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Researchers have discovered how Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which causes AIDS, can hide itself in our cells and dodge the attention of our normal defenses. When a normal virus such as the common cold infects people we develop an immune response and produce defense cells which can quickly get rid of the virus. But when HIV infects us it can last for our whole life.

Researchers in Taiwan report for the first time that blocking a key energy-supplying protein kills cancer cells. The finding, described as the first to test possible medical uses of so-called ATP-synthase inhibitors, may lead to new and more effective anti-cancer medications, according to a new report.

A novel type of nanomachine that traps molecules such as anticancer drugs inside tiny pores and releases them inside cancer cells in response to light has been developed. It's the first light-powered nanomachine created that operates inside a living cell, a development that has strong implications for use in treating cancer.

Does season of birth play a role in the development of nearsightedness? While scientists think genetic factors play the strongest role in myopia, a number of studies show that light exposure before and just after birth generates biological signals that influence the development of the eye's ability to focus and refract light properly.

New research shows cerebral microbleeds, which are lesions in the brain, are more common in people over 60 than previously thought. Cerebral microbleeds are lesions that can be seen on brain scans, such as an MRI brain scan. The lesions are deposits of iron from red blood cells that have presumably leaked out of small brain vessels.

Since 1975, more than 100,000 motorcycle riders in America have died in crashes. The majority of states required motorcycle helmets in 1975, but today, only 20 states have universal helmet laws that require all riders to wear helmets, 26 states have partial coverage laws (usually only for young riders), and four states have no helmet laws. The motorcyclist fatality rate has increased in states that repealed their universal helmet laws during the past decade.

Obesity is more than a cosmetic concern because it increases a person's risk for developing high blood pressure, diabetes and many other serious health problems. It's well understood that consuming more calories than you expend through exercise and daily activities causes weight gain. But with about one in every three American adults now considered obese, researchers are attempting to identify additional factors that affect a person's tendency to gain and retain excess weight.

Medical scientists have developed a new type of imaging system that can illuminate tumors in living subjects-getting pictures with a precision of nearly one-trillionth of a meter.

Overweight kids are better off doing less intensive exercise if they are to shed the pounds effectively, suggests a study of pubescent boys. The researchers assessed the rate at which fat was burned (fat oxidation) during graded leg cycling exercises in thirty 12 year old boys, 17 of whom were obese. The others were lean and healthy.

Chemists are, for the first time, using a new tool to identify the molecular signatures of serious diseases -- without any previous knowledge of what these microscopic signatures or "biomarkers" should look like.