Sapere Aude
Tag: biotech
There must be some DNA or protein sequences that are not compatible with life, perhaps because they bind some essential cellular component, for example, and have therefore been selected out of circulation. There may also be some that are lethal in some species, but not others. We’re looking for those sequences.
looking for the shortest DNA strands not expressed anywhere: they might be too deadly. that reads almost like a script for a ‘dangers of GNR tech’ movie
more research is needed before this justifies becoming a wino 🙂
human dose is 150-200 mg/day, but given that many red wines contain 3-4 mg of resveratrol per liter, a comparable intake would require 50 bottles of wine per day.
2008-11-09:
A team of students have spliced genes into brewer’s yeast to increase its output of resveratrol, the same healthful chemical found in red wine.
sign me up!
the tree is widely used for getting biodiesel in India, and is being promoted as a very easy to grow biofuel crop in 100s of projects throughout India and the third world.
rosetta@home continues to impress.
it turns out many of these blind predictions have an accuracy that is unprecedented. Computational protein design methodology has never before been applied to vaccine design
rosetta@home sets a new record for structure prediction: the xray crystallography phase problem was solved by computation for the first time. things like this is why i run r@h
The Mission of Orbital Outfitters is to provide affordable, industrial quality spacesuits and related services to commercial and government space travelers and explorers.
2007-02-16:
Astronauts’ spacesuits may one day be covered in motion-sensitive protein called prestin, which is found in the outer hair cells of the human ear. In the cell membranes of these cells, prestin converts electrical voltage into motion, elongating and contracting the cell. This movement amplifies sound in the ear. However, prestin can also work in reverse, producing electrical charges in response to mechanical stresses, such as tiny vibrations.”
2007-07-15:
retro cool. now we only need a spacecraft that does not suck.
2010-05-18:
Hubert Vykukal demonstrates mobility of the Hardsuit AX 3 Space Suit design.
with disco shoes.
2019-10-16:
Even though it’s primarily designed for launch and reentry, the Orion suit can keep astronauts alive if Orion were to lose cabin pressure during the journey out to the Moon, while adjusting orbits in Gateway, or on the way back home. Astronauts could survive inside the suit for up to 6 days as they make their way back to Earth. The suits are also equipped with a suite of survival gear in the event they have to exit Orion after splashdown before recovery personnel arrive. Each suit will carry its own life preserver that contains a personal locator beacon, a rescue knife, and a signaling kit with a mirror, strobe light, flashlight, whistle, and light sticks.
previously known as junk dna. we now learn that they are the carcasses of ‘dna viruses’, ie spam. it is telling that the os of life is up to 90% spam 🙂
The main part of the pump is made from a flexible polymer sphere 5mm in diameter. Teflon capillary tubes measuring 400 microns in diameter are inserted into opposite sides of this sphere. A cell-friendly protein coating is then added to the sphere followed by a sheet of pulsing cultured heart cells. After just 1 hour the cells are firmly attached and begin driving the pump.
reverse cyborgization?
the state of biowar, and countermeasures. most promising: an artificial chromosome that confers resistance to the top 25 human viruses. this is doable with 2005-era tech, engineering work needed, but no basic research.
Gossypol sounds like the name of a Welsh village or, perhaps, an ineffective Eastern European intelligence agency. It is, in fact, the toxin that makes cottonseed inedible to humans. Rich in protein and energy, cotton bolls end up as animal feed once mankind has harvested its fiber. A new growing method in under development that controls the dangerous ingredient’s formation. As 44m tons of cotton are baled a year, the researchers claim their new strain could feed 500m people were it to become widely adopted.
would create a high-protein bean suitable for consumption. although iirc, cotton plantations really deplete the soil.
promising delivery vehicle for genomic therapies. HAC avoid the complications of interactions with unrelated genes that happen if you insert genes randomly into an existing chromosome.
Gregor J. Rothfuss 