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Posts

May 17, 2013

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1:33 PM | The Buzz About Akkermansia muciniphila: It’s More Than Just Weight Loss
The bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila is creating quite a stir in science news, with people calling it the “weight loss bacterium”. While it’s exciting to think about a bacterium that has the ability to reduce body weight with no change in food intake, there’s another reason to get excited: The potential to treat obesity-related metabolic disorders […]

Everard A., Belzer C., Geurts L., Ouwerkerk J.P., Druart C., Bindels L.B., Guiot Y., Derrien M., Muccioli G.G. & Delzenne N.M. & (2013). Cross-talk between Akkermansia muciniphila and intestinal epithelium controls diet-induced obesity., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, PMID:

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May 15, 2013

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6:25 PM | Wrap-Up of Cell Symposium on Microbiome and Host Health
For a parasitologist with a major interest in novel technology like me the Cell Symposium on Microbiome and Host Health (#CMHH) was a challenging, yet stimulating tour de force in bacteriology and immunology, and I realise that gut fungi and protists still fly below the radar of intestinal microbiome research. The announced line-up of speakers was impressive, and although we missed e.g. Drs Peter Turnbaugh and Fergus Shanahan, we were still spoiled with brilliant talks. Most of the […]

Koren O, Knights D, Gonzalez A, Waldron L, Segata N, Knight R, Huttenhower C & Ley RE (2013). A guide to enterotypes across the human body: meta-analysis of microbial community structures in human microbiome datasets., PLoS computational biology, 9 (1) PMID:

Andersen LO, Vedel Nielsen H & Stensvold CR (2013). Waiting for the human intestinal Eukaryotome., The ISME journal, PMID:

Ivanov II & Honda K (2012). Intestinal commensal microbes as immune modulators., Cell host & microbe, 12 (4) 496-508. PMID:

Brown J, de Vos WM, Distefano PS, Doré J, Huttenhower C, Knight R, Lawley TD, Raes J & Turnbaugh P (2013). Translating the human microbiome., Nature biotechnology, 31 (4) 304-8. PMID:

Blaser M, Bork P, Fraser C, Knight R & Wang J (2013). The microbiome explored: recent insights and future challenges., Nature reviews. Microbiology, 11 (3) 213-7. PMID:

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May 13, 2013

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3:33 AM | Wiring Eyes
We can probably all agree that eyes would just be useless bags of vitreous humor if not for their wiring to the brain.  It’s the highly precise connections between specialized cell types within the eye and their specific target cells within the brain that allow us to visually experience our world.  But how do these […]

Huberman A.D., Wang G.Y., Liets L.C., Collins O.A., Chapman B. & Chalupa L.M. (2003). Eye-specific retinogeniculate segregation independent of normal neuronal activity., Science (New York, N.Y.), 300 (5621) 994-998. DOI:

Huberman A.D., Wei W., Elstrott J., Stafford B.K., Feller M.B. & Barres B.A. (2009). Genetic Identification of an On-Off Direction- Selective Retinal Ganglion Cell Subtype Reveals a Layer-Specific Subcortical Map of Posterior Motion, Neuron, 62 (3) 327-334. DOI:

Osterhout J., Josten N., Yamada J., Pan F., Wu S.W., Nguyen P., Panagiotakos G., Inoue Y., Egusa S. & Volgyi B. & (2011). Cadherin-6 Mediates Axon-Target Matching in a Non-Image-Forming Visual Circuit, Neuron, 71 (4) 632-639. DOI:

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3:33 AM | Wiring Eyes
We can probably all agree that eyes would just be useless bags of vitreous humor if not for their wiring to the brain.  It’s the highly precise connections between specialized cell types within the eye and their specific target cells within the brain that allow us to visually experience our world.  But how do these […]

Huberman A.D., Wang G.Y., Liets L.C., Collins O.A., Chapman B. & Chalupa L.M. (2003). Eye-specific retinogeniculate segregation independent of normal neuronal activity., Science (New York, N.Y.), 300 (5621) 994-998. DOI:

Huberman A.D., Wei W., Elstrott J., Stafford B.K., Feller M.B. & Barres B.A. (2009). Genetic Identification of an On-Off Direction- Selective Retinal Ganglion Cell Subtype Reveals a Layer-Specific Subcortical Map of Posterior Motion, Neuron, 62 (3) 327-334. DOI:

Osterhout J., Josten N., Yamada J., Pan F., Wu S.W., Nguyen P., Panagiotakos G., Inoue Y., Egusa S. & Volgyi B. & (2011). Cadherin-6 Mediates Axon-Target Matching in a Non-Image-Forming Visual Circuit, Neuron, 71 (4) 632-639. DOI:

