The US Postal Service (USPS) is honoring the achievements of four dedicated scientists whose discoveries have significantly impacted cancer research, medicine, and other fields of science. To recognize the important contributions of these visionaries, the USPS is offering a series of commemorative stamps entitled American Scientists. The individuals being honored in the new series are [...]

Two directors of the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI) have written to members of the German Parliament urging them to legalize human embryonic stem cell research in Germany. The German Bundestag has been considering an amendment to the German Stem Cell Act of 2002 which would lift the country’s ban on the use [...]

The US Patent and Trademark Office has ruled one of three human embryonic stem cell patents currently held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is valid. The agency made the ruling in response to a series of challenges and appeals filed by WARF and the California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR). Decisions [...]

A team of international scientists has developed a new type of x-ray camera which has no lens, yet is powerful enough to capture images of tiny nanoscale features inside biological cells. The innovative device could help researchers gain a greater understanding of cancer by allowing them to view biological processes taking place inside whole human [...]

The National Science Foundation (NSF), Google Incorporated (NASDAQ: GOOG), and the IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM) have formed a partnership to create the Cluster Exploratory (CluE), an innovative tool designed to help the academic community conduct research projects that would otherwise be too expensive to explore. CluE is a new distributed computing resource consisting of approximately [...]

Who says an innovation has to be high-tech to have a big impact on medicine? A modest 8½ x 11 sheet of paper is helping physicians in the Chicago area reduce the amount of time they spend keeping track of complicated insurance rules and paperwork requirements so they can devote more time to caring for [...]

Patients being treated for metastatic colorectal cancer in Europe just got a new treatment option. Capecitabine, which is marketed by Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company Roche under the trade name Xeloda, has been approved by the European Commission for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. European health officials approved the oral tablets for use in combination with [...]

The US Department of Defense (DoD) Medical Research Program is making mesothelioma research a priority for the 2008 grant cycle, a move which potentially makes millions of grant dollars available to civilian scientists studying the deadly disease. Mesothelioma, a rare cancer strongly linked to asbestos exposure, occurs at elevated rates in certain populations of military [...]

A team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has successfully installed the world’s most powerful transmission electron microscope. TEAM 0.5, as the device is known, produces high contrast images with half-angstrom, or half a 10-billionth of a meter, resolution. The state-of-the-art microscope continuously adjusts and corrects spherical aberrations so scientists can study detailed 3D images [...]

The US population is aging, well-publicized statistics indicate mammograms save lives, and convenient screening locations continue to pop up everywhere — so why are more and more American women over 50 putting off routine mammograms? A study conducted by Brown University and Harvard University suggests money is one reason. Medical professionals have been successfully using [...]