Health & Medicine : Science World Report

Apr 09, 2012 01:16 PM EDT

Tiny Hitchhikers Attack Cancer Cells

Nanotechnology offers powerful new possibilities for targeted cancer therapies, but the design challenges are many. Northwestern University scientists now are the first to develop a simple but specialized nanoparticle that can deliver a drug directly to a cancer cell's nucleus -- an important featur...

Apr 09, 2012 12:38 PM EDT

Researchers Identify Genes That May Help in Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis

Scientists from Duke University Medical Center have determined that genes acting as molecular "on/off" switches can define clinically relevant molecular subtypes of ovarian cancer, providing ideal potential targets for use in clinical prognostic and diagnostic testing. These bimodal genes can define...

Apr 09, 2012 10:46 AM EDT

DNA Nanorobot Targets Therapeutic Responses

Researchers at Harvard University have developed a robotic device made from DNA that potentially could seek out specific cell targets within a complex mixture of cell types and deliver important molecular instructions, such as telling cancer cells to self-destruct. Inspired by the mechanics of the b...

Apr 08, 2012 08:00 AM EDT

Researchers Use Game to Change How Scientists Study Disease Outbreaks

It may seem like a game of tag, but it's an innovative tool for teaching the fundamentals of epidemiology, the science of how infectious diseases move through a population.

Apr 08, 2012 07:37 AM EDT

Female Skiers Likelier to Injure Non-dominant Knee

Women skiers are more likely than men to injure a knee while skiing, and a new study shows they are about twice as likely to have that injury occur to their non-dominant leg, often the left one.

Apr 07, 2012 10:59 AM EDT

Scientists Identify Major Source of Cells' Defense Against Oxidative Stress

Both radiation and many forms of chemotherapy try to kill tumors by causing oxidative stress in cancer cells. New research from USC on a protein that protects cancer and other cells from these stresses could one day help doctors to break down cancer cells' defenses, making them more susceptible to t...

Apr 06, 2012 09:44 AM EDT

Salk Scientists Redraw the Blueprint of the Body's Biological Clock

The discovery of a major gear in the biological clock that tells the body when to sleep and metabolize food may lead to new drugs to treat sleep problems and metabolic disorders, including diabetes.

Apr 05, 2012 11:56 AM EDT

Physicians Less Likely to Prescribe Antidepressants to Minorities, Medicaid Patients

African-Americans and Hispanics with major depressive disorder are less likely to get antidepressants than Caucasian patients, and Medicare and Medicaid patients are less likely to get the newest generation of antidepressants.

Apr 05, 2012 11:32 AM EDT

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Marks Breakthrough in IOP Regulation in Fight Against Glaucoma

A six-year collaboration between two faculty members of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has yielded new insight regarding the regulation of intraocular pressure (IOP) in glaucoma - an irreversible blinding disease that causes progressive visual impair...

Apr 05, 2012 11:25 AM EDT

Obese Patients Face Higher Radiation Exposure from CT Scans -- But New Technology Can Help

Most medical imaging equipment is not designed with overweight and obese patients in mind. As a result, these individuals can be exposed to higher levels of radiation during routine X-ray and CT scans.

Apr 05, 2012 11:19 AM EDT

Deaf Children's Gesture Mismatches Provide Clues to Learning Moments

In a discovery that could help instructors better teach deaf children, a team of University of Chicago researchers has found that a gesture-sign mismatch made while explaining a math problem suggests that a deaf child is experiencing a teachable moment.

Apr 05, 2012 10:20 AM EDT

Researchers Find Evidence of Banned Antibiotics in Poultry Products

In a joint study, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Arizona State University found evidence suggesting that a class of antibiotics previously banned by the U.S. government for poultry production is still in use. Results of the study were published March 21 in Env...