Monthly Archives: May 2012

Epigenetics & DNA

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The Science Of Epigenetics – How Our Minds Can Reprogram Our Genes

By Konstantin Eriksen

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

How much control do we have over our own lives? Are we really controlled by our genes, trapped in our own selfishness, like some modern authors want us to believe? Just how much power do we have to shape our lives and those of others?

Contrary to what many people are being led to believe, a lot of the emphasis placed on genes determining human behaviour is nothing but theory and doctrine. The “selfish gene” model is an assumption, it is not a scientific fact.

What Is The Central Dogma?

The central dogma is the doctrine that information in our cells flows only in one direction – from DNA to RNA to proteins. Simply put, it is a dogmatic belief in absolute determinism.

Let’s take a quick look at its history. Back in 1990, a huge, international research program began – the human genome project. Its stated goals were to map out all human genes and their interactions using computer software and then to convert that knowledge into (profitable) “benefits” for mankind, such as finding cures for the most horrible diseases.

They sure made it sound good and they spent a lot of taxpayers’ money on it, but was the whole project used for good? Personally, I don’t think so.

In essence, what the central dogma says is that since it is proteins that carry out the essential life-processes inside our cells, and their functions can only do what our genes say (this is what the medical establishment and certain fanatical branches of evolution theory want us to believe), then we humans are nothing more than the calculated, deterministic expression of our genes. We’re little robots whose biology, emotions, health and beliefs are not of our choosing. We’re humatons!

This is the theory that is being taught in medical schools and universities all over the world today. Fortunately for all conscious people, this disempowering belief has been proven to be false.

Is Evolution Deterministic?

Fifty years before the publication of Darwin’s The Origin Of Species, frenchman Jean Baptiste Lamarque postulated that living beings must have an innate perception of their environment in order to evolve, and that they evolve in response to changes in their surroundings. His idea was that genetic mutations are definitely notrandom. There is an inherent intelligence at play in life that we can’t even begin to understand.

The response of the “scientific community” at the time was not favourable. They ridiculed Lamarque’s theory and eliminated him from the history books, giving Darwin the sole credit for discovering evolution, even though, in reality, Darwin published his book fifty years after Lamarque and his book based a lot of its theory on the work of yet another man, Alfred Russel Wallace, many of whose ideas Darwin copied.

According to Lamarque, there is an interplay of forces between living beings and their environments. According to the Darwinian model, evolution is strictly deterministic and is based on random mutations.

So, who got closer to the truth? Luckily for us, Lamarque was right about at least one thing: cells have consciousness.

The Emerging Science Of Epigenetics.

Plenty of highly intelligent biologists have proven beyond a doubt that the determinism of the central dogma is false. Genes do not determine human outcomes – it is our responses to our environment that actually determine the expression of our genes.

This was proven definitively in 1988 by British molecular biologist John Cairns. Cairns took bacteria whose genes did not allow them to produce lactase, the enzyme needed to digest milk sugar, and placed them in petri dishes where the only food present was lactase. Much to his astonishment, within a few days, all of the petri dishes had been colonized by the bacteria and they were eating lactose. The bacterial DNA had changed in response to its environment.

This experiment has been replicated many times and they have not found a better explanation than this obvious fact – that even primitive organisms can evolve consciously.

So, information flows in both directions, from DNA to proteins and from proteins to DNA, contradicting the “central dogma.” Genes can be activated and de-activated by signals from the environment. The consciousness of the cell is inside the cell’s membrane. Each and every cell in our bodies has a type of consciousness. Genes change their expression depending on what is happening outside our cells and even outside our bodies.

What Does This Mean For Us?

We are free to make decisions that impact our lives and those of others. We are not robots carrying out the commands our genes. Our beliefs can change our biology. We have the power to heal ourselves, increase our feelings of self-worth and improve our emotional state. Every aspect of our lives can be improved with the right intention.

The worst thing we can do as thinking and feeling people is to get cut off from our deep, positive emotions and let fear and anger take over our lives. When we allow ourselves to be taken over by negativity, we are putting ourselves in a mental-biological state of fear akin to the fight or flight response.

In order to grow positively as human beings, we need to express positive emotions such as love, affection, joy and a will to conquer ourselves and our own lives. When we change our beliefs, we change our emotional states. When that happens, we change our lives.

