Low vitamin D levels is linked with cardiac risks, a new study has found adding to the pre-existing evidence about the "sunshine" vitamin's role in good health.

The study, published in the June 23, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that patients with the lowest blood levels of vitamin D were about two times more likely to die from any cause during the next eight years than those with the highest levels. The link with cardio-related deaths was particularly strong in those with low vitamin D levels

The global sales of biotech drugs went up by 12.5 percent in 2007 to over $75 billion. It is almost double the 6.4 percent growth of the overall pharmaceutical market in the same year, according to an IMS Health report.

But compared to 2006 levels, biotech sales actually slowed down from an 18.2 percent growth due to competition from generic biotech medicine from overseas, higher standards imposed by insurers in covering treatments and questions of safety over some new therapies

Ninety-five percent of blood collected through donors here comes from Bahrainis, while foreign workers contribute only 5 percent. The low blood donations among foreign workers has led to a national campaign being launched in different languages by the Ministry of Health.

Fakhriya Al Darwish, in charge of the blood bank at the state-run Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), told AHN, " We want non-Bahrainis to come forward and donate blood as presently Bahrainis are the major donors. The bank receives on an average 1,000 donors monthly of which 900 are citizens while the rest 100 are foreigners

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced Tuesday the selection of the top 56 U.S. biomedical scientists whose medical researches would be funded by the institute.

Over $600 million has been set aside by the institute for the new batch of HHMI investigators. The batch is made up of 42 men and 14 women from 31 institutions across the U.S. The 56 have medical careers spanning the globe, including works in China, Israel, Argentina, Belgium and the Netherlands

On a vote of 336 to 176, British MPs approved on Monday a bill that would permit radical stem cell research involving the creation of hybrid human-animal embryos.

MPs opposing the bill warned that the U.K. runs the risk of becoming a rogue state. Those in favor of it argued that stem cell research has a big potential to help save millions of lives and eradicate certain diseases completely