University of Florida scientists conducting experiments with mice have found evidence that the body naturally replenishes small amounts of cells in the eye essential for healthy vision.

Western Australian researchers have discovered a new gene that could lead to breakthroughs in breast and prostate cancer, as well as diabetes.

Rapid climate changes over the past several decades have led to heritable, genetic changes in animals as diverse as squirrels, birds and mosquitoes, according to University of Oregon evolutionary geneticists.

Not all bacteria are bad. In fact, beneficial microbes could represent the future of medicine, with the potential to treat a variety of diseases in humans and animals from diarrhea and eczema to gum disease and autoimmune disorders, according to a report released by the American Academy of Microbiology, Probiotic Microbes: The Scientific Basis.

When Robert Burns compared his love to a red, red rose, he definitely wasn't referring to a topless mutant. That's because rather than being topped by a lovely, fragrant bloom, a rose mutant in the gene known as TOPLESS would be crowned by a homely second root.

Bacteria like Salmonella have a complicated immune system that helps them recognize and isolate foreign DNA trying to invade their cell membrane, according to a University of Washington-led study in the June 8 issue of Science Express. The research, which also included scientists at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego, could have major implications for understanding the evolution of disease-causing bacteria. The findings may also impact the biotech industry, where bacteria are used to produce recombinant human proteins for medical treatments and research.

Gazelles in the deserts of Saudi Arabia have evolved the ability to shrink oxygen-demanding organs such as the liver and heart, allowing them to breathe less.How do gazelles and other large desert mammals adjust their physiology to survive when food and water are in short supply? A fascinating new study from the July/August issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology reveals that gazelles in the deserts of Saudi Arabia have evolved the ability to shrink oxygen-demanding organs such as the liver and heart, allowing them to breathe less. Fewer breaths reduce the amount of water lost to respiratory evaporation during prolonged periods of drought.

Doctors at the MUHC have announced Quebec's first successful combined heart/liver transplant. The patient, Patrice Dionne, age 54 years, was transferred from the Institut de cardiologie de Quebec (l'hôpital Laval) to the MUHC. The patient received his new heart and liver during a 6-hour operation on April 14, 2006 and was discharged 10 days later. The complex procedure involved 15 physicians, surgeons and other health care professionals. The MUHC conducts the most organ transplants in Quebec and has the most comprehensive multi-organ transplant program in the province.

Researchers at Northwestern University have pinpointed a brain area in flies that is crucial to sleep, raising interesting speculation over the purpose of sleep and its possible link with learning and memory.

New therapies for stroke patients may soon be possible, thanks to a discovery made by a team of University of British Columbia neuroscience researchers who have found a new stroke death channel – the conduit through which key chemicals are lost from brain cells during stroke, causing the cell death that disables stroke victims.

A method for delivery of drugs to targeted cells through the design of specific molecular structures called SIB (Small Integrated Building Blocks) has won a prestigious scientific prize for a Ph.D. student in organic chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is launching an ambitious program to identify the genes responsible for common childhood diseases. Making use of advanced automated technology from the biotechnology company Illumina, Inc., the Hospital's new Center for Applied Genomics will house one of the world's largest programs for genotyping--the process of detecting gene variations, with the aim of linking them to particular illnesses.