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Top Stories in Science
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February 2006 Issue |
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| [D] Defence and security |  |
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Bioterrorism A report by the US National Academy of Sciences on "next-generation bioterrorism" has concluded that intelligence agencies are too focused on the current threat list of bacteria and viruses, and are ignoring newer and more dangerous threats, such as RNA interference, synthetic biology or nanotechnology. As examples, the report suggests it might soon be possible to engineer a virulent pathogen from scratch using DNA synthesis and that advances in gene therapy might make it possible to release an aerosol of a harmful gene that would be inhaled by victims. [D][G][H][X]
Ricin vaccine The first human clinical trial of a recombinant vaccine for the toxin ricin indicates that the vaccine is safe and effective in eliciting ricin-neutralising antibodies. Ricin, which can be administered in food or water, sprayed as an aerosol or injected, is extracted from castor beans. It has a long history of use as a biological agent in espionage, and could be used for bioterrorism since more than 50,000 tons of castor bean extract exist around the world as a by-product of castor oil production. [D][H]
Bird flu vaccines Two US teams have independently constructed a live H5N1 vaccine by genetically engineering a common cold virus to express either all or parts of an avian influenza protein called haemagglutinin (HA) on its surface. The vaccines completely protected mice from infection by the H5N1 virus. One team also showed the vaccine protected chickens and that it provided cross-protection against other H5N1 strains. This suggests that the live H5N1 vaccine may be more immune-activating than standard vaccines made of killed flu viruses. The live vaccine can be grown in cells and can therefore be produced much more quickly than traditional vaccines grown in fertilised chicken eggs. [D][G][H]
Bird flu vaccines US researchers have developed what they claim is a commercially viable avian flu vaccine. It uses purified protein haemagglutinin. This is produced by extracting the relevant genes from the influenza virus, inserting them into a baculovirus, and then infecting host cells with the baculovirus to produce recombinant haemagglutinin (rHA). [D][G][H]
Bird flu epicentre A massive genetic analysis has proved that China is the epicentre of the H5N1 flu virus and that the virus has been circulating continuously in poultry in south-eastern China for the past ten years. Samples were taken from 13,000 migratory birds and 50,000 market poultry in southeast China between January 2004 and June 2005. In the markets, the researchers found H5N1 in about 2 percent of apparently healthy ducks and geese, and some chickens, in all but two of the months in the sampling period. The genetic make-up of the virus differed slightly between Guangdong, Hunan and Yunnan provinces, forming distinct geographic clusters. These all descend from a 1996 Guangdong virus, but the researchers found that antibodies to each sub-lineage did not bind readily to other sub-lineages. This means that vaccinating people or birds against just one strain of the virus may not protect against others. [D][G][H][X]
Bird flu in Africa The H5N1 bird flu virus is spreading in north-central Nigeria. This is particularly alarming because human poverty and disease in Africa could combine with millions of highly susceptible backyard poultry to produce many human infections, with great risk of producing a human pandemic virus. The UN has warned that the measures announced by Nigeria's government to contain the spread of bird flu are not working. [D][H]
Nuclear proliferation If the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could measure directly how much plutonium is being produced in each of the world's nuclear reactors, it could determine far more easily if a nation was illicitly producing plutonium for use in nuclear weapons. Initial tests suggest it may be possible to do this by installing antineutrino detectors near reactors. The antineutrinos produced by uranium fission have higher energy than those from plutonium fission, so a detector can determine the origin of each antineutrino. [D][P][R][S]
Nuclear reprocessing Even though reprocessing of nuclear fuel adds greatly to the risk of nuclear proliferation, the US is arguing that reprocessing may be necessary in order to reduce the amount of nuclear waste to manageable levels. Under the US proposals for a Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, licensed operations in the US and other nuclear nations would reprocess fuel for non-nuclear nations using a new process called UREX, which produces plutonium that is harder to turn into warheads. This could make plutonium less available to terrorists. But critics argue that it will also make it more difficult to persuade countries like Iran to forego enrichment and reprocessing. [D][P][X]
Security policy Security issues are pervasive across government, according to a speech by the UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown. They dominate decisions in transport, energy and immigration, and extend to social security and health. Government must ensure a robust security response that protects the safety and liberties of citizens, and also a determination to tackle terrorism internationally and nationally. It must also tackle the roots of terrorism by ensuring that legitimate political concerns, such as the future of the Middle East, are addressed politically and without resort to violence. [D][X]
Iraq reconstruction Billions of dollars have been spent on rebuilding Iraq's electricity system, yet still Baghdad only gets 6 hours of electricity a day. Providing a reliable and continuous electricity supply would probably do more than anything else to bring stability in Iraq and catalyse economic growth. But achieving such a huge reconstruction programme in the face of enemy fire and in the shadow of geopolitics is extremely difficult. [D][P][T][X] |
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| [A] Aeronautics and space | |
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Longest non-stop flight Adventurer Steve Fossett has broken the record for the longest non-stop flight in aviation history, landing in dramatic fashion after power failure. In total he flew 26,389.3 miles around the globe, setting off in Florida and landing in the UK, having circumnavigated the world and crossed the Atlantic twice. [A]
Hypersonic flow At Purdue University, engineers have developed a quiet hypersonic wind tunnel that operates at speeds of Mach 6 and in which the airflow has about one-tenth to one-thirtieth of the noise found in other high-speed wind tunnels. The quiet operation is critical for recreating the smooth, laminar flow of air over the surfaces of aircraft, spacecraft or missiles re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, and studying the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. This is also important for scramjet propulsion, since for scramjets to work properly, a steady, smooth flowing supply of air must be moving continuously at hypersonic speeds into the engine's combustion chamber. Poor control of turbulence near the aircraft's surface might disrupt this crucial air supply, and turbulent flow over the front of the vehicle would cause excessive heating. [A][P]
Space debris According to NASA, the density of space junk is now so large that the number of new fragments created by collisions is set to exceed the number falling back to Earth, even without launching any additional spacecraft. The problem is particularly serious in the region 900km to 1000km above the Earth's surface, which is dominated by navigation, communication and weather satellites. The only solution is to remove existing large objects so that they do not break up. However, at present, the proposed solutions – using ground-based lasers to alter dead satellites' orbits, installing the latest ion engines on new satellites so they can be directed more quickly into the atmosphere at mission-end, or adding electrodynamic tethers to increase drag – are either too costly or not yet technically proven. [A][P][M][O]
Space weather ESA and NASA space-weather satellites have observed for the first time steady large-scale jets of charged particles in the solar wind between the Sun and Earth. When such huge jets of particles hit the Earth’s magnetic shield, they can cause powerful magnetic storms. Understanding the mechanism behind these phenomena - called ‘magnetic reconnection’ – is also fundamental to many explosive phenomena, such as solar flares, powerful gamma-ray bursts from ‘magnetars’ (dead stars noted for their extreme magnetic fields), and laboratory nuclear fusion. [A][I][P][R]
Mission to Pluto NASA has successfully launched its New Horizons mission on its 10-year journey to Pluto. The probe will gather information on Pluto and its moons before, hopefully, pressing on to explore other objects in the outer Solar System. [A]
