In the stock market the company Onyx Pharmaceuticals stocks had a sharp vertical increase of 58%. Its stocks increase because they have made a break through in the battle against terminal cancers. They created a virus that kills tumors that are extremely resistant to chemotherapy or radiation. The virus does its job by replicating itself then terminating P53-deficient cells. The virus are called Onyx-015, which had clinical trials on cancers in the heads and neck.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/19/business/shares-of-onyx-up-on-report-of-cancer-breakthrough.html?scp=5&sq=radiation%20break%20through&st=cse

ADHD is Genetic?

Have severe problems focusing? Distracted by the littlest things? Inattentive? Well, it turns out it may be in your genes (if you have ADHD, that is). Scientists have found that there is a large link between an anomaly in the chromosome 1p36 and Attention Hyperactivity Disorder. After studying 1094 white families, the study concluded that the chromosome difference was present in many of the families, around 55 or 5.1%. With such significant experimental results, it is possible the chromosome is linked to the development of ADHD.

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006322308003375

Stem Cell Ear Therapy

Deafness is the the loss of hair cells, which are the sensory receptors.
Some researchers have has isolated human auditory stem cells, wick other kind of cells can come from, from the inner ear.
They dissected cochlear cells from 9-11 week-old human fetuses. They continued division for the first 7 to 8 months and had up to 30 population doublings.
Gene expression analysis showed that all the cell lines lead to the development of the inner ear and found embryonic stem cells, from which all tissues and organs develop.

In the future studies will aim to improve the differentiation system.

"There are currently no treatments to restore permanent hearing loss so this has the potential to make a difference to millions of deaf people."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lifestyle/Stem-cell-therapy-may-treat-deafness/articleshow/4330632.cms.

Tests Show Drinking Hot Tea May Increase Risk for Throat Cancer

Researchers found that people who drink hot tea as opposed to just warm tea increase their risk for throat cancer. The researchers made a trip to Iran where hot tea and esophageal cancer are both very common. They studied the drinking habits of 871 people, 300 whom had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The researchers found that regular drinkers of hot tea were eight times more likely to be diagnosed with esophageal cancer, than drinkers of warm tea.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/2009/03/27/health-buzz-hot-tea-and-throat-cancer-and-other-health-news.html

Reversing Cell Division Gives Cancer Patients Hope

Until recently, cell division was supposedly unstoppable. However, scientists have managed to harness the protein that conducts cell division. The team is able to "interrupt and reverse the event, sending duplicate chromosomes back to the center of the original cell". The only problem is if they don't do it quickly enough, then the process does not work due to "multiple regulators in the cell division cycle". The next step is to study what starts such events. If scientists succeed, they will be able to control the development of cancers, be able to prevent and TREAT birth defects along with multiple other conditions. 

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=17351

Stem Cells may help the Deaf Hear

With deafness comes the loss of hair cells, called sensory receptors. Doctors have come up with a way to isolate the auditory part of the ear and distinguish between the neurons and hair cells. Scientists take cochlear cells from human fetuses 9 to 11 weeks old. These cells were kept for a year and were dividing for 7 to 8 months. They realized that these cells showed markers, “expressed by pluripotent embryonic stem cells, from which all tissues and organs develop.” Researchers are using this information to further distinguish the “embryonic stem cells” into different ear cell types. This process has been used on animals, making it slightly less reliable for humans.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lifestyle/Stem-cell-therapy-may-treat-deafness/articleshow/4330632.cms

A Cause For Cell Division Problems

When a cell is dividing the chromosomes are duplicated into two identical clusters. Between these clusters is a cleavage furrow, which forms the cell nuclei and separates the cell into two daughter cells. Daniel Gerlich has discovered that when something goes wrong in this process the cleavage furrow regresses and the cell does not divide creating a tetraploid cell. After studying the process Gerlich has found that enzyme Aurora B is very important. Aurora B responds to non-separated chromosomes and is part of a protective mechanism that ensures that the final step of cell division is only initiated when all chromosomes have been fully separated” says Gerlich

Is You're Bub 1 On?

