The use of text language "was actually driving the development of phonological awareness and reading skill in children", said Dr Wood.

BBC: Phone texting 'helps pupils to spell'

In 2001, however, Dirks found one after reading a report from Dr. Weissman's lab at Stanford.

FORBES: Cancer Killer

Dr Peter Barker, a lecturer in the German department at Reading University said Germany was in fact trying to deal with similar problems as those detailed in the article.

BBC: Row over 'crisis-hit' Britain article

But Dr Ann Walker, senior lecturer in human nutrition at the University of Reading and a qualified medical herbalist, said the findings would make little difference to the average St John's wort user.

BBC: Herbal remedy 'interferes with treatments'

The Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Cosgrove says he relied on memorizing texts in medical school, and reading hasn't gotten easier for him.

WSJ: Dyslexia Workarounds: How Henry Winkler, Gov. Dan Malloy, Delos Cosgrove Got Creative to Get Ahead

"One of the fundamental questions that neuroscientists are facing today is how we link the activity of individual neurons to the complex behaviours that we see in whole organisms and whole animals, " said Dr Ben Whalley, a neuroscientist at Reading.

BBC: Rat-brain robot aids memory study

But officials are wary of reading too much into the mini-boom in tourism, noting that to the outside world eastern DR Congo remains "a war zone" and that although there are some signs of positive change, the country is a long way from emulating neighbouring Rwanda's dramatic transformation.

BBC: Mini-boom: DR Congo's volcanic tourism

Dr. Roshan Chitrakar, Education Specialist, UNESCO , while reading Director UNESCO Islamabad, Dr. Kozue Kay Nagata's message, emphasized the importance of literacy in building peace in the minds of men and women.

UNESCO: EDUCATION