Submarines have periscopes. Insects have antennae. And increasingly, biologists are finding that most normal vertebrate cells have cilia, small hair-like structures that protrude like antennae into the surrounding environment to detect signals that control cell growth. In a new study published in Cell, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers describe the strong link between ciliary signaling and cancer and identify the rogue engineers responsible for dismantling the cell’s antenna. [click link for full article]

The Chicago police department is investigating whether recent insulin overdoses in patients treated at University of Chicago Hospitals were intentional.According to the Chicago Tribune yesterday, the police were called by the University of Chicago Hospitals Medical Center to help them investigate unexplained and overwhelming increases in insulin that may have killed one female patient and put another in a coma. [click link for full article]

Researchers at the University of Warwick’s Warwick Medical School have uncovered a process that locks the body’s metabolism in a diabetic state after only relatively limited exposure to high glucose levels.Researchers were already aware that there seems to be a point of no return in the onset of diabetes. [click link for full article]

One in 10 hospice patients are referred ‘too late’ for services, resulting in unmet needs such as adequate pain relief or emotional support, according to a new study spearheaded by Brown University researchers.The study is based on surveys completed by bereaved family members and designed to gauge the quality of hospice programs, which provide medical care with social, emotional and spiritual support for the dying. [click link for full article]

The first baby to be created from an egg that had been matured in the laboratory, frozen, thawed and then fertilised, has been born in Canada. Three other women are pregnant by the same process. The research was presented to the 23rd annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. [click link for full article]

Children who were taught a curriculum that focused on self-control and awareness of their own and others’ emotions were found to exhibit greater social competence and fewer behavioral and emotional problems. [click link for full article]

Teaching a body’s own immune system to seek out and destroy cancerous tumours represents a promising way to fight a disease that kills more than 70,000 Canadians a year. Ongoing research has shown that cells of the immune system, when properly trained, have the capacity to circulate throughout the body and attack cancerous tissue. [click link for full article]

ONCOLOGY p53 gene mutations and inflammation trigger skin cancer Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a form of nonmelanoma skin cancer, which is the most common type of human malignancy with over 1 million new cases in the USA each year. [click link for full article]

A research team including University of Central Florida Microbiology Professor Keith Ireton is using the bacterial pathogen Listeria Monocytogenes to understand the mechanisms of cell growth and cancer development.In research published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the team found that a Listeria protein called InlB induces internalization and degradation of a human receptor known as Met. Met has been implicated in the development of some cancers. [click link for full article]

The incidence of catastrophic head injuries in football is dramatically higher at the high school level than at the college level, according to a study published in the July issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine.Catastrophic head injuries, which include brain bleeding and swelling, are rare and can be devastating. Athletes with major brain injuries may be left with permanent brain damage. [click link for full article]