Our genome is constantly under attack from things like UV light and toxins, which can damage or even break DNA strands and ultimately lead to cancer and other diseases. Scientists have known for a long time that when DNA is damaged, a key enzyme sets off a cellular 'alarm bell' to alert the cell to start the repair process, but until recently little was known about how the cell detects and responds to this alarm. In a study published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have identified a whole family of proteins capable of a direct response to the alarm signal.

Our genome is a huge repository of information guiding the construction and function of all the cells in our bodies. Cells sustain many hits to their DNA every day, which can lead tomutations, so they maintain a fleet of DNA repair machinery that can be rapidly mobilized and sent to damaged sites in an emergency.

Because our DNA is so long and unwieldy, it needs to be packaged up with proteins and organized into a complex structure called chromatin. Scientists have known for 50 years that one component of chromatin, an enzyme known as PARP1, is activated by DNA damage and produces a molecular signal, called PAR, which raises the alarm at the site of the damage. In recent weeks, scientists have for the first time worked out how PAR is rapidly detected by the cell; in their Nature Structural and Molecular Biology paper, the group of Andreas Ladurner and their colleagues at EMBL have identified a whole family of proteins that respond to this signal by binding to it directly.

New evidence that early modern humans used fire in southern Africa in a controlled way to increase the quality and efficiency of stone tools is changing how researchers understand the evolution of human behavior, and in particular, the evolution of human brain power.

Curtis Marean, a paleoanthropologist with the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, and an international team of researchers with members from South Africa, England, Australia and France found 72,000-year-old, silcrete rocks that had been fired and flaked to make stone tools in a cave along the coast of the southern tip of Africa in Mossel Bay.

The finding indicates that humans' ability to solve complex problems may have occurred at the same time their modern genetic lineage appeared, rather than developing later as has been widely speculated.

What do flocks of birds have in common with trust, monogamy, and even breast milk? According to a new report in the journal Science, they are regulated by virtually identical neurochemicals in the brain, known as oxytocin in mammals and mesotocin in birds.

Neurobiologists at Indiana University showed that if the actions of mesotocin are blocked in the brains of zebra finches, a highly social songbird, the birds shift their social preferences. They spend significantly less time with familiar individuals and more time with unfamiliar individuals. The birds also become less social, preferring to spend less time with a large group of same-sex birds and more time with a smaller group. Conversely, if birds are administered mesotocin instead of the blocker, the finches become more social and prefer familiar partners.

Perhaps most striking is the fact that none of the treatments affect males -- only females.

In 1900, only 4.1 percent of U.S. citizens were older than 65; in 2000 that number had jumped to 12.6 percent; and by the year 2030, 20 percent of our population could be in that category.

Cognitive decline was long seen as an inevitable consequence of aging, but recent years have seen a surge of interest in activities and products touted to forestall this outcome. What is the truth? Is decline inevitable, or is there a possibility of retaining our faculties if we exercise them? And which kinds of exercises and products are effective, and which are merely hype?

According to the most rigorous and comprehensive review of the scientific findings ever, there is clear evidence that cognitive-enrichment activities including intellectually stimulating pursuits, social engagement, and especially physical exercise may indeed preserve or enhance various aspects of cognitive functioning as we age.

The genes that play a role in adolescent insomnia are the same as those involved in depression and anxiety, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 8, at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Results of the study indicate that insomnia as a diagnosis has a moderate heritability in 8 to 16 year olds, which is consistent with past studies of insomnia symptoms in adults. Significant genetic effects shared between insomnia, depression and anxiety suggests that overlapping genetic mechanisms exist to link the disorders.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has discovered a new form of intellectual disability involving mental retardation (MR) along with the eye defect retinitis pigmentosa (RP). CAMH also discovered the previously unidentified gene that causes this disorder, CC2D2A. This scientific advance will help understand the developmental and biological processes involved in brain development, and may help identify ways to diagnose and treat intellectual disabilities.

Under the direction of Dr. John Vincent, scientist at CAMH, the team identified a mutation in CC2D2A that causes the production of a shortened protein missing the C2, or calcium-binding, domain. This protein mutation results in faulty cell function, which leads to MR with RP.

Swedish researchers have found that some physical attributes of the homosexual brain resemble those found in the opposite sex, according to an article published online (June 16) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Some psychological tests have shown differences between men and women in the extent to which they employ the brain's hemispheres in verbal tasks. Other research has hinted that homosexuals may exhibit the tendencies of the opposite sex in brain behavior unrelated to sexual activity.

More women in Britain are giving birth at home, which a recent study suggests is as safe as going to hospital.

When it comes to giving birth, more mothers-to-be are deciding that there's no place like home. In what can be a painful and at times scary experience, it is easy to imagine the appeal of creature comforts, far away from the clinical environment of a hospital.

By now, we've all heard that high-fat diets are bad for our health in the long run. But what about the short-term?

A new study on rats finds that 10 days of eating a high-fat diet caused short-term memory loss and made exercise difficult. While the finding may not seem a big surprise, the researcher say it might suggest that high-fat diets make humans lazy and stupid.

"Western diets are typically high in fat and are associated with long-term complications, such as obesity, diabetes, and heart failure, yet the short-term consequences of such diets have been given relatively little attention," said Andrew Murray, co-author of the study and currently at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. "We hope that the findings of our study will help people to think seriously about reducing the fat content of their daily food intake to the immediate benefit of their general health, well-being, and alertness."

A heart disease patient of late
Had an IQ of 168.
His brain was immense
But it lacked common sense
And it never engaged when he ate.
- by the Health Ranger

As an observer of human behavior, one of the most fascinating things I've ever witnessed is really smart people dying of diseases that are easily preventable through basic nutrition (vitamin D, plant juices, targeted supplements, superfoods, etc.). I know doctors dying of cancer who take chemotherapy over vitamin D supplements. I know members of MENSA who are killing themselves with junk foods and diabetes. I know extremely intelligent attorneys and physicists who are among the smartest people in their respective fields; but when it comes to basic health, they're completely ignorant.

In fact, if you look around at all the "smart" people you know, you're likely to find the vast majority of them are incredibly ignorant when it comes to their own health. They know nothing about basic nutrition, the benefits of superfoods or the dangers of pharmaceuticals. They eat processed junk foods, dairy products and food products contaminated with pesticides and toxic chemicals. They may be the smartest people in the world in their labs or offices, but when it comes to their own bodies, they are among the most ignorant people on the planet.