Tenth planet Claims that the Solar System has a tenth planet are bolstered by the finding by a group led by Bonn astrophysicists that this alleged planet, announced last summer and tentatively named 2003 UB313, is bigger than Pluto. By measuring its thermal emission, the scientists were able to determine that it has a diameter of about 3000 km, 700 km larger than diameter of Pluto. This makes it the largest solar system object found since the discovery of Neptune in 1846. [A][R]
Extrasolar planet Using gravitational microlensing, astronomers have discovered the smallest planet so far found outside of our solar system. The rocky, icy planet is about five-and-a-half times the mass of Earth and is located more than 20,000 light years away. The researchers expect that this gravitational microlensing technique will uncover many other extrasolar planets that may potentially harbour life. [A][R]
Life on Mars A carbon-rich substance found filling tiny cracks within a Martian meteorite may boost the possibility that life once existed on Mars. The material resembles that found in fractures, or "veins", apparently etched by microbes in volcanic glass from the Earth's ocean floor. [A][M] |
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| [U] Unmanned vehicles and robotics | |
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Intelligent vehicles A prototype vehicle capable of spotting people in the road has been successfully tested. The pedestrian-recognition technology uses three different types of sensor to identify a pedestrian or a cyclist in the road ahead. The system harnesses an array of radar sensors, as well as visual and infrared cameras. [U][E][R][S][V]
Robot imager Existing MRI and CAT scanners provide static images. To observe injuries that manifest themselves when people move, researchers at the University of Florida have designed a robot system to shadow and shoot X-ray video of patients as they walk, climb stairs, stand up from a seated position or pursue other normal activities. The system being developed uses two robots, one to shoot the X-ray video and the other to hold the image sensor. [U][H][R][S]
Robotic surgery A new study from Imperial College London shows that robot assisted knee surgery is significantly more accurate than conventional surgery. The improved accuracy should mean that knee replacements work better and last longer, preventing the need for further surgery. [U][H]
Abdominal mini-robots Scientists are developing a new generation of dextrous mini-robots for use in minimally invasive surgery, according to the New Scientist. One radio-controlled robot can rove around inside the stomach or abdomen carrying a camera. The robot is only 15 mm in diameter, allowing it to be inserted through the small incisions used for keyhole surgery. The device is made up of two rotating aluminium cylinders connected by a thick axle, which carries the camera. The spiral pattern on the surface of the cylinders allows them to grip the walls of the abdominal cavity and move around. [U][H][P][S] |
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| [P] Propulsion and energy | |
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New type of combustion engine A miniature combustion engine that uses an elastic cylinder to generate power has been developed by SRI International. The engine is designed for robots and miniature spy-planes, but might also be used in hybrid cars, lawnmowers and other gadgets, according to the company. [P][M][U]
Advanced Energy Initiative In his 2006 State of the Union speech, President Bush announced the Advanced Energy Initiative to use technology to tackle America's need for affordable energy and to break its addiction to oil. Under this initiative, the US will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants, solar and wind technologies and clean, safe nuclear energy. Research will increase on better batteries for hybrid and electric cars and on pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. There will also be more research on producing ethanol from corn, wood chips, stalks or switch grass, to help meet the goal of replacing more than 75 percent of US oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. [P][D][E]
Cost of oil The cost on the environment of greenhouse pollution would turn oil company profits into losses if the social costs of burning fossil fuels were taken into account, it is claimed. A UK government report estimates that each tonne of carbon dioxide emitted in burning fossil fuels costs about £20 ($35) in environmental damage. [P][E]
Post-oil economy Sweden aims to be the first country in the world to completely eliminate oil as a fuel, by focusing on renewable sources. The Swedish parliament said that the move to replace fossil fuels with renewable forms of energy was essential on environmental and economic grounds. Measures proposed include tax relief for conversion from oil, more renewable energy, introducing more measures for renewable fuels, more investment in developing a 'renewable society', and continued investment in district heating (typically geothermal or biomass). [P][E]
Carbon sequestration The UK House of Common Science and Technology Committee has said in a report that all new coal power stations in the UK should be suitable for carbon capture and sequestration The committee has urged the UK government to lead reform of international treaties to ensure that the storage of carbon dioxide underground is legal. [P]
Wave and tidal power Britain has a long shoreline and exceptionally large tides and waves. There is particular potential for wave and tidal energy in north-west Scotland and south-west England. However, the shortage of sites with good access and connection to the electricity grid limits the amount of electricity that could be economically generated. According to an 18 month study by the Carbon Trust, wave farms could generate 50 terawatt-hours per year and tidal stream installations a further 18TWh per year. This adds up to about 20 percent of the UK's current electricity consumption of 350TWh per year. [P][E]
Biofuel strategy The European Commission has published a strategy on biofuels to encourage increased production of biofuels in Europe. The strategy, which builds on the biomass action plan adopted in December 2005, outlines three main aims: promoting biofuels in both the EU and developing countries; preparing for the large-scale use of biofuels by improving their cost-competitiveness and increasing research into second generation fuels; and supporting developing countries where biofuel production could stimulate sustainable economic growth. [P][E][T]
Bio-ethanol A review of six studies has provided consistent evidence that ethanol produced from corn can replace petroleum as a fuel for cars. However, the overall savings in greenhouse gas emissions are only 10 to 15 percent. This allows for all the energy costs of growing the corn, but does not take account of environmental effects such as soil erosion. The researchers conclude that cellulosic technology, which uses bacteria to convert cellulose and lignin into starches that can be fermented by other bacteria to produce ethanol, is far more promising than using corn. One estimate is that there are a billion tons of currently unused fibrous waste available for ethanol production in the US. [P][E]
Sonofusion In 2002, a US and Russian research team claimed that they had detected neutron emissions from the implosion of cavitation bubbles of deuterated-acetone vapour. In 2004 they published further evidence with better instrumentation, but this work was criticised because an external neutron source was used to produce the bubbles. The same research team has now demonstrated sonofusion without needing any external neutron source. They dissolved natural uranium in a special mixture of acetone and benzene, and produced bubbles through radioactive decay. As a cross-check, the experiments were repeated with the detectors at twice the original distance from the device. The flux of emitted neutrons decreased by a factor of about four, providing further evidence that fusion neutrons were being produced inside the device. [P]
Microwave fireballs Ball lightning has been a mystery for centuries. It is thought to be a ball of plasma that is formed when a bolt of lightning hits the ground and creates a molten "hot spot". Israeli researchers have now succeeded in producing lightning balls in the lab using a "microwave drill". They hope that the lab-generated fireballs could be used in practical applications such as coating, deposition, combustion and energy production. [P][M] |
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| [M] Materials, structures and surfaces | |
