Plant Sugars Provide Petrol

We all know that the days of fossil fuels are limited, so researchers are trying to find alternative fuels.  Biofuels have risen in popularity in recent years – fermenting plant material to make ethanol is already being used to produce fuel in several countries around the world.  But ethan...

‘Baby’ Fat may Beat Obesity

It’s something that many of us struggle with – fat.  But where does it come from?  Researchers in Dallas have finally tracked down the location of immature fat cells, which hide out waiting for the extra calories that turn them into flab. For a while, researchers have suspected that immatu...

Personalised medicine – developing countries show the way

Increasingly, doctors are moving towards personalised treatment for diseases including cancer and HIV infection.  This means carrying out genetic tests to work out whether a person is likely to benefit from a specific treatment or not.  The idea is that people are more likely to get a trea...

Fungi are world's fastest fliers

Scientists have discovered the fastest fliers in nature and, somewhat surprisingly, they're fungi! Ohio-based researcher Nicholas Money and his colleagues at Miami University made the discovery by using ultra-fast cameras capable of taking 250,000 frames per second.  Down the lens they were st...

Where fat cells come from

All fat is not the same, according to a report in the latest edition of the journal Cell. Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health have discovered that a hormone produced by “home-grown” fat has big benefits for the metabolism. What’s more, this is the first known example of a fat-based hormon...