Scientists at the Medical College of Georgia have been able to selectively erase memories in mice without causing brain damage. Alpha-CaMKll is a protein involved in learning and memory. By manipulating the protein's activity in the brain, scientists have been able to influence the retrieval of short and long-term memory. Mice that received a mild electric shock while the protein's activity was increased only lost the memory of the shock. Because human brains are much more complex, scientists don't think the exact procedure would work for us - but we wouldn't be human if we didn't hope the research continues.
According to research done by Jane McCann, Director of Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology at the University of Wales, our clothes could help us find where we want to go or tell us how fit we are within the next 10 years. CuteCircuit, a UK company, has already designed the M-Dress. It's a silk garment, containing a standard SIM card, that doubles as a mobile phone. When the dress rings, you raise your hand to your head to answer the call. Unfortunately, this makes the M-Dress unsafe for hands-free driving.
Research into Gliocladium roseum, however, may make driving more environmentally friendly. Researchers have found that G. roseum, a newly discovered fungus growing abundantly in Ulmo trees in the Patagonian rainforest, makes biofuel more efficiently than any other known method. When corn stalks and switchgrass are used to make biofuel, cellulase enzymes have to be added to turn the cellulose matter into sugar. Then microbes have to ferment the sugar into the ethanol to be used as fuel. G. roseum can eat the cellulose by itself. By eliminating the enzyme-adding step, G. roseum could bring us one step closer to a simpler, less expensive, sustainable fuel.
Then there are the three undergraduate bioengineering majors at Rice University who want to turn beer into a healthy, consumable fuel. By genetically engineering two genes found in red grapes into beer yeast, they want to make the yeast produce resveratrol, the chemical in red wine which supposedly has anti-cancer qualities and cardio benefits. Because many more Americans drink beer than drink wine, many more Americans would benefit from this chemical. So far the students have succeeded in isolating the necessary genes. By the time they have completed both the genetic engineering and brewing of "Biobeer", they'll hopefully be old enough to legally drink it.
Comments