Bonobo’s genetic code laid bare

Scientists have decoded the bonobo genome, the biochemical instructions in the ape’s cells that guide the building and maintenance of the animal’s body.

It is the last great ape to have its DNA sequence laid bare, following the chimpanzee, orang-utan and gorilla.

Comparisons of all their codes, including the human genome, will shed new light on the biology and evolution of these closely related species.

The sequencing and analysis work is reported in the journal Nature.

It was undertaken by an international team led from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

The samples for study were taken from a female bonobo known as Ulindi which resides in Leipzig zoo.

Bonobos (Pan paniscus), together with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), are the closest living relatives of humans.

If one compares the DNA “letters” in the sequences of all three species, there is only a 1.3% difference between humans and their ape cousins.

The separation between the bonobo and the chimp is smaller still. Only four letters in every thousand is changed.

“Based on the differences that we observe between the genomes, one can actually estimate when the last common ancestor between these species lived,” explained MPI’s Kay Prufer.

“And between chimpanzees and bonobos that is maybe a million years in the past. For the chimps, bonobos, and humans – the common ancestor of all three lived somewhere around four to five million years ago,” he told the BBC’s Science In Action programme…

http://pulse.me/s/afAFl

Egypt decree grants arrest powers to military

Egypt’s justice ministry has issued a decree allowing military police and intelligence officers to arrest civilians suspected of crimes, restoring some of the powers of the decades-old emergency law which expired just two weeks ago.

The decree applies to a range of offences, including those deemed “harmful to the government,” destruction of property, “obstructing traffic,” and “resisting orders.”

Several of those provisions would allow the military to detain peaceful protesters. Rallies in Tahrir Square routinely disrupt traffic, for example.

The controversial order was drafted earlier this month, but was not announced until Wednesday.

It will remain in effect at least until a new constitution is drafted, according to the ministry. …

http://pulse.me/s/afhTI

The military in Egypt can now arrest anyone for not following orders. Sounds like slavery to me. Definitely worse than the fact that you can be arrested in America for resisting arrest… although that is messed up as well.

Chinese drones are coming

Marc Herman – China is getting into the flying robot business, as much for financial as security reasons, according to business consultants Frost and Sullivan. A report in Singapore’s Straits Timessays the consultancy believes the United States is by now well stocked with drones, and between now and 2020 will be scaling back purchases from more than $5 billion per year to $2.3 billion. At the same time, the global market for drones should increase to more than $7 billion. A market opportunity would emerge for Chinese-made drones, which the report claims will ramp up in the next three years, as Chinese technology for high altitude pilotless flight improves.

What of it? The Chinese drones may spread the weapons across Asia and the rest of the world; most drones on the market today are American and Israeli designs. It’s a political argument, insofar as proliferation is in the eye of the beholder: though China might well sell to Pakistan or Iran, the U.S. just agreed to arm several of the Reaper drones operated by Italy.

Designers unveil dress made from red wine

Scientists have unveiled a collection of skin-tight garments fashioned from red wine.

A team from the University of Western Australia added a bacteria to the alcoholic beverage to create a cotton-like substance.

To date they have made dresses, T-shirts and swimwear and are now looking at ways to improve the fabric tear strength.

Lead researcher Gary Cass, collaborated with contemporary artist Donna Franklin to deisgn the womenswear range and believes fermented fashion could one day become mainstream.

Discussing the project he states: ‘This project redefines the production of woven materials.

‘By combining art and science knowledge and with a little inventiveness, the ultimate goal will be to produce a bacterial fermented seamless garment that forms without a single stitch.’

To create the fabric, a bacteria called acetobacter is added to vats of wine to convert it into vinegar and a scum-like surface gradually forms.

This layer is then harvested and dried on an inflatable mannequin to get the desired shape.

via Fashion that starts with a bottle of wine: Designers unveil womenswear range crafted from alcohol | Mail Online.

