Podcasts about plos genetics

Es este episodio especial conversamos con Rolando González-José sobre la institucionalidad de la Antropología Biológica (y de la ciencia) en distintos contextos, en especial en la América Latina del presente. Rolando González José es Investigador Principal del CONICET (Argentina) y Coordinador del Programa de Referencia y Biobanco Genómico de la Población Argentina. Se graduó de Biólogo en la Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia, y realizó su Doctorado en Biología Humana en la Universidad de Barcelona, España. Fue dos veces Vicedirector del Centro Nacional Patagónico, el mayor centro de investigación multidisciplinaria del CONICET en la Patagonia. También fue Director del Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas. Fue presidente de la Asociación Argentina de Antropología Biológica entre 2009 y 2011, y Vicepresidente de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Antropología Biológica (entre 2013 y 2015). Presenta más de 120 publicaciones en distintas revistas científicas incluyendo Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), Nature Communications, Journal of Human Evolution, American Journal of Human Biology, PLoS Genetics, entre otras. En el año 2004 fundó el Grupo de Investigación en Biología Humana, integrado por 15 profesionales entre los que se cuentan antropólogos, genetistas, nutricionistas, biólogos, médicos e informáticos. Sus intereses de investigación giran en torno a la genética de poblaciones, la evolución de la variación craneofacial eh homínidos, el poblamiento Americano, las poblaciones cosmopolitas de Latinoamérica y el desarrollo de dispositivos basados en tecnología de imagen para aplicaciones biomédicas. Contact Dr. González-José: rolando@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar Twitter: @RoloGonzalezOK Facebook: facebook.com/rolando.gonzalezjose ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cristina Gildee, Co-Host, SoS Producer, HBA Junior Fellow Website: cristinagildee.org, E-mail: cgildee@uw.edu, Twitter:@CristinaGildee Anahi Ruderman, Co-Host, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow E-mail: aniruderman@gmail.com, Twitter: @ani_ruderman Miguel Ochoa, Guest Co-Host E-mail: mochoa88@uw.edu,

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten +++ Forschende kennen nach Beobachtungen in Uganda jetzt ein Schimpansen-Arzneibuch +++ Fossil von Dino mit riesigen Hörnern entdeckt +++ Neue Hefe könnte Bier süßer und nach Nelke schmecken lassen +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Update ErdePharmacological and behavioral investigation of putative self-medicative plants in Budongo chimpanzee diets. Plos One, 20.06.2024Lokiceratops rangiformis gen. et sp. nov. (Ceratopsidae: Centrosaurinae) from the Campanian Judith River Formation of Montana reveals rapid regional radiations and extreme endemism within centrosaurine dinosaurs. PeerJ (Paleontology and Evolutionary Science), 20.06.2024Wild Patagonian yeast improve the evolutionary potential of novel interspecific hybrid strains for lager brewing. Plos Genetics, 20.6.2024Beneath offshore wind turbines, researchers grow seafood and seaweed. Bericht der Nachrichtenagentur AP, 21.06.2024Alle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: Tiktok und Instagram.

Jessica Polka is Executive Director of ASAPbio, a non-profit that promotes innovation and transparency in life science publishing. We talk about her work at ASAPbio, how she got into it, preprints,  the many functions of peer review, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: The Jessica-Polka0:01:25: What is ASAPbio?0:03:53: Do we still need to convince people to use preprints in 2024? / Different uses for preprints0:17:53: Are preprints really that beneficial?0:24:05: Peer review's many functions and audiences0:36:36: Do we still need journals?0:41:27: Why should we publish peer review?0:54:08: What can we do as individual scientists (other than hope for systemic change)?0:56:55: How Jessica got involved with ASAPbio, and her day-to-day work1:08:20: A book or paper more people should read1:11:13: Something Jessica wishes she'd learnt sooner1:13:18: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtJessica's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/polka-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/polka-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/polka-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtLinks mentionedThe Jessica-Polka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lDdnQytp2eY(there seem to be many versions)ASAPbio: https://asapbio.org/Review Commons: https://www.reviewcommons.org/Jessica's interview with Everything Hertz: https://everythinghertz.com/51The Ingelfinger rule: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingelfinger_ruleCrowd preprint review: https://asapbio.org/crowd-preprint-reviewPeer Community in Registered Reports: https://rr.peercommunityin.org/cOAlition S: Towards Responsible Publishing: https://www.coalition-s.org/towards-responsible-publishing/https://scite.aiPublish your reviews: https://asapbio.org/publishyourreviewsASAPbio fellows program: https://asapbio.org/fellows References Abbott (1884). Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.Cialdini (1984). Influence: The psychology of persuasion.Eckmann & Bandrowski (2023). PreprintMatch: A tool for preprint to publication detection shows global inequities in scientific publication. Plos One.Moran & Lennington (2013). The 12 Week Year: Get more Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months.Penfold & Polka (2020). Technical and social issues influencing the adoption of preprints in the life sciences. PLoS Genetics.Polka, Kiley, Konforti, Stern & Vale (2018). Publish peer reviews. Nature.

Chromosomal recombination is an essential part of the life cycle of all sexually reproducing organisms. Yet, the system is complex, involving hundreds to thousands of proteins and RNAs. It also involves DNA repair pathways, which are themselves incredibly complex. The newest available information on recombination tells us it is mutagenic, meaning that recombination erodes the very places where recombination happens. How did such a system arise by chance? Can we assume the recombination rate has always been the same? What happens when a new allele arises in the protein that controls recombination? What is the mutation burden caused by this important system? Finally, how does this affect the creation-evolution debate? Links and notes: 15 Questions for evolutionists, #8 How did sex originate? Geeking out about DNA damage repair, June 2023. Grey et al. 2018 PRDM9, a driver of the genetic map, PLoS Genet 14(8):e1007479. Altemose et al. 2017 A map of human PRDM9 binding provides evidence for novel behaviors of PRDM9 and other zinc-finger proteins in meiosis, eLife 6:e28383. Robert Carter gets everything wrong?, creation.com, 10 Jul 2021. Hussin et al. 2011 Age-dependent recombination rates in human pedigrees, PloS Genetics 7(9):e1002251. Wang et al. 2012 Genome-wide single-cell analysis of recombination activity and de novo mutation rates in human sperm, Cell 150(2):402–12. African origins and the rise of carnivory, creation.com,19 Dec 2020. Hinch, A.G. et al., The landscape of recombination in African Americans, Nature 476:170–177, 2011. Hinch et al. 2023 Meiotic DNA breaks drive multifaceted mutagenesis in the human germ line, Science 382:eadh2531.

It sounds like a science fiction movie, but it's all real: scientists managed to revive a pair of roundworms that had been buried deep in the Siberian permafrost 46,000 years ago. The roundworms, called nematodes, were thawed in a lab and came alive again, reproduced several generations, and then died. These nematodes first existed when the woolly mammoths did, managed to survive in the harshest of frozen conditions, and then, from a state of suspended animation, that scientists call cryptobiosis, began life again, crawling about in a lab. A paper on this was published recently in the scientific journal PLOS Genetics. Does this mean, that technically, life can be paused for thousands of years and then restarted? That organisms can exist in a state between life and death indefinitely? If the roundworms came alive again, can other microorganisms and pathogens do that too, especially since the Siberian permafrost is melting, and can these microbes cause new diseases?

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten: +++ Hummeln dümmer durch Glyphosat. +++ Wenn die Arbeit zum "Bullshit-Job" wird. +++ Karte zeigt negative Folgen von Wildtierhandel. +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Update ErdeGlyphosate impairs aversive learning in bumblebees, Science of the Total Enviroment, Volume 898, 2023‘Bullshit' After All? Why People Consider Their Jobs Socially Useless, BSA, 21.7. 2023Global hotspots of traded phylogenetic and functional diversity, Nature, 26.7. 2023A novel nematode species from the Siberian permafrost shares adaptive mechanisms for cryptobiotic survival with C. elegans dauer larva, PLOS Genetics, 27.7. 2023Mit einem Zehntel der Kosten zur Energiewende: Zink-Batterie hat doppelten Wirkungsgrad und produziert Wasserstoff, Fraunhofer, 25.7. 2023**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: Tiktok und Instagram.**********Weitere Wissensnachrichten zum Nachlesen: https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/nachrichten

How did birds end up with their trademark beaks? You can broadly group birds into two categories, ancient and modern jaws or beaks. We thought mobile beaks were a modern invention but new fossils overturn this idea. Just when did birds first develop their modern mobile beaks? Wild jungle fowl were domesticated to become the chickens we love today. But wild chickens are not isolated completely from modern ones. Gene transfers between wild and domesticated chickens are eroding the genetic diversity of the species. Benjamin A. Tonelli, Casey Youngflesh, Morgan W. Tingley. Geomagnetic disturbance associated with increased vagrancy in migratory landbirds. Scientific Reports, 2023; 13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26586-0 Meng Yue Wu, Giovanni Forcina, Gabriel Weijie Low, Keren R. Sadanandan, Chyi Yin Gwee, Hein van Grouw, Shaoyuan Wu, Scott V. Edwards, Maude W. Baldwin, Frank E. Rheindt. Historic samples reveal loss of wild genotype through domestic chicken introgression during the Anthropocene. PLOS Genetics, 2023; 19 (1): e1010551 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010551

#lifeextension #agereversal #longevity #intermittentfasting #dietaryrestrictions #geroscience - "HOW EATING LESS CAN MAKE YOU LIVE LONGER & HEALTHIER" Dr. Pankaj Kapahi is a geroscientist, he is an expert in the field of fasting and its protective effects for slowing aging and age-related diseases. His laboratory at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging is among the few that study advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the many ways in which they affect aging. Dr. Kapahi's company, Juvify, produces GLYLO, a supplement for detoxifying AGEs that also reduces food cravings. Dr. Kapahi received his PhD from the University of Manchester, where he worked with Tom Kirkwood. He did his postdoctoral work with Seymour Benzer at Caltech and Michael Karin at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Kapahi has published more than 80 scientific papers and holds three current patents. He has been recognized for his scientific excellence with many awards, including the Eureka Award from the National Institute on Aging, a New Scholar Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation, a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, the Nathan Shock Young Investigator Award, and the Breakthrough in Gerontology and Julie Martin Mid-career awards from AFAR. He currently serves on the editorial board of Aging Cell, Aging, and PLOS Genetics. Dr. Kapahi also initiated the first master's degree course in gerontology at the Buck Institute. https://www.buckinstitute.org/lab/kapahi-lab/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/pankaj-kapahi-2b8a454 https://twitter.com/kapahi_pankaj

Molte condizioni di salute potrebbero dipendere da quanto si è più o meno alti. Secondo un nuovo studio genetico, infatti, l'altezza di una persona sarebbe in grado di influire sul rischio di contrarre alcune delle patologie più comuni in età adulta, come malattie coronariche o disturbi circolatori. Avere una determinata altezza può esporre il fisico a diversi rischi, ma può proteggere da altri. Questo è quanto studiato da un team di ricercatori della VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System e pubblicato su PLOS Genetics.Commentiamo questa notizia con il Professor Giovanni Scapagnini, docente di nutrizione all'Università del Molise e studioso dell'invecchiamento e della longevità.

Estudo feito com 280 mil americanos concluiu que pessoas altas e baixas têm riscos de saúde específicos. Estudo publicado no PLOS Genetics

În cadrul ediției de pe 31 mai 2022 a emisiunii #știința360 de pe Radio România Cultural, Dr. Marius Geantă, Președintele Centrului pentru Inovație în Medicină #inomed, a comentat topul săptămânal Esențial Covid-19 de pe Raportuldegardă.ro. Modul în care fiecare persoană percepe calitatea vieții depinde de o combinație de factori, inclusiv factori de mediu și biologici. Pandemia COVID-19 a reprezentat și o oportunitate pentru studierea în detaliu a mecanismelor biologice implicate în „starea de bine” (wellbeing) experimentată de fiecare individ. Rezultate publicate recent în PLOS Genetics arată modul în care profilul genetic individual influențează sănătatea fizică, mentală și tiparele comportamentale. Pentru realizarea studiului au fost selectați participanți dintr-o cohortă de 167.000 de persoane, din trei regiuni olandeze. Peste 27.000 de genomuri au fost analizate, iar apoi datele s-au corelat cu răspunsurile participanților la o serie de chestionare despre stilul de viață, sănătatea fizică și mentală, pe o perioadă de 10 luni, începând cu martie 2020. Pentru fiecare s-a analizat indicele de masă corporală (IMC), susceptibilitatea și severitatea COVID-19, nivelul de educație, personalitatea și trăsăturile comportamentale, bolile psihiatrice și nivelul de trai. S-a evaluat contribuția componentei de mediu asupra variabilității scorurilor. Pe baza studiilor de asociere la nivel de genom (GWAS), s-au calculat scoruri poligenice (PGS, poligenic risk scores) pentru aceste rezultate.

Nella prima parte del nostro programma, commenteremo alcuni avvenimenti che hanno fatto notizia questa settimana. In primo luogo, parleremo del primo grande raduno della candidata alla presidenza francese Valérie Pécresse tenutosi domenica. Successivamente, esamineremo alcuni dei dati del Global Democracy Index per il 2021, pubblicato dall'Economist Intelligence Unit il 9 febbraio. Quindi, nella parte scientifica del nostro programma, discuteremo di un recente studio pubblicato sulla rivista Plos Genetics, che riafferma il collegamento tra disturbi del sonno e il morbo di Alzheimer. Infine, parleremo del Super Bowl 2022 che si è svolto domenica allo stadio SoFi di Inglewood, in California.    Questa settimana parleremo delle polemiche per la vendita all'asta del documento cartaceo con cui le Brigate Rosse rivendicarono il sequestro di Aldo Moro e il massacro degli agenti di scorta. Infine, daremo una bella notizia. L'Italia ha avanzato la candidatura del "caffè espresso italiano" a patrimonio immateriale dell'umanità dell'UNESCO. - La candidata alla presidenza francese di centrodestra appoggia una teoria di complotto di estrema destra - L'Indice globale della democrazia in forte calo - Disturbi nel ritmo circadiano potrebbero essere la causa dell'Alzheimer - L'Half Time show del Super Bowl fa finalmente esibire le star dell'hip-hop - Venduto all'asta il documento del sequestro di Aldo Moro - L'Italia candida il caffè come patrimonio dell'UNESCO

Dans la première partie de notre émission, nous commenterons quelques nouvelles qui ont fait la une des journaux cette semaine. Tout d'abord, nous parlerons du premier grand meeting de la candidate à la présidentielle française Valérie Pécresse qui s'est tenu dimanche. Ensuite, nous passerons en revue quelques chiffres de l'indice mondial de la démocratie pour 2021, qui a été publié le 9 février par l'Economist Intelligence Unit. Puis, dans la partie scientifique de notre émission, nous aborderons une récente étude publiée dans la revue Plos Genetics qui confirme qu'il existe un lien entre les troubles du sommeil et la maladie d'Alzheimer. Enfin, nous discuterons de la finale du SuperBowl de 2022 qui a eu lieu dimanche au stade SoFI à Inglewood, en Californie.    Poursuivons maintenant avec l'annonce du programme de la deuxième partie de notre émission, « Trending in France ». Cette semaine, nous parlerons de la mort de Luc Montagnier, prix Nobel de médecine en 2008. Nous discuterons pour finir d'un constat alarmant fait par une agence de santé nationale : 95 % des Français n'ont pas assez d'activité physique pour rester en bonne santé. - La candidate de droite à la présidentielle française évoque une théorie du complot de l'extrême-droite - L'indice mondial de la démocratie est en forte baisse - La perturbation de l'horloge biologique pourrait être à l'origine de la maladie d'Alzheimer - Le spectacle de la mi-temps du Super Bowl met enfin à l'honneur des stars du hip-hop - Le prix Nobel de médecine Luc Montagnier est mort - 95 % des Français n'ont pas assez d'activité physique

En la primera parte del programa, comentaremos algunas de las noticias que acapararon titulares esta semana. Primero comentaremos el primer gran mitin celebrado por la candidata presidencial francesa Valérie Pécresse el domingo. A continuación, repasaremos algunas de las cifras del Índice de Democracia Global 2021, publicado por la Unidad de Inteligencia del Economist el 9 de febrero. Después, en la sección de ciencia del programa, discutiremos un estudio reciente publicado en la revista Plos Genetics, que reafirma la conexión entre los trastornos del sueño y el Alzheimer. Finalmente, discutiremos la Super Bowl 2022 celebrada el domingo en el estadio SoFI de Inglewood, California. En “Trending in Spain", esta semana, hablaremos de dos “cosas” que han permanecido escondidas, una desde hace muy poco, la otra desde hace millones de años. En la primera noticia comentaremos la derogación de la Ley que mantenía parte de nuestra cara oculta para evitar el contagio del virus de la Covid-19. En la segunda noticia, explicaremos la excavación de los restos de un dinosaurio del Cretácico Superior en el Pirineo. - Una candidata presidencial francesa de centro derecha menciona una teoría conspiratoria de derechas - El Índice de Democracia Global sufre un fuerte retroceso - Los trastornos del reloj circadiano podrían causar Alzheimer - El espectáculo del descanso de la Super Bowl finalmente incluye a estrellas del hip-hop - El Gobierno español oficializa la retirada de la mascarilla en la calle - Descubierta una nueva especie de dinosaurio en los Pirineos

Learn about how scientists discovered that Venus flytraps can store short-term “memories,” why you shouldn't use real-time updates when waiting for the bus, and how epigenetics can make your DNA change within your lifetime. Venus flytraps store short-term ‘memories’ in their hairs by Grant Currin  Segarra, C. (2020, October 14). How Venus flytraps store short-term ‘memories’ of prey. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-venus-flytraps-store-short-term-memories-prey Suda, H., Mano, H., Toyota, M., Fukushima, K., Mimura, T., Tsutsui, I., Hedrich, R., Tamada, Y., & Hasebe, M. (2020). Calcium dynamics during trap closure visualized in transgenic Venus flytrap. Nature Plants, 6(10), 1219–1224. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-00773 Platt, J. R. (2015, January 22). Venus Flytraps Risk Extinction in the Wild at the Hands of Poachers. Scientific American Blog Network. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/venus-flytraps-risk-extinction-in-the-wild-at-the-hands-of-poachers/ Waiting for the bus? Science says you shouldn't use real-time updates by Kelsey Donk Want to wait less at the bus stop? Beware real-time updates. (2020). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/osu-wtw101220.php Liu, L., & Miller, H. J. (2020). Does real-time transit information reduce waiting time? An empirical analysis. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 141, 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2020.09.014 With Epigenetics, Your DNA Can Change Within Your Lifetime by Ashley Hamer Cath Ennis. (2014, April 25). Epigenetics 101: a beginner’s guide to explaining everything | Cath Ennis. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/apr/25/epigenetics-beginners-guide-to-everything  Rönn, T., Volkov, P., Davegårdh, C., Dayeh, T., Hall, E., Olsson, A. H., Nilsson, E., Tornberg, Å., Dekker Nitert, M., Eriksson, K.-F., Jones, H. A., Groop, L., & Ling, C. (2013). A Six Months Exercise Intervention Influences the Genome-wide DNA Methylation Pattern in Human Adipose Tissue. PLoS Genetics, 9(6), e1003572. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003572  Singh, S., & Li, S. S.-L. (2012). Epigenetic Effects of Environmental Chemicals Bisphenol A and Phthalates. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 13(8), 10143–10153. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms130810143  Suderman, M., Borghol, N., Pappas, J. J., Pinto Pereira, S. M., Pembrey, M., Hertzman, C., Power, C., & Szyf, M. (2014). Childhood abuse is associated with methylation of multiple loci in adult DNA. BMC Medical Genomics, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1755-8794-7-13  ‌Eriksen, K. G., Radford, E. J., Silver, M. J., Fulford, A. J. C., Wegmüller, R., & Prentice, A. M. (2017). Influence of intergenerational in utero parental energy and nutrient restriction on offspring growth in rural Gambia. The FASEB Journal, 31(11), 4928–4934. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201700017r  Kaati, G., Bygren, L., & Edvinsson, S. (2002). Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality determined by nutrition during parents’ and grandparents’ slow growth period. European Journal of Human Genetics, 10(11), 682–688. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200859  Berezow, A. (2014, April 16). End the Hype over Epigenetics & Lamarckian Evolution. Big Think; Big Think. https://bigthink.com/think-tank/end-the-hype-over-epigenetics-lamarckian-evolution  Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Ashley Hamer and Natalia Reagan (filling in for Cody Gough). You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christos Velanis works at the University of Edinburgh and discusses work published in PloS Genetics entitled ‘The domesticated transposase ALP2 mediates formation of a novel Polycomb protein complex by direct interaction with MSI1, a core subunit of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2)‘. http://blog.garnetcommunity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Velanis_edit-13072020-09.32.mp3 Pumi Perera is co-first author on this work from the Goodrich lab[...] The post Christos Velanis discusses the polycomb group complex, domesticated transposons and the future of scientific funding. appeared first on Weeding the Gems.

Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi: I was born and grew up in Taiwan. I obtained my MD from National Taiwan University and PhD from Stanford University. From my post-doctoral training with Dr. Patrick Brown at Stanford, I have been using genomic analysis and gene expression to dissect the influences of various tumor microenvironmental stresses in human cancer and tumor heterogeneity. Since arriving at Duke University, we discovered the presence of abundant and diverse species of RNAs in mature erythrocyte, a cell type long thought to lack any DNA or RNA. Since then we have pioneered the efforts to apply the genomic analysis of erythrocyte microRNAs to dissect the phenotypic variations among sickle cell diseases and blood storage. From the investigation of erythrocytes, we have been interested in the role of erythrocyte RNA in the malaria parasites, including the recent adoption of single cell RNA-Seq technology of malaria parasite pioneered by Dr. Katie Walzer during her thesis work in my lab. Katelyn Walzer: For over ten years, Dr. Katelyn Walzer has studied the genetics and genomics of multiple apicomplexan parasites, including Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium falciparum, and now Cryptosporidium parvum.  She completed her PhD in 2018 under the guidance of Dr. Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi at Duke University, where she studied the malaria-causing parasite P. falciparum using high-throughput genomic technologies, including single-cell RNA sequencing.  Her work, published in multiple journals including mSphere and PLoS Genetics, identified distinct gene expression differences between male and female parasites during the transmissible sexual stage and uncovered unexpected transcription of genes during multiple times in the P. falciparum life cycle.  These findings imply that significant transcriptional diversity allows the P. falciparum parasite to survive its dynamic host environment.  Now a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Boris Striepen's lab at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Walzer studies the transcriptional regulators of the C. parvum life cycle and has used single-cell RNA sequencing to determine the genes expressed during the asexual and sexual stages.  Further work will focus on functionally characterizing stage-specific regulators and determining single-cell gene expression of the host immune response. Walzer KA, Fradin H, Emerson LY, Corcoran DL, Chi JT (2019) Latent transcriptional variations of individual Plasmodium falciparum uncovered by single-cell RNA-seq and fluorescence imaging. PLOS Genetics 15(12): e1008506. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008506 Walzer KA, Kubicki DM, Tang X, Chi JT. Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Distinct Gene Expression and Heterogeneity in Male and Female Plasmodium falciparum Gametocytes. mSphere. 2018;3(2):e00130-18. Published 2018 Apr 11. doi:10.1128/mSphere.00130-18 Researcher Katelyn Walzer and her Ph.D. mentor Dr. Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi used single-cell analysis to study the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium. Dr. Walzer is now studying another parasite called Cryptosporidium. In this podcast, they discuss How Cryptosporidium infects hosts and the dangers it poses, especially for children, Past bulk-sequencing techniques for parasites and what they missed in analysis, The mechanics for single-cell genomics analysis, what it offers microbiology, and advantages specific to fighting Cryptosporidium. Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi, MD, PhD, is an associate professor at the Center for Genomic and Computational Biology at Duke University School of Medicine. His former microbiology student, Katelyn Ann Walzer, PhD, is currently working on her post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania with single-cell analysis. They tell listeners about their specific findings on Plasmodium and Dr. Walzer's current focus on Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes a diarrheal disease, and what else she hopes to study regarding the parasite. She gives some background on the parasite, describing how detrimental it can be for children in some countries of Africa who've already suffered from other diseases. Cryptosporidium can actually reactivate and cause chronic infection in these children, affecting their general health and quality of life. Dr. Walzer explains how single-cell genomics analysis has allowed her to identify which genes are expressed in the two different matting types (sexual and asexual). Dr. Chi explains how this technique also helped in Plasmodium research because mating is the only way to achieve intrapersonal human transmission, and identifying males and understanding the stages of development in both parasites may offer ways to block their development. Dr. Walzer explains additional findings, plans for upcoming research, and her goals to discover information that will help develop better treatments for infection by Cryptosporidium. For more information, search these researchers in Google Scholar. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK

Go to https://NordVPN.com/minuteearth and use code MINUTEEARTH to get 70% off a 3 year plan plus 1 additional month free. When a group of apes got split apart, slight differences in their new environments led to big differences in future generations. Thanks also to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube members. ___________________________________________ To learn more, start your googling with these keywords: Chimpanzee: A great ape native to tropical Africa that is one of humanity’s closest living relatives. Bonobo: A slightly smaller great ape native to tropical Africa that is one of humanity’s closest living relatives. Speciation: A lineage-splitting event in which a population of the same species becomes two different species. Allopatric speciation: Speciation that occurs when populations of the same species get isolated geographically. Hominini: The taxonomical classification that includes humans, chimps, and bonobos. Pan: The taxonomical classification that includes chimps and bonobos. Chimpobo: A name we just made up to identify the common ancestor of the chimpanzee and bonobo. Congo river: The deepest river in the world and the second largest (behind the Amazon) in discharge volume. G-G Rubbing: A form of genital to genital contact bonobos sometimes use to form social bonds. ___________________________________________ Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/ Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6 And Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n ___________________________________________ Credits (and Twitter handles): Writer, Director, and Narrator: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg) Video Illustrator: Sarah Berman (@sarahjberman) With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Kate Yoshida, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich, Julián Gómez, Arcadi Garcia Rius Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder VHS Rewind effect based on footage by http://www.anfx.co ___________________________________________ References: Caswell, J., Mallick, S., Richter, D., Neubauer, J., Schirmer, C., Gnerre, S., Reich, D. (2008). Analysis of Chimpanzee History Based on Genome Sequence Alignments. PLoS Genetics. 4(4): e1000057. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000057. Takemoto H, Kawamoto Y, Furuichi T. (2015). How Did Bonobos Come to Range South of the Congo River? Reconsideration of the Divergence of Pan paniscus from Other Pan Populations. Evolutionary Anthropology. 24:170–184. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26478139. Prufer, K. et al (2012). The Bonobo Genome Compared with the Chimpanzee and Human Genomes. Nature. 486: 527–531. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11128. Hey, J. (2010). The Divergence of Chimpanzee Species and Subspecies as Revealed in Multipopulation Isolation-with-Migration Analyses. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 27(4): 921-933. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2877540/. Takemoto H, Kawamoto Y, Furuichi T. (2015). How Did Bonobos Come to Range South of the Congo River? Reconsideration of the Divergence of Pan paniscus from Other Pan Populations. Evolutionary Anthropology. 24:170–184. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26478139. Stanford, C. (2019). Personal Communication. Professor of Anthropology and Biological Sciences, University of Southern California.

英国的科研人员在遗传学领域顶级期刊PLOS Genetics杂志发表了一篇科研论文。该研究比较了1622名健康体瘦的志愿者，1985名严重肥胖者和另外10433名正常体重者的DNA。发现体瘦也是一种多基因遗传形状，对瘦身遗传学的表征可以提供对体重调节的遗传结构的更细致的理解，并且可以为治疗肥胖提供靶标，具有巨大的临床研究和应用价值。

Current Biology发表的一项研究表明：即使在没有太阳的情况下，沙漠蚂蚁也不会迷失自己的方向，是因为它们具有感受地球磁场功能，利用地球的磁场进行定向。而PLoS Genetics发表的一项研究表明：蚂蚁的嗅觉感受器是大多数昆虫的四到五倍。蚂蚁拥有大约400种不同的气味受体基因，这些基因能编码探测不同气味的特殊蛋白。原来马爸爸如此喜爱的蚂蚁竟有这么多的“特异功能”。

Onderzoekers aan de Technische Universiteit Delft hebben tijdens hun experimenten met (bier)gisten voor het eerst een van de belangrijkste processen uit de evolutie van het leven geobserveerd: het ontstaan van nieuwe genen. Dat proces begint bij de poging van de cel om een beschadigd gen in het dna te herstellen. Dat doet de cel door een kopie te maken van een ander gen dat in de buurt zit. Maar soms gaat er tijdens dat proces iets mis: de cel maakt een kopie te veel van een gen aan. Genetici merkten al dat de kans op een nieuw soort gen in het DNA erg klein is zonder die te veel gekopieerde genen. Zo'n gen transformeert veel makkelijker tot een nieuw gen dat uiteindelijk anders is dan het origineel. Het is die transformatie, van een loutere kopie van een origineel gen naar een nieuwe gen, dat sterk vermoed werd onder biologen, maar nu ook voor het eerst werd waargenomen. Zonder deze nieuwe ontstane genen zou de grote diversiteit en het ontstaan van nieuwe diersoorten niet mogelijk zijn. Weliswaar heeft het gen soms geen effect op de cel of is het zo beschadigd dat het gen niet meer werkt. Maar er zijn ook situaties waarin gekopieerde genen een nuttige functie hebben gekregen. En zo hebben wezens met deze voordelige genen een grotere kans om te overleven. Marc-Robin Visscher bezocht het lab van de Delftse onderzoekers en sprak met een van de twee hoofdauteurs: biotechnoloog Nick Brouwers. De onderzoekers hopen dat deze kennis hen nog beter in staat stelt om bieren te verbeteren. Hun ontdekking werd gepubliceerd in wetenschappelijke tijdschrift PLOS Genetics.

