Monthly Archives: June 2017

Moores Law will run out soon. This is the idea that computer processing power doubles every 18 months. Some scientists say they can even see our progress beginning to slow. The microchip can only get so small. At a certain point, the silicon will be too small and thin for the heat itll endure and itll fry itself. Thats troubling. A lack of progress on this front could bring the swift velocity at which technology is progressing to a screeching halt.

So what will replace the microchip? How about DNA? Researchers have already saved a movie, a computer virus, an Amazon gift card, and more, on the building blocks of life. Currently, China has the worlds fastest supercomputer, known as the 93 petaflop Sunway TaihuLight. It can make 93,000 trillion calculations per second. The TaihuLight has 64 kilobytes of memory (64,000 bytes). Meanwhile, the human brain, arguably the most advanced computer ever, is estimated at one terabyte (1 trillion bytes) of memory.

The TaihuLight contains 41,000 chips, each with 260 processor cores, for a total of 10.65 million cores. The design isnt practical for mass market use. What about DNA, how does it measure up? In 2012, researchers at Harvards Wyss Institute stuck 700 terabytes of data into one single gram (0.03 oz.) of DNA.

A Chinese supercomputer. Wikipedia Commons.

Scientists estimate that DNA could hold 455 exabytes of data in all. An exabyte equals a quintillion bytes or 1 billion gigabytes. Since DNA is so densely packed, you could fit all of the worlds information on four grams (0.14 oz.) of DNA, a mere teaspoon full.

DNA allows nature to jam-pack a lot of information into a tiny space. Its fortunate that the nucleotide bases that make up DNA can easily be converted into binary code. Here, A (adenine) and C (cytosine) represent 0, and G (guanine) and T (thymine) represent 1.

Just four nucleotides are mere atoms wide. So you get the sense of how much you can pack in at this scale. We should be able to get one zettabyte, or a trillion gigabytes of storage, out of DNA in all, a mind-boggling figure.

If fossils have proven anything its that, DNA is incredibly durable, lasting millennia. Kept at subzero temperatures, it could last millions of years. Say we wipe out the human race and an intelligent extraterrestrial race came along at some point in the future. They might be able to decipher all of the information left behind by our species, in a package theyd likely recognize.

If kept at subzero temperatures, data saved on DNA could last millions of years. Getty Images.

So how does DNA computing work? Researchers using advanced algorithms translate data from computer language into DNA. Then to read it, the computer sequences the DNA.

Last year, Swiss researchers found a way to preserve DNA in silicon, much like a fossil, in order to protect it. While scientists at the University of Manchester, led by Prof. Ross D. King, created self-replicating DNA computers which grow as they go, to allow for tons more processing power, while using far less electricity. Scientists can easily build redundancies into the system too, making it more stable.

Now, Microsoft Research has announced that it will usher in an operational DNA-based computer by 2020. The plan is, according to partner architect Doug Carmean, a proto-commercial system in three years storing some amount of data on DNA in one of our data centers, for at least a boutique application. So you may be storing your information in a DNA-based cloud in the beginning of the next decade.

The first model is expected to be the size of one of a 1970s Xerox machine. Carmean told MIT Technology Review, We hope to get it branded as Your Storage with DNA. At first, the system is expected to only store really important information, such as medical records or police body-cam videos. Microsoft set a record last July, when it saved 200 megabytes of data directly onto DNA, a record.

1970s Xerox Machine. Getty Images.

One problem the company will need to overcome is the speed at which the system processes data. In this last experiment, the rate of converting data into DNA was 400 bytes per second. To make it commercially viable, itll need to reach 100 bytes per second.

Another obstacle, its incredibly expensive. Microsofts experiment used 13,448,372 individual pieces of DNA, which on the open market would cost $800,000. But getting it isnt enough. Encoding just one megabyte of data costs another $12,500.

Thats to say nothing of retrieving information. Sequencing costs about the same as encoding. One thing is, the price has dropped dramatically in recent years, and is likely to continue. But its still not enough to make the process practical. Microsoft hasnt announced any progress on the price front, but it may have something up its sleeve.

