A five-year federal grant totaling more than 1-point 7 million dollars has been awarded for skin cancer research led by Dr. Rebecca Morris, leader of the Stem Cells and Cancer section at The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota - Mayo Clinic.

Morris, whose research uses adult, non-human stem cells, has been working to identify stem cell-regulating genes for 10 years. She now has found a gene that appears to be linked to stem cell numbers and helping to protect against skin tumor development.

As stem cell research leads to discoveries to improve health, these cells can be obtained through ways - such as from adult tissue stem cells or through bio-engineering - to avoid the ethical issues of how to secure stem cells for treatment.