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Most Recent Articles
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- "ethical Issues In Human Gene Therapy" By : Aaron Hall
LeRoy Walters provided a valuable perspective on some of the lessons learned by scientists and ethicists over the 18 years since the first human gene therapy protocol was approved. He also offered his predictions for future gene-therapy interventions and discussed some associated ethical dilemmas that society may be facing.
Walters began his talk with two case studies. The first was about David, known as "the boy in the bubble." He was born in 1971 with X-linked severe combined immune deficiency and died 12 years later after receiving a bone marrow transplant that, unknown to doctors, carried a silent Epstein-Barr virus. - "genetics In The 21st Century" By : Aaron Hall
According to Eric Lander, "People today are now living through the most stunning information revolution, unlike anything before in the history of science." He compared its importance to the chemist Mendeleev's critical observation around 1869 that all the elements of matter could be organized in a very simple table. With this discovery, Mendeleev laid the foundations for the chemical industry and for much of chemistry in the 20th century. The biological sciences and industry are now experiencing the same thing, Lander stated. Instead of a periodic table, the 100,000 human genes constitute a finite list that will be complete in the near future. This list will help biologists and scientists understand the tremendous diversity of the human race and determine the causes of disease.
People are variable, Lander said, and every possible DNA sequence and DNA change that can exist probably does exist somewhere in the world. On the other hand, he continued, there are only two or three common variants of most human genes. If two people were selected at random from the audience and a particular gene were sequenced from each, the odds are one in two or one in three that the two sequences of the coding regions would be identical. This reflects the fact that the human race descended from a small population in Africa only 10,000 generations ago or about 200,000 years. Small populations have relatively few variants, and the mutation rate of one in a billion bases is so low that 95% of all the genes in the audience have not undergone a single mutation in all those years. Even though any two human chromosomes are nearly identical, the little differences in DNA sequence can be used to trace the inheritance pattern of chromosomes and localize particular genes to particular subregions. Finding genes in this manner requires good genetic, physical, and sequence maps. The Human Genome Project has been making very good progress in these three tasks, Lander said; the genetic maps are essentially finished, and more than 97% of the genome is well covered in physical maps that can be used to isolate disease genes. Sequencing is heating up, with about 10% of the sequence expected to be finished by the end of 1998. - "human Gene Therapy: Present And Future" By : Aaron Hall
In his presentation at the 1998 Cambridge meeting, James Wilson characterized gene therapy as a novel approach in its very early stages. Its purpose, he said, is to change the expression of some genes in an attempt to treat, cure, or ultimately prevent disease. Current gene therapy is primarily experiment based, with a few early human clinical trials under way.
Theoretically, he continued, gene therapy can be targeted to somatic (body) or germ (egg and sperm) cells. In somatic gene therapy the recipient's genome is changed, but the change is not passed along to the next generation. This form of gene therapy is contrasted with germline gene therapy, in which a goal is to pass the change on to offspring. Germline gene therapy is not being actively investigated, at least in larger animals and humans, although a lot of discussion is being conducted about its value and desirability. - "protecting Genetic Privacy: Why It Is So Hard To Do" By : Aaron Hall
Mark Rothstein began his presentation by assuring the audience, "Although it will be more complicated than most people imagine, protecting genetic privacy and confidentiality is a worthy goal." Steps taken toward this goal so far, however, he characterized as misguided and simplistic. Before explaining this position further, he gave the audience useful background information on relevant issues.
Rothstein defined "privacy" as the limited access to a person, the right to be let alone, and the right to keep certain information from disclosure to other individuals. - "reference" Genome To Contain Basic Set Of Genes By : Aaron Hall
Except for identical twins, each human has his or her own unique genome--the complete set of DNA, or genetic material, found in the 46 chromosomes of each cell. Scientists estimate that individuals differ in about 0.1% of their 3 billion DNA base pairs. Although people who make up a particular population group share common ancestors and are more likely to share some genetic sequences, scientists believe that individuals within a group are genetically more variable than the groups are.
Given these differences, all humans still share the same basic set of genes and genomic regulatory regions that control the development and maintenance of their biological structures and processes. The Human Genome Project's goal is to determine the DNA sequence for a complete “reference” human genome that will help orient researchers and provide them with tools for further studies of fundamental human biology. Because the genome of each person is unique and different samples will be used for sequencing, the reference sequence will not represent an exact match for any one person's genome. - 'Now you see it, now you don't' By : Doctor PharmD
How new artificial intelligence can help us understand how we see - 1999 Hollaender Winners Announced* By : Aaron Hall
DOE has announced the award of nine 1999 Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships for up to 2 years of research at DOE laboratories having substantial programs supportive of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research's mission. The mission is to understand health and environmental effects associated with energy technologies and to develop and sustain research programs in life, biomedical, and environmental sciences. - 7 Factors You Can do With your Notebook computer By : balhara no.1
The Greatest Intelligent mobile phone At any time! Laptop computers can perform - A detailed look at the scientific achievements of Canada By : Chloe Harrison
Canada is not known for great scientists, but perhaps it should be when you look at all the incredible scientific discoveries you can directly attribute to the country. - A Little Bit About Earth By : Jeff Seward
Our home world Earth is the third earth out from the Sun and is the principal and densest of the four personal planets. Earth is also the first earth out from the Sun that has a Moon and is the only earth in our Solar System where liquid waters exists in large quantities on the exterior. It is normally fixed that the existence of liquid water is the foremost wits why Earth is the only place in the known - A long fall: Conn. GOP Senate candidate drops bid By : Harrty
NEW LONDON, Conn. -It was just last fall that former Republican congressman Rob Simmons was in the political driver's seat, enjoying a double-digit lead in opinion polls over veteran Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd in Connecticut's U.S. Senate race.
By January, a battered Dodd had dropped out of the race, announcing his retirement.
At the same time, however, former pro-wrestling executive Linda McMahon was ramping up her bid for the state Republican endorsement, spending millions of her personal fortune to blanket the state with television ads and glossy mailers. - A Look At Future Cases: Courting Disaster? By : Aaron Hall
Seminar participants agreed that, once lawyers understand the use that can be made of genetic information, the impact on the courts will be enormous. A cornucopia of cases anticipated by the group includes the following: - A Look At Life In Space By : Jeff Seward
Life's basis is a conundrum for which naturalism has no answer. For this very argue many have abandoned the naturalistic explanation. Those who wait in the naturalist camp usually say one of two effects. Some tell us life came from outer interim. Others say, it didn't. - A Number Of Guides to Get A Wireless Video Sender That Fits You By : Maxim
The wireless video sender is one of many amazing tools which make us able to simply send our video without some boring wires. With this tool, we can connect wirelessly lots of our visual tools at home to the AV device in our room, so we are able to watch all of them without getting out from our room. This way is more practical for us rather than still using some cables or going to another room when we want to watch video in the living room. - A Paternity Test Helps You Know For Sure By : Caroline Smith
Performing a DNA paternity test is the one way to find out for sure if a man is the true biological father of a child. In cases where there is any doubt as to the identity of a child's father, such as where a mother's fidelity is in question, or in some legal child support or custody cases, a paternity test can provide unequivocal results. DNA testing is the most accurate and reliable method of determining the truth about a paternal relationship, with the results providing the conclusive proof that is needed. - A Review Of Autism Research By : Morgan Hamilton
The surprisingly high rate of the condition known as autism is reported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be one in 166 children. Most people find it even a bit scary, especially ones who have never been exposed to statistics or to anyone affected by this condition. The lack of publicity on the problem causes troubles to autism research, as those research funds are being diverted to other causes with much bigger publicity as cancer and heart disease. We don’t try to say that those are not important, we just say that with such a high rate of people affected by autism it should be considered a worthy cause too.
