EurekAlert! - CancerThe premier online source for science news since 1996. A service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.Laser surgery probe targets individual cancer cells- June 24, 2008 (University of Texas at Austin) Mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Adela Ben-Yakar at the University of Texas at Austin has developed a laser "microscalpel" that destroys a single cell while leaving nearby cells intact, which could improve the precision of surgeries for cancer, epilepsy and other diseases.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uota-lsp062408.php Newly identified role for 'power plants' in human cells could lead to targeted therapies- June 23, 2008 (Ohio State University) Scientists have determined that human cells are able to shift important gene products into their own mitochondria, considered the power plants of cells. The finding could eventually lead to therapies for dozens of diseases. The gene products, known as tRNAs, assemble amino acids for the production of proteins within mitochondria. If the mitochondrial tRNA genes are defective or missing, and proteins are not manufactured, the mitochondria are unable to generate adequate..http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/osu-nir062308.php Idle computers offer hope to solve cancer's mysteries through grid computing project- June 23, 2008 (University of Texas at Austin) A biomedical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin is using a concept called "grid computing" to allow the average person to donate idle computer time in a global effort to fight cancer.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uota-ico062308.php |