20 most recent innovations in genetics

Tinted windows that generate electricity

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00:00 Z

A startup in Germany has developed a new kind of solar panel made of small, organic molecules deposited on polyester films. The technology is similar to what's used for OLED displays for phones and flat-screen TVs. The panels are flexible, and far lighter than conventional solar panels, yet in some locations—particularly where it's hot or cloudy—they can generate just as much electricity as a conventional solar panel.

Heliatek, based in Dresden, is funded by Bosch, BASF, and others, and has raised 28 million euros so far. The company, which recently started making its panels on a small, proof-of-concept production line, hopes to raise an additional 60 million euros, part of which will be used to build a 75-megawatt factory. This is fairly small for a solar panel factory—at such a small scale, Heliatek's panels will cost more per watt than conventional solar panels, says CEO Thibaud de Séguillon. But in four to five years, by which time Heliatek should reach large-scale production, the cost could drop to around 40 to 50 cents per watt, which would make them competitive with conventional solar panels, he says. (...)

Spoonachos

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:00:00 Z

Changing the shape of regular nachos to a spoon creates a simpler and more convenient means of scooping the dip sauce.

Inserting Weed Genes To Protect Crops From Global Warming

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 Z

Any gardener knows weeds are tough. You spray, them, you uproot them, but they keep coming back. Well, some scientists are looking to harness the resilience of weeds to fortify food crops against the causes and consequences of climate change.Over the past few years, studies have shown that many weeds survive far better in the high-heat, high atmospheric carbon dioxide environment of the future than their regularly cultivated counterparts. Thus, as carbon dioxide levels rise, spurring on greater climate change, many crops such as rice and corn face the dual problem of increased competition from weeds and reduced yield from a harsher environment.Now, scientists hope to either breed or genetically engineer the genes that make weeds to successful into the food crops. For instance, rice does not produce seeds when the temperature rises above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and cannot compete with a closely related weed plant called red rice in a high CO2 environment. By breeding the red rice genes into the regular white rice strains, scientists can create hybrid rice that can both withstand the heat and out-compete the weeds.Interestingly enough, since many different breeds of crops have the different features that resist the effects of global warming, the process of protecting the food supply from climate change may also diversify the crop population beyond the monoculture common today.

New forensic method can lift fingerprints from bombs fragments

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 Z

The state-of-the-art forensic method that can identify fingerprints on bullets could now be used to lift them from bomb fragments even after they have been wiped off. John Bond, scientist at the University of Leicester, who developed the technique with the University chemistry team, said "We have developed a method that enables us to "visualise fingerprints" even after the print itself has been removed. We conducted a study into the way fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces. The technique can enhance - after firing - a fingerprint that has been deposited on a small calibre metal cartridge case before it is fired.For the first time we can get prints from people who handled a cartridge before it was fired. Wiping it down, washing it in hot soapy water makes no difference - and the heat of the shot helps the process we use."

The procedure works by applying an electric charge to a metal - say a gun or bullet - which has been coated in a fine conducting powder, similar to that used in photocopiers. Even if the fingerprint has been washed off, it leaves a slight corrosion on the metal and this attracts the powder when the charge is applied, so showing up a residual fingerprint. The technique works on everything from bullet casings to machine guns. Even if heat vaporises normal clues, police will be able to prove who handled a particular gun. Bond is investigating whether the technique can be used to find prints on roadside bombs. It would mean recovered fragments of bombs could be tested for prints it got while it was fabricated. After the research was published earlier this year, Dr Bond has been approached by military personnel in Afghanistan to discuss potential use of the technique.

Virus-Built Micro Batteries for Miniature Applications

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 Z

First, on a clear, rubbery material the team used a common technique called soft lithography to create a pattern of tiny posts either four or eight millionths of a meter in diameter. On top of these posts, they then deposited several layers of two polymers that together act as the solid electrolyte and battery separator.

Next came viruses that preferentially self-assemble atop the polymer layers on the posts, ultimately forming the anode. In 2006, Hammond, Belcher, Chiang and colleagues reported in Science how to do this. Specifically, they altered the virus's genes so it makes protein coats that collect molecules of cobalt oxide to form ultrathin wires -- together, the anode.

The final result: a stamp of tiny posts, each covered with layers of electrolyte and the cobalt oxide anode. "Then we turn the stamp over and transfer the electrolyte and anode to a platinum structure" that, together with lithium foil, is used for testing, Hammond said.

The team concludes in their PNAS paper: "the resulting electrode arrays exhibit full electrochemical functionality."

Tiny 'Tweezers' Can Pick Up, Move Individual Cells

Tue, 27 May 2008 00:00:00 Z

Tiny robotic tweezers with their own "sense of touch" can pick up and move individual cells without damaging them. A team at the University of Toronto led by uber-egghead Yu Sun, have created the "microgrippers" to solve the problem of cells and other objects being damaged by comparable instruments. With special software, the tiny tweezers can work without human control and much faster than humans could.

Brain Scanner Knows What You See

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 Z

Soon computers will be able to know what you're looking at simply by reading your mind.

Scientists used a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine -- areal-time brain scanner -- to record the mental activity of a personlooking at thousands of random pictures: people, animals, landscapes,objects, the stuff of everyday visual life. With those recordings theresearchers built a computational model for predicting the mentalpatterns elicited by looking at any other photograph.

Knee dynamo taps 'people power'

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 Z

A stroll around the park may soon be enough to charge the raft of batteries needed in today's power-hungry gadgets.

US and Canadian scientists have built a novel device that effortlessly harvests energy from human movements.

