A.
The Development of Flood-Tolerant Rice
Narrator: This is Science Today. Geneticists at the University of California, Riverside, along with scientists at the University of California, Davis and the International Rice Research Institute in the Phillipines, have developed flood-tolerant California rice. Julia Bailey-Serres of the UC Riverside Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, says the submergence tolerant property can be developed into any variety of rice to enable the crop to survive extreme flood conditions.
Bailey-Serres: For a very long time, rice farmers have been interested in protecting their plants from complete submergence. A lot of the rice lands in the world are susceptible to submergence because of strong rains due to monsoon. The rice is grown in flood prone regions and about twenty percent of the rice growing areas in the world and so having this ability to grow a line that's submergence tolerant would enable rice farmers to ensure that they will have a yield from their crop.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Genetic Link Associated with Age-related Macular Degeneration
Narrator: This is Science Today. A link has been found between the brain plaques that form in Alzheimer's Disease and the deposits in the retina found in age-related macular degeneration. Lincoln Johnson, a research biologist at the University of California , Santa Barbara 's Neuroscience Research Institute, co-led the study
Johnson: We had been studying deposits in the eyes of people with macular degeneration for quite some time because there are abnormal deposits in the eyes of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and those deposits are called drusen. During the course of our studies, one of the objectives was to determine what their molecular composition was
Narrator: The researchers discovered that drusen contained very high concentrations of a protein called amyloid beta - one of the major components in Alzheimer's plaques.
Johnson: If an individual has macular degeneration, they do not necessarily have Alzheimer's and vice versa. But what we've shown is that the basic disease process going on in the brain is very similar to what's going on in the eye.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C. Synthetic Biology: An Emerging, Exciting Discipline
Narrator: This is Science Today. A link has been found between the brain plaques that form in Alzheimer's Disease and the deposits in the retina found in age-related macular degeneration. Lincoln Johnson, a research biologist at the University of California , Santa Barbara 's Neuroscience Research Institute, co-led the study
Johnson: We had been studying deposits in the eyes of people with macular degeneration for quite some time because there are abnormal deposits in the eyes of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and those deposits are called drusen. During the course of our studies, one of the objectives was to determine what their molecular composition was
Narrator: The researchers discovered that drusen contained very high concentrations of a protein called amyloid beta - one of the major components in Alzheimer's plaques.
Johnson: If an individual has macular degeneration, they do not necessarily have Alzheimer's and vice versa. But what we've shown is that the basic disease process going on in the brain is very similar to what's going on in the eye.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
National Efforts to Meet Agriculture & Energy Challenges
Narrator: This is Science Today. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute, which is located in Northern California , are working on decoding the soybean genome in a national effort to support genomics research to meet the nation's agriculture and energy challenges. Jerry Tuskan, a researcher at the Joint Genome Institute, which is managed by the University of California , says the soybean is of particular interest because it is the principal source of biodiesel, a renewable, alternative fuel.
Tuskan: It's the largest plant genome to be attempted to sequence, so sequencing will take place for several more months. Having the genome available to us, not only can we target individual genes, but we can actually take a global examination of how the genes are interacting with each other and make an informative decision about which ones we want to manipulate.
Narrator: Knowing this can impact productivity or growth.
Tuskan: So, it really is an exciting time – anticipation of what will be revealed.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E. Scientists Study and Monitor Toxic Algae
Narrator: This is Science Today. Toxic algae, or harmful algal blooms, are caused by microscopic, toxin-producing phytoplankton, which enter the marine food web and may ultimately cause shellfish poisoning syndrome in humans. Mary Silver, a professor of ocean science at the University of California , Santa Cruz , studies environmental conditions that lead to toxin production and how these toxins make their way up the food chain to humans.
Silver: In most cases, there are very low levels of these in the water and they're not harmful at all, but as you approach some level, then there's enough cells to potentially cause a problem.
Narrator: Toxic algae is a naturally occurring phenomenon that's been part of the ocean's life cycle for thousands, if not millions, of years.
Silver: The concern is that we may be changing the environment in a way to increase their (toxic algae) abundance and that's of great concern and we need to know more about that as one of the ways humans are affecting the sea.
Narrator: Most states in the U.S. have monitoring systems to keep track of toxic algae levels. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
