Govt for stricter penalty in ‘rarest of rare’ rape cases

NEW DELHI: Forced on the back foot by unprecedented public fury over the savage gangrape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus last Sunday, the government on Saturday announced its intent to immediately amend the law to provide for death penalty in "rarest of rare" rape cases.

Simultaneously, five police personnel found responsible for lapses that led to the gangrape going undetected despite the bus passing at least three check points have been suspended and a commission of inquiry is being set up to review the crime and the police response, according to home minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

"To ensure a strong law to deal with crimes of this nature, the government will take immediate steps for the amendment of the criminal law for enhanced and more effective punishment in the rarest of the rare cases of sexual assault," Shinde told a special media briefing on Saturday after police and protestors clashed through the day.

Although Shinde did not clearly commit that "enhanced punishment" meant death penalty, the proposed "rarest of rare" clause as in the case of a death sentence for murder comes in the backdrop of a deafening chorus of demands, backed by opposition BJP, for prescribing capital punishment for rape. The minister insisted the issue needs to be weighed legally.

The briefing came in the wake of sharp criticism that the government was "absent" in the face of public demonstrations and after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Shinde urging them to ensure a speedy investigation so that the guilty could be punished without delay.

Even if the law ministry eventually shies away from placing capital punishment within anti-rape laws, legal experts say there are other avenues to make the law more stringent. This may include making such "rarest of rare" rape crimes non-bailable on the lines of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or providing for a life sentence that extends to the lifespan of the rapist.

Shinde said the commission of inquiry, to be set up under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1951, will review the response to the gangrape and suggest measures to enhance the security and safety of women in the Capital. The act gives the inquiry a certain sanctity as the government is bound to present an action taken report.

Shinde, however, ruled out a special session of Parliament to legislate laws to punish rape as demanded by leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

A day after home secretary R K Singh lauded the police for having cracked the gang-rape case swiftly, Shinde announced the decision to suspend five police personnel. It is understood more action may follow as the complaint of a vendor robbed by the accused shortly before the crime was not taken seriously. Also, the account of the victim's male friend that they had been thrown out of a white bus failed to result in a quick response.

The measures were announced by Shinde on a day when spontaneous protests by thousands of youngsters at Rajpath took on a clear anti-Congress hue. This was evident as at least two anti-Congress slogans coined by the Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party - "Jiski Sonia mummy hai, woh sarkar nikammi hai" and "Sonia Gandhi soti hai, desh ki mahila roti hai" - figured prominently in the protests.

Through the day, the government came under fire from protestors and the media for its silence. The Prime Minister remained closeted in meetings, further enraging the agitating students. The lack of an assurance of decisive action by Shinde, Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit or senior home ministry officials ensured the protestors stayed put, blocking the access to VIP areas on Raisina Hill.

Sonia's intervention seeking quick action and stern punishment for the gang-rape accused and an increasingly militant sea of protestors forced the government not only to open a channel of communication with agitated students but also to announce decisive measures meeting their demands for enhanced maximum punishment.

Shinde, who also met some student leaders on Saturday evening, sought to assure the protestors that the government shared their outrage and is doing all possible to fast-track the trial. He said though the government respected their right of legitimate protest, the police had little option but to use force, though minimal, when the protestors started forcing themselves beyond the barricades.

"The government is with you and shared your outrage...We have heard and acknowledge your protests over what has happened and will do whatever is possible ... Please rest assured and return to your homes," Shinde appealed to the protestors through the media.

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Urban Advocates Say New Gun Control Talk Overdue

For years, voices have cried in the urban wilderness: We need to talk about gun control.

Yet the guns blazed on.

It took a small-town slaughter for gun control to become a political priority. Now, decades' worth of big-city arguments against easy access to guns are finally being heard, because an unstable young man invaded an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., with a military-style assault rifle and 30-bullet magazines. Twenty young children and six adults were slain.

President Barack Obama called the tragedy a "wake-up call." Vice President Joe Biden met Thursday with Obama's cabinet and law-enforcement officers from around the country to launch a task force on reducing gun violence. Lawmakers who have long resisted gun control are saying something must be done.