Normally, the body's natural growth includes cell division that heals and renewals. When the body cannot control the way the cell divides, it can result in cancer. Researchers have found a protein called 'Bub 1' that is needed for normal cell division. “’Bub 1’ is an enzyme that controls several processes required for cell division to occur,” said Dr Stephen Taylor. If this protein is "switched off" then the cell cannot divide correctly. Researchers have been using mice embryos to keep track of the enzyme development. They have found that mice that lack this enzyme are unable to develop. Ever since the researches found the lack of development in the mice, they are hopeful that it will have similar effects on cancer cells. “Unlike some other genes that become mutated in cancer cells, the 'Bub 1' gene appears normal indicating that it behaves in exactly the same way in cancer cells as it does in healthy cells,” Dr. Taylor said. If this is true, targeting 'Bub 1' will be a treatment for cancer.

A Step Closer to a Cure for Cancer

Centrosomes serve as anchors for spindles, “complex structures of filament-like tubules” that connect each centrosome with the centromere. The spindles are responsible for separating chromosomes and equally dividing them into two sets for daughter cells. During cell division, it is important cells duplicate their centrosome only once so that there are two total centrosomes. Extra copies mess up the anchoring of spindles and, as result, create an uneven distribution of chromosomes. Such occurances have lead to cancer and other disorders. Dr. Stillman has found a way to control the duplication of centrosomes so that no more than one copy is created. Orc1 is a protein responsible for preparing a cell for duplication. Stillman discovered that cells induced to generate more Orc1 only duplicate centrosomes once per cell division cycle. This eliminates errors in uneven distribution of chromosomes.

Source: http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/42966/CSHL_scientists_discover_link_between_control_of_chromosome_duplication_and_segregation.html

A Step Closer to Curing Cancer

Can Stem Cells do the impossible?

Scientists at the University of Sheffield think so. Using stem cells taken from the inner ears of aborted human fetuses, they have been able to grow the specialized hair cells needed for human hearing. These cells, more specifically, turn vibrations into electrical signals that are processed by the brain. The scientists are hoping for a breakthrough in the near future allowing them to transplant the cells in deaf patients. The transplant would apply only to those who suffer from sensorineural hearing loss, which happens to affect 90 percent of the deaf population. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5066549/Hairs-grown-from-stem-cells-could-restore-hearing-to-the-deaf.html

Cancer in the lymph nodes

Adam Schoener was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). It is a collection of almost sixty related diseases. He was diagnosed a week after a perfect annual physical. He thought it was heartburn but it was actually a mass pushing on his heart and lungs. It is a very complex problem. It is in the lymph system, which is a fluid network that carries immune cells through the body. Tumors in the lymph nodes spread to other parts of the body because of the uncontrolled division of white blood cells. He is cancer free after four years.

http://www.curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/article.show/id/2/article_id/98

AIDS Research may also Help Children with Cancer

A drug originally used to battle AIDS may also help fight an extremely deadly type of brain cancer that usually attacks children. The Abacavir in the AIDS drug suppresses the enzyme telomerase that seems to be essential for certain tumor's survival. Although studies show that this drug improves the survival rate of the people who take it, it does not cure them. This drug also seems to be more easily tolerated by patients than the drugs that have been used in the past.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/03/26/aids-drug-slows-spread-of-deadly-childhood-brain.html

In 1980 Frank Ruddle and his fellow scientists created the first transgenic organism. The animal was a mouse. The scientists used a very fine glass needle and injected a different DNA into a mouse egg. It contaminated the original DNA and changed its characteristics. Then the multiply injected embryos are inserted into a surrogate mother to develop the eggs. Only a few eggs that are changed with foreign DNA survive the injection.

http://www.answers.com/topic/transgenic-animal

Transgenic Mosquitoes Reduce Malaria

I cant get the photo to work but this is the URL 

Transgenic Animal Pros

Through biotechnology and Transgenic animals, scientists manipulate DNA in organisms. Microinjection is the process in which scientists produce the transgenic animals. The point is to research for diseases found in humans. It will increase the output of milk, wool, and help fend off diseases caused by viruses and bacteria. It also produces tender meat that is leaner and healthier. Milk is also produced with no allergic proteins. More diary such as milk, cheese, and yogurt will be produced at more amounts. 

Link: http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/biotech/443-003/443-003.html

Transgenic Mice Help Us Understand Diabetes

Japanese Diabetic researchers took a gene of unknown function in the human body (GPR40) and put it into mice, while observing its behavior in its role to diabetes. After extensive studying of the mice's glucose and insulin behavior, they found that the protein does change the way that insulin is produced and may likely relate to diabetes. The insulin deficiencies found in the mice put the gene as one of the players in diabetes. In studying the gene, there is a possibility that this gene can help explain the reason for diabetes, and as a result can help us move towards a cure.

