Britain's National Trust has now bottled fresh air so that stressed City workers can unwind, media reports indicate. The Daily Express reported that the air comes from some of the favorite places across the country including Townend on the shores of Lake Windermere in Cumbria, Stourhead in Wiltshire and Box Hill, Surrey.

To get life-threatening diseases under control, patients in the intensive care unit usually are administered many medications at the same time. Even for experts, it is difficult to keep track of the variety of possible side effects and interactions.

Positron Corporation (OTCBB:POSC). — Based on its recent analysis of the cardiac molecular imaging systems market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Positron Corporation with the 2010 North American Award for New Product

A study by Norwegian and French researchers hopes to provide new understanding of how blood cells adjust gene expression in response to various clinical, biochemical and pathological conditions.

The potentially deadly yellow-fever-transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquito detects the specific chemical structure of a compound called octenol as one way to find a mammalian host for a blood meal, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists report

At-home screening tests for the virus responsible for most cervical cancers could detect many more cases of the disease, say Dutch researchers.

Women who have taken the contraceptive pill are less likely to die of cancer and heart disease, a study has found.

The research, which studied 46,000 women over almost 40 years, was led by Prof Philip Hannaford of the University of Aberdeen.

The number of deaths in Scotland fell by more than 3 per cent to 53,856 last year as a result of a drop in the three “biggest killers” — cancer, coronary heart disease and strokes.

a global biotechnology specialty care group, and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (Rhythm), a biotechnology company developing peptide therapeutics for metabolic diseases, announced today that they have concluded a license agreement for Ipsen’s proprietary peptide therapeutics targeting obesity, metabolic diseases, and gastrointestinal disorders.

People with occasionally high blood pressure are more at risk of stroke than those with consistently high readings, research suggests,

Current guidelines focus on measuring average blood pressure levels to spot and prevent the chance of a stroke.

Santa Clara, CA-based AutekBio says it has joined a pair of venture capital firms to hatch plans to invest $100 million into a new R&D and contract manufacturing operation for biologics in southern Beijing.

CNN takes an in-depth look at the research being done on new therapeutic vaccines for glioblastoma, a lethal brain cancer that has virtually always carried a death sentence with each diagnosis.

One prominent project involves CDX-110, a vaccine that was first developed at Celldex and then partnered with Pfizer, which triggers a T-cell attack on EGFR factor three, a protein produced by 40 percent of tumor cells.

Researchers from the Institute for Systems Biology and elsewhere reported in the early, online version of Science last night that they have used whole-genome sequencing to identify mutations behind a Mendelian condition called Miller syndrome and an inherited lung disorder called ciliary dyskinesia in a family of four.

The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) employed Complete Genomics’ human genome sequencing service to sequence a family quartet to verify the gene responsible for Miller syndrome and to estimate the intergenerational mutation rate. The researchers also aimed to determine the depth of genetic information possible in analyzing a full family’s sequence.

Drug developers have shown that the novel antiviral neuraminidase inhibitor R-125489 administered as its prodrug CS-8958 works effectively against the highly pathogenic influenza A virus H5N1 (the avian influenza virus), including oseltamivir (Tamiflu)-resistant strains.

An international team of virologists and infectious disease experts from as far a field as the University of Wisconsin (Madison, USA) and the University of Kobe (Japan) reported in the February 26, 2010, online edition of the journal PLoS Pathogens that a single dose of CS-8958 given to mice two hours after infection with H5N1 influenza viruses produced a higher survival rate than did continuous five-day administration of oseltamivir.

Discovery

Taking advantage of lower cost genome sequencing technology, two independent teams of researchers have sequenced the genomes of sick patients to determine the precise genetic trigger to their disease and help point the way to a cure. And in the process, they may help revolutionize the way that sequencing research is being done to guide new treatments.

A Baylor College of Medicine-led research team has used whole-genome sequencing of an affected individual to find two new recessive mutations behind the inherited peripheral nerve condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

The researchers used whole-genome sequencing and array-based comparative genomic hybridization to find SNPs and copy number variants in the genome of James Lupski, vice chair of molecular and human genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine. Their search yielded two causative alleles for the condition, affecting a gene called SH3TC2.

High doses of radiotherapy fail to destroy glisoblatoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumors, but radiation therapy at lower doses has proven to cure the disease in an animal model when used in combination with treatment to prevent formation of new tumor blood vessels.

Investigators from Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA, USA) grafted human GBM cells into the brains of mice. The animals were then treated with either radiation alone or in combination with a drug or antibodies designed to prevent formation of new blood vessels (vasculogenesis).

Discovery

Researchers in Canada are working on a new way to treat prostate cancer using a virus.

In the study, researchers administered the virus to six volunteer patients and found that it killed off cancer cells while sparing normal tissue.

A mechanism for resistance to paclitaxel in ovarian cancer, microRNA-31, suggesting a possible therapeutic target for overcoming chemotherapy resistance has been uncovered by scientists.