June 28, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
Guest 1: Libby Kruse, PhD student.
My working title for my thesis: “ETS transcription factor regulation of hematopoiesis“.
Defining the functions of 2 closely related transcription factors, called Erg and Fli-1, in the generation of blood cells. I’m particularly interested in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are the ultimate source of all blood cells, and in platelets, which are the tiny blood cells that form clots to stop people bleeding.
If we understood how to control HSCs, we could make bone marrow transplants more efficient, or grow the blood cells we need for transfusions in the lab. This would be particularly useful in the case of platelets – As platelets have a much shorter shelf life at the blood bank than red cells and are required in many situations including surgery, trauma cases and for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
We have mutated 2 genes, Fli-1 and Erg, in mice (we call them the FLERG mice) and we are looking to see what goes wrong with their stem cells and platelets as a consequence of taking away these genes.
Guest 2: Julia Judd-Mole, PhD student.
My working title for my thesis: “The role of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) in malarial pathogenesis”.
My PhD project is looking at the immune response to malaria. I am looking at the role of a molecule called glycosylphosphatidylinositol (or “GPI”) that coats the surface of the malarial parasite. Malarial GPI has been shown to stimulate an inflammatory immune response and is thought to contribute to the pathology of malaria. My project is investigating how GPI acts on the immune system of the host during malarial infection. Furthering our understanding of how the malaria parasite influences the human immune system may help to design new treatments and/or a vaccine for malaria.
Segment: Dr Andi. A story on the on the dark side of Placebo effect — The science of voodoo: When mind attacks body
Goodbye Hilary, our trusty telephone answerer and interface between EAGG and our listener! Thanks for all your effort and good luck with your future endeavours.
————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20090628.mp3
Tags: hematopoiesis, malaria, stem cells
Posted in show summaries | Leave a Comment »
June 21, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
Guest: Emma Ryan-Weber, Swinburne University, 2009 Fresh Scientist.
Emma told us about the “earliest stardust de-fogging the universe”. She is part of an international team of astronomers that has discovered the oldest and most distant carbon in the Universe. But there’s not enough of it to support standard theories of how the Universe lit up, a member from Swinburne University of Technology has calculated.
In the early Universe a dark pervasive fog of neutral hydrogen gas lurked everywhere. Astronomers think that this fog cleared when the first stars formed and emitted light. There is a close connection between the amount of light and carbon produced in stars. But adding up all the 13-billion-year-old carbon detected, Emma and her collaborators came to the conclusion the amount of carbon, and therefore the number of massive stars, was insufficient to lift the fog.
Eight scientists who became their own guinea pigs — Here are eight extraordinary (and occasionally disgusting) stories of medical self-experimentation. Experimenting on yourself very rarely leads to scientific glory – it’s much more likely to result in swift admission to the casualty ward, or even to the morgue. So New Scientist doesn’t recommend you try these experiments on yourself, or anyone else for that matter. (New Scientist)
The first pluripotent stem cells from pigs — The discovery that adult skin cells can be ‘reprogrammed’ to behave like stem cells has been a major scientific boon, providing a way to tap the potential of embryonic stem cells without the associated ethical quandaries. Researchers have now created a line of such reprogrammed stem cells from adult pigs. As pigs are large animals with a physiology very similar to humans, this work provides a valuable model to study the therapeutic potential of this new “induced pluripotent stem cell” (iPS) technology. (ScienceDaily - here and here)
Snake scale friction — Snakes use both friction generated by their scales and redistribution of their weight to slither along flat surfaces, researchers at New York University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have found. Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, run counter to previous studies that have shown snakes move by pushing laterally against rocks and branches. (ScienceDaily)
NASA’s first missions to Earth’s Moon in 10 years — The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is scheduled to orbit and better map the Moon, search for buried and hidden ice, and return many high resolution images. Some images will be below one-meter in resolution and include images of historic Apollo landing sites. Exploratory data and images should allow a more informed choice of possible future astronaut landing sites. The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is scheduled to monitor the controlled impact of the rocket’s upper stage into a permanently shadowed crater near the Moon’s south pole. This impact, which should occur in about three months, might be visible on Earth through small telescopes. (Astronomy Picture of the Day)
————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20090621.mp3
Tags: Fresh Scientist, iPS cells
Posted in show summaries | Leave a Comment »
June 17, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
In this 200th anniversary year of the birth of Charles Darwin, and 150th anniversary year of the publication of his most famous (and one of science’s and history’s most famous) books, it is well worth a look at the amazing Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online.
