News incl. lifesciences, animals, wildlife & nature

Packaged food sold in UK rated healthiest in a study undertaken by authors from 6 countries who compared the healthiness of packaged foods and beverages from 12 countries using data collected durin...

New Zealand's Safety Authority for medicines and medical devices has opened a public consultation about the introduction of new labelling requirements for non-active substances in medicines that mi...

July is National Blueberry Month in the USA. Many parts of the country are reporting a bumper crop of blueberries. Here's a brief summary of some of the reported health benefits of this delicious f...

Larvae of the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) have been found at Auckland airport, New Zealand. This species of mosquito is of considerable public health concern because it has been known to ...

Epigenetic change has been found to be important in explaining recent research about the diets of expectant mothers and the likelihood of their offspring developing obesity issues as they grow up. ...

Trial of leukaemia drug Mitoxantrone for children with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), as recently (Dec 2010) reported in The Lancet. Study funded by Cancer Research UK and Leukaemia ...

How best to support children affected by conflicts within families is the subject of an innovative study. Researchers will examine the roles of both negative parenting and children's own interpreta...

Experts in global food supply are gathering to discuss food security and the possibility that the current economic crisis has tended to overshadow the burgeoning food crisis. A meeting is taking pl...

New Zealand moves to a management phase of response to the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak. This reflects the increased spread of the virus especially in the three main centres – Wellington, Christchur...

New Zealand remains in the containment phase with plans to move to a management phase when required. There are still relatively few cases and isolated instances of community transmission. Most peop...

The NZ Ministry of Health has pointed to its website as the first source of information for people without symptoms of influenza seeking data about swine flu in New Zealand. This is part of a plan ...

Although the number of new cases of H1N1 influenza is increasing in New Zealand, there are still relatively few cases and only isolated instances of community transmission. 15 new cases were confir...

Medics in New Zealand are reporting an increase in the number of people presenting at surgeries with flu symptoms. Most of these people have not travelled overseas and are likely to be experiencing...

A gene-based test is now available to identify those at highest risk of developing lung cancer. This test is the first in the world to provide a personalised estimate of lung cancer risk by combini...

The cumulative total of confirmed cases of Mexican swine flu in New Zealand is now 12, up from 11 yesterday. The new confirmed case is a passenger off Air NZ flight NZ5 which arrived from Los Angel...

The cumulative total of confirmed cases in New Zealand is 11. This is an increase of one since yesterday's update. A new confirmed case of H1N1 flu was notified last night in Auckland, New Zeala...