Virgin Atlantic Airways is the first airline to use biofuel on a commercial flight. The fuel, derived from babassu nuts and coconut oil, formed 25% of the jet fuel. The remainder was kerosene, the typical fuel for jet engines.
This New York Times article nicely summarizes the complex issues facing patients considering a genetic test. On one hand, genetic tests can help improve an individual’s health care prospects. On the other hand, there is considerable fear that the results from a genetic test could be used in a discriminatory way – resulting in the loss of health insurance, or even one’s job.
While there have been few documented cases of actual discrimination by health care insurers or employers, the spectre of discrimination leads many to pay out of pocket for genetic tests and use fake identities to learn of their test results.
Illinois has a state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of a genetic test, but similar legislation is currently lacking at the national level. A bill to outlaw genetic discrimination, the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA), passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April of 2007 by a vote of 420-3, but has not yet made it to the Senate floor. A legislative summary of the bill can be found here.
Recent studies of human genetic variation have provided some interesting perspectives on our evolutionary history and the degree to which people from distant lands are closely related, genetically speaking.
In one study, researchers measured genetic variation at more than half a million sites within the genome’s three billion DNA letters. They did this for approximately 1,000 individuals representing 51 regions across the globe. Consistent with evolutionary theory, they found that African populations had the highest genetic diversity, with European populations having lower diversity.
Such studies provide unique insights into evolutionary migrations, allowing researchers to better understand how human populations moved out of Africa less than 100,000 years ago. Population-based genetic studies are also important in health care, providing a baseline that allows researchers to figure out how DNA variation may lead to higher disease risk.
A National Public Radio interview with Stanford researcher Dr. Richard Meyers can be found here.
Researchers at the biotechnology company Novocell have published a report detailing the use of human embryonic stem cells to control diabetes in mice. The report was published earlier this week in Nature Biotechnology.
In the laboratory, researchers directed the cells to become precursors of pancreatic beta cells, the cell type that is damaged in diabetes. The precursor cells were then transplanted into mice, where they continued to develop, eventually becoming mature pancreas cells with the ability to control blood sugar levels. This work provides firm proof-of-principle that such experiments could work in humans, though any clinical application is still years away.
Health officials have characterized the increasing prevalence of diabetes worldwide as an epidemic. With over 20 million Americans suffering from diabetes – approximately 7% of the population – and 170 million worldwide, developing treatments or even cures for diabetics is a high research priority.
This interesting article in the New York Times details suburbanites’ efforts to “go green.”
Efforts include using corn kernels instead of fuel oil for heat, erecting personal wind turbines, and replacing high-maintenance grass lawns with vegetable and fruit gardens.
In suburban Chicago, city officials in Northbrook have started a green initiative. They use power purchased from wind farms, have installed energy-efficient traffic lights, and instituted a no-idling policy for motorists and police officers alike.
Imagine never needing to worry about a low cell phone battery, or portable video player – that is, if you’re wearing a new knee brace capable of powering small electronic devices.
Researchers have developed a knee brace that uses energy from one’s normal walking motion to generate electricity on the go. The device can generate enough energy in one minute of walking to to power a cell phone for ten minutes. Remarkably, the brace does not require any meaningful amount of additional work by wearer. It simply utilizes “wasted” energy expended by muscles in decelerating the forward motion of the leg, similar to a hybrid-electric car using the energy from braking.
There are still problems to be solved with the brace, including the way it attaches to the device it powers. Eventually, researchers see important medical applications for the brace, such as powering prosthetic limbs or drug pumps, as well as other practical uses.
You can listen to a podcast from NPR with the inventor, Max Donelan, describing the science behind the device, or read about it in the Newsweek article linked below.
Want to enter a race with a first prize of $10 million? All you have to do is develop a DNA sequencer that can churn out the complete DNA sequence of 100 people in 10 days – for $10,000 or less per person.
This is the prize being offered by the X Prize Foundation, the same foundation that awarded $10 million in 2004 to a privately funded group that successfully launched a reusable spacecraft into space.
The ability to learn about one’s genetic makeup in a cost-effective, fast, and reliable way is an important step towards “personalized medicine” – using genetic information as a tool to evaluate a person’s individual risk for certain diseases, and even treatment strategies for those that are already sick. Trying to uncover the many genes that confer risk for diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease is currently a very active area of research.
While some experts put the timetable for the $10,000 genome 6 or more years away, some think it may be as close as three years.
In case you would like to enter, here is the official Archon Genomics X Prize Website.
Researchers from Cal Tech and Stanford published an interesting study last month on the idea that people derive greater pleasure from an item if it carries a high price tag – regardless of the item’s true value.
In this study, researchers asked subjects to taste five wine samples labeled in price from $5-$90 a bottle. The catch – two of the wines were presented twice. The $90 wine was presented both as a $90 bottle and a $10 bottle. Same for the $5 bottle, which was identical to the $45 bottle.
Not only did the tasters prefer the more expensive wines in both cases, but their brains registered more activity in the area of the brain that corresponds to pleasurable experiences.
Historically, Americans have been active patrons of national parks, forest preserves, and other outdoor resources. A report in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes the declining interest of citizens in nature-based recreation activities, including parks, forests, and other public lands.
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Bryn Mawr College measured indicators of outdoor activities in four areas: visits to public lands (including national parks and forests), hunting and fishing, camping, and backpacking or hiking. Across the board, participation is significantly down – as much as 25% since the 1980’s. This trend has ominous implications for conservation efforts.
The cause? Researchers suggest “videophilia” may be to blame – the increasing amount of time spent in front of the television and computer.
Meiosis is the process by which our bodies create sex cells (egg and sperm). It involves a reshuffling of the genetic deck, so to speak. One step in meiosis, known as DNA recombination or “crossing over,” contributes significantly to the widespread diversity we see in human traits. A nice description of the process by which egg and sperm are formed can be found at this National Institutes of Health website.
The basic process has been understood for some time, but now researchers at the University of Chicago and in Iceland have revealed new insights into exactly how and where on our chromosomes the genetic reshuffling process occurs.
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