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| | | Leading Edge brings you the latest news from the world of science. Geoff Watts celebrates discoveries as soon as they're being talked about - on the internet, in coffee rooms and bars; often before they're published in journals. And he gets to grips with not just the science, but with the controversies and conversation that surround it.
radioscience@bbc.co.uk | | | | | LISTEN AGAIN Ìý30 min | | | |
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"If what interests you are new and exciting ideas, it's science you should be turning to. And whether it's the Human Genome Project or the origins of the Universe, Leading Edge is the place to hear about them."
Geoff Watts |
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|  | | © Lesley Haire & Rupert Russell/ MRC NIMR
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1918 Influenza Pandemic Puzzle Solved
Researchers in Britain and the United States have helped to answer questions surrounding the pandemic of influenza that killed as many as 40 million people during 1918-19. By recreating a key protein from the virus responsible, they’ve shown how what was a bird-only flu bug mutated in such a way it was able toÌýinfect and spread between humans.
Can the insight on this historic pandemic inform us on what to expect from the current bird flu outbreak in Southeast Asia?
Antarctica
New medicines, cold water detergents and tastier ice cream are just some of the technological developments that might come out of the study of the cold adapted organisms of Antarctica. But does bioprospecting in and around the frozen continent pose a threat to scientific research there?
A paper published by researchers at the United Nations University in Tokyo suggests new rules about who’s entitled to do what with Antarctic bioresources are needed.
Molecular Imaging of Cancers
The University of Manchester is soon to open the world’s leading centre for the molecular imaging of tumours.
The technique involves PET scanning patients after injecting them with tiny and harmless amounts of radio-molecules, to study molecular events in cancer cells and to test whether the new generation anti-cancer drugs really work as they’re supposed.
Once refined, the technique could also allow doctors to prescribe the right drugs to combat their patient’s own genetically distinct tumours.
The Tardis Crystal
Chemists at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor have created remarkable crystals called metal-organic frameworks with vast internal surface areas. One gram of their latest crystal has the internal surface area of 17 tennis courts.
The molecular structures within are also very attractive to hydrogen gas and chief researcher Professor Omar Yaghi is confident these materials will solve the practical problem of hydrogen storage for pollution free, hydrogen fuelled cars. | | |
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