Article: http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/db09-1233v1

First Litter of Piglets Born to a Transgenic Pig

A revolutionary new cloning method spawned the first transgenic cloned pigs  in August 2007. It was developed at the Foulum Research Centre at the University of Aarhus and the scientists didn't know if the technique would disturb the natural physiology of the animals. It turned out to be a huge success, and one of the cloned pigs has now given birth to the first litter of piglets born to a transgenic clone, a first both the nationally and the world.

http://www.cphpost.dk/news/scitech/92-technology/44780-new-piglets-a-world-first-in-transgenic-cloning-field.html

Too far?

Scientists have been making technological leaps. They've made transgenic goats and glow in the dark cats, but is this crossing the line with human nature? These are Turkish Angora cats from South Korea that glow under UV lights. Biology Online states that transgenic animals have, " 'genes from another organism put into its genome' which use, 'DNA techniques." The drug ATryn has recently been put in certain milks to help thin blood, "Scientists have genetically modified goats to produce this drug in their milk." This drug can be used to help people with blood clots. The cloned sheep, Dolly, is the more controversial topic, as to whether or not this is out of hand.

http://media.www.lakelandmirror.com/media/storage/paper471/news/2009/02/19/Opinions/When-Science.Goes.Too.Far-3639432.shtml

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/news/071212_p01_red.jpg

Super Goats! Transgenic Goats produce Magic Protein.

Russian-Belarusian scientist are attempting to use goats as a means to mass produce what may be the most valuable protein on the market. Lactoferrin is a protein found only in the milk produced by humans in the early stages of motherhood. So, what makes this protein so special? Apart from it's rarity, Lactoferrin can act as an immune system until an infant's immune system has fully developed, attaching itself to bacteria and virus membranes, nullifying their effect on the body. One hundred female goats have been artificially inseminated with the gene coding for Lactoferrin, and are expected to give birth sometime this summer. If the experiment is proven successful, project managers estimate a $6 Billion a year market for Lactoferrin in the US alone.

Transgenic Goats

Discovery of a Faster Antidepressant--Found in the Brain

By: Carolyn Fisher

p11 is a protein found in the brain, which is suspected to help speed up the process of antidepressant drugs. These drugs take longer than is hoped to kick in, so researchers thought this protein could aim to shorten that period of time. Researchers have linked p11 to serotonin, a modifier of mood. They used transgenic mice to see the relationship between serotonin 4 and p11. It was seen in the mouse, that when p11 and serotonin 4 interact, they produce a rapid antidepressant in the brain.

Link to Article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090225175531.htm

Bioengineering on the Farm

Recently the F.D.A., Food & Drug Administration, has approved the distribution of a milk from gene-altered goats. It started when one goat was given a DNA strand that had both goat and human traits in the strand. The goats produced from this transformation made a drug called ATryn. this drug is known to help thin the blood and reduce blood clots. In one year, one goat produces as much antithrombin that can be derived from 90,000 blood donations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/business/07goatdrug.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=F.D.A.&st=cse

Transgenic Fish--A risk to fish populations everywhere

The animal scientist at Purdue University, Bill Muir, and biologist Rick Howard conducted a study to examine the risks and benefits from biotechnology, for example, genetically  modified fish.  They put Japanese fishes called medaka that had been genetically modified with a growth hormone from Atlantic Salmon into a tank with unmodified fish to see what happens.  They found that this experiment could potentially devastate the native populations of fish possibly to extinction.  When the unmodified fish look for a mate, they look for the largest fish rather than the fittest.  Therefore, they would pick the transgenic fish, who's offspring have a chance of not surviving because of the genetic change.  However, they say that this is all a part of testing biotechnology and are going to try to test the transgenic fish in a larger setting and with larger fish next time. 

www.scielo.br/img/ revistas/gmb/v30n1/08ft.jpg

news.uns.purdue/edu/ UNS/images/muir.trojan.jpeg

Transgenic Corn - It keeps pests away, but what effect does it have on the ecosystem?

For centuries farmers have had problems keeping their crops from succumbing to pests. In the last few years a genetically engineered corn that contains a toxin protecting it from pests has been created. It includes a gene from the micro-organism Bacillus thuringiensis, Bt. In Bloomington, Indiana, parts of the toxic corn are washing into nearby streams, killing a type of fly that is eaten by much the aquatic life. This is a major downside to the transgenic corn. These flies are not only a major food source, but they help control the algae population in the area. 

Click here for article.

