Chronic myeloid leukemia blood cells. Cancer stem cells are like zombies -- even after a tumor is destroyed, they can keep coming back. These cells have an unlimited capacity to regenerate themselves, making more cancer stem cells and more tumors. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have now unraveled how pre-leukemic white blood cell precursors become leukemia stem cells. The study, published June 9 in Cell Stem Cell, used human cells to define the RNA editing enzyme ADAR1's role in leukemia, and find a way to stop it.

DNA damage caused by very low-energy electrons and OH-radicals formed upon irradiation of water by ultrashort pulses of very intense laser light. In a recent development, scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research report that damage to DNA can be induced by ultrashort pulses of high intensity laser light. Published in Scientific Reports, these findings have important implications in clinical conditions, especially in reducing collateral damage to tissues surrounding the real target of conventional radiotherapy.

By watching brightly glowing HIV-infected immune cells move within mice, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have shown how infected immune cells latch onto an uninfected sister cell to directly transmit newly minted viral particles. These interactions allow HIV to spread efficiently between these immune cells, known as CD4+ helper T cells. The research, published online today in Cell Reports, challenges the long-held perception that the primary route of HIV infection of immune cells is from free-floating viral particles that move within tissue and blood fluids.