In March, a rumor surfaced in the scientific community that was intriguing, and perhaps a bit chilling: According to those in the know, researchers in China had successfully edited the genomes of human embryos, altering their DNA in a way never accomplished in our own species. MIT Technology Review reported on the murmurings that someone had altered the germ line -- the genetic information that come together and form something new when eggs and sperm collide. Even unconfirmed, those rumors led to a lot of debate about the potential downsides of altering the germ line. Carl Zimmer has more on the controversy at his blog on National Geographic.
But it turns out the rumors are true.
On Wednesday, Nature News reported that the paper in question had been quietly published in a low-profile journal called Protein & Cell.
But no, you can't expect to see any genetically altered humans running around in the coming months, for better or for worse. From MIT Technology Review:
The team did not try to establish a pregnancy and say for ethical reasons they did their tests only in embryos that were abnormal.
“These authors did a very good job pointing out the challenges,” says Dieter Egli, a researcher at the New York Stem Cell Foundation in Manhattan. “They say themselves this type of technology is not ready for any kind of application.”
The work, led by Junjiu Huang of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, focused on modifying the gene responsible for β-thalassaemia, a blood disorder that can be fatal. They used CRISPR, a cutting-edge gene editing tool that's already made serious waves in the genome editing of other species. By going after genes at the earliest stage of human development -- in a single-celled embryo -- theoretically one can make sure all the subsequent copies of the gene are the superior version.
But we have a long way to go before that's actually the case. From Nature News:
The team injected 86 embryos and then waited 48 hours, enough time for the CRISPR/Cas9 system and the molecules that replace the missing DNA to act — and for the embryos to grow to about eight cells each. Of the 71 embryos that survived, 54 were genetically tested. This revealed that just 28 were successfully spliced, and that only a fraction of those contained the replacement genetic material. “If you want to do it in normal embryos, you need to be close to 100%,” Huang says. “That’s why we stopped. We still think it’s too immature.”
Indeed, not all of the embryos that successfully received the new gene had it throughout all of their cells. Many were mosaics, with some good copies of the gene and some bad ones. Carl Zimmer points out that this could end really badly: If a doctor tested the potential embryos of a couple looking to edit out a deadly gene mutation, they might take a cell sample that showed the embryo as having the healthy gene. If it was a mosaic, the resulting baby might in fact have enough copies of the bad gene to cause problems.
And in some of the embryos, the gene editing caused unintended mutations in other genes.
"I believe this is the first report of CRISPR/Cas9 applied to human pre-implantation embryos and as such the study is a landmark, as well as a cautionary tale," George Daley, a stem-cell biologist at Harvard Medical School, told Nature. "Their study should be a stern warning to any practitioner who thinks the technology is ready for testing to eradicate disease genes."
So it's an exciting first step, but nothing more. Science has a long way to go before this is something we can do on embryos intended for implantation, and some are already trying to discourage researchers from taking the next steps toward that goal. Even the study authors themselves are incredibly cautious about their findings, firmly reporting that the technique is far from ready.
But you can be sure that such a caveat won't stop a lot of hoopla about the pros and cons of "designer babies."
princejayboss: Hello friend ....I wish to inform you that if you think you have the will than I do... Come work in a nuclear power plant and see how volatile it can be ... Yet I walk in and out these facilities every day knowing that one mistake I will be exposed to a nuclear material/fuel... I know you're quite optimistic about your freeking change but I tell you this ... In western country they plan before they execute ... A train subway runs under my building here but this was pre designed before the building of the city.... My point is this let him give the power he promised and continue the project on ground..... We now have mouth to talk nonsense now because Jonathan was so stupid to pass free press bill in an African country that is not yet ready for it.... When OBJ was there... Did we say a word about his fraudulent contract with Chinese company on rail....
Remember all this promises your Baba is making .... My friend it is near impossible to have 70% steady power supply in Nigeria(ask me I can teach you), its 100% impossible for him make 1=$1, oil is on the drop and will still fall should Iran sign a deal with G7+1 ... And now ISIS is controlling Lybia oil now ...this will cause more damage to oil price.... Please be practical about this than to come here and call people out because you can pay for internet .... Thanks.
