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Large families the key to longevity

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

DUBBO women born before 1930 who bore a brood of children survived longer than their peers who never were mothers or had only one child.

The director of the Dubbo Study of the Elderly, Leon Simons, revealed the gem of information at a conference in the city yesterday, ahead of its publication in medical journals.

Mothers of six or more children had the lowest rating on an all-important measure, when data collected from 2805 Dubbo senior citizens in a 20-year study from 1988 was dredged recently.

Despite the result, the director, who is also Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of NSW, was not about to suggest todays generation live like their great-grandmothers.

Were not saying people should only have six babies in the future; that would not be popular with lots of people, he said.

The academic shared his latest research results at day one of Ageing Well, the rural conference of the Australian Association of Gerontology and the Aged and Community Services Association of NSW and ACT.

The conference, attended by more than 135 delegates from the aged care industry, including some from Dubbo, was an opportunity to share successes and further develop skills.

The Dubbo study director used his 80-minute spot on the program to describe the reasons for the study and how it was done and then moved into findings.

Mothers of six children survived longer for more than just hormonal reasons, Professor Simons said.

I base that on the fact that some of the Scandinavian studies show some similar trends in men as well, he said.

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Large families the key to longevity

DNA leads to arrest of Whitefish sexual assault suspect

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

WHITEFISH- DNA evidence has led the Whitefish Police Department to arrest Timothy M. House, 27, and charge him with sexual assault.

Police Chief Bill Dial says that the arrest came about as the result of a DNA "hit" by the Montana State Crime Lab.

House was a suspect in a summer 2007 sexual assault, but Dial says in a news release that "there was insufficient evidence to arrest him."

(photo courtesy Whitefish Police Dept.)

House became a suspect in a sex crime in Conrad last year which resulted in a DNA sample being taken from House which was subsequently submitted to the Crime Lab and then entered into the National data base.

Whitefish detectives later secured a search warrant for a DNA sample from House which was submitted to the State Crime Lab for comparison and an arrest warrant was later issued for House's arrest.

Dial says House had recently returned to the Flathead Valley from Pondera County where he had been arrested for sexual intercourse without consent and unlawful restraint.

His release conditions, imposed by the court, was to submit to a breath test twice a day and when House reported for his breath test on Friday evening he was arrested.

Dial says House is also a suspect for similar charges in Flathead County and he's being held in the Flathead County jail on $100,000 bond.

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DNA leads to arrest of Whitefish sexual assault suspect

Governor Cuomo signs expanded DNA databank bill into law

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

Readmore: Local, Crime, DNA, DNA Database, New York State DNA Database, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick, William Fitzpatrick, Carol Nelson, Glen Shoop, Salina Murder, Murder, DNA Samples

ALBANY -- Anyone convicted of a felony and most misdemeanors will have to submit their DNA as part of new legislation signed into law today.

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law an historic bill that makes New York State the first "all crimes DNA" state in the nation, by requiring DNA samples be collected from anyone convicted of a felony or Penal Law misdemeanor. "I am proud to sign this bill today because this modern law enforcement tool will not only help us solve and prevent crimes but also exonerate the innocent," said Governor Andrew Cuomo. "The bottom line is that this is a tool that works, and will make the state safer for all New Yorkers."

It will require collecting a saliva swab from everyone convicted of any felony and all but one penal misdemeanor starting Oct. 1. It excludes misdemeanor possession of less than 25 grams of marijuana in public view. Various lower-level violations are also excluded.

The legislation makes New York the first state in the country to expand its DNA databank so dramatically. It will allow defendants in certain criminal cases to obtain DNA testing prior to trial to demonstrate their innocence. Under appropriate circumstances, defendants convicted after a guilty plea will be allowed access to the testing.

In limited circumstances, defendants will be able to seek discovery of property and other materials to demonstrate their actual innocence after their conviction. Such discovery will provide the court with the evidence necessary to reach a proper decision on a defendant's motion for such relief.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has been a staunch supporter of the bill. Last week, he publicly supported the legislation saying, "DNA is an extremely valuable tool in solving crimes, convicting the guilty and exculpating the innocent," said Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick. "It is a travesty that this tool has not been used to its fullest potential in New York because of misleading information perpetuated by its opponents. Expanding the Databank will unquestionably solve crimes, save lives and make this state a safer place to live."

Fitzpatrick pointed to a recent case locally where the expanded database would have saved a woman's life. In 2007, 65-year-oldCarol Nelson was sexually assaulted and murderedin a wooded area off 7th North Street in the Town of Salina. Her killer, Glen Shoop, had two prior convictions that under the proposed bill would have required his DNA profile to be in the database.

At the time of her murder, those convictionsdid not require Shoop to provide a DNA sample. If it had, he would have been in custody for a prior 2000 unsolved rape case and Nelson's life would have been spared, Fitzpatrick said.