First we have to believe. Only then do we give ourselves the opportunity to achieve.

About the Author

Konstantin Eriksen is a former stock-trader. After quiting his job, he studied biochemistry and got into natural health and the internal martial arts.

from:  http://wakeup-world.com/2012/03/26/the-science-of-epigenetics-how-our-minds-can-reprogram-our-genes/

Eta Aqauarid Meteor Shower In Progress

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METEORS FROM HALLEY’S COMET: Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, source of the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. The shower peaks this weekend; the best time to look is during the hours before sunrise on Sunday, May 6th. Because the shower’s radiant is located below the celestial equator, southern hemisphere observers are favored, but even northerners should be able to see a few flecks of Halley-dust disintegrating in the atmosphere. Super-bright moonlight will cap the meteor rate at about 30 per hour.

In recent nights, NASA’s all-sky meteor network has picked up a number of early eta Aquarid fireballs. This one was bright enough to shine through the glow of sunrise and clouds over Tullahoma, Tennessee, on April 29th:

According to analysts at NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, this particular speck of comet dust hit the atmosphere traveling 62 km/s (139,000 mph) and disintegrated about 84 km (52 mi) above Earth’s surface.

The full Moon of May 5-6, 2012, with interfere with the visibility of the eta Aquarid peak.

fr/spaceweather.com

Iran/Iraq Border Earthquake

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Shallow strong earthquake strikes the Iran-Iraq border region

Last update: May 3, 2012 at 11:16 am by By 

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.5Mw (USGS), 5.4Ml (IIEES)
UTC Time : 2012-05-03 14:39:35 UTC
Local time at epicenter : 2012-05-03 19:09:35
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10k (USGS), 14km (IIEES)
Geo-location(s) :  33km (20mi) SE from Abdanan, Iran, 43km (26mi) ENE from Dehloran, Iran

Earthquake overview : A Mw5.5 earthquake has struck the Iran-Iraq border.

Islamic Republic News Agency said on Wednesday night that there has been possible damage caused by this earthquake  received.

Keep this page open or return regularly as we will be back with more details when they become available

– IEEES is reporting a Ml5.4 and 14km depth. This will most likely be damaging to local villages.

IIEES earthquake epicenter showing the tectonic regime.

 

 

– Amazingly, only 15 damaging earthquakes from CATDAT have been registered since 1900 in this location within 100km radius, and of those this is the highest magnitude.

– Yellow earthquake via PAGER. Max Wyss’ WAPMERR QLARM has given 0-20 fatalities, 10-150 injured.

– This was given an earthquake-report danger rating of RED

for more information and updates, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2012/05/03/shallow-strong-earthquake-strikes-the-iran-iraq-border-region/

Acoustics at Stonehenge

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The Stones Speak: Stonehenge Had Lecture Hall Acoustics

Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer
Date: 02 May 2012
No one knows why ancient people built Stonehenge.
No one knows why ancient people built Stonehenge.
CREDIT: Pete Strasser | nasa.gov

The stone slabs of England’s Stonehenge may have been more than just a spectacular sight to the ancient people who built the structure; they likely created an acoustic environment unlike anything they normally experienced, new research hints.

“As they walk inside they would have perceived the sound environment around them had changed in some way,”said researcher Bruno Fazenda, a professor at the University of Salford in the United Kingdom. “They would have been stricken by it, they would say, ‘This is different.'”

These Neolithic people might have felt as modern people do upon entering a cathedral, Fazenda told LiveScience.

Fazenda and colleagues have been studying the roughly 5,000-year-old-structure’sacoustic properties. Their work at the Stonehenge site in Wiltshire, England, and at a concrete replica built as a memorial to soldiers in World War I in Maryhill, Wash., indicates Stonehenge had the sort of acoustics desirable in a lecture hall

Stonehenge itself is no longer complete, so Fazenda and colleagues used the replica in Maryhill as a stand-in for the original structure. At both locations, they generated sounds and recorded them from different positions to see how the structure influenced the behavior of the sound.

At the replica, they found a reverberation time of just less than one second, the amount of time optimal for a lecture hall. Unlike an echo, which is a single response created when sound waves reflect off something, reverberation occurs when a sound is sustained by a quick succession of reflections arriving at different times.

