Scientists Discovered How Cancer Chromosome Form in Living Cells

Aug. 8, 2013 — For the first time, scientists have directly observed events that lead to the formation of a chromosome abnormality that is often found in cancer cells. The abnormality, called a translocation, occurs when part of a chromosome breaks off and becomes attached to another chromosome. The results of this study, conducted by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, appeared Aug. 9, 2013, in the journal Science.

Chromosomes are thread-like structures inside cells that carry genes and function in heredity. Human chromosomes each contain a single piece of DNA, with the genes arranged in a linear fashion along its length.

Chromosome translocations have been found in almost all cancer cells, and it has long been known that translocations can play a role in cancer development. However, despite many years of research, just exactly how translocations form in a cell has remained a mystery. To better understand this process, the researchers created an experimental system in which they induced, in a controlled fashion, breaks in the DNA of different chromosomes in living cells. Using sophisticated imaging technology, they were then able to watch as the broken ends of the chromosomes were reattached correctly or incorrectly inside the cells.

Translocations are very rare events, and the scientists' ability to visualize their occurrence in real time was made possible by recently available technology at NCI that enables investigators to observe changes in thousands of cells over long time periods. "Our ability to see this fundamental process in cancer formation was possible only because of access to revolutionary imaging technology," said the study's senior author, Tom Misteli, Ph.D., Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, Center for Cancer Research, NCI.

The scientists involved with this study were able to demonstrate that translocations can occur within hours of DNA breaks and that their formation is independent of when the breaks happen during the cell division cycle. Cells have built-in repair mechanisms that can fix most DNA breaks, but translocations occasionally occur.

To explore the role of DNA repair in translocation formation, the researchers inhibited key components of the DNA damage response machinery within cells and monitored the effects on the repair of DNA breaks and translocation formation. They found that inhibition of one component of DNA damage response machinery, a protein called DNAPK-kinase, increased the occurrence of translocations almost 10-fold. The scientists also determined that translocations formed preferentially between pre-positioned genes.

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NEW PLAN TO ATTACK CANCER

July 19, 2013 — New research conducted by Harvard scientists is laying out a road map to one of the holy grails of modern medicine: a cure for cancer.

As described in a paper recently published in eLife, Martin Nowak, a professor of mathematics and of biology and director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, and co-author Ivana Bozic, a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics, show that, under certain conditions, using two drugs in a "targeted therapy" -- a treatment approach designed to interrupt cancer's ability to grow and spread -- could effectively cure nearly all cancers.

Though the research is not a cure for cancer, Nowak said it does offer hope to researchers and patients alike.

"In some sense this is like the mathematics that allows us to calculate how to send a rocket to the moon, but it doesn't tell you how to build a rocket that goes to the moon," Nowak said. "What we found is that if you have a single point mutation in the genome that can give rise to resistance to both drugs at the same time, the game is over. We need to have combinations such that there is zero overlap between the drugs."

Importantly, Nowak said, for the two-drug combination to work, both drugs must be given together -- an idea that runs counter to the way many clinicians treat cancer today.

"We actually have to work against the status quo somewhat," he said. "But we can show in our model that if you don't give the drugs simultaneously, it guarantees treatment failure."

In earlier studies, Nowak and colleagues showed the importance of using multiple drugs. Though temporarily effective, single-drug targeted therapy will fail, the researchers revealed, because the disease eventually develops resistance to the treatment.

To determine if a two-drug combination would work, Nowak and Bozic turned to an expansive data set supplied by clinicians at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center that showed how patients respond to single-drug therapy. With data in hand, they were able to create computer models of how multidrug treatments would work. Using that model, they then treated a series of "virtual patients" to determine how the disease would react to the multidrug therapy.

"For a single-drug therapy, we know there are between 10 and 100 places in the genome that, if mutated, can give rise to resistance," Nowak explained. "So the first parameter we use when we make our calculations is that the first drug can be defeated by those possible mutations. The second drug can also be defeated by 10 to 100 mutations.

