Paternity Testing and Dna Test News

One step closer to end HIV life cycle

2009-06-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

In order for viruses to reproduce, they must infect a cell, this part we understand. But do we really know how the most devastating of all Viruses and the smartest one of all times really works?

Once i was told that in order to provide an accurate answer i need to understand the question, and of course the subject. The HIV Virus is the ultimate question of our time and we need to be able to understand it if we want to be able to eradicate this threat.

Viruses are not technically alive: they are sort of like a brain with no body. In order to make new viruses, they must hi-jack a cell, and use it to make new viruses. Just as your body is constantly making new skin cells, or new blood cells, each cell often makes new proteins in order to stay alive and to reproduce itself. Viruses hide their own DNA in the DNA of the cell, and then, when the cell tries to make new proteins, it accidentally makes new viruses as well. HIV mostly infects cells in the immune system.

Scientists have discovered that specific microRNAs (non-coding RNAs that interfere with gene expression) reduce HIV replication and infectivity in human T-cells. In particular, miR29 plays a key role in controlling the HIV life cycle. The study suggests that HIV may have co-opted this cellular defense mechanism to help the virus hide from the immune system and antiviral drugs.

Replication: Once HIV binds to a cell, it hides HIV DNA inside the cell’s DNA: this turns the cell into a sort of HIV factory.

The microRNA miR29 suppresses translation of the HIV-1 genome by transporting the HIV mRNA to processing-bodies (P-bodies), where they are stored or destroyed. This results in a reduction of viral replication and infectivity.

Infection: Several different kinds of cells have proteins on their surface that are called CD4 receptors. HIV searches for cells that have CD4 surface receptors, because this particular protein enables the virus to bind to the cell. Although HIV infects a variety of cells, its main target is the T4-lymphocyte (also called the “T-helper cell”), a kind of white blood cell that has lots of CD4 receptors. The T4-cell is responsible for warning your immune system that there are invaders in the system.

Scientis think the virus may use this mechanism to modulate its own life cycle, and we can use this to our advantage in developing new drugs for HIV Retroviral therapies greatly reduce viral load but cannot entirely eliminate it. This interaction between HIV and miR29 may contribute to that inability. Perhaps, by targeting miR29, we can force HIV into a more active state and improve our ability to eliminate it.

The team of Scientist managed to looked at miR29 expression levels in infected and uninfected cells and found that miR29 expression was enhanced by HIV-1 infection. Blocking the activity of miR29 with interfering RNA resulted in increased replication and infectivity of the virus. The scientists tested the association of miR29 and HIV-1 by mutating both miR29 and its target region on the HIV virus. When either was altered, miR29s suppression of HIV replication and infectivity was reduced or eliminated. In addition, the team suppressed P-bodies in the cells and noted a similar effect. This suggests that HIV may use miRNAs to become dormant and escape immune response.

A.Vissuetti

Child abuse Causes Lifelong Changes To DNA Expression And Brain

2009-05-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

A study led by researchers in Canada who analysed post mortem brain samples of suicide victims with a history of being abused in childhood found changes in DNA expression that were not present in suicide victims with no childhood abuse history or in people who died of other causes. The affected DNA was in a gene that regulates the way the brain controls the stress response.

The research was the work of scientists from the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences and was published online on 22 February in Nature Neuroscience.

Previous studies have shown that child abuse or neglect changes the hormonal stress response and increases the risk of suicide in the victim. Animal studies show that maternal care can influence the expression of genes that control the stress response.

In this study the researchers looked at samples of the hippocampus from human suicide victims with a history of childhood abuse. The hippocampus is a region of the brain that plays a key role in regulating the stress response.

They found changes in expression of the NC3R1 gene that were not present in suicide victims with no history of being abused in childhood. The changes weren't present in people who had died of other causes either.

For the study the researchers used samples from 36 brains: 12 came from suicide victims who had been abused as children, 12 came from suicide victims who had no such history, and 12 came from people who had died of other causes (the controls).

The researchers found that the child abuse victims had different "epigenetic" markings in a part of the brain that influences the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function, a stress-response that increases suicide risk.

This finding builds on an earlier study published in May last year that showed how child abuse can leave "epigenetic" marks on DNA.

Epigenetics studies the way that DNA is expressed: that is when the code behaves in a way that is not exactly what the DNA program says. DNA itself, the fundamental code, is inherited from the person's biological parents and remains fixed through a person's lifetime.

