A gene implicated in the development of cancer cells can be switched on using drugs, report researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The finding could lead to a new class of targeted cancer therapies with potential to benefit many different cancer types.

Popular new drugs such as Herceptin and Gleevec more effectively treat cancer by targeting genetic mutations that express themselves in large amounts, causing cancer to develop. But cancers also arise because genes that control growth are turned off. While researchers can use these turned-off genes to identify or monitor cancer, currently no treatments actually target these genes.

A childhood sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) is known to have negative consequences on cognitive development, behavior, quality of life and utilization of health care resources. However, a research abstract that will be presented Monday at SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), finds that breastfeeding may provide long-term protection against the incidence or severity of a childhood SRBD.

Over the past few years we have been hearing about the anti-oxidising effect of the Mediterranean diet, however until now there have been no reliable scientific studies carried out to prove this. A team of IMIM-Hospital del Mar researchers consisting of Drs. Montserrat Fitó, Rafael de la Torre, Jaume Marrugat under the supervision of Dr. María Isabel Covas, have taken on the task.

Monitoring the saltiness of the ocean water could provide an early indicator of climate change. Significant increases or decreases in salt in key areas could forewarn of climate change in 10 to 20 years time. Presenting their findings at a recent European Science Foundation (ESF) conference, scientists predicted that the waters of the southern hemisphere oceans around South Africa and New Zealand are the places to watch.

Despite overwhelming military superiority, the world’s most powerful nations failed to achieve their objectives in 39 percent of their military operations since World War II, according to a new University of Georgia study.

The study, by assistant professor Patricia L. Sullivan in the UGA School of Public and International Affairs, explains the circumstances under which more powerful nations are likely to fail and creates a model that allows policymakers to calculate the probability of success in current and future conflicts.

The same genetic defect that causes a rare respiratory disease may also lead to some types of congenital heart disease, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

The link between the two diseases starts with cilia, the tiny, hair-like extensions that help the lungs clear of mucus and remove contaminants such as dust. The researchers first noticed the connection in children with a respiratory disease that affects cilia, primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). A genetic mutation that impairs cilia movement causes the disease. A few children treated for PCD at UNC-Chapel Hill also had heterotaxy - an abnormal position of the heart and lungs associated with congenital heart disease.