|
World's first computer model of organism created
Sunday July 22, 2012 12:33:29 PM, IANS
|
|
|
|
|
Washington: Scientists have created the world's first ever computer model of
an organism -- a breakthrough which would catalyse radically new
approaches to diagnostics and treatment.
A team led by Markus Covert, assistant professor of bioengineering
at the Stanford University, used data from more than 900
scientific papers to account for every molecular interaction that
takes place in the life cycle of Mycoplasma genitalium.
M. genitalium, the world's smallest free-living bacterium, shows
up uninvited in human urogenital and respiratory tracts.
The pathogen also contains the smallest genome of any free-living
organism, only 525 genes, as opposed to the 4,288 of E. coli, a
more traditional lab bug, the journal Cell reports.
Even at this small scale, the quantity of data that the Stanford
researchers incorporated into the virtual cell's code was
enormous.
The final model made use of more than 1,900 experimentally
determined parameters, according to a Stanford statement.
"Comprehensive computer models of entire cells have the potential
to advance our understanding of cellular function and, ultimately,
to inform new approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of
disease," said James M. Anderson, director of the National
Institutes of Health Division of Programme Coordination, Planning
and Strategic Initiatives, which had part funded the research.
Most biological experiments, however, still take a reductionist
approach to this vast array of data: knocking out a single gene
and seeing what happens.
"Many of the issues we're interested in aren't single-gene
problems," said Covert. "They're the complex result of hundreds or
thousands of genes interacting."
"You don't really understand how something works until you can
reproduce it yourself," said Jayodita Sanghvi, Stanford
bioengineering graduate student and study co-author.
"The goal hasn't only been to understand M. genitalium better.
It's to understand biology generally," said study co-author and
Stanford biophysics graduate student Jonathan Karr.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 Counting of presidential poll votes begins
Counting of votes for the presidential poll began here Sunday with
UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee looking set to win. Senior Congress
leaders including Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Minister of
State for Parliamenta
»
Presidential changeover with 'hazar salam',
buggy ride
Advantage Pranab as lawmakers vote to elect
new president
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 Rediscovered Delhi mosque site handed over
to ASI
A day after the Delhi High Court ordered suspension of the
construction of a mosque at an excavated site near the
»
Court stays construction of mosque near Jama Masjid
|
|
Heavy rains kill nine in Hyderabad, many colonies submerged
Nine
people, including two women and three children, were killed in
incidents of wall collapse in Hyderabad as heavy rains lashed the
city since Friday night, throwing normal life out of gear and
inundating over 50 colonies, officials said. Five people,
including a woman, were killed when the
» |
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 M.A. Yusuf Ali resigns from Air India board
M.A. Yusuf Ali, an industrialist from the Middle
East, has resigned from the Air India board. Speaking to reporters
Saturday, Ali said that in the past two years since » |
|
HRD ministry to preserve Kashmir's
manuscripts, paintings
Human
Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Saturday said that his
ministry has decided to take up preservation of Kashmir's rich
manuscript wealth under the national preservation
»
|
|
Egyptian channel with veiled women launches
broadcast
Maria TV, a
new satellite news channel that only features women wearing the
full Islamic veil, has been launched in Egypt. Men are banned from
the show, a media report said Saturday. Stationed in a small
apartment » |
|
Muslims around world start Ramadan fasting
Muslims around the world have begun fasting, as the holy month of
Ramadan started in most countries yesterday while the rest of the
countries observing the obligatory ritual from today.
»
Fasting is prescribed so that you may learn self-restraint
Barring Mumbai, Ahmadabad Ramadan in India to
start Saturday
Ramadan to start in Saudi Arabia, UAE Friday
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
Mohd. Hamid Ansari filing the nomination papers for the Vice
Presidential Election, in the presence of the Prime Minister,
Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Chairperson, National Advisory
Council, Mrs.Sonia Gandhi and other dignitaries, at
Parliament, in New Delhi on July 18, 2012. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links