Since its launch in 1996, New York's databank has led to more than 2,900 convictions and helped exonerate 27 people who were wrongfully convicted.

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Governor Cuomo signs expanded DNA databank bill into law

DNA Brands Appoints Jeff Jonke as Vice-President of Strategic Development

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

More Topics: Choose a Sector Accounting Firms Advertising/Media/Communications Capital CEO/Board General Business Health/Biotech Internet/Technology Investment Firms Law Firms Mergers & Acquisitions Money Managers People Private Companies Public Companies Venture Capital

Posted March 19, 2012

Jeff Jonke to Spearhead the Development and Introduction of New Products and National Growth Initiative

BOCA RATON, Fla., -- DNA Brands, Inc. (OTCBB:DNAX) today announced that it has appointed Jeff Jonke as Vice-President of Strategic Development. Mr. Jonke will spearhead the growth and development of DNA Energy Drinks and the introduction of new proprietary offerings nationally across all channels.

Darren Marks, President of DNA, said, "We feel very fortunate at this most opportune time to have been able to attract such a seasoned professional with Jeff's background and experience. Mr. Jonke is an experienced leader and manager, well versed in all aspects of beverage industry and maintains top North American distributor relationships." Marks concluded, "Jeff has also been responsible for the successful launch of several brands in the functional beverage sector while with such notable companies as Hansen Beverage Company (Monster Energy), Rockstar Energy Drink, Jones Soda Company, Arizona Beverage Company and Boo Koo Beverage. It is for these reasons that we have selected Mr. Hawkins to spearhead our national growth initiative."

"I am thrilled to be a part of the DNA Brands team," said Mr. Jonke. "Joining DNA offers great opportunities for growth of DNA Energy Drink and to build nationally on the success the brand has had in the Southeast. I also look forward to the opportunities for new product development, incubation of those products in the Grass Roots Beverage Distribution system in Florida and national growth in the future. I am also excited to be part of the team developing these new products which we will take to market over the next several months. Jonke concluded, "DNA is ready for explosive growth and I look forward to being a part of its future. "

About DNA Brands, Inc.

DNA BRANDS, make DNA Energy Drink, the award-winning, best-tasting energy drink at the 2010 World Beverage Competition, and DNA Shred StixTM. DNA Energy Drink is a proprietary blend of quality ingredients in four flavors Citrus, Lemon Lime, Sugar Free Citrus and CRANRAZBERRY. DNA is a proud sponsor of many action sport teams consisting of top athletes from Motorcross, Surf, Wakeboard and Skateboard has received tremendous TV and media coverage.

Independent retailers throughout the state sell the DNA Brand products as well as national retailers including Walgreens, Race Trac and Circle K.

True to its actions sports roots, DNA BRANDS, INC., has earned national recognition through its sponsorship of the DNA Energy Drink/Jeff Ward Racing team where it competes on a world-class level in Supercross and Motocross, reaching millions of fans. DNA Energy Drink(R) can also be found in other action sports such as Surfing, BMX, Wakeboarding and Skateboarding and its athletes are recognized stars in their own right.

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DNA Brands Appoints Jeff Jonke as Vice-President of Strategic Development

Protein Researchers Unravel The Molecular Dance Of DNA Repair

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

Using state-of-the-art technology, scientists at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at the University of Copenhagen and their international collaborators have successfully obtained molecular snapshots of tens of thousands processes involved in DNA damage repair. On a daily basis this restoration keeps cells healthy and prevents the development of cancer. The results of this study will help unravel exactly how cells repair their broken DNA, how chemotherapy affects cells workings and will assist in the discovery of new drugs with fewer side effects.

"DNA repair is vital in keeping cells healthy. So unraveling the molecular details of how a cell communicates when its DNA is broken will help us understand how cells protect their genomes," Associate Professor Chunaram Choudhary from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research says.

"We know, for example, that chemotherapy kills cancer cells by damaging their DNA. This happens because the fast growing cancer cells are more sensitive to DNA damage than healthy cells. However, how exactly chemotherapy works on a cellular level is still a mystery. Once we understand the molecular consequences of chemotherapy on cancer cells, we could begin to work on ways to protect healthy cells during treatment of patients with cancer," postdoc Petra Beli explains.

Daily DNA damage threatens healthy cells Everything from sun tanning to environmental factors and normal metabolic processes inside the cell damages the DNA of that cell every day. This in turn can lead to production of faulty proteins that - if not repaired - could go on to become the driver of cancer development.

To prevent these devastating effects, damaged DNA triggers an elaborate alarm system, which sets of a chain reaction in the cell, to slow processes, terminate others and wait, while legions of molecules go to work on the damaged DNA.

