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6 | JULY 2016 | GENengnews.com | Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News The only life we know exists on our own planet, the third rock from the sun. So, when we look for life elsewhere, we expect to fnd it on another planet that is, well, rock. But we could broaden our search, say scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. They note that planets of rock formed relatively recently, after interstellar space, stars, and proto- planetary discs were already seeded with heavy elements. Yet planets of a diferent sort may have formed when early nuclear furnaces, carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars, were still forging the lighter elements. Around CEMP stars, the scientists say, fufy carbon dust grains clumped together to form worlds rich in graphite, carbides, and diamond instead of iron and silicate rock. With a little water, such worlds could have supported life long before Earth-like planets appeared. 140 Huguenot Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801- 5215 914 740 -2100 • GENengnews.com PUBLISHER & CEO Mary Ann Liebert PRESIDENT, GEN Publishing Marianne Russell EDITOR IN CHIEF John Sterling editor@GENengnews.com GEN GROUP PUBLISHER Sande Giaccone M A N AG I N G E D I TO R Tamlyn L. Oliver P R O D U C T I O N E D I TO R Robert M. Reis S E N I O R E D I TO R Kevin Mayer T E C H N I C A L E D I TO R Patricia F. Dimond, Ph.D. T E C H N I C A L E D I TO R Jefrey S. 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Gruber, M.D., CEO, Tocagen; Andrew Hirsch, President and CEO, Bind Therapeutics; Jin Seok Hur, Ph.D., Technology Director, Novasep; James Inglese, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences NIH; Guenter Jagschies, Senior Director, GE Healthcare Life Sciences; Peter Johnson, M.D., Principal, MedSurgPI; Anis H. Khimani, Ph.D., Head of Strategy & Marketing, Research Reagent Solutions, PerkinElmer; Mikael Kubista, Ph.D., Biotechnology Institute, Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic; Peter Levison, Senior Marketing Director, Downstream Processing, Pall Life Sciences; Jan Lichtenberg, Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder, InSphero; Miodrag Micic, Sc.D., Ph.D., Professor and Department Chairman, Cerritos College; Eric Schadt, Ph.D., Director, Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology; Zhiwei Song, Ph.D., Scientist, National University of Singapore; Sumio Sugano, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Medical Genomics, University of Tokyo; John Talley, Ph.D., CSO, SARmont; Bin Wang, Ph.D., Professor, Principal Investigator, Fudan University Shanghai Medical College; Daniel I. C. 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Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is recognized as a Certifed Woman-Owned Business by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). GENengnews.com Teens "Like" Social Media Attention DNA's Second Level of Information The more "likes" teenagers see on social media, the more active the reward regions of their brains become, according to a recent study. Researchers at UCLA's Ahmanson–Lovelace Brain Mapping Center showed 32 teens 148 photographs on a computer screen for 12 minutes—including 40 photos each participant submitted—then analyzed their brain activity using function- al magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). When the teens saw their own photos with large numbers of likes in a small social network similar to Instagram, the researchers saw activity across the social brain and regions linked to visual attention, and especially the nucleus accumbens. "Teens react diferently to information when they believe it has been endorsed by many or few of their peers," said the study's lead author Lauren Sherman, a researcher at the Cen- ter and the UCLA branch of the Children's Digital Media Cen- ter, Los Angeles. The team published its results in the journal Psychological Science. Super-Primeval Life on Planets of Carbon Leiden Institute of Physics researchers, writing in PLOS One, say have proven that not only the genetic information in DNA determines who we are, but also DNA's mechanics does so as well. Helmut Schiessel, Ph.D., and his research group used their computer code to simulate the folding of DNA strands with randomly assigned mechanical cues that determine how the DNA molecule is folded into nucleosomes. The team found correlations between the mechanics and the actual folding structure in the genomes of baker's yeast and fssion yeast. Thus, mutations can have two diferent efects: the letter sequence encoding for a specifc protein can change or the mechanics of the DNA structure can change, resulting in a diferent packaging and accessibility of the DNA and, therefore, a diferent frequency of production of that protein. From 1946 to 1958 the U.S. tested 67 nuclear weapons at the Pacifc Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands. After almost 60 years and thousands of displaced peoples, some of the abandoned islands might be ready for human reinhabita- tion. Researchers collected gamma radiation measurements on six afected islands, one unafected island, and New York City's Central Park. Five of the six islands fell below the 100 millirem (mrem) per year threshold for human habitation, each averaging less than 40 mrem. Interestingly, while one island clocked in at 184 mrem, Central Park measured 100 mrem, mostly likely a result of background radiation from granite deposits found in the park. In any event, the Marshallese may soon be able to re-inhabit their ancestral lands, but may think twice before visiting NYC. Movin' On Up, to the Nuke Side WikiCommons, Department of Defense Aboriginal Australians Scientists from Grifth University used advanced DNA sequencing technology to demonstrate that Aboriginal people were the frst to inhabit Australia. Their research, published in PNAS, also showed that a previous study, that had concluded that nonaboriginal Mungo Man was the frst to live on that continent, was contaminated with fve diferent European DNA sequences, leading to incorrect conclusions about Mungo Man's place in Australian his- tory. The team analyzed the DNA of more than 20 of the other ancient people found near Lake Mungo and found "compelling [genetic] support for the argument that Ab- original Australians were the frst inhabitants of Australia." Sticky Ends... Duncan 1890 / Getty Images palau83 / Getty Images While they may not be as impressive as Daenerys Tar- garyen's fre-breathing protectors, the pale, blind aquatic salamanders that Slovenian locals fondly refer to as "baby dragons", are no less of biological curiosity. Scientifcally referred to as olms (Proteus anguinus), these baby dragons only reproduce every 5 to 10 years and are thought to live almost 100. Typically residing in dark underground caves, a clutch of eggs recently began to hatch at the Aquarium in Postojna Cave in southern Slovenia—a rare event for scien- tists to be able to witness. Interestingly, in his publication On the Origin of Species, Darwin referenced olms and their lack of developed eyes as a quintessential example of his natural selection theory. There Be Dragons Here!