female birds away from their preferred yellow-flowered plant, which may have implications for flower diversification, according a study published Jan. 27, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by ...

Roses are red, violets are blue. Everybody knows that, but what makes them so? Although plant breeders were aware of some of the genes involved, there was as yet no quantitative study of how pigment turns a flower red, blue ...

Biological invasions pose major threats to biodiversity, but little is known about how evolution might alter their impacts over time.

From eyes the size of basketballs to appendages that blink and glow, deep-sea dwellers have developed some strange features to help them survive their cold, dark habitat.

Growing up in tough conditions can make wild animals live longer, new research suggests.

Cells need to repair damaged DNA in our genes to prevent the development of cancer and other diseases. Our cells therefore activate and send "repair-proteins" to the damaged parts within the DNA. To do this, an elaborate ...

Previous studies of flocks, swarms, and schools suggest that animal societies may verge on a "critical" pointin other words, they are extremely sensitive and can be easily tipped into a new social regime. But exactly how ...

A team at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has discovered how a promising malarial vaccine target - the protein RH5 - helps parasites to invade human red blood cells. Published today in Nature Communications, the study ...

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Roses are red, violets are bluewhat gives flowers those eye-catching hues? - Phys.Org

The New ABCs of Medical School: Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Cooking – Food Tank (blog)

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As Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine, spoke, Let food be thy medicine. However, most medical schools in the United States do not adequately teach nutrition. Several programs, including at Tulane University, are addressing this shortcoming by including cooking classes in their curriculum. The hope is that by teaching future doctors how to cook delicious and healthy meals, they will pass that knowledge on to their patients, improving long-term health.

The rates of obesity and obesity-related diseases are increasing throughout the world according to Prediabetes: A Worldwide Epidemic. The Center for Disease Control reports that nearly half of all deaths in the United States are due to heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. Entire scientific journals, such as Nutrition and Health, Diabetes, and the Journal of Nutrition, are devoted to examining the relationships between nutrition and health. Research has shown that nutrition is one of the leading causes of and significantly affects the management of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and aging-related diseases.

There is no clear correlation between policy recommendations and nutrition choices. For example, a study that provided nutrition information to adults at fast-food chains found that simply providing information did not alter consumer choices. Coaching has consistently proven effective at changing eating habits, especially when tailored to an individuals lifestyle and medical history. Many see using doctors as nutrition coaches as a natural extension of a physicians duties and a valuable opportunity for one-on-one intervention. However, a National Institute of Health survey revealed that a majority of primary care physicians do not give diet advice. According to polls reported by the Washington Post, less than 25 percent of doctors feel they are informed enough regarding nutrition to discuss it knowledgeably.

Tulanes program was developed in 2014 to better instruct medical students in nutrition. According to their website, Through hands-on cooking classes, medical students and physicians learn the practical aspects of lifestyle change necessary to help them guide their patients to healthier choices.

The National Academy of Sciences recommends 25 hours of nutrition instruction for medical students, whereas the Tulane course requires 53 hours of culinary classes, 53 hours clinical care teaching, and 53 hours learning nutritional counseling strategies in lifestyle modification. Researchers at Tulane examined the effectiveness of the program and found improvements to the lifestyle of medical participants and significant health benefits to diabetic patients, including improved HbA1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

To date, 28 other medical schools, two residency programs, and two nursing schools have adapted the Tulane curriculum. Dartmouth, the University of Chicago, the University of Massachusetts, and others have started similar programs within their medical schools. Harvard University partnered with the Culinary Institute of America to offer week-long workshops that have demonstrated improvements in attendees ability to advise patients as well as ameliorating their lifestyle, including cooking more at home, making healthier food choices like whole grains and nuts, and heightened awareness of calorie consumption.

Personally taking culinary classes can improve peoples diets without making a trip to the doctor. Programs in Chicago improve nutrition knowledge and vegetable consumption in children. Community kitchens in Peru taught adolescents and improved their diets. Similar kitchens in Canada have had a similar effect of improving lifestyles and education within several communities. In general, public health researchers find that cooking at home can significantly improve health when the knowledge of good nutrition is applied. For some of the Tulane programs recipes, click here.

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The New ABCs of Medical School: Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Cooking - Food Tank (blog)

Consider this great new filler – Palm Beach Post

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Question: What is the latest filler option?

Answer: The newest filler on the market is called Juvaderm Voluma XC, and it restores volume that is lost in the mid-face area. The mid-face loses volume with age, making the face appear droopy and accentuating the nasolabial lines and jowls.

Using Juvaderm Voluma XC to fill in the mid-face hollowness can restore a more youthful appearance. This easy, simple injection has several advantages over current filler options.

Juvaderm Voluma XC can last up to three years, and it can be easily dissolved on the rare chance that the results are not satisfactory. Like juvaderm, Voluma XC is a hyaluronic acid, which is a sugar molecule that is naturally occurring in the body.

MD Beauty Labs is proud to be one of the first to offer this effective, safe and long-lasting filler. Please contact MD Beauty Labs at (561) 655-6325, or visit us at our website http://www.mdbeautylabs.com to learn more about this exciting new filler option.

Daniela Dadurian, M.D., specializes in anti-aging medicine and is an expert in non-surgical body-contouring techniques. She received her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine and has traveled the world researching the safest and latest technologies on the market.

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Consider this great new filler - Palm Beach Post

Will a Radical Plan to Save New Zealand’s Birds With Genetic Engineering Work? – Gizmodo

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Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark with a Spotted Kiwi. Image: Getty Images

That the kiwi bird still exists at all is something of a marvel. Its native New Zealand has no endemic land predators, and so the bird evolved to be flightless. Today, its nests on the forest floor are under constant attack by invasive speciesopossums, rats, feral cats and the occasional misbehaving dog.

Despite conservation efforts, there are less than 70,000 kiwi left in all of New Zealand. The country loses about 20 kiwibirds a week.

But a radical new plan imagines modern technology as the key to saving New Zealanders namesake kiwi, and other native birds threatened by invaders: scientists want to use a genetic engineering technique known as a gene drive to stamp out invasive rodents for good.

Gene drives allow scientists to override natural selection during reproduction, in theory allowing for the alteration of the genetic makeup of large populations of animals in a relatively short amount of time. A story today in theMIT Technology Review reports that scientific teams in Australia and Texas have successfully engineered mice to only birth male offspring, a bias meant to drive down mouse populations on an island. Its the first time a gene drive has ever been used in a mammal. The scientists are working with a US conservation group, but the New Zealand government has suggested its open to using genetic engineering to deal with its own invasive problem.

This is not the first time that gene drive has been proposed as a means of conservation. In Hawaii, gene drive have been floated as a solution to the disease-carrying mosquitoes that threaten native bird populations. But there, the idea has been met with fierce resistance from environmentalists and native Hawaiians, and gained little traction.

In New Zealand, the idea may find more support. Last summer, the government announced a bold plan to eradicate all wild predators by 2050. It invested $28 million in a new joint venture company, Predator Free New Zealand Ltd, with the stated goal of achieving a scientific breakthrough capable of removing at least one small mammalian predator from New Zealand entirely by 2025. The countrys Department of Conservation has suggested genetic engineering just might be that breakthrough.

To think we are going to become predator free without poisons distributed from aircraft and/or genetic engineering could be viewed as overly optimistic, New Zealand Department of Conservation scientist Josh Kemp told a New Zealand news site after the announcement.

But while gene drives are highly controversial, inspiring panic about scientists accidentally unleashing a poorly-engineered creature that wreaks ecological havoc, its still unclear whether the technology will actually work in the wild.

Gene drives thwart natural selection by creating a so-called selfish gene that gets passed down to its offspring with more consistency than the rules of inheritance would allow, eventually spreading through an entire populationin theory. But recent research has suggested that wild populations will almost certainly develop resistance to lab-engineered modifications. In late 2015, researchers reported that while a CRISPR gene drive had indeed allowed an infertility mutation in female mosquitoes to be passed on to all offspring, as the mutation increased in frequency over several generations, resistance to the gene drive also emerged.

These things are not going to get too far in terms of eradicating a population, Michael Wade, an evolutionary geneticist at Indiana University Bloomington, recently told Nature.

Of course, should scientists find a way around that hurdle, there are still plenty of obstacles. In the wild, the engineered mice might not be as successful in competing for mates. And while they may succeed in eradicating mice populations on small islands, as the scientists are initially proposing in New Zealand, tackling the rodent population of New Zealands main islands is another thing entirely. Then there is the issue of public opinion. Resistance to the idea of messing with nature has made gene drives an incredibly fraught issue. At a recent meeting of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity in Mexico, activists asked the UN to consider a global moratorium on gene drive. In response, the UN asked that scientists take heed of social, environmental, legal, and ethical considerations to develop the technology responsibly.

The gene drive is a technology that is rapidly advancing. In the past two years, it has gone from being just a theory to a technique successfully tested in yeast, fruit flies, mosquitoes and now mice.

The modified mice engineered by scientists at Texas A&M University were only born in the past two months, according to the Technology Review. It will take several generations of breeding to determine whether the male-only trait is successfully passed on to future generations, as hoped. As of January, the second team at University of Adelaide was still working on breeding its first generation of engineered mice.

If they are successful, those mice may eventually be released on sea islands where mice have been known to prey on albatross chicks. And if it all goes well, one day, those engineered pests may save the kiwi bird, too.

[MIT Technology Review]

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Will a Radical Plan to Save New Zealand's Birds With Genetic Engineering Work? - Gizmodo

Applied Behavioral Science | CLG, Continuous Learning Group

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It is a fact of life that nothing changes until behaviors change. Applied Behavioral Science can help you to understand why people say and do certain things. The study of behavioral science has matured through the 20th century, and today is a combination of the traditional elements of science and the more innovative application in organizations.

The science of behavior relies on proven methods to help companies understand what influences behavior, and how managing those influences will impact the entire organization. ABS tools cut through many of the soft factors, such as personality and motivation, and focus on what can be directly observed and objectified, utilizing a scientific, data-based process that analyzes changes and manages behaviors.

ABS is very much a teaching and coaching approach, in which the leaders goal becomes the success of every employee. In this scientific process, early indicators are identified to objectively analyze the impact of changing behavior. Utilizing ABS, leaders may discern the correct behaviors to measure, and make early predictions as to whether the desired results will be achieved.

Harnessing the power of ABS and achieving the behaviors that are linked to end results clearly correlates to improvements in:

Through the implementation of ABS, you have the power to influence every behavior within your organization. ABS helps leaders to understand the impact of antecedents and consequences of behavior. With CLGs support, you can then utilize this science to implement behavior changes across large groups of employees across your organization.

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Applied Behavioral Science | CLG, Continuous Learning Group

Regenerative Medicine Has a Bright Future – Healthline

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U.S. Army scientists, working with medical technology companies, have successfully tested and used products and techniques that have enabled Army surgeons to replace the severely burned skin of soldiers as well as transplant new hands and even faces.

At Duke University, researchers are studying zebra fish to learn how science and medicine might someday be able to regenerate severed human spinal cords.

These examples one already in practice and the other in the early research stages illustrate the potential that regenerative medicine offers for the future of medical care.

This research aims to go beyond easing the pain of life-threatening illnesses by changing the way diseases affect the body and then eradicating them.

The vast majority of currently available treatments for chronic and/or life-threatening diseases are palliative, Morrie Ruffin, managing director of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), told Healthline.

ARM, based in Washington, D.C., is considered the preeminent global advocate for regenerative and advanced therapies.

Other treatments delay disease progression and the onset of complications associated with the underlying illness, he said. Very few therapies in use today are capable of curing or significantly changing the course of disease.

Regenerative medicine has the unique ability to alter the fundamental mechanisms of disease, and thereby offer treatment options to patients where there is significant unmet medical need.

And it has the potential to address the underlying causes of disease, Ruffin said, representing a new and growing paradigm in human health.

The field encompasses a number of different technologies, including cell, gene, and tissue-based therapies.

Read more: Re-growing teeth and healing wounds without scars

With the Army breakthroughs, government investment was key.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has invested more than $250 million in regenerative medicine research over the past decade in an effort to make promising technologies available to wounded service members.

Dr. Wendy Dean is medical officer for the Tissue Injury and Regenerative Medicine Project Management Office at the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity at Fort Detrick, Md., home to the Armys Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Those investments have yielded a stress-shielding surgical bandage, Embrace, to reduce scarring after surgery, Dean told Healthline. The research has also enabled tremendous progress in burn care, allowing surgeons to improve recovery from severe burns with the use of novel skin replacement strategies, such as ReCell spray-on skin, or skin substitutes such as StrataGraft. These skin replacement methods reduce or eliminate the need for donor sites, a frequent request of burn patients.

