SCIENCE BOND

Hair dyes can cover up greying but gene manipulation may, in future, banish it altogether.  The international team collected DNA samples from "a diverse melting pot" of more than 6,000 volunteers of European, Native American and African ancestry.  The gene IRF4 regulates a natural hair, skin and eye pigment called melanin.  It sits on chromosome six and while it is unlikely to be the only gene controlling greying, it provides a new target for researchers. Lead author Dr Kaustubh Adhikari, from University College London, said: "We already know several genes involved in balding and hair colour but this is the first time a gene for greying has been identified in humans, as well as other genes influencing hair shape and density."It was only possible because we analysed a diverse melting pot of people, which hasn't been done before on this scale."  Hair gets its colour from pigments produced by cells called melanocytes that sit in the hair follicle - ...

The engineered Mediterranean fruit flies possess a gene that prevents female flies from reaching adulthood.  When released into the environment, they mate with wild members of the same species and pass on the gene to their offspring, which die before they can cause damage to crops.  The flies have been produced by the British-based company Oxitec.  This invasive species causes millions of dollars in damage to Australian crops each year. The Department of Agriculture and Food in Western Australia (DAFWA) has now announced it will conduct an indoor assessment of the engineered fruit flies.  Eggs were imported from the UK and reared at DAFWA research facilities. Their potential for pest control will now be assessed in glasshouse trials. In Western Australia, the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), also known as the Medfly, is a major problem for commercial orchards and householders.  It feeds on more than 250 types of fruit, including citrus,...

The work showed that women who had a particular version of the BCAR1 gene were more likely than other women to have heart attacks and strokes. In contrast, men who had the gene were not at increased risk. Researchers say this adds to mounting evidence that there are differences in how men and women experience heart disease.  In the study, published in the journal, Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, researchers from University College London pooled data from five European research projects, involving nearly 4,000 men and women.  Comparing their genes, the health of their blood vessels and the thickness of key arteries, scientists pinpointed a version of a gene that was linked to a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and diseased blood vessels in women.  Though they still have work to do to fully understand the link, researchers believe the gene - when combined with a woman's naturally occurring oestrogen - could lead to an increased risk of heart disease. ...