"Identification of proteins that are crucial for repairing broken DNA may help find new drug targets, and by using such very specific drugs it may also become possible to minimize the side effects, which occur when a drug hits too broadly in the body," Chunaram Choudhary continues.

Much remains to be learned DNA repair has been studied intensely for years, but Associate Professor Choudhary and his group at the Department of Proteomics along with his collaborators from University of Cambridge and Max Planck Institute are the first to unravel tens of thousands of molecular signaling events involved in this complex process.

"We first damaged the DNA of cells using radiation or chemical drugs and then used a technique called mass spectrometry, which is a way of precisely determining the identity of proteins and their chemical modifications," Petra Beli says.

"This allowed us to follow thousands of protein modifications that happened in the process of DNA repair, shedding new light on how the networks of biochemical signals are regulated and how the infrastructure of alerts works."

The data from the experiments is so extensive that it will require much further work by researchers to fully understand the significance and impact of these newly identified signaling pathways. The article Proteomic Investigations Reveal a Role for RNA Processing Factor THRAP3 in the DNA Damage Response is published online in the journal Molecular Cell on 15 March.

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Protein Researchers Unravel The Molecular Dance Of DNA Repair

DNA Brands Names Beverage Industry Executive to Head Up Strategic Business Development

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

BOCA RATON, Fla., March 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DNA Brands, Inc. (OTCBB:DNAX.OB - News) today announced that it has appointed Jeff Jonke as Vice-President of Strategic Development. Mr. Jonke will spearhead the growth and development of DNA Energy Drinks and the introduction of new proprietary offerings nationally across all channels.

About DNA Brands, Inc.

DNA BRANDS, make DNA Energy Drink(R), the award-winning, best-tasting energy drink at the 2010 World Beverage Competition, and DNA Shred Stix(TM). DNA Energy Drink(R) is a proprietary blend of quality ingredients in four flavors Citrus, Lemon Lime, Sugar Free Citrus and CRANRAZBERRY. DNA is a proud sponsor of many action sport teams consisting of top athletes from Motorcross, Surf, Wakeboard and Skateboard has received tremendous TV and media coverage.

Independent retailers throughout the state sell the DNA Brand products as well as national retailers including Walgreens, Race Trac and Circle K.

For more information about DNA Energy Drink, its athletes and sponsorships, please visit http://www.dnabrandsusa.com.

The DNA Beverage Corp. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7258

Safe Harbor Forward-Looking Statements

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DNA Brands Names Beverage Industry Executive to Head Up Strategic Business Development

DNA Electronics Partners with geneOnyx to offer Genalysis® Real-Time DNA Detection Technology for Genetics-driven …

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

DNA Electronics Ltd. a developer of semiconductor solutions for real-time DNA and RNA detection, today announces that it has licensed its ground-breaking Genalysis technology platform for rapid, lab-free DNA detection to geneOnyx, a company that is delivering on-the-spot genetic analytics services for cosmetics and skincare applications. Following a successful evaluation of the DNA Electronics USB-based Genalysis lab-free platform, the two companies are announcing a commercial license and supply agreement that grants geneOnyx access to DNA Electronics real-time Genalysis platform for cosmetic applications. This agreement will deliver the worlds first commercial application of a true sample-to-answer, easy-to-use and low-cost DNA testing platform bringing on-site, over-the-counter services to the retail industry for the first time.

DNA Electronics Genalysis is a real-time platform for nucleic acid testing, delivering accurate, point-of-need results within 30 minutes using just a simple sample processing kit and interchangeable test cartridges plugged into a USB stick or other electronic reader. The Genalysis platform enables truly user-friendly, rapid, lab-free and pipette-free DNA analysis products for a variety of medical and consumer applications. While this licensing and supply agreement launches DNA Electronics in its first non-IVD market for test panels selected by geneOnyx, pilot trials for clinical diagnostics using Genalysis will also begin later this year. DNA Electronics a privately-held company was founded by semiconductor and medical technology pioneer Professor Chris Toumazou FRS, FREng, based on his key 2001 invention of detecting protons released during DNA synthesis using a standard silicon-chip based transistor culminating in the worlds first DNA analysis on unmodified CMOS technology. DNA Electronics already has worldwide non-exclusive licensing agreements with Roches 454 Life Sciences and Ion Torrent (Life Technologies Inc.) for the field of semiconductor sequencing, enabling these global leaders to access certain parts of the DNA Electronics proprietary technology portfolio.

Through this latest agreement, DNA Electronics will supply to geneOnyx its proprietary sample-to-answer DNA testing technology Genalysis for the consumer cosmetics and skincare market. geneOnyx will provide an individually-tailored recommendation service for selecting optimal skincare and cosmetic products for individuals based on a scientific analysis of the persons genetic variations and how well a persons body will react to active product ingredients. geneOnyxs recommendations service leverages the unique ability of the Genalysis platform to provide on-the-spot results and connectivity to geneOnyxs cloud-based system without needing to send a sample to a laboratory for analysis.