In the final installment of our two-part series on India, we examine how race and caste have been aligned, disputed, and separated for political ends since the early twentieth century. And we finally get rid of that peacock! Here are some resources for the show: Amar Chitra Katha comic books: https://www.amarchitrakatha.com/us/ ​Bamshad, Michael, et al. . 2001 Genetic Evidence on the Origins of Indian Caste Populations. Genome Research 11(6): 994–1004. Basu, Analabha, Neeta Sarkar-Roy, and Partha P. Majumder. 2016 Genomic reconstruction of the history of extant populations of India reveals five distinct ancestral components and a complex structure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(6): 1594-1599. Beteille, Andre. 1967 Race and Descent as Social Categories in India. Daedalus 96(2): 444-463. Chavda, A.L. 2017. Propagandizing the Aryan Invasion Debate: A Rebuttal to Tony Joseph. Dirks, Nicholas. 2001 Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. Princeton University Press. [we included this last time, but it’s so central to what we’re discussing that it deserves mention again] Guha, Sumit. 1998 Lower Strata, Older Races, and Aboriginal Peoples: Racial Anthropology and Mythical History Past and Present. The Journal of Asian Studies 57(2): 423-441. Joseph, Tony. 2017. How genetics is settling the Aryan migration debate. The Hindu. Mosse, David. 2018 Caste and Development: Contemporary Perspectives on a Structure of Discrimination and Advantage. World Development 110: 422-436. Parameswaran, Radhika, and Kavitha Cardoza.. 2009 Melanin on the Margins: Advertising and the Cultural Politics of Fair/Light/White Beauty in India. Journalism & Communication Monographs 11(3): 213-274. Reddy, Deepa S.. 2005 The Ethnicity of Caste. Anthropological Quarterly 78(3): 543-584. Reich, David, Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Nick Patterson, Alkes L. Price, and Lalji Singh. 2009 Reconstructing Indian population history. Nature 461(7263): 489. Rosenberg, Noah A., Saurabh Mahajan, Catalina Gonzalez-Quevedo, Michael GB Blum, Laura Nino-Rosales, Vasiliki Ninis, Parimal Das et al. . 2006 Low levels of genetic divergence across geographically and linguistically diverse populations from India. PLoS Genetics 2(12): e215. Sengupta, Dhriti, Ananyo Choudhury, Analabha Basu, and Michele Ramsay. 2016 Population stratification and underrepresentation of Indian subcontinent genetic diversity in the 1000 genomes project dataset. Genome Biology and Evolution 8(1): 3460-3470. Shah, A., J. Lerche, R. Axelby, D. Benbabaali, B. Donegan, J. Raj, V. Thakur. 2018 Ground Down by Growth: Tribe, Caste, Class and Inequality in Twenty-First-Century India. London: Pluto Press. Sharma, Smriti. 2015 Caste-Based Crimes and Economic Status: Evidence from India. Journal of Comparative Economics 43(1): 204–226 Silva, Marina, Marisa Oliveira, Daniel Vieira, Andreia Brandão, Teresa Rito, Joana B. Pereira, Ross M. Fraser et al. . 2017 A genetic chronology for the Indian Subcontinent points to heavily sex-biased dispersals. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17(1): 88. (https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-017-0936-9) Viswanath, Rupa. 2014 The Pariah Problem: Caste, religion, and the Social in Modern India. Columbia University Press.

You can find and subscribe to the other5billion podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic, Stitcher, Overcast and wherever you get your quality listens. In this special bonus episode, you'll hear the full interview that I had with John Killingbeck. John went to Antarctica on two expeditions, once in the 1960s and then in the 1990s. During the latter expedition, he was actually one of the very last two people to ever drive a husky team on the continent. After that, they were removed from Antarctica for good. In 45 action-packed minutes we cover so much: John's first drive when his team broke out into a fight immediately, but was the first of many - John went on to drive thousands of miles by sledge, Stories about how the huskies survive all sorts of adventures and crises, dealing with breaking sea ice, crevasses and storms, Memories of the huskies' journeys by plane and their last journey to Canada after their removal from Antarctica. If you haven't yet listened to our episode about the history of huskies, where we go back 15,000 to the birth of sled dogs, then make sure you find time to listen here.   Background resources  Recommended books about Antarctic exploration Geoff Somers: Antarctica: The Impossible Crossing http://geoffsomers.com/ Michael Smith: Shackleton: By Endurance We Conquer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shackleton-Endurance-Conquer-Michael-Smith-ebook/dp/B00O0G17L6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536093437&sr=1-1&keywords=shackleton Keith Walton and Rick Atkinson: Of Dogs and Men: Fifty Years in the Antarctic – Illustrated Story of the Dogs of the British Antarctic Survey https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dogs-Men-Antarctic-Illustrated-British/dp/189781755X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536093374&sr=8-1&keywords=of+dogs+and+men Robert Falcon Scott: Journals Captain Scott's Last Expedition https://www.amazon.co.uk/Journals-Captain-Scotts-Expedition-Classics/dp/0199536805/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536095866&sr=1-1&keywords=robert+falcon+scott Julie Karner: Roald Amundsen: The Quest for the South Pole https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roald-Amundsen-Footsteps-Explorers-Quest/dp/0778724689/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536095921&sr=1-3&keywords=amundsen+antarctica   List of resources about huskies and explorations in Antarctica Academic articles Germonpré, Mietje & Jimenez, Elodie-Laure & Sablin, Mikhail. (2016). Palaeolithic and prehistoric dogs and Pleistocene wolves from Yakutia: Identification of isolated skulls. Journal of Archaeological Science. 78. 1-19. 10.1016/j.jas.2016.11.008. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310879103_Palaeolithic_and_prehistoric_dogs_and_Pleistocene_wolves_from_Yakutia_Identification_of_isolated_skulls Ancient Wolf Genome Reveals an Early Divergence of Domestic Dog Ancestors and Admixture into High-Latitude Breeds https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)00432-7  Freedman, A. H., Gronau, I., Schweizer, R. M., Ortega-Del Vecchyo, D., Han, E., Silva, P. M., … Novembre, J. (2014). Genome Sequencing Highlights the Dynamic Early History of Dogs. PLoS Genetics, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1004016 Freedman, A. H., & Wayne, R. K. (2017). Deciphering the Origin of Dogs: From Fossils to Genomes. Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, 5(1), 281–307. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-animal-022114-110937   Reference articles http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/earliest-evidence-dog-breeding-found-remote-siberian-island http://www.shwauk.org.uk/siberian_husky_history.htm http://users.tpg.com.au/users/cnicholl/history.htm http://www.shca.org/shcahp2d.htm http://iditarod.com/about/history/ https://www.bas.ac.uk/about/antarctica/environmental-protection/wildlife-and-plants-2/removal-of-the-sledge-dogs/ http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/history/transportation/ground-transportation/huskies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAV9CcDvGcc https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/want-one-these-guys-nz-husky-adoption-centre-warns-abandoned-dogs-high-maintenance --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/other5billion/message

This is a fascinating episode to begin the podcast series with! We discover that huskies have been supporting us humans for up to 15,000 years. What's more, they've saved countless lives and even helped us to make some of the top scientific discoveries of the twentieth century. These days, huskies are most likely to find themselves in living rooms and on Instagram and there certainly are some good and bad things about that.  So, make yourself comfortable and come with me on a journey over 30,000 years that will take us to Siberia, Alaska, Greenland, Antarctica and Ireland. Disclaimer I am still a newbie to podcasting, so please accept my sincere apologies that sometimes the sound is not perfectly engineered.  Practice makes perfect so please do let me know your feedback on it and rest assured I am working to improve my skills!   Organisations featured Dublin Husky Rescue (soon to be renamed as Husky Rescue Ireland): https://www.dublinhuskyrescue.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dublinhuskyrescue On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dublinhuskyrescue/  The story of what happened to Lucky the husky to whom I dedicate this episode. Sleep well little one: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnFBgc-ngcj/?taken-by=dublinhuskyrescue  British Antarctic Survey: https://www.bas.ac.uk/ Mossy Earth: https://mossy.earth/   Recommended books Geoff Somers: Antarctica: The Impossible Crossing http://geoffsomers.com/ Michael Smith: Shackleton: By Endurance We Conquer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shackleton-Endurance-Conquer-Michael-Smith-ebook/dp/B00O0G17L6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536093437&sr=1-1&keywords=shackleton Keith Walton and Rick Atkinson: Of Dogs and Men: Fifty Years in the Antarctic – Illustrated Story of the Dogs of the British Antarctic Survey https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dogs-Men-Antarctic-Illustrated-British/dp/189781755X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536093374&sr=8-1&keywords=of+dogs+and+men Robert Falcon Scott: Journals Captain Scott's Last Expedition https://www.amazon.co.uk/Journals-Captain-Scotts-Expedition-Classics/dp/0199536805/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536095866&sr=1-1&keywords=robert+falcon+scott Julie Karner: Roald Amundsen: The Quest for the South Pole https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roald-Amundsen-Footsteps-Explorers-Quest/dp/0778724689/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536095921&sr=1-3&keywords=amundsen+antarctica   List of resources this episode is informed by  Articles Germonpré, Mietje & Jimenez, Elodie-Laure & Sablin, Mikhail. (2016). Palaeolithic and prehistoric dogs and Pleistocene wolves from Yakutia: Identification of isolated skulls. Journal of Archaeological Science. 78. 1-19. 10.1016/j.jas.2016.11.008. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310879103_Palaeolithic_and_prehistoric_dogs_and_Pleistocene_wolves_from_Yakutia_Identification_of_isolated_skulls Ancient Wolf Genome Reveals an Early Divergence of Domestic Dog Ancestors and Admixture into High-Latitude Breeds https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)00432-7  Freedman, A. H., Gronau, I., Schweizer, R. M., Ortega-Del Vecchyo, D., Han, E., Silva, P. M., … Novembre, J. (2014). Genome Sequencing Highlights the Dynamic Early History of Dogs. PLoS Genetics, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1004016 Freedman, A. H., & Wayne, R. K. (2017). Deciphering the Origin of Dogs: From Fossils to Genomes. Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, 5(1), 281–307. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-animal-022114-110937 http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/earliest-evidence-dog-breeding-found-remote-siberian-island http://www.shwauk.org.uk/siberian_husky_history.htm http://users.tpg.com.au/users/cnicholl/history.htm http://www.shca.org/shcahp2d.htm http://iditarod.com/about/history/ https://www.bas.ac.uk/about/antarctica/environmental-protection/wildlife-and-plants-2/removal-of-the-sledge-dogs/ http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/history/transportation/ground-transportation/huskies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAV9CcDvGcc https://www.tvn --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/other5billion/message

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler Guests: Ralph Baric and Vineet Menachery Vincent, Rich, and Kathy speak with Ralph and Vineet about their research on the potential of SARS-like bat coronaviruses  to infect human cells and cause disease in mice.   Links for this episode Zoonotic potential of SARS-like bat viruses (Nature) SARS-CoV susceptibility loci via collaborative cross (PLoS Genetics) 47:00, 57:25 Ebright and Wain-Hobson quotes (Nature) 1:17:20 Misleading press release (UNC) 1:24:45 Super powerful SARS 2.0 (not!) (Motherboard) SARS-like bat virus can jump without mutating (not!) (Daily Mail) 1:26:30 Photo credit Letters read on TWiV 364 1:47:40 This episode is sponsored by Mt. Sinai Department of Microbiology (2:10), ASM Education (33:25), and the 32nd Clinical Virology Symposium (1:51:30) Timestamps by Jennifer. Thanks! Weekly Science Picks 1:53:00 Kathy - California Dept of Public HealthRich - Leafy greens on space stationVincent - Mechanical keyboards and TWiV on Perfect your podcast Listener Picks Jesse - Networking for Nerds by Alaina G. LevineRussell - Worldmapper Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@twiv.tv