The web site was the idea of a science historian, John van Wyhe, from the University of Cambridge, UK, who realized that the works of Darwin that were already on the web were scattered across different web sites with no obvious editorial standards. Many institutions and individuals have contributed to the project, which started in 2002. So far, over 50,000 searchable text pages and 40,000 images have been uploaded, making the web site the most comprehensive bibliography of Darwin’s work ever published.
The repository contains all of Darwin’s books, publications and manuscripts, as well as ‘ancillary works’ — a collection of reviews describing the naturalist’s work, original documents, drawings, audio files and unpublished material, such as the notes that Darwin took on the ship the Beagle during his famous journey around the globe.
Tags: Charles Darwin
Posted in other stuff | 1 Comment »
June 14, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
Guest 1: Carolyn de Graff, PhD student at WEHI.
My thesis title is ‘Regulation of Gene Expression During Hematopoiesis’. (Or that’s the title I think it will have when I get around to finishing it.) Each day the body produces trillions of new blood cells and this massive turnover is tightly regulated. I’m interested in genes involved in regulating the number of blood cells in the body. Key genes called transcription factors control which other genes are turned on in each blood cell type. By discovering which genes these transcription factors control, we can understand how blood cells are produced, and design treatments which better regulate blood cell numbers.
Guest 2: Evan Kidd, communicating by hand to imaginary friends.
http://freshscience.org.au/?p=960
Imaginary friends, real benefits — Don’t be concerned about imaginary friends, they are teaching your child to communicate, a La Trobe University researcher has found. Children aged between four and six who have imaginary friends are better able to get their point across than their contemporaries who do not, psychologist Evan Kidd and colleague Anna Roby from the University of Manchester showed. The results are being presented at Fresh Science at Melbourne Museum this week.
Also, Chris KP took us on a trip into science history to unveil the links between canaries in coal mines, chemists and quantum mechanics.
————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: podcast coming soon…..
Tags: blood cell formation, child communication, transcription factors
Posted in show summaries | Leave a Comment »
June 7, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
This week we welcome guests from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. Dr Rachel Burt discusses her work on the connection between genetics and complex diseases, such as hearing loss, and David Rigler talks about his investigations into the details of how the malaria parasite is able to invade red blood cells.
Dr Fifi looks at the huge number of bacterial cells contained in the human body and a research project to catalog these bacterial colonies. We also talk about South Australia’s progress in utilising geothermal energy, the current microscopy feature in Nature and the link between musical ability and the genes related to social bonding.
————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20090607.mp3
Tags: bacteria, genetics, geothermal energy, malaria, microscopy
Posted in show summaries | Leave a Comment »
May 31, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
We celebrate Medical Research Week with a live outside broadcast from the Mind and Body Gallery at Melbourne Museum (commissioned by Australian Society of Medical Research).
- Fay Khong, Ph.D student at St Vincent’s Hospital, drops by to chat about her research into the effect of diabetes on the heart.
- Dr Tom Brodnicki from the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research discusses environmental and genetic factors that contribute to juvenile diabetes, as well as his non-obese diabetic (NAD) mouse model.
- Dr Vance Matthews from the Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute looks at the link between obesity and diabetes, as well as his research into overcoming insulin resistance.
- Dr Andi also finds that the back of Chris KP’s hand is chock-a-block with pain sensors, oil glands, nerves, sweat glands, blood vessels – and quite a few hairs.
—————————–
More detail….
Name: Fay Lin Khong, PhD student
Institute: Department of Medicine, St Vincent’s Hospital
Project: Diabetes has been identified as an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular complications. A large body of evidence suggests that diabetic patients exhibit impaired relaxation of the heart i.e. the ability to suck blood back into the heart due to scarring. This ultimately leads to heart failure. Using an experimental model of diabetic heart failure which displays the structural and functional changes as seen in humans, we aim to evaluate the effect of novel therapeutics strategies that prevent the development or progression of heart failure.
Name: Dr Tom Brodnicki, Special Fellow, Laboratory Head – Immunogenetics
Institute: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Project: My research interests are focused on how particular genetic and environmental factors contribute to juvenile diabetes. While recent progress for disease gene discovery is encouraging, it is not known why the incidence for certain diseases, such as juvenile diabetes, is rising in developed countries, including Australia. Studies to identify the underlying factors for this phenomenon are very difficult in human patients. Instead, I’ve turned to a unique animal model, called the NOD mouse, which develops diabetes similar to children. My group is in the process of using different strategies (eg congenic mice, transposons, listeriosis) to better understand the genetic architecture of diabetes susceptibility and how infection might alter diabetes onset in NOD mice. It is anticipated that such studies will help discover cellular and molecular pathways that contribute to the development and/or prevention of diabetes in humans.
