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A mutation that may be driving as many as 20 percent of endometrial and colorectal cancers has come to light this week, thanks to a study by researchers from the ӳ����ý of MIT and Harvard and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The researchers describe finding the connection between the gene RNF43 and these cancers earlier this week in .

Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the United States, but the fourth most common cause of cancer death. This disparity is due, in part, to the disease’s elusive nature. Because the pancreas is located deep in the abdomen, symptoms often present only after cancer has spread to other places in the body. But this week, a team of researchers from the ӳ����ý, , MIT, and elsewhere reported the discovery of metabolic changes that indicate early development of the disease.

Despite significant gains made by the scientific and medical communities to understand the HIV virus, an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine – the best hope for ending the epidemic – is still out of reach.

ӳ����ý senior associate member Sangeeta Bhatia has been named the 2014 recipient of the $500,000 . The honor, which is celebrating its 20th year, recognizes outstanding, mid-career inventors who are improving the world through technological invention, and demonstrating a commitment to mentorship in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

By all accounts, Pope Gregory I was quite the innovator. Along with his many liturgical accomplishments, he’s credited (somewhat apocryphally) with popularizing Gregorian chant, coining the phrase ‘bless you’ after someone sneezes, and perhaps, most unwittingly, creating one of the best experimental models for studying the evolution of domesticated animals.