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Chevy Chase, MD—Stem cell research holds great promise for the treatment of millions of Americans with debilitating and possibly fatal diseases. Current legislation and guidelines, however, continue to limit researchers' endeavors in unlocking the potential breakthroughs that stem cell research can provide.

Growing concerns about health has caused the scientific community to focus their interest on investigating functional foods which contribute to boosting the prevention and reduction of the risk of suffering from certain illnesses. The benefits of this product lies in its composition and, thus, its study, identification and subsequent extraction provides a useful tool which enables making high added-value products, given their high concentration of biologically active compounds.

Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve.

When two populations of a species become geographically isolated from each other, their genes diverge from one another over time.

Eventually, when a male from one group mates with a female from the other group, the offspring will die or be born sterile, as crosses between horses and donkeys produce sterile mules. At this point, they have become two distinct species.

An Australian method for assessing the environmental impact of marine fisheries has caught the eye of fishery management agencies worldwide.

Aspects of the 'ecological risk assessment' (ERA) method have been adopted in the US, Canada, Ecuador, and the Western and Central Pacific, and by the international eco-labelling organisation the Marine Stewardship Council.

The method was developed in research led by Dr Tony Smith and Dr Alistair Hobday from CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Flagship in association with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).

Edmonton – Even one cigarette has serious adverse effects on young adults, according to research presented by Dr. Stella Daskalopoulou at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

Her study found that smoking one cigarette increases the stiffness of the arteries in 18 to 30 year olds by a whopping 25 per cent.

Arteries that are stiff or rigid increase resistance in the blood vessels, making the heart work harder. The stiffer the artery, the greater the risk for heart disease or stroke.

Edmonton – Adding ezetimibe to atorvastatin significantly boosted the attainment of lipid targets as specified by both Canadian and European guidelines in elderly patients aged 65 and older and the combination produced superior results than simply increasing the dose of atorvastatin alone, Dr. Christian Constance told the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

DALLAS – Oct. 27, 2009 – UT Southwestern Medical Center patient Michael LeBlanc, 40, is the first in North Texas to receive the newest generation of a mechanical device designed to improve heart function. It will be his lifeline while he awaits a heart transplant.

It is possible to simultaneously survey a number of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the challenging environment of Southern Sudan, according to a new study published October 27 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Research published this week in PLoS Medicine challenges the dogma of the antibody-dependent enhancement model (ADE) for the development of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).

A new paper published October 27 in PLoS ONE, the online, open-access scientific journal, unveils for the first time a method to accurately distinguish between all eight tuna species from any kind of processed tissue using genetic sequencing.

Tunas are among the most economically valuable and yet the most endangered commercially exploited fish in the world.

The number of Down's syndrome pregnancies has risen sharply over the last 20 years as women have opted to have children later, according to new research published in the British Medical Journal*.

Over the same period, there have been major improvements in pre-natal screening for the condition and an increase in the number of women being screened.

This means the overall number of babies being born with Down's syndrome has remained almost level at around 750 babies each year.

Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve.

When two populations of a species become geographically isolated from each other, their genes diverge from one another over time.

Eventually, when a male from one group mates with a female from the other group, the offspring will die or be born sterile, as crosses between horses and donkeys produce sterile mules. At this point, they have become two distinct species.

Your genetic make up may predispose you to drink more but may not increase your genetic risk for alcoholism (alcohol dependence). Research published in the open access journal, BMC Biology, pinpoints genetic pathways and genes associated with levels of alcohol consumption but not with alcohol dependence in rats and humans.

High temperatures, humidity and low wind speed are associated with high occurrence of dengue fever according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.