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Biotechnology Industry in India

Introduction

The Indian biotechnology sector is one of the fastest growing knowledge-based sectors in India and is expected to play a key role in shaping India's rapidly developing economy. With numerous comparative advantages in terms of research and development (R&D) facilities, knowledge, skills, and cost effectiveness, the biotechnology industry in India has immense potential to emerge as a global key player.

India has many assets in its strong pool of scientists and engineers, vast institutional network, and cost effective manufacturing. There are over a hundred national research laboratories employing thousands of scientists. There are more than 300 college level educational and training institutes across the country offering degrees and diplomas in biotechnology, bio-informatics and the biological sciences, producing nearly 500,000 students on an annual basis.

In fact, India has been ranked among the top 12 biotech destinations worldwide and third largest in the Asia-Pacific region.

Key segments in the Indian biotechnology industry:

• Bio-pharma
• Bio-services
• Bio-agri
• Bio-industrial
• Bio-informatics

Market Size

The Indian biotech industry registered 18.5 per cent growth in FY12; total industry size stood at US$ 4.3 billion at the end of the financial year. The industry is expected to grow to US$ 11.6 billion by 2017, driven by a range of factors including growing demand, intensive R&D activities and strong Government initiatives.

The bio-pharmaceutical sector accounted for the largest chunk of the biotech industry, with a share of 62 per cent in total revenues in FY12. In the same year, bio-services and the bio-agri segments followed the bio-pharmaceutical segment with shares of 18.3 per cent and 14.9 per cent respectively. Growth was fastest in the bio-agri segment (23 per cent in FY12), followed by bio-pharma (19 per cent) and bio-services (15.5 per cent).

Investments

Investments, along with outsourcing activities and exports, are key drivers for growth in the biotech sector.

According to data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the drugs and pharmaceuticals sector has attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 48,828.3 crore (US$ 8.81 billion) between April 2000 and February 2013.

Some of the major investments in the sector are as follows:

• LifeCell International Pvt Ltd has won funding of Rs 35 crore (US$ 6.31 million) from Helion Venture Partners. The investment will be used to increase LifeCell's market awareness and penetration in the country, said Mr Mayur Abhaya, CEO and MD, LifeCell
• Biocon has entered into an agreement with Mylan for the global development and commercialisation of Biocon's generic insulin analog products (long lasting insulins), which has a global addressable market of US$ 11.5 billion
• Biomax Fuels has formed a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with the Jeddah-based Middle East Environment Protection Co to set up the first bio-fuel plant in Saudi Arabia
• Eli Lilly and Strides Arcolab have inked a pact to increase delivery of cancer medicines in emerging markets. Agila Specialties, the specialties division of Strides Arcolab, will make cancer medicines and Eli Lilly will market them in emerging geographies

Read more : Scope of biotechnology in india

Alexander Graham Bell disliked telephones

Alexander Graham Bell

When the telephone was introduced in 1876, a Western Union internal memo noted: “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is of no value to us.” In 1879, W. H. Preece, a Post Office engineer, testified to a House of Commons Committee that Britain had little use of the telephone because: “Here we have a superabundance of messengers, errand boys and things of that kind”

Even Alexander Graham Bell, who was awarded the patent for the invention of the telephone, disliked telephones so much that he refused to have one in his office. But that should not come as a surprise because both his mother and wife was deaf and perhaps Bell – who also was a speech teacher to the deaf – was only considering them.

When Bell passed away in 1922, every telephone served by the Bell system in the USA and Canada was silent for one minute.

How many telephones in the world?

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) there are some 1.4 billion fixed lines phones and about 5.3 billion mobile cellular subscriptions.

More calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day but more reverse charge calls (collect calls) are made on Father’s Day than any other day.

Almost 2 billion people (of the almost 7 billion world population) use the Internet, either via computer or a mobile phone.

