Scientists at Northwestern University and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have reprogrammed malignant melanoma cells to become normal melanocytes, or pigment cells, a development that may hold promise in treating of one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

A report describing the group’s research was published in the Feb. 27 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that will appear in the March 7 issue of the journal.

The experiments were

In the first study of native African honeybees and honey-making stingless bees in the same habitat, humans and chimpanzees are the primary bee nest predators. Robert Kajobe of the Dutch Tropical Bee Research Unit and David Roubik from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute report this finding in the March, 2006 issue of Biotropica.

Batwa Pygmies, who have traditionally harvested honey for food, located 228 bee nests (both honeybees and stingless bees) for the study. Roubik i

In addition to triggering a depression-like social withdrawal syndrome, repeated defeat by dominant animals leaves a mouse with an enduring “molecular scar” in its brain that could help to explain why depression is so difficult to cure, suggest researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

In mice exposed to this animal model of depression, silencer molecules turned off a gene for a key protein in the brain’s hipp

New technique provides insight into how DNA conforms to microarray surfaces

A team of researchers from Boston University has developed a new application to enable more precise measurement of the location of a fluorescent label in a DNA layer. According to their study, published in a recent issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new technique provides insight into the shape of DNA molecules attached to a surface, such as microarrays used in genomics research

Researchers at MIT have devised a new method for examining how radiation damages normal tissue in the body. The knowledge may make it possible to reduce side effects for cancer patients or to develop treatments for radiation exposure.

About 50 percent of all cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy, either alone or in combination with some other type of treatment. Radiation can be very effective in killing tumor cells, but it also kills normal tissues nearby. In the gas

Chemicals that mimic the body’s natural hormone oestrogen are known to affect a woman’s risk of breast cancer. Evidence is mounting that the aluminium-based compound, which often makes up quarter of the volume of some antiperspirant agents, can break through the skin and that once in the body it could mimic oestrogen. A review just published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology calls for further research to evaluate the potential that this could increase the risk of getting breast cancer.

“Obesity increases the risk of contracting cancer”, states Dr. Javier Salvador, Director of the Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University Hospital of the University of Navarra.

Overweight has become a worldwide epidemic, not only in industrialised countries, but also in developing ones where problems of malnutrition go hand in glove with high percentages of obesity. The rates are currently rising at an alarming pace. In Spain some 15% of the population suffer f

Teenage boys being treated for cancer should be encouraged to bank their sperm so they might enjoy a family life in the future, say researchers at the University of Manchester.

Dr Guy Makin, at the School of Medicine’s Division of Human Development and Reproductive Health, suggests giving better quality information on sperm banking to patients as young as 13, as well as training medical professionals to discuss the issue with them.

Several types of chemotherapy can damag

Repeating mantrams can help control the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, have a calming effect in traffic and even ease the boredom of exercise, according to a study published in the latest issue of the UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.

83 per cent of veterans and hospital staff surveyed after a five-week mantram course told researchers from the US Department of Veterans Affairs that they found the technique – which involves silently and continuously repeating calmin

Certain breast lesions diagnosed as benign on core needle biopsy have cancer at surgical excision and thus should be removed, according to a study appearing in the March issue of Radiology.

“Our study shows that all papillary lesions of the breast should be surgically excised to avoid missing a cancer,” said the study’s lead author, Cecilia L. Mercado, M.D., assistant professor of radiology at New York University Medical Center in New York City.

Papillary lesions

Procedure to remove small tumors near inner ear shows promise at preserving hearing

Even when they’re extremely small, tumors on the nerves that connect the brain to the ear can wreak havoc on a person’s hearing and balance. But removing them is a delicate process that can, in some cases, cause further harm.

That’s why a new study from the University of Michigan Medical School is encouraging. Researchers found high rates of success at preserving patients&#1

The proliferation of patents in the emerging stem cell field may impede scientists from developing new treatments, says Merrill Goozner of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.

Patent restrictions on the use of stem cells, says Goozner, can discourage researchers from pursuing a particular line of inquiry and can slow the pace of research.

Funders of stem cell research, such as the newly created California Institute fo

As much as neuroscientists know about the neural processes that signal touch, surprisingly little is understood about the neural correlates of conscious perception of tactile sensations. In a new study in the open-access journal PLoS Biology, Felix Blankenburg, Jon Driver, and their colleagues turn to a classic somatosensory illusion—called the cutaneous rabbit—that is perfectly suited to decoupling real and illusory touch. In the illusion, a rapid succession of taps is delivered first to the wris

Since its introduction to the United States in 1999, West Nile virus has become the major vector-borne disease in the U.S., with 770 reported deaths, 20,000 reported illnesses, and perhaps around a million people infected. The virus is transmitted by Culex mosquitoes (the “vector”) and cycles between birds that the mosquitoes feed on. Humans can also be infected with the virus when bitten by these mosquitoes.

Scientists have struggled to explain these large outbreaks in the U.S.,

Genetically controllable self-destruction of cells or apoptosis (originating from the Greek “apoptosis” – defoliation) – is one of important processes in animate nature. Surprising transformations of embryos as they grow, development and disappearance of organs and tissues – all these are apoptosis’ work. It can protect from disease or cancer or it can mutilate and kill, for example, in case of infarct or autoimmune diseases when a lot of cells perish at once.

Biochemists from the Scienti

Dr. Lizi Wu (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) and colleagues report on a critical role for one of the three mammalian mastermind genes (Maml1) in myogenesis – assigning that first biological function to the mammalian MAML Notch co-activators.

“Our study uncovered an exciting and essential regulatory role for Maml1 in muscle development,” says Wu.

Dr. Wu and colleagues generated MAML1-deficient mice, which displayed severe muscular dystrophy. The researchers showed that the