Un genoma de síntesis artificial.

Published Online May 20, 2010
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1190719
Science Express Index
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome
Daniel G. Gibson,1 John I. Glass,1 Carole Lartigue,1 Vladimir N. Noskov,1 Ray-Yuan Chuang,1 Mikkel A. Algire,1 Gwynedd A. Benders,2 Michael G. Montague,1 Li Ma,1 Monzia M. Moodie,1 Chuck Merryman,1 Sanjay Vashee,1 Radha Krishnakumar,1 Nacyra Assad-Garcia,1 Cynthia Andrews-Pfannkoch,1 Evgeniya A. Denisova,1 Lei Young,1 Zhi-Qing Qi,1 Thomas H. Segall-Shapiro,1 Christopher H. Calvey,1 Prashanth P. Parmar,1 Clyde A. Hutchison, III,2 Hamilton O. Smith,2 J. Craig Venter1,2,*
We report the design, synthesis, and assembly of the 1.08-Mbp Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 genome starting from digitized genome sequence information and its transplantation into a Mycoplasma capricolum recipient cell to create new Mycoplasma mycoides cells that are controlled only by the synthetic chromosome. The only DNA in the cells is the designed synthetic DNA sequence, including "watermark" sequences and other designed gene deletions and polymorphisms, and mutations acquired during the building process. The new cells have expected phenotypic properties and are capable of continuous self-replication.
1 The J. Craig Venter Institute, 9704 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
2 The J. Craig Venter Institute, 10355 Science Center Drive, San Diego, CA 92121, USA. From Science magazine

En resumen, no se ha fabricado nueva vida sino, simplemente, un paso más en la imparable carrera de los organismos transgénicos. Ya no se trata de "cortar" fragmentos de ADN de una especie para "pegarlos" en otra. Lo que se ha conseguido es, con la ayuda de la potente herramienta informática, sintetizar el genoma completo de un Micoplasma para pegárselo a otra.
Los micoplasmas son microorganismosunicelulares y con un genoma mínimo. Por eso, por su sencillez, fueron elegidos ya hace años por muchos genetistas para manipular su genoma. Ahora Craig Venter, llamado padre de la genómica desde que presento la secuancia del genoma humano ante Bill Clinton, ha sintetizado este genoma.

Contradicciones. Hambre y gula.

Nos toca época de vacas flacas en los países desarrollados. Aún así, son muchos más los que pasan hambre, hambre de la que mata, en los países que no lo están. Mientras tanto, las enfermedades cardiovasculares siguen estando entre las principales causas de muerte en los países "ricos".
Seres humanos, seres contradictorios.
El primero de los vídeos está en inglés y muestra, más con imágenes que con palabras,el hambre. En los siguientes aparece la preocupación por la creciente obesidad infantil. De ellos el primero está en euskera y es de la ETB. Los otros dos están en castellano. wfullscreen="true" width="400" height="360"

Segregacion envases

es una organización sin ánimo de lucro que trabaja para ayudar a los ciudadanos en la separación de basuras. En el vídeo de animación vemos cómo separar envases

Menos animales en nuestra dieta

An article from BBC News. In English

Livestock needs a lot of water
World water supplies will not be enough for our descendants to enjoy the sort of diet the West eats now, experts say.
The World Water Week in Stockholm will be told the growth in demand for meat and dairy products is unsustainable.

Animals need much more water than grain to produce the same amount of food, and ending malnutrition and feeding even more mouths will take still more water.

Scientists say the world will have to change its consumption patterns to have any realistic hope of feeding itself.

The richest and the poorest. Contradition

"...The increase in the number of hungry people was blamed on lower incomes and increased unemployment, which in turn reduced access to food by the poor, the UN agency said.
But it contrasted sharply with evidence that much of the developed world is richer than ever before...

WORLD HUNGER
Asia-Pacific: 642m
Sub-Saharan Africa: 265m
Latin America and Caribbean: 53m
Middle East and North Africa: 42m
Developed world: 15m
Source: FAO
"It's the first time in human history that we have so many hungry people in the world," said FAO spokesman Kostas Stamoulis, director of the organisation's development department.
"And that's a contradiction, because a lot of the world is very rich despite the economic crisis."
Mr Diouf urged governments to provide development and economic assistance to boost agriculture, particularly by smallholder farmers.
"Investment in agriculture must be increased because for the majority of poor countries a healthy agricultural sector is essential to overcome poverty and hunger and is a pre-requisite for overall economic growth," he said.
BBC News

Erlijioa eta janaria

Video honetan ikusiko dugu zer egin behar izango dugun cultura esberdinetara egokitzeko.