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A new study presages a real aim of genetics: to look at whole populations to in order determine the significance of individual genetic variants for individual health. The research team, whose work is published in Nature Genetics, find six novel genetic variants that are associated with lipid levels, a common indicator of heart or artery disease.

A new genome-wide study examines genetic variants associated with nine metabolic traits and is the first to draw out novel variants from a population unselected for current disease. The traits are indicators for common disease such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, blood pressure, inflammation and lipid levels.

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(SAN FRANCISCO, December 7, 2008) – Two studies examining the effects of stem cell source and patient age on stem cell transplantation outcomes will be explored at a press conference taking place on Sunday, December 7, at 8:00 a.m., during the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, CA. Preliminary results from a study examining a specialized technique for increasing the presence of stem cells in cord blood for transplantation will also be shared during the press conference.

ROCHESTER, Minn. - A new Mayo Clinic study found that it is generally safe to withdraw anti-seizure medications in children with epilepsy who have achieved seizure-freedom while on the medication. Researchers found that these children were not at high risk of subsequently developing intractable epilepsy. The study will be presented on Sunday, Dec. 7, at the American Epilepsy Society's annual meeting in Seattle.

(SAN FRANCISCO, December 7, 2008) – The largest study ever to examine the preventive use of blood-thinning medication to help prevent deadly blood clots in patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy will be presented in a press conference on Sunday, December 7, at 9:30 a.m., during the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, CA.

(SAN FRANCISCO, December 6, 2008) – The use of dexamethasone early in the treatment of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of childhood cancer, may help reduce the risk of relapse according to study results being presented in a press conference on Saturday, December 6, at 2:00 p.m., during the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, CA.

(SAN FRANCISCO, December 6, 2008) – Four studies that highlight significant advances in treatment and survival outcomes for patients with various forms of thrombocytopenia, a group of bleeding disorders characterized by a low number of platelets in the blood, will be presented in a press conference on Saturday, December 6, at 8:00 a.m., during the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, CA.

The United States can learn from the Dutch Health Insurance System model, according to an article by Pauline V. Rosenau, Ph.D., in the December issue of the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.

Rosenau, professor of management, policy and community health at The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, co-authored the lead article, which discusses universal health care coverage in the Netherlands and its possible lessons for the United States.

HOUSTON - The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center will hold the first international inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) conference on December 6-7, to bring together internationally recognized breast cancer clinicians and scientists.

Participants will present new clinical discoveries and participate in educational workshops, with the goal of improving diagnosis and management of this rare but deadly disease.

Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found a subpopulation of hematopoietic stem cells, the source of all blood and immune system cells, that reproduce much more slowly than previously anticipated. Use of these cells may improve the outcome of stem cell transplants – also called bone marrow transplants – for the treatment of leukemia and other marrow-based diseases. The report will appear in the journal Nature Biotechnology and is being released online to coincide with a similar study in the journal Cell.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — The apparent success of a case in which German doctors cured a man of AIDS using a bone marrow transplant comes as no surprise to Gerhard Bauer, a UC Davis stem cell researcher. Bauer has been working for more than 10 years on a similar cure for AIDS based on replacing the devastated immune system of an HIV-infected patient with stem cells that have been engineered to resist human immunodeficiency syndrome.

Biomimicry – technological innovation inspired by nature – is one of the hottest ideas in science but has yet to yield many practical advances. Time for a change. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have mimicked the structure of mother of pearl to create what may well be the toughest ceramic ever produced.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In 1958, Ohio State University cancer researcher Dr. Bertha Bouroncle first identified a deadly disease now known as hairy-cell leukemia, a once fatal disease that can now be effectively treated.

Now, 50 years later researchers from across the globe are gathering for a symposium titled "50 years of Enormous Progress in Hairy Cell Leukemia: A Celebration of Clinical Research with Remaining Unanswered Questions."