Véronique LaCapra

Odors expected to worsen during Bridgeton Landfill construction

Véronique LaCapra — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:13:33 +0000

Updated Wednesday, May 22, 5:30 p.m.: The Department of Health & Senior Services is also posting its evaluations of the air monitoring data here.

Agreement reached on Bridgeton landfill, but questions still remain

Véronique LaCapra — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:29:50 +0000

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced a preliminary agreement on Tuesday with the owner of the Bridgeton Landfill.

Koster filed a lawsuit against Republic Serv

Washington University researchers analyze genomes of two major cancers

Véronique LaCapra — Wed, 01 May 2013 22:16:22 +0000

In separate studies both published on Wednesday, researchers at Washington University helped lead the genomic analysis of two types of cancer.

Route 66 State Park passes dioxin tests

Véronique LaCapra — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:42:49 +0000

The EPA says a new round of dioxin sampling at Route 66 State Park confirms it poses no risk to park workers and visitors.

Mo. receives "C" in ranking of premature birth rates

Véronique LaCapra — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:35:00 +0000

For the second year in a row, the March of Dimes has given Missouri a grade of “C” in its annual state rankings of premature birth rates. Factors including maternal smoking, lack of access to health care, and obesity are to blame.

The Director of Newborn Medicine at St. Louis Children's Hospital, Dr. F. Sessions Cole, calls preterm birth a major problem for our region.

More 'Baby Giants' Arrive At The Saint Louis Zoo

Véronique LaCapra and VÃ©ronique LaCapra — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:39:22 +0000

The Saint Louis Zoo once again is teeming with baby giant salamanders.

For the second year in a row, the zoo has successfully bred endangered Ozark hellbenders in captivity.

This time, a total of eight females laid 2,809 fertile eggs.

Surreptitious genome sequencing could come from discarded coffee cups

Véronique LaCapra — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:11:40 +0000

A federal panel is calling for stronger privacy protections for human genetic data.

In a report out Thursday, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues said “whole genome sequencing” — which provides a unique blueprint of each person’s DNA — holds great promise for advancing medical research and clinical care.

But the Commission said genetic data can also be misused and need to be adequately protected.

The key to treating cancer may lie in understanding its genes

Véronique LaCapra — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:49:15 +0000

A national consortium of scientists has sequenced the genome of a common type of lung cancer. The work suggests that the key to treating cancer may lie in understanding its genes.

Washington University helped lead the study, which mapped and analyzed genetic mutations in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

The director of Wash U’s Genome Center, Richard Wilson, says the study identified mutations in lung tumors that are also found in other types of cancer.

He says the work suggests the genetics of cancer are more important than where it first appears in the body.

Show-Me Medicaid expansion? Missouri weighs the costs

Véronique LaCapra — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:20:45 +0000

When the US Supreme Court upheld the federal health care law in June, it ruled that states couldn’t be penalized for failing to expand their Medicaid programs.

Soil may be a source of antibiotic resistance

Soil bacteria may be helping to make disease-causing bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

That’s according to a new study out of Washington University.

Lead researcher, microbiologist Gautam Dantas, says he and his colleagues found seven genes in farmland soil bacteria that are identical to genes in human pathogens – and that provide resistance to a wide range of antibiotics.

Dantas says the genes for antibiotic