A team led by biologists at the University of California, San Diego has discovered a molecule in roundworms that makes them susceptible to Bacillus thuringiensis toxin, or Bt toxin—a pesticide produced by bacteria and widely used by organic farmers and in genetically engineered crops to ward off insect pests.
Their findings should facilitate the design and use of Bt toxins to prevent insects, which the researchers believe also possess the molecule, from developing resistance to Bt
Poor forecasting is more evident for time than money
If your appointment book runneth over, it could mean one of two things: Either you are enviably popular or you make the same faulty assumptions about the future as everyone else. Psychological research points to the latter explanation. Research by two business-school professors reveals that people over-commit because we expect to have more time in the future than we have in the present. Of course, when tomorrow turns into today
Scientists at the Institute for Medical Research at North Shore-LIJ have made a discovery that refutes two longstanding beliefs about the most common leukemia in the western hemisphere. Due to the relatively slow disease progression of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), doctors thought it was caused by a gradual accumulation of leukemia cells that could not die. The new findings, published online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, prove the exact opposite. The study will appear in
B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is an incurable disease in which cells in the bone marrow grow and survive to the point where they become abnormal and malignant (leukemic). The progression of the disease is slow and there has been a lack of information regarding the rate of production of CLL cells, and the time-course of their death.
For years, doctors and scientists believed that CLL was a static disease of long-lived lymphocytes — that the leukemia cells were both immo
Nottingham researchers have found a way to treat children with cystic fibrosis (CF), which could reduce their side effects and see more young patients treated at home.
Experts at The University of Nottingham organised the largest successful clinical trial in the UK looking at cystic fibrosis in an attempt to discover whether a common antibiotic used to treat the condition could be administered just once a day instead of the usual three daily doses.
The recommendations f
Resistance to antibiotics is more common in southern and eastern Europe than in northern Europe because the regions have high rates of antibiotic use, suggests a study published in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.
Herman Goossens (University of Antwerp, Belgium) and colleagues compared antibiotic use with antibiotic resistance rates in 26 European countries from the beginning of 1997 to the end of 2002. To control for the different population sizes the investigators expressed d
Over 380,000 people have been protected from dengue fever in Vietnam thanks to the implementation of a novel strategy to control mosquitoes in the country, concludes a report in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.
Dengue fever is the most common insect-borne virus infection, causing more than 50 million infections, 500 000 cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever and at least 12 000 deaths per year. The mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is the major global vector of dengue viruses. It needs stagnan
Treating chest infections in young cystic fibrosis patients with an antibiotic once instead of three times daily is as effective and less toxic, conclude the results of a randomised trial published in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.
Aminoglycoside antibiotics are widely used for the management of patients who have cystic fibrosis and chronic chest infection with a bacterium called Pseudomonas aerginosa. Currently patients are given aminoglycosides three times daily. The drugs ca
A recent study attempting to quantify misclassification of HIV/AIDS deaths concluded that for the year 2000–01, the number of deaths related to HIV/AIDS was likely to be almost three times as high as that published in the Government’s statistical report compiled from death certificates. The study suggests that 80% of the excess deaths in men and 70% in women attributable to HIV were classified as tuberculosis or lower respiratory tract infections.
Social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS pr
“This is an exciting early step in developing a sustainable system for producing electricity from hydrogen” said Professor Chris Pickett (Associate Head of the Biological Chemistry Department at JIC). ”In Nature iron–sulphur enzymes catalyse a range of important chemical reactions that industry can only do by using precious metal catalysts and/or high temperatures and pressures. Based on Nature’s blueprint we are a step closer to building an iron-sulfur catalyst for reactions fundamental to a sust
An experiment at the Institut Laue-Langevin raises great hopes.
The health of millions of people is threatened by the presence of arsenic in their drinking water. In countries such as India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Taiwan and Argentina, tens of millions of people drink untreated water containing levels of arsenic between ten and one hundred times higher than that recommended by the World Health Organisation ! Even in France, many sources of water, including mineral waters, will
In January 2005, FOI (Swedish Defense Research Agency) and Ericsson Microwave Systems mapped storm-damaged areas in southern Sweden using military airborne radar technology mounted in a test aircraft operated by FMV (Swedish Defense Materiel Agency). The trial shows that the technology can cover large land areas as well as identify individual trees including those damaged by winds.
“The results are very promising,” says Lars Ulander at FOI. “This technology enables us to get an o
Yerkes-based finding may help researchers develop sex-specific therapies for humans to guard against age-related memory loss
When it comes to aging, women may have another reason to be thankful. Research conducted in nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University shows male nonhuman primates are more susceptible to age-related cognitive decline. The February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience reports this finding, which the researchers say has imp
Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) at the Free University of Brussels have recently published results that show promise in the quest for a new remedy for chronic urinary tract infections. The researchers have shown that administration of the sugar Heptyl-á-D-mannoside can prevent E. coli bacteria from binding to the wall of the urinary tract − which is the first step in the development of the infection.
A widespread problem
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered why people are attracted to certain facial types when in pursuit of romance.
Academics have discovered a large majority of women prefer men with feminine facial features when in pursuit of a stable long-term relationship, as feminine looking men are not so likely to stray.
Dr Tony Little, from the University’s School of Biological Sciences, launched his study on the Internet, asking participants to rate the attract
Raises potential for new prenatal test
For the first time, researchers have successfully profiled the amniotic fluid metabolome (the sum of all metabolic processes occurring in the amniotic fluid), in order to identify which women who have experienced preterm labor are also at risk for delivering a premature baby. With nearly one in eight babies in the U.S. born prematurely every year, and the problem of premature birth increasing, the need for tools that can identify preterm de
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