Discovery could lead to development of protein-targeting drugs, OHSU researchers say

When HIV enters the human body, a fierce battle ensues between a ruthless viral protein and our long-misunderstood innate protection system. Ultimately, the protein seizes and destroys that system, and HIV replicates.

But Oregon Health & Science University researchers who discovered the mechanism by which this destruction occurs say our innate protection system could have a leg up in the mêl

Concerns about the ethics of using embryos created to treat infertile couples for stem cell research is discussed by researchers at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester in this week’s BMJ.

Although the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 allows the creation of embryos for research in the United Kingdom, the House of Lords Select Committee on stem cell research reported in February 2002 that embryos should not be created unless there is a demonstrable and exceptional need that cannot be met

Some seed gene banks contain more higher plant species per square meter than anywhere else on the planet’, write Simon Linington and colleagues of the Millenium Seed Bank, Kew, in the October issue of Biologist. This helps to ‘ensure plant diversity is available long term for use in development or habitat restoration’, they explain.

Although genetically uniform crop varieties can produce good yields, the plants may be more vulnerable to new diseases than traditional varieties. Seed banks un

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) has resumed measurements of the Earth’s polar ice sheets, clouds, mountains and forests with the second of its three lasers. Crisscrossing the globe at nearly 17,000 miles per hour, this new space mission is providing data with unprecedented accuracy on the critical third dimension of the Earth, its vertical characteristics.

“The first set of laser measurements is revealing features of the polar ice sheets with details never seen befor

Researchers have successfully tested a system that can replace a cellular tower’s room full of communications hardware with a single desk-top style computer, making the technology affordable for small, rural communities.

The software is also capable of running emergency communications-such as police, fire and ambulance channels-on the same device as the civilian system, eliminating the need for a separate network of emergency communications towers.

“Rural customers are the firs

One year after miscarrying, two-thirds of women say their relationships with their husbands or partners stayed the same or improved, according to a recent study. The remaining third said their relationships grew more distant over the same time span.

“It seems that when miscarriage affects couples, it may stimulate growth or, conversely, unearth inability to support each other through troubling times,” says Kristen M. Swanson, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., professor of family and child nursing at