PHOENIX Speaks online.....

DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated

2009-08-27T11:00:00.002+05:30

Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.

The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.

"You can just engineer a crime scene," said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper, which has been published by the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. "Any biology undergraduate could perform this."

Frumkin is a founder of Nucleix, a company based in Tel Aviv that has developed a test to distinguish real DNA samples from fake ones that it hopes to sell to forensics laboratories.

The planting of fabricated DNA evidence at a crime scene is only one implication of the findings. A potential invasion of personal privacy is another.

Using some of the same techniques, it may be possible to scavenge anyone’s DNA from a discarded drinking cup or cigarette butt and turn it into a saliva sample that could be submitted to a genetic testing company that measures ancestry or the risk of getting various diseases.

Tania Simoncelli, science adviser to the American Civil Liberties Union, said the findings were worrisome.

"DNA is a lot easier to plant at a crime scene than fingerprints," she said. "We’re creating a criminal justice system that is increasingly relying on this technology."

John M. Butler, leader of the human identity testing project at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said he was "impressed at how well they were able to fabricate the fake DNA profiles." However, he added, "I think your average criminal wouldn’t be able to do something like that."

The scientists fabricated DNA samples two ways. One required a real, if tiny, DNA sample, perhaps from a strand of hair or drinking cup. They amplified the tiny sample into a large quantity of DNA using a standard technique called whole genome amplification.

Of course, a drinking cup or piece of hair might itself be left at a crime scene to frame someone, but blood may be more believable.

The authors of the paper took blood from a woman and centrifuged it to remove the white cells, which contain DNA. To the remaining red cells they added DNA that had been amplified from a man’s hair.

Since red cells do not contain DNA, all of the genetic material in the blood sample was from the man. The authors sent it to a leading American forensics laboratory, which analyzed it as if it were a normal sample of a man’s blood.

The other technique relied on DNA profiles, stored in law enforcement databases as a series of numbers and letters corresponding to variations at 13 spots in a person’s genome.

From a pooled sample of many people’s DNA, the scientists cloned tiny DNA snippets representing the common variants at each spot, creating a library of such snippets. To prepare a DNA sample matching any profile, they just mixed the proper snippets together. They said that a library of 425 different DNA snippets would be enough to cover every conceivable profile.

Nucleix’s test to tell if a sample has been fabricated relies on the fact that amplified DNA — which would be used in either deception — is not methylated, meaning it lacks certain molecules that are attached to the DNA at specific points, usually to inactivate genes.

Posted in: NY Times, Science, 17 Aug 2009,

Chipping In

2007-09-27T16:57:00.000+05:30

BRAIN CHIP FOR MEMORY REPAIR CLOSES IN ON LIVE TESTS

Supplementing the human brain with computer power has been a staple of science fiction. But in fact, researchers have taken several steps in melding minds with machines, and this spring a team from the University of Southern California may replace damaged brain tissue in rats with a neural prosthesis.
For the past few years, researchers have demonstrated the ability to translate another creature’s thoughts into action. In 2000 neurologist Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University wired a monkey with electrodes so that its thoughts could control a robotic arm. Brain-machine interfaces developed by Niels Birbaumer, a neuroscientist at the University of Tübingen in Germany, already help some paralyzed patients move a computer cursor with their brain waves to select letters for writing a message.
Theodore W. Berger and his U.S.C. colleagues have developed the first brain-machine interface to communicate back to the brain. Last January they used a silicon chip to mimic biological neurons in tissue slices of rat hippocampus, the hub for memory sorting and storage. The chip replaced a surgically removed section of the hippocampus and restored function by processing incoming neural signals into appropriate output with 90 percent accuracy.
The biomedical engineers had been on the verge of testing a chip in hippocampus slices for several years, but roadblocks slowed work. Existing electrode array technology would not function well in tissue slices, forcing the researchers to construct their own. Cutting the hippocampus slices just right to keep the neural pathway intact was also difficult.
Because building the one-millimeter square chip costs tens of thousands of dollars and takes several months, the planned spring test will actually rely on a model of that chip—specifically a larger, reprogramable device linked to a computer called a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The FPGA will allow investigators to easily test and modify their new mathematical model of neural communication for living rats before committing it to a chip. Sam Deadwyler, a professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University and a collaborator in the study, has demonstrated that stimulating the hippocampus of living rats with a certain pattern of activity can increase performance on a memory task, such as recalling which lever will dispense water. In a few months he will use the FPGA mathematical model to predict hippocampal activity. If the model is correct, the artificial implant should restore memory for such tasks in rats with drug-induced amnesia.
For more complicated animal models, U.S.C. physicist Armand Tanguay suggests a multichip module to facilitate the transition. Light beams would transmit signals between neuron units on multiple chip layers. Unlike wires, light beams pass directly through one another without interference, allowing for many more interconnections. The result: a web of light between silicon chips mimicking a dense neural network.
“Many challenges will be encountered as the researchers move from in vitro to in vivo studies in the rat,” says GracePeng, a program director at the National Institutes of Health’s Division of Discovery Science and Technology. In fact, the team is not quite sure what to expect once it goes to live animals. Avoiding rejection by the immune system might mean anchoring cell adhesion molecules to the chip so that the surface of the implant looks like tissue, says U.S.C. chemist Mark Thompson. Neural plasticity, or the brain’s ability to reorganize its connections, could also pose a problem by preventing the formation of stable connections between the neurons and chip. “In other application areas such as motor control or perception, plasticity, and adaptability of the brain usually facilitate the effects of artificial interfaces,” Peng notes optimistically.
One other possible concern, if such implants make it to human testing: Might bypassing damaged neurons in the hippocampus also bypass connections with other areas of the brain that filter what we remember? In other words, would the brain become unable to purge memories? If so, that would make the implant a truly unforgettable device.

NEURON LANGUAGE
To engineer the brain chip, Theodore W. Berger of the University of Southern California first investigated the nuts and bolts of neuron communication. For more than two decades, he probed neurons in rat hippocampal tissue with electrical stimulation patterns, recorded their responses and created a comprehensive database of neuron behavior. His U.S.C. colleagues Vasilis Marmarelis and John Granacki developed mathematical equations to model neuron behavior and transformed the equations into hardware language. If animal trials are successful, the team’s first human implant will actually use a model of monkey brain activity because researchers cannot safely record activity from humans to develop a human-specific model. Though not ideal, a monkey implant might work well enough, the researchers speculate, because the programmable chip could adapt to human thought or the brain could learn to use the chip as it does with cochlear implants in associating garbled noises with words.

Collected By:
Vikas Y.S.R VII sem

Source:
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

Answer for immunology crossword

2007-09-27T16:53:00.001+05:30

BITS AND PEICES

2007-09-27T16:51:00.001+05:30

- Katyayini. V sem

Are you in a state when everything seems to be falling apart in your life??? You do not like anybody in your class. The moment you and your brother meet you fight most disgracefully. You look in the mirror and realise that your nose is too long. And you are getting acne of alll sizes on your faces. in short unpleasent things are happening and you just cannot cope...

