NASA

Drug development level: A Green Thumb for Space Crystals

Drugs are not so much "discovered" anymore, they are designed. Scientists can now target a specific protein of a pathogenbe it bacterial or viral to maximize a drugs effectiveness while at the same time minimizing possible side effects. This method, known as rational drug design, has one major downside. The exact structure of the target protein must be determined, down to the last molecule. To uncover this molecular structure, scientists use x-ray crystallography. A crystal of the protein is bombarded with x-rays to produce a pattern which, much like a fingerprint, reveals the identity of the proteins atomic structure.

But to get an accurate pattern, the crystal must be as free of imperfections as possible. Growing such crystals can be extremely difficult, even impossible, on Earth because gravity causes the crystals to settle on top of one another resulting in structural flaws.

This is where NASA has been able to help out. In the microgravity of space, the 3dimensional structures of crystals can form flawlessly and achieve larger sizes. Protein crystals grown on Space Shuttle missions provide scientists with up to 40% more information than crystals grown on Earth.

NASA missions have led to the discovery of 30 protein structures and several novel drugs that are in various stages of clinical trials. Close to completion is a treatment for T-cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer. Drugs to treat psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis are also on the way. Potential treatments or cures for diseases ranging from influenza to diabetes are being developed based on protein structures. Many of these target protein structures could not have been determined without the help of crystals grown in space.

In the future, NASAs role in disease-related research will continue to grow. The International Space Station will offer a platform for microgravity crystal growth experiments.

Epidemiological level: Tracking Disease From Space

Epidemiological the scientific and medical study of the causes and transmission of

disease within a population

As important as treatment is to the victims of disease, the ability to track and predict outbreaks can help prevent entire populations from ever succumbing to a given illness

Many diseases, such as lung cancer or heart disease, can develop as the result of genetic predisposition or personal lifestyle choices. Others tend to be spread by external agents, or vectors, such as insects or rodents. Malaria, cholera, hantavirus, and Chagas disease are all examples of vector-borne diseases.

The ability to track these vectors and other risk indicators helps public health officials prevent or reduce the impact of potentially devastating disease outbreaks.

The remote sensing technologies NASA uses to study other planets and monitor the Earths environment are very good at tracking these indicators that are associated with disease outbreaks.

Populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes increase as the result of certain weather patterns. Deer ticksthe carriers of Lyme diseaseare more prevalent in areas with certain types of vegetation. The insect that carries the Chagas parasite is linked to high levels of deforestation, as well as seasonal warm weather.

Satellite imagery can be used to track these indicators in the air, on land, or in the sea. Maps indicating areas of high risk can then be developed. Shifts in high risk areas can easily be tracked with remote sensing data, and preventative measures such as pesticide application can be taken as needed.

The agencys arsenal of Earth-observing technologies is expanding as well. More and higher resolution data will be available to public health organizations and epidemiologists. By putting on the squeeze from above and below, NASA is making a contribution in the fight against disease planet-wide.

Natural substances in book

P46 Flea protein to repair arteries

Elastic protein resilin found in insects Resilin chains are random coils, crossed linked to each other at intervals, precisely designed to favour large stretch and rapid recovery Also resistance to wear and tear Unlike most other proteins not renewed and so must last insect all its life Wing beat of flies and bees, up to 200 times a second undergoes millions of expansion-contraction cycles during lifetime Pad of resilin in rear legs that allow a flea to jump the height equivalent of man jumping over Big Ben acceleration 2300g elastic efficiency 97%, far more than the best synthetic rubber and able to withstand stress and bounce back into shape Scientist therefore taken the gene that produces resilin from fruit flies and cultured it in large quantities in E.coli bacteria Create a super-strong rubbery polymer, stretched up to 3 times own length without breaking Wide range of applications in medicine and industry Used to replace similar elastic material (elastin) in walls of damaged arteries Potentially combact atherosclerosis which can lead to heart attack as could restore elasticity to stiffening blood vessels

