วันอังคารที่ 5 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2556

[rael-science] Mediterranean Diet Protects Against Cardiovascular Disease And Stroke‏


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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org   
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Source: http://singularityhub.com/2013/03/02/mediterranean-diet-protects-against-cardiovascular-disease-and-stroke/

Mediterranean Diet Protects Against Cardiovascular Disease And Stroke

Forget the Weight Watchers, forget Atkin’s, because apparently one community that’s already living it up with warm-watered, picturesque beaches has got healthy cuisine figured out. Despite being calorie rich with oils, a new study shows that a Mediterranean diet can protect against cardiovascular disease demonstrating quantitatively what many have suspected for years.
The study included 7447 people between 55 and 80 years of age. All of the participants were at high risk for heart attack or stroke, assigned to one of three diets: a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts, or, as a control, a diet in which they ate whatever they wanted but were advised to limit their fat intake as much as they could. After about five years the incidence of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular cause-related deaths among the groups were compared.
They found that an “energy-unrestricted” Mediterranean diet supplemented with either extra virgin olive oil or nuts decreased cardiovascular disease risk by 30 percent in people at high risk for the disease. A closer analysis of the data showed, however, that while the overall risk for cardiovascular events was decreased, the Mediterranean diet helped to prevent stroke, but not heart attack (myocardial infarction). The researchers are unsure if the diet’s protection against stroke but not against heart attack reflects a real difference in the diet’s effects on body physiology or having too few test subjects to, regarding protection against heart attacks, reach statistical significance.
While a 30 percent drop in cardiovascular events is always a good thing, in terms of absolute numbers, it’s not that much of a difference. A 30 percent decrease means if 1,000 people switched to a Mediterranean diet for one year, there would only be three fewer people who’d suffered cardiovascular events.
The study, led by Ramon Estruch at the University of Barcelona, appeared in the Feb. 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Rachel Johnson, a nutrition professor at the University of Vermont and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, called the study “Really impressive,” in an interview with the New York Times, and added, “the really important thing – the coolest thing – is that they used very meaningful endpoints. They did not look at risk factors like cholesterol or hypertension or weight. They looked at heart attacks and strokes and deaths. At the end of the day, that is what really matters.”
Past research has suggested that the Mediterranean diet was the way to go. A large survey of the literature from 2009 ranking tens of different types of diets placed the Mediterranean diet as the most protective against coronary heart disease. But the ranking was based largely on studies showing that people in the Mediterranean tended to have lower rates of heart disease, which could have been due to other factors besides diet.
The traditional mediterranean diet includes high amounts of olive oil, nuts, fruit, vegetables, and cereals, moderate amounts of fish and poultry and low amounts of red and processed meats, dairy products and sweets. And moderate amounts of wine during dinner, of course. We are in the Mediterranean after all. But as of yet, there’s no consensus among scientists as to why these foods would protect us against what is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. It is thought that, perhaps, a kind of synergy among the nutrient-rich foods favorably affects the underlying elements that influence cardiovascular health, like levels of lipids in the blood, insulin sensitivity, oxidative stress levels, and inflammation.
“Food synergy” is a relatively new concept in nutrition that attempts to assess the health effects of food as a whole rather than the sum of its nutritional parts. It is based on the idea that the interactions between constituents in food are important, that these constituents eaten from their natural biological sources affect the body differently than taken alone as supplements. So, what “food synergy” sounds like to me is a kind of hand-waving way to say: it’s complicated. Minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and other supplements we put in our bodies to be healthy aren’t turning out to be the cell-, heart- and brain-protecting powers they were thought to be in the ‘90s (although the companies selling these supplements certainly haven’t noticed).
And so, because it’s complicated, it’s not clear why a diet loaded with oils and nuts high in calories is good for the cardiovascular system. Despite the measurable evidence, experts in the past have been hesitant to recommend a Mediterranean diet to many people at risk for cardiovascular problems because they were also overweight. Indeed, in the study people who did not lose any weight while on the diet still reaped the health benefits. The body’s complicated, and so is food. But thankfully we have studies like the current one that tests and idea even if there’s no obvious way to explain it.
-- 
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
 
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history, 
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
 
