Space Season: ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Saturday, February 5, 2011

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Saturday, February 5, 2011

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New induced stem cells may unmask cancer at earliest stage (February 4, 2011) -- By coaxing healthy and diseased human bone marrow to become embryonic-like stem cells, a team of scientists has laid the groundwork for observing the onset of the blood cancer leukemia in the laboratory dish. ... > full story

Mechanism involved in breast cancer's spread to bone discovered (February 4, 2011) -- In a discovery that may lead to a new treatment for breast cancer that has spread to the bone, researchers have unraveled a mystery about how these tumors take root. ... > full story

Cross-species strategy might be a powerful tool for studying human disease (February 4, 2011) -- A new study takes advantage of genetic similarities between mammals and fruit flies by coupling a complex genetic screening technique in humans with functional validation of the results in flies. The new strategy has the potential to be an effective approach for unraveling genetically complex human disorders and providing valuable insights into human disease. ... > full story

Working more than 20 hours a week in high school found harmful (February 4, 2011) -- A new shows that among high school students, working more than 20 hours/week during the school year can lead to academic and behavior problems. The researchers used advanced statistical methods to reanalyze longitudinal data collected in the 1980s on 1,800 middle class teens in 10th and 11th grades. The researchers also found that things didn't get better when teens who were working more than 20 hours/week cut back their hours or stopped working altogether. ... > full story

Boosting body's immune response may hold key to HIV cure (February 4, 2011) -- Scientists have successfully cleared a HIV-like infection from mice by boosting the function of cells vital to the immune response. Researchers showed that a cell signaling hormone called interleukin-7 reinvigorates the immune response to chronic viral infection, allowing the host to completely clear virus. ... > full story

For stem cells, a way to assure quality (February 4, 2011) -- Ever since researchers devised a recipe for turning adult cells into cells that look and act like embryonic stem cells, there has been lingering doubt in the field about just how close to embryonic stem cells each of those cell lines really is at a molecular and functional level. Now, researchers have developed a systematic way to lay those doubts about quality to rest. ... > full story

Early childhood education program yields high economic returns (February 4, 2011) -- For every invested in a Chicago early childhood education program, nearly is projected to return to society over the children's lifetimes -- equivalent to an 18 percent annual return on program investment, according to a new study. ... > full story

Want more efficient muscles? Eat your spinach (February 4, 2011) -- After taking a small dose of inorganic nitrate for three days, healthy people consume less oxygen while riding an exercise bike. A new study traces that improved performance to increased efficiency of the mitochondria that power our cells. The researchers aren't recommending anyone begin taking inorganic nitrate supplements based on the new findings. Rather, they say that the results may offer one explanation for the well-known health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and leafy green vegetables in particular. ... > full story

Scientists unlock one mystery of tissue regeneration (February 4, 2011) -- Researchers have now identified a genetic switch that controls oxidative stress in stem cells and thus governs stem cell function. ... > full story

Quality and quantity of maternal milk impacts stress response of adult offspring (February 4, 2011) -- Two studies highlight how maternal care makes the baby's brain less vulnerable to stress. The quality and quantity of maternal milk and maternal-infant contact impact the stress response of the adult offspring, according to recent research. ... > full story

Obesity has doubled since 1980, major global analysis of risk factors reveals (February 4, 2011) -- The worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled since 1980, according to a major study on how three important heart disease risk factors have changed across the world over the last three decades. The study looked at all available global data to assess how body mass index, blood pressure and cholesterol changed between 1980 and 2008. ... > full story

Deadly tool discovered in Salmonella's bag of tricks (February 4, 2011) -- The potentially deadly bacterium Salmonella possesses a molecular machine that marshals the proteins it needs to hijack cellular mechanisms and infect millions worldwide. Researchers have discovered how Salmonella, a major cause of food poisoning and typhoid fever, is able to make these proteins line in up in just the right sequence to invade host cells. ... > full story