Also see: Music first sent down a telephone line in 1876

See: Alexander Graham Bell disliked telephones 

10 good uses for salt

Just a pinch of it and it’s worth it. We’re talking salt here. Used throughout human history, mentioned often in the Bible, ubiquitous and cheap. Mined from salt rocks and extracted from sea water, salt is… well, the “salt of the earth.” You can’t live without it healthily. At the same time, you can’t live healthily with too much of it. Get the balance right – in your food and in your live – and salt is worth it’s own weight.

10 surprising good uses for salt

1. Deter ants
Sprinkle salt in doorways, on window sills and anywhere else ants use to sneak into your house. It’s a sure way to keep them out!

2. Kill grass and weeds growing in cracks in your driveway
Tired of weeding your driveway? Sprinkle salt on the grass and pour very hot water over it. Not only is this a highly effective way to kill unwanted plants, it’s also eco-friendly and cheap.

3. Say goodbye to fleas
If your dogs have fleas, simply wash their doghouse and blankets in salt water. If you’re worried your dogs may have brought fleas into your house, simply sprinkle your carpets lightly with salt and then brush it in. Leave it for 12 hours and vacuum thoroughly.

4. Pick up a dropped egg
If you drop an egg on the kitchen floor, sprinkle salt on the mess and leave it there for 20 minutes. You’ll be able to wipe it right up.

5. Clean up oven spills quickly
If a pie or casserole bubbles over in the oven, pour a handful of salt on top of the spill. It won’t smoke, smell and, most importantly, will bake into a crust that makes the mess easier to clean once it’s cooled.

6. Clean brown spots off your iron
Simply sprinkle salt on a sheet of waxed paper, slide the iron across it and rub lightly with silver polish. Your iron will look like brand-new in no time.

7. Remove stains from your coffee pot
Fill it with 1/4 cup of table salt and a dozen ice cubes. Swish the mixture around, let it sit for half an hour, fill it with cold water and rinse. Your coffee pot will look brand new.

8. Keep your windshield frost-free
Dip a sponge into salt water and rub it on windows, and they won’t frost up even when the mercury drops below zero.

9. Shell nuts more easily
Soak pecans and walnuts in salt water for a few hours before shelling them. Doing so will make it easier to remove the meat.

10. Drip-proof candles
If you soak new candles in a strong salt solution for a few hours, then dry them well, they won’t drip when you burn them.

See: 10 good uses for salt 

Gigantic 'corpse flower' blooms in Washington, D.C.

Scientific name: Amorphophallus titanum

Rank: Species

Higher classification: Amorphophallus

The lengthy wait is lastly over for visitors who were hunger for a odor of a gigantic flower that smells oddly like rotting flesh.

This giant rainforest plant well-known as a "corpse flower" for its awful smell began blooming Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Botanic Garden next to the Capitol. Experts had been waiting for its bloom for more than a week and have extended the garden's time for visitors.

Garden officials are expecting for the flower to hit "peak smell" early Monday, and remain open for one or two days.

The flower is formally known as the titan arum. It is found in  the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, and was discovered in 1878.

Scientists say the flower's odor attracts insects that are in general drawn to rotting flesh.

Some facts about corpse flower:

One little awful smelling flower may not draw a lot of attention but the corpse flower is not a little flower. During its flowering phase, when it is most aromatic, the bloom can be more than eight feet (2.5 meters [m]) tall and ten feet (3 m) wide. That’s a pretty exotic statistic in and of itself but there’s so much more to this spectacular plant.

The titan arum’s corm is the largest in the plant kingdom. Its weight averages 110 pounds (50 kilograms [kg]) but botanists at the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew Gardens documented one that tipped the scales at 200 pounds (91 kg) when it was repotted after its dormant phase.

