Today's publication in Nature of the genetic blueprint for the zebra finch marks 10 years of success for the Ensembl project in helping researchers to navigate the genomes of a Noah's Ark of species. Ensembl, a genome annotation system co-developed and jointly run by EMBL-EBI and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, played a major part in finding the genes and other functionally important features in the zebra finch genome.

By studying the aging of memory in the mouse, researchers in the Laboratoire Neurobiologie des Processus Adaptatifs (CNRS/Université Pierre et Marie Curie) have developed an experimental protocol that can detect age-related memory deficits at an early stage. They have shown that even at 10 months, which corresponds to a third of their life expectancy, some mice present with age-related memory disorders. Published in Neurobiology of Aging, this work opens new perspectives for an understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the aging of memory and for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

A detailed product proof and improved security against counterfeiting pharmaceutical products become more and more important, especially nowadays when customers can order their drugs online. The legislative pressure increases primarily for reasons of patient safety, incorrect medications, and drug counterfeiting. These issues can be prohibited by absolute traceability of the drug’s packaging. Modern identification procedures such as RFID (radio frequency identification) are able to provide transparency in the pharmaceutical logistics. However, the metal packaging, like blister or tubes, that is often used complicate the identification. Scientists of the Institute of Mechanical Handling and Logistics (IFT) at the University of Stuttgart explore opportunities for a practicable and entirely detectable identification within the research project “RadioPharm”.

Screening younger women for breast cancer is fairer and makes sound economic sense, according to new research by the University of East Anglia (UEA).Published online today by the leading journal Value in Health, the study assessed the current screening guidelines in terms of both cost effectiveness and fairness.

Every year, some 7.5 million mothers and new-borns die during pregnancy or childbirth, almost all of whom are in low and middle-income countries. One reason for this is the lack of trained medical staff, particularly doctors. A doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet now shows that a solution could be the training of nurses in caesarean sections and other life-saving surgery.

Medical Professor Leslie Citrome, who has nearly 200 published papers to his name, has developed a revolutionary theory of Evidence-Based Flying, based on the well-established concept of Evidence-Based Medicine. His theory shows how number needed to fly before a delay (NNF) and number needed to upgrade (NNU) can be combined with other variables to inform wise flying decisions. Initial data shows that departure delays ranged from 20-30%, with NNF ranging from 10 to 31 flights when compared with the top performing airline.

New York - A federal judge in New York on Monday struck down patents on two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers. Insiders say that the decision against Myriad Genetics...

"The value of animal experiments for predicting the effectiveness of treatment strategies in clinical trials has remained controversial, mainly because of a recurrent failure of interventions apparently promising in animal models to translate to the clinic," say the authors of a new article in which they discuss the controversies and possibilities of translating the results of animal experiments into human clinical trials.

New research shows how a mutation causes a common inherited neurodegenerative disease. The study shows that the mutation of a specific protein known to cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth disrupts the movement of mitochondria, the energy-supplying machines inside each cell. The regulated movement of mitochondria along nerve cell fibers is vital to normal communication between the brain and muscles.

A recent WHO report on inadequate road safety opened with some stark figures: 1.2 million deaths and up to 50 million nonfatal injuries occur every year on the world's roads.