Thanks to
Wil Wheaton for pointing out that this is Jedi Day.
May the Fourth be with you!
Yuck, yuck.
My wife will love this.
Thanks to
Wil Wheaton for pointing out that this is Jedi Day.
May the Fourth be with you!
Yuck, yuck.
My wife will love this.
A “nonsense mutation” in our junk DNA that is.
A group of scientists led by Nitya Venkataraman and Alexander Colewhether wanted to try a new approach to fighting HIV – one that worked with the body’s own immune system. They knew Old World monkeys had a built-in immunity to HIV: a protein called retrocyclin, which can prevent HIV from entering cell walls and starting an infection. So they began poring over the human genome, looking to see if humans had a latent gene that could manufacture retrocyclin too. It turned out that we did, but a “nonsense mutation” in the gene had turned it off at some point in our evolutionary history.
Nonsense mutations are caused when random DNA code shows up in the middle of a gene, preventing it from beginning the process of manufacturing proteins in the cell. Venkataraman and her team decided to investigate this gene further, doing a series of tests to see if the retrocyclin it produced would keep HIV out of human cells. It did.
At last, they knew that if they could just figure out a way to reawaken the “junk” gene that creates retrocyclin in humans, they might be able to stop HIV infections. The researchers just needed to figure out a way to remove that nonsense mutation and get the target gene to start manufacturing retrocyclin again.
Here’s where things really get interesting. The team found a way to use a compound called aminoglycosides, which itself can cause errors when RNA transcribes information from DNA to make proteins. But this time, the aminoglycoside error would work in their favor: It would cause that RNA to ignore the nonsense mutation in the junk gene, and therefore start making retrocyclin again. In preliminary tests, their scheme worked. The human cells made retrocyclin, fended off HIV, and effectively became AIDS-resistant. And it was done entirely using the latent potential in the so-called junk DNA of the human genome….
Thanks to ArtMoco for pointing her out to me.
The author of such books as Crash, High Rise, and Empire of the Sun JG Ballard died today at 78
Despite being referred to as a science fiction writer, Jim Ballard said his books were instead “picturing the psychology of the future”.
His most acclaimed novel was Empire of the Sun, based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China.
The author of 15 novels and scores of short stories, Ballard grew up amongst the expatriate community in Shanghai.
During World War II, at the age of 12, he was interned for three years in a camp run by the Japanese.
He later moved to Britain and in the early 1960s became a full-time writer.
Ballard built up a passionate readership, particularly after Empire of The Sun, a fictionalised account of his childhood, was made into a film by Steven Spielberg.
There’s more at the link above. I loved his work, especially his short stories.
and more on Wikipedia
Yep Friday night at the Perkins/Bamford household. That can mean only one thing. Can you guess? (the picture’s a clue.)
That’s right–it’s pizza night. I thought my sauce on the pizza looked kinda artistic, so I took a picture. Here’s some more:
I forgot to take a picture when it came out of the oven, so you get to see the aftermath of four people eating it.
Wanna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XELpxApT8Kc
😀
ever think that you have lots to say, then think about it, and decide you’re better off not saying it?
The cats enjoying the new front doors:
One and a half days later we have a new front door(s). As expected there were complications (there’s always complications with this house), but I persevered, and the new entry doors look real good.
Only things left to do are redo interior trim, exterior trim, and siding around the door (the rough frame was smaller, even thought e door is the same size as the old one).
Pictures: