Prostate cancer infection link

There are a few cancers where we know that infection plays a part – such as cervical cancer, which is caused by HPV infection, or some cases of cancer caused by the Epstein Barr Virus. Now we may be able to add some cases of prostate cancer to that list, if early results from the US are anything to ...

It's in there somewhere...

It has happened to us all at some point – a person looks familiar but you can't remember where on earth you met them. Now new research by neuroscientists in the states published in this week's edition of the journal Neuron suggests why – the memory does exist, but you just can't retrieve it. Using ...

Genomic secrets of Potato Blight

The genome of the water mould responsible for Potato blight, and resultantly the great Irish famine, Phytophthora infestans, has been published in this week’s Nature and there are some tantalising targets for attack. When we talk about the potato famine, which famously hit Ireland between 1845 and ...

Addicted to Memories

Addictive drugs hijack a brain reward mechanism to strengthen drug-related memories and perpetuate drug use, according to a paper published in Neuron this week. It’s already known that dopamine, the brain’s feel-good reward chemical, plays a role in addiction, and also participates in a process cal...

Aphids and Pesticides

Also in the news this week - an international consortium of Aphid researchers have been studying the newly decoded aphid genome, due to be published later this year, with a view to developing better pesticides that will not let the aphids develop resistance...