We have many great anti-tumor drugs that can do a fantastic job destroying the molecular insides of tumor cells. There is, however, a major catch: tumors have a nasty habit of become drug resistant. Such is the case with the breast cancer chemotherapeutic agent docetaxel. This drug can be effective at stopping breast cancer, but unfortunately many tumors are docetaxel-resistant. 50% of breast cancer patients receiving their initial course of chemotherapy are resistant to docetaxel, and it gets worse for patients who have already had chemotherapy - 70-80% of patients who have already received chemotherapy don't respond to this drug.

Administering docetaxel to resistant patients obviously wastes time that could be spent on other treatments. It also causes needless suffering of side effects. But is there some way to predict in advance who is going to be resistant? Or better yet, is there something we can do to eliminate docetaxel resistance altogether?

A Japanese group from the Japanese National Cancer Research Institute set out to tackle this problem, and their encouraging results have been reported in Nature Medicine. These researchers discovered a gene that makes breast cancer cells resistant to docetaxel, and they used that knowledge to knock out the source of docetaxel resistance. Although this study was largely confined to petri dishes and mice, cancer researchers can now use this result to identify patients who won't respond to docetaxel, and they are ready to test this new therapy target in real human cancers.

We read a lot about kids not being as good in science as we were back in the day. And we read a lot about women being missing from science too. You wouldn't know it by these outstanding young scientists in this year's EU contest for Young Scientists, which was held in Copenhagen, Denmark and rewarded contestants aged 14 - 19 who shared a €46,500 prize pot.

The contestants represented 39 countries across Europe - as well as special guests Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, New Zealand and the USA - and they presented 87 winning projects from national competitions covering a wide range of scientific disciplines; from engineering and earth sciences to biology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, medicine, computer and social sciences. The standard of entries was consistently high and several past participants have achieved major scientific breakthroughs or set up businesses to market the ideas developed for the Contest.

"The EU Contest for Young Scientists is about supporting the rising stars of tomorrow's European science.” says European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik. It shows that Europe is a real reservoir of talents which is crucial at a time of global competition for knowledge. It also makes young people enjoy the experience of working together, beyond national borders, in the spirit of the European Research Area we strive to build.

For decades now, cigarette makers have marketed light cigarettes, which contain less nicotine than regular smokes, with the implication that they are less harmful to smokers' health. A new UCLA study shows, however, that they deliver nearly as much nicotine to the brain.

The basic numbers would seem to bear that out the less harmful claim. Light cigarettes have nicotine levels of 0.6 to 1 milligrams, while regular cigarettes contain between 1.2 and 1.4 milligrams.

In the brain, nicotine binds to specific molecules on nerve cells called nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or nAChRs. When nerve cells communicate, nerve impulses jump chemically across gaps between cells called synapses by means of neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters then bind to the receptor sites on nerve cells — in the case acetylcholine resulting in the release of a pleasure-inducing chemical called dopamine. Nicotine mimics acetylcholine, but it lasts longer, releasing more dopamine. Most scientists believe that's one key reason why nicotine is so addictive.

WORCESTER, Massachusetts, September 26 /PRNewswire/ --

Verax Biomedical Inc., a pioneer of rapid tests for detecting bacterial contaminants in blood cells and tissue, announced its Platelet PGD(R) Test for bacterial detection is now CE Marked. The test, which received 510 (k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2007, holds potential to improve the safety of the blood supply by easily and quickly detecting a broad range of bacterial contaminants.

GENEVA, September 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercuria Energy Trading S.A. of Switzerland has won an auction by the Sao Paulo Municipal Government in Brazil of 713,000 certified emission reduction (CER) credits, representing 713,000 tons of CO2 equivalent. The winning bid was 19.20 Euros ($28.20) per credit-a total of over 13.68 million Euros.

The auction took place under the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty under which signatory nations agree to create a market for carbon emissions, in order to try to reduce CO2 emissions into the earth's atmosphere.

The auction was held by the BM&FBOVESPA Exchange in Brazil. Eight bidders participated in the auction.

This kind of Mother Goose is no fairy tale. A 50 million year old skull reveals that huge birds with a 5 meter wingspan once skimmed across the waters that covered what is now London, Essex and Kent. These giant ocean-going relatives of ducks and geese also had a rather bizarre attribute for a bird: their beaks were lined with bony-teeth.

Described today in the journal Palaeontology, the skull belongs to Dasornis, a bony-toothed bird, or pelagornithid, and was discovered in the London Clay, which lies under much of London, Essex and northern Kent in SE England. The occurrence of bony-toothed birds in these deposits has been known for a long time, but the new fossil is one the best skulls ever found, and preserves previously unknown details of the anatomy of these strange creatures.

Wile E. Coyote has nothing on this guy.

Yves Rossy, aka Jet Man, zoomed into the record books this morning, flying across the English Channel strapped to a single jet-powered wing, with only a helmet and flight suit for protection.

The 22-mile (35-kilometer) France-to-England journey took 13 minutes. Bad weather had twice postponed the event this week. But this morning—with clear blue skies and a nice tailwind—turned out to be an ideal flight day for the Swiss airline pilot.

Around 2 p.m., local time, Rossy leaped from a plane abound 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) above a beach near Calais. Within seconds he had opened his wing, fired up his four miniature jet turbines, and pointed his nose toward Britain.

NEW YORK and GENEVA, September 26 /PRNewswire/ -- WISeKey today announced a new commitment with the initial focus to target over 100 million people in the Mediterranean region still unbanked but already connected via voice with their mobiles phones. WISeKey will provide the trusted, secure and interoperable m-payments technology required to operate a Mobile Payment Telco Platform in selected geographical areas in partnership with financial institutions, telecommunications and technology companies in the region.

MONHEIM, Germany, September 26 /PRNewswire/ --

It is the most common cause of death(1) in older cats, but one so subtle it often remains undetected until the cat falls suddenly ill. Chronic Renal Disease (CRD) affects the kidney functions of one-third of cats over 15 years(2), with an estimated 10% of all cats over 7 years at risk. And once it strikes, up to 85% of kidney function may be permanently lost(3) compromising both the quality and duration of the cat's life.

Today Bayer HealthCare's Animal Health division unveils a new solution to aid the management of chronic feline renal disease. Renalzin(R) is an innovative, easy-to-administer feed additive proven to support kidney function in ageing cats.