Such action is energizing those who have sought to reduce urban gun violence. Donations are up in some places; other leaders have been working overtime due to this unprecedented moment.

The moment also is causing some to reflect on the sudden change of heart. Why now? Why weren't we moved to act by the killing of so many other children, albeit one by one, in urban areas?

Certainly, Newtown is a special case, 6- and 7-year-olds riddled with bullets inside the sanctuary of a classroom. Even in a nation rife with violence, where there have been three other mass slayings since July and millions enjoy virtual killing via video games, the nature of this tragedy is shocking.

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But still: "There's a lot of talk now about we have to protect our children. We have to protect all of our children, not just the ones living in the suburbs," said Tammerlin Drummond, a columnist for the Oakland Tribune.

In her column Monday, Drummond wrote about 7-year-old Heaven Sutton of Chicago, who was standing next to her mother selling candy when she was killed in the crossfire of a gang shootout. Also in Chicago, which has been plagued by a recent spike in gun violence: 6-year-old Aaliyah Shell was caught in a drive-by while standing on her front porch; and 13-year-old Tyquan Tyler was killed when a someone in a car shot into a group of youths outside a party.

Wrote Drummond: "It has taken the murders of 20 babies and six adults in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Connecticut to achieve what thousands of gun fatalities in urban communities all over this country could not."

So again: What took so long? The answers are complicated by many factors: resignation to urban violence, even among some of those who live there; the assumption that cities are dangerous and small towns safe; the idea that some urban victims place themselves in harm's way.

In March, the Children's Defense Fund issued a report titled "Protect Children, Not Guns 2012." It analyzed the latest federal data and counted 299 children under age 10 killed by guns in 2008 and 2009. That figure included 173 preschool-age children.

Black children and teens accounted for 45 percent of all child and teen gun deaths, even though they were only 15 percent of the child/teen population.

"Every child's life is sacred and it is long past time that we protect it," said CDF president Marian Wright Edelman in the report.

It got almost no press coverage — until nine months later, when Newtown happened.

Tim Stevens, founder and chairman of the Black Political Empowerment Project in Pittsburgh, has been focusing on urban gun violence since 2007, when he said Pennsylvania was declared the worst state for black-on-black violence.

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Hagel, under fire as possible nominee, says remarks on gays “do not reflect my views”

President Obama’s leading choice to head the Pentagon, former senator Chuck Hagel, issued an apology Friday for “insensitive” comments he had made about gays, moving to shield his potential nomination from a growing chorus of criticism.

Hagel’s apology came a day after the country’s leading gay rights organization, the Human Rights Campaign, described the former Nebraska Republican’s past statements and record as “unacceptable.”

The flashpoint was a 1998 statement opposing the nomination of a gay philanthropist, James Hormel, to be ambassador to Luxembourg. Hagel said at the time that an “openly aggressively gay” diplomat might be an ineffective representative of American values.

“My comments 14 years ago in 1998 were insensitive,” Hagel said in a written statement issued by his office Friday. “They do not reflect my views or the totality of my public record, and I apologize to Ambassador Hormel and any [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] Americans who may question my commitment to their civil rights.

“I am fully supportive of ‘open service,’ ” he added, “and committed to LGBT military families.”

Chad Griffin, the HRC’s president and a top fundraiser for Obama’s reelection campaign, said Hagel’s apology was appreciated and demonstrated “just how far as a country we have come when a conservative former senator from Nebraska can have a change of heart on LGBT issues.”

But Hormel said Friday that he questioned the sincerity of Hagel’s apology — which was delivered through the media — and said the incident still raises concerns about the potential nominee’s commitment to gay rights.

Hagel’s statement did not address complaints from some pro-Israel activists that he was not sufficiently supportive of the Jewish state during his 12 years in office. Many conservatives, citing that record and his opposition to former president George W. Bush’s policies in Iraq, have expressed concern about a Hagel nomination.

On Friday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), said that he intended to oppose Hagel should he get the nod.

Gay rights advocates had expressed concern about Hagel in part because the next defense secretary will have to continue the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on openly gay service members.

White House aides in recent days had placed calls to advocates reassuring them that any Defense Department nominee would abide by Obama’s principles on gay rights issues. A former Hagel aide noted Friday that he did not vote against Hormel’s nomination and is on record opposing a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Hagel received support Friday from a group of former generals and admirals, including Brent Scowcroft, a retired Air Force lieutenant general who was a top national security adviser to presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.

“Senator Hagel has stood up for what he believes are the best interests of the United States for many years, regardless of party or politics,” the group wrote. The letter called Hagel a “voice of moderation and balance in an unbalanced time.”

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Hugh Grant wins 'substantial' phone-hacking damages

LONDON: Hugh Grant has accepted a "substantial sum" from Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid publisher over phone hacking by the News of the World, the British actor's lawyer said on Friday.

The "Four Weddings and a Funeral" star will donate the damages to the Hacked Off campaign against press intrusion.

"My aim has always been to ensure that cash is redistributed from Mr Murdoch to help those his company has harassed," Grant said in a statement through the campaign group.

His lawyer Mark Thomson said the damages would be transferred to Hacked Off as soon Grant, 52, receives the payment, with a statement made in open court in the New Year.

"Hugh Grant has today settled his claims for damages and other legal remedies arising out of the unlawful activities of News of the World journalists and others over a number of years," Thomson said in a statement.

"News Group Newspapers (NGN) have agreed to pay him a substantial sum by way of damages. He has instructed us to donate all of his damages plus an additional payment from him to the Hacked Off campaign for a free and accountable media."

Grant, one of the most high-profile celebrity victims of phone-hacking by the News of the World, has become a vocal campaigner for press reforms since media baron Murdoch was forced to close down the 168-year-old tabloid weekly over the scandal in 2011.

Revelations that the newspaper's staff accessed the voicemail messages of a murdered schoolgirl, as well as dozens of celebrities, politicians and sport stars, had prompted a wave of public disgust.

The scandal sparked a judicial inquiry into press ethics and three police investigations.

NGN has since paid compensation to dozens of people, including actors Jude Law and Sienna Miller, footballer Ashley Cole and former deputy prime minister John Prescott.

A Hacked Off spokesman said: "At the outset of his legal action, Hugh Grant announced that any damages would be going to Hacked Off to be spent on providing support for victims of phone hacking and other press abuse, especially those who don't have access to expensive lawyers.

"Mr Grant is one of a growing list of donors who are helping to ensure that the campaign is well-funded for the battle ahead, and can continue to represent people who would otherwise be without a voice in the debate."

Hacked Off is campaigning for the recommendations of judge Brian Leveson's inquiry into press ethics to be implemented in full, including a new independent regulator with statutory backing.

- AFP/jc

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Sistema, Kudankulam shadow over Putin visit

NEW DELHI: Even as India and Russia are poised to sign almost a dozen agreements during President Vladimir Putin's day-long visit on Monday, Sistema and Kudankulam promise to sour the summit.

India has told Russia that it would not intervene in the Sistema imbroglio. The Russian telecom company, which is owned by a close friend of Putin's, had its licence cancelled in the wake of the 2G scam. Sistema did not participate in the auction, and instead asked the government to lower the floor price.

A bigger problem occurred because there are now no more takers for the CDMA technology. However, Russian ambassador Alexander Kadakin told journalists on Friday that it was a "political" and not a judicial decision. Russia has consistently maintained that governments can take decisions that courts may not be able to take. Senior officials in the Indian government say the government just cannot intervene.

India, however, will buy 42 more Sukhoi 30-MKIs from Russia, a decision that was cleared by the Cabinet. Kadakin said there are other deals in energy and defence that would be signed.

But Kudankulam remains another abiding problem. Kadakin said Kudankulam 3 and 4 are "grandsons" of 1 and 2, and therefore should escape the liability law. "It is normal for functioning of international treaties and agreements and long established practice that it cannot be retroactive," he said.

The Indian government has refused. This is likely to mar discussions on the subject as well. India is also likely to raise concerns about the delay in Gorshkov, which is now expected to arrive only at the end of 2013. "This is a sophisticated state-of-the-art weapon system. We want a baby delivered who will be healthy, smiling and shouting. So, I don't think you should be disappointed. If you want a good health baby, let us wait," Kadakin said.

