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: Chronic Fatigue
A virus linked to prostate cancer also appears to play a role in chronic fatigue syndrome, according to research that could lead to the first drug treatments for a mysterious disorder that affects 17 million people worldwide. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute and the Cleveland Clinic in Nevada found the virus, known as XMRV, in the blood of 68 out of 101 chronic fatigue syndrome patients. The same virus showed up in only 8 of 218 healthy people. The XMRV virus is a retrovirus, like the HIV virus that causes AIDS. As with all viruses, a retrovirus copies its genetic code into the DNA of its host but uses RNA—a working form of DNA—instead of using DNA to do so. The researchers emphasised that the finding only shows a link between the virus and chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS, and does not prove that the pathogen causes the disorder. Much more study would be necessary to show a direct link, but the researchers said the study offers hope that CFS sufferers might gain relief from a cocktail of drugs designed to fight AIDS, cancer and inflammation. AIDS drugs could be tested as potential treatments for CFS, which impairs the immune system.
Quantum Question
Extracting entangled electrons from superconductors could help to create quantum-computing networks. It might even put the theory of quantum mechanics through one of its toughest tests yet. Hopes for building a working quantum computer hinge on physicists’ ability to intertwine electrons into pairs such that changes made to one instantly affect its partner—a process called entanglement. Photons can be entangled relatively easily; electrons are much harder. This is a big problem if we ever want to integrate quantum computing with electronic chips, say researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland. The team set up an aluminium superconductor and built an escape route for the electrons using nanowires. Ironically, the key to extracting the electrons is to make it almost impossible for them to cross these wires by applying a high voltage that acts as a barrier. The laws of quantum mechanics allow pairs of electrons to ‘tunnel’ through the barrier only very occasionally—helping the team to isolate and control the pairs as they slowly break out. The technique has important implications for quantum computing. For many years, it didn’t look like we would see many advances for quantum information processing in solid-state systems. This is the...
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