A new study by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) has found that a peptide called caerulein can convert existing cells in the pancreas into those cells destroyed in type 1 diabetes—insulin-producing beta cells. The study, published online July 31 in Cell Death and Disease, suggests a new approach to treating the estimated 3 million people in the U.S., and over 300 million worldwide, living with type 1 diabetes. “We have found a promising technique for type 1 diabetics to restore the body’s ability to produce insulin. By introducing caerulein to the pancreas we were able to generate new beta cells—the cells that produce insulin—potentially freeing patients from daily doses of insulin to manage their blood-sugar levels.” said Fred Levine, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Sanford Children’s Health Research Center at Sanford-Burnham. The study first examined how mice in which almost all beta cells were destroyed—similar to humans with type 1 diabetes—responded to injections of caerulein. In those mice, but not in normal mice, they found that caerulein caused existing alpha cells in the pancreas to differentiate into insulin-producing beta cells. Alpha cells and beta cells are both endocrine cells meaning they synthesize and secret hormones—and they exist right next to one another in the pancreas in structures called islets. However, alpha cells do not normally become beta cells. –
Tag Archives: cells
“The story of DNA continues to twist and turn”!
Scientists Discover Quadruple Helix: Four Strand DNA In Human Cells
by Arjun
The human race knows very little of itself, almost like a race with amnesia. As we continue to move forward through time, new discoveries are made that make old theories obsolete and false. It’s a good lesson that shows us how we can attach ourselves to “truths” and believe them whole-heartedly, often forgetting that truth is constantly changing and new paradigms of perception always lurk around the corner.
Decades after scientists described our “chemical code” of life using the double helix DNA, researchers have discovered four-stranded DNA within human cells. The structures are called G-quadruplexes, because they form in regions of DNA that are full of guanine, one of the DNA molecule’s four building blocks. The others are adenine, cytosine and thymine. A hydrogen bond is responsible for holding the four guanines together. The four stranded DNA usually presents itself right before cell division.
The discovery was published online in Nature Chemistry, and you can take a look at it here. The study was led by Shankar Balasubramanian at the University of cambridge, UK.
For us, it strongly supports a new paradigm to be investigated – using these four-stranded structures as targets for personalized treatments in the future.We have found that by trapping the quadruplex DNA with synthetic molecules we can sequester and stabilise them, providing important insights into how we might grind cell division to a halt — Shankar Balasubramanian
The study went on to show certain links between concentrations of four-stranded G-quandruplexes and the process of DNA replication, which is crucial to cell division and cell production. G-quadruplexes, (when targeted with synthetic molecules responsible for trapping and holding these DNA structures) prevent cells from replicating their DNA, thus blocking cell division. Scientists believe that this discovery could possibly lead to a stop in cell proliferation at the root of cancer ….
Read more » Collective Evolution
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/07/17/scientists-discover-quadruple-helix-four-strand-dna-in-human-cells/
Via – Facebook
Combat terrorism By Destroying Its Conceptual Roots
Combat Jihad By Destroying Its Conceptual Roots
by Farzana Hassan
Osama Bin Laden’s lethal legacy continues into the second decade of the 9/11 attacks. Like a hydra, terrorist cells sprout in various corners of the world, promoting their hate-filled agenda and its deadly consequences for unsuspecting victims. The strategies of the terrorists have changed considerably, but their goal remains the same—to replace pluralism, democracy, and peaceful coexistence — with intolerance, demagoguery and violence. …
Read more » propagandistmag
Views of main stream political party leaders about MQM
The language of the video clip is urdu (Hindi).
Via → TerroristLeaks → YouTube
MQM has machinery for violence in Karachi: says Asma Jahangir, President Supreme Court Bar Association
– MQM has machinery for violence in Karachi: Asma Jahangir
By Ahmed Jung
KARACHI: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Asma Jahangir on Tuesday said the recently released Joint Investigation Team (JIT) reports showed that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had machinery through which it carried out acts of violence in the city.
Speaking during today’s suo motu hearing on Karachi violence, she said the reports not only showed how they carried out the operations, but also how their cells were operating.
The SCBA president said that bhatta collection had been there before the MQM but had become more sophisticated when the party was founded.
She said the situation in the city was very complex and members of the judiciary themselves had experienced that during the May 12 incident.
Jahangir said families of the victims were looking towards the court for justice. ….
Read more → The Express Tribune
The newspaper is afraid to name the MQM terrorist attack (instead talk of the party that controls Karachi!). The police are being pressured to release those arrested in the attack. MQM is running torture cells and prisons of its own, and the MQM killed police officers who did their duty to curb MQM’s terrorism in 1990s. So cops are scared!
– Bus attack: Can the Sindh police fight back? Yes, they say, but only criminals, not politics
SINDH – KARACHI: The killing of four policemen in Korangi on August 20 by suspected hitmen belonging to a political party has not only further dampened the morale of the force, but some senior officers went as far as to call it the final nail on the coffin of their independence.
(Read: The case continues: Man shot dead before bus attack)
“We always took care not to touch their [political party] people,” said a senior police officer, who did not want to be named. “But even then our personnel have been targeted and killed.”
The visibly depressed officer said that to add salt to fresh wounds, the force is being pressured to release the suspects in their custody. At least a dozen men, including four belonging to a political party, were caught.
The state of affairs is such that from a constable to the highest ranking officer, no one is prepared to take any action against the target killers even if they see the crime taking place in front of their very own eyes. “How can they do anything at all in this climate of fear?” asked the officer. “Even before the Chakra Goth incident, everyone in the force knew that all police officers who played an instrumental role in the 1990s were knocked off one by one.”
Another senior police officer admitted to feeling ashamed when he had to face his men. “The problem is simple,” he said. “The attackers not only belong to the parties currently in power in the Sindh government, but also among the undisputed rulers of this city.” He listed the numerous torture cells operating in the city under the banner of political parties. “Some even have proper lock-ups like the ones we have here, with space to accommodate a dozen hostages.” But when asked whether he would raid any such cells, he retorted, “Are you mad?”
The junior police officers, however, criticise their police leadership for lacking spine. “They fear being transferred and losing their perks if they work against the wishes of a political party,” said one head moharrar, whose job is to run a police station. A police inspector who was injured during an attack in the recent past, says that to date he hasn’t received the compensation promised by the government. “These senior police officials don’t even come to the funeral ceremonies of some of our men, so what can we expect from them?” he said. Police officials say the only option to save the Sindh police is to give them a ‘free hand’ and complete independence from the influence of political parties. But can this happen soon or anytime at all? A senior police officer put it plainly: “I don’t think so…I’ve lost all hope that things will improve.”
Courtesy: The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2011.
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Camel milk, urine to treat cancer?
DUBAI: A group of Arab researchers is claiming to have developed a medical formula for treating cancer by using camel’s milk and urine.
Researchers at Arab Biotechnology Company ( ABC) have said experiments conducted on mice have proved to be 100 % successful. They found the camel’s immune system was rejuvenating itself every time they took samples of milk and urine, making it one of the strongest immune systems.
The lab mice that have been injected with the new drug since six months are still live and their behavior natural like the healthy ones. The new remedy carries smart cells that can attack poisonous substance in the cancerous cells without producing any side effects, they added.
“The medicine, a combination of camel’s milk and urine, has been tested on experimental mice and will be tested on human being,” Abdalla Alnajjar, President of Arab Science and Technology Foundation said. …
Read more : The Times of India
Indus Asia Online Journal (Click here to go to home page)