While industrial products like chlorofluorocarbons are largely responsible for current ozone depletion, a NASA study finds that by the 2030s climate change may surpass chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as the main driver of overall ozone loss.

Drew Shindell, an atmospheric scientist from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and Columbia University, N.Y., finds that greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide are changing the climate in many ways. Some of those effects include wat

An unusual conifer found in a remote area of northern Vietnam has been identified as a genus and species previously unknown to science. The limestone ridges where the tree grows are among the most botanically rich areas in Vietnam, said Daniel Harder, currently director of the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) Arboretum and a co-discoverer of the new species. The discovery is published in the current issue of the journal Novon.

“Biologists don’t need to contemplate finding life

A new approach without the controversial biotechnology used in GMOs

Rutgers geneticists have devised a new approach to create a more nutritious corn without employing the controversial biotechnology used in genetically modified foods. Instead of adding foreign DNA to the corn, the researchers increased the plant’s ability to produce more of its own naturally occurring protein by adjusting the genetic signals that control the process. The result is a more nutritious and natural fo

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“Over 60

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have launched a major study to assess the benefits of screening for Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes, and is on the increase, due largely to the rise in obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

The study, named ADDITION, is based at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care. Launching the study, one of the Principal Investigators Dr Simon Griffin, explained its aim.

“Undetected diabetes is common and often people

At the heart of every cell, vital information is “written” on the DNA, a long molecular ribbon almost one meter long bundled inside the nucleus of the cell. For the DNA to fit inside this small space, it is rolled up like a ball of yarn in a highly organized structure called chromatin. Beyond its purely structural role, the spatial organization of DNA is essential to the basic processes of a cell’s life because it provides information that is added to that contributed by the genetic code. This ball-