Virginia Tech has a second Amorphophallus titanum, or “corpse plant,” ready to bloom and emit its intensely powerful stench. People are invited to tie bandanas over their noses and come see the rare and unusual plant.

The horticulture greenhouse containing the plant is open to visitors Monday through Friday, July 26-30, and August 2-6, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The likely date for the plant to bloom is Wednesday, Aug. 4, said Scott Rapier, greenhouse manager in the Department of Horticul

Scientists have developed a new screening technique to help them look for genes that change patients’ responses to cancer drugs and other medications.

Researchers looking for such connections confront an enormous hunting ground of approximately 33,000 human genes. Normally their only options for mounting a search in such a vast field are either to rely on anecdotal reports of dramatically altered patient reactions, or to conduct extensive surveys of the genes for all the proteins kn

Nature can reset the clock in certain types of cancer and reverse many of the elements responsible for causing malignancy, reports a research team led by Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch, in collaboration with Lynda Chin from Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The team demonstrated this by successfully cloning mice from an advanced melanoma cell.

“This settles a principal biological question,” says Jaenisch, who also is a professor of biology at MIT. “The epigenetic elements of cancer

Blood pressure readings recorded in a computerized database provide as much valid information on care as doctor’s notes, suggesting that automated health databases can help physicians monitor chronic diseases like hypertension, according to new research.

Extra information contained in doctors’ notes changed the assessment of whether or not high blood pressure was controlled for a given patient in fewer than 2 percent of the cases examined by Ann Borzecki, M.D., M.P.H., of the Bedfor

Reviewing the last 10 years of cancer research much as they might the production of a play complete with cast members, opening acts and an ever-twisting plot, two of the most cited names in science say that one of the most promising roles that newly discovered cancer genes may perform is in early detection, which likely will be as important as new treatments.

In an editorial review that is the centerpiece of Nature Medicine’s 10th anniversary August issue, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer

If your travel plans include a Caribbean cruise or another tropical destination, the August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers a convincing reason to pack the mosquito repellant — dengue fever.

Certain mosquitoes spread dengue (DENG-gay) fever, a severe flu-like illness that leaves you feeling miserable for one to two weeks. Dengue fever is a major health concern, with an estimated 50 million dengue infections occurring every year. There’s no treatment other than bed rest,

Men, if you’re trudging to the bathroom four or five times a night, it might be more than an inconvenience.

With age, many men develop an enlarged prostate. Symptoms such as frequent urination or difficulty starting urination may seem like nuisances you can tolerate. But if left untreated too long, an enlarged prostate can damage your bladder muscle and your kidneys.

The August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter recommends that men see their doctor sooner rather than later

After years of keeping your high blood pressure in check with diet, exercise and medication, you learn that yours suddenly is too high.

The August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter discusses why you and your doctor will want to find the reason for the sudden jump, called secondary hypertension.

Usually, high blood pressure has no known cause. Hypertension of this sort is called essential hypertension and develops gradually over many years.

Secondary hypertension

Because golf is a leisurely sport, many people don’t think of it as promoting heart health. Conversely, since it is easygoing, injuries are believed to be rare. The August issue of the Harvard Men’s Health Watch debunks these myths and advises readers how to benefit the most from their golf game.

Golf can be good for your health and safe for your heart. These health benefits don’t come from swinging your club, but from walking. Walking an average course for a round of golf can be as

Pregnant women may be volunteering to participate in HIV research without fully understanding the benefits or consequences, according to a study published today in BMC Medicine. Volunteers’ comprehension of studies or treatments should be tested to ensure that their consent is truly informed and voluntary, say the study’s authors.

International regulations for ethical conduct of research require that volunteers are presented with detailed scientific and legal information before consenting

Metabolism is regulated by a host of tiny proteins in the hypothalamus, the small segment of the brain controlling hunger. But those peptides can’t perform their fat-fighting function without the aid of PC1 and PC2 enzymes, according to new Brown University research.

Led by Brown Medical School professor and Rhode Island Hospital investigator Eduardo Nillni, the team found that PC1 and PC2 chop up the precursor of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), a process that sets the mole

Much like moving furniture around to create more space, cells dramatically rearrange their entire genome in order to allow the right genes to be turned on at the right time, new research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows.

This extensive chromosomal “remodeling” is accomplished by moving DNA packaging structures called nucleosomes to different spots in the genome. Once a nucleosome is moved from a site, the appropriate gene then can be expressed much more effici

When molecules in cells are stimulated by light, they respond by becoming excited and re-emitting light of varying colors (fluorescence) that can be captured and measured by highly sensitive optical equipment.

Now, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of Southern California are developing miniaturized spectroscopic instruments and computer software to take a real-time look at biochemical, functional and structural changes occurring within the cells and tissu

The fact that each white whale has individual voice is established by Russian scientists conducting research in the White Sea. Differences between white whales’ voices can be used in estimating their number.

“White whale individuals can be distinguished by the sound of voice practically like humans,” – tell V.M. Bel’kovich and S.A. Kreichi from the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology. The scientists observe the animals every year in the White Sea by the Bolshoi Solovetskii Isl

Isolated soy protein added to the diets of 14 men, all military veterans under treatment for advanced stages of type 2 diabetes, significantly lowered unwanted proteins in their urine and slightly raised desired HDL cholesterol levels in their blood, researchers say.

The two improved areas are linked to kidney disease and coronary heart disease, respectively, in patients with type 2 diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 18 million Americans have diabetes, with more than 9

Hotspots in two areas of a gene that encodes a specific signaling enzyme, or kinase, are vulnerable to a variety of mutations found in five types of brain cancers, according to a report published in the August 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

Mutations in the gene PIK3CA occur spontaneously as part of the brain tumor development rather than being passed genetically between generations, said Hai Yan, M.D., Ph.D., the senior scientist of the studies conducted by a collaborativ