Well, meet someone who is literally, physically falling apart and still coping...and still coping agaist the toughest of all odds. Meet B.P.Crow, who lives in a lush Flame-of-the-Forest trees opposite my balcony. B.P is not for Blood Pressure but for Bits and Pices. Here is a crow who seems to be made up ofbits and pices that keep falling off, yet B.P.Crow survives and seems happy about it....

To begin with B.P.Crow lost all the toes and claws of one leg when he pearched on the electric transformer a year ago. Next he lost the stump of the leg on which he used to lean, in a violent fight with a raven twice his size, which is why he sits on his belly all the time. When he tries standing, he topples down, and to retain his balance, he has to push his beak on the ground and has to lever himself up His head does not have that smooth, back-combed look all crows have. The few feathers he has stick out in all directions as if someone had crudely glued them on him.

And then there was a day when he got entangled in a ball of plastic wire. By the time a couple of urchins extracted him, which he resisted with all his might, he lost most of his tail. That was also when his voice changed. So when he caws, it sounds like he is being strangled, startling other crows who stare at him in horror. And then came his escape from the vicious tomcat who stalked him one rainy night. As his lone leg couldn't lift his body fast enough, his eye took the swipe from the cat's sharp claws. Not that B.P.Crow's spirits were dampened in any way. His lone eye now gleams with all the inquisitiveness typical of his species.

Now we should come to his beak. Till last week he had a beak which should have been on an vulture. The upper half stuck out a good centimeter longer and was viciously carved at the tip. Of course such a beak is a graet asset in fights but eating is tough, for he had to cock his head sideways to get food into his mouth, and he couldn't hold onto harder food like rotis to break them up, for how could he balance himself if his only leg was used up for that????

And then last week, B.P.Crow vanished. I went down with a basket to see if he was lying down wounded somewhere. But there was no sign of him and i assumed the inevitable had happened. After all, it is amazing, that in a competitive world of crows, with all his disabilities , with no one to protect him, he had somehow survived this long. He undoubtedly had courage, which many of us humans don't have.

And suddenly this morning he reappeared. And he no longer looked like a crow. I had thought it was impossible for B.P.Crow to look more battered and moth eaten than he already was, yet he had managed to become worse!!! That tough vulture beak had somehow broken half way up and now he had a longer lower and a half upper beak. He came flapping in a lopsided way, at the milk soaked bread i hurriedly kept for him on the window ledge and fell headlong into the food. He angrily protested when i tried to help him out. But he now ate digging his lower beak into the food and tilting his head backwarda to let it all go in. All the feathers on his back were gone now. And one wing was clearly broken, it sat on him folded like a rag. But clearly the spirit was not broken. His lone eye shone like a star.

So inspired was i by B.P.Crow's surviving skills that i went back to the mirror to replace my sda , grumpy face with a determinedly smiling one. I then looked at B.P.Crow again out of the window, and this time my smile became a laugh of admiration. Do you know why????

Because in that broken beak, B.P.Crow was now holding a twig lightly. He was building a nest.....!!!!!

THOUGHTS

2007-09-27T16:49:00.000+05:30

Poornima V sem

He was poughing on with what he taught,
Not sparing a glance at the restless lot.
Only the nerds were swallowin in,
The rest were of the idea "concentration is sin".....

I looked around and thought with a smile,
The teacher must definitely be senile,
For the whole class was mentally at a pause,
And yet he was fighting a lost cause....

A question I asked. an answer I sought,
Why this torture is what i thought,
Then came the answer, a flash of lightening,
This is one of the processes of engineering......!!!!

Trying To Be Happy

2007-09-27T16:47:00.000+05:30

-Sumeda madhuri III sem

Yesterday
When, I was trying to be happy
I loved those who love me
I respected those who respected me
I smiled at those who smiled at me
I helped those who helped me
I hated those who hated me
But, I was sad and bad, and
I was called selfish.
Today
When, I sit alone in the night
The glittering stars from
The blue sky
Stared at me and smiled at me.
The cool breeze whispered to me
That “you are happy?” I said yes.
Hoping I am on the way
Like a honey bee searching blossoms
Because
I love those who hate me
I respect those who never respect me
I help those who never help me
I smile at those who never smiled at me
I am generous and kind to
Those, who are strangers to me.

Dont Quit

2007-09-27T16:32:00.000+05:30

-Anupama V sem
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you are trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to smile,but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you ever quit....

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,.
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won ha to stuck it out,
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with the next blow.....

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit,
Its when things seem worst you must not quit....

Skin Stem Cells and Their Application in Cell Therapy

2007-09-16T10:22:00.000+05:30

Dr. C. Vaman Rao M.Sc., Ph.D.

