Smoking causes extensive damage to DNA, study shows

Ludmil Alexandrov, LANL photo.

“Tobacco smoking damages DNA in organs directly exposed to smoke as well as speeds up a mutational cellular clock in organs that are both directly and indirectly exposed to smoke.” said Ludmil Alexandrov of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, who led the study.

In other words, it accelerates the occurrence of genetic mutations, increasing the risk of cancer.

"Before now, we had a large body of epidemiological evidence linking smoking with cancer, but now we can actually observe and quantify the molecular changes in the DNA due to cigarette smoking," Alexandrov said. (Full Story)

Also from Smithsonian and Nature World News

Humans on Mars

Animation of a prototype nuclear powered deep space explorer, LANL image.

"Mars is in the air. We grew up with the Apollo program," said Patrick McClure, Los Alamos National Lab. "We really want to make that happen in our lifetime. We think it would be a great contribution to humanity."

Like his other far-flung team members, Los Alamos nuclear reactor scientist Patrick McClure is bubbling with enthusiasm about the end uses for the small nuclear reactor his team will test in the Nevada Desert in 2017. The reactor is named Kilopower. (Full Story)

LANL captures multiple R&D 100 Awards

Pulak Nath holds the Pulmonary Lung Model, LANL image.

Los Alamos National Laboratory captured several R&D 100 awards: Two, for co-developed cyber security products, Entropy Engine and Path-Scan; two for a pair of large collaborations, the CCSI (Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative) Toolset and the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA); one for a medical device, the PulMo (Pulmonary Lung Model); and another Special Recognition Award Winner for Quantum-Dot Solar Windows. (Full Story)

Fermi biography takes readers to ground zero

A valuable new biography recognizes the lifelong contributions of a physicist who had roles in the work of all three legs of the project that developed the bomb – at Hanford, Wash., at Oak Ridge, Tenn., and at Los Alamos.

His name is Enrico Fermi.          

At Los Alamos Fermi was a valuable member of the team that fit “all the pieces together. He was the person to consult about almost any physics question.” Fermi, a native of Italy, received the 1938 Nobel Prize for Physics. (Full Story)

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Here's how smoking scars your DNA

Yearly number of mutations produced in a given type of cell, Illustration by Genome Research Limited.

An international team of researchers found a batch of genetic mutations caused by smoking — mutations that could be expected to cause cancer.

Cancer is a disease caused by DNA damage, and the team, including Ludmil Alexandrov of Los Alamos National Laboratory and Mike Stratton of Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, found a lot of damage. Lung cells accumulated 150 different mutations for each year of smoking, they found.

Throat cells did, also — larynx cells on average undergo 97 new mutations in a year of smoking, and pharynx cells get 39. The team found 18 new mutations in bladder cells. (Full Story)

Every 50 cigarettes smoked cause one DNA mutation per lung cell

Photo from NewScientist.

Epidemiological studies previously linked tobacco smoking with at least 17 classes of cancer, but this is the first time researchers have been able to quantify the molecular damage inflicted on DNA.

Ludmil Alexandrov at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and his colleagues achieved this by comparing tumour DNA from 2500 smokers and 1000 non-smokers. This allowed them to identify which mutations were associated with smoking.

Theoretically, every DNA mutation has the potential to trigger a cascade of genetic damage that causes cells to become cancerous. However, we still don’t know what the probability is of a single smoking-related DNA mutation turning into cancer, or which mutation types are likely to be more malignant. “This is research we are currently pursuing,” Alexandrov says. (Full Story)

Smoking-linked cancer mutations mapped

Illustration from The Scientist.

Ludmil Alexandrov of the Los Alamos National Lab, along with the Wellcome Trust’s Michael Stratton  and their colleagues, used whole-genome sequences of 610 tumors and the exomes of 4,633 additional tumors, together covering 17 smoking-associated forms of cancer. The researchers examined each tumor as a mixture of multiple genomic mutation signatures identified in a previous study, which spanned a wider range of tumor types.  Of the 5,243 tumors the researchers examined in the present study, 2,490 were derived from tobacco smokers and 1,063 from never-smokers. (Full Story)

Also from the BBC and Fox News

Watch the video on YouTube

Outsmarting the art of camouflage

A modern-day soldier in camouflage. From Discover.

