A small but significant proportion of morbidly obese people are missing a section of their DNA, according to new research.
A small but significant proportion of morbidly obese people are missing a section of their DNA, according to research published February 3 in Nature. The authors of the study, from Imperial College London and ten other [...]

Pig lungs could soon be transplanted into humans
Following a medical breakthrough, pig lungs could be transplanted into humans to overcome a shortage of donor organs, a media report said Thursday citing Australian scientists.  Scientists have paved the way for animal-human transplanted in as little as five years, after keeping pig lungs alive and functioning with human blood.

Ambidextrous children are twice as likely to do badly at school and suffer from attention problems as right-handers, a study published yesterday shows. Researchers from Imperial College London tested 7,871 children’s language, behaviour and academic skills at the ages of seven or eight and again at 15 or 16.
They asked the children’s teachers to assess [...]

Here’s how it works. Air is pumped into the columns and beams that support the structure, which are made of heavy material like that found in inflatable lifeboats. Air is also pumped into walls and roofs made of two layers of nylon about 18 inches apart when inflated. The air gives them stiffness and insulating [...]

Plants of hope.

British scientists have unlocked the genetic map of a plant used to cure malaria.
It brings hope to the millions of people suffering from the disease, which is especially prevalent in India and sub Saharan Africa.
Scientists from the University of York said their research paves the way for high-yielding anti-malaria crops in developing countries [...]

Windpipe transplant
A Belgian woman, Linda De Croock, has undergone a groundbreaking windpipe transplant after her own throat was crushed in a car accident 25 years ago.  Ms De Croock, 54, has been able to come off drugs to stop her body rejecting the donor windpipe, in a major advance that could offer hope for similar [...]

Urinating on the steps is not how this test works…

A urine test that can differentiate between dangerous and safe snoring is possible, say researchers at the University of Chicago.
They looked at 90 children referred to a clinic to be evaluated for breathing problems in sleep, and 30 controls.
A number of proteins were increased in the [...]

Surgery is quickly become the go-to cure for obesity
Advancements in procedures that are usually a last resort for the obese are making them potentially suitable for moderately overweight and diabetic people.

 In what could be a revolution in communication for paralysed people, a man with locked-in syndrome has “spoken” three different vowel sounds using a voice synthesiser controlled by an implant deep in his brain.
 

The smell of a man’s sweat differs according to what mood he is in Photo: AFP/GETTY
The smell of a man’s sweat differs according to what mood he is in and women can pick up on changes that indicate attraction, according to new research.
The study, led by Dr Denise Chen, assistant professor of psychology at Rice [...]

Kiss The Cancer Goodbye!

A cancer victim who refused chemotherapy has beaten the disease – by using mistletoe instead. Joan van Holsteijn, 53, heard about the healing properties of the plant – better known for inspiring festive kisses – and rejected her doctor’s advice of more conventional treatment.
Now the tumours in her leg are gone and [...]

Stem cells
Vitamin C could be used to overcome hurdles in creating stem cells for treating human diseases, scientists believe.  The vitamin boosts the reprogramming of adult cells to give them the properties of embryonic stem cells.
 

Color-changing contact lenses
There is great news for diabetics. A revolutionary technology is on its way to help them measure blood sugar levels without drawing blood daily.
 

Phil Newman, marketing director of Touch Bionics, demonstrates the world’s first bionic fingers
The world’s first bionic fingers have been unveiled by scientists.  Made of tough, lightweight plastic and loaded with tiny motors, they can bend, grip, point and pick up items. (Video)
 

A researcher at a Russian university (what a shock!)  has developed a powdered form of alcohol that will soon make the consumption of vodka more convenient. From The Times of India:
Russian professor Evgeny Moskalev of Saint Petersburg Technological University has evolved a technique that allows turning alcohol into powder and packing it in pills. The [...]

A polymer implant, 8.5 mm in diameter, is embedded with chemical signals that encourage immune cells to attack tumors.
A cancer vaccine carried into the body on a carefully engineered, fingernail-sized implant is the first to successfully eliminate tumors in mammals, scientists report this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
 

Researchers creating a new vaccine against H1N1 hope to harness the power of the immune system’s dendritic cells, which are responsible for directing the body’s immune response.
Viruses multiply incredibly quickly once they’ve infected their victim–so fast that antiviral medications such as Tamiflu are only effective if given during the first few days of an infection. After [...]

Hobbie-J was injected with genetic material to boost the NR2B gene which controls memory when he was an enbryo.
Hobbie-J, named after a Chinese cartoon character, can remember objects for three times longer than other rats and is better at finding its way through mazes.  The rat, when it was an embryo, was injected with genetic material [...]

Volcano eruption on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
Much of our planet’s mineral wealth was deposited billions of years ago when Earth’s chemical cycles were different from today’s. Using geochemical clues from rocks nearly 3 billion years old, a group of scientists including Andrey Bekker and Doug Rumble from the Carnegie Institution have made the [...]

The vaccine is injected and works by creating anti-bodies
Smokers could soon have access to an injectable vaccine to help them break the habit following a deal between GlaxoSmithKline and Nabi Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the drug.  The NicVAX vaccine works by preventing nicotine in tobacco entering the brain, where it creates an addictive sensation [...]

A drug that failed tests as an antidepressant is being hailed as “Viagra for women” after surprising but not unpleasant side effects.
In three separate trials, the drug flibanserin did wonders for women’s flagging sex drive despite doing nothing to lift mood.
The accidental discovery is akin to Viagra’s – it was originally designed as a heart [...]

The Human eye
Autism affects an estimated 1 in 150 children today, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. Despite its widespread effect, autism is not well understood and there are no objective medical tests to diagnose it. Recently, University of Missouri researchers have developed a pupil response test that [...]

Unlike humans, zebrafish are able to regenerate amputated appendages.
The search for the holy grail of regenerative medicine — the ability to “grow back” a perfect body part when one is lost to injury or disease — has been under way for years, yet the steps involved in this seemingly magic process are still poorly understood.

Live to 149, program your nerves for pleasure, and eat entrail-fed meat machines, all by 2020.
Check out Part I of our series about life in the year 2020.
Nobody delivers profanity better than Bruce Willis. Nobody. Perhaps that’s why he’s seen so much of it in practically every script he’s tackled during the last 20-odd years. [...]

The ReCell kit, hardly bigger than a designer sunglasses case, houses a miniature lab for harvesting skin basal cells.
Traditionally, treatment for severe second-degree burns consists of adding insult to injury: cutting a swath of skin from another site on the same patient in order to graft it over the burn. The process works, but causes [...]