additional risk, he says, comes from the very property that regenerative medicine wants replacement organs to possess, namely invisibility to the immune system. " Tissues derived from iPSC may share with ES cells the potential to display immune privilege which may provide a 'safe haven' in which rare transformed cells may develop into tumours or viral pathogens may flourish under the radar of t...

But the giant weta from New Zealand holds the record as the heaviest insect. As a flightless insect, it has put on the bulk. A female measuring just 80 mm long has been recorded at 71 grammes. In perspective, most beetles at this length probably weigh 5 grammes and birds of this size would probably weigh 12 grammes. And, of course, the colonial insects break records. Jones notes that leafcutter...

spend the next nine months without making landfall. And it is becoming increasingly clear that very little is known about the birds during this time. As they breed only above 50 degrees latitude, they are considered cold-water birds, but researchers working with puffins breeding at England's largest colony on the Farne Islands are concerned about their winter environment as there has recently b...