Breast-Fed Babies May Have Longer Telomeres, Tied to Longevity

There are many positive outcome when breast-feeding a baby during their first six weeks of life, for example a child will develop a healthier immune system. Studies have shown when babies are beast- fed they tend to have a longer telomeres. A telomeres is a structure that lies at the end of a chromosome and secures the genes from any harm. It has been proven that when an individual develop a shorter telomere there is an occurrence of a chronic disease during their adulthood, but individual with longer telomeres will have a longer and healthier life. Researchers are yet to conclude whether telomeres are developed when consuming breast milk during their first six weeks or these structures are already developed at birth.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/breast-fed-babies-may-have-longer-telomeres-tied-to-longevity/

http://www.onecoox.com/5225/well-breastfed-babies-may-have-longer-telomeres-bound-longevity/

"Mama Dolphins Sing Their Name to Babies in the Womb"

New reasearch suggests that mother dolphins sing their own name to babies in the womb slightly before and up to two weeks after birth. Its the human equivalent of teaching your child to say "mama". Eventually after a few weeks baby dolphins, called calves, also develop a signiture whitsle of their own. Interestingly enough no other dolphin increases the rate of their signiture whistle at any point in the calves development. This is thought to be so that the calf has a definite preference for the moms whistle. This is also interesting because other studies have shown that in utero and in weeks after birth human babies are particularly respinsive to the mothers voice.
(Picture below from http://www.livescience.com/55699-mother-dolphins-teach-babies-signature-whistle.html)

"Gene Therapy Will Cure You, or Your Money Back!"

For the first time ever, doctors in Italy are offering commercial gene therapy to people inflicted with rare diseases. The procedures come with a hefty price tag, but are guaranteed to work - or your money back!

The treatment is called Strimvelis, and it is the first outright cure for the autoimmune disease ADA-SCID, that leaves newborn babies with almost no defense against viruses, bacteria, or fungi, and is often fatal. This same disease was documented in the 1976 movie Bubble Boy about an American child who lived his life inside a plastic bubble.

Strimvelis uses a virus to deploy a missing gene into the bone marrow of afflicted children, allowing the stem cells within the marrow to naturally produce the proper immune defenses for life. It is considered a “repair and replace” strategy because doctors extract stem cells from bone marrow, then soak the cells with viruses to transfer a correct copy of the ADA gene.

Strimvelis was initially developed in Milan, Itlay at the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, but pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline purchased the rights to the procedure in 2010. The price tag for the one-time treatment will be $665,000. This makes it one of the most expensive single procedures in all of medicine, but is considered pennies compared to the cost of the established method of treating the disease.

GSK sells $30 billion is drug each year, so revenue from the treatment is not the bottom line. Rather, the British company hopes to master gene therapy technology, including virus manufacturing. Sven Kili, the executive of gene therapy development at GSK stated, "If we can first make products that change lives, then we can develop them into things that affect more people. We believe gene therapy is an area of important future growth; we don’t want to rush or cut corners."

Read more: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602113/gene-therapy-cure-has-money-back-guarantee/

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601390/gene-therapys-first-out-and-out-cure-is-here/

Lizards that Bleed Green????

 Zachary Rodriguez is the scientist who discovered that the Prasinohaema lizards of New Guinea have what as he describes lime green blood. usually this color blood signifies that the izard has a toxic substance called biliverdin. In humans a dosage of biliverdin over 50 macromolecules per liter results in jaundice. At first thought, researchers assumed that the green blood was a defense mechanism for when the predator took its first bite it assumed the blood was toxic, however this is not the case. There is no exact answer at the moment but it ideas such as the biliverdin reducing the  susceptibility to malaria or to cell damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, or even adding some extra camouflage for life in trees, have been tossed around.

It is truly crazy the way the world and its creatures work. One of the best parts about science is finding and discovering new and exciting creatures. This green blooded lizard won't just be in the next marvel film but definitely new bio text books to come! 

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/these-lizards-bleed-green?tgt=nr

Environmental Impacts on Fertility

Declining sperm quality has been identified in 5 separate breeds of dogs.  The dogs tested are from a center in England that breeds, raises and trains dogs for as service animals over a 26 year period.  This allowed for a fairly controlled population of subjects compared to other possible studies.  During this time, sperm motility has declined 30% in all the breeds.

The dogs who share our homes are exposed to similar contaminants as we are,” said Richard G. Lea, an associate professor of reproductive biology at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham. “So the dog is a sentinel for human exposure,” added Dr. Lea, the study’s principal investigator.