Accidently Typhoid Toxin Discovered

It's frequently happens in case of science that things are discovered by accident. Alexander Fleming discovered the secrets of antibiotics with a bout of chance – together with an intelligent mind to recognize his good fortune. Currently, it seems that scientists at Yale University have luckily found out, too: they've discovered the real cause of typhoid fever. 

Typhoid fever is a disease that use to affect people dates back to before ancient Greece and still causes as many as 200,000 deaths globally each year, about the population of Birmingham, Ala. For many years, the cause of typhoid fever has remained a mystery. But a paper published last week in Nature exposed the true cause of the disease. 

Jorge Galan, the study's author said that it is  the oldest identifiable disease, it distraught Athens and is credited as the main reason why the Spartans beat the Athenians in war.

It's been recognized for some time that the bacterium which is the cause for the disease is Salmonella typhi, but in spite of mankind's long history with the microbe, we've really been unknown to why this bug is so pathogenic, even if it's a close relative of the other salmonella sickness, food poisoning. 

One of the reasons why human race has been ignorant to the mechanism of S. typhi is because it's a somewhat ignored disease without many researchers functioning on it, said leading typhoid fever expert Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta, from Aga Khan University in Pakistan. 

Galan's research now discovers how S. typhi has managed to keep its stealth for so long. Its deadliness comes from a novel life strategy: it doesn't free its toxin until it's determinedly inside a mammalian host cell. Normally when microbiologists search for a possible toxin produced by a microbe, they grow the organism in a culture and then crush it up and search for a candidate compound inside the mixture. But S. typhi does not fabricate a toxin unless you've permitted it to enter a host cell, so you couldn't probably find it using conventional methods.

Galan, however, manage a  protocol to look at the microbe after it had infected a host cell. "We happened to be studying the interaction of [S. typhi] with human cells, we weren't in the business of trying to find the typhoid toxin, we just bumped into this," said Galan. 

Once contained by a mammalian host cell, the typhoid bacterium begins to produce the toxin, which is then packaged into courier vessels to be unleashed. 

"The toxin is dumped outside of the cell where the bacterium resides and it enters the blood system to hit its target," said Galan. 

Once Galan had recognized what he thought could be the toxin responsible for typhoid disease, he isolated and purified it. He then infected mice with it and found that its result in typhoid symptoms in the mice, except fever, which is an immune response to the occurrence of the bacterium rather than the toxin itself. 

"I think this is an absolutely fascinating paper, but it's only the first step in the right direction," said Bhutta. "This particular study looked at mutant strains [of S. typhi], the next step is to work out how much of this is true in real life. How much of this can be replicated by other researchers?" 

Bhutta said that it's still "too early to say whether this is a turning point or not," towards the possible eradication of the disease. 

Galan on the other hand said it will be "scientifically trivial" to produce an efficient vaccine from an inactivated version of the toxin he discovered – though he concede that the feasibility of the matter, such as finding enough funding, present a more formidable challenge. 

At present, typhoid treatment relies on a course of antibiotics that targets the bacteria rather than the toxin; occasionally even that fails. 

"There are many instances in which people receive antibiotics but they still can't pull out of the disease. Clearly the bacteria is no longer there. They eventually die. Our hypothesis is that the toxins are still circulating around," said Galan. 

Chimps & Orangutans Recalls their past

Scientists now found that chimpanzees and orangutans can apparently remember things which are, happened years ago in their lives, just like humans.

The skill to remember events from the distant past has been considered as a defining feature of human nature, said by a comparative psychologist Gema Martin-Ordas, of Aarhus University in Denmark. At the present she and her colleagues find that chimpanzees and orangutans can also remember distant memories. These consequences show that we have more in common than we formerly thought with our closest relatives  

A Experiment on  15 chimpanzees and four orangutans was conducted, the scientists tested whether the animals could memorize events they experienced years ago or not. Three years previous, the apes had watched the researchers to hide the tools that the chimpanzees and orangutans needed to grab rewards, which were otherwise out of their reach. As the researchers repeated hiding the tools a total of four times, the apes looked on.

