Editor’s Selections: Bacterial history in ancient mud scrolls, preventing AIDS before infection, and dying to sleep
December 17th, 2010 Editor's Selections 8 Comments
Vincent Racaniello selects several notable posts each week from molecular and cellular biology and virology. He writes about viruses at virology blog.
<img title=”Vincent Racaniello” src=”http://researchblogging.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/smallvincent.jpg” alt=”Vincent Racaniello” width=”47″ height=”47″ />Vincent Racaniello selects several notable posts each week from molecular and cellular biology and virology. He writes about viruses at <a href=”http://www.virology.ws” target=”_blank”>virology blog</a>.
- Have you ever walked along a previously flooded area and seen flakes of dried mud cakes magically curled up in geometrical shapes? These roll-ups are largely biogenic – their surfaces include distinct populations of cyanobacteria, which are much less common in the adjacent, non-rolled soil.
- For the last few decades, HIV prevention efforts have been limited to behavioral approaches. Results of a pre-exposure prophylaxis trial indicate that a daily dose of a prophylactic pill can prevent the spread of HIV before exposure to the virus.
- Fatal familial insomnia has been reported in 27 unrelated families from all over world. They all have the same mutation in the gene encoding the prion protein. This change leads to spongiform degeneration of the thalamus, the part of the brain that regulates sleep and alertness patterns.
I’ll be back next Friday with more selections.
