science day2009

12/12/2009 Govinda Bhisetti Science Day 1

Science Day 2009December 30, 2009

10:00 AM Arrival10:15 – 11:45 AM 2009 Nobel Prizes12:00 – 12:30 PM Trivia12:30 – 1:30 PM Lunch 2:00 – 3:30 PM Breakthroughs in Science 2009 4:00 – 4:30 PM Virus of the Year: H1N1 4:30 – 5:00 PM Charles Darwin: Bicentenary

Govinda Rao Bhisetti, Ph. D.Lexington, MA [email protected]


2009 Nobel Prize winners


• Monday, October 5, 2008 PHYSIOLOGY or MEDICINEElizabeth H. Blaxkburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak "for the discovery of howchromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”

• Tuesday, October 6, 2008 PHYSICSCharles K. Kao"for ground breaking achievments concerning the transmission of light in the fibers for opticalcommunication’�William S. Boyle and George E. Smith �"for the inventon of an imaging semiconductorcircuiy - the CCD sensor”

• Wednesday, October 7, 2008 CHEMISTRY�Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz and Ada E. Yonath � "for the studies of thestructure and function of the ribosome”

• Monday, October 13, 2008 ECONOMICSElinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson �"for the analysis of economic governance”.

• Thursday, October 9, 2008 LITERATUREHerta Müller ‘with concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscae ofthe dispossessed”

• Friday, October 12, 2008 PEACEBarack H. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts, to strengthen international diplomacy andcooperation between people”


PHYSIOLOGY or MEDICINEElizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak

"for the discovery of how chromosomes are protectedby telomeres and the enzyme telomerase"

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, 61University of California,San Francisco, CA

Carol W. Greider, 48Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, MD

Jack W. Szostak, 57Harvard Medical School, MGHBoston, MA


Tolemeres key to aging and cancer?Inside the center or nucleus of a cell,genes are located on twisted, double-stranded molecules of DNA calledchromosomes.

At the ends of the chromosomes arestretches of DNA called telomeres,which protect our genetic data, make itpossible for cells to divide and holdsome secrets to how we age and getcancer.

Telomeres have been compared withthe plastic tips on shoelaces becausethey prevent chromosome ends fromfraying and sticking to each other,which would scramble an organism'sgenetic information to cause cancer,other diseases or death.

Yet, each time a cell divides, thetelomeres get shorter. When they gettoo short, the cell no longer can divideand becomes inactive or "senescent"or dies. This process is associatedwith aging, cancer and a higher risk ofdeath. So telomeres also have beencompared with a bomb fuse.


What are tolemers?


CHEMISTRY Venki Ramakrishnan, Tom Steitz, Ada Yonath

"for studies of the structure and function of theribosome”

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan 57,MRC Lab of Molecular BiologyCambridge, UK

Ada E. Yonath, 70,Weizmann Inst. ScienceRehovot, Israel

Thomas A. Steitz 69, Yale University, New Haven, CT


Ribosome translates genetic code into proteins


Two subunits of Ribosome

They are built of two subunits that associate upon initiation of protein synthesis. Typical eubacterial ribosomes (70S)consist of 57 different molecules (3 rRNAs and 54 proteins) and can dissociate into a small (30S) and a large subunit(50S). The small subunit is responsible for the formation of the initiation complex, performs the decoding of the geneticinformation, and controls the fidelity of codon-anticodon interactions. The large subunit catalyzes the peptide bondformation and provides the path for the nascent polypeptide chain.


Ribosome is a complex machinary

The large subunit is in blue and the small subunit is yellow. The newlysynthesized peptide (green) is pushed through the canal.


Antibiotics Block Translation


Chemistry Nobel Videos

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_DyylTLG2k&NR=1

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_n0Ij3K_Ho&feature=related

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZTQPVC7V1Q&feature=related


PHYSICSCharles Kao, Willard Boyle and George Smith

- "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light infibers for optical communication”- "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor"

George E. Smith, 79Bell Laboratories,Murray Hills, NJ

Charles K. Kao, 76Standard Telecomm Labs Harlow, UK

Willard S. Boyle, 85Bell Laboratories,Murray Hills, NJ


Kao’s fiber optics

In 1965, Kao concluded that the fundamental limitation for glass light attenuation is below 20 dB/km, which is a keythreshold value for optical communications.

At the time, optical fibers commonly exhibited light loss as high as 1,000 db/km and more.

With precise measurements of the attenuation of light with different wavelengths in glasses and other materials, Kaopointed out that the high purity of fused silica (SiO2) made it an ideal candidate for optical communication.

