Good news for the countless people across the globe suffering from some kind of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which includes a large proportion of those dealing with skin cancer. Australian researchers have discovered the "stop signal" gene for SCC that is absent in virtually every SCC tumor they looked at. Without it, cells replicate uncontrolled causing a tumor, but knowing what gene is missing gives researchers the means to develop new strategies to treat and prevent this common form of cancer.

Back in 2009 when the H1N1 pandemic was sweeping the globe - it would leave about 17,000 people dead by the beginning of 2010, with confirmed cases in more than 200 countries - waves of anxiety followed in its wake. For most, it was a fear of an illness that seemed at the time indiscriminate, unstoppable, and incurable. For the virologists and drug developers trying to battle the virus, it stemmed from the fact that H1N1 was so poorly understood. This new strain of influenza A was a hybrid borrowing genetic elements from a handful of flu viruses, and researchers weren't just without tools - they didn't even know for sure what tools might be useful.

Imagine a fleet of microscopic cars zooming through your veins, zapping cancerous cells as they go. Sound unbelievable? Well, it's a possibility that's closer than you think.

What constitutes consciousness--not in the philosophical sense, but clinically speaking--has been a matter of great debate in scientific circles lately, particularly as new technological applications allow neuroscientists to peek deeper into the brains of those thought to be in vegetative states. Now, a cheap and portable EEG device has been developed that has detected signs of consciousness in three people previously thought to be in vegetative states.

A new, finely tuned light-based treatment kills cancer cells in mice without harming the tissue around them, and could conceivably used to treat a wide range of human cancers, researchers say. The therapy is much more precise than other light-therapy methods attempted to date, and it has the potential to replace chemotherapy and radiation.

Antibiotics proved to be one of the biggest medical breakthroughs of the 20th century, but as we all know, it becomes less useful with extended use, as bacteria adapt and resist particular varieties of antibacterial medicine. However, scientists may have found a particularly elegant solution to the problem of fighting these harmful bugs - get another friendly bacteria to have them for dinner.