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This week 50 years ago
ALFRED PASIEKA/SPL
This week– shortest absent sequences in order to minimise the possibility that absent sequences are missing simply due to chance. So far they have found 86 sequences of 11 nucleotides long that have never been reported in humans. They have also identified more than 60,000 primes of 15 nucleotides in length and 746 protein “peptoprime” strings of five amino acids that have never been reported in any species. “These represent the largest possible set of lethal sequences,” says Hampikian, who expects the numbers to shrink as more sequence information is added to the database. He is presenting his results at the Pacific Symposium –Some genes dare not speak their name– on Biocomputing in Maui, Hawaii, this week. Whether these sequences have any biological significance in living organisms is not yet known – the next step is to test 20 of the peptoprimes in bacteria and human cells to see whether they have any effect such as causing death or provoking an immune reaction. haystack,” says Greg Hampikian, Hampikian believes the professor of genetics at Boise applications of his work could be State University in Idaho, who wide-ranging. He has already is leading the project. “There received a $1 million grant from must be some DNA or protein sequences that are not compatible the US Department of Defense to develop a DNA “safety tag” that with life, perhaps because could be added to voluntary DNA they bind some essential cellular reference samples in criminal component, for example, and cases to distinguish them from have therefore been selected out forensic samples. Such tags would of circulation. There may also be some that are lethal in some species, but not others. We’re “There must be some DNA or looking for those sequences.” protein sequences that are not To do this, Hampikian and his compatible with life and have colleage Tim Anderson, also at therefore been selected out” Boise, have developed software that calculates all the possible not necessarily have to consist of sequences of nucleotides – the lethal sequences, but could be “letters” of DNA – up to a certain based on primes that would be length, and then scans sequence databases such as the US National easy to detect using a simple kit. Further down the line there is Institutes of Health’s Genbank to the possibility of constructing a identify the smallest sequences “suicide gene” to code for deadly that aren’t present. Those that amino acid primes. It could be don’t occur in one species but do in others are termed “nullomers”, attached to genetically modified organisms and activated to while those that aren’t found in destroy them at a later date if they any species are termed primes. turned out to be dangerous, Hampikian’s team is Hampikian suggests. ● deliberately searching for the
The bumper book of DNA no-nos LINDA GEDDES
COULD there be forbidden sequences in the genome – ones so harmful that they are not compatible with life? One group of researchers thinks so. Unlike most genome sequencing projects which set out to search for genes that are conserved within and between species, their goal is to identify “primes”: DNA sequences and chains of amino acids so dangerous to life that they do not exist. “It’s like looking for a needle that’s not actually in the
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12 | NewScientist | 6 January 2007
070106_N_p12_p13.indd 12
THIS WEEK 50 YEARS AGO Seat belts could prevent injury NOBODY would think of sending a fragile article through the post packed loosely in a rigid container. Yet this is a fair description of the way human beings travel about in motor cars. It is small wonder that accidents on the road result in serious injuries to passengers. In Britain, studies on road accidents have so far not covered the causes and nature of injuries to passengers as thoroughly as the reasons for collisions and accidents. This may be because comparatively few fatalities occur among occupants of motor vehicles: out of every 1000 people killed on British roads only 177 are car drivers or passengers, whereas in the US the corresponding figure is 750. Indeed, American car manufacturers are now finding that instead of the traditional attractions of performance, speed, acceleration, braking and automatic transmission, safety devices have become a good selling feature. One of the most frequent causes of injury is the sharp throwing forward of the upper torso on impact, with consequent damage to the head and ribs on the steering wheel or windscreen. Studies have shown that belts worn around the upper part of the body can absorb the deceleration that is involved in such collisions as well as protect passengers from being ejected from their vehicles, a scenario that nearly doubles the risk of death or serious injury. Britain’s Road Research Laboratory in Slough has recently published a technical paper setting out some of the methods and results seen in studies in the US, including research undertaken at Cornell University in New York. The lab is shortly to begin a series of experiments of its own to explore the behaviour of cars and human bodies in crashes, and whether belts for drivers and passengers will reduce the number of injuries caused. From New Scientist, 10 January 1957
www.newscientist.com
21/12/06 6:40:33 pm