Do you work in a nuclear power plant? Please, you are needed in this thread - here.
kinibigdeal: Exactly!! People should read history and don't just believe the term expressed by "BBC or CNN"..in the Nigeria of today, we see Americans like god, any political differences we are going to america to report ourselves or we either see ICC as our mediator, we have now become their puppet. As small as Ghana is, they maintain their integrity not to talk of zimbabwian, that is why nigeria will continue to have political crisis until we become independent. The white are never happy that nigerians are united, they just want to fulfill their national interest, bet me nigeria is a threat to the world if we stand united, we remain the voice of the black nation in the world, so they don't want that happening. Ask yourself this question "why was shekau included as one of the most influential in the world and not "bin laden", how did bokohoram manage to wire their e-transfer fund from america -iran - yemen - Niger- Nigeria? Why did they block GEJ administration from acquiring sophisticated weapon to fight bokoharam if not for their greatest foe "russia? With their master class surveyance satellite monitoring every country in the world, can you tell me they don't know the where about of the chibok girls and shekau if he still exist though? When they easily survey the where about of osama bin ladin! A report last week by CNN claimed 50 chibok girls were seen in gwoza with their surveyance equipment, the question is, if you see them, why not rescue them? Nigerians should wake up and know who is the real enemy!
I have never heard Libyans complain until the Arab spring, that was when I started hearing of Libya. I also wonder why people say Ghadaffi is a dictator; I'm sure you'd agree with me that if he wasn't killed, this migration crisis currently rocking Europe and terrorism will not be on the rise; heck, I don't think ISIS would have gained a foot hold in Libya.
xdos: Ofcourse I am very serious... Our labs are ill equipped and dat is why we've got lots of brain drain.... Our people are very intelligent and that is why when they study outside, they make the best results. I mean in 2015, there are things Nigeria as a country should not be depending on other countries for.. We have the brains... We have what it takes to move this country forward. The govt should equip our Universities.. Have our labs equipped and lecturers trained else our graduates will keep depending on them for survival.
So if it is closed, how are students supposed to learn and do basic experiments then? I think it is time govt. starts going undercover to various agencies to see how efficient they are.
Nigeria government really needs to revamp our primary and secondary schools, that’s where foundation of future interests are laid, a lot of young talents are either lost or poorly tapped because of the poor educational system in this country. There’re young children, out there, good in music, dance, football, engineering/ technology, oration, leadership, but these qualities are not enhanced, and most time they are lost or under used”.
xdos: Talking abt the black race cursed, am really not talking about Nigeria alone... Last time in the US, most of the time I took a drive to downtown Albany, there was always gunshots... Downtown Albany is dominated by blacks... One time I took a drive with my Italian friend to Newark, that guy was never at peace until we left.. Am not saying all the blacks there are violent oh.. but mehn..
The state of our universities is nothing to write home about. I remember then, the only time they get to open the labs are when the NUC comes around. Even our lecturers dont know how to practicalize what they teach.. Brains are wasting in those places..
Honestly, it is tiring. Look at the recent cases of migrants - how many died only because they are trying to seek better life? Others going there threw another just cos their religions do not align. You wonder what the govt. of those nations are doing? You ask, where did we get it wrong?
CSTR2: Nigeria is busy begging for small arms when they could do much better. Three of those guys majoring in semi-conductor technology, rocketry and software engineering working together under the Nigerian ministry of defence can build for Nigeria a world class missile guidance system that could graduate to an ICBM with more funding. This country is sick.
Our problem is that we distrust ourselves and I'll always say it - if after the war according to history, the govt. absorbed the Biafran Engineers to produce for the Nigerian army, I believe we would have moved forward but alas, we are still trying to drag ourselves down.
Right now, even the little training people get after being sponsored by the govt. is not being practiced due to having wrong people in the top chain of progress.
ramdris: It's pple like u that are making nairaland informative and interesting. Thanks for a brilliant response. May u continue to grow in wisdom and knowledge, however I still personally feel those GEJ train are too far beyond behind to be use in this century. One love!
Thanks. Those rail tracks cannot just be removed because it is going to be expensive, besides, we can still use them for cargoes. If past governments had done something, we will not be where we are and this draws us to the problem we have - lack of maintenance and that scornful way of looking at what past administrations have done, maybe because we do not want people singing their names and saying you are building on what they started.
xdos: [Quote] The truth is dat we don't practice Engineering in this country. What we do in this part of the country is maintenance. How many functional research centres do we have in this country? Sometimes I ask myself this question... is d black race cursed? All that comes into our head is violence... hate for one another.. We don't want to c d other man prosper... Travel outside this country, checkout black dominated areas, there is always violence... This is crazy... As for those speed trains, am not sure I'll want to try that...
Even the maintenance, do we practice it well? We have this mentality of 'Abeg, na my property? Anyhow wee I do am, make them collect afterall I go still get my money'. I do not believe the black race is cursed, I only know we have not had a leader who can harness our diversities to create a strong nation under which every region will say - Yes!! He is the chosen one!.
