When Cancer is Just the Beginning Mary Slattery at her home in New Jersey. Dustin Fenstermacher / wonderful machine Rarely, the body reacts to cancer by generating immune cells that chew their way into the brain. Could research with this handful of patients create a new therapeutic cancer vaccine? By Julia C. Mead • Photography by Dustin Fenstermacher Article Extras 1 But the antibody in Slattery's spinal fluid signified something more sinister: An immune re

var FO = { movie:"http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/53785/53785.swf", width:"505", height:"500", majorversion:"8", build:"0", xi:"true"}; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); A mysterious kidney disease Julia Mead traveled to Croatia to learn how an international team of scientists confirmed that poisoned bread causes a kidney disease endemic to the Balkans and verified that the same toxic ingredient was in herbal supplements used around the world. Photographs

Manna from hell Photographs by Mirko Beović/ 1 "This so-called Chinese-herb nephropathy is characterized by a pattern of interstitial fibrosis similar to that of Balkan endemic nephropathy," the authors wrote. Pavo Lukšić (above) and his horse (below) in front of his uncle's house. Grollman, a pharmacologist who has pushed for stricter regulation of herbal supplements, says he immediately phoned a Croatian colleague. Grollman was soon on a plane

Birth of a plant Aristolochia's place in pharmacopeias worldwide By Julia C. Mead Related Articles 1 Practitioners in India, Japan, and Sudan use Aristolochia plants, too. The United States and a few other countries now ban the import of those supplements, but seeds, roots, and supplements are available over the Internet. Every single part of the plant - the leaves, roots, seeds, and stalks - and every Aristolochia species is poisonous. References

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Related Articles Manna from hell Birth of a plant Clerkship in Croatia Baby brain bank Slideshow: A mysterious kidney disease From ten meters away, the sound of a million honeybees is surprisingly soothing, like treetops whooshing in the breeze. At a daring six meters, the droning becomes ominous and insistent. At two meters away, the humming is so malevolent that the sky seems to darken. "Beautiful music, yes?" says Nikola Kezić, as if there is no doubt. Arranging folding ch