Did you know that April is Earth Month? While you should be good to the planet every day, this month you should be extra good. Maybe buy it a nice pair of socks or something. Compliment it on its majestic mountains. Or, you could compete to see who can be the best at being nice to the planet, like we’re doing here at Promega with our Green Go Challenge.
A startling report from researchers in Washington indicates that the increasingly acidic waters of the United States Pacific Northwest are turning sea cucumbers into sea pickles.
Continue reading “Ocean Acidification Turns Sea Cucumbers into Sea Pickles”
It seems that spring has finally come to Southern Wisconsin. The snow has melted. Most days it is warm enough you can go outside without a parka, hat and mittens. The tree buds are starting to swell. And that traditional oracle of spring, the American robin (Turdus migratorius), has been spotted in trees and yards—along with its less friendly cousin, the red winged black bird (Agelaius phoeniceus).
While spring brings the return of migratory birds, it also brings an increase in the number of rescued baby birds flooding into local wildlife rescues and humane societies. When the babies come to these centers, they need a warm, soft, breathable and washable home that resembles the nest they were hatched in.
It turns out that knitted or crocheted nests are a perfect solution. The nests aren’t just used for baby birds; baby rabbits, squirrels, bats, ferrets and racoons are just a few additional animals that benefit. And the best part is, you could be improving your own health while you create those cozy nests. Continue reading “For the Birds: Knitting Nests for Baby Birds Might Just Help Your Health To”
Lynch Syndrome is a hereditary condition caused by germline mutations that inactivate at least one of the major DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. Individuals with Lynch Syndrome have an elevated risk of developing several cancers, especially colorectal, uterine and endometrial. Approximately 1 in 279 individuals in the United States is Lynch-positive, but most people are unaware of their status.
Lynch Syndrome can be diagnosed following screening by microsatellite instability (MSI) analysis or immunohistochemistry (IHC) for the MMR proteins. For some patients, MMR gene sequencing is as easy as an oral “swish.” However, the genetic basis of Lynch Syndrome and its clinical relevancy are relatively recent discoveries. Long before modern sequencing methods simplified testing and diagnosis, a seamstress in Ann Arbor, Michigan correctly predicted her own Lynch Syndrome status based only on her family history. Talking with Dr. Alfred Scott Warthin in the late 19th century, she said that since so many of her family members had died of several specific cancers, she believed that she would follow the same path. Several years later, she unfortunately proved herself right.
Dr. Warthin took interest in the story and began studying the woman’s family. At the time of their conversation, five of her nine siblings had already been diagnosed with uterine, stomach or “abdominal” cancer. Warthin concluded that the family, which he dubbed “Cancer Family G,” did, in fact, have a predisposition to cancer. Warthin and other researchers continued studying the family for several decades. They found that cancers of the colon, uterus and stomach were most common, and that many members of the family were diagnosed at extraordinarily young ages.
In the 1970s, Dr. Henry T. Lynch organized a family reunion for Cancer Family G and subsequently published a report on “Cancer Family Syndrome.” By this time, 95 members of the family had developed one of the expected cancers. Dr. Lynch still didn’t have the technology to determine the molecular basis of the disease, but he noticed that it followed an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern.
In the mid-1990s, three labs simultaneously discovered microsatellite instability and its connection to colorectal cancer. It had been established in bacteria and yeast that inactivating mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes resulted in mutations in microsatellite sequences, so several labs began racing to clone the human homologs of the DNA MMR genes. Within a few months, two labs had cloned the MSH2 gene and found mutations that were present in members of Lynch-positive families who developed cancer.
Around this time, the name “Lynch Syndrome” was adopted to apply to families carrying germline mutations in a gene associated with the condition. Further research established four genes (MSH2, MLH1, MSH6, PMS2) as “Lynch Syndrome Genes,” and researchers began working on guidelines for diagnostic testing (See “The History of Lynch Syndrome” below for further reading).