The Genalysis platform processes a saliva sample from a mouth swab using a sample preparation kit designed for unskilled users which delivers purified, amplification-ready DNA to the CMOS-based test cartridge using just a couple of simple manual steps. The test cartridge then simultaneously amplifies and detects genetic signatures in the DNA when plugged into a USB stick or other electronic device. The simple three-step Genalysis process of swab, twist, test was designed by DNA Electronics to overcome the fact that most nucleic acid tests, even those described as point-of-care, still require laboratory steps such as pipetting and centrifugation, and use expensive instrumentation.

Commenting on the announcement, Prof. Toumazou said: This agreement makes lab-free semiconductor solutions for DNA analysis a commercial reality for both medical and non-medical markets from personalised medicine to anti-ageing skincare. He added: With our microchip-based Genalysis platform, we are able to screen genetic information more quickly, more accurately and more cost-effectively than ever before. Our partnership with geneOnyx delivers the first in a new breed of fast, user-friendly and consumerised DNA analysis services, and it is a key part of our roadmap to actively work with customers to deliver innovative solutions and services around these ground-breaking on-the-spot tests. By making this technology really affordable, we are enabling transformative services for retail cosmeceutical markets, wellness applications, pharmaceutical drug response and more. The opportunities are extremely exciting and DNA Electronics is open to working with other committed Early Access customers to develop Genalysis tests for applications that solve their business needs.

Members of the media interested in scheduling a briefing with DNA Electronics can do so by contacting Nicky Denovan at nicky[at]evokedset[dot]com.

-- ends

Notes to editors

About DNA Electronics

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DNA Electronics Partners with geneOnyx to offer Genalysis® Real-Time DNA Detection Technology for Genetics-driven ...

Loss of rare species can harm ecosystems

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

The findings were published in March in the online edition of the scientific journal Ecology Letters.

Bracken and Brown University student Natalie Low conducted several experiments that analyzed the impact of removing seaweed and sessile animals, such as mussels and barnacles, from the rocky shores of Northeasterns Marine Science Center in Nahant, Mass. The experiments were designed to mimic naturally occurring changes in biodiversity on rocky shores.

The findings were startling. We have shown that the loss of these extremely rare species which collectively represent less than 10 percent of the seaweed and animal biomass at the base of the food web causes major declines in the abundance and diversity of animals, such as snails, crabs and other mobile animals, Bracken said.

Prior research on the extirpation of rare species from a particular ecosystem focused on how the loss of top predators often referred to as keystone species affects plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain. Bracken and Low, on the other hand, have shown that the loss of rare species from the base of the food chain, which they call cornerstone species, can also reshape marine systems.

A pattern of decline emerged after only three weeks of experiments and persisted for the remainder of the fiveweek study. Previous work on the effects of rare predator removals took months to years to show strong effects, Bracken said. We found strong effects of rare seaweed removals after only a few weeks.

Provided by Northeastern University (news : web)

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Loss of rare species can harm ecosystems

Nicholls biology students earn praise for research

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

Published: Monday, March 19, 2012 at 10:40 a.m. Last Modified: Monday, March 19, 2012 at 10:40 a.m.

Three Nicholls State University biology students took top honors for their research at a state-wide science convention that included universities from all over the state.

Derek Adams, David Samaha and Bijeta Prasai won first-place awards for presentations at the annual meeting of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences.

This is a very big deal, said Ramaraj Boopathy, the professor who guided the three students on their research. Even though our school is so small, we did better than a lot of places that are a lot bigger and have a lot more resources.

The three were selected by a panel of professors who judged each presenter on the quality and innovation of their research, the style of their presentation and ability to answer questions about their process.

Adams, a first-year masters degree student from New Orleans, topped the graduate microbiology research category with his paper Use of Formic Acid to Control Virbrosis in Shrimp.

When I was sitting there for the awards ceremony I thought Im just being a good representative of the university, Adams said. Then I hear my name, and I just couldnt believe it.

Adams research aims to find natural solutions to eradicating bacteria that kill shrimp, costing U.S. shrimpers.

Theres about $10 billion of shrimping in North America, and theres about a billion in damage, he said. Were hoping to find a way to reduce that margin of loss.

Samaha, a pre-med junior from Houma, won in the undergraduate environmental research category for his project, Fuel Grade Ethanol Production from Eastern Gamagrass.

