Researchers have found a new gene fusion that is highly expressed in a subset of prostate cancers-a discovery that could lead to more accurate prostate cancer testing and new targets for potential treatments.
According to researchers from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, gene fusions – a hybrid gene formed from two previously separated genes – may [...]
Posts Tagged ‘gene’
Newly discovered gene fusion may improve prostate cancer diagnosis
July 24th, 2009 |
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Genetic mutation linked to hereditary neuroendocrine tumour identified
July 24th, 2009 |
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Scientists from University of Utah have identified a genetic mutation linked to hereditary form of a rare neuroendocrine tumour called paraganglioma (PGL).
Paragangliomas are rare, generally benign tumors that arise from cells called glomus cells, which are located along blood vessels and play a role in regulating blood pressure and blood flow.
According to the researchers, the [...]
Synthetic brain ‘ready in 10 years’
July 23rd, 2009 |
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The brain would provide insights into how our perceptions of the world are interpreted and stored, and how consciousness arises
The world’s first synthetic brain could be built within 10 years, giving us an unprecedented insight into the nature of consciousness and our perception of reality.
Scientists working on the Blue Brain Project in Switzerland are the first to attempt to “reverse-engineer” the mammalian brain by recreating the behaviour of billions of neurons in a computer.
Professor Henry Markham, director of the project at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, has already simulated parts of the neocortex, the most ‘modern’ region of the brain, which evolved rapidly in mammals to cope with the demands of parenthood and social situations.
Markham’s team created a 3D simulation of around 10,000 brain cells to mimic the behaviour of the rat neocortex. The way all the cells connect and send signals to each other is just as important as how many there are.
“You need one laptop to do all the calculations for one neuron, so you need ten thousand laptops,” Markham told the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford yesterday. Instead, he uses an IBM Blue Gene supercomputer.
The artificial brain is already revealing some of the inner workings of the most impressive 1.5kg of biological tissue ever to evolve. Show the brain a virtual image and its neurons flicker with electrical activity as the image is processed.
Ultimately, scientists want to use synthetic brains to understand how sensory information from the real world is interpreted and stored, and how consciousness arises. They may also give scientists a new way to study brain disorders and neurodegenerative diseases without having to experiment on animals.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Synthetic brain ‘ready in 10 years’
July 23rd, 2009 |
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The brain would provide insights into how our perceptions of the world are interpreted and stored, and how consciousness arises
The world’s first synthetic brain could be built within 10 years, giving us an unprecedented insight into the nature of consciousness and our perception of reality.
Scientists working on the Blue Brain Project in Switzerland are the first to attempt to “reverse-engineer” the mammalian brain by recreating the behaviour of billions of neurons in a computer.
Professor Henry Markham, director of the project at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, has already simulated parts of the neocortex, the most ‘modern’ region of the brain, which evolved rapidly in mammals to cope with the demands of parenthood and social situations.
Markham’s team created a 3D simulation of around 10,000 brain cells to mimic the behaviour of the rat neocortex. The way all the cells connect and send signals to each other is just as important as how many there are.
“You need one laptop to do all the calculations for one neuron, so you need ten thousand laptops,” Markham told the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford yesterday. Instead, he uses an IBM Blue Gene supercomputer.
The artificial brain is already revealing some of the inner workings of the most impressive 1.5kg of biological tissue ever to evolve. Show the brain a virtual image and its neurons flicker with electrical activity as the image is processed.
Ultimately, scientists want to use synthetic brains to understand how sensory information from the real world is interpreted and stored, and how consciousness arises. They may also give scientists a new way to study brain disorders and neurodegenerative diseases without having to experiment on animals.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Artifacts From the Future: Online Dating Site
July 23rd, 2009 |
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Click on the thumbnails below for a closer look at an online dating site from 2020.
What do you think our world will look like in 10, 20, or 100 years? We need your help creating a new artifact from the future for every issue of Wired magazine. Each month, we’ll propose a scenario and ask for your prognostications. Sketch out your vision, then return here to upload your ideas, see other submissions, and vote for your favorites. Check out this month’s challenge.
The concept for this artifact came from Sally McGrane. Wired creative director Scott Dadich, design director Wyatt Mitchell, contributing designer Walter Baumann, deputy photo editor Anna Goldman Alexander, photo assistant Catherine Seriosa, senior editor Chris Baker, associate editor Catherine DiBenedetto, and production director Jeff Lysgaard helped create the image.
Photo: Catherine Seriosa; babies: Makemebabies.com by Luxand, Inc. Face Detection
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We’re predicting a spin-off of match.com that won’t involve any tedious questionnaires. Singles simply send in a saliva sample and let their DNA speak for itself. The service then hooks up members who are compatible at the genetic level.
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Research has already given scientists the ability to detect breast cancer markers and the so-called sprinters gene. Genetic behavioral traits and susceptibility to drugs like tobacco are next on the list.
