The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) welcome the announcement that the European Commission will propose an extension to the derogation that allows the UK - along with Finland, Ireland, Malta and Sweden - to continue to apply stricter controls to the movement of pet animals from other EU Member States for time being.

In 2004, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center announced a crucial discovery in the understanding of cellular aging. They found that as cells and tissues age, the expression of a key protein, called p16INK4a, dramatically increases in most mammalian organs. Because p16INK4a is a tumor suppressor protein, cancer researchers are interested in its role in cellular aging and cancer prevention.

Most of our cells contain a single nucleus that harbors 46 chromosomes (DNA and protein complexes that contain our genes). However, during normal postnatal development, liver cells containing two nuclei, each of which have 46 chromosomes, appear.

Scientists have used genetic engineering to tame one of the most deadly food poisoning microbes and turn it into a potential new way of giving patients medicine and vaccines in pills rather than injections. The study is in the current issue of ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal. Colin Pouton and colleagues note that patients by far prefer pills and capsules to the discomfort and inconvenience of injections.

Our understanding of the importance of microRNAs in regulating gene expression is expanding, and with it our requirement for robust methods to measure their expression levels. Now a new method published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology helps researchers to better understand the delicate interplay between differences in microRNA expression levels and their target genes.

Scientists have identified a protein in the brain that plays a key role in the function of mitochondria - the part of the cell that supplies energy, supports cellular activity, and potentially wards off threats from disease. The discovery, which was reported today in the Journal of Cell Biology, may shed new light on how the brain recovers from stroke.

Stalled microtubules might be responsible for some cases of the neurological disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, Tanabe and Takei report in the June 15, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. A mutant protein makes the microtubules too stable to perform their jobs, the researchers find. The mutations behind CMT disease slow nerve impulses, reduce their strength, or both.

Science fact surpasses science fiction at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron's 12th Annual Users' Meeting Thursday, June 18 at the Radisson Hotel in Saskatoon. Conference participants will hear about some of the newest biomedical results from the CLS, as well as ways that synchrotron techniques are lighting the way to advances in environmental clean up and nanotechnology.

Scientists from A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) and the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, have discovered another signaling pathway for the activation and apoptosis, or programmed cell death, of dendritic cells[1] . This discovery was published in the advanced online publication of Nature on 15 Jun 2009.

The vast majority of cancer deaths are due to metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from its primary site to other parts of the body. These metastatic cells tend to move more than their non-metastatic variants but this movement is poorly understood. Scientists are studying cancer cells intently with the hope they can learn to control the movements of the dangerous cells.

The immune system's T-cells react to foreign protein fragments and therefore are crucial to combating viruses and bacteria. Errant cells that attack the body's own material are in most cases driven to cell death. Some of these autoreactive T-cells, however, undergo a kind of reeducation to become "regulatory T-cells" that keep other autoreactive T-cells under control.

Universal Detection Technology (OTCBB: UNDT), a developer of early-warning monitoring technologies to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health threats and provider of counter-terrorism consulting and training services, announced that it has applied for CAGE and NSN Stock numbers for its biological detection equipment. The numbers will facilitate the sales of the items to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

People who suffer from Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, a rare inherited cancer syndrome, develop gastrointestinal polyps and are predisposed to colon cancer and other tumor types. Carefully tracing the cellular chain-of-command that links nutrient intake to cell growth (and which is interrupted in Peutz-Jeghers syndrome), allowed researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies to exploit the tumors' weak spot.

Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual BVA Scottish dinner and a particularly warm welcome to our host this evening, John Scott MSP - we are incredibly grateful for your continued support to the BVA - and to the Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham for kindly agreeing to address us this evening. But before I get into the meat of my speech this evening I do not want to miss the chance to think of one absent friend tonight.

A novel bacterium that has been trapped more than three kilometres under glacial ice in Greenland for over 120 000 years, may hold clues as to what life forms might exist on other planets. Dr Jennifer Loveland-Curtze and a team of scientists from Pennsylvania State University report finding the novel microbe, which they have called Herminiimonas glaciei, in the current issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

Trust in science is diminishing, according to recent studies, especially in the area of biomedicine, biotech and genetics. University of Alberta researchers Tim Caulfield and Tania Bubela blame it on the complexity of many discoveries and they're concerned the whole message from the study isn't getting across to the general public.

New research by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and other institutions provides a close-up look at the cone-shaped shell that is the hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), revealing how it is held together - and possible ways to break it apart. Previously, scientists had known that the genetic material within HIV is enclosed within a shell called the capsid, which is formed by a honeycomb arrangement of about 250 hexagonal protein building blocks.

Cellulose is a fibrous molecule that makes up plant cell walls, gives plants shape and form and is a target of renewable, plant-based biofuels research. But how it forms, and thus how it can be modified to design energy-rich crops, is not well understood.

It's not just humans that suffer from obesity - vets say that emerging obesity problems in dogs are leading to shorter lives and reduced quality of life. The warning comes in the wake of the launch of an over-the-counter weight loss treatment for humans.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) announced that it is moving forward with its original plan to host an educational, team-building program by the Pike Place Fish Market's world-renowned fishmongers at its annual convention, which will be held in Seattle, Wash., July 11-July 14. The group has presented the motivational program to a wide variety of groups since 1990, sharing their successful business plan of engagement and empowerment.