Keeping Medical Data Private

People have always been concerned about the quite common, practice of storing thier medical information on computers into "private databases". "The problem is, stuff that's considered anonymous really isn't," says Michael Swiernik, director of medical informatics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Patients are wary of whether or not they are truly protected and with the development of a new algorithm, we may be on the way to better ensuring that medical data can be securely stored on computers. Researchers at Vanderbilt University have created an algorithm designed to protect the privacy of patients while maintaining researchers' ability to analyze vast amounts of genetic and clinical data to find links between diseases and specific genes or to understand why patients can respond so differently to treatments. The increasing availability of electronic medical records makes it easier to group patient files into huge databases where they can be accessed by researchers trying to find associations between genes and medical conditions--an important step on the road to personalized medicine. Though the patient records in the databases are "anonymous", they still have a numerical code called the the ICD, which can easily be tracked by a hacker. Bradley Malin and his colleagues found that they could identify more than 96 percent of a group of patients based solely on their particular sets of diagnosis codes.Researchers want to combine their clinical-code-protecting algorithm with other security mechanisms already in place, like protections for demographic information, to keep patient data as safe as possible. They also want to reach out to use more data outside of Vanderbilt, according to Grigorios Loukides, the study's lead author. "Generating data is expensive, and it's both good science and good etiquette to reuse data. The challenge is to do it while protecting people." says study author Malin.

Gold Nanosensors

Gold Nanosensors can now be implanted into the body to continuously monitor for blood clots. Gold Nanosensors are injected directly into the patient, allowing the doctor to measure protein concentrations by shining a laser light through the skin. This new technology will allow scientists to directly examine proteins and how they interact within a cell. Some of these proteins include ones that are involved in viral infections. 120 nanometers in diameter, the sensor consists of a silica core, encapsulated in a thin layer of gold. On top of the gold shell, are aptamers, or short strands of nucleic acids to bind to a specific molecule. When shining a laser on the aptamer, the molecule absorbs the light and will emit a characteristic spectrum allowing the doctor to view many different things. This new technology is not only cheap but it would provide easy monitoring for high-risk individuals and prevent clot-related deaths. Currently, research is being done at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Colin Campbell, a chemist at the University of Edinburgh leads the research. Researchers in Scotland have shown that the novel particles can accurately detect thrombin in blood samples, a biomarker for blood clots. For the time being there are not very many known aptamers that effectively target specific proteins. This is an area of medicine that would have to be further explored for the technology to gain more widespread application.

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25031/page2/

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-04/gold-nanosensors-continuously-monitor-blood-clots

Robotic Planes Chase After Climate Data

NASA has newly begun to fly an unmanned aircraft, controlled completely by a robot and outfitted with scientific instruments that observe Earth's atmosphere with extensive detail. These newly fitted robo planes will help scientists and researchers on Earth to collect and analyze an even greater amount of data to help predict our climate and weather, more accurately. The three aircraft, have been named the Global Hawks, and can fly for up to 30 hours and travel for huge distances and at high altitudes; they can also gather more precise data than satellites and can be stationed to monitor an area for extended periods of time. They are able to obtain certian tymes of atmospheric and earth science data critical to helping us better understand nature's weather patterns. According to Robbie Hood, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration committee, "they could fly over a hurricane to monitor its intensity changes or fly over the arctic to monitor sea ice changes in higher detail". The planes will be equipped with 11 different instruments to take measurements and map aerosols and gases in the atmosphere, profile clouds, and gather meteorological data such as temperatures, winds, and pressures. The instruments onboard for the first mission include: a LIDAR instrument that uses a laser pulse to measure the shape, size, and density of clouds and aerosols; a spectrograph that measures and maps pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and aerosols; an ultraviolet photometer for ozone measurements; a gas chromatograph to calculate greenhouse gases; a handful of other instruments that can accurately measure atmospheric water vapor and ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons ; and high-definition cameras to image the ocean colors and learn about their biological processes. NASA acquired the aircraft from the U.S. Air Force in 2007. They were originally developed for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Now researchers are modifying them for their first extensive earth science missions. The researchers will also be able to sample parts of the atmosphere that they have not been able to reach or monitor for long durations--the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. That part of the atmosphere is "a crucial region that responds to and contributes to climate change at the surface, and we have come to realize that it is highly undersampled," says David Fahey, co-project scientist and a research physicist at NOAA's Earth Science Research Lab in Boulder, CO.
The planes are really robotic satellite-aircraft hybrids thatwill hopefuully revolutionize the way we do science. One of the eventual targets will be to study hurricanes in the Caribbean, and will include a new suite of instruments for the planes. These may be a critical component in helping us to better predict and prepare for future weather disasters.

Fingertip Bacteria Helps In Forensics

Sometimes on a crime scene, a fingerprint can be only partial or can't identify a person. Scientists have discovered a new way to identify a person from the DNA of the bacteria on a person's fingertip.

In an experiment to test the effectiveness of bacteria analysis, scientists took swabs from three computer keyboards and compared bacterial gene sequences with those from the fingertips of the keyboard owners. There findings concluded that even with a small surface such as a computer key to test from, the correct person could be found.

Could this new and innovative way of identification be as trusted as blood or an actual fingerprint? Time and further research will tell.

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24793/?a=f

http://www.governmentsecurity.org/latest-security-news/identifying-people-by-their-bacteria.html

IKAROS: The First Step to Interplanetary Travel

Fuel is not only a problem for travel on Earth. In order to successfully propel a rocket into space, enormous amounts of fuel are needed. In fact, 95% of a rocket's weight at launch is from fuel. The Solar Sail concept, which has been discussed as early 400 years ago, seems to be the clear solution to such an issue now that the technology has finally been developed.