Kao also stated that the impurity of glass material is the main cause for the dramatic decay of light transmission insideglass fiber, rather than fundamental physical effects such as scattering as many physicists thought at that time, and suchimpurity could be removed. This led to a worldwide study and production of high-purity glass fibers.


CCDs: modern digital photographyIn 1969 Willard S. Boyleand George E. Smithinvented the firstsuccessful imagingtechnology using a digitalsensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). The CCDtechnology makes use ofthe photoelectric effect(Albert Einstein). By thiseffect, light is transformedinto electric signals. Thechallenge when designingan image sensor was togather and read out thesignals in a large numberof image points, pixels, in ashort time.


Breakthroughs of the Year 2009


2009 Science Breakthroughs10. First X-ray Laser Shines. In April, a new type of light flashed into existence. Physicists at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in

Menlo Park, California, turned on the world's first x-ray laser, a 130-meter beast called the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)that is powered by the lab's 3-kilometer, straight-shot particle accelerator.

9. Hubble Reborn. It was an aging workhorse that almost got put out to pasture. But this fall, the Hubble Space Telescope begansnapping the best images of its 19-year career, thanks to a successful servicing mission in May that has extended theinstrument's life by another 5 years.

8. Graphene Takes Off. Since 2004, when researchers discovered a simple way to peel the single-atom-thick sheets of carbon atomsoff chunks of graphite, researchers have scrambled to study this ultimate membrane. This year they took it to a new level, with astring of discoveries that include new fundamental insights and ways to make large graphene sheets and turn them into noveldevices.

7. Gene Therapy Returns. Since the first human study of gene therapy began in 1990, the field has struggled with technical challengesand setbacks such as the death of a volunteer in a trial. But this year, gene therapy turned a corner, as researchers reportedsuccess in treating several devastating diseases:

6. An Icy Moon Revealed. Planetary scientists finally proved this year that a barren, often boiling-hot body like the moon can harborwater ice. The finding renewed prospects for reading an eons-long environmental record and for literally fueling the exploration ofthe solar system.

5. Live Long and Prosper. It's not Ponce de León's vision of the fountain of youth: the secretion of a dirt-dwelling bacterium from EasterIsland. But this year researchers showed that the compound, called rapamycin, boosts longevity in mice, the first time any drughas stretched a mammal's life span.

4. Mock Monopoles Spotted. Physicists' pursuit of a long-sought particle called a magnetic monopole created ripples, or"quasiparticles," inside magnetic crystals that act like monopoles.

3. ABA Receptors. Although "Fight or Flight" is not in their behavioral repertoire, plants have their equivalent of an adrenaline rush: achemical called abscisic acid (ABA). High concentrations of ABA keep seeds dormant and help curtail water loss and inhibit rootand other vegetative growth when times are tough.

2. Opening Up the Gamma Ray Sky. The advance, part of a torrent of recent gamma ray observations, is giving researchers animproved understanding of how pulsars work, along with a rich haul of new pulsars that could help in the quest to detectgravitational waves.

1. Breakthrough of the Year: Ardipithecus ramidus. Fifteen years after its discovery, Ardipithecus ramidus, the oldest known skeleton ofa putative human ancestor, was finally unveiled in 11 papers in print and online in October. The discoverers of the 4.4-million-year-old fossil proposed that she was a new kind of hominin, the family that includes humans and our ancestors but not theancestors of other living apes.


The pulsars created by neutron stars thatare many thousand light-years distant(about 1021 meter )…

the production of a new single-atom-thickmaterial such as graphene (about 10-9

meter)…

Thus, the two breakthroughs of the yearrepresent a difference of 1030 in scale .. --- a breathtaking illustration of thetremendous reach of science.

Bruce Alberts is Editor-in-Chief of Science


10. First X-ray Laser Shinesa new type of light flashed into existence

Electrons zipping through the LCLS'smagnets (above) generate copious x-rays.

• In April, physicists at SLAC NationalAccelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park,California, turned on the world's first x-raylaser, a 130-meter beast called the LinacCoherent Light Source (LCLS) that ispowered by the lab's 3-kilometer, straight-shot particle accelerator.

• The machine is the heart of a $420 millionuser facility, and after 3 years ofconstruction, researchers needed less than2 hours to fire it up.

• For decades, scientists have used x-rays toprobe the atomic-scale structure ofmaterials. Shining a billion times brighterthan any previous source, the LCLSproduces pulses of x-rays as brief as 2millionths of a nanosecond, short enough tosnap stop-action images of chemicalreactions in progress.


