Scientists at the University of Rochester believe they have found a way to alter the genes that can cause disease Scientists have hit on a genetic trick that opens up fresh avenues for the treatment of devastating diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and certain forms of cancer. The technique corrects glitches in genetic machinery that cause the body to make faulty versions of proteins that can lead to the onset of disease. Although the work is at an early stage, the strategy represents a radical new approach to tackling mutations that give rise to an estimated one third of all...

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 14 (UPI) — A woman living in Nottingham, England, says she’s willing to donate her womb to her daughter in Stockholm, Sweden, because “she needs it more than me.” The recipient, Sara Ottosson, 25, was born without a uterus because of rare condition, Mayer Rokitanksy Kuster Hauser syndrome, The Daily Telegraph reported. Eva Ottosson, 56, said her daughter “needs the womb and if I’m the best donor for her … well, go on. She needs it more than me. I’ve had two daughters so it’s served me well.” Read more…

Agriculture commissioner says farmers could get 30% of the cost of their unsold vegetables in compensation The European agriculture commissioner has proposed spending €150m (£135m) to compensate farmers affected by the E coli outbreak by paying them a proportion of the cost of unsold products. Dacian Ciolos, speaking before emergency talks between EU agriculture ministers, said farmers could receive around 30% of the cost of vegetables they have been unable to sell due to fears over the outbreak in Germany, which has killed 22 people and made more than 2,200 ill. “We propose €150m. We...

Sticking to her guns: Charlie Wilcox still maintains that her daughter Lilly is healthier because she smoked while pregnant A young mother smoked 3,500 cigarettes while pregnant – claiming it was good for her baby. Charlie Wilcox, whose daughter Lilly is now 14 weeks, reckoned that smoking would make her unborn child’s heart stronger by restricting her oxygen supply and forcing her heart to work harder. While she was pregnant Miss Wilcox told BBC3’s Misbehaving Mums To Be: ‘It’s making the baby use its heart on its own in the first place, so that when it comes out, it’s going to be...

Life-saver: Stem cells are separated from a blood sample Healthy adults will be able to boost their chances of surviving cancer and diseases such as Alzheimer’s by freezing stem cells taken from their blood for the first time. A British company has been granted a licence to extract the cells, so that anyone can now pay to store them in the hope that they will one day help to cure fatal conditions. Until now, it has only been possible to bank stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood and embryos left over from fertility treatment. Read more…

Discovery: Scientists have found that the retinas of people born deaf, or who lost their hearing early in life, develop differently – and this means that they have better eyesight By Daily Mail Reporter Deaf people have better eyesight than those who can hear, research shows. Scientists discovered that the retinas of people born deaf, or who lost their hearing early in life, developed differently from those in people who can hear. This gave them greater peripheral vision, allowing them to see more and thus increase their awareness of their surroundings and any potential hazards. Read more…

19-year-old fell ill after trip Down Under CALGARY — A 19-year-old Alberta woman who recently travelled to Australia died in a Calgary hospital after contracting what might be the first case of the mosquito-borne Murray Valley encephalitis virus in the province. Family and friends have identified the teen as Carlie Bell, “a lovely, healthy, giving, beautiful girl” whose sudden death has left a hole in their lives. “It’s an awful shock for all of us,” said Carlie’s grandmother, Joyce Bell. “It happened so quickly. I can’t believe it. She was such a good girl.” Carlie Bell lived...

The brains of people with autism are chemically different to healthy ones, according to researchers. A study, published in the journal Nature, showed the unique characters of the frontal and temporal lobes had disappeared. Different genes should be active in each region, but autistic brains had the same pattern of gene expression. The National Autistic Society said the results could be important for future treatments. Autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger’s syndrome, are common and affect more than 500,000 people in the UK. Read more…

Magazine Evaluates Sunscreens on How Well They Protect From UVA and UVB Rays May 24, 2011 — Nine of 22 sunscreens tested by Consumer Reports Health earned a ”recommended” or “Best Buy” rating in the organization’s latest evaluation. All nine got excellent marks for protection from UVB rays (which cause sunburn) even after water immersion. All provided very good protection against UVA rays, which penetrate deeper and are linked with aging and tanning. The results, issued today, are published in the July 2011 Consumer Reports. The report follows another sunscreen...

Recent data provided by the nation’s largest health insurance companies reveals that a provision of the Affordable Care Act – or Obamacare – is bringing big numbers of the uninsured into the health care insurance system. And they are precisely the uninsured that we want– the young people who tend not to get sick. The provision of the law that permits young adults under 26, long the largest uninsured demographic in the country, to remain on their parents’ health insurance program resulted in at least 600,000 newly insured Americans during the first quarter of 2011. Wellpoint, the nation’s...