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Stem cells could end need for transplants Dolphins may not be so smart after all! Plimsolls with flat soles better for kids’ feet Prof Yash
Pal THIS UNIVERSE
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Stem cells could end need for transplants SCIENTISTS have created stem cells within the body of laboratory mice for the first time in a landmark study showing that it may be possible one day to repair damaged human organs in situ without the need for transplant operations. Until now stem cells created by a new genetic engineering technique have only been created in vitro in the laboratory, but the researchers were able to perform gene therapy on living mice to generate the stem cells in vivo. If the work can be transferred safely to humans, it raises the possibility of generating stem cells at the site of a diseased organ, such as heart or pancreas, so that a person’s own stem cells could be generated to repair any damaged tissue. “We think this opens new possibilities in regenerative medicine...One possible advantage over other stem cell techniques is that the cells are already there in the right place with the possibility of becoming functional cells — with no need for grafts,” said Manuel Serrano of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid. “We can now start to think about methods for inducing regeneration locally and in a transitory manner for a particular damaged tissue,” said Dr Serrano, who led the study published in the journal Nature. Stem cells can be taken from early embryos or be created from ordinary skin cells by injecting them with four genetic factors that re-programme the adult cells back to their embryonic state. These stem cells are called induced pluriopotent stem (iPS) cells and their discovery was awarded a Nobel prize in 2012. Dr Serrano’s team carried out the genetic therapy on living mice and found that it was possible to create iPS cells within their bodies. These cells showed many of the hallmarks of being “pluripotent” — capable to developing into any of the specialised tissues of the body. However, they researchers also found that the technique caused cancer-like growths, called teratomas, to appear in some mice. This risk would have to be eliminated before any clinical trials on humans, Dr Serrano said. Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, said reprogramming a patient’s own cells within their bodies has the potential to transform their lives. “The major challenge will be tightly controlling every step in this potential approach to treating patients in order to deliver clinical benefits whilst avoiding significant complications,” Professor Mason said. Ilaria Bellantuono, a stem cell researcher at the University of Sheffield, said: “This [study] is very exciting. Clearly nobody wishes to do this for therapeutic purposes because this leads to the formation of tumours called teratomas. However this is a proof of concept that pluripotency can be achieved in vivo.” — The Independent |
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Dolphins may not be so smart after all! Dolphins, believed to be the most intelligent creatures after humans, may actually be no brighter than other animals — and the playful creatures may even conceal a darker, aggressive side, new research suggests. Humans have been beguiled, partly by the animals’ permanent apparent smile, but also by decades of flawed research biased towards proving they have near-human qualities, according to new research. “Dolphins are fascinating in their own right, but in terms of intelligence they are nowhere near as special as they have been portrayed,” said Zoologist Justin Gregg, a researcher with the Dolphin Communication Project in the US. Gregg, who co-edits the journal Aquatic Mammals, believes that although dolphins show many apparently complex behaviours, such as living in large social groups, empathy and communicating with peers, such abilities can be found in other species, including chickens, pigs and bears, and so do not make dolphins special, ‘The Times’ reported. US neuroscientist John Lilly first proposed the idea that dolphins were particularly intelligent in the 1950s after his experiments concluded the animals were trying to communicate with researchers. Last year, scientists told the American Association for the Advancement of Science that dolphins should be reclassified as non-human “persons”, and killing them treated as murder. Gregg, author of the book ‘Are Dolphins Really Smart?’ to be out this month, believes researchers made a series of mistakes, of which the most fundamental are to assume that dolphins’ large brains imply great intelligence, and that complex vocalisations are a sign of a language. “Dolphin communication does not seem to be that special. They do have a unique signature whistle, and it’s possible they could use this to communicate, but they don’t seem to have alarm calls or food calls — in that respect they are less sophisticated than chickens,” Gregg said. Researchers have also debunked the myth of dolphins as peace-loving creatures living in harmonious societies. Scientists at the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews University in Scotland have recorded how bottlenose dolphins often kill the smaller harbour porpoises they encounter, although never to eat. — PTI
