Autism blurs distinctions between brain regions

Autism blurs the molecular differences that normally distinguish different brain regions, a new study suggests. Among more than 500 genes that are normally expressed at significantly different levels in the front versus the lower middle part of the brain’s outer mantle, or cortex, only 8 showed such differences in brains of people with autism, say … Read more

Origins of XMRV deciphered, undermining claims for a role in human disease

Delineation of the origin of the retrovirus known as XMRV from the genomes of laboratory mice indicates that the virus is unlikely to be responsible for either prostate cancer or chronic fatigue syndrome in humans, as has been widely published. The virus arose because of genetic recombination of two mouse viruses. Subsequent infection of lab … Read more

Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and Jack Whitescarver, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health, on the 30th anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS

On June 5, 1981, an article concerning five previously healthy, young gay men in Los Angeles diagnosed with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, an infection that usually appears only in individuals with substantial immune system damage, appeared in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

MusiCares, GRAMMY Foundation announce 2011 Teen contest

Today marks the launch of the second annual MusiCares and GRAMMY Foundation Teen Substance Abuse Awareness through Music Contest. Announced by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, along with MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation — the two nonprofit organizations of The Recording Academy — the contest asks … Read more

Treating HIV-infected people with antiretrovirals significantly reduces transmission to partners

Men and women infected with HIV reduced the risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners by taking oral antiretroviral medicines when their immune systems were relatively healthy, according to findings from a large-scale clinical study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Martha J. Somerman, D.D.S., Ph.D., named director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Martha J. Somerman, D.D.S., Ph.D., has been appointed as director of the National Institute of dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). She is currently dean of the University of Washington School of Dentistry, Seattle, a position she has held since 2002. She will begin her duties as NIDCR director on Aug. 29, 2011. National Institutes of … Read more