CHICAGO (Reuters) – Alzheimer's patients given a popular rheumatoid arthritis drug showed seemingly dramatic improvements in a small study, but some doctors worried that the early findings will raise premature hopes in patients and their families. The study, reported on Sunday in the journal BioMed Central BMC Neurology, involved 12 patients who had greatly improved language recall shortly after treatment with Enbrel, or etanercept, an anti-inflammatory drug co-marketed by Amgen and Wyeth.

Cells from humans grow blood vessels in mice: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Cells taken from human bone marrow, blood and umbilical cords grew into functioning blood vessels in mice with just the right coaxing, U.S. researchers reported on Saturday. The so-called progenitor cells teamed up to form working blood vessels that connected to the circulatory systems of the mice, the team at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston reported.

Pakistani court upholds curbs on nuclear scientist

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A Pakistani court upheld the detention of disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan on Monday and barred him from talking to the media about nuclear proliferation while he is under house arrest. Khan, lionized by many Pakistanis as the father of the country's atomic bomb, was pardoned but placed under house arrest by President Pervez Musharraf in 2004 soon after he made a televised confession to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

Dwarf planet near Pluto named for Polynesian god

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune has been designated the third plutoid in the solar system and given the name Makemake, the International Astronomical Union said on Saturday. The red methane-covered dwarf planet formerly known as 2005 FY9 or “Easterbunny” is named after a