science day 2011

12/29/2011 Science Day Govinda Bhisetti 1

Science Day 2011December 29, 2011

9:30 AM Arrival10:00 – 10:15 AM Introduction10:15 -- 11:45 AM 2011 Nobel Prizes12:00 – 12:30 PM Top 10 News in 201112:30 – 1:30 PM Lunch 2:00 – 3:00 PM Breakthroughs in Science 2011 3:00 – 4:00 PM Tribute to Prof. Har Gobind Khorana 4:00 -- 5:00 PM Disaster of the Year: Japan Earthquake

Govinda Bhisetti, Ph. D.Lexington, MA [email protected]


The Nobel Prizeamount for 2011 is setat Swedish kronor(SEK) 10 million ($1.46million) per full NobelPrize.

Nobel Prize


Nobel Festivities

http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1752


Prof. Har Gobind KhoranaThe day is dedicated to Prof. Khorana, 1968 Nobel Prize winner in Medicinewho passed away on November 9, 2011

Hediscovered how amino acids coded by DNA combine to create proteins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-BidjlCnHs (min 4 to 14)

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1968/khorana-bio.html


2011 Nobel Prize winners


Prize Announcement Schedule• Monday, October 3, 2011 PHYSIOLOGY or MEDICINE

Ralph M. Steinman, and Bruce A. Beutler & Jules A. Hoffmann"for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity" � and "for their discoveriesconcerning the activation of innate immunity"

• Tuesday, October 4, 2011 PHYSICSSaul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess"for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distantsupernovae"

• Wednesday, October 5, 2011 CHEMISTRY�Dan Shechtman ”for discovery of quasicrystals”

• Thursday, October 6, 2011 LITERATUREThomas Transtromer �(Peru)"because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality"

• Friday, October 7, 2010 PEACEPresident Ellen Johnson, Leymah Gboww and Tawakkol Kafman� (Liberia and Yemen)"for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation inpeace-building work"

• Monday, October 10, 2010 ECONOMICSThomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims "for their empirical research on cause and effect in themacroeconomy"

Prizes were awarded on December 10, 2011


Peace Nobel Prize

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman

"for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and forwomen’s rights to full participation in peace-building work".


PHYSIOLOGY or MEDICINERalph M. Steinman and Bruce A. Beutler &Jules A. Hoffmann

"for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity” and “fortheir discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity"

Bruce A. BeutlerScripps Research Institute La Jolla, CA

Jules A. HoffmannUniversité Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg

Ralph M. SteinmanRockefeller University, NY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr5og53z_dc


Innate and Adaptive Immunity• Innate or non-specific

- mobilized immediately upon infection- not antigen specific

• Adaptive or specific- requires some time to react an invading organism- antigen specific- exhibits an immunological memory

Both aspects of the immune system have cellular andhumoral components

Khan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp7T4IItbtM

Human blood contains most cellular andnoncellular factors that participate inhost immunity to bacterial pathogens


Pathogen Recognition Systems andInnate Immunity

The innate immune system is an evolutionarilyconserved mechanism that provides an early andeffective response against invading microbial pathogens.

It relies on a limited set of pattern recognition receptors(PRRs) that recognize specific pathogen-associatedmolecular patterns (PAMPs) commonly present inmicrobes but not in mammals. Upon detection ofPAMPs, some PRRs trigger an inflammatory responseleading to the efficient destruction of the invadingpathogens.

Four main families of PRRs have been shown to initiateproinflammatory signaling pathways: the Toll-likereceptors (TLRs), the NOD-like receptors (NLRs), theRIG-I-like receptors (RLRs), and the C-type lectinreceptors (CLRs). As our understanding of innateimmunity expands, more PRRs are being identified ,such as cytosolic dsDNA sensors (CDSs) and NLRsinvolved in the formation of inflammasomes.

Trends in Immunology, 27, 352-357 (2006)


Dendrtic Cells in Immunity

Dendritic cells have two key functions in the initial, innate immune response. 1) theyproduce cytokines that help to kill viruses and bacteria. 2) they ensure that pathogens andother foreign substances are highly visible to specialized helper T cells, called Th1 and Th2cells, which coordinate the longer-term adaptive immune response. Th1 and Th2responses last for an extended time. Dendritic cells recognize different types of offendingsubstances and guide the immune system to make the most appropriate response.