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Explosive ink A very unusual ink-jet printer cartridge, containing explosive ink, has been patented by QinetiQ. The ink is a mixture of very fine aluminium particles, each 1 micron diameter, particles of copper oxide 5 microns wide, epoxy varnish and alcohol. The ink is stable in liquid form, making it safe to print onto conventional paper, but forms an explosive fuse once dry. QinetiQ suggests printed fuses could be used for precisely controlling fireworks, triggering vehicle air bags or for conventional munitions. Ganging hundreds or thousands of fuses together could even make a miniature rocket engine capable of precisely adjusting the orbital position of a spacecraft. [M][A][D][P]
Nanocomposite damping polymers A new study suggests that integrating nanotubes into traditional materials dramatically improves their ability to reduce vibration, especially at high temperatures, where traditional damping polymers perform poorly. The new materials could be extremely useful for space application, and also for aircraft, automobiles and missile systems. [M][A][D][N][P][S]
Gas-separating membranes A rubbery material that can purify hydrogen efficiently in its most usable form for fuel cells and oil refining has been developed by a chemical engineering group at the University of Texas. It is one of a new family of membrane materials with superior gas-separating ability that could lower the costs of purifying hydrogen for hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. [M][P]
Metallic glass If a metallic liquid is cooled very rapidly it can freeze before the atoms have time to arrange themselves into a crystal lattice. The resulting metallic glasses, which are usually made of two or more metals, can display great strength, large elastic strain and toughness. Like plastic materials, they can be heated, softened and moulded into complex shapes. Metallic glasses are used in sports equipment, cell phone cases, armour-piercing projectiles and other products. US researchers have now unravelled the atomic structure of a range of binary metallic glasses. One major finding is that the structure is not completely disordered. Instead, groups of seven to 15 atoms tend to arrange themselves around a central atom, forming three-dimensional shapes called Kasper polyhedra. Similar shapes are found in crystalline metals, but in metallic glass the polyhedra join together in unique ways as small nanometre-scale clusters. [M][N]
Tough ceramics Modern ceramics are strong, but their brittleness makes them unsuitable for many applications. Some natural materials, such as shells, have an intricate layered structure that enables them to absorb impacts, making them incredibly tough. Material scientists at Lawrence Berkeley have now invented a simple way to make ceramics with the same layered structure. The technique mimics the way seawater freezes, and produces layered structures that resemble seashells. According to the team, the materials could be used for artificial bone, heat exchangers for electronics, lightweight materials for cars or body armour, and high resistance machining tools. [M][N]
Fracture instabilities Most existing theories of fracture are based on small material deformation, assuming a linear relationship between stress and strain. However, in real solids, this relationship is strongly nonlinear, owing to large deformation near a moving crack tip. Scientists from Max Planck and MIT have now simulated how cracks propagate in brittle materials and have shown how fracture instabilities are controlled by the properties of materials under extreme deformation conditions near a moving crack tip. In rubber-like materials that stiffen with strain, cracks can move at speeds faster than the Rayleigh-wave and sheer wave speeds while creating mirror-like surfaces. The researchers have extended existing theories to provide a unified treatment of instability that is applicable to a much wider range of real materials. This work may help to improve the understanding of how materials break at different scales, ranging from nanomaterials to aircraft and buildings. It may also contribute to understanding of earthquakes. [M][A][E]
Self-healing composite Micrometeoroid impacts and extremes of temperature can cause small cracks to open in a spacecraft's superstructure. Scientists at Bristol University have now developed a self-healing composite material in which such cracks are automatically repaired. In the material, some of the normal reinforcing fibres are replaced by hollow glass fibres containing adhesive materials. When damage occurs, the glass fibres break easily, releasing the adhesive to fill the cracks and perform the repair. According to ESA, self-healing materials might double the lifetime of a spacecraft in orbit around Earth and also allow missions to far-away destinations in the Solar System that are currently too risky. [M][A]
Controlled corrosion The corrosion of technically relevant alloys, like stainless steel, causes damage that amounts to about 3 percent of the global gross national product. Using the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, researchers have made the first ever atomic-level observations of the corrosion process. Using an alloy of copper and gold, they found that with a low corrosion potential, a perfect passivation layer formed that protected against further corrosion, but if the potential was increased a foam-like nanoporous structure formed. The results may make it possible to optimise surface passivation in alloys by setting the corrosion potential above the surface in such a way that a passivation layer is created. Also, controlled corrosion is, at higher potentials, an elegant method of chemically structuring material surfaces at nanometric scales for use in catalysis. [M][N]
Superhydrophobic surface Scientists at UCLA have developed a superhydrophobic surface that greatly reduces the friction felt by a fluid as it moves across the surface. It works by causing a blanket of air to lodge between a dense forest of micron-high posts etched onto the surface. The air keeps the fluid from coming into contact with the solid surface. The technology could be useful in microfluidic devices, and also enable submarines and torpedoes to move through the sea with less drag. [M][J][N]
Fluid turbulence In 1933, Johann Nikuradse carefully measured the friction a fluid experiences as it is forced through a pipe at varying speeds. He found that the friction gets smaller as the speed gets larger, but then surprisingly increases at high speeds before attaining a constant value. This mysterious behaviour, which must be taken into account by engineers in applications ranging from airplanes to oil pipelines, has now been shown to arise from fundamental properties of the way in which energy is distributed among the swirling eddies that populate a turbulent flow. The behaviour implies that the turbulent state is not random, but contains subtle statistical correlations that are similar to those known to exist at phase transitions. [M][A][C] |
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| [E] Environment, transport and marine | |
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Sustainability Using copper as a good example, researchers have concluded that current economic growth and new technologies are leading to the depletion of important metals in the foreseeable future. They recommend that as much currently processed copper, platinum and zinc should be conserved as possible. [E][M][W]
Bioremediation Decades of military activity have resulted in pollution of land and groundwater by explosives resistant to biological degradation. Large tracts of land used for military training, particularly in the US, are contaminated by RDX, one of the most widely-used explosives, which is both highly toxic and carcinogenic. Some micro-organisms in the soil produce an enzyme that degrades RDX, but there are not enough to deal with heavily contaminated land. UK and US researchers have succeeded in deploying the enzyme into a model plant system – Arabidopsis thaliana - and are now transferring it into trees, including aspen and poplar, and perennial grasses, whose root systems could draw in and degrade RDX much more rapidly. [E][D][G]
Third world agriculture About 800 million people in the developing world are short of food and agriculturally driven environmental damage and reducing rainfall threaten to worsen the problem. However, a study of 286 farm projects in 57 countries by researchers at the University of Essex has found that crop yields on farms in developing countries that adopted sustainable agriculture rose nearly 80 percent in four years and also required less water. [E][D]
Global warming According to NASA, the year 2005 was the warmest on record, and not the second warmest as previously thought. The analysis incorporates measurements on land, satellite measurements of the sea surface and ship-based analyses. This record warmth is more notable than previous record-breaking years as there was no boost from the tropical El Niño phenomenon. [E]
