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Mutated BRCA1/2 genes have been identified as a cause of hereditary ovarian cancers. Fifteen researchers at one the nation's leading cancer institutes have identified specific qualities found in these carcinomas.

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Stanford researchers have devised a novel approach for delivering a clot-busting gene to blocked leg arteries in animals, effectively restoring blood flow to the damaged vessels, according to a new study presented today (March 22) at the meeting of the Society of Cardiovascular & Interventional Radiology.

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One of the most debilitating effects of Alzheimer's disease is a tendency to become lost in familiar surroundings. A new study suggests that people with Alzheimer's become lost not because they are confused, but because their vision is impaired.

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Each year, more and more people are enjoying a new lease on life with the increase of organ transplant surgeries. But studies find that organ transplant patients are more susceptible to developing skin cancer following surgery and need to take extra precautions to avoid prolonged sun exposure and monitor their skin for any signs of change.

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Do men have larger brains than women? University at Albany anthropologist Dean Falk , an internationally recognized expert in the field of human brain evolution, says it's true: Men around the world do have bigger brains than women.

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Time-crunched consumers have another lunchtime option - scheduling an appointment with a dermatologist for a new skin peeling procedure that allows patients to wear make-up after the treatment and function normally with minimal redness.

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Genetic susceptibility has long been recognized as a risk factor in the development of several types of cancer, including melanoma. Emerging research establishing the significance of a gene in hereditary melanoma could improve the diagnosis of this deadliest form of skin cancer for patients with a family history of melanoma.

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The neck is often one of the first areas of the skin to show signs of aging. Now, two innovative procedures - one involving a new type of laser and the other combining two restoration procedures - help to remedy obvious signs of aging to the neck area.

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Authors of an abstract reporting preliminary results showing hydrogen peroxide may be a cancer promoter have retracted their presentation of study findings.

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Scientists in the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine have preliminary evidence, based on research in an animal model, that hydrogen peroxide, a major ingredient in dental bleaches and in some whitening toothpastes, may be a cancer promoter.

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A Johns Hopkins electrical engineer has developed a robotic vision system on a microchip, an alternative to the conventional approach that allows a moving robot to react to obstacles much more quickly.

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A team of UK researchers have made a major advance in understanding how the brain protein involved in BSE in cattle and Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans causes so much damage, according to new research published in the current issue of Science magazine.

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Women with a history of sexual and physical abuse are more likely to have poor health during pregnancy and after childbirth, according to a study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Self-assembling nanospheres that fit inside each other like Russian dolls are one form of a broad range of nanospheres created in the past 12 months at Sandia National Laboratories. The unprecedented control, which has medical, industrial and military potential, is presented in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

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Future generations of faster, smaller computers and information processing devices may owe their existence to tiny molecular devices being developed by North Carolina State University chemists. The devices -- including a five-molecule-long wire that measures just 9-billionths of a meter end to end -- could help engineers make computer circuits up to 100 times smaller than current sizes.

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Friendship with your spouse is the foundation of a happy marriage says a University of Washington psychologist after nearly 25 years of studying what makes marriages blossom or shrivel. "Men aren't from Mars, nor women from Venus," but really want the same thing from a relationships, he says.

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1- 1998 warmest year of millennium; 2- scientists, aircraft, instruments head to indian ocean for climate change experiment; 3- Purdue's 'Bioscope' program teaches biology, entertains like video games

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Learn about new techniques from bioremediation to changes in mooring patterns that are helping to reduce the chances for a repeat of an environmentally damaging oil spill as severe as the Exxon Valdez. Also learn about reports on some of the lingering effects of Exxon spill in Alaska.

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Newer categories of antidepressant drugs are equally as effective as older-generation antidepressants and roughly equal numbers of patients drop out of clinical trials for each type because of side effects, according to a new report.

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A University of Arkansas chemist has become the first researcher to increase the activity of an enzyme that breaks down one of nature's most abundant materials that can then be converted into ethanol -- a potentially abundant source of environmentally friendly fuel.

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UGA researchers have determined that the environmental changes in cities like Atlanta, where trees are replaced by asphault and concrete, are turning into "urban heat islands," where the temperature is higher than surrounding areas and it creates its own weather patterns and thunderstorms.

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Purdue University and Michigan Technological University research teams studying natural processes that affect ozone in the Arctic atmosphere have discovered that snowpacks not only absorb chemicals from the atmosphere, but also can help produce them.

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By harnessing glowing bacteria, scientists at the DuPont Co. and the University of Delaware have created inexpensive biosensors that rapidly detect a key toxin in poultry feed, as well as broad classes of other environmental contaminants, including herbicides and metals. Embargoed until 6:00 p.m. ET 3-18-99.

