Irregular expressions of a panel of regulatory microRNAs (miRNA) in blood and other physiological fluids may allow early screening of many kinds of cancer. However,  the current technologies for identifying and quantifying small numbers of these short (22 bases) molecules in physiological samples require expensive instrumentation and extensive personnel. These...

Cancer’s origin point—a human gene gone haywire—is, in many cases, also its weak spot. If you could block the abnormal function of a gene that is important for metastasis, the theory goes, then maybe you can stop cancer from spreading. But there’s a catch—hit the weak spot with too much...