A new study increases the understanding of the biological mechanisms responsible for the nausea and vomiting that often afflict patients undergoing chemotherapy. The findings could lead to the development of new approaches to combat these debilitating side effects.
Eurasian reed warblers captured during their spring migrations and released after being flown 1,000 kilometers to the east can correct their travel routes and head for their original destinations.
A brief bout of non-REM sleep obtained during a daytime nap clearly benefits a person's declarative memory performance. It was discovered that, across three very different declarative memory tasks, a nap benefited performance compared to comparable periods of wakefulness, but only for certain subjects.
An archaeologist discovered an intact ancient iron ore mine in South America that shows how civilizations before the Inca Empire were mining this valuable ore. The Nasca people may have used the red-pigmented mineral primarily for ceramic paints, but they also could have used it as body paint, to paint textiles and even to paint adobe walls.
The genetic alphabet contains four letters. Although our cells can readily decipher our genetic molecules, it isn't so easy for us to read a DNA sequence in the laboratory. Scientists require complex, highly sophisticated analytical techniques to crack individual DNA codes. Now, scientists have recently developed a method that could provide a way to directly sequence DNA. Their process is based on a combination of Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. They have successfully analyzed DNA's closest relative, RNA.
High blood pressure may be one of the top killers in the country, but you'd never know it by the way we're behaving, according to scientists. Researchers across the US created a special registry to find out what happens to patients with acute, severe hypertension -- those with blood pressure readings above 160/110 -- when they come to an emergency department or critical care setting for treatment. They found that although 90 percent of them already had a diagnosis of high blood pressure, about a quarter of them were not taking the medicines they were supposed to.
The kidney actively cleans its most selective filter to keep it from clogging with blood proteins, scientists reveal in a new study. Researchers showed that breakdown of this self-cleaning feature can make kidneys more vulnerable to dysfunction and disease.
In a study to determine safe dosages of the isotope astatine-211 for patients with recurring brain tumors, researchers were pleasantly surprised to find that not only was the isotope's potency sufficient to kill residual cancer cells without damaging sensitive healthy brain cells, but the patients experienced longer survival rates.
A new vaccine design strategy could help to develop vaccines against diseases like AIDS and cervical cancer. The secret is using a herpes simplex protein called glycoprotein D to block a receptor molecule on antigen-presenting cells. Scientists showed that vaccine vectors made by fusing glycoprotein D with genes from HIV and HPV antigens increase the immune system's response to those antigens in cell cultures and mice.
Using mice as models, researchers traced some of the differences between humans and chimpanzees to differences in our diet. By feeding laboratory mice different human and chimp diets over a mere two week period, researchers were able to reconstruct some of the physiological and genetic differences observed between humans and chimpanzees.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey detected bird flu virus in dead chickens found late last month in the northern part of the country after it had started culling poultry due to bird flu suspicions, the Agriculture Ministry said on Sunday.
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bird flu has spread to three more districts of Bangladesh, the livestock department said on Sunday, taking the number of affected districts to more than half of the country's 64 districts.
It's flesh-eating, drug resistant and highly contagious - USA300 is a deadly strain of MRSA that has been identified in San Francisco. But is this new superbug the nightmare public health hazard it's feared to be? And could it spread over here? Mark Honigsbaum reports Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 3 Feb 2008 | 12:10 am
An alternative biometric solution now claims to be more effective because it uses something inside the body: finger vein patterns Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 3 Feb 2008 | 12:08 am
Biotechnology checks for bipolar depression and schizophrenia will soon be sold over the web, despite warnings from leading psychologists Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 3 Feb 2008 | 12:08 am
Eco-holidays raise vital funds for the protection of wildlife, but nature-lovers carry human viruses that have been proved fatal for animals Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 3 Feb 2008 | 12:06 am
