Dr. Yijun Qi (National Institute of Biological Sciences, China), reports his discovery of microRNAs in the unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This is the first finding of microRNAs in a unicellular organism.

Tart cherries may be good for more than just making pie, according to new data from an animal study conducted by University of Michigan Health System researchers and presented today at a major scientific meeting.

New studies in the laboratory of Dr. Darwin J. Prockop, Director of Tulane University’s Center for Gene Therapy, are shedding light on the previously mysterious mechanism through which even relatively small amounts of stem/progenitor cells taken from a patient’s own bone marrow enhance repair of damaged tissues.

University of Portsmouth scientists have developed a powerful new tool that 'freezes' the memory of crime scenes in the minds of witnesses.

The tool - a self-administered interview applied by witnesses at crime scenes - combats natural memory decay by using the latest research in cognitive psychology techniques. It 'freezes' images and details of crime scenes and perpetrators in the minds of witnesses, particularly small and seemingly insignificant details that provide major leads for detectives that turn out to be crucial in solving cases.

Some plants need a partner to reproduce. Pollen from one plant pollinates the stigma of another, and a seed is formed. But other plants can self-pollinate, a handy survival mechanism for a lonely plant.

The ability to self-pollinate turns up in cultivated tomatoes and canola, among other important crops, and sometimes it can be a nuisance for plant breeders and seed producers who want to develop highly desirable hybrid varieties and produce hybrid seed on a commercial scale. To get hybrid seed, they plant two different varieties in the same field to allow them to cross-pollinate.

A new study shows that aspirin therapy for coronary artery disease is four times more likely to be ineffective in women compared to men with the same medical history.

Historically, studies have shown that aspirin therapy is less effective in women than in men, but it has remained unclear how much less effective and whether this affects patient outcomes, said Michael Dorsch, clinical pharmacist and adjunct clinical instructor at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy.

For the first time, scientists have used a laboratory mouse model to mimic the development of human alcohol-induced breast cancer.

Alcohol (EtOH) consumption -- even moderate -- is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer in women. A recent study showed that 60 percent of female breast cancers worldwide were attributable to alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, the mechanisms of alcohol-induced breast cancer are poorly understood.

Traditionally, the genome has been viewed as a collection of DNA molecules that vary in composition between individuals and species, and variations that generate phenotypic differences have been assumed to occur in a more or less random manner. More recently, this view has been challenged by evidence that genomes are in fact reservoirs of adaptive phenotypic plasticity. This adaptive genome concept, where mutations that convey adaptive benefits are likely to occur at greater than random frequencies (Caporale 1999, 2000, 2003) represents a synthesis of ideas and evidence from several subfields and has its genesis in work by pioneers such as Dhobzhansky (1937), Dawkins (1976), McClintock (1984) and Trifinov (1989).

Tom Friedman, in his Friday's NY Times column (subscription required) comments on Walter Isaacson's new biography of Einstein and asks:

"If Einstein were alive today and learned science the boring way it is taught in so many U.S. schools, wouldn’t he have ended up at a Wall Street hedge fund rather than developing theories of relativity for a Nobel Prize?"

Joanna Scott just wrote a nice little review of what is going on at Nature Island (slurl) on Nature's Nascent blog since her return from the American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago. The Blue Obelisk Cemetery, where I give my students quiz races on Fridays was featured (only possible through help from Beth and Eloise - thanks again!).