Cell therapy is a general term used for autologous and allogenic transplantation of cells through local delivery or systemic infusion to restore the viability or function of deficient tissues. Stem cells of different tissue origin are the best choice for cell therapy because of their ability to self-renew and their high potential to produce differentiated cells. A wide-variety of adult tissues contain stem cells or progenitor cells, which are capable of not only generating cell types of their tissue origin but also of producing cell types present in other tissues. These cell types are called pluripotent, which have tremendous potential for therapeutic application.
Skin is the largest organ in the body, which is the main organ of immune surface protection. The skin is constantly renewed and the process of renewal necessitates the presence of adult stem cells. Until recently research was focused on unipotent epidermal stem cells of the skin. Recent findings have shown that skin also contains mesenchymal, haematopoietic and neural stem cells, which broadened the scope of application of skin derived stem cells for therapy. The bulge region of the hair follicle is strongly suggested to be the niche of multipotent stem cells. Plasticity is the term used for describing the multipotency of adult cells populations. Recent studies showed that hair follicle stem cells contain nestin –a neural stem cell marker-protein and these cells could differentiate into neurons, glia, keratinocytes, smooth muscle cells, melanocytes and blood vessels. Skin and neural tissue has common developmental origin, i.e. both are derived from ectoderm. That may be the reason why the skin derived hair follicle stem cells contain neural tissue markers.
Studies indicate that hair follicle dermal sheath cells might represent a source of dermal stem-cells that nor only incorporate into the hair supporting papilla. Hair follicle dermal sheath cells taken from the human scalp can form new dermal papilli, induce the formation of hair follicles, and produce hair shafts when transplanted on to the skin. There is growing evidence that hair follicle stem cells are source of epidermal and dermal cell populations.
Skin cells are highly accessible, and hair follicles can be isolated as discrete populations, which makes them an ideal source of cells for autologous or allogenic applications. There is also growing evidence that the hair follicle has a unique immunological profile and displays immune privilege; the virtual absence of MHC class I expression and low numbers of immune cells in the hair follicle makes it an ideal source of cells for transplantation cell therapy of allograft nature. Skin stem cells are also suitable targets for gene therapy, which is demonstrated recently from liposome based gene delivery to these cells.
Transplantation of cultured epithelia is a well established and successful treatment for extensive and deep burn wounds, particularly when combined with the used of fibrin matrices to facilitate the transplantation of epidermal stem cells. Mesenchymal stem-cell like-cells have been identified in the dermis. These cells express surface antigens and demonstrate the capacity to differentiate into mesodermal-layer-derived tissues and neural cell types in a similar way bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; consequently, they have been considered as a source for wound healing fibroblasts. Another population of multipotent stem cells termed skin-derived progenitor (SKP) has also been identified in the dermis. These stem cells have a distinct ability to differentiate into neural cell types and have mesenchymal stem cell markers hence they can also produce mesodermal derivatives. Significant progress has been made in the regeneration of the dermis in wound healing through transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem-cells; mesenchymal stem-cells-like-cells from dermis; and follicle dermal-sheath cells to reduce scar formation after wound healing.
Skin stem cells also have potential applications in the haematopoietic system. Recent evidences suggests that the dermal compartments of the adult hair follicle actively produce haematopoietic cells of erythroid and myeloid lineage. When these cells are transplanted, they can repopulate multilineage haematopoietic cells in lethally irradiated mice.
Another potential site for skin-cell therapy is the nervous system. Neural-crest stem cells and SKP cells can be passaged for up to 12 months without senescence. When cultured in serum free medium containing suitable growth factors, some stem cells-neural stem cells and mammary stem cells-can generate floating spherical colonies. Transforming growth factor b (TGF-b) can increase the formation and proliferation of skin derived stem cell colonies without affecting their potential to differentiate. When dermis-derived SKP stem cells are transplanted into the spinal cord after traumatic injury, the cells migrate to the lesion site and most differentiate into cell expressing glial and neuronal markers. In this manner, neural stem cells derived from skin could provide the basis for a novel therapeutic treatment of diseases and traumas of nervous system.

Reference: C. Shi, Y. Zhu, Y. Su and T. Cheng: Curr. Opin. In Biotechnol, 24: 48 – 52 (2006).

google brain@#%^

2007-09-08T20:52:00.000+05:30

grrhhhh..."its 8 but one am...please wake up"!goes the thud of my technnode.....which is overheated due to yesterdays overload."Honey..aint you going to the lifeterminal today!Its almost 8 sugar.Our researchers must be waiting to crack the new gene code to obtain your so called dream."the perfect human"!Common,lazy bum get off the bed......!!!"."ah!alright ....alright I am up.Please ask my robot to get my steam bath ready and help me in soon.I gtg man.ok,breakfast is on the table.Thank god gmf's are in.I dont have to slog like amma making idlis for you"."You brut!those were much tastier".

"Chillax.Read the epad today!slim models extinct.obese ones gettin on the ramp!!!""Hmmm....chal ll take a bath.lets zap in 15 min".I take a bath and sit in front of the mirror undoing my long cascading hair.When i look into myself in disbeleif...what have i turned into from the past 10 years..nothin but an obese pig, getting into the 28" low waist aint a dream for me, but almost all the so called women of my age.My husband still drools over his class pics wit all the chicks and their bodies wit vital stats in perfection.Is this what i ever wanted?!!!

My thoughts are disturbed by the"Anju!its already half an hour.Are u gettin here or not?"and I scoot down the staircase peckin a kiss on my 11 year old daughter whose playin wit her caretaker robot.I reach the lifeterminal- our major dream since masters.Seeing it happen was almost equivalent to my thrice my incubation period.The 68 floored sexy building wit 8 elevtors ,1600 robots and 7540 masterbrains working aint a joke...its a dream happen.From the past 12 years,we had this moving text on our main display:"NOThIng Is ImpOSSible.Just live for it..."(.we have been working on this super model of "The Perfect Human "is how we put it..wit lot of genetically modified constituencies.The model is prone to be the nicest individual.in perfect balance wit sense and emotions,perfectly normal googa brain.thinks like a teen(or atleast tries to)we have made this human directly into an 18 year old to experiment in perfection wit teenage extricasies,this is the model.)now when i enter our work den,I hear roaring claps,when I enter I hear that our model has passed its third trail".We scream like we have never screamed before.Every trail stage brings me back to life,pushes me away from the darkness of failure.We have a huge mini party!(ah!)...calories in ton intake doesnt matter now.Almost 75% of us are already above the obese limit.The days go by.Life takes a prelude to success.2 months later.....its 6.00 am.final destination to appear.yo ho!its the final trail of our "perfect human model"!Its almost 21 hours i have seen my bed,been on an insomnia period for long.noe we look like zombies.All are in perfect cross fingers..Every beep from the computer terminal brings a ray of hope in our eyes.No action for 21 hours now.This is gettin sad.for something people have been working on for almost for 40% of their lives is being tested today.suddenly we hear a huge beep.and yes...finally the dreams take shape into reality .

Life has pulled itself back again.Our model is accepted but final emotional balance remains.We scream again this time loud enough to shake our bldg.We hug each other,even some robots actually.The sweet smell of sweat glands smell ecstasy today.Its al happenin.Everythin i dreamed of since i was 24,"the Perfect model" is accepted and is above to happen.The news people are all over.This is when we realise that we are hardly wearin presentable stuff for tv,technopads and epads.The model is still undergoing emotional balance trail.This is when we get A call from our mother company-centi=ion,our perfect model has become happazard.She is beginnin to freak out.She is overconfident that she is the best.The perfect model in the planet,she wants to rule the world. she begins her Ego phase. We think she is our perfect model.The phase has to get over.But no she is snapping back she starts to destroy some terminals.we dont know what to do.We send in some counsellers to calm her down.She says she doesnt beleive the human race,she is the best ,so she knows whats best.We cancel all our press reports and web conferences.We had something for al this ,we were prepared for everything.This lady's genes were so programmed that she should not have the human discreapancies on her.What went wrong wit s many of us.I ponder.I am into tears.I remember linking parks in the end which doesnt bring enough consolation,my husband has freaked out major,he s blastin out on everyone for abs no reason.Somethin snaps at me-----my thoughts,what ll i get fighting against destiny.

Somehow i remember my engineering classes.Variance is designed by destiny.It aims at perfection but the aim continues as the goal ll never be reached.One cannot bring in perfection except nature itself. Everythin seems to fall out of place now.Our dreams and everythin.I try to establish focus.suddenly i remember i had a secret code designed in the 23rd gene which if localised and mutated can terminalise this model.She aint gonna beleive us.so the human race needs to fight against its own creation.we need a master plan now."anjali.....puro utta....its 6.45 am.ani needalari...bus miss jatha!!!!",says amma.(anjali..enough get up..its 6.45 am.if u sleep further u'll miss the bus).boom....it was an impossible but real awesome dream!!!

