the DNA of the Greeks

may the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

σερ Αρθουρ Κλαρκ ενας εφηβος 90 ετων!

Η ΣΕΛΙΔΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΑ 90 ΤΟΥ ΓΕΝΕΘΛΙΑ





ο σερ Αρθουρ Κλαρκ κλεινει τα εννενητα!!!
πειτε του χρονια πολλα, μεσω της ΤΜΤ στη μακρινη Κινα



ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΛΕΣ ΧΡΗΣΙΜΕΣ ΠΛΗΡΟΦΟΡΙΕΣ

may the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

PALE BLUE DOT CONTINUES.........

απολαυστε ενα ακομη 'pale blue dot"

may the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Carl Sagan ένας μεγάλος οραματιστής

Carl Edward Sagan (Νοεμβριος 9, 1934 - Δεκεμβριος 20, 1996) Αμερικανός αστρονόμος και ερευνητής. Πρωτοπόρος της Εξω-Βιολογίας, ίδρυσε το κεντρο αναζήτησης εξωγήϊνης νοημοσήνης(SETI). Εγινε γνωστός για τα βιβλία του εκλαϊκευμένης επιστήμης (popular science) και την τηλεοπτική σειρά ΚΟΣΜΟΣ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos:_A_Personal_Voyage), την οποία έγραφε και παρουσίαζε. Στα έργα του συνηγορεί υπέρ της αθείας και της επιστημονικής μεθόδου (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method).

may the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

ΤΕΛΙΚΑ ΔΕΝ ΕΙΜΑΣΤΕ ΟΛΟΙ ΙΔΙΟΙ......

New investigations into the code for life suggest the assumption that humans are genetically almost identical is wide of the mark, and the implications could be resounding.
Current thinking, inspired by the results five years ago from the Human Genome Project, is that the six billion humans alive today are 99.9 percent similar when it comes to genetic content and identity.
But major research work, published on Thursday, suggests we are genetically more diverse -- and the repercussions could be far-reaching for medical diagnosis, new drugs and the tale of human evolution itself.
Until now, analysis of the genome has focussed overwhelmingly on comparing flaws, or polymorphisms, in single "letters" in the chemical code for making and sustaining human life.
An international consortium of scientists has taken a different tack and believe they have uncovered a complex, higher-order variation in the code.
This better explains why some individuals are vulnerable to certain diseases and respond well to specific drugs, while counterparts swiftly fall sick or never respond to treatment, the authors believe.
Their focus has been to dig out deletions or duplications of code among relatively long sequences of individual DNA and then compare these so-called copy number variations (CNVs) across a range of volunteers of different ancestry.
The researchers were astonished to locate 1,447 CNVs in nearly 2,900 genes, or around one eighth of the human genetic code."Each one of us has a unique pattern of gains and losses of complete sections of DNA," said Matthew Hurles of Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, one of the project's partners.
"One of the real surprises of these results was just how much of our DNA varies in copy number. We estimate this to be at least 12 percent of the genome."
"The copy number variation that researchers had seen before was simply the tip of the iceberg, while the bulk lay submerged, undetected. We now appreciate the immense contribution of this phenomenon to genetic differences between individuals.
"Some of the missing or duplicated stretches are very long, suggesting that, like backroom switches in a protein factory, CNVs must have a big impact on gene expression.
Nearly 16 percent of genes that are known to be related to disease have CNVs, the group found.
These include genes involved in rare genetic disorders such as DiGeorge, Williams-Beuren and Prader-Willi syndromes and those linked with schizophrenia, cataracts, spinal muscular atrophy and atherosclerosis.
But kidney disease, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and vulnerability to malaria and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which recent research has blamed on single-letter variations in the gene code, may also well be rooted in CNVs, the doctors believe.
"The stage is set for global studies to explore anew... the clinical significance of human variation," said Huntington Willard and Kevin Shianna of the Institute for Genome and Science Policy at Duke University in North Carolina, in a review of the research.
Evolution is another area that will come under new scrutiny.
The "Out of Africa" scenario, by which Homo sapiens emerged from east Africa and spread around the globe, will not be challenged, though.
Our origins are so recent that the vast majority of CNVs, around 89 percent, was found to be shared among the 269 people who volunteered blood as samples for the study.
These individuals included Japanese from Tokyo, Han Chinese from Beijing, Yoruba from Nigeria and Americans of Northern and Western European ancestry.
All the same, there are widespread differences in CNVs according to the three geographical origins of the samples.
This implies that, over the last 200,000 years or so, subtle variants have arisen in the genome to allow different populations of humans adapt to their different environments, Wellcome Trust Sanger said in a press release.
The research, which appears in the British journal Nature, is based on two technical breakthroughs, one in faster, accurate sequencing of DNA and the other in a powerful software programme to spot the CNVs.

