Research may assist in the development of more effective vaccines and ability to boost immune systems of susceptible patients, such as the elderly
A key discovery about the immune system’s skill to fight off harmful disease-causing germs may lead to the ability to boost the immune systems of the elderly and otherwise susceptible, and offer more effective vaccines for the flu or AIDS, according to a study published in the November 29 issue of Science.
“This research is o
The direct injection of unwanted carbon dioxide deep into the ocean is one suggested strategy to help control rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and mitigate the effects of global warming. But, like the problems associated with the long-term storage of nuclear waste, finding a safe place to sequester the carbon may be more difficult than scientists first anticipated.
Because the atmosphere interacts with the oceans, the net uptake of carbon dioxide and the oceans’ sequestration capac
Heart disease is the most frequent, costly and severe complication of diabetes, affecting more than 70 percent of diabetic patients. There are geographic and ethnic differences in the risk of diabetic heart disease that cannot be fully explained by differences in conventional heart disease risk factors. Using a simple blood test, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have identified a gene that determines which diabetes patients are at greater risk for developing heart disease. U
Many areas, including North America’s deserts, under severe threat
According to the most comprehensive global analysis ever conducted, wilderness areas still cover close to half the Earth’s land, but contain only a tiny percentage of the world’s population. More than 200 international scientists contributed to the analysis, which will be published in the book, Wilderness: Earth’s Last Wild Places, (University of Chicago Press, 2003).
The 37 wilderness areas identified in th
A totally new and highly controversial theory on the origin of life on earth, is set to cause a storm in the science world and has implications for the existence of life on other planets. Research* by Professor William Martin of the University of Dusseldorf and Dr Michael Russell of the Scottish Environmental Research Centre in Glasgow, claims that living systems originated from inorganic incubators – small compartments in iron sulphide rocks. The new theory radically departs from existing perception
Mouse Model May Also Aid In Discovery of Gene Function
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have bred a mouse to model human L1 retrotransposons, the so-called “jumping genes.” Retrotransposons are small stretches of DNA that are copied from one location in the genome and inserted elsewhere, typically during the genesis of sperm and egg cells. The L1 variety of retrotransposons, in particular, are responsible for about one third of the human genome.
Process may lead to manufacture of nanoscale devices
A University at Buffalo engineer has developed a novel method for assembling nanoparticles into three-dimensional structures that one day may be used to produce new nanoscale tools and machines.
The work could be an important step in fulfilling the immense potential of nanotechnology because it gives scientists and engineers improved control and flexibility in the creation of materials for the manufacture of many nanoscale
A revolutionary new test for identifying people infected with tuberculosis (TB), one of the leading causes of death worldwide, will shortly be launched by Oxford Immunotec Ltd, a new Oxford University spin-off company. The test radically improves the speed and accuracy with which the disease can be identified. It has been developed to replace the existing skin test for TB, which is given to 600,000 UK schoolchildren every year.
Oxford Immunotec’s test has come from discoveries made over
Cytomegalovirus, hidden in most people, begins to give up secrets of its stealth
Princeton scientists have taken an important step toward understanding a virus that infects and lies dormant in most people, but emerges as a serious illness in transplant patients, some newborns and other people with weakened immune systems.
The virus, called human cytomegalovirus, enters the bone marrow and can hide there for a lifetime. Until now, however, scientists had not been able to stud
The horse, a classic model of grace and speed on land, is now an unlikely source of inspiration for more efficient flight.
So says a group of University of Florida engineers who have recreated part of a unique bone in the horse’s leg with an eye toward lighter, stronger materials for planes and spacecraft.
The third metacarpus bone in the horse’s leg supports much of the force conveyed as the animal moves. One side of the cucumber-sized bone has a pea-sized hole whe
In a groundbreaking study, a North Carolina State University microbiologist has discovered that the bacteria associated with almost all human ulcers – one that is also correlated with the development of certain types of gastric cancer in humans – uses hydrogen as an energy source.
The finding is novel because most bacteria use sugars and other carbohydrates to grow, says Dr. Jonathan Olson, assistant professor of microbiology at NC State. The human pathogen Helicobacter pylori does not.
In an unexpected meeting of the minds, two Dartmouth professors from disparate fields have come together to solve a problem: how to make accurate models of remote landscapes from photographs.
Arjun Heimsath, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, and Hany Farid, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, have found a way to create three-dimensional models of remote regions using only two-dimensional digital photographs. Once built, these models make it easier for researchers to predict landsl
When a property is suspected of having contaminated soil or groundwater, it is usually a lengthy and costly process to confirm the presence of pollutants and to delineate the extent of the contamination. Soon that process may be simplified considerably.
University of Rhode Island geophysicist Reinhard Frohlich, an associate professor of geosciences, has devised a cost-effective, new method for finding underground contaminants that will reduce drilling and digging beneath the surface. By inse
It took an evolutionary leap in the human species to help trigger the change from centuries of economic stagnation to a state of sustained economic growth, according to the first theory that integrates evolutionary biology and economics.
“Until now, economic growth theory did not have implications for evolutionary biology, and evolutionary biology did not have implications for economic growth,” said lead theorist Oded Galor, professor of economics at Brown University.
This new theo
Neuroscientists trying to tease out the mechanisms underlying the basis of human sympathy have found that such feelings trigger brain activity not only in areas associated with emotion but also in areas associated with performing an action. But, when people act in socially inappropriate ways this activity is replaced by increased activity in regions associated with social conflict.
Understanding the neurophysiology of such basic human characteristics as sympathy is important because some peo
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions report that satellite imagery could be used to determine areas at high-risk for exposure to Sin Nombre virus (SNV), a rodent-born disease that causes the often fatal hantaviral pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in humans. According to the researchers, satellite imaging detects the distinct environmental conditions that may serve as a refuge for the disease-carrying deer mice. Higher populations of infected deer mice in
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