Over the past few years, covalent modifications of histone tails have emerged as an important mechanism of gene regulation in eukaryotes. Now, scientists have identified a major euchromatic histone methyltransferase in mammalian cells that is crucial for normal embryonic development, and possibly the prevention of cancer. In a report published in Genes & Development, Dr. Yoichi Shinkai and colleagues have identified a protein called G9a as an enzyme that adds a methyl group to the lysine 9 amino acid

Disease-free survival from advanced prostate cancer could be almost doubled if hormone-suppression therapy is used during and after radiotherapy for a duration of 3 years, suggest authors of an international study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.
Long-term survival after radiotherapy for people with advanced prostate cancer is poor. Michel Bolla from University Hospital, Grenoble, France, and colleagues investigated the added value of long-term male-hormone (androgen) suppression in locally ad

Prey have evolved a suite of tricks to avoid falling victim to a predator. They may escape, hide, protect, become toxic/inedible or defend themselves. In principle, they could also scare the predator away, but this is risky when predators are big. Recent work led by a Dutch research team and published in the July issue of Ecology Letters revealed that a plant-feeding thrips insect overcomes this differential size problem by killing the eggs of its enemy, a plant-inhabiting predatory mite. Th

French birds love the smell of perfumed nests. In an article published this month in Ecology Letters, scientists from the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique report that a small cavity-nesting bird on the island of Corsica, the blue tit, adorns its nests with fragments of strongly perfumed plants, including lavender and mint. The chemical compounds of these plants are economically important as they are used for aromatic house cleaners and herbal medicines. The researchers also discovered that t

Ecological communities suffer dramatic changes when non-native species are introduced by humans. Such introductions have been documented in hundreds of locations and appear to be common in marine and island habitats. One of the best-studied cases of a species that suddenly appeared in the New England intertidal, and subsequently spread rapidly southward accompanied by significant changes in the intertidal community, is the “European periwinkle” Littorina littorea. In the July issue of Ecolog

Children in America are less likely to die during infancy than they were in previous years, less likely to smoke in 8th or 10th grade, and less likely to give birth during adolescence, according to the 6th annual report, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2002. The report also noted improvements in some of the economic security indicators: children are more likely to have at least one working parent and to have health insurance. Moreover, children from ages 3 to 5 are mor