Finally, good news is reported on the environmental front. “Recovery of marine animal populations and ecosystems”, a review article by Lotze et al. and published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, has received two evaluations. John Pandolfi with his associate, Ruth Thurston, and Ferdinando Boero, all from F1000’s Ecology Faculty, provide insights regarding successes reported in oceanic health and biodiversity, and where to go from here.
The article details how 10% to 50% of populations or ecosystems in decline have shown promising recovery trends. This evidence is particularly important because it contradicts the IPSO’s (International Program on the State of the Ocean) high-profile report concluding that the general health of the World’s oceans is in a worse state than previously thought. Continue reading →
There’s a reason that fruit flies are called fruit flies, and not “beer flies”. Fruit flies like sugar: we see them hovering around our over-ripe bananas, or jostling like crazed groupies for an autograph from a rotting peach. We also know some of the molecular mechanisms underlying this sugar preference.
But what are we to make of those fruit flies hanging around the beer keg? Beer has relatively low sugar content, so what’s their deal? Maybe we should we call a clinic and stage an intervention? Not so fast. According to a new study by Zev Wisotsky, Adrianna Medina, Erica Freeman, and Anupama Dahanukar of the University of California, Riverside, those Drosophila species harboring a copy of the Gr64e gustatory receptor gene are hardwired to hit the sauce. But don’t judge: they’re not chasing the buzz, but rather the glycerol, a sugar alcohol and yeast fermentation byproduct that is also used as an additive in many food products. Continue reading →
Figshare, a tool designed to enable researchers to release all of their research outputs quickly, and in an easily citable, sharable and discoverable manner, has just launched a significantly upgraded site today. Originally launched in March 2011, Figshare has since received support from Nature’s sister company, Digital Science. The tool provides an interesting way to quickly publish all file formats, including videos and datasets that are often demoted to the supplemental materials section in current publishing models. Files that aren’t ready for publication can be stored privately for free in the cloud.
Figshare uses creative commons licensing (CC0 for the datasets; CC-BY for everything else) so others can re-use the data whilst allowing authors to maintain their ownership. Like F1000 Posters, the value for science is in the discoverability of scientific content that has been otherwise largely hidden. The movement towards efficient, open, collaborative science has been relatively slow, as with all cultural changes, and requires both ‘carrots and sticks’. UK Science Minister David Willets recently stated:
“Our starting point is a commitment by the coalition to transparency and open access to publicly funded data”
and there are now sustained and increasing efforts from governments worldwide to encourage researchers to share their research data. Continue reading →
Consider this before you jet off to a sunny island for midwinter holiday. Researchers at the University of North Carolina and NC State University have shown a link between time of day of UV exposure and the likelihood of developing skin cancer.
Contrary to what the poorly pigmented among us might expect, the link shown here is not related to greater intensity of UV rays at midday, but to our own circadian clock’s control over DNA damage repair.
Men, take heed – your lifestyle could be catching up with you in the trouser department.
A new study published in the latest issue of Fertility and Sterility warns that the Wi-Fi from your laptop could make you infertile.
The article was selected by Martine Nijs, Faculty Member in Diabetes & Endocrinology, who emphasised that this is the first study to demonstrate a clear negative influence of laptop Wi-Fi on both sperm motility and sperm DNA integrity. She warned,
Men should be cautious about using a laptop for extended periods of time not only because these computers generate heat and can increase scrotal temperature {1} that is deleterious to spermatogenesis but also because, as shown here, the active Wi-Fi connections could induce DNA damage in their spermatozoa.
Ouch.
Of course, it’s not only men whose fertility is negatively affected by modern lifestyles. A study from November last year reports that a lack of vitamin D might impact negatively upon the female reproductive system. Bryan Larsen, Faculty Member in Women’s Health, highlighted this article, saying,
The complexity of vitamin D’s actions results in part from the fact that it modulates the activity of thousands of genes, so may influence many aspects of pregnancy and parturition that may or may not involve calcium metabolism.
So just another two more things to add to the growing list of modern issues that could affect fertility. Already on the list are cigarettes, mobile phones, obesity and – bizarrely – botox.
Did you choose option A? Of course you did, because nobody would say they hate creativity – it would be like saying you hate the special olympics. But a new study, “The bias against creativity: why people desire but reject creative ideas”, by Jennifer S. Mueller (The Wharton School), Shimul Melwani (University of Pennsylvania), and Jack A. Goncalo (Cornell University) reveals a hitherto unknown ambivalence about creativity that lives under the surface, camouflaged, like a suckerfish. According to their paper, people experiencing uncertainty tend to hold an unacknowledged negative bias against creativity. Furthermore, those holding such a bias also have more difficulty recognizing a creative idea when they encounter one.
We met Stuart Tobet, member of our ‘Neural Homeostasis’ Section, at the Society of Neuroscience (SfN) meeting in November. He talked to us about his research on the development of the paraventricular nucleus, a part of the hypothalamus that is important for a lot of different homeostatic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral functions, e.g. sex behaviour, obesity, cardiovascular disorders, and mood disorders.
Tumours are bundles of cells that grow and divide uncontrollably, and their genes are deployed in unusual ways. By analysing the genes from different tumour samples, scientists have tried to pin down the chaotic events that lead to cancer. They seem to be making headway. Dozens of papers have reported “gene expression signatures” that predict the risk of dying or surviving from cancer, and new ones come out every month.
These signatures purportedly hint at how healthy cells transform into tumours in the first place. If, for example, the genes in question are involved in wound healing, this tells you that the healing process is somehow involved in a tumour’s progression. These collections of genes reveal deeper truths about the disease they’re associated with.
This idea sounds reasonable, but David Venet from the Université Libre de Bruxelles has thrown a big spanner into the works. He has shown that completely random sets of genes can predict the odds of surviving breast cancer better than published signatures. Continue reading →
It is with regret that we note the death of Paul Epstein, Faculty Member in F1000’s Global Change Ecology section, on November 13, 2011 after a battle against lymphoma.
Dr Epstein, a public health expert and physician at Harvard Medical School, is perhaps best noted for his work linking infectious diseases and climate change. He worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to assess the health impacts of climate change. Epstein also devoted much time to speaking publicly on the subject and stirred much political debate.
In an obituary appearing in the New York Times, Al Gore praised him as a researcher and for “his rare ability to communicate the subtleties and complexities of his field.” As further reported in the NY Times, he devoted much of his career as a doctor working in poor communities and as a volunteer in east African countries. He considered it a responsibility to educate the public that climate change is “not just about whales, wolves, and polar bears,” according to his friend and compatriot, Dr Eric Chivian of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard.
All jobs have pressures that can make getting through the day a struggle – some more than others. Jobs website CareerCast.com just released their list of the most stressful jobs in America and it’s no surprise that right at the top are soldiers, firefighters, and airline pilots. On the other hand, biologist makes the top ten list (#7) for best job, right after meteorologist and systems analyst.
Not on any of these lists, but the focus of a study by Roth et al. from the Montefiore hospital in New York, are pediatric oncologists. The authors investigated levels of ‘career burnout’ – a work-related syndrome involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished feelings of personal accomplishment; frighteningly, 72% in this job group say they experience at least moderate levels of burnout and 38% experience high levels. Continue reading →
Faculty of 1000 presents the Naturally Selected op-ed page highlighting and linking to the latest, greatest research evaluated by F1000.
Contributors include F1000 staff, freelance journalists, and scientists. We encourage readers to participate in the conversation via email to suggest topics and contribute guest posts.