9. Hubble Rebornan aging workhorse began snapping the best images

of its 19-year career

• In May, a seven-member crew on boardthe shuttle Atlantis traveled 500 kilometersabove Earth, making five spacewalks over11 days to carry out a set of complex andrisky maneuvers.

• Replaced the Wide Field Camera 2 with thenew (10X) Wide Field Camera 3; installedthe Cosmic Origins Spectrograph to takeultraviolet spectra; and making fixes to theAdvanced Camera for Surveys and theSpace Telescope Imaging Spectrograph.

• In September, NASA released the resultsof the effort: spectacular images of theButterfly Nebula, the Omega Centauriglobular cluster, and other stellar wonders.

• In recent months, the instrument hasdelivered the most detailed pictures yet ofthe nearby spiral galaxy, M83, whichshould help researchers learn more aboutstar birth in its core.


8. Graphene takes offprogress in materials science

• Grapheneʼs near-perfect atomic order -achicken wire-like lattice of carbon atomsto flow through it at ultrafast speeds.

• In 2004, scientists discovered a simpleway to peel the single-atom-thick sheetsof carbon atoms off chunks of graphite.

• Grapheneʼs electors exhibit thefractional quantum Hall Effect - electronsact collectively as if they are particleswith only a fraction of the charge of anelectron.

• Scientists reported graphene films uptoa sq. cm on thin copper films (also onsilicon wafers) opening the door formaking graphene based electronicdevices such as faster transistors,frequency multipliers for electronicsignals, molecular scales and photo-detectors.


7. Gene Therapy Returnssuccess in treating several devastating diseases

• Gene therapy—repairing malfunctioning cells by mending theirDNA—offers an elegant solution to diseases caused by a singleflawed gene. The first human studies began in 1990 but withoutany success. This year, several successful trials are reported:

• Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), a rare form of inheritedblindness that strikes in infancy. Researchers injected one eyeof LCA patients with a harmless virus carrying a gene coding foran enzyme needed to make a light-sensing pigment. The lightsensitivity of all 12 partially blind patients improved.

• X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ADL), a brain disorder thatusually kills boys before they're teenagers. The disease involvesa flaw in a gene that makes a protein that helps maintain themyelin sheath around nerves. A French team inserted acorrective gene into the blood cells of two 7-year-old boys withADL. Two years later, the progressive brain damage hasstopped.

• "Bubble boy" disease: severe combined immunodeficiency(SCID) due to a lack of an enzyme called adenosine deaminase.Eight of 10 patients no longer need enzyme-replacementtherapy and are living normal lives, 8 years after the therapybegan.

• Gene therapy for a related disease, X-linked SCID, restored theimmune systems of 19 infants but caused leukemia in five ofthem, one of whom died.


6. An Icy Moon RevealedMoon can harbor water ice

• Slamming a 2-ton spent rocket stage into apermanently dark, frigid crater called Cabeusat 7200 kilometers per hour coaxed a fewliters of water into sight.

• The $80-million Lunar Crater Observation andSensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission returnedclear spectroscopic signatures of water vapor,ice, and water-derived hydroxyl in the impactplume.

• Icy stores of lunar water might hold records oflunar impacts over billions of years.Astronauts might drink the water, grow foodwith it, or even split its molecules intohydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel.

• One problem: Someone would have to figureout how to conduct coring and miningoperations on the moon at just 40° aboveabsolute zero (-419 °F) .

The LCROSS spacecraft (foreground)glimpsed water thrown up when thespent rocket (background) hit the moon


5. Live Longer and ProsperRapamycin boosts longevity in mice,

the first time any drug has stretched a mammal’s life

• Rapamycin is prescribed to fight kidneycancer or to stymie rejection oftransplanted organs.

• Feeding rapamycin to mice when theywere 600 days old (comparable to 60-year-old people) increased the mice’s lifespan by 9-14%.

• This is a puzzling result.

• It might or might not be working thesame way as the Calorie Restriction..

• Rapamycin undermines the immunesystem and is not likely to be a practicallife extender.

Longevity soared as much as 14%in rodents fed the drug rapamycin.


4. Mock Monopoles Spotted“If I can’t find a reindeer, I will make one .. ”

In 1931, Paul Dirac argued for the existence ofa particle with only one pole to explainquantization of electric charge. Monopoles arealso predicted by “grand unified theories” thattreat the electromagnetic, the weak and thestrong forces as different aspects of one thing.

The monopoles reported in September exist only inmaterials such as holmium titanate and dysprosiumtitanate, which are known as spin ices/glass.

