Epigenetic changes in certain viruses can make the difference between a simple infection and cancer, according to a new study published early online tomorrow (Feb 10th) in __Genome Research.__ linkurl:Stephan Beck,;http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cancer/research-groups/medical-genomics/ a medical genomicist at University College London who was not involved in the research, said he was "excited" by the findings, which identify "the correlation between cancer progression and methylation." Researchers have

Credit: AP Liao, et al. / public library of science" /> Credit: AP Liao, et al. / public library of science The paper: M.J. Evans, et al., "Claudin1 is a hepatitis C virus co-receptor required for a late step in entry," Nature, 446:801-5, 2007. (Cited in 81 papers) The finding: In attempts to find out why hepatitis C virus (HCV) would not infect any cell type except liver, Matthew Evans at

New findings stir the coals of a hot debate in immunology regarding the origin of memory T cells. The results, published in this week's Science, suggest that memory cells are descendant from the immune system's primary infection fighters, effector cells -- a finding which clashes with the two competing theories of memory cell origin, the authors say. Understanding these cells' origin could help researchers design cell-based vaccines, such as those in development for HIV. The initial response

Endogenous retroviruses, ancient viruses embedded throughout mammalian genomes, might help RNA viruses permanently integrate into the genomes of their hosts, according to a report in linkurl:__Science__;http://www.sciencemag.org/ this week. The findings overturn the long-held idea that most types of RNA viruses are incapable of DNA integration and raise another safety concern in the use of RNA-based gene therapy. "It's a very interesting paper," said Jens Mayer from the University of Saarlan

Of cells and wires The first step to computer augmentation and neuroprosthetics lies in the connection between nerve cell and metal. How are scientists bridging the gap? By Edyta ZielinskaIllustrations by Thom GravesNeural probe illustrations by Christopher Burke. Provided courtesy of NeuroNexus Technologies, Ann Arbor, Michigan. he man skis down sharp inclines at tremendous speeds, sees wind frolic through a woman's hair as the French countryside passes outside of th

A highly cited __Nature__ paper that identified a long-sought receptor critical for mediating plant response to stress is being retracted after researchers were unable to reproduce the results. Corresponding author on the paper, linkurl:Robert Hill;http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~rhill/ from the University of Manitoba, first discovered a problem with the results over the summer when one of his students failed to reproduce the findings. "The binding assay procedures, at least in our hands, did no

We're writing a feature to check in on scientists working on bridging the gap between brain and machine. We're planning on asking them, "What's taking so long?" When I think of brain-machine interfaces, a couple of things come to mind: The Borg from Star Trek, whose neural implants give it the ability to communicate telepathically as well as control implanted tazers and pincers. Then there's The Matrix, where a plug in the back of the brain connects the user to an elaborate virtual world. W

In the same way it's hard to see the Milky Way in a major city, researchers sometimes struggle to see tagged structures because of natural background light emitted by cells. In this week's __Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences__, however, researchers show that a new type of tag helps separate structures from the background. Gerard Marriott, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and colleagues found that using a blinking tag made it easier to spot cellular structures in live cel

Mammalian hair has a surprising evolutionary origin, according to a study published in __PNAS__ this week: the reptilian claw. Evolutionary biologists have long conjectured about the origin of hair -- did this defining mammalian characteristic evolve from features such as scales and feathers, or did it occur much later in mammalian evolution. "Because it's very difficult to find fossils" showing an intermediate stage between scales and hair, said first author Leopold Eckhart from the Medical

Sanofi-Aventis announced this week that it would discontinue clinical trials of its anti-obesity drug, Acomplia. The decision followed similar moves by Pfizer and Merck, who also recently abandoned development of similar weight loss drugs. Why is everyone jumping ship? The drugs all target the cannabinoid receptor CB1 -- also the target receptor for marijuana - in order to suppress appetite (read how Acomplia's mechanism of action compares with other diet drugs linkurl:here).;http://www.the-sc

While restoring dinosaurs from preserved mosquitoes remains as scientifically implausible as it was when the hit science fiction film Jurassic Park was made in 1993, the possibility of cloning the linkurl:woolly mammoth;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53656/ and other extinct species just became a little bit more real. In this week's linkurl:__PNAS,__;http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/10/31/0806166105.abstract?sid=8020fedf-69de-453f-920a-53f897766c73 researchers report "resurrecti

Best Places to Work Academia 2008: Top 40 US Institutions In our November issue, we review the institutions that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Academia survey. Click here to view the printable PDF.Click on the thumbnail to use the interactive chart. Resize the rows or scroll within the chart to view each category. Related ArticlesBest Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Methodology