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Public Release: 2-Dec-2012
 Nature Chemical BiologyGlowing fish shed light on metabolism A tiny, translucent zebrafish that glows green when its liver makes glucose has helped an international team of researchers identify a compound that regulates whole-body metabolism and appears to protect obese mice from signs of metabolic disorders. 
National Institutes of Health and by a grant from the American Heart Association
Contact: Jason Socrates Bardi
Public Release: 2-Dec-2012
Nature ChemistryA better way to make chemicals? For the first time, scientists have studied a mechanochemical milling reaction in real time, using highly penetrating X-rays to observe the surprisingly rapid transformations as the mill mixed, ground, and transformed simple ingredients into a complex product. This research, reported in Nature Chemistry, promises to advance scientists' understanding of processes central to the pharmaceutical, metallurgical, cement and mineral industries – and could open new opportunities in "green chemistry" and environmentally friendly chemical synthesis.
Herchel Smith Fund, FRQNT Centre for Green Chemistry and Catalysis, ESRF Grenoble
Contact: Chris Chipello
Public Release: 2-Dec-2012
Nature GeneticsCell surface transporters exploited for cancer drug delivery According to Whitehead Institute researchers, a protein known as monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1), which is highly expressed in a subset of metabolically altered cancer cells, is needed for the entry of the investigational cancer drug 3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) into malignant cells. This work may open a new avenue for cancer therapeutic research, as other transport molecules have already been identified on the surface of certain cancer cells.
National Institutes of Health, David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Jane Coffin Childs Fund, National Science Foundation
Contact: Nicole Rura
Public Release: 2-Dec-2012
Nature ChemistryA shock to pollution in chemistry Solvents are everywhere in chemistry and a major environmental concern. High-frequency milling is an energy-efficient alternative: the impact of steel balls in a rapidly moving jar drives reactions. Direct observation of the underlying chemistry is difficult but scientists used X-rays to observe, for the first time, in real time the chemistry when a mill mixes, grinds and transforms simple ingredients into a complex product. The study opens new opportunities in Green Chemistry and environmentally-friendly synthesis. Contact: Claus habfast
Public Release: 2-Dec-2012
Nature Climate ChangeRecord high for global carbon emissions Global CO2 emissions are set to rise again in 2012, reaching a record high of 35.6 billion tonnes -- according to the University of East Anglia. Contact: Lisa Horton
Public Release: 2-Dec-2012
Nature MaterialsBismuth provides perfect dance partners for quantum computing qubits New research has demonstrated a way to make bismuth electrons and nuclei work together as qubits in a quantum computer. Contact: Anna Blackaby
Public Release: 1-Dec-2012
Genes & DevelopmentX-ray analysis deciphers master regulator important for skin cancer With the X-ray vision of DESY's light source DORIS, a research team from Hamburg and Iceland has uncovered the molecular structure of a master regulator central to the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. The results, published in the scientific journal "Genes & Development", throw new light on the workings of the so-called Microphthalmia-associated Transcription Factor MITF, that is not only connected to skin cancer, but also to a variety of hereditary diseases. Contact: Thomas Zoufal
Public Release: 1-Dec-2012
Journal of Thoracic OncologyLung cancer patients with pockets of resistance prolong disease control by 'weeding the garden' This study of 65 patients showed that continuing either crizotinib or erlotinib after the treatment of resistant pockets with focused radiation ("weeding the garden") was associated with more than half a year of additional cancer control.
NIH/National Cancer Institute
Contact: Garth Sundem
Public Release: 30-Nov-2012
ORNL develops lignin-based thermoplastic conversion process Turning lignin, a plant's structural "glue" and a byproduct of the paper and pulp industry, into something considerably more valuable is driving a research effort headed by Amit Naskar of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Contact: Ron Walli
Public Release: 30-Nov-2012
2012 AGU Fall MeetingGeoscientists cite 'critical need' for basic research to unleash promising energy resources Developers of renewable energy and shale gas must overcome fundamental geological and environmental challenges if these promising energy sources are to reach their full potential, according to a trio of leading geoscientists. Their findings will be presented on Dec. 4, at 5:15 pm (PT), at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in Room 102 of Moscone Center West.
Stanford University, Cornell University, Colorado School of Mines
Contact: Mark Shwartz
Public Release: 30-Nov-2012
Environmental PollutionGulf of Mexico clean-up makes 2010 spill 52-times more toxic If the 4.9 million barrels of oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill was a ecological disaster, the two million gallons of dispersant used to clean it up apparently made it even worse -- 52-times more toxic. That's according to new research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico. Contact: Jason Maderer
Public Release: 30-Nov-2012
Computers and Electronics in AgricultureA digital portrait for grapes indicates their ripeness Researchers at the University of Seville (Spain) have developed a technique for estimating grape composition and variety using computer imaging. They have also put forward an index for identifying the ripeness of seeds without the need for chemical analysis. This new method can help to decide the best moment for picking. Contact: SINC
Public Release: 30-Nov-2012
PLOS ONEElectrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers show promise as a cheap, versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV. New funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will further test the system's versatility and feasibility.
