The First Discovery of When and Where Proteins are Made

     Scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine have developed a technique using fluorescence microscopy to reveal where and when proteins are produced. This process allows scientists to see individual mRNA's as they are translated into proteins in living cells. This technique focuses on the first occurrence of translation in which the ribosome attached to the mRNA must displace the RNA binding proteins from the mRNA's. Researchers synthesized identical copies of mRNA molecules and colored one red and one green. This allowed the nucleus, where mRNA's are made, to turn yellow by containing both colors. When they travel to the cytoplasm, their color may change again based on their new function. 
     When the mRNA's land on the ribosomes, they displace its green fluorescent protein resulting in a red appearance. Meanwhile, all the untranslated mRNA molecules remain yellow. This technique has been named TRICK (Translating RNA Imaging by Coat protein Knock-off). TRICK has also enabled scientists to discover that protein translation does not start immediately after the mRNA's exit the nucleus, but intact begin a few minutes after the mRNA's have entered the cytoplasm. 

     I found this discovery amazing. Not only was the place in the cell where proteins are made discovered, but also the timing. This technique of using color cues is very creative, but at the same time simple enough for non-scientists to understand. I think this discovery  proves how far we have come in the medical field, but also how much further we can go. 

How Diet and Pesticides Change Bees Gene Expression

Feeding a bee an artificial pollen diet is not beneficial. A bee that has a natural diet of pollen is more resistant to pesticides than a bee with an artificial diet. Pesticides also cause a change in expression of genes in bees that deal with detoxification, immunity, and nutrition.

Help me I'm a poor little cute bee.

The first part of the study, done by Christina Grozinger at Penn State, showed that even when bees are exposed to nonlethal doses of pesticides, larges changes in gene expression are made. There is a link between nutrition, diet, and pesticide exposure when dealing with the health of a bee. The diet impacts how long bees live after given lethal doses of pesticides. Danial Schmehl at the University of Florida states that a bee's natural diet makes them "significantly more resistant to lethal doses of a pesticide than feeding them a more simple, artificial diet."
The impact of pesticide exposure on gene expression was done by feeding bees pesticides that have been detected in hives for a period of seven days. On the last day the RNA of the bees was extracted, attached to a fluorescent marker, and then the differences in gene expression patters were examined. The patterns of fluorescence between the treated bees and controlled bees showed the changes. Over 1100 pieces of RNA showed change in genes involved in detoxification, nutrition, and immunity. The researches then did the tests giving bees a natural and artificial diet, and the natural diet showed less changes.
This study is very useful because it could help the future of honey bees. Many honey bees have been dying off due to pesticides and it is negatively impacting the environment since honey bees are a major contributor to spreading pollen. This study could help scientists make sure bees are getting a proper diet that can help them survive harmful pesticides. The amount of pesticides used needs to be greatly reduced first, but this study could also help honey bees survive. This study also shows how gene expression could be affected and this may be helpful for humans and what could affect their gene expression diet, nutrition, and detoxification wise.

Article: http://news.psu.edu/story/332959/2014/11/03/research/diet-affects-pesticide-resistance-honey-bees