Scans appear to show differences in brain functioning in women with persistently low sex drives, claim researchers. The US scientists behind the study suggest it provides solid evidence that the problem can have a physical origin. They measured brain activity as the women watched erotic videos. But a spokesman for the charity Relate said the study simply demonstrated low libido at work in the brain, rather than exposing its cause. Sex drive In recent years, a diagnosis of “hypoactive sexual desire disorder” (HSDD) in women has become more accepted by science. However, there remains...

By Angela Haupt Gene Therapy Alleviates Depression in Mice Gene therapy could eventually be used to treat mental illnesses such as depression, new research suggests. Depressed people often have low levels of the protein p11 in the reward center of their brain, and fixing the gene that produces those proteins could alleviate depressive symptoms, according to a study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine. Researchers studied mice that lacked p11 and acted depressed: When they were held up by their tails, they did not struggle to get away. After a p11-producing gene was injected into...

Cancer is a modern man-made disease caused by the excesses of modern life, a new study suggests. Researchers looking at almost a thousand mummies from ancient Egypt and South America found only a handful suffered from cancer when now it accounts for nearly one in three deaths. The findings suggest that it is modern lifestyles and pollution levels caused by industry that are the main cause of the disease and that it is not a naturally occurring condition. Read More…

Some people possess genetic characteristics that give them a low level of response to alcohol. That means they have relatively little reaction to booze and need a lot of drinks to begin feeling an effect. These people — sometimes described as folks who can drink everyone else under the table — are also more susceptible to developing alcohol addiction. Now a gene that may influence the opposite response has been found. Researchers reported Tuesday that a variant of the gene CYP2E1 influences a person’s response to alcohol. But this gene variant causes people to react with high...

By Clay Dillow While trying to create a better synthetic environment in which to study how ovarian cells develop and interact, a Brown University researcher and her colleagues have created the first working artificial ovary. Using special “3-D Petri dishes” and samples of donor cells, the team has already created an artificial organ that has carried human eggs through to maturity. To do so, they had to coax the three main cell types found in the human ovary into particular three-dimensional structures. The means for doing so were found in a special moldable agarose gel, dubbed 3-D Petri dishes,...

Scientists in Edinburgh have discovered a gene in the malaria parasite, which enables it to develop resistance to certain drugs. Resistance to the plant-based remedy, artemisinin, potentially creates problems in controlling malaria. Researchers at Edinburgh University hope the identification of the gene could help control the development of resistance to the drugs. In 2008, malaria caused almost one million deaths, mostly in Africa. Scientists, helped by colleagues at the New University of Lisbon, used technology to scan the genetic fingerprint of drug resistant parasites which infect rodents....

“Curvy women can ditch the diet – after scientists found that a woman’s body shape is all down to her genes”, reported the Daily Express. This large genetics study pooled data from 61 studies involving almost 200,000 people. It identified 14 areas of DNA likely to contain genes that affect waist-to-hip ratio, one of which was already known. A major strength is that it pooled the data from such a large number of people, thereby enabling the detection of areas that have only a small effect on waist-to-hip ratio. These genetic areas have only a small effect on waist-to-hip ratio, accounting...

Last week, 85-year old obstretician Robert G. Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his breakthrough treatment of infertility commonly known as IVF (in-vitro fertilization). Edwards’s idea was revolutionary and went against everything most people considered normal, natural and even moral: a man and a woman did not need to have sex to produce a baby. Edwards claimed he could ‘make’ the baby in the laboratory. He created embryos by putting the eggs of the woman and the sperm of the man in a petri-dish where the eggs fertilized, and then he would put the resulting embryo in the...

Honey bees are being done in by a pair of pathogens – a virus and a fungus – a new study has found. Researchers have a pair of new suspects in the mysterious collapse of honey bee colonies across America. The widespread damage to the bees has caused concern because the insects are needed to pollinate scores of crops. Researchers say samples collected from hives affected by the syndrome indicated the presence of a virus as well as a fungus. The two pathogens were not found in bee colonies not affected by the syndrome, called colony collapse disorder, the researchers reported in Wednesday’s...

Scientists have found the root cause of pre-eclampsia The Guardian has reported. The newspaper said this could lead to treatments for the common but potentially serious complication of pregnancy. This news story is based on research into the body’s production of angiotensin, a protein that constricts blood vessels and can therefore raise blood pressure. The researchers found that angiotensinogen, the the larger protein that is broken down to produce angiotensin, can exist in two forms, ‘oxidised’ and ‘reduced’. Tests on 24 women revealed that those with pre-eclampsia had a higher proportion...