Software for Image Analysis

Profiles of five programs for quantifying data from Westerns, dot blots, gels, and colony cultures

When you’re looking at bands on a Western blot, it’s often obvious which lane has a lot of protein or a little. But it’s not always easy to tell with the naked eye precisely how two bands compare. Plus, looks can deceive. For example, if a lane widened or a band developed a “smile” as the gel ran, a protein-heavy band might look faint.

That’s where imaging software can help, by putting numbers on the density of a band. Just draw a box around your band and the program will tell you the pixel density. Some programs do much more, such as quantifying the number of colonies on a petri dish or the intensity of fluorescent signals in a 96-well plate. “It’s just an improvement on the eyeball,” says Jeff Silk, president of Silk Scientific, in Orem, Utah, which sells gel analysis software.

Researchers have plenty of options for software to bolster their own vision, ranging from freebies that work with any type of image to expensive programs or ones that are specific to their imaging machinery. Unlike Photoshop or other general image-editing software, these dedicated programs can often automatically detect where each lane starts and ends or sum up multiple bands. They can also winnow away background signal, which arises from a variety of causes such as nonspecific binding of antibodies to the entire blot or overexposure when imaging.

Read more: Software for Image Analysis

© MARK HARMEL/SCIENCE SOURCE

Source: the-scientist

Test That Differentiates Between Bacterial, Viral Infections in Development

An international team of scientists - led by researchers at Imperial College London - has discovered two genes that are switched on when a child has a bacterial infection. This revelation could allow the team to develop a rapid test for doctors' surgeries and hospitals to identify infections such as meningitis, and assist with the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

The study, published in JAMA, found that the two genes, called IFI44L and FAM89A, only shifted to an "on" state when a bacterial infection was present. This knowledge could enable doctors to distinguish between bacterial and viral infections, and identify early cases of severe infections that could be deadly.

While viral infections are more common than bacterial infections, bacterial infections are often more serious.

Meningitis, septicemia, and pneumonia all occur as a result of a bacterial infection. Differentiating between these potentially life-threatening conditions and viruses can allow health providers to provide quicker, more accurate treatments.

Read more: Test That Differentiates Between Bacterial, Viral Infections in Development

Doctors usually have to send samples away to diagnose bacterial or viral infections. The new test
could provide a rapid way for doctors to test patients immediately.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Here's How Often Your Body Parts Get Replaced in Your Lifetime

Chances are good you think you're more or less the same person you were last week. But the lining of your gut is totally different, and the hairs on your head are 2.5 millimeters longer.

The human body's ability to replace worn out cells with shiny new ones is key to the long lifespans we're so used to. There are a couple things we keep all our lives, like the visual cortex, but almost everything wears out and gets replaced, at least for part of our lives. And some things, like our hair and nails, just grow and grow and grow.

We've gathered together scientists' estimates scientists of how quickly we go through different types of cells. Many of these ages have been established using a technique called bomb-pulse dating, which uses the traces of atomic radiation we each carry to determine how old cells are.

Read more: Here's How Often Your Body Parts Get Replaced in Your Lifetime

TI_GRAPHICS_Cellular Ages

Source: msn.com/en-us/health/medical

Video: When People Say They Want To Lose Weight

Gallstones Raise the Risk of Heart Disease by a Fifth

A new meta-analysis, using data from hundreds of thousands of individuals, finds that gallbladder disease and heart disease are more intertwined than previously thought. The reasons behind this connection are, as yet, unclear.

Gallstones are small, hard deposits that form in the gallbladder - an organ that sits below the liver.

In wealthier countries, they are a common occurrence, affecting 10-15 percent of all adults.

Gallstones are thought to be produced due to an imbalance in the makeup of bile - a digestive aid produced by the liver and concentrated in the gallbladder.

Although generally small and often symptomless, over the years, gallstones can grow to the size of pebbles.

Read more: Gallstones Raise the Risk of Heart Disease by a Fifth

Gallstones' links to heart disease run deeper than previously thought.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Streamlining the E.coli Genetic Code

Scientists design a bacterial genome with only 57 codons.

The genetic code normally contains 64 codons, but researchers from Harvard University and their colleagues have designed an Escherichia coli genome with only 57 codons, replacing the others wholesale. In a paper published today (August 18) in Science, the team describes the computer-generated genome and reports on the first phases of its synthesis in the lab.

“We create something that really pushes the limit of genomes,” study coauthor Nili Ostrov, a postdoc in George Church’s lab at Harvard, told The Scientist. “The idea is that this is completely new, and we’re trying to see if it’s viable.”