These revolutionary products were not developed by the Army, Dean said, but were supported with research funding, initially through the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

The DOD also has invested in hand and face transplantation efforts for service members and civilians whose injuries are so severe that conventional reconstruction is insufficient, she said.

Dean noted that DOD funding has supported 13 hand transplants to date, including a transplant for retired Sgt. Brendan Marrocco in 2012. He was the first service member to survive quadrilateral amputations sustained in combat. The funding also supported eight face transplants.

The Armys goal is to heal those injured in battle.

Regenerative medicine is still young, but it has shown tremendous progress over the last decade, Dean said. Our mission is to make wounded warriors whole by restoring form, function, and appearance. This field offers the best hope to someday fully restore lost tissue with tissue that is structurally, functionally, and aesthetically a perfect match. It may be years before the vision is a widespread reality, but the field is well on its way.

Read more: Regenerative medicine doctor says forget the pills

At Duke University, Kenneth Poss, professor of cell biology, and director of the Regeneration Next initiative, was the senior investigator for a study of spinal cord regeneration in zebra fish.

Those findings were published in November in the journal ScienceDaily.

In my lab, we are researching genetic factors that enable regeneration of tissues such as heart and spinal in nonmammalian animals like zebra fish, Poss told Healthline. A scientist in my lab, Mayssa Mokalled, led a study finding that a gene called connective tissue growth factor [CTGF] is important for spinal cord regeneration in zebra fish after an injury that completely severs the cord.

CTGF is necessary to stimulate cells called glia to form a tissue bridge across the severed parts of the spinal cord an early step in spinal cord regeneration.

Within eight weeks, the scientists found that zebra fish regenerate a severed spinal cord, including nerve cells, and fully reverse their paralysis.

Developing techniques to treat and reverse spinal cord damage, a paralyzing and often fatal injury, is a pressing need in regenerative medicine, Poss said.

Our findings present a step toward understanding which glial cells can be encouraged to help heal the spinal cord, and how to stimulate this activity, he said. This is just the first step in many before the findings could be applied to humans.

Poss is already planning trials with mice that he hopes to start in the next few months. Mice represent an important stage in applying his latest findings, he said.

Read more: Should you store or donate your childs umbilical cord blood?

So, why is regenerative medicine important?

Regenerative medicine seeks ways to re-grow or engineer healthy tissue without the need for transplants, Poss said. On a global scale, theres a tremendous organ shortage, and transplantation is an expensive and nonpermanent solution.

Imagine the number of lives that could be improved if, for example, we could find ways to use the bodys innate healing mechanisms to regenerate heart muscle in patients that are spiraling toward heart failure after a heart attack.

Imagine how many lives could be improved if we could find interventions that restore functional spinal cord tissue and reverse paralysis.

Ruffin of ARM sees a promising future for regenerative medicine.

We will continue to see the development of additional regenerative medicine therapies for a broad number of acute and chronic, inherited and acquired diseases and disorders, he said. Therapies in this area will continue to advance along the regulatory pathway, many of which are entering phase III clinical trials this year.

In fact, in the next two years, we are anticipating a number of U.S. and E.U. approvals in the cell and gene therapy sector, including therapies that address certain types of cancers, debilitating retinal disorders, rare genetic diseases, and autoimmune conditions. We also expect to see sustained investment, which will help fuel growth and product development within this sector.

A number of cell and gene therapies and technology platforms are demonstrating real potential to address areas of significant unmet medical need, Ruffin said.

These include cell therapies for blood cancers and solid tumors; gene therapies for rare genetic diseases as well as chronic conditions; and gene editing for the precise targeting and modification of genetic material of a patients cells to cure a broad range of diseases with a single treatment.

Poss at Duke talked about the ultimate quest.

Regenerative medicine has been most successful in restoring or replacing the hematopoietic tissue that creates blood, he said.

We still lack successful regenerative therapies for most tissues, Poss said. The future of regenerative medicine the holy grail will be stimulating the regeneration of healthy tissue in patients without adding cells or manufactured tissue.

Working out the details of innate mechanisms of regeneration in animals like salamanders, zebra fish, and mice, can inform this approach, he said. So can improvement in factor delivery and genome editing applications to encourage the regeneration of healthy tissue.

Ultimately, Poss said, regenerative medicine will change the toolbox of physicians and surgeons, with major impact on outcomes of diabetes, spinal cord injuries, neurodegenerative disease, and heart failure.

ARM says the public does not realize how far the field has progressed in recent years.

Currently, there are more than 20 regenerative medicine products on the market, Ruffin said, primarily in the therapeutic areas of oncology, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular repair, and wound healing.

More than 800 clinical trials are now underway to evaluate regenerative advanced therapies in a vast array of therapeutic categories, he said.

Were seeing a significant focus on oncology, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases, with more than 60 percent of trials falling into one of these three categories, he added. Even though the majority of people perceive regenerative medicine as something of the future, its actually here and now.

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Regenerative Medicine Has a Bright Future - Healthline

Non-Medical Medical Decisions | Commentary by Dr. Gene Dorio – SCVNEWS.com

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A pediatrician decides a struggling teen with mental illness needs hospitalization to neutralize psychologic demons impacting their personal and social life.

A workers compensation doctor requests a neck MRI in a powerline worker with growing right arm numbness and weakness to search for potential paralyzing nerve impingement.

An orthopedist orders special testing to determine if an elder patient with right hip pain which limits walking and driving might need surgery to improve her quality of life.

Physicians are rigorously trained to make decisions in the best interest of their patients. Even after medical school and residency, doctors must follow the challenges of evidence-based medicine, standard of care, peer review, and muster the time for continuing medical education and certification.

Doctors are not only held accountable by their peers, but also legally, as they could be subject to lawsuits. Additionally, state licensing agencies that oversee medical professionals can discipline them, should they not practice medicine up to the standards of quality medical decision-making.

However, what if the teens pediatrician feels hospitalization is acutely needed for mental illness, but it is denied by the insurance company? What if the workers comp physician orders an MRI for the powerline workers ailing right arm, but it is denied? Or, if special testing to evaluate grandmas worsening mobility and pain is turned down by the HMO? Who is held accountable?

