#omgscience

[bioshock-alice]

Taking energy from a coil.

[oxygenmagnesium-science-blog]

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2017

It is my favourite time of the year again! I cannot believe it has come around this quickly but the Nobel Prizes are beginning to be awarded and the prize for Physiology or Medicine has now been announced. 

For their “discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the Circadian Rhythm", The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this year was awarded jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young.

The Circadian Rhythm is an organism’s internal body clock used to monitor the day-night cycle so that fluctuations in abiotic factors can be anticipated.

Decoding the link between genes and behaviour to study the Circadian Rhythm was “a terrific problem”, in the words of Michael W. Young, which was largely achieved by the prize winners with the help of fruit flies. 

Studying a gene named ‘Period’ in fruit flies (present in humans and other organisms too) Hall and Rosbach noted that it produced a protein whose presence in cells increases and decreases over the course of a day and night. At night, the protein accumulates in cells and then over the day its production decreases due to the protein itself inhibiting the activity of the Period gene that codes for it.  

For the protein to regulate gene expression, it must have a mechanism to enter the nucleus. Young managed to identify another gene called ‘Timeless,’ which allows the protein that regulates the period gene to enter the nucleus by binding to another protein. Young later also identified a gene called ‘Doubletime’ which regulates internal clocks so that they run in a 24 hour period, that of the Earth’s rotation. 

With the Circadian Rhythm having an influence over many aspects of human health, this research could allow for other research into how Circadian Rhythms can be regulated to treat many health conditions related to our internal clocks. 

If you are wanting to hear the prize winner’s thoughts on their achievement, I have linked the telephone interviews for each of the three winners below. My particular favourite was Michael Rosbash‘s candid recount of the moment he found out that he had been awarded the prize. 

Jeffrey C. Hall

Michael Rosbash

Michael W. Young 

I do not own this image- illustrations are by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute. 

[contraterrenescience-blog]

Former account hacked

Hello all. A week ago my former science blog oxygenmagnesium-science and my personal account were hacked and deleted from my account. It was incredibly disappointing, especially given the time put into those blogs, but I have started a new science blog to replace the old one and hope it will get as much of a subscription. 

[oxygenmagnesium-science-blog]

Majorana fermion detected in a quantum layer cake

Scientists found evidence of a particle that is its own antiparticle.

[bellaspadiva]

@Regrann from @indivisiblenorthseattle - #ClimateChangeIsReal y'all. #OMGScience

[kubzzs-blog]

When someone, falls off there chair. OMG SCIENCE

[oxygenmagnesium-science-blog]

Researchers have created steel with thin, alternating nanoscale layers of different crystal structures which mimic the inner structure of bone that helps it deal with stress.

This could help reduce the tendency of steel to form small cracks that eventually can compromise a structure! 

[oxygenmagnesium-science-blog]

Oncogene is one of the world’s leading cancer journals. It is published weekly and covers all aspects of the structure and function of Oncogenes.

Scientists in Sydney have observed that some forms of rapidly proliferating cancer cells are reliant on glutamine (an amino acid) uptake for activating a pathway which regulates cell growth and protein translation. 

As a result, the team are now working on a drug which inhibits the binding of glutamine to receptors on cancer cells, essentially ‘starving’ the cell. Jeff Holst, the professor leading the study compared it to “putting tape over the [cancer’s] mouth.”

This research could be used to treat cancers that do not respond to treatment as well such as triple negative breast cancer, advanced melanoma and and some prostate cancers.

It is really good to see some research coming out of Aus! Give it a read!

And something similar which is being done at Brunel University can be found here.