new study shows, for the first time, that the release of the body's own marijuana-like compounds is crucial to stress-induced analgesia – the body's way of initially shielding pain after a serious injury.

The work, led by scientists at the University of Georgia and the University of California, Irvine, may yield a target for new drug therapies that will completely bypass the current arguments over the use of medical marijuana. In theory, the new research makes it possible to design a pill that will have the same pain relieving effects as smoked marijuana, but through an indirect mechanism that could also reduce unwanted psychoactive side effects and not have the same political baggage.

Assistant Professor Mark Pagani in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale and his colleagues mapped the first detailed history of atmospheric carbon dioxide between 45 - 25 million years ago based on stable isotopes of carbon in a National Science Foundation study reported in Science Express.

Researchers have discovered that a parasite carried by an invasive species of minnow is responsible for the dramatic declines and localized extinctions of a different minnow species in Europe during the past 40 years.

This parasite, which scientists have found can almost totally destroy the spawning success of the small sunbleak minnow, Leucaspius delineatus, may pose threats to the diversity and stability of freshwater ecosystems, and is genetically very similar to a parasite that can be deadly to salmon, researchers say.

Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a way to study the earliest steps of human blood development using human embryonic stem cells grown in a lab dish instead of the embryos themselves.

The process avoids some of the ethical and technical obstacles involved in such research, according to the Johns Hopkins investigators.

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have solved the structure of a crucial human immune system molecule called TLR3, an acronym for Toll-like receptor three. In an upcoming issue of the journal Science, the protein is described as a large horseshoe-shaped coil composed of 23 leucine-rich repeats (LRRs).

The structure reveals details of TLR3 that have never been seen before, an essential step toward fully understanding the critical role this protein--and other TLRs--play in the human innate immune system to rapidly detect invading pathogens.

Scientists in Belgium have discovered how to clone human embryos from eggs that have been matured in the laboratory. Their discovery should make it easier for scientists to create embryonic stem cell lines from cloned embryos and develop them to provide eggs and sperm for infertile couples, the 21st annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today (Monday 20 June).

Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN), a leading life sciences company with a broad portfolio of technologies to improve and accelerate biomedical research, drug discovery and commercial bioproduction, unveiled its latest concept in bioinformatics and systems biology with the launch of i-Path at the BIO 2005 international conference.

A new resource for scientists worldwide, i-Path consists of 225 high-level, annotated, validated original maps of human cell signaling and metabolic pathways compiled by GeneGo Inc, a leading provider of databases and software for systems biology. Invitrogen scientists have further identified the specific antibodies, siRNA, full-length DNA clones and other biological molecules involved in cell function and disease on these maps. The system enables researchers to visualize molecular interactions in a highly graphical, user-friendly, interactive format and will be available to scientists free of charge on Invitrogen's Web site."i-Path continues our tradition of providing enabling, Web-based technologies to support researchers throughout their experiments," said Michael Stapleton, Vice President & General Manager eCommerce and Bioinformatics for Invitrogen. "Building on a rich history that includes the acquisition of InforMax, Invitrogen has moved powerful design and analytic capabilities into the mainstream of science by coupling these systems with familiar research tools and making them freely available through our Web site."

Leprosy likely originated in East Africa and spread to Asia and Europe before being imported into West Africa by explorers, report scientists in this week's issue of Science. The findings enrich the historical understanding of leprosy's global migration and contradict a commonly held view that leprosy spread to West Africa directly from East Africa, say the researchers.