ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Saturday, January 7, 2012

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Saturday, January 7, 2012

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Moderate red wine drinking may help cut women’s breast cancer risk, study suggests (January 6, 2012) -- Drinking red wine in moderation may reduce one of the risk factors for breast cancer, providing a natural weapon to combat a major cause of death among U.S. women, new research shows. ... > full story

DNA mismatch repair happens only during a brief window of opportunity (January 6, 2012) -- In eukaryotes-the group of organisms that include humans –- a key to survival is the ability of certain proteins to quickly and accurately repair genetic errors that occur when DNA is replicated to make new cells. Researchers have solved part of the mystery of how these proteins do their job, a process called DNA mismatch repair. ... > full story

Religious beliefs battle hypertension, Norwegian study of church attendance suggests (January 6, 2012) -- Does a belief in God confer any health benefits? Researchers in Norway have found a clear relationship between time spent in church and lower blood pressure in both women and men. ... > full story

Sea snails help scientists explore a possible way to enhance memory (January 6, 2012) -- Efforts to help people with learning impairments are being aided by a species of sea snail. The mollusk, which is used by researchers to study the brain, has much in common with other species including humans. Neuroscientists have used this animal model to test an innovative learning strategy designed to help improve the brain's memory and the results were encouraging. ... > full story

What determines the capacity of short-term memory? (January 6, 2012) -- Short-term memory plays a crucial role in how our consciousness operates. Several years ago a hypothesis has been formulated, according to which capacity of short-term memory depends in a special way on two cycles of brain electric activity. Scientists have now demonstrated this experimentally for the first time. ... > full story

New drug screening identifies chemical agents with potent anti-cancer activity (January 6, 2012) -- Drugs already approved for clinical use across a variety of therapeutic categories can be screened to identify effective agents for thyroid cancer, according to a recent study. These findings could rapidly be implemented into a clinical trial to test how effective the treatment would be. ... > full story

New system may one day steer microrobots through blood vessels for disease treatment (January 6, 2012) -- Researchers use a magnetic field to generate both side-to-side and corkscrew-like motions of tiny robots. ... > full story

Why young couples aren't getting married: They fear the ravages of divorce (January 6, 2012) -- With the share of married adults at an all-time low in the United States, new research by demographers unveils clues why couples don't get married -- they fear divorce. ... > full story

Flatworm flouts fundamental rule of biology: Worm regenerates without centrosome, a structure long thought necessary for cell division (January 6, 2012) -- A tiny, freshwater flatworm found in ponds and rivers around the world that has long intrigued scientists for its remarkable ability to regenerate has now added a new wrinkle to biology. ... > full story

Scientists 'hijack' bacterial immune system (January 6, 2012) -- The knowledge that bacteria possess adaptable immune systems that protect them from individual viruses and other foreign invaders is relatively new to science, and researchers across the globe are working to learn how these systems function and to apply that knowledge in industry and medicine. Now, a team of researchers has discovered how to harness this bacterial immune system to selectively target and silence genes. ... > full story

No brakes on breast cancer cells (January 6, 2012) -- Scientists have discovered a tiny RNA molecule, called miR-520, which at once blocks two important pathways in the development of cancer in cells. In estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer, the production of this microRNA is often reduced and this is correlated with malignant behavior of tumor cells. The team has found out that tumors with low levels of miR-520 have a particularly strong tendency to metastasize. ... > full story

Novel brain tumor vaccine acts like bloodhound to locate cancer cells (January 6, 2012) -- A national U.S. clinical trial testing the efficacy of a novel brain tumor vaccine has begun. The vaccine will be tested in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive and highest grade malignant glioma. ... > full story