The SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY News Thread

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

That'd be cancer.

I remember reading somewhere that telomere do extend themselves naturally by combining with another gene sequence, but sometimes it results in the creation of rare cells which are the cause of cancer.

Did I get it right? Or can you explain how long telomeres may cause cancer?

Sounds like viruses, cancer, and genetic diseases (see Huntington's disease for the classic example).

There's a reason why our biological systems are the way that they are. These restrictions can probably be overcome without creating problems, but it won't be a one-step process.

More importantly, assembling DNA is nothing. Getting it to take in a cell and grow cohesively into a multicellular organism is another thing entirely. There's a reason why in vitro fertilization is in vitro fertilization and not in vitro embryogenesis, or in vitro childbearing. Even when we have something multicellular with the DNA and cellular machinery in place we can't provide the complex environmental signaling necessary to have it grow properly.

I think the only solution is trial and error. We'd have to master the usage of nanites before we can build a biological human cell from scratch, even if the DNA is to be injected into a stem-cell for replication.

Also, it would be one hell of a cleanup if the cell replication becomes a biomass - cells are known to be adaptive in environments and it would take more than a flamethrower to clean it up.

[mangamuscle]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

I don't mean to shoot down anyone's dreams, though - carry on

IMO dreams are i.e. expecting a 3rd season of spice and wolf, replicants as a proof of concept are a technology just waiting to happen

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I remember reading somewhere that telomere do extend themselves naturally by combining with another gene sequence, but sometimes it results in the creation of rare cells which are the cause of cancer.

Did I get it right? Or can you explain how long telomeres may cause cancer?

Most cells within the body are not replicating like crazy. There are certain hotbeds of cellular replication - your bone marrow, certain parts of your digestive tract, and to a certain extent your skin - but most cells divide slowly and methodically. Telomeres are shortened with each replication cycle, and when a cell reaches the end of its fuse, that's the end: no more division. The maximum number of replication cycles that a cell can go through is termed the Hayflick llimit. We have a number of proteins and systems in place to prevent cells from growing uncontrollably (the phenomenon of cancer), and this is one of them. If a cell's regulatory mechanisms are overridden and it begins to divide uncontrollably, hitting the Hayflick limit would cause the runaway cell and its progeny to cease replication, preventing the cancer from really taking hold.

There is a protein that can elongate telomeres known as telomerase. Telomerase is tightly regulated under normal conditions. Stem cells express it, some of the rapidly dividing cells that I mentioned earlier express it, but most other cells either don't express it or only express it in small amounts. Cancer cells and immortalized cell culture lines that we use in research readily express telomerase, allowing them to divide indefinitely and bypass the Hayflick limit.

At this point you may be questioning what it is about telomerase that makes cells go bad. Immortalized cancer cells express telomerase, but so do our stem cells: what's the problem? Telomerase itself isn't the problem, but it's an enabler. As I mentioned before, cellular replication is under tight control, and in order for a cell to become cancerous a few mutations needs to occur. Genes encoding proteins that guard against DNA damage and further mutations and that restrict cellular replication need to be knocked out, and genes encoding proteins that instigate cellular division need to be constitutively active. Even if all of those things happen, the Hayflick limit can put an end to many cancers.

The point is that mutations aren't uncommon, and the formation of potential cancers in your body isn't uncommon, either. How many potential cancers are stopped prematurely because of the Hayflick limit? Since we don't have any animal model where telomerase is expressed freely it's impossible to say at this point in time, but it seems that many cancers are bypassing the natural replication limitations through telomerase. We already know that people with a heterozygous mutation (knockout of one of two copies of a gene) that disables a gene protective against cancer have a much higher likelihood of developing certain types of cancer (with the specific type depending on which protein was knocked out); knocking out the protective mechanism provided by telomeres would no doubt have a similar effect.

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I think the only solution is trial and error. We'd have to master the usage of nanites before we can build a biological human cell from scratch, even if the DNA is to be injected into a stem-cell for replication.

I don't see the point in making a cell completely from scratch. We can take cells and replace their DNA outright; why bother making it from scratch? Our current focus and problem is with creating the proper environment for the cells to grow. Tissue culture is very difficult, unless you're working with certain immortalized cell lines.

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Also, it would be one hell of a cleanup if the cell replication becomes a biomass - cells are known to be adaptive in environments and it would take more than a flamethrower to clean it up.

I wish they were that durable! It would have made my work a lot easier.

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

I wish they were that durable! It would have made my work a lot easier.

Yea, but then the world would've been doomed when one of you eventually create the T-virus

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by kyp275

Yea, but then the world would've been doomed when one of you eventually create the T-virus

Or... *gasp* Solanum!

[Zakoo]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I think the only solution is trial and error. We'd have to master the usage of nanites before we can build a biological human cell from scratch, even if the DNA is to be injected into a stem-cell for replication.

There's a major problem for the moment in creating life cell, it's that we don't understand a single thing about how peptides take their 3D configuration. Really, it has been 70 years since they began being seriously researched and we can't guess what will be their quaternary structure even if we have the primarly structure.

Most research now go on creating artificial life, with things like Foldamere. At least for our dear pharmatical society.

