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First comprehensive tests compare social and physical skills of children, chimpanzees and orangutans

Apes bite and try to break a tube to retrieve the food inside while children follow the experimenter's example to get inside the tube to retrieve the prize, showing that even before preschool, toddlers are more sophisticated in their social learning skills than their closest primate relatives, according to a report published in the 7 September issue of the journal Science , published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

10 Sep 2007

Research highlights importance of starch in human beginnings

To think that world domination could have begun in the cheeks. That's one interpretation of a discovery, published online September 9 in Nature Genetics, which indicates that humans carry extra copies of the salivary amylase gene.

10 Sep 2007

New technique for growing cartilage from human embryonic stem cells

Rice University biomedical engineers have developed a new technique for growing cartilage from human embryonic stem cells, a method that could be used to grow replacement cartilage for the surgical repair of knee, jaw, hip, and other joints.

10 Sep 2007

Brain does most of the work in seeing the difference between colours, rather than the eye

Colour contrast is detected much earlier in the brain than previously thought, a new study shows. Scientists at Durham University have confirmed that colour contrast is first detected by part of the brain called primary visual cortex, which is located at the very back of the head where visual information first enters the cortex of the brain.

10 Sep 2007

Care reforms raise concerns over patient access to GP services

GP services could be compromised by new provisions enabling commercial companies to provide primary care through locally negotiated contracts, researchers warn.

10 Sep 2007

A chink in bacteria's armor

Biomedical researchers at Boston University's College of Engineering may have discovered the path toward developing better drugs capable of defeating so-called “superbugs,” bacteria that have developed resistance to common antibiotics. The researchers have discovered a previously unknown chain of events occurring in bacteria that opens to door to new avenues of research.

10 Sep 2007

Link found between a lack of vitamin D and pre-eclampsia

Researchers in the United States have found an association between vitamin D levels in pregnant women and the risk of pre-eclampsia; they say women who have a vitamin D deficiency early in their pregnancy are at risk from pre-eclampsia.

9 Sep 2007

College athletes have exercise-induced asthma and often don't know

In a study of college athletes in the United States it has been discovered that many of them displayed the signs of exercise-induced asthma.

9 Sep 2007

Experts say screening families of heart attack victims could save many lives

Scottish researchers say by screening the relatives of middle-aged heart attack sufferers many lives would be saved.

9 Sep 2007

Scientists speed healing of bone damage

Blocking a naturally occurring inhibitor of bone formation accelerates healing of skull defects in mice, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The finding advances the understanding of how the skeleton develops and opens new therapeutic avenues for many of the disorders that are expected to afflict aging baby boomers.

5 Sep 2007

FDA warns Melanocorp for illegal sale of Melanotan II

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Warning Letter to Brian Manookian, owner of Melanocorp, Inc. in Hendersonville, Tenn. for the illegal sale and marketing of the product Melanotan II, which is not FDA-approved, on Melanocorp's Web site.

5 Sep 2007

Racial disparities in prostate cancer, why?

African-American men face a higher risk of developing prostate cancer in their lifetime, but researchers do not fully understand why.

5 Sep 2007

Ultraconserved elements in the genome: Are they indispensable?

Three years ago, "ultraconserved elements" were discovered in the genomes of mice, rats, and humans.

5 Sep 2007

Health benefits of fruit juice

In years past, family physician Pamela Rockwell told parents not to let their children drink too much fruit juice because of its link to obesity.

5 Sep 2007

Primary care depression treatment often does not follow quality guidelines

Most patients with depression who are treated by primary care physicians do not receive care consistent with quality standards, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

5 Sep 2007

Selection on genes underlying schizophrenia during human evolution

Several genes with strong associations to schizophrenia have evolved rapidly due to selection during human evolution, according to new research in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Wednesday 5 September 2007).

5 Sep 2007

New method to create natural drug products

Until now, only the intricate machinery inside cells could take a mix of enzyme ingredients, blend them together and deliver a natural product with an elaborate chemical structure such as penicillin.

5 Sep 2007

Researchers develop a long-acting growth hormone for use in human therapy

The new discovery could mean that children and adults with growth hormone disorders will not have to have injections as often, reducing the need for daily treatments.

5 Sep 2007

Ability of a brain area to change its functioning after stroke

New evidence from a patient shows that the area of the brain that processes visual inputs can reorganize after an injury caused by stroke.

5 Sep 2007

Radiation and drug combo helps boost efficacy of lung-cancer treatment

Combining radiation therapy with a drug that helps destroy blood vessels nourishing malignant tumors has been shown in mice to be significantly more effective in treating lung cancer than either approach alone, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

5 Sep 2007