BIONICS

2007-09-07T16:11:00.000+05:30

Hi friends ,this article presents an overview of bionics,an idea of nature inspired engineering system design,which is becoming important with the availability emerging technologies for implementation.

What’s this Bionics is....???

Bionics (also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering) is the application of methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. The origin of the word 'bionic' is a matter of dispute. One origin asserts that it is formed from the Greek word "βίον",pronounced "bion", meaning "unit of life") and the suffix -ic, meaning "like" or "in the manner of", hence "like life". Some dictionaries, however, explain the word as being formed from "biology" + "electronics" . Bionics is a term which refers to flow of ideas from biology to engineering and vice versa. Hence, there are two slightly different points of view regarding the meaning of the word.Often, the study of bionics emphasizes implementing a function found in nature rather than just imitating biological structures.Although almost all engineering could be said to be a form of biomimicry, the modern origins of this field are usually attributed to Buckminster Fuller and its later codification as a house or field of study to Janine Benyus.

we can distinguish three biological levels in cool biology after which technology can be modeled:

• Mimicking natural methods of manufacture
• Imitating mechanisms found in nature (velcro)
• Studying organizational principles from social behaviour of organisms, such
as the flocking behaviour of birds or the emergent behaviour of bees and ants

Examples of Bionics

In general
Leonardo da Vinci's flying machines and ships are early examples of drawing from nature in engineering.Julian Vincent drew from the study of pinecones when he developed in 2004 "smart" clothing that adapts to changing temperatures. "There are several such systems in plants, but most are very small -- the pinecone is the largest and therefore the easiest to work on". Pinecones respond to warmer temperatures by opening their scales (to disperse their seeds).The smart fabric does the same thing, opening up when it is warm, and shutting tight when cold.Nanostructures and physical mechanisms that produce the shining color of butterfly wings were reproduced in silico by Greg Parker, professor of Electronics and Computer Science
at the University of Southampton and research student Luca Plattner in the field of photonics, which is electronics using photons as the information carrier instead of electrons.Some paints and roof tiles undergo a form of self-purification in which their surfaces are kept clean just as the lotus.

In medicine

Bionics means the replacement or enhancement of organs or other body parts by mechanical versions. Bionic implants differ from mere prostheses by mimicking the original function very closely, or even surpassing it.Bionics' German equivalent "Bionik" always takes the broader scope in that it tries to develop engineering solutions from biological models. This approach is motivated by the fact that biological solutions will always be optimized by evolutionary forces.While the technologies that make bionic implants possible are still in a very early stage, a few bionic items already exist, the best known being the cochlear implant, a device for deaf people. By 2004 fully functional artificial hearts were developed. Significant further progress is expected to take place with the advent of nanotechnologies. A well known example of a proposed nanodevice is a respirocyte, an artificial red cell, designed (though not built yet) by Robert Freitas.Kwabena Boahen from Ghana was a professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. During his eight years at Penn, he developed a silicon retina that was able to process images in the same manner as a living retina. He confirmed the results by comparing the electrical signals from his silicon retina to the electrical signals produced by a salamander eye while the two retinas were looking at the same image

Source
Wikipedia,Electronics for you
Best of the web

Science courseware
http://www.sciencecourseware.org/

this site contains good interactive exercises but options very limited to biologists

http://www.nanowerk.com/

nanotechnology and nanoscience
good coverage fo nanotechnology,but nothing significant

Phoenix Album

2007-09-07T15:52:00.000+05:30

Phoenix Inauguration Photos

GREENS AND THEIR ADVANTAGES.

2007-09-06T15:39:00.000+05:30

Dr Richard martin a German chemist showed a resemblance between the human blood and the blood of the plant ‘chlorophyll’. Our blood is a combination of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hyrogen which are around iron and chlorophyll is a combination of the same round magnesium, instead of iron
We have a lot of similarity with that of the plants.. The hundreds of enzymes that organize Physiology inside the plants body, the metabolizing of the food to glucose and production of the vitamins, antioxidants other chemicals is similar to human.
It is proved that eating chlorophyll rich food increases the blood count in the body. The particular color of each plant contains specific component which differently in our body. Example any plant contain yellow color has vitamin c. These were given by Dr Richard martin at university of Zurich, earning noble prize for finding the similarity between human blood and chlorophyll. He also explained concepts of aging taking more greens can make u look young.. Well when our body cells are made to react with oxygen. They interact and produce highly reactive atoms. They are called free radicals.
Free radicals work in energy production and also to kill bacteria that invade.
But when they are in excess their chain reaction starts, with any thing they come across. Let it be a mitochondria, cell membrane, DNA leading to low functioning and death.
Turning of a cut apple to brown and oil rancid are all the examples of the free radical oxidation. When a body has more free radicals they can cause early aging, cancer.
We have some thing which can destroy our body which is useful. This can repair the damage.These which repair is called as antioxidants. Antioxidants can be pigments vitamins, minerals or enzymes. They act as police force for our body. Counter acting for the damage caused by binding of free radicals. They have the capacity to stabilize the damage caused. Bad news is that our body does not produce all the proteins n vitamins which are required for our body. This is the basic cause for all the diseases. The chlorophyll are rich components of antioxidants.. Which help in making us look young..?
Plant blood is good for health. But still we don’t like eating green vegetables?

GOOD EFFECTS OF EATING SEAWEEDS, IF U WANT TO EAT.

Algae, fresh water or marine are rich in chlorophyll and several micro nutrients. The single celled algae, chlorella and spirulina have several astonishing properties. A 10g of biomass of ideally grown chlorella contains 280mg of chlorophyll, and spirulina 115mg of it.
Chlorella- it has richest source of age fighting rna and dna, it has high concentration of nucleic acids and amino acids and about 20 different vitamins and minerals. It improves immune system functions, heavy metal and pesticides detoxification and also helps in anti tumor activity.
Spirulina- rich in vit b12, iron, chromium, selenium and essential fatty acids. It contains 50 times more iron than spinach and 10 times more absorbable calcium then in that of milk. It has low cholesterol and triglycerides level in the blood and supports cardiovascular functioning.
Kelps- giant weeds. These contain mucilaginous alginates, which are like most fibers, gums and mucilage, swell in the intestine and absorb toxins and heavy metals. It reduces risk to cancer..
Next time u go to a beach think about eating one. They are good in taste..