may the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

50 χρονια ταξιδια στο διαστημα....

οχι αλλα ζωα, διαστημικοι ηρωες

αν θελετε πειραματα υπαρχουν ανθρωποι....

τα ζωα δεν σας πειραζουν!!!

may the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Gattaca η καπιταλιστικη ουτοπια που ειναι κοντα.

Gattaca
The science fiction movie Gattaca is a piece of modern dystopic writing, speculating on a future in which humankind has used a new-found mastery over the human genome to create better, faster, stronger, more-long-lived humans.
Several ideas found within the movie have their roots in earlier utopian writings, but Andrew Niccol, the director of the film, shows the possible dystopic consequences that could take place if these ideas are enacted. The mood and design of the movie are reminiscent of several utopias that place emphasis on a (spartan) spirit, in which individual wants and desires are denied.
In addition, the main theme of the movie focuses on the consequences of genetic engineering, which relates to the utopian idea of eugenics, on personal freedom and in creating a new kind of discrimination. Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines eugenics as (the movement devoted to improving the human species through the control of hereditary factors in mating).
This idea has been present in much of utopian literature throughout history.
In Republic, Plato advocates a selective breeding program in order to create the best humans possible. Thus, the idea of eugenics stretches back over 2000 years in utopian literature.
Campanella, in The City of the Sun, written during the Renaissance, also applied a eugenics program to his perfect world (the Prince of Love) sees that men and women are so joined together, that they bring forth the best offspring. People must be selectively bred, just like horses, cattle or dogs (Plato 34).
This focus on breeding better and better humans is also found within modern utopian works. The idea of eugenics is at the very center of Gattaca.
Niccol takes the idea of eugenics a step further in Gattaca. He follows an idea found in much of science fiction literature in which instead of tinkering with the offspring of humans through breeding programs in which humans are matched up with mates that will reinforce or enhance desired qualities, geneticists tinker with the very genetic material of two people to create children that surpass what nature could do alone.
The people are not matched up by selective breeding, but the genes are selectively chosen. Genetic engineering is used to eliminate diseases; instead of dropping people with genetic diseases out of the gene pool, as eugenics would, the geneticists get rid of the bad genes responsible for these diseases (or even genes that predispose people to develop diseases. In addition, the geneticists can also create children who are enhanced. Instead of just selecting genes for the purpose of eliminating diseases, the scientists go beyond this to select genes for height, weight, intelligence, and longevity) creating designer children. The methods used to do this are partly dependent on what parents can afford to pay and their own morals or ethics (Gattaca: Production Notes).

Part of what makes the movie, Gattaca, a dystopian vision of the future is the dependence on money to create perfect children and the system of inequality that this system causes. The movie clearly shows a capitalist future. In Gattaca, you get what you pay for; if people choose to pay, they can have super-children with genes carefully selected to provide superior intelligence and physical capabilities.
If parents choose not to pay for genetic tinkering at all, if they choose to have a child the natural way, then their children are branded (in-valid) disqualifying them for excellent jobs and bright futures. Children that are born without genetic tinkering are inferior, with higher incidences of diseases, ailments, and lower IQs , in short they are no longer competitive against the (valid) children who have been carefully constructed to give them every advantage their parents genes could possible provide.

