Geneticists Breach Ethical Taboo By Changing Genes Across Generations

by Rob Stein October 24, 2012 3:00 PM Geneticist reported Wednesday that they had crossed a threshold long considered off-limits: They have made changes in human DNA that can be passed down from one generation to the next. The researchers at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland say they took the step to try to prevent women from giving birth to babies with genetic diseases. But the research is raising a host of ethical, social and moral questions. "That kind of genetic engineering has been ruled off-limits," says Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society. "And it's a very bright line that has been observed by scientists around the world." There have been lots of reasons for that line. One big one is purely practical, says Dartmouth bioethicist Ronald Green. "If we make mistakes, we'll effectively be introducing a new genetic disease into the human population — for generation after generation," Green says. But beyond the risks, Green says taking that step has long raised more far-reaching fears. It's the kind of technology that could be used to try to create genetically superior humans. "It could easily move into the realm of gene enhancement," Green says. "Higher IQ. Improved physical appearance. Athletic ability. That's a worry to some people — to many people." But in this week's issue of the scientific journal Nature, Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health & Science University and colleagues report that they have crossed that line. They have figured out a way to change the DNA in a human egg. Why? Mitalipov says his team is trying to prevent some rare but horrible disorders: genetic conditions caused by defects in a certain kind of DNA known as mitochondrial DNA, which only mothers pass down to their kids. "They are caused by mutations in this mitochondrial DNA, which is pretty small — only encodes 37 genes," Mitalipov says. So Mitalipov's team figured out a way to pluck these little packets of defective mitochondrial DNA out of eggs and replace them with healthy genes from eggs donated by other women. They fertilized the transplanted eggs in the laboratory and showed they could create healthy embryos. "What we showed is that the faulty genes, which are usually passed through the woman's egg, can be safely replaced. And that way, the egg still retains its capacity to be fertilized by sperm and develop," he says. The researchers haven't taken the next step yet: They haven't tried to make babies out of these modified embryos. But they have made baby monkeys this way, increasing their confidence it would work. And some other doctors hope so, too. Mary Herbert of Newcastle University is part of a team that has prompted a national debate in England by doing similar research. She also hopes to help women who have gone through the trauma of giving birth to a baby with one of these genetic conditions. "In severe cases, the child will die in the first days of life, or they might live, you know, a few years and then die," Herbert says. "It's like a game of Russian roulette." But the work raises a long list of questions. One is about the morality of creating embryos in the laboratory for research and destroying them, which some consider immoral. Another is about the safety of the women donating the eggs. And, of course, it's far from clear that the resulting babies will be healthy. But even if they are, there are still more questions. One is about the very genetic identity of any babies made this way. They'd inherit DNA from three separate people instead of the usual two: from the father's sperm; from the egg of the woman whose egg was fixed; and from the egg of the woman who donated some of her DNA to fix the problem. "So yes, we're going to have to, perhaps, get used to the fact that people can have three genetic parents in the future," Dartmouth bioethicist Green says. But beyond that, the move raises those early fears about manipulating DNA to create a brave new world of genetic haves and have-nots, according to Darnovsky. "Socially, what this would mean is we would be moving toward a world in which some people — and it would be people who could afford these procedures — would have either real or perceived genetic advantage," she says. Despite the concerns, Mitalipov and Herbert say the real benefits of preventing genetic diseases outweigh such hypothetical risks. Herbert is awaiting a decision by the British government on whether she can proceed to the next step in her research. Mitalipov has already asked the Food and Drug Administration if he can try to make a healthy baby by genetically altering human eggs.

Site of Caesar's death to open to tourists

From AFP Last Updated: 12:37 PM, October 11, 2012 The area among Rome's ancient ruins where general Julius Caesar was assassinated will be open to tourists starting in 2013 following long-running excavation work, local officials told AFP on Thursday. "Next year we will complete the excavation work and give the area back to visitors," said Umberto Broccoli, the head of cultural heritage for Rome. "It's good to do excavations but we can't keep digging holes," he said. Contrary to legend, Caesar was not killed in the Roman Senate but in the lobby of a theater built by Pompey the Great more than 2,000 years ago. The site is now Torre Argentina square in the centre of the Italian capital. The area is rarely open to tourists and is better known as a stray cat colony. Research carried out recently by Spanish archaeologists in the area has mapped out its layout and could help draw visitors to a site where there is only an old sign saying it was the place where Julius Caesar was killed. An archaeologist working in the area told AFP that a mysterious garland of flowers is left on the site and on Caesar's tomb in the nearby Roman Forum every year on the anniversary of the assassination on March 15, 44 BC.

Hello, Tiffanys? Astronomers discover gigantic diamond planet

From REUTERS Last Updated: 3:23 PM, October 11, 2012 LONDON — Forget the diamond as big as the Ritz. This one's bigger than planet Earth. Orbiting a star that is visible to the naked eye, astronomers have discovered a planet twice the size of our own made largely out of diamond. The rocky planet, called '55 Cancri e', orbits a sun-like star in the constellation of Cancer and is moving so fast that a year there lasts a mere 18 hours. Discovered by a U.S.-Franco research team, its radius is twice that of Earth's but it is much more dense with a mass eight times greater. It is also incredibly hot, with temperatures on its surface reaching 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit. "The surface of this planet is likely covered in graphite and diamond rather than water and granite," said Nikku Madhusudhan, the Yale researcher whose findings are due to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. The study — with Olivier Mousis at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie in Toulose, France — estimates that at least a third of the planet's mass, the equivalent of about three Earth masses, could be diamond. Diamond planets have been spotted before but this is the first time one has been seen orbiting a sun-like star and studied in such detail. "This is our first glimpse of a rocky world with a fundamentally different chemistry from Earth," Madhusudhan said, adding that the discovery of the carbon-rich planet meant distant rocky planets could no longer be assumed to have chemical constituents, interiors, atmospheres, or biologies similar to Earth. David Spergel, an astronomer at Princeton University, said it was relatively simple to work out the basic structure and history of a star once you know its mass and age. "Planets are much more complex. This 'diamond-rich super-Earth' is likely just one example of the rich sets of discoveries that await us as we begin to explore planets around nearby stars." "Nearby" is a relative concept in astronomy. Any fortune-hunter not dissuaded by "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz", F.Scott Fitzgerald's jazz age morality tale of thwarted greed, will find Cancri e about 40 light years, or 230 trillion miles, from Park Avenue.

