Officials say Japan is ordering more tests on rice growing near a crippled nuclear power plant after finding elevated levels of radiation.

The government officials said Saturday that a sample of unharvested rice contained 500 becquerels of cesium per kilogram.

Research over the last decade showing that proteins called sirtuins can increase lifespan is deeply flawed, according to a new study in Nature that debunks prior claims of a direct causal link.

Pioneering experiments on earthworms and fruitflies -- commonly used as models to examine the biology of human ageing -- suggested that an extra dose of the naturally-occurring enzymes could prolong life by up to 50 percent.

Worrying levels of BPA, an industrial chemical with suspected links to cancer, lurk inside canned soups and pasta targeted at American children, the Breast Cancer Fund said Wednesday.

In a product testing report, the non-profit advocacy group -- which focuses on environmental causes of cancer -- said an average of 49 parts per billion of BPA, or bisphenol A, was detected in a dozen cans of food items tested.

The vaccine for whooping cough commonly administered to young children loses its effectiveness after three years, according to the preliminary results of a new U.S. study.

The results released on Monday come from a survey of 15,000 children in Marin County, California, where an outbreak of the bacterial disease killed 11 infants and infected more than 8,000 people in 2010.

A global campaign to save new mothers and children under five in developing nations has made strong gains but is set to fall well shy of U.N. goals, according to a study released Tuesday.

Only nine out of 137 countries are on track to meet the twin Millennium Development Goals (MDG), set in 2000, of slashing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, and maternal deaths by three-quarters over the same period.

U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric said on Thursday that it would invest $1 billion in cancer research over the next five years.

GE chief executive Jeff Immelt and several venture capital partners launched the initiative, which will be aimed at improving diagnostic techniques for breast cancer, the company said in a statement.

Could Paleolithic man hold the key to today's nutrition problems?

A growing number of adherents to the so-called "caveman" diet contend that a return to the hunter-gatherer foods of the Stone Age -- heavy on meats, devoid of most grains -- could alleviate problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes and many coronary problems.

Diagnosed cases of breast cancer rose by 260 percent and those of cervical cancer by 20 percent from 1980 to 2010, with the biggest hikes occurring in developing countries, according to global estimates reported on Thursday in The Lancet.

Identified cases of breast cancer around the world rose from around 640,000 in 1980, when 65 percent occurred in rich countries, to 1.6 million in 2010, of which 51 percent were among women in developing nations.

A rattling good laugh with friends will help you deal with pain thanks to opiate-like chemicals that flood the brain, according to a British study released on Wednesday.

Researchers carried out lab experiments in which volunteers watched either comedy clips from "Mr. Bean" or "Friends," or non-humorous items such as golf or wildlife programs, while their resistance to mild pain was monitored.

Fatty acids found in fish oil supplements may block chemotherapy from attacking tumors and patients should stop taking them, said a study by Dutch researchers on Monday.

Fish oil supplements of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are sold worldwide, and are touted by manufacturers as a way to boost heart and brain health.