Researchers in the United States on Sunday said they had bio-engineered a kidney and transplanted it into rats, marking a step forward in a quest to help patients suffering from kidney failure.

Amid the H7N9 influenza outbreak in mainland China, the Bureau of National Health Insurance yesterday said there are currently 131 hospitals in Taiwan equipped with isolation wards.

Specimens from a 4-year-old Chinese tourist who developed a fever in the eastern county of Hualien were delivered for testing for H7N9 avian influenza yesterday, according to health officials, but lab results came back negative.

Dr. Hilary Koprowski, the Polish-born researcher who developed the first successful oral vaccination for polio, died this week at his Philadelphia home. He was 96.

A desperate Indian father whose young child suffers from a condition that caused her head to swell up to an enormous size said Saturday he is praying for a “miracle” to save her life.

Just how do you attack that unsightly bulge around your waist?

Coffee drinkers, beware. Seventy-five percent of local chains use lids that are potentially toxic, according to a survey released Saturday by Taipei City councilors.

Chinese yuan denominated deposits at the domestic banking units (DBUs) of banks operating in Taiwan at the end of March exceeded 18.5 billion yuan (US$2.98 billion), according to the central bank.

Daniel M. Tsai, chairman of Taiwan's Fubon Financial Holding Co. Ltd., will donate US$1.5 million to the University of Southern California (USC) to establish a medical research center there.

Amputees often experience “phantom limbs,” or the sensation that their missing limb is still present, but a Swedish study published Thursday showed that even non-amputees can experience the bizarre sensation.