City heat Major cities are warmer than neighbouring suburbs and rural areas, and this "heat island" effect can impact air quality, public health and the demand for energy. This is worst during summer heat waves and at night when wind speeds are low. With global warming and ever-increasing urban populations around the world, the heat island effect is becoming even more significant. A NASA study of how to reduce the problem in New York has concluded that transpiration from trees and other vegetation is a powerful cooling mechanism and appears to be the most effective tool to reduce surface temperatures. Another effective approach is to use very bright, high albedo paints or reflecting surfaces on roof tops in order to reflect the sun's light and heat. In a city such as New York, more area is available to reduce temperatures in this way than by adding vegetation. [E][H][M][P]
Global dimming The Earth's reflectance, measured from the Moon's earthshine, has increased since 2000. This is believed to be due to an increase in cloud cover and it ought to reduce global warming. However, the cloud cover has also changed so that there is less thick cloud at low altitudes, which helps produce cooling, and more thin cloud at higher altitude, which acts as an infrared blanket. Observations from earth-based and satellite sensors suggest that there may be a large, unexplained decadal variation in sunlight reaching the Earth, as well as a large effect of clouds re-arranging by altitude. This is currently not well represented in climate models. [E]
Ocean warming Using 12 new state-of-the-art climate models, US and UK researchers have found that ocean warming and sea level rise in the 20th century were substantially reduced by the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia. Volcanic aerosols blocked sunlight and caused the ocean surface to cool. The cooling penetrated into deeper layers of the ocean, where it remained for many decades after the event. The more recent 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, which was comparable to Krakatoa in terms of its size and intensity, produced similar ocean surface cooling. However, the heat-content recovery occurred much more quickly in the case of Pinatubo, possibly because of global warming. [E]
Thermohaline circulation Researchers at the University of Alberta have examined seven possible ways to re-enforce the Gulf Stream if it is seriously weakened by global warming. They conclude that the most cost-effective method is to use thousands of ocean barges to pump salt sea water on top of sea ice in order to produce thick sheets of frozen sea water. Pumping more sea water in spring melts the sheets and releases large amounts of cold salt water to boost the thermohaline circulation. The researchers estimate that the cost would be of the order of $50bn per annum - an acceptable price if Europe faces an ice age. [E]
Biobullet Scientists at Cambridge University have developed a "biobullet" that could help control an invasive mollusc that has ravaged US waterways for nearly two decades. The microcapsules, which contain toxins that dissolve within a zebra mussel's digestive tract, offer a safe and cost-effective way of eliminating one of the world's "most important economic pests" without harming other aquatic life. Zebra muscles were accidentally introduced into the Great Lakes from Eastern Europe in the late 1980s. Without many natural predators, they rapidly spread and coping with them now costs upwards of $5 billion annually. [E]
Size and metabolic rate Researchers have found a universal rule that regulates the metabolism of plants of all kinds and sizes. This is very important for understanding the global carbon cycle and refining models of global warming and climate change. The study also reveals that the respiration, or metabolic, rates of plants and animals follow different laws of scaling with respect to body size. [E] |
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| [R] Remote sensing and sensor systems | |
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Monitoring sustainability Earth observation from space, according to ESA, has the potential to provide a global and cost-effective way to objectively measure progress towards sustainability of business activities - for energy production, mining, forestry, water resources and oil extraction. [R][A][E][T]
Monitoring sustainability Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has developed a sonar technique to detect squid egg clusters on the seafloor. Using the new sonar methods, the entire Monterey spawning area could be surveyed in less than 40 hours at relatively low cost, with a suitably equipped boat towing a side scan sonar. The technique can help manage squid fisheries sustainably. [R][E]
Tracking food production A prototype system developed by European researchers can help trace the geographic origin of food at all stages of production from ‘farm to fork’. The aim is to provide farmers, distributors, retailers, consumers, regulators and other interested parties with clear and precise tracking of food products, accessible in real-time. [R][A][E][H][I]
Solving traffic congestion Simulations by physicists in Germany suggest that as adaptive cruise control (ACC) is improved and is fitted into more vehicles this should substantially reduce traffic congestion on motorways. ACC automatically accelerates or decelerates a vehicle to maintain a fixed distance between it and the car in front. It works by using radar sensors to measure the actual distance and speed difference between the two vehicles. The simulations show that if just 10 percent of vehicles are fitted with improved ACC, congestion is dramatically eased because the ACC delays the onset of "traffic breakdown" in which cars come to a complete halt as in a traffic jam. [R][E][S]
Imaging primordial fossils Paleobiologists have produced three dimensional images of ancient fossils, 650 million to 850 million years old, preserved in rocks. If a future space mission to Mars brings rocks to Earth, the techniques could enable scientists to look at microscopic fossils inside the rocks for signs of life, such as organic cell walls, without destroying the rocks. [R][A][S] |
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| [S] Sensor devices | |
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Lie detection The standard polygraph test has failed to produce consistently reliable results, largely because it relies on outward manifestations of certain emotions that people feel when lying. These manifestations, including increased perspiration, changing body positions and subtle facial expressions, can be suppressed by a large enough number of people that the accuracy and consistency of the polygraph results are compromised. Using fMRI to detect the distinctive brain activation associated with lying or telling the truth provides an alternative approach that should be less susceptible to being controlled by an individual. US researchers have compared fMRI experimentally against the polygraph test. They found that fourteen areas of the brain were active during the deceptive process of lying, in contrast to only seven areas when subjects answered truthfully. Increased activity in the frontal lobe, especially, indicated how the brain works to inhibit the truth and construct a lie. [S][B][V][R]
Subcellular sensor Single-walled carbon nanotubes wrapped with DNA can be placed inside living cells and can detect trace amounts of harmful contaminants using near infrared light, according to researchers at the University of Illinois. This is the first nanotube-based sensor that can detect analytes at the subcellular level. When the DNA is exposed to ions of certain atoms, such as calcium, mercury and sodium, its molecular charges change causing a shift in its shape. This reduces the surface area of the nanotube that is covered by the DNA, perturbing the electronic structure and increasing the wavelength of the near infrared fluorescence. [S][G][H][N]
Ferroelectric sensors Metal-oxide compounds known as "relaxor ferroelectrics" often make up key circuit components because they are good insulators and can sustain large electric fields, making them excellent capacitors. They are also used in piezoelectric sensors. Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory have now discovered that the polar nanoregions in these materials show an intriguing behaviour in strong external electric fields, lining up perpendicular to the field instead of parallel, even though the surrounding atomic lattice lines up parallel. This surprising effect could lead to extremely sensitive transducer devices that convert mechanical or light energy into electrical energy. [S][M]
Sensing malignant cells Using an ultrafast, nanoscale semiconductor laser, researchers at Sandia have discovered a way of rapidly distinguishing between malignant and normal cells from the way they scatter laser light. The technique has the potential of detecting cancer at a very early stage. It exploits the fact that in malignant cells the mitochondria are scattered in a chaotic, unorganized manner whereas in healthy cells they form organised networks. [S][J][O]
