Medicine articles

Radio waves fire up nanotubes embedded in tumors, destroy liver cancer
Cancer cells treated with carbon nanotubes can be destroyed by noninvasive radio waves that heat up the nanotubes while sparing untreated tissue, a research team from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Rice University found in preclinical experiments.

Key to false memories uncovered
Duke University Medical Center neuroscientists say the places a memory is processed in the brain may determine how someone can be absolutely certain of a past event that never occurred.

Lush or lightweight?
Some fruit flies can drink others under the table. Now, scientists at North Carolina State University have a few more genetic clues behind why some flies are more sensitive to alcohol than others. And the results might lead to more knowledge about alcoholism in humans.

Study reveals how the brain generates the human tendency for optimism
A neural network that may generate the human tendency to be optimistic has been identified by researchers at New York University. As humans, we expect to live longer and be more successful than average, and we underestimate our likelihood of getting a divorce or having cancer. The results, reported in the most recent issue of Nature, link the optimism bias to the same brain regions that show irregularities in depression.

New brain cells listen before they talk
Newly created neurons in adults rely on signals from distant brain regions to regulate their maturation and survival before they can communicate with existing neighboring cells—a finding that has important implications for the use of adult neural stem cells to replace brain cells lost by trauma or neurodegeneration, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Fighting cancer with light-activated antibodies
Scientists at Newcastle University have developed a cancer fighting technology which uses ultra-violet light to activate antibodies which very specifically attack tumours.

Nanoengineers mine tiny diamonds for drug delivery
Northwestern University researchers have shown that nanodiamonds -- much like the carbon structure as that of a sparkling 14 karat diamond but on a much smaller scale -- are very effective at delivering chemotherapy drugs to cells without the negative effects associated with current drug delivery agents.

You'll spend more thinking about your bank account than about your wallet
It has long been assumed that consumers are good judges of affordability, but a new study reveals that how much you're willing to spend is influenced by whether you think about a larger pool of resources (such as your bank account) or a smaller pool (the cash in your wallet).

Thinking makes it so: science extends reach of prosthetic arms
Motorized prosthetic arms can help amputees regain some function, but these devices take time to learn to use and are limited in the number of movements they provide.

A protein converts immune cells to tumor killers
Tumor cells are masters at evading detection. But new research from Rockefeller University shows how they can be exposed. By harnessing the immune system of patients with a rare neurological disorder, scientists have figured out how to transform immune cells that barely detect the presence of breast and ovarian tumors into ones that obliterate them. The findings, which appear in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, not only bring researchers closer to a therapy for gynecological cancers, but also to the key that could unlock the general secrets of tumor immunity.

Effects of social isolation traced to brain hormone
The anxiety and aggression that result from social isolation have been traced to altered levels of an enzyme that controls production of a brain hormone.

Sight, sound processed together and earlier than previously thought
The area of the brain that processes sounds entering the ears also appears to process stimulus entering the eyes, providing a novel explanation for why many viewers believe that ventriloquists have thrown their voices to the mouths of their dummies.

New magnetic separation technique might detect multiple pathogens at once
A magnetic separation technique developed by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering and Purdue University makes it relatively simple to sort through beads hundreds of times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.

Neuroscientists uncover brain region involved in voluntary behavior
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have deciphered the activity of an area of the brain that could one day prove vital in the development of neural prostheses--within-the-brain implants that would translate thought into movement in paralyzed patients.

Cerebral cortex thicker in people with migraines
People who suffer from migraine headaches have differences in an area of the brain that helps process sensory information, including pain, according to a study published in the November 20, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

How do we make sense of what we see?
M.C. Escher's ambiguous drawings transfix us: Are those black birds flying against a white sky or white birds soaring out of a black sky? Lines in Escher's drawings can seem to be part of either of two different shapes. How does our brain decide which of those shapes to "see?" In a situation where the visual information provided is ambiguous — whether we are looking at Escher's art or looking at, say, a forest — how do our brains settle on just one interpretation?

Researchers find memory can be manipulated by photos
The camera may not lie, but doctored photos do according to new research into digitally altered photos and how they influence our memories and attitudes toward public events.

Living cancer cells photographed in 3-d
Biomedical engineers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering have captured three-dimensional images revealing microscopic changes to the inner workings of cells that occur at the earliest stages of cancer, suggesting a possible new method of disease detection.

Bear hunting altered genetics more than ice age isolation
It was not the isolation of the Ice Age that determined the genetic distribution of bears, as has long been thought. This is shown by an international research team led from Uppsala University in Sweden in the latest issue of Molecular Ecology. One possible interpretation is that the hunting of bears by humans and human land use have been crucial factors.

Use it or lose it
Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, UK, have concluded a study that proves a direct link between levels of physical activity in middle age and physical ability later in life – regardless of body weight.