Machine learning can help identify suitable distribution and storage conditions for delicate extra virgin olive oil     Nowadays, in the United States, and especially in California, different extra virgin olive oils are being produced. Nevertheless, many European countries have been and still are importing their extra virgin olive oils, mainly from Spain and Italy. Many recent studies performed in the US regarding the quality of these imported oils have revealed many low-quality products, even from prestigious brands, causing much discomfort in this sector overseas. Although initial blames were put on the producers, there is more and more evidence that, in fact, the distribution chain and storage plays a major role in the degradation of these delicate foods. Harsh conditions have been reported during transportation in ships, having olive oil containers sitting in the sun from days to even months at very high temperatures. Continue reading

In the current age of information, where digitization is becoming indispensable (turning signals into digital format; i.e. “0s” and “1s”), photographs can be used as a great source of data. They can be transformed into mathematical databases, where each color of a single pixel can be seen as a set of three numbers representing the intensity of red, green, and blue channels. Therefore, the higher the number of pixels in a photo, which is directly related to its resolution, the greater the amount of information that can be used for different applications.   In this specific scenario, several photographs of olives, of different quality grades, were gathered, and their pixel maps were extracted through image processing. Afterwards, this information was used to train intelligent mathematical models to distinguish the olives in terms of quality grade. This intelligent modeling is also known as machine learning (computational artificial intelligence), which is becoming more and more popular within the scientific community. In many cases, its use is turning out to be a necessity, as it is the only way to process the immense databases that arise from fields such as food technology, biochemistry, or biomedicine. Continue reading

Scintillon Institute is now accepting applications for this summer's SURE program.   The Summer Internship Program (SURE Program) aims to introduce top high school applicants to basic scientific research and prepare them for college. One goal of this immersive research experience is to encourage and prepare the most talented high school students for successful careers in biomedical research. In addition, the SURE Program aims to create a pipeline of future scientists for the highly competitive and successful biomedical research community in San Diego County. The very best high school students from San Diego County school districts will be selected and invited to participate in the SURE Program. A Scintillon Institute faculty member will be the student’s scientific mentor and will introduce the student to the program’s curriculum and guide the student through to graduation of the program. The SURE Program has a specially tailored curriculum that aligns the students’ time constraints with the commitment required by basic research.   Applications are due by 5pm on March 30, 2018.  More details can be found under Summer Program.    

A group of researchers at Scintillon Institute in San Diego, California and their collaborators identified important roles of myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) in the pathogenesis of stress-induced photoreceptor degeneration, a condition that is thought to contribute to eye diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, as described in their two recent publications (1,2). MEF2 is an activity-dependent transcription factor which is expressed in various organs, such as the heart, lymphocytes and brain. Dr. Stuart Lipton’s group has continuously worked on MEF2 since 1993, when they first isolated MEF2C, one of four mammalian MEF2 isoforms, in the developing brain. These researchers made seminal discoveries that established the notion that MEF2 transcription factors are prominent regulators of neurogenesis and neuronal survival in the brain. More recently, their work on MEF2C mutant mice led to the recognition of the human disease called MEF2C haploinsufficiency syndrome, in which children with heterozygous loss-of-function MEF2C mutations suffer from severe neurological conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, developmental and intellectual disabilities and seizures. Scientists at the Neural Center of the Scintillon Institute have been expanding on MEF2 research, most recently turning their eyes to eye diseases (pun intended). Retinal photoreceptor cells express two MEF2 isoforms: MEF2C and MEF2D, the latter apparently being the predominant form. In a recent study, the researchers examined mutant mice completely lacking MEF2C or MEF2D (MEF2C- or MEF2D- “null” mice). Interestingly, both mutant mice developed drastic retinal degenerations by postnatal day 30. They then took a candidate approach to identify the molecular pathways affected by the loss of MEF2D in MEF2D-null mice. Among the pathways they examined was the PGC1α pathway, which regulates mitochondrial biogenesis and thereby protects cells from degeneration. The Lipton group determined that transcription of PGC1α was indeed reduced in MEF2D-null mice. Yet by overexpressing PGC1α in the retina of MEF2D-null mice, the researchers found that the retinal degeneration could be rescued. In another related study, they examined mice lacking one copy of MEF2D (MEF2D-heteretozygous or “het” mice). Unlike MEF2D-null mice, MEF2D-het mice did not show any retinal regeneration when they were raised under normal housing environment. The researchers then exposed MEF2D-het mice to a strong white fluorescent light for 2 hours. While this light exposure did not induce any retinal degeneration in the wild-type mice, it did cause significant retinal cell death in MEF2D-het mice. The light exposure massively produced reactive oxygen species (ROS), which appeared to be the toxic cause. When searching for affected downstream pathways, they found that the transcription factor NRF2, a regulator of the cellular antioxidant defense response, fails to be induced by light exposure in MEF2D mutant mice. The researchers attempted to reverse light-induced retinal cell death by treating the MEF2D-het mice with carnosic acid, a chemical they had previously identified as a potent antioxidant and NRF2 activator. Intriguingly, treatment of carnosic acid drastically ameliorated the amount of light-induced retinal cell death in the mutant mice. Together, these studies from the Scintillon Institute identify MEF2 transcription factors as crucial molecules in maintaining eye health. Importantly, they have shown that MEF2 and its downstream pathways can be targeted by drugs such as carnosic acid. Incidentally, carnosic acid is a naturally occurring chemical that is contained in herbs such as rosemary and sage. So, there may be a health benefit in cooking chicken and turkey with rosemary! Within Scintillon Institute's Neural Center, the new Eye Research Center is being established, parallel to its Neural Degenerative Disease Center, through an ongoing fund-raising campaign, and is currently recruiting new faculty members.   1. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 114, E4048 2. Inv Opthal Vis Sci 58, 3741