The National Cancer Research Institute's free online cancer research portal, ONIX, has launched to the public today. ONIX (ONcology Information eXchange) enables scientists and clinicians to search through and access international research data held online - to improve the flow of cancer research information between individuals, institutions and organisations.

DNA Electronics Ltd, a developer of disposable, real-time gene testing at the point-of-care, has been showcased as an exemplary healthcare technology innovator at the launch of the Government’s Life Sciences Blueprint - a range of initiatives aimed at ensuring the UK remains a world-leading location to build and grow life science and biotechnology companies.

The EU-funded SOS (Safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) project is working to provide medical professionals with guidance on the risks (both cardiovascular and gastrointestinal) associated with certain painkillers. Ultimately, the project results should help to better protect patients against these side effects. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) help reduce pain and inflammation, and are commonly given to sufferers of arthritis and other degenerative joint diseases.

Pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research releases its latest consumer marketing research module, "Online Adherence Programs: Evaluating Manufacturers' Opportunity to Impact Patient Adherence", as part of its Cybercitizen Health™ market research and strategic advisory service.

Researchers in the UK have found evidence that smoking cannabis can damage human DNA in ways that could potentially increase the risk of developing cancer. The findings, published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, are an outcome of the ECNIS (Environmental cancer risk, nutrition and individual susceptibility) Network of Excellence, funded with EUR 11 million under the 'Food Quality and Safety' Thematic area of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) to study how diet and hereditary factors can influence environmental cancer risk.

Scientists in the UK and Switzerland have identified a signalling pathway, PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) that shows promise as a target for treating aggressive skin cancer. Their results, based on a study of the see-through zebrafish, are published in the journal Disease Models and Mechanisms.

CAST PHARMA, a premier European 3D pharmaceutical and biomedical animation production company, is pleased to announce the availability of an advanced Demo-DVD to make its audiovisual material more widely available to the existing and further customers from the biomedical and pharmaceutical domains.