Chronic infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii can make mice lose their innate, hard-wired fear of cats. This loss of their innate fear may persist after the parasite is no longer detectable in their brains, suggesting that initial infection may cause permanent changes in the mechanisms underlying their fear of predators. The results are published September 18 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Wendy Ingram and colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley.
The Toxoplasma parasite can be deadly, causing spontaneous abortion in pregnant women or killing immune-compromised patients, but it has even stranger effects in mice.
Infected mice lose their fear of cats, which is good for both cats and the parasite, because the cat gets an easy meal and the parasite gets into the cat's intestinal track, the only place it can sexually reproduce and continue its cycle of infection.
New research by graduate student Wendy Ingram at the University of California, Berkeley, reveals a scary twist to this scenario: the parasite's effect seem to be permanent. The fearless behavior in mice persists long after the mouse recovers from the flu-like symptoms of toxoplasmosis, and for months after the parasitic infection is cleared from the body, according to research published today (Sept. 18) in the journal PLOS ONE.
"Even when the parasite is cleared and it's no longer in the brains of the animals, some kind of permanent long-term behavior change has occurred, even though we don't know what the actual mechanism is," Ingram said. She speculated that the parasite could damage the smell center of the brain so that the odor of cat urine can't be detected. The parasite could also directly alter neurons involved in memory and learning, or it could trigger a damaging host response, as in many human autoimmune diseases.
Ingram became interested in the protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, after reading about its behavior-altering effects in mice and rats and possible implications for its common host, the domesticated cat, and even humans. One-third of people around the world have been infected with Toxoplasma and probably have dormant cysts in their brains. Kept in check by the body's immune system, these cysts sometimes revive in immune-compromised people, leading to death, and some preliminary studies suggest that chronic infection may be linked to schizophrenia or suicidal behavior.

Pregnant women are already warned to steer clear of kitty litter, since the parasite is passed through cat feces and can cause blindness or death in the fetus. One main source of spread is undercooked pork, Ingram said.
With the help of Michael Eisen and Ellen Robey, UC Berkeley professors of molecular and cell biology, Ingram set out three years ago to discover how Toxoplasma affects mice's hard-wired fear of cats. She tested mice by seeing whether they avoided bobcat urine, which is normal behavior, versus rabbit urine, to which mice don't react. While earlier studies showed that mice lose their fear of bobcat urine for a few weeks after infection, Ingram showed that the three most common strains of Toxoplasma gondii make mice less fearful of cats for at least four months.
Using a genetically altered strain of Toxoplasma that is not able to form cysts and thus is unable to cause chronic infections in the brain, she demonstrated that the effect persisted for four months even after the mice completely cleared the microbe from their bodies. She is now looking at how the mouse immune system attacks the parasite to see whether the host's response to the infection is the culprit.
"This would seem to refute – or at least make less likely – models in which the behavior effects are the result of direct physical action of parasites on specific parts of the brain," Eisen wrote in a blog post about the research.
"The idea that this parasite knows more about our brains than we do, and has the ability to exert desired change in complicated rodent behavior, is absolutely fascinating," Ingram said. "Toxoplasma has done a phenomenal job of figuring out mammalian brains in order to enhance its transmission through a complicated life cycle."

If the gene has a similar role in humans will be able to develop new screening tests

British scientists have identified a gene in mice, which increases the risk of ovarian cancer, as defective.

Rodents lacking gene are twice as likely to develop cancer, ovarian cancer, and to show signs of infertility. If the gene has a similar role in humans will be able to develop new screening tests, said scientists from the charity Cancer Research UK.

They focus on gene Helq, who was involved in the restoration of damaged DNA. It turned out that mice deprived of it, are two-fold higher risk of ovarian cancer.

"The results show that if there are problems with Helq in mice increases the likelihood of developing ovarian cancer and other tumors, said study leader Dr. Simon Boultan. This is exciting because it is possible the same effect was observed in women with a defective gene Helq. The next step is to check whether this is so."

