THE BLOOD MYSTERIES

 A group of blood that can cause fatal blood transfusions are proved to be a mystery for 60 years. Now, researchers were able to identify the secret behind blood group known as the "Vel" discovery that could make blood safer for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
The mystery began in 1952, when an elderly woman of 66 years in New York, suffering from colon cancer, received a blood transfusion and suffered a sudden reaction, very serious and potentially fatal, in which her body rejected Blood. Doctors who investigated this case refers to the woman, using the name as "patient Vel".

Further research revealed that Ms. Vel has developed a strong immune response to an unknown compound that is found in the blood that had been transfused. However, scientists have not been able to identify this compound, opening the mystery of a new type of blood, "Vel-negative."
"Molecular Basis of Vel-negative blood type remained undiscovered for more than 60 years despite intense efforts worldwide," said Bryan Balliff researcher, biochemist and specialist spectrometry at the University of Vermont.

Most people on Earth are Vel-positive, but after identifying case studies showed that Ms. Vel is not alone. Over 200,000 people in Europe and more than 100,000 people in North America Vel-negative blood type. In Europe, the incidence of this rare type of blood is 1 in 2,500 people, and if these people receive a blood transfusion Vel-positive may suffer from kidney failure and even death.

Each person's red blood cells are coated with molecules that serve as antigens compounds train the immune system to react. It reacts by pumping proteins known as antibodies that attach to antigens and neutralize them. However, normally people do not produce antibodies to their antigens, but only to foreign antigens - such as those obtained from the blood of another person who has a different blood type (and thus antigens that they do not have) .

Most common antigens are those that form the main blood groups: A, B, AB and O. In addition there are many other lesser known blood groups, and Vel, which have the potential to make dangerous transfusions for patients.

Vel-negative blood is one type of blood that can be obtained extremely difficult in many countries. This is partly due to its rarity, but also the fact that there is a systematic method of identifying Vel-negative blood donors. So far, to identify whether a person is Vel Vel-negative or-positive, doctors using antibodies obtained from the few people identified as Vel-negative when their bodies rejected blood transfusion. Many hospitals and blood banks have access to these antibodies, so they have no method to test for Vel.

Now researcher Bryan Baliff alongside Lionel Arnaud, a specialist in molecular biology from the National Blood Transfusion in France have deciphered the mystery of blood type Vel.
"Delivering on our promise to provide healthcare professionals immediate assistance when faced with this rare blood group," commented Baliff.

To identify the missing element in this puzzle, the international team of researchers used antibodies extracted from Vel-negative patients to purify the human erythrocyte membrane protein in Vel. Balliff and colleagues found "guilty", a tiny molecule unnoticed until now they have called SMIM1 (small integral membrane protein 1). Genetic analysis performed on 70 Vel-negative individuals revealed that all patients have missing a gene, the gene that allows cells to produce SMIM1.

Last year, the same researchers have identified two other proteins responsible for rare blood groups, Junior and Langeris. The Vel, the number of blood groups of researchers understood today stands at 33.

"Although there are still some rare blood types that we have not elucidated the molecular Vel-negative blood be certainly the most disturbing mystery," said Arnaud.

Researchers have developed DNA-based tests that allow the identification of patients with Vel-negative. These tests can be easily integrated into existing blood testing procedures, and health professionals can do in less than two hours.

"For those few people with Vel-negative blood who need a blood transfusion, this short period of time could allow life to be saved. Even if you are that rare person Vel-2500 is negative, we know how to quickly find your blood type and how to get your blood that you need, "said Baliff.
Usually people suffer from cancer is only after developing symptoms or after trials and mammograms - signs that are visible only when the cancer has grown and developed so much that it can not be cured. What if a simple blood test could detect early tumor appearance? By sequencing the DNA of the tumor relieves abnormal in a person's blood, scientists are one step closer to a universal blood test to detect cancer. Currently, this technique can detect only advanced cancers, but it seems to be a matter of money: as sequencing costs decrease, say researchers, the test can identify and tumors in infancy.

This effort of researchers is part of a new wave of studies focuses on the cell and DNA released into blood cancers, using these markers to track the growth and spread of tumors and to design treatments. DNA tests seek changes in genes known cancer DNA to distinguish cancerous from normal DNA.

The newest effort in this area was conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The team consisting of Rebecca Leary, Luis Diaz and Victor Velculescu (professor of oncology and co-director of the Cancer Biology Program at the Johns Hopkins University) wanted to develop a method to identify tumor DNA without knowing the structure genetics. To this end, scientists have started from an interesting observation: regardless of the type of cancer, tumor cells alter the chromosomes (they have extra copies of genes). This suggests that a test can detect chromosomal abnormalities could serve as a general test for cancer identification.

Now, researchers have shown that this idea can be applied. First, they isolated DNA from blood samples provided by 10 patients with advanced colon and breast cancer. Then, using the latest methods of DNA sequencing, researchers have decoded the entire genome of DNA. This showed that all 10 patients suffering from cancer had chromosomal abnormalities, however, when the test was performed on 10 healthy individuals, none present such anomalies.
"This method can have multiple uses," said Velculescu to ScienceNOW. Romanian researcher team wants to use this technique to track a patient's tumor, finding so that it responds to treatment and that grow back after surgical intervention. Also, this test could be used to decide what type of medicine is right for a patient.

Currently, this test is both slow and expensive. Each of the 10 tests conducted in the study cost several thousand dollars and lasted a month. As genome sequencing costs will decrease, "these tests may become extremely cheap," said Velculescu.

"This technique shows great promise, and when sequencing will become accessible, the test could become important in the early detection of cancer," commented Daniel Haber, an expert at the Massachusetts General Hospital specializes in the study of tumor cells.
Another expert, Carlos Caldas from Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, believes that these tests will start to be used in clinics in 5-10 years.

If the test designed by the team led by Professor Velculescu will prove successful, it could be an important step towards fulfilling forecast Medical Academy President, Professor Irinel Popescu, who announced that Victor Velculescu is one of the two Romanian scholars that are likely to get the Nobel Prize.

Scientists have managed to successfully calculate the rate of aging individuals in birds. Now they hope that this step to help in the development of such a test efficiently in humans.
Test allows us to know the biological age of individuals, predicting accurately their life. The invention works by measuring the length of structures called telomeres, which are known to have the ability to shorten every time cell division occurs. Telomere length provides a more accurate estimation of biological age than chronological age calculation.

As a result of this, some experts thought they could use telomeres estimate how much individuals have to live, assuming that they will die of natural causes.

Such tests have been commonly used on animals, and now scientists have used a small population of songbirds.

In the study, scientists have measured average telomere length in a population of 320 wren on Cousin Island.

"Our results provide the first clear evidence proving the existence of a relationship between each telomere length and mortality for wildlife. I also managed to demonstrate that the rate of telomere shortening may act as an indicator of biological age, "said study author.
The new study showed that telomere length can predict imminent death regardless of age. If birds had telomeres that shorten quickly found that they were to die during the year.
Although telomeres shorten with age, the rate at which this event varies from individual to individual, depending on how the subject experiences the biological stress caused by the changes and effort faced in life.

foto credit: google.com

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