Wow, the weekend is already over! That was fast! 24 hours ain't enough, I guess. Even if the poll shows that most of you like the dark theme, I added a script at the top of the page to allow you to switch the main section to a white background & black text, should you want to. I'm also happy to see that the changes that I made to the comment system are encouring you to post opinions on the discussion forum; exchange of thoughts and ideas is important. Some news to keep you busy for the evening :

- Stem cell study offers hope for fighting type 1 diabetes
- Brazil says 'yes' to GM crops and stem cell research
- Infertility - discovery could mean new treatment
- New Teeth Possible Through Stem Cell Research
- BioWar: Proposals to open Russia BW sites

Oral biologists at the University at Buffalo have shown for the first time how histatin, the naturally occurring antifungal agent in saliva, kills the oral pathogen Candida albicans, the fungus responsible for most HIV-related oral infections.

Researchers led by Mira Edgerton, D.D.S., Ph.D., discovered that histatin binds to a specific membrane protein called TRK1p, which regulates potassium ion flow through the cell membrane of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans and allows the cell to regulate its volume.

A group of plants that uses metal to defend against infection may do so because the normal defense mechanism used by most other plants is blocked.

Purdue University researchers found that this group of plants produces, but does not respond to, the molecule that triggers the infection response used by nearly all other plants. The molecule does, however, allow this group of plants, called metal hyperaccumulators, to store high levels of metal in their tissues, rendering them pathogen resistant.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), or 'oxygen radicals', have been identified as major contributors to signs of premature aging, increased cancer prevalence linked to inflammation-associated syndromes and a variety of human diseases. Now scientists at the University of California, San Diego Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) have identified a key network of DNA repair and cell cycle control genes in yeast that prevents the deleterious effects of ROS.

Physicians have long been puzzled by a condition called intracranial arterial dolichoectasia, in which the larger arteries of the brain become elongated and misshapen. Typically, it has been considered a complication of atherosclerosis ("hardening of the arteries"), and not directly life-threatening. However, there is recent evidence that people with dolichoectasia are more likely to have aortic aneurysms, a potentially fatal weakening of the main artery that carries blood out from the heart.

A substance similar to a drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease blocks the stimulating effects of cocaine and could potentially be used to develop drug therapy for cocaine abuse, new research shows.

In an article published in the February 23, 2005, issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, Jonathan Katz and his colleagues at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) report the results of experiments showing that mice treated with a substance similar to the drug benztropine did not show any of the typical hyperactive behavior when later injected with cocaine. This effect wore off after a day.