Something Fishy?

	The Antarctic gravelbeard plunderfish (Artedidraco glareobarbatus), collected at a depth of 130 m near Franklin Island in the Ross Sea.

NSF-Funded Researcher Plucks Four Unknown Fish Species from Antarctic Waters
An Ohio University researcher who netted four species of fish previously unknown to science during a National Science Foundation (NSF) Antarctic research cruise says the discoveries confirm his hypothesis that the continent's frigid seas are a world-class evolutionary laboratory. "Antarctica is under-appreciated as an evolutionary site," argues Joseph Eastman, an anatomist who made his discoveries aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer, an icebreaker of the NSF's polar research fleet. "The oceanic waters surrounding the continent are a natural evolutionary laboratory comparable to the Hawaiian Islands or Lake Baikal in Russia."    More...

NSF Study Shows Dramatic Shift in Shares of Federal S&E; Support
The end of the Cold War and new national priorities were major contributors to dramatic shifts in the field mix, or "market share," of Federal support for Science and Engineering [S&E;] research between 1970 and 1997, according to a National Science Foundation [NSF] Issue Brief. The share of Federal S&E; research funding for the life sciences increased nearly by half - from 29.4 percent of the total mix to 43.1 percent, according to the report.    More...

NSF Director Testifies to Need for Research Integration
NSF Director Rita Colwell emphasized to members of Congress recently the need for "an investment strategy that reaches all fields and disciplines." In a March 3 statement before the Senate Science and Technology Caucus, she testified that this strategy should be "our highest priority," referring to a recent NSF report showing a sharp shift in the mix of federal support to various disciplines. Also, on March 4, Colwell testified to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA/HUD and Independent Agencies about NSF's emphasis, in its FY2000 budget request, on information technology and on biocomplexity.    More...

	Researchers restored a working copy of the gene that produces ferric reductase in a plant with a defective gene (left) and were able to restore the plant's ability to take in iron from the soil.

Gene for Iron in Plants Isolated; May Lead to Development of Nutrient-Rich Foods
Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have discovered a gene that helps plants take up iron from soil. This finding could eventually lead to development of iron-rich foods. Iron deficiency afflicts more than three billion people, according to the World Health Organization. Lack of nutrients in the diet is known as "hidden hunger," and is widely recognized as the world's biggest malnutrition problem. Plants are the principal source of iron in human diets, but low iron availability in soils often limits plant growth and uptake of this nutrient, according to scientist Mary Lou Guerinot of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.    More...