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Show ViT By ShayLynne Clark Business & Science Editor 17he Signpost Greece is known for its mythology, preserved history and pristine beaches, but more recently it has become known for its political unrest and economic instability In an email sent out to 40 worried students from Dr. Linda Eaton, professor of anthropology at Weber State University, Eaton Universal flu vaccine: addressed the students' concerns about accompanying her on a study abroad to the tumultuous Grecian islands. "Just a word on the Greek demonstrations. "Greeks demonstrate a lot — this is the home of 'power to the people,' after all. There were groups demonstrating when I was there a year ago. Usually tourists don't even know they're there. The reason this one has become big (enough so that the lunaticfringeburned a bank office in which three people died) is that they are in the midst of a terrible financial crisis and a huge percentage of the population is facing salarycuts. "They are very angry at their government and bankers, not at us. Because demonstrations are common, safeguards are built into the tourist system — we will have a professional Greek guide and a professional Greek bus driver the whole time we are there." The Maastricht Treaty, established at the beginning of the euro reign, dictated many important regulations to qualify nations for admittance into the European Union. It was decided mat all EU members must keep their budget deficits at 3 percent of GDP and interest rates within 2 percent of the rates of three participating countries with the lowest rates. Because of these regulations, the permanence of the euro has been See Greece page 7 are the future ff- 1 M i O i n n i ~— \ \ cnallenged by the'lnability of the EU to anticipate the economic fortunes of EU members far enough into the future. In 2001, Greece made a coordinated effort to slow inflation and meet the requirements of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). After gaining membership in the EMU, Greece's fiscal credibility was improved by significantly decreasing its inflation and devaluation risk, which then A waste oftime? Signpost columnist ShayLynne Clark • Science Editor The Signpost Last year, the new flu pandemic H1N1 took the world by storm, leaving us medically defenseless and scrambling for resources. H1N1, although not the cause of universal flu vaccine research, spurred a new wave of researchers hoping to create a vaccine that will help reduce the looming possibility of another wave of pandemic flu in 2010. The big dream of vaccirfe researchers is to someday create a vaccine, especially for influenza, that protects for years or even a lifetime. This so-called universal flu vaccine is still a long way off, if it's even possible. Even if a truly universal vaccine isn't possible right now, researchers are hoping to find a broad-spectrum vaccine — an alternative way to stimulate the immune system other than triggering antibodies to hemagglutinin (found on the surface of viruses) and neuraminidase (a glycoprotein that helps newly made viruses exit host cells), like what is used in the current seasonal influenza vaccines. It's important to note See Flu page 5 Synthetic life form. The words seem antithetical, a pdradox.••]• Say the words "synthetic life form" to a Trekkie and no doubt < they will recite the finer details of Data's relationship with his ^ cat and his quest to be human. ! ^ ^H While science is not quite to the point of manufacturing ^ ^ sentient androids, recently a group of 20 scientists successfully created the world's first synthetic life form! This group, led by Craig Venter, successfully generated) and planted synthetic DNA into a living cell, thereby. | creating a new, fully functional microorganism. Their.^J accomplishment was first published in the journals Science on May 20. This is a landmark achievement^ evolution is no longer the only method by which ng species are created. Craig Venter gained notability when he played a kej role in the team that finished mappingthe human genoi in year 2000. Now, they have used a computer prograjj to synthesize DNA base pairs, and then used yeast to) attach the pairs to each other, creating a chain of, genes with everything necessary^to.^ajlow a cell to function normally, project lasted over 10 years ^£$ and is estimated to have a price tag of $40 million.. The cells are nc wholly synthetic, justl the genome. Thinly of it as placing a neviq motherboard inside a. computer — in order to function, it still needs all of the supporting devices: hard drive, RAM, video card, or in the case of the cell, mitochondria, See Synthetic page 7 i . . . .-_« - fc- -, .• - -" S * & • In this photo: Negatively stained transmission electron micrographs of aggregated Umycoides, a living cell >owered by manmade DNA |