Bats in Saudi Arabia are the source of a mysterious virus that sick nearly 100 people and half of them died, said, "New York Times". For the Middle respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) to speak a little more than 15 months after the infection started to kill people in the Middle East and traveled far Europeans. The virus causes severe pneumonia with respiratory failure. With the increase in not only the region but also in Europe, the World Health Organization warned that could lead to an epidemic. The first fear is for the upcoming Hajj, when millions of pilgrims gather in Mecca. Forbid a blast, but the disease has not abated with time.

Initially the virus was associated with the cause of TORS, which has spread to 30 countries and killed 800 people in 2003, but later it turned out that the two strains are genetically different.

In a study published on Wednesday, an international team of doctors attributed the spread of new species of small mammals. But cautioned that many questions remain.

The virus was detected in faecal sample of bat species Taphozous perforatus, who inhabit abandoned buildings and even tombs. But it is not clear how dangerous infection has come to humans because these animals usually do not bite people, and there is no way to contaminate food. According to veterinarian Dr. Jonathan Epstein, who helped in the study, it is possible that infection occurred through inhalation of dust from the droppings of "flying mice". Most likely when cleaning. Similarly hantaviruses is now transmitted by the mice of people.

But it is also possible coronavirus bat first passed in pets and they do it "moved" to the people. Days ago scientists announced they had found a similar virus antibodies in camels in Oman. And even appear hypothesis that they are the source of infection.

Bat with MERS was found in an abandoned house in the date palms in a small town in Saudi Arabia. Near this place had the first store ill man - a wealthy businessman, who died two weeks after entering the hospital. He was the owner and 4 camels. Provide separate houses for his three wives and planned to take a fourth wife, suggesting that he was in good health. But most were infected with weakened immune systems or have chronic problems such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease. The virus does not spread easily from person to person, but there are already cases of illness of a family or people were in close contact.

According to participate in the study, Dr. Ziad Memish needed more tests on animals, and not just bats and camels, but also sheep, goats and cows.

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston are getting closer to the moment will be using tissue engineering to create ear shells for patients who are born with malformed or have lost those parts of your body to incidents BBC .

In tissue engineering material is used by the patient and in the laboratory are "grown" organs to replace those missing in people for various reasons. Years ago, scientists were able to raise their ear about the size of a baby on the back of a mouse.

In yet another accomplishment that reported the journal Journal of the Royal Society Interface, talking about the following: scientists take living tissue from cows or sheep and then "grow" on a flexible matrix of titanium, reproduced on the basis of three-dimensional representation of a real human cochlea. Then again comes to the aid experimental mouse - rat immunosuppressed organ is implanted to reach the required size.

Dr. Thomas Cervantes, who heads the team, told the media that the first such human ear in real terms, it's a fact. After 12 weeks, the rat donor is willing to part with their ear and it should be provided to the patient for implantation.

Most adults have between 10 and 40 moles on their bodies, and the distinction between innocent dark speck of a cancer is not easy.
 
Dr. Mary Lupo, consultant dermatologist from New Orleans advises the skin of the whole body can be accessed once a month and it's not alone. This could help a close, preferably once and later as instructed to do consult a dermatologist, who can focus on certain features of the skin individually.

On moles should be monitored for some strictly defined factors: color, position, size and integrity.

If there is something offensive about unemployment of a mole on her should be given special attention. Pinkish spot from which or about which there is a scaly skin, not available sunburn and is usually located on the face, hands or shoulders is often the first suspect - actinic keratosis. They quickly pass. In over 20% of cases, however, these "precancerous" formations lead to squamous cell carcinoma. Patients and even dermatologists might confuse these signs of eczema, but it does not go alone with such speed.

