Find below discoveries on IQ, epilepsy, energy drinks and more.
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genetics
Nature paper reveals the genetic influence on our IQ as we age
Embargo 6 am AEST, Thursday 19 January 2012
Issued for the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland.
Researchers from Brisbane, Edinburgh and Aberdeen have revisited about 2,000 people who had intelligence tests in 1932 or1947, and shown that genetic factors may account for about a quarter of the changes in intelligence over their lives.
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A fly named in honour of Beyoncé; plum extracts as food preservatives; and the crucial role of social media during the 2011 Queensland floods are just some of the interesting stories that emerged from Australian research published in the last week. Find over a dozen other stories below.
A 20 year old mystery was solved this week with the discovery that an epilepsy that affects infants is caused by the change of a single letter in one gene. Seizures in infancy are not rare, but this familial epilepsy occurs in probably 60 families across Australia. It can also cause a movement disorder later in life.
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Eggs that talk to each other, the stressed hearts of the broken-hearted and online chat fighting depression are just some of the interesting stories that emerged from Australian research published in the last week. Find over a dozen other stories below.
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about diabetes in pregnancy, X-ray body scanners, the language gene, those slippery neutrinos, and more…
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Australia’s first live vaccine for fowl cholera in chickens, recently registered and approved for sale, is the result of a breakthrough in bacterial modification by Monash University researchers.
Highly contagious fowl cholera is a problem in all poultry-producing countries, particularly where the birds are intensively reared, and also due to organic and free-range practices. Treatment is very difficult due to the fast progression of the disease and so vaccination of layers and breeders, is considered a better option.
Prof Ben Adler, Director, ARC Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics
http://www.monash.edu.au/news/show/australias-first-fowl-cholera-vaccine
Researchers from UQ, Harvard University and RocheNimblegen Inc. have developed a new method for examining genetic information that reveals clues to understanding gene structure and activity in the body.
The method allows researchers to delve further than ever before into the human genome. It involves combining existing gene capture techniques with state-of-the-art ‘deep sequencing’ technology. Deep sequencing enables millions of different DNA molecules to be read in parallel.
Dr Tim Mercer, Prof John Mattick, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, UQ
Nature Biotechnology
http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=24062
Research scientists at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens have been able to show there’s hope for the survival of rare plants despite climate change.
A year-long study of a rare plant in the Northern Territory, a new species of Erythroxylum, has shown plants can adapt and survive despite having been restricted to very small populations by long-term climatic change.
By extracting DNA from plants cells, they can test the health and viability of the population.
Dr Maurizio Rossetto, Botanic Gardens Trust
Mothers, sisters and daughters from families with known breast cancer genetic mutations do not all share the same high risk of developing the disease, according to a new international study.
Women with the breast cancer genetic mutations BRCA1 or BRCA2 are at least 10 times more likely to develop breast cancer than the average. The new study found that women who do not have a genetic mutation, but are closely related to women who do have genetic mutations are at an average risk of developing the disease.
http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/n-679
Prof John Hopper, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne
RESEARCHERS from UWA and the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) have been involved with identifying five novel schizophrenia loci (chromosomal regions) by studying common genetic variation using studies. The authors speculate that this variation (SNP) in MIR137 could contribute to brain development abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia.
Nature Genetics, http://www.sciencewa.net.au/3682-schizophrenia-loci-cornered-by-genome-wide-association-study.html
Scientists have identified the genetic blueprint of the giant intestinal roundworm, Ascaris suum, revealing potential targets to control the devastating parasitic disease, ascariasis which affects more than one billion people in China, South East Asia, South America and parts of Africa, killing thousands of people annually and causing chronic effects in young children.
Dr Aaron Jex and Prof Robin Gasser, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne
Nature, http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/n-672
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about dolphin friends; guns around the house; laundry lint; mosquitoes in the rain; and more… Read the full article →
Scientists at UQ are part of an international team mapping the Brassica plant genome – that’s cabbages, broccoli and canola.
Australia is the world’s second largest exporter of canola. Mapping the genome will help scientists breed and engineer canola which is resistant to disease and fungal infection.
Dr David Edwards and Dr Jacqueline Batley, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, UQ
Nature Genetics, http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=23953
A large international study published today in the prestigious scientific journal Nature has revealed new insights into how the regulation of the entire genome has changed during mammalian evolution over the past 200 million years.
Associate Professor Frank Grützner, University of Adelaide
Nature, http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news48921.html
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about travelling faster than light; ancient proteins; a vaccine for acne; missing planets; and more… Read the full article →
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about lizard venom; fatherhood and testosterone; kamikaze ants; the voodoo virus; and more… Read the full article →
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about sex at sea; asteroid dust; breathless caterpillars; seeds as pills; and more…
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This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about the far side of the moon; prostate cancer, one-way light; a lack of fingerprints; and more… Read the full article →
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about growing drugs in sunflowers; electric dolphins; silent submarines; fingerprinting zombies; and more… Read the full article →
