"A service to map a person's entire genetic code is being offered by America's genome entrepreneur Craig Venter, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper said that for 400,000 (US$621,500), a person would get details of their entire genetic code within 1 week. "Armed with such information, the individual would be able to check for mutations linked with illnesses such as cancer and Alzheimer's," the Sunday Times reported."

ABCNEWS.com : Millionaires Lining Up to Buy Personal Gene Maps

"For many people, tobacco represents a death sentence -- inflicting nicotine addiction, lung cancer and other ills. But for millions of women in the developing world at risk for cervical cancer, tobacco could eventually be a lifesaver.
University researchers are working on genetically engineering tobacco plants to produce an experimental vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can lead to cervical cancer"

Ironic, isn't it?

No Smoke: Tobacco Used in Vaccine

"That's the dream, at least. For now, stem-cell science is mostly about getting one's hands on the right stuff. And so, late Monday afternoon, Firpo and research associates Nariman Nasser and Ryan Rodriguez pulled the first 10 tiny vials, each containing 10 million to 20 million stem cells, from vaults of liquid nitrogen in a nondescript UCSF laboratory.
They packed the vials into plastic foam containers of dry ice, two vials per container, and then into cardboard boxes, bound for researchers in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Boston and Worcester, Mass., and Bethesda, Md. "

UCSF is one of the universities I am applying to graduate school I might add:)

One giant step for stem cells / Historic moment as UCSF ships them out to researchers

"In a remarkable feat of tissue engineering, major parts of the penises of several rabbits have been replaced with segments grown in a lab from their own cells. The animals were able to use the reconstructed organs to mate."

And you thought Biology just couldn't get any more cutting edge. Ha.

New Scientist - Tissue engineers grow penis in the lab

""If BRCA2 is altered or missing, it leads to a dangerous accumulation of genetic errors," says lead author Nikola Pavletich, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "By studying the normal function of BRCA2, we can understand how changes in the protein contribute to the development of cancer""

This is an interesting article. The protein created by the gene BRCA2, when mutated, causes breast cancer. These researchers wanted to figure out why, so they studied unmutated forms of the BRCA2 protein. Pretty neat stuff.

New Scientist - Breast cancer gene action unravelled

"An attempt is being made to use a harmless version of HIV to help prevent the rejection of transplanted hearts. "

HIV could aid heart transplants

"They're punk mice, you could say," jokes Ronald Hoffman, head of the team which developed the mice with green hair at AntiCancer, a Californian biotech company based in San Diego."

Soooooo rad!:)

Genetic modification alters hair colour

"Scientists at MIT have successfully engineered tissue with "mechanical and biochemical properties near to those of native cartilage." It may someday make artificial joints unnecessary, provide a true cure for many types of osteoarthritis and permanently relieve injuries. "

Tissue Engineering is so Rad:)

Scientists Brew Real Joint Juice

"Forget religion and politics, a top researcher says. Reproductive cloning will never work because biology will always get in the way"

Stop the Cloning

You just have to see it to believe it.

Dissect a Frog!