As scientists demand more from space missions travelling to other worlds and beyond, traditional rocket technologies are beginning to show shortcomings. In response, ESA are helping to develop a new type of rocket engine, known as solar-electric propulsion, or more commonly, an ion engine, that can mark a whole new era of space exploration.

Solar-electric propulsion is ESA`s new spacecraft engine. It does not burn fuel as chemical rockets do; instead the technique converts sunlight into elec

Agricultural breeders have long observed that when plants or animals from different strains are interbred, the offspring tend to be stronger, healthier or generally more fit than either of their parents, although no one knew why this occurred. Now plant geneticists investigating the maize (corn) genome at Rutgers’ Waksman Institute of Microbiology have discovered a possible explanation for this phenomenon, known as heterosis or hybrid vigor.

The Rutgers findings, presented by research

Finding has implications for future of biodiversity

A significant number of organisms that survived the five greatest mass extinctions in Earth’s history subsequently failed to achieve evolutionary success, according to a new study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and conducted by University of Chicago scientist David Jablonski.

“It’s clear that there is a lot of evolutionary action in the aftermath of mass extinctions,” said Jablonski. “During the re

Scientists at the University of North Carolina have successfully treated mice with hemophilia A using a new approach to gene therapy – RNA trans-splicing. The experimental procedure repairs a mutated section of the gene responsible for hemophilia A, a hereditary bleeding disorder.

Dr. Hengjun Chao, a research assistant professor at the UNC School of Medicine, Gene Therapy Center will present the new research Saturday June 8 in Boston at the Presidential Symposium of the American Society of

Drilling for oil is expensive – and only too often unsuccessful: in 80 to 90 per cent of all attempts the drill head ends up in worthless sediment rather than hitting the black jackpot as intended. In this way, with every unsuccessful drilling, companies squander several million euros. Yet there is an alternative: the use of tiny fossilised single-celled organisms can reveal to the expert where prospecting for oil is worth while, a dying art at which only a few specialists worldwide still remain prof

LGC, the UK`s leading independent provider of genetic testing services, has issued its first testing licence for the key DNA variant in the drug metabolising gene CYP2D6 to Orchid BioSciences Inc. LGC holds the exclusive commercialisation rights to the patented diagnosis of this `poor metaboliser` gene variation and, in granting this first licence, will make access to this beneficial technology available to leading companies internationally for the first time.

The gene CYP2D6 controls an enz