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
 
Rael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
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[rael-science] Black Hole's Mystery 'Wave' Surprises Scientists‏


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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org   
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Source: http://www.space.com/20008-black-hole-mystery-wave-structure.html

Black Hole's Mystery 'Wave' Surprises Scientists

Date: 28 February 2013

Black hole binary system Swift J1357.2-0933
                      has an odd mystery structure.
This image is a simulation of the X-ray binary system Swift J1357.2-0933, a black hole and star system, in which the effect of a strange, vertical mystery structure are at their maximum.
Astronomers studying an unusual black hole system have spotted a never-before-seen structure in the disk of matter encircling the system.
Swift J1357.2, an X-ray binary system that regularly emits outbursts of high energy, consists of ablack hole slowly consuming its companion star. Matter from the doomed star falls into the accretion disk, which surrounds the black hole, feeding it dust and gas.
While observing the system, a team of scientists noticed an unusual vertical feature traveling through the material.
"It's the first time we can resolve such [a] structure in an accretion disk, and it might be ubiquitous in X-ray binaries during the outburst state," Jesus Corral-Santana, of the Astrophysical Institute of the Canary Islands in Spain, told SPACE.com by email. [The Strangest Black Holes in the Universe]
A hidden structure
The black hole contained in Swift J1357.2 is one of the millions of stellar black holes that dot theMilky Way galaxy.

About three times as massive as the sun, the behemoth likely formed when a single star collapsed inward on itself. The resulting, city-sized body packed a great deal of mass into a tiny package, creating a strong gravitational pull on nearby dust and gas.
Located in the Virgo constellation, approximately 4,900 light-years from Earth, Swift J1357.2 also contains a small companion star, which has only a quarter the mass of the sun. This companion star orbits the pair's center of mass every 2.8 hours, one of the shortest known orbital periods for such systems.
The black hole pulls material from the companion star into its accretion disk, occasionally emitting the X-ray bursts that enabled scientists to find this otherwise hard-to-spot system, researchers said.
Corral-Santana and his team took hundreds of optical images of the system using the Isaac Newton and the William Herschel Telescopes, both of which are in the Canary Islands. Studying the light produced by the accretion disk, the researchers noticed a periodic dimming in the system, sometimes occurring over the course of only a few seconds.
"Since the orbital period of the system is 2.8 hours, those dips cannot be produced by eclipses of the companion star. They are much faster," Corral-Santana said. "Therefore, they must be produced by a hidden structure placed very close to the black hole, in the inner accretion disk."
The new find can only been seen in the outer, optical portion of the accretion disk, not on the inside, where X-ray bursts originate. The X-ray emission, which shows no periodic variation, unlike its optical counterpart, indicated a vertical structure was hiding the black hole, Corral-Santana said.
Rather than appearing at a set, predictable time, the structure shows up over a steadily increasing period, indicating a wave-like movement through the accretion disk.
"It is a wave produced in the accretion disk, moving outward," Corral-Santana said, "like the wave produced when a stone is dropped in calm water."
The missing population
The wave-like feature also provides information about the orientation of the black hole.
Objects in space face Earth at a variety of angles, or inclinations. They can be seen edge-on, face-on or somewhere in between. Swift J1357.2 is the only one of 50 suspected similar black-hole systems found with an edge-on accretion disk — what scientists call a high inclination. However, astronomers think approximately 20 percent of these systems should provide such a perspective.
In order to see the wave-like structure in the accretion disk, scientists must have such an edge-on view of the disk, or one close to it. A view from a lower inclination, closer to face-on, would not reveal the sudden rises and falls in the total light coming from the system.
"Swift J1357.2 is the prototype of the hitherto missing population of high-inclination black holes in transient X-ray binaries," Corral-Santana said.
Because Swift J1357.2 is the first such system to allow such an edge-on view, the presence of the vertical structure takes on an added significance. No signs of such structures appear in other similar systems, but that could result simply from their unfortunate angles. Such structures could in fact exist in other, previously discovered transient X-ray binary systems, hidden only by their observational angles.
The findings were published online today (Feb 28) in the journal Science.


