The study was conducted by the University of Granada Department of Experimental Psychology and has been published in the prestigious journal Consciousness and Cognition. This is the first time that a scientific explanation is provided on the esoteric phenomenon of the aura, a supposed energy field of luminous radiation surrounding a person as a halo, which is imperceptible to most human beings.

In neurological terms, synesthesia is due to unusual cross-wiring in the brain of some people (synesthetes); in other words, synesthetes present more synaptic connections than “normal” people. These extra connections cause them to automatically establish associations between brain areas that are not normally interconnected. Many healers claiming to see the aura of people might have this condition.

The case of the “Santón de Baza”
The University of Granada researchers remark that “not all healers are synesthetes, but there is a higher prevalence of this phenomenon among them. The same occurs among painters and artists, for example”. To carry out this study, the researchers interviewed some synesthetes as the healer from Granada “Esteban Sánchez Casas”, known as “El Santón de Baza”.

Many people attribute “paranormal powers” to El Santón, such as his ability to see the aura of people “but, in fact, it is a clear case of synesthesia”, the researchers explain. El Santón presents face-color synesthesia (the brain region responsible for face recognition is associated with the color-processing region); touch-mirror synesthesia (when the synesthete observes a person who is being touched or is experiencing pain, s/he experiences the same); high empathy (the ability to feel what other person is feeling), and schizotypy (certain personality traits in healthy people involving slight paranoia and delusions). “These capacities make synesthetes have the ability to make people feel understood, and provide them with special emotion and pain reading skills”, the researchers explain.

In the light of the results obtained, the researchers remark the significant “placebo effect” that healers have on people, “though some healers really have the ability to see people’s auras and feel the pain in others due to synesthesia”. Some healers “have abilities and attitudes that make them believe in their ability to heal other people, but it is actually a case of self-deception, as synesthesia is not an extrasensory power, but a subjective and ‘adorned’ perception of reality”, the researchers state.

At the end of this month, a group of protestors are planning to descend upon a field in Hertfordshire and, in their words, ‘decontaminate’ (i.e. destroy) a field of genetically modified wheat. The activists, from an organization called ‘Take the Flour Back’, claim to be saving Britain from a deadly environmental menace. But in reality, these self-appointed guardians of Gaia are threatening not only to undo hundreds of man-years of publicly-funded research but also helping to destroy one of the best hopes we have of avoiding catastrophic famines in the poorest parts of the world in future decades. It is eco-snobbery on a global scale.

This planned Hertfordshire protest is against a strain of wheat that has been genetically modified to create its own aphid repellent, a chemical that smells like mint. The scientists behind it, who work at the Rothamsted Research Institute, hope that the new wheat will require far less pesticide to grow than conventional varieties. If the technology works, they will not patent it and let the world’s poorest farmers have access to the new wheat at minimal cost. This is the type of science, with real-world benefits, that this government is so keen to encourage.

The genetically modified food debate has global implications, allowing the rich retard progressive farming technology needed to feed poor countries.

Those opposing transgenic technology have been given an easy ride by an often naive media for the last 20 years. But there is now growing anger among scientists and even some green activists that a technology that may represent our only real hope of feeding the extra three billion mouths expected on our planet is being stymied — in the name of ‘purity’. This is a nonsensical idea in a world which already depends on intensive, industrialized agriculture.

In Norwich, another group of scientists, at the John Innes Centre, is developing a strain of wheat resistant to a devastating new fungus which is sweeping across the Horn of Africa and into southwest Asia, a region which will be the engine of global population growth in the 21st Century. If the ‘Ug99’ stem-rust fungus reaches the Punjab, it is feared that 200 million may die. The scientists would love to be able to test this wheat in the field to see if the technology works, but there is little chance of that as nearly all African governments have forbidden transgenic plants to cross their borders.

So successful have these anti-Western campaigns been that a decade ago we witnessed the obscenity that was the refusal by the Zambian government to allow the donation of transgenic corn to feed nearly three million people hit by drought and famine.
It is an obscenity, too, that the greens are happy to see children lose their sight rather than consume the hated Genetically Modified (GM) foods. In Switzerland, a deeply humane and now extremely angry scientist called Ingo Potrykus, who in a sane world would be clutching a Nobel Prize, has devoted his life to the creation of a new variety of ‘golden rice’ that, unlike the natural variety, is rich in Vitamin A. Deficiency in this vitamin is thought to cause 400 million cases of malnutrition, 2 million deaths and 500,000 cases of child blindness every year. Thanks to the success of anti-GM campaigns the introduction of golden rice has been delayed by more than a decade.

Transgenic technology has not caused a single human to become ill, nor has there ever been a single case of environmental damage caused by this now-mature technology in three decades of trials and commercial farming. Opposition to GMOs has nothing to do with science and everything to do with a strain of green fundamentalism that is more akin to a religion than rationality. Myths abound that GM crops will cause allergies and sickness, that the genes will leap across to other species and create mutant monsters and unstoppable superweeds. All have been proven to be false.

