Monthly Archives: January 2014

DNA Detectives Able to ‘Count’ Thousands of Fish Using as Little as a Glass of Water

Posted: January 15, 2014 at 6:44 pm

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Newswise A mere glass full of water from Monterey Bay Aquarium's 1.2 million-gallon Open Sea tank, among the 10 largest aquariums in the world, is all scientists really needed to identify the Pacific Bluefin tuna, dolphinfish and most of the other 13,000 fish swimming there.

Researchers also for the first time used DNA from water samples to discern which of the species were most plentiful in the tank.

Being able to determine the relative abundance of fish species in a body of water is the next step in possibly using modern DNA identification techniques to census fish in the open ocean, according to Ryan Kelly, University of Washington assistant professor of marine and environmental affairs, and lead author of a paper in the Jan. 15 issue of PLOS ONE.

Currently most scientists net, see or in other ways count fish to determine what species are present and in what proportions in marine environments.

"It might be unpleasant to think about when going for a swim in the ocean, but the water is a soup of cells shed by what lives there," Kelly said. Fish shed cells from their skin, damaged tissues and as body wastes.

"Every one of those cells has DNA and if you have the right tools you can tell what species the cell came from. Now we're working to find the relative abundance of each species present," he said.

It was barely two years ago that an influential paper was published by scientists who determined the presence of an endangered species they were seeking in a river using this "environmental DNA" or "eDNA." Since then the technique has been used to look for other specific species in both freshwater and one marine setting.

"Clearly this is an effective tool in the wild when you know what you're looking for," Kelly said.

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DNA Detectives Able to 'Count' Thousands of Fish Using as Little as a Glass of Water

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DNA test after wrong body delivered to family

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Published: 9:09AM Thursday January 16, 2014 Source: AP

Source: Thinkstock

The daughter of a US woman whose casket contained the wrong body said DNA tests will be performed to determine if her mother was accidentally cremated in Canada.

Lisa Kondvar and her family discovered someone else's body in Margaret Porkka's casket last month at a New Jersey funeral home. Ms Porkka, 82, had died unexpectedly during a trip to St Maarten over Thanksgiving.

The family suspects Ms Porkka's body was confused with that of a Canadian woman who died on the island around the same time, and was sent to Canada and cremated.

Ms Kondvar said bodily fluids were recovered from a casket in Canada that might have contained Porkka's body. The family has sent her hairbrush and toothbrush for DNA testing. Results are not expected until the end of the month, Ms Kondvar said.

"They're just starting on it now," she said. "It's frustrating."

The family wants to take possession of the ashes if they are determined to be those of Ms Porkka. Ms Kondvar said her father, Pete, is "just broken" after not being able to say a goodbye to his wife.

St. Maarten Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said last week that the government there has formed a committee to investigate the case at the request of US officials.

Emerald Funeral Home director Orlando Vanterpool said, to his knowledge, he sent the correct remains but that he will provide a refund if it's determined a mistake was made.

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DNA test after wrong body delivered to family

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A Message From YouTube: Fuck Yo Free Speech! – Video

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A Message From YouTube: Fuck Yo Free Speech!
The video YouTube claimed was #39;inappropriate #39;. You be the judge of that: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19mxvd_real-talk-on-homophobia-claiming-victimhood...

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14 1 Human Genome – Video

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14 1 Human Genome
Video Notes for Section 14.1.

By: Jan Esmay

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14 1 Human Genome - Video

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[MIRROR] Bad Philosophy With Rocking Mr E Episode 7 – Free Speech – Video

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[MIRROR] Bad Philosophy With Rocking Mr E Episode 7 - Free Speech
User Sequester Zone continues to have his videos about Rocking Mr. E flagged. His backup channel, MrE Rebuttals has recently been subject to flagging as well...

By: mergezero

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Illumina promises sequencing for $1000 per genome

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Jan. 15 (UPI) -- San Diego-based genetic technology company Illumina has announced a machine that can sequence a human genome for $1,000.

The new product, called HiSeq X Ten Sequencing System, was launched at the annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The $1 million sequencer comes in a set of 10 units and can generate 1.8 Tb of sequencing data in 3 days and up to 600 Gb in a single day at no more than $1,000 per genome.

"Breaking the sound barrier of human genetics not only pushes us through a psychological milestone, it enables projects of unprecedented scale," said Illumina CEO Jay Flatley.

This cost includes typical instrument depreciation, DNA extraction, library preparation, and estimated labor. A number of companies have placed orders for the product, including the Broad Institute, an independent biomedical research center affiliated with MIT and Harvard.

"Over the next few years, we have an opportunity to learn as much about the genetics of human disease as we have learned in the history of medicine, said Broad Institute founding Director Eric Lander.

The term "$1,000 genome" comes from the Archon X-prize that challenged teams to build machines that could sequence 100 genomes in 30 days or less, with minimal errors and at a cost of $1,000 per genome.

[Illumina]

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Is the $1,000 genome for real?

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Business Wire

The HiSeq X Ten is composed of ten HiSeq X machines, and sells for at least $10 million.

The US$1,000 genome is here. Or so says sequencing-technology company Illumina, based in San Diego, California. At a healthcare investors' conference on 14 January, Illumina CEO Jay Flatley announced that his company will begin producing a new system this year called the HiSeq X Ten, one that can deliver full coverage human genomes for less than $1,000. Here Nature assesses the claim.

We've heard claims of the $1,000 genome before. Aren't we there already?

Other companies such as Life Technologies, in Carlsbad, California, maker of the Ion Torrent sequencing platforms, and UK-based Oxford Nanopore have said before that they will sell technologies capable of sequencing genomes for $1,000 or less. Neither technology is there yet, and pushing the cost of sequencing under $1,000 has proven to be a tough nut to crack.

