Susceptibility to chronic mucus hypersecretion, a genome wide association study

Background: Chronic mucus hypersecretion (CMH) is associated with an increased frequency of respiratory infections, excess lung function decline, and increased hospitalisation and mortality rates in the general population. It is associated with smoking, but it is unknown why only a minority of smokers develops CMH. A plausible explanation for this phenomenon is a predisposing genetic constitution. Therefore, we performed a genome wide association (GWA) study of CMH in Caucasian populations. Methods: GWA analysis was performed in the NELSON-study using the Illumina 610 array, followed by replication and meta-analysis in 11 additional cohorts. In total 2,704 subjects with, and 7,624 subjects without CMH were included, all current or former heavy smokers (≥20 pack-years). Additional studies were performed to test the functional relevance of the most significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Results: A strong association with CMH, consistent across all cohorts, was observed with rs6577641 (p = 4.25x10-6, OR = 1.17), located in intron 9 of the special AT-rich sequence-binding protein 1 locus (SATB1) on chromosome 3. The risk allele (G) was associated with higher mRNA expression of SATB1 (4.3x10 -9) in lung tissue. Presence of CMH was associated with increased SATB1 mRNA expression in bronchial biopsies from COPD patients. SATB1 expression was induced during differentiation of primary human bronchial epithelial cells in culture. Conclusions: Our findings, that SNP rs6577641 is associated with CMH in multiple cohorts and is a cis-eQTL for SATB1, together with our additional observation that SATB1 expression increases during epithelial differentiation provide suggestive evidence that SATB1 is a gene that affects CMH

Preliminary Findings Related to the Use of Sample Return to Advance Our Life-Related Goals for Mars

International audienc

Some Strategic Considerations Related to the Potential Use of Water Resource Deposits on Mars by Future Human Explorers

A long-term base on Mars, at the center of an "Exploration Zone", would require substantial quantities of in-situ resources. Although water is not the only resource on Mars of potential interest, it stands out as the one that most dominates long-lead strategic planning. It is needed for multiple purposes for various human activities (including our own survival!), and in significant quantities. The absence of viable deposits could make a surface "field station" logistically unsustainable. Therefore, identification of deposits, and development of the technology needed to make use of these deposits, are an important priority in the period leading up to a human mission to Mars. Given our present understanding of Mars, ice and hydrated minerals appear to be the best potential sources for the quantity of water expected to be needed. The methods for their extraction would be different for these two classes of deposits, and at the present time it is unknown which would ultimately be an optimal solution. The deposits themselves would also ultimately have to be judged by certain economics that take into account information about geologic and engineering attributes and the "cost" of obtaining this information. Ultimately much of this information would need to come from precursor missions, which would be essential if utilization of martian is situ water resources is to become a part of human exploration of Mars

Planning considerations related to the organic contamination of martian samples and implications for the Mars 2020 rover

© Copyright 2014, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Data gathered during recent NASA missions to Mars, particularly by the Rovers Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity, have provided important insights into the past history and habitability of the Red Planet. The Mars science community, via input through the National Research Council (NRC) Planetary Science Decadal Survey Committee, also identified the prime importance of a Mars sample return (MSR) mission to further exploration of the Red Planet. In response, the Mars 2020 Mission (Mars 2020) Science Definition Team (SDT) (Mustard et al., 2013) was chartered by the NASA Mars Exploration Program to formulate a new rover mission that would take concrete steps toward an eventual sample return. The SDT recommended that the 2020 rover should select and cache scientifically compelling samples for possible return to Earth. They also noted that organic contamination of the samples was a significant and complex issue that should be independently investigated by a future committee. Accordingly, NASA chartered the Mars 2020 Organic Contamination Panel (OCP). The OCP was charged with evaluating and recommending sample contamination requirements for the proposed Mars 2020. A further task was to assess implementation approaches in support of the investigation of broad scientific questions concerning the history and habitability of Mars. Central to these objectives would be the ability to reliably differentiate indigenous martian organic molecules from terrestrial contamination in any future samples returned from Mars. Early on during its deliberations, the OCP recognized that the scientific and planetary protection (PP) objectives of MSR are intimately linked, in that both rely heavily on measurements of organic molecules in the returned samples. In each case, a key aspect of the problem is being able to recognize and interpret organic molecules as indigenous to Mars against a potential background of Earthsourced contamination. It was within this context that the OCP committee considered the structure for a set of measurement goals related to organic molecules in the returned samples that would be of common interest to science and PP. The following is a summary of the most significant findings of the OCP regarding organic geochemical measurements that would be shared for both science and PP in relation to potential future MSR