Российская наука и мир (дайджест)

Russian scientists are currently studying and restoring Mongolian entombment, aged 3 hundred years before Christ, discovered in the city of Novosibirsk.
This year has seen an interesting result of the collaboration with German scientists - an "Altai Human". This permafrost entombment dates back to three hundred years before Christ and boasts perfect conservation - scientists have found wood, felt, fabric and human organic remains.
Scientists are going to describe their finding in a book, scheduled for publishing next year. "The human being, whose remains were found, was a warrior and a shepherd", said the deputy director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of Russian Academy of Sciences (Siberian Branch).

© Garant-InfoCentre, 2004-2006.

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Fuel Cell Works - USA / 13-December-2006

Russian capabilities benefit the hydrogen economy
Collaboration under nonproliferation program provides improved hydrogen gas sensors

Тихоокеанская северо-западная национальная лаборатория и Научно-исследовательский физико-химический институт им. Л.Я.Карпова совместно организуют производство миниатюрного водородного датчика. Подобное устройство для обнаружения и измерения уровня газа в воздухе необходимо во многих отраслях промышленности, использующих водород.

RICHLAND, Wash. - The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has brokered a cooperative partnership between a U.S. firm, a Russian Institute and its scientists for commercialization of a miniature hydrogen gas sensor with improved reliability and response time. Such a device will provide added safety, detection capability and efficiency to a variety of applications industry-wide.
The collaboration represents the latest commercial venture between technical institutes in the former Soviet Union, DOE national laboratories and U.S. industry under the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration's Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program. GIPP is a nonproliferation program that helps to redirect former weapons of mass destruction scientists to sustainable, non-military employment in countries where scientists and technicians are at risk of recruitment by terrorists or rogue states.
In May 2006, Battelle exclusively licensed patent applications based on certain inventions derived under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, to Apollo, Inc. of Kennewick, Wash. Battelle operates PNNL for the Department of Energy and transfers technologies to the marketplace through licenses and other means. The new approach to the sensor technology was created by scientists at the Karpov Institute of Physical Chemistry in Moscow, Russia. The institute retains invention ownership rights within the former Soviet bloc countries.
The Russian scientists, professors Leonid Trakhtenberg, Genrikh Gerasimov, and Vladimir Gromov, were utilizing nanoscale materials for sensing reactive gases. NNSA's GIPP program provided the transfer mechanism to convert their nanoscale approach into commercially available products and introduce it to the market place. The program also allowed for improvement and optimization for a range of commercial gas sensor applications, including uses in mine safety, the hydrogen fuel economy, and oil refining.
"The Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program opened an important door to this technology, which may provide safer working conditions for an entire industry," says Ron Nesse, PNNL GIPP program manager. "For example, a dangerous hydrogen gas safety hazard can result during the high-pressure refining of crude oil with high sulfur content. This improved gas sensing technology is now ready to be applied toward making the production and storage of hydrogen safer," says Nesse.
Apollo Sensor Technology, a division of Apollo, Inc., is commercializing the technology. AST Vice President for Business Development, Dan Briscoe, says industry is looking for the next level of leak detection technology. Briscoe noted that industry representatives have expressed a desire for a good, cost-effective hydrogen sensor with a quick response time. "To realize the benefits of the emerging hydrogen economy," he says, "the industry requires a small sensor that will operate reliably for a long period of time." AST anticipates marketing the sensors to industries that manufacture, store and use hydrogen in their production process.
Briscoe added that the same approach is capable of detecting and measuring other gases as well, including ammonia, methane and carbon monoxide. Research is currently underway to refine those capabilities.
The collaboration between the Russians, PNNL and Apollo started about five years ago according to Brian Opitz, PNNL GIPP nanometals sensor project manager. "In 2002, PNNL began searching for a U.S. business partner to commercialize the technology, and approached Apollo," Opitz says. "Two years later, a CRADA was signed to develop, test and produce sensors that would detect and measure various gases." This past September, a patent was filed on the gas sensor approach.
"AST will pay Battelle royalties derived from sales of the technology. Under the provisions of the GIPP Program, Battelle will then share such royalties with the Russian institutes," Opitz explained. The GIPP program is structured to fund projects that engage former Soviet weapon scientists to help prevent the proliferation of weapons expertise. In addition to supporting applied research projects to engage displaced Russian scientists, commercially successful projects lead to private-sector income and employment for those scientists, while also benefiting U.S. industry with new sources of technology.
PNNL is a DOE Office of Science laboratory that solves complex problems in energy, national security, the environment and life sciences by advancing the understanding of physics, chemistry, biology and computation. PNNL employs 4,300 staff, has a $750 million annual budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965.
Global Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention is a nonproliferation program of the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. GIPP engages weapons scientists, engineers, and technicians from the former Soviet Union and other regions of proliferation concern, and redirects their expertise to peaceful work through partnerships with U.S. commercial enterprises. For more information on GIPP, go to The Office of Defense Nuclear Proliferation.