But the genes in the DNA are coated with a layer of chemicals called DNA methylation. These chemicals influence how the DNA is interpreted and they can be affected by changes in the environment, especially in early life such as when the new embryo is made, in the womb, and then later in childhood.

Co-author Dr Gustavo Turecki, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University and who practices at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, said:

"We know from clinical experience that a difficult childhood can have an impact on the course of a person's life."

"Now we are starting to understand the biological implications of such psychological abuse", added fellow co-investigator Moshe Szyf, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill.

The interaction between environment and DNA plays a key role in our ability to resist and deal with stress and this affects the risk of suicide, said the researchers. Epigenetic marks are the product of DNA and environment.

The researchers found that different types of care from the mothers changed the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function in rats by altering the receptors in the brain. In earlier studies they showed that simple behaviours such as when mothers licked their baby rats in early life had a significant effect on epigentic markings on specific genes that affected behaviour throughout the offsprings' lives.

But they also found that these epigenetic marks can be changed in adulthood with treatments that change the DNA coating: the treatment is called DNA methylation and it reverses the change to the stress response.

The brain samples in this latest study came from the Quebec Suicide Brain Bank and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the National Institute of Child Health and Development in the US paid for the research.

Mandatory Paternity Tests Before Birth Certificates Issued

2009-05-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - State Rep. G. A. Hardaway is backing a bill requiring a paternity test performed on all babies before their fathers' names are listed on birth certificates.

"They'll bring tears to your eyes," said the Memphis Democrat.

Hardaway said personal pleas for help in his district prompted him to sponsor what could be called the "paternity proposal" in the Tennessee Legislature.

His proposal would affect single adults as well as married couples.

"Well, at some point society has to weigh the rights of the parents against the rights of the child," he said. "And I think this is one of the basic inherent rights that should go with the child."

Right now, it costs $7 to get a copy of a birth certificate. The proposed legislation would add $165 to the cost.

It's not just the price of paternity testing that upsets some people.

"I do not support a paternity bill," said state Rep. Sherry Jones, a Nashville Democrat. "I think it's a real affront to women to say that every baby born has to have a paternity test."

Rebecca Kopp agrees. She recently finished filling out the birth certificate paperwork for her three-month-old son.

"I think it's offensive because I am married," Kopp said. "Even for women who aren't married, if they want to get a birth certificate, I think that that should be their right. I don't think they should have to prove who the father is."

Hardaway contends it's every child's right to know their father. He said it's a struggle he sees everyday.

"Just because we have adults who want to live a lie, lie to each other, the child shouldn't suffer," he said. "The emotional trauma that children go thru when they finally realize that they've been living a lie, it's unforgivable."

The bill is in committee. Hardaway said he is working to change some of the language to help it survive.

Right now, if a woman has been married for 300 days before their baby was born, the husband's name automatically goes on the birth certificate. If a woman is not married and wants the father's name on the paperwork, she has to get a paternity test and have it notarized before the father's name is listed.

A Newer, Better Way to prevent Cervical Cancer

2009-04-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Cervical cancer is caused mostly when a woman is infected in her cervical area with the human papillomavirus. There is now a DNA test that will permit the identification and prevention of cervical cancer.

These days most women know that they should go to their doctor about once a year and have a test done, known as a pap smear, that is used to identify the possible onset of cervical cancer. This test should be d one every year from the moment she becomes sexually active, and it consists of smearing a biological sample from the woman's cervix onto a growth medium to see if there are any cancerous cells.

"Pap smears check for cell changes caused by the cancer, but it is not foolproof. That's why it's done every year because it can miss some cell changes, which it might pick up the next year.

There are many reports of Pap smears not detecting abnormal cells until it's too late and the cancer is advanced. The DNA test, on the other hand, tests for the actual virus, which makes it much more effective as a test for cervical cancer because we now know that all cervical cancer is caused by this virus." - 'Good Morning America' medical contributor Dr. Marie Savard

Cervical Cancer kills about 4,000 women a year in the US, however the incidence rate is much much higher.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded an 8 year study that has categorically shown the greater effectiveness of this method.

Obama Ends Stem Cell Research Ban - Excerpts from CBS News

2009-03-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

The US is apparently changing their stance on the polemic subject of Stem Cell Research. Till recently, Stem Cell Research has been highly restricted. Two proposals to ease on the bans were shot down by former president George W. Bush.

"President Obama ... is allowing federal taxpayer dollars to fund significantly broader research on embryonic stem cells because "medical miracles do not happen simply by accident," and promised his administration would make up for the ground lost under his predecessor." - CBS News

Obama has taken a more "science friendly" stance with his policies and declarations during his campaign, so it comes as little surprise that he is going ahead with his promise.

"Rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Was the statement of Preseident Obama as released by the White House.

DNA Testing and the Supreme Court

2009-03-06T05:34:00.000-08:00

The supreme court has taken an interesting case, from the northernmost state of Alaska. It's the case of William Osborne, convicted of assaulting a prostitute. Now you may be asking what is a closed rape case from Alaska doing in front of the Supreme court, well that's the interesting part. Osbourne claims DNA Testing is a constitutional right.

Osbourne is requesting a new DNA test on the evidence that he states would clear his name. The problem is that he is asking for this after pleading guilty, for a reduced sentence, and being sentenced.

"Forty-four states already permit convicts to demand DNA testing, though the states apply different requirements. Since 1989, 232 convicted felons have been exonerated because of DNA testing."

Most states in the US allow some type of access to DNA testing, and only 6 don't already have a system in place (Alaska being one of them).

Now the results given by the supreme court will mark a shift in the legislation of legal DNA tests for criminal cases. Where before it was underthe State's purview, now it would be enforced by federal law.

Proteins and Amino Acids as the Origins of life

2009-02-16T05:28:00.000-08:00

Scientists have been trying to figure out how life started on earth for quite a while now. One of the more famous experiments and research was conducted by Stanley Miller, where he tried to recreate the atmosphere of pre-life earth, and see if amino acids or complex molecules would arise.

A recent review of the samples from one of his experiments shows that it may have worked much more than was previously believed!

Amino Acids are essencial molecules that help make life possible.

Stanley Miller had believed his experiment a failure mainly due to the fact that 50 years ago we didn't have the technology that we have today. Today Scientists can read our genetic information much more precisely, especially thanks to DNA Testing

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/forgotten-exper.html

Our DNA and Financial Risk Taking

2009-02-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

Do you like to gamble or maybe love playing the stock market? Well, a study came out in Scientific American that showed a correlation between the genes that control our hormone levels and the amount of risk that a person takes with their money.

Dopamine, Serotonin, and Testosterone are three hormones that affect our level of risk taking. higher Dopamine and Serotonin levels are apparently common for "risk shunning" subjects, and testosterone is higher in "risk taking" test subjects, based on this study.

They were tested with a buccal swab sample for a genetic sample, and each test subject played a stocks game with $30.

It is amazing what we inherit through genetics.

DNA Profiling clears dead man's name

2009-02-09T10:47:00.000-08:00

A news article came out today about the Case to Exonerate Timothy Cole.

Timothy Cole was convicted of rape in 1986, and died in prison in 1999.
He was proven innocent thanks to DNA Testing this February of 2009.

He is one of many cases that are being revised using DNA profiling, thanks in large part to the Innocence Project, which is a non-profit that aims to get innocent people, that have been wrongly convicted, out of jail.

This case has highlighted the need for DNA testing in delicate matters, both legal and personal, and the benefits for not only finding guilt, but also to assure someone's innocence.

Mitochondrial DNA lets us compare Neanderthals and Humans

2009-02-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

news from National Geographics

Thanks to the use of Mitochondrial DNA left on the bones of long dead neanderthals, we have been able to shed much more light on our relationship with our evolutionary brothers.

The new analysis suggests the last common ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals lived between 800,000 and 520,000 years ago

Our mitochondiral DNA shows us our Maternal Ancestry. All human beings inherit their mitochondrial DNA from their mothers, which means that this genetic information passes from mother to children from our ancient past.

Now that we know that Neanderthals did not mate and become modern humans, the big question is still left unanswered: Why did they disapear?

Octuplets! Second Succesful birth of 8 babies in US history

2009-01-27T05:48:00.000-08:00

In the US, the second successful birth of Octuplets was recorded this week! This is only the second successful birth of 8 babies in the history of the US!

Thanks to fertility drugs and techniques, high order of multiple births have become a lot more common. A multiple birth is one where more than one baby come out. Higher orders of multiples are what we call any birth with more than 2 babies.

These babies can either be identical or fraternal, which means that they either share the exact same DNA, or share DNA on the level that regular siblings do. Unless they have different genders, multiples usually never get to figure out for certain if they are truly identical or fraternal.

The only foolproof way to know for certain that you are identical or fraternal twins is by taking a twin zygosity test. With this test, the results are irrefutable.

Twins, triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, sextuplets, septuplets, Octuplets!

The news article can be found here

About the Pre-Natal Paternity Test

2008-09-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

Pre-natal paternity testing is performed before the birth of the child. The test is typically performed by analysing either a CVS sample or by using amniotic fluid. The patient would be required to independently arrange for collection of either CVS samples or amniocentesis. Once the hospital sends these samples to us we can proceed with the pre-natal paternity test.

Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)

Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) is usually performed at a very early stage of pregnancy, generally around the 11th to 13th week of pregnancy. During the CVS procedure, a catheter is inserted through the cervix and a small sample is taken from the outside of the gestational sack by gentle suction. This sampling procedure allows the obstetrician to obtain a small amount of fetal chorionic villi (trophoblastic tissue), which is used for the pre-natal paternity test. Pre-natal paternity tests conducted using CVS samples are just as accurate as tests, which are performed after the child is born.

What should I expect after the CVS?

For the first couple of days you may experience some abdominal discomfort, period-like pain or a little bleeding. These are relatively common and in the vast majority of cases the pregnancy continues without any problems. You may find it helpful to take simple painkillers like paracetamol. If there is a lot of pain or bleeding or if you develop a temperature please seek medical advice.

Who performs the procedure?
The customer will have to contact their doctor or local medical centre for their nearest centre in which this type of DNA sample collection can be arranged. DNA Solutions does not perform DNA extraction from the unborn child - we can certainly analyse this at the same costs as a paternity test.

Amniocentesis
Amniocentesis is generally performed at later stages of pregnancy. During an amniocentesis procedure, a small amount of amniotic fluid (10ml) is withdrawn transabdominally by your obstetrician. Amniotic fluid is also an excellent sample for paternity testing; paternity tests performed using amniotic fluid, are just as accurate as tests conducted after the child is born.

Whether you choose chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis, results are usually available 10 to 15 working days after specimen collection.

www.dnanow.com

DNA 'tattoos' link adult, daughter stem cells in planarians

2008-09-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Taken from: eurekalert.org /

Unlike some parents, adult stem cells don't seem to mind when their daughters get a tattoo. In fact, they're willing to pass them along.

Using the molecular equivalent of a tattoo on DNA that adult stem cells (ASC) pass to their "daughter" cells in combination with gene expression profiles, University of Utah researchers have identified two early steps in adult stem cell differentiation—the process that determines whether cells will form muscle, neurons, skin, etc., in people and animals.

The U of U researchers, led by Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology and anatomy, identified 259 genes that help defined the earliest steps in the differentiation of adult stem cells in planarians—tiny flatworms that have the uncanny ability to regenerate cells and may have much to teach about human stem cell biology.

The findings, reported in the Sept. 11 issue of Cell Stem Cell establish planarians as an excellent model for studying adult stem cells in a live animal, rather than a laboratory culture dish.

"This allows us to study an entire stem cell population in its own environment," said Sánchez Alvarado, also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the study's senior author. "It's likely that what we learned here can be applied to our own stem cell biology."

Planarians share similar biology with humans in many ways. They also, for reasons unknown, regenerate cells unlike any other animal—an entirely new worm can form from just a fragment of another worm. Planarians constantly regenerate new cells to replace those that die naturally or from injury.

The process begins when adult stem cells divide into two new cells (daughter cells): one becomes like its mother (a stem cell), while the other will move on to give rise to the cells that will serve specific functions in planarian life. For example, some cells may form part of the worm's musculature, while others will form part of the brain.

Because daughters and mother cells are indistinguishable from each other in appearance, the researchers devised methods to detect specific differences in gene expression in the BrdU-labeled cells. The researchers identified 259 genes associated with the stem cells and their daughters. When the U team disabled some of these genes, they found that in some cases no defects were observed, while in others deficiencies were detected in the way the cells were patterned in regenerating planarians.

Sánchez Alvarado and two colleagues then marked adult stem cells in the worms by injecting BrdU, a synthetic nucleotide that binds with DNA and leaves an unmistakable mark on it, much like a tattoo. (Nucleotides are the structural units of DNA and RNA.) When the adult stem cells divided into daughter cells as part of the worms' normal cell regeneration, the BrdU was passed to the daughter cells in their DNA, allowing the researchers to track these cells. By detecting which genes were expressed in which BrdU-labeled cells, the collection of identified genes allowed the researchers to work out for the first time the lineage of stem cells in planarians.

Scientists want a recreate the Big Bang with a new Machine

2008-09-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Some switzerland scientists tonight, make a recreation of the great explosion in the space, the Big Bang, which comes the life to the universe... Here is the article:

-- Scientists were rejoicing tonight after a flawless start to the £5 billion Big Bang experiment, a bold attempt to re-enact the first moments of the universe.

A beam of protons – tiny building blocks of matter – flying just under the speed of light was sent spinning round a 27 kilometre long tunnel buried 100 metres underground near Geneva.

Another beam was then fired in the opposite direction. Later the particles will be smashed into each other at energies up to seven times higher than any achieved before.

The aim is to recreate conditions as tightly squeezed and hot as they were less than a billionth of a second after the Big Bang that gave birth to the universe around 14 billion years ago.

Temperatures inside that primordial fireball almost at the beginning of time reached a million billion degrees C.

All this will take place within the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the biggest and most complex scientific instrument ever built.

British scientists were at the forefront of the design and construction of the particle accelerator, which covers an area straddling the French and Swiss borders the size of the London Underground Circle Line.

Today they celebrated news from the LHC control centre at CERN, the European nuclear research organisation in Geneva, that a beam of protons had successfully been fired all the way round the tunnel ring.

"First beam" was announced at 9.28am, UK time.

LHC project leader Dr Lyn Evans – a Welsh scientist from Aberdare – said: "It’s a fantastic moment. We can now look forward to a new era of understanding about the origins and evolution of the universe."

In the coming weeks scientists will stage particle collisions in four huge detectors arranged around the beam tunnel.

The largest, called Atlas, is as big as a cathedral and as high as a five-storey building. It will effectively photograph particle smashes at a rate of 40 million times a second.

No-one knows precisely what will emerge from the bright flashes of disintegrating protons. --

New DNA kit is used by the Indiana Police

2008-08-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

This article I founded in Indystar.com and its about a DNA kit that help to the police for get more clues for the crime scene...

>> Metropolitan police are testing a new DNA-collection kit that could help them put more gun criminals behind bars.

About 200 officers have been trained to collect DNA from guns while the evidence is still fresh using the Trigger ID kits.

"We're here today to put those with illegal firearms on notice that we have a new tool which can lead to better identification of suspects and their subsequent removal from our streets," Chief Michael Spears said in a statement. "IMPD is proud to be a pioneer in the use of this new technology."

Laboratory tests of the kits show scientists often can find DNA on a gun more readily than they can find a fingerprint, said Vincent Perez, a vice president for Forensic ID, the Indianapolis-based manufacturer of Trigger ID.

"Fingerprinting is 100 years old," said Perez, who also invented the product. "Now, when we look at it and the technology we've developed, it's allowed us to move with the times and get better evidence at the scene."

Perez, a lawyer and former police officer, got the idea for the kits while he worked at Strand Analytical Laboratories, the DNA testing venture launched by former Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman in 2005. Newman gave up his operating interest in the lab when Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard appointed him public safety director in January.

The Police Department is spending $140,000 to $160,000 for 400 kits, officials said. The money is coming from a federal grant.

The kits include three ballpoint pen-sized plastic cases that contain cotton swabs. After finding a gun at a crime scene, an officer opens the cases, rubs each swab across three different parts of the gun -- pistol grip, barrel and magazine -- then closes the cases and stores them in an evidence bag.

The officers received an hour of training in proper collection techniques and must wear gloves and a breathing mask to avoid compromising any DNA that might be recovered.

The department has been using the kits about two months, but officials are not saying exactly where the devices have been deployed.

Officials hope the kits will lead to more arrests and prosecutions of those who commit gun crimes.

"Firearms cases are very difficult," U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison said. "If a gun is found laying 4 to 5 feet from somebody, . . . no one is going to claim it."

Morrison was among a group of local law enforcement experts Perez asked to help develop the device. Others included Prosecutor Carl Brizzi and Forensic Services Agency Director Mike Medler.

