Scientists have identified the gene responsible for controlling a first key step in the creation of new life, according to new research published in the journal Nature tomorrow (Thursday 27 October 2005).
The gene, known as HIRA, ‘chaperones’ the early processes that take place once a sperm enters an egg, giving it a crucial role in the most fundamental process in sexually reproducing animals.
The absence or mutation of this gene in the maternal (mother’s) genome explai
An extensive research analysis by a neuroscientist at UCLA’s Semel Institute and the Veterans Affairs’ Neurobiology Research Laboratory concludes that environment and diet largely determine sleep needs.
Appearing in the Oct. 27 edition of the peer-reviewed journal Nature, the analysis shows that meat-eating species sleep the most and grazing animals the least. Sleep amounts range from 20 hours in the little brown bat to only two hours in the horse. Animals that have le
Light can carry data at much higher rates than electricity, but it has always been too expensive and difficult to use light to transmit data among silicon chips in electronic devices. Now, electrical engineers at Stanford have solved a major part of the problem. They have invented a key component that can easily be built into chips to break up a laser beam into billions of bits of data (zeroes and ones) per second. This could help chips output data at a much higher rate than they can now.
New tool speeding the discovery of genes for common diseases
The International HapMap Consortium today published a comprehensive catalog of human genetic variation, a landmark achievement that is already accelerating the search for genes involved in common diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
In a paper in the Oct. 27 issue of the journal Nature, more than 200 researchers from Canada, China, Japan, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United
Early detection through screening mammography and improved adjuvant treatment have contributed almost equally to the substantial decrease in breast cancer death rates over the past 10 to 15 years, researchers conclude in an unprecedented effort to parse out the factors that have led to the decline.
The study, published in the Oct. 27 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, was supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and conducted by seven research groups, including
The International HapMap Project was initiated with the primary goal of facilitating medical studies and understanding the genomic basis for human diseases. To coordinate with the journal Nature’s publication describing the HapMap, the journal Genome Research is announcing a special issue entitled “Human Genome Variation,” which is entirely devoted to studies using these data to provide insight into human biology and disease.
Predicting pregnancy success
Succ
An agreement on space-based information services and access to, and provision of, Earth Observation data was signed today by ESA and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The signature took place at ESRIN, the ESA Earth Observation Centre in Frascati, Italy.
Dr Volker Liebig, Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programme, signed the agreement on the ’Specific arrangement concerning the development of space-based information services and the access to and provi
One of the worst disasters to hit Europe in the last decade has served as a case study to investigate how satellite images can improve insurance risk modelling. Following the project’s end, reinsurance giant Swiss Re has added Earth Observation products to its comprehensive catastrophe database for the first time.
The three-week flooding of the Elbe River in August 2002 saw water levels reach 150-year highs across parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Numerous urban centres in
A physicist and a medical researcher at the University of Leicester have received a grant of £100,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to look at possible toxic damage from inhaled nanoparticles used for a range of everyday purposes.
The small size of nanoparticles in the size range 5-100 nm gives many novel and useful properties and they are used in applications as diverse as face creams, plastics, medical imaging, novel drug therapies and magnetic r
Scientists at the University of Manchester will set off for Australia this week to undertake an in-depth study of tropical clouds and the particles sucked up into them to gain further insight into climate change and the depletion of the ozone layer.
The research will take place in Darwin, Australia as part of a major international field experiment to study transport by tropical thunderstorms and the type of high-altitude clouds they produce.
Manchester’s research will
One in five people who responded to an internet survey run by The University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise and Innovation said that ‘yob culture’ has had a significant impact on their business.
Just over one-fifth of respondents to The UK Business Barometer said the growth of yob culture, as reported in the media, was reflected in their own experiences and affected their business highly or quite highly.
Just over one-third of the respondents (35 per cent) said tha
For the first time, researchers have detected high concentrations of a popular insecticide in suburban stream sediments, raising concerns about its effects on aquatic life.
Pyrethroids, the active ingredient used in most home and garden insecticides, have been on the market for years. Although the compounds are considered potentially less harmful to humans than other insecticides, surprisingly little information is available about their long-term impact on the environment, acc
Researchers at Stanford University have created a larger-than-normal DNA molecule that is copied almost as efficiently as natural DNA. The findings, reported in the Oct. 25 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), may reveal new insights into how genetic mutations-tiny mistakes that occur during DNA replication-arise. The discovery was made in the laboratory of Eric Kool, a professor of chemistry at Stanford and co-author of the PNAS study.
By comparing the human genome with that of the chimpanzee, man’s closest living relative, researchers have discovered that chunks of similar DNA that have been flipped in orientation and reinserted into chromosomes are hundreds of times more common in primates than previously thought. These large structural changes in the genome, called inversions, may account for much of the evolutionary difference between the two species. They may also shed light on genetic changes that lead to human dis
Tape-cast silicon nitride for high temperature applications
With excellent high temperature strength, good resistance to oxidation and low coefficient of thermal expansion Si3N4 ceramic is one of the most important structural materials. However, the pure silicon nitride ceramics are difficult to densify and the addition of various oxides is used to improve sinterability.
Previous work has shown Lu2O3-SiO2 additives are useful in improving the bending strength of Si3N4 at
First-ever images of living human retinas have yielded a surprise about how we perceive our world. Researchers at the University of Rochester have found that the number of color-sensitive cones in the human retina differs dramatically among people—by up to 40 times—yet people appear to perceive colors the same way. The findings, on the cover of this week’s journal Neuroscience, strongly suggest that our perception of color is controlled much more by our brains than by our eyes.
Feedback
