Hey Guys,

Our group is finding some great information for our independent project.  We are firming up the rest of our presentation on Amigo’s repeated sequence. Amigo’s repeated sequence is very interesting, and it is puzzling why Amigo would double some of its genes. We are having a lot of fun researching this subject.

Here is an article about clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs). I posted an article about this before, but this article shows that CRISPRs actually are phage resistant genes. It is defiantly worth checking out.

http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v6/n3/full/nrmicro1793.html

Hey Guys,

So we are working on our project and are having a lot of fun exploring all of the phage genomes. We were going to sequence all of the tape measure proteins and compare their geographic locations, but we scratched that idea. We played around with a few other ideas but we settled on another cool idea. supposedly the first 1600 nucleotides and the last 1600 on Amigo’s genome nucleotides are extremely similar. Today we figured out why Pittsburg placed Amigo’s ending where they did, but there is still much to learn. We are still exploring the subject, and there will be more updates to come.

Hey Phagers,

So the endocrine project we have been working has been very interesting to me. I have really enjoyed learning about the different types of hormones and their functions in the body.

This is an article on type 1 diabetes. Apparently this molecule Ceramide inhibits glucose uptake and makes the Beta cells of the pancreases secrete more insulin than necessary. This increases the risk of an individual getting type 1 diabetes. This article looks at many ways to hinder this molecule and cure type 1 diabetes.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2014/980815/

Hey Guys,

Great job on the posters. Our group had fun going through the entire year and reflecting on what we have done with phages.

This is an article on chemist who claimed that he can cure autism by balancing the amount of glutamate in the body. A lady named Reid and her autistic daughter wiped MSG from their diet. There were very positive results as her daughter became less autistic. I think it is worth checking out.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/03/20/chemist-claims-reversed-daughter-autism/

Hey Guys,

I can not believe our genome is finally annotated. I had so much fun finding genes that were important to our genome and conversing with others on these genes. My favorite part of annotation was finding new genes. It was really cool to find things that glimmer missed. I think that this Bioinformatics work that we are doing has great potential in the future.

This is an interesting article about a giant virus that scientist found and resurrected in Siberia. It does not infect humans, but the article brings up a good point that if Siberian ice keeps melting, viruses that did infect humans could be revived. It is an interesting concept to think about.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/04/giant-virus-resurrected-after-30000-years/

So this week and last week, my group had so much fun annotating Amigo’s genes. Our group finally finished on Monday. On Monday, we found the major tail protein for Amigo. It is so cool to find genes that code for proteins that are structurally important to our phage. We did find a gene between gene 20 and 21. It coded for a hypothetical protein, and it had good coding potential. I can’t wait to see what you guys found when we collaborate together

Hey Guys,

I can not wait to start on our genome tomorrow. I have been anticipating this day all semester. To celebrate this milestone, I found an article on the history of phages, and how phages are used in phage therapy. We have read some of this stuff before, but there is some new information dealing with how we found phages. I would look specifically at the “Discovery of Bacteriophages and Early Phage Therapy Research” part of the article. This part has some neat history.

http://aac.asm.org/content/45/3/649.short

This is an interesting article on virus research. Scientist are trying to find out how a virus could become airborne. Once they find out how a virus can become airborne, they will be able to provide a remedy for this pandemic. It was funded by the U.S. government and researched by a Dutch scientist. This is extremely controversial because some scientists think that this research can be used in the wrong way. Many scientists still think it is worth it, though, because we can be ready when an airborne virus does arise.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/12/us/journal-avian-flu/index.html?iref=allsearch

Sea Phagers!

I don’t know about you guys, but I am ready for our phage genome to come back. We have been separated from our phage way too long. I think that this gene sequencing and bioinformatics work is so interesting and I hope to start on our genome soon.

On another note, this is a cool picture from Mars of Earth. We are always looking at the sky from our planet, but this time we get to see our planet from another. It is kinda cool how the earth has a blueish color because of the dominant polar molecule on our surface.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/02/06/pale-blue-dot-amazing-nasa-photo-sees-earth-from-mars/

So I was looking around at news articles this afternoon and I came across this article below. It is about how lack of sleep can accelerate cancer growth. Apparently, mice were injected with tumor cells. Some mice slept regularly, while others were kept awake. The mice who were kept awake showed significantly more tumor growth than those with regular sleep patterns. I think it is so interesting how sleep can have so many healing properties. This article is defiantly worth checking out.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/01/28/poor-sleep-quality-may-accelerate-cancer-growth-study-finds/

I researched the polio virus last week. The polio virus is also called Poliomyelitis and it is in the genus Enterovirus. Being in the Enterovirus genus means that the polio virus is a relatively small virus, has a single stranded RNA genome, and thrives in the gastrointestinal tract. It occasionally attacks the nerves of the individual. The polio virus has been eradicated from the western hemisphere.

Here is a good website about the poliovirus:

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2014/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/poliomyelitis

I can’t wait for our genome to come back guys! So excited to start analyzing the genome.

That is great! Looks like you are working hard. I bet it was scary to get no results on your Arthrobacter, but at least you are back on track. I am just about to flood my 10 plates so I guess I will be having so long times in the lab just like you have. Fun times await!

It is so much fun to work with other people. Jeremy, Walker, and I are on different steps, but we still help each other out if we can. It is great to see others succeed, and know that you are going to be on that step soon.

I actually used Msmeg too. I tried to find Arthrobacter and used over 10 samples to find it, but I never found a phage. So I went with Msmeg.