Research published in Nature tomorrow (21 July) will outline for the first time the stem cell origin of the structure of the neck and shoulders in vertebrates. The scientists believe that instead of groups of stem cells creating the skeletal and muscle structure separately they actually appear to make them together as a sort of 'composite'. This could have significant implications for clinical medicine and our understanding of vertebrate evolution.

On any given day, tens of thousands of biologists around the globe run DNA sequences of unknown function through a lightning-fast online algorithm called BLAST – typically submitting 200 to 400 base pairs, or "letters" of genetic code, to be matched against the billions of letters for known genes. Searching for similarities that can shed light on functional or evolutionary relationships, scientists routinely use BLAST to churn through and produce vast amounts of data. Everyday applications include genetic medicine and pharmaceuticals. Yet this process and, more generally, genomics remain dimly understood by the public.

Antibiotics should not be prescribed to patients with the common cold because there is scant evidence they stop other infections, and the benefits do not outweigh the risks, according to a new systematic review of current evidence.

Study holds hope for next generation hemophilia treatment
Researchers have doubled the potency of a protein that drives blood to clot, according to research to be published in the July 26 edition of Biochemistry. The study results may have profound implications for the treatment of hemophilia, the inherited blood disorder that causes easy or excessive bleeding in 30,000 Americans.

Scientists working with salmon have found that gene expression in the brain can differ significantly among members of a species with different life histories. Their study indicates that roughly 15 percent of Atlantic salmon genes show differential expression in males who migrate from their freshwater birthplaces to mature in oceans versus those who do not leave the freshwater environment to mature.

One puzzle in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research is why mice engineered to have the abnormal protein underlying the disease in humans show little pathology of the disease. Specifically, such mice are genetically altered to overproduce mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP). It is this protein that, when clipped by enzymes, produces the amyloid beta (Ab) peptide that clusters into the amyloid plaque that clogs the brain and kills brain cells.

A combination of the drugs ribavirin and interferon is more effective in treating hepatitis C than using interferon alone, but it also increases the risk of side effects, according to a new systematic review of recent evidence.