broadcast of the day:

Macaque Genome Analysis Will Help Find Human Disease Genes
The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) is physiologically similar to humans. Its genome was sequenced in 2005 (2.9 billion DNA base pairs). The humans and chimpanzees are so closely related(6 million years) that a comaparative genomic study is not as informative as using the macaque. The different studies involve studying the common genes between these 3 genomes, differences between the Indian and Chinese macaques (for example, Chinese macaques develop AIDS-like symptoms more slowly than Indian macaques).

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Medicinal leeches have been misclassified for centuries
Until now, the leeches were assumed to be the species Hirudo medicinalis, but new research reveals they are actually a closely related but genetically distinct species, Hirudo verbana. Wild European medicinal leeches are at least three distinct species, not one.
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Human sperm made from bone marrow

Stem cells from the bone marrow have been used to create immature sperm cells. It is expected that this research can be be used in the future to find a cure for male infertility. Currently, mature sperms have not been created. Of course, with the bans, moral, ethical issues involved in stem cell research in addition to the scientific fact that manipulating stem cells can cause lasting genetic changes that may not all be desirable, its too early to jump to any conclusions.

paper of the day:

"A Systems Biology Dynamical Model of Mammalian G1 Cell Cycle Progression"
Thomas Haberichter, Britta Mädge, Renee A Christopher, Naohisa Yoshioka, Anjali Dhiman, Robert Miller, Rina Gendelman, Sergej V Aksenov, Iya G Khalil1 & Steven F Dowdy

The paper describes a combined experimental and computational approach used to understand progression of the mammalian G1 cell cycle, one of the phases in mammalian cell reproduction and tumor growth.
The GNS software was used to quantitatively model the cell cycle progression and then experimentally verified using cultured cells. An excellent example to demonstrate the power of the combinatorial approach.

broadcast of the day

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Children's Hospital have recently made a startling discovery. Female stem cells are more able to regenerate muscle, that is, make muscle cells than male cells.
Advantages of this finding:
- influence treatment approaches for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (genetic condition found in boys causing progressive weakening of muscles)
- maybe provide an explanation for why some therapies work better on women than men
- make scientists more aware and consider whether stem cells are collected from or injected into males/females

GLOSSARY: from Wikipedia
1. Stem cells: primal cells common to all multi-cellular organisms that retain the ability to renew themselves through cell division and can differentiate into a wide range of specialized cell types. (more on stem cells to follow in future posts)

broadcast of the day:

• Genome of streptococcus sanguinis (2.4m bp) has been sequenced. This bacteria lives in healthy human mouth but can cause deadly heart infection (bacterial endocarditis) if it enters the bloodstream (through minor cut or wound). It also plays a role in formation of dental plaque.

• Symbiosis of the fungus Rhizopus microsporus and Burkholderia bacteria that live within its cells: The two species effectively team up to break down young rice plants for their nutrients, causing a plant disease known as rice seedling blight. Latest research shows that reproduction (spore formation) of the fungus is dependent on the bacteria, which lives inside its cytoplasm.