When cut, a planarian flatworm can use a population of stem cells called neoblasts to regenerate new heads, new tails or even entire new organisms from a tiny fragment of its body. Mechanisms have been sought to explain this process of regeneration polarity for over 100 years, but until now, little was known about how planaria can regenerate heads and tails at their proper sites.

The preterm birth rate rose again in 2005 and preliminary data for 2006 show a continued increase, underscoring the urgent need for a sustained, comprehensive plan to address this growing crisis.

Catheters outfitted with balloons, lasers, and miniature drills have made the treatment of blocked arteries virtually routine. These devices are used to clear plaque from many vessels including coronary, femoral, renal, and carotid arteries. Until recently, a misstep in the delicate procedure usually required risky emergency surgery. Now physicians are using the same technology used to open clogged arteries to repair ruptures and perforations with less risk. In an article in the Journal of Interventional Cardiology, researchers from the University of California, Davis Medical Center review state-of-the-art treatment for vessel punctures.

How many times a day do you grab objects such as a pencil or a cup? We perform these tasks without thinking, however the motor planning necessary to grasp an object is quite complex. The way human adults grasp objects is typically influenced more by their knowledge of what they intend to do with the objects than the objects' immediate appearance. Psychologists call this the “end-state comfort effect,” when we adopt initially unusual, and perhaps uncomfortable, postures to make it easier to actually use an object.

A new species of bacteria discovered living in one of the most extreme environments on Earth could yield a tool in the fight against global warming.

Scientists exploring one of the largest remaining blocks of tropical forest in Western Africa discovered significant populations of new, rare and threatened species underscoring the area’s high biological diversity and value.

A newly released software program will let health authorities at the site of an infectious disease outbreak quickly analyze data, speeding the detection of new cases and the implementation of effective interventions.

For his research of HIV-1 resistance in monkeys, Matt Stremlau, has been named the grand prize winner and the North American regional winner for the GE & Science Prize for Young Life Scientists. The competition, which includes a grand-prize award of $25.000, is supported by GE Healthcare and the journal Science, which is published by AAAS, the nonprofit society.

A missing brain protein may be one of the culprits behind autism and other brain disorders, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the Dec. 6 issue of Neuron.