The most frightening part is that the testicular tissue of the dogs was tested and concentrations of chemicals that had been common in electrical transformers and paint were located.  The environment that the dogs are living in is the same that the human race is.  For 70 years there has been a studied decline in human sperm quality along with slight increases in rates of testicular cancer and genital tract abnormalities.  There is not a direct correlation between the two, but the fact that they are both declining has sparked the interest in scientists even further.

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep31281

Attempts at Saving the Vaquita

The effects that the fishing industry has on various species in the ocean has been in the news for years.  The vaquita is a tiny porpoise whose population has dwindled to around 60 individuals mostly due to becoming entangled in gillnets and drowning.  Scientists are considering taking action in an attempt to intervene to assist in growing the population again.  Capturing a few to breed in captivity and release back into the wild is an option, though not a fool proof one.

“I don’t like this idea at all,” says Omar Vidal, director general of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico in Mexico City. “The risk of killing a vaquita while catching them is very high. With only 50 or 60 animals left, we can’t play with that.”

Even if scientists are able to successfully capture and transport the vaquitas, there is no guarantee they would reproduce in captivity.  So all of the risk could be for nothing.  While those involved debate on if this plan is the best plan of action or not, the gillnets are still impacting the species.  Another factor is fishermen poaching another fish that coincides closely with the vaquita habitat.  Though the Mexican government has banned the gillnets from the area, the poachers still remain a threat to the species.

http://www.iucn-csg.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/CIRVA-7-Final-Report.pdf

Ability for a Smoother Horseback Ride is from a Mutation

The Vikings may be the ones to thank for the ability to have an easier ride while horseback riding.  Scientists have traced the event to around 850-900 C.E. when the Vikings had possibly brought horses from the UK to Iceland.  The horses were bred in Iceland and then spread throughout Europe.  This information comes from the mutation detected in the DMRT3 gene.

Scientists first detected a mutation in the gene DMRT3, which influences limb movements, in all ambling horses in 2012, but they weren’t sure how it changed the horses’ gait.

 It is possible that the mutation actually effects the developing spinal cord in a way that allows longer strides to occur giving the horses their 4 beat rhythm.

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30752-7

Human Chimeras

http://www.livescience.com/55684-human-chimeras.html

Recently, researchers have come under fire for their ideas of creating human-animal hybrids, or as they can be called, Chimeras. A chimera is any single organism that contains the cells of two or more individuals. While the idea of introducing cells from an animal into a human may seem extreme, there are certain instances where chimeras occur naturally.

While not the human-animal hybrid researchers are trying to create, thees chimeras involve humans containing the cells of other humans. This can occur if a mother absorbs cells from her fetus, a twin absorbs the other in the whom, or even from a bone marrow transplant.

DNA in samples of Ocean Water

Now with the use of new technology only small amounts of water are needed to run tests for the DNA of any target species. For example, the rare sawfish (pictured below) can have its location be identified by testing the sample of only some water. The test is called an eDNA test and is making waves in the area of natural sciences. Professor Colin Simpfendorfer who created this method says this can replace older methods like fish surveying which is time consuming and expensive.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160809095011.htm

Rio 2016: Genetically Modified Athletes?

Officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will roll out a brand new, previously unannounced form of drug testing for the international athletes competing at the Summer Olympic Games. In the past, the WADA has tested athletes in search of synthetic chemicals and hormones that would boost the athlete's performance in the arena. However, the newest form of "cheating" may come from within the athlete's own body.

The WADA test will identify if an athlete has artificially manipulated their genetic material through a process called gene doping. While there is zero previous evidence that gene doping is even happening, it makes sense for WADA to try to get out in front of the activity. Typically, the WADA is playing catch-up from the time a new steroid or performance-enhancing drug is created until a reliable and accurate test can be created and effectively administered. 

In 1989, a synthetic version of the blood-boosting hormone erythropoietin (EPO) was created to combat anemia in chemotherapy patients. However, endurance athletes quickly realized the drug would enhance their red blood cell count, drastically improving their on-course performance. In the decade that followed, cyclists, cross-country skiers and other elite athletes injected EPO without any means from the WADA to combat its rampant use. 

Today, the greatest potential threat to the integrity of sport comes from inside the human body. Typically, human kidneys produce EPO when the blood’s oxygen supply is running low, like during a marathon. The hormone then triggers the production of more oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Hypothetically, someone could insert genes into their DNA that would synthesize more EPO than a body’s normal ability.

