HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: french@RUST.ZSO.DEC.COM
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
Subject: life cycles
Date: 16 Apr 92 18:02:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: rust.9204161802.AA29177
Distribution: bionet


For many organisms, a pre-programmed life-cycle
appears to dominate other components of ageing such as
damage from radicals and radiation.  For example, trout
turn ugly just before spawning and die shortly afterwards.

It seems unlikely that a trout's DNA suddenly deteriorates
from radical and radiation damage unless a repair mechanism
is turned off near the end of its life cycle.

Has anyone estimated the relative importance of DNA damage versus 
life-cycle in humans as a cause of death?  Are we close to the 
maximum possible life span allowed by our DNA repair mechanisms?
From: french@RUST.ZSO.DEC.COM
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
Subject: Re: Ageing as an evolutionary force.
Date: 15 Apr 92 20:37:26 GMT
Distribution: bionet

> The question has been raised that if the cells in the germ lines
> of living organisms have the capability to keep DNA nearly perfectly
> intact under attack from free radicals why then is it that the cells
> all over the organism are not able to protect themselves in this same manner.

There is no fundamental reason why DNA can't be maintained in an essentialy 
error free condition for an arbitrarily long period of time.  DNA is an
information storage media and information can be error corrected to an
arbitrary precision.  All that's required is an appropriate error-correction
mechanism and redundant information sources (either encoded within a strand
of DNA or contained in separate strands).

Whether or not such an error-correction mechanism exists in nature is debateable.
I believe that it exists and that it is part of the reproduction
process.  Furthermore,
if nature wasn't kind enough to design one for us then - with sufficient knowledge,
tools, and ingenuity - we'll be able to design one ourselves.

A fundamental difficulty with the foutain of youth is that it won't work to just 
freeze the state of our DNA in its embryonic form (unles you would like to
remain an embryo forever).  First we must allow our cells to differentiate to a 
given point in our life-cycles and then take a snapshot of the DNA state in 
each of our cells.
 
A snapshot of a cell's DNA could be taken by including a trigger mechanism
within the chromosome that causes the chromosome to generate an extra
copy of itself.
The extra copies of the chromosomes could later be used as an
independent information 
source to correct errors caused by radiation and radical damage.  Of
course you would 
then have the problem of keeping the cell alive with two copies of its chromosomes 
contained within it.  Would such a cell be viable?

Perhaps a more workable path to the foutain of youth is to toughen human DNA against
random errors.  For example, one might be able to engineer better error-correction
codes within the DNA than nature provides (excision repair and so on).  This would 
reduce the frequency of random DNA errors.  Once you accomplish that, you 
would then need to get the life-cycle programmed into the DNA stuck in
an infinite loop
(presumably by throwing a monkey wrench into the works).

In any event, these problems will probably be solved long after have all died a 
horrible death and our DNA has been recycled back into the environment.

- The Grim Reaper
From: CFARMER1@UA1VM.BITNET ("Chet Farmer, Asst. Dir., Project IDEALS")
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT OF SAGSET CONF
Date: 9 Apr 92 22:07:32 GMT
Distribution: bionet


  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *                                                                 * *
*     ----------------------                                          *
*     Call for participation:  ---------------------                  *
*     ----------------------   Joint 1992 conference:  ///////////    *
*                              ---------------------   S A G S E T    *
*                                                       I S A G A     *
*   Society for the Advancement of Games and           \\\\\\\\\\\    *
*   Simulations in Education and Training                             *
*                   International Simulation and Gaming Association   *
*                                                                     *
*   Conference theme:        Developing transferable skills through   *
*   ----------------                          simulation and gaming   *
*                                                                     *
*   18-21 August, 1992       Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland   *
*                                                                     *
*   For further information:                          Fred Percival   *
*   =======================       SAGSET/ISAGA Conference Secretary   *
*                                                 Napier University   *
*                                                 219 Colinton Road   *
*   Telephone:  44 / 31-455-4394                 Edinburgh EH14 1DJ   *
*   Facsimile:  44 / 31-455-7989                           Scotland   *
*                                                                     *
* *                                                                 * *
  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Chet Farmer, Assistant Director   |   English / 103 Morgan           |
|  Project IDEALS -- FIPSE, DoE      |   Tuscaloosa, AL  35487-0244     |
|  University of Alabama             |   tel 205-348-9494               |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: french@RUST.ZSO.DEC.COM
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
Subject: Re: ageing as an evolutionary force
Date: 16 Apr 92 23:05:55 GMT
Distribution: bionet

