May Issue , 2006 Mei Uitgawe, 2006 Redaksioneel In hierdie uitgawe: In this issue: Redaksioneel 1 Genetics—the next fifty years 2 Kongres presteerders 4 2056—some views on the future 5 The year 1956 7 Top ten scientific “blunders” 9 Immune to fear 10 NEWS RELEASE 11 The lighter side of genetics 12 Hiermee wil ek met hierdie eerste nuusbrief van die jaar (in kongresjare word die eerste uitgawe vertraag tot na die kongres) welkom sê aan die nuwe lede en ook aan die nuwe uitvoerende komitee wat tydens die kongres in Bloemfontein verkies is. Daarmee saam ook baie geluk aan Prof Spies en sy span vir die reelings verbonde aan die negentiende kongres. Ek is seker al die lede wat dit bygewoon het sal saamstem dat dit insiggewend en stimulerend was. Baie geluk veral aan al die studente wat deelgeneem het. Dis altyd goed om te sien hoeveel opkomende jong navorsers ons in ons geledere het. Remember to visit our homepage sagene.co.za. Not only are the newsletters published here but you can feel free to use this as advertising space as well for positions and bursaries available or in- teresting workshops etc. which your institution might be hosting. If you have knowledge of any interesting conferences which you might be involved with in the organization of or will be attending, please also notify us - I am sure other members or visitors to our website might also be interested. As we are all taking in new students continuously or welcoming new honours students in our labs, please remind and encourage these new students to join the Society. Registration forms are available from the Society home page: sagene.co.za. sagene.co.za Na die onlangse kongres het ons baie gehoor oor die begin van die vereniging en waarheen die vak oppad is. Ek sluit ‘n interessante stukkie geskiedenis in om die ontstaan van die vereniging 50 jaar gelede in perspektief te stel. Prof. Louise Warnich het dan ook haar “kristalbalver- wagtinge” vir die volgende vyftig jaar van genetika, wat sy tydens die pasafgelope kongres met ons gedeel het, vir ons hier saamgevat. Hiermee saam is daar die verwagtinge van hoe Genetika in 2056 sal lyk. Lees gerus wat huidige navorsers in die veld hieroor dink. May you enjoy this issue and have a welldeserved June / July break. Unfortunately due to a problem with my “suppliers” no genetic fingerprint is included in this issue. I will be sure to remedy this for the next issue. Navorsingsgroete ROUVAY ROODT-WILDING "That is the essence of science: ask an impertinent question, and you are on the way to the pertinent answer." Jacob Bronowski (1908-74), British scientist and writer Bladsy 2 / Page 2 May Issue , 2006 Genetics—the next fifty years If one looks back at the remarkable advances within genetics over the past 50 years, one cannot help but look forward to the next 50 years with great expectations. However, just as little as the founding members of the SAGS could foresee the transformation that lay ahead in 1956, can we in turn predict all the developments that we will witness in the next 50 years. Despite this, we may safely say that a number of aspects of our fascinating discipline will keep geneticists occupied for the next few decades. From genomes to phenomes The last 10 years have been characterised by phenomenal accomplishments in the study of genomes, and we currently have in hand the complete genome sequences of many organisms, representing all three domains of all living things. Although we will probably see less emphasis on the study of genomes, genomics will remain indispensable. Future improvements in technology should contribute to the elucidation of even more genomes in less time at lower cost. It is already predicted that it will be viable to determine the genome sequence of every human being on our planet before 2050 (Muggleton, 2006). Will we be able to determine the genome sequence of every species on earth within the next 50 years? Probably not, as new species are constantly being discovered. In Southern Africa, therefore, where we have a wealth of diverse and unique plant, animal and microbial species, our scientists still have abundant opportunities to contribute to the elucidation of the genetic makeup of all organisms on earth. Genomes are records of their own evolutionary histories (Wilkins, 2003). Conse- continue to fulfil this role until we have identified all the genes, regulatory elements and other yet unidentified functional components in a number of representa- quently, the availability of more and more genome sequences will allow us to compare entire genomes and to analyse evolutionary changes on a new scale that will contribute significantly to our comprehension of the mechanisms underlying these changes. Comparative genomics has already proved to be an important tool in the identification of functionally important genomic elements, and will tive genomes from all the taxa. However, to fully understand the role of genetics in biology, the time has already come to move on from genomes to other “-omes” such as transcriptomes, proteomes and metabolomes. The elucidation and identification of these components and their interaction in biochemical pathways and cellular networks, under the influence of the environ- ment, is no trivial task and will dominate the molecular biology research field for a long time. The biggest challenge in these studies, though, is not the genotyping, but the collection of sufficient information on the constantly changing transcriptome, proteome, metabolome and resulting phenotype, as well as the environment. Help will hopefully