-- 
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
 
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history, 
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
 
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
 
Rael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Tell your friends that they can subscribe to this list by sending an email to:
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[rael-science] Soon, everybody will be sequenced‏

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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org   
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Contributed by Joseph Kollar
Source: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/soon-everybody-will-be-sequenced/13856

Soon, everybody will be sequenced

February 28, 2013, 2:16 PM PST
It’s nearly time. The whole human genome — all 3 billion letters — can be decoded for $1,000 and in just a few hours. And soon, it’ll actually make sense to include genetic scans in routine medical care.Eliza Strickland reports for IEEE Spectrum.
When the first human genome was decoded by the Human Genome Project 10 years ago, it took 13 years and $3 billion.
In some hospitals right now, cancer patients are having their genomes checked before their doctors decide on treatment. Genome scans of newborns with life-threatening problems can help doctors figure out what’s wrong before it’s too late. Researchers around the world are sequencing thousands of people with autism and diabetes, hoping to identify genetic variations specific to those conditions.
Soon, Ion Torrent’s Jonathan Rothberg says, everybody will be sequenced — probably as infants — and will be able to make diet, lifestyle, and medical choices based on specific information, rather than on hunches about vulnerabilities.
Knowledge of a person’s genome will allow specialists to customize medical treatments and drugs for that patient, to maximize effectiveness while minimizing side effects. A routine checkup could start with the doctor checking for “updates” to a patient’s genomic file; if medical research has turned up new data about the patient’s particular set of genes, the doctor would get an alert.
Experts have predicted that spending on genetic tests will skyrocket from about $5 billion in 2010 to as much as $25 billion in 2021.
Several other companies are also racing toward the $1000-genome goal. Some of these sequencers include: Illumina’s HiSeq 2500Pacific Biosciences’s PacBioRS, and Oxford Nanopore’s GridIon.
Ion Torrent’s newest, printer-sized Ion Proton System (pictured) uses a blood sample and three disposable chips. Each chip has millions of tiny little wells, and as DNA molecules wash over them, their signals are combined into a digital readout. Most of the cost comes from the single-use chip (the chemicals used are cheap).
Since companies are only just starting to sequence individuals, “right now there’s only a handful of genes that we can tell you something about,” Rothberg explains. But if tens of thousands of people are sequenced, people five years from now will start getting statistically significant — and medically actionable — information.
He adds: “I do believe that genome sequencing will have as profound an effect on medicine as clean water, antibiotics, and imaging.”
Image: Ion Torrent

-- 
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
 
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history, 
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
 
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
 
Rael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Tell your friends that they can subscribe to this list by sending an email to:
subscribe@rael-science.org
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To unsubscribe, send an email to:
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[rael-science] Next-Gen Treatment: Viruses To Kill Prostate Cancer‏

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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source: http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/14147/20130226/newcastle-virus-prostate-cancer-enzyme-cells.htm

Next-Gen Treatment: Viruses To Kill Prostate Cancer

By editing a virus that is known to kill tumor cells, researchers have shown that the new virus can selectively kill prostate cancer cells.

Feb 26, 2013

A modified virus that only targets cancerous cells for death and leaves healthy cells alone is ready for trials in animals and possibly Phase I safety trials in people.


















Researchers used a virus called Newcastle Virus, that infects chickens, but does not affect humans. But what it does in humans is home in on tumor cells as was seen in a few human trials. But such trials were ineffective because of lack of enough virus or failure to penetrate solid tumors.
The researchers got around this limitation by genetically engineering a protein that the virus uses to fuse to a cell to only interact with a prostate specific enzyme. This way the virus now seeks out and only infects prostate cancer cells. They now call the virus "Retargeted Newcastle Virus."
Retargeted Newcastle disease virus has major potential advantages over other cancer therapies, says Subbiah Elankumaran in a press release. First, its specificity for prostate cancer cells means it would not attack normal cells, thereby avoiding the various unpleasant side effects of conventional chemotherapies. In previous clinical trials, even with extremely large doses of naturally occurring strains, "only mild flu-like symptoms were seen in cancer patients," says Elankumaran. Second, it would provide a new treatment for hormone-refractory patients, without the side effects of testosterone suppression that result from hormonal treatments.
One in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and one in 36 men will die of the disease. 
The report in the journal Virology can be found here.