This idea of (valid) and (in-valid) people is part of everyday life in the world of Gattaca. You must be (valid) in order to attain certain jobs. For instance, to be hired at Gattaca, the space agency in the movie, as a potential astronaut, the applicant must be (valid.) In actuality the applicant must be better than just (valid.) Therefore, a person’s genes decide what kind of job the person can attain, and therefore how much money a person will make. An (in-valid) person may be hired as a janitor at Gattaca, but that is the only way across the threshold for such a person. (In-valids) are a new genetic underclass considered inferior because of their genes, they are judged as next-to worthless before even being given a chance due to their genetic profile. (In-valids) do the dirty work in this future vision, and in general, society as a whole believes that these inferior people should stay in their place - at the bottom of the hierarchy. This means that those with the money to pay for it can have the (best) children with the most competitive advantages, while those that can’t pay for genetic designing will have less competitive children. Therefore, the system of inequality perpetuates itself because an (in-valid) will not have the money to pay for top-quality genetic engineering for their children.






This system also severely limits personal freedoms in several ways. This limitation on personal freedom is also in the utopian vein, but in Gattaca, the vision is clearly shown through a dystopic lens. Many utopian writers, including Plato, More, and Campanella, advocate limiting personal freedom in order to create a more harmonious society. In Gattaca, the stifling effects of these limitations are illustrated. The main character, Vincent, is an (in-valid) who dreams of leaving earth and exploring space. However, he is not free to pursue this dream, because no matter how hard he studies, how good he becomes, he will never get the chance to follow his dreams because his genes are not (valid.) As one character says in the movie,
No one exceeds his potential, meaning their genetic potential.

This is a very dystopic concept to many Americans, who are traditionally raised to believe that hard work and persistence are what it takes to achieve their dreams, not that their very destiny is entwined in their genome. As Gore Vidal said, The world of Gattaca is totalitarian, really. Genetic engineering makes people better, more beautiful, more desirable, but what price will we pay for it (Gattaca: Production Notes)? Vincent beats the system though, by going through an elaborate process in order to trick the system into believing he is a (valid.) By doing this he proves that this system of (valid) and (in-valid) is not foolproof, and that the gene cannot explain every detail of a person’s life before it has been lived.
When contrasted with other science fiction works that also use genetic engineering to make better humans, it becomes apparent just how dystopic Gattaca is. Robert A. Heinlein and other science fiction authors have also played with the idea of genetic engineering, but in a more utopic vein. In Time Enough For Love, Heinlein explores a world where genetic engineering creates healthier, longer-lived humans, with none of the downsides displayed in Gattaca. People are allowed the freedom to be whoever they want, to try anything, without any restrictions due to their DNA, besides those imposed on breeding to prevent genetic diseases (Heinlein 384). While both Heinlein and Niccols play with the enlightenment ideal that science and rationality can make better humans and better worlds - surpassing what nature could do alone, Heinlein sees a rosier future stretching up, full of possibility, while Niccols keeps his eyes on the downfalls and traps that could lead to corruption and a dystopic future.

Works Cited
Agnes, Michael, ed. Webster�s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition. New York: Macmillan, 1999. 490.
Gattaca. Dir. Andrew Niccols. Columbia Pictures, 1997.
Gattaca: Production Notes. 1997. Columbia TriStar Interactive. 2 March 2003
<http://www.sonypictures.com/Pictures/SonyMovies/movies/Gattaca/the_film/production_notes.htm>.
Heinlein, Robert A. Time Enough for Love. New York: Ace, 1988.
Plato. Republic. The Utopia Reader. Eds. Gregory Claeys and Lyman Tower Sargent. New York: New York UP, 1999. 27-56.

