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A large genetic study in mice has identified hundreds of genes involved in the development of cancer by examining the DNA of more than 500 lymphomas to find the cancer causing mutations. The study found just over 10,000 mutations in total, which together implicate almost 350 regions in the mouse genome in cancer formation. Fifty of these regions correspond to genes known to be involved in human cancers.

A strong link has been found between childhood ear infections and exposure to tobacco smoke. The impact of passive smoking in the home on ear infections was reduced if the children also attended day care.

The absence of two proteins in mammalian embryos prevents the development of a healthy heart, a new study has found. This is the first study that has successfully identified the factors responsible for the onset of heart formation in the mammalian embryo. Until now, no single mutation had been identified that was thought to be responsible for blocking proper development of the heart in mammalian embryos. The identification of these major developmental switches will allow researchers to unravel the fundamental mechanisms that define heart cell formation.

Why do people, who emotionally care for and respond to one person in need, become emotionally numb to many people in need? The international community should take formal steps to justify inaction when conditions of genocide exist anywhere in the world, a new article urges.

Scientists have developed a new type of enzyme inhibitor capable of blocking a biochemical pathway that plays a key role in cancer development. Based on studies in human melanoma cells, the research paves the way for developing new ways to treat cancer by dampening overactive enzyme activity that leads to uncontrolled tumor growth. The study shows how small-molecule inhibitors can be designed to target a family of signaling proteins, called phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinases, or PI3Ks.

Women who are stressed during pregnancy may pass some of that frazzlement to their fetuses in the form of increased sensitivity to allergen exposure and possibly future asthma risk, according to new research from Harvard Medical School.

Despite daily use of doctor-recommended proton pump inhibitors to control gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms, nearly 40 percent of patients who take them continue to experience breakthrough, which is a return of GERD symptoms, such as acid regurgitation and heartburn. These breakthrough symptoms lead more than half of GERD sufferers to use over-the-counter remedies, according to a recent survey.

Cells on their way to forming bone also produce an estrogen-like substance that mimics the naturally occurring female sex hormone estradiol. Researchers hope such a molecule might provide some of the benefits but, hopefully, not the health risk of traditional hormonal therapies for menopause and bone loss.

Researchers have developed what they believe is the first new mechanism in nearly 20 years for inhibiting a common target used to treat all HIV patients, which could eventually lead to a new class of AIDS drugs.

A new study of nearly 2,220 pneumonia patients finds that men who come to the hospital generally are sicker than women, and have a 30 percent higher risk of dying over the next year, despite aggressive medical care. Researchers further found significant differences in immune system response to infection, leading to speculation that future pneumonia treatments could be gender-based.