Forensic Dismantling Begins at Scene of Hobbit Murder

Gruesome scene uncovered at home of "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson

           Yesterday, The Onion reported the arrest of film maker Peter Jackson following the discovery of a gruesome scene where 15 hobbits were found murdered and dismembered. The discovery sent shockwaves through the Shire, early reports suggest that the captive hobbits were held for lengthy periods of time, beaten and tortured often only being allowed one breakfast per day and completely deprived of elevensies. Authorities have begun thorough dismantling of the scene and are preparing forensic evidence for analysis.
          "I've never seen anything like this," forensic investigator William Bradley told reporters on Thursday, "the amount of work needed to completely process this scene could take months, even years. It will be a long time before we have a good idea of exactly what happened here."
           Jackson was found delusional at the scene claiming that he was hosting friends from the Shire and was preparing a feast for his guests. However, several times during questioning Jackson referred to his victims as "filthy hobbitses" insisting that one of [them] had stolen his "precious". As several of the hobbits appear to have been sexually assaulted, authorities are working to recover DNA evidence, authorities are not clear if Jackson acted alone or if there may be additional suspects in this case. Criminal profiling experts believe that Jackson may have been too delusional to have acted alone. Local authorities are also calling in forensic experts from Middle-Earth who have a better idea of the extreme tortures the victims endured. "The careful collection and cataloging of foot-hair trophies suggests more a more organized and methodical psychosis than Mr. Jackson is currently displaying, we suspect that he may not have acted alone in this case" says Sancho Bulge of the Middle-Earth Behavioral Analysis Unit. Authorities are currently looking into the possibility that Jackson may not have acted alone.

"The careful collection and cataloging of foot-hair

 trophies suggests more a more organized and methodical 

psychosis than Mr. Jackson is currently displaying, we suspect

 that he may not have acted alone in this case"

- Sancho Bulge, Council of Elrond, Middle-Earth Behavioral Analysis Unit

          Collection and processing of DNA evidence will help authorities shed light on this subject. "This kind of sample processing takes time, the number of samples we have to process is large and we need to ensure high quality DNA is recovered for forensic applications. Typically this process is automated to avoid human error and expedite the sample processing, we don't want any mistakes to be made in our analysis of the scene."
              Representatives for Jackson have not made a comment to media at this time. A latern release ceremony has been arranged over the Brandywine river in memorium of the victims.

Note: The Onion is a fictitious news source, Peter Jackson did not murder 15 hobbits and is not in police custody. Hobbits are a fictitious character from the fantasy series "Lord of the Rings" they do not exist. However, if they did exist, the VERSA NAP workstations would be able to extract their DNA for forensic applications described above. Pretty cool huh? We can purify hobbit DNA.

Read the original post on The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/articles/grisly-remains-of-15-hobbits-discovered-in-peter-j,34754/
Find out more about Aurora Biomed: www.aurorabiomed.com

Off to Phoenix!

 Off to Phoenix!

           Next week we will be off to beautiful Phoenix, AZ to attend the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association for Molecular Pathologists. We will be rubbing shoulders and hob-nobbing with some of the brightest pathologists in America. Don't be jealous, it's not forever, the conference only lasts for 3 short days, so we will be out of the heat and back to rainy Vancouver in no time!
            We are very excited to attend this conference. Increasingly, molecular pathology is using genomic techniques to screen for diseases. This includes DNA microarrays, DNA sequencing, and other techniques which allow rapid and highly accurate diagnosis. The field of molecular pathology is on the fore-front of medicine and we are excited to see the growth this rapidly advancing field has undergone.
             At the show we hope to do some showing off of our own. We will be showing our VERSA 10 NAP workstation and the VERSA 1100 NGLP workstation at our booth. These workstations help enable clinicians, researchers, and masters of molecular pathology alike to keep up with demands placed by the rapid growth of this field by increasing walk away time and allowing them to focus on more important things like making sure sick people get healthy! Don't stand there and do it yourself, let VERSA do it!

More information about AMP: http://www.2013amp.org/
Aurora Biomed: www.aurorabiomed.com

What's that smell? (It's you!)

What's that smell? (It's you!)

          When you think of smell you think of lots of different things: dogs,  sharks, Nelson from The Simpsons. One critter you don't think of is the mosquito. Well put that idea aside because as it turns out the mosquito can smell, specifically it can smell YOU! Researchers have found that the Anapheles mosquito, the main vector for malaria, appears to have evolved a specialization for sniffing out humans. Over the years Anapheles gambiae has specialized in finding and feeding on humans; kinda like Jaws but more annoying and itchier.

            The infected female anapheles transmits malaria when feeding on a healthy individual. The parasites enter the bloodstream and quickly infect the host blood cells causing the disease we know as malaria. Malaria is a worldwide problem affecting  219 million people in 2010 as estimated by the World Health Organization. Although the primary region affected by malaria is sub-Saharan Africa, the disease is far reaching to even the United States.

