3-D RNA modeling opens scientific doors In a paper published today in the journal Nature Methods, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill demonstrates a simple, cost-effective technique for three-dimensional RNA structure prediction that will help scientists understand the structures, and ultimately the functions, of the RNA molecules that dictate almost every aspect of human cell behavior. When cell behavior goes wrong, diseases – including cancer and metabolic disorders – can be the result. Over the past five decades, scientists have described more than 80,000 protein structures, most of which are now publicly available and provide important information to medical researchers searching for targets for drug therapy. However, a similar effort to catalogue RNA structures has mapped only a few hundred RNA molecules. As a result, the potential of RNA molecules has just barely been developed as targets for new therapeutics. "With Dr. Explore further: Synthetic gene circuits pump up cell signals
Planet News | Knowledge Media Institute | The Open University Teresa Connolly, Tuesday 31 January 2012 Teresa Connolly recently delivered two workshops at an Open Education Resources (OER) event in Leicester for the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE): "Open Educational Practice - making best use of free resources". Attendees soon became immersed in the imaginary world of OERopoly, a game that raises awareness about OER and encourages collaborative learning. In the spirit of openness some of the participants requested copies of the board game and associated project cards in order that they might replicate their enjoyable experience with their own colleagues and students elsewhere in the UK. This is the seventh occasion at which OERopoly has been used in this way. Previous events have included workshops at the OpenEd '10 conference in Barcelona, the OER '11 conference in Manchester, and the Open CourseWare Consortium international OCWC '11 conference in Boston. Related Links: « previous story | next story »
Researchers develop new method to detect, analyze DNA and RNA (Phys.org)—University of Georgia researchers have employed specially designed nanomaterials to develop a new, label-free DNA detection method that promises to reduce the cost and complexity of common genetic tests. Their discovery may be used to help clinicians diagnose certain cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. It can detect the presence of viruses in tissue. And it can be used for a variety of forensic applications, such as paternity testing or crime scene DNA analysis. Led by Yiping Zhao, professor of physics in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and director of the university's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, and Ralph Tripp, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, the researchers proved the efficacy of their new DNA analysis method by experimenting with short strands of RNA called microRNA. Their research was published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Open Education and the Future of Science Education Bio Mitch Altman Mitch is a San Francisco-based hacker and inventor, best known for co-founding 3ware (with J. Rhiju Das Dr. Alex Peake Alex Peake is the founder and CEO of Primer Labs, a start-up that creates endless learning games to make all knowledge playable. From a young age, Alex believed that games were going to change the world and he set out to gather the pieces to make it happen. He created an online empire simulation game called Mage Princes using play-by-email turn files to bypass FirstClass BBS systems' lack of game support. Ingmar Riedel-Kruse The Reidal-Kruse lab is developing biotic games suited for educational purposes in schools and in public settings like museums. We are also developing biotic online games to crowd-source the scientific method, allowing interested non-scientists to make valuable contributions to bio-medically relevant problems while having fun. To download this program become a Front Row member. Encyclopædia Britannica Article computer science
Stanley Miller and the Quest to Understand Life’s Beginning | Cross-Check Thursday 26th July saw the launch of SciLogs.com, a new English language science blog network. SciLogs.com, the brand-new home for Nature Network bloggers, forms part of the SciLogs international collection of blogs which already exist in German, Spanish and Dutch. To celebrate this addition to the NPG science blogging family, some of the NPG blogs are publishing posts focusing on “Beginnings.” Participating in this cross-network blogging festival is nature.com’s Soapbox Science blog, Scitable’s Student Voices blog and bloggers from SciLogs.com, SciLogs.de, Scitable and Scientific American’s Blog Network. Join us as we explore the diverse interpretations of beginnings – from scientific examples such as stem cells to first time experiences such as publishing your first paper. You can also follow and contribute to the conversations on social media by using the #BeginScights hashtag. – Bora One of the 20th century’s most diligent and respected origin-of-life researchers is Stanley Miller.
Open Education Optical tweezers and sub-nanoscale precision: Following the process—and the consequence—of RNA folding (Phys.org)—In a soundproofed, vibration-stabilized, temperature-controlled room, Stanford biophysicist Steven Block was watching a very small origami project. "The apparatus is so sensitive that, if you talk in the room, the vibrations in the air disturb the movement you're trying to measure," he said quietly. On a black-and-white monitor, two microscopic plastic beads were being slowly drawn apart. Although we couldn't see it even at this high level of magnification, between the beads was stretched a single strand of RNA, folding up in real time. Because RNA nucleotides are so small – each is only nanometers long – these effects had never been directly observed before. But Block's feat isn't remarkable only for its sensitivity. "Issues of gene control are arguably more important than the genes themselves," Block said. Block, a professor of applied physics and of biology, and graduate student Kirsten Frieda published their findings today in the journal Science. Laser traps
10 Free Online Resources for Science Teachers One of the greatest ways technology can empower teachers is by helping them demonstrate concepts and by making it easier for students to learn through their own exploration and experimentation. Because science teachers are often called upon to teach topics that are too large, too small, happen too fast, happen too slowly, require equipment that is too expensive, or has the potential to blow up a laboratory, the Internet can be particularly helpful in assisting them convey a concept. Universities, non-profit organizations and scientists with free time have put an overwhelming number of resources for teaching science on the web. These are nine of our favorites. 1. A group of scientists based at the University of Nottingham added some character to the static periodic table of elements by creating a short video for each one. The group also puts out a non-YouTube version of the site for schools that have blocked the site. 2. 3. Stellarium is a planetarium for your computer. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Scicurious Guest Writer! X-Ray Crystallography: 100 Years at the Intersection of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology | The Scicurious Brain We’re having this month’s Scicurious Guest Writer a little early, to make sure he gets some exposure and to avoid the holiday rush! Please welcome Satchal Erramilli!! In the summer of 1912, a young man and his father worked feverishly to interpret the results of a German physicist. Upon his return to graduate school at Cambridge, where he was studying mathematics, the younger Bragg had made his breakthrough, and his doctoral adviser, the Nobel Laureate J.J. Figure 1: Diffraction from edge of razor blade. (Source) First off, what is crystallography, and how do X-rays come into play? In a crystal, the bonds between atoms serve as tiny gratings. Additionally, the diffracted X-rays, because of the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in the crystal, will travel different distances on their way to the X-ray detector, which records the pattern. But why is a crystal required? By the late 1940s, the now Nobel Prize-winning W. Figure 2: Sarcomere structure. (Source) (Source) (Source) References