Best of Monet's 'Water Lilies' to be auctioned, could fetch $50m

From ASSOCIATED PRESS Posted: 2:21 PM, October 10, 2012 An auctioneer predicts a work from Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" series could go for $30 million to $50 million when it's put up for sale next month in New York City. The money will benefit the Hackley School in suburban Tarrytown, N.Y. The work dates from 1905. That's the year Monet began a feverish phase of paintings depicting his garden's lily pond in Giverny, France. The work that's being offered is considered among the best. The painting is from the estate of Ethel Strong Allen, widow of Wall Street executive Herbert Allen Sr. She bequeathed the Monet to the school, along with two Impressionist landscapes by Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley. All three works will be offered during Christie's Nov. 7 sale of Impressionist and modern art.

Details Matter! :Whoops! School paints midfield logo at 45-yard line

There's a simple reason they call it a midfield logo. It goes at midfield. Not so much at the University of Minnesota, Crookston, a Division II team. Its logo was painted at the 45-yard line, 5 yards off where it should be, according to Larry Brown Sports. Shawn Smith, the sports information director at Minnesota, Crookston, said the first time someone noticed the mistake was when the team had a walk-through practice at the stadium last Friday. He said coach Paul Miller was the first to notice the logo seemed a bit off. "I think the initial reaction was like, well that isn't right and everyone had a nice little laugh," Smith said in an email. While the logo faux pas was embarrassing for Minnesota, Crooked -- er, Crookston -- the school is taking it in stride. Smith explained that over the past few years students have volunteered to paint the block M at midfield for the homecoming game. When they went to do so this time, the yard markers weren't painted yet. So, they started the logo at the 40-yard line instead of the 45 like they should have, and the entire logo ended up 5 yards off center. Smith said the volunteering students felt bad about the mistake, but maybe the Golden Eagles want to keep it as is if they're superstitious. They beat Southwest Minnesota State 33-28 on Saturday for their first win of the season, which gave the school even more reason to laugh at itself about the logo and move on. "The bottom line was it was a mistake, it happened and hey, we won," Smith said.

Skeleton found beneath English parking lot may belong to King Richard III

King Richard III's burial grounds may no longer be a royal secret. Researchers at the University of Leicester say they may have located the English monarch's remains beneath a parking lot in England — though it will be weeks before they can say for sure. "Clearly we are all very excited by these latest discoveries," Richard Taylor, director of corporate affairs at the University of Leicester, told reporters Wednesday. "Our focus is shifting from the archaeological excavation to laboratory analysis. This skeleton certainly has characteristics that warrant extensive further detailed examination." The fully intact skeleton was found within the choir area at the site of the ancient Grey Friars church, which was demolished in 1538 at the order of Henry VIII during the Dissolution of Monasteries. King Richard, the last English monarch to die in battle, is believed to have been buried at the church after he was killed during the Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1485. The adult male skeleton showed signs of trauma to its head and had a barbed arrow head lodged between the vertebrae of the skeleton's upper back — injuries consistent with those sustained in battle. "A bladed implement appears to have cleaved part of the rear of the skull," researchers said in a statement. The skeleton also had spinal abnormalities, suggesting that the person suffered from severe scoliosis. This abnormality would have made the person's right shoulder seem visibly higher than his left — a physical description that matches contemporary accounts of King Richard. Peter Soulsby, Leicester's City Mayor, said that if the remains do belong to the late monarch, the findings will have "enormous implications" for the city. "The discovery of King Richard's final resting place — if this is what we have — will enhance the telling of that story in a way we could never have planned," Soulsby said. This is not the team's first discovery related to King Richard. The archeologists announced last week that they had come across medieval paving stones that may have adorned a garden built in honor of the king by a 17th-century mayor of Leicester, Robert Herrick. In 1612, Christopher Wren, father of the famous architect, visited Herrick and described seeing a three-foot pillar, bearing the inscription, "Here lies the body of Richard III sometime King of England," in the garden. The possible remains of King Richard will now undergo DNA tests. But it will be as much as 12 weeks before researchers can confirm that they belong to the English monarch.

Renoir Painting Found at W.Va Flea Market

By BRETT ZONGKER Associated Press WASHINGTON September 12, 2012 (AP) A woman who paid $7 for a box of trinkets at a West Virginia flea market apparently acquired an original painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir in the purchase. Anne Norton Craner, fine arts director for the Potomack Co. auction house in Alexandria, Va., says the woman made an appointment in July to see if it might be real. She says the woman is from Virginia but stopped at the flea market two years ago in the neighboring state. Craner says the painting was verified through a close look at the colors and brushwork along with the help of the French publisher of a catalog of Renoir's work. Craner said the painting is "Paysage Bords de Seine." It's set for auction Sept. 29. Craner says it's worth at least $75,000.