Natural Transgenic Clones

In 2007, a cloning method was created at Foulum Research Centre at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. This method used pigs as part of a study on Alzheimer’s disease.
The cloning was a sucess but they weren't sure if the pig couls be able to have and piglets, or if anything physiological would be effected.

But everything was relieved when the first litter of health and normal piglets born to a transgenic clone were successfully delivered.
The success of the Danish research is that they are able to clone using a simple technique and using less money. Also it can be done in simpler laboratories. This in the future will make cloning more accessible.


http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2009/02/27/worlds-first-natural-transgenic-clones-born-in-denmark/

Transgenic Goats: First Step to Producing Healthier Milk

In 2009, Russia is awaiting the 1st generation of transgenic goats to produce lactoferrin in their milk. Lactoferrin is a protein found in human milk. This protein protects a weak human baby's immune system from viruses and bacteria. The good thing about the protein is that there are no bad side effects, but the bad thing is that, so far, scientists have not found a way to mass-produce it. They are hoping that the transformation of this gene into goats will be the first way to mass-produce the protein.

- by Shelby Smith

http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-02-10/Goats_link_biotech_and_babies.html

Shock Waves

http://hypertextbook.com/physics/waves/shock/
When the speed source exceeds the speed of sound, the waves form a barrier that cannot be heard.
-Sound Barriers first came into the English language during WWII.
-The people flying the planes felt a strange pull when getting close to or exceeding the speed of -sound, because that's what a sonic boom is.
-When the wave exceeds speed of sound, the shape of the sound waves form a cone.
-the amplitude of the wave is called a 'shock wave.'
-How fast a wave goes depends on the length of amplitude.
-When a shock wave is as fast as the normal speed, then the shock wave dies and becomes just a sound wave.

Image link= http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/1997-12/877005226.Ph.1.jpg

Glowing Tires- Stylish AND Safe!

http://www.inventionconnection.com/BOOTHS/booth448.html

A huge component of people getting into car wrecks is that they can't see what direction the tire is heading very clearly.
-This could be from rain or from the dark, or if one just doesn't feel like checking.
-Another thing that can go wrong is that the tires can wear down over time from different surfaces and can eventually pop, losing control of the car.
-this can't happen with Safety Glo (TM) Tire threads.
- they have fluorescent orange lights for helping a driver see in harsh conditions, and grooves on them so it's easier for tires to not slide as easily.
-they are not dependent on a source of light like lane lights
-these tire guards also have neon blue lights in the tires's steel belts to be extra-protecting.
-these blue neon lights grow bright on the tire, this means that the steel belts have been grinded away, making it easy to tell when it's time for a tire change to avoid a future accident.

Tidal Waves / Tsunamis



Tsunamis are giant waves formed in bodies of water such as oceans. They are formed from submarine, or under water earthquakes miles under the sea level.
These earthquakes produce massive vibrations that disrupt the water creating an underwater wave that moves in different directions and get larger as they enter shallow water. As it gets closer to shore, the vibrations break the water’s surface creating a small wave. As it reaches the shore the waves can reach higher than 40 feet high, and they can move almost as fast as a plane. But these waves are anything but productive, one of the most recent tsunamis killed over 300,000 people.
article

Energy from Waves

The oceans have enough energy to provided more than two trillion tons watts of electricity to the public. That's a lot of energy and scientists want a way to harness all this power, their way of doing this would be by using the device, Checkmate SeaEnergy(anaconda). This device is a long rubber, water filled tube that is only currently used in small sizes, but has the potential to get big enough for the ocean. If the scientists are successful with this device they would be able to harness about one megawatt of power at about 12 cents a kilowatt-hour. This would definitely increase energy produced for the public which would lower prices of electricity drastically.

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/21072/?a=f

Walk-in, Walk-out Surgery

In a hospital in Cornwall, England, surgeons are using a brand-new treatment for varicose veins. In the surgery, Radio waves are emitted from a probe to heat the vein, which causes the vein to close. This new type of surgery helps patients recover faster and with less pain than the old surgeries that require incisions to close the veins and anesthetics. Also, the surgeries are faster, so the hospital can treat more people. The radio wave surgery is helpful to both hospitals and their patients.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7644681.stm

Using Sound waves to make surgery easier

People have started to use the sound waves just like the one above and the ones we have been studing to help make surgeries easier. They are doing this by using the sound waves on the human body to help them know where the locations of tumors or kidney stones are before they have to make a single cut to the body . THis is important because it makes these surgeries easier than they already were.

http://www.naturalnews.com/001128.html