Within them, the gyrating and magnetic holium ordysprosium ions sit at the corners of four-sidedpyramids, or tetrahedra.

At low temperatures, two ions in each tetrahedronpoint their north poles inward toward thetetrahedron's center and two point their north polesoutward.

Flipping one ion then creates one imbalancedtetrahedron with three ions pointing in and anothertetrahedron with only one ion pointing in. Flip morespins and the imbalances can shuffle aboutindependently, acting like monopoles.

In a spin glass, monopoles are tetrahedronswith either one (blue ball) or three (red ball)magnetic ions pointing inward.


3. ABA receptors Plant’s harmone that gives it “adrenaline rush”:

abcisic acid (ABA)

• High concentrations of ABA keep seeds dormant andhelp curtail water loss and inhibit root and othervegetative growth when times are tough.

• Receptors for ABA was identified in May 2009 asPYR/PYL/PCAR proteins (after many years of research).

• Several have obtained crystal structures of ABA boundto its receptor or ABA and the receptor interacting withthe PP2C phosphatases that must be shut down to allowABA to function.

• The structures show that PYR/PYL/RCAR proteins pairoff, making a gated pocket that ABA nestles into. ABAchanges the shape of the pair of molecules so that the"gate" closes and creates a binding surface for a PP2C.

• The ABA receptor filed finally has a “success” Blue stain shows the whereaboutsof ABA receptor in a seedling.


2. Opening up the gamma-ray sky discovery of gamma-ray pulsars with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

Like a lighthouse blinking in the night, apulsar appears to flash periodically as itspins in space, sweeping a double coneof electromagnetic radiation across thesky.

Fermi telescope's astounding capabilityto scan the entire sky in less than 3hours, with orders of magnitude bettersensitivity, superior angular resolutionand energy coverage, and timecoverage ranging from milliseconds tomonths.

It opened a new channel ofdiscovery—the highly energetic gammaray spectrum—to find pulsars that radioobservations could not detect.

The advance is giving researchers animproved understanding of how pulsarswork, and helping the quest to detectgravitational waves.

Pulsars are fast-spinning neutron starswith powerful magnetic fields

Pulsar CTA 1 is one of many discoveries by theFermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (launched byNASA in June 2008).


1. Ardipithecus ramidusA rare 4.4-million-year-old skeleton reveals the surprising body

plan and ecology of our earliest ancestors

.

This work changes the way we think aboutearly human evolution, and it represents theculmination of 15 years of highly collaborativeresearch.

Remarkably, 47 scientists of diverse expertisefrom nine nations joined in a painstakinganalysis of the 150,000 specimens of fossilizedanimals and plants.Ardi may have moved upright on branches and on the ground,a key step in the evolution of upright walking.


Breakthrough of the year.

By hand or by foot? Ardi's foot (right) hasan opposable toe for grasping branches

Ardi (left) joined Lucy as one of the rarefossil hominin skeletons that shape ourunderstanding of human evolution.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/326/5960/1598-b


Charles Darwin Bicentenary 1809-2009

Darwin's conclusion of The Origin:

There is grandeur in this view of life, with itsseveral powers, having been originally breathedinto a few forms or into one; and that, whilst thisplanet has gone cycling on according to the fixedlaw of gravity, from so simple a beginning endlessforms most beautiful and most wonderful havebeen, and are being, evolved.


Charles Darwin’s voyage


Virus of the year: H1N1Since the first reports on 21st April 2009 of human infection by a novel

influenza A (H1N1) virus, genetically related to swine influenzaviruses, the infection has spread across the world.

"I have decided to raise the current level of influenza pandemic alert from Phase4 to Phase 5 [which means that a global outbreak is imminent]. … It really isall of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic."

— Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Apr.29, 2009

"While the precise impact of the fall resurgence of 2009-H1N1 influenza isimpossible to predict, a plausible scenario is that the epidemic could: produceinfection of 30-50% of the U.S. population this fall and winter, ... lead to asmany as 1.8 million U.S. hospital admissions during the epidemic, ... [and]cause between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths in the United States."

— Report to the President on U.S. Preparations for the 2009-H1N1 Influenza, President'sCouncil of Advisors on Science and Technology, Aug. 7, 2009


H1N1


H1N1 structure


Barack H. Obama shows his Nobel Peace Prize Medal andDiploma at the Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, 10December 2009. To his left stands Thorbjørn Jagland,

Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.


At the table of honour at the Nobel Banquet are: NobelLaureate in Chemistry Thomas A. Steitz, Crown PrincessVictoria and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Venkatraman

Ramakrishnan.

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small subunit

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