Alias-free sensor Scientists in Germany and the US claim to have made the first large-area colour sensor free of aliasing effects by stacking red, green and blue colour imaging elements. The 512 by 512 pixel prototype could ultimately help increase the resolution of colour CMOS cameras. [S][O] |
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| [O] Optoelectronics, optics and lasers | |
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Laser ion accelerator US and German scientists have developed a new method for using a laser beam to accelerate ions. It accelerates ions in a distance of roughly 10 microns to energies of tens of MeV, with extremely high currents and short duration. The technology could be useful in medicine for treating brain tumours and in inertial confinement fusion (CIF) for igniting fusion at maximum fuel compression. [O][H][P]
Tuneable liquid lens In Singapore, physicists have demonstrated a new type of tuneable liquid lens whose focus can be changed simply by varying the pressure on it. The lens is formed from the curved interface between a liquid and air at the exit of a small aperture. Such lenses do not require any mechanical parts, are much smaller than traditional lenses and can be focused with high precision. They might be used in web cams, mobile phone cameras and portable medical devices. [O][M]
Light-bound matter Scientists in the UK have made 2D arrays of particles that are held together by nothing except light. The "optical matter" arrays consist of polystyrene nanospheres that are trapped by light that has been scattered off a prism. The arrays provide a new way of assembling matter on the nanoscale, and could also shed light on processes inside crystals that take place at even smaller scales. [O][M][N]
New way of producing coherent light Physicists in the US have found that coherent electromagnetic radiation can be generated in crystalline materials when they are subjected to a shock wave. The technique, which generates light in the terahertz region, could provide a new tool for determining the properties of crystals. According to the team, the shock wave makes large numbers of atoms in the crystal move in a synchronized way as it propagates through the lattice. This induces an oscillating dipole-like polarization that produces the coherent radiation observed. The frequency of the emitted light is determined by the speed of the shock wave and the periodic lattice structure of the crystal, and not by the coherence of the source that generates the shock wave. [O][M]
High power laser Scientists in Israel have developed an intracavity optical scheme that can coherently recombine 16 laser beams. The researchers say that the combined beam has a high output power and a good beam quality, and it ideal for applications such as laser range finders, free-space optical communications and materials processing. [O]
Transistor laser Researchers can already produce a hundred transistor lasers on a wafer and, technically, transistor lasers may soon be mass-producible as part of an integrated circuit. However, ways are needed to cut the high materials cost of using III-V crystals before transistor lasers could become affordable on a mass scale. Transistor lasers simultaneously output signals in two different modes - optical and electronic - and new concepts are needed to exploit this and resolve how best to integrate transistor lasers into devices and systems. [O][C][J][T]
Miniature laser projector Fraunhofer scientists have developed a miniaturised monochromatic projection units, the size of two sugar cubes. By combining three of the units, they are aiming to have miniaturised full colour projection by summer 2006. [O][V]
Loss-less optical fibre comms The longest laser ever built, an optical fibre laser 75 km long, has been reported by researchers at Aston University. They showed that the 75 km laser can transmit light signals with hardly any loss of power over that distance; the laser light provides a uniform source of energy throughout the fibre that prevents the signal from deteriorating. The technique could offer a huge improvement for voice and data transmissions over long distances. [O][I] |
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| [I] IT, communications, networking and secure systems | |
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Software-defined radio In Ireland, a software-defined radio device has been given the world's first go-ahead for outdoor trials. Software-defined radio technology promises to let future devices jump between frequencies and standards. A cellphone could, for example, automatically detect and jump to a much faster Wi-Fi network when in a local hotspot. Devices might automatically decide which standard to use and might even be able to extract information from overlapping, or interfering, signals. [I]
Mobile phone safety A study of 2,782 people across the UK has found no link between the risk of the most common type of brain tumour (glioma) and the amount of mobile phone use. The researchers interviewed 966 people diagnosed with glioma and 1,716 without the condition in five areas of the UK on their history of mobile phone use over the previous ten years. [I][H][V]
Entertainment computing The penetration of broadband means that consumers are increasingly downloading video to play in their homes and on their portable devices - to the chagrin of the traditional music industry and theatrical movie business. This could also be a tipping point for broadband wireless. [I][K]
Trusting Grids In Grid applications, the diverse actors and complex processes behind a result make provenance an important and difficult issue. Grids operate by dynamically creating services at opportunistic moments to satisfy the need of some user. These services may belong to different stakeholders operating under various different policies about information sharing. When the services disband, the user must still be able to obtain the verification of the processes that contributed to the final result. The requirements for provenance cover both the logical and process architectures. The logical architecture defines the components of a system for the recording, maintaining, visualising, reasoning and analysis of process documentation, whereas the process architecture covers scalability and security. [I][C][K][T][X]
Data security A hash function is an easy-to-compute compression function that takes as input any string of computer bits and distils that string down to a fixed-length output string. Hash functions are central in the design of cryptographic systems. Recently the most secure hash function in use today, SHA-1, was shown to be vulnerable to attack. A replacement 256-bit hash function, SHA-256, is available to replace it. But what is also needed is a much better mathematical understanding of how hash functions work. [I][T] |
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| [K] Knowledge, information and technology management | |
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Impact of the internet According to a US study, the internet has played an important role in the life decisions of 60 million Americans, particularly in getting additional training, dealing with major illness, choosing a school for a child, buying a car, making a major financial decision, finding a new place to live or a new job. The study also found that the web and email strengthen social ties and real relationships. [K][I]
Computers in education A survey of over 1000 teachers in England and Wales, as part of a research project on using computer games in education, has found that a third of the teachers have used computer games in class and a majority will do so in future. Teachers also believe that the use of ICT in the classroom can help personalised learning and make leaning more fun and flexible. [K][C][I]
Information availability Libraries have warned that the rise of digital publishing may make it harder or even impossible to access items in their collections in the future. Many publishers put restrictions on how digital books and journals can be used, and this may block some legitimate uses, according to the British Library. There are also fears that works may not be safe for future generations if people can no longer unlock them when technology evolves. [K]
Value from IT A survey by McKinsey of 37 European banks shows that a select few get more value from their IT than other banks while spending less. Two factors are responsible: the quality of a bank’s IT management and the ways in which IT is used to support the needs of the business. [K][I][T]
Revolution in interactions As more 21st-century companies come to specialize in core activities and outsource the rest, they have greater need for workers who can interact with other companies, their customers, and their suppliers, according to a report by McKinsey. [K][T]