The test for gene doping was developed by a molecular biologist at Australia’s National Measurement Institute and has two parts: One checks for the virus a scientist would use to deliver the new DNA to the body, and the second part sequences a person’s EPO genes. A normal stretch of DNA has sequences of introns between the exon genes that produce the EPO protein. An artificial DNA sequence has all the EPO genes right next to each other, with no introns separating them.

“We feel there’s a great risk this novel technology will be used, so we are being proactive for the first time.” says Carl Johan Sundberg, an exercise physiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who reviewed the new test for WADA. 

Read more: http://www.wired.com/2016/07/olympic-drug-cops-will-scan-genetically-modified-athletes/

http://futurism.com/olympic-doping-authorities-worried-gene-therapy-may-be-the-new-drug-of-choice-at-rio/

15,000 Tree Species Found in the Amazon Rainforest

Scientists have had the goal of discovering 15,000 species of tress in the Amazon rain forest for 300 years. A new study reports that the explorers have found 11,676 tree species. A team of ecologists have published what they call a list of every known tree species in the amazon from more than 500,000 digitalized samples taken of fruits, leaves, and flowers. The team of scientists gathered thousands of digital records from museums. The oldest same was from 1707 and the latest was from 2015. They compiled the first catalog of tree species in the Amazon.

The catalog is not throughly put together, but the team explains that they wanted it to be tat way so other scientists can contribute their work to it. This is the best way to pull together 300 years worth of research into one simple tool that anyone who is curious about the trees in the Amazon can use.

A bonus to the catalog is that it proves the teams claim that there are in fact almost 16,000 tree species in the Amazon. The other 4,000 species are hiding in a museum or in the Amazon waiting to be discovered as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/science/amazon-tree-species-inventory.html?_r=0

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-300-years-collecting-ecologist-finally-make-list-amazons-12000-trees-180959815/?no-ist

Humming To Snails

The common periwinkle is a gastropod found from the Bay of Fundy to New Jersey, and extending to Europe. They are about the size of a hershey kiss and eat the algae and moss that are on rocks. There are many tales that humming to the snail will make it emerge from its shell. The theories are that the vibration of the hum entices the snail to come out or that it is relaxing for the snail. Research has been attempted to explore this idea. The results from the research have been inconclusive, and the only clear thing at the moment is to believe that patience is the only key to making a snail emerge from its shell.

Scientists Find Genes That Let These Bees Reproduce Without Males

The female African South honey bees can reproduce asexually. Normally, honey bees reproduce sexually but studies have shown that in a small area in the Fynbos Ecoregion, the female will leave their homes to take control of other colonies. The female Cape honey bees will produces offsprings of her own and begin to control of the hive as a queen bee or become worker bees within those colonies. Scientist have tested the genomes between the Cape honey bees and the typical honey bees and explained that African South bees produces only female offspring when they reproduces asexually. They farther explained that this occurs because without the male chromosome presented during meiosis then only the XX chromosome appears. 





http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/science/bees-asexual-south-africa.html

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/164161/20160611/special-genes-allow-parasitic-bees-to-reproduce-even-without-males.htm

Starving Spiders

The spider species, Anelosimus eximius, lives in South America in large colonies. Some of these colonies consist of tens of thousands! Their colonies grow to be so large because the spiders will remain in the nest in which they were born from one generation to the next. These species nest together, create a web together, and capture their prey together. The problem comes when the colonies become too large because these spiders eventually run out of food. The lack of food leads to massive die-offs. The problem also arises when the spiders capture prey that is far too big for any one spider to feed on. This overshare of food is a danger to the species. Researchers have found that about 21% of these colonies go extinct every generation. 

Furthering Stem Cells

As stem cells develope they turn into different cells. Scientist have begun the process of looking into what makes the stem cells turn into such a wide range of different cells in the body. A new study shows that a protein called OCT4 plays a vital role in determing what branch of cells the stem cell will ultimately become. This could help scientists to find a way to make specific cells out of stem cells and that could lead to the ability to fight new deseases and rehab new injuries that we couldn't rehab before. The sky is the limit for stem cells as most scientists belive they have a lot of potential in aiding the fight against new problems that we could not address before.























Picture from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160804140503.htm

Using Carbon Dioxide for Good !

Cornell University is currently working on a technology that will capture carbon dioxide before it gets into the atmosphere. A group of scientists proposed making a call that would use aluminum as an anode and carbon dioxide paired with oxygen as a cathode. The reaction between the cathode and anode would create electricity while also making a oxalate byproduct.

The group reported that their electrochemical cell generated 13 ampere hours per gram of porous carbon (as the cathode) at a discharge potential of around 1.4 volts. The energy produced by the cell is comparable to that produced by the highest energy-density battery systems.

