ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Sunday, February 26, 2012

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Sunday, February 26, 2012

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Memory formation triggered by stem cell development (February 24, 2012) -- Researchers have discovered an answer to the long-standing mystery of how brain cells can both remember new memories while also maintaining older ones. ... > full story

Bird brains follow the beat (February 24, 2012) -- By training birds to ‘get rhythm’, scientists uncover evidence that our capacity to move in time with music may be connected with our ability to learn speech. ... > full story

Diagnostic tool: Polymer film loaded with antibodies can capture tumor cells (February 24, 2012) -- The development of polymer film loaded with antibodies that can capture tumor cells shows promise as a diagnostic tool. Cancer cells that break free from a tumor and circulate through the bloodstream spread cancer to other parts of the body. But this process, called metastasis, is extremely difficult to monitor because the circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can account for as few as one in every billion blood cells. ... > full story

Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, certain cancers: Correct protein folding illuminated (February 24, 2012) -- Using the exceptionally bright and powerful X-ray beams of the Advanced Light Source, researchers have discovered a critical control element within chaperonin, the protein complex responsible for the correct folding of other proteins. The "misfolding" of proteins has been linked to many diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and some forms of cancer. ... > full story

Trusting feelings when predicting future events: The emotional oracle effect (February 24, 2012) -- People with higher trust in their feelings were more likely to correctly predict a variety of future events. The researchers call this phenomenon the emotional oracle effect. ... > full story

Light-emitting nanocrystal diodes go ultraviolet (February 24, 2012) -- Scientists have developed a process for creating glass-based, inorganic light-emitting diodes that produce light in the ultraviolet range. The work is a step toward biomedical devices with active components made from nanostructured systems. ... > full story

In the genes, but which ones? Studies that linked specific genes to intelligence were largely wrong, experts say (February 24, 2012) -- For decades, scientists have understood that there is a genetic component to intelligence, but a new study has found both that most of the genes thought to be linked to the trait are probably not in fact related to it, and identifying intelligence's specific genetic roots may still be a long way off. ... > full story

The genetic basis for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (February 24, 2012) -- Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, especially in developed countries, and there is currently no known treatment or cure or for the vast majority of AMD patients. New research has identified genes whose expression levels can identify people with AMD, as well as tell apart AMD subtypes. It is estimated that 6.5% of people over age 40 in the US currently have AMD. There is an inheritable genetic risk factor but risk is also increased for smokers and with exposure to UV light. ... > full story

New strategies for treatment of infectious diseases (February 24, 2012) -- The immune system protects from infections by detecting and eliminating invading pathogens. These two strategies form the basis of conventional clinical approaches in the fight against infectious diseases. Scientists now propose that a third strategy needs to be considered: tolerance to infection, whereby the infected host protects itself from infection by reducing tissue damage and other negative effects caused by the pathogen or the immune response against the invader. ... > full story

Inflammatory circuit that triggers breast cancer uncovered (February 24, 2012) -- Although it's widely accepted that inflammation is a critical underlying factor in a range of diseases, including the progression of cancer, little is known about its role when normal cells become tumor cells. Now, scientists have shed new light on exactly how the activation of a pair of inflammatory signaling pathways leads to the transformation of normal breast cells to cancer cells. ... > full story

Novel bioactive peptides promote wound healing in vivo (February 24, 2012) -- Researchers have combined bioactive peptides to stimulate wound healing. The peptides act by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels and promoting re-growth of tissue. Further development of these peptides could lead to a treatment for chronic and acute wounds. ... > full story

Are you making your spring allergies worse? Five things that can aggravate your suffering (February 24, 2012) -- Read about the five things you might be doing that are actually making your spring allergy symptoms worse. ... > full story