Cancer-fighting gene also delays ageing: studyinShare

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By Michael Kahn

LONDON | Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:35pm EDT

(Reuters) - One of the genes that protects us from cancer may also help delay ageing, according to a new study published on Wednesday.
The findings could also one day lead to new drugs that prevent or fight cancer while extending healthy youth and lifespan, said Manuel Serrano, a researcher at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, who worked on the study.
Serrano said researchers genetically engineered mice to have an extra copy of a key cancer-fighting gene called p53 and found it also played an important role in delaying ageing.
"Everyone agrees that the ageing is produced by the accumulation of faulty cells," Serrano said. "In other words, p53 delays ageing for exactly the same reason that it prevents cancer." The study was published in the journal Nature.
Previous cancer studies have shown that p53 can actually cause premature ageing symptoms by killing too many cells when it goes into overdrive, but Serrano said his research strictly regulated the gene so that it turned on only when needed.
The gene -- and another that regulates signals to p53 -- did their normal job of producing a protein that kills damaged cancer cells. But the researchers found that mice with an extra copy of the genes actually lived longer even when stripping out the impact of having less cancer.
"This is the first anti-cancer gene tested for its effect on ageing," Serrano said. "The mice lived 16 percent longer in their average lifespan."
The p53 gene, when working properly, makes sure that damaged cells destroy themselves and do not divide uncontrollably to cause tumors. If the gene is mutated or inactivated the control mechanism does not work.
ANTI-CANCER ROLE KNOWN
The role of p53 in cancer has been known for many years and Serrano said he and his team simply applied this knowledge to the problem of ageing and targeting damaged cells.
"The expectation is that having more p53, mice will have a stricter quality control for cells, hence less cancer and less ageing," he said in a telephone interview.
Serrano also said that other research has shown that mice and worms that eat less have slower metabolisms and live longer. But his study offers evidence that the mice can benefit from the extra copy of the genes without having to be starved.
While the study opens up possibilities for drugs based on p53 that delay ageing, researchers will need to find the right balance in boosting the gene to prevent potentially harmful effects, he said.
"There are a number of chemical compounds that have been developed by the big pharmaceutical companies and these compounds are able to boost p53 in the organism," he said.
"These compounds are being tested now for their possible anti-cancer activity and hopefully in the light of our study also for their possible anti-ageing activity."

First of four autonomous Wave Glider robots successfully crosses Pacific ocean

By Ben Coxworth
December 5, 2012

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The Papa Mau Wave Glider, being pulled from Australia's Hervey Bay
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Last November, a fleet of four small autonomous Wave Glider aquatic robots set out from San Francisco to sail across the Pacific ocean. They reached Hawaii this March, at which point they parted ways – as according to plan, one pair struck out for Japan, while the other two headed for Australia. Today, it was announced that the first of the two Australia-bound Wave Gliders has reached its destination, setting a new world record for the longest distance traveled by an autonomous vehicle.

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Made by California- and Hawaii-based tech firm Liquid Robotics, each Wave Glider consists of a floating surf board-like “boat” tethered to an underwater winged platform. The motion of the waves causes these wings to paddle the boat forward, while solar cells on the deck of the boat provide power to its sensors and transmitters.
These sensors measure oceanographic data such as salinity, water temperature, wave characteristics, weather conditions, water fluorescence, and dissolved oxygen. GPS and a heading sensor also help the craft to orient themselves.

Papa Mau, which is the name of the Wave Glider that has reached Australia, was pulled from the ocean in Hervey Bay near Bundaberg, Queensland. It was the end of a one-year journey that spanned approximately 9,000 nautical miles (16,668 kilometers), and that saw the robot withstanding challenges such as gale force winds and inquisitive sharks. Along the way, it also gathered and transmitted an assortment of oceanographic data, including measurements of a chlorophyll bloom along the Equatorial Pacific.
Papa Mau’s traveling companion, the Benjamin, should be arriving in Australia early next year. One of the pair headed for Japan has apparently turned back to Hawaii for repairs, after which it should be resuming its trip.
The four robots’ combined journey, known as PacX (Pacific Crossing) is intended mainly to showcase the Wave Gliders’ research, reconnaissance, and other capabilities. More information on the project, and on Papa Mau’s accomplishment, can be seen in the video below.
Source: Liquid Robotics via PopSci

NASA's GRAIL lunar orbiters produce most detailed gravity map of the Moon

By David Szondy
December 6, 2012

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Variations in the lunar gravity field as measured by NASA's GRAIL mission (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MIT/GSFC)
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Data from NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) probes has been used to create the highest resolution gravity map yet of any body in the Solar System. The two washing machine-sized spacecraft acted as a 225-kilometer (140 mi) long gravity detector for studying the interior composition of the Moon.

