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OB OY Le VEN? JAPAN SHUTS DOWN LAST WORKING NUCLEAR REACTOR or suffering damage from one,” said Tobias Eckle, MD, a PhD, an associate professor of anaesthesiology, cardiology, and cell and developmental biology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "For patients, this could mean that daylight exposure inside of the hospital could reduce the damage that is caused by a heart attack." The connection between light and = myocardial infarction, known commonly as a heart attack, lies in the circadian rhythm, the body's clock that is linked to light and dark. The circadian clock is regulated by proteins in the brain, but the proteins are in other organs as well, including the heart. Dr Eckle and Holger Eltzschig, MD, PhD, a professor of anaesthesiology at CU, found that one of those proteins, Period 2, plays a crucial role in fending off damage from a eart attack and is activated by strong daylight. Source: ScienceDaily, 25 April 2012, http://tinyurl.com/bnzbkb8) apan is shutting down its WN Jigs: working nuclear reactor as part of the safety drive imposed after the March 2011 tsunami triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima plant. The closure of the third reactor at the Tomari plant in Hokkaido prefecture, northern Japan, means that all of the country's 50 nuclear reactors have been taken offline, leaving the country with no nuclear- derived electricity for the first time since 1970. Until last year's earthquake and tsunami triggered radiation leaks at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan was the world's third-biggest user of AN; INTENSE LIGHT PREVENTS AND TREATS HEART ATTACK There are lots of ways tha physicians might treat a patien after a heart attack: certain resuscitation methods, aspirin, clot- busters and more. Now University of Colorado (CU) medical schoo researchers have found a new candidate: intense light. "The study suggests that strong light, or even just daylight, migh ease the risk of having a heart attack atomic energy. All the reactors have been shut down for routine maintenance. They must withstand tests against earthquakes and tsunamis, and local authorities must give their consent in order for plants to be restarted. (Source: Guardian.co.uk, 5 May 2012, http://tinyurl.com/bmy8cbs) SYNTHETIC DNA EVOLVES ON ITS OWN © 77 Ween a// /] FRUIT MARICE a / PPAF RE OPEC VETO ‘ ~~. cientists from the UK's Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology have created synthetic compounds called XNAs, which can also store and copy genetic information. In a “big advancement", these artificial compounds can also be made to evolve in the lab, according to a new study by co-author Dr John Chaput of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, USA. First, researchers made XNA building blocks to six different genetic systems by replacing the natural sugar component of DNA with one of six different polymers— synthetic chemical compounds. 6 * NEXUS JUNE - JULY 2012 “They’re not the prices, they’re the Geiger readings.” www.nexusmagazine.com