-- 
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
 
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history, 
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
 
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
 
Rael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Tell your friends that they can subscribe to this list by sending an email to:
subscribe@rael-science.org
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To unsubscribe, send an email to:
unsubscribe@rael-science.org
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[rael-science] Weird Molecular Hoops Made From Human Genome‏


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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source: http://www.livescience.com/27568-circular-rna-from-human-genome.html

Weird Molecular Hoops Made From Human Genome

Date: 01 March 2013 
an image of transfer RNA in a yeast cell
Scientists have found the human genome can generate circular RNA structures that may interfere with genetic activity. (RNA, shown here, is similar to DNA and can carry genetic information.)
The human genome can generate molecular hoops similar in makeup to DNA that could potently interfere with genetic activity, researchers say.
These findings reveal there are secrets within the genomes of humans and other animals that scientists are still uncovering, and the old belief that life has useless junk DNA is more false than ever, scientists added.
Discovering more about circular versions of RNA (a molecule similar to DNA that can carry genetic information) could also lead to new ways of fighting diseases such as diabetes, brain tumors and Parkinson's disease, investigators added.
The human genome — the blueprint for human life — is made of DNA. From the genome, intermediate molecules known as RNA are created that help manufacture key biomolecules such as proteins, which then carry out cellular processes.
After international teams of researchers completely sequenced the human genome, they found about 95 percent of it unexpectedly did not code for proteins. Since this noncoding DNA initially seemed to have no known biological function, some scientists referred to it as junk DNA. [Unraveling the Human Genome: 6 Molecular Milestones]
However, over time, researchers have discovered this noncoding DNA can serve a wide variety of vital purposes. For instance, noncoding DNA can give rise to snippets of RNA known as micro-RNA that can suppress the so-called messenger RNA that normally helps manufacture proteins. This micro-RNA serves a key role in controlling genetic activity, and scientists are developing therapies based on micro-RNA to dampen harmful, malfunctioning genes.
Now researchers find the genomes of humans and other animals can generate circular RNA, highly stable rings that can sponge up micro-RNA, apparently keeping them from interfering with genetic activity if necessary.
"There seems to be a whole new layer of gene regulation," researcher Jørgen Kjems, a molecular biologist at Aarhus University in Denmark, told LiveScience.
For instance, Kjems and his colleagues found high levels of a circular RNA they dubbed ciRS-7 in the human and mouse brain. This molecule potently suppresses a micro-RNA named miR-7, which is found in everything from worms to humans. They also found a circular RNA known as Sry that is specific to testicles and targets a micro-RNA known as miR-138, suggesting that circular RNA might play a role in sex development.
In addition, when Nikolaus Rajewsky at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin and his colleagues analyzed human, mouse and nematode worm RNA, they detected thousands of circular RNAs. These were often linked with specific tissues or developmental stages.
The micro-RNA miR-7 regulates a number of disease genes, including Parkinson's disease, brain tumors and diabetes. As such, learning more about circular RNAs "may provide a new treatment strategy for these diseases," Kjems said. Regulating the activity of miR-7 could reduce the activity of the genes causing these diseases, he explained.
Altogether, these findings suggest that circular RNAs form a large class of genetic regulators. It remains uncertain whether these molecules work alone or whether they act by combining with other compounds, such as RNA-binding proteins.
The researchers next plan to introduce these circular molecules in animals "to see their effect on disease development, and from there, design drugs towards the diseases," Kjems said.
The scientists detailed their findings in the Feb. 28 issue of the journal Nature.

-- 
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
 
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history, 
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
 
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
 
Rael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Tell your friends that they can subscribe to this list by sending an email to:
subscribe@rael-science.org
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To unsubscribe, send an email to:
unsubscribe@rael-science.org

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[rael-science] Radical Tails: Antioxidants Can Prevent Regeneration‏


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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source: http://www.scilogs.com/next_regeneration/radical-tails-antioxidants-can-prevent-regeneration/