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3:33 AM | Wiring Eyes
We can probably all agree that eyes would just be useless bags of vitreous humor if not for their wiring to the brain.  It’s the highly precise connections between specialized cell types within the eye and their specific target cells within the brain that allow us to visually experience our world.  But how do these […]

Huberman A.D., Wang G.Y., Liets L.C., Collins O.A., Chapman B. & Chalupa L.M. (2003). Eye-specific retinogeniculate segregation independent of normal neuronal activity., Science (New York, N.Y.), 300 (5621) 994-998. DOI:

Huberman A.D., Wei W., Elstrott J., Stafford B.K., Feller M.B. & Barres B.A. (2009). Genetic Identification of an On-Off Direction- Selective Retinal Ganglion Cell Subtype Reveals a Layer-Specific Subcortical Map of Posterior Motion, Neuron, 62 (3) 327-334. DOI:

Osterhout J., Josten N., Yamada J., Pan F., Wu S.W., Nguyen P., Panagiotakos G., Inoue Y., Egusa S. & Volgyi B. & (2011). Cadherin-6 Mediates Axon-Target Matching in a Non-Image-Forming Visual Circuit, Neuron, 71 (4) 632-639. DOI:

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May 10, 2013

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6:41 AM | Mitochondrial Disease – A Neurological Perspective
Defects of mitochondrial function have been identified in several neurodegenerative diseases. These include abnormalities induced by mutations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) those caused by mutation of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins, and in some cases, exposure to mitochondrial toxins.MtDNA mutation are associated with a variety of progressive encephalomyopathies inn which there is evidence of neurodegeneration. These include  Kearns-Sayre syndrome myopathy, encephalopathy, […]

McFarland R, Taylor RW & Turnbull DM (2010). A neurological perspective on mitochondrial disease., Lancet neurology, 9 (8) 829-40. PMID:

Venna N (2004). Mitochondrial neurological diseases: a clinician's perspective., Neurology India, 52 (3) 305-6. PMID:

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May 07, 2013

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10:16 PM | Shot for shot: a vaccine against heroin relapse?
A particularly sinister aspect of drug addiction is relapse. To the ex-addict, environmental cues, life stressors and even the drug itself serve as the sirens’ call, beckoning them back into the deadly realm of abuse. Currently, doctors battle heroin temptations with psychotherapy and replacement opioid drugs, such as methadone. While effective, these treatments rely heavily [...]

Schlosburg, J., Vendruscolo, L., Bremer, P., Lockner, J., Wade, C., Nunes, A., Stowe, G., Edwards, S., Janda, K. & Koob, G. & (2013). Dynamic vaccine blocks relapse to compulsive intake of heroin, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI:

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May 06, 2013

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9:52 AM | Dissecting circuits: Bridging the gap from circuits to behavior
No summary available for this post.

Chalasani S.H., Chronis N., Tsunozaki M., Gray J.M., Ramot D., Goodman M.B. & Bargmann C.I. (2007). Dissecting a circuit for olfactory behaviour in Caenorhabditis elegans, Nature, 450 (7166) 63-70. DOI:

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9:26 AM | A structure for the molecule of life
Last Thursday 25th of April, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the publication of the paper “A structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” (DNA) by Francis H. Crick and James D. Watson in Nature. This moment is usually referred as the discovery of the DNA structure. The paper describes the DNA molecule structure and suggests the … Continue reading →

WATSON J.D. & CRICK F.H.C. (1953). Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid, Nature, 171 (4356) 737-738. DOI:

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May 03, 2013

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4:07 PM | New Battery Efficiently Stores Solar and Wind Energy
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have developed a relatively cheap, long-life “flow” battery that can be used to mitigate power fluctuations from solar and wind energy plants, therefore enabling them to become major suppliers to the electrical grid. Read more »

Yang, Y., Zheng, G. & Cui, Y. (2013). A membrane-free lithium/polysulfide semi-liquid battery for large-scale energy storage, Energy & Environmental Science, 6 (5) 1552. DOI:

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2:00 PM | The Inequality of Wedding Planning
In the 1991 film Father of the Bride, the bride falls into a day-long funk after what had ostensibly been weeks of joyful wedding planning. The father, played by Steve Martin, eventually discovered that his future son-in-law had given his daughter a blender as a wedding gift. Being the educated, professional woman that she was, Martin's daughter believed her gift to be an indication of her husband's expectations in marriage. Days of smoothie-making and reveling in a series of gifted home […]

