CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 5 (UPI) -- U.S. space shuttle Discovery will undergo a terminal countdown test this week in preparation for its STS-124 mission to the International Space Station.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the shuttle, now at its Kennedy Space Center launch pad, will under go its dress rehearsal countdown Tuesday through Friday.

Discovery and its seven-member crew are to lift off May 31 on a 13-day mission to deliver the Kibo laboratory's large Japanese Pressurized Module and its remote manipulator system to the space station, NASA said. Three spacewalks are scheduled for the mission.

STS-124 astronauts and space center ground crews will participate in the simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training.

LONDON, May 5 (UPI) -- British and other scientists say they've discovered a gene sequence that is linked with weight gain and a tendency to develop type 2 diabetes.

The researchers say their findings also show the gene sequence is significantly more common in those with Asian Indian rather than European ancestry.

The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, could lead to better ways of treating obesity, researchers said.

Scientists from Imperial College London and other international institutions discovered the sequence is associated with a nearly 1-inch expansion in waist circumference, a 4-pound gain in weight, along with a tendency to become resistant to insulin, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. The sequence is found in 50 percent of the U.K. population.

Until now, we have understood remarkably little about the genetic component of common problems linked with obesity, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, said Imperial College London Professor Jaspal Kooner, the paper's senior author. "Finding such a close association between a genetic sequence and significant physical effects is very important, especially when the sequence is found in half the population.?

The study is detailed in the journal Nature Genetics.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., May 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say there might be another emerging treat to computing other than viruses and worms: malicious hardware could soon become a problem.

Nearly all computer users are aware of viruses that can be downloaded either as an e-mail attachment or when someone visits a Web site. But soon hackers could up the ante even further. Samuel King and colleagues at the University of Illinois have shown how hackers might gain control of a computer by adding malicious circuits to its processor.

Because such circuits interfere with the computer at a deeper level than a virus, they effectively operate below the radar of antivirus software, said King.

But the researchers said sneaking malicious hardware onto a chip isn't as easy as installing a virus. The attackers must either have access to a chip during its design or manufacture, or be capable of manufacturing their own chips. It's not something someone would carry out on weekends, said King.

However, King told New Scientist magazine said some Apple iPods and Seagate hard drives were recently found to have been sold with viruses pre-installed, demonstrating their vulnerability.

IOWA CITY, Iowa, May 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have succeeded in killing established biofilms of Staphylococcus aureus by using one of the bacteria's own regulatory systems.

Although the discovery isn't ready for clinical application, University of Iowa researchers said their findings offer insight into a dispersal mechanism for staph biofilms and might help identify therapeutic targets.

Biofilms are communities of bacteria that grow on moist surfaces, including heart valves, bone and medical implants, the scientists said. Highly resistant to antibiotic therapy, biofilm infections represent a tough and dangerous medical problem.

We have shown that activating the cells' communication system, also known as quorum sensing, in established biofilms causes the biofilms to disperse rapidly, said Assistant Professor Alexander Horswill. This is the first report of an existing dispersal pathway in Staph aureus. If we can tap into this mechanism, then that might lead to better treatments.

The findings were published in the April 25 issue of the journal PL0S Pathogens.