British seed firm 'linked to French E. coli outbreak'

Officials are investigating a possible link between seeds sold by a UK firm and an E. coli outbreak in France. News agency AFP said 10 people have been affected by E. coli in Bordeaux. It is thought a number of them had eaten rocket and mustard vegetable sprouts, believed to have been grown from seeds sold by Thompson and Morgan.

Parkinson's artificial brain bank

Researchers in Oxford have begun creating a bank of artificially grown brain cells from Parkinson's patients, BBC news has learned. They are using a new stem cell technique that allows them to turn a small piece of skin from the patient into a small piece of brain. This is the first time this has been done in a large-scale study aimed at finding cures for the disease. Researchers say they can analyse nerve cells as they start to deteriorate.

Imprisoned Iran medics win prize for HIV work

Two Iranian doctors imprisoned for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government have been awarded a global health prize. Kamiar and Arash Alaei were arrested in June 2008 and accused of communicating with the US to unseat the regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. One of the two brothers, released earlier this year, was able to accept the award in Washington.

Syphilis tests cut baby deaths

Hundreds of thousands of babies' lives could be saved each year if pregnant women were screened for syphilis, researchers say. Syphilis causes 500,000 stillbirths and newborn deaths globally, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. A study of 41,000 women, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, showed that testing and antibiotics could more than halve the number of deaths. UK experts said screening was cheap and cost-effective.

Drunkard teens copy parents

Children who see their parents drunk are twice as likely to regularly get drunk themselves, a survey of young teenagers has suggested. Poor parental supervision also raises the likelihood of teenage drinking, said the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The Ipsos MORI survey found the behaviour of friends is also a powerful factor in predicting drinking habits. The more time teenagers spend with friends, the more likely they are to drink alcohol, it suggested.

Sight restored after 55-year wait

A man in the US, who was blinded in one eye 55 years ago, has had his sight restored, according to the Journal of Medical Case Reports. The patient was eight when his retina was detached after he was hit in the right eye with a stone. When the retina is detached for a long time it can be permanently damaged, so re-attaching it might not restore vision. Doctors said restoring sight after this length of time was a medical first.

The Greece debt endangers Europe

The Greek debt crisis is endangering the economies of at least five other EU countries, the head of the eurozone group of finance ministers has warned. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said Germany was "playing with fire" with a plan to involve private creditors in resolving the crisis. His comments come as finance ministers prepare to meet in Luxembourg.

Human-to-human E. coli spread

Health officials in Germany have confirmed that they have detected the first case of human-to-human spread of the deadly strain of the E. coli bacterium that has claimed the lives of almost 40 people. Authorities say a woman working in a kitchen of a catering company near Frankfurt, in the state of Hesse, became infected with the bacterium after eating sprouts and passed it on to 20 people she prepared food for.

China lead poisoning 'cover-up'

China has been accused of trying to cover up the extent of lead poisoning among children, and of blocking effective testing and treatment. A report by Human Rights Watch says local authorities in heavily-polluted industrial areas have been sending sick children back to contaminated homes. It says that in these areas - Henan, Yunnan, Shaanxi and Hunan provinces - anyone who complains is being harassed.

Olive oil helps prevent stroke

Olive oil can help prevent strokes in people over 65, a study suggests. Researchers followed around 7,000 people aged 65 and over living in three French cities, for at least five years. They found those who used a lot of olive oil in cooking or as a dressing or dip had a lower risk of stroke than those who never used it. The researchers say older people should be given new dietary advice regarding olive oil, based on the findings, which are published in the journal Neurology. Lead author, Dr Cecilia Samieri, of the University of Bordeaux, said: "Our research suggests that a new set of dietary recommendations should be issued to prevent stroke in people 65 and older.

Brain research 'funding crisis'

Scientists say research into mental illnesses such as depression is facing a funding crisis. They warn that new treatments will be delayed and that the next generation of neuroscience researchers will not be trained. A report by the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology said private companies were pulling out due to the challenge of bringing drugs to market. It called for more investment and changes to the way trials take place.

TV watching and risk of diabetes and heart disease

Couch potatoes beware, say researchers who link prolonged TV watching with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. Every additional two hours spent in front of the box each day raises the diabetes risk by a fifth and heart disease risk by 15%, a study found. Switching it off and doing something more strenuous instead could stop two people in every thousand developing these conditions, the authors say.

Sleep position 'still-birth link'

Experts want urgent research to see if the position a woman chooses to sleep in during late pregnancy affects still-birth risk, as a study suggests a link. The University of Auckland compared 155 women who had late still-births with 310 who had healthy pregnancies. Sleeping on the right side or back doubled, but only to almost four in 1,000, the risk of left-sided sleepers.

Bean sprouts 'source of E. coli'

New data released in Germany strongly suggests that locally produced bean sprouts were, as suspected, the source of the deadly E. coli outbreak. "It's the bean sprouts," said Reinhard Burger, head of Germany's centre for disease control. Officials initially blamed the E. coli, which has killed 29 people, on imported cucumbers, then bean sprouts.

Charity pleads for vaccines money

Save the Children is urging David Cameron and other world leaders to help fund the £2.3 billion cost of immunising the world's poorest children over the next four years. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) would use the money to immunise 243 million children by 2015 and save four million more lives. Nearly two million children die from vaccine-preventable diseases each year. It is a "make-or-break" situation, says the charity.

UN drive to cut HIV in newborns

The UN and the US government have launched an initiative to eliminate HIV among babies by 2015. The UN says a baby is born with HIV nearly every minute, almost all of them in sub-Saharan Africa. The new campaign will aim to treat HIV-positive pregnant women, cutting infection among their babies to less than 5%. It will cost an estimated $2.5bn (£1.5bn) to care for 15 million women, double those currently being treated.

Scientists' hopes for cancer test

Cancers of the gut, stomach and pancreas could be detected much sooner with a simple urine test, new research suggests. Edinburgh University scientists have identified key proteins in the urine of patients with advanced cancers. The findings could help the detection of these cancers in people who have not yet started to show symptoms. It would enable patients to be diagnosed much earlier, leading to improved survival rates.

Hearts made to repair themselves

A drug that makes hearts repair themselves has been used in research on mice. The damage caused by a heart attack had previously been considered permanent. But a study in the journal Nature showed the drug, thymosin beta 4, if used in advance of a heart attack, was able to "prime" the heart for repair. The British Heart Foundation described repair as the "holy grail of heart research", but said any treatment in humans was years away.

Germany optimistic over E. coli

Germany's health minister has said there is reason to be cautiously optimistic that an outbreak of a deadly new strain of E. coli has peaked. Daniel Bahr told reporters that there were "some arguments suggesting the worst is behind us", but that it was too early to give the all-clear. The outbreak has so far left 24 dead, infected 2,400 and left hundreds with a complication that attacks the kidneys. Earlier, the EU proposed 150m euros (£134m) of compensation for farmers.

EU to hold E.coli crisis meeting

EU agriculture ministers are to hold emergency talks, as efforts continue to find the source of an E.coli outbreak which has killed 22 people. The first tests on bean sprouts from a German farm suspected of being the source of the outbreak were negative. Of 40 samples being examined from the farm in Uelzen, south of Hamburg, 23 tested negative, officials said.