Nov 2011
In Your Food
30/11/11 17:14 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Nanjing University researchers reported in Cell Research that plant microRNAs could be found in the sera and tissues of animals that eat those plants. They determined that MIR168a, which is found in rice, can bind to the human/mouse low-density lipoprotein receptor adapter protein mRNA and prevent its expression in liver, decreasing LDL removal from the bloodstream. S. Pelech is skeptical about the far reaching conclusions from this study and outlines some of his concerns. Read More...
Whole-Genome Liability
25/11/11 14:02 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Bloggers Gary Marchant and Rachel Lindor from Future Tense suggested that as whole-genome sequencing becomes more common in the clinic, doctors may be facing the consequences of the technological shift, including the possibility of lawsuits if they do not recognize the significance of a variant or do not disclose medically relevant findings to patients' relatives. S. Pelech seriously doubts that with over 60 million SNP's and millions of positive and negative interactions between the proteins encoded by the ~23,000 genes in the human genome, physicians will be liable for not recognizing potential problems from genome-wide sequence data. The adoption of personalized medicine will probably mean that patients that rely on this technology will also have to accept more personal responsibility. Read More...
Lynn Margulis Dies
23/11/11 13:33 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Lynn Margulis from University of Massachusetts has died. She originally developed the endosymbiotic theory for the origins of some cellular organelles, and was also known for her contributions to James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis that the living and non-living components of the Earth together comprise a self-regulating system. S. Pelech comments further on the role of mitochondria in the origin of eukaryotic cells and their symbiotic/parasitic relationship. Read More...
The Originality of Humans
21/11/11 20:00 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Blogger Iddo Friedberg at Byte Size Biology described efforts to identify there are de novo genes found only in humans that contribute the differences between us and our closest primate cousins, including the chimp, orangutan, and rhesus macaque. In a new paper published in PLoS Genetics, around 60 de novo human genes were identified that are expressed in 11 human tissues, and that the testes and the cerebral cortex of humans have the highest expression of these genes. S. Pelech argues that while there may be human genes that are not expressed in our primate cousins, this does not mean that they are "exclusively human" and could be present in our more distant ancestors. He also challenges the concept that the high expression of some of these genes may account for our "greater" intelligence. Read More...
Healthcare Costs Sap Biotech VC
17/11/11 15:12 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Christopher Weaver at the Washington Post pointed out that "over the past two decades, venture capitalists helped make possible striking advances in health care, including robotic surgery, cancer vaccines, and genomics," but "the share of venture dollars flowing to seed and early-stage investments in biotechnology and medical devices has plummeted since 2007." S. Pelech comments that despite the poor returns in recent years for investors in the biotech industry, the health, food, security and other welfare problems confronting humanity are only becoming more critical over time as our population continues to explode in size. In view of this need, he remains optimistic about the prospects of the biotech industry and its workers in the long run. Read More...
The Synthetic Surge
08/11/11 13:44 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK are leading an international team of synthetic biologists in a project that aims to try to create a "reprogrammable cell that can act as the in vivo cell equivalent to a computer's operating system. Clay Dillow in Popular Science wrote that amongst other things, "customized living cells could be tailored to clean up environmental disasters, scrub unwanted carbon from the air, pull pollutants from drinking water, attack pathogens inside the human body, (and) protect food sources from agricultural pests." S. Pelech comments that the use of such terminology such as the creation of "cellular software that would let researchers alter living cells without changing their hardware" and that this would produce a "reprogrammable cell that can act as the in vivo cell equivalent to a computer's operating system" reveals a lack of basic understanding cell biology and what is actually meant by "synthetic biology". Read More...
Where Science Meets Foreign Policy
03/11/11 13:50 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, has argued that by working with China, the US can encourage the country to change, while Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has suggested detachment would show that the US opposes a number of China's policies, and has drawn up a proposal for a ban on bilateral science talks with China. S. Pelech points out that government organizations in numerous countries have designated significant funding to support scientific research with specific partnering countries to induce collaborations, but this is usually at the expense of funding for other research programs that are less politically-motivated. Effective collaborations arise from the congruent interests of scientists throughout the world, and geography is not really a barrier except when politics intervenes. Read More...
Trim or 'Fatten' the Pyramid?
02/11/11 13:58 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Blogger Jennifer Rohn at Mind the Gap summarized a recent round table discussion that highlighted significant structural problems and instabilities in the academic workforce, and differing opinions on how to deal with the issue, including restriction into entry, training graduates better for industry or encouraging early academic career retirement. S. Pelech concurs that there are too many scientists at present and we are training new investigators at a faster rate than ever before, which is exacerbating the problem. However, the solution is not to encourage early retirement of senior scientists, but rather to increase in private-public partnerships to foster the growth of jobs in the biotech/biopharma industry. Read More...