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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Shots - Health News

Fun With Physics: How To Make Tiny Medicine Nanoballs

This single drop of water contains a million tiny plastic particles.

October 10, 2012 Scientists have long toyed with the idea of putting medicine inside microscopic capsules that could travel to hard-to-reach places inside your body. Now, researchers have come up with a method to assemble tiny nanospheres.

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Thursday, October 04, 2012

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Scientists Create Fertile Eggs From Mouse Stem Cells

Each of these mouse pups was born from an egg scientists created using embryonic stem cells. It's possible the technology could change future treatment for human infertility.

October 4, 2012 For the first time, scientists have created fertile eggs and healthy offspring using embryonic stem cells. The experiments in mice raise the possibility of artificial egg production and new infertility treatments for humans someday.

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Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Shots - Health News

How Sunlight Weakens Your Skin

Stefano Amabili walks under the sun in Miami Beach, Florida, in May. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that more people are using sunscreen and protecting themselves from the sun's rays.

October 3, 2012 Ultraviolet light can burn your skin and raise the risk for skin cancer. New research has helped uncover how the rays can weaken skin's outer layer, compromising its ability to protect the body.

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Monday, October 01, 2012

Shots - Health News

Misdeeds, Not Mistakes, Behind Most Scientific Retractions

A study shows less than a quarter of retractions were the result of honest errors.

October 1, 2012 Biomedical researchers believed that most retractions of published studies were the result of honest errors. An analysis of retractions over four decades finds that's not the case.

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

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Medical Electronics Built To Last Only A Little While

An electronic circuit in its first phases of dissolution.

September 27, 2012 Using silicon, magnesium and a special type of silk, scientists have created electronic circuits that dissolve in liquid. Electronics like these could be useful in future implantable medical devices.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Shots - Health News

Korean Eunuchs Lived Long And Prospered

A mural in an ancient tomb in China shows a troupe of eunuchs. How long did they live?

September 25, 2012 Korean researchers have found that eunuchs who worked for kings in ancient royal courts lived longer, on average, than other males who were in the inner circle. The provocative findings fit with other work that has shown an inverse link between longevity and reproduction: the greater the fertility, the shorter the life span.

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Monday, September 24, 2012

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Scientists Parse Genes Of Breast Cancer's Four Major Types

Scientists say a new report in the journal Nature provides a big leap in the understanding of how different types of breast cancer differ.

September 24, 2012 They found 40 or so key differences — all potential targets for cleverly designed drugs. But the researchers caution that their study is a long way from the outmoded dream of a silver bullet that would knock out breast cancer – or any other kind. The report was published in the journal Nature.

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Friday, September 21, 2012

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Government Officials Retire Chimpanzees From Research

Federally funded chimps at the New Iberia Research Center in Louisiana will retire to either a lab in Texas or a chimp sanctuary in Louisiana.

September 21, 2012 The National Institutes of Health will retire over 100 chimps from biomedical research experiments after deciding there's no longer a need for them. Some chimps are headed to a sanctuary, while others will go to a facility in Texas that will care for them.

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Thursday, September 20, 2012

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Could Genes For Stripes Help Kitty Fight Disease?

The genetic factors responsible for a cat's stripes might help researchers understand disease resistance in humans.

September 20, 2012 Different lineages of cat with the same coloration got their looks in unique ways. The genetic variants that determine those patterns come from different mutations in the same genes. And that has some scientists thinking there may be more to the genes than meets the eye.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

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Tiny Bubbles: Injectable Oxygen Foam Tested For Emergency Care

Bubbles of oxygen injected as a foam might someday help patients live long enough to get treatment for oxygen deprivation.

September 19, 2012 The experimental treatment, which hasn't been tried in humans, encapsulates pure oxygen in microbubbles made of fat molecules. The bubbles look quite a bit like shaving cream, one of the researchers says.

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Wednesday, September 05, 2012

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Scientists Unveil 'Google Maps' For Human Genome

Human chromosomes like these contain genes and lots of other genetic material whose function has been a mystery.

September 5, 2012 For decades, scientists thought that most of our genetic code was essentially useless filler between our genes. But the results of a massive project to understand this so-called junk DNA reveal that it contains switches that control how genes function.

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Monday, September 03, 2012

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Can We Learn To Forget Our Memories?

Research shows that under certain circumstances, we can train ourselves to forget details about particular memories.

September 3, 2012 Our capacity to forget is as important, and certainly as interesting, as our ability to remember. But can we train ourselves to suppress certain memories, or the meaning we attach to life events?

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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Shots - Health News

Nagging Office Noises Can Sap Your Concentration

What's all that racket?

August 23, 2012 Many employees complain that workplace chatter hinders their productivity, but maybe other office noises are the problem. The hum of an air conditioner might be presenting its own set of challenges to your efficiency.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

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Kids Of Older Fathers Likelier To Have Genetic Ailments

Older dads add more genetic mutations to the family tree.

August 22, 2012 Icelandic scientists have found solid evidence that older men have more random mutations in their sperm cells. They're warning that can cause autism, schizophrenia and a long list of other genetic diseases in their offspring. Their findings are reported in the journal Nature.

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Shots - Health News

Could Antibiotics Be A Factor In Childhood Obesity?

Childhood obesity is on the rise in many countries and overuse of antibiotics is now on the radar as a possible factor in the epidemic. Here 18-month-old twins are weighed in a nutritionist's office in Colombia.

August 22, 2012 Two studies suggest that antibiotics early in life may contribute to childhood weight gain. Experiments in mice and a look at the weight of more than 11,500 British babies point in the same direction.

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