National Institutes of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Contact: Hannah Hickey
Public Release: 30-Nov-2012
Even brown dwarfs may grow rocky planets Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have for the first time found that the outer region of a dusty disc encircling a brown dwarf contains millimetre-sized solid grains like those found in denser discs around newborn stars. The surprising finding challenges theories of how rocky, Earth-scale planets form, and suggests that rocky planets may be even more common in the Universe than expected. Contact: Douglas Pierce-Price
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
New radio telescope could save world billions A small pocket of Western Australia's remote outback is set to become the eye on the sky and could potentially save the world billions of dollars. The Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope, unveiled today, Friday 30 November, will give the world a dramatically improved view of the Sun and provide early warning to prevent damage to communication satellites, electric power grids and GPS navigation systems. Contact: Kate Zappa
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
A multi-wavelength view of radio galaxy Hercules A Spectacular jets powered by the gravitational energy of a super massive black hole in the core of the elliptical galaxy Hercules A illustrate the combined imaging power of two of astronomy's cutting-edge tools, the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3, and the recently upgraded Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico.
NASA
Contact: Lynn Chandler
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
FASEB JournalNew genetic test detects early breast cancer and identifies future risk Breast cancer detection has improved, but more work remains to ensure accurate diagnosis, and to assess future risk. Researchers are developing a test of gene action that predicts cancer risk at first diagnosis, and into the future. This research in The FASEB Journal discusses how genetic switches, which are turned on and off in regular cellular development, can be analyzed in minute detail to determine the presence, or risk, of breast cancer growth. Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
FASEB JournalInsects beware: The sea anemone is coming Insects are becoming resistant to insecticides, presenting a growing need to develop novel ways of pest control. New research in The FASEB Journal shows that the sea anemone's venom harbors toxins that could pose a new generation of environmentally friendly insecticides, which avoid insect resistance. These toxins disable ion channels that mediate pain and inflammation, and could also spur drug development aimed at pain, cardiac disorders, epilepsy and seizure disorders, and immunological diseases. Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
Optics ExpressFirst-ever hyperspectral images of Earth's auroras Hoping to expand our understanding of auroras and other fleeting atmospheric events, a team of space-weather researchers designed and built a new camera with unprecedented capabilities that can simultaneously image multiple spectral bands, in essence different wavelengths or colors, of light. The camera produced the first-ever hyperspectral images of auroras--commonly referred to as "the Northern (or Southern) Lights"--and may already have revealed a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon. Contact: Angela Stark
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
NatureBlack hole upsets galaxy models An unusually massive object at the heart of a tiny galaxy is challenging the theory. Contact: Remco van den Bosch
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
Journal of Leukocyte BiologyCancer drug shows promise in eradicating latent HIV infection Breakthrough drugs help people to live longer with HIV, but more research is needed for an actual cure. One challenge involves eradicating the virus when it is latent in the body. Research in the December 2012 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests the cancer drug, JQ1, may be useful in purging latent HIV infection by activating the virus in the presence of potent therapy -- essentially a dead end for the virus. Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
PLOS Computational Biology University of Tennessee engineering professor looks to whirligig beetle for bio-inspired robots While many may have found the movements of whirligig beetles curious, scientists have puzzled over the apparatus behind their energy efficiency -- until now, thanks to a study performed by a team led by Mingjun Zhang, associate professor of mechanical, aerospace and biomedical engineering, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Office of Naval Research
Contact: Whitney Heins
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
ScienceIntegrating science and policy to address the impacts of air pollution An article in this week's Science magazine by Dr Stefan Reis of the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UK) and colleagues from six countries examines how science and policy address air pollution effects on human health and ecosystems, and climate change in Europe.
Natural Environment Research Council
Contact: Barnaby Smith
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
PLOS GeneticsGenome-scale study identifies hundreds of potential drug targets for Huntington's disease Scientists seeking to develop treatments for Huntington's disease just got a roadmap that could dramatically speed their discovery process. Researchers at the Buck Institute have used RNAi technology to identify hundreds of "druggable" molecular targets linked to the toxicity associated with HD. The gene RRAS, involved in cell motility and neuronal development, was among the diverse range of modifiers identified. RRAS was revealed as a potent modulator of HD toxicity in multiple HD models.
National Institutes of Health, CHDI Foundation, Hereditary Disease Foundation
Contact: Kris Rebillot
Public Release: 29-Nov-2012
Current BiologyAlcoholic fly larvae need fix for learning Fly larvae fed on alcohol-spiked food for a period of days grow dependent on those spirits for learning. The findings, reported in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, on November 29th, show how overuse of alcohol can produce lasting changes in the brain, even after alcohol abuse stops. Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary
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