London, Apr 22: While proteins are known to be at the centre of every life process, and carry out all sorts of work by going to the cell, what guides these basic molecules towards their target cells in the brain has been unknown, until now.

Don Arnold- a molecular and computational biologist at USC College-and colleagues have now solved the mystery for key proteins in the brain.

"There''s no little man sitting there, putting the protein in the right place. Proteins have to have in them encoded information that tells them where to go in the cell," Nature quoted Arnold as saying.

Washington, Apr 22: A new study has claimed that there’s a need for doctors to know about medical tattoos—an increasingly popular trend to let others know about one’s medical condition.

One of the most obvious benefits of medical tattooing is for identification purposes in an emergency situation.

And it is especially useful for patients with diabetes, when a patient may be incapacitated—particularly in the case of hypoglycemic coma.

London, April 22 : A team of British scientists has found that nicotine chewing gum, lozenges and inhalers designed to help people to give up smoking may have the potential to cause cancer.

The research team, led by Muy-Teck Teh, of Queen Mary, University of London, has found a link between mouth cancer and exposure to nicotine, which may indicate that using oral nicotine replacement therapies for long periods could contribute to a raised risk of the disease.

Washington, Apr 22 : The traditional risk factors for melanoma may not be as helpful in predicting risk in all people as previously thought, claims a new study.

The research has been presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.

London, Apr 22 : Pregnant women who drink alcohol weaken the bond with their child, claim researchers.

What’s more, expectant mothers who drink take longer to recover after the birth, the study found.

The research, carried out by PhD student Eilidh Duncan at Aberdeen''s Robert Gordon University, looked at 130 first-time mothers with varying levels of alcohol intake, reports The Telegraph.

After births, Duncan reviewed issues like delivery type, length of hospital stay, pregnancy and labour complications, maternal attachment and post-natal drinking habits.

Washington, Apr 22 : A new study from University of Nottingham has revealed that louse infestation can dampen mammalian immune reactions.

The finding means that the epidemic of allergic disorders in modern, urban people might be due to our having rid ourselves of lice and worms.

As per "hygiene hypothesis" humans'' immune systems evolved to compensate for continual infections with parasitic gut worms, which secrete chemicals that reduce our immune responses.