In 1798, Thomas Malthus argued that mankind’s expansion would be halted by the planet’s finite resources, and the world population would be ‘kept equal to the means of subsistence, by misery and vice.’ Since then the world population has grown sevenfold, and global poverty levels have never been lower. What Malthus did not consider was mankind’s ingenuity in inventing ways to combat starvation. But we may have reached the limits of conventional farming technology to feed our burgeoning species. The United Nations projects that Africa’s population will treble over this century. The continent can barely feed itself now.

Transgenic farming technology is not a panacea, but nor is it a hazardous luxury. If we are to avoiding another humanitarian crisis, there is no alternative but to take that next step. The decadent opposition must stop.

Resveratrol was always thought to have health benefits, but the exact mechanism of that effect was never clearly understood.

Understanding how resveratrol works would open a possibility of developing an anti-aging drug. Recently, scientists showed that mice lacking the longevity gene known as SIRT1, don’t seem to benefit from resveratrol.

SIRT1 is one of many genes activated by resveratrol and scientists struggled to find the principal gene that is responsible for increased life span. SITR1 knock-out mice didn’t survive, therefore Sinclair and his colleagues created conditional knockout of SITR1 and fed them with resveratrol. The scientists then proved that mice with normal SIRT1 gene lived as long as those with SITR1 deficiency.

The dosage of resveratrol seems to be the critical aspect, with high doses starting to activate other genes. Thus, it initially targets SIRT1, while at higher doses acting on other genes. Animals lacking that gene obtained no benefit.

The findings which are published in the May issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism offer the first definitive proof of the absolute link between the anti-aging properties of resveratrol and the SIRT1 gene. Researchers can now focus on small molecule compounds that act on the enzymatic activity of the SIRT1 gene. The promising new approach could produce many new drugs that combat aging, including diseases like dementia, Alzheimer’s, stroke and others.

Not only will the technique make it easier to produce genetically modified mice and other animals, but it may also enable genetic modification of animals that can’t be modified by conventional techniques. The technique might even be used in assisted human reproduction for those couples affected by genetic disease.

The current procedure to generate genetically modified animals is tedious and very inefficient. Now scientists can generate haploid embryonic stem cells and produce heterozygote animals by simply injecting those in vitro manipulated haESCs into unfertilized oocytes. This approach eliminates excessive breeding and allows getting 100% of F1 animals carrying new genes in germ line cells.

Currently, genetically modified mice are made from diploid embryonic stem cells carrying two copies of every gene. These diploid embryonic cells can be cultured in vitro and genetically manipulated and then injected into blastocysts early in development to produce chimeras, animals whose tissues are made up of cells derived from both the blastocyst and from the modified ES cells. As the modified cells are randomly incorporated into the cells of blastocyst, there is a chance that they will give rise to egg and sperm cells carrying genetic modification that can be passed on to future generations. But it’s a slow and uncertain process.

Haploid embryonic stem cells (haESCs) can be produced by first removing the nucleus from immature eggs (oocytes) and then injecting them with sperm. These cells are amenable to gene manipulations and supporting transmission of genetic information to offspring. These haploid cells open new avenues for the generation of genetically modified animals. The next challenge is to improve the sperm-like features of the haESCs by optimizing their makeup without otherwise compromising them.

The new method might also lead to genetic modification of animals, such as monkeys or humans, that have been off limits because they don’t support the production of chimeras.

As for human reproduction, right now the haESCs are clearly not as good as sperm for the purposes of in vitro fertilization, but they could someday have advantages. A similar technique might be one day used to correct genetic disease in germ cells in humans to have a healthy baby for parents.

We invite you to join us for the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) 2012 Annual Meeting, May 15-18, 2012 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. This meeting will feature plenary sessions, educational workshops, corporate workshops, contributed papers, poster sessions, and working group discussions. Vendors from around the world will demonstrate the latest products, services, and technology in the field of repository and specimen collection.

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The exact molecular mechanism of animals’ navigational abilities still remains a mystery. Recent study published in Nature Communications showed that genetically modified flies lacking their light-sensitive protein cryptochrome lose their sense of magnetic field. Interestingly, replacing the protein with human homologous protein restored the ability. Although humans express cryptochrome in their eyes, no conclusive evidence exists that humans can sense the Earth’s magnetic field.

“I would be very surprised if we don’t have this [magnetic] sense… the issue is to figure out how we use it”- sais Steven Reppert, University of Massachusetts Medical School who has been studying the roles of this protein for a number of years.

