Washington, Oct 31 : In a study on family-based gene scan of Alzheimer''s disease, scientists have discovered the sites of four novel genes that may significantly influence risk for the most common late-onset form of the devastating neurological disorder.

Led by researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND), the researchers described how newly available technology is improving understanding of genetic mechanisms underlying the disease.

Washington, Oct 31 : Researchers at UC Davis Cancer Center have discovered that the HER2 gene itself is the key behind the aggressiveness of HER2-positive breast cancer.

They found that HER2 advances tumour growth by shutting down its own regulator gene, labelled LRIG1 and commonly called "Lig-1".

The new study comes in line with recent research showing that Lig-1 limits the growth-promoting signals of HER2.

Now, the researchers have found that the regulator is significantly suppressed when compared to healthy breast tissue.

Washington, Oct 31 : Taking a crucial step towards stem cell therapies, scientists have revealed that our bodies'' ability to respond to an internal ''mayday'' signal may ultimately pave the way for long-awaited regenerative medicine.

The study from the University of Bristol has brought stem cell therapies for heart disease one step closer.

Led by Dr Nicolle Krankel, the researchers have discovered how our bodies initiate DIY rescue and repair mechanisms when blood supply is inadequate, for example in diabetic limbs or in the heart muscle during heart attack.

Washington, Oct 31: Scientists have found that tiny fungus, called microsporidia, that causes chronic diarrhea in AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients and travellers, is a member of the family of fungi that have been discovered to reproduce sexually.

The research team has proven that microsporidia are true fungi and that this species most likely undergoes a form of sexual reproduction during infection of humans and other host animals.

The findings of the study led by researchers at Duke University Medical Centre, could help develop effective treatments against these common global pathogens and may help explain their most virulent attacks.

Washington, Oct 31 : After acting in hit sitcoms like ‘Friends’ and ‘Scrubs’, Hollywood actress Courtney Cox is all set to play the lead in a new comedy called ‘Cougar Town’.

‘Cougar Town’ will be created by Bill Lawrence, who created Scrubs.

The upcoming program will be based on an attractive, newly single 40-year-old mom (Cox) with a 17-year-old son.

"Forty-year-old women on TV are so beautiful and perfect and wrinkle-free," The Hollywood Reporter quoted Lawrence, as saying.

"People don''t do the reality of it, and there is a real comedy area about a woman who is talking about Botox, about having sex with the lights on and how her body is changing,” he added.

Washington, Oct 31 : Nicole Kidman has spoken publicly about her married life, confessing that during the first three months of her marriage with country singer Keith Urban, the pair went to “hell and back.”

The ‘Margot at The Wedding’ actress revealed that her marriage with Urban hit a rocky patch much before expected, when he entered rehab for drug addiction.

However, she added, they came out of it with flying colours.

“We were thrown into his alcohol problem three months into the marriage, and that was big,” she said in an interview with Parade magazine.

“We became the closest we could become, because we had to bare our souls. We did 10 years of marriage in three months,” she added.