Science

Weight-Loss Surgery May Help Severely Obese Teens, Study Finds Weight-loss surgery was more effective at slimming severely obese teens and improving their health than two years of diet and exercise, a study found.

Thirdhand Smoke Forms Cancer-Causing Indoor Residue That Lasts, Study Says Tobacco smoke contamination lingering on furniture, clothes and other surfaces, dubbed thirdhand smoke, may react with indoor air chemicals to form potential cancer-causing substances, a study found.

Pfizer, Medivation Drug May Help Huntington's Disease Patients A 27-year-old hay fever treatment being studied by Pfizer Inc. and Medivation Inc. for Alzheimer’s disease may also help patients with Huntington’s disease.

Cadiz Study Shows Enough Desert Water to Provide for 400,000 Californians Cadiz Inc., the owner of thousands of acres of California desert, said a study shows there’s more water under its land than the company previously estimated, giving it enough to supply 400,000 people.

Sanofi Speeds Swine Flu Vaccine Expirations to Mid-February After Recall Sanofi-Aventis SA shortened the expiration of its 12 million pre-filled swine flu shots by as much as 16 months to ensure the potency of the vaccine doesn’t decline.

Fecal Odor May Lead to Faster Test Outcome for Diarrhea Bug, Doctors Say A new device that sniffs out malodorous bacteria in stool samples may yield the first rapid test for a potentially lethal diarrheal disease spreading across North America and Europe.

Glaxo Ends Depression Research, Begins Developing Rare-Disease Treatments GlaxoSmithKline Plc will halt research into drugs for depression and pain and begin making treatments for rare diseases as the U.K. company tries to squeeze more products out of its laboratories.

Biotechnology Group Objects to U.S. Proposal to Restrict Gene Patents The Biotechnology Industry Organization, the lobbying group for U.S. biotechnology companies, released a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius objecting to provisions of a proposed policy on the patenting of human genes.

El Nino Warming May Fade, Removing Block to Active 2010 Hurricane Season The El Nino warming phenomenon will likely fade in the Pacific sometime in the next six months, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center said today, increasing the chances of an above-average hurricane year in the Atlantic.

Brain-Damaged Patient Reaches Outside Vegetative World by Mapping Thoughts A man in Belgium, presumed for five years to be in a vegetative state, communicated with doctors through a brain scan that mapped his thoughts, a tool that may offer some people who cannot move or speak a line to the outside world.