Humble A.M., Zvonkovic A.M. & Walker A.J. (2007). "The Royal We": Gender Ideology, Display, and Assessment in Wedding Work, Journal of Family Issues, 29 (1) 3-25. DOI:

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April 30, 2013

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11:10 AM | New tricks for old drugs – blocking oestrogen to prevent breast cancer
Tamoxifen is one of the mainstays of breast cancer treatment. Since the early 1980s, it’s been given to women who’ve had breast cancer to try to stop the disease returning. As a result, it’s saved the lives of millions around … Continue reading →

Cuzick J., Sestak I., Bonanni B., Costantino J.P., Cummings S., DeCensi A., Dowsett M., Forbes J.F., Ford L. & LaCroix A.Z. & (2013). Selective oestrogen receptor modulators in prevention of breast cancer: an updated meta-analysis of individual participant data, The Lancet, DOI:

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April 29, 2013

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7:11 PM | Functional Compartmentalization and Viewpoint Generalization Within the Macaque Face-Processing System
One thing humans, and in fact all primates can do with remarkable ease compared to computers is face recognition, especially across a range of viewing conditions.  At her lab at Caltech, Doris Tsao tries to explore the way the brain does this.  In her recent Science paper, she explored view invariance in the recently discovered [...]

Freiwald W.A. & Tsao D.Y. (2010). Functional Compartmentalization and Viewpoint Generalization Within the Macaque Face-Processing System, Science, 330 (6005) 845-851. DOI:

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April 24, 2013

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7:04 AM | Contorlling malaria- Perspectives
Greetings,      The last 2 weeks have been the show of H7N9. The eyes of the whole world is concentrated on China. An extra ordinary effort is put into studying whatever is possible. Various teams have visited and in the process of scientific search. In that event let me ask you a question. What would be the most difficult and challenging infections globally? Someone would argue, most infectious diseases are important and challenging. But considering the best of the best, […]

Iturbe-Ormaetxe, I., Walker, T. & O' Neill, S. (2011). Wolbachia and the biological control of mosquito-borne disease, EMBO reports, 12 (6) 508-518. DOI:

Walker, T. & Moreira, L. (2011). Can Wolbachia be used to control malaria?, Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 106 212-217. DOI:

Bisi DC & Lampe DJ (2011). Secretion of anti-Plasmodium effector proteins from a natural Pantoea agglomerans isolate by using PelB and HlyA secretion signals., Applied and environmental microbiology, 77 (13) 4669-75. PMID:

Wang, S., Ghosh, A., Bongio, N., Stebbings, K., Lampe, D. & Jacobs-Lorena, M. (2012). Fighting malaria with engineered symbiotic bacteria from vector mosquitoes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109 (31) 12734-12739. DOI:

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April 18, 2013

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11:11 PM | Bone Marrow Cell Infusions Do NOT Improve Cardiac Function After Heart Attack
For over a decade, cardiologists have been conducting trials in patients using cells extracted from the bone marrow and infusing them into the blood vessels of the heart in patients who have suffered a heart attack. This type of a procedure is not without risks, because it involves multiple invasive procedures in patients who are already quite ill, because they are experiencing a major heart attack: 1) Patients with a major heart attack (also referred to as ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction... […]

Surder, D., Manka, R., Lo Cicero, V., Moccetti, T., Rufibach, K., Soncin, S., Turchetto, L., Radrizzani, M., Astori, G., Schwitter, J. & Erne, P. (2013). Intracoronary Injection of Bone Marrow Derived Mononuclear Cells, Early or Late after Acute Myocardial Infarction: Effects on Global Left Ventricular Function Four months results of the SWISS-AMI trial, Circulation, DOI:

Rehman, J. (2013). Bone Marrow Tinctures for Cardiovascular Disease: Lost in Translation, Circulation, DOI:

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10:13 AM | Media, marketing, mutuality
Georgeta Drul? of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Bucharest, Romania, has an interesting theory about how media companies implement the social media strategy for their journalistic products. In particular his research has focused on how such companies are expanding their use of user-generated content and social media platforms to [...]Related Posts:Do you ‘like’ Facebook? Really?Does it matter what kind of online networker you are?Different […]

Drulă G. (2013). The role of social media for media companies, International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing, 2 (1/2) 6. DOI:

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April 17, 2013

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3:25 PM | Getting the garlic blues
Pickler Andrew Dalby responded to one of my recent tweets about not cooking asparagus in lemon juice because it discolours it. He had found that his garlic cloves turned blue when he pickled them in spiced malt vinegar. The discolouration doesn’t mean that the pickles are inedible. Now plant material turning blue in acid (vinegar [...]Getting the garlic blues is a post from the science blog of David Bradley, author of Deceived Wisdom Subscribe to our Email Newsletter