“We developed a system to study the real mechanism of magnetosensing in fruit flies… we can put these proteins from other animals [including humans] into the fly and ask, ‘do these proteins in their different forms actually function as magnetoreceptors?’,” said Dr Reppert. “I would be very surprised if we don’t have this sense; it’s used in a variety of other animals. I think that the issue is to figure out how we use it. I think one of the things that put people off accepting the reality of human magnetoreception 20 years ago was the lack of an obvious receptor,” he told BBC News.

Some people may feel the magnetic waves better than the other. It is conceivable that people with extrasensory abilities can decode electromagnetic signals emitted by neurons of other people and read others’ minds.

The research was presented at the 12th Annual Spring Meeting on Cardiovascular Nursing, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Stroke is the third cause of death in the western world and the first cause of disability in adults. More and more older people are having strokes and undergoing recovery. Identifying strategies to improve stroke recovery and patients’ quality of life represent a priority for the health care system and art exposure seems to be promising.

192 stroke survivors (average age 70 years) were asked if they liked or did not like art (music, painting, theatre). Quality of life was compared for patients interested in art (105) and patients not interested in art (87).

Patients interested in art had better general health, found it easier to walk, and had more energy. They were also happier, less anxious or depressed, and felt calmer. They had better memory and were superior communicators (speaking with other people, understanding what people said, naming people and objects correctly).

Dr Vellone says: “Stroke survivors who saw art as an integrated part of their former lifestyle, by expressing appreciation towards music, painting and theatre, showed better recovery skills than those who did not.”

“In our study the ‘art’ group of patients showed a comparable clinical picture to the ‘no art’ group,” he adds. “This is important because it means that patients belonging to the ‘art’ group had a better quality of life independently from the gravity of stroke.”

Other researchers have shown that listening to favorite music directly stimulates a feeling a pleasure by releasing dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is the starting point of the so-called gratification circuit that activates oxytocin (the hormone of love) and finally endorphins (the molecules of pleasurable emotions). “Dopamine improves quality of life each time it is released in the brain,” says Dr Vellone. “Further research is needed to see if other art forms stimulate dopamine release.”

He adds: “These results shed light on the importance of lifelong exposure to art for improving the recovery process after a stroke. Introducing art into nursing care after stroke could help improve stroke survivors’ quality of life.”

When we bleed, platelets in the blood build up at the site of the wound, forming a plug that stops further blood loss. But this clotting can also happen inside blood vessels, such as when a fatty deposit in a narrow artery bursts. At the site of the burst, blood platelets clump into a clot that can block the artery and stop blood flow to the brain or heart, resulting in a stroke or heart attack. Aspirin reduces the ability of the platelets to clump, thereby lowering the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Three studies published in The Lancet, have identified one more benefit of aspirin: prevention of cancer. Moreover, scientists propose that treatment with daily aspirin may also prevent an existing, localized cancer from spreading to other parts of the body, which is just as important.

It is known that taking daily aspirin increases the risk of internal bleeding. As aspirin reduces risk of cancer, stroke and heart attacks, which are much more likely to lead to disability or death then internal bleeding, more and more people, even those presently enjoying good health, ask the question: “Should I be taking aspirin every day?” and “Should health authorities consider recommending routine use of aspirin for cancer prevention?” The papers do not necessarily furnish a clear answer to these questions.

The critics of the paper say that there is not enough evidence and that they are not ready to recommend aspirin for cancer prevention. “They say that while the studies “provide compelling evidence, taking aspirin is not yet recommended to prevent cancer and people should not start taking it daily as a precautionary measure.” They also say the evidence for taking aspirin purely to prevent cancer or to treat it is “even less substantial than for blood thinning”, and urge “we cannot be sure that the potential benefits are not outweighed by the known risks”. It is known also that aspirin can cause serious harm through increased risk of stomach irritation and bleeding. And, ironically, while daily aspirin can help prevent a clot-related (ischemic) stroke, it may actually increase the risk of a bleeding (hemorrhagic) stroke. Risk of taking aspirin is different between men and women (and among women, it also depends on age), the risk of bleeding with daily aspirin is about the same in both sexes.

The risk of bleeding also tends to be higher in older people, those with a history of stomach ulcers, and people already taking medication or who have conditions that increase the risk of bleeding.

Daily aspirin use also increases the risk of developing a stomach ulcer. And, for anyone with a bleeding ulcer, taking aspirin will cause it to bleed more, perhaps to a life-threatening extent, say experts at the Mayo Clinic in the US.

People with asthma can also experience breathing problems with aspirin.

Other side effects of taking aspirin include nausea and indigestion, ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and hearing loss. And some people can have an allergic reaction.

Many experts would also advise those thinking about taking daily aspirin as a way to cut cancer risk, to consider there are many other, less harmful lifestyle changes that can also make a difference: such as giving up smoking, following a healthy diet, limiting alcohol intake, keeping to a normal weight, and taking regular exercise.