Washington

Barack Obama has wished Jimmy Carter a full and speedy recovery after the former US president announced that he was battling cancer.

The MIND diet is based on Mediterranean eating, and proponents claim it can help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, writes Margaret Jennings

The US government is chipping in money for a three-year pilot study using sewage samples to determine levels of marijuana use in two Washington cities — research that could help answer some key questions about pot legalisation, the University of Puget Sound announced.

A large-scale human trial of two potential ebola vaccines got under way in Liberia’s capital yesterday, part of a global effort to prevent a repeat of the epidemic that has now claimed nearly 9,000 lives in West Africa.

The first nurse diagnosed with Ebola after treating an infected man at a Dallas hospital is free of the virus.

Barack Obama has conceded it "may be appropriate" to choose an Ebola "tsar" to lead the US response against the disease.

A patient at a Dallas hospital has tested positive for Ebola, the first case of the disease to be diagnosed in the United States.

Scientists in the US found a nearly century-old container of ricin and other forgotten samples of dangerous pathogens as they combed laboratories for hazardous materials.

While the desire to develop drugs and vaccines are appealing and may help save lives, strengthening health systems in developing countries to make better use of existing tools is as important in combating diseases like ebola, writes Celine Gounder.

Researchers aided by the EU play a major role across the globe in developing valuable ideas, writes Máire Geoghegan-Quinn

One former soldier tells Bette Browne how his view on US involvement in Iraq has changed

UCC’s Centre for Research in Vascular Biology has developed a device that promotes the bypass of arterial obstructions, potentially removing the need for major surgery.

Africans battling to contain the spread of ebola will have to wait for months until a potentially life-saving experimental drug used on two Americans infected with the dreaded disease would be manufactured, officials said.

CAN the temperatures of bedrooms improve our metabolism?

US government workers cleaning out an old storage room at a research centre near Washington have made a startling discovery — decades-old vials of smallpox packed away and forgotten in a cardboard box.

As research shows high cholesterol levels can reduce a couple’s chance of conceiving a baby, a leading Irish fertility expert has said up to 40% of his new patients may have fertility problems due to their poor lifestyle.

Europe must co-operate internationally if it is going to tackle society’s greatest challenges, according to the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Arguments between parents can alter the stress responses of children, possibly resulting in youngsters who lag behind their peers in problem-solving.

A baby born with the virus that causes Aids appears to have been cured, scientists have announced.

The brain may be better suited to a split cycle of sleep, reports Richard Fitzpatrick.

One of life’s simple pleasures just got a little sweeter.

A settlement being hammered out between BP and victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill finally provides a system for monitoring health concerns and compensating people with illnesses linked to the disaster.

When dead sea mammals started washing ashore on Canada’s west coast in greater numbers, marine biologist Andrew Trites was distressed to find domestic animal diseases were killing them.

Newt Gingrich cast Mitt Romney as the most anti-immigrant candidate of the four contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in a heated campaign debate in Hispanic-heavy Florida.

THE US government asked scientists not to reveal all the details of how to make a version of the deadly bird flu that they created in labs in the US and Europe.

WOMEN who are stressed out while trying for a baby could be more likely to have girls, research suggests.

NEARLY one in five children with an autistic older sibling will also develop the disorder — a much higher incidence than previously thought, a study has found.

The Moral Landscape

A LANDMARK American trial taking the first step towards treating spinal injury patients with human embryonic stem cells has been described as the start of a new age in medicine.

The US government may resume funding of embryonic stem cell research for now, an appeals court said, but the short-term approval may be of little help to research scientists caught in a legal battle that has just begun.

Actor Michael Douglas said today he had begun treatment for throat cancer and that his odds of recovery were high.

The US government will appeal against a court ruling that undercut federally funded embryonic stem cell research, the Obama administration declared.

Actor Patrick Swayze has died after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

A new law named after Superman actor Christopher Reeve will co-ordinate research on paralysis and rehabilitation.

Patrick Swayze has urged America's leaders to help fund cancer research in a Washington Post letter.

HARVARD scientists say they have created stem cells for 10 genetic disorders, which will allow researchers to watch the diseases develop in a lab dish.

A promising experimental Aids vaccine failed to work in a large international test, leading the US-based developer to halt the study, it has been revealed.

A 15-year-old US girl who hiccuped her way through part of January and all of February is hiccuping once again.

NEW techniques being developed at the University of Limerick are helping surgeons deal with complicated procedures such as brain aneurysms.

IRISH company Biotrin International has joined forces with the National Cancer Institute in Washington DC to commercialise its cervical cancer vaccines.

An Irish-based company is joining forces with the National Institutes of Health in Washington to test new vaccines for cervical cancer.