Scientists here have identified how the motions of an enzyme are related to correctly copying genetic instructions, setting the stage for studies that can uncover what happens when DNA copying mistakes are made. Perpetuation of DNA mistakes can cause mutations that lead to cancer and other diseases.

A new treatment called catheter-directed therapy or catheter-directed thrombolysis for massive blood clots in the lungs can saves lives, a new study has found. In fact, the data indicate that the catheter procedure was life-saving in 86.5 percent of the cases studied.

Researchers have eliminated non-small cell lung cancer in mice by using an investigative drug called BEZ235 in combination with low-dose radiation.

One of the first-ever analyses of the effects of global warming on endangered primates has examined how El Niño warming has affected the abundance of four highly threatened New World monkeys. All four monkey species showed drops in abundance relating to large-scale climate fluctuations. The study suggests that the consequences of intensified climate fluctuations could be devastating for several primate species.

Lack of health insurance might have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the United States in the span of less than two decades, according to new research.

Marine biologists examined whether Laysan albatrosses nesting on Kure Atoll and Oahu, Hawaii, 2,150 km away, ingested different amounts of plastic by putting miniaturized tracking devices on birds to follow them at sea and examining their regurgitated stomach contents. Surprisingly, birds from Kure Atoll ingested almost ten times the amount of plastic compared to birds from Oahu.

Despite millions of needle jabs to bolster flu immunity each year, the efficient influenza virus continues to evolve to get around these biological blockades by altering its surface proteins. As people in a population become immune to the virus through vaccination or exposure, however, they change how the virus mutates and, ultimately, the chances of a larger outbreak. [More]

A genetic study has examined the association between a polymorphism of the µ-opioid receptor (OPRM1) gene and alcohol misuse among adolescents. Results suggest that teens who carry the G allele (A118G) of the OPRM1 gene are at increased risk for alcohol problems because they experience alcohol as more pleasurable or rewarding than teens without A118G.

Your genetic make up may predispose you to drink more but may not increase your genetic risk for alcoholism. New research pinpoints genetic pathways and genes associated with levels of alcohol consumption but not with alcohol dependence in rats and humans.

Human embryonic stem cells derived from excess IVF embryos may help scientists unlock the mysteries of infertility for other couples struggling to conceive, according to new research. Researchers at the school have devised a way to efficiently coax the cells to become human germ cells -- the precursors of egg and sperm cells -- in the laboratory.