Φανταστείτε έναν κόσμο όπου οι γονείς θα μπορούσαν να επιλέξουν τα χαρακτηριστικά των παιδιών τους ή ακόμη τις σωματικές και πνευματικές τους ικανότητες με μία και μόνο απλή παρέμβαση στο DNA τους. Αυτόν το κόσμο μας παρουσιάζει η ταινία Gattaca που για πολλούς απεδείχθη προφητική μετά τα άλματα της επιστήμης στον τομέα της γενετικής τα τελευταία χρόνια. Σε έναν τέτοιο κόσμο οι “γενετικά τέλειοι” άνθρωποι κατέχουν όλες τις εξέχουσες θέσεις και έχουν πολύ περισσότερες ευκαιρίες, παραγκωνίζοντας τους “φυσιολογικούς” ανθρώπους που αναγκάζονται να αντιμετωπίσουν την περιθωριοποίηση και τον στιγματισμό από το υπόλοιπο κοινωνικό τους σύνολο.Ένας από αυτούς είναι και ο Βίνσεντ, ο οποίος έχει σαν όνειρο να ταξιδέψει στο διάστημα. Για να πραγματοποιηθεί, όμως, αυτό θα πρέπει να γίνει μέλος της εταιρίας Gattaca, ενός οργανισμού που απαρτίζεται από τους “ξεχωριστούς” και “τέλειους” ανθρώπους και οργανώνει διαστημικές αποστολές. Ο Βίνσεντ, όμως, λόγω της μεγάλης του μυωπίας και ενός σοβαρού προβλήματος στη καρδιά του είναι αδύνατο να εισχωρήσει σε αυτόν τον οργανισμό. Τη λύση τότε προσφέρει ο Τζερόμ, ένα πρώην μέλος της “ανώτερης” τάξης ανθρώπων που είναι πλέον καθηλωμένος σε αναπηρικό καροτσάκι, ο οποίος δέχεται να αλλάξει ταυτότητα με τον Βίνσεντ προκειμένου να τον βοηθήσει. Έτσι με η βοήθεια του ο Βίνσεντ εισχωρεί στην εταιρία κερδίζοντας συνεχώς έδαφος, έως ότου ένας φόνος απειλεί να αποκαλύψει την πραγματική του ταυτότητα.Ο Άντριου Νίκολ πραγματεύεται το θέμα με πολύ προσοχή και εμβαθύνει στην κοινωνική ανισότητα και στον ρατσισμό που αναπτύσσονται, ενώ παράλληλα συνδυάζει και το πνεύμα της ταινίας με τις φοβίες των σημερινών ανθρώπων μπροστά στις συνέπειες που μπορεί να φέρει η απερίσκεπτη παρέμβαση στους κανόνες της φύσης. Η ταινία κάνει επίσης και έναν υπαινιγμό στην εξέλιξη της τεχνολογίας και την επέμβαση της με σκοπό να απαλείψει κάθε ψεγάδι ή ελάττωμα κάνοντας το καθετί τέλειο, δημιουργώντας, όμως, ταυτόχρονα μια εικόνα, μια εντύπωση του απόκοσμου, του λιγότερου ανθρώπινου.Σε αυτή την μελλοντική σύνθεση ο σκηνοθέτης δίνει και μια νότα του παρελθόντος. Έτσι έχουμε έντονη την παρουσία στην ταινία στοιχείων της δεκαετίας του 40, κυρίως στον ενδυματολογικό χώρό, αλλά επίσης και στην εξέλιξη της πλοκής που θυμίζει νουάρ.

Η ταινία είναι αρκετά καλή από σκηνοθετικής απόψεως, υστερεί, όμως, στο σενάριο, όπου ξετυλίγει με εξυπνάδα, αλλά πολύ βιαστικά την πλοκή της. Αυτό το σφάλμα δεν μπορεί, δυστυχώς, να καλύψει ούτε η εξαιρετική ηθοποιία των νέων και ταλαντούχων πρωταγωνιστών, ούτε και ο σκηνικός διάκοσμος που στηρίζει μια μελλοντική πολιτεία η οποία δεν μοιάζει πέρα για πέρα μακρινή.

May the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

κοσμος = διακοσμος

may the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

VAIO UX490 μικρο στο ματι.... μεγαλο σε επιδοσεις

αυτο το μικρο....με εχει ταραξει....


may the force be with you
Copyright © Demetrios the Traveler

Salmon parents give birth to trout

Genetic technique creates viable fish sperm and eggs.
Nicola Jones

Trout juveniles at 6 months old, generated from surrogate salmon parents.

