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Researchers Locate "Funny" Gene

by David Grimm on 1 April 2005, 12:00 AM | Permanent Link | 0 Comments

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Scientists today announced they have located a gene apparently responsible for a person's sense of humor. The finding may provide potential drug targets for those who "just don't get it."

Scientists have debated for years whether humans are really unique among other animals in their ability to find things funny. One thing that most researchers do agree on, however, is that, though widespread, the ability is not shared by all people. "Just look at undertakers and politicians," says Horace Epstein, a geneticist at the Lachen Institute in Trenton, New Jersey. Reasoning that these differences between people might be due to variations in the DNA sequence of a "funny gene," Epstein looked for families with a strong humor history.

Epstein's team found a large family in Gobblers Knob, Kentucky, that had demonstrated lightheartedness over several generations. "By comparing family members who loved Seinfeld with members who had a fondness for C-SPAN, we were able to narrow down the gene's location to a large track of DNA sequence on the X chromosome," says Epstein. After using computer databases to locate candidate genes, the researchers homed in on three stretches where the Seinfelders had a DNA sequence that differed from that of the C-SPANners.

The researchers then expressed the genes in mice. Two had no effect, but the third caused the mice to emit a high-pitched squeak when they were shown a picture of a cat being hit by an anvil. "I think we can safely assume the mice were laughing at the cat's misfortune," says Epstein, whose group will publish its work in an upcoming issue of Genes and Behavior.

Because the gene's protein contains a large number of histidines and alanines, the researchers have settled on calling it HAHA-1. "I expect we'll find that comedians like Robin Williams express high levels of the protein, while individuals such as Dick Cheney likely have HAHA-1 mutations," says Epstein.

"It's a remarkable discovery," says Sarah Haugton, a molecular biologist at River Glen University in Burlington, Vermont. "There's a funny bone, so why not a funny gene?" Robert Chadwick, a genome researcher at London's Northhaven University believes the study could lead to potential gene therapy treatments for those without a sense a humor. "Think of all of those people who don't get April Fools jokes," he says. "Now they may finally be able to laugh."

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Claytronics

Claytronics: The (Changing) Shape of Things to Come

Published July 26, 2012 | By Brian Albright

Once an object is designed and built, it’s a finished piece. You can paint it, you can break it, you can modify it, but it’s basic form is limited by the materials involved and the shape it was initially hammered or molded into. But what if objects could change their shape based on electronic commands? Scientists are currently working on creating just that type of “programmable matter,” which could allow everyday objects like watches and chairs to shift into othertypes of objects at the press of a button.

This so-called “claytronics” technology is the result of a collaboration between researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Intel Research Labs Pittsburgh. At the heart of the project are “catoms” (claytronic atoms), micro robots that can interact with each other and behave like atoms, held together electrostatically and cooperating to create objects. These less-than-a-millimeter devices would organize themselves into whatever form they were ordered to take. Right now, the research team is testing the concept using much larger prototypes. According to the website:

As these creative systems have evolved in the Carnegie Mellon-Intel Claytronics Hardware Lab, they have prepared the path for development of a millimeter scale module that will represent the creation of a self-actuating catom — a device that can compute, move, and communicate — at the nano-scale.

Theoretically, the technology could allow such mind-blowing possibilities as walls that could grow doors or windows on command, or shape-shifting furniture.

DARPA is working on a similar idea to create equipment that could change shape in the field, along with shape-shifting robots that could flow like mercury through tiny openings. In 2009, the Pentagon unveiled a sheet of programmable matter (developed via Harvard and MIT) that could fold itself into the shape of a boat or a plane on command. So while it may be some time before we see anything like those slippery androids inTerminator 2, shape-shifting robotics is advancing rapidly.

The Intel researchers, in fact, think that programmable matter could be a reality by 2020.

You can see a list of published research on the topic here, and view a video below

http://www.engineeringontheedge.com/2012/07/claytronics-the-changing-shape-of-things-to-come/