A British study, involving 5,500 children and published in the latest issue of PLoS Medicine, used accurate methods to measure the “fat mass” of the children and the amount of physical activity they were taking. The researchers, based at the University of Bristol, concluded that low levels of activity, particularly moderate and vigorous activity, play an important role in the development of obesity.
Understanding why other bacteria become resistant to antibiotics could hold the key to understanding why TB takes so long to cure, say researchers in a policy paper in PLoS Medicine.
Suspicion and mistrust of Western medicine led Muslim religious leaders in three northern states of Nigeria to call for the 2003 boycott of the national polio vaccine campaign, according to a historical analysis in PLoS Medicine. The boycott led to fresh outbreaks of polio in Nigeria.
A newly discovered small molecule called IQ-1 plays a key role in preventing embryonic stem cells from differentiating into one or more specific cell types, allowing them to instead continue growing and dividing indefinitely, according to research performed by a team of scientists who have recently joined the stem-cell research efforts at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
UCLA scientists have devised a novel way to correct abnormal gene splicing – a common mutation that often leads to disease. A custom mask prevents the cell from seeing the genetic defect and restores the splicing to the correct location in the gene.
In its early and most critical stages, human reproduction requires precise, vital functions. The role of one sperm-delivered protein, which is crucial to the process, is being closely observed by scientists from the United States and Canada. Lab tests in recent years have produced valuable information and hopes of regulating that protein to enhance fertility.
For the first time, the IOF World Congress on Osteoporosis will be held in Asia. The congress will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 3-7, 2008.The second announcement for the IOF WCO was released today, and is available online.
Scientists at the University of Manchester believe injections of tiny sponge-like particles could provide an alternative to major surgery in the treatment of chronic lower back pain.
In a speech at the Chief Executives Club of Boston, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) chairman and chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, predicted that the coming biomedical revolution will move medicine from its current state of treating symptoms to predicting and preventing diseases.
Scientists at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA received two comprehensive research grants from the state as part of the second round of funding for embryonic stem cell research since voters approved Proposition 71 in November 2004.