Associated Press

Call it pork in a petri dish - a technique to turn pig stem cells into strips of meat that scientists say could one day offer a green alternative to raising livestock, help alleviate world hunger, and save some pigs their bacon.

Dutch scientists have been growing pork in the laboratory since 2006, and while they admit they haven’t gotten the texture quite right (the lab-grown meat has the consistency and feel of scallop), they say the technology promises to have widespread implications for our food supply.

“If we took the stem cells from one pig and multiplied it by a factor of a million, we would need one million fewer pigs to get the same amount of meat,” said Mark Post, a biologist at Maastricht University involved in the In-vitro Meat Consortium, a network of publicly funded Dutch research institutions that is carrying out the experiments.

Several other groups in the U.S., Scandinavia and Japan are also researching ways to make meat in the laboratory, but the Dutch project is the most advanced, said Jason Matheny, who has studied alternatives to conventional meat at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore and is not involved in the Dutch research.

In the U.S., similar research was funded by NASA, which hoped astronauts would be able to grow their own meat in space. But after growing disappointingly thin sheets of tissue, NASA gave up and decided it would be better for its astronauts to simply eat vegetarian.

To make pork in the lab, Post and colleagues isolate stem cells from pigs’ muscle cells. They then put those cells into a nutrient-based soup that helps the cells replicate to the desired number.

So far the scientists have only succeeded in creating strips of meat about 1 centimetre (a half inch) long; to make a small pork chop, Post estimates it would take about 30 days of cell replication in the lab.

There are tantalizing health possibilities in the technology.

Fish stem cells could be used to produce healthy omega 3 fatty acids, which could be mixed with the lab-produced pork instead of the usual artery-clogging fats found in livestock meat.

“You could possibly design a hamburger that prevents heart attacks instead of causing them,” Matheny said.

Post said the strips they’ve made so far could be used as processed meat in sausages or hamburgers. Their main problem is reproducing the protein content in regular meat: In livestock meat, protein makes up about 99 per cent of the product; the lab meat is only about 80 per cent protein, giving it the softer, flimsier consistency of a scallop. The rest is mostly water and nucleic acids.

None of the researchers have actually eaten the lab-made meat yet, but Post said the lower protein content means it probably wouldn’t taste anything like pork.

The Dutch researchers started working with pork stem cells because they had the most experience with pigs, but said the technology should be transferable to other meats, like chicken, beef and lamb.

Some experts warn lab-made meats might have potential dangers for human health.

“With any new technology, there could be subtle impacts that need to be monitored,” said Emma Hockridge, policy manager at Soil Association, Britain’s leading organic organization.

As with genetically modified foods, Hockridge said it might take some time to prove the new technology doesn’t harm humans. She also said organic farming relies on crop and livestock rotation, and that taking animals out of the equation could damage the ecosystem.

Some experts doubted lab-produced meat could ever match the taste of real meat.

“What meat tastes like depends not just on the genetics, but what you feed the animals at particular times,” said Peter Ellis, a biochemistry expert at King’s College London. “Part of our enjoyment of eating meat depends on the very complicated muscle and fat structure…whether that can be replicated is still a question.”

If it proves possible, experts say growing meat in laboratories instead of raising animals on farmland would do wonders for the environment.

Hanna Tuomisto, who studies the environmental impact of food production at Oxford University said that switching to lab-produced meat could theoretically lower greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95 per cent. Both land and water use would also drop by about 95 per cent, she said.

“In theory, if all the meat was replaced by cultured meat, it would be huge for the environment,” she said. “One animal could produce many thousands of kilograms of meat.” In addition, lab meat can be nurtured with relatively few nutrients like amino acids, fats and natural sugars, whereas livestock must be fed huge amounts of traditional crops.

Tuomisto said the technology could potentially increase the world’s meat supply and help fight global hunger, but that would depend on how many factories there are producing the lab-made meat.

Post and colleagues haven’t worked out how much the meat would cost to produce commercially, but because there would be much less land, water and energy required, he guessed that once production reached an industrial level, the cost would be equivalent to or lower than that of conventionally produced meat.

One of the biggest obstacles will be scaling up laboratory meat production to satisfy skyrocketing global demand. By 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organization predicts meat consumption will double from current levels as growing middle classes in developing nations eat more meat.

