At first it sounded like science fiction, curing genetic diseases by giving people new genes. Then it seemed like simple fiction: while theoretically possible, gene therapy appeared unlikely to become a true therapeutic option, the field having suffered years of complications and high-profile setbacks. But over the past year, a series of small but intriguing advances has suggested that the technique may hold real future potential. In September, researchers at the University of Washington reported in the journal ...

Every year, thousands of workers arrive at the sapphire and ruby mines of Pailin, Cambodia, risking their lives to unearth gems in the landmine-ridden territory. Soon, however, they could be the ones to put millions of others at risk. On the Thai-Cambodian border, a rogue strain of malaria has started to resist artemisinin, the only remaining effective drug in the world's arsenal against malaria's most deadly strain, Plasmodium falciparum. For six decades, malaria drugs like chloroquine and mefloquine have ...

It's hard to fight an epidemic when no one wants to talk about the cause. In China, a country whose last decade has been defined by economic growth and social opening, silence still enshrouds many aspects of the nations' sex life, and not, health experts say, without consequences. While most industrialized nations have seen HIV/AIDS death rates steadily decline in the past 10 years, China announced in February that the HIV virus took the lead as the deadliest infectious disease in the nation in 2008, ...

France's football league president has said the decision to postpone Sunday's match between PSG and Marseille because of swine flu was not the catalyst for violent clashes between rival fans.Meanwhile, English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers have confirmed three of their players and two coaching staff have gone down with the virus. Christopher Samba and midfielder David Dunn missed Saturday's game with Chelsea. When asked if the pair were suffering from the contagious disease manager Sam Allardyce replied: "It's definitely ...

President Obama has declared a national emergency to deal with the "rapid increase in illness" from the H1N1 influenza virus.The officials didn't want their names used because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Obama's action allows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements" to help health care facilities enact emergency plans to deal with the pandemic. Those requirements are contained in Medicare, Medicaid and state Children's Health Insurance programs, and ...

Katherine Jackson's battle for control of her pop star son's estate is about to take a "new direction" based on "new evidence" uncovered by the family, a Jackson family lawyer said.The officials didn't want their names used because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Obama's action allows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements" to help health care facilities enact emergency plans to deal with the pandemic. Those requirements are ...

A major earthquake vibrated deep in Indonesia's Banda Sea on Saturday night, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center predicted the quake would not be destructive.The officials didn't want their names used because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Obama's action allows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements" to help health care facilities enact emergency plans to deal with the pandemic. Those requirements are contained in Medicare, Medicaid and state ...

Twelve-year-old Francisca Abreu was anxious. It was February 20, 2007, and she laid her head down on her desk in her seventh-grade science class. "I was crying; I was very depressed. I had written a note to myself," Francisca remembers. "I just said I can't do this anymore. I want to kill myself." Francisca's school called home, and her mother, Isabel Valdez, learned for the first time that her daughter was in serious trouble. "I never told her," says Francisca. ...

One of the first times I went on a date with a girl, she asked me, "Are you bi or gay?" "Well, I'm still figuring that out," I told her. Her response was: "I knew you were too good to be true." I then fell all over myself in an effort to explain to her that, although I was unsure about how to define my sexuality, I was definitely into girls, more so than I'm into guys. I am ...

A study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics indicates about 1 percent of children ages 3 to 17 have autism or a related disorder, an increase over previous estimates. "This is a significant issue that needs immediate attention," Dr. Ileana Arias, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. "A concerted effort and substantial national response is warranted." The study used data from the federal government's 2007 national survey of children's health. The survey of parents ...