Science Report for College Magazine

I was appointed student editor for the science section of our annual college magazine by Dr.Johal last year, I wrote excitingly and really wrote a lot of things.....but the magazine is still not out yet.

Again this year I am asked to write something but i am short of excitement and guidance as my mentor Dr. Johal have left the college and have joined elite institute IISER.

but still, i have selected some science advancements and these are as follow:

SCIENCE REPORT

'4-D' Microscope Revolutionizes the Way We Look At Nano World
Scientists can observe the static structure of objects with a resolution that is better than a billionth of a meter in length using electron microscopes, which generate a stream of individual electrons that scatter off objects to produce an image.
But just having electrons isn't sufficient to capture the behavior of atoms in both space and time; the electrons have to be carefully doled out, so that they arrive at the sample at specific time intervals. Zewail et al. have achieved this by introducing the fourth dimension of time into high-resolution electron microscopy, in what has been termed ultrafast "single-electron" imaging, where every electron trajectory is precisely controlled in time and space.
The resulting image produced by each electron represents a femtosecond still at that moment in time. Like the frames in a film, the sequential images generated by many millions of such images can be assembled into a digital movie of motion at the atomic scale.
This new technique, dubbed four-dimensional (4D) electron microscopy, was developed by Ahmed Zewail, the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics at Caltech, and winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. As reported in the Science paper, Zewail and colleagues applied their new 4D electron microscopy to observe the behavior of the atoms in superthin sheets of gold and graphite.
A ray of hope for HIV-infected
Researchers at Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University, Atlanta, US, have shown that it is possible to restore immunity in lab macaques infected with the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), providing hope of evolving similar mechanisms for HIV infection in humans.
In a paper that was published in Nature journal, Vijayakumar Velu et al showed that using an antibody to block a protein “programmed death 1” (PD1) — which dulls immune responses — results in rejuvenating the CD 8 T cells or killer cells, thereby restoring immunity and reducing the viral load.
PD1, present on the infected cell, bind itself on to the killer cell and send it a negative signal, hypnotising the killer cell to believe it is a friend. The killer cell is fooled into not functioning and immunity is compromised.
This antibody blocked PD1’s interaction with the killer cell, thereby allowing the killer cell to function normally, demolishing the infected cells. The nine monkeys that were treated developed none of the characteristic symptoms up to eight months. The five animals that formed the control group, however, developed symptoms within four-five months, demonstrating the normal course of the disease.
The findings have great value in HIV, where the immune system is compromised by the virus. It could well be the first step towards developing a therapeutic vaccine for HIV infections. The trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, has also resolved safety issues concerning the use of the antibody – the animals have been given four doses over 10 days.
Researchers strongly feel that strongly feel that combining this treatment with anti-retrovirals and/or therapeutic vaccination could help improve outcomes.

Memories may be stored on your DNA
To remember a particular event, a specific sequence of neurons must fire at just the right time. For this to happen, neurons must be connected in a certain way by chemical junctions called synapses. But how they last over decades, given that proteins in the brain, including those that form synapses, are destroyed and replaced constantly, is a mystery.
In a report published in journal Neuron by Miller and David Sweatt of the University of Alabama in Birmingham say that long-term memories may be preserved by a process called DNA methylation - the addition of chemical caps called methyl groups onto our DNA.
They started by looking at short-term memories. When caged mice are given a small electric shock, they normally freeze in fear when returned to the cage. However, then injecting them with a drug to inhibit methylation seemed to erase any memory of the shock. The researchers also showed that in untreated mice, gene methylation changed rapidly in the hippocampus region of the brain for an hour following the shock. But a day later, it had returned to normal, suggesting that methylation was involved in creating short-term memories in the hippocampus.
To see whether methylation plays a part in the formation of long-term memories, Miller and Sweatt repeated the experiment, this time looking at the uppermost layers of the brain, called the cortex.
They found that a day after the shock, methyl groups were being removed from a gene called calcineurin and added to another gene. Because the exact pattern of methylation eventually stabilised and then stayed constant for seven days, when the experiment ended, the researchers say the methyl changes may be anchoring the memory of the shock into long-term memory, not just controlling a process involved in memory formation.
“We think we're seeing short-term memories forming in the hippocampus and slowly turning into long-term memories in the cortex," says Miller, who presented the results at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC.
"The cool idea here is that the brain could be borrowing a form of cellular memory from developmental biology to use for what we think of as memory," says Marcelo Wood, who researches long-term memory at the University of California, Irvine.
Billions of Particles of Anti-matter Created In Laboratory
This new ability to create a large number of positrons in a small laboratory opens the door to several fresh avenues of anti-matter research, including an understanding of the physics underlying various astrophysical phenomena such as black holes and gamma ray bursts.
Chen and her colleagues used a short, ultra-intense laser to irradiate a millimeter-thick gold target. In the experiment, the laser ionizes and accelerates electrons, which are driven right through the gold target. On their way, the electrons interact with the gold nuclei, which serve as a catalyst to create positrons. The electrons give off packets of pure energy, which decays into matter and anti-matter, following the predictions by Einstein’s famous equation that relates matter and energy. By concentrating the energy in space and time, the laser produces positrons more rapidly and in greater density than ever before in the laboratory.
“By creating this much anti-matter, we can study in more detail whether anti-matter really is just like matter, and perhaps gain more clues as to why the universe we see has more matter than anti-matter,” said Peter Beiersdorfer, a lead Livermore physicist working with Chen.

