A Montana State University professor and his colleagues have found evidence suggesting that airborne bacteria are globally distributed in the atmosphere and may play a large role in the cycle of precipitation.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified a key molecular mechanism that may account for the development of cystic fibrosis, which about 1 in 3000 children are born with in the US every year. The findings, published February 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, add new knowledge to understanding the development of this disease and may also point the way to new corrective treatments.

Researchers have developed a new technology that can simultaneously screen thousands of samples of food or water for several dangerous food-borne pathogens in one to two hours.

Kidney stones are very common – and painful – in men. About 3 in 20 men (1 in 20 women) in developed countries develop them at some stage. Mice, however, rarely suffer though the precise reasons are unknown. Jeffrey S. Clark and colleagues, writing in The Journal of Physiology, have come up with some answers.

A small striped fish is helping scientists understand what makes people susceptible to a common form of hearing loss, although, in this case, it’s not the fish’s ears that are of interest. In a study published in the Feb. 29 issue of the journal PLoS Genetics, researchers at the University of Washington have developed a research method that relies on a zebrafish’s lateral line—the faint line running down each side of a fish that enables it to sense its surroundings—to quickly screen for genes and chemical compounds that protect against hearing loss from some medications. The study was funded in part by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health.

Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered a dance of proteins that protects certain cells from undergoing apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Understanding the fine points of apoptosis is important to researchers seeking ways to control this process.

A novel genetic study has revealed why chickens have yellow legs, demonstrating that though Charles Darwin was right about many things, his view on the origins of the chicken was not entirely correct. The study, published February 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, reveals the genetic basis for the appearance of yellow skin in billions of chickens raised worldwide.

An important discovery has been made with respect to the mystery of “handedness” in biomolecules. Researchers led by Sandra Pizzarello, a research professor at Arizona State University, found that some of the possible abiotic precursors to the origin of life on Earth have been shown to carry “handedness” in a larger number than previously thought.

Now, a group of Scripps Research scientists have shown that EP2-19G2, one of a panel of fluorescent monoclonal antibodies that were first reported in 2000, produces its distinctive bright blue glow through a rare and highly complex recombination of electrical charge.

Brent Christner, LSU professor of biological sciences, in partnership with colleagues in Montana and France, recently found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere. These biological particles could factor heavily into the precipitation cycle, affecting climate, agricultural productivity and even global warming. Christner and his colleagues will publish their results in the prestigious journal “Science” on Feb. 29.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have discovered how roots find their way past obstacles to grow through soil. The discovery, described in the forthcoming edition of Science, also explains how germinating seedlings penetrate the soil without pushing themselves out as they burrow.