Though DNA-based computers are on the horizon, experts agree that the ultimate development would be quantum computing. This system would operate by holding quantum particles in superposition, or in two states at once, allowing for them to represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously. This would increase the calculation speed of certain operations exponentially.

The drawback is one cannot save anything on a quantum computer, due to whats known as the no cloning theorem. A DNA-quantum hybrid may be the answer.

To learn more about DNA-based computers, click here:

Read more:
Microsoft Plans to Have a DNA-Based Computer by 2020 - Big Think

A 42-year-old man was ordered held on $750,000 bail Thursday after DNA testing showed he was the father of a young relative's child, officials said.

Frank Acevedo, of the West Lawn neighborhood, began touching the girl sexually not long after she turned 8, prosecutors said at a bond hearing Thursday.

As the girl grew older, the sexual assaults escalated, prosecutors said. The girl became pregnant at 15, giving birth in 2013. Months after giving birth she told another relative that Acevedo was the father, prosecutors said.

A search warrant was issued against him and required Acevedo to submit to a DNA swab in August 2016. The victim and her childalso were tested. Lab results dated in April came back with a 99.999 percent possibility of Acevedo being the father, prosecutors said.

Acevedo was arrested May 30, and charged with predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal criminal sexual assault. In his hearing Thursday, he wasordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail.

Read more from the original source:
Man charged after DNA shows he fathered young relative's child: Prosecutors - Chicago Tribune

The Ancient Egyptians were famously fantastic at preserving their dead. But while their mummification methods helped protect soft tissues like skin from the ravages of time, the dry, hot climes that kept the deceased so pristine didn't do their genetic material any favors. Heat might help desiccate a corpse before rot sets in, but it also speeds up the degradation of DNA. So while scientists have been able to stare into the faces of countless Ancient Egyptians, they've had a lot of trouble deciphering any of the secrets of their genetic legacyuntil now.

Researchers publishing in Nature Communications believe they've conducted the first comprehensive genetic study on Egyptian mummies to avoid contamination. Their results suggest that modern-day Egyptians don't have much in common, genetically, with those entombed in their homeland.

Archeologists looked at 151 mummified remains from all walks of life, from lavish priestly burials to simple interments, all found at the Abusir el-Maleq archaeological site some 70 miles south of Cairo. In particular, the researchers zeroed in on mitochondrial DNA of these mummies. The DNA we usually talk about lives in the nucleus of each of our cells, and it comes from each of our parents. Mitochondrial DNA lives in the mitochondria, often called the powerhouse of the cell, and we only get it from our mothers. While it can't tell your entire genetic story, mitochondrial DNA is great for showing genetic changes over timehow different related lineages moved and met around the globe throughout the ages. In this case, they were able to get a clear read on mitochondrial DNA from 90 mummies, while only 3 mummies yielded reliable nuclear DNA sequences.

According to their findings, Egyptian demographics didn't change very much during the time range in which the various mummies livedbetween 1400 BC and 400 AD.

"There was no detectable change for those 1,800 years of Egyptian history," lead study author Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany told Reuters. "The big change happened between then and now."

Back then, it seems that the mummified Egyptians were most closely related to folks from the Levant, a region of the Eastern Mediterranean including modern-day Turkey, Israel, and Palestine. Today, Egyptians have more sub-Saharan African DNAsome eight percent more of their ancestry comes from this region.

The homogeny throughout the mummies studied is a bit surprising, as Egypt served as quite a cultural crossroads during this time. The results suggest that foreign invaders and bustling trade routes did little to rock the genetic continuity of Ancient Egyptiansat least in Abusir el-Meleq. Other researchersand the study authors themselvespoint out that the results can't be applied wholesale to the entire Ancient Egyptian culture. It's possible that more genetic mixing, including the addition of more sub-Saharan African genes, might have occurred on other shores of the Nile. If sub-Saharan genes did flood in starting just 1,500 years ago, it's likely that the growing slave trade in the area had something to do with it. Hopefully, future studies will help confirm the findings on these fragile remnants of DNAand uncover more secrets wrapped up on other mummies across the region.

This is the first glimpse of the genetic history of Egypt, Krause told Nature. But its really just the start.

Read more:
Scientists try to unwrap the secrets of Egyptian mummy DNA - Popular Science

New York Daily News

Queens jogger's dad lauds LAPD for using controversial DNA test New York Daily News The father of slain Queens jogger Karina Vetrano is praising Los Angeles cops for using a controversial familial DNA analysis to arrest a man for the rape and murder of two young women. It's excellent news, Phil Vetrano told the Daily News Wednesday, ... DNA Leads to Arrest Six Years After 2 Women Were Raped, Killed and Dumped on FreewaysInside Edition How a rare DNA match cracked open a cold case of two young women dumped on LA freewaysLos Angeles Times Police: Family Member's DNA Led To Man Suspected In KillingsCBS Los Angeles New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV -FOX 11 Los Angeles -Oxygen (blog) -Los Angeles Times all 68 news articles »

Link:
Queens jogger's dad lauds LAPD for using controversial DNA test - New York Daily News

Louise Bernard has been named the first museum director for the Obama Presidential Center. View Full Caption

Obama Foundation, LinkedIn

HYDE PARK The Obama Foundation has picked Louise Bernard, the former director of exhibitions at the New York Public Library, to be the Obama Presidential Centers first museum director.

Bernard will be in charge of developing the museum into a place that tells the story of Barack Obamas life and presidency and also inspires civic engagement.

RELATED: OBAMA IS GOING DIGITAL FOR HIS PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

David Simas, CEO of the Obama Foundation, said the museum will need to inspire people to take on the worlds biggest challenges.

We are excited for Louise to join our team and help us develop a museum that is active and engaging, Simas said in an announcement Wednesday. Louises impeccable credentials and passion for her work will make her a valuable member of the Obama Foundation team.

Bernard will join some former colleagues on the project. She previously worked at Ralph Appelbaum Associates on the firms exhibition designs for the Smithsonians National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Appelbaum has been tapped by the Obama Foundation to also design the exhibitions for the presidential center in Jackson Park.

Im honored to work alongside such a talented team at the Obama Foundationand to have the opportunity to help guide and shape a museum that is a truly innovative social and cultural institution, Bernard said.

I look forward in bringing president and Mrs. Obamas remarkable story to the broadest possible audienceand to highlighting the crucial role of civic engagement in a way that is meaningful and inspiring to local South Side residentsand to people across the country and around the world, she said

Bernard is also a scholarly adviser to the International African American Museum in Charleston, S.C.

Read the rest here:
Obama Foundation Names Director For Presidential Center In Jackson Park - DNAinfo

Creativity

Gru From 'Despicable Me' Explores His DNA in Ad for 23AndMe Creativity The spot, by agency Haymaker, features Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, finding his DNA relatives through 23andMe's DNA Relatives Tool, where his results reflect the existence of his long-lost twin brother, Dru (who features in the movie, opening June 30).

See the original post here:
Gru From 'Despicable Me' Explores His DNA in Ad for 23AndMe - Creativity

"Now I sort of understand why I might need to go to the toilet a bit more or why I'm a little bit more gassier than a normal person when I drink milk," he says.

"It hasn't meant I've stopped dairy, but I've changed the way I consume it."

Habana, the Springboks' all-time leading try scorer, was also surprised to find he has greater potential for increasing the endurance side of his training than past experience indicated.

"I was like, anything more than 100 meters is not my game training program. Maybe I could've responded better in terms of mentally pushing myself a bit harder. My body would've benefited a little bit more from that."

Along with power/endurance response -- which indicates what type of training intensity suits you best -- the DNAFit fitness test also provides guidelines for V02 max aerobic potential, post-exercise recovery, recovery nutrition and injury risk.

Habana teamed up with the company last year, and aims to build a DNA database of 1,000 professional rugby players by 2019.

