Researchers appear to have a new way to fix a broken heart. They have devised a method to coax heart muscle cells into reentering the cell cycle, allowing the differentiated adult cells to divide and regenerate healthy heart tissue after a heart attack, according to studies in mice and rats reported in the July 24th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. The key ingredient is a growth factor known as neuregulin1 (NRG1 for short), and the researchers suggest that the factor might one day be used to treat failing human hearts.

"If you could read my mind, love, what a tale my thoughts could tell" —Gordon Lightfoot

Psychopharmaceutical use has risen over recent years. This is fact, but what is not clear is the reason why. Researchers from four Madrid-based health centres have shown that family conflict is not a significant factor. However, the results published in the journal Atención Primaria are striking: in Spain, 24% of women take antidepressants and more than 30% take tranquillisers.

Thomas Marler recently published the results of his research that reveal some of the attributes of the long-lived leaves of Guam's Cycas micronesica plants. "These leaves are relatively large and are constructed of tough tissues," said Marler. "Both of these factors indicate the construction costs of this leaf form are substantial."

Expression of a single gene programs an immune system helper T cell that fuels rapid growth and diversification of antibodies in a cellular structure implicated in autoimmune diseases and development of B cell lymphoma, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today in Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science.

Using high-speed cinematography, scientists at Cambridge University have discovered that individual algal cells can regulate the beating of their flagella in and out of synchrony in a manner that controls their swimming trajectories. Their research was published on the 24th July in the journal Science.

Evolutionarily speaking, parasites make sex a worthwhile thing to do, according to a study published online on July 23rd in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The researchers report that freshwater snails, which can reproduce either sexually or asexually, are more likely to have sex if they live in the shallows, where the pressure from trematode parasites is more intense than it is in deeper waters.

"Jewel beetles" are widely known for their glossy external skeletons that appear to change colors as the angle of view changes. Now they may be known for something else--providing a blueprint for materials that reflect light rather than absorbing it to produce colors.