This week– shortest absent sequences in order to minimise the possibility that absent sequences are missing simply due to chance. So far they have found 86 sequences of 11 nucleotides long that have never been reported in humans. They have also identified more than 60,000 primes of 15 nucleotides in length and 746 protein “peptoprime” strings of five amino acids that have never been reported in any species. “These represent the largest possible set of lethal sequences,” says Hampikian, who expects the numbers to shrink as more sequence information is added to the database. He is presenting his results at the Pacific Symposium –Some genes dare not speak their name– on Biocomputing in Maui, Hawaii, this week. Whether these sequences have any biological significance in living organisms is not yet known – the next step is to test 20 of the peptoprimes in bacteria and human cells to see whether they have any effect such as causing death or provoking an immune reaction. haystack,” says Greg Hampikian, Hampikian believes the professor of genetics at Boise applications of his work could be State University in Idaho, who wide-ranging. He has already is leading the project. “There received a $1 million grant from must be some DNA or protein sequences that are not compatible the US Department of Defense to develop a DNA “safety tag” that with life, perhaps because could be added to voluntary DNA they bind some essential cellular reference samples in criminal component, for example, and cases to distinguish them from have therefore been selected out forensic samples. Such tags would of circulation. There may also be some that are lethal in some species, but not others. We’re “There must be some DNA or looking for those sequences.” protein sequences that are not To do this, Hampikian and his compatible with life and have colleage Tim Anderson, also at therefore been selected out” Boise, have developed software that calculates all the possible not necessarily have to consist of sequences of nucleotides – the lethal sequences, but could be “letters” of DNA – up to a certain based on primes that would be length, and then scans sequence databases such as the US National easy to detect using a simple kit. Further down the line there is Institutes of Health’s Genbank to the possibility of constructing a identify the smallest sequences “suicide gene” to code for deadly that aren’t present. Those that amino acid primes. It could be don’t occur in one species but do in others are termed “nullomers”, attached to genetically modified organisms and activated to while those that aren’t found in destroy them at a later date if they any species are termed primes. turned out to be dangerous, Hampikian’s team is Hampikian suggests. ● deliberately searching for the
The bumper book of DNA no-nos LINDA GEDDES
COULD there be forbidden sequences in the genome – ones so harmful that they are not compatible with life? One group of researchers thinks so. Unlike most genome sequencing projects which set out to search for genes that are conserved within and between species, their goal is to identify “primes”: DNA sequences and chains of amino acids so dangerous to life that they do not exist. “It’s like looking for a needle that’s not actually in the
NEW VERSION JUST RELEASED!
The essential tool for writing your research papers
www.endnote.co.uk T: 01462 480055 E: [email protected]
12 | NewScientist | 6 January 2007
070106_N_p12_p13.indd 12
THIS WEEK 50 YEARS AGO Seat belts could prevent injury NOBODY would think of sending a fragile article through the post packed loosely in a rigid container. Yet this is a fair description of the way human beings travel about in motor cars. It is small wonder that accidents on the road result in serious injuries to passengers. In Britain, studies on road accidents have so far not covered the causes and nature of injuries to passengers as thoroughly as the reasons for collisions and accidents. This may be because comparatively few fatalities occur among occupants of motor vehicles: out of every 1000 people killed on British roads only 177 are car drivers or passengers, whereas in the US the corresponding figure is 750. Indeed, American car manufacturers are now finding that instead of the traditional attractions of performance, speed, acceleration, braking and automatic transmission, safety devices have become a good selling feature. One of the most frequent causes of injury is the sharp throwing forward of the upper torso on impact, with consequent damage to the head and ribs on the steering wheel or windscreen. Studies have shown that belts worn around the upper part of the body can absorb the deceleration that is involved in such collisions as well as protect passengers from being ejected from their vehicles, a scenario that nearly doubles the risk of death or serious injury. Britain’s Road Research Laboratory in Slough has recently published a technical paper setting out some of the methods and results seen in studies in the US, including research undertaken at Cornell University in New York. The lab is shortly to begin a series of experiments of its own to explore the behaviour of cars and human bodies in crashes, and whether belts for drivers and passengers will reduce the number of injuries caused. From New Scientist, 10 January 1957
www.newscientist.com
21/12/06 6:40:33 pm