Processed meat and health risks

Dariush Mozaffarian and colleagues comment on a study showing that processed meat is linked to increased mortality risk, and emphasize how health guidance should recommend avoiding processed meat rather than focusing on fat content.

Novel hantavirus in Eurasian shrews

A PCR screen of soricine shrews captured over three years in Poland identified a new hantavirus, Boginia virus, with unknown pathogenic potential.

Cost-effective prevention of hospital falls

Economic analysis of a clinical trial shows that a patient education program to prevent falls in hospitalized elderly people is effective and cost-saving, provided 4% of these patients would otherwise fall under usual care.

Methylation in twins

A longitudinal study of DNA methylation in twins at birth and 18 months finds that some loci drift in methylation status

European geneticists' views on DTC testing

An online survey of European clinical geneticists found high awareness of direct-to-consumer genetic testing but most participants did not agree with such testing for severe conditions.

Overcoming the obstacles to HIV immunity

Can the immune system be induced to protect itself against HIV infection? Andrew McMichael gives his perspective in an interview, explaining the challenges faced in making a vaccine  and why he remains optimistic about the potential of eliciting strong T cell responses for controlling the virus.

HIV receptor gymnastics

Robin Weiss, in an article to mark the 30^th anniversary of the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), reviews the complex interactions of the virus with the specialized surface molecules by which it gains entry into cells, and how this has led to drugs that block it.

Immune escape in neural stem cell transplantation

Maintaining CD70 expression may enable continued immune escape in neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation as interaction between CD70 on NSCs and CD27 on T cells initiates NSC-induced CD4⁺ T cell apoptosis.

T cells permit early diagnosis of GVHD

Alloreactive T cells are present in the blood 2 weeks before the onset of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) symptoms in a mouse model, suggesting these cells could be measured to allow early diagnosis and timely therapeutic intervention.

CMR useful in detecting fetal heart defects

Fetal Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance yielded the same diagnosis as postnatal findings more often that routine obstetric ultrasound, showing promise for CMR as a diagnostic tool for assessment of congenital cardiovascular abnormalities.