GREY HAIR, TOOTH DECAY HAVE U THOUGHT OF EATING GREENS FOR IT

The green grass contains the same composition of minerals and vitamins of that of the dark green vegetables. Wheat grass, barley and alfalfa are considered the most rich of the green grasses. The green grass of barley contains a multitude of enzymes, carotiniodes, and vitamins such as folic acid. Barley grass contains 13 times more carotene component that of the carrots.. And 55 time more vitamin c that of apples and 5 times more irons that of spinach.
It prevents graying of hair and tooth decay. Helps to strengthen body cells and improves immune. When in sprouts they are miracles. Example wheat grass has 32 g of proteins in 100 g the wheat grain has none.
Chlorophyll is a hard component which needs a lot of work for extraction.. And it being unstable cant be preserved easily.. So when elders ask us to eat green its better to do so.. Might be we might avoid getting tooth aces.

DNA moves to art world

2007-09-06T15:38:00.000+05:30

A simple swab of saliva and cells from inside a mouth can solve crimes and determine parenthood, but DNA is now also gaining popularity as art. With clean lines and geometrical patterns, the modern art look of genetic profiles has sparked a growing trend for DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, portraits - possibly the most unique picture of a person that they could hang on their walls. "We're in an era of mass personalization - from jeans to shoes to cars," said Adrian Salamunovic, of Canadian-based DNA 11. "There's also a huge explosion of interest in forensics, CSI (Crime Scene Investigation television series) and DNA." The New York version of the popular crime drama, CSI:NY, even used a piece of DNA 11 art in a recent episode where a suspect was caught after her DNA portrait was matched to a crime without the need for a warrant. But Salamunovic - who likened DNA art to the work of Latvian-born US abstract impressionist painter Mark Rothko - said this could never actually happen in real life. "By the time the DNA is extracted and sent to us as a digital file it doesn't have any forensic value. It's a beautiful image, it's a unique signature, but there's no scientific data in it," he said. The human genetic code amounts to a 3 billion letter DNA book, but only one-tenth of one per cent of DNA differs from one person to the next. DNA is used to solve crimes, identify bodies, and determines paternity and can be extracted from samples of blood, bone, hair and other body tissues, but it is typically taken from a swab of the cheek inside a person's mouth. It is a goldmine for scientists developing everything from vaccines to crops. DNA 11 art has become one of the best-selling products at New York's Museum of Modern Art store. A person's DNA profile is printed on to a colored canvas chosen at www.dna11.com. New York company DNA Art Forms, www.dna-art.com, aims to personalise DNA portraits further. Artist Catherine Dapra, who completed her first DNA painting in 2003, paints - rather than prints - a DNA profile based on conversations with client. Dapra and partner Paul Zawierka were inspired to create DNA art after likening it to modern art produced in the 1980s. She also fuses two DNA profiles, highlighting similarities and differences between siblings, couples and friends.

Smart Drugs

2007-09-03T14:38:00.000+05:30

Smart Drugs?
REMEMBER MORE - THINK FASTER - BE WISER
Smart Pill?
Wouldn't it be nice if you could swallow a pill rather than study for a test? Are there such "smart pills"? Perhaps you could take a pill and get a "mental tune-up" if you are feeling a bit dull.

Actually, researchers are studying substances that may improve mental abilities. These substances are called "cognitive enhancers" or "smart drugs" or "nootropics". ("Nootropic" comes from Greek - "noos" = mind and "tropos" = changed, toward, turn). The supposed effects of cognitive enhancement can be several things. For example, it could mean improvement of memory, learning, attention, concentration, problem solving, reasoning, social skills, decision making and planning.Mental Check-up?

In most cases, cognitive enhancers have been used to treat people with neurological or mental disorders, but there is a growing number of healthy, "normal" people who use these substances in hopes of getting smarter. Although there are many companies that make "smart" drinks, smart power bars and diet supplements containing certain "smart" chemicals, there is little evidence to suggest that these products really work. Results from different laboratories show mixed results; some labs show positive effects on memory and learning; other labs show no effects. There are very few well-designed studies using normal healthy people.

Let's look at the evidence regarding cognitive enhancing substances.
How might these substances work?
1. Increase brain metabolism
2. Increase cerebral circulation
3. Protection of brain from physical and chemical damage

What are the possible effects of these substances?
1. Increased mental "energy"
2. Increased alertness
3. Decreased depression
4. Improved memory
5. Improved learning ability

Increasing brain power?

Exercise your brain!

Specific Cognitive Enhancers
1. Hydergine - a "smart drug" that dilates the blood vessels of the brain.
2. Piracetam
3. Aniracetam
4. BMY-21502/BMs-181168
5. Minaprine
6. Oxiracetam
7. Pramiracetam

Drugs that Act on Neurotransmitters
1. Linopirdine (UP 996)
2. Physostigmine - an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor - has short lasting effects and has been used to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury
3. Sabeluzole (R58735)
4. Tacrine (tetrahydroaminoacridine) - an AChE inhibitor, but it may be toxic
5. Vasopressin - a neuropeptide released by the pituitary
6. Methylphenidate (Ritalin) and dextroamphetamine - stimulants used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These drugs affect multiple neurotransmitter systems.
7. Amantadine - dopamine agonist
8. Nicotine and Caffeine - could be considered "smart drugs" by increasing alertness
Nutrients
1. Acetyl L Carnitine
2. Choline - precursor to acetylcholine; eggs, meat and milk are good sources of choline.
3. Cytidine-5'-diphosphate choline
4. L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine
5. 2-Dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE) - found in the brain and in anchovies and sardines; appears to increase acetylcholine production.
6. Phospatidylserine - found on the surface of neuronal membrane and synapse.

Food for thought?

Other substances including herbs
1. BR-16A - a herb from India
2. Ginkgo Biloba - an extract from a tree that has been used as medicine in China and Europe. This herb increases cerebral circulation, increases glucose utilization by the brain and increases choline reuptake. It has been used to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease, but other studies show it has no effect on healthy males.
3. Ma-huang - a herb from China
4. Oxymethacil - reduces oxidation of molecules in the brain.
5. Pyritinol - similar to vitamin B6; also increases cerebral blood flow.

Some smart drugs can be found in health food stores; others are imported or are drugs that are intended for other disorders like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. There are many Internet web sites, books, magazines and newspaper articles detailing the supposed effects of smart drugs. There are also plenty of advertisements and mail-order businesses that try to sell "smart drugs" to the public. However, rarely do these businesses or the popular press report results that show the failure of smart drugs to improve memory or learning. Rather, they try to show that their products have miraculous effects on the brain and can improve mental functioning. Wouldn't it be easy to learn something by "popping a pill" or drinking a soda laced with a smart drug? This would be much easier than taking the time to study. Feeling dull? Take your brain in for a mental tune up by popping a pill!

Some data suggest that cognitive enhancers do improve some types of learning and memory, but many other data say these substances have no effect. The strongest evidence for these substances is for the improvement of cognitive function in people with brain injury or disease (for example, Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury). Although "popular" books and companies that sell smart drugs will try to convince you that these drugs work, the evidence for any significant effects of these substances in normal people is weak. There are also important side-effects that must be considered. Many of these substances effect neurotransmitters systems in the central nervous system. The effects of these chemicals on neurological function and behavior is unknown. Moreover, the long-term safety of these substances has not been adequately tested. Also, the possibility that these substances will interact with other substances a person might take is untested. A substance like the herb Ma-huang may be dangerous if a person stops taking it suddenly.

