Zark's

Patenting Nature

Scientific American's The Gene Hunt: Should Finders Be Keepers? reminds us of the legal challenge to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarding thousands of patents on human genes.  Roughly 20% of the human genome is owned by private companies, but two patents on BRCA1 and BRCA2 have patients, doctors, and the ACLU united.  These two genes have been associated with breast and ovarian cancers, but the owner of the patents, Myriad and the University of Utah, have not even licensed others to conduct research or perform tests with these genes.  (BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are in everyone, but it is mutations that are linked to cancer.)  Instead, all tests for these cancer markers must be performed by Myriad at a cost of about $3,000.  A patient or doctor has no alternative, or second opinion.

Not surprisingly, U., Myriad Genetics seek dismissal of gene patent suit tells that Myriad have asked the federal court in New York to simply dismiss the lawsuit.  Interestingly, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has filed a motion requesting to be dismissed from the suit.  The Salt Lake Tribune adds that a hearing is scheduled on 26 August to rule on the motions.

A gene inventor? Patent nonsense, explains that inside your body, your genes belong to you.  But once outside your body, they belong to the patent owner.  The Brisbane Times' article adds that the primary premise has been that a product of nature such as gold, cannot be patented.  The ACLU believes that human genes represent products of nature and the patents are invalid.  Besides the U.S. lawsuit, the Australian Senate will also convene hearings on August 3.

Patents in Biotechnology: Potential Impacts on Life Expectancy adds that plant genes have also been patented.  Monsanto Canada sued a farmer for unlicensed seed use.  The article ponders what happens if a "super-weed" develops that only one company owns. 

Biotechnology has introduced many new ethical concerns.  It seems that we have conquered the technological problems more successfully than the ethical issues.  I believe we need the equivalent of the Atomic Energy Act for biotechnology.  (See Roman DNA.)  Meanwhile, I think patents on nature should be invalidated.  There should be a minimum of invention required for patents, and biotechnology should have an even greater requirement for issuance.  Full disclosure: I do have several patents.

Climate Thaw, But Political Freeze in the Arctic

Era of Trans-Arctic Shipping Nigh tells that a German company, Belga Shipping, is in the midst of transporting machinery from Ulsan, South Korea, to Novvy Port, a Siberian outpost.  The route through the Arctic is 8000 miles shorter than alternative routes.  (The circumference of the Earth is about 25,000 miles, to place it in perspective.) 

This is not the first modern journey through the Arctic - Russian government ships have been traversing the route during roughly two months of the year with ore and petroleum, but not commercial carriers.  Which begs the question - why are they permitting it when they have historically protected those waters?

Continuing that thought, Russia Plans North Pole Paratrooper Drop tells that next year, Russia intends to parachute military troopers in a message of peace for the North Pole.  Also recall in 2007, a Russian nuclear-powered submarine dropped a titanium Russian flag underwater in a claim to the territory of the North Pole.  Also, earlier this month, Putin: border security is top priority declared that the Arctic borders were a top priority and a new policy would be soon released concerning the borders.

What is at stake? Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal: Estimates of Undiscovered Oil and Gas North of the Arctic Circle explains that the U.S. Geological Service has estimated, "The sum of the mean estimates for each province indicates that 90 billion barrels of oil, 1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids may remain to be found in the Arctic, of which approximately 84 percent is expected to occur in offshore areas. We also learn The Arctic Circle encompasses about 6 percent of the Earth’s surface, an area of more 8.2 million square miles.  This plausibly represents about 25% of the world's remaining petroleum reserves.

Canada, U.S. to survey underwater mountain range tells that the two countries will begin mapping underwater mountain ranges to substantiate their claims to the Arctic riches.  The United Nations' maritime law grants territorial claims to countries who can demonstrate their continental shelf extends into Arctic waters.

Mmm.  There is a lot of energy (and consequently wealth) slumbering underneath those melting seas.  I'm betting there will be a lot of overlapping claims from the undersea surveying.  What happens then?