Despite the high number of affected children, their parents often complain about the lack of intensity in that research if any is done nowadays. Of the total amount of the National Health Budget, which adds up to $30 million, the part that goes to autism research is as tiny as two thirds of a percent, according to Mr. Wright of Autism Speaks. And that is not at all enough, according to the affected ones and their relatives. - About Our Planets, Part One: The Rocks Nearest the Sun: By : Jeff Seward
When we glimpse the millions of stars in the night sky, it can be difficult to imagine that some of them are planets, only thousands of miles away, and within our solar system. - About Our Planets, Part Two: Beyond the Asteroid Belt: By : Jeff Seward
In the previous article, we tackled the planets nearest the sun, and which could easily be seen in the night sky. - Accredited On-line Biology Degree - Earning it From Home By : nikky Howard
Biology is one amongst the foremost fascinating degrees, since is it's a study regarding life. The word bio derived from the Greek word bios which mean life and therefore the logos derived from the Greek word that means that study. Biology means that the study of life and living organisms. - Acedb Version 4.0 Debuts At Annual Meeting By : Aaron Hall
Since its 1991 introduction for the Caenorhabditis elegans community, ACEDB has served as a data-management model for other research projects and has been adopted by a number of diverse organizations and individuals to maintain and distribute data on more than 40 genomes, including human, bovine, Drosophila, yeast, mycobacteria, Arabidopsis, grains, trees, and fungi. At the May 14-29 ACEDB conference and workshop in Geyserville, California, participants represented 10 countries, 4 continents, 38 organizations, 20 databases, and 19 organisms.
John McCarthy [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)] organized this year's meeting. Sponsors included DOE, NIH National Center for Human Genome Research, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, and European Data Resource for Human Genome Research. Conference hardware and software were provided by LBNL, Digital Equipment, Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, Network Computing Devices, Microsoft, and Stanford University. - Acne Treatments By : Robert D. Thomson
There are many different acne treatments out there. There are natural acne remedies, home made acne treatments and many more different types. Many people would like to know how to get rid of their acne. - Acupuncture Newsletters Educating The Public On Complementary Medicine By : Robert D. Thomson
A free acupuncture and Chinese medicine newsletter is being offered to you as a way to educate the public on all the benefits of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. - After The Genome Project: Understanding The Data By : Aaron Hall
Survey Identifies Growing Need for Synchrotron Analyses
Structural Biology and Synchrotron Radiation: Evaluation of Resources and Needs (1997) is a report on the current status of biological uses and demands of synchrotron radiation in the United States. For this report, staff at the synchrotron radiation facilities and their user communities were surveyed, and a group of experienced structural biologists analyzed the data. - AIRCRAFT - So how do they fly By : Mozza1
Aircraft designers think of the air like we think of water it is fluid and it has mass. So, just as a lake will support a water skier, air will support a flying machine – as long as it keeps moving fast enough. - Albert Enstein By : Gabriel
However, he was not considered very bright when he was a child. When he was nine, his father told his wife he was very worried about him because he was “a bit dim”. His teachers complained that he had no sense of discipline and had a bad effect on the other pupils. When he was fifteen, he was thrown out of school, but a few years later he was allowed to study mathematics and physics at a special technical university in Zurich. However, even at university he was hardly “a good student”. He rarely attended lectures, and was often trouble with the professors because he constantly argued with them. One of them told him:” You are clever, extremely clever. But you have one real fault – you never let your self be told anything!” When he graduated from university he couldn’t get a job, partly because none of his professors would recommend him for one. Finally he found one in the Swiss Patent Office in Berne. One of his duties was writing descriptions of new inventions. - All About Biotech Research By : Morgan Hamilton
One of my friends, a former community college student at the school at the same time I was working there, has decided to go into biotech research. She is technologically savvy and at the same time is fascinated with and good at working with the environment, and hopes to make some important contributions to our area (Northern California). So what does it mean to do biotech research? What does it take to get into the field of biotechnology? And how much dough can you make?
Biotech research can involve anything in the life sciences, from “human health and computational disease mapping to crop and tree improvements,” as those studies are done by students at the Biotech Research Center at Michigan Tech, from “forensics, [the] testing of biotoxins, and management of the nation’s organ transplantation process” to “drug development, medical diagnostics, biomedical engineering, and environmental analysis,” such as those done at Virginia Biotechnology Research Park, or from biogenetic engineering, farming, or nutritional assessment and engineering to toxicology, biomedical imaging and engineering, or food, drug, and environmental technologies, as conducted by University of California Biotechnology Research and Education Program (UC BREP). - Alternatives In Technological Controversies By : Aaron Hall
A conference on "Which Scientist Do You Believe? Process Alternatives in Technological Controversies" attracted almost 40 people from the United States and Canada to Concord, New Hampshire, on October 6-7, 1994. The meeting was organized by Arthur Kantrowitz (Dartmouth College) and Thomas Field [Franklin Pierce Law Center (FPLC)] to consider the resolution of technical disputes in a variety of settings. It was funded partially by the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues component of the DOE Human Genome Program.
Presentation topics included processes for resolving medical controversies [Itzhak Jacoby (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences)], the need to separate scientific facts from social values in public controversies (Kantrowitz), congressional regulations on risks to humans and the environment [Dalton Paxman (Congressional Office of Technology Assessment)], DNA evidence in the courtroom [Albert Scherr (FPLC)], and nontechnical input in framing scientific issues [Kristin Schrader-Frechette (University of South Florida)]. - An Examination Of Non-hodgkins Lymphoma By : Morgan Hamilton
Cancer is a life-threatening disease that is prevalent in our time. One of which is known as non-Hodgkins lymphoma or NHL. It is a cancer that affects the lymphatic system and develops in the lymphoid tissue, which contain lymphocytes that are found all over the body. The lymphatic system is part of our immune system, and contains two basic types of lymphocytes. B lymphocytes manufacture antibodies that protect your body against bacteria and viruses by attracting white blood cells that devour them.
Tlymphocytes on the other hand destroy cancer cells as well as viruses, fungi, and bacteria. They produce a chemical called cytokinesis which attracts white blood cells to help destroy harmful microorganisms. Research posted at www.cancer.org by the Cancer Society claims that non-Hodgkins lymphoma develop from B lymphocytes 85% of the time, and the remaining 15% from T lymphocytes. - Analyzing Genetic Discrimination In The Workplace By : Aaron Hall
We have entered an age in which mankind wields increasing power to alter and dictate the course of nature. The mysteries of our genetic code have been unveiled, providing remarkable new insights into our unique human characteristics. Indeed, the information age has taken hold and the genetic revolution is upon us, and, with apologies to Aldous Huxley, we stand at the precipice of a brave new world.
