Space designs from ants and squirrels

29 Oct 2005 13:59:32 +0100

By Michelle Roberts
BBC News ...

Cancer: The facts

27 May 2005 21:26:14 +0100

One in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer during our life. The disease tends to affect older people - but can strike at any time. Excluding certain skin cancers, there were more than 270,000 new cases of the disease in 2001 - and the rate is increasing by about 1% a year. Some cancer, such as breast, are becoming more common, while new cases of lung cancer fall away due to the drop ...

Stem cells tailored to patients

23 May 2005 20:36:49 +0100

South Korean scientists say they have made stem cells tailored to match the individual for the first time. Each of the 11 new stem cell lines that they made were created by taking genetic material from the patient and putting it into a donated egg. The resultant cells were a perfect match for the individual and could mean treatments for diseases like diabetes without problems of rejection. ...

'Taking a shower left me exhausted'

10 May 2005 19:20:23 +0100

Two years ago Saphira van den Dam was too tired to do anything but sleep. She did not go to school and could not even shower without the help of her mother. But now the 17-year-old Dutch girl, who had chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), is back in full-time education, training to become a primary school teacher and enjoying a full social life. She credits a form of psychotherapy for her dramatic ...

Scientists find 'key sleep gene'

02 May 2005 23:04:34 +0100

Scientists believe they have identified the gene which determines how much sleep humans can get by on. A US team found that fruit flies with a mutated version of the gene were able to get by on much less sleep than others. Fruit flies have a similar genetic make-up and sleep patterns to humans. University of Wisconsin Medical School researchers said the findings might help develop new tec ...

Alzheimer's gene therapy hailed

25 Apr 2005 09:00:09 +0100