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, Rich Condit, and Kathy Spindler Guest: Stephanie Neal Stephanie joins the super professors to discuss the gut virome of children with serious malnutrition, caterpillar genes acquired from parasitic wasps, and the effect of adding chemokines to a simian immunodeficiency virus DNA vaccine.   Links for this episode Invitrogen Science Hero Awards 15:05 Gut DNA viromes of twins with severe malnutrition (PNAS) 34:30 Random forests 48:00 Wasps engineer caterpillars (PLoS Genetics) 50:20 Chemokine-adjuvanted SIV DNA vaccine (Mucos Immunol) 1:02:20 Guide to chemokines (pdf) Role for CCR10 in IgA secreting cell accumulation (J Immunol) CCL28 controls IgA plasma cell accumulation (J Exp Med) In vivo electroporation 1:07:25, 1:09:50 Kathy's groan (jpg) Image credit Letters read on TWiV 356 14:55 Weekly Science Picks 1:18:35, 1:45:30 Alan - Plates from Hooke's MicrographiaRich - The Wright Brothers by David McCulloughKathy - Spore evaporation-driven engines (video and article)Dickson - Color variations of Pluto and Lunar total eclipseStephanie - The science of moldy cheese by Carl ZimmerVincent - But Why? Listener Pick of the Week Reed - The Bench Warmers Podcast Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@twiv.tv

-UN ANTIDIABETICO AIUTA A PREVENIRE I TUMORI: L'attività farmacologica della metformina si basa sulla riduzione dei livelli di insulinemia e glucosio e sulla sua azione diretta contro alcuni bersagli molecolari delle cellule tumorali. La 'biguanide metformina' è utilizzata da molti anni per la cura del diabete di tipo 2. Recenti lavori hanno suggerito che il trattamento con metformina riduce il rischio di sviluppare tumori e la mortalità per cancro, mentre diversi studi epidemiologici osservazionali hanno mostrato che i diabetici trattati con metformina hanno una riduzione dal 25 al 40% di cancro rispetto a quelli trattati con sulfaniluree o terapia insulinica. E' proprio l'insulina, se prodotta in eccesso dal nostro organismo, ad aumentare il rischio d'insorgenza dei tumori nei soggetti obesi o diabetici. -GLYCOLASER, LA GLICEMIA SI MISURA CON IL LASER : Misurare la glicemia senza pungersi: niente dolore, niente fastidi, niente rischio di infezioni. Ora il sogno sembra più a portata di mano grazie a un'invenzione tutta italiana, il Glycolaser: brevettato da una piccola società lombarda, è stato sperimentato per la prima volta presso il Centro di Ricerca sul Diabete dell'Istituto San Raffaele di Milano, diretto da Emanuele Bosi. I risultati, molto incoraggianti, sono stati presentati in anteprima mondiale durante il 24° Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Diabetologia, a Torino e stando ai dati raccolti lo strumento ha un'accuratezza nella rilevazione della glicemia che si aggira attorno al 90 %, poco meno del 95 % richiesto dalle autorità regolatore, FDA statunitense ed EMA europea, per la messa in commercio dell'apparecchio. La tecnologia su cui si basa il nuovo glucometro, un piccolo apparecchio grande poco più di un cellulare, è il laser: la luce riesce infatti a 'leggere' la glicemia e per farlo serve semplicemente che il paziente appoggi un dito su una finestrella dello strumento. Si preme un bottone e nel giro di pochi secondi sul display appare il valore di glicemia. -MALARIA, DIAGNOSI IN 30 MINUTI: Il nuovo sistema discrimina le cellule infette da quelle sane, usando la tecnica speckle sensing microscopy, che si basa sull'osservazione del diverso comportamento delle membrane dei globuli rossi malati, più rigide, rispetto a quelli sani, al passaggio di un raggio laser inclinato. Con soli 30 minuti, il test consente non solo una diagnosi tempestiva della malaria, consentendo alte probabilità di successo grazie alle terapie salvavita, ma anche di ridurre eventuali prescrizioni terapeutiche errate e spesso pericolose. Inoltre, questa tecnica è più sicura per l'operatore che non entra in contatto con il sangue del paziente ed è accessibile anche a personale non qualificato. -UN GENE MATERNO REGOLA IL SONNO: Una ricerca condotta dai ricercatori dell'Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) apre allo studio epigenetico del sonno, dimostrando per la prima volta il ruolo determinante di un gene 'imprinted' di origine materna nella regolazione delle fasi REM e N-REM. La ricerca, pubblicata su PLoS Genetics in un articolo dal titolo 'CLoss of Gnas imprinting Differentially Affects REM/NREM Sleep and Cognition in Mice', è stata coordinata dal dott. Valter Tucci del Dipartimento Neuroscience and Brain Technologies (NBT) di IIT e ha visto la collaborazione di ricercatori di Harwell Oxford (UK) e dell'University of Minnesota (USA). I ricercatori si sono concentrati sul gene GNAS, un gene che, in alcuni tessuti, è espresso solo dall'allele materno, mentre quello paterno è mantenuto per tutta la vita silente. Per la prima volta è stata dimostrata la sua importanza nella corretta regolazione delle due fasi del sonno e in alcuni meccanismi a esse associate.

A new study by a team of anthropologists published in the journal PLoS Genetics explores how humans from different populations shared genes much more easily than cultural or linguistic information in Northern Island Melanesia. The study documented the genetic and linguistic diversity in these Pacific islands off the east coast of Papua New Guinea. UNM Assistant Professor of Anthropology Keith Hunley discusses his research with Karen Wentworth, senior communication representative.