Animals and insects communicate through an invisible world of scents. By exploiting infrared technology, researchers at Rockefeller University just made that world visible. With the ability to see smells, these scientists now show that when fly larvae detect smells with both olfactory organs they find their way toward a scented target more accurately than when they detect them with one.

“Having two eyes allows us to have depth perception and two ears allows us to pinpoint a noise precisely,” says Leslie Vosshall, head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior. “Sensing odors in stereo is equally important.”
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This test is designed to measure the quantitative expression level of 22 protein biomarkers in the serum that differentiate between breast cancer patients and control subjects. The level of the biomarkers from the patient’s serum sample is compared to the Power3 Medical Products’ patient database. Statistical analysis by linear discriminant function will analyze the biomarker levels of the patient sample and assign a probability score for the diagnosis of the patient sample. Probability score is ranged from 0.0 to 1.0. Results of the BC-SeraPro™ test should not be considered a stand alone diagnosis nor a guarantee.
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The Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (50 nm in size), enveloped, single-stranded, positive sense RNA virus in the family Flaviviridae. Although hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C have similar names (because they all cause liver inflammation), these are distinctly different viruses both genetically and clinically.

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Inner life of a Cell

How can it be possible? “Softly complex”

Cellulose Enzymes from the Termite Gut
A metagenomic study of the microbes that live in wood-eating termites could suggest new ways to make cellulosic ethanol.

Results: In a massive genomic study of the microbes living within the termite gut, scientists may have identified close to a thousand enzymes that break down wood.

Why it matters: Biofuels made from cellulosic biomass, including cornstalks, perennial grasses, and wood chips, could provide a cheaper and more environmentally beneficial alternative to corn-derived ethanol. However, breaking down cellulose into simple sugars that can be fermented into ethanol is a complex, inefficient, and expensive process. The newly identified cellulose-digesting proteins could shed light on termites’ wood-eating capacity and suggest cheaper, more efficient enzymes for generating cellulosic ethanol.

Methods: Scientists collected Nasutitermes termites from Costa Rica and isolated DNA from the microbes living in part of the insects’ gut. They then sequenced and analyzed the genomic material from the many different types of bacteria, searching for particular sequences known
from other studies to be
linked to the ­ability to break down cellulose.

Next steps: Researchers are now testing some of the newly identified microbial enzymes for their wood-digesting ­ability, as well as searching for combinations of different enzymes that work together synergistically.

Source: “Metagenomic and Functional Analysis of Hindgut Microbiota of a Wood-Feeding Higher Termite”
Jared R. Leadbetter et al.
Nature 450: 560-565

Most gene sequencers require thousands of copies of a DNA strand. But Helicos BioSciences’ new system can sequence a single molecule, simplifying sample preparation and decreasing cost. It can also gauge gene activity by counting messenger RNAs, molecules that help translate genes into proteins; its ability to rapidly determine chemicals’ effects on gene activity could speed drug development. With improvements to just its reagent kits, the system could ultimately deliver the $1,000 genome.

Product: HeliScope Genetic Analysis System

Cost: $1,350,00; single-use reagent kit: $18,000

Source: www.helicosbio.com

Company: Helicos BioSciences

more info: http://www.helicosbio.com

Manchester, UK and Scottsdale, AZ, Nov. 26–Researchers at the UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration (UKCTR) in Manchester have isolated stem cells from the fat tissue of adult animals and differentiated them into nerve cells to be used for repair and regeneration of injured nerves.

The team will begin extracting stem cells from fat tissue of volunteer patients, to compare human and animal stem cells. Then they will develop an artificial nerve constructed from a biodegradable polymer to transplant the differentiated stem cells.

Another team of researchers from the University of Western Ontario, University of Alberta, and the Bio-Communications Research Institute announced that they have isolated a novel stem cell population from menstrual blood.

Their complete findings have been published in the paper entitled “Endometrial regenerative cells: A novel stem cell population” in the Journal of Translational Medicine…
more: www.labnews.co.uk

download paper

Ithaca, NY, Nov. 15–Cornell researchers have discovered 300 previously unidentified human genes using supercomputers to compare the human genome with those of other mammals. They also found extensions of several hundred known genes.

According to researchers, the discovery shows there could be more genes that have not been identified by current biological methods.

Using large-scale computer clusters, researchers ran three different algorithms to compare the gene alignments between human, mouse, rat, and chicken in various combinations. The computer created an evolutionary model and searched for potential matches.

After eliminating predictions that matched known genes, researchers tested the remainder in the laboratory, proving that many of the genes could in fact be found in samples of human tissue and could code for proteins.

more: www.news.cornell.edu