2007-10-29

• Ten Simple Rules for Doing Your Best Research, According to Hamming -- PLOS Computational Biology

1. Drop Modesty

2. Prepare Your Mind

3. Age Is Important

4. Brains Are Not Enough, You Also Need Courage

5. Make the Best of Your Working Conditions

6. Work Hard and Effectively

7. Believe and Doubt Your Hypothesis at the Same Time

8. Work on the Important Problems in Your Field

9. Be Committed to Your Problem

10. Leave Your Door Open

2007-10-15

• study finds that people are programmed to love chocolate -- Biology News Net

{{| “Our study shows that food preferences, including chocolate, might be programmed or imprinted into our metabolic system in such a way that the body becomes attuned to a particular diet,” says Kochhar, a scientist with Nestlé Research Center in Switzerland.

“We know that some people can eat a diet that is high in steak and carbs and generally remain healthy, while the same food in others is unhealthy,” he explains. “Knowing one’s metabolic profile could open-the-door to dietary or nutritional interventions that are customized to your type so that your metabolism can be nudged to a healthier status.” |}}

• : Metabotype이란 단어가 나오는데, 사람마다 특정한 Metabolic System을 가지고 있어서 같은 음식물을 섭취하여도 다른 현상이 발생하게 될 수 있다.

• genes that both extend life and protect against cancer identified -- Biology News Net

{{| The gene daf-2 codes for a receptor for insulin and also for an insulin-like protein that promotes growth. It influences daf-16, which makes a so-called transcription factor – a protein that determines when and where hundreds of other genes are turned on. The focus of the new study was to identify specific genes regulated by daf-16 which affect cancer and/or lifespan. |}}

2007-10-11

• adult stem cells lack key pluripotency regulator -- Biology News Net

{{| The protein Oct4 plays a major role in embryonic stem cells, acting as a master regulator of the genes that keep the cells in an undifferentiated state. Unsurprisingly, researchers studying adult stem cells have long suspected that Oct4 also is critical in allowing these cells to remain undifferentiated. Indeed, more than 50 studies have reported finding Oct4 activity in adult stem cells. |}}

• : 우리가 실험적으로 증명되었다고 알려진 사실들도 잘못 이해되었을 수도 있다는 것을 염두해 두어야 한다.

2007-10-05

• thumbsize microsystem enables cell culture and incubation -- Biology News Net

{{| In a recent edition of the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, the Johns Hopkins researchers reported that they had successfully used the micro-incubator to culture baby hamster kidney cells over a three-day period. They said their system represents a significant advance over traditional incubation equipment that has been used in biology labs for the past 100 years. |}}

• : Micro단위로 세포를 배양할 수 있는 micro-incubator를 개발했다는 내용. 기존의 세포배양 방식에서 획기적인 발전이라 생각한다. 세포를 배양하기 위해서는 여러가지 세포가 자랄 수 있는 환경(온도, 산소와 이산화탄소 공급, 습도, 영양분)과 다른 오염원(곰팡이, 바이러스, 세균)을 제거해야하기 때문에, 세포를 키우는 것은 생물학적인 실험에서 매우 힘들면서도 중요한 부분이였다. 만약 본 내용에서처럼 세포를 배양하는 size가 작아진다면, 세포를 배양하는데 필요한 여러 장비나 비용이 획기적으로 줄어들뿐만 아니라, 컴퓨터에 의해서 여러 조건들을 조절하기 때문에 매우 정확한 실험을 할 수 있고, 항생제와 같은 약품처리를 하지 않으므로 세포가 건강하게 자랄 수 있게된다. 그리고, 환경적으로도 도움이 된다고 한다.

• brown researchers make major signal transduction discovery -- Biology News Net

{{| scientists have long known that phosphorylation, an amino acid modifying process in proteins, is critical for switching receptors on and off on the surface of cells. Chin and his team studied how type 1 interferon binds to a receptor complex, known as the IFN-α receptor, on the cell surface to trigger an immune response. Chin and his team found that acetylation, another chemical process that modifies amino acids, plays a central role in activating interferon receptors.

Interferons play a crucial role in the body’s defense against infection and uncontrolled cell growth. Type 1 interferon is widely used to treat hepatitis B and C and cancers such as melanoma and leukemia.

“This is a major discovery in the field of signal transduction,” Chin said. “Tyrosine phosphorylation has so far been considered the major player in signal transduction. But what we discovered challenges this concept. We found another player – acetylation – in the process.” |}}

• : 그 동안 signal transduction의 작용은 phosphorylation에 의해서 일어나는 것으로 알고 있었는데, acetylation에 의해서도 신호가 전달된다는 내용으로 항암제와 같은 치료제가 잘 작용하지 않는 이유 중 하나일지도 모른다.

2007-10-04

• 떡하니 다른 분의 블로그에 답글을 달때, 항상 이곳 주소를 기입하면서도 계속 글을 남기지 않은 것에 대하여 반성한다. 단순히 남에게 보여지기 위한 기록도 좋은 것은 아니지만.

• Bio::Blogs #15 -- Bio::Blogs

  • : 이번 내용에서는 각종 Bioinformatics관련된 학회에 관한 내용들이 들어가 있다. 해외에 갈 수 없는 상황에서 유용한 정보를 얻을 수 있을 듯.

CategoryWebLogTerra