UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News - June 29, 2007
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Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:56:00 GMT |
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Scientists transplant DNA in bacteria
WASHINGTON, June 29 U.S. researchers successfully transplanted the entire genome of one species of bacteria into another species.
The work by researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute was published online in the journal Science.
"The successful completion of this research is important because it is one of the key proof of principles in synthetic genomics that will allow us to realize the ultimate goal of creating a synthetic organism," J. Craig Venter said Friday in a news release.
The scientists transplanted chromosomes to change the bacterial species Mycoplasma capricolum into Mycoplasma mycoides Large Colony by replacing one organism's genome with the other one's genome, the Venter Institute said.
Venter said synthetic genomics holds great promise in helping to solve issues like climate change and in developing new sources of energy.
Research develops stem cells into tissue
NEW YORK, June 29 U.S. researchers are developing a process that would allow scientists to use a patient's own stem cells to develop new skin tissue.
Columbia University Medical Center said the tissue could be used for facial reconstruction following disfiguring injuries.
The research, which is being funded by a $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, is being led by Jeremy Mao, an associate professor of dental medicine at Columbia.
The researchers are trying to create long-lasting soft tissue implants from mesenchymal stem cells harvested from the patient's own bone marrow or adipose tissue, the university said Friday in a release.
"Our research has shown that mesenchymal stem cells can create tissue that is biocompatible with the host and that the continuous generation of these cells can replenish the implant to reduce shrinkage," Mao said.
Domestic cats date back to Middle East
LONDON, June 29 Scientists said gene research shows domestic cats came from the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East and not from Egypt as commonly thought.
A study published in the online edition of the journal Science said cats prowled the Middle East at least 9,500 years ago, The Los Angeles Times said Thursday.
"This was much earlier than Egyptian civilization," said geneticist Carlos Driscoll, lead author of the study and a graduate student at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford.
Researchers took genetic samples from 979 cats, including animals at fancy cat shows, feral cats and wildcats trapped in Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The cats were sorted into six categories according to 36 DNA markers.
Domestic cats fell into the same group as Fertile Crescent wildcats, the newspaper said.
The dilution of wildcat populations by DNA from housecats is the biggest threat to wildcat survival, the International Society for Endangered Cats said.
Driscoll said Scottish wildcats are endangered because of extensive interbreeding with feral domestic cats. He hopes to use the research to identify full-blood Scottish wildcats for breeding and conservation programs, the Times said.
Ancient squash seeds found in Peru
LIMA, June 29 An archeologist from Vanderbilt University said domesticated squash seeds found in the Andes of northern Peru are almost 10,000 years old.
Archeologist Tom D. Dillehay said the seeds are twice the age of previously discovered cultivated crops in the region, The New York Times said Friday.
The findings were published in the journal Science.
Anthropologists said the seeds show that farming developed in parts of the Americas as early as in the Middle East.
The squash seeds were found in Nanchoc Valley, about 400 miles north of Lima. Researchers also found peanut hulls and cotton fibers that date back 6,000 to 8,500 years, as well as stone hoes, furrowed garden plots and small irrigation canals.
The New York Times said experts in ancient agriculture suspect the transition from foraging to farming started much earlier and was not as abrupt a transformation as previously thought.
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