Research and Technology Organisations The European Research Advisory Board (EURAB) has claimed that European policy is not well adapted to harnessing the potential of research and technology organisations (RTOs). RTOs account for around 40 percent of all publicly funded R&D in the EU, and for about 14 percent of all R&D. EURAB argues better policies could enable RTOs with links to industry to be used to help boost private R&D investment and as powerful catalysts for regional research and innovation. [K] |
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| [C] Computing, supercomputing, modelling and simulation | |
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Ion-based quantum computing Researchers from the University of Sussex have succeeded in manoeuvring a charged ion around a corner in a controlled environment. The technique might be exploited to move ions along atomic tracks in a quantum supercomputer. [C][J][N][O]
Bose-Einstein computing Solving the roots of random polynomials is an important field in theoretical physics. Although such polynomials have been extensively studied, no one has ever seen what these expressions might actually look like. Now physicists in France and Italy have suggested that Bose-Einstein condensates might be used to observe the roots of random polynomials experimentally. They have shown that the location of "vortices" in a rotating 2D Bose-Einstein gas could be used to physically represent the roots of a random polynomial. The results might be useful in many areas of science, such as chaos, in which random polynomials or matrices are often applied. [C][M][X]
Simulating security systems Sandia has developed simulation-based systems analysis that characterises the security of the US border system and the impacts of new detection technologies and concepts of operation. This can, they say, provide a reliable and comprehensive simulation capability to evaluate and "test drive" various security solutions prior to investing in them. [C][D][T]
Predicting malaria epidemics The risk of a malaria epidemic in tropical countries such as Botswana increases dramatically shortly after a season of good rainfall, when the heat and humidity allow mosquito populations to thrive. Using seven, state-of-the-art, global climate models that produce weather forecasts up to six months in advance, and combining this with data on population vulnerability, rainfall and health, researchers have produced a tool that predicts the risk of a malaria epidemic five months in advance, instead of one month possible previously. This extra four months in warning time provides governments and non-governmental organisations with the opportunity to plan for a bad season by deploying bed nets treated with insecticide, giving anti-malarial drugs particularly to pregnant women, advising people to use sand to fill pools where mosquitoes might breed, to empty and bury any containers that might fill with rain, and to store water for drinking, cooking and washing in covered containers. [C][D][E][H][X] |
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| [W] Whole life engineering, manufacture and testing | |
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System design Too often, system designers aim for the "killer application" with the assumption that it will work well for every user and address every business or organisational need. But users are not homogeneous, and enterprise-wide or "Newspeak" solutions that force a single model on all users fail to fit users' different perspectives. According to research at Penn State, approaches that use the hermeneutic concept of play and enable back-and-forth dialogue between users and designers can lead to IT systems that are more responsive to the subtleties and ambiguities of users' different perspectives, and make it possible to integrate incoherent conflicting perspectives into a coherent whole. [W][C][I][K]
Model-driven engineering The history of computing is one of steady growth in complexity matched by a succession of languages, operating systems and tools to help shield designers from this complexity by means of increasing levels of abstraction. Third generation languages such as C++, Java, and C# have coped with rising complexity for the past 20 years, but now the software industry is again facing a complexity ceiling. New platform technologies, such as Web services and product-line architectures, have become so complex that developers spend years mastering platform APIs and usage patterns, and are often familiar with only a subset of the platforms they use regularly. Moreover, third-generation languages require developers to pay such close attention to numerous tactical imperative programming details that they often cannot focus on strategic architectural issues such as system-wide correctness and performance. Model driven engineering may provide a solution. [W][C][X][T]
Design and manufacture The UK Treasury has published a report on creativity in business. The emphasis is particularly on small companies in design and manufacture, and how creative skills can help these companies to compete in the global economy. [W][K][T]
Socio-political issues in business For most companies, socio-political issues - such as environmental concerns and the effects of offshoring - present real risks according to a survey by McKinsey of the views of 4238 executives in companies in 116 countries. The public will expect corporations to take a significant role in handling these new pressures. More than four out of five respondents to the survey agree that providing high returns to investors should be balanced by broader contributions to the public good. [W][E][H][K][T][X] |
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| [X] Systems, complexity and risk | |
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Measures of economic well-being GDP per head is the most commonly used measure of a country's success, but it is increasingly flawed as a measure of economic well being. It ignores factors such as equality, leisure time and the environment, which if they are included produce a very different picture of relative national success. A new OECD study is now proposing some alternatives to GDP. [X][D][E][H][K]
Modern travel Disease spreads primarily by movement of infected individuals from place to place. In the past, pandemics moved slowly in wave fronts across geographical areas. It took the plague three years to move up the European continent, south to north, at an average rate of about two kilometres a day. Today people move great distances in short time periods using many different means of transport. Researchers at Max Planck and UCSB have used the movement of dollar bills in the US to determined the statistical characteristics of human travel today. They tracked 464,670 dollar bills across the US using 1,033,095 individual reports sent in via the internet. From this analysis, the researchers have developed a new mathematical theory of human travel which they say coincides accurately with the observed scaling laws from a distance of a few kilometres to a few thousand. [X][D][E][H][I]
Global tipping point According to the report on Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, published by the UK Meteorological Office, it may already be too late to curtail climate change. Extracts published on the Internet include a preface by the UK Prime Minister, an overview of 'Dangerous Climate Change", the implications of sea level rise and the Greenland Ice Sheet, and an assessment of the risk of a collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation. [X][E][P]
Ocean ecosystem Scientists have sequenced and compared the genomes of planktonic microbes living throughout the water column in the Pacific Ocean. These microbes play a critical role in the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulphur cycles that support life on Earth. By examining their genetic makeup, researchers can better understand the processes that occur at different depths of the ocean. The study showed that microbial communities at each depth, ranging from 40 to more than 13,000 feet, formed distinct microbial ecosystems serving very different specialised functions depending on where they were collected, how much light was there, and the presence of different chemicals at each depth. [X][E][G]
Origin of complex animals Roughly 550 million years ago, the first complex animals, such as trilobites, appear in the fossil record. Many scientists have concluded that an increase in the amount of atmospheric oxygen was critical to the relatively sudden evolution of these animals. Geological evidence now suggests that this rise in oxygen may be linked to the first appearance of clay deposits around 600 million years ago. Researchers speculate that microbes and possibly even fungi colonised the surface of the earth at this point in time, leading to the beginnings of a soil system that still functions today. One of the by-products of that soil system was clay, which eroded down to the sea, trapped organic carbon and thus freed oxygen to percolate into the atmosphere. [X][E][F]