Radical Tails: Antioxidants Can Prevent Regeneration

14 January 2013
Amphibians such as frogs or salamanders have a remarkable ability to regenerate amputated limbs and tails. The regenerative process involves the formation of endogenous pluripotent stem cells, which then expand and differentiate into the tissue types that give rise to the regenerated body part. The complex interplay of the cell types and signals involved in this regenerative response to the injury are not fully known and there is considerable interest in identifying all the necessary steps. The ultimate hope is that by identifying the specific mechanisms of injury response and regeneration, one might be able to activate similar repair processes in humans, who lack the extraordinary regenerative capacity of amphibians.
The recent paper “Amputation-induced reactive oxygen species are required for successful Xenopus tadpole tail regeneration” by Nick Love and colleagues published online in the journalNature Cell Biology on January 13, 2013 elegantly demonstrates that reactive oxygen species (ROS), also known as oxygen radicals or oxidants, play a critical role in the regeneration of amphibian tails. Using a rather elegant approach, the researchers generated Xenopus tadpoles with a genetically integrated sensor of the oxidant-sensitive protein HyPerYFP that emits fluorescence upon contact with ROS, and is thought to be rather specific for the oxidant H2O2, more commonly known as hydrogen peroxide. This allowed them to study the hydrogen peroxide levels in all cells of the live tadpole, while it was responding to an injury. They found that within 6 hours after the tail amputation, the residual tail tissue was flooded with high levels of the hydrogen peroxide and that as the tail started growing back, the regenerative edge of the growing tail continued to show high levels of this oxidant.
After excluding the possible confounding phenomenon that the increase in ROS was merely a bystander effect of increases in inflammatory cells, the researchers then performed a pivotal set of experiments in which they used anti-oxidants to see if these would impact the tail regeneration. The researchers first utilized pharmacological inhibitors that reduce the production of oxidants as well as the therapeutic antioxidant MCI-186 (its trade-name is Edaravone and is marketed for use in patients in Japan). These pharmacological agents were all very effective in terms of lowering the hydrogen peroxide levels in the regenerating tail, but they also significantly impaired the regeneration itself. In another intriguing set of experiments, the researchers treated the tadpoles with these agents immediately after the injury and then withdrew them after three days, to see if the regeneration would set in after their removal. Interestingly, when the tails were exposed to agents that prevented the generation of the oxidants, the regenerative program remained blocked even when they were removed. On the other hand, the antioxidant scavenger that soaks up oxidants being produced did not permit regeneration while it was present, but regeneration resumed after the antioxidant was removed.
The researchers also performed complementary genetic experiments in which they reduced oxidant revels by suppressing the enzymes that produce oxidants. The results all point to an important conclusion: There is a burst of oxidants that are released after injury and that are necessary to initiate the regenerative program. The exact molecular targets of the oxidant hydrogen peroxide that enable regeneration remain unknown, but some of the data in the paper points to the Wnt protein pathway as a potential oxidant-sensitive regenerative signal in the tadpole tail.
One has to bear in mind that this work was performed in tadpoles and may not be necessarily fully applicable to the human setting, but Wnt is a key regulator of stem cell renewal, differentiation and regeneration in human tissues. This does suggest that there may be some key similarities between the tadpole regeneration pathways and those found in humans. Despite the shared Wnt signals in tadpoles and humans, building a bridge from this work in Xenopus tadpoles to research and therapeutic applications in humans will be quite challenging. After all, the elegance of this study lies in the genetically integrated oxidant sensor that allows live tracking of oxidants as well as the fact that tadpoles can regenerate whole limbs and tails. Current tools do not permit real-time tracking of human oxidant levels in tissues and humans can usually only regenerate very small amounts of tissue, such as superficial skin injury.
Nevertheless, this work is an important milestone in understanding the role of oxidants as promoters of regeneration and it is very likely that at least some similar pro-regenerative role of oxidants may also be present in human tissues. One of the most important take home messages of this work is that we need get rid of the common “oxidants are bad guys and antioxidants are good guys” myth. Oxidants can be harmful in some context, but they can also serve as important regenerative signals. Indiscriminate use of antioxidants can actually impair these important endogenous signals. Instead of consuming large quantities of non-specific antioxidants, we need to use antioxidants in a very targeted, context-specific and perhaps time-limited manner so that they only prevent oxidative damage without affecting beneficial oxidant signaling.