Today, over two decades later, many researchers are pushing for the adoption of universal tumor screening for Lynch Syndrome. One of the widely recommended screening method is MSI analysis. MSI-H status indicates that certain sections of DNA called microsatellites have become unstable because the major mismatch repair genes that correct errors during DNA replication are not functioning properly. MSI status can influence treatment decisions, based on the 2015 discovery that MSI-H tumors respond well to immunotherapy drugs (1).
Lynch Syndrome awareness is also important knowledge for a patient’s family. Lynch-associated cancers are among the most preventable, so individuals who know they are Lynch-positive can work with their healthcare providers to develop robust strategies for prevention and surveillance. As one Lynch-positive mother said to her Lynch-positive son, “Your knowledge is power, and it’s going to keep you healthy and safe.”
March 22, 2019 is Lynch Syndrome Awareness Day, and we’re encouraging everyone to join the fight against colorectal cancer. Visit our website to learn more about Lynch Syndrome and MSI status.
Further reading:
Life with Lynch Syndrome: Read about what a Lynch Syndrome diagnosis means for Carrie Ketcham and her family
Dreaming of Universal Tumor Screening: Learn how cancer genetic counselor Heather Hampel is advocating for universal tumor screening and more Lynch Syndrome awareness
The History of Lynch Syndrome: Dr. C. Richard Boland and Dr. Henry T. Lynch provide a broad review of Lynch Syndrome research, starting over a hundred years ago.
Learn more about Lynch Syndrome Testing and Detection at our website.
(1) Le, D.T. et al. (2015) PD-1 Blockade in Tumors with Mismatch-Repair Deficiency. New Engl. J. Med. 372, 2509–20.
The storms of the previous day had moved eastward, leaving in their wake flooded farm fields and saturated roadside wetlands. At dusk, we loaded the Ford Escort wagon and headed south. We bumped along the maze of farm roads intent upon listening for croaks and snores in the night. At one roadside wetland, I heard my first congress of Spadefoot toads. The sound was deafening, invoking everything that a “congress of snoring toads” brings to mind. Around the corner, in a low spot of a corn field, a lone Spadefoot toad called for a mate; he was joined by a rather enthusiastic Copes Gray tree frog and several chorus frogs. The congress down the road provided a rolling bass to these more melodic anurans.
Wetlands exist in many different shapes and sizes and in many different geographies: coastal margins, mountain valleys, beaches and rocky shores, estuarine wetlands where tidal saltwater and freshwater mix, and inland wetlands. Some of them are ephemeral, some of them permanent. Wetlands serve many different functions, from providing habitat and food for plants and animals to offering protection from floods and maintaining water quality. One acre of one-foot deep wetland is estimated to hold 330,000 gallons of water. Coastal wetlands are important for reducing storm erosion by decreasing tidal surge and buffering the wind. In the US alone, this benefit has an estimated value of $23.2 billion dollars each year.
Continue reading “Wetlands, Water Quality and Rapid Assays”
In May 2017, a surprising discovery was made in the woods of Bayfield County, Wisconsin, just about a 5-hour drive north of Promega headquarters. Jonathan Martin, Associate Professor of Forestry at Northland College, was exploring the forest with an ultraviolet (UV) light in search of fluorescent lichen or plant life. What he found instead was a bright pink glow coming from a most unexpected source—a flying squirrel.
Continue reading “The Secret Fluorescent Life of Flying Squirrels”
When Wisconsin plunged into a deep freeze during last week’s polar vortex, I built a roaring fire in my fireplace and settled into my armchair with a thick blanket and a video game controller. Except for the twenty minutes I spent driving to and from the office, I stayed warm and toasty.
Birds, however, don’t have it quite as easy. To survive freezing temperatures, non-migratory birds have developed many interesting adaptations. Many species grow extra down layers and huddle together for wind protection. Others, like the black-capped chickadee, use a process called regulated hypothermia to drop their resting body temperature by as much as 22°F to conserve energy. I’m particularly fascinated by the process of regional hypothermia—many species of ducks and gulls use a countercurrent heat exchange system to keep vital organs warm while letting temperatures fall in extremities.
