Dendritic cells monitor foreign substances in the body and communicate whether they present a danger to the rest of the immune system. Emory immunologists have developed a sensitive method to detect and follow dendritic cells by marking them with a change in their DNA, and have discovered that they are more numerous and longer lived than other scientists had previously observed. Their research uses a gene gun, which shoots DNA into the skin using microscopic gold pellets, and could lead to a faster a

ESC Congress 2003

Sudden cardiac death from ventricular tachyarrhythmias is the leading cause of death in Europe and the US. It effects hundreds of thousands people each year. Many of them have known heart disease, mainly coronary artery disease. The implantable defibrillator (ICD) effectively treats such arrhythmias and prevents sudden cardiac death. Identification of patients at risk who may gain profit from prophylactic ICD implantation remains a difficult task for the cardiologist

Ecologists are taking to the trees in a bid to unravel the ecology of shell coiling in snails. Speaking at the British Ecological Society’s Annual Meeting, being held at Manchester Metropolitan University on 9-11 September 2003, Dr Paul Craze of the University of Plymouth will explain how examining the proportion of right- and left-coiling individuals in a species of Bornean tree snail could help ecologists understand how new species arise.

The vast majority of snail species are almost exclu

The oldest ecological experiment in the world, set up almost 150 years ago to see whether inorganic fertilisers could produce more grass than traditional animal manures, is becoming an important source of evidence on the impact of climate change on genetic variation in plants.

Speaking at the British Ecological Society’s Annual Meeting, being held at Manchester Metropolitan University on 9-11 September 2003, Professor Jonathan Silvertown of the Open University will explain what the Park Gra

b>New research has proved that sage can improve memory, confirming centuries-old theories.

British scientists have carried out the first clinical trials with healthy, young adults and found that those who had taken sage oil capsules performed significantly better in a word recall test.

The team, from the Medicinal Plant Research Centre (MPRC) at the Universities of Newcastle and Northumbria, UK, have provided scientific evidence for claims dating back centuries.

They

An international study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggests that prognosis for patients with HIV/AIDS might be more reliably determined six months after initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), rather than before the start of treatment.

HAART became widespread in more-developed countries from 1996 onwards, and has improved the prognosis of HIV-1 infection. However, not enough is known about how to predict the prognosis of people with HIV-1 infection starting HAART.