Science Briefing: Rebecca Knight

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High-fat diet can throw body clock

FT Syndication Service
Diets high in fat can throw off the body's internal clock, a new study by researchers at Northwestern University has found.
The study, published in Cell Metabolism, found that mice fed a fatty diet for two weeks showed significant behavioural changes. Their sleep/wake cycle lengthened suggesting the brain mechanism that controls the timing of activity and rest had been affected.
When kept in 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness the mice - which are nocturnal - began consuming more food when the lights were on as early as the first week.
They also displayed altered activity in key genes that control the roughly 24-hour circadian rhythm.

Molecular link to lethal cancer

A molecular switch in the protein-making machinery of cells is linked to one of the most common forms of lethal breast cancer, scientists have found.
The discovery by New York University researchers could lead to new therapies to block tumour progression in the cancer, called locally advanced breast cancer.
According to a study in the journal Molecular Cell, two molecules are unusually abundant in LABC. Analysis in mice indicates that the molecules orchestrated a switch in the use of messenger RNA, a kind of ferry service that carries information for creating proteins.
The switch occurs when tumours are starved of oxygen and allows the selective expression of proteins required for them to develop a blood supply allowing growth to a large size and progression.

Energetic particle breakthrough

Researchers are closer to understanding the origin of the most energetic particles in the universe.
The particles -- ultra-high-energy cosmic rays probably come from violent, super-massive black holes in the hearts of nearby active galaxies, known as "active galactic nuclei," (AGN), according to a study published recently in the journal Science.
"Now that we found the sources, we are one step closer to knowing what physical process can accelerate particles to these ultra-high energies," says Miguel Mostafa, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Utah who is part of a 17-nation collaboration.
The AGN, believed to be powered by super-massive black holes consuming large amounts of gas, dust and other matter from their host galaxies, spew out particles and energy.
Most galaxies have black holes at their centre, but only a small fraction have an AGN.