Competition and conflict between males and females start inside the egg in some species, say scientists.

Birds, butterflies, and snakes have a genetic war between the sexes that influences the way they evolve, according to a new theory published in the April 7 issue of the journal Science.

“Genetic conflict is of great interest in evolutionary biology,” explained first author Paige M. Miller. Miller is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and

Research pioneers understanding of uranium toxicity

Low-grade uranium ore is nicknamed “yellowcake” for its color and powdered consistency. The Navajo have another name: Leetso, or “yellow monster.”

The yellow monster surfaced on the Navajo Nation with uranium mining that started in the 1940s and continued for the next several decades. In its aftermath came illnesses such as lung cancer among mine workers and worries about environmental contamination among people who l

A single dose of adult donor stem cells given to animals that have neurological damage similar to that experienced by adults with a stroke or newborns with cerebral palsy can significantly enhance recovery from these types of injuries, researchers say.

Using a commonly utilized animal model for stroke, researchers administered a dose of 200,000-400,000 human stem cells into the brain of animals that had experienced significant loss of mobility and other functions. The stem

Neural pathway could provide future drug targets for eating disorders

Researchers have discovered how the protein Hap1, which is abundant in the brain’s hypothalamus, serves as the link between circulating insulin in the blood and the neural circuitry that controls feeding behavior in mice. Illumination of the neural pathway used by hormones to regulate appetite and eating behavior could eventually provide new drug targets for treating eating disorders and obesity. The res

Bird Flu and Chikungunya – we have all heard about it in the media. But is there a reason to be frightened and how big is the risk for you to catch these diseases in reality?

On 6 April the COST Office in Brussels organised a seminar on Bird Flu and Chikungunya, both viral infections of different kinds. Professor Marc van Ranst, the leading expert in this field from the University of Leuven informed the seminar about these two diseases and the actual risks that they represent fo

The use of growth hormone therapy has been linked in some people to the development of colon polyps, a possible precursor to colorectal cancer – but medical researchers have debated the extent of a cancer risk.

In addition, the reason for a polyp link to growth hormone has been unclear. But new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicates the probable answer: loss of function of one of a pair of genes that normally would inhibit growth hormone signals i

Scientists have unexpectedly discovered that mice with the gene defect that causes colon cancer in humans can differ from normal mice in how they respond to radiation treatments. The large intestine carrying the gene defect in mice that received staggered doses of radiation was three to four times more resistant to the radiation than in control mice.

The researchers, led by Bruce Boman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Genetic and Preventive Medicine at Jefferson Medical Co

Fat may have finally met its match: laser light. Researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) have shown, for the first time, that a laser can preferentially heat lipid-rich tissues, or fat, in the body without harming the overlying skin. Laser therapies based on the new research could treat a variety of health conditions, including se

How long can you hold your breath? Scientists at the University of Oslo have recently discovered how the Crucian Carp, a close relative of the goldfish, is able to live for months without oxygen. The researchers hope that understanding how some animals cope with a lack of oxygen might give clues as to how to solve this problem in humans.

“Anoxia related diseases are the major causes of death in the industrialized world. We have here a situation where evolution has solved the problem of

A 37-year-old-mother, who gave birth to a low-weight preemie at 24 weeks, exhibited the first-found link in a human between bacteria found in the mouth and the amniotic fluid of a woman in preterm labor.

Using new DNA finger-printing techniques to find bacteria that cannot be cultured and grown in the lab, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland made the

Provides new perspectives on disease associated with HIV/AIDS

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have identified a critical human cell surface molecule involved in infection by Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), the virus that causes Kaposi’s sarcoma and certain forms of lymphoma. Kaposi’s sarcoma is a major cancer associated with HIV/AIDS, and it typically manif

Japanese encephalitis might be more widespread in Indonesia than previously thought. In a study published today in the open access journal BMC Medicine, researchers analysed the incidence rate of Japanese encephalitis, a potentially lethal disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus, in children living on the Indonesian island of Bali. The researchers found an incidence rate of 8.2 per 100,000 in children less than 10 years old. They conclude that contrary to previous findings, which were probably

Researchers at Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, have begun to disentangle the problem of chronic back pain using new statistical analyses.

They found that simply describing people as having “chronic back pain” might not be very useful.

The team from the Primary Care Sciences Research Centre at Keele carried out an in depth study of how peoples’ back pain changed over time and found four different pathways.

Dr Kate Dunn said: “We have found that people experie

FIBREX Medical has successfully completed a first dose in man study with its lead product, the anti-inflammatory peptide FX06. FX06 is developed to prevent reperfusion injury, an undesired inflammatory reaction after acute myocardial infarction. The now completed clinical trial measured tolerability and pharmacokinetics of FX06 in healthy volunteers. The study confirmed the excellent safety profile of FX06 that has already been seen in experimental animal studies.

The clinical trial w

The InterAcademy Medical Panel (IAMP), a global network of medical academies and medical divisions of academies of science and engineering, has officially endorsed the goals of the Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP). The endorsement took place at the conclusion of IAMP’s General Assembly in Beijing, China.

“The DCPP roadmap for improved global health,” says Guy de Thé, honorary professor at the Institut Pasteur, Paris, and co-chair of the IAMP executive board, “charts

Nearly one-third of American adults have high blood pressure, a major cause of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. But a new technique tested at the University of Florida could prove to be a long-term way to treat the disorder in humans, researchers say.

UF researchers kept blood pressure from worsening and nearly eliminated kidney damage in rats exposed to cold weather, which can constrict blood vessels and overload the kidneys with hormones, according to findings publ