Vancouver, BC, Canada (Scicasts) – A University of British Columbia engineer and a team of U.S. researchers have made a breakthrough utilizing spray-on technology that could revolutionize the way optical lenses are made and used.

La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – Scientists have uncovered a survival mechanism that occurs in breast cells that have just turned premalignant-cells on the cusp between normalcy and cancers-which may lead to new methods of stopping tumours.

Chapel Hill, NC (Scicasts) – As the human body fine-tunes its neurological wiring, nerve cells often must fix a faulty connection by amputating an axon ― the "business end" of the neuron that sends electrical impulses to tissues or other neurons.

Urbana, IL (Scicasts) – Cells in the human body do not function in isolation. Living cells rely on communication with their environment―neighbouring cells and the surrounding matrix―to activate a wide range of cellular functions, including reproduction of new cells, differentiation of stem cells into distinct cell types, cell adhesion, and migration of white blood cells to fight bodily infections.

Santa Barbara, CA (Scicasts) – Cinnamon: Can the red-brown spice with the unmistakable fragrance and variety of uses offer an important benefit? The common baking spice might hold the key to delaying the onset of –– or warding off –– the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

London, Ontario, Canada (Scicasts) – Research from Western has identified new hormones in the body which may suppress breast cancer and stimulate the regression of breast tumours.

Bethesda, MD (Scicasts) – A new approach for immunizing against influenza elicited a more potent immune response and broader protection than the currently licensed seasonal influenza vaccines when tested in mice and ferrets.

San Francisco, CA (Scicasts) – The first symptoms of major depression may be behavioural, but the common mental illness is based in biology ― and not limited to the brain.

Cambridge, MA (Scicasts) – When studying any kind of population ― people or cells ― averaging is a useful, if flawed, form of measurement. According to the US Census Bureau, the average American household size in 2010 was 2.59. Of course, there are no homes with exactly 2.59 people.

Denver, CO (Scicasts) – When turned on, the gene p53 turns off cancer. However, when existing drugs boost p53, only a few tumours die – the rest resist the challenge.

Irvine, CA (Scicasts) – As the world prepares for what may be the next pandemic strain of influenza virus, in the H7N9 bird flu, a new UC Irvine study reveals that the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic was deadliest for people under the age of 65, while those 65 and over had greater immunity due to previous exposure to similar viruses.

Washington, DC (Scicasts) – Re-routing anti-cancer drugs to the "power plants" that make energy to keep cells alive is a promising but long-neglected approach to preventing emergence of the drug-resistant forms of cancer ― source of a serious medical problem, scientists are reporting.

Gothenburg, Sweden (Scicasts) – The University of Gothenburg Vaccine Research Institute (GUVAX) announces successful results in a placebo controlled phase I study of an oral, inactivated Escherichia coli diarrhoea vaccine.

Philadelphia, PA (Scicasts) – The human gut is loaded with commensal bacteria – "good" microbes that, among other functions, help the body digest food.

Bethesda, MD (Scicasts) – Combing regions of the genomes more than 17,000 people from around the world, an international team of researchers has uncovered new evidence of potential genetic influences on blood lipid levels in three ethnic groups: African Americans, East Asians and Europeans.

Corvallis, OR (Scicasts) – Researchers have developed a new drug delivery system that allows inhalation of chemotherapeutic drugs to help treat lung cancer, and in laboratory and animal tests it appears to reduce the systemic damage done to other organs while significantly improving the treatment of lung tumours.

London UK (Scicasts) – Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London have led the largest sequencing study of human disease to date, investigating the genetic basis of six autoimmune diseases.