Many of the positive effects of cognitive enhancers have been seen in experiments using rats. Scientists train rats on a specific test, like running in a maze, and then see if the "smart drug" can improve the rats' performance. It is difficult to see how many of these data can be applied to human learning and memory. For example, what if the "smart drug" made the rat hungry? Wouldn't a hungry rat run faster in the maze to receive a food reward than a non-hungry rat? Maybe the rat did not get any "smarter" and did not have any improved memory. Perhaps the rat ran faster simply because it was hungrier. Therefore, it was the rat's motivation to run the maze, not its increased cognitive ability that affected the performance. Thus, it is important to be very careful when interpreting changes observed in these types of animal learning and memory experiments.

One symptom of Alzheimer's disease is a reduced brain level of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. It is thought that an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease might be to increase brain levels of acetylcholine. Another possible treatment would be to slow the death of neurons that contain acetylcholine. Two drugs, Tacrine and Donepezil, are both inhibitors of the enzyme (acetylcholinesterase) that breaks down acetylcholine. These drugs are approved in the US for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Moral and Ethical Questions about the Use of Smart Drugs

Here are some questions for you to think about IF and WHEN smart drugs are developed:

1. What would happen if people got smarter? Is this good thing or a bad thing?
2. What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of short-term and long-term "smartness"?
3. If such drugs existed, should they be manufactured distributed and used?
4. If they can be used, who should get them?
5. Should they be banned like some drugs in athletics (e.g., stimulants, steroids)?
6. Is going to a special school or class or getting a tutor different from taking a "smart drug"? What about learning a trick to solve a math problem? Isn't this like taking a special drug? What about getting a computer to help with homework? Isn't this like using technology to help you get smarter and learn more?
7. Should it be illegal to pop a smart pill before a spelling test or before you take the SAT? Would this be like taking a stimulant before a track meet or swimming race? Would this be cheating?
8. As people got smarter, would their personality change?
9. What would happen to people's emotional and social behavior?
10. We have drugs to improve our mood (antidepressants) and to look better (weight loss drugs). We even have a drug to increase the height of children (growth factor). What is wrong with a drug that makes us smarter?
11. What about the benefits of such drugs? Couldn't these substances make people better drivers, workers and teachers?
12. Could important new discoveries and cures for diseases be made faster if we were smarter?

Mean Moms

2007-08-30T14:33:00.000+05:30

Someday when my children are old enough to

understand the logic that motivates a parent, I

will

tell them, as my Mean Mom told me: I loved you

enough . . . to ask where you were going, with

whom,

and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you

discover that your new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to stand over you for two

hours

while you cleaned your room, a job that should

have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger,

disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children

must

learn that their parents aren't perfect.

I loved you enough to let you assume the

responsibility for your actions even when the

penalties were so harsh they almost broke my

heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough . . . to say

NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm

glad I won them, because in the end you won,

too.

And someday when your children are old enough

understand the logic that motivates parents, you

will tell them.

Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had

the

meanest mother in the whole world! While other

kids

ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal,

eggs, and toast.

When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch,

we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner

that was

different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at

all

times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison.

She

had to know who our friends were, and what we

were

doing with them. She insisted that if we

said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for

an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the

nerve

to break the Child Labor Laws by making us

work We

had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to

cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the

trash;

and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie

awake at night thinking of more things for us to

do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth, the

whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the

time

we were teenagers, she could read our minds and

had

eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really

tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the

horn

when they drove up. They had to come up to the

door

so she could meet them. While everyone else

could

date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait

until we were 16 .

Because of our mothe r we missed out on lots of

things other kids experienced. None of us have

ever

been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's

property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all

her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated,

honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean

parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today.

It just doesn't have enough mean moms!

α-Galactosidase for soymilk processing

2007-08-28T09:41:00.000+05:30

Anil kumar H.S. M.Sc.,

Soyabeans are used in increasing amounts as low-cost, high quality protein supplement. Soymilk and other soy beverages are becoming more and more popular as consumers become more health conscious and seek out alternatives to dairy products. Soymilk is one of the known products from soybean, which has got almost equal nutritive value of usual milk. It can be one of the solutions for present crisis in nutritive food in most of the developing countries. But the full utilization of the potential nutritive value in soy-based foods is limited by the presence of non-digestible sugars such as raffinose and stachyose (oligosaccharides). These sugars contain chemical linkages that cannot be broken by the natural enzymes produced by the body. Consequently the sugars processed through the digestive tract until reaching the large intestine where they are hydrolyzed by the natural microflora in the intestine. These organisms utilize the sugars that are converted to gas during this metabolism causing discomfort and flatulence.
Many attempts have been made to eliminate the non-digestible sugars from soybean and its product by soaking, soaking and germination, fermentative processes, extraction in different times and ratio and ultra filtration. Enzyme treatment by α-galactosidase offers a promising solution in the elimination of these non-digestible sugars, especially in soymilk. The enzyme α-galactosidase convert stachyose and raf3finose to simple Sugars that are absorbed by the human digestive tract, thereby preventing the flatulence often caused by soy-based foods. Microbial source is the best source for this enzyme. This enzyme can be used to hydrolyze raffinose and stachyose during soymilk processing, during the food preparation process or by addition to food itself immediately before ingestion. Greater acceptance of soy-based foods will allow their full nutritive value to be realized. The investigated report says the available energy of a non-digestible sugar substitute is approximately 2kcal/gm.

Crosswords on cell biology - Kavya S Bhatt Msc

2007-08-28T09:29:00.000+05:30

Across
2: water fearing
6: filament of a dynamic skeleton
8: cell waste dump12: nine fused microtubules at the core of animal centrosome
13: everything in the “kitchen sink” except the nucleus
14: this stack of thylakoids catches the light
15: these mitochondrial mean a big surface area where ATP is made
16: a procaryote might sing if a only had a” _________”

Down
1: Lysosome and peroxisome “packaging department”
2: waterloving 3: not just a bag but a fluid mosaic gate keeper
4: chemical messenger
5: the cell membrane contain a _________ bilayer
7: common plant organelle 9: microtubole organising centre
10: the “stuff” of chromosome (DNA+ptn)
11: cell soup
14.colour of chloroplast

Current Trends in Immunotherapy

2007-08-28T09:25:00.000+05:30

Current Trends in Immunotherapy of HIV-1
and Road Blocks

Dr. C. Vaman Rao.M.Sc., Ph.D.

