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PROSTATE RESEARCH: Researchers from Belfast and London have joined forces to test a new treatment for prostate cancer.

They will examine whether the therapy aimed at men who do not respond well to existing care is safe.

Professor David Waugh said: “Finding the right drug for the right man at the right time is vital.

“Through our work we hope to not only develop a new treatment for men, but also pinpoint those men who are most likely to benefit from it.”

GENETIC TRIGGER: Testing for the activity of two genes could help doctors identify women at an increased risk of dying from breast cancer, research suggests.

Women whose tumours displayed a specific activity pattern were three times more likely to die within 10 years than those with a different pattern, a study found.

The two genes, known as F12 and STC2, are thought to play a key role in freeing cancer cells to spread around the body.

The study, which was conducted by scientists at London’s Institute of Cancer Research, found that women whose tumours had highly active F12 genes and low activity in the gene STC2 were found to have a 32% chance of dying within 10 years.

Those with low F12 activity and high STC2 activity had only a 10% chance of dying.

LASER DANGER: Some laser pointers available on the internet are powerful enough to cause “catastrophic damage” to the eyes leading to permanent loss of vision, scientists have claimed.

Researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne tested eight laser pointers bought legally.

All four “green” lasers sampled failed Australian safety standards, with power ratings between 51 and 127 times greater than the one milliwatt legal limit.

Lead scientist Dr Kate Fox, from RMIT University in Melbourne, said: “At that upper level, the beam would cause catastrophic retinal damage.”

Professor Marc Sarossy, another member of the team, pointed out that green lasers produce much more infrared radiation than red lasers and do “not trigger our natural blink and aversion responses”.