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The discovery of the earliest known cases of human tuberculosis (TB) in bones found submerged off the coast of Israel shows that the disease is 3000 years older than previously thought. Direct examination of this ancient DNA confirms the latest theory that bovine TB evolved later than human TB.

The new research, led by scientists from UCL (University College London) and Tel-Aviv University and published today in PLoS One, sheds light on how the TB bacterium has evolved over the millennia and increases our understanding of how it may change in the future.

If the heart becomes diseased during its embryonic/fetal development, it can regenerate itself to such an extent that it is fully functional by birth, provided some of the heart cells remain healthy. Dr. Jörg-Detlef Drenckhahn of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch made this discovery together with colleagues from Australia. They were able to demonstrate in female mice that the healthy cells of the heart divide more frequently and thus displace the damaged tissue. "Hopefully, our results will lead to new therapies in the future," Dr. Drenckhahn said.

Luc Roumen has developed a new therapy for the prevention of heart failure. The idea is to administer a drug that blocks the enzyme responsible for the production of aldosterone, namely cytochrome P450 11B2. The related enzyme 11B1 is involved in the production of other important hormones. Roumen searched for a highly selective drug that would only block 11B2, but not 11B1, to ensure a minimum of side effects when the drug is administered.

Computer simulation

How species are formed and how species remain separate are crucial questions in evolutionary biology. The offspring of crosses between different animal species are often infertile or die when still in the womb. A mule, for example, cannot reproduce. A sheep-goat hybrid, the result of a cross between a sheep and a goat, is usually stillborn. Such hybrids can also be dysfunctional, for example, because the sounds they make are a mixture of sounds from both parent species.

The effectiveness of Proposition 36, a ballot measure approved by California voters in 2000 that offers treatment instead of incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders is being undermined by inadequate funding, participants dropping out of treatment, and increased arrests for drug and property crimes.

PHILADELPHIA – A study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, suggests a possible role for nicotine in breast tumor development and metastases.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is among the first to explore the effects of nicotine on mammary cells.

Westchester, Ill. –A study in the October 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that unrelated to obesity, people with severe SDBs consume a more unhealthy diet, which may be a factor contributing to greater cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. These findings were most evident among women.

Stuart Quan, MD, division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, said, "We found that persons who had severe obstructive sleep apnea ate a diet that was unhealthy with increased intake of cholesterol, fat and saturated fatty acids."

Westchester, Ill. –A study in the October 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a significant predictor of insomnia in women with breast cancer and confirmed that longer nocturnal wake episodes were associated with a flatter diurnal cortisol slope.

Researchers have reported positive results from a safety and efficacy study pertaining to tribendimidine, a broad-based treatment for intestinal worm infections. The group's results demonstrate the success of the new drug from China versus that of the standard albendazole for the treatment of hookworm, large roundworm, whipworm, and, for the first time, threadworm and tapeworm.

Researchers have found that the fight against Buruli ulcer, a tropical skin disease, has hit a bump in Central Cameroon. Even as organizations provide free-of charge hospitalization care, patients' economic and social costs are preventing and delaying the treatment. Their study results are published October 15 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

The discovery of the earliest known cases of human tuberculosis (TB) in bones found submerged off the coast of Israel shows that the disease is 3000 years older than previously thought. Direct examination of this ancient DNA confirms the latest theory that bovine TB evolved later than human TB.

The new research, led by scientists from UCL (University College London) and Tel-Aviv University and published today in PLoS One, sheds light on how the TB bacterium has evolved over the millennia and increases our understanding of how it may change in the future.

The further north you go, the more likely you are to have faecal bacteria on your hands, especially if you are a man, according to a preliminary study conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A new study sheds light on the lives of teenage boys who abuse their girlfriends. In their own words, the young men often describe facing challenges such as growing up with troubled family lives, having little or no support when they began to fail at school, and witnessing violence in their own homes and communities. The study advocates broadening the view of abusive behaviors within dating relationships to explore the myriad environments — school, home and community — that affect boys' lives and actions.

Two independent papers in the October 15th issue of G&D detail the discovery of a previously unidentified fourth component of the Bloom's syndrome complex.

Bloom's syndrome is an inherited cancer predisposition disease, resulting from mutations in a gene on the long arm of chromosome number 15. The BLM gene encodes for one part of a multi-enzyme Bloom's syndrome complex (called BTB) that facilitates DNA repair, and helps ensure the integrity of the genome.

WASHINGTON – OCTOBER 14, 2008 – Newly reported data presented at the 20th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) from the SYNTAX clinical trial (SYNergy Between PCI With TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery) reveal similar safety and efficacy outcomes when the use of a drug-eluting stent is compared to heart bypass surgery in patients with left main disease.