Artificial life

Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA.

The researchers constructed a bacterium’s “genetic software” and transplanted it into a host cell.

The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species “dictated” by the synthetic DNA.

The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but critics say there are dangers posed by synthetic organisms.

Some also suggest that the potential benefits of the technology have been over-stated.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10132762.stm

Breast Cancer

Canadian researchers have decoded the genetic structure of metastatic lobular breast cancer. This major breakthough could lead to further advancement in the fight against the disease by assisting scientists in the development of new breast cancer treatments and therapies. In all, the analysis uncovered 32 separate mutations of a tumor, with at least 5 of them never having been associated with cancer before. Their report can be found in the journal Nature.

According to the researchers, their mapping method may be a tool that can be used prior to the beginning of treatment of certain types of cancer, as well as to monitor patient progress. In a statement, lead researcher Dr. Samuel Aparicio, head of the breast cancer research program at the British Columbia Cancer Agency, “This is a watershed event in our ability to understand the causes of breast cancer and to develop personalized medicines for our patients. The number of doors that can now be opened to future research is considerable.”

The breast tumor examined by the research team came from patient with estrogen-positive cancer. This type of cancer accounts for about 15 percent of all breast tumors. By comparing samples from the patient’s original biopsy to a tumor that spread (metastasized) 9 years later, the researchers were able to identify a total of 32 mutations including 19 that were not present in the original tumor. The researchers also tracked mutations in the woman’s healthy cells for purposes of comparison.

Study co-author, Dr. Marco Marra of the cancer agency’s Genome Sciences Center stated, “This study demonstrates the remarkable capacity of next-generation DNA sequencing technology.” He went on to explain, “The project that decoded the first human genome in 2001 took years and an enormous amount of funding. We were able to sequence the breast cancer genome in weeks and at a fraction of the cost.” Aparicio predicts that gene sequencing will cost increasingly less and eventually take only “a matter of days,” which will allow doctors to customize future treatments to each individual patient.

According to the research report, “the ability to analyze both the original and the metastatic cancer cells has given us unprecedented information about how breast cancer develops and progresses.” Aparicio noted that one key finding was “not only that the primary cancer evolved a lot, but the primary tumor was a mosaic of different mutations which then increased over time.” He said that the new knowledge will lead to advancements in cancer testing and treatment, as it shows that cells within a tumor are not all the same, and each type of cell could respond differently to treatment.

In the statement, the agency pointed out that a normal cell divides as lifelong process, and its DNA genetic code gets copied to each new cell. However, when mutations cause the new cells to begin growing out of control, cancer can occur.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer, and the leading cause of cancer death among all women. The disease will be diagnosed in 1.2 million women worldwide this year alone, and will claim 400,000 lives.

Cancer Awareness Month

need for awareness and resources for scientists to find a cure. September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and every little bit counts. From visiting children’s hospitals to donating teddy bears to making socks for little patients’ feet, giving a little bit of your time is just as appreciated as giving part of your paycheck for the cause of researching childhood cancers.

With cancer being the leading cause of death in children and these types of cancers being different than the ones adults are diagnosed with, the list of questions is long and the list of answers very short. Children suffer from many different types of cancer but the types that occur more often are: acute lymphocytic leukemia, bone, brain, spinal cord, Ewing’s Sarcoma, Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and Neuroblastoma among others.

Someone who knows a little about giving time to children in need is Carolyn Rubenstein. This young woman, just 24, became an published author in August with a collection of 20 stories by college-age survivors of childhood cancer in a book called Perseverance: True Voices of Cancer Survivors. At the tender impressionable age of 14, instead of chasing the newest clothes at the mall, Carolyn had visited a camp for children of cancer and became dedicated to helping her peers in crisis. She then started her own charity called Carolyn’s Compassionate Children (CCC) which was a pen pal program designed to connect children with cancer to peers across the nation who wanted to give their support and have a new friend to confide in. CCC has also given out 100 college scholarships since it started raising money in the year 2000.

Perseverance will make you laugh with these kids, cry for their situation, and look to the future with them as they strive to make the newest chapters of their young lives incredible. Carolyn’s courage in calling up these young adults, gaining their trust, and acquiring their stories so she can record them for the world makes the emotional pay off even better.

For Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, you don’t have to take on the world with the same vigor as Carolyn, but you can tell your friends and family to find sponsored events in their area, start a support group, petition the government for help aiding in research, or merely make a donation in support of beating childhood cancer. CureSearch,  part of the National Childhood Cancer Foundation hosts a virtual walk uniting people across America to fight the spread of these diseases. For the entire month of September they try and get 12,500 people as a virtual sponsor of the number of children diagnosed each year in the United States while trying to raise $125,000 for cancer research.

76 children dead of swine flu as cases rise

Health officials said Friday that 76 U.S. children have died of swine flu, including 19 new reports in the past week — more evidence the new virus is unusually dangerous for the young.

The regular flu kills between 46 and 88 children a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That suggests deaths from the new H1N1 virus could dramatically outpace children’s deaths from seasonal flu, if swine flu continues to spread as it has.

CDC officials say 10 more states, a total of 37, now have widespread swine flu. A week ago, reports suggested that cases might be leveling off and even falling in some areas of the country, but that did not turn out to be an enduring national trend.

“We are seeing more illness, more hospitalizations, and more deaths,” the CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat said at a press conference Friday.

The new virus, first identified in April, is a global epidemic. The CDC doesn’t have an exact count of all swine flu deaths and hospitalizations, but existing reports suggest more than 600 have died and more than 9,000 have been hospitalized. Health officials believe millions of Americans have caught the virus.

your pants or skirt size predict your cancer risk…

The size of your trousers or skirt might help gauge your risk of developing certain cancers regardless of your weight, according to Dutch researchers.

A large waist and wide hips signal accumulation of so-called “intra-abdominal fat” – the particularly harmful deep “hidden” fat that surrounds the abdominal organs and is linked to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

“It has been hypothesized that clothing size is related to physique, and it was recently reported that clothing size appears to be a strong surrogate for obesity and intra-abdominal fat,” Laura Hughes, of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, wrote in the journal Epidemiology.

Using information on nearly 2,500 men and women enrolled in a study of diet and cancer, researchers from Maastricht University validated ties between a person’s clothing size and waist and hip size and their body mass index – a standard measure used to tell how fat or thin a person is.

They found trouser and skirt size correlated well with waist and hip circumference measurements in men and women.

Laura and her colleagues next looked at whether clothing size could predict cancer risk.

With an average follow up period of roughly 13 years, they found that in women, a bigger skirt size predicted greater risk of endometrial cancer, while in men, a bigger trouser size predicted a greater risk of kidney cancer.

These findings suggest that “clothing size reflects a fat distribution different from that indicated by weight and height,” said Laura.

“Our results suggest that clothing size is a useful measure to predict cancer risk in studies where waist circumference is not available,” she said.

“Furthermore, it may be useful for future epidemiologic studies to collect clothing sizes in addition to weight and height,

Water Rules!

Keep your body well-hydrated by drinking a lot of water throughout the day. Water is actually a miracle drink that aids many of your bodily functions like getting rid of toxins, eliminating wastes, regulating body temperature, lubrication of body joints, assisting in digestion processes, and much more. This is one drink you should indulge in all day and every day!

Relax

RelaxStress leads to many physical and mental disorders. Keep it at bay with deep breathing, leisurely strolls, meditation, chanting, and listening to music. Other ways to relax include socializing, traveling, talking to friends, or basically doing anything that pleases you and makes you feel good.

india commit to more fight HIV/AIDS’

AIDS

India has been doing a really great job. But the HIV prevention programmes should continue and the money should be available. It is not at all a cheap programme. There is a shortage of funds from international donors due to the global economic recession,’ Charles Gilka, UNAIDS country coordinator for India, told IANS here.

‘The economic meltdown has not had much impact on India. India has a strong economy. But lessons could be learned from the way Africa has been badly hurt. The financial crunch is hitting the prevention programmes in some African countries like Uganda and Kenya. So India cannot be complacent in its approach to fighting HIV and AIDS,’ Gilka said.

‘In these African countries HIV and AIDS programmes were highly successful. But as they get funds from Global Fund and the US government, they could not sustain or expand their programmes because of funds shortages. These countries are now facing problems in carrying out their prevention programmes or providing treatment for new patients,’ he said.

‘But India is not in this position so far. The prevention, care and support programms need continued political and financial support of the Indian government. India needs to commit more. The programmes are yielding results and so more focus is needed,’ he added.

Approximately 5.2 million people in South Africa and 2.6 million in Nigeria suffer from HIV/AIDS, followed by 2.3 million in India.

