News tagged with national


Bacteria wouldn't opt for a swine flu shot

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (6) | comments 2

Bacteria inhabited our planet for more than 4 billion years before humans showed up, and they'll probably outlive us by as many eons more. That suggests they may have something to teach us.


Patients meet donors from largest-ever kidney swap (AP)

Patients meet donors from largest-ever kidney swap

Medicine & Health / Other

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Thirteen patients with healthy new kidneys from what's believed to be the world's largest kidney exchange met the donors who made it happen Tuesday - including three who are sure to face the question, ...


Heart cells on lab chip display 'nanosense' that guides behavior

Heart cells on lab chip display 'nanosense' that guides behavior

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers, working with colleagues in Korea, have produced a laboratory chip with nanoscopic grooves and ridges capable of growing cardiac tissue that more closely resembles natural ...


New Bacterial Behavior Discovered

New Bacterial Behavior Discovered

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Bacteria dance the electric slide, officially named electrokinesis by the USC geobiologists who discovered the phenomenon.


Biological catch-22 prevents induction of antibodies that block HIV

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

Scientists seeking to understand how to make an AIDS vaccine have found the cause of a major roadblock. It turns out that the immune system can indeed produce cells with the potential to manufacture powerful HIV-blocking ...


Painkiller undermines aspirin's anti-clotting action

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Millions of Americans take Celebrex for arthritis or other pain. Many, if they are middle-aged or older, also take a low-dose aspirin tablet daily to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Yet they may be getting little ...


Nearly 100 new species described by California Academy of Sciences in 2009

Nearly 100 new species described by California Academy of Sciences in 2009

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In 2009, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 94 new relatives to our family tree. The new species include 65 arthropods, 14 plants, eight fishes, five sea slugs, one coral, and one fossil ...


DC-SCRIPT found to have prognostic value in breast cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

DC-SCRIPT, or dendritic cell-specific transcript, is a key regulator of nuclear receptor activity that may have prognostic value in breast cancer, according to a new study published online December 14 in the Journal of th ...


Master gene Math1 controls framework for perceiving external and internal body parts

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Waking and walking to the bathroom in the pitch black of night requires brain activity that is both conscious and unconscious and requires a single master gene known as Math1 or Atoh1, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers ...


New protein key for cell proliferation identified

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at McGill University have identified a protein that plays a key role in cell proliferation and is likely to promote cancer development. The work may lead to the development of new diagnostic tools ...


Scientists Uncover Protective Mechanism Against Liver Cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists from the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Osaka University in Japan have identified a protein switch that helps prevent liver damage, including inflammation, fibrosis and cancer. The ...


'Rock-breathing' bacteria could generate electricity and clean up oil spills

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (8) | comments 1

A discovery by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) could contribute to the development of systems that use domestic or agricultural waste to generate clean electricity.


Study shows health care spending spurs economic growth

Other Sciences / Economics

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 3

As the national discussion of health care focuses on costs, a new study from North Carolina State University shows that it might be more accurate to think of health care spending as an investment that can spur economic growth. ...


A new kind of micro-mobility: Moving tiny particles using magnetic fields

A new kind of micro-mobility: Moving tiny particles using magnetic fields (w/ Video)

Physics / General Physics

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new microscopic system devised by researchers in MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering could provide a novel method for moving tiny objects inside a microfluidic chip, and ...


Scientists suggest certain genes boost chances for distributing variety of traits, drive evolution

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Genes that don't themselves directly affect the inherited characteristics of an organism but leave them increasingly open to variation may be a significant driving force of evolution, say two Johns Hopkins scientists.