Threatwatch: New Virus

     A noteworthy epidemic has arisen in the Middle East recently causing two people within the Arabian Peninsula to become very ill. This infectious disease belongs to the SARS family however it has yet to be discovered as to what causes it. One person who was infected is in critical condition and the other has died, one may wonder if this may turn out to be a pandemic worldwide. Society knows that the infectious disease, SARS has spread throughout the world and resulted in approximately 800 million fatalities, however there’s the possibility of more deaths. The unknown Middle Eastern virus could very well be the next SARS, studies indicate to be inclusive at this point. Debora MacKenzie clarifies the threats and the potential harms it may have against civilization and advocates solution precautions. The European Union set a project, in response to SARS, and ultimately discovered the relation to the unknown virus. This project solely sought out to analyze and determine whether a mutagen virus was on its way before it broke out throughout the world. This system formed by, Ab Osterhaus, of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, stated "if we had known about SARS when it had only infected a few people, we might have stopped it then” (Osterhaus). With that in mind, Osterhaus and the Erasmus Medical Center tested samples of two men who experienced symptoms, common to the new virus, and preliminary sequencing suggested that both men were infected with the same new virus. Osterhaus clarifies that the sequence indicates that the new virus is not very closely related to SARS however it is from the same subfamily of ‘coronaviruses’ that are commonly found in bats. 

* Information obtained at www.newscientist.com

* Pictures obtained at www.newscientist.com & www.firstpost.com

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Genetic Mutation

     According to a recent study, published by Sindya N. Bhanoo, the particular gene that produces the vivid dark stripes on cats is also liable for creating the spots on cheetahs. The reason for different spots being present is a predetermined mutation of the same gene resulting in cat stripes as well as spots on the cheetah to become ‘blotchy’. Dr. Stephen O’Brien, a geneticist at the University of St. Petersburg, Russia, as well as one of the lead researchers of the latest study noted that: “Nobody had any idea what the genes were that were involved in these things” (O’Brien). He also commented that when the feline genome became available, his team assembled to search for the unknown genes. This intriguing gene discovery, also known as: “Taqpep” is published in the current issue of the ‘Journal Science’. Dr. O’Brien and his colleagues findings were analyzed and found to be conclusive at the Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology, in Alabama; the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, in Maryland; and Stanford University. Wondering why the gene is called “Taqpep?” This is a specific mutation of a gene found in cheetahs, belonging to a rare breed: known as the ‘king cheetah’ native to South Africa. ‘Tabbies’, which Dr. O’Brien clarified, with the mutation are more common in Europe where as ‘striped tabbies’ are more common in the United States. Dr. O’Brien ended on a note that, “we’re still fishing around to really unravel the pathways involved in pattern forming and pigmentation” (O’Brien).

* Information obtained at www.nytimes.com

* Pictures obtained at www.caitbiology.wikispaces.com & www.nytimes.com

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(The "mackerel tabby" pattern (upper) and the "blotched tabby" pattern (lower).

The Future of Facial Recognition

     Police utilize facial recognition software in many criminal cases. However with advances in technology DNA will soon play an important role in digital forensic analysis. Researchers impose that current identification of genes only exhibit a limited number of physical features and more genes of relevance will need to be discovered. Presently sketch artists affiliated with police forces and other branches of investigation use biometrics and details of a possible suspect to match a computer-generated image of the criminal. Manfred Kayser, a researcher at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, states: “it’s a start” however “we are far away from predicting what someone's face looks like” (Kayser). The Dutch researcher and his team of colleagues analyzed DNA from 10,000 fellow Europeans by examining 9 specific “landmarks” with 3-D cerebral MRI scans as well as an analysis of an additional eight ‘landmarks’ of facial, portrait photographs. The identified genes unfortunately only had small effects. Furthermore, other genes have revealed a particular influence in the distance from the eyes to the bridge of the nose, the length of the nose, and the facial width between cheekbones.  

* Information obtained at www.newscientist.com 

* Pictures obtained at www.newscientist.com & www.bluesci.org

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Heavy Photons?

     Dark matter, the majority of the universes matter (roughly 85%), is in fact not made of light. Many physicists sought to believe that photons (fixed quantity of light energy) could assist in discovering the many mysterious of this matter. At the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, Vitor Cardoso and his colleagues shed some light to the idea. According to some theories of “heavy photons” this form of dark matter would have a small amount of mass and may carry an unknown fundamental force that allows it to interact only with ordinary photons. In other words, this hypothetical version of dark matter would be ‘invisible’. Cardoso states, in accordance to this theory, “in that case, heavy photons passing close to black holes would have noticeable effects” (Cardoso). Hypothetically speaking, if conditions are exactly precise, a photon with the most minute “in between” quantity of mass enters into an orbit of the immense gyrating black hole: it can essentially gain momentum. Basically, with a fixed amount of mass and right path of trajectory, a photon can continue orbiting through a black hole. Cardoso and his assembly of colleagues assessed the period of time that a photon of a given mass would take in order to sap a black hole’s spin. With this said, the theoretical ‘heavy photon’ must be lighter than 10^-20 electronvolts, the team concluded that this would be highly improbable.

* Information obtained at www.newscientist.com 

* Pictures obtained at www.milesmathis.com & www.nasa.gov

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Can Insects Photosynthesize?

     Insects such as, aphids can be anatomically mutated at birth causing some males species to die. A recent study indicates that this unit of species can also capture sunlight, similar to photosynthesis, and transform this energy for metabolic purposes. Like animals, aphids have the ability to synthesize carotenoid pigments. Many species rely on these specific pigments for necessary survival functions. Entomologist Alain Robichon and several of his colleagues at the Sophia Agrobiotech Institute in Sophia Antipolis, France, suggested that, in aphids, these particular pigments absorb sunlight and transfer that energy to the cellular machinery involved in energy production. Researches measured ATP levels in aphids and discovered that green aphids, which contained high levels of carotenoids, produce a significant amount more ATP than white aphids. With this in mind, ATP production increased even more when orange aphids, which contained a moderate amount of carotenoids, were observed over lighted areas. Insect geneticist, Nancy Moran, revealed the original discovery of carotenoid production in aphids, however, she says that there are still many unanswered inquiries.  

* Information obtained at www.scientificamerican.com

* Pictures obtained at www.npr.org & www.itsokaytobesmart.com

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