According to UNAIDS, there were around 33 million HIV positive people globally, while there were 2.7 million new infections and 2.0 million deaths from AIDS in 2007.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which forms policy and implements programmes for the prevention and control of HIV and AIDS in India, under its national AIDS Control Programme 2007-2012, has a budget of Rs.11,585 crore ($2.4 billion), of which Rs.2,861 crore is invested by the Indian government — nearly 25 percent of the total.

Gilka, who joined as the India head in November 2008, said that due to the global recession, the funds have been either frozen or are going down. ‘This poses a threat to successful HIV and AIDS programmes in the world.

‘Most of the programmes are externally funded and as the financial help is drying up and priorities are changing, there is a global threat that spotlight could shift from HIV and AIDS.’

He said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe is visiting India for three days from Oct 7 and will stress on the need for continued and sustained support to the HIV and AIDS prevention programme by the Indian government.

Sidibe, who is also Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, is likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is head of the National Council on AIDS formed in 2005 with the aim to monitor public health agencies’ progress on preventing the spread of HIV in India.

He will also meet Oscar Fernandes, who heads the Parliamentarians’ Forum on HIV/AIDS.

India needs to commit more to fight HIV

Countries like Kenya and Uganda are unable to sustain their HIV and AIDS prevention programmes due to the global economic recession and India should take lessons from that as it is home to the world’s third largest HIV population after South Africa and Nigeria, says a UN official.

“India has been doing a really great job. But the HIV prevention programmes should continue and the money should be available. It is not at all a cheap programme. There is a shortage of funds from international donors due to the global economic recession,” Charles Gilka, UNAIDS country coordinator for India, told IANS here.

“The economic meltdown has not had much impact on India. India has a strong economy. But lessons could be learned from the way Africa has been badly hurt. The financial crunch is hitting the prevention programmes in some African countries like Uganda and Kenya. So India cannot be complacent in its approach to fighting HIV and AIDS,” Gilka said.

“In these African countries HIV and AIDS programmes were highly successful. But as they get funds from Global Fund and the US government, they could not sustain or expand their programmes because of funds shortages. These countries are now facing problems in carrying out their prevention programmes or providing treatment for new patients,” he said.

“But India is not in this position so far. The prevention, care and support programms need continued political and financial support of the Indian government. India needs to commit more. The programmes are yielding results and so more focus is needed,” he added.

Approximately 5.2 million people in South Africa and 2.6 million in Nigeria suffer from HIV/AIDS, followed by 2.3 million in India.

According to UNAIDS, there were around 33 million HIV positive people globally, while there were 2.7 million new infections and 2.0 million deaths from AIDS in 2007.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which forms policy and implements programmes for the prevention and control of HIV and AIDS in India, under its national AIDS Control Programme 2007-2012, has a budget of Rs.11,585 crore ($2.4 billion), of which Rs.2,861 crore is invested by the Indian government — nearly 25 percent of the total.

Gilka, who joined as the India head in November 2008, said that due to the global recession, the funds have been either frozen or are going down. “This poses a threat to successful HIV and AIDS programmes in the world.

“Most of the programmes are externally funded and as the financial help is drying up and priorities are changing, there is a global threat that spotlight could shift from HIV and AIDS.”

He said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe is visiting India for three days from Oct 7 and will stress on the need for continued and sustained support to the HIV and AIDS prevention programme by the Indian government.

Sidibe, who is also Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, is likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is head of the National Council on AIDS formed in 2005 with the aim to monitor public health agencies’ progress on preventing the spread of HIV in India.

He will also meet Oscar Fernandes, who heads the Parliamentarians’ Forum on HIV/AIDS.

How to get a Good Night Sleep

Are you getting enough sleep? If not, you are not alone. A recent study has found that one in every two Indians (46 per cent) sleeps less than six hours. A busy work schedule, a hectic social life, household chores and children’s worries leave little time for sleep. Modern life builds up so much stress and anxiety that when we do get to bed, most of us find it difficult to sleep well.

Adults need at least seven to eight hours of sleep every night, to perform optimally. Children need even more sleep. Less sleep causes morning headaches and daytime fatigue, leading to poor concentration and performance.

Insomnia includes the inability to sleep, frequent awakenings during the night and not being able to go back to sleep, or waking up too early. Women are more likely to suffer from chronic insomnia – the ratio is about two women to one man. Working women, in particular, build up a large sleep debt over the years.

