Innovation/Links of note

Power Walk, Gain a Watt – ScienceNOW

Posted on by charlie

“If scaled up to the size that would fit in a typical shoe, this would enable the Wisconsin researchers to harvest 2 watts of power, they report today in Nature Communications. At that rate, a person could completely recharge a standard cell phone battery by going for a 2-hour stroll, Krupenkin says. Krupenkin and Taylor have formed a company called InStep NanoPower in Madison to commercialize the new technology. They are currently working to produce a prototype device that can be fitted into the sole of a shoe, which they expect will be ready in 2 years.”

I remember a team from MIT back in the 80s and 90s working on piezo-electric show inserts that would power a weak computer for exchanging business cards via a hand shake.

 

 

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PLoS Genetics: A Broad Brush, Global Overview of Bacterial Sexuality

Posted on by charlie

“These results have several implications. Firstly, plasmids and ICEs share the same protein families, and should be considered as alternative vehicles for conjugation pathways, rather than as distinct entities. Secondly, the potential for horizontal gene transfer and homologous recombination is widespread throughout microbes, which can help explain why mobile genetic elements are so common in their genomes. Finally, conjugative elements provide a ubiquitous mechanism for the facile transmission of genes between discrete clades, whose predominance has not previously been adequately appreciated.”

The facility with which microbes tinker with DNA within and between species has always fascinated me. Indeed, my current interest is in horizontal gene transfer.

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Living to 100 and Beyond – WSJ.com

Posted on by charlie

“In Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels,” Gulliver encounters a small group of immortals, the struldbrugs. “Those excellent struldbrugs,” exclaims Gulliver, “who, being born exempt from that universal calamity of human nature, have their minds free and disengaged, without the weight and depression of spirits caused by the continual apprehensions of death!”

But the fate of these immortals wasn’t so simple, as Swift goes on to report. They were still subject to aging and disease, so that by 80, they were “opinionative, peevish, covetous, morose, vain, talkative,” as well as “incapable of friendship, and dead to all natural affection, which never descended below their grandchildren.” At 90, they lost their teeth and hair and couldn’t carry on conversations.”

Long life versus living long. Thinking of the ring wraiths. 😛

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Genome at Home: Biohackers Build Their Own Labs | Magazine

Posted on by charlie

“A tiny spare bedroom is not an ideal space for a high tech biofabrication facility. To get to the one Josh Perfetto is putting together, visitors must walk all the way to the back of his mostly unfurnished house in Saratoga, California—through the kitchen, past some empty rooms, across a den with a lone couch—then climb a poorly lit staircase and round a corner.”

A really nice article on the state of gadgets DIYbiologists are creating on their own to do their biology. Very fun.

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PLoS ONE: High Diversity of the Saliva Microbiome in Batwa Pygmies

Posted on by charlie

“In conclusion, the Batwa exhibit higher diversity in their saliva microbiome composition. A number of unique genera are found only in the Batwa, and the lifestyle and diet of the Batwa may play a role in their distinctive saliva microbiome. Our results also highlight the importance of studying the microbiomes of non-traditional groups, in order to fully encompass the diversity of the human microbiome.”

This hunter-gatherer population has lower incidence of cavities. The investigators suggest this is because their diet affects the saliva microbiome which in turn prevents cavities. Makes sense. Interesting paper.

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SXSW 2012 – Influence: It’s in Your Genes

Posted on by charlie

“More and more marketers are looking to tap into data to determine a value on a person. Tools like Klout, PeerIndex, and Avenue Empire are developing their businesses around your influence. We think there is a crucial data set they all are missing. We will take a look at how genotyping can tell more about predisposition to being influential, and how this data may hold the key to the future of marketing, advertising, and lowering the cost of health care in the the near future.”

by @taulpaul

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PLoS ONE: Predator Cat Odors Activate Sexual Arousal Pathways in Brains of Toxoplasma gondii Infected Rats

Posted on by charlie

“Cat odors induce rapid, innate and stereotyped defensive behaviors in rats at first exposure, a presumed response to the evolutionary pressures of predation. Bizarrely, rats infected with the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii approach the cat odors they typically avoid. Since the protozoan Toxoplasma requires the cat to sexually reproduce, this change in host behavior is thought to be a remarkable example of a parasite manipulating a mammalian host for its own benefit. … compelling evidence that Toxoplasma overwhelms the innate fear response by causing, in its stead, a type of sexual attraction to the normally aversive cat odor.”

Twisted and crazy – seems right out of some second rate horror movie.

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Innovation/Links of note/Science

Suicide-Bombing Bacteria Could Fight Infections – ScienceNOW

Posted on by charlie

“The researchers tweaked the genes that allow P. aeruginosa to detect other members of its species and put this synthetic genetic code into E. coli’s genome. They also gave E. coli a gene for making a modified pyocin that is toxic to P. aeruginosa. By linking the pyocin gene to the sensing genes, the researchers ensured that when the E. coli detected P. aeruginosa in the vicinity, it would fill itself with large amounts of pyocin and become a biological time bomb.”

Really clever construction of a microbe that senses a pathogen, accumulates the toxin to kill it, and then explodes to release the toxin. A good first version and should be interesting to see how the tool develops.

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PLoS Biology: Endosymbiosis: Lessons in Conflict Resolution

Posted on by charlie

“In sum, the past few years have witnessed a surge of new empirical and theoretical approaches to understand the dynamics of bacterial–insect relationships. These tools have shed light on the roles of recombination, selection, and mutation on endosymbiont genome evolution and have highlighted parameters that shape the outcome of genetic conflicts between hosts and symbionts. These data provide a foundation for studying the evolution of mutualism and parasitism and modes of transitions between them. In the near future, we can look forward to full genome sequences that span a broader ecological and phylogenetic diversity of endosymbionts and provide a richer comparative framework to test existing models and develop new ones.”

A nice review of endosymbiosis from 2004.

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