Dangerous tampering of the fruits of nature or the solution to ending world hunger? My-oh-my, what a future debate this is going to be.
http://food.change.org/blog/view/are_nanofoods_sustainable
6.01.2010
Low battery? Just plug it in...to yourself
MEMS device generates power from body heat -- In an attempt to develop a power source that is compact, environmentally friendly, and has an unlimited lifetime, a team of researchers from Singapore has fabricated an energy harvesting device that generates electricity from body heat or any environment where there is a temperature gradient. Their device, called a thermoelectric power generator, attaches to the body and generates a power output of a few microwatts, which could be useful for powering implanted medical devices and wireless sensors.
How to make a cell for dummies
Peering Over the Fortress That Is the Mighty Cell
The scientists who created a synthetic variant are in debt to nature, time and billions of years of evolution.
The scientists who created a synthetic variant are in debt to nature, time and billions of years of evolution.
Just another day in the life of a carbon nanotube
Carbon Nanotubes Boost Cancer-Fighting Cells
-One defensive strategy in the human immune system utilizes T cells, which are able to detect bad stuff in the body, replicate in lymph nodes, and then induce a strong immune response.
-Tumor cells are able to survive because they prevent tumor-specific T cells from replicating and therefore suppress any immune response.
-A technique called 'Adoptive Immunotherapy' is a treatment option, where patient's blood is drawn and T cells are stimulated and replicated in the lab before being transferred back into the patient.
-A major drawback right now is that it can take several weeks until sufficient T cells are produced.
-Yale scientists have found that carbon nanotubes mimic lymph nodes in the lab and reduce the time to produce enough tumor-fighting T cells by 1/3.
-All that is needed now is find an efficient way of removing the carbon nanotubes before re-injecting the T cells into the patient.
-One defensive strategy in the human immune system utilizes T cells, which are able to detect bad stuff in the body, replicate in lymph nodes, and then induce a strong immune response.
-Tumor cells are able to survive because they prevent tumor-specific T cells from replicating and therefore suppress any immune response.
-A technique called 'Adoptive Immunotherapy' is a treatment option, where patient's blood is drawn and T cells are stimulated and replicated in the lab before being transferred back into the patient.
-A major drawback right now is that it can take several weeks until sufficient T cells are produced.
-All that is needed now is find an efficient way of removing the carbon nanotubes before re-injecting the T cells into the patient.
5.28.2010
5.25.2010
Goodbye LOST
Bill Simmons breaks down the series finale and wonders if 'The Wire' was both the greatest and worst thing to happen to television.
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/lost-the-end-see-you-in-the-other-life-brother#
TV critic Alan Sepinwall's review of the series finale.
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/lost-the-end-see-you-in-the-other-life-brother#
TV critic Alan Sepinwall's review of the series finale.
5.24.2010
One small step for man, One giant leap for cancer treatment
(PhysOrg.com)
-'DNA -> RNA -> Protein' is the central dogma of genetics.
-A good way for me to remember complex scientific concepts is to put them in context with something simpler that I understand.
-For me the best context for this genetic concept is comparing it to opening a zip file on the computer.
-Say you have a zip file (DNA). You cannot simply open the zip file, because it is only useful for storage.
-In order to open the zip file you must first unzip it (transcription) into a readable file (RNA).
-Now, when you try and open the unzipped file (RNA) it results in something usable such as a word document, pdf, or mp3 (protein).
-Most anticancer drugs target certain proteins unique to the growth and survival of tumor cells.
-These therapeutics have some limitations because of the 3-D shapes of proteins and the possibility of mutations which 'hide' the protein from the drug without changing the protein's use for the cell.
-A new approach using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targets a type of RNA in the cell called messenger RNA (mRNA).
-Unlike protein, mRNA is linear in shape (no bends/folds to hide itself) and has fewer potential mutations.
-This therapy is very exciting because it allows for the indirect targeting of virtually every protein.
-A major hurdle of this therapy (other than getting the siRNA into the cell is targeting only the tumor cell(s).
-Solution = packing the siRNA into nanoparticles which bind only to cancerous cells, then release the siRNA into the bound tumor cell.
-Most importantly, this combined treatment was found to be effective in a human patient during a phase I clinical trial.
-This therapy is being developed for treating cancer, but I can see it being utilized for treating nearly every disease.
-'DNA -> RNA -> Protein' is the central dogma of genetics.
-A good way for me to remember complex scientific concepts is to put them in context with something simpler that I understand.
-For me the best context for this genetic concept is comparing it to opening a zip file on the computer.
-Say you have a zip file (DNA). You cannot simply open the zip file, because it is only useful for storage.
-In order to open the zip file you must first unzip it (transcription) into a readable file (RNA).
-Now, when you try and open the unzipped file (RNA) it results in something usable such as a word document, pdf, or mp3 (protein).
-These therapeutics have some limitations because of the 3-D shapes of proteins and the possibility of mutations which 'hide' the protein from the drug without changing the protein's use for the cell.
