— US health care reform is poised to become law. The House passed the Senate version of the bill last night in a 219-212 vote, and the Senate is expected to approve reconciliation measures later this week. Several groups that have been advocating throughout the process are hailing the historic legislation, including PhRMA, the American Medical Association and American Public Health Association.

— Infertile men are 2.6 times as likely to develop a highly aggressive form of prostate cancer, according to new research. The study authors say, however, that one doesn’t necessarily cause the other; they add it’s more likely that a mutation in the Y chromosome underlies both conditions. (Guardian)

— Things can get dicey among neighboring bone and blood cells. Researchers found that altering the Dicer1 gene in mouse bone cells led to the development of myelodysplesia, an acute form of leukemia that can also turn into the full-blown disease. The findings suggest that cancer might result from changes both within and outside of individual cells. (Reuters)

— Minocycline, an oral acne medication used since the 1970s, might be the latest member of the anti-retroviral cocktail. Researchers found that the drug inhibits T-cell activation, which is crucial to HIV’s spread, in both monkeys and in vitro human cells. Now, all those decades of teens worrying about their faces have a much less superficial purpose.

Image by notahandbag via Flickr Creative Commons