To justify requests for specific patient care, physicians are forced to have peer-to-peer phone discussions with doctors employed by insurance companies, workers comp and HMOs. Frequently, these conversations result in denial of further care without medical justification.

A controversial question arises: Are denials by these company doctors considered medical decisions?

They are not. These decisions are considered utilization review. What does this mean? They are making decisions based on controlling costs, which is in the financial interest of the for-profit agencies they serve but not necessarily in the best interest of the patient.

Even though they are licensed doctors practicing medicine, their role in patient care is under the guise of utilization review and therefore not under the scrutiny of state licensing agencies.

What if these physicians deny care because they are incentivized to enhance personal bonuses? More so, what if some are making decisions outside the realm of their medical expertise (e.g., a urologist deciding about a diabetic)? Who holds these physicians accountable for moral transgressions or lack of judgement?

In California, we have a Medical Board that oversees licensing for all state physicians. If you report a licensed physician for making substandard medical decisions, an investigation ensues. If, though, the doctor is employed by an insurance company, workers comp or HMO and makes denial decisions on their behalf, it is considered utilization review, and they are not held accountable.

I do not pretend to understand every law and rule governing the Medical Board. But these companies have created legal barriers protecting doctors who might make substandard medical decisions.

Many physicians continue to fight for patient care rights despite frustration and helplessness of ongoing phone calls and paperwork they face. Yet substandard medical care will hamper their efforts as laws are manipulated and oversight is negligible.

Making medical decisions has never been easy. Assuring accountability makes it even harder.

Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D., is a housecall geriatric physician and member of thePhysicians Organizing Committee atHenry Mayo Newhall Hospital. The views expressed in this column as his alone.

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Non-Medical Medical Decisions | Commentary by Dr. Gene Dorio - SCVNEWS.com

New method of genetic engineering indispensable tool in … – Science Daily

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Research by Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Huimin Zhao and graduate student Behnam Enghiad at the University of Illinois is pioneering a new method of genetic engineering for basic and applied biological research and medicine. Their work, reported in ACS Synthetic Biology on February 6 [DOI:10.1021/acssynbio.6b00324], has the potential to open new doors in genomic research by improving the precision and adherence of sliced DNA.

"Using our technology, we can create highly active artificial restriction enzymes with virtually any sequence specificity and defined sticky ends of varying length," said Zhao, who leads a synthetic biology research group at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois. "This is a rare example in biotechnology where a desired biological function or reagent can be readily and precisely designed in a rational manner."

Restriction enzymes are an important tool in genomic research: by cutting DNA at a specific site, they create a space wherein foreign DNA can be introduced for gene-editing purposes. This process is not only achieved by naturally-occurring restriction enzymes; other artificial restriction enzymes, or AREs, have risen to prominence in recent years. CRISPR-Cas9, a bacterial immune system used for "cut-and-paste" gene editing, and TALENs, modified restriction enzymes, are two popular examples of such techniques.

Though useful in genetic engineering, no AREs generate defined "sticky ends" -- an uneven break in the DNA ladder-structure that leaves complementary overhangs, improving adhesion when introducing new DNA. "If you can cleave two different DNA samples with the same restriction enzyme, the sticky ends that are generated are complementary," explained Enghiad. "They will hybridize with each other, and if you use a ligase, you can stick them together."

However, restriction enzymes themselves have a critical drawback: the recognition sequence which prompts them to cut is very short -- usually only four to eight base pairs. Because the enzymes will cut anywhere that sequence appears, researchers rely on finding a restriction enzyme whose cut site appears only once in the genome of their organism or plasmid -- an often difficult proposition when the DNA at hand might be thousands of base pairs long.

This problem has been partially solved simply by the sheer number of restriction enzymes discovered: more than 3600 have been characterized, and over 250 are commercially available. "Just in our freezer, for our other research, we have probably over 100 different restriction enzymes," said Enghiad. "We look through them all whenever we want to assemble something ... the chance of finding the unique restriction site is so low.

"Our new technology unifies all of those restriction enzymes into a single system consisting of one protein and two DNA guides. Not only have you replaced them, but you can now target sites that no available restriction enzymes can."

Enghiad and Zhao's new technique creates AREs through the use of an Argonaute protein (PfAgo) taken from Pyrococcus furiosus, an archeal species. Led by a DNA guide, PfAgo is able to recognize much longer sequences when finding its cut site, increasing specificity and removing much of the obstacles posed by restriction enzymes. Further, PfAgo can create longer sticky ends than even restriction enzymes, a substantial benefit as compared to other AREs.

"When we started, I was inspired by a paper about a related protein -- TtAgo. It could use a DNA guide to cleave DNA, but only up to 70 degrees," explained Enghiad. "DNA strands start to separate over 75 degrees, which could allow a protein to create sticky ends. If there were a protein that was active at higher temperatures, I reasoned, that protein could be used as an artificial restriction enzyme.

"So I started looking for that, and what I found was PfAgo."

In addition to replacing restriction enzymes in genetic engineering processes, Enghiad and Zhao believe their technology will have broad applications in the biological research. By creating arbitrary sticky ends, PfAgo could make assembly of large DNA molecules easier, and enables cloning of large DNA molecules such as biochemical pathways and large genes.

The application of these techniques is broad-reaching: ranging from discovery of new small molecule drugs to engineering of microbial cell factories for synthesis of fuels and chemicals to molecular diagnostics of genetic diseases and pathogens, which are the areas Zhao and Enghiad are currently exploring.

"Due to its unprecedented simplicity and programmability (a single protein plus DNA guides for targeting), as well as accessibility ... we expect PfAgo-based AREs will become a powerful and indispensable tool in all restriction enzyme or nuclease-enabled biotechnological applications and fundamental biological research," said Zhao. "It is to molecular biology as the CRISPR technology is to cell biology."

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New method of genetic engineering indispensable tool in ... - Science Daily

Adrian man combines wine with chemistry – The Daily Telegram

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Lonnie Huhman Daily Telegram Staff Writer @lenaweehuhman

ADRIAN Paul Rupert is taking his twin passions wine and chemistry to another level.

The Adrian man does so at his home-based laboratory, Cool Climate Analytical, which recently was recognized as one of 10 newly certified wine labs in the U.S. The certification comes from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Were very pleased to have received this certification, Rupert said in a statement. The presence of an independent TTB-certified wine lab in southern Michigan provides wineries located throughout the Midwest with analytical and diagnostic information critical to the winemaking process.

In addition, we now can facilitate the process for Midwest wineries as they develop opportunities for their wines in the international marketplace.

He said the certification allows his labs results to be accepted by the TTB, whose mission is to ensure that beverages containing alcohol are produced, labeled, advertised and marketed in accordance with federal law. The criteria for lab certification are based upon academic credentials, experience and the demonstration of accuracy and precision in the analysis of red and white wines across the nine chemical and physical parameters generally required for the export of wines. The analytical methodology is consistent with that developed by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC).

Rupert started the full-service laboratory in 2006 with Jon Treloar, who was an instructor in the AgTech Enology and Viticulture Program at Michigan State University and has since started his own vineyard and winery, J. Trees Cellars Tasting Room in Tecumseh. The goal of the lab was to support the analytical and diagnostic needs of the wine industry in Michigan and around the Midwest. It helps wineries with chemical analyses and diagnostics critical throughout the winemaking process.

Cool Climate is one of 42 TTB-certified wine laboratories in the U.S., of these, 33 of which are in the wine-producing regions of California and Washington, according to Rupert. Most are the internal wine labs of very large wine producers, he said. His lab works with many small- to medium-size wineries around the midwest. Leighs Garden Winery in Escanaba is one of the wineries hes worked with the longest.

Ruperts lab will do analytical services for samples from a winery wanting to know the content of such things as sugar, acids, carbohydrates and alcohol.

Rupert grew up in Pittsburgh. His love for chemistry was refined through his undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University and doctorate studies at the University of Pittsburgh. His career began with an oil company in Texas, but later brought him to Adrian and the Anderson Development Co., where he was president and CEO.

During that time his passion for chemistry remained intact, while his love for wine and its makeup grew. This led him to seek out further education in wine through the enology and viticulture program at MSU. One part of the program required putting together a business proposal. While many students were interested in vineyards and wineries, Rupert was interested in a wine lab.

I get to have my cake and eat it to, he said of combining wine and chemistry.

The labs growth slowed a bit in 2007 as Rupert took on a teaching role at Adrian College and the later as dean of graduate studies. His full attention turned back to the lab when he stepped down from his role at the college to devote himself fully to his passions.

Now, with the wine industry booming, Rupert said the lab is once again at the forefront. When he created his lab, he said, there were around 40 wineries in Michigan, but now that total has increased by at least 100.

Although devoted to the lab, Rupert hasnt turned his back on teaching. Next month he will teach wine-making classes through the Adrian Center for the Arts. He said there is still room for students. For those interested, contact the ACA at 517-902-8383.

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Trump: ‘Good Chemistry’ With Japan’s Leader – ABC News

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Trump: 'Good Chemistry' With Japan's Leader - ABC News

Revolutionizing Biotechnology with Artificial Restriction Enzymes … – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

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Scientists at the University of Illinois say they have developed a new technique of genetic engineering for basic and applied biological research and medicine. Their work ("Programmable DNA-Guided Artificial Restriction Enzymes"), reported inACS Synthetic Biology,could open new doors in genomic research by improving the precision and adherence of sliced DNA, according to the investigators.

"Using our technology, we can create highly active artificial restriction enzymes with virtually any sequence specificity and defined sticky ends of varying length," said Huimin Zhao, Ph.,D., professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, who leads a synthetic biology research group at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois. "This is a rare example in biotechnology where a desired biological function or reagent can be readily and precisely designed in a rational manner."

Restriction enzymes cut DNA at a specific site and create a space wherein foreign DNA can be introduced for gene-editing purposes. This process is not achieved only by naturally occurring restriction enzymes; artificial restriction enzymes, or AREs, have risen to prominence in recent years. CRISPR/Cas9, a bacterial immune system used for "cut-and-paste" gene editing, and TALENs, or transcription activator-like effector nucleases, which are modified restriction enzymes, are two popular examples of such techniques.

Though useful in genetic engineering, no AREs generate defined "sticky ends"an uneven break in the DNA ladder structure that leaves complementary overhangs, improving adhesion when introducing new DNA. "If you can cleave two different DNA samples with the same restriction enzyme, the sticky ends that are generated are complementary," explained graduate student Behnam Enghiad. "They will hybridize with each other, and if you use a ligase, you can stick them together."

However, restriction enzymes themselves have a critical drawback: the recognition sequence that prompts them to cut is very short, usually only four to eight base pairs. Because the enzymes will cut anywhere that sequence appears, researchers rely on finding a restriction enzyme whose cut site appears only once in the genome of their organism or plasmid, an often difficult proposition when the DNA at hand might be thousands of base pairs long.

This problem has been partially solved simply by the sheer number of restriction enzymes discovered: more than 3600 have been characterized, and over 250 are commercially available. "Just in our freezer, for our other research, we have probably over 100 different restriction enzymes," said Enghiad. "We look through them all whenever we want to assemble something. The chance of finding the unique restriction site is so low."

"Our new technology unifies all of those restriction enzymes into a single system consisting of one protein and two DNA guides. Not only have you replaced them, but you can now target sites that no available restriction enzymes can."

The new method creates AREs through the use of an Argonaute protein (PfAgo) taken fromPyrococcus furiosus, an archeal species. Led by a DNA guide, PfAgo is able to recognize much longer sequences when finding its cut site, increasing specificity and removing much of the obstacles posed by restriction enzymes. Furthermore, PfAgo can create longer sticky ends than even restriction enzymes, a substantial benefit as compared to other AREs.

"When we started, I was inspired by a paper about a related proteinTtAgo. It could use a DNA guide to cleave DNA, but only up to 70 degrees," continued Enghiad. "DNA strands start to separate over 75 degrees, which could allow a protein to create sticky ends. If there were a protein that was active at higher temperatures, I reasoned, that protein could be used as an artificial restriction enzyme. SoI started looking for that, and what I found was PfAgo."

In addition to replacing restriction enzymes in genetic engineering processes, Enghiad and Dr. Zhao believe their technology will have broad applications in the biological research. By creating arbitrary sticky ends, PfAgo could make assembly of large DNA molecules easier and would enable cloning of large DNA molecules, such as biochemical pathways and large genes.