The AIDS pandemic, with 40 million HIV-infected individuals, is without question one of the worst tragedies of modern times. Unfortunately, despite over 20 years of intensive study, many aspects of HIV pathogenesis are still unclear. For much of the epidemic, investigators in the HIV/AIDS field struggled with two sets of apparently contradictory findings; on one hand, the observations that HIV infects and kills CD4+ T cells (TH Cells), and that loss of CD4+ T cells is a key marker of disease progression suggested that the pathogenesis of AIDS is mainly related to the direct, virus-mediated killing of CD4+ T cells. On the other hand, the long period of time between infection and development of AIDS, a time when only a small fraction of CD4+ T cells appear to be infected and elevated death rates of T cells involve both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, support a pathogenic model.

Over the past five years, phase I studies have demonstrated the safety of recombinant vaccinia or canary pox vaccines, and a canary pox vaccine candidate encoding multiple HIV-1 genes is currently undergoing phase II testing in the United States. Canary pox vaccines in human appear to elicit rather modest levels of CD4+and CD8+ T cell mediated immune responses. Most immunized volunteers developed antigen specific proliferative responses and about one-third develop CTLs, as measured by lysis of target cells after in vitro stimulation. Anti-envelope antibody responses are generally weak, but can be boosted to relatively high levels by immunization with soluble protein. Despite these high antibody titers, neutralization of primary HIV-1 strains is limited in potency and breadth.The major road block in designing a widely applicable HIV vaccine is the extensive global sequence diversity of HIV. An attempt has been made to identify HIV clades and strains, common determinants predictive of cross reactivity by computational modulation, computational building of ‘mosaic’ viruses and combining them to cover most of the observed sequence diversity. All of these approaches are currently being tested in in vitro assays using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from HIV infected individuals and response shown by T cells when included in vaccine is under investigation. The second hurdle is not very well understood mechanistic aspect of biphasic model of HIV pathogenesis, where a brief acute phase dominated by the direct killing of large number of memory CD4+ T cells, followed by a long chronic phase characterized by a slow attrition of the CD4+T cell count. At present is observed that in the first phase there is major loss of memory CD4+T cells in the mucosal tissue leading to overall paralysis of immune system. The second phase characterized by chronic infection lasts typically for several years and is characterized by the immune systems struggle to recover from the early injury. It is complicated by the viral ability to evade immune response and secondary infections by other pathogens. Since there is hardly any population of memory T cells, at present a strategy for vaccine development has been worked out which would replenish mucosa associated CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells specific to HIV such that these cells rapidly proliferate and differentiate into effectors in the event of viral infection.

The hidden potential within-Stem cells!

2007-08-27T19:45:00.000+05:30

Its been a dream of a million years of mankind to actually to gift a mother with a child which will be free of the torture of death due to organ damage or cell disruption, and as I see it the growth of stem cells can make this dream come true within years.
Modern life has made us succumb to the pressures of anxiety, tension and lack of time.due to this come up accidents severe and in extreme strata and various other diseases that can lead to organ damage ,cell damage and various others. With the help of stem cells getting back to normalcy would be possible in a while as the research continues. This mini introduction of stem cells was for those of you who are from a non-biology background!
Coming to the core-what are these stem cells? and what do they actually do?
Stem cells are primal cells found in all multi-cellular organisms. They retain the ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and can differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Research in the human stem cell field grew out of findings by Canadian scientists Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in the 1960s .
Classification of stem cells in mammals
The three broad categories of mammalian stem cells are: embryonic stem cells, derived from blastocysts, adult stem cells , which are found in adult tissues, and cord blood stem cells, which are found in the umbilical cord. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells.
Properties of stem cells
The rigorous definition of a stem cell requires that it possesses two properties:
Self-renewal - the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the undifferentiated state.
Unlimited potency - the capacity to differentiate into any mature cell type. In a strict sense, this requires stem cells to be either totipotent or pluripotent , although some multipotent and/or unipotent progenitor cells are sometimes referred to as stem cells.
Potency specifies the differentiation potential (the potential to differentiate into different cell types) of the stem cell.
Totipotent stem cells are produced from the fusion of an egg and sperm cell. Cells produced by the first few divisions of the fertilized egg are also totipotent. These cells can differentiate into embryonic and extraembryonic cell types.
Pluripotent stem cells are the descendants of totipotent cells and can differentiate into cells derived from any of the three germ layers.
Multipotent stem cells can produce only cells of a closely related family of cells ( e.g. hematopoietic stem cells differentiate into red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc.).
Unipotent cells can produce only one cell type, but have the property of self-renewal which distinguishes them from non-stem cells.
1. Embryonic stem cells

Embryonic stem cell lines (ES cell lines) are cultures of cells derived from the epiblast tissue of the inner cell mass (ICM) of a blastocyst or earlier morula stage embryos. A blastocyst is an early stage embryo - approximately 4 to 5 days old in humans and consisting of 50-150 cells. ES cells are pluripotent, and give rise during development to all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm. In other words, they can develop into each of the more than 200 cell types of the adult body when given sufficient and necessary stimulation for a specific cell type. They do not contribute to the extra-embryonic membranes or the placenta.
Nearly all research to date has taken place using mouse embryonic stem cells (mES) or human embryonic stem cells (hES). Both have the essential stem cell characteristics, yet they require very different environments in order to maintain an undifferentiated state. Mouse ES cells are grown on a layer of gelatin and require the presence of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF). Human ES cells are grown on a feeder layer of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF's) and require the presence of basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF or FGF-2). Without optimal culture conditions or genetic manipulation embryonic stem cells will rapidly differentiate.
A human embryonic stem cell is also defined by the presence of several transcription factors and cell surface proteins. The transcription factors Oct-4, Nanog , and Sox2 form the core regulatory network which ensures the suppression of genes that lead to differentiation and the maintenance of pluripotency. The cell surface proteins most commonly used to identify hES cells are the glycolipids SSEA3 and SSEA4 and the keratan sulfate antigens Tra-1-60 and Tra-1-81. The molecular definition of a stem cell includes many more proteins and continues to be a topic of research.
After 20 years of research, there are no approved treatments or human trials using embryonic stem cells. Their tendency to produce tumors and malignant carcinomas, cause transplant rejection, and form the wrong kinds of cells are just a few of the hurdles that embryonic stem cell researchers still face. Many nations currently have moratoria on either ES cell research or the production of new ES cell lines. Because of their combined abilities of unlimited expansion and pluripotency, embryonic stem cells remain a theoretically potential source for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease.
2. Adult stem cells
The term Adult stem cell refers to any cell which is found in a developed organism that has two properties: the ability to divide and create another cell like itself and also divide and create a cell more differentiated than itself. Also known as somatic (from Greek Σωματικóς, of the body ) stem cells, they can be found in children, as well as adults. Pluripotent adult stem cells are rare and generally small in number but can be found in a number of tissues including umbilical cord blood. Most adult stem cells are lineage restricted ( multipotent) and are generally referred to by their tissue origin ( mesenchymal stem cell, adipose-derived stem cell, endothelial stem cell, etc.)
A great deal of adult stem cell research has focused on clarifying their capacity to divide or self-renew indefinitely and their differentiation potential. In mice, pluripotent stem cells can be directly generated from adult fibroblast cultures.
While embryonic stem cell potential remains untested, adult stem cell treatments have been used for many years to successfully treat leukemia and related bone/blood cancers through bone marrow transplants. The use of adult stem cells in research and therapy is not as controversial as embryonic stem cells , because the production of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of an embryo. Consequently, more US government funding is being provided for adult stem cell research.
Stem cell and treatments available
Medical researchers believe that stem cell therapy has the potential to radically change the treatment of human disease. A number of adult stem cell therapies already exist, particularly bone marrow transplants that are used to treat leukemia. In the future, medical researchers anticipate being able to use technologies derived from stem cell research to treat a wider variety of diseases including cancer , parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries , and muscle damage, amongst a number of other impairments and conditions. However, there still exists a great deal of social and scientific uncertainty surrounding stem cell research, which could possibly be overcome through public debate and future research.
Stem cells, however, are already used extensively in research, and some scientists do not see cell therapy as the first goal of the research, but see the investigation of stem cells as a goal worthy in itself.
So the dream a ray of hope to gift the mankind with something that can possibly go hand with the discrepancies of destiny, so it's the duty of the young minds to innovate and tap the potential of these stem cells to validate into a boon for the mankind!