At Los Alamos National Laboratory, we study camouflage in nature to learn how we can identify things trying to disguise themselves. We do that by looking at marine organisms that are exceptionally good at the art of blending in: flounders, skates, cuttlefish, and octopi.

Take, for example, flounders. They’re not completely flat, but they appear flat—with two eyes on top of their heads. Similar to the octopus, they are able to change both the color and texture of their skin to imitate those found on the ocean floor. Identifying them is no easy task. (Full Story)

Watch the video

Experiment helps to advance nuclear explosion monitoring

A canister holding explosives and diagnostic equipment at NNSS, LANL photo.

Last month, Los Alamos National Laboratory participated in the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) sixth detonation of an underground conventional explosive at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) as part of its ongoing Source Physics Experiment (SPE) series.

“By conducting the experiments near the location of previous underground nuclear tests, we are more able to compare data between conventional and nuclear explosions,” said Cathy Snelson, R&D manager in Geophysics at the Laboratory. “This helps us improve the U.S. capability to differentiate low-yield nuclear test explosions from other seismic activity, such as mining operations and earthquakes.” (Full Story)

New APS Fellows for Los Alamos announced

From top left, Evgenya Simakov, James Werner, Joel Kress, Paul Johnson. From lower left, Herbert Funsten, John Kline, Richard Gustavsen and Jian-Xin Zhu.

Eight Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are being honored as new Fellows in the American Physical Society (APS).

"Success in accomplishing Los Alamos’s essential national-security missions requires innovation across an incredible breadth of scientific and technical disciplines,” said Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan. "The American Physical Society’s recognition of eight Los Alamos researchers as Fellows helps underscore the Laboratory’s ongoing requirements to attract and retain the best scientists in their fields. We are immensely proud of these eight individuals, and I applaud their innovative contributions to research and to helping make our world a safer place.” (Full Story)

California SCAQMD partnering with Los Alamos on H2 sensors

A closeup of a sensor element (left) at a refueling station in Burbank, SCAQMD photo.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, is partnering with researchers from Los Alamos and Livermore National Laboratories on a demonstration of highly sensitive hydrogen sensor prototypes.

The initial development of the sensors has spanned more than a decade, mostly led by teams headed by chemist Bob Glass at Livermore and Eric Brosha at Los Alamos. (Full Story)

Good vibrations at LANL quarterly community meeting

Director McMillan, Post photo.            

The theme of the Los Alamos National Laboratory community update in the Buffalo Thunder conference center last week was about how everything at the lab works together “to solve national security challenges through scientific excellence.”

Early morning talks featured LANL Director Charlie McMillan; Doug Hintze, LANL Environmental Management field office manager; and Harris Walker, National Nuclear Security intergovernmental affairs director. The morning concluded with four separate breakout sessions. (Full Story)

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Guest Column: Keeping nuclear materials secure in an uncertain world

IAEA headquarters in Vienna, IAEA photo.       

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) based in Vienna have been spending a lot of time in Iran – But how do the inspectors know what to look for? They come to Los Alamos National Laboratory to learn how.

Los Alamos started teaching a special course for IAEA inspectors in 1980, and since then, all IAEA inspectors have been trained at the Laboratory. What they learn takes their initial training, which tells them how to take measurements and follow procedures, to the next level. (Full story)

Los Alamos disease-fighting technology

showing promise

Citrus plants treated with immunity

technology, from Innate Immunity, LLC.

A pathogen-carrying pest known as the glassy-winged sharpshooter has plagued grape vines in California for more than century, but a new technology from Los Alamos National Laboratory could soon turn sharpshooter ammunition into blanks.

A new startup, Los Alamos-based Innate Immunity LLC, is now working with industry leaders on field trials before broadly deploying the technology to protect California’s $30 billion wine industry. (Full story)

 

Flash Physics: CubeSats could soon self-propel

Rocket motor test firing, LANL image.

CubeSats – small, low-cost satellites – could soon become self-propelled, thanks to a rocket-motor concept developed by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US. While CubeSats are a cheap and easy way for relatively small research groups to launch satellites and access space, they traditionally do not have any on-board propulsion system – the nanosatellites are usually launched via a larger satellite and simply released into a specific orbit. (Full story)

Also from New Atlas:

Geomagnetic storm could affect connection

A moderate geomagnetic storm is currently sweeping

the Northern Hemisphere, from Laboratory Equipment.

