If your experiment doesn't go the way you expect, take a closer look; something even more interesting may have happened. That strategy has led scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory to discover a fundamental shift in an enzyme's function that could help expand the toolbox for engineering biofuels and other plant-based oil products.

The Brookhaven scientists were trying to understand the factors that affect where carbon-carbon double bonds are placed in fatty acids, the building blocks of oils and fats, when they are "desaturated" -- that is, when a desaturase enzyme removes hydrogen from the carbon chain.

LONDON, September 8 /PRNewswire/ --

New treatment using a light-activated drug could revolutionise the fight against hospital "superbug", MRSA (otherwise known as meticillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) it was revealed at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester.

MRSA can sometimes live on the skin or in the nose and has no harmful effects unless it gets under the skin, for example in wounds, where it can cause infection. If MRSA gets into the bloodstream it can cause serious infections, for example pneumonia, septicaemia, or osteomyelitis (in the bones).

LONDON, September 8 /PRNewswire/ --

More than a third of patients with long-term fatigue conditions like Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) believe complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) are more effective than traditional medicine in treating their illness, research launched at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester reveals.

98% of patients believed alternative therapy should be available through the NHS.

Researchers from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen found that sufferers of chronic conditions had relief from their symptoms when they used CAMs.

The findings showed:

LONDON, September 8 /PRNewswire/ --

Pharmacists could help reduce GP workloads by 20 per cent, saving the NHS millions of pounds every year, according to Steve Churton, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).

Addressing delegates at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester today, RPSGB President Steve Churton said:

"Every year patients with minor ailments generate over 50 million GP consultations: that's almost 20 per cent of doctors' workloads, costing the NHS more than GBP1.5 billion. There is absolutely no reason why such consultations could not be handled by pharmacists, releasing an hour a day for every GP in the country to see patients with more complex needs.

LONDON, September 8 /PRNewswire/ --

An effective new method of diagnosing bowel (also known as colorectal, or large bowel) cancer using 'light' may soon be available, according to research presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester.

The technique, known as 'photodynamic diagnosis', is already used to diagnose and treat other types of cancers, for example, certain skin cancers. A photosensitive drug, which is attracted specifically to cancer cells, is put onto the body. When a blue light is applied to the area, it activates the drug and shows any abnormal cells as red. This makes it easier to identify lesions (abnormal tissue) that could otherwise be missed.

One of Salvador Dali’s greatest paintings is called “The Persistence of Memory”.  Last week the results of a new study were published in Science magazine that conclusively prove the physical nature of that persistence.  In what other scientists have called a ‘foundational study’ a team of researchers from America and Israel have discovered and documented the physical nature of memory.

In the study, the researchers threaded tiny electrodes into the brains of 13 people with severe epilepsy.  Evidently this implanting of electrodes is standard procedure as it allows doctors to pinpoint the brain activity that cause epileptic seizures.

LONDON, September 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Results from a new pooled data analysis presented at the European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress (EHMTIC) 2008 today show that zolmitriptan ('Zomig') nasal spray provided fast and efficacious relief in the treatment of episodic and chronic cluster headache.(1) The data shows that zolmitriptan nasal spray provided significant relief from cluster headache at 30 minutes - this maybe of real significance for patients whose current treatment options (oxygen inhalation, self administered sumatriptan injection or a combination of both) are limited due to inconvenience of use.

The 'Mediterranean' Diet is effective in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, hypertension or osteoporosis,say researchers at the University of Granada. It may be possible to prevent 80% of cardiovascular diseases and 40% of different types of cancer through diet, physical exercise and other healthy habits so the scientists at UGR are specifically analyzing how cells react against aggressions which cause pancreatic alterations and result in cancer.

The researchers at the Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos (Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology) of the University of Granada (UGR, Spain) have been doing research into the positive effects of Mediterranean diet’s ingredients on health.

Lynn Sanders, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia, says there are plenty of reasons feminists can be happy about the Republican Party's nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to become vice president. While it's tough to dispel notions that political parties have sexist components, she says, and Sarah Palin's Republican voter registration and anti-abortion stance may at first seem antithetical to feminism, one position in the culture wars does not invalidate her value to the cause of women everywhere.

Palin's presence on the Republican ticket gives feminists at least six good reasons to celebrate, she says.

Milk may help prevent potentially dangerous bacteria like Staphylococcus from being killed by antibiotics used to treat animals, scientists heard today at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

Bacteria sometimes form structures called biofilms that protect them against antibiotics and the body's natural defences. Now scientists have discovered that one of the most important micro-organisms that causes mastitis in cows and sheep, called Staphylococcus, can evade the animal's defences and veterinary medicines by forming these protective biofilms. Mastitis is an infection of the udder in cattle and sheep. It is often a painful condition for the cows and can even cause death.