Posted: 31 Dec 2009 12:12 AM PST

By KYLE WIND
Freeman staff

Aaron Haselton, an assistant professor of biology at SUNY New Paltz, looks at a vial of fruit flies through a stereomicroscope. Photo provided

NEW PALTZ — SUNY New Paltz professors are studying how calorie intake affects sleep patterns in fruit flies to get a better understanding of hormonal communications between the digestive tract and the brain.

Aaron Haselton, an assistant professor of biology who is leading the research team, said he hopes to expand on previous research that found fruit flies live longer and are more "stress resistant" if they have restricted diets as opposed to high-calorie diets.

Scientists have found that dietary restrictions in all sorts of animals, from roundworms to mice to monkeys, increase life spans and reduce cancers, arthritis, diabetes and aging markers, said Haselton, who has worked with physics professor Richard Halpern and undergraduate students on the project.

Researchers also have found that, in response to the lower-calorie diets, animals' reproductive systems tend to shut down while their body maintenance systems — including those that repair DNA — are turned on, Haselton said.

That had led scientists to look for ways to trigger optimization of those maintenance systems without reproductive penalties, on which Haselton said studies related to red wine improving health have been focused.

As for his own contribution to the body of research, Haselton said that in his previous work, he has noted "sleep patterns tend to fragment" as animals — and people — age. Elderly people, he said, tend to have trouble sleeping through the night. The latest SUNY study looks for links between diet and sleep.

Though his work is not completed, Haselton said his preliminary observations run counter to the original hypothesis — that a lower-calorie diet would help fruit flies maintain a more consistent sleep schedule as they age.

Instead, he said, it appears so far that older fruit flies sleep better toward the end of their lives on a higher-calorie diet, but they do not live as long on that diet.

Haselton added that the research is part of a long-term study he expects to be complete by the end of the spring 2010 semester.

Even though there are many differences between fruit flies and humans, Haselton said his work eventually could lead to an expanded understanding of humans because flies and humans share some chemical similarities.

Asked why researchers were using fruit flies in the study, Haselton described the fruit fly as "the genetic workhorse of modern biology." He said the insect is popular for studies because its genome has been sequenced; it has been used in studies since the early 1900s, so there is more than 100 years of knowledge on record about it; and it has a short life span and breeds in the thousands.

Haselton said people sometimes are surprised to learn that fruit flies sleep. He also said the level of wakefulness in the flies is measured with infrared sensors.

Haselton said the two undergraduate students who did most of the lab work for project were Regina Klein, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology in 2007, and Ryan Vinson-Physics, who was a member of the 2009 graduating class. They worked over the summers of 2007 and 2008 and were supported by the college's competitive Summer Undergraduate Research Experience awards.

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Century of biology’ takes time to bear fruit - Financial Times

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 08:20 AM PST

Ten years ago, we stood on the brink of what many pundits predicted would be â€œthe century of biologyâ€, following the domination of the 20th century by physics and the 19th century by chemistry.

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Rapid Flu Testing Developed For Pandemic - OfficialWire

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 01:24 AM PST

U.S. researchers say they have developed a rapid, automated system to differentiate strains of influenza.

Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin, the Children's Research Institute and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin say during a pandemic, such as the present H1N1 influenza outbreak, rapid automated tests allow for quick and effective public health decisions.

Dr. Kelly J. Henrickson of the Medical College of Wisconsin and colleagues developed rapid semi- and fully automated multiplex real-time RT-PCR assays to detect influenza A, influenza B, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. An assay is a procedure in molecular biology used in testing and/or measuring activity.

These assays can successfully detect human H1N1, H3N2 and swine-origin H1N1 viruses, as well as distinguish these from influenza B and RSV infections. These assays could test large numbers of samples over a very short time, allowing for a significant decrease in both technician and assay time, said Henrickson, the study leader.

"This outbreak demonstrates the importance of having rapid, reliable, sensitive and specific assays that allow clinicians and public health officials to react quickly and effectively during viral outbreaks," the researchers said in a statement.

The findings are to be published in the January issue of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.

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Tobacco could be biofuel of vehicles of future - Thaindian.com

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 02:35 AM PST

Washington, Dec 31 (IANS) Researchers have identified a way of increasing oil content in tobacco leaves as a prelude to using these for biofuel.
In some instances, the modified tobacco plants produced 20-fold more oil in their leaves, said Vyacheslav Andrianov, assistant professor of cancer biology at Jefferson Medical College.

Tobacco can generate biofuel more efficiently than other agricultural crops. However, most of the oil is typically found in the seeds - tobacco seeds are composed of about 40 percent oil per dry weight, adds Andrianov.

Although seed oil has been tested for use as fuel in diesel engines, tobacco plants yield a modest quantity of seeds, or about 600 kg per acre.

Andrianov and his colleagues sought to find ways to engineer tobacco plants to have a higher oil content.

"Tobacco is very attractive as a biofuel because the idea is to use plants that aren't used in food production," he said.

"We have found ways to genetically engineer the plants so that their leaves express more oil. In some instances, the modified plants produced 20-fold more oil in the leaves."

"Based on these data, tobacco represents an attractive and promising 'energy plant' platform, and could also serve as a model for the utilisation of other high-biomass plants for biofuel production," concludes Andrianov.

These findings were published online in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

Biology

Thursday, December 31, 2009

“Researchers at SUNY New Paltz examine links between diet, sleep - Daily Freeman” plus 4 more

“Researchers at SUNY New Paltz examine links between diet, sleep - Daily Freeman” plus 4 more

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