> In terms of long lived, slow critters. Why wouldn't natural selection
> work on animals with an immortality gene in addition to those
> critters without such a gene?

Immortal critters with a prolonged period of fertility would tend to
stableize the gene pool by mixing their genes back in.  This can 
easily be seen by considering what would happen, in the extreme case, 
if the critters were to remain fertile for a million years.  

If the critters had an ordinary fertility period, but were otherwise
immortal, then selection would favor those immortal critters that
improved the suvival rate of their offspring.  One would also expect
that there would be an optimal length of time that the critters would
live past reproductive senencense - this would be a function of the 
benefits versus costs of maintaining living parents and grandparents. 

What puzzles me is that, if lifespans are set at less than their maximum
possible value, then why do older animals gradually become enfeebled?
It seems like it would be much more efficient for the species if older
animals were maintained in a robust state until their allotted times
were up.
From: french@RUST.ZSO.DEC.COM
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
Subject: Re: ageing as an evolutionary force
Date: 15 Apr 92 19:03:45 GMT
Distribution: bionet


>    There is a fatal flaw in this particular argument.  Natural selection
> works on individuals.  If an individual were to develop the aging process
> as a way to get rid of itself (dead weight), then this individual would have
> less an advantage at passing its genes to the next generation than one
> who could stay alive and produce more offspring.
>      In order to use this argument as a way of explaining aging, one would
> have to get around this error.

I don't see the flaw.  Organisms don't get rid of themselves - orther oganisms
do it for them (ie gazelles don't eat gazelles, tigers do).  If a species or
sub-group within a species developed an immortality gene then the genetic 
variation within the group would quickly diminish and thereby reduce the 
ability of the group to adapt to evolutionary forces.  The result would be that
the new high-performance tigers would quickly eat all of the slow but 
immortal gazelles.

Perhaps if such an immortality gene ever existed, it became extinct several
billion years ago.  In geologic time, the appearance of an immortality gene would 
almost certainly result in the extinction of a species unless that species
was also fortunate enough to have evolved a workable defense against all future
enemies before it aquired the immortality gene.
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
From: eric@bcserv.wustl.edu (Eric R. Hugo)
Subject: Re: The foutain of youth?
Organization: Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri USA
Distribution: bionet
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 05:32:21 GMT

ST401896@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (wilson hago) writes:

>Sperm cells are bathed in a solution that contains 5 to 7 times the
>concentration of vitamin C found in other cells. This is an error-correction
>mechanism that exists in addition to that one found at the time of
>gene shuffling.

What is the EVIDENCE (other than Linus Pauling being 90 and active)
;-) that ascorbate has any ability to 'correct' genetic errors.  Yes
I realize that its an antioxidant but I thought the purpose of this
was to remove free radicals from the environment?
-- 
  Eric R. Hugo, Postdoctoral Research Associate |eric@bcserv.wustl.edu
  Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics|                
  Washington University School of Medicine      |               
  Box 8231, St. Louis, MO 63110_________________| (314) 362-3342
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
Subject: Re: The foutain of youth?
From: robison1@husc10.harvard.edu (Keith Robison)
Date: 15 Apr 92 21:48:18 GMT
Distribution: bionet

french@RUST.ZSO.DEC.COM writes:


>To preserve the age of a multi-celled organism, the differentiated
>state (methylation pattern) of the DNA in each cell must be preserved.
>Thus it would be necessary to generate duplicate copies of each cell's
>chromosomes (preserving the DNA from a single body part would not work).


