Two groups of scientists have uncovered key secrets of success of a major pathogen responsible for recent food poisoning outbreaks. The ability of Salmonella bacteria to act quickly, both on an evolutionary timescale and during the early minutes of infection, has been investigated in detail for the first time.

This month more than 1,700 cases of Salmonella food poisoning from chicken were reported in Spain and earlier outbreaks in Europe have been linked to lettuce and eggs.

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet have discovered a previously unknown virus that has been found to affect children. The virus, called human bocavirus, was identified by the team using a new method for virus discovery on respiratory tract samples drawn from children at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. Their findings are published in the latest issue of PNAS (the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA).

Respiratory problems caused by infection of the l

Higher doses needed to produce effect, more research needed to clarify risks

A new report from the Nurse’s Health Study finds that regular, long-term aspirin use can significantly reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, as suggested by several earlier studies. However, the benefit appears to require more than a decade and is strongest at dose levels associated with a greater risk of side effects such as bleeding. Similar results were found for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dr

Earlier detection and treatment could prevent impaired mental development

A unique blood test detects iron deficiency in infants earlier and more accurately than the commonly used hemoglobin screening test, according to a study in the August 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Iron deficiency is estimated to affect nearly 10 percent of American children one to two years of age. Early detection and treatment are critical because iron deficiency

A team of scientists at UCL (University College London) has discovered why we often miss major changes in our surroundings – such as a traffic light turning green when we’re listening to the radio. Our inability to notice large changes in a visual scene is a phenomenon often exploited by magicians – but only now can scientists put their finger on the exact part of the brain that is so often deceived.

The UCL team shows, in a research paper published in the September issue of

FA class of drugs known as MAO-B inhibitors may be effective in improving motor symptoms in people with early Parkinson’s disease and may delay the need for treatment with other drugs, according to a new systematic review of current evidence.

However, contrary to results from other studies, the researchers found that MAO-B (monoamine oxidase B) inhibitors do not appear to slow the disease’s progression.

“ The benefits of MAO-B inhibitors are small but may be worthwhile i

Patients with primary biliary cirrhosis who are treated with methotrexate have an increased risk of death, according to a new systematic review of studies.

In five randomized controlled trials involving 457 people, the authors report that for patients treated with methotrexate, as a single therapy or in combination with other drug treatment, pooled data showed a tendency toward an increased risk of death or liver transplantation. The brand names for methotrexate are Rheumatre

A new study by NYU dental researchers suggests that women with dental caries (cavities) who deliver Caesarean-section babies should pay special attention to their newborns’ oral health.

The NYU researchers focused on a caries-causing bacterium that mothers with caries transmit to their newborns. Known as Streptococcus mutans, the bacterium grows on tooth surfaces and in crannies between teeth just above the gum line, where it multiplies and converts foods, especially those co

National Institute on Aging (NIA) researchers have discovered a new gene, FANCM, which sheds light on an important pathway involved in the repair of damaged DNA. Specifically, mutation in this gene is responsible for one of the forms of Fanconi anemia (FA), a rare genetic disorder that primarily affects children. Like many rare, inherited diseases, understanding this gene’s role in the development of FA provides insights into other medical problems — in this case, age-related conditions includi

French scientists have learned how Listeria monocytogenes, which causes a major food-borne illness, commandeers cellular transport machinery to invade cells and hide from the body’s immune system. They believe that other infectious organisms may use the same mechanism.

The Listeria bacterium, found in soil and water, can be transmitted to humans via undercooked and unpasteurized food, causing flu-like symptoms or gastrointestinal distress. For individuals with weakened immune sy

Researchers have developed a new technique for creating human embryonic stem cells by fusing adult somatic cells with embryonic stem cells. The fusion causes the adult cells to undergo genetic reprogramming, which results in cells that have the developmental characteristics of human embryonic stem cells.

This approach could become an alternative to somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a method that is currently used to produce human stem cells. SCNT involves transferring the nu

Research in monkeys suggests that a new drug can temporarily improve performance and reverse the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain, which would be a breakthrough in helping shift workers, health professionals, military personnel and others who must function at top performance in spite of sleep deficits.

“In addition to improving performance under normal conditions, the drug restored performance that was impaired after sleep loss,” said Samuel Deadwyler, Ph.D., senior rese

Warm-blooded creatures maintain a relatively stable body temperature that cannot tolerate the stress of intense heat (or cold). When it’s too hot proteins destabilize and degrade–in some cases, with fatal results. But some bacterial and archaeal organisms appear to defy nature (as we think of it) by flourishing in extremely high temperatures. The archaeal microbe Pyrobaculum aerophilum, for example–originally found in a boiling marine water hole in Italy–thrives at ~100 °C (212 °F).

Protein thought to promote lymphoma by merely preventing cancer cells from dying appears to actively promote cancer cell growth

A protein previously thought to merely hinder the activity of a key cellular protein linked to cancer cell death, now appears to mimic the cellular signaling of that protein; potentially leading to the development of lymphoma. The findings, published in the Aug. 22 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), demonstrate that

A forthcoming paper in the international, open-access journal PLoS Medicine makes the strongest association yet between a newly identified virus and the pediatric respiratory disease commonly known as croup. Following their recent description of the coronavirus HCoV-NL63, Lia van der Hoek and colleagues suggest this is one of the most frequently detected viruses in children with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs). These infections are estimated by the World Health Organization to be re

In a step that advances our ability to discern the ancient evolutionary relationships between different genes and their biological functions, researchers have provided insight into the present-day outcome of a single gene duplication that occurred over a hundred million years ago in an ancestor of modern plants. The work is reported in Current Biology by a team led by Brendan Davies of the University of Leeds, England.

Gene duplication–a relatively uncommon event in which a single co