AMD Radeon HD 7990 review roundup: fast, quiet, but no world beater

Now that the veil has been lifted from the AMD Radeon HD 7990, it's time for the usual enthusiast review sites to reveal their thoughts -- and benchmarks -- on the latest graphics card from Sunnyvale. As we've mentioned, the 7990 has effectively two 7970 GPUs on board, promising over 8 TFLOPS of power and the chops to handle full 4K resolution under maximum settings. However, it's a pricey little thing at around $1,000, which doesn't set it too far away from the competition and its unique cooling system means an airy case is a must. What do our sample of reviewers think? Find out in our roundup after the break.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/iqj4mCJYBNw/

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Obama administration missed clues on Fisker

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Energy Department did not realize for four months that troubled automaker Fisker Automotive Inc. had missed a crucial production target that was required as part of a half-billion dollar government loan, documents released Wednesday show. The mistake allowed Fisker to obtain an additional $32 million in government funding before the loan was suspended in June 2011.

The Obama administration did not make the suspension of the $529 million loan public until early last year, nearly eight months after it stopped making payments to Fisker and long after the Energy Department first warned that Fisker was not meeting milestones to protect taxpayers.

The administration's actions ? or failure to act ? came under sharp criticism from Republicans Wednesday at a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. GOP lawmakers accused the Obama administration of negligence and worse while Democrats dismissed the hearing as a "show trial" intended to embarrass the president.

"The committee's efforts to stoke false controversy by selectively leaking a few out-of-context documents just do not stand up to scrutiny," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday.

But Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the Oversight subcommittee on economic growth and regulation, said it was hard to understand why the Energy Department ever thought Fisker was a viable company that should receive taxpayer money.

"The Obama administration owes the American taxpayer an explanation as to why this bad loan was made in the first place, and what they are going to do to minimize the loss that taxpayers face," said Jordan, R-Ohio.

Jordan called the loan program "one of the most disastrously mismanaged and corrupt programs in U.S. history," a claim committee Democrats scoffed at.

Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., said the $192 million received by Fisker before the loan was suspended represents just 2 percent of an $8 billion loan program to boost electric cars and other advanced vehicles.

Even if Fisker goes bankrupt, as many expect, the loan program is on track to recoup 98 percent of its investment, Cartwright said.

"In the world outside the Beltway, anybody who exceeds expectations 98 percent of the time gets an A-plus, Cartwright said.

"Only in Washington would a $200 million loss be viewed as a success," Jordan shot back.

The oversight panel is looking into the federal loan to the troubled carmaker, which has laid off three-fourths of its workers amid continuing financial and production problems. Fisker has not built a vehicle since last summer and has failed to secure a buyer as its cash reserves have dwindled.

Despite those losses and widespread reports that bankruptcy is imminent, the company's founder and namesake said Wednesday he is proud of its achievements.

Henrik Fisker told the House panel that "cutting edge technology" developed by the Anaheim, Calif.-based company could "pave the way for a new generation of American car manufacturing." Fisker said he is especially proud of the $100,000 Karma hybrid, which Time Magazine called one of the 50 best inventions of 2011.

Fisker has sold fewer than 2,000 Karmas, despite early projections of 11,000 sales per year.

Fisker, who resigned as board chairman in March, disputed claims by some critics that the company needed the federal loan to survive. He said a high-ranking Energy Department official approached him in 2008 and asked him to apply for the loan, which is intended to boost electric cars and other advanced vehicles.

"At that time, we already had significant financial backing from private investors," Fisker said. In all, the company received more than $1 billion in private financing, he said.

Fisker denied that any political influence was used to obtain the loan or in negotiations over its terms. "I am not aware and do not believe that any improper political influence was used in connection with the company's loan application or subsequent negotiations with the Department of Energy," Fisker said.

Republicans called the claim dubious and noted that Fisker investors include the actor Leonardo DiCaprio and at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. John Doerr, a partner at the firm, has served on an economic advisory board appointed by President Barack Obama.

Republicans also questioned why the company agreed to reopen a shuttered former General Motors factory in Wilmington, Del., to produce plug-in, electric hybrid vehicles. The plant was never completed and never produced any cars.

Vice President Joe Biden touted the plant in 2009 as a boon to his home state and predicted it would create billions of dollars in jobs.

Fisker told the panel that he chose the Delaware site because the GM plant was in good shape and had access to skilled workers and East Coast ports. As many as 60 percent of the cars the plant was to produce were targeted for export, Fisker said. The choice of Delaware "had nothing to do with the loan" or Biden, Fisker said.