"Let us wait till Monday. All kinds of agreements... We are cooperating in various fields. I am saying from the outer space to sea bottom. Even the sky is not the limit. That is why, a number of agreements, which will embrace and cover all fields of human activity between India and Russia, will be signed," Kadakin added.

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter Institute

Mounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.

Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to.

"You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations," she said.

For example, the A. flavus fungi that she used to write this message from Santa grows very quickly. "The next day, after looking at this plate, it didn't say 'Ho Ho Ho.' It said 'blah blah blah,'" Mounaud said.

The message also eventually turned green, which was the color she was initially after. "It was a really nice green, which is what I was hoping for. But yellow will do," she said.

The hat was particularly challenging. The fungus used to create it "was troubling because at different temperatures it grows differently. The pigment in this one forms at room temperature but this type of growth needed higher temperatures," Mounaud said.

Not all fungus will grow nicely together. For example, in the hat, "N. fischeri [the brim and ball] did not want to play nice with the P. marneffei [red part of hat] ... so they remained slightly separated."

Published December 21, 2012

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Critics Slam NRA's Call for Armed School Guards

Gun control advocates slammed the National Rifle Association today for its proposal to create a force of armed security guards at schools across the country as a response to the Connecticut school shooting.

"It is beyond belief that following the Newtown tragedy, the National Rifle Association's leaders want to fill our communities with guns and arm more Americans," Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said.

Criticism mounted after the NRA addressed for the first time last week's school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in which Adam Lanza, 20, used a semiautomatic weapon to open fire on students and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 26 at the school.

NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre this morning dismissed the notion that the pro-gun group of about 4 million members would support any kind of gun-control laws, instead saying that "the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

Rep. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who represents the district encompassing Newtown, reacted angrily to the comments after attending the funeral of another victim from last Friday's massacre.

"Walking out of another funeral and was handed the NRA transcript. The most revolting, tone deaf statement I've ever seen," @ChrisMurphyCT tweeted.

LaPierre argued that the answer to gun violence in schools is an armed security force that can protect students, made up of trained volunteers stationed at every school across the country.

"It's not just our duty to protect [our children], it's our right to protect them," LaPierre said at a news conference. "The NRA knows there are millions of qualified active and reserved police, active and reserve military, security professionals, rescue personnel, an extraordinary corps of qualified trained citizens to join with local school officials and police in devising a protection plan for every single school."

He was interrupted twice by protestors who stood in front of LaPierre's podium holding signs and shouting that the NRA "has blood on its hands" and that the NRA is "killing our kids."

The protestors were eventually escorted out of the room.

Lautenberg, who has introduced legislation that would ban large-capacity ammunition magazines, called the NRA "irresponsible."

"The NRA points the finger of blame everywhere and anywhere it can, but they cannot escape the devastating effects of their reckless comments and irresponsible lobbying tactics," Lautenberg said.

Mark Kelly, a former NASA astronaut and husband of former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in Arizona, said, "The NRA could have chosen to be a voice for the vast majority of its own members who want common sense, reasonable safeguards on deadly firearms, but instead it chose to defend extreme pro-gun positions that aren't even popular among the law-abiding gun owners it represents."

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

National Rifle Association Calls for Armed Security at Schools Watch Video

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The Violence Policy Center, a gun-control advocacy organization, said the NRA's idea of arming security guards at schools would not stop school violence.

"The NRA plan, which cynically allows for the continued sale of the assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines marketed by its gun industry corporate donors, has already been tried, and it did not work," the group said in a statement released today.

It pointed to the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, in which two armed police officers were at the school when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire. The officers exchanged gunfire with the killers, but were unable to stop them from their rampage.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi conceded that the issue is "complicated, but she said the NRA's call for an escalation "is not a positive force" in the renewed gun-control debate.

"For the NRA and others to sort of shield themselves by saying it's the mentally ill or something, and therefore we have to have more armed cops in the schools or more guns in the school -- what are they -- are they going to have [a gun] on the teacher's desk?" Pelosi wondered.

"'Wait a minute, man with a gun; I have it locked up someplace. Wait until I go get it.' I mean, this ... just doesn't make sense; we've got to reduce violence."

LaPierre had dismissed the notion that banning so-called assault weapons or enacting gun-control laws would stop school violence. He instead cast blame for gun violence in schools on violent entertainment, including video games, and the media.

"How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame from a national media machine that rewards them with a wall of attention they crave while provoking others to make their mark?" he asked.

LaPierre announced that former U.S. congressman Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas would lead the NRA's effort to advocate for school security forces. Hutchinson specified that the NRA, with about 4 million members, is calling for volunteers to act as the armed guards, rather than requiring funding from local or federal authorities.

"Whether they're retired police, retired military or rescue personnel, I think there are people in every community in this country who would be happy to serve if only someone asked them and gave them the training and certifications to do so," Hutchinson said.

NRA leaders have held off on interviews this week after refusing to appear on Sunday morning public affairs shows. They said they would grant interviews beginning next week to discuss their position.

NRA News anchor Ginny Simone said Thursday that in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, membership surged "with an average of 8,000 new members a day."

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the NRA is partially to blame for the tragedy.

"We're not trying to take away your right to advance the interests of gun owners, hunters, people who want to protect themselves," Bloomberg told "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden in an interview Thursday. "But that's not an absolute right to encourage behavior which causes things like Connecticut. In fact, Connecticut is because of some of their actions."

The guns used in the attack were legally purchased and owned by the shooter's mother, Nancy Lanza, whom Adam Lanza shot to death before his assault on the school.

In the aftermath of the shooting, many, including Bloomberg, have called for stricter regulations on the type of weapons used in this and other instances of mass gun violence this year.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has said she intends to introduce a bill banning assault weapons on the first day of next year's Congress -- a step the president said he supports.

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Britain's Cameron visits troops in Afghanistan

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday paid a pre-Christmas visit to British troops serving in Afghanistan, insisting that the "high price" paid by servicemen had been worthwhile, his office said.

Cameron told reporters that Afghan security forces were "doing better than expected" as he defended plans for the British force to be cut to 5,200 next year, according to his office.

The premier, who was touring Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, said he was confident that the draw-down of nearly half of British troops, announced in parliament on Wednesday, would not pave the way for an increase in terrorist activity.

"The fact is they (Afghan security forces) are doing better than expected," he said.

"This is withdrawal. This is draw-down based on success, not on failure."

He added that the move was "being done for good military reasons and it has been done in a proper way.

"We're confident it can be done while making sure Afghanistan does not return to become a haven of terrorism which is of course why we came here in the first place," stressed the prime minister.

Britain has the second largest force in Afghanistan after the United States and has lost 438 troops in Afghanistan since the operation began to topple the Taliban in October 2001 following the 9/11 attacks.

Brigadier Bob Bruce, commander of Task Force Helmand, backed the prime minister's comments, saying standards had "risen markedly" over the last year.

"The Afghans working with us now really are in control," he told the BBC. "The insurgency is still there. It's not gone but it doesn't dictate things."

Cameron joined in a carol service and played table-football with soldiers during Thursday's flying visit. He also announced 230 million in extra funding for equipment.

This will go toward providing additional Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detectors, more military working dogs and an upgrade to armoured vehicles.

The leader claimed that Afghanistan was now a "far better place than it was when we came here in 2001", but admitted it remained a "deeply challenged country".

"We have paid a very heavy price but I think the reason for coming here in the first place, which was to stop Afghanistan being a haven for terror... I think it was the right decision," he explained.

He said on Wednesday that there was no final decision on how many troops would stay in Afghanistan after the end of combat operations in December 2014 but said some would remain to help return equipment to Britain and to deal with logistics.

Britain would also honour its commitment to help set up an officer training academy for the Afghans, as well as contributing military assistance and aid programmes, he added.

The US military currently has about 66,000 troops on the ground as part of a NATO-led force of roughly 100,000.

- AFP/fa

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Rajya Sabha passes UAPA amendments amid protest

NEW DELHI: Parliament on Thursday passed a bill that makes economic offences, including circulation of high quality counterfeit currency, a terrorist act.

The Rajya Sabha passed Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2012 by voice vote while several parties, including Left, JD(U), RJD and LJP walked out in protest. The bill was already passed by Lok Sabha.