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Nicholls biology students earn praise for research

Team discovers how bacteria resist a ‘Trojan horse’ antibiotic

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

Public release date: 19-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Diana Yates diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

CHAMPAIGN, lll. A new study describes how bacteria use a previously unknown means to defeat an antibiotic. The researchers found that the bacteria have modified a common "housekeeping" enzyme in a way that enables the enzyme to recognize and disarm the antibiotic.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Bacteria often engage in chemical warfare with one another, and many antibiotics used in medicine are modeled on the weapons they produce. But microbes also must protect themselves from their own toxins. The defenses they employ for protection can be acquired by other species, leading to antibiotic resistance.

The researchers focused on an enzyme, known as MccF, that they knew could disable a potent "Trojan horse" antibiotic that sneaks into cells disguised as a tasty protein meal. The bacterial antibiotic, called microcin C7 (McC7) is similar to a class of drugs used to treat bacterial infections of the skin.

"How Trojan horse antibiotics work is that the antibiotic portion is coupled to something that's fairly innocuous in this case it's a peptide," said University of Illinois biochemistry professor Satish Nair, who led the study. "So susceptible bacteria see this peptide, think of it as food and internalize it."

The meal comes at a price, however: Once the bacterial enzymes chew up the amino acid disguise, the liberated antibiotic is free to attack a key component of protein synthesis in the bacterium, Nair said.

"That is why the organisms that make this thing have to protect themselves," he said.

In previous studies, researchers had found the genes that protect some bacteria from this class of antibiotic toxins, but they didn't know how they worked. These genes code for peptidases, which normally chew up proteins (polypeptides) and lack the ability to recognize anything else.

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Team discovers how bacteria resist a 'Trojan horse' antibiotic

Study finds how bacteria resist a ‘Trojan horse’ antibiotic

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"That is why the organisms that make this thing have to protect themselves," he said.

Before the new study, "it wasn't clear how a peptidase could destroy an antibiotic," Nair said.

To get a fuller picture of the structure of the peptidase, Illinois graduate student Vinayak Agarwal crystallized MccF while it was bound to other molecules, including the antibiotic. An analysis of the structure and its interaction with the antibiotic revealed that MccF looked a lot like other enzymes in its family, but with a twist or, rather, a loop. Somehow MccF has picked up an additional loop of amino acids that it uses to recognize the antibiotic, rendering it ineffective.

"Now we know that specific amino acid residues in this loop are responsible for making this from a normal housekeeping gene into something that's capable of degrading this class of antibiotics," Nair said.

Clemson University recognized by Council for Advancement and Support of Education

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY Clemson University was honored with six awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District III. The College of Business and Behavioral Science advancement team received a Special Merit Award for Overall Advancement Services Operations. Clemsons 2020 Road Map: Launching a Strategic Plan received an Award of Excellence in the category of Institutional Relations Projects.

The College of Business and Behavioral Science alumni magazine, The Exchange, received a Special Merit Award in the Alumni Magazine category.

The video Prime III: The Worlds First All-accessible, Electronic Voting System was named the Grand Award Winner for Slides and Multimedia Programs. A video on Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries and its work to help bring fresh water to people in Haiti received an Award for Excellence in the category of Slide and Multimedia Programs. A video on the Bite Counter, an innovative food intake measuring device designed to promote weight loss, received a Special Merit Award in Slides and Multimedia Programs.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a volunteer organization with more than 3,500 members dedicated to the advancement of professionals in educational institutions, with a focus on the fields of alumni relations, fundraising, communications and marketing in the Southeastern states.

For more information, e-mail anixon@clemson.edu or call 864-656-0382.

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Clemson University recognized by Council for Advancement and Support of Education

Anatomy of Success: Genetic Research Develops Tools for Studying Diseases, Improving Regenerative Treatment

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Danzig

Newswise MANHATTAN, KAN. -- Research from a Kansas State University professor may make it easier to recover after spinal cord injury or to study neurological disorders.

Mark Weiss, professor of anatomy and physiology, is researching genetic models for spinal cord injury or diseases such as Parkinson's disease. He is developing technology that can advance cellular therapy and regenerative medicine -- a type of research that can greatly improve animal and human health.

"We're trying to build tools, trying to build models that will have broad applications," Weiss said. "So if you're interested in neural differentiation or if you're interested in response after an injury, we're trying to come up with cell lines that will teach us, help us to solve a medical mystery."

Weiss' research team has perfected a technique to use stem cells to study targeted genetic modifications. They are among a handful of laboratories in the world using these types of models for disease. The research is an important step in the field of functional genomics, which focuses on understanding the functions and roles of these genes in disease.

The researchers are creating several tools to study functional genomics. One such tool involves developing new ways to use fluorescent transporters, which make it easier to study proteins and their functions. These fluorescent transporters can be especially helpful when studying neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, stroke and spinal cord injury.

"People who have spinal cord injury do not experience a lot of regeneration," Weiss said. "It is one of the problems of the nervous system -- it is not great at regenerating itself like other tissues."

The researchers want to discover a way to help this regenerative process kick in. By studying signals from fluorescing cells, they can understand how neural stem cells are reactivated.