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Health-maintenance organizations and medical consumers take note: For treatment of skin disease, you're better off medically and financially by going straight to a dermatologist.

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Changes in hydrolic dam water flow management helping aid recovery of salmon stocks in Great Lakes could provide help in developing endangered species recovery plans for salmon elsewhere.

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A revolutionary new treatment for patients suffering from abdominal cancer will soon be available to doctors nationwide thanks to a partnership between Wake Forest University School of Medicine and IDT, Inc..

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Outside, temperatures are below zero, snow is falling and the wind is howling. To researchers with the Energy & Environmental Research Center, the weather is perfect for demonstrating a new technology that improves water quality by removing salt, a process known as freeze-thaw desalinization.

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A computer program developed by a Salk-led team has been trained to distinguish among a number of facial cues, helping to sort false from genuine expressions. What's more, the program performs as well as a psychologist trained to read faces and markedly better than human non-experts.

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Almost two years after convincing the scientific community that most of the Earth's mantle is uniform in composition, National Science Foundation-funded researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology propose a model that may explain why the mantle seems to comprise two dissimilar and separate sections.

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1. Breathing diesel exhaust causes acute inflammatory response in healthy young adults; 2. Rhinovirus in infants and respiratory syncytial virus in older children strongly associated with wheezing; 3. How human immunodeficiency virus affects treatment outcome in patients with pulmonary TB.

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The presence of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and the debate that surrounds it, is the subject of a new study by a U-Michigan researcher.

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NASA's Life on the Edge program is barely a month old but it's already producing results in grade school classrooms. Students experimenting with "Planets in a Bottle" are learning about extremophiles and the prospects for life elsewhere in the solar system.

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Research by Johns Hopkins scientists reported in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association show that larger than typical doses of methadone may work best in controlling addicted patients' drug use.

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Parents who want to send their sons or daughters to a university can give their children, years ahead of time, a gift that's likely to help them succeed, says Rick Snyder, director of the University of Kansas clinical psychology program. Parents can give their children "hope."

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A new study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill links increased levels of the hormone oxytocin to lower blood pressure among mothers who nurse their babies. The findings help explain why many breast-feeding mothers report feeling mellow and relaxed after nursing.

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New research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ties estrogen replacement to reducing blood pressure in older women with hypertension.

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Taking piano lessons and solving math puzzles on a computer significantly improves specific math skills of elementary school children, according to a study by UC Irvine researchers

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The North Atlantic northern right whale, considered to be the most endangered large whale species, is headed for extinction unless human intervention improves survival, according to a new study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Massachusetts.

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Periodontal (gum) disease symptoms are not primary motivators for most people seeking treatment, concluded a study appearing in the March 1999 issue of The Journal of American Dental Association.

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National Science Foundation-funded scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northwestern University Medical School have uncovered the structural basis of an elusive replication technique that allows viruses, especially retroviruses, to commandeer cells to manufacture the proteins they need for their own survival.

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It's happening in all sizes of businesses -- the workplace is becoming an important venue for employees to obtain information about how to stay healthy. That trend comes in part because companies are looking for ways to control healthcare costs by teaching good health habits.

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The most knowledgeable family physicians may be sued for malpractice the most, according to a University of Iowa College of Medicine study shows.

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When it comes to earning patents, United States inventors are among the world's most active and successful - both in the U.S. and abroad.

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British and American scientists announce today that a major acceleration in the Human Genome Project will complete the foundations of this ambitious plan early in 2000.

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Laws passed in recent years to help small employers and individuals purchase health insurance have had mixed success, according to a three-year study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

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Dental fluorosis, or white or brown spots in enamel, can develop on primary (baby) teeth and may be indicative that a child will have the same cosmetic defect on its permanent (adult) teeth, according to an article in the March 1999 issue of the Journal of American Dental Association.

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Baseball, America's national pastime, is the leading cause of eye injuries in children 5-14 years old. Researchers recommend adoption of softer baseballs for Little League players.

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Dentists may play a significant role in early recognition and diagnosis of basel cell carcinoma on the head and neck, according to authors of a case study reported in the March 1999 issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association.

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It can be hard for educators, family members and even friends to know when a child begins to make choices that could end his life. Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center are making that distinction easier. A recent study shows that the age a child begins to smoke cigarettes is the key.

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A common respiratory virus can infect the hearts of adults -- young and old -- and cause heart muscle damage that can shorten life and cause sudden death, according to a study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.