Cloned sniffer dogs

The Korea Customs Service reported that seven cloned puppies named Toppy ("Tomorrow's puppy") were born in late 2007 to three surrogate mothers under a state-funded project. Lee Byung-Chun who managed to clone the Toppies played a key role in cloning a three year old Afghan Hound. The cost of cloning the Toppies was approximately 301,205 dollar. Lee Byung-Chun used the nuclei of somatic cells from a sniffer Golden Retriever, Chase, to clone the puppies. The project manager Lim Jae-Yong said that it would be easier to train sniffer cloned dogs than ordinary canines. The Toppies have passed the first round of tests for behavourial patterns and genetic qualities, and they will report for duty in June this year after completing a second round of tests.

Indeed, successful cloning of dogs show that the use of genetics in technology is essential. However, with regards to the issue of cloning humans and other organisms, ethical issues are always involved.

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080421/hl_afp/healthskoreacloningdogs_080421171230

Smokers’ genetic ‘double whammy’

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.cancer03apr03,0,7169921.story

As if the social and psychological factors of quitting smoking didn’t offer smokers a large enough challenge, studies indicate that some people have a genetic variation that makes them smoke more, makes quitting harder and makes them more susceptible to lung cancer. An article printed in the Baltimore Sun on April 3rd reports studies can also provide answers to the question of why some long term smokers get lung cancer and others do not. The study found a genetic variation on chromosome 15 to be linked with lung cancer. Also the carriers of the genetic variation were more likely to smoke more and to have difficulty in quitting. Three recent studies on 35 000 people have indicated such similar findings with this genetic variation. One group of researchers found that being a carrier of this genetic variation does not make a person take up smoking however once they do, they are more likely to smoke more cigarettes than a smoker without this genetic variation, making it tougher for them to quit. A smoker with this genetic variation from both parents is reported to be 80% more likely to get lung cancer than a smoker who doesn’t have this genetic variation. It is also reported that 50% of Caucasians of European descent have this genetic variation. So how does this genetic discovery help advance biomedical science? Researchers and scientists can now look at ways in which they can combat this gene variation and use these genetic differences to create more effective and suitable quitting programs for smokers.

Posted by Allegra Boccabella


Read full article
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.cancer03apr03,0,7169921.story

Artificial Letters Added to Life's Alphabet

US researchers have created two artificial DNA bases, or 'letters', that can actually be accurately and efficiently replicated by a natural enzyme. Eventually, the researchers say, they may be able to add these two artificial building blocks to the four natural genetic bases that comprise DNA, opening up doors to widely different kinds of genetic engineering.

This unnatural but functioning new base pair is the result of nearly a decade of researcher by chemical biologist Floyd Romesberg, from the Scripps Reseach Institue, California, US.

Romesberg borrowed some tricks from drug development companies and, with the help of graduate student Aaron Leconte, used these to synthesis 3600 potential candidates for the artificial bases to see if they would be treated normally by a polymerase enzyme.Two different methods of screening both turned up the same pair of molecules, called dSICS and dMM02. A minor chemical alteration was made on the dSICS, due to its greater readiness to pair with itself rather than its intended partner, finally making an unnatural base pair, d5SICS and dMM02, that efficiently replicated without the need of an unnatural polymerase.

The molecular pair that worked surprised Romesberg. "We got it and said, 'Wow!' It would have been very difficult to have designed that pair rationally."

In the near future it is expected that these bases will be used to synthesize DNA with new and unnatural properties. These could include highly specific primers for DNA amplification; tags for materials, such as explosives, that could be detected without the risk of contamination from natural DNA; and building novel DNA-based nanomaterials.

Further Readings:
-http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/genetics/dn13252-artificial-letters-added-to-lifes-alphabet.html

Blog post by Bethany Reid (41807444)