The application of these techniques is broad-reaching, they say, ranging from discovery of new small-molecule drugs to engineering of microbial cell factories for synthesis of fuels and chemicals to molecular diagnostics of genetic diseases and pathogens, which are the areas Dr. Zhao and Enghiad are currently exploring.

"Due to its unprecedented simplicity and programmability (a single protein plus DNA guides for targeting), as well as accessibility...we expect PfAgo-based AREs will become a powerful and indispensable tool in all restriction enzyme or nuclease-enabled biotechnological applications and fundamental biological research," predicts Dr. Zhao. "It is to molecular biology as the CRISPR technology is to cell biology."

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Revolutionizing Biotechnology with Artificial Restriction Enzymes ... - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

Why Bioethics Matters in Biotechnology – Azusa Pacific University

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The last five years have witnessed amazing acceleration of innovation in biotechnology. CRISPR will lead to precision gene editing that could vastly improve food crop yields and provide cures to cancer. Lightning-fast gene sequencing will enable early detection of cancer from a simple blood test. High-speed bulk data transfer allows the entire genomes of millions of people to be compared online in the search for cures to both common and rare diseases. Neuromorphic chips will accelerate the dawn of artificial intelligence, and smart prostheses will allow para- and quadriplegic patients to move, the deaf to hear, and the blind to see.

Discovery of synergies in applications that blur the boundaries of traditional science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will continue to fuel this exponential growth of innovation. In spite of this exuberant trend, it is important to remember that innovation and discovery often outpace the regulatory structures that ensure their best and most ethical use in society.

The bioethics field traditionally is interpreted as pertaining mainly to the medical interests of humans. It has dealt with five key issues: beneficence, non-maleficence, patient autonomy, social justice, and patient confidentiality. However, with the advent of nanotechnology and other technologies that allow inter-kingdom transfer of genetic material, a need exists to establish a broader interpretation. Theologian Brian Edgar1 notes that a more robust definition should comprise six key considerations: respect for the intrinsic value of all life, valuing human uniqueness, preserving organismal integrity, recognizing ecologic holism, minimizing future liability, and producing social benefit. These considerations, while not expected to provide all of the answers to ethical dilemmas faced by technological advancement, create a framework for productive discussion of the most important aspects of biotechnology.

As Christians, we must also acknowledge that we are made in the image of God2, and have the unique ability, of all created things, to have a relationship with our Creator. In thoughtfully considering the implications of having been thus created, we have the responsibility of honoring Him by not only valuing human life, but by valuing and caring for His creation as well. If we actively and consistently apply this principle to guide us in making decisions about the application of biotechnology, the benefits to ourselves and to our world will be tremendous.

Posted: February 10, 2017

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Why Bioethics Matters in Biotechnology - Azusa Pacific University

UNLV medical school brings a virtual touch to anatomy studies – Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Dr. Neil Haycocks twists and turns the 3-D image to review the head and neck CT scan from a variety of angles.

Even without being a doctor, its easy to tell from the clear, virtual image that the man has suffered a serious injury.

I dont know exactly what happened to this person, but my guess is that they were struck with some sort of blunt object, Haycocks said as he pointed out a fractured mandible and a depressed bone.

As he sliced through the patients skull to further examine his injuries, Haycocks demonstrated a crucial benefit to the virtual anatomy tables at UNLVs new School of Medicine the ability to examine a patient without destroying vital organs.

With a touch of a button, the skull was whole again.

The touchscreen tables, which replace cadavers that would be found in a traditional anatomy lab, are just one example of the innovative curriculum the first class of 60 students will encounter when they set foot in the school on July 17.

THE BACKBONE

UNLV wont be the first school to use anatomy tables.

But its the schools commitment to teaching the subject that sets it apart, according to Dr. Ellen Cosgrove, vice dean for academic affairs and education.

Weve decided to make the virtual anatomy the backbone and the framework of our anatomy instruction, she said.

Haycocks, who learned human anatomy in a traditional lab, said cadaver dissection is limited in its educational benefits.

You spend hours cutting through tissues, trying to find this or that, Haycocks said. Sometimes its well preserved, and sometimes it isnt. Sometimes you accidentally destroy whatever it is youre looking for, and sometimes youre just lost you never find out whats going on. Its a very lengthy and time consuming process.

Haycocks previously taught at a college where he oversaw a cadaver lab. He said that he loved working with the students and seeing their reactions as they cut open a human body.

Thats enjoyable for me at least, but its really inefficient, he said.

The technology can display images of the body from a variety of perspectives and angles, including 2-D cross-section and 3-D rotation.

With a slight tap, Haycocks lit up the screen with millions of tiny blue channels, illustrating a patients veins.

And in terms of instruction, virtual anatomy is beneficial because everyone gets the same information. Its also less time consuming and costs much less than a traditional cadaver lab, which runs upward of $10 million.

If you talk to most people who teach anatomy nowadays, they would agree, perhaps grudgingly, that in well under 100 years, nobody is going to cadaver dissection anymore, Haycocks said.

COMBATING INERTIA

Haycocks sees several benefits from a curriculum standpoint, but he also points out a few flaws to the system.

For me, the main disadvantage is that you dont have that first patient experience with a real human body, he said.

Given that a first patient often resonates with students, others in the medical community might also question the virtual anatomy approach.

A lot of education in general, and medical education in particular, theres a lot of inertia, Haycocks said. Things have been done a certain way for the last 150 years, and by God, the faculty had to do it a certain way so theyre going to make the students do it a certain way.

Haycocks said a fourth-year elective is in the works that would give students the opportunity to learn at a month-long boot camp to become an autopsy technician.

If you want to practice cutting human tissue without any of the rules of surgery, its hard to beat someone who died the day before, Haycocks said.

Cosgrove said it might take a student in a traditional lab an hour of dissection to view a particular nerve and what path it takes.

At UNLV, students will be able to go through several virtual anatomy stations that have specific learning objectives with problems for them to solve.

At the end of the two hours, you emerge from that experience with a wealth of information, she said.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.

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UNLV medical school brings a virtual touch to anatomy studies - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Inside the Linguistic Anatomy of the Perfect Trump Insult – New York Magazine

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Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE February 10, 2017 02/10/2017 12:10 p.m. By Drake Baer

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Donald Trump may hate his new job and be surprised to find hes not a dictator, but he is delivering on one campaign promise: innovation. At least in swearing.

