Medicine

In Nature China this week - Pigments preserved in fossilized organelles reveal the true colours of non-avian dinosaurs and extinct birds

Biodiversity: Ocean currents carried mammals to Madagascar, Synthetic biology: Making waves, Neuroscience: Grid power, Opinion: Two takes on building consensus about science, Materials: A mouldable, self-healing clay-based hydrogel, Materials science: Size matters in deformation twinning and Meteorites: Solving the colour conundrum

15 Jan, Kunming, China - More than 30 partner institutions attended the Asian Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases (APEIR) meeting where researchers presented key findings to the media. The key outcomes from the research are summarised in this press release.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have jointly developed a Prostate Robotic System with the Singapore General Hospital that will improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostrate cancer.

A Happy New Year to you all. I wish you the best of health and happiness for 2010.

The six-country, five-project research initiative is made up of researchers, officials and practitioners from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao-PDR Thailand and Vietnam. On Friday 15 January, lead researchers from each of the research projects will present their work to the media. There will be opportunities for interviews.

The 23rd Japan IBM Science Prize in Computer Science was presented to Dr. Hiroki R. Ueda for his work in systems biology based on large-scale biological information analysis. Dr. Ueda is a Project Leader in the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB). There were four projects and four prize recipients announced this year.

Five new research projects expand an international, collaborative effort to advance understanding of how genetic factors influence a person’s responses to medicines. The additions bring the number of projects in the Global Alliance for Pharmacogenomics to 15.

By being picky about its binding partners, an RNA-modifying enzyme brings an important measure of quality control to the protein production process

A drug free, non-invasive method for semi-permanently blocking the return of fear memories in humans is reported in this week’s Nature. The finding may have important implications for the clinical treatment of fear-related disorders.

In Nature China this week - Oncology: Prepare for an invasion, Photonics: Seamless integration, Condensed matter physics: Arcs and pockets

Three African scientists have been awarded the inaugural TWAS-AAS-Microsoft Award for Young Scientists, by TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world, the African Academy of Sciences and Microsoft Research.

Summaries of newsworthy papers: A supernova explosion with a difference, The fasting Fox protein, History of the East African monsoon, Nature welcomes two new columnists, Magnetic mimic and Nutritional balance is key to longer life

A team of researchers from the Institute for Research in Molocular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia have successfully developed a drug therapy called Methadone Therapy which is not only an effective method of treating drug addiction but which has the capacity to reduce the transmission of HIV among addicts who use needles.

In Nature China this week - Researchers in Wuhan have created a 'plasma needle' that uses air instead of noble gas for sterilization and biomedical applications

On October 9, 2009, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the RIKEN Center of Research Network for Infectious Diseases (CRNID) held a one-day symposium entitled “Building an Africa-Asia Knowledge Network on Infectious Diseases” at the Marunouchi Building in Tokyo.

A cross-sectional survey shows that Hong Kong people are not keen on large-scale vaccination against swine flu unless it is free

A novel vaccine can provide protection against swine flu for the majority of people between 12 and 60 years of age

Targeted sequencing of the protein-coding regions of the human genome has been used to identify the cause of a rare genetic disorder, as reported online this week in Nature Genetics.

In Nature China this week - Researchers in Beijing have identified a negative regulator of mitochondrial antiviral signalling, an adaptor protein in the RIG-I antiviral pathway

Summaries of newsworthy papers - Earthquakes: Long aftershock sequences, Astronomy: A neutron star cloaked in carbon, Evolution: Hedge your bets, Physics: Strong glasses from soft colloids, Immunology: Keeping watch on sentinel proteins, Physics: Peering inside a quantum gas and Nature celebrates a birthday

In Nature China this week - Chinese-speaking dyslexics lack the phonological skills needed to pronounce Chinese characters and the visuospatial skills needed to judge character size

Results of a multi-country research project explain why some children in developing countries are not receiving vaccines. The research also shows how targeted, low-cost interventions can increase vaccination rates, at times doubling or tripling the odds of children being vaccinated.

The fossilized remains of a 37-million-year-old lemur-like primate are reported in this week’s Nature. Although the animal shares several features with higher primates, including humans, detailed analysis reveals these to have evolved independently through ‘convergent evolution’.

PolyU hailed the inauguration of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Community Health Services for the Western Pacific region hosted by the University's School of Nursing.

Press Release: 15 Oct, Tokyo - Researchers at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center have addressed how environmental stimuli are converted into biological signals using the highest resolution analysis of its kind to date.

Summaries of newsworthy papers Seismology: Measuring fault strength, Atmospheric chemistry: Reach for the clouds and Vive la resistance!

Researchers in Malaysia have identified key laboratory and clinical features of an emerging new form of malaria infection.

These findings may lead to new preventative therapeutic options for the numerous diseases transmitted through mtDNA.

The socially isolated tend to fall prey to illness more readily and deteriorate faster, both mentally and physically, than those who maintain active social lives.