Cho J., Lee E.J., Yoo K.S., Lee S.K. & Patil B.S. (2009). Identification of Candidate Amino Acids Involved in the Formation of Blue Pigments in Crushed Garlic Cloves ( L.) , Journal of Food Science, 74 (1) C11-C16. DOI:

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April 15, 2013

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5:30 PM | Vision is complex: Predicting responses despite non-linearity and heterogeneity
What does it mean to understand vision?  Can we know how the retina will react when we see our favorite painting or our best friend before it even happens?  The work of Dr. Fred Rieke hopes to do just that.  Not unsurprisingly, vision is complex and studying it is hard.  The output neurons of the [...]

Schwartz G.W., Okawa H., Dunn F.A., Morgan J.L., Kerschensteiner D., Wong R.O. & Rieke F. (2012). The spatial structure of a nonlinear receptive field, Nature Neuroscience, 15 (11) 1572-1580. DOI:

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5:00 PM | Recent Developments in Blastocystis Research
I would like to draw your attention to an open access link to our 2013 review on Recent Developments in Blastocystis Research; please go here to read/download the paper. Here's the abstract: Blastocystis is a common parasite of the human large intestine but has an uncertain role in disease. In this review, we appraise the published evidence addressing this and its weaknesses. Genetic diversity studies have led to the identification of numerous subtypes (STs) within the genus […]

Clark CG, van der Giezen M, Alfellani MA & Stensvold CR (2013). Recent developments in blastocystis research., Advances in parasitology, 82 1-32. PMID:

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April 14, 2013

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5:01 PM | New type of bowel cancer discovered – but what does it mean?
Thanks to advances in research over the years, we know more about cancer than ever before, with new discoveries being made all the time. In some cases this knowledge has led to life-saving new treatments. In others, it causes frustration … Continue reading →

De Sousa E Melo F., Wang X., Jansen M., Fessler E., Trinh A., de Rooij L.P.M.H., de Jong J.H., de Boer O.J., van Leersum R. & Bijlsma M.F. & (2013). Poor-prognosis colon cancer is defined by a molecularly distinct subtype and develops from serrated precursor lesions, Nature Medicine, DOI:

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5:01 PM | New type of bowel cancer discovered – but what does it mean?
Thanks to advances in research over the years, we know more about cancer than ever before, with new discoveries being made all the time. In some cases this knowledge has led to life-saving new treatments. In others, it causes frustration … Continue reading →

De Sousa E Melo F., Wang X., Jansen M., Fessler E., Trinh A., de Rooij L.P.M.H., de Jong J.H., de Boer O.J., van Leersum R. & Bijlsma M.F. & (2013). Poor-prognosis colon cancer is defined by a molecularly distinct subtype and develops from serrated precursor lesions, Nature Medicine, DOI:

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5:01 PM | New type of bowel cancer discovered – but what does it mean?
Thanks to advances in research over the years, we know more about cancer than ever before, with new discoveries being made all the time. In some cases this knowledge has led to life-saving new treatments. In others, it causes frustration … Continue reading →

De Sousa E Melo F., Wang X., Jansen M., Fessler E., Trinh A., de Rooij L.P.M.H., de Jong J.H., de Boer O.J., van Leersum R. & Bijlsma M.F. & (2013). Poor-prognosis colon cancer is defined by a molecularly distinct subtype and develops from serrated precursor lesions, Nature Medicine, DOI:

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5:01 PM | New type of bowel cancer discovered – but what does it mean?
Thanks to advances in research over the years, we know more about cancer than ever before, with new discoveries being made all the time. In some cases this knowledge has led to life-saving new treatments. In others, it causes frustration … Continue reading →

De Sousa E Melo F., Wang X., Jansen M., Fessler E., Trinh A., de Rooij L.P.M.H., de Jong J.H., de Boer O.J., van Leersum R. & Bijlsma M.F. & (2013). Poor-prognosis colon cancer is defined by a molecularly distinct subtype and develops from serrated precursor lesions, Nature Medicine, DOI:

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April 12, 2013

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10:44 PM | The Artful Badger
Last year, I published a paper with my co-authors about the  genetic history of badgers in Ireland. Similar to my post last week, it appears that like the pine marten, the badger also shares haplotypes (mitochondrial DNA type) with both Southern … Continue reading →

Del Cerro, I., Marmi, J., Ferrando, A., Chashchin, P., Taberlet, P. & Bosch, M. (2010). Nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenies provide evidence for four species of Eurasian badgers (Carnivora), Zoologica Scripta, 39 (5) 415-425. DOI:

