Are we virus…!!!

You may not know it, but you’re part virus.

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At least, some of your genes come from viruses that slipped their DNA into the genes of our primate ancestors millions of years ago.

The DNA remnants of these ancient “retroviruses,” distant relatives of today’s HIV, account for an estimated 8 percent of the human genetic code and may have enabled master genes that account for some of the differences between us and our chimpanzee relatives.

Master genes

Not all genes are created equal; the master genes can turn the others on and off, thus gaining control over genes related to cell division, DNA repair and programmed cell death. (This regulation of genes allows for tighter control of gene expression (i.e. which genes are turned on or off), which can account for the wide differences between humans and other apes, despite our very similar genetic codes.)

One such gene, called p53, has the job of coordinating the surveillance system that monitors the well-being of cells. It is so important in this job that when it fails, cancer is often the result—biologists even call it the “guardian of the genome.”

Scientists had long wondered how genes such as p53 built their powerful empire over other genes. A new study detailed this week in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences implicates the ancient retroviruses as the force behind p53’s rise to power.

Repetitive DNA

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, analyzed and compared genetic data from different species and found that certain retroviruses entered the genome about 40 million years ago and spread rapidly in primates about 25 million years ago.

Earlier research had shown that the DNA remnants of retroviruses like to jump around in the genetic code, and it’s this movement into new positions throughout the human genome that spread copies of repetitive DNA sequences, which in turn allowed p53 to regulate many other genes, the UCSC team said. (The association between the sequences and gene regulation had been suspected as far back as 1971.)

“This would have provided a mechanism to quickly establish a gene regulatory network in a very short evolutionary time frame,” said lead researcher Ting Wang.

The results also call into question previous views that these repetitive sequences, or so-called junk-DNA, didn’t code for anything or serve a particular purpose.

“We’re starting to uncover the treasure in this junk,” Wang said.

• Top 10 Mysterious Diseases
• Inside Look: How Viruses Invade Us
• The Top 10 Worst Heredity Conditions

• Original Story: What’s in Your Genes? Ancient Parasites

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COMPUTERS AND UNEMPLOYMENT

 A  decade ago, A pale office room. Crowded in every corner. Filled with files, desks, calculators, and yes of course.. men some 50 or 60. Each working hard. Hard enough to keep their positions with them. Tallying accounts, making fresh receipts, checking the old ones. Presently, a lively room, recently refurnished, 6 or 7 people sitting with each dug into something, something bright and luminous, with strange kind of typewriter, what is it??? Oh yes.. it is what is called a computer. From 60 people in a room to 7 sharing the same place, that’s what a computer has done in jus one decade. Of course new technique that it is, has brought with it more accuracy, precision and above all saved time, a lot of time. Certainly useful bit of thing. But did it only bring along things? No, it just replaced men, with a ratio, looking too good to the profit seeking companies, may be one system equivalents to 10 people.. or even more.  To be on technical side.. An increase in the pace of technological change can have two profound side effects in the labor market. It can increase the rate and the average duration of unemployment. Because firms may not consider it cost-effective to retrain some types of workers to keep up with change, notably the less-educated and older employees, these workers may be jobless for long periods of time, with some of them perhaps never working again. If technological change causes workers to become unemployed more often and for longer periods of time, not only will the level of unemployment increase, but the “natural rate of unemployment,” the hypothesized minimum sustainable rate of unemployment, will increase as well  However, as all the coins, this technological advancement too has a positive side to it. Technology both eliminates jobs and creates jobs. Generally it destroys lower wage, lower productivity jobs, while it creates jobs that are more productive, high-skill and better paid. Historically, the income-generating effects of new technologies have proved more powerful than the labour -displacing effects: technological progress has been accompanied not only by higher output and productivity, but also by higher overall employment. Even though technological change may adversely effect the demand for labor in some labor markets, the overall effect of technological change on total employment may be positive. Technological change tends to increase the rate of economic growth. Higher rates of economic growth are generally associated with lower unemployment rates. This relationship between changes in the rate of economic growth and the change in the unemployment rate is summarized by “Okun’s law,” a relationship that indicates that a 1% increase in the rate of economic growth lowers the unemployment rate by 0.3%. While there is some doubt about the exact magnitude of this effect, there is substantial empirical evidence that unemployment rates tend to fall when the rate of economic growth is higher. While the effect of technological change on the unemployment rate is ambiguous, this may be little consolation to those workers whose job skills have been rendered obsolete as a result of technological change. One of the issues that every industrialized society has to deal with is the extent to which the government should be involved in the retraining of structurally unemployed workers.  

