In work that could lead to safe and effective techniques for gene therapy, MIT researchers have found a way to fine-tune the ability of biodegradable polymers to deliver genes. Gene therapy, which involves inserting new genes into patients' cells to fight diseases like cancer, holds great promise but has yet to realize its full potential, in part because of safety concerns over the conventional...

Two months after sky-darkening dust from severe storms nearly killed NASA's Mars exploration rovers, the solar powered robots are awake and ready to continue their mission. Opportunity's planned descent into the giant Victoria Crater was delayed, but now the rover is preparing to drive into the 800-meter-diameter crater (half-mile-diameter) as early as Sept. 11. Spirit, Opportunity's rover twin,...

Contrary to newly mandated FDA black-box warnings, a new study finds antidepressants dramatically lower suicide attempts in youth. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents in this country, following only unintentional injuries and homicide. In real numbers, about 30,000 young people take their own lives in America each year.

Young women at risk of having a pulmonary embolism -- a potential life-threatening blockage in a lung artery -- should first undergo a ventilation/perfusion lung scan rather than a CT angiogram, conclude authors in an article published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Prion proteins may activate endogenous retroviruses in infected brain cells. Prions – an abbreviation for proteinaceous infectious particles – work as a trigger to a set of diseases of the brain and nervous system, the so-called spongiform encephalopathies. These include BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep and Creutzfeldt Jakob’s Disease in humans. Prions are structural variants of a...

Socioeconomic position is a determinant of antiretroviral treatment effectiveness during initial therapy for HIV-1 infection. The effect was found even among subjects with high rates of drug adherence, according to a new study.

Systems Biology is transforming the way scientists think about biology and disease. This novel approach to research could prompt a shake up in medical science and it might ultimately allow clinicians to predict and treat complex diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, cancer and metabolic syndrome for which there are currently no cures.

There are two distinct, but related, HIV viruses that humans can become infected with -- HIV-1 and HIV-2. Individuals infected with HIV-2 progress to AIDS at a dramatically reduced rate compared with individuals infected with HIV-1; in fact, most individuals infected with HIV-2 die of unrelated causes. It is hoped that understanding why individuals infected with HIV-2 rarely progress to AIDS will...

When the larvae of the primitive social insect, a type of paper wasp, slips into the quiet pupal stage, she doesn't know if she'll arise a worker or gyne (future queen). Now, researchers are shedding new light on the development of colonial insects from solitary ancestors through study of a primitive social order of wasps.

How the gene that has been pegged as a major risk factor for schizophrenia and other mood disorders that affect millions of Americans contributes to these diseases remains unclear. However, the results of a new study by Hopkins provide a big clue by showing what this gene does in normal adult brains. This gene makes a protein that serves as a sort of musical conductor for newly made nerve cells in...

Obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for type 2 diabetes. One reason for this is thought to be the chronic inflammation characterized by macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue that accompanies obesity, because it has been linked to the development of insulin resistance (which in turn often leads to type 2 diabetes).

Women's health is much more at risk from sleep deprivation than men's, according to recent research. The researchers found that the those women in the study group who slept less than or equal to 5 hours a night were twice as likely to suffer from hypertension than women who slept for the more recommended seven hours or more a night. The researchers found no difference between men sleeping less...

Progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia (PPD), which causes joint failure in early adulthood, results from genetic mutations in the WISP3 gene that lead to the generation of nonfunctional WISP3 protein. Understanding why WISP3 deficiency causes PPD has been difficult because mice lacking WISP3 have no apparent symptoms. In a new study, scientists provide insight into the functions of WISP3 by...

For years, biologists in Africa have known that large mammals -- including antelopes and their predators -- were disappearing outside reserves. Now a raft of studies show that we have moved beyond this. We are losing species from national parks, bastion of biodiversity conservation. Worryingly, this includes the continent's crown jewels such as Tanzania's Serengeti National Park.

A new study calls for better advice about home blood glucose monitoring for patients with non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes. Some experts believe that daily self monitoring helps to control blood glucose levels and it is often recommended. But others believe that self monitoring is complex and inconvenient and can lead to feelings of frustration and guilt. As such, there is still no firm...

Scientists have determined the structure of a protein found in cells that shows potential as a target for the development of new drugs to treat diabetes. They described the structure of a protein—MitoNEET—that was previously identified as a site where diabetes drugs could operate. The discovery of the protein’s three-dimensional structure makes it possible to design small...

A genetic variation has been identified that increases the risk of two chronic, autoimmune inflammatory diseases: rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).

Researchers have examined the extent to which income inequality is predictive of the double nutritional burden of under-nutrition and over-nutrition in India. They found that people living in Indian states with high levels of income inequality experienced a greater risk of both under- and over-nutrition, even after adjusting for various demographic, economic and behavioral variables.

According to new research an antioxidant commonly used in nutritional and body-building supplements can form a red blood cell-derived molecule that makes blood vessels think they are not getting enough oxygen. This leads to pulmonary arterial hypertension, a serious condition characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries that carry blood to the lungs.

Two studies report that exercise and yoga can help maintain and in some cases improve quality of life in women with early-stage breast cancer. The first study found that resistance and aerobic exercise improved physical fitness, self-esteem and body composition, and that resistance exercise improved chemotherapy completion rates. The second study demonstrated that yoga was particularly beneficial...

The first ever "zero emission" Antarctic research station, the Princess Elisabeth Station, was recently unveiled in Brussels, Belgium. Using specialized building design and materials, a passive heating system, an energy control system, energy efficient appliances, and sound insulation techniques, engineers from the International Polar Foundation and its technical partners have managed to take a...

While we are a long way off from the lightweight, high-performance, magical cloak of Harry Potter, Muggle physicists have been busy designing ways to make invisibility possible. A recent theoretical analysis of a column-shaped invisibility cloak, by a collaboration of researchers from Sweden and China, showed that a cloak made to ideal specifications could render an object (or wizard) hidden...

Leading medical experts associated with the Sports Legacy Institute appeared Sept. 5 with Michael Benoit, father of professional wrestler Chris Benoit, to release the results of neuropathological tests that demonstrate his son suffered from a type of brain damage called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which was found in all regions of his brain.

Astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge have developed a new camera that produces much more detailed pictures of stars and nebulae than even the Hubble Space Telescope, and it does all this from here on Earth. Until now, images from ground-based telescopes have been invariably blurred by Earth's atmosphere. Astronomers have developed a technique,...