Jupiter's Protection

In Roman mythology, Jupiter was the king of the gods - the Roman answer to Zeus.  Today, we think of Jupiter as the 5th rock from the sun, and the biggest planet in our solar system.  It is a gas giant, unlike our planet which is primarily composed of solid matter.  Nonetheless it has a diameter 11 times greater than Earth, and its mass is more than twice all the other planets combined.  Wiki tells us that it has at least 63 natural satellites or moons.

Fifteen years ago, a comet known as Shoemaker Levy 9 broke apart and collided with Jupiter.  It was the first opportunity for scientists to witness an extraterrestrial collision, and also quite alarming.  The largest impact left a spot 12,000 kilometers wide, releasing 6,000,000 megatons of TNT-equivalent energy.  (This was only one of 21 independent strikes.)  It has been speculated that a 20 kilometer-sized asteroid could be an extinction event, extinguishing ALL life on Earth.

Stephen Hawking: "Asteroid Impacts Biggest Threat to Intelligent Life in the Galaxy" speculates perhaps the reason that extraterrestrial life has not been discovered is that asteroid and comet strikes have extinguished it.  A small collision 70 million years ago is speculated as destroying the dinosaur era.

Hubble takes a snapshot of Jupiter's black eye tells that Jupiter has recently suffered another large impact, although not the size of Shoemaker Levy 9.  It is a gash about 5,000 miles long that was created when something fell from the sky.  Mmm.  Jupiter Our Cosmic Protector explains that Jupiter tends to protect Earth from deep space comets, those originating from the Oort cloud.  Its gravity arguably helps keep those rocks in the asteroid belt from frequently breaking loose and colliding with Earth.

Do you think the ancient Romans knew this when they named their god?

Transparent Aluminum - Almost

You remember Star Trek IV when Scotty makes a trade with a manufacturing scientist.  He trades the atomic matrix of transparent aluminum for sufficient Plexiglas to fabricate a holding tank for humpback whales "George" and "Gracie".  Of course, time travel was involved.

Wiki tells that aluminum atoms typically arrange in a face-centered cubit structure.  Also, reputedly Napoleon III gave a banquet where the most honored guests had utensils of aluminum because it was more precious than gold.  Even when the Washington monument was constructed in 1848, aluminum cost the same as silver.

Transparent Aluminum Is 'New State of Matter' tells that Oxford University scientists have used a laser to knock out an electron from every aluminum atom in a sample to create a new material transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation.  Well, for a short time - 40 femtoseconds, anyway.  The laser produces short pulses of soft x-ray light with ludicrous energy.

Although the material is only transparent for a short time while under intense optical illumination, researchers claim it represents a new state of matter.  The European alchemists where hoping for a permanent transformation, but this is like the transmutation of an element.

If you are indeed shopping for something with permanent transparency, you might consider aluminum oxynitride.  As described in New Aluminum Windows Stop .50 Caliber Bullet, a high-priced compound with an inner layer of actual glass is available as a new form of glass armor. 

Can/Could Ares Rocket Ever Overcome Its Reputation?

NASA has been busy developing a new rocket to return the U.S. to manned space flight after the last shuttle flight, scheduled for Sept 16, 2010?  The new rocket is named Ares, to lift the new crew vehicle, Orion.  Critics of the Ares program wonder why it is going to cost so much time and money to well, only surpass the 1967 Saturn V by relatively little.  Wikimedia commons has an interesting Saturn V - Shuttle  - Ares IV comparison.

Critics of the Ares include passionate engineers and administrators besides cost-minded Congress and non-manned space flight advocates.  President Obama has appointed a 10-member special panel to determine the best path forward for NASA, not simply Ares.  Alternative to over-budget Constellation moon rockets gaining traction tells that this committee has asked for detailed analysis of alternatives to Ares.

The committee is headed by Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, and an evangelist for aerospace and scientific advancement.  He decries the budget limitations that NASA has been forced to endure as discussed in NASA Panel Says Budge Cutbacks Have Impaired Programs.  The panel is due to provide its recommendations to the President by the end of August, and it appears to outsiders, that a cheaper and faster return to space is better.

