All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- Humans
Forbidden tests: Panel seeks ban on human clones
A national advisory panel has asked Congress to forbid cloning aimed at creating a child but urged the lawmakers to permit other medical experiments with cloned human cells.
- Health & Medicine
Nicotine metabolism shows ethnic bias
A comparison of Latino, white, and Chinese-American smokers suggests that people of East Asian descent are apt to clear nicotine from their blood more gradually than the other smokers do, thereby staving off a craving for the next cigarette.
- Health & Medicine
Genes make potential target in lymph cancer
Scientists looking for DNA variations in a cancer called diffuse large B-cell lymphoma have found that excess activity in certain genes may indicate whether the disease will be fatal.
- Health & Medicine
Rwandan patients show unusual HIV
Blood tests on people in Rwanda who have had HIV infections for years without symptoms of AIDS indicate that the viruses in these patients have rare mutations.
- Health & Medicine
Will new approach cure Chagas disease?
Scientists may be able to disable the parasite that causes Chagas disease by targeting the enzyme it uses to make essential fats.
- Health & Medicine
Suppressive drug therapy hinders herpes
A daily regimen of the antiviral drug valacyclovir controls genital herpes vastly better than does the same medication when used only to treat outbreaks of the disease.
- Health & Medicine
Ominous drug-resistance hints appear
The first signs of partial resistance to an important class of drugs called quinolones have appeared in Haemophilus influenzae, a bacterium that can cause pneumonia and meningitis.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine prevents urinary-tract infections
An experimental vaccine designed to repel 10 common bacteria that cause bladder infections has cleared a key hurdle by proving safe and effective in a group of women.
- Health & Medicine
Weak appetite in elderly ties to hormone
A hormone known to suppress appetite is more abundant in seniors than in young adults and has a greater effect in squelching hunger in elderly people.
- Health & Medicine
Gene Therapy for Sickle-Cell Disease?
By adding a useful gene to offset the effects of a faulty one, scientists have devised a gene therapy that prevents sickle-cell anemia in mice.
- Health & Medicine
Delayed surgery aids spinal cord repair
Postponing surgery to repair a severed spinal cord in rats improves the likelihood that the operation will counteract the injury.
- Health & Medicine
Protein fragment halts type I diabetes
A new protein-based drug injected into people just starting to show signs of diabetes halts the disease.