"We want to try and make these genetic markers, and then we can test different kinds of treatment to see how they assist in the regenerative process," Weiss said.

Weiss' stem cell research has appeared in two recent journals: Stem Cells and Development and the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and university funds, including the Johnson Cancer Research Center.

Weiss' seven-member research team includes a visiting professor, two full-time researchers, a graduate student and three undergraduates. He has also been collaborating with researchers from the University of Kansas Medical Center.

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Anatomy of Success: Genetic Research Develops Tools for Studying Diseases, Improving Regenerative Treatment

Preminger's 'Anatomy of a Murder' still a killer study of the justice system

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Danzig

Otto Preminger's 1959 "Anatomy of a Murder," just released on DVD (Criterion Collection, Blu-ray $39.95, DVD $29.95, not rated), becomes one of the great courtroom dramas by systematically undermining most of the pleasures and reassurances that the genre provides.

Though Preminger, the son of a prosperous Viennese lawyer who had been a public prosecutor during the waning days of the Austro-Hungarian empire, portrays the workings of the legal system with respect and even reverence, the film does not perform the genre's usual function of returning a sense of order and security to a community that has been thrown into chaos by a violent, anti-social act.

Instead, Preminger deftly and undemonstratively evokes the shortcomings of the system, its failure to account for aspects of human behavior that defy rationality, that contradict self-interest and confound tidy chains of cause and effect.

Rather than bringing the truth to light, expunging evil and making the world sensible and readable again, the trial in "Anatomy of a Murder" leads to a verdict but not to a resolution. The fundamental mysteries - who did what to whom and why - remain open.

This worldview belongs less to Perry Mason than to Michelangelo Antonioni, whose more aggressively open-ended "L'Avventura" would scandalize the movie world a year later.

Based on a best-selling novel by Robert Traver (the pseudonym of John D. Voelker, a justice on the Michigan Supreme Court ) and set and largely

Paul Biegler (James Stewart), a district attorney who was turned out of office after a decade, is hired by the cocksure lieutenant to mount an insanity defense, based on Manion's claim that was in the grip of an "irresistible impulse" when he methodically shot the man who attacked his wife.

But even as Biegler argues his case, sparring with a hotshot state's attorney (George C. Scott), slips and discrepancies emerge, suggesting that Manion is not all that impulsive, his wife not all that pure and the victim not all that nefarious.

The courtroom sequences alone take up the length of an average movie in "Anatomy of a Murder," which luxuriates in its 160-minute running time, accumulating a dense welter of novelistic details: the supremely self-controlled Biegler's taste for the spontaneity of jazz (the score was composed by Duke Ellington, who also makes a cameo appearance); Manion's dandyish ivory-barreled cigarette holder; Laura's taste in lacy undergarments.

The film is full of scenes of smart people sizing up one another and verbal exchanges that suggest chess games more than conversations, including a turn on the witness stand by Kathryn Grant. Throughout, Preminger maintains a studiously neutral perspective, framing most scenes as balanced two-shots and allowing dialogue sequences to play out uninflected by confrontational cross-cutting.

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Preminger's 'Anatomy of a Murder' still a killer study of the justice system

The Grey’s Anatomy Cast Gets Musical Again During Lighthearted Benefit

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Danzig

Sara Ramirez

The doctors of Grey's Anatomy are not finished singing.

Many of the ABC drama's cast gathered Sunday night at UCLA's Royce Hall to belt out tunes that were featured in last year's musical episode, "Song Beneath the Song." Although the episode was quite serious a pregnant Callie (Sara Ramirez) flew through a car windshield and hallucinated her co-workers singing as they desperately tried to save her life Sunday's "The Songs Beneath the Show" event, benefitting the Actors Fund, was a lighthearted affair.

Anatomy of Shonda Rhimes, the busiest woman in Hollywood

Sandra Oh and Eric Dane acted as emcees for the night, though Dane desperately wanted to join in on the action. Apparently, he can't sing a lick, but that didn't stop him from trying to jam out on a guitar and even slipping Grey's music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas his demo, which she promptly tossed.

Ramirez, Kevin McKidd and Chandra Wilson opened the show with Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars," which was followed by renditions of Get Set Go's "Wait," Jesus Jackson's "Running on Sunshine" and The Fray's "How to Save a Life" sung by cast members Sarah Drew, Kim Raver, James Pickens Jr., Justin Chambers and a pregnant Jessica Capshaw. Chambers also brought out his three daughters to sing "Young Folks" from Peter, Bjorn & John, which was not featured in the musical episode.

Everything you need to know about the Grey's Anatomy musical episode

Following a special performance by Ingrid Michaelson, Oh then asked the crowd if Grey's should do another musical. Though the rowdy crowd begged for more, the cast decided to read fan comments that both praised and panned the show's previous effort. The cast decided it would be a while before they'd try it again. "Maybe Season 13," they joked.

