UNAIDS defends South Africa's work on HIV/AIDS
| October 5, 2000
Mutual suspicion and hostility in South Africa is dogging strong, practical interventions against AIDS, says UNAIDS chief.
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A worm germline parts list
| October 4, 2000
The sequencing of the genome of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans has made real worm genomics possible. In the September Molecular Cell, Reinke et al. make good on that promise with a DNA array analysis of 11,917 worm genes (~63% of the genome Mol. Cell 2000, 6:605-616). They define 1,416 genes whose transcription is enriched 1.8- to 104-fold in the worm germline, including 650 sperm-enriched genes, 258 oocyte-enriched genes, and 508 germline-intrinsic genes. Some genes can be picked out of this m
Sequence of a single-celled vulture
| October 4, 2000
Thermoplasma acidophilum is an archaeon that lives off the carcasses of organisms that perish in its hot, acidic home. In the 28 September Nature, Ruepp et al. find that the microbe has scavenged genes from its neighbors in order to survive (Nature 2000, 407:508-513). T. acidophilum was originally suspected to be an ancestor of the eukaryotes, as it has complexes involved in protein folding, degradation and turnover that look like simplified versions of the corresponding eukaryotic complexes. Bu
Court case reveals massive HIV problem in Chinese blood banks
| October 3, 2000
Fear of legal action is hobbling research into a key AIDS threat, which may quadruple the numbers infected with HIV in China.
Possible solution for obesity - in mice
October 3, 2000
A gene identified in mice could encourage excess energy to be released as heat rather than converted to fat.
Simplifying genetic disorders
| October 3, 2000
Recent work implicating a single gene in a population with a complex disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, could represent a shift in the study of genetic diseases.
A protein kinase switch
| October 2, 2000
Kinase inhibitors are plagued by a lack of specificity. Now in the 21 September Nature Bishop et al. tackle the problem by building on their earlier work, in which they modified the ATP-binding sites of Src-family tyrosine kinases to accept either nucleotide analogs or modified kinase inhibitors. In the new work the researchers mutate kinases from four distinct kinase families by replacing a bulky residue with a small residue. This change provides enough room for the binding of inhibitor analogs
Hedgehogs make both fish and fly eyes
| October 2, 2000
The fly eye is patterned by a morphogenetic wave driven by the Hedgehog signaling protein. In the 22 September Science Neumann and Nuesslein-Volhard report that neuronal differentiation in zebrafish eyes is dependent on a similar wave of hedgehog proteins (Science 2000, 289:2137-2139). Previous work on Pax6 already indicated that the mechanism of eye induction is conserved across the animal kingdom. But variations in eye structure suggested that events downstream of eye induction must have evolv
Blood filtration improves safety of blood transfusions
| September 28, 2000
White blood cells can cause costly complications following transfusions; the US and Germany are joining the list of countries requiring filtration of donor blood to remove them.
Two ACEs in the pack
September 28, 2000
A genomics-based approach has uncovered the first human homologue of ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme).
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