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The rise in binge drinking in the young is a "fashion phenomenon" where drinkers are copying their associates' behavior, new research carried out in the UK has shown. Researchers say the findings have major implications for Government policy makers charged with tackling the problem, which has longer-term and costly health implications.

Like the masterless samurai for whom it is named, the protein Ronin chooses an independent path, maintaining embryonic stem cells in their undifferentiated state and playing essential roles in genesis of embryos and their development, said researchers who reported on this novel cellular regulator in the journal Cell.

Rejuvenating newly identified fat compartments in the facial cheeks can help reduce the hollowed look of the face as it ages, according to new research by plastic surgeons at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Chronically high levels of a recently discovered starvation hormone markedly stunt the growth of mice, reveals a new study. The liver-produced hormone known as FGF21 does so by causing the mice to become resistant to growth hormone.

Epo is a hormone sometimes misused by athletes to boost their endurance. Since the test to identify the drug's presence was introduced in 2000, 33 labs have been accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency to administer the procedure. A research team has examined test results at two WADA labs, and found the detection power at the labs was poor.

A review article authored by a University of Queensland academic has found overcrowding and understaffing in hospitals are two key factors in the transmission of MRSA infections worldwide.

Neuroscientists have pinpointed exactly how neural activity boosts blood flow to the brain. The finding has important implications for our understanding of common brain imaging techniques such as fMRI, which uses blood flow in the brain as a proxy for neural activity.

Scientists are about to embark on a human trial to test whether a new cancer treatment will be as effective at eradicating cancer in humans as it has proven to be in mice.

Homosexual behavior is largely shaped by genetics and random environmental factors, according to findings from the world's largest study of twins.

When fatigued individuals perceive a task as being achievable and worth doing, they increase their effort to make up for their diminished capability due to fatigue. As a result, blood pressure tends to rise and remain elevated until the task is completed or individuals stop trying because they think success is impossible or too difficult to be justified.