Fri Feb 20, 2009
Many genes have been linked with obesity but how they contribute to disease is unclear. Now for the first time, researchers have been able to directly link one such gene (FTO) and the control of energy expenditure to explain how the gene contributes to obesity development.
Thu Nov 20, 2008
After thousands of years of extinction, the woolly mammoth has its DNA decoded this week in Nature. The study marks the first report of nuclear genome sequencing for an extinct animal. Using DNA extracted from samples of hair, the authors were able to collect together the near-complete nuclear genome of the woolly mammoth. The team [...]
Mon Sep 22, 2008
Global embargo lifted at 3am AEST Monday 22 September 2008 Over 100,000 people in Australia are living with Type 1 diabetes, and this number is on the increase. New research published in Nature this week indicates that higher levels of ‘good’ bacteria in the intestine may lower the risk or severity of diabetes in mouse [...]
Thu Jul 31, 2008
Embargo lifted at 3am AEST on Thursday 31 July 2008 Three separate international research teams have identified genetic variations associated with schizophrenia in Nature and Nature Genetics. Previously clear genetic associations have been difficult to establish.
Thu Jun 19, 2008
Sea-level rise is predicted to be one of the major outcomes of climate change. The IPCC predicts that ‘thermal expansion’ will be the main component responsible for expected sea-level rises over the 21st century as sea water expands as it warms and shrinks as it cools. However until now, the actual change in sea level [...]
Fri May 30, 2008
Scientists have spotted a large discontinuity in the record of twentieth-century global-mean surface temperature. A study in Nature this week suggests that an abrupt temperature drop in 1945 – previously interpreted to be part of a larger cooling trend – is actually due to uncorrected instrumental biases introduced when measuring temperatures at sea. The discovery [...]
Thu May 29, 2008
A team of Australian scientists have uncovered the world’s oldest vertebrate mother in a newly unearthed species of fossil fish. Published in Nature, the fossil shows a single embryo connected by an umbilical cord and is the oldest evidence of an animal giving birth to live young.
Wed May 21, 2008
A new paper in Nature Nanotechnology indicates that some types of carbon nanotubes may have asbestos-like properties. Below are some comments from Australian and UK experts.