Earlier, the committee released a document showing that the administration was warned as early as 2010 that Fisker was not meeting milestones set up by the government.

An Energy Department official said in a June 2010 email that Fisker's bid to draw on the federal loan may be jeopardized for failure to meet the goals.

Despite that warning, Fisker continued to receive money until June 2011, when the Energy Department halted further funding. The agency did so after Fisker presented new information that called into question whether key milestones ? including launch of the Karma hybrid ? had been achieved, according to a credit report prepared by the Energy Department.

The December 2011 credit report said "DOE staff asked questions about the delays" in the Karma's launch "and received varied and incomplete explanations," leading to the suspension of the loan.

Aoife McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said the June 2010 email was taken out of context.

"The document shows that one person at a meeting discussed the possibility that Fisker might not meet a financial commitment" required by the Energy Department, McCarthy said in an email. The department received the needed certification five days later and subsequently made the loan payment, she said.

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-administration-missed-clues-fisker-225820578--finance.html

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Link between inherited endocrine tumor syndrome and much-studied cell pathway

Apr. 24, 2013 ? A mutation in a protein called menin causes a hereditary cancer syndrome called MEN1 (multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1). Individuals with MEN1 are at a substantially increased risk of developing neuroendocrine tumors, including cancer of the pancreatic islet cells that secrete insulin.

Yet knowing these connections and doing something to improve fighting the syndrome are two different things. Researchers still did not exactly understand how menin mutations lead to MEN1 syndrome, and more importantly, what molecular pathways might be dysregulated by menin mutations and thus can be targeted to improve therapy against this type of cancer. Now, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that pathway, which may lead to a new treatment for patients with MEN1 and sporadic endocrine tumors.

A research team led by Xianxin Hua, MD, PhD, associate professor of Cancer Biology at the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, report in Cancer Research that menin suppresses signaling in the much-studied Hedgehog pathway in endocrine organs. Menin mutations lead to increased Hedgehog signaling and cell proliferation. They found that inhibiting proteins in the Hedgehog network using drugs reduces growth of tumors in an animal model of human MEN1 syndrome.

Unlike many cancer-associated proteins, menin is neither an enzyme nor a signaling receptor. Instead, the team discovered that menin works by physically interacting with a second protein, PRMT5. The menin-PRMT5 complex binds to the promoter of the Gas1 gene, where PRMT5 (an enzyme that adds methyl groups to histone proteins) functions as an epigenetic inhibitor, tamping down gene transcription. The GAS1 protein promotes Hedgehog signaling, and thus by inhibiting Gas1 expression, menin and PRMT5 effectively dial down the pathway's tendency towards cell proliferation.

"This study uncovered a new layer of regulation of pro-proliferative genes by menin via the Hedgehog signaling pathway," Hua says. "These pro-replication genes are regulated through GAS1 and PRMT5."

Discovering the link between menin and Hedgehog was serendipitous, says Hua. Using microarray analysis, his team found that loss of menin results in increased expression of the Gas1 gene. Separately, other groups reported that GAS1 mediates Hedgehog signaling. That knowledge gave Hua's team the missing piece of information required to identify menin's normal cellular function. "We found menin linked to Hedgehog signaling by suppressing expression of GAS1, leading to the suppression of Hedgehog signaling in endocrine tissue."

Significantly, Hua's team found that menin mutant proteins associated with MEN1 cancer in patients were impaired in their ability to interact with PRMT5, and thus, in adding the methyl chemical group to the Gas1 promoter gene. What's more, treating a mouse model of human MEN1 syndrome with a Hedgehog pathway inhibitor called Erivedge (FDA-approved in 2012 for metastatic or locally advanced basal cell carcinoma) reduced proliferation of tumor cells and blood insulin levels. That, says Hua, suggests a potential new treatment for patients with MEN1 syndrome, and also likely for sporadic endocrine tumors, some 40 percent of which also contain menin mutations

"Because we show in this mouse tumor model that we can significantly suppress proliferation of tumor cells in pancreatic islets and that we can reduce the higher insulin levels with a drug, which was just clinically approved to be safe, that naturally raises the question of whether, in patients who have mutation in this gene or enhanced Hedgehog signaling, this drug can improve patient symptoms to reduce tumor progression or insulinemia," Hua asks.

First author and postdoctoral fellow in the Hua lab Buddha Gurung, PhD, adds "the possibilities of translating these findings into a viable therapeutic option is extremely exciting."