“To produce meat at an industrial scale, we will need very large bioreactors, like those used to make vaccines or pasteurized milk,” said Matheny. He thought lab-produced meat might be on the market within the next few years, while Post said it could take about a decade.

For the moment, the only types of meat they are proposing to make this way are processed meats like minced meat, hamburgers or hot dogs.

“As long as it’s cheap enough and has been proven to be scientifically valid, I can’t see any reason people wouldn’t eat it,” said Stig Omholt, a genetics expert at the University of Life Sciences in Norway. “If you look at the sausages and other things people are willing to eat these days, this should not be a big problem.”

Source: Associated Pres

I could begin by telling you that neutrinos are elementary particles, but that sounds condescending. They’re not called elementary because they’re easy to understand — they aren’t — but because they are seemingly point-like in size, and we can’t break them down into smaller constituents. There’s no such thing as half a neutrino.

The smallest things in the universe

Atoms, despite the Greek name (“cannot be cut”), are not elementary particles, meaning they can be disassembled. An atom is a diffuse cloud of electrons surrounding a tiny, dense nucleus composed of protons and neutrons, which can be broken into up and down quarks

Link >>>

But, Elon Musk’s new Tesla Model X is the car that may turn me into a car person. Yes it’s pretty and futuristic and has doors that open DeLorean style—but that’s not it. The coolest feature of the new Model X is its “biodefense mode.”

Yes, you read that correctly. The Model X has a bioweapon defense button that turns the car into a safe haven in the event of a biological attack. Kind of like the 2015 version of a Cold War bomb shelter.

Now, before you dismiss this as totally unnecessary, over-the-top and ridiculous, hear me out.

The biodefense mode comes from the car’s air filtration system, which features a medical-grade HEPA filter that strips outside air of pollen, bacteria, viruses and pollution before recirculating it into the cabin. According to the company, the Model X is 300x better at filtering bacteria, 500x better at filtering allergens, 700x better at filtering smog and 800x better at filtering viruses. Once the biodefense button is initiated, the car’s air filter—which is about 10 times larger than a standard car’s filter—creates positive pressure inside the cabin to protect its occupants.

According to multiple news outlets, when introducing the feature, Musk said “we’re trying to be a leader in apocalyptic defense scenarios

Link >>>

Calls for the closer integration of science in political decision-making have been commonplace for decades. However, there are serious problems in the application of science to policy — from energy to health and environment to education. One suggestion to improve matters is to encourage more scientists to get involved in politics. Although laudable, it is unrealistic to expect substantially increased political involvement from scientists. Another proposal is to expand the role of chief scientific advisers¹, increasing their number, availability and participation in political processes. Neither approach deals with the core problem of scientific ignorance among many who vote in parliaments.

Font: Nature

Fonte: GEN Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

Font: Genetic and Engineering News

Job hunting is a frazzling experience. There are so many concerns for a job hunter that sometimes its hard to focus on what is important and urgent and what is busy work.

The question for the job hunter is “What do I do first, second, and what can I ignore?”

Its an ongoing situation and can be a daily struggle.

There are so many different details like the resume, job boards, LinkedIn, Facebook, networking online, person to person networking, telephone calling, it can and is overwhelming. 

And the worst part is that you never know what is the single thing that will make the difference in the job hunt.

While the goal of job hunting is clear, to get a great job doing what you want, its how to divide your time that is difficult. Every job hunt is different because every person is different. 

But there are some  priorities that are important to ensure your success. I have laid out what I think are the top ten priorities that apply to everyone.

Using the list is simple, each day start at the top of the list. If there is something you can do for that item on the list, then do it. If not, go to the next item on the list.

1. Maintain your mental health. If you feel, or people close to you feel, you have serious emotional issues, immediately consult your family physician for advice and help. While it is typical for a hunter to feel anxious about finding a job, the anxiety can becomes debilitating and self defeating. Some of the danger signs to watch for are if you are constantly angry, critical about people around you, sitting in front of the television, playing video games, randomly cruising the Internet, or unable to concentrate for long periods. If you have any of these signs, get help today. Looking for a job requires you need to be calm, focused, positive, and pleasant to all around you. The next two priorities help you maintain the your mental health.

