Newswise

Gene is Linked to Lung Cancer Development in Never Smokers

A five-center collaborative study that scanned the genomes of thousands of “never smokers” diagnosed with lung cancer as well as healthy never smokers has found a gene they say could be responsible for a significant number of those cancers.

Spying on a Cellular Director in the Cutting Room

Like a film director cutting out extraneous footage to create a blockbuster, the cellular machine called the spliceosome snips out unwanted stretches of genetic material and joins the remaining pieces to fashion a template for protein production.

Sleep Deprivation Influences Drug Use in Teens’ Social Networks

Recent studies have shown that behaviors such as happiness, obesity, smoking and altruism are “contagious” within adult social networks. In other words, your behavior not only influences your friends, but also their friends and so on. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego and Harvard University have taken this a step farther and found that the spread of one behavior in social networks influences the spread of another behavior, adolescent drug use.

“Know Your Family’s Autoimmune Quotient (AQ)” Campaign Highlights National Autoimmune Diseases Awareness Month

In honor of the designation of March as National Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month by the U.S. Senate on March 4, 2010, the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) wants to help you learn your family’s AQ. AQ is a play on IQ that stands for Autoimmune Quotient. It’s about knowing how likely you or a loved one is to develop an autoimmune disease, based on the prevalence of these diseases and your family history.

Treating Blood Infections Tops Annual Hospital Cost Increases

The hospital costs for treating septicemia increased by an average of nearly 12 percent each year from 1997 to 2007, increasing from $4.1 billion in 1997 to $12.3 billion in 2007.

Prepared Patient: On Your Own With Multiple Meds

Overwhelmed by the vials, bottles and inhalers bulging from your medicine cabinet ? Confused about which drug is which, or when to take what?

NCAA-Related Sports Medicine News Tips from Johns Hopkins Medicine

Listed in this article are story ideas from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with a partial focus on the upcoming NCAA Basketball tournaments.

Re-Accreditation Confirms High Quality, Ethical Research at Baylor Research Institute

Officials announced today that Baylor Research Institute (BRI), part of the Baylor Health Care System, was recently re-accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP). The re-accreditation certifies that BRI maintains efficient systems for monitoring research participant safety and embraces ethical standards higher than required by law in order to protect human participants participating in BRI research programs.