Genetic discrimination is an issue that interests me greatly, for both professional and personal reasons. In my work at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency charged with enforcing workplace antidiscrimination laws, I am concerned about all forms of workplace discrimination, and I struggle with ways to decrease its incidence andto fight for those who have been victimized. - Animal Testing - More Common Than You Think By : Morgan Hamilton
I once received a pamphlet from a friend when I was in college. He told me to read it and pass it on. The pamphlet contained information about animal testing. It listed the companies that still use it, and those that did not. I felt sad when I saw that many of the companies that did it were the companies that make many of the things that I use in my home. As a result, I threw out most of those stuff when I got home. I then tried to decide on what products I could use. I always try my best to get the right products, although I can’t say that I am perfect about buying the right ones.
Do you know that animal testing has been around for a long time? I prefer to hear that it is being done for medical research, even if I still think that it should not be condoned for any reason. I feel disgusted whenever I hear that animal testing is done for things like shampoos and conditioners. Of course, I understand that a company has to know if their product will harm a person when they use it. However, I think that they should find another way to test their products other than using it on those poor animals. - Anticipated Benefits Of Genome Research By : Aaron Hall
Predictions of biology as “the science of the 21st century” have been made by observers as diverse as Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and U.S. President Bill Clinton. Already revolutionizing biology, genome research has spawned a burgeoning biotechnology industry and is providing a vital thrust to the increasing productivity and pervasiveness of the life sciences.
Technology and resources promoted by the Human Genome Project already have had profound impacts on biomedical research and promise to revolutionize biological research and clinical medicine. Increasingly detailed genome maps have aided researchers seeking genes associated with dozens of genetic conditions, including myotonic dystrophy, fragile X syndrome, neurofibromatosis types 1 and 2, inherited colon cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and familial breast cancer. - Aquaculture and Marine Biology By : Rita Williamz
Marine biology deals with the study of various aquatic organisms. Aside from getting more information and unravelling different mysteries of the ocean, marine biologists also aim to learn more about processes that will ultimately provide for the growing needs of populations all over the globe. Aquaculture is one of these processes where people can expect higher availability and cheaper prices of goods and food. Here are some more information. - Arabidopsis Sequencing Scales Up By : Aaron Hall
Scientists soon will have access to the first complete genetic information of a flowering plant. DOE, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) are funding three groups of researchers to begin systematic, large-scale genomic sequencing of Arabidopsis thaliana. It has the smallest genome (about 120 Mb) and the highest gene density known in a flowering plant. The ultimate goal is to sequence the entire Arabidopsis genome by the year 2004 at a rate of about 200 genes per month.
The three groups, whose grants total around $12 million, are Institute for Genomic Research; a consortium of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Washington University in St. Louis, and Applied Biosystems; and a consortium of Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of California, Berkeley. - Archaic Overachiever Thrives In Hostile Environments By : Aaron Hall
First discovered almost 20 years ago by Carl Woese and Ralph S. Wolfe (both of University of Illinois, Urbana), the Archaea domain (whose name means "ancient" in Greek) is believed to have separated from true bacteria over 3 billion years ago. Archaea once were thought to live only at extreme environmental conditions of temperature and pressure but now are believed to be far more common and to make up a significant part perhaps half of the world's biomass. They are suspected of playing important but still unknown roles in the earth's ecology, including its carbon and nitrogen cycles.
The single-celled, 1738-gene M. jannaschii was isolated from a sample collected in over 8000 feet of water at the base of a deep-sea thermal vent on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It is named for Holger Jannasch of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, who collected the sample. Thriving at pressures that would crush a conventional submarine, this heat-loving, methane-producing microbe lives without sunlight, oxygen, or organic carbon. - Are You A Descendant Of The Seven Daughters Of Eve? By : Ronda Sheree Gonzalez
Imagine what you'd learn about your ancestry if you could trace your heritage all the back to one of the Seven Daughters of Eve. Sound far-fetched? Or like it might be the next Dan Brown movie? - Association Considers Genetics, Justice, Minorities By : Aaron Hall
With a program entitled "DNA: Genetics, Criminal Justice, and the Minority Community," a large professional association considered for the first time the implications of genetics for law enforcement and civil rights. On September 23-24, 1994, the Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society of Massachusetts marked its tenth anniversary by bringing Boston law-enforcement representatives together with minority professionals to examine issues of genetics; race; criminal behavior; and civil discrimination in employment, insurance, and health care.
Ruffin Society President Judge Julian R. Houston (Massachusetts Superior Court) heralded the 150-person convocation as "an opportunity for us to confront and consider the future as it rolls out of the laboratory and into the courtroom and the streets." Aided by a grant from the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) component of the DOE Human Genome Program, the conference received high marks from participants and local news media. "We planned carefully," Houston said, "and it paid off with a program and a process in which I think we justifiably can take pride." The project is managed by Robert D. Croatti, Associate Dean of the College of Criminal Justice, Northeastern University. - Astronomy Real Star Power By : Chris Campbell
Astronomy has to be one the most humbling of all subjects to study. Just the thought of our universe, being like a grain of sand in a sandy shore of universes, is enough to make me want to crawl back under the sheets. Everything just seems so immense, andbeyond comprehension. Where does it end? Is it possible to get to the end of space? Astronomy tries to come up those answers. Like any science, Astronomy asks far more questions then it can answer. But, that's part of what makes it so fascinating. Ever since the first adventurer wondered what was beyond the nexthorizon, humans have been trying to expand their boundaries. Astronomy is carrying on that fine tradition. It's a pretty big horizon, and maybe one that doesn't end? Who knows, only astronomers of the future will be able to answer that question. - Astronomy Space And Beyond By : Jeff Seward
Astronomy could be distinct as the offshoot of skill that deals with the learning of natures and beckon of space bodies like stars, planets and galaxies. There are yet different definitions for Astronomy. This includes the analysis of worry and clothes further earth's atmosphere and having their own pure and compound properties. Some different views enter -Astronomy is the learning of everything. This is - Automation Conference Held At Lbnl By : Aaron Hall
The Third International Conference on Automation in Mapping and Sequencing, held November 3-5, 1995, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), focused on instrumentation and automation issues associated with large-scale genomic research. Although driven by specific needs of genome projects worldwide, these technologies also have broad implications for biotechnology in general because of the large scale of genomic operations for which they are designed.
The capacity audience of 230 represented an international community of specialists from major mapping and sequencing centers, university and government laboratories, and the private sector. In addition to the 78 presentations, 20 manufacturers exhibited leading-edge technology. DOE and NIH managers gave overviews of various genome programs and their expectations for continued automation and instrumentation development. - Ayurvrdic Home Remedies for Sciatica By : Robert Baird
A Sciatic person generally suffers from chronic constipation which can be removed if castor oil (10-20ml) is given with hot milk. The pain is the result of pressure upon a nerve caused by pro lapsed inter vertebral disc between 4th and 5th lumbar vertabra. The pain starts from the hip-joint, from where it radiates to toe. Pain is sometimes accompanied by numbness and sometimes by sore pain. - Bac End Sequencing Speeds Large And Small Projects By : Aaron Hall
Ultimate goals of the Human Genome Project (HGP) are to determine the sequence of the 3 billion DNA bases that make up the human genome and to increase understanding of gene function. In search of the best route to these ends, researchers have generated several different types of useful chromosomal maps. Eventually, the human genome will be represented by DNA chromosome sequences with various levels of annotation.
