Breast cancer blood test tracks treatment response
A blood test is being developed that could help doctors monitor how breast cancer tumours respond to therapy...
<p><span class="text"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr Nicola Davis</span> is a <a href="https://www.bionews.org.uk/writingarticles" title="https://www.bionews.org.uk/writingarticles" class="">Volunteer Writer</a> at <span style="font-weight: bold;">BioNews</span>, having originally joined the publication under the auspices of its <a href="https://www.bionews.org.uk/writingscheme" title="https://www.bionews.org.uk/writingscheme" class="">writing scheme</a>. She is now a medical writer at <a href="http://www.inventivhealth.com/" target="_blank">inVentiv Health</a>, specialising in medical education. She obtained her PhD from </span><a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/" target="_blank" style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">University College London</a><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">'s </span><a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cdb" target="_blank" style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology</a><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">. Her research, conducted in the laboratory of </span><a href="https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=DLBEC91" target="_blank" style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">Professor David Becker</a><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">, focused on the role of gap junctions in bacterial infections of wounds. Previously, she studied </span><a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/programme.specifications/ug.programmes/?prog=c130" target="_blank" style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">Cell Biology</a><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"> at </span><a href="http://www.dur.ac.uk/" target="_blank" style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">Durham University</a><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"> and undertook an industrial placement at </span><a href="http://www.astrazeneca.co.uk/home/" target="_blank" style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">AstraZeneca</a><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">.</span></p>
A blood test is being developed that could help doctors monitor how breast cancer tumours respond to therapy...
The bacteria that cause leprosy appear able to perform an unlikely manoeuvre that scientists are calling 'biological alchemy' - they can infect specialised nervous system cells and change them into stem cells...
Do we need more scientists in Parliament? The Society of Biology recently embarked on a series of public debates on science policy, launching with this probing question...
Homosexuality is inherited, not through genes, but through 'epi-markers', a study based around mathematical modelling suggests...
A gene linked to obesity may also provide protection from major depression, say scientists...
Infants conceived by IVF are at significantly greater risk of birth defects compared to naturally conceived babies, announced scientists at a conference last month...
Stem cells obtained from donors have been used in clinical trials to effectively treat damage caused by heart attacks. The trial found that donor stem cells were 'just as safe' as stem cells derived from the person being treated....
Over 1,000 people from 14 countries have had their genomes mapped by scientists. The researchers say their study will help them examine genetic variations at the scale of national populations and further identification of the rare genetic variations related to many diseases...
Scientists have identified a gene involved in an incurable skin disease. Using advanced screening techniques they discovered several mutations in this gene in people with punctuate palmoplantar keratoderma (PPK)...
Up to three experimental drugs will be trialled to determine if they can be used to prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease...
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