The genome is packaged into chromosomes that contain some 4000 proteins of different functions, this study reveals. (From the original publication, courtesy of Prof. Earnshaw)

University scientists have shed light on how DNA is compacted in dividing cells, a discovery which will help understand how cell renewal can fail.

When a cell is splitting, its DNA is compacted down to 10,000 times its usual size for ease of division. Thousands of proteins vital for the occurrence of this compaction have been discovered. These proteins help to protect and fold genetic material before division takes place.

This research may help us understand what happens when the packaging process fails and cells divide abnormally – which can cause cancer and embryo miscarriage.

Numerous existing scientific techniques were combined for this large scale study, allowing the definition of some 4,000 proteins involved in cell renewal.

Researchers hope that through the identification of essential proteins a better understanding of the influence they have on cell division may be acquired.

The research was carried out in collaboration with University of Oxford and the Japanese National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan.

Professor William Earnshaw from the School of Biological Sciences, who directed the study with Professor Juri Rappsilber, said: “Until now, our understanding of the very complex way in which DNA moves during cell division was patchy – this latest development allows us, for the first time, to fully identify all the proteins that take parting the process, and how they interact with one another. Future work is needed to reveal more of the intricacies of this process and how to prevent it from going wrong.”

The original publication is The Protein Composition of Mitotic Chromosomes Determined Using Multiclassifier Combinatorial Proteomics authored by S. Ohta, J-C. Bukowski-Wills, L. Sanchez-Pulido, F. de L. Alves, L. Wood, Z.A. Chen, M. Platani, L. Fischer, D.F. Hudson, C.P. Ponting, T. Fukagawa, W.C. Earnshaw and J. Rappsilber. Cell 142(5), 810-821 (2010).

- Issy Anderson

The damage caused by the 2010 Haitian earthquake, which killed 230,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings (United Nations Development Programme)

A group of computer scientists from the University of Edinburgh have recently unveiled a new system for analysing seismic data.

The system collates and processes the masses of data captured due to everyday vibrations; the analysis of which could lead to a better understanding of the earth’s structure. These vibrations – dubbed ‘noise’ – can be caused by anything from traffic to waves on a shore, and whilst individually they are weak, their vast number and regular nature compensate to provide useful information.

However, the huge quantity of data collected makes analysis less than straightforward. “You can use noise to analyse the Earth’s structure, but you need to analyse huge amounts of data and that’s nearly impossible on standard [computers],” explains Andreas Rietbrock, Professor of Seismology at the University of Liverpool.

This is where the computer system – the Rapid Web Portal – is so uniquely innovative: it hides all heavy data processing behind a web browser interface, leaving scientists more time to concentrate on research while allowing small teams access to results previously seen only by those with supercomputers.

Rapid is funded by the EPSRC, BBSRC, the Joint Infrastructure council and the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, which hopes to explore whether it will be possible to predict earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

For further information about Rapid, please visit: http://research.nesc.ac.uk/rapid

- Keiran Campbell

Weathering damage (Bernd Fitzner)

Maintenance of historic buildings can become simpler as a result of work by engineers’ from the University of Edinburgh. They have developed a method to forecast damages caused to stone and brick monuments by weather.

The deterioration of buildings is often caused by ground water rising up through the stones. Also, the evaporating water usually leaves salts on their surfaces that later crystallizes. Furthermore, the formation and melting of ice causes physical damage. Climate change would accelerate the damages that would otherwise take hundreds of years, as a result of increased evaporation caused by higher temperatures and lower humidity.

The study, the first of its kind, created computer models of water movement in stone, based on data from previous studies. The collaborative project led by the University of Oxford, was funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Professor Chris Hall, co-leading the study with Dr Andrea Hamilton, both of University of Edinburgh, commented: “The work shows for the first time the critical importance of evaporation in driving the flow of water through masonry structures.”

The study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

-Aldona Kutkowska

Every year, parasitic gastroenteritis (PEG) costs farmers in the UK £80 million. This is a disease caused by a worm found in the stomach of sheep. The worm is transmitted through faeces that carry eggs which hatch into infective larvae.

This infection results in a change of the energy use in the sheep, as its body focuses on repairing the damage and boosting the immune system. This brings a reduction of milk, meat and wool production which is a costly problem for the farmers.

But researchers at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Infectious Diseases and Moredun Research Institute have succeeded in the identification of a worm molecule which is named Tci-MIF-1. This molecule is believed to disguise the worm. It probably mimics a chemical messenger of the sheep’s immune system with the aim to confuse it such that the intruder is able to survive longer in the sheep’s stomach.

The team, led by Professor Jacqui Matthews, believes that the discovery of this molecule is a big step in developing a vaccine or drug treatment. This is an urgent issue since the current treatments are ineffective due to the increasing resistances of the worms.

Professor Matthews also says that it could help in understanding the effects of worms on the mammalian immune system and the linked diseases. This could potentially benefit 1 billion people currently infected with the human hook worm, which uses a similar molecular camouflage.

The research was funded by the Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Research and Analysis Directorate (RERAD) and the Wellcome Trust.

- Thilo Reich

The structure of cholesterol

An international team of scientists has discovered 95 genes linked with high cholesterol. The study shows that the genes – including 59 previously unknown in cholesterol research – could cause high levels of low-density-lipoprotein (LDL), which has the potential to clog arteries.