Interim maps have proven useful for biomedical research, but the most valuable map resources for production DNA sequencing are megabase-scale assemblies of overlapping DNA clones (contigs). Building long contigs, however, has proven a difficult task. Although contig maps of chromosomes 16 and 19 (developed at Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories, respectively) were largely complete in 1995, comparable contig maps of other chromosomes are less ready to support high-throughput sequencing. To help alleviate this impending bottleneck, in 1998 DOE sponsored projects to enrich the BAC clone resources preferred for high-throughput sequencing systems. - Bac End-sequencing Projects Initiated By : Aaron Hall
Assembling ordered, overlapping sets (contigs) of high-quality, - sequence-ready clones has long been considered an essential step toward human genome sequencing. Not only do the clones provide uniform materials for sequencing, but, because they have been mapped to precise genomic locations, the DNA sequence obtained from them can be located on the chromosomes with minimal uncertainty. Very useful low-resolution maps have been produced by several methods. [See, for example, summary maps at the MIT Whitehead Institute (http://www.broad.mit.edu/) and T.J. Hudson et al., Science 270, 1945-54.] However, only 3 of 24 chromosomes (16, 19, and 22) are substantially covered by contigs of sequence-ready clones.
The availability of newer, more stable clone resources containing large human DNA inserts (up to 150,000 bases) has stimulated an alternative strategy to contig building for complete genome - sequencing. In this new approach, described in Nature (381, 364-66), about 500 bases of sequence are obtained from both ends of BAC or PAC clone inserts. BAC-PAC end sequencing is performed on clones from a deep (about 20-fold), arrayed library, and all clone names, end sequences, and other useful data are entered into a public database. When a given clone is sequenced, any researcher can search for and identify additional clones with overlapping - sequences. These "hits" can then guide the choice of the next overlapping BAC or PAC clone to be sequenced. In this way, contig building (determining overlapping pieces and ordering all the clones) is bypassed; it happens as a consequence of sequencing, not as a prerequisite. - Bang For The Buck: Government-backed Research Underpins Potentially High Payoff Ventures By : Aaron Hall
Spinoffs of Human Genome Project technologies continue to impact U.S. Industries, including medicine, environmental technology, agriculture, chemicals, and energy production. U.S. leadership in science and technology reaffirms the value of publicly funded research such as that supported at universities and national laboratories and in industry. Two recent spinoffs from the DOE Human Genome Program follow.
Biochip Agreement Aimed at Commercial Use
Companies to Refine Genome Technology for Mass Production
In June DOE announced that Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Motorola Inc., and Packard Instrument Company have agreed to develop and mass-produce biochips. Motorola and Packard will contribute a total of $19 million over 5years, making this collaboration one of the largest biotechnology research agreements ever signed by a DOE national laboratory. - Battery Chargers – Keeping You Ready For Action. By : john
Battery Chargers are tremendously useful, allowing us to put power into rechargeable batteries and thus reuse them repeatedly without having to buy more for a long time. They are usually used in the home but variants can be found for power tools and various other devices that run on a local battery. The great thing is not just the saving on new batteries, but the fact that with spare charged batteries and the lack of need for a battery shop, chargers let us use our electrical devices wherever we need to and without a mains cable. - Beijing Hosts 2nd South-north Conference By : Aaron Hall
The Second South-North Conference, held in Beijing on November 6-10, 1994, demonstrated that developing countries are participating meaningfully in the Human Genome Project. Both in overall session structure and the high level of scientific content, the conference exemplified the goals of its sponsors-United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Peking University, and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO.
In this and previous conferences, UNESCO has established three major ways in which developing countries and populations can participate in the genome project:
* Give special attention to genetic traits, including inherited diseases or susceptibilities in native populations. Isolated populations are especially important in genetic analyses.
* Organize scientific work using the best available technologies for mapping and sequencing at least some representative sites. Special attention would be given to organisms or traits of particular value or interest to societies.
* Take part in moral and ethical discussions on beneficial uses of genetic technology and safeguards of individual privacy. - Bio-science News From The National Laboratories By : Aaron Hall
A new technique for detecting proteins associated with prostate cancer may serve as a sensitive assay for this common killer and have wide applications beyond diagnostics as well. The work was reported in the September 2001 issue of Nature Biotechnology by a team of researchers led by Thomas Thundat (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), Arun Majumdar (University of California, Berkeley), and Richard Cote (University of Southern California).
The new instrument induces cancer-associated proteins known as prostate-specific antigens (PSAs) to stick to and ultimately bend a cantilever that measures one-hundredth the width of a human hair and looks like a tiny diving board. When proteins bind to the surface, the microcantilever bends and a sensitive laser detects and measures the minute movement, thus signaling the presence and amount of increased levels of PSA. Although the cantilever moves only about 10 to 20nm, lasers can detect a deflection as small as a fraction of a nanometer. The researchers report that the instrument is sensitive enough to detect PSA levels at 5% of the clinically relevant threshold and at potentially much lower cost than the conventional assay. A commercial application may be available within 3 to 5 years. - Biological Age - Five Tips to Help You Stay Young By : nikky Howard
Your biological age is one thing that's very important to watch for. When your biological age is higher than your real age you may feel older than you actually are. There are various things that may be done though to assist you keep young along with your biological age being below your real age. - Biological Microscopes and also the Processes of Life By : nikky Howard
When you wish to review living organisms and their life processes, one among the most effective equipments to perform the work are the biological microscopes. Beneath their lenses, you'll be able to see through to the cells and their components, usually in full color. - Biological Science Jobs - Are You Curious about Turning into a Biological Scientist? By : nikky Howard
Biological scientists are accountable for learning organisms and how they relate to the atmosphere at large. Roles of the biological science major include learning how life processes work and applying these understandings to new developmental processes and to the creation of new products. Most people will concentrate on a particular area of study, such as microbiology or zoology. - Biotoolkit By : Aaron Hall
BioToolKit now provides 750 annotated links to Web tools for the study of nucleic acid, genome, and protein structure.
Gene-Finding Programs at Sanger
Updated versions of gene-finding programs (including FGENES, FGENESH, and FGENES-m variant for mammalian sequences) are available for use through the Sanger Web site. Also, the Gapped BLASTP program from the National Center for Biotechnology Information allows users to check a gene's protein structure in the INFOGENEP database of finished and unfinished human sequences and receive the clone's name and sequence. See the Web site for more information. - Blow the mind creatively (Oh Snap)-00-5279 By : chuck
What is creativity?
Creativity is an act of faith and an art of discovery. It is the ability of a person to create something that is new to world based - Book Focuses On Biomarker Implications By : Aaron Hall
Biomarkers: Medical and Workplace Applications (Joseph Henry Press, National Academy of Sciences, May 1998) is the outgrowth of an international meeting called "Biomarkers, the Genome and the Individual: Workplace and Medical Implications of a Rapidly Evolving Technology." Held in May 1997 in Charleston, South Carolina, the DOE-sponsored meeting was organized by the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).
The book, also supported by a DOE grant, offers a comprehensive review of the biomarker field through a sampling of 33 talks from the Charleston meeting. It focuses on the use of biomarkers to estimate prior exposures, identify genomic changes, and evaluate underlying susceptibilities in humans. The book was edited by Mort Mendelsohn (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), John Peeters (DOE Office of Occupational Medicine), and Lawrence Mohr (MUSC). [Contact for book: National Academy Press (800/624-6242 or 202/334-3313, Fax: -2451)] - Boxed Water : Water In Milk Cartons, Rather Than Plastic Bottles :: BottledWaterIsBetter,net By : Elonoise Bletch
Boxed water sounds like a trend thats going to catch up, but will it replace environmentally-damaging plastic bottles? Here's why not. - Butterfly Kits are a great activity for home or school. By : Lee Walder
Do you know what a butterfly kit consists of, and how to use them?
