This afternoon Lucile Packard Children's Hospital hosted its annual Trick-or-Treat Trail. During the event, the hospital tweeted pictures of patients in costume as the children traveled …
Month: October 2012
Cracking the code of 1000 (make that 1092!) genomes
The international 1000 Genomes Project is an effort to catalog human genetic variation. The group, which includes Stanford geneticist Carlos Bustamante, PhD, published their latest results …
Using mobile phones to pinpoint better water in a Nairobi slum
In Nairobi’s largest slum Kibera, government officials withhold public services like electricity, sewage and waste collection and only supply water two or three days a week. …
Debunking a Halloween myth: Sugar and hyperactivity
Does sugar make children hyperactive? To the surprise of many, particularly parents gearing up for tonight's Halloween craziness, the answer is no. A large body …
Fortune teller: Mice with 'humanized' livers predict HCV drug candidate's behavior in humans
How do you catch a drug-safety problem before it trips you up in human trials? Try making a mouse with a human liver - or …
Could a virus turn people into zombies?
For your Halloween enjoyment, here's a video exploring whether it's scientifically plausible for zombies to exist outside of horror movies. As the short film explains, the …
Researchers turn to spider webs to design improved medical tape
In an effort to protect newborns sensitive skin from being damaged by the removal of conventional medical tape, a group of researchers has developed a …
Ask Stanford Med: Answers to your questions about seasonal influenza
While the 2011 influenza season was especially mild, that may not be the case this year. To help you and your family prepare for the …
Mental illness in sports: Why athletes don't always seek help
Today's New York Times offers a look at something that "exists at every level of sports" but is often ignored: Mental illness. William C. Rhoden writes: …
Learning weight-maintenance skills first helps prevent diet backsliding, Stanford study shows
All of us who have struggled with our waistlines over the years know that sometimes losing weight isn't the hardest part. Keeping it off is. …
Four states examine their cultural environment to reduce obesity rates
During a recent visit to my hometown in Texas, I was once again reminded of how much our cultural environment can affect our lifestyle choices. …
In Stanford/Gladstone study, yeast genetics further ALS research
A tiny one-celled organism may help scientists devise new treatments for Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS. The researchers, from Stanford and the Gladstone Institutes, reported their …
How open access works – in animation
In case you haven't yet seen it, UC-Davis professor Jonathan Eisen, PhD, and Nick Shockey, with the Right to Research Coalition, have put together an animated video on how open …
Researchers find mechanism for destruction of key allergy-inducing complexes
New allergy research from Stanford and the University of Bern, Switzerland was published in Nature over the weekend, and my colleague describes the work in a …
Image of the Week: Osteosarcoma cell
This week, Nikon announced the winners of its annual Small World Photomicrography Competition. This spectacular photo won third place and depicts an osteosarcoma cell. The …
Grand Roundup: Top posts for the week of Oct. 21
The five most-read stories on Scope this week were: Stanford establishes ‘banking system’ to help faculty balance their professional and personal lives: A story published …