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Japanese research group, led by Prof Makoto Tominaga of National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, found that the receptor for hot taste of WASABI, Japanese horseradish usually eaten with Sushi, can sense alkaline pH caused by base such as ammonia. The team reports their finding in Journal of Clinical Investigation on November 13, 2008.

A small, antibody-like molecule created by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center can successfully attack two separate molecules on the surface of cancer cells at the same time, halting the growth of breast cancer cells in laboratory tests, the researchers say. The molecule, nickname "ALM," might be a means of slowing cancer spread or, as the researchers believe, a guidance system for delivering more aggressive drugs directly to cancer cells. Their findings appear in a recent issue of the British Journal of Cancer.

Prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke can increase levels of the stress hormone norepinephrine and enzymes in the heart that have the potential to reshape the left ventricle, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (November 13, 2008) – In a report now available online and scheduled to be the cover story of the December 2008 issue of the Journal of Urology, University of Virginia Health System researcher John C. Herr, PhD and his colleagues have confirmed the accuracy and reliability of SpermCheck Vasectomy, the first FDA approved at-home immunodiagnostic test for detecting low concentrations of sperm.

November 13, 2008 -- New York, NY -- A study released by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health shows that developing antibodies to cockroach and mouse proteins is associated with a greater risk for wheeze, hay fever, and eczema in preschool urban children as young as three years of age.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, led by Ajit Varki, M.D., have shown a new mechanism for how human consumption of red meat and milk products could contribute to the increased risk of cancerous tumors. Their findings, which suggest that inflammation resulting from a molecule introduced through consumption of these foods could promote tumor growth, are published online this week in advance of print publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

WASHINGTON, DC, November 13, 2008 – Raising taxes on beer, wine and liquor immediately reduces the number of deaths from alcohol-related diseases such as liver disease, oral or breast cancers, and alcohol poisoning, according to a new study published in the online edition of the American Journal of Public Health.

CHICAGO - Patients treated for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer who receive chemotherapy and proton beam therapy have fewer instances of bone marrow toxicity than patients who receive the standard treatment of intensity-modulated radiation (IMRT) and concurrent chemotherapy, according to researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The finding: Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found a genetic marker that controls an enzyme present in aggressive and metastatic cancer. The study suggests an absence of microRNA-101 is related to high expression of the protein EZH2, which was previously shown to be active in metastatic cancers. MicroRNA's are molecules that help regulate gene expression. miR-101 is one of few miRNA's shown to play such an important role in the development of cancer.

A scientific team from the John Innes Centre and University of St Andrews has identified a key gene that was transferred from a Sicilian plant into a close relative in Britain, showing how genetic cross-talk between species can be important for evolution.

HOUSTON – (Nov. 13, 2008) -- Not knowing which way is up can have deadly consequences for pilots. This confusion of the senses, called spatial disorientation, is responsible for up to 10 percent of general aviation accidents in the United States, with 90 percent of these being fatal, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

A new UCLA School of Nursing study is the first to reveal the devastating consequences of smoking on the nursing profession. Published in the November–December edition of the journal Nursing Research, the findings describe smoking trends and death rates among U.S. nurses and emphasize the importance of supporting smoking cessation programs in the nursing field.

The Naval Research Laboratory's Spatial Heterodyne Imager for Mesospheric Radicals (SHIMMER) has successfully observed a second northern season of Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs), which are the Earth's highest clouds. This successful observation fulfills the primary goal of the Space Test Program Satellite-1 (STPSat-1) Extended Mission.

When cockroaches flee their predators, they choose, seemingly at random, amongst one of a handful of preferred escape routes, according to a report published on November 13th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

"By using one of a number of possible trajectories, we think that cockroaches may behave with sufficient unpredictability to avoid the possibility that predators will learn their escape strategy," said Paolo Domenici of CNR-IAMC in Italy. "As we say in our report, the predator is made to guess."

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Developed more than 200 years ago and found in households around the world, chlorine bleach is among the most widely used disinfectants, yet scientists never have understood exactly how the familiar product kills bacteria.

New research from the University of Michigan, however, reveals key details in the process by which bleach works its antimicrobial magic.