Rob Stein

Research Reveals Yeasty Beasts Living On Our Skin

Rob Stein — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:05:00 +0000

Scientists have completed an unusual survey: a census of the fungi that inhabit different places on our skin. It's part of a big scientific push to better understand the microbes that live in and on our bodies.

"This is the first study of our fungi, which are yeast and other molds that live on the human body," says Julie Segre, of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who led the survey.

Trillions of microbes live everywhere in and on our bodies. Most of these viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms are harmless.

Stem Cell Milestone Revives Intense Ethical Debate

Rob Stein — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:38:00 +0000

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

We're going to look closely this morning at a dramatic advance in science.

GREENE: And also its far-reaching implications. The advance involves embryonic stem cell research.

INSKEEP: Which scientists see as a route to dramatic advances in medical treatment.

Scientists Clone Human Embryos To Make Stem Cells

Rob Stein — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:13:00 +0000

Scientists say they have, for the first time, cloned human embryos capable of producing embryonic stem cells.

The accomplishment is a long-sought step toward harnessing the potential power of embryonic stem cells to treat many human diseases. But the work also raises a host of ethical concerns.

"This is a huge scientific advance," said Dr. George Daley, a Harvard stem cell scientist who wasn't involved in the work.

Parents' Saliva On Pacifiers Could Ward Off Baby's Allergies

Rob Stein — Mon, 06 May 2013 07:43:00 +0000

That word "microbiome" — describing the collection of bacteria that live in and on our bodies — keeps popping up. This time, researchers say that children whose parents clean their pacifiers by sucking them might be less likely to develop allergic conditions because of how their parents' saliva changes their microbiomes.

That's the word from a small study of 184 Swedish babies published in this week's issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Gut Bacteria's Belch May Play A Role In Heart Disease

Rob Stein — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:01:00 +0000

Scientists have discovered what may be an important new risk factor for heart disease.

How Much Does It Hurt? Let's Scan Your Brain

Rob Stein — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:17:00 +0000

Scientists reported Wednesday that they had developed a way to measure how much pain people are experiencing by scanning their brains.

The researchers hope the technique will help doctors treat pain better, but the work is also raising concerns about whether the technique might interfere with doctors simply listening to their patients.

Now, when someone is in pain, a doctor has no way to judge its severity except to ask questions, a method that often is inadequate.

"We all have trouble communicating our pain and other feelings under different circumstances," says Yukiyasu Kamitani, a researcher at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan.

Philosophers, poets and psychologists have long shared a fascination with dreams.

Study: Record Number Of People Are Cohabitating

Rob Stein — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:11:00 +0000

More and more Americans are opting to live together before they get married. That's according to new federal data. And on average, cohabitations last about 22 months compared to 13 months in 1995.

China's Air Pollution Linked To Millions Of Early Deaths

Rob Stein — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:25:00 +0000

More than 1 million people are dying prematurely every year from air pollution in China, according to a new analysis.

"This is the highest toll in the world and it really reflects the very high levels of air pollution that exist in China today," says Robert O'Keefe of the Health Effects Institute in Boston, who presented the findings in Beijing this week.

Alarm has been growing in recent years about the air in China.

Bioethics Panel Warns Against Anthrax Vaccine Testing On Kids

Rob Stein — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:16:00 +0000

A controversial government proposal to test the anthrax vaccine in children would be unethical without first conducting much more research, a presidential commission concluded Tuesday.

"The federal government would have to take multiple steps before anthrax vaccine trials with children could be ethically considered," Amy Gutmann, who chairs the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, tells Shots.