The immune system’sresponse involves a cascadeof events orchestrated byspecialized immune cells


Dendritic cell and adaptive immunity

his T cell (blue), one of the immune system’s principle means of defense,identifies the molecular signature of a dendritic cell (green) at a junction betweenthe two called the immunological synapse. If the immunological synapse signalsthe presence of a foe, the T cell will attack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAm3Z5Iy85w


CHEMISTRY Daniel Schechtman

"for the discovery of quasicrystals"

Dan Schechtman, 70Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israelhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZRTzOMHQ4shttp://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1731

Dan’s discovery ofquasicrystals hascreated a new cross-disciplinary branch ofscience, drawing from,and enriching, chemistry,physics andmathematics. This is initself of the greatestimportance. It has alsogiven us a reminder ofhow little we really knowand perhaps even taughtus some humility. That isa truly great achievement


Quasicrystals

Many scientists — notably Linus Pauling, the Nobel-winning giant of chemistry —argued vehemently that Dr. Shechtman’s data could be explained by “twinning,”where two ordinary periodic crystals are fused together at an angle.

http://www.periodicvideos.com/videos/feature_nobel_prize_2010.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLgW3fRMOhk&feature=related

5 or 10-fold symmetry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiT00AUwQl8


PHYSICSAdam Riess, Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt

"for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe throughobservations of distant supernovae”

Brian P. Schmidt, 44,Australian NationalUniversity in Canberra

Saul Perlmutter, 52,Lawrence BerkeleyNational Laboratory

Adam G. Riess, 41,Johns HopkinsUniversity Baltimore


Expanding Universe

• An exploding star knownas Type 1a supernova isvery bright

• The Nobel prize winnersused them to measure theexpansion of the universe

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6o2bUPdxV0

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMwr0VYuExE


“The goal of an AIDS-free generation isambitious, but it is possible,” - HillaryClinton

Antiretroviral treatments for HIV keep the virusfrom spreading and raised hopes of endingHIV/AIDS epidemics in whole populations.

The year's runners-up include what makesasteroids red, ancient DNA in modern humans,the structure of photosystem II, pristine gas in theearly universe, the microbiome, a new malariavaccine, alien solar systems, zeolites, andsenescent cells.

http://podcasts.aaas.org/science_podcast/SciencePodcast_111223.mp3http://podcasts.aaas.org/science_podcast/SciencePodcast_111223.mp3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi5URSLUzDM

Scanning electron micrograph of HIV viruses, each ~120nanometers in diameter, on an infected cell surface

Breakthrough of the Year 2011

23 December 2011


2011 Science Breakthroughs1. HIV Treatment as Prevention.

2. Asteroid Dust Solves Color Conundrum..

3. Archaic Humans’ DNA Lives On.

4. Plant Life’s Boxy Heart.

5. Glimpses of a Simpler Time.

6. Microbes R Us.

7. RTS,S -- A Vaccine With Many Maybes.

8. Extrasolar? Extra Strange.

9. Industrial Molecules Tailor-Made

10. Removing Old Cells to Stay Young?


10. Removing Old Cells to Stay YoungWashed-up cells in our tissues promote aging, culling themcould keep us healthier longer

• Senescent cells leak growth-stimulatingand tissue-dissolving chemicals thatencourage tumors to grow and spread,and might also promote aging bydamaging the surrounding tissue or bystoking the protracted inflammationcharacteristic of old age.

• Injections of a drug triggered theanimals to kill off cells that manufacturethe protein p16INK4a, which flags manysenescent cells

• Raises the possibility that targetingsenescent cells or countering theireffects could burnish our golden years.


9. Industrial Molecules, Tailor-MadeNew ways to tailor the size of their pores and create thinner, cheaperzeolites

• Zeolites, family of porous crystaline minerals was first discovered in 1756. Overthe past 250 years, 40 natural zeolites have been discovered, and chemistshave chipped in roughly 150 more synthetic versions.

• South Korean scientists crafted a family of zeolites with network of small poressurrounded by walls holed with larger voids. Labs in Spain and China producedlarge- and small-pore zeolites by using a combination of inorganic and organicmaterials to guide the structures as they formed. Researchers in France andGermany discovered that, by carefully controlling growth conditions, they couldform a large-pore zeolite.


8. Extrasolar? Extra StrangeDistant planetary systems are pretty weird

• NASA’s Kepler observatory—which hasbeen tracking 156,000 nearby starsfound six large planets, three of themgas giants like Jupiter, orbiting a starnamed Kepler 11 some 2000 light-years from Earth.

• Five of the six are bunched up veryclose to the star, closer in than Mercuryis from the sun. The sixth planet liesonly a bit farther out, as far as Venus isfrom the sun.

• HAT-P-6b, a gas giant orbiting in adirection opposite to the spin of theparent star.

• An exoplanet orbiting a binary starsystem.

• 10 planets floating freely in space withno host stars nearby, suggesting thatthey may have been kicked out of theplanetary systems in which theyformed.

With more than 700 extrasolar planets onrecord, researchers are grappling not only withplanets unlike anything circling our sun but alsowith entire planetary systems whose weirdnessis forcing scientists to rethink how planets formand settle into orbits.