come in the form of miniature computers, called motes or pods, which could constantly monitor biological systems, such as human bodies for various physiological features and environmental factors (Butler, 2006). These networks of sensors will collect and transmit information to databases where researchers will be able to exploit this real-time data and test hypotheses to an extent that is currently impossible. We will thus have to master systems biology before we will be able to fully comprehend the relation between genotype and phenotype in cells, tissues, organs and organisms. Novel technology The preceding 50 years have been characterized by major breakthroughs in technologies that contributed substantially to the accomplishments of this era, such as DNA sequencing, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA-based markers, to mention but a few. The next 50 years will be even more dependant on breakthrough technologies, and we are probably not even capable of imagining what novel technologies will be implemented. We can presume that automation and miniaturization will be key features of any technologies to be employed and nanotechnology and microfluidics should dominate at least for the next decade or two. May Issue , 2006 Bladsy 3 / Page 3 Genetics—the next fifty years Computational biology will also play an increasingly intrinsic part in genetic research in future and computers will be involved throughout the scientific process, from the development of hypotheses, through the design and execution of experiments, to the handling and analysis of the vast loads of data. Ultimately they will facilitate the integration of different data types, such as genetic variation, protein structure, biochemical pathways and phenotypic profiles. In a recent paper in Nature, Brent and Bruck have even suggested that biologists will need to move beyond naturallanguage descriptions of biological components such as molecules and pathways and adopt formalisms from computer science in order to attain better insight in functional biological systems (Brent and Bruck, 2006). The promise of future applications Genetics will play a progressively more important role in various spheres of influence and will affect our lives in more than one way – from what we eat and drink to understanding and manipulating our behaviour (Cornelis et al, 2006, Rothstein, 2005). We will see numerous applications in fields as diverse as health care, forensic and sport sciences, production of food and other commodities, nature conservation and environmental remediation. We can assume that tests will be available for accurate risk calculation of developing complex disorders such as diabetes and schizophrenia, and that the emphasis will shift from diagnosis to prevention of disease. Personal health care will be enhanced by the availability of designer drugs and organs, and gene therapy should be available for numerous genetic defects. It is still an open question as to whether there will be fairness in access to these technologies. For plant and animal geneticists the biggest challenge will remain to feed the world while conserving the environment to sustain the interests of both present and future generations. Although conventional breeding, assisted by marker assisted selection, will still play an important role in years to come, genetically modified (GM) organisms are the order of the day as illustrated by recent figures on global and local GM crop production (James, 2006). We should see an emphasis shift, from benefit to breeders, such as improved growing conditions, to benefit to consumers, such as allergen-free, more nutritious foods. The production of novel products should also expand, and we are already witnessing this in diverse forms such as pharmaceutical products, bio-degradable plastics and energy. The ethical, legal and social issues that will consequently emerge from the new knowledge and applications there of, are, however, profound. Many of these issues provoke uncertainty and even fear in the public and if these are not duly addressed, we will see very few of the promised benefits and outcomes of genetics in the next 50 years. What we need now are, to quote Francis Collins, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, USA, “proactive efforts to ensure that benefits are maximized and harms minimized in the many dimensions of human experience”. Furthermore, geneticists will have to engage in multidisciplinary collaborations while future geneticists will need interdisciplinary skills, ranging from physics and mathematics to the humanities such as law and ethics (Collins et al., 2003). Unless all the genes involved in aging are identified quite soon and the reversal of the aging process elucidated, some of us will not be here in 50 years time. May those who will be looking back at our current future in 2056, agree that genetics has been applied to the benefit of all on earth. References: Brent R, Bruck J (2006) 2020 Computing: Can computers help to explain biology? Nature 440: 416-417 Butler D (2006) 2020 Computing: Everything, everywhere. Nature 440:402-405 Collins FS et al. al. (2003) A vision for the future of genomics research. Nature 422:835-847 Cornelis MC et al. al. (2006) Coffee, CYP1A2 genotype, and risk of myocardial infarction. JAMA.295 (10):1135-1141 Wilkins AS (2003) 2003 as a vantage point for Genetics Past and Genetics Future. BioEssays 25: 1029-1030 James C (2006) Highlights of ISAAA briefs NO. 34-2005: Global status of commercialized biotech/GM crops. CropBiotech