With growing butterflies it is a experience the whole family can enjoy from children to many adults also. (At this point, I just have to throw my hands up without any more thought). A butterfly kit will make it easy to experience th - C. Elegans Sequence Data Grows By : Aaron Hall
The amount of finished sequence produced by the Caenorhabditis elegans Genome Project grew to over 14 Mb at the end of March. This marks more than a six-fold increase from the 2.2 Mb reported in mid-1994 [see HGN 6(2), 1-2 (July 1994)]. Of the new total, investigators headed by Richard Wilson and Robert Waterston [Washington University (WU), St. Louis] contributed 272 cosmids (8,339,124 bases), and researchers led by John Sulston (Sanger Centre, U.K.) contributed 183 cosmids (5,634,590 bases). The St. Louis group has also finished 39 yeast cosmids (1,248,089 bases). [Figures provided by LaDeana Hillier and David States, WU]
Sanger Centre Ftp Site
Cosmid sequences are available by anonymous ftp (ftp.sanger.ac.uk in the directory pub/databases/C.elegans_sequences or via ftp://ftp.sanger.ac.uk/). The ftp site, which is updated regularly, contains all the Sanger Centre C. elegans sequence data as well as completed contigs from St. Louis. - Camping and the Tankless RV water heater By : Derrick Maddux
No longer suffer through cold showers while camping with a tankless RV water heater. These portable units are great for camping in tents, RV camping and have many other at home uses. - Can LEGO Save the World With Their Renewable Energy Sets? By :
Can legos latest line of fully working renewable energy toys teach the next generation about the importance of relying on renewable energy sources? - Can Technology "chip" Away At Privacy? By : Stacey Moore
A wireless technology that's been around for more than 60 years is raising privacy and security issues for some people.
The technology is RFID-radio frequency identification. Typically, it involves three components: a tag consisting of a microchip and radio antenna; a reader; and a computer system. The tag is attached to or embedded in an item, such as the pass that an employee might use to get into an office building. Information contained on the chip is sent to the reader by radio signals. - Can Water Really Burn Like Petrol - You'll Be Surprised With the Answer. By : Henry Samtinsky
For decades speculation about water being an real alternative to fossil fuels has raised many discussions, but for the most of us we disregarded it as another urban myth... How wrong we were - Capability of Solar Power By : Robert D. Thomson
Solar powered lights work according to a very straightforward principle. - Capturing The Data And Making It Useful By : Aaron Hall
Redesigning GDB and GSDB
The explosive growth of information and the challenges of acquiring, representing, and providing access to data pose new and monumental tasks for the large public databases. Ken Fasman [Genome Database (GDB)] and Gifford Keen [Genome Sequence Data Base (GSDB)] discussed the restructuring of GDB and GSDB to handle the flood of data and make it useful for downstream biology. - Carrano A Hugo Vice-president By : Aaron Hall
Anthony Carrano, Director of the DOE Human Genome Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), became Vice President for the Americas of the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) in March 1996. Grant Sutherland (Australia) is President of HUGO, which represents nearly 1000 members from 50 countries.
The three HUGO regional vice-presidents, who are also members of the 18-person International Council, serve as liaisons between their regions and the council. The Americas office representing North, South, and Central America is located in Bethesda, Maryland, and headed by Susan Wallace. The other two main offices are HUGO Europe (London), whose vice-president is Gert Jan Van Ommen, and HUGO Pacific (Osaka, Japan), for which Yoshiyuki Sakaki is the new vice-president. - Carrano A Hugo Vice-president By : Aaron Hall
Anthony Carrano, Director of the DOE Human Genome Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), became Vice President for the Americas of the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) in March 1996. Grant Sutherland (Australia) is President of HUGO, which represents nearly 1000 members from 50 countries.
The three HUGO regional vice-presidents, who are also members of the 18-person International Council, serve as liaisons between their regions and the council. The Americas office representing North, South, and Central America is located in Bethesda, Maryland, and headed by Susan Wallace. The other two main offices are HUGO Europe (London), whose vice-president is Gert Jan Van Ommen, and HUGO Pacific (Osaka, Japan), for which Yoshiyuki Sakaki is the new vice-president. - Cdna Cloning Workshop Identifies Critical Issues By : Aaron Hall
Full-length cDNA Cloning: A Workshop on Problems and Solutions was held at the Banbury Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, on March 23-25. It was sponsored by Merck Genome Research Institute, NIH National Cancer Institute, and Research Genetics, Inc., and organized by M. Bento Soares (University of Iowa) and Piero Carninci (Tsukuba Life Science Center, Japan). A complete report of the meeting, including an extensive section on strategies for constructing libraries enriched for full-length cDNAs, is on the Web.
Critical issues pertaining to synthesis and cloning of full-length cDNAs were identified and discussed throughout the meeting. Following are some topics on which attendees reached general consensus and made recommendations. - Cellular phone Method Technological know-how - Company VoIP By : balhara no.1
to bandwidth and Good quality of Services (QoS). If you are utilizing the public - Cf Genetic-testing Panel Emphasizes Education By : Aaron Hall
A 14-member nongovernmental panel convened by NIH in April 1997 recommended that genetic testing for mutations that cause cystic fibrosis (CF) be offered to all pregnant couples, those planning a pregnancy, those with a family history of the disease, and partners of people with CF. The panel did not endorse genetic testing of newborns because current research does not show a benefit.
The panel made its recommendations at the close of a 3-day NIH Consensus Development Conference on Genetic Testing for Cystic Fibrosis. The Consensus Development Program was established in 1977 as a "science court" mechanism to resolve controversial topics in medicine and public health in an unbiased, impartial manner. The conference was sponsored by the NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research and the National Human Genome Research Institute. - Cheap flights and airways: what came before By : Johara
An interesting look at the evolution of flight. - Children And Astronomy By : Jeff Seward
There is a big benefit in skill nowadays and the require thereof in our youth; yet with a little activity by adults in the science of astronomy and a relatively inexpensive teenager telescope you could show the universe in an undivided new way. - Chlamydia Genome Offers Surprises By : Aaron Hall
Analysis of the 1-Mb genome of Chlamydia trachomatis has revealed some unexpected biology for the tiny organism. C. trachomatis is responsible for causing the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the United States as well as trachoma, a major cause of blindness in Asia and Africa. A collaboration among scientists at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University, the study was reported in the genome issue of Science (October 23, 1998).
Of 18 fully sequenced bacterial genomes, Chlamydia is the only obligate intracellular parasite, growing exclusively within eukaryotic cells and requiring host enzymes and cellular machinery for several necessary functions. Researchers were surprised to learn that it harbors genes that could allow it to generate its own energy-storage molecule, ATP (adenosine triphosphate). - Chromosome 19 Map: Status And New Applications By : Aaron Hall
Emilio Garcia summarized the state of the LLNL high-resolution chromosome 19 physical map and discussed its value for gene hunting and detailed analyses of genome organization.