The adapted knee brace, outlined in the journal Science,can generate enough energy to power a mobile phone for 30 minutes fromone minute of walking.

The first people to benefit could be amputees who are being fitted with increasingly sophisticated prosthetics.

Swell gel could bring relief to back pain sufferers

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:00:00 Z

Scientists have developed a "microgel" that swells and stiffens when injected into a damaged area of the spine; and could provide an alternative to major surgery for the treatment of lower back pain.

Degeneration of intervertebral discs causes holes in their load-bearing tissue, decreasing the discs' height and resulting in chronic pain for the patient. But in animals the discs have been found to regain their mechanical properties when injected with the team's microgel.

The material is initially a fluid with a low acidity level or pH value, but changes to a stiff gel when injected into the body as its pH value changes and its sponge-like particles absorb water.

Multicoloured ring flash

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:00:00 Z

One of the (many) problems with flash photography is that most of thetime, a flash is a monodirectional light source that creates unnaturalshadows and glare, especially with close-ups. To help mitigate thisproblem, you might want to attach four different flashes around yourcamera. And once you've done that, why not go crazy and add a bunch ofcolour filters? That sort of philosophy is what Lomographyis all about, although they seem to put particular emphasis on the "gocrazy" part. The Lomography Ringflash slips around the outside of yourcamera lens, and its four individual flash bulbs will fire along withyour onboard flash or hotshoe. You can add gel filters of variouscolors to the flash ring to create some pretty nifty effects.

Digital colour x-rays

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:00:00 Z

The advantages of colour x-rays may not be immediately obvious but thedevelopments in this field led by researchers at Mid Sweden Universitypromise some exciting new possibilities for medical diagnoses muchsmaller x-rays doses for patients, much higher resolution and theability to detect tumors at a much earlier stage. Digital color x-raysare based on the same advanced technology that is used when nuclearphysicists look for new elementary particles. The greatest scientificchallenge in constructing a color x-ray camera is to be able to shrinkthe large-scale detection equipment used by nuclear physicists to themicroscopic format. The readout electronics for each pixel in thecameraâs picture sensor must be squeezed into an area of 55 x 55 µm,and whatâs more be x-ray safe.

Malaria-Resistant Mosquitoes

Fri, 04 May 2007 00:00:00 Z

Mosquitoes genetically engineered for malaria resistance can outcompete their wild counterparts--at least in the lab, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. While previous studies have described the creation of malaria-resistant mosquitoes, this is the first time that researchers have shown a reproductive advantage for the genetically engineered organisms, which is an important requirement if such mosquitoes are to be used as a practical malaria-control strategy.

Weaving cartilage in 3-D

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 Z

Today, people who suffer from cartilage damage don't have effective therapies at their disposal. But now, researchers at the Duke University Medical Center have developed a weaving machine to repair cartilage. Using a patient's own stem cells in conjunction with their new three-dimensional fabric "scaffold" could lead to a better way to repair damaged joints. And the new cartilage created by using this method has the same mechanical properties as native cartilage, which is not the case of today's laboratory-grown cartilage. The researchers expect to start clinical trials in three or four years

Microbubbles for delivering drugs

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:00:00 Z

If you take an oily solution, froth it into a bunch of tiny bubbles,and inject those into your bloodstream, when you hit them withultrasound a nearly perfect image of your internal organs will bounceback.
Since then, researchers have demonstrated that little bubbles haveanother use: delivering pharmaceutical payloads inside the body.Bubbles coated with specific molecules will selectively bind to certaincellular receptors. Once they're attached, a strong burst of ultrasoundis all that's needed to pop the bubbles and free what's inside.Delivering drugs directly to a tumor this way would allow for smallerdoses no more bombarding the whole body with radioactive material thereby radically reducing side effects. Gene therapy, which treatsgenetic diseases by using viruses to deliver DNA, could also be saferif the material were administered via microbubble. Both techniques arebeing tested on animals.

Gene chips for cows

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 00:00:00 Z

Scientists at several U.S. and Canadian research institutes arecollaborating with Illumina, based in San Diego, CA,to develop a bovine gene chip, similar to those used to study the genetics ofhuman disease. The DNA chips, will dramatically speed the search for the genetic variants that underliedesired traits, such as the level of marbling in a cut of meat or theefficiency of a dairy cow's milk production.

"Thisopens a whole new scale of gene identification in cattle," says JerryTaylor, professor of animal genomics at the University of Missouri-Columbia and one of the researchers on the project. "We'll be able to tacklegenetics of all of these traits--reproductive capability, milk production, milkcomposition, and quality of meat--in ways we never before envisioned."

Thesequence of the cow genome was released last year, but scientists have madelittle progress in identifying genes associated with desirable bovine traits,for the same reasons that have slowed human studies of complex geneticdiseases: vast amounts of genetic data are needed to narrow down the gene variantslinked to a particular trait.

Nowscientists are planning to pool data from revised drafts of the bovine genomeand other studies to create this genetic tool--a tiny glass chip coated withthousands of short sequences of DNA that can detect sites in the genome thatfrequently differ among individuals. Researchers at the U.S. Department ofAgriculture, University of Missouri-Columbia,and University of Alberta are now choosing the specific sequences that will be included on the chip.

The chips will allow scientists to quickly and cheaply gather genetic data on hugenumbers of cattle. Scientists can take a DNA sample from an animal and use thechip to simultaneously detect thousands of genetic variations, giving adetailed profile of that animal's genome. Thousands of individual profiles arethen analyzed in conjunction with data on each animal's phenotype (itsobservable, physical characteristics) to determine the variations associatedwith a particular characteristic, such as growth rate.