However, he believes the test results can be just as beneficial for non-athletes as those at the elite level.

"It was very exciting to be part of a pioneering process where we're collecting as much data as possible, to be able to lay bases, to be able to find out more about the science," Habana says.

"Hopefully it'll have a big impact in making a difference in the sport, whether it be 1% for those at the elite level or 50-60% for those who are starting out in their careers and wanting to get to know their bodies better.

"What we'd like is for people to not only compare themselves to the likes of myself and hopefully a lot of other leading players in world rugby, but also to the normal person in the streets."

Like the other tests, it requires a simple saliva swab, which you send back to the lab. Then you receive a detailed report breaking down the results and making recommendations.

Kits cost from 99-249 ($120-$310).

This is what makes your body unique 01:26

DNAFit says its Peak Performance Algorithm is based on "validated genetic variant scoring methods."

"There are genome-wide association studies," the company's special projects manager Sebastian Corpe told CNN.

"They look at elite performers in particular sports -- for example elite power athletes, elite sprinters -- and they look for gene variations that appear in them more than the average population.

"Everything about who we are is the result of an interaction between how we were born and the things that we do. Genetics just shines a light on the static part of that equation, your DNA, so you can tailor your nutrition and training strategies to what will work for you."

Corpe says DNAFit has a rugby training plan specific to players' positions on the field -- front-five forwards, back-row forwards, inside backs and outside backs.

However, the company started out testing athletes such as sprinter Craig Pickering, and employs his fellow British Olympian Tom Lancashire among its consultants.

"We want to roll out those sorts of improvements into as many sports as possible to drive research not just in sports science but also in exercise genomics," he says.

Bryan Habana: The excitement of sevens 01:35

Now aged 33, he admits he is reaching the twilight of his career -- though he has prolonged it for at least another season after signing a contract extension with French club Toulon, where he has played since 2013.

He hopes the knowledge he has gained from DNA testing will help him manage his body, in an era where players are getting bigger, faster and stronger.

"Now I might be a little bit smarter in terms of how I train, in terms of my recovery process," Habana says. "I'm not going to change my whole training regime. Adding those elements that could help me train better and smarter could definitely help me over the next year or so of rugby that I have left.

"Getting that knowledge is so more useful now in terms of how I manage my career going forward and making sure that I train smarter to be able to stay at that highest level for as long as possible."

Habana, who is friends with DNAFit's founder, South African entrepreneur Avi Lasarow, says he hopes the company's approach can help take rugby to another level.

"Rugby has given me a huge amount over my career. In a small way, this is me helping to give something back, making a difference and pioneering a way where the next generation can be better, and the next generation after them can keep continually improving," he says.

"Playing a 1-2% part in making the sport grow to levels that it's never seen, I'd really love to do that. It's exciting, it's truly unique and I can't wait for it to start happening."

CNN's World Rugby show co-host Christina Macfarlane had her DNA tested, and compared her results with Habana's.

Both have the genetic ability to quickly recover between training sessions, meaning they can potentially do hard workouts within 24 hours of the previous one.

They have a low/normal risk of soft-tissue injury -- based on genetic markers for resilience of ligaments, tendons and joints.

However, Macfarlane had a greater response to power training -- a 60/40 split -- meaning she gets more benefit from heavier weights and high intensity levels than volume-based endurance exercise, though both should be included in any program.

On the diet side, Macfarlane has a medium-high sensitivity to carbohydrates, meaning she is more efficient at absorbing calories from such food sources. If weight management was a problem, this would be a key area to address. Her fat sensitivity is low, so this may be a better source of calories.

Her antioxidant and omega-3 requirements are normal, but she needs to increase her vitamin D and calcium intake for bone health.

She is a fast metabolizer of alcohol, meaning it leaves the blood quicker, and can get an increased performance boost from a small caffeine intake prior to training -- but has a gene which means elevated consumption can deplete bone mineral density.

See the article here:
Bryan Habana: Rugby star's surprise DNA discovery - CNN