June 4 is National Cancer Survivors Day

National Cancer Survivors Day® is an annual, worldwide Celebration of Life that is held in hundreds of communities throughout the U.S., Canada, and other participating countries. Participants unite in a symbolic event to show the world that life after a cancer diagnosis can be meaningful and productive.

The non-profit National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation supports hundreds of hospitals, support groups, and other cancer-related organizations that host National Cancer Survivors Day events in their communities by providing free guidance, education and networking.

LifeScience Moment: Scientists Decode Genome Of Main Chagas Disease Vector

On June 4, 2012, an international team of scientists decoded genome of Chagas disease. Previously, scientists had only decoded the genome of the Chagas parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi.

The work took almost a decade and involved 30 researchers from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the U.S. and Uruguay, and was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Chagas disease is named after the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, who discovered the disease in 1909. It is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to animals and people by insect vectors and is found only in the Americas. Because they tend to bite people’s faces, triatomine bugs are also known as “kissing bugs”.

It's a Small World
	Organic Cells

Science Quote

"Science is not formal logic–it needs the free play of the mind in as great a degree as any other creative art. It is true that this is a gift which can hardly be taught, but its growth can be encouraged in those who already posses it."