INNOVATRIONS ARE NEEDED THE MOST…

According to Lord Byron -“Man is the noblest creation of God”. True, he was created in the image of God. Hence he possessed all the virtues, but the power to fancy or possession of intellect distinguished him from other creatures. Man is looked upon as superior or supreme being only because he has the inventive power with the help of which, he can make or mar the very existence of life on this planet. It is his this intellect or thinking power which enables him to not only fulfill the basic requirements but also to reach the acme of progress. From the unsophisticated life led by the early man in the lap of nature to the man exploring space including planets- that is a big journey which has been possibly covered with the help of that inventive power or the innovation which only the mortal man possesses. The question that arises here is that where this power must be utilized to prove advantageous up to the maximum extent. In my opinion, the field of science is the most appropriate field for this purpose. The wonders of science have conquered space and time. Man has been able to invent and discover innumerable things for the convenience and comforts of mankind.  It is said that necessity is the mother of inventions. This means that whenever the need arises or any requirement is felt anywhere, one automatically find ways and means to get those desires satisfied. In this attempt, he keeps on making experiments until he succeeds. Since time immemorial, man has been doing so, although he has achieved much by dint of his persuarance, hard-work, strength and last but not the least his inventive power. The posterity will keep on struggling in this interaction, but as we know a very little ground has been gained so far and far more is to be achieved and conquered. Newton used to consider himself to be a child playing with grains of sand on the coast of the ocean of knowledge stretched out before him unfathomed while he with such vast knowledge was nothing. Also, the great scientist of all times Einstein himself is believed to have used only five percent of the total brain available to us- the maximum ever used yet. This illustrates the idea that a thick layer office is still to be broken in future. This idea which I want to accentuate is that man with the help of his ingenuity can work wonders.  Although nobody can keep a record of the miracles done by man with the help of science both in destructive as well as constructive spheres, yet much is to be done.  So far as other spheres are concerned, such as political field, commercial field, sports etc. prospects of using this power of analysis can not be denied. Innovation is useful in different spheres. In some it has proved to be advantageous, while in others, it has proved to be detrimental to the progress of humanity. Man’s innovation sometimes has led to annihilation   and destruction of several creations. In some fields, such as sports man has gained progress due to his intellect or his intelligence. But it strengthens his muscular power ounce name and fame for him and inculcates several  qualities but, in spite of all these facts the good which is done by or can be done by human beings on the basis of his inventive power is far more in science that in any other field.  Several diseases, including those which were considered to be incurable, have been cured and immense good ahs been done by providing relief to the sufferers or the ailing humanity.Besides these, man has attained success in numerous other spheres such as means of transport, communication, to facilitate literacy, providing sources of entertainment, increasing knowledge, etc. In the poem-“the Psalm of Life”, the poet says-“SAY NOT THE STRUGGLE NAUGHT AVAILETH”, This implies that struggle never goes unrewarded. It is sure to bear fruit. Hence, in a nutshell we can say that if, human beings, with the help of their inventive power, or the power to create new ideas and power to produce products, etc., he can acquire the pinnacle of glory and can make this era to be the best one. The need of the hour is to utilize that ability which God has bestowed upon him for the welfare of mankind. ***————***———–***

BREAKING NEWS!!!

