• Choose Omega-3s From Fish Over Flax for Cancer Prevention, Study Finds

    Omega-3s from fish pack a stronger punch than flaxseed and other oils when it comes to cancer prevention, according to a first-ever University of Guelph study.

    Prof. David Ma has discovered that marine-based omega-3s are eight times more effective at inhibiting tumour development and growth.

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  • 2018 Environmental Performance Index: Air quality top public health threat

    The 2018 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) finds that air quality is the leading environmental threat to public health. Now in its twentieth year, the biennial report is produced by researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. The tenth EPI report ranks 180 countries on 24 performance indicators across 10 issue categories covering environmental health and ecosystem vitality. Switzerland leads the world in sustainability, followed by France, Denmark, Malta, and Sweden.

    Switzerland’s top ranking reflects strong performance across most issues, especially air quality and climate protection. In general, high scorers exhibit long-standing commitments to protecting public health, preserving natural resources, and decoupling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from economic activity.

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  • Mosquitoes Remember Human Smells, But Also Swats, Virginia Tech Researchers Find

    Your grandmother’s insistence that you receive more bug bites because you’re ‘sweeter’ may not be that far-fetched after all, according to pioneering research from Virginia Tech scientists.

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  • Repurposed Drug Found to be Effective Against Zika Virus

    In both cell cultures and mouse models, a drug used to treat Hepatitis C effectively protected and rescued neural cells infected by the Zika virus — and blocked transmission of the virus to mouse fetuses.

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  • Ultrathin needle can deliver drugs directly to the brain

    MIT researchers have devised a miniaturized system that can deliver tiny quantities of medicine to brain regions as small as 1 cubic millimeter. This type of targeted dosing could make it possible to treat diseases that affect very specific brain circuits, without interfering with the normal function of the rest of the brain, the researchers say.

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  • New type of virus found in the ocean

    A type of virus that dominates water samples taken from the world’s oceans has long escaped analysis because it has characteristics that standard tests can’t detect. However, researchers at MIT and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have now managed to isolate and study representatives of these elusive viruses, which provide a key missing link in virus evolution and play an important role in regulating bacterial populations, as a new study reports.

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  • York University research explains why global responses to pandemics are too slow

    New research out of York University shows that political dilly-dallying delays global responses to emerging pandemics more than poor surveillance capacity.

    Steven J. Hoffman, professor in the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, Faculty of Health and Osgoode Hall Law School and his colleague Sarah L. Silverberg, conducted an analysis of the three most recent pandemics – H1N1, Ebola and Zika. These were used as case studies to identify and compare sources of delays in responding to pandemics and examine what influences the length of delays.

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  • Meat is not the "new tobacco," and shouldn't be taxed

    The idea of having to pay a sin tax for environmentally detrimental foods is gaining more support. For some, eating meat is a sin, and therefore meat products should be taxed like alcohol and tobacco.

    A new report published recently by a British group called Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return Initiative (FAIRR) argues that a tax on meat is inevitable.

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  • Vaccines not protecting farmed fish from disease

    The vaccines used by commercial fish farmers are not protecting fish from disease, according to a new study.

    The study was compiled by researchers at the University of Waterloo, the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso and Chile’s University of Valparaiso. It showed vaccinated fish tend to show more symptoms when contracting diseases, with the health impacts and ultimately deaths occurring as if they’d never received a vaccine.

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  • Biosensor Promises Early Malaria Diagnosis

    A strip of chromatography paper similar to that used in rapid pregnancy tests is the basis of a bio-sensor for detecting malaria that has been developed by Brazilian researchers.

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