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Russia-InfoCenter / 4.12.2006

Russian Scientists Made Archeological Findings In Egypt

Российские археологи обнаружили на плато Гиза в районе Великих пирамид пятнадцать археологических объектов, в том числе гробницы древнеегипетских придворных.

15 archeological artifacts, including entombments of ancient Egyptian court people - this is what Russian archeologists have found during their diggings at the Giza Plateau near the Great Pyramids.
Two burials were discovered during diggings, while two entombments were mentioned in the 19th century in diaries of travelers, said the archeologist, heading the expedition.
Russian archaeological expedition has spent in Giza 10 years already, and the jubilee year turned out to be the most successful for the scientists. The burials were discovered by means of a unique device - geo-radar "Loza V", which was developed by scientists of the Russian Institute of Earth Magnetism and Radiowave Propagation.
Archeologists expect more findings to be made in the northern part of the site, which photos show various sand hills. Geological survey has shown cavities, which are scheduled for exploration next year.

© Garant-InfoCentre, 2004-2006.

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Cyberpresse / Le mardi 28 novembre 2006

Des scientifiques en route vers l'Antarctique

В Антарктиду отправилась международная исследовательская группа, в состав которой входят и российские ученые.

Une quarantaine de scientifiques internationaux font route vers l'Antarctique à bord du navire de recherches allemand Polarstern pour étudier une zone maritime jamais explorée au large de la plate-forme de Larsen, a annoncé mardi la Cousteau Society.
Le Polarstern, de l'Institut allemand Alfred Wagner, a quitté l'Afrique du Sud pour aller mouiller dans la région autrefois couverte par l'immense morceau (environ 3250 km²) de la plate-forme Larsen qui s'est détaché de la péninsule antarctique en 2002.
Les 47 scientifiques français, belges, allemands, canadiens, américains, russes, chiliens, effectueront jusqu'à fin janvier 25 études sur l'écologie, la biogéochimie, la physiologie, et la planctonologie notamment, a précisé la Cousteau Society dans un communiqué. Selon les organisateurs, la mission se concentrera entre autres sur l'étude biologique des stocks halieutiques, l'effondrement des plate-formes de glace, l'évolution de la faune des fonds antarctiques et les volcans de boues froides des grands fonds.
Orchestrée par le Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), réseau international de chercheurs engagés dans un programme de recensement de la biodiversité antarctique, cette mission se déroule à la veille de l'Année polaire internationale (2007 - 2009) qui sera lancée en mars prochain.
Les événements majeurs de l'expédition du Polarstern seront retranscrits par des vidéos et des photographies sur le site de la Cousteau Society (www.cousteau.org/caml.html).