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Based on his scent, Command3rKooL would be a great match for igotalotaluv. Studies suggest that a woman will prefer the aroma of a man whose major histocompatability complex — a series of genes involved in the immune system — is very different from her own. However, Command3rKooL’s biological clock is ticking dangerously close to useless as he pushes into the last 26 years of his life.
Scientists could be able to predict Schizophrenia and identify intelligence by the year 2020, as those traits have already been tentatively linked to specific regions of DNA. But the genetic cause of gaming fetishes has yet to be discovered.
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We used Makemebabies.com to get a glimpse of the offspring’s appearance. DNAmatch.com would calculate the possibilities for the tyke’s genetic profile by combining igotalotaluv’s alleles with Command3rKooL’s. This little boy could be quite smart, and possibly an alcoholic.
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The genes responsible for lactose intolerance and alcohol flush reaction are current subjects of research, but funding for studies on the genetic predisposition to Irish folk dancing is pending NIH approval.
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Dimples and widow’s peak are known dominant genetic traits. Scientists are still searching for the genes responsible for perfect pitch.
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Gene expression is harder to predict than the genes are to detect. Even if someone has the gene for a trait, that doesn’t necessarily mean the body will transcribe and translate it into a protein.
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This search tool allows igotalotaluv to exclude guys with the traits she just doesn’t like.
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Not everyone on dating sites is looking for the parent of their future children. Scroll past the paternal types to find a more short-term partner.
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There’s no easier way to fake your way out of bad date than by blaming Comcast for a bad holodeck connection.
Artificial brain ’10 years away’
July 22nd, 2009 |
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By Jonathan Fildes
Technology reporter, BBC News, Oxford
A detailed, functional artificial human brain can be built within the next 10 years, a leading scientist has claimed.
Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project, has already built elements of a rat brain.
He told the TED global conference in Oxford that a synthetic human brain would be of particular use finding treatments for mental illnesses.
Around two billion people are thought to suffer some kind of brain impairment, he said.
"It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years," he said.
"And if we do succeed, we will send a hologram to TED to talk."
‘Shared fabric’
The Blue Brain project was launched in 2005 and aims to reverse engineer the mammalian brain from laboratory data.
In particular, his team has focused on the neocortical column – repetitive units of the mammalian brain known as the neocortex.
"It’s a new brain," he explained. "The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions complex cognitive functions.
"It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ."
And that evolution continues, he said. "It is evolving at an enormous speed."
Over the last 15 years, Professor Markram and his team have picked apart the structure of the neocortical column.
"It’s a bit like going and cataloguing a bit of the rainforest – how may trees does it have, what shape are the trees, how many of each type of tree do we have, what is the position of the trees," he said.
"But it is a bit more than cataloguing because you have to describe and discover all the rules of communication, the rules of connectivity. "
The project now has a software model of "tens of thousands" of neurons – each one of which is different – which has allowed them to digitally construct an artificial neocortical column.
Although each neuron is different, the team has found the patterns of circuitry in different brains have common patterns.
"Even though your brain may be smaller, bigger, may have different morphologies of neurons – we do actually share the same fabric," he said.
"And we think this is species specific, which could explain why we can’t communicate across species."
World view
To make the model come alive, the team feeds the models and a few algorithms into a supercomputer.
"You need one laptop to do all the calculations for one neuron," he said. "So you need ten thousand laptops."
Instead, he uses an IBM Blue Gene machine with 10,000 processors.
Simulations have started to give the researchers clues about how the brain works.
For example, they can show the brain a picture – say, of a flower – and follow the electrical activity in the machine.
"You excite the system and it actually creates its own representation," he said.
Ultimately, the aim would be to extract that representation and project it so that researchers could see directly how a brain perceives the world.
But as well as advancing neuroscience and philosophy, the Blue Brain project has other practical applications.
For example, by pooling all the world’s neuroscience data on animals – to create a "Noah’s Ark", researchers may be able to build animal models.
"We cannot keep on doing animal experiments forever," said Professor Markram.
It may also give researchers new insights into diseases of the brain.
"There are two billion people on the planet affected by mental disorder," he told the audience.
The project may give insights into new treatments, he said.
The TED Global conference runs from 21 to 24 July in Oxford, UK. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Gene mutation behind pregnancy loss and disorders identified
July 22nd, 2009 |
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A mutation in a gene called Bub1 could lead to a condition that causes disorders like Down Syndrome, pregnancy loss, and infertility, according to a study led by an Indian-origin scientist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The condition, called aneuploidy, is an abnormal number of chromosomes.
The researchers found that if a mother’’s egg cell has [...]
First potential genetic mutation behind restless legs syndrome identified
July 22nd, 2009 |
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In an international study led by Mayo Clinic scientists, researchers have discovered the first mutated gene, called MEIS1, which is linked to restless legs syndrome, a common neurologic disorder.