Why do we care about a $1,000 genome?

The first sequenced human genome cost nearly $3 billion, but as sequencing costs have dropped substantially, doctors have begun using some patients' genome sequences to improve their care. But scientists think that they will need to sequence hundreds of thousands or even millions of people to truly understand how genes influence disease so that better drugs and treatments can be developed. They say that $1,000 genomes are needed to enable the huge sequencing studies that could lead to breakthroughs in personalized medicine.

What has Illumina said the HiSeq X Ten will do?

The HiSeq X is capable of producing up to 1.8 terabases of data 16 human genomes' worth per three-day run. Illumina says that each HiSeq X Ten will therefore be capable of sequencing 18,000 human genomes per year. Each genome will be sequenced to the gold standard of 30x, which means that each base will be read by the machine an average of thirty times. And these are whole human genomes we're talking about here not solely the protein-coding regions, or exomes.

How big a deal is this?

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Is the $1,000 genome for real?

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Think you have free speech at work? Think again

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By attorney Donna Ballman, Special to THELAW.TV

Did you hear about the gun columnist who was fired for writing that the Second Amendment has limits? Oh, the irony. But what, you ask, about the First Amendment? Isn't he protected by the right to free speech? Can't he express his opinions without fear of being fired?

I've said it in my book and I'll say it again: there is no free speech in corporate America. The First Amendment protects us from government action, not the actions of private companies. That means you can be fired because your private employer doesn't like what you said, with very few exceptions. Even government employees have very little free speech protection.

Indeed, there's been a rash of firings and disciplines for expressing opinions, in and out of work. Justine Sacco, PR executive for Daily Beast owner IAC, was fired for posting, on a flight to South Africa, "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!" The company was embarrassed when the tweet went viral. Business Insider forced their Chief Technology Officer Pax Dickinson to resign after he tweeted, "feminism in tech remains my champion topic for my block list. my finger is getting tired." And who can forget "Duck Dynastys" Phil Robertson, suspended (and then quickly reinstated) after making racist and homophobic comments in an Esquire interview. The First Amendment didn't limit what any of these employers could do.

Still, not all speech is unprotected. Here are some circumstances where your speech might have some legal protection:

Concerted activity: The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) says in Section 7: "Employees shall have the right to self-organization, . . . to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection . . . ."That means if you get together with coworkers, or take action on behalf of at least one other coworker (not just on your own behalf), to protest or try to change working conditions, your speech may be protected.

Objecting to discrimination: If you speak out against workplace discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, pregnancy, age, or some other protected status, you are protected against retaliation by Title VII, the federal law prohibiting discrimination, and possibly your state anti-discrimination laws.

Political affiliation: Some states, counties, and cities have laws prohibiting discrimination based on political affiliation.

Objecting to illegal activity: If your speech was objecting to an illegal activity of your employer, you might be a protected whistleblower.

Activity outside work: Some states and localities prohibit employers for firing or disciplining employees for legal activities outside work. However, even those laws have exceptions for activity that affects the employer's reputation or the ability of the employee to do their job.

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ABORTION FIGHT Top Court doubtful on clinics' protest-free zones

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Published January 15, 2014

FoxNews.com

FILE: Jan. 15, 2014: Alan Hoyle, of Lincolnton, N.C., outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.AP

The Supreme Court appears likely to strike down a Massachusetts law requiring a 35-foot protest-free zone outside abortion clinics, after hearing arguments Wednesday.

Both liberal and conservative justices on the high court questioned the size of the zone and whether the state could find less restrictive ways to ensure patient access and safety.

The court needs at least five votes to strike down the law, which seemed possible after Justice Elena Kagan said she was "hung up" over the size of the zone.

Nobody has been prosecuted under the 2007 law, which Massachusetts officials and clinic employees have said has resulted in less congestion outside the clinics.

The court last considered abortion clinic protest zones in 2000, when it upheld a Colorado law.

But it was hard to tell whether the court might also upend its 2000 ruling in support of the Colorado zone, which has been criticized by free speech advocates for unfairly restricting protesters' rights.

That's because Chief Justice John Roberts, normally an active questioner, did not ask a single question of any of the three lawyers who argued the case.

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Sequence Your Genome For $1,000?

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January 15, 2014

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

A thousand bucks can get you that new MacBook Air or serve as a sizeable down payment on a new car. But a longer-term investment might be to sequence your entire personal genome.

On Tuesday, Ilumina, the worlds leading seller of gene sequencing machines, unveiled HiSeq X Ten the first supercomputer made to process 20,000 human genomes annually at a cost of $1,000 each.

At a conference in San Francisco, Illuminas CEO Jay Flatleysaid customers will start to see the DNA-sequencing machine on the market in the first quarter of 2014.

This will be a blockbuster product, he told Bloomberg News.

The $1,000-mark is a major milestone for the genetic sequencing industry, which has been trying to hit that goal for years. Experts have predicted that this price point would allow for the mainstreaming of genetic sequencing and a resulting multiplication of genetic data that could lead to an explosion in medical breakthroughs.

To figure out cancer, we need to sequence hundreds of thousands of cancer genomes, and this is the way to do it, Flatley explained.

John Mattick, executive director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia, said in an Illumina press release that his institution would seek to leverage this new technology in pursuit of its research goals.

The sequencing capacity and economies of scale of the HiSeq X Ten facility will also allow Garvan to accelerate the introduction of clinical genomics and next-generation medicine in Australia, Mattick said. We expect the HiSeq X Ten to underpin a new phase of collaboration between government, industry and other medical research stakeholders.

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