The cure for cancer is one step closer, with the first collections of cancer tissue taking place at the new Wesley Research Institute Tissue Bank last week.The Tissue Bank is the first of its kind in Queensland to provide a widely available and diversified collection of ethically consented and clinically annotated tissue, helping to unravel the cause, progression and potential treatment for cancer and other diseases. [click link for full article]

Efforts by Indonesia to avoid food shortages by increasing its rice production have received an important boost with the signing of a new agreement to help the nation’s millions of poor rice farmers with new technologies. [click link for full article]

Using a nuclear medicine technique and molecular imaging to “see” programmed cell loss - the body’s normal way of getting rid of unneeded or abnormal cells - may help in early identification of those individuals who are at risk of developing heart failure, say researchers in the April Journal of Nuclear Medicine. [click link for full article]

The most common cause of infant hospitalization in the United States, respiratory syncytial virus, infects virtually all children by age two. Along with the influenza virus, RSV is a major contributor to the approximately two million infant deaths worldwide caused every year by respiratory infections, according to the World Health Organization. [click link for full article]

College students with higher body mass indexes tend to consider larger food portion sizes as typical and therefore eat significantly larger amounts of high-calorie foods, according to researchers at Colorado State and San Diego State universities.In a survey of 51 students, the researchers found “when allowed to select their own portion sizes, participant BMI is a very strong predictor of larger than recommended amounts of food”. [click link for full article]

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, in collaboration with scientists from the Genzyme Corporation, have identified a potential treatment for a chronic lung disease affecting premature infants. [click link for full article]

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday examined whether women should take aspirin daily to prevent heart disease. According to the Journal, the risks and benefits of daily aspirin use are “far less clear” for women than for men. Researchers from Harvard University last week said that women participating in the [click link for full article]

Stevens Institute of Technology and Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, today announced that they had completed an agreement for a seed-stage investment of $500,000 in Stevens Proof of Concept Inc. (SPOC), a Technogenesis® Company founded at Stevens Institute of Technology. CI made this investment through its Connecticut BioSeed Fund. [click link for full article]

US scientists conducting a comprehensive review of dieting research have concluded that dieting does not work.The study is published in the April edition of American Psychologist, the journal of the American Psychological Association.Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), reviewed 31 long-term studies lasting between 2 to 5 years. [click link for full article]

Should all women in their 40s be routinely screened for breast cancer? Not necessarily, according to the American College of Physicians. In a new set of guidelines for clinicians of 40-something patients, the group recommends that mammography screening decisions be made on a case-by-case basis. It advises clinicians to discuss the benefits and harms of screening with the patient, as well as each woman’s individual cancer risk and preference about screening. [click link for full article]