October 10, 2012
This morning, at the annual Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Investor Forum in San Francisco, I’m hosting a panel discussion on the increasingly popular hypothesis that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a vital role in tumor recalcitrance. (Forbes)
October 10, 2012
In what might be an unintended consequence of health care improvement efforts, older heart attack patients seem less likely to get stents in the U.S. states that require hospitals to report the outcomes of such procedures, according to a new … Read More
October 9, 2012
Should the closest relative always be chosen to be surrogate decision-maker? What other factors are important in selecting someone to make medical decisions when you no longer can? (American Medical Association)
October 9, 2012
New insights into sperms’ swimming skills shed light on male infertility, which affects one in 20 men, and could provide a new avenue to the development of a male contraceptive pill. (Medical Xpress)
October 9, 2012
A faster DNA sequencing machine and streamlined analysis of the results can diagnose genetic disorders in days rather than weeks, as reported today in Science Translational Medicine. (Nature News)
October 9, 2012
Dozens of newly discovered genetic mutations that play a significant role in the development of schizophrenia add to the list of genetic variants linked to the disease, new research suggests. (U.S. News and World Report)
October 9, 2012
Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with life-threatening illness want to be able to choose and record specific information for their end-of-life care, according to a study published online Oct 8 in Pediatrics. (Medical Xpress)
October 8, 2012
Despite continuing political, legal and moral debate on the subject, assisted suicide is permitted in only a few countries worldwide. However, few studies have examined the impact that witnessing assisted suicide has on the mental health of family members or … Read More
October 8, 2012
Using genes as interchangeable parts, synthetic biologists design cellular circuits that can perform new functions, such as sensing environmental conditions. However, the complexity that can be achieved in such circuits has been limited by a critical bottleneck: the difficulty in … Read More
October 8, 2012
The most heartbreaking topic I deal with both as a physician and financial planner is the end of life discussion. End of life issues take a toll on patients and their family from all sides – physical, emotional, spiritual, and … Read More
October 8, 2012
A woman who became Canada’s new face for the fight for assisted suicide has died of natural causes, long before her efforts to have laws banning the practice overturned for good could be completed. (National Post)
October 8, 2012
Speakers at a symposium on body-enhancement technology raised the idea that we may converge with our technology to the point that a superhuman entity emerges. (Sydney Morning Harold)
October 8, 2012
Michelle was still nursing her daughter, born through in vitro fertilization, when she found out she was pregnant again. It was entirely unexpected — she wasn’t using any fertility drugs. (Huffington Post)
October 8, 2012
The Conservative government scrambled Friday to distance itself from an early 20th Century public health pioneer it had honoured just a day earlier at a plaque-unveiling ceremony in Ottawa. (The Vancouver Sun)
October 8, 2012
Justice Antonin Scalia says his method of interpreting the Constitution makes some of the most hotly disputed issues that come before the Supreme Court among the easiest to resolve. (CBS News)
October 8, 2012
Scientists from Britain and Japan shared a Nobel Prize on Monday for the discovery that adult cells can be transformed back into embryo-like stem cells that may one day regrow tissue in damaged brains, hearts or other organs. (Reuters)
October 5, 2012
Japanese scientists have made viable mouse eggs in a laboratory dish, an advance that may offer a new route for treating infertility in people. (Wall Street Journal)
October 5, 2012
Thanks to surrogacy, there are a lot more options than there used to be for couples struggling to start families. For some, the procedure has even become a family affair, with mothers carrying children for their own daughters [Today show … Read More
October 5, 2012
Free birth control led to dramatically lower rates of abortions and teen births, a large study concluded Thursday. The findings were eagerly anticipated and come as a bitterly contested Obama administration policy is poised to offer similar coverage. (NPR)
October 5, 2012
Researchers who discovered genetic risk factors linked to uterine fibroids in white women say their findings will lead to new screening and treatment methods for the condition. (U.S. News and World Report)
October 5, 2012
Long-term survivors of blood-related cancers who had stem cell transplants are at risk of developing risk factors that can lead to heart disease, researchers found. (Medpage Today)
October 5, 2012
Reprogramming cells found in the brain into new human neurons may offer a new approach to cell therapy. (Cell Stem Cell)
October 4, 2012
In the future, genetically modified organisms could be making our medicines, our fuel, our housewares, our houses — and they could even help us remake ourselves. All that may sound like science-fiction, but the future is already arriving, in the … Read More
October 4, 2012
The design, development and manufacture of products such as Glybera — a virus engineered to carry a correct copy of the defective gene — is complex and done mostly in academic centres. Yet legislation introduced in the past decade in … Read More
October 4, 2012
Moroccan authorities said Wednesday that a Dutch ship promoting legal abortions set to dock in Morocco is operating outside the law and could possibly be stopped before arriving at a northern Mediterranean port. (U.S.A. Today)
