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Australian scientists have shown that mental and physical exercise can improve coordination and movement problems in Rett syndrome, a devastating genetic brain development disorder that primarily affects females.

When people know the results of genetic tests confirming they have inherited an increased risk of developing melanoma, they follow skin cancer screening recommendations more proactively -- much like those who have already been diagnosed with the potentially deadly disease, according to a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

In a recent study that combined math and medicine, researchers have shown that patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia may be cured of the disease with an optimally timed cancer vaccine, where the timing is determined based on their own immune response.

Intimate examinations, performed by medical students on anesthetised patients, are often carried out without adequate consent from patients, but this violates their basic human rights and should not be allowed, claims an editorial.

Even if you eat right and exercise regularly, chances are high that you'll still die of a heart attack or stroke. But thanks to new findings the odds may finally shift in your favor. Two unrelated studies on atherosclerosis that have the potential to save millions of lives.

A Finnish study of identical twins has found that physical inactivity and acquired obesity can impair expression of the genes which help the cells produce energy. The findings suggest that lifestyle, more than heredity, contributes to insulin resistance in people who are obese. Insulin resistance increases the chance of developing diabetes and heart disease.

Gene mutations that make cells cancerous can sometimes also make them more sensitive to chemotherapy. People with acute myeloid leukemia whose leukemic cells have mutations in the RAS gene are more likely to be cured when treated after remission with high doses of the drug cytarabine. It also suggests that testing for RAS mutations might help doctors identify which AML patients should receive high-dose cytarabine as their post-remission therapy. The findings could change how doctors manage these patients.

A novel twist of DNA may keep viral genes tightly wound within a capsule, waiting for ejection into a host, a high-resolution analysis of its structure has revealed. Using electron microscopy and three-dimensional computer reconstruction, biologists and chemists have produced the most detailed image yet of the protein envelope of an asymmetrical virus and the viral DNA packed within.

A new UCLA study shows that the FDA-approved drug rapamycin reverses mental retardation in mice with a genetic disease called tuberous sclerosis complex. Because half of TSC patients also suffer from autism, the findings offer a possible mechanism for addressing learning disorders due to autism.

The quality of life of adolescents who think they are too fat is worse than for adolescents who really are obese. This was a result of the all Germany Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) of the Robert Koch Institute, as presented by Bärbel-Maria Kurth and Ute Ellert in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International.