Oregon Health & Science University researchers have figured out how to turn a mouse into a factory for human liver cells that can be used to test how pharmaceuticals are metabolized.The technique, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, could soon become the gold standard not only for examining drug metabolism in the liver, which helps scientists determine a drug’s toxicity. [click link for full article]

Few women older than age 50, particularly black women, find it necessary to undergo testing for HIV even though many of the women have a moderate- to high-risk of exposure, according to a study published in the Journal of Women’s Health, United Press International reports. [click link for full article]

MIT researchers have developed a new way to study the function of microRNA, tiny strands of genetic material that help regulate at least 25 percent of a cell’s genes. The new technique could shed light on microRNA’s hypothesized role in tumor development. Malfunctions in microRNA have been linked with cancer, but very few direct relationships have been established between specific microRNAs and the genes they regulate. [click link for full article]

Rosiglitazone, a drug marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Avandia® for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, came under fire after an article published online May 21 by the New England Journal of Medicine linked it to significantly increased risk of heart attack and cardiovascular death.That article was based on a meta-analysis conducted by Dr. Steven Nissen and Kathy Wolski of 42 clinical trials involving 27,847 patients for whom rosiglitazone was prescribed. [click link for full article]

Pain medicine experts are setting out to conduct the first ever study to determine the true economic cost of persistent pain in Australia in a project being funded by the MBF Foundation.An estimated one in five Australians of working age suffers from relentless and often disabling pain but as few as 10 per cent of those affected are getting adequate treatment. [click link for full article]

Recent progress in the prevention and treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States give reason for “cautious optimism,” but skyrocketing costs are a major concern, according to a Special Article in the October Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.Drs. Robert Foley and Allan J. Collins of the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) and University of Minnesota summarize key findings from the 2006 USRDS Annual Data Report. [click link for full article]

“Immigrants and Health Care — At the Intersection of Two Broken Systems,” New England Journal of Medicine: In the perspective piece, Susan Okie, a physician and NEJM contributing editor, discusses costs associated with health care for uninsured immigrants, both documented and undocumented, in the U.S. [click link for full article]

Bones are typically thought of as calcified, inert structures, but researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have now identified a surprising and critically important novel function of the skeleton. They’ve shown for the first time that the skeleton is an endocrine organ that helps control our sugar metabolism and weight and, as such, is a major determinant of the development of type 2 diabetes. [click link for full article]

The National Childbirth Trust, Save the Children and UNICEF have formed a coalition to urge the United Kingdom to ban advertising for infant formula, Manchester.com reports (Manchester.com, 8/7). [click link for full article]

When molecular disaster strikes, causing structural damage to DNA, players in two important pathways talk to each other to help contain the wreckage, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the August edition of Cell. [click link for full article]