Researchers have succeeded in making salmon couples give birth to trout — using a technique that they argue could help to preserve rare species of fish.

Goro Yoshizaki and his colleagues at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology in Japan had previously shown that male salmon could be injected with cells from closely-related trout to produce viable trout sperm. When the sperm were introduced to trout eggs, healthy trout offspring were produced (see 'Salmon give birth to trout').

Now the researchers have taken the work a step further, showing that salmon can be not only the biological fathers but also the mothers of trout offspring. The new work, published in Science1, shows how two sterile masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) can together produce nothing but healthy rainbow trout (O. mykiss).

The technique relies on the injection of trout spermatagonia — the early, stem-cell stage of sperm — into salmon embryos, so that the growing salmon produce trout sperm and eggs. The technique could be very useful for storing back-up genetic material of different fish species that are today under threat, because spermatagonia can be easily cryopreserved, says David Penman, a fish geneticist at the University of Stirling, UK.

With many plants and animals, seeds, sperm and eggs can be cryopreserved to later resurrect a species that has died out. "The problem with gene-banking when you come to fish, is that it's almost impossible with eggs," says Penman. "The eggs are very big, very yolky," he says, which makes them nearly impossible to freeze.

If Yoshizaki's technique is broadly applicable to other fish, it will mean that their eggs don't need to be preserved — they could be made at a later date, in a surrogate fish.

If trout spermatagonia are injected into normal male salmon embryos, the fish will grow up to produce a mix of different types of sperm — some salmon, and some trout. In the team's previous work, when sperm from male salmon treated with primordial germ cells (an even earlier stage of sperm) were used to fertilize trout eggs, just 0.4% of the resulting offspring were healthy trout. The rest were hybrids that did not survive.

To increase this percentage, the team turned to salmon designed to have three sets of chromosomes instead of the usual two, making them sterile. When they are injected with spermatagonia, the only viable sperm the males later produce comes from these injected cells — making them 100% trout.

The group also met with success doing the same thing with sterile female salmon. When the female fish were injected as embryos with spermatagonia, the eggs they produced were all trout eggs.

The fact that an early form of sperm could be used to prompt the growth of eggs shows just how flexible these fish are to this type of treatment, notes Penman. "It's really amazing to see that they injected spermatagonia and got eggs — the fish are very plastic."

When mated, these salmon parents produced healthy trout offspring, which in turn mated to give a healthy second generation.

Save the fish

Yoshizaki and his colleagues hope the technique could be used to help save endangered fish.

"There are lots of species of fish that are threatened," says Penman. He says he thinks that to use this approach properly will mean thinking about cryopreserving a lot of material, to save all species and ensure that resulting populations are not too inbred. And some species are likely to be easier to work with than others, he adds. "If you don't happen to have a closely related recipient [for a surrogate] then you'd struggle. There are some groups where there are lots of close relatives, but some where there are only a few," he says.

"It's better to look at all the aspects of conservation biology — but this will be a useful additional technique, as a backup," Penman says.




References
Okutsu, T., Shikina, S., Kanno, M., Takeuchi, Y.& Yoshizaki, G.,Science 317,1517(2007).


may the force be with you

ΔΩΣΤΕ 5 ΛΕΠΤΑ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΑΚΟΥΣΕΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΝΑ ΔΕΙΤΕ ΑΥΤΟ ΤΟ ΒΙΝΤΕΟ

may the force be with you

ΜΙΑ ΑΜΙΔΡΗ ΓΑΛΑΖΙΑ ΚΟΥΚΙΔΑ !

ΕΝΑ ΦΟΒΕΡΟ ΒΙΝΤΕΟ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΘΕΣΗ ΜΑΣ ΣΤΟ ΣΥΜΠΑΝ!!

may the force be with you

και εις εναν Κυριο αθεο και φιλοσοφο''''

http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_world_1_31/05/2007_228781


ενα πολυ ενδιαφερον αρθρο!!!








may the force be with you

δειτε αυτο το βιντεο....

