HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

June 4, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Stroke patients improve after getting stem cells (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S. (Washington Post)
• Autism Can Be An Asset In The Workplace, Employers And Workers Find (NPR)
• Cutaneous leishmaniasis: Disfiguring tropical disease sweeps across Middle East (Independent)
• In Search For Cures, Scientists Create Embryos That Are Both Animal And Human (NPR)
• CDC monitoring nearly 300 pregnant women with Zika in U.S. states, territories (Wash. Post)
• Plain cigarette packaging has arrived, but will it reduce smoking? (Guardian)
• Study links cell phone use to cancer in rats (The Hill)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Facebook's Facial Recognition Software Is Different From The FBI's. Here's Why (NPR)
• Netflix, Amazon face EU quota on European works (Reuters)
• Human flypaper? Google's answer to collisions between pedestrians and cars (CS Monitor)
• Could Europa's ocean be a hotspot for life? Here's why. (CS Monitor)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

Stroke patients improve after getting stem cells (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Stroke patients who received genetically modified stem cells significantly recovered their mobility, according to a new study. A team led by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers injected the stem cells into the brains of 18 patients who had impaired motor function. Outcomes varied, but more than a third experienced significant benefit. All patients in the Stanford-led study had had their strokes at least six months before the operation. That’s the cut-off point beyond which normal recovery from stroke typically levels off.  A larger study is underway; to enroll email stemcellstudy@stanford.edu.

The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S. (Washington Post)

For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotic of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could signal "the end of the road" for antibiotics.

Autism Can Be an Asset In the Workplace, Employers and Workers Find (NPR)

Roughly 40 percent of young adults with autism spectrum disorder aren't finding jobs. But some employers are now recruiting adults on the spectrum as an untapped talent pool of focused workers.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis: Disfiguring tropical disease sweeps across Middle East (Independent)

Cutaneous leishmaniasis, a disease transmitted through sand flies, causes horrible open sores, as well as disfiguring skin lesions.

In Search For Cures, Scientists Create Embryos That Are Both Animal and Human (NPR)

Reasearchers experimenting with chimeric embryos say they could develop into adult pigs, sheep, or cows with human organs that one day might be suitable for transplantation in people.

CDC monitoring nearly 300 pregnant women with Zika in U.S. states, territories (Washington Post)

The largest numbers of cases by far are in Puerto Rico, where officials are keeping tabs on 122 pregnant women. But officials said they also are tracking 157 other pregnant women across the country. 

Plain cigarette packaging has arrived, but will it reduce smoking? (Guardian)

UK legislation introduced today bans the tobacco industry from using branding on their cigarette packaging. But will it change the number of smokers?

Study links cell phone use to cancer in rats (The Hill)

A new government study found cancerous tumors in the brain and heart of male rats that received high exposure to radiation similar to that emitted by mobile phones. 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Facebook's Facial Recognition Software Is Different From The FBI's. Here's Why (NPR)

Every time one of its 1.65 billion users uploads a photo to Facebook and tags someone, that person is helping the facial recognition algorithm. Its accuracy rate is said to be higher than the FBI's.

Netflix, Amazon face EU quota on European works (Reuters)

 Online video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime will be required to devote at least a fifth of their catalogs to European content under proposals set to be announced next week.

Human flypaper? Google's answer to collisions between pedestrians and cars (CS Monitor)

Google has this week received a patent for a fresh approach to the problem of pedestrian injuries sustained during road traffic collisions, introducing a layer of stickiness on the hood that will glue the person in place.

Could Europe’s ocean be a hotspot for life? Here's why. (CS Monitor)

A new study finds more evidence that suggests one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, has the capacity to host life.