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Is there an inherent conflict between public debate and free scientific inquiry? Patrick L. Taylor argues that earning public trust is essential to defending scientific freedoms.
The hopes for improving human health during ageing are largely based on studies with animal models. But Linda Partridge and David Gems ask if we are learning the right lessons from ageing research.
The public should be consulted on contentious research and development early enough for their opinions to influence the course of science and policy-making.
It will be a long experimental haul before the great potential of quantum effects can routinely be exploited for technological ends. A sense of practical purpose among researchers will encourage progress.
Predicting the three-dimensional structure of a protein from its amino-acid sequence is a dauntingly complex task. But with colossal computer power and knowledge of other structures, it can be done.
A commonly used blue dye is more than just a pretty colour. This material and its relatives are semiconductors, and their magnetic properties can be controlled by engineering their crystal structure.
Saturn's nominal rotation period is timed by a 'radio clock' that counts bursts of emissions controlled by the planet's magnetic field. Buffeting by the solar wind may explain the clock's irregularities.
The life-histories of pike adjust quickly to shifts in the opposing forces of fishing and natural selection. Such rapid changes suggest that evolutionary dynamics must be incorporated into fisheries management.
Compared with the masterpiece crafted by nature, even Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings of the cardiovascular system seem primitive. In creating this system, nature seems to use blood flow as its paintbrush.
The genomes of 12 fly species have been analysed comparatively. Why should we care? Because sequences that have resisted the selective forces of evolution from fly to human must have functional significance.
An international consortium reports the genomic sequence for ten Drosophila species, and compares them to two other previously published Drosophila species. These data are invaluable for drawing evolutionary conclusions across an entire phylogeny of species at once.
The genomic sequences of 12 Drosophila species for conserved elements and describe the relationship between conservation and function for many specific sequence motifs.
Recent genomic data is used to construct species-specific microarrays to study Drosophila gene expression, specifically for genes with male-biased expression and those unique to each species.
The evolution of dosage compensation on Drosophila sex chromosomes is examined by using microarrays to determine relative gene expression of sex-linked genes in a number of fly species. How this expression changes over time is discussed, particularly in species with a neo-X chromosome, to determine why genes might have male-biased expression.
The morphogen Hedgehog (HH) governs cell differentiation and proliferation in a diverse array of patterning events in many species. The seven-transmembrane protein Smoothened (SMO) transduces the HH signal across the plasma membrane, but molecular mechanisms of SMO activation are poorly understood. The mechanism by which the cytoplasmic tail of SMO transmits the HH signal across the plasma membrane is demonstrated.
A new computational approach that can be used to refine the three dimensional structural models of proteins is described. When used to refine models generated from nuclear magnetic resonance data, the method can improve the accuracy of the structures in terms of the backbone conformations and the placement of core side chains. In addition, the approach can be used to generate significantly better solutions to the X-ray crystallographic phase problem in molecular replacement trials.
Saturn's rotation period was initially determined to be 10h 39m 24s ± 7s, based on long-wavelength radio emission. But subsequent observations revealed that this period varies by ± 6 min on a timescale of several months to years. It is shown that the periodicity of the radio waves varies systematically by ±1 percent with a characteristic timescale of 20–30 days, and it is demonstrated that these fluctuations are correlated with solar wind speed at Saturn.
There has been considerable recent experimental progress in cavity quantum electrodynamics, involving the quantum-mechanical coupling of cold atoms to a confined light field. Here, the trapped atoms are in the form of a Bose—Einstein condensate, and so all couple identically to a single mode of the light field.
'Strong coupling' of atomic Bose—Einstein condensates to cavities has remained an elusive goal, but this paper reports such an experiment, made possible by combining a fibre-based cavity with atom-chip technology. The set-up gives rise to a controlled, tuneable coupling rate.
It is shown that the supply of fresh plant-derived carbon to deep soil layers stimulated the microbial mineralization of carbon that is thousands of years old, and is suggested that a lack of supply of fresh-carbon may prevent the decomposition of the organic carbon pool in deep soil layers in response to future changes in temperature.
The transcription factor Pitx2 induces a dynamic morphological change in the outflow tract of the heart, which results in asymmetric blood supply to the branchial arch artery system. The uneven blood distribution results in differential signalling responses that cause the asymmetric remodelling of the great arteries
A molecule involved in pathogen recognition by the immune system has a homologue functioning in insect pheromone detection. These results suggest a unifying model whereby the protein CD 36 recognizes lipids (bacterial components or insect pheromones) and couples that to intracellular signalling in the immune or nervous systems.
Fly antennae possess two sensory receptor cells for humidity: one that responds to an increase, and one to a decrease. It is shown that two transient receptor potential channels are required for this sensory modality. The water witch protein is required to detect moist air and nanchung to detect dry air.
The ubiquitin ligase Roquin suppresses inducible co-stimulator Icos expression on T cells thereby protecting mice from autoimmune disease. This paper shows that it does so through regulation of Icos messenger RNA stability.
Non-coding small RNAs, or piRNAs, that interact with Argonaute family member Piwi are identified in Drosophila, and their role in counteracting silenced chromatin is characterized.
The histone demethylase JHDM1B represses expression of the ribosomal RNA genes by demethylating the trimethylated lysine 4 residue of histone H3. This effect on rRNA expression is correlated with proliferation defects, and so reduced levels of JHDM1B may contribute to tumour development.
