15 December 2010 - O What a Slacker I Be (Gene Machines and Zombie-Food)

Or maybe there just hasn't been much Science in the news lately.  I'm hoping to make the switch in the near(ish) future from relying wholly on news sources for my info to actually reading *gasp* the papers.  Wouldn't that be sweet?  One of these days I'm going to have to get back to big-people college.  I miss micro.  Hell, I kind of even miss genetics.  Having a huge library of mouse papers to peruse for the cost of tuition was pretty damned enviable, for that matter.

Okay, I really should not hate on my current college (which I adore).  I'm being tested on a surprising pleasant amount of micro and pathology in my vet tech degree.  ;)

Sorry if I'm missing big stories - feel free to point them out if you don't spot them on the twitter feed or here.  I work nights now, and unfortunately, most of the big stuff gets posted during the daylight hours when I'm fast asleep!  I do my best, though.  :)  Follow me on Twitter if you don't want to mess with the tweetish widget.

Onward!



First today isn't really Science, but...for Science.  A company (surely they aren't the only one with the goal!) is pushing gene sequencers down the same path as computers took way back when - making them smaller, faster, and more affordable.  They don't seem to pack a lot of oomph yet, but for those of us interested in genomes that are not as big as our own, they seem pretty darn flashy.  They seem aimed more at...well...me, than people with their own labs, but perhaps they can take a little outta the grant budget and let more dinero go to other equipment?  Check out the link at the end of the post for more info.

Oh, and a study out of the University of South Florida took a peek at how umbilical cord blood cells (the same cells mentioned over and over again in stem cell debates) affect the hippocampal neurons of the aging brain - rat, in this case.  Normally, this is the first area of the brain to show the effects of aging, especially in cases with Alzheimer's or other cognitive age-related disorders.  However, when HUBCs were given, the neurons appeared to be both protected and stimulated to actually grow.  Just how they helped is still speculation, but for now it's exciting to note that HUBCs may be part of the answer to disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and others!

That's all you get today.  Told you there hasn't been a whole lot to write about!  At least I'm writing, right?  Right?



See ya!
-Miss Mouse



References and Links:
Big Talk, Little Machine
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BD1KN20101214
Young Cells vs. Old Brain Bits
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101214142741.htm

30 September 2010 - Bashful Apologizing, Nifty Site, New Planet, and Teeth.

I am super bad at the blogging right now, I'm so sorry.  I keep getting ready to write, pulling up Twitter to view all the delicious Science of the day, and realizing that I can't access my feed on this computer (at least not politely).  My own lappy, she is le broken.


When she is le fixed, I will be much more psyched about writing 24-7.  In the meantime...call me majorly unreliable.  I'm writing a book, though... does that count?  :p


I CAN however, peruse the awesomely awesome major Sci news sites and pick out a few intermesting headliners for ya.  Here ye be:


First is not news at all, but this really cool site I found while trying to figure out what the disappearing "star" in the sky was.  By entering your coordinates in this site, you can find all kinds of nifty things going on when you look up (provided it isn't terribly cloudy).


Also on the topic of the world beyond our atmosphere, I'm really, really excited about this:  a potentially habitable planet has been located circling the red dwarf Gliese 581 in the Libra constellation, 20 light years away.  Actually, two new planets were found, but one in particular seems to be in the ideal position to sustain life.  It's approximately 3 or 4 times as massive as Earth, orbits the star in about 37 days, and one side is perpetually facing the star (resulting in a wide range of more or less steady temperatures).  It's called Gliese 581g, and before we found it (and another, which is apparently a less exciting planet) there were two others, c and d, that were on opposite sides of the habitable zone.  One was too hot, one was too cold, and now we have baby bear's planet.  One thing I'm not sure I agree with is the claim that the swiftness with which it was detected insinuates a higher rate of occurrence of nearby habitable planets, but I suppose I'm not very good with statistics.  One way or another, isn't that neat?