The researchers have said that a large proportion of the millions of people who suffer from the syndrome have this mutated MEIS1 gene.
However, they pointed out [...]
Common cold virus may help treat cystic fibrosis
July 21st, 2009 |
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Scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have found what may be the most efficient way to deliver a corrected gene to lung cells derived from cystic fibrosis patients, renewing hope that gene therapy for CF lung disease could be a successful future treatment.
Scientists have worked for 20 [...]
Master regulator gene’s discovery takes scientists a step closer to possible diabetes cure
July 21st, 2009 |
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Identifying a master regulator gene for early embryonic development of the pancreas and other organs, scientists at Cincinnati Children’’s Hospital Medical Center have moved a step closer to coaxing stem cells into pancreatic cells as a possible cure for type1 diabetes.
Writing about their findings in the journal Developmental Cell, the researchers have revealed that besides [...]
Gene ‘behind breast cancer’’s aggressive behaviour’ identified
July 21st, 2009 |
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Scientists from Genome Institute of Singapore have identified a gene, which they believe might contribute to the breast cancer’’s aggressive behaviour.
Aggressive forms of cancer are often driven by the abnormal over-expression of cancer-promoting genes, also known as oncogenes.
The researchers have found a gene known as RCP (or RAB11FIP1) that is frequently amplified and over-expressed in [...]
Gene scientist to create algae biofuel
July 14th, 2009 |
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• New biofuel requires no car or plane engine modification
• Carbon Trust says production will take ‘many years’
Gene scientist Craig Venter has announced plans to develop next-generation biofuels from algae in a $600m (£370m) partnership with oil giant Exxon Mobil.
His company, Synthetic Genomics Incorporated (SGI), will develop fuels that can be used by cars or aeroplanes without the need for any modification of their engines. Exxon Mobil will provide $600m over five years with half going to SGI.
“Meeting the world’s growing energy demands will require a multitude of technologies and energy sources,” said Emil Jacobs, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil. “We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low-net carbon emission transportation fuel.”
Transport accounts for one-quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions and is the fastest growing sector. Finding carbon-neutral fuels will be crucial to the government meeting its target to reduce overall emissions by 80% by 2050.
Algae are an attractive way to harvest solar energy because they reproduce themselves, they can live in areas not useful for producing food and they do not need clean or even fresh water. In addition, they use far less space to grow than traditional biofuel crops such as corn or palm oil.
“Algae consumes carbon dioxide and sunlight in the presence of water, to make a kind of oil that has similar molecular structures to petroleum products we produce today,” said Jacobs. “That means it could be possible to convert it into gasoline and diesel in existing refineries, transport it through existing pipelines, and sell it to consumers from existing service stations.”
The Carbon Trust, a government-backed agency that promotes low-carbon technologies, has forecast that algae-based biofuels could replace more than 70bn litres of fossil fuels used every year around the world in road transport and aviation by 2030, equivalent to 12% of annual global jet fuel consumption or 6% of road transport diesel. In carbon terms, this equates to an annual saving of more than 160m tonnes of CO2 globally with a market value of more than £15bn.
Ben Graziano, research and development manager at the Carbon Trust, said that alge-based biofuels offered the potential for “major carbon savings”. “Exxon Mobil is estimating that algae could yield just over 20,000
litres of fuel per hectare each year, which is in line with our own forecasts. However, producing biofuel from algae on such a massive commercial scale is a major challenge, which will require many years of research and development.”
Venter, who is best known for his role in sequencing the human genome, said the new partnership was the largest single investment in trying to produce biofuels from algae but said the challenge to creating a viable next-generation fuel was the ability to produce it in large volumes. “This would not happen without the oil industry stepping up and taking part,” he said. “The challenges are not minor for any of us but we have the combined teams and scientific and engineering talents to give this the best chance of success.”
The research programme will begin with the construction of a new test facility in San Diego, where Venter says different techniques to grow and optimise algae will be tested. These will include open ponds as well as bioreactors, where the algae are grown in sealed tubes. “We will be trying out these different approaches … using newly-discovered natural algae to test the best approaches we can come up with to go into a scale-up mode.”
Venter has spent several years trawling the world’s oceans in search of environmentally-friendly microbes that could be used, in one way or another, to bring down the world’s carbon emissions. The organisms he has found include those that can turn CO2 into methane, which could be used to make fuels from the exhaust gases of power stations, and another that turns coal into natural gas, speeding up a natural process and reducing both the energy needed to extract the fossil fuel and the amount of pollution caused when it is burned.
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Scientists discover active genes in the developing mammal brain
July 14th, 2009 |
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Penn State scientists claim that they have for the first time used high-throughput sequencing to uncover active genes in developing brains.
The researchers believe that their work provides what is likely the best evidence thus far for the activity in the brain of such a large number of genes.
They say that the significance of their [...]