Name: Dr Vance Matthews, NHMRC Career Development Fellow and Group Leader (Pro-inflammatory cytokines and insulin resistance), Cellular and Molecular Metabolism Laboratory
Institute: Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute
Project: Overnutrition promotes obesity, which greatly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. As obesity is a global epidemic with unceasing rise in prevalence, the research of Dr Matthews is aimed at identifying agents that can decrease body weight and improve insulin sensitivity. Two important signalling cascades currently being studied in important metabolic tissues such as liver, muscle and adipose tissue are those of glycoprotein 130 and brain derived neurotrophic factor signalling.
————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20090531.mp3
Tags: asmr, medical research week
Posted in show summaries | Leave a Comment »
May 31, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
“Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” at Scienceworks
http://museumvictoria.com.au/starwars
Daily, 4 Jun – 3 Nov 2009
10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Thursdays, 11 Jun – 29 Oct 2009
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Tags: Scienceworks, Star Wars
Posted in local events | Leave a Comment »
May 24, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
Five things humans no longer need – Vestigial organs are parts of the body that once had a function but are now more-or-less useless. Probably the most famous example is the appendix, though it is now an open question whether the appendix is really vestigial. The idea that we are carrying around useless relics of our evolutionary past has long fascinated scientists and laypeople alike. (New Scientist)
Dinosaur-Bird Link: Ancient Proteins Preserved In Soft Tissue From 80 Million-Year-Old Hadrosaur — Ancient protein dating back 80 million years to the Cretaceous geologic period has been preserved in bone fragments and soft tissues of a hadrosaur, or duck-billed dinosaur, according to a study in the May 1 issue of Science. (ScienceDaily)
Book review: Lamarck’s Evolution — Before Darwin, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck created the first theory of evolution, an idea so powerful it promised to become the great unifying force of science. Instead, for two hundred years Lamarck’s grand idea polarised the scientific establishment and became a byword for discredited beliefs…until, on the eve of his bicentenary, science finally caught up and proved him right.
http://lamarcksevolution.com/
CSIRAC: Australia’s first computer
http://www.csiro.au/science/ps4f.html
http://flyingcolours.museum.vic.gov.au/csirac/
http://www.csse.unimelb.edu.au/dept/about/csirac/ (including a link to a CSIRAC Emulator)
Iceman photoscan website – Otzi, a Stone Age warrior frozen in an icy tomb for 5,300 years, can now be viewed in astonishing detail thanks to a new website. The Iceman photoscan project took 150,000 high definition images of the perfectly preserved mummy from 12 different angles, which the researchers loaded onto the new website. (Daily Mail)
http://www.icemanphotoscan.eu/
————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: podcast coming soon….
Tags: CSIRAC, dinosaurs, evolution, Lamarck, Otzi, vestigial organs
Posted in show summaries | Leave a Comment »
May 17, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
Guest 1: Stephen Gilchrist, co-curator of Shared Sky exhibition and Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Stephen talked about how culture has attempted to make sense of the cosmos, and the exhibition of amazing artwork at the Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, Federation Square.
Guest 2: Dr Tanya Hill, Curator of Astronomy and producer of Planetarium shows at Museum Victoria.
Tanya talked about the Planetarium and 2009 being the International Year of Astronomy.
————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20090517.mp3
Tags: International Year of Astronomy, Shared Sky exhibition
Posted in show summaries | Leave a Comment »
May 10, 2009 by Einstein a Go Go
Guest 1: Dr Kate Buchanan, Senior Lecturer in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University.
Kate studies the evolution of animal signals and physiological stress and acoustic signalling. She discussed the environment and genetics of the avian song system, in particular the exposure of birds to endocrine disrupters released by plastic products. These endocrine disrupters act as toxins and change the brains of the birds such that they change the way they sing their songs. She studies native Zebra Finches and introduced European Starlings and Canaries.
She is also busy as the Editor of Emu Austral Ornithology, member of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, Secretary of the Ethics Committee of the Association, and Consulting Editor for Animal Behaviour.
http://www.deakin.edu.au/scitech/les/about/staff-profiles/display/index.php?username=klb
————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: Einstein-A-Go-Go-20090510.mp3
Tags: bird song, endocrine disrupters
Posted in show summaries | Leave a Comment »
