[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Tight genes make radiation-munching bug strong
Dave
Thanks, I thought of saying the same thing but didn't :)!
John
_______________________
John R Johnson, PhD
idias@interchange.ubc.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: "Neil, David M" <neildm@id.doe.gov>
To: "'Susan L Gawarecki'" <loc@icx.net>; "RADSAFE"
<radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 8:34 AM
Subject: RE: Tight genes make radiation-munching bug strong
> Gee - they warn us men that tight jeans will weaken our reproduction :-)
>
> Sorry. I couldn't resist the straight line.
>
> Flame me offline.
> Dave Neil
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Susan L Gawarecki [mailto:loc@icx.net]
> Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 9:01 AM
> To: RADSAFE
> Subject: Tight genes make radiation-munching bug strong
>
>
> Tight genes make radiation-munching bug strong
> By Reuters
> Friday, January 10, 2003
> http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2003/01/01102003/s_49322.asp
>
> WASHINGTON - Tight genes help a nuclear waste-munching bacterium resist
> the deadly effects of radiation, Israeli and U.S. scientists reported.
> The DNA of Deinococcus radiodurans, which can also survive extreme cold
> and dryness, is tightly packed into a circle, the researchers report in
> Friday's issue of the journal Science.
>
> That dense ring helps keep damaged DNA in place, allowing broken-off
> pieces to move eventually back into position, said Avi Minsky of the
> Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovoth, Israel. Radiation severely
> damages DNA, and the pieces break off and float away in most organisms.
> But in Deinococcus, the structure keeps them in place until they come
> back together, Minsky and colleagues believe.
>
> Unfortunately, humans may not benefit from this finding, said the
> researchers, including a team at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
> "Our DNA is structured in a fundamentally different manner," Minsky said
> in a statement.
>
> Deinococcus is sometimes employed in cleaning up nuclear waste, but
> scientists are studying its genetic structure to see if they can
> genetically engineer something even tougher. It can withstand 1.5
> million rads, a measure of radiation, which is 1,000 times more than any
> other life form.
>
> Its existence suggests that life, in the form of bacteria, could have
> survived in space and may thrive on other planets.
> --
> .....................................................
> Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
> Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee
> 102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
> Toll free 888-770-3073 ~ www.local-oversight.org
> .....................................................
> ************************************************************************
> You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
> send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
> radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
> You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/
> ************************************************************************
> You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
> send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
> radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
> You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/
>
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/