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For all those dismayed by scenes of looting in disaster-struck zones, whether Haiti or Chile or elsewhere, take heart: Good acts – acts of kindness, generosity and cooperation – spread just as easily as bad. And it takes only a handful of individuals to really make a difference.

Tampa, FL (March 8, 2010) -- Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) infects nearly 100 percent of humans in early childhood, and the infection then lasts for the rest of a person's life. Now, a team led by Peter Medveczky, MD, a professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at the University of South Florida (USF), has discovered that in some individuals, HHV-6 causes such a permanent infection by inserting or "integrating" its DNA into human chromosomes. From this harbor, the viral DNA cannot be eliminated by the immune system.

A team of scientists has discovered that the drastic decline in Arctic musk ox populations that began roughly 12,000 years ago was due to a warming climate rather than to human hunting. "This is the first study to use ancient musk ox DNA collected from across the animal's former geographic range to test for human impacts on musk ox populations," said Beth Shapiro, the Shaffer Career Development assistant professor of biology at Penn State University and one of the team's leaders.

Pharmaceutical companies could substantially reduce the expense of costly treatments for cancer and other diseases produced from mammalian or bacterial cells by growing these human therapeutic proteins in algae—rapidly growing aquatic plant cells that have recently gained attention for their ability to produce biofuels.

The use of a physician-pharmacist collaborative care plan to manage lipid control in patients with high cholesterol does not have significant clinical impact, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj090533.pdf.

A significant number of people with heart disease will benefit from less invasive transcatheter heart valve replacements in future, finds a review of updated practices in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj080064.pdf

Geraniums may hold the key to controlling the devastating Japanese beetle, which feeds on nearly 300 plant species and costs the ornamental plant industry $450 million in damage each year, according to scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

INDIANAPOLIS – The gene for a newly recognized disease has been identified thanks to the determination of an Amish father and the clinical skills and persistence of Indiana University and Riley Hospital for Children physicians in collaboration with physicians and researchers at the Clinic for Special Children in Lancaster County, Penn., which specializes in disorders of the Amish.

New World hemorrhagic fevers are emerging infectious diseases found in South America that can cause terrible, Ebola-like symptoms. Current treatments are expensive and only partially effective.

Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have discovered exactly how one type of New World hemorrhagic fever virus latches onto and infects human cells, offering a much-needed lead toward new treatments.

Non-traditional therapies relieve pain among a wide range of hospitalized patients as much as 50 percent, according to a first-of-a-kind study in the Journal of Patient Safety.

The study shows that an inpatient integrative medicine program can have a significant impact on pain in an environment where pain management continues to be a major challenge, and traditional medications can have negative consequences.

New York, NY, March 8, 2010 – Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is one of many serious disorders for which prenatal testing is available. SMA affects approximately 1 in 10,000 live births and is the leading genetic cause of infant mortality and the second most common autosomal recessive disorder, after cystic fibrosis. Although the American College of Medical Genetics recommends carrier testing for all couples, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued a recommendation to the contrary, citing lack of information about the costs and benefits of screening for SMA.

Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- One seemingly insurmountable obstacle to the dream of virtually limitless yields of staple crops like corn, wheat and rice is the dependence of those plants on sexual reproduction. When male and female gametes -- sperm and egg -- combine randomly to generate a genetically unique seed, valuable parental traits painstakingly selected by breeders are erased. But what if plants like these could be engineered to reproduce asexually -- an abilty of a subset of plants, for example the common dandelion?

New findings from a Université de Montréal and the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Florida (VGTI) study, in collaboration with scientists from the NIH and the McGill University Health Center, may soon lead to an expansion of the drug arsenal used to fight HIV. The Canada-U.S. study published today in the journal Nature Medicine characterizes the pivotal role of two molecules, PD-1 and IL-10, in influencing the function of CD4/T-helper cells and altering their ability to fight HIV.

A team of materials scientists and chemists have taken inspiration from sea shells found on the beach to create a composite material from dissimilar 'ingredients'.

Their technique could be used to make ceramics with high resistance to cracking – which could in turn be used in crack-resistant building materials and bone replacements.

Investigators have developed a new mathematical approach to analyze molecular data derived from complex mixtures of immune cells. This approach, when combined with well-established techniques, readily identifies changes in small samples of human whole blood, and has the potential to distinguish between health and disease states.