If you have a license key for Modeller 8 or 9, there is no need to reregister for Modeller 9.13 - the same license key will work. (It won't do any harm to reregister if you want to, though!)

9.13 is primarily a bugfix release relative to the last public release(9.12). Major user-visible changes include:

# Modeller now includes a variety of SOAP (statistically optimized atomic potential) scores for assessing proteins, loops, and interfaces.

# The Lennard-Jones interaction energy is now artificially truncated at very short distance; this makes simulations with poor starting conditions much less likely to 'blow up'.

# model.get_insertions(), model.get_deletions() and model.loops() now have an include_termini option; if False, residue ranges that include chain termini are excluded from the output.

See the Modeller manual for a full change log: http://salilab.org/modeller/9.13/manual/node39.html

If you encounter bugs in Modeller 9.13, please see http://salilab.org/modeller/9.13/manual/node10.html for information on how to report them.

Reference:

http://salilab.org/modeller/

The blind mole rat (Spalax) is an intriguing creature worthy of study. This was animal research examining the resistance subterranean blind mole rats (Spalax) have to cancers. Blind mole rats are one of a unique group of animals that spend their lives underground, are tolerant of very low oxygen levels (down to only 3% concentration – levels that would kill a human), have a long lifespan of more than 20 years, which is exceptional for a small rodent, and show no clear signs of ageing or age-related diseases.

This research has demonstrated the unique abilities of the blind mole rat to resist cancer, even when directly given potent cancer-causing chemicals. In this study researchers gave blind mole rats potent cancer-causing chemicals either through injections or applied directly to the skin, but the animals didn't develop cancer.

Remarkably, connective tissue cells (fibroblasts) taken from the blind mole rat even prevented the growth of human cancer cells when they were grown together in the laboratory.

In the laboratory, the researchers also demonstrated how connective tissue cells called fibroblasts taken from the animal seem to play an important role in this cancer resistance. These cells prevented the growth of human cancer cells when the two types of cells were grown together in the laboratory.

The researchers concluded that, "This report provides pioneering evidence that Spalax [the blind mole rat] is not only resistant to spontaneous cancer, but also to experimentally induced cancer, and shows the unique ability of Spalax fibroblasts to inhibit growth and kill cancer cells, but not normal cells, either through direct fibroblast-cancer cell interaction or via soluble factors."

Nonetheless, there remains optimism that understanding the anti-cancer mechanisms of mole rats may one day help inform further cancer treatments for humans, but a lot more research – and probably a significant amount of time – is needed before this can be considered.

Reference:

Image: telegraph.co.uk

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/11/91

Manov, Irena, et al. "Pronounced cancer resistance in a subterranean rodent, the blind mole-rat, Spalax: in vivo and in vitro evidence." BMC biology 11.1 (2013): 91.

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/01January/Pages/Claims-of-a-universal-cure-for-cancer-misleading.aspx

http://www.express.co.uk/news/health/454188/EXCLUSIVE-Cure-for-ALL-cancers-is-on-the-way-as-scientists-discover-major-breakthrough

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2540321/Could-mole-rats-hold-key-cure-cancer-Scientists-hail-potentially-life-changing-breakthrough.html

Initial customers for the HiSeq X Ten System, which will ship in Q1 2014, include Macrogen, based in Seoul, South Korea and its CLIA laboratory in Rockville, Maryland, the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia.

“For the first time, it looks like it will be possible to deliver the $1,000 genome, which is tremendously exciting,” said Eric Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute and a professor of biology at MIT. “The HiSeq X Ten should give us the ability to analyze complete genomic information from huge sample populations. Over the next few years, we have an opportunity to learn as much about the genetics of human disease as we have learned in the history of medicine.”

“The HiSeq X Ten is an ideal platform for scientists and institutions focused on the discovery of genotypic variation to enable a deeper understanding of human biology and genetic disease,” Illumina stated. “It can sequence tens of thousands of samples annually with high-quality, high-coverage sequencing, delivering a comprehensive catalog of human variation within and outside coding regions.”

HiSeq X Ten utilizes a number of advanced design features to generate massive throughput. Patterned flow cells, which contain billions of nanowells at fixed locations, combined with a new clustering chemistry deliver a significant increase in data density (6 billion clusters per run). Using state-of-the art optics and faster chemistry, HiSeq X Ten can process sequencing flow cells more quickly than ever before — generating a 10x increase in daily throughput when compared to current HiSeq 2500 performance.

The HiSeq X Ten is sold as a set of 10 or more ultra-high throughput sequencing systems, each generating up to 1.8 terabases (Tb) of sequencing data in less than three days or up to 600 gigabases (Gb) per day, per system, providing the throughput to sequence tens of thousands of high-quality, high-coverage genomes per year. Illumina says the $1,000 includes typical instrument depreciation, DNA extraction, library preparation, and estimated labor.

->100 peer-reviewed single-cell publications based on Fluidigm technology

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20131231-904382.html

About Single-Cell Sequencing:

http://bernstein.harvard.edu/pages/news/nbt.2523.pdf

Reference

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131204132018.htm

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v499/n7456/full/nature12323.html

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5052/20131123/oldest-dna-sequenced-done-breakthrough-technology.htm

http://geogenetics.ku.dk/latest-news/a-700.000-year-old-horse-gets-its-genome-sequenced/

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/21/science/two-surprises-in-dna-of-boy-found-buried-in-siberia.html?_r=0

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12736.html

Paper:

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2013/11/20/science.1242544

1. rs1426654 SNP of SLC24A5 gene is decider of skin pigmentation variation in South Asia
2. rs1426654-A allele is widely spread throughout the Indian subcontinent 
3. Skin pigmentation is also account by the combination of processes like selection and demographic history of populations affected by their language and origin
4. Sign of positive selection in Europeans, Middle East, Pakistan, Central Asia and North India but not in South India
5. In European , A-allele is almost reached to fixation

Paper:

http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1003912