A.
The National Science Foundation Funds a Synthetic Biology Center
Narrator: This is Science Today. The National Science Foundation is funding a 16 million dollar, multi-institution synthetic biology center at the University of California , Berkeley , which will strive to engineer biology as quickly and easily as it is now to assemble hard drives and memory chips into a computer. The Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center , or SynBERC, will be led by bio- and chemical engineer, Jay Keasling.
Keasling: Synthetic biology is really putting engineering to biology. The goal of the center is to engineer biology and to discover how one can engineer biology and then use that on some cutting edge applications.
Narrator: Such as developing anti-cancer microbes or the efficient production of a plant-based transportation fuel. The key, Keasling says, is setting standards for biological components similar to those of the microelectronics industry.
Keasling: Where we set standards for our parts and you're able to essentially buy biological components and assemble them to create a functioning, larger system that might develop a drug for you, that might produce a transportation fuel.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
Refrigerated Slices of Fresh Fruit Maintain Nutritious Value
Narrator: This is Science Today. The next time you slice up a lot of fresh fruit, you can rest assured that the fruit will keep well in the refrigerator for the rest of the week. In fact, it turns out that sliced fruit that's been stored in the fridge for up to nine days will remain as nutritious as the day it was cut. Adel Kader, a post-harvest expert at the University of California , Davis , led a team of researchers who measured disease-fighting antioxidants in the cut fruit over a nine-day period.
Kader: If you cut fruit, either at home or if you buy fresh-cut fruit, as long as you keep them in the refrigerator until they're consumed, their nutritional quality remains quite high. You get freshly harvested watermelons and you cut them, they're going to last longer than if you purchase them after several days through the distribution system when they have already started to deteriorate.
Narrator: Kader, who has been studying the flavor and nutritional quality of fruit for over three decades, says in some cases fruit today is better than it was in the past.
Kader: The plant breeders have been selecting for better nutritional quality in addition to better flavor.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C. Depressed Older Adults are at Higher Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Narrator: This is Science Today. Mild cognitive impairment is a decline in cognitive function that's considered a transition stage between changes due to normal aging and dementia. New findings suggest that older adults with depressive symptoms are more likely than those without depression to develop mild cognitive impairment within six years. Dr. Deborah Barnes, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California , San Francisco , led the study.
Barnes: This was part of a study called the Cardiovascular Health Study of almost six thousand older adults who were interviewed every year for ten years. And what we did was we identified a group that didn't have any cognitive problems at the beginning of the study and we looked to see which of those people were depressed and which were not depressed and then we followed them over time to see who developed cognitive problems over time.
Narrator: Those with depressive symptoms at the beginning of the study were twice as likely as those without symptoms to develop mild cognitive impairment after six years. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Understanding Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Narrator: This is Science Today. The use of embryonic stem cells for research has been controversial, but now scientists are reporting a technique that does not require the destruction of human embryos. Still, Dr. Judith Gasson, co-director of UCLA's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, says it's important for people to understand the source of embryonic stem cells used in research.
Gasson: Embryonic stem cells come from fertility clinics. Eggs and sperm are mixed together in a test tube and then they're frozen in liquid nitrogen and some number of those will be implanted into the woman and typically what remains in those freezers is basically discarded. So, rather than discarding those tissues that were produced, they can be donated to research and that's the source of embryonic stem cells – it's not coming from fetuses. The cells have never even been inside a human being, so I think that's important for people to understand.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E. Why the Protection of Coral Reefs is Important
Narrator: This is Science Today. Researchers at the University of California , San Diego 's Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been studying the demise of coral reefs and found that bacteria and algae are combining to kill coral. Marine ecologist, Stuart Sandin, says they discovered an indirect microbial mechanism in which bacteria kill coral with the help of algae and since human activities are contributing to the growth of algae on coral reefs, Sandin says awareness is important to prevent a long-term continued decline.
Sandin: The reefs provide us a lot of different benefits. Coral reefs are for a lot of tropical countries, which frequently are less wealthy nations, provide a huge amount of protein via fishing.
Narrator: Aside from their aesthetic beauty, coral reefs also serve as a physical land break.
Sandin: Most recently during the tsunami that hit Indonesia , there were areas that had coral reefs in front of them were protected and didn't suffer as much damage. With the climate changing the way it is right now, it's certainly nice to have any sort of buffer from these increased frequency big weather events that are happening.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