2. Exercise daily for 30 minutes. When you are physically healthy and active it stimulates the brain and gives you unlimited energy. An exercise program will release endorphins into your brain that allow you to concentrate while not exercising. It may seem that when you are spending time exercising that you are wasting valuable time that could be spent in the job hunt. This is untrue, a reasonable exercise program will allow give you time to reflect on what you are during your job hunt. A simple and effective exercise program that will provide immediate results is a brisk walk for 30 minutes each day. A brisk walk is one that will raise your heartbeat to 60% of your maximum heart rate. This measure depends on your starting fitness and your age. About.com has a fitness calculator which you can find at http://exercise.about.com/cs/fitnesstools/l/bl_THR.htm.  The page includes information about heart beat zones and other good stuff. Always consult with your family physician before starting a regular exercise program. I started with a walking program and now I run marathons (very badly). More on my thoughts about marathon running can be read at Marathon Running Is A Metaphor For Success 

3. Maintain Your Relationships. Job hunting can be incredibly stressful and depending on your personal circumstances it can consume you. Its important that during this stressful time that you maintain your important relationships with family and close friends. Don’t let the job hunt overwhelm you and be the only topic of conversation.Spend time with your friends and family. A long walk or hike, playing cards, a board game, or a home cooked dinner is all that is necessary to stimulate conversation and maintain connections.

4. Have A Positive Mental Attitude. I know it gets tough. Some days it seems like nobody wants to talk to you, there are absolutely no jobs available, and every company you want to work for is going out of business. But, the reality is that everyday new companies are starting up, companies are taking over other companies, people are retiring, people are quiting, people are moving. Each of these creates new job opportunities for you. Your job and your priority is to keep at it and to keep working at it. You must become better and better at every one of the skills you need for finding a job.  PMA is a quaint saying and sounds simple and seems to fly in the face of “You have to be realistic.”. I know PMA is all about being realistic. Somebody who believes in a Positive Mental Attitude is choosing to select a positive outcome from any number of possible outcomes. We never know what the world will bring. Here are 22 Case studies in Success Through Positive Mental Attitude from my LinkedIn contacts.

5. Read Your Goals Every Single Day. Having clear goals in life gives you a significant advantage. In fact most people think having dreams are goals. Dreams are not goals, goals are measurable, tangible, and have a date. Saying “One day I will take the family to Disneyland” is not a clear goal. Saying “In August 2011, I am taking the family to Disneyland” is a clear goal. I believe you should have goals in five different areas, Health, Relationships, Financial Stability, Giving Back and Personal Growth. The goals your read must be Personal, Positive, and in the Present. Read all your goals out loud. This simple act does two things in your subconscious that will help your conscious mind. Firstly it creates cognitive dissonance between the reality and the goal and secondly it tells the reticular activating system to stop ignoring things that you need to help you. Once you get hooked on goals, you see them everywhere. I loved the movie UP because I believe its all about setting goals, read what I wrote about UP in my Movie Review: Up – Forget The Story – Its About Setting Goals .

6. Finish 3 Tasks In Your Job Hunt Plan A task is an activity that moves you closer to one of your goals. By having three tasks that must be completed each day, you will slowly move towards your goals. Tasks are not the things you need to do each day. Such as brushing your teeth, tasks are individual work items that are part of your plan that move you closer to a goal or a milestone. If you don’t have a detailed plan, consider using GOSPA (Goals, Objectives, Strategy, Priorities, and Actions) to create your plan. Read more at Using GOSPA For Personal Success. 

7. Do Something That Will Market Yourself. In my e-letter My Top 10 Job Hunting Tactics I mention the 12 business problems you can solve. Make sure that these 12 stories are every where.the story everywhere online, on your business cards, and elsewhere are all about those 12 problems. Use the same picture on your LinkedIn profile as you do on Facebook, as you have in your white papers. It takes 7 times for somebody to see a message and for it to register. If every time you send a different message, then you are defeating yourself. You can find a few more ideas about marketing yourself at Marketing Yourself and Schmoozing For The Job Hunter or For Getting New Business .

8. Make Some Choices. Its important that you have a variety of different job hunt methods. You probably already know my disdain for “Click and Apply”. As a job hunter you should have many different tactics in play. Choose the correct tactic for each and every job opportunity or target company. Select a tactic for meeting the hiring authority, select one for getting your cover letter read, select one for getting your resume in front of the person. There are many different tactics for head hunters, for job fairs, and for answering newspaper advertisements. Don’t limit yourself. To get you started in understanding the width and breadth available to you, I have created 77 Guerrilla Job Hunting Tips. You can find the all the first tips and all the rest at 77 Guerrilla Job Hunting Tips . 

9. Track The Effectiveness Of Everything You Do  To track the effectiveness of your job hunt, you need to measure what you have done and how well it helped you reach your goals. Depending on the job hunt tactics you select will depend on what you measure. For example, lets say one of your tactics is to get face to face meetings with key executives in your city. Therefore, you would need to track, the total number of executives, how many you go into contact with, how many spoke with you on the phone, and how many you were able to setup a face to face meeting. At the beginning of anything new, it takes times to practise and get good at it. Don’t expect a 100% success rate. The first 100 calls might get you nowhere. The second 100 calls might get you 5 meetings. When you track each step in the process to the goal, you can see if you are improving in the step, and if you are not, you can do some research on what are the best practises are for that step.

10. Spend 8 Hours Each Day On The Job Hunt. Unfortunately, many people don’t spend the time necessary for their job hunt. And many times they fool themselves into thinking they are working on the job hunt. Working on a job hunt is about working towards your goals. Having coffee with buddies does not count, cruising job boards doesn’t count, and doing your daily exercise does not count. Only the hours working on the specifics of the job hunt count. There is no teacher watching you, you need to be honest with yourself. If you don’t know what to do, implement another tactic from the 77 Guerrilla Job Hunting Tips.

Ultracentrifuge applications

Ultracentrifuges are commonly used in molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell biology. Applications of ultracentrifuges include the separation of small particles such as viruses, viral particles, proteins and/or protein complexes, lipoproteins, RNA, and plasmid DNA.

Types of ultracentrifuges

Ultracentrifuges can be grouped into two types: analytical and preparative. The type you choose will depend on what you will be using it for (see below). Ultracentrifuges also come in larger floor models, or more compact benchtop models.

Analysis and methods using ultracentrifuges

Analytical and preparative ultracentrifuges differ in the way they are used in the lab. Analytical centrifugation can yield important information about molecules in your sample, such as their overall shape, conformational changes, and even the number and stoichiometry of subunits that comprise protein complexes. An example of a powerful analytical ultracentrifuge system is the ProteomeLab™ XL-A/XL-I from Beckman Coulter (Brea, CA; www.beckmancoulter.com).

Analytical ultracentrifuges incorporate a scanning visible/ultraviolet light-based optical detection system for real-time monitoring of the sample’s progress during a spin. This lets you watch the sedimentation process (or rather, a detector collects light absorption data, which a computer digitizes and records for you), allowing you to see the sample concentrate as the centrifugal force increases. The ProteomeLab XL-A/XL-I also contains an additional detection system in the form of Rayleigh interference optics, which measure changes in the refractive index that occur when the sample concentration changes. The benefits of this additional detection capacity are that it allows you to study a broader range of sample concentrations and more types of samples, with increased accuracy. The ProteomeLab XL-I model is capable of sequential data collection from both detection systems.

The two most common types of analysis performed with analytical ultracentrifuges are sedimentation velocity experiments and sedimentation equilibrium experiments. In sedimentation velocity experiments, the ultracentrifuge, detector, and computer record the time course of the sedimentation process, yielding information about the shape, mass, and size of the molecules. Sedimentation equilibrium experiments involve studying the steady-state equilibrium of the sample in solution. Even after sedimentation is completed, the sample exists in steady-state equilibrium with the solute down its concentration gradient. This type of analysis gives information about mass and chemical equilibrium constants.

Preparative ultracentrifuges are often used for separating particles according to their densities, isolating and/or harvesting denser particles for collection in the pellet, and clarifying suspensions containing particles. Sometimes researchers also use preparative ultracentrifuges if they need the flexibility to change the type of rotor in the instrument. Preparative ultracentrifuges can be equipped with a wide range of different rotor types, which can spin samples of different numbers, at different angles, and at different speeds (see below).

Considerations for purchasing an ultracentrifuge

Ultimately, the best ultracentrifuge will be the one that best serves your lab’s needs. There are several key points to consider that will make the process of choosing an ultracentrifuge easier (see Table 1).