Physical Map - Chromosome 9 Workshop Produces New Maps By : Aaron Hall
The Fourth International Workshop on Chromosome 9, held April 23-25 in Williamsburg, Virginia, was organized by Margaret Pericak-Vance (Duke University) and attended by 33 people from 7 countries. Sponsors included the U.K. Medical Research Council, DOE, NIH National Center for Human Genome Research, and the Human Genome Organisation (via a grant from the European Community).
Speaking of the meeting's success, A. Jamie Cuticchia [formerly Genome Data Base (GDB), now at Mitre Corporation] said, "The chromosome 9 workshop is noteworthy because for the first time on record every participant submitted data to GDB before the meeting. Recognizing that searchable data is critical in creating integrated maps, the chromosome 9 community required that ALL data be submitted in advance." - Chromosome X Map Completed By : Aaron Hall
On March 14, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St.Louis announced the completion of a high-resolution map of chromosome X. This chromosome, which determines gender, is associated with many inherited disorders. Researchers also located hot spots for genes and detected a large region where the DNA remains intact as it passes from one generation to another.
Published in the March issue of Genome Research, the map has 2100 unique landmarks --three times as many as any previous X chromosome map. If it were a road map from St.Louis to San Francisco, it would show a marker every mile. On average, the new map has a landmark every 75,000bp. The national goal for chromosome mapping is one landmark every 100,000 bp. - Cloning: From Dna Molecules To Dolly By : Aaron Hall
The possibility of human cloning, raised when Scottish scientists at Roslin Institute created the much-celebrated sheep "Dolly" (Nature 385, 810-13, 1997), has aroused worldwide interest and concern because of its scientific and ethical implications. The feat, cited by Science magazine as the breakthrough of 1997, also has generated uncertainty over the meaning of "cloning" --an umbrella term traditionally used by scientists to describe different processes for duplicating biological material.
Cloning DNA, Cells, and Animals
To Human Genome Project researchers, cloning refers to copying genes and other pieces of chromosomes to generate enough identical material for further study. Cloned collections of DNA molecules (called clone libraries) enable scientists to produce increasingly detailed descriptions of all human DNA--the aim of the Human Genome Project. Bacterial or yeast cells are used routinely by scientists to make these extra copies of human DNA molecules. Researchers also can exploit the natural process of cell division to make many copies of an entire cell. The genetic makeup of these cloned cells, called a cell line, is identical to the original cell. - Cme Genetics Conference For Physicians By : Aaron Hall
The debut conference in the Continuing Medical Education (CME) series on genetics of the National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) drew about 50 key educators from the nation's medical schools and societies to Santa Fe in July 1997. Participants at the conference, jointly sponsored by NCGR and the American Medical Association (AMA), explored the potential impact of clinical and ethical genetics issues on the practice of medicine.
"Bringing together prominent genetic scholars and clinicians to share their experiences and insight into real-life genetic dilemmas was educational for all of us," said Judith G. Ribble, NCGR's CME director. - Coalition Promotes Genetic Education Among Healthcare Professionals By : Aaron Hall
The need for all health professionals to have a basic competency in human genetics is underscored by the explosion of information on the role of genetics in human disease; the development of tests for specific disease genes; and the ethical, legal, and social issues associated with the application of scientific advances in genetics. In response to the rapid pace of human genetics research and its impact on health organizations, the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG) was established in 1996. The coalition hopes to promote and achieve basic genetic literacy among all health professions through active and ongoing discussion, input, and participation from its members.
Catalyzed by the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, and the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the coalition consists of leaders from more than 100 healthcare professional organizations, consumer and voluntary groups, government agencies, industry, managed-care organizations, and genetics professional societies. The coalition’s goal is to provide an organized, systematic, and national approach to the provision of genetic education for all healthcare professionals. - Collaborations Multiply Research, Commercial Benefits By : Aaron Hall
Collaborations among researchers in academia, national laboratories, and industry are yielding important benefits for genomic research and the broader biomedical research community. Two outstanding examples, the chromosome painting technology and the Merck Gene Index Project, are described below.
Chromosome Painting Reveals Cancer, Other Diseases - Colloquy Explores Genetic Predisposition By : Aaron Hall
An Interdisciplinary Colloquy on Genetic Predisposition, organized by Pilar Ossorio (University of California, Berkeley) and Michael Yesley (Los Alamos National Laboratory) and sponsored by the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) component of the DOE Human Genome Program, was held last fall in Washington, D.C. The diverse group of invitees included scientists; DOE and NIH grantees and staff; consumer group representatives; social scientists; philosophers; members of the NIH-DOE Joint Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Working Group; and a theologian.
Francisco Ayala (University of California, Irvine) reviewed the meeting's purpose, which was to explore genetic predisposition from multiple perspectives and identify points of agreement and disagreement, questions for future discussions, and areas for policy development. Genetic predisposition was chosen as the topic because of its interdisciplinary relevance. - Commercial Strategies Aim To Spin Dna Threads Into Gold By : Aaron Hall
Intellectual-property issues have been unusually conspicuous in the recent history of genomic advances, even by the standards of the patent-weary genetics and molecular biology communities. Controversy has been particularly acute over intellectual-property rights in the results of large-scale cDNA sequencing.
Beginning in 1991 with NIH's filing of patent applications on the first batch of ESTs from Craig Venter's laboratory, each new development has been met with lively speculation about its strategic significance from an intellectual-property perspective. Are cDNA fragments of unknown function patentable, or must they undergo further research or characterization before they satisfy patent-law standards? Will patents on such fragments promote commercial investment in product development or interfere with scientific communication and collaboration and retard the overall research effort? - Como saber si una bomba hidraulica esta funcionando bien By : kamilrhu
Por experiencia podemos decir que en general, el componente hidráulico sobre el cual recae la mayor responsabilidad en cuanto al funcionamiento del sistema hidráulico de una maquina es la bomba, o bombas. Lo cual no quiere decir que sea el más importante, es en general el que trabaja durante más tiempo, y por su forma de construcción depende mucho de una buena filtración y cuidado del aceite. - Complete E. Coli Genome Sequence In Public Databases By : Aaron Hall
In September 1997, a team of scientists led by Frederick Blattner (University of Wisconsin, Madison) reported completing the sequence of the 4.6-Mb Escherichia coli K-12 genome. The paper published in Science (277, 1453–62) represents an analysis of data collected by more than 259 people over the project's 6-year duration.
Obtaining the complete DNA sequence of the E. coli genome has been a goal of the Human Genome Project, both to help develop sequencing and gene-finding technology and to facilitate studies on gene function and organization. More than 4200 E. coli genes have been identified, although the functions of over one-third of them remain unknown. Because of similarities found in genes across species, this work provides a valuable starting point for identifying and understanding genes in other organisms, including humans. - Conference On Small Genomes Held At Hilton Head By : Aaron Hall
At the January 1997 Conference on Small Genomes: Sequencing, Functional Characterization, and Comparative Genomics, over 250 participants gathered on Hilton Head Island to discuss recent progress and future directions in this emerging and exciting area of research. As stated by Craig Venter [The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR)] in the opening session, small-genome research is growing exponentially, and a new era of biological insight is emerging because of it. This first meeting on small genomes was sponsored by TIGR and organized by Claire Fraser (TIGR), Hamilton O. Smith (Johns Hopkins University Medical School), and E. Richard Moxon (Oxford University). Selected meeting highlights follow.
