Nanotechnology offers the unprecedented and paradigm-changing
opportunity to study and interact with normal and cancer cells in real
time, at the molecular and cellular scales, and during the earliest
stages of the cancer process. Through the concerted development of
nanoscale devices or devices with nanoscale materials and components,
the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer will facilitate their
integration within the existing cancer research infrastructure.

http://bioisolutions.blogspot.com/2008/12/nanotechnology-in-cancer.html

Origin Of Life On Earth: Simple Fusion To Jump-start Evolution
ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2008) - With the aid of a straightforward experiment,
researchers have provided some clues to one of biology's most complex
questions: how ancient organic molecules came together to form the basis of
life.

Specifically, this study demonstrated how ancient RNA joined together to
reach a biologically relevant length.

RNA, the single-stranded precursor to DNA, normally expands one nucleic base
at a time, growing sequentially like a linked chain. The problem is that in
the primordial world RNA molecules didn't have enzymes to catalyze this
reaction, and while RNA growth can proceed naturally, the rate would be so
slow the RNA could never get more than a few pieces long (for as nucleic
bases attach to one end, they can also drop off the other).

Ernesto Di Mauro and colleagues examined if there was some mechanism to
overcome this thermodynamic barrier, by incubating short RNA fragments in
water of different temperatures and pH.

On Dec 23, 1:09=A0pm, dadapapa googlemail.com> wrote:

mo=3D

ho=3D

I=3D

The two jumps idea is fascinating. But I would like to comment on
something else.
Bacteria are not on a mission to get anywhere. The reason they haven't
changed is
because what they were doing was so well adapted to the environment.
It's the rest of life that has had problems that forced continual
change.
I think we should look at life as about 99%% bacteria on a successful
road that
has little changed, and a small offshoot of life that is in flux to
fit the environment.

On 2008-12-23, Robert Karl Stonjek bigpond.net.au> wrote:

[snip]

[snip]

This seems to answer the question I raised here recently but only got
one (partial) answer to. The origin of atmospheric oxygen was
photosynthesis. This is certainly what Christian de Duve says in his
1995 book 'Vital Dust'.

Anthony Campbell

This excerpt from MATCMadison,edu on absorbing UV light.
http://matcmadison.edu/biotech/resources/methods/labManual/unit_4/exercise_15.ht...

"Most biological molecules do not intrinsically absorb light in the visible range, but they do absorb ultraviolet light. Biologists take advantage of UV absorbance to quickly estimate the concentration and purity of DNA, RNA, and proteins in a sample... It is also possible to quantify the amount of DNA in a sample by looking at its absorbance at a wavelength of 260nm or 280nm (in the UV region)...

Proteins have two absorbance peaks in the UV region, one between 215-230 nm, where peptide bonds absorb, and another at about 280 nm due to light absorption by aromatic amino acids (tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylalanine). Certain of the subunits of nucleic acids (purines) have an absorbance maximum slightly below 260 nm while others (pyrimidines) have a maximum slightly above 260 nm. Therefore, although it is common to say that the absorbance peak of nucleic acids is 260 nm, in reality, the absorbance maxima of different fragments of DNA vary somewhat depending on their subunit composition. "

What if UV is a selective force at the start of life. If purines, and pyrimidines have slightly different absorbance maximums, then wouldn't each have a selective advantage under certain UV conditions?

Thoughts?

Tom Hendricks

Informational Genetics:

``Informational genetics refers to the unification of Shannon's
information theory and genetics.''

- http://alife.co.uk/essays/informational_genetics/

Report: cells "from space" have unusual makeup

Sept. 8, 2008
Special to World Science

A lineage of odd microbes that may have crashed into Earth aboard a meteor
in 2001 seem to contain molecules not found in Earthly cells, two scientists
are reporting.

Although many remain skeptical over the remarkable claim of minuscule
extraterrestrial visitors, Godfrey Louis, head of the physics department at
Cochin University of Science and Technology in India, presented the findings
at a scientific conference in San Diego on Aug. 12.

The meeting was organized by SPIE, the International Society for Optical
Engineering. The acronym reflects its former name as Society of
Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

The microbes give off unsual sorts of fluorescence under specific lighting
conditions, which follow patterns never seen in normal cells, according to
Louis and Santhosh Kumar of Mahatma Gandhi University in India, co-authors
of the report. The likely explanation, they added, is that the particles
contain molecules not found in Earthly organisms.

Nature 455, 220-223 (11 September 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature07152; Received
31 January 2008; Accepted 5 June 2008

Understanding the limits to generalizability of experimental evolutionary
models
Samantha E. Forde 1,5, Robert E. Beardmore 2,5, Ivana Gudelj 2,3,5, Sinan S.
Arkin 2, John N. Thompson 1 & Laurence D. Hurst 4

1.. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of
California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
2.. Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
3.. Department of Mathematical Sciences and,
4.. Department of Biology & Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2
7AY, UK
5.. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract:
Given the difficulty of testing evolutionary and ecological theory in situ,
in vitro model systems are attractive alternatives; however, can we appraise
whether an experimental result is particular...

Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this announcement.
Please kindly help forward it to potentially interested colleagues and
students.

SPATIAL EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS WORKSHOP
Institut des Systemes Complexes (ISC), Paris, October 17, 2008
This workshop addresses the special features of evolutionary dynamics
that occur in explicitly spatial models compared with traditional mean
field models.

The aim is to bring together scientists studying the effects of
spatial extent ("isolation by distance") and configuration on
evolutionary dynamics. Authors are invited to submit a 1-page abstract
on their research, or on a review and discussion about any aspect of
spatial evolutionary dynamics. Contributions may be original or
already published (please specify when submitting).

Keynote speaker: Paulien Hogeweg <http://www-binf.bio.uu.nl/ph>
Organizing committee: Guy Hoelzer <http://www.scsr.nevada.edu/~bioweb/
hoelzer.html> and Rene Doursat <http://doursat.free.fr>
Workshop Website: http://www.iscpif.fr/SED2008