Scientists in Switzerland are uncovering new clues about how cancer cells grow – and how they can be killed – by studying stem cells, ‘blank’ cells that have the potential to develop into fully mature or ‘differentiated’ cells and other scientists in UK have made a breakthrough in understanding the cause of the most common form of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The research should lead to less aggressive treatment for the disease and could result in the development of new and more effective drugs, an international conference on stem cell biology was told last month.

According to the Chinese proverb, a bird sings because it has a song, not because it has an answer. A team of French and Brazilian researchers, however, may have the answer as to how the song of Brazilian white-browed warbler has become so well-adapted to the acoustic properties of the rainforest environment. The study, led by Nicolas Mathevon and Thierry Aubin, is published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE on February 13.

The human journey from Asia to the New World was interrupted by a 20,000-year layover in Beringia, a once-habitable region that today lies submerged under the icy waters of the Bering Strait.

Laws protecting the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger have failed to prevent tiger body parts being openly sold in Indonesia, according to a TRAFFIC report launched today.

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have developed a blood test with enough sensitivity and specificity to detect early stage ovarian cancer with 99 percent accuracy.

A new study demonstrates for the first time that embryonic stem cells can be used to create functional immune system blood cells, a finding which is an important step in the utilization of embryonic stem cells as an alternative source of cells for bone marrow transplantation. This hopeful news for patients with severe blood and immune disorders, who need these transplants for treatment, was prepublished online in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.