Denver, CO, USA. Researchers have found the brains of mice used in laboratories worldwide can be profoundly affected by the type of cage they are kept in, a breakthrough that may require scientists to reevaluate the way they conduct future experiments.

Mice are the chief research mammals in the world today, involved in some of the most promising cancer, genetic and neuroscience breakthroughs.

Researchers from different universities rely on careful comparison of experimental results for their discoveries.

Findings that test results can be skewed may trigger a recalibration of past results and reconsideration of future experimental procedures. The work was conducted by researchers from the Anschutz Medical Campus at the University of Colorado. Their findings appear in the journal PLoS One.

Fairfax, VA, USA. Engineers have developed a cell phone that includes a microscope among its capabilities. The lensless imaging platform behind the microscope is nearly readiness for real world trials.

Cell phones have accumulated capabilities at a rapid rate, acting as cameras, schedulers, and internet access devices. The prototype cell phone microscope could become an essential part of mobile and/or remote medical lab.

Developing countries generally lack an effective health care infrastructure, including buildings and trained personnel.

The engineers hope to leverage the fact that eighty percent of the world's population lives in areas covered by cell phone networks. This can bridge gaps on the infrastructure. For telemedicine tools to effectively fill in for hospitals, the devices have to meet several criteria. They must be cheap enough for widespread use in poor areas, be simple enough for a minimally trained person to correctly operate, and be able to easily transmit information over existing cellular networks.

Baltimore, MD, USA. Gail Javitt says a new legal and ethical framework needs to be placed around the donation and banking of human biological material, one that would more clearly define the terms of the material's use — and address donor expectations before research begins.

Javitt, a lawyer and public health researcher at Johns Hopkins University, recounts the story of Henrietta Lacks, a woman whose cancerous cells revolutionized medical research. Javitt cites her story as the starting point for a full exploration of flaws in current legal and ethical approaches to the use of human specimens in medical research.

Henrietta Lacks (1 August 1920 — 4 October 1951) was diagnosed with cervical cancer on 1 February 1951. Dr. Howard Jones, the examining gynecologist, noted that the tumor's appearance was unlike anything that had ever been seen. As was customary at the time, George Otto Gey at Johns Hopkins extracted some cancerous cells and — without Ms. Lacks' knowledge or consent — cultured them for medical research. Gey discovered that her cells could be kept alive and grown. The result is now known as the immortal HeLa cell line, known for their extreme potency.

Baltimore, MD, USA. A research team has generated the first comprehensive genetic parts list of a mouse hypothalamus, an enigmatic region of the brain that links the central nervous system to control of hormone levels.

The hypothalamus is one of the most diverse and complex parts of the brain, composed of at least dozens — more likely many hundreds — of different types of neurons. Each neuron type corresponds to a specific gene that has remained unidentified until now. Looked at visually, the cellular arrangement within the hypothalamus more closely resembles a bowl of spaghetti than a neatly organized club sandwich.

The catalog of molecular markers now identified helps to unravel this complexity. The index of the genes involved in producing its many cell types is a toolbox that researchers can use to manipulate the activity of brain cells by turning them on and off, or by tracing their connections. Knowing how cells develop in this part of the brain help scientists understand of how they regulate behavior, mood and metabolism.