[RRW]

YouTube

https://youtu.be/ho00x7ZvDLw

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

Oh geez, Fox News. For what it's worth, this isn't new stuff and I think it's being overhyped. Designating a DNA sequence and then sending it off to a company to create is common and pretty darn cheap. We do it all the time when designing probes for PCR. If there's anything new here I presume it would be the maximum length that the company can create, but I didn't see anything in the article to indicate that some new barrier was overcome. They talk a bit about modifying viruses and bacteria, but we already do that, too. We have been for quite a while.

But if it gets people excited about science, all right...

Lol PCR....every biologist's standard tool. Gets everyone all worked up when they see it but when you do it for the millionth time....

I wish they were that durable! It would have made my work a lot easier.

Take out you red juice bottle...check...oh wow so many of your virus cultures are no longer viable....again...sigh

[SaintessHeart]

U.S. baby's HIV infection cured through very early treatment

(Reuters) - A baby girl in Mississippi who was born with HIV has been cured after very early treatment with standard HIV drugs, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday, in a potentially ground-breaking case that could offer insights on how to eradicate HIV infection in its youngest victims.

+1 for science.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

U.S. baby's HIV infection cured through very early treatment



+1 for science.

News media are overhyping this one. Based on what I've read the girl is not HIV-free, she has entered what is known as "elite controller" status. The virus is still present in her body and there's a chance that she could pass it on, but she doesn't need medication to keep the virus controlled. It remains to be seen if it'll stay that way as her immune system develops further.

While this article inspires thoughts of new drugs or techniques, the only difference with this infant was the course of therapy. It was given more aggressively at an earlier stage than normal. While that may cause a revision in current treatment protocols for HIV-infected infants, remember that we're dealing with a sample size of one. Repeat these results with a few hundred (and don't kill anyone in the process), and then we'll have something to get some excitement over.

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

U.S. baby's HIV infection cured through very early treatment



+1 for science.

It may not be much but it's good to know there is a way to stop the virus before it destroys the body's immune system.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

News media are overhyping this one. Based on what I've read the girl is not HIV-free, she has entered what is known as "elite controller" status. The virus is still present in her body and there's a chance that she could pass it on, but she doesn't need medication to keep the virus controlled. It remains to be seen if it'll stay that way as her immune system develops further.

While this article inspires thoughts of new drugs or techniques, the only difference with this infant was the course of therapy. It was given more aggressively at an earlier stage than normal. While that may cause a revision in current treatment protocols for HIV-infected infants, remember that we're dealing with a sample size of one. Repeat these results with a few hundred (and don't kill anyone in the process), and then we'll have something to get some excitement over.

You know, she could be the HIV antibody factory. We can have a HIV VACCINE in the next 5-10 years.

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

You know, she could be the HIV antibody factory. We can have a HIV VACCINE in the next 5-10 years.

That would totally make for a generic Hollywood conspiracy theory-type movie script! Like Children of Men, but replace baby with a HIV-Vaccine producing loli!

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by kyp275

That would totally make for a generic Hollywood conspiracy theory-type movie script! Like Children of Men, but replace baby with a HIV-Vaccine producing loli!

Just add some generic bad guys from "big pharma" that want to kill her to protect their bottom line and you have a script!

[AnimeFan188]

Space race under way to create quantum satellite:

"In this month’s special edition of Physics World, focusing on quantum physics,
Thomas Jennewein and Brendon Higgins from the Institute for Quantum
Computing at the University of Waterloo, Canada, describe how a quantum space
race is under way to create the world’s first global quantum-communication
network."

See:

http://www.defencetalk.com/space-rac...tellite-47020/

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Dextro

Just add some generic bad guys from "big pharma" that want to kill her to protect their bottom line and you have a script!

Speaking about bottom lines :

Korean operators warn Europe of "curse" of 4G networks

But SK Telecom Co Ltd (017670.KS), the country's largest operator with more than half of the market, and second player KT Corp (030200.KS), told Reuters that although the rollout of faster networks had been good for consumers, they were still struggling to make money on the technology 18 months after launch.

"Our European colleagues complain that the explosion in data has not fully happened for them, that it did not come to reality," Suk-Chae Lee, the head of KT Corp, told Reuters at the Mobile World Congress on Tuesday.

"In Korea, they are data crazy. We have unprecedented demand. We cannot handle it. But the issue we have is that they are not willing to pay enough. So, the fundamental problem is, can we make any money out of it?"

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Speaking about bottom lines :

Korean operators warn Europe of "curse" of 4G networks

Of course Europe didn't get massive data inflation. We have fantastic limits for 4G that allows us to use up to 1 full gigabyte of data a month for the fantastic monthly price of 16€ (around 20 us dollars). That allows someone to use the full 43mbps download speeds for the staggering duration of 4 minutes before hitting the cap and getting charged extra.

Clearly we just aren't data hungry

/end rand

PS: these are Portuguese prices, I'm sure (or at least hope) other European countries aren't as rapped as we are.

[Dhomochevsky]

Sounds about right.
I'm paying 30€ for 10GB, but that's only UMTS.
On the other hand this service is so congested that I'm getting about 100kbit/s max from it most of the time... except for late @ night / early morning when it's suddenly back to mb/s.

So I won't be hitting the volume limit. Clearly because I'm not data hungry enough.

[mangamuscle]

^ Corporations are people too and they want some collective butt sex to appease their shareholders urges for money >_<

[MrTerrorist]

Processed meat 'early death' link

I'm still gonna eat meat but not that much.

Frozen Android phones give up data secrets

Salt linked to immune rebellion in study