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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The Grey’s Anatomy Cast Gets Musical Again During Lighthearted Benefit

Police use DNA technique to solve property crimes

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

HOUSTON -- A thief wearing gloves walks into a parking lot, perhaps using the cover of night, smashes a car window and takes what's inside the vehicle, all in a matter of minutes.

It's the general technique for many car burglaries, and thousands of them occur in Harris County every year. Besides shattered glass, often there's not much visible evidence left at the scene, leaving investigators with few clues to catch the culprits.

But sometimes it's what investigators cannot see that helps solve many of these types of crimes.

For the last few years, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences aided area law enforcement in solving property crimes by testing evidence for "touch DNA" - microscopic skin cells containing DNA that naturally rub off when an object, like a car steering wheel, is touched. The technology can be used even if the suspect is wearing gloves because there's a high likelihood the skin cells were transferred onto the gloves when the perpetrator was slipping them on.

"It was a pretty incredible tool for us to have to identify some of these suspects," said Sgt. Terry Wilson, of the Harris County Sheriff's Office auto-theft division. "These (burglary of a motor vehicle) cases are some of the hardest cases for law enforcement to solve because there's almost never any eyewitnesses. There's very rarely any good evidence left behind, fingerprint evidence and things like that, and once we started recovering some of this DNA, it was pretty exciting there for a while."

DNA testing is a practice typically reserved for personal crimes like rape and murder. However, the forensic institute, formerly the medical examiner's office, has also been performing DNA testing on evidence - containing either skin cells or bodily fluids, like blood and saliva - from property crime cases such as car break-ins and home invasions.

Since January 2008, the forensic institute made more than 3,000 matches to crime suspects in the FBI's Combined DNA Index System database, or CODIS, a national database used to store DNA profiles. Of those, about 75 percent were for property crime cases.

Dr. Roger Kahn, director of the forensic genetics laboratory at the institute, said the crime lab is one of the few equipped to handle DNA testing for property crimes. The lab has no testing backlog on personal crime cases, so it can focus on property crimes, he said.

Kahn noted that when the forensic institute moves to its new expanded facility in the fall, the lab will have the capabilities to perform DNA testing in property crime cases for not only law enforcement agencies in the county, but the entire region.

Kahn believes it is a useful tool in solving many more crimes.

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Police use DNA technique to solve property crimes

Biology professor Steven Gorsich, students researching biofuel processes

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

Fremont senior Meagan Postema pipettes containers, preparing them for sporulation, for research in the Genetics Lab in Brooks Hall Wednesday morning. "I love what I do," said Postema. "I like the unexpected aspect of research and the opportunity to discover something new everyday." (Charlotte Bodak/Staff Photographer)

Sustainability, cleaner resources and a way to separate a biofuel supply from food supply have all been top-shelf issues for environmentalists in recent years.

Steven Gorsich, assistant professor of biology at Central Michigan University, is doing his part to resolve some of those issues; he and his lab team are taking a look at the ins and outs of biofuel production.

More specifically, theyre looking at ways to streamline the process.

Fremont senior Meagan Postema prepares containers for research under the Polymerase Chain Reaction hood in the Genetics Lab in Brooks Hall Wednesday morning. "I love what I do," said Postema. "I like the unexpected aspect of research and the opportunity to discover something new everyday." (Charlotte Bodak/Staff Photographer)

Most ethanol is made using cornstarch in a relatively simple reaction using yeast that yields biofuel. The problem with this method, though, is that it draws on food products to yield energy sources. Gorsichs project examines processes that use plant-based waste products like corn stubs, grass clippings and woodchips.

Using agriculture materials that are also used for food consumption by humans or livestock will increase the price of food at the supermarket, Gorsich said in an email. Using waste products to make ethanol is better, because it doesnt directly affect food cost.

The problem his lab is looking to overcome is that most of these materials are tougher than cornstarch and so their fermentation process requires an acid additive.

In order to get the sugars out of that, it requires a tougher pre-treatment, Gorsich said.

When the yeast starts to break down the plant material, the acids put a cap on the efficiency of the process. It results in what Gorsich refers to as oxidative damage, when oxidants (chemicals that adversely affect the fermentation process) like the acids are too high for the process to continue properly.

The mainstream fronts of Synthetic Biology: Guest post

Posted on March 19, 2012 by ev1

This is a guest post from M. A. Loera Snchez from the iGEM team UANL 2012. I have carried out a few small grammar edits but otherwise the essay is all his work, and I would like to thank him for the opportunity to host it on my blog. All references are below the main text.

The mainstream fronts of synthetic biology

What I cannot build, I cannot understand.

