For the first time ever, a genetic study has followed a single humpback whale from one ocean basin to another, adding to traditional notions of the migratory patterns of these majestic marine mammals in the process, according to researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and New York University. In the most recent Royal Society's Biology Letters, a male humpback whale that was first sighted in Madagascar's Antongil Bay in 2000 was found in 2002 swimming off the coast of Loango National Park in Gabon--on the other side of the African continent.

Researchers have discovered that the loss of a gene called p63 accelerates aging in mice. Similar versions of the gene are present in many organisms, including humans. Therefore, the p63 gene is likely to play a fundamental biological role in aging-related processes.

Visceral leishmaniasis, which is the most severe form of that group of diseases, affects 500 000 people in the world each year. It is caused by a protozoan, Leishmania infantum, transmitted by sand fly bites. There is no vaccine for this disease, which can rapidly lead to death if no treatment is given. In the most heavily affected areas, the dog population is hit heavily by infection. It acts as parasite reservoir for humans. Development of a vaccine for dogs could help brake transmission of the disease to humans, by reducing this reservoir. Such prevention treatment has just been tested successfully on dogs by an IRD team in Montpellier, in conjunction with the Rocher veterinary clinic (La Garde, Var) and the biopharmaceutical company Bio Véto Test (La Seyne-Sur-Mer, Var). The first results showed total lasting protection of these animals against the disease, could open the way towards the development of a human vaccine.

A protein that extends lifespan in yeast, worms, and flies keeps blood sugar under control in mice, reports a new study in the August Cell Metabolism. The findings suggest therapeutic interventions for the prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, which frequently arise with age, the researchers said.

A new NASA-funded study finds that predicted increases in precipitation due to warmer air temperatures from greenhouse gas emissions may actually increase sea ice volume in the Antarctic’s Southern Ocean. This adds new evidence of potential asymmetry between the two poles, and may be an indication that climate change processes may have different impact on different areas of the globe.

Scientists at the MUHC have discovered a gene that controls the speed at which patients develop tuberculosis--the first time such a gene has been discovered for this disease. The new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) this week provides a new view of the mechanisms underlying the development of tuberculosis and may contribute to public health efforts aimed at containing the disease.

Biologists testing a mathematical model of the mechanism birds use to control the growth of complex feathers found that plumed feather structures involve the coordination of at least two genes that activate and that inhibit barb growth.

Two designer cancer drugs differed dramatically in a laboratory test comparing their ability to shut down a mutant, overactive growth signal in lung cancer cells, reports a team headed by scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

A weight control protein with a key role in the brain's ability to monitor body fat content may yield new approaches for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to a new report in the August issue of Cell Metabolism. The findings in mice further suggest that particular variants of the protein SH2-B might underlie obesity in humans, the researchers said.