Earth In Midst Of Sixth Mass Extinction: 50% Of All Species Disappearing
The scientists have found that some species are more critical than others in preserving the functions of ecosystems and that these species tend to be those that are genetically unique.
Recent studies show that ecological systems with fewer species generally produce less biomass than those with more species. Less plant biomass means that less carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere and less oxygen is produced. So, as the biomass of plants plummets around the globe, the composition of gasses in the atmosphere that support life could be profoundly affected. Additionally, there are fewer plants for herbivorous animals to eat. Entire food chains can be disrupted, which can impact the production of crops and fisheries.
The loss of species that are not closely related to other species in the ecosystem reduces productivity more than the loss of species with close relatives. And the more genetically distinct a species is, the more impact it has on the amount of biomass in an ecosystem. Losing genetically unique species may be worse than losing one with a close relative in the community.
"The current extinction event is due to human activity, paving the planet, creating pollution, many of the things that we are doing today," said co-author Bradley J. Cardinale, assistant professor of ecology, evolution and marine biology (EEMB) at UC Santa Barbara. "The Earth might well lose half of its species in our lifetime. We want to know which ones deserve the highest priority for conservation."

Project To Turn Plant Cells Into Medical Factories - "Smart-Cells"
The methods based on plant biotechnology are an alternative to chemical synthesis. By controlling the cell metabolism of a 'green factory', i.e. a living plant cell, it is possible to affect the production of desired high-value compounds. This kind of metabolic engineering also stimulates the cells towards producing completely new compounds.
Plants generate valuable secondary metabolic compounds, which can be used as pharmaceuticals. Most of these compounds are so complex that their chemical synthesis is not economically feasible. This is why biotechnology opens up a whole new avenue of possibilities. The SmartCell project will focus on terpene compounds, which are valuable for the pharmaceutical industry. These compounds for example are used in the treatment of cancer and malaria. The expertise and technology created during the project can be applied to a considerable extent in developing the biotechnological production of other compound groups in plants and plant cells.
First DNA Molecule Made Almost Entirely Of Artificial Parts
Chemists in Japan developed the world's first DNA molecule made almost entirely of artificial parts. The finding could lead to improvements in gene therapy, futuristic nano-sized computers, and other high-tech advances.
In the new study, Masahiko Inouye and colleagues point out that scientists have tried for years to develop artificial versions of DNA in order to extend its amazing information storage capabilities.
As the genetic blueprint of all life forms, DNA uses the same set of four basic building blocks, known as bases, to code for a variety of proteins used in cell functioning and development. Until now, scientists have only been able to craft DNA molecules with one or a few artificial parts, including certain bases.
The researchers used high-tech DNA synthesis equipment to stitch together four entirely new, artificial bases inside the sugar-based framework of a DNA molecule. This resulted in unusually stable, double-stranded structures resembling natural DNA.
Like natural DNA, the new structures were right-handed and some easily formed triple-stranded structures. The unique chemistry of these structures and their high stability offer unprecedented possibilities for developing new biotech materials and applications, the researchers say.

Mice Can Sense Oxygen Through Their Skin
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that the skin of mice can sense low levels of oxygen and regulate the production of erythropoietin, or EPO, the hormone that stimulates our bodies to produce red blood cells and allows us to adapt to high-altitude, low-oxygen environments.
If found to apply to humans, the discovery could radically change the way physicians treat anemia and other diseases that require boosting our bodies' ability to produce red blood cells.

Giant Simulation Could Solve Mystery Of 'Dark Matter'
Dark matter is believed to account for 85 per cent of the Universe's mass but has remained invisible to telescopes since scientists inferred its existence from its gravitational effects more than 75 years ago.
Now the international Virgo Consortium, a team of scientists including cosmologists at Durham University, has used a massive computer simulation showing the evolution of a galaxy like the Milky Way to "see" gamma-rays given off by dark matter.
Their findings published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, could help NASA's Fermi Telescope in its search for the dark matter and open a new chapter in our understanding of the Universe.
The Virgo Consortium looked at dark matter halos – structures surrounding galaxies – which contain a trillion times the mass of the Sun.
Their simulations – called The Aquarius Project - showed how the galaxy's halo grew through a series of violent collisions and mergers between much smaller clumps of dark matter that emerged from the Big Bang.
If Fermi does detect the predicted emission from the Milky Way's smooth inner halo the Virgo team believes it might be able to see otherwise invisible clumps of dark matter lying very close to the Sun. Professor Simon White, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, said: "These calculations finally allow us to 'see' what the dark matter distribution should look like near the Sun where we might stand a chance of detecting it."
Dr Volker Springel, of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, led the computer simulations which took 3.5 million processor hours to complete.