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Knocking out PKNP gene is the Achilles' heel of some cancers

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered that knocking out a particular "partner" gene is the Achilles' heel of some cancers.

14 Dec 2012

Philippines passes Reproductive Health Bill on second reading

"After fourteen years of being stuck in Congress, legislators in the Philippines finally put to a historic vote and passed the Reproductive Health Bill before dawn Thursday," Inquirer.net reports.

14 Dec 2012

Time restrictions on television do not reduce underage exposure to alcohol advertising

Efforts to reduce underage exposure to alcohol advertising by implementing time restrictions have not worked, according to new research from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy.

14 Dec 2012

Will private sector investment in food aid promote dependency?

Olivier De Schutter, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, writes in a Guardian opinion piece, "In order to support investment in agriculture, governments have ... come to rely on private sector investment and development aid -- and increasingly a partnership of the two," and he notes "the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.S. Agency for International Development and launched in May 2012, will draw more than $3 billion of private sector investment into food security plans in Africa."

14 Dec 2012

GOP govs seek White House meeting to discuss Medicaid expansion

The governors hope to discuss ways to make the health law's Medicaid expansion -- as well as the challenge of setting up health exchanges -- more affordable.

14 Dec 2012

Sides wage fights over new or proposed abortion laws in Wis., Mich.

Wisconsin Planned Parenthood is challenging a state law in court that could expose doctors who give medically induced abortions to criminal charges. In the meantime, Michigan bills limiting abortion move closer to becoming law.

14 Dec 2012

Cedars-Sinai scientist to study Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

A Cedars-Sinai physician-scientist has been awarded a $3 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to study with new stem cell technology Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, the most common inherited neurological disorder and which damages nerves that control muscles.

14 Dec 2012

Continue support of GAVI Alliance and childhood disease prevention

"Last week a global health event took place in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to foster greater political will and explore ways to accelerate results, innovation, sustainability, and equity in the field of immunization," Baroness Hollins, emeritus professor of psychiatry of disability at St George's University of London, writes in the BMJ Group Blog about the GAVI Partners Forum.

14 Dec 2012

TUBB5 gene responsible for microcephaly: IMP study

Neurobiologists at the Research institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna have discovered one of the key genes required to make a brain. Mutations in this gene, called TUBB5, cause neurodevelopmental disease in children.

14 Dec 2012

New global disease burden data should inform global health spending

"On Dec. 14, the Lancet together with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation [IHME] will release their study on global burden of disease, injuries and risk factors in 2010," Karl Hofmann, president and CEO of Population Services International, writes in a Devex opinion piece, adding, "These 'gold standard' data will quantify the world's health problems by examining statistics for 291 diseases and injuries and 67 different risk factors for 21 regions across three time periods -- 1990, 2005 and 2010."

14 Dec 2012

Pairing statins with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors might effectively treat melanomas

A novel approach to identifying potential anticancer drug combinations revealed that pairing cholesterol-reducing drugs called statins with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors might provide an effective approach to treating intractable melanomas driven by mutations in the NRAS and KRAS gene.

14 Dec 2012

Gender inequality must be addressed to 'get to zero' in AIDS epidemic

"What does it take to get to zero? While reflecting on the theme of this past World AIDS Day (Getting to zero, Zero new infections, Zero discrimination, Zero deaths), I asked myself this question," Lisa MacDonald, project manager at HealthBridge Foundation of Canada, writes in a Huffington Post Canada opinion piece.

14 Dec 2012

Lyncean Technologies announces first sale of Compact Light Source

Palo Alto-based Lyncean Technologies, Inc., today announced its first sale of a Compact Light Source, a miniature synchrotron X-ray source employing state-of-the-art laser-beam and electron-beam technology.

14 Dec 2012

Experts discuss feeding world's growing population at London roundtable

IRIN summarizes a discussion among "agriculturalists, scientists, businessmen, lobbyists, and policymakers convened in London's Chatham House this week to debate how to feed the planet's growing population without degrading the earth's resources -- if such a thing is even possible."

14 Dec 2012

Study examines Medicare out-of-pocket expenses in the last 5 years of life

Should your 82-year-old dad, who has been declining after a stroke, get hip surgery after a fall? Would your 43-year-old sister, fighting late-stage cancer, benefit from an experimental drug that could have serious side effects? These are wrenching decisions.

14 Dec 2012

New technique may allow more kidney cancer patients to avoid conventional open surgery

Urologists at Henry Ford Hospital have developed a new technique that could make minimally invasive robotic partial nephrectomy procedures the norm, rather than the exception for kidney cancer patients. The technique spares the kidney, eliminates long hospital stays and provides better outcomes by giving the surgeon more time to perform the procedure.

14 Dec 2012

In shadow of fiscal cliff, other congressional activity on health care goes on

On Capitol Hill, various members and committees are writing letters to the administration or proposing legislation.

14 Dec 2012

SLU researchers to study physiological and biochemical functions in lupus

Two researchers at Saint Louis University's division of rheumatology in the department of internal medicine have been awarded a $1.8 million NIH grant to study the physiological and biochemical functions in lupus, an autoimmune disease, and develop possible new medications for its treatment.

14 Dec 2012

Question for physicians, politicians: Is 'doc fix' part of Capitol Hill negotiations?

Medical providers are hoping that part of the fiscal cliff negotiations includes adjusting the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for Medicare.

14 Dec 2012

Outgoing Rep. Berman introduces bill to reform foreign aid with emphasis on partnerships

"California Rep. Howard Berman, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, unveiled a 923-page bill on Wednesday that would replace the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 with a framework for providing developmental and economic U.S. aid," the Associated Press/Huffington Post reports, noting, "Berman's Global Partnerships Act of 2012 would change the aid system to focus on mutually agreed goals instead of the emphasis on donor-recipient ties, increase accountability and oversight, and eliminate duplication."

14 Dec 2012