            In the paper (found here) scientists sequenced and analyzed the genome of Anapheles gambiae as well as Anapheles quadriannulatus, a related species which does not appear to preferentially feed on humans. The researchers found that there was a combined effect of mutations in some (what I'm going to call) "smell receptors" in the mosquito's antennae (it smells with its antennae? gross) as well as an abundance of other "smell receptors" that help it specifically smell humans. (This is a huge simplification, for more info read the paper!)

            Studies like this one are rapidly changing our understanding of disease and disease transmission. Driven by the power of next generation sequencing, our ability to undertake these projects is increasing every day; a project like this would have been impossible not so long ago! However, with great sequencing power comes great necessity for sample processing. And we all know what spiders do to flies

Read the original paper:  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/14/749/abstract

More about Aurora Biomed: www.aurorabiomed.com

The Great (DNA) Debate

The Great (DNA) Debate

             At the recent ASHG meeting one of the hot-button topics was DNA sequencing in newborns. Currently, the states require the screening of minimum 21 genes in all newborn babies for hereditary disease; having information about the babies A's, T's, C's and G's can immediately improve their treatment to make sure they can learn their ABC's. As DNA sequencing technology continues to improve we may be able to completely sequence the entire genome of a newborn child. This may help answer questions like will the child succumb to the family predisposition to diabetes or heart disease, giving valuable information about potential for diseases and other information that could help discover markers and treatment for diseases (or find a genetic marker for being devilishly handsome).

Terminator, as portrayed in the movie "Terminator"

             

         The idea of complete genome sequencing for newborns is not without arguments against it. Where and how will this information be stored? (Please not on a computer named Skynet!) How long will it be stored for, and who will have access to it? Will the information be strictly for clinicians? Could researchers use it to help drive research? Will insurance companies deem individuals ineligible for insurance, or base insurance premiums off of this information?

               We live in an exciting time where technology is moving at a blistering pace. As much as we need the innovators pushing us forward, we need the critics urging caution (before a cyborg from the future travels to the past to kill our mother before we are born). Where is the line drawn? Will the future consist of a race of genetically engineered superhumans? The debate on how much information should be taken from DNA sequencing projects and what should be done with that information is taking place right now.

              Speaking of DNA sequencing and robots (http://www.aurorabiomed.com/nucleic-acid-isolation.htm) there already exists robots for the automatic extraction of DNA from human tissue. This helps researchers by freeing up time for them to do other tasks while DNA can be extracted from many samples at once, with minimal concern of time travel and minimal danger for prospective mothers.

More information about Aurora Biomed: www.aurorabiomed.com

Remember, remember the fifth of Movember

Remember, remember the fifth of Movember

November is known for many things, Guy Fawkes, the coming of winter, the start of Christmas music in the malls, and of course Movember. That's right, the month where men everywhere put aside their aversion to hipsters and don that lip warmer in support of raising awareness (and money!) for mens health issues. So it's time to embrace your inner Tom Selleck and step up to the plate for this worthy cause. Don't worry, you don't have to wear skinny jeans or listen to bands that nobody has heard of, supporting awareness of mens cancers is as simple as not shaving. Well, not shaving your upper lip at least.

Movember was started in 2004 by a group in Australia. Since then it has expanded to the Movember Foundation, a worldwide charity organization which has raised over $174 million to date in support of raising awareness for mens health issues including prostate cancer. Since it's conceptualization the network of Mo-Bros has expanded world wide with 1.1 million people signing up to raise mo' money in 2012.

The issue at the heart of all the furry fun? Prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the sixth most common cancer in mo' bros world wide and the second most prevalent in the USA. The factors for risk are many including diet and genetics. Men that have a first degree relative with prostate cancer are at double the risk of developing the disease than men without. Although no one single genetic cause has been identified for prostate cancer, it has been linked to some single nucleotide polyMO'rphisms (changes in the DNA), including mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes involved in breast cancer. Increasingly specific risk groups can be uncovered through genetic screening using next generation sequencing technologies.

So how does it work? DNA samples can be taken to be tested through a cheek swab or blood test. The DNA is extracted from the sample and prepared into a library for sequencing. This can be done completely by robots like this one. The DNA is copied by the same proteins that synthesize your DNA and read out by scientists using different colors for each letter of your DNA and a highly sensitive camera to detect the signal.

All in all, the goal of Movember is to raise awareness for mens health issues, particularly for prostate cancer. So prep your upper lip for a furry accessory and give a high five to your fellow mo-bros when you see an awesome soup strainer on the street. Make sure to invite your friends, mo' stache helps raise mo' awareness; even Mario had Luigi.

Find out more about Movember: www.movember.com
Learn more about NGS library prep: http://www.aurorabiomed.com/next-generation-sequencing.htm
Learn more about Aurora Biomed: www.aurorabiomed.com