Headlines of the day
Police: Coroner stole gift cards from dead (WSB/CNN)
Nursing home worker takes wedding ring ( KMGH/)
Humans, ain't they special?
It’s not really life, just a nutritious cheese-like substitute
US scientists close to creating artificial life: study (Breitbart)
US scientists have taken a major step toward creating the first ever artificial life form by synthetically reproducing the DNA of a bacteria, according to a study published Thursday.
The move, which comes after five years of research, is seen as the penultimate stage in the endeavour to create an artificial life form based entirely on a man-made DNA genome -- something which has tantalised scientists and sci-fi writers for years.
"Through dedicated teamwork we have shown that building large genomes is now feasible and scalable so that important applications such as biofuels can be developed," said Hamilton Smith, from the J. Craig Venter Institute, in the study published in Science.
The research has been carried out at the laboratories of the controversial celebrity US scientist Craig Venter, who has hailed artificial life forms as a potential remedy to illness and global warming.
However, the prospect of engineering artificial life forms is highly controversial and is likely to arouse heated debate over the ethics and potential ramifications of such an advance.
It is one of the Holy Grails of science, but also one that stirs deep fears as forseen in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel "Brave New World" in which natural human reproduction is eschewed in favor of babies grown artificially in laboratories.
Venter said in a statement: "This extraordinary accomplishment is a technological marvel that was only made possible because of the unique and accomplished ... team."
His researchers had "dedicated the last several years to designing and perfecting new methods and techniques that we believe will become widely used to advance the field of synthetic genomics," he added.
Lead author Dan Gibson said the team had completed the second step in a three-step process to create a synthetic organism.
In the final stage of their research which they are already working on, the Maryland-based team will attempt to create a bacteria based purely on the synthetic genome sequence of the Mycoplasma genitalium bacteria.
The bacteria, which causes certain sexually transmitted diseases, has one of the least complex DNA structures of any life form, composed of just 580 genes.
In contrast, the human genome has some 30,000.
The chromosome which Venter and his team has created is known as Mycoplasma laboratorium and, in the final step of the process, will be transplanted into a living cell where it should "take control," effectively becoming a new life form.
The new bacteria will therefore be largely artificial, though not entirely, because it is composed of building blocks from already existing organisms.
"When we started this work several years ago, we knew it was going to be difficult because we were treading into unknown territory," said Smith.
But other scientists remain cautious, saying Venter and his team are still a long way from being able to create artificial life. They point to a tell-tale footnote in the study which details a problem in slotting in one of the cloned genes.
Eckard Wimmer, professor of molecular biology at New York University, said it was clear from Venter's study that the team had not yet created artificial life.
He said he was left with "the unpleasant feeling whether or not the synthetic DNA was indeed proper and able for biological function."
His fears were echoed by Helen Wallace, a biologist and spokesperson for GeneWatch UK, who said that while Venter's team has managed a technical feat, it is some way from being artificial life.
"Venter is not God ... He's a long way from creating life," she told AFP.
"It's a type of genetic engineering which would allow people to make much bigger genetic changes, which means that in the future you could create organisms with new gene sequences
"We wouldn't play God and you can trust us on that."
“Do you have any grey poupon?”
Captive Carnivores Not Up To Wild Living
ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2008) — A study by the University of Exeter has highlighted the problems of reintroducing animals to the wild for conservation projects. The research highlights the low survival rates of captive carnivores that are released into their natural habitats. On average only one in three captive-born carnivores survives in the wild, with most deaths related to human activities.
Recent high-profile conservation projects have involved reintroducing wolves into the Scottish Highlands, bringing red kites back to England and reintroducing golden lion tamarins to Brazil. Most of these animals were born in captivity, with zoos playing a major role in such projects, while other schemes involve moving wild animals to new areas.
This study reviewed 45 case studies, involving 17 carnivore species, and found that only 30% of captive animals released survived. Over half the deaths were caused by humans in incidents such as shootings and car accidents. The animals were also more susceptible to starvation and disease than their wild counterparts and less able to form successful social groups.
Kristen Jule, lead author on the paper* and University of Exeter PhD student, says: "Animals in captivity do not usually have the natural behaviours needed for success in the wild. Their lack of hunting skills and their lack of fear towards humans, for example, are major disadvantages. We have suspected for some time that captive born animals fared less well than wild animals, but here it is finally quantified, and the extent of the problem is critical."