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AlphaGalileo / 15 December 2006

Large genome protects from mutations

Большую часть человеческого генома (а также большинства геномов животных и растений) составляет так называемая некодирующая ДНК, то есть участки, не содержащие генов.
Исследователи из Института биоорганической химии им. акад. М.М.Шемякина и Ю.А.Овчинникова и Института биохимии и физиологии микроорганизмов им. Г.К.Скрябина полагают, что одна из доселе неизвестных функций некодирующих участков - защита кодирующих последовательностей от химических мутагенов. Чем больше размер некодирующей части, тем меньше число нуклеотидов, поврежденных мутагенами в кодирующих последовательностях генома.

The major part of human genome as well as that of the majority of animals and plants is made up of a noncoding DNA, that is the DNA that does not control any protein synthesis. In the opinion of L.I. Patrushev and I.G. Minkevich, specialists of the M.M. Shemiakin and Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry and the G.K. Skriabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, one of previously unknown functions of noncoding sections lies in protection from mutations of the genes and regulatory areas of genome needed to the organism.
With various species, the size of genome differs by more than 200,000 times, the genome size does not correspond to biological complexity of the species. Gigantic genomes exceeding the human ones by 34 times, belong to the urodelous amphibian - olm (Proteus) and a South-American lungfish. The leading position among the plants is kept by representatives of the liliaceous (lilies, hyacinths, daffodils, etc.).
There are relatively few "needed" genes in gigantic genomes, the major volume is occupied by a noncoding DNA. The total quantity of DNAs in a single set of chromosomes is customaty to designate by the Latin letter C, therefore discrepancy between the genome size and biological complexity of a living organism possessing it was called the C paradox. The reasons are still unknown why some species have an extremely large genome or the functions that perform successions of noncoding DNAs of higher organisms, although researchers are certainly making various assumptions. In opinion of the Russian biologists, noncoding sections create an additional level of protection from chemical mutagens for coding sections.
Under ordinary conditions, mutagens are not in deficiency. Numerous substances are being constantly formed in the organism's cells, for example active forms of oxygen, derivatives of basic nitrogens or oestrogen metabolites, under the action of which hundreds of thousands of injuries originate and are simultaneously present in chromosomal DNA. If the system intended for the DNA repair does not work in proper time, mutations will occur. As it has tuned out, the organism utilizes one more level of protection for genome safety. In particular, the genome size increase can reduce frequency of injuries of genes needed to the organism.
The researchers have determined that the injury frequency depends on the size of genome: the larger the size it, the lower the frequency is. So, large genome serves protection from injuries. Coding successions also protect each other: if mutation has affected one section, it bypasses another one. However, in this case some other gene is injured. It is much more convenient if the protective function is performed by the sections not containing important information. Besides, the noncoding DNA protects genes by "its own body". The DNA is put in order in the nucleus of a nonproliferating cell: closer to the nucleus periphery, i.e. in the area where the concentration of mutagens coming from the outside should be the highest, the noncoding DNA is more often situated, but the sections rich in genes are hidden in the center.
During the entire life cycle, the DNA situated in the nucleus of all air-breathing creatures, remains in the flow of mutagens. Some of them, having avoided all barriers set by the cells, burst through into the depth of nucleus and injure the DNA. If mutagens become too numerous, they, according to the authors of the hypothesis, may influence hypothetical molecular sensors, which in their turn mobilize retrotransposons - mobile successions of noncoding section of a genome. As a result, retrotransposons increase in number, and the genome size grows, establishing a correspondence with new needs of the species. If the concentration of mutagens inside the nucleus decreases, the size of a genome will also reduce - its redundant sections will undergo "circumcision".
If the genome size becomes too big, then mutations would almost not happen and the species evolution practically ceases, its conservation takes place. It is not by accident that gigantic sizes of genomes are typical for "living fossils" - the most ancient animals that have survived to our time.
In the authors' opinion, the hypothesis reveals a previously unknown protective function of a redundant DNA succession in the genome and explains the C-paradox in a new way. And if the hypothesis is experimentally confirmed, it will be possible to use it for the development of new approaches to genome protection from chemical mutagens, and for overcoming hereditary diseases.

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