The embattled new president is something of a muse for political obscenity. Consider the curious case of shit-gibbon, chronicled by linguist par excellence Ben Zimmer, in a new post at Strong Language, a sweary blog about swearing. The expletive exploded this week thanks to Pennsylvania state senator Daylin Leach. The public servant took umbrage when Trump joked of destroying the career of a Texas state senator who wanted to curb the police practice of asset forfeiture. Hey @realDonaldTrump I oppose civil asset forfeiture too! Leach tweeted. Why dont you try to destroy my career you fascist, loofa-faced, shit-gibbon! The response to the tweet has been beyond anything I could have imagined, the lawmaker said Thursday.

Though loofa-faced is a gem, the operative word here is shit-gibbon. Zimmer, doing the Lords work, traces the insults trajectory. Where could Leach have alighted upon such a life-affirming insult? Why, naturally, the land of curses: Scotland. As you may have recalled from the innocent days of last summer, the Donald mistakenly thought that Scotland had voted to leave the European Union when in fact the mass majority of Scots voted to remain. Just arrived in Scotland, he tweeted. Place is going wild over the vote. They took their country back, just like we will take America back. And oh, the insults started pouring in. History was made when Twitter user MetalOllie called Trump a tiny fingered, Cheeto-faced, ferret wearing shitgibbon. (Note: MetalOllie is not Scottish, he says, thought he WISHES he were [caps his]).

Shit-gibbon has a certain ring in the ear, a metrical urgency that Migos would be proud of. It belongs to an entire class of ritual Scottish insults (thats a real thing). Trump has a way of inspiring them, Zimmer notes; see also cockwomble, fucknugget, and jizztrumpet, to name but a few.

If the English major in you is tingling, thats because these insults all share a similar rhythm. As linguist/blogger Taylor Jones notes, these follow the formula of single-syllable expletive insult + trochee, or a two-syllable word where the first sound is stressed, like puffin or womble. (Due to their simplicity, perhaps, trochees make for great kids content, like turtle, power, and mighty, morphin, or ranger.) In poetry, this tressed-stressed-unstressed construction is called an antibacchius, Zimmer reports.

What makes the antibacchius such a fit for the anti-Trump? Why does the Orange One summon fucknugget and its peers? My guess is that, to follow up on Joness analysis, it has to do with the combination of high and low culture that the foot accommodates. Some variations are downright childish (fart person! poop human!) while others are Shakespearean (fart monger! piss weasel!). Its quite the match for a 70-year-old boy tyrant: fart basket, shit whistle, turd helmet, cock bucket. Feel free to invent your own, too.

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Inside the Linguistic Anatomy of the Perfect Trump Insult - New York Magazine

Missoula naturalist teaches wildlife biology to Colstrip kids with tech company's help – The Missoulian

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Teachers is rural elementary schools in Montana often dont have the time and resources to provide their students with specific, in-depth, scientific lessons on subjects like ecology and wildlife biology.

But thanks to the work of a technology company and a Missoula nonprofit, 42 fourth-graders at Pine Butte Elementary in Colstrip were immersed in an hour-long intellectual adventure on Thursday, discovering how animals adapt to a winter climate, even though the teacher was 465 miles away in Missoula.

The Montana Natural History Center in Missoula employs a naturalist, Amy Howie, as an Interactive Distance Education Coordinator to conduct virtual science classes for kids in Rapelje, Lincoln, Colstrip and Helmville.

Howie, who worked as a science teacher for many years, said the kids are exposed to a curriculum that they wouldnt otherwise get.

This is totally new to them, she said. They love it because its something new and even though this is new to them, they still know the tech part. So they interact very well.

The MNHC partnered with Vision Net, a technology company with offices in Great Falls, Missoula and Billings, to set up the video conferencing platform. Essentially, Howie stands in a green room complete with light boxes, cameras, microphones, speakers and a giant video screen to chat with the kids in real time about how animals like bobcats and snowshoe hares are able to travel quickly in deep snow.

She interacts with the kids, making sure she knows most of their names, and pauses often to take questions. Other lessons have been on seeds, flowers and animal skulls.

It does take some practice, because its like youre on camera, Howie said. Especially with our green screen, you have to know where youre pointing. But the kids love it. One of the teachers told me the kids feel like they are right there in the classroom.

Bruce Wallace, video conferencing systems manager for Vision Net, said the company built a statewide network in 1995 and now over 180 schools use it to take advantage of resources in other cities. Their system is also used by the legal community, medical institutions and private industry. The technology saves time and money because teachers dont have to spend hours driving to little schools all over the empty expanses of Montana.

We try to provide the best technology that we can so that its as close to being there as it can get, Wallace said.

Thurston Elfstrom, the executive director of the MNHC, said this year is a pilot program for the classes. The schools get a great deal, because they are only charged about $245 for a once-a-month class for the entire school year, which includes a bin full of materials.

The MNHC is a nonprofit on Hickory Street in Missoula that provides nature education programming for people of all ages. Elfstrom said the program relies on fundraisers and donors. One private donor has been helping with most of the distance learning so far.

Our goal is to get 20 more classrooms next year, Howie said. We need to start training some other people. The great thing is its so flexible. You can schedule these schools and you dont have to travel anywhere.

Elfstrom said the technology allows the MNHC to extend its reach much farther than they could if they had to teach in person. Thats good news for kids, who are learning about the world around them in new ways.

Those teachers in rural schools have a general education, so I think a lot of them are looking to add more science, because thats not their specialty, Howie said. Especially in rural schools, they need help with adding science into the curriculum. And now we are aligning our curriculum to the Next Generation Science Standards, so the teachers love that.

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Missoula naturalist teaches wildlife biology to Colstrip kids with tech company's help - The Missoulian

Study examines how behavioral science can help tackle problem of idling engines – Phys.Org

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February 10, 2017 Credit: Steffen Thoma/Public Domain

New research by academics at the University of East Anglia (UEA), University of Kent and University of Lincoln, suggests that insights from behavioural science can help inform the design of road signs to bring about changes in driver behaviour.

Research in behavioural science has demonstrated how even very minimal cues or 'nudges' can sometimes have a powerful influence on human behaviour and decision-making. In this study, the researchers applied this approach to examine whether simple visual and written cues could be used to encourage drivers to switch off their engines while waiting at railway crossings.

By leaving their engines idling for long periods, drivers contribute to air pollution, waste fuel, and produce noise and fumes that harm the environment and public health. However, the researchers found that making simple changes to road signs which prompted drivers to consciously reflect on their behaviour doubled the rate of people turning off their engines.