In the planned 57-codon E. coli genome, each of the seven deleted codons is exchanged for a synonymous one.

Read more: Streamlining the E.coli Genetic Code

SCIENCE, CHRIS BICKEL

Source: the-scientist

Theranos – Scientific Breakthrough or Epic Hoax?

A company on the brink of a scientific and medical breakthrough, or a hoax on an epic scale? Russ Swan considers the story of Theranos.

What follows is a tale of laboratory technology, a technological revolution, a precocious main protagonist, and billions of dollars. It is a riches-to-rags tale with elements of the Emperor’s new clothes, more than a bit of hubris, and a tragic twist involving a British scientist.

The story of Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, is still playing out. This is what we know so far, and it is truly jaw dropping. It begins with a first year chemical engineering student at Stanford, spending a summer placement in Singapore assisting in the development of a protein microarray for a diagnostics test for Sars. On returning to California, Holmes (for it was she) quickly dropped out of college to set up her own firm to work on similar technologies.

Read more: Theranos – Scientific Breakthrough or Epic Hoax?

Source: labnews

Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia

Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) is conventionally based on direct staining and visualization. Challenges in obtaining alveolar samples have stimulated interest in techniques for detection of Pneumocystis DNA in non-invasive samples, which can give good sensitivity and specificity. Robust diagnosis is key to ensuring appropriate therapy.

Introduction

Pneumocystis jirovecii (previously Pneumocystis carinii) is a pathogen capable of causing life threatening Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in the immunocompromised with case fatality rates among those hospitalized of around 10%. PCP typically occurs in individuals with hematological malignancies on chemotherapy or with other causes of acquired cellular immunodeficiency or, most frequently, in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals with CD4 T-cell counts <200 cells/µL or <14% of total white cell count. First-line treatment is co-trimoxazole, a combination of the antibiotics sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, at high dose for 3 weeks, which has the clinically significant potential side effects of bone marrow suppression, rash and bronchial hypersensitivity.

Read more: Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia

Source: ClinicalLaboratoryInternational

Blood Vessel-Forming Protein Could Offer Alternative to Heart Bypass Surgery

For patients with severe coronary artery disease, heart bypass surgery can reduce the risk of heart attack and improve overall quality of life. Now, researchers report the possibility of a new treatment that may be even more beneficial, without the surgery.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common form of heart disease in the United States, responsible for more than 370,000 deaths in the country every year.

The condition arises when plaque builds up in the coronary arteries, partially or fully blocking the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. This blockage can cause heart attack, angina - severe chest pain - and, over time, heart failure.

While lifestyle changes - such as adopting a healthy diet and regular physical activity - are considered key to improving CAD, some patients may require heart bypass surgery, which can help restore blood flow to the heart.

But, as with all surgery, it has its risks. These include chest wound infection, bleeding, stroke, heart attack, and kidney or lung failure.

Read more: Blood Vessel-Forming Protein Could Offer Alternative to Heart Bypass Surgery

Researchers say the protein AGGF1 could be a promising treatment for coronary heart disease and
heart attack.

Source: medicalnewstoday

What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Smoking

The process your body goes through after stopping smoking - in the 20 minutes to 15 years after your last cigarette - has been revealed by CVS health.

Around 10 million people in the UK smoke, and about two thirds of them want to stop, according to research from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

About half of all regular smokers will die from their addiction, which amounts to about 100,000 people a year.

The infographic from CVS Health (click to enlarge) revealed that 20-30 minutes after smoking cessation blood pressure and pulse have already started to drop, and the carbon monoxide in the blood will begin to drop after just eight hours.

Read more: What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Smoking

A year after you stop smoking, your risk of heart disease will be half that of a smoker

Source: msn.com/en-ca/health/medical

Video: Biomedical Video: The Best Method to Quit Smoking

HIV: Newly Discovered Component Could Lead to More Effective Drugs

Scientists from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and University College London - both in the United Kingdom - have uncovered key components of HIV, which they believe could lead to new approaches for drugs to fight the infection.

HIV weakens a person's immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. Only certain body fluids - blood, semen, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk - from a person who has HIV can transmit HIV.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States. Although there is no cure for HIV infection, improved treatments allow people living with HIV to slow the virus' progression and stay relatively healthy for several years.

HIV is a part of a subtype of viruses called retroviruses, which means that the virus is composed of RNA - instead of normal DNA - and has the unique property of transcribing RNA into DNA after entering a cell.

Read more: HIV: Newly Discovered Component Could Lead to More Effective Drugs

Findings from the research could lead to future drugs that can enter human cells and block the pores
from within.

Source: medicalnewstoday