There is currently no evidence available of a superiority of rapid-acting insulin analogues over human insulin in the treatment of adult patients with diabetes mellitus type 1. The evidential value and design of studies available so far are inadequate and do not allow conclusions regarding most patient-relevant therapy goals, such as the reduction in long-term complications or overall mortality. Due to the lack of data, the benefit of rapid-acting insulin analogues in children and adolescents is unclear. Although one of the manufacturers conducted long-term comparative studies in this group of patients, it is withholding some of the results. This is the result of the final report of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) which was published in June 2007 and for which an English-language summary is now available.

Animals' natural foraging decisions give an insight into their cognitive abilities, and primates do not automatically choose the easy option. Instead, they appear to decide where to feed based on the quality of the resources available and the effect on their social group, rather than simply selecting the nearest food available. These findings¹ by Elena Cunningham and Charles Janson, respectively from the New York University College of Dentistry and the State University of New York, have just been published in a special issue of the journal Animal Cognition². The articles in the issue look at the interaction of social and ecological factors and their influence on the evolution of primate intelligence.

A specific genetic variation may be tied to an increased risk for severe premenstrual depression, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Institute of Mental Health have found.

Bees do it, chimps do it… Now it seems Arctic foxes do it, too. New research looking at the DNA fingerprints of canids in the Far North has revealed that foxes once thought to be monogamous are in fact quite frisky.

University of Southern California biologists have developed a method for sequencing both chromosomes of an organism.

A universal influenza vaccine that has been pioneered by researchers from VIB and Ghent University is being tested for the first time on humans by the British-American biotech company Acambis. This vaccine is intended to provide protection against all ‘A’ strains of the virus that causes human influenza, including pandemic strains.

The mosquitoes responsible for malaria transmission to humans belong to the Anopheles genus. One of the best known and most extensively studied is Anopheles gambiae, Africa’s principal malaria vector. The protection recommended by the World Health Organization for people at risk from this devastating disease is the use of mosquito nets impregnated with pyrethroids, of low toxicity for mammals and highly active against mosquitoes. Unfortunately, excessive and inappropriate use of this family of insecticide, particularly by spraying, has induced a disturbing rise in the number of resistant individuals in the Anopheles populations. The mosquito nets treated with pyrethroids can therefore lose their effectiveness. It is therefore essential to devise new control strategies against these malaria vectors that are resistant to these insecticides.

Your ability to listen to a phone message in one ear while a friend is talking into your other ear—and comprehend what both are saying—is an important communication skill that’s heavily influenced by your genes, say researchers of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health. The finding, published in the August 2007 issue of Human Genetics, may help researchers better understand a broad and complex group of disorders—called auditory processing disorders (APDs)—in which individuals with otherwise normal hearing ability have trouble making sense of the sounds around them.

Researchers at the University of Warwick are co-ordinating a global effort to sequence the genome of one of the World’s most important mushrooms - Agaricus bisporus. The secrets of its genetic make up could assist the creation of biofuels, support the effort to manage global carbon, and help remove heavy metals from contaminated soils.