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Algorithms find genetic cancer networks

By Guest PostJune 4, 2013Scienceacute myeloid leukemia, algorithms, aml, ben raphael, blood cancer, brown team, cancer causing mutations, cancer types, ccmb, cellular pathway, dendrix, eli upfal, fabio vandin, genetic cancer networks, genetic profile, genetics, genetics of cancer, hot networks, hotnet, hsin ta wu, max leiserson, pan cancer project, washington university

Researchers at Washington University in St., Louis, using powerful algorithms developed by computer scientists at Brown University, have assembled the most complete genetic profile yet of acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer. Findings are reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Powerful data-sifting algorithms developed by computer scientists at Brown University are helping to untangle the profoundly complex genetics of cancer.

In a study reported on May 1, 2013, in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis used two algorithms developed at Brown to assemble the most complete genetic profile yet of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive form of blood cancer. The researchers hope the work will lead to new AML treatments based on the genetics of each patient’s disease. (more…)

A Family’s Lost Story Found, and the Sephardic Studies Initiative

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2013Culture, Generalamerican life, arabic, arabic letters, auschwitz, autumn, benny, brother salomon, devin naar, during the war, esther, family story, grandfather, great uncle, Greece, hebrew, hebrew letters, historical archive, immigrant generation, islam, jewish community, jewish studies, jews expel, jews throughout europe, judeo spanish, judezmo, ladino language, ladino phrases, mediterranean basin, muslims, nazi occupation, nazis, northern greece, ottoman empire, port city, rabbi friend, rabbi solomon maimon, rosetta stone, salonica, script, seattle, sephardic jewish culture, sephardic jews, sephardic studies initiative, shelly, spain, spanish, third reich, thomson hall office, turkey, united states, washington university, world war

For Devin Naar, the Sephardic Studies Initiative is not just a valuable historical archive; it has also been a personal journey revealing an untold family story from the years of the Third Reich.

Naar’s part of the story began about 10 years ago, when as an undergraduate at Washington University he grew interested in the history of Turkey and Greece, which for centuries until World War I was part of the Ottoman Empire. His family comes from Salonica, a port city in Northern Greece. (more…)

Close Family Ties Keep Microbial Cheaters in Check, Study Finds

By Guest PostDecember 16, 2011Scienceamoebae, Antarctica, canopies, clonal lineage, cosmopolitan groups, david queller, deserts, dicty, dictyostelium discoideum, e coli, evolution, forest park, genes, jennie kuzdzal fick, joan strassmann, kissing kin, life cycles, multicellular organisms, mutation, national science foundation, obligate cheaters, sam scheiner, sara fox, single cell, slime mold, social amoeba, st. louis, tropical forests, washington university

*Experiments on “slime mold” explain why almost all multicellular organisms begin life as a single cell*

Any multicellular animal, from a blue whale to a human being, poses a special challenge for evolution.

Most of the cells in its body will die without reproducing; only a privileged few will pass their genes to the next generation.

How could the extreme degree of cooperation required by multicellular existence actually evolve? Why aren’t all creatures unicellular individualists determined to pass on their own genes? (more…)

Rich Country, Poor Country: Economists say Financial Sector Key Driver of Economic Growth

By Guest PostOctober 3, 2011Economyamerican economic review, computer-based economic model, economic growth, economic landscapes, emerge from poverty, federal reserve bank, finance and development, financial sector key driver of economic growth, francisco j. buera, jennifer roche, joseph kaboski, minneapolis, poor country, relationship between development and finance, rich country, ucla, university of california, uUniversity of notre dame, washington university, yongseok shin

Economists have long suspected that one reason developing countries struggle to emerge from poverty is that they lack robust financial sectors, especially when compared to wealthier nations.

Although it may seem obvious that a weak financial sector would stifle growth within a developing country, few economists until now have tried to determine just how this phenomenon occurs. This has made it difficult for policymakers and investors to understand how financial markets may be failing and to create effective solutions to correct them.

Economists Francisco J. Buera of UCLA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Joseph Kaboski of the University of Notre Dame, and Yongseok Shin of Washington University in St. Louis present important insights into this phenomenon in a paper recently published in the journal American Economic Review. (more…)

Solar Cells more Efficient than Photosynthesis – for Now

By Guest PostMay 16, 2011Sciencebiofuels industry, carbon-based molecules, chemical bonds, critical since, david Kramer, ecosystem, environmental impact, g.l.kohuth, genetic engineering, michigan state university, new paper in science, organism, photosynthesis, photosynthesis of plants for biofuel, plants are less efficient than solar cells, solar cells, species of cyanobacteria, sun’s energy, washington university

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In a head-to-head battle of harvesting the sun’s energy, solar cells beat plants, according to a new paper in Science. But scientists think they can even up the playing field, says Michigan State University researcher David Kramer.

Plants are less efficient at capturing the energy in sunlight than solar cells mostly because they have too much evolutionary baggage. Plants have to power a living thing, whereas solar cells only have to send electricity down a wire. This is a big difference because if photosynthesis makes a mistake, it makes toxic byproducts that kill the organism. Photosynthesis has to be conservative to avoid killing the organisms it powers. (more…)

Revealing China’s ancient past

By Guest PostJune 7, 20101 commentCulture, Scienceamerican association for the advancement of science, arts & sciences, China, environmental change, han dynasty, henan provincial institute of cultural relics and archa, mississippi river, mulberry leaves, pleistocene era, plow shares, rural life in china, sanyangzhuang, silk cultivation, silk road, society for american archeology, st. louis, t.r. kidder, washington university, western china, yellow river

An archeologist at Washington University in St. Louis is helping to reveal for the first time a snapshot of rural life in China during the Han Dynasty.

(more…)

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