Experts at the Los Alamos National Laboratory are investigating the national-security implications of solar storms in a program called “Impacts of Extreme Space Weather Events on Power Grid Infrastructure: Physics-Based Modeling of Geomagnetically-Induced Currents During Carrington-Class Geomagnetic Storms,” begun last month.

The three-year Los Alamos program will determine what transformers, circuits, stations and conduits could be fried by a flare-up from the sun, according to Mike Henderson, leader of the program. (Full story)

 

 The prize on the horizon

Sara Del Valle at the Expanding Your

Horizons Conference, Daily Post photo.

The first thing that happened [at the Expanding Your Horizons conference in Santa Fe] was a talk by a super-mathematician who works at Los Alamos National Laboratory named Sara Del Valle; the keynote speaker could not have been more inspiring.

When her family moved to the United States, she was only 16 and she had to learn English in two years, if she wanted to go to college, but she did it. Her advice is, “Keep calm and study hard.”

She loved math, but she didn’t know what she wanted to study. A good idea that helped her was, “Find a mentor.” Like who? Like somebody you look up to, like a role model. (Full story)

Also from the Daily Post this week:

Los Alamos honors four new research fellows

Top row: Preston and Hollingsworth.

Bottom row: Wiens and Crooker. LANL image.

Four distinguished Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are being recognized as Fellows of the Laboratory this fall including Scott Crooker, Jennifer Hollingsworth, Dean Preston and Roger Wiens.

The Fellows organization at Los Alamos was established in 1981 and includes technical staff members who have been appointed by the Laboratory director in recognition of their sustained outstanding contributions and exceptional promise for continued professional achievement.

“Laboratory Fellows are selected for their exceptional contributions to Laboratory science and mission,” Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan said. (Full story)

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Los Alamos scientist works to increase availability of medical isotope

Iain May, LANL photo.

A scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory was recently recognized by the National Nuclear Security Administration for his work towards ensuring the reliability and domestic supply of a critical medical isotope used for diagnostic imaging. Iain May received the award in recognition of his work to support the development of new production methods for molybdenum-99, the precursor isotope used to formulate radiopharmaceuticals that diagnose heart disease, cancer, neurologic disease and other applications. (Full Story)

Also in the Daily Post

Rocket motor concept could boost CubeSat missions

Six motor test firing, LANL image.

The primary roadblock to CubeSat propulsion has always been safety. Typical spacecraft propulsion systems utilize fuels that are intrinsically hazardous, like hydrazine, or compressed gasses. Since CubeSats are usually deployed via "rideshare" or "piggyback" on a larger satellite deployment or other large space mission, even a small margin of risk is unacceptable.

"Obviously, someone who's paying half a billion dollars to do a satellite launch is not going to accept the risk," said Bryce Tappan. "So, anything that is taken on that rideshare would have to be inherently safe, no hazardous liquids." (Full Story)

See it on YouTube

Los Alamos scientists win top American Physical Society prizes

Alan Perelson (left) and Joe Carlson, LANL photo.

Two senior scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are being honored by the American Physical Society (APS) for their fundamental contributions in nuclear physics and biophysics.

Joe Carlson of the Laboratory’s Nuclear and Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology group is the winner of the APS’ 2017 Herman Feshbach Prize in theoretical nuclear physics.

Alan Perelson, of Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, is the recipient of the APS’ 2017 Max Delbruck Prize in Biological Physics. (Full Story)

SACNAS vital as ever, Native scientists still needed

Gabe Montano, SACNAS photo.

Four thousand people attended the recent annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americas in Science. Los Alamos National Laboratory biophysical chemist and current SACNAS president Gabe Montano talked about the need for diversity and the myth of “color blindness.”

In his talk he traces his own journey as a biology undergrad from Santa Clara Pueblo, to where he is today as an internationally recognized and highly sought after speaker, and author of many books on the topic of indigenous knowledge. (Full Story)

Cleanup at 4 sites in LA Canyon complete

High-angle cleanup work in LA Canyon, LANL photo.

Four toxic waste sites located on the south rim of Los Alamos Canyon have been cleaned of toxic waste, according to the Department of Energy and the Environmental Management Field Office.

The sites, located on the south-facing side of the canyon, contained surface deposits of waste leftover from the Manhattan Project. (Full Story)


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