Fruit fly proteome
Hundreds of organisms have had their genes mapped, and now the fruit fly has become the first organism to have its proteins mapped. Scientists have constructed a map showing 20,405 interactions between 7,048 proteins. This task has been hailed as essential for the understanding of life itself, as our structure and functional processes are all dependent on proteins. When making the map, the scientists cloned all the fly’s genes and took a molecular “snapshot” of what was occurring in the fruit fly. Future studies will focus on similar protein-protein interactions in humans.
-Wendy Gu
Source: BBC NEWS
Monkey brain lab in the works
Cambridge University has been given the go-ahead to build a controversial primate research lab. The facility will conduct experiments on the brains of living marmosets and macaques in order to advance our understanding of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Animal rights groups argue that the experiments will not only be cruel, but pointless as the primate brain differs from ours. Scientists say that monkey brains provide the best model possible to study human disease. The experiments are likely to push the borders of both neuroscience and ethics. In April of 2001 a scientist in Cleveland Ohio made headlines when he attached the severed head of one monkey onto the body of another.
-Zoe Cormier
Source: New Scientist
Japanese create walking chair
Researchers from Waseda University in Japan have created a two-legged, walking robot capable of carrying a person. Although it can only raise its feet a few millimeters, and can at present only carry somebody weighing no more than 130 lbs, the inventors hope to create another model that can carry people in wheelchairs up stairs. Other Japanese robotics companies have created similar machines, notably a “snake-like” model that uses software to navigate, a “maggot-like” creation that uses magnetism instead, and a ball-shaped robot that leaps and bounces over rough terrain.
-ZC
Source: New Scientist