P66 Antifreeze proteins

Arctic fish subsist at temperatures well below freezing point of water if blood froze would die Blood contains a special protein AFP antifreeze proteins Differ widely in structure some no more than single alpha heliz, whilst others contain predominantly beta structures All have repeating groups of amino acids, spaced in such a way as to form hydrogen bonds with the water molecules arrayed along the face of an ice crystal which prevents growth of the crystals and so no mass of ice is formed Many practical applications: increasing freeze tolerance of crop plants and extending the harvest season in cooler climates lengthening shelf life of frozen foods improving cryosurgery limitation of tissue damage enhancing preservation of tissues for transplant or transfusion in medicine therapy for hypothermia incorporated into a spray to prevent ice formation on aircraft wings

Carbon nanotubes
P99-104

Tube made from a graphene sheet, narrower than a human hair by a factor of up to about 100,000 (need electron microscope) Ends are capped by a fullerene-type dome Generated in ordinary coal gas or petrol flames Strongest and stiffest material in terms of tensile strength and elastic modulus

Better conductors than metals of heat Colossal strength space elevator in a essence the device is a tethered cable extending from a point near the equator to a captive space station, moving in a geosynchronous orbit. A tower 50km high will form the base of the elevator. The cable, made from nanotubes (useful propensity to associate laterally with one another) would be held in place by a counterbalancing weight in space, rotating with the Earth. People and materials will be conveyed up the cable by an electromagnetic vehicle Other less out of this world uses:

-P176 Drug delivery vehicles with the drug inside the tube, the domed end removed, so as to diffuse out at a rate determined by the diameter of the tube. Or it could be attached by a labile link to the surface

Chemical modification of the carbon to allow attachment is relatively simple and if multiwalled nanotubes are used the capacity would be very large The scope of nanotubes for therapy is demonstrated by this: Cancer cells differ from the normal tissue surrounding them in the proteins that they display on their surface, commonly receptors for metabolic molecules. Certain tumour have a high density of receptors for the vitamin, folic acid. Researches in US bound folic acid to nanotubes, which accordingly attached themselves to tumour cells and to no others. Then take advantage of the useful property of the graphene, its propensity to absorb light in the nearinfrared region of the spectrum. Absorption of IR causes heating, so irradiating the system with an IR laser raised temperature of the nanotubes, but not of the surrounding tissue. The result was that the cells to which they were attached through the folic acid were warmed as if by tiny heating elements and within a few minutes reached the lethal temp of 70deg cel. Thus the tumour cells died whilst the normal cells were untouched. This experiment was only performed in cells in water and remains to be seen how this method can be made to work on solid tumours in the body

http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2005/nanotube-08105.html

-P181

Artificial skin for permanent wear; a covering for prosthetic limbs which would feel and function like natural skin Possibly approach to ambitious goal starts from a durable, flexible polymer containing carbon nanotubes This material will conduct heat so could restore the sensation of hot and cold Carbon nanotubes can conduct sensations through artificial skin back to the brain, making prosthetic limbs feel like the real thing. This nanotube-infused polymer generates electricity in response to pressure or force, creating signals that can be routed to your brain. That's why this synthetic skin can "feel."
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/sensitive-syntheticskin-in-the-works-for-prosthetic-arms http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp? NewsNum=1397

Roll up screen
P189/190

Flexible transistor, created from conventional inorganic semiconductors or from carbon nanotubes, deposited in two separate microscopically thin layers on a flexible polymer sheet

DNA computers
P221

Storage capacity of the silicon computer chip will ultimately reach a limit when miniaturization can go no further DNA used, as storage capacity is immense/ enormous density of information stored DNA is cheap a kg of it contains more information in its four letter code than all the computers on the planet In 1994, Leonard Adleman introduced the idea of using DNA to solve complex mathematical problems. Adleman, a computer scientist came to the conclusion that DNA had computational potential after reading the book

"Molecular Biology of the Gene," written by James Watson, who codiscovered the structure of DNA in 1953. In fact, DNA is very similar to a computer hard drive in how it stores permanent information about your genes.