Update Special Edition, January 11, 2006 Muggleton SH (2006) 2020 Computing: Exceeding human limits. Nature 440:409-410 Rothstein MA (2005) Science and society: applications of behavioural genetics: outpacing the science? Nat Rev Genet 6 (10):793-798 Contributed by Louise Warnich, SU May Issue , 2006 Bladsy 4 / Page 4 Hofmeyr van Schaik wenner Kongres presteerders Beste MSc voordrag Luke Solomon, UP Anthia Gagiano, UV Beste PhD voordrag Ruhan Slabbert, US Beste MSc plakkaat Michele Victor, UP Michelle Victor (beste MSc plakkaat) ontvang haar prys van Vise president, Zander Myburgh. Beste PhD plakkaat Martin Ranik, UP Baie geluk aan al die studente vir die goeie gehalte werk gelewer. Nicola Panton, wenner van die HofMeyr van Schaick medalje, Universiteit van Stellenbosch Die Universiteit van die Vrystaat het geen toekenning in 2006 gemaak nie. Met druktyd was die wenners by Pretoria en Natal nog nie bekend nie. En aan die wat dit nie gemaak het nie — nou is jou kans: spring aan die werk vir die 2008 kongres in Pretoria. Luke Solomon (gedeelde beste MSc voordrag) ontvang sy prys van Vise president, Zander Myburgh. SAGV Uitvoerende komitee 2006-2008 President: Tesourier: Nuusbrief redak- Prof Johan Spies, Mr. Willem Botes teur: UV US Dr. Rouvay Roodt- [email protected] [email protected] Wilding, US [email protected] Vise president: Sekretaresse: Dr Zander Myburg, Mej Louise van der Addisionele lid: UP Merwe, US Dr. Wilma Fick, [email protected] [email protected] UP [email protected] "But in science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs." Francis Darwin "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." Isaac Newton May Issue , 2006 Bladsy 5 / Page 5 2056 — Some views on the future During the conference a competition was launched as to views on what the future has in store for us. Here are geneticists’, who attended the nineteenth congress, views on what genetics will look like in 2056: Need an organ transplant? Companies in this era will be able to produce organs uniquely for individuals. No more waiting lists or incompatibilities. N Ruivo and D Badenhorst, Stellenbosch University DNA based computers will be the order of the day M Ranik, University of Pretoria Genetically engineered crops will be designed and produced that could be grown in outer space or inner ring planets. This will feed the earth as well as long term space missions R Slabbert, Stellenbosch University gnologie span saam, sal genetiese projekte gelykstaande wees aan vandag se kernwapen projekte. So neem solank lewensversekering uit want Bush gaan gekloon word. A. Zietsman Genetics is destined to become an increasingly influential decision making tool which will affect most facets of our existence over the next 50 years to ensure and secure our understanding of life D. Lakay, University of Kwazulu Natal May I please see your ID? Personalized Identity cards for every individual containing each persons unique genetic code for predisposition and high risk testing N Ruivo and D Badenhorst, Stellenbosch University Worldwide application of eugenics and human cloning – homo sapiens super species A Kerensky Genomics Transcriptomics Proteomics Phenomics A final solution to the preservation of our unique cultures and individuals N Ruivo and D Badenhorst, Stellenbosch University As die oorpopulasie krisis nie opgelos word nie en genetika en nanote- Pharmacogenetics What is your unique cocktail? Individualized drug cocktails Affordable Accessible N Ruivo and D Badenhorst, Stellenbosch University My expectation of genetics in 2056 is that it will be affected most significantly by the emerging field of nanotechnology. The recent publication in Nature highlighting “DNA origami” – the ability to use DNA’s inherent property of hybridization to build structures such as rectangles and pyramids points to a future where human transgenes will build micro-machines from transcribed mRNA molecules. These machines will enhance life for humans by repairing DNA mutations, fixing cell damage and maintaining telomeres thus greatly increasing expected life span L Solomon, University of Pretoria Family genetic history will be available online. Can trace possible risk / predisposition to genetic disorders or diseases that are hereditary. Therefore one can make the necessary lifestyle changes and start treatment early if necessary Ethical considerations: Only family members will have access to the information N Ruivo and D Badenhorst, Stellenbosch University Nanobot DNA surgery Using nanobots to remove defective genes and replacing it with functional DNA this eliminating genetic diseases and enhancing crops exponentially N Creux, University of Pretoria Automation of molecular genetic techniques will have become the order of the day. Much more complex studies with bigger cohorts will hence be possible. Treatment (once off) of viruses such as HIV will be a reality. Problems such as pollution will be addressed by genetically modifying organisms to degrade harmful products into harmless ones. Thousands of species will have had their genome sequenced and complex pathways and mechanisms in different organisms will have been elucidated. Stem cell technology will have advanced so much that treatment as well as regrowing of organs will have become the norm A Hitzeroth, Stellenbosch University Genetics will have become completely intertwined with the disciplines of nanotechnol- May Issue , 2006 Bladsy 6 / Page 6 2056—Some views on the future ogy microfluidics, and even computer sciences (and probably a couple of new currently