Helen Marchal, Brizzi's chief of staff, said she expects defense attorneys to try to challenge the kits but thinks judges will stand behind the evidence.

"It's not new science, it's a new collection process," Marchal said. "I'm confident we will withstand any challenge."

The Trigger ID kit is small enough to fit in an officer's pocket. The swabs are designed to collect DNA specimens from handguns in rain, snow or other harsh conditions.

Indianapolis is the first department to use the devices in the field, Perez said.<<

DNA testing with 99.9% of accuracy

2008-08-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

DNA Solutions have been assisting individuals around the globe with DNA Paternity & relationship analysis & were the first pioneering company offering DNA home kits to test for paternity and introduced these back in the 90’s.

Today, DNA Solutions have offices and laboratories worldwide &
serve thousands of individuals and organisations globally with our DNA testing services.

DNA SOLUTIONS' TESTING LABORATORY HAS:

- ISO 17205 Accreditation.
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Website: http://www.dnanow.com

News: Best selling author to send DNA to the space

2008-08-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Operation Immortality(TM), the project to create a digital time capsule of the human race, has joined forces with famed author and game designer Tracy Hickman. Hickman is best known for his work on the Dragonlance novels and the innovative Ravenloft module of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game system. As part of Operation Immortality's mission to preserve the most talented and influential people of our time, Tracy Hickman will be sending his digitized DNA into space with video gaming luminary Richard Garriott as he travels to the International Space Station (ISS) on Oct. 12, 2008.

Hickman will not only be adding his digitized DNA to the "Immortality Drive," excerpts of his writings will also be included on the storage device Garriott will store on the ISS as part of Operation Immortality. The Immortality Drive is currently in the process of being loaded with information from people all over the world at the OperationImmortality.com website. Hickman will be talking about the project as he addresses crowds at the Gen Con gaming convention today in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Visitors to the website can submit their suggestions for humanity's greatest achievements, leave their immortalized message for future generations, and may even have their DNA selected to join Garriott and other luminaries on an out-of-this-world trip to possibly become the future of mankind.

Garriott is a game developer at NCsoft(R) and creator of the Ultima series of games and the recently released Tabula Rasa(R). The goal of Operation Immortality is to have a space-borne record of human DNA and a record of humanity's achievements in the event a global calamity dooms the human species, similar to what happens in the Tabula Rasa video game.

"Mankind is at its best whenever we set our vision to the stars," Hickman said. "One of my first memories was of watching Alan Shepard fly his Mercury capsule atop a Redstone rocket. I have lived my entire life dreaming of space. 'Operation Immortality' is essentially a celebration of that same adventuring spirit and an offering of hope for the future. I am deeply honored to participate."

The Tabula Rasa team is thrilled by Hickman's participation in Operation Immortality. "Looking back to the influences that impacted my career, Tracy Hickman's Chronicles series left a lasting impression on me," said Tom Potter, Tabula Rasa's lead designer. "His novels were my first exposure to epic fantasy, and even though I read them at an early age, the setting and characters he created still continue to influence me all these years later."

News: Big Foot was captured and they have DNA evidence

2008-08-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

Washington (ChattahBox) - Two professional American hunters have claimed to have found the dead body of the real Bigfoot. The body has since been placed in a freezer for storage, as they get set to present photos, and DNA evidence at a press conference tomorrow.

Matthew Whitton, a police officer in Clayton County, Georgia, and Rick Dyer, a former corrections officer made the discovery in the woods of Georgia.

The two professional hunters may have managed to actually unravel one of the biggest mysteries known to man, whether or not the legendary forest creature Bigfoot is real.

The two have set up a major press conference which will take place tomorrow, Friday in Palo Alto, California.

DNA, as well as photos of this legendary creature are going to be on display for the world to see.

The two stated on their Web site, SearchingForBigfoot.com, that they have discovered the body.

They stated that they had to put the creature in the freezer to keep it “fresh.”

They claim that Bigfoot is 7 feet, 7 inches tall, and weighs in at more than 500 pounds.

He had reddish hair, as well as gray eyes. His footprint is reportedly 26-and three quarter inches long, and five and three-quarter inches wide..

Veteran Bigfoot hunter Tom Biscardi has seen the body and has stated that it is genuine.

Welcome to DNA testing

2008-08-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our Blog. We have many information for share with all. In this blog we can see news realtioned with ADN Technology, the last advances in the genetic science and more.