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Environmental change can drive hard-wired evolutionary changes in animal species in a matter of generations. A study by Umeå University ecologist Tom Cameron and a research team at University of Leeds overturns the common assumption that evolution only occurs gradually over hundreds or thousands of years. The results are published in the journal Ecology Letters.

Charlottesville, VA (April 9, 2013). Neurosurgeons at the University of Texas–Houston and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital (Houston, Texas) report on the success they achieved when they removed a hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) from a 10-year-old girl to combat hyperphagia (excessive appetite and compulsive overeating) and consequent unhealthy weight gain. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time resection of an HH was performed for this particular reason.

With rates and deaths associated with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) at historically high levels, many hospitals have taken extra steps to reduce these infections. New research finds that a dedicated daily cleaning crew who adequately clean and disinfect rooms contaminated by C. difficile using a standardized process can be more effective than other disinfection interventions.

CHICAGO (April 9, 2013)– In rooms of patients with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), the outside of the packages containing sterile items can become contaminated. Unused medical supplies are often thrown away to prevent the items from becoming pathways for transmission of drug-resistant microbes, and in the process this leads to increased healthcare costs. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital found that hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) is an effective way to sanitize the outside of the packages of these sterile supplies.

CHICAGO (April 9, 2013)– Placement of copper objects in intensive care unit (ICU) hospital rooms reduced the number of healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) in patients by more than half, according to a new study published in the May issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, in a special topic issue focused on the role of the environment in infection prevention.

IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute), a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc. (TSX: MDG; OTCQX: MDCGF), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced that they will be presenting positive interim Phase I clinical results for their H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate "H5N1 vaccine" at the World Vaccine Congress.

Patients with prostate cancer and hereditary mutations in the BRCA2 gene have a worse prognosis and lower survival rates than do the rest of the patients with the disease.

Stanford scientists have discovered that some purple sea urchins living along the coast of California and Oregon have the surprising ability to rapidly evolve in acidic ocean water – a capacity that may come in handy as climate change increases ocean acidity. This capacity depends on high levels of genetic variation that allow urchins' healthy growth in water with high carbon dioxide levels.

Terrestrial species on low-lying islands and coastal regions are vulnerable to sea level rise due to climate-change, the most vulnerable species being endemics with limited ranges and rare species that are endangered already. That is the key message of a study by Florian Wetzel and colleagues of the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology (KLIVV) of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) and Walter Jetz of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, USA.

In the most extensive screen of its kind, Texas Biomed scientists in San Antonio have demonstrated the feasibility of repurposing already-approved drugs for use against highly pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The pathogens included emerging diseases and potential bioterror threats ranging from anthrax to the Marburg and Ebola viruses.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Researchers have discovered that using two kinds of therapy in tandem may be a knockout combo against inherited disorders that cause blindness. While their study focused on man's best friend, the treatment could help restore vision in people, too.

WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2013)—Head and neck cancers typically begin in squamous cells that line moist surfaces inside the mouth, nose and throat. Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC) is the sixth most common type of cancer in the United States, and it is sometimes preceded by the appearance of changes inside the oral cavity called precancerous lesions. The most common type of change is a white patch known as a leukoplakia.

WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2013)—A new chemotherapy regimen appears to produce minimal side effects in patients with lung cancer that has not responded to previous therapy, paving the way for additional research to determine if the new regimen also helps shrink tumors, according findings to be presented by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 on Tuesday, April 9.

WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2013)—Researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center have found that omega-3 fatty acids and their metabolite products slow or stop the proliferation, or growth in the number of cells, of triple-negative breast cancer cells more effectively than cells from luminal types of the disease. The omega-3s worked against all types of cancerous cells, but the effect was observed to be stronger in triple-negative cell lines, reducing proliferation by as much as 90 percent. The findings will be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 on Tuesday, April 9.

Believe it or not, while researchers have explored which genes are mutated in each type of tobacco-associated cancer, until now no one had thought to look across these types for common genes that might predict patient outcomes. Results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 show that in lung and bladder cancers, genes related to the regulation of the cell cycle are associated with poor patient outcomes.