The first public release of plant gene chip information is being launched at the Society for Experimental Biology conference in Swansea on Friday 12th April. Scientists from the Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre (NASC), part of a multi-million pound resource network, will announce a newly accessible plant gene chip database which is available through the internet.
Unlike in GATTACA, where a drop of Ethan Hawke`s blood or an eyelash could tell you what genes he had, gene chips can tell you
Results of a UK study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggest that the antianginal drug nicorandil could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with angina.
Angina occurs in 10% of men aged older than 60 years in the UK (10-15 years later in women), and is a common underlying cause of coronary heart disease (CHD). Aspirin, angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and statins reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in subgroups of patients with stable angina; however,
How do turtles survive long trips across the ocean? At the Society for Experimental Biology conference on Friday 12 April Ms Corinne Martin (University of Wales Swansea) will present evidence of energy-saving diving patterns adopted by green turtles to survive long ocean trips.
The turtles breed at Ascension Island, undertaking long-distance migrations greater than 2 300 km between the island and their feeding grounds on the Brazilian coast. During their trip across the ocean they don’t feed
Galaxies were once thought of as `island universes` evolving slowly in complete isolation. This is now known not to be the case. By using the world`s most powerful X-ray observatories, UK astronomers are discovering that most of these gigantic star systems interact with each other in a wide variety of ways.
During the UK National Astronomy Meeting in Bristol on Thursday 11 April, Dr. Andrew Read (University of Birmingham) will present new results from the Chandra and XMM-Newton spacecraft ab
Scientists at the University of Plymouth have been developing methods to `close the loop` on waste and pollution, by finding waste products that can be used to improve soil / plant-growth conditions. At the Society for Experimental Biology conference in Swansea Dr Stuart Lane presented ways in which garden and industrial waste could be recycled to benefit the environment.
In collaboration with Ecological Sciences Limited, Dr Lane`s group investigated a horticultural growth substitute for pea
Diseases involving irremediable tissue damage of the musculoskeletal system account today for about 15% of hospital admissions in developed countries. With the ageing of the population, this is believed to gain significantly in importance in the coming years.
The majority of the disorders affecting the musculoskeletal system are the joint diseases, in particular osteoarthritis. The latter disease process is typically initiated and associated with defects of the articular cartilage and the un
Astronomers may have discovered a strange new form of matter.
Astronomers think they might have spotted a quark star, a mass of fundamental particles only a few kilometres across but weighing more than our Sun. If the star’s nature is confirmed, it would be the first example of this state of matter.
Theoreticians hypothesized the existence of quark stars in the 1980s. Today, NASA announced the discovery of such a star, based on results from their space telescope the Chandra
Astronomers use galaxies to reckon a subatomic particle’s mass.
By mapping hundreds of thousands of galaxies, astronomers have estimated the mass of the neutrino. They have also calculated the contribution that this mysterious subatomic particle makes to the total mass of the Universe.
The neutrino weighs no more than one-billionth of the mass of a hydrogen atom, Ofer Lahav of the University of Cambridge told the annual UK National Astronomy Meeting in Bristol today. Yet
Sustainability may not be all it’s cracked up to be. That is the message in a recent paper by a hydrogeologist at Reading University . Michael Price argues that most human advances have been non-sustainable in the long term and that when we talk of ‘sustainable use’ we must define the period over which the use is planned or implemented.
Price identifies three major challenges currently facing Britain and the world. The first is that the climate, and with it the supply of water, is becoming
Using a powerful instrument on a telescope in Hawaii, UK astronomers have found ashes from a generation of stars that died over 10 billion years ago. This is the first time that the tell-tale cosmic dust has been detected at such an early stage in the evolution of the universe.
Dr. Kate Isaak of Cambridge University will be announcing these exciting new results at the National Astronomy Meeting in Bristol on 11th April 2002.
Using the SCUBA (Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Arra
There is a strong genetic component to the gluten intolerance disorder, coeliac disease, shows research in Gut.
In the largest study of its kind, Italian researchers studied 47 twin pairs, who were selected on the basis that one belonged to the Italian Coeliac Disease Association (AIC). They were tested for antibodies specific to coeliac disease to ensure that ‘silent’ disease was detected, and their genetic profile was mapped. Tissue samples were taken to confirm changes indicative of the
Epilepsy drugs given to women during pregnancy can treble the risk of congenital malformation or developmental delay in their children, finds research in the Journal of Medical Genetics.
Stopping treatment for epilepsy during pregnancy is not an option, but there is an urgent need to develop safer drugs, conclude the researchers. Six in every 1000 pregnancies will be to a woman treated with epilepsy drugs.
One hundred and forty nine mothers being treated with antiepileptic drugs in
Life-threatening pneumonia in bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients can be controlled using a strategy called pre-emptive therapy, scientists heard today (Wednesday 10 April 2002) at the spring meeting of the Society for General Microbiology at the University of Warwick.
“We have found that early diagnosis and treatment of colds and flu in transplant and immunocompromised patients can reduce the risk of pneumonia. But pre-emptive therapy is not just a question of providing drugs to patients.
Some men send flowers, others send chocolates. But one species of fish has a rather unusual method of seducing the opposite sex. Researchers at the Centre of Marine Science, University of Algarve, Portugal, have been studying how the peacock blenny fish secretes pheromones – chemical ‘love’ signals – from an anal gland.
Dr Eduardo Barata observed peacock blenny over the breeding season, when males occupy holes and crevices in the bottom of the sea which they use as nesting sites where female
Industrial pollutants such as alkylphenols and PCBs have controversially been linked with hormone-dependent cancers, whilst plant chemicals known as phytoestrogens have been marketed as health supplements. But scientists are now suggesting that the story is not quite so simple.
Dr Chris Kirk and colleagues from the University of Birmingham haves been studying industrial oestrogens such as PCBs, insecticides and alkylphenols and a group of chemicals termed ‘phytoestrogens’, commonly found in
Neutrinos, the lightest of the known elementary particles, weigh a billionth (one part in a thousand million) of a hydrogen atom at most, and can account for no more than one-fifth of the dark matter in the Universe, according to findings by astronomers in Cambridge, who used data from the Anglo-Australian telescope 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). The results will be presented by Dr Ofer Lahav of Cambridge University at the UK National Astronomy Meeting in Bristol on Wednesday 10 April.
Feedback