Co-authors include Zijie Feng, Daniel V. Iwamoto, and Austin Thiel of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute; Guanghui Jin of Xiamen University, Fujian, China; Chen-Min Fan of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, MD; and Jessica M.Y. Ng and Tom Curran of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The research was supported by Caring for Carcinoid Foundation and the National Cancer Institute (R01-CA-113962, 548 R01-DK085121; R01 DK084963).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. B. Gurung, Z. Feng, D. V. Iwamoto, A. Thiel, G. Jin, C.-M. Fan, J. M. Y. Ng, T. Curran, X. Hua. Menin Epigenetically Represses Hedgehog Signaling in MEN1 Tumor Syndrome. Cancer Research, 2013; 73 (8): 2650 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-3158

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/PXF7RToyLqk/130424125836.htm

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A risk including gay partners in immigration bill?

Jay Mercado, left, and Shirley Tan, third from left, and their twin sons Jorien Mercado, second from left and Jashley Mercado, both 16, of Pacifica, Calif., wait on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. Shirley is undocumented and Jay is an American citizen. They have been together for 27 years and have raised Jashley and Jorien. They and other gay rights activists are lobbying Senators today pushing to change the immigration bill to allow gay Americans to sponsor visas for their same-sex partners the way straight Americans can. Democrats are treading carefully on a proposed addition to the bipartisan immigration overhaul. At the far right is Kelly Costello of Maryland. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Jay Mercado, left, and Shirley Tan, third from left, and their twin sons Jorien Mercado, second from left and Jashley Mercado, both 16, of Pacifica, Calif., wait on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. Shirley is undocumented and Jay is an American citizen. They have been together for 27 years and have raised Jashley and Jorien. They and other gay rights activists are lobbying Senators today pushing to change the immigration bill to allow gay Americans to sponsor visas for their same-sex partners the way straight Americans can. Democrats are treading carefully on a proposed addition to the bipartisan immigration overhaul. At the far right is Kelly Costello of Maryland. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

From left, Shirley Tan, Jay Mercado, and their twin sons Jashley Mercado, and Jorien Mercado, both 16, from Pacifica, Calif., walk to the Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, to lobby Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. Shirley is undocumented and Jay in an American citizen. They have been together for 27 years and have raised Jashley and Jorien. They and other gay rights activists are lobbying Senators today pushing to change the immigration bill to allow gay Americans to sponsor visas for their same-sex partners the way straight Americans can. Democrats are treading carefully on a proposed addition to the bipartisan immigration overhaul. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

From left, Shirley Tan, Jay Mercado, center, Shirley Tan and one of their twin sons Jorien Mercado,16, wait on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, for their meetingwith Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. Shirley is undocumented and Jay is an American citizen. They have been together for 27 years and have raised Jorien and his brother Jashley. They and other gay rights activists are lobbying Senators today pushing to change the immigration bill to allow gay Americans to sponsor visas for their same-sex partners the way straight Americans can. Democrats are treading carefully on a proposed addition to the bipartisan immigration overhaul. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Frustrated at being left out of an immigration overhaul, gay rights groups are pushing to adjust a bipartisan Senate bill to include gay couples. But Democrats are treading carefully, wary of adding another divisive issue that could lose Republican support and jeopardize the entire bill.

Both parties want the bill to succeed. Merely getting to agreement on the basic framework for the immigration overhaul, which would create a long and costly path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people in the U.S. illegally, was no small feat for senators. And getting it through a divided Congress is still far from a done deal.

Even so, gay rights groups, their lobbyists and grass-roots supporters are insisting the deal shouldn't exclude bi-national, same-sex couples ? about 28,500 of them, according to a 2011 study from the Williams Institute at UCLA Law. They're ramping up a campaign to change the bill to allow gay Americans to sponsor their partners for green cards, the same way straight Americans can. Supporters trekked to the Capitol to make their case at senators' offices on Wednesday.

"Opponents will be proposing amendments that, if passed, could collapse this very fragile coalition that we've been able to achieve," Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said last week at the unveiling of the bill. He said the eight senators from both parties who crafted the legislation are committed to voting against changes that could kill it.

For Democrats, it's a precarious position to be in. Democratic senators overwhelmingly support gay marriage ? all but three are now on the record voicing their support ? and two dozen of them this year backed a separate bill called the Uniting American Families Act to let gays sponsor their partners independent of a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

But the party's senators are still bruised from an agonizing defeat on gun control this month. And few seem eager to inject divisive issues that might sink their best prospects for a major legislative victory this year and a potential keystone of President Barack Obama's legacy.

"Any amendment which might sink the immigration bill, I would worry about," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a brief interview, adding that he had yet to decide whether an amendment for gays and lesbians would meet that yardstick.

Support from both Hispanics and gays was critical to Obama's re-election, and his overwhelming advantage among Hispanics was a major factor prompting Republicans to warm to immigration overhaul almost immediately after. But now, one community's gain on the immigration front could be to the other's detriment.

"As you continue to add other issues to the immigration discussion, it's going to make it more challenging," said Sen. John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican.

Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has committed to offering an amendment to the bill to allow gay citizens to sponsor their partners, said Ty Cobb, an attorney and lobbyist with the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group. Another Democratic senator, Al Franken of Minnesota, pledged in a Judiciary hearing on the bill Monday to do "everything we can" to adjust the bill.

But even if the amendment makes it through the Senate, it faces a tougher path if and when the bill moves to the Republican-controlled House. GOP leaders there have been defending the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, though Obama has said it is unconstitutional. And while Obama supports same-sex marriage, his administration has shown little appetite for forcing the issue while the immigration overhaul's prospects are still shaky.

"No one will get everything they want from it, including the president. That's the nature of compromise. But the bill is largely consistent with the principles he has laid out repeatedly," Obama spokesman Jay Carney said last week. A White House spokesman declined to answer further questions about the issue.

Some Democrats argue privately that with the Supreme Court poised to rule on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the government from giving federal marriage benefits to gay couples, the issue could soon be moot. Still, even if the high court strikes the law down, it would only bring partial relief; only couples married in the nine states that recognize gay marriages would probably be eligible.

The issue has generated an intense advocacy campaign, with gay rights organizations and Hispanic groups such as the National Council of La Raza squaring off with religious interests such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which sent a letter to Obama telling him including the provision could jeopardize the whole bill.

At the Human Rights Campaign, four of its seven federal lobbyists are engaged in pushing lawmakers to back such an amendment. Immigration Equality, another group supporting the provision, said it was bringing more than 60 families from 24 states to the Capitol on Wednesday to ask lawmakers to offer their support.

And Log Cabin Republicans, a gay conservative group, is making a pro-business pitch with potential GOP supporters, arguing that including gay couples would allow U.S. companies to retain the best talent instead of forcing good workers to leave the U.S. to be with their partners.

Such may be the case for Paul Coyle, a 45-year-old partner in a Chicago law firm, who has spent the past 10 years in a long-distance relationship with his partner in Toronto. At first, the two men would take turns flying back and forth, he said, until immigration officials cracked down, making it harder for his partner to enter the U.S. Now Coyle flies to Canada every other week, wondering each time whether it would be cheaper and more rewarding to pack up his law practice and move to Canada.

"It's emotionally draining. It's financially draining, and every time he comes to the U.S., there's the risk he won't get let back in," Coyle said. "But when you're in love, you just take the risk, because it's worth it."

___

Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-24-Immigration-Gays/id-c862a79e5d864a3fa5b954a15495bce2

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European markets outperform on ECB rate cut hopes

LONDON (AP) ? The positive tone in markets continued Wednesday, particularly in Europe, as investors grew more hopeful of an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank. Weak U.S. economic data weighed on Wall Street, however, despite more upbeat earnings.

In Europe, investors were further buoyed by mounting expectations of a rate cut next week from the ECB after another weak business survey for Germany, Europe's biggest economy. The Ifo Institute said its main index of business optimism fell to 104.4 points from 106.7 in March. Market analysts had expected a more modest decline to 106.2.

"With talk of a rate cut in recent policy meetings and the latest soft data, the ECB may finally be ready to make one final conventional move," said Benjamin Reitzes, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 1.3 percent to close at 7,759.03 while the CAC-40 in France gained 1.6 percent to 3,842.94. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares ended 0.4 percent higher at 6,431.76. Britain doesn't use the euro so it isn't directly affected by developments with regard to the ECB, which controls monetary policy for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.

European markets have also been buoyed in recent days by progress in Italy to produce a government after inconclusive elections in February.

Italy's president appointed Enrico Letta as premier-designate Wednesday, asking him to form a coalition government and end two months of political paralysis to put the country back on the path of reform and growth. Letta, a 46-year-old longtime center-left lawmaker and No. 2 Democratic Party leader, said he accepted the job knowing it's an enormous responsibility and that Italy's political class "has lost all credibility."

In the U.S., disappointing durable goods order figures dampened down the spirits in the markets despite upbeat earnings statements from the likes of Apple and Sprint Nextel. Procter & Gamble disappointed with a revenue miss.

The Commerce Department reported that durable goods declined 5.7 percent in March largely on the back of lower aircraft bookings. The fall, which was larger than anticipated, followed a 4.3 percent gain the previous month.

"The report will not remove growing concerns that the economy is facing a now typical slowdown," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.