The research team highlights the need for these projects to be reassessed so that animals are better prepared for living in their natural environment. This could include reducing contact with humans, creating opportunities for hunting and encouraging the formation of natural social groups, while the animals are still in captivity. The research also raised the need for long-term monitoring of released animals, so that success could be measured over several years. In addition, the paper points to the need for engagement with local communities before any reintroduction, especially as most carnivore extinctions were originally caused through conflict between animals and humans.
Kristen Jule continued: "Despite the problems raised in our research, I believe reintroduction projects are vital to conservation efforts. In some cases, the animals being released no longer exist in the wild because of human development or conflict. If we are to try and redress the balance, it's important for us to help provide captive born animals with the opportunity to gain the skills that they will need to survive in the wild. The next step is for scientists, conservationists and animal welfare groups to develop guidelines to help captive animals prepare for a new life in the wild."
*This research is published online in the journal Biological Conservation.
‘What, no toilet paper? This is not how I was raised.”
We’re not saying nuthin’
Study finds woman have thicker skulls
DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. and Chinese scientists have determined women have thicker skulls than do men.
Researchers from the Ford Motor Co. and Tianjin University of Science and Technology created a non-invasive method of measuring geometric characteristics of the human skull. They then examined head scan images of 3,000 patients at the Tianjin Fourth central Hospital in China.
The scientists found the average thickness of women's skulls is 7.1 millimeters -- nine percent greater than the average of 6.5 millimeters for men. Men, however, have skulls that are three percent greater in front-to-back distance, and four percent wider than the skulls of women.
The researchers also determined the skulls of both women and men shrink slowly after reaching adulthood.
The scientists said their findings will help in the design of devices that more effectively protect the head during vehicle collisions and other accidents.
"The next step will be to find out how these differences translate into head impact response of male and female, and then we can design the countermeasure for head protection," said Jesse Ruan, a Ford biomechanics researcher.
Breaking news: Science proves that kids can play one parent against the other. Film at 11.
One Out Of Four Children Involved In A Divorce Undergoes Parental Alienation Syndrome
ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2008) — One out of four children involved in a divorce and custody litigation undergoes the so-called Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), consisting of the manipulation of children by the custodial parent, who incessantly tries to turn them against the other parent by arousing in them feelings of hatred and contempt for the target parent, as explained in the book Marital Conflicts, Divorce, and Children’s Development by professors José Cantón Duarte, Mª Rosario Cortés Arboleda, and Mª Dolores Justicia Díaz, from the Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology of the University of Granada.
In the 1980’s, PAS was defined by scientist Richard Gardner of Columbia University. Men are usually the target parent, since in most cases the mother has custody of the child.
According to Mª Rosario Cortés, “the so-called alienating parent is the one who has custody and uses it to brainwash the child, turning him or her against the alienated parent”. In most cases, the process is very subtle the custodial parent stating such things as “if I just told you some more things about your father/mother…”, or by making the child feel sorry for “abandoning” every time he or she visits the alienated parent.
As pointed out by the group of researchers of the University of Granada, there are many other factors which influence PAS apart from the unacceptable attitude of the custodial parent, such as children’s psychological vulnerability, the character and behaviour of parents, dynamics among brothers, or the existing conflicts between the two divorced parents. Very often children not only reject their father, but also his family and close friends. Grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, and the new partner of the non-custodial parent are also affected by this syndrome, and children undergoing PAS can even “expel them from their life.”
Symptoms
Among other symptoms, Professor Cortés points out that children tend to find continual justifications for the alienating parent’s attitude. They denigrate the target parent, relate negative feelings unambivalently towards that parent, deny being influenced by anyone (pleading responsibility for their attitude), feel no guilt for denigrating the alienated parent, or recount events which were not experienced but rather came from listening to others.
The authors of Marital Conflicts, Divorce, and Children’s Development, which was first published in Spanish in 2000 and is coming soon in a new updated edition, state that PAS is more frequent among children aged 9 to 12 than among teenagers, and that there are no relevant gender differences in PAS.
According to Mª Rosario Cortés, the Parental Alienation Syndrome occurs most frequently in cases where parents are involved in divorce litigation, while it is not usual when the decision to seek divorce is mutual. The professor of the UGR underlines that in every case of SAP, “the family must be provided with a family-mediation programme for equal treatment of all members affected by this problem, which is increasingly more frequent.”
“We call it “Parental Alienation Syndrome” because you really can’t be considered a social scientist until you have given a common occurrence a pretentious name.”
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