Sep 3 2009 Scientists: "All Humans Are Mutants"
Scientists are claiming that each human has between 100 and 200 genetic mutations in their DNA. Me? I have two fingers....I have four fingers.
Joseph Nadeau, from the Case Western Reserve University in the US, who was not involved in this study said: "New mutations are the source of inherited variation, some of which can lead to disease and dysfunction, and some of which determine the nature and pace of evolutionary change.
"These are exciting times," he added."We are finally obtaining good reliable estimates of genetic features that are urgently needed to understand who we are genetically."
Listen: you can go right on being a freak all you want, but I ain't no damn mutant. I have never even met Professor X! Who, that old guy? The bald one in the wheelchair? Nobody.
We're all mutants, say scientists [bbcnews]
Thanks to Totex and Slava, who only got the incredibly good looking mutations. Lucky.
May 28 2009 Okay?: Another Day, Another Glowing Animal
Well scientists have already created glowing dogs and cats, so it was only a matter of time before somebody did a monkey. Nice, guy, thanks for the AIDS.
Though primates that make a glowing protein have been created before, these are the first to keep the change in their bloodlines.
Although the work demonstrates the principle that a gene can be introduced into a primate bloodline, study co-author Hideyuki Okano of the Keio University School of Medicine said it may not be suitable for studying all diseases.That limitation is about 10,000 bases, or letters, of the genetic code. That upper bound will constrain the diseases that can be studied.
Great, so we've got more glowing animals with the promise of help curing disease. Well hurry up and cure one already! I'm starting to think these "scientists" are just making glowing pets to bring home to their daughters. Which, I think we can all agree, is despicable (glowing dinosaur, pronto). You can't hide from me, little Anchisaur!
Glowing monkeys 'to aid research' [bbcnews]
Thanks to Matt, who, LOOK BEHIND YOU - A THREE HEADED MONKEY! (swish)
Apr 25 2009 Red Rover, Red Rover: Glowing Puppies
Created in the same fashion as the glowing kitties we posted way back in December, 2007, scientists have bred transgenic (expressing a gene from another, unrelated organism) puppies that glow red under UV light. I don't want one. Ain't no devil dog livin' in this house!
A team led by Byeong-Chun Lee of Seoul National University in South Korea created the dogs by cloning fibroblast cells that express a red fluorescent gene produced by sea anemones.
Greg Barsh, a geneticist at Stanford University who studies dogs as models of human disease, says creating a transgenic dog is "an important accomplishment", showing that cloning and transgenesis can be applied to a wide range of mammals."I do not know of specific situations where the ability to produce transgenic dogs represents an immediate experimental opportunity," Barsh adds. But transgenic dogs will give researchers another potential tool to understand disease.
Eh, I thought it was so you wouldn't kick your dog on the way to the kitchen for a midnight snack. I don't know about this whole disease bit. Which reminds me: any of you good at identifying rashes? I can send pics.
Hit the jump for what the puppies look like when they're not glowing. Except the middle one, the middle one isn't a glower.
Nov 12 2008 Finally, Some Research I Can Get Behind -- And Drink!: Students Aim To Help Prevent Cancer With Delicious, Refreshing Beer
Students at Rice University are using genetic engineering to develop a beer that contains resveratrol and may help prevent cancer.
BioBeer, as it's called, has three genes spliced into special brewer's yeast that produce resveratrol, the chemical in red wine that is thought to protect against diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's and other age-related conditions.The only problem, from the students' perspective, is that many of them aren't old enough to legally consume their creation.
Ha -- too young to drink! Maybe you could ask some seniors to go buy you a six-pack of Zima. Just kidding. But yes, that's a picture of my brother and I playing 24-hands a couple weekends ago. We would have played with 40's but my brother (on the left) weighs 135 pounds and 80 ounces of malt liquor would probably kill him. So, yeah, next time. But cheers to being cancer free! And also, somebody help get this tape off my hands.
'Bio-Beer' Designed to Extend Life [discovery]
Thanks to Phil and Pat, who actually play keg hands because they're that hardcore.
Dec 17 2007 It's About Freaking Time: Glowing Cats
For years now I've been asking myself "When the hell is someone going to get on the ball and clone some damn cats that glow when exposed to UV light?" Well some South Korean scientists at Gyeongsang National University must have read my mind, because they have! The cats are the result of a manipulated fluorescent protein gene that was implanted into the mother cat. Yep, glowing f'ing cats. You know I'm thinking they could use this to get a certain other cat to glow. *wink, wink* You catch my drift? You picking up what I'm putting out? Jesus, do I have to spell it out for you? I'm talking vaginas, people -- glowing vaginas. I know, I know, I'm a genius. Now is there a number I call to collect my Nobel Prize or do I have to buy specially marked boxes of cereal?
UPDATE: Video added after the jump.
