A new study, to be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Political Economy, calculates the prospective gains that could be obtained from further progress against major diseases. Kevin M. Murphy and Robert H. Topel, two University of Chicago researchers, estimate that even modest advancements against major diseases would have a significant impact – a 1 percent reduction in mortality from cancer has a value to Americans of nearly $500 billion. A cure for cancer would be worth about $50 t
A group of Japanese scientists has discovered that cannabinoids can cause some white blood cells to lose their ability to migrate to the sites of infection and inflammation. These findings, which appear in the May 5 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could have potential use in the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs.
The cannabinoids are a group of chemicals that include marijuana. These compounds bind to and activate the body’s cannabinoid receptors. There are
Efforts now directed a understanding genetic causes of disease
The sequencing of human chromosome 3 announced in the current issue of the journal Nature represents a milestone for the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center – the final stage of its multi-year project to sequence the human genome.
Researchers at the BCM genome sequencing center in Houston are now using the information to discover the genetic basis for human disease, said Dr. Richard
WHAT: Marburg haemorrhagic fever is an uncommon disease. In some outbreaks in Africa, nearly 90 percent of cases have been fatal. Such high mortality rates make Marburg virus, the agent that causes the disease, a great concern for researchers developing medical countermeasures against potential bioterrorist threats. Currently there is no effective way to prevent or treat Marburg virus after someone is infected, but new research appearing in this week’s issue of the journal The Lancet may chang
Global warming and other threats are killing coral reefs through a phenomenon known as bleaching. But why do some corals survive? A new study, published in Nature, is the first to document a trait that helps some coral species live through, and recover from, bleaching. The survivors’ secret: Ramped up feeding rates.
In an experiment with three species of Hawaiian corals researchers found that, when bleached, the branching coral Montipora capitata sharply increased its intake of tin
Although linguists have argued that certain patterns of language organization are the exclusive province of humans — perhaps the only uniquely human component of language — researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of California San Diego have discovered the same capacity to recognize such patterns and distinguish between them in Sturnus vulgaris, the common European starling.
In the April 27, 2006, issue of Nature, the researchers show that these starlings – long kn
Supports earlier controversial finding, may help explain superconducting mechanism
An international collaboration including two physicists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory has published additional evidence to support the existence of “stripes” in high-temperature (Tc) superconductors. The report in the April 27, 2006, issue of Nature strengthens earlier claims that such stripes — a particular spatial arrangement of electrical charges — mig
Taking advantage of the high sensitivity of ESA’s XMM-Newton and the sharp vision of NASA’s Chandra X-Ray space observatories, astronomers have studied the behaviour of massive fossil galaxy clusters, trying to find out how they find the time to form…
Many galaxies reside in galaxy groups, where they experience close encounters with their neighbours and interact gravitationally with the dark matter – mass which permeates the whole intergalactic space but is not directly
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is providing astronomers with extraordinary views of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 as it disintegrates before our eyes. Recent Hubble images have uncovered many more fragments than have been reported by ground-based observers. These observations provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the demise of a comet nucleus.
Amateur and professional astronomers around the world have been tracking the spectacular disintegration of 73P/Schwassmann-Wach
For more than two hundred years, Christians, Jews and Muslims have lived and worked in close proximity in Spitalfields, east London. Dr Anne Kershen, of Queen Mary, University of London’s Department of Politics, will chair a panel discussion next week with representatives of the three religions to discuss notions of identity and cultural and religious difference in the community.
Dr Kershen will chair the discussion on interfaith and tolerance between Rev Dr Kenneth Leech, Priest, writer
Researchers at the University of Manchester are testing a secret herb in a bid to stop the severe hot flushes that besiege breast cancer patients on hormone treatment.
Professor Alex Molassiotis, of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, says the herb – one of the mint family, found in any kitchen – is thought to stop the hot flushes and night sweats which can be so bad that some women have to change their clothes three or four times a night.
It is traditionall
Research investigating attention in infancy has revealed that, at just four months old, babies are able to organise visual information in at least three different ways, according to brightness, shape, and how close the visual elements are together (proximity). These new findings mean that very young infants are much more capable of organising their visual world than psychologists had previously thought. The study also has implications for understanding certain developmental disorders such as Williams
Leading academics will meet this week to explore the initial findings from research into the views of consumers around the metabolic syndrome and its perceived health risks.
The research is part of a €12.5m project entitled Lipgene, which is funded by the EU. The metabolic syndrome is the focus of the project; this disease is characterised by a number of strongly inter-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease including obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin-resistance and hyperten
MIT brain researchers have developed a “cocktail” of dietary supplements, now in human clinical trials, that holds promise for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
For years, doctors have encouraged people to consume foods such as fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids because they appear to improve memory and other brain functions.
The MIT research suggests that a cocktail treatment of omega-3 fatty acids and two other compounds normally present in the blood, co
Certain species of coral have surprised researchers by showing an unexpectedly successful approach towards survival when seriously bleached. Their innovative strategy is gluttony.
The discovery, derived from experiments on coral reefs in Hawaii , provides new insights into how these tiny animals face a multitude of environmental threats. The report by Ohio State University researchers is published in the current issue of the British journal Nature.
During the past dec
New animal studies conducted at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies show that the only human gene therapy treatment to date considered to be largely successful, is, in fact, riskier than realized.
The Salk researchers, led by Inder Verma, Ph.D., a professor in the Laboratory of Genetics, discovered that the healthy copy, which replaces the defective gene can itself promote cancer development. Their findings appear in this week’s issue of the journal Nature.
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