Activity inside fertilized eggs might offer clues to their reproductive success—a finding with possible implications for in-vitro fertilization.

By watching the tiny, pulsing motions of a newly fertilized mouse egg, researchers in a new study could determine which eggs stood the best chance of producing healthy mice. The same procedure should also work with human eggs, the researchers said yesterday, opening up the possibility of dramatically improving the success rates of in-vitro fertilization.

Studies show that the genetic risk of disease varies between different ethnic groups, and data on some groups is lacking.

To date, research into the genetic cause of disease has been overwhelmingly white.

Of the participants in the most common type of genetic disease study, 96 percent are of European descent. Growing evidence suggests that the results of these studies, which encompass hundreds of thousands of people, may be less relevant or even irrelevant to those in other ethnic groups.

A simple microfluidics chip could improve health care in poor countries by making rapid diagnostic testing a reality.

A small plastic chip that costs just 10 cents to make can reliably diagnose HIV and syphilis within about 15 minutes. The chip, which is based on microfluidics, uses small wafers that precisely manipulate nanoliter volumes of fluid in order to carry out a sequence of chemical reactions.

The new material, which can be injected, molded, and set in place by exposure to light, could benefit people disfigured by disease or injury.

A new biomaterial may help surgeons rebuild the delicate soft structures of the human face, like the cheeks, after a disease or injury has caused disfigurement. The material, which is half synthetic and half biological, can be injected under the skin as a liquid, massaged into shape, and then permanently "locked" by exposure to light.

Two studies mimic the effects of traumatic brain injury in cells, helping to explain how explosions harm soldiers' brains.

Scientists have discovered a mechanism underlying the type of brain injury that soldiers often suffer as a result of roadside explosions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The work could point the way toward early treatment for these acute blast injuries by identifying potential drug targets.

Two new papers from the Disease Biophysics Group at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, led by Kevin "Kit" Parker, use tissue-engineering techniques to model the physical and biochemical effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the brain and blood vessels.

In the wake of Google Health's collapse, one company hopes to promote personal health tracking through employers.

When Google recently announced it would discontinue Google Health at the end of this year, it left the fate of personal health records (PHRs) hanging. Unlike medical records kept by health-care providers, Google Health offered a single place where people could store, analyze, and share their personal health information. But it was hampered by a fragmented health system that made it difficult to collect medical information, and it relied on the initiative of consumers to gather their own data.

The study could offer hope for brain cancer patients, who often suffer dire cognitive problems as a result of radiation treatment.

Radiation treatment for brain cancer can be lifesaving, but it can come at a terrible cost. The radiation that kills cancer cells also kills brain cells, destroying memories, impairing intelligence, and causing confusion.

Charles Limoli and colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, have shown that stem cells could help reverse some of this damage. In a new paper in the journal Cancer Research, Limoli shows that it's possible to cause new brain cells to grow by injecting human neural stem cells into the brains of mice whose cognitive abilities had been damaged by radiation. The mice regained lost skills after the stem-cell treatment.

A new wireless power scheme could make implanted devices more comfortable and reduce the risk of infection.

When an ailing heart can't move blood on its own, an implanted pump can help keep it flowing smoothly. But there's a major drawback: the power supply is large, must be housed outside the body, and is usually connected to the pump via an electric cord that runs through the abdominal wall—a source of constant irritation and potential infection.

Researchers have now demonstrated a prototype wireless heart pump that eliminates the need for the cord altogether. And unlike some wireless implants, it is reliable and efficient over a range of distances, from a few centimeters to a meter or more.

Erik Andrus considers himself a beer and bread man, but he's had limited success growing high quality grains on his sometimes soggy swath of Vermont farmland. This spring, in an effort to turn a liability into an asset, he switched focus and began experimenting with rice.

On one damp acre, he and a friend used an excavator to carve out two rice paddies, a reservoir and canals. Heavy spring rains filled the paddies, where Andrus has planted cold-hardy rice. A drain on one side allows him to regulate the water level in the paddies, and a pump pulls more water when needed from the reservoir.

CSIRO plant scientists have shed light on a problem that has puzzled researchers since the first virus was discovered in 1892 – how exactly do they cause disease?

In a major breakthrough that helps us better understand how viruses cause diseases in plants – and potentially in animals and humans – Dr Ming-Bo Wang and Neil Smith of CSIRO Plant Industry have revealed a genetic mechanism that enables viral organisms to infect hosts and cause diseases.

“Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) is a common, destructive virus that affects a wide range of food crops and ornamental plants,” Dr Wang said.