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Scientists are reporting development of a long-sought new way to detect the activity of proteins that bind to the DNA in genes, often controlling the activity of genes in ways that make cells do everything from growing normally to becoming cancerous. Their report appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Every cell has thousands of proteins whose activity and lifetime must be regulated to control the cellular life cycle from cell division to cell death. The heat shock protein Hsp90 plays a key role in this process. It is a so-called chaperone, a quality controller, as it were. It monitors and controls the quality and activity of many important signal proteins and helps them take on the right form. When the cell is exposed to high stress levels from heat or a lack of oxygen, Hsp90 is produced in larger quantities to shield its partner proteins from damage.

For the first time, new research shows that patterns of alcohol consumption – a drink or two every night, or several cocktails on Friday and Saturday nights only – may be more important in determining alcohol's influence on heart health than the total amount consumed.

China needs to change where it sites its nature reserves and steer people out of remote rural villages toward cities to protect its valuable but threatened wild plant resources, according to an article published in the September issue of BioScience.

Adding a powder that contains several vitamins and minerals, including iron, zinc and vitamin A, to the semi-solid foods taken by infants and children between six months and two years of age, can reduce their risk of anaemia and iron deficiency. This is the conclusion of a new Cochrane Systematic Review.

Fungi that cause severe infections in those with compromised immune systems are resisting the action of the latest group of antifungal drugs. Uncovering their strategies for doing this will lead to more effective treatments, says a scientist speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference at the University of York.

Children who have their adenoids surgically removed do not get fewer upper respiratory tract infections such as sinusitis and colds, finds research published on bmj.com today.

Upper respiratory tract infections are extremely common in children and many of them are referred for ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery. Indeed, having adenoids taken out (adenoidectomy) is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in children in western countries, says the study.

Manufacturers should have to show how their drugs compare to existing treatments before approval to help ensure that the most beneficial and safest therapies reach patients and that limited healthcare resources are invested wisely, argue experts on bmj.com today.

Currently, manufacturers have to compare the risks and benefits of a new drug against a placebo. Direct (head to head) comparisons with existing therapies are only required when use of a placebo is deemed unethical.

Interventions targeting malaria, such as insecticide-treated bed nets, antimalarial drugs and mosquito control, could substantially reduce cases of bacteraemia, which kill hundreds of thousands of children each year in Africa and worldwide. This is the conclusion of research published today in the Lancet and funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Do animals that have evolved for millions of years underground, completely isolated from the day-night cycle, still "know" what time it is? Does a normal circadian clock persist during evolution under constant darkness? A new study directly tackles these fundamental questions by investigating a species of cavefish, Phreatichthys andruzzii, which has lived isolated for 2 million years beneath the Somalian desert. Many fish species have evolved in the absence of sunlight in cave systems around the world, sharing a common set of striking adaptations including eye loss.

SEATTLE – Children who live in households that own at least one insecticide-treated bed net are less likely to be infected with malaria and less likely to die from the disease, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

A somewhat mysterious soft tissue found in the fetus during early development in the womb plays a pivotal role in the formation of mature beta cells the sole source of the body's insulin. This discovery, made by scientists at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Texas A&M University, may lead to new ways of addressing Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

HOUSTON – Nearly half of breast cancer patients carrying the BRCA1 gene mutation experience a complete pathological response (pCR) – the disappearance of all evidence of disease from the breast tissue and lymph nodes – regardless of disease stage after standard neoadjuvent chemotherapy, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Researchers reported that explicit inclusion of disparities in cost-effectiveness analysis, would allow policy makers to identifystrategies that would reduce overall cancer risk, reduce disparities between racial ethnic subgroups, and be cost-effective,according to a study published online September 6 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Neurosurgery researchers at UC Davis Health System have used a new, leading-edge stem cell therapy to promote the growth of bone tissue following the removal of cervical discs -- the cushions between the bones in the neck -- to relieve chronic, debilitating pain.

The procedure was performed by associate professors of neurosurgery Kee Kim and Rudolph Schrot. It used bone marrow-derived adult stem cells to promote the growth of the bone tissue essential for spinal fusion following surgery, as part of a nationwide, multicenter clinical trial of the therapy.