In situ geochronology as a mission-enabling technology

Although there are excellent estimates of ages of terrains on Mars from crater counting, even a few absolute ages would serve to validate the calibration. Results with uncertainties, although much larger than those that could be achieved in labs on Earth, would be extremely valuable. While there are other possibilities for in situ geochronology instruments, we describe here two alternative technologies, being developed in JPL. There are two common features of both. The first is analysis by means of miniature mass spectrometer. The second is use of laser sampling to reduce or avoid sample handling, preparation and pre-treatment and equally importantly, to allow analysis of individual, texturally resolved minerals in coarse-grained rocks. This textural resolution will aid in selection of grains more or less enriched in the relevant elements and allow construction of isochrons for more precise dating. Either of these instruments could enable missions to Mars and other planetary bodies

Virtual Northern Analysis of the Human Genome

BACKGROUND: We applied the Virtual Northern technique to human brain mRNA to systematically measure human mRNA transcript lengths on a genome-wide scale. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used separation by gel electrophoresis followed by hybridization to cDNA microarrays to measure 8,774 mRNA transcript lengths representing at least 6,238 genes at high (>90%) confidence. By comparing these transcript lengths to the Refseq and H-Invitational full-length cDNA databases, we found that nearly half of our measurements appeared to represent novel transcript variants. Comparison of length measurements determined by hybridization to different cDNAs derived from the same gene identified clones that potentially correspond to alternative transcript variants. We observed a close linear relationship between ORF and mRNA lengths in human mRNAs, identical in form to the relationship we had previously identified in yeast. Some functional classes of protein are encoded by mRNAs whose untranslated regions (UTRs) tend to be longer or shorter than average; these functional classes were similar in both human and yeast. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Human transcript diversity is extensive and largely unannotated. Our length dataset can be used as a new criterion for judging the completeness of cDNAs and annotating mRNA sequences. Similar relationships between the lengths of the UTRs in human and yeast mRNAs and the functions of the proteins they encode suggest that UTR sequences serve an important regulatory role among eukaryotes

In Situ Potassium-Argon Geochronology Using Fluxed Fusion and a Double Spike

A document highlights an Li-based fluxing agent that enables sample fusion and quantitative Ar-release at relatively low temperatures (900-1,000 C), readily achievable with current flight resistance furnace designs. A solid, double spike containing known quantities of Ar-39 and K-41 was developed that, when added in known amounts to a sample, enables the extraction of a Ar-40/K-40 ratio for age estimation without a sample mass measurement. The use of a combination of a flux and a double spike as a means of solving the mechanical hurdles to an in situ K-Ar geochronology measurement has never been proposed before. This methodology and instrument design would provide a capability for assessing the ages of rocks and minerals on the surfaces of planets and other rocky terrestrial bodies in the solar system

Fast <em>l</em>1 Minimization for Genomewide Analysis of mRNA Lengths

Application of the virtual northern method to human mRNA allows us to systematically measure transcript length on a genome-wide scale [1]. Characterization of RNA transcripts by length provides a measurement which complements cDNA sequencing. We have robustly extracted the lengths of the transcripts expressed by each gene for comparison with the Unigene, Refseq, and H-Invitational databases [2, 3]. Obtaining an accurate probability for each peak requires performing multiple bootstrap simulations, each involving a deconvolution operation which is equivalent to finding the sparsest non-negative solution of an underdetermined system of equations. This process is computationally intensive for a large number of simulations and genes. In this contribution we present an efficient approximation method which is faster than general purpose solvers by two orders of magnitude, and in practice reduces our processing time from a week to hours

Genomic Characterization of the Human Heterotrimeric G Protein α, β, and γ Subunit Genes

Heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide binding proteins (G proteins) transduce extracellular signals received by transmembrane receptors to effector proteins. Each subunit of the G protein complex is encoded by a member of one of three corresponding gene families. Currently, 16 different members of the α subunit family, 5 different members of the β subunit family, and 11 different members of the γ subunit family have been described in mammals. Here we have identified and characterized Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BACs) containing the human homologs of each of the α, β, and γ subunit genes as well as a Gα11 pseudogene and a previously undiscovered Gγ5-like gene. The gene structure and chromosome location of each gene was determined, as were the orientations of paired genes. These results provide greater insight into the evolution and functional diversity of the mammalian G protein subunit genes

Example length profile with deconvolution results.

<p>An example length profile is shown in blue. The normalized ratio from each length fraction is plotted against the length fractions in order, where the first length fraction is the one with the highest gel mobility. The rolling baseline is shown in green, and the deconvolution result is shown in red.</p

Calibrating the relationship between gel mobility and transcript length.

<p>The precise gel mobilities of all peaks from gold standard genes are plotted against the natural log of the sum of their matching Refseq length and an estimated poly(A) tail length of 225 nucleotides. The least squares fit to a line is shown by a black line with the parameters y = 0.054731 x+5.997276 (R² = 0.99). Closed circles represent points used to determine the calibration line. Points shown by open circles were excluded from the least squares calculation.</p