For the first time, a drug has reduced deaths from severe sepsis, a life-threatening immune reaction occurring in 750,000 people in the United States each year. (p. 155)

In mice, very low doses of morphine combined with even lower doses of a drug that usually blocks morphine's effect can give greater pain relief than higher doses of morphine alone. (p. 155)

Researchers report that defects in either of two specific genes may be responsible for DiGeorge syndrome, the second most common cause of congenital heart defects in newborns. (p. 151)

People who have Alzheimer's disease in old age were generally less active physically and intellectually between the ages of 20 and 60 than were people who don't have the disease. (p. 148)

Researchers studying an induced condition in mice akin to multiple sclerosis have stumbled across a situation in which mice suffered a severe allergic reaction to injected protein fragments that mimic one their own proteins.

A new vaccine spurs people to produce a strong immune response against human papillomavirus, a virus that can infect both men and women and causes cervical cancer in women. (p. 132)

A panel of scientists has changed the guidelines for prescribing medication for HIV-infected patients, considerably lowering the suggested T-cell-count and HIV-copy thresholds. (p. 127)

A new drug called T-1249, which keeps the AIDS virus from fusing with immune cells, proves largely safe in people. (p. 127)

Organ transplants succeed in some HIV-infected people, spurring further research into this practice. (p. 127)

A genetic mutation that protects people from AIDS may also make them susceptible to hepatitis C. (p. 127)

The newly discovered LUNX gene, active only in lungs and in lung tumors that have spread outside that organ, may help in determining which lung cancer patients are likely to suffer a recurrence.

A suite of genes lights up when researchers probe for cancer. (p. 117)

Triclosan--a drug used as an antimicrobial agent in toothpaste, deodorant, and other products--kills rodent malaria parasites in mice and human malaria parasites in test-tube studies. (p. 102)