Science News Magazine - References

February 8, 1997

References:

Long-Awaited Bacterial Genome Debuts

Investigators have finally completed sequencing the 4,300 or so genes belonging to E. coli, the bacterium that serves as microbiology's model organism.

References:

Blattner, F.R. 1997. Meeting on Small Genomes: Sequencing, Functional Characterization and Comparative Genomes. Hilton Head, S.C.

Further Readings:

Check out the E. coli genome project at http://www.genetics.wisc.edu.

Pathogens push poinsettias to branch out

A small bacterial cell known as a phytoplasma is the agent responsible for the bushy appearance of poinsettia plants.

References:

Lee, I.-M., et al. 1997. Phytoplasma induced free-branching in commercial poinsettia cultivars. Nature Biotechnology 15(February):178.

Cystic fibrosis puzzle coming together

A bacterium that commonly infects people with cystic fibrosis activates a gene that codes for the primary component of mucus.

References:

Li, J.D. . . .Basbaum, C.B. 1996. Transcriptional activation of mucin by Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide in the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis lung disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94(Feb. 4):967.

Understanding the language of reproduction

Researchers have identified the protein that forms a crucial communication channel between the developing egg and surrounding cells.

References:

Simon, A.M., et al. 1997. Female infertility in mice lacking connexin37. Nature 385(Feb. 6):525.

U.S. leads in science Olympics, but . . .

Scaling a nation's research performance to its population size shows that many small countries outperform the behemoths.

References:

May, R.M. 1997. The scientific wealth of nations. Science 275(Feb. 7):793.

Further Readings:

Adams, J., and Z. Griliches. 1996. Measuring science: An exploration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93(Nov. 12):12664.

Gibbs, W.W. 1995. Lost science in the Third World. Scientific American 273(August):92.

Jaffe, A.B. 1996. Trends and patterns in research and development expenditures in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93(Nov. 12):12658.

Jaffe, A.B., and M. Trajtenberg. 1996. Flows of knowledge from universities and federal laboratories: Modeling the flow of patent citations over time and across institutional and geographic boundaries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93(Nov. 12):12671.

Lamoreaux, N.R., and K.L. Sokoloff. 1996. Long-term change in the organization of inventive activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93(Nov. 12):12686.

National Science Foundation. 1996. Science & Engineering Indicators 1996. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Raloff, J. 1996. Changing profile for R&D spending. Science News 150(Dec. 7):367.

______. 1995. New efforts to decloak 'invisible' science. Science News 148(July 22):55.

______. 1993. Painful prospects for academic R&D. Science News 143(Jan. 9):31.

______. 1992. Tackling R&D stagnation. Science News 142(Sept. 19):190.

Ukrainian fossil sprouts modern roots

Remains found more than 40 years ago in the Ukraine, originally designated as a 35,000-year-old transitional species between Neandertals and modern humans, are actually from burials about 200 years ago.

References:

Kohl, P., and A. Formozov. On proprietary rights in archaeology. Current Anthropology 37(February):S113.

Marks, A., et al. 1997. Starosele and the Starosele child. Current Anthropology 38(February):112.

More findings about life on the Red Planet

Researchers disputed recent criticisms and provided new evidence that a meteorite from Mars contains traces of primitive life.

References:

Kirschvink, J.L., A. Maine, and H. Vali. 1997. Abstract of report to be presented at the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Houston.

McKay, D.S. 1997. Lecture at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Greenbelt, Md.

Further Readings:

Bradley, J.P., R.P. Harvey, and H.Y. McSween. 1996. Magnetite whiskers and platelets in the ALH84001 Martian meteorite: Evidence of vapor phase growth. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 60(December).

Cowen, R. 1996. Searching for life in a Martian meteorite. Science News 150(Dec. 14):380.

Frigid atoms settle into surprising states

A new cooling technique allows researchers to create in the same magnetic trap Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms in two distinct quantum states.

References:

Ho, T.-L., and V.B. Shenoy. 1996. Binary mixtures of Bose condensates of alkali atoms. Physical Review Letters 77(Oct. 14):3276.

Myatt, C.J., et al. 1997. Production of two overlapping Bose-Einstein condensates by sympathetic cooling. Physical Review Letters 78(Jan. 27):586.

Further Readings:

Peterson, I. 1997. Atom laser demonstrated in chilled drips. Science News 151(Feb. 1):71.

Wu, C. 1995. Physics "Holy Grail" finally captured. Science News 148(July 15):36.

Research Notes:

Physics:

Peeking inside an electron's screen

Measurements confirm that an electron's electromagnetic influence increases as the distance from the particle's central core decreases.