I'd love to try those speed trains oh (nothing feels like feeling you're a little bit like Flash or Minato ).
ooshinibos: nope they are not next to God , they have used their brains and we have not , we love to pray for anything and everything , even if we have the will and resources to do it , we will rather pray about it and do nothing ..that's the different between them and us .. God said he will blessed the work of our hands , we are praying for the blessing but we don't wonna use the GOD GIVEN BRAIN ...God will not do what you can do for yourself ..that's the difference between those people that built those train station and those that will not or cannot -Peace and love
Nigerians feel God will just hand them everything without them working for it, that is why there is this mental laziness in this nation. Jesus' disciples followed him yet they had their occupations they engaged in, Peter was a fisherman, Paul, a tent maker yet they did not just depend on God to provide everything they needed. Even Jesus was a carpenter, I am sure if he wanted to sit and there was no stool, he made one for himself; he even told Peter to go fish and get a coin from one of the fishes to pay for their tax - this implies that you must work before you can be rewarded. If Peter had not worked, would he have gotten a coin to pay for their tax?; but in Nigeria, we pray and wait for God to do the 'miracle' for us without showing effort that we deserve the 'miracle'.
ramdris: This is what we are talking about and not some abandoned train GEJ wasted our money on yet had the audacity to term it "transformation".
Definitely but can your country afford such? Is Nigeria rich enough? Also factor in the training we are to go through for maintaining these facilities because you cannot build such without having a well-equipped workforce to maintain tech like this; what about our epileptic power supply? It has been estimated to cost $50m - $100m per km. If you were told to pay close to N10000 just to move from CMS to prolly Ajah, will you pay?
Japan is still planning to build one which would become operational in 2027 and it is to cost $82B. In fact, read below:
The Shanghai maglev demonstration line cost US$1.2 billion to build. This total includes capital costs such as right-of-way clearing, extensive pile driving, on-site guideway manufacturing, in-situ pier construction at 25 metre intervals, a maintenance facility and vehicle yard, several switches, two stations, operations and control systems, power feed system, cables and inverters, and operational training. Ridership is not a primary focus of this demonstration line, since the Longyang Road station is on the eastern outskirts of Shanghai. Once the line is extended to South Shanghai Train station and Hongqiao Airport station, ridership was expected to cover operation and maintenance costs and generate significant net revenue.
The South Shanghai extension was expected to cost approximately US$18 million per kilometre. In 2006 the German government invested $125 million in guideway cost reduction development that produced an all-concrete modular design that is faster to build and is 30% less costly. Other new construction techniques were also developed that put maglev at or below price parity with new high-speed rail construction.
The United States Federal Railroad Administration, in a 2005 report to Congress, estimated cost per mile of between $50m and $100m. The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Environmental Impact Statement estimated a pricetag at US$4.9 billion for construction, and $53 million a year for operations of its project.
The proposed Chuo Shinkansen maglev in Japan was estimated to cost approximately US$82 billion to build, with a route requiring long tunnels. A Tokaido maglev route replacing the current Shinkansen would cost some 1/10 the cost, as no new tunnel would be needed, but noise pollution issues made this infeasible.
The only low-speed maglev (100 km/h or 62 mph) currently operational, the Japanese Linimo HSST, cost approximately US$100 million/km to build. Besides offering improved operation and maintenance costs over other transit systems, these low-speed maglevs provide ultra-high levels of operational reliability and introduce little noise[verification needed]and generate zero air pollution into dense urban settings.
As more maglev systems are deployed, experts expected construction costs to drop by employing new construction methods and from economies of scale
(Source is Wikipedia). Also consider this:
The Chuo Shinkansen (中央新幹線?) is a planned Japanese maglev line designed to ultimately connect Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. Its initial planned route is between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nagoya Station in Nagoya, with stations in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Kofu, Yamanashi, and Nakatsugawa, Gifu, as well as an as-yet undetermined location in Nagano Prefecture. The line is expected to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in 40 minutes, and eventually Tokyo and Osaka in 67 minutes, running at a maximum speed of 505 km/h (314 mph). About 90% of the 286-kilometre (178 mi) line will be built underground or through tunnels.
Government permission to proceed with construction was granted on May 27, 2011. Construction of the line, which is expected to cost over ¥9 trillion, commenced in 2014. JR Central aims to begin commercial service between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027, with the Nagoya-Osaka section to be completed by 2045. JR Central is considering opening demonstration service from a new station in Kōfu by the 2020 Summer Olympics so that tourists can ride on the experimental track through the Yamanashi mountains.