The team, including scientists from the University of Edinburgh, hope the findings could lead to predictive tests for high cholesterol, as well as new cholesterol-lowering drugs.

The research was conducted on an international group of 100,000 volunteers to find links between genetics and high cholesterol. It found the presence of certain variants of these genes can increase the probability of having very high cholesterol by up to a factor of 14.

Dr Jim Wilson, a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh who participated in the study, said: “Apart from highlighting a number of new potential drug targets, this landmark study is the first to show that we can predict from our genes who is likely to have very high cholesterol levels. As genes are present from birth, this would allow those at high risk to modify their lifestyle before the effects of high cholesterol damage their heart.”

The study was led by Harvard University and published in the journal Nature.

- Keiran Campbell

We look for science at the Fringe Festival

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David Cameron

The University of Edinburgh has received praise from British Prime Minister David Cameron for its efforts in carbon capture research.

Speaking during his official visit to India, Mr Cameron emphasised the value of the research in creating technologies that can be exported to other countries: “We believe we can have a technology leadership on this, developed through some of our best universities, like Edinburgh… that are doing incredible work on carbon capture and storage. That’s the sort of technology we can then share, and export and invest with other countries.”

The high profile state visit was partly intended to promote foreign collaboration in the creation of high-tech ‘green’ technologies.

Jon Gibbins, Professor of Power Plant Engineering and Carbon Capture at Edinburgh University, emphasised the importance of sharing ‘green’ technologies with developing countries: “Our engagement with scientific colleagues there has highlighted the challenges of introducing this technology in a developing country. But these challenges are balanced by the unique contributions that CCS [carbon capture and storage] can make in reducing CO2 emissions, as part of a need that we all share to avoid the risk of dangerous climate change eroding future economic and social gains.”

You can find a full transcript of the Prime Minister’s speech at: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=PressR&id=22613066

- Kieran Campbell

It seems that some areas of the body are simply more resistant to tanning, making an all-over tan more difficult than previously thought to achieve. In addition, some areas simply develop a tan less well, despite receiving sun exposure to the point of becoming red.

Researchers exposed 100 volunteers to six doses of UV on two areas of their body – their back and their buttock. After 7 days, they analysed their skin to see what colour remained once the redness had died down.

This redness, or sunburn, is often believed to be the beginnings of a tan – infact, this is just the skin showing that it has become damaged, signalled by a rush of blood to the exposed area.

The research team aimed to work out why different types of skin cancer are found in different parts of the body, yet caused by the same UV exposure. This dose of UV is also what causes the production of melanin, recognised as a suntan. Melanin blocks the skin from absorbing too much UV radiation, so the appearance of a tan is actually a protective mechanism.

The results of this study help to explain why many people find it so difficult to get evenly tanned over their whole body.

The study, published in the journal Experimental Dermatology, was funded by the Medical Research Council.

- Kat Davey

Girl Geek Scotland is a new network for women interested in science, engineering and computing who wish to start up a technology-related company.

The University of Edinburgh’s Informatics Ventures- an enterprise which connects innovators with hi-tech entrepreneurs – provides funding for a series of events and weekend workshops aimed to equip idea laden women with entrepreneurial skills.

Additional funding will be provided by Institute for Capitalising Creativity based at the University of St. Andrew’s.

The workshops are free, providing all criteria are met, to applicants before August 9.

They will be held in Stirling on three dates – 17-19 September, 15-17 October and 19-21 November.

Current female business owners are also allowed to attend – provided their business employs fewer than 250 people and has an annual turnover of less than €50 Million.

The workshops will be led by business consultant Sara Shinton, executive coach Christina Ioannidis, Mike Clouser of the University of Edinburgh’s school of Informatics, and Mel Harris of Edinburgh Internet Marketing Meet-up Group.

The events will be focussing on three key areas- creativity, funding, and negotiation.

Event organiser Catherine Brown said: “These workshops are aimed at women with an interest in technology, but background is less important than an enthusiasm and desire to follow a project through.

“We’re expecting a diverse range of people whose backgrounds include design, computer science, engineering and nursing, but anyone with a technology related interest in welcome.

“Those attending will be asked to bring a project idea with them and, at the end of each workshop, they should have been able to develop a workable strategy using the new skills they have gained over the weekend.”

- Issy Anderson

We find out whether depressed people really eat more chocolate

Summer break? The EUSci podcast knows no such thing. Rain or shine, we bring you the latest in science news. This week, our host Jon Manning explores stories about helpful grandmothers, x-ray lasers, super batteries, and much more. So sit back and enjoy our take on the helpful battery of science stories that made the headlines (or at least the science pages) of newspapers over the past couple of weeks.

Download Link

What’s in today’s show:

News:

• Pest Control Using “Come Hither” Chemical
• Sense of Touch Influences our Decisions
• Olive Oil Changes How Your Genes Work
• Super Squid Sex Organ Discovered
• Feed Curry to Sheep to Cut Methane Emissions

Frank Dondelinger talks to Dr Martin Austwick, physicist, medical laser expert and musician, a.k.a. The Sound of the Ladies.

EU-What?!

• Yes, it’s true, people eat more chocolate when they’re sad.

You can subscribe to the feed for the podcast here, or by using the podcast button on the sidebar. If you have iTunes, click the iTunes button to subscribe automatically.

Don’t know how to subscribe to podcasts? There’s a tutorial here. And don’t forget that you can also join our Facebook group, or send comments and feedback to podcast@eusci.org.