It probably did not help the Ares program this week - Air Force: NASA's New Rocket Unsafe for Astronauts.  The Air Force concluded that for the first minute of flight, the astronauts would be unable to safely jetison away from an errant Ares booster.  The study was based upon a 1998 Titan IV rocket detonation similar to the proposed Ares booster.  The article also reminds us that the Ares has a liftoff 'tilt' issue that could push the rocket into the launch tower with a wind gust greater than 13 mph.  It has also been exhibiting dangerous vibration/resonance issues in some testing.

Also, Ares I-X testing delayed to Oct 31 explains that the scheduled test flight has slipped two months, placing it on Halloween, long after Norm Augustine provides his findings to the President.  The explanation is that managers are still concerned about vibration levels and additional renovations are required for the launch pad.

Most engineers working on big aerospace projects will readily admit that schedule and cost overruns are almost expected.  There are perhaps many factors, but I think one dominates.  We fail to comprehend how complex our projects are.  For example, look at your mobile phone. It does lots and lots of cool things, doesn't it?  (And like an iceberg, the real complexity is unseen, residing at the physical, link, and network layers of the waveform.)  But that product is an evolution - the existing software and hardware has been incrementally developed and modified since the mid 1980s.  A product team does not suddenly crank out two million lines of code for a new mobile phone.  We fail to recognize the true cost of complexity when we schedule projects because we are seduced by the success and capabilities of commercial products.

Much like a rocket that launches poorly, it is difficult to straighten out the trajectory of a project like Ares.  I'm certain there are brilliant engineers and managers working ungodly hours to make it succeed.  They are attempting to build what was specified for them.  We always see more clearly looking backwards instead of forward.  I wish the Augustine panel the clearest vision for planning a path forward for NASA.

The Pattern of Business Dominance

Yesterday I sort of touched on it, so today I thought I would take a complete plunge.  Some professions and disciplines might blindly extrapolate data, but mathematicians and engineers do not just look at the data to predict the future, but consider the bigger picture.  Suppose for example, a company has a popular phone product and quarter after quarter, it continues gaining market share.  Through extrapolation, some believe this is going to continue on forever; hence this should be the model for all companies.  I will get back to this, but first a small explanation.

A pattern, as Wiki explains, is a type of theme which describes how things happen or can be performed.  Quantum physics notwithstanding (see my posting on Astronauts and Quantum Theory) we can apply patterns that we see in unrelated fields to another.  The concept and operation of a parking lot applies to the design and architecture of shopping malls, but if you are modeling intelligent thought, you recognize that the human brain manages a parking lot of ideas that we park, or temporarily shelve while we are dealing with other problems.  So a smart engineer would seek clever parking lot solutions from architects to assist in modeling the human brain.

The pattern can be from history.  After the oil shock triggered the global economic collapse, government leaders across the globe sought to avoid repeating the pattern that we know as the Great Depression.  Sometimes history displays the underlying scientific pattern as when you build a sandcastle on the beach.  From previous experience, you know that the next storm or high tide is going to erase your Frank Lloyd Wright aspirations.  Although there is a truism to not build a house upon sand, the larger pattern is the Second Law of Thermodynamics - that things wear down and mix together.

Apple iPhone Dominates Mobile Web Usage tells that Apple is cleaning up in the mobile phone market.  An amazing 43% of all ad requests from mobile phones comes from iPhones.  But we have been here before.  Remember the Motorola Razr?  The Magic Profits of the iPhone reminds us that the Razr sold 110 million units and was named the 12th greatest gadget in 50 years by PC World.  Do you remember the catch phrase, "Hello, Moto?"  

Microsoft Q4 Results Show Competitive Pressure tells that net income is down 29% since last year.  The loss is more than from declining PC sales.  The times are changing, and it is difficult to be number one in a market and make all the right decisions to stay there.  Microsoft's competition (and you can include Google) is not Linux, or Apple, but the thousands of small startups who are betting the farm on the next new technology.  Most of them have clever and innovative personnel and given the right moment, could be stellar companies.  Yet only a couple will survive the third year.  It is very difficult for a large company to defend against such a broad base of competitors, most of which have nothing to lose.  The pattern of Rome versus the barbarians might be applicable.