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Plimsolls with flat soles better for kids’ feet OLD-FASHIONED plimsoll shoes with flat soles are better for children’s feet than modern cushioned trainers because they teach them to run in a more natural manner on the front part of the foot, scientists have said. Once children become accustomed to running in trainers using their cushioned heels they find it difficult to learn to run more naturally, said Mick Wilkinson, a sport and exercise scientist at Northumbria University in Newcastle. “If I was to advise someone on what to give their child I would say don’t go and buy them expensive Adidas or Nike big-cushioned jobs, just get them a pair of flexible, flat shoes,” Dr Wilkinson said. “Give them basic foot-ware, nothing fancy, nothing structured, nothing particularly cushioned. There is a lot of evidence that the human foot is structured to cope with the forces of running by landing on the mid-foot,” he said. “If someone is going to learn to run from first principles let them learn using their natural equipment as much as possible,” Dr Wilkinson told the British Science Festival in Newcastle. Cushioned trainers have become a universal fashion item for young people but they are not necessarily the best kind of footwear for children who want to take up sports and running, he said. Studies have shown that the human foot is designed for long-distance running, but only if the runner lands on the front part of the foot rather than the heel, which causes repeated impact shocks. This is the main reason why bare-foot running is becoming more popular among some long-distance runners. “Lots of people are trying barefoot running. It is massive in America and it’s starting to come over here now,” Dr Wilkinson said. “The body has in-built, impact-avoidance reflexes that are triggered by sensations through the sole of the feet. That leads you to cushion the landing naturally,” he explained. Up to 20 per cent of runners using modern running shoes will develop injuries associated with the repetitive impact of striking the heel on the ground, such as stress fractures in the bones of the foot and leg, Dr Wilkinson said. “Injury rates in running have not changed since the 1970s, despite claims of improvements in running shoes. That has led some to conclude that barefoot running is better,” he told the festival. “There been a suggestion that barefoot running, or the technique of running that they adopt, could alter some of the impact forces such that injury risk might be reduced,” he said. Bare-foot running requires people to carefully train themselves over a long period of time to run differently so that they do not damage themselves, but if children can be encouraged to wear simple, flat shoes this would at least help to avoid much of the damage caused by cushioned trainers, Dr Wilkinson said. “If you are wearing the elevated-heel kind of running shoe it is actually quite difficult to land on the mid-foot. The elevated-heel running shoe encourages heel strike,” he said. “I would say anything that encourages the transition to a mid-foot strike is beneficial so the more minimal show — moving away from the more cushioned ones — is the take-home message,” Dr Wilkinson said. — The Independent
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THIS UNIVERSE It is believed that the best time for a morning walk is around 4 am, but we know that trees emit carbon dioxide during night. Please advise what is the best time for a morning walk? A tree is a living thing, but it is a very special living body. Like all living creatures, it metabolises every hour of its life. This means that like us it also breathes at night. Breathing means it also converts some of its stored food into other products and energy. This necessarily involves production of some products. They include those which result from slow burning of food; this implies emission of carbon dioxide! This should not surprise, or frighten us. Since a tree lives, it has to breathe. That does not mean it wants to poison us. The special thing about a tree is that while it does produce carbon dioxide all through day and night because of its metabolism, it absorbs lot more carbon dioxide during photosynthesis that happens in daylight. Because of this understanding and the fact that we do not mind sleeping in the same room as several companions, breathing out carbon dioxide, we should not be too worried by the company of a tree at night while it is standing in a breeze in open night. Why do electric field lines inside a metallic conductor remain zero? I think the reason for a field line to exist is to show how the field strength is changing. This becomes unnecessary when the field essentially disappears inside a conducting volume; inside volume is enclosed in an equipotential surface.
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Trends LONDON: Researchers have found that listening to Miley Cyrus’s hit track ‘We Can’t Stop’, can help students learn science and maths better. The research reveals that tracks such as Cyrus’, which have up to 80 beats per minute, tend to have a calming effect on the brain, the Daily Star reported. The song, which mentions drug taking, boosts logical thought and learning of the facts, if listened to while studying. Antarctic subglacial lake shows sign of diverse life forms WASHINGTON: Scientists have found proof of diverse life forms, dating back nearly a hundred thousand years, in an Antarctic subglacial lake’s sediments. Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and the Universities of Northumbria and Edinburgh targeted Lake Hodgson on the Antarctic Peninsula which was covered by more than 400 metre of ice at the end of the last Ice Age, but is now considered to be an emerging subglacial lake, with a thin covering of just 3-4 metres of ice. Pentagon, NASA to spend $44 billion on space launches WASHINGTON: The US Defense Department and NASA expect to spend about $44 billion to launch government satellites and other spacecraft over the next five years, including $28 billion in procurement funding, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said. GAO, a congressional watchdog agency, said it was difficult to determine exact funding plans because both agencies used different accounting methods, but it arrived at the combined total by analysing Pentagon and NASA budget documents, and looking at funding from other government agencies. —
Agencies |
The trend towards highly-cushioned trainers with thick heels makes it more difficult for young people to learn to run using the front foot, which causes less impact than striking the ground with the heel. 