Researchers studying the differential expression of microRNA say they may have discovered a way to treat autism by reversing the effects of the disease.

Taken together with recently published research regarding “DNA tagging” by methylation, they say their new study in Genome medicine illustrates two different “epigenetic” mechanisms controlling gene activity in autism that lie beyond genetic mutations. While methylation inhibits gene expression at the level of DNA, microRNA inhibits at the level of RNA.

MicroRNA are snippets of RNA, each of which can inhibit the expression of hundreds to more than a thousand genes. The effects of microRNA are also reversible by treatment with complementary “anti-sense” RNA.

Scientists studying the effects of particulate matter on cloud cover in the Amazon say increasing air pollution could have serious consequences for local weather patterns, rainfall and thunderstorms.

The results, published in Geophysical Research Letters, could be used by climate scientists trying to understand the impact of pollution on global weather patterns, the author says.

Researchers demonstrated how pollution's effects on cloud development could negatively impact our environment. While low levels of particulate matter actually help the development of thunderstorms, the reverse is true once a certain concentration is reached ― the particles then inhibit the formation of clouds and thunderstorms.

Osteoporosis is a risk factor for hip fractures, and a study published in BMC Research Notes has found that martial arts training is a suitable way to teach seniors with osteoporosis how to fall down safely, avoiding injury.

Working with six healthy adults, scientists measured the force of their falls and compared it to known information about the amount of impact a patient with osteoporosis could withstand. The falls taught in this study all involved turning a fall into a rolling movement by bending and twisting the trunk and neck, and researchers believe it is possible for older people to learn these impact-reducing techniques.

Ocean acidification is a real problem, and unless our weather breaking carbon dioxide emissions are substantially curbed, the ocean will continue to become more acidic, according to a new report by National Research Council.

The long-term consequences of ocean acidification on marine life are unknown, but the problem is apparently serious enough that Hollywood celebrities need to lobby Congress over the issue.

"My hope, one shared by millions of Americans, is that you, our legislators, will put aside your differences and enact climate and

The ESO's VISTA telescope has captured a stunning new image of the Cat's Paw Nebula - NGC 6334.

The view in the infrared is strikingly different from that in visible light. With dust obscuring the view far less, astronomers can learn much more about how stars in the nebula form and develop in their first few million years of life.

NGC 6334 is one of the most active nurseries of massive stars in our galaxy and lies toward the heart of the Milky Way, 5500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius (the Scorpion).

 A team of chemical engineers have discovered what may be the "ancestral Eve" crystal that billions of years ago gave life on Earth its curious and exclusive preference for so-called left-handed amino acids. The results are published in Crystal Growth and Design.

Researchers used mixtures of both left- and right-handed aspartic acid (an amino acid) in laboratory experiments to see how temperature and other conditions affected formation of crystals of the material.