BTW, the true record is 603km/h as it beat its own record of 590km/h which was last week.
Freemanan: We have no foundation to build technological paradigm on. Education is a mess, vocational training same! You said so yourself.
When?
Freemanan: Point understood! But if we can depend only on oil and build on it very well (like Saudi) I see no evil in it.
There is nothing wrong with it but the fact that this free gift of nature will soon become useless is what he is talking about; how can you maintain your facilities should your oil dry up (where will the funds come from)? Nations like Japan and China can maintain theirs because they have trained themselves to do so. Notice that Saudi is not tech. advanced unlike nations with no/few natural resources who developed their human resources and is making us wow!!
Freemanan: I am a pragmatist! Technology will not save us! You made account of Swiss innovations and all, did I say they are technologically backward? NO! I said they aren't known for it, i.e. it's not their strong point! Like Japan, US, Russia et al. Nigeria is not ripe for it.
A Japanese maglev bullet train owned by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) made history last week by hitting a top speed of 590 k/h (366 mph) on a test run through the Yamanashi prefecture in central Japan.
This beats the previous speed record of 580 k/h (361 mph), which has been standing since December 2003, and a spokesperson for JR Central says they expect to beat the record again tomorrow, when a second test run could hit speeds of 600 k/h.
The train can achieve such ridiculous speeds because rather than running directly on tracks, which causes a whole lot of friction, it’s suspended above the rails using very powerful magnetic levitation - "Maglev" is an abbreviation of "magnetic levitation".
Right now, the tracks run between Uenohara and Fuefuki - two cities west of Tokyo - but JR Central plans to expand this to connect Tokyo with Nagoya in the country's centre by 2027. That’s when they say the public will be able to ride in this new, super-speedy model, but it’ll likely be limited to 500 km/h.
Which still sounds amazing, compared to the speeds we get elsewhere in the world. As Fiona MacDonald reported for us late last year, "Australia is stuck with trains that generally max out at a comparative crawl of around 160 km/h, and in the US, the top speed of rail transport is around 240 km/h.”
In fact, the Japanese public have already experienced speeds of over 500 km/h, when an earlier model of the bullet train took 100 lucky passengers on the ride of a lifetime, which actually looked incredibly smooth.
Meanwhile, China is working on something even more outlandish, announcing last year that it’s developing a maglev train inside a near-vacuum space that, in theory, could travel 2,900 km/h - three times faster than a plane - due to the lack of air resistance. And Elon Musk’s Hyperloop train, designed to transport people across America at speeds of 1,200 km/h might just make it from pipe dream to reality thanks to a super-savvy group of engineers that have recently taken on the project.
Whatever the future holds for transport, one thing’s for sure: it’s gonna be fast.
I wonder why Japan will reduce the speed to 500km/h. . . Do they not want people experiencing the designed speed of the train?
I would like to see China achieve the above. A country which its tech was considered inferior. . .funny how things change. Somewhere down the line, scramjets are being developed which can take one from Tokyo to London in approx. 1hr. 30 mins.; Elon Musk's Hyperloop sounds interesting.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Africa, an oaf is threatening to kill 14 more Gambians and asking foreigners to go back or be killed, two parties are at each other's throats, two tribes insulting one another, nomads killing some, BH doing what they know to do. . .
Folajay22: hey guys.. as a follow up to my last post.. i spoke about returning to the WP ecosystem and wanted to get the 1020..no luck with that..i finally got the lumia 925...and i have a few things to comment on after about a week's use.. - the Gorilla glass display : how is it..that the flagship lumia devices with the said display tend to just look better than other devices on other platforms sporting "gorilla glass displays"according to their specs..u just cant compare how the lumia screen looks to the others..i would know..i was still using an iphone 5s 2 weeks ago. - prior to nokia's sale of the lumia franchise to microsoft..there used to be an alternate music player - nokia music in the devices...i noticed that now that its 'xbox' everything..the music player isn't there..and i'm just stuck with the default player..not that its bad or anything..but i would have liked anoda option..so i want to ask..how do we pay for apps?..as in can we tie our own naira debit mastercard to our microsoft accounts and use that to pay for apps?..cos there are some sweet looking alternatives in the store but they aren't for free..and i tried to do the pay thing..but it was all "american" and billing address and credit card and all that ish.. - its still difficult to charge a lumia from low battery..they really need to work on that..u cant 'steal a charge'on those devices..notin like fast charge..u gats siddon there..lol.. - the sound quality..that i was particular about..definitely wasn't the worst...waaaaayyy better than the lumia 800 and 900 i used earlier...the 925 seems good enuf for my daily music player..as i have some really good earpieces and headphones.. that being said..please take time to read and respond to my question on payments..thanks a lot.
