Portrait in DNA: Can forensic analysis yield police-style sketches of suspects?

Published by Scientific American | Filed under article

Male, short and stout, with dark skin, brown eyes, ­shovel-shaped teeth, type A+ blood and coarse, dark brown hair giving way to pattern baldness. He would have a high tolerance for alcohol and a higher-than-average risk of nicotine dependence–fortunately, he lived thousands of years before humans discovered smoking. The description of a Stone Age Greenland resident published in February paints an extraordinary portrait of a man who vanished more than 4,000 years ago, drawn almost solely from his DNA remains.

The analysis, led by Danish scientists, not only marks the first full sequencing of an ancient human genome but also offers a startling example of how much modern-day detectives can discern just from a suspect’s genetic code. Far beyond using DNA “fingerprints” to link an individual to a crime scene, forensic profiling is edging toward the capability to create a police-artist-style sketch of an unknown person by reading traits inscribed in the genome. “The body interprets the DNA to determine the appearance of the face,” says anthropologist Mark Shriver of Morehouse College, who hopes to duplicate that ability within a decade.

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DNA – Human – Forensic science – Human genome – Genetics

Global Warming 13 – Slide Images

Published by RSS - Global Warming Video, Global Warming Clips, Global Warming Videos - Top 10 RSS 2.0 Feed | Filed under article

Global Warming 13 – Slide Images
http://noolmusic.com/slide_images/global_warming_13.php

Post Patriot Act Pathogen Research: Less Bang Per Buck

Published by Scientific American | Filed under article

The Patriot Act and the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act were passed in 2001 and 2002. These laws in part cover research on pathogens and toxins thought to have potential as bioweapons.

The Bush administration increased funding for research on such toxins and pathogens–but the laws added a great many procedural steps for such research, and restricted who could work with the microbes. Scientists at Carnegie Mellon recently evaluated the impact of the laws on research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . [Elisabeth Casman et al, http://bit.ly/ddGnoX ]

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USA PATRIOT Act – Pathogen – Microorganism – United States – Presidency of George W. Bush

Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution Movie

Published by TourFactory | Filed under article

Author: PaulinaRainville
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Added: May 11, 2010

Keystone Development Trust – An Introduction to the Keystone Development Trust

Published by TourFactory | Filed under article

Author: AssetTransferUnit
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Added: May 11, 2010

Banned Documentary About Global Warming Part 1 – Google Videos

Published by RSS - Global Warming Video, Global Warming Clips, Global Warming Videos - Top 10 RSS 2.0 Feed | Filed under article

Banned Documentary About Global Warming Part 1 – Google Videos
http://noolmusic.com/google_videos/banned_documentary_about_global_warming_part_1.php

Select the Best Assisted Living

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Global Warming 1 – Slide Images

Published by RSS - Global Warming Video, Global Warming Clips, Global Warming Videos - Top 10 RSS 2.0 Feed | Filed under article

Global Warming 1 – Slide Images
http://noolmusic.com/slide_images/global_warming_1.php

Battle for climate wages on in California

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As Schwarzenegger sidelines offshore drilling he is left fighting for climate laws to break California’s oil dependency

Many environmentalists are celebrating California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent decision to end his support for offshore oil drilling. After seeing the damage unleashed by the gulf oil spill, he looked at the risk posed by plans in his own state and, well, terminated them.

“You turn on the television and see this enormous disaster, you say to yourself, ‘Why would we want to take on that kind of risk?’” he said.

Since the plan was only likely to get off the ground because of his support, Schwarzenegger’s volte-face will likely mean the end to offshore drilling there in the near future. But the Republican governor’s attempts to establish a green legacy in the US’s largest economy are now coming under attack on another front.

Opponents to his landmark 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as AB32, have announced they collected enough signatures to put an initiative on the ballot this November to delay implementation of the law until unemployment falls to 5.5% for a full year.

Under the law, California must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020, an aim which would be achieved through a range of measures, including making energy producers and other polluters reduce emissions or pay penalties.

Unemployment is currently above 12%, and so a successful referendum would delay the country’s most far-reaching climate change bill for quite some time, changing green economy politics in the US.

In the run-up to the vote, “California will be the national battleground for the future of climate change regulations in the United States,” Debbie Cook, former mayor of Huntington Beach, a conservative California town, told Guardian Sustainable Business. “The state will be flooded with not just dollars, but thousands of climate activists from around the nation.”

The debate is centring on the effects of AB32 on the state’s economy. Badly affected by the recession, California is in fiscal and political crisis, and John Kabateck, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business, California, said going ahead with AB32 now would be a “death knell for many small businesses”.

Mr Schwarzenegger cast the opposition as the action of self-interested big business: “The effort to suspend AB 32 is the work of greedy oil companies who want to keep polluting our state and making profits,” he said in a statement.

Pro-AB32 groups argue the bill has attracted, and will continue to attract, thousands of green-energy jobs to the economy.

In the very short-term, it’s likely the bill will cost the state money. This is the case with most climate change legislation – if the desired green option was currently the cheapest, no law would be required.

Providing incentive for the economy to rely less on fossil fuels is an investment in the future, whose cost in the present is justified, supporters say. Rising fuel costs and anticipation of future national or international legislation – not to mention the threat of ecological catastrophe – make it worthwhile to get a head start on developing cleaner energy sources.
“Our days of cheap hydrocarbon fuel are ending whether we like it or not,” said Andy Ball, president of Webcor Builders, a commercial construction company in California. “It may be painful now, but every year we wait is going to create more pain downstream.”

Legislation of this type creates winners and losers. Traditional manufacturing sectors are hurt more, relatively, while green technology businesses and venture capitalists receive a boost.

Some critics say Schwarzenegger’s decision to ban offshore drilling has little global environmental impact, since the state’s sizable fossil fuel needs will still have to be met by drilling somewhere, so the effect of the move is to “foist that off on the unseen global oil market,” says David Hughes, geoscientist and fellow at the Post Carbon Institute.

“If you can make someone else assume the risks and still enjoy all the benefits why would you undertake to roll the dice and undertake those risks and responsibility yourself?”

Dani Thompson’s CapSEEDS project

Published by TourFactory | Filed under article

Author: DaniThompson10
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Added: May 11, 2010