Stopping the Genocide in Congo (NY Times)

アフリカ

とうとうコンゴの話題はNY Timesの論説に挙がってしまった。安保理で決まったフランスを中心としたの平和維持軍は1400人、バングラデシュから軍が派遣されるまでの暫定的なもの。論説では軍隊が少なすぎること、権限が限られていることを心配している。

The soldiers will be able to use force to protect civilians but will not be able to leave Bunia, the capital. Yet much of the population has fled to the countryside, and massacres are occurring there. We worry that the troops may be too few and have too limited a mandate to do what is needed: stop the killings, end the flow of weapons from neighboring countries and disarm the militias. The French-led contingent and its new powers are also temporary. When Bangladeshi soldiers arrive in September, they will come with a weaker mandate, leaving them unable even to protect civilians in the capital.

今日は朝日でようやくコンゴ記事を見つけた。

Stem cell 'immortality' gene found (New Scientist)

幹細胞

The gene found in mouse ESCs and some human equivalents appears to be the "master gene", co-ordinating other genes to allow stem cells to multiply limitlessly while still retaining their ability to differentiate. It has been christened Nanog after the land in Celtic myth called Tir nan Og, whose inhabitants remain forever young.

奈良先端科学技術大学院大学の山中伸弥助教授らのチームも独立に同じ発見。セル誌に並んで掲載。

  • Mitui et al.(2003) "The Homeoprotein Nanog Is Required for Maintenance of Pluripotency in Mouse Epiblast and ES Cells" [Abstract]
  • Chambers et al.(2003) "Functional Expression Cloning of Nanog, a Pluripotency Sustaining Factor in Embryonic Stem Cells" [Abstract]

Washington Postに関連記事あり。