There is an app there called wallet. Just go through it, you should see a place where you can put up your debit card details of which whenever you go to the store to purchase, it buys it for you since it has been registered. I recall putting my card details in it which I used to purchase the Nigerian Constitution, Mass Effect: Infiltrator and others. Also, check your region and alternatively, download quickteller app. It should help.
For music player, it is called I think new music - icon is a smiley face coloured pink. Check it -I really can't recall.
I told y'all that you will come back here ending of April. A new Naruto manga which focuses on the kids I guess will be starting this Thursday.
Then again, Boruto: Naruto the movie will be out by August but you can watch the trailer.
Spoiler alert: it is said Orochimaru went after Boruto and Salada prolly still obsessed about immortality and he also tries to combine the powers of the byakugan and sharingan. I can't wait to see the battle between Naruto and Orochimaru (who BTW, I feel will acquire new powers). . .never a dull moment with that guy around.
The problem with gas in Nigeria is more of a fiscal/financial/regulatory problem not a technological problem. It simply doesn't make sense to invest in gas at the current tariff rates, unit price for gas to power in Nigeria is $2.5 per Mscf since last year, it was $1.5 before that. Commercial prices for gas to other sectors are in the region of $4 - 8 per Mscf, depending on if you're buying from NGC or a franchise holder. International prices were somewhere around $4.65 last year. (Gas is priced in USD per Mscf when you say KG you're prolly referring to LPG.)
It simply doesn't make sense for companies to spend money producing gas and then get paid such a low amount, they would rather sell the gas to other sectors or liquefy the gas and export it(prices for LNG are way higher than normal nat gas), now govt won't let them do either of the two so the oil companies would put the money to other uses. These are businesses not charities, they are in it to make a profit.
As per gas flaring, you're right, it's a monetary fine, it's cheaper for gas companies to flare gas and pay the penalty than to invest in infrastructure to process and transport the gas. It's not all bad news though, a govt policy called domestic supply obligation has helped force oil companies to produce gas for power plants, we're flaring a lot less gas than we used to. The PIB is seeking to set the penalty for flaring gas to be the cost of gas in the market, that's part of the reasons the oil companies are against the bill.
What you see happening in the international market(falling prices) can't translate here because our markets are not mature enough, gas supply contracts in Nigeria are usually long term bilateral agreements with price escalation due to economic indices rather than purchasing Nat. gas futures which is the prices you see online. The gap between demand and supply has to be closed and then commodity trading markets have to be setup.
Guy, there's a lot to be said about natural gas in Nigeria, I've just tried to highlight some of what I think the main issues are, you should do a bit more digging around.
5minsmadness: "We the women of America will no longer tolerate male bigotry, especially through the method of genderizing restrooms, just like they had colorized restrooms during the first half of the twentieth century. Men need to know that their reign in this world is OVER and we will show no mercy towards our enemy. These private rooms with urinals, which we call 'oppression rooms,' are nothing more than a pedestal that men have created to worship their phallic tools of hate and destruction. These shrines to men's egos must be destroyed if we are going to move beyond Stone Age male chauvinism!"
The group has also taken to the social media, urging women around the globe to pick up a sledgehammer and "Swing for Justice" in their own hometowns and cities.
Did they just call the d*ck a tool of hate and destruction?
Why urge the women the world over to pass their message via violence?
What really do feminists want? Someone please tell me. . .
netotse: lol...what do we aim to achieve/gain from being in said forefront?
Gas powered machines probably?
let me try and give you some perspective
what is the unit price for gas-to-power in Nigeria?
No idea
what is the commercial price for gas in Nigeria?
N300 for 1kg
What is the international price for gas? check the trend of gas prices for the last 12 months.
$2.68 (Bloomberg). It is decreasing.
what is the penalty for flaring gas in Nigeria?
Monetary fine
P.S. I'm trying to change the way you see energy. if you weren't an engineer I woulda told you the answers straight up.
P.P.S. Nuclear is too expensive granted, but you also need a power mix so the fact that you have nat. gas shouldn't make you close your eyes to other sources.
I'm not against using other sources for power. *Grabs a book to jot down*
Science/Technology › Scientists Edited The Genomes Of Human Embryos For The First Time by Feraz(op): 8:31am On Apr 24, 2015
