Chromosomes play active role in cell division
A study has shown that chromosomes, far from being passive participants as had been assumed, are actively involved in the process of cell division...
BioNews
Cancer/cancerous
A group of diseases that start when the signals that control how much and how often cells divide stop working properly. This causes cells to grow and multiply too much, and eventually to invade other tissues.
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Scientists probe the genetics of ageing
A genetic driver of the ageing process has been discovered by creating cells that mimic Werner's syndrome, a very rare disease that causes premature ageing...
Mutation order influences cancer outcome
The order in which mutations occur in a cell can determine the clinical outcome of certain cancers, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine...
Just plain bad luck? Stem cell division rates play major role in cancer risk
Researchers have estimated that around 65 percent of variation in cancer rates between tissue types is related to the number of stem cell divisions, explaining why cancer occurs more commonly in some parts of the body than others...
Challenge to gene patents in the US
On 12 May, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Public Patent Foundation filed a lawsuit challenging the US government's practice of granting patents on human genes - specifically, the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are associated with breast and ovarian cancer. In the last 20 or so years the...