"Science and Biotechnology Books Made Simple" |
"Science and Biotechnology Books Made Simple" |
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AFP
Science News 4/25/05 Rice Fungus: Hope for the Hungry Scientists led by Ralph Dean of North Carolina State University, heading the International Rice Blast Genome Consortium, have decoded the genome of Magnaporthe grisea, a pathogenic plant fungus that destroys rice, the main staple of many developing countries. M. grisea comprises windborne spores that stick to the leaves of the rice plant. As it germinates, the spore breeds a dome-shaped infection structure known as "appressorium." The fungus colonises the leaf, producing lesions from which more spores emerge and then infects other plants. "Rice blast is one of the most destructive diseases of rice because of its wide distribution and its destructiveness," according to the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). About 0.8 percent of total yield of rice is lost in India due to the fungus. Many other losses occur in other countries, such as Japan and the Phillipines. The fungus' DNA contains 11,109 genes which are very diverse, and produces about 739 proteins in order to penetrate and infect the rice plant. Studying these genes can help scientists target ways to block them or by breeding plants that are resistant to them. These methods are cheaper and environmentally safer than using pesticides. This study was published in the prestigious science journal Nature. Source-
New
York Times 3/24/05 Nature
Wonder: Plant Repairs Its Faulty Gene Scientists at Dr. Pruitt and
his colleagues speculate that a correct template must exist, not as DNA,
but as RNA. He and other scientists think that it is possible that an
entire RNA backup copy of the genome could exist without being detected,
but under certain circumstances such as stress, the backup copy is
activated. The discovery poses a puzzle for evolutionary theory because it corrects mutations that evolution depends on for diversity. But according to Dr. Surridge, a biology editor at Nature, this phenomenon only happens when there is something wrong. Source-
New
York Times 3/12/05 Variant Gene Link to Risk of Vision Loss Three separate groups of
scientists have identified a variant gene that raises the risk of macular
degeneration, the leading cause of severe vision loss in the elderly.
The change is in one base in the DNA and it appears to be common in
the group that was studied. Macular degeneration is caused by damage in the macula, the central part of the retina of the eye, which is responsible for front vision. People with advanced disease, even though they still retain some peripheral vision, they are not able to drive, read, recognize faces, or watch television. Source-
Yahoo
Science News 2/15/05 Pollution May Affect Newborns' Genes Scientists at Columbia University in New York City on 60 newborns and their non-smoking mothers in low-income neighborhood showed that prenatal exposure to air pollution may be linked to genetic mutations. The study looked at exposure of mothers-to-be during their third trimester of pregnancy to combustion-related pollutants caused primarily by vehicles. Air monitors in backpacks worn by these women were used to estimate levels of exposure.. When the babies were born, genetic changes were measured. There was about a 50 percent increase in the level of persistent genetic abnormalities in infants who had the higher levels of exposure. These type of genetic mutations have been linked in other studies to increased risk of cancer. Source-
BBC
News
Picture source: http://www.bioberedskab.dk/agens/tularaemi/tularaemi.html 1/12/05 Genetic Code of the Super Microbe International scientists reported their findings of completing the genome sequence of a very infectious bacterium, known as Francisella tularensis. Their findings were published in Nature Genetics Journal. The bacterium is a candidate bioterrorism weapon which can bring on the disease in human with only 10 microbes. It was first described as a plague-like disease of rodents in 1911 and is a potentially fatal disease in humans. The Japanese were the first to study the microbe as a germ warfare again, in a program that lasted from 1932 until 1945. The U.S. military weaponised the bacterium during the 1950s and 1960s. The bacterium causes a disease called tularemia, or "rabbit fever" in humans and animals. Natural cases of tularemia occur across North America, Europe and Asia, and the disease can be transmitted either from tick, fly and mosquito bites or by inhaling airborne particles. People who don't die from the disease can be chronically sick for weeks or months. Researchers have already picked out protein targets to create a vaccine. They also found a cluster of genes thought to be involved in causing illness. These genes are unique to this bacterium but it is not known how they work.
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