life inspired

"Researchers in the US have demonstrated a means to use short sections of DNA as rewritable data bits' in living cells. The technique uses two proteins adapted from viruses to 'flip' the DNA bits." Full news piece @ BBC News

"Some viruses cause illness, pandemics, and death. But scientists have found a new way to put at least one type of virus to good use. A team of researchers has harnessed bacteria-infecting viruses to generate power by converting mechanical energy into electricity. The virus power pack isn't yet powerful enough to run your cell phone or iPod. But because the microbes are harmless to humans, they may one day prove useful for powering medical sensors inside our bodies. Full news article @
"ScienceNOW

Systems biology (from a complex system viepoint) starts producing important and practical results. "A systems-level analysis shows that, after their oncogenic signaling pathways are perturbed, tumor cells become more sensitive to DNA-damaging chemotherapy." Rewiring the Networks -- Foley 5 (224): ec135 -- Science Signaling. See also:

M. J. Lee, A. S. Ye, A. K. Gardino, A. M. Heijink, P. K. Sorger, G. MacBeath, M. B. Yaffe. [2012] Sequential application of anticancer drugs enhances cell death by rewiring apoptotic signaling networks. Cell 149, 780–794.

What about Lucretius? "The Darwin–Wallace story validates the modern insistence that discovery is not about 'great men', but about a confluence of societal and technological factors that collectively make a previously inaccessible idea accessible. Nevertheless, Stott's constellation of biographies is an exhilarating romp through 2,000 years of fascinating scientific history." Natural selection: The evolutionary struggle

#evolution, #Darwin

Some evidence of a classical Turing reaction-diffusion patterning system in zebrafish embryogenesis: Differential Diffusivity of Nodal and Lefty Underlies a Reaction-Diffusion Patterning System

Synthetic nucleotides that can be incorporated into DNA and can be copied with near perfection by enzymes that copy natural DNA. New Genetic Letters Augment DNA, and Soon Perhaps Life


Citation: Pinheiro et al [2012]. "Synthetic Genetic Polymers Capable of Heredity and Evolution". Science 20: 341-344.