Nearly 99 percent alike in genetic makeup, chimpanzees and humans might be even more similar were it not for what researchers call “lifestyle” changes in the 6 million years that separate us from a common ancestor. Specifically, two key differences are how humans and chimps perceive smells and what we eat.

A massive gene-comparison project involving two Cornell University scientists, and reported in the latest issue of the journal Science (Dec. 12, 2003), found these and many other differen

New approaches yield gene-rich regions, accelerate sequencing

Decoding of a variety of plant genomes could accelerate due to two complementary methods that remove from analysis vast stretches of DNA that do not contain genes.

The approaches, applied jointly in efforts to determine the gene sequences in maize, are described in the Dec. 19 issue of the journal Science. The evaluation of these methods and the assembly of the resulting sequences were undertaken by two groups led

Humans are not alone in suffering the ravages of aging. Cockroaches endure it, too.

Case Western Reserve University researchers reported in the Journal of Experimental Biology that as the roach’s life wanes between 60-65 weeks after the onset of adulthood, and the cockroach slows down, experiences stiff joints and has problems climbing and a decreased spontaneous fleeing response. Death comes shortly after the onset of these movement problems.

Angela Ridgel, a post doc

In one of the clearest models of cancer metastasis, scientists have shown that spreading cancer cells receive growth-sustaining signals from nearby blood vessels telling them where to go for permanent nourishment and oxygen.

These signals actually protect the fledgling cancer cells long before new blood vessels have grown around the cancer to supply it with a more permanent source of nutrients and oxygen, said the researchers from the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Their result

Researchers find oral sex, masturbating linked to recurrent infections

Women may blame their husbands or boyfriends for headaches, tears and stress. But they can’t be blamed for those nasty recurrent yeast infections, contrary to popular belief.

A new study by University of Michigan Health System researchers finds that the presence of yeast in male sex partners do not make women more prone to recurrent yeast infections. Certain sexual activities, however, were linked to

The gemstone opal could be manufactured synthetically copying a technique employed by a beetle to control the appearance of its outer shell.

Researchers from the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford have discovered the first case of opal in an animal, in this case in the weevil Pachyrhynchus argus, found in forests in north-eastern Queensland, Australia. This animal produces a photonic crystal structure analogous to that of opal, which gives it a relatively uniform, metallic co

International HapMap Project begins the cartography of human genome variation

Tracking down genes involved in health and disease and the response of patients to therapies is a principal goal of contemporary biomedical research. In the December 18 issue of Nature, the International HapMap Consortium describes the new tools and approaches it has developed that will enhance the ability of scientists to identify disease-related genes and to develop corresponding diagnostic and therapeutic

Many of our actions are guided by past experiences combined with insight into the future. A major mystery of biology involves understanding how brain cells can create a representation that extends backward and forward through time. A new study conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine published in the December 18th issue of Neuron begins to unravel the brain activity that underlies concurrent processing of the recent past, the present and the imminent future.

Memories that

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the absence of two proteins cells use to cope with heat stress can make it easier for the cells to become cancerous, but that same absence also makes it harder for cancerous cells to survive exposure to heat and radiation.

The findings mark the two proteins, Heat shock protein (Hsp) 70.1 and 70.3, as potential targets for gene therapy that could increase cancer cells’ vulnerability to treatments.

A combination of drugs is significantly more effective than either drug alone for preventing progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), especially in men at high risk for disease progression, according to a study appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine tomorrow.

The Medical Therapy of Prostatic Symptoms (MTOPS) Trial tested whether finasteride (Proscar), doxazosin (Cardura) or a combination of the drugs could prevent progression of BPH and the need for surgery or other inva

Research News from British Journal of Surgery

The surgery needed to remove throat tumours is severe and often involves drawing the stomach higher into the chest cavity. Before surgeons embark on this risky procedure they need to believe that the patient has a good chance of benefiting from the operation.

Endoscopic ultrasonography is a fairly new technique, and so far there has been relatively little use of it in the UK. But a study of 150 patients with throat cancer found th

Resurgence may be due to greater resistance to pesticides, socioeconomic conditions

“Bed bugs were once a common urban plague. But with the development of synthetic insecticides such as DDT and spray systems during the Second World War, they were largely eliminated,” says Dr. Tim Myles, an urban entomologist and author of the study published U of T’s Centre for Urban and Community Studies in a recent research bulletin.

Reports of bed bugs by Toronto pest control companies a

Physicians and researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center found that children with sickle cell disease who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the home have more complications from the disease than those who live in a smoke-free environment. The study was published in the December issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

“Exposure to environmental or passive tobacco smoke increased the risk of sickle cell crisis by 90 percent, and was not influenced by

Saint Louis University researchers receive a patent after decades of research.

Can the common cold ever be a good thing? It is if you’ve figured out a way to genetically engineer the virus so that it fights and kills cancerous cells – while leaving healthy cells intact.

That’s been the work of Dr. William Wold and his colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine for the last 30 years.

“The potential is understandably huge,” said Wold, whose wor

Knowledge could lead to new vaccines, treatments, detection and decontamination technologies

In the age-old battle between man and microbe, it pays to know your enemy. This is especially true for Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax. Tiny spores of this highly infectious pathogen can survive drought, bitter cold and other harsh conditions for decades, yet still germinate almost instantly to infect and kill once inside an animal or human host.

In a collaborat

Premenopausal women with lymph node-negative breast cancer should receive adjuvant therapy tailored according to the estrogen receptor status of the primary tumor, concludes a study by the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) reported in the December 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-negative (i.e., endocrine nonresponsive) breast cancer should receive adjuvant chemotherapy, according to the study, whereas for patients