Stem Cell Research
A controversial federal court ruling in favor of a temporary restraining order against the use of federal money to back embryonic stem cell research continues to roil labs around the country. A judge is now considering an emergency stay of the injunction. Report
Pioneering Japanese stem cell researcher Shinya Yamanaka has won the prestigious Balzan award for biology. Report
Genetics
An ambitious new international study is searching for the epigenetic signatures that mark the differences in twins. Epigentics has emerged as a big new field in drug discovery. Story
Female induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, reprogrammed from human skin cells into cells that have the embryonic-like potential to become any cell in the body, retain an inactive X chromosome, stem cell researchers at UCLA have found. The finding, reported in the journal Cell Stem Cell, could have implications for studying X chromosome-linked diseases such as Rett syndrome, caused by mutations in a gene located on the X chromosome. News
Researchers at the University of California in San Diego say that a gene involved in programmed cell death also plays a role depleting adult stem cells. The insight could help investigators find better ways to treat cancer. Story
Cancer Research
U.K. investigators have gained new insight into the cause and development of triple negative breast cancer that points the way to new, personalized therapies. Story
A research team at Yale says that they have identified how to repair broken strands of DNA responsible for cancer. Report