Plasmodium falciparum, the organism causing 300 million to 500 million new cases of malaria each year, contains over 5000 genes distributed among 14 chromosomes. As discussed by Stephen L. Hoffman (Naval Medical Research Institute), less than 5% of this organism's DNA is cloned at the present time. A consortium of sponsors including The Wellcome Trust, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, U.S. Department of Defense, and the NIH National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases has joined to sequence this pathogen, many strains of which have become resistant to chloroquine, the only effective drug for treating malaria. The hope is that new targets for different drugs will be revealed by the complete sequence of the plasmodial genome. Cloning and sequencing the plasmodium DNA, however, is proving difficult because ofthe organism's high AT content (as much as 76% in coding regions and 90% to 100% in intergenic regions). Further, P. falciparum's DNA has proven unstable in Escherichia coli, and the organism itself is difficult to maintain in culture. - Congressional Hearing Explores Controversies, Benefits Of Genomics By : Aaron Hall
In April the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the Committee on Science of the U.S. House of Representatives conducted hearings on the status and benefits of genome sequencing in the public and private sectors. Speakers included representatives of the U.S. HGP and Celera Genomics, members of Congress, and the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Robert Waterston, directory of the HGP sequencing center at Washington University, St. Louis, pointed to fruitful data sharing by the HGP and the private sector. Examples include (1) collaborations led by the pharmaceutical company Merck to develop partial sequences identifying genes and (2) the fruit fly sequencing project by Celera and the HGP. - Consortium Achieves Draft Mouse Sequence By : Aaron Hall
In May the international Mouse Sequencing Consortium (MSC) announced the completion of a draft map (3 coverage) representing at least 95% of the mouse DNA sequence. MSC plans to use longer DNA stretches of known map position and assemble the sequence fragments into a finished, highly accurate form. The mouse is an invaluable resource for interpreting human genome data and finding human genes and other functionally important DNA regions conserved by evolution.
"The success of MSC and other public-private research consortia no doubt will lead to future cooperative efforts to solve big problems quickly, especially when the resulting data belong in the public domain," said Arthur Holden, cochairman of MSC. Comprising three private companies and six NIH institutes, MSC was formed in October 2000. - Converting Energy To Medical Progress By : Aaron Hall
Nuclear medicine is an exciting field in healthcare that provides important information for diagnosing, evaluating, and managing disease. Virtually all hospitals, as well as many clinics and doctors' offices, conduct nuclear medicine tests and scans. About 13 million (35,000 a day) such procedures are performed each year on patients in the United States (and many more in other countries) in cardiology, oncology, neurology, sports and internal medicine, thyroid disorders, surgery, gastrointestinal ailments, pulmonary disorders, infection, and dementia.
Nearly every nuclear medicine scan or test used today was made possible by research funded by BER and its predecessor agencies on radiotracers, radiation-detection devices, gamma cameras, positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanners, and computer science. - Cshl Mapping And Sequencing Meeting Held By : Aaron Hall
The Eighth Annual Genome Mapping and Sequencing Meeting, held May 10-14 at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, was attended by more than 450 participants with a strong international representation. Over 300 abstracts covered a broad array of topics related to genome analysis of numerous organisms. The meeting was organized by David Bentley (Sanger Centre, U.K.), Eric Green [NIH National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR)], and Robert Waterston [Washington University (WU)].
Sessions covered a variety of areas, including gene discovery and transcript mapping, informatics, mapping methods and technologies, physical mapping of human chromosomes, DNA sequencing, model organism mapping and biology, and human genetics and biology. - Data Surge Challenges Informatics Developers By : Aaron Hall
The explosive growth of sequence and biological information poses pressing challenges for data acquisition, representation, access, and analysis. Some highlights from informatics sessions at the Santa Fe workshop follow.
bioWidgets: Adaptable, Reusable Modules for Viewing Data
Many software analysis applications commonly are tailored to fit resources available at a particular site. The bioWidgets toolkit philosophy of Chris Overton's team [University of Pennsylvania (Penn)], however, is to use a component-based approach to design adaptable and reusable software, easily incorporated in a variety of applications and deployable in modules, that promotes interaction among applications. Jonathan Crabtree described the team's efforts to develop and deploy graphical user interfaces for visualizing molecular, cellular, and genomic information. The current implementation includes widgets that display sequences, maps, BLAST results, chromosomes, and sequence alignments. The group also is developing interfaces for data stored in such distributed heterogenous databases as the Genome Database, Genome Sequence DataBase, Entrez, and ACeDB and is creating a consortium of bioWidget developers and users to create standards. All bioWidgets are implemented in Java for Web distribution. - Database Workshops Held By : Aaron Hall
Two workshops have been held entitled Interconnection of Molecular Biology Databases. The first was at Stanford University on August 9-12, 1994, with a 1995 follow-up on July 20-22 in Cambridge, England. Several workshop-related documents are available now. These include the 1994 final report; attendee abstracts and contact information; bibliography on database interoperation; summary of biological databases and WWW pointers; and a list of presentations for the 1995 conference.
Some 55 bioinformatics researchers, computer scientists, and biologists from 9 countries attended the 1994 meeting, which surveyed the roughly 100 existing databases and requirements for integrating the diverse information they contain. Computer scientists presented an overview on the need for database interoperation and suggested techniques for solving the problem. Participants described a wide range of approaches that are presently generating practical results, such as systems allowing multidatabase queries to the sequence databases, Genome Data Base, and Protein Data Bank. These systems and approaches vary according to their capability to handle complex queries, implementation difficulty, required user expertise, and scalability. - Debate Over Gm Products And Technologies By : Aaron Hall
At the Courts First International Conversation on EnviroGenetics Disputes and Issues, held in Hawaii in July 2001, scientists and judges discussed technical and societal issues surrounding the genetic modification (GM) of plants and other organisms
GM technologies offer dramatic promise for meeting some areas of greatest challenge in the 21st century. As with all new technologies, they also pose some risks, both known and unknown. Although scientific consensus is not always clear, the worlds courts increasingly will be called upon to evaluate disputes involving these technologies. - Detailed Human Physical Map Published By Whitehead-mit By : Aaron Hall
STS-Based Map Represents Halfway Point to 100-kb Human Genome Project Goal
In December 1995, a team led by scientists at the Whitehead Institute Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT) Center for Genome Research and Genethon presented the most detailed physical map of the human genome yet published. The new map which contains more than 15,000 STS DNA markers spaced an average of 199 kb apart, covers almost 95% of the entire genome. Previously, the highest-resolution whole-genome physical map, a clone-based effort reported last fall in a special supplement toNature, covered about 75% of the genome and involved about 2500 STSs. - Developing a storage reference architecture By : Mozza1
good architect knows that you don't start planning a building at the blueprint stage. You develop representations of what the building will look like after getting a good understanding of the goals and requirements - pictures and models come before creating the actual building plan. Once the concept is defined and agreed upon, the detailed plan is developed. - Digeorge Syndrome Region Cloned By : Aaron Hall
Researchers led by Beverly Emanuel and Marcia Budarf at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have cloned a region of the chromosome 22 long arm containing a chromosomal breakpoint involved in DiGeorge syndrome (DGS) and have identified candidate genes spanning the breakpoint.
