Last week, scientist Ralph Steinman became the first person in history be be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine posthumously; just three days prior to the award announcement, Steinman passed away following an extended bout with pancreatic cancer.

Earlier today, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann (pictured left and center, respectively) "for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity;" and to Ralph M. Steinman "for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive…

Diagnosing cancer is never easy, and — with a few exceptions — testing is rarely done in the absence of symptoms. A new scientific breakthrough could make cancer screening easy, at a stage when treatment is still fairly easy too.