New research by the Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has revealed the genetic determinants of fat storage in cells, which may lead to a new understanding of and potential treatments for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. While scientists have long understood that lipid droplets contribute to fat build up in cells, the genes involved in droplet biology have been a focus of extensive research.

In a study published in Nature, scientists in the laboratories of Drs. Robert V. Farese, Jr., of Gladstone and UCSF, and Peter Walter, of UCSF, devised a genetic screen to identify genes responsible for fat storage in cell of fruit flies, and potentially other species.

BELLEVUE, Washington and MALLORCA, Spain, May 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Deal marks first ever agreement covering all Sol Melia properties worldwide

Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE), the world's leading online travel company, today announced it has signed a long term, strategic global supply agreement with Sol Melia, the leading Spanish hotel chain in both the city and resort markets and world leader in resort hotels. Under the agreement, all Sol Melia properties will be available for booking on Expedia(R) and hotels.com(R) branded sites worldwide. This is the first agreement between Expedia and Sol Melia, and marks the first distribution agreement for Sol Melia covering all of its properties globally.

LOS ANGELES, May 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Mini Movie Channel(TM), A Multi-Platform Brand, Launches Its New Service That Allows Viewers To Watch Globally Acquired High Production Value Short Films And Original Comedy Programming At www.MiniMovie.com

SAN MATEO, California, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

eMeter Corporation, a leading provider of meter data management (MDM) software to electric, gas, and water utilities, announced today that industry solutions veteran Mark Camilleri has been promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

WASHINGTON, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- New study shows inhaling long, thin carbon nanotubes may result in asbestos-related disease

A major study published today in Nature Nanotechnology suggests some forms of carbon nanotubes -- a poster child for the "nanotechnology revolution" -- could be as harmful as asbestos if inhaled in sufficient quantities.

The study used established methods to see if specific types of nanotubes have the potential to cause mesothelioma -- a cancer of the lung lining that can take 30-40 years to appear following exposure. The results show that long, thin multi-walled carbon nanotubes that look like asbestos fibers, behave like asbestos fibers.

In the perpetual fight over evolution in public schools, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that supporters of science education have largely been successful in shutting down creationist attempts to undermine evolution through state legislatures and state school boards. While there is still mischief going on in many state legislatures, these efforts rarely go anywhere, thanks to vigilance by supporters of good science education. An essay in PLoS Biology today argues that, at the state level, things are going well:

At this time, not a single state uses its content standards to explicitly promote ID or creationism. School boards are monitored by organizations like the National Center for Science Education, by state academies of science, and by local scientific and professional organizations. As a result, few state school boards can formally consider measures like the one adopted in Dover without scrutiny and challenge from organizations representing the scientific profession.

But here comes the bad news:

There are many reasons to believe that scientists are winning in the courts, but losing in the classroom.

NEW YORK, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Mapping Tool Plots Geographical Search Results on a Digital Map, Providing Further Insight Into the Geographic Context of Results

Engineering Village, an Elsevier online search platform that provides database content and analysis for engineering researchers, announced today the addition of the American Geological Institute's GeoRef database to its content offerings. In addition, the new GeoRef database and Engineering Village's existing GeoBase database have both been 'mashed-up' with Google Maps to create a unique results mapping tool.

SOUTHFIELD, Michigan, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Powerful, online system now available for analyzing the European automotive industry

R. L. Polk & Co. today announced the launch of PolkInsight(TM) for the European marketplace, which provides automotive analysts and marketers with instant access to a wide range of European automotive information to help identify sales trends, understand competitors' performance and develop marketing strategies.

LONDON and PARIS, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- ePages and the European shopping portal LeGuide.com now cooperate to offer Europe's online merchants even better marketing opportunities. With over 40,000 merchants and more than 130 million products, LeGuide.com is the largest shopping portal in Europe. In the United Kingdom, LeGuide.com lists over 23 million products and 3,500 online merchants.

Starting immediately, ePages is offering a seamless and easy access to the local shopping portals of the French market leader in 11 European countries and in 6 languages, for instance Webmarchand.com in France, Mercamania.es in Spain and Gooster.de in Germany.