Named for endocrinologist Angelo DiGeorge, who first described the syndrome in 1965, the 22q11 microdeletion associated with DGS is believed to occur about once in 4000 to 5000 births. Children born with chromosome 22-deletion disorders share several characteristics, including cardiac defects, abnormal facies, thymic hypoplasia, cleft palate, and hypocalcemia. Region 22q11.2 deletions may be implicated in a significant proportion of newborns with heart defects. - Digging Up The Facts About Coal By : Stacey Moore
Energy is the lifeblood of modern developed countries worldwide. Continued energy price increases in recent years have had a significant impact on industrial and commercial businesses across the U.S. The successful companies are those that have been able to adapt, downsize or shift their operations offshore; the unsuccessful companies are those that have gone out of business.
A recent study by Management Information Services found an intriguing relationship between business energy prices and the rate of job growth. In recent years, the 10 states with the lowest business energy costs created 60 percent more jobs than the 10 states with the highest energy costs. - Direct Tv Total Choice Premier By : dave (Author)
The Total Choice Premier Channel Package from DIRECTV includes practically every channel offered in the United States for a great price. You get all the sports channels, movie channels, news channels, shopping channels and tons of specialty and informational programming like “The Learning Channel” and “The Food Network.” You even get your local channels so you can see local news and local programming. Not only do you get great television shows and movies, you also get the full spectrum of music - more of a variety then you get on your conventional radio. The best thing is that it is affordable and easy to have set up in your home.
One of the best things about the Total Choice Premier Channel Package from DIRECTV is all the movie channels you get. With all these channels, you will never have to rent another movie again. The package includes 8 HBO channels, 11 Starz channels, and 6 Showtime channels, FLIX, two Disney Channels and three channels showing Cinemax. Some of these channels feature specific types of movies. For example, one of the Starz channels exclusively shows movies based on real events, while another only broadcasts love stories. Similarly, there are two HBO channels dedicated to programming that can be enjoyed by the entire family. If your taste in movies is a little more eclectic, the Total Choice Premier Channel Package from DIRECTV also features The Independent Film Channel and the Sundance Channel. Many other channels that are part of the Total Choice Premier Channel Package from DIRECTV also broadcast movies. For example, WE: Women’s Entertainment and the Sci-FI Channel. If you are into older, classic movies, check out Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and American Movie Classics, both of which are part of the Total Choice Premier Channel Package from DIRECTV. - Discover The Facts About Lasik Surgery By : Jon Arnold
Lasik surgery has been steadily gaining popularity in recent years. It is a very safe surgical procedure, but there are many factors you should consider other than cost before deciding that this is for you. This eye surgery procedure uses lasers to reshape the cornea of the eye, allowing people with less-than-perfect vision to be able to get rid of their glasses or contact lenses. Recovery from this type of surgery is usually less than a day, but it is not for everyone. You should understand what the procedure is and what problems this procedure is designed to correct. - Doe And Nih Teams To Unlock Power Of Proteins By : Aaron Hall
NIGMS Structural Genome Initiative
Seven new grants, four of them awarded to scientists at DOE sites, are key components in the Structural Genome Initiative started by the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Over the next decade, the new study will determine the form and function of thousands of proteins. - Doe Assumes Full Hgn Sponsorship By : Aaron Hall
With this issue, NCHGR will say good-bye to our readers as copublisher of Human Genome News. We have enjoyed collaborating with our partners at DOE and the Human Genome Management Information System on this newsletter over these past several years. Feedback from HGN readers has indicated repeatedly that it fills a valuable niche in communicating information about human genome meetings, results, and resources to scientific readers. Our colleagues at DOE will continue to publish HGN as an important link to the working scientist.
NCHGR will maintain information flow to the scientific community through the development of a state-of-the-art World Wide Web site, which we believe will provide researchers with a major gateway to research data, grant information, news, and policy information about the Human Genome Project and NCHGR programs. Cybernauts can already visit the NCHGR Web site (http://www.genome.gov/) to find results and accomplishments of the Human Genome Project. There you will find information about NCHGR programs and funding, as well as links to central databases and to each of the Genome Science and Technology Centers (GESTECs) around the country. GESTEC Web sites contain the latest data releases from work in their laboratories. NCHGR's Web site also contains information about laboratories in our Division of Intramural Research, which applies genome technologies to the study of human inherited diseases. - Doe Biological And Environmental Research Helps Fuel "biology Century" By : Aaron Hall
Taking advantage of the wealth of information generated by the "new biology" of the Human Genome Project, DOE's Life Sciences Division is funding $16 million in projects that focus on high-throughput approaches to solving complex biological problems related to DOE's diverse missions. The research, which is taking place at 5 DOE national laboratories and 13 universities and research institutions, will address unresolved issues in the following 4 major areas.
Biochemical Potential of Microbes
($2 million). Researchers seek to develop methods to decode the complete genomes of microbes more rapidly, identify potentially useful microbes, and explore their potential for energy production and use and for environmental cleanup. - Doe Clone Resources Spur Disease-gene Discoveries By : Aaron Hall
Migraine
Two research groups report results suggesting a common genetic cause for migraine and epilepsy and the availability of an animal model that may be useful for further studies. Both groups used the chromosome 19 physical map and selected clones supplied by the Human Genome Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). - Doe Contractor-grantee Workshop Elsi By : Aaron Hall
DNA and the courts.
Genetic advances pose enormous challenges to state and federal courts, where judges are struggling to understand and assess new information. Franklin Zweig (Einstein Institute for Science, Health, and the Courts) discussed some of these issues, noting that while the impact on the judicial process has been dramatized recently by DNA evidence in the O.J. Simpson case, future impact will be far more dramatic as courts confront noncriminal topics. These issues may be as large as proposals to enact eugenic statutes and as small as a laboratory's failure to diagnose a catastrophic disease in a prenatal test. Zweig's group is developing a reference text with companion videotape and CD ROM to help judges understand genetic evidence [see HGN 5(6), 1-3 (March 1994)]. He observed, however, that more-complex cases will require the help of neutral, court-appointed expert witnesses. Zweig is compiling a roster of scientists to serve as expert witnesses and encouraged workshop attendees to add their names
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Hispanic educational program.
Margaret Jefferson (California State University, Los Angeles) and Mary Ann Sesma (Los Angeles Unified School District) are developing a culturally and linguistically appropriate curriculum on genetics for Hispanic students and their families. Materials include a Spanish translation of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study module and supplemental references on ELSI and the genetics of New World Hispanics. - Doe Contractor-grantee Workshop Mapping Informatics By : Aaron Hall
Ken Fasman (GDB) discussed the federated approach being used to guide improvements in the next release of GDB (V6.0). A new focus is an improved representation of physical and genetic maps in the Genome Data Base; the database core will tightly couple maps, map objects, and mapping reagents. The new version allows direct user submissions, updates, and third-party data annotations and will be organized on a revised editorial model that differentiates between original and consensus data. GDB V6.0 is implementing an object-oriented data model on top of a Sybase relational database using the Object Protocol Model tools developed by Victor Markowitz and his group at LBL.
V6.0 will feature increased modularity of both applications and databases, replacing the current monolithic structure with a þminifederationþ of separate databases. The key component is object-broker technology, which enables interconnections to databases such as OMIM and eventually will extend across GDB, GSDB, and other public and genome center databases.
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