Most evolutionary changes happen in tiny increments. But when it comes to traits like the number of wings on an insect, or limbs on a primate, there is no middle ground. How are these sorts of large evolutionary leaps made? According to new research, such changes may at least sometimes be the result of random [...]
Continue reading about How Evolution Can Allow For Large Developmental Leaps
Women who have premature menopause because of medical interventions are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer, according to a new study.
Continue reading about Ovary Removal May Increase Lung Cancer Risk
As the West warms, a drier Colorado River system could see as much as a one-in-two chance of fully depleting all of its reservoir storage by mid-century assuming current management practices continue on course, according to a new study.
Continue reading about Future Of Western U.S. Water Supply Threatened By Climate Change
Kala azar is a lethal disease caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. Scientists have now obtained new insight into the human immune responses responsible for protection against kala azar.
Continue reading about Immune Protection Against Lethal Parasitic Disease
Two new sister lines of rice are defying rice’s reputation as a thirsty crop as they demonstrate their improved productivity in drought-prone regions of India and the Philippines.
Continue reading about Rice Defies Its Reputation As A Thirsty Crop
Should the financial ties between doctors and drug companies be completely cut, or are healthy alliances between the two possible with the common aim of improving human health? A debate in PLoS Medicine discusses whether the influence of drug company money on doctors is always a corrupting one.
Neuroscientists have now pinpointed where and how the brain processes 3-D motion using specially developed computer displays and an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) machine to scan the brain.
Continue reading about Brain’s Center For Perceiving 3-D Motion Is Identified
A new DNA vaccine inhibited malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, in mice by eliciting antibodies that target a gastrin-releasing peptide which is known to play a key role in cancer development.
Continue reading about New DNA Vaccine Inhibits Deadly Skin Cancer In Mice
Scientists have developed a new technique to detect extremely low concentrations of the typhus-inducing Salmonella typhi by using a biosensor, which is based on electrochemical measurements by means of carbon nanotubes equipped with aptamers as bacteria-specific binding sites.
The new drug compound Salirasib has shown positive results against pancreatic cancer and recently passed Phase I/II clinical trials. The drug, given in combination with gemcitabine, the standard drug used to combat pancreatic cancer, almost doubled the life expectancy of those who received it.
Continue reading about New Drug Candidate Prolongs The Lives Of Pancreatic Cancer Patients