Mr.Scienceindia

A new study published in Nature describes the discovery and analysis of ancient DNA that is calculated to be two-million-years-old, breaking the record for the oldest DNA to be discovered and studied. A breakthrough for the field of ancient DNA analysis A new study marks a “game-changing” moment in the study of evolution, as the world’s oldest DNA is successfully sequenced. The research was led by Professor Eske Willerslev, a fellow of St John’s College, University of Cambridge and director of the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre at the University of Copenhagen, and Professor Kurt H. Kjær, a geology expert also based at the University of Copenhagen. “This is the longest study I have ever been involved in,” Willerslev said. It began in 2006, when a team of scientists journeyed to northern Greenland, reaching the København Formation, a geologic formation that lies within the mouth of a fjord in the Arctic Ocean. The team were visiting the area for a different project but, whilst th...

A new study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience identifies formic acid as a potential biomarker for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Obtained from urine, the biomarker could offer an inexpensive and efficient diagnostic tool for the neurodegenerative condition. Diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease    A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease requires a series of clinical assessments, such as interviews, cognitive and neuropsychological tests, which can prove expensive and unsuitable for large-scale routine screening. Many patients are diagnosed later in life when the disease has progressed beyond the reach of effective treatment. “Alzheimer’s disease is a continuous and concealed chronic disease, meaning that it can develop and last for many years before obvious cognitive impairment emerges,” say the authors of a new study exploring whether a simple urine test could offer a solution. “The early stages of the disease occur before the irreversible dementia stage, and this is the gol...