The authors say the findings, published today in the journal Environment and Behavior, are relevant not just for railway crossings, but anywhere with congestion.

The study, which was led by Dr Rose Meleady, of UEA's School of Psychology, Prof Dominic Abrams and Dr Tim Hopthrow at the University of Kent, and Dr Julie Van de Vyver at the University of Lincoln, comes amid continued concern about air pollution levels in cities across the UK and worldwide. Following a visit last month, the UN's Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances said air pollution "plagues" the UK, causing an estimated 30,000-40,000 premature deaths a year. Air pollution alerts were also issued last month for London, where it has been suggested that 'no idling' zones could be introduced around schools.

Lead author Dr Meleady said: "We wanted to know how to persuade drivers to switch off their ignition in a situation where collectively they would, potentially, substantially pollute the atmosphere of a large number of residents and pedestrians. The destructive behaviour examined in this study lasted for about two minutes, many times a day. Any reduction of this behaviour therefore has clear benefits for all.

"Planners at local and national levels use signs to encourage better driver behaviour. However, without clear evidence of whether and when these messages prompt action, their impact may be far less than could be achieved. We found that simple changes to the way we design road signs can make them much more effective. We should be using behavioural science to inform the design of such signs to encourage greater co-operation from drivers."

Dr Meleady, a lecturer in psychology, added: "If similar interventions were to be implemented in comparable situations in other cities and countries, the potential contribution to reducing air pollution, improving short and long term health, and reducing effects of global warming could be substantial."

The site chosen for the study was a busy railway level crossing in Canterbury, Kent. The local council had placed a sign at the crossing instructing drivers to switch off their engine when the barriers were down, which happened four times an hour. The message on the sign was not informed by any particular behavioural theory, and the researchers found it had limited impact, with only about 20 per cent of motorists routinely switching off their ignition while waiting for an average of two minutes.

Psychological research has shown that subtle cues that someone's behaviour is being observed can increase their compliance with instructions. In this study, the researchers tested whether the addition of a picture of 'watching eyes' would increase drivers' compliance with the instructions to turn off their engines while waiting at the level crossing. Watching eyes have previously been shown to successfully reduce theft from bicycle racks, reduce littering in public spaces, and increase donations to charity buckets. Here, the image was found to increase the rate of drivers turning off their engines to around 30 per cent.

Importantly however, a second test demonstrated that it was even more effective to encourage self-surveillance. Rather than suggesting behaviour was being monitored by others, a second sign aimed to encourage drivers to monitor their own behaviour and reflect on whether they were complying with the instruction. The sign simply instructed drivers to "Think of yourself: When barriers are down switch off your engine". The results showed that combining the instruction with this self-surveillance prompt was highly effective, doubling the rate of drivers who switched off their engines to 50 per cent.

Dr Meleady said: "We found that the mere presence of an instructive sign had little effect on drivers' behaviour. Rates of compliance increased when instructions were accompanied by subtle surveillance cues. These findings reinforce the importance of directing attention towards the individual when trying to encourage behaviour change, and beyond that, suggest it may sometimes be more effective to encourage self-surveillance rather than using cues suggesting public surveillance."

The study 'Surveillance or Self-Surveillance? Social Cues Can Increase the Rate of Drivers' Pro-Environmental Behavior at a Long Wait Stop', Rose Meleady, Dominic Abrams, Julie Van de Vyver, Tim Hopthrow, Lynsey Mahmood, Abigail Player, Ruth Lamont, and Ana C Leite is published in Environment and Behavior.

Explore further: Strange bedfellows: Dangerous link between driver distraction and sleepiness

More information: 'Surveillance or Self-Surveillance? Social Cues Can Increase the Rate of Drivers' Pro-Environmental Behavior at a Long Wait Stop', Environment and Behavior, DOI: 10.1177/0013916517691324

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Study examines how behavioral science can help tackle problem of idling engines - Phys.Org

Stem Cells Provide New Thyroid Therapies – Anti Aging News

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Posted on Feb. 10, 2017, 6 a.m. in Thyroid Hormone Stem Cell Stem Cell Research

Researchers have identified a way to engineer new thyroid cells from stem cells, which could lead to new thyroid disease treatments.

A recent report published in the medical journal Stem Cell Reports, sheds light on breakthrough research regarding the use of thyroid cells derived from stem cells for new therapies. Scientists at Boston University's School Medicine led the work. They have pinpointed a means of efficiently engineering thyroid cells by way of stem cells that will eventually help analyze and treat thyroid diseases.

Why the Thyroid is so Important

The thyroid is a gland positioned in the mid-section of the lower neck. When this gland does not function as designed, it wreaks all sorts of havoc on the body. Thyroid diseases occur when the gland is hyperactive and generates excessive hormones (hyperthyroidism) or generates too few hormones (hypothyroidism). Though the thyroid is fairly diminutive, it generates hormones that extend to tissues, cells and organs throughout the body to maintain a regulated metabolism. The metabolism is vitally important as it determines the rate at which the human body produces energy through oxygen and nutrients.

It is estimated that about 20 million individuals in the United States are plagued by a form of thyroid disease. A whopping 60 percent of these cases are never diagnosed. Unfortunately, thyroid disorders are life-long or chronic conditions that often prove quite challenging to manage. When thyroid diseases are undiagnosed, they can lead to particularly nasty health conditions ranging from osteoporosis to cardiovascular diseases and even infertility. Medical professionals are not completely certain as to what causes thyroid diseases.

Details About the Discovery

The breakthrough described above was discovered after studies were performed on mice. Stem cells are valued as they can mature into an array of different cell types. The researchers referenced above have determined how to transform the genetically modified stem cells from mice into thyroid cells. They determined there is a specific window during cell development to perform the transformation in an efficient manner. The group switched the Nkx2-1 gene off/on while guiding the lab-cultured stem cells through development stages. When the gene was on, most stem cells were transformed to thyroid cells in a small period of time.

What it Means for the Future

This discovery will likely allow for new research models and breakthrough treatments for thyroid diseases. It is anticipated that new thyroid cells for humans will eventually be engineered so medical professionals can better study and mitigate thyroid diseases. The principle might even apply to additional cell types to boot.

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Stem Cells Provide New Thyroid Therapies - Anti Aging News