Human evolution has created enhancements in key genes connected to the p53 regulatory network - the so-called guardian of the genome - by creating additional safeguards in human genes to boost the network's ability to guard against DNA damage that could cause cancer or a variety of genetic diseases, an international team of scientists led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center writes in the Jan. 22 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Because genetically engineered mouse models are increasingly powerful tools in understanding the risks and mechanisms of human diseases - and rodents do not have the same evolution-based safeguards in p53 function as humans - the study also underscores the need for additional considerations in the interpretation of research using rodent models.
"Our findings are especially important because rodents are often used as model organisms to investigate the genetic origins of diseases that affect humans, such as cancer investigators evaluating the impact of DNA-damaging agents," said Anil Jegga, DVM, a researcher in the Division of Biomedical Informatics at Cincinnati Children's. "Rodent models remain important to our understanding of disease processes, although our study suggests the need to address experimentally the differences in p53 regulatory pathways between humans and rodent models."
Science & Technology
A time capsule was found atop a bell tower at México City's Metropolitan Cathedral, where it was placed in 1791 to protect the building from harm, researchers said Tuesday.
The lead box - filled with religious artifacts, coins, and parchments - was hidden in a hollow stone ball to mark the moment on May 14, 1791, when the building's topmost stone was laid, 218 years after construction had begun on the cathedral.
The lead box - filled with religious artifacts, coins, and parchments - was hidden in a hollow stone ball to mark the moment on May 14, 1791, when the building's topmost stone was laid, 218 years after construction had begun on the cathedral.
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| ©Gregory Bull/AP |
| Photographers take pictures of religious artifacts at the Metropolitan Cathedral in México City on January 15, 2008.
The items were found in an unusual time capsule atop a bell tower at the church, officials said. The collection may have been placed there as a sort of "religious lightening rod" to protect the building against storms, officials said. |
Racine, Wisconsin - Three sophomore high school students at Racine's Prairie School have discovered an asteroid, a feat that is probably unprecedented.
An engineer from Russia's Ivanovo Region built a robot for military purposes that ended up serving as a domestic helper and a nanny for his son, the inventor told RIA Novosti.
Vladimir Metlushko's robot, built over a period of two years, was initially designed for military scouting and mine sweeping.
"But when I started a family, the device's purpose changed. It became both a nanny and a toy for our ten month-old son," he said.
Vladimir Metlushko's robot, built over a period of two years, was initially designed for military scouting and mine sweeping.
"But when I started a family, the device's purpose changed. It became both a nanny and a toy for our ten month-old son," he said.
The 27-metre diameter asteroid 2008 AF3 will tonight pass by the Earth as close as the Moon! (see its orbit here)
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| ©NASA/JPL |
In 1982, two British astronomers, S. V. M (Victor) Clube and William Napier, published a book entitled The Cosmic Serpent. Clube and Napier suggested that the outer planets occasionally divert giant comets (more than 50 kilometers in diameter) into the inner solar system into short-period orbits. Debris from the resultant disintegration of these giant comets can adversely affect the environment of the Earth. Dusting can block sunlight, resulting in globally cooler conditions. Impact events in the super-Tunguska class may result in not only heavy localized destruction but also the occasional "impact winter" or dust veil with global climatological effects.
WHITE PAPER: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Meeting Overview
The 2007 Planetary Defense Conference was held March 5-8, 2007 at the Cloyd Heck Marvin Center at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The primary objectives of the meeting were: to highlight current capabilities in Near Earth Object (NEO) detection, characterization and mitigation; to advance understanding of the threat posed by asteroids and comets and arrive at possible responses to an asteroid impact; and to consider political, policy, legal and societal issues that would affect our ability to mount an effective defense. The conference followed a format similar to the 2004 Planetary Defense Conference, results of which are summarized in an AIAA Position Paper.
Copies of papers, presentation material, and videos of the presentations themselves are available at the conference web site.
1. Meeting Overview
The 2007 Planetary Defense Conference was held March 5-8, 2007 at the Cloyd Heck Marvin Center at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The primary objectives of the meeting were: to highlight current capabilities in Near Earth Object (NEO) detection, characterization and mitigation; to advance understanding of the threat posed by asteroids and comets and arrive at possible responses to an asteroid impact; and to consider political, policy, legal and societal issues that would affect our ability to mount an effective defense. The conference followed a format similar to the 2004 Planetary Defense Conference, results of which are summarized in an AIAA Position Paper.
Copies of papers, presentation material, and videos of the presentations themselves are available at the conference web site.
Peanut butter is being turned into diamonds by scientists with a technique that harnesses pressures higher than those found at the centre of the earth.
Tomb engravings dating back 6,000 years are among the latest discoveries unearthed on the route of a controversial highway under construction in Ireland.
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| ©Mary Deevy, National Roads Authority |
| This large stone decorated with engravings dating to the Late Stone Age has been discovered at an ancient site in Ireland that sits in the path of a controversial highway project. |
Cameras and sensors that will look for the presence of water on the moon have completed validation tests and been shipped to the manufacturer of NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.
The science instruments for the satellite, which is known as LCROSS, departed NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field Calif., for the Northrop Grumman Corporation's facility in Redondo Beach, Calif. to be integrated with the spacecraft. A video file is available on NASA Television. LCROSS is scheduled to launch with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., by the end of 2008.
"The goal of the mission is to confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS principal investigator at Ames. "The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the moon."
The science instruments for the satellite, which is known as LCROSS, departed NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field Calif., for the Northrop Grumman Corporation's facility in Redondo Beach, Calif. to be integrated with the spacecraft. A video file is available on NASA Television. LCROSS is scheduled to launch with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., by the end of 2008.
"The goal of the mission is to confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS principal investigator at Ames. "The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the moon."
