Make gifting meaningful this year

A national fundraising initiative, MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet, has made Christmas giving easier this year by substituting expensive trinkets with creative, meaningful and original gifts that keep on giving. Read more >>

Ciro's support for PinkDrive proves successful

Ciro partnered with Protea Hotels to supply a range of coffee products to prepare espresso-based hot and cold beverages served to guests who attended a series of 'High Coffee' events countrywide, in support of the PinkDrive in October 2011. Read more >>

UN warns cassava virus nearing an epidemic in Africa

A virus that attacks the cassava plant - estimated to be the world's third most important staple crop - is reaching epidemic proportions in parts of Africa, UN scientists warned today, 18 November. Read more >>

Tapping into Africa's hidden food potential

Africa has the potential to become a breadbasket for food, according to Andre Louw, professor of agribusiness at the University of Pretoria. Read more >>

Climate change awareness 'not at odds' with economy growth

In an opinion piece published in IOL, Edna Molewa, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs and leader of South Africa's COP17 delegation, says that South Africa is committed to addressing the global threat of climate change, but that this will not come at the expense of growing the economy, creating jobs or boosting international competitiveness. Read more >>

South African's overcharged for medicines

South African consumers are paying more for their medicine than they could be, says Paul Anley, CEO of Pharma Dynamics. He was speaking at the annual International Generic Pharmaceutical Alliance (IGPA) conference that took place in Cape Town this month. Read more >>

National health to change healthcare landscape

South Africa's National Health Insurance Scheme, due to be phased in over a 14-year period, is set to change the healthcare landscape. Read more >>

First patients enrolled in project to improve NHS cancer gene testing

Cancer Research UK has started recruiting patients for a pioneering initiative to demonstrate how genetic tests could be used within the NHS to help match cancer patients to the most appropriate treatment, while building a database of information for research into new targeted therapies. Read more >>

Cancer Research UK launches nine high-tech gene projects

Unravelling the genetic secrets behind a range of cancers - from understanding how certain genes control cancer to determining how the disease evades treatment - is the aim of a new initiative from Cancer Research UK. Read more >>

Brain tumor group narrows search for genetic susceptibility

[Michael Greenwood] An international consortium of researchers, including members from the Yale School of Public Health, has narrowed the search for the gene or genes associated with inherited susceptibility to a malignant brain cancer to a region on chromosome 17. Read more >>

Strangers can spot 'kindness' gene: study

WASHINGTON, USA: People with a certain gene trait are known to be more kind and caring than people without it, and strangers can quickly tell the difference, according to US research published on Monday, 14 November. Read more >>

New drug zaps fat cells in monkeys

WASHINGTON, USA: An experimental drug helped obese monkeys lose 11% of their extra weight in a month, a promising sign in the hunt for obesity drugs that could apply to humans, US researchers said Wednesday, 9 November. Read more >>

World's first stem cell bandage in human clinical trials

The company behind a pioneering stem cell bandage, believed to be the world's first adult and autologous (patient's own) stem cell treatment designed to heal torn meniscal cartilage, can now take the technology to human clinical trials thanks to an investment from one of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs. Read more >>

Mutant gene boosts melanoma risk

The Sydney Medical School's Associate Dean of Research, Professor Graham Mann, is one of the leaders of a project that has found some 200,000 Australians carry a mutant gene that increases their melanoma risk. Read more >>

Pharmacists - more than people in white coats

[Jared Paiva] Before I began to be involved in the healthcare industry, I believed that a pharmacy was just a place to pick up my medication. I also saw the pharmacist as a person who just asked me a whole bunch of questions, walked to the shelf, and gave my medicine. Well having been in the industry now for six months, that opinion changed very quickly. Read more >>

More lung cancer patients would survive for longer if surgery rates increased

Many more lung cancer patients would survive for longer if they had surgery to remove the disease, according to research published in the European Journal of Cancer. Read more >>