Tumor progression can now be mapped less to mathematical standards and more to individual patients according to a new study by researchers at Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities. The study, publishing in PLoS Computational Biology on November 9, 2007, provides a new paradigm in calculating tumor development, showing that it appears to be driven by mutations in many genes.

Two new clinical reports shed light on why some people suffer from recurrent episodes of idiopathic anaphylaxis--a potentially life-threatening condition of unknown cause characterized by a drop in blood pressure, fainting episodes, difficulty in breathing, and wheezing.

On November 14–15, over 40 scientists will convene at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (IES) in Millbrook, New York to discuss the future of biofuel production in the United States. Participants will include some of our nation’s leading biofuel experts, including Drs. David Pimentel (Cornell University), Charles Hall (SUNY-ESF), and G. Philip Robertson (Michigan State).

The debate over the validity of genomic rearrangement “hotspots” has its most recent addition in a new theory put forth by researchers at the University of California San Diego. The study, published on November 9 in PLoS Computational Biology, holds that there are indeed rearrangement hotspots in the human genome.

Researchers at UCSF and the University of Toronto have identified a potential new way of fighting against HIV infection that relies on the remnants of ancient viruses, human endogenous retroviruses (HERV), which have become part of the genome of every human cell.