In another step towards reversing degenerative vision loss, scientists said Tuesday they had coaxed stem cells into growing into a tiny, light-sensing retina in a lab dish.

The study is an important technical feat in using reprogrammed cells, whose discovery in 2006 has unleashed huge interest, they said.

Stomach-shrinking bariatric surgery beats other forms of treatment in bringing about remission of type 2 diabetes in the obese, according to a Swedish study out Tuesday.

The study, to appear in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), also found that the procedure was linked to fewer diabetes-related complications in the severely overweight. 

An Algerian man in his fifties has died of the MERS virus, the first such fatality in the country, the health ministry announced Tuesday.

The 59-year-old victim was among the first two cases of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus to be discovered in Algeria late last month.

Thousands of children in war-torn Somalia are facing death or disability due to an outbreak of highly contagious measles, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Recent rates of infection are four times higher than the same time last year, and a vaccination campaign must be "urgently conducted to prevent thousands of avoidable deaths", the U.N. children's agency UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in a joint statement.

U.S. drugs giant Merck said it was buying Idenix Pharmaceuticals for $3.85 billion to bolster its pipeline of hepatitis C treatments for the widespread and largely undetected liver disease

U.S. drugs giant Merck on Monday said it was buying Idenix Pharmaceuticals for $3.85 billion to bolster its pipeline of hepatitis C treatments for the widespread and largely undetected liver disease.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up tobacco industry appeals over more than $64 million in damages awarded to former smokers for health problems resulting from their addiction

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to take up tobacco industry appeals over more than $64 million in damages awarded to former smokers for health problems resulting from their addiction.

General anaesthesia before the age of one may impair memory later in childhood, possibly life-long, a study said Monday.

This was the conclusion of scientists who compared the recollection skills of two groups of children -- some who had undergone anaesthesia in infancy and others who had not.

Sierra Leone doubled its death toll from the highly contagious Ebola virus on Monday, as international aid organisations struggled to contain the deadly epidemic gripping west Africa.

"There are now 109 suspected cases of which 42 are confirmed," said a statement from the health ministry, adding that six more people had been killed by the tropical pathogen since a death toll of six was announced a week ago. 

A set of rare "mono mono" twins photographed holding hands moments after they were born are home in time for Father's Day.

Jenna and Jillian Thistlethwaite were born at 33 weeks on May 9 sharing an amniotic sac and placenta at Akron General Medical Center in Ohio. Jenna was born at 4 pounds, 2 ounces, with Jillian following less than a minute later at 3 pounds, 13 ounces.

A health practitioner draws a drop of blood from a man's finger at a medical …

Scientists have created a molecule that glows red or blue depending on drug levels in blood -- the basis for a prospective home test to prevent patients accidentally overdosing, they reported Sunday.