Fatal flaw:  Most metazoans (multi-cellular animals) do not methylate
their DNA to a detectable extent.  A particular example is Drosophila,
which clearly ages.  Methylation in metazoans largely appears to be
a mammalian anomaly.

People are looking for ageing genes in Drosophila -- there was a blurb
on it in a recent Science (the one before the format change).




Keith Robison
Harvard University
Program in Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

robison@ribo.harvard.edu
From: PAOLIVER@INDYVAX.BITNET
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
Subject: Interesting book on ageing
Date: 16 Apr 92 08:47:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: genbank.9204160929.AA17457
Distribution: bionet


   Just thought I'd mention an interesting book that I recently
acquired titled "Aging, Sex, and DNA Repair", by Carol and Harris
Bernstein (Academic Press, 1991, ISBN 0-12-092860-4). To excerpt a little
from the first paragraph: "Both aging and sexual reproduction (sex)
reflect a universal property of life, vulnerability of the genetic
material to damage. This idea, and the evidence bearing on it, are the
subject of this book..."
  The basic thesis is that sexual reproduction's primary "purpose"
is to transmit good (error corrected) DNA to offspring; recombination
of genes from both parents is the key. This is my current understanding;
I've not read the book completely and in detail yet (nor am I formally
a biologist, yet.)

-- Phil Oliver
      "I don't want to life forever through my work; I want to
       life forever by not dying" -- Woody Allen  (seems appropriate here)
From: ST401896@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (wilson hago)
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing
Subject: Re: The foutain of youth?
Date: 15 Apr 92 22:43:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: genbank.9204152310.AA26963
Distribution: bionet

Sperm cells are bathed in a solution that contains 5 to 7 times the
concentration of vitamin C found in other cells. This is an error-correction
mechanism that exists in addition to that one found at the time of
gene shuffling.
From: B2G@CU.NIH.GOV
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program
Subject: Research Opportunities for Eastern and Central European
          Scientists
Date: 7 Apr 92 17:48:09 GMT
Reply-To: B2G@NIHCU
Distribution: bionet

The National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR) recently
issued a program announcement to solicit applications for small
grants and fellowships from scientists from Eastern and Central
Europe.  The announcements--PA 92-67 (small grants, R03 mechanism)
and PA 92-68 (international fellowships, F05 mechanism) will
appear in the April 10, 1992, issue of the NIH Guide to Grants
and Contracts, Vol. 21, No. 14.  Foreign applicants must have
U.S. collaborators (in the case of small grants) or U.S. sponsors
(in the case of fellowships) who hold NCHGR grants.

If you do not have access to the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts
and would like a copy of these announcements, please send me your
complete address by e-mail.

Bettie J. Graham, Ph.D.



Newsgroups: bionet.jobs
From: rcw2@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Robert Craig Wilson)
Subject: POST DOC POSITION WANTED
Reply-To: rcw2@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Robert Craig Wilson)
Organization: Columbia University
Distribution: BIONET
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 01:10:27 GMT

To Whom It May Concern:

	I have recently earned my Ph.D. from Columbia 
University in Department of Genetics and Development. I am 
interested in a Post Doc position, preferably in California, 
involved in protein biochemistry/molecular biology and 
protein purification. Please respond only to my email 
address (rcw2@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu). 
	As a graduate student, my project was the 
characterization and purification of nuclear pre-mRNA 
splicing factors from nuclear extracts. 
	In higher eukaryotes, most pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) 
transcripts encoding proteins are interrupted with non-
coding introns. Removal of these non-coding introns to 
produce messenger RNA (mRNA) is a process known as splicing. 
The pre-mRNA must first be assembled into a multicomponent 
complex, the spliceosome, composed of small 
ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) and other non-snRNP protein 
factors. Splicing then occurs in a two step reaction after 
association with "late" splicing factors. 
	My project involved development of an in vitro splicing 
assay. In vitro synthesized pre-mRNA is assembled into 
"core" spliceosomes by incubation with nuclear extract, in 
the presence of ATP and MgCl2. Purified core spliceosomes 
can be complemented for splicing with snRNP devoid nuclear 
extract. I adopted this feature as an assay to characterize 
and identify "late" non-snRNP splicing factors by using 
purified core spliceosomes to test nuclear extract derived 
chromatographic fractions for complementing activity. In 
addition, I utilized various chemical and enzymatic probes 
for biochemical analysis of these late splicing factors. 
	My results showed that there are at least three "late" 
non-snRNP splicing factors required for complementation of 
core spliceosomes. Two of these factors are relatively heat 
resistant and are required for the first splicing step. This 
characteristic was used to develop an assay specific for the 
heat sensitive factor, which is involved in the second 
splicing step. 
	I also studied the association and interaction of these 
late splicing factors with the core spliceosome. I was able 
to identify a 130 kD protein as possible "late" splicing 
factors using a modified Western blot procedure in 
conjunction with chromatographic fractionation.
	During this time I have had the unique opportunity to 
learn not only protein biochemistry and protein 
purification, but I have also gained a strong knowledge of 
molecular biology. If you have a position that my expertise 
fits, please contact me by writing to my email address 
(rcw2@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu). 



Sincerely,

Robert Wilson, Ph.D.
From: au342@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael P. Rolfes)
Subject: Searching for Statistical/ Actuarial Position
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 00:46:18 GMT


                        Michael P. Rolfes
                       3474 Lapland Drive
                   Cincinnati, OH  45239-5466
                         (513) 923-1344
 
Objective       Obtain a position in applied statistics or
                              analysis.
 
Education      College of Mount St. Joseph
                          Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, May 1992.
                              Certification in Secondary Education, May 1992.
                              GPA:  3.154
 
Pertinent      -Probability and Statistics
Courses  -       Applications of Mathematics in Computer Programming
Completed      -Senior Research in Statistical Hypothesis Testing
 
Scholarships   Honors Scholarship
                              Trustee Grant 
                              Sister Martha Ann Conley Scholarship
 
Employment     High School and Collegiate Sports' Official, 1988 to present.
 
                              Tutor, Middle School and High School Mathematics,
                              1990 to 1991.
 
                              College of Mount St. Joseph, Commuter Representative, 1990 to present.
 
                              Office Assistant, Athletics and Mathematics Departments, 1990 to present.
 
                              Teaching Assistant, Business Department, 
                              1989 to 1990.
 
                              Notary Public, State of Ohio.  
 
Activities     Mathematical Association of America.
                              Journalist, MSJ Dateline, 1988 to present.
                              Campus Ambassador, 1988 to present.
                              Campus Minister, 1988 to present.
                              Athletic Team Assistant, 1988 to present.
                              Communion Distributor, Saint James White Oak.
                              TriState Online, Inc., System Operator (SYSOP).
                              Ohio Valley REACT, Inc., 1988 to present.
 
                              Hamilton County Emergency and Disaster Services.
                              1988 to present.
 
                              Instructor, Ohio Valley Basketball Officials'
                              Association and Ohio Valley Volleyball Officials' Association; Vice-President, Elect.
                              1991 to 1992.


*******************************


Sorry, there was some type of error in uploading.
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Monday, 6 Apr 1992 22:37:27 EDT
From: <RXB118@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: bionet.jobs
Subject: job wanted

  To Whomever it may concern:
      I am a currently a sixth semester student residing in the State College
  area and am looking for a summer position in a biology lab. My major is
  Molecular and Cell Biology and I have much lab experience. For more
  information please contact me at 867-4187 before May 6.
                                           Sincerely,
                                               Michael A. Dolan
                                               1013 S. Allen St
                                               Apt 206
                                               16801
From: una@phy.duke.edu (Una Smith)
Newsgroups: bionet.jobs
Subject: Ecology of migrant birds
Date: 10 Apr 92 15:15:35 GMT
Organization: Duke University Physics Dept.; Durham, N.C.


The following job announcement appeared on the wildnet 
subscription list.  Please reply to Dr. Twedt, not to me.

