Futurity.org » Africa

Blood parasite’s genetic code cracked

David Scott-Melbourne — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:28:19 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Scientists have sequenced the genome of a parasite responsible for one of the most socioeconomically devastating diseases in the world.

An international research team led by Neil Young and Robin Gasser from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary Science sequenced the nuclear genome of Schistosoma haematobium from a single pair of tiny worms.

Night lights pinpoint disease outbreaks

Morgan Kelly-Princeton — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:37:07 +0000

PRINCETON (US) — Researchers are using satellite images of nighttime lights to keep tabs on disease hotspots in developing nations.

By revealing the population boom that often coincides with seasonal epidemics, the images can indicate where people are clustered by capturing expansion and increasing brightness of lighted areas. The technique accurately indicates fluctuations in population density—and thus the risk of epidemic—that can elude current methods of monitoring outbreaks.

HIV unknowns nudge Malawians to want kids

Matthew Solovey-Penn State — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:36:53 +0000

PENN STATE (US) — People in Malawi who are uncertain about their HIV status are more eager to start families than those who are certain one way or the other, a new study shows.

Malawi, a landlocked country in southeast Africa, has both a high fertility rate and a high prevalence of HIV. About 12 percent of the population is infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

More than 30 percent of young Malawians surveyed for the study, published in American Sociological Review, indicated they were uncertain about their HIV status and 70 percent were uncertain about the chance they will be infected with HIV in the future.

Battle of the biomes: Savannas vs. forests

Morgan Kelly-Princeton — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:20:38 +0000

PRINCETON (US) —Large stretches of South American and African forest and savanna could begin to encroach on each other due to factors such as climate change and land use—much to the detriment of the people and animals that rely on them.

Savanna wildfires keep tree cover low and prevent forests from encroaching on the grassland. When tree cover is high, as in a forest, fires cannot spread as easily, halting the savanna’s advance into the forest.

In wet times, zebra help cattle bulk up

Andy Fell-UC Davis — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:36:52 +0000

UC DAVIS (US) — African ranchers often prefer to keep wild grazers like zebra off the grasslands, but new research shows that in rainy seasons, grazing by wild animals may actually help cattle put on weight.

“Although savanna rangelands worldwide are managed on the premise that cattle and wildlife compete for food, there is little scientific information to support this assumption,” says Wilfred Odadi, a researcher at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya.

In dry times, ‘loner’ elephants buddy up

Louis Bergeron-Stanford — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:36:38 +0000

STANFORD (US) —When resources are scarce, some male bull elephants band together into a social group with a clearly defined hierarchy, much the way females do, a new study shows.

“This is the first time this social structure has been documented in male elephants,” says Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell, an ecologist at Stanford University. “What is also really striking is that in wet years, when there are a lot of resources, the whole thing collapses and you don’t have this linear hierarchy.”

The group resurrects itself when another dry year rolls around, with each individual resuming the place he held in the hierarchy during the previous dry spell.

S. Africa birthplace of modern humans

Sandeep Ravindran-Stanford — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:04:40 +0000

STANFORD (US) — Bushmen from southern Africa are most likely the source population from which all other African populations evolved, according to a large study of genetic variation.

The new research, which focuses attention in particular on those hunter-gatherers who speak one of the Khoisan languages, characterized by the presence of “click” sounds, contradicts previously held theories that modern humans originated in eastern Africa.

Why AIDS doesn’t make headlines

Richard Ashby-Leeds — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:07:33 +0000

U. LEEDS (UK) — Media coverage of HIV/AIDS has fallen by more than 70 percent in developed countries over the last 20 years, particularly in French- and U.S.-based newspapers.

An international research team looked at approximately 69,000,000 articles in 410,000 newspaper issues. The results are detailed on a new website, trendsinsustainability.com, that launches today (December 1) on World AIDS Day.

Killer virus protein chews up RNA

Holly Korschun-Emory — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:13:01 +0000

EMORY (US) — Using X-rays, researchers have identified the structure of a key protein from Lassa virus, which infects 100,000 to 300,000 people every year in West Africa—and kills 5,000.

The structure reveals how the virus evades its host’s immune system, and how it hijacks infected cells’ vital machinery in a process scientists call “cap-stealing.” Details of the structure, reported in the journal Nature, could guide future efforts at antiviral drug discovery and vaccine development.

Drug kills parasitic worm at its source

Jason Cody-Michigan State — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:14:32 +0000

MICHIGAN STATE (US) — Scientists have unlocked how an anti-parasitic drug kills worms brought on by diseases like river blindness and elephantitis.

Understanding how the drug ivermectin works has the potential to lead to new treatments for the diseases that afflict about 140 million people worldwide, mostly in equatorial Africa.