The Patagonian Hippidion horse genus and North American stilt-legged horses have found a new place on the evolutionary tree, according to a new article in the open access journal PLoS Biology. In the paper, Jaco Weinstock, Alan Cooper, and colleagues use ancient DNA to argue that the Hippidion genus is younger than previously thought and that American stilt-legged horses were American endemics, not Asian emigres. Their analysis has also whittled down the taxonomy of North American species to just
Using technology that makes it possible to zoom in on smaller sections of cell chromosomes than ever before, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified nearly 100 chromosome regions where genes are either over-copied or missing in non-small cell lung cancer. The findings provide new clues about the location of genes potentially involved in the most common type of lung cancer –– and one of the deadliest of all malignancies –– and a range of possible targets for future therapies.
In a study expected to greatly benefit crop plants, scientists have deciphered the genome of a root- and seed-dwelling bacterium that protects plants from diseases.
The research provides clues to better explain how the helpful microbe, Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5, naturally safeguards roots and seeds from infection by harmful microbes that cause plant diseases. The genome paper will be published in Nature Biotechnology and was scheduled to be posted online on June 26.
Employment in computer- and internet-related fields is notoriously volatile, but recent developments have raised concerns about the long-term future: The number of undergraduates seeking computer science degrees is down sharply since 2000. The number of women seeking such degrees has plunged. And few minority students are winning advanced degrees in the field.
Now a new study from AAAS has concluded that recruitment of “non-traditional” students into computer science studies and jobs wil
Recent research results by two physicists from the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen, Thomas Heimburg and Andrew D. Jackson, cast doubt on the generally accepted theory of nerve activity. Their new theory of how nerves function emphasizes the essential role that temperature and pressure play in nerves. This result can contribute to a better understanding of the effect of drugs on nerve activity and will be published in the presitigous American journal Proceedings of the National Acad
Visceral leishmaniasis, which is the most severe form of the leishmaniases, hits an annual total of 500 000 people, mostly in the developing countries. It is caused by the parasite Leishmania infantum. A flagellate protozoan, it uses as vector an insect resembling a midge, the sand fly, colonizing the intestine and then the salivary glands. The female insect feeds on mammals’ blood. It can thus pass the parasite on to humans by a single bite. Once in the blood stream, L. infantum passes into parti
Researchers at the University of Essex will launch a software package this week designed to predict the exposure to pollution suffered by people in indoor urban environments.
The package, called the Urban Exposure Module, is a state-of-the-art, user-friendly management decision software tool aimed at helping administrators quantify and deal with the health risks associated with pollution in urban environments. Its use could help in the understanding and possibly prevention of m
An expert at the University of Sheffield will be talking about the causes for the increased incidence of eczema in children in a Channel Four documentary, Allergic to Everything on Thursday 30 June at 9pm. Dr Cork will argue that better education and lifestyle changes could prevent many children from needing powerful steroid treatments for the skin condition, and that more specialists are needed to effectively treat those with more severe eczema.
The documentary follows patients in Dr Mi
Research based on around 25,000 British women employees shows that average level of overall satisfaction with their jobs has been falling for 15 years, according to new findings presented at the Social Policy Association Annual Conference on Monday (27 June 2005).
Women workers used to have significantly higher levels of job satisfaction than men in Britain, but now they have almost the same level as male workers. Men’s job satisfaction has remained constant over the period.
Scientists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, studying the effects of a drug used in the treatment of a distressing skin condition, have found that it is actually killing off the cells which are the cause of the problem.
The team believe the discovery represents a major step towards enabling the design of better treatments for psoriasis, which affects up to a million people in the UK alone (figures from the Psoriasis Association).
The results of the Wellcome
In a dress rehearsal for the rendezvous between NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft and comet 9P/Tempel 1, the Hubble Space Telescope captured dramatic images of a new jet of dust streaming from the icy comet.
The images are a reminder that Tempel 1’s icy nucleus, roughly the size of central Paris, is dynamic and volatile. Astronomers hope the eruption of dust seen in these observations is a preview of the fireworks that may come 4 July, when a probe from the Deep Impact spacecraft w
Mice given a relatively new cancer drug can survive an otherwise lethal dose of vaccinia virus, a relative of smallpox virus, report scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The findings, say the investigators, suggest that Gleevec or similar drugs might be useful in preventing adverse side effects of smallpox vaccine. The classic smallpox vaccine is made from live, weakened vaccinia virus and is not recomme
Whether mapping genes, probing elemental particles or monitoring global warming, more and more scientists rely on massive data vaults located at universities and institutions around the world.
Now, researchers at 10 Florida universities have the infrastructure for a computer network that ensures that capability – one faster than any other education-based network in the Southeast and among the top in the nation in speed and capacity.
Two and a half years in the making
A harmonic scalpel that uses ultrasound to coagulate as it cuts can reduce blood loss and postoperative facial paralysis in patients who need a portion of their salivary gland removed, surgeons say.
Infection of the sponge-like parotid gland is uncomfortable but temporary, says Dr. Christine G. Gourin, otolaryngologist at the Medical College of Georgia.
But when the gland develops cancerous or benign tumors or stones that interfere with saliva flow, a rather tricky sur
The thousands of oval lakes that dot Alaska’s North Slope are some of the fastest-growing lakes on the planet. Ranging in size from puddles to more than 15 miles in length, the lakes have expanded at rates up to 15 feet per year, year in and year out for thousands of years. The lakes are shaped like elongated eggs with the skinny ends pointing northwest.
How the lakes grow so fast, why they’re oriented in the same direction and what gives them their odd shape has puz
According to research published today, investigators from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have used new techniques in the laboratory that allowed them for the first time to derive unlimited numbers of purified mesenchymal precursor cells from human embryonic stem cells (HESCs). Mesenchymal precursor cells are capable of giving rise to fat, cartilage, bone, and skeletal muscle cells, and may potentially be used for regenerative stem cell therapy in bone, cartilage, or muscle replac
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