Biology students, lick your rat
One for the biology teachers. Get your students to lick their rats.
Not a real rat, though I knew students that would have done it given the opportunity.
In this case it is a cool animation to help students and teachers get a handle on epigenetics. Most teachers will be aware of the University of Utah’s “Learn Genetics” web site, but if you haven’t checked it out for a while, there is a relatively new section on epigenetics with excellent explanations and examples – and this cool story and animation to accompany it. Essentially, Mum rats will lick their pups to varying degrees, from lots to never. Pups that get licked a lot grow up to be less anxious and stressed. This trait will be passed on through the generations, however, it is not a genetic trait, but an epigenetic one.
Have a play, lick a rat. From the perspectives of a teaching tool, I would be interested to know how effective you think it is.
Jason Major
World’s first transgenic sweet sorghum
Australian researchers have developed a novel technique to genetically modified sorghum, a promising biofuel crop that can grow on marginal lands with minimal water.
University of Queensland: http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=20025
What is not made clear in the media release is that UQ has developed a novel technique to easily allow plant breeders to create transgenic sorghum. They have not produced transgenic sorghum with any particular trait. A technique to create transgenic sorghum has proved troublesome for plant breeders until now. Because of its drought tolerance and ability to grow in marginal lands, one potential application is to alter the plant to enhance traits useful in the production of biofuels, though industry might be interested in any number of traits.
Jason Major
GNTIS
Faster route to stem cells
Given the right conditions, any adult cell can be coaxed into becoming stem-cell like
Nature News: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091108/full/news.2009.1070.html?s=news_rss
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, USA: researchers were also able cut the time required for cells to become stem-cell like by around half – good news for those battling to work out the complex biology of these cells, know as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Nanoparticles damage DNA
If anyone has somehow missed the news about the recent paper in Nature nanotechnology that found nanoparticles can damage DNA even when there is a barrier between the particles and the cells, Andrew Maynard in 2020 Science provides a nice commentary about the research.
I noticed the Australian TV news and many of the shorter newspaper articles left out the crucial parts of the story that would put the research into context, but Andrew’s blog should fill most of the gaps.
(Nanoparticles can cause DNA damage across a cellular barrier, by Gevdeep Bhaba et al., Nature Nanotechnology. DOI: 10.1038/NNANO.2009.313)
Jason Major
Nanomedicine shows promise for spinal cord injury
US researchers have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly after an accident.
Phys Org: http://www.physorg.com/news176908863.html
Purdue University researchers have now shown that the nanoparticles in form of micelles repair damaged axons, fibers that transmit electrical impulses in the spinal cord.
Australian researchers sequence canola genome
Uni of Queensland have helped unravel the genetic code for canola allowing for the rapid identification of genes responsible for disease resistance, yield and quality traits.
University Queensland: http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=20010
Clean algae biofuel project leads world in productivity
Australian scientists are achieving the world’s best production rates of oil from algae grown in open saline ponds, taking them a step closer to creating commercial quantities of clean biofuel for the future.
Uni of Adelaide: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news36561.html
More genetic clues to a longer life
A gene associated with longevity in roundworms and humans has been shown to affect the function of stem cells that generate new neurons in the adult brain.
Stanford School of Medicine:
Nanoparticles can damage DNA at distance
Nanoparticles can damage the DNA of cells from a distance, even without crossing the cellular barriers that protect certain parts of the body
Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5A44FR20091105
In Nature Nanotechnology – paper available from GNTIS
Abstract
The increasing use of nanoparticles in medicine has raised concerns over their ability to gain access to privileged sites in the body. Here, we show that cobalt–chromium nanoparticles (29.5 
6.3 nm in diameter) can damage human fibroblast cells across an intact cellular barrier without having to cross the barrier. The damage is mediated by a novel mechanism involving transmission of purine nucleotides (such as ATP) and intercellular signalling within the barrier through connexin gap junctions or hemichannels and pannexin channels. The outcome, which includes DNA damage without significant cell death, is different from that observed in cells subjected to direct exposure to nanoparticles. Our results suggest the importance of indirect effects when evaluating the safety of nanoparticles. The potential damage to tissues located behind cellular barriers needs to be considered when using nanoparticles for targeting diseased states.
Research to find where nanomaterials go in the body
US researchers, using a National Institutes of Health grant, will learn the fate of manufactured carbon nanomaterials once they are in the body – particularly where environmental or occupational exposure can occur.
North Carolina State Uni http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/wmsmonteirobiodistribution/