Building on earlier work that found evidence of human viruses in deceased chimpanzees, a new study by Virginia Tech researchers has confirmed that chimps in Tanzania’s Mahale Mountains are becoming sick from a variant of a human paramyxovirus. While the findings, reported in the American Journal of Primatology, demonstrate that the respiratory disease can spread […]
Scientists from Montana State University and Louisiana State University have found evidence that globally distributed airborne bacteria play a pivotal role in the rain cycle. The research, published inScience, will have far reaching implications in fields such as ecology, microbiology, plant pathology and climatology. The researchers examined precipitation from locations around the world, including California, […]
People with Huntington’s disease have more children than the general population because they are healthier during their peak reproductive years, finds a new study from Tufts University. Previously, it was believed that people with Huntington’s disease have more children because of behavioral changes associated with the disease that lead to sexual promiscuity, but the new […]
Body fat doesn’t just, er, make you fat. It also acts as a repository for all sorts of potentially nasty substances; like PCBs and other environmental pollutants. That’s why rapidly shedding those extra pounds isn’t always a good idea, as a whole slew of chemicals can be released back into the body, potentially overwhelming the […]
According to researchers from Penn State University and the University of Virginia, the spread of diseases by insects can be described by equations like those used to describe the force of gravity between planetary objects. The researchers explained that insects tend to transmit diseases in the course of feeding on plants, and their movement between […]
Researchers have identified a new method of attack on the brain’s neurologic functions that appears to be employed by a whole range of neurodegenerative diseases such as HIV dementia, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s. The study, appearing in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, describes how when inflammation occurs in the brain, nerve impulses that are […]
Researchers from the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center are exploring a new approach to the treatment of aging, inherited diseases and cancer. Dispelling the belief that the only way to treat such conditions is by fixing or replacing damaged genes, they are instead focusing on the field of epigenetics – the study […]
Eighty percent of U.S. doctors say they’re willing to care for patients during a bioterror outbreak of an unknown but potentially deadly illness – provided it’s not too dangerous. But apart from this general willingness, very few feel prepared to help respond to a bioterror attack. According to a survey of 526 physicians by G. […]