Love, N., Chen, Y., Ishibashi, S., Kritsiligkou, P., Lea, R., Koh, Y., Gallop, J., Dorey, K., & Amaya, E. (2013). Amputation-induced reactive oxygen species are required for successful Xenopus tadpole tail regeneration Nature Cell Biology DOI: 10.1038/ncb2659
-- 
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
 
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history, 
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
 
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
 
Rael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Tell your friends that they can subscribe to this list by sending an email to:
subscribe@rael-science.org
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To unsubscribe, send an email to:
unsubscribe@rael-science.org
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[rael-science] Digital Elite Flirt With Socialism (and Nixon) at TED‏

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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source: http://www.wired.com/business/2013/02/socialist-memes-at-ted

Digital Elite Flirt With Socialism (and Nixon) at TED

  • 02.28.13
But the self-styled troublemakers gathered in this blue-collar town weren’t striking longshoremen or unionizing factory workers; they were well-to-do digital mavens gathered for the annual TED conference (ticket price: $7,500).
Amid the usual talk of robots, architecture, education reform, corporate creativity, and 3-D printing, wealth redistribution and even some properly socialist memes have emerged as popular topics of conversation at TED 2013. The interest seems to be driven by concerns over grinding unemployment and widening inequality in the nation at large, plus a confluence of more recent trends in tech, including the spread of open source software, the proliferation of robot workers, and, probably most pointedly, a revived discussion among economists about how the rise of robots and other labor-replacing technologies has shifted more power from workers to those who hold capital (rich people).
“In an economy heavy on technology and light on labor, we have to consider radical interventions, like the guaranteed minimum income.”
Leftist economic ideas were mentioned at least three times yesterday alone. First designer Alastair Parvin cited the theories of Karl Marx in explaining his techniques for liberating construction from corporations and architecture from “the 1 percent;” Parvin said a combination of modern technologies and a renewed interest in community cooperation mean that ordinary people can take for themselves some of what Parvin expressly referred to as “the means of production.”
Then computer scientist Danny Hillis quoted another idea from Marx, which he said was key in allowing the internet to survive and flourish in its early decades: “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need” was the communist credo that allowed techies to effectively route traffic on a straining computer network designed and funded to win a war against communists, he said.
Finally there was Andrew McAfee, an MIT “management theorist” who detailed the declining fortunes of the working class in an economy that’s full of increasingly sophisticated machines. The middle class aren’t doing so well either: Median incomes have declined over the past 15 years.
“The robots are not going to take all our jobs in the next year or two,” McAfee said. “But over the longer term, if we’re moving into an economy that’s heavy on technology and light on labor, and we are, then we have to consider some more radical interventions. For example, something like the guaranteed minimum income,” McAfee said. “That idea is probably making some people in this room uncomfortable because it’s associated with the extreme left wing.”
McAfee then flashed pictures of Marc, Lenin, and Castro, before assuring the audience that the idea was also associated with right-wing icons Friedrich Hayek, Richard Nixon, and Milton Friedman. Above-it-all nonpartisan centrism has a strong constituency in rich techies, and there’s certainly been some of that at this year’s TED as well, and McAfee, who has been outspoken about his distaste for Marx, was smartly placating that strain of attendee.

But even if no speakers have singled out a particular political party for ridicule or praise, it’s hard not to notice how many of the political ideas at this year’s TED have come from the left. For example, an on-stage debate on the social impact of innovation between an economist and a business school professor detoured into this back and forth on how to combat rising U.S economic inequality: The business professor said “we are going to need to reinvent our organizations and even our whole economic system… so we can share our prosperity more broadly,” while the economist argued that we need to open the borders and legalize drugs. Not exactly right-wing talking points.
The discussion at this year’s TED’s offers hints that the political orientation of the digerati has moved left of “cyber-libertarianism” and that the tech sector might even act as a counterbalance to more traditional and right-leaning industries on the politics of economic intervention. But of course talk is cheap even when it’s expensive: It’s one thing to pay $7,500 to laugh at Marx quotations between almond-milk shots and yellowtail nachos and quite another to put real personal force behind those ideas – particularly when you’re the one who’s going to have to fund them, on top of all that money you spent on cool robots.


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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
 
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history, 
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
 
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
 
Rael
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