In the Rajya Sabha, discussion on the bill generated much heat. Besides protests by opposition parties, some MPs of the Congress and its allies, the RJD and the National Conference, warned the government against misuse of the anti-terror law, especially against Muslims.

The CPM moved an amendment seeking to take trade unions out of the purview of this Act, but it was defeated.

CPM MP Sitaram Yechury likened the bill to POTA that the Congress-led UPA-1 government had repealed. The Left parties were proving outside support to the UPA government then. "We repealed the POTA together... by bringing this bill, you have brought back the same draconian measures (of POTA) that we repealed together," Yechury said.

The bill reverses the logic of jurisprudence by saying a person will be considered guilty until proven innocent, said Yechury.

In response, minister of state for home R P N Singh said, "This bill has nothing to do with other laws (like POTA). It is to prevent counterfeit currency that is weakening our economy."

Member after member cited instances where Muslims arrested in terrorist cases were released after years in jail when the courts called them innocent.

While Singh assured the bill was not against any religion, Shivanand Tiwari of JD(U) said even POTA was religion neutral but the 'draconian' law was misused. D Raja of the CPI asked the government to "defer the bill for wider consultation before passing it in hurry".

Md Adeeb, Independent MP from Uttar Pradesh, cited instances of misuse of existing anti-terror laws and asked the government to ensure accountability of policemen who frame innocent people.

Besides economic offences, the bill expands the definition of terrorist act to include acts involving detention, abduction, threats to kill or injure, or other actions so as to compel an international or inter-governmental organization to comply with some demand.

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Hollies Get Prickly for a Reason

With shiny evergreen leaves and bright red berries, holly trees are a naturally festive decoration seen throughout the Christmas season.

They're famously sharp. But not all holly leaves are prickly, even on the same tree. And scientists now think they know how the plants are able to make sharper leaves, seemingly at will. (Watch a video about how Christmas trees are made.)

A new study published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society suggests leaf variations on a single tree are the combined result of animals browsing on them and the trees' swift molecular response to that sort of environmental pressure.

Carlos Herrera of the National Research Council of Spain led the study in southeastern Spain. He and his team investigated the European holly tree, Ilex aquifolium. Hollies, like other plants, can make different types of leaves at the same time. This is called heterophylly. Out of the 40 holly trees they studied, 39 trees displayed different kinds of leaves, both prickly and smooth.

Five holly leaves from the same tree.

Photographs by Emmanuel Lattes, Alamy

Some trees looked like they had been browsed upon by wild goats and deer. On those trees, the lower 8 feet (2.5 meters) had more prickly leaves, while higher up the leaves tended to be smooth. Scientists wanted to figure out how the holly trees could make the change in leaf shape so quickly.

All of the leaves on a tree are genetic twins and share exactly the same DNA sequence. By looking in the DNA for traces of a chemical process called methylation, which modifies DNA but doesn't alter the organism's genetic sequence, the team could determine whether leaf variation was a response to environmental or genetic changes. They found a relationship between recent browsing by animals, the growth of prickly leaves, and methylation.

"In holly, what we found is that the DNA of prickly leaves was significantly less methylated than prickless leaves, and from this we inferred that methylation changes are ultimately responsible for leaf shape changes," Herrera said. "The novelty of our study is that we show that these well-known changes in leaf type are associated with differences in DNA methylation patterns, that is, epigenetic changes that do not depend on variation in the sequence of DNA."

"Heterophylly is an obvious feature of a well-known species, and this has been ascribed to browsing. However, until now, no one has been able to come up with a mechanism for how this occurs," said Mike Fay, chief editor of the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society and head of genetics at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. "With this new study, we are now one major step forward towards understanding how."

Epigenetic changes take place independently of variation in the genetic DNA sequence. (Read more about epigenetics in National Geographic magazine's "A Thing or Two About Twins.")

"This has clear and important implications for plant conservation," Herrera said. In natural populations that have their genetic variation depleted by habitat loss, the ability to respond quickly, without waiting for slower DNA changes, could help organisms survive accelerated environmental change. The plants' adaptability, he says, is an "optimistic note" amidst so many conservation concerns. (Related: "Wild Holly, Mistletoe, Spread With Warmer Winters.")

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