Modern cathedrals can have reverberation times of about 10 seconds or more, while concert halls are designed so reverberation in them will last between two and five seconds, Fazenda said.

About one second of reverberation is “just enough for us to start becoming aware of it,” he said.

Based on their work at Maryhill, the researchers believe the many stones within Stonehenge would have diffracted and diffused sound waves, creating reverberation. The large amount of diffusion and diffraction would have also lead to good sound quality regardless of where the listener was standing in relation the source of sound within the structure.

“What we found in Maryhill as a model for Stonehenge was you could almost stand behind a stone and keep talking with a good level of voice, and people would be able to hear you somewhere else,” he said.

For the Neolithic people who built this structure, this sort of acoustic environment was likely quite unusual. They appear to have lived in smaller, thatched-roof homes made of wood, which would not have reflected sound as effectively. And the region around Stonehenge has no significant geographical features, like high cliffs, which are associated with echoes, or large caves, which are associated with reverberation, Fazenda said.

While some have suggested that Stonehenge was designed to create certain acoustic effects, Fazenda said he sees no evidence for this.

Rather than search for an acoustic motivation behind the construction of this mysterious structure, this research is intended to help better understand how the ancient people might have used the structure, he said.

Fazenda collaborated with Rupert Till of the University of Huddersfield in the UK and with archaeologist Simon Wyatt on this project.

from:   http://www.livescience.com/20044-stonehenge-acoustics.html

Dead Dolphins Wash Up in Peru

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Peru investigates 877 dead dolphins

LIMA, April 22 (UPI) — Scientists say they are investigating the mysterious deaths of 877 dolphins washed ashore in Peru this year, many in advanced states of decomposition.

Peruvian Deputy Environmental Minister Gabriel Quijandria said an outbreak of Morbillivirus or Brucella bacteria could have been the cause. However, results of a histopathological analysis — which would determine whether contamination was the culprit — are expected in the coming days. Starvation, poisoning or interactions with fisheries have been ruled out as causes of death.

More than 80 percent of the dolphins washed ashore were in advanced states of decomposition, making it more difficult to determine the causes of death.

CNN reports the deaths are part of a worldwide trend. The International Fund for Animal Welfare said in February alone, 108 dead dolphins washed ashore in Cape Cod. Amateur video showed more than 30 dolphins washing ashore in Rio de Janeiro in March, which were later safely returned to the sea.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/04/22/Peru-investigates-877-dead-dolphins/UPI-20571335127242/#ixzz1tj44Mdqg

I Knew There Was A Reason I Love Tahini

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Sesame Seeds – Ten Amazing Health Benefits Of This Super-Seed

29th April 2012

By Sayer Ji – Wake Up World

Sesame (Sesamun indicum) is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world, prized as an oilseed for at least 5,000 years. While it is beginning to regain favor due to its exceptionally high calcium and magnesium content, few realize it is also one of the most potent medicinal foods still commonly consumed today.

In fact, its history as a medicine goes back 3600 years to Egyptian times where it was listed in the scrolls of the Ebers as a favored medicine.  Also, women in ancient Babylon were believed to use a mixture of honey and sesame seeds (havla) to prolong youth and beauty, and Roman soldiers ate the mixture for strength and energy.

In the past twenty years, a glut of scientific information has poured in demonstrating that sesame seed, and its components, have over three dozen documented therapeutic properties  Given these new revelations, it would seem that sesame would be just as at home in a medicine cabinet as it would be a kitchen cupboard.

Here are just 10 evidence-based medicinal properties of this food-medicine:

