Breast cancer protection
A gene variant that protects against breast cancer has been found to exist in roughly a quarter of European women. The gene makes an enzyme called caspase 8, which helps abnormal cells die off. This particular variant reduces the risk of breast cancer from 1 in 9 to 1 in 10, reports Angela Cox of the University of Sheffield, UK, in Nature Genetics (DOI: 10.1038/ng1981).
HIV vaccine ready to roll
Africa’s largest trial yet of a vaccine against HIV received the go-ahead on 8 February. The vaccine, called HVTN 503, consists of a weakened adenovirus containing three genes from HIV. It will…