References:

Levine, I., et al. 1997. Measurement of the electromagnetic coupling at large momentum transfer. Physical Review Letters 78(Jan. 20):424.

Further Readings:

Information about experiments at the TOPAZ detector is available at http://tophp1.kek.jp/.

Behavior:

Kindergarten cues to teen drug use

Young boys exhibiting a cluster of extreme personality traits, including impulsiveness, excitability, and lack of fear in new situations, are most likely to use both legal and illicit drugs in their early teens.

References:

Masse, L., and R. Tremblay. 1997. Behavior of boys in kindergarten and the onset of substance use during adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry 54(January):62.

Further Readings:

Bower, B. 1995. Criminal intellects. Science News 147(April 15):232.

Filling in the brain's line of sight

A brain-damaged woman offers scientists a glimpse of the of automatic visual processing that take place before conscious inspection of objects begins.

References:

Mattingley, J., G. Davis, and J. Driver. 1997. Preattentive filling-in of visual surfaces in parietal extinction. Science 275(Jan. 31):671.

Earth Science:

Deep ocean is no place to hide

Fossils of seafloor vent organisms rebut the idea that these locations are refuges against extinctions.

References:

Little, C.T.S., et al. 1997. Silurian hydrothermal-vent community from the southern Urals, Russia. Nature 385(Jan. 9):146.

Cold climate lingered after ice age

Much of the northern hemisphere remained cold thousands of years after the last ice age ended.

References:

Anderson, W.T., H.T. Mullins, and E. Ito. 1997. Stable isotope record from Seneca Lake, New York: Evidence for a cold paleoclimate following the Younger Dryas. Geology 25(February):135.

Biology:

Bees and keepers tackle mite-y problem

Several biological strategies are in the works to vanquish the varroa mite, which has devastated North American honeybees.

References:

Spivak, M. 1996. Honey bee hygienic behavior and defense against Varroa jacobsoni. Apidologie 27(December):245.

Further Readings:

Raloff, J. 1996. Growers bee-moan shortage of pollinators. Science News 149(June 29):406.

Additional information is available at http://www.umn.edu/urelate/tips.

Dolphin deaths: A tributyl tin connection?

Dolphins that died along U.S. coasts show accumulations of tributyl tin, an ingredient in marine paint that may have suppressed the animals' immune systems.

References:

Kannan, K., et al. 1997. Elevated accumulation of tributyltin and its breakdown products in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) found stranded along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Environmental Science & Technology 31(January):296.

Further Readings:

Raloff, J. 1994. Something's fishy. Science News 146(July 2):8.

Genetics of Sumatra's at-risk rhino

The Bornean rhinoceros is genetically distinct from other populations of the highly endangered Sumatran rhino.

References:

Morales, J.C., et al. In press. Mitochondrial DNA variability and conservation genetics of the Sumatran rhinoceros. Conservation Biology.

FWS proposes protection for bog turtle

A rare bog turtle in the northeastern United States is to be categorized as "threatened" on the Endangered Species List.

References:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region. 1997. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposed Endangered Species Act Protection for Bog Turtle (Jan. 29).

Articles:

Natural-Born Killers

Some cancer cells not only dodge immune cells, they kill them

Tumors can go on the offensive by co-opting a process that immune cells use to destroy other cells and to limit their own numbers.

References:

Gimmi, C.D., et al. 1996. Breast cancer-associated antigen, DF3/MUC1, induces apoptosis of activated human T cells. Nature Medicine 2(December):1367.

Hahne, M., et al. 1996. Melanoma cell expression of Fas(Apo-1/CD95) ligand: Implications for tumor immune escape. Science 274(Nov. 22):1363.

Nagata, S. 1996. Fas ligand and immune evasion. Nature Medicine 2(December):1306.

Strand, S., et al. 1996. Lymphocyte apoptosis induced by CD95 (APO-1/Fas) ligand-expressing tumor cells -- A mechanism of immune evasion? Nature Medicine 2(December):1361.

Williams, N. 1996. Tumor cells fight back to beat immune system. Science 274(Nov. 22):1302.

Further Readings:

Ezzell, C. 1992. A time to live, a time to die. Science News 142(Nov. 21):344.

Seachrist, L. 1996. Only the strong survive. Science News 149(April 6):216.

Hidden Worlds Collide

How one deadly epidemic flushed another out of hiding

The emergence of a bat-borne epidemic of Equine Morbillivirus in an Australian stable led researchers seeking the newly discovered virus's natural habitat and to the discovery that the island also harbors a novel rabieslike virus.

References: