Futurity.org » University of Melbourne

Tiny implant sends seizure alert

Rebecca Scott-Melbourne — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:25:55 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — A small device implanted in the brain accurately predicts epilepsy seizures in humans, a new study shows.

The device is designed to be implanted between the skull and brain surface to monitor long-term electrical signals in the brain (EEG data).

Nip mosquito-borne disease in the ‘bug’

David Scott-Melbourne — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:16:44 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Scientists report promising results from a new technique to introduce disease-blocking bacteria into mosquitoes in an effort to stop the spread of dengue, yellow fever, and possibly malaria.

When infected with the bacteria Wolbachia, mosquitoes are unable to spread viruses such as dengue, a disease that kills about 40,000 people each year with no vaccines or specific treatments currently available. However, the bacteria have been difficult to spread within the mosquito population because they reduce the mosquitoes’ ability to lay viable eggs.

Wolbachia bacteria strains live naturally inside up to 70 percent of all insects and are known to protect them against viral infection. Hoffmann first discovered the disease-blocking strain of Wolbachia in Australian fruit flies in 1988.

Predict mutants to create universal flu vaccine

Rebecca Scott-Melbourne — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:14:15 +0000

U. MELBOURNE / MONASH U. (AUS) — Researchers have found a way to predict and potentially stop the mutating cells of the influenza virus.

The finding may lead to a new universal influenza vaccine to better protect against both seasonal and pandemic outbreaks, says Katherine Kedzierska, the study’s senior author and an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne.

Fairy-wren guys boast body size in song

Rebecca Scott-Melbourne — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:37:30 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Male fairy-wrens use the pitch of their songs to broadcast their body size, new research shows.

The study led by University of Melbourne researcher Michelle Hall, is the first to show that the larger the male fairy wren, the lower the pitch of his song.

Youth protects malaria parasite from drugs

David Scott-Melbourne — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:34:44 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Immature malaria parasites are more than 100 times less sensitive than their elders to key anti-malarial drugs.

The recent discovery could lead to more effective treatments for a disease that kills one person every minute and is developing resistance to drugs at an alarming rate.

The study was conducted by a team led by Professor Leann Tilley and Nectarios (Nick) Klonis from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Melbourne, and will be published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Our brains learn to love music’s harmony

Rebecca Scott-Melbourne — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:52:42 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — The ability to appreciate harmony in music may be a learned—not innate—skill, new research suggests.

Previous theories about how we appreciate music have been based on the physical properties of sound, the ear itself, and a natural ability to hear harmony, says Neil McLachlan, an associate professor in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

Regulate junk food companies for public’s sake?

Rebecca Scott-Melbourne — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:01:06 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Processed food and drink industries play a harmful, not helpful, role in developing public health policies, a new report finds.

Lung cancer from smoking, obesity from an unhealthy diet, and liver problems from alcohol are all examples of lifestyle diseases that are killing millions each year.

Ice age extinctions led to hardier plants

Rebecca Scott-Melbourne — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:09:41 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — When it comes to biodiversity, extinctions have a bigger impact than evolution, say researchers who looked at Australian plant species wiped out by the ice ages.

Research has shown that plant diversity in South East Australia was as rich as some of the most diverse places in the world, and that most of these species went extinct during the ice ages, probably about one million years ago.

“Traditionally scientists believed some places have more species than others because species evolved more rapidly in these places. We have overthrown this theory, which emphasizes evolution, by showing that extinction may be more important, ” says J. M. Kale Sniderman of the University of Melbourne’s School of Earth Sciences.

Protein in skin T cells helps nix flu virus

Annie Rahilly-Melbourne — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:27:02 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — Scientists have found a new protein that protects against viral infections, including influenza.

As influenza spreads through the northern hemisphere winter, researchers at the University of Melbourne believe they have a new clue as to why some people fight infections better than others.

They have been investigating the “defensive devices” contained within the T-cells that are located on exposed body surfaces such as skin and mucosal surfaces to ward off infection.

Without siblings, China’s kids may fear risk

Emily Walker-Monash — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:11:46 +0000

MONASH U. / U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — People who grew up under China’s One Child Policy are less trusting and more risk-averse than those who were born before the law, new research shows.

In research published in Science, investigators examined cohorts of children born just before and after the introduction of the One Child Policy (OCP). They assessed social and competitive behavioral attributes such as trust and risk-taking.

The researchers conducted a series of economic games on more than 400 subjects. The imposition of the OCP allowed them to identify individuals who grew up as an only child because of the policy and who would have grown up with siblings in the absence of the OCP.