Next, research at the University of Illinois has proven it possible to reattach teeth by buttering them with stem cells.  Okay, it isn't quite that simple.  Their experiment took stem cells from the mouths of mice, marked and grew them, applied them to rat molars, and attached those where they ought to go.  While not the most delightful thing to think about, the results showed the stem cell treated teeth successfully integrated back into the mouth, whereas non-treated teeth had no such luck.  The hope is to use the method to battle tooth loss from injuries, dental problems, or even replace missing teeth with false ones in a more true manner.


Mmkay, that's it for tonight.  I've got work to do.  :)  See you soon!
-Miss Mouse


References and Links:
Leave stem cells under your pillow
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100929123630.htm
Baby Bear's Planet G
http://www.physorg.com/news204999128.html

25 March 2010 - Fingers, Sibling-Murdering Bacteria, Butterflies and Mice

So, I heard about this a day or two ago and the author was holding off on calling it a new species, but I just found new releases on the matter. Here’s the deal – a finger bone, now determined to be from a female and found in Siberia, was found a while back and contained mitochondrial DNA. It was dated to be from a girl who lived some 30-48 thousand years ago.

So we found a finger, so what? Well, even though I find it kind of amazing that it still had detectable genetic information within it, it has a bigger impact than that. Now that it’s being looked at more closely, scientists are calling her a member of a new species of humans. By what method of speciation has this been determined? Well, her mitochondrial DNA does not follow the same pattern of evolution comparable to the Homo erectus that spawned our ancestors. This finger, or rather the ancient girl once attached to it, seems to have branched off way back when and developed differently. It seems to still be not 100% definitive, and I’m guessing that naming it is pending further evidence as well. Interesting, and I look forward to learning more about this new species in the near future.

Bacteria! We all know that when resources get scarce, things go a little wonky. Paenibacillus dendritiformis gets a little weird when resources are scarce, too, but in a strange way. When on a nutrient-low plate, two colonies of P. dendritiformis grow away from each other, with a gap between the two fringed with dead cells. It turns out, in the media between the two there was a protein deemed “sibling lethal factor.” The scientists isolated the gene producing it and attempted to recreate it, but came out with a different, harmless version. So, being wickedly clever, they found that P. dendritiformis also creates subtilisin to modify the sibling lethal factor, turning it into a killer knife that tears open competing cells. Creepy…but cool. Learn more about the experiment in the links at the bottom of this post. :)

Now zoom over to Texas, where monarch butterflies are getting scarce. The epic butterflies typically migrate from Mexico to Canada, and around this time Texans start seeing them pretty frequently. This year, however, Texans have only seen them a reported total of 12 times, contrasting last year's 70 at this time of year. Issues contributing include cold weather, wet weather, and logging around their Mexican habitats leading to mudslides (that are having a pretty big effect on people, too!). To help, Texans have been asked to plant butterfly gardens, with nectar for the travelers. Apparently, they rely pretty heavily on a good breakfast. Good luck, little guys!

Last for today, some really interesting research has been turned out from the National Institute of Aging on embryonic stem cells. Until now, it’s been sort of a mystery how stem cells seem eternal, but normal cells have a lifespan. Telomeres are the sections at the ends of genetic material – they become shorter each time a cell replicates. Essentially, your typical cells have a predestined lifespan, if nothing kills them prematurely. Embryonic stem cells, however, at least in mice, can just keep chugging. The method is the interesting part.

When an ES cell deems it appropriate, it switches on coding a gene called Zscan4. This basically rebuilds those telomeres. We used to think they had a over-time recharging health bar…but they don’t. They have health potions! :) Fingers are crossed that this finding will be replicated in human ES cells, too.

That’s it for me today. See you Sunday!
- Miss Mouse

References and Links:

Finger DNA

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100324/full/464472a.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100325100848.htm

Sibling Lethal Factor

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100324094717.htm

Monarch Butterflies

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6928853.html

Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100324142117.htm