A new technique for detecting forged photographs will help newspapers and magazines check celebrity pictures that might have been doctored to make them more newsworthy, and prevent hackers from tampering with sensitive legal images including fingerprint records and medical scans used as evidence in court.

Defence agencies could also use the technique to verify the source of secret military reports, and to protect satellite images, such as aerial photographs of the Iraqi desert,

ASK-chip shall enable targeted functional analysis of the human kinome

ProQinase, a division of KTB Tumorforschungs GmbH at the Tumor Biology Center, Freiburg, the NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tübingen, and Antibodies by Design, a division of MorphoSys AG, Munich, today announced the start of a joint project which could revolutionize the analysis of all human protein kinases – the human “kinome”. The project combines the established protein kinase p

Two studies presented today (Tuesday 21 June 2005) at the 21st annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology provide further proof that single embryo transfer (SET) produces babies that are healthier than those born after multiple implantations.

Dr. Diane De Neubourg, from the Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium, told the conference that babies born after SET are as healthy as singleton babies born after a spontaneous conception. She s

The fragile-X-syndrome is one of the major causes of mental retardation.

Scientists from VIB (Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology), have been studying fruit flies with symptoms similar to those in humans. From this research, it turns out that something goes wrong with the actin skeleton of the neurons in the brain. This process might also take place in human patients with the fragile-X-syndrome – an important step in uncovering the physical background of this dis

Early summer sees the start of the annual increase in sightings in the Bay of Biscay of the second largest whale in the World, the Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus). This is a spectacular event for waters so close to British Shores.

Fin Whales are the second largest species of whale on the planet! They can measure up to 24 meters in length and suffered significant hunting during the whaling days. They have a varied diet including fish and krill and tend to ignore or are insensitive

The discovery of green sulfur bacteria living near hydrothermal vents has major implications for where photosynthesis happens and where life may reside

A team of researchers, including a photosynthesis expert from Arizona State University, has found evidence of photosynthesis taking place deep within the Pacific Ocean. The team found a bacterium that is the first photosynthetic organism that doesn’t live off sunlight but from the dim light coming from hydrothermal vents nearly

Finding may impact understanding of mechanical facets of many diseases

An international team led by Jeffrey J. Fredberg, professor of bioengineering and physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, has found that the cell modulates its mechanical properties in much the same way as a glassblower shapes fine glassware. This new view of cellular functions sheds light on mechanical facets of phenomena as diverse as asthma, cancer, inflammation, and vascular disease. These findi

Not everyone can enjoy the fresh strawberries in summer. Some experience an allergic reaction with itching and swelling in mouth and throat. Biochemists at Lund University have identified a strawberry allergen among the thousands of proteins in a strawberry. Screening is now performed to find strawberries with no or little of the allergen protein. Sofar, a colourless, ’white’ strawberry variety has been found to be virtually free from the allergen.

The allergen was identified usin

Tri-modality imaging on live small animals introduced at Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Annual Meeting June 18–22 in Toronto

The first imaging system to offer researchers three different imaging techniques in one instrument–allowing flexibility in configuring anatomical and functional imaging modalities that will best support their research objectives–was introduced at the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s 52nd Annual Meeting June 18–22 in Toronto.

“For years researcher

Tumor control persists four to six years, could be treatment of choice for certain patients

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have shown that radiofrequency ablation (RFA) – a minimally invasive way of destroying tissue – is an effective, longlasting treatment for small kidney tumors in selected patients. In a followup to research published in 2003, the investigators found that RFA treatment of renal cell carcinoma, the most common kidney cancer, continued to be s

Purdue University researchers may have isolated the substance most responsible for the tissue damage that follows initial spinal cord injury, a discovery that could also improve treatments for a host of other neurodegenerative conditions.

A research team led by Riyi Shi (REE-yee SHEE) has found that a chemical called acrolein, a known carcinogen, is present at high levels in spinal tissue for several days after a traumatic injury. Although acrolein is produced by the body and is no

Living organisms need to sense the amount of energy that is available to them and regulate the activity of their genes accordingly. Scientists have made the unexpected finding that a histone protein, which wraps DNA into tight bundles and regulates gene activity, can bind a small molecule produced in our cells. This novel finding in itself was a breakthrough for researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), but what made it more interesting was which specific molecule it bind

Scientists in the UK have proved that human embryonic stem cells can develop in the laboratory into the early forms of cells that eventually become eggs or sperm. Their work opens up the possibility that eggs and sperm could be grown from stem cells and used for assisted reproduction, therapeutic cloning and the creation of more stem cells for further research and for the improved treatments for patients suffering from a range of diseases.

Behrouz Aflatoonian will tell the 21st

Scientists in Belgium have discovered how to clone human embryos from eggs that have been matured in the laboratory. Their discovery should make it easier for scientists to create embryonic stem cell lines from cloned embryos and develop them to provide eggs and sperm for infertile couples, the 21st annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today (Monday 20 June).

Until now, scientists investigating human cloning for therapeutic purp

In one of the first molecular studies of the human antibody response to yellow fever, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers and their colleagues have found the crucial bit of virus that people’s immune systems need to spot and quash this often-fatal re-emerging disease.

The findings may help scientists improve the existing vaccine, which has rare but severe side effects, said Jan ter Meulen, an HHMI international research scholar and associate professor of v

Insects develop resistance to engineered crops when single- and double-gene altered plants are in proximity, Cornell researchers say

Genetically modified crops containing two insecticidal proteins in a single plant efficiently kill insects. But when crops engineered with just one of those toxins grow nearby, insects may more rapidly develop resistance to all the insect-killing plants, report Cornell University researchers.

A soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (