Bytes

 
Published: Friday 29 February 2008

cancer cure: Scientists in Germany are considering developing a new drug for neuroblastoma, a tumour of the nervous system in children. They have identified a constituent in a fungus that might be useful for the drug. The substance, HC-toxin, from a maize pathogen, reprogrammes neuroblastoma cells in a way that they behave like healthy cells again.

skull survey: Women's skulls are thicker (7.1 mm) than men's (6.5mm). This revelation could help in designing devices for protecting the head in vehicle collisions, say researchers from China. They studied geometric characteristics using head scans of 3,000 patients. "The next step will be to find out how the differences translate into head impact response of male and female, and then we can design the countermeasure for head protection," says a researcher.

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