Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Boldly into the breech controversy
Addressing a long-simmering controversy, a large new study has shown that in pregnancies where the baby has positioned itself to emerge feet or buttocks first, the delivery safest for the mother and child is a planned cesarean section rather than a vaginal birth.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer cells on the move
A new study suggests how a gene recently linked to liver, skin, and pancreatic cancer also causes an often-deadly form of breast cancer.
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- Health & Medicine
Gene therapy might keep arteries open
Tiny steel-mesh tubes coated with a DNA-containing polymer could prevent arteries from becoming reclogged after cardiovascular treatment.
- Health & Medicine
Path to heart health is one with a peel
Consuming lots of oranges and other citrus fruits, or their juices, can trigger beneficial, cholesterol-moderating changes in the blood.
- Humans
Science gets a start on the space station
Although the space station's main laboratories have yet to be launched, scientists are already using nooks and crannies in the existing structure to conduct experiments in biotechnology and physics.
- Health & Medicine
Lithium increases gray matter in the brain
Used for decades to treat manic depression, lithium may stimulate the production of new brain cells, thus raising hope that it can treat strokes, Alzheimer's disease, and other conditions that kill brain cells.
- Health & Medicine
Malaria vaccine waylays parasite in liver
A new malaria vaccine tested in chimpanzees spurs an immune response against the parasite as it passes through the liver, halting it in most cases before it can get into the bloodstream and cause symptoms of the disease.
- Health & Medicine
New test may spot colon cancer early
An experimental test for colon cancer may detect the disease at a treatable stage more accurately than current, noninvasive screening techniques.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin E targets dangerous inflammation
Megadoses of vitamin E may reduce the risk of heart disease in people with diabetes and other conditions that produce chronic, low-grade inflammation.
- Health & Medicine
Colonoscopy screening would avert cancer
Increased use of colonoscopy could significantly reduce the number of colon cancer deaths and wouldn't cost much more overall than other tests.
- Health & Medicine
Mutation linked to sinus infections
People who have frequent sinus infections are more likely on average to carry one copy of the same genetic mutation that causes cystic fibrosis, even though they don't have that disease.
