SEQUENCING DNA IN OUTER SPACE

By chXout TeamNo Comments
On the 20th July 2016 the arrival of the SpaceX CRS-9 mission to the International Space Station, brought with it a very important cargo - the MinION DNA sequencing device. Up until recently, sequencing DNA in space had not been done and all samples would routinely be sent back to Earth for DNA sequencing. But on the last weekend in August 2016, as part of the Biomolecule Sequencer experiment, NASA astronaut Dr. Kate Rubins, successfully sequenced DNA on board the orbiting International Space Station using the MinION sequencer. This is the first time DNA has been successfully sequenced in microgravity. The MinION DNA sequencing device, developed by UK-based Oxford Nanopore Technologies, is a small handheld device, weighing only 120 grams.  It operates through electrochemical detection. An electric current is passed through nanopores embedded in a membrane giving a baseline current reading. When a DNA sample is added to the device, the DNA molecules partially block the pores and change the current passing...
Read More
THE RAPIDLY EVOLVING GENOME OF THE TASMANIAN DEVIL

THE RAPIDLY EVOLVING GENOME OF THE TASMANIAN DEVIL

By chXout TeamNo Comments
The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrishii) is the largest remaining marsupial carnivore. They are found throughout the Australian island of Tasmania and can be found in all native terrestrial habitats. Devils are nocturnal, highly social marsupials but are extremely aggressive towards each other. Tasmanian devil numbers have dramatically reduced since the late 1990s and devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is the primary cause of this decline. DFTD is a contagious cancer which is passed from devil to devil through biting during social interactions. Tumours grow on the faces and mouths of the infected devil and individuals die within months of infection. DFTD was first seen in 1996 in Mount William in north eastern Tasmania and has since spread to over 65% of Tasmania, with only the populations on the west coast and the far north-west remaining DFTD-free. Over the last 20 years, it is estimated that there has been localised declines in devil populations by as much as 90%, with an overall...
Read More
Unravelling the Zika Virus Genome

Unravelling the Zika Virus Genome

By chXout TeamNo Comments
The Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus from the Flaviviridae family and is primarily transmitted via infected mosquitoes.  However, ZIKV has also been isolated in semen and so the virus can be transmitted sexually through infected partners. The recent on-going outbreak of ZIKV, which originated in Bahia in Brazil in 2015, has spread rapidly across the Americas and has resulted in more than 1.5 million cases worldwide. The recent epidemic in the Americas has dominated the headlines due to the high incidence of babies born with microcephaly to ZIKV-infected mothers. Indeed this outbreak has been characterised by an increased prevalence of neurological syndromes such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome. In February 2016 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the current epidemic to be a global public health emergency, due to the accelerated rate at which ZIKV is spreading, bringing its associated neurological conditions. Once a relatively obscure virus, the recent devastating outbreaks have thrust ZIKV into the scientific spotlight. Recent research, led...
Read More

The Fight to Save Our Ash Trees

By chXout Team Comment Closed
We have 157,000 hectares of ash woodland in the UK, together with approximately 12 million ash trees outside the woodlands in gardens, parklands and along roadsides. These ash trees are associated with and support 1,000 different species, including 12 species of bird, 55 species of mammals and 239 species of invertebrates. But ash trees are now under attack from a deadly enemy - a fungus called Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (previously Chalara fraxinea). This fungal pathogen kills the leaves, then the branches and trunk and eventually the whole tree dies. Ash dieback, as this deadly disease is known, originated in Asia but is spreading across Europe. Ash dieback was first seen in Eastern Europe in 1992 and it now affects more than 2 million square kilometres from Scandinavia to Italy. The disease was first found in the UK in 2012 and has since spread from Norfolk and Suffolk to South Wales. Recent evidence suggests that ash dieback could wipe out all ash trees across Europe unless action...
Read More

Kakapo 125: Sequencing the genomes of an entire species

By chXout Team Comment Closed
New Zealand has been separate from other land masses for approximately 80 million years. This geographic isolation has allowed for millions of years of natural selection, largely in the absence of predatory mammals. The result has been the evolution of some of the worlds most unique and unusual species. The Kakapo is one of these unique and unusual species and it is currently critically endangered with only 125 known living Kakapo left. The Kakapo, also known as the owl parrot, is the world’s largest parrot. It is flightless, nocturnal and ground-dwelling. Due to Polynesian and European colonisation and the introduction of predatory mammals such as rats, cats, ferrets and stoats, the flightless Kakapo was hunted and predated to near extinction. Once widespread across New Zealand, it is now confined to three predator-free islands, Whenua Hou, Anchor and Hautura-o-Toi. Since the start of the Kakapo Recovery plan in the 1980s, Kakapo numbers have increased from a low of only 51 individuals. Scientists in...
Read More
The Cheetah: One of Nature’s Great Survivors

The Cheetah: One of Nature’s Great Survivors

By chXout Team Comment Closed
The African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is the world’s fastest land mammal. It has numerous physiological adaptations that allow it to reach speeds over 100 km/hr including elongated legs, slim aerodynamic skull, enlarged adrenal glands, liver and heart, and semi-retractable claws that grip the earth. Modern cheetahs range across eastern and southern Africa, with a small population in Iran. But their numbers are declining and there are now less than 10,000 in the wild. This is a drop of 90 percent in the past 100 years. This decline in numbers is mostly due to loss of habitat, illegal trade by hunters, conflict with farmers and road accidents. They are considered highly endangered by wildlife authorities and governments. An international team of researchers led by Stephen O’Brien, of the Theodosius Dobzhansky Centre for Genome Bioinformatics at St.Petersburg State University, and including members of the Beijing Genomics Institute and the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) have recently sequenced the genome from a male Namibian cheetah and...
Read More