Spot a Human by The Hair Protein

Highlights:

•Scientists study the effectiveness of using protein profile of hair strands for identifying humans

•DNA from biological samples could be damaged due to heat and light.

•Database of protein biomarkers to be created for identification and creation of protein profile.

•Single strand of hair can be used to trace out an individual from millions.

The protein in the hair can hold a lot of information and can be uniquely used to identify humans, according to a study by Dr Glendon Parker from The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA. ‘A strand of hair can be used to trace an individual.’

Nuclear DNA is unique for every individual and was considered an ideal marker for human identification, however, the stability of the DNA can be affected by

•        Heat

•        Light

•        Moisture

This renders the nuclear DNA useless in identifying individuals in certain instances. When biological samples are available for analysis but DNA data cannot be relied on, protein analysis can be used to identify humans.

Robustness of Protein in Analysis

Identification of humans based on biological samples is a very useful technique in the field of forensics as well as in archaeology. They aid in uniquely spotting humans who have been at a particular place. Though DNA can be used for identification purposes, the biological samples may have had to undergo the vagaries of nature, which erodes its ability to keep the DNA intact.

This raises the need for a better analysis technique that utilizes the biological sample available to single out an individual. To test the efficiency in identification, the researchers took bioarcheological hair samples that were from six different people. The samples were expected to be 250 years old and were from London graves, protein markers were successfully isolated from these samples. The list of markers was further increased by obtaining a total of 185 markers from 76 living individuals from European and African descent.

Process of Analysis

The protein present in the hair samples are extracted and then broken down into peptides which are smaller chains of amino acids. The sequence of the peptides are detected, separated and quantified using liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Using this process, single amino acid polymorphisms were detected and a database created with the data available which can be used to create a protein profile.

USES

This technique can be used in identifying

•        Suspects in murder or crime scenes

•        Understanding human movement across the globe

•        Identifying victims in natural disasters

•        Identifying war victims

•        Identifying bodies in mass graves

•        Determining if an individual entered a room or capacity

•        Tracing missing babies/children to their parents

There are a number of ways this technique can be used to uniquely spot an individual from millions, based on proteins present on a single strand of hair. This study can change the way people look at hair and the secrets they hold.

Reference:

1.           New Role for Hair in Human Idetification - (https:str.llnl.gov/july-2015/hart)

By

Dr. A. Praveena

Assistant Professor

Department of Biochemistry

Kidney Function Decline Tied to CV Events in Diabetics

The risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) is increased with renal function decline, according to a study published online inDiabetes Care. Stéphanie Ragot, PharmD, PhD, from INSERM CIC 1402 in Poitiers, France, and colleagues examined the correlation between renal function trajectories and the occurrence of a cardiovascular (CV) event in patients with type 2 diabetes from a discovery cohort (1,040 participants) and replication cohort.

The researchers found that over 6.3 years of follow-up there was an annual estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline and an annual serum creatinine (SCr) increase that was significantly greater in patients with versus those without MACE (P < 0.0001 for both). Patients with MACE had significantly steeper median annual individual slopes; patients with rapid decline in eGFR had adjusted risk of MACE that was 4.11 times higher. Significant additive information to help explain the occurrence of MACE for both SCr and eGFR was seen with consideration of renal function trajectories. Results were confirmed in the replication cohort. "Renal function decline was associated with a higher risk of MACE," the authors write. "The pattern of renal function decline, beyond baseline kidney function, is an independent factor of CV risk."

By

Dr. G. Saravanan

Associate Professor & Head

Department of Biochemistry

Glucose tolerance test: Testing for diabetes

A simple blood test can often detect diabetes. If the test produces borderline results, a glucose tolerance test may help with the final diagnosis. In a healthy person, glucose levels will rise after eating a meal and return to normal once the glucose is used or stored by the body. A glucose tolerance test can help to work out the difference between normal glucose levels and the levels seen in diabetes and pre diabetes. The glucose tolerance test is used to measure the body's response to glucose. The test can be used to screen for type 2 diabetes. For this test, the levels of glucose in the blood are compared before and after a sugary drink. Before taking the test, the patient is asked not to eat for 8-12 hours. A sample of blood will be taken before the test begins. This fasting sample will be used to provide a comparison for the test results.

