IVF only has around a 25% success rate, largely due to the high rates of failure when embryos try to implant. Some women suffer from recurrent implantation failure, where the embryo is transferred but fails to attach to the endometrium - the mucus membrane of the uterine wall. This is a significant cause of the failure of IVF as most embryo losses occur at this early stage.

Although it is known that HIV can enter the brain early during infection, causing inflammation and memory/cognitive problems, exactly how this occurs has been largely unknown. A new research report appearing in the February 2015 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology solves this mystery by showing that HIV relies on proteins expressed by a type of immune cell, called "mature monocytes," to enter the brain. These proteins are a likely drug target for preventing HIV from reaching brain cells. Although not a direct focus of this research, these proteins might also shed light on novel mechanisms for helping drugs penetrate the blood-brain barrier.

The methylating enzyme DNMT (purple) cradles the DNA molecule as a methyl group is added to DNA. The new study, published in Nature Communications, compares the breast cancer DNA 'methylome' with that of healthy individuals. The methylome provides a new picture of the genome and shows how it is epigenetically 'decorated' with methyl groups, a process known as DNA 'methylation'.