Breakthrough in new approach to creating stem cells; Gene variant at play in anxiety;

Stem Cell Research

Researchers at Queensland University of Technology say they have created embryonic stem cells from synthetic proteins. The method is cheaper and easier to use than natural ESCs, while also voiding any ethical arguments raised against the field. Report

Dr. George Daley and a group of researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have developed stem cells from the skin tissue and bone marrow of people suffering from 10 different diseases. By watching the diseases develop in the lab, researchers will gain new insights into how they can be treated and prevented. Story

Genetics

A new study points to a genetic variant that raises the risk of anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Story

A gene variant has been linked to a heightened sense of pleasure from smoking, increasing a person's risk of addiction and cancer. Report

Cancer Research

An aggressive brain tumor that afflicts children starts in normal brain stem cells is triggered by oncogene, according to scientists at Dana-Farber and UC San Francisco. Report

Professor David Lane, the chairman of A*STAR's Biomedical Research Council, has received the Royal Gold Medal for his contribution to cancer research through his discovery of p53 tumor suppressor gene. Report

A team of Monash University researchers has uncovered the role of a family of enzymes in the mutation of benign or less aggressive tumors into more aggressive, potentially fatal, cancers in the human body. Release

And Finally... Researchers at UC Berkley have developed a prism that bends light the "wrong way." And it has the potential to render objects invisible. The client: The Pentagon. Report