KCTD13 a Driver of Neurodevelopmental Phenotypes Associated with the 16p11.2 CNV
Golzio, Willer et al., Nature
An international team led by investigators at Duke University shows that KCTD13 "is a major driver for the neurodevelopmental phenotypes associated with the 16p11.2 CNV [copy-number variant]," a finding that it says substantiates "the idea that one or a small number of transcripts within a CNV can underpin clinical phenotypes, and offer an efficient route to identifying dosage-sensitive loci."
Concrete, Heal Thyself!
September 02, 2010
Bacteria are useful for myriad applications. Delft University of Technology's Henk Jonkers has recently shown that water-activated bacteria, when worked into concrete, act like osteoblasts do in bones, allowing the concrete to "heal" itself and patch up small cracks, reports New Scientist's Kate McAlpine. Such adjustments to concrete could save cities and towns a lot of time and money when fixing their infrastructure. "Jonkers thinks the solution is to fight nature with nature: he suggests combating water degradation by packing the concrete with bacteria that use water and calcium lactate 'food' to make calcite, a natural cement," McAlpine says.