(AP) -- The sabal palm, Florida's state tree, is under attack by a microscopic killer that has scientists stumped. An unknown but growing number of sabal palms in the Tampa Bay area have died from a mysterious disease that researchers are struggling to identify. Even after scientists pinpoint the disease - and that could take years - they will have to learn what insect spreads it. The disease will be tough to stop.
Related stories:
Report describes first targeted therapy to produce remission of metastatic melanoma
In a demonstration that even some of the most hard-to-treat tumors may one day succumb to therapies aimed at molecular "weak points," researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report the first instance in which metastatic melanoma has been driven into remission by a targeted therapy.
Chronic pain should be considered a disease
The concept that chronic pain is a disease in its own right is leading to new specific treatments aimed at physical, psychological, and environmental components of this major disease, including genetic predisposition, according to a world renowned pain medicine expert.
An eye for an eye: using stem cells to treat damaged eyes and a rare skin disorder
Doctors and scientists in Italy have shown how stem cells can be used to treat damaged eyes and, in combination with gene therapy, a rare and debilitating skin disease.
Scientists Unravel Mystery of People with No Fingerprints
Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have succeeded in unraveling the genetic basis of two rare congenital diseases in which afflicted persons have no fingerprints. The results will be published in the October 2006 issue of the
American Journal of Human Genetics.
Researcher says: No-till practices show extended benefits on wheat and forage
With more than 3 million acres of wheat in north Texas, 50 percent or more of which is grazed by 1 to 2 million head of cattle, it is important to look at tillage practices and their effect on forage production, said a Texas AgriLife Research expert.
New evidence on the robustness of metabolic networks
Biological systems are constantly evolving in ways that increase their fitness for survival amidst environmental fluctuations and internal errors. Now, in a study of cell metabolism, a Northwestern University research team has found new evidence that evolution has produced cell metabolisms that are especially well suited to handle potentially harmful changes like gene deletions and mutations.
Gene enhancer in evolution of human opposable thumb
Scientists have discovered a gene enhancer, known as HACNS1, that may have contributed to the evolution of the uniquely opposable human thumb, and possibly also modifications in the ankle or foot that allow humans to walk on two legs, according to a paper published in
Science on Sept. 5, 2008.
FDA orders stronger warnings for 4 arthritis drugs
(AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration ordered stronger warnings Thursday on four medications widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses, saying they can raise the risk of possibly fatal fungal infections.
