DNA 'fabricator' constructs walking DNA - tech - 16 January 2008 - New Scientist Tech

The goal of being able to program biochemical reactions as precisely and easily as computers crunch numbers and process words has moved a giant step closer.

A group at the California Institute of Technology, led by biomolecular engineer Niles Pierce, has created a DNA-based fabricator.

http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn13192-dna-fabricator-constructs-walking-dna.html?feedId=online-news_rss20 ---

Coralline algae will suffer as oceans acidify | Practical Fishkeeping magazine

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1521 --- Corals are not the only reef organisms to suffer directly from increased ocean acidification, according to a study to be published in the journal Nature Geoscience.  Ilsa Kuffner, Andreas Andersson, Paul Jokiel, Ku'ulei Rodgers and Fred Mackenzie carried out a seven-week experiment examining the effects of increased ocean acidification on crustose coralline algae, a group of calcifying algae that is important in many shallow water habitats, including coral reefs.  The authors constructed six fibreglass mesocosm tanks were supplied with flowing sea water pumped from the edge of a coral reef in Hawaii.

Four Health Behaviors Can Add 14 Extra Years Of Life

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080108083001.htm ---

Allergys from being too antiseptic? Technology Review: The New Hygiene Hypothesis

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/19997/ --- A host of explanations have been put forth to account for rising rates of allergy and asthma, including reduced rates of breast feeding, parents who smoke, and worsening pollution. But as most of these factors have been ruled out--poorer cities with high levels of pollution often have lower allergy levels, for example--an alternative explanation has taken the lead. Scientists suggest that now that many of the most harmful bugs in our environment have been eradicated with modern sanitation and medicine, our immune systems turn their attack on usually harmless molecules, such as those in cat dander or dust mites.