Today a plethora of dog genome-related materials are published, including a new book entitled The Dog and Its Genome and a series of primary research articles in the journal Genome Research. These publications, concomitant with the publication by Nature of a high-quality draft sequence of the dog genome, are expected to provide both researchers and the public with informative resources about canine genomics and biology.

Man's best friend may soon offer humans more than loyal companionship. Dogs could help scientists "sniff out" diseases such as cancer that afflict both humans and canines.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have found elevated amounts of lead in bone fragments belonging to 19th Century composer Ludwig von Beethoven, consistent with their earlier finding of massive amounts of lead found in his hair. These results confirm the cause of his years of chronic debilitating illness.

A standard Internet protocol that checks errors made during email transmissions has now inspired a revolutionary method to transform DNA microarray analysis, a common technology used to understand gene activation. The new method, which blends experiment and computation, strengthens DNA microarray analysis, according to its Carnegie Mellon University inventor, who is publishing his findings in the December issue of Nature Biotechnology with collaborators at the Hebrew University in Israel.

Life on Earth may owe its existence to tiny microorganisms living in the oceans, but the effect of human-induced change on the vital services these microbes perform for the planet remains largely unstudied, says a report released today by the American Academy of Microbiology, entitled Marine Microbial Diversity: The Key to Earth's Habitability.

CAMBIA & IRRI (The International Rice Research Institute) today announced a majorjoint venture to advance the BiOS Initiative - a new strategy that will galvanize agricultural research focused on poverty alleviation and hunger reduction. The ventureis catalyzed by a 2.55M USD grant to CAMBIA from The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway.

Cochlear implants allow the deaf to hear. Their brains learn to understand the artificial electrical stimulation that the implants provide to the cochlea as sound.

Scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) have identified a key biochemical connection between the hepatitis C virus and liver cancer.