Speck that looks fresh pink and shiny, located on the head, neck or ears can be basal cell carcinoma. This most common type of skin cancer rarely metastasizes, but its formation are especially dangerous. Statistically, if it is an ear or lip lies strongly increased risk of spread to the lymph nodes and from there - to the lungs.

Reddish, scaly and slightly elevated above the rest leather stain hiding potential of squamous cell carcinoma. You may have lesions - small wounds that have a high potential for metastasis and often can be fatal.
 
Spots that are asymmetric with uneven shapes and colors, irrespective of where the body, most often a sign of melanoma - the most fatal form of skin cancer. Its formations are usually close to the size of an eraser on a pencil. Their color can be overflowing or heterogeneous and include: dark blue or dark red, deep brown and

Researchers in Japan have produced 26 successful generations of cloned mice from a single individual. That's a total of 598 mice, all of whom are essentially genetic duplicates. The achievement was made possible by a new cloning technique that allowed researchers to overcome genetic degradation problems characteristic of generational re-cloning. The breakthrough shows that mammalian cloning lines can be extended and reproduced without limit.

Indeed, animal re-cloning (i.e. cloning a clone) works great, but up to a point. Eventually, over the course of several generations, a clonal line will ultimately fail, the result of accumulated lethal genetic and epigenetic abnormalities. But the Japanese researchers devised a crafty biohack that appears to remedy this problem.

The new technique, developed by Teruhiko Wakayama of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, was so successful that it resulted in well over two dozen generations of re-cloned mice. Moreover, the cloning efficiency did not decrease over the course of those generations, and the project was allowed to continue indefinitely (and in fact, the project is still going!). In all, nearly 600 viable offspring were produced from a single donor mouse. The experiment started seven years ago and it is considered the largest cloning project using a mammal to date.

Wakayama and his team achieved this by using the standard cloning technique, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and adding a histone deacetylase inhibitor (trichostatin), and other chemicals to the process.

In SCNT, the nucleus of a somatic cell is transferred to the cytoplasm of an egg that has had its nucleus removed (an enucleated egg). Once inside the egg, the somatic nucleus is reprogrammed to become a zygote nucleus, what is really a fertilized egg.

But as noted, this can’t be done indefinitely, as genetic problems start to creep in over successive generations. But adding the HDI to the mix seemed to do the trick. It's a class of compounds that interfere with the function of histone deacetylase, a class of enzymes that allow histones (proteins that package and order the DNA into nucleosomes) to wrap DNA more tightly. They can also be used to alter gene expression.

According to the researchers, the cloned mice had normal biological features, including regular lifespans and reproductive capabilities. That said, genetic analysis did show some minor abnormalities, including an oversized placenta. But none of these characteristics had a detrimental impact on the line’s clonal health. The researchers noted that “serially recloned mice have the same characteristics as standard clones.”

Their results show that repeated iterative re-cloning is possible. The researchers wrote that “with adequately efficient techniques, it may be possible to re-clone animals indefinitely.”

Once refined, the technique could result in the large-scale production of cloned animals for farming or conservation purposes. Moreover, animals can continue to be cloned long after the source individual has died.

TARGATT Embryos

Using our novel TARGATT system, a gene of interest can be specifically inserted at a well-characterized, transcriptionally-active locus in the mouse genome with guaranteed transgene expression. Tissue-specific and / or ubiquitous expression options are available.

Advantages of TARGATT technology:

1. Site-specific gene integration at a transcriptionally-active locus ensures high-level gene expression.
2. Integration happens at an intergenic region; no internal genes are disrupted.
3. The integrase system catalyzes a unidirectional integration event and results in a high efficiency in producing transgenic mice.
4. Gene integration at the same locus allows a precise comparison of the transgenics from one line to another.

TARGATT Kits

TARGATT Supporting Materials

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SNL (STO feeder cells)

Cell Culture Products

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Reprogramming

ESC/iPSC Characterization

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Mouse ES Cell Lines                                 Human iPS Cells

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Read more about Targatt gene modification here