Researchers have identified specific genes that may trigger the development of sleep problems, and have also demonstrated a genetic link between insomnia and psychiatric disorders such as depression, or physical conditions such as type 2 diabetes. The study​​​​​​​ in the journal Molecular Psychiatry​​​​​​​, which is published by Springer Nature, was led by Murray Stein of the University of California San Diego and the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

Cuff devices for blood pressure measurement are inconvenient, and mobile device apps for blood pressure measurement that are now being introduced may lack accuracy.

When laboratory mice moved to the countryside where they could burrow in dirt, forage for food, and generally live like ordinary mice, they became more susceptible to infection with parasitic whipworms than mice that stayed in the lab, a new study has found.

The Mekong River, one of the world’s largest, traverses six Southeast Asian countries and supports the livelihoods of millions of people. New efforts to provide hydroelectric power to a growing and modernizing population include more than eight proposed main-stem dams and 60 or more existing tributary dams in the lower Mekong basin. A new article from University of Illinois and Iowa State University scientists lays out what dam construction could mean for residents and the environment in the region.

Researchers have found strong evidence that environmental exposures, including air pollution, affect gene expressions associated with respiratory diseases much more than genetic ancestry.

Researchers model tradeoffs and opportunities for aquaculture development in the Southern California Bight

More than 11,000 people died during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa from 2013-16, demonstrating both the deadly nature of the virus and the limitations of the medication used to fight it.

Scientists have developed a new therapy to combat deadly bacteria that is infecting hospital patients worldwide. The new therapy—a biocide that is able to target antibiotic-defiant bacteria such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)—was developed by scientists at the University of Waterloo and University of Manitoba. “We wanted to be able to help vulnerable patients suffering from chronic infections,” said Emmanuel Ho, a professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo. “Once they’re infected with a resistant strain of bacteria it’s very difficult to get them well again.”

Diagnosis of Zika infection is complex. Molecular tests for exposure are only reliable in the first two to three weeks after infection while the virus is circulating in the bloodstream. Antibody tests are confounded by cross-reactivity of antibodies to Zika with dengue, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis viruses following infection or vaccination. A new blood test called ZIKV-NS2B-concat ELISA is faster, less expensive, and extends the window of accurate detection from weeks to months after the onset of infection, giving clinicians a powerful new tool to screen for Zika throughout pregnancy.

Magnetism and light have been combined in a test that can diagnose malaria in under two minutes without the need to take blood.