London, Nov 3: Scientists from King's College London have launched a major clinical trial to test whether common antidepressant drug lithium can effectively treat motor neurone disease.

Till now, there is no effective cure or treatment for the fatal motor neuron disease, which is commonly found in men and most likely to strike between the ages of 50 and 70.

However, it can affect any adult at any age.

An Italian study had shown that lithium might have a protective effect with MND, but the British scientists said that the findings should be treated with caution.

The researchers said that the study was necessary because positive findings from a small-scale Italian study were "too dramatic too ignore".

Washington, November 3: A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center has shown that the administration of all recommended flu vaccines to kids reduces their likelihood of catching the respiratory virus, due to which many children are hospitalised every year.

Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study included 2,400 from 6 months old to 5 years old in Rochester, Nashville and Cincinnati in
2003-2004 and 2004-2005.

Nasal and throat swabs were used to determine whether children who came to the hospital or participating outpatient practice had the flu.

London, November 3: A genetically modified soya bean, which can help to prevent heart attacks, has passed the first phase of trials in the United States.

Researchers at the University of South Dakota say that the promising results of the experiments have cleared the way for its use in foods such as spreads, yoghurts, cereal bars, and salad dressings.

The researchers said that their study had shown that oil from the GM soya could raise blood concentrations of long-chain omega3 acids, which are found chiefly in oily fish such as salmon, trout and fresh tuna.

London, November 3: An international research team has found that bacteria can directly cause human blood and plasma to clot, something that has long been thought to have been lost during the course of vertebrate evolution.

The researchers believe that their new findings may help advance scientists’ understanding of coagulation during bacterial infections, which in turn may pave the way for new clinical methods for treating serious medical conditions like sepsis and anthrax.

London, November 3: A team of researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital has found that the ability of the immune system cells called T-lymphocytes to fight childhood cancer neuroblastoma can be improved with the aid of an artificial tumour-specific receptor.

Hamburg, Germany - If you don't get enough sleep at night, be sure to drink a strong cup of coffee before trying to remember important facts - otherwise your sleep-deprived mind will play tricks with your memory, according to a team of German researchers.