US scientists have produced a new technique for mapping the bacteria living in the human gut, revealing a far more diverse community than the researchers had anticipated. [ + ]

Scientists have revealed the cleaning procedures that best protect Parkinson's disease (PD) researchers from alpha-synuclein, a protein that makes up Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites in PD patients and self-assembles into fibrils in vitro. [ + ]

US researchers have developed 'kill switches' that can cause synthetic bacteria to die, making it safer for them to be used outside of a laboratory environment. [ + ]

Researchers have identified and produced a key enzyme, found an in African plant, which can transform linear peptides into robust, chemically stable circular ones for use in pharmaceutical drug design. [ + ]

An international team of scientists has developed a method of producing crystals called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) — said to be the world's most porous materials — using vapour rather than liquid. [ + ]

An ANSTO scientist has been involved in an experiment said to be the first of its kind — carbon dating a kidney stone. [ + ]

UK researchers have published The Periodic Table of Protein Complexes — a valuable tool for research into evolution and protein engineering.

Researchers have discovered how the parasite Toxoplasma hijacks host cells and stockpiles food so it can lie dormant for decades — possibly changing its host's behaviour in the process. [ + ]

Researchers have identified a network of genes whose interactions influence the age at which carriers of the pathogenic E280A gene mutation will develop Alzheimer's disease. [ + ]

Just what is being covered by the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA), and how have Australia's scientists reacted? [ + ]

Rice University scientists have synthesised dozens of small-molecule catalysts — tools that promise to speed the making of novel chemicals, including drugs — without the use of transition metals. [ + ]

British researchers have proposed that the WHO's planned mass treatment campaign to eradicate the tropical disease yaws from the planet by 2020 should be integrated with a WHO-led project to eliminate another common disease of the world's poor — trachoma — with the same deadline. [ + ]

In a study led by The Australian National University, scientists have identified a network of nine genes that play a key role in the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers from the University at Albany are taking crime scene investigation to a new level with the discovery that our fingerprints can be used to identify whether the print belongs to a male or a female. [ + ]

The appendix might not be as redundant as we originally thought, with new research showing a network of immune cells that help the organ play a pivotal role in maintaining the health of the digestive system. [ + ]