Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced the industry's first commercial mouse Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) microarray. Designed and validated for genome-wide profiling of DNA copy number changes, the Agilent Mouse Genome CGH Microarray 44A offers a new venue and performance capability for studying genomic aberrations in cancer and other genetic diseases in this critical model organism.

Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have found a new signaling component that influences movement of human breast cancer cells toward epidermal growth factor.

In an ongoing effort to fight disease by manipulating energy regulation of cells, a collaborative study led by Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) has demonstrated that cells lacking a tumor-suppressing kinase called LKB1 can still maintain healthy energy levels when they become stressed. This energy regulation is essential for keeping cells from dying off too quickly. The study's results could signal new advances for combating cancerous tumor growth, but also type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Researchers have presented the first clear evidence that olfaction is uniquely a "dual" sense, in that the brain perceives the same odorant molecule differently if it arrives through the nose rather than the mouth. In the August 18, 2005, issue of Neuron, researchers report that the smell of chocolate activated different brain regions according to whether the odor was introduced into the olfactory system through the mouth or through the nose.

The gene mutation that identifies the lung cancer patients most likely to respond to the drug gefitinib (Iressa) is not associated with a response to the drug cetuximab (Erbitux), according to a new study published in the August 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Both drugs target the same gene but through different mechanisms.