2007-02-27

• creating new life forms that may help eradicate cancer affecting women -- Biology News Net

{{| Central to this startling discovery is the microbe Listeria monocytogenes, a common bacterium found in milk, cheese and other dairy products. This microorganism apparently aids in fighting cancer by activating the body's own killer (cytotoxic T) cells to elicit a stronger than normal immune response to the presence of cancer cells. The vaccines "teach" the immune system to mount a specialized, targeted response that is lethal to cancer. |}}

• : 특정 pathogen에 대한 vaccination을 했더니, [Cancer]에 대한 면역반응이 증가하여 [Cancer]를 치료하는 데 도움이 되었다는 연구내용. 일반적으로 [Cancer]는 면역적인 관점에서 볼때 자신의 세포이기 때문에 비정상적으로 자라더라도 공격하지 않는다. 그리고, 자체적으로 면역반응을 회피할 수 있는 여러 방법을 가지고 있기도 하다. 만약, [Cancer]에 대한 면역반응을 증가시키게 되면, 다른 치료에 비해서 안전하고 부작용이 없기 때문에 면역치료를 이용해서 [Cancer]를 치료하고자 많은 연구를 진행하고 있다. 위의 내용은 기존의 방법과는 조금은 독특한 방법으로 면역반응을 증가시키는 것이라 할 수 있다. 발상자체가 매우 독특함.

2007-02-23

• scientists produce neurons from human skin -- Biology News Net

{{| The researchers used skin obtained from plastic surgery procedures. They subjected these skin samples to various treatments in order to extract neuron precursor cells, which they then proceeded to cultivate in vitro. Skin itself does not contain neurons, which are hosted in the spinal cord, but contains only their extensions, called "axons." The researchers’ challenge was thus to produce neurons from undifferentiated cells rather than multiply neurons from nerve cells. |}}

• : 피부조직에 있는 여러 세포 중에서 분화능력이 있는 세포를 분리하여 적절한 환경조건에 키웠더니 신경세포로 분화시키는데 성공했다는 내용. 아직 시작단계이긴 하지만, 기술이 발전하게 되면 많은 분야에 도움이 되리라 생각한다.

2007-02-22

• boosting brain power with chocolate -- Biology News Net

{{| A study led by Professor Ian Macdonald found that consumption of a cocoa drink rich in flavanols — a key ingredient of dark chocolate — boosts blood flow to key areas of the brain for two to three hours.

Increased blood flow to these areas of the brain may help to increase performance in specific tasks and boost general alertness over a short period.

The findings, unveiled at one of the biggest scientific conferences in America, also raise the prospect of ingredients in chocolate being used to treat vascular impairment, including dementia and strokes, and thus for maintaining cardiovascular health. |}}

• : Flavanol이 많이 함유된 cocoa drink를 마시면 뇌의 혈류량이 증가하여 일시적으로 두뇌할동을 활발하게 한다는 내용. 한가지 덧붙이자면, 본 연구에 사용된 양은 실제 소비되고 있는 양과는 다르다고 함.

2007-02-21

• antibody signal may redirect inflammation to fuel cancer -- Biology News Net

{{| Now UCSF researchers have found that in the presence of precancerous tissue, leukocyte antibody receptors can also be activated to turn on a dangerously different program: inducing leukocytes to boost cell growth, increase the number of blood vessels and "remodel" tissue in the area -- all of which help cancer develop.

The finding adds a critical and surprising detail to the emerging view that inflammation, usually a helpful response to invading pathogens, can become misdirected and fuel cancer. |}}

2007-02-14

• Splicing and the evolution of proteins in mammals -- PLos Biology

  • : 단백질의 아미노산 서열을 조사해 보니 다른 곳보다 Splice-enhancer domain 부분이 매우 비슷하다고 한다. 결론적으로 말해서, 단백질의 아미노산 서열은 생물학적인 기능뿐 아니라 splice enhancer의 존재 여부와도 밀접한 관련이 있다는 얘기.