Birds that aren’t accustomed to cold weather don’t have these adaptations, though. When a bird—or any animal—ends up far outside of its natural habitat, the consequences can be deadly.
Continue reading “Goodbye to the Most Famous Bird in Maine”Ebola virus (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV) are two closely-related viruses in the family Filoviridae. Filoviruses are often pathogenic, causing hemorrhagic fever disease in human hosts. The Ebola outbreak of 2014 caught the world by surprise by spreading so quickly and severely that public health organizations were unprepared. The devastating outcome was a total of over 11,000 deaths by the time the outbreak ended in 2016. Research that provides further understanding of filoviruses and their potential for transmission is important in preventing future outbreaks from occurring. But what if the outbreak comes from a virus we’ve never seen before?
A recent study published in the journal Nature Microbiology provides evidence of a newly identified filovirus species. Using serum samples taken from bats, a well-known host for filoviruses, Yang et al. isolated and identified viral RNA for an unclassified viral genome sequence using next generation sequencing analysis. This new virus genome sequence was organized with the same open reading frames as other filoviruses, encoding for nucleoprotein (NP), viral protein 35 (VP35), VP40, glycoprotein (GP), VP30, VP24, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L). This new genome sequence shared up to 54% of the nucleotide sequences for the filovirus species Lloviu virus (LLOV), EBOV and MARV, with MARV being the most similar. Their analysis suggested that this novel virus should be classified within the Filoviridae family tree as a separate genus, Dianlovirus, and was named Měnglà virus (MLAV).
Continue reading “Meet Měnglà Virus: the newest cousin in the Ebola and Marburg virus family tree”Two Is Better Than One
Redundancy equips us to survive. We have more than one lung or one kidney for a reason—if one organ in a pair gets damaged, we can still manage if the other is functional. At the cellular level, we have two copies of each chromosome in every non-germline cell. Each copy was inherited originally from a single sperm and ovum, which are “haploid” cells. Consequently, there are two copies of any given gene in non-germline “diploid” cells. In many cases, should one copy of a gene be damaged, the cell can still survive with the other, functional copy of a gene. In plants, this redundancy is common, and many plants exhibit polyploidy. In an extreme example of polyploidy, the large (by bacterial standards) but otherwise unassuming species Epulopiscium contains tens of thousands of copies of its genome.
Continue reading “Twisted CRISPR: A Novel Activation Strategy to Treat Genetically Driven Obesity”Imagine you are a high school student living in a community devastated by gun violence and death. In the U.S., this could be one of many communities, but it happens to be Baltimore which had 301 deaths due to gun violence in 2017 (with a per capita rate well above other large cities). Then imagine you were part of an organization within that community that helped you, along with other students, gain knowledge and skills to come up with a viable solution to the problem using synthetic biology.
This is exactly how the Baltimore Bio-Crew came up with their iGEM project, Coagulance Rx. The Baltimore Bio-Crew decided to tackle this community issue head-on. One team member, Mercedes Ferandes, reflected, “Living in Baltimore City, I have not only witnessed gun violence in front of me, but have had family members and friends die from it. I wanted to try to decrease the amount of deaths by gun violence using iGEM.”
After some research, they discovered that many of the gun violence deaths were due to blood loss and could have been prevented. The impoverished neighborhoods where this violence occurs lack the resources to provide timely emergency medical treatment. Many of these deaths can be attributed to delayed arrival of emergency response teams—wait times for an ambulance can be over an hour.
Although there were several contributing factors beyond their control, the team wanted to address this problem by focusing on blood clotting and how it could be helpful as a quick temporary treatment for open wounds. This solution could offer a reliable, cost efficient way to save lives by slowing or stopping blood loss until a victim could get medical attention. The team decided to pursue the use of snake venom after coming across some previous iGEM projects that had used it for clotting. Team member Henry Ryles pointed out that the need for snake venom powerful enough to clot blood quickly led them to choose the venom of the Russell’s Viper
(Daboia russelii).
