ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Deep-reef coral hates the light, prefers the shade
• Plastic fantastic: The future of biodegradables
• Musical aptitude relates to reading ability
• Google Earth typhoid maps reveal secrets of disease outbreaks
• New role for RNA interference during chromosomal replication discovered
• Largest ever genetic study of liver function could point the way to new treatments
• Precise gene therapy without a needle
• Could a computer one day rewire itself? New nanomaterial 'steers' electric currents in multiple dimensions
• Faulty molecular switch can cause infertility or miscarriage
• Promising new approach to treating debilitating nervous system disease

Deep-reef coral hates the light, prefers the shade Posted: 16 Oct 2011 06:20 PM PDT Bird's nest coral is common throughout the Indo-Pacific and is able to live across a range of depths. New research used genetic and photosynthetic analysis to demonstrate that the genetic differences between both bird's nest corals and their algal symbionts, which provide energy for the corals to survive, reflect adaptations to the different environmental conditions encountered at different depths.

Plastic fantastic: The future of biodegradables Posted: 16 Oct 2011 06:20 PM PDT Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a thermoplastic polyester which occurs naturally in bacteria as Ralstonia eutropha and Bacillus megaterium. Even though PHB is biodegradable and is not dependent on fossil resources, this bioplastic has been traditionally too expensive to produce to replace petroleum-based plastics. New research describes an alternative method of producing PHB in microalgae.

Musical aptitude relates to reading ability Posted: 16 Oct 2011 06:20 PM PDT Auditory working memory and attention, for example the ability to hear and then remember instructions while completing a task, are a necessary part of musical ability. But musical ability is also related to verbal memory and literacy in childhood. New research shows how auditory working memory and musical aptitude are intrinsically related to reading ability, and provides a biological basis for this link.

Google Earth typhoid maps reveal secrets of disease outbreaks Posted: 16 Oct 2011 06:20 PM PDT In the mid-nineteenth century, John Snow mapped cases of cholera in Soho, London, and traced the source of the outbreak to a contaminated water pump. Now, in a twenty-first century equivalent, scientists working in Kathmandu, Nepal, have combined the latest in gene sequencing technology and global positioning system case localization to map the spread of typhoid and trace its source.

New role for RNA interference during chromosomal replication discovered Posted: 16 Oct 2011 10:20 AM PDT Scientists have described a new role for RNAi during chromosomal replication. They have now shown that RNAi allows the DNA replication fork to progress smoothly without resulting in DNA damage.

Largest ever genetic study of liver function could point the way to new treatments Posted: 16 Oct 2011 10:20 AM PDT Researchers have identified a large number of areas in the human genetic code that are involved in regulating the way in which the liver functions, in a new study of over 61,000 people. The work identifies 42 genetic regions associated with liver function, 32 of which had not been linked to liver function before.

Precise gene therapy without a needle Posted: 16 Oct 2011 10:20 AM PDT For the first time, researchers have found a way to inject a precise dose of a gene therapy agent directly into a single living cell without a needle. The technique uses electricity to "shoot" bits of therapeutic biomolecules through a tiny channel and into a cell in a fraction of a second.

Could a computer one day rewire itself? New nanomaterial 'steers' electric currents in multiple dimensions Posted: 16 Oct 2011 10:20 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new nanomaterial that can "steer" electrical currents. The development could lead to a computer that can simply reconfigure its internal wiring and become an entirely different device, based on changing needs. The material combines different aspects of silicon- and polymer-based electronics to create a new classification of electronic materials: nanoparticle-based electronics.

Faulty molecular switch can cause infertility or miscarriage Posted: 16 Oct 2011 10:20 AM PDT Scientists have discovered an enzyme that acts as a 'fertility switch'. High levels of the protein are associated with infertility, while low levels make a woman more likely to have a miscarriage, the research has shown.

Promising new approach to treating debilitating nervous system disease Posted: 16 Oct 2011 10:20 AM PDT A groundbreaking study suggests what could become the first effective treatment for a debilitating and fatal disease of the central nervous system called SCA1.

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