Health & Medicine

Health & Medicine

Cancer clue: RNA-destroying enzyme may thwart prostate-tumor growth

Scientists have found a mutated gene that predisposes men of some families to prostate cancer.

Health & Medicine

Painful Thoughts

It may not surprise people terrified by a visit to the dentist that one of the top pain research groups at the National Institutes of Health is located within the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Check out the group’s history in NIDCR’s fascinating primer on the science of pain. Go to: http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/pain/

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

Gene Variant Tied to Human Aging

Variants of a gene linked to mouse aging are more prevalent in elderly people than in newborns, suggesting that the gene influences human aging or specific age-related illnesses.

Health & Medicine

Cloning’s ups and downs

Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal, has developed arthritis, and two biotech firms have turned to cloning in their attempt to create pigs with organs that human bodies won't reject when transplanted.

Health & Medicine

Cancer fighter reveals a dark side

Overactivity of a tumor-suppressing gene shortens the lifespan of mice.

Health & Medicine

Viruses stop antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Bacteriophages, viruses that destroy bacteria, can protect mice from bacteria that are impervious to antibiotics.

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.