For some time, it has been known that people with lower levels of ascorbate (vitamin C) are at increased risk of cancer. Now, US researchers think they finally know why this is — and it all comes down to our stem cells. [ + ]

Irrespective of the type of laboratory environment, great technicians adapt and take on a few common habits that facilitate laboratory-based scientific investigations in the best way possible. [ + ]

With a relentless passion for plants, a strong desire to secure the world's food resources and numerous papers and awards under his belt, Dr Jonathan Plett from Western Sydney University is one of Australia's most promising scientists. [ + ]

Researchers have determined that mutations in the gene encoding a particular enzyme may help in the development of better treatments for a wide range of autoimmune diseases. [ + ]

Australian biotech company Ondek is on a mission to develop an immunotherapy based on the gram-negative bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which it hopes to eventually deploy as a new treatment for childhood allergy. [ + ]

Everyone knows the importance of practising good cybersecurity, but we bet you never thought your computer could be hacked using DNA. [ + ]

An international study, led by researchers from the Children's Cancer Institute and University of New South Wales, has uncovered a new way of dealing with neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that typically affects infants as young as one or two years of age. [ + ]

She arrived in Australia as an asylum seeker from the Vietnam War, with no English-speaking skills and nothing but the clothes on her back. Now, more than 20 years later, Dr Tien Huynh has been named as one of the 30 'Superstars of STEM'. [ + ]

Researchers have found that by combining traditional treatments with a new class of anticancer agents they can target the 'Achilles' heel' of HER2-positive breast cancers, in the first significant improvement in this area in over 30 years. [ + ]

An international group of 11 organisations with genetics expertise is urging a cautious but proactive approach to gene editing. [ + ]

The 17th annual conference of the Australasian Genomic Technologies Association (AGTA) will be held in Tasmania at the Hotel Grand Chancellor from 29 October–1 November 2017.  [ + ]

By recreating the evolutionary history of class 1 integrons — a class of DNA elements known to be a major player in the rise of antibiotic resistance — researchers have identified how these integrons first entered the human food chain 100 years ago. [ + ]

Researchers have developed a significant advancement in manufacturing better-quality nanocapsules which may lead the way to new treatments for currently incurable diseases, including diabetes. [ + ]

The latest research by a team from Cornell University has found that current approaches to gene drives may need to be rethought. [ + ]

Australian biotech company Trimph has successfully completed a first-in-human trial of its proprietary bone 'glue' — said to be the only bone graft substitute in the world to be applied in liquid form. [ + ]