September 28, 2012
This paper examines the relationship between attitudes of filial responsibility and five different types of care-giving behaviours to parents among three cultural groups. It does so within an assessment of the relative importance of cultural versus structural factors for care-giving … Read More
September 28, 2012
A team of researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), headed by CNIO Director Maria Blasco, has demonstrated in a pioneering study on mammals that longevity is defined at a molecular level by the length of telomeres. (Medical … Read More
September 28, 2012
Even the most skilled and steady surgeons experience minute, almost imperceptible hand tremors when performing delicate tasks. Normally, these tiny motions are inconsequential, but for doctors specializing in fine-scale surgery, such as operating inside the human eye or repairing microscopic … Read More
September 28, 2012
New Jersey may become the third state to legalize physician-assisted suicide after a state lawmaker proposed a bill to grant doctors the right to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to terminally ill patients, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reported. (Fox News)
September 28, 2012
Contraception has shaped American women’s lives since they gained access to The Pill in the early 1960s. One benefit, however, seems to have received less recognition than the rest: Yes, contraception allows women to enjoy sex without fear of pregnancy … Read More
September 28, 2012
More than half the cases of severe intellectual disability caused by genetic defects are the result of random mutations, not inherited mutations passed down from parents, a new study suggests. (CBS News)
September 28, 2012
Radiation therapy and chemotherapy aimed at killing cancer cells may have the undesirable effect of helping to create cancer stem cells, which are thought to be particularly adept at generating new tumors and are especially resistant to treatment, researchers say. … Read More
September 27, 2012
Prices for long-acting contraception will be halved for 27 million women in the developing world through a new partnership, former President Bill Clinton and other world leaders announced Wednesday. (ABC News)
September 27, 2012
Celebrities often endorse health causes — think Michael J. Fox and Parkinson’s disease, Montel Williams and multiple sclerosis, Rosie O’Donnell and desmoid tumors. Then think Jenny McCarthy and autism — and her conviction that it is caused by childhood vaccines. … Read More
September 27, 2012
Switzerland’s parliament voted against a bid to toughen controls on assisted suicide on Wednesday, rejecting concerns about foreigners travelling to the country to die. (Chicago Tribune)
September 27, 2012
The number of doctor-assisted suicide cases reported in the Netherlands grew by 559 between the years of 2010 and 2011, a commission says. (Washington Post)
September 27, 2012
Dendritic cells (DCs) – workhorses of the immune system – derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) may provide an economical way of generating off-the-shelf therapeutic vaccines against cancers, according to research led by Jieming Zeng and Shu Wang from … Read More
September 27, 2012
The discovery allows doctors to grow “mini tumors” from each patient’s cancer in a lab dish, then test various drugs or combinations on them to see which works best. It takes only a few cells from a biopsy and less … Read More
September 26, 2012
“Good Morning America†cameras were there last week when co-host Robin Roberts underwent a bone marrow transplant. So were her colleagues Diane Sawyer and Sam Champion, wearing surgical masks and singing songs of encouragement. All of it was on the … Read More
September 26, 2012
Maria is one of a growing number of Russian surrogate mothers. She was paid to carry and give birth to the twins by a Finnish couple who were their biological parents. (The Moscow Times)
September 26, 2012
Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to form embryonic stem cell-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), but the process suffers from low efficiency and the underlying molecular mechanisms that control reprogramming remain poorly understood. Here we perform an inhibitor screen to … Read More
September 26, 2012
Sexual violence in Syria and women’s global access to justice are expected to take highest priority as women’s advocates gather for the U.N. General Assembly. Also on the agenda: the unmet development goals for maternal health. (UPI)
September 26, 2012
Legislators have voted in Uruguay by a razor-thin margin to legalize abortion. In Latin America, where the majority of people are Catholic, no country except Cuba has made abortions accessible to all women during the first trimester of pregnancy. (Associated … Read More
September 26, 2012
The American Civil Liberties Union has asked for a second time that the Supreme Court invalidate Myriad Genetics Inc’s patents on two genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, the latest salvo in a case with broad consequences for … Read More
September 26, 2012
We analysed primary breast cancers by genomic DNA copy number arrays, DNA methylation, exome sequencing, messenger RNA arrays, microRNA sequencing and reverse-phase protein arrays. Our ability to integrate information across platforms provided key insights into previously defined gene expression subtypes … Read More
September 26, 2012
Despite, and perhaps sometimes because of, their life-saving benefits, ICDs are associated with a host of complex psychosocial problems, but clinicians and caregivers receive little training to deal with these problems. In response to these concerns, the American Heart Association … Read More
September 25, 2012
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have discovered that a chemical can trigger the maturation of small eggs to healthy, mature eggs, a process that could give more women the chance of successful IVF treatment in the future. (Science … Read More
September 25, 2012
The pilot program that allows teens to access the contraceptive drug Plan B in 13 New York City schools — perhaps the first of its kind in the country — may be eventually implemented citywide. (ABC News)
September 25, 2012
The Ministry of Health [China] banned surrogacy in 2001. However, surrogacy is still performed surreptitiously because of increasing demand. With connections and backdoor deals, couples are sometimes able to find a surrogate mother and a hospital willing to take the … Read More
September 25, 2012
While some may believe that science is better left to scientists, hundreds of amateur biologists around the world have been setting-up makeshift biology labs in their homes, garages and community centres. (Wired)
