New research from University of Glasgow researchers on lay perceptions about gender differences in health reveals that both men and women believe health risks are higher for their own sex than for the opposite sex. But, it also shows that males think that men are fitter and females think women are more athletic.

Research conducted in monkeys at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, suggests high doses of vitamin C may have potential to counteract some negative impacts of smoking in unborn babies. The research may benefit thousands of babies born to mothers who continue to smoke throughout pregnancy despite physician warnings. The research is published in the current edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The chemotherapy drug motexafin gadolinium (brand name: Xcytrin, manufactured by Pharmacyclics, Inc.) works to thwart cancer cells by disrupting key enzymes involved in cellular metabolism, according to a team of researchers led by Joseph Hacia, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Dr. Stephen Goff and colleagues have identified a novel retroviral resistance gene, called FEZ1, that can mediate a potent resistance to murine leukemia virus, as well as HIV-1, in cell culture. The researchers found that the high level of FEZ1 expression in a specific laboratory rat cell line caused a significant block to retroviral infection – retroviruses were able to enter the host cells and synthesize the viral DNA, but were excluded from entering the host cell nucleus.

The establishment of first polarity in the developing mammalian embryo is one of the most contentious topics in developmental biology today. Drs. Davor Solter and Takashi Hiiragi have new evidence to fuel the ongoing debate. Using various techniques, including comprehensive time-lapse microscopy, the researchers showed compelling evidence for the absence of predetermined polarity in the mouse egg.