7. RTS,S - A Vaccine With Many MaybesClinical trials of a malaria vaccine keep hopes alive.

• Clinical trial of a malariavaccine at 11 sites in sevenAfrican countries enrolledmore than 15,000 children.

• RTS,S vaccine produced byGlaxoSmithKline incollaboration with the PATHMalaria Vaccine Initiative hasreceived more than $200million in development supportfrom the Bill and MelindaGates Foundation.

• Early results of the ongoingtrial reassured malariaresearchers that discovering amalaria vaccine remainspossible.


6. Microbes R UsInternal microbial communities fell roughly into three enterotypes:Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Ruminococcus

• The Microbiome: The microbes and viruses that call the humanbody home has led to the concept of the microbiome. Since 90percent of the cells in our bodies are actually microbial, scientists arebeginning to understand how significantly microbial genes can affecthow much energy we absorb from our foods and how our immunesystems respond to infections.

• Everyone has a dominant bacterium leading the gangin their digestive tract: Bacteroides, Prevotella orRuminococcus.

• Bacteroides thrives on a high-protein diet whilePrevotella prefers vegetarian fare.

• These findings and more helped to clarify the interplaybetween diet and microbes in nutrition and disease.

• http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/normalflora.html


5. Glimpses of a Simpler TimeClouds of gas — trapped in filaments between galaxies — may be long-lasting leftovers from the Big Bang.

• Astronomers using the Keck telescopein Hawaii to probe the faraway universewound up discovering two clouds ofhydrogen gas that seem to havemaintained their original chemistry fortwo billion years after the big bang.

• Other researchers identified a star thatis almost completely devoid of metals,just as the universe's earliest starsmust have been, but that formed muchlater.

• The discoveries show that pockets ofmatter persisted unscathed amid eonsof cosmic violence.


4. Plant Life’s Boxy HeartHigh Resolution Crystal Structure of Plant’s Photo System II

• Plant’s essential protein called photo system II(PSII) uses solar energy to split water intohydrogen and oxygen atoms, then pairsoxygens into the O2 molecules we breathe. It isone of nature’s most fascinating and importantreactions.

• PSII is a transmembrane protein complex with20 protein subunits, several electron-transferquinone factors, and a photoantenna system ofchlorophyll and carotenoid pigments.

• The high-resolution structure of PSII revealsthe geometric arrangement of the Mn4CaO5cluster as well as its oxo bridges and ligands,and four bound water molecules. This providesa basis for unravelling the mechanism of watersplitting and O–O bond formation.

• The structure gives us a solid structuralunderstanding of energy migration, electrontransfer and water-splitting reactions takingplace within PSII.


3. Archaic Humans’ DNA Lives OnDNA from a Siberian finger bone showed mixing between Denisovansand Homo sapiens

• In the past 100,000 years, Homo sapiensarose in Africa, then swept out into Europeand Asia, “completely” replacingNeandertals and the other archaic peoplesthey met there.

• In December 2010, researchers publishedthe whole genome of a new kind of archaichuman from Denisova Cave in Siberia.

• It was found this year that members ofthree relatively isolated groups of Africanscarried unusual DNA variants apparentlyinherited from archaic people in Africa inthe past 35,000 years, long after modernhumans arose.


2. Asteroid Dust Solves Color ConundrumWhy the most common meteorites that fall to Earth didn’t seem to comefrom the most common asteroids in the asteroid belt?

• Hayabusa, a Japanese spacecraft, adaring mission returned to Earth withdust from the surface of a largeasteroids Itokawa after some near-disastrous technical difficulties and astunningly successful recovery.

• Analysis of these dust samplesconfirmed that the most commonmeteorites found on Earth, known asordinary chondrules, are born fromthese much larger, S-type asteroids.

• The earlier mistakes of identity werecaused by discoloring of asteroids bysolar wind.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyQDwAUfRQ&feature=related

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsQp9Zey27Y Touchdown on Itokawa, as portrayed in the Japanese movie

Hayabusa: Back to the Earth


1. HIV Treatment as PreventionAntiretroviral drugs reduce HIV transmission rates by 96%

http://podcasts.aaas.org/science_podcast/SciencePodcast_111223.mp3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi5URSLUzDMScience Hall of Famehttp://video.sciencemag.org/SciOriginals/744533805001/1

The antiretroviral drugsused to treat HIV-infectedpeople also dramaticallyreduce HIV transmissionrates, a finding that mayinfluence the strategiesused by health advocatesand policymakers tobattle the disease.


HIV Clinical Trials HPTN 052 designN Engl J Med 2011;365:493-505.


HIV Clinical Trials HPTN 052 design (contd.)

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