unfathomable scientific fields). Genetics will become what computers and microprocessors are today: the defining science and driving force of economic growth. The massively important role of genetics in 2056 will not only be evident in the dramatically improved understanding of complex human diseases and biodiversity but also in the manner in which genetic and biological principles are applied in computer software (and even hardware) design, the manner in which organizations are run and stocks are priced an shared and even in the way economics are structured. In the year 2056, genetics will be widely acknowledged as one of the (if not the most) important and influential sciences ever developed. J Parathyras, Stellenbosch University There will be organ farms. Farmers that do not farm mielies, but live kidneys, hearts, livers etc. You will give a sample of your DNA and they will give you a new organ that will best work for you. The most closely related organ will be sold to you. B Paterson Pharmacogenetics discipline will improve and become a worldwide used technology, the nanotechnology will improve too. This could be used in conjunction with genetics where minute replica “white blood cells” could be made with onboard genetic computer chips consisting of antibody eliciting sequences. These would be displayed to elicit an immune response against infection but the process would happen more rapidly while itself destroying some pathogens. New pathogens could be recognized and their neutralizing epitope sequences obtained to then display the new infections. Apart from immunology these techniques of combining genetics, nanotechnology and computational systems would improve any disease manifestations understanding B Heinbockel, University of Pretoria Its 6:30 am. Time to get up and get dressed. My breakfast will be ready in 20min, a synthetically balanced meal based on my gene expression requirements for today. When I am ready Ill take the sky shuttle to work. Its 8:00 am. Before I can enter the lab, my identity is verified using noninvasive laser scanning genetic profiling. Once in my office I can plan my day. I see on the computer that the results of the overnight genome sequencing for a new species discovered on planet Alpha 62 is complete. My diary indicates that I have an appointment with a family requesting corrective gene therapy for the early onset of Alzheimers. Tonight I must pack for the 34th SAGS congress being hosted by the university of Earth I n Pofadder. C Viljoen, University of the Free State It is impossible to make a prediction about the future without taking a glance at the past. During the past 50 years the field of Genetics went from Mendel and peas to Graig Venter and Dolly. Phrases like cloning, RNA silencing, designer babies and stem cell research have become everyday terms used not only by geneticists, but also by the man on the street. In my opinion the conclusion we can draw from genetics during the past 50 years is: Advances beyond our wildest dreams. I predict that in the next 50 years, the greater cooperation be- tween various divisions in genetics, will solve issues such as world hunger and incurable diseases. Future genetics will enable humans too live beyond a 100 years due to specialized gene therapy, production of patient-specific organs and medical-genetic advances unimaginable. With paper regulations, the subject of genetics will be the filed of the future, solving numerous universal problems, creating bigger and better crops and revival of species that have long disappeared from earth. Suddenly cows producing chocalte wilk, sweets growing from trees, flying horses and a immortal human race, does not sound so impossible…at least not as far fetched as designer medicine sounded 50 years ago. N Du Plessis, Stellenbosch University WINNING ENTRY P Naidoo, University of Kwazulu Natal This entry will be published in the next newsletter "Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood." Teague's Paradox. May Issue , 2006 Bladsy 7 / Page 7 The year 1956 What was happening in the world of Science when the South African Genetics Society was founded in 1956? Anthropology William Clouser Boyd assisted by his wife Lyle, after studies of blood groups extending back into the 1930s, releases a list of 13 "races" of Homo sapiens based on blood groups. One surprise is that the Basques of Spain and France appear to be remaining members of an early group that inhabited Europe before the ancestors of other modern Europeans arrived. phate), an intermediate in the cell's energy cycle and also important in many other reactions. Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen isolate and purify nerve growth factor. Chemistry Herbert Friedman reports that solar flares are X-ray sources. Dorothy Hodgkin uses an electronic computer to work out the structure of vitamin B12. Yugoslav-Swiss chemist Vladimir Prelog with Robert Cahn and Christopher Ingold develops a general system for specifying the stereoisomers of organic compounds for a given chemical composition. Sir Cyril Hinshelwood of England and Soviet physical chemist Nikolay Semenov share the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their parallel work on the kinetics of chemical chain reactions. Biology Communication Astronomy Romanian-American physiologist George Emil Palade discovers that small bodies within the cell, now called ribosomes, are mostly ribonucleic acid (RNA); it is soon found that the ribosomes are the locations in the cell where proteins are manufactured. Arthur Kornberg discovers the enzyme DNA polymerase, which plays a role in replication of DNA. Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr. isolates cyclic AMP (adenosine monophos- The first transatlantic telephone cable, linking Scotland with Newfoundland, is put into operation on September 25. The two coaxial cables can carry 37 circuits and there are 51 repeaters in each direction. Before this cable telephone conversations between the United States and Europe were possible only by shortwave radio telephone. Ampex brings its first video tape recorder on the market. It uses a 5-cm (2-in.) tape, quadruplex heads, and a transverse scan. IBM introduces the hard disk for the storage of data. Their system is called RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) and makes use of indices for locating information on the disk. John Backus and a team at IBM complete FORTRAN I, the first fullfledged computer programming language. Previously, computer programs had to be installed in machine language. FORTRAN becomes commercially available in 1957. John McCarthy starts work on a list processor, later known as LISP, the computer language of artificial intelligence. The language is based on the list processing language, IPL (information processing language), developed by Herbert Simon, Allen Newell, and J. Cliff Shaw. Newell and Simon present their program Logic Theorist at a summer seminar at Dartmouth, where McCarthy coins the term "artificial intelligence." Computers UNIVAC introduces the first commercially available computer of the second generation; it uses transistors instead of vacuum tubes, making operation less costly and more reliable. Stanislaw Marcin Ulam and Paul Stein program a computer to play a form of chess on a 6 × 6 board. The program, called MANIAC I, becomes the first computer program to beat a human in a game. Earth science Bruce Charles Heezen, American oceanographer and geologist and Maurice Ewing discover the mid-oceanic ridge, a globe-girdling formation of mountains and rifts. As in the part in the Atlantic Ocean, the other parts of the mid-ocean ridge have a deep rift in the center of the ridge. Ecology & the environment The first leak of stored high-level radioactive wastes is detected at the Hanford site near Richland, Washington. Minamata disease, a nervous system disorder afflicting people living around Minamata Bay in Japan, is linked to dumping of mercury into the bay by a local corporation, where it enters the food chain. People who eat fish from the bay are affected with the disorder, which is caused by mercury poisoning. Electronics The Lip company in France produces the first commercial watch to run on electric batteries. William Shockley, Walter Brattain, and John Bardeen of the United States win the Nobel Prize in physics for their studies May Issue , 2006 Bladsy 8 / Page 8 The year 1956 on semiconductors and on semiconductors and the invention of the electronic transistor. Energy Christopher Hinton opens Calder Hall in England on October 17. It is the first large-scale nuclear power plant designed for peaceful purposes, producing 4.2 megawatts of electricity. Materials Fiber-reactive dyes are introduced commercially for the first time. Developed primarily for artificial fibers and for cotton, these are easy to apply at low cost and quite fast. Medicine & health Birth-control pills are used in a large-scale test conducted by John Rock and Gregory Pincus in Puerto Rico. The kidney dialysis machine, developed by Wilhelm Kolff in 1943, comes into use in the United States. E. Donnall Thomas performs the first successful experimental bone marrow transplants on human identical twins as well as many experimental transplants on dogs. Paul Maurice Zoll finds a way to halt arrhythmia with electrical currents applied to the chest. Organic chemist Frederick Charles Novello introduces the diuretic drug chlorothiazide to treat high blood pressure. Bruno Kirsh discovers peculiar dense bodies in the heart cells of guinea pigs. The function of these bodies is unknown at this time, but much later they will be discovered to release hormones that help regulate the circulatory system. Walter Hess, after developing the technique of using small electrodes to stimulate specific regions of the brain, identifies various regions in the brain with their functions. He publishes an atlas of the brain based on his work with dogs and cats. Werner Forssmann, Dickinson W. Richards, and French-American physiologist André F. Cournaud win the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for their use of the catheter for study of the interior of the heart and circulatory system. Physics Clyde Lorrain Cowan, Jr. and Frederick Reines observe neutrinos for the first time (they had been predicted by Wolfgang Pauli in 1930). Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee in May realize that conservation of parity has never been checked for the weak force. By June they have a paper proposing experiments that could be used to determine whether or not parity is conserved. K. Lande, E.T. Booth, J. Impeduglia, and Leon M. Lederman establish the existence of a long-lived neutral K particle (a.k.a. kaon) and determine its decay modes. B. Cook, G.R. Lambertson, O. Picconi, and W.A. Wentzel discover the antineutron. Eisenhower signs the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating the Interstate Highway System • Tools Nicolaas Bloembergen lays the theoretical foundations for the construction of a solid-state maser (the microwave analogue of a laser) that will produce microwaves continuously instead of intermittently. . And other world news in that year: • • • • • • • • The United bans heroin Kingdom Elvis Presley enters the United States music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel." Morocco declares its independence from France The Broadway musical My Fair Lady opens in New York City Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic Queen Elizabeth II inaugurated Chew Valley Lake. Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco President Dwight D. • • • 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria sinks after colliding with the Swedish ship SS Stockholm in heavy fog, killing 51. Beginning of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Japan becomes a member of the United Nations. U.S. tests the first aerial hydrogen bomb over Namu islet, Bikini Atoll with the force of 10 million tons TNT Adapted from answers.com "Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science." Ralph Waldo Emerson "Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think." Niels Bohr "I think there's a world market for about five computers." Thomas Watson (Founder of IBM) May Issue , 2006 Bladsy 9 / Page 9 Top ten scientific “blunders” Albert Einstein once said: "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe." Never a truer word was said. As any researcher will tell you, science progresses through trial and error, and mainly error. "One step forward, two steps back" might be the researcher's motto. They are, after all, much more human than we ever give them credit for. Here we list the 10 “biggest” blunders of all time. It is a highly subjective hall of shame. But it covers the full range of academic disciplines showing that all academics are capable of making big mistakes. Sometimes they are unintentional, sometimes not. The famous biologist, Stephen Jay Gould, argued that scientists can delude themselves - so keen are they to uncover a new discovery. Brain power: Scientists at the Institute for Animal Health in Edinburgh secured a £200,000 government grant to find out wh e th e r BS E jumped the "species barrier" from cows into sheep. Why then had they mistakenly tested cattle brains instead of sheep brains for five years? · Scientific Watergate: Watergate: The US National Institutes of Health investigatory panel found the immunologist Thereza Imanishi-Kari had fabricated data in a 1986 research paper authored with the Nobel prize winner David Baltimore. The findings claimed in the paper promised a breakthrough for genetic modification of the immune system. Mein bumph: bumph: Oxbridge historian Hugh TrevorRoper authenticated the Hitler Diaries, unveiled as an exclusive by the German-based Stern magazine. The diaries were later exposed as a hoax. Cold Fusion: Fusion: In 1989 chemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischman, of the University of Utah, claimed to have solved the world's energy problems by discovering cold fusion. However, no-one has since been able to replicate their findings of nuclear fusion in heavy water. Hubble Space Telescope: scope: Nasa scientists launched the Hubble telescope to create a lens 10 to 20 times more powerful than those based on earth. A gross design error in the main mirror was discovered immediately after launch in April 1990. Hundreds of millions of pounds were needed for the astronaut repair of the mirror. N-rays: rays: A French physicist, René Blondlot, claimed to have discovered a new type of radiation, shortly after Roentgen had discovered Xrays. American physicist Robert Wood, however, revealed that N-rays were little more than a delusion. Wood removed the prism from the N-ray detection device, without which the machine couldn't work. Yet, Blondlot's assistant still claimed he found N-rays. Academic standards: standards : Cyril Burt, the 1960s guru of British psychology, produced research into the intelligence of identical twins which, among other findings, led to the assertions that academic standards were falling. Years later the statistics were found to be "too perfect" and it was discovered the twins - and even the researcher alleged to have carried out the work never existed. Piltdown man: In 1913 an ape's jaw with a canine tooth worn down like a human's was uncovered at a site near Piltdown. British paleoanthropologists came to accept the idea that the fossil remains belonged to a single creature who had a human cranium and an ape's jaw - offering the missing link between apes and humans in the evolutionary chain. In 1953, Piltdown 'man' was exposed as a forgery. The skull was modern and the teeth on the ape's jaw had been filed down. Alchemy: - Sir Isaac Newton - the scientist who single-handedly created the foundations of modern day physics had a little known obsession with alchemy, and was convinced for much of his life that he would be able to change base metals into gold. Such a discovery would have helped with his later job as master of the mint, but never materialised. Flat Earth: - even though Christopher Columbus gave flat earth theorists a reason to think twice, there are still flat earth societies where people propose (and prove) elaborate explanations for why the world actually is shaped like a pancake. By Lee Elliot Major Taken from EducationGuardian.co.uk October 2001 May Issue , 2006 Immune to fear When antibodies fail to distinguish between your own body and an invading microbe, they make you sick. This happens in chronic autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus, which have complex