Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have found a fundamental mechanism used by embryonic stem cells to assure that genetically damaged stem cells do not divide and pass along the damage to daughter stem cells.

Their discovery, detailed in an advance online publication of the journal Nature Cell Biology, solves the longstanding mystery of how embryonic stem cells, which have the potential to divide an unlimited number of times and differentiate to make all of the ce

Both ibuprofen and acetaminophen are safe and effective for treating migraine headaches in children and adolescents, according to the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society, whose new practice guideline is published in the December 28 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The guideline has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Headache Society.

Among adolescents, sumatriptan nasal spray

Longer and more intense physical activity may help people maintain their cognitive skills as they age, according to a 10-year study of elderly men published in the December 28, 2004 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study reviewed the data of 295 men, born between 1900 and 1920, from the Finland, Italy and Netherlands Elderly (FINE) Study. Beginning in 1990, researchers measured the duration and intensity of physical activities su

A team led by Johns Hopkins scientists has found the first clear evidence that the process behind the human immune system’s remarkable ability to recognize and respond to a million different proteins might have originated from a family of genes whose only apparent function is to jump around in genetic material.

“Jumping genes” essentially cut themselves out of the genetic material, and scientists have suspected that this ability might have been borrowed by cells needing to build

The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI), culminating a 16-year effort, has completed its share of the Human Genome Project with the publication of the DNA sequence and analysis of chromosome 16 in the Dec. 23 issue of Nature.

“The Department of Energy is very proud of its historic role in the sequencing of the human genome–and very excited by the advances our pioneering discovery-class science now is making possible in the fields of both medicine and energy,”

By impaling individual chromosomes with glass needles one thousandth the diameter of a human hair, a Duke University graduate student has tested their “stickiness” to one another during cell division. Her uncanny surgical skills have added a piece to the large and intricate puzzle of how one cell divides into two — a process fundamental to all organisms.

In the Dec. 14, 2004, issue of Current Biology, Leocadia Paliulis and Bruce Nicklas report their progress in understanding how

Researchers at The Molecular Sciences Institute revealed means for sensitive detection and precise quantification of arbitrarily designated molecules. The work is published in the current issue of Nature Methods.

The Cover Article, entitled “Using protein-DNA chimeras to detect and count small numbers of molecules,” describes “tadpole” molecules, and their use to detect and count small numbers of proteins and other molecules.

Detection and quantification methods based o

Professor Xiaolian Gao’s research unlocks potential for new medications, vaccines and diagnostics

Devices the size of a pager now have greater capabilities than computers that once occupied an entire room. Similar advances are being made in the emerging field of synthetic biology at the University of Houston, now allowing researchers to inexpensively program the chemical synthesis of entire genes on a single microchip.

Xiaolian Gao, a professor in the department of b

Fascinated by the efficient way the human immune system generates a rapid response to create a near-infinite variety of antibodies, researchers have “hijacked” that machinery and used it to evolve a new type of fluorescent protein.

The mutation process, called somatic hypermutation (SHM), normally acts on immunoglobulin genes, producing a large array of antibodies necessary to attack microbes and other foreign substances that the immune system may never have encountered before. Th

The latest holiday gifts being offered to the scientific community this season by scientists in the laboratory of Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Roger Y. Tsien come in a dazzling variety of hues — cherry, strawberry, tangerine, tomato, orange, banana and honeydew. The color spectrum would make Pantone proud.

No, Tsien’s group is not giving out fruit baskets; the names describe vibrant new varieties of fluorescent protein that the researchers have created to tag

Among women in their child-bearing years, even minimal amounts of unwanted hair in male-type patterns – especially in the presence of other subtle changes – may be a sign of a hormonal imbalance linked to a variety of serious side effects and medical conditions, according to the December 2004 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

In a study of 188 women conducted by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB

Researchers at McMaster University have developed the first assessment tool of its kind for evaluating risks faced by Canadians suffering from a rare and often fatal bleeding disorder.

Their detailed bleeding questionnaire helps discriminate between patients – often in the same family – affected by a puzzling and rare condition known as Quebec Platelet Disorder (QPD) and those who are not.

The new tool for detecting different symptoms and complications was developed in

If you want to avoid allergies or asthma, scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School suggest you start paying more attention to what’s in your gut.

In the January 2005 issue of Infection & Immunity, U-M researchers report new evidence suggesting that changes in the normal mixture of microflora – bacteria and fungi in the gastrointestinal tract – can intensify the immune system’s reaction to common allergens, like pollen or animal dander, in the lung and increase the

Breast implants after mastectomy to treat breast cancer do not reduce the long-term survival of patients, reveals the first study on the long-term effects of breast implants, published today in Breast Cancer Research.

Previous studies have shown that breast implants do not have adverse health effects for cancer patients in the short term, but no representative study has addressed the question in the long term.

Gem Le from the Northern California Cancer Centre and col

A new option for non-invasive colorectal cancer testing may encourage some people who avoid screening for the deadly disease to be tested.

A study published in the December 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reports that a non-invasive test for DNA mutations present in stool has an encouraging rate of detecting colorectal cancer compared to the standard non-invasive method — fecal occult (hidden) blood stool testing, although neither approached the detection rate of

Sudden cardiac death from emotional stress may be triggered by uneven signals from the brain to the heart, according to a study by University College London (UCL) scientists published in the January issue of Brain.

UCL researchers have discovered that a system which normally coordinates signalling from the brain to different parts of the heart may be disrupted in some people, making them vulnerable to potentially fatal abnormal heart rhythms during mentally taxing tasks or emotiona