To a large extent, we can control the quantity and quality of our sleep. The key to a restful night’s sleep is to calm down your brain rather than rev it up.

What you eat affects how you sleep. Some food slows down nerve traffic and calms the brain and contributes towards a restful sleep; such food are called sleepers. Other perk up the brain and keep you awake; such food are called wakers.

Sleepers contain tryptophan, an amino acid that makes up protein, which produces the sleep – inducing substances, serotonin and melatonin. Food that contains tryptophan or make more tryptophan available to the brain make us sleepy.

Ideal sleepers are food which contains moderate amounts of carbohydrate stimulates the release of insulin which clears amino acids that compete with tryptophan making it more available to the brain. At the same time, protein contributes tryptophan directly to the brain.

Great snooze food includes; dairy products (paneer, cheese, milk and curd), meat, poultry or seafood, whole grains vegetables and pulses (including soyabeans).

Indian dinners usually have a fair share of these types of food. However, our traditional cooking practices include a lot of fat and spices, both of which in terferes with sleep.

Calcium helps the brain use tryptophan; this explains the soporific effect of a glass of milk at bedtime. Foods containing caffeine such as tea,coffee, colas and chocolates are wakers. a high-protein meal without carbohydrates contains the amino acid, tyrosine, which perks up the brain.

An all carbohydrate snack, especially one high in sugar, is less likely to help you sleep. It will raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low, you might wake up and not be able to fall back asleep. Also, you will miss out on the sleep-inducing effects of tryptophan.

India needs to fight HIV/AIDS’

Some African countries like Kenya and Uganda are unable to sustain their HIV and AIDS prevention programmes due to the global economic recession and India should take lessons from that as it is home to the world’s third largest HIV population after South Africa and Nigeria, says a UN official.

`India has been doing a really great job. But the HIV prevention programmes should continue and the money should be available. It is not at all a cheap programme. There is a shortage of funds from international donors due to the global economic recession,` Charles Gilka, UNAIDS country coordinator for India, said.

`The economic meltdown has not had much impact on India. India has a strong economy. But lessons could be learned from the way Africa has been badly hurt. The financial crunch is hitting the prevention programmes in some African countries like Uganda and Kenya. So India cannot be complacent in its approach to fighting HIV and AIDS,` Gilka said.

`In these African countries HIV and AIDS programmes were highly successful. But as they get funds from Global Fund and the US government, they could not sustain or expand their programmes because of funds shortages. These countries are now facing problems in carrying out their prevention programmes or providing treatment for new patients,` he said.

But India is not in this position so far. The prevention, care and support programms need continued political and financial support of the Indian government. India needs to commit more. The programmes are yielding results and so more focus is needed,` he added.

Approximately 5.2 million people in South Africa and 2.6 million in Nigeria suffer from HIV/AIDS, followed by 2.3 million in India.

According to UNAIDS, there were around 33 million HIV positive people globally, while there were 2.7 million new infections and 2.0 million deaths from AIDS in 2007.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), which forms policy and implements programmes for the prevention and control of HIV and AIDS in India, under its national AIDS Control Programme 2007-2012, has a budget of Rs.11,585 crore ($2.4 billion), of which Rs.2,861 crore is invested by the Indian government — nearly 25 percent of the total.

Gilka, who joined as the India head in November 2008, said that due to the global recession, the funds have been either frozen or are going down. “This poses a threat to successful HIV and AIDS programmes in the world.

`Most of the programmes are externally funded and as the financial help is drying up and priorities are changing, there is a global threat that spotlight could shift from HIV and AIDS.`

He said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe is visiting India for three days from Oct 7 and will stress on the need for continued and sustained support to the HIV and AIDS prevention programme by the Indian government.

Sidibe, who is also Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, is likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is head of the National Council on AIDS formed in 2005 with the aim to monitor public health agencies’ progress on preventing the spread of HIV in India.

He will also meet Oscar Fernandes, who heads the Parliamentarians’ Forum on HIV/AIDS.

`His (Sidibe’s) visit will focus on the need for sustained support to the programmes by the Indian government,` Gilka said.

`If finances are not available for fighting HIV and AIDS, there is a fear that the epidemic might return. Globally, so much money has been spent. All this could be a waste and many lives will be lost if we become complacent now,` he added.