δειτε αυτο το βιντεο εχει τρομερο ενδιαφερον







may the force be with you

ΟΡΓΟΥΕΛΙΚΑ ΚΤΙΣΜΑΤΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΙΝΑ

ΑΞΙΖΕΙ ΝΑ ΤΟ ΔΕΙΤΕ, ΠΕΡΙΒΑΛΟΝ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΣΥΝΤΟΜΟ ΜΕΛΛΟΝ

toomanytribbles: cctv

Another one,Space Adventures' Orbital Client, Charles Simonyi

Mission Update: Successfully Launches, Bound for the International Space Station
Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., and his crew successfully launched aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, en route to the International Space Station (ISS).
"I consider my mission to be a small part of an important trend to make space accessible to more people. I hope to share my mission with many others through my Web site, http://www.charlesinspace.com/, which I will continue to update during my time on the ISS," said software pioneer and aviator, Dr. Simonyi. "I feel very lucky to be the world's fifth civilian space traveler and I am very thankful to Space Adventures for providing me with this opportunity."

Dr. Simonyi oversaw the development of Microsoft Word and Excel, prior to founding, Intentional Software. He is credited, alongside fellow software developer, Butler Lampson, with creating the first WYSIWYG program.
In preparation for his flight, Dr. Simonyi completed an intensive training program in Star City, Russia. While onboard the ISS, he will be assist several international space agencies by conducting experiments, communicate live with hundreds of high school students via HAM radio, and celebrate Cosmonauts' Day by presenting a six-course meal to the space station crew.
Further information regarding Dr. Simonyi's training, spaceflight and activities aboard the ISS can be found here.

may the force be with you

Van Gogh painted perfect turbulence

The disturbed artist intuited the deep forms of fluid flow.

Vincent van Gogh is known for his chaotic paintings and similarly tumultuous state of mind. Now a mathematical analysis of his works reveals that the stormy patterns in many of his paintings are uncannily like real turbulence, as seen in swirling water or the air from a jet engine.
Physicist Jose Luis Aragon of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Queretaro and his co-workers have found that the Dutch artist's works have a pattern of light and dark that closely follows the deep mathematical structure of turbulent flow.
The swirling skies of The Starry Night, painted in 1889, Road with Cypress and Star (1890) and Wheat Field with Crows (1890) — one of the van Gogh's last pictures before he shot himself at the age of 37 — all contain the characteristic statistical imprint of turbulence, say the researchers.
These works were created when van Gogh was mentally unstable: the artist is known to have experienced psychotic episodes in which he had hallucinations, minor fits and lapses of consciousness, perhaps indicating epilepsy.
"We think that van Gogh had a unique ability to depict turbulence in periods of prolonged psychotic agitation," says Aragon.
In contrast, the Self-portrait with Pipe and Bandaged Ear (1888) shows no such signs of turbulence. Van Gogh said that he painted this image in a state of "absolute calm", having been prescribed the drug potassium bromide following his famous self-mutilation.
Measured chaos
Scientists have struggled for centuries to describe turbulent flow — some are said to have considered the problem harder than quantum mechanics. It is still unsolved, but one of the foundations of the modern theory of turbulence was laid by the Soviet scientist Andrei Kolmogorov in the 1940s.
He predicted a particular mathematical relationship between the fluctuations in a flow's speed and the rate at which it dissipates energy as friction. Kolmogorov's work led to equations describing the probability of finding a particular velocity difference between any two points in the fluid. These relationships are called Kolmogorov scaling.
Aragón and colleagues looked at van Gogh's paintings to see whether they bear the fingerprint of turbulence that Kolmogorov identified. "'Turbulent' is the main adjective used to describe van Gogh's work," says Aragn. "We tried to quantify this."
Darkness and light
The researchers took digital images of the paintings and calculated the probability that two pixels a certain distance apart would have the same brightness, or luminance. "The eye is more sensitive to luminance changes than to colour changes," they say, "and most of the information in a scene is contained in its luminance."
Several of van Gogh's works show Kolmogorov scaling in their luminance probability distributions. To the eye, this pattern can be seen as eddies of different sizes, including both large swirls and tiny eddies created by the brushwork.
Van Gogh seems to be the only painter able to render turbulence with such mathematical precision. "We have examined other apparently turbulent paintings of several artists and find no evidence of Kolmogorov scaling," says Aragon.
Edvard Munch's The Scream, for example, looks to be superficially full of van Gogh-like swirls, and was painted by a similarly tumultuous artist, but the luminance probability distribution doesn't fit Kolmogorov's theory.
The distinctive styles of other artists can be described by mathematical formulae. Jackson Pollock's drip paintings, for example, bear distinct fractal patterns.
Visit our newsblog to read and post comments about this story.

