This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about elephant cooperation; diabetes and pregnancy; sleepless betting; detecting Down syndrome; and more
A safer way to detect Down syndrome—A new method of detecting Down syndrome by means of a blood test is safer, less expensive, and could be used to check other genetic conditions, says the Cypriot researcher who developed it. The test relies on fishing out small pieces of foetal DNA from the mother’s bloodstream, and looking for the telltale signs of extra copies of Chromosome 21.—Nature Medicine
A Science story on this topic can be found at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/03/a-safer-way-to-spot-down-syndrom.html?ref=hp
Mother’s diet sows seeds of diabetes—Pregnant women who eat unbalanced diets are more likely to bear children at risk of adult-onset (Type 2) diabetes, a British study in mice suggests.—Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A New Scientist story on this topic can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20209-mothers-diet-sows-seeds-of-diabetes-in-the-womb.html
How fatness can be forecast in the womb An Australian study of humans has shown that children born of mums with diabetes will tend to become fat. And the higher their mum’s sugar levels are during pregnancy, the fatter they will be.–Diabetologia
A Garvan Institute story on this topic can be found at http://www.garvan.org.au/news-events/news/how-fatness-gets-forecast-in-the-womb.html
China announces energy-saving plans China aims to reduce the energy consumption per unit of economic output by 16 – 17% by the end of 2015. The decision reflects concern that the country’s rapid development threatens its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and pollution. China has already been investing heavily in energy conservation and environmental protection.—Nature
A Nature story on this topic can be found at http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110304/full/news.2011.137.html
The protein that can strengthen memories—Memories need not fade, if some recent work in rats bears fruit. American neuroscientists have successfully strengthened old memories in rats using the enzyme protein kinase M-tau.—Science
A Nature story on this topic can be found at http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110303/full/news.2011.134.html
Lack of sleep makes for a more reckless bet—A single night of sleep deprivation is enough to shift a typical gambling strategy of defending against potential loss into one where bigger risks are taken in pursuit of greater prizes. And the bias is unrelated to alertness, say US researchers.—Journal of Neuroscience
A Science story on this topic can be found at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20208-lack-of-sleep-makes-for-a-more-reckless-bet.html
Elephants can lend a helping trunk—Elephants know when they need a helping hand—er, trunk. That’s the conclusion of a US study that tested the cooperative skills of Asian elephants. The study showed that the animals understand when they will fail at a task, without the assistance of a partner.—Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A Science story on this topic can be found at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/03/elephants-can-lend-a-helping-tru.html?ref=hp