Frustrated systems Complex interacting systems frequently experience frustration, whereby two different needs or desires compete with each other so that both cannot be achieved at the same time. Understanding the consequences of frustration in an extremely complex system like the brain is very difficult, so there is a great deal of research interest in studying simpler frustrated systems, such as ice or magnetic systems. Using nanolithography, researchers are now able to precisely engineer frustrated magnetic systems and to alter the strength of interactions, the geometry of the lattice, the type and number of defects, and other properties that impact the nature of frustration, and to probe the state of individual elements within a frustrated system. Understanding frustrated magnetic materials is also of direct practical importance for nanomagnetic storage. [X][B][C][G][K][M][N][U] |
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| [V] Virtuality and human-machine interface | |
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First impression Canadian researchers have found that internet users can make up their minds about the quality of a website in just a twentieth of a second of viewing a webpage. The speedily formed conclusions closely tallied with opinions of the websites that had been made after much longer periods of examination. The judgements were being formed almost as quickly as the eye can take in information. Other researchers in the US have found that people can accurately judge the attractiveness of a face shown for only 0.013 seconds on a computer screen. Although participants reported that they could not see the faces and that they were just guessing on each trial, their brains were in fact able to accurately rate the attractiveness of those faces. [V][B][I][K]
Visual process The brain's visual pathway functions to represent, interpret, store, and recall information about visual objects. Recordings of nerve cells in the visual cortex of macaque monkeys reveal that neurons in the higher-level visual cortex at first respond to a visual stimulus somewhat indiscriminately, signalling all the individual features within a shape to which they are sensitive. Milliseconds later, neurons begin to react exclusively to combinations of shape fragments, and the brain begins to put the pieces together to form larger sections. In just a tenth of a second, a human can recognise whether something seen is an animal or not. Fine discriminations, such as recognising individual faces, take longer to happen as the brain constructs an internal representation of an object from disparate pieces. [V][B]
Attention mechanism It is already known that in humans and monkeys the circuits in the brain that control gaze direction affect how the brain processes auditory information. This enhances the ability of humans to distinguish sounds from the persons or objects they are looking at and to suppress other sounds. Researchers have now found that owls have the same ability. This makes it likely that this attention focusing mechanism is a fundamental property of the brains of vertebrates, and possibly of all animals. The researchers hope that understanding the mechanism can lead to ways to improve attention and learning. [V][B][K]
Language and perception Scholars have long debated whether our native language affects how we perceive reality, and whether speakers of different languages might therefore see the world differently. The idea that language affects perception is controversial, and results have conflicted. US research now suggests that language does affects perception in the right half of the visual field, but much less, if at all, in the left half. [V][B][K] |
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| [B] Brain research and human science | |
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Self-awareness It is still not clear whether the conscious self is the internal engine of wilful behaviour or simply a useful fiction that makes a person feel responsible for his or her actions. Brain-damaged patients can experience strange alterations of self-knowledge. Investigations of such cases and of brain activity during normal self-recognition suggest that the right brain orchestrates the sense of "I." But it is unclear how the brain fosters the ability to distinguish oneself from others. [B][T]
Fearful memories Research at Yale has identified a specific protein that enhances long-term storage of fearful memories and strengthens previously established fearful memories. The finding may enable better treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, depression and drug addiction. [B][H]
Omega-3 and brain development Data from a long-term study of British children suggest that the amount of omega-3 fatty acid that a woman consumes in pregnancy has a substantial effect on her child's intelligence, fine-motor skills (such as the ability to manipulate small objects, and hand-eye co-ordination) and also propensity to anti-social behaviour. Evidence suggests the omega-3 may be increasing the levels of serotonin and dopamine in the frontal cortex. Serotonin helps growing nerve cells to connect successfully from the frontal cortex, where reasoning takes place, to the limbic system, the seat of many emotional responses. Another possible explanation is that a higher ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 in the membrane of nerve cells makes them more responsive to messenger molecules, which again helps brain connections to form. [B][H]
MicroRNAs and the brain US researchers have found the first evidence that microRNAs, the tiny, recently discovered bits of genetic sequence that suppress gene activity, have a role in the brain's synapses. MicroRNAs may help fine-tune cognitive function by selectively controlling synapse development in response to environmental stimuli. A single neuron can form a thousand synapses, and microRNAs may selectively control what happens at one synapse without affecting others. [B][G]
Importance of astrocytes Researchers have found that cells called astrocytes play an important role in controlling how much blood flows to each specific region of the brain. This may affect the interpretation of brain imaging using PET scans and fMRI that work by detecting regions of higher and lower blood flow. It has been thought that this blood flow was determined by neuron activity, but it may be controlled instead by astrocytes - though it may still reflect local brain activity. The researchers have also suggested that diseases such as Alzheimer's could arise from damage to astrocytes starving neurons of sufficient blood supply, leading to neuron death. [B][H][R]
Treating Down's syndrome Researchers at Johns Hopkins have restored the normal growth of specific nerve cells in the cerebellum of mouse models of Down syndrome that were stunted by this genetic condition. The cells rescued by this treatment represent potential targets for future therapy in human babies with Down syndrome. [B][G][H]
Neurogenesis Recent research has revealed that brains continue to produce new neurons throughout life, helping create new neural networks. This neurogenesis only takes place in a few specific areas, such as the area in which the brain and spinal column meet. However, the new cells can migrate throughout the brain, and a recent study in mice has revealed that this occurs through the flow of spinal fluid circulating in the brain. [B][G]
Nerve regeneration Two groundbreaking methods for treating spinal injuries are about to move to human trials. The first uses two antibodies that have successfully regenerated spinal nerves in rats. The antibodies block the action of a protein known as Nogo-A, which stops nerve cells from sprouting new axons and therefore forming new connections. If Nogo-A were blocked throughout the body, then rewiring could occur in the brain or spinal cord, which would have dire consequences. The researchers managed to apply the antibodies just to the damaged spinal cords of rats using a fine catheter. The second method uses olfactory ensheathing cells, which connect the nose to the brain, allowing people to smell. The cells are unique in that they regenerate throughout life. When transplanted to a broken spine, they provide a bridge for cells to reconnect. [B][H]
Hibernation and brain regeneration Arctic ground squirrels hibernate for up to seven months of the year, during which time their brains lose many of their neural connections. The brain regenerates itself soon after the animal emerges from its hibernation. Exactly how is a matter of intense research but one group of scientists thinks that part of the explanation lies with the tau protein associated with Alzheimer's disease. This raises the hope that Alzheimer's disease could be as reversible like the regeneration of the squirrel's brain. [B][H] |
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| [H] Healthcare and medicine | |
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Hibernation Researchers at the University of Texas have found evidence that it is constant darkness that triggers the hibernation state in which hibernating mammals shift the body's fuel consumption from glucose to fat. The finding may have implications for preventing and controlling obesity and type 2 diabetes. [H][A][B]
