All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- Health & Medicine
New gene-therapy techniques show potential
Two technologies for transferring genes, one that uses mobile DNA called transposons and another that uses a weak virus, have proved successful in overcoming genetic disorders in mice.
- Health & Medicine
Bats may spread new Malaysian virus
A Nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia may have started when bats spread disease to pigs.
- Health & Medicine
A hint at a healthful effect of beer
Beer consumption seems to boost concentrations of vitamin B6 in blood and coincides with lower concentrations of homocysteine, a risk factor for heart disease.
- Health & Medicine
Drug Eases Bone Cancer Pain in Mice
Pain caused by bone cancer in mice can be alleviated somewhat by osteoprotegerin, a drug being tested for osteoporosis, suggesting a possible new treatment for people with this cancer.
- Health & Medicine
‘Bubble’ babies thrive on gene therapy
Gene therapy to repair mutations that thwart development of essential immune cells has helped three babies to overcome severe combined immunodeficiency, in which a child is born without a functional immune system.
- Health & Medicine
Breast cancer options made clearer
An inexpensive test for two proteins in the blood can indicate whether women with breast cancer that hasn't yet spread to lymph nodes are likely to face such a relapse after surgery.
- Health & Medicine
High estrogen linked to lung cancer
Estrogen receptors proliferating on tumor cells in women's lungs may account for why women seem more easily affected by the carcinogenic effects of tobacco smoke.
- Health & Medicine
Getting melanoma chemotherapy to work
A drug that turns off a gene that blocks the action of chemotherapy in melanoma shows promise against this lethal skin cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Protein predicts prostate cancer spread
Prostate cancer patients who harbor high concentrations of a protein called thymosine beta-15 in their tumors face an increased risk that the cancer will spread.
- Health & Medicine
Chemotherapy baldness thwarted in rats
Scientists studying rats have now developed a medication that wards off chemotherapy-induced baldness.
- Health & Medicine
Silencing the BRCA1 gene spells trouble
Some breast cancer patients without a mutation in the BRCA1 gene nevertheless have an incapacitated gene, silenced by a process called hypermethylation of nearby DNA.
- Health & Medicine
Tests may better detect prostate cancer
Two novel tests for prostate cancer may help physicians catch this disease earlier and with far fewer false alarms.
