Researchers at the Darwin Research Station are attempting to put the pieces back together after a festering dispute over fishing quotas turned violent between 13 and 17 November. The fuse that set off the most recent conflagration was an annual 50-ton limit on spiny lobsters that local fishers reached barely halfway into the 4-month season. Unruly bands of fishers laid siege to the station and the park service, blocked roads and offices, tore down the island's telephone antenna, and destroyed research records.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

Lipid research. Possible new way to lower cholesterol.

Clinicians may soon be able to mount a multipronged attack against cholesterol, the artery-clogging lipid whose buildup in the body is a major contributor to heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases. In work reported on page 1524, a team has pinpointed a biological master switch in mice that controls three pathways that work together to both rid the body of excess cholesterol and prevent its absorption from the intestine. The work suggests a new mechanism for reducing cholesterol, for example, with drugs that turn up the activity of the master switch, a protein known as the retinoid X receptor.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter 1↗

PubMed2000

Primatology. Human diseases threaten great apes.

Researchers are uncovering disturbing evidence that scientists and tourists are infecting wild primates with human pathogens. In response, ape specialists, including the American Society of Primatologists, are now calling for stricter health standards for researchers and tourists. They are also urging researchers to learn how to diagnose disease in their study animals.

Africa↗

PubMed2000

Osteoporosis. Cholesterol drugs show promise as bone builders.

A group of drugs called statins that are used by millions to head off heart disease seem not only to prevent fractures, but they may also trigger significant bone regrowth, according to four studies reported in the 28 June issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association and the 24 June issue of The Lancet. And another promising treatment, a recombinant fragment of human parathyroid hormone called rhPTH, is even closer to the clinic: Two clinical trials reported at meetings in the past 2 weeks show that the compound builds bone and lowers the risk of fracture by more than half. These findings could be good news for the millions of people worldwide who suffer from osteoporosis.

Animals↗

PubMed2000