  1. Diabetes: A study published in 2011 in the Clinical Journal of Nutrition showed that sesame oil improved the effectiveness of the oral antidiabetic drug glibenclamide in type 2 diabetic patients. [1]  Another study published in 2006 in the Journal of Medicinal Foods showed that the substitution of sesame seed oil as the sole edible oil lowers blood pressure and glucose in hypertensive diabetics. [2]
  1. High Blood Pressure: A study published in 2006 in the Yale Journal of Biological Medicine showed that sesame seed oil has a beneficial effect in hypertensive patients on either diuretics or beta-blockers. Substitution of all dietary oils with sesame oil brought down systolic and dystolic  blood pressure to normal, in addition to decreasing lipid peroxidation (bodily rancidity) and antioxidant status. [3] One of the compounds identified behind sesame seed’s antihypertensive effects are peptides that act as angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitors.[4]
  1. Gingivitis / Dental Plaque: Sesame seed oil has been used for oral health for thousands of years in the traditional Indian medical tradition known as Ayurveda in a process known as “oil pulling.” It involves swishing sesame seed oil in the mouth for prolonged durations and has been said to prevent teeth decay, halitosis, bleeding gums, dry throat, and for strengthening the teeth, gums and jaw. Clinical research now confirms that it compares favorably to chemical mouthwash (chlorhexidine) in improving plaque-induced gingivitis, [5] and that it is capable of reducing Streptococcus mutans growth associated with oral plaque formation. [6]
  1. Infant Health/Massage Oil: A study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research in 2000 showed that massaging infants with sesame oil improved both their growth and post-massage sleep, in comparison to control oils such as mineral oil.[7]
  1. Multiple Sclerosis (MS): In the animal model of MS, also known as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, sesame seed oil protects mice from developing the disease by reducing IFN-gamma secretion, a key factor in initiating autoimmune inflammation and injury in the nervous system.[8] It has also been research for its potential beneficial role in another neurodegenerative condition, Huntington’s disease. [9]
  1. Antibiotic-Induced Kidney Damage: Sesame seed oil protects against gentamicin-induced kidney damage in rats by reducing oxidative damage caused by the antibiotic. [10]
  1. Atherosclerosis: Sesame seed oil prevents the formation of atherosclerotic lesions in mice fed an atherogenic diet. [11]  The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory lignan found within sesame seeds known as sesamol has been identified to be partially responsible for its anti-atherogenic properties. In fact, sesamol has been shown to possess over two dozen beneficial pharmacologically active properties, many of which may contribute to improving cardiovascular health.
  1. Depression: The sesame lignin sesamol was shown to exert an antidepressant-like effect in behavioral despair in chronically stressed mice, specifically by modulating oxidative-nitrosative stress and inflammation. [12]
  1. Radiation-Induced DNA Damage: Sesamol has been shown to protect against gamma radiation-induced DNA damage, likely through its antioxidant properties.  [13] It is capable of reducing mortality in radiation treated mice, in part through preventing intestinal and spleen damage. [14]   When compared to another powerful antioxidant, melatonin, it was found 20 times more effective as a free radical scavenger. [15]
  1. Cancer: Sesame contains a fat-soluble lignin with phytoestrogenic properties known as sesamin, and which has been studied for inhibiting the proliferation of a wide range of cancer cells, including:
  • Leukemia
  • Multiple Myleoma
  • Colon Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Breast Cancer
  • Lung Cancer
  • Pancreatic Cancer
  • Lung Cancer

Sesamin’s anticancer effects have been linked to the NF-kappaB signaling. [16]

Sesame deserves to be recognized, along with garlic, honey, turmeric and a select few other substances,  as an easily accessible and affordable food-medicine that, if consumed regularly, could quite possibly save lives.

for more information, footnotes, etc,. go to:    http://wakeup-world.com/2012/04/29/open-sesame-10-amazing-health-benefits-of-this-super-seed/

Merapi Volcano in Indonesia Activity

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Deformation Observed at Indonesia’s Merapi

Merapi in Indonesia seen on December 7, 2011. Image from Yudha Aria / Flickr.

 

I did want to pass along this piece of news I saw this morning on Merapi in Indonesia. Dr. Masako Iguchi from the Disaster Prevention Research Institute at Kyoto University has been studying deformation at Indonesian volcanoes using GPS for the past two years, specifically targeting Merapi, Sinabung and Guntur. Of those three, it looks like Merapi has already entered in a cycle of inflation after the impressive (and deadly) eruptions of 2010. Sadly, the article in the Jakarta Post does not offer any sense of magnitude of the inflation, but Dr. Iguchi does say that Merapi appears to experience rapid inflation before a new eruptive cycle begins. In other Merapi news, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and the National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan) released images of the summit area of Merapi taken by a styrofoam drone – one of the first uses of drones to image active volcanoes that I’ve seen. The images from the drone that feel ~400 meters above the summit will be used to create a 3D map of the volcano. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for more news on Merapi.

from:    http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/category/eruptions/