constellations of variable, often debilitating symptoms because of autoantibodies—antibodies that target the body's own tissues. Although it might make intuitive sense that autoantibodies to connective tissue afflict the joints and those against motor neurons impair movement, autoimmune diseases are seldom so tidy in their causes and effects. Impaired memory and altered mood are common to many autoimmune diseases, and even some "classic" neurologic and psychiatric conditions—movement disorders, schizophrenia, autism and others—are linked to antibodies against the brain. However, unlike joints and peripheral nerves, the brain is sequestered behind a barrier that excludes large molecules such as antibodies. Exactly how antibodies get into the brain and effect changes in behavior and function is poorly understood. Recent reports help to fill that void. Using mice that were immunized to carry one of the principal antibodies found in lupus patients, investigators led Bladsy 10/ Page 10 by Betty Diamond at Columbia University Medical Center report that infection or stress can allow the antibodies to penetrate specific parts of the brain, killing neurons and changing behavior. The authors had previously shown that most of the 1.4 million people with lupus in the United States carry antibodies against double-stranded DNA. Some of these antibodies cross-react with proteins, particularly a string of five amino acids: a s pa rta te-trypto ph a nglutamate-tyrosine-serine, or DWEYS, to use their one-letter abbreviations. The team searched the database to find proteins with that sequence and found two parts of a receptor for the neurotransmitter glutamate: the NR2A and NR2B subunits of the so-called NMDA variety of glutamate receptor. Injecting the DWEYS peptide into mice caused them to develop antibodies similar to those found in lupus patients, but the antibodies had no immediate effect on cells or behavior, presumably because they were excluded from the central nervous system by the blood-brain barrier. But this defense can be compromised, by head trauma, bacterial toxins, osmotic changes or stress in the form of a spike in adrenaline. In a recent paper (Immunity, August 2004), Diamond and her colleagues used an injection of lipopolysaccharide, a bacterial endotoxin, to breach the barrier and allow antibod- ies to cross into the mice's brains. The antibodies bound to neurons in the hippocampus, a structure rich with NMDA receptors, and killed a significant number of cells within a week. Not surprisingly, those mice scored worse than controls on memory tests that require the hippocampus; performance on nonhippocampal tasks was normal. The lipopolysaccharide had no effect on mice that had not been immunized with the DWEYS peptide. The scientists determined just how the cells died by giving the mice memantine (which blocks the NMDA receptor) prior to opening the blood-brain barrier: The neurons were spared, and behavior was normal. This result shows that the cause of cell death was overstimulation of the NMDA receptors. The neurons didn't die because the antibodies incurred the wrath of the immune system; they died because their uninterrupted firing was toxic. The follow-up paper was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study design was similar, except that the authors used an injection of epinephrine (adrenaline) rather than a mock bacterial infection to penetrate the bloodbrain barrier. Surprisingly, cells in the hippocampus were spared. The mice did fine on memory tests and behaved normally. But neurons in the amygdala were half dead. This part of the brain regulates emotion—particularly fear—and is essential for a Pavlovian behavioral task called fear conditioning. In this test, mice are placed in a special cage and conditioned to associate a mild electrical shock with distinctive sensory cues such as novel smells, textures or sounds. Later, when confronted with the same cues, the animals anticipate the shock, get scared and freeze. But the mice with lupus antibodies that received the adrenaline could not muster the same response of fear. As before, memantine prevented the anatomical and behavioral changes. Furthermore, treatment with a version of the DWEYS peptide had a similar protective effect, presumably because it bound the antibodies before they reached the NMDA receptor. This story would be interesting enough by itself— preclinical studies of a lupus drug based on the peptide are under way—but the implications for other diseases are even bigger. Viruses, bacteria, parasites and vaccines have all been implicated in neuropsychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia and autism. But scientists seldom know how or why an infection leads to behavioral consequences. Clearly it is more than infection alone: Not every person with toxoplasmosis develops schizophrenia, and not every schizophrenic has antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii. Diamond's results offer one example of how to connect these dots. Christopher R. Brodie Taken from American Scientist 94 (2): March-April 2006 May Issue , 2006 NEWS RELEASE Brasília, May 25, 2006 GENOLYPTUS TO MAKE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EUCALYPTUS GENOME SEQUENCING PROJECT The Brazilian Network of Eucalyptus Genome Research, better known as the GENOLYPTUS project, will make important contributions to advance the prospects of having a draft sequence of the Eucalyptus genome. Convened at the annual meeting held in Porto Alegre between April 26 and 28, the steering committee