The Swedish Obese Subjects study carried out at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg found that, though weight-loss surgery is currently only offered to patients who exceed a certain BMI, surgical intervention would improve the health of many more people.

In order to meet the current selection criteria for weight-loss surgery, Swedish patients must have a body mass index (BMI) above 40 for healthy patients, or above 35 in combination with other risk factors such as type 2 diabetes.  They examined the cases of 104 patients who were operated on despite their BMI being "too low" by current standards yet as a result had a 67% reduced chance of developing diabetes.  

Sea-level rise over the coming century could affect some regions far more than others, according to a numerical model which projects that parts of the Pacific will see the highest rates of rise while some polar regions will experience falls in relative sea levels due to the ways sea, land and ice interact globally.

Neurim Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results from a phase II clinical study evaluating the efficacy and safety of Piromelatine (Neu-P11), a novel investigational multimodal sleep medicine developed for the treatment of patients with primary and co-morbid insomnia.

The new results are from a recent double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled, parallel group, non-confirmatory, sleep-laboratory study. The study evaluated piromelatine compared to placebo in 120 adult primary insomnia patients, ages 18 years and older. 

Surgeon Paolo Macchiarini,  Professor of Regenerative Surgery at Karolinska Institutet, has become famous worldwide due to successfully transplanting bioengineered stem cell-based trachea, composed of both artificial and biological material, in patients. That was an important waypoint on the road to the Big 5 organs, which are far largers and more complex.

Next up is the the esophagus and diaphragm and an experimental attempt to regenerate brain material in mice and rats, he said during his seminar at the scientific AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston. 

Science has always had a social component. Much of science is a neutral endeavor for the public good but in modern times the political component has meant navigating treacherous social and environmental policy waters. 

Not an easy task when science requires help from outside its field. Different social and science fields use different methods and scientists and policy makers rarely work together.  The government has taken over increased government control of projects and funding since World War II but modern problems mean that modern types of research centers are needed, as are new ways of organizing collaborations between scientists and policy makers - it can't be just political appointees handing out money to research the administration happens to like. 

Bacteria didn't just impact our evolution, we impacted the evolution of bacteria also, according to a study of DNA preserved in calcified bacteria on the teeth of ancient human skeletons.

The ancient genetic record reveals the negative changes in oral bacteria brought about by the dietary shifts as humans became farmers, and later with the introduction of food manufacturing in the Industrial Revolution.