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The world faces a compounding series of crises driven by human activity, which existing governments and institutions are increasingly powerless to cope with, a group of eminent environmental scientists and economists has warned.

In today's issue of the leading international journal Science, the researchers say that nations alone are unable to resolve the sorts of planet-wide challenges now arising.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A Mayo Clinic study has found that two genes in mice were associated with good central nervous system repair in multiple sclerosis (MS). These findings give researchers new hope for developing more effective therapies for patients with MS and for predicting MS patients' outcomes. This study will be presented at the Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Sept. 11, 2009.

Lisbon, Portugal 11 September, 2009 – The first results of the first European survey of cancer patients’ experience of breakthrough pain were presented today at the 6th congress of the European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain (EFIC).

A new study lays the groundwork for development of a cost-effective tool for studying the population structure and spread of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer. Researchers at the Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland, and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, Ghana, developed SNP typing assays to systematically profile genetic diversity among M. ulcerans isolates by sequencing and comparing the genomes of selected strains.

ALEPPO, SYRIA (11 September 2009)—Wheat experts from 26 countries warn that rapidly-moving, wind-borne transboundary wheat diseases continue to threaten food security and wheat genetic diversity worldwide — particularly in the ancient breadbasket stretching from the Middle East to India — as they vowed new action to isolate and interrupt the steady march of dangerous wheat rust diseases.

A breed of pea seeds has been created that contains antibodies against coccidiosis, a disease caused by a parasite that attacks chickens. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biotechnology describe the development of the GM seeds, and demonstrate their effectiveness in preventing this economically important illness.

The link between deprivation and premature death is as strong today as it was in the early 1900s according to research published on bmj.com today.

The study, the first of its kind to directly compare modern deprivation and mortality with conditions a century ago in the whole of England and Wales, has been undertaken by Ian Gregory, Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University.

The BMA's call to ban alcohol advertising because of its damaging effects on young people is "a logical recommendation to attempt to reverse the all embracing pro-alcohol culture that has grown up in a period of deregulation and liberalisation over the last quarter of a century," according to Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians and Chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance.

A doctor who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome will consider having the swine flu jab when she returns to work this autumn, despite claims that the vaccine is linked to an increased risk of the disease.

Laura Claire Price, a specialist in respiratory and intensive care medicine, examines the reasons why the vaccine might cause the syndrome, reviews the current evidence, and concludes that she will consider having the jab when it becomes available.

Approaching the anniversary of Lehman Brothers' demise, NJIT Finance Professor Michael Ehrlich, an expert on market failure, says that the Feds made the right move when they allowed the investment firm to go bankrupt.

"It would have been much worse had the Federal Reserve and Treasury officials allowed Lehman Brothers to stay in business," said Ehrlich. "Lehman was the trigger, but not the cause of our financial problems. A Lehman rescue would only have allowed the financial crisis to grow."

Columbus, Ohio (September 8, 2009) – Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society, announced that on September 7 it recorded the 50 millionth substance in CAS REGISTRY, the world's most comprehensive and high-quality compendium of publicly disclosed chemical information. The recently registered substance is a novel arylmethylidene heterocycle with analgesic properties. Reaching the 50 million mark so quickly is an indicator of the accelerating pace of scientific knowledge.

AMES, Iowa - Mark Widrlechner may someday be known as the modern-day Johnny Appleseed for ash trees.

As the devastating insect emerald ash borer is working its way across North America destroying almost all the native ash trees it encounters, Widrlechner is rapidly collecting and storing ash tree seeds.

Like the legendary Appleseed who planted apple trees across the country, Widrlechner's seed stocks can serve as a national source for reintroducing ash trees once the devastation can be controlled.

"The Arctic as we know it may soon be a thing of the past," says Eric Post, associate professor of biology at Penn State University. Post leads a large, international team that carried out ecosystem-wide studies of the biological response to Arctic warming during the fourth International Polar Year, which ended in 2008. The team's results will be reported on 11 September 2009 in the journal Science.

Arctic and Antarctic research teams pulled back to warmer climates when the International Polar Year wrapped last March. But the call has gone out for a return to the poles for a more focused investigation into the effects of global warming. Leading the charge back to the Canadian Arctic is David Hik, a University of Alberta biology professor and a lead researcher with IPY.

CHICAGO (September 10, 2009) – When business leaders leave organizations following poor decisions, constituents often find comfort in replacing them with insiders – others familiar with the problem and original choices. But, new research shows that such decisions are best left to a completely unrelated, outside party, contrary to the natural inclination to go to an insider – someone with personal connections to the old boss.