Aragón I., et al. Preprint http://www.arxiv.org/abs/physics/0606246 (2006).


may the force be with you

fantastic

may the force be with you

2...1.....0....shit!

may the force be with you

Current Human Clinical Applications Using Adult Stem Cells

David T. Scadden, MD

Stem cell therapies are a reality in the clinic today, however, the diseases they are used to treat are limited to very specific types of disorders. Some who oppose embryonic stem cell research have provided a list of 69 conditions putatively treated by adult stem cells. The implicit message is that adult stem cell therapies are sufficient and that scientists underemphasize the power of adult stem cells in order to justify embryonic stem cell research. This proposition is profoundly cynical about the motivation of scientists and because of its use to inform the public, is a claim that deserves careful scrutiny.

What are the diseases where adult stem cell therapies have been shown to be beneficial in responsibly conducted clinical trials? The range of diseases is still extremely restricted, largely limited to blood disorders and specific cancers. Inherited disorders of the blood and immune system and acquired loss of bone marrow function can be cured with stem cell transplantation.

In cancer, intensive use of chemotherapy or radiation destroys normal bone marrow along with tumor cells and replacement of blood forming stem cells can be lifesaving. Most of the cancers for which this approach is successful are childhood tumors or blood cell-derived cancers in adults (leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma). Despite breast cancer being among the list of conditions currently treated by adult stem cells, it is not a disease where stem cell transplantation has conclusively been shown to be of use.

Another type of adult stem cell, the mesenchymal stem cell, has entered the scene as a developing therapy. This cell type can become muscle, bone, cartilage or fat and has some ability to modify immune function in certain experimental models. It has therefore become a cell of intense interest for treating musculoskeletal abnormalities, cardiac disease and some abnormalities of immunity (such as graft-versus-host disease after bone marrow transplant). There are ongoing studies to test the role of this cell type, some of which have been quite encouraging. However, mesenchymal stem cell therapy has not yet been shown to have a clear- cut advantage over existing therapies, is not considered a standard of care for any condition and does not have regulatory approval for the routine treatment of any disease. Some specific uses of these cells may eventually emerge, however it is incorrect to state that it is a current clinical therapy in any context other than a clinical research study.

Beyond those stated above, diseases that are listed as “current clinical applications” of adult stem cells include a broad range of problems from spinal cord injury to Parkinson’s disease to coronary artery disease. While it is true that adult stem cells have been tested in these and other desperate situations, it is not true that the results have been compelling enough to consider stem cells a current therapy. Reports of success are generally anecdotal and often without appropriate control groups. These reports may be helpful for encouraging further, more in-depth research, but they should not be regarded as definitive evidence of current therapy. To imply such is misleading and may be hurtful to patients and ultimately to the goal shared by those on both sides of this debate: to define the most effective ways to reverse debilitating disease.

Adult stem cell therapies are powerful, but they are not as wide-ranging as claimed. They have a narrow record of disease types for which the therapy is extremely valuable, a success story that is enormously encouraging evidence for stem cell research leading to methods of positively affecting people’s lives. It took approximately 25 years between discovery and routine clinical application of adult stem cell therapy. It is not known how long it will take for embryonic stem cells to become a useful therapy or whether they will ever directly do so. However, it would be unwise to ignore the potential for either adult or embryonic stem cells to result in a meaningful new approach. Adult and embryonic stem cells are complementary subjects of research and studying them side by side offers the greatest potential to rapidly generate new therapies.

Posted August 14, 2006


may the force be with you