A study by researchers at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, suggests that common ornamental houseplants may be the possible source of misery in as many as 20 percent allergic rhinitis patients. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis include runny nose and sneezing.

The current research was based on a 1985 study which suggested that the weeping fig tree, a type of ficus tree that exudes latex, could be a source of inhaled allergens

McLean, VA (AHN)-Raising concerns about pollutants in a waterway that provides drinking water for millions of people, some species of male fish in the Potomac River and its tributaries are developing female sexual traits at a frequency higher than scientists have witnessed before.

While the so-called "intersex fish" have been found in other parts of the country, the frequency is much higher in the Potomac than elsewhere, according to fish pathologist Vicki Blazer

U.K. and Indian scientists are studying the possibility of using the 5,000-year-old tradition of Indian ayurvedic medicine in drugs for Alzheimer's treatment.

Researchers state that ayurveda works on the same principle as conventional drugs for increasing mental agility

Tokyo, Japan (AHN)-Japan has suspended US long-grain rice imports after "trace amounts" of the experimental rice variety were detected in US commercial supplies by the German company Bayer CropScience.

The genetically engineered rice variety, LLRICE 601, possesses bacterial DNA that makes the rice plants resistant to a weedkiller. The strain is not approved for sale in the US, but two other strains of rice with the same genetically engineered protein are

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declares a combination of six viruses can be safely sprayed on meat and poultry to kill common bacteria.

The mixture of microbes, called bacteriophages, can combat Listeria monocytogenes, which can result in serious infections. The viruses are designed to be sprayed on meat and poultry right before they are packaged