-A new approach using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targets a type of RNA in the cell called messenger RNA (mRNA).
-Unlike protein, mRNA is linear in shape (no bends/folds to hide itself) and has fewer potential mutations.
-This therapy is very exciting because it allows for the indirect targeting of virtually every protein.
-A major hurdle of this therapy (other than getting the siRNA into the cell is targeting only the tumor cell(s).
-Solution = packing the siRNA into nanoparticles which bind only to cancerous cells, then release the siRNA into the bound tumor cell.
-Most importantly, this combined treatment was found to be effective in a human patient during a phase I clinical trial.
-This therapy is being developed for treating cancer, but I can see it being utilized for treating nearly every disease.
5.21.2010
Nuclear fusion power - the ultimate clean energy
(PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine if you could generate electricity using nuclear power that emitted no radioactivity: it would be the answer to the world's dream of finding a clean, sustainable energy source.
Solar cells - I think they can, I think they can
Solar cells: UQAM researcher solves two 20-year-old problems
Thanks to two technologies developed by Professor Benoit Marsan and his team at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) Chemistry Department, the scientific and commercial future of solar cells could be totally transformed. Professor Marsan has come up with solutions for two problems that, for the last twenty years, have been hampering the development of efficient and affordable solar cells.
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/dep_chim/rindex.php?dossierprof=prof&pagehtm=marsan.htm
Thanks to two technologies developed by Professor Benoit Marsan and his team at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) Chemistry Department, the scientific and commercial future of solar cells could be totally transformed. Professor Marsan has come up with solutions for two problems that, for the last twenty years, have been hampering the development of efficient and affordable solar cells.
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/dep_chim/rindex.php?dossierprof=prof&pagehtm=marsan.htm
How many scientists does it take to replace a light bulb? None, cause it never burns out
(PhysOrg.com) -- Light bulbs that last 100 years and fill rooms with brilliant ambiance may become a reality sooner rather than later, thanks to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory discovery.
Can you hold your breath forever?
(PhysOrg.com) -- Oxygen may not be the staple of modern complex life that scientists once thought. Until now, the only life forms known to live exclusively in anoxic conditions were viruses, bacteria and Archaea. But in a new study, scientists have discovered three new multicellular marine species that appear to have never lived in aerobic conditions, and never metabolized oxygen.
Putting oil profits to good use
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new eco-city being built in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Masdar City, will be the world’s first clean technology city, relying entirely on renewable energy sources, and being free of cars, skyscrapers and waste.
'Organic Electronics' coming soon to a Whole Foods near you
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new technique developed by Princeton University engineers for producing electricity-conducting plastics could dramatically lower the cost of manufacturing solar panels.
Bacteria don't like getting poked
ScienceDaily (2010-03-15) -- For two decades, scientists have been pursuing a potential new way to treat bacterial infections, using naturally occurring proteins known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Now, scientists have recorded the first microscopic images showing the deadly effects of AMPs, most of which kill by poking holes in bacterial cell membranes.
I love gooooold. But cancer sure doesn't
ScienceDaily (2010-03-16)
-"Magic Bullets" are highly targeted medical treatments which are the ultimate goal for drug development.
-Cancer has evaded these so-called bullets because of drastic changes in tumors between (1) different stages of cancer development, (2) different organs/tissues of the body, and (3) different patients.
-A new treatment developed at Washington University in St. Louis may be able to target cancer cells and selectively kill them with minimal damage to healthy cells.
-The technique is called 'Photothermal Therapy' and involves injecting gold nanocages into a patient's bloodstream (gold is inert and therefore nontoxic at low levels).
-Some of these 'golden bullet' nanocages accumulate at the tumor site (~6%) through leaky blood vessels (a commonality between tumor).
-A laser is then shone on the tumor site and the nanocages present convert light into heat which leads to the death of the tumor cells and has little/no effect on the surrounding healthy cells.
-This treatment was shown to work in a mouse model, but with the way things are currently for translating developments from the lab-to-clinic, this technology should be available in 100 years or so.
-This treatment isn't perfect yet, more research has begun on actively targeting cancer cells so fewer particles need to be injected, but is a huge tool in treating cancer which could be effective right now!
Frogs, foam and fuel: Solar energy converted to sugars
ScienceDaily (2010-03-17) -- In natural photosynthesis, plants take in solar energy and carbon dioxide and then convert it to oxygen and sugars. The oxygen is released to the air and the sugars are dispersed throughout the plant -- like that sweet corn we look for in the summer. Unfortunately, the allocation of light energy into products we use is not as efficient as we would like. Now engineering researchers are doing something about that.
Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, sort of like the Moses of chemistry
ScienceDaily (2010-03-18) -- Chemists have developed the most potent homogeneous catalyst known for water oxidation, considered a crucial component for generating clean hydrogen fuel using only water and sunlight.
5.20.2010
Primary care doctors - an endangered species
Can a patient-centered medical practice help ease the crisis in primary care?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)