of the Genolyptus project decided that it will give full support to the international initiative of submitting a proposal to the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), the sequencing powerhouse of the US Department of Energy, to generate a draft sequence of the Eucalyptus grandis genome. On behalf of over 80 research scientists, breeders and graduate students from 14 private forest based companies, six universities and EMBRAPA, all part of the Brazilian project, Dr. Dario Grattapaglia, coordinator of GENOLYPTUS pointed out that “ This initiative will certainly represent Bladsy 11 / Page 11 a major advancement toward an increased understanding of tree biology and will accelerate the development of molecular breeding technology for increased sustainability of forest based operations worldwide that produce pulp, paper, energy and wood. We are ready to help make this project a success, and we call on all other eucalypt research organizations internationally to join us in supporting this important initiative”. The formation of an international collaborative network around the Eucalyptus genome started some three years ago at an IUFRO Tree Biotechnology conference in Umea, Sweden in 2003. After a series of meetings in Australia and Japan in the last two years, DOE scientist, Dr. Jerry Tuskan, announced at the Tree Biotechnology conference held in Nov 2005 in Pretoria, South Africa, that JGI would consider a proposal for a Eucalyptus genome sequencing project in the context of the “Genomes to Energy” focus area of the recently launched Laboratory Science Program at JGI. Contingent upon the approval of a Eucalyptus grandis draft se- quencing project by JGI, the GENOLYPTUS network, through its participating institutions, will contribute the following genomic resources to assist the assembly and annotation phases of the genome project: 1) A reference linkage map for Eucalyptus with over 400 microsatellite markers derived from genomic sequences and ESTs mapped on existing fullsib pedigrees; 2) The construction of a publicly available, high coverage, BAC genomic library and the assembly of a fluorescent fingerprintingbased physical map in collaboration with the Arizona Genomics Institute; 3) The annotated GENOLYPTUS sequence database comprising around 20,000 unigenes derived from the sequencing of over 20 cDNA libraries. Besides the genomic resources, GENOLYPTUS, through one of its participating companies Suzano, will be privileged to provide a top performance selfed tree of Eucalyptus grandis to be used as the target genome to be sequenced and physically mapped. “A more homozygous genome should greatly facilitate the genome assembly. Additionally, this tree has been cloned and will be made fully available to the public in the form of in vitro micropropagules” indicated Dr. Grattapaglia. The availability of a draft sequence of the Eucalyptus grandis genome will generate extraordinary opportunities for reaching a much higher level of understanding of the unique biology of forest trees and will have obvious implications in eucalyptbased production forestry as well as environmentally relevant issues such as carbon sequestration and water use efficiency in the tropics. The detailed genome sequencing proposal to be submitted by June 2006 is now being finalized by a group of scientists from several countries world-wide, led by Dr. Zander Myburg from South Africa, the coordinator of the international Eucalyptus Genome Network. For more information, please visit www.ieugc.up.ac.za. Contributed by Zander Myburgh, UP "I have a hunch that the unknown sequences of DNA will decode into copyright notices and patent protections." Donald E. Knuth KONGRESSE NUWE BOEKE Conservation and the genetics of populations Hardcover ISBN: 1405121459 2006 644 pages FW Allendorf & G Luikart (Editors) BLACKWELL PUBLISHING Gene cloning and DNA analyses Paperback ISBN: 1405111216 2006 408 pages T. Brown BLACKWELL PUBLISHING Plant Biology 2006 5 — 9 August 2006, Boston, Massachusetts Website: http://www.aspb.org/meetings/pb-2006 Website International Plant Breeding Symposium 20– 25 August 2006, Mexico City, Mexico Website: http://intlplantbreeding.com Website 11th International Congress of Human Genetics 6 - 10 August 2006, Brisbane, Australia Website: http://www.ichg2006.com Website Interesting websites http://www.omicsworld.com http://www.intergenetics.org http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/ SAGV/ SAGS is on the web http://www.sagene.co.za http://www.livescience.com Why did the chicken cross the road? The fittest chickens cross roads. [Darwin] The road moved beneath the chicken. [Einstein] Chickens at rest tend to stay at rest, chickens in motion cross roads. [Newton] We're not sure which side of the road the chicken was on. [Heisenberg] There was already a chicken on this side of the road. [Pauli] It had a dream. [Martin Luther King Jr.] Because the road was there. [Sir Edmund Hilary] None of your business: We own the chicken and we own the road. [Bill Gates] The chicken did not --I repeat: did not-- cross the road. [Richard Nixon] It is in the nature of chickens to cross roads. [Aristotle] The news of its crossing has been greatly exaggerated. [Mark Twain] Define "road". [Bill Clinton] I missed one? [Colonel Sanders] Source: numericana.com "Strike while the …………...insect is close." "Never underestimate the power of………….ants. " "Don’t bite the hand………….that looks dirty." "You cant teach an old dog………...new maths." Grade one proverb solving The lighter side of genetics