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Cells from mice created using genetically reprogrammed cells can be triggered via drug administration to enter an embryonic-stem-cell-like state without the need for further direct genetic manipulation. This technical advancement enables creation of large numbers of genetically identical cells that can be reprogrammed to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state simply by exposure to a drug. Researchers can exploit such cells to decipher and improve the reprogramming process.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a profound effect on an elite group of cells known as glial progenitor cells that are important to brain health as we age, scientists have found. The new findings shed light on a long-debated potential role for statins in the area of dementia.

Cancer clinicians should understand and consider the economic impact of new interventions, which often have substantial costs, according to a new report.

"TIGA," the new high-tech imaging center at the University of Heidelberg provides deep insights: a high-tech robot makes it possible for the first time to automatically reproduce and evaluate tissue slices only micromillimeters thick -- an important aid for researchers in understanding cancer or in following in detail the effect of treatment on cells and tissue.

Counting the number of tumor cells circulating in the bloodstream of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer can accurately predict how well they are responding to treatment, new results show. Researchers showed that changes in the number of circulating tumor cells predicted the outcome after chemotherapy in this hard to treat cancer.

Men who develop breast cancer are often not treated until the disease has spread to the point that treatment becomes difficult, new results show. Although most breast cancer patients are women, men make up roughly 1 percent of cases.

Preliminary results suggest that patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the developing world might benefit from a modified chemotherapy regimen, researchers say.

Although younger people are becoming more positive towards surrogate mothers, current day attitudes to surrogacy are still broadly negative. Researchers say that previous stigmatization of surrogate mothers in the media had added to the reluctance to undertake this treatment option.

Pregnancy rates decrease and miscarriages increase when a father is over 35 years of age. Researchers say that this is the first time that such a strong paternal effect on reproductive outcomes has been shown.

Tiny strands of genetic material called RNA -- a chemical cousin of DNA -- are emerging as major players in gene regulation, the process inside cells that drives all biology and that scientists seek to control in order to fight disease.