Adleman is often called the inventor of DNA computers. His article in a 1994 issue of the journal Science outlined how to use DNA to solve a well-known mathematical problem, called the directed Hamilton Path problem, also known as the "traveling salesman" problem. The goal of the problem is to find the shortest route between a number of cities, going through each city only once. As you add more cities to the problem, the problem becomes more difficult. Adleman chose to find the shortest route between seven cities. You could probably draw this problem out on paper and come to a solution faster than Adleman did using his DNA test-tube computer. Here are the steps taken in the Adleman DNA computer experiment:
1. Strands of DNA represent the seven cities. In genes, genetic coding is

represented by the letters A, T, C and G. Some sequence of these four letters represented each city and possible flight path. 2. These molecules are then mixed in a test tube, with some of these DNA strands sticking together. A chain of these strands represents a possible answer. 3. Within a few seconds, all of the possible combinations of DNA strands, which represent answers, are created in the test tube. 4. Adleman eliminates the wrong molecules through chemical reactions, which leaves behind only the flight paths that connect all seven cities.

The success of the Adleman DNA computer proves that DNA can be used to calculate complex mathematical problems. However, this early DNA computer is far from challenging silicon-based computers in terms of speed. The Adleman DNA computer created a group of possible answers very quickly, but it took days for Adleman to narrow down the possibilities. Another drawback of his DNA computer is that it requires human assistance. The goal of the DNA computing field is to create a device that can work independent of human involvement. Three years after Adleman's experiment, researchers at the University of Rochester developed logic gates made of DNA. Logic gates are a vital part of how your computer carries out functions that you command it to do. These gates convert binary code moving through the computer into a series of signals that the computer uses to perform operations. Currently, logic gates interpret input signals from silicon transistors, and convert those signals into an output signal that allows the computer to perform complex functions. The Rochester team's DNA logic gates are the first step toward creating a computer that has a structure similar to that of an electronic PC. Instead

of using electrical signals to perform logical operations, these DNA logic gates rely on DNA code. They detect fragments of genetic material as input, splice together these fragments and form a single output. For instance, a genetic gate called the "And gate" links two DNA inputs by chemically binding them so they're locked in an end-to-end structure, similar to the way two Legos might be fastened by a third Lego between them. The researchers believe that these logic gates might be combined with DNA microchips to create a breakthrough in DNA computing.

DNA computer components -- logic gates and biochips -- will take years to develop into a practical, workable DNA computer. If such a computer is ever built, scientists say that it will be more compact, accurate and efficient than conventional computers.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/dna-computer2.htm

Climate change travel

P186 Buses that emit no carbon dioxide etc Powered by fuel cells, which convert chemical fuel into electricity without burning it Hydrogen and oxygen molecules undergo conversion at two opposite electrodes, separated from one another in the reaction chamber by a polymer membrane At anode each hydrogen looses an electron H2 H+ + 2eProtons migrate through membrane to cathode Oxygen supplied in the form of air, and reaction takes place that leads to the formation of water The electron flow does the work of energy accumulation. Membrane is key to the technology for it must conduct the protons selectively without dissolving or deteriorating.

Normally use Nafion, a fluorinated polymer like Teflon, but carrying acidic groups More recently a polymer of greater durability has been synthesized, also based on a fluorocarbon. Its a copolymer of a fully fluorinated polyether and the acidic polysterensulphonic acid, with pendant groups. Advantage that can be moulded into any shape/size/thickness

Drugs cancer, Alzheimers

Cancer see carbon nanotubes
Alzheimers booklet p6-7

Discovery of 5 new genes linked to late onset Alzheimers (doubles number of genes known to cause it) -4 have functions at the cell surface -3 involved in moving fats around inside our cells

New pathways have been indentified such as inflammation, cholesterol and cell transport systems Help research into the cause of the disease, providing a clear route to developing the new treatments Still 10-15 years away from effect treatment

P8-9 DIAGNOSIS

Can be detected in healthy elderly people Patients with low levels of protein called amyloid in cerebrospinal fluid experienced brain shrinkage at twice the rate as those with higher levels Suggest increased risk of Alzheimers and that may develop many years before patient experiences any symptoms warning sign TREATMENT

Research carried out between links between Alz and diabetes discovered that two drugs currently used to treat diabetes could actually repair damage to the brain caused by Alz Drugs mimic a hormone responsible for stimulating production of insulin; however also noted that they stimulated growth of new brain cells Drugs also prevented build up of protein amyloid in the brain and helped protect the formation of memories PREVENTION

Daily dose of Vit B have the rate of brain shrinkage in elderly people suffering with MCI, half of which go on to develop dementia