Jennifer E. Fox, NIH/NRSA postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oregon, has shown that many pesticides interfere with the ability of legumes to recruit soil bacteria needed to provide a natural fertilizer to crops. Credit: University of Oregon Many farmers applying pesticides to boost crop yields may instead be contributing to growth problems, scientists report in a new study.

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center say they are moving closer to understanding why the most lethal form of human malaria has become resistant to drug treatment in the past three decades. They have been able to artificially construct, and then express in yeast, a protozoan gene that contributes to such resistance. And it was no small feat. The gene they laboriously constructed over a two-year period is believed to be the largest synthetic one ever built, and it successfully produces large quantities of the encoded protein, whose function can now be easily studied.

The global warming debate has focused on carbon dioxide emissions, but scientists at UC Irvine have determined that a lesser-known mechanism -- dirty snow -- can explain one-third or more of the Arctic warming primarily attributed to greenhouse gases.

Sargassum seaweed has been detected from space for the first time using optical radiance data from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) aboard Envisat. The ability to monitor Sargassum globally will allow researchers to understand better the primary productivity of the ocean and better predict climate change. Credit: ESA Sargassum seaweed, famous in nautical lore for entangling ships in its dense floating vegetation, has been detected from space for the first time thanks to an instrument aboard ESA’s environmental satellite, Envisat. The ability to monitor Sargassum globally will allow researchers to understand better the primary productivity of the ocean and better predict climate change.

Yaniv Linde in his lab. Millions of people the world over suffer today from obesity, yet there is no “magic bullet” that has yet provided a universally accepted solution. However, a young researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem feels he has come up with a practical weight loss solution for the obese person without his having to feel hungry.

Size matters. At least, it does to an alpine ibex.

A study comparing more genetic markers in the DNA of people with and without Alzheimer’s disease than ever before has enabled researchers to identify a common gene that appears to increase a person’s risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. The finding, announced today by researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Kronos Science Laboratory and their collaborative partners, suggests that the gene — called GAB2 — modifies an individual’s risk when associated with other genes, including APOE4. The study results appear in the June 7 issue of the prestigious peer-reviewed journal, Neuron.