The following stories appear in full on today's Vidyya Medical News Service Web site.

During Glaucoma Awareness Month in January, the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) Partnership, coordinated by the National Eye Institute (NEI), is highlighting the medical advances for glaucoma that have been developed during the past five years.

For more information: NIH News Release-Glaucoma Awareness Month Emphasizes Treatments That Reduce Side Effects, Help Save Vision

Glaucoma is an eye disease in which the normal fluid pressure inside the eyes slowly rises, leading to vision loss--or even blindness. This brochure is about open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of the disease.

For more information: Information For Patients: Don't Lose Sight Of Glaucoma

Though just a few centimetres high and frail, a weed this week became a colossus of plant science. Arabidopsis thaliana, otherwise known as thale cress, is now the first plant to have its genome fully sequenced.

For more information: First Map Of A Plant Genome Completed

Scientists at Isis Pharmaceuticals have demonstrated that antisense drugs when delivered topically to the skin, in a cream formulation, effectively inhibit the production of Intracelluar Adhesion Molecule (ICAM-1), a gene associated with psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases of the skin. Data from the pre-clinical study was published in a recent issue of The Journal of Investigative Dermatology. The study demonstrated antisense inhibition of ICAM-1 gene expression and achievement of significant and prolonged drug concentration in skin.

For more information: Antisense Drugs Topically Delivered To Skin Inhibit Gene Associated With Psoriasis

Novartis Oncology announced that the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today recommended approval of Femara(R) (letrozole tablets) as first-line hormonal treatment for advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

For more information: FDA Advisory Committee Unanimously Recommends Approval Of Novartis Drug, Femara® (Letrozole Tablets), As First-Line Treatment for Advanced Breast Cancer

Today's Vidyya articles are:

• NIH News Release-Glaucoma Awareness Month Emphasizes Treatments That Reduce Side Effects, Help Save Vision

• Information For Patients: Don't Lose Sight Of Glaucoma

• First Map Of A Plant Genome Completed

• Antisense Drugs Topically Delivered To Skin Inhibit Gene Associated With Psoriasis

• FDA Advisory Committee Unanimously Recommends Approval Of Novartis Drug, Femara® (Letrozole Tablets), As First-Line Treatment for Advanced Breast Cancer