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Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Claims Alien Cover-up

Dr. Edgar Mitchell is a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission and he was the sixth man to walk on the Moon. Dr. Mitchell also insists that aliens have visited Earth and that governments are actively covering it up. "I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said. "It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it. "I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit." Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated. He told the astonished Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison: "This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organisations are moving in that direction." NASA issued a quick denial. In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. "Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue." If Dr. Mitchell is correct about a cover-up than this is exactly the type of denial one would expect NASA to make. You can listen to the interview with Dr. Mitchell where he discusses the UFO phenomena here. Permalink | Recent Headlines | News Feeds Read more…

One Gene 90 Percent Responsible For Making Common Parasite Dangerous

17.12.2006 06:08 Science - Source: ScienceDaily Headlines

More than a decade of searching for factors that make the common parasite Toxoplasma gondii dangerous to humans has pinned 90 percent of the blame on just one of the parasite's approximately 6,000 genes.

The finding, reported in this week's issue of Science by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere, should make it easier to identify the parasite's most virulent strains and treat them. The results suggest that when a more harmful strain of T. gondii appears, approximately 90 percent of the time it will have a different form of the virulence gene than that found in the more benign strains of the parasite.

Infection with T. gondii, or toxoplasmosis, is perhaps most familiar to the general public from the widespread recommendation that pregnant women avoid changing cat litter. Cats are commonly infected with the parasite, as are some livestock and wildlife. T. gondii's most infamous relatives are the parasites that cause malaria.

Epidemiologists estimate that as many as one in every four humans is infected with T. gondii. Infections are typically asymptomatic, only causing serious disease in patients with weakened immune systems. In some rare cases, though, infection in patients with healthy immune systems leads to serious eye or central nervous system disease, or congenital defects or death in the fetuses of pregnant women. Historically, scientists have found strains of T. gondii difficult to tell apart, heightening the mystery of occasional serious infections in healthy people.

"Clinically it may be helpful to be able to test the form of the parasite causing the infection to determine if a case requires aggressive management and treatment or is unlikely to be a cause of serious disease," says senior author L. David Sibley, Ph.D. professor of molecular microbiology. "This finding will advance us toward that goal."

ROP18, the T. gondii virulence gene identified by researchers, makes a protein that belongs to a class of signaling factors known as kinases that are ubiquitous in human biology.

"Kinases are active in cancers and autoimmune disorders, so pharmaceutical companies already have libraries of inhibitors they've developed to block the activity of these proteins," Sibley says. "Some patients can't tolerate the antibiotics we currently use to treat T. gondii infection, so in future studies we will want to screen these inhibitor libraries to see if one can selectively block ROP18 and serve as a more effective treatment."

The Institute for Genomic Research, in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, completed sequencing of the T. gondii genome in 2004. Three separate postdoctoral fellows (the co-first authors of the paper) then used three different post-genomic techniques to search the genome for potential virulence factors.

"All the approaches we used eventually pointed emphatically to a single gene, ROP18," Sibley notes. "The readings were just off the scale."

A survey of isolates from T. gondii strains from around the world found ROP18 and its effects on virulence to be widespread.

"The protein made by the ROP18 gene has an interesting and predictable function," says Sibley. "The parasite uses it to get a host cell 'drunk,' secreting the protein into the host after infection."

Inside the host cell, ROP18 presumably disrupts some important signaling process, altering the intracellular environment in a way that favors the parasite's growth and reproduction. Sibley notes that ROP18's primary role in T. gondii virulence suggests that similar genes in malaria parasites may be worthy of further study.

Sibley and his colleagues are currently working to identify ROP18's targets in the host cell. They are also looking for other genes that act together with ROP18 to contribute to T. gondii virulence.

"In addition, we plan to use the same genomic approaches that identified ROP18 to seek genes in T. gondii that affect other important characteristics, such as latency and transmissibility," he says.

Taylor S, Barragan A, Su C, Fux B, Fentress SJ, Tang K, Beatty WL, El Hajj H, Jerome M, Behnke MS, White M, Wootton JC, Sibley LD. A secreted serine-threonine kinase determines virulence in the eukaryotic pathogen Toxoplasma Gondii. Science, December 15, 2006.