The individual will then be asked to drink a sugary drink containing a known amount of glucose and water. The exact timing may vary, but another blood sample may be taken every 30 to 60 minutes for a total of 2 hours.

Here is what the different blood glucose levels may indicate:

§  Below 140 milligrams per deciliter - normal

§  140 to 199 milligrams per deciliter - impaired glucose tolerance or prediabetes

§  Above 199 milligrams per deciliter - diabetes

If the test results do show diabetes, the doctor may choose to repeat the test on another day or use another test to confirm the diagnosis.

Various factors can affect the accuracy of the glucose tolerance test. For the test to give reliable results, the person must be in good health and not have any other illnesses. The person should be relatively active and not be taking any medicines that could affect their blood glucose.

By

V. V. Sathibabu Uddandrao

JRF & Ph. D Research Scholar

Department of Biochemistry

Biochemists at the University of California San Diego have uncovered patterns in the outer protein coat of group AStreptococcus that could finally lead to a vaccine against these highly infectious bacteria -- responsible for more than 500,000 deaths a year, including toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis or "flesh-eating disease.

By

Mrs. K. Pavithra

Assistant Professor

Department of Biochemistry

The level of vitamin D in our blood should neither be too high nor to low. Scientists from the University of Copenhagen are the first in the world to show that there is a connection between high levels of vitamin D and cardiovascular deaths.

By

Mrs. K. Pavithra

Assistant Professor

Department of Biochemistry

Memory activation before exposure reduces life-long fear of spiders

Studies show that up to 30 per cent of all people suffer an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Anxiety leads to great suffering for those affected, but can be treated with exposure therapy, in which the patient is gradually exposed to the object or context that provokes the reactions. If exposure therapy is successful, a new 'safe' memory is formed, which overshadows the old fear memory. But not everyone is helped by this treatment, in part because the learning that takes place during the treatment is not permanent; the memory may return at some point later on after an initially successful exposure. Memory researchers have now demonstrated that the improvement can be made more lasting. When a person is reminded of something, the memory becomes unstable and is re-saved. If you disrupt the re-saving of the memory, so-called reconsolidation, the creation of the memory can be disrupted and the memory that is saved can be changed. A fear memory could thus be weakened or erased, and this offers hope for improved treatment of anxiety disorders. But until now there has been doubt if this would be possible because older and stronger memories have proven to be difficult to disrupt.

In a study published in the journal Current Biology, researchers from Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now for the first time shown that it is possible to use this method to reduce fear in life-long phobias. The researchers exposed individuals with arachnophobia to spider pictures while measuring their brain activity in the amygdala, a part of the brain that is strongly linked to fear. They found that an activation of the fear memory, consisting of a mini-exposure 10 minutes before a more extensive exposure, led to significantly reduced amygdala activity when the subjects looked at the spider pictures again the following day. Because the memory is made unstable before exposure and re-saved in its weakened form, the fear does not return as easily. The day after exposure, the group that received an initial activation of their spider fear showed reduced amygdala activity in comparison with a control group. Avoidance of spiders also decreased, which could be predicted from the degree of amygdala activation. 'It is striking that such a simple manipulation so clearly affects brain activity and behaviour. A simple modification of existing treatments could possibly improve effects. This would mean more people getting rid of their anxieties after treatment and fewer relapses,' says Johannes Björkstrand, PhD student at the Department of Psychology, Uppsala University.

By

Chandrasekharan

III B.Sc

Department of Biochemistry

Female mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus can pass the infection to the next generation, lab tests show.

Among Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, thought to be the main species spreading Zika in the Americas, at least one out of every 290 lab offspring catches the virus from its mother, Texas researchers say August 29 in the Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Infected eggs, which can survive for months on dry surfaces, could keep the virus circulating even after dry or cold spells, when adult mosquitoes die off, warns Robert Tesh of University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. 

Earlier research had already shown that youngsters of this species can inherit related viruses, such as those causing dengue, West Nile and yellow fever. Mom-to-egg transmission though is not a given:  The same research project also reported no evidence so far of this vertical transmission in 803 offspring of anotherpossible Zika spreader, Ae. albopictus. It’s not known how likely mosquito moms are to infect their young outside of the lab. Doing a reliable test with wild mosquitoes outdoors is a much more difficult project, the researchers say.

By

Mrs. K. Pavithra

Assistant Professor

Department of Biochemistry