The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced an early end to two clinical trials of adult male circumcision because an interim review of trial data revealed that medically performed circumcision significantly reduces a man’s risk of acquiring HIV through heterosexual intercourse.
Scientists at the University of Bonn have identified a new gene which could play an important role in the development of diabetes. Flies in which this hereditary factor is defective are also significantly smaller than other members of their species and live appreciably longer. In the current issue of the prestigious journal Nature the Bonn researchers have published two articles on this topic.
UC Berkeley researchers are partnering with the Venice Museum of Natural History to build an unprecedented DNA database of its vast fungi collection. More than 6,000 species will be sequenced and analyzed, and then made available to the scientific community.
Intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life, a study reported in the British Medical Journal. A Southampton University team found those who were vegetarian by 30 had recorded five IQ points more on average at the age of 10.
USC computer scientists have found a cheap, quick and copyright-respecting way to turn existing print brain atlases into multimedia resources. The software, now available in an experimental beta version for free download, is a robust and user-friendly interface that works on all the most popular computer operating systems.
Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have revealed in atomic detail how the toxins that cause botulism target and bind to nerve cells. This new understanding could ultimately lead to new ways for treating botulism, as well as to improved therapies for nervous system diseases such as dystonias, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.
A new process for chemical patterning combines molecular self-assembly with traditional lithography to create multifunctional surfaces in precise patterns at the molecular level. The process allows scientists to create surfaces with varied chemical functionalities and promises to extend lithography to applications beyond traditional semiconductors.
Scientists have revealed the critical role a key enzyme plays in helping cells divide in what could prove an important breakthrough for new cancer therapies.
Many people believe nanotechnology will be the key to solving many of the world’s most pressing medical problems, while others believe it could lead to a potential disaster. The current issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics addresses this issue in all its aspects.
A group of 50 international physicists, led by UC Riverside?s Ann Heinson, has detected for the first time a subatomic particle, the top quark, produced without the simultaneous production of its antimatter partner ? an extremely rare event.