Scientists have shed light on the processes that lead to certain human DNA mutations that are implicated in hundreds of inherited diseases. The results one day could influence the way couples who seek to have children receive genetic counseling.

A mathematical epidemiologist is researching the A(H1N1) influenza pandemic strain circulating around the world. The new study's findings reveal an age shift in the proportion of cases toward a younger population when compared with historical patterns of seasonal influenza in Mexico. "For the 1918 ("Spanish flu") influenza pandemic, this was the pattern -- first a mild wave, and then a severe one...

Scientists have developed an innovative robot rat which can seek out and identify objects using its whiskers. The SCRATCHbot robot will be demonstrated at an international workshop looking at how robots can help us examine the workings of the brain.

New research suggests a link between the circadian rhythm and control of sodium (salt) levels in the blood of mice. Specifically, the circadian clock protein Period 1 was found to function downstream of the hormone aldosterone (a known controller of blood sodium levels and thereby blood pressure) to regulate levels of the alpha-subunit of the epithelial sodium channel in the mouse...

A new study finds no evidence to suggest that a controversial antidote recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat patients poisoned with highly toxic insecticides improves their chance of survival. The results may even add weight to existing concerns about pralidoxime, the treatment recommended by the WHO, by suggesting that it could be harmful in patients who have deliberately...

AP - When owners of the Empire State Building decided to blanket its towering facade this year with thousands of insulating windows, they were only partly interested in saving energy. They also needed...

Bordetella hinzii just may be the Eddie Haskell of avian bacteria. Like the notoriously sneaky character from the iconic 1950s television show "Leave It to Beaver," B. hinzii has been causing trouble and dodging the blame.

Varroa mites, prime suspect in bee colony collapse disorder, could literally be walking into a trap --- thanks to a newly developed attractant.

Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease were given caffeine -- the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day -- their memory impairment was reversed, report researchers at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

In a discovery that rebuffs conventional scientific thinking, researchers have discovered a novel way to block the activity of the fusion protein responsible for Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young adults.

Scientists have found a connection between DNA alterations on human chromosome 9 and aggressive brain cancer known as glioblastoma.

Mayo Clinic researchers and colleagues at the University of California San Francisco have found a connection between DNA alterations on human chromosome 9 and aggressive brain cancer known as glioblastoma.

Even in its native Argentina, the fire ant wins in head-to-head competition with other ant species more than three-quarters of the time.

Researchers have discovered a key switch that makes stem cells turn into the type of muscle cells that reside in the wall of blood vessels. The same switch might be used in the future to limit growth of vascular muscle cells that cause narrowing of arteries leading to heart attacks and strokes, limit formation of blood vessels that feed cancers or make new blood vessels for organs that are not...

Researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease have discovered a key switch that makes stem cells turn into the type of muscle cells that reside in the wall of blood vessels. The same switch might be used in the future to limit growth of vascular muscle cells that cause narrowing of arteries leading to heart attacks and strokes, limit formation of blood vessels that feed cancers...

In a discovery that rebuffs conventional scientific thinking, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered a novel way to block the activity of the fusion protein responsible for Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young adults.

A newly discovered mechanism controls whether muscle cells in blood vessels hasten the development of both atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, according to a new article.

Using zebrafish, researchers have identified and described an enzyme inhibitor that increases the number of cardiac progenitor cells and influences the size of the developing heart. The task was accomplished primarily because of the powerful advantages of studying embryonic development in zebrafish, vertebrates whose transparent embryos develop rapidly, are small and easy to handle and, most...

Research shows the genetic connection between moles and melanoma -- and why the more moles a person has, the more susceptible they are to the disease

Using zebrafish, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have identified and described in Nature Chemical Biology an enzyme inhibitor that increases the number of cardiac progenitor cells and influences the size of the developing heart. The task was accomplished primarily because of the powerful advantages of studying embryonic development in zebrafish, vertebrates whose transparent embryos...

A new study has found a substantial link between increased levels of nitrates in our environment and food with increased deaths from diseases, including Alzheimer's, diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's.

A new study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital has found a substantial link between increased levels of nitrates in our environment and food with increased deaths from diseases, including Alzheimer's, diabetes mellitus and Parkinson's.

A newly discovered mechanism controls whether muscle cells in blood vessels hasten the development of both atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, according to an article published online today in the journal Nature.