Chronic pain Undamaged nerve fibres, and not those that are injured, may cause long-term chronic pain, research suggests. Ongoing pain affects one-in-five adults across Europe, and costs an estimated £23 billion a year in lost work days. [H][B]
Diet and disease prevention A group of three major new studies that included nearly 50,000 post-menopausal women followed over 8 years has cast doubt on the belief that eating a low-fat high-fibre diet reduces the risk of some common cancers and of cardiovascular diseases. The studies compared a group of women who followed their normal eating patterns with a group who followed a study diet designed to reduce total fat. At the end of the first year, the low-fat diet group was consuming about 24 percent of calories from fat, compared to 35 percent in the normal-diet group. The results of the study showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart disease or stroke. The results conflict with evidence from many other smaller studies. Critics argue that 8 years is not long enough to show an effect. [H]
Causes of obesity Over the last 20 years, some research has suggested that certain strains of human and avian adenoviruses may cause individuals to build up more fat cells. Having antibodies to one strain in particular, called Ad-36, proved to correlate with the heaviest obese people. Now experiments in chickens have revealed another strain, Ad-37, that appears to increase fat. Chickens carrying Ad-37 were found to have nearly three times as much fat in their guts and more than two times as much fat over their entire body at the end of the three-and-a-half week period. [H][G]
Anti-ageing Previous research has shown that resveratrol, found in grapes, red wine and some nuts, prolongs the life span of yeast and insects. Now, a study has found that it can also extend the lifespan of fish and reduce their cognitive decline with age. The fish, Nothobranchius furzeri, normally lives an average of nine weeks in captivity. Lacing its food heavily with resveratrol boosted longevity by more than 50 percent, and dissection of the fish showed that it also protected neural tissue. This is the first proof of resveratrol's anti-ageing effects in a vertebrate. [H][G]
Combating MRSA A speedy screening method for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can dramatically reduce the superbug’s spread in hospitals when coupled with the pre-emptive isolation of patients, researchers claim. The new technology, developed by Swiss scientists, cuts the average laboratory turnaround time for a MRSA test from 72 hours to just 7.2 hours. [H][S]
New theory of sepsis Research at Mayo Clinic has challenged the accepted theory on the cause of sepsis - a condition in which the body's cells generate fever, shock and often death. Sepsis is thought to occur when endotoxins from bacterial infection interfere with the cells. However, the new research suggests that, instead, it is initiated by loss of suppression of a critical immune system receptor. This may be a receptor for bacterial poisons or for some of the body's own substances. This would explain why treating sepsis with antibiotics often does not work. [H][X]
Better monoclonal antibodies Monoclonal antibodies currently have to be produced by using animal cells, such as those of Chinese hamsters. This produces antibodies with slight variations in their internal sugars, which can make them less effective. Now researchers at GlycoFi have shown how to produce better monoclonal antibodies using yeast cells. The breakthrough was to create a strain of ordinary yeast that produces monoclonal antibodies that perfectly match the human sugar structures. These yeast-produced antibodies proved 10 times more effective than animal-derived antibodies in binding to target cells in vitro. [H][G] |
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| [G] Genomics, biotechnology and bioinformatics | |
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Immune response Scientists at the University of Michigan have discovered how the immune system is alerted to respond to invading bacteria that are inside cells. They found that a protein called cryopyrin responds to invading bacteria by triggering the activation of a powerful inflammatory molecule called IL-1beta. This is a master regulator of infection and is known to be involved in the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Significantly, small mutations in CIAS1 – the human gene for cryopyrin – are also known to cause three rare autoinflammatory diseases. The finding therefore adds to the evidence that infection-fighting protein could be the key to autoimmune diseases, such as RA. [G][H]
Cellular machinery Researchers Germany have made the most complete analysis to date of the molecular functioning of the cell. Using S. cerevisiae (baker's yeast), they have obtained a nearly complete parts list of all the cellular machines, and how these populate the cell and partition tasks among themselves. The work has developed new computational techniques that have revealed new insights into the dynamic nature of protein complexes. In contrast to most man-made factories, cells continually dismantle and reassemble their machines at different stages of the cell cycle and in response to environmental challenges, such as infections. [G][H]
Biological clocks Individual cells have a network of proteins and genes that maintain their own internal clock -- a 24-hour rhythm that, in humans, regulates metabolism, cell division, and hormone production, as well as the wake-sleep cycle. By studying this "circadian" rhythm in fruit flies, which have genes similar to human genes, scientists have previously constructed a basic model of how the cellular timekeeper works. The cycle is governed by 10 known genes. In the fruit fly, two of those genes -- period and timeless -- produce proteins that fluctuate in a negative feedback loop that takes about 24 hours to complete. At night, two other genes (clock and cycle) stimulate production of Period and Timeless proteins, which begin to accumulate in the cell's cytoplasm. After about six hours, the two proteins move into the nucleus; their presence turns off the genes, which then remain inactive until Period and Timeless degrade and the whole cycle begins anew. Now research at UCSD has shown that the time when the proteins move into the nucleus is itself controlled by a previously undetected 6 hour clock. [G][A][B][H]
Adult stem cells Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells are generally tissue-specific and they differentiate into mature tissue as soon as they are isolated from the body, which makes it very difficult to produce large numbers. Researchers at the Whitehead Institute and MIT have now discovered a way to multiply an adult stem cell 30-fold. They say that this is an order of magnitude improvement on what was previously possible and offers tremendous promise for research and for treatments such as bone marrow transplants and perhaps for gene therapy. [G][H]
Embryonic stem cells It has proved hard to get embryonic stem cells to grow and differentiate in vitro in the same way they do in the womb. Researchers have shown that they can be grown in vitro to make skin cells by introducing additional genetic material from the human papillomavirus. However, although the cells can then even grow into the kind of connected sheet needed for grafts, they do not behave exactly like normal skin cells. This, coupled with the use of a viral gene, makes it unlikely that they could be safely used for skin transplants in the near future. [G][H]
Role of prions Prions normally have a negative connotation associated with prion diseases, such as BSE and CJD, caused by misshapen prions. But for prions to have been retained by evolution, they must have some very important positive role. A new study suggests that prions may be critical to the ability of stem cells to keep regenerating. Researchers at the Whitehead Institute have found that adult stem cells in bone marrow gradually lose their ability to regenerate if they do not have their normal complement of membrane-bound prions. [G][B][H]
Gene silencing Unravelling the mechanism that enables cells to silence genes is core to understanding how stem cells differentiate, how organisms develop, and perhaps how to turn off genes involved in cancer. Gene silencing is also very important for research to determine gene function. Research at Howard Hughes has clarified part of the silencing mechanism by determining the structure of an enzyme called Dicer. The work reveals how Dicer precisely chops RNA into carefully measured microRNA increments, initiating the process of RNA interference that turns genes off. The next puzzle to solve is how Dicer hands off the cleaved RNA and directs it to the right gene targets. [G][H] Humans and chimpanzees Scientists at Georgia Tech have found genetic evidence that seems to support a controversial hypothesis that humans | |||