O'Meara, D., Edwards, C., Sleeman, D., Cross, T., Statham, M., Mcdowell, J., Dillane, E., Coughlan, J., O'Leary, D., O'Reilly, C. & Bradley, D. (2012). Genetic structure of Eurasian badgers Meles meles (Carnivora: Mustelidae) and the colonization history of Ireland, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 106 (4) 893-909. DOI:

Zachos, F., Apollonio, M., Bärmann, E., Festa-Bianchet, M., Göhlich, U., Habel, J., Haring, E., Kruckenhauser, L., Lovari, S., McDevitt, A. & Pertoldi, C. (2013). Species inflation and taxonomic artefacts—A critical comment on recent trends in mammalian classification, Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde, 78 (1) 1-6. DOI:

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7:22 AM | The pet hypothesis - Why dogs really are man's best friend
The relationship between pet and man is one that has been around for millennia. Dogs exemplify this relationship, with the domestication of wolves occurring as early as the end of the last Ice Age. Following the realisation that canine species possessed attributes ideal for activities such as hunting and tracking, efforts were made to selectively breed animals with highly useful traits. In return for their efforts, dogs were provided with food, shelter and companionship. This […]

Sams M.J., Fortney E.V. & Willenbring S. (2006). Occupational Therapy Incorporating Animals for Children With Autism: A Pilot Investigation, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60 (3) 268-274. DOI:

Lang U.E., Jansen J.B., Wertenauer F., Gallinat J. & Rapp M.A. (2010). Reduced anxiety during dog assisted interviews in acute schizophrenic patients, European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2 (3) 123-127. DOI:

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April 10, 2013

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4:35 PM | What’s ethics got to do with science
When I was in undergrad, I was 6 credits short of getting a minor in philosophy. I was, at the time, already accepted into a graduate school program, and staying around for another year would have meant more tuition and student fees. It was one of those things that I really wish I had the [...]

Sweeting L.M. (1999). Ethics in Science for Undergraduate Students, Journal of Chemical Education, 76 (3) 369. DOI:

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April 08, 2013

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11:43 AM | Watching cancers evolve using ‘liquid biopsies’
Sometimes it feels like cancer research is progressing at a dizzying speed. Just last year, we reported how Cancer Research UK scientists had reconstructed the evolution of a patient’s kidney tumour during treatment – one of many studies over the … Continue reading →

Murtaza M., Dawson S.J., Tsui D.W.Y., Gale D., Forshew T., Piskorz A.M., Parkinson C., Chin S.F., Kingsbury Z. & Wong A.S.C. & (2013). Non-invasive analysis of acquired resistance to cancer therapy by sequencing of plasma DNA, Nature, DOI:

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11:43 AM | Watching cancers evolve using ‘liquid biopsies’
Sometimes it feels like cancer research is progressing at a dizzying speed. Just last year, we reported how Cancer Research UK scientists had reconstructed the evolution of a patient’s kidney tumour during treatment – one of many studies over the … Continue reading →

Murtaza M., Dawson S.J., Tsui D.W.Y., Gale D., Forshew T., Piskorz A.M., Parkinson C., Chin S.F., Kingsbury Z. & Wong A.S.C. & (2013). Non-invasive analysis of acquired resistance to cancer therapy by sequencing of plasma DNA, Nature, DOI:

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11:43 AM | Watching cancers evolve using ‘liquid biopsies’
Sometimes it feels like cancer research is progressing at a dizzying speed. Just last year, we reported how Cancer Research UK scientists had reconstructed the evolution of a patient’s kidney tumour during treatment – one of many studies over the … Continue reading →

Murtaza M., Dawson S.J., Tsui D.W.Y., Gale D., Forshew T., Piskorz A.M., Parkinson C., Chin S.F., Kingsbury Z. & Wong A.S.C. & (2013). Non-invasive analysis of acquired resistance to cancer therapy by sequencing of plasma DNA, Nature, DOI:

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11:43 AM | Watching cancers evolve using ‘liquid biopsies’
Sometimes it feels like cancer research is progressing at a dizzying speed. Just last year, we reported how Cancer Research UK scientists had reconstructed the evolution of a patient’s kidney tumour during treatment – one of many studies over the … Continue reading →

Murtaza M., Dawson S.J., Tsui D.W.Y., Gale D., Forshew T., Piskorz A.M., Parkinson C., Chin S.F., Kingsbury Z. & Wong A.S.C. & (2013). Non-invasive analysis of acquired resistance to cancer therapy by sequencing of plasma DNA, Nature, DOI:

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