TOP 100 CAMPING SITES
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| Genetic Copy Variations and Disease Scientists published the first draft of the human genome nearly a decade ago, but the hunt for disease genes is far from over. Most researchers have focused on single changes in DNA base pairs (AT and CG) that cause fatal diseases, such as cystic fibrosis. Such mutations among the genome’s three billion base pairs don’t tell the whole story, however. Recently geneticists have taken a closer look at a genetic aberration previously considered rare: copy number variation (CNV). The genes may be perfectly normal, yet there is a shortage or surplus of DNA sequences that may play a role in diseases that defy straight­forward genetic patterns, such as autism, schizophrenia and Crohn’s disease, the causes of which have stumped researchers for decades.American geneticist Calvin Bridges discovered copy number variation in 1936, when he noticed that flies that inherit a duplicate copy of a gene called Bar develop very small eyes. Two decades later a French researcher studying human chromosomes under a microscope identified CNV as the cause of Down syndrome: sufferers inherit an extra copy of chromosome 21. By all appearances, CNV was rare and always a direct cause of disease. [More] rss.sciam.com |
How Do "Green Projects" Create Jobs? Dear EarthTalk: What kind of job opportunities might be opened up by the new federal emphasis on green projects? -- Dick Wetzler, St. Paul, MN [More] rss.sciam.com |
Can Oil Be Recycled? Changing the oil in a car every 5,000 kilometers or so seems to be the industry standard (and may well be overkill). But that means a whole lot of pouring and draining motor oil into and out of the U.S. auto fleet: 1.3 billion gallons or so, to be precise. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Cutbacks Will Affect State Park Enthusiasts Padlocked toilets are coming soon to California’s once-fabled state parks. nytimes.com |
Can the World's Telecoms Slash Their Energy Consumption 1,000-Fold? The unbridled success of wireless networks for Internet access and beyond has brought mobile telecommunications to remote areas of Africa , safety to many a driver stranded roadside, and worldwide mobility to professionals who were once deskbound. Yet all of this has come at a steep environmental cost: The global network and technology required to run it produce 250 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, roughly the same as is produced yearly by 50 million automobiles (20 percent of all the autos in the U.S.), according to Green Touch , a new international consortium of businesses, government agencies and academics formed to address this problem. [More] rss.sciam.com |