Floor or benchtop

Ultracentrifuges come in two basic styles—larger floor models, such as the Thermo Scientific (Waltham, MA; www.thermoscientific.com) Sorvall™ WX Floor Ultracentrifuge and the Beckman Coulter Optima™ XE; and smaller, compact benchtop models that save on lab floor space, such as the Thermo Scientific Sorvall MTX 150 Micro-Ultracentrifuge and the Beckman Coulter Optima MAX-XP™. The type of model you choose partly depends on your available lab space, or particular protocols, but also on the other features discussed below.

Preparative or analytical

Given the differences between the uses described above for preparative and analytical ultracentrifuges, consider your current or future experiments, as well as the kinds of information you’d like to extract. If you’re likely to use the ultracentrifuge for pelleting small particulate materials such as viruses, membranes, and organelles, or smaller particles such as DNA or RNA, then a preparative ultracentrifuge might be best. In addition, preparative ultracentrifuges are well-suited for gradient separations, in which the molecular species in a sample are separated using a substance of graduated density, such as sucrose gradients for proteins or organelles, or cesium gradients for nucleic acids. On the other hand, if you want to examine the mass and shape of macromolecules or protein complexes, or plan to study molecules during the time course of sedimentation, an analytical ultracentrifuge might be more appropriate.

Types of rotors

In most preparative ultracentrifuges, you can swap out the rotor and replace it with another type. The type of rotor you use depends on your particular samples and experiments, but there are several main types to consider. Most rotors have openings in which to place sample tubes of a particular size or volume. Fixed-angle rotors contain openings for sample tubes at a fixed angle from the central axis. Other rotors accommodate vertical or near-to-vertical sample tubes. Swinging bucket rotors consist of a ring of individual tube holders on hinges that allow the tubes to swing outward when spinning begins. The result is that during centrifugation, the tubes are horizontal and aligned with the direction of force. Exceptions to multisample types of rotors are zonal rotors, which are designed to hold one sample of a larger volume instead of multiple sample tubes. Another useful feature of some rotors is a self-locking mechanism that makes rotor installation easier and operation safer.

Sample size and number of samples

Most ultracentrifuges use standard sizes of centrifuge tubes, with typical sample volumes that range from 0.2 mL to 30 mL. Other less common or customized sample volumes are possible, but it is important to make sure that you can also find an appropriate rotor that is compatible with both the sample tube and the type of ultracentrifugation you need.

Relative centrifugal force (RCF)

The types of experiments that you run or plan to run in the future will primarily dictate the required RCF. RCF is determined by two factors—the radius of the rotor and the rotational speed squared. Different applications sometimes require different amounts of force, so research which one is most appropriate for you. Likewise, it might be a waste of funds to purchase an ultracentrifuge with a higher RCF than you will ever need.

With these considerations in mind, you’ll be well-prepared when perusing the available options. The technologically advanced and user-friendly features included in nearly all ultracentrifuges today will make it that much easier to choose the model that’s right for you.

Caitlin Smith is a freelance science writer who has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Yale University and postdoctoral work in Electrophysiology and Synaptic Plasticity; e-mail: caitlin.smith@comcast.net.

“This represents the first result of current production solely on hydrogen,” says Amit Kumar, a researcher on the study who, along with his co-authors are part of the Lovley Lab Group at the university.

Under the leadership of Derek Lovley the lab group has been studying Geobacter bacteria since Lovley first isolated Geobacter metallireducens in sand sediment from the Potomac River in 1987. Geobacter species are of interest because of their bioremediation, bioenergy potential, novel electron transfer capabilities, the ability to transfer electrons outside the cell and transport these electrons over long distances via conductive filaments known as microbial nanowires. 

Kumar and his colleagues studied a relative of G. metallireducens called Geobacter sulfurreducens, which has the ability to produce electricity by reducing organic carbon compounds with a graphite electrode like iron oxide or gold to serve as the sole electron acceptor.  They genetically engineered a strain of the bacteria that did not need organic carbon to grow in a microbial fuel cell.

“The adapted strain readily produced electrical current in microbial fuel cells with hydrogen gas as the sole electron donor and no organic carbon source,” says Kumar, who notes that when the hydrogen supply to the microbial fuel cell was intermittently stopped electrical current dropped significantly and cells attached to the electrodes did not generate any significant current.

This research was supported by funding by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Office of Naval Research.

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This research was presented as part of the 2013 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology held May 18-21, 2013 in Denver, Colorado.  A full press kit for the meeting, including tipsheets and additional press releases, can be found online at http://bit.ly/asm2013pk