A computer program that can predict whether or not a given pharmaceutical will have worrying side effects has been developed by researchers in the USA. Jamiul Jahid and Jianhua Ruan of the Department of Computer Science, at the University of Texas at San Antonio, have developed the "in silico" testing system for drugs in the early stage of drug development.

Rhesus monkeys were completely protected from Ebola virus when treated three days after infection with a compound that blocks the virus's ability to replicate. These encouraging preclinical results suggest the compound, known as GS-5734, should be further developed as a potential treatment, according to research findings published online this week in the journal Nature.

Consumption of broccoli has increased in the United States over the last few decades as scientists have reported that eating the vegetable three to five times per week can lower the risk of many types of cancer including breast, prostate, and colon cancers. A new study from the University of Illinois reports that including broccoli in the diet may also protect against liver cancer,

Strategic investments to discover and develop new health tools, together with innovations in effectively delivering today's health tools and services, could avert 10 million deaths a year within just one generation, argue leading global health experts in a new PLOS Collection.

The most common treatments for cancer are radiation and chemotherapy. However they have side effects and also damage healthy tissues. Moreover, their effectiveness is limited when the cancer has spread through out the body. Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute are therefore working to develop a gentler treatment that 'tricks' the cancer cells, which would absorb a cytotoxin and therefore be destroyed, while healthy cells would remain unaffected.

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) researchers recently published the results of testing a Plasmodium vivax malaria vaccine candidate in a human challenge model. A vaccine to prevent infection and disease caused by P. vivax is critical to reduce sickness and mortality from vivax malaria, a common cause of malaria among deployed service members.

Linde Healthcare, a global business of The Linde Group, has announced the new beneficiaries of its REALfund initiative, a programme supporting ideas and projects with the potential to improve patient outcomes and health economics across the wide field of respiratory medicine.