Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Zapping Wayward Cells: Therapy sheds light on transplant complication
Ultraviolet light can curb graft-versus-host disease, a common complication of bone marrow transplants, a study of mice shows.
- Health & Medicine
Gene ups oral-cancer risk for drinkers who smoke
People who have a particular variant of a single gene are at a disproportionate risk of oral cancer if they both smoke and drink.
- Health & Medicine
Fetal cells pop up in mom’s thyroid
A woman's thyroid gland contains male cells, suggesting that cells from her son passed into her when he was a fetus.
- Health & Medicine
Gene helps alcohol help the heart
A genetic study indicates that moderate consumption of alcohol helps keep the heart healthy.
- Health & Medicine
Pill boosts cancer risk in some women
Women who took oral contraceptives before 1975, and whose mother or sister had breast cancer between 1944 and 1952, have triple the likelihood of getting breast cancer as compared with similar women who didn't take the pill.
- Health & Medicine
Interferon delays multiple sclerosis
In some people who show early-warning signs of multiple sclerosis, the drug interferon-beta-1a seems to delay or even prevent the disease from becoming full-blown.
- Archaeology
Agriculture’s roots go tropical
Tropical-forest dwellers in Central America may have cultivated manioc and other root crops as many as 7,000 years ago.
- Archaeology
Early farmers crop up in Jordan
An ancient site discovered in southern Jordan dating back more than 9,000 years may help to illuminate the origins of farming in the Middle East.
- Health & Medicine
Study bolsters head injury, Alzheimer’s link
Veterans who suffered a moderate or severe concussion during World War II face a heightened risk of Alzheimer's disease when they reach old age.
- Health & Medicine
When It’s No Longer Baby Fat
Increasingly, children are plump by the time they enter school, and they get fatter as they grow.
- Humans
From the April 14, 1934, issue
Yawning spells, disagreeable alcohols from anaerobic respiration, and how antibodies protect adults from disease.
- Health & Medicine
Categorizing Cancers: Gene activity predicts leukemia outcome
By dividing acute myeloid leukemia into subtypes on the basis of which genes are abnormally active in a given patient, doctors may be able to predict outcomes and make better treatment decisions.
