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Discovery fleshes out metabolism of key environmental and energy bacteria

An international collaboration of researchers has discovered a new enzyme in a species of bacteria with potential environmental cleanup and energy roles.

2 Feb 2009

Differences in recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse

When a child experiences a traumatic event, such as sexual abuse, it may not be until well into adulthood that they remember the incident.

2 Feb 2009

New genetic clues on molecular evolution of Q fever pathogen

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Texas A&M Health Center, and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have uncovered genetic clues about why some strains of the pathogen Coxiella burnetii are more virulent than others.

2 Feb 2009

Combined measures of maternal drinking can predict resulting problems in children

While many people are aware that drinking during pregnancy can lead to a range of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), including the serious Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), linkages between maternal-drinking measures and child outcomes have been inconsistent.

2 Feb 2009

Cell-building discovery offers great potential for basic cell biology, drug and tissue research

Brown University biomedical engineers can now grow and assemble living microtissues into complex three-dimensional structures in a way that will advance the field of tissue engineering and may eventually reduce the need for certain kinds of animal research.

2 Feb 2009

New way to fight off bacteria

Whenever humans create a new antibiotic, deadly bacteria can counter it by turning into new, indestructible super-bugs.

2 Feb 2009

Distrust of medical research more common among African American parents

Distrust of medical research appears more common among African American parents than white parents and may present a barrier to enrollment of minority children in research studies, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

2 Feb 2009

The state of America's health care is poor

"The state of America's health care is poor," Jeffrey P. Harris, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), reported today at the annual State of the Nation's Health Care briefing.

2 Feb 2009

New potential targets for colitis-associated cancer

Recent research from the laboratory of Michael Karin, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine - the first researcher to demonstrate a molecular link between inflammation and cancer - has identified two potential targets for the prevention and treatment of colitis-associated cancer (CAC), the most serious complication of inflammatory bowel disease.

2 Feb 2009

The end of sex as we once knew it

Women are not from Venus any more than men are from Mars. But even though both sexes are perfectly terrestrial beings, they are not lacking in other differences. And not only in their reproductive organs and behavior, either, but in such unsexy characteristics as the propensity for drug abuse, fine motor control, reaction to stress, moods and many brain structures.

2 Feb 2009

Study identifies potential 'safe period' for hormone replacement use

A new study makes important new findings on the role of hormone use on the risk of breast cancer, confirming that the use of estrogen plus progesterone increases the risk of both ductal and lobular breast cancer far more than estrogen-only; suggesting a two-year 'safe' period for the use of estrogen and progesterone; and finding that the increased risk for ductal cancers observed in long-term past users of hormone replacement therapy drops off substantially two years after hormone use is stopped.

2 Feb 2009

BioGenes as new designated partner in EU funded dementia project

BioGenes GmbH, a specialist in sophisticated antibody development, has been chosen as a new partner of cNEUPRO. cNEUPRO is a EU funded research project to analyse neurodegenerative diseases and discover novel biomarkers, and so improve early and differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia.

2 Feb 2009

New insights into growth factor's role in brain development

New research sheds light on a neural growth factor called proBDNF, finding that it is present and potentially active during the perinatal period when the brain's circuitry and memory-encoding regions are being refined.

2 Feb 2009

Rare skin tumor responds better to treatment thanmelanoma

University of Michigan Health System researchers have published new data to help answer two dreaded questions: "Is it cancer?" and "What type of treatment should I have?"

2 Feb 2009

Swimming can cut men's risk of dying in half

A new study shows that swimming cuts men's risk of dying by about 50% compared to runners, walkers and sedentary peers.

2 Feb 2009

Inflammation in colon may get doused before fueling cancer development

A tiny molecule found in most plant-based foods douses the flames before damaging lesions can form in the colon, according to a study by Texas AgriLife Research scientist Dr. Nancy Turner.

2 Feb 2009

The origin of species may be almost as random as a throw of the dice

Iosif Pinelis, a professor of mathematical sciences at Michigan Technological University, has worked out a mathematical solution to a biological puzzle: Why is the typical evolutionary tree so lopsided?

2 Feb 2009

Weight loss in overweight and obese women reduces urinary incontinence

Reducing urinary incontinence can now be added to the extensive list of health benefits of weight loss, according to a clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

2 Feb 2009

Researchers study Iraq veterans' traumatic brain injuries

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been identified as the "signature injury" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

2 Feb 2009

Brain cells called astrocytes, not neurons, lull the brain to sleep

Brain cells called astrocytes help to cause the urge to sleep that comes with prolonged wakefulness, according to a study in mice, funded by the National Institutes of Health.

2 Feb 2009