In the new experiment, the scientists made the apes carry out the same tasks, in the same quarters, with the same experimenters. With just one exemption, all the apes had to recall where the necessary tool was hidden to reach its reward.

 It was surprising to know that they not only remembered the event that took place three years ago, but also the did it fast. On average it took five seconds to go and find the tools.

The short amount of time suggests the animals did not simply walk around until they found the tools rather than they recalled the event that enabled them to find the tools directly.

The researchers had repeat the experiment on chimpanzees and orangutans one more time by taking another tool-finding task, with a slightly different arrangement, and then made them to repeat it two weeks later. Similar results were seen — the animals immediately remembered where to look — even though the apes initially carried out the task only once.

These findings also proved that the chimpanzees and orangutans could differentiate between similar past events in which the same locations and people were involved.

"This is the first study showing that chimpanzees and orangutans remember personal past events that took place a long time ago, when presented with the appropriate cues," Martin-Ordas said. "I think these two studies open up a completely new line of research to approach the study of memories for past events in nonhuman animals."

The scientists detailed their findings July 18 in the journal Current Biology.

WHY TABLETS ARE BETTER THAN MOBILE PHONES?

Technology is the mother of all invention as we all know rather we all accept this fact. Today the world is craving for more and more technology or tech products. Technology is nothing but the knowledge to use in heart transplants to music concerts, the knowledge to unearth the minerals from underneath the soil, the knowledge to properly use the waste products thus technology is nothing but the way to increase the amount of GPA by using the things wisely and specifically. Till today we have all seen that how technology has increased its quality in the form of computers to laptops, laptops to palmtops, palmtops to mobilephones, mobile phones to iphones, tablets etc.

As the days are passing improved tech products are coming to the markets for the betterment of the people. Today tablets have substituted the arena of mobile phones also known as cell phone, cellular phone as well as hand phone.

A mobile phone is an operating device which helps to transmit and receive telephonic calls with the help of radio waves as you are moving across a geographic area. This device operates in this way with help of mobile network provided by the cellular phone operator allowing its access to the network of telephones. As the technology is improving from a cordless phone it has transformed into a mobile phone having facilities like text messaging, multimedia messaging, email, accessing internet, Bluetooth facilities, and various applications, gaming, and clicking photos with the help of mobile camera. Over the past 20 years mobile phones has led to the great advancement.

The most common features present in the mobile phones are a battery as a power source for the functions of the phone, input mechanism like keypad or touch screen and minimal services of the phone to make calls and send messages via text. It also supports SIM card may be a GSM or CDMA depending on the versatility of the mobile phone. A SIM card is a microchip called a Subscriber Identity Module having approximately the minimum size of a postage stamp and it securely stores the service-subscriber key popularly known as IMSI allowing users to change their cell phones by simply removing their SIM card. The first SIM card was made in 1991 by a Munich smart card maker. Due to the technology advancement a hybrid cellular phone has also been developed which can hold in itself four SIM cards having both the facilities of GSM and CDMA telephonic networks. Mobile phones are used for various purposes like keeping contact with family members, relatives and using it during the times of emergency or problem. To spread word among many people through text messaging but it has also led to the increase in law disturbances in the country.

Now comes the tablet computer or we can simply call it tablet which is a single piece mobile computer most commonly having touch screen so disregarding the use of mouse of a computer and the keypad. We can differentiate tablets by their large size than smart phones or the personal digital assistants. We can connect a tablet to a keyboard depending on our convenience. Booklet tablets have dual touch screens and it can be used as a notebook which can display a virtual keyboard on one of the display screen. Tablets came in the market in the 20^th century and then it was prototyped and developed in the last decade and become affordable in 2010.THE tablet computer and with the associated special operating software is the foremost example of the pen-computing technology.

