An important cancer-related gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta, the organ that controls nutrient and oxygen exchange between a mother and her fetus during pregnancy, and perhaps in miscarriages.

The world's biodiversity is vanishing at an unprecedented rate – around 100 species every day – due to factors such as land use change and pollution. Addressing this threat, world governments agreed through the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to reduce significantly the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. To support this initiative, ESA has kicked off its new DIVERSITY project.

Combining synthetic chemistry techniques with a knowledge of the properties and actions of enzymes, scientists have been able to produce an exciting class of anti-cancer drugs originally isolated from blue-green algae.

In "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Geordi La Forge is a blind character who can see through the assistance of special implants in his eyes. While the Star Trek character "lives" in the 24th century, people living in the 21st century may not have to wait that long for the illuminating technology.

Answering one of the oldest questions in human physiology, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered why the body's immune system - perpetually on guard against foreign microbes like bacteria – doesn't attack tissues in the small intestine that harbor millions of bacteria cells.

Chemists at Ohio State University have probed an unusual high-energy state produced in single nucleotides -- the building blocks of DNA and RNA -- when they absorb ultraviolet (UV) light.