BREAKING NEWS!!!! A seven year old girl holds a snake! BREAKING NEWS!!! Ghost haunts government office! BREAKING NEWS!!! The great director actor sneezed, chances of cold and cough!!! No, this in not the regular bulletin. It’s just the preview of what is being shown on so-called news channels. News – the day today happenings of the world around us. True and that is what these channels are doing. Just one question that comes to mind… is it what we really want to know when we switch on those very programmes??? A snake charmers story? A feud between two housewives? Is that all left to be covered in this whole world full of happenings? The age old meaning and significance of THE BREAKING NEWS has been overcome with new dimensions. For today’s media everything and anything that is gossip (to say in more local language) is the breaking news. Today, when we have the nuclear threat over our head, the bureaucracy exploiting, the new U.N. deals for peace and yet what they have to show is this. The basic ethics for journalism as far as I can understand, isn’t just about making more dough and increasing TRP’s, it’s much more about bringing awareness to the people and in a way educating them. The responsibility they bear, that is to say, bringing to the people’s attention the present scenario isn’t to tell them what they see and hear in their daily lives. No, it’s about bringing their problems to the forefront, be a guiding light and give some light on the matters without being biased. The television media today are not only exploiting and taking advantage of people’s emotions but also spreading among them the already so prevalent – SUPERSTITION. In this competitive time, wherein all the news channels are rat racing each other, they have left behind the main motive for them being there. The media today has forgotten to be impartial, to clean the mirror of truth. An event, their so-called story, is just so treated, as a story, to be molded as per desire, whatever is benefiting them. 100s of channels, 100 different versions of the same event, isn’t it a little misleading to the viewer? It is the duty of the media to just present the facts, but not to present a conclusion of their own, which now has become an every news trend. Facts come later, punch line- the conclusion, first. Do we want stories or the facts to be presented to us? It is for the mass to decide what side they should opt for, not just follow blindly the present set of values the news channels adopt. News about Indo-Pak relations, any movie, or even unpredictable matches, the odds about it are a secondary issue. What the stars and planets have to tell comes first, and then comes the economic value. Why can’t we be given the face value? And isn’t consulting astrology for every single little thing pulling us back into the primitive ages? The sadhu babas are shown giving blessings to a woman for bearing a son. Won’t that encourage female infanticide? Superstition as one may see is already the disease corrupting the roots of the country. Yet, it is one of the most prominent and promising tools used by the media today. It is high time that these people realize what they are doing. They carry on their shoulders the strength of the nation. But, I am grieved to say that this strength is being used for a purpose so wrong in direction. Isn’t there a solution to it? Why can’t there be a censor board as it is for every other thing? Why not show these gossip columns of television a glimpse of the harm they are causing. There is a solution to everything. For this too, just what is required is the courage to do it. And sooner or later this has to happen, it just depends how sooner we realize it and how much damage would have been caused before we realize!!!

i love them, i adore them.

As I wonder through the shades of past,

The Grays seem to dissappear from my vision.

The livid Contours always take to my eyes.

I love them, I adore them.

 

I might have not faced the Black,

Lived in all the glorifying colors.

Just a few dulls and gray that i have seen yet,

I love them, I adore them.

 

 All of them teach me a lesson,

Blue of life, White of peace.

The greedy Green or the viscious Muddy,

Yet I love them, Yet I adore them.

 

They made the Chocolaty peaks of my journey,

The valleys they threw me into,

The flowers they grew,Thorns that pricked,

I still love them, I still adore them.

 

The gloomy Yellow,

The sunny Orange,

Lusty Silver or the wise Golden of currency,

Made me love them, Made me adore them.

 

And yet when i know,

I have grays to see.

And more gloomy days to face,

Allthemore I love them, Allthemore I adore them.

 

I love them as they show me life,

The varying Contours, It lets me  face them.

They enrich me, Endorse my wisdom.

Yes I love them, yes I adore them.

 

And so again, Oh please! show me,

The Red of blood, The White of skin.

The death of life…

And I will love you, and I will adore you.