Investigators at the University of Calgary and McGill University have identified genes that underlie two severe diseases of vitamin B12 metabolism. The two diseases, known as the cblA and cblB forms of methylmalonic aciduria, may produce brain damage, mental retardation and even death if not detected in infancy or early childhood.

Melissa Dobson, a graduate student at the University of Calgary working with Roy Gravel PhD in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is lead autho

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Whitehead Institute have discovered a pattern of genetic activity in several types of primary tumors that appears to predict the likelihood that they will spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body. If larger studies support these findings, this early indicator of life-threatening cancer spread might lead to a clinical test that would help determine appropriate treatment.

The study will be published by Nature Genetics on its

DOE News Release Embargoed for release December 6, 2002 INEEL geoscientist to present NAPL contaminant modeling advance at AGU Meeting By modifying the mathematical theory describing the relationship between permeability, saturation, and pressure in a multiple fluid system, researchers can now more accurately predict the movement of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) contaminants in the subsurface. New calculations account for residual NAPL that remains in the vadose zone-forming a long-term source f

The sun is healthy and strong, but physicists will have to change some of the basic assumptions they have made about how the universe works.

These are the results released today from the latest study of neutrinos made with a detector buried a half mile under a Japanese mountain. LSU physicist Bob Svoboda, who worked on an earlier ground-breaking experiment in the same mountain, was construction supervisor on this one.

Basically, scientists were trying to understand why the s

Authors of a research letter in this week’s issue of THE LANCET provide further evidence that the effect of sunlight on neurotransmitters in the brain plays a significant role in seasonal mood disorders.

The success of phototherapy (ultraviolet light therapy to stimulate brain neurotransmitter activity) and drugs that prevent the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin have suggested that serotonin itself has a role in the development of seasonal depression. However, concentrations

A tapeworm may be the unlikely source of a new contraceptive – 100% effective in either sex!

Despite intensive research, scientists have so far failed to find the perfect contraceptive for women – let alone men. However, a study in freshwater fish of the carp family has found a parasite, Ligula intestinalis, that makes the fish infertile. The infertility appears to be caused by a compound released by the parasite, which suppresses the production of eggs in females and sperm in males. P