Saturday, 25 May, 2013

Bad feet? Aching back? Impacted wisdom teeth? Blame balky designs inherited from your relatives. How has evolution equipped — or mal-equipped — us for modern life? How do big brains support culture that supports big brains?

Mosquitoes spread a lot of disease, but they are not just “flying hypodermic needles.” As we rush to protect ourselves against a virus that can cause permanent brain damage, how can we understand and control the mosquitoes that spread West Nile?

Advances in genetics raise the stakes in genetic counseling, but the genetic role in disease can be complicated, elusive. What role do faith, personality and knowledge play in the complex discussions over genetic disease?

Contaminated injection blamed for mini-epidemic. Why are hospitals running out of generic drugs, anesthetics and antibiotics?

Among foodies, apples lack the “healthy-tasty” cachet of acai berries or pomegranates. But in a year-long study, apples produced major benefits in cholesterol and inflammation. After eating 75 grams of dry apple a day, the women even lost three pounds. Is there something not to love about apples?

Flu virus can fly on aerosols after a sneeze, cough, even a breath. They can stay aloft for hours, long enough to find another victim.

It’s as sure as sunrise. Drink too much, and you’ll pay next morning: lassitude, nausea, headache, dizziness, and more specialized agonies will be cause for regret. Hangovers: If you can’t avoid them, will they cause you to drink less? Do fruitflies get hung over?

To stay young, science says you drastically cut calories. It works for fruitflies, rodents, monkeys, and every mammal that has been tested. A new study proves that the benefit requires the Sirt-3 gene. Could Sirt-3 be the key to an anti-aging drug treatment?

A federal court has thrown the field of embryonic stem cell research into confusion. Last week, research that destroys embryos could not get federal bucks — even if those embryos were doomed or destroyed years ago. This week, it can. How is the legal yo-yo affecting researchers — and desperate patients?

The science behind medical marijuana is emerging. Some tests show that it dulls pain in cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and AIDS. Why is medical marijuana so difficult to explore? What’s coming to the market?

How is flu vaccine is made in eggs and animal cells? What is being done to protect us against a fast-changing, deadly virus?

Virologists have been working late since swine flu appeared in April. With flu running amok in South America, what can we expect when the epidemic returns north this fall?

Fraud happens. In a 2009 survey, 2 percent of scientists admitted faking data; 14 percent said colleagues have done it. Problems worst in drug and other medical studies.

The epidemic fades, with 61 confirmed deaths and 5,251 cases so far. Were the public health warnings overdone? Or did they help stem the pandemic? Your guide to the time of finger-pointing, flu-style.

New video captures AIDS moving inside immune cells: HIV enters pods that form on the surface, then jumps across into a healthy immune cell that is now doomed to spread HIV — and die.