RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: 1-MINUTE READS
China’s live-chicken trade might help to spread flu viruses
The market for live poultry might be fuelling the spread of avian flu viruses in China, according to an analysis of viral genomes and models of the poultry trade. Some influenza viruses that infect birds can also infect people: the H5N1 virus, for example, which has an estimated fatality rate of 50–60% in humans.
‘Third-hand’ tobacco smoke fills non-smoking cinemas
Even in a non-smoking cinema, film-goers can be exposed to hazardous tobacco-related pollutants, which waft off the clothing and bodies of smokers in the audience. Levels of smoke-related chemicals rise sharply during age-restricted action films, but less so during a children’s flick.
Primeval roots for a key animal protein
A vital structure found in the neurons of all animals — calcium-ion channels — might have originated in bacteria. Researchers identified a bacterial version of the specialized proteins in a hot-spring bacterium called Meiothermus ruber. This suggests that the channels originated in a common ancestor of bacteria and animals.
The market for live poultry might be fuelling the spread of avian flu viruses in China, according to an analysis of viral genomes and models of the poultry trade. Some influenza viruses that infect birds can also infect people: the H5N1 virus, for example, which has an estimated fatality rate of 50–60% in humans.
‘Third-hand’ tobacco smoke fills non-smoking cinemas
Even in a non-smoking cinema, film-goers can be exposed to hazardous tobacco-related pollutants, which waft off the clothing and bodies of smokers in the audience. Levels of smoke-related chemicals rise sharply during age-restricted action films, but less so during a children’s flick.
Primeval roots for a key animal protein
A vital structure found in the neurons of all animals — calcium-ion channels — might have originated in bacteria. Researchers identified a bacterial version of the specialized proteins in a hot-spring bacterium called Meiothermus ruber. This suggests that the channels originated in a common ancestor of bacteria and animals.
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