New focused gene scans solve mysterious diseases

Oct 3, 2013

New focused gene scans solve mysterious diseases

They were mystery diseases that had stumped doctors for years — adults with strange symptoms and children with neurological problems, mental slowness or muscles too weak to let them stand. Now scientists say they have been able to crack a quarter of these cases ...

'Superrecognizer' police help London fight crime

Sep 28, 2013

'Superrecognizer' police help London fight crime

Paul Hyland almost never forgets a face. He is a “superrecognizer,” and that is giving an unusual kind of help to his employer: Britain’s Scotland Yard. Several years ago, for example, London police were on the lookout for a burglar wanted for nine robberies. ...

Sep 5, 2013

Down syndrome reversed in lab mice

U.S. researchers said Wednesday they have found a way to reverse Down syndrome in newborn lab mice by injecting an experimental compound that causes the brain to grow normally. While the study in the journal Science Translational Medicine offers no direct link to a ...

Aug 31, 2013

Study reverses memory loss in older mice

U.S. researchers have identified a new protein in the brain that triggers age-related memory loss, a finding that may someday lead to new treatments to reverse it. Using live lab mice and eight human brains that were donated for science, the team led by ...

Jul 30, 2013

Biotech growth fuels need for sophisticated software

by Steven Overly

When Qiagen scooped up Ingenuity Systems this year, the acquisition of the Redwood City, California-based firm marked the first time the biotechnology giant had purchased a firm that exclusively makes software. The purchase allows Qiagen to analyze information it derives from the genetic maps ...

Jul 19, 2013

Giant viruses to open 'Pandora's box'?

These viruses are so big they might just be your ancestors. Two newly discovered viruses are twice as large as the previous record-holders and may represent a completely new life form, French scientists reported in the U.S. journal Science. Researchers say they were “extremely ...

3-D brain atlas wows researchers with microscopic detail

Jun 22, 2013

3-D brain atlas wows researchers with microscopic detail

A 65-year-old woman’s brain was cut into 7,400 slices to create the most detailed three-dimensional atlas of the human brain ever made, bringing researchers one step closer to reverse-engineering the organ’s convoluted circuitry. Brain atlases are essential reference tools for researchers and physicians. They ...

Research suggests fathers can nurture too

Jun 18, 2013

Research suggests fathers can nurture too

Unlike the male pundits, politicians and even financiers who have recently opined freely about what they consider “natural” roles for mothers and fathers, with mom at home and dad at work, behavioral neuroscientist Kelly Lambert’s methodical approach has led her to a much more ...

Jun 15, 2013

World-ranging alga tops human DNA size

A single-celled organism visible only under a microscope is one of the most successful life forms on the planet. So say scientists who have published the DNA code of an ocean alga called Emiliania huxleyi, whose astonishing adaptability enables it to thrive in waters ...

Can brain scans explain crime?

Jun 11, 2013

Can brain scans explain crime?

University of Pennsylvania neuroscientist Adrian Raine, author of “The Anatomy of Violence,” believes that advances in brain imagery are helping to explain the biological roots of crime. American Enterprise Institute scholar and psychiatrist Sally Satel, co-author of “Brainwashed,” is wary of the seduction of ...