• fighting to keep darwin in the classroom -- Biology News Net

{{| Nearly a century ago, John Scopes was found guilty of violating a Tennessee statute when he taught evolution in his classroom. Though an appeals court later reversed his conviction on a technicality, the law lingered on the books, joined by later laws promoting "scientific creationism," and, most recently, "intelligent design." The battle to keep religiously based explanations of the history of life—especially human life—out of the science curriculum continues unabated. And though a number of educational institutions and organizations have had notable success in combating intelligent design in the classroom, what is needed now is a fresh source of evolution materials and anti-creationism ammunition for our school teachers on the front lines of this ongoing battle. Today, on Darwin's 198th birthday, Springer announces plans for a new journal which will do just that. |}}

• : 아직까지 미국에서는 고등교육과정에서 지적설계론을 가르치는 교사들이 있는 것 같다.

2007-02-08

• brown cancer biologists identify major player in cell growth -- Biology News Net

{{| So biologists are keenly interested in identifying the accelerators that rev-up cell division. Ets transcription factors, a family of gene-regulating proteins that are major players in embryonic and cancer development, seemed obvious culprits. Rosmarin, a hematologist-oncologist, studies one member of the Ets family called GABP. This transcription factor helps make a variety of cells, including white blood cells. If those cells develop abnormally, leukemia results.

But the exact function of GABP in the cell cycle wasn't known. Rosmarin wanted to find out. So he and members of his laboratory created mice that carried a mutation -- tiny DNA sequences were inserted into their GABP-making gene. These DNA bits would serve as a time bomb of sorts, deleting a critical piece of the gene when given a chemical signal. |}}

2007-02-07

• action video games sharpen vision 20 percent -- Biology News Net

{{| "Action video game play changes the way our brains process visual information," says Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. "After just 30 hours, players showed a substantial increase in the spatial resolution of their vision, meaning they could see figures like those on an eye chart more clearly, even when other symbols crowded in." |}}

• : Unreal Tournament와 같은 액션 비디오 게임을 하게 되면, 시력이 좋아진다는 연구결과에 관한 내용. 단순히 열심히 하면 시력이 좋아진다는 것은 아니고, 게임을 하면서 특정상황을 경험하게 되면서, 시각을 담당하는 뇌의 pathway가 바뀌게 된다고 한다. 비교군에서는 테트리스를 했다고.

2007-02-06

• beyond the dna chemical signatures reveal genetic switches in the genome -- Biology News Net

{{| "The human genome is packaged within each cell by chromatin, a structure composed of DNA wrapped around proteins called histones," explains lead author Nathaniel Heintzman, from LICR and the UCSD Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. "We used genome-scale approaches to analyze the chromatin architecture in human cells and discovered distinct signatures of modified histones that correspond to known promoters and enhancers. These findings enabled us to generate computational algorithms that identified hundreds of novel genomic regions with regulatory potential." Moreover, says Heintzman, this 'histone code' was able to accurately distinguish between promoters, from which gene transcription is directly initiated, and enhancer regions - some of which are very distant from the target gene - to which transcription-activating cofactors bind. |}}

2007-02-02

{{| 이즈음 부모들이 아이 교육 문제와 관련하여 갖는 문제는 철학이 없다는 것일 게다. 이를테면 아이에게 ‘영어 공부를 어떻게 시킬 것인가’에는 거의 모든 부모들이 열띤 관심을 갖지만 정작 아이가 ‘왜 영어 공부를 하는가’를 생각하는 부모는 이상하게도 거의 없다. 그들은 아이가 영어를 공부하는 이유는 접은 채 무작정 아이에게 영어 공부를 강요하고 영어 공부를 못한다고 근심하고, 심지어 야단친다. 물론 이건 영어 공부만의 이야기는 아니다. 국어도 수학도 사회도 과학도 다 마찬가지다. 그런 그들이 아이가 ‘어떤 직업을 가질 것인가’에 열중하면서 ‘어떤 사람이 될 것인가’에는 별 관심이 없는 건 자연스런 일이다. 아이들은 그들의 가르침대로 철학없는 인간으로 자란다. 아이들은 경쟁만 아는 영악한 소수로, 그 소수를 위해 인생을 보내는 다수의 바보들로 자라간다. -- GYUHANG.NET |}}

• : 오랫동안 공부를 하는 나로서도 이런 질문을 자신에게 할 때 부끄러운 생각이 든다. 과연 나는 "왜 공부를 하고 있는가?"

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