The genomes of two distinct strains of the virus that causes the common lip cold sore, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), have been identified within an individual person -- an achievement that could be useful to forensic scientists for tracing a person's history. The research also opens the door to understanding how a patient's viruses influence the course of disease. The research by an international team led by Moriah L. Szpara, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University, will be published in the May 2016 issue of the journal Virology.

Medical experts in Newcastle, UK, say that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still being diagnosed later than they should be, meaning they are not getting access to specialist services early enough.

Their comments come as they publish a study which found that the age of diagnosis has not decreased in a decade - still averaging 4-and-a-half years (55 months).

In the biggest study undertaken in the UK of children with autism, the team analysed data between 2004 and 2014. Over this period, they found that even those classed as being diagnosed early - under the age of three - were identified at age 30 months, the same as a decade before.

The results are published today in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Researchers believe that the obesity wave, combined with an ageing population, will lead to a significant increase in heart failure in the future. A review of all available research in this area shows a clear correlation between higher BMI, waist circumference and the risk of heart failure.

A BMI over 30 is considered obese, and the connection between obesity and the risk of heart failure has been established in several studies. Now, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Imperial College London and the Oslo University Hospital have conducted a new meta-analysis that shows that a BMI between 25 and 30 kg /m2, which is considered overweight, is also associated with increased risk.

Climate is not constant on Earth. Consider ice ages coming and going as an example. Parallel to ice age cycles, atmospheric carbon dioxide reduces during glacial periods and increases during warmer times, although modern fossil fuel-related carbon dioxide emission broke this natural cyclicity. With the proper proxy measurements, scientists can look into these past cycles to determine how exactly climate systems were naturally governed.

Syracuse University Earth sciences Assistant Professor Zunli Lu says, "A million dollar question in understanding climate system is: Where and how was CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere during ice ages?"

Boston, MA-- Many ultraviolet (UV)-filtering chemicals commonly used in sunscreens interfere with the function of human sperm cells, and some mimic the effect of the female hormone progesterone, a new study finds. Results of the Danish study will be presented Friday at the Endocrine Society's 98th annual meeting in Boston.

"These results are of concern and might explain in part why unexplained infertility is so prevalent," said the study's senior investigator, Niels Skakkebaek, MD, DMSc, a professor at the University of Copenhagen and a researcher at the Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet.

LOS ANGELES -- Whether you like your coffee black, decaf, half-caff or even instant, feel free to drink up. Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center of Keck Medicine of USC have found that coffee consumption decreases the risk of colorectal cancer.