This phrase by the genius physicist Richard Feynman is cleverly encrypted into the genetic code of the first bacterial cells with an artificial genome that have ever existed.

Actually the quote says what I cannot create, but maybe the scientists at the JCVI who are behind this tremendous breakthrough- preferred to save some base pairs to avoid the use of the word create and its tricky implications.They published this work in 2010 and opened a whole new world of possibilities and made it completely clear to anyone what we mean when we talk about Synthetic Biology and what its ultimate purpose should be: to understand life by building it.

Although the term Synthetic Biology has been around since the mid-1970s, the definition of it has been very vague: some people would call Synthetic Biology anything related to general genetic engineering procedures; others, perhaps more rightfully, would claim to be doing Synthetic Biology because of working with DNA synthesis or making bacteria behave like tiny computers. Even the 2010 report by the US Presidencial Comission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has to define the term considering different points of view (that of the molecular biology, the chemist and the engineer) and states that the activities related to Synthetic Biology are considered by some to be just extensions of already existing fields, like Molecular Biology, Genetic Engineering and Microbiology.

I remember (oh, the shame!) being skeptic about the possibility of something so oxymoronic being, well true. I still turn red when I recall that I kind of corrected the person who first said Synthetic Biology to me by telling her that what she wanted to say was maybe Systems Biology.

So what is it really?

Well, my work in Bio! has been devoted to dig into the deeps of Synthetic Biology and the iGEM competition, and throughout this time I began to notice what I would call the mainstream fronts of Synthetic Biology. These are the main orientations that so called Synthetic Biology projects would take and by enlisting them, I think it will be easier to clarify the distinctive characteristics of this field.

Front 1: DNA synthesis

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The mainstream fronts of Synthetic Biology: Guest post

Anatomy of a murder: Nanaimo’s Kelvin Purdy says he's not a killer

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Danzig

NANAIMO Convicted murderer Kelvin Kingsbury Purdy still tallies up the days as they pass him by, now 3,017 into his life sentence.

Purdy, 44, stabbed his estranged wife to death in a Nanaimo laneway on Dec. 12, 2003, and has been in custody ever since, although he has always professed his innocence.

Repeated attempts to have his second-degree murder conviction overturned culminated in the recent dismissal of his leave to appeal in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Yet Purdy, buoyed by prospective representation by a group of Toronto legal professionals distinguished for their work in wrongful conviction reversals, says he is moving forward to the final step in the appellate process, which is a review of his case by the Ministry of the Attorney General.

Such a review is not currently underway.

"They can overturn a decision, he can grant an exoneration, he can grant a new trial. It's kind of like the final say in the whole thing," said Purdy, reached by telephone last week at Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, where he is imprisoned with no parole eligibility for another 11 years.

Denise Alanzo Purdy, Kelvin's 30-year-old wife from whom he had separated some months prior, was taking her usual route to the bus stop for work on the morning of the crime.

The young mother, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, worked at Nanaimo's Longlake Chateau where she tailored and shopped for the retirement facility's 123 residents and was praised for her constant smile, infinite patience and great humour.

At approximately 6:15 a.m., Denise was confronted by Purdy in a dark alley off of Lasalle Road in the north end of the city, the courts found.

As she tried to flee, the left-handed Purdy chased and began stabbing her, leaving many of the 21 fatal wounds on her left side, evidence at trial showed.

India's former Mr. Universe turns 100, says happiness, stress-free life key to his longevity

Posted on March 18, 2012 by ev1

KOLKATA, India - A former Mr. Universe who has just turned 100 said Sunday that happiness and a life without tensions are the key to his longevity.

Manohar Aich, who is 4 foot 11 inches (150 centimetres) tall, overcame many hurdles, including grinding poverty and a stint in prison, to achieve body building glory.

His children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gathered Sunday in the eastern city of Kolkata to celebrate his birthday the day before.

Hindu priests chanted prayers while a feast was laid out to honour Aich, winner of the 1952 Mr. Universe body building title.

Rippling his muscles and flashing a toothless grin, Aich says his ability to take his troubles lightly and remain happy during difficult times are the secrets to his long life.

That, and a simple diet of milk, fruits and vegetables along with rice, lentils and fish have kept him healthy.

He does not smoke and has never touched alcohol, he said.

"I never allow any sort of tension to grip me. I had to struggle to earn money since my young days, but whatever the situation, I remained happy," Aich said, sitting in a room decorated with posters and pictures of his many bodybuilding triumphs.

Aich, who was born in the small town of Comilla in Bengal, was a puny youngster. But he was attracted to exercising and building his muscles when as a schoolboy he saw a group of wrestlers in action.

In 1942, he joined the Royal Air Force under India's British colonial rulers and it was there that he began his relentless pursuit of body building.

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India's former Mr. Universe turns 100, says happiness, stress-free life key to his longevity

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