It is commonly believed that carbohydrates, particularly sugar, are a cause of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. However, such thinking has been challenged following the publication of a thorough appraisal of the evidence, in the latest edition of Nutrition Research Reviews.

Dr Neville McClenaghan, from the University of Ulster , conducted a large review of scientific studies investigating the effect of high and low carbohydrate diets on blood glucose control in people with and wi

Astronomy buffs who jumped at the chance to use their home computers in the SETI@home search for intelligent life in the universe will soon be able to join an Internet-based search for dust grains originating from stars millions of light years away.

In a new project called Stardust@home, University of California, Berkeley, researchers will invite Internet users to help them search for a few dozen submicroscopic grains of interstellar dust captured by NASA’s Stardust spacecr

Some HIV medications lead to the development of drug-resistant HIV when patients take as few as two percent of their medications. For other medications, resistance occurs only when patients take most of their pills. These differences appear to be explained by the different levels of viral “fitness” of the drug-resistant HIV, say AIDS researchers in a new study.

The research, led by David Bangsberg, MD, MPH, an AIDS specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, is reported in

This week, doctors at the Catholic University of Leuven, connected with the University Hospital – Gasthuisberg, the Stem Cell Institute Leuven (SCIL), and the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), are publishing a major breakthrough in the treatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction. Their research shows that the administration of a patient’s own stem cells has a significant positive effect on the heart’s recovery: in the patients studied, the size of the infarct was

On 13 January the new Carl-Ivar Brändén Building (CIBB) will be inaugurated on the Polygone Scientifique Campus in Grenoble, France. The CIBB will be operated as a collaboration between major international and national partners based in Grenoble and is a further step in the development of the region as a European centre of excellence for structural biology.

The CIBB comprises two complementary units: the Partnership for Structural Biology (PSB), whose members include the Europea

Scientists characterize large numbers of independently expressed, non-protein-coding RNA genes in the introns of protein-coding genes

Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have performed a comprehensive analysis of small, non-protein-coding RNAs in the model nematode, C. elegans. They characterize 100 heretofore-undescribed transcripts, including two novel classes; they provide insights into the genomic structure and transcriptional regulation of non-coding RNAs; an

Project aims to consolidate information, coordinate efforts

E.coli is one of the most important model organisms for molecular science today and is arguably the single organism about which the most is known. The genes of higher-level plants and animals, even humans, are often understood by their similarity to E. coli genes. As such, the accuracy and completeness of E.coli genome information is of great importance to the scientific community.

In an attempt to consolidate

The thin, single-cell boundary where a tumor meets normal tissue is the most dangerous part of a cancer according to a new study by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers found that tumor cells bordering normal tissue receive signals that tell them to wander away from the tumor, allowing the cancer cells to establish deadly metastatic tumors elsewhere in the body.

The researchers say their discovery demonstrates the importance of

Discovery of memory mechanism provides clues to how humans learn speech

Researchers at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, believe they have located a place in the brain where songbirds store the memories of their parents’ songs. The discovery has implications for humans, because humans and songbirds are among the few animals that learn to vocalize by imitating their caregivers.

In a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sc

Contrary to popular thinking in athletics, traditional neck muscle resistance training may not protect athletes from head injuries.

For eight weeks, kinesiologists at Temple University worked with male and female Division I intercollegiate soccer players to see if a resistance training program would reduce the player’s head acceleration during impact. According to Ryan Tierney PhD, director of Temple’s Graduate Athletic Training Program, head impacts experienced during

A spoon full of sugar may help the medicine go down, but most dentists would likely encourage parents to skip that step when treating a child’s illness. However, most parents might not realize that even without the sugar, some children’s medicines may cause cavities while they’re fighting other health issues, according to a report in the January/February issue of General Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD) clinical, peer-reviewed journal.

Antihistamine syrups are frequen

Dental implants, an artificial tooth root surgically anchored into a jaw to hold a replacement tooth or several teeth in place, offer a permanent solution to replace lost or extracted teeth. Implants have become a treatment of choice for some patients to eliminate the need for removable partial or complete dentures. Other patients choose implants for esthetic purposes or to conserve tooth structure in an otherwise cavity-free mouth.

However, according to a recent report in the Novembe

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center researchers report aggressive surgical removal of as much cancer as possible throughout the abdomen in ovarian cancer patients is the best option for most women. Results of the study are published in the January issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

“This study provides further evidence that surgery to remove as much tumor as possible at the initial operation is the best option for most patients,” says William Cliby, M.D., Mayo Clinic gynecologic oncologist a

Men and women may share more similarities than previously thought when it comes to the risk factors for major depression, according to a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.

In the January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, researchers reported that although there is a wide range of risk factors for depression that can act at different stages of development, the patterns of causes of depression for men and women are fairly similar. Some of these

A team of researchers, led by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has found that a gene variant for a bitter-taste receptor on the tongue is associated with an increased risk for alcohol dependence. The research team studied DNA samples from 262 families, all of which have at least three alcoholic individuals. The families are participating in a national study called the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). COGA investigators report in the J

While dogs keep dying from eating pet food tainted with aflatoxin, Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is announcing it has developed protein tests that accurately indicate a dog’s liver failure caused by the toxin.

In late December, some dogs from the Eastern and Southeastern United States have become either seriously ill or have died after eating dog food manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods. The dog food was tainted with aflatoxin. About 17 severe case