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The GRAIL spacecraft were launched in September 2011 and were originally designated “A” and “B,” but were renamed “Ebb” and “Flow” in January by elementary students in Bozeman, Montana as part of a nationwide contest. They are orbiting the Moon in near-polar, near-circular orbits 50 kilometers (31 mi) above the surface. They are in precise formation to one another at a distance ranging from 175 to 225 kilometers (109 to 140 mi).

Artist’s concept of NASA’s GRAIL mission (Image: NASA/JPL)

Their main mission is to map gravitational anomalies on the Moon. This is important because the Moon isn't homogeneous. There are many areas of greater or lesser density and this causes an uneven gravitational field. As the two spacecrafts orbit, they constantly measure the changing distance between them to within a few tenths of a micron per second by means of precisely timed radio signals. Flying over a gravitational anomaly alters this distance and after a series of orbits, a map can be made of these anomalies. These measurements were enhanced by laser topographical measurements taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which allowed the gravitational anomalies to be mapped against topographical features.
Scientists at MIT, NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere are using the map as a way of learning more about the interior of the Moon and the early history of the Solar System. "What this map tells us is that more than any other celestial body we know of, the Moon wears its gravity field on its sleeve," said GRAIL principal investigator Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "When we see a notable change in the gravity field, we can sync up this change with surface topography features such as craters, rilles or mountains."

Mercator projection of lunar gravity map (Image: NASA/ARC/MIT)

Geologically, the Moon is relatively inactive and lacks any weather, so it's very close to the state it was in billions of years ago, whereas the Earth’s tectonic plate movements and robust weather has destroyed most traces of its early days. When the Solar System formed, all the planets underwent a barrage of impacts by objects, some as big as planets themselves, and the Moon still shows signs of those times. The most dramatic evidence is the fact that the Moon’s crust is completely pulverized with cracks that may extend into the mantle, as discovered by the GRAIL gravity survey. This indicates that the early Solar System underwent a much more severe and violent origin than previously thought.
The new information also provides a much clearer picture of the nature of the lunar crust. "With our new crustal bulk density determination, we find that the average thickness of the moon's crust is between 21 and 27 miles (34 and 43 km), which is about 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 km) thinner than previously thought." said GRAIL co-investigator Mark Wieczorek of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris. "With this crustal thickness, the bulk composition of the moon is similar to that of Earth. This supports models where the moon is derived from Earth materials that were ejected during a giant impact event early in Solar System history."

Map of lunar dikes mapped by NASA's GRAIL mission (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CSM)

Another aspect of gravity mapping is that it revealed internal geological structures, such as the fact that beneath the crust, the Moon is extremely smooth and marked by linear structures formed by magma seeping into cracks. “We used gradients of the gravity field in order to highlight smaller and narrower structures than could be seen in previous datasets," said Jeff Andrews-Hanna, a GRAIL guest scientist with the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. "This data revealed a population of long, linear, gravity anomalies, with lengths of hundreds of kilometers, crisscrossing the surface. These linear gravity anomalies indicate the presence of dikes, or long, thin, vertical bodies of solidified magma in the subsurface. The dikes are among the oldest features on the moon, and understanding them will tell us about its early history."
These dikes are more than just curiosities. If they were present on early earth-like planets, it would have affected how they lost heat and how fluids would move from the interior. Similarly, the degree that the Moon’s crust is pulverized tells a lot about its composition, which helps us understand the early evolution of the planets.
The GRAIL mission will continue until December 17. The first results have been published in three papers in the journal Science.
The video below is an animation of the lunar gravity map.
Sources: NASA, MIT