World Health Org: Diesel exhausts do cause cancer

Exhaust fumes from diesel engines do cause cancer, a panel of experts working for the World Health Organization says.

It concluded that the exhausts were definitely a cause of lung cancer and may also cause tumours in the bladder.

It based the findings on research in high-risk workers such as miners, railway workers and truck drivers.

However, the panel said everyone should try to reduce their exposure to diesel exhaust fumes.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a part of the World Health Organization, had previously labelled diesel exhausts as probably carcinogenic to humans.

IARC has now labelled exhausts as a definite cause of cancer, although it does not compare how risky different carcinogens are. Diesel exhausts are now in the same group as carcinogens ranging from wood chippings to plutonium and sunlight to alcohol.

It is thought people working in at-risk industries have about a 40% increased risk of developing lung cancer.

Dr Christopher Portier, who led the assessment, said: “The scientific evidence was compelling and the Working Group’s conclusion was unanimous, diesel engine exhaust causes lung cancer in humans.

“Given the additional health impacts from diesel particulates, exposure to this mixture of chemicals should be reduced worldwide.”

The impact on the wider population, which is exposed to diesel fumes at much lower levels and for shorter periods of time, is unknown.

via BBC News – Diesel exhausts do cause cancer, says WHO.

Children with older fathers and grandfathers ‘live longer’

Delaying fatherhood may offer survival advantages, say US scientists who have found children with older fathers and grandfathers appear to be “genetically programmed” to live longer.

The genetic make-up of sperm changes as a man ages and develops DNA code that favours a longer life – a trait he then passes to his children.

The team found the link after analysing the DNA of 1,779 young adults.

Their work appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Shoelace tips

Experts have known for some time that lifespan is linked to the length of structures known as telomeres that sit at the end of the chromosomes that house our genetic code, DNA. Generally, a shorter telomere length means a shorter life expectancy.

Like the plastic tips on shoelaces, telomeres protect chromosomal ends from damage. But in most cells, they shorten with age until the cells are no longer able to replicate.However, scientists have discovered that in sperm, telomeres lengthen with age.

And since men pass on their DNA to their children via sperm, these long telomeres can be inherited by the next generation.

Dr Dan Eisenberg and colleagues from the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University studied telomere inheritance in a group of young people living in the Philippines.

Telomeres, measured in blood samples, were longer in individuals whose fathers were older when they were born.

The telomere lengthening seen with each year that the men delayed fatherhood was equal to the yearly shortening of telomere length that occurs in middle-aged adults.

Telomere lengthening was even greater if the child’s paternal grandfather had also been older when he became a father.

Although delaying fatherhood increases the risk of miscarriage, the researchers believe there may be long-term health benefits.

Inheriting longer telomeres will be particularly beneficial for tissues and biological functions that involve rapid cell growth and turnover – such as the immune system, gut and skin – the scientists believe. …

via BBC News – Children with older fathers and grandfathers ‘live longer’.

Toddler saved: man scales building to save girl from plunge

“It was easy for me to do this”.

Those were the words of 23-year-old Zhou Chong, who scaled a building in Guangzhou, in southern China, to stop a toddler falling 20 metres to the ground.

Zhou climbed out a window and along the building to prop up the toddler, who appeared to have her head stuck in metal railings, for almost 10 minutes before she was rescued by authorities, London’s Daily Telegraph reported.

After the dramatic rescue on June 3, Zhou, who was in the city to look for a job, left before the girl’s family could thank him.

Local media tracked him down after CCTV footage of the rescue was released.

The Telegraph reported the rescue was made easier for Zhou because he had a background in construction.

“At that time I wasn’t thinking much and I wasn’t looking to gain anything. It was easy for me to do this,” he said.

Zhou was given a $7900 reward and offered a job by the local government, The China Daily reported.

Shi Qizhu, head of Tianhe district in Guangzhou, said: “Zhou saved a girl’s life and the family’s happiness regardless of his own safety. …

via Toddler saved: man scales building to save girl from plunge.

Thank you, yellow spiderman.