Universe in your head

[Image source: MSNBC]

“Everyone creates their own reality.”

“Thoughts become things.”

“Observer collapses the wave-function merely by observing.”

These lines were made famous by the “new age-y” documentaries like What the bleep do we know?! and The secret. May be not all of you have heard of them. But these and many other works by leading scientists and spiritual leaders have lead to a paradigm shift amongst those who are open to such shifts. Research into understanding of mind-body interaction has gone way beyond neuroscience, which is the popular face of this kind of research. I’m sure most of you would have heard / seen the term “New age” in regards to classification of books, music, ideas etc. The term points more towards the rise of a “new age” of sorts in human thinking and doesn’t really mean that human beings are discovering something new. It is a mere rediscovery if one considers the ancient texts of numerous cultures as not mere mythology.

Many (re)discoveries in the cutting edge research in quantum physics, neuroscience, cognitive sciences and biomedicine are now hinting towards the existence of ‘consciousness’ and its significant importance in how we perceive the world, the “reality”. Cosmic Log on MSNBC.com describes itself as “Quantum fluctuations in space, science, exploration and other cosmic fields... served up regularly by MSNBC.com science editor Alan Boyle since 2002.” It showcases the book ‘Biocentrism’ by biomedical researcher Robert Lanza which is generating controversy by arguing that our consciousness plays a central role in creating the cosmos. As one of the reviewers of the book says, this may not be an entirely new idea but it is worth repeating. The physicists who should be declaring this out loud to the general populous aren’t doing so because it would mean a HUGE paradigm shift; may be the one that we’re not yet ready to handle. But if YOU think you are ready, give the book a read. We successfully made the shift from ‘geocentric’ model to ‘heliocentric’ model. May be now it is time to try a bigger leap, to the ‘biocentric’ model.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Biocentrism or eccentrism? (openparachute.wordpress.com)
• MIND Reviews: The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell (scientificamerican.com)
• Understanding Emotions and the Rational Brain (elle.com)

Meet the super cow

I'm not sure what my reaction about this video is. It is one more of those instances where humans have used their scientific know how to manipulate the nature to their advantage. Selective breeding is used to produce these hugely muscular cows and bulls, weighing sometimes up to 1 tonne (ton). There is no cruelty to the animals involved here but even so, I couldn't help but cringe a bit looking at these bovines.

End of animal research?

Before long, we will each have an alter ego to assess the medication we need. That's the vision of Natalia Alexandrov, winner of the New Scientist/NC3Rs "Beyond animal research" essay competition.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The dead end of animal research (guardian.co.uk)
• UK Animal Tests on the Rise (pharmexec.com)
• Sask. doctor training program to stop using live pigs (cbc.ca)

TED Tuesday: Our "queer" Universe

Biologist Richard Dawkins makes a case for "thinking the improbable" by looking at how the human frame of reference limits our understanding of the universe.

Sunday Spotlight: Genographic Project

(This image is a screen shot from the Genographic Project's website)

From an article in the New Scientist, I found out about National Geographic’s endeavour to chart the migratory history of humans. It’s called ‘The Genographic Project’ and it involves collecting DNA samples from a vast array of humans (especially indigenous and traditional people) and using sophisticated laboratory and computer analysis to establish the migratory history of as many human beings on this planet as possible. This unprecedented, mammoth, real-time research effort is lead by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Spencer Wells and his team involves renowned international scientists. As creditable and important this project in itself is, I was also very impressed with the website the project has created and maintained.

The ‘Atlas of human journey’ allows you to select an era (from 200,000 to 5000 BC, pre-historic period) and then gives the details of milestones of human migration and evolution in it. On the world map, various routes of human migration are shown which have been ascertained based on the Y-chromosome or mitochondrial DNA analysis. The ‘Globe of human history’ is a section spanning 5000 BC to 2000 AD, the era of recorded human history. A revolving Earth globe can be spun to a desired position and the historical milestones in that geographical region can be read about.

My most favourite and probably the most “information-studded” section of the website is the ‘Genetics overview’. It describes the ideology and methodology behind the DNA analysis and how it actually leads to finding out ones migratory history in a very easy-to-understand, graphics-aided manner. I will not go into too much detail of all the information it shares with the reader and those interested can visit the website if so inclined. But what I learned from this section was that while the Y-chromosome is passed down from father to son, the mitochondrial DNA is passed down from the mother to both son and daughter. Therefore, to track genetic lineage, Y-chromosome acts as the unique “tracking agent” in males whereas mitochondrial DNA serves the same purpose in females. Mutations are random changes in one’s DNA sequence that occur very rarely. But once it has occurred it is carried forward to following generations and therefore can act as “genetic markers” in backtracking the genetic lineage.

The field researchers involved in this project go out to various parts of the world and collect DNA samples from indigenous and traditional people as the main interest is in tracking their migration route out of Africa. However, the project welcomes and encourages general public to send in their DNA samples (which are just a couple of cheek-swabs inside your mouth) as the ultimate goal is to find out migration patterns and history of as many humans as possible. Males have a choice of getting a paternal (Y-chromosome) or a maternal (mitochondrial) DNA tracking done. Female’s DNA can only get them their maternal DNA tracking. But a male member from father’s side of family can send in their sample and that can determine the female’s paternal DNA lineage. For little over a 100 USD, you can find out where all did your ancestors wander before coming to your town where you were born! A REALLY good deal, I’d say. If you’re not convinced, have a look at the website and I’m sure you’ll be a convert. I’m going to get mine done and find out where I really come from. So when are you doing yours?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Evolution Is Irreversible (usnews.com)
• DNA fingerprinting turns 25 (thestar.com)
• Television Review 'The Human Family Tree': The Many Genes of Queens, and How They Ended Up There (nytimes.com)

TED Tuesday: Homo Evolutis

..... the species that takes control of the evolution of his/her own species ..... and the others'.

This 17.5 minute talk by Juan Enriquez is another of the fascinating ones from the TED talks. The idea of how our species could evolve in near future is mind-boggling. The ability of our descendents to see, hear and talk would cover a much wider range of light and sound spectrum. They would have all the sensory capabilities of all the other creatures on this planet that fascinate us today. And may be, there would be no other species left on this planet either .....

Telepathic DNA

Another of my short and spontaneous posts..... but this story is so interesting, it HAD TO go on my blog right now. This is not a very latest piece of research but somehow it has come to my attention only now.

In an article published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B, "Scientists are reporting evidence that intact, double-stranded DNA has the “amazing” ability to recognize similarities in other DNA strands from a distance. And then like friends with similar interests, the bits of genetic material hangout or congregate together. The recognition — of similar sequences in DNA’s chemical subunits — occurs in a way once regarded as impossible, the researchers suggest." The observation is, however, experimental evidence of a theoretical hypothesis put forth by the same group of scientists. They also suggest a possible mechanism for the process in their article.

For those interested, the details of the article are as follows,
Title: DNA Double Helices Recognize Mutual Sequence Homology in a Protein Free Environment

Authors: Geoff S. Baldwin, Nicholas J. Brooks, Rebecca E. Robson, Aaron Wynveen, Arach Goldar, Sergey Leikin, John M. Seddon, and Alexei A. Kornyshev

Journal: . Phys. Chem. B, 2008, 112 (4), pp 1060–1064

Extreme conditions, extreme response

[Image source: supplementary material for the paper published on Nature website.]

An article on Physorg.com that I thought was worth sharing reports the new findings in the field of cell multiplication that could provide another window to look at the origins of life. “All living cells on the planet go through the process of division in order to survive and thrive. Cell division, or binary fission, allows one cell to split down the middle to become two cells.

In the work published in Nature, Newcastle University scientists have found that under some conditions, including treatment with antibiotics, common bacteria switch to a whole new way of increasing in number that may have been used by the first cells to evolve on the planet.” The research carried out by Newcastle University team led by Professor Jeff Errington have seen the bacteria forced to live without their cell wall multiply by “squirting out babies”, as many as 5 at a time! Extreme conditions call for extreme response.

These results have also lead the researchers to believe that this mechanism should be considered as an alternative when investigating the origins of life on Earth. The conditions on this planet were quite extreme when the life made its first appearance.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Dividing cells 'feel' their way out of warp (scienceblog.com)
• Early Life Didn't Just Divide, It United (wired.com)
• Journal retracts claim of sperm made of stem cells (ctv.ca)

200 years on: Darwin AND Design?

‘Unlocking the mystery of life’ is a documentary produced and distributed by Illustra Media describes Intelligent Design (ID) as an extension of evolution, not a substitute. Yes, I know most of you will cringe at the mention of ID due to the tarnished reputation it has received lately. ID has been, unfortunately, used my religious establishments as a proof of existence of God and thus to increase their stronghold on public conscience. The idea of ID was made more famous by the public dispute between the board of a public school in US and the parents who went to court against ID being included in the syllabus of the school. For 200 years now we have accepted Darwinian Theory of natural selection and evolution as a norm. However, evolution talks about how natural selection could have modified existing primitive organisms to produce diverse and more complex species we see today. But it doesn’t explain how life would have originated on this planet.

‘Unlocking the mystery of life’ shows us that natural selection cannot explain complex structures of simple life forms like cell and bacteria or correct assembly of amino acids into functional proteins. It proves (with much success) why intelligent design is required to be considered when explaining the workings a bacterial flagellum or that of protein-assembly using the genetic code stored in the DNA of every living being. Instead of looking at ID as a proof of God’s existence (and hence, dismissing it), it should be looked at as the conclusion to which unbiased scientific observations lead. It should be looked at as (and IT IS) a pursuit of truth about the origin of life. As a couple of scientists mention at the end of this documentary, if the conclusion has religious or metaphysical implications, then so be it! You go where the data leads you.

I believe that after watching this documentary you will remember your high school biology class. When you were taught about the workings of the DNA, mRNA and production of proteins using the counter-sequence encoded in the DNA strand, you were amazed by the precision. And somewhere inside you knew that this had to be “engineered”, it had to be “designed”. You just didn’t know that it was called ‘Intelligent design’.

The evolution doesn’t need to be discarded. But it needs to be used only to explain what it is meant to explain.