	Una Smith
	Duke University
	
--------------------------- cut here ---------------------------

 THE VICKSBURG FIELD STATION OF THE NATIONAL WETLANDS RESEARCH
 CENTER IS SEEKING WILDLIFE TECHNICIANS IN STUDIES OF NEOTROPICAL
 MIGRANTS USING FOREST FRAGMENTS IN THE MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL VALLEY.
 POSITIONS START ON OR BEFORE 1 MAY 1992.

 ABILITY TO IDENTIFY BIRDS BY SIGHT AND SOUND IS ESSENTIAL.

 TECHNICIAN I:

 6 MONTH POSITION (EXTENSION POSSIBLE)  SALARY ABOUT $9/HR.

 CONDUCT FILED STUDIES ON NEOTROPICAL MIGRANTS IN BOTTOMLAND
 HARDWOOD FORESTS.  DUTIES INCLUDE CONDUCTING POINT-COUNTS FOR
 BREEDING BIRDS, ASSESSING ASSOCIATED VEGETATION, AND SURVEYING
 THE COMMUNITY OF FALL MIGRANTS.

 BIOLOGICAL TECHNICIAN:

 30-60 DAY APPOINTMENT (GS 4/5) SALARY $7.25-8.50/HR
 DUTIES SAME AS ABOVE.

 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

 DR. DAN TWEDT
 NATIONAL WETLANDS RESEARCH CENTER
 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
 900 CLAY STREET
 VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI  39180
 601-634-8963, 601638-1891, FAX: 601-638-7750
-- 

Una Smith   una@phy.duke.edu    School of the Environment
                                Duke University
                                Durham, NC  27706
From: TARTICHO@FLINT.MINES.COLORADO.EDU
Newsgroups: bionet.jobs
Subject: list
Date: 16 Apr 92 00:09:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: FLINT.920415180930.20210a43
Distribution: bionet

Please send a list of the available job offers for a summer position for a college sophmore.
Thank you     :tarticho@flint.mines.colorado.edu
From: VLINDERS@RCL.WAU.NL (Greetings from Meindert de Jong)
Newsgroups: bionet.jobs
Subject: Seeking a little TELECOMMUTING job
Date: 10 Apr 92 12:29:26 GMT
Distribution: bionet

Dear Reader:

The past ten years I have done a fantastic research: A risk
analysis leading to the biocontrol of a forest weed by a
fungus. However, I don't have a job because of my illness. And
I should like so much to do some scientific work, and get in
touch with colleagues and students. I would like to get a
telecommuting job in science.
I have been an external reader with a Canadian University.
Currently, I am writing a paper for 'Risk Analysis'.
Please E-mail me if you have something available. Then I can
send you a previous e-mail entitled "Looking for a little
job", and a publication list. When I posted this before, I
received the following response: "If something comes up that
will work for you, we have you at the top of our list". Can I
come on the top of your list too?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Sincerely Yours,
dr Meindert D. de Jong
e-mail: Vlinders@rcl.wau.NL
phone: (+31) 8370 21937
photo: de Jong et al.'90. Risk Analysis for Biological Control
             A Dutch case study ... Plant Disease 74: 189-194.
e-available: de Jong et al.'91. Modelling the spore escape ...
             from a larch forest ... Neth.J.Pl.Path.97:55-61.
--------------------------------------------------------------
From: arun@natinst.com (Arun Gupta)
Subject: CAN SOMEONE PLEASE SEND ME A LIST OF MAJOR BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
Organization: National Instruments, Austin, TX
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 21:26:29 GMT

SUB:	CAN SOMEONE HELP ME WITH A LIST OF MAJOR BIOTECH COMPANIES IN USA

	Dear Netters:
	This is the first time I am reading this newsgroup.
	My friend is looking for a job in biotechnology area.
	If someone has a list of major biotech compnanies in USa, please
	send me a copy of it. I shall be really grateful to him..

	I will appreciate if u please e-mail it to my account
	Thanks a lot/

arun kumar

Newsgroups: bionet.jobs,umich.jobs,misc.jobs.offered