In layman's terms, solar-powered spacecrafts use the energy of the sun in order to propel through space. This eliminates the need of an engine. These spacecrafts only require three things: a continuous force exerted by the sun, an enormous, ultra thin mirror, and a separate launch vehicle. The electromagnetic radiation contained within light exerts a force on the sails. The photons given off by the sun reflect off of the giant mirror. In the vacuum of space, even a small collision will cause something to move. The bigger the mirror, the more collisions and the faster the spacecraft moves. This method causes the spacecraft to move about 5x faster than a traditional one, all while using significantly less energy.

The next step in solar sail travel is contained in the IKAROS project. The IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun), will use a Solar "Power" Sail. The difference between this and a solar sail is that the "power" sail collects electricity in the solar cells of its membrane. But, like the solar sail, it still gets accelerated by the radiation of the sun. The advantage of the "power" sail is that it creates (to a certain extent) a "hybrid" engine. Space missions with such sails will be much more flexible as the engine can rely on both photon acceleration and ion-propulsion engines driven by solar cells. Hopefully, scientists believe, the continuation of research on solar "power" sails will yield much longer space travel missions that would ultimately result in interplanetary travel.

The IKAROS will launch later in 2010 in order to test the effectiveness of the sails. The shape of the membrane is square, with a diagonal distance of 20m. It is made of polyimide a mere 0.0075mm thick. In addition to the thin film solar cells, the steering devices and dust-counter sensors are fitted to the membrane. The sail will rotate at 20rpm for several weeks in space in order to generate solar power with a minimum success level. Within a year, sail navigation and acceleration will occur at full success level.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/solar-sail1.htm
http://www.jspec.jaxa.jp/e/activity/ikaros.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

New Possibilities with Optogenetics

Recently, researchers and scientist have been working with genetic light switches that have the capability of switching neurons on and off. It was only five years ago that scientists at Stanford University discovered that through the injection of a photo-sensitive gene from algae, neurons could be controlled through a simple light switch. The relatively young field of optogenetics continues to blossom as scientists observe the roles of specific neurons in the brain. They can examine brain function, depression, Parkinson’s disease, memory, addictions, and spinal cord injuries.

Karl Deisseroth has created new tools and techniques to advance the study of diseases through optogenetics. The molecular technique used is able to control whole circuits of neurons instead of only a single cell. This technique will allow scientist to study specific neural networks in the brain. Another improvement in this field is the use of a near-infrared technique which will allow noninvasive procedures to occur while still reaching the brain cells in the deep tissue. Currently, a fiber-optic cable is implanted into an animal’s brain to deliver the light activation to the cells. Lastly, the “off switch” has been improved to make “target neuron more sensitive to light [which] allows for tighter neural control”.
The new off switch is twenty times more responsive than yellow light used in previous generations. Also, the future looks prosperous since red and near-infrared light in known to be able to penetrate deeper into tissue. In one study, Jerry Silver used optogenetics to explore bladder control after spinal cord injuries. He turned off the nerves located in the lower spine that relax the bladder. However, he has noted how, in the past, the use of so much light creates too much heat. The new tools, he believes, seem to need less light which would produce less heat while being able to invade farther into the tissue. He is extremely hopeful of the future.
Another application of optogenetics is being led by Richard H. Kramer who believes that restoration of sight can be achieved through the use of labels. Kramers technique is different because he uses photosensitive compounds which will attach to cells through chemical means rather than using genetic engineering. He and his colleagues focus on potassium channels and manipulate the activation or inhibition of neurons through these channels. Next, “to attach the label, the researchers simply bathe cells in a solution containing the molecule.” A molecule called azobenzene, a photoisomer, changes its physical but not chemical composition when exposed to light. The label will actually allow the neuron to be illuminated continuously. This connects with Kramer’s goal to restore sight because he says, “The long-term hope is that something like the compounds we've developed might be able to restore sight using cells that aren't normally light sensitive." Therefore, although cones or retina’s rods may have been damaged, other nerve cells can be made to pick up photons which normally do not. However, this is still in the early stages and the side effects of such actions have yet to be observed in animals. Regardless, the new field and technology of optogenetics seems promising and capable of benefiting a broad range of problems from depression and Parkinson’s disease to the loss of sight.

Sites Used:

http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/a-light-switch-on-cells

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24870/page2/

NASA’s Mars Rover

The software update on the Mars Rovers, called Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science(AEGIS), allows the rovers to make their own choices. This means that instead of transmitting the post-drive navigation camera images to earth first and then waiting for ground operators to check for points of interest and being able to examine them another day, the rovers can detect their own targets and examine them themselves, while sending pictures down to earth for scientists to examine. The new system gives the rovers the ability to examine images, and identify them based on shape, or color. In addition, these rovers can now figure out how to get around objects and to calculate the distance between its’ arm and a rock, so it can pick it up. Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science(AEGIS) lets scientists highlight types of places that could be of interest to the rovers’, for example dark places. This new software update will better help scientists hoping to know more about the planet Mars.

http://www.roboticstrends.com/service_robotics/article/nasas_opportunity_adds_autonomy

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/images/pia12980.html

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/spotlight/20100222a.html

http://www.tgdaily.com/space-features/49057-nasa-upgrades-mars-rover-with-advanced-autonomous-capabilities

http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/NASA_Mars_Rover_Getting_Smarter_As_It_Gets_Older_999.html