Most people have seen, either in person or on TV, a person who is an albino, someone who has a generalized complete or partial lack of pigment (melanin) in the skin and ... Read More

Natural killer T (NKT) cells play an important role in the immune system and, therefore, in autoimmune disorders. A team of researchers has found a way to boost production of ... Read More

More than 40% of cases of hereditary spastic paraplegia, a group of neurological disorders affecting the lower extremities, have been associated with a single gene that produces an enzyme called ... Read More

When it comes to chromosomes, as the old saw says, anything that can go wrong, will. Pieces of the chromosome can mistakenly be duplicated, or may break off and get lost, or ... Read More

Researchers from several institutions working as a team have discovered that damage to the mitochondria in nerve cells is associated with the inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also ... Read More

Mice with Type C Niemann-Pick disease, a degenerative neurological disorder, were able to live longer when treated with a neurosteroid called allopregnanolone. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, ... Read More

Ramsay Hunt syndrome Type I, a disorder which includes ear pain and facial paralysis, is caused by human herpesvirus 3 (varicella-zoster virus). Ramsay Hunt syndrome Type II refers to a ... Read More

Cornell University food scientists have found that Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria that causes the deadly disease listeriosis, can survive for a year or more, despite efforts by food sellers and ... Read More

One of the many interesting stories about this year's Olympic athletes is that of Gail Devers, the track star. In 1988 Gail was very ill and had vision problems. Eventually ... Read More

This inherited disorder causes a combination of muscle stiffness and muscle weakness. It is usually noticeable by the first year of life. Although its symptoms are distressing, it is not ... Read More

A study published in the July 15, 2004, edition of Cancer Research reports that researchers at the Mayo Clinic were able to curb or cure malignant melanoma in mice using ... Read More

In neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease and spinocerebellar ataxia, a single mutated gene produces a protein that is toxic to cells. Researchers at the University of Iowa, using gene ... Read More