Foreward

2007-08-24T10:51:00.000+05:30

It is indeed a matter of joy that our department i.e.Biotechnology is bringing out an online magazine "PHOENIX speaks online....". It is due to a team work with dedication, determination and discipline that has led to an successful accomplishment of creating a Blog.

I am sure the publication of this magazine will provide platform to express useful articles related to latest research work in the field of Biotechnology with a tinge of humour articles and the skill of artistic presentation.

I congratulate the editorial committee for their efforts in bringing out the online magazine and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Dr Vidyavathi N
Professor & Head of the Department of Biotechnology
NMAMIT,Nitte

Green Tea - Nature’s Gift

2007-08-24T10:21:00.000+05:30

Tea is the most consumed beverage worldwide next to water. For some 5,000 years, people have been getting a lift from brewing tea leaves. But it’s only been in the last three decades that researchers have immersed themselves in the science behind tea’s health benefits.
The age-old Camellia sinensis plant is the source of all non-herbal teas. Manufacturers process C. sinensis leaves in three different ways to produce the three major classes of teas known as green, black, and oolong. Today, about 75 percent of the tea produced worldwide is black; about 23 percent is green; and about 2 percent is oolong.
Consider that coffee beans are green before roasting turns them brown and ready for market. Tea leaves are also green at harvest. To achieve a variety of taste profiles, manufacturers carefully control weather, time duration for exposure to air, and the process of fermentation. When fermentation is completely arrested, the tea stays “green” or yellowish brown. When fermentation time is long, the leaves darken and become “black” tea. Somewhere in between these two extremes, “oolong” tea is created. Over the centuries, as C. sinensis plants grew in the sun, they protected themselves against photosynthetic stressors by forming chemicals known as polyphenols. This group of beneficial compounds includes flavonoids—the same class of compounds that give many fruits and vegetables their antioxidant boost.
The polyphenols in green tea are catechins with multiple linked ring-like structures. The dominant and most important catechin in green tea is called (-) Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), a potent antioxidant. The phenol groups capture pro-oxidants and free radicals. EGCG is over 200 times more powerful than vitamin E in neutralizing the pro-oxidants and free radicals that attack lipids in the brain.
Green tea is used primarily for its free radical fighting capabilities, but has a wide range of applications. Its key ingredient, EGCG, has been found to provide many health benefits such as

It protects against digestive and respiratory infections.

It helps to block the cancer-promoting actions of carcinogens, ultraviolet light, and metastasis from an original site in the skin, stomach, small intestine, liver or lung.

It reduces platelet aggregation about as much as aspirin.

It is very effective in inhibiting pathogenic bacteria that cause food poisoning, but increases levels of acidophilus (friendly) bacteria.

It also blocks the attachment of the bacteria associated with dental caries (cavities) to the teeth.

The ability of green tea to prevent cancer is so well established that new studies are testing green tea as a potential cancer therapy. Green tea may be especially protective against lung cancer in former and current cigarette smokers. Its lung cancer protective effects are of significant importance based on new studies showing that former smokers are at greater risk for developing lung cancer than was previously thought.
Green tea catechins have been shown to prevent cancer in the following ways:

They help to neutralize dietary carcinogens such as nitrosamine and aflatoxin.

They interfere with the binding of cancer-causing agents to cellular DNA, thereby protecting cells against mutations that can eventually cause cancer.

They protect against free-radical DNA damage that causes some cancers.

They inhibit bacterial-induced DNA mutations that also can lead to certain cancers.

They work with enzymes and other antioxidants in the intestine, liver and lungs to prevent the activation of certain carcinogens before they damage DNA.

They protect against the effects of ionizing radiation and ultraviolet radiation.

TEAM WORK

2007-08-23T15:57:00.000+05:30

TEAM WORK

Good Team work doesn't just happen - We have to build it

T Together
E Everyone
A Achieve
M More

Why Real Team work Never exist

o Over using Sporting and Military Models
o That is not the realities of working life
o Team work loses its advantages when it is a one way street

TEAM Goal

o Set a very clear well defined reasonably high But attainable goal for the team

o Ensure all the team members aware the goal

o Till the goal is achieved continuously feed the requirement to the team members

Allow people to be comfortable in talking freely

* To create a good Team spirit without conflict we have to make people comfortable speaking.

* To build a winning team we need to develop an environment where people feel comfortable

speaking up and contributing their ideas even if their point of view might be unpopular

Confirm Don’t assume

* Meet with the people and confirm your priorities

* Don’t assume that they are thinking the way you are

* People should know what we are thinking

3 Do’s and 3 Don’ts

* What 3 things I do, which you like When I am working with you , that I should do more.

* What 3 things I do which you don’t like when I am working with you that I should do less

Open to honest feedback

* To Build a winning Team you have to be open for feedback and we have to create an

environment where people feel comfortable doing that

* Modify your personality

* Don’t change your personality, just modify

Allow people to be more assertive

o To Build a winning team you have to create an environment where people feel comfortable being more assertive in telling people what they want.
o The key is to stress what you need and not to focus on what they are doing wrong

Show appreciation for others

* To Build a winning team we must take time to show appreciation for other members of the

team.
* It is not that we don't think it
or
Don't want to share it

* We just get so busy

Sincere complement

o The complement has to be sincere

o Complement has to be specific

o Look at the face

o Smile when complimenting

Allow people for solve problem through discussion

* Winning team accomplishes more because they solve problems through discussion