Peer Reviewed

The Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, sets out to focus on nanotechnology.

Cholesterol under brain control; Genetic rearrangements in cancer; Cellular aging prevents fibrosis during wound healing; Susceptibility to vitiligo; A new window into the behaving brain; Suppressing severe allergy

OPINION: The Facebook-based competition, Everyone Draw Mohammed (sic) Day!, on May 20 is said to promote "freedom of expression".

OPINION: On the 13th of this month, I was on my way to the new Bangkok airport after having participated in a UNESCO retreat in the outskirt of the city...

On April 21, a delegation of 12 dignitaries from China visited the RIKEN Wako campus to meet with RIKEN President Ryoji Noyori and a number of RIKEN directors.

The disruption of melatonin production in laboratory mouse strains represents an apparent evolutionary advantage in terms of reproductive development

A set of mutant yeast strains allows researchers to identify structural elements that help motor proteins to get moving

Finely tuned nickel complexes combine important biomolecular precursors with high efficiency and low environmental impact

Hong Kong, 3 June - More than 200 top students from all over the world will be presenting their innovative business proposals at the Semi-Final & Final rounds of the Global Student Challenge (GSC) on 7 and 10 June.

Within-species variety is the spice of life; Seaweed genome adapted to life on the rocks; Ecological interactions conserved through evolution; Entanglement on demand; Reaction in reverse; Quantum simulation of a frustrated network; Gases react inside single crystals; Mentoring by numbers

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today (1 June) announced the appointment of Ir Professor Alexander Wai Ping-kong, Associate Vice President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, to the post of Vice President (Research Development).

OPINION - FIVE Malaysian universities were ranked among the top institutions in the 2010 QS Asian University Rankings. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), however, were amused by the news for the simple reason that they have neither agreed to the invitation to participate nor have they submitted any data or information.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include: Influenza: New antiviral target; Influenza: New antiviral target; Genetic susceptibility to nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Tokyo, 2 June - A technique for producing natural killer T (NKT) cells, known for their role in suppressing tumor growth, has been successfully demonstrated for the first time using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The technique opens the door to effective new cell-targeted treatments for cancer.

Asia Research News highlights interesting research from selected institutions in Asia. Interesting articles in Agriculture, Aquaculture, Technology, Language, Environment, Society, Health and Medicine and Health Technology.

Solving part of the long-standing puzzle of the electronic properties of an enigmatic temperature phase of a titanium oxide may yield new clues

Proper maturation of the visual cortex in mice, and possibly humans, depends on a maternal gene

Tokyo, 27 May - A research team at RIKEN, Japan’s flagship research organization, has uncovered the first ever evidence of nuclear gene transfer from host to parasite plant species. The discovery, reported in Science this week, hints at a greater role for horizontal gene transfer in plant evolution.

More than 300 leading experts in geospatial information science (GIS) from over 20 countries and regions are gathering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) from 26 to 28 May to participate in the Joint International Conference on Theory, Data Handling and Modelling in GeoSpatial Information Science.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include: Clues from beneath Mars; Island-hopping dinosaurs; Keeping the flow; The magic of tin; A double-edged sword; A weak lowermost mantle? The secret life of Nectocaris

A review in the journal Mucosal Immunolog,y as part of a special issue about allergy, details how a breakdown in lung tolerance to harmless allergens such as pollens, dander or dust can trigger the onset of asthma.

On May 7, 2010, at the invitation of Yonsei University in Korea, President Seike attended the International Conference on Higher Education and Governance, held as part of the Yonsei University 125th Anniversary.

A team of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) researchers have produced a device based on the concept of Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASV) which can accelerate the process of marine data collection and minimize manpower.

In an Opinion piece online in Nature, David Valentine suggests that scientists should measure the methane dissolved in the gulf’s waters to estimate the total spillage.

TOKYO, 24 May - The Bioinformatics And Systems Engineering (BASE), a division of RIKEN, Japan’s flagship research institute, is holding its first ever International Rational Genome Design Contest (GenoCon) on the semantic web between May 25 and September 30.

Gene improves grain yield in rice; Methane from extinct herbivores; How will global warming affect El Niño?; Cutting to the core of protein splicing; Ancient warming caused increased wildfire risk; Integrating signals

Genomic data reveal surprising insights into the essential partnership between a widespread plant pest and a symbiotic bacterium dwelling within its cells

Discovery of the heaviest known Borromean nucleus provides a new testing ground for fundamental nuclear models

Inducing cells to destroy a misfolded protein alleviates the symptoms of Huntington's disease in mice

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) made the much-anticipated announcement today in the journal Science that they have created a replicating “synthetic cell” — a bacterium with its DNA replaced by a 100% prosthetic genome.