U of S Discoveries Ranked in Discover's 2003 Top 100 Science Stories

Posted December 18, 2003


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 18, 2003 2003-12-09-OTHER

U of S Discoveries Ranked in Discover's 2003 Top 100 Science Stories

Two of the Top 100 Science Stories of 2003 selected by Discover magazine
involve University of Saskatchewan (U of S) research.

The U of S is cited for the 35th-ranked scientific story of the year - a
discovery about the ovulation process by Professor Roger Pierson and his
team that could help explain why some women ovulate while taking birth
control.

The magazine quotes Pierson as saying, "We are literally going to have to
rewrite medical textbooks."

The ninth-ranked scientific story of the year involved U of S particle
physicist Chary Rangacharyulu who is part of an international team that has
discovered a new sub-atomic particle -- one that may change our
understanding of physics and the very early universe. The discovery was made
at the SPring-8 synchrotron in Osaka, Japan.

"We're very proud that these two accomplishments by some of our outstanding
researchers have been recognized in this listing of the top science stories
around the world," said Steven Franklin, U of S Vice-President Research.
"The fact that one of the year's top discoveries involved a synchrotron is a
sign of exciting things to come when the Canadian Light Source starts
operations on campus next year."

Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the
ground-breaking ovulation research also involved Angela Baerwald, the lead
author on the article who recently received her Ph.D. in clinical
reproductive biology from the U of S, and Gregg Adams, a professor with the
Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the U of S.

The new knowledge published last July may lead to the design of new, safer
and more effective contraception and may change the way infertility is
treated. More information is available at:
http://www.usask.ca/events/news/articles/20030708-1.html

"This is certainly exciting news," said Pierson, who directs the U of S
Reproductive Biology Research Unit. "It's the culmination of 20 years of
work going back to when Gregg Adams and I discovered the follicular wave
process in animals, and it's great to see it all coming together like this.
It's also terrific that this discovery was part of a graduate student's
thesis work."

Pierson said cross-campus collaboration was key to the research success.
"It's quite unusual to have a medical college and vet college on the same
campus and even more unusual to have two people from those colleges working
together," he said.

He also praised "the spirit of volunteerism" amongst patients. "Without the
many volunteers that participate in our studies, this wouldn't haven't been
possible and we're very grateful to them," he added.

Rangacharyulu was the only Canadian on a team led by Takashi Nakano of Osaka
University who reported in July that his team had detected a pentaquark, a
bizarre subatomic particle built from five quarks. Quarks are the building
blocks of protons and neutrons, which in turn make up the nucleus of atoms.
Physicists were aware of two- and three-quark particles, but had searched in
vain for five-quark particles for more than three decades.

"Further research on the pentaquark is likely to revise our conception of
physics," said Rangacharyulu. He notes that the pentaquark may have been
common in the very early universe and could affect theories of how the
universe began. More information is available at:
http://www.usask.ca/events/news/articles/20030905-1.html

Rangacharyulu has spent the last seven years working on the project and his
summer students and a postdoctoral assistant participated in preparing the
experiments at the SPring-8 synchrotron.

The discovery, picked up by such publications as Nature, New Scientist and
The New York Times, is also cited a one of the three top physics stories of
2003 by the American Institute of Physics.

U of S is among four Canadian universities cited on Discover's Top 100
Science Story list.

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For more information, contact:

Professor Roger Pierson
College of Medicine
U of S Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
(306) 966-4458

Professor Chary Rangacharyulu
U of S Physics and Engineering Physics
(306) 966-6412

Kathryn Warden
U of S Research Communications
(306) 966-2506
www.usask.ca/research
www.lightsource.ca/