I believe Cisco has the right idea - they seem to grow through acquisition instead of attempting to invent the next technology themselves.  See Cisco taps chief strategy officer.

So what is the pattern for business dominance?  A simple one is that there is always a next champion.  The more enlightening one is that no single individual or company has the best ideas or products.  (Granted, the converse may be true.)  As a consumer, be careful with brand loyalty.  As an engineer or businessman, think diversity, and seek to learn from patterns.

Ventotene - A History Lesson

Ventotene is a volcanic island off the western coast of Italy.  (About 2/3 down down the peninsula, before the instep of Italy's geographical 'boot'.)  The satellite imagery from Google Earth is uncharacteristically of very poor quality, but Bing has some nice imagery.  The island does look like a weathered-down ancient volcano.  Some of the coastline has sheer rocky cliffs, and other regions like, well, a platform of rock.  It is scenic and gorgeous, but Florida is it not.

Wiki tells that ancient Rome used the island to banish nobles, notably females.  It was here the emperor Augustus banished his daughter Julia for her adultery.  Tiberius banished a grand-niece similarly, and several other caesars also practiced sending relatives who they disfavored to the island.  Most of the women perished from starvation.  Looking at the satellite imagery, you can understand why - there is not much vegetation on this small island, although it now has 700 permanent residents.  During World War II, Mussolini established a prison on the island and later, a garrison of German soldiers operated a radar station on the island. 

Archaeology tells that Roman shipwrecks have been recently discovered off the coast of Ventotene.  Ancient Roman shipwrecks found off Italy coast provides some some pictures of the cargo carried by five shipwrecks ranging from first century BC to fourth century AD.  Archaeologists find graveyard of sunken Roman ships speculates that the ships had been attempting to find safe anchorage during stormy weather, and did not quite make the island's natural harbor. 

Aurora provides details of the five individual sites.  The first four sites are from first century BC and exhibit cargos of Rome-produced goods such as wine.  Site 5 from 4th century AD shows that Rome has begun importing goods that it once exported.  The Reuters' article also discusses the pattern of trade exhibited by the wrecks - first producing and then importing.

What is old is new again.  Perhaps the recent trade pattern developed by western countries over the past 20-50 years is the same phenomena that Rome developed in the latter years of the empire.

Uncompromised Cloning

Cloning has never been perfect - somatic nuclear cell transfer removes the nucleus from a donor egg, and then inserts the cell nucleus of the desired parent.  An electrical or chemical shock subsequently convinces the cell to begin dividing.  Usually around the blastocyst stage, the embryo is transferred to the uterus of the surrogate mother.  

If the clone was successfully produced, it was not an exact clone, because the donor egg contained mitochodria DNA from the female which produced the zygote.  (Recall the mitochondria are the small energy sources within a cell and the interaction and relationship between the cell nucleus' DNA is not understood.  Nonetheless, the clones produced to date have not been exact copies.

Recent stem cell research has perhaps eliminated one ethical dilemma, but replaced it with another.  Embryonic stem cells were greatly coveted because they alone could be stimulated to develop into any type of organ or tissue.  Therapeutic cloning, where a new liver, pancreas, or whatever is grown to replace a diseased or damaged organ, seemed to require embryonic stem cells.  Unfortunately the source of embryonic stem cells of course, is an embryo.  An embryo must be sacrificed to obtain these stem cells.

New research hs discovered Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells which are obtained by converting a non-stem cell into something very similar to embryonic stem cells.  Some recent publications have suggested some distinct molecular differences, but they appear to be capable of generating any type of organ or tissue.  iPS cells have erased the therapeutic cloning ethical dilemma because an embryo does not have to harvested for its stem cells.  They are also preferable because patients of organs created from embryonic cells must take immune suppression drugs for the rest of their life.

Mice research shows promise of stem cells explains that iPS cells have created the 100% clone - alarming some ethicists.  Two independent groups of researchers in China have announced the development of mice from mature cells, elminating the need for donor eggs.  They are 100% clones, because all of the DNA is direct match, including the mitochondria DNA.  The viability of the mice was demonstrated by the clones being able to reproduce naturally.

