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At least 1 in 10 young people in Britain report a recent distressing sexual problem

Around one in ten young men and one in eight young women in Britain who are sexually active have experienced a distressing sexual problem lasting at least three months in the past year, according to new research published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. [1]

The study showed that very few young people experiencing difficulties had sought professional help about their sex lives. The researchers say that failing to address problems in early adulthood could potentially affect sexual happiness and relationships in the future.

'Red gene' in birds and turtles suggests dinosaurs had bird-like color vision

Earlier this year, scientists used zebra finches to pinpoint the gene that enables birds to produce and display the colour red.

Now, a new study shows the same 'red gene' is also found in turtles, which share an ancient common ancestor with birds. Both share a common ancestor with dinosaurs.

The gene, called CYP2J19, allows birds and turtles to convert the yellow pigments in their diets into red, which they then use to heighten colour vision in the red spectrum through droplets of red oil in their retinas.

Study uses GPS technology to predict football injuries

Footballers' injuries may be predicted by looking at players' workloads during training and competition, according to new research.

Researchers discovered that the greatest injury risk occurred when players accumulated a very high number of short bursts of speed during training over a three-week period.

The University of Birmingham and Southampton Football Club worked together to analyse the performance of the performance of youth players and observe the links between training and injury - publishing their findings in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Creating bigger, better and more joined-up habitat networks

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a new 'route planner' tool that could help conservationists aid the movement of species as they adapt to a changing climate.

The environmental ranges of many animal and plant species are starting to alter with climate change, as temperatures change and force species to migrate to more suitable climes.

The great evolutionary smoke out: An advantage for modern humans?

A genetic mutation may have helped modern humans adapt to smoke exposure from fires and perhaps sparked an evolutionary advantage over Neandertals, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

In the early online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution, authors Gary Perdew et al., have identified a mutation solely found in modern humans that could have increased their tolerance to a toxic spew of chemicals generated by smoke and fire.

University of Leicester discovery sheds light on how vertebrates see

Researchers examined the eyes in two 300 million year old fossil jawless fish species - Mayomyzon (a lamprey) and Myxinikela (a hagfish)

Study is first time details in fossil vertebrate eyes have been used to understand how vertebrates evolved their complex eyes

Rapid bacterial infection test reduces antibiotic use

Researchers from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam have shown that using a rapid (5-minute) test can reduce antibiotic misuse for respiratory infections. Cutting the number of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions is a key way to prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections.

The rapid tests detect C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of infections caused by bacteria, in patients' blood. A low level of CRP is suggestive of viral infection and therefore antibiotic treatment is not required.

The Lancet: Infections with the parasitic worm W bancrofti associated with increased risk of HIV infection, according to Tanzani

People infected with a parasitic worm called Wuchereria bancrofti in areas where HIV is endemic may be more likely to acquire HIV than people who are not infected with the worm, according to a new study in southwest Tanzania, published in The Lancet. W bancrofti causes most cases of lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) in sub-Saharan Africa, and the authors say that the findings add a strong argument for tackling this neglected disease, which not only causes morbidity, but may also increase the risk of HIV infection.

'Starving' immune cell discovery points to cancer immunotherapy-boosting strategies

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 2, 2016 - The microenvironment that supports a cancerous tumor also starves the immune cells that the body sends in to destroy the cancer, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) scientists revealed in a discovery that holds the potential to significantly boost the performance of breakthrough immunotherapy drugs.

Stem cells may speed up screening of drugs for rare cancers

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have developed a system that uses transformed human stem cells to speed up screening of existing drugs that might work against rare brain and other cancers.

Bacteria show capacity for rapid, beneficial mutations

Scientists studying how microbes evolve have long assumed that nearly all new genetic mutations get passed down at a predictable pace and usually without either helping or hurting the microbe in adapting to its environment. In a new study published in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers studying tens of thousands of generations of E. coli bacteria report that most new genetic mutations that were passed down were actually beneficial and occurred at much more variable rates than previously thought. The finding could have implications for treating bacterial infections.

High schoolers with mental health issues more likely to use alcohol, tobacco, & marijuana

August 2, 2016 -- Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health with collaborators at the Federal University of Sao Paulo studied the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and patterns of substance use among high school students in Brazil and found that respondents with clinically significant scores on a behavioral screening questionnaire were more likely to use alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana in the past month compared to those without symptoms.

Study: Substitute teachers and replacement nurses may cause disease to spread faster

Imagine a nurse who gets the flu while working at a hospital. He goes home to recover -- and an uninfected replacement nurse comes in. This kind of substitution happens all the time in the real world -- teachers, doctors, firefighters and others with essential societal roles get sick and a substitute comes in to fill their role.

UTSW study finds innate immunity connection to rare, fatal childhood disease

DALLAS - Aug. 2, 2016 - UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found an important innate immunity role for a gene linked to a rare, fatal syndrome in children. Their study has implications for a much more common disease: tuberculosis.

The study results, posted online today in the journal Immunity, could lead to new therapies for arthrogryposis-renal dysfunction-cholestasis (ARC) syndrome. It also suggests connections to tuberculosis (TB): a hard-to-treat bacterial illness that the World Health Organization calls "a top infectious disease killer worldwide."

Research reveals cancer pathway to spreading through the body

Cancer cells need oxygen to survive, as do most other life forms, but scientists had never tracked their search for oxygen in their early growth stages until now -- a step toward a deeper understanding of one way cancer spreads that could help treat the disease.

In a paper published online by the

">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences