A recent study published in the journal ‘Nature Methods’ shows that genetically modified cats have cells that are resistant to infection from feline immunodeficiency virus which causes AIDS in cats. Scientists inserted monkey genes that are capable to fight against the virus and jellyfish genes.

This could actually be breakthrough – preventing cats from being infected with the disease is a big step in AIDS research, since men and cats are equally likely to be affected by the virus and both display similar symptoms. Dr Robin Lovell-Badge said: ‘Understanding how to confer resistance is (…) of equal importance to cat health and human health.’

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), commonly known as ‘superbug’, is a bacterium resistant to almost any known type of antibiotics. It has been discovered decades ago, in 1961, hospitals being its most prevalent dwelling place. The main problem with superbugs is that they have altered over the years by combining new genes and specialists say we should not be expecting any miracle-antibiotics over the next decade. The best answer some doctors came up with is a mixture of antibiotics that may help in some less severe cases. Dr. Brad Spellberg, an infectious disease expert at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center told ‘The Daily Breeze’: ‘We’re at the point (…) that we’re just mixing a bunch of crap together, throwing it at the patient and crossing our fingers.’

Elder people better assimilate new information if they learn it by a “though” method, such as trial and error than an easy one (a question followed by the right answer), according to a Canadian study published on Wednesday in Psychology and Aging magazine. Specialists from Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Center of Toronto University proved for the first time that elder people –more precisely their brain – learns easier than younger persons by trial and error method.

The conclusions of this study surprised the educators and medics specialized in cognitive recovery. The study denies a series of articles published in many scientific magazines, according to which making mistakes during the learning process affects the memory of elderly persons, and the passive method of retention “without error”, with the right answer given to the one that learns is better for the brain.

Scientists discovered that watching a movie that can make you laugh may also trigger benefits for human vascular functions. An opposite effect is produced by watching a horror movie which causes mental stress. During a study, volunteers watched different scenes from the comedy “There’s Something About Mary” on day one of the research and on day two, the first scenes from war film “Saving Private Ryan”, according to dailymail.co.uk.
Scientists realized that during the second movie the volunteers registered an unhealthy cardiac rhythm and a thinning of their blood vessels which reduces the blood flux within one’s organism.
This discovery attests the idea of a connection between stress and thinning of blood vessels.