This research is still new, and much is unknown.  Not all of the clones developed naturally and some types of donor cells work where others do not.  Also there is the development of some tumors, which has been previously noted with cloning.  Yet it rapidly taking us to a new level in medicine!

Biofuels are Still on the Bubble

Planes should fly on biofuels declares that the U.K. should forget about biofuels for automobiles and instead, focus on aviation.  It explains that a crop area the size of the United States would be required to produce enough biomass to fuel the world's fleet of automobiles. 

Big oil turns to algae explains that ExxonMobile has committed $300M over 5 to years for Synthetic Genomics and an additional algae source for another $300M.  Studies show algae may have a 4:1 return (energy received for cost of production) compared to petroleum of 5:1 or corn ethanol 1.2:1.  A study predicted a land area the size of South Carolina could produce enough algae to fuel the U.S. transportation fleet.

U.S. car manufacturers plough a lonely furrow on biofuels explains the Environmental Protection Agency is thinking about increasing the percentage of ethanol for the gasoline sold in the United States.  Currently it is about 10%, but the agency is inclined to bump it up to 15%.  The author tells that the car companies oppose it because of performance.  It is ironic that worldwide, all the other countries of the world are reconsidering their push for ethanol, but the U.S. is considering increasing it.

Beneficial biofuels: leading national experts reach a consensus claims that biofuels can be beneficial, but all costs must included.  Conversion of land to produce additional biofuel is not a winner.  Also, conversion of food into biofuels is not a winner.  Note - Corn ethanol worse than oil? California says yes, reminds us the California Air Resources Board determined essentially the same findings.

Mmm.  I used to favor biofuels such as algae much more than presently.  I am concerned it does not scale to support the population we have on the planet.  I have to believe it is simpler to use solar energy directly rather than using photosynthesis to create biomass and then create synthetic petroleum.

Steven Chu's decisions at the Department of Energy suggest that he too, is concerned about scalability.  The DOE is pushing electrical personal transportation instead of hydrogen.  The power grid is already in place for the distribution of this energy.  Also, there are more energy options available for fixed power plants (such as large solar reflectors) than transporation vehicles.  He is also advocating white roofs and roads to reflect more of the sun's energy - something that has an unbelievably large impact. 

We need solutions that scale.

Beauty Through Stem Cells

Stem Cells For Beauty tells that clever entrepreneurs have been thinking about how to cell stem cells to consumers.  Instead of injecting your face with a botulism toxin, how about rubbing on some stem cells that could rebuild the collagen underneath the skin, allowing us to look oh-so-much younger?  Or instead of breast implants, how about stem cells to continue what nature stopped?

Other possibilities include hair follicles and tooth stem cells.  Some scientists believe such cosmetic applications are 25-30 years away.  Mmm.  I'm betting ten years at the most.  There is a lot of money to be made in making people look younger.

New Beauty Craze, Stem Cells explains products are already on the streets of the U.K., promising new skin.  Hidden in the fine print is the disclaimer that the product only promotes the development of new skin stem cells.  By law, the products themselves cannot contain human tissue or tissue extracts.  Practically, it is not possible yet to include stem cells in creams or salves because the cells will degenerate on the shelf.

One concern - could these products actually promote cancer, as there seems to be a link between unnatural growth and cancer?  The project director of Lancome, says the product will trigger the development of new cells, not that it directly causes new cells to grow.  Lancome will be releasing a new product in September, based upon an apple extract that allegedly does promote the growth of new cells.  The product is named, Absolue Precious Cells.  Watch for it!

Let the buyer beware though of some treatments.  Stem cell beauty treatment can be fatal explains that some of these treatments inject the patient with animal stem cells. The article tells that the injection of animal stem cells is a freshxenograft transplantation. If that does not harm you immediately, it almost certainly destroys your ability to accept an organ transplant in the future. Our immune system remembers exposure to xenogenic cells and will likely reject the transplant.