Melbourne, Feb 19 : In a major breakthrough towards rebuilding broken bones, Aussie scientists have created a synthetic biomaterial that encourages the body to create bone on its own.

The biomaterial created by researchers at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Stryker Australia could probe top be an answer to successful bone grafts and treating bone disease.

Dr Cameron Lutton of QUT said that the biomaterial activates the initial stages of bone healing by encouraging the body''s natural clotting process, thus promoting bone growth.

"The biomaterial interacts with blood and mimics early bone healing events," ABC Online quoted Lutton as saying.

London, Feb 19 : Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Duke universities have linked mutations in two genes, IDH1 and IDH2, with the most common types of brain cancer and longer survival times.

The research team discovered variations in the IDH1 and IDH2 genes that are associated with three quarters of the most common types of cancer tumors, known as gliomas, according to the New England Journal of Medicine study.

It is hoped the findings could open the way to more successful treatment of the disease.

Washington, Feb 19: Researchers from at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre have found that a compound used in blood pressure medication may help prevent cognitive loss after radiation therapy in brain tumour patients.

In the study conducted using a rat model, the researchers assumed that that a compound similar to the anti-hypertensive drug losartan can prevent the cognition loss that has been closely-associated with radiation therapy for brain tumour treatment.

Taipei - Foot-and-mouth disease has broken out on two Taiwan hog farms, 12 years after the epidemic hit the island and shattered Taiwan's pork export markets, press reports said Thursday.

All major newspapers quoted the Council of Agriculture as saying that foot-and-mouth disease broke out earlier this month on hog farms in Changhwa County and in adjacent Yunlin County.

Health authorities in UK have been regularly issuing warning against use of tan jab. Melanotan I and II used in these jabs can damage the immune and cardiovascular systems along with other problems. But it seems that people are not paying much heed to it as the number of reports of people using these tan jab is continuously increasing.

Recent study revealed that smoking is adversely affects smokers irrespective of financial status and sex. Recent findings were the result of study conducted over 28 years involving more than 15,000 men and women in Paisley and Renfrew.

The study subjects were divided into groups - male or female, smokers, ex-smokers or never-smokers - all in one of four social class headings.