Ringlike structure of the Deinococcus radiodurans genome: a key to radioresistance?

The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans survives ionizing irradiation and other DNA-damaging assaults at doses that are lethal to all other organisms. How D. radiodurans accurately reconstructs its genome from hundreds of radiation-generated fragments in the absence of an intact template is unknown. Here we show that the D. radiodurans genome assumes an unusual toroidal morphology that may contribute to its radioresistance. We propose that, because of restricted diffusion within the tightly packed and laterally ordered DNA toroids, radiation-generated free DNA ends are held together, which may facilitate template-independent yet error-free joining of DNA breaks.     

Evolutionary medicine: from dwarf model systems to healthy centenarians?

Restriction of the number of calories consumed extends longevity in many organisms. In rodents, caloric restriction decreases the levels of plasma glucose and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) and postpones or attenuates cancer, immunosenescence, and inflammation without irreversible side effects. In organisms ranging from yeast to mice, mutations in glucose or IGF-I-like signaling pathways extend life-span but also cause glycogen or fat accumulation and dwarfism. This information suggests a new category of drugs that could prevent or postpone diseases of aging with few adverse effects.     

Is a new evolutionary synthesis necessary?

The current (synthetic) theory of evolution has been criticized on the grounds that it implies that macroevolutionary processes (speciation and morphological diversification) are gradual. The extent to which macroevolution is gradual or punctuational remains to be ascertained. Macroevolutionary processes are underlain by microevolutionary phenomena and are compatible with the synthetic theory of evolution. But microevolutionary principles are compatible with both gradualism and punctualism; therefore, logically they entail neither. Thus, macroevolution and microevolution are decoupled in the important sense that macroevolutionary patterns cannot be deduced from microevolutionary principles.     

Is AIDS in Africa a distinct disease?

In Africa, opportunistic infections, transmission patterns, and viral subtypes differ from what is seen in the AIDS epidemics of the United States and Europe, yet 2 decades into the epidemic, AIDS researchers have only a shaky handle on the fundamental question: What accounts for these differences? The answers have potentially important implications for both prevention and treatment strategies.