This technology could do great things, such as reducing the carbon footprint and increasing natural ways to make more electricity. These types of technologies are even attempted to be used in vehicles!

 http://www.worldcoal.org/reducing-co2-emissions/carbon-capture-use-storage

Rats give clues about alcoholism

In a study being conducted since 1980', rats at Indiana University School of Medicine have been given the choice between pure water or water mixed with 10% ethanol. Over 40 generations the researchers have selected the rats that voluntarily chose to drink the alcohol water and specifically bred them to create "heavy drinker rats" these rats drink the equivalent of 25 human beers a day. They then compared the genes of the alcoholic rat to the genes of the non alcoholic rat and what they saw was truly a difference. Before this study scientist thought that alcoholism came from inserting altered forms of genes that produce faulty proteins.

 I personally feel like alcoholism is usually overlooked and seen as a disease, but it is definitely a genetic predisposition which can and can not come out in future generations. If scientist can pinpoint the genetics that create alcoholism maybe they can inform people of whether or not they are genetically wired to potentially have alcoholism.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rats-offer-clues-biology-alcoholism?tgt=nr

The Kankuamo Marquezi Species

Other than just being huge and scary spiders, Tarantulas have another intimidating tactic. Tarantulas know how to fight. Many of these arachnids defend themselves by javelin-like hairs from their abdomens at potential threats. However, a new species of tarantulas have a different tactic. The Kankuamo Marquezi was found in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in Columbia. They are not afraid to get up close to their attackers. They use butt bristles, or urticating hairs, to stab their foes. These hairs are different from the ones surrounding their body. These hairs have a penetrating tip that allows the hair to embed into the skin or mucous membranes and cause irritation. Scientists have previously identified six different types of urticating hairs on tarantulas. The Kankuamo Marquezi adds a seventh. Their hairs are so different that not only are they classified as a different species, however, it is also classified as a new genus as well.  



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/30/science/tarantula-colombia-kankuamo-marquezi.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ftrilobites&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=31&pgtype=collection

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/new-tarantula-spider-species-colombia-gabriel-garcia-marquez-animals/

Algae Reports and Weather Forecasts Together?

On a Long Island cable channel, Bill Korbel offers gives his meteorology forecast as well as an outlook report for toxic algae. Usually, meteorologists don't give algae reports as part of their standard weather forecast. Korbel even admitted it was not something he learned when he was going to school. However, scientists say that in the near future, algae reports could become as common as weather forecasts.

High toxic algal blooms can trigger serious health effects. Two years ago residents in Ohio were banned from drinking tap water when toxic algae bloomed in Lake Erie and California residents were advised not to eat crabs contaminated with toxic algae. Sophisticated sensors can be deployed to give warnings when toxic algae levels are dangerously high.

In 2014, Congress reauthorized the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act originally passed in 1998. The problem is the act did not provide funding only signaled the need for research and the funding that would be used to conduct the research decreased by 45% from five years ago. This means less money for shorelines being monitored for algae.

Scientists say a total of 20 sensors are needed around the country at a cost of seven million dollars. The only sensors in use right now for an extended period of time are in the Gulf of Mexico. However, funding is needed not only for sensors but also for research to understand more about the algal bloom and the health effects they have.

Obama's 2016 fiscal year budget called for $13 million for research pertaining to harmful agal blooms. Still, algal blooms are flourishing all over the country at such a rapid rate that, money is not enough.

It would literally be a lifesaver to know about algal bloom reports.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/science/a-dreaded-forecast-for-our-times-algae-and-lots-of-it.html

http://www.noaa.gov/what-is-harmful-algal-bloom

Thinking Hard or Hardly Thinking?

Have you ever been stuck on a problem in math, for what felt like ages, only to feel dumbfounded when you finally get the answer? It has happened to me more than once. And I bet it has happened to you as well. That moment when you go from "...what in the hell?' to "EUREKA!!" is such an exciting feeling. Scientists have historically struggled to deconstruct an accurate mental procedure that occurs in the brain when figuring out the problem. Using an innovative combination of brain-imaging analysis, researchers have captured four fleeting stages of creative thinking in math. John R. Anderson, a professor of psychology and computer science in Carnegie Mellon University, and his team demonstrated a method for reconstructing how the brain moves from understanding a problem to solving, and the time it takes for each stage. Encoding (downloading), planning (strategizing), solving (performing the math), and responding (typing out the answer) are the four stages found in the imaging analysis. This analysis can help us further comprehend the mind of the student. It can also give professors an insight when creating their curriculum.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/science/brain-scans-math.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ftrilobites&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=collection

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-are-we-thinking-when/