The Dow index was down 0.2 percent at 14,687.95 while the broader S&P 500 was flat at 1,578.82.

Earlier in Asia, stocks rallied in the wake of the big gains recorded in Europe and the U.S. the previous day. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.3 percent to close at 13,843.46, its highest close since June 2008, while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.9 percent to 1,935.31.

Hong Kong and mainland Chinese stocks also climbed on expectations that the central government might take action to boost the Chinese economy after recent data showed growth lagging in the world's No. 2 economy.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.7 percent to 22,183.05. Mainland Chinese shares bounced back a day after sharp drops. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.6 percent to 2,218.32 and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 2.2 percent to 943.78.

The currency markets were relatively subdued, with the euro 0.1 percent lower at $1.2994 and the dollar steady at 99.42 yen.

Oil prices advanced, with the benchmark New York rate up $1.67 at $90.85 a barrel.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/european-markets-outperform-ecb-rate-cut-hopes-141716151--finance.html

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Mac Miller To Drop 'S.D.S.' Video Tomorrow Night On MTV2!

And he'll toast 'Most Dope' re-up with a marathon of the show on Wednesday before 'S.D.S.' clip premieres at 11 p.m. ET.
By Rob Markman

Mac Miller
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706194/mac-miller-sds-video-most-dope-season-2.jhtml

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Scientist identifies protein molecule used to maintain adult stem cells in fruit flies

Scientist identifies protein molecule used to maintain adult stem cells in fruit flies

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Understanding exactly how stem cells form into specific organs and tissues is the holy grail of regenerative medicine. Now a UC Santa Barbara researcher has added to that body of knowledge by determining how stem cells produce different types of "daughter" cells in Drosophila (fruit flies). The findings appear today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Denise Montell, Duggan Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at UCSB, and colleagues studied the ovaries of fruit flies in order to see stem cells in their natural environment. Because these organisms are excellent models for understanding stem cell biology, researchers were able to shed light on the earliest stages of follicle cell differentiation, a previously poorly understood area of developmental biology. "It is clear that the fundamental principles that control cell behavior in simple animals are conserved and control the behavior of our cells as well," she said. "There is so much we can learn by studying simple organisms."

Using a nuclear protein expressed in follicle stem cells (FSCs), the researchers found that castor, which plays an important role in specifying which types of brain cells are produced during embryonic development, also helps maintain FSCs throughout the life of the animal. "Having identified this important protein molecule in fruit flies, we can test whether the human version of the protein is important for stem cells and their daughters as well," said Montell. "The more we know about the molecules that govern stem cell behavior, the closer we will get to controlling these cells."

Her research team placed the evolutionarily conserved castor (Cas) gene, which encodes a zinc finger protein, in a genetic circuit with two other evolutionarily conserved genes, hedgehog (Hh) and eyes absent (Eya), to determine the fates of specific cell progeny (daughters). What's more, they identified Cas as a critical, tissue-specific target of Hh signaling, which not only plays a key role in maintaining follicle stem cells but also assists in the diversification of their progeny.

The study also shows that complementary patterns of Cas and Eya reveal the gradual differentiation of polar and stalk precursor cells at the earliest stages of their development. In addition, it provides a marker for cell fates and insight into the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which FSC progeny diverge into distinct fates.

Follicle cells undergo a binary choice during early differentiation. Those that turn into specialized cells found at the poles of egg chambers go on to make two cell types: polar and stalk. The three genes, Cas, Eya and Hh, work in various combinations, sometimes repressively, to determine which types of cells are formed. Cas is required for polar and stalk cell fate specification, while Eya is a negative regulator of these cells' fate. Hh is necessary for Cas to be expressed, and Hh signaling is essential to repress Eya.

"If you just had one of these markers, it was hard to tell what's going on," explained Montell. "All the cells looked the same and you had no idea when or how the process occurred. But now we can actually see how the cells acquire different identities."

Hh also plays many roles in embryonic development, adult homeostasis, birth defects, and cancer. Hh antagonists are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of several types of cancer. However, Hh signaling is important in so many different cell types and tissues that systemic delivery of such inhibitors may cause serious side effects. Therefore identifying the essential, tissue-specific effectors of Hh has the potential to lead to the identification of more specific therapeutic targets.

Someday, targeted inhibition of Hh signaling may be effective in the treatment and prevention of many types of human cancers.

###

University of California - Santa Barbara: http://www.ucsb.edu

Thanks to University of California - Santa Barbara for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127866/Scientist_identifies_protein_molecule_used_to_maintain_adult_stem_cells_in_fruit_flies

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