A tablet computer is a personal computer which is portable that is it can be taken from one place to another having features like touch screen as a primary input device and with it a improved and modified desktop most commonly the OS. This term was made popular by Microsoft in 2000.These OS in tablet are basically driven by fingers and can be capacitive touch screens with the multi touch facility not like the earlier resistive touch screens tablets. The most successful tablet is the Apple iPad using the iOS operating system and longer battery life. There are many tablets which can recognise handwriting like Galaxy Note 10.The hard ware features of a tablet are high definition dispays, wireless internet connectivity, video camera facilities, and good battery life and weigh less. The soft ware features are mobile web browser-Book facility to read books from internet, portable media player, e-mail, mobile phone functions, and video-tele conferencing.

The other features are that it has accelerometer and a good storage drive to help the users.

Tablet is always a better choice than mobile phones because it’s easily portable and its light weighted. The tablet is more than a consumer toy and also a capable mobile computing device. The functions of a tablet are more advanced and a virtual keyboard to enhance its beauty and it has a user friendly interface. The tablets can be used for workaholic people who roam about here and there for their work it provides them with the basic amenities with high tech facilities that a laptop and a mobile phone would provide them. The other common use of tablet is entertainment which helps them to view movies, videos and hear music and let them to dance in the tunes of their favourite number. A tablet allows them to click on the pictures with good camera functions with high picturisation capability. Tablets have an easy manipulation of images thus a good healer for the photographers as well. Thus we can always say that tablets are the most popular choices for the users providing them with all the facilities that a laptop and a mobile phone would provide. It’s always a better choice and just acts as a personal computer. A new generation technology tablet as goes he name is as weigh less as a tablet is and not giving pain to the hands of the clients, and it is much enhanced than a mobile phone.

The Triangle named BERMUDA: A MYSTERY

The Bermuda Triangle, also identified as the Devil’s Triangle, is a vague area in the western division of the North Atlantic Ocean where a numeral of aeroplane and ships are said to have vanished under unexplained conditions. The triangle does not exist according to the US Navy and the name is not known by the US. Popular customs has credited various disappearances to the paranormal activity by extraterrestrial beings. Recognized evidence indicates that an important proportion of the incidents were false, imprecisely reported, or overstated by later authors. In a 2013 study the World acknowledged the world’s 10 most hazardous waters for transporting, but the Bermuda Triangle was not amongst them. Opposing to accepted belief, insurance companies do not accuse superior premiums for water transport in this vicinity.

SUPERNATURAL STORIES:

 Triangle authors have used a figure of mystic and uncanny concept to give details the proceedings. Sometimes linked to the Atlantis story is the sunken rock arrangement known as the Bimini Road off the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, which is in the Triangle by some definition. Supporters of the supposed extrasensory Edgar Cayce take his forecast that confirmation of Atlantis would be found in 1968 as referring to the finding of the Bimini Road. Believers portray the construction as a road, wall, or other arrangement, though geologists regard it as to be of usual source.

DISAPPEARING TRANSPORTS:

.ELLEN AUSTIN- allegedly came crossways a dilapidated ship, located on plank a prize crew, and attempted to navigate with it to New York in 1881. According to the story, the dilapidated vanished;

.USS CYCLPOS- USS Cyclops, delivery a full cargo of manganese ore and with one engine out of stroke, went absent with no a hint with a team of 309 sometime after March 4, 1918, after retiring the island of Barbados. 

.FLIGHT 19-Flight 19 was a teaching flight of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that vanished on December 5, 1945, while above the Atlantic. The squadron's flight map was programmed to obtain them due east from Fort Lauderdale for 141 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back under a final 140-mile leg to complete the effect. The flight under no circumstances returned to foundation.

BERMUDA TRIANGLE IS STILL A MYSTERY SOME BELIEVE AND SOME GIVE EXPLANATIONS OF THE DISAPPEARANCES AND SOME DOES NOT ACCEPT THE FACT OF THIS TRIANGLE.