Gum-tree genome
Unravelling the genetic secrets of the Eucalyptus genus is the goal of the Eucalyptus Genome Network, launched on 4 July. The resulting DNA sequences, should enable the breeding of fast-growing trees, providing biomass for fuel, superior pulp for fibre and paper, and improved capacity to absorb carbon dioxide.
First light
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An instrument that takes pictures in seven wavelengths simultaneously has snapped its first image from the La Silla Observatory in Chile, the European Southern Observatory said on 6 July. The Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector will help determine distances to gamma-ray bursts.
Back to the infant universe
They are the most distant galaxies yet seen. Using the 10-metre Keck II telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, Richard Ellis of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and his team found six star-forming galaxies, they announced on 11 July. The galaxies are about 13 billion light years away 鈥� so they appear as they were when the universe was only 500 million years old.
Mammoth find
The 10,000-year-old remains that popped out of the permafrost in north-west Siberia in May could be the best-preserved mammoth ever found. The female calf, which died aged 6 months, will be sent to Japan, where some scientists want to clone a mammoth from preserved DNA.
Colon cancer clue
A gene variant carried by half the population may increase the risk of developing colon cancer by 20 to 30 per cent. The gene, yet to be identified, sits in a region of human DNA called 8q24, three teams report in Nature Genetics (; ; ). They hope the discovery may one day be used to help screen people to find those most at risk.